The Unsung Brown Joe Thomas Gets His Due

Finally, the Browns were able to do something right. This morning, Cleveland extended Left Tackle Joe Thomas’s contract for seven years, $84 million. Why is spending $44 million guaranteed on a lineman a great move? Only because Thomas has made the Pro Bowl in each of his four seasons, and first team All-Pro twice already. He was voted the top left tackle in the league, and has never missed a start. The Browns now have the anchor of their line and protector of their quarterback locked down for another seven seasons.

While the Browns first round draft futility has been discussed before on this blog, Thomas’s success so far shines a new light on it. He has made four Pro Bowls already while the previous 14 players Cleveland drafted his year or earlier have a combined two. Even the last 23 only have a combined four All-Pro selections, compared to Thomas’s three (two first team, one second team). You have to go all the way back to the 1978 draft class of Clay Matthews Jr and Ozzie Newsome to find a comparably solid first round draft selection, and Clay Matthews III is now in the league!

Who’s ready for some FFL? A case study of Wide Receivers vs Running Backs in Keeper Leagues

Now that preseason games are starting, there is no better time to talk about Fantasy Football. The other day, I received encouraging word that one of my players, Terrell Owens, might be 100% recovered from his torn ACL he injured earlier this spring. Despite TO’s on and off the field detrimental antics to his teammates, he has actually been an outstanding and consistent fantasy player. In his 15 year career he has scored at least 50 fantasy points 14 times, and was top ten in wide receiver scoring in ten of those seasons. Likewise, other Hall of Fame bound receivers, Randy Moss and Marvin Harrison, had similar productive careers. This got me to thinking, how do running backs compare? Do they have as long or as consistent careers as receivers? I looked at fantasy scoring in the past ten seasons, and the career paths of the top WR and RB’s, and noticed some interesting trends:

• Of the top ten overall scorers at both positions in the past decade, there were 97 50 pts+ seasons for WR’s, while only 74 for RB’s.
• When looking at the top ten ranked RB’s and WR’s on draft boards this year, only three of the RB’s were even in the league five seasons ago (Steven Jackson, Maurice Jones-Drew, and Michael Turner-a backup then), while six of the WR’s were active.
• When looking at those same top ten ranked players, the RB’s only have a combined 28 50 pts+ seasons, compared to 43 by WR’s.
• Not only are the RB’s careers shorter in comparison, but the stats are declining since NFL teams are increasing the use of “running backs by committee”. The top ten RB’s averaged 340 carries, 1,540 yards, and 15 tds in 2005, but now only 312 carries, 1,340 yards, and 11 tds, a 10-20% decline.

While 50 pts+ seasons might not win yearly leagues, for keeper or dynasty leagues, in which you keep 8 players season to season, the consistency is gold. For instance, if you had Michael Vick, Peyton Hillis, and Arian Foster on your team last year, you probably won the title, but would not have kept any of those players going into the season. Seven to ten year veteran WR’s like Larry Fitzgerald, Reggie Wayne, and Andre Johnson are still in their prime and are in the top ten in their position. Meanwhile, younger veteran RB’s Turner and Jackson mentioned earlier are beginning to wear down and are a year or two from the 30 year old drop off. When looking at this year’s draft class, rookies Daniel Thomas, Mark Ingram, Ryan Williams, DeMarco Murray, and Roy Helu will be drafted early in hopes of a handful of 100 pts+ seasons. Meanwhile, WR’s like Julio Jones, AJ Green, and Greg Little are more likely to produce a decade of 50 pts+ seasons, which is more productive in the long run and an better model for a dynasty league.

Know Your Washington Nationals

With the spring sports now finished, we are entering the dog days of summer sports. With the NFL and even the NBA locked out now, we are left with only baseball of the major sports on SportsCenter. With MLB at the all-star break, there’s no better time to catch up with the Nationals.

Washington enters the second half of the season at .500 after being a couple games above this late in the season for the first time since 2005. They are winning due to their pitching, which is 10^th in ERA, and fielding, which is 12^th in the majors. The Nat's batters need to improve in the second half though, since they are 27^th in average, 23^rd in runs, and 25^th in OBS. As for the stars, Werth and Zimmerman are only batting .214 and .254, while fortunately Strasburg might be pitching next month and Harper was promoted to AA.

