Random Thoughts - Saturday April 26

11:12 PM
In some sort of sick self-fulfilling prophetic way, if you start the day talking about roller coasters and how well things are going for all of your teams, by the end of the day things will have changed. The Braves fall to 0-8 in one run games and lose to the hated Mets, the Titans only frustrate on draft day with picks that I don't care to spend any more time on right now, and then the Celtics find a way to put some drama in their playoff series with the Hawks by allowing Josh Smith to flirt with a triple-double and surrendering 100+ points in a Game 3 loss. As Indiana Jones once said, "Oh rats."

Actually, if there's some sort of twisted silver lining in all this fun today, it was Al Horford's 4th quarter antics against the Celtics. While the Hawks did do a good job closing the game out, and Horford is every bit the great player he was at Florida as an NBA rookie (17 points 14 boards tonight), he hit a shot late in the 4th with the game relatively in hand, after Paul Pierce went for a steal and fell down. After hitting the shot, Horford stopped, bent down, pointed and screamed something at Pierce on his way back down the floor. Not that the Celtics need extra motivation to beat the Atlanta Hawks, but at least now this should make things more interesting in Game 4.

And finally...congratulations to former Vol Luke Hochevar, who won his first major league game today for the Kansas City Royals. Because we always like to end on a good note.

7:44 PM
So the Titans folks in the front office and Jeff Fisher are lauding Chris Johnson's gamebreaking speed and ability to score a touchdown every time he touches the ball. Fair enough. But here's what's troubling to me after doing a little research:

Johnson ran for 1423 yards at East Carolina in 2007, but he only cracked the century mark five times. His numbers are inflated by two things: a gargantuan performance against the "mighty" Tiger High defense at Memphis (301 yards), and the real money-maker, his Hawaii Bowl work against Boise State (223 yards). That's impressive, no doubt. But his other 100 yard performances - against Houston, UTEP, Tulane - add more fuel to the fire that this has the makings of a mid-major player playing well against mid-major competition.

In East Carolina's four non-conference games against Virginia Tech, North Carolina, West Virginia and NC State, Johnson had a combined 51 carries for 186 yards (3.6 per carry). That's not making me feel any better.

True, ECU did a nice job of getting him the ball in the passing game. True, maybe the Titans can line him up wherever and use him as a change of pace, and he plays better with better players around him than he enjoyed at ECU. And as I type this, I'm watching all the receivers come off the board in round two and waiting for pick 54 to come around with no idea where the Titans are going now...and honestly, at this point I think they might just take another RB just to piss me off.

Nobody's more optimistic than me. And I'll love this kid if/when he gets on the field and cheer for him like all the rest. But the armchair GM in me is still shaking his head.

(In totally unrelated news while I wait for the pick...IGN.com, whose rankings I heavily respect, gave Grand Theft Auto IV its first perfect 10.0 score in a decade and is calling it the best video game since Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which is generally considered as the consensus pick as the best video game ever made. Hmmm...)

Jacksonville has picked Derrick Harvey and Quentin Groves. I fear this as both a Vol fan and a Titan fan.

Then, with Limas Sweed on the doorstep, the Steelers, our old friends from the AFC Central, steal him away. Not that we've seen that we could assume that's where the Titans were going to go, but still...now all of the top-tier receivers are off the board.

ESPN, who's usually great at commercials, keeps showing these Baseball Tonight commercials with the guys from the set inserted into classic baseball moments. If I hear about John Kruk's egg salad sandwich one more time, I'm going to throwup.

And then, with the Titans pick in, DirecTV somehow inexplicably cuts away from the ESPN ticker to show me Corona and NASCAR HotPass. We come back, and now I have no idea who the Titans have picked. And no, I can't wait 30 seconds for Boomer to tell me. The aforementioned roller coaster has taken a dive. Now I'm seeing Mike Tomlin and they're not telling me what just happened. WHO DID WE PICK?! I can't wait to be disappointed!

...who did we pick?

...who did we pick?

...for the love of God, who did we pick? It's great to know that Brad Cottam is now the #12 best player available on Kiper's board, but I'd like to end this suffering and watch the Celtics with a much greater assurance that they'll make me feel better. WHO DID WE PICK?!

Because at this point, I refuse to look it up online. I want ESPN to tell me when they're good and %$#ing ready. You're reading my insanity as it happens, right here, right now.

WHO DID WE PICK?! DON'T GO TO COMMERCIAL!! #$@!

Baltimore takes Ray Rice at 55. What about the Titans at 54?!

.................................

.........after four commercials and some awkward silence from the ESPN folks, who are now talking about the %#%!%! music - Green Bay took Brian Brohm, which really is stunning and now we've gotta talk about that, I'm sure, for the next 15 minutes - I'm still waiting. I'm going to find out from the freaking team scroller, which was on the M's when the Titans actually picked about eight minutes ago. Screw you, ESPN.

After all this, Jason Jones, DE Eastern Michigan, better get to Canton one day. Maybe tomorrow we'll draft someone from Eastern Illinois. It's going to be an angry sermon in the morning.

