Sports is Entertainment

NHL Winter Classic 2010 Set

2009-06-25T12:41:00.001-04:00

The NHL’s Winter Classic games have been announced. This time around there will be two games played instead of one. The first game will match up the Flyers going one on one with the Boston Bruins at Fenway Park. The second game which is not yet set, will pair up the Maple Leafs playing the Flames at the McMahon Stadium. The Winter Classic isn’t just an ordinary game. It’s a game that only happens once a year and it’s played outside. That is special, having the chance of playing outside. Not many players will get the chance to play outside.

It sucks to be there in person live to watch the game because you’re going to be sitting in the stands which are not anywhere close to a regular hockey rink. The rink will be built in the middle of the baseball field, but on TV it will look great. I personally like the match up of the Bruins and Flyers. The Bruins had a great season last year and hopefully they will build from it. The second game, they could’ve found better teams to play on that day. Why not pit the Pens playing the Caps? That would be a great game to bring in the ratings…Ovechkin vs. Crosby outside or just have a rematch of the finals with the Pens and the Wings.

I know hockey is a dying sport and that is very unfortunate because it’s a great sport. Even though with the recent changes to the game, the sport isn’t getting the ratings as the NFL or NBA does. The NHL might be considered a sport like Golf. I’m not bashing the sport, but there really isn’t a lot of interest to the game anymore. I don’t see kids at school talking about it as much. During the playoffs, I knew two other people following the sport at the time who I can talk to on a daily basis. Thank goodness for Crosby and Ovechkin, because if it wasn’t for them, the sport would be in worse condition. For me personally, what kept my attention in the playoffs were the Bruins and how deep they would go into the playoffs. For the NHL to be relevant again and hopefully get more ratings is by limiting the season to maybe around 50 to 60 games instead of 80 games. By doing this they can start there playoffs before the NBA. Going head to head with the NBA is not a great idea for the ratings war.

Jordan quits Playinng Ball

2009-06-24T17:20:00.001-04:00

Remember when John Elway’s kid left the football team at ASU? Well another legends kid is hanging it up. Jeffrey Jordan, the son of Michael Jordan is calling it quits. Jeffrey was playing basketball at Illinois as a walk on turned scholarship athlete. Now he is walking away from the game that his father dominated in the NBA. Jeffrey said, “I loved playing for the Fighting Illini and appreciate the support I was given by my teammates, coaches and the great fans here,” Jordan said. “But I have come to the point where I'm ready to focus on life after basketball. I will concentrate on earning my degree from the University of Illinois and the opportunities that await upon graduating.”

I never ever saw him play, but I have seen Jordan play and it was a great sight to watch his games on TBS or TNT back in the day. The only thing that could make Jeffrey not want to play is the possibility of not being able to live up to his dad’s greatness. There had to added pressure on him when he couldn’t perform well on the court. Or maybe he had enough of the sport and wants to pursue other things. I’ve known people who were good/great at their sport that they played and just wanted to focus on other things in life. At least he proved to people that he could play the game, he did walk onto a division 1 basketball program. Now we will see if Marcus Jordan will stay with the sport as he enters his first year at UCF.

Jennings is Staying

2009-06-24T16:15:00.002-04:00

The last time the Packers had a big wide receiver was Javon Walker who left the team to the Broncos and his career faded away. Then came Greg Jennings, a player that fans didn’t know much about when the Pack drafted him in the 2006 draft in the second round. Since his debut in the NFL, he has shined into a great WR since Walker’s departure. Jennings has signed a new contract extension with the Packers for the next 3 years, Jennings will be making around up to 27 million with 16 of it in guarantees, and could make up to 30 million if he makes the Pro Bowl.

Jennings is a game changer and he gave Favre and also Rodgers options to throw to with Driver lining up on the other side of the filed as the main targets. With both pieces already set (even though Driver wants a new contract) this will give Rodgers more options on the field in the upcoming 2009 season. Rodgers will have more weapons to throw to such as throwing to the TE (Lee), slot WR (Nelson Jones, Martin), and RB (Grant, Jackson). Last year was Rodger’s breakout season which he had added pressure on since it was his first season and the season where the Packers declined to bring back Favre on the roster as well. I also expect Jordy Nelson to flourish next season as he showed a lot of potential this past season playing in the slot. Let’s hope that new D is molding well.

Favre a Viking?

2009-06-18T17:17:00.001-04:00

I’ve been gone for a while now, but I should be soon returning on a regular basis. Over my absence there has been a lot that has happened. The Pens won the Stanley Cup and Kobe finally won a championship without Shaq. A lot has happened, but nothing else has caught my attention more than the prospect of Brett Favre going to the Vikings to play next season in the 2009.

When I first heard of the news, I was not surprised at all. I wrote on my previous blog when Favre officially retired that I wouldn’t be surprised to see him come back to play another down in the NFL. The question was which team he would be playing for. I knew the Vikings were interested in him last season, but I didn’t actually think the Vikings would still consider signing him. Since his surgery, it seems clearer every week that Favre will be returning to the NFL. Why else would he have gotten the surgery for? For giving his shoulder mobility when he rides his tractor. The Vikings even sent out their team trainer/doctor to see Favre. Favre in my opinion is ready to wear purple and yellow for the Vikings this upcoming season.

What does this mean? Well, it still means that the Lions will still have a harder time trying to win a game next season. Also it means that there are three teams who are really in the race for the NFC North Title with the Bears, Vikings, and Packers. The real clear cut favorite to win the title are the Vikings and then the Bears followed by the Packers. But it is a tossup with how the Bears and Packers will do next season. The Bears don’t have any receivers for Cutler to throw to and the Packers are changing to a 3-4 defense. So there are some unsure voids on both of the teams. With the arrival of Favre in Minnesota, will give the team the edge to win the title and be a Superbowl contender next season. I just thought I would never ever see Favre playing for another team in the NCF North.

Hard Knocks for Bengals

2009-05-18T11:32:00.002-04:00

The HBO show Hard Knocks has picked the team to document this season, and it’s the Bengals? What, the Bengals…for real? Yep, it’s the Bengals. When I first heard the news I was disappointed, but then I thought about it and adjusted to the idea of watching them this season being filmed. I would love to see how the Bengals high execs run the team the way they do. I mean have you seen their past draft picks and run-ins with the law (Chris Henry comes to mind)? It would be very interesting to see how everything gets handled in the front office.

Another thing that I would love to see is how the Chad Johnson and Bengals drama plays out on TV. Will he be there being as a good player on camera or will he be the Chad Johnson that’s upset and wants to get traded. Then the other intrigue of the show is seeing the rookies, especially the rookies on the verge of losing a spot to be on the roster. You kind of feel for certain guys who bust their butts to get the spot on the roster. It really sucks when some of them come short of their dreams. Also to note it will be interesting to see the Bengals draft picks in Andre Smith and Ray Maualuga working out and practicing and getting accustomed to the NFL. Then finally, I like seeing how these football guys are at home with their wives and kids. That is an aspect of their lives which many people don’t see. I would like to see Palmer at home relaxing with his wife or maybe see Coach Lewis spend some time with his kids (if he has any).

Sry

2009-05-03T21:51:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I lasted posted, but I will be back soon . I have finals coming soon and need to get my head into the game.

-Azeem

An Angel has Fallen

2009-04-10T10:57:00.001-04:00

I really don’t talk much about baseball here, but sometimes on an occasion I like to talk about the sport. This time the topic isn’t about steroids use in the MLB, but something tragic. Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart has died from a hit and run accident. Nick and two other people were hit by a drunk driver’s car on Thursday. Adenhart was only 22 years old and was drafted by the Angels in 2004 and only had 4 major league starts. He was the youngest pitcher to be on a pitching staff in the MLB this season He was a young man with his future ahead of him. I myself will be turning 21 in about two weeks. It’s hard to imagine losing your life at a very young age. He died hours right after he made his season debut this season. The drunk driver Andrew Gallo, ran away from the scene and has been arrested before for drunk driving with a suspended license and could face murder charges. Hopefully justice will be served.

When tragedy hits, the team comes together with times like these. Torii Hunter said, "He was a very funny kid and he's going to be missed," he said. "Every time you come to the stadium and you go in that clubhouse, you're looking at Nick Adenhart's locker. A lot of these guys in here have never lost anybody in their family that's close to them. I hate that this happened, but this is part of life. This is the real deal," he said. "That's why you've got to kiss your kids, kiss your family every day when you get up in the morning and before you leave for work." This season has already started tough for the Angels with this tragic loss, and they need to move on with their lives like people do, but with the memory of a young talent whose life was taken.

I remember when my high school football team lost their one of their RB in a gun shooting two years ago in the summer. That fall the team played well with a bigger reason to play. They played for their fallen teammate week in and week out. The team would eventually make it to the playoffs losing in the quarter finals. It was their drive and the memory of their teammate that made them make it to the playoffs. The last time the team made it to the playoffs was in 1988 in the Championship game. It was sad that they lost their teammate, but each time they walked out to the field they played not for themselves, but for their teammate who was no longer on the field with them. Maybe this will be the same thing for the Angels. Overall, it’s sad to see a young talent and human being like Adenhart die, who had so much potential to do great things in the MLB.

Son Not Like Father

2009-04-08T09:32:00.001-04:00

We won’t be seeing a future Elway now, since John Elway’s son, Jack Elway has left the Arizona St. football team. Elway was a redshirt freshmen last season, will continue his education at Arizona St. Coach Erikson added, "He's just tired of football and wants to do something else with his life," Sun Devils coach Dennis Erickson said Monday, according to The Arizona Republic. "He made a decision, and we all understand it. He would have played here eventually." He would’ve gotten the job at head QB eventually, but with five other QB’s on the roster and Elway entering into his sophomore year at Arizona St. it was a 50/50 chance of him starting next year.

Many fans would think that a legend of a son like John Elway would be like his father and potentially have a bright future in the NFL possibly one day. Maybe he doesn’t want to play football now, maybe the fun out of football is gone for him. I know people in Arizona and the fans that support the team will blast and criticize the kid this week on the airways. The only reason he will get criticized is because he’s the son of a legend. If he was John Doe, no one would care about him because Arizona St. has 4 more QB’s on the roster. Losing John Doe isn’t too bad when you have 4 more QB’s that can replace him, but you can’t replace an Elway.

People thought he was going to be like his father. When you’re the son of a legend, people expect you to be like your dad and become legendary. It doesn’t always end up like that. With a father like John Elway, there is going to be added pressure to be like your old man. Let’s not forget he’s a young man and some young men don’t see themselves doing something that they have been doing for awhile. That’s why people change their majors in college sometimes. Over time you decide what’s good for you and what you want to do with your life. You discover what you really truly want to do in life. Football could’ve got boring to him or maybe he just wanted to focus on school. Let’s not forget to factor in that maybe football was getting in the way of school. From what I hear football players have some rigorous structured schedules in college. You have to wake up early for morning workouts, have practice later on, and watch film (just a simple breakdown). On top of that you have classes, school work, and of course you need to hit the occasional parties as well. There isn’t enough information on why he left the team, but all we can do is speculate. Remember all this is just speculation.

A Tradition Shut Down

2009-04-07T09:33:00.001-04:00

A successful High School football program will close its door. Driscoll Catholic High School in Chicago will not be back in operation next year because of low enrollment rate and financial problems due to the recession. The school is not a newly opened school, its been around since 1966 and its football team the Highlanders, has won 7 consecutive Class A championships. Last season the high school football program lost in the quarterfinals in the playoffs ending their season run at 9-3 and 92-6 over 7 years total. Brother Kevin Convey, director of education said it was because of the plunging population and economic recession the school had to shut its doors.

I think this is sad for kids who are 8th graders right now that were look to be Highlanders and running around in the colors of the school. Also all the younger kids who really believed that they would one day wear the football team’s jersey and play for the school. Those dreams are sadly gone. Many of those kids believed that they would have a legitimate shot at winning a championship on a team with winning tradition and now those dreams kind of hit a speed bump.

Those kids might not get the opportunity to be coached by a good coach at Driscoll. For many kids, a coach is a role model during their years in high school. To some he is like a second father figure or a father figure to those who don’t have a father around in their lives. We seek advice in our coaches when something is not right, we see our coaches everyday if they’re a teacher within the school. We naturally build a bond with them if we like them or not. The relationship between a NFL coach and a NFL player isn’t the same as a high school coach and high school player. Kids who were hoping to get coached by the head coach over Driscoll won’t now possibly. I bet the head coach will get another job somewhere else because of his resume, but it won’t feel the same without wearing those Highlander colors. The tuition of the school is $8,000, and I think the teachers and people who ran the school should’ve taken in account that the economy would hurt some people in some way. I’m not saying it’s the school’s fault, but it should’ve done something to change it and to stabilize their enrollment process for next year. It sucks to see a great football program walking away from the field for good.

Garcia back Home?

2009-04-07T09:31:00.001-04:00

The NFL’s equivalent to a journeyman Jeff Garcia is going back to the Bay Area, no not to the 49ers. He’s coming back to the Bay Area in black and silver. The Raiders have singed Garcia to a one year deal. Garcia who is 39 years old will most likely be the second string QB on the roster with JaMarcus Russell starting next season. I like the signing by the Raiders because now they have some sort of insurance policy just in case Russell doesn’t play too well. Now they can revert back to a veteran QB when things get tough for the young QB. Did you actually think that Coach Cable would replace Russell with Andrew Walter when things were not going well? No way Jose! Now with Garcia, a proven veteran, he can bench Russell if the move calls for it.

In my opinion Garcia can still play, but he is getting older. He’s a tough QB who loves to be mobile in the pocket. Last year when he was running out, he got tackled so badly that his nose started to bleed. The guy will put his body out for that extra yard or two. With Garcia you get a QB who can play and throw the ball deep and he’s been to the Pro Bowl 4 times. The Raiders aren’t a team to be too crazy about, but they do have two solid running backs in Fargas and McFadden and one of Russell’s main targets to throw to…Miller at TE who emerged last season as a key part of the offense. Now with the draft approaching, the Raiders should look at getting a WR in Maclin or Crabtree if drops to them and some defensive picks/O-linemen in the draft as well. The Raiders have their work cut out for themselves next season.

Cutler is a Bear

2009-04-03T11:17:00.001-04:00

So the Broncos have finally traded Jay Cutler to the Bears. The Broncos traded Cutler for the Bears 2009 first round, third round, 2010 first round picks, and Kyle Orton. Wow, are the Bears crazy or what? They sent this year’s first and next year’s first round picks for Cutler. I could understand sending a first round pick for Cutler, but only one first round pick not two. That’s giving up too much. Many teams like to have a first round pick, now the Bears won’t have a first round pick until the 2011 draft. First Round picks are almost a guarantee 75% of the time. The first round picks are a way of rebuilding a team on a position with a player that can potentially make an impact on the team quickly.

I like this trade and the Broncos will greatly benefit from it a lot. They get a decent QB in Kyle Orton who I have been following since his days at Purdue. He is a good QB who can make plays. He’s nothing special, but he can play and can get the job done. Kyle Orton isn’t a rookie, he’s been playing in the league for 3 years now. He has some experience. I believe with a coordinator and head coach in Josh McDaniels, he will do very well with the system they are installing in Denver. The Broncos also have offensive weapons as well in Marshall, Gaffney, Royal, and Scheffler. Now with the draft picks they have this year, they could make some key adds onto their defense. They could possibly get a DT in B.J. Raji, Peria Jerry, or a LB in Clay Matthews, Brian Cushing and could trade up for Aaron Curry maybe. They could even get one defensive and one offensive player in the first round too. They could draft RB Chris Wells by using one of the first round picks in which they are interested in.

For Cutler, I feel bad. I think the Broncos wanted to trade Cutler to a team that wasn’t too good and in return got some good draft picks and a decent QB…and they did. They sent Cutler to the Bears who don’t have any good WR’s on the roster. They have two decent TEs in Clark and Olsen. In the WR position they only got Devin Hester who didn’t do too much last season and some guys that I don’t know of. The Bears could draft a WR for Cutler in the second round, but you never know who they will draft. Once the team starts doing bad, count on Cutler speaking his mind, “We felt that [Cutler] is a very good person, a good leader,” Angelo said. “He had some things that happened in Denver. We recognized those, but we treated them as just speed bumps, part of the growing process. He's highly competitive, he's highly emotional. That just comes with the territory.” Angelo said it himself…he’s highly emotional. When things don’t go the way he wants, things for the Bears will go downhill. Cutler is a very talky QB who isn’t mature enough. I am not too worried as a Packers fan. I think the Packers are slightly better than the Bears with the Vikings as the king of the league to win the NFC North title. The Packers are slightly better because of their offense led by Aaron Rodgers with good wideouts in Driver, Jennings, and Nelson, but their new 3-4 defense has me a little worried. I don’t know what to expect from their new defensive scheme. For the Bears, they have a very good defense and it will help Cutler out a lot. When Cutler doesn’t march the offense down the field for any points, he has a good defense to stop the other team from scoring. Let’s not forget that it’s defense that wins championships. Only time will tell if this was a good pick up for the Bears and how their draft turns out this year and next year.

Buyer Beware of Cutler

2009-04-02T13:18:00.002-04:00

The Broncos are open to trading Jay Cutler now to teams that are interested. Jay Cutler is a buyer beware type of situation for any team that’s interested in him. He is a young QB who is very talky. He said his arm was stronger than John Elway’s arm. Even during press conferences he is talky and doesn’t know when is the best time to shut up and not say too much. You can be opinionated, but there are lines drawn when you cross over the line sometimes. You need to remember that you’re the face of the franchise. What you do and say will be scrutinize by writers and fans. Cutler also has diabetes which is a problem if it’s not in check. He has more responsibilities in being healthy ready during games and practice. Could his diabetes effect what he does in games? What if he has low blood sugar which could effect how he plays? Maybe or maybe not.

Let’s not also forget that he had one good year. I know his defense isn’t that great and that the defense lost many games for Cutler, but he has one good year only. Don’t bank on him too quickly. There have also been reports (alleged) that Cutler has an alcohol problem. They’re saying he consumes too much and that coach Josh McDaniels was concerned about that regarding Cutler. That could be a potential worrisome problem down the road for any franchise. Remember Brett Favre and his addiction to pain killers, I bet you the Packers organization was worried if he would be back in time for the next season after rehab. If he drinks too much and can’t control his drinking it could be a hazard to the team and people around him. Who wants a drunken QB before he runs out of the tunnel? This report could be true and it can’t. Let’s remember he’s still very young and he is in a big city. What happens in cities…Parties and nightlife. People go clubbing and hang out with friends and have drinks and meet women. I bet you there are people who recognize Cutler and spread the word that a Bronco is in the club. People then go up to him bring more attention and he becomes the life of the party. Sooner or later reporters might be there and see what he does. The media likes to put athletes and famous people under a microscope and dissect their every move. Imagine him New York and the nightlife they have.

