BRADFORD TO START, TOO MUCH COLLEGE BAD BEHAVIOR, ANOTHER SIMMS AT QB & TOUGH MAKING A PROFIT THESE DAYS
It didn't take long, Rams rookie quarterback & #1 overall pick Sam Bradford will get his first start this Thursday night in New England. The previous starter, A.J. Feeley, injured both his thumb & elbow in their game Saturday night & he can't go this soon, so Bradford will get his shot. Tough place to get your first start though.
The Buffalo Bills are seeing an unfortunate repeat of last preseason as they lost two draft picks to season-ending injuries. Fourth round pick WR Marcus Easley suffered a torn ACL & sixth round selection, Danny Batten injured his shoulder & it will require surgery. That makes three draftees lost so far.
I made a mistake the other day when I spoke about Jets' cornerback Antonio Cromartie & his inability to recite the names of his children. I said Cromartie had 7 children from 5 different women in 4 different states. I was wrong & would like to make a correction. The 26-year old Cromartie has eight children with 6 different women. I stand corrected.
While I'm talking about the Jets, the team signed their All-Pro center Nick Mangold to a new 7-year, $55 million contract. He was in the last season of his contract. Cornerback Darrelle Revis ought to be smokin' after reading this news. He has boycotted training camp & vows to sit out the entire season if he's not given a new contract paying him more than any other cornerback in the entire league. But Revis still has 3-years left on his current deal worth $21 million & I doubt the Jets are going to throw up the white flag anytime soon.
The Vikings signed wide receiver Javon Walker on Monday. Walker hasn't played in nearly a year. He had his best seasons with the Packers & Brett Favre. The pair had quite a falling out after Walker was holding out during training camp, wanting a new contract & Favre, thru the media, told Walker to honor the last year of his contract & get back in camp. Walker did so & suffered a season ending knee injury without getting that big contract extension. He was traded for a 2nd round pick to the Broncos & was in a limo with Bronco DB Darrent Williams when a gang member fired a handgun at the car, mortally wounding Williams. He died in Walker's arms. In 2008, the Broncos released Walker after failing to trade him. The Raiders signed him to a 5-year deal with $16 million in guaranteed money but Walker never panned out in Oakland & was released. Soon after his release, Williams was found beaten silly in a Las Vegas alley, over $100,000 in jewelry & cash missing. The Vikings currently find themselves very thin at wide receiver. Leading receiver Sidney Rice is contemplating another operation on his hip that would sideline him for probably half the season. Percy Harvin hasn't been able to practice after suffering severe migraines & collapsing on the practice field last week. It will be interesting to see if he & Favre can recoup any of their old magic, the pair hooked up for 22 touchdowns in Williams' 4 seasons in Green Bay.
It took two offers, but the Bears got their needed veteran backup quarterback. They signed Todd Collins to a 1-year deal on Monday after he turned them down about ten days ago. Collins, nearly 39-years old, is familiar with the Mike Martz offense as it is very similar to the Al Saunders scheme the Chiefs ran while Collins was in Kansas City.
I'm going to need an explanation, I've seen this theory floated around by prominent football writers & I just don't get it. More than a few high-profile scribes say Thomas Jones will start for the Chiefs & Jamaal Charles will get 12-15 carries a game. Twelve to fifteen? Are you kidding? I saw ESPN's John Clayton saying it today & I simply don't get it. This offense needs to score points this year, a lot more than last season, with the under-whelming defense they'll put out there. Charles is a true home run hitter, he can score from anywhere on the field & he changes the way defenses scheme & play against the Chiefs, he can be a game-changer. Jones isn't, he's a very solid, very experienced veteran running back, but he's no longer a threat to bust 70-yard touchdowns, not anymore. Charles broke three 50+-yard runs in one quarter at Texas & he has the capability to repeat that feat right now. With a quarterback whose downfield throws are shaky at best, having a runner who can take it to the house from anywhere on the field is ultra important.
Mizzou's starting linebacker, Will Ebner, was arrested & charged with DUI early Sunday morning. Tiger Coach Gary Pinkel said the matter would be handled internally. South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders, the Gamecocks 2nd leading receiver, was suspended indefinitely by coach Steve Spurrier. Saunders was recently questioned twice by NCAA investigators looking into a huge party in Miami that he was reported to have attended. The investigators wanted to know who paid for his trip & hotel. Spurrier said the suspension had nothing to do with the NCAA, it was for violating team rules. Middle Tennessee State police are looking into a charge by an 80-year old man in a veterans' Hospital that MTSU starting QB Dwight Dasher "borrowed" $1,500 from him. Oliver Donner told campus police Dasher had borrowed the money to enter a high stakes poker tournament & that he would split any winnings 50-50. Donner told police he never heard from Dasher again & couldn't reach him on his cell phone since June. his eligibility will certainly come into question. But today's bad behavior gold star goes to Oregon State offensive linemen Tyler Thomas. According to the Corvallis Gazette Times, police were called at 5AM by a woman who reported a man in her home. Police arrived & the 32-year old homeowner told them there was a man in her upstairs office. Indeed, the police found Thomas in the woman's office & he was very drunk & naked. When officers told Thomas to get on the floor, he got in a lineman's 3-point stance & charged the cops. He was promptly tased & handcuffed. No report as to why he was there or why he was naked, the homeowner claimed she didn't know him. Coach Mike Riley did some quick damage control by dismissing Thomas from the team immediately, tough to justify any his bizarre behavior.
