Page 1287 of 2957

      Urlacher says he wasn’t trashing Cutler

      December 1, 2009 /

      Injured linebacker Brian Urlacher said that the comments he made recently to Yahoo Sports regarding quarterback Jay Cutler were not meant to be derogatory in any way.

      This is what Urlacher said (via the Chicago Tribune):

      “Look, I love Jay, and I understand he’s a great player who can take us a long way, and I still have faith in him. But I hate the way our identity has changed. We used to establish the run and wear teams down and try not to make mistakes, and we’d rely on our defense to keep us in the game and make big plays to put us in position to win.

      ” Kyle Orton might not be the flashiest quarterback, but the guy is a winner, and that formula worked for us. I hate to say it, but that’s the truth.”

      Urlacher clarified his comments during a phone interview with the Tribune.

      “I’m not taking a shot at Jay. I’m not one bit taking a shot at Jay,” Urlacher said. “He throws it better, right? And we haven’t tried to run the ball as much. That’s true.

      “But Kyle has won games. His formula works. So I’m not taking a shot at Jay or Kyle.”

      There was a rumor earlier in the season that Urlacher wasn’t a fan of Cutler. Both players squashed the rumor, but it’s interesting to hear Urlacher complain about the Bears’ identify (not that he’s wrong) and then immediately mention Kyle Orton. Maybe someone should show Urlacher game film of how bad Chicago’s defense has been this season, because there’s no way the Bears can rely on their D to do anything.

      The Bears are changing in front of our eyes. They can’t run the football, they can’t play defense and they can’t protect Cutler. It’s just a lost season – it happens.

      NFL

      Bill Simmons on Brandon Jennings

      December 1, 2009 /

      From his most recent mailbag…

      I have caught chunks of five Jennings games so far, including a decent piece of his 55-point game, but haven’t seen him in person yet. First time I watched him on TV? Blown away. Sometimes you can just tell with these things. I thought Chris Paul played well beyond his years as a rookie; Jennings is a lefty Chris Paul, only if Paul could shoot 20-footers and 3s with a hand in his face. More importantly, his teammates love him. And he has a wonderful sense of The Moment already. I can’t say enough about him. He’s a superstar in training. He’s the first Buck in 25 years who could actually sell tickets and jerseys there. Amazing. He will save basketball in Milwaukee, as long as this early start doesn’t go to his head. And it might.

      Regardless, he’s the least likely franchise rookie I can remember. I always make fun of bumbling GMs in this space, so let’s pay tribute for once to someone who absolutely crushed a decision: Bucks GM John Hammond. It’s one of the best draft picks ever. A franchise-alterer. I don’t get floored by much with sports anymore, but this Brandon Jennings thing floored me. Never saw it coming. It more than made up for Rubio fleeing back to Spain for three more years.

      While I agree that Hammond crushed this decision (and that Jennings could save basketball in Milwaukee), I don’t think that he’s a lefty Chris Paul. Paul averaged 7.8 assists and 12.1 shots in his rookie season while Jennings is averaging 5.7 assists and 18.7 shots per game. Jennings is more of a lefty Iverson (7.5 assists and 19.8 shots per game). He’s a shoot-first point guard who has the ability to set up others if he wants. Iverson didn’t have much to work with in Philly, and the Bucks’ roster is pretty sparse outside of Andrew Bogut (a good center with a few star qualities), Ersan Ilyasova (a good sixth man with upside), Charlie Bell, Luke Ridnour and Luc Mbah a Moute (rotation players). So it’s no surprise that Jennings is going to shoot a lot. He has to.

      After a blistering hot start, he has come down to earth in the last few games. He is 25 of 84 (30%) in his last five games, and the Bucks went 1-4 over that span. The good news is that he is 10 of 19 (53%) from 3PT over that same span. Teams are going to game plan for him now and it’s his job to adjust.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Is Notre Dame a death trap for coaches?

