Boris @ RCMH with Coach, Day 1
Without a doubt this is always my longest post of the year. Here we go….
I fly into NY on Friday on about 3 hours sleep, get to the hotel at about 5:30 PM or so & meet up with “Coach” He looks like a former rock band manager of mine. Both of us are starving and we head over to ESPN Zone to meet up with Chad Reuter of cbssports.com.
Conversation is excellent trading a few jokes & stories back & forth. Chad doesn’t have any new information for us. I tell Chad how I won’t believe K.C. takes Tyson Jackson until the commish announces it tomorrow afternoon. Kiper & McShay never get this stuff right. To their credit, they did have it right this year.
We finish dinner, say goodbye to Chad then Coach & I head out to Times Square and partake in some nightlife. We head over to the Playwright 2, A nice Irish pub. Ah yes, I almost forgot about Aiksa (EYE-eek-sa) Boris’ favorite female bartender from last year. Coach & I started out big at ESPN Zone with a few 32oz. beers. We continued on with Murphys (a Guinness clone) for Coach and I was drinking a NY favorite, Brooklyn Brown Ale. Banter was good and we discussed what we think the Packers would do tomorrow. We also discussed people on timesfour. Wouldn’t you like to have been a fly on the wall of that conversation!? My Co-worker showed up and he was good for a few laughs. Coach switched it up and started hitting the whiskey. (Crazy band managers) I stayed with beer. I went over to talk with Aiksa and let her know we’d be back tomorrow night as it was about 3:30 AM. Running on 3 hours of sleep I’m exhausted. We arrive back at the hotel. Coach is going to grab a hotdog from a street vendor and asks me if I want one. I say “sure.” He leaves the room. By the time he returns, I’m passed out on my bed, facedown. Coach ate both dogs himself.
We wake up on Draft day. Both of us are in rough shape. I think I’m worse than Coach. Draft doesn’t start until 4:00 PM EDT now so we have time. We get ready and head over to Katz’s deli. Well known place and the locals hang there. I look at the menu and like an angel sent it from heaven, there it is. Chicken noodle soup with a half sandwich. I have the corned beef and coach has the pastrami. The “half” sandwich is huge. This meal is guaranteed to cure any hangover. I can't stop commenting on how the coffee is practically life-giving.
Feeling much better, we hail a cab and head over to RCMH. On the cab ride over, I mention to coach how calm I am. I felt really good going into the draft today. Once at RCMH, I interview all the Packer fans to find out who they think we’ll take. B.J. Raji received most votes by the fans standing in line. We head down to the VIP entrance and hang out. I meet an Eagle fan who works for ESPN & said he had a great time at Lambeau field, Sept 2007 when the Packers beat the Eagles.
We head in to find our seats and receive our NFL schwag. Chad texts me as he’s trying to get a radio to listen to ESPN and/or NFL N. They won’t give media a radio but they give it to us fans. Weird! I find a radio for him and I thank the kid that gave it to us.
The countdown begins and the commish announces Stafford right away (THANKFULLY!) as he was signed on Friday evening. In the past they let the clock run. Chants of “OVER-RATED” fill the air of RCMH. Coach & I discuss the Rams. They have to take a LT. The guys on TV are talking they might take Sanchez. Nope. Jason Smith it is.
Now we get to the pivotal pick of the draft. #3 overall. I was floored when the commish announced “Tyson Jackson”. Somebody leaked something because practically every mock draft had K.C. taking this guy. Pioli better watch out for that next year. Maybe that’s part of his plan (next year) to leak something then go a different direction.
I have a Seattle fan sitting next to me. He’s so nervous they’re going to blow the pick. He says he never wants to pick this high again. He wants Curry. He’s thrilled when the commish announces “Seattle selects, AARON CURRY”. So far everyone seems happy with their picks.
The Browns are up. Shortly after they are on the clock they announce the Browns have traded with the Jets which of course makes the Jets fans go crazy. It’s funny, while the Jets fans seem the most boisterous on TV, there’s really only a dozen or so of them. I’ve been here 3 years in a row now and it’s the same guys every year. There are just as many Packer fans but we don’t all huddle together and make a bunch of noise. I suppose if we did, we’d get on TV.
Once Sanchez is announced as the #5 pick most Jets fans are happy with the pick but a few aren’t. I guess you can’t please everyone all the time.
I’m fairly certain they’re going to take “Floppy” (Andre Smith). Floppy McMantitties as he’s affectionately known as on timesfour.com. Talking to coach, I relay the interview I saw with Marvin Lewis. I could tell they really liked him. Once the Raiders are on the clock, I’m screaming “Heyward-Bey” begging Al Davis to take him. A Charger fan is in front of me. He turns around and he doesn’t quite understand why I’m saying it. Obviously if they take the speedster, that just leaves a better player on the board for Green Bay. The crowd erupts in laughter after the selection is announced. Everyone around us is high-fiving. Mayock says, “I think this is a little high for him. (With Mayocks eyes very wide) I hope they plan on blocking some people!” (more laughter)
So now here we sit with Monroe, Crabtree & Raji on the board. I grab coach on the shoulder and say “We’re gonna get Crabtree!!!” because I know Jax is taking Monroe. They need OL help desperately. A Bear fan behind us “gulps” with the thoughts of having to defend Driver, Jennings, Crabtree & Jordy Nelson & oh yeah Ruvell with James Jones. Hahahahaha It’s so cool to be in this slot. I’m fairly certain that had the Browns not traded with the Jets, we would have received some serious offers for our #9 slot. After Monroe is selected, Visions of 4 WR sets with Grant & 5 WR sets are blasting through my brain. Who would you cover??
