BIZARRE AD IN K.C. STAR, ANOTHER BAD BIG BEN STORY, NO JAMARCUS & GIANTS WIN THE TOSS
A strange ad appeared in the Sunday edition of The Kansas City Star. The full-page ad showed a picture of newly acquired running back Thomas Jones with a Jets logo beneath his picture. The words "Toughness, Dedication and Leadership" & "Thank you for three great years" were printed below the logo as were the names of Jets owner Woody Johnson, head coach Rex Ryan, GM Mike Tannenbaum & the NY Jets. This apparently, was supposed to be a tribute for Jones' service to the Jets. It rings pretty hollow when on the same day the ad was in the Kansas City paper, the Jets were signing LaDainian Tomlinson for more money then the Chiefs paid Jones. Now admittedly, I have a poo-poo'd some of the Chiefs' free agent signings, but Jones was a way better choice than Tomlinson, he's tougher, he's been more productive the past two seasons(Jones rushed for 2,740, Tomlinson 1,840 with disappointing 3.8 & 3.3 averages) plus, even tho Jones is 11 month older than Tomlinson, he has fewer lifetime carries than LT. This hasn't been popular in the Jets' locker room either. One player said "Thomas had double the yardage LT had last season & they turn him out just like that." Jones, along with starter Jamaal Charles, gives the Chiefs a good one-two punch for at least the 2010 season. LT is no more than expensive window dressing in my opinion.
The Chiefs welcomed former K-State guard Ryan Lilja to the facility today. It will be very interesting to see if they offer him a contract. If he becomes a Chief offensive lineman it will go a long way towards telling us what kind of team Haley & Weis are planning to field. Last season Haley got Brandon Albert to lose 30 pounds in an effort to make him more athletic, I thought it was too much as he suffered thru a sub-par sophomore campaign in '09. They've already signed 37-year old Casey Wiegman, a quick but undersized & underpowered center. Lilja is also smallish(for an offensive lineman anyway) at 6' 2" 290 lbs. The Colts had a small but quick line for several years & they chucked it in the trash this off season after being in the bottom-5 the last three seasons in rushing.
Another bad Big Ben Roethlisberger story has surfaced & it's becoming viral on the internet. According to the Golf website 'Waggle Room' Roethlisberger's bad behavior & decision making is not limited to bars & hotels. Apparently, he can be a jerk on the links as well. The story goes as follows: The Steelers train in Latrobe Pennsylvania, Arnold Palmer's home town. One day after practice, Big Ben visits the Laurel Valley golf club to see if he can get on for an afternoon round. He's told in the pro shop he'll have to wait for a hole in the starting times of members, but they will get him out asap. He hangs around the pro shop for a while & then the pro notices he's gone. The starter calls the pro shop to tell him Roethlisberger has teed off & is now on the fairway of the 1st hole. The starter is told to bring him back, which he does. Ben waits another 20 minutes & is finally given the go-ahead to begin his round. He plays thru several groups, ignoring their requests for autographs & generally being rude to everyone he comes in contact with during the round. After playing, he takes a shower in the members only clubhouse & as he is getting dressed, he is approached by a man who says "What you are going to do right now is to go into the pro shop & sign autographs for every single person who wants one & then you will never come back here again." Which is what Roethlisberger did. The person who confronted Big Ben? Arnold Palmer.
**UPDATE@8:30 PM A source close to Roethlisberger has stated the story about Big Ben & Palmer isn't true. He said the two had played golf together twice at Palmer's club, Latrobe Country Club in 2008 & enjoyed each other's company. Since the first story came out, another version was released by the "Out of Bounds" blog on NBCSports.com, which makes three sources I've seen today backing the first version. So at this point it's hard to know what's true. In the interest of fairness I'm printing the other side of this story.
Here's a real shocking development, Raider quarterback JaMarcus Russell didn't show up for the off-season workouts today. One teammate said "the guy's a horror story" & another offered "don't hold your breath waiting for him to show up here." That says it all, a real case for a rookie salary cap in the next collective bargaining agreement.
The Mike Leach versus Texas Tech lawsuit is going on down in Lubbock right now. The James gang, Craig & Adam, testified Friday & made it clear they didn't want Leach fired. But when Craig James was cross examined he admitted he called the school's chancellor & demanded an investigation or he sue the school. So obviously no pressure from him. What a hypocrite. Adam laughed about his "electrical room" confinement. He said he never felt endangered & that the cell phone video of the electrical room was for laughs. A man lost his job, who's laughing? I think the university jumped the gun while being pressured by Craig James & his bully pulpit at ESPN, firing Leach without knowing all the facts. I expect Tech to settle this suit before a courtroom conclusion, for seven-figures.
