Thursday, August 30, 2012

UEFA Champions League Draw 2012-2013, Part II

[Continued from UEFA Champions League Draw 2012-2013, Part I]


Group of Death
Came back from lunch and saw the results of the draw. No question about it, Group D is the Group of Death, with 4 winners of their respective leagues, with representation from the 3 toughest leagues (Real, Man City, Ajax, and Dortmund). About the only possible combination that would have been harder was if Juventus (Serie A champion) and Ajax switched places from the Pot 3 draw.

Group of Life
At first glance, I thought the corresponding Group of Life - that is the group where anyone could advance, but they're weak - might have been Group A, with no teams from the any of the Top 4 leagues, i.e., Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A. However, I'd say that Porto, as the Primeira Liga champion, and PSG, which pulled a Man City last year with an influx of oil money, probably have the inside track to advance. So the Group of Life might actually be Group H, where Man U are guaranteed Group winners, but each of the other 3 have a shot at getting through.

Luckily, my beloved Gunners escaped the most difficult pairing possibilities, although there is some stiff competition from Schalke, which can play with highly technical German teams and Montpellier, the Ligue 1 champ.

The 2012-2013 UCL Group Draw & Predictions:
Top 2 teams in each group advance.

Group A
1. FC Porto
2. Paris Saint Germain
3. Dynamo Kyiv
4. Dinamo Zagreb

Group B
1. Arsenal
2. Schalke 04
3. Montpellier
4. Olympiakos

Group C
1. AC Milan
2. Zenit St Petersburg
3. Malaga
4. Anderlecht

Group D
1. Real Madrid
2. Manchester City
3. Borussia Dortmund
4. Ajax Amsterdam

Group E
1. Chelsea
2. Juventus
3. Shakhtar Donetsk
4. FC Nordsjaelland

Group F
1. Bayern Munich
2. Valencia
3. Lille
4. BATE Borisov

Group G
1. Barcelona
2. Benfica
3. Spartak Moskva
4. Celtic


Group H
1. Manchester United
2. Galatasaray
3. SC Braga
4. CFR Cluj




UEFA Champions League Draw 2012-2013, Part I


Every year, the world watches as UEFA kicks off the Champions League season with a draw determining the makeup of the Group Stage of the competition. The intent is to create balanced groups that permit the best teams from across Europe to advance to the knockout stages.
  • There are 32 teams seeded and divvied up into 4 "pots" of 8 teams each
  • Which pot a team is classified in is based on a combination of national league strength and UCL record over the last five years, with Pot 1 holding the strongest teams and Pot 4 the weakest
  • They are randomly placed into 1 of 8 Groups - each group gets 1 team from each Pot
  • Only exception is that each group cannot have more than 1 team from the same national league

Because the seedings don't necessarily reflect the actual, current strength of the team, there are inevitably mismatches that create a lot of the drama and hype leading up to group play. Somehow, every year has a "Group of Death" that will include teams like Man City (Group 2??), Juventus (Group 3??).

UEFA should really scrap the "last 5 years' performance" metric that completely don't take reality into account. Like Man City's meteoric rise from Qatari money. Or Juventus' suspension hurting them in this ranking. I suppose this is all part of soccer's drama. In any case, I'll be rating the chances of advancing in a follow up post once the draw is over in 'Part 2.'

Here are the Pots:

Pot 1
Chelsea
Barcelona
Manchester United
Bayern Munich
Real Madrid
Arsenal
FC Porto
AC Milan

Pot 2
Valencia
Benfica
Shakhtar Donetsk
Zenit St Petersburg
Schalke 04
Manchester City
SC Braga
Dynamo Kiev

Pot 3
Olympiakos
Ajax Amsterdam
Anderlecht
Juventus
Spartak Moscow
Paris Saint Germain
Lille
Galatasaray

Pot 4
Celtic
Borussia Dortmund
BATE Borisov
Dinamo Zagreb
CFR Cluj
Malaga
Montpellier
FC Nordsjaelland

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

What's Poppin': Movie Trilogies


It's been a while since I wrote a feature for my "What's Poppin'" column. The last couple of months have been somewhat hectic to say the least -- I finally graduated from law and grad school (Rant: I left school with a student loan debt that totals nearly $200 grand. If you are thinking about going back to school, please feel free to contact me. I may not talk you out of it, but I will definitely give you information admission boards, employers, and loan companies conveniently leave out), moved to Dallas, was best man at one of my closest friend's wedding, and found a job.

