SANDERS TO I.R. AGAIN, HOF ANNOUNCES NEW CANDIDATES & NO MORE BOOTY LOUNGE IN MOTOWN?
Before I get into the football news of the day, I have to comment on tonight's baseball games. I fell out of love with baseball back in 1994 when they cancelled the World Series during a labor dispute. I felt then & still believe both sides in that dispute didn't give a sh*t about the fans so I decided to walk away from the game. Linda is still a big baseball fan & tonight as we watched our normal ABC sitcoms & SVU, we had all four of the Wildcard elimination games on the smaller screens. I have to say for being the last day of the 2011 regular season, having two of these contests go to extra innings & a third be decided in the bottom of the ninth, was nothing short of amazing. I think the 90-year history of bad blood between the Boston Red Sox & New York Yankees will only intensify after tonight. The Yankees used 11 pitchers, but none of them was their closer, Mariano Rivera(MLB's all-time save leader). The Yankees put it in cruise control about the 7th inning with a 7-0 lead over the Tampa Rays, pulling all their starters. The Rays got 6 in the 8th inning & when Rivera didn't enter the game in the ninth as the Yanks clung to a 1-run lead, I told Linda the Rays would win it. They get a 2-out solo home run by a pinch hitter who hadn't hit a homer since April. Three innings later Evan Longoria hits his second home run of the game to send them to the playoffs. The Red Sox had been eliminated about three minutes earlier by the Orioles, who scored 2 in the bottom of the ninth to win 4-3. The Phillies put the Braves out of their misery in another extra inning game, 4-3. Boston(9) & Atlanta(8 1/2) blew huge leads in September. It was quite a night for Major League Baseball this evening. If only the playoffs could provide as much drama I might just get re-energized about baseball.
Rays celebrate Evan Longoria's 12th inning walk-off homer to clinch the A.L.Wildcard
The San Diego Chargers placed former all-pro safety Bob Sanders on injured reserve on Wednesday. This is the 4th consecutive season Sanders has ended up there, in fact, he has played in only 11 games during this period. Great player when healthy, but worthless when he wasn't. I doubt he'll play again.
In other injury news, Baltimore cornerback Dominique Foxworth will go on injured reserve for the 2nd year in a row, suffering from the same knee injury he suffered last fall. More bad news for the Indianapolis Colts as they placed two defensive starters on I.R. Strong safety Melvin Bullitt & middle linebacker Gary Brackett, the Colts leading tackler the past four seasons. Saints' wide receiver Marques Colston will be back in the lineup on Sunday. He suffered a broken collarbone on opening night versus Green Bay. Michael Vick said today "there's a 100% chance that I'll be out on the field this week." He's sustained a badly bruised right hand in the Eagles' loss to the Giants last Sunday. Wide receiver Jeremy Maclin hasn't practiced all week because of minor hamstring pull sustained in the same game. Titans receiver Kenny Britt went down with a torn ACL & they brought a number of replacement candidates in for tryouts on Tuesday. Tennessee offered former Titan Justin Gage a contract but he refused to play for the veteran minimum so they moved on to their 2nd choice, former Ram Donnie Avery. Chiefs' wide receiver & #1 draft pick, Jonathan Baldwin has started taking part in practice. It sounds as tho he'll be playing on Sunday's very soon. Brandon Flowers(ankle) & Jon McGraw(shin) both practiced on Thursday but were limited & couldn't run full speed.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced their newest slate of candidates on Thursday. I have to say, the only new player who is eligible that I feel will make it on the first ballot is former Chief Will Shields. In his 14-year career, he started 223-consecutive games, made 9 All-Pro teams & 12 Pro Bowls. I think that makes him the leader in the clubhouse. The others on the new list & their probability for induction next August:
Tiki Barber-with Jerome Bettis, Curtis Martin & Eddie George waiting, zero chance.
Drew Bledsoe-a marginal candidate as quarterbacks go IMO.
Keyshawn Johnson-Cris Carter, Andre Reed & Tim Brown still not in, so no chance.
Rod Smith-see Keyshawn Johnson above.
Mike Vanderjagt-kickers no, no, no. Too many better PK's ahead of Vanderjagt.
