NBA's Future Forecast: Looks like Thunder

Back in the day, which was a Wednesday by the way, me and my roommates used to discuss for hours upon hours upon more hours about the NBA, NFL, and MLB. Hell, we even threw in some Tennis and Soccer when the occasion presented itself. One thing we always focused on was the future of certain teams and certain players we loved to watch and loved to debate about. I remember endless nights where my roommates Fraz, Fitz, Ricky, and I constantly debated who would go where in free agency, what teams had enough to make a run in the end, and even which celeb athletes would wind up in the oddest situations in the celebrity limelight (See.Kardashian-Odom, Khloe).

Back when I was up at school, we had endless discussions about Kevin Durant, and whether or not he would be the superstar that Fitz and I thought he would be. We heard all the criticisms: He's too skinny, he can't rebound in the NBA, will his jump shot translate when he only shot 30% from three in college? and even the ridiculous notion that some analysts had him being nothing more than a bench player in the league someday. I wonder how those idiots feel now.

I don't mean to toot my own horn. Actually yes I do, what am I talking about....but I knew this would happen with Kevin Durant. Mr. Durant is enjoying an MVP-like season of the likes in which we haven't seen a youngster do since....Jordan? In his last 30 games, Durant has scored 30 points in TWENTY of those games including a stretch of 8 games in a row of 30 or more points. Not only is he scoring, he is doing it efficiently. He's averaging 49% shooting, 38% from three point line, and 88% from the free throw line. Oh, and about him rebounding in the NBA...he's averaging 7.5 a game from the small forward position. Did I mention he JUST turned 21 in September. Oh My God. We could be witnessing the next greatest player in that line of players who changed the game: Magic/Bird/Jordan/Lebron/Durant.

I finagled with the idea of writing a Durant vs. Lebron blog months ago before the season even started because in my honest opinion, I feel like Durant is going to have a more successful career then Lebron will. Think about it logically...

Durant is in Oklahoma City. Not exactly the limelight. Lebron will always be compared to Jordan and he won't be good enough until he wins 6 rings, whereas no one is expecting anything from Durant. There is much less pressure on Durant to win and win now. Lebron is always going to play with scrub-ass (yeah I just made that up) players in his supporting cast because they have a GM with his head somewhere where it shouldn't be. Danny Ferry makes moves like, "Hey let's sign Shaq for 10 million a year when he'll clog the lane and take up space from Lebron, considering our whole offense has two plays in which Lebron just goes 1 on 1 the whole time." Or you hear Mike Brown on the sidelines (wait a second, no you don't because he doesn't actually do anything) screaming at his supporting cast that HE assembled. God forbid they saved the Shaq cap space and signed, I don't know, Jamal Crawford who is averaging 16 a game off the bench for Atlanta.

Let's continue with Durant's dream situation that he's in. He has a GM in Sam Presti that knows how to push all the right buttons at the right time. He doesn't panic and go spend 75 million on Charlie Villanueva or Ben Gordon, drafts the right players like Jeff Green, James Harden, and Russel Westbrook, and he actually understands quality role players that he can get for cheap in order to fill gaps and contribute quietly: Thabo Sefolosha and Nenad Krstic. They have a nucleus that consists of the starting five of Westbrook (most underrated PG in the NBA), Thabo Sefolosha (solid defender, role player), Durant (ahead of his time superstar), Jeff Green (Al-Horford clone but a little skinnier), and Nenad Krstic (underrated Big man), with bench players including James Harden (star in-the-making), Eric Maynor (great backup PG), and Nick Collison (solid rebounder).

Jesus Christ...

Just look at that roster. Combine that with the fact that the Thunder are STILL 13 million UNDER the salary cap. I just got the chills. Can you tell I'm obsessed with this team? Let's take that 13 million and add 3 million to it for expiring contracts and roster moves at the end of the year, and the Oklahoma City Thunder have 16 million to throw around at that coveted free agent class. My lord, could you imagine if they landed Amare Stoudemire, or (gulp) Chris Bosh. Let's break this down into 4 scenarios which all could realistically happen...

