J-Hill’s Two Minute Drill

Opinion, Team FYN Sports

In my brief time writing “J-Hill’s Two Minute Drill”, I don’t believe that there has been a busier and more headline-filled seven days of sports. Let’s take a detailed look into the week that was:Peyton’s Place: Rocky Mountain High – The move that all NFL fans were anxiously awaiting for happened on Tuesday, when future Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning signed a 5-year, $96 million deal to play for the Denver Broncos. The deal, which is reportedly worth around $18 million per year, makes the thirty-six year old the highest paid player in the league and increased Denver’s odds at winning this year’s Super Bowl from 50-1 to as low as 10-1. While I think Manning is a huge upgrade for the Broncos’ offense and will give the team a reliable pocket passer for the first time since the team’s current executive vice president of football operations John Elway lined up behind center, I wouldn’t necessarily bank on a Broncos’ Super Bowl or for that matter a playoff appearance in 2012. Manning is coming off four neck surgeries and an entire year away from the game, and although I personally expect him to play efficiently, there is a very real chance that he struggles to get back into a comfort zone or even has lingering issues due to the neck procedures. I was initially surprised when I heard that Peyton was heading to Denver, as I honestly thought the best fit for him was by the bay in San Franscisco. However, I think that the ultimate reasoning behind Manning not becoming a 49er was the issue with current 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh. I don’t think that a “power struggle” between the two former Colts quarterbacks would have necessarily ensued like so many have predicted, but rather that Peyton’s usual strategy of being the de facto offensive coordinator would have been thrown off had he landed in San Francisco. Make no mistake about it, Harbaugh calls the shots in San Fran when it comes to the offense, and having a quarterback like Alex Smith that really hasn’t had the success to fight for control over play-calling makes things go over a bit smoother. Throw in a four-time NFL MVP into the mix, and the headaches are endless.

Done in Denver: Tebow Traded – As a result of Manning signing with the team, the Denver Broncos decided that it was indeed time to jettison their apparent “franchise quarterback” in 2011 alone, as the team shipped Tim Tebow and a seventh round pick to the New York Jets for a fourth and sixth round pick. The deal is a sweet one for the Jets, as they give up practically nothing for a backup quarteback–yes, Tebow fans, he will not be starting over Mark Sanchez—that will bring positive media attention to a Jets’ team that desperately need some. While the Jets come off this trade looking like geniuses, the Broncos walk away from it looking like a panicked team that said yes to the first deal they were offered. Denver now has no depth at quarterback now that Tebow is a Jet, as the only quarterback currently on their roster behind the aging Peyton Manning is Adam Weber, the former Minnesota QB who will be playing just his second year in the NFL next season. Denver would have been much better off in this deal had they acquired Drew Stanton for Tebow, as the former Lions backup signed with the Jets last week due to the team telling him he would be Sanchez’s backup only to find out he was bumped down the totem pole to third string when Tebow was acquired (Stanton has since been traded to Indianapolis). As all the players in the deal currently sit, the Jets are smiling as they bring TIM to NYC, the Broncos are sweating as they look for any unsigned veteran backups (I hear Vince Young is available), and Tim Tebow is swearing that he may in fact be the only craze that the Big Apple has never seen before.

Saints Docked, Sean Suspended – The NFL has had a very busy week, as along with the Tebow/Manning drama has been the storyline of commissioner Roger Goodell handing down penalties to those associated with the New Orleans Saints’ bounty system, as the Commish slapped Saints head coach Sean Payton with a one-year suspension, general manager Mickey Loomis with an eight-game suspension, assistant head coach Joe Vitt with a six-game suspension, and former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams with a suspension of at least one year. The team was also fined $500,000 and forced to give up their second-round draft picks in the 2012 and 2013 NFL Drafts, leaving Who Dat Nation to wonder what just happened. What happened was very simple: The Saints had a bounty program offering defensive players extra incentives for knocking certain players out of the game, the league questioned the team about it, those involved lied, and then Goodell laid his vengeance upon them. The league has been big on player safety during the Goodell era, so for a team to endanger the ideas put forth by the league leads to the thought of “you play with fire and you get burned.” The result is a franchise in disarray, as their head coach is gone with no appeal available (he can appeal the punishment, but it goes straight to Goodell, and chances are won’t change his mind), their quarterback is unhappy with the team management’s handling of his new deal, and their defense is possibly in danger of the league suspending some of them for their roles in this scandal.

Suspenseful Sweet Sixteens Lead to Intriguing Elite Eights – The “March Madness” that we have all come to know and love offered us some more exciting games on Thursday and Friday, as the field was cut from 16 to 8 as we get closer and closer to the Final Four. Today offers us several interesting ganes in the tournament, from basketball powerhouses Kansas and North Carolina facing off to a matchup between the student and the teacher when Billy Donovan’s Florida Gators take on Rick Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals. For what it’s worth, my predictions have been terrible so far this bracket season (I had Louisville losing in the first round to #13 seed Davidson), but I am going to make some projections on who advances to the Final Four. I predict that Florida beats Louisville, Ohio State defeats Syracuse, Kentucky trumps Baylor, and Kansas upends North Carolina, leading to Kentucky vs. Florida and Ohio State vs. Kansas in the Final Four.

Chipper Calls it Quits After ’12 – The Atlanta Brave got the news they have probably been expecting for the last couple of years, as future Hall of Fame third baseman Chipper Jones announced that he will retire after the 2012. The thirty-nine year old Jones, who has hit 454 home runs and recorded 1,561 RBIs in his soon-to-be twenty seasons with the Braves, has said the reason for his decision is based on his family and that announcing it before the season started was made in order to not make it a distraction for the team. People can say all they want about Chipper and the injury issues that have plagued him over the last five years (I’ll be the first to admit I’ve made a few jokes here and there), but it’s clear that Larry Wayne Jones, Jr. has been the most important piece of the Braves’ franchise over the last twenty years and has a valid argument for the greatest Brave of all time. Chipper has played the game with the honor, integrity, and respect that so many have thrown out the window as the years have passed, and his role as an elder statesman of sorts for the players of today has undoubtedly helped some of the younger Atlanta players as they make the transition to having what it takes to be a valuable part of The Show. Chipper has said that he eventually wants to become a coach after several years away from the game, which leads fans to imagine the kid from DeLand, Florida handing in his lineup card to the umpires at Turner Field like his manager of nineteen years, Bobby Cox, did so many times. If this never comes to fruition, seeing him elected to the Hall of Fame in 2017—his first year of eligibility—will be an acceptable substitute.

Sports Quote of the Week

“Baseball is a lot different than it was 10, 15 years ago. People look at players, I guess, by the money they make. Chipper falls into that category of players who have not only meant a lot to the Braves but to the city. When you see a ballplayer like this come along and you watch him for 19 or 20 years, sometimes you don’t fully appreciate him until after he’s gone.”
Hank Aaron, Hall of Fame outfielder for the Atlanta Braves. Quote via the Atlanta Journal-Consitution

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