Month: May 2008 (Page 27 of 28)

      LSU kicks quarterback Perrilloux off team

      May 2, 2008 /

      LSU head football coach Les Miles finally had enough of Ryan Perrilloux’s off-field issues had decided to kick the quarterback off the team.

      “Ryan was given every opportunity to be a part of this football team,” Miles said in a release Friday.

      Perrilloux, who was suspended by the Tigers last summer, was on the fringe of a counterfeiting investigation and was caught trying to enter a Baton Rouge casino with false identification. He also was involved in a fracas at a nightclub in November, but was cleared of wrongdoing.

      Miles suspended Perrilloux, whose father died Feb. 7, in mid-February after he missed a team meeting, skipped some classes and was late for a handful of conditioning workouts.

      It’s sad to see a young man lose his father and then head down a wrong road. But it certainly doesn’t seem that Miles acted irrationally and he definitely gave Perrilloux a chance to straighten up. Maybe losing football will inspire him to turn his life around.

      College Football

      Eight rookies that can make an impact in ‘08

      May 1, 2008 /

      Alex Marvez of FOX Sports.com lists five NFL rookies that can make an impact for their respective teams next season.

      Round 2: Michigan QB Chad Henne (Miami/57)
      Projected as a potential first-round pick, Henne squirmed on his couch Saturday while three other quarterbacks (Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco and Brian Brohm) were selected ahead of him. Henne, though, should be grateful he landed with Miami. The starting quarterback spot is up for grabs between Josh McCown and John Beck — two players that the strong-armed Henne will have a legitimate chance to compete against. Plus, Henne knows he will have a familiar face — former Wolverines left tackle and Miami’s No. 1 pick Jake Long — protecting his blindside.

      Round 3: Central Florida RB Kevin Smith (Detroit/64)
      It’s hard to field a run-first offense without quality rushers. This finally dawned upon the Lions after making no effort to bolster that position in free agency or with their first two picks. Detroit traded with Miami to the top of the third round for Smith, who should immediately push Tatum Bell for a starting spot. With 2,567 yards in 2007, Smith finished his junior year with the second-highest single-season rushing total in NCAA history. The record holder: Barry Sanders, the player Detroit has spent a decade trying to replace since his retirement.

      Of course, no rookie has that big of an impact without a good supporting cast. But the choice of Smith I agree with – Henne I don’t. I think Smith was underrated coming into the draft and with only Tatum Bell pushing him for playing time, he might have a real opportunity to not only be a starter as a rookie, but make a little noise, too. He’s not fast and scouts say he runs too upright at times, but he can flat out run the football.

      Henne, on the other hand, I felt was a tad overrated after playing well in the Outback Bowl against Florida and then having a great Senior Bowl week and combine workout. He may have a strong arm, but he has the tendency to make mistakes in crunch time and is inconsistent. He might get the opportunity to start at some point in Miami this year, but for what it’s worth I don’t know how much of an impact he’s going to make. (So in other words – lock him up for Offensive Rookie of the Year.)

      NFL, NFL Draft

      Looking back on baseball’s first month

      May 1, 2008 /

      Joe Sheehan SI.com takes a look at five things that are real, five that aren’t and five things that the month of April didn’t tell us regarding MLB. Among the five things he lists that are “real”, parity comes in at No. 5.

      5) Parity. The last few years have seen the spread between the best and worst teams in the game narrow considerably, as natural cycles of aging and unnatural wealth-redistribution mechanisms serve to bring the extremes toward the middle. Throw in a National League in which three quarters of the teams can see themselves as one trade-deadline deal away from playing in October, and you have 1980s-style parity. The Diamondbacks and Cubs have so far separated themselves at the top, while the Nationals and Rangers have yet to reach 10 wins. Everyone else, from No. 3 to No. 28, is separated by just 6½ games.

      That’s not a fluke: MLB has spent most of the 2000s working toward NFL-style competitive balance, and that’s what it now has. Whether that’s best for baseball remains to be seen — the game is at its best when great teams fight out great races in the regular season — but it does provide a heaping helping of hope and faith.

      I can go either way on parity in sports. While I appreciate a late season series between the Yankees and Red Sox with a division on the line, I also enjoy seeing fresh teams in the mix from time to time. So I guess what it boils down to is if your favorite team was out of the running, would you rather have the same old rivalries or would you rather see teams like the 2006 Colorado Rockies make a run?

      MLB

      Correcting Bill Simmons, Part 2

      May 1, 2008 /

      Welcome to the second part of my infinite-part series, Correcting Bill Simmons. To find out why I started this series, feel free to read the first part. Simply stated – Bill Simmons is an entertaining writer, but sometimes he goes off the reservation and says something absurd.

      I listened to my first Bill Simmons podcast today. You know the saying, “she’s got a face for radio”? Well, Bill has a voice for print. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not his fault and there isn’t really anything he can do about it, but he sounds like the weasely-faced kid with the shit-eating grin that you went to high school with. You know, the guy who claimed to be your friend but you just knew that he’d jump your girl’s bones if he had the whisper of a chance.

      Anyway, in an otherwise thorough and entertaining column about the downfall of the Suns, he wrote the following about how Grant Hill affected the Suns’ attack:

      For a team that revolved around high screens with Nash and Stoudemire, perfectly executed fast breaks and high-percentage 3s, Hill subtly changed what the Suns were. You didn’t have to worry about defending him or Marion 25 feet from the basket — two of the five Suns on the court, by the way — making it impossible for them to spread the floor on those Nash/Stoudemire high screens.

      Granted, Hill’s career three-point accuracy (27%) isn’t going to keep opposing coaches awake at night, but why throw Marion under the bus? He shot 34.7% while with the Suns this season, which was a bit better than his respectable career percentage (34.1%). He was extremely dangerous from the corners, so team absolutely had to stay with him while Nash and Stoudemire ran their pick-and-roll. Remember, given the extra point, shooting 34.7% from three-point range is the same as shooting 52% from two-point range.

      I’m not sure why Simmons can’t grasp this concept. He seems to be prejudiced against guys that shoot less than 36% from long range.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Rumors & Gossip

      The Onion: Terrell Owens Not Sure About This ‘Pac-Man Jones’ Character

      May 1, 2008 /

      Man, I love The Onion…

      IRVING, TX—Upon hearing that team owner Jerry Jones had traded draft picks to the Tennessee Titans for troubled cornerback Adam “Pac-Man” Jones, Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens held a press conference to discuss his personal misgivings over acquiring a troubled player whose me-first personality and history of off-the-field issues could potentially damage the team.

      “I think my character speaks for itself,” Owens told reporters after arriving late to the press conference in his custom Hummer, which he parked on the sidewalk directly in front of the Texas Stadium press entrance. “You all know what I think of players who are locker-room distractions, who can’t play with the team, who always have to be in the spotlight. I’m warning you—this ‘Pac-Man’ guy has the reputation of being one of those self-centered types no one can stand.”

      “You heard it here first,” Owens added, taking time to glare at each camera present for at least 10 seconds. “From me, TO. No need to ask any else. That’s it. That’s all. That’s the final word, everything the best wide receiver in the NFL has to say. Period.”

      NFL

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