As promised in your Fantasy Football Player’s Guide to Guaranteed Victory, here is your running back breakdown for next season.

Positional Depth: D. Gone are the days of your workhorse back who piles up 30 carries a game. Sure, the ghost of Jerome Bettis still haunts a few teams (in that good way). Arian Foster, Ray Rice, Steven Jackson, Chris Johnson. Maybe one or two other guys along with these four are the undisputed lead backs that are going to get a vast majority of backfield touches. Obviously, you’d like them to fill the RB spots on your roster, but do the math. Perhaps six guys who aren’t in an obvious time share, probably 10-12 teams in your league. Not everybody gets one. It’s going to be more important than ever this season to choose intelligently when it comes to your running backs. This means, don’t end up (or at least don’t reach for) certain guys, overpay for certain others, and hope to get lucky. Good thing you have the FFPGGV.

Guys to Stay Away From: Reggie Bush comes to mind (PPR leagues not withstanding). If Tannehill wins the QB job, defenses are going to stack the line and make him beat them with his arm. Not good news for an upright runner like Reggie. Peyton Hills will be fine as a change of pace back to Jamal Charles in KC, and might vulture a td or two. But that’s it. And then there’s my boy… Steven Jackson. Sure, he has only missed two games (both last year) in the last few seasons, but every single week one, he seems to tweak a quad or a groin and be at half speed for half the season, before barely crossing the 1000 yard threshold at the end. He’s a great back when healthy, but his seeming aversion to stretching make him a huge gamble for how high you would have to take him as an unquestioned bellcow guy.

Breakout Year: Well, I don’t know that you can call it a breakout THIS year, as his last season was pretty great, but I’m of the mindset that Marshawn Lynch’s 2011 was not a fluke. He can play, Seattle’s line is better than it gets credit for, and Matt Flynn, even though I told you stay away from him last article, will provide upgraded non-fantasy quarterback play from Tavaris Jackson. All things that bode well for Lynch’s 2012 fantasy numbers. You may also want to keep an eye on Ronnie Hillman who could turn into a frequent target for Peyton Manning in Denver, and Toby Gerhart. No, I don’t think AP is going to get hurt again, but I do think Gerhart will see more time in an effort to keep AP healthy, and I do think they are going to play a lot more two back sets to take advantage of Gerhart’s criminally undervalued receiving ability out of the backfield.

Tip to Remember: Every position contains with it a strategy to avoid getting completely shafted during bye weeks. Mine, though many disagree with it, is to try to draft as many players with the same bye week as possible. Sure, I punt that week, but the other bye schedule weeks I’m as close to full strength as possible. Either way, with QBs, you’re hoping you hit a hot fluke (Alex Smith against New Orleans in the playoffs, anyone? And yes, I know, not fantasy-relevant, but statistically it’s a valid analogy). With receivers, you can pluck guys off the wire that get 5 for 50 most weeks, and if you luck into a touchdown, you don’t lose too much. With a RB, you NEED a touchdown. You find a starter on the wire, so you’ll need to target a goalline vulture. Think Mike Tolbert from last year in San Diego (he won’t have the same opportunities in Carolina), or Fridge Perry from circa ’85 Chicago. This year, it could be BenJarvus Green-Ellis. He has never fumbled in a professional game so like they did in New England, Cincy will have no problem giving him the ball down low. Did you get that? He. Has. Never. Fumbled. That’s ridiculous…

Don’t Forget About: Charles. JC suffered a brutal injury last year, but he’s kind of like a poor man’s Chris Johnson, except better than the rich guy. Make sense? Didn’t think so… but if he stays healthy, he will win a LOT of people their league. It’s a significant if, but he may be available in the third or fourth round. Also, Rashad Mendenhall… because Isaac Redman is anything but the answer. And Fred Jackson. Folks forget, before his season-ending foot surgery, he was at or close to the top of fantasy RB scoring, depending on your format. And it wasn’t fluky, as he does everything well, including pick up the blitz.

