Month: July 2008 (Page 5 of 39)

      Bobcats sign Okafor for $72 million

      July 29, 2008 /

      I estimated Emeka Okafor’s value to be $12-$12.5 million per season, and apparently the Bobcats agree.

      The Charlotte Bobcats have agreed in principle on a six-year contract worth at least $72 million with restricted free agent Emeka Okafor.

      The agreement with Okafor by far represents Charlotte’s biggest expenditure on one player as the club readies for its fifth season. Okafor turned down a five-year deal with a similar $12 million annual average before last season, preferring to wait for restricted free agency.

      Okafor averaged 13.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks last season in 33.2 minutes per game but never clicked with coach Sam Vincent, who was fired by team president and former teammate Michael Jordan after just one season. Okafor has already played for Brown on the 2004 U.S. Olympic team and has generated plenty of praise from the bench veteran lately.

      An annual salary of $12 million would be in line with the contract extension 2005’s No. 1 overall pick Andrew Bogut received from the Milwaukee Bucks earlier this month. Bogut signed a five-year deal for $60 million with hard-to-reach incentives that, if realized, could take the overall worth of the contract past $70 million.

      Bogut and Okafor have very similar PERs, but Bogut is a true center while Okafor is more of a defensive-minded power forward type. I’d rather have Bogut because he’s a legitimate threat in the post and a terrific passer. Both players averaged 1.7 blocks per game.

      The Bobcats didn’t overpay for Okafor, so it looks like a good deal for both sides.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Top 10 Training Camp Pranks

      July 29, 2008 /

      RealClearSports.com compiled a list of the top 10 NFL training camp pranks.

      #5 Olin Kreutz Pranks Kyle Orton
      Fans are always asking for autographs at training camp, but players should be weary when another player is asking for an autograph. At Bears Camp in 2005 Bears’ Center Olin Kreutz asked rookie QB Kyle Orton if he could sign a helmet for his family. What Orton didn’t realize is that he had just signed his own helmet and would now have to practice in it.

      #2 Mike Alstott Gets The Last Laugh
      As a rookie sometimes it is best to just do what you’re told. In 2005, Mike Alstott asked rookie OT Chris Colmer to go get him a Gatorade. Instead, Colmer came back with a map detailing where Alstott could find the refrigerator. Colmer probably got a good laugh out of that until Alstott put Colmer’s car up on blocks and left a map on the windshield of the car detailing where he had left the tires.

      #1 Dilfer’s Prank Foiled
      Trent Dilfer might have won a Super Bowl, but he was not able to pull off his hilarious prank against center Robbie Tobeck. Dilfer smeared icy-hot inside Tobeck’s shorts, but Tobeck realized it before slipping on the pair. Just for thinking of such a painful prank Dilfer deserved payback. The pain that would have enveloped Tobeck had he put on those shorts would have been unimaginable. Putting that stuff anywhere stings, let alone a very sensitive area.

      Tobeck responded by purchasing the extremely potent coyote urine from an outdoors store. It’s used by hunters to attract coyotes, but Tobeck had a different use in mind. He covered Dilfer’s room in the pungent aroma which took Dilfer hours to scrub away.

      Imagine how many prank stories we don’t hear from training camps. Think about it, you have 80-plus grown men practicing twice (or three times) a day in 90-degree heat and that’s it. Two weeks of that. Something has to give.

      NFL

      Tuesday MLB Headliners: Cubs take down Sabathia

      July 29, 2008 /

      – The Chicago Cubs haven’t played the best ball since the All-Star Break, but maybe things are turning around for the club after they knocked off CC Sabathia and division rival Milwaukee 6-4 Monday night. For the second night in a row, Derrek Lee and Alfonso Soriano propelled the Cubs to victory. Lee went 3 for 5 and knocked in three runs, while Soriano hit his second HR in two games and chipped in three runs scored. Chad Gaudin, who the Cubs acquired in the Rich Harden trade, picked up his second win in two nights. Sabathia (6.2 IP, 9H, 4R, 3K) didn’t take the loss, but it was the first time he hasn’t won a start since being traded to the Brewers.

