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      Burress sentenced for two-years, begins serving time

      September 22, 2009 /

      Former NFL receiver Plaxico Burress has been sentenced to two years in prison and will begin serving his time immediately.

      From USA Today:

      Burress was accompanied by this wife, son and father to the hearing this morning. He pled guilty to a weapons charge last month stemming from an incident in which he suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a Manhattan nightclub in Novembver.

      ESPN reported Burress’ attorney, Benjamin Brafman, said it was “a tragic day for a decent man.”

      I think the tragedy was avoided in this situation because Burress only shot himself and nobody else. Hopefully other athletes will think about this incident and how Burress will lose two years of his life because he was careless about a weapon and be more careful themselves.

      Burress says he intends to play football once he’s released from prison, although he’ll be 34 and probably won’t have many options. His best football days are definitely behind him.

      NFL

      Meyer, Kiffin exchange verbal barbs

      September 22, 2009 /

      Apparently nobody told Florida’s Urban Meyer and Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin that the game is over.

      Via ESPN.com:

      In looking back at the game, Meyer said Sunday he probably should have opened up the defending national champs’ offense. But he said there was no reason to because of the Vols’ conservative approach to their own offense.

      “When I saw them start handing the ball off, I didn’t feel like they were going after the win,” Meyer said.

      “The way we lose a game there is throw an interception. Why put yourself in that position? Let’s find a way to win the game. We’re not trying to impress the pollsters.

      We’re trying to win the game. A lot of it had to do with the way they were playing. It made our life a little easier.”

      Kiffin said he put his Volunteers in the best position they could be in to beat Florida. Then he took one more shot at Meyer, who said several of his players had been hit by the flu.

      Asked whether he was worried about the flu also hitting Tennessee, Kiffin said: “I don’t know. I guess we’ll wait and after we’re not excited about a performance, we’ll tell you everybody was sick.”

      “They wanted to shorten the game. I remember looking out there and there’s 10 minutes left in the game and there’s no no-huddle, they are down, I think it was 23-6 and [there’s no] urgency,” he said.

      I can’t believe I’m writing this, but I actually side with Kiffin here. This sounds like Meyer is trying to make excuses and deflect attention away from the fact that his team didn’t give Tennessee the beating of a lifetime when everyone expected them to. Watching Florida defeat Tennessee by 10 points was like waiting all week in school to watch a huge fight at the flagpole and instead both kids exchanging blows, they came out slapping each other.

      The Gators may have won, but they weren’t impressive. And as I wrote after the game, maybe that’s the medias fault for hyping up a Tennessee massacre but the bottom line is that thanks to Monte Kiffin’s defense (and Tim Tebow’s second half fumble), the Vols were able to keep things relatively close.

      As far as Tennessee not showing any urgency, Kiffin is right – he put the game in the hands of his tailbacks, which were the only offensive production the Vols had. Kiffin knew that defense and his running game were the only things that were going to get him a win, so he stuck to that plan.

      Meyer should move on. Florida got the win and that’s the most important thing. Maybe the massacre at the flagpole will come next year.

      College Football

      Waiver Wire Watch: Week 3

      September 22, 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 of 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.

      Please note that these rankings are for total value through the end of the year. Players with particularly good matchups this week are in bold.

      Trent Edwards is available in 57% of ESPN leagues, so if he’s out there, pick him up first before moving onto the rest of the list…

      Mark Sanchez (31.5)
      The rookie has looked solid in his first two games and fared pretty well against a pretty tough New England defense last week.
      Byron Leftwich (4.9)
      The Bucs propensity to trail keeps Leftwich throwing a ton throughout the game.
      Shaun Hill (10.9)
      His defense and running game might prevent him from fulfilling his sleeper status this season.
      Chad Pennington (24.6)
      Kerry Collins (10.5)
      If the Titans’ poor pass defense keeps up, they’ll have to keep throwing in the second half.
      Jake Delhomme (26.1)
      JaMarcus Russell (10.4)
      Marc Bulger (2.8)
      Kevin Kolb (0.3)
      Has KC this week, so if McNabb doesn’t play, he’s a viable fantasy start.
      Jason Campbell (21.9)

      Continue reading »

      Fantasy Football

      Dolphins completely blow final series in loss to Colts

      September 21, 2009 /

      I’ll get to the greatness of Peyton Manning in a second, but first I’d like to know what the hell the Dolphins were thinking on the final series of their 27-23 loss to the Colts on Monday night.

      For three and a half quarters, Miami’s game plan was executed to perfection. They ran the ball well, grinded out the clock and kept Manning and the Colts’ potent offense on the sidelines.

      But once Manning led Indy on one of his vintage drives late in the fourth quarter to put the Colts up 27-23, Tony Sparano and his coaching staff didn’t make any adjustments. The Dolphins played their final offensive series like it was their first drive of the game. They ran the ball, they wasted time by not getting to the line of scrimmage quickly and on least two occasions, they called play action passes.

      Now why, in the name of all that is holy, would you run play action in an obvious passing situation? Did offensive coordinator Dan Henning think that he would get the Colts’ safeties to bite on the run with 36 seconds left and Miami needing a touchdown to win? It’s wasted time for Pennington to mimic a handoff to his running back when he could have used it to find open receivers. He should have been in the shotgun or at the very least in a five or seven step drop so he could survey the entire field. Play action doesn’t do Pennington any favors in that situation.

      And I’m sorry, but if Ted Ginn Jr. wants to be a No. 1 receiver in this league, then he’s got to come down with that pass in the end zone on 3rd and 10. It wasn’t an easy catch by any means, but he out jumped the defender and Pennington put the ball in only a place where Ginn could get it. I know he had a good night (11 catches, 108 yards), but Ginn has to come down with that ball and give his team a chance to win.

      I don’t have the numbers, but I’ve never seen a team win in the NFL by only running 35 total plays like the Colts did tonight. For the Dolphins to execute their game plan for 58 minutes and lose in such a way at the end should piss Sparano off. And if it doesn’t, then maybe Bill Parcells made the wrong choice for head coach a year ago.

      As for Manning – he’s a freaking machine. The way he read what Miami was trying to do on that 48-yard touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon was pure Peyton. I love watching Tom Brady play in a tight ball game, but I don’t think any quarterback is smarter than who the Colts employ under center every week.

      NFL

      Giants’ minor league prospect a murder suspect

      September 21, 2009 /

      According to a report by the San Jose Mercury News, Giants’ minor league prospect Angel Villalona is the prime suspect in the shooting death of a man in the Dominican Republic.

      The news devastated Giants officials, who have invested significant time and money in the 19-year-old first baseman. Villalona’s $2.1 million bonus was a franchise record when the Giants signed him in 2006. He was considered one of baseball’s elite power-hitting prospects, and his signing signaled a shift in priorities to rebuild the farm system.

      Dominican police told the Associated Press that Villalona turned himself in 12 hours after Mario Felix de Jesus Velete was fatally shot at a bar Saturday night in the coastal city of La Romana. Villalona will appear in court today and could face up to 20 years in prison.

      Not sound insensitive after a man lost his life, but in keeping things related to sports this would be a massive blow to the Giants if Villalona were guilty of this crime. We’re talking about an organization that is completely devoid of hitting prospects outside of catcher Buster Posey and Villalona has drawn comparisons to Miguel Cabrera. (Outside of the fact that Villalona has shown little to no plate discipline so far in the minors.)

      But let’s not jump to any conclusions. This could be a misunderstanding and Villalona had nothing to do with the shooting. We’ll have to wait for more details to emerge.

      MLB

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