He Gone of the Moment: Wilson Chandler

I'm a pretty superstitious guy, so when Friday the 13th comes around, I like to be as careful as I can. Fortunately, from a sporting sense, I'm not sure what else could go wrong. Wednesday, Drew Bledsoe retired, and now, I find out that Thursday, DePaul forward Wilson Chandler declared for the NBA Draft.

(via AP): CHICAGO -- DePaul sophomore Wilson Chandler said Thursday that he intends to declare for the NBA draft.

Chandler said he studied his options with his family and coach Jerry Wainwright, and he decided that going into the NBA was the best decision.

The 6-foot-8 forward led DePaul in scoring and rebounding last season, averaging 14.6 points and 6.9 rebounds. Chandler also led the Blue Demons with 47 blocks last season.

DePaul had a 20-win season and made the quarterfinals
of the NIT.

If it's a family/money thing, you can't really fault Chandler for his decision, but obviously this is a near fatal shot to DePaul's 2007-2008 campaign. I'm not sure if Chandler has hired an agent or not, but I'm assuming he's as good as gone.

If Chandler was already the man this year, he was going to be theee man next year after the departure of senior guard Sammy Mejia.

A great athlete, dunker, defender, and occasional three-point shooter, Chandler's brand of basketball was a hell of a lot of fun to watch. He always sucked me into DePaul games. I always thought he was good enough to go to the NBA after this season, but I hoped the lack of media attention on the Blue Demons combined with Jerry Wainwright's Top 25 recruiting class (currently ranked #12 at rivals.com) would be enough to keep Chandler in Chicago.

Guess not.

Looking onto a Chandler-less '07-'08 season, there are a few positives, including incoming five-star shooting guard (Darquavius Tucker), four-star power forward (Nayal Koshwal), and a few three-star guys as well. Also, I'm not totally sure on this, but I think Wainwright is bringing in a JuCo player or two, and from what I heard, he/they are supposed to be pretty talented. But aren't they all?

With Mejia and Chandler gone, this squad turns into Draelon Burns' team. Burns, heading into his senior year, will have enough talent to at least make a run at DePaul's first NCAA Tournament birth since 2004. Would I fault them if they came up short? Not after losing Chandler. His versatility will be missed.

RIP Wilson Chandler's Collegiate Career (2005-2007) ... He Gone.

He Gone of the Moment: Drew Bledsoe

Well, Drew Bledsoe, my second favorite NFL quarterback of all-time, retired yesterday. I honestly think -- based on his style of pocket passing which relies very little on mobility -- he could have lasted another four to six years in the league. Would he have been mediocre to sub-par? Probably, and I think Drew knew that.

He walked away from the game at the right time, and all of his quotes were squeaky clean, feel good, and for me, provided some closure.

Here were my favorites (quotes via ESPN, specifically Michael Smith) :

"Nobody ever had to come and get me off the field," he said. "Even in New England [in '01 after Mo Lewis of the Jets leveled him with a hit that sheered a blood vessel] I went back out there and they had to tell me to stay out. I never once stayed down."

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"I'm not leaving the game with any hard feelings," he said. "I had a great career and I enjoyed all of it, with the
exception of losing. I enjoyed the time I had with all the teams I played for. I played with a ton of great players and a ton of great people.

"[Last season] was hard, very hard. Nobody said life was fair but that was a tough pill to swallow. I'm happy for
Tony, who's a good guy and a good player. It was sad for him the way the season ended. It's just that I felt like that team had a chance to do some things and I wanted to be on the field with those guys. It didn't work out. But there's no bitterness toward anyone over anything that
happened."

I disagreed with him being benched for Tony Romo last season, but I think, in the end, it was the right move. But that's why Bill Parcells has rings and I don't.

Also, after that Mo Lewis hit, he really could have died. But he didn't, and he came back weeks later, and I have all the respect in the world for him because of that. Even though Brady had taken over his original job.

I also think that Bledsoe was Pro Bowl worthy in 2005; just look at the numbers. He ended up losing the last NFC Pro Bowl QB spot to Michael Vick, who, predictably underachieved, but got in on name recognition. But I swear I'm not bitter.

I'll remember Drew for a few things...

• Getting me into Washington State and New England Patriots football...hell, getting me into football, period. He was my favorite player for a very, very long time.
• Altering the course of NFL history after taking the Mo Lewis hit.
• Being a class act all the way, in every city, for every team he played for.
• Always taking responsibility for good AND bad things that happened to his teams.
• My bandwagon-ish Dallas Cowboys fandom (2005-2006), solely because he was playing for them.
• Bledsoe's cannon arm in its prime, that -- assuming he had sound blocking during the play -- could make any throw, any where with surgical precision

But now, that's all over. So the question presents itself: Is Bledsoe Hall of Fame worthy?

On the New England Patriots message board I post on at over football's future, user "cordovagolfer" and I came up with a pro-HOF argument.

