Month: November 2006 (Page 3 of 29)

Ben Wallace is a baby

In case someone has missed the action recently regarding Ben Wallace, allow me to fill you in. Bulls head coach Scott Skiles and the Chicago brass don’t allow players to wear headbands during games. It’s a dumb team rule, but it’s a rule nonetheless. Wallace apparently agreed to this rule when he robbed the Bulls of $60 million over the offseason.

In a recent game, Wallace decided to forego the team rule and wear a headband. Skiles pulled him from the court and told Wallace to take the band off or he’s not going back in. Instead of doing as his coach tells him, Wallace returned to the end of the bench, threw a fit in which every member of the Bulls coaching staff had to talk to him and then eventually agreed to take off the head gear. Skiles put Big Ben back into the game and Wallace immediately put the headband back on. The feud has continued between the coach and player and now, apparently, Wallace has stated that he isn’t sorry for the tirade.

Memo to Ben Wallace: You’re not in Detroit anymore. People don’t bow down to you like they did at the Palace and people certainly don’t “Fear the Fro’” in Chicago. You were signed in Chicago as the missing link. Now, you can’t even do the one good thing you did in Detroit, which was grab rebounds. You’re a bust so far as Bull and the Chicago media isn’t going to coddle your rocks like the Detroit media did. Get over yourself.

Week 11 Power Rankings

Major developments in the top five this week. Changes are forthcoming.

Here is a look at the class and trash of the league with nothing in between:

1. Indianapolis Colts (10-1)
Previous Ranking: 1
I like how the Colts have handled Joseph Addai. Pairing him with veteran Dominic Rhodes seemed to be the right move by Tony Dungy and staff. Addai doesn’t have to carry a full load as a rookie and Indy is easing him into the season. Now he’ll have fresh legs heading into the stretch run while still being able to learn the game when Rhodes gets his carries.

2. San Diego Chargers (9-2)
Previous Ranking: 3
What impresses me about the Chargers is that they stayed afloat while Shawne Merriman was suspended for steroids or flax seed oil or something along those lines. San Diego had every opportunity to fold up shop and lose to teams like the Bengals and Broncos. The Chargers didn’t and that only proves that this team is resliant. Hopefully Philip Rivers just had a bad game last week against the Raiders, though, because SD will need his strong play down the stretch.

3. New England Patriots (8-3)
Previous Ranking: 5
It’s overstated so much, but I’ll say it again: Bill Belichick is a mastermind for winning with the talent he has. Doug Gabriel is your No. 1 receiver? Actually, the tight end Ben Watson is your No. 1 receiving threat? So now Junior Seau is out with a broken arm. First thing that comes to mind is that the Patriots are doomed with another defensive injury. If you think that, obviously you haven’t been paying attention.

4. Chicago Bears (9-2)
Previous Ranking: 2
Rex Grossman is frightful when he’s bad. I think it’s safe to say that Grossman has exceeded expectations this year, but I wonder how far away Lovie Smith’s finger is from the Brian Griese button. This is two years in a row where Chicago is teetering on good and great and it looks like Grossman is the deciding factor. Russian Roulette anyone?

5. Baltimore Ravens (9-2)
Previous Ranking: Unranked
Okay, so I might have jumped the gun last week by calling the Ravens “not that good”. Baltimore is that good, because the defense causes more turnovers than Stephen Dorff makes bad movies. And while I think the offense is flawed, Brian Billick obviously has his pulse on the play calling since he took over for Jim Fassel.

28. Cleveland Browns (3-8)
Previous Rank: Unranked
Every time I get the Browns out of this spot they get shut out by the Bengals 30-0 and then start bickering amongst themselves. This team must madden their fans with its play. Hang with San Diego, hang with Pittsburgh, beat Atlanta and then get hammered by rival Cincinnati. Yikes.

29. Houston Texans (3-8)
Previous Ranking: 29
Let me get this straight. The Texans go into New York just under a month ago and hang with the Giants when the G-Men were still winning football games. Then Houston goes into New York last week and lays an egg against the Jets. That’s not a slam on the Jets either, because that’s a good football team. That’s a slam on the inconsistent Houston Texans.

30. Arizona Cardinals (2-9)
Previous Ranking: 31
Matt Leinart threw for 400 yards against Minnesota last Sunday. Before you crown him the next Joe Montana, remember that Teddy Ruxpin threw for 400 yards on the Vikings this season too.

31. Detroit Lions (2-9)
Previous Ranking: 30
After the Lions loss to the Dolphins on Thanksgiving Day, cornerback Dre’ Bly walked away from Joey Harrington at the end of the game instead of shaking his hand. I don’t blame Bly for not shaking his hand, because he probably had to get into the locker room early for the burn treatment Harrington gave the Lions secondary when he tossed three touchdowns on them.

