DG139 - Part 1

There currently are only a handful of players with dreads in MLB; but it sure was a blast watching them perform in 2012.
If you've been following this blog over the years, you already know that I like to ring in the start of another baseball season with a look at the previous season. Yes, I'm aware that the season begins in the first week of April, not May. But due to a lack of time, I didn't have this DG ready in the first week of April. But it's ready to go now, so without further delay, here's dread gallery 139 - a look at MLB 2012.
For your enhancement I'll be including links to some videos from MLB.com  I recommend you click on them; but if you do, be prepared to sit through a 15-second commercial.

We'll start Part 1 with a new member of the house in 2012. Prince Fielder dabbled with starter dreads a couple of times during his 6 seasons with the Brewers. Finally, in his first season with the Tigers after signing as a free agent, he decided to take the plunge.

1. Prince Fielder connects for his 2nd solo HR of the game, giving Tigers a 7-0 lead over Red Sox during 5th inning on Apr. 7. He also homered in the 4th. They were his first two HR of the season as the Tigers won 10-0.

DG139 - Part 2

Every game of the Pittsburgh Pirates and every fifth game of the Cincinnati Reds were must-see TV for me last summer. For real, watching Andrew McCutchen and Johnny Cueto perform in 2012 made for a lot of enjoyment. McCutchen and Cueto are the feature attractions of Part 2 of dread gallery #139. But before we get to them, we'll start with another player who brought the enjoyment (and the excitement) - although you had to strain a bit to see his dreads.
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1. Rockies OF Eric Young, Jr. sprints across home plate with the go-ahead and eventual winning run in top of 8th inning in a 5-3 victory on Opening Night at Houston on Apr. 6.

First Rock

No, this is not a post about what happened in Massachusetts way back in 1620. And it's not about the planet Mercury either. Instead, I thought I'd lead off my preview of the 2013 NFL draft with the first rock of football. You'll find it in the state of South Carolina.

Honestly, up until 4 years ago, when I included a photo of Stephon Gilmore in dread gallery 45 (the DG I did featuring National Signing Day '09), I had never heard of Rock Hill before. And up until I went to Wikipedia and Google Maps last week, I wouldn't have been able to tell you that it's located in the northern part of South Carolina, about 25 miles southwest of Charlotte. But make no mistake, of all the cities and towns with "rock" as part of their name, Rock Hill is first when it comes to football.

College FB '12 House Calls

Alabama was the team with the most TD scored by players with dreads in 2011, but with Trent Richardson taking it to the house on Sundays in 2012, the Crimson Tide wasn't in the running for the top spot this season. They finished in 5th place. However, the crown will not be leaving the state of Alabama. Its new home is 100 miles or so southeast of Tuscaloosa, in the capital city of Montgomery.

When Isaiah Crowell left Georgia last summer and transferred to Alabama State, the Hornets instantly became top contenders for the crown. And sure enough, led by Crowell's 15 TD, ASU finished #1 in Division 1 this season. Of the Hornets' 48 total TD, 34 of them (71%!) were scored by players with dreads.

College FB '12 Dread News - Bowl Review (Part 1)

As it turned out, the bowls I ranked 1 and 2 for having the best dreads also were two of the most exciting games on the 2012-13 bowl schedule, with Clemson defeating LSU 25-24 on a last-second FG and South Carolina scoring a TD with 11 seconds to play to edge Michigan 33-28. They also happened to be the only two bowls I watched a significant portion of. I was so busy doing NFL stuff that I didn't have time to watch as many bowl games as I usually do. And you can also blame those 7 weeks I spent on the NFL for why my final 2012 college football report is so late. I mean, almost everybody has started spring practice for the 2013 season already. But there were a few things (quite a few, actually) I wanted to mention before I wrap up 2012, so here we go.

Despite a 10-2 overall record, South Carolina finished 3rd in the SEC East and had to settle for a trip to the Outback Bowl, played annually on New Year's Day at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. But that was just fine as far as Ace Sanders was concerned. Other than a BCS bowl, there was no bowl Sanders would rather have played in more than the one closest to his hometown of Bradenton. Not surprisingly, the junior WR put on quite a show for his family and friends - and the rest of the Gamecocks fans in attendance - scoring three of his team's 5 touchdowns in the thrilling victory over Michigan.

College FB '12 Dread News - Bowl Review (Part 2)

Let's continue now with part 2 of my recap of the action involving players with dreads from the 2012 postseason in college football.

IN THE FCS

North Dakota State and Sam Houston State met in the championship game for the 2nd year in a row; but how the Bison and Bearkats got there turned out to be far more dramatic than the championship game itself.

Georgia Southern Coach Monken was in tears at the post-game media session after his team was eliminated at North Dakota State for the 2nd straight year. "It hurts. It hurts bad," said Monken after the Eagles dropped a hard fought 23-20 heartbreaker in the semifinals despite outgaining the Bison 430-276 in total yards.

The 1-2

I just have a quickie post today - and one that I'd rather not have to do. The house of dread was staggered (but still standing) by a one-two combination of bad news recently, and I thought it would be important to let you know about in case you hadn't already heard. Only in special cases over the years have I done posts specifically to report (and mourn) that someone is leaving the house. But unfortunately we have one of those special cases now. It always hurts to have to add names to the ex-dread list; but for real, the latest two additions hurt a lot more than usual.