Scenario 1: Thunder add Chris Bosh and a lower level guard like, let's say, Rip Hamilton. This gives you a starting five of: Westbrook, Hamilton, Durant, Jeff Green, Chris Bosh. Bench: Harden, Sefolosha, Krstic, Maynor. The Thunder lose a little bit of defense in their starting 5 but gain a knock down shooter in Hamilton and a low post presence that they don't currently have. As well as someone to bang bodies with the Duncans, Bynums, and Yao's of the Western Conference.

Scenario 2: Thunder add Carlos Boozer and Raja Bell. Starting Five: Westbrook, Bell, Durant, Green, Boozer. Bench: Harden, Sefolosha, Krstic. Not as flashy of a move as everyone would expect, but that's how OKC works. Strictly a defense move and a low post presence move.

Scenario 3: Thunder add Tyson Chandler. S-5: Westbrook, Sefolosha, Durant, Green, Chandler. Finally gives the Thunder a legitimate center to defend the West centers and rebound the ball. Allowing Durant to get out on fastbreaks and easier buckets in transition.

Scenario 4: I hope your ready....Thunder add Chris Bosh and Jamal Crawford. Oh Jesus. Starting 5: Westbrook, Sefolosha, Durant, Green, Bosh. Bench: Jamal Crawford, Harden, and Krstic. This would be the ideal situation for the Thunder. They get Bosh, the interior presence they need. Meanwhile they're getting the hottest bench player in the league, and someone who is currently averaging 16 a game. This gives them a scorer off the bench to grow along with Harden and to handle the scoring while Durant is out or out of the play.

I'm absolutely giddy over the future of this team. I don't have a favorite team in the NBA, but the Thunder might have to be them. This team with one or two simple acquisitions could be on top of the league for the next decade. Will we be looking back on the decade in 2020 and debating whether or not OKC was the team of the decade? Will Durant be the next one to bust the door in on the NBA like Jordan did in the late 80s and early 90s? Whatever happens, I'm forecasting the future of the NBA with plenty of Thunder.

How Bout' A New Year's Resolution...or Five

Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Kwanzaa. Happy New Year, and any other Happy-(fill in a made up holiday) that I happened to miss during my month-long hiatus. There's no way you can have a well established blog during the holiday season. I'm convinced. Between the shopping, school finals, decorations being put up, and having to lie to everyone under the age of 10 about Santa Claus...it takes a toll on one's ability to successfully give you readers a free blog every week. But hey, were all about bouncing back in 2010. That's right, it's 2010. Not only am I looking forward to almost finishing college, another first round exit for the Cowboys, Colts fans calling for Jim Caldwell's head because after they win the Super Bowl they'll have 1 loss on it to the (gulp) Jets, and Kevin Durant becoming a bona fide superdee-duper-star right before our eyes, I'm also looking forward to mistakenly writing 09 on every assignment this semester because writing '10 is just too weird.

Man, do I know how to go off on a tangent. Anyway, like I said, this year is all about bouncing back and what better way to do that with the perfect New Years Resolution. Now, people who make New Years Resolution usually make it to the end of January before they decide that they've had enough and New Years is overrated. I say, the hell with that. Us real people may not be able to hold a New Years Resolution, but our sports stars must try and come up with some New Years Resolution's so that they don't drive their fans through a wall with stress and frustration. Oh you're already through a wall with stress and frustration? Me too.

A New Year's Resolution should be something that you can actually accomplish. It should be something that you want to do (or stop doing) that will ultimately lead you to a happier/healthier life. Well with our coveted sports stars it is a little different. Their resolutions have to be well thought out so that they include the well-being of their fans. So let's get into a few people who ABSOLUTELY must make these specific New Year's Resolutions.

