THIS & THAT..........WEDNESDAY
A couple of teams with high hopes in '09 have injury issues at the running back position. I told you 2 weeks ago that Virginia Tech had lost last year's leading rusher, Darren Evans, with a torn ACL. Now his backup, Josh Oglesby had to sit down with a strained hamstring & a bruised heel. The Hokies already have 2 other RBs on the injury list & true freshman, Ryan Williams, is the only healthy back right now. Cal's Jahvid Best hasn't practiced for the past 6 days with a bone bruise in the bottom of his foot. Coach Jeff Tedford won't give a projected return date for Best. He was a dark horse candidate for the Heisman Trophy. Best added 10 pounds in the off season without losing any of his sub-4.3 speed.
Mizzou right tackle Dan Hoch went down Monday with a knee injury but an MRI yesterday showed only a sprain. Hoch can return to practice within 2 weeks. The true sophomore was rated the best player at any position from Iowa in '07. The 6-7 320 pounder was recruited by Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Wisconsin & Iowa State before committing to the Tigers.
Oklahoma linebacker, Mike Balogun, has filed a suit in district court for a temporary restraining order against the NCAA, which had suspended Balogun's eligibility. The NCAA determined there was a question regarding Balogun's participation with a semi-pro football team after his 21st birthday & before he enrolled in college. He is also seeking more than $10,000 in damages. A hearing on the restraining order is scheduled for Monday in Oklahoma City.
Chris "Beanie" Wells, #1 pick of the Arizona Cardinals, returned yesterday from an ankle injury he suffered in his first practice as a pro two weeks ago. He re injured the same ankle in yesterday's late practice. How long he'll be out is unknown. This is a continuation of the injury problems he's had since he enrolled at Ohio State, he's a tremendous talent, but he just can't stay on the field.
Two quickies; Thru noon today the Minnesota Vikings had sold over 3,000 season tickets since it was announced Brett Favre was becoming a Viking. That's just over $3 million in ticket sales in about 26 hours. I read today there are an estimated 37 million people who play fantasy football. I'm not one of them, but the explosion in popularity over the last 15 years is unreal.
Denis Leary, comedian & creator/writer/star of "Rescue Me" on FX, was on "Mike & Mike in the Morning" subbing for Mike Golic today. I've always thought he is hysterically funny & "Rescue Me" is the best show on TV in my opinion. Leary sidekick & TV co-star, Lenny Clark, joined him for over an hour, it was especially funny when they got Bill Belichick on the phone. He had never appeared on Greenie & Golic's show, but Leary made it happen & it was priceless. Later in the show, when asked about Michael Vick's return to the NFL, Leary, who owns 3 dogs, said he thought Vick paid his dues & deserved a second chance, with one caveat. Leary said "They should put Vick in a meat suit, wearing a helmet made of meat, carrying a football made of bacon O.K.? If he can make it from one goal line to the other with 3 dogs chasing him, then he can play in the NFL again". The 4-hour show flew by, ESPN ought to book him once a month on this show, his knowledge of sports is impressive, the sarcasm & mockery is very funny & I'd love to see more of it.
The NFL granted a 2-year extension to NBC for their "Football Night in America" telecast on Sunday night. This show is way, way too much, way too many analysts, too many ex-players, one too many smug studio hosts. I love Al Michaels, I dealt with him personally in Vegas for many years, great guy & a hall of fame sports broadcaster. Always liked Bob Costas, a Missouri boy with humor & one of the best vocabularies on TV. Chris Collingsworth has huge shoes to fill with the departure of John Madden from the booth. We'll see how Chris fares, I hope he makes it. The rest? Peter King is much better in print, Tiki adds little, same as the Bus, loved both of them as players, but they just don't do it for me on TV. NBC's attempt to recapture lightening in a bottle pairing Keith Olberman & Dan Patrick is shamefully lame. Whatever magic they had 10 years ago on ESPN, is non-existent now, it's pathetic. I'm sure I'm leaving someone out, they have like 10 guys in studio, but I think this broadcast, save Michaels' superior work, is even worse than ESPN's "Countdown" show on either Sunday or Monday. That's saying something.
It's well known I'm a Chiefs fan, so if this portion of today's blog sounds like a Chiefs' fan thumbing his nose at Kansas City's biggest rivals, it isn't, honest. I'm just reporting the facts. These facts just fell into my lap, sort of, there is plenty of negative stuff flying about the internet regarding the Raiders & Broncos. So with a few ideas, Google & Wikipedia, I set out to write something negative about the Raiders & Broncos, uh, I mean I went in search of facts regarding two of the finer teams in the AFC West. Yeah, that's what I did.