Stay tuned for more fantasy genius on wide receivers. Here’s a spoiler alert for you. Not a single Ram will be recommended for draft, unless you’re doing some kind of weird dynasty format with 35 rounds in your draft and Danny Amendola is available in the 33rd.

Much has been made of the Miami Marlins apparent fire sale leading into the MLB non-waiver trade deadline.  It began with the Marlins dealing away face of the franchise Hanley Ramirez, and didn’t end until the deadline buzzer rang, but despite a massive turnover on the roster, I actually think the Marlins were huge winners in the trading season.  The players, along with Hanley, that were dealt by the Marlins included Omar Infante, Anibal Sanchez, Gaby Sanchez, Edward Mujica, and Matt Dominguez.  But take a look at who they have received.  Nathan Eovaldi, young pitcher, just 22, who could certainly turn out to be a solid #3 starter.  Jacob Turner, a 21 year old with the potential to be an ace of a staff.  Zach Cox is a guy that could become a solid starting third baseman, and again, he is just 23.  Gorkys Hernandez, a true center fielder that can cover a ton of ground in that big ballpark and has a bat that can keep him as a contributing factor for years to come, oh, and he is 24.  They also acquired an old Carlos Lee, but don’t be surprised if he gets moved as a waiver trade in the month of August for more young arms and/or bats.  At quick glance, it looks as though the Marlins are waiving the white flag and are in rebuilding mode, but after breaking down the moves, it becomes quite clear, the Marlins are not rebuilding, they are reloading, and if the guys they brought in get to 75% of their potential, the Marlins just might be in a long battle with the Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves to win the NL East next season.  While many are criticizing the Marlins moves, I am one who is actually applauding them.

And by guaranteed, of course, I mean… odds are somewhat in your favor. Pretty much all fantasy football players rely on a column of sorts to help them with draft advice, waiver wire pickups, matchup statistics, etc. The writers of these columns bill themselves as experts. But are they really? They make weekly predictions, about half of which hit, and the other half usually ends up being farcical in its collective awfulness. But, as they say, that’s part of the game. Still, isn’t it funny how they never really talk about their credentials? How do you know they aren’t just good writers with clever senses of humor? Yes, ESPN’s Matthew Berry, I’m looking at you, among others. Berry is an EXCELLENT writer and has an endearing sense of humor replete with self deprecation that you can’t help but like. But is a he a real expert? Maybe. Or maybe his status as an expert is more due to his ability to write insightful and entertaining columns… which in the large scheme of things is something to be much prouder of than having won your league last year, but I digress.

In this column, or series as it were, I will be highlighting players to grab and avoid by position, starting wtih quarterbacks. But first, let me tell you about me in a few brief sentences. I play fantasy football every year, and have for about the last ten years. The last five years or so, I have taken the game a bit more “seriously,” if that term can even be used. I play in at least three, but never more than four leagues every year. And in my worst years, I have still never had a team not reach the finals in one of the leagues, and never missed the playoffs with more than half of my teams. Sure, I’ve had a few bad seasons. Injuries, poor decisions, Mike Shanahan, and your opponent’s kicker hanging 21 points on you on Monday night happen. Obviously, I lack the financial clout to make you any kind of iron clad guarantee of winning your league, or finishing in the money even. But what I can guarantee you is this: Stick to a few very simple principles of fantasy football and you will be okay:

1) In the earlier rounds of your draft, points are points. Don’t make a panic pick of Eli Manning in the early second round because everyone else in your league is making a run on QBs. Of course, if you can get Rodgers, Brady, or Brees early, you do. But if not, fine. Take the best player available (not necessarily on a print out from Rotoworld or ESPN, just the best player). Do you think Adrian Peterson will be healthy? If not, stay away. But if you do, he’ll be available in the second or third round, and if you missed out on a top quarterback, don’t panic and take Tony Romo here. Peterson, or whatever running back you want to plug in here that gets the majority of his team’s carries and red zone opportunities, is way better. It’s okay to have three running backs and two wide receivers after five picks. Ben Roethlisberger behind a vastly improved offensive line will still be available. Points are points, regardless of where they come from.