In the days before play resumes on the team’s bright future, try to test your knowledge of the team’s past to pass the time. Can you name the Nationals all-time stat leaders in 5 minutes? Can you name the Nationals opening day lineups in 8 minutes? Or you can just read up on these guys.

Spring Sports Recap

This year’s #1 spring sports teams fared much better than last year’s edition. Last year, five of my favorite teams were ranked #1 going into the postseason and all of them choked. Luckily this year, of the four teams that made the playoffs, only one went out early. Coincidentally, the team that came in with the least expectations was the one that won a title.

The Capitals came into the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in the league and earned the top seed in the East, only to get swept in the second round to the Lightning. Despite their consecutive early exits the past two seasons, the team seems stuck in the same direction by resigning Brooks Laich to a big deal and retaining Coach Boudreau.

Over the weekend, UVA’s #1 ranked baseball team lost in extra innings to eventual back-to-back champion South Carolina after committing back to back errors, having their star pitcher go out sick, and going 0-14 with runners in scoring position. Despite the excruciating way they were eliminated, the Cavaliers had their best season ever, lasting until the final four teams.

Similarly, the UVA tennis team made the final for the first time in the programs history, but also fell short to the eventual back-to-back champion USC (California, not Carolina this time). Despite being a couple points away from pulling off the come-from behind victory, there is no reason they cannot contend for a title again next year considering they are 68-0 against opponents not named the Trojans.

Oddly enough, my spring sports team that ended up going all the way was the one with the lowest expectations; the #7 ranked lacrosse team. Luckily, there’s a chance they can bring home another trophy next season considering most of the starters will be back next year.

Even though the Cleveland Cavs and Wizards did not even make the playoffs, they got great reviews in the draft, so there is hope all around.

Jim Riggleman Quits On the Above .500 Nationals

Minutes after the lowly Nationals won their 11th game in 12 tries, manager Jim Riggleman resigned over a contract dispute. He walks away from a team which is now above .500 for the first time this late in the year since their inaugural season in 2005. Apparently the 140-172 coach dropped an ultimatum on GM Mike Rizzo to extend his current one year deal in the midst of one of the best stretches in the team's recent history.


Only a DC sports team can have both positive and negative news on ESPN.com at the same time: (click to enlarge)

Further reading:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/dailypitch/post/2011/06/jim-riggleman-quits-manager-nationals-winning-streak/1


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/nationals-journal/post/riggleman-quits-at-nationals-manager/2011/06/23/AGPDlnhH_blog.html?wprss=nationals-journal

Virginia Cavaliers are Omaha Bound!

UVa’s baseball team is headed to the College World Series for the second time in the program’s history after a thrilling three game series against UC-Irvine. The past weekend, the Cavaliers hosted the Anteaters in the super regional round of the NCAA tournament in surprisingly stormy Charlottesville. In the first game, #2 overall MLB draft pick Danny Hultzen and Cody Winiarski combined to pitch a four hit shutout in the Hoo’s 6-0 victory despite a two hour rain delay.

On Sunday, the Wahoo’s jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second game before monsoon season came delaying the game for four hours. Once play resumed, UC Irvine gained momentum and rallied to tie the game in seventh and took the lead for good in the eighth, forcing an additional game.

In the third and decisive game, the Anteaters and Cavs were locked in a 1-1 pitchers duel going into the ninth inning. In the top of the inning, UVA made an uncharacteristic error on a bunt attempt putting men on first and third with no outs. The next Anteater batter drove in the leading run on a double play. Then in the bottom of the inning, Virginia’s first two batters were quickly retired. Trailing by one run, in front of five thousand fans at home, the nation’s #1 team was on the ropes. Then after falling 1-2, one strike away from elimination, David Coleman singled to center, Jared King got an infield single, and Reed Gragnani walked on four pitches to load the bases. After taking strike one, Chris Taylor makes Sportcenter’s #5 play of the day:

After one strike away from having nothing to write about, now my only concern is which sweet tee shirt I could get?

