Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 570 of 1503)

      Belichick blames Reliant Stadium for Welker’s injury

      January 5, 2010 /

      Bill Belichick is blaming Wes Welker’s torn MCL and ACL on the poor field conditions at Houston’s Reliant Stadium.

      From Yahoo! Sports:

      Welker, who led the NFL with 123 receptions, suffered a serious left knee injury in a 34-27 loss to the Texans on Sunday on what Belichick called “one of the worst fields I’ve seen.”

      He did not elaborate Tuesday on remarks he made a day earlier during his weekly appearance on WEEI radio. Belichick said the field was inconsistent— spongy in parts and hard in others—causing players to get a different feel with each step.
      Belichick said a lot of non-contact injuries like Welker’s occur on such surfaces.

      Asked several times about the field on Tuesday, Belichick said he is focusing on Sunday’s home playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens.

      Come on Bill, you can do better than that. Just say something clichéd like, “Injuries happen in football,” and move on. Don’t blame it on the field to deflect some of the blame off yourself for having Welker playing in a semi-meaningless game in the first place.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      Red Sox reach agreement with Adrian Beltre

      January 5, 2010 /

      According to a report by ESPN.com, the Red Sox have reached a tentative agreement with free agent third baseman Adrian Beltre on a one-year, guaranteed $10 million contract.

      The deal will pay Beltre a base salary of $9 million in 2010. It includes a $5 million player option for 2011 and a $1 million buyout, and is contingent upon Beltre passing a physical exam, the sources said.

      Beltre, a 12-year veteran, batted .265 with eight home runs and 44 RBIs for the Mariners last season, in which he was limited to 111 games due to injuries. From 2006-08, his average numbers were .270, 25 homers, 88 RBIs and 149 games played.

      The BoSox had to do something to boost their offense after losing Jason Bay to the Mets via free agency. Although he struggled in 2007, Beltre remains a solid defender, but he hit a very sub par .265 last season while battling a testicle injury. He might benefit in hitting in a better lineup coming over from Seattle, but it was probably wise that Boston only invested in a one-year deal.

      MLB

      Cushing named defensive rookie of the year

      January 5, 2010 /

      Texans’ linebacker Brian Cushing was named the 2009 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.

      From ESPN.com:

      Brian Cushing has become the second Houston Texans linebacker in four seasons to win The Associated Press NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award.

      The tackling machine from USC, drafted 15th overall last April, is a runaway winner in balloting by a nationwide panel of 50 sportswriters and broadcasters who cover the league. Cushing received 39 votes, easily beating Buffalo safety Jairus Byrd, who had six.

      Cushing was all over the field this year, racking up 134 tackles, four interceptions and two forced fumbles. He made an impact the moment he got to Houston and he seemingly has a very bright future ahead of him.

      I do wonder though, had Byrd finished the season with a couple more picks (he missed the final two games of the season due to an injury) if the voting would have been closer. He tied Darren Sharper, Charles Woodson and Asante Samuel for the league-lead in interceptions this season with nine; would he have closed the gap between he and Cushing had he led the league in picks?

      Either way, both rookies (as well as the Redskins’ Brian Orakpo) had outstanding seasons.

      NFL

      Experience carries Boise State in the end

      January 5, 2010 /

      Maybe we should have seen it coming from the start: There was TCU, a college football juggernaut this season, wound as tight as a rubber band ball and failing miserably to shake the nerves.

      Maybe we should have known that the 2010 Fiesta Bowl was going to play out exactly how it did. Boise State, the more experienced team, managed to limit its mistakes and stay within itself on its way to a 17-10 win on Monday night. TCU, a team playing in its first BCS bowl game, looked incredibly nervous from the start and seemingly couldn’t get out of its own way for four quarters.

      Chris Petersen’s Broncos had been there before after shocking Oklahoma in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl. They knew what playing in a BCS bowl was all about and they executed that way. They were the more settled team and they parlayed patience into a 7-0 lead when TCU made the first mistake of the game when Brandyn Thompson picked off Andy Dalton and returned it 51 yards for a touchdown.

      What’s interesting is that wasn’t the best Boise State can look. Kellen Moore, who statistically was the best quarterback in the nation coming into the game, wasn’t particularly crisp and an offense that is predicated on consistency and rhythm looked out of sync from the start.

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      College Football

      TCU fails to prove that they deserved a crack at a national title

      January 5, 2010 /

      I wanted TCU to be successfully – I really did. I kept waiting for its high-powered offense to settle in and start lighting up the scoreboard like it had all season, and for the Frogs to make a definitive statement on national television that they deserved to at least be in the national title discussion.

      But it never happened.

      TCU’s 17-10 loss to Boise State in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl left little doubt that Glendale was all the Frogs deserved this year. Their No. 1 rated defense was good, but not great as Kellen Moore and the Broncos’ offense routinely moved the ball into TCU territory. Andy Dalton looked nervous the entire night and the same could be said for his offensive line and receivers.

      The Frogs failed on many levels last night. They failed to move the ball, they failed to prove that they deserved better and they failed to entertain. I was one of the many who watched them dismantle Utah earlier in the year and think to myself, “Damn, this team is special. This team has something and it can contend with the big boys in the SEC, Big 12, etc.”

      But they can’t, or at least, not based on what they showed last night. Special teams score more than 10 points in BCS bowl games when they averaged 35-plus during the regular season. Special teams have quarterbacks that can consistently throw the ball vertical with success. Special teams have receivers that can make plays and make routine catches in crunch time.

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      College Football

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