NFL draft...Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears

Okay, so last year I really liked what I saw from Mark Anderson and then the Bears drafted him and I was a little annoyed. But alas I have no proof of this, so I have written up who the Bears and Packers SHOULD take in next weeks draft.


Packers

Round 1 (16): Marshawn Lynch RB Cal

Lynch is the best all around back in this draft. Okay Peterson has more talent but I think Lynch might have better hands and better vision. The Packers need a back with these qualities and Lynch will be a solid running back in the departed Ahman Green mold.

Round 2 (47): Zach Miller TE Arizona State

Regardless of what anybody says, Zach Miller is the best tight end in this draft. A lot of people out there obsess over speed, but Miller finds the soft spots in the zones, is a strong and willing blocker, and has good functional speed. Miller fits their scheme and will be everything Bubba Franks was supposed to be.

Round 3 (78): Eric Weddle S Utah

Weddle is a solid safety who is being underrated because of his lack of top-end speed. But Weddle is a football player who has succeeded in playing both safety positions and cornerback in college. Marquand Manuel appeared to be the worst starting safety in the NFL last year and the Packers need somebody to push him, Weddle will do that.

Round 4 (112): Josh Wilson CB Maryland

Wilson is a quick undersized corner who can return kicks. The key thing with this guy is that he loves to hit and hits hard. There have been 5'9" corners that play above and beyond their size. Wilson reminds me a lot of former Texas A&M Aaron Glenn. I would not be surprised if it takes a year for him to develop and then has a similar career to Glenn. He also can be a dangerous punt and kick returner.

Round 5 (157): Zak DeOssie LB Brown

DeOssie was a beast in the Ivy League and he has the mental capacity and physical gifts to develop into a solid LB like a Gary Plummer or possibly even better. He needs at least a year to develop but he has the potential to grown physically. Regardless of if the Packers draft him here I think he will be a starter somewhere down the road.

Round 6 (193): Garrett Wolf RB Northern Illinois University

Okay I am a little biased here, I mean he was technically my student for two weeks. Regardless of that, Wolf was super productive in college, has excellent vision, good hands, and is quick. He will never be a starter in the NFL because he lacks size (Although Warrick Dunn is virtually the same size) but he will be a very good role player in the mold of former Florida State running back Amp Lee, but I think he will be more successful in the NFL then Lee was. Two things that Wolf is really good at is he understands how to avoid getting blasted by defenders and has battled and defied many odds in his college career.

Round 7 (228): Tyler Ecker TE Michigan

Ecker is an underrated prospect at tight end because he was not featured in the Michigan offense. He will probably never be a starter but he could be a solid second tight end. Reminds me a little bit of a guy I liked last year named Owen Daniels who went to the Texans and did quite well.

Round 7 (235): Kyle Cook C-G Michigan State

Center is the hardest position on the offensive line to play. An NFL center needs to be both smart and athletic and Cook has good feet and smarts. He lacks great size and strength at this point in his career but he could develop over time and play in Europe. He fits the zone-blocking scheme perfectly and has a Big-Ten mentality.

Round 7 (243): Marvin Burrough QB/Athlete

I have and always will love converting QBs that are great athletes into wide receivers. Burrough has a strong enough arm to be the third or fourth string QB on a team as well as playing the third or fourth string WR for the Packers. He is a poor mans Anquan Boldin at this point and will need to play in Europe in order to develop. But if a team is patient with him, he could be a real diamond in the rough.


The Bears

Jerry Angelo loves drafting lineman and it makes sense. But I don't think the Bears need to worry as much about lineman at his point. With that said, this is strictly my opinion on what the Bears should do. I don't think that they will follow the first two picks I have for them.


Round 1 (31): Dwayne Bowe WR LSU

Bowe is not the sexy WR pick that other wide outs are in this draft. But he is a great football player who produced well his senior year. He needs a kick in the ass to realize his place in the NFL and the Bears have plenty of guys who can knock him silly in practice a few times (Urlacher, Archeleta, and Mike Brown.) He falls somewhere between Keyshawn Johnson and Muhsin Muhammed, in the sense that he has great hands and good size but lacks top end speed. He is not quite as arrogant as Johnson but not quite as selfless as Muhammed. I think the Bears can do something with him.

Round 2 (37): Drew Stanton QB Michigan State

This brings up a lot of controversy, but Stanton is a solid quarterback that is a true leader and I feel that he is the second best quarterback in this draft behind Quinn (JeMarcus Russel will be a bust). By drafting him here the Bears do one of two things; Light a fire under Sexy Rexy and he starts performing consistently or they find their starting Quarterback in Stanton. Either way, they win. Stanton reminds me of a cross between Matt Hasselbach and Chris Chandler.