I wrote, "...I think his numbers alone garner at least some HOF consideration. 4 Pro Bowls. 2 AFC Championships. (1 Super Bowl, if we're counting that.) Top 10 in a few major QB statistical categories. I don't know, we'll see."

cordovagolfer wrote, "First it's 2 Super Bowls - 96 and 01 [he seemed to favor appearances alone as an accomplishment]. Let's not forget without him we don't beat Pittsburgh and then never get there.

Top 10 in Yardage and Completions. #13 in TD's. Everyone (who's retired) in that range is in the HOF. Whenever this man had an offensive line in front of him he performed better than anyone else. You can't call what Buffalo and Dallas put in front of him offensive lines, just offensive. He was one of the best pocket passers ever to play. His problem was always mobility. That shouldn't get him discarded from consideration. He will be every bit a serious candidate, just like Tippett."

To counter, user "Tzimisce" (a Patriots fan, who I consider to be the most intelligent poster in the whole forum) made his anti-HOF argument.

Tzimisce wrote, "He's one of those stat-padder types. Like Vinny Testaverde, but without the longevity.

As far as I'm concerned, the HOF should only be for truly dominant players. And Bledsoe was never in that category - not even close. He never really developed great football fundamentals. He was always trying to make the big play, rather than taking what the defense gave him, and that's why he was run out of New England. After the '00 season, I knew that he wasn't long for this town, even if Mo Lewis hadn't nearly killed him in week 2 of '01. Brady would've become our starting QB at some point during that season, regardless.

Bledsoe will forever belong in that second or third tier of QBs - guys who were good when placed in the right situation, with the right talent around them, but were never good enough to carry a team. He's in the same league as Kenny Anderson, Vinny T, Dave Krieg and Steve DeBerg - none of whom were Canton-worthy, even though they certainly had some very good years. If you want to see why Bledsoe was never a great QB, watch a tape of him performing when the defense got pressure from the outside, and then watch one of Brady in the same situation.

Brady would either dump it off to the running back in the flat, or step up into the pocket and throw it at someone's feet, where it couldn't get picked off.

Bledsoe, on the other hand, would continue to stand there like a statue until he was sacked, or he would wing it into coverage downfield, where it could've easily gotten picked off. The dude simply didn't have the pocket presence and intangibles that seperate [sic] the decent QBs from the great ones."

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Whether you agree or disagree with Bledsoe being in the Hall of Fame, Tzimisce certainly makes a better argument.

But the numbers (padded or not) are up there with the best QBs of all-time, and maybe for some voters, that will be enough to push him in.

RIP Drew Bledsoe's NFL Career (1993-2007) ... He Gone.

Chief Gone!

I've always really hated Illinois Fighting Illini mascot, Chief Illiniwek. Actually, no, I take that back. "Hate" is too strong of a word. I guess I always just thought he was kind of stupid.

I wasn't ever personally offended by him, but I always understood why whites and Native Americans were. Here was some kid doing dances that all but mocked a culture that (the majority of fans) knew nothing about. On top of this, the dances aren't all that great. It's nothing out of the ordinary. I, with no dancing experience, feel like I could probably learn the act if given a day of lessons.

Since 2004, I've attended three or four football games at Champaign's Memorial Stadium, and each time, the fans went gah-gah for the Chief. They freaking loved the guy, and there's no argument about that.

In the midst of these games, the Illini were usually getting crushed by whatever Big Ten foe I happened to see them matched up against, and U of I fans typically never made it to the 4th quarter of the game...but they did, however, always make it to half-time.

Why? To watch Chief Illiniwek.

I'm sorry, but we live in an age of YouTube, the internet, special effects, and all that glitz, and these kids are entertained by some mascot doing dances. Come on, guys, I know you've seen better. In the end, it always seemed like they were just pretending to be captivated more than anything else.

I can easily equate this to another in-conference school. I currently attend the University of Iowa, and at our typically sold-out football games, entertainment comes in the form of Herky (our mascot) and Diana "The Golden Girl" Reed, who works her magic with a baton.

Now, if Herky and Reed were plucked from half-time at Iowa games, the students would be furious -- just like the ones at Illinois. But they need to understand that some people are offended by the entertainment they love.

It's all just about entertainment, and in my opinion, mascots stop being entertaining once you leave elementary school. Any adult or college student who develops a real attachment to a mascot and their act to the point where they're horrified to see them go has more problems than a bland half-time show. Trust me.

Any argument in favor of the Chief usually uses the word "tradition."

Give me a break, slavery was a tradition. And there's a reason the three-point line was added to the NBA and the goal-posts were moved to the back of the end zone in the NFL -- the sports are simply better off with the changes, regardless of the original states.

I'm sorry, but I just find it hard to believe the people who support the Chief care more about him than the people who are offended by him. The people that like him are all about his entertainment value and supplementing of school spirit. The people against him are offended because he mocks their cultural roots and heritage. To me, they have more of a point.

In this debate, it's all about taking something away. The administration either has to take away the majority's "entertainment" or the minority's "offended-ness." And correct me if I'm wrong, but keeping people un-offended is a lot more important than weakly entertaining them with a mascot more intended for children than anyone else.