Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 93 of 1503)

      Kevin Kolb-to-Cardinals a slam dunk?

      May 19, 2011 /
      Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb rolls out to pass against the San Francisco 49ers during the first quarter of their NFL football game in San Francisco, California October 10, 2010. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

      After asking ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio what his “gut feel” is on where Kevin Kolb will end up next year, SI’s Peter King tweets that the Cardinals are “a slam dunk as much as you can have a slam dunk” to land Kolb.

      Here’s the actual tweet:

      Asked Sal gut feel where Kolb ends up. “Arizona … a slam dunk as much as you can have a slam dunk.” But only if Phl likes compensation.

      The thing that will determine Philadelphia’s compensation is what the market will be like for Kolb once the lockout lifts. If Seattle, Arizona and Miami are all interested in Kolb, then the Eagles can pit the three teams against each other and drive up the price. But if the Cardinals are the only team that’s seriously interested, then Philly may have to settle for less than what they’re expecting in exchange for the veteran QB.

      What the Seahawks need to do is drive up the price whether they’re interested or not. If Paolantonio’s “gut feel” is right and Kolb-to-Arizona is a slam dunk, then Seattle needs to make sure the Cardinals (their rivals in the NFC West) pay top dollar for the quarterback. They can always renege and pull their offer off the table if the Eagles get close to accepting it. (That may piss off Philadelphia but hey, the NFL is a business first and foremost.)

      Where Kolb lands will be the question of the offseason once the owners and players stop d*cking fans around with this labor dispute.

      External Sports, NFL

      Will John Beck be the Redskins’ starting quarterback in 2011?

      May 18, 2011 /
      Washington Redskins quarterback John Beck warms up for the game against the New York Giants at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland on January 2, 2010. UPI/Roger L. Wollenberg

      Rotoworld has two interesting tidbits today on the quarterback situation in Washington:

      John Beck is expected to enter training camp as the Redskins’ starting quarterback, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

      “It will be his job to lose,” said Schefter, who is tight with coach Mike Shanahan after the two collaborated on a book in the late ’90s. Per Schefter, the Redskins bypassed QBs in the draft because they believe Beck is better than most of the group that was available in the middle of the first round. Beck doesn’t have a touchdown to show for his four NFL starts. He completed 27-of-48 passes (56.2 percent) for 300 yards (6.2 YPA) with a 2:2 TD-to-INT ratio against backups in last year’s preseason. Former Dolphins coach Cam Cameron has given up on Beck twice now, which leaves Shanahan as the 30-year-old’s lone backer.

      And:

      Free agent Rex Grossman appeared on ESPN 980 Radio Wednesday and said he is under the assumption that he will re-sign with the Redskins.

      “I’m assuming that’s what’s going to happen,” he said. Grossman added that OC Kyle Shanahan and QBs coach Matt LaFleur personally asked him to throw with the Redskins’ receivers during the lockout. For now, we consider Grossman likely to be back in Washington to compete with John Beck. Most reporters covering the situation believe Beck will be ahead on the depth chart.

      Am I the only one flabbergasted that people believe John Beck will be the Redskins’ starting quarterback next season? I get that this is all just speculation at this point, but I can’t be the only one who is raising an eyebrow to Mike Shanahan’s (potenital) madness here, right?

      Beck isn’t without talent, but he didn’t exactly set the world on fire in Miami and I’m wondering what Shanahan sees in him to make him believe that he can start in Washington. I figured that Grossman, who Shanahan benched Donovan McNabb for last season, would be the favorite heading into training camp when the lockout lifts in the summer of 2032 – not Beck. (Assuming Grossman re-signs with the team, of course.)

      But hey, what to do I know? Maybe Beck is the best fit for Shanahan’s offense and he just needed to find the right situation to succeed. Clearly the Redskins believe in him or else they would have drafted a signal caller in April, although they still could sign a veteran free agent like Vince Young when/if he becomes available later this summer.

      Still, does anyone else envision Shanahan throwing a whole bunch of mediocre talent into a mixing bowl and just going week-by-week in terms of whom he starts at quarterback next year? Because I sure can…

      External Sports, NFL

      Jim Leyland: Interleague play “totally unfair”

      May 18, 2011 /
      Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland (R) and coach Gene Lamont watch batting practice before their spring training game against the Washington Nationals in Viera, Florida March 9, 2010. REUTERS/Phelan M. Ebenhack (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

      Tigers’ skipper Jim Leyland recently cried to the Detroit Free Press that interleague play is “totally unfair” and that Major League Baseball “out to look into” the gigantic inconvenience.

      “I’ll probably get chewed out for (saying) it,” he said, “but I think a lot of people feel the same way.”

