Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 849 of 1503)

      Quinn to be Browns starter in Week 1?

      May 12, 2009 /

      According to a report by Tony Grossi of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Brady Quinn is expected to beat out Derek Anderson this summer and emerge as the Browns’ starting quarterback for Week 1 next season.

      I recently spoke with someone I will identify as a league source. This person does not work for an NFL team but works with NFL teams and has a prominent name.

      I asked, “Whom do you think will wind up starting at quarterback for the Browns?”

      Without hesitation, the answer was, “Brady Quinn.”

      The person went on to say that the Browns had two “very subtantial” trade offers for Quinn — each involved a No. 1 draft pick — and declined to trade him.

      The source would not speculate on whether a trade of Quinn might have been blocked by owner Randy Lerner. The source believes that there will be a true “open competition” between Quinn and Derek Anderson and that Quinn will prevail.

      The source does not believe that newly acquired ex-Jet Brett Ratliff will be thrown into the open competition. The source’s take on Ratliff: “Eric Mangini likes having him around because he feels comfortable with him and he knows the offense.”

      I don’t doubt that the Browns could be leaning towards Quinn, but you’re not going to hear Mangini say it. All coaches like to breed competition and Quinn won’t be handed the job, especially not with Anderson already being paid a $5 million roster bonus plus his $1.45 million base salary. Chances are the Browns are going to have both QBs on the roster next year and although Quinn might be the front-runner at this point, he’s going to have to earn the starting gig.

      NFL

      Adam Carolla throws out first pitch at Dodgers game…and the second, and the third…

      May 12, 2009 /

      It never ceases to amaze me how bad celebrities are throwing out the first pitch at baseball games.

      Case in point, Adam Carolla at a recent Dodgers game:

      When told of Carolla’s performance during the first pitch ceremonies, Dodgers’ manager Joe Torre shrugged and said, “It couldn’t have been any worse than Juan Pierre’s throws home.”

      Humor, MLB, Video

      Clemens once again refutes steroid allegations

      May 12, 2009 /

      While appearing on “Mike & Mike in the Morning” on ESPN Radio on Tuesday, Roger Clemens bashed the new book “American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime,” written by four New York Daily News reporters, and once again denied being injected with HGH by former trainer Brian McNamee.

      When asked about the physical evidence reportedly handed over by McNamee to federal investigators and whether it had his DNA on it, Clemens said “Impossible, because he’s never given me any [performance-enhancing drugs], it’s as simple as that. He’s never given me HGH or any kind of performance-enhancing drug, so it’s impossible.”

      Later in the interview, he said McNamee “… never injected me with HGH or steroids.” Pointing out that his family has a history of heart conditions, Clemens said “It would be suicidal for me to even think about taking any of these dangerous drugs.”

      Asked about Pettitte’s testimony that Clemens had told him he used HGH, Clemens repeated a line that he uttered during his congressional testimony: “Andy misremembers.” He said he’d only talked to Pettitte a few times since then because of the legal issues.

      “I still consider Andy a friend,” Clemens said.

      One of the biggest crocks in Clemens’ testimony is his claim that ‘Andy misremembered.’ I find it incredibly hard to believe that Andy Pettitte (or anyone for that matter) would have a conversation about HGH and not remember that one of his friends and teammates told him that he had taken the drug.

      If I was having a beer with a buddy of mine and he confessed that he was taking HGH, had cheated on his girlfriend, had stabbed a panda, had stolen a car or whatever, I would remember the pertinent details. It’s not like that kind of information would go in one ear and out the other, you know?

      Clemens is going to get his in the end, because McNamee has cooperated with investigators this entire time. Whether or not Clemens eventually gets busted for lying depends on the evidence, however.

      MLB

      Peter King loves himself some Jay Cutler, Bears

      May 12, 2009 /

      Peter King of SI.com ranked all 32 teams in the NFL based on how they look after minicamps wrapped up and he had a bit of a surprise in his top 5.

