Well, after all the April Fool's Day fun, it's back to serious stuff like the NFL draft and the start of the baseball season. Speaking of baseball, I got The Last Nine Innings in the mail a few weeks back. Author Charles Euchner uses the 2001 World Series as a backdrop to weave in-depth stories about players from both teams. What initially piqued my interest in the book was the fact that this World Series was the beginning of the end of the Evil Empire's tyranny, but the minutiae -- the behind-the-scenes conversations with players; the real-time cat-and-mouse game that batters and pitchers play; the discussions with Dr. James Andrews about his research into perfecting the pitching motion -- is what kept me reading.Here's a glimpse of Andrews' work from the chapter on the Science of Pitching:
"Cadaver research supplements the high-speed video analyses. Researchers isolate body parts -- shoulder, elbows, wrists -- to determine the maximum force that can be applied without breaking. Scientists take the arms of cadavers -- the shoulders and elbows and wrists -- and use machines to crush them to determine just what levels of force created unbearable strains. Over the years, AMSI's [Andrews' research institute, the American Sports Medicine Institute] Nigel Zheng and his team of researchers have worked with 500 cadavers to examine the impact of stresses on bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons."Yeah, I thought it was kinda weird too. But also interesting. And I should mention that the "high-speed video analyses" cited above refers to the metallic motion sensor suits -- like those EA Sports: Madden Football guys wear when making the video game. Except in this case, players can have their pitching motion scrutinized and compared to what is currently considered perfection: Roger Clemens.
All in all, a really good read. The only thing that would've made better would've been some physiological explanation for how Kevin Millar actually managed to swing the bat while flat-footed, or perhaps more important, how he made his way onto a major league roster.
***
... KFFL reported some time last week -- and I'm not sure if this was an April Fool's Day thing or not -- that the Lions are interested in trading former #2 overall pick, Charles Rogers. Of course, the next question becomes: would Rogers be worth pursuing if you're the Pittsburgh Steelers? Well, I'll let you guess what my initial reaction was to this line of thinking. But (there's always a "but," right?), as was pointed out last week, Quincy Morgan was considered a nutcase until he came to Pittsburgh and has since fit in nicely. So just assuming that Rogers would behave himself, show up to work on time, and actually, you know, try, then the question becomes, "how much is it going to cost for the Steelers to acquire him?"
Given that Pittsburgh has 10 picks in the draft, and WR has been identified by the Peanut Gallery as a need, off the top of my head, I'd throw out a fifth round pick. That's it. When you consider the Jets got Patrick Ramsey for a sixth, and the Dolphins got Daunte Culpepper for a second, I can't see giving up more than a fifth (and yes, I'm well aware of the fact that both Ramsey and Culpepper play quarterback, but that's the point: those guys play the most important position on the field, both are in their prime, and were obtained at a fraction of what they were worth when they were driven off the lot).
And of course, Javon Walker is still out there too, but he'd certainly be more expensive than Rogers, knee surgery or not (yeah, he didn't really sign with the Ravens). Before anybody mentions the Texans signing Eric Moulds for a fourth round pick, save your breath (or typing energy, or whatever) because the Texans are getting jobbed in this deal. Yes they need somebody to take the heat of Andre Johnson, but Moulds is the best they could do at that price? Moulds is 32, was a malcontent in Buffalo, and after racking up a 30.5 DPAR in 2000 (17th in the league), he busted out with these impressive numbers:
Year DPAR NFL RankYeah, I'll pass. I'm sure some delusional GM will give up a lot more than a fifth round pick for Rogers, so it probably doesn't matter. But it's still fun to talk about.
2005 6.5 56
2004 11.1 45
2003 4.8 54
2002 7.6 55
2001 -4.6 70
... As long as I'm talking about ne'er-do-wells, yesterday was USC's Pro Day. Two guys of particular interest to Steelers' fans were S Darnell Bing and RB LenDale White. I've written previously that nobody has any idea how fast White is since he's never been timed in the 40 during college. Well, guess who didn't run the 40 yesterday? Yep, Mr. White, who reportedly only benched 225 lbs. 15 times, and weighed at 244 lbs. (allegedly he didn't run because of of sore hamstring). At this point White might as well go by B.A. Baracus since scouts were nonplussed with his attidude during the Pro Day.
Len Pasquarelli has more on White:
Still nursing a sore hamstring he said he sustained at the combine sessions in Indianapolis nearly six weeks ago, White looked soft and performed only in the bench press drill, where he eked out just 15 lifts. He rarely removed his track suit and, when he did, White looked soft. He weighed in at 244 pounds, six pounds heavier than he was at the combine.Bing ran in the 4.6 range, weighed in at 225, benched 225 lbs. 21 times and had a vertical jump of 38 inches. It sounds like he looked good in d-back drills, but I wonder if the 4.6 will scare some people off. I know Bing wrote in his draft diary leading up to USC's Pro Day that he hoped to run in the 4.4's but that obviously didn't happen. Forty times aren't the end-all-be-all, unless you're in a footrace. So I'm sure Pittsburgh will get a better idea if Bing is their guy when they work him out privately. And who knows, maybe his slow time will make it easier for the Steelers to grab him later on Day One than originally expected.
