Recently, I talked about overachievers and underachievers in the NFL this year. I mentioned a couple of players but did not include Dwight Freeney on my list. A reader sent along a note suggesting his name should be on the list based on his fat contract and salary cap number. So I went to look and I must agree with the reader that Dwight Freeney has underachieved significantly so far this year.
Freeney gets paid to rush the passer. Yes, I know that he plays in the context of a defensive scheme and there are other responsibilities for a DE, but the reason Freeney gets the big bucks is to rush the passer. Yes, I know that offensive coordinators have focused attention on him and have assigned blocking backs to pay specific attention to him in passing situations, but the reason Freeney gets the big bucks is to sack the QB. At the moment, he has one-half sack for the season. Had that been his record for the past couple of years, he would not be hauling down big bucks and fat signing bonuses. So, allow me to add Dwight Freeney to my list of underachievers for the first half of the 2006 NFL season.
Since the Raiders have shaken off that winning spasm they experienced a couple of weeks ago - they have two wins this year and they've been shut out twice this year - this is a team that still figures to be a major contender for the #1 overall pick in next spring's draft. People have called this the "Brady Quinn Derby" and anyone who has watched even a little bit of the Raiders this year has to recognize that QB is one of the Raiders' needs. But the Raiders also need a reliable WR and a top-notch RB. I fear that the days when Randy Moss and Jerry Porter will work as a tandem in Oakland to strike fear in the hearts of defensive coordinators have passed. LaMont Jordan is a good RB; I'll even say he's a better than average RB; he is not a top-shelf RB. So, in the Raiders' case, would this really be the "Brady Quinn Derby" or might it be the "Calvin Johnson Derby" or the "Adrian Peterson Derby"?
In hot stove baseball news, Sammy Sosa says he's rested and ready for a return to MLB. When last seen, Sosa was hitting about .220 for the Orioles with warning track power; his range in the outfield was less than it had been; he was still a prima-dona pain in the butt in the clubhouse. Sosa says he wants to come back to hit another dozen home runs in order to reach the 600 mark. That statement alone would make me lose his agent's phone number. That statement says that Sammy Sosa continues to have his attention focused on his personal statistics. That is just what a team does not need in a veteran player whose career peaked several years ago and has been in serious decline since.
And since I just mentioned the concept of a veteran player whose career peaked a couple of years ago and has been in serious decline since, I have to talk about Barry Bonds. Here's another guy who has never gotten any "Teammate of the Year" votes or "Mr. Congeniality" nominations. But Bonds did file for free agency as soon as he was eligible to do so. And now his agent, Jeff Borris, is out there trying to create a market for Bonds' services. Borris said that he will contact all 30 teams in MLB. I guess I'll believe that if "contact" is taken to include leaving a voice-mail message with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and/or the KC Royals that will not generate a return phone call. Someone asked Borris what kind of deal Bonds' might be looking for. Reportedly, with a straight face, Borris said $14M for one year. The fact that he didn't immediately break down and start to giggle uncontrollably tells me that he should make the final table in the World Series of Poker next year if he can just get a few decent hands.
Here is something that Jeff Borris and Barry Bonds will have to get past. Frank Thomas was in the same situation last year that Bonds is in this year. He was an aging slugger who had worn out his welcome in the clubhouse. His fielding prowess was nil; he ran at the speed of smell. Frank Thomas got a deal laden with incentives that made him less than $5M last year after Thomas got most of the incentives in his contract. Now compare the two players output last year and you'll see that Thomas did more than Bonds. If any GM pays $14M for Barry Bonds next year, that should provide an airtight case saying that he is not competent to be a GM.
Borris will be throwing out lots of statements and predictions and "facts" about Barry Bonds and what he can bring to a franchise next year. That's his job as an agent. The fact is that he bears exactly no burden of truth or honesty when he speaks. Remember when Drew Rosenhaus proclaimed that Willis McGahee would be completely recovered from rehab and ready to start the NFL season and that McGahee would be the Rookie of the Year? I do. Did any of that happen? No, it did not. Did anyone go and ask Rosenhaus why he lied? Of course not; everyone knows that the essence of his job is to lie about his clients and to use those lies to get his client a good deal. That is exactly what Jeff Borris is doing and will continue to do this winter.
In Tuesday's election, the voters of Sacramento turned down a proposal to impose a one-quarter of one percent sales tax there in order to fund a new arena for the Maloof brothers and the Sacramento Kings. That proposal lost almost 4-1 at the ballot box. Even the Maloofs were not supportive because they didn't like the leasing deal they were looking at so one had to wonder why the measure was even on the ballot to begin with. This puts the Sacramento King in play to move again; they are the "movingest" franchise in basketball and probably in all of pro sports. They used to be the Rochester Royals and became the Cincinnati Royals who morphed into the Kansas City/Omaha Kings who contracted to play as the Kansas City Kings before moving to Sacramento. With Sacramento "in play" and Seattle having been sold to an owner from Oklahoma City and Portland supposedly losing money hand over fist, the footprint of the NBA in the Great Northwest is in danger. Just remember that the Maloof brothers own one of the high-end hotels in Las Vegas…
In Seattle, voters approved a measure that could be very interesting if it spread to other locales. Initiative 91 now requires any city expenditures in facilities for pro sporting endeavors to "earn a positive rate of return". That's a concept voters might understand but most municipal and state governments have no clue what it means or how to achieve it. That could be interesting…
Finally, a note from Greg Cote in the Miami Herald:
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"Ron Artest's rap album, My World, is set for a Tuesday release. "I've got music to be heard," he said, raising the question: if he had music to be heard, why did he make a rap album?"
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