Month: August 2010 (Page 42 of 59)

      Jets should tell Darrelle Revis to ‘take it or leave it’

      August 10, 2010 /
      SAN DIEGO - JANUARY 17: Cornerback Darrelle Revis #24 of the New York Jets runs after making an interception against the San Diego Chargers during AFC Divisional Playoff Game at Qualcomm Stadium on January 17, 2010 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)

      This Darrelle Revis situation has become like a bad movie that I just can’t stop talking about. I want to stop, honestly I do. But I can’t. I just can’t. I’m sick with it. So now I’m just going to give into it.

      God help us.

      Earlier today, head coach Rex Ryan essentially told the media that the Jets would be just fine without Revis.

      “Don’t feel sorry for us,” the Jets’ coach said. “We have everything we need here on defense.”

      “We have a great collection of individual talent,” Ryan said. “These guys will play great as a team. That’s what we’ll do. Obviously, Revis is a tremendous player. Ray Lewis, a tremendous player. Ed Reed, tremendous player. Kris Jenkins, too. But it’s about the unit, and we’ve been selling that from the day we walked on here.

      “We can get it done,” Ryan continued. “We’re not afraid of anybody.”

      Good attitude. Maybe the Jets’ front office should share in Ryan’s sediment and give Revis an ultimatum: Either accept the latest offer or sit out the entire year.

      I’ve gone back and forth on this topic over the last couple of weeks, but I keep coming back to the same mindset: Revis is wrong, the Jets are right. The Jets shouldn’t have to pay for Al Davis’ mistake (and it was a mistake) with the Nnamadi Asomugha contract. Revis has every right to feel entitled to make more than Asomugha, but the Jets have every right to tell him to take what they’re offering or shove off.

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, NFL

      Brandon Phillips’ comments about the Cardinals refreshing

      August 10, 2010 /
      July 13, 2010; Anaheim, CA, USA; National League infielder Brandon Phillips of the Cincinnati Reds before the 2010 All Star game at Angel Stadium. Photo via Newscom

      Despite it generally being a boring sport to watch, I love baseball. America’s pastime, indeed.

      But players have become too damn nice to each other. How many times do we have to see a runner reach base and watch as a member of the opposing team pats them on the rear, gives them a back rub and straightens out their jock for them? Enough already.

      Heading into a pivotal series against division rival St. Louis on Monday, Reds’ second baseman Brandon Phillips took the opportunity to discuss how much he hated the Cardinals. And dude didn’t hold back.

      “We have to beat these guys. I hate the Cardinals. All they do is bitch and moan about everything, all of them, they’re little bitches, all of ‘em. I really hate the Cardinals. Compared to the Cardinals, I love the Chicago Cubs. Let me make this clear – I hate the Cardinals.”

      Finally, a baseball player with a backbone. I don’t care if his comments were justified or not – it’s about time someone stoke the rivalry flames again in baseball. This isn’t a softball beer league or Babe Ruth Baseball – for the love of Pete Rose, it’s Major League Baseball. Where’s the hatred? Where are the division rivalries? Outside of the Red Sox and Yankees, and Giants and Dodgers, there are none.

      Phillips just made this three-game set between the Reds and Cardinals even more interesting than it already was. I’m not suggesting that every player goes out and calls the other team names at the start of a new series, but it’s nice to see some life being breathed into the game again. Did you see that game last night? Chris Carpenter was ready to punch a hole through Brendan Ryan’s esophagus after the shortstop grabbed the wrong mitt in the first inning. Do you think Carpenter wanted to beat the Reds after what Phillips said?

      Good for you, Brandon Phillips. Now try not getting your ass kicked tonight.

      External Sports, MLB

      Need practices closed? Just blame the Internet people.

      August 10, 2010 /
      01 January 2010: Florida head coach Urban Meyer is pictured during Sugar Bowl game against Cincinnati at the SuperDome in New Orleans, Louisiana. Florida defeated Cincinnati, 51-24.

      Urban Meyer is the head coach of the Florida Gators and as the head coach of the Florida Gators, he has the right to have closed practices, open practices or no practices if he wants.

      And Urban gets what Urban wants.

      According to a report by ESPN.com, Meyer has closed Gator practices to the public, citing problems with agents and autograph hounds.

      “We can’t live the players’ lives, but we can certainly do the best we can,” he told the newspaper. “You should have the right as a player to walk from here to there without being bothered.

      “When I tell my colleagues that you get dressed, you walk across and people just maul you and bother you and internet people grabbing helmets, ‘Sign this,’ and we don’t have security saying, ‘Get the heck out of here.’ You’ll see a lot more ‘get the heck out of here’ from now on and let the kids go practice and concentrate on football.”

      He’s right – players should have the opportunity to walk around a practice facility without being bothered by autograph seekers. But this isn’t about agents or those crazy “internet people” bothering players – this is about Meyer’s need to control every situation.

