I don’t mean to gloat, but does Mr. Armchair know how to pick them of what? Bubba Freaking Watson if you need him, folks. Bubba captured his first Major, winning the Masters in a sudden death playoff over Louis Oosthuizen. Yes, I know I picked Tiger to win or finish in the top 4, and that prediction blew up in my face. In hence sight, I will admit that I took the suckers bet and bought into Tiger’s performance at Bay Hill and thought it would carry over to the Masters. Obviously, that didn’t happen, as Tiger finished with a final score of +5, his worst Masters finish since he missed the cut in 1996. But everyone knows that when you pick Tiger to win a Major, especially the Masters, you always follow it up with another come bet. When you win 14 Majors like Tiger, and in the fashion that he did, you’ve earned the right for everyone to consider you a favor in every Major you enter from here on out. So when making predictions for Major winners, you always go “Tiger and….” My “and” for the Masters was Bubba Watson.
This was one of the best Masters we’ve seen in recently years, maybe even since El Tigre won his first Masters in 1997 when he went off for -18, winning by 12 strokes. The only another Masters victory that might compare was when Hefty Mickelson won his first Masters, sinking that birdie putt on 18 and then subsequently leaping an inch and a half off of the green in celebration. This Masters also featured two of the best golf shots I’ve ever seen. The first being Louis Oosthuizen’s 2nd shot on the Par 5 second hole, resulting in a double-eagle; a shot more rare than a hole-in-one. It was the first ever double-eagle shown live in Masters’ history. The second greatest shot being Bubba Watson’s 2nd shot on the second sudden death playoff hole, a right hook from the pin straw that landed just short of the green but rolled to within 10 feet for a birdie putt. My butt-hole puckered up after watching that shot. But what made this Masters so incredible was that the two golfers battling for the Green Jacket were in the same pairing. We got to watch the battle occur instantaneously, instead of having the leader be waiting in the clubhouse and checking the leaderboard to see if anyone has chased him down; or the leader is in one of the final pairings and has widen the lead to where the leader curses into the 18th green for victory.
I was fortunate enough to play in a Masters pool this year. The creator broke up the field and made 10 tiered-groups, based on talent, ranking, and probably of winning. From the top 9 groups, you pick one golfer from each group, and 2 from group 10, seemingly the worst group. From your pool of 11 golfers, you must have at least 5 golfers make the Masters cut. From there, you take your 5 best golfers final scores and that is your cumulative score. Needless to say, your boy here finished 3rd with a final cumulative score of -24. Thank you, Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen, for playing lights out on Easter Sunday. Here was my stable of golfers:
Tiger Woods +5
Bubba Watson -10
Nick Watney +3
Louis Oosthuizen -10
Paul Casey – missed cut
Zach Johnson +3
Jim Furyk -3
Robert Garrigus – missed cut
Padraig Harrington -4
Angel Cabrera +3
Stewart Cink +8
Mr. Armchair’s NFL Draft Mock #1 -
Everyone who knows me knows that I love the NFL Draft. It’s one of my seven Christmas’s (Opening Day of Baseball, First Sunday of the NFL Season, Super Bowl Sunday, The Masters, First Round of March Madness, and the Kentucky Derby). We are two weeks out from the NFL Draft, so I thought I would unleash my first mock draft of this draft season, and the week of I will unveil my final mock.
Mock Draft #1 (Subject to Change) –
1. Indianapolis Colts – Andrew Luck, QB Stanford
Best QB prospect coming out of college since John Elway. This is a virtual lock.
2. Washington Redskins (from St. Louis Rams) – Robert Griffin III, QB Baylor
The 1a of this draft class; the Redskins sold the city to move up to get the Heisman winner.
3. Minnesota Vikings – Matt Kalil, OT USC
Vikings could surprise people and go Justin Blackmon, but Kalil is the Andrew Luck of OT prospects.
4. Cleveland Browns – Trent Richardson, RB Alabama
His pro day confirmed that he’s worthy of spending a top 5 pick on, a practice that is frowned upon.
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Morris Claiborne, CB LSU
Best CB prospect in the draft. Ronde Barber isn’t getting any younger and Aqib Talib is a head case.
