The Importance of the NFL Draft

National Football League Draft

Look no further than the Detroit Lions draft choices in the past few years that have made a tremendous impact in their 2011 season. In 2007, the Lions drafted Wide-Receiver Calvin Johnson. In 2008, they drafted Quarterback Matthew Stafford. In 2009, they drafted top prospects, Safety Louis Delmas and Tight-End Brandon Pettigrew. In 2010, they drafted an absolute 'monster' at Defensive Tackle from Nebraska, Ndamukong Suh and a speedy Tail Back from Cal-Berkeley, Jahvid Best. In 2011, they drafted yet another 'beast' at defensive tackle from Auburn, Nick Fairley. All these draft choices are panning-out to what was expected from them. All these players have contributed to the 'surprise' success of their team, which so far have them at 5-0. The Detroit Lions have not been 5-0 since 1956!! The impact players are not only comprised of these draft picks but they are a huge reason as to why they have many fans across the nation are thinking something else other than "Why watch the morning Thanksgiving Day game? Everyone knows the Lions are going to lose." These 7 players in their active rosters have been draft picks from coaches and management, which only further solidifies the importance of the NFL Draft every year. It was only a few years ago, when the Lions were the laughing stock of the NFL at 0-16. Now they are serious contenders to challenge the defending Super Bowl Champions, Green Bay Packers (5-0 as well) for the NFL North Division Title, and Conference Title. It is the 2nd time since realignment that 2 teams in the same division are 5-0 (AFC's New York Jets & New England Patriots in '04).

There are many examples of teams having success with their draft picks, as well as teams not being so successful a la Oakland Raiders drafting Jamarcus Russell & San Diego Chargers drafting Ryan Leaf. As for the 2011 1st overall draft pick, Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers, he is off to a tremendous start that still has experts and pundits scratching their head as to how he is having so much success. In his first 2 games of his NFL career, Cam threw for more than 400 yards which makes him the 6th quarterback to ever throw back-to-back 400 yard games in NFL history. Cam brought in the intangibles that were missing in the previous Panther's team. The 2010 Carolina Panthers played with less fervor and intensity and it seemed as if they weren't having fun. However, when management and the coaches deemed Cam Newton as their 'guy', the team in 2011 is now playing with a lot of confidence. Every American Football fan knows the NFL Draft is important but to what extent to do they know, if they don't see immediate results? What Cam Newton and especially the 2011 Detroit Lions team is showing is that patience is key; once the coaches and management have done their due diligence to draft the right players that fit their culture and play schemes, teams will be successful. If you have doubts, one would highly suggest you speak with a true Detroit Lions fan! With all this being said, how are your teams draft picks panning-out?

The NFL’s back in business!

Finally, a deal and football soon to follow. The NFL Players Association executive board and 32 team reps unanimously approve a 10-year agreement that ends the 4 1/2 -month lockout. Owners overwhelmingly approved a proposal last week, but some unresolved issues needed to be reviewed’

Good Morning #Team17 were back in business#LockoutIsOver now let's find out where we're playing! What team do u wanna see me with? – Tweeted Braylon Edwards, Wide Receiver for the New York Jets

On July 25, 2011, the fans of American Football have taken the streets, social media, bars, stadiums or wherever rejoicing that the 2011 NFL Lockout has been lifted. No more, waking up on Sunday or getting off work on Monday or Thursday Night, thinking “what am I going to do? Well, since there’s no football, I guess I’ll clean up the house and…hmmm don’t know what else to do!! Football, please come back to me!” Today, every American Football fan will revert back to their fanatic ways and cheer on their respective team, even though there is still a month or so, till Opening Kick-Off. Knowing that the players and owners have agreed to terms, signifies that the fans will get to see the sport they passionately and attentively watch on Sundays, Monday Nights and half-way through the season on Thursday Night’s. Since there will be no Lockout; training camp will ensue, as well as trades, free-agency pick-ups and other news that get fans excited to see who goes where and if they get a marquee player that their team needs. Asking any American Football Fan, if they are exciting that the lockout is over is similar to asking them- what are they going to be watching every Sunday for the months to come? The NFL Lockout being lifted has many fans excited for many reasons, the obvious being - American Football will be played, Fantasy (American) Football will also 

be played and the most important Sunday’s are back!!

