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      Line of the Night (11/4): Chris Paul

      November 5, 2009 /

      The Hornets have struggled early on in this season, and were 1-3 heading into a home game last night against the red-hot Mavs. Chris Paul responded with 39 points (on 14-23 shooting), seven assists, five rebounds and two steals in 45 minutes of playing time. He had the high efficiency score of the night (+41). Funny thing is, it wasn’t even his high game of the week. He posted a +42 against the Knicks on Monday.

      The Hornets have two All-Star caliber players (Paul and David West) and a pretty good center (Emeka Okafor), but not much else. They need a wing or two who can knock down shots and take the pressure off of Paul and West. Peja Stojakovic and Morris Peterson are both past their prime and Julian Wright is a fine complementary player, but he’s not a shot-maker. Stephen Jackson and Rip Hamilton are reportedly available, and they’d both be a great fit in New Orleans if the Hornets are willing to take on some long-term salary to try to make a run this season.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      No need to hit the panic button on Matt Ryan

      November 5, 2009 /

      In his first four games of the 2009 season, Atlanta Falcons second-year quarterback Matt Ryan had a QB rating of 98.0, 122.2, 82.3 and 110.0. He was off to a fantastic start and people started to assume that he would have Tom Brady-like numbers every game.

      But in his last three outings, Ryan has QB ratings of 68.4, 66.1 and 46.6 and now all of a sudden he’s drawing comparisons to Rex Grossman. (Okay, so Ryan has never been compared to Grossman, but you get my feeble attempt at exaggerating my point.)

      After his three-interception game last Monday night against the Saints, I’ve read at least two articles from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about how Ryan doesn’t look like the same player he was as a rookie. The overall tone of the articles was that the Falcons should be worried, because “Matty Ice” hasn’t played well in three games.

      But people need to take their hand off the ejection button, because Ryan is fine – he’s just going through typical growing pains. He had one of the best (if not the best) rookie season of any quarterback to ever play in the NFL, while leading what many believed was a 3-13 team to an 11-5 record and a playoff berth. Entering his second season, the expectations were sky high and now that he’s not playing well, some want to question whether or not last season was a fluke.

      I’ll admit that following his performance in New Orleans on Monday night that he hasn’t looked like the same player he was last year or at the beginning of this year. He seems to be rushing his throws more and making bad decisions. His cool, calm pocket presence has turned into a rushed dance where he doesn’t always work through all of his progressions and set his feet to throw. He also seems to be locking in on Tony Gonzalez or Roddy White and therefore throwing a high number of interceptions. (He’s thrown eight in his last four games.)

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      NFL

      John Riggins rips Daniel Snyder

      November 5, 2009 /

      Former Redskins legend John Riggins recently called owner John Riggins “a bad guy.”

      From the Washington Post:

      John Riggins: “First of all, it’s what I do, JB. I have been in broadcasting for the last 15 to 20 years, so it is sort of my job. And the other part is, and I’ve been asked this question a lot, when they say do you have an ax to grind? And I think any time an older player criticizes or says anything about his former team, unless he’s throwing Bon Mots at them, that all of a sudden you get a, ‘What’s he griping at?’ type of thing. Maybe that’s the case. But truthfully, I do have an ax to grind and I just realized I have been a little bit disingenuous. But this is a bad guy that owns this team. I’ll just tell you that upfront. Bad guy. And if the Commissioner is worried about potential new owners and saying some of these guys shouldn’t apply, he might want to police his own inside guys….”

      Brown: “Why is he a bad guy?”

      Riggins: “Because his business practices, I think. I don’t want to say they are unethical, but I don’t think it’s a place, a climate that is created there where people can be successful. It’s driven all by his ego and everything has to come from him. And I just don’t think you can be successful in those situations and when you are dealing with someone with the mindset of a child and yet owns a franchise in the NFL. I think you have some problems there.”

      Cris Collinsworth: “We are talking about Daniel Snyder . Are you saying in some way he is unethical? Because I have dealt with him in the past and I have never sensed anything close to that. Or are you saying he has made bad decisions on the football side as an owner? Or what is specifically the issue?”