Another thing, when you get Cutler you won’t be getting a mature QB like a Payton Manning or Brett Favre. They don’t talk too much but talk enough to walk around the league with a lot of authority. If they say something, you (the teammate) will listen to what they say or advise you to do. You won’t be getting a very smart QB like Tom Brady who can make a broken play work on the go. You won’t get an experienced QB like a Ben Roethlisberger or Phillip Rivers who have been to the playoffs. When you trade for Cutler…buyer beware because there is some baggage coming along with him.

Odd Reason for not Drafting a QB

2009-04-02T09:44:00.000-04:00

We now know for sure that the 49ers won’t draft Matthew Stafford in this year’s draft. The 49ers are picking 10th overall in the draft and it would be a big Aaron Rodgers/Brady Quinn like drop for Stafford to be available when the 49ers would be on the clock where he is projected as a potential number 1 pick. So how come the 49ers won’t be drafting the Georgia QB? It’s for a very odd reason that many of us fans wouldn’t have thought of about. The 49ers won’t draft Stafford because he didn’t want to talk about his parent’s divorce. 49ers head Coach Singletary said, “If you're going to look at drafting a guy in the first round, and you're going to pay him millions of dollars, and asking him about a divorce about his parents, if that's going to be an issue, uhhh, then you know what, maybe he doesn't belong here.”

I really can’t believe that this is the reason why they will not draft Stafford. I really feel the question is inappropriate. A coach is asking you about a matter that is very personal. What does that relate to how he plays football? Don’t tell me it’s all about his psyche. Don’t say it will help teams determine if his psychological state is in check. He’s been playing at Georgia and didn’t have any problems. Why don’t you ask his college coach if there are any problems that were related to his parent’s divorce. I’m sure Coach Richt knows Stafford really well.

I know the team wants to know that if their future draft pick will be a stable person in the NFL. But if you’re going to pay him a lot of money, he will do his job at the best of his ability. The NFL hasn’t had a Ryan Leaf type of situation for awhile and won’t for another 10 or 20 years. Those types of players don’t come into the league very often. If he doesn’t want to talk about his parent’s divorce than leave him alone about. Don’t be the team that says “we won’t draft him because of his parent’s divorce” and watch him in a few years become a good QB. You’ll be watching a “what could’ve been situation” play right in front of you. I just think it’s foolish that people will judge if you’re draft worthy based on your parent’s divorce. I would understand if the person was involved in some gang things or had friends who were in gangs or bad influence on the player. But this is just a divorce, he played well last season with 3,459 passing yards and 25 touchdowns (career totals: 51 TD & 7,731 yards). The team psychologist said that Stafford had “unfinished business”. What kid doesn’t have unresolved things with parents? We all have family issues and need to deal with them.

Calipari UK Bond?

2009-03-31T14:52:00.000-04:00

Should Memphis coach John Calipari accept the Kentucky job? I say yes! It’s being reported that UK is offering Calipari an 8 year contract worth around $35 million. That there is Nick Saban like money. Now some people might say that Calipari shouldn’t leave because Memphis has been with him for the past 10 odd years or so. He is the face of the team. Why should he leave from a place where he is already having success? Well, maybe to look for a new challenge. He coaches in the Conference USA which isn’t like the Big East or SEC. The Conference USA consists of Tulsa, University of Houston, SMU, Tulane, UCF, Marshall, and more just to name a few. The competiveness in the conference isn’t fierce and usually Memphis wins the conference every year. They’ve won the Conference regular season and tournament titles for the past 4 years now. They are the dominant team in the conference. They’re an UConn like team stuck in a bad conference. They are really a big fish in a small pond.

Some fans might say he should stay to be loyal to Memphis. Um, I felt that way until I heard Colin Cowherd’s point of view on the topic on his radio show while I was driving to school. Cowherd said along the lines that Calipari needs a new challenge. He’s a big recruiter who will bring good players to UK. If people stay at the same job forever, jobs wouldn’t be very competitive and prestigious. He also mentioned how if you stay at one job for too long, your employers will pay you less money or won’t dish out the big bucks to you if you’re loyal to them. Penn State football Coach Joe Pa, got paid $500,000 last year. Coach Paterno has been there forever (42 yrs) and he’s only making $500,000 per year. Pete Carroll at USC is making over 2 million and he’s been there for less than 10 years (but has gotten good results there too). Kirk Ferentz at Iowa in the same conference as Paterno coaches in, makes over 2 million a year and he hasn’t even won a National Title for the school where Joe Pa has given Penn State 2. Let’s not also forget that he is the winning-est coach and is getting paid below a million per year. I bet Coach Pa had many other offers at coaching somewhere else, but staying loyal to his school and program got him only below a million dollars per year. That is how Penn State treats the coach with the most wins in college football. So if you get an opportunity that’s better than what you are in now, take it before it passes you by.

I think Calipari should take the job because it will elevate his status. The Alabama football job has the same equivalent as the UK Basketball job. It’s a big job offer that many coaches wish to get in their career. For him to take the UK job won’t be surprising to me because it’s human nature for people to take better jobs. Why do people bust their butts at jobs and work hard? It is to do a good job and to get promotions or better contracts/jobs in the future. It’s already mandatory for people to work hard at the job in order to earn money to provide for yourself or the family. If you don’t work hard and do your job, you’ll get fired. But if you get a better offer from another company offering more money and benefits, you will take it unless the company you’re working for can match it…that’s if you like the company you work for already.

2009-03-31T09:34:00.001-04:00

Well Chad Johnson is making news in a bad way. He missed voluntary workouts. This is not a big deal, but it kind of is a little big deal. Last season Palmer was injured for most of the season with a partially torn ligament and tendon in his right elbow. Palmer believes he’s ready to play football for next season opting out of having surgery to repair the elbow and letting it heal on its own, "It's 100 percent and I'm healthy and I'm happy. Had I gone the other way, I don't know when I'd be able to throw again, but it wouldn't be now."

It’s a little big deal that Johnson isn’t there because Palmer is coming back from an injury. I think it would be a good idea for both Johnson and Palmer to meet and get an early start by working on some drills throwing and catching passes to help build up Palmer’s confidence and gets his feel back. I know the young WR are at the offseason workouts which is good, but the main target for Palmer is Johnson and Coles. Johnson needs to be there to show Palmer that he is serious in winning a ring and is committed to the team. How do you think Manning and Harrison have become one of the best WR/QB duos? They worked at it with perfection. Palmer’s time is kind of running out (29, has few more good year left if remains healthy) and so is Johnson’s (31 in age). Really, Palmer has missed two seasons if you think about it. He missed the Steelers game in 2005 playoffs where he got hit low and last year with the elbow injury. He lost a chance in 2005 to take the team to its furthest potential. That was his last shot to taking the team deep in the playoffs and was the last time the Bengals had a winning season too. If Palmer was in the game, they could’ve won. They lost to the Steelers, 31 to 17.

At least this year Ocho Cinco isn’t creating a big deal where last season he wanted out from Cincy and demonstrated that by missing Bengals workouts. If this keeps up and he doesn’t call the Bengals letting him know why he was absent or any indication that he will be returning to the team by the mandatory workouts…then we have a problem. I think Johnson will be with the Bengals and they could have a decent season next year if Palmer is healthy and Johnson cooperates. With the addition of Coles and Johnson on the other side of the field lined up, Palmer has options to throw the ball with another slot option in Chris Henry. Let’s hope the defense gets better. When draft day comes and goes, we will have a better idea on what teams will be good next season and which might not.

If Jesus was Reincarnated today...

2009-03-30T09:29:00.002-04:00

I was watching Sports Center today, and I saw an interview with Tim Tebow with a stubble/beard. After seeing him in the interview, it kind of validated my infatuation that I have for him. I will admit I’m a Tebow fan and I hope the best for his future in the NFL one day. To my point, I told my brother and sister poking in fun that if Jesus came back to life today, he would come back as Tim Tebow. Tebow is very religious man and credits his abilities and his faith in God. The guy says “God Bless” after every interview. He just doesn’t say “good bye” to you, he says “God Bless”. I started to realize this when I was listening to an interview he had on the radio in my car and then on TV interviews.

Also I’ve read that during Spring Break last year, he went to Mexico or the Philippines to help his father circumcise boys and other missionary work. Most kids usually go to Cancun for their spring break, but not Tebow. He gives his time for that one week helping kids and people. Tebow also gives speeches in state prisons inspiring change for the inmates for a better future when they get released. Tebow is aiding to change the world one person at a time in a way. For a guy to stand next to an inmate, he has guts. Anything can happen to him. “No matter where I am, if I'm preaching to Muslims or in a prison, if you're in the will of God, that's safer than driving down the interstate,” Tebow said. “That's how I feel about it. He's in control of whatever happens. I'm thinking more about their needs than my needs. They need to hear what I'm sharing, so I don't think about any sense of fear. The Lord has it under control, and he'll take care of me.” The guy does all this charity work because of his status and uses it for good because he knows he can make a big impact on people’s lives.

After that loss to Ole Miss last season, Tebow took the blame on him. He made sure that the Gators would never lose again and win the National Championship. “I just want to say one thing. To the fans and everybody in Gator Nation, um, you know what, I'm sorry. I'm extremely sorry. We were hoping for an undefeated season. That was my goal, something Florida's never done here. But I promise you one thing: A lot of good will come out of this. You have never seen any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of this season, and you'll never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of this season, and you'll never see a team play harder than we will the rest of this season. God bless.” Well guess what? They did win the Championship beating Oklahoma. The man has a strong faith based confidence upon him and he inspires everyone around him to be the best and to work at best of their abilities. If there was a man begging for food on the streets, Tebow would be the man who would help him when others won’t. He is a great guy that will give any NFL team a better image than they already have. I’m not saying Tebow is Jesus I want to clarify that. I’m just saying if he was with us right now he would be reincarnated as Tim Tebow.

Kraft likes Taylor

2009-03-30T09:28:00.001-04:00

Pats owner Robert Kraft, would love to add Jason Taylor to his team’s roster for next season. Taylor also hasn’t ruled out returning to his old team the Dolphins, is still a free agent from being released by the Redskins. “I did hear that. I can't lie," Taylor said Sunday night on the red carpet of an event for the Jason Taylor Foundation at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. “I have not talked to Robert Kraft. We'll leave it at that. Those things will sort themselves out, and hopefully in the near future so I can get back to work.”But it's great to be wanted. It's great to be wanted. Sure, especially an organization like them or the Dolphins.”

It was the Pats who wanted Panthers DE Julius Peppers. I guess things weren’t really working out for a deal to be made. I really like Jason Taylor going to the Pats. It’s a good fit and it will give him a better chance at winning a Superbowl ring. Taylor is getting up there in age (35) and I think he wants to win one Superbowl before he leaves the game for good. I think Taylor could still play, last season he was plagued with a calf injury where his numbers dropped. He only had 3.5 sacks last season where he usually averages 10 per season and only 21 tackles usually averaging 38.5 tackles per season. So last season was not his best, but it wasn’t his fault, he wasn’t playing to his fullest potential. I also think his mind was in football mode. He was dancing last spring in Dancing with the Stars. That dancing kept him away from working out possibly and attending key football dates. So he wasn’t in full football shape. If he signs with the Pats of the Fins, he will return as a better player than what we saw him as a Redskin. Let’s remember he is a 6 time Pro Bowler.

Now putting in my two cents… In Green Bay, the Defensive Coordinator is Dom Capers who was with Taylor when he played for the Dolphins. When Taylor first got released from the Skins, my first thought was the Packers better sign him. There were some signs that made me think that way. The Packers were moving to the 3-4 defense, where Taylor was very productive in Miami and also Capers was at the helm (as D-Coordinator) who worked with Taylor. I thought he would’ve been a good fit, but I guess the Packers didn’t want to dish out the money to sign him and get him into the Packers uniform.

Relax Buffalo, it's Only Voluntary

2009-03-27T12:08:00.001-04:00

Terrell Owens will miss voluntary workouts for the Bills. Some fans might see this as the beginning of the long year with TO on the Bills roster, but I beg to differ. Remember the workouts are only voluntary and not mandatory. He does not need to be there right now. “I talked to Coach Jauron prior to the start of the workouts about that,” Owens told reporters. “Right now if there's nothing mandatory that I have to be a part of, then I won't intend to be there.” As of right now TO will work out on his own with a personal trainer. I’ve seen the guy every year and he’s is always in shape and takes very good care of his body. From the HBO show which documented the Cowboys pre-season, Owens always worked out and showed how he was committed to keeping himself in shape and tip top condition.

The only time when I would start to get a little concerned will be when he doesn’t show up during the mandatory work outs for the Bills. During those mandatory workouts, the team starts getting the new playbooks and starts doing some drills to get into more of a football shape. It will be very bad for the Bills if TO isn’t there because TO needs to adapt to the new coaching staff, the players and QB play style. He will need to be there at those times. I think he will be there because remember this is only a one year deal with the Bills. If he does show up, he will be showing his new potential future team after this upcoming season that “I’m a reliable guy who will be there on time at camp and learn all the plays”. TO will need to be in camp in order to have a great productive season next September. If the QB and the WR aren’t on the same page, TO’s numbers will suffer, hurting his chances for more teams to sign him after next season in the free agency market.

On a brighter note and a side of Owens we don’t see often, Owens was presented an award from Alzheimer’s Association this past Wednesday. The Alzheimer's Association honored Owens for raising awareness about the fight against the disease. Owens’s grandmother Alice Black, has been affected by it and she raised Owens growing up and credits her. “My grandmother has been very, very instrumental in where I am as a person and my determination on the football field,” Owens said. It’s sad that we don’t see this side of TO often. It’s always his open minded and very opinionated side we see on TV week after week on ESPN. I didn’t know he contributed so much to the Alzheimer’s Association until I read this about him last week.

Cena on A-Rod

2009-03-25T18:10:00.002-04:00

I’m still a wrestling fan, I’m not as crazy about it as I was younger in middle school. I still watch it on TV every Monday when there is nothing good and entertaining on. I used to watch Heroes, but there storylines became very complex and confusing like a comic book and I used to watch 24, but I got bored of the show. Let's not forget about MFN, but that won’t be back on until September when football season starts again. So I watch Monday Night Raw, there isn’t nothing wrong with that.

Now to my point...In an article WWE wrestler John Cena said that steroid user Alex Rodriguez should be out in jail. “[Steroids] are the personal choice of the athlete,” says the WWE wrestler, currently starring in the film “12 Rounds.” “And [Rodriguez] got defensive, saying he used because he felt he needed to. If there was a set of [legal] stipulations set in place, he may never have even considered it. “The government should take the initiative, and if you get caught using drugs, then you should go to jail. A criminal record will hurt your endorsements and long-term contracts.”

I like his point and agree with him in a way. If A-Rod knew ahead of time that a person could face some jail time for using PED’s, then he would’ve never had taken them in the first place. All those big endorsement deals would be taken away and he wouldn’t be able to be a marketable figure in the sport. If you’re not a marketable guy, the Yankees might not pay him as much. The Yanks will still pay him a lot of money, but the guy gets paid for his talent, skills, and his face (marketability presence). If you’re put in jail you lose some of that marketability. Many kids look up to the guy just like kids do with Derek Jeter. With A-Rod though, he’s in the public eye more than Jeter or any other player in the MLB. Let’s face it, many Yankee fans come to see the Yankees because of the tradition of being a Yankee fan and also because of the big star players. If the Yanks didn’t have the star power that they did, they would be irrelevant like the Pirates. They would be a team that would be overlooked. I mean look at the Raiders, what happened to them? They’re a team that had great tradition of winning, but now are overlooked. The same goes for the Cowboys when they had TO. TO was a marketable guy and that is why ESPN put a lot of attention on the Cowboys for the past couple of seasons and they will do the same with the Bills now. No one talked about the Bills, but they will now. I believe if players are to be put in jail for using steroids, the level of the usage will go down. Cena does have a point. You do need to establish harsh penalties in order to establish order and maintain justice for wrong doings of these steroid users.

Also in my opinion, John Cena is a big guy. I’m not saying he’s a user of steroids, but he could’ve gotten big by other methods besides using steroids. If he was using steroids, I don’t think he would’ve made these comments. I also know he played football in Springfield College and my teacher knew Cena when he was going to school to be a teacher there. He told me he was a big guy who played LB for the Springfield Pride football team. I know a few athletic trainers and they all told me that teams do give out stuff (not steroids) to help football players and athletes to get bigger. I just didn’t want anyone shooting back at me saying “how dare he suggest A-Rod should be put in jail, when he looks like a user”. I just wanted that to be clear on that.

So, are you ready for some football... Week 1 games

2009-03-24T10:58:00.002-04:00

So the first week games are out…not all of them, but the ones that matter to us in a national audience in week 1. The first game will be a Thursday night game on September 10 with the Super Bowl Champs playing the Titans. Then the following Sunday on NBC, it will be the Packers (yes, I’m looking forward to this game) playing the Bears in the frozen tundra of Green Bay. Then finally on Monday, it will be a double header with the first game including the Bills with their new WR Terrell Owens playing the Patriots. The second game will pit the Chargers playing the Raiders.

I like the how the season will open with the Champs playing the Titans, who could’ve been playing for the Super Bowl last year. Let’s not forget that the Titans did beat the Steelers last year. Then the best game of the week in my own bias opinion will be the Packers playing the Bears. I’m a big time Packers fan, so whenever I get the chance to see them play on TV…I’m hooked onto the TV through the last commercial. Living on the East Coast, I usually see lots of Giants, Eagles, Redskins, Jets, or Patriot games. Usually I see around 3 or 4 Packer games on TV total (regular season) or more if they’re in the playoffs. So far I know I will see two Packer games on TV as they will be playing the Lions on Thanksgiving. The other match up on Thanksgiving will be the Cowboys in their new stadium playing the Raiders (yawn).

Moving onto the Monday Night Football games, I like the Bills playing the Pats. It has a great story line behind it. It’s Owens’s first game with the Bills playing the Pats with Tom Brady as their QB (hopefully) from his injury. Let’s not forget it will also be TO vs. Moss as well (ESPN might play this angle out a lot before the game is near). Then the second game on ESPN will be pitting the Chargers playing the Raiders. I like the Chargers, but not the Raiders playing in the game. There really isn’t anything intriguing about them. I would’ve loved to see the Chargers playing the Chiefs. Seeing Matt Cassel leading his new team or even the Broncos with first time head coach Josh McDaniels would be much better than seeing the Raiders play the Chargers. Will Cutler lead them or a new QB taking the helm for the Broncos? Those are intriguing story lines from those two teams who should be playing the second game on ESPN for MNF. Those two teams will get you higher ratings in my opinion. Overall, a great slate of games for the first week of the season.