Fortunately for the movie studios in Hollywood, all of that didn't deter me from going out to the theaters. In fact, I watched The Dark Knight Rises (TDKR) at a 5AM showing on the Saturday morning of opening weekend. It ruined my sleep schedule and made me completely worthless for a few days, but it was definitely worth it.

(I watched the movie a total of three times in the first week, but let's not get into that.)

As many of you may/should already know, TDKR is the last installment of Christopher Nolan's brilliant remake of the Batman story. In my opinion, the aforementioned set of three movies will go down in history as our generation's defining cinematic trilogy -- similar to what Star Wars was for our parents' era.

So to further elaborate on the ever-popular idea of creating and watching movie trilogies, I've narrowed my list down to its most basic and true forms. For those who may not know me well, I was born in the mid 80s, so these movie titles are directly correlated to that specific time frame.


My Personal Top 5 Trilogies

1. Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises

In my opinion, each movie was so good individually that they may be even somewhat underrated as stand-alone films. Batman Begins is often overlooked because of the late Heath Ledger's Joker in part II, but it was the perfect opening chapter to the series. It had the right blend of character development and action and could be my favorite out of the three. The Dark Knight, 'nuff said. Ledger's performance has to go down as the best antagonist of all time -- just imagine if he played Lord Voldermort in Harry Potter. At the outset, TDKR was destined to not be good enough in people's eyes. I think when we all look back at Nolan's Batman movies, we're going to appreciate the brilliance that is Bane and *spoiler alert* Robin in the last movie. You know you are the GOAT when all people complain about is the inflection in characters' voices.

2. Toy Story 1, Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3

The first Toy Story is still my favorite animated movie ever. It catapulted this particular genre to the heights they are currently at today. It was the first feature film to be created entirely by CGI. Think about that. Also, how did Toy Story 3 not win an Academy Award for best comedy in 2010? I'm cracking up just thinking about Buzz Lightyear, the Latin lover.

3. The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King

Pure epicness. I realize that is not a real word, but it basically sums of the Lord of the Rings series. All three movies were aesthetically beautiful, even taking your breath away at times. To be honest, the graphics may be a little dated now, but let's remember the Fellowship of the Ring was released over a decade ago (2001)! The Return of the King finished off the series with a bang -- the battle scenes seemed to last for hours, which is exactly how I imagined them when I read the novels.


4. The Mighty Ducks, D2, D3

I've polled a bunch of my friends on the subject of movie trilogies, and for some reason, the Mighty Ducks films are always left out. How can people forget the amazingly cheesy character development that just screamed 1990s? Basically, all of the decade's corniness is lumped into this one movie franchise. You hated Gordon Bombay at first, but then you find out he's just been smothered by the game of hockey and the pressures that come with it. We instantly relate and cheer for Charlie because he represents the average Joe. Not everyone can be the most talented (Adam Banks), the most charismatic (Goldberg), the fastest (Luis Mendoza), or the strongest (Fulton Reed).

To add to all of the amazing characters, the way the plots were created simply made you want to stand up and cheer for the Ducks. People often overlook the fact that it was a co-ed team (do they even have those?), there were figure skaters who were converted into hockey players because not many people knew how to skate, there was a goalie who could catch everything with her glove, and there was the amazing Flying-V that made you quack in anticipation. Wow.

5. Infernal Affairs I, Infernal Affairs II, Infernal Affairs: End Inferno 3

I still don't understand the name change. Why wasn't the third movie just Infernal Affairs III? Anyways, if you are a fan of The Departed, then please watch the IA series. The Departed is essentially a copycat of Infernal Affairs, which is incredible in every way.

Honorable Mention: The Man With No Name trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly) and the Back to the Future trilogy.

I would have included the Terminator triology, but they just HAD to make a fourth one, which of course was downright horrible (sorry, Christian Bale). Just Terminator 2 alone would have vaulted the would-be trilogy into legendary status. What a waste.

