Month: May 2006 (Page 18 of 20)

Leinart thrilled to a Cardinal

May 4, 2006 / Anthony Stalter

Former USC Trojan Matt Leinart can’t wait to be a Cardinal; even though Arizona is normally the place for high draft picks go to rot.

The list of former first round draft picks who never panned out in Arizona is long and painful. Eric Swann: bust. Tom Knight: bust. Andre Wadsworth: mega bust. Jamir Miller, Leonard Davis and Ernest Dye: bust, bust, bust.

Even if the Cardinals selected a decent pick in the first round, they either were a lost talent in Arizona (David Boston) or prospered long after they donned the red and white (Thomas Jones, Simon Rice and Garrison Hearst).
However, with recent selections of players such as Larry Fitzgerald, Antrel Rolle and to a lesser extent Bryant Johnson, the Cardinals are starting to turn their luck around. Leinart will hopefully be no exception.

Coach Dennis Green called Leinart a “gift from heaven.”
“I have only said it a couple of other times to top football players and it was true,” Green said as he introduced Leinart at club headquarters. “The circumstances and the synergy and the stars get lined up just right, and then you really get something that you really needed.”

With excitement beaming out of his head coach and Cardinal staff members, Leinart is thrilled to be in Arizona where he has the chance to turn around a franchise in major need of a face lift.

Leinart will join an offense with a receiving group that is knee deep in talent. Anquan Boldin, Fitzgerald and Johnson will provide nice big targets for Leinart once he eventually reaches the field. Also, Edgerrin James will provide Arizona with the running game that they had hoped for when they drafted J.J. Arrington, Marcel Ship and Michael Pittman.

Things are finally looking up for the Cardinals and Leinart seems to be soaking up the mountains of possibilities that await him.

NFL Draft

Playoff Update: Cavs win thriller, Pistons advance

May 4, 2006 / John Paulsen

Cleveland 121, Washington 120 (OT) (Cavs lead series, 3-2)
Things were looking a little grim for the Cavs, down by one with 3.6 seconds to play in overtime. They had already squandered a seven point lead with 1:18 to play in regulation, giving Washington all the momentum going into the extra period. But the Wizards allowed LeBron James to catch the ball going towards the basket and the young superstar did the rest, slicing his way along the baseline before exploding towards the front of the rim for a layup between three Washington defenders. The shot was incredible – there’s maybe one other guy in the league that has the skill set to pull it off (Kobe Bryant), but he usually settles for jumpers. James finished with 45 points, seven rebounds and six assists, shooting a remarkable 61% from the field. Overshadowed by James’ game, Gilbert Arenas went for 44/5/4, marking the first time since the 2001 NBA Finals (Allen Iverson and Shaquille O’Neal) that two players in the same playoff game scored 40 or more. These teams seem very evenly matched, so there is no telling what will happen on Friday when the two meet again in Game 6.

Detroit 122, Milwaukee 93 (Pistons win series, 4-1)
In a result that won’t surpise anyone, the Detroit Pistons dispatched the Bucks and will now await the winner of the Cavs/Wizards series. Lost in all the LeBron James/Gilbert Arenas drama, Richard Hamilton had a fine game, scoring 40 points on 15 for 23 shooting. Milwaukee was impressive in their blowout win in Game 3, and it looked for a moment that this might turn into a series, but the Bucks just aren’t ready defensively to compete with the Pistons.

NBA

Young to be groomed

May 4, 2006 / Anthony Stalter

Vince Young won’t have to be the Titans savor, at least not in his first year that is.

According to the Tennessean.com, Young will groom under a veteran quarterback for at least a year before his amazing athletic ability will be on full display.

“One of the challenges the staff faces is to be able to fight the temptation to play him,” Coach Jeff Fisher said. “What he can do as far as throwing the ball and running and doing those things, I haven’t seen anything like that before. “We are going to be facing the temptation to play him a lot sooner than we should. But we’re going to keep things in perspective and bring him along at a good pace.”
Young said he’s excited but is willing to wait his turn.

Which veteran quarterback Young studies under is still the primary issue as the draft is almost a week old now.

