Never know when a bunny is going to be Larry English -- or Buster Davisby Kevin AceeIn January, while I was on my annual two-week odyssey to the Senior Bowl and Super Bowl, my wife bought our daughter a bunny.Cute little bunny. There was much excitement in the house.Of course, the bunny doesn’t do much. Sort of a disappointment to those whose hopes were high.And now it turns out the rabbit has some sort of disorder that on Saturday set me back $200 for a surgery that evidently is not the last of the procedures for which we’ll be paying to keep it alive.It figures. This is how it often is when we get an animal. Why my wife continues to be surprised, I don’t know.All I can do in order to avoid 10-year-old-girl drama and wife-inflicted trauma is keep forking over money and hope the rabbit eventually gets healthy. I’ll at least give it another year before I forget to latch its cage and it gets out in the yard and I have no control over what happens to the poor little thing.Which brings me to Larry English.The Chargers used the 16th pick in the 2009 draft on English, a player Chargers General Manager A.J. Smith to this day believes to be the football equivalent of cute as a bunny (or something like that).English, who I’m told is healthy and will be ready to give it a go again in September, has played in just 29 games and made four starts in three seasons.Foot injuries and the accompanying surgeries have limited him to 13 games the past two seasons.Besides being bossy, what my wife and A.J. have in common is that they can’t seem to pick em’ lately.Call it a run of bad luck.My wife hasn’t always struck out like this. She did, after all, bring me home once.Smith, too, at one time hit gold with his picks way more often than not.I’m not saying Smith will let you down again this week. I’m not saying English won’t yet turn out to prove worth the investment. (Hey, I’m pulling for the bunny. I’m several hundred bucks in.)But Smith doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt anymore.Even if we take the kindest view — that Buster Davis happens, Antoine Cason has had moments, English hasn’t had a chance, Ryan Mathews is on the verge, Corey Liuget gets more time — you put Smith’s last five first-round picks together and they so far add up to not quite as much impact as, oh, I don’t know, one Clay Matthews.The Chargers have had just three second-round picks in that time. One of them, Eric Weddle, developed into a Pro Bowler. The other two were drafted last year, only one of which played a snap.The Chargers have had six third-round picks since 2007. Louis Vasquez is a bona fide starter, Vincent Brown and Donald Butler appear on their way to being major contributors, Shareece Wright has yet to impress and Anthony Waters was let go a few years ago.After that? Just six of the Chargers’ 20 picks in the fourth through seventh rounds since ’07 remain with the team.Look, this isn’t just a Chargers issue. The New England Patriots have made 28 picks in the fourth through seventh rounds over the past five years. Just nine of those players are still with the team.The NFL draft is like nothing else in sports. It’s not a sport, it’s televised educated guessing.Held over three days beginning Thursday, the draft will feature no actual athletic achievement, no tangible winners or losers.At least at the end of a cricket match, we know who won. We won’t know this draft’s “winners” for a few years, and even then it will be debatable.The draft will be watched on two different networks and various mediums by some 50 million people. It will trend on Twitter, be appreciated on apps. Newspapers and web sites will devote countless words to its coverage and analysis.There might be nothing else that illustrates the NFL’s genius and its built-in advantage over other professional leagues. It exploits our expectations and need for perpetual hope.But please, for your own good, good people who love the Chargers, don’t get your hopes up.The Chargers have eight picks, one in each of the first six rounds and two in the seventh.We don’t know how many of those bunnies will end up being let out in the yard.Anyway, you’ve been advised. Just take it as it comes. Please listen better than my wife.
Acee's right on the money here. All you haters out there that often imply Acee kisses AJ's sack... what say you?
Ever since Acee got the pay-grade bump and Gelkin took over as the "beat writer" for the UT, this has been the same tone that's come out of virtually every Chargers article Acee writes. The guy is bucking for more national media exposure and a TV gig not unlike one of the many syndicated sports writer talking heads on ESPN like Woody Page, Bill Plaschke, or J.A. Adande - the thing Acee fails to recognize (or accept) is that he's from a significantly smaller media market than any of those guys (except maybe Page) and thus doesn't have the name-recognition outside of that market to be memorable without some kind of biting personality (which evidently he's trying to pretend like he has suddenly developed now).
And you wouldn't? I say good for Acee, go for it. But what do I know, after all, I thought it was a good read. I guess it's just a whole lot more fun to rip on a guy.
Where are you getting that from this article? Seriously, I just don't get the Acee hate. Is it a club you all joined? Do you have meetings and what are the dues?