So Far, So Good for UVA Baseball

Virginia’s road to Omaha got off to a great start this weekend as the Cavaliers baseball team won all three games in the regional round. In three straight routs, the Wahoos crushed Navy, St. Johns, and ECU by a combined 29-3. In addition to their offensive prowess, UVa pitchers struck out 42 batters out of the possible 81 outs. #15 UC-Irvine comes to Charlottesville for the Super Regional this weekend after upsetting UCLA. The Anteaters hosted Virginia two years ago, when the Cavs made it all the way to the College World Series.

In addition, UVa got some other good news, when pitcher Danny Hultzen was surprisingly selected second overall by the Seattle Mariners in last night’s MLB Draft, the highest ever for a Hoo baseball player. I was hoping he was going to fall to sixth to the Nationals, but it looks like there can only be one Cavalier playing close to home.

UVA Spring Sport Champions

Over the Memorial Day weekend, two of Virginia’s spring sports teams won titles. In Baltimore, the Cavalier men’s lacrosse team won their fifth NCAA title, while in Durham; the baseball team won its third ACC tournament crown.

In the first game of the lacrosse final four, UVa faced off against an upstart Denver squad making its first appearance on the big stage, compared to the Wahoo’s 21^st. Their inexperience showed as the Cavs jumped to a 5-2 first quarter lead and were up 13-3 at one point. After dispatching the Pioneers with a final score of 14-8, Virginia advanced to their ninth final, this time against rival Maryland.

On a sweltering hot Memorial Day, the Terrapin defense cooled off the Hoos, shutting them out in the first quarter. Despite playing in Maryland’s backyard at Ravens Stadium, the Cavaliers responded to take a 5-3 halftime lead. After the Terps rallied to tie the game at six in the fourth quarter, Virginia used their new ball control precision offense to connect on three straight goals, which sent the black and red clad fans heading for the exits with two minutes left. The nine goals scored by the Cavs were the second fewest on the year, the fewest also being against Maryland in an earlier loss.

This was the fifth title for the program, third since my freshman year in 2003, which is an absurdly high number when compared to the rest of the teams in my 100% theory. During that same span, only one of the other eleven teams have won a title (1% Colts in ‘06), and one other even made a title game (Cleveland Cavs in ’07). It gets even worse when you expand the time frame, since five of the teams have never won a title (UVa football and basketball, Cleveland Cavs, Capitals, and Nationals) and the Indians and Browns have not won in almost five decades. Maybe I should only have lacrosse jerseys and posters. This is certainly a good start.

Not to be forgotten, the UVa baseball team won their second ACC title game in three years over the weekend as well. Virginia won all four of their games in the tournament including victories over three top-20 schools. They will hope to capitalize on this momentum as they did two years ago when they won the tournament and advanced to their only College World Series. It helps that they will be the #1 overall seed and have this new shirt to wear around.

Almost a Title for UVA Spring Sports

This past week was up and down for the dominant Virginia spring sports teams. One pulled off an upset, another won and lost, while one just plain lost.

UVa’s #1 men’s tennis team headed into the NCAA Tournament this past weekend undefeated and went into their first ever title game unblemished. After cruising over Illinois and two close matches against Stanford and Ohio State, Virginia faced #2 USC in the title game. The Trojans were the two-time defending champs and knocked the Cavaliers out of the tournament last year. After going down 3-0 early, the Hoos rallied to tie the match 3-3, only to fall in the last points. Maybe UVA’s coaches need to start secretly taping USC’s practices or go Tonya Harding on their best player because their only two losses in the past 70 matches were to the Trojans.

Meanwhile on Long Island, Virginia’s men’s lacrosse team faced #2 Cornell in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. The Big Red came into the matchup as one of the hottest teams in the country, winners of 11 in a row. Even though UVa was the last team to beat Cornell, the Wahoo’s are a different team now with the suspensions of two of their best players, and looked like it going down 4-1 early. Luckily the Cavs rallied in the 2^nd quarter with a stunning 9 unanswered goals to essentially seal the win with the 10-4 halftime lead. Not only did UVa make its fourth straight final four with the win, but coach Dom Starsia broke the record for most all-time D1 wins. Virginia faces an up and coming Denver squad this Saturday on ESPN, which has already beaten Duke and Hopkins this year, and are led by 6-time title winning coach Bill Tierney. If Virginia advances, they would face one of two arch rivals, Duke or Maryland on Memorial Day on ESPN.

