Because He's Black...

That's why someone like Mel Kiper Jr. cannot admit that Ohio State's Troy Smith is a better QB than Brady Quinn, or 'ole Notre Dame.

Just last week Kiper had Smith the 4th rated QB with regards to the NFL Draft. The players in front of him are the typical NFL pocket passers, who don't have half the arm strength, ability, or leadership that Smith has exhibited. Those players are Quinn, Drew Stanton of Michigan St, and Trent Edwards of Stanford. It's almost embarassing.

Kiper today on the Dan Patrick show said Quinn's poor season has a lot to do with the loss of WR Maurice Stovall and TE Anthony Fasano. On the other hand, Smith is working with WRs Ted Ginn and Anthony Gonzalez, and RB Antonio Pittman. What? Really?

First off, Antonio Pittman is not much better than Notre Dame's Darius Walker, if he's even better at all. Second, Jeff Samardizja is Kiper's #1 rated senior WR, and Rhema Mcknight is a very talented, and very tall wideout who missed most of last season. Add to it it's Quinn's second season under Charlie Weis' offense. Smith, on the other hand, had to jump into the season midway last year, and excelled tremendously. Last year was also his first year as a full-time starter. Where as Quinn is now in his third year starting, and played 9 games as freshman!

Losing Fasano and Stovall should not be a big deal since Smith lost first round draft pick, and first team All-American Santonio Holmes, and his starting TE Marcel Frost was dismissed from the team.

Second, you need to look at those players very closely, and the way they are used. Ginn and Gonzalez are smaller WRs who do not out jump defenders for the ball the way the Notre Dame players do. Quinn has a greater margin for error when he is lofting the ball their way, as the point was even made last night with regard to Jacksonvillle's Byron Leftwich, and his trio of very tall wideouts. Smith relies on precise route running, slants, deep outs, and deep throws to make his connections. You never see his players muscling the ball away from defenders. It all depends on where Smith puts the ball.

Third, the question of arm strength. Brady Quinn has a good arm. He does not have Troy Smith's arm. There is no college QB that can make the deep outs to the sidelines like Smith can. Similar to Vick's power, but more accurate, Smith has the best arm in college football. Just watch any game from this season, even on plays when he Smith is being hauled down, he can still make the throws. He also rarely gets his passes blocked, and at 6'1 1/2" that's impressive. This means he knows where to move in the pocket to find his lanes. Quinn worries about this a bit less because of his taller stature, but yet he does seem to have more balls batted down. I will say come draft day his height will be a concern. Tell that to Doug Flutie and Drew Brees. I'd take Drew Brees over the QB Atlanta trade for: Mike Vick...oh, and they got Tomlinson along the way.

Fourth, the mobility factor. Yes, Smith is mobile, and the others are not. But Smith has rushed for 14 yards this season on 12 attempts. That's right, the RUNNER, 14 yards! Was Craig Krenzel considered a running QB at Ohio State? Nope. Why? Becuase he was tall and white. Yet all he did was run for big first down after big first down their championship season. Smith doesn't run this year. Perception and not reality, even for the experts.

Troy Smith hasn't throw an interception in over 150+ attempts. That's pretty good.

Finally, he's a leader. Learned from his mistakes, and now serves as a coach on the field. This Brady Quinn does not. Can he develop, sure, but he's been starting at QB for 4 years, and he does not look like a leader. Smith has brought his team back in the biggest games. Quinn's biggest win? I don't even know. Tennessee last year? A team that lost 7 games. Michigan last year? A team with 5 losses? Those are his big wins. Weis is 11-4. That's not THAT great.

Protoypically, Quinn looks the part. Stanton might even be better. But Smith is clearly the most talented player in the draft. Yet Scouts Inc and Kiper don't even have him in the first round. How is that arm-chair QBs can see this, but they cannot?

And please, let us stop making excuses for Notre Dame and Quinn. They're both NOT THAT GREAT!

I'm not saying Kiper is a racist, or anyone else because Smith is downgraded. I'm saying that because all of the other black NFL QBs haven't been that great, he gets hurt by it, and not the other way around. It's the OPPOSITE of what the great Rush Limbaugh claimed.

Oh, and btw, Don McNabb and Michael Vick look pretty damn good right now.

Finally, and the most important point of all: WHAT MAKES VINCE YOUNG A BETTER PROSPECT THAN TROY SMITH? 3 inches in height? Kerry Collins is taller than a lot of QBs.

Ridiculous.

Liberal Media Got it Right!

I did not watch ABC's docu-drama (is that not a contradiction in term?) about the 9/11 Report. The one which former Governor Tom Kean was so happy with. Of course I wasn't going to waste my time, especially after hearing how excited the conservative talk crowd was about the film. Afterall, if it was something they were pushing then it was either wrong, or hyper-critical of anyone named Clinton. It's only a matter of time before they go after Parliament's catalog of music...

The hilarious part about the talk radio media is how supportive they were of this film, but how united they were in their opposition to the Reagan docu-drama. There were calls for boycotts!

What I find hilarious is there's a constant barrage against the "liberal media" by conservatives except when the media is actually admitting to DRAMATIZING! Then they support it. When the media is admitting their story isn't exactly factual, and the subject matter happens to be one of the greatest American tragedies, then they are all for it. So basically, when the "liberal media" admits to giving false news, they are all for it.

Should tell you something.

Beware

At the rate we're going I imagine the WAR ON VEGETABLES is right around the corner.

Of Course He Didn't

He was busy trying to figure out how cronyism could get him his next job:

Former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael K. Powell said he never saw a study that suggested that greater concentration of media ownership would hurt local TV news coverage.

Powell, now a consultant, said through his assistant Judy Mann that "he never saw the report, he never heard of the report until yesterday and he certainly never ordered anything destroyed or stopped."

The draft report, which surfaced this week, was at odds with agency policy under Powell regarding media ownership issues. A former FCC lawyer said senior managers at the agency ordered the report destroyed.

Expect to see this on your national nightly news.......in your dreams.