Ovechkin: Sticks on Fire

2009-03-20T14:08:00.002-04:00

This week I’ve kind of wrote less about football. I had some friends and family complaining about that I focus too much on football. Sorry, but football is my expertise. So, here is another new blog on a different sport... hockey. Yes, I said hockey, the sport that is played on ice where it’s cool for people to fight. I’m not you avid hockey fan until the Stanley Cup playoffs…I’m hooked like a guy on drugs.

Well hockey’s current savior Alex Ovechkin is getting some heat from coaches and even his own coach Bruce Boudreau. After scoring his 50th goal of the season, Ovechkin celebrated with his hockey stick pretending it was on fire like Chad Johnson does with a football after a TD. Some people didn’t like the sight of it. Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau said he was caught off guard by the celebration and will talk to Ovechkin about it. Bolts Coach Rick Tocchet was not happy wither, "I grew up in the old days in the Spectrum where in the first period, after that happened, it might have been a three-hour first period. It's not something I like. It's hard for me to see that in our building." Tocchet also said, "I think he’s a terrific player. He went down a notch in my books after that”.

The NHL will take another look at the goal celebration and it will see to enforce any penalties to Ovechkin. WOW! The NHL allows fighting and celebrating goals, but not celebrating a goal in an unusual manner. Last night’s celebration was a first and unusual to many people who saw it. I’ve seen some celebration with sticks, but pretending your hockey stick was on fire…that was good and creative. I couldn’t believe no one else thought of it before. Many hockey players aren’t big watchers of the NFL. In the NFL, if there were a “Celebration for Dummies” book, the ball on fire celebration would be the first few celebrations displayed in the book and the more elaborate ones later.

Let Ovechkin do what he wants (hockey wise). That goal last night really didn’t harm anyone. Some coaches got mad over it and then it becomes blown out of proportion because people put their two cents into it (like me). Ovechkin is hockey’s last hope in a sense and if you don’t let him have fun in the NHL, and fuel that fun and enthusiasm into hockey, the sport will frizz away. I even heard of NHL banning fighting within the years to come. They can’t do that, fans love the fights. Every fan who sees a live hockey game in the NHL or AHL, wishes for a fight in the game. I know I do when I see the Wolf Pack.

Coach K vs. Obama

2009-03-19T16:31:00.002-04:00

Coach K of the Duke Blue Devils, criticized President Obama for filling out his own bracket for the NCAA March Madness Tourney. "Somebody said that we're not in President Obama's Final Four, and as much as I respect what he's doing, really, the economy is something that he should focus on, probably more than the brackets." I know he meant that in a joking matter, but to some people it didn’t see it that way. I know it was a joke because Coach K chuckled afterwards. Coach K has a dry sense of humor and some people wouldn’t understand that. I had a coach who had a dry sense of humor and sometimes I would get his jokes and at other times I wouldn’t.

Also in general, let the President fill out his own bracket. Come on, can’t the guy take a little break and fill out his tournament bracket? The guy is an avid basketball fan. The guy is working his behind off and trying to fix the mess we’re in right now. I’m not a guy who’s into politics, but he can’t fix the entire economy in one day or a few months. It’s going to take time and small types. President Obama won’t have the time he used to have before he became President, where he could play a quick game of hoops or watch an entire basketball game on TV. Andy Katz asked President Obama if he saw the 6 overtime game with UConn playing Syracuse. President Obama answered that he “only saw the highlights on Sports Center” he continued on saying that he couldn’t stay up late like he once could. The guy has the right to take a step back from work and relax from time to time. On a side note, I’m happy that our current President appreciates sports. President Obama has been very public about his knowledge and interests in sport since last year where he wanted to implement a playoff system in NCAA college football and now with his current bracket.

A-Rod in love with A-Rod

2009-03-19T12:10:00.002-04:00

By now you have seen the A-Rod photos of him embracing himself in front of a mirror in Details magazine. When I saw the picture, I laughed to myself and wondered why. I mean was it the right time for him to be making love to himself in front of a mirror after the PED’s allegations? I know the photo shoot had taken place a couple months ago (I hope), but he could’ve done other poses. This kind of shows you how A-Rod is self absorbed and how he is in love with himself.

How much can a guy pile on to himself? First it was his divorce, the new relationship with Madonna, getting hurt, his PED use, and now the photos. The PR in the Yankees club house must have been thinking “what the hell has he gotten himself into now”? When you’re as big as A-Rod (in the fame sense) you’re every move will be captured and you will be criticized. That’s what the general public does. By doing the photo shoot, this has added more baggage on top of what he has already. The Yankees should feel like a joke with the recent photos. They should be ashamed of the pictures and of the decisions A-Rod has made so far.

Cutler & McDaniels: Heartbreak in Denver

2009-03-16T18:35:00.002-04:00

On Sunday night, Denver Broncos QB Jay Cutler has asked the Broncos organization to trade him after a meeting with Head Coach Josh McDaniels ended badly. “I went in there with every intention of solving the issue, being a Bronco, moving forward as a Bronco,” Cutler said. “We weren't in there but about 20 minutes, [McDaniels] did most of the talking and as far as I'm concerned, he made it clear he wants his own guy. He admitted he wanted Matt Cassel because he said he has raised him up from the ground as a quarterback. He said he wasn't sorry about it. He made it clear that he could still entertain trading me because, as he put it, he'll do whatever he feels is in the best interest of the organization.”

"At the end of the meeting, he wasn't like, 'Jay, I want you as our quarterback, you're our guy.' It felt like the opposite. He basically said that I needed to tell him if we can't work this out, to let him know," Cutler added. "I thought he was antagonizing me and that was disappointing because I was ready to move on, committed as a Bronco. Really, I figured we'd hash things out, shake hands, laugh a little and move forward. What happened [Saturday] was the last thing I expected. If I didn't think it could be fixed, I never would have come back to Denver. It was painfully obvious to me and Bus [Cook, his agent] it's not something they want to fix."
Well, at least the coach was honest right? I mean McDaniels could’ve lied his butt off to Cutler just to keep him, but no he was downright honest to Cutler right in front of his face. I don’t blame McDaniels for wanting Matt Cassel. McDaniels was accustomed to Cassel and his play style with the Patriots. Coaches like familiarity and McDaniels was very close with his New England QB, which he brought up to become last year’s diamond in the ruff.

I think now with how things have progressed, the Broncos should trade Cutler because there isn’t a sense that things will get better in the future. Each week it seems like this situation is getting worse and worse. I feel bad for Pat Bowlen who is in the middle of this with his franchise looking bad to the general public. The Broncos organization is getting a bad rep for what’s going on and I think the people who are to blame should be McDaniels and Cutler. We should blame McDaniels for evening thinking about replacing Cutler with Matt Cassel. You already have a decent QB who had one of his best seasons last year in Cutler. Why would you even want to replace him, just build his skills to your liking with your new offense. Adjust some things. Before things broke out, Cutler and McDaniels were talking about the new offense and Cutler was engaged into making the new McDaniels Offense work next season. Then news broke out about McDaniels wanting to trade Cutler for Cassel and all hell broke loose. We then should blame Cutler for even for prolonging this dispute. He should’ve by now in my opinion put this behind him, but he can’t because his ego is damaged and it should be. The QB is the face of the franchise in football and when a team wants to trade him, the QB should have every right to be mad.

I think the Broncos should trade Cutler and there are teams looking for his service. To name a few, the teams that are interested are the Lions, Bears, Vikings, Jets, and a few more (can’t remember from the top of my head). The best situation for Cutler would be to end up with the Vikings with Peterson because of the running game already established and a decent defense as well. Cutler will help out the Viking’s offense become more consistent unlike with Jackson in past seasons. The most realistic team that can make a trade and land Cutler would be the Lions who have two first round draft picks. They could trade either the 1st or 20th overall pick to the Broncos for Cutler. If I were the Lions, I would trade the 20th for Cutler and get an offensive lineman with the first pick or the other way around. Whatever does happen the situation over in Denver has reached its peak point with Cutler demanding a trade from the organization.

I Am Selfish

2009-03-13T11:34:00.002-04:00

As many of you already know, TO has found a new home in Buffalo with the Bills. What were they thinking? Do you really think he wants to really stay there for more than a year? I’m guessing after next season he won’t even return to the Bills. The Bills are a short term plan for Owens. Owens will become a free agent again after the 2010 season and he sure will certainly test the free agency market for a better opportunity. I’ll tell you this, if he has a great productive season, other teams will be wanting his service in 2011 football season. The reason why he landed with the Bills was because there weren’t any other teams that wanted his service this season. It showed you how limited the market was for TO and his reputation. Many teams were reluctant on signing him.

Already TO is making demands. TO wanted to wear the number 81 and he will get what he wished for by taking that number away from second year receiver James Hardy. Hardy now will wear number 84. There you go right there. It shows you how selfish Owens really is. If he was a better man he would’ve let Hardy keep the number and he would’ve switched to a different number. Owens could’ve switched to his old college number (80), but no his ego took over and he got what he wanted which was his number he’s been wearing in the NFL since his rookie season. This just shows you how Owens is all about “me, me, me”, he has a “me” mentality and doesn’t regard the people around him. He doesn’t care about others. I bet you he didn’t care that Hardy wore that number. Owens was like “I’m gonna get my number, if I don’t, I’m gonna go apes**t around this place” and you know the Bills had to give in and give Owens what he wanted. They didn’t want this story to be blown out of proportion.

First 10 Draft Picks

2009-03-12T18:42:00.002-04:00

Draft experts Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay have come out with their first round picks. I’ll be discussing the first ten picks of this year’s draft and who i think the teams should draft.

1. Detroit Lions
Kiper: Matt Stafford
McShay: Matt Stafford
Azeem: Matt Stafford
I think the Lions need a lot of help and it should start with a QB. Stafford will most likely start right away, but the Lions do need a QB to lead the team. I don’t think Culpeper is the long term plan, but he can aid Stafford grow into a better QB with his help. If the Lions still have their second first round draft pick (20th overall), they should draft an offensive lineman to help Stafford out in the front line.

2. St. Louis Rams
Kiper: OT Jason Smith
McShay: OT Jason Smith
Azeem: OT Jason Smith
With the recent release of Orlando Pace, it’s a no brainer for the Rams to pick a offensive linemen to protect Bulger and give Jackson good blocks for good long runs and open holes.

3. Kansas City Chiefs
Kiper: LB Aaron Curry
McShay: LB Aaron Curry
Azeem: LB Aaron Curry
With Mike Vrabel on the defense and a QB already set, there is no need in drafting Mark Sanchez from USC. Chiefs need to beef up their D and Curry will help them out and he will learn a lot from veteran LB Mike Vrabel. Curry is also the best defensive player in this year’s draft and the Chiefs need to build a good D, so picking him would help them do that.

4. Seattle Seahawks
Kiper: OT Eugene Monroe
McShay: DT BJ Naji
Azeem: WR Micheal Crabtree
I think Crabtree will be a good option for Matt Hasselbeck to throw to when TJ Houshmandzadeh is covered up. They have Deion Branch, but he hasn’t lived up to his Superbowl MVP performance yet.

5. Cleveland Browns
Kiper: DT BJ Raji
McShay: Brian Orakpo
Azeem: DT BJ Raji
That Defense needs help up front and Raji is the best defensive lineman.

6. Cincinnati Bengals
Kiper: WR Micheal Crabtree
McShay: OT Eugene Monroe
Azeem: OT Eugene Monroe
The Bengals still have Ocho Cinco and added Laveranues Coles and Chris Henry is still with the team. I don’t think they should take a WR with this pick. Bengals need to build a solid line for Palmer and they should take Monroe with this pick.

7. Oakland Raiders
Kiper: WR Jeremy Maclin
McShay: WR Jermey Maclin
Azeem: Jeremy Maclin
I think Maclin should be taken here because besides for Javon Walker and Zach Miller, they have no other weapons for JaMarcus Russell to throw to. Maclin is quick and he will be explosive when the ball is snapped.

8. Jacksonville Jaguars
Kiper: QB Mark Sanchez
McShay: WR Michael Crabtree
Azeem: OT Andre Smith
They need help up front and need to protect Garrard in the pocket.

9. Green Bay Packers
Kiper: DE Brian Orakpo
McShay: DE Aaron Maybin
Azeem DE Brain Orakpo
They need to draft a DE with former DE Aaron Kampman moving to LB next season for the new 3-4 defense. Packers had a chance to get Canty, but that didn’t work out and a DE is an obvious choice here. I like both Maybin and Orakpo, either will do for the Packers.

10. San Francisco 49ers
Kiper: DE Aaron Maybin
McShay: OT Andre Smith
Azeem: DE Aaron Maybin
Can’t draft a QB here with restructuring Alex Smith’s contract and keeping him as their QB, but they could draft Sanchez. Sanchez could be drafted but they should not draft him, wait next year with Tebow, McCoy, and Bradford coming out for next year’s draft. They should draft a DE and beef up their front line. They have decent LB and Nate Clements in the back field build that defense up baby.

Haynesworth in Trouble?

2009-03-12T16:20:00.002-04:00

Albert Haynesworth signed with the Washington Redskins after he tested the free agency market “for only like a quick minute”. Well, it’s been about maybe two or three weeks since then and he’s has gotten himself in trouble already. Haynesworth has been indicted on two misdemeanor traffic charges in Tennessee after an accident that seriously injured another driver. The District Attorney Kim Helper said that Haynesworth faces charges of reckless driving and having expired registration…not good. The maximum punishment for his offense is six months in jail and a $500 fine on the reckless driving charge and 30 days and a $50 fine for the other charge… could’ve been worse. Also to note, these charges came from a Dec. 13 incident where police said that Haynesworth was trying to pass another driver, who crashed into a concrete median.

I know many of you guys might be thinking “he’s already gotten into trouble, come on”. Let’s not forget when the incident happened. This incident took place on Dec. 13 of last year (I believe). This happened last year when he was with the Titans. So before the Redskin fans begin to talk bad about their organization (which they should), remember that this happened last season. The Redskin could’ve done their research on the guy and saw that he could get in trouble. The Skins didn’t d their homework. That’s what it comes down to. You’re investing so much money on one guy, the least you can do is check his background. Didn’t the Skins ever wonder asking Haynesworth if he gotten into any recent problems or troubles? People get ask the same question when they apply for a college or a job. That’s because the employer wants to know that the person they’re hiring can hold the job and can’t harm the organization too. The Skins are giving Haynesworth $100 plus millions of dollars and they in return should get their monies worth. I just don’t want to be the one to say that the Redskins made a bad investment decision in signing the guy. I hope that this will work out because I hate seeing players with great ability not succeed and waste their talents. Hopefully this will be cleared up before training camp and pre-season starts.

Harsh times in Denver: Part 2

2009-03-11T09:35:00.003-04:00

A source have said that the meeting between Broncos head coach josh McDaniels and Jay Cutler have gone from bad to worse. The Broncos told him that every player on the team and even including him would be considered to be traded. That’s not what the face of your franchise wants to hear. Come on, how would John Elway feel if he heard those words coming out from the Broncos management. You’re giving your QB a false hope of confidence in him. You’re adding more pressure on him that needs to be added before next season with a new first time head coach leading the team. Also to add Cutler needs to deal with the uncertainties of Brandon Marshall and his troubles with the law. He could miss some games next season if he drops the ball again by getting into trouble. McDaniels is creating a rift in the organization now. Even Pat Bowen isn’t sure what the direction of the team is. He said that he wouldn’t want to trade Cutler and than at other times he does. The Broncos organization is flip flopping. Trust is key in any relationship. For next season to be great season, Cutler and McDaniels will need to build their trust again. If they can’t, than trade Cutler like he wishes they do. Right now that trust is broken.

Clearly, the Broncos are spitting at Cutler’s face, who is the face of franchise. Cutler is I think 17-20 overall in wins and losses which in most part is due to his poor defenses play. He has a rocket arm as which he has admitted to, and he had a great season last year. Cutler has said that he would miss next Monday’s first workout session with the team. If you’re rookie head coach that doesn’t have the starting QB present, how are you going to install the new offense than for next season? They need to fix this problem ASAP. Cutler can play and he should play where he is wanted. I think the best situation would be if the Lions traded there 20th overall pick to the Broncos and then draft an OT with their first round pick. That would be one best case scenario.

Smith to stay a 49er

2009-03-11T09:33:00.001-04:00

The 49ers met with Alex Smith to restructure his contract, where now Smith will be making $4 million for the next two years in 2009 & 2010 season. In his original contract, Alex Smith was supposed to make around $24 million for the next two seasons. “We have reached an agreement with Alex and his agent to keep him as a member of the San Francisco 49ers,” general manager Scot McCloughan said in a statement. “Alex expressed a deep interest to remain with the team and that feeling was mutual.”

It was Smith’s loyalty that kept him with the 49ers. Last year, many people would’ve predicted that Smith would’ve been released by the 49ers for his lackluster performance so far as a NFL QB and injuries. There were other teams interested in him. The guy could’ve left the 49ers, but he wanted to stay. I believe with a new head coach in Mike Singletary, maybe Smith can produce.

I’m happy that the 49ers organization are keeping Smith on the roster, rather than trading him or releasing him. Let’s remember that Smith was drafted number one in the same draft as when the Packers drafted Aaron Rodgers in the late rounds of the first round. Right now, Rodgers is looking like the best QB from that draft class. When the 49ers drafted Smith, they needed a QB badly. They had no QB to take charge of the team. So it was a simple choice to draft a QB in the first round and to quickly start him right away. Well, that’s where the 49ers kind of made a mistake. I think the 49ers should’ve gotten a veteran QB to help aid Smith and develop his skills. On the current 2004 roster, the 49ers had Ken Dorsey and Tim Rattay as their QB’s. Those guys couldn’t help Smith and mold him into a decent QB in the NFL. If you look at Aaron Rodgers or even Carson Palmer, they didn’t start a NFL game until their third season in the NFL. Palmer was sat behind Kinta and Rodgers sat behind Favre, who help mold them into the players that they are today. They sat and learned and watch their counter parts take the lead of their teams in the locker room, on the practice field, and in game situations. Those players were Palmer’s and Rodger’s blueprint. You can’t throw a small shark into an ocean of larger sharks. They’ll eat all the food right away because that little shark has no experience, no one to mentor him and aid him on how to do the things he needs to do. That is what the 49ers did with Smith. You need to groom your young QB for the future. I think with Damon Huard on the 49ers roster now, he could help Smith out and progress into a decent QB. The 49ers haven’t lost everything yet with drafting Smith firs overall. He is not a bust yet, he still has time to develop into a good QB. I hope he does for the 49ers sake.