LET'S GO BABY!!!!! WE'RE BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!! #LockoutOver – Tweeted Wide Receiver Donte Stallworth

There will be no more trying to figure out what can be done on Sundays and Monday Night. No more pleading the American Football gods to let the lockout be lifted. No more complaining to friends on social media or in person about the NFL. No more questions being asked such as; Do you agree with the owners or players? No more hearing Demaurice Smith, or the owners with the exception of the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones (since he’s always on the sidelines similar to Mark Cuban, the owner Dallas Mavericks) or Roger Goodell tell the fans a whole lot of malarkey on when the NFL will be back. No more watching programs, participating in events, reading books, going to places that one would not go to, if American Football is on. But most importantly, No more getting tortured for almost half a year because the National Football League is back….and the Brett Favre talks are back too!! Like the saying goes “One can’t have ones cake and it eat too!”

Copa América 2011

2011 Copa America

If one is not familiar with this tournament, then that person is not a true football (In the U.S. & Canada – Soccer) fan. This tournament was founded in 1916 under the name of South American Championship but in 1975 it was changed to Copa America; the Copa America occurs every 3 years in alternating South American countries. The two most successful nations with the most titles are Uruguay and Argentina, with 14 each. Although the tournament is for South American countries, other countries outside the region have participated such as Mexico, United States and Costa Rica have been participants to fill out the current 12 team format.  The last 5 Copa America’s (past 15 years), Brazil has won 4 and Colombia has won (they won the 2001 Copa America which split Brazil’s 4 into 2 consecutive victories). However, the last two have been played by nation’s that have such a rich football history with 7 FIFA World Cup victories combined; for those who are avid football fans and even those who only watch to partake in the festivities know the 2 teams are Brazil and Argentina. For a tournament to be running for almost a century speaks volumes on the severity of the tournament for the players and the nations involved, especially that of the host nation. Many analysts, pundits and fans alike always have this notion, because of their exceptional and world-class Footballers, that either Brazil or Argentina will win “La Copa.” Where they right in giving either team the Cup?

Argentina had Uruguay in the quarter-finals of the Copa America. Many people seem to not give Uruguay the respect they deserve for reasons that are unknown to many avid football fans. Uruguay has won the World Cup twice (1930 and 1950) and as aforementioned earlier, have won the Copa America 14 times including the very first one. In addition, they reached the semi-finals of the 2010 FIFA Men’s World Cup in South Africa. The feats accomplished are equal to the feats accomplished in the history of the Argentinean National Team; the only difference being that Uruguay does not have the super-stars that those people are accustomed to hearing. If one were to ask an average fan or a fickle football fan, who would win between Argentina and Uruguay? Chances are that person would, without hesitation and with a look on their face vehemently saying – are you serious; would say Argentina. If Mike Tyson taught the sports world anything, it is that anyone no matter how great one is can be defeated; which is exactly what happened to Argentina against Uruguay. The game went into penalty kicks level 1 to 1 (gols coming from Argentina’s Gonzalo Higuain and Uruguay’s Diego Perez), with Uruguay prevailing – 5 x 4. The Argentinean who missed the penalty was no other than “El Apache” Carlos Tevez.  That being said, the host nation who anticipated bringing home the Cup is no longer bringing home the Cup but rather their gym bags full of disappointment.

Since the projected winner of the Cup got eliminated a day prior to the other projected Cup winning team, how did Brazil do? For starters, A Seleção or the Samba Boys played a game in which they showed their superiority for the whole entire game including overtime but had nothing to show for it. “Brazil should have won in 90 minutes,” [Gerardo] Martino [Paraguayan Coach] said. “We were lucky.” Brazil was playing a Paraguayan side that was playing good defense and the counter-attack, which made it difficult for the Brazilians to enter the goal area; but for a team with such talent and history that shouldn’t have been a problem but it was. The style that Mano Menezes instill is what the term “Joga Bonito” (Brazilian Portuguese for Beautiful Game) arose from which is their attack first philosophy, in which the Brazilians would create magic even when there is nothing that they can create it from but would find a way to score. The only beautiful game that happened during this game was not found on the pitch but probably found in the Brazilian section of the stands. Just like their rival - Argentina - Brazil was ousted in penalty’s in a manner that can only be mimicked by a video-gamer playing the FIFA game with their eyes closed.

Brazil lost the shootout 0 x 2, with the Brazilians missing 4 of them in humiliating fashion. "Of course if we keep raking over the four missed penalties that saw us go out then we will not talk about the game we played, which marked an evolution in the team and the squad," Menezes told a news conference. Brazil can be paralleled to the baseball team, New York Yankees, in a sense that if they do not win it all, the season/tournament is seen as a failure; that’s how high the bar is set for the 5x World Cup Champions.  "I know you live and die by results," said Menezes. "But these will come if we continue on the path we are on."