White didn't seem concerned about not being able to work out. "I'm the only true big back in the first round, and people who want the physical runner are going to have to look at me," he said.
Several personnel directors emphasized, though, that time is running out on White, who has yet to be timed in the 40.
"At some point, and real soon, he's got to take off that warm-up suit and run," said one of the head coaches on hand. "No one has a 40-time on him and that's not good."
As for White, I wouldn't want Pittsburgh to sign him as an unrestricted free agent at this point. He soured scouts with his attitude, he's gotten flabby in the weeks leading up to the most important day of his life so far, and he didn't even go through all the drills. Look, maybe he does have a tight hammy, and maybe his weight gain is part of some grand plan to literally be the next Bus, but if you're the Steelers, why bother?
... Hey, Joe Bendel is good for something other than being featured in countless CPW's. In perhaps the most surprising story of free agency, Bendel actually reported something. Of course, I didn't read it in the Tribune-Review -- his day job -- but instead found out about it on the Steeler Nation message board, where somebody reported that Bendel told Stan Savran on his radio show that the Steelers consider re-signing Ike Taylor to a long-term deal the top priority this spring -- and hopefully before the draft.
You know, this is the type of information that would make for a really good sports column. Maybe Bendel didn't think it was important, or more likely, he probably didn't want to take the time to spell-check his work. Who knows.
... This is awesome. I wrote something a few months ago about how the Steelers basketball squad is a big draw around western PA, but obviously, this year is a little different. Here's some video proof from KDKA that I came across. The best part, far and away, is watching the few seconds of Roethlisberger running the point (the second best part is hearing Lee Mays announced as a member of the Steelers). One word came to mind on Ben's appearance as I watched in mock horror: Pasty. Quickly followed by this thought: "Yep, that frullet Roethlisberger is sporting ain't really hiding the fact that he's a prime candidate for Hair Club for Men in the next five-to-seven years."
... Finally, some draft thoughts (honestly, you thought I'd go a whole post without at least mentioning some draft-related stuff?). Jim Russell, who writes for SteelCityInsider.com (and has left a few comments here as "dirtwinston") has talked about the possibility of the Steelers nabbing G Davin Joseph in the first round if certain things unfold ahead of them. I've been skeptical (well, actually "vehemently against" might be a better description) about taking a guard in the first round -- even more so than a center -- but Russell makes some points worth noting. First, the Steelers still aren't sold on Simmons and even though they're big on Kemoeatu, he's still unproven. Faneca's contract is up in 2007, and even if he's re-signed then, he'll have to be replaced at some point.
So if Simmons is not re-signed (his contract is also up in 2007), and Kemoeatu doesn't pan out, Pittsburgh will still need some depth along the interior line despite what happens with Faneca. And this doesn't even address the center position.
All fair points. And given that there are no immediate needs in this draft, I guess you can't really start preparing for the future too early. Still, I'll stick with what I've said before: all else being equal, good interior linemen can be found in later rounds. But if the Steelers love a player like Joseph and he's around at #32, I wouldn't be esctatic about the pick (seriously, who gets jazzed about drafting a guard with the last pick in the first round?), but it will at least make for an interesting game of musical chairs come late August. There's no way the Steelers keep Hartings, Okobi, Simmons, Kemoeatu and Joseph is there?
As long as we're on the subject of interior linemen, I'll just again reiterate my sleeper pick (and by sleeper, I mean, "A guy I've never heard of but who looks intriguing based on what Mike Mayock told me to think"): Chris Chester.
... Oh yeah, one more thing. I found this on some message board but I now can't remember where. Here's the gist of the question: Assume Chad Jackson and Santonio Holmes are off the board and Sinorice Moss is still available. Also assume that Vernon Davis is long gone, but TE Leonard Pope is still available (or Marcedes Lewis, or whoever you think is the second best TE in the draft). Would you rather have Moss or Pope (and for the sake of discussion, assume these are the only two choices the Steelers have)?
Yeah, this is a great way to kill time at work. When I first read this, I figured it was just another hair-brained armchair GM posting his lunacy on the first available message board. But thinking about it, it's not the craziest thing I've heard. If we re-phrase the question to read: Which player would make Roethlisberger's job easier?, I think it becomes a littler harder to argue for Moss (not that I was ever campaigning for him). Of course any tight end would have to block (that should keep the Matt Kranchick fan club at bay for a day or two), which is probably a lot easier than teaching a WR to block -- especially one that weighs 175 pounds.
This is more a thought experiment more than anything, but at this point what else are we going to talk about? Oh yeah, baseball. Red Sox season opener at 2-ish today.
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