My Top Ten QBs Under 30

With the NFL lockout in full swing I heard multiple sports talk radio segments devoted to the topic of the top quarterbacks under the age of 30. Not sure if ESPN.com had done a series of articles on it or what, but with the realization settling in that there's going to be at least some chunk of pro football taken from us this fall, I feel motivated to put in my two cents on the subject.

We're not including rookies on this list (sorry Cam Newton) or players that have turned 30 since the season ended (tough luck Eli Manning and Michael Vick.)

10. Tim Tebow, Denver Broncos- Yes I think he should just shut up sometimes and keep his beliefs to himself, but now that he's out of college he's gotten some real world criticism from the media about his mechanics. But the kid is a natural born leader and seems to have taken the starting role from Kyle Orton who has put up some impressive numbers in Denver.

9. Matt Stafford, Detroit Lions- Former top pick in the draft has had his first two years derailed by injury, but has shown flashes of promise when healthy. Must keep his shoulder at 100% and if he does look out. Lions have become a trendy pick after finishing third in the NFC North behind the two teams who participated in the NFC Championship game last year, but let's remember it's the Detroit Lions. I'll believe their true success when I see it, but it all starts with Stafford.

8. Mark Sanchez, New York Jets- Two years as a pro, two years in the AFC Championship. Although the Jets seemed to have made it despite Sanchez. Has made big plays at big moments but can he just make rudimentary throws to his receivers? Only time will tell. I could see him as a Super Bowl QB in the next few years.

7. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams- Great Rookie year and I like the former Heisman trophy winner, I'd like to see how he does when he has some weapons around him.

6. Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens- Has won some big games, but lost just as many too. Can he lead a team that's getting longer in the tooth? Ravens might be one of the biggest casualties if there's a prolonged lockout.

5. Josh Freeman, Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Any man that can lead that collection of mutts to a 10-6 season is good with me. Is he a one year wonder? Doubtful with that size. Like him despite Bill Simmons' constant gushing.

4. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons- Seems to be next in line as analysts "Chosen One" now that Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers have been cycled through. The former Boston College star has a lot of weapons around him and is poised for greatness. "Matty Ice" is one of the great clever nicknames of all time.

3. Phillip Rivers, San Diego Chargers- Best deep ball in the game. Rivers has had some disappointing endings to seasons despite some other-worldly numbers. Would probably be my number one choice if he doesn't come as such an a*****e to his teammates/refs. Is he this generations Dan Marino?

2. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers- One of the best and has effectively used the great weapons around him, if you'd say he's number one I wouldn't argue, my only concern is he might be one Jared Allen sack away from Justin Morneau territory. Although any Packer fan will tell you that roughly 29 teams in the NFL would kill to have the great Matt Flynn starting for them.

1. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers- Not as talented as Rivers, has never had the talent Rodgers has surrounding him, but how many big plays in pressure situations can one guy make? Yeah he's done some pretty high profile, controversial things but he genuinely seemed sincere when apologizing. All he did afterwards was rally to lead the Steelers to another Super Bowl.

Like I said flip a coin with my number one and two choices, I don't think there's a right or wrong answer. But give me the guy whose consistently won in the tougher AFC for a longer period of time. "Big Ben" is my kind of player.

Classic Rock Rough Drafts

Not all classics were just perfect as they were written, here's a list of some of our favorite tunes as they were originally thought of.

