This post marks the beginning of “Rant Week” here at Usually Useless, which is all leading up to a big week next week, as well. I came up with roughly ten things that really pissed me off over the weekend, and will rant about them all this week. First up, from the Associated Press, I go all FJM on the recap of the Mets-Astros game on Sunday. If you don’t know about FJM, or “Fire Joe Morgan,” as they’re also referred to around these parts, it was one of the best blogs on the interwebs. Famous for its ranting against poor journalism by line-by-line dissection of an article, they were also known for hating against ESPN baseball broadcaster Joe Morgan. Much to the dismay of blog-readers everywhere, they shut down shop in November of last year, but their old columns are always fun to read whenever I need a hearty laugh of the expense of experienced journalists.

Hernandez earns second straight win as Mets rebound from early deficit

HOUSTON — The New York Mets’ season may not be a lost cause just yet.

Right. Because they’re a mere 10.5 games out of first place in their division, only 5 games under .500, and just 7.5 short games out of the top Wild Card spot!

Livan Hernandez struck out a season-high seven after a rough start, and the Mets’ offense produced for the second straight game in New York’s 8-3 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday.

7 is awful for a season-high. But I guess that’s better than his current, abysmal K/9 of 4.94.

The Mets have 10 players on the disabled list, including Gary Sheffield and regular lead-off man Jose Reyes, and arrived in Houston after losing five of their last seven games.

Which makes it all the more amazing that won the series, including 2 in a row, from a team that’s slightly better than them! ESPN’s MLB Power Rankings has just 3 teams separating them!

Suddenly, things don’t seem so bad after they piled up 38 hits and 22 runs in three days at Minute Maid Park to win a road series for the first time since early June.

“When you get a number of guys swinging the bats the way we’re swinging the bats right now, you feel very confident that you can get something done,” said Mets manager Jerry Manuel.

Like make the playoffs, right? No.

The Mets also got consecutive impressive starts in Houston, from Jonathon Niese in Saturday’s 10-3 win before Hernandez on Sunday.

Because everyone knows the powerhouse of an offense Houston has! An injured Lance Berkman is always ferocious! Add to that starting second baseman Kaz Matsui, Geoff Blum, starting at third, new 1B, and former Phillie Chris Coste, and 37-year-old catcher Pudge Rodriguez.

Hernandez (7-5) allowed only four singles after the Astros built a 3-0 lead in the first inning. He threw 107 pitches in seven innings and won his second straight start after losing the previous four.

So… he’s streaky? I think if your #3 starter was going to be streaky, you’d get someone a lot better than Livan Hernandez.

Luis Castillo, Jeff Francoeur and David Wright drove in two runs apiece for the Mets, who had at least 12 hits for the third straight game. New York scored 18 runs in two games after scoring fewer than five in 15 of its previous 20.

Ah… it’s not just one guy that’s streaky. They’re just a streaky team. They’ve had 8,237 injuries this season! (Give or take a few. I’ll have to check the numbers, but it’s something like that.) You can’t blame them, you can only laugh at them! That’s like “You can’t stop them, you can only hope to contain them,” except you know, the exact opposite.

The Mets open a 10-game homestand against Colorado on Monday with renewed optimism.

Yes, because they’re, “dare I say, en fuego…”

“The last two games, we’ve played great ball,” said Francoeur. “It’s big momentum for us coming home. We’ve got a shot.”

Roy Oswalt. Wandy Rodriguez. Those are the names of good pitchers in Houston’s rotation. The Mets did not face either one of them. You should take about that. Or, Brian Moehler. Russ Ortiz. Those are the names of the two pitchers the MEts faced on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. They’re both bad. You could also take about that. But I highly recommend that you talk about how Johan Santana got beat by Mike Hmapton on Friday for 5 runs and 15 base runners in just 6 and 2/3 innings, while striking out only 3.

Houston’s Brian Moehler (7-6) gave up five runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings, his shortest outing since June 9. He lost for the second time in seven starts.

Ok… It’s a start.

“I did nothing right,” Moehler said. “I didn’t locate, I didn’t pitch smart, I had nothing. It was just poor everything.”

It’s even worse that you did all that against the New York Mets’ AAA franchise.

Hernandez was the pitcher in trouble early, needing 36 pitches to escape the first inning. Kaz Matsui walked with one out before Miguel Tejada, Carlos Lee and Geoff Blum hit consecutive doubles. Blum tried to score on Hunter Pence’s single up the middle, but Angel Pagan threw to catcher Brian Schneider for the out at the plate.

