Saw*Kick Media

There was so much going on this weekend that I will skip over the witty banter section of my column this week and just dive right in.

So click off 89.com, tell your mom to fix you another sandwich and flip through some thoughts and blind overstatements about Derek Anderson as Brett Favre, The Buckeyes being the toast of the Big 11, and the end of something called Major League Baseball.

‘Chicks love the deep ball.’
That’s what Ohio State tackle Kirk Barton told reporters after the Bucks’ 34-17 disposal of Penn State in Happy Valley on Saturday evening.
Indeed, chicks do love the deep ball. And so do poll voters who, after watching Boston College dance it’s way out of catastrophe against Virginia Tech, will be inclined to give pretty much every No. 1 vote to TOSU.
Now, we could sit here all day and espouse what a great coach Jim Tressel is, as he found a way to lose a Heisman Trophy winner and seven other players to the NFL and still push the team’s regular-season winning streak to 27, but I don’t want to do that. We could beat into the ground the coach’s ability to take Todd Boeckman, a 23-year-old junior who has been little more than a tape jockey in his career, and turn him into the quarterback of right now, but that’s not important. Instead, let’s talk about the number 4114. In the preseason it was the code to get into the weight room at the Buckeyes’ workout facility. Does 41-14 ring a bell to you? It certainly does for the Bucks.

So let’s just say this, TOSU passed the first real test in its watered down mega conference. That means that this week will be the first where the hype machine is in full effect on the national level. Pundits across the country will now be declaring this Ohio State team better than last years (MoneyMike has already heard this on two occasions in the Cleveland media) and crowning it this and that.

Well, if you want to crown their asses, then crown their asses. But I say that this season is the ultimate test for Tressel. The Big 11 is soft. Other than Michigan (I never thought I would have said this after week 1, by the way), it just doesn’t measure up against the other power conferences.

The same thing happened last year, but TOSU got caught up in the hype machine. Apart from that cursed 51-day layoff, the biggest reason the Bucks caught a shiner from the Gators was that they hadn’t played a team like that all season. And when I say a team like that, I don’t just mean a fast team, I mean a legitimately great football team.

Now, it looks like this Buckeyes team can get through the regular season in that same fashion. So while Tressel has turned this team on the mend into the best in the country, I hope he doesn’t get too caught up in that. If he is The Coach in college football, his challenge will be to remember that password, 41-14.

It’s time to ask that which must never be asked
Besides a long draft day, what do Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and The DreamBoat have in common? Barring injury, there is no reason either one of them should take the field this season.
That’s right, after the Browns 27-20 escape in St. Louis, there is no doubt left that Anderson has the keys to this team’s high-tech, fast-break (CBS announcers diction) offense.

So, being ill-fated Cleveland fans who live only on hope, I’ve decided to ask the question that must never be asked: Is it time to start considering DA the quarterback of the future? And, if so, what will become of the DreamBoat?

Let’s look at DA’s stats to put into context what he’s doing this year.
Projections:
DA through seven games: 1,744 yards, 17 TDs, 8 ints
Rough projection over a 16-game season: 3,986/39/18

Read that again. He’s on pace for 39 TDs! I know we can’t beat up an 0-fer team one week, have a bye, and then beat up another 0-fer team for the rest of the season, but if he can come anywhere near those stats, he will win the Quarterback From This Earth MVP. He’s on pace to have the best non-Manning/Brady season since Daunte Culpepper in 2004.

Moreover, it’s obvious that DA has a nice connection with KII and the still-undisciplined superstar that is Braylon Edwards. So at what point do we stop saying this guy is just on fire and start calling him our QB. I think we’ve passed that point. The small sample is over, we are now getting to the point where we’ve had a pretty good look at this guy. He’s got a monster arm and a confidence that a big-time QB should have. He still seems to have that inherent, Brett Favre-like ability to make some stupid throws (you were wondering if I was really going to compare him to Favre, weren’t you?), but that seems like something we can live with in exchange for a 30-plus TD season.
So now is when we have to start looking at the DreamBoat’s future. Do we honestly consider sitting him next season? What about the season after that.

I don’t have the answers to these questions yet. It’s too much to think about right now, I admit, but I want it on our minds as we move forward. DA is a legit starter in this league – though I admit playing the Rams and Dolphins have bloated his stats – so we have a problem we’d never thought of here in Cleveland: too much talent.

How many Octobers are left?
I saw a story on the AP today that said baseball was over. Who knew? I guess the Red Sox beat some National League team in some exhibition series and that was the end of it. Since I have not acknowledged the existence of baseball, Dane Cook, Taco Bell or Tim McCarver since The Collapse, that breaking story – the second biggest baseball story of the day behind A-Rod opting out of his contract – reminded me that I never handed out my postseason awards. As always, MoneyMike’s postseason awards are voted on by a panel consisting entirely of MoneyMike. We will start with the AL awards this week and do the NL awards next week.

MVP – Victor Martinez, Cleveland Indians
Numbers: .301 avg., 25 HR, 114 RBI
Am I biased toward the Indians? Maybe. Still, an objective observer would say that while A-Rod pretty much carried New York for two months of the season, he’s a raging douche-snoggle. Vic, on the other hand, made strides on the defensive side, hit the best for any player of his position and held down the No. 4 spot despite having a human hitting hole in front of him for the entire season.

Cy Young – Josh Beckett, Boston Red Sox
Numbers: 20-7, 3.27 ERA, 194 Ks
Before the playoffs I had a nice little paragraph about why C.C. Sabathia was more important to the Indians than Beckett was to the Red Sox. It included C.C.’s stats in games after a loss and a bunch of stuff about being a leader. After the ALCS I printed that paragraph out, ate it, and vomited it back up. That’s all I’m going to say.

ROY – Dustin Pedroiaiaiaia, Boston Red Sox
Numbers: .317 avg., 8 HR, 50 RBI, 7 SB
I don’t respect him enough to learn how to spell his last name (he goes on my list with M. Night Shamalamalamalon and Christina Aguiumaleria), but he was the best rookie in the bigs this year. The Indians fan in me wants to take Asdrubal’s small sample and argue how important it was, but it doesn’t compare to hitting .300 in the leadoff spot for a World Series winner. I hate the Red Sox.

Relief pitcher of the year – Raphael Betancourt, Cleveland Indians
Numbers: 5-1, 1.47 ERA, 80 Ks, 3 saves
The award will probably go to Cleveland’s closer, JoeBo, considering his strong save numbers. But those of us who took time out of our busy lives to watch more than 100 games this season know that without the two Raphies the Indians would have stubbed a toe. And of the two, this Raphie was just the man.

Comeback player of the year – Carlos Pena, Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Numbers: .282 avg., 46 HR, 121 RBI
To put his numbers into context I will say only one thing: This guy hit one home run last year.

-MoneyMike isn’t in the mood to come up with a witty closing statement this week. If you can think of one, send it to him at cottrill.m@gmail.com

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