The Green Bay Packers are not feeling the love by many critics of their first round pick on Thursday in the 2020 NFL draft. The Packers moved up in the draft with the help of the Miami Dolphins which cost Green Bay a draft pick to move up 4 spots and get quarterback Jordan Love. A quarterback you say? Yes, a quarterback. Yes and they still have an MVP quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. The Packers made it to the NFC championship and lost to the San Francisco 49ers. Many think maybe they could have used their pick to give Aaron Rodgers another weapon to throw to. Especially a draft loaded with talented receivers all over the board. Last season it was all basically Devante Adams as the only one open. Perhaps an offensive lineman since Byran Bulaga left town and signed with the LA Chargers. Can’t hurt to improve the defense with your first round pick. This is history repeating itself in Green Bay. Not in a bad way. This pick is why Green Bay has had two quarterbacks over the last few decades.

The last time the Green Bay Packers picked up an offensive skills position in the first round, was when they selected Aaron Rodgers late in the first round in 2005. A man named Brett Farve was the quarterback, in fact the greatest quarterback in Green Bay history at the time. Aaron Rodgers stood on the sidelines for years playing here and there and just learning from one of the greats. Aaron Rodgers then turned out to be one of the best in the league, and he still is one of the best in the league these days. Leading Green Bay to multiple playoff appearances. Rodgers helped Green Bay capture another Super Bowl title. Rodgers has won some trophies of his own as his play kept this big cheese log rolling year after year without missing a beat. Aaron Rodgers is under contract until 2023. Rodgers is 36 years old and will turn 37 in December and might be a guy that can play into his 40’s. It may not be with the Packers as we saw Brett Farve was in a Jets and Vikings uniform before he hung up the spikes. It’s the passing of the torch like Joe Montana did with Steve Young.

Jordan Love is from the University of Utah State and in 2018 threw 32 touchdown strikes, leading the Aggies to an 11-2 record that year. Some experts have shown Jordan the Love, saying he is the best thrower in the quarterback pool in this year’s draft. Some experts think Love is a day two pick. In 2019, Jordan Love regressed, throwing 17 picks. Love still threw 20 touchdowns and the Aggies went 7-6 with him under center. Jordan Love’s strength is his arm. Love had 65 completions throwing beyond 20 yards. Love is a guy that can sling the ball down field as he threw 25 TD strikes beyond 20 or more yards in his days in Utah State. His weakness is bad decisions. You could say some accuracy issues as well. During the modern draft era in the NFL, Jordan Love is the third quarterback taken from the Mountain West conference in the first round. He joins Alex Smith, another Utah quarterback from Utah University, and Josh Allen out of Wyoming a few years back.

As a Bears fan, I hate this move the Packers made. This will be another quarterback who will get properly groomed to take over the position behind center in a few seasons. The Packers will fix Jordan Love’s weaknesses and he’ll be the next MVP of the league. Then Jordan Love will do what Brett Farve and Aaron Rodgers have done to the Bears since coming into the league. Domination!!! The Bears will still be trying to find their franchise quarterback that will date back to the 1940’s when Sid Luckman was the guy. This move does not help the Packers presently. It will be a move people will be like, “wow that was really smart,” years from now. It does take guts to think beyond the next season, especially coming off a conference championship loss. Many teams in the league take a very long time to find a replacement for anything good they had behind center. The Packers have a lucky horse shoe so far up their rear it just sickens you. Especially when the Bears brain trust picks Mitch Trubisky out of the three choices that include Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson. The Humanity!!!

The Chicago Bears are like those people that have to hoard toilet paper through these trying times. Instead of grabbing every square off the shelves during the Coronavirus, the Bears want every tight end they see in their cart. Maybe Bears GM, Ryan Pace, is like that guy in your fantasy league with multiple tight ends, too many kickers on the roster. Then have missing positions such as quarterback. I always thought the Bears should draft a quarterback every year until they get that position locked down. On the 43rd pick in the 2020 draft, the Bears select a local kid from Notre Dame, and many experts have Cole Kmet as the best tight end on the board.