I don't know how much of a movie buff you are, we see a lot of films every year & recently we saw "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". The Swedish film was excellent, it came from a novel of the same name that has sold over 40 million copies worldwide. It's part of a 3-book trilogy by the late Swedish author Steig Larsson. Now Hollywood is going to make an English language version of the film starring Daniel Craig & Patricia Rooney Mara. Rooney Mara is the granddaughter of New York Giants founder, Wellington Mara, the daughter of Giants Director of Pro Player Development, Chris Mara & the grandniece of Steeler's owner & U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, Dan Rooney. From football royalty to playing a gritty, goth computer hacker in all three films from Larsson's novels. Her sister Kate Mara is also an actress, appearing in 8 movies, including the football film "We Are Marshall." The part of Lisbeth Salander might make her extended families squirm as there were a couple of pretty graphic sex scenes in the Swedish original.
Here comes another Simms family member & like the others, he will play quarterback too. Not exactly the Mannings, but father Phil has two Super Bowl rings to his credit. Older brother Chris is still in the league, most of his career as a backup. Now Matt Simms has won the starting quarterback job at Tennessee coach Derek Dooley said on Monday. Dad played at tiny Morehead State while Chris was an off & on starter for the Texas Longhorns. Matt is a junior college transfer with 2 years of eligibility left.
How has the economy affected college sports? In 2008, 25 Division I schools showed a profit in their athletic departments after paying for every sport. But in 2009, the number of teams still in the black shrunk to just 14. Some of those teams include Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Ohio State & Missouri. No foolin', the Tiger athletic department has shown a profit for some time now. In 2009, it was slightly more than $2 million. Of the 120 Div. I FBS schools, 68 showed a profit in their football programs with the median profit at $8.8 million. The 52 teams that lost money in football showed a median loss of $2.7 million. With an uncertain economy & donations way off, many schools have started to reign in subsidies for athletic departments. "Cut your budget or cut part of your program" is the word from many a board of regents around the nation. I don't see this situation improving in the near future as state coffers are on empty on most states, the belt-tightening will be passed down the line, especially to programs that lose substantial amounts of money in the athletic programs.
The Buffalo Bills are seeing an unfortunate repeat of last preseason as they lost two draft picks to season-ending injuries. Fourth round pick WR Marcus Easley suffered a torn ACL & sixth round selection, Danny Batten injured his shoulder & it will require surgery. That makes three draftees lost so far.
I made a mistake the other day when I spoke about Jets' cornerback Antonio Cromartie & his inability to recite the names of his children. I said Cromartie had 7 children from 5 different women in 4 different states. I was wrong & would like to make a correction. The 26-year old Cromartie has eight children with 6 different women. I stand corrected.
While I'm talking about the Jets, the team signed their All-Pro center Nick Mangold to a new 7-year, $55 million contract. He was in the last season of his contract. Cornerback Darrelle Revis ought to be smokin' after reading this news. He has boycotted training camp & vows to sit out the entire season if he's not given a new contract paying him more than any other cornerback in the entire league. But Revis still has 3-years left on his current deal worth $21 million & I doubt the Jets are going to throw up the white flag anytime soon.
The Vikings signed wide receiver Javon Walker on Monday. Walker hasn't played in nearly a year. He had his best seasons with the Packers & Brett Favre. The pair had quite a falling out after Walker was holding out during training camp, wanting a new contract & Favre, thru the media, told Walker to honor the last year of his contract & get back in camp. Walker did so & suffered a season ending knee injury without getting that big contract extension. He was traded for a 2nd round pick to the Broncos & was in a limo with Bronco DB Darrent Williams when a gang member fired a handgun at the car, mortally wounding Williams. He died in Walker's arms. In 2008, the Broncos released Walker after failing to trade him. The Raiders signed him to a 5-year deal with $16 million in guaranteed money but Walker never panned out in Oakland & was released. Soon after his release, Williams was found beaten silly in a Las Vegas alley, over $100,000 in jewelry & cash missing. The Vikings currently find themselves very thin at wide receiver. Leading receiver Sidney Rice is contemplating another operation on his hip that would sideline him for probably half the season. Percy Harvin hasn't been able to practice after suffering severe migraines & collapsing on the practice field last week. It will be interesting to see if he & Favre can recoup any of their old magic, the pair hooked up for 22 touchdowns in Williams' 4 seasons in Green Bay.