5:52 PM
With all due respect to Chris Johnson's 4.24 at the combine...(facepalm).

You know what this sounds like? You know who he'll be confused with? Chris Henry, running back Arizona, picked in the second round last year after not taking a wide receiver in the first round. Or Chris Brown, running back Colorado, picked in round three in 2003. And those first two guys have been, thus far, forgettable.

They're trying to spin this for the Titans and say that he'll be the lightning to LenDale White's thunder. First of all...isn't that what Henry was supposed to do? And second of all...do we really like LenDale's thunder all that much in the first place? And to re-re-emphasize the greatest point - the Titans are picking 24th, and no wide receivers are coming off the board. Your greatest need is wide receiver, and they're all available. So you're telling me that the best option for the franchise is to pick this kid from East Carolina when you've already got a #1 running back, and that zero - absolutely none of the wide receivers in this draft - can help you more than this kid can?

They're making the point about the lack of productivity from first round wide receivers in recent years, and that's true...but once again, look at the depth chart right now:

Titans Wide Receivers
Justin McCareins
Roydell Williams
Brandon Jones
Justin Gage
Paul Williams
Chris Davis
Biren Early
Mike Williams

Alright, all together now: "Who?"

Even if you don't think Devin Thomas (who I never thought would still be on the board), DeSean Jackson, Limas Sweed or Malcolm Kelly is a positive contribution to that group...we can't trade down? We can't go in another direction?

Hopefully, I'll be linking back to this blog years down the line when Chris Johnson is a household name and not just the third punchline to the point I made earlier. The Titans pick again at 54 in the second round. We'll see where it goes from here.

4:28 PM
So we've had severe thunderstorms here in the Ceres area, which knocked out the DirecTV satellite feed from picks 10-12. So imagine my surprise and mixed elation when the feed returns, and I discover that Jerod Mayo has gone at #10 to the New England Patriots. Guess that decision to turn pro early was a good one, eh?

Everyone's general dislike of the Patriots aside, well done for Mayo, getting to be the first piece of the "faster, younger, better?" Patriots defense and an opportunity to compete for instant playing time or even a start on an 18-1 team. I missed the commentary from the talking heads on the pick, but I know Kiper loved him. Good for Mayo, and now all the more reason for the Titans to go wide receiver.

Delivering the historical relevance you know and love from this blog:

Tennessee First Round Draft Picks - Last 20 Years
1988 - DB Terry McDaniel - 9th - Raiders
1988 - WR Anthony Miller - 15th - Chargers
1989 - LB Keith DeLong - 28th - 49ers
1990 - none
1991 - OT Charles McRae - 7th - Bucs
1991 - OT Antone Davis - 8th - Eagles
1991 - WR Alvin Harper - 12th - Cowboys
1992 - DB Dale Carter - 20th - Chiefs
1992 - DE Chris Mims - 23rd - Chargers
1993 - DE Todd Kelly - 27th - 49ers
1994 - QB Heath Shuler - 3rd - Redskins
1995 - RB James Stewart - 19th - Jaguars
1996 - none
1997 - none
1998 - QB Peyton Manning - 1st - Colts
1998 - DB Terry Fair - 20th - Lions
1998 - WR Marcus Nash - 30th - Broncos
1999 - LB Al Wilson - 31st - Broncos
2000 - RB Jamal Lewis - 5th - Ravens
2000 - DE Shaun Ellis - 12th - Jets
2001 - none
2002 - DT John Henderson - 9th - Jaguars
2002 - WR Donte' Stallworth - 13th - Saints
2002 - DT Albert Haynesworth - 15th - Titans
2003 - none
2004 - none
2005 - none
2006 - DB Jason Allen - 16th - Dolphins
2007 - DT Justin Harrell - 16th - Packers
2007 - WR Robert Meachem - 27th - Saints
2008 - LB Jerod Mayo - 10th - Patriots

Last year, the Vols had more players on NFL rosters than any other school outside of Florida State and Miami, and has had more players drafted in the last ten years than any other school besides Ohio State. If ever you wonder why we tend to recruit well...well, those numbers don't hurt.

2:52 PM
In my churches that I pastor here in southwest Virginia, on a small circuit with congregations ranging between 15-40 people every Sunday morning, we take celebrations and prayer requests from the floor. And every single Sunday without fail, the prayer requests outnumber the celebrations at something like five or six to one. Even when I mention this and bring it to light, it doesn't change things for more than a week - our needs and what's wrong can so often feel more pressing and rise to the surface quicker than our blessings and what's right.

So as I sit here today, on one of those rare days when all the sports world converges with the NFL Draft, the playoffs in the NBA and the NHL, and plenty of Saturday baseball, including Braves at Mets - this is one of the good days.

Tonight, the Celtics will go to Atlanta for Game Three of their opening series with the Hawks, which thus far has lacked drama, just the way we like it. The Celtics have been the best team in the NBA all season and have shown no signs of slowing down in the postseason thus far. Of all my beloved teams on this blog, Boston currently sits at the top of the heap when it comes to the championship potential and the dreams being realized.