Luckily flying under the radar, the #1 Hoos baseball team got swept over the weekend to North Carolina. Not only was it the first time they lost a series this season, but the Cavaliers had not been swept in three years. The ACC Tournament starts this week which will be a nice tune up for the NCAA Tournament which starts in June. Fortunately, the Cavs anemic offense against UNC (3 runs) woke up with a 13-1 mercy rule pounding of Wake Forest in the first game on Wednesday.

Let’s hope the lacrosse and baseball teams can finish their seasons on top, unlike the tennis team which almost won a title. Wait, does UVA have a horseshoes and hand grenades team?

Cleveland Cavaliers Win Draft Lottery

The Cleveland Cavaliers took a big step in the post Lebron James era as they won the NBA draft lottery tonight. Not only do they have the number one overall pick (from a trade with the Clippers), but they have the fourth overall as well. Maybe David Stern rigged the bouncing balls to correct the carnage left in Lebron’s absence, or maybe it’s just the Clippers doing what they do best.

While there is no clear cut top choice like in previous years (Wall, Griffin, Rose, etc), two solid draft selections can be a great foundation for the team’s future. It would have been interesting to draft another hometown hero, Jared Sullinger out of Ohio State, but he is returning to school, and I’d be wary of drafting an OSU big man #1 anyway. There will be a lot of speculation on who the Cavs should draft (Arizona’s Derrick Williams, Duke’s Kyrie Irving, European no names), but maybe they should trade down since they need a lot of help. They would be drafting for potential, not immediate need since they had the worst record in the conference, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Williams and say Kemba Walker in Cleveland uniforms next year.

Another Great Weekend for UVA Spring Sports

So far, so good for Virginia spring sports teams. This past weekend, UVA’s men’s tennis and men’s lacrosse teams were victorious in their opening rounds of the NCAA playoffs, while the baseball team continued their dominant season.

The #1 men’s tennis team started the NCAA tournament at home last weekend against Sacred Heart and Wake Forest. The Wahoos continued their perfect season by dispatching the Demon Deacons and Pioneers by a combined 8-1. Virginia travels to Stanford for the final four rounds, played in a six day span, beginning with Illinois on Thursday. They have won 67 of their past 68 matches and have made this sweet 16 round for the eighth consecutive year without even making the finals once. Let’s hope the eighth time’s a charm.

A couple days later at Klockner Stadium, UVA’s men’s lacrosse team prevailed in overtime against an underrated Bucknell team 13-12 in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Bison came in with the better record and ranking but revealed their playoff inexperience by not controlling the ball and killing the clock when they were ahead in the final minutes. Despite their struggles this season, the Cavs advanced to the elite eight for the sixth time in seven seasons and next weekend will be up against #2 Cornell.

Meanwhile a hundred yards away, Virginia’s #1 baseball team completed a series victory over #16 Miami. 45-6 UVa has won all ten of their series’ this year with only #13 UNC left until the ACC and NCAA tournaments begin in a couple weeks.

Hopefully these teams can keep up their winning ways this weekend since there is no Caps or Cleveland Cavs to follow in the playoffs anymore this year.

Should the Caps Should Fire Boudreau?

Once again, the Capitals choked in the playoffs, being swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning. After converting 17% of their power plays in the regular season, DC scored on only 2 of their 18 opportunities and 10% for the entire playoffs. Likewise after killing off all but 14.4% of penalties during the regular season, for 2^nd place, the Caps allowed 3 power play goals in 4 games to Tampa. Of course, Washington ran into a hot goalie in Roloson who leads the league in the post season in goals against average and save percentage. Backstrom (2 points in playoffs) and Semin (2 in series) disappeared after averaging almost a point a game in the regular season. What is the aftermath for Boudreau and the Caps after this collapse?

Is the bbq faced, sailor mouthed coach fully to blame for the collapse? While only going 17-20 in the playoffs and losing four of six playoffs series are pretty damning, he has the highest winning percentage of all active coaches. While it looked like the players gave up in the third period of game three and missed opportunities, it is the coach’s responsibility to get the players up for any opponent. During the eight game losing streak back in December, chronicled by HBO’s 24/7, it looked like Boudreau was already losing his players with his absurd profanity laden rants. Maybe the players are to blame as well.

