The Duke: Ryan Divish of the News Tribune in Tacoma does a really nice job of profiling M’s manager John Wedge. The man from Fort Wayne, Ind., has pictures of John Wayne hanging on his walls and is a lot like The Duke. “I joked with Jack (Zduriencik) that he is John Wayne,” said Cleveland Indians president Mark Shapiro. “But it’s legit. There’s no bravado there. It’s not for show.” Read the story here.
The Goal: Even non-soccer fans have to appreciate Wayne Rooney’s bicycle kick goal against Manchester City. Check it out here. As the announcer says, “It’s spectacular beyond belief.”
And More
NFL labor dispute: If there’s no agreement between players and owners in March, then it won’t get settled until September or October. That seems to be the consensus. This column by Mike Freeman of CBSsports.com doesn’t give you a lot of hope that things will be settled anytime soon. “I think this is going to be bloody,” said one player.
Locker’s stock: Quarterback Jake Locker has dropped out of the first round in most of the mock drafts. Click here to see how a couple of CBSSports.com analysts see the first round. The University of Washington QB isn’t on Mel Kiper’s Big Board either. Walterfootball.com has Locker going to Jacksonville in the second round with the 49th overall pick. Here’s what they say:
“The Jaguars need a young quarterback to groom behind David Garrard.
“Jake Locker was abysmal at the Senior Bowl. He seldom threw two accurate passes in a row, and his mechanics were completely exposed. It’s now looking like Locker has a good chance of falling to Round 3. It’s really a shame how much money he cost himself by going back to school for one more year.
“This is a good fit for Locker because he can sit for a year or two behind Garrard while he gets his footwork and accuracy straightened out. He could still end up being a good professional quarterback, but he isn’t anywhere close to being ready to start in the NFL.”
There’s a lot of mock drafts out there. I found one that had Buffalo take Locker with the second pick of the second round. Another had the Seahawks taking him with the 25th pick in the first round.
Another arm for M’s?: Are the M’s interested in signing free-agent reliever Chad Durbin? According to this report, they are.
Spackler wins! Spackler wins! Read about Bill Murray’s “Cinderella story” at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am here.