I think now with the draft coming up, it seems very unlikely that the 49ers will draft a QB in the first round. I think they should draft a WR to give some throwing options for Smith or Hill. They could still draft a QB, but it won’t make any sense. Or get some help for their defense like somewhere in the front line or even offensive front line to protect the QB from getting sacked every single time. The 49ers have many options.

You're Fired!

2009-03-10T09:32:00.001-04:00

Dan Leone was an employee for the Eagles. He was fired for making comments about the Eagles and their off-season departures. In particular the releasing of Brian Dawkins sparked Leone to post a status comment saying…”Dan is [expletive] devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver ... Dam Eagles R Retarted!!” After deleting the comment, the Eagles fired him of his job with the Eagles association as the west gate chief.

I understand why Leone did this and I think he shouldn’t have gotten fired for doing what he did. He like many fans wanted to vent on how he felt. The guy deleted the status comment after he met with Eagles front office and he still got fired by over the phone (one of the worst ways to get fired). I remember when the Packers were thinking about trading Favre to the Jets. I knew that I wrote some irate things on my status bar like “Ted Thompson doesn’t know what he’s doing and he sucks” (I didn’t write that actually, but something along those lines). I wrote that because that was how I felt, that was my instant knee jerk reaction to what was going on.

I hate the fact that the Eagles fired the guy about saying something and that the
Eagles met with him and he deleted it after that meeting. The Eagles fired him because he spoke up about how he felt. What, people can’t express themselves. Don’t people have the freedom of speech? I bet there are more people who are working with the Eagles who feel the same way Leone did, but they didn’t post it online for the entire world to see. Anyway, only Leone’s friends would’ve seen his status bar post. Now since this story has made into the public airways of the radio, print, and television, the Eagles have drawn more attention to themselves. Great job guys, before maybe only about 100-200 of Leone friends would’ve known about his comments, now the entire world knows. This was a bad way of handling this entire fiasco.

Another note, Leone only worked for the Eagles for the past six years as a west gate chief. He doesn’t get paid that much for that job. He must have another job because you can’t make a living from doing that for only 8 homes games once every Sunday or Monday per week. He worked there only part time. For all we might know, he can be a college student paying off his bills or what not. I wish the guy could get his job back. What the Eagles did was wrong in my opinion.

The Best Football Movies According to Me

2009-03-06T09:23:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was a slow day for football news in my opinion aside from Terrell Owens getting released from the Cowboys. Nothing yesterday caught my attention. So I did this instead:

The Best Football Movies:
1. Friday Night Lights
2. The Express
3. Any Given Sunday
4. Rudy
5. Remember the Titans
6. We are Marshall
7. Jerry Maguire
8. Gridiron Gang
9. Radio
10. Brian’s Song

A Lone Star

2009-03-05T09:40:00.002-05:00

Last year, The Cowboys ended their 2008 season at 9-7, missing the playoffs. Today, the Cowboys have released Terrell Owens from the roster. After last year’s disappointing season, moral and character issues were a big problem for the team in the locker room. During the 2008 season, Owens was in the spotlight accusing Tony Romo was distancing himself away from him and creating more passing plays with TE Jason Witten. Owens also was very critical of the offensive play calling and critical of offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.

I was watching Sports Center around 11:55 p.m. Eastern Time when I heard the news. I was shocked at first because I didn’t think Jerry Jones would be able to have the guts to release him. Let’s remember that Jones was the one who really wanted Owens on the team’s roster, a few years back. He gave him big money to come play for the Cowboys. I thought Jones would keep him there until Owens retired as a Cowboy. Last season, Jones brought in Roy Williams from the Lions for a first round draft pick plus third and sixth round draft picks for the 2009 draft, and a seventh round pick in the 2010 draft. Jones has invested a lot into Williams hoping to be the guy to compliment Owens. Well, that didn’t work out too well. Williams only had 19 receptions for 198 yards and 1 touchdown. On a side note, Owens begged for the ball and for more catches when he saw he wasn’t getting enough grabs last season. So how could Williams flourish with Owens? I think with the release of Owens, it will help Williams next season into becoming the main guy and Patrick Crayton into a secondary WR and Miles Austin filling into the slot position. Let’s not forget that the Cowboys still have Jason Witten who is an oversized WR playing TE.

Where will TO go now? To tell you the truth, I have no idea. I was looking at the teams in the NFL and I couldn’t find a team that would want him. I know someone will pick him up because the guy can still play and is a big threat for defenses. Maybe New England will pick him up because I think Belichick can handle the guy. I don’t know if the Pats will give him all the cash to come and play in New England. The guy does want to win a ring and the best place to do that would be New England. Whoever does hire him, they need to be preparing for TO. Owens might come into the team’s facility all ready to go and ready to work. He’ll be a team player for awhile, but once the team begins to struggle, he will jump ship and criticize the team. Once he doesn’t get all the grabs, he’ll criticize the team and coach’s game plan. We know controversy surrounds TO wherever he goes. He’s that big blue bug light that attracts all those bugs from getting zapped. He loves to be the center of attention. We all know what happened in San Francisco and Philly. He has had grudges with all of his quarterbacks. He is a problem, and I would not be surprised to see him on the free agency block for awhile. Right now, both Terrell Owens and Marvin Harrison are free agents. If I had to pick one of them to be on my team, I would pick Harrison because of his character. Owens is a great player, but he needs to fix his whole image that people perceive him to be.

Leonhard flies to the Jets

2009-03-03T21:34:00.001-05:00

Rex Ryan is bringing in ex-Baltimore Raven safety Jim Leonhard. This is the second player Coach Ryan has brought to the Jets from his days as the defensive coordinator with the Ravens. “I am extremely excited to become a New York Jet,” Leonhard said in a statement. “Obviously, to be reunited with Coach Ryan and Coach [Mike] Pettine on the defensive side of the ball is a great opportunity. I am really excited to get in there this first year with Coach Ryan and hopefully help do some great things.”

I like the deal. So far with what Rex Ryan has done is not bad. The Jet’s defense is looking like it will be very good next season. So far they’ve acquired Bart Scott, Lito Sheppard, and Jim Leonhard, all solid players. I haven’t seen too much of Leonhard play in games, but I did see him in two games where he stuck his head into tackles and made key interceptions in games. The guy can play and is not afraid to stick his nose. Leonhard was undrafted like Bart Scott and the guy is 5-foot-8. Man, I’m 5-foot-7 and the guy plays safety. One interception I saw from him was in the playoff game against the Dolphins last season, I saw the guy launch himself up in the air for the INT. To me, Leonhard is one of those unspoken players of the game who is still emerging (maybe I’m giving him too much praise).

Overall, in a much bigger picture, I like what the Jets are doing. They brought a defensive guy as their head coach and he’s been bulking up that defense. Rex Ryan’s best asset he brings to the game is his defensive knowledge and play calling ability. Nowadays, defense is key and it does win championships. Maybe 20 or 30 years ago, offense was what won games, but times have changed. Just throwing the ball up in the air because you know your WR can catch any pass for a TD, just doesn’t work anymore. You can score all the points against a bad defense, but once you play a real great defense, then you’re gonna lose. Those pass plays won’t be completed as often, as to when you were playing a poor defense. You might score once or twice against a good defense, but once their offense goes out there and they score on you to match your score…what now? There is good chance, that good defense will eventually stop that offense and win the game in the end. Look what happened to the Pats in the Superbowl game against the Giants.

The Best Free Agency Moves so Far

2009-03-02T23:01:00.002-05:00

The Best Free Agency Moves.

1. Chiefs- Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel
2. Seahawks- T.J. Houshmandzadeh
3. Broncos- Brian Dawkins, Jabar Gaffeny, Correll Buckhalter
4. Redskins- Albert Haynesworth
5. Giants- Chris Canty and Rocky Bernard
6. Patriots- Fred Taylor
7. Eagles- Stacy Andrews
8. Texans- Dan Orvlosky
9. Jets- Lito Sheppard
10. Cowboys- Kieth Brooking

Harsh times over at Denver

2009-03-02T11:28:00.000-05:00

This past weekend before the deal between the Chiefs and the Patriots fell through, Denver had attempted to get Matt Cassel. There have been reports that the Broncos were discussing a trade with the Buccaneers and the Patriots, sending Cassel to the Broncos and Cutler to Tampa and New England in return getting draft pick(s) (I believe, not certain). Another scenario involved the Lions, Broncos, and Patriots, where the Lions would get Cutler and the Broncos get Cassel.

Wow! Imagine if that fell through. That would’ve been a big trade and would’ve shaken up the landscape a whole lot more than the Chiefs and Patriots trade. Well, guess what, it didn’t happen and now Broncos QB Jay Cutler isn’t very happy. “I'm upset. I mean, I'm really shocked at this point,” Cutler told The Post. “I could see why they want Cassel. I don't know if they think I can't run the system or I don't have the skills for it. Or if they don't think they can sign me with my next contract. I just don't know what it is. I've heard I'm still on the trading block.” I really feel bad for Cutler even though I’m not a big fan of the guy and his cockiness (thinks his arm is stronger than Elway). Pretty much what the Broncos organization is doing is spitting at Cutler’s face and his ability to be the Broncos QB. Even though they said that they never wanted to trade him, it was a slap to his face. They still thought about the possibility of trading him.

Head Coach Josh McDaniels said that the team got inquires for a number of players. “He's not the only person in the last few days we've received calls on,” new Broncos coach Josh McDaniels told the Denver Post. “We've received trade calls on a number of players, which is not uncommon this time of the year. I also think the sensitivity of the other trade that was occurring, with my relationship with New England and the whole Cassel thing, I think that stirred the pot even more.” That’s pretty much saying, we tried to get Matt Cassel, but that didn’t work out. O well, we have Jay here and he’ll do fine even though we tried to trade him. We can work with him and let’s move on. To me that seems like a bad apology even though it’s not an real apology. Jay Cutler was Mike Shanahan’s experiment which at times has worked out and at other time hasn’t. Cutler is still a work in progress and last year he had one hell of a season and his best numbers (25 TD’s, 18 INT, and 4526 yds).

As a whole, the Broncos are pretty much saying that they are not confident in Cutler to lead the team to a playoff game and potentially a Superbowl appearance. I would be lying if Cutler didn’t think that’s what the organization thinks of him right now. Also we can’t blame head coach McDaniels totally either. He tried to get Mat Cassel because he was familiar with his style of play and had a great relationship with him at New England. I can’t blame him for that. Both sides need to reconcile before the season starts. If you’re a Denver fan, you were on a big high with the recent signings going on. When this took place, that high has gone done because if the QB and head coach can’t look each other eye to eye, there will be some problems in the upcoming season. For the fan’s sake, I hope they can settle this issue out in time for next season and not create a rift between them, but it will make for good TV.

Also, can someone babysit Brandon Marshall? Really dude? The guy was arrested in Atlanta, for fighting. The guy needs to be careful. I don’t want to say the guy is becoming like Pac Man, but he’s getting close. He needs to understand that he’s employed in the NFL and many people are depending on him like his teammates and the people who sign his checks. He needs to watch his actions. Be a role model in Denver and everywhere else bro, kids do look up to you. The guy is in trouble every year. This is not good for the team in general. That Denver high must be wearing down now with the debacle between Cutler and McDaniels and the Marshall run with the law.

Isaac Bruce and Kurt Warner to reconnect for a Second Time?

2009-03-01T12:41:00.001-05:00

Sources are saying that QB Kurt Warner is meeting with the 49ers early in the upcoming week. The Cardinals couldn’t sign the QB, where they offered him a new contract between the $10-$12 million dollars for about two years and a third year option. Warner has said that he would retire if the Cards couldn’t sign him to a new deal.

If Warner does sign with the 49ers, it will help them out a lot. Warner is a vet who can still play, but with good offensive weapons which the 49ers don’t have aside from Vernon Davis, who is still kind of growing/developing as a player and Frank Gore. The 49ers have Arnaz Battle and Isaac Bruce at the wide receiver position, but they’re not considered to be elite receivers (Bruce still has some left in the tank). Last year Battle had 24 receptions for 318 yards and no touchdowns. Nothing against Bruce, he was a great player with the Rams, but he can’t have the entire load on him. The 49ers need to get another WR to help him out. Last season, Bruce caught 61 passes for 835 yards and 7 touchdowns. The guy can still play and I think he could lure in his old teammate from the Rams days to throw him a few more touchdowns passes next season.

Also if the 49ers sign Warner, they will have a QB who can help develop the fallen star in San Francisco known as Alex Smith. Many believe that Alex Smith is a busted draft pick, but I think if Warner comes in, he can help the kid a lot. Warner is a great leader and Warner will be the role model Smith needs to help him get back on track. I wouldn’t give up on Smith now, you drafted him # 1, develop the kid. Try to salvage what you can.

What are the Cards doing? Do they really want to go to Matt Leinart next season? If it wasn’t for Warner, the Cards wouldn’t have made it to the Superbowl. They should do everything in their power to keep the guy. If they don’t, it will be another 60 years or so until they reach the Superbowl. I’ll tell you this, if Warner is gone, Fitz will be extremely mad and Boldin will be gone for sure.

Cassel is Chief

2009-02-28T19:24:00.001-05:00

Free agency is taking in effect in full swing already with the signing of Haynesworth and many other trades around the league. We saw Bart Scott signed with the Jets and the Jets have also got a new corner for next season in former Eagle, Lito Sheppard for two future draft picks sent to the Eagles. Also, it was announced officially that Brian Dawkins signed with the Denver Broncos. Most surprisingly in the day was the trade between the Patriots and Chiefs. The New England Patriots sent QB Matt Cassel to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs gave up their second round draft pick (34th overall) for Cassel and linebacker Mike Vrabel.

This trade between the Patriots and Chiefs caught me by surprise. I knew ahead of time that Mike Vrabel was going to the Chiefs a day ago. Then I heard Matt Cassel was going too, it really got me off guard. I was not expecting that at all. I would have thought that the Patriots would’ve kept Cassel as an insurance policy if Brady was not ready by next season or couldn’t perform like he did before he got hurt. Maybe the Patriots believe that Brady will be ready by then and will be able to perform at a 100% level when the season starts. Let’s hope they got a new insurance plan.

When I thought about this trade, I could see why the Chiefs got Cassel and Vrabel…Scott Pioli. Pioli was the director of personnel with the Patriots and he knew the players very well. He knew of their work ethic and that they could play well on the field. “I have a long history with both players,” Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli -- and former Patriots personnel director -- said in a statement. “Mike and Matt are men that I respect both personally and professionally. I look forward to having them as new members of the Chiefs family.” So the trade made sense. The Chiefs needed a linebacker and got a great one in Vrabel who can fill in the leadership role that the Chiefs defense lacks. He can even play a little offense too at tight end. Getting Matt Cassel helps the Chief’s QB situation as well. Before the trade the starter looked like it was going to be Tyler Thigpen. Thigpen can play and has showed that last season, but he’s not a quarterback you’re too sure about as of yet. Now the Chiefs’ have two decent quarterbacks on the roster with Thigpen and Cassel who will compete for the job, but I believe Cassel will get the job come September. So they have some wiggle room in the QB position. If Cassel can’t play like he was in New England, they can bench him and move on with Thigpen. Let’s remember that Cassel was good because of the coaches in New England and the supporting cast on offense. So there is no real 100% guarantee on how this deal will work out as of now. On paper this looks like a great deal, but that could change when he begins to play come next season.

Overall, I think this deal will help the Chiefs out tremendously. They got a QB and a LB where they needed some help on their roster. With that set, they can focus on getting some help for Cassel at the wide receiver position. They already have Dwayne Bowe, but they should add another wide receiver that will compliment Bowe in the offense. A good option could be to get one from free agency. Maybe get Lance Moore or Laveranues Coles. If not in free agency, draft one in the late rounds. Or if LB Aaron Curry is taken before the third pick in the first round, then draft a wide receiver in Crabtree or Maklin, but I believe Curry will be there at that spot and they should take him. There are other options at wide receiver that will be available by the second/third round like Hakeem Nicks, Brandon LaFell, Jauquin Iglesias, or Derrick Williams. Hopefully Tony Gonzalez is happy with the moves the Chiefs are making this off season.

Weapon X to the Broncos?

2009-02-28T10:26:00.003-05:00

Aside from the Albert Haynesworth deal on Friday, the Broncos made a splash too. The Broncos made some deals in free agency. They went out and got running backs J.J. Arrington (ex-Cardinal) and Correll Buckhalter (ex-Eagle). In addition to the running backs, the Broncos also got safety Renaldo Hill who was a Dolphin last year. They even beefed up their offense by adding wide receiver Jabar Gaffney to the team from the Patriots. The biggest move has yet to be made. Brian Dawkins is meeting with the team and could be signed by this weekend with the team.

Man, what an impact has first time head coach Josh McDaniels has made so far. He has gotten a WR in Gaffney from his Patriots offensive play calling days. I think Gaffney will be a great slot deep threat in the Broncos passing game. With corner’s locking up with Eddie Royal and Brandon Marshall as the number 1 and 2 WR’s, Gaffney will make the big plays like he did in New England (let’s hope he catches them). Plus, head coach McDaniels knows how to use Gaffney properly and will use him in the offense well. Let’s not forget about Tony Scheffler, the guy can catch. So they have weapons on offense. In addition to the passing game, the Broncos added some running backs where last year they were thin in the position losing many to injuries. Buckhalter was a great player when Westbrook was hurt last season for the Eagles, and played well in the games when he was called upon. I think I can see Buckhalter as the number one running back with Selvin Young as the number 2 running back. Also the guy is from Nebraska, there is something I love about Nebraskan running backs. Ahman Green and Brandon Jackson are Nebraska alumni who have played well for the Packers. You just can’t go wrong with a running back from Nebraska in my opinion.