Jets owner Woody Johnson is said to be steaming mad after a coin toss decided who would get to play the first regular season game in the new stadium shared by the Jets & Giants. The coin toss wasn't witnessed by representatives of either team & on Friday, the league said the decision would be Roger Goodell's to make, it wouldn't be a coin toss. Even tho they pay equal rent, the Jets have always felt like second-class citizens while sharing a home with the Giants.
The Chiefs welcomed former K-State guard Ryan Lilja to the facility today. It will be very interesting to see if they offer him a contract. If he becomes a Chief offensive lineman it will go a long way towards telling us what kind of team Haley & Weis are planning to field. Last season Haley got Brandon Albert to lose 30 pounds in an effort to make him more athletic, I thought it was too much as he suffered thru a sub-par sophomore campaign in '09. They've already signed 37-year old Casey Wiegman, a quick but undersized & underpowered center. Lilja is also smallish(for an offensive lineman anyway) at 6' 2" 290 lbs. The Colts had a small but quick line for several years & they chucked it in the trash this off season after being in the bottom-5 the last three seasons in rushing.
Another bad Big Ben Roethlisberger story has surfaced & it's becoming viral on the internet. According to the Golf website 'Waggle Room' Roethlisberger's bad behavior & decision making is not limited to bars & hotels. Apparently, he can be a jerk on the links as well. The story goes as follows: The Steelers train in Latrobe Pennsylvania, Arnold Palmer's home town. One day after practice, Big Ben visits the Laurel Valley golf club to see if he can get on for an afternoon round. He's told in the pro shop he'll have to wait for a hole in the starting times of members, but they will get him out asap. He hangs around the pro shop for a while & then the pro notices he's gone. The starter calls the pro shop to tell him Roethlisberger has teed off & is now on the fairway of the 1st hole. The starter is told to bring him back, which he does. Ben waits another 20 minutes & is finally given the go-ahead to begin his round. He plays thru several groups, ignoring their requests for autographs & generally being rude to everyone he comes in contact with during the round. After playing, he takes a shower in the members only clubhouse & as he is getting dressed, he is approached by a man who says "What you are going to do right now is to go into the pro shop & sign autographs for every single person who wants one & then you will never come back here again." Which is what Roethlisberger did. The person who confronted Big Ben? Arnold Palmer.
**UPDATE@8:30 PM A source close to Roethlisberger has stated the story about Big Ben & Palmer isn't true. He said the two had played golf together twice at Palmer's club, Latrobe Country Club in 2008 & enjoyed each other's company. Since the first story came out, another version was released by the "Out of Bounds" blog on NBCSports.com, which makes three sources I've seen today backing the first version. So at this point it's hard to know what's true. In the interest of fairness I'm printing the other side of this story.
Here's a real shocking development, Raider quarterback JaMarcus Russell didn't show up for the off-season workouts today. One teammate said "the guy's a horror story" & another offered "don't hold your breath waiting for him to show up here." That says it all, a real case for a rookie salary cap in the next collective bargaining agreement.
The Mike Leach versus Texas Tech lawsuit is going on down in Lubbock right now. The James gang, Craig & Adam, testified Friday & made it clear they didn't want Leach fired. But when Craig James was cross examined he admitted he called the school's chancellor & demanded an investigation or he sue the school. So obviously no pressure from him. What a hypocrite. Adam laughed about his "electrical room" confinement. He said he never felt endangered & that the cell phone video of the electrical room was for laughs. A man lost his job, who's laughing? I think the university jumped the gun while being pressured by Craig James & his bully pulpit at ESPN, firing Leach without knowing all the facts. I expect Tech to settle this suit before a courtroom conclusion, for seven-figures.
Jets owner Woody Johnson is said to be steaming mad after a coin toss decided who would get to play the first regular season game in the new stadium shared by the Jets & Giants. The coin toss wasn't witnessed by representatives of either team & on Friday, the league said the decision would be Roger Goodell's to make, it wouldn't be a coin toss. Even tho they pay equal rent, the Jets have always felt like second-class citizens while sharing a home with the Giants.
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