You never knew that Angel Pagan had an arm, did you? Neither did I. I don’t mean a good arm, I just mean an arm. Period.

Hernandez got a shot of confidence from the good defensive play.

Why? He didn’t make the play. He just got extremely lucky that the one time in 100 tries all season that Pagan got an outfield assist came in that game.

“Plays like that keep you on the mound,” Hernandez said. “They saved one run. That was big.”

Yes, notice the wording. “They.” You didn’t do it. They did it. You just got really lucky that Pagan found his arm.

The Mets answered with three runs in the third. Pagan reached on a fielder’s choice and scored on Castillo’s triple to right. Wright followed with an RBI single and scored later in the inning on Francoeur’s sacrifice fly.

You also got really lucky that the Mets found their offense.

Alex Cora singled with one out in the fourth and scored on Pagan’s triple. Castillo then laid down a bunt in front of the pitcher’s mound and Pagan scored when Ivan Rodriguez couldn’t handle Moehler’s hurried throw home.

Because they’re the Astros! Their defense sucks! Don’t you remember that game against the Dodgers that they blew when some relief pitcher Alberto Arias or something like that made, like, two errors in one inning.

Alberto Arias started the eighth for Houston and Cora beat out an infield single. Pinch hitter Jeremy Reed then tripled to right center and Cora scored, the first earned run allowed by Arias in his last 23 appearances.

Yeah, that guy! No kidding it’s his first earned run in 23 appearances! Because he always makes errors to make the runs that he gives up unearned! There’s no reason why a run scored by a pitcher’s error shouldn’t be earned! You made the error, so it should count against your ERA! You earned that error!

Castillo singled off Arias in the ninth and scored on Wright’s double to center. Wright came home on Francoeur’s single to center.

My God, Cecil Cooper! What’s your problem? Your butter-finger-ed reliever gives up a run in the 8th, so you leave him in to give up two more in the 9th? It was a save situation before the 8th inning! I’ll say it now, Alberto Arias is nothing but bad. When he blew the game against the Dodgers, he also blew a save opportunity that I desperately needed in one of my fantasy baseball leagues. Nothing. But. Bad.

Francoeur has 14 RBIs since joining the Mets on July 10 in a trade from Atlanta. He has multiple RBIs in four of 12 starts in New York and said his transition from the Braves has gone better than he expected it would.

Figures. Now Jeff Francoeur goes off. That must be driving Matthew Berry crazy. (Just do a “Ctrl+F” search for “Jeff Francoeur.” You’ll get it.)

“From the coaches to the players, they’ve instilled a confidence in me,” he said. “I feel comfortable at the plate, I feel that I’m going to be able to get a hit.”

Well, anyone is able to get a hit. The question is “Are you ready? And willing?” No, I’m kidding. On both statements. There’s actually one player in Major League Baseball who isn’t always able to get a hit.  Phillies scapegoat Eric Bruntlett. Whenever something goes wrong in a Phillies game, there’s always a way to blame it on Eric Bruntlett. Usually, it’s just because he’s at the game, wasting a roster spot and $800,000 that we could use on literally anyone else in baseball. Other times, it’s because he came up to bat. Like last night, when he pinch-hit for injured Shane Victorino. You just knew that there was no way the Phils would win that game, if only because Eric Bruntlett struck out for the second out of the 8th inning. The worst part of Jimmy Rollins’s benching in late June wasn’t that we wouldn’t have his bat in lineup or glove in the field or any of that. No, no. It was that we had to start Eric Bruntlett and his .145 average. (Well, .145 at the time. Now it’s down to .125, thanks to a 1-for-13 July. In fact, his only hit the entire month was their 22-1 drubbing of the Cincinnati Reds on my birthday, when literally everyone got a hit. I’m not even exaggerating when I say this, I could have walked on to the field (if I could have walked on to the field), picked up a bat, and at least doubled. So for Bruntlett to have doubled is no big feat. His newborn son probably could have doubled, too.

*Fast Facts

The Mets won their second straight game to finish their 10-game road trip at 4-6. They scored 18 runs in the last two games.

Wow! An under-.500 road trip! Believe it or not, that’s actually lower than their season winning percentage. That’s your Mets for ya! Satisfied with mediocrity!

