Kings will Rise.

Mike Richards is far from Philly but closer to a Cup.

Wherever and however you are reading this today, thank you for making this part of your day.  The Los Angeles Kings move on in five games over the Phoenix Coyotes, I had them in four, no surprise here. My Nashville Predators really blew the series vs. the Coyotes. The predators would have at least taken the series to six making the Kings chances better to win the Cup. 

I never personally like when a team has too many days off. Hockey, Baseball, and Basketball are sports where the team does better playing more often. The players get into a routine, which keeps them from getting distracted by added time off. While benefits from the time off, like healing injuries and rest, can be good. For teams in the playoffs I prefer momentum. The Kings have rolled with little resistance this post season only losing two games (12wins/14games).  Over in the Eastern conference you have a series between the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers that looks to go to six games at a minimum. A long series can benefit either of these teams in the Stanley Cup finals. A team pulling off a win in game seven often comes into game one of the next series with a lot of swagger. My vote for the Finals match up would be a Kings vs. Rangers series. Either way this L.A. team is special. I have compared them to the NFL’s New York Giants. The Giants went on a tremendous playoff run, much like the Kings are now, to claim their second title in five years. Both the Giants and the Kings won on the road. 

Kings of the Road- L.A. has won 8 of 8 road playoff games

This team can play in any area and come out with the W. No matter who the opponent is from the East I have made my pick. The Los Angles Kings will be the next Stanley Cup Champions.

For more updates from me you can follow me on twitter @chrisgrayarea. Or if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or complaints feel free to email me at chrisgrayarea@gmail.com

NFL Drafting vs College Recruiting

Les Miles one of the nations best recruiters

Wherever and however you are reading this today, thank you for making the Gray Area Matters Part of your day. I want to talk today about the difference between college recruiting and drafting players for the NFL. What surprises me most about college recruitment is the credit (or lack thereof) given to the coaches.  With the NFL draft, roughly 95% or more players come from the 120 FBS (division one) teams. Out of those, the NFL scouts and teams pick 7 players, and they end up with around 250 players total selected by the end. Most teams are concerned with players from round one to five actually becoming starters. But, in college, it’s a whole other story! You have 24 scholarships, and you are expected to make sure they all are legitimate players who will start at some point. A team can get away with a few players who stay on as back-ups, but for the most part, you sign a player to the school because a coach believes he will be a starter.  

Belichick is known relies more on veteran
free agents than on drafted players. 

My point is that college recruiting is much, much harder than selecting players for the draft. There are thousands of high schools across the country, and a potential college football player can come from just about anywhere. Not to mention, you are competing with those aforementioned other 119 teams just in the FBS! Add on top of that dealing with teenagers who struggle with decisions as we all did.  Also, a staggering number of commits never reach full potential because of lack of effort or of talent. Face it, sometimes players are only good in high school, much like some players are only good in college.

The difference in my mind is that in college if you have a poor recruiting year you can set your team back an entire season. In the NFL, it is very difficult for any team to completely miss in the draft. The information the NFL receives is much more accurate and reliable than what the college world is working with. The margin for error in the NFL may appear to be smaller but a team only adds seven players to its 53 man roster. While in college you add 24 players for a 72 man roster.  That means each year a college team adds and loses about a third of its roster year to year. 

Tommy Tubberville one of the best at getting the best
out of his players. 

The bottom line is that putting together a great recruiting class takes an all-around commitment from every one on a coaching staff. With many high school players trying to make it the next level, it takes tremendous effort to find the right ones for a team. I tip my hat to the coaches for that are able to do it year to year and build a solid program.  While the NFL may be the top level of the coaching world to some people, the best coaches in football just might be at the college level.  As always thank you for making this blog part of your day if you want to hear more from me you can always follow me on twitter @chrisgrayarea and don’t forget to check out the Facebook page for the latest updates! 

Bounty Shots

Wherever and however you are reading this today, thank you making the Gray Area Matters part of your day. This “Bounty” ordeal is getting way, way out of hand. By now most of you have heard about the Saints former defensive coordinator (now with the Rams) Gregg Williams placing bounties on star players. This broke on Friday and was an official NFL report. This is a huge deal because the year the Saints one the Super Bowl they knocked Kurt Warner (Cardinals) and Brett Favre (Vikings) out of the game. It is my opinion that any person with experience playing team sports wants to win. No one wants to permanently injure another player. However, knock them out of a game? Yes. You play harder when you are going against the best. Every person elevates their game when the stakes are at their highest. As I often quote, Herm Edwards said, “You play to win the game.”  

If that means you hit the best player a little harder, so be it. You want to slow them down any way you can. Those who say this is poor sportsmanship are the ones who crumble when the game is on the line. As a hockey player, I know people are going to take shots at me because I am good player, so I prepare for it. You prepare mentally and physically all week for your next opponent. Brett Favre doesn’t have a problem with it because he knows that is how the game is played. You don’t think every top player expect to get everyone’s best shot? They do. Example: my man, Sidney Crosby, comes back from almost a year off the ice and David Krejci goes right at him and nails him. This tested Sidney, and in this case, he was injured unfortunately. Ok, maybe that was a bad example. 

The point is that top players are going to be hit harder and tested more because they are the best. It is never going to stop. Let me be clear I am not for placing a “bounty” as in cash for knocking a player out. Incentives like sacks, touchdowns, goals, homeruns, etc. are acceptable.  Basically, I am ok with top players being pressed harder because it comes with the territory. If you have got a problem with it, run to a lesser league, for example Russia, like some NHL players (Radulov) or retire (Kurt Warner). 

My final thought for this whole “Bounty” shot idea is this. Trusts that 99% of all players do not want to hit someone and cause a long-term injury.  Money being passed for knocking players out of games is bad; no one will deny that. The professional leagues will monitor and take precautions to ensure player safety is the best it can be. Trust that the leagues and players will do the right thing with these sorts of situations. As always, thank you for making this blog of your day. Please be sure to follow me on twitter @chrisgrayarea and like the Chris Gray Area on Facebook.