I have complained before about the Pirates and there putrid offense and about letting this good starting pitching and lights out bullpen go to waste. I believe that the Pirates have not lost if they are winning after the 6th inning. I like Neil Huntington and what he has done in the past couple of seasons. When he was hired the Pirates had the absolute worst farm system in baseball with the past GM Littlefield and his cheap ass. I still shake my head every time I see Matt Wieters blast a homerun on Sportscenter or Baseball tonight. The Pirates have poured the majority of their money in the draft and the Pirates has some pitching prospects that has all of fans thinking about a potential of Cole and company but all of the big time prospects are in the lower levels and there are very few if any big time hitting prospects. Under NH he has stated "that mgmt would spend if the Pirates are in contention". Well Neil, the NL Central is up for grabs and the Pirates can take it if they can score some runs. Just give this pitching staff 4 runs a game, and the Pirates would win 75% percent of those games but this team has to struggle to just get 2 or 3 runs a game.........this is becoming a joke.

When the Redsox signed Gonzalez from San Diego that marked the end of Youklis with Ortiz at the DH. Youklis is coming off back problems and he is 33 but he would do well in the NL Central. Pedro is not a clean up hitter and the team needs to figure this out sooner or later. Alvarez puts too much pressure on himself and would do better batting 6th in my opinion.

How much longer can the team sit and watch all of this good pitching be pissed away because of the weak bats that we have. This has gone on too long and it's clear that this team needs a bat and Youklis could fill the big hole in a major way. If I have to hear NH say that the solution has to come from within again I might shoot myself. What does he see that I don't see. There is not a bat in the system that can help this team right now. I WANT YOUKLIS!!

But the great thing about the NBA is if a team has the right leadership in the front office they can go from the outhouse to the penthouse in 1 season. Boston showed the league one way by bringing in aging stars who were hungry for a title and they got 1 but there window was only open for a few seasons and it looks like their team next year will be quite diffrent.

Now about our Blazers and their future: I am not talking about the draft pick from NJ yet because if they get in the top 3 they keep the pick.The big thing for the Blazers is to get Batum to sign so that they can get in on some of the restricted FA out there who would look good wearing a Blazer uniform next season. I think the Blazers made a big mistake by not signing Batum during the season and it's going to cost them more in my opinion. The Kings have not been shy about how they feel about Batum and you can bet that they will put a number out there of at least 10 million per season for about 5 years. In my opinion that's overpaying for him but that's what free agency is all about. Will the Blazers match any team's offer..................YEP they have no choice.

In my opinion our biggest holes remain at Center and more important at PG. While a lot of fans would love for Steve Nash to play in Portland ( and I use to be on that ban wagon myself ) next year and he would be a great pickup for this team. The problem is his age and his back problems and Nash is going to be very expensive and if you are lucky you might get 2 good seasons out of him........maybe. I think the Blazers should look at 76er's PG Lou Williams who is not a pure PG like a Rondo or Nash but this kid is young and can be lights out with his jumpers. Portland only low post option is LA so that forces the team to be a jump shooting based offense that can beat any team in the league when they are hitting BUT win the Blazers are off they lose to teams like the Wizards who was the worse team in the league this year and I would debate maybe ever and they beat us in the Rose Garden. There is also Jeremy Lin and D Williams who are probably long shots at best to sign with Portland.

The big men in FA are actually pretty good this off season with the likes of Roy Hibbert who Indiana would have to be crazy to let go. There is also Ersan Ilyasova who played for the Bucks last season...........I know some of you might be like who in the hell is this guy: Ilyasova is not a center but he is 6'10 and about 235 and could still put some weight on but this guy has some talent, he averaged about 13ppg and 9reb this season and can shoot with any bigman in the game. This season he shot over 45% from 3 and would be a perfect pick and pop player to pair with LA. There is also Javale McGee who has some mental lapses sometimes but has some talent. This kid is big, young and can run like a deer and jump out of this world. McGee is better than DeAndre Jordan who signed a contract last season that has him as one of the most overpaid pro players in any sport. Hibbert will be the prize in FA this year but if you compare Hibbert and McGee's numbers are almost identical. Hibbert was at 13ppg, 9reb and 2bpg while McGee avg 11pts, 8reb and also 2 bpg.