And on the other side of the spectrum, if Hollywood had the audacity to ruin not only the Terminator trilogy, but the Indiana Jones one as well, why can't they find a way to make a third Bad Boys?! Will Smith and Martin Lawrence -- let's not wait until you guys are 50. And no, I do not want to watch a Bad Boys starring Will Smith's son (it's going to happen). While we're on the subject, I'm still waiting for a third installment of Shanghai Noon and Shanghai Knights.


What Could Have Been

- The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions

When The Matrix first came out in 1999, it completely revolutionized the movie industry. But the rest of the movies just never lived up to the first one. In the summer of 2000, I watched and re-watched The Matrix no less than 30 times.

Underrated

- The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, Red Dragon

This is coming from someone who absolutely despises scary movies. Anthony Hopkins played this role perfectly. He depicts the character as twisted, misunderstood, and just hungry. I don't know about you guys, but I can definitely relate to that.

Overrated

- Austin Powers: The International Man of Mystery, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Austin Powers: Goldmember

Am I the only person that doesn't think Austin Powers is funny? Mike Meyers was awesome in Wayne's World and Shrek, but I think it was just too much in Austin Powers. I realize that's what they were going for, but I liken Mike Meyers to someone like Will Ferrell. Hilarious, but not good enough to carry a movie by himself.

Don't Waste Your Time With These


1. The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith

Maybe the expectations were too high, but you CANNOT screw up Star Wars!

Jar Jar Binks, really?!

2. Big Momma's House, Big Momma's House 2, Big Momma: Like Father, Like Son

I love Martin Lawrence, but these movies were just plain horrible.


3. The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Many people don't know this, but the trilogy starring Brendan Fraser is actually a remake from a six-installment series that dates from the 1930s to the 1950s. I'm pretty sure those movies are better. Attention, Mummy lovers! Hollywood is completely rebooting the franchise in 2014.

What are some of the movies I failed to mention? What are your personal favorites? Do you completely disagree with my list? Please comment in the section below and you may be featured in the next GCAST.

Photo and video content courtesy of: allmoviephoto.com, wordpress.com, matrix.wikia.com, hoopsjournal.com, tumblr.com,

GCAS League: The Draft

August 27, 2012 marked the first annual Gym Class All Stars fantasy football draft. As most of the members piled into the draft 15 minutes before the first pick, the reactions were hostile. "WHO RIGGED THE DRAFT ORDER?!" Clearly preseason favorites Mok and Alby were already calling foul play as they saw they had the 10th and 12th pick respectively. Of course you couldn't blame the commissioner, since I had my least favorite position of 8th, which in my mind is where the draft begins to get extremely hazy. So that's when the suspects became more clear: the two other favorites from UPenn must have called in favors from their Ivy League connections to hack the system to get the first and second pick of the draft. Well, I guess we will never know the truth, but the draft must go on.
ROUND 1
Pick Overall Position Player By
1 1 RB1 Arian Foster, Hou Jonathan Lau
2 2 RB2 Ray Rice, Bal Phil Vuong
3 3 QB1 Tom Brady, NE Jen
4 4 RB3 LeSean McCoy, Phi Peter Wang
5 5 QB2 Aaron Rodgers, GB Andrew Leu
6 6 WR1 Calvin Johnson, Det Andrew Chow
7 7 QB3 Drew Brees, NO Zhan
8 8 RB4 Chris Johnson, Ten Caleb Li
9 9 RB5 Darren McFadden, Oak Norman
10 10 RB6 Matt Forte, Chi Jonathan Mok
11 11 TE1 Jimmy Graham, NO Albert Nguyen
12 12 QB4 Matthew Stafford, Det Steven Wang

So pick 1 and 2 go according to the book, but we get our first surprise at pick three, when our rookie Jen decides to go with Mr. Tom Brady. You can't deny his ability to score fantasy points, but it's hard to justify it with a bona fide stud like McCoy still on the board. McCoy falls into Peter's lap, who isn't even present at this point. Rarely are you rewarded for auto drafting, but in this case he is. Chow is upset for drafting Calvin Johnson 6th, and before the round is over, he has set up a trade with myself for Chris Johnson. Madden Curse? This trade seems too good to be true when I look at my draft board. Alby shakes things up by taking a TE in the first round, while Steven completes the first round by taking the 4th quarterback of the draft. From the way things are playing out, this isn't going to be your dad's draft.

