In football and basketball, you have to be pretty darn good to make it professionally at that size. And, in order to survive, you had better hope you don't get tackled too often.
Diesel Power
They have to be able to catch him to tackle him. Banks nearly had two kickoff returns for TDs on Sunday, but one was called back due to a block-in-the-back penalty by back-up strong safety Reed Doughty. He had to settle for one. I do not think that will be his only score this season.
It's worth noting that Banks, an undrafted free agent who had three returns for TDs at Kansas State last year, came into training camp at 148 lb. He's since "bulked up" to 155. I suspect that he'll eventually be expected to take reps as a #4 receiver, but that may be for a season in the future. Both Joey Galloway and Roydell Williams have better hands than Banks and can run better routes, and Armstrong is beginning to develop as a deep threat. No need for Banks to be put in so soon.
Devon Smith from Penn State is like 5'6 145 pounds. The fastest/quickest HS prospect I have seen and I follow local recruiting pretty closely. Ran a very good (for HS)10.5 in the 100, but at 5'6 he was a little short for the 100, he was downright sick in 55 meters and a great 40 yards runner, sick football speed as being short allows him to hit top speed way quicker than the taller guys.
Smith was from Westlake, so hes a SMAC guy too. I think hes a sophomore now on Penn St.'s football team.
What's funny about the Redskins game today is that I only caught the first part of it and that part of the game did not reflect well on 'Skins kicker Graham Gano. They showed a stat of him being 15 for 20 this season with a long in the 40s. They were showing this statistic as he was setting up for a field goal going into halftime, I think, which he missed. This made him 15 for 21 on the season with a long in the 40s. All I could think about was how there are a hundred NCAA kickers every year capable of those numbers or better. None of them last more than 4 or 5 years in college. Pros can be around for 10+ years as a kicker. Statistically it would seem that NFL kickers should be pretty darn good with how many are graduating each year with pro potential. This was my parting thought as I left to go to Emily's play.
And then I find out later in the night that the 'Skins won in overtime thanks in no small part to Gano's four field goals. Kind of funny.
Additionally, Vince Young's behavior at the end of the game just made Donovan McNabb look like a saint for how well he handled the Grossman ending a few weeks ago.
The game was not aired in Baltimore. I had to listen to the awful broadcasting of Sonny, Sam and Larry. I think Gano missed a couple, but made four. He saw a lot of action today.
I think most Redskins fan are ready to give up on the kid, but I at least want him around for next season. I think he was the best kicker in NCAA in 2008. He didn't catch on with the Ravens at the start of camp last year, but performed really well in the UFL before finally replacing Shaun Suisham as the Skins kicker at the end of last year. This was after Suisham shanked a 23-yarder that could have iced a win over the Saints.
Gano is 23, and this is his first full NFL season. I think he's made more clutch kicks than he's missed this year. Today was his second kick that won an OT game. Additionally, recall that he hit two big kicks in the Dallas opener, including the 49-yarder (currently his longest) with minutes winding down. Shanahan showed a lot of faith in the young kicker with letting him take that kick, rather than either punting or keeping the ball in McNabb's hands.
Also, in defense of his 15-20 record coming into the Titans game today... One of the misses came from the result of a combo of a bad snap/fumbled hold, and the other was because Fred Davis allowed a Texan to sprint right by him and block the kick. If Davis pushed him back for even a second, not only does Gano (potentially) make the kick, but the Skins are 6-4.
Says veteran punter Hunter Smith: "I've held for a couple of the best to ever play. I don't know that a lot of people get it around here, in our reality, but good kickers - great kickers - miss lots of kicks. They just do. They miss game-winners. They miss kicks to push it into overtime. It just happens. But if you stick beside a guy, and give them some time to develop, they'll still miss kicks down the road, but what you're trying to find is someone who would be consistent 85 percent of the time. That's what we've got here. Graham is going to be really, really good."
As it is, they're 5-5. I felt really good about the win today. The Redskins O-line got pummeled today. I do not know what happened to Artis Hicks, their starting RG, but at one point Rabach went down. This brought in Will Montgomery, who I don't think has taken any snaps since the 2008 season (Rabach, for all his flaws, is reliable to at least show up). Kory Lichtensteiger, who had been starting LG, also disappeared at one point. Former starter Derek Dockery replaced him, and Stephon Heyer took the first snaps of his career (at least since before college) at guard. From what I heard on the radio, it sounds like they and Trent Williams held down the fort fairly well. Undrafted rookie Keiland Williams continue to play well in the absence of Ryan Torrain and Clinton Portis, whose tenure in DC may be over unless he wants to take reduced (VERY reduced) money next year. Also, considering the team was missing Carlos Rogers, Laron Landry, and Rocky McIntosh, they fought extremely hard and earned the victory.
