Jake Fine - Inside the Mind of Fine

It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year.

April 24th, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Anyone who knows anything is well aware that the NFL beats the living snot out of every other professional sports league because regardless of what time of year, it is more interesting than anyone else could ever offer.  This weekend there is no exception as the 2008 NFL Draft takes center stage of the sports world.  Anyone who knows me doesn’t need the explanation that this is by far one of my favorite times of the year because this is how championships are built.  Not through free agency but through the draft.  Here is how I expect the first round to fall this weekend.

1. Miami- Jake Long, OL Michigan (No shit, already happened)

2. St. Louis- Chris Long, DE Virginia

3. Atlanta- Glen Dorsey, DT LSU

4. Oakland- Vernon Gholston, DE Ohio St.

5. Kansas City- Brandon Albert, OL Virginia

6. NY Jets- Darren McFadden, RB Arkansas

7. New England- Derrick Harvey, DE Florida

8. Baltimore- Matt Ryan, QB Boston College

9. Cincinnati- Sedrick Ellis, DT USC

10. New Orleans- Leodis McKelvin, CB Troy

11. Buffalo- Mike Jenkins, CB South Florida

12. Denver- Malcom Kelly, WR Oklahoma

13. Carolina- Ryan Clady, OT Boise St.

14. Chicago- Chirs Williams, OT Vanderbilt

15. Detroit- Rashard Mendenhall, RB Illinois

16. Ariona- Aqib Talib, CB Kansas

17. Kansas City (From Min)- Phillip Merling, DE Clemson

18. Houston- Jonathan Stewart, RB Oregon

19. Eagles- Jeff Otah, OT Pitt

20. Tampa Bay- Keith Rivers, LB USC

21. Washington- Kenny Phillps, S Maimi FL

22. Dallas- Limas Sweed, WR Texas

23. Pittsburgh- Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB Tennessee St.

24. Tennessee- James Hardy, WR Indiana

25. Seattle- Tyrell Johnson, S Arkansas St.

26. Jacksonville- Trevor Laws, DT Notre Dame

27. San Diego- Brandon Flowers, CB Virginia Tech

28. Dallas- Felix Jones, RB Arkansas

29. San Francisco- Quentin Groves, DE Auburn

30. Green Bay-Antonio Cason, CB Ariozna

31. New England- Don’t get to pick because they cheat

32. NY Giants-Dan Connor, LB Penn St.

What The Hell Happened?

April 15th, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

By now I am very sure that all seven of you have been boiling over with rage since my last post which came about ten weeks ago.  Now today I am writing out to establish three objectives: to officially declare that I am in fact still alive, to explain my lengthy absence, and finally, to rundown some adjustments that will be made.

Now the story of my brief departure all started when my mother demanded that I finally get off my ass and find employment.   After seeking out numerous places I was hired to be a server at a certain local restaurant (in order to maintain my sanity this establishment will be nameless).  Now I know what you might be thinking, “But Jake, don’t you hate people???? Why on earth would you want to serve them???”  Well as it turned out all of you would have been right on.  At first I was eager to start since I had jumped to the conclusion that I would be making good money (which it was), although I was not informed that I was working at an insane asylum.  The way this place worked was they did not refer to their workers as workers; no we had to be called “champions,” as corny as it sounded.  When it came to the serving process we were forbidden to use trays.  This made it very tricky when bringing drinks out, especially when serving a table of four or more.  They wanted you to be able to carry three glasses in one hand, but I to this day will go on record saying that it is physically impossible.  I could go on and on talking about how working there sucked it is probably best to sum it all up by saying some B.S. went down and I simply could not take it anymore so now I no longer have to deal with it.  This is why I’ve been away for so long because working at the hell hole literally took up all my time and energy but at least I can now say that it’s all behind me now.

From here on out I would like to say that how things happen at The Mind of Fine will be a little different in hope to improve the overall content.  I plan on trying some new things out over the next few weeks and see how everything goes.  My good friend Lars $ is astonished at the progress of the blog (or recent lack there of), and now wants to get in on the action.  Although instead of starting his own he wants to try on get onto this one so expect to see his audition in the not too distant future.  Also the other day I have promised Alan at least two entries a week and that is something I will try and live up to.  In addition to all this, I hope today was in some sort of a preview that we won’t always deal with sports but trying to reach on a broader horizon, I think all of you will enjoy it.  As always until next time, keep your mind on the fine side.

The (Late) Weekly Rundown

February 7th, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

THE SIZZELER

Big surprise here, but this week’s recipient(s) are hard to dispute after one of the most memorable Super Bowls in recent years, but I had to go with the real MVP for the Giants, the entire defensive line.  I really don’t know how else to describe this other than Michael Strahan and company manhandled a strong Patriots offensive line and beat the living crap out of Tom Brady.  In fact I’m not sure the pain would have been less severe if Justin Tuck had Brady in a back alley with a crowbar in his hand.  In addition some big news just broke earlier today that really pays out for New York.  Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo showed us Sunday how good he is at designing a game plan, and was instantly the head candidate for the Washington Redskins head coaching position.  Spagnuolo turned down the Skins, now has a raise from the G-Men.  Factor that in, one more year under Eli’s belt, and a healthy Jeremy Shockey returning next year and the success could be big.  I know I’m in the extreme minority when I say this, but the Giants are more likely to be in Super Bowl XLIII than New England.

THE IGLOO

Usually when I screw up in life I try to use the Homer Simpson philosophy, “If I didn’t see it then its not illegal.  Unfortunately not many missed Pats head man Bill Belichick heading off the field with a second left in Sunday’s contest.  In no way am I buying into his excuse that he “thought” the game was over, even when the video clearly shows the officials trying to tell Belicheck that the game was not yet completed.  If this was anyone else I truly believe it would have been as big of a deal as when Randy Moss walked off the field early a few years ago while still a member of the Vikings.  Even in the heat of the loss, you stay out there with the rest of your team and take it like a man, and Belicheck’s inability to do just that showed immaturity and gave the rest us just one more reason to hate him as much as he is.  For as great of a coach as he is I truly hope that one day when his time in the NFL is over, he will look back on all of this and realize how much of an embarrassment he really is.    THE GOLD STAR There are seriously a million different ways I could go with this title for the week, so I decided to make Alan happy and bust out a hockey reference.  Yes, for many the NHL is an after thought, but you had to appreciate the performance that Washington Capital Alexander Ovechkin put up a week ago in a victory over the Canadians.  Despite suffering a broken nose in the first period he stayed in the game (because he’s a hockey player), and took the game over scoring 4 times including the game winner in overtime.  Now I know all the freaks that call it hockey sweaters go Ga-Ga over Sidney Crosby because of his abilities to set up a score, but if the league wants to grow anytime soon, why is there not more love for Ovechkin.  I mean no disrespect to Crosby, but A-O is the type of player that can be marketed since he’s a guy that score anytime he touches the puck, and we are a country that goes nuts over every point scored.  Now it could be argued that if he played in a city that had more passion for sports it would help because Washington does not care.  As sad as it is, games like last week won’t be foreign to Ovechkin, but sadly most us will never know about it.  Until next time, keep your mind on the fine side of life.