Brian Moehler fell to 2-5 at home this season. He is 5-1 on the road.

So, beating him at home is even less of an amazing feat? I thought there was nowhere to go but up in this article. I was wrong.

Livan Hernandez won his second straight start.

Ok, but that was following two awful starts, which, in turn, followed two good starts, so his next two outings are going to be awful again. I’m just warning you, Mets fans. Even after this high stretch, you always go back to suck.

Jeff Francoeur had two RBIs and now has 14 RBIs in 12 games with the Mets.

You already said that! I get that you’re a blatant Mets fan in a AP writer’s costume! Face it, the Mets are not going to the playoffs this year!

Luis Castillo had two hits for two RBIs Sunday and went 7 for 12 in the series with four RBIs.

Fantastic. But he’s still never going to be able to get past the dropped choke against the Yankees! Watch both the Mets’ and Yankees’ TV and radio calls with move lines mocking Castillo interspersed! I don’t think there’s anything more enjoyable than watching that play on repeat.

Yesterday, I wrote the first post in a recurring segment called, “Great Mistakes in Journalism History.” A South Florida newspaper had a Brewers-Marlins box score from their series over the weekend against the Phillies. Well, the Phillies showed up in another great journalism error. But this time, your Worldwide Leader made the mistake. In the preview for Cubs-Phillies game last night that ESPN puts up for each game, the writer was trying to describe their hot July streak after faltering at home for much of the season. FAIL. Knowing that these mistakes usually don’t stay online very long, I got a couple screen grabs to immortalize it in Usually Useless history. Close-up, if you JUMP…

As of last night, the Phillies would have been in 3rd place in the AL East, 2 games behind real division-leaders Boston and New York, and a mere 2.5 games ahead of current 3rd-place holders Tampa Bay. Instead, they’re in first in what is arguably the worst divsion in baseball, 6.5 games over then next closest opponent, the Atlanta Braves, who are barely over .500. My God, am I glad we don’t play in the AL East.

Previously: South Florida Sun-Sentinel Forgets Who Marlins Are Playing | Usually Useless

As you can tell, this is the box score from Friday night’s marathon 5-hour game that was featured in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Sunday. Do you see any mistakes conveniently boxed in red for you? What’s that? The Marlins played the Philadelphia “Brewers” on Friday night? Is this a softball game? Did the Publix Marlins softball team take on Philadelphia Brewing Company’s softball team? Also notice they cut off the errors column in the box score. Strange. The one game that the Marlins don’t make an error, and the newspaper doesn’t even acknowledge it!

Previously: The One Where Chase Utley Gets Us All Some Sleep Despite Brad Lidge’s Best Efforts | Usually Useless

This is a new twice-daily feature I’m starting over here today, in my effort to both cover more news and cover more in one post. The morning version, “The First Five,” will cover the five biggest stories from the night before. In the evening version, “The Final Five,” I will cover the five biggest stories from that day, Monday through Friday. The five stories can be from the topic of anything, whether it be in sports, politics, entertainment, or whatever. Today, I’m only covering two topics, seeing as I didn’t actually plan this out very well, and didn’t take notes about three other stories I wanted to cover. They are, however, two of the biggest stories we will hear about for quite a while. S0 here goes, the first edition of “The First Five” on a Monday, July 20th, 2009. The stories are not in any order, just in the order I find them in, and thus, decide to write them in.

1. Tom Watson loses British Open, allowing Stewart Cink to win.

Notice the wording. More people will remember this as the major that Watson lost than the one that Cink won. And that’s because of the way he lost. He was back and forth, lead, tie, behind, most of the weekend, especially Sunday. But going into the 18th hole, the final hole of the British Open, he was leading by one stroke. All he had to do was par that 18th hole to win. But, of course, you probably know all of that by now, and you know that he bogeyed that final hole to force a 4-hole playoff, that he would later lose by a staggering 6 strokes. Dan Levy siad it perfectly On the DL Podcast today: “The saddest part of watching Watson miss the putt on 18 and fall apart during the playoff is that we knew — and he knew — this was his last chance at something like this.” He had a chance to make history, to become the oldest player to win a major, and by a wide margin. The current record holder, Julius Boros, was 48. He had a chance to do something amazing. And he will probably never have that chance again.

2. Walter Cronkite Dies at 92.

A great anchorman, Cronkite had been sick with cerbovascular disease for a few months, the New York Times reported almost a month ago. Frequently considered “the most trusted man in America,” he reported on the Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinations, the Vietnam War, and moon landing, to name a few, as NPR noted. In fact, it’s kind of ironic that Cronkite died when he did, on Friday, three days before the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. The Museum of Broadcast Comunications mentioned that “Cronkite was on the air for 27 of the 30 hours that Apollo XI took to complete its mission.” But one thing that really pisses me off about this, or rather the coverage of it, is that some people have the nerve to call him the “World’s Most Overrated Reader of the News.” And then there are the 85 commenters, most of whom are agreeing with the author. Come on, dude! The guy’s dead, and he was a great newscaster! At least show a little respect!

Some choice comments:

“Good riddance to a liberal hypocrite.”

“[Michael] Jackson, love him or hate him, had enormous talent — Cronkite, not so much.”

“As for me, I cannot find it in myself to mourn his passing.”

The author himself said, “The adulation that has greeted his demise is as unearned as it is emetic.” No, Roger, it’s you and your post that’s emetic. And that’s the way it is.

You know, that has always been my favorite Friends episode. But on the actual game…

The Phils won what felt like the longest in the history of sport, a game that included a 78-minute rain delay and 3 extra innings. The actual game lasted a total of 4:05, and from first pitch to last, took up 5:23 of your Friday night and took a good amount of time that you probably planned to use sleeping.

Chase Utley went 2-6, with 3 RBIs, 2 runs scored, including his 21st homer of the season to help them jump out to an early 2-0 lead after the first half-inning, as well as the go-ahead RBI single in the top of the 12th.

Jayson Werth was also 2-6, with a pair of RBIs and put the Phils up by 2 in the 12th, which proved to be very helpful in the bottom half of that inning.

Jimmy Rollins, seemingly like everyone else on the team, also went 2-6, with a pair of scores and a double, and now has hitsi n 12 of his last 13 games.

Ryan Howard — you guessed it — was 2-6, with a run scored.

Raul Ibanez, to break the streak, was only 2-3, but also scored once.

Cole Hamels was pitching very well, only allowing four baserunners after the lead-off homer, but in typical Florida weather fashion, his start was shortened by that pesky rain delay. He likely would’ve had a quality start. In his 5 innings, he gave up just 4 hits and 1 run, walking 1 and striking out 5. He alsothrew just 68 pitches thru those 5 innings. I wouldn’t be the leasdt bit surprised if he goes out and shuts down the Cubs on Wednesday. (It doesn’t hurt that they have a pretty mediocre lineup. Thanks, Soriano!)

(Updated from here down. Everything before this was what I managed to get in before the game last night. More on that later.)

Brad Lidge, in the bottom of the 12th, after the Phils had scored their two, really did not want to win, and tried to keep us up as long as possible. He gave up back-to-back one-out walks.

Look for more stuff later tonight/tomorrow. I’m going to the game tonight. Look for me on the 1st-base line.

[Eds. Note: Yeah, this probably should have been posted on Tuesday. Which excuse do you want: technical difficulties or just my laziness?]

When you have a summer birthday, you always look forward to when your favorite team plays on your birthday, since its the only one of the four major sports in action. You hope they win, with good hitting and at least a half-decent pitching performance. Maybe your favorite player will hit a homer for you. For my birthday yesterday, they exceeded any expectations I could have possibly had for them.

They just absolutely clobbered the Cincinnati Reds for a final score of 22-1. They broke the entire record book, not just the records. Todd Zo took note of some of the interesting things that occurred in this legendary game, including it being the most runs they’ve scored since their June 11, 1985 massacre of the Mets, when Von Hayes hit 2 homers in the 1st, the second of them being a grand slam. But the ‘85 Phils only scored 9 1st-inning runs, compared to yesterday’s 10. Also, Hayes accounted for the only 2 homers. MLB.com has a multitude of clips and videos from the game. Also, if you have the time, read the posts and comments of some Reds blogs. Try Cincinnati.com’s Reds blog or OMGreds, and then look through their blog rolls.

Bloggy News: Watch for some (relatively) big changes coming to the site next week. I’m on vacation until Monday, so my blogging will likely be a little just as rare. On Monday, I happen to get home with a couple hours to spare before the Home Run Derby, so I might think of something to do for the All-Star Break.

Update: I can not believe that I forgot about this when I first posted it. Very disappointed in myself. Anyways, one Phils fan in Indy got the Reds announcers while watching the game. Needless to say, they must have been kinda depressed the whole game. The fan, Bill, posted some choice quotes from the announcers. Just imagine you’re watching Major League, and Bob Uecker is announcing.

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard that great, infamous TV infomercial pitchman Billy Mays passed away on Sunday, likely due to a heart attack caused by hypertensive heart disease.

Some interesting things to mention about Mays:

He moved to Atlantic City from Pittsburgh in 1983, and got his start by pitching “As Seen on TV” products.

He challenged fellow pitchman Vince Offer — he of ShamWow (“You following me, cameraguy?”) and Slap Chop (“You’re gonna love my nuts.”) fame — to a “pitch-off” on the late, great Adam Carolla radio show. Mays put up his Zorbeez against Offer’s ShamWow, and Popular Mechanics played the judge. The ShamWow won “by a mile.”

He had a Discovery Channel series, “Pitchmen,” with British pitchman Andrew Sullivan. The Discovery Channel created an entire playlist in memory of him. The first season’s finale is also tonight, with a tribute marathon leading up to it. The status of series is to be determined past this first season.

Just last Tuesday, he appeared on The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien with “Sully”.

They were great sports to put up with Conan’s silliness. It kind of felt like their appearances were to help promote the products that Conan brought out, with Sullivan or Mays essentially doing their informercial for each product. Finally, it was surreal hearing him talk about Ed McMahon.

Tribute videos, after the jump…A video of the ShanWow-Zorbeez face-off…

A video tribute…

ESPN360 Commercial #1 – “Intro”

ESPN360 Commercial #2 – “On the Run”

ESPN360 Commercial #3 – “Office”

ESPN360 Commercial #4 – “College”

R.I.P. Billy Mays, the loudest pitchman ever.

Rod Barajas’s hate from Phillies fans is very well-documented. So, it’s no wonder that the entire Phillies nation started grinning from ear to ear when he went down during Friday’s game with a hamstring injury. He’s been known to kill the Phils when he played for them, and whenever he plays agaisnt them, all while managing to do absolutely nothing in the other 156-159 games a year. So, I made a spreadsheet breaking down Barajas’s carrer before, during, and after Philly.

A few interesting things I found while conducting the “study” into Rod Barajas…

He didn’t actually start killing us until he left Philadelphia. Four times as many homers and five times as many RBIs in over half the at bats. An OPS just under 2.000. Two more hits, resulting in a batting average 340 points higher in his two years for Toronto against the Phils. As a Canadian, his skugging percentage is more than 4.5 times higher in this match-up and an on-base-plus-sluuging over 3.5 times higher than as a Diamondback or Texan. But what I find most surprising is that he has as many homers and ribbies as a Blue Jay against the Fightins as he did in his one year, 2007, with the Phillies, in more than 100 fewer at bats. Does he hold grudges against former teams? No, he’s been awful against the Rangers, and he hasn’t killed anyone with the long ball as much as he’s killed the Phils.

What else do you hate about Barajas? What do you think he has against us? Share your thoughts and comments below!

As always, choose one answer, wait a few hours, come back, and vote again. Then repeat about 10-20 times. Also, don’t forget that you can post any other accurate and relevant statements in the comments below.

This (week’s? month’s?) poll is on the current state of the Phillies play against the AL, at home, and on the road.

I was going to explain why I haven’t posted in a while, but I know that you probably don’t care. Just go to InGameNow and read posts that say that they’re written “By Max.” There are 3 so far, and you can find them here, here, and here. Also go to Phillie Phanatics and read the guest posting I do for Shay Roddy here and here.

These post is basically just for me to write some thoughts about a lot of various topics, and write down all the different things that I plan to do with this site at various points in the sports calendar.

This post will be on my thoughts on the Sixers’ first round draft pick, Jrue Holiday, as well as others’ thoughts.

I may seem crazy for saying this, but I actually like this pick for the Sixers. He was a guy that was projected to be picked in the top 10, or as a lottery pick at the worst. But some scouts got all paranoid about some stupid injury and thought that he shouldn’t be drafted til the 658th round. I’ve read a bunch of different draft grades and draft analyses, and this is what I’ve gathered both on Twitter and by “experts”: the people that actually write about and watch basketball all day, for a living, really like this pick. Casual fans on Facebook and Twitter are inexplicably pissed off. Yeah, I don’t get it. Here are some quotes by people who know more about this than me:

“I really like what the 76ers did, taking an opportunity to nab a lottery talent who was falling because of injury concerns. Holiday is in a long line of players who slipped when team doctors got nervous, with Danny Granger as a prime example. The Sixers could have gone with a more proven guard like Ty Lawson or Eric Maynor, but Holiday has more upside and could turn into a terrific pick for them.” [Chad Ford, who gave them an A]

“Size, speed, strength and defense at the PG position. None of the other guys really offer that, and I’m a defense first kind of guy.” [Brian from Depressed Fan, who ranked Holiday 4th on his Draft Board, ahead of both Lawson and Maynor.]

“He’s rough around the edges, he’s unpolished (especially offensively), but he has the handle to play the point, the court-vision to run a team, the athleticism to run the floor, the size and strength to finish in traffic and the desire to be an elite defender.” [Depressed Fan, after the pick was made.]

“While it’s true that Jrue Holiday did nothing at UCLA, he had the most talent left on the board. The Sixers get a steal and insurance for when Andre Miller bails.” [Bleacher Report Draft Grades. Sixers Grade: A-]

“Jrue Holiday goes to the Sixers and, more importantly, wins the Rashard Lewis “Last Guy In The Green Room” Award. In 27 minutes per game as a freshman, Holiday averaged 8.5 points and more turnovers (3.8) than assists (3.7). On the bright side, he made 30.7 percent of his 3s. Wait, that’s not good. That’s your 17th pick. I’m wrapping this up soon.” [The Sports Guy's 13th Annual Draft Diary. But he doesn't count. He's paid to be funny. Not to look at how he was expected to be a top 10 pick. Or notice that playing in UCLA's slow-down Shaq-style offense didn't exactly help him.]

“Some will label this as a steal as Holiday was projected by many to be a Lottery pick. We’ll call it a reach, as Holiday will need time to develop and does not help the Sixers compete in the East next year…. We don’t hate the pick, but we’d like to have seen a point guard taken who can actually shoot and most of all contribute next year — Maynor or Lawson could have done that for the Sixers.” [Philadunkia]

“Once Holiday fell to the Sixers at 17, it was a no-brainer that he’d be selected. With Andre Miller a free agent and Louis Williams showing to be more of a shooting guard than point, they needed a good, defensive point guard who won’t try to be the main guy on the floor. He should fit in perfectly with Eddie Jordan’s system in setting up his other teammates. Holiday isn’t a very good scorer but he can push the ball, find his teammates, and play lockdown defense on the other end. A backcourt of him and Andre Iguodala will be nearly impossible to penetrate against.” [Zach Harper from Talk Hoops. Score: 10/10.]

Jonathan Tannenwald, analyzing the pick as a college basketball fan, would’ve preferred Lawson, continuously mentioning how he’s not good on offense. We knew that already. That’s not his skill, yet. Tannenwald conveniently never brought up his defense, the main reason why he was drafted! Like SImmons, he only looked at the pick for the now, not the future.

By the way, if you are too lazy to actually read the article, or you just want a really, really good laugh. listen to this audio version of it. It’s like that thing that reads your YouTube comments. It has no inflection in its voice, and frequently comes across words it doesn’t understand, if there are misspellings, or confusing words (like “Jrue”). Just go to the article, and there’s an option to listen to it. I highly recommend doing that.

ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi (KNegandhiESPN): “I think the Sixers got a steal at 17.. let him develop, run the floor with Thaddeus and Iggy and Speights in a couple of years“

Andre Iguodala (AI9): “Jrue is only 18, will be a beast…kinda like dwade a little bit…nobody heard of dwade earlier in his college career either…”

ESPN.com NBA writer John Hollinger (johnhollinger): “Surprised they didn’t take Lawson — he’d be great on running team like Philly. Holiday’s good value too, Phi likely surprised he was there.”

CSMezzy: “I’m actually happy with the Jrue pick, but very surprised.”

Skip Bayless (RealSkipBayless): “Jrue Holiday gets best-dressed of night, with lime green tie on dark suit.”

What are your thoughts on the new Holiday? Leave them in the comments below!

Other Links:

In The 700 Level, they’re looking at what other people said about this pick, too.

Stop by Phillies Nation, and say goodbye to a very good Phillies blogger, Tim Malcom. Wish him luck in all his future endeavors in the comments section or via Twitter.