Category: NFL (Page 189 of 1282)

      Super Bowl XLV ticket prices are high

      January 28, 2011 /

      Everyone knows the Super Bowl is an expensive ticket. But as Calvin Watkins of ESPN writes, this year’s Super Bowl matchup as well as the location (oil-rich Texas) has pushed prices even higher.

      Locally, tickets for the Feb. 6 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers have an average price range between $2,100 and $8,000, according to Ram Silverman of Golden Tickets.

      “They are readily available,” Silverman said. “Things started off pretty high, then it’s gotten steady.”

      Silverman said the $200 Party Plaza tickets the NFL put on sale last week are going for about $375, and that price could keep rising as fans without tickets become desperate to be there for the game.

      StubHub reports that the average asking price is $3,676. I generally use TicketLuck, which seems to have tickets for a more reasonable price for most events. Their cheapest ticket is around $1,600. An upper level seat at the 30-yard line is going for anywhere between $2,400-$2,600.

      It will be interesting to see just how many Packer and Steeler fans actually make it to the game with prices this high.

      External Sports, Fantasy Football, NFL

      Study shows that retired NFL players are abusing painkillers

      January 28, 2011 /
      A file picture dated 11. of March 2010. Pills photographed in Straubing, Germany. Patients still have to be concerned about unwanted side-effects after pharmceutical drug safety reform. Photo: Armin Weigel

      An ESPN study revealed that retired NFL players misuse painkillers at a rate of 4-to-1 compared to the general public.

      Key findings:

      • 52 percent of the retired players said they used prescription pain medication during their playing days. Of those, 71 percent said they misused the drugs then, and 15 percent of the misusers acknowledged misusing the medication within the past 30 days.

      • Those who misused prescription painkillers while playing were three times more likely to misuse the drugs today than those who used the pills as prescribed while playing.

      • 63 percent of the retired players who used prescription pain pills while playing obtained the medications from a nonmedical source: a teammate, coach, trainer, family member, dealer or the Internet.

      It’s not just former players either. Patriots’ OT Nick Kaczur was found with 202 OxyContin pills after being stopped for speeding in 2008. He apparently cut a deal with the DEA in order to bust his dealer but court documents state that Kaczur bought roughly 100 OxyContin pills every three or four days.

      You read studies like these and it makes you wonder why any player, current or former, would criticize Jay Cutler for not toughing it out in the NFC title game after he tore his MCL. Fans are always quick to talk about how football is a man’s game and you have to play hurt, which is true. But it’s easy to criticize someone from your home or computer desk when it’s not your body. With that in mind, it was shocking to hear other players throw one of their own under the bus when they know what it takes just to get out of bed following a game.

      The sad part is, I don’t know what can be done. Prevention is the best way to fight off disease, pain and/or injury, but how can you prevent players from getting hurt in a game as violent as football? It’s seemingly impossible.

      External Sports, NFL

      Larry Fitzgerald available at the right price?

      January 28, 2011 /
      Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald (L) can’t make the catch after Oakland Raiders Nnamdi Asomugha (R) interfered with Fitzgerald in the first quarter of the game at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ, September 26,2010. UPI/Art Foxall

      According to NESN.com, Cardinals’ receiver Larry Fitzgerald could be available in a trade, although that doesn’t mean that “the team is actively trying to unload him.”

      For the right price, Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald could be available in a trade, according to league sources, but that doesn’t mean the Cards are actively trying to unload him.

      In fact, no one polled for this story had any direct knowledge of whether the Cardinals have had any legitimate discussions about trading their star receiver, so take that for what it’s worth.

      The Pats are also equipped with two picks in both the first and second rounds of the draft, which would give them more than enough ammunition to acquire Fitzgerald if they’d like to explore that avenue. However, there aren’t considered to be any franchise-caliber quarterbacks in the 2011 draft class, so the Cardinals might not be overly interested in anything the Pats would have to offer.

      So a player could be available at the right price, but his team isn’t actively trying to trade him. Uh, allllllllllllll right. Isn’t this true for a lot of players? If Team X is willing to give up three first round picks and two second rounders to acquire Player A from Team Z, I’m willing to bet that Team Z would consider that the “right price” for Player A as long as he’s not the face of the franchise. And even then…

      What a weird report. It’s almost like NESN.com wanted to speculate about something – anything – so they threw this out there. Then when they “polled” their sources and came back with nothing, they discredited their own report.