2) Play it safe early. Your first 8 picks are not for taking flyers. Like Trent Richardson? Great. Get him… if he’s available in the fourth round. Sure, T Rich, Doug Martin, and company may turn out to be awesome, but most rookies don’t turn out awesome right away. And unless you’re in keeper or dynasty league of sorts, there are much safer plays. Let your buddies fight over RG3 and Andrew Luck. Veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick will still be on the board long after those two are gone, and he was great before finishing the second half of 2011 with a rib injury, something no longer hampering him. And an improved Bills defense figures to land them better average starting field position.

3) The last and second to last rounds are NOT for your kickers and defenses. It’s a popular and trendy axiom people spout, that anyone who takes a kicker before the last round is an idiot. Of course I’m not advocating taking a kicker anywhere in your first 8 or 9 picks, but why not in round 11 or 12? The difference between a David Akers, Matt Prater, Sebastian Janikowski et al and the rest of the Steven Hauschkas and Nick Folks of the world can be immense. Take your 11th or 12th round pick, and target a kicker with a decent resume, if possible one who kicks indoors, and if also possible one on a decent offensive team. People make a huge deal out of double digit fantasy games. What does two 40 yard field goals and two extra points add up to? That’s right, a double digit fantasy game.

3a) It’s not as big of a stigma that follows you if you take a defense a bit earlier, but still. Don’t jump the gun but don’t wait to the end. When your starting line up is complete, start looking at defenses with a strong defensive line and ignore points allowed in leagues that reward you for sacks. In actual play, the Rams’ defense may be a laughing stock, but with 4 very strong pass rushers up front, they will get lots of sacks and force bad throws that result in picks. Sure, they will give up some points, if they grab you a few sacks every week and the occasional pick or fumble return for a score, the good outweighs the bad by miles.

4) Handcuffs are for criminals. Drafting Isaiah Pead just because you have Steven Jackson and he may get hurt is a waste of a pick. You should have enough viable running backs to slot someone in in the event of an injury, bye week, whatever.

5) Make a list. You are not a savant that can remember every player you may want. Write down a group of players for each round that you would want if they are available. Write down your flyers. Write down your guys to stay away from. When you get late into your draft and still need a tight end, and the clock is running down on you, you’re 7 beers deep, and your top 300 list you printed out has so many doodles and chicken scratches on it that it looks like an Etch a Sketch after a 9.7 earthquake, are you going to remember that tight end’s name on the Titans who a lot of guys are saying is going to put up better numbers than Antonio Gates this season? Maybe. Maybe not.

6) Never, ever, get insulting with your trash talk. If you crushed a guy, a little ribbing is called for. But rememember, you may need to make a deal or two over the course of your season, and people are way more willing to help out the nice guy than the douchebag. So after you just clobbered the guy, rather than, “Suck it, @#$%!!!!!” go with something like, “I thought you’d be walking a little funnier after this weekend! But don’t worry, we all take an ass kicking at some point during the year. I hope you don’t take out your revenge on me in playoffs. Let’s grab a beer, I got the first round.”

7) Check your line up Sunday morning. You can make changes up until just a few minutes before kick off and you don’t want a last minute scratch due to injury giving you a donut in your box score. If you can’t get to a computer on Sunday morning, do it Saturday night, and anyone with a “Q” next to their availability, just park ’em on the bench and play someone else. Take it from the guy who kept Roy Helu active in last season’s finals over Ahmad Bradshaw. Don’t ask what the final score was. Just… don’t.

So, without further ado, let’s get to the signal callers:

Positional Depth: (A to F grading system you would know better if you hadn’t ditched 90% of highschool) B. There’s a huge gap between the elite and the bottom feeder starters, moreso than any other position. However, in a ten team league, the tenth quarterback chosen still ought to post decent numbers.