Blazer fans I can only hope that team mgmt brings in a quality GM who can pick his coach and return this team into a contender again because this team has some talent and could do special things. Every "expert" will tell you that OKC is the best team in the west and they might be but, the Blazers gave them everything they could handle this season. This off season will make or break the future of this team so we will have to wait and see how it unfolds.

The sad thing is the Pirates have been getting some great pitching over the past 2 seasons. Well maybe great is a little strong but they have been getting very good pitching. The NL CENTRAL can be had, it could have been had last season. Pittsburgh can't go crazy in the draft anymore so why can't that money have been spent on a free agent. Huntington offered 10 million dollar one year contracts to both Roy Oswalt and Edwin Jackson who chose to sign with the Nats.........smart guy. I think that Oswalt is still a FA. It's pretty sad when a player will pass up ten million dollars in today's economy. I know that maybe that money went to bring in AJ but the Pirates have money to spend if they really want to.

I know that our Pirates can't compete with the big boy spenders like New York and Boston but come on. Something needs to happen because this team has some quality depth when it comes to starting pitching. You can only have 5 starters last time I checked so why not deal a Brad Lincoln who is really starting to live up to being drafted as high as he did. I am just using Lincoln as an example. The Bucs have several pitchers who could be dealt with a couple of minor league players and get a impact bat to stick in this line-up.

I like Pedro Alvarez but he is not a clean-up hitter. He strikes out way too much and walks way to little. At best Alvarez is a number 5 or 6 hitter who will maybe get you 25 HR a year. When he bats cleanup he puts way too much pressure on himself and it hurts the team.

Every game so far this season when Pittsburgh has had the lead after the 6th inning they are undefeated........UNDEFEATED. A move has to be made and I am not talking about what NH did during the trade deadline last year with Ryan Ludwick. Just like last year the NL CENTRAL is right there for the taking!

Before everyone starts screaming about 3rd round pick Mohamed Sanu, I like him but it is so difficult for a rookie WR to come in the league and make a impact. The Bengals hit the jackpot with Green last year and he will constantly have defenses bracket him him with a safety and a LB most times. Sanu will get singled and have an opportunity to make plays but how much can you really count on a rookie. Sanu was able to out muscle most college CB but this is the NFL baby and that only gets you so far.

I have mentioned this before in a post about Plaxico Burress wearing stripes next year. He is still out there and he would be cheap and he would only get a 1yr contract and that has to make Mike Brown very very happy plus this team loves to take on "projects" if they have talent. Burress played decent last year and he was money in the red zone where the Bengals struggled badly last year to score touchdowns.

More important look at the jump that Mike Vick had year 2, it was night and day when it comes to the stats he put up once he got himself back into NFL shape. I will wrap this up with this....as of this day there is still a hole over at the #2WR spot and Shipley is a slot guy plus it will take him a while to come back from his ACL. You add Plax and the 2012-13 Bengals could win the AFC North or at least push Baltimore and Pittsburgh for the crown.

I am looking forward to what Bengal Nation thinks because someone will get a steal with Plax this year so why not us!!

I think Marvin Lewis loves this guy, he dropped everything to go to South Bend and watch this kid during his pro day. I know that they have a couple other prospects that the team might like in Harrison Smith and maybe a kid like Jonas Gray who would have been a 2nd rd pick if he did not blow his ACL in the middle of the season. There are a few Bengal fans that like to point out that Floyd had a couple of alcohol related incidents but Floyd cleaned up his act his Senior year and had a excellent season despite catching balls from Tommy Rees who quite frankly is a average QB who has no business starting. Despite this, Floyd caught 100 passes while smashing every record set by Heisman Winner Tim Brown at Notre Dame ..........love him or hate him this kid is a baller and I am pretty sure we all did some dumb things in college. Floyd needs to be judged by his future and not what he did as a kid in college.