ROUND 2
Pick Overall Position Player By
1 13 WR2 Larry Fitzgerald, Ari Steven Wang
2 14 RB7 DeMarco Murray, Dal Albert Nguyen
3 15 TE2 Rob Gronkowski, NE Jonathan Mok
4 16 RB8 Marshawn Lynch, Sea Norman
5 17 RB9 Maurice Jones-Drew, Jac Caleb Li
6 18 WR3 Brandon Marshall, Chi Zhan
7 19 RB10 Adrian Peterson, Min Andrew Chow
8 20 WR4 Victor Cruz, NYG Andrew Leu
9 21 WR5 A.J. Green, Cin Peter Wang
10 22 RB11 Michael Turner, Atl Jen
11 23 WR6 Roddy White, Atl Phil Vuong
12 24 WR7 Andre Johnson, Hou Jonathan Lau

First mistake pick of the draft for me as I take MJD with my second pick of the draft. This guy might not even dress for game one because of a holdout... but then again, if he does play, it could be great value. Zhan creates tons of positive buzz with his Brandon Marshall pick, especially from Mok. Don't get me wrong, Marshall is going to be great in his reunion with Cutler, but take a close look and see that Marshall is the 3rd WR taken in this draft. There is still a lot of risk even if there is a lot of upside. Phil and JLau walk away with two strong receivers at the end of the 2nd round while others reach on potential with picks of Green and Cruz before the proven commodity of Roddy White.

ROUND 3
Pick Overall Position Player By
1 25 WR8 Wes Welker, NE Lau
2 26 QB5 Cam Newton, Car Vuong
3 27 RB12 Frank Gore, SF Jen
4 28 RB13 Jamaal Charles, KC P. Wang
5 29 RB14 Steven Jackson, StL Leu
6 30 WR9 Greg Jennings, GB Chow
7 31 RB15 Ryan Mathews, SD Zhan
8 32 WR10 Hakeem Nicks, NYG Li
9 33 WR11 Julio Jones, Atl Norman
10 34 RB16 Fred Jackson, Buf Mok
11 35 RB17 Trent Richardson, Cle Nguyen
12 36 RB18 Doug Martin, TB S. Wang

JLau kicks it off by making a homer pick of Wes Welker, and Phil starts to regret his selection of Cam Newton only seconds after making the pick. Health questions about Mathews drop him to the 3rd round. At this point RB started to get thin -- Mok picks up Fred Jackson, who in my mind is the last sure thing at running back.  Doug Martin could be very good now that he's all but assured the starting job in Tampa.

ROUND 4
Pick Overall Position Player By
1 37 RB19 Darren Sproles, NO Steven
2 38 WR12 Jordy Nelson, GB Alby
3 39 WR13 Miles Austin, Dal Mok
4 40 WR14 Percy Harvin, Min Norman
5 41 WR15 Mike Wallace, Pit Caleb
6 42 WR16 Jeremy Maclin, Phi Zhan
7 43 WR17 Dez Bryant, Dal Chow
8 44 RB20 BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Cin Leu
9 45 WR18 Steve Smith, Car Peter
10 46 WR19 Marques Colston, NO Jen
11 47 RB21 Kevin Smith, Det Phil
12 48 TE3 Vernon Davis, SF JLau

Another round, another holdout guy. Luckily for me, Wallace reported to camp yesterday. Chow is looking for a positive impact from Dez Bryant's new curfew, and Peter can't understand why Steve Smith is still on the board (still thinking this is 2006). Phil reaches for Kevin Smith -- it is clear that there isn't much left in the world of running backs. JLau's faith in Alex Smith is unusual especially with Finley, Hernandez, and Gates all still on the board for TEs.