1.) Tiger Woods. Jesus, Tiger. Why don't you just go to an Island you own for like 6 months and just stay there. Shoot, you can bring whatever mistress you choose, but just stay out of the limelight for a while. This country forgives quickly if you just apologize. Look at A-Rod, Andy Pettite, and Jason Giambi. Coincidentally, they were all Yankees (shaking my head), but they all apologized and no one says one word about any scandal they've ever been a part of. So Tiger your New Year's Resolution is to apologize, stop calling your mistresses, and just chill out in 2010.

2.) Peyton Manning. Peyton, you need to just chill out. You are insanely good at football that everyone is at the point where they HAVE to like you, even if they hate you. It's all because you work so god damn hard and are so god damn good that every other god damn quarterback looks like they have down syndrome when they play against you. So my New Year's Resolution for you is to chill out in 2010. Let some other player win the MVP award. Let some other team go for the undefeated season. Let some other team win the Superbowl. You're mad annoying Peyton. Stop practicing and studying!!

3.) ESPN. Hey ESPN directors, whoever is in charge of bashing the Cowboys on a weekly basis, maybe it's time to be a little less bias. We get it. You don't like the Cowboys. You'd rather have a big market team like somewhere in New York or Philadelphia or New England win. But I've got news for you. This team is different. So maybe it's time to cut the crap and report news unbiasedly.

Part2.) Hop off Brett Favre's you know what. I mean really. Yes the guy is an iron man. He is a warrior with the uncanny ability to make a play when a play needs to be made. But the love that you guys have over him is really sickening. You've turned me into someone who doesn't even like him anymore because of all of these reports that you guys bring out and how much of an infatuation you have with him. Just please take it easy. There's about 1000 other people in the NFL to report on...in case you were wondering.

4.) Tony Romo. Oh no Tony. Don't you do it. Don't you fool us into thinking that you're going to be different this year. You're not fooling me. You may have every other Cowboys fan fooled, but not me. Until you actually win a playoff game and show us that you can lead this team well into January I'm still having my doubts. So my New Year's Resolution for you is to just be a leader. Show us that you can lead this team and put them on your back into January because the Cowboys only go as far as you go. Plain and Simple.

5.) Brett Favre. It's very simple Brett. Retire. You've given everything you can possbily give to this sport. You've given us countless highlights, countless hold-your-breath moments, and you've even managed to get Brad Childress a contract extension when he may or may not be the top 3 worst coaches in the NFL. Just go fishing somewhere from September-January. Trust me the league will be OK without you. So my New Year's Resolution for you is to enjoy your post-football life. Find another thing to be spectacular at.

Once again, I want to apologize for the hiatus. I promise I will be back in full-swing this year. That is my New Year's Resolution, to be a better writer and hopefully grab an editor along the way. You know, cuz a brotha don't always talk perfect english, ya dig? Have a Happy New Year all!

The List

I woke up today not wanting to get up, but I had to because I had to go to a boring 8am class in which I didn't even do anything. So basically it was a waste of time. But out of this waste of time the idea for this article struck me as I overheard a girl in my class talking to her boyfriend. We were doing presentations in this class and each student had to present a movement in a sport. So with sports and girlfriends/wives on my mind, I came up with this concept. We're going to simply call it....The List.

The list is a composition by yours truly that is going to consist of every single sporting event throughout the calendar year that a true sports fan should have the ability to watch. There are no excuses to miss events on this list. I don't care if your wives' best friend since she were 2 years old has scheduled their 3rd marriage on the day of a sporting event. I don't care if your wife wants to have a day with her family (my in-laws) because you haven't seem them in a while. I don't even care if you tell us that we're stupid boys and threaten to break up or divorce us. We're still watching them, because they are on The List. I will also go over some proper etiquette that you females must conduct during our time watching everything on The List.

