Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 979 of 1503)

      Buccaneers fire Jon Gruden, GM Bruce Allen

      January 16, 2009 /

      In a rather shocking move, the Buccaneers have fired head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen.

      Jon Gruden“We will be forever grateful to Jon for bringing us the Super Bowl title, and we thank Bruce for his contributions to our franchise,” Buccaneers co-chairman Joel Glazer said in a statement. “However after careful consideration, we feel that this decision is in the best interest of our organization moving forward.”

      The Buccaneers were tied for first place in the NFC South heading into December, but finished with losses to Carolina and Atlanta on the road and San Diego and Oakland at home, where they had been 6-0. One more win would have landed a NFC wild-card berth.

      The 9-7 record this season gave Gruden consecutive winning records for the first time since arriving in Tampa Bay, yet still left the Bucs out of the playoffs for the fourth time in six years.

      The Glazer family fired Tony Dungy and used four high draft picks — two No. 1s and two No. 2s — and $8 million cash to pry Gruden away from the Raiders following the 2001 season. He led Tampa Bay to its only NFL title the following year, but the Bucs haven’t won a playoff game since the Super Bowl appearance.

      Gruden, who had three years remaining on a contract extension he received after winning the NFC South in 2007, leaves as the winningest coach in franchise history at 60-57, including the postseason.

      But since going 15-4, including the Super Bowl, in his first season with the Bucs, Gruden went 45-53 and made quick exits from the playoffs after winning division titles in 2005 and 2007.

      I don’t get it. I don’t get why the Broncos fired Mike Shanahan and I don’t get this move by the Bucs – or at least, not the Gruden firing. Allen never supplied Gruden with enough quality personnel to win after 2002. Gruden essentially got by with mediocre offensive talent and Allen never solved the quarterback quandary. But maybe I’m laying blame at the wrong feet. Maybe Gruden had just as much involvement as Allen did in choosing the personnel and that’s why both of them were handed their pink slips.

      According to NFL Network’s Adam Schefter, new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris is the favorite to replace Gruden, while Director of Pro Personnel Mark Dominik is apparently set to replace Allen.

      With the Broncos, Lions, Browns and possibly Rams’ (Jason Garrett is the leading candidate) head coaching vacancies filled, it’ll be interesting to see if Gruden has to sit out a year before getting his next head coaching gig. Unless the Jets bring him in for an interview or another head coach is set to get the axe, it’s doubtful Gruden will find work in ’09. (Although, he could always become a coordinator or assistant for a year just to keep his foot in the door.)

      NFL

      Peter King thinks it’ll be an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl

      January 16, 2009 /

      Peter King of SI.com made his predictions for this Sunday’s games and thinks it’ll be an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl.

      Hines Ward• The longer the week goes, the more reason I find to like Arizona. The defense has been reborn in January, the players have perfected the Rodney Dangerfield no-respect rant, Larry Fitzgerald is playing like Superman, and they’ll be home, inside their weather-controlled dome. However, what this pick comes down to is my late-season belief in Donovan McNabb … 217 yards passing in the Meadowlands wind tunnel last week, 68-percent passing in Minnesota’s noise machine the week before, and a 9-to-1 touchdown-to-interception differential in the five games since Andy Reid pulled the plug on him in Baltimore. And though I trust the Arizona defense to stop the Eagle run, I trust McNabb to make the right decisions and move the Eagles consistently against Arizona.

      On the other side, I don’t think Kurt Warner will have the time to throw that he’s had in his first two playoff games, which means he probably will have to throw more checkdowns than he likes. The Eagles linebackers ate up the checkdowns against the Giants last week. McNabb’s out for redemption, whether he says it or not, and he’ll get it near his winter home in the desert. Philadelphia 24, Arizona 19.

      • As a reporter, or a fan, when you get to the big games, you just hope both teams come in healthy so when the ball’s kicked off, you can say, “Let the best man win.” In this game, I’m afraid it’s about the healthiest team winning. The Steelers’ running game has come alive with a healthy Willie Parker gashing the Browns and Chargers for 262 yards on 50 carries in his last two starts. And Roethlisberger has made a real alternative out of Santonio Holmes in the passing game, so he now has three guys — Holmes, Heath Miller, Hines Ward — he trusts implicitly when he throws.

      I fear the Ravens will have to play the pass with Fabian Washington and Frank Walker — good, hard-trying guys but not shutdown corners — playing most of the snaps at corner with Chris McAlister long-gone and Samari Rolle likely out with a thigh injury. Two huge Ravens in this postseason, McClain and Terrell Suggs, will either be out or severely limited with injuries. I loved the Ravens two weeks ago. I still love their gumption, but I don’t think that’s enough to beat the hottest team playing and playing at home. Pittsburgh 20, Baltimore 13.

      Peter obviously saw my predictions for this weekend and went the opposite. Smart man.

      Comment fodder: Who wins this week?

      NFL

      MMA Review for Friday, January 16

      January 16, 2009 /

      BJ PennHere’s a weekly rundown of MMA content from Ben Goldstein of CagePotato.com:

      – Former UFC heavyweight Jeff Monson was charged with “malicious mischief” after he was photographed spraying an anarchy symbol on the Washington State capitol building. (That’s frowned upon, apparently.) He faces up to ten years in prison.

      – “UFC Primetime” debuted Wednesday night on Spike TV. The slickly-produced three-part documentary series focuses on the rivalry between lightweight champion BJ Penn and welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, leading up to their superfight on January 31st in Las Vegas.