ROUND 5
Pick Overall Position Player By
1 49 RB22 Willis McGahee, Den JLau
2 50 WR20 Brandon Lloyd, NE Phil
3 51 TE4 Jermichael Finley, GB Jen
4 52 QB6 Matt Ryan, Atl Peter
5 53 WR21 Antonio Brown, Pit Leu
6 54 QB7 Tony Romo, Dal Chow
7 55 RB23 Reggie Bush, Mia Zhan
8 56 TE5 Antonio Gates, SD Caleb
9 57 QB8 Michael Vick, Phi Norman
10 58 WR22 Dwayne Bowe, KC Mok
11 59 RB24 Ahmad Bradshaw, NYG Alby
12 60 WR23 DeSean Jackson, Phi Steven

Willis McGahee doesn't get the respect he deserves for the amount of yards he amassed playing with Tebow and Co. last year. With Peyton opening up the offense, we could see a solid year for McGahee. Norman takes Vick, which in recent history has proven to be a very high risk. Quite interesting that 3 quarterbacks were taken this round but Eli Manning is still on the board.  He's not top 5 talent, but he belongs with this group.

ROUND 6
Pick Overall Position Player By
1 61 WR24 Pierre Garcon, Wsh Steven
2 62 WR25 Demaryius Thomas, Den Alby
3 63 WR26 Eric Decker, Den Mok
4 64 TE6 Aaron Hernandez, NE Norman
5 65 QB9 Peyton Manning, Den Caleb
6 66 WR27 Steve Johnson, Buf Zhan
7 67 WR28 Vincent Jackson, TB Chow
8 68 WR29 Torrey Smith, Bal Leu
9 69 TE7 Fred Davis, Wsh Peter
10 70 D/ST1 49ers D/ST Jen
11 71 WR30 Reggie Wayne, Ind Phil
12 72 QB10 Philip Rivers, SD JLau

This is when the draft gets interesting!  The two Broncos receivers go along with 5 other wideouts.  Rivers is an excellent pick as the 10th QB off the board and is primed for a bounce-back season.  A defense in the 6th round?  That's a bold strategy -- let's see how that works out.

ROUND 7
Pick Overall Position Player By
1 73 WR31 Titus Young, Det JLau
2 74 RB25 Cedric Benson, FA Phil
3 75 WR32 Santonio Holmes, NYJ Jen
4 76 WR33 Denarius Moore, Oak Peter
5 77 TE8 Brandon Pettigrew, Det Leu
6 78 D/ST2 Steelers D/ST Chow
7 79 TE9 Jason Witten, Dal Zhan
8 80 RB26 DeAngelo Williams, Car Caleb
9 81 WR34 Darrius Heyward-Bey, Oak Norman
10 82 WR35 Anquan Boldin, Bal Mok
11 83 WR36 Kenny Britt, Ten Alby
12 84 TE10 Coby Fleener, Ind Steven

Phil reaches for Benson in the 7th round, trying to make up for his Kevin Smith reach.  Santonio Holmes looks like he'd rather watch paint dry than play football this season with the San-bow monster at the helm.  A lot of TEs go in this round, including rookie Fleener, who already has good rapport with fellow Stanford teammate Luck. Kenny Britt has top 10 WR talent, and as the 36th WR off the board, Alby could be laughing all the way to the playoffs.

ROUND 8
Pick Overall Position Player By
1 85 RB27 Shonn Greene, NYJ Steven
2 86 RB28 Peyton Hillis, KC Alby
3 87 RB29 Donald Brown, Ind Mok
4 88 D/ST3 Bears D/ST Norman
5 89 RB30 Jonathan Stewart, Car Caleb
6 90 RB31 C.J. Spiller, Buf Zhan
7 91 RB32 Ben Tate, Hou Chow
8 92 RB33 Isaac Redman, Pit Leu
9 93 RB34 Mark Ingram, NO Peter
10 94 WR37 Alshon Jeffery, Chi Jen
11 95 RB35 David Wilson, NYG Phil
12 96 RB36 Steven Ridley, NE JLau

Both Carolina RBs ending up on the same team seems like a bad hedge bet. Tons of running backs are taken in this round, and with that comes many question marks. Phil feels good about his David Wilson pick, and as a Giant fan, he knows better than most that Bradshaw can't handle all the carries on his own.  The real question is, who is Alshon Jeffery?

