Yesterday Morning's offering - In the absence of sports...

Written by TiVo on July 14, 2005

Well I’m about to serve up a real uninspired effort, but what could be more perfect for the only day of the year without a major American sporting event taking place? So join me on a “Dull Day” look at the four major sports.

Ah, who am I kidding? This is Teevs checking in on CPT (you don’t know, you better ax somebody), and maybe that lead would’ve worked if you actually got to read it sometime on Wednesday. Well, better late than never … so actually I guess it makes this an inspired effort, since I refuse to miss my scheduled offering day, even a day late (my baby son caught me with the come-put-me-to-sleep, ha-ha-you-fell-asleep-too okie doke last night).

Baseball
I guess I should have some take on the All-Star Game. Well I don’t. It has nothing to do with roto.

Next!

Football
Here’s a quick look at five players who will get drafted lower than they should:

Deuce McAllister, RB, N.O.: The more I think about this, the lists with hot young running backs like Kevin Jones, Julius Jones and Willis McGahee ranked ahead of this guy are insane. Sure, they each put up great half-seasons, but two of them have injury histories already in their short time in the limelight, and none has the track record of McAllister. Plus, Deuce has a better quarterback than all three of the young backs and a team that drafted an offensive lineman with a top 20 pick, and signed another with a Pro Bowl past.

Domanick Davis, RB, Hou: This guy had 588 yards receiving last year, and 1,776 total -- the same as LaDainian Tomlinson, who often goes No. 1 overall. Tomlinson gets in the end zone much more, but in a yardage league that‘s a wonderful total from a guy who can be had in the second round. People either don’t know, are concerned about touchdowns or are scared by his injury history … but he actually played in 15 games last year.

Brandon Stokely, WR, Ind: He may be the third-best receiver on his team, but he put up the numbers that you get from many No. 1s (68 catches, 1,077 yards and 10 TDs.) Peyton Manning can’t be expected to repeat his magical 2004, but he’ll go to Stokely a lot, especially if Marvin Harrison or Reggie Wayne is hurt. Similarly, if Randy Moss and Jerry Porter become a dynamic duo in Oakland, don’t forget about third receiver Ronald Curry, who emerged last season.

Duce Staley, RB, Pit: There are two good reasons why he doesn’t get drafted with the first group of backs: 1) Jerome Bettis will steal his short yardage touchdowns, 2) He missed six games and parts of others with a hamstring injury. His 830 yards will project to more than 1,300 if healthy over the full season, though he was limited to a fluky one rushing TD. Even without many TDs, those kind of numbers are third round, not the sixth through ninth rounds he can be had in.

Travis Henry, RB, Buf: Instead of grabbing a defense, kicker or second QB in the middle rounds, take a chance on a guy that is one leg snap away from being the starting running back in any of 30 cities. If he gets on the field to flex his Pro Bowl talent, it’ll be worth a lot more than the difference between Aaron Brooks and Kyle Boller.

Basketball
So hoops moves are being made, but getting LeBron a sidekick is among the most talked about. But since he got a slick ball-handler and good defender in soon-to-be-former Wizard Larry Hughes instead of a spot-up shooter like Michael Redd, it might not impact LeBron’s fantasy numbers as much. A shooter, as we all know, can draw the defense out toward the 3-point line, freeing the lane for LeBron to maneuver.

Another hot rumor has Hughes’ former teammate Kwame Brown going to the Lakers for Caron Butler. My first thoughts on that would be that the Lakers luck out again, even though it’s a good deal for the Wizards. Brown has the physical tools, and with Phil Jackson helping him put it all together upstairs, Kwame-Kobe could be a decent inside-outside combo.

Hockey
Hey, so did you hear? Hockey is back next year!

The silence is deafening, people.

Okay, so I skipped all of my normal departments, but at least I didn’t bail out on your completely. My one non-roto thought of the day is watch the new Surreal Life. I don’t get caught up in reality shows very often, but this one pairs former A’s great Jose Canseco with Omarosa, Pepa, Bronson Pinchot, Pink’s boyfriend and a couple other drama queens. I watched one episode, and it’s some funny shit. I mean, don’t stay home from the bar to watch it, but if you’re stuck at the crib … VH1.

Berate, belittle or big-up TiVo at Tivo@rotogods.com. Or find him lurking the message boards 24-7. Hip-hop and funk fans can also peep TiVo’s musical musings occasionally on allthangsfunky.blogspot.com

-- Written by TiVo on July 14, 2005