Indians most hated team...and ignored

Thanks James for the intro to the topic. I was going to post the link this morning, then I saw your post.

The deal is, the Indians are in a tough spot. The fans are passionate, but are becoming very disenfranchised with the ownership. Since the Dolan's took over there is a perception that they won't spend the money to keep the good players. So, its been 9 years ( i believe) since the Jacobs' sold the team; and the fans have really only had one year to be excited about.

I hate the argument that the Dolans did actually carry a high payroll in their tenure. That is true, in 2002 they had a big payroll; but that was only because it was left over from the Jacobs tenure. As soon as they could, the Dolan's let the talent go and rebuilt. Rebuilding is an okay part of the game, but at some point you have to spend money again to build a competitive team.

The Indians sign young players to long contracts (Grady, Carmona) so as to avoid arbitration and a few years of free agency. Not a bad plan, but you have to keep spending to get veterans with those young guys. Young guys alone are too inconsistent to win titles; you need a mix. Plus, you miss with some signings, like Jhonny Peralta.

Did Indians fans get spoiled in the 90s? Yes, but too bad ownership. You can't undo what happened, so pony up and put some talent on the field. Its the only way fans will come back to the ballpark. (no Paul Dolan, its not the other way around. We come to buy tickets when you spend first. I'm not spending money in the hopes that you will use it on players later. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.)

Indians Most Hated??

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704471204575210384180269378.html

I'll let Mike talk about this if he wants...but here's the post.

Is this a shocker?

Cavs vs Celtics

Cavs in 7.

Too much stupid crap happens when the Celtics are involved. For the months leading to the playoffs, the Celtics phoned it in. 14-11 in the two months before the playoffs. Looking completely like they just wanted their season to be over.

Celtics beat Miami in five, each game by 9, 29, 2, and 10. 50 points total.

Cleveland beat Chicago in five, each game by 13, 10, 23, and 2. 48 points total.

That's about as close of a series as we could have gotten, yes?

But.. when Boston lost, it was by 9. When Cleveland lost, it was by 2.

So if we factor that in.. Boston won by 41 points.. Cleveland won by 46 points.

This has accomplished nothing other than finding out a new way of saying Boston sucks and Cleveland is awesome.


Also LeBron says he isn't worried about his elbow. That's good news, right?


Right?

Draft Day 2/3 and Madden 010

Too many picks to look up, so I grabbed some notables:

TJ Ward, FS to Cleveland.. 70 Rating.
Taylor Mays, FS.. 95 Rating.
Toby Gerhart, RB.. (out of league)
Terrence Cody, Obese DT.. 85 Rating.
Ben Tate, RB.. 74 Rating.
Mont Hardesty, RB to Cleveland.. Out of League.
Brandon Spikes, LB.. 95 Rating.
Jimmy Clausen, QB.. 65 Rating.
Colt McCoy, QB to Cleveland.. 78 Rating.
Shawn Lauvao, OT to Cleveland.. Out of League.
Larry Asante, SS to Cleveland.. 90 Rating. (hell yeah)
Carlton Mitchell, Slow WR to Cleveland.. 75 Rating.
Anthony McCoy, TE.. 85 Rating.
Clifton Geathers, DE to Cleveland.. Out of League.

Draft Day 2...mocks

Good news: every mock draft out there today has the Browns taking McCoy in the 2nd round. I was unsure he would last that long until Clausen started to fall out of the first round. Now, I feel confident he'll be a Brown.

But I'm not sure why nobody has Minnesota picking Jimmy Clausen. Isn't that why they traded with Detroit? They saw Clausen was going to fall out of the first round because Indy and New Orleans were not going to pick a QB, and STL had Bradford. So Minnesota saw that they could move back, pick up another pick late, and still get Clausen. Don't they have to draft a QB? Favre is only a filler for one more year, then Claussen could fill right in on a good team and be successful. Minnesota can then trade away Sage Rosenfels and/or Jackson. All this makes perfect sense to me...but I guess I'm not an 'expert'.

Today should be a good day for the draft. I bet there's a lot of trades early because there are still some big time players on the board. I would love to see the Browns trade back into the 2nd round to grab either Taylor Mays, Golden Tate, or Toby Gerhart supposing none of them are taken after the Browns 38th pick. Gerhart's got a chip on his shoulder and I want to see him unleash it on the AFC North.

Draft Day 1 and Madden 010

Draft is over, Cleveland didn't trade away their entire draft for Bradford.. Roethlisberger went no where. All is right in the world.