Maybe it is the luck of the IRISH that the Bears first pick in the draft is in the second round and they get the best guy at the position. Cole Kmet grew up in Lake Barrington, and played sports at St. Viator. Kmet was a two sport guy as he played football and baseball at the collegiate level. For the Irish he racked up some saves coming out of the bullpen as a pitcher. Kmet stuck with the family trade of football. Kmet’s father, Frank Kmet, was drafted by the Buffalo Bills. Kmet’s uncle, Jeff Zgonina, played 17 seasons in the NFL. With football blood in Cole Kmet, the Bears get a 6’6 242 pound huge target to throw to. Last season at Notre Dame, he caught 43 passes for 515 yards and six touchdowns. In a game versus the University of Georgia, he caught 9 balls for 108 yards with a touchdown catch. Kmet is big, strong, and can break tackles as he likes to run over defenders. Kmet has good hands that can extend on bad passes. A big catch radius which is needed for quarterbacks off the mark.

The Chicago Bears recently cut Trey Burton who was injury prone and getting a lot of money. If the Bears would have kept Burton, they would have had 11 tight ends on the active roster. Maybe the Bears’ plans is to have some kind of tight end competition. Like a kickoff they did with kickers last year. The list of tight ends include Ben Braunecker, Darion Clark, Demetrius Harris, J.P Holtz, Jesper Horset, Dax Raymond, and Eric Saubert. Braunneker and Horstead had a touchdown catch last season. Holtz had 7 catches and 91 yards. Then you have Adam Shaheen who everyone knows he is a bust. Bears holding on to him like he’s due for break out season. If the Bears knew they were going to draft a quarterback why the signing of Jimmy Graham? The guaranteed money they paid Graham just baffles me.

Cole Kmet says he needs to improve on blocking and his route running. Kmet also had a broken collar bone he dealt with. Some will compare Kmet to the LA Rams tight end, Tyler Higbee. I think walking into the room, by far Cole Kmet is the best tight end the Bears had. Only problems I forecast is if the Coronavirus shortens training camp for the entire NFL. I do like Kmet has a gym set up in his Gramma’s house. Will Kmet have enough time to improve his weaknesses and adjust his play to the fast pace of the NFL? Then soaking in Matt Nagy’s war and peace play book. Mitch Trubisky is still learning it. Bright side Cole is Kmet did go to Notre Dame so he should be able to comprehend things quicker. Kmet will definitely have to learn on the fly. It might take Kmet until mid season to really get his feet wet. Overall I like this pick by the Bears so now let’s just hope Mitch Trubisky or Nick Foles get Cole Kmet the ball.

Spring football leagues for decades have been trying to establish their footing to stick around. Knowing coming in you are competing with the NFL. Thinking football fans want more after college and the pro games are done from their fall seasons. The first year is always the toughest for the new league in town. You need lots of money and a strong football backing. Building a fan base and keep them wanting more. A new league needs a good product on the field. If they can get good competition on the field, a new league needs to be seen. Games need to be easy to view where they can get word of mouth going around. Especially in a social media world. Plus get fans from-other cities with no team present. Both the XFL and AAF the last two seasons, you can say they checked a few of those boxes. The AAF did not have enough coin in the piggy bank to finish their season. The Coronavirus wiped out the XFL relaunch and they could not finish the season. These new leagues are not planned well financially as they can not even finish their scheduled season that included playoffs. XFL suspended their season due to the Coronavirus in hopes of resurfacing in 2021. This week the rest of the XFL employees were cut loose. Then Vince McMahon filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in the state of Delaware. The league now will be for sale. Any takers?

The XFL’s second go around was a success. The league scrapped all the added wrestling hoopla from the first attempt. They got rid of rules like the mad scramble for the kickoff and no fair catches on punts. Rules that made their game dangerous and because of which players got hurt. The new XFL added some additional rules this go around that were liked. The new kickoff was done in a different way to keep one of the most exciting plays in the game. The AAF abolished the kickoff. In the NFL, the kick off is mostly a touch back. The XFL had no kicks for extra point. The XFL did three different extra point tries as the furthest away from the goal line was worth more points. The XFL kept the standard football rules as well as their additions. The league had 8 teams. Each team had a well known head coach with plenty of football pedigree. The league lacked quarterback super power. The games were still fun to watch because the XFL kept it football on the field. The league averaged about 15,000 excited fans per game. Each week, the league played two games on Saturday and two games on Sunday. The television viewers started off big and continued to dwindle each week. They still had a nice cult following. The XFL games were on big networks such as ABC and Fox, so every week like the NFL, you could just turn on the television and see a game.