      In other news, The Scores Report has learned that Brett Favre will play for the Buffalo Bills next season according to league sources. That said, our sources have no knowledge of this report and therefore can’t confirm its truth. So take our Lord Favre-to-Buffalo report with a grain of salt. Because it may or may not be true. We don’t know. And neither do our sources. Grain. Salt.

      External Sports, NFL

      It was time for the Titans to go in another direction

      January 28, 2011 /
      Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher watches his team take on the Houston Texans in the second half at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas on November 28, 2010. The Texans defeated the Titans 20-0. UPI/Aaron M. Sprecher

      Bud Adams’ organization is a complete mess right now. For the past couple of years, his head coach has been feuding with his once-prized quarterback and despite owning a league-best 13-3 record in 2008, the team hasn’t won a playoff game in six years.

      Call it a firing or a mutual separation – whatever it was, it was time for Jeff Fisher to go. And if Adams is smart, Vince Young will soon be heading out the door, too. Everyone expected Adams to choose between the two but the right decision in the end is to start fresh by ridding himself of both of them.

      The Fisher v. Young feud was a major distraction last year. Even running back Chris Johnson (the true face of the franchise) admitted so after the season. Who was most at fault for allowing things to get that bad? Everyone, from Adams to Fisher to Young, everyone played a role in creating the mess that this team is currently in.

      Young hasn’t shown the ability to lead and his work ethic stinks. Despite what his supporters believe, he won’t fetch much in a trade because the league is well aware of his maturity issues. Fisher is a throw back coach who usually got the most out of his players, but he’s won five playoff games in 16 years with three of those wins coming in 1999 when he took the Titans to the Super Bowl. In 16 seasons with Tennessee, he never once developed a true No. 1 receiver or had a quarterback who threw for 3,400 yards or 25 touchdowns, which are pretty standard numbers these days for good starters. Granted, he’s supposed to be a defensive-minded coach, but his defenses have finished 27th, 19th, 32nd, 5th, 7th, 28th and 26th since 2004.

      It was time for the Titans to go in another direction. Everyone saw what happened last year in Carolina when John Fox rode out the final year of his deal: he had little to no interest in helping a team develop its young players when he wasn’t going to be around to watch them grow up. Maybe things would have been different with Fisher in Tennessee but if the Titans’ front office knew they wanted to eventually make a change, why wait? Part mutually so that both sides could have a clean break.

      And that’s exactly what they did. The Titans have a long way to go to right the ship but at least they’ve started the process by parting ways with Fisher. Next up is Young and then this team can really make some headway.

      External Sports, NFL

      If L.A. builds a stadium, some team will come.

      January 28, 2011 /

      NFL Facts & Rumors (a CBSSports.com blog) is reporting that AEG president Tim Leiweke is willing to invest heavily into a stadium in downtown Los Angeles.

      He recently presented to a LA City Council panel the plans for a $1 billion, retractable-roof stadium that would require no public funding and could be built near the AEG-owned Staples Center and L.A. Live.

      “Zygi (Wilf, the Vikings owner) came down and looked at LA Live,” Leiweke said. “I think Zygi really wants to figure this out in Minnesota. I personally think he will. … I think this is the year they’re going to do it and I think he’s pretty committed to keeping that team and that brand a part of the culture in Minnesota.

      “Because we have roots there and we manage the Target Center, that’s not one that we get all excited about. We would prefer and hope that he solves his problem there and that still leaves us with another half-dozen teams that, I think, [are not] going to solve their problem in their current local marketplace.

      I’ve lived in Southern California for 10 years now and I’m still amazed that L.A. doesn’t have a football team. There are too many transplants and there are too many other things to do to support two teams, which I believe was the root problem when the Rams and Raiders were both here. L.A. can certainly support one team, assuming of course that the team is good. (Southern Californians are notoriously front-running when it comes to sports teams.)

      If they can find a spot downtown for the stadium, it will be a pretty good fit, though traffic will be even more nightmarish than it already is. The fact that most home games will be on Sundays should make things easier. Hopefully, they’ll take the Metro and Metrolink train routes into account when picking a location. I for one enjoy catching the Metro train in Long Beach when I go up to Laker or Clipper games at Staples.

      Los Angeles Chargers doesn’t have a bad ring to it, though it really doesn’t matter. If there’s a brand new stadium built in downtown L.A., some franchise will eventually decide to come. There’s just too much opportunity to pass up playing in such a huge market.

      External Sports, Fantasy Football, News, NFL

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