NFL drafts are sad

There's a lot of talk here in Philadelphia about how Donovan McNabb hasn't ever had any help. I thought I'd take a look back and see which receivers the Eagles could've had to go with McNabb (drafted in 1999) instead of the bums that they keep ending up with. I'm only comparing guys who didn't last and guys who went after them:

2000: They drafted Todd Pinkston in the second round (36). They could've had: Jerry Porter (47) or Laveranues Coles (78).

2001: They drafted Freddie Mitchell in the first round (25) and Quintin Carver (LB, 55) in the second. They could've had: Reggie Wayne (30), Todd Heap (31), Chad Johnson (36), Chris Chambers (52) or Steve Smith (74).

So already after two drafts, instead of having Todd Pinkston, Freddie Mitchell and some LB who never made it, Donovan could have been throwing to Jerry Porter, Chad Johnson or Reggie Wayne, and Steve Smith.

2002: Best draft of the decade. Iggles' first four picks were Lito Sheppard, Sheldon Brown, Brian Westbrook, and Michael Lewis. No problems here, might have switched Lewis (58) for Deion Branch (65).

2003: Eagles take Jerome McDougle (15) in the first round. They could've had: Dallas Clark (24) or Anquan Boldin (54).

It's a little bit hard to tell what's what after this list, since guys take a little while to develop and some from these later drafts might still perk up. But just consider that in the Superbowl in 2004, just by drafting differently, they could have switched the Pinkston/Mitchell/broken TO/LJ Smith bunch with Porter/Johnson/Smith/Clark. That kind of knowledge is what curdles Philadelphia fans into the bitter, jaded, black-hearted, miserable jack-asses that we are. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go put on my Flyers jersey and ram into a light pole.

The Baltimore Ravens

As a New England Patriots fan, I'm happy about last nights outcome, but I can imagine how incredulous the Baltimore Ravens fans must feel this morning. Not because of the officiating or the time-out or Tom Brady's good looks or the final score, but because it is all too apparent that the Baltimore Ravens have given up on the season.

I kept hearing during the game that the Ravens were treating the Monday night game with the Patriots as "their Super Bowl," but my question is, "What have the Ravens been treating every other week as?" The coaches and players led us all to believe that they worked extra this past week, preparing and perfecting everything about the game plan to beat the Patriots. The coaches had the right mindset, the players had the right mindset, everyone was ready to win. So my question remains, why haven't the Ravens been doing that every week? Clearly they are a good football team and have played the Patriots closer than anyone else this season, save maybe the Colts. So how can they play so poorly in past weeks and yet show up for the Patriots game?

All I know, is that the Ravens are better than they have been playing and they showed this week that if they treat every week like it's the Super Bowl, they can compete with anyone. My problem is that by bragging that they worked so hard this week, they admitted to not working their hardest in past weeks. The reason the Patriots and the Colts are so good is because they treat EVERY week like it's the Super Bowl. Not just the big games under the big lights. So Ravens fans, call up the organization and ask for a refund of your tickets because clearly, you were not receiving what was promised, that is, the best from every player and coach on your team every week.