ROUND 9
Pick Overall Position Player By
1 97 RB37 Rashad Jennings, Jac  JLau
2 98 WR38 Robert Meachem, SD Phil
3 99 WR39 Nate Washington, Ten Jen
4 100 WR40 Randy Moss, SF Peter
5 101 WR41 Lance Moore, NO Leu
6 102 TE9 Tony Gonzalez, Atl Chow
7 103 D/ST4 Eagles D/ST Zhan
8 104 RB38 Beanie Wells, Ari Caleb
9 105 K1 Sebastian Janikowski, Oak Norman
10 106 WR42 Sidney Rice, Sea Mok
11 107 RB39 Roy Helu, Was Alby
12 108 WR43 Randall Cobb, GB  Steven

Late pick-up of Meachem could prove to have a huge payoff as Rivers is looking for a new number one. The Chargers never seem to win the big game, but lucky for fantasy owners, our Super Bowl happens in the regular season where the Chargers are king. Randy Moss' return could be boom or bust, but once again Peter is living the glory days of 2006, because I am not sure Moss has too much left in the tank. As a Packer fan I am going to hate on the Cobb pick, this guy is 4th at best on the depth chart, and with no return yards in this league getting production from Cobb will be hard to come by.

ROUND 10
Pick Overall Position Player By
1 109 QB11 Andrew Luck, Ind Steven
2 110 RB40 Jahvid Best, Det Alby
3 111 QB12 Eli Manning, NYG Mok
4 112 QB13 Robert Griffin III, Was Norman
5 113 WR44 Justin Blackmon, Jac Caleb
6 114 WR45 Malcom Floyd, SD Zhan
7 115 RB41 Michael Bush, Chi Chow
8 116 WR46 Brian Quick, StL Leu
9 117 RB42 Toby Gerhart, Min  Peter
10 118 QB14 Ryan Fitzpatrick, Buf Jen
11 119 WR47 Mike Williams, TB Phil
12 120 WR48 Michael Crabtree, SF JLau

ROUND 11
Pick Overall Position Player By
1 121 QB15 Jay Cutler, Chi JLau
2 122 QB16 Matt Schaub, Hou Phil
3 123 RB43 Pierre Thomas, NO Jen
4 124 QB17 Jake Locker, Ten  Peter
5 125 D/ST5 Seahawks D/ST Leu
6 126 WR49 Greg Little, Cle Chow
7 127 RB44 LeGarrette Blount, TB Zhan
8 128 RB45 Ryan Williams, Ari  Caleb
9 129 RB46 Jacquizz Rodgers, Atl Norman
10 130 RB47 Mikel LeShoure, Det Mok
11 131 WR50 Kendall Wright, Ten Alby
12 132 WR51 Jerome Simpson, Min  Steven

ROUND 12
Pick Overall Position Player By
1 133 K2 David Akers, SF Steven
2 134 QB18 Ben Roethlisberger, Pit Alby
3 135 D/ST6 Texans D/ST Mok
4 136 TE10 Jermaine Gresham, Cin Norman
5 137 QB19 Joe Flacco, Bal Caleb
6 138 WR52 Danny Amendola, StL Zhan
7 139 TE11 Jacob Tamme, Den Chow
8 140 WR53 Santana Moss, Was Leu
9 141 RB48 James Starks, GB Peter
10 142 K3 Neil Rackers, Was Jen
11 143 TE12 Greg Olsen, Car Phil
12 144 K4 Stephen Gostkowski, NE JLau

This is pretty unreal.  Eli falls and becomes the 12th quarterback taken. Even when he threw 25 INTs he doesn't deserve to be taken so low. And to see the rookie Luck who is starting for a team with little to no weapons being taken right before him is outrageous. Sorry Steven for all the hate; maybe you will prove me wrong. Also Steven didn't need Eli since he has Stafford, but this also isn't a keeper league, so I'm still puzzled by the Luck pick. Chow is definitely looking for some more Peyton-to-Tamme magic from two years ago, which makes me wonder whatever happened to Dallas Clark.

