Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 529 of 1503)

      Four landing spots for Julius Peppers

      February 9, 2010 /

      Julius Peppers is ruling out a long-term deal with the Panthers, making it more and more likely that he won’t return to Carolina next season.

      With that in mind, here are four possible landing spots for the defensive end next season.

      Philadelphia Eagles
      The Eagles are loaded with depth at the defensive end position, headlined by Trent Cole and rounded out by Juqua Parker, Darren Howard, Victor Abiamiri, Chris Clemons and Jason Babin. But they still lack that playmaker opposite Cole that could really wreak some havoc in defensive coordinator Sean McDermott’s aggressive scheme. Unless a sleeper prospect falls to them in the middle rounds, it’s unlikely that the Eagles will be able to address their defensive end need via the draft. That’s where Peppers comes in. If Philly decides to be aggressive this offseason, they may try to acquire Peppers whether the Panthers decide to franchise tag him or not. (They may be in line to acquire more draft picks if/when they trade Kevin Kolb, Donovan McNabb or Michael Vick.) Paired with Cole, the Eagles would have one of the best pass-rushing tandems in the league.

      Atlanta Falcons
      Jamaal Anderson hasn’t turned out to be the pass-rushing force opposite John Abraham that the Falcons envisioned he would be when they selected the former Razorback with the eighth overall pick in 2007. Worse yet, after racking up 16.5 sacks in 2008, Abraham (the team’s best pass rusher) only produced 5.5 QB take downs last season and will turn 32 in early May. Some feel as though Abraham has lost a step, but he would flourish playing opposite Peppers on the same defensive line. Pep would also make the vastly underrated Jonathan Babineaux and 2009 first round pick Peria Jerry even more dangerous on the inside, but the question now becomes whether or not the Falcons will be active in free agency. GM Thomas Dimitroff didn’t make any significant splashes last offseason, instead opting to build his roster via the draft. But if Dimitroff decides to be aggressive, then Peppers makes a lot of sense for a team like Atlanta, which is clearly on the rise but needs to plug some of its defensive holes.

      Continue reading »

      NFL

      NFL Network pursuing Chris Berman…why?

      February 9, 2010 /

      According to the Big Lead, the NFL Network is heavily pursuing ESPN talking head Chris Berman, whose contract expires at the “World Wide Leader” in three months.

      If Berman were to move to the NFL Network, it would reunite him with longtime ESPN associate Steve Bornstein, who rose in the ranks alongside Berman in the 80s. A separate source says that Berman and Bornstein – currently President of the NFL Network – are very close, having known each other for almost 30 year.

      The question for Berman is simple: Will the lure of more money for less work trump Berman’s love for baseball and the significantly broader audience at ESPN? In addition to Berman’s NFL duties at ESPN, he’s been calling the Home Run Derby for over 20 years and occasionally calls baseball games for the network as well as hosts Baseball Tonight from time-to-time. Two years ago, ESPN VP of production Norby Williamson said of Berman, “He is our most important person, he is the face of ESPN.”

      Berman stopped being funny in the late 90s and his shtick is old. He’s a shell of his former self and I don’t know why any network would fork over tons of dough in order to woo him into their broadcasting chair. But hey, that’s just me.

      The kicker is that DirecTV is also rumored to be hot and heavy for Berman, too. Apparently neither network has watched ESPN since 1998. That’s the only reason I can think of as to why both the NFL Network and DirecTV would fight (if you can even call it that) over Chris Berman.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      News, Rumors & Gossip, Television

      2010 Super Bowl surpasses finale of “M*A*S*H”

      February 8, 2010 /

      Super Bowl XLIV between the Saints and Colts was watched by more than 106 million people, which surpassed the 1983 finale of “M*A*S*H” to become the most-watched program in U.S. television history.

      From ESPN.com:

      Nielsen estimated Monday that 106.5 million people watched Sunday’s Super Bowl. The “M*A*S*H” record was 105.97 million.

      The “M*A*S*H” record has proven as durable and meaningful in television as Babe Ruth’s record of 714 home runs was in baseball until topped by Hank Aaron. Ultimately, it may be hard to tell which program was really watched by more people. There’s a margin for error in such numbers, and Nielsen’s Monday estimate was preliminary, and could change with a more thorough look at data due Tuesday.

      “It’s significant for all of the members of the broadcasting community,” said Leslie Moonves, CBS Corp. CEO. “For anyone who wants to write that broadcasting is dead, 106 million people watched this program. You can’t find that anywhere else.”

      And people wonder why companies spend so much on one 30 second commercial during the Super Bowl. It’s incredibly hard to get that many people to tune into your product or brand at one given time, so companies have no problem shelling out millions for ads on Super Bowl Sunday.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL, Super Bowl, Television

      Will the Saints become a dynasty?

      February 8, 2010 /

      I know what you’re thinking: Great, the Saints win one Super Bowl and now the media wants to anoint them the Steelers of the 70s, the 49ers of the 80s or the Cowboys of the early 90s.

      Relax – I’m not doing that. But I bring the topic up because there’s a case to be made that the Saints have all the pieces in place to become a mini-dynasty this decade.

      Over the next couple weeks, the Saints will ensure that centerpiece Drew Brees finishes his career in New Orleans by giving him a very large contract extension. Whenever the time is right, they’ll also do the same with head coach Sean Payton and make sure that defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is happy where he’s at in order to keep their two playcallers intact for years to come as well.

      With those three vital pieces in place, the Saints could challenge for multiple Super Bowls and not be a one-year wonder. Continuity breeds success and considering they have a family-like atmosphere in their locker room, the team won’t have a hard sell on its hands in trying to bring free agents like Darren Sharper back to New Orleans next season.

      But as I’ve highlighted below (after the jump), they do have some huge hurdles to overcome if they want to build upon their success from the 2009-2010 season.

      Continue reading »

      Barstool Debates, NFL, Super Bowl

      Tebow’s Super Bowl ad hardly worth the stir

      February 8, 2010 /

      The most anticipated Super Bowl ad came and went on Sunday night without causing the stir many people thought it would. In fact, it’s safe to say that one could have seen it and still completely missed its message.

      Leading up to the Super Bowl, the conservative group Focus on the Family put together a 30 second ad starring Tim Tebow and his mother, in which the former Heisman Trophy winner’s mom talks about how she nearly lost him during her pregnancy. The commercial sparked debate before it was even broadcast because of its expected anti-abortion overtones.

      Here’s the ad:

      When I first heard about the ad, I thought it was going to be an in-your-face message speaking out against abortion. Instead, the ad was light – almost hokey even, and I thought it did its best to steer away from controversy. It makes you wonder what all the fuss was about before it aired. (Although I get why some people didn’t want it to be shown when they first heard about it.)

      On a related note, did anyone else feel as though the commercials for the Super Bowl this year were average at best? The laughs came and went for me after Betty White was trying to run a dig route over the middle of a tackle football game and got plastered. But even that one fizzled at the end.

      I must admit the Doritos samurai guy was pretty funny too, although anyone that had a full laugh come out of their mouth during that Bud Light auto-tune commercial featuring T-Pain needs to be beaten with a sack of dirty underwear. The same goes for that beaver ad.

      Super Bowl, Television, Video

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