Category: External Sports (Page 148 of 821)

Are the owners using blood testing as a bargaining chip?

May 9, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

The New York Times is reporting that the NFL has talked to the World Anti-Doping Agency about possibly overseeing testing of players for performance-enhancing drugs if a federal appeals court forces the league to end the lockout.

That could even eventually include blood tests for human growth hormone, which have never been administered to N.F.L. players but which the league has in recent years said it wants to include in the next collective bargaining agreement, the official said.
The N.F.L. and the players union have resisted third-party administration of drug testing, the protocol and penalties of which were negotiated as part of the collective bargaining agreement.
But without an agreement in place, and with the decertified union unable to negotiate on behalf of players, the N.F.L. would be able to unilaterally impose a drug-testing program and penalties — much as it could impose rules related to the salary cap and free agency — although it could be subject to challenge by players in court. But the N.F.L. contends that without a union to provide checks and balances, a third party overseeing the program may be necessary for credibility and transparency.

Does anyone else get the sense that the NFL is trying to use blood testing (which the players have been adamantly opposed to for years) as a bargaining chip for if/when they lose in court and the lockout is lifted?

“Hi players…yes, that was a nice victory in court. Well played – you got us. Just to let you know though: WADA will be testing everyone’s blood for HGH from here on out…What’s that? Sure, we’d love to return to the bargaining tables and hammer something out. Great suggestion – we hadn’t thought of that.”

Of course, Roger Goodell has been trying to beef up the league’s testing policy for a while, so it may be a tad extreme to suggest that the owners are using WADA as a negotiating tactic. I truly believe that Goodell does want to ensure that the game is clean, so it’s not a stretch to think that blood testing has nothing to do with the labor dispute.

Still, the owners and players are in a battle and I wouldn’t put it past either side to use what they have in terms of bargaining chips. And if the players truly loathe the idea of blood testing, then it’s in the owners’ best interest to use that to their advantage.

External Sports, NFL

2011 NFL lockout NFL drug testing NFL HGH Testing NFL lockout

Where do the Lakers go from here?

May 9, 2011 / John Paulsen

Even before the final buzzer sounded in the Mavs’ Game 4 sweep, fans and pundits alike were talking about what the Lakers do now that their quest for a three-peat is over.

We (think we) know this: Phil Jackson won’t be coaching the Lakers next season.

The first step is to find a coach that meets Kobe Bryant’s approval, because he’s still the centerpiece of the franchise. Brian Shaw’s name has been mentioned, but I’m sure there will be other candidates.

Magic Johnson suggested recently that the team would need to be “blown up,” and said that Kobe is the only untouchable player on the roster. So the Lakers could trade Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol or Lamar Odom, or some combination of the three. Someone might also be interested in Steve Blake and/or Shannon Brown, but that’s about it in terms of trade chips.

Below is the payroll situation for the Lakers, which I downloaded from ShamSports, a great site that is always on top of the financials for every NBA franchise.

External Sports, NBA

2011 NBA Playoffs 2011-12 NBA season Los Angeles Lakers

Rex Ryan’s new book upsets Giants

May 9, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

Not everyone is a fan of Rex Ryan’s brash behavior. In fact, most non-Jet fans are tired of his act and probably wish he’d shut up already.

As Gary Myers of the New York Daily News writes, this includes Pat Hanlon, the Giants vice president of communications.

Rex Ryan was relentless on two points on the book tour that just wouldn’t end: The Jets are going to win the Super Bowl; and that he basically considers the Giants and their three Super Bowl championships – the last one just three years ago – a whole bunch of yesterday’s news. Pat Hanlon, the Giants vice president of communications, took several shots at Ryan on Twitter, including, “Tom Coughlin wrote a book, too. It was about a team and an HC that won a Super Bowl.”

I don’t mind Rex Ryan in the least. I understand why people are tired of hearing about him and I don’t bemoan anyone for taking on the opinion that he should shut his mouth until he’s won something. But while I don’t know him personally, I get why he says the things that he does. It’s not so much that he’s intentionally trying to piss everyone off; I think he’s an intelligent person and all of his moves are calculated.

That’s not to suggest that he doesn’t believe in what he says. On the contrary: I think he very much believes that the Jets are going to win the Super Bowl every year under his command. And you know what? You need to have that fire and attitude in sports. Nice guys don’t always finish last (look at the Spurs’ dynasty in the NBA over the past decade). But at some point teams need to have that killer instinct and swagger if they’re ever going to raise their game to another level. Ryan’s teams do that thanks in large part to how he treats his players and how he instills confidence in them with what he says.

Granted, Hanlon’s response to Ryan’s book was excellent. The Giants don’t have to take a backseat to anything that Ryan says: They won a Super Bowl in the past five years while the Jets have come up short the past two seasons. Gang Green has had some success under Ryan but Coughlin and Co. has the hardware (which does all of their talking for them).

At some point Ryan needs to win a Super Bowl so his words don’t become just a bunch of hot air (if they haven’t already). But in the meantime, his brash bravado is still intriguing.

External Sports, NFL

New York Giants New York Jets Rex Ryan

The reason why Josh Freeman isn’t a Jet

May 9, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

In his latest edition of “Monday Morning Quarterback,” SI.com’s Peter King has an interesting tidbit about how Rex Ryan and the Jets wound up choosing Mark Sanchez over Josh Freeman in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Ryan tells an interesting story in the book about pursuing a franchise quarterback once he got the Jets job. The choice came down to USC’s Mark Sanchez and Kansas State’s Josh Freeman. “We sent both of them a mini-playbook and asked them to learn what they could from it before they met with us,” Ryan told me. “They both blew the doors off us when we got them in a room. We’d ask about out formations and bam-bam-bam, they knew it all quick. Both very, very sharp guys.”
But in telling the story in the book, Ryan says one of the factors that swayed the Jets was how Sanchez was regarded by his peers. He said 24 high school and college mates showed up to catch balls for Sanchez. When they’d been to Kansas State to work out Freeman, two of his receivers showed up. “Honestly,” Ryan told me, “that might have been what separated them — the immense respect we sensed from the people who played with Mark and knew him so well.”

While some still have their doubts about Sanchez’s overall abilities, the Jets’ decision worked out for not only them, but the Bucs as well. In two seasons, Sanchez has led Gang Green to back-to-back AFC title game appearances and Freeman has the Bucs on the cusp of making the playoffs as well. It’s not a stretch to think that both teams are happy with the way the situation turned out.

It’s always interesting to hear how teams go about scouting prospects and inevitably how they decide on a player. It may sound rather obtuse for Ryan to make a decision on a franchise quarterback based on how many people showed up to the prospect’s workout, but sometimes that’s what it comes down to. Atlanta GM Thomas Dimitroff ultimately made the final decision to choose Matt Ryan over defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey because Ryan blew him away in the interview room – not on film. Granted, Ryan’s on-field abilities also factored heavily into the decision. But Dimitroff trusted his gut after interviewing the former Boston College product and while some in Atlanta wanted Dorsey, obviously the GM made the right decision in the end to go with Ryan.

This isn’t to suggest that an interview with a prospective player is something to be overlooked. But sometimes for teams it comes down to the simplest of factors when it comes to deciding on a prospect.

External Sports, NFL

Josh Freeman Mark Sanchez New York Jets Rex Ryan