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      T.O. or Bryant? Bengals trying to decide.

      March 9, 2010 /

      According to beat writer Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Bengals had a positive meeting with free agent receiver Antonio Bryant today and even went as far as to push Terrell Owens’ visit back to Wednesday.

      According to Reedy, Bryant is the team’s first choice at receiver, but is there room for both players in Cincinnati?

      “Why wouldn’t there be? I think this is the year of no salary cap, if I’m correct. Hey, why wouldn’t there be?,” said Ochocinco, who was also talking about his upcoming appearance on Dancing With The Stars. “Let’s load it up, you know! We can get back to that firepower offense we were back in ‘05 and ‘06, when we were throwing it all over the place. Even though that’s not the makeup of our team right now, I think it can help. Period.”

      However when asked if he had to choose which one, Ochocinco said: “I mean, it’s whatever. Both of them can help us.”

      Neither player was very productive in 2009, although at least Bryant has an excuse because he battled injuries for most of the year. He’s also seven years younger, can still stretch a defense and is still efficient when healthy. It’s no wonder why the Bengals prefer him over T.O.


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      NFL

      Joe Johnson says he’ll “sacrifice” to play with LeBron in NYC

      March 9, 2010 /

      Joe Johnson was asked about his free agent plans after the Hawks’ game against the Knicks, and here’s what he had to say…

      The inquisition of Joe Johnson began at about 6:20 p.m. ET, lasted approximately 10 minutes and yielded the following nugget:

      If a certain someone, like maybe this certain guy in Cleveland, accepted a max offer from the Knicks and wanted Johnson as a sidekick, Johnson would be willing to sign for less than the maximum.

      “I’ll sacrifice,” Johnson said.

      Those words will carry some weight as we head toward July 1, 2010, because there aren’t a whole lot of max-level free agents out there who are willing to go on the record saying they’ll sacrifice money if it translates into success on the court.

      But Johnson went ahead and said it Monday, and given the fact that he turned down a five-year max contract extension from the Atlanta Hawks last summer, that statement ranks as an eyebrow-raiser.

      Chris Sheridan goes on to speculate about what the Knicks might do if Plan A (LeBron) and Plan B (D-Wade) both fail. How about a Bosh/Johnson or a Stoudemire/Johnson combo in NYC?

      While LeBron, Wade and Bosh are all playing coy about their free agency plans, Johnson is refreshingly honest about all the possibilities. Considering that he’s playing for one of the top teams in the East, it’s an interesting way to go.

      A LeBron/JJ combo in New York probably isn’t going to happen. I have a feeling that LeBron will only go to the Knicks if he knows he’s going to play with Wade or Bosh. Usually championships are built around one excellent perimeter player and one excellent big man — think Kobe-Shaq, Parker-Duncan, Wade-Shaq — but Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen did make the 2/3 combo work very well in Chicago, though MJ made a living in the post. LeBron doesn’t like to play with his back to the basket.


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      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Banks calls out Big Ben for his decision making

      March 9, 2010 /

      Don Banks of SI.com put together a well-written article on Ben Roethlisberger’s decision-making in light of the most recent allegations that he sexually assaulted a 20-year-old woman in Georgia last weekend.

      But with that out of the way, here’s what I think we do know about Roethlisberger at this point: At the very least, he’s starting to look very guilty of serial bad judgment. He doesn’t seem to know what’s good for him, and he clearly doesn’t respect the notion that there are boundaries of where he should be, when he should be there, and who he should be with.

      If I’m Roethlisberger, who’s still facing last year’s civil suit alleging he sexually assaulted a Lake Tahoe, Nev., casino hostess in the summer of 2008, that means I’m swearing off hanging out in college-town bars until 2 a.m., making the frat-boy rounds with my entourage. Engaging groups of college-age women while out partying isn’t helpful either. Quite a sacrifice, I know, but, hey, there is a pretty fair career to think of in this case. Not to mention a reputation that is rapidly approaching the state of being irreparably damaged.