32. Oakland Raiders (2-9)
Previous Ranking: 31
What aggravates me about the Raiders is how well the defense actually plays on a weekly basis. That unit is young, fast and is filled with overachievers. Too bad the offense is putrid and people can’t see how decent the defense actually is.

NBA: Eye on the scoreboard

There were a couple of surprising scores Monday night. Orlando went into once-beaten Utah and handled the Jazz, 88-75. Dwight Howard went for 21/16; he’s now averaging 16.4/13.5 on the season, leading the league in rebounds. Carlos Boozer led the Jazz with 21/9. The Magic are now 11-4, have won four straight and eight of their last nine. They’ve definitely translated a strong finish last season into a strong start this season.

The other surprise was Golden State’s 111-102 victory over the Spurs. Tim Duncan showed up (22/16 with six blocks) but so did Andris Biedrins (18/15 with six blocks). That makes three straight double-doubles for the 20 year-old center from Latvia.

Fantasy Football: Waiver Wire Watch, Week 13

QUARTERBACKS

Here is a list of players that may be available on your league’s waiver wire, in order of relative value:

Tony Romo, Steve McNair, Phillip Rivers, Vince Young, Jason Campbell, Jay Cutler, David Carr, David Garrard, Aaron Brooks, Trent Green, Joey Harrington, Chad Pennington, Jeff Garcia, Matt Leinart, Alex Smith, Charlie Frye, J.P. Losman, Brad Johnson, Bruce Gradkowski

Jake Plummer is out. Jay Cutler is in. I’m not sure what to expect from Cutler, who has been pretty hyped since he entered the league this summer. But he’s got a nice schedule ahead of him (Sea, @SD, @ARI, CIN) and ten days to prepare for his first game, so he isn’t being thrown to the wolves…Don’t look now, but Vince Young is turning into a pretty good fantasy QB. Over the last three weeks he has thrown for 569 yards and three TDs, while rushing for 157 and two more TDs. His schedule is favorable over the next two weeks, but games against Jacksonville and at Buffalo loom in Weeks 15 and 16…Jason Campbell is another good option for fantasy owners still reeling from the loss of Donovan McNabb. In two starts, he hasn’t thrown for a ton of yards (314), but he has thrown two scores in each game. Plus, his schedule down the stretch looks pretty good.

RUNNING BACKS

DeAngelo Williams, Travis Henry, Wali Lundy, Ladell Betts, Sammy Morris, Cedric Benson, Arlen Harris, Maurice Jones-Drew, Leon Washington, Mike Bell, Justin Fargas, Sam Gado, Jerious Norwood, Michael Turner, Brandon Jacobs, Zack Crockett, Anthony Thomas, Jason Wright, T.J. Duckett

The Panthers elected not to update the status of DeShaun Foster on Monday, so his status is still up in the air. DeAngelo Williams didn’t perform very well (20 touches, 86 yards), but he wasn’t bad either. We all know he’ll eventually be the starter in Carolina, it’s just a matter of time. Keep an eye on Foster’s status this week…Sammy Morris took over for the injured Ronnie Brown and rushed for 91 yards on 12 carries. Brown had surgery on his hand so don’t expect him to be back for Week 13. Morris is in for spot-starter duty, but he’s got a tough matchup against a stout Jacksonville defense.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Mark Clayton, Marty Booker, Reche Caldwell, Chris Henry, Devery Henderson, Santonio Holmes, Mike Furrey, Wes Welker, Arnaz Battle, Terrance Copper, Ernest Wilford, Eric Parker, Patrick Crayton, Doug Gabriel

Thursday seems like a long time ago, but Marty Booker went nuts on the Lions, catching seven balls for 115 yards and two scores. No one knows for sure what’s wrong with Chris Chambers, but Booker is picking up the slack…It looks like Hines Ward may be out a while after knee surgery, so Santonio Holmes will be first in line for his targets.

TIGHT ENDS

Bo Scaife, Jerramy Stevens, Owen Daniels, Randal Williams, David Martin, Vernon Davis, Alex Smith, Eric Johnson

With Ben Troupe out for the year, Bo Scaife is getting even more playing time. He appears to be a favorite target of Vince Young which makes him a good backup TE at this point in the season…Jerramy Stevens keeps dropping the ball, but Matt Hasselbeck keeps throwing it to him, resulting in a 3-yard TE catch late Monday night. If you’re in a pinch, he’s still a good option despite the butterfingers.

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