Which players are free agents, need to be traded, and are too soft to win in the playoffs? Arnott, Sturm, Knuble, Laich, Bradley, Gordon, and Hannan are unrestricted free agents and only Laich and Knuble would be worthy to re-sign if they can improve on going to the net. Speaking of soft, figure skater Semin has been re-signed year to year reflecting the management’s lack of faith in his disappearing act in the playoffs and dumb penalties. Meanwhile Green might have improved his defense this year, but his offensive skills too often cause liabilities in the defensive zone. Maybe trading Semin and Green are options for a more defensive minded blue liner and tougher forward since each have only one year left on their contracts.

If firing Boudreau is the option, then who is going to take his place? While the Caps can call up Mark French, who won the Calder Cup for the Hershey Bears last year, they might want to avoid bringing up a minor league coach like Boudreau again. Maybe this team needs a disciplinarian that can handle the superstars’ egos and tendencies to revert back to bad habits when pressed in the playoffs. All I know is that I am growing pretty tired of watching 17 days worth of regular season games the past two seasons only for it to be over in a mere 40 hours.

Hopefully Peyton Hillis can 'Cover' the Browns' Failures?

Finally some good news for the Browns! Cleveland’s star running back Peyton Hillis is now on the cover of this season’s Madden videogame. With 66% of the vote, he beat out comeback story Michael Vick, after upsetting Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers last week en route to victory. It is kind of fitting that the Dawg Pound voted Hillis in over the dog killer.

While there is a curse to the Madden cover (see the infamous list here), there is also a Cleveland curse which has been much ballyhooed in this blog. Maybe these two curses will cancel each other out and the Browns and Hillis will return to the playoffs and glory? Or, more likely, Hillis’ fun but dangerous bruising style of running through and jumping over defenders will lead to injuries and fumbles this season, adding to the Madden curse’s lore.

Either way, I am still getting the game for the first time in five years.

Virginia Spring Sports Update

Since I last posted on UVA’s spring sports successes on March 30^th, the tennis and baseball teams have gone an impressive 24-2.

The #1 tennis team remained perfect on the season winning the past nine matches 46-8 against five #16 teams. Last weekend, the Hoo’s won their fifth consecutive ACC title without even losing a set. Let’s hope they keep up their winning ways and reverse their choking history in the NCAA tournament, which begins May 13^th.

Meanwhile, the #1 baseball team has gone 15-2 since their perfect game almost a month ago, including at #8 Georgia Tech. UVA is still in the middle of their ACC schedule with tough matchups against #24 Miami and #5 UNC remaining. Like the tennis team, hopefully the baseball team can complete their season with a title.

Unfortunately I do not want to discuss the lacrosse team’s fortunes, which have lost three of their last four and have dropped out of the top #10. Maybe it’s time the lacrosse team shares the good luck in the playoffs, especially since I already have a sweet tee.

Indians and Nationals are Winning?

Usually during this time of the year I focus my attention on NHL and NBA playoffs, while I barely notice that baseball season has started. But do not look now, because the Indians have the best record in the American League while the Nationals are above .500.

At 12-4, Cleveland is tied for the best record in the majors, ahead of last year’s division leader Twins and perennial power Red Sox who are both struggling at 5-10. The Tribe are third in the majors in homers, fifth in ERA, and second in opponents batting average. Cleveland’s hot start can be attributed to the healthy returns of Travis Hafner, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Grady Sizemore, as well as contributions from youngsters Michael Brantley, Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin. After being above 500 for only one game in the past two seasons and picked to finish fourth their division, hopefully the Indians can keep this up and give Cleveland fans some much needed hope.

Meanwhile, the Nationals are turning heads as well. In a season without Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper, Washington is currently above .500. While that might not seem like much, keep in mind that since their inaugural season in 2005, the Nat’s have been above .500 for only 33 games. Of the 810 games has DC taken the field, only 4% of the time have they had a winning record. Three of those seasons they never had a winning record at any point, and the longest they lasted before turning south was May 28^th. Despite subpar batting (27^th in average) fielding (22^nd) and Ryan Zimmerman on the DL, the Nationals are getting by due to four starters with sub 3.4 ERAs. Hopefully Washington can keep glimmers of hope alive in upcoming series against Pittsburgh and NY Mets before facing San Francisco and Philadelphia in early May.

Not bad for two teams in the bottom eight in salary in the league.