Now, what this list is is a chart showing the player drafted, and their projected Madden 010 rating in 2016. So these are players that were exported from NCAA Football 010 and drafted into Madden. In order they were drafted:

Team - Player - Position - 2016 Madden Rating

RAMS - Bradford, Sam QB 91
LIONS - Suh, Ndamukong DT 97
BUCS - McCoy, Gerald DT 82
REDSKINS - Williams, Trent OT 65
CHIEFS - Berry, Eric SS 70
SEAHAWKS - Okung, Russell OT 91
BROWNS - Haden, Joe CB 86
RAIDERS - McClain, Rolando LB 89
BILLS - Spiller, C.J. RB 74
JAGUARS - Alualu, Tyson DE (out of league)
49ERS - Davis, Anthony OT 87
CHARGERS - Mathews, Ryan RB (out of league)
EAGLES - Graham, Brandon DE (out of league)
SEAHAWKS - Thomas, Earl SS 82
GIANTS - Pierre-Paul, Jason DE (out of league)
TITANS - Morgan, Derrick DE 78
49ERS - Iupati, Mike OG (out of league)
STEELERS - Pouncey, Maurkice C 97
FALCONS - Weatherspoon, Sean LB 89
TEXANS - Jackson, Kareem CB 80
BENGALS - Gresham, Jermaine TE 90
BRONCOS - Thomas, Demaryius WR (out of league)
PACKERS - Bulaga, Bryan OT (out of league)
COWBOYS - Bryant, Dez WR 95
BRONCOS - Tebow, Tim QB (Mel Kiper is RETARDED) 89
CARDINALS - Williams, Dan DT 72
PATS - McCourty, Devin CB (out of league)
DOLPHINS - Odrick, Jared DT 86
JETS - Wilson, Kyle CB 67
LIONS - Best, Jahvid RB 88
COLTS - Hughes, Jerry DE (out of league)
SAINTS - Robinson, Patrick CB 85


Yes, OBVIOUSLY THIS IS A VIDEO GAME, but still, it's kind of interesting to look at. So worst player STILL in my Madden Franchise is Trent Williams (Pick 4) at 65, and the best player is either Ndamukong Suh (Pick 2) or Maurkice Pouncey (Pick 18), both at 97. Figures.

To compare, Peyton Manning, Jared Allen, Chris Johnson, Andre Johnson are all 99s in 2016. Jamarcus Russell is a 61.

So according to my Madden Franchise, the teams that absolutely BLEW the first round are: The Jaguars, The Chargers, The Eagles, The Giants, The Packers, The Pats, and The Colts. The teams that DOMINATED the first round are: The Lions, The Seahawks, and the f'ing Steelers.

I'll do this again for round two and maybe round three, mostly because I forgot to look up Jimmy Clausen's rating. I'm curious if it's above 60.

Draft and Roethlisberger

So latest rumors are that the Browns will trade their pick to some team NOT in the top 10, who wants Ben Rapistberger.


..

Who could possibly want Ben Rapistberger?

The Eagles have Vick and Kolb.. Maybe. Who do they give up? DeSean Jackson? A Shitload of picks?

The Raiders are already in the Top 10, but Al Davis has done dumber things. Maybe. Who do they give up? Kamerion Wimbley? Richard Seymour? A bunch of picks?

The Vikings? After Favre they'll be left with Tavarious Jackson. Maybe? Who do they give up? Berrian? Percy Harvin? Sidney Rice? A Williams? Who would be worth that 7th pick, and why on Earth would they get rid of that player to have Ben Roethlisberger?

The Cardinals? They've got DA and Leinart.. If there's a surprise trade it would be this. But what would the Cardinals give up? Their first round pick and what else for our 7th overall pick? Beanie Wells? Steve Breaston? Adrian Wilson? Maybe half of their 2010 Draft picks?


Who would want Roethlisberger? I'm going to make a point I've been making for about three years now: Roethlisberger Sucks. He's a terrible QB. He scrambles around like a retard, then throws up a ball. He has good enough receivers that one of them can usually intercept it. Watch half of his throws: in the dirt or to Mike Tomlin. Ben is slightly better than Derek Anderson.

His famous goal line play to Santonio Holmes last year? That was a pass to a WIDE OPEN Heath Miller in the corner of the end zone. Roethlisberger threw such a shitty pass to Miller that Holmes was able to grab it at the goal line. And if Roethlisberger really DID throw it to Holmes, then he's AN IDIOT for not throwing it to a WIDE OPEN HEATH MILLER!!

Watch how Roethlisberger's receivers have to twist and contort their bodies to catch his passes. Watch how Roethlisberger has no clue what to do in the pocket when there's pressure. He's like the bigger Charlie Frye.

(Also note that the reason Pittsburgh Receivers are always wide open is because Hines Ward did one of the following: Illegal Pick, Holding beyond Five Yards, Offensive Pass Interference, Holding, or Clipping. Why do you think that F*cker is always smiling after each play?)

What team on Earth would be dumb enough to give up ANYTHING for Roethlisberger?