Random Rumblings

• To start, I want to congratulate West Haven’s Donald Thomas and Rob Jackson on getting drafted this past weekend. I’m sure smaller towns have had two players drafted in the same year, but it’s still an extremely rare occurrence. And if you consider that these guys are from Connecticut, a state known for college basketball and minor league hockey, this feat becomes even more impressive.
  
  
• Staying on the NFL Draft topic, here’s a question I have: Which player would you rather have – the guy who rates off the charts at the combine but wasn’t always great during the season or the guy who was fantastic all year, but worked out poorly?
  
  It’s tough. The former (think Vernon Gholston) comes off as a guy with endless potential, but one that knew he didn’t always need to play his best to dominate in college. On the other hand, the NFL combine is a showcase. If you can’t put up good numbers in that kind of atmosphere, how will you succeed in the league?
  
  
• The fact that Connecticut seems to be an early favorite to win the National Title next season shows just how watered down men’s college basketball has become. Yes, Hasheem Thabeet returning for his junior year makes them dangerous, but the majority of these guys have never won a game in the Big East Tournament, let alone the NCAA Tournament.
  
  
• Baseball has come a long way with creating effective ways to measure a player’s value. For example, it’s widely accepted that a player’s on base plus slugging percentage means way more than his batting average. Or a pitcher’s WHIP is a better indicator of ability than the amount of wins he picks up.
  
  But the sport needs to just accept that throwing a baseball is an unnatural, stressful motion for the human body. You can implement all the pitch counts and innings limits you want, but as one scout said when referring to whether Joba Chamberlain should be made a starter, “They all get hurt anyway. The Yankees might as well maximize is value.”
  
  
• I know that I’m supposed to be excited for the NBA playoffs, but what has really changed between this season and the last three? For all the talk of the greatest season ever, there are only three teams (Lakers, Spurs, and Celtics) that have realistic shots to win it all.