With the news yesterday that Manny Ramirez is the latest star to get suspended for a banned substance; I finally realized that I just don’t care about baseball anymore. I was nearing a sports crossroads and this latest news just shoved me over the line.

To get the full picture, I feel the need to explain a little about myself in terms of the teams I root for. The most obvious is my Buffalo connection. I love the Bills and Sabres more than any other team and I follow those respected sports more than all the others. If Buffalo had a MLB or NBA team, I’d be fully into them as well. Explaining my history with the Buffalo teams would basically just waste everyone’s time, so I’ll skip right past them.

When it comes to NCAA football, I follow the Miami Hurricanes, which is actually an easier explanation than one might think. I’m only 24 years old so in my youth Jim Kelly was huge in Buffalo and was easily my favorite player. One of the first real books I read was his biography “Armed & Dangerous”. So being young and impressionable, I chose to follow Miami because that is where Kelly attended college. This was without knowledge of their past championships and I’ve followed them since then, witnessing the Ken Dorsey led Hurricanes win another Championship. I’ve also been privy to their epic downfall under Larry Coker and their subsequent revival with Randy Shannon. Can someone say ACC Champs for this season? Yes, I’m pumped.

In MLB baseball, I’ve always followed the Atlanta Braves. It was during their second consecutive World Series loss that I was watching Toronto celebrate and distinctly heard the announcer say “The Braves are the Buffalo Bills of baseball”. I was in either first or second grade at the time so I had no idea that it was most likely meant as an insult rather than a compliment, but it didn’t matter to me. Since that day I decided the Braves were my team. One could argue that I hopped on their wagon because they had just won the NL twice, but I swear on my future child’s grave that this isn’t the case. It was really as simple as that. They are the Buffalo Bills of baseball? Cool, I think I’m going to root for them.

Baseball was never that big for me in comparison to the other sports. I could always watch the games on TBS and often did, but I was never fully invested in them. When they were in the playoffs I always watched all the games and usually shut the television off in disgust as they choked away yet another division title. Even through the steroids scandal, I didn’t let it really bother me. I read Jose Canseco’s book “Juiced” and none of it shocked me. Then the news broke about Ramirez yesterday and I took some time to really think about it (along with deciding what to do on my fantasy team). I have finally had enough.

I finally realized I just don’t care that much about baseball. I love the statistical portion of it and I’m currently running four different fantasy teams, including two keeper leagues. I did quite a bit of research on it and for the most part I know what I’m talking about. That isn’t going to change anytime soon. I caught the two Braves games that ESPN has shown, but other than that I just get the scores text messaged to me and that is that. It’s nothing like the other sports. Not only do I watch every single Bills and Sabres game, I go absolutely crazy if I don’t know what is going on with them at all times. The comparison between those teams and the Braves is night and day.

I thought about the Braves winning the World Series this season… I’d watch, I’d root and I’d be happy if then won. But it wouldn’t alter my life. Then I thought about either Buffalo team finally capturing a championship. I literally got goosebumps on top of goosebumps at the mere thought of them winning. Like I said, the difference is night and day.

(Quick Rant: Hey, I like the Braves, but could the fans in Atlanta be more annoying? Nobody shows up to games anymore and when they do they just sit around lifeless until the scoreboard tells them to do that horribly annoying tomahawk chop. Good lord, knock it off people. One reason I rooted against the Rays last year was the annoying bandwagon fans and you guys aren’t doing much better. Ok, I’m done ranting for now.)

When listing my teams/sports I follow in order it always went like this:

1(a). Bills

1(b). Sabres

2. Miami Hurricanes

3. Atlanta Braves

4. --Insert NBA Team--

What, no NBA team? Let me explain. When I was much younger I wanted to get into the NBA. I refused to root for the Bulls because I was literally surrounded by kids wearing Michael Jordan jerseys and I wasn’t about to hop on that wagon. I decided to root for the expansion Charlotte Hornets because I took an interest in Alonzo Mourning, Larry Johnson, Dell Curry and Mugsey Bouges. Plus they were an expansion team so nobody could really accuse me of just picking a winning franchise (Like LA, Chicago or Boston).

Then the Hornets took off for New Orleans and I was left without a favorite team. I refused to root for New Orleans and was left without a team. I decided at that time I would just follow the sport half heartedly for a little while. Then the Bobcats came to Charlotte as an expansion franchise. Perfect. I was a fan of Charlotte basketball and they now have another team. I tried my hardest to get into them but I just couldn’t do it for the long haul. It was at this point that I read this little passage from Bill Simmons:

19. Once you choose a team, you're stuck with that team for the rest of your life ... unless one of the following conditions applies:

The owner of your favorite team treated his fans so egregiously over the years that you couldn't take it anymore -- you would rather not follow them at all then support a franchise with this owner in charge. Just for the record, I reached this point with the Boston Bruins about six years ago. When it happens, you have two options: You can either renounce that team and pick someone else, or you can pretend they're dead, like you're a grieving widow. That's what I do. I'm an NHL widow. I don't even want to date another team.