You Shivered All Night Long- AC/DC rough draft

Flesh to the Bone- George Thorogood rough draft

Premature Ejaculation in an Elevator- Aerosmith rough draft

Where the Streets Are Named After Respected Citizens- U2 rough draft

Got to Get you into My Co-Ed Volleyball Team- Beatles rough draft

Tangled Up in Christmas Lights- Bob Dylan rough draft

Old Tyme Polka- Bob Seger rough draft

Fly like a Mosquito- Steve Miller rough draft

White Civil Union- Billy Idol rough draft

Born to Walk Briskly- Bruce Springsteen rough draft

Stairway to the Attic- Led Zeppelin rough draft

Pour Some High Fructose Corn Syrup on Me- Def Leppard rough draft

Money For a Reasonable Transaction- Dire Straits rough draft

Hotel New Mexico- Eagles rough draft

Living on a Budget- Bon Jovi rough draft

I Shot the Saloon Barkeep- Bob Marly rough draft

Paradise by the Dashboard Rearview Mirror- Meatloaf rough draft

Feels Vaguely Familiar- Foreigner rough draft

Sweet Half-Sister of Mine- Guns 'n' Roses rough draft

Sharp Dressed Doorman- ZZ Top rough draft

Life Could Be Better- Joe Walsh rough draft

Every Little Thing She Does is Passive Aggressive- Police rough draft

Let's Box Waltz- David Bowie rough draft

Living After the Early-Bird Special- Judas Priest rough draft

Two Tickets to Cleveland- Eddie Money rough draft

I Feel Like Making Scrapbooks- Bad Company rough draft

Trani's, Trani's, Trani's- Motley Crue rough draft

Crossed-Eyed Girl- Van Morrison rough draft

Wish You Were a Pizza- Pink Floyd rough draft

The Sound of a Tree Falling in the Woods- Simon & Garfunkel rough draft

Another One Bites Their Lower Lip- Queen rough draft

Let's Spend the Night Playing Uno- Rolling Stones rough draft

Reelin' in the Walleye- Steely Dan rough draft

Don't Stop Anticipating- Journey rough draft

Only the Old Die Old- Billy Joel rough draft

The Boys are Back in Summer School- Thin Lizzy rough draft

Runnin' Down a Felon- Tom Petty rough draft

Taupe Houses- John Mellencamp rough draft

Weightlifting with the Devil- Van Halen rough draft

Bennie and the Islanders- Elton John rough draft

Where Are You- Who rough draft

Luckily all these hits were eventually changed.

Why Men Shouldn't Write Advice Columns

Twins Get It Right/Season Could Get Better

With the MLB draft going on through tomorrow the Twins selected North Carolina shortstop Levi Michael with its first pick (30th overall.)

With his scouting reports talking of what a polished hitter and solid glove man he is I was most happy to read over and over about how he's probably one of the most major league ready players in this draft.

You see, the Twins have shown a complete inability to to draft and develop middle infielders. Not since Pat Mears in the mid-90's have the Twins drafted and gotten a player to the majors who was a shortstop. Alexi Casilla, Christian Guzman, Jason Bartlett, Juan Castro, Nick Punto were all acquired.

And not since Chuck Knoblach made his impressive run with the Twins from 1991-97 have the Twins developed a quality starting 2nd baseman (Punto/Luis Castillo were acquired, Luis Rivas was a complete flop and the only positive thing you can say about Denny Hocking is he was the Twins' union representative.)

When a team has consistently won as well has the Twins have, it's easy to overlook a massive hole the team has created.

We've had some fine players play in the middle infield, Castillo especially, while great prospects like Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Torii Hunter, Matt Garza, and Denard Span have been drafted and seen make the big league club.

Savvy acquisitions to get players like Johan Santana, Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano have been a boon for the organization.

But since former general manager Terry Ryan has taking a reduced role, replaced by Bill Smith, some of these acquisitions/trades haven't quite bounced our way.

Not going to fully blame Smith for some less than stellar moves. Ryan, Ron Gardenhire and minor-league director Mike Radcliffe have plenty of say in the squad's operations.

Maybe Michael will be that reliable player they need, maybe he'll be a complete bust. But the fact the Twins acknowledged they're lack of talent up the middle, strayed from their desire to draft high school outfielders (Span, Ben Revere, Aaron Hicks) or Scott Baker type starters (Kyle Gibson, Alex Wimmers) in the first round recently tells me that they get it and they're not tone deaf. Other teams in this market, ahem David Kahn, ahem Wild Mild, should take note.

Kudos to the Twins brass. (The teams other two picks in the first night also swayed from recent philosophy but I wanted to emphasize the Michael pick.)

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This year has been a volatile cocktail of injuries, bad home weather, a ton of road games and a barren cupboard in the upper minor leagues.

The organization spent a lot of time acquiring journeymen (Jim Hoey, Dusty Hughes, Phil Doumatrait, Rene Rivera, Steve Holm etc.) to fill in the Rochester AAA roster this off season while letting big league calibur players go. Players like Matt Guerrier, Jon Rausch, Orlando Hudson, JJ Hardy and another reliever who'll remain nameless because I'll forever hate him.

The margin of error was thin to begin with this season. The massive amount of disabled list trips for the major league and upper minor league is uncanny.

All that said I'm looking forward to getting Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Joe Mauer back, as well as Jason Kubel and Jim Thome. Just want to see the whole offense healthy together for a couple weeks and I'll have no complaints if they're sellers and trade some guys (Kubel?) by the end of July.

But I should say I do want them to be sellers, they can always go back and resign Kubel or Michael Cuddyer. Just throw in the towel. The tickets are sold and Twins Territory will live.

The season has been bad, make no mistake, but I think a lot of the dread and complaining you've been hearing from fans has itself been overblown mainly because it wasn't supposed to be like this. The Twins were our only hope after another atrocious Timberwolves and Gopher football seasons, underwhelming Gopher winter sports, a typical Mild Wild run, the most bizarre campaign any of us could ever imagine from the Vikings* and a legendary Winter featuring multiple blizzard's and cold temps well into May.

So the Twins and Target Field was our only hope and this is what we've gotten so far. The frustration was needed, but at a certain point you need to step back and face the facts about the said volatile cocktail.

It will be a long Summer, but I don't think the sky is falling. I mean the Swarm did make the playoffs.



*Cannot wait until someone writes an in-depth book on the 2009-10 Vikings' seasons 5-10 years down the road. I'm pleading.