      – Exiled from the U.S. because of a steroid charge, Brazilian heavyweight Antonio Silva may soon be fighting Aleksander Emelianenko in Japan. He’s also not the biggest fan of Kimbo Slice.

      – We’d let sexy jiu-jitsu champion Kyra Gracie choke us out any day.

      – T-shirt powerhouse Affliction will hold their second MMA show next Saturday in Anaheim, featuring a kick-ass main event. But will anybody be watching?

      – Newly-crowned UFC light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans may have to defend his belt against former champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson after just a ten-week layoff. It would be the first time in UFC history that two African-American fighters fought for a title.

      – “UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson” goes down tomorrow in Dublin, Ireland. CagePotato.com will be liveblogging the pay-per-view broadcast beginning at 3 p.m. ET. For a preview of the action, check out this rundown of the three marquee matchups, these profiles on the five fighters who will be stepping into the Octagon for the first time, and some helpful betting advice.
      Ben vs. Ben: UFC 93 Edition
      UFC 93 New Guys
      UFC 93 Gambling Addiction Enabler

      Mixed Martial Arts

      Yankees want taxpayers to chip in for new stadium

      January 16, 2009 /

      The Yankees are reaching out to New York tax payers to help cover the cost of their brand new stadium, which is set to open this season.

      New Yankee StadiumBut the same team that was so generous with its players now wants New York taxpayers to be even more generous than they already have been in helping fund for a stadium built for the singular purpose of making the Yankees even more money.

      The Yankees are going back hat-in-hand this week to ask the city for another $259 million in tax-exempt bonds on top of the $940 million in similar bonds they’ve already gotten for the new stadium, saying the extra money is needed, among other things, to pay for a state-of-the-art big screen and to properly finish off the stadium’s luxury suites.

      Now I’m no economist, but doesn’t something seem a little off here?

      Just weeks after committing some $423.5 million for Sabathia, Teixeira and A.J. Burnett, the Yankees need to float nearly that much in bonds at taxpayer expense just to finish the stadium? Couldn’t they reach out to their new players and get a loan from them instead?

      Yankees president Randy Levine insisted Wednesday in a contentious hearing that the team is paying for its own stadium and that grandstanding politicians are to blame for even making an issue out of the latest request. Although he’s right about the issue becoming a political, er, football, the fact remains that the city of New York and its taxpayers are heavily subsidizing the stadium, too.

      They’re hardly setting a precedent. Since the Baltimore Orioles soaked taxpayers for the first retro stadium, Camden Yards, in 1992, baseball owners have managed to con the public in 17 other cities for new parks of their own. In almost all cases, the majority of the money spent on these new stadiums has come from taxes or fees imposed for just that purpose.

      In the case of Yankee Stadium, it will be the Yankees paying off the bonds. But because they’re tax free, it means the bonds will carry lower interest rates and the team will avoid spending tens of millions of dollars it would have otherwise had to pay on the borrowed money.

      When everything is included, it adds up pretty quick. Figures released by the city’s Independent Budget Office tallied a whopping total public subsidy at more than $500 million, with another quarter billion dollars or so for the Mets’ new stadium in Queens.

      Like the writer, I don’t live in New York so I can’t be outraged over the fact that taxpayers have to chip in to help with the cost of the Yankees’ new stadium. And it’s hardly fair to criticize only the Yankees for doing this when 17 other teams are doing the same thing.

      But in a time of economic hardship, this doesn’t seem right. Baseball needs a cap. If teams like the Yankees didn’t spend millions of dollars on free agents every year, maybe they could foot the entire bill for a new stadium.

      MLB

      Rosenhaus shoots down idea of T.O. being released

      January 16, 2009 /

      Ed Werder of ESPN.com reported on Thursday that the Cowboys were entertaining the idea of releasing receiver Terrell Owens sometime this offseason. But T.O.’s agent Drew Rosenhaus thinks that idea is ridiculous.

      Drew RosenhausAgent Drew Rosenhaus definitely isn’t sweating the speculation about the Cowboys cutting his most famous client. He completely dismissed the possibility that T.O. has cashed his final check from Jerry Jones.

      “It’s not going to happen,” Rosenhaus said on WQAM Radio in Miami. “The reason why they got rid of Pacman is because Pacman has terrible off-the-field problems, and the guy just simply can’t play anymore. He’s just not that good.

      “Terrell’s never had off-the-field problems, and he’s been one of the greatest players ever. And they just gave him a monster contract. I mean, they just gave him a huge extension before the season.

      He’s not going anywhere.”

      Rosenhaus might be right about T.O. returning to Valley Ranch. But T.O. and Pacman have more in common than Rosenhaus wants to admit, although you don’t have to worry about T.O. getting arrested.

      Like Pacman, T.O.’s performance might not justify the distractions he creates anymore. That’s what the Cowboys front office needs to determine.

      Rosenhaus makes good points but what else is an agent going to say? That there’s a major possibility one his clients isn’t wanted anymore? Not a chance.

      In the end, I don’t think Jerry Jones would ever go through with releasing T.O. Jones has a new stadium ready to open and he needs players like Owens on the field to put butts in the seats. Plus Jones likes to take on semi-dysfunctional (or fully dysfunctional in the case of Pacman Jones) players and make them into winners. So Rosenhaus is probably right – Owens will be in a Cowboy uniform again next season.

      NFL

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