The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

I read another fairly pointless sports article the other day, courtesy of ESPN.com. This one was written by one Dan Graziano. The article was entitled, "Can Matt Barkley get into Eagles' QB race?" Here's how the article begins: "The Philadelphia Eagles announced that fourth-round pick Matt Barkley has signed his contract, which is not really news, since everybody knows all the draft picks will eventually sign and it's not as though they can sign anywhere else..." That's the perfect way to start an article - "X happened, which isn't really news, since it was inevitable it would happen anyway..." Graziano should have stopped there, but he didn't do that, unfortunately. He continued his "piece" by saying this: "...But it gives us a reason to bring up Barkley and discuss the extent to which he will or could factor into the Eagles' quarterback picture for 2013." Hadn't this already been discussed? ...

While I love statistics about as much as anyone this side of Nate Silver, there are some stats at which I have to roll my eyes, like this next one. The Philadelphia Eagles drafted USC quarterback Matt Barkley in the 4th round of the NFL Draft. Barkley will join the likes of Michael Vick, Nick Foles, and Dennis Dixon at the quarterback position. Thanks to "ESPN Stats and Information," the following stat was just released: "NFL - Vick and Foles Fumble, Barkley Doesn't Only 2 quarterbacks in the NFL had more fumbles than games played in 2012: Michael Vick (11 fum, 10 games) and Nick Foles (8 fum, 7 games). Matt Barkley had 10 fumbles in 47 games at USC -- that's the fewest fumbles by any FBS QB who played 47+ games from 2009-12." First off, both Vick and Foles played behind a battered offensive line all year, which didn't help their cause. Also, while Vick has been pretty notorious for fumbling the football throughout his NFL career, Foles was just a ...