Category: Sports

WhoDatJedi podcast episode: The Great Big Ridiculous STAR WARS DRAFT

Happy Star Wars Podcast Day, everybody! On this, the 186th episode of the WhoDatJedi podcast, your hosts — Aaron Svoboda (@Aaron_Svoboda), Alfredo Narvaez (@NOLA_Fredo) and David Gladow (@davegladow) — are joined by special guest Kevin Held (@seanorleans) of the Saints Happy Hour Podcast (@SaintsHappyHour) to get in the full spirit of Super Bowl season and hold a great big ridiculous STAR WARS DRAFT. (Hey, when you want to do a draft properly, you bring in the biggest local mock draft podcaster of them all.) So buckle up for a fun ride as we ponder such important topics as whether Lobot should be considered a droid, if Jabba is a creature or humanoid, and just how a person might fit a Rancor onto a sail barge. Click through and scroll down for spoilers on who everyone drafted and follow us on Twitter to vote for your favorite team. Fredo … you are on the clock.

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What people are missing in conference realignment

Ah, it’s been awhile since I’ve waded into the conference realignment mularkey.

Why is that? Well, partly because I didn’t feel a particular need to quote Joe Biden. 

I also haven’t had much to add to the discussion. Many of us know the basics by this point, I think. 

But more critically, my hesitation is also about the potential for sounding downright stupid. 

That’s not a “me” problem, specifically, but I’m not immune. I’ve dropped some stinkers in the realignment prediction business while studiously trying to avoid doing exactly that. The minefield that is this game within a game is perilous. 

Granted, some of the worst offenders in that regard don’t really mind being galactically wrong. For them it’s not about being right or wrong. They’d prefer to make noise and get attention and the aftermath can be whatever it will be. Like a loud politician overpromising and under-delivering, the show is the show, and it is king above such trivial concerns as truth or decency.

But my point is that NO ONE is immune to stepping in it. 

And I’d usually prefer not to.

What compels me to jump back in is a fair bit of conviction about where this thing is actually headed, and it’s not an outline or theory that seems to be getting a whole lot of traction right now.

So, let’s talk about it some.

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Trying to get a handle on the future of the Big 12

Recently, I’ve been reading more message board and social media chatter from Big 12 fans, specifically Oklahoma and Texas fans, about the next round of realignment, and where their schools might ultimately end up.

So let’s roll up our sleeves and jump back into this puddle of mud, shall we?

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Random Draft Thoughts 2018

I grew up a Cincinnati Bengals fan, ergo, Draft Day is like a holiday. Longtime Saints fans can relate to this, I’m sure.

For the longest time, I would sit there, writing down the players’ names & info as they came off the board, so that I would have a hard copy of each NFL first round and learn the basics on who these players were (though who am I kidding, I was already a big enough fan to know these guys already).

I’m not sure what the point of this was, or is, other than to say that yes, I’ve followed this almost compulsively for a very long time.

With all that said, I thought I’d continue my draft tradition of writing down some thoughts prior to the big event. Obviously, please take this with a grain of salt as I have massive blind spots.  For a great example of this, see my opinion, or lack thereof, on Lattimore last year (I didn’t like him because I thought he was a massive injury risk).

So, yeah.

But here we go anyway. Here’s one guy’s clearly flawed opinion.

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Let’s do a preseason Top 25!

This is some mix of how I rank the teams now before the 2017 season, and how I see it ending up … which should line up more than it sometimes does in these kinds of lists. Some folks will be like, “I rank Clemson No. 1 because they’re defending champs even though I predict them to lose five times this year.” This is not that … I want this to reflect this year, not last.

Anyway, here’s how I see it.*

* Most of this will be comically inaccurate, but that’s part of the fun. I know this going in.

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Don’t Do It … Unless …

In the wake of the recent round of firings at ESPN, I see plenty of hot takes.  Some are better than others (anything saying ESPN had this coming for its liberal agenda immediately goes into the “shit take” category), some are well meaning and some aren’t.  But it’s a public business, so invariably people want to sound off on it … regardless of how much understanding of the situation they personally have.

I can relate to the folks who’ve been laid off, the people who survived and have survivor’s guilt, the ones who received the extra special “gift” of demotion, and even the fortunate climbers who might somehow benefit from these moves.  I can relate because I “enjoyed” each of these experiences throughout a 15-year run in the sports communications business.

And this isn’t a woe is me tale, because for whatever it’s worth, I’m very much at peace with where I am right now (which is out of sports entirely).  I don’t blame any former employer or hold any grudges, because that would be stupid (and I really, really don’t believe in burning bridges … finding work is hard enough).  Moreover, I feel as though I’ve been more fortunate than most.

But I’ve seen one particular refrain in the aftermath of today’s carnage that I thought I could and should address, because maybe my own experiences in the business can help someone.

That sounds nice.  And it’s a convenient thing to say to someone if you want the conversation to last 140 characters or less.  But as with most things in life, the reality is much more nuanced than that.

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Some Thoughts on the Draft

Let us be clear: the NFL is very “ugh” right now.

But I still find it hard to hate the thing completely.  For one reason, I hear rumors that the New Orleans Saints are still very much a part of the league (even despite the absurd punishments handed down during “Bountygate”).  For another, the good flavor of the Falcons blowing a 25-point lead in the Super Bowl is still fresh.*  And finally, the draft itself is always going to have some merit even for people who hate the NFL because it’s one last chance to see their favorite college players paraded in front of the camera before they’re officially professionals.  So, yay.

* This is one of the more improbable things I’ve seen in my sports-watching lifetime.  Like, the Falcons literally had to have everything go completely wrong for them to pull it off … and they did it!  And my enjoyment of it was fueled by a persistent Falcons hater laughing at them and dancing around my living room throughout the proceedings.  It was truly a memorable and enjoyable experience, even for someone disillusioned by the league and basically anything that it tries to do.

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