      I don’t know exactly when a pattern of behavior shows itself to the point of becoming obvious, but I think by now it’s safe to say Roethlisberger either doesn’t get it or doesn’t care. You think it can’t all go away pretty quickly in a hail of bad decision-making, Ben? Talk to Michael Vick about that one. One day he was practically the young and fresh face of the NFL, and the next time we looked, he was the poster child for wasted opportunity.

      When you add Roethlisberger’s 2006 helmet-less motorcycle accident into the mix of questionable decision-making, this is the third offseason in five years the Pittsburgh quarterback has made the wrong kind of headlines and given us reason to question his thinking, his actions, or both. That’s at least twice too many for any player, but particularly for one who carries the mantle of franchise quarterback for one of the most successful and beloved organizations in the NFL.

      You’ll have to read the entire article in order to grasp Banks’ full take on the subject, but the above four paragraphs summed up his basic premise.

      I’m always torn on a subject like this. If Big Ben is guilty of wrongdoing, then let the legal system punish him and then the media can take its turn in frying him as well. But if all he’s done is go out to a bar, drink and then tried to get busy with a woman in a bathroom, then he’s hardly out of line. We don’t know what happened that night and whether or not this girl is trying to get a free ride. Were they flirting together? Did she invite him into the bathroom? Who knows. This same situation probably happens nightly but because it’s Roethlisberger, his life is being plastered all over the Internet. (Again though, if he was being a creep bag and did sexually assault her, then I hope he’s punished.)

      That said, athletes live in a different world because of their money and stature. I realize this might not be fair, but not all of us have the ability or opportunity to make $50 million over our lifetimes either. So I agree with Banks when he writes that Big Ben needs to make better decisions in order to protect his reputation while he’s still playing in the NFL – especially considering this is the second time he’s been accused of sexual assault. I’m not suggesting that he doesn’t go out and have a good time (and neither is Banks), but he needs to realize that because of who he is, he runs the risk of having his actions made public. That’s just the way it is nowadays.


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      NFL

      Joe Nathan to have Tommy John surgery?

      March 9, 2010 /

      According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Joe Christensen, Twins’ closer Joe Nathan has been diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament and will decide whether or not to have Tommy John surgery within the next two weeks.

      If Nathan opts to go with the surgery, he would miss the entire 2010 season and leave the Twins without a closer. Nathan says that he will do whatever he can to give himself the “best chance to go out there and help” the Twins, but also realizes that he has to decide soon whether or not to have surgery because the club needs to figure out its closer situation.

      Jon Rauch was added to Minnesota’s bullpen in August, so he may be asked to close for the Twins at the start of the season, or at least until the club finds a more suitable option. Matt Guerrier is also a candidate after pitching extremely well (2.36 ERA, 33 holds, 0.97 WHIP) in 2009.

      Hopefully Nathan won’t need surgery but at this point, it’s probably wise to count him out for the 2010 season. Fantasy owners should take note.


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      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Dwight Howard’s defense is overrated?

      March 9, 2010 /

      Yes, at least according to Peter Keating, who wrote a piece entitled “Why Dwight Howard is overrated,” which outlines the recent research presented by John Huizinga and Charles “Sandy” Weil at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.

      Insider subscription required, so I’ll be brief in my excerpt…

      Over the entire stretch of data that Huizinga and Weil examined, Tim Duncan didn’t goaltend once, while 24 percent of Dwight Howard’s blocks resulted in free points for the other team.

      The data yields all kinds of instructive contrasts, most clearly between Duncan and Howard (hence the name of Huizinga and Weil’s paper). In 2008, Howard had 232 blocked shots, but he either saved or created just 124 points; Duncan had 149 blocks, but generated 167 points. On a points-per-block basis, Duncan has four of the top 10 seasons, according to Huizinga and Weil. Howard has three of the bottom 10.

      If anything, Howard should look at this report and draw two conclusions: 1) he needs to stop goaltending, and 2) he needs to try to direct his blocks better. Either block it to himself or to a teammate to start a fast break opportunity. He often tosses the ball out of bounds, which only serves to give possession back to the other team.

      On the final Laker possession in Sunday’s tilt in Orlando, Howard picked up Kobe off of a screen and roll and forced him into a very tough fadeaway jumper. His defense on that play was excellent and I think he is a very good defender. Could he be better? This research says he can.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

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