The draft last week showed that those fears are long gone.  In fact, outside of the top pick none of the other top 10 picks stayed in their proposed spot as to when the season had ended.  Teams were trading up to get the players they wanted/needed without worrying about anything else and I loved it.  The Cowboys traded up to get the LSU corner and the RAms slid all the way from 2 to 14 while stockpiling picks along the way.  I loved the Rams strategy to get better over the next couple years.  The 49ers went out and got offensive players.  The LIONS drafted defensive players to fill their needs. 

When teams know and can budget what they are going to spend it makes it easier for them to build and plan for the future.  The NFL has a ton of money if teams know they are a guy away they are going to be aggressive to try to get him in a more ‘team’ friendly draft situation.

One group aren’t really happy that Petrino is out and that is the other ad’s around the country.  One of the 15 best jobs in college football just opened up in the premier football conference in the country.  What does that mean?  That means that here we are in April and someone is going to take that job.  That is going to cause some dominos to fall.  It isn’t that he is being fired, but the timing of it that is bad for the other ad’s.  Arkansas is already reaching out I guarantee it.  The amount they can pay for that position is incredible and the coach will walk into a great team this season that is ready to win big.  That’s a recipe for disaster for the other ad’s as this job is a premier job and someone will jump at this leaving a gaping hole in that program with little time to fill it.

The dominos will start falling very shortly and it will be interesting to see how it effects all the teams involved.

Let’s look at the lifetime ban.  Can’t do it and shouldn’t do it.  Williams showed a clear lapse in judgement but didn’t  do anything that he can’t change from.  Unless he shows some addiction to wanting to injure people then you can’t ban him for life.  I have some personal experience in this circle and it is something that is miserable to live with.  Williams messed up big time but if shows some real remorse he should have the chance to prove himself worthy of another job.

On the other side of things we have to wonder how many careers have been ruined at this man’s discretion.  When you talk about slamming a players head into the ground again and again and again and then tearing his ACL you are really messing with that person’s ability to provide for their family.  The actions clearly don’t belong in the game at all and he deserves a serious punishment.  I wouldn’t be opposed to a 3 year suspension or some ban with a minimum of a year.  Get him away from the game and let him see what he is missing and hopefully learn to appreciate what a privilege it is to work in pro sports.

Since his career ended Leaf has had a number of issues with prescription medications and that came up again recently as he was arrested again for trying to steal prescription meds.  He was charged with some felony theft charges and it looks like he’ll be in jail for a little while. 

Just another sad chapter in the life of a troubled person who was blessed with unique athletic gifts.  I wish him the best because I know and deal with people with addictions and they just aren’t themselves.  Ryan Leaf hasn’t been himself for a long time and I hope that he can get himself back.

We don’t really know the answer because the Cadbury is a seasonal item like TEbow.  If we were to have the Cadbury egg all year long would it ruin it?  That’s what is happening with Tebow right now in that he’s cutting into our March madness and infringing on our time away from him.  I think that time away is what allows us to stomach all the Tebow talk in the first place.

With Timmy T getting dealt to the Jets it puts him in the most marketable city in the world.  He has already been put on billboards and ads and all sorts of things.  We are getting mass TEbow thrown at us during our hibernation and it may be too much.  Not only that but this is just the beginning.  When football practice starts in a few months we are really going to get overloaded since Timmy T is now a Jet.  I imagine sportscenter might have to add an extra half hour or just make NFL live an hour program so we can get our solid fil of Timmy.

Yes, you can have too much Tebow.  I contribute to it and I’m ok with it.  He’s a remarkable person who is taking advantage of his limited skills.  He’s a great football player but a better ambassador for how to live your life.  I wish him well in New York even if I don’t think we will see him play much this season.  Do all the billboards while you can Tim.

In my line of work we talk to a lot of people and making money with ‘other people’s money’ like the bank or credit.  We call it OPM and it works for a ton of people who invest in real estate.  They are really using other people’s money to make money for themselves.  With Frank McCourt he basically bought the Dodgers on credit and collateral so he didn’t come out of pocket as much as most people would expect on something like this.  He bought the team for around 430 million dollars and promptly turned them into his own personal playground.  He was a notorious horrible owner who made the Dodgers a laughing stock in baseball and turned them into complete irrelevance in their division.  He didn’t and couldn’t go after expensive players but he sure lived and expensive life.

