Month: September 2009 (Page 16 of 66)

T.J. Houshmandzadeh is a bitter man

Apparently Seahawks wideout T.J. Houshmandzadeh is still bitter that the Bears didn’t sign him this offseason and is hell bent on making them pay this weekend when Chicago visits Quest Field.

From the Seattle Post Intelligencer:

During a conference call with Chicago reporters Wednesday, Houshmandzadeh promised he could beat Bears cornerbacks Charles Tillman and Zack Bowman “95 percent” of the time in this Sunday’s game at Qwest Field.

“I feel like I’m going to get open every play, every time,” Houshmandzadeh said. “But that’s not going to be the case. Those guys get paid well. I feel I’m going to win regardless, but I have to be realistic. I feel I’m going to win 95 percent of the time and they can get the other 5.”

The Bears’ defense is ranked fifth in the NFL with 267 yards allowed per game, and eighth against the pass at 176.5 yards per game. They have a lone turnover, an interception by Tillman.
Houshmandzadeh also had a promise for Bears general manager Jerry Angelo, whom he said ignored him during free agency in March when Chicago was in the market for a wide receiver.

“Jerry Angelo probably didn’t think I could play,” he said. “So I’m going to show him Sunday.”

If Seneca Wallace starts, I’m willing to bet that Houshmandzadeh is complaining to Jim Mora and Greg Knapp by the midway point in the second quarter because he’s not getting the ball enough.

For as productive as Housh is, he’ll become unfocused easily if he’s not a big part of the offense early and often. He was always in the ear of Marvin Lewis when he was in Cincinnati, so hopefully Mora and Knapp have devised a plan to get him the ball as much as possible or else they’re going to have a whiny receiver on their hands.

Vick thought he would start for Eagles

Michael Vick is a little confused. He figured that even though he had been out of football for two years, the Eagles would still start him on Sunday because Donovan McNabb is hurt.

From the USA Today:

Vick, in an interview with CBS to air Sunday, said he thought he would be a starting quarterback upon his return to the NFL.

“This is not the exact scenario I thought would play out,” Vick told CBS. “I thought I’d be playing with a team and actually starting.”

Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg confirmed Thursday that Vick will play against the Chiefs on Sunday. It is the first game Vick will be eligible for since 2006, before he served a 20-month federal sentence for a dogfighting conviction.

“He’ll play,” Mornhinweg said. “How much? We’ll see as the week goes on. I think he’s in top physical condition. We’ll see how he handles the few things that we have in for him.”

Mikey picked the wrong team if he thought he was going to walk out of prison and be handed a starting quarterback job. Quite frankly, he’s lucky to be on any team and it’s a little surprising (appalling even?) that he didn’t think he would have to work his way back into a starting gig.

Take it slow, Mike. Enjoy the fact that you’re not in prison and let everything else take care of itself.

South Carolina shocks No. 4 Ole Miss

College football fans, we officially have another huge upset in 2009.

Just six days after Washington knocked off USC (who was the No. 3 team in the nation), South Carolina shocked No. 4 Ole Miss on Thursday night with a 16-10 upset.

It was an incredible performance by the Gamecock defense, which held quarterback Jevan Snead to only 107 yards on 7 of 21 passing. The highly potent Rebel offense could only muster 248 total yards against a South Carolina defense that was relentless to the ball carrier all night.

Not to solely pick on him because the South Carolina defense was incredible on all fronts, but Snead just couldn’t make a play when Ole Miss needed it, outside of a 45-yard touchdown competition to Markeith Summers in the fourth quarter to cut the Gamecocks’ lead to 16-10.

When Ole Miss marched to SC territory late in the fourth, Snead was sacked on a 3rd and 12 from the Gamecock 34 and then had a pass knocked away on the next play to essentially end the game. Every time he needed to make a play, SC’s defense turned him away. The Gamecocks did an amazing job all night.

Shockingly, this was the sixth consecutive SEC opener that Ole Miss has lost and they join Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and USC as the fourth top-5 team to be knocked off in the last four weeks. What a blow for the Rebels, who many thought would be the sleeper team in the SEC this year.

Yao admits he’s out for the 2009-10 season

Per Rotoworld…

“The (X-ray) picture looks good. The bones heal well,” Yao said. But when asked if he’d play this season, the news wasn’t positive. “The answer is no. You don’t want to rush it, because they want it to totally heal this time. I have been in this situation enough,” he said. Yao has also hinted that he’s going to have to “slow down” in order to prolong his career.

The general consensus was that Yao would be out for the season, but it’s another thing to hear the big man say it himself. The Rockets can still compete without him, but they are a legit contender when he’s healthy and on the court. Now they look like a Western Conference also-ran.

2009 NHL Preview: Atlanta Thrashers

We’ve partnered with On Goal Analysis to bring you a team-by-team preview of the upcoming NHL season. (Just scroll down on the OGA website and hit the calendar.) Here is the preview for the Atlanta Thrashers…

Last Season versus the Playoff Qualifying Curve (PQC): Called at Tee Time – out of the Playoffs – at Game 30 /12 December 2008 and completed the season a 4.1 for the No. 13 slot in the East. This was their third worst attempt since the Lockout and only about a 6% improvement over the last two years. Playing below their post-Lockout average PQC all year, they nevertheless showed some improvement over the last 22 games of the season. OGA stated in last season’s preview report that the tale of Atlanta will be told by Christmas and this was indeed the case. The wheels started coming off the cart after Game 20 where they had a lone OTL to their credit in their next five games and then only averaged 4.83 wins in every 10 games throughout the rest of the season. What they needed was closer to six wins in every 10…

Post-Lockout average PQC and what to expect this season: Atlanta averaged 4.33 against the PQC over the last four seasons with their only trip to the Playoffs in club history ending in a four-game sweep at the hands of the NYR. How do we stack them up against the PQC and know they are on the right path toward the Playoffs this season? During the 2006/7 season – their best one since the Lockout – we knew at game 10 they were going to be in the Playoffs. We think they are an improved team this year, most especially on the blueline, and might just make a run for the No. 8 seed in the East. It will come down to one or two games overall, which your defense must be spot on for or you go home on 12 April. Either way we should know again by Christmas, if not earlier, whether or not the Thrashers are improved enough to make a run Chasing Stanley.

What can you expect from this team going into the 2009/10 season?

Click here to read the rest of the preview (which includes fantasy information) at the On Goal Analysis site…

« Older posts Newer posts »