      What prompted Leyland to rail against interleague play before it begins this season isn’t the three-game series the Tigers will play in Pittsburgh this coming weekend. That’s harmless enough.

      “For three games, that’s OK,” he said.

      But he takes issue with the back-to-back road series the Tigers will play in Colorado, then against the Los Angeles Dodgers next month.

      Leyland said it’s “ridiculous” and “totally unfair” for an American League club to have to play consecutive series in National League ballparks.

      “And that you can quote me on,” he said. “They ought to look into it.”

      The bigger picture is that he thinks it’s unfair for A.L. clubs to have to change their style of play for that long — meaning no designated hitter.

      It means teams with productive DHs, such as the Tigers with Victor Martinez, have to scramble their lineups for six games.

      Oh, the poor Tigers. They have to scramble for six games…out of 162. How could Major League Baseball do this to its teams? What horror. What cruelty. What injustice.

      Come on. I’ve always liked Leyland and I love when he speaks his mind. But we’re talking about six measly games out of a 162-game season here. Interleague is fun for some fans and if it means that a team like the Tigers has to cope without a DH for six games then so be it. It’s not like the league is asking AL teams to play in their underwear and with one arm tied behind their backs.

      I know some playoff races come down to one or two games in the standings, but using the term “totally unfair” seems a tad extreme here. (Especially for a team like the Tigers who have played the freaking Pirates for three straight years.)

      External Sports, MLB

      Sugar Ray Leonard says he was sexually abused by former coach

      May 18, 2011 /

      In his new autobiography due out next month, boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard says that he was sexually abused by a coach as a young boxer in the early 1970s. The New York Times has the details.

      Cast member Sugar Ray Leonard attends the premiere of the film “The Fighter” at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles on December 6, 2010. UPI/Phil McCarten

      Leonard writes that when the coach accompanied him as a 15-year-old and another young fighter to a boxing event in Utica, N.Y., in 1971, he had the teenagers take a bath in a tub of hot water and Epsom salts while he sat on the other side of the bathroom. They suspected “something a bit inappropriate” was occurring but did not want to question a strong male authority figure.

      Several years later, Leonard describes sitting in a car in a deserted parking lot across from a recreation center, listening intently as the same coach, said to be in his late 40s, explained how much a gold medal at the 1976 Olympics would mean to his future.

      Leonard was flattered, filled with hope, as any young athlete would be. But he writes: “Before I knew it, he had unzipped my pants and put his hand, then mouth, on an area that has haunted me for life. I didn’t scream. I didn’t look at him. I just opened the door and ran.”

      He adds that when he first decided to discuss the incident in the book, which is written with Michael Arkush, he offered a version in which the abuser stopped before there was actual contact.

      “That was painful enough,” Leonard writes. “But last year, after watching the actor Todd Bridges bare his soul on Oprah’s show about how he was sexually abused as a kid, I realized I would never be free unless I revealed the whole truth, no matter how much it hurt.”

      I couldn’t imagine being haunted by something like that and I think it’s admirable that Leonard was able to discuss something that he kept so secretive in a book that will be read by millions. Maybe sharing the traumatic experience will help him cope with what happened and help others who have gone through something similar. Never underestimate the power other people can have on someone’s life.

      It’s sickening that adults would take advantage of their influence over young people so that they may satisfy their desires. These people should be locked up.

      Boxing, External Sports

      Latest round of NFL talks fail – no free agency until after July 4?

      May 18, 2011 /
      Oakland Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha (L) breaks up a pass intended for Seattle Seahawks receiver Golden Tate during the first quarter of their NFL football game in Oakland, California October 31, 2010. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

      ESPN’s Adam Schefter is predicting that free agency will not begin in the NFL until at least after the July 4 holiday writes Rotoworld.com.

      The next leverage point is the 8th Circuit’s June 3 hearing on the appeal of Judge Susan Nelson’s decision to lift the lockout. The 8th Circuit’s language this week suggests the Players will lose that appeal, at which point they will have to take a good, hard look in the mirror. ESPN’s NFL business analyst, Andrew Brandt, believes there is now a chance of a new CBA through mediation, “hopefully made by mid-to-late July, setting up the start of football.”

      The owners and players wrapped up another round of court-ordered mediation on Tuesday evening without coming to a new agreement. There was supposedly some progress made, but neither side is sharing details so once again, the media and fans are left in the dark. (I’m not complaining about being left in the dark – dark me up all you want. Just give me some f**king football next season.)

      As Rotoworld points out, it appears as though the players want to stick with litigation until the bitter end, even though it’s apparent they’re going to lose on June 3 when the owners win their appeal. At that point, here’s hoping both sides wise up and realize that negotiation is, and always has been, the only way that a new deal will get done.

      External Sports, NFL

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