With the reports that Dawkins is meeting with the team and could become a Bronco by this weekend, will help the team which didn’t play well on defense last season. The defense will get a big boost with Champ Bailey at cornerback and with the additional help from Dawkins and Hill. Along with Dawkins, comes his leadership ability and the way he motivates his team. I think that leadership mentality will help the Broncos next season play well on defense and not give up. The guy plays tough and never gives up on any play. The man is a true wolverine. If he does join the Broncos, it will be very odd seeing him in anything else, but Eagle green. Also, I’m just saying, if Dawkins comes to the Broncos…is there a possibility that Ray Lewis might not be far behind? The defense will be stacked with Bailey, Dawkins, and Lewis. With the draft coming in about 2 months, I think the Broncos should draft a defensive tackle in BJ Raji or a linebacker in Rey Maualuga or Everett Brown, but if Aaron Curry is still available and falls to them at that spot, take him, but that will be very unlikely.

A lot of money[Haynes]worth to the Redskins

2009-02-27T16:01:00.002-05:00

It wasn’t long for Albert Haynesworth to find a new home. Haynesworth found a new home in Washington, as the Redskins offered the big guy a 7 year $100 million dollar deal. In the deal, $41 million is guaranteed with incentives as well. It was a day ago, where the Redskins also gave CB DeAngelo Hall a six year deal worth up to $54 million.

Was this a good move? I don’t know. I was surprised that the Redskins offered him a deal after a couple hours into free agency. The Redskins did need an interior tackle and they got him, but they could’ve gotten someone else without spending so much. The Skins are known for being big spenders with Dan Snyder at the helm. That is what they did, by spending $100 million worth on Haynesworth. I know the guy can play and he is a monster for opposing lineman to cover, but there are some uncertainties with him. The guy hasn’t even played an entire NFL season due to injuries and has been known to take plays off. What if the Skins lose Haynesworth in the middle of the season due to another injury for a few weeks or even the entire season? What do you do now? You’ve invested so much money on the guy and in return he won’t be on the field. You won’t be getting you monies worth from the guy.

To me, the Redskins mentality is “we want to win a Superbowl and we want to win it now” type of mindset. I understand that, every team wants to win the Superbowl. That’s what you’re competing for every season, but it’s their approach in how they’re pursuing it, which I do not like. The Redskins are buying their way to the Superbowl. This isn’t the first time where the Redskins have paid a large sum of money for a player. Dan Snyder is known for spending a lot of money in free agency. I’m a true believer in building the team from drafting young talent and developing them over a time period. I’m not saying don’t get free agents, but it has been a trend with the Redskins year in and year out. Being a Packers fan, the Packers have drafted well for the past 2/3 years and are developing their younger guys. Their first round draft picks have been questionable at first, except for Aaron Rodgers. Last year the first player they selected in the second round was Jordy Nelson, the year before it was Justin Harrell in the first round and Hawk in 2006. The Packers are building their team via the draft. Greg Jennings was drafted as a second rounder in the 2006 draft along with Johnny Jolly and Will Blackmon. Now Jennings is the second WR on the depth chart and a very good one along with Donald Driver. The Packers usually don’t spend too much in free agency because they building their team with young talent instead paying big contracts for big name players like the Redskins and Cowboys.

Top 5 Free Agents by Position

2009-02-26T12:33:00.002-05:00

Top 5 Free Agents by Position:

QB:
1. Bryon Leftwich
2. Kurt Warner
3. Kerry Collins
4. Jeff Garcia
5. Dan Orlovsky

RB:
1. Derrick Ward
2. Fred Taylor
3. Correll Buckhalter
4. Warrick Dunn
5. Maurice Morris

WR:
1. TJ Houshmandzadeh
2. Jabar Gaffney
3. Marvin Harrison
4. Laveranues Coles
5. Lance Moore

OL:
1. Jeff Saturday
2. Mark Tauscher
3. Matt Birk
4. Jon Runyan
5. Jason Brown

DL:
1. Albert Hanyesworth
2. Chris Canty
3. Bertrand Berry
4. Rocky Bernard
5. Jovan Haye

LB:
1. Ray Lewis
2. Monty Beisel
3. Derrick Brooks
4. Kieth Brooking
5. Cato June

CB:
1. Chris McAlister
2. Jarrett Bush
3. Dre’ Bly
4. Joselio Hanson
5. Ricky Manning Jr.

What the Buc Man?

2009-02-26T01:12:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday, The Tampa Bay Buccaneers released 11 time Pro Bowl Linebacker Derrick Brooks and four other players from their roster. Along with Brooks, the Bucs also released; Warrick Dunn, Joey Galloway, Ike Hilliard, and Cato June. All men were first round picks with the exception of Cato June who was selected in the sixth round by the Colts. Brooks spent his entire NFL career playing for the Bucs (13 seasons) and Dunn played for the Bucs from 1997-2001, before he played for the Falcons, and then back with the team in 2008. To Brooks, his release came by surprise. “Right now, like all of you guys, I’m just trying to get a feel for it all, trying to come to grips with it,” the 11-time Pro Bowl selection said by telephone. “I don’t even know what to think.”

What the Buc? Some fans in Tampa might feel surprised by the releases. I’m not at all. I’m not saying that I saw this coming, but I’m not surprised. The players that they released are in their mid thirties, except for Cato June who is still 29, a year younger than the head coach Raheem Morris. So age is becoming a factor for these guys, but that is still not the reason why they were released. The real reason why they were booted out, is because of a new blue print. The Bucs are rebuilding developing their future talent. “You never replace a guy like Derrick Brooks. This was not a money issue or a youth movement. This is a direction change. We are moving forward, we’re going to play some people that were behind these guys and let them compete.” Have you noticed how since 2002, (when they won the Superbowl) the Bucs haven’t been making a big splash. Since the 2002 playoffs, the Bucs have not won a playoff game. They made two playoff appearances after their Superbowl win, but lost in the wildcard round to the Redskins in 2005 and then to the Superbowl winners Giants, in 2007. Also, their record in regular season games after the 2002 Superbowl win, has been 40-42. Even since the Superbowl win, the team has been playing with the same old blue print with the same players.

Gruden thought that he could win another championship with the same team like he did with his old 2002 Bucs’ team, but with a new older QB. No way, not at all. During free agency, the team got Warrick Dunn and then they got Jeff Garcia and other QB’s in their stable of QB collection. Gruden didn’t even get a big time WR for his QB’s in his time with the Bucs. Galloway who is now 37, was almost approaching his middle thirties after his Superbowl win with the Bucs. The only WR help they got Jeff Garcia was Antonio Bryant. Aside from WR, who was the real QB of the team? Was it Chris Simms, Garcia, Brian Griese, or McCown? The Bucs never had a real set QB. I believed they should’ve developed Chris Simms and built the team around him.

Now with a new head coach and Monte Kiffin gone, there are going to be some shake ups. Now they are switching defenses from the Tampa 2, to now the 4-3 under Morris’s new regime. In the Tampa 2 defense, speed was what the defense relied on along with great tackling ability where they need fast front lineman unlike the big bulky strong lineman many are accustom to in the 4-3. The LB’s on this scheme needed to quick enough to be able to cover the middle, along with the CB’s and SS and FS. Now switching to the 4-3 defense, you need top notch players on every position, but more emphasis on the DE and LB positions which need to be quick to pressure the QB. The front line has to be fast but more importantly bigger and stronger to execute this defense well. With the MLB, his job is to stop the run/blitz and drop back into his zones on pass plays. With a new coach and staff in place for the new blue print for the Bucs, changes needed to be made. That is why they made the releases that they made on Wednesday. The Bucs’ higher level people saw that the Gruden’s blue print wasn’t working and ripped that apart by firing him from his head coaching position. The Bucs saw something in Raheem Morris that many of us might not, which is why hired him to become the new head man in Tampa. His blue print can work or it can fail. We will need to wait and see in due time.

Andre Smith: To Draft First or not to Draft First?

2009-02-24T22:56:00.001-05:00

Many of you might already know about Andre Smith leaving his Combine workout this past weekend. What caused the first rounder to leave? He was not prepared to workout. He showed up out of shape at the combine and decided to leave. In the draft alone, Smith was considered to be the best tackle in the entire draft board. With his actions, this hurts him a lot. This will hit him in his wallet (costing him around $23 million dollars). Now GM’s are looking at other potential left tackles to be taken before Smith. Tackles such as Eugene Monroe (Virginia), Jason Smith (Baylor) and Michael Oher (Mississippi) are all first-round left tackles who can be taken as the first tackles in the draft before Smith. Last season, Smith was the All-American for 2008 and won the Outland Trophy playing for Alabama under Nick Saban.

The guy was a guaranteed first rounder to be drafted within the first five draft picks. With his recent actions of not working out at the combine, hurts him a lot. Even his interviews were very iffy. Andre Smith was unprepared for the biggest job interview of his entire life. His life depended on his combine day, and he didn’t show the scouts and GM’s anything. Would a guy applying for a job at Microsoft, right out of college not be prepared for his interview? The guy would practice at home in front of a mirror and work at it with family or friends. That guy would also wear a tie and shirt too. You’re not gonna get that job wearing a regular polo shirt and blue jeans, my friend. To get a job at Microsoft, you’re going need a collar shirt with a tie and nice slacks. No one is going to hire a guy who doesn’t show how much he cares about working for a future employer. Smith pretty much went into the combine unprepared and then left without showing his employers anything. This was his biggest job interview and he dropped the ball big time. Smith even knew he messed up big time, “If I had the chance to do it all over, I wouldn't have handled it the way I did. I should have told my group leader that I was leaving, and I didn't. I didn't mean to ruffle any feathers or step on any toes. I didn't mean to grandstand anyone at the combine. That was not my intention at all, and I apologize for my mistake.”

Can Smith redeem himself? Yes he can, by working his tail off to be back in shape in time for Alabama’s Pro Day (March 11) and perform well for the scouts. Even if he does well at the Pro Day, he still is a liability. Scouts, GM’s, and Owners won’t be sure of his trust and loyalty to his future team and employer. What if the guy quits on the team next season? I’m just saying it could happen, but I don’t think it will. The guy lasted through seasons of losing games at Alabama before last season where Alabama got a Sugar Bowl Bid, which he didn’t even play in. I’m sure that people will take a second look before drafting Smith in April.

DTO: The Next Zidane?

2009-02-23T16:20:00.001-05:00

First year NFL Coaches I think will do great next Season

2009-02-22T16:45:00.003-05:00

First year NFL Coaches I think will do great next season: (1- being the most successful with team and 11- being the worst)

1.Colts- Jim Caldwell
2.Chiefs- Todd Haley
3.49ers- Mike Singletary
4.Seahawks- Jim Mora Jr.
5.Browns- Eric Mangini
6.Broncos- Josh McDaniels
7.Jets- Rex Ryan
8.Buccaneers- Raheem Morris
9.Rams- Steve Spagnolo
10.Raiders- Tom Cable
11.Lions- Jim Schwartz

Giants GM unsure of Plax's future with Team

2009-02-21T15:21:00.001-05:00

In the last four weeks of the 2008 season, the New York Giants were 1-3, losing two games to two division rivals. Then with one week bye before their first playoff game against the Eagles, they lost in a bad showing, with no offense at all. During those last 4 regular season games and the one playoff game, the G-men were without their # 1 wide receiver Plaxico Burress. Burress was suspended by the team for an incident where Burress shot himself on his right thigh (accidentally) at a night club. It was clear that without Burress, the G-men had no real air threat because defenses had them all locked up and disrupted Eli Manning (throwing only 3 TD’s in the final 5 games). Their running game was there (Ward ran for 215 yds against the Panthers), but you can’t always rely on the run. Overall, Plaxico Burress was a real threat for all defenses and when he was suspended, the team suffered losing their last 3 out 4 games in the season. Then they ultimately lost to the Eagles in the playoffs where the Giants only scored 11 points in the entire game (3 field goals & a safety and scoreless in the 4th quarter). It was clear that without the Plax, there was no real offense for the team. It showed how valuable Burress was to the team.

Giants GM Jerry Reese expressed at the NFL Combine, that he would like to see Burress back with the team, but wasn’t sure if it would happen. “I hope he's motivated, but the legal process is what's most important right now and his health is what's most important right now,” Reese said. “But we'll prepare as if he's not going to be here, and if he is, it's a bonus.” That’s a good message to Burress. It’s a very (if you’re there great, if not…O well, forget you) type of feeling towards him.

Plaxico’s agent Drew Rosenhaus has told the Giant’s that Burress wants to be traded. Really? Why, because he was suspended for his actions by the Giants? Come on, what would a team do if they had a WR who had some brushes with bad incidents with the team. This wasn’t Plaxico’s first “opps” moment. The guy had restraining orders against him in 2008, he owes money to people, and he had some incidents with Coach Coughlin as well for being late and not following team policies. The guy has trouble following him all over. Why do you think the Steelers let him go? On game day, he does his job I’ll give him that, but all his troubles hurt the team’s locker room. It has to suck being asked about Plaxico’s current issue every time after a win or loss. It’s really annoying after awhile being asked the same question by reporter after reporter. It hurts the locker room and the team’s chemistry. I think the Giant’s should trade him away for a draft pick(s) or something. They can draft a WR in the draft in the later rounds (2nd or 3rd) if they see themselves without Burress next season. I think he might not be back. If he does come back I will be surprised. How much more can Coughlin take of this? He’s a no nonsense type of guy.

Do I feel bad for the guy? No, not really. I think when you’re an athlete who has gone to college and have been educated; you can make good decisions on your own. You know right from wrong and are responsible enough in life to see that. The guy can’t even pay for his debts and there simple petty debts not sums of $10,000 or anything. Simple as in around $500 worth, which I think he can afford (don’t know his financial situation, but I think he’s doing fine). The guy had warnings from Coach Coughlin and even had to pay fines more than once for being late to meetings or not showing up at all. When will the message get across to him? If he had only had the safety on, we wouldn’t be here right now.

Browns QB: Anderson or Quinn?

2009-02-21T00:12:00.002-05:00

In 2007, the Browns surprised everyone with how well they played ending the season at 10-6. Following the 2007 season, everything was looking pretty good and the Browns were hoping to build from their 2007 season. Well, things didn’t go accordingly to plan. In 2008, the Browns ended up with a 4-12 record. What happened? The Browns got Shaun Rogers from the Lions, Donte Stallworth, Terry Cousin, and Corey Williams from the Packers. They had some good pieces to build from their 2007 season, but tings never really took off for them. Before the season started in 2008, we knew they were going to lose some games against tough teams like the Cowboys, Steelers, Ravens, Colts, Eagles, and Giants (they beat them, what a surprise). The reason why they lost was that they weren’t consistent in the QB position and WR as well. Braylon Edwards was out for the early part of the season because of a foot injury and Joe Jurevicius was out for the entire season.

Then on November before their game against the Broncos on Thursday Night, Brady Quinn was announced as the starter for the Browns. Quinn did pretty well for his first start from what I saw. Then on November 23, Quinn was pulled and then Anderson was put in from the bench. So the Browns were not consistent with the QB position. I think the Browns should’ve stuck with Anderson as their QB for the entire season before Quinn had his first start. I knew Anderson wasn’t playing well (9 TD, 8 INT, 1615 yards), but they should’ve given him more chances and he didn’t have all his receivers healthy early on in the season. If the Browns waited and gave the WR’s time to get healthy and establish something with Anderson, maybe he would’ve never had been benched. At the QB position, you can’t change a QB in the middle of the season when it doesn’t need to be done. The Brown made the change at QB because they gave into the fans demand for their hometown boy Brady Quinn. The Fans wanted Quinn to be the starter when they saw Anderson playing poorly. The Browns gave in. You need to do what best for the entire team. Don’t let the fans dictate what the team does. If Anderson got injured then go ahead put in Quinn, but Anderson was pretty much demoted when he shouldn’t have been, in my opinion.

Well that was last season. Since then both QB’s (Quinn and Anderson) got injured during the end of the season and the Browns had to resort to their 3rd QB. Also Romeo Crennel was fired and GM Phil Savage was too. Now with new head coach Eric Mangini, there are some QB questions for the team. Who will ultimately be the team’s starter? The Browns new GM George Kokinis said that there isn’t any hurry with releasing Derek Anderson. He believes that next season he will have the two QB’s compete for the job.

If it was up to me, I would’ve had Anderson keep the job and not have had benched him. Then that wouldn’t have given me the opportunity to see Quinn play in a game. When I saw Quinn play, he did ok. He made short throws and kept the chains moving, which is what every QB should do. He did make the long throws when he had to, but he did what the coach wanted him to do and that was get the chains moving. Even though he only threw 2 TD and 2 INT, his presence won me over. He seemed like a real leader on the field. I think I would pick Quinn over Anderson. The Browns did draft him in their first round for a reason. They see the future of the Browns in Quinn’s hands. You can have a little QB competition, but let’s remember why the Browns drafted Quinn. Plus Quinn has bigger guns than Anderson. I didn't know QB's arms were suppose to be that big.

On a side note Mangini is looking at RB Derrick Ward who will be a free agent. “Yeah, he's a guy that we'd look at it. I can tell you we're looking at all the free agents,” Mangini said. If the Browns get Ward, it will help out their running game a lot. They can’t depend on Lewis any longer. If they get Ward, they can use Lewis and Ward in a two monster back like the Titans and Panthers did last season.

Harrison getting Cut by the Colts?

2009-02-20T11:06:00.001-05:00

As we might speculate, Marvin Harrison’s days in Indy might be over. Yes, Marvin Harrison might be cut from the Indianapolis Colts by next week. Why? Well cutting Harrison would save some cap room for the Colts salary cap. Yesterday (2/18/09) the Colts signed CB Kelvin Hayden to a 5 year deal worth $45 million. There is a chance he might come back, but it seems very unlikely with the resigning of Hayden and even Colts head coach Jim Caldwell wasn’t too sure either, “We certainly hope so,” Caldwell said, but the 36-year-old's time in Indianapolis could be drawing to an end because of salary concerns. If the Colts do decide to keep Harrison, his salary cap for next season will be around $13 million.

I can see why the Colts would be cutting Harrison. I don’t think it’s a bad move. The guy is in his mid-thirties now, and he’s not the receiver he used to be. He is still a good receiver, but age is now becoming a factor for him. Last season, Harrison only had 60 receptions for 636 yards and 5 touchdowns. In the 2006, the season where he was injured; Harrison had 20 receptions for 247 yards and only 1 TD. Those stats are his lowest since his rookie year through the 1998 season in the NFL. We can see his numbers are declining and cutting him wouldn’t be a bad move for the Colts to develop other receivers on the roster. I think though the move might hurt the offense’s chemistry with Harrison and Manning. In my opinion, it’s time for Manning to focus using Gonzalez into the offense (if Harrison is gone) as Reggie Wayne is already a big part of the offense. The question now will be is who will fill in the slot at WR? Maybe they can find someone in free agency or use someone already on the roster. The Colts can also draft a WR. Maybe they won’t get Crabtree or Maclin, but they sure can draft a WR in the 3rd round or 4th in a Quan Cosby, Juaquin Iglesias, or Hakeem Nicks and build them into the program.

