With DeSean Jackson, The Time To Take A Chance Is Now

Allow me to pretend to be a real sports columnist here for a second...

The Washington Redskins have every reason to avoid the suddenly available DeSean Jackson like the plague. None of those reasons really have anything to do with the alleged rumors of the 6 degrees of separation Jackson has with LA area gang members. What, you think DeSean Jackson is the 1st athlete who grew up with somebody that turned into someone who runs with such crowds? You think every high profile athlete who knows someone like that is going to turn into Aaron Hernandez?

Let's be honest here...that is the fear among NFL executives. But those stories aren't even near the top of the list of reasons a giant stay away sign should be posted next to Jackson for all burgandy and gold decision-makers. Jackson is insanely talented, but he's also shown himself to be a world class knucklehead. Everyone remembers DeSean's rookie season where he was so eager to celebrate a would-be touchdown that he actually dropped the ball about 3 yards prior to the end zone. Everyone also remembers plays and entire games where Jackson appeared to dog it when things weren't going well for him and his team (especially towards the end of that Dream Team season). Attitude and work ethic problems have also followed Jackson since his college days, and his onfield antics and yapping can be a little bit too much to take at times.

Aside from all that, it would be a typical Redskins move to throw a ton of cash at a big, splashy free agent who would come with some kind of red flag...especially when the Redskins have limited salary cap space, have no 1st round draft pick this year, and have plenty of other holes to fill...and especially when they already signed a free agent speedster receiver this offseason in Andre Roberts.

And having said all that, Washington should move heaven and earth to sign Jackson. As my boy and fellow B-Court All-Star, Mac, emailed me almost as soon as news of Jackson's release from Philadelphia broke, go get em...upgrade your squad.

Jackson would come with all kinds of baggage and headache-inducing behavior, but he's the type of game-changing wide receiver that doesn't come around very often. His speed and play-making ability are world class. He would instantly upgrade the Redskins' dreadful return teams. He would scare off opposing defenses from loading up against the run game. He would bump Pierre Garcon to the #2 wideout, a position he is much more suited for. And you would think he would fit in perfectly with RG3's ability to scramble and extend plays.

Yes, it would fly in the face of everything I've been arguing for as of late in terms of how this Washington franchise needs to shift their way of acquiring people. And Jackson's talents still wouldn't solve the Skins' woeful defensive secondary or kickoff coverage teams. But the idea of Jackson lining up wide in a Redskins' jersey is just too good to pass on. Let's make this happen, Dan Snyder...time to bust open the ATM once again.

My Achilles Heels

I don't know how to say this without making it sound like a pun, but my Achilles heel is my achilles. I've made mention of it before on here in other injury updates, but I've dealt with some achilles tendonitis in both legs over the past couple of years. It seems to come and go, and usually the more active I am the more it goes.

The more epic Achilles...

Last night was the 1st time I actually decided to look outward for help though. At the recommendation of a friend I play basketball with (who also happens to be a head athletic trainer at a local high school or something - I might even be selling him short as to what his job title actually is), I went and saw a physical therapist that he sends his athletes to.

Now, I was skeptical going into my appointment, but I actually learned some stuff about my body that I wasn't aware of before. For example, I actually have a larger arch in my feet than what is considered average. This can contribute to achilles aggravation. Also, from one look at my feet and the way I walk, it was obvious to the PT that I was very stiff and had suffered some type of lower body injuries over the course of my life. Apparently, my numerous ankle sprains over the years have caused me to put almost all of my weight on the outside of the bottom of my foot when I walk (and presumably run, jump, cut, or anything else). I learned that this natural form of overcompensation is likely causing my achilles tendons to work harder than they should.

I think it's always comforting to know the why when it comes to something in your body not performing the way it should. The question now is what to do with this information. The PT thought I would benefit from scheduling some times to come in and get some work done. (Following my assessment, it also seems that I have low flexibility in my hips, which could also possibly effect my balance and, therefore, my achilles.) But do I really want to spend the time and money to do that? I could take the insights I gained, research it, and try to develop some kind of program on my own. How effective my amateur self-therapy would be is very questionable though. As I've heard from a lot of people older and wiser than me, take care of it now...it will be worse if you have these same problems later. I think the right decision is inevitable...it's just a matter of how stubborn I want to be and how long it takes me to give in.

The NCAA Tournament: Crushing Dreams One Game At A Time

No, I'm not talking about Wichita St. Although yes, that sucks for them too.

Sorry, boys.

I'm talking about the actual 1st weekend of the NCAA Tournament, where the increased parody of college basketball makes filling out your bracket nearly impossible. Who agrees? Quicken Loans for one, who only had to sweat-out there billion dollar perfect bracket challenge until about midway through the 2nd day of the Round of 64 (when the last registered perfect bracket on their site already crapped-out).