ROUND 13
Pick Overall Position Player By
1 145 D/ST7 Ravens D/ST JLau
2 146 RB49 Jonathan Dwyer, Pit  Phil
3 147 RB50 Mike Tolbert, Car Jen
4 148 D/ST8 Giants D/ST Peter
5 149 WR54 Rueben Randle, NYG Leu
6 150 QB20 Brandon Weeden, Cle Chow
7 151 WR55 Laurent Robinson, Jac Zhan
8 152 WR56 Brandon LaFell, Car Caleb
9 153 WR57 Jon Baldwin, KC  Norman
10 154 K5 Mason Crosby, GB Mok
11 155 WR58 David Nelson, Buf Alby
12 156 WR59 Doug Baldwin, Sea Steven

ROUND 14
Pick Overall Position Player By
1 157 WR60 Stephen Hill, NYJ Steven
2 158 D/ST9 Packers D/ST Alby
3 159 QB21 Andy Dalton, Cin Mok
4 160 WR61 Austin Collie, Ind Norman
5 161 D/ST10 Lions D/ST Caleb
6 162 RB51 Daniel Thomas, Mia  Zhan
7 163 WR62 Davone Bess, Mia  Chow
8 164 K6 Dan Bailey, Dal Leu
9 165 WR63 Plaxico Burress, NYJ Peter
10 166 RB52 Jackie Battle, SD Jen
11 167 K7 Alex Henery, Phi Phil
12 168 RB53 Shane Vereen, NE  JLau

ROUND 15
Pick Overall Position Player By
1 169 WR64 Eddie Royal, SD JLau
2 170 D/ST11 Falcons D/ST Phil
3 171 WR65 James Jones, GB  Jen
4 172 K8 Jason Hanson, Det Peter
5 173 QB22 Carson Palmer, Oak Leu
6 174 K9 Greg Zuerlein, StL Chow
7 175 K10 Matt Bryant, Atl Zhan
8 176 K11 Rob Bironas, Ten  Caleb
9 177 D/ST12 Patriots D/ST Norman
10 178 RB54 Rashard Mendenhall, Pit Mok
11 179 K12 Adam Vinatieri, Ind Alby
12 180 D/ST13 Bills D/ST Steven

Not seeing much here besides sleepers, kickers, and defenses. New to see someone still wants Plaxico even though no NFL team seems to want him. Also Jen takes the third running back from Carolina; for both her and myself, I hope Carolina gets over 500 yards a game in rushing. Mok stashes Mendenhall for (hopefully) a second half return, as Jlau hopes injuries in San Diego means Royal gets some targets like he had his rookie season.

My final thoughts on the draft, either Jen made many rookie mistakes or she is just that much smarter than the rest of us. Most interesting draft was Alby, who made many risky picks with taking a TE in the first round and characters like Hillis and Best. Lastly Alby capped it off by taking a kicker on an offense relying on a rookie QB and a Defense that ranked last a year ago. I am also surprised Norman took 2 defenses, and one of them being New England who couldn't stop a nose bleed. 

Reactions from around the GCAS League:

Phil Vuong:

Reach and Regret - Kevin Smith.  I didn't like any other rbs there, but I should have taken a WR or TE instead. Fortunate to get Benson and Wilson later on so I feel okay about it, but it was a terrible lapse in judgment. Frank Gore and Turner where they went since they are both aging RBs.

Best Draft Steal: Eli, for sure. A lot of Eli hate in this league, but amazing value.

Best Draft: Mok had the best draft, hands down.
  • Excited about David Wilson, Bradshaw won't make it through the season. I am also intrigued by Lloyd and how he performs with Brady and reuniting with McDaniels.
  • Kenny Britt could turn out to be the biggest steal in any draft, Top 10 talent.
  • Mike Williams was overrated last year but very underrated this year. Could do a lot better with VJax in the mix.
Andrew Leu:
  • Surprised to see Brady go before Rodgers, but no complaints since i got him
  • Sometimes you just got to go with a value pick when the guy you want gets picked up right before your turn (i.e. Victor Cruz after Adrian Peterson)
  • Surprised Flying Turtle drafted 6 RBs (esp 2 sets on the same team)
  • No love for Tebow?! I bet he scores more TDs than Shonn Greene 
Biggest reach: Sebastian Janikowski - 9th round for a kicker is pretty early esp since he wasn't even the highest scoring kicker last year; and when you have Darren Mcfadden, it'd be wise to get more than 1 bench RB
Biggest Steal: Eli Manning in 10th round
Worst draft (no hard feelings tho): Tsoufresh & Tsouclean - Lowest projected Week 1 score is typically a good indication
Best draft: Mok Draft - solid team including his bench. Too bad there's not a cash prize.

Albert Nguyen:
  • My entire team is on the block 
Photo courtesy of NFL.com