The first sign the XFL would not come back was the league let all their players be free to sign elsewhere. This was not too long after the league cancelled the rest of the season. Some may have thought in 2021, do another draft out of another pool of players available. The Coronavirus knocked out 5 weeks of regular season. The Virus eliminated the post season as well. The XFL lost a lot of money for those games. The league has paid off all the fans who deserved their prepaid money back from ticket purchasing. The refunds were paid out before the league filed chapter 11. The XFL owes millions of dollars for a variety of things with many different creditors seeking pay outs. Some of the payouts included stadium leases from all eight venues. The League still owes 7-8 coaches money which includes Dallas Renegades head coach, Bob Stoops, over a million dollars. Wonder what coach had naked pictures of Vince McMahon with a donkey to get his full contract paid out ?

I know nobody can plan for Coronavirus. Vince McMahon, before the league even kicked off, said that his investors and the wrestling king himself had plenty of money to fund the league for three seasons if nobody showed up in the stands. Perhaps that was taking a parting shot at the AAF for not being able to finish their inaugural year due to running out of money. The AAF came closer than the XFL. The AAF finished 8 weeks out a ten week season, unlike the XFL who completed only half. With the Coronavirus lurking, nobody has a time table when everything will be clear. The NFL could be delayed on their regular start time in 2020. That would definitely delay the XFL return in 2021 if they continued. Would the Spring league turn into a Summer league? I can see why they need to fold up shop with the uncertainty. This league will become some tax write off for this weasel, Vince McMahon. You can’t trust guys like Vince McMahon to start something and finish something. Look what President Trump did to the USFL in the 1980’s. These billionaires do not care. Stick to wrestling Mr.McMahon, at least you know each winner from the daily script written in that fake sport. I don’t even want to hear something in ten years about XFL part three. The beer cup snake in DC will be missed. Maybe the next Spring football league will actually play the whole season. By doing that, the people running the league will have accomplished what both the XFL and AAF could not do. They should also do the opposite of what those leagues did to ensure success for those wanting more football.

The present NBA season has been suspended by the Coronavirus that has invaded the country. The virus sweeping through and infecting many while imprisoning most. The conditions around us did not stop the Chicago Bulls from making a game changer type of move to their front office. Some will say it took the bloody apocalypse finally to make a decision to end the two man puppet show of John Paxson and Gar Forman. Most are familiar with dumb and dumber, aka GARPAX, that has been running this basketball organization into the ground for more than two decades. Finally enough was enough and the Reinsdorf clan actually made a significant move that was heard throughout the NBA. The Bulls were able to pry Arturas Karnisovas away from the Denver Nuggets front office.

Arturas Karnisovas is the man with the plan and will take over the Bulls front office as Head of Basketball Operations. The 48 year old spent six seasons in Denver. The last two seasons, Karnisovas served as the Nuggets General manager constructing an NBA team on the rise in the West. Lots of interesting talent assembled by Arturas Karnisovas. He also served as the team’s Assistant General Manager and VP of Basketball Operations during that six years in Denver. Before the Nuggets, Karnisovas was Director of Scouting for the Rockets for five years. Karnisovas also dabbled in the NBA league office before the job with the Rockets where he spent 4 years.

Arturas Karnisovas was born in Lithuania. Arturas came over to the states and played college ball at Seton Hall. After college, Karnisovas played basketball overseas for more than ten years professionally. Karnisovas definitely has a connection to international players. The Nuggets roster is filled with them. Jamal Murray and Trey Lyles from Canada. Karnisovas found a diamond in the ruff in Torrey Craig, who is from Australia. Serbian big man, Nikola Jokic was a second rounder unheard of, and he’s done very well. Karnisovas likes a certain physical profile of players he likes. Versatile skills and intangibles like dedication, motivation, and team first guys.