Yesterday it was announced that McCourt has a deal in place to sell the Dodgers for 2 billion dollars.  The deal is a cash deal meaning it isn’t financed by any bank or anything.  2 billion dollars.  McCourt does a horrible job of owning the team but in the end is going to sell the franchise for nearly 5 times what he bought it for.  Does that even seem fair?  Then to top it off Frank also gets a piece of the parking action at Dodger stadium.

I’ll say this about the guy.  He might have been one of the worst baseball team owners but he made the best investment of his life when he got involved with the Dodgers.  I give him credit and I give him luck.  He happened to have a product that got caught up in a bidding war and he sat and watched his bank account grow by quite a bit.

With Tebow in Denver it allows Manning to just be Manning and do what is necessary without the distraction of Tebow.  The funniest part to me is that Tebow never asks for the attention but he seems to always get it.  Don’t get me wrong, he’s a competitor and wants to be a starting quarterback but he isn’t out there telling the press that he deserves to play more.  It just follows him and has since college.  He’s that guy you love or you hate for some reason.

With Tebow being traded to the Jets the Broncos got the best of both worlds.  The signed a much better quarterback and were able to get draft picks for him that are probably going to be better players than Tebow was at his position.  It was a great move by Elway to make it happen quickly so both franchises could move on.  You’ll notice that all the press you see and hear is about the JETS and Tebow and that is just how it is going to be moving forward.  Elway can take a deep breath and focus on football while his Broncos become serious contenders in the AFC.

Peyton leaves behind one of the greatest legacies that any quarterback could possibly lead behind.  He is one of the most visible and popular players in the game and has made football the king of INDY.  He’s been an ambassador for football and will continue to be the rest of his life.  Could the Colts have handled it better?  I don’t know.  I think they probably tried to get him to restructure the deal.  After all, it would be great to have Peyton show Andrew Luck the ropes for a season or two but you can’t expect Peyton to be happy about it. 

We have to understand that Peyton wants to compete and he wants to win.  The records are nice and all but not as nice as a ring.  He is taking a chance by leaving INDY and doing something to his legacy but he is driven by this and it gives him a new challenge.  He’ll be the most watched player in the league next year and I still think he has plenty left in the tank.

He’s not RG3.  Griffin has that something special about him.  He has that smile, swagger and natural leadership that can’t really be taught.  It has me wondering if he should be the guy.  I know the Colts are going to take Luck and you can’t fault them for that but Griffin should get more consideration than he is given credit for.  After all, this is a kid who took BAYLOR to a major bowl game and put them back on the map.  He’s by all accounts a great kid and a great student and he has a drive to be the best.  We watched it all year.  Can he do the same with the Colts, Redskins or Browns? Of course.

The Redskins are now said to be the team to beat for the 2nd pick in the draft and that would be a great fit for Griffin.  I can’t remember a time where I wanted a college player to succeed more than RG3 and I think a lot of people feel the same way.

The colts are taking Andrew Luck with the top pick and that is just about as much of a lock as we’ve seen in a while. Luck looked great at the combine and only made the choice more solid.  With the 2nd pick, Robert Griffin III is set to go to the team picking there.  Currently the Rams hold it but have a ton of power.  Teams need good quarterbacks and Griffin is a great prospect.  He can throw and run and is very smart, having graduated already from Baylor.  Teams are already talking to the RAms about trading for that pick and the more interest that is there means the Rams will only get a better and better deal as they use leverage to make that happen.

The team everyone thinks will move up is Cleveland.  They have Colt McCoy but Griffin is much better and McCOy is coming off a concussion season where the Browns just haven’t improved.  They currently hold 2 first round picks and others that the Rams could acquire to fill a number of holes, including getting Sam Bradford a solid receiver to actually throw to.  The Rams took a step backward last year but having this pick will really put them in a good spot in a not so strong division.  I sure hope they don’t screw this one up.