Maddux Sports Blog

Another day, another high profile pitcher making his two-inning spring debut for his new team. Unlike Roy Halladay and Aroldis Chapman before him, though, Stephen Strasburg was only solid and not jaw-dropping. The Nationals’ future ace didn’t allow any runs, but he did allow consecutive hits with two outs in the second. He threw 27 pitches – 15 of them for strikes – and he topped out at 98 mph. Two things in particular stood out when I watched the game. First he ended the second inning – his last – with a stunning breaking ball. It was clocked at 81 mph, and it looked like it was bending around a corner. That’s a serious major league out pitch. Beyond that, though, Strasburg definitely looked like a guy who is in need of some time in the minors before he hits the big time. His talent is obvious and massive, but he struggled with his location throughout his outing, and he doesn’t quite look like he believes he belongs and can dominate the pitchers he faces. It’s not like Washington is going to do anything this year anyway, so I think it would be a real mistake to rush him along. Regardless of the rough edges, though, it was exciting to finally see him pitch in the pros, and it’s not hard to see why we have heard so much about him.

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With the wild and woolly world of uncapped free agency upon us in the NFL as of midnight last night it’s now time to look at the deals that have been done – both signings and an abnormally high number of big name trades – and give a quick knee-jerk reaction to them:

Julius Peppers to the Bears - I think that Peppers is generally overrated, and as such he’s probably overpaid with this deal. There are a couple of things that make me generally positive about this deal, though. First, Peppers has been so desperate to get out of Carolina – he even took shots at the Panthers on the way out of town – that he should be refreshed and recharged by the move. Also, this acquisition and the other moves – notably Chester Taylor – that the Bears made on the opening day is a clear sign that the team is serious about competing and setting a tone that they are willing to do what needs to be done. I still think they need help on offense – like a receiver – but I don’t hate this deal.

Anquan Boldin to the Ravens - I absolutely love this deal for the Ravens – it’s a no-brainer. They only had to give up two mid-range draft picks to pick up an elite level quarterback. Boldin is the real deal, and there is no reason why he won’t continue to be. Joe Flacco must be the happiest guy in the country today.

Antonio Cromartie to the Jets – The price of this trade was very reasonable, and if it works out for the Jets then they will unquestionably have the best secondary in the league. That’s a big if, though. Cromartie is a Pro Bowl caliber player, but he’s a real piece of work. He has seven kids with five different women and he’s only 25. The Chargers were willing to part with him because he has serious maturity issues, and it doesn’t seem like moving to the playground of New York is a way to find that maturity i a hurry. I’m a little pessimistic about this one, but I can’t blame the Jets for trying.

Karlos Dansby to Miami – The deal isn’t officially done yet, but it seems like Dansby will head to the Dolphins, and he’ll become the highest paid inside linebacker in the league. Perhaps they are overpaying, but Dansby is a solid player, and will be even better than he has been in Arizona when he has a more competent defense around him. Dansby has Pro Bowl potential, and it’s hard to fault the deal too much.

Jake Delhomme cut – Delhomme becomes the first casualty of the uncapped period. If the salary cap was still in place the Panthers couldn’t have afforded to cut him and eat the cap hit, but without that being an issue they could cut him free. There is no doubt that it was time for him to move on – it was past time for him and the team. I don’t think he’s done as a player, but he needs new surroundings. My biggest issue with the move is that the Panthers seem committed to going with Matt Moore. He finished strong last year, but I’m still not entirely convinced that he’s a starter.

Kyle Vanden Bosch and Nate Burleson to Detroit – I like that the Lions made an early, aggressive splash, I accept that they overpaid because they have to to get players, and I like what both players bring to the table. They aren’t the best players out there, but they are better than what the team had in both cases, and the moves are very solid given what Detroit has going against them. Neither of these deals make Detroit an instant winner, but then there is no deal in the world that would.

1. Still giddy about that hockey game yesterday. That’s going to be the case for a long while.

2. How crazy was Canada for this game? There are 34 million people in the country. 22 million were watching when Sidney Crosby scored his goal. That’s two-thirds of the freaking country. Freaking crazy.

