That being said, we have a pretty funny show this week. Topics include (but aren’t limited to) Donovan Mcnabb, the “Most criticized QB in NFL history”, further draft debate: Are there cracks people are overlooking in Luck and Griffin’s games?, and why can’t the Lakers get out of their own way these days? All this, and more from your favorite middle class sports duo, inside on JiveHour!
Looks like New York is about to become “born again”…
Well, it’s been a crazy week so far, but fear not loyal listeners…for JiveHour has not abdicated it’s duty of providing hard hitting, but oddly entertaining, commentary through it all! This week we collectively laugh at the now castrated New Orleans Saints (could the paper bags be making a come back down in ‘Nawlins?), while also examining the Peyton Manning-Tim Tebow situation and how all of that unfolded. Unfortunately, modern technology screwed us on our NBA half of the program, but we also touch upon the suddenly defensive minded New York Knicks, and what the ramifications are for the suddenly championship looking LA Lakers coming off their most productive mid-season trade performance in quite some time!
It’s been too long folks, but JiveHour is back and on top of its game!
We know, we know…how could life possibly go on without your two favorite turkeys jabbering on about the professional sports scene? Well, we are here to tell you your anguish can end now, as we have our first podcast in what seems like forever up and ready for your auditory pleasure! Don’t be shy to hear my sheer ecstasy over the Saints finally getting in trouble for what many teams have already known about them, our look at the draft and how things look to be shaping up as far as the QB market goes, and Joey taking the lead on the NBA as we attempt to diagnose why Carmelo getting playing time seems to translate to a guaranteed sub-.500 record! All this, and more inside on JiveHour!
We Tried Resisting, But It Wasn’t Meant To Be….Prepare For Some “Linsanity” Puns!
Well, we can’t say we didn’t try at least, but it had to happen eventually. At any rate, this week we discuss the resurgence of the New York Knicks, and how we shouldn’t really worry about whether the Chinese take our manufacturing jobs, but rather how quickly they’re going to take our NBA jobs! Additionally, we preview the draft a little bit, along with some free agency questions as well. This, and more on this week’s JiveHour!
I Thought the Apocalypse Would Occur Before I Witnessed a Zombie Perform the Halftime Show…
And so it has come to this. Never in my life did I think I would live to see the sport I love bastardized so badly on National television, but there it was…all 53 years of it staring blankly back at me as I watched my 23 years of football viewership get raped right in front of my eyes at halftime this past Sunday! Never fear though, as the JiveHour crew was on top of this travesty like white on rice, as well as some expert analysis of the actual game that has now spawned yet another hi-larious Tom Brady meme. All this, and more, on this week’s JiveHour podcast!
Just in Time for the Ultimate Game…the Ultimate Podcast!
This week, we examine the meaningless spectacle that was the Pro-Bowl, some potential conclusions to the Dwight Howard Saga, provide our expert predictions on the Super Bowl, and best of all…”My Cousin Jamie” Finds out he can watch “Soul-Train” reruns on the Inner-webz!
Jivehour’s State of the Union Address
We here at Jivehour believe that liberty is a great thing to have in life, with no better example in existence than an individual’s right to vote. However, if there’s one democratic endeavor that needs serious tweaking in this lifetime, it is the NFL Pro Bowl. One would think that out of the four major sports leagues in the USA, the most exciting and beloved one would also have the best All-Star game. Alas, what we Football fans must endure instead is a televised broadcast of a bunch of football players (many of whom are not exactly “All-Star” material on the field to begin with) enjoying a league subsidized vacation in Hawaii, with a possibility of a scrimmage breaking out at some point during the Pro Bowl “Game”. While NBA fans get to watch displays of skill and showmanship (although as we talk about in the podcast this week, last year’s Dunk contest was the cheesiest shit this side of the 21st century; MJ dunking from the free throw line is wayyyy cooler than Blake Griffin plugging for a shitty KIA), and NHL fans get to enjoy an All-Star game that seems to at least change up its format every few years, us NFL fans are stuck with a product that feels more like an afterthought than a serious All-Star event. Should it even exist? You’ll have to listen in to find out what our expert analysis has to say!
Weekly Podcast, Plus a Little Help From Our Friend Carl…
On top of our weekly Podcast this week, we at JiveHour would like to present Carl with his “Stone Cold Lock of the Century, of the Week” as well!
Who Would’ve Guessed it Would be a Defense Dominated Championship Weekend?
For the 5 or so of you who have listened to our previous podcast, it is pretty clear that here at Jive Hour we are not fans of the direction the league is taking. Of course we enjoy watching a tense, back-and-forth shootout just as much as the next guy (this year’s season opener between the Saints and the Packers was one of the most entertaining games this year), but there is a distinct difference between two teams that are slugging it out on the scoreboard and two teams whose defenses are being neutered by league rules. It seems like these days a DB can draw a flag just by looking at a receiver cock-eyed; god forbid he be allowed to do his bloody job and be able to prevent a receiver from catching the ball!
