Gang, remember the deadline for the draft contest is Thursday before the first pick is announced.
From the "Talks too much" studios, want to know what our favorite part of that one quarter at Auburn when we were an architect major? Drafting class. Giddy up.
Draft
We love the draft. You know this.
The draft is this week and the analysis has reached a fevered pitch.
Here are some actual phrases and buzz words you do not want to hear from the talking heads when your team steps to the podium Thursday:
• I think the flaws in his mechanics are fixable.
Most likely to be said about: Blake Bortles. If you are a quarterback picked in the first round, shouldn't you already have fixed mechanics. Get Chico and the Man on the blower. Or Cooter. We need some mechanics, stat.
In this Dec. 8, 2012, file photo, Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel gestures as he talks to reporters after winning the Heisman Trophy in New York.• Are they confident he'll be a professional off the field too.
Most likely said about: Johnny Manziel. The more Manziel falls in the eyes of the 'scouts' the more we think he'll be gone in the top five.
• I don't love the fit, but there's value in this pick.
Most likely said about: A slew of guys. This the polite way of saying, "Do what, who made this pick, Matt Millen?" If you have three good wide receivers, then do not draft another wide out. That's part of the fun of the draft, planning fits and moving pieces and watching the dominos fall.
Side note: We also have grown weary of the extra words announcers use like, "Manziel is a true athlete at the quarterback position." Why dod we need position there? Is he going to a true athlete in the quarterback meeting room?
Side note, II: Remember the Drafting the Draft contest. We need who you think will go No. 1, who the Falcons will pick with their first pick, who the Titans will pick with their first pick, how many SEC players go in round 1 and what number selection is Aaron Murray.
---
Golfer Tiger WoodsTiger Woods
Tiger Woods took to the interweb to update his fans.
The verdict looks like it's slow going for the game's biggest star.
"My recovery is coming along, but it's a very slow process," Woods said on his website. "I'm still sore. Not from the procedure itself but the incision. I just need to get back to my day-to-day activities, and that's it.
"As for my return to golf, I really don't know," he continued. "I'm doing everything I can and listening to my doctors and working on a strength program, and then we just have to see how my back is. Some people heal up in three months, some people take four months, some people take longer. I just don't know."
Without Tiger the game has stalled. Masters rankings were the lost in almost two decades. Without Tiger, the grand old game feels less grand and more old.
He says he didn't miss playing the Masters that much, and if that's true, that's less than good for the sport.
Golf needs Tiger way more than Tiger needs golf at this point, and if he has cooled on his pursuit of excellence and history, then golf's biggest nightmare is closer than any one may have feared.
The sport certainly hoped to have Tiger around for several more years and be able to kick around the "can he catch Jack" storyline at each major championship.
But if Tiger's back getting back to normal is slower than expected and he's not really missing the Masters, well, the challenge of replacing the game's single most dominant player in the modern era is now on the front burner.
---
Braves recap
This is starting to get serious, right? Seven losses in a row for a team built and designed to avoid extended slumps with a vast collection of good-but-not-great starting pitchers hardly inspires confidence.
So it goes for a bunch that had an offensive explosion - for them - on Monday night with nine hits and three runs. Yes, those numbers seem minute, but by comparison, it was a full three days worth of work in the runs department for a Braves team that was swept by the Giants over the weekend.
In fact, when things turn, they turn in all directions. Take Monday's 4-3 loss to the Cardinals. Yes, the bats were slightly better, but the game hinged on two unearned St. Louis runs that were trigged by an error on shortstop Andrelton Simmons.
St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Allen Craig (21) scores on a Peter Bourjos (8) base hit as Atlanta Braves catcher Evan Gattis (24) handles the late throw in the sixth inning of a baseball game on Monday, May 5, 2014, in Atlanta.Yes, that Andrelton Simmons who is the best defensive shortstop in the majors and makes a river of plays seem routine on a nightly basis.
But the season is fickle and funny marathon that must be trusted and frequently can prove to be untrustworthy.
How quickly a team can right the ship can be just as important as long they can surf the good waves of winning streaks. So the Braves are faced with that parameter. Win or lose Tuesday night against the Cardinals, Atlanta needs to find something that creates energy and enjoyment.
Right now, a trip through this order is a day at the beach for opposing pitchers and a day in an insurance seminar for Braves fans. It's painfree for foes and painful for supporters.
Maybe the jumpstart was at the end of the order Monday night? Meet Ramiro Pena, Braves utility guy and all-around scrapper who has used three starts in the team's last four games to go 3-for-10 with a homer.
Yes, that's a tiny sample for the long grind of a big-league season, but it took Pena, who started Monday night at second base, three games to bang out three hits. He replaced the mighty Dan Uggla - aka Danny Struggla - in the lineup. By comparison, Uggla has three hits - all singles - in his last nine games (3-for-31 over that stretch).
So maybe it's time to finally make Danny Struggla baseball's most expensive back-up second baseman.
Uggla is due more than $13 million this year, and considering he's on pace for 99 hits and a .190 average with more than 150 strikeouts, well, making more than $100,000 per base hit would be a nice exchange rate, no?
---
This and that
Basketball tile- The NBA playoffs have sprinted into the next round, and if you needed any more proof that the league is a guard-driven enterprise, well, Chris Paul and John Wall - two of the best point guards around - delivered emphatic exclamation points on that claim. Paul hit eight 3s as the Clippers - America's team of destiny at this point - thumped the Thunder 122-105 in OKC. Wall, who has developed into arguably the quicklest player on the planet with the ball in his hands, had 13 points and nine assists with only one turnover. He drove the Wizards offense in a 102-96 road win at Indiana and was +19 during his time on the floor.
- At the reverse end of that spectrum is the enigma that is Roy Hibbert. Dude played 18 minutes Monday night and had bagel points and bagel rebounds. Bagel. He's 7-foot-2 and was an All-Star in February. Bagel. This forced Tracy McGrady to tweet "Me and Roy Hibbert had the same amount of points and rebounds tonight." McGrady of course is retired and trying to make it as a minor league baseball player.
- Among the many tidbits to trickle out of the NFL combine late in the process are those guys that may not have studied hard enough for their drug tests. Despite extra work with tutors here are some of the names reported by Fox Sports of guys that did not do as well on the drug exams as they would have liked: LSU defensive tackle Anthony Johnson and quarterback Zach Mettenberger as well as FSU defensive stars Timmy Jernigan, Telvin Smith and Christian Jones. The latest round of explanations has players and their agents saying their tests were diluted because the players were drinking more than a gallon of water a day to fight dehydration.
- Want a quick way to become Mr. Popular? Try the Wes Welker, a move perfected and now named for the Denver wide out who hit a monster bet at the Kentucky Derby and then started handing out $100 bills to strangers. Good times.
---
Football tileToday's question
We are covering a lot of draft topics this week.
Today's Rushmore is simple: Worst NFL draft picks in the modern era (let's say the last 20 years).