The Joy of Camp

One of the small points that no one remembers about the USFL, in that no one remembers anything about the USFL, is that they didn't have any preseason games. The first week was a little ragged, but not too bad, and my memory is that the league had fewer injuries during the year.

You'd think that the NFL, given the salaries involved now and the cap that means that every team is just an injury or two away from having fatal flaws, would do everything they could to avoid injury. But since the teams all bundle the games into their season ticket plans, I guess the money works out for them.

Anyway, the reason I was thinking about this was the Steve Smith swinging party coming out of the Carolina camp. For those of you who only have eyes for Saint Brett, this may have flown under your radar, but the star Carolina wideout has been suspended for two games for a camp altercation with cornerback Ken Lucas which left the defensive player with a broken nose. Lucas needs surgery, and will be out for several weeks. Frankly, given the roid rage, heat, and hyper-competition, I'm kind of amazed that this kind of thing doesn't happen more often.

I also can't help but wonder... is Smith being punished not for the violence, but the effectiveness? Did Lucas really piss him off, or is he still enraged about the quarterbacks that he had to put up with (David Carr! Vinny Testaverde! Chris Weinke!) in the non-Jake Delhomme portions of his career? How happy is DeAngelo Hall, really, to have gotten the hell away from him?

Oh, and finally this. Just how bad ass is Smith, and does the bad-assery actually more or less keep his fantasy draft position more or less unchaged, despite the sudden loss of 12.5% of his seasonal value?

(Your answers, in order.... yes, he should be, very, and you should drop Smith down at least 10 to 15 places in your queue. Which makes him a great sleeper pick, really.)