The best seat in the house is the view from the couch

Wow. I love starting out columns that way, but this past Monday was one of the most active days in Boston sports history. Definately the most active since April 2002 when the Sox, C';s and B's all played and won in the same day, and the pats traded Drew Bledsoe after just winning the Super Bowl. Plus there was that whole marathon thing... Let's just run down the list from this year.

11:05 AM - Sox v. Yanks IV. Yes, that was Bronson Arroyo outpitching Kevin "90 freakin' million dollars" Brown. Yes, that was A-Rod going 1-17 in the series, with the one hit coming in the top of the ninth inning in the last game. Was it really two weeks ago I was saying he could end up as the AL MVP? Oops.

Sometime around 2PM - This is something I've never understood. I can see the fun of having the annual Patriot's Day Red Sox game end in time for the fans to empty out into Kenmore Square and watch the runners from the Boston Marathon pass through. But it also creates one of the nastiest clumps of people you can imagine, with thousands of drunk college students squashed between 30,000 drunk Red Sox fans, squashing hundreds of thousands of sweaty, exhausted (and possibly drunk) marathoners. Dunno, to me, I'd prefer to have the seventh inning stretch be around the time the marathoners come through, and put the live feed up on the jumbotron.

Sometime around 2:30PM - A Kenyan wins the Boston Marathon? I'm stunned...

5PM-ish - I'm in my car leaving work when I hear the news. The Patriots have traded with the Bengals to acquire Corey Dillon, and I almost crashed my car. Let me tell you something; I love this deal. Think about it this way:

2002 - Patriots trade Tebucky Jones to New Orleans for an '03 third-round draft pick.

2003 - Dolphins decide that they need a 2003 third-round draft pick, and trade with New England. The Pats gave up an extra 2003 third-round pick, and get a 2004 second-rounder.

2004 - Bengals send Corey Dillon to Patriots for a 2004 second-round pick.

So, essentially, the Patriots got Corey Dillon for Tebucky Jones. Wow. And even better, if they decide they don't like Dillon, they can cut him and not absorb a cap hit, because they traded for him rather than signed him.

Boston sports radio has been split almost directly down the middle since this deal went down, because many of the "analysts" say Dillon is too much of a head case to warrant a 2^nd round pick. I'll tell you what; in any situation where everyone is split down the middle, I''l defer to the expertise of Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli; I think they've earned the respect.

7PM-ish - The Bruins begin the end of what might have been a worse collapse that the Red Sox in last year's ALCS. How in the hell did they blow a 3-1 series lead? At least the Sox were down 3 games to 2 before coming back and ultimately failing. But the Bruins took command of the series, then just flat out didn't show up in the final three games! Game seven was good until Raycroft lost sight of the puck late in the third period after Marty LaPointe took an asinine boarding penalty. But I still put the series loss on two people: Head Coach Mike Sullivan, and Team Captain Joe Thornton.

After going up 3-1, the first thing a coach HAS to do is make sure his team doesn't get complacent. Thats exactly what the Bruins did; they figured they had enough time to close out the series, and they had no intensity whatsoever until Game 7, and by then, it was too late.

Joe Thornton has yet to show up for a playoff series, playing in all seven games this year and failing to record a point. True, he had an injury. But if it was that bad, he shouldn't have been on the ice, plain and simple.

And I refuse to comment on the Celtics' playoff showing. As a caller on the radio said yesterday, "No one can talk about the Celtics until the NBA actually makes the ratings book" For those of you who don't know, the caller was referring to the fact that the NBA playoffs are getting lower ratings than pro soccer in some NBA cities, and no, I'm NOT making that up.

Back to the NFL.

I know what I said last week about the Chargers not dumping the #1 overall pick in this weekend's NFL draft, but at this point, it looks all but inevitable. Especially now that Eli Manning and his father have come out and said that he doesn't want to play in San Diego, he wants to be in New York. I can't really blame him either. His father, Archie, and brother, Peyton, played their entire careers (to date) in relative marketing anonymity. Eli sees the dollar signs in the Big Apple and has decided he wants a piece of the action. Here's hoping he turns out to be more Jeremy Shockey (marketing magnet) than Kerry Collins (alcoholic, mediocre, at best, QB).

So, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to write out a column today with my first-round draft board based upon the drafting order AT THIS VERY MINUTE (San Diego #1, NYG #4), but if things change, I take no responsibility for being wrong. Glad I absolved myself so easily...

RUMORS AND LIES...

Few big rumors aside from the standard Giants / Charger swap...

Big new rumor involving Pats, 'Phins and 'Skins/Lions has New England packaging overall picks #32 (1^st rd.) & #63 (2nd rd.) to get Miami's #20 overall, then taking #20 & #21 to move up to either #5 or 6 and get Sean Taylor OR DeAngelo Hall to make moving Ty Law that much easier. Very interesting moves here, but I don't see a guy like Belichick sacrificing that many picks for one guy. I mean, he's not Mike Ditka...

Cleveland is looking to move down and plan for the future, with possible trade partners being Houston or San Fran. If Taylor or Hall is still available at #7 though, don't be surprised if New England slides in to the fray too...

Dallas really wants a running back, and might not want to chance their position at #22. Big Bill could pull off a position swap with Minnesota or Miami if he thinks he can get a better back.

No question the guy getting screwed over the most this year is Mike Williams. He rode on the coattails of the Clarett decision, right up to a top 10 draft spot, only to find out he wouldn't be allowed in the draft. Now, he might get back in the night before, but teams probably won't be ready for him and will have their own plans in place. And in a supplimental draft, he'd go ahead of Clarett, but he won't get paid the standard "first-rounder" salary. Tough break kid. Go back to USC and wait a year...

So this weekend, we will have the newest crop of NFL'ers to join the group. But don't be surprised if one, two, or forty-eight trades are made between now and then, because this draft has the potential to switch everyone, everywhere. No one has made up their minds yet, and they're all on the clock...

posted by Big D @ 12:00 AM