VInce Young... apparently he threw his shoulder pads and jersey into the crowd after the game, got his stuff and left before talking to the media or even his teammates. He did have a brief conversation with Jeff Fisher. Even without knowing officially with what's going on with Young's hand, FIsher has benched the oft-benched QB. And this wasn't in an "until Young is healthy" tone.
Will he be able to carry a team better than John Wall? They both need people to pass the ball to.
Unlike the Wizards, it appears as though III will have a supporting cast. Per PFT, the Redskins are set to "break the bank" to bring in Vincent Jackson as a free agent. Jackson, who caught 66 passes for 1,100+ yards and 9 TDs last year, will likely end up as the third highest-paid WR in the NFL no matter who he signs with.
I'd also like to counter common-sentiment amongst Redskins fans who say the Redskins are mortgaging the future and are still spending huge money whenever/wherever. First, the Redskins made 12 draft selections last year, and I believe all 12 players are still under contract. Second, I don't think they have signed a big-contract free agent in the last couple of years, except for Oshimogho Atogwe (whom I believe has already been paid most of his guaranteed money). They spent 2011 clearing cap space, so this could be a break-out year. Looking forward to this season already.
I was surprised yesterday to learn that the Wizards, er, Bullets have in fact won the NBA championship before --- in '78 (I saw the banner hanging in Verizon Center).
DR - I don't know if this helps at all, but if we're not able to change the name of this thread, I'd still welcome you to discuss any non-running related sport talk that you want. I'll try to get things started...
The Caps lost in triple OT last night. Discuss.
My main takeaway is that ... I'm very tired today! A game that should've ended around 10 p.m. went past midnight. And for those unfamiliar with the phrase "Triple OT", that means the 3 20-minute regulation periods + 2 full 20-minute sudden death overtime periods + over half of a 3rd 20-minute sudden overtime period. In other words, 114 minutes of play (about a 4.5-hour event when factoring in intermissions and commercial breaks). And, to the dismay of all those Capitals fans who faithfully remained at Verizon Center (Joe's friend John Morrison was there) or stayed up watching at home (i.e., me), it ended tragically. But after that big tease where they sounded the horn for Ovi's presumed game-winnnig OT goal --- that was immediately waived off since he actually just hit the goal post --- I knew that, fatefully speaking, the Rangers would be sure to win. Holtby was a Holtbeast all the same.
MTA: a brief excerpt from the Yahoo! Sports report on the game.
Not that there wasn't a physical toll. CBC reported the Capitals' training staff ran out for bananas during overtime. Alzner said some guys ate white rice with soy sauce. The Rangers had fruit and bagels available, and after the game, their dressing room was littered with half-eaten PowerBars. There were even packages of organic chocolate-covered espresso beans. Anything for energy. Anything for an edge.
I actually was asleep by about 9:45, so I didn’t even make it to the end of regulation. I did hear about 8’s near game-winning goal, though. It certainly sounded heart-breaking. Fortunately, game four is not until Saturday and is in DC. The Caps will have home ice and plenty of time to rest. It’s a pretty big game though, because they can’t go down 3-1 at this point.
DR – Correct me if I’m wrong, but haven’t the Capitals had a string of rookie goalies over the past few seasons? Will Holtby be the one who finally sticks?
My fandom didn't begin until the 2010-2011 season, but I do believe they've had to rely on young guys (aged like 19-22) in net for the past several post-seasons. Before last year it was Varlamov (now playing for the Colorado Avalanche), then last year Varly had a groin injury so little Mikey Neuvirth had to take over. He was great in the 1st round series against the Rangers, but then got overwhelmed in the 2nd round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning --- which led to the Caps getting swept from the playoffs. This season they were supposed to end this trend by hiring esteemed veteran goal tender Tomas Voukun ... but a groin injury put him out of commision long before these playoffs began (his future with the Capitals is highly tenuous now). So it was going to be Neuvy again --- but then he was put out of play by a leg injury in one of the final regular season games! Thus they had to go with 3rd string goalie Braden Holtby (of the Caps AHL/minor league affiliate, the Hershey Bears). And if you ask me, I'd say he's done better in these playoffs than Voukun or Neuvirth would've done in his place. I would love to see Holtby become their franchise net minder for years to come.
The Washington Capitals are barely scoring any goals, but have to be the most fun team to watch in these playoffs. All of their games are decided by one goal. They've had numerous overtimes. They're seeded against better opponents every time. And here they are pushing their second game 7.