But one year ago at this time, we were a different kind of excited. A year ago this weekend, we were getting ready for ping pong balls. A year ago, we were fired up about the chance - and a less than 50% chance at that - of getting either Greg Oden or Kevin Durant in the NBA Draft, and then being fully prepared to buy into a multi-year rebuilding project around one of those two guys, with the hope that maybe, maybe someday in the future, we'd have a chance to contend.

And when the balls didn't fall our way, we were left destitute and broken. Having already suffered through a season where we barely won 20 games and two straight misfires on the postseason, five years since our last trip to the conference finals and 20+ years from our last banner, it seemed like the ping pong balls and their random chance were our last hope. We were much in need.

But the last 365 days for the Celtics are an example of many things - the shape of modern sports, the win-now mentality that prevails across the board, the value of a dollar and a superstar - but above all, it's proof that things can turn around. There's always tomorrow, and one of these tomorrows is going to become today.

Sports fans who invest themselves into their team deal with the roller coaster the rest of their lives. Just using the Celtics as an example - my grandparents were there for Russell and Cousy, rode the slide, were there for Bird, rode the slide again, felt the bottom fall out over the last two decades, and now we're on pace to finish on top again. If a franchise like the Celtics can have 16 World Championships and still be relying on ping pong balls last year, and can still make such an improbable turnaround in one year...it's always the roller coaster. It's not always up and it's not always down...but it always moves forward as long as your team is playing.

That being said...things are pretty good right now.

The Celtics are the pinnacle, though that'll certainly be challenged the deeper into the playoffs we go. And really, the Lady Vols are so far above everyone else that I don't spend much of any time with them on this blog because they're a given until the Sweet 16 every year. The Braves are 12-11 and saw Tim Hudson get chased in the third inning today at Shea, currently trailing the Mets 4-2 in the 6th (and as soon as I type that and check again, now it's 4-3. See, good things are happening). And even though the Braves have missed October the last two years, the memories of the last 15 years still ring true, and Atlanta is still a contender. Before those 15 years, Atlanta was terrible, going worst-to-first in 1991. I remember, even if faintly, the worst years. I remember having to find a playoff team to cheer for every October, because the Braves with Dale Murphy wouldn't be there.

I also remember having to find a bracket team in March. I remember being very fond of UCLA and even owning a pair of authentic UCLA home white shorts from EastBay in the mid-90s. I remember riding the roller coaster another notch up and being so excited just to make the dance under Jerry Green in 1998. And then I remember going back to the empty bracket under Buzz Peterson.

Three years ago, Tennessee Basketball was an afterthought. An absolute afterthought, and when Bruce Pearl showed up, we were all hitting the reset button and preparing ourselves for another long rebuilding process and hoping to make the NIT in his second season. That's not an exaggeration, that's exactly what we were hoping for.

Three years later, everything has changed. And even though the Sweet 16 remains the barrier, I could type this wearing my SEC Champions hat, and more importantly, I know that next year - especially now with Tyler Smith returning, but even without him - the Vols will be in the conversation. The Vols will be able to compete for championships.

You can't always be the Celtics. You won't always be the best or the most talented. The men's basketball team certainly isn't that. The football team in Knoxville hasn't been in that breath since 2001. Talent ebbs and flows for any program or franchise in any sport, ask the Yankees.

But what's key, I believe, are the two words I've been using more than any others - competitive and relevant.

The final goal is never to be competitive, the final goal is always to win championships. But no one in any sport shows up to every preseason camp as the most talented team. But a select few do show up with the ability to compete.

This has never been more true than with Tennessee Football. Preseason rankings or whatever else you want to use aside, this much I know to be true: the Vols will enter the 2008 campaign the same way they've entered most of them for the last 20 years: good enough to beat anybody they play. Maybe not as talented across the board as we were in the late 90s to just show up and win with the T on the helmet in a college football - and especially SEC - landscape that's increasingly competitive. But there's no opponent, anywhere, that's so much better than us that we've got no chance. The Vols are relevant, the Vols are competitive, and if you win, you get to the end result.

Which brings us full circle back to the NFL Draft. As Matt Ryan walks across the stage and picks up his Falcons jersey, and every Atlanta fan hits his own personal reset button, the Titans wait at #24. Under Jeff Fisher since their origin as the Titans 10 years ago, they've been in that competitive/relevant category more often than not. As I've said before, last year I think the Titans got as far as they were going to go, and haven't made significant improvements thus far in the offseason to stay or increase that threshold. So the Draft, as always, carries great weight for Nashville and all Titans fans as we try and stay among the conversation and compete.

You can see the roller coaster in the faces of Jets fans on one end, and the Giants fans in their Super Bowl gear on the others. This is why sports are great. And right now - for the Vols, the Braves, the Celtics, and hopefully the Titans today - life is pretty great too.