I don't think the Bengals will try and trade into the top 7 were some have mocked Floyd going to the Jaguars. Jacksonville really needs a defensive end or anyone that can pressure the QB and get some sacks. They could select Quinton Couples or a player like Melvin Ingram.

Cincinnati made no attempt what so ever to even bring in a WR during free agency despite it being the teams biggest hole other than guard. They have to get a WR early in the draft, someone to compliment AJ Green and Gresham. I know that Shipley is coming back but with that ACL injury who knows when or if he plays like he did during his rookie year. There are only about four WR that could help out year 1 and the Bengals have to get one of them in the first or second round and don't forget that they have another extra first or second round pick to play with thanks to the Oakland Raider armed robbery for Carson Palmer!

I would choose Floyd over Justin Blackmon and there is also Alshon Jeffrey and Kendall Wright. These four helps our team from day1 and the Bengals MUST get one of these players.

Don't get me wrong I think the team has a few studs so far in Steve Elmer, Hunter Bivin and Colin McGovern plus the 2 CB Devin Buter and Rashad Kinlaw who I feel are diamonds in the rough. I know that there are irish fans out there who think we have hit the recruiting jackpot with the avalanche of verbals after our Junior Day. I feel they are thinking about quanity while I am looking at quality......there is a big diffrence in my eyes.

This team watched a lot of elite talent take their skills to other programs. The 2012 class was going to be built around 3 players: Tee Shepherd, Gunner Kiel and Greenberry and you can even throw in Ronald Darby. Losing 3/4 crippled the program in a major way and left this team and staff behind the 8ball. Getting Neal helps but if he could have enrolled in January he would have been able to hit the ground running when the team starts fall practice.

Notre Dame has 2 must gets in this cycle in Jaylon Smith and Ty Isaac. These two kids are in our back yard and the elite programs build a wall around the elite kids in their state. Notre Dame must follow this blue print if they want to hit a home run on signing day 2013 because 2012 was a huge disappointment. This is a big year for Coach Kelly and he needs to prove that he can recruit with the elite because it does not matter how good you are with the x's and o's, you need talent and any good college coach will agree!!!

Marvin can say what he wants but another starting WR is a BIG need. I know that we have Jordan Shipley who will hopefully be back and gives this team another weapon that defenses have to worry about but he is coming back from a very tough injury for a WR.

Plaxico Burress is not a burner but adding another 6'4 WR would be nice to go along with Gresham and Green. Plaxico would be in year 2 of his comeback and he should be better and faster than last year. Look at Michael Vick who looked horrible his first year back and had a MVP like season in his 2nd year. This does not mean that Burress would have a season like this but we don't need him too. All we need is someone to make teams pay when they roll a linebacker and safety over to Green's side like teams did last year. I think it would be a good fit and you know that Mike Brown LOVES stars who wll play for cheap and the Bengals will take chances on players regardless of their off field issues.

The main reason I would love Burress on this team is so that the Bengals would be able to take 2 defensive players in the 1st round ( unless DeCastro drops to us ). Even if the Bengals sign Newman they should still take a CB in the 1st or 2nd round. I would love for Dre Kirkpatrick to where stripes next year and Donta Hightower at MLB. I love Rey M but he will probably be suspended anywhere from 1 to 4 games. No one is talking about Hightower but he is big and nasty. This kid is 265 lbs and ran a 4.65 not to mention at Alabama he rushed the passer on the outside on 3rd down for the Tide.

These 3 players would set the Bengals up to have a MONSTER 2012 season.........................

At least Brown is showing that he will loosen up the purse strings if he thinks that a player can improve the team. I don't see the Bengals drafting a CB in the first or 2nd round. To me the only lock at LB is Thomas Howard who has excellent cover skills. I think that Rey will be suspended regardless of how his case goes. I think that Wimbley signed a 35 mill contract over 5 years but I am not sure what the Bengals offered I just know that they went hard which suprised me to be honest

With Keith Rivers, Muckelroy and Moch all coming off injuries I think the Bengals will draft a new MLB in Luke Kuechly who is a very good player but he is not physical enough to play in the AFC NORTHor my favorite in Donta" Hightower who is a monster MLB at about 260 lbs. Hightower played in Alabama's 3-4 but would be a huge upgrade over Rey M in Zimmer's hybrid 3-4, 4-3.

