The Steal

The sports world is abuzz after the ending of the Monday Night Football game between the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks. Golden Tate was awarded posession on a ball thrown into the end zone by Seahawks QB Russell Wilson. Green Bay DB Jennings grabbed the ball first and Golden Tate reached in before they hit the ground with the Referee standing right over the top of them. They both had their hands on the ball. Jennings had it clutched to his chest. Tate had both hands on the ball. Its "dual posession" not "who has the most posession." The reaction of the Announcers, Jon Gruden and Mike Tirico, was very interesting. I recorded the game and have replayed that play I don't know how many times. Mike Tirico says "Fought for by Tate with Jennings! Dual Posession! Who has it?! Who are they going to give it to? Touchdown!" The referees were in disagreement. One signaled touchdown and the other one signaled for a timeout. Jon Gruden immediately questioned the call but they both had posession of the ball when they fell to the ground. Golden Tate did push off, their is no doubt about that. I wonder what the sports world would have said if the situation was reversed and it was the Packers that was awarded the TD on the catch rather than the Seahawks. I doubt it would have made every TV show in the nation and debated for an entire week. I also doubt Jon Gruden would have been "sick" about it.

The Drafts: A Sports Goobs Dream

This past week Has been a Sports Goobs dream. The NBA Draft and the NHL Draft on back to back nights and the Major League Baseball Draft about a week ago. I just love drafts. I love sorting thru my teams draft picks especially if I have never heard of most of the players such as the Seattle Seahawks from this years NFL Draft and reading what the so called experts think and what their projections are.

The Major League Baseball draft is usually not relevant until about five years down the road and that draft is probably the hardest one to project. You can just about name the players on one hand that have been placed on a major league roster without ever having played in the minors and contributed right away. I believe Bob Horner of the 1978 Atlanta Braves may have been one of the last to do so.

The NHL Draft is usually about 50/50. Some of the players can step in and play and contribute right away and others need more time to develop. The Carolina Hurricanes hit the jackpot with Jeff Skinner in last years draft. He was the #7 selection overall, stepped in and played immediately, and won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie just a few days ago.

The NFL and NBA Drafts are probably the most relevant and the most analyzed. Those players, especially the top ten picks or so, are expected to step in and play immediately and be major contributors to their teams success.