Guy to Stay Away From: Robert Griffin III. Rookie, rookie, rookie. For every Cam Newton, there’s a half dozen JaMarcus Russells. You’re much better off with Carson Palmer who is going later in drafts. I can’t believe I just said that. Honorable mentions; Michael Vick, Peyton Manning, Matt Flynn. It’s perfectly fine to take a late pick on a guy with huge upside but who is injury prone, or a guy who has shined in limited action, but never seen full time duty. But these guys will be gone way before they should be.

Breakout Year: Andy Dalton. Decent line? Check. Super stud receiver? Check. Good ground game? Ch… ok, no. But starting as a rookie last season, he showed poise, accuracy, surprising arm strength, and durability. Don’t take him above the proven studs, but if everyone in your league is gobbling up quarterbacks like it’s a game of hungry hungry hippos, get your points with horses at other positions knowing that Andy will be available for you much later in your draft. Don’t wait too long though. Your buddies may have read this article.

Tip to Remember: Good quarterback doesn’t always mean good FANTASY quarterback. The two often do overlap, but just as often they don’t. Even though I’ve won a league with Joe Flacco as my primary quarterback, he should never be a target for you in your draft. In the “Nice detective work, Officer Obvious” department, neither should Alex Smith. He was terrific for a good Niners team last year, but borderline awful in fantasy. I’d rather take a terrible quarterback like the aforementioned Palmer, knowing that he hucks it down the field and just suffer with the interceptions.

Don’t Forget About: Phil Rivers. Remember when this guy was a fantasy behemoth? Of course you do. It was only two years ago. He wasn’t great last year but he’s much closer to the 2010 version of himself than the 2011 version. That’s an aggressive attack there in San Diego, and Vincent “The Most Overrated Receiver in Football” Jackson’s departure will only help Rivers. Honorable Mentions; Matt Schaub and Tim Tebow. When Schaub is healthy, which granted is only about as often as Haley’s Comet makes a visit, he has a terrific arm and an array of attractive targets. He has the ability to go on stretches of consecutive 300 yard games, but buyer beware. Because of the injury risk, only take him late in drafts and only if you already have another qb outside of the top 12 guys. No need for a backup if you have Brady. Also, Tebow is virtually a lock for 50 yards rushing when he starts, and who knows, may end up with the starting job. Not like Mark Sanchez is a sure thing. Sure, he’s pretty awful from a technical standpoint, but he had more good fantasy games than bad ones last year. Like Schaub, target him late and only if you don’t already have a stud.

That about does it for our quarterbacks. Stay tuned for running backs coming up… sometime before the season starts.

One has to wonder what the process is for selecting the ‘color guy’ for some of the Olympic events. For example, the moron working the women’s archery final and bronze medal matches hasn’t breathed in about 30 minutes. I swear, if the archers could hear this guy they’d make him the target.
And it doesn’t stop with archery. Apparently, it’s contagious to swimming. One of the U.S. swimmers was good because she was always ‘moving forward.’ So THAT’S what I’ve been doing wrong all these years. Who knew that my decades of poor swimming could be blamed on a disproportionate emphasis on sideways and backward movement? Idiot…

John Grisham is such an amazing writer/story teller, we anticipate equally his legal thrillers (his area of professional expertise) and his sports oriented novels (where he’s just like us, a fan). Calico Joe is his first crack at baseball, and I was worried. Baseball is one of those games where the statistics are delicate. Flimsy stats will turn a true baseball fan off of a baseball novel faster than a post chicken tikka masala fart. However, artistically woven stories with believable sports plot lines will keep us engrossed to the point of calling out sick to work because we have 47 pages left to read and haven’t slept in 3 days.  Anyway, let’s get started:

The good: As always, Grisham develops his characters beautifully. You sympathize with Paul, the protagonist, because you feel you can relate. As he frequently does, Grisham also seamlessly transitioned from present to past, adult to child Paul Tracey. That’s not as easy as it sounds. He also knows his baseball, or spent countless hours researching which isn’t one of his favorite activities as he freely admits. He not only brought real baseball players from the era in which the book took place, he accurately portrayed their personalities. Sure, he took some liberties (which he also admits in his author’s notes) but one can’t help but think that he was looking for specific guys to fit specific roles for his book. Why else can you think of that he would specifically reference Rick Reuschel? Little details like the 4 man rotation from back in that day were on also spot on. It’s easy to get careless in the interest of finishing whatever you’re writing, and the small things often get lost. Grisham is a master at not doing that. Putting Calico Joe on the Cubs was a nice touch.