During last April's draft, the Denver Broncos traded their 1st round pick in 2010 for Seattle's 2nd round pick in '09, which the Broncos used to draft cornerback Alphonso Smith from Wake Forest. Smith should pan out & become a solid starter for Denver but they are without a first round pick in 2010. The 2010 draft will include a quarterback pool of Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow & Jevan Snead. The Broncos currently have Kyle Orton & Chris Simms on their roster, hardly all-pro candidates. Since Denver is likely to finish near the bottom of the league standings, they certainly would have had a top-5 pick in next year's draft. Now Seattle has it & Denver won't be picking until round two. Unless, they decide to trade Brandon Marshall, their unhappy wide receiver who has requested a change of venue. Rookie coach Josh McDaniels might have painted himself into a corner trading Jay Cutler & then having to trade Marshall. Replacing them won't be easy, meanwhile their bottom-5 defense hasn't been upgraded enough to even start thinking about playoffs.
This whole Tom Cable fiasco in Oakland is fairly typical of the NFL's most dysfunctional team. Let's look at the last six years of this storied franchise. Their 6-year record: 24-72. Head coaches the last 6 years: Bill Callahan, Norv Turner, Art Shell, Lane Kiffin & now Tom Cable. Their starting QBs the last 6 years: JaMarcus Russell, Andrew Walter, Josh McCown, Dante Culpepper, Aaron Brooks, Todd Collins, Marques Tuiasosopo, Rich Gannon & Rick Mirer. As anyone can see the Raiders are a model of consistency. Let's examine new coach Tom Cable's credentials. His only head coaching position was at Idaho where his record was 11-35. He then became offensive coordinator at UCLA, where the Bruins went to the Las Vegas Bowl, woohoo! He moved onto Atlanta as the offensive line coach of a 7-9 Falcon squad before landing in Oakland as the O-line coach, then interim coach & finally head coach. The Raiders were 25th in the league in total offense with Cable running the line & later the whole team. They draft a receiver, who couldn't even make his all-conference 1st or 2nd team, with the 7th pick in the entire draft. They follow that up with their 2nd round pick of a safety most draft experts had going in the sixth round or later. Throw in the latest mess with Cable allegedly punching an assistant coach, breaking his jaw & it's easy to see a pattern isn't it? All thru this Raider fans seemingly could care less, as long as they can dress up every Sunday like Darth Vader or the bad guys in "The Road Warrior". I personally can't imagine that dressing up in bizarre costumes is a suitable substitute for a winning football team, but then I'm not from California. As long as Raider owner Al Davis is the puppeteer, Oakland will always be the wackiest team in the league.
Today's real name of the day: CoShick Williams, running back, Kentucky.
Mizzou right tackle Dan Hoch went down Monday with a knee injury but an MRI yesterday showed only a sprain. Hoch can return to practice within 2 weeks. The true sophomore was rated the best player at any position from Iowa in '07. The 6-7 320 pounder was recruited by Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Wisconsin & Iowa State before committing to the Tigers.
Oklahoma linebacker, Mike Balogun, has filed a suit in district court for a temporary restraining order against the NCAA, which had suspended Balogun's eligibility. The NCAA determined there was a question regarding Balogun's participation with a semi-pro football team after his 21st birthday & before he enrolled in college. He is also seeking more than $10,000 in damages. A hearing on the restraining order is scheduled for Monday in Oklahoma City.
Chris "Beanie" Wells, #1 pick of the Arizona Cardinals, returned yesterday from an ankle injury he suffered in his first practice as a pro two weeks ago. He re injured the same ankle in yesterday's late practice. How long he'll be out is unknown. This is a continuation of the injury problems he's had since he enrolled at Ohio State, he's a tremendous talent, but he just can't stay on the field.
Two quickies; Thru noon today the Minnesota Vikings had sold over 3,000 season tickets since it was announced Brett Favre was becoming a Viking. That's just over $3 million in ticket sales in about 26 hours. I read today there are an estimated 37 million people who play fantasy football. I'm not one of them, but the explosion in popularity over the last 15 years is unreal.
Denis Leary, comedian & creator/writer/star of "Rescue Me" on FX, was on "Mike & Mike in the Morning" subbing for Mike Golic today. I've always thought he is hysterically funny & "Rescue Me" is the best show on TV in my opinion. Leary sidekick & TV co-star, Lenny Clark, joined him for over an hour, it was especially funny when they got Bill Belichick on the phone. He had never appeared on Greenie & Golic's show, but Leary made it happen & it was priceless. Later in the show, when asked about Michael Vick's return to the NFL, Leary, who owns 3 dogs, said he thought Vick paid his dues & deserved a second chance, with one caveat. Leary said "They should put Vick in a meat suit, wearing a helmet made of meat, carrying a football made of bacon O.K.? If he can make it from one goal line to the other with 3 dogs chasing him, then he can play in the NFL again". The 4-hour show flew by, ESPN ought to book him once a month on this show, his knowledge of sports is impressive, the sarcasm & mockery is very funny & I'd love to see more of it.