I think the only way the Bengals pass on Hightower at 17 is if DeCastro falls to us. I want to get everyone's opinion about the LB situation for the 2012 season. Should we ride with the guys already on the roster or try to improve with either one of our 1st rd picks.

I look forward to the feedback negative or positive.

2012 BENGALS.........LETS GET IT!!!!!!!

I know that he has made a couple of OK moves with the Allen kid and bringing back Nelson and adding an offensive guard that no Bengal fan could pick out of a line up. I have read the articles on the Cincy Jungle Site (which is my favorite Bengal website) where they twist the numbers around and tell us he is a upgrade over Nate Livings. I agree but Nate Livings might be the worst starting guard in the NFL. COWBOY FANS ENJOY.

I am still pissed over letting Carl Nicks go. Offensive Guard was our biggest hole and how many times can you sign the best player in the league at his position. It never happens.You can't win in this league with average players. We did not beat a playoff team last year. Our entire team is very young especially on offense and we have NO ONE ON DEFENSE that scares other offenses.Our defensive line as of now has been degraded with Rucker and Fanene leaving but they were very good rotation players.

I know what's done is done and we gotta ride with players on the roster but why not take the best player available at 17 and go after Mike Wallace who would inject much needed speed for our entire offense. When has the Bengals had a player on offense who might be the fastest player in the game starting for them.............maybe Darnay Scott back in the day.

A.J. Green is a very special player but defenses do not fear any of our weapons on offense and that includes Gresham. If this team added Wallace, defenses would not no what in the hell to do , who do you double?

Pittsburgh did the right move by not franchising them but if you take away their best player on offense minus Big Ben teams will see that those wide outs are not as good as the league thinks. They get one on ones because Wallace and his game breaking speed, they never rush against 8 in the box because you have to walk one of your safety's to Wallace's side because of his speed. Chances like this never happen for our team and most fans know it..........we need to strike while we can because who knows when an oppurtunity like this will happen again.

I loved Nate but this team needed a change because he lost this team. Losing home games to teams like Washington should never happen. Portland has set themselves up very nice for this summer and we fans have something to look forward to.

Portland will have cap space and "hopefully we will get a top 5 pick so long as the Nets don't get into the top 3. Right now they should get a pick between 4-6. Jerry Sloan has not won a title but would be a great fit. Portland needs to get a good GM and a even better coach......................i am excited.

As of today the Irish have 2 recruits in Elmer {OT} who I love and Jacob Matuska (DE-TE) who I don't know alot about. What concerns me is Michigan who had an excellent class last year and are coming out swinging again in 2013 with the making of another top5 class. A few of the kids that gave their verbal with Michigan I thought Notre Dame had an excellent chance to get plus with Brian Kelly not being on campus when some of these kids come does not make any sense to me. Recruiting means every thing to any program especially Notre Dame who has had back to back "average" years coming off a bowl loss not to mention Coach Kelly and his antics last year looking like his head would explode at any given moment. (you know that other programs used that to their advantage)

I know it's early but this year means everything to this staff. The Irish might have the toughest schedule in the country,plus no starting QB, no Michael Floyd and losing 3/4 starters from your secondary. I am very worried!!

Before everyone screams that we need a CB and RB and a 2nd WR. Just listen to me...................OK

Continue reading this post »

I teach my daughter to never use the word "hate" but this is football and I hate the Pittsburgh Steelers. I still remember the sting of having Carson Palmer wheeled off the field in a cart. Palmer was on his way to becoming an elite QB being compared along with Manning and Brady to come back a mere shell of himself. I remember Keith Rivers getting off to a good rookie year only to have Hines Ward take that away with an illegal blow to the face. What really pissed me off was Bill Cower in the visiting locker room chanting "who dey..........we they" over an hour while our starting QB might never play another down of football again...............................let me get to my point.