It took two offers, but the Bears got their needed veteran backup quarterback. They signed Todd Collins to a 1-year deal on Monday after he turned them down about ten days ago. Collins, nearly 39-years old, is familiar with the Mike Martz offense as it is very similar to the Al Saunders scheme the Chiefs ran while Collins was in Kansas City.
I'm going to need an explanation, I've seen this theory floated around by prominent football writers & I just don't get it. More than a few high-profile scribes say Thomas Jones will start for the Chiefs & Jamaal Charles will get 12-15 carries a game. Twelve to fifteen? Are you kidding? I saw ESPN's John Clayton saying it today & I simply don't get it. This offense needs to score points this year, a lot more than last season, with the under-whelming defense they'll put out there. Charles is a true home run hitter, he can score from anywhere on the field & he changes the way defenses scheme & play against the Chiefs, he can be a game-changer. Jones isn't, he's a very solid, very experienced veteran running back, but he's no longer a threat to bust 70-yard touchdowns, not anymore. Charles broke three 50+-yard runs in one quarter at Texas & he has the capability to repeat that feat right now. With a quarterback whose downfield throws are shaky at best, having a runner who can take it to the house from anywhere on the field is ultra important.
Mizzou's starting linebacker, Will Ebner, was arrested & charged with DUI early Sunday morning. Tiger Coach Gary Pinkel said the matter would be handled internally. South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders, the Gamecocks 2nd leading receiver, was suspended indefinitely by coach Steve Spurrier. Saunders was recently questioned twice by NCAA investigators looking into a huge party in Miami that he was reported to have attended. The investigators wanted to know who paid for his trip & hotel. Spurrier said the suspension had nothing to do with the NCAA, it was for violating team rules. Middle Tennessee State police are looking into a charge by an 80-year old man in a veterans' Hospital that MTSU starting QB Dwight Dasher "borrowed" $1,500 from him. Oliver Donner told campus police Dasher had borrowed the money to enter a high stakes poker tournament & that he would split any winnings 50-50. Donner told police he never heard from Dasher again & couldn't reach him on his cell phone since June. his eligibility will certainly come into question. But today's bad behavior gold star goes to Oregon State offensive linemen Tyler Thomas. According to the Corvallis Gazette Times, police were called at 5AM by a woman who reported a man in her home. Police arrived & the 32-year old homeowner told them there was a man in her upstairs office. Indeed, the police found Thomas in the woman's office & he was very drunk & naked. When officers told Thomas to get on the floor, he got in a lineman's 3-point stance & charged the cops. He was promptly tased & handcuffed. No report as to why he was there or why he was naked, the homeowner claimed she didn't know him. Coach Mike Riley did some quick damage control by dismissing Thomas from the team immediately, tough to justify any his bizarre behavior.
I don't know how much of a movie buff you are, we see a lot of films every year & recently we saw "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". The Swedish film was excellent, it came from a novel of the same name that has sold over 40 million copies worldwide. It's part of a 3-book trilogy by the late Swedish author Steig Larsson. Now Hollywood is going to make an English language version of the film starring Daniel Craig & Patricia Rooney Mara. Rooney Mara is the granddaughter of New York Giants founder, Wellington Mara, the daughter of Giants Director of Pro Player Development, Chris Mara & the grandniece of Steeler's owner & U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, Dan Rooney. From football royalty to playing a gritty, goth computer hacker in all three films from Larsson's novels. Her sister Kate Mara is also an actress, appearing in 8 movies, including the football film "We Are Marshall." The part of Lisbeth Salander might make her extended families squirm as there were a couple of pretty graphic sex scenes in the Swedish original.
Here comes another Simms family member & like the others, he will play quarterback too. Not exactly the Mannings, but father Phil has two Super Bowl rings to his credit. Older brother Chris is still in the league, most of his career as a backup. Now Matt Simms has won the starting quarterback job at Tennessee coach Derek Dooley said on Monday. Dad played at tiny Morehead State while Chris was an off & on starter for the Texas Longhorns. Matt is a junior college transfer with 2 years of eligibility left.
How has the economy affected college sports? In 2008, 25 Division I schools showed a profit in their athletic departments after paying for every sport. But in 2009, the number of teams still in the black shrunk to just 14. Some of those teams include Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Ohio State & Missouri. No foolin', the Tiger athletic department has shown a profit for some time now. In 2009, it was slightly more than $2 million. Of the 120 Div. I FBS schools, 68 showed a profit in their football programs with the median profit at $8.8 million. The 52 teams that lost money in football showed a median loss of $2.7 million. With an uncertain economy & donations way off, many schools have started to reign in subsidies for athletic departments. "Cut your budget or cut part of your program" is the word from many a board of regents around the nation. I don't see this situation improving in the near future as state coffers are on empty on most states, the belt-tightening will be passed down the line, especially to programs that lose substantial amounts of money in the athletic programs.
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