Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 433 of 1503)

      Cutler: “I learned a lot of things (last year).”

      May 19, 2010 /

      Jay Cutler is ready to put last year’s struggles behind him, but before he does he wants to make it clear that 2009 wasn’t all bad. At least he learned a couple of things while throwing a league-high 26 interceptions.

      From the Chicago Tribune:

      “It was a rough year,” he said. “I’m not going to say it wasn’t. I wouldn’t say it was all bad. I learned a lot of things. Had some success in Denver, and then we came here and hit a few speed bumps. But I think it made me a better player. … I haven’t lost any confidence in my abilities.

      “You have to play within yourself, get back to some of those things that made you the player you were in the past, and not trying to force it. I think that’s kind of where I got in trouble last year … trying to make some plays, trying to get back in the ballgames, and trying to push the ball down field.”

      I think part of the problem last year was that the Bears thought they were better than they really were. Jerry Angelo tried to use toothpaste to fill the holes along the offensive line and the move blew up in his face. Defensively, the Bears weren’t as good as they had been in previous years and when Brian Urlacher went down in Week 1, then things really started to fall apart.

      When everyone expects a team to be good and it’s not, its star players start to press, which is what Cutler did. His offensive line didn’t give him a lot of protection, which in turn made Matt Forte useless and the receivers weren’t good enough to rise to the challenge and bail Cutler out. So what happened was Cutler tried to do too much and he usually paid the price for it.

      Cutler may work wonders with new offensive coordinator Mike Martz. Quarterbacks usually don’t struggle to learn Martz’s system and tend to improve in their first year. But that doesn’t change the fact that Angelo still hasn’t fixed the problems on the offensive line, so it’s important that Cutler doesn’t fall back into the same bad habits that made him fail last year or else the Bears will be in trouble again.

      It’s good to hear that Cutler hasn’t lost any confidence in his abilities, although confidence has never been a problem for him. He needs to trust in his teammates and in turn, his teammates need to step up and help take some of the pressure off his shoulders.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, NFL

      The difference between MLB and NFL players when it comes to steroids

      May 19, 2010 /

      When it comes to speaking his mind about the differences between how MLB and NFL players are treated when it comes to steroids, Astros’ first baseman Lance Berkman hits the nail on the head.

      From the Houston Chronicle:

      “I will say that what will be interesting will be the reaction, because generally when that happens to a football player, it’s kind of ho-hum,” Berkman said. “They’ll write a story and he’ll serve his four games and nobody will ever say anything else about it.

      “If that happens to a baseball player, they’d want to strike him from the record book. It’s just a totally, totally different reaction, and I don’t know why that is.”

      Here’s my theory: Football is just more popular than baseball is, so people have a tendency to give NFL players more leniency.

      Fantasy baseball isn’t as popular as fantasy football and the NFL has a clear advantage over MLB when it comes to gambling.

      There are only 16 games in football, so fans live and die on every play. There are 162 games in baseball, so fans could essentially miss an entire week of action and it still might not even matter in the grand scheme of things.

      People love football. They crave it. They want to see their favorite players in uniform and if one of them screws up, all they usually care about is how many games he’ll miss before he’s back on the field. When a baseball player screws up, the games he misses won’t necessarily have a barring on how the team does (look at Manny Ramirez’s suspension last year), so fans are more likely to get their moral handbooks out when passing judgment.

      It’s not fair, but that’s just the way it is.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, MLB, NFL

      Is Alex Smith on the verge of his long awaited breakout season?

      May 19, 2010 /

      In 43 career games, 49ers quarterback Alex Smith has completed just 56.1 percent of his passes for 7,029 yards with 37 touchdowns and 43 inceptions.

      Those numbers aren’t good for any quarterback, nevertheless one that was taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 draft. But considering this will be the first time in his career that he’ll have the opportunity to work with the same offensive coordinator two years in a row, good things might be on the horizon for the former Utah product.

      Offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye is giving Smith more responsibility this year, including setting alignments and reading defenses out of the shotgun on third downs. That was something that Raye admits Smith wasn’t ready for last season.

      Asked if Smith was prepared to handle that last year, the always honest Raye said, “Not really. He had some idea. Some of it was, ‘I hope I’m right, if not, run to the right.'”

      Bill Walsh used to hate the shotgun because it required the quarterback to take his eyes off the defense for a split second when he got the snap. But if it works for Smith, then it works for Raye and the 49ers. It’s time for the team to trust that the 26-year-old signal caller is ready to take the next step and get San Fran back into the playoffs.

