USC CRUISES BUT LOSES, BRANDON LLOYD ON THE TRADING BLOCK & IS ARROWHEAD TO BE RENAMED?
The USC Trojans traveled north to play the Cal Bears for a Thursday night game on ESPN. The game was never in doubt, the Trojans rolled to a 20-0 halftime lead plus Cal committed 5 turnovers. But in cruising to what was a fairly easy win, USC lost tailback Marc Tyler to a dislocated shoulder, cornerback Anthony Brown suffered a broken left ankle & wide receiver Marqise Lee sustained a shoulder separation catching a 39-yard touchdown pass from Matt Barkley. All three were starters & on a team that is particularly thin in the defensive secondary & at the receiver position, this is bad news the week before they travel to South Bend to play the Irish in a primetime game next Saturday night.
Another PAC-12 item of importance, Oregon running back & Heisman hopeful, LaMichael James, will not play Saturday night in the Ducks' home game with #18 Arizona State. Freshman De'Anthony Thomas will step into the starting spot. The Sun Devil defense is in the nation's top-10 in total yardage allowed, sacks & interceptions, so losing James could make it a lot tougher on Oregon.
Cleveland linebacker Marcus Benard is one of the luckiest people on the planet after walking away from a motorcycle wreck Monday that propelled him 241-feet thru the air. He sustained a mangled hand, broken in 8 places & half the skin removed. That injury put him on the Browns' injured reserve list. Benard is lucky in another regard, tho they don't have to, the Browns will pay the remainder of his 2011 salary. That amounts to nearly $370,000 & what's more amazing about the Browns move is Benard will be a free agent at the end of this season & can walk away from Cleveland, no strings attached. Here's a photo of Benard's CanAm Spyder, a 3-wheeler, that hit a guard rail & sent him flying.
In my NFL recap Sunday night, I said Saints safety would receive a fine for his blatantly late hit in the endzone on Carolina's Steve Smith. I thought the fine would fall into the $15,000 range. Harper got the news on Thursday......a $15,000 fine for losing control.
The Denver Broncos are spreading the word they would like to unload 2010 All-Pro wide receiver Brandon Lloyd before the trading deadline. Lloyd, who attended Blue Springs High in the Kansas City area, led the NFL in receiving yardage last season. He could be goos trade bait for a team like Tennessee, who lost Kenny Britt or Chicago, who still needs quality receivers. But the leader for his services could be the St. Louis Rams. Their offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, brought Lloyd to Denver back when he was the Bronco head coach. The Broncos can make this move since Damaryius Thomas is returning from injury as it Eddie Royal plus the emergence of 2nd year man Eric Decker. John Fox is rebuilding the Broncos & if they can get a decent draft pick for Lloyd, it's a step in the right direction. As good as he is, Lloyd isn't going to make a 2-3 game difference in Denver's record.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got a 1-week reprieve from television blackouts a week ago last Monday. That broke a 10-game string of local TV blackouts. The Bucs host the Saints in one of Sunday's best matchups but one that didn't motivate the locals to buy enough tickets, so they're blackout string starts anew this week. Cincinnati is hosting the 0-5 Indianapolis Colts, that didn't go over big with Ohioans enough to keep it from being blacked out locally. But winning on the left coast has created some excitement, the Oakland Raiders have soldout their third consecutive game, Sinday's contest with the Cleveland Browns.
The trade between the Seahawks & Raiders for linebacker Aaron Curry went thru Thursday. Seattle will receive Oakland's 7th pick in the 2012 draft & a conditional 5th rounder for the 2013 draft. The condition is he is still with the team at the end of the 2012 season. Curry was the 4th overall pick of the 2009 draft, one pick after Chiefs' defensive end Tyson Jackson. Just for fun, who else was picked after Jackson & Curry? QB's Mark Sanchez & Josh Freeman, wide receivers Jeremy Maclin, Percey Harvin, Kenny Britt & Hakeem Nicks, Pro bowl center Alex Mack, Pro Bowl DE Brian Orakpo, OT's Eugene Monroe & Michael Oher & cornerback Malcolm Jenkins. Green Bay had two 1st round picks & they chose wisely, DT B.J. Raji & OLB Clay Mathews, cornerstones for their Super Bowl Championship defense.
Since 1969, when Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt previewed the design for the football stadium that was to be one-half of the Truman Sports Complex, that stadium has been called Arrowhead. It saw some lean times from the day it opened in 1972 until the early nineties, but it became the worst nightmare in the entire league for a visiting team. It was named the "Loudest Stadium in the NFL" year after year. John Madden once said on the air "this place has the best smelling parking lot on earth." The tailgating was supreme wasn't it? It was sold out for years, at one time there was a season ticket waiting list of over 21,000 hopeful fans. I had season tickets there from Day 1 until we moved to Las Vegas in '85. Now our beloved Arrowhead Stadium will be called something else, you know something catchy like "Sports Authority Field at Mile High." Not really your fav? How about "Mall of America Field at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome?" A football fan could always count on Lambeau or Arrowhead, just one word said it all, great structure, great fans. With ticket sales sagging, the Chiefs began marketing the naming rights for Arrowhead a few years ago. According to Bob Gretz, the deal has been completed. The team is waiting for their Monday night appearance against the San Diego Chargers to reveal the new name of Arrowhead. Perfect night for it, it's Halloween. Really saddens me just how commercial the NFL has become & that Arrowhead will now carry some pathetic tagline whenever it's mentioned.