      – The Los Angeles Angels continue to own the Boston Red Sox. With their 7-5 win last night, the Angels have now beaten the BoSox four straight times since the All-Star Break and are 12-1 against them this season. Jered Weaver picked up his ninth win of the year, while the Halos used a six-run sixth to knock the usually stingy Dice-K (5.0 IP, 7H, 6R, 3K) out of the game.

      – The New York Yankees won eight straight to start the second half, but have since lost two in a row after the Baltimore Orioles smacked the Bronx Bombers 13-4 on Monday. Four O’s homered off Mike Mussiana, who was looking for his 14th win of the year. Newly acquired Yankee Xavier Nady did homer, however, as well did Johnny Damon.

      – With the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, everything stayed the same in the AL East. A.J. Burnett struck out 10, which might help the Jays cause in trading him with the deadline quickly approaching. The Rays are just 5-5 since the All-Star Break.

      – How about those Florida Marlins? With a 7-3 win over the New York Mets on Monday, the Marlins are now one game out of first in the NL East. Florida used a five-run eighth to burry their division rivals and will now look to claim part of the East on Tuesday night.

      MLB

      Arena Bowl XXII has its hits and misses

      July 28, 2008 /

      With the NFL pre-season right around the corner, and training camps already underway, I am eagerly looking forward to the upcoming NFL season. To help me get through what’s going to be a long five weeks or so before the opening game between the Redskins and Giants, I decided to tune in to Arena Bowl XXII.

      The San Jose Sabercats took on the Jon Bon Jovi-owned Philadelphia Soul. I should mention that he owns the team because the broadcast wouldn’t go five minutes without showing his face. The Sabercats, who have won three titles in the past six years, are the AFL equivalent to the New England Patriots. And their quarterback, Matt Grieb, has been compared to Tom Brady. He sure didn’t play like it yesterday; he was vastly outplayed by Soul quarterback Matt D’Orazio.

      I have never watched a full Arena football game, so I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. As the game began, both offenses easily drove down the field and scored with ease. Both quarterbacks had a ton of time to throw, and I was surprised at the amazing lack of defense. It was like a four-on-four schoolyard game, with both teams just taking turns scoring. It makes sense that Soul’s offense looked so good – they have Ron “Jaws” Jaworski as their team president. That guy can put together a playbook like it’s nobody’s business. The defense finally picked up late in the first half; the Soul disrupted Sabercats quarterback Matt Grieb and forced several turnovers down the stretch. San Jose made a late run late in the game, but Philly was pretty much in control the entire time, so the final score of 59-56 is a bit misleading.

      Arena football is definitely a different animal than the NFL. It doesn’t have the complexity or the strategy, and I love watching defenses go at it (which is not something you’ll find in the AFL). That said, I’d still love to attend to an Arena game, it seems like it would be a fun diversion from the NFL offseason.

      Where’s PETA? Jeff Burton vaporizes some birds

      July 28, 2008 /

      Jay Busbee of YAHOO! Sports sent us some unpleasant (but hard to look away) video of Jeff Burton at this past weekend’s NASCAR Allstate 400 race at the Brickyard. No, Burton didn’t crash into anybody.

      He just vaporized some birds.

      Busbee also sent us some video of Tony Stewart going ape-crap on several racing officials. (Total shocker, we know.)

      (See the video after the jump.)

      Hmmm. Wonder why nobody made a big deal of this one at Sunday’s Brickyard telecast? Not quite the kinder, gentler politically correct image that Smoke has been trying to project now that he’s an owner, huh?

      On one hand, it’s an incredibly stupid and immature move that’s going to get him fined, without a doubt. On the other, Smoke’s looking like a serious challenger to Mark Cuban and the ’70s-era Ted Turner for most awesomest owner ever.

      One of those race officials should have backhanded him.

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