Off the Bench

The NFL season is just under 6 weeks from now and that means that fantasy football draft season is about to kick into high gear. If you're like me then you are probably 1) scared to death that one of your stellar keepers is going to do something stupid during training camp and be out for the season or 2) hoping that an RG3 or Chris Johnson situation doesn't rear its head this year and bite you in the butt. Well luckily for you I have done some thinking and research and maybe I can help you get into draft day with a better idea of the scope of the league this year and some do's and dont's for your draft day. Offseason Recap Luckily the NFL's offseason isn't nearly as crazy as other sports. While the NFL draft always brings in fresh high-quality talent every year, lots of your top tier players in the league don't shift teams very often. Even with that in mind, what happened between February and now? BIG DEAL: RB Marshawn Lynch is on the Oakland Ra...

As I'm sure you are well aware, or maybe you aren't, the MLB Trade deadline (meaning no more trades without waivers are allowed after the date) is on July 31st. After then all the teams are off to the races trying to get into the playoffs. Only 10 can get in, so things get pretty tight! The MLB trade deadline is unlike any other in the sense that almost any player is up for grabs. Many top-tier players will shift hands every year in order to give buying teams a "win now" approach and give the selling teams the "hey maybe we should rebuild" approach. Are you ready? I am. Not your typical trade deadline blog post, I will give you news on what could go down, who is involved, and my personal opinion about how I feel about each player and team. Basically, here is a list and I hope you enjoy my doodling! Giancarlo Stanton One of the biggest bats in league (Ahem..he just passed Aaron Judge for the home run lead at 33) is looking like a big fish in the mark...

That Moment When...Nick Saban is set to earn 11.125 MILLION dollars in 2017 and is set to earn between $65 and $71 million through 2025. Can I earn that much money??? What do I have to do?? Well to start off, winning 5 college football national championships and four with the team that is going to be paying you their entire life savings is probably step one. Seriously though, why is Nick Saban paid so much? Is anyone really worth that kind of money? Hang tight and let's think this one out. Let's start with the obvious counterpoints to this argument. First of all, Nick Saban is hired by the University of Alabama, a public college that is in part funded by taxpayers. Now of course the school is also funded considerably by donations and...ahem...tuition and fees. My question as a college student now is, "is my tuition money seriously going to Nick Saban and not my degree?". To be honest, probably not. Alabama earns close to the tune of $100 million a year from ...

So the first half of the 2017 MLB season has come to a close and it was celebrated with an astonishing show by Aaron Judge in the Home Run Derby (let's just say it wasn't close) and a spectacular All Star game where the AL won their FIFTH consecutive game (jeez...come on NL. Are you even trying?). With all this being said, how about we look over the first half of the season and see what went right, wrong, and in between in a season filled with power, rookies, and big money teams winning big. Aaron Judge: I think starting out with one of the hottest bats in the league is very appropriate to start remarking on the first half of this season, and HOLY COW this rookie's bat is hot. In addition to hitting .319/.442/.602, which is incredible, this man has hit 30 home runs this season. In case you didn't know, Aaron Judge just passed Joe DiMaggio's rookie home run record for the Yankees and it isn't even August yet. Seeing this rookie hit makes you want to say ...

Welcome to Off the Bench ! On this page I’ll be posting my commentary on the latest in sports news, statistics, trades, and activity. Don’t expect all of my posts to be your average sports posts. I want to try and share my personal relationship with professional and college athletics and give you a glimpse into my mind. I hope you enjoy everything that is to come. If you want to see my opinions on any other topics, feel free to write me a comment! My first love of sports came with my introduction to baseball back when I was a little guy. I was a sporadic little kid who tried everything from karate to soccer to clarinet and basketball. Surprisingly, I never played baseball and that is one of my biggest regrets to this day. So how did my passion for baseball begin? It began at Busch Stadium II, the home of baseball heaven. Back before the new stadium was built around the footprint of Busch II in 2006, Jim Edmonds, Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, and Mark McGuire took their swings in t...