Case in point was the bracket of yours truly, who slogged away through the 1st round (yes, I refuse to call the play-in games Round 1) with a very mediocre 22-10 record. However, I was able to accomplish the secondary goal of having a successful early round bracket. 1st, you want to pick correctly (obviously). 2nd, if you do pick wrong, you want to try to pick wrong with teams you had losing fairly quickly anyway. 10 misses in the Round of 64 is bad, but only 1 incorrect pick (Duke) who I had advancing past the Round of 32 is something I could live with.

That was followed by a glorious Saturday where I went a perfect 8-for-8 on the day, and I actually found myself at or near the top of the pools I am in. Then, unfortunately, yesterday happened.

Ugghhh...

Sunday's games were a cruel reminder of how quickly your bracket can take a turn for the worse. The day begin with 1 Elite 8 team, Kansas, gagging against Stanford. Then, the wheels really fell off when Kentucky played their best game of the season and beat my national runner-up, Wichita St. The day's cherry on top of my s*** Sunday was Creighton getting its doors blown off by an athletically superior Baylor team. Add that to my Duke pick from Friday, and I ended Sunday 4-4.

That made me 12-4 overall in the Round of 32, which is actually pretty decent...but I'm down to only 4 possible Elite 8 teams before the games even tip-off this Thursday. Currently, I'm still hovering around the top spot in all of my pools, but the maximum number of potential points I can score took a huge hit as well, and I will be lucky to remain within shouting distance of the money in any of those pools: all in day's work when it comes to bracketology.

Training Update #2: Tempered Expectations

Back in June, I wrote a post detailing my training goals for the remainder of the year. I'm revisiting it and updating my progress for several reasons. 1st, the whole idea behind that post was to be accountable to myself. 2nd, my wife has admitted that her favorite posts on this blog are the ones where I talk openly about some aspect of my life. And 3rd, for some reason that post is 1 of the top 5 viewed posts in the history of B-Court All-Star...probably has something to do with the, how you say, graphical representations I used.

Like this one! Holy s***!

With that being said, let's see how I did. (Mind you, I think I was supposed to achieve these by the New Year...St. Patrick's Day is close enough though.)

1. Combined 700 lb. 1 rep max...This one is particularly hard to track because to be perfectly honest I totally forgot about this goal. That's what goals are for, right? In fact, I haven't even tried to max-out in any of these in several months. If I go by my handy-dandy workout tracking app on my phone, my estimated 1 rep max is calculated to be 225 lb. on the bench, 232 lb. for squatting, and only 217 lb. for deadlifting. That only puts me at 674 lb. by my count. I may have to attempt a 1 rep max for each in the upcoming weeks just to see what I can do...only a couple pounds for each exercise more than what the calculation is saying, and I'm there. So, not exactly a lofty goal, but this one doesn't concern me as much.

Forget using your arms, use whatever that thing is that's pushing up out of your midsection.

2. Bench 225 lb...Like I said, it's been months since I've actually tried this. I've done it once upon a time though. This week I actually did 3 sets of 5 reps at 200 lb., the most I've ever done at that weight ever. I wonder if I could actually eke out 230 or 235. Similar to the last goal, haven't actually tried it, but I'm pretty sure I got this.

Yeah, buddy.

3. Run a sub-7:30 mile...Fail! I think I've timed myself while running 3 times since the original training update post. Shame, shame, shame...

Did I say holy s*** already? Holy s***!

4. Have 8% body fat...Also a fail, but unlike the mile goal not a total wash I don't think. I still think I'm in the double digits, but in the last couple months my strength has actually increased while dropping 5-10 lb.

Ow.

5. Dunk a basketball...This also falls into the category of partial failure I think. Technically, no, I can't dunk at the moment. Ok, so maybe that should count as simply a failure. But my vertical has improved slightly. If my legs feel good that particular day, I can grab the rim with 1 hand and graze it with 2. I could probably dunk a tennis ball right now, but a volleyball might be pushing it. Hopefully, by summer I will be that much closer.

Ad Nauseum: Here Comes the Airplane!

I've heard rumors of 1 year olds that will suck down anything from pizza to whole pickles...my Jacob isn't 1 of those kids. In fact, he's a million times better than he once was, but he's still pretty f***ing picky when it comes to food, and getting him to eat an appropriate amount of baby food for his size (he's a big boy already) can be a chore at times.

"I've stolen your spoon...victory is mine!"