If Harrison is cut, where will he go? He could retire or he could be reunited with a fellow Syracuse classmate from his college playing days. Harrison was a three year starter at SU, playing with McNabb as his QB. I know Philly needs a WR and I think the fit will be good as McNabb is close to getting an extension with the Eagles. If Harrison keeps himself healthy, he can play 2 to 3 more seasons. I would love to see Harrison going to the Eagles catching TD’s from his old college QB. That would be a cool sight. Imagine, Kevin Curtis, DeSean Jackson, and Marvin Harrison.

DefyingTheOdds

2009-02-20T11:05:00.001-05:00

Politics vs. Sports = Not Good

2009-02-19T15:25:00.001-05:00

Tennis is not a sport that I follow. I might watch it from time to time. I love when Nadal and Roger Federer play against one another. That is always an epic matchup that lives up to its card. But this story stuck out to me. As we all know sports and politics equal a bad combination for everyone. Those two shouldn’t be mixed together. Authorities in the United Arab Emirates have denied a star Israeli female tennis player entry to the city-state of Dubai to participate in an international tournament. That star player is Shahar Peer. They are not letting her in and granting her a visa for her to enter UAE. UAE is preventing Peer from playing at the Dubai Tennis Championships because that country doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Israel. Peer says, “The only reason is just that I'm Israeli and playing for Israel and I have an Israeli passport and we're not allowed to get into Dubai, which I think is unfair for me as a tennis player,” she said.”I think they really crossed the red line because they should not involve any politics in sport.”

Tournament director Salah Tahlak told reporters: “We do not wish to politicize sports, but we have to be sensitive to recent events in the region and not alienate or put at risk the players and the many tennis fans of different nationalities that we have here in the UAE. … Public sentiment remains high in the Middle East and it is believed that Ms. Peer's presence would have antagonized our fans who have watched live television coverage of recent attacks in Gaza.”

In my opinion this is wrong and sad. I don’t follow too much on what’s going on over there, but I do have some little knowledge of what’s going. But since this has happened, some sponsors have withdrawn from the event such as The Wall Street Journal, and some sport channels won’t even televise the event because of this. If Peer doesn’t get in to play the tournament and others are able to play, her ranking will go down. She is currently ranked at 48th in the world. Also to point out, Andy Ram who is an Israeli doubles specialist will be allowed to play in the tournament in Dubai. How come he can get a visa to come, but not Peer? You know what the other tennis players should have done like The Williams sisters, Jankovic, and others? They should’ve boycotted the event. I think this is a race issue and gender issue. Andy Ram got his visa and was a player from the same location as Peer. The only difference was that he was a male as Peer is a female. It’s very sad that a person who doesn’t have any effect on what’s going in her country to be punished and penalized. Just let her in and let her do her job, which is play.

DefyingTheOdds

2009-02-19T14:21:00.001-05:00

Now tell me that was one hell of a goal? If hockey has a savior it's Alex Ovechkin. He is the face of hockey.

DTO

2009-02-18T14:30:00.001-05:00

With the Mike Leach contract talks going on, it was a no brainer to put Michael Crabtree's game wining TD catch as one of the defying the odds moment.

Texas Tech vs. Mike Leach

2009-02-18T14:27:00.002-05:00

Last season, Texas Tech. was not a school that I thought would have won 11 games, maybe 8 to 9 games. I would’ve picked Texas beating Texas Tech last year by a long shot. In one of the greatest games last year and one of the best games to ever been seen in Lubbock against Texas, many would have been surprise to hear rumblings of Coach Mike Leach on the verge of being fired over at Tech. Yes I said fired. Why would a coach who won 11 games last season for the team be on the edge of being fired? Since 2000, Leach has been the coach of the Red Raiders with last season winning 11 games as their head man. Since his tenure at Texas Tech, Leach has won a total of 76 games and 39 losses with 9 total bowl game appearances and 5 bowl wins.

He has never had a losing season at Texas Tech.
Well this Tuesday, Coach Leach missed a deadline on accepting the arrangements of his new contract and now the school’s board of regents will meet on Friday to discuss his future. “Coach Leach has declined our $12.7 million contract,” Myers said (Athletic Director of Texas Tech). “We will enter the decision-making process and should have some announcements by next week. Our decisions will be based on the best interest of Texas Tech and all of its supporters.” Before Leach declined to accept this new contract, he already accepted the term of a previous contract which was set at five years and that would average out to $2.54 million per year. The reason for not accepting the contract was because of certain clauses in the contract. One clause states that Leach will lose $1.5 million if he interviewed with another team for a coaching job.

I think Texas Tech should do everything in their power to retain Leach. The guy can coach and he didn’t play college football. It’s rare to see a college coach at the college level with no college playing experience as the head man of any program. A big college program wouldn’t consider hiring someone without the right credentials such as playing experience at the college level. So for Tech to have hired Leach by investing so much into the guy 9 years ago, they can go all out and make the guy satisfied without those clauses. What Leach is to Tech is what Pete Carroll is to USC. Leach has had an above .500 winning percentage in every season and has gave Tech its first 11 game winning season. If Leach doesn’t sign the new contract and decides to leave, that wouldn’t be a bad move either in my eyes, but it will be a bad move by Texas Tech. The fans will be mad and so will the students. I can be sure of that. If he does leave, it wouldn’t surprise me. Why? Well, Texas Tech is not your destination job for college football, but it getting there. The problem now lies is what will Tech do next season? I mean Tech is losing both of their key players on offense in QB Graham Harrell and WR Michael Crabtree to the NFL draft. I don’t know if Tech will be an 11 game team next season. Maybe an 8 or 9 game winning team next season. So if Leach doesn’t come back, we would see why in the absence of his two key players on offense. That’s one reason why he might not come back and leave. If he doesn’t come back, be sure that there will be a college program waiting to hire the guy. He might not coach for a year and sit out, but he sure will get a coaching job by next season.

Defying the Odds: DTO

2009-02-17T10:18:00.002-05:00

Defying the Odds is a new series of sports clips from around the world of different sports. They’re clips of extraordinary plays that go above and beyond to what we know as our everyday limits. They defy the momentum of a game, they change the mood of the game, and they entice our imaginations.

In today's clip we see Favre making a pass to Antonio Freeman, making a great catch that wins the game in overtime for the Packers, almost over 10 yrs ago. I remember watching this game when I was younger and I couldn't believe what I saw when I saw this play come to life before my eyes.

Ortiz: 1 Year ban for Offenders from Baseball

2009-02-17T01:00:00.001-05:00

At Fort Myers, Florida, during spring training for the Boston Red Sox; David Ortiz was asked on the issue of substance abuse in the MLB. Ortiz wants players who used and who got caught using performance enhancing drugs to be suspended for the entire baseball season, not just the 50 game suspensions that the MLB has implemented now. “I would suggest everybody get tested, not random, everybody,” he said. “You go team by team. You test everybody three, four times a year and that's about it.” The current system in the MLB has a 50-game suspension for a player who tests positive the first time. If he gets tested a second time and it’s positive, it’s 100 games and finally a lifetime ban for a third positive test, but then a player can seek to return after two years.

I like Ortiz’s stance on this issue. Others have spoken about this issue like White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen and Astros Pitcher Roy Oswalt. In my last blog about this issue, I felt like the people were cheated on with A-Rod’s use of PED’s. It was a slap to the face to every fan who looked up to the guy and who inspired to be like him. He was a role model to kids, but now he has tainted himself.

A-Rod wasn’t the first guy to use drugs in the MLB. Others have used and will continue to use unless MLB draws up stricter guidelines for offenders. Why just have a 50 game suspension? Install a one season ban from the sport without pay for first time offenders. That will hit them hard. Players will think through their mistakes when they don’t see the paychecks coming to their front doors. Also that off-season they were training for, would be wasted on by their dumb mistakes. Those long days in the winter working out and busting your chops would be for nothing. If they abuse the rules a second time, suspend them another time with no pay for an entire season and reduce their salary for the next season, if the team chooses to keep the offender. If and I really mean if, the offender abuses the rules again then ban him from the sport entirely. Take him away. If you can’t learn from your mistakes the before the third time around, then you have no comprehension of what the MLB is trying to convey to you.

The question now lies…what if someone does test for s substance, but they weren’t aware of what they were taking? There will always be some gray areas in my opinion.

Beast Mode is under Arrest

2009-02-16T19:21:00.001-05:00

Back in the draft two years ago (2007 Draft), the Packers had the 15th overall pick. I was hoping the Packers would draft Marshawn Lynch from Cal, but they ended up drafting a DT in Justin Harrell. At the time I was a little disappointed because I knew the Packers needed a RB at the time, but things have worked out fine. The Packers have an ok set of RB’s in Ryan Grant and Brandon Jackson who dowhat they need when their names are called upon. When I look back, I’m happy we didn’t get Marshawn Lynch, because of the trouble he carries with him.

This past Wednesday, Lynch was arrested for felony charges for possession of a concealed firearm. “A subsequent field investigation led to the discovery of a loaded firearm,” the report said. “The officers determined the gun belonged to Lynch and he was arrested for possession of a concealed firearm.” Let’s not also forget what happened last summer with Lynch. Last summer, Lynch was involved in a hit and run incident in Buffalo where he hit a woman in the street and sped away.

We can see his brush with the law already. Now as a Packers fan who really wanted the Packers to draft him, thank goodness that they didn’t. Thank goodness for the Buffalo Bills for drafting (12th overall pick) him before they even could consider it. Green Bay is not a place for these T.O./PacMan prima donna/troublesome athletes. I always say this, but grow up and be a good citizen and role model. You’re in the NFL with a new start and already he has two brushes with the law. How do the Bills feel about this? The Bills are paying him a six-year, $18.935 million contract. The deal included a $3 million signing bonus too. The Bills have invested so much money into the player. Let’s hope he doesn’t end up like Adam “PacMan” Jones.

On a big picture view note, I believe the NFL should have some sort of gun permit class or something. This is the second incident where two players have been under arrest for gun related incidents. The first player was Plaxico Burress and now Lynch. The NFL should have some sort of gun program instituted that educates its players about gun issues and gun safety.

Shaq + Jabbawockeez = Shaqawockeez

2009-02-16T12:12:00.005-05:00

As some might know, I stopped watching All-Star games a long while ago. They just don't matter to me unless I'm going to a All-Star game live in person. The games don't have any weight of importance at all, doesn't matter if it's a NFL, NBA, or MLB All-Star games. The games don't carry the same weight like regular season games. Sometimes though, the games can be funny. Last night Shaq performed with ABDC season 1 winner the Jabbawockeez. It was very funny.

Culpepper, the Lions future?

2009-02-15T22:46:00.001-05:00

A former WR for the Lions Mike Furrey, said that Culpepper will be the team’s starting QB next season. “I've spoken to a couple of my friends who are backups there and I know [the Lions] are going to name Daunte Culpepper as the starter,” Furrey said during a Sunday morning appearance on Sirius NFL Radio.

Ok, let me put my two cents on this. Are you freaking serious? I hope Furrey was kidding when he made that statement. I hope he would’ve laughed a little after he made that outrageous comment. When Culpepper came back to the NFL from retirement to the Lions, he was fat and out of shape. I know Culpepper is a big guy, but it looked like he was eating one too many burgers and hot dogs while he was in retirement. I vividly remember in the Thanksgiving game, Culpepper running outside of the pocket, and he was slow. He wasn’t very mobile at all. When he ran, he didn’t move like the old Culpepper like in Minnesota or Oakland. I understand that Culpepper and his old Offensive coordinator will be together again from the Vikings days (Scott Linehan), but I don’t think he will be the starting QB. During the past season, Dan Orlovsky had to start in for the injured Jon Kitna. Orlovsky played so much better than Culpepper did in many games even though he lost all of them. Orlovsky, gave the Lions more of a chance to win games than Culpepper would have in the entire season.

Going into this year’s draft, the Lions better draft a QB. They cannot and should not rely on Culpepper for their future. In my eyes, Culpeper is a backup with how he played last season. If it was up to me, my depth chart would be: 1) Rookie QB, 2) Orlovsky (will be a free agent), and then 3) Culpepper. For the past couple of drafts (with Matt Millen at GM), the Lions have made some bad draft choices in drafting WR’s Charles Rogers and Mike Williams who were first round draft picks no longer with the team anymore. Two years ago they drafted a WR in Calvin Johnson who is still with the team and will grow into a great WR soon with a good QB in place for the team. So with that being said, the Lions should draft a QB with their first round pick. They have to and if they don’t the fans will boo the heck out of them. There is a reason why Matt Millen ins’t there anymore. Let’s hope the new GM can make good draft decisions.

Got Towels?

2009-02-15T01:58:00.003-05:00

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, today when I was going over the major headlines, one headline stuck out to me. It was a headline dealing with Steelers kicker Jeff Reed. Reed got in some trouble this past weekend. Reed threw a temper tantrum at a convenience store. Why? Did someone ask for his autograph after a fan kept bugging him for it? No…nobody wanted his autograph. Then what happened? To my dismay, Reed got into a heated temper tantrum because the bathroom at the convenience store had no towels in its restroom. Yes, I said towels. When police got to the store, they said that Reed had destroyed the towel dispenser and used bad language with the employee working there. “Reed caused damage to a towel dispenser as he was infuriated at the fact that there were no towels in it,” according to a news release by Trooper Shawn Askins, who issued the citations.

Ok, this incident that happened was very dumb and stupid on Reed’s part. I usually don’t care about kickers too much, unless it’s Mason Crosby (Packers Kicker). This story just stuck out to me and I couldn’t believe what he did. Seriously, you’re gonna cry and get pissed off because you can’t whip your hands after using the restroom. Come on, grow up. You have to tell me that this can’t be the first time Reed has gone to a restroom where there weren't any towels left to wipe his hands with. I’ve been in many situations over the years (mostly in movie theaters) where I’ve used the restroom, and there were no towels to wipe my hands with after washing my hands. I didn’t go bust up a towel dispenser or use bad curse words to the people that should’ve put in towels. I just used my shirt to dry my hands. It does suck when there aren’t towels, but you need to deal with it. People sometimes forget to put them in because they are busy with their work. Maybe the guy at the store forgot to do it, which happens everywhere. What so stupid is that Reed got a ticket for his foolishness and may pay a fine up to $300 and 90 days in jail. That is going to suck when your cellmates ask you what you did to get in jail. “I broke a towel dispenser in the bathroom.” Overall, this was a very funny headline when I was online reading articles and browsing.

NY Jets: Looking for a new Pilot?

2009-02-13T23:19:00.001-05:00

Since Brett Favre’s retirement, the Jets are left looking for their future QB to fly the Jets up and away. So the question now lies with the Jets and the GM, what to do now? Finding a QB is very tough unless you have a great draft pick in the draft, which the Jets don’t have (in the 17 position). Also with drafting a QB, you never really ever know for sure if your draft pick will be a great pick or a bust in the futures to come. For instance look at Ryan Leaf, who was picked ahead of Peyton Manning (Superbowl winner and 3x MVP winner)…or heck even Favre who was drafted in the 3rd/4th round in the draft. Let’s not also forget about Tom Brady, who was drafted in the 6th round (he did pretty well, 3 Superbowl rings in total and MVP winner). Like last year, Matt Ryan who was drafted by the Falcons, was a very iffy pick. People weren’t too sure what to expect of him, but as it turned out…he did very well as a rookie QB this past season winning Rookie of the Year honors last season. So there is always a be chance at drafting a QB.

Should the Jets draft a QB in the 09 draft? I think if someone is available and that someone maybe Mark Sanchez, then yes. We all know that the Lions will most likely draft Matthew Stafford, or at least be picked before being available by the time the Jets pick. Then Sanchez will be the most obvious choice for the Jets. If you look at the draft picks before the Jets, who need a QB (49ers, Chiefs) he might not be there at that time. If Sanchez is there, take him and make him be the QB of the future for the Jets.

Now the question will be if they pick Sanchez, should they start him right away? In their case, yes and no. Yes, if the Jets see that Kellen Clemens can’t get the job done, but I think he will be the starter next season because of what he knows as a QB who has been in the NFL already. The Jets did draft him in the 2nd round of the draft for a reason right? If Clemens is progressing well, then start the guy. I’m not saying that he will definitely start the season, but he has a better understanding of the speed of the game. If you just throw in Sanchez, the game will be much quicker and faster compared to the college games. He’ll make his rookie mistakes. Let’s not forget that he didn’t play too much over at USC and is not returning for his senior season at USC. His coach didn’t think he was ready either…"I'm disappointed that's his decision, because I think there's a lot of information that says [leaving early] is not going to help him out as much as he thinks," said USC Coach Pete Carroll. If the Jets do pick Sanchez, I think the Jets should take the Packers and Bengals route of devolving their young QB. If you look at Carson Palmer before he got hurt, he was a decent QB, and Aaron Rodgers did very well this past season too. Give him time to learn the game at this level.

Another thing the Jets can do is get a Veteran QB. If Warner and Kerry Collin are free agents, get them ASAP. To tell you the truth, that is not going to happen at all. Those guys will be back playing for their teams or retire. The one Veteran the Jets could get should be Byron Leftwich. Leftwich got cut by the Jags and then the Flacons, but got a job being Ben Roethlisberger’s backup in Pittsburgh. His time with the Steelers, he seemed like the old Leftwich with the Jags. He played well when Big Ben got hurt and drove the team scoring touchdowns. I think getting Leftwich would be a decent idea for the Jets. The guy appeared in 5 games last season and he completed 21 of 36 attempts for 303 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions for a 104.3 passer rating. That’s not bad for a guy who sits on the bench. He was prepared and knew the playbook on the back of his hand. He shows that he still has what it takes to play.

Whatever the Jets do, they have many options. They could draft someone which could work and not work, depending on how Sanchez does at workouts and what not. They can even go out into the market and get a veteran QB in free agency. I don’t think that Jet fans should be freaking out because they have some options. Remember the Jets next season won’t be the same Jet’s of this past season. Brett Favre brought a new dimension to them, a winning spirit and knowledge to the team. If Clemens or Sanchez start next season, they’re not going to be playoff contenders right away. If they do get Leftwich, they sure have a better shot.