Whenever you have an elite WR with electric speed like Mike Wallace who can rip the top off any defense there is really no defense good enough to stop them if you have other weapons at the other skill positions. Big Ben is good but Mike Wallace is the mvp of their offense in the same way that Troy P is to the defense. Yes, I am comparing him to Troy P because for Pittsburgh he is that important. Pittsburgh was forced to switch their offense from smash mouth run the ball down your throat and there is nothing you can do about it to 3 and 4 WR because of Wallace and his game breaking ability. Because of Pittsburgh and their policies about signing their young studs early, there is a good chance they might lose Wallace. Pittsburgh is about 10-11 million over the cap and they have to make some moves. It's already out that Hines Ward will probably be cut and maybe Casey Hampton might be on the chopping block as well.

I know that we have a lot of holes on our team but if you add Mike Wallace to mix with our Pro Bowlers Green, Gresham and Dalton, you have a very young squad with dynamite at the skill positions like no other. Gresham and Shipley would have a field day on underneath routes. Who are you gonna double between Wallace and Green not to mention if you add a young RB to grow with the team. Signing Mike Wallace would cost a team their 1st round pick and of course it would take a boatload of money up front but this kid would be worth every dime. Pittsburgh can match any offer but if you front load the contract there is almost no way they can match due to their cap issues. They would have to cut some players they want to keep.

Not only due you add a top5 WR to play along with A.J. Green you weaken Pittsburgh and take away their best player on offense. I know that 1st rd picks are golden but these chances never come because teams lock their young talent up early so this can't happen. ( unless your mike brown who let joseph walk to houston and have a pro bowl year. )

Answer this question Bengal Nation, would you trade Mike Wallace for OT Nate Solder of the Patriots or Mike Wallace for DT Phil Taylor.......why do I ask this. Because These were the 2 players selected at 17 and 21 last year.

LOOK FORWARD TO READING YOUR THOUGHTS!!

It's no secret that NY wants to add a lefty with some some pop to be their DH. I love what NH has done to improve the roster mainly in the minors where some believe we have a top 10 minor league farm system.

The Yanks want G.I. Jones.................let them have him. Jones will not be a starter in the OF and more than likely McGee will play 1st base. Burnett has lost some speed on his FB and he is not hitting 95-96 anymore but he can still pitch. It's a big diffrence playing in the National league where he can have a rebirth.

Jones does not have a future with the Bucs and Burnette could come in and be the ace of our rotation. The team has done very little to improve the offense and we will once again to rely on our pitching........we will see. I hope he gets here.

First of all Batum's agent has already told mgmt that Batum will test the free agent waters before talking with the Blazers. Wallace has already told the Blazers that he will ride his contract out and not opt to be a free agent this summer. EITHER CRASH IS CRAZY OR HE LOVES PORTLAND....i think it's the latter.

Batum is a young long defender who can guard any teams perimeter players and on occasion a few power forwards. It's crystal clear that MGMT prefers Crash and who can blame them. Batum has improved every year since coming into the league and you can guarantee that some team will offer Batum a 5yr....50 million contract. The years can differ but he WILL get a 10 million annual contract because he is worth it and Portland knows it. They pissed Batum off for low balling him. The boys over on espn.com/insider says Portland offered Batum a 3yr 15 million dollar contract with an option for an additional year should Batum want it. HE IS WORTH DOUBLE THAT.

PORTLAND HAS NO CHOICE BUT DEAL BATUM AT THE DEADLINE OR LOSE HIM BECAUSE THEY WILL NOT WANT TO PAY BOTH WALLACE AND BATUM BOTH STARTING MONEY. Mr. Allen has the pockets to foot the bill but he said at the start of the season that the day of him buying 1st rd picks and throwing money at players is over , can you blame him,. Portland has not been out the 1st rd since Wallace and Scottie Pippen and company choked against the Lakers when they were up double digits heading to the 4th.

In a diffrent post I wrote my dislike for Ray Felton because he has killed us with his horrible shooting and dumb turnovers that just don't make sense. This team with a diffrent stating PG can make a run this year if they fix their rebounding problems. Felton played good tonight against Hornets but it's the freaking Hornets.

