Skip Bayless is Pure Entertainment

ESPN has found the winning formula for their show First Take by pitting Stephen A. Smith against Skip Bayless. I couldn't believe what I was hearing when Bayless was trying to convince the First Take panel why Drew Brees may not deserve to be the highest paid QB. He mentioned the Rams loss and 49ers playoff loss (in which Brees put up 32 points). ESPN's Cris Carter shot him down with what everyone was thinking, "And how many games did he win?" 

But even more entertaining is when Bayless starts to talk about Tebow. Bayless never has an answer to why Tebow completed 46% of his passes last season. He claims it was John Fox's fault because he was "holding Tebow back." Well no matter the system a QB has to accurately throw the ball. 

Either way, Bayless is probably garnering ESPN some heavy ratings. 

David Wright Is On Fire

Hitting .411 in the middle of May. That's amazing. It's easy to understand why he was mad when Mets manager Terry Collins pulled him out of a game recently. His OBP is .513. He's more likely to get on base than record an out. He'll eventually come back to Earth and hit in the .300's, but props to Wright for the hot start. Maybe he can lift the Mets to the playoffs for the first time in a while.

Pacers or Heat?

If the Heat lose this series, it'll be monumental. The whole idea of the "Dream Team" will cease to exist. I like the Pacers in this series. Frankly, it's easy to see why the Heat aren't dominating.

They have absolutely no inside game. Roy Hibbert and David West are dominating the post. For all the stars the Heat have, they may have one of the worst, if not the worst group of big men in the league. Combine that with the fact that they're shooting 5 of 42 from 3-point range, and you can see why Indiana is leading 2-1.

I think the loss of Bosh was devastating. Lebron James has to function as the post player, as well as the mid-range shooter without him. The real travesty is Shane Battier and Mike Miller. These guys are playing terribly. If you can't win on the inside you have to win on jump shots and right now the jump shots aren't falling for either of them.

Jets QB Situation

Mark Sanchez has got to be scared. If he plays poorly in the first few games, he could get pulled and eventually replaced by Tim Tebow. It seems like the Jets are prepared for Tebow to lead them eventually. If there's any coach who likes Tim Tebow's style of play, it's Rex Ryan. He likes utilizing the run game and if your QB can do it, then a whole other dimension is added.

The Jets drafted Georgia Tech WR Stephen Hill. Ring any bells?? Broncos WR Demaryius Thomas, former Georgia Tech WR. Thomas is a slower version of Hill.

Here's what I think is going to happen. Within the first 8 games, Sanchez will be replaced by Tebow. So Tebow will finish out the season and a decision will be made. The Jets will either stick with Tebow as their full time QB if he plays well or shows good potential, or they'll draft another viable. Either way, I don't see Sanchez there beyond this season. Even though he got the extension, the Jets really just threw it at him to make the critics quiet down for bit.

2012 Men's French Open Predictions

Winner: Rafael Nadal


I'm predicting Rafael Nadal to win the French Open. He may have dropped to world #3, but he will always be on top at Roland Garros. Maybe the best clay court player ever, he has only lost once since 2005 at the French Open. Simply cannot go against Nadal here.

Federer to me poses more of a challenge than Djokovic because he's on a role right now and looking more like his old self. After winning in Madrid, he's sure to have a lot of confidence. Yet, no matter how good Federer is, he hasn't been able to crack Nadal at the French Open and I think that trend will continue.

Sleeper: Tomas Berdych

Another outside possibility is Tomas Berdych. He's been playing very well recently and has that big-hitting game to take down Nadal, similar to Robin Soderling in 2009. The chances of this happening are very slim.

Early Exit Prediction: Andy Murray

Let's face the facts. Andy Murray has not played well at all recently. He lost in the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo to Tomas Berdych and in the quarterfinals in Barcelona to Milos Raonic. Now he's lost in the 3rd round of the Italian Open to Richard Gasquet. These are all formidable opponents, but for the world #4 he must beat these guys. Both Raonic and Gasquet aren't even in the top 20. I could see an early round exit for Murray.

