The Side Track: Kings of the West
While the Los Angeles Kings continue to look like unbeatable giant-killers, we ask who the king of the west will be in the NBA and Spiel predicts who will wind up having had the most successful and least successful players to come out of the 2012 NFL Draft.
It’s the Side Track with JR and the Hammer and you can listen to it right here.
Spiel’s Draft Diary: We Wish You a Merry Draftmas (Round One)
By Alex Wiederspiel
So I took a couple of notes last night in my head based off of what I was watching. For some inexplicable reason, God decided the New York Rangers couldn’t close out the Ottawa Senators in six games or less, so I was forced to cut into my draft viewing by watching the Rangers squeak by the Sens in seven games.
God, if you are reading this right now, this is unacceptable. These three days are supposed to be MY three days. You know how much I look forward to these three days every year…yet for some ridiculous reason you couldn’t just let the Rangers close things out when they were supposed to.
Wait, I get it–you were testing my loyalty! You were trying to see what I cared about more–the New York Rangers or the event known as the NFL Draft. You, my friend, are a sneaky one and it became quite obvious at around 930 last night when the Rangers were in the final two minutes of the third period of game seven and the Jets were just getting on the clock and a moment before the bar I’m in erupted in cheers because West Virginia alumni Bruce Irvin became the 15th overall pick in the draft. Anyway, without further ado, and with a special thanks to Jared Ramos, Mike Asti, Bill Simmons, all the Rangers fans at the Sports Page, Ian Goodenough and so many more…here is my draft diary. Read more 
The Side Track: A Very Hammer Draftmas
By Alex Wiederspiel and Jon Rudder; with Greg Madia and Matt Nuti
The Hammer’s holiday has come, and over the next three hours prepare to get Hammered as JR moderates the 2012 NFL Draft Preview show in a very special edition of the Side Track. The Hammer is joined by the Hammered Helpers–U92’s football producer Greg Madia and main analyst of the WVU football pregame show Touchdown City Tailgate (follow them on Twitter) and his right hand man and BDL’s very own Matt Nuti.
2012 NFL Draft Preview: AFC East
Courtesy freepicks.org
By Alex Wiederspiel
Much like last year I’m going to start making some divisional guides to help you take a look at what you’re team will do on draft day. You can check out last year’s AFC East preview here.
1. New England Patriots
2011 Record: 13-3
Season Finish: Super Bowl runner-up
Draft Picks:
1st Round — 27th Overall (from New Orleans)
1st Round — 31st Overall
2nd Round — 48th Overall (from Oakland)
2nd Round — 62nd Overall
3rd Round — 93rd Overall
4th Round — 126th Overall
Team Needs: WR, OG/C, DL Depth, 3-4 OLB, DB Depth Read more
Spiel’s First Published 2012 Mock Draft: Post-Free Agency Fun
By Alex Wiederspiel
Now that the brunt of free agency has cleared up where some of the dominoes will fall I am going to throw in my first comprehensive mock draft of the season. It may be late, but it was worth the wait.
(Courtesy everyjoe.com)
1. Indianapolis Colts (2-14) — Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford
While there are a very small minority of scouts that believe the Colts could select Robert Griffin III at this pick, it’s extremely unlikely considering the Colts didn’t even interview Griffin. While it’s not unheard of for a team to draft a player without interviewing him, it is almost unheard of for a team to draft first overall and take a player that they didn’t even interview. While Jim Irsay is still trying to pretend he has some semblance of competitive advantage by going through the process, it was reported in January by Chris Mortensen that the Colts had already made up their mind. Regardless of a little RGIII hype (and I’m not buying into this yet…I think a lot of it is coming from Washington who wants Luck to fall to 2), the Colts are still going to take Luck and I think it’s a foregone conclusion at this point. There’s really not much more that can be said on Andrew Luck, but something important that does need to be addressed is something Greg Cosell of NFL Films pointed out. He talks a lot about how Luck was “managed” at Stanford so that he could be more efficient. Read more
NFL Free Agency: The 4 PM Deadline is Here
By Alex Wiederspiel
(Courtesy thyblackman.com)
It’s a big day for the NFL, with player movement about to get wild at 4 PM. There are several big names that are going to be moving and a couple of teams that are going to be acquiring some big time talent that are actually in the primes of their careers. As always though, there’s going to be a free agent bust somewhere. Before we discuss, let’s talk about the penalties to Dallas and Washington that are limiting their cap space. Nobody wants another Dana Stubblefield or Albert Haynesworth after all (hey Washington!). Read more
NFL First Round Mock Draft
By: Matt Nuti
So while the drills for the NFL scouting combine have started today, I’m just now putting out my first round mock that was made before any information from the combine came out. (sorry I was busy). But alas, I’ve got it here now. Just a couple of notes, I didn’t account for trades in this mock. I expect there to be a TON of movement on draft day, but I just went team by team looking at the board as is. Another point of note I have no Tight Ends being taken in the first round. I didn’t forget about them, I just question if there are any first round graded tight ends in football this year. I like the athleticism and I have a group of them going in the second round (which we’ll all be seeing later) but, no first rounders. So, here it is… enjoy:
Read more
Suck for Luck: A New Twist
By Alex Wiederspiel
(Courtesy -- thesportsbank.net)
No team is going to lay down to get Andrew Luck. I promise you that. No self respecting player or coach is going to lay down for a college player. They won’t listen to a coach who says lay down, and a coach won’t listen to a front office member or owner who says lay down. The Colts are in pretty much the perfect scenario of shit here. If they lose next week against Jacksonville they clinch the first overall pick and are certainly assured Andrew Luck by virtue of a strength of schedule tie breaker over St. Louis. If they win, they have to hope the Rams somehow beat the 49ers who are still fighting for the second seed in the NFC. If St. Louis wins the Suck for Luck race, they’ve won more then Andrew Luck. They’ve won the rights to rebuild their team and maybe make the NFC West a competitive division down the line.
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