Round 3 (94): Justin Durant LB Hampton

This pick presumes that Lance Briggs does not get traded, plays out the year, and then leaves the Bears. Even if he does get traded I think Durant is an excellent pick here and that he could replace Briggs in the "thug" linebacker role. Durant has a mean streak, loves to play football, and has potential to grow. At this point he is still undersized and will be jumping from division II-A but I think he can and will do it. He is a bit like Zach Thomas but bigger and faster and will never be close to the player Thomas is, but only a select few can say that about themselves.


Round 4 (130): Ikaika Alma-Francis DE Hawaii

Francis is a big DE who could probably slide over and play tackle as well. He needs work on his discipline but has Sasquatch-like natural strength and if he ever realizes his potential he could be a beast. This is more of a value pick at this point but the Bears could really use a guy like this because Anderson is more of a pass rushing specialist and I have never been overly impressed with Ogunleye (compared to how much he gets paid). He reminds me of a La'Roi Glover with more talent but less motor.


Round 5 (168): Louis Leonard DT Fresno State

This is a little bit of a reach at this point but the Bears need a big fat lineman after losing Alfonso Boone. Leonard is just a run stuffer at this point in his career, but he is a good one and would fit the Bears system quite well. Similar to former Bear Keith Traylor, but less of a blob.


Round 7 (221): Reggie Merriweather RB Clemson

Merriweather is a short but stout enough back similar to Washington's Rock Cartwright, but Merriweather might be a little quicker and not quite as strong. The Bears need a running back to get to the outside and replace the departed Thomas Jones. Merriweather is a 10 carry a game type of back that has value as a roleplayer and could surprise as a second kick returner.

Round 7 (241): Kyle Williams OT USC

Williams may be gone at this point. As with any late round pick, it is hard to predict when somebody might go. Williams only started for a year but he played behind some pretty good talent. He needs a bit of refinement and the Bears can be patient with him. The Bears need to start thinking about their future on the offensive line and Williams could be ready to go when Tait retires or the Bears get rid of him. Williams needs to get a little more feisty and aggressive but he has a lot of talent.


Agree? Disagree? Well whatever. This is what I would do if I was an NFL GM for either of these teams.


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Beating a dead horse....

Alright maybe I am beating a dead horse here but I have to make another comment on the V-tech shootings. Cho states in his video "When the time came, I did it. I had to." "You had a hundred billion ways to avoid today but you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. The decision was yours, now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off." At which point he goes on rants about how all the rich destroyed his life. Now maybe I am going to sound a little insensitive here but honestly I don't care if that is how I sound because this kid has caused such a surge of emotion in me (Who was not linked in any way to anybody murdered) that I feel I should be blunt. This kid didn't want to get any better. Connecting this with my previous movie review of "Quitting" it takes more than just a support system more than just a person to identify that you need help and more than just asking for help. It takes all three of these things. One needs to identify the problem, find the support they need, and WANT to get better. This kid had his parents try and get him help, he had teachers try and get him help, and he had a University that had a program to help him. The only thing that he didn't have was a desire to help himself. He blames everybody else for everything that has been bad in his life. He CHOSE to commit these attrocities. He didn't want to get better. I have had a lot of shitty people in my life that have been assholes, yet I have dealt with issues in a non-violent way. No life is perfect, even when it appears that somebody has it all, they didn't always and their is bound to be some pain in their lives. Even God has wept. Does somebody who has a silver spoon in their gob know how to really take care of themselves? Do they secretly wish to be something that they are not? Of course, we are all only human. Obviously this kid needed to feel empowered somehow. There are various outlets in life that one can go to, some feel it is religion, others just need a friend to talk to, Cho chose a violent one because he gave into hate and anger. He blames all those that were assholes to him, yet in the end he continued the chain. With any type of abuse it forms a chain of abuse (ie a person who is sexually abused has a tendency to abuse and those that they abuse, abuse others and so forth) and it takes a strong person to break the chain. Obviously Cho resorted to being worse than those that abused him. So I urge people to help others help themselves. And as I always like to put it, I am sure that the devil has a special room for Cho where Cho gets a pitchfork up the ass at least twice a day if not in other places. But what do I know?


Furthermore is these dumbasses who are trying to get attention by doing other things like bomb threats and written threats to get attention. Ugh! I am tired of this bullshit! The mark of a true champion is falling and picking yourself up.

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Review: Quitting

Quitting (IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298238/)

Quitting is a biographical docudrama about Chinese actor Hongshen Jia and his addiction do drugs. It is a true story that features the actual people acting as their own characters. What makes this film unique is that it just as much about quitting the addiction as it is about how his family is affected. It is about the sacrafice that a father makes for his son. Just as Jia reverts to drugs, his addiction stresses his father out so much that he reverts to alcohlism. One of the great subtextual themes behind this film is that it takes more than just the self to overcome addiction, it takes support from others, it takes acceptance of the self, and it takes desire to change. It can't be just one aspect it must be a composition of all of them





4 Stars (5 star scale)

You want to know a hero...

