Month: October 2008 (Page 9 of 88)

Penaltygate? Rams send tape to NFL over non-calls on Patriots

The Rams have sent videotape to the NFL’s offices with plays they believe the Patriots should have been assessed penalties for during New England’s 23-16 win last Sunday. The Patriots weren’t flagged even once during the game.

Jim Haslett“Never ever, ever, ever played a perfect team before,” Rams guard Richie Incognito said about the disparity, according to the report. “That’s all I am going to say on that one.”

During the game, the Rams were flagged 12 times (with three penalties declined) for 63 yards; the Patriots were flagged once, with the Rams declining that penalty.

The Post-Dispatch reported that Haslett pointed out three plays he believed should have resulted in personal fouls against the Patriots: a grab of quarterback Marc Bulger’s face mask; a late hit on Bulger; and an out-of-bounds hit on cornerback Fakhir Brown following an interception.

Haslett also said the Rams were hurt by a poor placement on a punt that Donnie Jones kicked out of bounds during the fourth quarter, according to the report. New England took possession at its 48-yard line and tied the score at 16 on a field goal six plays later.

“I thought we should’ve had at least another 10 yards,” Haslett said of the placement, according to the report.

Well this plays into the hands of conspiracy theorists that believe the league is out to aid the Patriots anyway they can. I’m not into that sort of thing, but even I have to admit it’s amazing that a team isn’t flagged once during an entire game. That’s hard to do.

Chargers unload defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell

The San Diego Chargers have fired defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell and replaced him with former Chicago Bears’ DC Ron Rivera.

Ron Rivera“There are a lot of things that went into the decision,” Turner said. “There are areas that we just have to play better and we have to improve. Over the next 10 days those are the areas that we are going to address. Hopefully we can not only show improvement right away but continue to improve over the next eight games.”

Through eight games this season, the Chargers rank 28th in the NFL in total defense and last against the pass. At this point last season, the Bolts had forced 21 turnovers but have only 10 takeaways this season. The Chargers have also gone the last nine quarters without recording a sack.

“It’s probably the things that we have needed to improve at are the same things that effected us in Week 2 and so on,” Turner said. “The same things have been an issue throughout the first eight games at different times.”

Rivera has enjoyed 21 seasons in the NFL as a player and a coach. He joined the Bolts in February of 2008 after spending three seasons as the defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears, the team he also played nine seasons with.

A change needed to happen; the Chargers have been absolutely brutal defensively this year, which is surprising because they played so well last season. Rivera isn’t a bad guy to fall back on considering he was the Bears’ DC when they went to the Super Bowl a couple years ago. I always wondered why he wasn’t a coordinator after he was getting looks as a head coach following the Super Bowl.

Do the Rays have a small edge if the weather continues to delay Series?

Game 5 of the World Series is supposed to continue tonight…maybe.

“While obviously we want to finish Game 5 as soon as possible, the forecast for today does not allow for us to continue the game this evening,” he said. “We are closely monitoring tomorrow’s forecast and will continue to monitor the weather on an hourly basis. We will advise fans as soon as we are able to make any final decisions with respect to tomorrow’s schedule.”

The forecast for today calls for clearing skies by the early afternoon, with temperatures in the upper 30s by (partial) game time.

“We get to bat four times, they get to bat three. We get 12 outs, they get nine,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “We are definitely coming with the mind-set that we are going to win that game.”

This situation has to benefit the Rays slightly. The Phillies had all of the momentum when they went up 3-1, but the longer the series draws out, the more Tampa probably settles in and relaxes. This is one of the craziest situations facing a Series in some time.

Celtics, Lakers prevail on opening night

I don’t think anyone is surprised that the Celtics were able to beat the Cavs on opening night, but given the fact that two of the Big Three – Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett – combined for only 19 points on 7-24 shooting, it is a little remarkable that the C’s were still able to get the win.

LeBron was his usual self (22p/7r/6a), and Mo Williams had a decent debut with 12 points on 3-5 3PT shooting, but he only had two assists against four turnovers. Zydrunas Ilgauskas (15p) was the only other Cavalier in double figures. Outside of Williams, the Cavs were 0-10 from long distance.

Paul Pierce led all scorers with 27 points and looks like he’s picking up right where he left off last June.

On the West Coast, the Lakers dismantled the upstart Trail Blazers, 96-76. Kobe led all scorers with 23 points, while Portland “rookie” Rudy Fernandez posted an impressive 16 points in his first NBA game.

In the Lamar Odom Bench Watch, he posted nine points and seven rebounds in 29 minutes.

Greg Oden sprained his foot. X-rays were negative, but he’s going to have an MRI this week. I hope he doesn’t turn out to be just another injury prone big man.

There was one other game on the docket. The Bulls welcomed back Bucks coach Scott Skiles and pasted his team, 108-95. Derrick Rose (11p, 9a, 4r) was impressive in his first NBA game.

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