Manufactured drama in Richmond NASCAR race? Cowboys get defensive in NFL Draft; Virginia football close to landing QB transfer from Alabama
NASCAR
I went to the Richmond Sprint Cup race this weekend with my mom and uncle. Tony Stewart, my favorite driver as well as my mom's, was one of the strongest cars during the entire race. He had a sizable lead on second place Kyle Busch as the race was winding down. With about 15 laps to go, however, the caution flag flew for debris on the track, the fifth caution in the race overall and third for debris. The cars all pitted and in the pit, Stewart's crew was slower than Busch's crew and Busch came out of pit road up front. He was able to gain the advantage going into Turn 1 on the restart with nine laps left and held on to win over Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who also passed Stewart on the restart and finished second.
The win was Stewart's if not for the caution. Stewart claimed the debris was just a plastic bottle that was out of the racing groove and was ticked after the race. NASCAR said it was sheet metal. NASCAR has also been criticized recently for boring races. A lack of wrecks have led to long stretches of spread out, green-flag racing. Could it be that NASCAR was trying to create some drama and threw the caution flag, knowing that it would set up a sprint to the finish? I'm not sure what the debris was, but I think it is possible that normally, NASCAR would not have thrown the flag but given the way the race was going (Stewart was likely going to win by maybe two whole seconds), officials decided to bring the field together for the final laps and threw the flag. It wasn't so much that the debris was fake, but NASCAR had decided it would throw the flag for any little thing that happened to be on the track, even if it wasn't a safety hazard. The finish wasn't all that spectacular anyway because Junior never really threatened Busch but there was drama after the race with Stewart being mad and a winner who no one saw coming with just over 15 laps left -- even though Busch has now won four consecutive spring races at Richmond.
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NFL DRAFT
The Cowboys made it known during the NFL Draft that they needed defensive players -- their first four picks were all on the defensive side of the ball. Dallas traded up to the sixth pick in the first round to snag Morris Claiborne out of LSU, the top-rated cornerback in the draft. Claiborne took some heat for scoring just a 4 on the Wonderlic test (he said he blew it off) but his skills are undeniable and Dallas is hoping he sticks around for a long while. Dallas' second pick, in the third round, was Tyrone Crawford, a defensive end out of Boise State. After that, the Cowboys took Wake Forest outside linebacker Kyle Wilber and then Matt Johnson, a safety out of Eastern Washington. Finally, in the fifth round, Dallas took an offensive player and it was Danny Coale, receiver out of Virginia Tech. Even though he is a Hokie, he is definitely a player I admired in college. He is a little undersized at 5-foot-11 but with hard work, he can become a good player, which is what he was for the Hokies. And I seem to recall that one of the best wide outs in football right now is a little undersized, maybe? Someone named Wes Welker in New England. Dallas finished out its selections with James Hanna, a tight end out of Oklahoma, and Caleb McSurdy, a linebacker out of Montana. I was pretty happy with these selections. I am glad that Dallas is looking to get better on the defensive end. The Cowboys lost five games last year when winning by at least 12 points in the fourth quarter and you would think a better defense wouldn't do that. Hopefully, the Claiborne selection doesn't bite them. He has all the physical tools and hopefully he is mentally all there.
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VIRGINIA FOOTBALL
ESPN.com is reporting that Phillip Sims, a 6-foot-2, 217-pound pro-style quarterback who played for Alabama in the fall and Oscar Smith High in Chesapeake, Va., with current Cavaliers Perry Jones and Tim Smith, is looking to transfer to Virginia. This would be a big get for the Hoos as Sims was rated a five-star quarterback in high school by rivals.com. In 2010, he redshirted and last year he competed for the starting job with AJ McCarron but lost. Alabama went on to the win the national championship. Sims would normally have to sit out a season but he is seeking a waiver from the NCAA to be eligible immediately citing family circumstances.
Don't get me wrong, I would be excited for a five-star quarterback from the Tidewater area to come to Virginia but I also have some concerns. If he becomes immediately, what happens with current starting quarterback Michael Rocco? He got better as the 2011 season went on, but let's face it -- he was a two-to-three star recruit. Sims likely has more potential even if he hasn't reached it yet. Would Rocco lose his starting job? I think the competition could be great for the team and quarterback position -- whoever starts will certainly deserve it -- but I also don't want a quarterback controversy. And even if he isn't eligible until 2013, what happens with David Watford, Mike London's prized three-star QB recruit out of Hampton that saw some playing time last season? He struggled in his limited time, and if Sims ends up being as good as he can be, he would surely beat out Watford for the position. London clearly has some attachment to Watford, though. Watford represents London's first successful foray into the 757 to land a top QB prospect. He tried to play him last season and it disrupted the flow of the offense. Virginia didn't go on its late-season run until London committed to playing only Rocco. If London shuns Watford down the road in favor of Sims, could that hurt the relationship London has built with Hampton High? Al Groh did not get along with Hampton's coach and London was helping repair the possible recruiting pipeline to there and all through the 757. It is better though, I suppose, that Sims is from that area and not another part of the country. That could definitely have the effect of alienating the 757.
Whatever happens, it will be interesting to see how London manages the talent and depth at quarterback in the coming years. I'll have more on this if Sims-to-Virginia becomes official.
I went to the Richmond Sprint Cup race this weekend with my mom and uncle. Tony Stewart, my favorite driver as well as my mom's, was one of the strongest cars during the entire race. He had a sizable lead on second place Kyle Busch as the race was winding down. With about 15 laps to go, however, the caution flag flew for debris on the track, the fifth caution in the race overall and third for debris. The cars all pitted and in the pit, Stewart's crew was slower than Busch's crew and Busch came out of pit road up front. He was able to gain the advantage going into Turn 1 on the restart with nine laps left and held on to win over Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who also passed Stewart on the restart and finished second.