Destruction of Baseball: A-Fraud & many others

2009-02-11T23:47:00.002-05:00

As you all are aware of, Alex Rodriguez was using performance enhancing drugs (PED) in the 2001-2003 baseball seasons. On Monday, he broke out the truth by admitting to these allegations that were made this past weekend. If you look at A-Rod’s numbers throughout the years from his rookie year to right now, his number are all consistent. His numbers from the 2001-2003 are pretty much the same (.305 batting average, 52 home runs, from those three years with PED use total) that we would have seen any signs of him using PED’s. Ok, from the years in New York as a Yankee (2004-2008) his batting average is .302 with 42 home runs batted in. You can kind of see the difference a little bit, but nothing really too drastic. The point I’m trying to make is what an idiot he was by doing what he did in Texas. This guy made around 28 million with the Yankees this past year. Heck back then in 01-03, he was making around 20 mill. If you’re making that much dough, you don’t have too much to prove, but to stay consistent and play well. He needed to cheat in order to play a little better and by doing so he got burned this past weekend. You can play with fire, but sooner or later it’s gonna burn you.

Why would he take the PED in the first place? The guy’s numbers were pretty consistent and there really wasn’t a need for him to take these enhancers. He made a very bad decision on his part for what he did. Also I want to mention that in 2003, he won the American League MVP award and a Golden Glove Award (which should be taken away from him). Even on 60 minutes he admitted to Katie Couric, that he never used any performance enhancing drugs. What a liar.

So, now since A-Rod confessed on Monday to his drug use…everything should be forgotten. No! The MLB, in my opinion should take away his awards that he won while using the PED and give them to the person who was behind Alex. It’s the only fair thing to do. Beside the fact of records, I want to speak beyond the lines. There are many kids in high school and colleges around the world who look up to A-Rod. How do you think they feel? Before A-Rod admitted to using PED, there were many others that came before him. Those kids and people looked up to those players much like Alex too. Whenever one pro baseball player was found in mist of some drug use, it felt like someone was stabbing the hope of the kids around the world. These athletes that kids look up to are hurting their image and the sports image. They’re telling kids that they need to cheat in order to make it big in the pros. Kids all would love to be like A-Rod and be able to play in the MLB. What happens when a young kid takes the same route that A-Rod took to perform his best? What if Johnny can’t build muscle quickly in order to be the starting QB for his football team? What would Johnny do, would he take the A-Rod path or bust his chops in the weight room like my coached preached to me? It’s true what they say that kids follow what their role models do. It’s really a shame that this had to happen because A-Rod was the last shinning hope for baseball’s image. Baseball has now really been beyond a tainted sport now; it’s really a sport that has been destroyed by the corruption of these performance enhancing drugs.

Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt, believes that the guys who have used PED should have their own record books. “Their numbers shouldn’t count. They should have their own record book, and it shouldn’t count. All the guys before us they’re cheating them. These guys from the past are in the Hall of Fame, and these guys (who are on steroids) are breaking their records. It shouldn’t count. It’s not fair.” Oswalt also adds on by saying, “they can have their own record book and they can have their own records. They shouldn’t have it with guys that did it on natural talent that played the game right like I did.”I have to agree with where he stands. Why should these abusers be in the same books like Hank Aaron and Jackie Robinson, Nolan Ryan, Cal Ripken Jr., and Roberto Clemente? All those who have broken the rules are spitting at the names I’ve listed above. In my opinion, Barry Bonds home run that broke Hank Aaron’s record shouldn’t count. Hopefully one day, Major League Baseball will fix the mess that they have on their hands. Let’s now hope, that no one else that we don’t suspect becomes known to be a steroid user (ex: Derek Jeter, Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedrioa, Chipper Jones…to name a few).

Favreless NFL

2009-02-11T20:04:00.001-05:00

Today we have learned that Brett Favre has retired from the NFL. This time it wasn’t a tearful commotion like last year around March. Favre told his agent that he wanted to retire and walk away from the game he’s been playing for the past 18 seasons. "There are several things that went into decision but most importantly, the most important thing, was that physically, you know with my shoulder the last half of the year it hampered the way I played," Favre said. "I'm 39, I had several options [to have surgery] and to let it heal. How that would affect me in terms of playing I had no idea and it wasn't something I was going to risk."

Over the last month for Favre, playing for the Jets, we could see that he wasn’t himself. Favre wasn’t playing too well near the end part of the season. We’ve seen Favre play poorly before in Green Bay any times before, but this time it was different. It was as if the age factor kind of settled in. Remember, Favre played some tough games last season against the Pats, Titans, and the Dolphins. These teams and other as well sacked Favre and made him move in the pocket. It had to be sooner or later when the hard hits would take a toll on his body. I believe in the last part of the season, that is what we saw. We saw a drained out Favre who couldn’t make the great plays when he needed to, or the forced plays that the old Favre could in Green Bay. Even in Green Bay in the 2007 season, he looked uneven at times playing. In Green Bay, he had an ok running game and very good starting receivers and back up receivers (R. Martin) who could get open to stretch out a play for Favre. When it comes done to it, Favre retired because he couldn’t play anymore. This happens with age, you don’t play like you use to five years ago or ten years ago. Something you did five years ago can’t be done now. Favre realized that and retired. I still think Favre is a very good QB when he doesn’t make his mistakes over and over again.

Do I really think he is retired? I don’t know. As a Packers fan and Favre fan, I think he could come back next season. There is always that possibility with him. Favre is unsure of finality. The guy doesn’t want it to end because he loves what he does. Maybe in the off-season around May and June, Favre might get the itch again to play. Many times the temptation to come back could force him to the NFL. I’m saying he might come back. Or maybe in the season around week 4, 6, or 8 a veteran QB on a team could get hurt. Favre could see this as another opportunity to come back and put the helmet back on again. That could be another way for him to come back. Even at his press conference, he sounded very unsure of his decision about retiring. I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes back. Also, he will NOT come back to play for the Vikings. The Packers put in a suicidal clause in his contract that the team who trades Favre away to the Vikes will have to give 3 first round picks (to the Packers). You really never know what Favre could do. To me he’s 50/50.

I will miss Favre from a fan’s POV. It will be different not hearing about Favre’s name in the NFL or ESPN anymore during the football season. Since I’ve started watching football and cheering on the Packers, I heard the name Brett Favre in every NFL season. It will be different, but I knew the day would come one day when he would have to walk away from the game. I guess the next time we can expect to see Favre again will be in Canton, Ohio.

Big Ben's Broken Ribs

2009-02-09T20:25:00.000-05:00

It’s been an entire week since the Superbowl where the Steelers won against the Cardinals. In that win in Tampa, Big Ben was playing with two broken ribs. Before the game, x-rays didn’t show any broken ribs, but after the game when Big Ben got a MRI the case was not the same. The MRI’s showed that he had two broken ribs. We knew ahead of time before the Superbowl game that Roethlisberger had some sort of rib/back injury.

Even though he didn’t know about the injury Roethlisberger knew that something was wrong. “Luckily, in the game, I didn't take any big hits to make ‘em hurt,” Roethlisberger told SI.com. “But I knew all along there was something wrong. There wouldn't have been anything that could have been done about fractured ribs anyway. It was just suck it up and play.”

This just shows you how Big Ben is a very committed to his team. He knew something was wrong ahead of time, but he sucked it up and played. The guy had two broken ribs. That takes some major balls. I remember the time when I sprained my ankle and couldn’t play soccer for a few days. Imagine how it feels to play with two broken ribs. The pain must have been bad. Just throwing the ball had to be very difficult for Roethlisberger. I’ve said before that Big Ben isn’t your favorite QB. He’s not a Peyton Manning or Tom Brady type of player, but he does one thing for his team and that is WIN. He doesn’t get fantasy players the points they want, but he does win and that is a lot in the NFL to be successful. If you can win, you will have a job in the NFL as a QB. If you also look at his past seasons, his best season was in 2007. He had 32 TD and 11 INT that season. His average TD’s in a season is 20 and INT’s is 13. So don’t expect him to get you lots of fantasy points, week in and week out. I got to give it to him that the guy can play and play well when he needs to.

I don’t know who I would take…Rivers with his injury game against the Pats or Roethlisberger’s broken ribs play in the Superbowl?

Don't mess with Superman's coach

2009-02-07T01:04:00.001-05:00

This past week was recruiting week. The week where all colleges get most of their recruits signed. To get to the point, Lane Kiffin is the new first year coach at Tennessee. Kiffin was the offensive coordinator at USC with Pete Carroll as the head coach. After his days at USC, Kiffin got a job with the Raiders to be their head man…which didn’t turn out so well. Kiffin got fired this year after the team started the season out as 1-3 (5-15 overall with Raiders). This past season in college football, Tenn ousted their coach, Coach Phillip Fulmer after a bad season. In came Kiffin to take over as the head coach for the Vols.

Ever since signing as the head coach of the Vols, Kiffin has been rubbing people the wrong way. Kiffin has falsely accused Nick Saban and Urban Meyer of NCAA violations. At the football get together for his boosters, Kiffin told his boosters that Meyer cheated in getting their recruit Nu’Kesse Richardson. He said that Meyer called Richardson while he was visiting UT on a college visit. “Just so you know, when a recruit's on another campus, you can't call a recruit on another campus," Kiffin said. "I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn't get him.” Well, guess what? That didn’t happen from the AD of Florida and Meyer did not break any rules according to NCAA rules.

Ok here comes my rant. Why would you open your mouth and brag already? Kiffin has not accomplished anything yet as a head coach. We saw what happened over at Oakland, and it didn’t end pretty. They hired a Cable guy over there that did much better than he did as the head coach (4-8, but his players looked inspired to play). Kiffin already got Richardson as one of his recruits, why would he bring up that Meyer was cheating in front of the boosters? Why even talk about? Are you trying to be over cocky? You already got the kid and just move on to spring football. You have more things to worry about that accusing people of things that you weren’t sure about. Be happy that the kid came to your school to make your team better. Be happy he didn't end up with Florida.

Do you (Kiffin) even know who you’re messing with? Urban Meyer isn’t just a mediocre head coach. He’s won the National Championship twice and help pit Utah on the map. Also he’s the head coach of Superman (Tebow). You don’t mess with Superman’s head coach. Can you believe what will happen when these two teams will meet next season? If Urban Meyer can and I think he will…he will curb stomp the Vols in their game and run up the score if he can. Hey remember last season’s game against Georgia. Meyer’s team beat them in a score of 49-10. One season after Coach Richt sent his entire team out to celebrate with the team in a touchdown dance. Come game week next season, I bet you the Meyer will use this to fuel his Gators. Circle your calendars folks…this is going to be a beat down for the Kif.

In closing, I believe people of any profession should be professional with the people you work with and compete with. If this cheating did happen, Kiffin should have dealt with this in a more professional matter and behind closed doors. If you look at it, Saban and Meyer are superior to Kiffin. They have the resume that Kiffin would love to have one day. You don’t mess with your superiors until you have proved something to them. So far Kiffin hasn’t even coached against them yet and should have kept quite. Be professional about it…that’s all I’m saying.

A Football team in Hartford, CT

2009-02-04T20:58:00.000-05:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, this upcoming summer there will be a new football organization debuting. It’s not an extreme style of football debuting like the failed WWE venture called the XFL, but a league called the United Football League (UFL). The league is still in its initial planning process as we speak with gathering potential team markets for its teams and what not. The UFL is being organized by Michael Huyghue who will be the Commissioner of the league and who once was the Jacksonville Jaguars VP of personnel and investors from Wall Street and Google’s senior executive Tim Armstrong.

The league will play its games on Thursdays and Fridays starting in September and end with a Championship Game in late November. In its first season there will be up 6-8 teams competing in the league. The cities that will part take in the UFL’s first season in 2009 are…
• Hartford, CT
• Las Vegas, NV
• Loa Angeles, CA
• New York City, NY
• Orlando, FL
• San Francisco, CA
Potential other Markets:
• Salt Lake City, Utah
• Monterrey, Mexico

As of today, I have learned that Jim Fassel, former Giants head coach will be the head coach of the Las Vegas team in the UFL. Teams will have a salary cap in the league such as…
• Player’s salary cap: 20 Mill
• Team Coaching Staff Salary Cap: 3 Mill

In my opinion, I don’t know what to make of this new football league. It’s the first I’ve heard of it. I can’t say I like the idea or hate it, but I will need to wait and see what happens with it. I think it’s good for the NFL to have some competition, but will it really be a competitor with the NFL? The NFL is big now. We’ll have to wait and see. The league is still in its initial starting process and will take time to expand into something bigger. The NFL first was a small league back when it started off. If the league does what it need to which is make the audience aware of its product and advertise its main great players it could do well. Players who can’t get drafted into the NFL or get cut from the NFL can go the UFL instead going over the border to play in Canada in the CFL. Why should America lose its own talent to Canada? I think it’s about time that there will be a league for people who don’t get drafted or cut for a second chance. As we speak QB Chris Leak is playing in the CFL. Maybe some AFL players will play in the UFL instead of in the AFL. Not many players make it to the NFL from the AFL. That is because of the difference in the style of the game. The only position that has translated well from the AFL to NFL has only been QB. Now with the UFL starting up, those players have new options in playing actual football with 100 yards instead of a 50 yards field.

From a fan’s POV who lives near Hartford, CT. I’m kind of happy to hear about the news of CT getting a football team. Hartford once was a hockey city with the Hartford Whalers playing at the Hartford Civic Center back in the 90’s (1979-1997). Well, they left and we were left with a minor league hockey team (Hartford Wolfpack). We’re known for our hoops for both men and women’s and the Uconn football team is getting some attention with 3 bowl appearances (2-1) for the football team. The closest thing we have to a football team was and could’ve been the New England Patriots (once were going to relocate to Hartford, CT…which didn’t happen and never will). I think it’s about time for CT to get a football team and it could work. Many fans do show up to the college games and I believe people will show up to the UFL games as well. So next Fall, let’s fill the Rent in support of the UFL.

I wonder what other coaches will come to the UFL. Heck Jim Fassel has signed as a coach. What other coaches will sign on…Jon Gruden, Mike Shananhan…maybe not.

Why the Pro Bowl sucks

2009-02-04T17:19:00.002-05:00

This weekend will be the official last week of actual football. There isn’t even Arena football this year (some people consider it football, but I don’t). This is the time where many men and some women as well, have to pack their bags until preseason until the summer for a glimpse of some football action. Before we can seal the deal on this season…let’s end the season with an All Star game known as the Pro Bowl. Are you serious? The NFL Pro Bowl is a joke and many will agree with me. I’ve stopped watching the NFL Pro Bowl since my freshmen year in high school because of a teacher’s thinking behind it. I asked my teacher if he was going to watch the Pro Bowl. He responded “No, why should I watch a game where nothing really matters in it?” He had a point. Ever since then I tried to watch the Pro Bowl, but I would lose interest after a quarter or two of the game. Then I finally stopped watching the game.

First off, every other major sport has its own All Star game. NHL, MLB, and NBA all have one. So what’s the difference with their All Star game? It’s not the last game in the entire football season. They’re all in the middle of the season. I’m not saying that the NFL Pro Bowl should be in the middle of the season, but move it to a different date. Well, guess what happened this year? They moved the game the week before the Superbowl. I like the move of the game, but not the move of its location. They’re gonna have the game be held at the location of the Superbowl which will be Miami next year. Why would you want to move it? They’ve held the game in Hawaii since the 1980’s…why change the location of the game? I understand that the game had different venues before Aloha Stadium, but playing the game in Hawaii distinguishes it as the Pro Bowl. NFL players all played in the Dolphins stadium before. That is something ordinary for them. Playing at Aloha stadium is something sacred, it’s special. It’s something new for those first timers going to their first Pro Bowl’s ever. It’s like you need to work you butt off in order to even play in that stadium.

So they moved the Pro Bowl a week before the Superbowl which is a great move, because the season should end with its greatest game as the finale. Hey what happens if a guy in the Pro Bowl who is gonna play in the Superbowl the week after gets injured…like a QB or WR? That’s a tough one. Hope no one gets injured next year who will be playing in the Superbowl.

Another thing that makes me not want to watch the Superbowl is that the game is just an exhibition game. The players are playing for nothing. In the other sports, their All Star games matter, because whichever conference wins the All Star game, that conference team gets home field advantage in the finals of its championship games. Which is a very big advantage in the NBA and NHL. I can’t see the NFL doing this with their All Star game (they already have selected the venue for every Superbowl in a few years advanced), but find a way to make the game matter to the players or something. Maybe the players playing the game would take the game more seriously. Just award the winning team with a check for winning the game and the losing team goes home empty. Also can the guys play the game like a real game? What is it with no blitzing or blocking the kicks on a field goal attempt? That is trash. In the preseason they all play hard in the game and actually block and what not. What makes the Pro Bowl any different? Make the game matter.

Warner...Hall of Famer or not?

2009-02-03T19:55:00.002-05:00

Kurt Warner’s Superbowl loss last Sunday was tough, but I believe he’s grateful for the opportunity to just play in the game for his third time. Since the loss some people are wondering if Warner will get elected into the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Some people say yes and others say no. I’m going to divulge in this question and give you my two cents.

Warner was stocking grocery stores before he came to the NFL. The guy came from the bottom and worked his way up, paying his due. In 1998, Warner played in the AFL for the Iowa Barnstormers (now the NY Dragons) and led them to two Arena Bowl Championship games. In 1999, Warner signed with the Rams and was sent to NFL Europe (also to note, his back up was Jake Delhomme…now playing for the Panthers). So coming back from playing in Europe, Warner’s world was fine as backup to the Rams QB Trent Edwards… until Trent Edwards got injured in the preseason and Warner needed to step in. That year, Warner had a breakout season that no one saw coming. He threw for 4,353 yards and 41 TD’s. Later on Warner would lead the Rams to a Superbowl appearance playing the Titans. Warner and the Rams won by a yard (so to say). So the guy’s first actual season in the NFL, he wins his first Superbowl. The guy got the Rams to the Superbowl. Warner got the Rams their first Superbowl title ever. I don’t want to down grade Edwards, but if Trent Edwards was playing, I don’t think he could’ve led them to the Superbowl like Warner did.