Arturas Karnisovas will have plenty of work to do. The Bulls have one of the smallest front office personnel departments in the league. Expansion will be on the list of improvements. Karnisovas will be looking for a new General Manager. What will Karnisovas do with Head Coach, Jim Boylen? Will this move the Bulls made get Lauri Markkanen back on board with the organization? Markkanen gave his displeasure of the direction the Bulls organization was going, not too long ago. As for GARPAX you think they would be thrown to the curb of the ongoing dumpster fire they created all these years. John Paxson will have an advisory role. Gar Forman’s future is unclear right now. We know Jerry Reinsdorf does not like to fire his Lieutenants. I’m sure Gar Forman will resurface somewhere, hopefully just behind the pretzel cart in a paper hat. Today I could say I may find my Bulls jersey at the bottom of the hamper to see if it’s even still there. I need to see more by the Bulls before I run it through the wash.

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Over the years many wanted to see Tom Brady face Drew Brees in a Superbowl, including myself. When the New Orleans Saints faced the LA Rams in the NFC conference championship in 2019, I thought it was going to happen. The play that stands out in that game toward the end was the Rams defender mugging the Saints receiver resulting in no flag. It was the call that broke the Saints’ back, ending their season in dramatic fashion. Rams went on to face the Patriots in a snooze fest of a Superbowl. Not even Janet Jackson’s boob popping out would have awakened the audience in that game. That Superbowl will never happen now since Tom Brady is in the NFC with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Both quarterbacks playing well into their 40’s. Both of them are close in most NFL quarterback all-time stats. Since the Buccaneers play in the same division with the Saints, now they will face each other twice a year. It’s setting up both these quarterbacks for the final show down. It’s like going to be an old fashion shoot out at the koo koo corall at high noon. Unless it’s a three o’clock game. Most likely would be one of the prime time night games.

Brady and Brees have met a grand total of five times facing off against each other in the NFL. Before the NFL, Tom Brady’s Wolverines demolished Drew Brees’ Purdue Boilermakers 38-12 in a rain type of game that created sloppy conditions between two Big Ten teams in a fall classic. Both have never forgotten that college game, especially Drew Brees. Brees has the edge over Brady in the NFL 3-2. Tom Brady and his Evil Empire won the last two meetings. Drew Brees beat Tom Brady twice in a Charger uniform before he even came to the Big Easy. In 2009 Drew Brees in a Saints uniform led his team over the Brady Patriots in old fashioned butt whipping. Tom Brady made a comeback to seal the deal over the last meeting between the Saints and Patriots in a game that went back and forth.

When it comes to the playoffs between both Tom Brady and Drew Brees, Brady stands out by a land side between the two. Tom Brady has six Superbowl rings compared to Drew Brees’ one ring. Drew Brees has played in only 16 play off games over his career and he has an 8-8 record as the starting quarterback. Tom Brady has started in 41 playoff games in his career and has gone 30-11 in those games. Both quarterbacks have never played each other in the post season. Only chance of that happening was Drew Brees in a Charger uniform. With Tom Brady inked to a two year deal in Tampa Bay, will you see the Buccaneers and Saints meet in the playoffs?

All-time Regular season stats is where both these quarterbacks are neck in neck with each other like some horse race coming down to the nose. Who will flinch first is the question. If one of these guys retires first, the other guy will have most of the stat titles for a quarterback. Right now Brees leads Brady in touch down passes 547 to 541. Brees missed five games last season so he could have had a few more to his tally. Look at passing yards where Brees leads that category 77, 416 to Brady’s 74, 571. Other interesting stats are Tom Brady has the slight edge over comebacks versus Drew Brees. Brady 36 to Brees 35. Game winning drives Drew Brees has 50 of those compared to only 45 from Tom Brady. Drew Brees also has the better completion percentage at 67.6% over Tom Brady’s 63.8%. Overall record behind center in regular season, Tom Brady is the guy. Tom Brady is 219-64 which is just sickening. Drew Brees has 163-111 record in regular season play.

