O.k, first off I would just like to say that while me and Dr. Gonzo agree on many things regarding sports, the Boston Red Sox is simply not one of them. I apologize for his behavior and will try to make a point of reminding him that this is a blog about D.C. area sports teams. That being said I do not know much about baseball and therefore find it hard to defend the Orioles and Nationals especially since as of today they find themselves at the bottom of their respective divisions. Please, if there is anyone out their that would love to bash the Red Sox feel free to post comments at the end of Mr. Gonzo’s blogs. Until someone steps up however we will just have to live with these Red Sox outbursts. And now onto what I really want to talk about.
So the reason I have not had a post in a couple of days is because I have retired to my beach house at the infamous Bear Trap Dunes which is just outside of Bethany Beach. Before I made my three hour trek to the Delaware beaches that so many of us make during the summer months, I decided to pick up some books and magazines to read while relaxing on the sand. One of the magazines I picked up was the Preview ‘08 addition of Pro Football Weekly which is brought to you by CBSSports.com. These preview magazines come out each year and essentially preview all 32 teams in the NFL while also including last years major stats and power rankings of all the teams for the upcoming season. I am an NFL, and more specifically a Redskins, fanatic and any chance I can get to pick up a magazine regarding the upcoming season I take it. However before I could even get to the Redskins section I was drawn to the player rankings which are shown at the beginning of the magazine. I started perusing through the different players which are listed by position and as I got to the running backs section I almost had a heart attack. There were a couple of pretty whack things that stuck out like a couple of rednecks at an Obama rally. The first thing I noticed was that they had Marion Barber of the hated Dallas Cowboys as the 6th highest rated running back in the league. That’s right #6 out of 32 starting NFL running backs. They have him listed ahead of such names as Willie Parker, Fred Taylor, Willis McGahee, Deuce McAllister, and our very own Clinton Portis. Am I mistaken or wasn’t Marion Barber the backup running back to Julius Jones for the majority of last season. Nothing against Barber , I adore his tough running style and think he has the potential to be a franchise back for the Boys, but the man didn’t even break 1,000 yards rushing last year. Shouldn’t these rankings be based on what the player accomplished last year? Did the unedited copy of Pro Football weekly accidentally slip into the Barnes and Nobles before the editor had a chance to look at it? Surely the editor would have caught this madness and fired who ever was in charge of ranking the players. I then glanced further down the list. It was at this point that I was convinced the contributors to this magazine were smoking crack. There at number 14 read the name Reggie Bush. Now it isn’t so much the fact that Reggie Bush was rated the 14th best running back that had me upset. It was the players that he was named ahead of. The three players listed behind Reggie at spots 15, 16, and 17 were as follows: Marshawn Lynch, Clinton Portis, and Maurice Jones-Drew. As a rookie Lynch ran for over 1,100 yards in just 13 starts. Clinton Portis was dominant with the Broncos and has been an above average workhorse with the Skins. He has gone over 1,200 yards rushing every year he has been in the league except for ‘06 when he missed 8 games with an injury. Jones-Drew had a solid season with the Jaguars putting up over 700 yards and 8 touchdowns with a 4.6 yards per carry average. If Jones-Drew were judged on nothing other than the crushing block he put on Sean “Lights Out” Merriman, it would still be enough to push him ahead of Bush. Did I miss something. Did the marketing machine known as Reggie Bush sign a deal with CBS? What is going on here? How are they ranking these players? I then got my answer. Pro Football Weekly states and I quote “PFW’s player rankings were compiled with the help of coaches, executives and scouts from around the NFL, all of whom participated on condition on anonymity.” What scout in their right mind would place more value on Reggie Bush, an over hyped bust who is only effective if he has a bruising runner ahead of him on the depth chart, than our very own Clinton Portis? Or even Marshawn Lynch who has an unbelievable upside and the makings of a franchise runner. I am beginning to understand why these “scouts” choose to remain nameless.
Mr. G.Q or CP? Which would you want on your team?