Month: February 2009 (Page 10 of 57)

Ten reasons why Spring Training beats Training Camp

February 24, 2009 / Anthony Stalter

RealClearSports.com compiles 10 reasons why baseball’s spring training beats football’s training camp.

Downtime
Normally, there is no down time during an NFL training camp, unless you count sitting in a large tub full of ice. Players are usually so exhausted that any and all free time they have is spent either eating or sleeping.
Baseball just simply isn’t as demanding as that, which allows them to work on some of the game’s finer points, like perfecting the “hot-foot,” determining exactly when to shove a towel full of shaving cream into a teammate’s face during a live TV interview, and everyone’s favorite, learning exactly how to place a bubble-gum bubble on your pitcher’s head.
Pressure
Imagine if an NFL wide receiver went all of camp without catching pass in any of the scrimmages or games. For a month in game-competition, every pass that came his way either sailed through his hands or bounced off his chest. To top it off, he was often running the wrong routes and missing blocks. The chances of him making it past cuts and onto the final 53-man roster would be slim to none.
Translate that to baseball, where the opening day starting lineups are usually already set before February even begins. A player could have an awful spring: terrible at-bats, poor fielding and too many strikeouts, but come April, he’s in the starting lineup (just ask Ichiro, who struggled last spring and started 0-for-21).
Practices
Seemingly as soon as a football practice begins, players are in full pads, flying around and running into each at full speed. This continues for hours at a time, in extreme summer heat, and often, twice-a-day.
Baseball practices, on the other hand, feature fielding fungos on perfectly manicured fields, hitting balls of a tee, first base running drills (seriously), covering first base on sacrifice bunt roughly 3000 times and doing whatever it is those Red Sox are doing in that picture – it seems highly likely that one could go through an entire practice without breaking a sweat.

Not RealClearSports.com’s best work. The three reasons listed above are supposed to be in favor of spring training, but I’d say every one of them favors training camp.

MLB, NFL

Baseball vs. Football MLB spring training Sports top 10 lists Top 10 lists Traning camp vs. Spring Training

Vikings on the verge of acquiring Texans’ QB Rosenfels

February 24, 2009 / Anthony Stalter

The Minnesota Vikings have an answer for anyone wondering what they’ll do next season at quarterback: Sage Rosenfels.

The Texans and Minnesota are close to completing a trade that would send quarterback Sage Rosenfels to the Vikings, possibly for a fourth-round draft choice.
The Texans had no comment on the report.
This is the second year in a row in which the Vikings have been interested in acquiring Rosenfels as their starting quarterback. Rosenfels, who won six games in the last two seasons when replacing the injured Matt Schaub, is approaching the last year of his contract. If the trade is completed, the Vikings will want to extend Rosenfels’ contract.
Rosenfels, who grew up in Iowa and played at Iowa State, was hoping to be traded to the Vikings last year. Media reports said Minnesota offered a third-round draft choice, but the Texans wanted a second-round pick. Both teams denied an offer was made. The reason Rosenfels wants to be traded to the Vikings is that he would have a chance to start for a team that has Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor at running back and as has led the NFL in run defense for the last two years.

This isn’t a move that will blow the tops off many Vikings fans, but Brad Childress is trying to foster competition at the quarterback position and acquiring Rosenfels does just that. Minnesota isn’t thrilled about starting another season with just Tarvaris Jackson and Gus Frerotte at quarterback, but they’re not ready to give up on TJ either. So trading for Rosenfels and holding an open competition at quarterback makes sense on some levels.

The bottom line is that Childress doesn’t want to play musical chairs again with his quarterbacks next season. He wants more stability at the most important position on the field and if Rosenfels can do that, then he’s worth the mid-round pick that the Vikes will have to give up to acquire him.

Some fans love Jackson and think he can develop into a quality starting quarterback some day. If he has the talent to succeed, then he should be able to beat out Rosenfels in preseason and earn the starting gig. If he can’t, Rosenfels may not be spectacular, but he’s experienced, instinctive and is a fit for Childress’s West Coast Offense.

NFL, Rumors & Gossip

Houston Texans Minnesota Vikings Sage Rosenfels Sage Rosenfels rumors

Mike D’Antoni to testify at Marbury’s hearing

February 24, 2009 / John Paulsen

Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni will miss practice to testify about his interaction with Stephon Marbury earlier this season when the guard allegedly refused to play in a game against the Pistons.

They’ll be back in each others’ faces Tuesday, and the hearing will force coach Mike D’Antoni to miss practice while he testifies before grievance arbitrator Calvin Sharpe, a Case Western Reserve University law professor, to recount exactly what was said on that November day at a suburban Detroit hotel when D’Antoni purportedly told Marbury he wanted him in the lineup that night and was prepared to give him regular playing time going forward.
Marbury has said his response was something along the lines of “I thought y’all were going in a different direction,” and he has maintained that he was careful not to say anything that could be construed as a refusal because that would technically put him in violation — if not breach — of his contract.
Marbury asked for an expedited grievance hearing, and the hearing will convene at 10 a.m. with Marbury, Walsh, D’Antoni and a handful of lawyers in attendance.
“I’ll have to [say] what happened, the way I saw things,” said D’Antoni, who also appeared less than thrilled at the prospect of spending several hours in a law office conference room sitting across the table from the one person who has managed to keep himself a sideshow and a distraction throughout this season.

The Knicks hold all the cards here, and unlike most NBA franchises, they are used to the media circus. I’d say two teams could handle having Marbury sidelined the entire season — the Knicks and the Lakers. With Marbury only offering $1 million in unpaid salary to secure his release, there isn’t much incentive for the Knicks to let him go. The Knicks are just 2 1/2 games out of the 8th spot in the East, and could very well face the Celtics in the first round in the playoffs. They’d gladly pay $1 million so that he can’t come back to bite them in the playoffs.

I don’t understand why Marbury didn’t take the Knicks $3 million offer. He needs to get his career back on track and he’s not going to be able to do that as long as he’s with the Knicks.

NBA, Rumors & Gossip

Donnie Walsh Mike D'Antoni New York Knicks Stephon Marbury Stephon Marbury buyout Stephon Marbury saga

Trevor Hoffman is a classy individual

February 24, 2009 / Anthony Stalter

After 16 seasons with the Padres, Trevor Hoffman is finally moving on. He signed a contract with the Brewers this offseason but felt the need to say thanks to the hoards of fans that have supported him throughout the years in San Diego.

We have all received Christmas cards in the mail with family pictures front and center – but how often have you received a thank you card in the form of a full-page ad from a baseball star?
That is exactly what San Diegans woke up to Sunday morning when Trevor Hoffman took out this full page in the San Diego Union-Tribune:
“As I sat down and put pen to paper thinking about the best way to express my gratitude to the many people whom have had a profound effect on my time here in San Diego, a recurring theme kept coming up, just say THANKS!! Thanks go out to my family, friends, teammates, managers, coaches, trainers, clubhouse personnel, medical staff, front office, members of the media, Qualcomm & Petco employees, and to you the fans young and old, it is all of you who gave this game life. We’ve experienced extreme highs and lows; it is what makes the risk worth the rewards. Thank you for the 16 seasons to represent San Diego both on and off the field. My family and I will cherish the memories. Thanks, Hoffy.”