      December 1, 2009 /

      Stewart Mandel of SI.com thinks it is:

      Once you look past the storied tradition, the majestic campus, the NBC contract and seemingly endless pocketbook, you’re left with a school chasing ghosts. You’re left with a fan base whose expectations (top-10 rankings, national titles) were forged during another era when the school’s independent status still carried cachet and its stringent academic standards were a selling point, not a hindrance. With a few notable exceptions, today’s national-title-caliber talent grows up watching specific conferences (the SEC, then Big Ten, etc.), not the NBC game of the week, and they don’t necessarily boast high SAT scores, either. Some — like Clausen, Floyd and Tate — are bona fide blue-chippers. Others become Tom Lemming All-Americans simply because the Irish recruit them.

      Mandel makes several interesting points. If you’re a recruit these days, you don’t want to go to Notre Dame – you want to compete for conference championships at Florida, Ohio State or USC. And if you’re not good enough to go to those schools, then you want to go to Arkansas, Michigan State or UCLA in order to have a chance to beat those top programs.

      Mandel is right to a certain extent: Notre Dame is a death trap. Coaches can’t get top recruits to come to South Bend, yet the expectations to win have never been higher. I’m not saying Weis should have held onto his job, but head coaches seem to start behind the 8-ball as soon as they’re hired.

      That said, teams like Cincinnati, TCU and Boise State have found enough recruits to be in national title contention every year. I realize that these teams are playing top competition every week, but neither is Notre Dame. The Irish might not be able to contend for a national title year in and year out, but they could at the very least make a bowl game every season.

      College Football

      Halladay puts the squeeze on the Jays

      December 1, 2009 /

      Roy Halladay’s message to the Blue Jays is simple: Either deal me before spring training or get nothing in return for my services when I walk at the end of the season.

      Halladay’s people recently informed the Jays that he would not accept a trade after he reports to spring training this season. So if the club had plans to trade him before the trade deadline to a desperate buyer willing to give up more in a package deal, then they should think again.

      This is power move by Halladay, who doesn’t want to spend another second in Toronto if he doesn’t have to. If he knows he’ll eventually be traded, he might as well force a deal before the season so he can get acclimated to his new team from Day 1 of spring training.

      On the other side, this could either be a great thing for the Blue Jays or a terrible one. Sometimes when teams wait to trade a marquee player, they get less at the deadline than they would have in the offseason. While it’s true other clubs are more desperate at the deadline, GMs will know that the Jays want to trade Halladay and may try to low ball them in terms of offers.

      On the other hand, if new GM Alex Anthopoulos can’t pull the trigger on a deal before the deadline and Halladay sticks to his guns, then there’s a big chance that Toronto will get nothing in return for the ace.

      With this move, Halladay just amp’ed up the intrigue surrounding this situation.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      MLB

      Waiver Wire Watch: Week 13

      December 1, 2009 /

      Every week, I highlight a few players that you should target in waivers. I use the ESPN league data when filtering players, so the only players eligible for discussion here are those that are available on the waiver wire in at least 50% of ESPN’s leagues. I’ll list each player’s percentage-owned after their name so you have an idea of how available they are in leagues around the country. I’ll always try to mention a few players that are available in 90% of leagues for those of you in 12-team leagues or leagues with big rosters. I’ll rank them in the order I’d pick them up in a league with a high-performance, PPR scoring system.

      Alex Smith (18.7)
      Smith is startable the rest of the way, but he has especially nice matchups in Week 14 (ARI) and Week 16 (DET).
      Vince Young (14.9)
      Young has the Rams and Dolphins in Week 14 and 15, respectively.
      Mark Sanchez (40.4)
      Sanchez has nice matchups in Week 14 (TB) and Week 15 (ATL).
      Ryan Fitzpatrick (0.8)
      The Bills have the Chiefs and Falcons in Weeks 14 and 16.
      Matthew Stafford (7.2)
      Josh Freeman (2.6)
      Jason Campbell (19.5)
      Matt Leinart (2.0)
      Chad Henne (4.6)

      Continue reading »

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