In my first look post on college basketball a few weeks backs you may recall how unhappy I was to see Illinois State G Bryant Allen with reduced dreads all the time.

2012 College Football Dread All-America

Unless you did a Rip Van Winkle last fall, you probably noticed that there were a lot of players with sick dreads in uniform on Saturdays in 2012 - way too many to mention them all here. Of those players some have dreads with a greater "wow" factor than others; you know, the kind of dreads that make you say, "Wow! Who is that?" the first time you see them. My 5th annual dread all-America team features 96 Division 1 players whose dreads most definitely rank high when it comes to the "wow" factor.

To even be considered for this team you must have dreads long enough to be seen while you're wearing your helmet. And I don't mean barely seen. I'm talking about long enough that the person sitting in row ZZ at the top of the stadium doesn't need binoculars to know that you have dreads.

2012 College Football Dread All-America (Part 2)

Let's continue now with more of the best dreads on Saturdays in 2012 .....

3rd TEAM

OFFENSE

• OL Jonathan Cooper - North Carolina . SR
• OL Seantrel Henderson - Miami (F) . JR
• OL Patrick Lewis - Texas A&M . SR
• OL Tyrus Thompson - Oklahoma . SOPH
• OL Brennan Williams - North Carolina . SR
• WR Javon Bell - Texas Tech . JR
• WR Kitaro Lewis - Morehead State . SOPH
• WR J.D. McKissic - Arkanas State . FR
• RB Cassius McDowell (HM) - Toledo . SOPH
• RB Kenny Miles (HM) - South Carolina . SR
• QB Devin Powell - Tulane . FR
• KR Tavares Crawford  (2) - Eastern Illinois . JR

2012 College Football All-America with dreads

In the first of my two all-America teams, we'll look at who I ranked as the best players with dreads in Division 1 for the recently completed 2012 season. Of the 48 players who made the 2011 team, 17 are repeat selections on this year's squad, while 18 others were drafted by the NFL. I'm happy to announce that the team is expanding to 72 players this season as I will be doing a 3rd team for the first time. But even with the upgrade, some really good players didn't make the cut and will have to settle for honorable mention. By my unofficial count there are 152 players with dreads in D-1 who earned all-conference honors in 2012, and 20 of those were recognized as all-America by the Associated Press. The 152 was down slightly from last year's total of 159. I tried hard not to forget or miss anybody; but if I did, please let me know.

NFL '12 Dread News - Week 22

So, where were you when the lights went out .... at the Superdome? Well, I know where the Baltimore Ravens were: 22 points ahead in the 3rd quarter and on their way to turning Super Bowl 47 into a blowout. But when played resumed following a 34-minute delay, their would-be romp over the San Francisco 49ers suddenly turned into a lot of hard work. The 28-6 lead vanished as the 49ers closed to within 31-29. But just as they did several times throughout the season, the Ravens found a way to win when they had no business winning, this time holding on for a 34-31 victory at New Orleans last Sunday night.

"It wasn't perfect. It wasn't pretty. But it was us," said Ravens Coach Harbaugh after the game. No doubt "it was us". Of the Ravens' 14 wins (including the playoffs) this was their 7th by a margin of 3 points or less. But hey, they only count W's and L's - not whether the W's and L's are pretty or not. It was the 49ers who dominated in total yards 468-367, gashing the Ravens' D for 7.8 yards per play. It was the 49ers who either scored or reached the red zone on their final 5 possessions of the game. But it was the Ravens who were celebrating when time expired, raising the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the 2nd time since the franchise began in 1996 and the first time since the 2000 season.

After practicing for two weeks, the 49ers came out and had an illegal formation penalty on their very first snap on offense. It doesn't get much worse than that. The penalty wiped out what would have been a 20-yard gain. Instead the 49ers went three-and-out on their first possession. Then the 49ers' defense took the field - and started no better than the offense.

Here's Hanley - Welcome Home!

We have just turned the page on the calendar to February, and that means the beginning of baseball's spring training is just around the corner. And I'm happy to report that we'll be welcoming a new member into the house for the 2013 season. Actually, it'll be more like welcoming home a long lost friend ....... I know I've mentioned this story a couple of times before in my MLB reports, but here it is one more time just to refresh your memory.

The last time we welcomed Hanley Ramirez into the house, he didn't stay for long. Not that he wanted to leave, instead it was his employers that made him leave. That was back in 2009, when Ramirez - the star SS for the Florida (now known as Miami) Marlins - and also outfielder Cameron Maybin showed up at spring training with their hair in beginner dreads (Ramirez left photo below, Maybin on right) . After saying nothing and doing nothing for most of the preseason, all of a sudden about a week before the regular season was to start, the team's ownership announced a new team policy: no dreads allowed - or any other kind of long hair for that matter - for anyone playing for the Marlins (rules like this can exist in MLB - but not in the NFL because the basic agreement between NFL owners and players allows players to do whatever they please with their hair). I don't know what reaction Maybin had, but Ramirez was incensed at the edict, to say the least.

At first Ramirez said he wanted to be traded but then changed his mind and took his anger out on the baseball instead, pounding it to the tune of a career high .342 batting average that season. But Hanley never lost his desire to have dreads.