Troy Vincent-Albert Lewis, LeRoy Butler not in, Vincent will have to wait.
Bill Parcells-Real solid chance to be inducted.
Bill Cowher-As long as he's being mentioned for future openings, he has no shot.
Marty Schoettenheimer-with Dick Vermeil, Dan Reeves & Don Coryell still not in, IMO no.
Here's a quick list of potential inductees who have been passed over so far:
Offensive linemen Willie Roaf & Dermonti Dawson
Wide receivers Cris Carter, Tim Brown & Andre Dawson
Running backs Jerome Bettis, Eddie George & Curtis Martin
Defensive linemen Charles Haley & Chris Doleman
Defensive backs Albert Lewis, LeRoy Butler, Steve Atwater & Donnie Shell
Three people from this list will be elected to the Hall.
Eureka! The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could return to local television this Monday evening for their game with winless Indianapolis. Apparently Buc fans are more eager to see their team on Monday night than opening day vs. the Lions. Go figure. If the team can sell 2,000 non-premium tickets by 8:00PM Friday evening, locals can watch the game on ESPN. The Bucs have had 10-consecutive homefield blackouts.
Former LSU starting quarterback Jordan Jefferson, suspended since being arrested for a late night bar fight in mid-August, was reinstated Thursday night by Tiger coach Les Miles. Jefferson & teammate Josh Johns, a linebacker, testified before a grand jury yesterday. The charges were reduced to simple battery on Jefferson & dropped completely for Johns. Jefferson will not be reinstalled as LSU's starting QB, sub Jarrett Lee has done a superlative job in his absence.
I read a bizarre story yesterday afternoon in the Detroit Free Press. It's the story of "The Booty Lounge" which is a customized bus that features leather benches along both sides, hardwood floors, a fog machine, lighting system & two stainless steel poles, you know, for strippers? Oh, the bus comes equipped with 5 dancers, a bouncer & a driver too. These industrious entrepreneurs have been parking this rig off & on at Detroit Tiger games since opening day & it was at Ford Field for the Lion's home opener versus Kansas City. No surprisingly, "The Booty Lounge" has it's very own Facebook page(see for yourself) that features hundreds of pictures of the bus, it's amenities & the young ladies that are employed by the bus' operator. If you want to hang with the bus crew for a Lions' tailgate it'll cost you $20 for hot dogs & keg beer. If you want to enjoy the privacy of the vehicles' interior that'll cost you an additional $10. What you work out with a young lady for entertainment within the bus, is apparently negotiable. Now I'm certainly not a prude, but c'mon, does this need to be in the parking lot? Is this part of the NFL experience? The Lions very quietly have asked the city(who owns the lot) to put a stop to these goings-on before & after their games. I bet if the NFL got a cut of "The Booty Lounge" they might be singing a different tune, they're money-oriented to say the least. It's too damn bad our American ingenuity focuses on so many throw-aways like "The Booty Lounge."
Rays celebrate Evan Longoria's 12th inning walk-off homer to clinch the A.L.WildcardThe San Diego Chargers placed former all-pro safety Bob Sanders on injured reserve on Wednesday. This is the 4th consecutive season Sanders has ended up there, in fact, he has played in only 11 games during this period. Great player when healthy, but worthless when he wasn't. I doubt he'll play again.
