Month: April 2008 (Page 22 of 30)

Favre speculates about playing again

The LA Times is reporting that Brett Favre would consider returning to the Packers if the circumstances were right.

In his latest public comments, the star quarterback said he’s retired for now but also that he “very well could be enticed” to return to Green Bay under the right circumstances.

“I guess my best response would be, right now, no,” Favre told the Sun-Herald in Biloxi, Miss., when asked if he’s coming back.

He spoke to sportswriter Al Jones, who is working with him on a book foreword.

But Favre conceded he might have a tough decision to make if, say, Green Bay called and asked him to come back because of team injuries.

“It would be hard to pass up, I guess,” he said. ” . . . It’s only speculating. I think the world of that team. I had a lot of fun, not only this year, but over my career. Those guys I played with this past year, a lot of young guys, a lot of fun.”


Over the past few seasons, Favre has taken a lot of criticism for his annual offseason “will he or won’t he?” routine, and while it’s understandable that NFL fans would grow frustrated with this act, I don’t think Favre is one of those guys that does this to keep his name in the papers. He loves the game and has a genuinely tough time letting go. Complicating matters, he played at a very high level last season which only serves to make saying goodbye even tougher.

As a Packer fan, I’d love to see him come back, but if he intends to stay retired, I don’t want to hear about the possibility of #4 returning this summer.

Reyes celebrates 38th birthday in style

Turning 38 can be a momentous occasion in any man’s life. That’s why Tampa Bay Rays’ relief pitcher Al Reyes celebrated his 38th birthday the only way he knew how – by being arrested and Tased…twice.

Witnesses told police the incident started around 2:30 a.m. at the Hyde Park Cafe, 1806 W Platt St., when Reyes fell against a ceramic pot inside the bar. Thinking someone had pushed him, police said Reyes began exchanging words with patron Eduardo Mora.

Mora then punched Reyes in the face, getting the attention of the Hyde Park Cafe’s bouncers. Meanwhile, police said in a news release, Reyes “began to spit blood on the people in the area and began to swing his arms about.”

The bouncers tried to control Reyes, but the 6 foot 1, 230-pound right-hander kept pushing them away. A Tampa Police officer working extra duty at the bar tried to calm the fracas, but Reyes “continued spitting blood and thrashing about,” Tampa Police Lt. William Ferguson wrote in the release.

Moments later, the officer Tased Reyes, knocking him to the bar floor. Ignoring police commands to stay down, authorities said Reyes got up and was Tased a second time.

What’s the big deal? With a 13.50 ERA, this isn’t the first time this year Reyes has been knocked around a bit.

Photos courtesy of Flickr.

Denver Nuggets: Good defensive team?

The Warriors got off to a great start in the first quarter, but as soon as the Nuggets switched to a zone, the momentum shifted and Denver coasted to a 114-105 win in Oakland. The win gives Denver a full game lead on the Warriors, but the Nuggets also own the head-to-head tiebraker, so they essentially have a two game lead with three games to play.

As I was reading up on the game today, I ran across a ton of commentary about how bad these two teams are defensively. It got me wondering, just how bad are they? Well, it’s true that these two teams allow the most points in the league, but they also play at a very high pace, so there are more possessions, which means their opponents have more chances to score. It’s not really fair to judge their defense without taking into account their pace, is it?

John Hollinger is ESPN’s numbers guy, and he keeps track of pace as well as offensive and defensive efficiency. The results are interesting. Unsurprisingly, Denver and Golden State are 1/2 in pace. The Nuggets play an average of 102.1 possessions per game while the Warriors play 101.2. Hollinger’s defensive efficiency number is simply the number of points a team allows divided by 100 possessions. Denver and Golden State are terrible, right? Wrong. While the Warriors are just on the edge of the bottom third (#20) the Nuggets finish a respectable 10th.

That means that possession for possession, the Nuggets do a fairly good job of playing defense. This conclusion is backed up by the fact that they are in the middle of the pack (13th) in defensive field goal percentage. (Golden State is a less-than-mediocre 22nd.)

So next time your buddy knocks the Nuggets, bet him that Denver is in the top half of the league in defensive efficiency and opponents’ field goal percentage. You’re bound to win some dough.

Coaching News

Bill Self said no to Oklahoma State and all of T Boone Pickens millions. The rumor on the deal wnet from a $6 million signing bonus to $40 million worth of hedge fund stock. He answered the question of winning over money. Forgetting for the moment that Kansas will soon make him the highest paid coach in the country (roughly $3.6 million), he knows that winning a title at OSU is next to impossible. At Kansas he can win one every year. That is how high the passion and interest is there.

Besides, if he wants to coach for pure money, he can always wait a year or two and then take the Oklahoma City NBA job. No doubt it will be his for the taking.

Now OSU turns it’s attention to Billy Gillespie of Kentucky. That’s not going to happen either. In the end they will end up with a new coach without the type of splash the AD hoped for when he fired Sean Sutton. A possible candidate is Chris Lowery of Southern Illinois. He would be a great choice.

Speaking of Sutton, what a great deal he got. A head coach for only 2 years and he walks away with a settlement of $400,000 plus $20,000 a month for the next ten years regardless if he takes another job or not. Unbelievable!! I guess it pays to be Eddie Sutton’s son!!!

At the other OSU (Oregon State University) AD Bob DeCarrolis hired Craig Robinson from Brown. Are you kidding me? First, the AD pays a search firm $75,000 to give him names. How about doing your own job Bob. Then Billy Grier turns it down, Randy Bennett pulls out and Ron Hunter (IUPUI) pulls out of negotiations after he is told he has to give an answer without seeing the campus.

With this type of incompetence, how can DeCarolis keep his job. Finally, they choose Robinson over Ken Bone (Portland State) and Dean Demopoulos (Portland Trailblazers). Makes perfect sense if you live on Mars. Robinson is finishing his second year at Brown and has never been to an NCAA tournament as a head coach, assistant or player. He has no connections to the West coast, but oh yeah, he is Barack Obama’s brother in law. Makes perfect sense!!!

Providence Update: Travis Ford has turned down the job to stay at UMass. Next in line is Fran McCaffrey (Siena) and Tim O’Shea (Ohio), but don’t be surpirsed if there is a wild card in the deck. Possibly, Fran Frachilla from ESPN and a former Friar assistant.

Western Illinois offered their opening to Ray Harper from Oklahoma City, but he turned it down to go to Western Kentucky as an assistant. Look for former Bradley coach Jim Molinari to land the job.

Kige, live on location…sort of.

I know The Masters started yesterday, but once I saw that Kige Ramsey of “YouTube Sports” was live on location (okay, so actually it looks like he just went down to the local 9-hole), I had to post this video:

“They’re good golfers and you need to watch out for them.” I freaking love it.

Is anyone else reminded of George Dubya whenever Kige gives his updates?

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