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Olympic Bet of the Day – This has been a continued lesson in why I don’t bet parlays on a regular basis. On most days I have had a winning percentage – yesterday it was four of five – but I haven’t made a cent on parlays because I have yet to sweep one. Frustrating, but fun as well. Today I am only going to go with a four event parlay, so maybe I can finally win one. The events are: Canada (-110) to win the gold medal in women’s hockey, Canada (-225) to win women’s curling semifinal, Yu-Na Kim (-700) to win the women’s figure skating, and Norway (-1.5 +110) in the men’s curling. That will pay $562.

The Other Stuff

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Olympic Bet of the Day - You know you’re not running hot when your parlay is derailed because the best speedskater in the world forgets what lane he is supposed to be in and gets disqualified. I’ll keep throwing good money after bad and try yet again to get out ahead. I’m $542 down in this mythical pursuit of profits. Parlays aren’t treating me well, but I’m obviously not smart enough to learn from that. Today’s version will include Martina Sablikova (-525) to win the 5000m speedskating, Nina Li over Xinxin Guo in the aerials (-221) as well as Li over Alla Tsuper (-248), Norway (+119) to win the cross country men’s relay, Great Britain (-1.5 +136) to beat Sweden in curling, and Canada and Russia hockey over 5.5 (-155). That would all pay $1753.  [Update: I dropped the Norway bet because the snow conditions are a total mess. The five event parlay would now pay $842.]

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Olympic Bet of the Day - Alright, enough fooling around – it’s time to do some winning. Like my fellow Canadians I am underperforming so far during these Olympics, but like my Canadians I plan to close strong. We’re going to start this road back to redemption with a nice, hopefully winning, five event parlay. It will include: Russia (+138) to win women’s biathlon relay, Sven Kramer (-510) to win the men’s 10,000m speedskating, Didier Cuche (-165) to beat Bode Miller in the giant slalom, Canada (-4.5  -114) over Germany in hockey, and Switzerland (-1  +110) over Belarus in hockey. That will pay $1702 if and when it wins.

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Some looking back, and some looking ahead:

1. Peyton Manning. There is no question – he lost that game with a pass he shouldn’t have made. That’s not the only reason that New Orleans won, of course, but it was the final straw, and he made the mistake when the team had a very legitimate chance of, at the very least, getting to overtime. I had a long debate with a guy at my Super Bowl party last night. It’s not that I really hate the guy. I don’t like because I haven’t since college, but I can respect what he does. What my issue is, though, is that he gets far more credit than he deserves – than any guy deserves. He’s a great regular season quarterback, but the fact is that he is just 9-9 in his career in the playoffs, and he has now made the Super Bowl twice and played well below his capabilities both times. I believe in giving lots of credit when it’s due, but I have a real issue with worshiping a guy just because he’s a good guy if the facts don’t back it up. The facts are this – if anyone other than him had his playoff record they would face serious criticism. All I’m saying is that he should, too.

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What follows is my opinion only, and not necessarily the opinion of everyone else here at Maddux Sports:

The Saints are going to win the Super Bowl. I have many good reasons why I have come to this conclusion, but here are seven:

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As the biggest of games inches closer here are some of the storylines and angles that are factoring into my thinking about a potential outcome:

1. The road to this game. I was pretty high on the Cardinals coming into their game against the Saints. New Orleans demolished them. Minnesota was a tough, dangerous team that New Orleans found a way to get past as well. Baltimore and the Jets are both teams that can do a couple of things well, but there was little doubt in either case that the Colts were the far superior squad. If you factor in the last two weeks of the regular season and the bye week and the week off you have to go back a long way to find a game in which the Colts played an opponent that could legitimately have beaten them barring some strange circumstance. This is going to be a new level of intensity for the Colts while the Saints are just facing more of the same.

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I can’t put my finger one why exactly it is, but I’m not as excited about this Super Bowl as I have been in the past. It doesn’t necessarily make a lot of sense. I mean, I have a whole lot of respect for both offenses, and both defenses have enough problems that there is a good chance that those offenses are going to be at their best. I love scoring. Both teams are also likable, hard working, well coached squads that are easy to respect and root for. You know that neither is likely to get themselves into trouble off the field, so there was no concern about the headlines being dominated by anything other than football this year. That’s a good thing. The teams were the class of their conferences all year, and unquestionably deserve to be where they are. There’s nothing to complain about in that sense, either. This should be a game that I am thrilled about. On paper it certainly is. I even think that it should be a good, entertaining game. So why am I finding it hard to care? Here are four possible reasons:

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