Steve McNair, the one time leader of the Titans, who advanced his squad to the Super Bowl just five seasons ago, is reportedly on his way out. McNair has been reported as saying that he has no interest in developing his future successor and would liked to be traded.

With McNair likely heading to Baltimore next season, the Titans may be forced to bring in another veteran to tutor Young. Or if no veteran were signed, Billy Volek, the 30-year-old backup who has been waiting patiently for his turn to play, would get the duties of watching over Young.

At first glance, Young going to the Titans seems to have been fairytale like. However, at further inspection, Young has just as many hurdles to jump over as any rookie QB. Young won’t learn from the best in McNair and maybe worse, has to deal with Volek.

Volek probably doesn’t like the idea of Young coming in either, since Volek has been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. How excited is Volek to have to teach a guy who eventually will send him back to backup purgatory?

NFL, NFL Draft

Best, plunk, ever

May 3, 2006 / David Medsker

Barry Bonds took a shot to the head during batting practice. How, you ask? He was standing behind the cage, arms up on the railing, not paying attention, and boom, foul ball drills him above the right eye.

Now, I own Barry Bonds in a fantasy league (he was still there in the 10th round, I had to take him), but even I grinned when I heard the news, as if the fates are coming together to prevent Bonds from surpassing the Babe. But then I saw the video, the closeup of Bonds, followed by the blur of the ball and Bonds hitting the deck…and I laughed my ass off. Okay, first I said, “Oooooooh,” but then I laughed. Hard. Soon after they showed the tape, Orel “Bulldog” Hersheiser, who is calling the Toronto/Boston game on ESPN, commented on how a veteran player like Bonds should know to pull the netting that surrounds the batting cage back far enough to see how much give it has, so they don’t accidentally get beaned like Bonds did. Whoops. Somebody in the house say “Nelson Muntz!” (Nelson Muntz!) Haaaa-ha!

MLB

N.O. celebrates as Houston reaches postmortem

May 3, 2006 / Anthony Stalter

As far as icons go, Reggie Bush is definitely Houston’s loss and New Orleans gain. And that’s not necessarily referring to the Texans and Saints.

As much as a city can possibly endure in one year, New Orleans has endured it. But as ESPN.com’s Len Pasquarelli reports, the city finally has a streak of light coming through the darkness, and Bush is holding the torch.

“In all my years of doing this,” said agent Joel Segal, “I’ve never seen anything like it. A standing ovation. People trying to get close to him. People chanting, ‘Reggie! Reggie!’ It was like we were at Yankee Stadium maybe 25 years ago. Man, wait until he actually gets on the field.”
The restaurant had to station an employee at Bush’s table so that he could finish his meal without fans milling around him. Lagasse came out from the kitchen to take his order (a New York strip steak, as usual) and welcome him. Bush joked that he might tell Saints officials that, as part of his contract, Emeril had to agree to be his private chef.

What’s interesting is that Mario Williams should be in this position; he should be a Saint. But would the city of New Orleans have taken the same openness with Williams?

Doubt it.

In some cases, this was meant to be and even if Bush rushes for 1,400 yards a season or 400, the city of New Orleans finally has something to celebrate again.

As for the city just one state away, they’re living in quite a different reality.

The passion a fan has for a team is hard to break. And if a team disappoints a fan, the passion is magnified. As Terrance Harris reports, for the Houston Texan fans that sat through the NFL draft, their passion turned into aggravation.

As the NFL season is coming to an end last year, fans do all but beg for the Texans to lose so they could get a shot at Bush. Then Texan fans get more acquainted with home town guy Vince Young.

Why not draft Young? David Carr hasn’t blossomed into the quarterback of their franchise, so take a shot on the electrifying Young. Young or Bush? Either way, Texan fans have reason for optimism. Then the news breaks that the Houston brass won’t take Young, because they feel they are set at QB. Okay, fine, Reggie Bush it is!

Not so fast.

Introduce: Mario Williams. Mario Williams? Mario Williams!

By far the best quote in Harris’ article was by a Houston fan named Husbaldo Artega:

“I was wondering what’s going on. Are we getting punk’d or something?” said Artega. “That’s what I thought we were getting — punk’d.”

Oh, if only Ashton Kutcher were that good.