1. Now that the Miami Dolphins have completed a trade for Trent Green, they’ve announced that Daunte Culpepper is on the trading block. Personally, I think Daunte Culpepper is washed-up as a starting QB in the NFL. In his only season in Minnesota without Randy Moss, he was nothing short of horrible before getting hurt. Now that he’s coming off his second knee surgery, I have to assume that he’s got even less left in the tank.
And yet, here I am, advocating that the Giants make a trade for him. As long as it doesn’t cost them more than, say, sixth-round picks in the next couple of drafts, the Giants could use Culpepper on the team in the hopes that he can somehow rebound. Eli Manning has no future in the NFL as a starting QB. Current backups Anthony Wright and Jared Lorenzen represent a has-been and a never-will-be. The Giants should use this trade to motivate Manning and to scare him into giving more consistent performances. And if – and it’s a big if – Culpepper is healthy and can show up to camp in shape, he might even be a mediocre option to use instead of Manning.
There’s no downside for the Giants here. I hope they pull their head out of their ass with Eli and realize that, with Daunte, they won’t be getting any worse at this point.
2. Now that Billy Donovan has shown about as much decisiveness as a high school girl picking her outfit for the high school dance, the Orland Magic seem prepared to move on with Stan Van Gundy as their next coach. The only catch is that the Miami Heat are talking about asking for compensation in order to let SVG out from under his Heat contract.
I have to say, given how shabbily SVG was treated by the Heat, I’m surprised that they wouldn’t have the decency to let him pursue a head coaching opportunity. After all, he’s only a “consultant” to the team, presumably a position that could be filled by any number of other candidates. What’s the upside for the Heat? Cash? Draft picks? Can a team consultant really be worth draft picks? If the Magic decide that they don’t want to compensate Miami and move in another direction, it will be one more stab-wound in SVG’s back. Pat Riley ought to be ashamed.
3. ESPN is now running a feature that ranks all the NBA Finalists over the past 30 years or so. Directly below that is a feature that tries to make the case that the 2006-07 Cavs are the NBA’s worst-ever finalist based on a bucket of stats. To that I say, WHO CARES? Were the 2006 Chicago Bears the worst-ever team to play in the Super Bowl? Probably so. But should the Bears be apologizing for that fact? Of course not! Similarly, do the Pistons (probably a better team than the Cavs) have a right to be in the Finals just because they pass this statistical smell-test with higher grades? King James answered that question already.
I will probably make this a separate column in the coming weeks but I dislike how ESPN has reduced sports to arguments of instant history. They constantly seem to want to make everything into a best-ever/worst-ever type of argument which is neither informative nor particularly interesting. But if they persist, then I nominate ESPN for worst-ever sports media conglomerate. We are ever-stupider for continuing to have them yell into our ears.
And yet, here I am, advocating that the Giants make a trade for him. As long as it doesn’t cost them more than, say, sixth-round picks in the next couple of drafts, the Giants could use Culpepper on the team in the hopes that he can somehow rebound. Eli Manning has no future in the NFL as a starting QB. Current backups Anthony Wright and Jared Lorenzen represent a has-been and a never-will-be. The Giants should use this trade to motivate Manning and to scare him into giving more consistent performances. And if – and it’s a big if – Culpepper is healthy and can show up to camp in shape, he might even be a mediocre option to use instead of Manning.
There’s no downside for the Giants here. I hope they pull their head out of their ass with Eli and realize that, with Daunte, they won’t be getting any worse at this point.
2. Now that Billy Donovan has shown about as much decisiveness as a high school girl picking her outfit for the high school dance, the Orland Magic seem prepared to move on with Stan Van Gundy as their next coach. The only catch is that the Miami Heat are talking about asking for compensation in order to let SVG out from under his Heat contract.
I have to say, given how shabbily SVG was treated by the Heat, I’m surprised that they wouldn’t have the decency to let him pursue a head coaching opportunity. After all, he’s only a “consultant” to the team, presumably a position that could be filled by any number of other candidates. What’s the upside for the Heat? Cash? Draft picks? Can a team consultant really be worth draft picks? If the Magic decide that they don’t want to compensate Miami and move in another direction, it will be one more stab-wound in SVG’s back. Pat Riley ought to be ashamed.
3. ESPN is now running a feature that ranks all the NBA Finalists over the past 30 years or so. Directly below that is a feature that tries to make the case that the 2006-07 Cavs are the NBA’s worst-ever finalist based on a bucket of stats. To that I say, WHO CARES? Were the 2006 Chicago Bears the worst-ever team to play in the Super Bowl? Probably so. But should the Bears be apologizing for that fact? Of course not! Similarly, do the Pistons (probably a better team than the Cavs) have a right to be in the Finals just because they pass this statistical smell-test with higher grades? King James answered that question already.
I will probably make this a separate column in the coming weeks but I dislike how ESPN has reduced sports to arguments of instant history. They constantly seem to want to make everything into a best-ever/worst-ever type of argument which is neither informative nor particularly interesting. But if they persist, then I nominate ESPN for worst-ever sports media conglomerate. We are ever-stupider for continuing to have them yell into our ears.
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