The Musings of a Giant Idiot

Last week we started our softball season and our year hiatus showed. Thursday night we played two of our make up games and it was looking like a repeat of the first night. Then our bats came alive and we came back from a big deficit to tie the game in the top of the last inning. Our opponents won the game in the bottom of the inning but we had fought back and it gave us confidence for our second game plus this guy hit his first homer ever. The second game was a back and forth affair until our bats went cold. We were down 6 going into the bottom of the last inning. With our lineup scoring 7 runs to win is not difficult but we had hit our allotted 4 home runs and any homer after that was an out. So we would have to manufacture the runs. Everyone was hitting frozen ropes and we started chipping away at their lead. We got the winning run on third with no outs and our 10th batter up. He hit a deep shot to right that hit in the net for a double and the winning run scored! Our first win of the season! It was a great night for the team, no one hit into a triple play and we won in dramatic fashion.

The Titans finally got rid of Pacman Jones trading him to Dallas for a 4th round pick and an additional pick if Jones can behave himself. Going from Nashville to a Dallas it will be interesting to see if he can keep his nose clean. I never understood why the Titans drafted Jones with the 6th pick in 2005 and not Antrel Rolle. Pacman is a talented player but there were to many red flags that made him a very risky pick. It reminded me of Lawrence Phillips being drafted in 1996. Phillips was the Nebraska running back who missed most of the 1995 college season for beating up his ex-girlfriend. But his mix of power and speed was to much to pass up and the Rams took him with the 6th pick. Phillips is a cautionary tale on selecting talent over behavior problems.

Although the warning signs were there with Pacman the Titans decided to draft him anyway. For their troubles the Titans got 30 games out of Pacman in 3 seasons. His first year was mediocre, he was late signing which caused him to miss some training camp but he had his moments especially on special teams. His second year was much better, he became a better cover corner and had 4 interceptions, he also returned four punts for touchdowns.

He still had incidents both on and off the field but because he was playing well it was ignored. Any goodwill he accumulated in the 2006 season was gone once he was involved in the shooting at a Las Vegas strip club during the NBA All Star game. He was suspended for the 2007 season and the Titans finally knew they had to get rid of him.

Even with Pacman gone he could still cost the Titans a draft pick. One of the conditions of the trade is Pacman’s reinstatement, if he is reinstated the Titans will get the Cowboys 6th round pick in 2009. If he is not reinstated then the Cowboys get the Titans 4th round pick in 2009. I am glad he is gone, I enjoyed some of his moments on the field and liked using him in Madden but I am glad the Titans can now focus on the team and not one player.