All ranting aside though, as we ride into Championship weekend we have found ourselves witnesses to a divisional round where the poster children of the “Live Ball” era were tossed aside in favor of teams that pride themselves on their defenses (Satan and the Patriots being the exception, although they’ve been doing this for almost a decade now). It seemed inconceivable two weeks ago that the words “Alex Smith” and “Super Bowl” could possibly be uttered without a laugh track ending that sentence, but after beating the whiskey and pralines out of the Saints this past weekend there’s a very real chance we could see the Niners back in the Super Bowl for the first time since that lovable midget Steve Young took them in 1994. It won’t be any easy task though, as they come face to face with the New Jersey Football Giants, fresh off of what looked like a victory at “Lambeau Field”, although you’d be hard pressed to convince me that was the real Lambeau. The Lambeau Field I remember was a place where teams went to end their seasons, in weather conditions more apt for an Eskimo than a football player who more than likely was born and raised somewhere where 40 degrees is considered freezing. Perhaps with the Saints out of the running Discount Double Check can go meet up with some of the Saints down in some Bayou swamp and get a voodoo priestess to lift whatever dark curse has befallen Lambeau? Whatever is the case, the Giants did put together an impressive game against the Pack attack, and as our resident cheese-head had noted throughout the week the Giants represented the one match-up he was genuinely afraid of going into the game. Hopefully this meeting between the Niners and the Giants plays out as well on the field as it does on paper.
We’d be remiss though if we didn’t crown the AFC game as the “must see” game of the weekend. I know, I know…a team with an offense from the 1970′s should not be a game away from the Super Bowl in this “Live Ball” era, but somehow the Ravens have managed to make it back to the AFC Championship, and who better to serve as an opponent than Satan’s very own Patriots! I know many will be picking the NFC game as the premiere game this weekend, and there is a lot going in their favor for that title. However, for my money I can’t think of a better defining moment for the modern NFL than this match-up between one of the league’s top defensive teams (those mean mofos from Ballsohard U), and the team that has redefined offense in the 21st century (but has forgotten about its defense the past two seasons). Will this game finally prove me right for standing by the “defense wins championships” mantra through thick and thin? Or will Satan and his girly-haired minions march to another appearance in the Super Bowl, thus ensuring an unending amount of knob-slobbery from every sportswriter with even the slightest connection to Boston? We will have our answer come 9:30 PM Sunday night!
Stay tuned this Friday for our weekly podcast (brought to you by Stachowski Brand Charcuterie: Old World Recipes for New World Eaters!), where Joey and I will be previewing each game, and will put our Nostradamus skills to the test in this penultimate weekend of football!
With Redshirt Sophomore Michael Brockers Declaring, the Top Ten Just Got More Interesting…
In a move that was, at the least, a bit surprising yesterday, redshirt Sophomore Michael Brockers declared for the draft along with fellow LSU teammate Morris Claiborne. Claiborne, who was already being projected as a likely top 10 pick, was merely going through the formalities of declaring. However, Brockers, who had been projected as one of the top DT prospects in the 2013 draft, suddenly injects some life into a DT class that is decently stocked with talent but has been lacking a bonafide top 10 prospect.
At 6′ 6″ 306 pounds, Brockers is a mammoth of a lineman. Given that when he arrived on campus he clocked in at roughly 266, it is readily apparent that he still has room to grow into his frame without becoming Fat Albert, with many scouts seeing him being able to reach 315-320 without affecting his physical skills negatively. While still young at 21, he has quickly become the best lineman by a mile on an LSU squad that, barring their getting bent over a school desk by Alabama in the BCS championship game, has been very dominant this season. Scouts seem to agree that there are some technique questions that must still be answered by him, but if someone can find me a scouting report that doesn’t say that about a lineman I will give them a cookie. Fact is, Brockers notched 54 tackles this seasons, including 10 for a loss, to go along with 2 sacks, a forced fumble, and an interception on a screen pass (I would love to see his pass deflection numbers though, given how tall he is). For reference, the top three lineman in tackles for loss this season (who are #2,#3, and #6 in the overall list) were Jason-Pierre Paul, Jared Allen, and Charles Johnson with 24,21, and 19 (respectively). For a DT to be putting up those kinds of numbers says a lot about his ability to “get skinny” and penetrate the line, which is a skill that separates the good space eaters from the elite DT in the league. I understand that his height can become a disadvantage if he doesn’t practice good technique and gets too high coming off the snap, but from what I’ve seen of the guy that is not going to be an issue for him going forward. He definitely passes the eye test on game day, and I feel that he is going to become a dominant DT in this league for a long time, particularly if he goes to a team that already has some talent on its line.
Which brings us to the $64,000 question: Tom, who F’ing cares about a DT declaring for the draft? Aren’t we all supposed to be interested in the drama surrounding the QB’s? Well ladies and gentlemen (I say this as if any woman will ever touch this blog), there’s a big reason why we pay attention to Defensive Tackles: Next to QB’s and Left Tackles, Defensive Tackles are considered a premium position as far as the draft is concerned. Teams will routinely value a DT higher than a similarly talented CB or LB (although finding an elite MLB is the most important aspect of assembling a defense in my completely unheard of opinion), and as such Brockers stands a chance of shaking up the top 10 considerably come draft day. With the NFL mollycoddling receivers nowadays, the need for a dominant defensive line has only grown, as a team’s ability to defend the pass is only as good as its ability to generate pressure with its front four (or three and a backer, for you 3-4 types out there). Most importantly though, the ability to generate interior pressure is what separates a good defense from a great one, and when presented with a talent who has a ceiling as high as Brockers (not too mention a CBA which is far friendlier to these types of “Higher risk, higher reward” picks in the early rounds), it is going to be hard for defensively challenged teams to pass up on such an opportunity. We will be posting our first mock after the Super Bowl, but I’m going to say right now that if he has a decent combine and does well with his interviews don’t be surprised to see the Carolina Panthers selecting him at the #8/9 position (depending on how our coin toss with Miami goes). There is no other team in the top 10 that has as glaring a need at DT as the Panthers do, and given Rivera’s propensity to draft these types of players (Cam is the obvious example, but many of our picks last year were similarly “High risk, high reward”) it won’t surprise me in the least to see his name get called before we hit number 10 on the draft board.
