Thursday Night NCAA Thoughts

This video is just me giving my thoughts on Kentucky and the other Thursday night NCAA tournament games. 

https://youtu.be/QH7kH_Jb5Mk

A. Prince

A Tale of Two Quarterbacks

Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston have spent the better part of the last year linked. Reigning Heisman Trophy winner versus the player who everyone thought would be the next Heisman trophy winner. Pro-style quarterback versus spread quarterback. Their play did little to separate and we spent the better part of four months looking for flaws. Even when they met in the College Playoff semifinal, very little was discovered about the two quarterbacks.

I bring all of that up to say that Mariota has to throw at the NFL Combine this week, while Winston should not throw. Winston has shown what he can do on the field in a pro-style offense. His numbers this past season aren’t all that different from his numbers during his Heisman season and he has been doing in an offense that is suited toward NFL offenses. Mariota has put up eye-popping numbers, for sure but he has done it in an offense that capitalizes on open receivers. While that is good for the college football, we just spent a year watching Johnny Manziel trying to make that transition and failing miserably (for 2014 at least). Marriota is no Manziel, but his lack of preparation reading the field will hurt him. He needs to show he can make all of the throws.

Winston on the other hand just needs to ‘pass’ all of the personal interviews from now until he plays in his first regular season game. If you watched any college football over the past year, you know that Winston made the news a LOT. Many were for off-the-field issues and some were wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy more serious than others. His plays on the field are there for the viewing and a bad day throwing would feed the people who think he will be a bust the vitriol they need to spew that.

In the end, I personally think Winston goes first to Tampa (not sure that is the best place for him, but that’s for another blog) and Mariota could slide. After the Bucs, the next team with an immediate need for a quarterback is the NY Jets and they have Geno Smith already. So Marriota might be in for an Aaron Rodgers type fall which might be the best thing for him. I think he needs an edge and dropping in the draft will give that to him.

Despite all of that, this week won’t be the end of the tale of these two quarterbacks.

Post All Star Thoughts........

Having this lovely snow day has allowed me some free time to blog. I'll start with my thoughts on the NBA All-Star game.

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Russell Westbrook absolutely deserved the MVP.  He brought energy to an otherwise lackluster game. It goes without saying that there is very little defense played in these games. This year's edition featured even more lackadaisical defense as guards went coast-to-coast without even having to change direction. Westbrook's play definitely benefited from that but he also brought the same energy that he does to every game he plays in. And in the Garden, that excitement was needed and welcomed. 

So it didn't matter that he took more shots than anyone else. It didn't matter that he only gathered one assist. It mattered that when he came into the game the excitement was ratcheted up. For awhile it looked like LeBron would bring that excitement but after his first break he seemed to tone it down. Westbrook brought it and continued to bring it. 

Westbrook also leads me to my next topic which is whether or not Oklahoma City can make the playoffs. They are currently a 1/2 game back of the 8th seed and 8 games back of Portland for the 3rd seed with about 30 games left. Sure it will be a hard road to make the playoffs but can you think of a scarier 8th seed? Durant will need to be completely healthy for this to work but even if he isn't, it will be  fun as hell to watch Westbrook try to carry the Thunder to a playoff berth. 

Other playoff things to watch. Will the Spurs make a move up the standings? Are the Warriors for real? Are the Hawks? Will the East still just come down the Bulls vs. the Cavs? 

With football now out of the picture, I'm now fully committed to watching basketball and these are just some of the story lines I'll be checking out. Until next time, peace. 

Wild Card Sunday

So the title of this post is a little deceiving. I'm not really going to talk about Wild Card Sunday. I'm only going to talk about the late game Sunday. The Dallas Cowboys game. Yes, they're my favorite team, so from time to time I'll speak about them like I'm a fan. But the two videos are from before the game and halftime.

Pre-game

Halftime