Colt McCoy’s Pro Day

by Coltrane

Colt McCoy had an outstanding Pro Day on Thursday. At least one observer thought he looked better than likely #1 overall pick Sam Bradford.

Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy said McCoy answered any questions about his injury.

“I thought he did a very good job,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy was in Norman, Okla., on Monday to watch former Sooners quarterback Sam Bradford, who might be the first overall pick. Like McCoy, Bradford had a shoulder injury last season. Bradford completed all but one of his passes in front of the scouts.

“I liked this workout better. I thought Colt was challenged more in his workout as far as the types of throws,” McCarthy said. “Sam was very accurate, but Sam’s workout was very controlled. He didn’t do as much movement.”

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said it would be expected for McCoy to complete all of his passes.

“This is not real football, this is a workout,” Carroll said. “His footwork was really good.”

Carroll rated McCoy’s arm strength, a question mark for some scouts, as “solid.”

Bill Simmons, Propeller Head

by Coltrane

Bill Simmons has signed on to baseball’s stat-head revolution. Here’s a fun article that discusses some of the more popular sabermetric work. The piece is a friendly way to introduce stuff that can be fairly intimidating. Stuff like OPS, VORP, WAR, FIP, UZR, and BABIP. Simmons is always entertaining, read it and be informed.

If this kind of work interests you check out the Fangraphs link to the right.

Ichiro Traded? Griffey to Retire?

By Blaidd Drwg

In case you missed it, Larry Stone wrote an article entitled “Five rejected April Fools prank stories (No, Prince Fielder is NOT coming to Seattle)” in yesterday’s Seattle Times. He was trying to be funny, but in reality, 2 of the 5 stories would actually make the Mariners a better team if they happened:

2) Mariners trade Ichiro for Prince Fielder in blockbuster deal – Oh how happy would I be about this, a genuine power hitter in the lineup and a guy who probably has not hit his best seasons for a guy who probably is on the verge of a serious decline. Fielder is going to end up eating himself into the DH role in a couple of seasons, but the way I look at it, he is better than Ichiro currently and he will still be a significantly better than average hitter in 5 season when Ichiro is league average or worse. Besides, you can replace Ichiro pretty easily for a season while Mike Saunders gets ready to be a full time MLB player. Trade a slap hitter for a masher? In a second.

3) Griffey announces retirement – oh, one could only dream. I am not a fan of Griffey (and I am not shy about it) and I don’t understand how a city could love a guy who basically said that he hated it here and forced the team to trade him. The guy needs to call it quits – he was overmatched last season, but his ego is causing him to stay on. Yes, he can still hit mistake pitches over the plate a long way, but frankly, teams aren’t afraid of pitching to him anymore. He was pretty awful last season, is batting under .200 in spring training and is probably going to get 450 – 500 plate appearances this season since Wak just has to have him in the lineup (an probably batting 4th). If this team is serious about contending, can you really waste that many at bats on a guy who will hover in the low .200’s all season in an already suspect lineup?

Avila in Wallingford

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I had been meaning to visit a newer restaurant in Wallingford, Avila, right on 45th in the old Bella Cosa space, for some time now. I really had no excuse despite Mrs. Iron Chef Leftovers not really being interested in the menu – they are open for lunch. Well, I finally had the opportunity this week – all I can say is “WHAT THE HECK TOOK ME SO LONG”. The lunch menu consists of a variety of sandwiches, a couple of salads, a soup and a couple of sides. On the recommendation of Eric, who was manning the counter, I went with the Knuckle Sandwich – a grilled panino with swiss, sauteed onions and peppers, mustard greens and braised pork knuckle. This was one of the best sandwiches I had in a long time – immensely tender pork, well cooked veggies, the slight tangyness of the mustard greens and crispy bread, pretty amazing and only $9.

In talking to Eric while I was there, I found out that Avila only uses local and humanely raised meats, organic veggies, makes their own bread in house and cures their own meats. The chef is a firm believer in using the entire animal, so there are occasionally different choices on the menu and the menu does change regularly.

All in all, I was really impressed and I am going to add Avila into my normal lunch rotation. Now if I could just convince Mrs. Iron Chef to go there for dinner…