Now, before we get into The List, let me lay out some ground rules/statements. In no way shape or form is this an attack at you, ladies. This is just a testament, a factual document, an informative piece, dare I say....a marriage saver, that is going to help you be a better girlfriend or future wife. If you abide by the guidelines on The List, and support your man's fetish for watching sports 24/7 like watching their first child when they sleep, you ladies should be A-OK.

Every now and again we like our significant others to actually watch the game or event with us. It's great to include you girls in our sports lives because you don't want to be that girl who's at a get-together at our friends house and all of the other wives and girlfriends are name dropping like they were Howie Schwab (Stump the Schwab). You don't want to walk up to a conversation and the girls are saying names like, Peyton Manning, Lebron James, Alex Rodriguez, Alex Ovechkin, Tiger Woods (the females don't exactly like Mr. Woods right now), or Adrian Peterson, and you have no idea who those athletes are. So, we'd like you to take a decent interest in our sports. Please don't take a COMPLETE interest in our sports because us guys do need some time to ourselves to shout curse words, scream at the TV, eat garbage food, and put our hands in our pants during the games, without getting ridiculed. So let's try to keep it to 2 questions per half, 3-4 comments about the hott-ness of a player per game, and only 1-2 dirty looks per evening.

So now without further ado we are going to pronounce The List. Bare with me ladies and gents.

Disclaimer: I should also mention that The List is subject to change whenever I feel like it, or if I miss a particular sporting event.

The List

The "I Can Miss Them, But I'm Going To Be Pissed at You for 3 Weeks" events:

• Baseball: We are allowed to watch every game of our favorite team.
  As well as every playoff game leading up to the World Series. If our team is not in the playoffs we can miss these, but we will be pissed. (May-October)
• Hockey: Any game involving Alexander Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby. These aren't that bad to miss because nobody likes hockey anyway. (May)
  
• Hockey: Stanley Cup Playoffs. Personally I don't think they matter until the Finals. (May)
  
• Soccer: MLS Championship and National Team exhibitions. (All Year)
  
• Olympics: Any event that doesn't include the National Basketball Team (Every Four Years)
• NBA: The NBA Draft. Don't get it twisted ladies, we will miss this for a dinner date with your friend, but just take into account that we aren't speaking for three weeks after. (June)
• Tennis: Any time Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer play against each other. This one might be a 5 week ban, ladies. (February-September)
  

The "Only Way I'm Missing These Events is if a Distant Friend Dies or My Mother Tells Me She's Going To Kill Me if I Don't Do Something" events:

• Baseball: All seven games of the World Series, regardless if your team is in them or not. (October)
  
• Golf: Anything that Tiger Woods plays in on Sundays. (All Year)
  
• Golf: The US Open, Master's, British Open, The Open Championship, and the PGA Championship. There is no way we are missing these events as long as Tiger Wood's is alive. (January-October)
• Olympics: The US Men's National Basketball Team's games during the Summer Olympics. Let us show our patriotism ladies, comon'. (Every Four Years)
  
• Documentaries: Any documentary that regards a favorite team/player/event of ours. (All Year)
  
• NBA: Regular Season match ups on Wednesday and Thursday nights. There's no way I'm missing Kenny and Chuck on TNT, Thursday nights. (October-June)
• NFL: Preseason Games of our Favorite Teams. (August)
• College Football: Any Top 25 match up, or any game your favorite team plays on Saturdays. (September-January)

The "Only Way I'm Missing These Events is if Someone We Know That's Close to Us Dies and/or Has to be Rushed to the Hospital, or My First Child is Being Born" Events:

• Soccer: National Team Games that are meaningful. (All Year)
  
• Soccer: Any world cup game. (Every Four Years)
• Soccer: World Cup Championship Game. (Every Four Years)
• Tennis: US Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and Australian Open. Trust me ladies and gentlemen, Tennis is much more exciting then you think. (February-October)
• Tennis: If Pete Sampras or Andre Agassi ever make a comeback, there's no way were not watching. (Whenever)
  
• College Basketball: Top 25 match up during the regular season. (October-March)
  
• College Basketball: March Madness bracket selection show. God I love this. (February)
• NBA: Playoff games that don't include the Finals. (May-June)
• College Football: Any Bowl game that I have a vested interest in. Deal with it. (September-January)

and now.....

