Sunday, February 15, 2009

Upcoming NFL things

Well we are fully immersed in non stop college basketball, and NBA these days. Thus I have taken a sbbatical from watching SportsCenter, ESPN, and most sports channels. I am a life long Laker fan but besides that I have ZERO interest in BBall.

The combine is quickly approaching as the annual task of wondering why a gifted athlete never reached his potential on the field, or why a guy that isn't fast, strong, or agile excelled at the college level and how both of those adorementioned scenarios translate into a succesful pro player. Inevitably more than one team will be blown away with a guy's "measurables" at the combine. 40 yard dash, verticla jump, bench press, or skill position drills. For every truely gifted athlete there are the Mike Mammula's, Adam Archueleta's, and most recently Vernon Gholsten's. These guys played well in college but their draft position significantly increased due to testing during the combine. Let's hope the Rams don't fall into this trap.

The combine certainly can provide more accurate information about players, especially because their "measurables" tend to be exaggerated in college.

Look at it this way, I'd much rather watch a guy run a 40 yard dash in tights and hear about the draft than listen to Dickie V slobber over some diaper dandy from Seton Hall (my apologies if you are an alum).

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Spags et al

Not much going on for the fans to discuss. Mainly some coaching hires, and front office shuffling. It is in encouraging that Chip Rosenbloom is following through with his vision to change the culture of the organization. As I have said for years this is a top to bottom process. The front office needed competent folks who worked within their area of expertise. On paper Rosenbloom has achieved that thus far.

Coaching is important as it gives players reason to believe that they will succeed if they follow instruction, as well as young players with proper instruction can reach their potential. I was a big fan of Haslett, but believe Spags and Devaney have us going in a positive direction with their cohesive approach and the front office moves.

Now alot of pieces including striking during free agency and the draft to ensure more talented players needs to occur. If all our hopes and dreams for the new Rams comes true then we can be happy fans once again.