Final Verdict on Golden Tate Touchdownception
After reading this article and watching the play once again, I’ve realized this whole thing was overblown. I’m not in any way saying the play was rightfully a touchdown or that those replacement refs weren’t complete garbage, the initial call on the field certainly should’ve been an interception. My point is it was a tough call in the spur of the moment. Anyone who watched the game live, including announcer Mike Tirico, celebrated the TD and didn’t really scrutinize the call until a replay was shown. It was a tough call for anyone to make in the spur of the moment, especially arena football-level referees. I’m not trying to defend them here because it was a blown call, but it wasn’t THAT bad.
Also, never leave the game in the hands of the refs. Maybe the Packers were stripped of a win, but they didn’t deserve one regardless. Aaron Rodgers was sacked eight times, yet offensive tackle T.J. Lang had the nerve to tweet a complaint about the refs. How about Packers fans stop complaining about the ref and start blaming people who actually deserve it. You won’t win many games in the NFL scoring 12 points. The once prolific offense has only mustered the 26th most total yards and points per game in the NFL. Bottom line, it was a poorly played game by both teams and neither team should be too proud of their performance, regardless of the outcome.
Bulls sign Kyrylo Fesenko
This is probably news to even the most avid fans, but the Chicago Bulls have invited center Kyrylo Fesenko to training camp on a non-guaranteed contract. He’s essentially a poor man’s Omer Asik; another seven-footer with a tough name to pronounce and absolutely no offensive game. But also like Asik, the man can play some D. At 7’1” 280 pounds, he’s a force on the defensive end because of his superior length and strength. He’s yet to log more than eight minutes a game through five years of his NBA career, but at 25, he still has time to blossom into a force in the middle. It may take Fesenko some time to earn minutes and learn Thibs system, but over time I could see him taking over Nazr Mohammed’s spot in the rotation. In an uneventful off-season with few positive headlines for the Bulls, it’s nice to see a bargain pickup so close to the start of the season.
Geno Smith, best game by QB ever?
Remember what I said about Braxton Miller being the next RGIII? Maybe I was overlooking someone in the equation. After tearing up Baylor for 656 passing yards and eight passing touchdowns to no interceptions and only six incompletions, it’s fair to say West Virginia’s Geno Smith is the early Heisman favorite. He put up a near perfect performance against the #25 ranked team in the nation, and the scary thing is he’s been doing this all season long. He’s already passed for over 1700 yards and 20 TDs in four games, and he’s completed an unbelievable 83% of his passes without throwing a single pick. It’s fair to say he’s yet to face prime competition, but it’s pretty hard to put up those numbers, even against dummies. At 6’3” 214 pounds, he’s not the biggest QB and isn’t the best scrambler, but his incredible accuracy has NFL scouts drooling. Smith’s incredible game might be a footnote in some of the headlines this weekend, but soon enough he’ll grab some nation attention, whether it’s by winning the Heisman Trophy or as the #1 overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft.
NBA ranks reaction
This week ESPN finished up their NBA rank, which is a list of the best NBA players compiled from 104 experts who rated each player on a 0-10 scale, in terms of “the current quality of each player.” As usual, there weren’t any huge blunders on the list, but I can always find something to complain about.
As far as overrated players, I was pretty surprised to see how high the Gasol’s were rated. The first Gasol on the list, Marc, was rated #26. If these rankings were based on how good an NBA player looks, I’m pretty sure Marc would be towards the bottom of the list. With all pudgy and hairy jokes aside, Gasol is a top ten center in the league, but he hasn’t improved all that much, as his Player Efficiency Rating (PER) has only improved from 16.74 to 18.31 since his rookie season. He ranked ahead of big men Tim Duncan, Al Horford, Serge Ibaka, Al Jefferson, Demarcus Cousins and Greg Monroe, all players who had higher PERs last season. I think he classifies as a player that was once so underrated that he is now overrated. As for his brother, Pau, he ended up ranked #15. I don’t know how the voters decided shooting 1-10 in a playoff game and averaging 13 points shooting in the low 40’s the last two postseasons was deserving of a top 15 ranking. In fact, Pau wasn’t even an all-star this season.
As for underrated players, I thought Lamarcus Aldridge deserved to be top 15 at least. Injuries kept him out 11 games, but Kevin Love and LeBron James were the only other players to average at least 22 and 8 last season. The fact that Chris Bosh was ranked two spots ahead of him at #18 was a joke. Bosh benefits from jumping on the back of two bona fide superstars while Aldridge has had to carry a Portland team that has lost two of its stars (Greg Oden and Brandon Roy) to near career-ending injuries. While Kevin Love and Blake Griffin fight for the title of the best PF in the league, Aldridge might interrupt that conversation next season.
It was also nice seeing Derrick Rose move up a couple spots to #5, even after the ACL injury. It goes to show that people still have faith in Rose making a full recovery and haven’t forgotten his MVP dominance. All of this NBA talk makes me want the season to start already…In the mean time, I guess NBA 2K13 will do.