SB SEAT-GATE LAWSUITS BEGIN, A-ROD "BALLISTIC," FORMER CHIEF TO TX HOF & WHY DOES EVERYBODY SUDDENLY WANT PHILLIP HUNT?
I knew it wouldn't take long, angry fans who were locked out of their Super Bowl seats Sunday & greedy lawyers, it's a match made in hell. The first of many expected class action lawsuits was filed bright & early this morning in Dallas. It names the NFL, Dallas Cowboys & Jerry Jones in the suit. Many of the plaintiffs in this suit are Cowboy season ticket holders who were bumped out of regular seats forced to sit in folding chair with obstructed views. Yesterday the NFL sweetened their offer to the displaced fans with a second option. A ticket to any future Super Bowl, airfare to the game destination & a 3-night hotel stay at one of the NFL's headquarter's hotels. This option is not transferable to any other party. The first option: $2,400 cash refund plus a ticket to next year's game is transferable to a second party. If you're a true fan & your team is playoff-worthy, the 2nd option might be best but if you're looking to recoup your expenses from this Super Bowl, being able to sell the ticket to next year's game plus the cash refund might get a person out of the hole. Two websites, SueSuperBowl.com & SuperBowlSuit.com were up & running early Monday for those disgruntled fans just itching to get some payback. The first site changed it's name as they didn't want to run into more litigation with the league over using the term "Super Bowl." So the fans have options now. Their anger & desire to get justice is certainly understandable.
Tennessee wide receiver Kenny Britt has once again run afoul of the law. The former Rutgers star is in trouble in new Jersey for "creating or reinforcing a false impression by stating in open court that he would pay the bail amount" on a friend, Albert Robinson. Robinson was arrested in January of 2011 on gun & drug possession charges & Britt agreed at his arraignment to post his bond. The judge released Robinson & Britt never got around to paying the bail ticket. This wouldn't be such a big deal until last week when Robinson was charged with the murder of a 17-year old boy in Jersey City. Robinson is accused of shooting the minor after a disagreement in the street. Britt was arrested himself on gun charges last year & has had several bench warrants for unpaid moving violations.
New Titans' coach, Mike Munchak, will be reunited with his former running mate & BFF in Bruce Mathews. He was hired by the team yesterday as a coach. Whether that will be the offensive line coach or just an offensive assistant, Munchak truly has a guy on his staff who will have his back. The pair played together on the Houston Oilers for 10 years. Mathews was a 14-time Pro Bowl performer while Munchak, also a guard, made it 9 times.
Alex Rodriguez was said to be "ballistic" over the TV shots of Cameron Diaz feeding him popcorn during the Super Bowl in a luxury box. He felt it was a "paparazzi-like" intrusion in his life. Wow, get over yourself A-Rod. You go to the most watched event in television history, celebs get their mugs on TV, always been that way, probably always will.
Talk about a slim profit margin, Nevada sports books won less than 1% of the $87.5 million wagered on the Super Bowl game. They cleared just $724,176 overall on Sunday's game. Not a lot when you consider there are over 50 sportsbooks statewide.
One year ago Sean Payton was the toast of New Orleans, fresh off the Saints' Super Bowl win. Things change quickly as is demonstrated by how far he's fallen in the eyes of club brass, the media & fans. Payton decided to move his family from New Orleans back to Dallas. He wants his kids to go to school there & he sees no advantage to having a home in New Orleans, not even when the kids are out of school. He also said he will get an apartment or a condo & commute to Dallas on weekends during the off-season. The media started taking shots at the coach immediately & quickly sportstalk radio fired up a lot of anti-Payton rhetoric. Even team owner Tom Benson told the New Orleans Times Picayune he was very disappointed in Payton's decision. But in today's edition, the team backed of the "disappointed" version & supported Payton in his family's move to Dallas. But the lead editorial in the paper was titled "How can you be the leader of Who Dat nation when you leave Who Dat nation? When you think about how deeply involved QB Drew Brees & his wife have become in the post-Katrina rebuilding of the city, Payton's departure is a little troubling.
Former Chief cornerback & Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Thomas, received another honor on Saturday. He was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. When you think of all the athletes to come out of the Lone Star State, this is quite an honor for the undrafted quarterback/wide receiver from tiny Bishop College. Thomas went onto to star for the Chiefs at cornerback, he's 10th all-time in NFL history with 58 career interceptions, 4th highest by a cornerback. He led the league in 1974 with 12, an unheard of number for a corner. Thomas went into coaching & won two Super Bowl rings, in addition to the one earned as a Chiefs' player in SB IV. Thomas was a great guy as well, I used to talk to him weekly when he & his wife came into King Louie East to bowl in league.