(Link: Rules For Being A True Fan)

So this is what I did. I divorced from the Charlotte Bobcats before this season and I’ve been an NBA widow since. Not only do I think the ownership in Charlotte is doing NOTHING to build a winning franchise, I fully expect that team to be gone in the next 3-5 years. The only way I’d root for them now is if they moved to Buffalo (not in a million years will this happen).

But lately I’ve been watching quite a bit of NBA. It somewhat stemmed from me capturing the championship in my fantasy NBA league and partly because of the Celtics/Bulls first round series. It was in that series that I watched more basketball than I have all season. I started getting that itch like I enjoy watching basketball and could keep doing this. It continued into the second round as I’ve caught several different games so far. I started getting that itch that I should have a team to root for. Am I allowed to pick another team? How do I pick that particular team without hopping on the wagon?

I will in no way root for Lebron and the Cavs. In fact, I hope they lose the Finals to Kobe and the Lakers. For one, I like Kobe better, and two, I don’t want Cleveland winning a championship because that will leave Buffalo as probably the most depressing sports city in America.

I then stumbled upon the fact that Bill Simmons is petitioning to become the GM of the Minnesota Timberwolves, one of the most irrelevant franchises in the NBA right now. I think this is a great idea. Consider the following:

- What better way to put yourself back on the map then make a splash in the hiring of a GM. That would no doubt be the leading story on Around the Horn, PTI and Sportscenter. From obscurity to national spotlight in seconds.

- Simmons has said he will work the first year for free as long as he can write a book about his experience. So Minnesota is hurting in this economy and now they can save themselves anywhere from 5-10 million next season just by doing this.

- Simmons just got finished writing a 600+ book about basketball so simply put, the guy knows what the hell he is talking about.

- This would finally make writers responsible for what they write. How many times has someone within a front office said that the media really doesn’t know what is going on and the media has acted like they know it all? Well, this is putting their money where their mouth is. Hire a sportswriter and see how much he really knows.

I sent the Sports Guy this e-mail but in case it never sees the light of day, I want to put this in writing on a more open forum.

I have no NBA team right now. I want an NBA team. I want to become more involved in the sport. If the Minnesota Timberwolves hire Bill Simmons for the GM, I will fully throw myself into Minnesota Basketball. I’m talking about buying merchandise, attending games when they are in the area and possibly even purchasing the NBA package to watch their games.

I’m sure I’m not the only person with these thoughts. This could quite possibly be the smartest thing Minnesota could do as an NBA franchise to salvage what is left of a dying product.

If this happens, my sports list will now look like this:

1(a). Sabres

1(b). Bills

2. Miami Hurricanes

3. Minnesota Timberwolves

4. Atlanta Braves

I think this would finalize my list for a good portion in my life. The only way it would possibly change is if Buffalo either gained another professional franchise (not likely) or they lost one (very likely). If that happens, a definite re-order will be needed.

What was the point of the article? Well quite simply I wanted to vent a little bit about how MLB baseball has been sucking my will to live lately and I don’t see it improving anytime soon. I also wanted to discuss how the NBA is definitely coming back strong and has the potential to attract a ton of new fans. I’m one of them. Of course, the odds of Minnesota hiring Simmons are a bigger longshot than Trent Edwards leading Buffalo to a Super Bowl this season, but anything can happen. If they hire someone else, I’m back to the drawing board. I might be stuck without a team for the upcoming season, which will suck, but it’s the way it goes.

Hey, maybe someone will move to Buffalo. (Yeah right)

Some relative links in regards to this article:

- The Book of Basketball (Facebook Group)

- Simmons for GM (Facebook Group)

Fresh off the 2009 NFL Draft and our own D&S Sports Mock Draft, here are the winners and losers from this past weekend.

-- Written By Devin Dombrowski –-

The saying has been beaten to death recently, so I’ll spare everyone from saying “It normally takes three years to evaluate a draft class, but here are my early takes.”

Oops…

Anyways, the 2009 NFL Draft wrapped up this weekend and now we can finally move the talk from mock drafts to first round hold-outs as we await the start of “voluntary” OTA’s and training camp. I have a very brief list of winners and an even shorter list of losers from this weekend’s festivities. I try to be as simple as possible because there is no way I can possibly sit here and evaluate a draft class two days later.