Consequently, Mommy and Daddy sometimes have to resort to some tricks to get him to behave at dinner time...like distracting him with TV to the point that he doesn't know what is being stuck in his mouth. The go-to move is to put "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" on and call it a day. Say what you want about Disney, but that mouse gets s*** done in our kitchen. Jacob especially loves the song-and-dance portions. We've rewound and replayed "The Hot Dog Dance" so many times that I've found myself singing it in the car as I drive to work at 6 in the morning.

Hot dog,  hot dog, hot diggity dog!

Strangely enough, ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" does the trick at times as well. Tony Kornheiser's old, fat, bald, orange dome especially cracks him up for some reason.

Actually, who wouldn't find this funny?

But in a pinch, even some commercials will suffice. They usually have to have some kind of music video quality: a catchy tune plus the kind of cut-away video editing made famous by MTV. And for that reason and that reason alone, I give props to 2 standout feeding time helpers in the forms of these respective Captain Morgan and Verizon ads that get played on a loop on our TV at times. God bless you guys.

2014 NBA Power Rankings, Week 3: How the Mighty Have Fallen

Not sure if there's a way to quantify it, but thanks to some wild hot and cold streaks from the league's top teams we may have had the biggest shakeup ever in the history of these rankings. Let's hop to it, people.

1. San Antonio Spurs (48-16, PR=3)...Back in the top spot again, the Spurs have won 8 straight and are owner's of the league's best record. Should be interesting to see how they balance going after that #1 overall seed and resting some of their aging vets - although, that never seems to affect the Spurs' play for some reason anyway.

2. Los Angeles Clippers (46-20, PR=4)...The Spurs' 8 straight is only bested by the Clips' 9 in a row. And if Blake Griffin continues his transformation into the evolutionary Karl Malone - while still yamming all over everybody - this is a title contending team. Mark it down.

Griffin is more than just a high wire act this season.

3. Miami Heat (44-18, PR=1)...I've said this before, but even after losing 4 of 5 it's hard to get too worried. I'll leave it at that.

4. Houston Rockets (44-21, PR=7)...If they hadn't lost back-to-back games, I would have had them 3rd this week after wins against Miami, Indy, and Portland. The Heat get a 2nd chance at them this Sunday in South Beach though.

5. Indiana Pacers (47-17, PR=2)...Still the owners of the East's top spot, but they have scuffled a little bit since the trade deadline. Apparently, the addition of Evan Turner did what the return of Danny Granger - pre-trade - from injury could not: kill Lance Stephenson's mojo.

6. Oklahoma City Thunder (48-17, PR=5)...I gotta admit that I've graded OKC - who currently holds the league's 2nd best record overall - on a tough scale so far this season. Something still doesn't smell quite right about them, but with Beastbrook getting reintegrated they will have a chance to climb these rankings quickly.

7. Golden State Warriors (41-25, PR=8)...Because they're a jumpshooting team, the Warriors are still a little bipolar. It's a playoff matchup that all of the West's top teams would love to avoid, and yet they could conceivably lose to anyone they'd match up with in Round 1 as well.

8. Chicago Bulls (36-29, PR=9)...The offense isn't always there, but they always - always - compete. Prediction: whichever team the Bulls play in Round 2 of the playoffs - Indy or Miami - will lose in the Conference Championship from being beaten up in a 7 game series with Chicago.

9. Memphis Grizzlies (38-26, PR=Not Ranked)...Don't look now, but the Grizz have snuck into the 7th spot in the West. Golden State is streaky, but no one - and I mean no one - wants to see Memphis in Round 1.

A healthy Gasol equals trouble for everyone else out West.

10. Portland Trailblazers (42-23, PR=6)...In these rankings, the Blazers have dropped from 4th to 6th to 10th, and at this rate they will drop out of the top 10 before long. When they have all their pieces, their offense is still deadly, but they've lost 4 straight, and LA is sidelined again - not a good sign.

The 2013 Redskins in Review, Part 4: The Root of All Evil

Ok, evil might be a strong word, but if you want to know the real root cause of the Redskins' problems in 2013 and in years past, look no further than the top of the organization. Since 1999 when Dan Snyder became the owner of the Washington Redskins, the franchise has ranged anywhere from middling to inept to clown-like. Proud moments and seasons like 2012 have been rare, and they are usually quickly ended by other moments of ineptitude. Regardless, there's never a shortage of drama.

Ok, maybe evil sums it up pretty well.

There are some instances where I've agreed with Snyder's moves in the moment. Some of acquisitions and hirings detailed in Part 2 and Part 3 are chief among them. However, almost all of them turn out to be buffoonish one way or the other. Snyder's problem appears to be that of any good summer blockbuster super villian: hubris.