The 2011 Copa America Finals will mark 10 years since Brazil or Argentina have been in the finals. In 2001, it was Mexico vs. Colombia; with Colombia coming out victorious over “El Tri.” But before the finals can happen, the semi-finals have to be played. On one side of the bracket, Uruguay plays Peru on July 19, 2011 and on the other side its – Venezuela vs. Paraguay on July 20, 2011. One would think that Uruguay will defeat Peru and Paraguay would defeat Venezuela since both teams eliminated the 2 teams that were projected to win it all. As seen many times in sports, projections are merely words that can be said by anyone, no matter what title is bestowed upon because a game still has to be played to decide the outcome of an event. So will Peru play the role of Netherlands to Uruguay’s hopes in making it to the finals of a major tournament? Will Venezuela show the world that they also are a nation with a great Football National Team and not just baseball? The 2011 Copa America Finals will be held on Sunday July 24^th, 2011. Which teams do you project to make it to the finals?

 

For The Love or Money?

Show Me the Money...lots of it!

No matter what kind of sports fan you are whether its only Football, Baseball, Soccer or whichever, the one thing that all sports fans want to see is the fight between Floyd 'Money' Mayweather Jr Vs. Manny Pacquiao. The reason behind this is simple - they are the best boxers in the world and arguably 1st ballot Hall of Famers in Boxing. Both parties are interested in making this 'instant classic' bout happen but the only, and I use the word only very loosely, issue is of how much of money does each boxer get? As his nickname and picture to the right depicts Floyd Mayweather Jr. wants the promoters to 'show him the money', and he wants them to show him quite a lump sum of money. To be exact, he rejected 50 million dollars for his services but considers 100 million just right for his services, just for ONE FIGHT!!!!

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is not the only professional athlete that wants to get 'cashed out' for his tremendous talents, every professional athlete with tremendous talents more or less the potential for tremendous talent, want to get 'cashed out' for their services. For instance, the players in The National Football League are notorious for such antics. Many experts call The NFL 'a copycat league', meaning, that everyone follows suit after each other ranging from types of defenses/offenses to contract negotiations. Consequently, if a player 'holds out' (the process of not showing up to work to achieve a lucrative contract) for an X amount of time or a certain player gets X amount of money, then the next player observes what happens and tries to 'copycat' him. It is understandabe trying to maximum monetize the efforts but when they constantly tell the media 'It's not about the money, I love this game and would play for free', it irks the fans and they begin to question the motives of professional athletes.

The major contributors to these athletes are the fans. The fans are what make these athletes lucrative through the purchases of player jerseys, stadium tickets, team paraphernalia, and etc. Once the fans have shown support and talent is proven, the front office sees the popularity of the athlete among the fans, and more than likely a lucrative contract is signed. However, if the fans begin to not purchase player jerseys, stadium tickets, team paraphernalia, even with the talent proven, the front office will have doubt on whether this athlete will create revenue, because the fans have shown that they will not purchase team paraphernalia more or less, the athletes gear. In the end, do these athletes really love their sport or the money that is to be made in their sport?

What Should An Athlete Do?

What would you do; if someone where to tell you that 'you can participate in your last competitive and important tournament of your entire career but chances are that you will require surgery is more likely than 100%?'

That is what one of the athletes is going through - He broke his hand, during an intense practice. This kid has been working hard for four years (off-season included) to achieve a top six spot at what could be his last tournament of his high school career. According to the rankings, this kid is in the top five wrestlers that could accomplish a top five finish and even though rankings are nothing but stats on paper, more so than anything, rankings are a good indicator on the abilities of such athletes.

That being said; what is the best course of action that an athlete can take? Risk surgery for a cause that the athlete has been working so hard for four hard years? Risk regretting not participating in the last tournament of a grueling career? Participating in the tournament till the body tells the athlete that it can no longer keep up with the mind set and withdraw?  In the end, a dedicated athlete will not be in the right mind set in terms of knowing whats best for them, so the coach will have to evaluate the situation/outcomes of all scenarios and suggest the best course of action with the athletes best interest in mind.

The Inauguration

What up everybody,
I am Coach P from the Archbishop Riordan High School Wrestling team. I want to welcome you to my blog about wrestling, MMA, Football, Baseball and everything sports related in my life. Thank you for taking time off from your web-surfing to read this nice little introduction. In addition, if you would like to know what is going on in this wonderful world of ours through articles ranging from fitness, health, travel, food, weather, technology and etc; follow me on Twitter @ PAH89 (http://twitter.com/#!/PAH89) or any of the popular social media sites. In addition, check out Social Marketing Factory sites to see how you can use the benefits of social media effectively. I wish you all of you the best in your web-surfing and hopefully, you find awesome deals, informative articles, cool pictures and/or amazingly entertaining videos. Much Love to you all.