If we can deal Batum for a legit PG like JOSE CALDERON we can finally stop getting tossed in the 1st rd.

I know alot of you don't like the idea of Jose Calderon but just watch him play. He is not a great defender but he a great knockdown shooter who gets his teammates easy shots and he is doing this in Toronto. Just imagine what he can do with LA, Crash and Crawford. The only other option is Nash but he is too loyal to Phoenix.

If Portland loses Batum and gets no compensation Blazer Nation would explode. This team has to make a move and soon. At the rate we are going now the playoffs are a big maybe.

Portland will continue to be one and done if we even make the playoffs this year because of our poor PG play. I thought we would get the New York Felton but he has been horrible. Felton is only shooting 20% from 3 not to mention the turnovers. Toronto is shopping Calderon because of his salary of 10-11 million next year. Portland will have the cap space and he would fit perfect with our Blazers. He is a 40% shooters from 3's not to mention his assist to turnover ratio.How much longer will it take for management to see that we need an upgrade. It's killing me!

1st rd (17) Janoris Jenkins 5'10 180: Lewis and Zimmer both like bigger CB but with Mike Wallace and Torre Smith and others in the division the Bengals need a corner with good speed who can flip his hips. Jenkins was hands down the best CB at the Senior Bowl. Jenkins has top 10 talent but with his dismissal at Florida this will cause him to drop but the Bengals will gladly take him because they are still hurting from the Joseph departure.

1st rd (21) Cordy Glenn 6'5 350: Simply put Glenn is a monster of a man with excellent feet for a man his size. While he played LT in the SEC he will kick inside on the next level and will start for someone day1. Glenn is not on the level of DeCastro but he is a great run blocker and will fix the Bengals LG position because we all know that Nate Livings had no reason starting for us last year. There are other OG in the draft the Bengals can go with here like Kevin Zeittler from Wisconsin who was a 1st team all- american but Mike Brown likes big offensive lineman and Cordy Glenn fits the bill to a tee.

2nd round Vontaze Burfict 6'3 250: Cincy clearly has bigger holes to fill but if Burfict is here and he should be he will be to hard to pass up. Last year Cincy had 3 LB who were high draft picks on IR. ( Rivers, Moch and Muckelroy who I really liked coming out of Texas.) Burfict is a downhill thumper who played MLB at Arizona ST but can play either the SAM or WILL for the Bengals should they decide to cut Rivers who has not played like a top 10 pick should. What Burfict does is give the defense security in case injuries hit the LB corp again in 2012.

3rd rd pick LaMichael James 5'10 195: James is not the bell cow the Bengals need to get back to smash mouth football they want to get back too. What he offers is explosive plays that Scott has not offered the past two seasons. James can even return punts and kicks should the Bengals decide to part ways with Tate who made some crucial mistakes in the latter part of the seasons.

4th rd Chris Givens 6'0 195: I know some of you are saying " who in the hell is this Givens kid" . Givens was a 1st team all ACC performer last year who has suprising speed with excellent hands. Givens is expected to run in the high 4.4 range and he can look for his draft stock to increase once the Combine and pro days begin.

5th rd Jonas Gray 5'10 230: Gray first 3 years at Notre Dame was simply put.......HORRIBLE. But Gray's last year Brian Kelly demanded more from the talented senior and he got it. Gray ripped his ACL late in the season and will not play in 2012 for anyone who drafts him but the Bengals would be smart to draft this kid and stick him on the PS becayse he could have a Frank Gore like rise once he is healthy.

The last two rounds are hit miss with these kids and no one knows if they will strike gold or if the prospect get's cut from training camp before the season even begins. Marvin Lewis can not be happy with Kevin Huber production last year. He was the 30th ranked punter in the NFL and the Bengals need better because Huber has a monster leg but is not very consistent. The top 3 punters in this draft are Bryan Anger from Cal who I really love and I think could beat Huber should the Bengals decide to open the position up. The other two are Drew Butler from Georgia and Shawn Powell who looks like a LB at 6'4 250 lbs.

Just my thoughts and I am looking for some positive and negative feedback on what everyone thinks about mu mock......................GO BENGALS!