The bad: Joe Castle, aka Calico Joe, is just simply not possible as he is portrayed. Kids hit .390 in double A ball, but they don’t then get promoted and hit .500 over the course of their first 40 games. Nobody has ever come close to being on pace for a 80 home run, 100 stolen base season. And power hitters just don’t bunt with runners on. I get it, the point is to paint Calico Joe as one of the greatest rookie phenoms to ever hit major league baseball. But it could have been done without the otherworldly exaggerations. It could have been done without three home runs in his first three at bats, 15 hits in his first 15 at bats. 21 homers in his first 120 at bats or so. His double A average would have had to be around .800 to make numbers like that feasible. And again, yes, I get it. But that part went too far.

Additionally, it was too short. I was able to finish it in three hours. I felt gypped. Even though Grisham is prolific, never keeping his fans waiting for too long for his next work, I eagerly anticipate each one of his works, and the millisecond I heard about Calico Joe I was salivating for it. With the wonderful premise behind the story, it could easily have gone another 200 pages. Not at the end, of course, but in the middle. More anecdotes. More stories. More baseball clubhouse hijinx.

Lastly, a bit too much beleaguering the point that Warren is an a-hole, and that Paul and his mom were happier when he wasn’t around. We got that part early on, no need to keep bringing it up, unless it’s for entirely new reasons… which it wasn’t.

The grade: B+. Did I love it? No. Did I really like it? Yes. Am I being too nitpicky? Probably. But sorry, Johnny, pop out enough works of genius, it’s what your readership will come to expect. It’s why we set the bar here at The Stain fairly low. Wouldn’t want our reader(s) becoming too accustomed to anything we can’t consistently provide.

Yup, he’s a basketball player and I hate basketball… but by all accounts, he’s the sympathetic and decent sort, aka, the 1% in basketball. Seriously, is there a sorrier group of people, ranging all the way from the fans who go to the games to the executives who own the teams, in any walk of life? With the players, you have unabashed narcissism coupled with IQs that barely remove them from Special Olympics eligibility. Seriously, who are the NBA’s biggest stars. Arguably, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard? Is there a single sympathetic character among them? You could make arguments in defense of Kevin Durant because he still kisses his mommy, which is cute, but he hasn’t been around long enough to do anything super evil yet. And it’s not just this generation of players. Michael Jordan is a gigantic, uh, donkey orifice. Remember, he sported a Hitler mustache for a while. We can go on forever but in the interest of moving this forward, we won’t. You have media who, as what can only be described as a giant middle finger to the craft of journalism, spew fawning word vomit devoid of any real analysis at volume levels that should be reserved for a metal concert, with grammar acumen that should be reserved for speakers of English as an eighth language. (editor’s note: the owners are part of the problem, for sure, but Mark Cuban gets one in the positive column here for telling it like it is to Skip Bayless.) You have fans that riot and cause public destruction, whether their team wins or loses the championship.

You have a commissioner who is unapologetically corrupt. You have greedy owners who collude with one another, break the hearts of cities by taking their teams elsewhere, somehow manage to be greedier than even the players, and goodness knows how many malfeasances one could find with even the most cursory of perusals over financial histories. Am I missing anyone? Oh yeah, a ref who has admitted influencing games for betting’s sake. Where does it stop?

