Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 683 of 1503)

      Phil Simms chats with The Scores Report

      October 7, 2009 /

      Here’s what many sports fans know about Phil Simms: He’s a Super Bowl winner, a Super Bowl MVP and now is a lead analyst for CBS’ sports team.

      But what sports fans might not know about Phil is that he’s also one hell of an interview.

      We were fortunate enough to chat with Phil recently about a host of topics, which included his work with the FedEx Air & Ground Players of the Week program, which starts every Tuesday morning throughout the NFL season and allows fans to vote for one player in each category through NFL.com/FedEX. FedEx will donate $1,000 to a local Safe Kids coalition in the name of each FedEx Air and FedEx Ground Player of the Week voted on by fans, so it’s definitely a worthy cause.

      We also couldn’t let Phil get off the phone without talking some football, which he was more than happy to do. He gave us his opinion on Brett Favre’s comeback, whether or not he would have played for a rival team (a la Favre) and what young quarterback (Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Mark Sanchez or Matthew Stafford) he would choose to start for him if he were a GM and head coach. His answer may surprise you.

      The Scores Report: Hi, this is Anthony.

      Phil Simms: Hey Anthony, this is Phil Simms.

      TSR: Hey Phil, how are you?

      PS: Good, bud.

      TSR: Good, I appreciate your sitting down and talking with me today.

      PS: Don’t be silly – thank you.

      TSR: Talk to me about the FedEx Air & Ground Players of the Week program that you guys are doing.

      PS: Well, I’ve been doing it for three years myself – six years for FedEx – and it’s about the fans voting for their favorite air and ground players each week. The nominees for this week are pretty easy: Brett Favre, David Garrard and Peyton Manning through the air, and Ronnie Brown, Matt Forte and Rashard Mendenhall on the ground. And what fans do is they go to NFL.com/FedEx, they vote, and those votes determine the winners. The two winners get $1,000 donated by FedEx to local Safe Kid coalition in their name and it goes for pedestrian safety, so it’s a great program and I’m really happy to be a part of it.

      TSR: How did you get involved in something like this, Phil?

      PS: Well, the people from FedEx came to me and asked me if I’d do it. And I had done a few things around schools with bike safety and pedestrian safety and it worked out well. So like I said, I’m real happy to be a part of it and it’s for a very good cause.

      Continue reading »

      Interviews, NFL

      Report: Braylon Edwards didn’t throw punch

      October 7, 2009 /

      The Newark Star-Ledger reports that Braylon Edwards wasn’t the person who threw the punch at Cleveland nightclub promoter Edward Givens in an incident that occurred early Monday morning.

      Edwards appeared to reach a breaking point under the first-year Browns coach Eric Mangini. He has been fined several times by Mangini and is one of several players to have filed a grievance with the league over the fines handed down to players, according to someone with knowledge of the situation but who is not authorized to speak publicly on the issue.

      Also, there’s speculation that Edwards is the player who was fined $1,701 for drinking a bottle of water in his hotel room without paying for it.

      As for the incident on Sunday, a member of Edwards’ entourage — not him — threw the punch, according to someone with knowledge of the situation but who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly about the incident.

      Okay, so who’s lying then? Givens said it was Edwards that specifically punched him. So unless it was a scrum and multiple punches were being thrown (which doesn’t sound like it was the case), then it would have been easy for Givens to single out Edwards as the puncher.

      That means either someone is covering up for Edwards or Givens is lying for whatever reason. (Maybe to make Edwards look bad since he’s a friend of LeBron?)

      Where are the Hardy Boys? We need a mystery solved…

      NFL

      Jorge Posada not pleased as Yankees head into ALDS

      October 7, 2009 /

      According to a report by the New York Daily News, Yankees catcher Jorge Posada is slightly miffed that Jose Molina will catch A.J. Burnett on Friday when the Bombers’ take on the Twins in the ALDS.

      “If A.J. is comfortable with Molina there’s not much I can do,” Posada said Tuesday after a workout at the Stadium, where he gave terse answers on the subject. “I just hope they go out there and win the game. That’s all I’ve got to say.”

      Joe Girardi told Posada Sunday of his decision to start Molina on Friday.

      “That was a decision that I made,” Girardi said. “As a manager you have to make some tough decisions. That was a very tough one.”
      Girardi decided that the comfort level of Burnett, who went 13-9 with a 4.04 ERA in his first season in pinstripes, was more important than Posada’s bat.