The "Absolutely Can Not Miss, No Matter What the Circumstances are" events:

• College Basketball: Any game of March Madness. There is nothing we love more as sports fans than filling out a bracket, sitting at home from 12pm-11pm watching nothing but upsets and Dicky Vitale screaming. "It's March Madness baby!!!" all day long. This includes every round of games and the Final Four. (March)
  
• College Basketball: National Championship game. I don't even have to explain this one. (March)
• NFL: Sundays from September to February, us guys need our time from 11am to 11 pm. I call it the 11-11 rule. We need to watch every single game, have 3 computers in front of us to check fantasy scores every single second and there is no way shape or form we are missing our favorite team's game that week.(September-January)
• NFL: Monday Night Football, Sunday Night Football, Thursday Night Football, and Saturday Night Football. (September-January)
  
• NFL: Any Playoff Game in January, especially if our team makes the playoffs. There really is nothing that you can tell us that won't get us to watch this game. If you're rushing into labor....they better have a TV there, that's all I'm saying. (January)
  
• NBA: The NBA Finals. Regardless of the teams that are playing in it. (May-June)
• NFL: We Conclude with the Superbowl. This marks the ultimate can't miss sporting event. If you're going into labor you better hold that baby in until the 4th quarter is over. I'm sorry, that's just how it has to be.

Now that The List has been established, I urge all females who have a loved one or a significant other who loves sports to print this out. Put it on your wall. Put it at your place of work. Tell your girls about it. Tell your students. Tell your grandma. Make copies for your entire family. I don't care how you spread the information. It will give you at least something to talk about with your girlfriends. Maybe you'll talk about how ridiculous I am, maybe not. All I know is that The List has been made, and the men have spoken. Good day, and Good Luck.

A Day to Be Thankful

Apparently today is a national holiday in which people all across the country are stuffing their faces with massive amounts of food, drinking all 561 flavors of Sam Adams, taking unexplainable naps after eating, watching football from 12:30-10pm, and enjoying the company of their families. Oh, and it's a day to be thankful too.

So before everyone starts their day with their respective families, I think it's time for you all to know the top 10 things that I'm thankful for...

Number 10: I am thankful for the ability to watch football ALL DAY on thanksgiving. Too bad my Italian family will be so loud that I won't be able to hear Joe Buck's monotone voice or Phil Simms talk about his mother's peach cobbler.

Number 9: I am thankful for the fact that my Cowboys play EVERY thanksgiving day. I am not thankful for the fact that I have to watch a bottom 5 team play them every year on this day...thus leading to a 20 point blow. My cousin Vinnie (no not the movie), and I had this brief conversation this morning:

Vinnie: Yo who are the cowboys playing today?

Tom: The Raiders

Vinnie: Great, cant wait to watch these games today, seriously why can't they schedule good teams to play on thanksgiving its the perfect holiday too watch football and we have to watch the Raiders.

Me: (At a loss of words)

Oh, we get to watch the Lions too.

Number 8: I am thankful for Thanksgiving day food. But not your traditional Turkey and carrots. I'm talking about that classic Italian gravy ( it's called gravy not sauce you morons) that my grandpa is going to make because to be honest...I'm not too fond of Turkey and an inordinate amount of vegetables. It's almost too healthy.

Number 7: I am thankful for Peyton Manning, Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson, and (gulp) Tony Romo. Be because if these guys didn't play in the NFL, I don't know If I would watch. <--That might be a lie. Actually, it's definitely a lie. Number 6: I am thankful for Bill Simmons. Not only does his columns and podcasts get me through the week, but his new book The Book of Basketball got me through the morning of boring-ness leading up to the games today. It's 760 pages long. I'm on 101. Its taken me a long time to get to 101, I'm figuring by 2011 I'll be done.

