Second thoughts

Friday, January 10, 2014

He didn’t look it, but Manziel among the best

Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel declared himself eligible for the NFL Draft on Wednesday, and columnist Kevin Sherrington of The Dallas Morning News is more than a little sad to see him go.

“Let’s concede this point upfront: Johnny Manziel is by no means an impressive physical specimen,” Sherrington wrote.

“Calling him 6 feet tall would be a compliment. He’s not ripped or even particularly muscular.

He’s got a big head, big hands, big feet.

“You wouldn’t pick him as a quarterback out of a lineup of plumbers. If you had to guess his sport, you might say boxing, his great grandfather’s trade before discovering oil and setting out to rule East Texas.

“He wasn’t simply the greatest football player in Texas A&M’s considerable history, better than John David Crow or Jack Pardee or “Jarrin’” John Kimbrough or anyone else from the 60-minute generation.

“No, Manziel was more than the all-time Aggie. He was also among a handful of the greatest college football players in my receding lifetime. Certainly no one was more fun to watch.”

In one of the stranger sports transactions in recent memory, midfielder Walter Restrepo, formerly of the North American Soccer League’s Fort Lauderdale Strikers, was traded on Tuesday for some hotel and transportation accommodations.

Restrepo was traded from the Strikers to the San Antonio Scorpions in exchange for “free lodging and transportation during Fort Lauderdale’s two road trips to San Antonio in 2014.”

Here’s how it went down, according to Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl:

The Crockett Hotel, where NASL teams stay when visiting San Antonio, is a major sponsor of the Scorpions.

“The Scorpions reached out to us to see if we could be creative,” Bill Brendel, the hotel’s general manager, said. The Crockett Hotel was even mentioned in the news release, which has since been taken down, according to Wahl.

San Antonio General Manager Howard Cornfield lamented the news release, saying the team should’ve probably just said “cash considerations” instead of personally thanking the hotel and Shark Limo, which willprovide transportation for Fort Lauderdale.

Even stranger is that Restrepo, 25, is one the NASL’s best players. He has six goals and a league leading eight assists and was named to the NASL’s Best XI in 2012.

Beast of a burger

Not many people can run with the football like Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch.

But, you can now eat something inspired by Lynch at CenturyLink Fieldin Seattle.

Stadium food service provider Delaware North is selling a new hamburger called “The Beast” at this weekend’s playoff game against the New Orleans Saints. The hamburger featurestwo pieces of bacon, two slices of cheddar cheese, two hamburger patties, several slices of ham, onion rings, lettuce, tomato and red onion.

It comes with a side of french fries and a bag of Skittles, which is Lynch’s favorite candy.

Quote of the day “The other team didn’t

stop us. We stopped ourselves. Let’s get that

understood. We blew this game.” Forward Coty Clarke on Arkansas’ 69-53 loss at Texas A&M

Sports, Pages 20 on 01/10/2014