The House of Crouse 7.28.08

Posted by Mark Crouse on 07.28.2008

This week Mark gives his two cents on recent NFL trades, the Favre Epic, and what he thought of The Dark Knight. Read on for all the details!

Welcome to another edition of The House of Crouse. This week, I'll examine some recent trades in the NFL and MLB and their impact on your fantasy leagues. I'll also give my two cents on the Brett Favre situation, as well as review the British Open and what the landscape for the PGA is after their first Tigerless major. Let's start with some news and notes.


-The Miami Dolphins traded former Defensive Player of the Year and Dancing With the Stars finalist Jason Taylor to the Washington Redskins for a second round draft pick in '09 and a sixth round pick in '10. In fantasy terms, this trade is meaningless, since you should not be drafting the Redskins or Dolphins defenses under any circumstances.

-The New York Giants traded mercurial TE Jeremy Shockey to the New Orleans Saints for a second and fifth round pick in the '09 draft. Adding Shockey makes the Saints' offense the second best in the NFC, behind Dallas. Having a top tight end makes Drew Brees a top-5 quarterback, and no longer makes drafting him or Carson Palmer a toss-up. Shockey should put up good numbers with a better quarterback and a more pass-oriented offense (New Orleans averaged about 60 yards through the air more than the G-Men in '07), but I wouldn't draft him since I won't be able to get him where I would want him, since someone will overvalue the former Miami Hurricane.

The fantasy flipside of the trade is the new starter status of Kevin Boss. While not as talented as Shockey, Boss makes a good fantasy replacement off waivers for an injured starter. He has some upside, and has playmaking ability, but don't make him your starter until he proves he can put up consistent points.

-Colts wideout Marvin Harrison is rumored to have an outside chance to start practicing by the end of training camp. Harrison is dealing with knee issues, and since the Colts are short on receivers, Harrison's condiditon will likely determine if Indy needs to look to the free agent to fill out its receiving corps. Harrison's woes make him a very risky selection. I can't endorse taking him before the last few rounds as an end-of-bench flyer.
If Harrison can't go, second-year receiver Anthony Gonzalez steps into the starting lineup. Gonzalez had a decent rookie campaign as the team's third reciever, and has developed into a capable complement to Reggie Wayne. Taking him as your fourth receiver is a good idea over guys with no upside like Derrick Mason, Isaac Bruce, and the like. If he's a starter, Gonzalez could produce big numbers in an offense that has Joseph Addai, Wayne, and Dallas Clark attracting attention from defenses.

-Former Detroit Lions underachieving running back Kevin Jones has signed with the Chicago Bears. I acutally thought about not even writing about this, since Jones is only seven months past ACL surgery, but I'm including his signing only to tell you to run screaming from the former Virginia Tech star. Don't draft him no matter how clever you think you are.

-What can only be described as The Brett Favre Epic continues with the wishy-washy future Hall-of-Famer stating that he would report to Packer camp, and then not reporting. He also let the media know that he had signed his letter of reinstatement, but hasn't sent it yet, as of Sunday. As a fan of the Baltimore Ravens, I feel as if I'm obligated to comment on the possibility of Favre being traded to the Ravens, since they were named in a report that addressed which teams were talking to Green Bay about Favre. And my response:
HOLY CRAP, NO!!!

While Baltimore sports talk shows clatter with the sounds of fans dying to see Favre in the purple and black, I have to heartily disagree. Sure, Favre is still a top-ten NFL signal caller, and the Ravens are an aging team with a limited window of opportunity to win. But let's be honest, do they really want the burden of dealing with Favre's indecision after every season? And don't tell me Favre will probably only play one or at most two more seasons. That's what I heard two years ago when he began his habit of considering retirement and holding his team's offseason plans hostage.

I also don't want Favre to end up in Baltimore because I don't want Joe Flacco to become Aaron Rodgers. I'm convinced Green Bay has basically ruled out Favre coming back and starting for them because they realize that if The Aaron Rodgers Era doesn't begin soon, one of two things will happen: his contract will run out and they wasted a ton of money on a guy who never played for them, or his confidence is so shot that he doesn't develop into the quarterback his talent indicates he could be.


I'm a huge fan of golf, playing whenever I'm able, and following the PGA Tour to some extent. Watching the British Open last week was a surreal experience, since it is the first major without Tiger Woods. Greg Norman's run at the open made the event very watchable, but there won't be a story like Norman's reappearance to fuel interest, and even with Norman's story the ratings were way down. Not a good sign for the PGA.

Tiger's injury indicates how the PGA's strategy has become a double-edged sword in recent times. Focusing so much of their marketing and PR on Tiger's dominance has created a lopsided perception of the other golfers fans could be getting to know. Padraig Harrington's now back-to-back wins at the British have largely been overlooked since Tiger wasn't in the field, and that's a shame. If you care about golf, give one of the next few majors without Mr. Woods, and get to know the rest of the golfers. You may be surprised how entertaining it can be.


Before I sign off this week, I have to comment on watching The Dark Knight last weekend. For those of you who haven't seen it, go now. It lives up to all the hype that has flooded the media upon its release. Christian Bale is solid, but has a lot less to work with, and Aaron Eckhart turns in a great performance as Harvey Dent. Eckhart deserves a lot of credit for making Dent's character believable when it would have been easy to go way over the top with the story of the hero D.A. turned villain.

The late Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker is the best part of a great film. Ledger's greatest achievement in the role was his ability to take a comical villain and reimagine the character as the charismatic but sadistic incarnation in The Dark Knight. When he is not on screen, you are consciously waiting for him to return, which is a huge complement considering the caliber of the film's cast and the nature of the story, with great special effects and loads of action.

Ledger's performance deserves an Oscar nomination for supporting actor, and it has nothing to do with his passing. The Dark Knight is not a popcorn flick, and Ledger's performance as the most magnetic part of the experience, is worthy of nomination.

The other notable part of seeing The Dark Knight is that previews for The Spirit and Watchmen were debuted. I've have not read either comic, but they look like films that can be fun. The Spirit looks a bit too much like Sin City, which may hurt it from a mainstream standpoint. My only opinion on these two films is that once they both premiere, their box office outcomes will determine whether studios continue to turn every comic book into a film with a huge budget. My guess is that since they aren't recognizeable to everyone, particularly women, these two films will disappoint and thus change the paradigm for super hero and comic book movies that has ruled Hollywood in the last five years, and cause studios to be a little more cautious about greenlighting such films.


Well, that does it for me this week. Until the next edition, Godspeed.