Sam Bradford Is Buff For First Pick

Quarterback prospect Sam Bradford had his workout yesterday and no one recognized him because everyone thought that Arnold Schwartzengger was on the field throwing darts around the field to wide receivers. I know that Sam wanted to show the scouts that he was over his shoulder injury, and he had to protect that shoulder (much like Colt McCoy) by surrounding it with lots of muscle. Mission accomplished soldier! Sam Bradford showed up at his workout looking like he was expecting the scouts to ask him to change positions to saftey...or middle line backer...or tight end. This guy is buff! At 6'4", 234 pounds this guy could possibly play any of these positions.

That being said, he is also a great ball thrower. The guy threw 64 passes and 63 of them were caught! The one ball that hit the turf was a sure handed drop by the receiver and no fault of Sam.
Sam capped out his day of dart throwing by hitting on a 65 yard bomb that he dropped right into the basket.

I admit I was very dubious of the Rams taking Sam Bradford with the first pick of the draft; but after watching his work out I would be very dubious if the Rams did not pick him first.

Letting 'Em Play

This year's NCAA Men's Basketball tournament has been one of the most enjoyable to watch in many years. There are several reasons for this: 1) There have been many upsets by smaller colleges. Colleges like N. Iowa, Cornell, and Butler (who are in the final four) have helped make this tournament unpredictable, and very fun to watch. 2) A vast majority of the games were close, hard fought contests. 3) The referees have decided to let the players play, and not gone over board with the ticky tack foul calling. Few things upset the flow and rhythm of a game than when the referees take themselves too seriously.

This is true not only in basketball, but football also. I hope all of the NFL refs got the chance to watch these games, and the college refs in action. It is always better to let the players play, and to keep the refs in the backround.

Leave Al Davis Alone

Welcome to this first posting of Sports Without Stats. This column will be devoted to my personal opinions on current sports without the use of all those messy stats that clutter up other sports columns.

One thing that bothers me is how much flak Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders, has been taking the last few years. While its true that the Raiders have been anything but committed to excellence the last seven or eight years, it certainly is not all of Al's fault. It is safe to say that Al HAS forgot more football than most of us will ever know. Even so he still knows more than any of us ever will about the game of football. This is the man that forced the NFL to merge with the AFL to make the league the way we all know it today. His thanks for these efforts have been to be picked on by referees, and commissioners, ever since Pete Rozelle failed to forgive, or make up with him.

Many people believe that Al no longer recognizes football talent, and that he should give the reins over to a General Manager. Al has always been a height/weight/speed guy, and sometimes it has cost the Raiders. The Hall of Fame is filled with people who were not the fastest, or the tallest, but had the largest heart, and loved to play the game of football. The size of a player's heart is one stat that Al has never looked at. This has led to some major disappointments like JaMarcus Russell, and Darren McFadden (so far). However, that being said, the Raiders are loaded with talented players, that have all been found by Al such as Chaz Shillens, Thomas Howard, Nnamdi Asomough, and many others. If the Raiders can find a winner at the QB position, the world will see just how talented the Raiders are because of Al.

Aye, there's the rub.