Now, we have reports from ESPN, also part of the problem incidentally, that some NBA executives are upset that Steve Nash was somehow allowed to join the Lakers. Really? A 38-year-old who, though still good, is easily closer to the end than the beginning joins the Lakers, about whom the same description can be offered, and people are upset? What is it with these idiots? After all, it wouldn’t even be an issue if David Stern hadn’t nullified a trade that essentially sent an entire starting lineup to New Orleans and Chris Paul to the Lakers, under the premise that New Orleans was better off keeping Paul, before sending Paul to the Clippers for pennies on the dollar of what they’d have received in the initial trade, dooming the Hornets to at LEAST another 5 years of cellar dwelling. It’s almost like that movie, Major League, where the owner wants the team to be awful so she can move it to Miami. Except the team ends up being good and everyone lives happily ever after. Only this story has no happy ending, except for those possibly going on in shady massage parlors. It has no ending. Because every time you think the ridiculousness has reached its maximum, like with those stupid lensless costume glasses so many of the players wear these days, something else will happen that defies reason. How often can a circular firing squad shoot without eventually hitting itself?

One for the good guys:  Props to the fans in Kansas City. They really got it right cheering for Chipper Jones, RA Dickey and Melky Cabrera. It was wonderful to see Chipper get a hit in the last all star at bat of his brilliant career. And Dickey, the veteran knuckleballer who defied all odds and found awesomeness in his late 30s got a nice reception as well, and scoreless inning to his credit. And MVP Cabrera, who plied his trade in KC before joining the Giants was still cheered like a hometown boy. I wish every city’s fans got it. KC can be proud that their fans do.

Matt Kemp is dominating this homerun derby. You know Dodger fans are liking this. They desperately need their slugger back and healthy. Kemp just hit another one out of the yard!!! One more, and he will clinch the derby!!! Wow, what a blast that was!!! Here’s the pitch… and it’s hammered!!! Goodbye!!! Kemp is jumping up and down with his teammates and…oh no… his leg just folded up like a taco… Oooooh, Shaun Livingston on the Clippers a few years back has nothing on this. Oh my… that looks career ending, and the once promising season the Dodgers were looking at is down the tubes…

I actually wrote more, but removed it… because you know, we’re a family friendly blog here… and 27 consecutive F bombs are not family friendly…

With professional sports under more and more scrutiny regarding the legitimacy of their all-star games and the events of the surrounding days, MLB has just missed a golden opportunity to bolster the ever popular home run derby and feature the games young stars.  I am a fan of the new NL vs. AL setup, but wouldn’t it be great to have the first batter of each team be a rookie eligible player?  Think about it, this year to jump start the derby it is Bryce Harper and Mike Trout.  What better way to showcase and give the nation a better way to get to know the faces of the future than in a laid back, up close and personal event like the derby?  Granted, not all years would be so great, but you can just about always guarantee at least one big name.  Last year, Freddie Freeman would have faced off against either Mark Trumbo or Eric Hosmer.  The previous year the AL would be at a bit of a disadvantage with Brennan Boesch facing Jason Heyward, and the year before that the hyped Gordon Beckham would have been matched against the unknown future star Andrew McCutchen.   Next year what better way for the casual baseball fan to get to know the future star of the Blue Jays than seeing Travis d’Arnaud in the derby?  And who better to face him than another little known, big hype prospect than a guy like Starling Marte?  Baseball needs to better market itself to the next generation of baseball fans, and the derby is one of the events that caters to them, so, MLB, do yourself a favor, and introduce the next generation of fans to the next generation of stars on a more personal, fun level, and make this addition to the Home Run Derby.

