"HIDE YOUR BEAGLE, HERE COMES AN EAGLE"......& MORE
As predicted, there were about 50 protesters picketing outside Franklin Financial Field this morning. They were upset with the Philadelphia Eagles for signing the dog-fighting quarterback. One carried a sign that read "hide your beagle, here comes an Eagle". Jennifer Utley, wife of Phillies' star, Chase Utley, who is a board member of the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, was pretty ticked off when she and other board members were turned away by Eagles' security at the press conference this morning to announce the signing of the new backup QB. Both PETA & the PSPCA were mad they weren't given a heads-up by Eagles' management last night. One more curious quote from Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie after the press conference "if we don't have an extremely proactive player off the field, then this is a terrible decision".
The Kansas City Chiefs will unveil a partially renovated Arrowhead Stadium Saturday evening. The construction began immediately after the '08 home schedule concluded & will continue well into 2010. So what can fans expect to see tomorrow night? The Chiefs, with a total budget of $375 million, got it right by widening the concourses about 15 feet. They increased restroom facilities by about 35% for men & effectively doubled the women's facilities. Long overdue, right ladies? There will be almost 2,000 fewer seats but more suites. The old press box is gone, replaced by 16 new 'sideline suites'. The press box will move to the top of the bowl on the south side. There are 2 new, giant high definition football shaped scoreboards on either end of the stadium. The old Chiefs 'Ring of Honor', which faced the club & upper decks, has been replaced by an electronic ribbon board. The Chiefs Ring of Honor will be replaced next year by the 'Wall of Honor', a mini Hall of Fame, if you will. Arrowhead's renovation is about 70% complete, no additional construction will be done during the season, just some finishing work. The concessions got a badly needed upgrade by adding more of them & a better selection, like Gates Barbecue(still the best BBQ sauce on the planet) & Garozzo's Italian(great K.C. tradition). Waiting in any public area doesn't mean you'll miss the action, 860 high definition flat screens have been installed in public areas & in undercover seat locales that block scoreboard views. Now we just need the team to be playoff-competitive in 2010 to go with the finished renovation.
I told you the other day Todd Haley blew a gasket when the kicking team lined up for a field goal attempt only to find they were missing their long snapper. Haley cut Thomas Gafford yesterday & they resigned long snapper Tanner Purdum, who had been cut after last season ended & was replaced by the rookie, Gafford. In this "musical snappers" episode, Gafford was told to "stay in shape, you never know what might happen", which should make Purdum sleep well at night.
Two ex-Chiefs out & one ex-Chief in. FOXSports announced their broadcast teams for the coming NFL season. Former Chiefs Brian Baldinger(pretty much a stiff) & Jayice Pearson where dropped. I thought Pearson was pretty good, certainly better than some of the guys FOX decided to keep. Trent Green was added to their lineup of color commentators, we'll see how he does. Mercifully, FOX let Matt Vasgersian go, who, except for CBS' Ian Eagle, is the lamest of the lame.
In what should have been the story of the day, Tom Brady returned last night & I thought he was, well, Tom Brady. He had a fine first half, even with drops by Randy Moss & Joey Galloway, his timing looked crisp & he moved well in the pocket. Never any hesitation, he looked like the Tom Brady that threw 50 touchdowns in 2007. If the linebacking corps rebounds from last year's injuries, this is truly the team to beat in 2009.
Oklahoma's Mike Balogan, a reserve linebacker who replaced the injured Ryan Reynolds at middle linebacker the last two seasons has been stripped of his eligibility indefinitely. The 25-year old senior, who didn't play high school football, didn't go to college until 2006 at Lackawanna Community College. He transferred to OU & played the past 2 seasons. The Tulsa World reports Balogan played semi-pro football after his 21st birthday, before enrolling in junior college. If this is true, the NCAA will strip Balogan of one year of eligibility for every year he played semi-pro ball. Until the NCAA completes it's investigation, Balogan is barred from any team activities.
