Episode 80- Excuses, Excuses
June 13th, 2011 • Episodes • No Comments »Stream Now!
Are injuries a reason for a bad season in sports, or just an excuse? We answer that very question this week! The NFL lockout heats up a but; is there trouble in the city by the bay? It depends on who you ask: Crabtree or Smith! Just who is the Oakland A’s new manager? Can the Giants hold on to first place? Tune in, true believer!
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Steve’s Corner: Bay Area 2011 NFL Draft grades
May 3rd, 2011 • Steve's Corner • No Comments »I’m going to start by breaking down my grades. I have an overall draft grade and individual pick grade for teams and players. Here ya go.
Oakland Raiders
Overall Grade: B+
The Raiders did not have a first round pick this year. Having traded it to New England for, soon to be HOF, Richard Seymour. They still ended up with eight picks and made the most out of them after dealing with New England for an additional 3rd and 4th round pick. All of the picks were “classic” Raiders and I do mean that in a good way. If the Raiders still had Namdi under contract this grade could have been an easy A.
RD2Pick48 Stefen Wisniewski Center Penn State
Vitals: 6ft 3in 313lb
Well, you cant complain with this pick unless you’re Todd McShay. The Raiders addressed two picks in one with young Stefen. They have found a Center with lineage they feel they can trust at a area of dire need. Some people don’t think lineage counts, but I do. Clay Matthews? Pouncey? The list is long for former/current players sons, nephews, cousins and brothers becoming good or great players versus those that don’t.
Grade A
RD3Pick81 DeMarcus Van Dyke CB Miami (FL)
Vitals: 6ft 2in 185LB
A real speed corner with actual ability. In junior season he broke up 12 passes with four INT’s. He also returned two kickoffs and four punts for TD’s. Also played a bit of WR with eight catches for 197 yards. As a senior had 56 tackles with seven INT’s one for a TD. He caught 21 passes for 417 yards. He only had 12 total kick returns as opposing teams would kick away from him.
Grade A
RD3Pick92 Joseph Barksdale OG/OT LSU
Vitals: 6ft 4in 325lb
Solid pick here as the Raiders finally added another Oline player. This harkens back to last years pick of Bruce Campbell in the 4th round. Just a great pick. Was considered a 4 star recruit out of high school. Choose to attend LSU and as true freshman played in 14 games backing up Carnell Stewart at Right Tackle. After Stewart graduated, Barksdale started 13 games as a sophmore. He and Ciron Black were considered by many as “the best duo of tackles in the SEC”. He will play either Guard or RTackle for the Raiders.
Grade A
RD4Pick113 Chimdi Chekwa CB Ohio State
Vitals: 6ft 0in 190lb
Another corner with great ability. Played for Jim Tressel and was considered one of the top cornerback prospects in the draft. As a senior was named a first team All-American for Buckeyes. Has a chance to be the steal of draft for Raiders but they weren’t done yet.
Grade A
RD4Pick125 Taiwan Jones RB Eastern Washington
Vitals: 6ft 1in 200lb
Local product born in San Francisco and ran the fastest RB 40 time at the combine. I really liked this pick as the Raiders have not yet resigned Micheal Bush. This make DMac the thunder to Jones’ lightning. Excellent pick by the Raiders the converted corner rushed for 1,742 yards and 14 TD’s as a senior while missing the teams last two games. In his last game with a broken foot he still rushed for 230 yards.
Grade A
RD5Pick148 Denarius Moore WR Tennessee
Vitals: 6ft 1in 194lb
Started his career slowly but became good deep threat for Volunteers by his senior season catching 40 passes for 540 yards and 7 TD’s. Is a project wideout that may find playing time here or there in spread formations. I might have liked this pick more but felt the Raiders still needed Oline help.
Grade B
RD6Pick181 Richard Gordon TE Miami (FL)
With this pick the Raiders got a TE with good upside. Having Zach Miller helps this pick by giving him one of the best young TE’s in the game to learn from. At the same time Miller has been banged up a bit here and there so he may be a good insurance policy on the upcoming season.
Grade B
RD7Pick241 David Ausberry WR USC
Vitals: 6ft 6in 235lb
Another project wideout with big upside. Too bad he has a bit of an injury history. played sparingly throughout career at USC and did little to stand out.
Grade C
Now for the next bay team:
San Francisco Forty-Niners
Overall Grade: B+
San Francisco made many moves this draft, their first under Jim Harbaugh. Some I liked, and others I didn’t understand, but in the end I approve of the draft the Niners had. Its obvious that they saw players they “wanted” and made the moves to get them. This year only netted five players but one was a potential starting QB, starting DE and three back ups. But the problems begin with the first pick. A pick they could’ve traded back, added picks, and still got their man.