The TV coverage is outstanding as they have cameras at peoples houses so we get to see when draft picks are on the phone before the commish announces it. Crabtree is not on the phone, BJ Raji is. Pretty easy to figure out whom the Packers like. I smile as the commish announces the pick to make it official. I know it’s the right player to select and fills a gigantic need at the same time. As you all know in a 3-4 defense, the NT is the cog that makes the entire thing work. The main reason I liked Crabtree over Raji was I didn’t believe Raji could be a 3-down player. However, we find out the Packer coaching staff does believe he can be a 3-down player and they mention playing Raji along WITH Pickett at the same time. I hadn’t thought about that but keeping OL off our LB’ers is the key to make this defense work. Those LB’ers in Pittsburgh wouldn’t be nearly as good without Casey Hampton & Aaron Smith doing all the unheralded dirty work in the middle. We will need the same effort from our DL & I think we have the players to execute the scheme well. As TT said, “The good lord didn’t make too many human beings like BJ Raji.” Ain’t it the truth. BJ has every opportunity to be the new Warren Sapp in the NFL. Coach & I discuss how it’s the right selection. We’re both cool with it.
The draft continues on. The picks are coming off the board and we aren’t seeing any real surprises. Surprises were Tampa trading up 2 slots for a QB. The 2 Tampa fans sitting next to us are not happy at all. Hahahah I’m so glad we have TT running our draft.
The Browns keep trading down, this time with the Eagles. The Eagles select Maclin. We find out later that the Eagles traded up 2 slots because they were receiving a furious amount of phone calls for their slot. Reid said they had Maclin rated in their top 10. It all makes sense now.
The Browns are on the clock. They finally decide to make a selection and the commish says, “The Browns HAVE made a selection!!” to the sarcastic cheers/laughs of RCMH. Alex Mack C Cal. Good pick.
On ESPN they are talking about the Pats wanting to trade out of their #1 slot. The Pats do trade with the Ravens and the Ravens take Oher. Some of the crowd stands and cheers as Oher is the last player in the green room & is a great story.
About pick #25, I said to coach, “I wonder if TT is thinking about getting back into late round 1 or early round 2 with those (2) 3rd rounders. They announce Miami takes Vontae Davis then the Pats are on the clock. I think it was about 90 seconds in, they announce the Pats had traded the pick and Green Bay is on the clock. I looked at Coach with a stunned look and said “Britton?!?” My thinking is you only make this move for an impact player (LT, QB, Skill position OR a PASS RUSHER!).
When the commish comes to the podium and announces “CLAY MATTHEWS” Coach & I erupt with a loud cheer! Perhaps even better was the collective “groan” heard throughout RCMH from all the opposing fans. Needless to say we were very stoked with our 1st (2) selections in the 2009 NFL Draft.
When the commish announced the compensation for Matthews, coach & I looked at each other initially thinking it was too much to give up. Then we shrugged our shoulders. Think about it. An extra 3rd rounder in a draft that the “genius” Bill Belichick said he didn’t like. However, I’m guessing they did like Clay Matthews as most of the mocks had C.M. going to the Pats. He definitely fits what they do in New England. The Pats did say they liked next years draft much better, so they weighed their options and decided to use the extra picks they received to trade them for next years draft picks plus some players this year. I think Patrick Chung has a chance to do something in Pats land.
Well, no more Packer picks on day 1 but the smiles on our faces lasted longer than the draft. We stuck around until about the middle of round 2 as we had reservations at Ben Bensons so we left a little early. Oh yes, a nice dry martini, lump crab cocktail, filet mignon & lobster topped off with vanilla ice cream & wild turkey (yes that bottle of wild turkey) sauce. Ben Bensons is simply an outstanding place to eat. Yes we saw Pat Kirwan there again. If you ever get a chance to go, do not turn it down. It is probably one of the top 5 steakhouses in the country.
We headed over to Playwright 2 again to grab a couple more beers. Aiksa is working and the place has a few less people than Friday evening. I walk over to her and wink. She smiles back. I order a couple of beers for me & coach. She comes back and says, “These 2 are on the house honey.” I tip her $3. What a great, fun, sexy bartender!
We finish up a few beers and it’s about 1:30 AM. We decide it’s time to head back to the hotel and grab some shut-eye for tomorrow since we need to be there before 10:00 AM. I walk over to give my tearful goodbye to Aiksa and tell her I’ll see her next year.
That’s all for day 1 of Boris’ 2009 trip to NY. Let me know if you’re interested in day 2.
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