WINNERS

Atlanta Falcons – I’m giving the Falcons a winning grade for scoring tight end Tony Gonzalez in the week leading up to the draft. They didn’t even have to give up a pick in this year’s draft, instead opting to give up a second in the draft next year. So they get immediate help for their passing game this year, and basically didn’t give up anything. Combine that with the fact that Gonzalez will be extremely motivated (more than normal) because he is on a winning team and has a real QB tossing him the ball… this could be scary for the teams playing Atlanta this season.

Baltimore Ravens – I enjoyed the story about their first round pick Michael Oher until I realized one thing, in about three more days his story is going to be pounded into our skulls via the media so many times that we’ll be sick of it. Then the movie will be released. Regardless of all that, it’s a good story and the Ravens got themselves a real good player. I loved his interview right after being drafted. Despite playing for Baltimore, I’ll be rooting for Oher.

Buffalo Bills – I love the Maybin pick. Love it. He is exactly what the Bills needed. Considering the fact that the Bills could’ve replaced Chris Kelsay with an uneven washer, this is an immediate upgrade. They also addressed the o-line effectively and grabbed tight end Shawn Nelson in the fourth round, which could be been the steal of the draft. Never have I watched the entire fourth round rooting for one guy to drop to Buffalo, only to see it happen. Loved it.

Jacksonville Jaguars – The Jags were ravaged with injuries to their o-line last season and they addressed it with their first two picks; Eugene Monroe and Eben Britton. I never thought Monroe would drop to the 8^th spot, and unless I was missing something, nobody else saw it either. If those two players play to their potential, the Jags just got franchise tackles to build around for the next decade.

Miami Dolphins – The pick of QB/WR Pat White honestly scares me. The Wildcat was annoying enough to worry about last season (even though you knew it was coming), but now to add a legit threat instead of Ronnie Brown, that’s scary. Sure Brown is a better runner than White, but they are adding someone who can run and also has a cannon of an arm. I’m not looking forward to facing that this season.

Philadelphia Eagles – The Eagles acquired Jason Peters from Buffalo prior to the draft, which will most likely work out for them. They also addressed the other positions of need on offense. Jeremy Maclin fell to them in the first round and should be a great weapon opposite DeSean Jackson this season.

San Francisco 49ers – The 49ers must have been pinching themselves when Texas Tech WR Michael Crabtree fell to the 10^th spot. Although they still have a gaping hole at QB, they have now addressed the WR position with one of the top players in this draft. The 49ers front office should probably send out some thank you cards to Cleveland and Oakland.

All of us Non-Oakland Fans – I was driving home from Buffalo Saturday afternoon listening to the draft on the radio when the first Oakland pick was announced. It took every ounce of energy to not swerve off the highway from shear laughter. I could not believe it. After taking some time to think about it, I should’ve expected it with C.A.D. (Crazy Al Davis) running the show. Their next two picks only cemented this draft as one of the most memorable for another team besides Buffalo (more on those picks later).

LOSERS

Dallas Cowboys – Include me in the group that is never impressed with the Cowboys on draft day. After getting fleeced by Detroit in the Roy Williams trade (not something to put on a resume), the Cowboys didn’t make one significant pick in the two day span. I’ll gladly eat my words if one of these players turns out to be a major game day performer. Just to define “major”, doing something more than a few special teams tackles will qualify as “major”. For all the people who want me to eat my words, here is the exact list so you’ll have it ready on Week One.

OLB Jason Williams

OT Robert Brewster

QB Stephen McGee

DE Victor Butler

DE Brandon Williams

CB DeAngelo Smith

FS Michael Hamlin

K David Buehler

SS Stephen Hodge

TE John Phillips

CB Mike Mickens

WR Manual Johnson

Denver Broncos – Never have I seen one team completely self-destruct within in a five month span. The Broncos went from a three game lead and imminent division title to collapsing and missing the playoffs, firing their long time and only Super Bowl champion head coach, trading their young gun franchise QB and rivaling the Oakland Raiders for most botched draft picks.

The Broncos defense was the definition of terrible last season. I’m talking Ashlee Simpson on Saturday Night Live bad. So they follow it up by signing Correll Buckhalter, J.J. Arrington and Lamont Jordan in the off-season. Yeah I know it’s nothing major, but a very solid combination at running back. Those three could platoon and easily provide Denver with a solid running game, all while destroying fantasy owners everywhere.