Judging by his other business ventures and the fortune he's accumulated, he is a brilliant businessman and marketer. To get where he is in life, Snyder has no doubt had to hire and put the right people in place with those business ventures in order to remain successful, but he just can't seem to do that with his boyhood obsession, the Redskins.

Instead, Snyder wants to be the Cowboys' Jerry Jones: owner/general manager/president of the do whatever the f*** I want club. Only Jones at least has a smidge of football background, whereas Snyder looks like the guy that during his school days was shoved into a locker when the football team passed him in the halls. That might not be altogether fair, as Jones' Cowboys haven't fared much better than Snyder's Skins in recent years, and playing or coaching football doesn't necessarily qualify you to hire the right coaching and player personnel.

But like Jones, Snyder can never seem to get out of his own way. Even with the hirings a few years ago of general manager Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan as head coach, no one really thought that Snyder would actually stay out of it, did they? So, when rumors are floated about the owner being too chummy with the star quarterback for the head coach's liking, they don't seem too farfetched. What else would you expect from a meddlesome owner who seems to continually act in a way that suggests he views his NFL team as his plaything and its roster as that of a fantasy football league? Add to that Snyder's general lack of social and self awareness regarding the Washington football club's name insensitivity issue and the stories of general jerkiness from his personal life, and he's not the most likeable owner you can think of.

So, as I write this on the 1st official day of free agency as the Redskins still have about $20 million in salary cap room to play with, am I excited? No, no, I am not. Do I think that the Redskins will still somehow end up with a very high-priced aging roster with a lot of holes left to fill at the end of the day? Yes, yes, I do. Long past are the days when I used to get fooled by Snyder's ability to be the big winner every offseason. Instead, I will hope for Snyder to one day sign a real player personnel guy (sorry, Bruce Allen), get out of the way, and watch him make smart sensible decisions that bring the team sustained success. Otherwise, wake me up when the draft starts (when I get to watch the Rams use the Redskins' 1st round pick).

For the Love of Humanity, Enough with the NBA Between-Quarter Coach Interviews

During last night's Spurs-Heat game, I couldn't help but laugh at Gregg Popovich's answer to one of TNT sideline reporter Craig Sager's in-game interview questions. Sager attempted to ask how San Antonio was succeeding at keeping LeBron James out of the paint. Coach Popovich's dead-pan answer: "I have no clue."

That fart was uncomfortably wet.

Some people find Popovich's demeanor during these moments unnecessary, boorish, and even unprofessional. I find it hilariously funny. Full disclosure: I can't stand Craig Sager. I think he's a clown...a buffoon...a joke. His outfits look like they were taken from the giveaway pile outside a "That 70's Show" taping. His interview style is obnoxious and overbearing. His questions make you wonder if he thinks he's much smarter and more clever than he really is. I guess in a game that's generally dominated by women whose basic skill is being easy on the eyes, he's got to stand apart somehow...but he basically comes across as a self-aggrandizing, moppish, wannabe.

So yes, it's fair to say that nothing would make me happier than if a player or coach who he was interviewing gave him an unsuspecting whip cream pie to the face mid-sentence. But Popovich is notoriously, umm, short during these sideline interviews, and Sager isn't the only reporter who gets this on the receiving end from him. While I can't stand Sager, I hate (HATE) the mid-game interviews that are part of the NBA in general.

Popovich sure doesn't make the interviewer's job easy, but his 1 and 2 word answers are actually the only interviews of this kind worth watching. I guess NBA coaches are contractually obligated to participate in these interviews, but I don't know who's bright idea it was to mandate this. Aside from Popovich's comedic terseness, give me 1 example of a coach sideline interview between quarters where something of interest was said. The coaches aren't going to reveal anything of real interest like strategies, substitution patters, or plays being drawn up. You know somehow they are going to work the words effort, defense, and aggressiveness into their answers in some order. The clips of the coach-speak that goes on in timeout huddles are just as worthless. If you can't show us anything of real value, get rid of it all!

When players get interviewed in similar situations, it's almost always much of the same. If a game gets chippy, you will get the occasional funny answer to a question...like once when asked what was working in a game against Miami, Rajon Rondo responded something to the effect of, "They're complaining to the refs, and then we're beating them down court in transition." But these gems are few are far between.

Bazinga!

So, while some could argue that these reporters are just doing their job and deserve more than what Popovich offers, I would argue that it's an idiotic portion of their job, and I actually find Popovich's answers refreshing. To me, his answers reflect what every other coach during a between-quarters interview wants to say. This is stupid. You're wasting my time while I could be making adjustments with my team. Go f*** yourself. In that way, Popovich's 2 word answers of awkwardness are the most honest words you will ever hear during such interviews.