Monday Grab Bag: Declarations all around

NFL draft week is one that always seems exciting right up until the point you actually start living through it.  I hope everyone enjoys the soothing tones of Todd McShay and Mel Kiper, Jr., because they're all you're going to hear from on ESPN the next few days. 

In anticipation of 6 days of overwrought declarations, some based in fact and some not, I've dedicated this grab bag to declarative exclamations. 

Click below for today's bag...




Everyone is wrong about Jimmy Smith! - I talked about this a few months back, but the hand-wringing over Jimmy Smith's under-age drinking 4 years ago was as absurd then as it is now.  Ringo has a good article up about it today, but I continue to be confounded by what teams, and the lemming-esque media, deign worthy of their concern trolling. Cam Newton essentially gets a pass for all of his self-prostitution and laptop theft, but a few beers from 2007 could cost Jimmy Smith a first round slot?  Are these people serious?

I whole heartedly echo Ringo's question: have these people ever met Jimmy Smith?

Take your character concerns and shove them up your ass; Jimmy is a great guy who will have a great NFL career.

Whoever has the "guts" to see past the dangerous criminal past of Jimmy, which includes the aforementioned juvenile brewskis and a joint long before he began seeing the field, will get a steal of a defensive back.  To that point, I continue to see this series of trumped up "character issues" as a ploy from teams picking late in the first round, hoping that the idiot GM's in the top-half stay away from a quality man and player, thus allowing Jimmy to fall into their laps.


The Nuggets are awful! - I decided to blow some of my hard earned cash on the Rich & Creamy's 3rd game against the Thunder Saturday evening.  All I got for my $24 was the opportunity to purchase and $8 Dale's from a cranky bartender, a seat next to a fat Samoan Thunder fan, and a live and in-person look at a team with no identity.  We may bemoan the Carmelo Anthony's of the world, in all their ball-hogging glory, but at least he would've hit a jump shot (probably) in the 4th quarter.

Kevin Durant may have had a quiet 26 points, but the Thunder easily blew past a poor Denver effort int he 4th quarter of game 3.

As it was, George Karl had no idea who to play in the final 12 minutes, and the team reciprocated by having no offensive identity.  Missed free throws lead to missed jumpers, which lead to poor looks in the paint, which lead to half-hearted attempts to break out and run, which lead to more blech.  It was awful, and the Nuggets will rightfully be swept tonight.  Hey, at least I got the chance to confirm that, yes, Al Harrington is awful!

If the Spurs end up losing to the Grizzlies in their first round series, the Thunder might get the easiest pass into the conference finals ever.


The Blackhawks are alive! - Contrary to what I may have said last week, the Hawks are not done in their defense of the Stanley Cup; whatever bank the Canucks tried to take their lead to was apparently shuttered in the mortgage crisis.  Backs up against the wall, the Hawks have now ripped off 3 straight wins, including an enthralling 4-3 OT win last night in Chicago.  The action shifts to a stunning game 7 Tuesday night in Vancouver.  Should they win to zombie their way past the Canucks, the Hawks would become only the 4th NHL team to ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series.

Uh Oh Vancouver, you woke up the Hawks!

And it's not entirely out of the question.  After having pulled star goalie Roberto Luongo, who had fallen on his face to the tune of 12 goals in games 4 and 5, the Canucks had to send him back in when back-up Corey Schnieder cramped up on Michael Frolik's game-tying penalty shot in the 3rd period.  With the Vancouver goalie situation in doubt, I think the Hawks may just be able to steal one north of the border to complete the comeback.


The White Sox suck! - In much more depressing news, my White Sox are awful.  After a weekend sweep at the hand of the Tigers, which saw my boys humbled to the point of 3 runs total and back-to-back shutouts over the 3 games in Detroit, the Sox have now lost 10 of 11 games.  Even my mom, a grown up girl, can tell the Sox are in trouble.  She saw one of last week's games in Tampa, and repeatedly used the word "poor" to describe their play.  I've come up with some other, more colorful terms: "pathetic," "sad," "super-crappy," "hyper-awful," "shit-tacular," and "worse-than-ebola."  The Bulls better go deep into the playoffs, 'cause I can't bear to watch this train wreck too much longer.


Happy Monday!