Let’s go back to Saturday. They have two first round picks and can easily beef up their defense with both picks. What do they do? They draft Knowshon Moreno with the 12^th overall pick, leaving Brian Orakpo on the board. It was a mind blowing pick. I NEVER would’ve expected it and I doubt anybody else did. For the record, Moreno might end up being a good pick, but unless he is scoring at least three touchdowns a game, I don’t see how this will help Denver in the immediate future.

While I’m piling on Denver, I recently read that they are considering signing J.P. Losman to come in and compete with Chris Simms and Kyle Orton. Good luck Denver fans.

NFL – I hate rookie contracts every season and this year is worse than ever. There is no way anybody can explain/justify the contract that Matthew Stafford was given by Detroit. Terrible. Horrible. Those words don’t even fully explain it. Something has to be done about this and it has to be done sooner rather than later. They need some kind of rookie contract scale where the money has to be earned in the first few seasons before they get the big payday. It’s ludicrous on the level of the Yankees shelling out billions every off-season, except they usually sign proven players with that money. On the bright side, Stafford could always justify it because he is guaranteed on improving them from a year ago.

Oakland Raiders – Even though Denver tried their hardest, nobody botches a draft quite like the Oakland Raiders. Just when you thought they couldn’t screw up the second and third round picks like their first, they fully outdid themselves. I was listening to ESPN’s coverage of the second round while catching up on my NHL 09 season and had to pause it and turn the television back to ESPN for this one. Their second round pick, Michael Mitchell was the 73^rd rated safety overall by Mel Kiper Jr. Please, read the sentence again. The 73^rd rated safety. Not the 73^rd rated player. Even then, they took him 47^th overall. This defies all logic. He probably wasn’t even going to get drafted at all, let alone in the second round. The NFL should probably step in here and see what exactly C.A.D. was drinking Saturday afternoon while making his picks.

-- Written By Scott Lunn –-

Winners from the 2009 NFL Draft:

Buffalo Bills - It seems that so far most everybody really likes the picks made by the Buffalo Bills over the weekend, that is, everyone except Bills fans of course. Every year is the same regardless of what Buffalo does, the majority of their fans are disgruntled and need a reason to complain at every turn. Now, being one of those fans myself, it's taken a day or so for the draft to sink in, and while I'm not entirely keen on everything they did, for the most part, they really addressed some areas of need, which is always a plus. Maybin is largely considered the best edge rusher in the draft and the team desperately needs some sort of ability to pressure opposing quarterbacks. Maybin is undersized, but so are the rest of the Buffalo DEs.

While I think 28 was a small reach for Wood, the center out of Louisville, by all indications, he's a very solid player and a good fit for the "high character" players Buffalo usually covets (and needs to make up for some transgressions with the law as of late). He looks to be headed to the guard position, but seems equally capable in that role. Buffalo's second round started off with Jarius Byrd, a DB out of Oregon, in a pick that aggravated me a great deal at first. It seems every year that the Bills go crazy on DBs in the draft, and this year was no different, picking a total of 4. Byrd is a ball hawk and that's something Buffalo certainly needs, and his likely transition to safety fills a bigger need than CB for Buffalo, but I felt as though they could have addressed a bigger need here, that being a tackle specifically. The team went back to the OL later in the second round, trading up to get Guard Andy Levitre from Oregon State. A solid pick for Buffalo, the center of the line seems to be shored up now, though the more important position of tackle remains a question mark.

In the 4th round, Buffalo got very good value in tight end Shawn Nelson from Southern Miss, filling a position that has been desperately lacking for years now. Tight Ends dropped big time and that benefited the Bills, as Nelson was graded as high as the 3rd best TE by some experts heading into the draft. Overall, they hit their needs for the most part and didn't reach too much, or give up a ton in order to do so, and really that's about all you can ask for. Only time will tell if their picks really pan out or not, but short term, they did a solid job.

Green Bay Packers - Green Bay's transition to a 3-4 defensive scheme was greatly aided by 2 first round picks on Saturday. At #9, the Packers grabbed NT B.J. Raji from Boston College, easily the best DT available in this year's draft, and a definite day one starter to anchor the middle. They then traded up into the later first and took LB Clay Matthews from USC with the 26th pick. Matthews began his college career as a walk on, but became a force by the end of his career, showing a true nose for the defensive aspect of the game, no doubt inherited from his father, a former Cleveland Browns linebacker in the late 80s. The Pack gave up quite a bit to New England to procure their second first round pick, but it will likely prove worth it in the long run. The Packers also grabbed a couple of big bodied offensive lineman on Day 2, to help add depth to the trenches.

