The Sports Monitor

Please let someone take Jarvis Jones before the Steelers are on the clock for the first round of the NFL Draft Thursday night. I know this could be one of those cases where it comes back to haunt you, but I'm not feelin' the Georgia linebacker. Maybe it's his slow time in the 40 (4.9+). Maybe it's his spinal issues. I just hope the Steelers are left with the decision of drafting him or not. Maybe the Jets or some other team will make it easier for them.

Emmanuel Sanders is still a Pittsburgh Steeler. And Steeler Nation can relax until the draft. Long-term, this wasn't the best move for the Steelers. A third-round pick could have been better for the team. Especially when Sanders likely will leave next season as a free agent. But I get why the Steelers did it. They have a franchise quarterback and need to try to win now. Those type of moves have a way of coming back to haunt a franchise. But Ben Roethlisberger should be happy he still has one of his targets coming back. In the meantime, the Steelers are up against the salary cap searching for some players to make impact.

Tiger Woods always is the story, isn't he? He was in control of the Masters Friday when things went awry. By now you heard what happened, and have heard all sorts of opinions whether he should have been penalized or not, and whether he should have been disqualified. My point today is if Tiger is the dominant golfer everyone wants him to be, he still would have won the Masters. If he had regained whatever it is he lost, he would have won. He would have used all the detractors as fuel to win. And maybe he tried. He's just not the same golfer. The chase for Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors continues, but Woods remains four back. I'm not sure he gets there.

There's still about two days for this to officially play out, but the Pittsburgh Steelers shouldn't be wasting any more time deciding the fate of wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders. Tell him they won't match the offer by the New England Patriots and take their third-round pick. Sanders is a fine receiver, but I don't expect much more from him in the Steelers' offense. Sanders' stock didn't rise until the Patriots showed interest. Now, people want to make Sanders out as an indispensable part of the offense. He can be replaced. The Steelers need the cap room and they need the draft pick. They don't need Sanders as much. Give Kevin Colbert and staff some credit. They know what they're doing. Let's look at the team after the draft and see who else they sign as free agents.

I couldn't wait until "The Walking Dead" wrapped up Season 3. The first half of the season was fantastic, pick up where the second half of Season 2 left off. But the last half of Season 3 had its ups and downs. I'm glad to see Rick survive, along with Daryl, too. Those two characters add spice to the show. However, Andrea, was time to go. She started to grow on me in the last two episodes, but it was hard to feel too much emotion to see her go -- and I'm sure it was supposed to be an emotional ending. I was sorry to see Merle go and not Andrea. Walkers bit the dust, which was cool, and The Governor became unhinged, but there just seemed to be something missing from the episode. Maybe I wanted more from the big showdown between Rick and The Governor.  Maybe I wanted another cliffhanger, like the mid-season finale. Sunday's episode wrapped up too nicely, with Rick leading citizens of Woodbury to a new home in the prison. It was a good contrast to...

Is it possible that Rushel Shell is not the next Tony Dorsett? It seems that there was a lot pressure on Shell to take the Pitt Panthers to the national championship like Dorsett. Shell rushed for 641 yards as a freshman last year, averaging 4.5 yards per carry. That's pretty darn good. Is it irreplaceable? I guess we'll now never know what Shell would do after he announced he's transferring. With all the buzz around Shell, I expected more from him, especially that 79-yard effort in the BBVA Compass Bowl on 25 carries in a loss to Ole Miss. Maybe that's why he's leaving. Maybe he wants to carve out his own path somewhere else. Who knows? I'm not convinced it's a huge blow to the team. There are other running backs on the roster. Maybe an incoming freshman, McDowell's James Conner, for example, can fill the roll in Paul Chryst's offense. Conner rushed for 1,680 yards on 155 carries (10.8 per carry average). It's disappoint ne...

I've heard some moaning and groaning about the immediate future of the Pitt basketball program. Center Steven Adams announced Monday that he was leaving for the NBA draft. Good for him, I thought. Go pursue your dreams. Then, I immediately thought of Chris Taft. He was another touted Pitt basketball player who had dreams of the NBA. It didn't work out for him. I'm not sure how well it will work out for Adams. Adams is a project, so some team likely will take a chance on him, hoping his raw skills will develop. I wasn't worried about the future of the basketball program. Yes, they're short-handed right now going into their inaugural season in the ACC. But there's still time. Jamie Dixon can recruit, although it is late in the game. I just didn't see Adams as someone who oozed talent, someone ready to play in the NBA. If he did, maybe the Pitt basketball team would still be playing in the NCAA tournament. I wish him the best. I don...

Opening day used to be a holiday for me. I had quite a stretch of going to opening day games in Pittsburgh. In a 25-year stretch, I believe it was 24 opening days. The one I missed, I was living in Indiana and couldn't make the seven-hour drive to the opener. That's changed; I have a new streak going. I've missed three straight openers. And it looks like I didn't miss much Monday. It's just one game, but opening day gets all the attention. And that attention wasn't too good. The Bucs had their best pitcher, A.J. Burnett on the mound and they lost to the lowly Cubs. Jeff Samardzija improved his career ERA to 4.01 after his eight shutout innings. Go Bucs. Am I a bad fan? I think not. Is it a boycott? I don't think so, although some might interpret it that way. I just choose not to give Bob Nutting any of my money. Nutting is all about the money. I'll chose to do the same. I'll keep my hard-earned dollars and spend it somewhere e...