I would like to make a comment on the recent tragedy. Number one, Virginia Tech needed to take a little quicker action on locking down the University when the first incident happened. Think of the lives that could have been saved. Number two, with all the issues of immigration going on these days I think this reveals something to us. Maybe I am in the wrong here but this kid had immigrant parents who were either blind to their child's needs or were linked to this deeply disturbed kid, and yes they should have noticed because his fellow classmates knew he was a little off. Here is a link to one of the reports:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18148802/?GT1=9246

Next I would like to address a true hero. A 76 year old professor blocked the doorway from this gunman while his students escaped through the window saving numerous lives. In all the tragedy of the events if one person should be recognized it should be this guy. In accordance to my previous entry I would like to propose the question to all those out there that believe that you must be their religion or you go to the bad place; Is Professor Liviu Librescu, 76, a senior Israeli researcher and lecturer at Virginia Tech going to hell after saving numerous peoples lives?
http://www.ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=3004

Jesus Camp

This is one of the most interesting documentaries I have seen in a long time. Here are some of my favorite highlights:


"...and while I am on the subject, let me say something about Harry Potter. Warlocks are enemies of God! And I don't care what kind of hero they are. They are an enemy of God and had it been in the Old Testament, Harry Potter would have been put to death! (An Amen is heard in the background)"


Hmmmm, there are actually a great deal of moral issues tackled within Harry Potter. Not only are the stories engaging but also they involve issues such as faith, friendship, morality, and family. But what do I know. Oh yeah, I thought God didn't want us to kill?

Here is one from a 12 year old:
"We are being trained to go out and train others to be Gods Army"

Wait, God has an army? Why does God need an army? Ah but this scene goes on to the 8 year old girl stating:


"I feel like we are being trained to be warriors only in a much funner way. Like I don't feel the sense of being afraid to die in battle or anything like you would when you are going off to a war in the physical. There is a peace with it all too there is an excitement yet there is a peace with it too."

This nine year old also hands out those ridiculous religious comic books to people throughout the film.


This is a quote from the woman who runs the camp who called in to a religious radio show that was in the film (I will paraphrase this a little):

Radio anchor: Why kids? Why are they supposed to be some new army of God? Why are we using kids to do that?

Becky: Because the statistics show that everything that kids learn by the time that they are 9 or 10 years old stays with them the rest of their lives.

RA: You use the term learn here. The term learn is different then the term indoctrinate. God gave us a brain. God gave us the freedom to choose, and learning is part of that choice. I feel that every time the fundamentalist movement interferes with that, we are doing harm to the progression of mankind.

Becky: I don't think any child gets anything by choice. As I understood your question you asked if I felt that it is right to indoctrinate children. I guess fundamentally I do because every other religion is indoctrinating their kids. HELLO! I would like to see more churches indoctrinating their kids.

RA: You can tell a child anything. You can make a child into a soldier that carries an AK-47.

Becky: You can call it brainwashing, but I am radical and passionate in teaching children about their responsibilities as Christians, as God fearing people as Americans.

RA: Well Becky let me ask you this how do we ignore that we are all of the sudden we are creating children soldiers for the Republican Party. How does that figure into anything that Christ had to say about how we live our lives on Earth?

Becky: I am not aware of any church with a political tie. (We saw a preacher who was linked with our current President earlier in the film. Becky brought her camp to this man to hear him preach)

RA: (He is a bit upset at this point) I gotta tell you, God is watching us and God has a very special place for those people who mess with children. And it is not a pretty place.

Becky: I am not going to go there Mike.

RA: You know what has always made this country special, what has always set this country apart is that there is something that we call a separation between church and state. I respect your right as a fundamentalist to preach to your children whatever you want. But when it bleeds into the public sector don't let that bleed into the schools.

Becky: I beg to differ with you. Christianity is important, we believe that it is the most important religion in the world because it changes the lives of people.

RA: But Becky it is a witches brew. It's going to take over democracy.

Becky: I think democracy is the greatest thing in this world. But that is just it, it is in this world. It is ultimately designed to destroy itself because we have to give everybody equal freedom. A perfect world is only going to be perfect when Jesus is truly Lord."


So where do I start? This is one excerpt from this film. Hypocrisy rains like crazy. What kills me the most is the "Every other religion is doing it". Didn't our Mothers always say, "If Bob jumped off a building would you do it too?" OF COURSE NOT! Isn't the reason why we have terrorist attacks (Not always but I would venture to say 85% of the time) linked to fundamentalism? Pardon me, but if God didn't want us to have a free will wouldn't God have just used our collective minds to do his bidding? Would he have killed his only son to prove a point that we need to choose him? This is stuff that is in the bible! This film is exactly what I fear that my future nieces and nephews will be subjected to. Religion is the most powerful means of control and this film is evidence!

So yeah, see this film. Get scared, then think about the hypocrisy, then move on in life and be wary of those that have no problem with indoctrination.


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