First, I object to the good name "whore" being dragged through the mud here. Second, I've always seen Acee as kind of a budget Ebert re. the Chargers: That is, he merely provides decent background on what he's covering... never anything mind-blowingly insightful, but rarely batsh!t insane, either (in fact, I appreciate when he points out a complete lack of evidence, re. various harebrained conspiracies dopes ask him about). Obviously--like virtually ever other beat writer in the country--he knows where his bread is buttered: you're careful about biting the hand that provides you the access you need to do your job. Is Acee significantly more or less "careful" in that regard than most beat writers? Not that I've noticed, having lived in a few other sports towns. Maybe a tad less than average. I think any guy in his position is low hanging fruit: and any bozo that disagrees with him (even if it's 100% baseless...and he generally suffers such fools more gracefully than I would) now has a soapbox, thanks to forums like this. Overall, I think that's healthy... but I will say that most of the times I've seen a fan vehemently going after the guy, it was the fan who was less informed or less rational. The reality is, the game has changed considerably since he signed up. Sportswriting used to be a pretty straightforward gig. Now you're expected to interact with morons (The 'Mailbag') and constantly use idiotic social media like Twitter. Before anyone says: "Hey, that's the job now...lots of dudes would love to have it," save it. I know. I'm just acknowledging that a once-cool job now has a very stupid side. I wouldn't do it. (when guys in here act like idiots, I can ignore them individually, or just take a week-long walk...sportswriters can't) Lastly, this isn't so much a defense of Acee, as a "mostly agree" with ETicket. I don't think Acee deserves 85% of the cheapshots he (somewhat) gracefully absorbs. I've complained about him, but I save it for legit reasons (I ridiculed his absolute certainty that Merriman would be chased after '09...for good reason). I think some others just unload on him when he won't parrot their under-informed views. Bottom line: he's probably my single biggest source of Charger info. Do I love the guy? No. Do I kill the messenger when he brings bad news? No. Do I roll my eyes when guys who know 20% of what Acee does pretend they know 100% more? (I'm obviously not talking about the LBCs of the world) Yeah. But that's just me. If I let "stupid" get to me, I'd be permanently cranky... and that ain't my style. Life's too short...and football's too much fun.
It's an exclusive one. If you have to ask you wouldn't understand. The word "hate" now gets thrown around like a baseball in a game of pepper. There's no hate of Acee on my part. I reserve that emotion for folks who have truly earned it & they are damned few who I know personally. No, it's merely very disingenuous when Acee moves from slobbering AJ's knob to now calling him out on draft picks. What changed other than his job title? Either he was a BS analysis as the beat writer & has now developed a new level of vision, he was a good beat writer & is now aiming higher with his cute brand of "humor", he's been a hack & continues in that vein, or we "haters" just don't care for him as a sportswriter. Keep your dues. It's not a club. It's simply a group of folks who search & find far better sources for football info & don't care for Acee pandering one day (to the detriment of his craft) & then quite obviously gunning for more exposure the next. The same goes for you, Lance. Try looking for Chargers', or football in general, news from other sources. You might find a bit of enlightenment. I do that for ALL of my news or any other subject of interest. Now let me go write this poor public figure an apology for my harsh criticism. I'm sure he's at home crying right now.
Acee as a beat writer did kiss AJ's sack. Now that he has this new role he is trying to gain attention and stir controversy. He probably has some pent up feelings too that he can finally let out. Just give it time and you will see his articles go helter skelter.
Really, Buck? You're thinking that I was--in any way--saying that I don't get Charger news (or general news, for that matter) from many sources?!? Really? Acknowledging that more flows from that one tap than any other singular source, paints me as some kind of incurious, myopic child? Really?
I think you're going just a bit overboard here, Lance. I never called you anything of the sort. You're the one that said you get the preponderous of your Charger news at this well. I merely suggested that you look outside this box. If you want to take what I said to that extreme, have at it. Enjoy your misplaced hurt feelings.
I don't have "hurt feelings," misplaced or otherwise. I merely pointed out how ridiculous was your lazy (and obviously wrong) negative interpretation of what I said. First, I think the word you were trying to use is "preponderance." And that would suggest a majority, in this context. Of course, I said (nor meant) no such thing. When I said "...he's probably my single biggest source of Charger info..." I was thinking that Acee stories probably make up 10 to 20 percent of Charger news I seek out...likely the largest single chunk. So either your reading skills are in decline, or you're knowingly going out of your way to insult me. Neither is very pretty. (I've wasted enough time on this for now...attempt to defend your lousy position alone, if you have the need)
You're correct - preponderance. More coffee please. I'm going nowhere with you. Simply seems quite the shame to jump so quickly to the supposition that I was insulting you. If you consider what I said an insult, I'd suggest you grow a much-needed pair. That was an insult. Know the difference.
Fair enough, but from my point of view you're hyper-critical of the man. I don't really care enough to further a debate, again, I'm just curious about the source of negativity when an article I found well-written is so callously panned. It does leave me wondering though, who do you think is a good sports writer?
I've never been too critical of Acee. I always thought he was one of the better NFL beat writers out there. But I found this article to be awful. The tortured bunny metaphor was neither insightful nor interesting, just distracting. It seems since he's now a columnist, Acee feels the need to inject more of himself into the story. Unfortunately, that's the culture of celebrity that exists in journalism today. It's more about self-promotion than it is about what you are reporting.
Charger-centric? Scott Bair does a nice job of balancing being a Charger fan & remaining objective, IMO.
Ive just been entertained by that little "titty-4-tatty" between Lance-a-lot-link and Buck-4-a-fark, most intriguing stuff indeed. Lance is a William Wordsmith with the Queen's English, much like yourself and Bucko's no slouch himself, so for us less edukated cretins, its a pleasure to watch occasionally.