      4. Chicago
      I may not like how Jay Cutler babied his way out of Denver, but by Labor Day, the football world will have forgotten, and by Thanksgiving, the most popular baby name in Chicagoland will be Jay. (Unless it’s Jerry, as in Angelo, the man who stuck his neck out and made this deal.) Cutler’s a big-time player, and I suspect we’ll find out over the next few years if he has nerves of steel and can win the big game.

      Now, there’s two things we don’t know about Cutler and this offense. There’s not a great receiver in the house and no promise of one on the way (Angelo should have guaranteed Torry Holt more money to get him to come to the Windy City). So Cutler’s going to have to make do with the Devin Hesters and Rashied Davises, apparently. (Not that there’s anything wrong with Hester. But he should be a third receiver, using his speed to game-break.)

      Two: How good of a leader can Cutler be, coming in with the knock that he chafes on some teammates. It’ll be interesting to see if he meshes well with Brian Urlacher; I don’t take for granted that he will. Because of the Cutler factor and because I don’t love the defense the way I did two or three years ago, I didn’t want to leap the Bears over so many other teams. But then I went back and looked at their 2008 numbers. The bedrock stats for a good defense, I’ve always thought, are opponents yards per rush, turnovers forced and opponents’ yards per pass. The yards per rush, 3.4, was excellent, third-best in the league. Turnovers forced, 32, was very good, second in the league. And yards per pass play by foes, 6.20, was eighth in the league. All good. If Cutler can lead an offense that puts up 400 points, only a point and a fraction more than a year ago, the Bears should win 12.

      People seem to forget to mention Greg Olsen when they crap on the Bears’ receiving corps. Olsen wasn’t drafted a couple years ago to block – he’s the best receiver Chicago has on its roster. He has outstanding hands, great athletic ability and is fast enough to line up in the slot. Offensive coordinator Ron Turner just needs to find more ways to use Olsen in the passing game.

      Another thing to remember is that Earl Bennett played with Cutler at Vanderbilt and the Bears are extremely high on the second year wideout, despite him going o’fer in the catch department last year. The knock on Bennett is that he struggled learning the offense as a rookie and the Bears just couldn’t get him onto the field. If Cutler can help his old Vandy teammate pick up the offense, Bennett could be a wild card for the Bears.

      I wouldn’t put the Bears ahead of the Colts or Eagles as King did, but there’s a ton of optimism in Chicago these days.

      NFL

      Manny had elevated testosterone level

      May 12, 2009 /

      According to a report by ESPN.com, Dodgers’ slugger Manny Ramirez had synthetic testosterone in his body when he was tested this past spring.

      Ultimately, Ramirez was brought down by his own private medical records — records that the Major League Baseball Players’ Association turned over on his behalf, as required under the sport’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

      The Ramirez saga, as described by three sources with direct knowledge of the case, began to play out in spring training when the 36-year-old outfielder provided a urine sample for testing.
      The test came back showing elevated levels of testosterone. Every individual naturally produces testosterone and a substance called epitestosterone, typically at a ratio of 1:1. In Major League Baseball, if the ratio comes in at 4:1 during testing, a player is flagged. In Ramirez’s case, his ratio was between 4:1 and 10:1, according to one source.

      Within the records was a prescription written for the drug human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) — No. 55 on the list of banned performance-enhancing substances in the policy. The drug is mainly used for female fertility issues, but it is best known among male steroid users as a substance that can help kick-start the body’s production of natural testosterone, which is stymied when using synthetic testosterone (aka steroids).

      The biggest question left unanswered in all of this is how long Manny was taking PEDs. Did he start in Boston? Did he start last offseason when he and Scott Boras were trying to get him a long-term contract? Barry Bonds started using when his body was falling apart, so Manny could have started using PEDs when he got to L.A., although it’s doubtful. Either way, we can’t come to any conclusions on when he started using – we can only speculate.

      But one thing is for sure – the smoking gun will eventually come out. It did with Bonds, Michael Vick, Roger Clemens (well, sort of – if you believe Brian McNamee it came out) and Alex Rodriguez. Eventually some reporter stumbles onto the most damning evidence of them all, and I’m sure Manny’s situation won’t be the exception.

      MLB

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