We know Tom Brady is 42 years of age and has a two year deal in Tampa Bay. Drew Brees is 41 years of age and inked only a one year deal. Barring any injuries and hoping the Coronavirus does not change the scheduling, these two will face each other two times in regular season. It would be cool to see the Buccaneers and Saints go at it in the playoffs. Beyond this year, does the Saints move on from Drew Brees in favor of Taysom Hill who has been waiting patiently? At least this season it would be Good versus Evil. The Buccaneers will now be pirates creating havoc on their travels instead of what we are used to in Tampa Bay, some rated G film of some sissy version of the Pirates of the Caribbean. Tom Brady instantly turns the Buccaneers into the bad guys. Drew Brees, the good guy, giving 5 million dollars to New Orleans to help against Coronavirus. While Tom Brady is checking out his surround sound in one of Derek Jeter’s mansions in Florida. It will be high noon for Shane versus Jesse James on Bourbon Street in an epic shoot out for all the marbles. Let’s hope good prevails over evil.

The whole world has been dealing with a virus that has affected many and has taken lots of lives in its deadly path. The Corona Virus has forced towns to shut down across the nation and overseas. You would think with what is going on in the world, that it would keep all the crazies in check. Perhaps postpone their bad intentions. In the criminal mind, these trying times are a perfect time to strike. In a New Mexico gas station named Chucky’s, a 22 year old male named Daniel Arroyo Beltran had an interest in some kids that got off the Greyhound bus with their mother. There were three kids all together. Beltran wanted two of the kids and on March 26, 2020 an opportunity presented itself, and he pounced on them like a vulture pecking away at leftover road kill smashed on the highway by a Peterbilt truck. Chaos erupted at the gas station as Beltran made his move for the baby and a three year old. Across the street at another gas station, Beltran did not know that the District wrestling champion from Mayfield High was filling up his gas tank.

Beltran quickly snatched the three year old by his arm and yelled at the mother to hand the baby over. Customers outside raced to rescue the mother and her kids. Beltran quickly disposed of these good samaritans punching a man and woman. Across the street the Wrestler was done at the pump and heard the commotion. The mother quickly took her kids inside Chucky’s gas station. Inside people tried to intervene and put a stop to Beltran’s madness as he made his way inside. It did not work as Beltran went fisticuffs again with another customer. That customer probably gave that mother and her kids enough time to lock themselves in the employee’s room as they hoped and prayed that authorities would be there shortly. Customers tried to throw things at Beltran. Nothing could stop his rampage and pursuit of the mother and kids as he fought off a broom handle at one point and continued on like a Terminator mission to capture John Connor. The episode may have lasted under ten minutes but it seemed like a lifetime for the kids and the mother scared for their lives in a small town called Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Then the doors opened as a hero walked inside the gas station like he has been there before. Canaan Bower a 16 year old wrestler high school student saves the day. Bower grabbed Beltran, brought him down to the ground, and pinned him. I would like to think the clerk gave the “1-2-3 count you’re out” sign. Bower had Beltran pinned until the Police finally arrived on the scene and collected the 22 year old waste of sperm. Canaan Bower had to have ice water in his veins to enter Chucky’s like a first responder and let his instincts take over from the wrestling mat. The way Bower took the scum to the ground using what he learned in the sport of wrestling, instead of trying to punch the guy. Most would have gone for the punch as their anger guides them instead of instinct in a heated moment like that.

Back in high school I had a cup of coffee in the sport of Wrestling. I was a tall skinny kid in the 125 pound weight class. I never wrestled in an actual match because I was overweight. I was 127, they wanted me to lose weight, but I was 6 feet tall. I was skin and bones and needed cheeseburgers to put some meat on my frame instead of calling Jenny Craig. I quit and moved on to other things. In my neighborhood some of these wrestlers that wrestled in high school were just pricks and looking for fights. Who knows what these guys would have done if they entered the store as a group and saw Beltran’s rampage. The great wrestlers that I knew, besides the rotten apples, from back in the days and like Canaan Bower are on another level in life. Like the fire fighters who climbed the stairs in the World Trade Center during 9/11. The front lines of doctors and nurses helping all the victims of the Coronavirus. Canaan Bower is the type of person that will help the nation get through the Coronavirus. Bower has a bright future in his life. I can see this not being his last great headline in life.