John Rooke - Thinking Out Loud
Saturday, May 04, 2013
Thinking out loud…and wondering if the Patriots will be drafting guys from Providence College next…
• So…the Tim Tebow experiment was a short-lived one in New York, apparently leaving the Big Apple with little more than his pride (he still doesn’t have another gig). He could go down in NFL history as only the 2nd QB (with Bob Lee, ’77 Vikings) to never start another game after winning in the playoffs. It could leave us without a punch line for our Jets jokes next season…
• But wait…Mark Sanchez said this week he has “no doubt” he’ll be the Jets’ starting QB next year. Mmm hmmm. That’s why the brain trust picked up Geno “I’m no Tebow” Smith in the draft, and signed David Garrard as well. Oh yeah, this’ll end well…
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST• Having trouble coming to grips with Danny Amendola instead of Wes Welker in the Patriots’ lineup for next year? Cheer up. According to Pro Football Focus, Amendola dropped 3.7% of passes targeted for him over the last two seasons. Welker dropped 9.4%...
• Speaking of Welker, if you thought that Tom Brady was mourning his departure for Denver, don’t cry too much for TB. It seems that Brady invited Welker for a “boy’s weekend” around the Kentucky Derby, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal…
• The most stunning thing about the Patriots’ draft this year wasn’t Bill Belichick trading down, or even out of the first round again. That’s the rule, rather than the exception. It was his picking up FOUR Rutgers players, through the draft and free agency. Did he lose a bet with Greg Schiano?
• If I had to give the Patriots a grade for their draft efforts last week, I’d tend to say “incomplete.” No fence sitting here, but when your first picks are taken in the fifties – like this year – these players tend to take a bit longer to develop and fit into your overall style or scheme. Even if a guy moves into start at some point…check back in, let’s say, 2015-2016 for the update…
• The Celtics’ resurgence at the end of this playoff series with the Knicks is a lot of fun. Sure, they’re old, looking tired and completely out-of-whack without a point guard out there…but somehow a few shots have fallen (where ya’ been, Jason Terry?) and Kevin Garnett keeps finding his fountain-of-youth. And it has been giving New Yorkers and Knicks’ fans agita, which is always a good thing…
• Conventional wisdom is out the window in the NHL playoffs it seems, especially for the Bruins. It’s been a weird year anyway, with the late start due to the lockout…but just when it seemed they were due for a swoon, as their play at the end of the regular season indicated, here comes the post-season. And the early returns are strong…
• Who the heck was that guy wearing #40 on the mound last weekend at Fenway? The one who was in control, threw strikes, battled out of his own jams, and wasn’t ordering chicken in the clubhouse? Oh, and won a game, too?
• So former World Series hero and all-star pitcher Jack Morris, now a broadcaster for the Toronto Blue Jays, thinks Clay Buchholz is throwing a spitter? He says he didn’t see it during the game, but saw it on video afterward? No wonder Morris can’t get into Cooperstown. He doesn’t even know what a real spit ball looks like…a true spitter dips or drops sharply at the end. And I didn’t see any of that this week when Clay made the Jays’ hitters look foolish, did you? What Buchholz threw is called a cutter, Jack…
• If Morris wanted to start a little something with the Sox, maybe this is a good thing. But in reality, he should be starting something with a team everyone thought was L-O-A-D-E-D, and is woefully underachieving. Again…
• It’s actually refreshing to know that we’re advancing around here. In a state where “old boy” politics, activities and businesses have long been tolerated, Rhody finally took a step into the new millennium this week. Wish we could do something about taxes, however. Wish we could get our elected officials as motivated for this particular problem as they were for same sex marriage…
• On the national/international front, kudos to former Celtic Jason Collins. One word – guts. Two words – support him. Three words – It’s about time…
• That we have to talk about it at all…that we have to consider Collins’ public declaration that he is “gay” even a story…is an indictment on our society at large. But it’s a small step, and the right one to make toward tolerance and acceptance in this world. As a free agent, the bigger question should be “can the man play?” We’ll soon find out that answer, and whether or not any NBA team is willing to pick him up and deal with the periphery sure to follow…
• ESPN’s Chris Broussard was most vocal against Collins’ declaration. But I wonder, since a few years ago Broussard had said the league was ready for a gay player…if this wasn’t the World Wide Leader calling in a hired gun, trying to stir the pot?
• If you didn’t know, I called Boston College football on the radio for several years back in the late ‘90’s and 2000’s. My relationship with BC athletic publicist Dick Kelley was always a good one, and extended beyond the requisite assistance when covering the team. Dick became a friend, and he became a buddy to my then-five year old son, who is now 18 and readying for college. Dick is struggling with the effects of Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS), an insidious illness that strips your body of muscle use while leaving the mind intact. He is a wonderful person – he loves his school – and it’s great that Dick’s school is giving back…
• Guess the Sox knew what they were doing when they sent Josh “Chicken and Beer” Beckett packing to LA. 0-4 with an ERA over 5 this season? Good work, Josh…
• Guess not having Beckett around to poorly influence the other guys on the staff and in the bullpen probably helped, too…Clay Buchholz (6-0) was named the AL pitcher of the month. And John Lackey didn’t stink last week…
• Tweet of the Week: “@StatsNBCSports – Attention everyone in all sports: No one cares who the player of the day/week/month is.”
• I’ve been very critical of Syracuse – especially the higher-ups at this so-called institution of “higher learning” – through all of the collegiate realignment mess. But this piece put together by a sketch comedy group at the school may be the best thing I’ve seen in some time. Who knew there was this kind of talent in upstate New York?