In other injury news, Baltimore cornerback Dominique Foxworth will go on injured reserve for the 2nd year in a row, suffering from the same knee injury he suffered last fall. More bad news for the Indianapolis Colts as they placed two defensive starters on I.R. Strong safety Melvin Bullitt & middle linebacker Gary Brackett, the Colts leading tackler the past four seasons. Saints' wide receiver Marques Colston will be back in the lineup on Sunday. He suffered a broken collarbone on opening night versus Green Bay. Michael Vick said today "there's a 100% chance that I'll be out on the field this week." He's sustained a badly bruised right hand in the Eagles' loss to the Giants last Sunday. Wide receiver Jeremy Maclin hasn't practiced all week because of minor hamstring pull sustained in the same game. Titans receiver Kenny Britt went down with a torn ACL & they brought a number of replacement candidates in for tryouts on Tuesday. Tennessee offered former Titan Justin Gage a contract but he refused to play for the veteran minimum so they moved on to their 2nd choice, former Ram Donnie Avery. Chiefs' wide receiver & #1 draft pick, Jonathan Baldwin has started taking part in practice. It sounds as tho he'll be playing on Sunday's very soon. Brandon Flowers(ankle) & Jon McGraw(shin) both practiced on Thursday but were limited & couldn't run full speed.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced their newest slate of candidates on Thursday. I have to say, the only new player who is eligible that I feel will make it on the first ballot is former Chief Will Shields. In his 14-year career, he started 223-consecutive games, made 9 All-Pro teams & 12 Pro Bowls. I think that makes him the leader in the clubhouse. The others on the new list & their probability for induction next August:
Tiki Barber-with Jerome Bettis, Curtis Martin & Eddie George waiting, zero chance.
Drew Bledsoe-a marginal candidate as quarterbacks go IMO.
Keyshawn Johnson-Cris Carter, Andre Reed & Tim Brown still not in, so no chance.
Rod Smith-see Keyshawn Johnson above.
Mike Vanderjagt-kickers no, no, no. Too many better PK's ahead of Vanderjagt.
Troy Vincent-Albert Lewis, LeRoy Butler not in, Vincent will have to wait.
Bill Parcells-Real solid chance to be inducted.
Bill Cowher-As long as he's being mentioned for future openings, he has no shot.
Marty Schoettenheimer-with Dick Vermeil, Dan Reeves & Don Coryell still not in, IMO no.
Here's a quick list of potential inductees who have been passed over so far:
Offensive linemen Willie Roaf & Dermonti Dawson
Wide receivers Cris Carter, Tim Brown & Andre Dawson
Running backs Jerome Bettis, Eddie George & Curtis Martin
Defensive linemen Charles Haley & Chris Doleman
Defensive backs Albert Lewis, LeRoy Butler, Steve Atwater & Donnie Shell
Three people from this list will be elected to the Hall.
Eureka! The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could return to local television this Monday evening for their game with winless Indianapolis. Apparently Buc fans are more eager to see their team on Monday night than opening day vs. the Lions. Go figure. If the team can sell 2,000 non-premium tickets by 8:00PM Friday evening, locals can watch the game on ESPN. The Bucs have had 10-consecutive homefield blackouts.
Former LSU starting quarterback Jordan Jefferson, suspended since being arrested for a late night bar fight in mid-August, was reinstated Thursday night by Tiger coach Les Miles. Jefferson & teammate Josh Johns, a linebacker, testified before a grand jury yesterday. The charges were reduced to simple battery on Jefferson & dropped completely for Johns. Jefferson will not be reinstalled as LSU's starting QB, sub Jarrett Lee has done a superlative job in his absence.
I read a bizarre story yesterday afternoon in the Detroit Free Press. It's the story of "The Booty Lounge" which is a customized bus that features leather benches along both sides, hardwood floors, a fog machine, lighting system & two stainless steel poles, you know, for strippers? Oh, the bus comes equipped with 5 dancers, a bouncer & a driver too. These industrious entrepreneurs have been parking this rig off & on at Detroit Tiger games since opening day & it was at Ford Field for the Lion's home opener versus Kansas City. No surprisingly, "The Booty Lounge" has it's very own Facebook page(see for yourself) that features hundreds of pictures of the bus, it's amenities & the young ladies that are employed by the bus' operator. If you want to hang with the bus crew for a Lions' tailgate it'll cost you $20 for hot dogs & keg beer. If you want to enjoy the privacy of the vehicles' interior that'll cost you an additional $10. What you work out with a young lady for entertainment within the bus, is apparently negotiable. Now I'm certainly not a prude, but c'mon, does this need to be in the parking lot? Is this part of the NFL experience? The Lions very quietly have asked the city(who owns the lot) to put a stop to these goings-on before & after their games. I bet if the NFL got a cut of "The Booty Lounge" they might be singing a different tune, they're money-oriented to say the least. It's too damn bad our American ingenuity focuses on so many throw-aways like "The Booty Lounge."
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