Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 1230 of 1503)

Goodell on rookie contracts: “There’s something wrong with the system”

June 27, 2008 / Anthony Stalter

It looks like the NFL has finally wised up about rookie contracts. According to the Rocky Mountain News, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is apparently ready to take action to get a better system in place so teams aren’t spending ridiculous amounts of money to sign players who haven’t even taken one snap in an NFL game.

“There’s something wrong about the system,” Goodell said Friday. “The money should go to people who perform.”
Goodell referred to Michigan tackle Jake Long’s five-year, $57.75 million contract — with $30 million guaranteed. Long was the first overall draft pick by the Miami Dolphins in April.
“He doesn’t have to play a down in the NFL and he already has his money,” Goodell said during a question-and-answer period at the end of a weeklong sports symposium at the Chautauqua Institution. “Now, with the economics where they are, the consequences if you don’t evaluate that player, you can lose a significant amount of money.
“And that money is not going to players that are performing. It’s going to a player that never makes it in the NFL. And I think that’s ridiculous.”
Goodell said he favors lowering salaries offered to rookies, but allowing a provision for those players to renegotiate their deals after proving themselves on the field.

Amen! This has been a long time coming and Goodell deserves plenty of praise if/when he gets a new system in place. He hit the nail on the head: Why are these rookies being paid more than veterans making the Pro Bowl on a yearly basis? It’s a domino effect that has bad teams using large chunks of their cap space to sign rookies that haven’t proven themselves, therefore leaving those bad teams in worse shape because they can’t spend to improve other positions and all the while pissing off veterans who feel underpaid.

Good work Mr. Goodell – fix the system.

NFL

Top 10 Bizarre Baseball Injuries of All-Time

June 27, 2008 / Anthony Stalter

In the wake of Brandon Inge pulling an oblique muscle while, get this, adjusting a pillow, UNDRAFTED FREE AGENTS have compiled the top 10 most bizarre baseball injuries of all time.

8. John Smoltz
John Smoltz is among the best pitchers of his generation. Still, he isn’t above an odd (and preventable) injury. You see, Smoltz’s shirt was wrinkled. Why not iron the thing? That’s what Smoltz did, but he forgot to take off the shirt. He scalded himself with the iron.
4. Kevin Mitchell
Former slugger Kevin Mitchell has a long history with the bizarre injury. On one occasion, Mitchell was placed on the disabled list after apparently straining rib muscles while vomiting. Later, Mitchell was four days late for 1990 spring training when he was hurt eating an overcooked microwaved donut, leading to a root canal.
2. Marty Cordova
Most baseball players tan naturally by spending many summer hours under the sun. Others choose to get their tan a different way. Not Marty Cordova. A visit to a California tanning salon provided baseball with one of its more bizarre injuries. Marty Cordova burned his face under some tanning lamps. The Orioles outfielder was ordered by doctors to stay out of direct sunlight for a couple of days. I’m sure he didn’t get too much heat from his teammates for that.
1. Glenallen Hill
Nightmares can induce emotional and psychological stress. For Blue Jays outfielder Glenallen Hill, bad dreams brought on a more physical pain. Hill fell out of bed and crashed into a glass table while having a nightmare about being covered in spiders. Hill sustained several cuts in the process, leading to baseball’s most bizarre injury.

Is it wrong to laugh when thinking about Glenallen Hill throwing himself through a glass table while trying to shake off imaginary spiders? And how about Smoltz – one of the smartest pitchers the game has ever seen by the way – ironing his shirt while he was still in it? That deserves to be ranked higher than No. 8, but overall, this was a great list.

General Sports, MLB

Joe Horn to Cowboys?

June 27, 2008 / Anthony Stalter

Adam Schefter of the NFL Network is reporting that Joe Horn has become option “1A” in Dallas if Terry Glenn doesn’t agree to sign an injury settlement. Horn wants out of Atlanta and the Cowboys might be willing to give up a late round pick to acquire the aging wide out.

As usual, Horn was banged up again last year, but his lack of production was mostly because Bobby Petrino’s game plans were completely overmatched. Lining up opposite of Terrell Owens in Jason Garrett’s offense would certainly do wonders for Horn, but there’s no doubt he’s lost a step of the years and is always an injury concern.

Still, he would certainly have more of a fantasy impact in Dallas than he would in Atlanta, so monitor the situation closely as training camps get closer and closer.

Fantasy Football, NFL

Friday Morning Headliners: Garza throws complete game one-hitter

June 27, 2008 / Anthony Stalter

– Rays’ starter Matt Garza threw a complete game one-hitter against the Marlins Thursday, fanning 10 and only allowing one run in Tampa’s 6-1 victory. Apparently Garza must work better with a catcher that doesn’t get in his face on the mound if he shakes him off. (Garza remember almost threw down with catcher Dioner Navarro a couple weeks ago. But backup Shawn Riggans caught the game yesterday.)

– Rich Harden almost trumped Garza’s performance, striking out 11 and yielding no runs on just two hits in eight innings of work. The A’s shutout the Phillies 5-0.

– The Cubs lost back to back games at home for the first time this season as the Orioles gorilla-smacked Chicago 11-4 at Wrigley. Even though he’s 6-4 on the year, Cubs’ starter Jason Marquis has been a weak spot in the starting rotation and rumors persist that the club will pursue Indians’ ace C.C. Sabathia.

– The Twins won their ninth straight game, knocking off the Padres 4-3 behind Justin Morneau’s 12th dinger of the year. Minnesota can claim first place in the AL Central with a win and a White Sox loss.

– Tribe starter Cliff Lee was awfully impressive in a 4-1 win against the Giants, striking out 11 in eight innings. Lee has been simply outstanding this year, compiling a 11-1 record and a 2.34 ERA.

MLB

Is Omar Vizquel a Hall of Famer?

June 26, 2008 / Anthony Stalter

He’s an 11-time Gold Glove winner, has the highest career fielding percentage for his position and is the all-time leader for double plays as a shortstop. But is current Giants and former Indians and Mariners’ shortstop Omar Vizquel a Hall of Famer?

In one of his recent articles, Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer asks the same question. Pluto writes that had Vizquel played for the Red Sox or Yankees, he would be an unquestioned first ballot inductee.

Smith made it on the first ballot with 91 percent of the vote. A player needs 75 percent to be elected.
Maybe voters with that opinion should ask themselves, “What is the most important thing a shortstop does?”
Let’s hope defense comes to mind.
You can talk 11 Gold Gloves, second only to Smith. Or you can use a more modern, stat-based standard: the Zone Rating. It measures the percentage of balls hit in his area, and how many are caught.
In his past four years, he has ranked first, first, third and fourth. That’s from the ages of 38 to 41, all in San Francisco.
Even when it comes to offense, Vizquel not only has a higher career batting average (.273) than Aparicio (.262) or Smith (.262), but – for those who like the modern stats – he has a higher OPS (.695) compared to Smith (.665) and Aparicio (.654).

What’s sad about the media today and also the present day fan is that we tend to focus purely on what a player is doing offensively. With how popular fantasy sports are these days, defense continues to be brushed aside and that’s what Omar has always done best. He puts on a nightly clinic at short and doesn’t get enough credit because of how easy he makes the game look. He’s truly one of the most gifted defensive players in baseball history and deserves Hall of Fame induction.

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