      Riggins: “I am saying that I don’t think that this franchise can be successful where you have people saying, ‘Oh, this person Dan Snyder wants to win. He wants to win.’ It’s all about priorities. ‘What’s my priorities? The priority is it’s all about me. I have to have my needs met, then I want to make money, and those are one and two, and then I want to win. You can see by the decisions that are made….I don’t know if you have agreed with anything I am saying so far, but at this point, I would think you would say, ‘Yeah, I’ll go along with that.’ This person knows nothing about football, absolutely nothing. I don’t think they have a clue how a football team comes together, how it works. And yet they are the ones that are basically calling all the shots through a puppet, which is Vinny Cerrato. That is my take on it….I speak for the fans because these are the people that paid my salary for all these years. They are the ones that need to know that this is a bad guy.”

      Collinsworth: “There is a fine line between being a bad guy and a bad GM, if you will. Are you saying a bad guy as in the NFL needs to take a look at this?”

      Riggins: “Let me put it to you this way, Cris, this person’s heart is dark.”

      Wow, tell us how you really feel, John.

      I think Collinsworth brings up a good point in that there is a fine line between being a bad guy and a bad GM or owner. Just because someone doesn’t know how to run a football team (which Snyder clearly does not), doesn’t make him a bad person. So I wonder if Riggins is just venting his frustrations and that it came out wrong.

      That said, if you come out and say that a person’s heart is “dark” then I’m willing to bet you know exactly what you’re saying.

      NFL

      Williams says he and Romo not on same page

      November 5, 2009 /

      Cowboys receiver Roy Williams is a little irritable these days. According to him, he and quarterback Tony Romo aren’t on the same page and he doesn’t want to hear that Miles Austin is now Dallas’ No. 1 receiver.

      From ESPN.com:

      After putting in a lot of extra offseason work with quarterback Tony Romo, Williams is stunned they haven’t made more progress.
      “It’s just not even close,” Williams said. “It’s not even funny. Not even close.”

      Williams does not believe his poor production accurately portrays his performance.

      “I’m the No. 1 receiver,” Williams said. “But things are just going No. 2’s way.”

      “He gets the ball thrown correctly his way,” Williams said of Austin. “I’m stretching and falling and doing everything. Everybody [else] who’s been here’s balls are there. Our footballs [from Romo to Williams] are everywhere right now.”

      Williams has been dealing with a rib injury he suffered earlier in the year in a loss to the Broncos, so that could be causing some issues. That said, you watch Williams and Romo play on Sundays and the connection just isn’t there. These two have zero chemistry and it doesn’t look like it’ll improve anytime soon.

      It’s interesting that yet another receiver is having issues with Romo. But one would think that if Austin can develop good chemistry with Romo, so could Williams.

      NFL

      Yankees win 2009 World Series

      November 5, 2009 /

      What a difference a year makes.

      This time last year, the New York Yankees were at home on their couches watching as their 2009 World Series counterparts, the Philadelphia Phillies, defeated the Tampa Bay Rays to become world champions.

      One of the big reasons the Bronx Bombers were at home during the Fall Classic and not participating in it was because their pitching wasn’t good enough. That’s why GM Brian Cashman opened George Steinbrenner’s fat checkbook to sign starting pitchers CC Sabathia (7-years, $161 million) and A.J. Burnett (five-year, $82.5 million). And just to make sure he had enough offense, Cashman also inked the top bat on the free agent market, Mark Teixeira, to an eight-year, $180 million deal.

      The end result is that the Yankees got what they paid for.

      With their 7-3 victory over the Phillies in Game 6 of the World Series, the Bombers won their 27th championship in club history. Hideki Matsui (who was later named Series MVP) went 3-for-4 with six RBI and a run scored, while Derek Jeter finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Long-time veteran Andy Pettitte earned the victory, yielding three runs on four hits over 5.2 innings of work.

      The Yankees are clearly at an advantage because they’re willing to spend. But at least they spend their money the right way unlike clubs like the Mets, who spend widely only to miss the postseason every year. The Yankees want to win and they knew last year that they’re pitching wasn’t good enough to match their offensive firepower. So yes, they spent and spent big. But they spent to win and they accomplished their one and only goal: To win a World Series.

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      MLB

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