Surprise Player who could go deep: Juan Martin del Potro

He has the game to do it. He reached the semifinals in 2009 at the French Open and won the 2009 US Open. The question is whether he can sustain it for best out of five sets. It wouldn't surprise me if he beat a top 5 player to go to the semis or maybe even the finals.

LeSean McCoy Makes Eagles Viable

While the Eagles had a disappointing season last year finishing 8-8, LeSean McCoy was fantastic. Extending him for 5 years $45 million was absolutely worth it. He provided another dynamic for Michael Vick and the Eagles' offense. Finishing 4th in the league with 1,309 yards and tops in the NFL with 17 rushing touchdowns, McCoy was the best player on offense hands down. More importantly, he has produced and will continue to do so in the future.

He is a great runner, as well as a great pass catcher. He had 48 receptions for 315 yards last season, which for a running back is terrific. He only turned over the ball once last year with one fumble lost. The guy is a stud running back. He's one of the top-five backs in the league and shows no signs of slowing down. At 23 years old, this was a deal the Eagles had to get done.

If Michael Vick has another average season, the Eagles are going to have to heavily rely on McCoy again. In an age of depreciating running back value, the Eagles have to be commended for making the right decision here.

Is A-Rod Becoming A Prima Donna

A-Rod's poker playing habits have landed him in hot water. He may face a suspension if found guilty of playing in a high stakes poker game. Some are calling for the suspension to be ten games or more just to send a message to him.

He was reportedly warned by Commissioner Bud Selig not to take part in these poker games, so that could weigh in the MLB's decision on a punishment. But the bigger issue here is with A-Rod himself. He's part of the Yankees long term plans and is basically impossible to trade because of his massive ten-year $275 million contract.

His personal life has been subject of much debate recently. He's had a rotating circle of girlfriends reportedly going through Kate Hudson, Madonna, and more recently Cameron Diaz.

It seems to be affecting his play on the field. He's had his worst power season in recent memory with only 13 homers and 52 RBI's.

The Yankee's have to have a chat with him and tell him to get his priorities straight. He's got to understand that what he does off the field affects the Yankees.

Merril Hoge Bashes Broncos Quarterback Tim Tebow. Ouch!

If you haven't heard it already, ESPN analyst Merril Hoge had some pretty harsh criticism for Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow.

Hoge basically said Tebow had little to no chance of succeeding in the NFL as a quarterback. He points out the elongated throwing motion, his overall mechanics, but worst of all his decision making. He says Tebow in order to have a chance of succeeding would have to go through a process similar to what Aaron Rodgers went through when he sat for four years behind Brett Favre.

The film does support Merril Hoge. Tebow has bad mechanics and didn't scan the field as best as you want your quarterback to do so, but let's also point out Tebow only played in four games last year and is a second year quarterback.

I'd still say Tebow has a chance to succeed because he's an extremely hard worker and stops at no cost. He also has that uncanny ability to gain the utmost respect from his teammates because he's a natural leader. But he needs to sit behind Kyle Orton for at least one more full season, preferably two.

Tebow actually took to Twitter to respond to Merril Hoge's comments saying, "Hey Merril…… ‘ppreciate that." Classy response from the always classy Tim Tebow. 

Florida State Could Be Bound for the Glory Days

Jimbo Fisher has done it again. The Florida State Seminoles were able to grab the nation's highest ranked quarterback, Jameis Winston, and add him to their Class of 2012 verbal recruits. 

Florida State has really done some terrific recruiting the last few years, even snagging a couple of five-star recruits last year. Things really could be changing for the better for Florida State. Towards the end of Bobby Bowden's tenure as Florida State head coach, the program was beginning to fall apart with many players embroiled in off-field controversies. 

ESPN even did a segment on academic cheating scandals occurring at Florida State, with past players saying claiming it was true. Florida State is really turning it around though. 

I could see Florida State being a national title contender within the next couple years. Even though they play in the ACC and not the powerhouse SEC conference, they still have tremendous players. 

Why Would Any Team Sign Brett Favre

Last season, Brett Favre had a pretty terrible outing. He had a 69.9 passer rating, 11 touchdowns to 19 interceptions, and had three fumbles. More importantly, he didn't look like an NFL quarterback anymore.