      It’s always to a coach’s benefit to have a closed practice. Players arguably stay focused longer, coaches don’t have to worry about revealing anything (plays, schemes, etc.) and they can scream at the kids without having anyone peering in from the sidelines. Meyer saw an opportunity here to cash in on Nick Saban’s comments about player agents and use it as an excuse to close practice.

      Meyer is arrogant. What happened when he didn’t like how an Orlando Sentinel reporter quoted one of his players? He threatened to kick him out of practice and even deemed him a “bad guy” just for doing his job. This is the same man that also plugged Tim Tebow in the media like he was a bottle of Bud Light and now he wants practices closed because some autograph seekers are bothering the players? Come on.

      I don’t like your article – you’re banned from practice. I don’t like how you asked for autographs – you’re banned from practice. What is he, the “Soup Nazi?”

      I’m not suggesting that Meyer doesn’t care about his players, because he does. But does he really have their best interests at heart here, or is he satisfying his own wants?

      College Football, External Sports

      Should the Warriors embrace the ‘Oakland’ surname?

      August 10, 2010 /

      Dave Newhouse of the Oakland Tribune thinks so:

      No other surname in professional sports is as repulsive. The Warriors’ surname, which won’t ever disgrace this space, also is meaningless. It doesn’t reflect a city or state, thus it has no mayor, no governor, no voting precincts, no ZIP code.

      A more suitable surname, and easily more palatable, would be “Oakland Warriors.”

      He goes on…

      …but if Lacob is aware of the Warriors history, the team relocated to Oakland for the 1971-72 season after its financial disaster in San Francisco, and has mostly flourished at the gate on this side of the bridge. And even with the Warriors’ latest prolonged slump, they still have the NBA’s most loyal fans.

      Thus Lacob and Guber can’t argue that renaming the team the Oakland Warriors will affect how well they play or how well they’re supported.

      As further proof that a team’s surname has no influence on its performance, observe the Oakland A’s and Oakland Raiders. They’ve both experienced the summit and swampland of success — in the arena and at the turnstiles. But if they were the Jolly Green Giant A’s and the Silver Lode Raiders, it wouldn’t matter.

      When I first heard this idea I thought that the name change might alienate fans living in San Francisco, the city of Oakland’s natural rival. His point about the A’s and Raiders makes some sense, but San Francisco has its own NFL and MLB teams, so delineating those make sense. There’s only one NBA team in the Bay Area, and it’s the Golden State Warriors.

      What do I think the chances are of renaming the Warriors?

      Not good.

      You see in June, two weeks before the team’s sale was announced, the Warriors changed their logo and their look once again — new uniforms, new merchandise, new home court surface logo — complete with that same disgusting surname.

      I believe Lacob and Guber agreed to that logo change. Otherwise, why would the old Warriors ownership seek to upset the new Warriors owners, who might begin firing staffers right and left as soon as they walk in the door?

      I just don’t foresee the Oakland Warriors happening. And if that’s the case, I wish the new owners nothing but futility dunking on their heads.

      Newhouse’s use of ‘repulsive’ is a little over the top. I’m sure the fans in Oakland would rather have the team named the ‘Oakland Warriors’ (which sounds b*tchin, by the way), but what percentage of the team’s historically supportive fan base lives in San Francisco or some other part of the Bay Area and would be turned off enough by the change to stop coming to games?

      If the new ownership is thinking about such a change (and it doesn’t appear that they are) maybe a poll of season ticket holders is the best way to gauge the inevitable reaction.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Will TJ start over Jamaal Charles?

      August 10, 2010 /
      CINCINNATI - DECEMBER 27: Jamaal Charles #25 of the Kansas City Chiefs breaks free from Leon Hall #29 of the Cincinnati Bengals in their NFL game at Paul Brown Stadium December 27, 2009 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images)

      Those fantasy owners thinking about drafting Jamaal Charles in the second round should take note: The Chiefs released their first depth chart of the preseason and Thomas Jones is listed ahead of Charles.

      I just spoke with Anthony Stalter and he said that owners shouldn’t read too much into this. I tend to agree, but this is a 2nd round pick we’re talking about. It’s too early to draft a guy that isn’t even listed first on his team’s depth chart. I still like Charles this year, but even if he gets 50% of the touches, it’s still not going to be enough to justify a second round pick over more defined backfields like Green Bay (Ryan Grant), San Diego (Ryan Matthews) or New Orleans (Pierre Thomas) — teams that are much better offensively and feature better-defined roles.

      Charles is still worth a pick in the 3rd or the 4th and could move back into the 2nd if the reports out of camp indicate that he’ll get 60% of the carries. Right now, it looks like a timeshare. Ugh.

      This quite perplexing considering Charles’ age (23) and performance down the stretch last season. He averaged 141 total yards and 1.0 TD per game over the last eight games. His is a situation to keep an eye on.

      External Sports, Fantasy Football, News, NFL, Rumors & Gossip

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