• The SEC becomes the latest conference to launch its’ own TV network, in partnership with – who else? – ESPN. Will it be as successful as the Big 10 Network? I’d say it has a shot, considering the rabid fan base in the South. The big question is carriage and coverage…and whether or not fans can get it without having to pay through the nose for it. The Longhorn Network has been a bust thus far, and returns aren’t complete on the Pac-12 Network…
• Not for nuthin’…but if the Big East had been proactive and launched its’ own network on the heels of what the Big 10 did, the league – football and basketball schools alike – would have stayed together, and probably thrived. It’s the second time in league history that short-sighted thinking led to a monumental mistake. The first? Not voting Penn State into league membership…
• Wanna know the secrets behind the success of those AT&T ads featuring those cute, enthusiastic first-graders? We want more, we want more…
• ICYMI – the NCAA officially recognized the new “Big East” as an official Division I multi-sport conference this week. 32 automatic berths in next year’s basketball tournament, 36 at-larges. And the name change for the old Big East to “American Athletic Conference” (HQ remains in Providence) became official, and will changeover July 1. That’s the good news. The NCAA also added representatives of the Big East to several council and leadership positions, which is also good news. But the league still has no commissioner. Not good news. Several published reports have West Coast Conference commissioner Jamie Zaninovich as the current front-runner…
• Zaninovich has experience on the NCAA tournament selection committee, experience running a Catholic school-based league, and east coast ties from his time working at Princeton…when Georgetown’s John Thompson III was the head basketball coach. Solid credentials, sure. But there also seems to be some backlash against Providence and the Providence-centric past of the Big East, with much of the angst coming from Washington, DC. Georgetown has been out in front of much of the discussion within the new Big East, and Dan Gavitt’s candidacy has cooled. Coincidence?
• Dick Vitale has released his pre-season Top 40 college basketball teams for next year, with five Big East teams listed…Creighton, at #20, was first, followed by Marquette, Butler, Georgetown and St. John’s. No Providence…
• A boob-job bikini? Ok, but please tell me there won’t be a “super” Speedo male equivalent this summer? I might be interested in the patent rights, however…
• In this week of historical significance in Rhode Island, can we now pounce on political correctness run amok? The latest case gone awry – an editorial in the Washington Times that claimed it was time to change the name of the Redskins to the “Redtails,” in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen who fought in WW II. Umm, ok. The team actually began as the Boston Braves in 1932, so history is on the side of the franchise. So is the public. Several public polls have indicated more than 75% of American Indians surveyed are not offended by the nickname. Stupid is as stupid does…
• Speaking of stupid…do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience…
• It’s a really bold step, or it’s really stupid…Dallas Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones has given his season ticket holders a call-in number to join a conference call – with Jones himself. Will fans really take advantage of this rare opportunity to bend the ear of an owner, or will they just gush “Gee Jerry, this is really cool?” I know what I’d say…
• 2014 uber hoop recruits Jared Terrell (guard) and Abdul-Malik Abu (forward) are considered two stars of the future, and both are being recruited hard by PC. Have been for some time. The two players are also strongly considering going to the same school, which could be a real coup for a coach. Look out, Ed Cooley, because Florida, Kansas, Texas and NC State are now involved…
• Saw this comment from Duke football coach David Cutcliffe this week, on the possibility of “football” schools breaking away from the NCAA. Note that it didn’t come from that other major sport coach at Duke: “If the NCAA is not going to be the governing body, who is? There's nothing negative about this comment, but we're close to being governed by television because that's who is paying the bills across the board…”
• And also this from Cutcliffe, a bit more direct: “It would be all of a sudden if ESPN decided that it wanted a super league of football, I'm assuming that they could probably pull it off. I don't know if ESPN wants to take that on. I kid with a few of them, the guys that work there, I call them ‘the owners.’ They are the owners of all college football.” Ok class, what’s wrong with this picture?
• Or this picture? The University of Georgia this week offered a scholarship to a kid named Brodarious Hamm, a 290-pound 9th grader. Just sayin’…
• My buddy Statbeast sez the picture is very clear between him and Mrs. Statbeast. And when it isn’t, they compromise. He admits he’s wrong, and she agrees with him…
• What? They don’t play football at PC? Didn’t stop the Pats from taking four Scarlet Knights from Rutgers, did it? They don’t play football there, either. Cue the rim shot…
• Speedy Boogie? I don’t like that one at all…but maybe yours will turn out differently. In honor of Triple Crown racing season…wanna know your “race horse” name?
• From the mailbag this week…Tim in Kamloops, British Columbia sent this via Facebook: “So where do you see the Tebow circus ending up?” Tim: Someone will take a shot at him, some team that could use an infusion of ticket sales to go along with an increase in lunacy. Too bad Jacksonville has ruled him out. If he weren’t so stubborn about trying another position, I really believe the Patriots would try him on for size, with his ability to do just about everything other than throw a football accurately. Want him in the CFL?
• Interested in having your questions on local RI sports (including the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? Send ‘em to me! It’s your chance to “think out loud,” so send your questions and comments to [email protected]. We’ll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/Tweets right here! Follow me on Twitter, @JRbroadcaster…and on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke ...
• Don’t forget to join us for GoLocal Sports on 103.7 FM, every Saturday from 7:00-9:00 am! Call in (401) 737-1287, or text 37937…and send email to the show - [email protected] .
• The recently released “Rhode Island Radio” from Arcadia Publishing is available for sale, and the book tells the story of the 90-year history of radio in our state through photographs, clippings and memories from many of the personalities who have graced our airwaves. If you’re in search of the gift that says “Rhode Island,” you’ve found it. Or, find it in local bookstores and online right here…