RD1Pick7 Aldon Smith DE Missouri
Vitals: 6ft 4in 263lb
I don’t like this pick with Nick Fairley on the board, not one bit. If this is the guy you’ve targeted thats fine and dandy. But when Fairley goes 13th to the Lions you have to trade this pick back and still get Aldon Smith later.Adding a 2nd or 3rd to move down and get Smith seemed appropriate. Now having drafted him I do like this pick for the Niners just not at the cost of the 7th pick. The Niners weren’t as lucky as when they got Crabtree as Patrick Peterson was drafted 5th to Arizona after the Broncos shook up the draft by selecting Von Miller instead of higher rated DT’s on the board.
Grade: B
RD2Pick36 Colin Kaepernick QB Nevada
Vitals 6ft 6in 201lb
Harbaugh moved up to selct the last of the highly rated QB’s in this years draft. I really liked this pick, too bad he has to learn from Alex Smith. Thankfully for him a guy named Jim Harbaugh is there. this should be the Niners starting QB from day one as he should be the best QB on the roster as soon as he’s signed. Smith shouldn’t unpack his suitcases anytime soon and keep the movers on speed dial.
Grade: A
RD3Pick80 Chris Culliver CB South Carolina
Vitals: 6ft 1in 201lb
A converted safety, Culliver brings athleticism to Niner DB’s corps. Not the ball hawk you’d like but should be a very good corner in the NFL. Also has the chance to become the safety opposite Taylor Mays or the heir to Nate Clements, in 2-3 years.
Grade: B+
RD4Pick115 Kendall Hunter RB Oklahoma
Had the Niners been able to keep Blount away from Tampa Bay this pick would’ve been higher. Hunter is a good running back that might be here becuase of injury concerns. With Dez Bryant became very good sophmore play and seventh leading ncaa rusher, in 2008. But those same concerns were with a guy named Frank Gore so this pick gets a knock on wood.
Grade: C+
RD5Pick163 Daniel Kilgore OG Appalachian State
Vitals 6ft 3in 308lb
Looking to add depth to the O-line, the Niners targeted Kilgore. He played for a Div II school but one of the best of those programs in Appalachian State. Should be a key back up as the 49ers sought to continue to add burly strong lineman as they did last year. I wouldn’t expect them to not draft a Olineman for the next two to three drafts.
Grade C+
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Steve`s Corner :So whats happening to East Bay Baseball?
April 26th, 2011 • Steve's Corner • No Comments »As of this post the Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants are sitting in third place in their respective divisions. The A’s at 11-12 sit behind Texas and the Angels while the G-men are 10-11 behind the hated Dodgers and Colorado. Things could always be worse so i’ll expunge on the good first they have going first. Oakland has the best pitching staff in baseball so far this season, based purely on stats. They currently have a team ERA of 2.54, which is the best in baseball. Of the 23 games played their starters have had 14 quality starts. The team WHIP is 1.17 so far ranking them fourth and a BAA of .228 which ranks third overall. This is by far the best pitching staff Oakland has put on the field since the “Big 3″ of Mulder, Hudson and Zito, minus the accolades.
But thats where the good things drop off as their bats have suffered to start the season. Not one batter is hitting higher than .260 right now. That will simply not get it done. The team batting average is a collective .241, the on-base % is .307 and the slugging % stands at a lowly .350. That in turn has lead to only 80 runs scored so far which ranks them 25th in the league batting-wise. Matsui is a notorious slow starter, and is coming off a down year. The young bats in the minors just haven’t made the same impact as the pitchers that have come up. When or if that happens will dictate the rest of the season. Those bats must wake up for Oakland to have a SF chance of making a playoff run.
Now onto the G-men. Well some fans want to tell me its a championship hangover. Thats crap. There is no hangover when you surprised the world and yourselves last year. This year the Giants pitching isn’t what we have been used to. Sure Cain and Timmy are there but Wilson got hurt to start the year and the relievers just are not strong right now. Sanchez has been back to his “old” self and Baumgarner hasn’t sizzled like the end of last year. They have held batters to a .232 average which ranks fourth overall and also are 10th in WHIP at 1.25. That is where the good new ends for Frisco as they rank 25th with only 9 quality starts out of 21. The ERA is also telling as it sits at 3.92 putting them 14th. Not good for a team built solely on its pitching. But the season is early and they still have the “SF chance” of doing something special again.
As with Oakland the Giants hitting is lacking. They rank 22nd with 87 runs scored and 25th in on base % at .304. The team batting average is .244 putting them 18th with a slugging % of .394 firmly at 15th. So far Cody Ross has been hurt, Buster hasn’t seen many good pitches, but the “Panda” might be coming back to first year form. Huff has been steady but unremarkable and Burrell has hit some dingers but it may not be enough. The Giants sent phenom Belt back to the minors so he could get a few at bats. Hopefully when he is called up they can get a “Buster-like” year out of him. That may be what it takes for the Giants not to turn last years big win into a once a fifty year type deal.
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