In April of 2009, just a month after I started this site, I was running down some names of players who could be had in that year's draft in the late rounds or as undrafted free agents. One of those was Phillip Hunt, a defensive end from the University of Houston. I saw him as a pass rushing outside linebacker in the Chiefs' new 3-4 defense. Well the Chiefs weren't interested in Hunt, he was signed by Cincinnati as an undrafted free agent but was cut after training camp. He found his way into the CFL, playing with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for part of the '09 season & all of last year. Hunt has a very small window to move south & play for an NFL team. That window in CFL rules closes on February 15th. The Eagles, Vikings, Patriot, Browns & Texans all have workouts scheduled for Hunt in the next few days. Why? Hunt recorded 39 sacks while at Houston & he got 16 sacks in the CFL during the 2010 season. After Canadian import Cameron Wake was 3rd in the league with 14 sacks this season, CFL players are being more closely scrutinized. He might not be an every down player in the NFL, but he has that burst off the edge & the ability to "get small" like many of the great pass rushers can. It was there when I watched him at Houston & apparently it's still there. As long as this continues to be a quarterback driven league, effective pass rushers will always be in demand.
Tennessee wide receiver Kenny Britt has once again run afoul of the law. The former Rutgers star is in trouble in new Jersey for "creating or reinforcing a false impression by stating in open court that he would pay the bail amount" on a friend, Albert Robinson. Robinson was arrested in January of 2011 on gun & drug possession charges & Britt agreed at his arraignment to post his bond. The judge released Robinson & Britt never got around to paying the bail ticket. This wouldn't be such a big deal until last week when Robinson was charged with the murder of a 17-year old boy in Jersey City. Robinson is accused of shooting the minor after a disagreement in the street. Britt was arrested himself on gun charges last year & has had several bench warrants for unpaid moving violations.
New Titans' coach, Mike Munchak, will be reunited with his former running mate & BFF in Bruce Mathews. He was hired by the team yesterday as a coach. Whether that will be the offensive line coach or just an offensive assistant, Munchak truly has a guy on his staff who will have his back. The pair played together on the Houston Oilers for 10 years. Mathews was a 14-time Pro Bowl performer while Munchak, also a guard, made it 9 times.
Alex Rodriguez was said to be "ballistic" over the TV shots of Cameron Diaz feeding him popcorn during the Super Bowl in a luxury box. He felt it was a "paparazzi-like" intrusion in his life. Wow, get over yourself A-Rod. You go to the most watched event in television history, celebs get their mugs on TV, always been that way, probably always will.
Talk about a slim profit margin, Nevada sports books won less than 1% of the $87.5 million wagered on the Super Bowl game. They cleared just $724,176 overall on Sunday's game. Not a lot when you consider there are over 50 sportsbooks statewide.
One year ago Sean Payton was the toast of New Orleans, fresh off the Saints' Super Bowl win. Things change quickly as is demonstrated by how far he's fallen in the eyes of club brass, the media & fans. Payton decided to move his family from New Orleans back to Dallas. He wants his kids to go to school there & he sees no advantage to having a home in New Orleans, not even when the kids are out of school. He also said he will get an apartment or a condo & commute to Dallas on weekends during the off-season. The media started taking shots at the coach immediately & quickly sportstalk radio fired up a lot of anti-Payton rhetoric. Even team owner Tom Benson told the New Orleans Times Picayune he was very disappointed in Payton's decision. But in today's edition, the team backed of the "disappointed" version & supported Payton in his family's move to Dallas. But the lead editorial in the paper was titled "How can you be the leader of Who Dat nation when you leave Who Dat nation? When you think about how deeply involved QB Drew Brees & his wife have become in the post-Katrina rebuilding of the city, Payton's departure is a little troubling.
Former Chief cornerback & Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Thomas, received another honor on Saturday. He was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. When you think of all the athletes to come out of the Lone Star State, this is quite an honor for the undrafted quarterback/wide receiver from tiny Bishop College. Thomas went onto to star for the Chiefs at cornerback, he's 10th all-time in NFL history with 58 career interceptions, 4th highest by a cornerback. He led the league in 1974 with 12, an unheard of number for a corner. Thomas went into coaching & won two Super Bowl rings, in addition to the one earned as a Chiefs' player in SB IV. Thomas was a great guy as well, I used to talk to him weekly when he & his wife came into King Louie East to bowl in league.
In April of 2009, just a month after I started this site, I was running down some names of players who could be had in that year's draft in the late rounds or as undrafted free agents. One of those was Phillip Hunt, a defensive end from the University of Houston. I saw him as a pass rushing outside linebacker in the Chiefs' new 3-4 defense. Well the Chiefs weren't interested in Hunt, he was signed by Cincinnati as an undrafted free agent but was cut after training camp. He found his way into the CFL, playing with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for part of the '09 season & all of last year. Hunt has a very small window to move south & play for an NFL team. That window in CFL rules closes on February 15th. The Eagles, Vikings, Patriot, Browns & Texans all have workouts scheduled for Hunt in the next few days. Why? Hunt recorded 39 sacks while at Houston & he got 16 sacks in the CFL during the 2010 season. After Canadian import Cameron Wake was 3rd in the league with 14 sacks this season, CFL players are being more closely scrutinized. He might not be an every down player in the NFL, but he has that burst off the edge & the ability to "get small" like many of the great pass rushers can. It was there when I watched him at Houston & apparently it's still there. As long as this continues to be a quarterback driven league, effective pass rushers will always be in demand.
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