Another PAC-12 item of importance, Oregon running back & Heisman hopeful, LaMichael James, will not play Saturday night in the Ducks' home game with #18 Arizona State. Freshman De'Anthony Thomas will step into the starting spot. The Sun Devil defense is in the nation's top-10 in total yardage allowed, sacks & interceptions, so losing James could make it a lot tougher on Oregon.
Cleveland linebacker Marcus Benard is one of the luckiest people on the planet after walking away from a motorcycle wreck Monday that propelled him 241-feet thru the air. He sustained a mangled hand, broken in 8 places & half the skin removed. That injury put him on the Browns' injured reserve list. Benard is lucky in another regard, tho they don't have to, the Browns will pay the remainder of his 2011 salary. That amounts to nearly $370,000 & what's more amazing about the Browns move is Benard will be a free agent at the end of this season & can walk away from Cleveland, no strings attached. Here's a photo of Benard's CanAm Spyder, a 3-wheeler, that hit a guard rail & sent him flying.
In my NFL recap Sunday night, I said Saints safety would receive a fine for his blatantly late hit in the endzone on Carolina's Steve Smith. I thought the fine would fall into the $15,000 range. Harper got the news on Thursday......a $15,000 fine for losing control.
The Denver Broncos are spreading the word they would like to unload 2010 All-Pro wide receiver Brandon Lloyd before the trading deadline. Lloyd, who attended Blue Springs High in the Kansas City area, led the NFL in receiving yardage last season. He could be goos trade bait for a team like Tennessee, who lost Kenny Britt or Chicago, who still needs quality receivers. But the leader for his services could be the St. Louis Rams. Their offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, brought Lloyd to Denver back when he was the Bronco head coach. The Broncos can make this move since Damaryius Thomas is returning from injury as it Eddie Royal plus the emergence of 2nd year man Eric Decker. John Fox is rebuilding the Broncos & if they can get a decent draft pick for Lloyd, it's a step in the right direction. As good as he is, Lloyd isn't going to make a 2-3 game difference in Denver's record.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got a 1-week reprieve from television blackouts a week ago last Monday. That broke a 10-game string of local TV blackouts. The Bucs host the Saints in one of Sunday's best matchups but one that didn't motivate the locals to buy enough tickets, so they're blackout string starts anew this week. Cincinnati is hosting the 0-5 Indianapolis Colts, that didn't go over big with Ohioans enough to keep it from being blacked out locally. But winning on the left coast has created some excitement, the Oakland Raiders have soldout their third consecutive game, Sinday's contest with the Cleveland Browns.
The trade between the Seahawks & Raiders for linebacker Aaron Curry went thru Thursday. Seattle will receive Oakland's 7th pick in the 2012 draft & a conditional 5th rounder for the 2013 draft. The condition is he is still with the team at the end of the 2012 season. Curry was the 4th overall pick of the 2009 draft, one pick after Chiefs' defensive end Tyson Jackson. Just for fun, who else was picked after Jackson & Curry? QB's Mark Sanchez & Josh Freeman, wide receivers Jeremy Maclin, Percey Harvin, Kenny Britt & Hakeem Nicks, Pro bowl center Alex Mack, Pro Bowl DE Brian Orakpo, OT's Eugene Monroe & Michael Oher & cornerback Malcolm Jenkins. Green Bay had two 1st round picks & they chose wisely, DT B.J. Raji & OLB Clay Mathews, cornerstones for their Super Bowl Championship defense.
Since 1969, when Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt previewed the design for the football stadium that was to be one-half of the Truman Sports Complex, that stadium has been called Arrowhead. It saw some lean times from the day it opened in 1972 until the early nineties, but it became the worst nightmare in the entire league for a visiting team. It was named the "Loudest Stadium in the NFL" year after year. John Madden once said on the air "this place has the best smelling parking lot on earth." The tailgating was supreme wasn't it? It was sold out for years, at one time there was a season ticket waiting list of over 21,000 hopeful fans. I had season tickets there from Day 1 until we moved to Las Vegas in '85. Now our beloved Arrowhead Stadium will be called something else, you know something catchy like "Sports Authority Field at Mile High." Not really your fav? How about "Mall of America Field at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome?" A football fan could always count on Lambeau or Arrowhead, just one word said it all, great structure, great fans. With ticket sales sagging, the Chiefs began marketing the naming rights for Arrowhead a few years ago. According to Bob Gretz, the deal has been completed. The team is waiting for their Monday night appearance against the San Diego Chargers to reveal the new name of Arrowhead. Perfect night for it, it's Halloween. Really saddens me just how commercial the NFL has become & that Arrowhead will now carry some pathetic tagline whenever it's mentioned.
They didn't say anything about selling the name of Arrowhead anywhere on the news or sports last night, is this a real story?
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Krissy,
As I said in the post, I got the information from Bob Gretz. When Carl Peterson was in power, Bob was a conduit Peterson used to get information out. I have no idea if he still has that kind of power with the new regime.
He also said the last department head left from the Peterson days, Tammy Fruits, director of sales & marketing, was escorted by security from the building & told to wait by her car until her personal effects were packed from her office & delivered to the parking lot. Whoever gave us the term "Human Resources" never had to be escorted out of their workplace so strangers could go thru their personal possessions in their office. There's nothing human about that kind of treatment.
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