Jake Locker: Great guy, scary draft pick

Growing up in the Seattle area, I realize what I'm about to say is considered football blaspheme by many in the Emerald City, but before I talk about Jake Locker the football player, let me comment on Jake Locker the human being.

I've never met the guy, but everything I hear is he is as upstanding of a young man as you can imagine. I'm talking about the kind of reputation that makes you want your daughter to bring someone like this home.

On that subject, I talked with a friend whose sister dated Locker for a period of time. She told me Jake treated her sister perfectly. A total class act.

Ron Artest wins NBA service award... Seriously

On Tuesday, the NBA announced Ron Artest as the winner of the 2010-2011 J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award for outstanding service, by a coach or player, off the basketball court. This is not a misprint. If you haven't paid attention to Ron Ron in recent years, he has come along way since his participation in the brawl in Detroit. The award represents the final degree of the full circle Artest has made in his life over the past few years.

Following the brawl in Detroit, Artest was suspended for the rest of the season, 73 games, and viewed as the league's ultimate bad boy, and deservedly so. However, the brawl may have been the seminal moment in his life, as it forced him to seek counseling and address the mental issues which had followed him his entire life.

Common NFL Draft mistakes

During his junior season at Arizona State, Terrell Suggs set an NCAA record with 24 sacks. Suggs was set to be a top pick in the 2003 NFL draft until he ran a 4.84 in the 40 yard dash at the draft combine. Suggs was an All-American in college, yet a slow 40 time seriously threatened his draft stock. Despite worries about his speed, the Baltimore Ravens selected Suggs with the 10th overall pick. When asked about Suggs' 40 time, a Ravens' official responded, "If our linebackers have to run 40 yards to make a tackle, we have bigger problems." Suggs was the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2003 and has played at an All-Pro level since, while Baltimore consistently stays competitive due to intelligent drafting.

The NFL draft gets under way this Thursday, when day one of the three day draft is held in New York, and is sure to be full of moments similar to the one Suggs and the Ravens experienced back in 2003.

In past years, teams entered the draft having filled holes via free agency and had subsequently narrowed their list of needs, allowing them to focus on specific players in the draft. However, due to ongoing labor disputes, this weekend's draft puts teams at the disadvantage of drafting prior to free agency. Consequently, it's unclear which players will be drafted in what order when the draft begins.

What is clear, is this draft will be filled with a few of the same mistakes teams make year in and year out.

Here are a few observations I have made in year's past:

Soccer in the USA

I submit, for your consideration, an article I wrote during the World Cup last summer....

Watching the USA's exit from the World Cup yesterday left me frustrated and, like many USA soccer fans, I have been searching for reasons why we didn't advance further, as well as things we could do to improve our chances in the future.

Imagine how great the USA would be if we had our best athletes playing soccer instead of baseball, basketball or football. The countries we compete against use their countries' best athletes to compete. We don't, which got me thinking of the type of players the USA would have were we to use OUR best athletes.

I realize these exact players may not translate, but give a top athlete a lifetime of playing soccer to hone his school and shape his body, and I'm sure there are some athletes in other sports who could elevate the talent level of US soccer. Here is a short list:

What an opening weekend!

Hold on here, let my pulse slow down before I begin discussing what I saw this weekend. In my previous article I broke down each of team in the NBA playoffs and compared each to a Hollywood movie based on the team's talent, star power and, mainly, chances of winning the title this year.

Well, I wasn't too far of on the Hollywood comparison as the opening weekend was filled with tons of action, drama and unpredictable outcomes. Having watched the second half of six of eight games, and parts of all the games, I'm willing to go as far as saying the opening weekend of the NBA playoffs was the best I have ever watched.

What makes something "the best"? In this case: Upsets, close games, and star performances.

The facts:

The NBA Playoffs, Hollywood style

The NBA regular season is over and now we are at the part of the season everyone has been waiting for, the playoffs. 30 teams started the season, 16 of them are still playing, and in a two months time, one will be crowned the 2011 NBA Champion.

The playoffs are very similar to Hollywood in that some movies you know are going to be good, some surprise you and many end up as flops. With that in mind, here is a quick breakdown of each team, placed into one of three movie divisions: A Few Good Men (favorites), Armageddon (dark horses), Under Siege (No Shot)….

A Few Good Men (Great movie, great lines, star power, great supporting cast, lots of awards)

My purpose for creating this blog

Have you ever tuned in to watch something like PTI or Around the Horn and listened to the talking heads give an opinion on something and you say to yourself, or whoever is sitting next to you, "Are you kidding me? I could do a better job than this guy!"? If you are like me, you have shouted at TV screens, Radio stations and web articles for years, but have done nothing about. Enter Doxology 101.

In the coming weeks and months, I will be posting my thoughts and opinions on the popular issues in sports. I will be talking about the same things you hear elsewhere, only I will attempt to provide a different view or angle I feel has been missed by mainstream media outlets. Also, my goal is to provide a consistent and honest opinion about what is going on in the world of sports.

One of the main issues I take with sports broadcasters is the way they flip-flop opinions about who the top teams are, which player is on the rise, etc. It's time to take a step back and stop overreacting to one bad performance or one bad week of games. Too often, teams are crowned after one solid performance or are conversely condemned after one subpar performance. It is my goal to provide you the truth, unaltered and unbiased, about sports.