The win was Stewart's if not for the caution. Stewart claimed the debris was just a plastic bottle that was out of the racing groove and was ticked after the race. NASCAR said it was sheet metal. NASCAR has also been criticized recently for boring races. A lack of wrecks have led to long stretches of spread out, green-flag racing. Could it be that NASCAR was trying to create some drama and threw the caution flag, knowing that it would set up a sprint to the finish? I'm not sure what the debris was, but I think it is possible that normally, NASCAR would not have thrown the flag but given the way the race was going (Stewart was likely going to win by maybe two whole seconds), officials decided to bring the field together for the final laps and threw the flag. It wasn't so much that the debris was fake, but NASCAR had decided it would throw the flag for any little thing that happened to be on the track, even if it wasn't a safety hazard. The finish wasn't all that spectacular anyway because Junior never really threatened Busch but there was drama after the race with Stewart being mad and a winner who no one saw coming with just over 15 laps left -- even though Busch has now won four consecutive spring races at Richmond.
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NFL DRAFT
The Cowboys made it known during the NFL Draft that they needed defensive players -- their first four picks were all on the defensive side of the ball. Dallas traded up to the sixth pick in the first round to snag Morris Claiborne out of LSU, the top-rated cornerback in the draft. Claiborne took some heat for scoring just a 4 on the Wonderlic test (he said he blew it off) but his skills are undeniable and Dallas is hoping he sticks around for a long while. Dallas' second pick, in the third round, was Tyrone Crawford, a defensive end out of Boise State. After that, the Cowboys took Wake Forest outside linebacker Kyle Wilber and then Matt Johnson, a safety out of Eastern Washington. Finally, in the fifth round, Dallas took an offensive player and it was Danny Coale, receiver out of Virginia Tech. Even though he is a Hokie, he is definitely a player I admired in college. He is a little undersized at 5-foot-11 but with hard work, he can become a good player, which is what he was for the Hokies. And I seem to recall that one of the best wide outs in football right now is a little undersized, maybe? Someone named Wes Welker in New England. Dallas finished out its selections with James Hanna, a tight end out of Oklahoma, and Caleb McSurdy, a linebacker out of Montana. I was pretty happy with these selections. I am glad that Dallas is looking to get better on the defensive end. The Cowboys lost five games last year when winning by at least 12 points in the fourth quarter and you would think a better defense wouldn't do that. Hopefully, the Claiborne selection doesn't bite them. He has all the physical tools and hopefully he is mentally all there.
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VIRGINIA FOOTBALL
ESPN.com is reporting that Phillip Sims, a 6-foot-2, 217-pound pro-style quarterback who played for Alabama in the fall and Oscar Smith High in Chesapeake, Va., with current Cavaliers Perry Jones and Tim Smith, is looking to transfer to Virginia. This would be a big get for the Hoos as Sims was rated a five-star quarterback in high school by rivals.com. In 2010, he redshirted and last year he competed for the starting job with AJ McCarron but lost. Alabama went on to the win the national championship. Sims would normally have to sit out a season but he is seeking a waiver from the NCAA to be eligible immediately citing family circumstances.
Don't get me wrong, I would be excited for a five-star quarterback from the Tidewater area to come to Virginia but I also have some concerns. If he becomes immediately, what happens with current starting quarterback Michael Rocco? He got better as the 2011 season went on, but let's face it -- he was a two-to-three star recruit. Sims likely has more potential even if he hasn't reached it yet. Would Rocco lose his starting job? I think the competition could be great for the team and quarterback position -- whoever starts will certainly deserve it -- but I also don't want a quarterback controversy. And even if he isn't eligible until 2013, what happens with David Watford, Mike London's prized three-star QB recruit out of Hampton that saw some playing time last season? He struggled in his limited time, and if Sims ends up being as good as he can be, he would surely beat out Watford for the position. London clearly has some attachment to Watford, though. Watford represents London's first successful foray into the 757 to land a top QB prospect. He tried to play him last season and it disrupted the flow of the offense. Virginia didn't go on its late-season run until London committed to playing only Rocco. If London shuns Watford down the road in favor of Sims, could that hurt the relationship London has built with Hampton High? Al Groh did not get along with Hampton's coach and London was helping repair the possible recruiting pipeline to there and all through the 757. It is better though, I suppose, that Sims is from that area and not another part of the country. That could definitely have the effect of alienating the 757.
Whatever happens, it will be interesting to see how London manages the talent and depth at quarterback in the coming years. I'll have more on this if Sims-to-Virginia becomes official.
The Sims-to-Virginia story fascinates me. But like you, I'm worried about team chemistry. There's a few episodes of Friday Night Lights where the Dillon Panthers recruit this all-star QB when their starter goes down. The team chemistry is totally destroyed and they end up losing a bunch of games. I wonder if Sims would do the same thing, but he's too tantalizing to pass up.
ReplyDeleteAnd I personally wouldn't mind if we started to shun Watford. I've seen no evidence that he can carry the team. Hell, he even threw a pick in the spring game (the only QB to do so). I would have no problem with Sims replacing him, but would feel sorry for Rocco... he really earned his spot with steady play. But we haven't had an all-ACC QB since Matt Schaub, and Sims could be that. Like I said, too good to pass up.
I agree. I am a little worried. Some people think it is crazy to worry and think landing a top QB is only good news. It has its problems, too. But this one is too good to pass up.
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