Number 5: I am thankful for Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, and Dwight Howard. Just for the simple fact that they make my favorite sport exciting and because I'm running out of things to be thankful for. Am I close to one yet?

Number 4: I am definitely NOT thankful for Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett. Between the two of them I've already lost 5-7.5 years on my life. Now I'm going to have to actually work out when I'm 50 to get those years back.

Here's an idea Wade...just stay home and eat turkey today. Let Jerry just hire a "closer" coach...kind of like Mariano Rivera. A one day contract for Bill Cowher to come in and coach the thanksgiving day game. Why is this so wrong? I just want to know what it's like to have a coach that actually has a pulse.

Number 3: I am SOOO thankful for Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. This game will single handily be the reason that the graduation rate of college students will go down by 25% this year. I mean who wouldn't rather drop a tactical nuclear bomb on a bunch of little 12 year old kids whose parents shouldn't have bought the game for them, yet they allow them to play and get screamed at by 20-something college kids who use ridiculous profanity and talk massive trash. (Yes, yes I do this. Don't think less of me.) Shoot, that reminds me, I have some papers to do.

Number 2: I am thankful for the fact that Tony Romo is going to have another fantastic game on Thanksgiving today, only to lead us into the "I looked great for 3 months and in reality I'm really just fooling you all to think I'm a good QB" mode. Tony Romo is like that 3 year girlfriend you've had that just isn't interested in you anymore but she keeps leading you on until she finds another guy. Can't wait for a 1-4 December, Tony!!

Number 1: Of course last and not least, I am thankful for my family and friends. There's nothing better than spending the day eating and watching football with the people you love. Everybody enjoy the day with their loved ones, Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

The Infamous Mid-Season Awards, Sort of

Three weeks is unacceptable. Completely unacceptable. That's all I have to say. There's no way a blogger with such popularity and rapport as myself should be on a three week hiatus (can't you just smell the sarcasm?) But then I think about how college professors seem to not care about anyone but themselves, so they don't coordinate with one another and almost always schedule every project and paper known to mankind to be due during the same week. I mean, god forbid they had an organized system so kids aren't jumping out of windows due to stress. Do they not know that October is the busiest sports month of the year? So on their unknowing behalf, I do apologize for the hiatus.

I thought that since we are beyond the half way point for the NFL, and every team has had at least 8 games, it may be time for the infamous Chit-Chat Sports Mid-Season NFL Awards. I'm just warning you before we go in, these awards are more classified then the Oscars. I mean they're harder to get in advance than a copy of a bootleg Jay-Z CD. So with that in mind....let the award show begin...

The Least Valuable Player (the LVP):
Larry Johnson (, Cheifs) - Has anyone made less of an impact this NFL season? Did he do ANYTHING productive? He brought his coaching staff down, knocked teammates, made racial comments via twitter, played like he didn't know how to play football, and actually wound up causing Todd Haley and his wife to get a divorce. Ok... so I made that last one up. But seriously, what hasn't Larry Johnson done to harm this team this year. In my opinion, he is the clear cut LVP.

The "Worst Coaching Decision of the Year, and Quite Possible The Dumbest Thing I've Ever Seen" Award:
Andy Reid vs Dallas Cowboys - Andy Reid sucks. He just flat out sucks at game managing. He has ALWAYS been this bad. If you listen or read Bill Simmons work this week he has a conversation with NationalFootballPost.com's Mike Lombardi about HOW BAD Andy Reid is a game manager. They proposed the Idea that they hire a 'closer coach.' This coach would come in for only the fourth quarter situations and finish out the game, much like Mariano Rivera. I feel like this could work. Andy goes strong 7-8 innings, and you bring in Bill Cowher or Mike Shanahan as your 4th quarter coach. Why wouldn't this work?