6. St. Louis Rams (from Washington Redskins) – Justin Blackmon, WR Ok St.
The Rams get their wish in trading down from #2 and still getting their WR for Sam Bradford.
7. Jacksonville Jaguars – Quinton Coples, DE UNC
He’s the most athletic DE in the draft, but off-field issues are a great concern.
8. Miami Dolphins – Ryan Tannehill, QB Texas AM
Tannehill’s college head coach is now the Dolphins OC. Put two-and-two together.
9. Carolina Panthers – Dontari Poe, DT Memphis
The winner of the best scouting combine workout. He’s the run-stopping NT they need on D.
10. Buffalo Bills – Riley Reiff, OT Iowa
They could go WR here as well, but they need to protect their $59 million Harvard man.
11. Kansas City Chiefs – Fletcher Cox, DT Miss St.
New head coach Romeo Crennel is a defensive guy and Cox is just as athletic as Poe.
12. Seattle Seahawks – Melvin Ingram, DE/OLB S. Carolina
After swinging and missing on Aaron Curry, the Hawks need to establish a pass-rush.
13. Arizona Cardinals – Michael Floyd, WR ND
Fitzy can’t do it all himself and after missing on Peyton, this relieves some pressure off Kolb.
14. Dallas Cowboys – David DeCastro, OG Stanford
If Mr. Jones is truly committed to Romo as his QB, then he needs to keep him upright.
15. Philadelphia Eagles – Luke Kuechly, ILB BC
He could go higher than this. A tackling machine is perfect for a weak-tackling defense.
16. New York Jets – Courtney Upshaw, DE/OLB Alabama
Best available talent pick here and you can never have enough pass-rushers.
17. Cincinnati Bengals (from Oakland Raiders) – Cordy Glenn, OG/OT Georgia
They have a QB in place; now the goal is to keep him on the field and give him time to throw.
18. San Diego Chargers – Michael Brockers, DT LSU
Their D-line was torched with injuries. This will provide them with more depth.
19. Chicago Bears – Jonathan Martin, OT Stanford
The Bears will go only as far as Culter will take them. He needs to be on the field for that to happen.
20. Tennessee Titans – Mark Barron, S Alabama
I’ll likely move Barron up in the draft in my final mock, but the Titans are praying he falls to them.
21. Cincinnati Bengals – Stephon Gilmore, CB S. Carolina
Do you really want to rely on Pacman Jones to be your slot CB?
22. Cleveland Browns (from Atlanta Falcons) – Kendall Wright, WR Baylor
Step two of improving their awful offense. This gives Colt McCoy another target to throw too.
23. Detroit Lions – Dre Kirkpatrick, CB Alabama
If the Lions had a decent CB last season, they could have really made some noise in the playoffs.
24. Pittsburgh Steelers – Dont’a Hightower, ILB Alabama
After being torched by Tebow in the playoffs, the Steelers need an influx of young talent on D.
25. Denver Broncos – Janoris Jenkins, CB N. Alabama
He is a major talent but has major off-field issues. Hopefully being on a veteran team will cure that.
26. Houston Texans – Lavonte David, LB Nebraska
They would love Wright here, but they also just traded away DeMarco Ryan to clear cap space.
27. New England Patriots (from New Orleans) – Chandler Jones, DE Syracuse
Andre Carter remains unsigned and they let Mike Anderson go in free agency.
28. Green Bay Packers – Nick Perry, DE/OLB USC
Can play both DE and OLB and will provide good depth at those position for the Pack.
29. Baltimore Ravens – Mike Adams, OT Ohio St.
The Ravens can go a number of ways here, drafting help at LB, S, or C. This pick will change as well.
30. San Francisco 49ers – Stephen Hill, WR Georgia Tech
I’m not so sure it’s a lock the 49ers take a WR here anymore. They need depth at DL as well.
31. New England Patriots – Kendall Reyes, NT UCONN
The Pats need help on defense in the worst way and Ty Warren isn’t getting younger either.
32. New York Giants – Andre Branch, DE Clemson
The Giants will probably lose Osi to free agency and their butter-and-bread is their pass rush.
Mr. Armchair Speaks –
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