30 for 30 running thread

[CD Boogie]

There was a pretty good story in USA Today on Tuesday about Leaf. Apparently he's cleaned himself up, been sober for five years, and is working as an ambashador and touring speaker for a rehab facility. He owned a lot of his mistakes, even admitting he "didn't have the brain to be an NFL quarterback."

One thing that made me roll my eyes, though, was that he claimed the Chargers never recovered from taking him No. 1 overall because they missed having that franchise quarterback.
Um, Ryan, they got the guy about five years later. In fact, they've had two since you came along. The one they kept has done pretty well and might have a couple of rings if not for having to constantly go through three other potential HOF quarterbacks to get there. Leaf over Manning was an all-time blunder, but I'd say they recovered pretty nicely from that mistake -- and a lot quicker than many franchises would have.

mistake? I think you got it backwards. Manning went No. 1 to the Colts, Leaf No. 2 to the Chargers.

 

[Steak Snabler]

Charles Woodson went two picks after Leaf, but everyone knew the Chargers needed a quarterback. There wasn't another elite QB prospect in that draft after Manning and Leaf (Brian Griese, who was OK, went in the third round. Matt Hashelbeck went in the sixth round, but no one saw his career coming).

Taking Leaf at No. 2 wasn't like taking Alex Smith and Jason Campbell instead of Aaron Rodgers, or like taking Todd Blackledge and Tony Eason instead of Dan Marino. The Chargers needed a QB, Manning was gone, and they took a guy everyone thought would be pretty good. Not their fault.

Not only that, it hurt them for exactly three years. They flipped the No. 1 pick in 2001 to the Falcons, who took Michael Vick. The Chargers took LaDainian Tomlinson No. 5, then Drew Brees with the first pick of the second round.

In 2004, they used the extra picks from the Manning-Rivers trade on Nate Kaeding (their kicker for 9 years) and Shawne Merriman (the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2006, who was on a Hall of Fame track til he got hurt).

So yeah, drafting Leaf sucked, but they recovered pretty quickly.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Charles Woodson went two picks after Leaf, but everyone knew the Chargers needed a quarterback. There wasn't another elite QB prospect in that draft after Manning and Leaf (Brian Griese, who was OK, went in the third round. Matt Hashelbeck went in the sixth round, but no one saw his career coming).

Taking Leaf at No. 2 wasn't like taking Alex Smith and Jason Campbell instead of Aaron Rodgers, or like taking Todd Blackledge and Tony Eason instead of Dan Marino. The Chargers needed a QB, Manning was gone, and they took a guy everyone thought would be pretty good. Not their fault.

Not only that, it hurt them for exactly three years. They flipped the No. 1 pick in 2001 to the Falcons, who took Michael Vick. The Chargers took LaDainian Tomlinson No. 5, then Drew Brees with the first pick of the second round.

In 2004, they used the extra picks from the Manning-Rivers trade on Nate Kaeding (their kicker for 9 years) and Shawne Merriman (the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2006, who was on a Hall of Fame track til he got hurt).

So yeah, drafting Leaf sucked, but they recovered pretty quickly.

Campbell was taken by the Redskins one pick after Rodgers.

 

[Steak Snabler]

Campbell was taken by the Redskins one pick after Rodgers.

Yeah, but still.

 

[Batman]

mistake? I think you got it backwards. Manning went No. 1 to the Colts, Leaf No. 2 to the Chargers.

You're right. Had a brain cramp there. Simply taking Leaf was the blunder, but as Steak spelled out it was one the Chargers did a good job of fixing with other moves.

 

[poindexter]

There hasn't been a device invented that can measure how little I care about Mike and Mad Dog (i originally wrote Mike and Mike) 30 for 30. These guys are local flavor only, but because many people in charge live in the NY area, the two dolts get foisted on everyone. Neither has ever said an interesting thing in their careers. If they began their careers in flyover country, we'd have never heard of them.

 

[cjericho]

There hasn't been a device invented that can measure how little I care about Mike and Mike 30 for 30. These guys are local flavor only, but because many people in charge live in the NY area, the two dolts get foisted on everyone. Neither has ever said an interesting thing in their careers. If they began their careers in flyover country, we'd have never heard of them.

Think you mean Mike and Mad Dog. Don't let the Fat Man hear you saying he's not nationally known.

 

[Lugnuts]

Hahahaha. It's an excellent doc. A study in human behavior-- both for the better and the worse.

You know how I'm always saying every great thing that happens-- humans must destroy ?

That.

 

[Stoney]

There hasn't been a device invented that can measure how little I care about Mike and Mike 30 for 30. These guys are local flavor only, but because many people in charge live in the NY area, the two dolts get foisted on everyone. Neither has ever said an interesting thing in their careers. If they began their careers in flyover country, we'd have never heard of them.

Agree completely. I don't think the words "Mike and Mad Dog" mean a damned thing to anyone living outside the NYC metro area.

Other than being in New York, how are they different from any of the other popular sports-yammering duos across the country during those years?

 

[CD Boogie]

There hasn't been a device invented that can measure how little I care about Mike and Mike 30 for 30. These guys are local flavor only, but because many people in charge live in the NY area, the two dolts get foisted on everyone. Neither has ever said an interesting thing in their careers. If they began their careers in flyover country, we'd have never heard of them.

I've lived in the NYC area for most of my life and I don't give two ships about them. They're not insightful. They're the annoying know-it-all ashholes you hope you don't have to sit near in the stadium during games. They're obnoxious and both of their voices make me want to stick sewing needles into my eardrums.

 

[heyabbott]

There hasn't been a device invented that can measure how little I care about Mike and Mike 30 for 30. These guys are local flavor only, but because many people in charge live in the NY area, the two dolts get foisted on everyone. Neither has ever said an interesting thing in their careers. If they began their careers in flyover country, we'd have never heard of them.

I think you mean Mike and Russo, but it applies to Mike & Mike as well. The only noteworthy achievements of either are the longevity and the length of each program. The fact that they can spew nothing, but do it for hours at a time is worthy of notice.

 

[poindexter]

Hahahaha. It's an excellent doc. A study in human behavior-- both for the better and the worse.

Don't care about them. They've been foisted on me in various mediums. About 15 years ago, the sunday evening after an NCAA selection sunday - they syndicated for the evening and were on our local sports talk, and I could not believe how uninformed and bland they were. And one of them has pretty close to a speech impediment. They are a local flavor, I get it. Every city has sports talk guy/guys like that. They aren't for a national audience.