The "Wow I Can't Believe I Passed Up On You in My Fantasy Draft" Award:
Tie: Ray Rice (Bal) and Cedric Benson (Cincy) - The two biggest fantasy surprises this year, by far. For me, Ray Rice isn't as much of a surprise as Cendric Benson because I watched Ray Rice at Rutgers for 4 years and could have told you he was going to be an impact player. I'm sure everyone and their mother are kicking themselves for not picking Cedric Benson as their sleeper pick. I still don't believe that he's good. Are my eyes playing tricks on me?

The "Safest Fantasy Performer Every Week" Award:
Reggie Wayne (Indy) - Every week I'm waiting for Reggie Wayne to have a normal off day. But plain and simple, he doesn't have them. It is so frustrating to NOT have him on your team because he is a guaranteed 17-20 points per week. It's really incredible.

The "Wait, He Really Does Suck That Bad" Award:
Terrell Owens (Buffalo) - I don't really know how I feel about T.O. He played for my Cowboys, I have his jersey, but I just don't think I like him. But there is one thing I do know....he doesn't have it anymore. He's lost his ability like Sammy Sosa's lost respect for his African heritage. (<--Please click that link guys. It's worth it. Trust me. Just do it.)

The "God, I Can't Believe He's Actually This Good" Award:
Peyton Manning (Indy) - He's the best football player in the National Football League. That's all you need to know.

The Skip Bayless, "I Talk Way Too Much, But It's Extremely Entertaining" Award:
Chad Ochocinco (Cincy) - Just a few quotes to emphasize his award: "You might as well Just Kiss the Baby" "Child Please" and my recent favorite said this week about Pittsburgh's Ike Taylor, "He couldn't stop me if I was inside a paper bag, inside a phone booth, tied around the phone wire." Haha, the Chad is great.

The Al Davis Award for the Most Consecutive Horrible Decisions a Team Can Possibly Make:
Al Davis (Oak) - This man has no business owning a team in the NFL. Let me list just a few of the decisions he's made:

Tom Cable
Darius Heyward-Bey
Jamarcus Russel
Randy Moss for 4th round pick
Art Shell
Darren McFadden (sorry Darren)

Need I say more?

The "Where the Hell Did You Come From Award":
Miles Austin (Dal) - FROMMMMMMM...Monmouth baby. New Jersey stand up. I love that Miles Austin is good. I love that he's making the T.O. decision a non issue. I love his number. I love that I saw him at Bar A in New Jersey. I love that he smiles on every catch. I may just love him in general.

The "I May Actually Not Be A Bust" Award:
Vernon Davis (SF) - Ever since that benching one year ago by Mike Singletary, he has turned his life around and is now a captain of this team. He's also the best TE in the league right now in terms of yards and touchdowns. Job well done Vernon. Too bad his QB is.....

The "I Probably Am a Bust" Award:
Alex Smith (SF) - The thing that messed up Alex Smith was Norv Turner. Alex Smith was actually becoming a good quarterback and then Norv Turner decided he wanted to become a head coach of a 14-2 team, I can't really blame him. Since then Smith has been horrendous. I actually drafted Alex Smith as a backup quarterback a few years ago in fantasy football. Wait, did I really just say that? We must be coming to a close....

The critically acclaimed, Most Valuable Player Award (MVP):
Drew Brees (NO) - He's unbelievable. Everyone says he has so many weapons, but he really doesn't. He has Marques Colston and Reggie Bush. That's it. He makes the rest of those guys, the Robert Meachem's, the Deverey Henderson's, and the Pierre Thomas's better. And that is the definition of a true MVP. You have to make the people around you better. You have to command leadership and command respect. You have to be the person that keeps defensive coordinators up until 3 in the morning every night. That is what Drew Brees is, he's the MVP so far.