In 2001, Warner led the Rams to the Superbowl again, this time against the New England Patriots. The Rams were 14-2 that season playing the Pats led by Tom Brady. The Rams were the heavy favorite. In his 365 passing yards and one passing TD and rushing TD, Warner fell short and lost. Many people were stunned, but the Rams didn’t play well because of the Pats D kept the Greatest show on Turf from not scoring any TD’s until the fourth quarter of the game. Where it became too late. The next season, Warner started his first three games losing. The season after that (2003) Warner gotten injured and Bulger came in as the new future QB of the Rams, replacing Warner. Warner would eventually go to the New York Giants to be Eli Manning’s teacher and got replaced by the rookie QB that same season because of poor play. In 2005, Warner signed a new contract with the Cardinals. The first few years with the Cardinals Warner had struggled a bit. When the Cards drafted Matt Leinart from USC Warner would be a great teacher to the young buck. Leinart started games the first four games in 07, but when he struggled, the Vet in Warner would step in to win the games that they needed. Leinart would be placed on IR and Warner had taken over the team. In the 07 season, Warner had thrown for 3,417 passing yards, 27 touchdown passes, and 89.8 passer rating were all his best since the 2001 season. The following season Leinart was named the starting QB, but that changed when Coach Whisenhunt started Warner at QB leading the team to its first Superbowl appearance since 61 yrs. Warner that season threw for 4,583 yards, 30 TD and 14 Int which was good enough to be him to the Pro Bowl.

Over his years playing, Warner has stacked up 182 TD’s, 114 Int’s, for a total of 28,591 yards. Warner has played in the NFL for total of 10 years from 1998 to 2008. Even though he was injured in between some seasons (with Rams) and or benched (Giants), the man deserves to be in the HOF. Why? The man bought two franchises that were in the dumps to the Superbowl. He led the Rams twice and the Cards once (in a 61 yr drought). That’s a big accomplishment from the QB who was working at a grocery store. Even though he played for 10 years, I believe his work should be looked at by his accomplishments…not by how many years he has played in the league. I’ve heard some people saying that Warner shouldn’t go into the HOF because of the years he was bad. Every QB has some bad times playing. People should look at his entire body of work, not just focus on the bad years when he was playing. Look at Brett Favre…are people still not going to induct him in the HOF because of all the INT he throws? No, because voters will look at his body of work, just as they should with Warner. Also people should look at his achievements (from Wikipedia)…
• Second Highest Completion Percentage, Career (Min. 1500 attempts) - 65.75%
• Highest Average Passing Yards Per Game, Career (Min. 100 games) - 261.2 yards/game
• Most Yards Passing, Super Bowl (Game) - 414 yards vs. Tennessee Titans (only QB to pass for 400+ yards in the Super Bowl; also owns 2nd and 3rd highest yardage total in Super Bowl with 377 against the Pittsburgh Steelers and 365 against the New England Patriots).
• Most Yards Passing, Super Bowl (Career) - 1,156 yards.
• Highest Rate of Games w/300+ Yards Passing (Min. 100 games played) - 45.2% (47/104)
• Most Consecutive Games w/300+ Yards Passing - 6 (tied w/Steve Young and Rich Gannon)
• Most Games with a Perfect Passer Rating, Career (regular season only) - 3 (tied w/Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger)
• Only NFL quarterback to throw 40 touchdowns and win a Super Bowl in the same season (1999).
• Most Touchdown Passes in a Single Postseason - 11 (in 2009, tied w/Joe Montana, who did it in 1990)
• Most yards passing in a single postseason - 1147 (2009)
• 4 time selection to the NFL Pro Bowl (99,00,01,08)
• 2x AP NFL MVP (99,01)
• Superbowl MVP & Winner (2000)

If those credentials can’t get him in…then what will? The guy will be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame whenever he retires.

Post Superbowl

2009-02-02T15:24:00.000-05:00

Last night’s game was pretty decent, but not great like last yr’s game with the New England Patriots and New York Giants. From what I remember, that game was very competitive until the very end and people were watching on the edge of their seats. The game didn’t even come close to the greatness of last yr’s game at all. People are saying last night’s game was one of the best because of the ending. The ending of the game was great, but not the entire game. There were too many penalties from both teams which did play an effect on the game. I would like to say that the Steelers were the better team to beat the Cards and Homles deserved his MVP trophy. Ben was 21/30 with 1 TD and 1 Int whereas Holmes had 9 catches for 131 yards and one game changing TD catch…that seemed impossible.

My prediction was wrong and I’ll admit it. I picked the Cards to win. On offense the Cards were much better than the Steelers. Warner threw all around the Steelers with 377 yards total and 3 TD’s and 1 Int. The only reason the Steelers were able to march down the field was because of the poor D of the Cards. Holmes was running all over them with his 9 catch performance. They could not finish. If you have a great offense, but not a great defense that could not stop the opposing team…it’s a bad equation. That offense (Cards) will either get a big lead to win the game or the defense of the other team (Steelers) will make some stops to get the ball back where the Cards D couldn’t stop them on some possessions, which is what happened on there come back winning TD drive in the last possession of the game. Holmes caught four (I think, but could be wrong) clutch passes on the last drive to win the Superbowl. Arizona’s D just couldn’t stop the passing game of the Steelers. Even though the stats don’t show it, but Big Ben played well when he needed to. I said that Ben wasn’t your fantasy first rounder type of a QB, but when the time comes, he goes out there to get the win. He is 8-2 in the playoffs and has two rings now. I was very surprised how well the Steelers D could stop the running game of the Cards. Edge only had 33 yds of rushing. That aspect of the game hurt them a lot. You just can’t always throw against a great defense every time. You need the run to set up the pass.

Defensively, the Steelers looked a little lackluster in the game. Warner threw over 370 yds against them with Fitzgerald, Boldin, and Breston getting some key plays in the game. That 64 yd pass TD from Warner to Fitz showed how Haley exploited the Steelers D by having the number 1 and 2 receivers running an out pattern and Fitz in the slot, running a cross in the middle for the TD catch. Also I believe the Cards scored too quickly with too much time on the clock left for the Steelers to come back (2:37). I believed they should’ve ran a couple times and then set up that pass play, but I wasn’t calling the plays and I didn’t see what they guys up in boxes were looking at. I want to mention how well the O-line for the Cards was allowing 2 sacks and keep Warner protected to throw for 3 TD’s and 1 Int. They should get an honorable mention, but not Gandy.

What made the game…penalties. There were some that were questionable such as the roughing the passer in the 3rd quarter (I think). There were some that affected the game such as 3 holding calls against Gandy for the Cards. I believed Harrison was too much for Gandy in the trenches. There were a total of 18 penalties in the game where the Cards had 11 of those. Last yr’s Superbowl only had a total of 9 in the game.

In closing, the game was fun to watch, but not even close to where it ranks against the Pats and Giants game. Even the commercials weren’t as good, but fair. The only commercial that really stood out was the Cash4Gold. I better get on there and sell my gold for money with this economy. Seeing Ray Lewis doing ballet was priceless in the Sobe ad. The “I’m Good” PepsiMax was very comical. That Transformers spot was very good; the movie will be one of the must sees of this summer.

I have a dream...Post Superbowl Holiday

2009-02-01T00:16:00.000-05:00

We all watch the greatest one day spectacular known as the Superbowl. After the Superbowl comes the dreaded Monday, where everyone has to go to work or like myself school. It really sucks to tell you the truth. The idea of knowing that Monday will be the day for all of us to go back and carry on with our lives. When I was younger I always wished that the Monday following Superbowl Sunday should be a day of for everyone. It should be its own holiday.
Many Americans watch the Superbowl every year. There is a reason why big companies spend 3 Million for a short 30 seconds ad, it’s because they know everyone is watching. If everyone is watching they know they’ll be marketing to every person in America with their eyes glued to the tube. Or some people go use the bathroom, which is a crime. Some people just watch the game for the commercials because they’re great and new. It’s not everyday where we see new ads, it’s the only time where we don’t need to change the channel to avoid the commercials. Also last years’ Superbowl which pitted the New York Giants against the New England Patriots, was the highest Superbowl watched (97.5 mill) and was ranked second behind the finale of M*A*S*H. You know Alan Alda was trembling. Superbowl XVI had a viewer rating of around 40 million. So from Superbowl XVI to Superbowl XLII, the viewership has been growing.
There is even a website called http://www.superbowlmonday.com/ which is petitioning to get the following Monday to be a national holiday. Hopefully Congress will give in, come on Obama make it happen. It could happen in our dreams, but never say never. It was Obama who wanted to see a playoff installed in college football…which I disagree with, we can discuss that on a later day. This is why the Monday after the big game should be a holiday. This can’t happen with any other sporting event. March Madness is not that big and the College Football’s National Championship game isn’t that big either (26 million viewers this yr). They don’t draw up the viewership like the Superbowl. I also watch hockey and like the sport even though people think it’s dying, but it doesn’t even deserve a day off after its final game of the Stanley Cup Finals. Unlike the Superbowl, it’s special. It’s special because it happens on one day alone where other sports like the NBA and NHL have up to 7 games to crown a champ and in the NFL it’s one and done to the road to its championship game. Come on and give in Congress. Stop making people call in sick the next day taking a day off where really they’re drunk from the night before watching the game or are really sick from eating themselves to death.

Super Bowl Pick

2009-01-31T14:50:00.003-05:00

Well tomorrow will be Superbowl 43, with the Cards and Steelers playing for the Lombardi trophy. If you asked me when the playoffs started who I would see in this yr's Superbowl, my picks would have not been the Cards or the Steelers at all. I really saw maybe an Indy vs. G-men in the big game. I thought that could have been a real possibility, but no it didn't happen. Wouldn't it have been great for the two weeks leading to the game to hear ESPN newscaster talking 24/7 about the brother vs. brother subplot or what? It would've been good to market the game and maybe get great ratings from the viewers to tune in and watch, but no not this year. We saw Indy lose to the Chargers who I hate with a passion because of Rivers. Something about him makes me a little mad, but I will give him cred for keeping the team winning and going into the playoffs. Then the Giants lost to the red hot Eagles who were this yr's so called Giants from last yr, who got hot at the right time.

But we're here at what we have the Superbowl that is like “What they made it to the Superbowl" and I'm referring to the Cards. Nothing against them, but they were the team everyone ruled out from week one in the playoffs. I even picked the Falcons beating them in the first round, but they played great D and won the game with Warner and Fitz with a great running game from Edge who wasn't used in the season very properly. The next week they dismantled the Panthers, in an eye opening victory that told the world "we are good team and can win". Then they had to play the Eagles in the NFC Conference Championship game where they played well throughout the game and kind of lost focus in the second half, but prevailed to win the game to get a shot at playing for the Lombardi Trophy.

The Steelers are a solid team. There D is very solid with great playmakers on almost every position. Big Ben is your QB that doesn't really get you lots of fantasy pts, but he gets the job done to win the game for his team. The running game was unstable for them this yr with having three different backs playing due to injuries, but they have Parker back and better than ever. In the playoffs they beat the Chargers in a 35-24 game where the game itself was not close at all. Then they beat the Ravens23-14 with their Defense winning the game for the team.

Now both teams are in the Superbowl, who is gonna win? Well I say the Cards will beat the Steelers and it will be a close game. Why? I love the underdogs, but the Cards aren't playing like underdogs and I want Warner going to the Hall of Fame which would guarantee him a spot winning another ring. Well let me break it down by postions. In the QB battle we have Warner and Big Ben. Both of who have won a ring already, so they have experience in the big atmosphere of the game. Big Ben is a playmaker who can run around and find a WR open to keep the play alive, but what if Ben gets hit hard a few times in the game? Those shots will wear him down sooner or later in the game and could affect him in the game. Now Warner... Warner has that something about him. He's a vet who can found the open WR with the O-line giving him enough time as well. He can throw the deep ball well to Fitz and have a little chemistry going as well week in and week out. I here I pick Warner over Big Ben in the QB battle.

WR on both teams are very good. For the Steelers we have Hines Ward, Holmes, and the underrated Washington. If there was an X-factor in this position it would be Washington. He's the type of player that people lose focus of. Put him in the slot with Ward and Homes and boom, a big catch with him scoring a TD or big yardage. I can see that happening maybe once or twice if he's in the game. Also I’m unsure if Ward will be 100% healthy and ready to play so he could affect the team as well, but last time he was in the Superbowl. He played injured and was the MVP too.
With the Cards, they have a similar deal. They got Fitz, Boldin, and Breston. All of them are good WR and any one of them could break out in the game like Fitz has been in the playoffs. I could see Boldin being an X-factor for the Cards where the Steelers would put maybe two DB on Fitz losing focus on Boldin with one DB beating him deep. Also I can see Breston making an impact on the game as well too, so let's not count him out in the game. If I had to pick who would win the WR battle I would lean on the Steelers, but the Cards are right there in a 51:49 ratio. Both WR are very good and can make the big plays that are needed to win the game.

RB on both teams have a different story. The Steelers RB's have been fighting injuries in the entire season, but Willie Parker is back and better than ever with all his rest. Then there are the Cards who focused there attention to Hightower and giving him the ball with most of the snaps. Edge before the playoffs showed some heat to the Cards, and hoping to be with a new team after the season. But ever since the Falcons game, the old Edge is back and playing with a vengeance. Edge is a great hard runner where Hightower can bust out some yards on the sweeps and screens. So be aware of the one two punch. In the battle of the running backs, I have to give it to the Cards.

Now on defense. The Steelers D were hot and very good in the whole season beating great teams like New England, Giants, and Cowboys. They played very well with the play of Troy Polamalu and Harrison. I believe if anyone can change the game it would be Polamalu with his style of reading the play and being everywhere on the field. He’s like a spider monkey. Warner will need to pay attention where he will be on every play. Over with the Cards, there defense got hot with the start of the playoffs. There defense was very inconsistent but they starting playing well from their first playoff game. They have great DB's in Rolle and Rodgers-Cromartie with SS Adrian Wilson. I believe there DB's play could affect how well Big Ben will be able to find someone open while he's scrambling. If I had to pick a better D it would be the Steelers.

I can see the game going in the Cards favor in a score range in 24-21. That's why I pick the Card's to win. They are the little engine that could and with winning the trophy they will become the hot rod that could. But if I was a betting man. Which I am not. I would put my money on the Steelers to win because of their defense, but I’m not too sure about the health of Big Ben and Hines Ward, which kind of worries me to make them a lock to win the game for sure. That’s why I’m kind of leaning towards Arizona.

Hoping to be back in 09

2009-01-30T22:51:00.002-05:00

As you can see, my last post was almost a year ago. I stopped blogging with school and playing soccer, but I will get back into the hang of things again this year. That will be my New Yr's resolution...in a way.

If you read my first and last blog...boy was I wrong or what? Brett went to the Jets and his yr didn't end too good. I will always be a Brett Favre fan, but I had to move on like he did with the Packers. So let's talk about the Pack. As a Packers fan, A-Rod did very good from stats pov. He played all of his games where during around week 3 or 4 people questioned if he would be able to play with some injury (i think shoulder related). He got tough and played the entire season, only 275 from Favre now. he threw 28 TD and 13 INT, which is very good for his official first yr in the NFL.

The Packers could of been a very good team this year. They ended the season 6-10 overall, which is not great from where they were a season ago in the NFC Championship game. They lost many games this past season where they were leading in the 4th quarter. What the hell happened to their D? The D couldn't get the job done...it couldn't finish. I believe it's true when they say that defenses wins championships. The Packers beat the Colts and with there great D play to stop Manning in a 34-14 win. The Packers almost even beat the Titans when they still were unbeaten, but lost in OT...which was a reasonable loss. No one could point fingers at anyone because both teams played well from my memory. The Packers lost to Carolina where Delhomme threw a bomb into smith's hands for a miracle like winning TD. The D just began to fall apart. With a new D Corrdinator in Dom Capers and installing the 3-4 defense, let's hope the 2009 season will be the Packers season.

At lest they beat the Lions...I was a little worried about that game.

Got Favre...for another year?

2008-02-13T11:36:00.003-05:00

As many of people know that the Packers had a very surprising year in 07. Even I was shocked as a Packers fan myself. If you asked me in the summer how the Pack would do this year, I would've told you that we would be lucky to win 10 games this season. Boy, was I wrong or what.

From last years draft the Packers drafted playere that I was very unsure of. In the first round they drafted a DT from University of Tenn, Harrell and then a RB in the second, Brandon Jackson. Then later on the draft they got James Jones, Korey Hall, and a few players on defense. After the draft ended, I was still unsure what the Packers were doing. But if you look at the names I listed from the Packers draft in 07, each player contributed in some way in the 07 season. So with the season over now and as I look back at the draft, the Pack made some smart decisions in the 07 draft.

When the Packers started the season off 2-0 and then 4-0, many fans like myself were shocked in how well the Pack were playing. I thought Favre was playing very well which lead to his best seasons since he won the Superbowl. He supassed many records from Elway's most wins at QB (148) now 149, to passing Dan Marino on the TD and most yards list. Overall, this was the Favre the Packers fans loved. The one who won every game even if the team was down by a touchdown. The old Brett was back again.

Then came the playoffs with the Packers at 13-3 for the season, as they were playing a Conference game at the Frozen Thundra, against the G-Men. I really thought this would be a win for the Pack, but I waas wrong as in OT Brett threw a interception which set up a 49 yards field goal try for Tynes...which we now know today was good. The season for the Packers was done, I thought The Pack would go back to the Superbowl for Favre in a movie type ending like the one in Superbowl 40 with Bettis winning it before he retired. But it didn't happen like that. Favre walked off the field with a interception which left a bad taste in his mouth.

That bad taste lasted for a while, that taste made Favre, I believe pull out of the Pro-Bowl. Now the question is if he should come back in the 08 season. I believe he should. The team is set for him to come back. The Packers have the weapons needed to make a run again into the playoffs. Thier defense played well in every game and can still continue next season as well. The Offense looked explosive with Driver and Jennings playing well with rookie recivers Jones and Martin filling in too. Also with the emergence of RB Ryan Grant and Brandon Jackson (late in the playoffs), they now have a decent running game which next season can become a two headed monster type of RB core. I know some of you people, may say what about Grant in the Giants game in the playoffs. Hey even RB can have bad games like Qb's and plus the Packers didn't committ to the run in the game as they did against the Seashawks game. I think it would be very odd for Favre not to return next season, with the team in place that could win the NFC North again next season, they have a good chance of Farve leaning towards coming back for another season. But this is what I'm thinking and I could be wrong too. Every thing seems to indicate that number 4 could come back. I'll see you guys later... If I'll blog, the readers will come!!!

What if the Bengels traded Chad Johnson to the Packers... I wish.

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen

2008-02-13T11:17:00.000-05:00

Hello people, how are you guys doing? My name is Azeem and I'm starting a blog. I really would love to be on radio but that would take more time to happen than it would to start up a blog. Like many people, I have my views on life. My blogs will focus on sports and entertainment. I'll be posting my pov on current sports news to movies and celebs that are out there in the public. I hope you guys will enjoy what I think, it is my two cents that I'm putting in. If I'll blog it, the readers will come. See you guys later.