      One of Smith’s teammates, tight end Vernon Davis, also recently applauded the quarterback’s improved leadership skills.

      “He’s talking. He’s vocal. He’s taking control and being that guy you want on your team — a guy who’s going to step up and take charge and handle his responsibilities,” Davis said.

      Outside of shaky performances against the Cardinals (Week 14) and Eagles (Week 15) in back to back weeks late in the year, Smith played very well last season after taking over for Shaun Hill in a Week 7 game against the Texans. It’s early, but things look to be aligning for the sixth-year quarterback.

      I like Smith this year as part of a two-man or three-man committee. In 11 starts, he averaged 214 yards and 1.6 pass TD against 1.1 interceptions per game. He wasn’t brilliant, but he was for the most part solid, and with an offseason to work with Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree, Smith should perform well in good matchups. I’d expect him to finish somewhere in the QB10 to QB17 range, which makes him a prime target for a QBBC.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      It’s wake up time for Hanley Ramirez

      May 19, 2010 /

      I have a new respect for Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez in wake of his decision to bench All-Star Hanley Ramirez. Because Gonzalez has sent a message that most fans wish athletes would receive.

      I didn’t think Ramirez could make himself look any worse than he did after he loafed after a ball that he booted into right field against the D-Back on Monday night. Then he spoke on Tuesday.

      Did you lose respect for Gonzalez?
      Ramirez: A little bit. We got 24 more guys out there, hopefully they can do the same things I do. That are wearing the Marlins uniform. There’s nothing I can say.

      Are you going to apologize to your team for dogging it?
      Ramirez: For what? Do what? We have a lot of people dogging it after ground balls. They never pull guys.

      Profound. You have to appreciate it when a guy doesn’t take responsibility for his own actions and instead shifts the blame to those around him. I guess if some his teammates all decided to rob a bank, Ramirez wouldn’t have a problem following suit. After all, they did it first, right?

      This is what Gonzalez had to say following Ramirez’s interview session with the media yesterday:

      “I think he’s got to take care of some problems,” Gonzalez said when asked when his star might play again. “When he handles that the right way, he’ll be fine. It could be good. I think whatever feelings he has with me or not . . . it’s fine and dandy. We don’t need to get along. But I think he needs to get along with the 24 other guys on his team, and when that happens, we’ll run him back in there. I think if he sets his ego aside, this could be good.”

      Spoken by a man who gets it. There are plenty of professional athletes that need to be reminded that their team comes first and Ramirez is one of them. This isn’t a Gonzalez vs. Ramirez thing – it’s a Ramirez thing. He didn’t only let his manager down – he let his entire team down. And while it’s only one game in the middle of May, every game counts. What if the Marlins finish one game out of the Wild Card race in September? Teams come up a few games short every year of making the playoffs and maybe Ramirez just cost his team one of those opportunities.

      If this were the first time that Ramirez acted up, then maybe everyone would be willing to move on quickly. But even the Red Sox had to discipline him for behavior problems and last year Marlins’ second baseman Dan Uggla called him out for his poor attitude. He’s not 19 anymore – this kind of thing shouldn’t be happening.

      Either way, he’s crossed the wrong person in Gonzalez, because the Marlins’ skipper is all about the team. Ramirez can either get on board with the philosophy or ride the pine. It’s his call.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, MLB

      Raiders deny interest in Terrell Owens

      May 19, 2010 /

      Despite an ESPN report stating that they had internal discussions about signing the free agent receiver, Raiders head coach Tom Cable is denying that the team is interested in Terrell Owens.

      “We really haven’t had any discussion about that,” Cable said. “We’ve got a good, young receiving corps, it’s never been a point of conversation.”

      “I think we did what was best for our football team, that’s the only thing that really matters here,” he said. “Why, why not, this or that, it doesn’t matter any more. What matters is we move forward as a football team and we did what we think gives us the best chance to succeed.”

      Al Davis has always acquired talent with reckless abandon, but Cable’s second quote indicates that the Raiders are going to be smarter when it comes to bringing in new players.

      For the first time in a long time, the Raiders have had direction this offseason. They dumped JaMarcus Russell, acquired Jason Campbell, had a productive draft (where the player selection actually made sense) and now appear to be staying away from players that don’t fit. Are we seeing a change in philosophy in Oakland?


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, NFL

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