Cincinnati Bengals - The Bengals have a true Boom or Bust list of draft picks on their plate after the weekend, but the potential is there for them to have walked away with the top draft class in my opinion. With the #6 pick in the draft, the Bengals took Tackle Andre Smith from Alabama. Smith is perhaps the most talented lineman in the draft, but made a real mess of things between the end of his college career and the draft itself. A horrible showing at the NFL combine and his Pro Day left many wondering if his potential was worth the early pick. Cinncy, never one to worry about off field issues took the risk.

In the 2nd round, the Bengals found themselves staring at a gift wrapped Rey Maualuga, the LB from USC who played at 100 mph during his time with the Trojans. Manning the middle of the LB corps in Southern California, Maualuga tended to be all over the field, but ended up being the last of the 3 starters from that team drafted. At the 38th pick in the draft, I think the Bengals get a lot of bang for their buck and a potential fan favorite to boot. In the 3rd, the Bengals went defense again, drafting DE Michael Johnson from Georgia Tech. The guy has all the measurable skill in the world, but questions arose about his actual on the field skills. 19 sacks in just 15 career starts as a Yellow Jacket is impressive, but the kid likely needs a lot of coaching to become a consistent producer in the NFL.

They followed this with another 3rd round pick in Chase Coffman, TE out of Missouri, and last year's Mackey award winner as the nations best at the position. Coffman is a great pass catching threat and grabbed 30 TDs in his time at Mizzou. Add in a multiple time Best Center nominee in Jonathon Luigs from Arkansas, and Cinncy could have really cleaned up this past weekend.

Losers from the 2009 NFL Draft:

Oakland Raiders - I don't even know where to begin with this mess of a franchise. Al Davis is certifiably insane and it was proved over and over again throughout the draft. They start by taking WR Darrius Heyward Bey out of Maryland at #7, when nobody expected him to go until closer to 20 or so. Not to mention Michael Crabtree who is the closest thing to a no doubt talent at WR in awhile was still on the board at the time. This completely puzzling act was followed up in the 2nd round as the Raiders took Michael Mitchell, a safety from Ohio that ESPN didn't even have any video on, and was dubbed a "5th rounder" at best by the ever so wise Mel Kiper. Trying to further cement themselves as champs in the hunt for worst draft ever, they spent their 3rd round pick on a DE from Wisconsin, who the NFL Network crew said was maybe a 6th or 7th round guy. Way to stick to your guns Al Davis... This once proud franchise is now the biggest laughing stock in the league and the black hole is not just a section in their stadium anymore... it's a place where careers go to die.

Denver Broncos - The Broncos just continued to baffle me on draft day with the moves they were making. Denver clearly has huge needs on the defensive side of the ball after an abysmal season last year, yet with the #12 pick they drafted Knowshon Moreno, the RB out of Georgia. Moreno's skill set seems to translate very well to the NFL, and the Broncos could use a solid back, but it wasn't at the top of their priorities in my book. Nor was Moreno probably worth the 12 pick when few teams were looking RB in the 1st round. They then turned around and drafted Robert Ayers, a DE from Tennessee with the 18th pick. A smarter pick here, addressing the front 7, which is where Denver needed the most help, but like the rest of the "tweener" OLB/DE picks in the draft, I'm not sure how well their pass rushing abilities will translate.

In the 2nd round, Denver grabbed CB Alphonso Smith from Wake Forest, who is a talented playmaker at the position, but again, not the biggest need for Denver. In fact, the Ayers pick was the only one all weekend by the Broncos which added anybody at the defensive front 7 positions. The other area of concern for Denver had to be QB after the trading of Jay Cutler to Chicago. I guess Kyle Orton or Chris Simms is enough for them though, as they waited until the 6th round to get Tom Brandstater from Fresno St. The Broncos had some decent picks, I just don't feel like they really addressed their areas of concern in a convincing matter at all.

Dallas Cowboys - Let me say right off the bat, a bad draft by Dallas is always just fine with me. After trading away their only day 1 pick to Buffalo, the Cowboys had to wait until Sunday before they started to acquire any new talent. The Cowboys mostly just seemed to add depth, particularly at linebacker and in the secondary. Their most notable picks were QB Stephen McGee from Texas A&M in the 4th round, who analysts labeled a "very solid NFL backup" and then perhaps a steal late with WR Maunel Johnson from Oklahoma in the 7th round at 229 overall. Described as a high character, strong work ethic player, though undersized and not all that fast, Johnson seems to be the Anti-Terrell Owens. Maybe that's all Wade and Jerry wanted though? Certainly the pressure will be on Roy Williams this season to step up at the WR spot, because no splash was made to grab a top talent wideout in this draft. I'm not sure what the Cowboys are thinking by adding little talent to replace what they've lost, on a team that's already proven themselves not good enough to get the job done, especially late in the season.

Mock Draft Results: