It sounds like alot of you don't know much about Bennett, so I thought I'd share what I know about him.  Coming out of high school Bennett was one of the most sought after recruits (football and basketball) in the state.  He signed with A&M to great fanfare from all my Aggie friends.

When he got to College Station, though, he was almost invisible.  There were large portions of games that he was not on the field.  This was partially do to the terrible coaching staff, I'm sure, but there were performance problems as well.  Bennett cannot block.  That might even be an understatement.  A&M was a running team while he was playing, so this may have been one of the main reasons he missed playing time.  In the passing game he is a threat, having posted 39 and 49 catches the last 2 years for a bad team, but he always dropped the important passes.  As a Tech alum, I always loved seeing the ball thrown to Bennett at the end of our games.

As for character, he's not one of the throngs of Aggies that got arrested the last few years, but he's also a guy that nobody there liked.  I've heard quotes out there saying that there wasn't one coach on the team that liked the kid.  Whether that's true or not, he has a big mouth and a HUGE ego.

Lastly, he isn't nearly as fast in pads as he times.  Tech has been slow at linebacker and safety since Zach Thomas left.  Bennett took advantage of that for exactly 4 catches for 35 yards.

All that being said, I want to confess a few things.  Being a Tech alum, I don't like A&M much, but I've always been willing to put that aside if a player is good.  I was pleading with the Cowboys to move up and get Limas Sweed.  The guy if a freak!!!  But This pick of Bennett is confounding.  He's god upside, but I don't see him in any way as a second, much less for a team with a pro bowl TE.

I've done a decent search for the poison pills in Harris' and Howard's contracts, but came up with nothing but vagues references to them having poison pills in them.  Can anyone tell me what their respective pills are?  I know what a poison pill is, just not the specifics of what it is in each contract that is a poison pill.  Thanks a ton.

No new posts in a month, Wes?  There's all sorts of stuff to talk about.  Heck talk about USA basketball.  Or about the article up on the front page of ESPN.com about what Dirk's been up to.  If you want to take some time off let people know.  I understand you're doing this for free, but if you want to build a community, it takes some effort.  You could have had any number of people post for you while you were taking a break.  I'm starting to think you've gotten tired of all this stuff and you're letting it die.

I think his production will be missed.  He seemed like a nice enough guy at times, and seemed like he did alot for the community.  In the end, though, he bought too much into Scott Boras, and that's not a good thing.  When the team is talking about extending you and you start talking about the economics of baseball, how the owner sucks, how the team acts like it's small market, and how you would love to play in other cities, that is not a good thing, and not good for the team.  I understand that he felt that way, and he was right about most, if not all, of it.  The problem is, you don't do that going out the door.  If he felt that way and wanted to be traded, he needs to go to JD and tell him there's no way he says back and he needs to go ahead and get a deal done.  It's like the guy at the office that starts interviewing with other companies and does nothing but complain about yours.  If you're getting out, keep your mouth shut and be respectful.  If it's worth bitching about, it's worth you putting in the effort for you to fix.  If you aren't going to be around, shut your trap and let those who are do the talking.

My other problem with Tex, he always came of as fake.  You know, that A-Rod kind of fake where he seemed to be controlling himself, even when he was  "excited."  When you saw him after a big comeback win he seemed like it was a half-scripted response.  There were a few times where he seemed like he might have been "real", but there was never that youthful enthusiasm that is easy to cheer for and seems to pull teammates together.  I'm sure as a teammate it's hard to bond with a guy like that, and in some ways that can effect chemistry and performance.

I'm not saying he was a cancer, or a bad player.  I'm just saying he didn't help a situation when he's the best player on the team and yet, from a public perspective, he's not really "part" of the team.  Especially when Buck was the manager, I don't think he did anything to help bring the team together.  I know some will say that wasn't his job, and you're right, but it helps, and wasn't that his gripe with Hicks.  He said Hicks didn't do everything to win and worried about making money.  It seemed like Tex was so focused on being a Boras disciple (making money) that he wouldn't let go and help bring the team together.  In the end, though, this is just a perception and I don't know what it was really like.  I would be interested in hearing what BGL has to say on that topic though.

The other thing I wanted to say a whole lot quicker was that if we can knock A-Rod for not being clutch, I think we can say the same thing about Tex.  Honestly, I don't think either one is really deserving of that tag, but I think both are in the same situation when it comes to that.  On the Rangers, though, neither one was given a whole heck of a lot of chances at it.

Any other games going to make it to TV.  I don't have NBA TV so I won't be bale to watch the ones on satellite.  Could someone post up a broadcasting schedule if there is one.  I'd really like to see these guys play, especially Pops and JJ.  I'm hoping Pops plays some with the big boys this year and can give us a little scoring inside.  If he continues to develop, he could be a valuable player in a couple of years.

Why are we not talking about trying to get him?  Everyone talks about how we need a pure point guard, or even just a better PG, so why is his name not coming up.  He is the 2nd best PG on the market, and in the long run might prove to be a very good PG.  at 24 he's a really good defender and averaged 17.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, and 6.1 apg.  He's got room to improve, but I think he's better than Devin Harris right now.  That's not saying Devin have more potential, I just think that Mo Williams is a better PG right now.  Plus, wouldn't you rather have 2 young guys that have a ton of potential rather than one.  If we can get Williams and Wallace for Terry and Howard I think we've made a couple of upgrades.  And I say that loving what Terry does for this team.

OK, so I set up the league again and the draft is tomorrow.  I meant to make it Wed, but I messed up.  If you can get in tonight or tomorrow, do it.  If not, I'll try to remake it Teusday.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

I know I haven't checked in in awhile, but I went online to see what happened with the online draft and it's asking me to join a league?  It has me listed as being in the BTB Cage MAtch, but it sends me to the select a league page when I click on the link.  Anyone know what's going on with it.  Did I get kicked out since I haven't been on here much?  I've been crazy busy with coaching, but I check in to read the stories and catch up on news as much as I can.  Let me know what the story is.

Fasano has agreed to a 4 year deal.  No word on the #s.

Hatcher's deal is a 4 year, $2.22 mill deal, with a $600K signing bonus.

Watkins got a 4 year, $1.69 mill contract, with an 80K signing bonus.

Stanley's deal is a 4 year base salary deal, but DC.com says, "although his total package his around $1.67 million"