The NFL granted a 2-year extension to NBC for their "Football Night in America" telecast on Sunday night. This show is way, way too much, way too many analysts, too many ex-players, one too many smug studio hosts. I love Al Michaels, I dealt with him personally in Vegas for many years, great guy & a hall of fame sports broadcaster. Always liked Bob Costas, a Missouri boy with humor & one of the best vocabularies on TV. Chris Collingsworth has huge shoes to fill with the departure of John Madden from the booth. We'll see how Chris fares, I hope he makes it. The rest? Peter King is much better in print, Tiki adds little, same as the Bus, loved both of them as players, but they just don't do it for me on TV. NBC's attempt to recapture lightening in a bottle pairing Keith Olberman & Dan Patrick is shamefully lame. Whatever magic they had 10 years ago on ESPN, is non-existent now, it's pathetic. I'm sure I'm leaving someone out, they have like 10 guys in studio, but I think this broadcast, save Michaels' superior work, is even worse than ESPN's "Countdown" show on either Sunday or Monday. That's saying something.
It's well known I'm a Chiefs fan, so if this portion of today's blog sounds like a Chiefs' fan thumbing his nose at Kansas City's biggest rivals, it isn't, honest. I'm just reporting the facts. These facts just fell into my lap, sort of, there is plenty of negative stuff flying about the internet regarding the Raiders & Broncos. So with a few ideas, Google & Wikipedia, I set out to write something negative about the Raiders & Broncos, uh, I mean I went in search of facts regarding two of the finer teams in the AFC West. Yeah, that's what I did.
During last April's draft, the Denver Broncos traded their 1st round pick in 2010 for Seattle's 2nd round pick in '09, which the Broncos used to draft cornerback Alphonso Smith from Wake Forest. Smith should pan out & become a solid starter for Denver but they are without a first round pick in 2010. The 2010 draft will include a quarterback pool of Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow & Jevan Snead. The Broncos currently have Kyle Orton & Chris Simms on their roster, hardly all-pro candidates. Since Denver is likely to finish near the bottom of the league standings, they certainly would have had a top-5 pick in next year's draft. Now Seattle has it & Denver won't be picking until round two. Unless, they decide to trade Brandon Marshall, their unhappy wide receiver who has requested a change of venue. Rookie coach Josh McDaniels might have painted himself into a corner trading Jay Cutler & then having to trade Marshall. Replacing them won't be easy, meanwhile their bottom-5 defense hasn't been upgraded enough to even start thinking about playoffs.
This whole Tom Cable fiasco in Oakland is fairly typical of the NFL's most dysfunctional team. Let's look at the last six years of this storied franchise. Their 6-year record: 24-72. Head coaches the last 6 years: Bill Callahan, Norv Turner, Art Shell, Lane Kiffin & now Tom Cable. Their starting QBs the last 6 years: JaMarcus Russell, Andrew Walter, Josh McCown, Dante Culpepper, Aaron Brooks, Todd Collins, Marques Tuiasosopo, Rich Gannon & Rick Mirer. As anyone can see the Raiders are a model of consistency. Let's examine new coach Tom Cable's credentials. His only head coaching position was at Idaho where his record was 11-35. He then became offensive coordinator at UCLA, where the Bruins went to the Las Vegas Bowl, woohoo! He moved onto Atlanta as the offensive line coach of a 7-9 Falcon squad before landing in Oakland as the O-line coach, then interim coach & finally head coach. The Raiders were 25th in the league in total offense with Cable running the line & later the whole team. They draft a receiver, who couldn't even make his all-conference 1st or 2nd team, with the 7th pick in the entire draft. They follow that up with their 2nd round pick of a safety most draft experts had going in the sixth round or later. Throw in the latest mess with Cable allegedly punching an assistant coach, breaking his jaw & it's easy to see a pattern isn't it? All thru this Raider fans seemingly could care less, as long as they can dress up every Sunday like Darth Vader or the bad guys in "The Road Warrior". I personally can't imagine that dressing up in bizarre costumes is a suitable substitute for a winning football team, but then I'm not from California. As long as Raider owner Al Davis is the puppeteer, Oakland will always be the wackiest team in the league.
Today's real name of the day: CoShick Williams, running back, Kentucky.
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