 

The Pat Tillman story is one of the greatest/saddest stories in American sports history. He is a man that turned down a multi-million dollar contract at 25 years of age to join his brother, who turned down a pro baseball contract, and enlisted in the Army. Pat was deployed and was a part of the initial invasion of Operation Iraqi Freedom. After, he didn’t return home, he returned to Ranger School, where he and his brother graduated, and were redeployed to Afghanistan as Rangers. Then, on April 22, 2004, in Sperah, Afghanistan, Pat Tillman and part of his unit were redirected down a separate path than the rest of the unit to assist a broken down Humvee. They were ambushed, held there position, and in a tragic event, the rest of the unit heard the gunfire, returned fire, and killed Pat Tillman in friendly fire. I can tell you the exact location I was the moment I heard this on the radio. I had just ordered and was in line waiting in a Jack in the Box drive through on my way to class when I was attending Moorpark College. I have no shame in admitting I pulled up to the window with tears rolling down my face, in fact, just thinking of the story gets me teary eyed to this day. There is no such thing as worthy thank you to any who have served our country, nor their families, and just because Pat Tillman was a professional athlete doesn’t mean the others that have made the sacrifice are any less worthy of incredible recognition and gratitude. That said, Dan Patrick, back when he was still on ESPN radio offered the greatest sports suggestion of all-time, and to this day, I am still saddened when I see it was never put into play. He suggested that the 40 yard lines at all Arizona Cardinals home games have a Red and Blue stripe on either side of the white line marker in honor of Pat Tillman, as his number was 40. If for no other reason than for when the next generation of football fans asks why the 40 yard line in Arizona looks like that, we can all share the story of Pat Tillman’s incredible sacrifice.

I will take any excuse to share the story of Pat Tillman, but tonight was as good as any. Tonight, early in the second round of the NBA draft, a man by the name of Bernard James was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers, later traded to the Dallas Mavericks. Now, most people wouldn’t know the name, in fact, I didn’t until tonight either, however, the 6’10” 230 lbs., 27 year old Power Forward was the oldest collegiate athlete drafted in the NBA in over 20 years. Why is he such an old draft pick, and why does the Pat Tillman story and my personal experience with it have to do with Bernard James? Well, Bernard James is just under 6 months older than me, and back when I was entering my senior year of high school, worried about chasing girls, playing baseball, and seeing how loud I could get my truck speakers to go, Bernard James was enrolling in the United States Air Force. Since then, he spent six years in the Air Force, three tours of duty through Iraq, Afghanistan, and Qatar, and earned the rank of Staff Sergeant. After his six years, he attended Florida State where he carried a 3.0 GPA and played basketball. Now that he is a NBA draftee and newest member of the Dallas Mavericks, hopefully many more will hear his story, but regardless, here at the stain, Mr. James, we salute and thank you.

Most sports fans probably don’t even care to watch tennis.  In fact, I really only watch Wimbledon and the French, but there is a chance that all changes today.  One problem I have with tennis, is the lack of parody.  Each tournament has only one question, Djokovic, Nadal, Federer…which one won’t make it to the final?  Well, this year, for just the second time in the last 28 Grand Slams…two will not be there.  Federer and Djokovic are in the same half of the bracket as one another, and Nadal was in the other.  I say was because he fell to the 100th ranked player today, a guy who had never won a professional match on grass until just a couple weeks ago.  I then looked at the other names on Nadal’s side of the bracket, and you know what I found?  Every other name in tennis that are great to watch but can’t break through the stranglehold of the big 3.  Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is one of the most fun guys to watch play tennis.  While just 6’2″ 200lbs. he can crush the ball and is built like a hard hitting safety rather than a tennis player.  Andy Murray looks to become the first English born Wimbledon champion since Fred Perry…in 1936!  Andy Roddick looks to get back to his winning ways on the court, cause it is clear he has already won off the court since he is married to Brooklyn Decker.  Then there is Mardy Fish.  Fish is playing in his first tournament since having heart surgery just over a month ago.  Let me say that again, HEART SURGERY JUST OVER A MONTH AGO.  Don’t worry, it wasn’t open heart surgery or anything, they just had to remove faulty electrical pathways in the heart and insert catheters into blood vessels, no biggie.  Maybe a new name in the Wimbledon final can create a buzz like the Federer-Nadal fifth set tie-breaker a few years ago when you couldn’t even see the TVs at Costco due to the crowds gathered to watch the final.  Do yourself a favor, pull up a chair, and watch what could shape up to be the most interesting Wimbledon in a long long time.