      “When a pitcher and a catcher get in a rhythm, you hate to break it up,” Girardi said. “That is kind of the feeling that we have going now. Jorge is our number one catcher. But in this situation, we just are going to choose to catch Molina.”

      You can’t fault Posada for being a little miffed given that he has nearly 100 playoff games under his belt behind the dish. But Molina has caught six of Burnett’s last seven starts and in those games A.J. is 3-1 and has held opponents to a .221 batting average. So of course Molina is going to start, especially considering the mini feud Posada and Burnett got into early in the season.

      Posada is doing the right thing though. He’s showing his displeasure with the decision, but he’s not causing a distraction by creating waves. He needs to concentrate on not allowing CC Sabathia fail in another postseason and let Molina deal with Burnett.

      MLB

      Tebow practices, but should he play?

      October 7, 2009 /

      ESPN.com is reporting that Florida quarterback Tim Tebow returned to practice on Tuesday for the first time since suffering a concussion two weeks ago in a win over Kentucky. But Tebow still hasn’t been medically cleared to play against LSU this Saturday night.

      The question now becomes: If Tebow isn’t cleared to play against LSU until Saturday, should Urban Meyer still play him?

      The obvious answer would be “hell yes – what are you an idiot?” But even though this is a SEC game for Florida, it doesn’t mean that the Gators absolutely need a win. They could still lose to Tigers (a West opponent), win the East, play for the SEC Championship and then make another appearance in the BSC title game. Remember, the BCS system rewards teams for getting their losses out of the way early.

      I’m not saying that this isn’t a big game for Florida because it is. What I’m saying is that risking Tebow’s health for this particular game isn’t worth it because the Gators could still accomplish their goals of winning the SEC and playing for a national title if they lose to LSU. Believe it or not, the bigger game for Florida is coming up at the end of the month when they host Georgia, which is an East opponent.

      If Tebow is medically cleared to play in the next day or two and he doesn’t suffer any setbacks, then the obvious decision is to start and play him against LSU. But if he isn’t ready to go until Saturday morning or afternoon, then Meyer should consider holding his best player out and giving him another week to rest. After all, the Gators can still play for a national title with one loss, but they can’t play for a national title without Tim Tebow.

      Besides, Florida’s defense is ranked No. 1 in the nation and LSU’s offense has struggled mightily in the early going. The Gators could still beat the Tigers in Baton Rouge without Tebow, which is another reason why holding him back if he’s no 100% makes sense.

      NFL

      Crabtree, 49ers agree to deal

      October 7, 2009 /

      According to Jay Glazer of FOX Sports, the 49ers and Michael Crabtree have agreed to a six-year deal after his agent Eugene Parker had a face-to-face meeting with the team’s vice president of football operations Paraag Marathe on Wednesday morning.

      Contract details weren’t immediately released, but Glazer reports that the deal can be voided after five years if Crabtree has “two very good years among his first four.” If he doesn’t, he’ll make $4 million in the sixth year.

      If the final contract numbers are similar to the Niners’ first offer of five years, $20 million with $16 million guaranteed, then this was a massive fail by Parker. In the end, he essentially advised Crabtree to holdout for all of training camp and four weeks of the season only to receive the same contract that he would have had if he signed in the offseason. Only now, Crabtree gave up four-plus games of his career and is now behind the eight ball in trying to get that final year voided.

      This will go down as one of the all-time agent blunders. The arrogance of Parker to think that he could command more money than the draft slot his client was taken in is outright laughable. And if other athletes were paying attention to how this all went down then Parker also cost himself future clients with his stupidity.

      Moving forward, Crabtree probably won’t see the field for the next couple weeks as he attempts to get caught up on the playbook and back into playing shape. He probably won’t make an impact in his first year, which is another thing he can thank Parker for.

      Eugene Parker cost Michel Crabtree, at the very least, half of his first season. The kid could have gotten better advice from a dead squirrel lying on the side of the highway.

      Crabtree’s fantasy value? In most leagues, he doesn’t have much. Rookie wide receivers don’t usually make a splash their first year, and Crabtree has missed all of training camp and the first four games of the regular season, so he is WAY behind. That said, if you’re in a keeper league with big rosters, Crabtree does have some value. If you have a place to stash him and he becomes a decent threat for the 49ers late in the season, then he would be an asset heading into the summer. Obviously, Crabtree has a lot of value in dynasty leagues.

      NFL

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