The Brigham Young Cougars' offensive line is really in a bad way. They graduated 4 of 5 starters from 2008, only tackle Matt Reynolds returns & now he has a broken hand that will sideline him at least 3 weeks. Today, another O-line starter, Jason Speredon, tore his rotator cuff & will be lost for the season. With all the skill position players on offense returning except for WR Austin Collie & 8 defensive starters coming back, it was thought the Cougars could challenge TCU & the graduation-depleted Utah for the Mountain West Conference crown.
Today's real name of the day: Eltoro Freeman, linebacker, Auburn.
The Kansas City Chiefs will unveil a partially renovated Arrowhead Stadium Saturday evening. The construction began immediately after the '08 home schedule concluded & will continue well into 2010. So what can fans expect to see tomorrow night? The Chiefs, with a total budget of $375 million, got it right by widening the concourses about 15 feet. They increased restroom facilities by about 35% for men & effectively doubled the women's facilities. Long overdue, right ladies? There will be almost 2,000 fewer seats but more suites. The old press box is gone, replaced by 16 new 'sideline suites'. The press box will move to the top of the bowl on the south side. There are 2 new, giant high definition football shaped scoreboards on either end of the stadium. The old Chiefs 'Ring of Honor', which faced the club & upper decks, has been replaced by an electronic ribbon board. The Chiefs Ring of Honor will be replaced next year by the 'Wall of Honor', a mini Hall of Fame, if you will. Arrowhead's renovation is about 70% complete, no additional construction will be done during the season, just some finishing work. The concessions got a badly needed upgrade by adding more of them & a better selection, like Gates Barbecue(still the best BBQ sauce on the planet) & Garozzo's Italian(great K.C. tradition). Waiting in any public area doesn't mean you'll miss the action, 860 high definition flat screens have been installed in public areas & in undercover seat locales that block scoreboard views. Now we just need the team to be playoff-competitive in 2010 to go with the finished renovation.
I told you the other day Todd Haley blew a gasket when the kicking team lined up for a field goal attempt only to find they were missing their long snapper. Haley cut Thomas Gafford yesterday & they resigned long snapper Tanner Purdum, who had been cut after last season ended & was replaced by the rookie, Gafford. In this "musical snappers" episode, Gafford was told to "stay in shape, you never know what might happen", which should make Purdum sleep well at night.
Two ex-Chiefs out & one ex-Chief in. FOXSports announced their broadcast teams for the coming NFL season. Former Chiefs Brian Baldinger(pretty much a stiff) & Jayice Pearson where dropped. I thought Pearson was pretty good, certainly better than some of the guys FOX decided to keep. Trent Green was added to their lineup of color commentators, we'll see how he does. Mercifully, FOX let Matt Vasgersian go, who, except for CBS' Ian Eagle, is the lamest of the lame.
In what should have been the story of the day, Tom Brady returned last night & I thought he was, well, Tom Brady. He had a fine first half, even with drops by Randy Moss & Joey Galloway, his timing looked crisp & he moved well in the pocket. Never any hesitation, he looked like the Tom Brady that threw 50 touchdowns in 2007. If the linebacking corps rebounds from last year's injuries, this is truly the team to beat in 2009.
Oklahoma's Mike Balogan, a reserve linebacker who replaced the injured Ryan Reynolds at middle linebacker the last two seasons has been stripped of his eligibility indefinitely. The 25-year old senior, who didn't play high school football, didn't go to college until 2006 at Lackawanna Community College. He transferred to OU & played the past 2 seasons. The Tulsa World reports Balogan played semi-pro football after his 21st birthday, before enrolling in junior college. If this is true, the NCAA will strip Balogan of one year of eligibility for every year he played semi-pro ball. Until the NCAA completes it's investigation, Balogan is barred from any team activities.
The Brigham Young Cougars' offensive line is really in a bad way. They graduated 4 of 5 starters from 2008, only tackle Matt Reynolds returns & now he has a broken hand that will sideline him at least 3 weeks. Today, another O-line starter, Jason Speredon, tore his rotator cuff & will be lost for the season. With all the skill position players on offense returning except for WR Austin Collie & 8 defensive starters coming back, it was thought the Cougars could challenge TCU & the graduation-depleted Utah for the Mountain West Conference crown.
Today's real name of the day: Eltoro Freeman, linebacker, Auburn.
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