No team should be thinking about signing him out of "retirement." He is 41 years old and his consecutive games streak ended, so he can't take the same type of hits he did earlier in his career.

There's some teams that could use a veteran quarterback for a year like the Miami Dolphins or Seattle Seahawks, but Favre should not be that guy. He comes with too much drama and at the end of the day you don't know if he can still produce. Teams can't bench him because he's a NFL legend. That's exactly the dilemma the Vikings faced last year. They couldn't put Tarvaris Jackson or Joe Webb in early enough to salvage their season because Favre still had his consecutive games streak and was an NFL legend.

Teams should just save themselves the trouble and look for another more viable free agent quarterback than Brett Favre.

Is Tiger Woods Even a Good Golfer Anymore

Tiger is currently ranked number 17 in the world. A couple years ago, he seemed to be at the pinnacle of his career and was secure with his number one ranking. Ever since his personal life has unfolded, winning tournaments for him almost seems like reaching for the moon.

Anyone following golf still understands that he is still the game's biggest attraction, hands down. But we still have to ask the question, "Is he even a good golfer anymore?"

My answer is that these days he's average. He's not the same Tiger Woods we expect the magic and dramatic come-from-behind wins from. He's just become part of the field again, not the hulking Tiger Woods from the past.

Braylon Edwards Signs Short-Term Deal With 49ers

Today, free agent wide receiver Braylon Edwards agreed to a one-year $3.5 million contract with the San Francisco 49ers. He will look to take the field as soon as possible.

This is a pretty disappointing contract for Edwards. All along he was leading us to believe that he wanted a long term deal, more like four or five years. Combined with the fact that he signed his contract relatively late leads me to believe that there was little to no market for Edwards' services.

If he had known there were only short term deals available he might as well have gone back to the Jets. The 49ers have a very bleak quarterback situation for the upcoming season with Alex Smith presumably leading them. Also, he's probably going to play second fiddle to Michael Crabtree as the team's number two wideout.

This doesn't give Edwards much leverage towards possibly signing a bigger deal after next season. Alex Smith is probably in the bottom ten in terms of NFL starting quarterbacks and he isn't going to be the sole focus of the offense next season. With running back  Frank Gore, wide receiver Michael Crabtree, and tight end Vernon Davis, Edwards is just going to be another name on this team.

Edwards and his agent really missed out on this one. The Jets would have been his best option especially since he didn't seem to be commanding a tremendous amount of money for one year.

Who Will Win the AL Cy Young Award

It's that time of year now when the AL Cy Young Award debates start heating up. Who really has been the best pitcher in the AL so far?

The three major contenders this year are the Yankees' CC Sabathia, Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander, and Angels pitcher Jered Weaver. All have posted great numbers and are deserving of the award.

As of now, I think I'd have to give the nod to CC Sabathia. He has 16 wins and has pitched great down the stretch. Verlander has pitched well also and so has Jered Weaver, but I like CC Sabathia. His ERA should be about 2.50 if he keeps up this pace the rest of the season and he's pitching in arguably the toughest division in the AL East.

Kamerion Wimbley's Ridiculous Contract

Oakland Raiders linebacker Kamerion Wimbley just became one of the highest paid linebackers in the league. He recently signed a 5-year $48 million contract.

But here's the real eye-popper. It includes $29 million in guaranteed money. 


Ok. Kamerion Wimbley is a good linebacker. He posted 11.5 sacks last year and seems to have settled into his role as an outside linebacker in the Raiders' 4-3 defensive alignment, but that's an absurd amount of guaranteed money for a player who quite frankly disappointed with the Cleveland Browns.

Al Davis continues to remain a mystery as the Raider's owner. For him it's always been the about the numbers and measurements. BIG, STRONG, FAST.

At least he'll have another athletic player.

Do the Eagles Really Have a Dream Team

After a terrific free-agency period for the Eagles, many are saying the Eagles have a great chance to win the Super Bowl. After all, the nabbed Pro Bowl cornerbacks Nnamdi Asomugha, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Babin, and back up quarterback Vince Young among others. 

But do they really have as Jason Babin called, a "dream team?" I think they have a good chance to win, but isn't "Dream Team" taking it a little too far?