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      Jaguars release wide receiver Matt Jones

      March 16, 2009 /

      According to ESPN.com, the Jaguars have released troubled wide receiver Matt Jones.

      Matt JonesThe former Arkansas player was charged with cocaine possession in July.

      He was suspended for the last three games of the 2008 season for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. In a plea deal, Jones entered a program that emphasizes treatment.

      Jones was released a day early from jail Saturday during a weeklong stay for drinking beer in violation of his plea agreement for the drug charge.

      The Jaguars picked Jones in the first round of the NFL draft in 2005. Before his suspension last season, Jones was having the best year of his career, with 65 catches for 761 yards and two touchdowns.

      What an absolute waste of a first round pick. The Jags knew they were taking a risk by selecting Jones as a wide receiver, even though he played quarterback at Arkansas. And not only did the move backfire on the field, it also caused the team some heartache off it as well. Some team will take a chance on him based on his talent, but he won’t receive more than a one-year deal for the minimum.

      Boy, the Jaguars are awfully thin at wide receiver. I’d be shocked if they don’t address the need in one of the first two rounds next month.

      NFL, Rumors & Gossip

      Cole Hamels to have elbow examined

      March 16, 2009 /

      Phillies’ starter Cole Hamels has left spring training to fly to Philadelphia to have his sore elbow examined by team doctors.

      Cole Hamels“We do not think it is serious, at least at this time” Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. “We thought it was important for Dr. Ciccotti to check him out and see if there is anything more serious than what we think it is. He’ll decide once he sees him tomorrow morning if he needs to do any testing or any further testing. We did do a physical on him before we ended up finalizing the multiyear deal with him and felt comfortable with the diagnostics and such. But he’s had a little persistent soreness and we want to be cautious about it and have him checked out.”

      Hamels pitched in a minor-league spring training game yesterday at the Carpenter Complex. The Phillies said afterward that it went well and that he remained on schedule to start Opening Day on April 5.

      “And he was,” Amaro said. “But he’s still got a little bit of soreness in there. We don’t feel that it’s serious, but again, I don’t have a crystal ball. I can’t look inside his elbow. We just want to be cautious, and we thought it was important that he sees our doctor in Philly.”

      I don’t think teams can ever be too cautious when it comes to starting pitchers and their arms, but it’s way too early for Hamels to be having any kind of issues. Hopefully for Phillie fans, it’s nothing serious and he doesn’t miss any time. But it’s a long season and if Hamels needs to miss a few weeks in April, that’s better than losing him during a key stretch run late in the year.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Jay Cutler asks Broncos to trade him

      March 16, 2009 /

      Broncos’ quarterback Jay Cutler says that he can’t trust new head coach Josh McDaniels and thus wants the team to trade him.

      Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler said Sunday night that he will not report to the team’s first meeting on Monday and has formally asked to be traded. He confirmed that a Saturday meeting with first-year coach Josh McDaniels ended badly from his perspective while McDaniels offered another viewpoint on Sunday night.

      “I went in there with every intention of solving the issue, being a Bronco, moving forward as a Bronco,” Cutler said. “We weren’t in there but about 20 minutes, [McDaniels] did most of the talking and as far as I’m concerned, he made it clear he wants his own guy. He admitted he wanted Matt Cassel because he said he has raised him up from the ground as a quarterback. He said he wasn’t sorry about it. He made it clear that he could still entertain trading me because, as he put it, he’ll do whatever he feels is in the best interest of the organization.

      “At the end of the meeting, he wasn’t like, ‘Jay, I want you as our quarterback, you’re our guy.’ It felt like the opposite. He basically said that I needed to tell him if we can’t work this out, to let him know,” Cutler added. “I thought he was antagonizing me and that was disappointing because I was ready to move on, committed as a Bronco. Really, I figured we’d hash things out, shake hands, laugh a little and move forward. What happened [Saturday] was the last thing I expected. If I didn’t think it could be fixed, I never would have come back to Denver. It was painfully obvious to me and Bus [Cook, his agent] it’s not something they want to fix.”

      It’s hard to get a good read on what the main issue is here. We know Cutler is upset, but does he have a right to be or is he just blowing things out of proportion? Could he stand to be a little more professional and stop acting like a baby or is McDaniels really sending him vibes that he doesn’t want him to be the Broncos’ QB next season?

      Here’s my best guess at how we got to this point: Very soon after McDaniels was hired, he realized that Cutler wasn’t going to be his main guy. He wanted Matt Cassel, thought the team could acquire him and offered to trade Cutler as part of a deal to acquire him. But Cassel was dealt to KC and soon after that, the cat comes out of the bag that the Broncos had Cutler on the trade block. Instead of acting like a professional, Cutler threw a fit. Knowing that he had no better options at quarterback, McDaniels stated that the Broncos had no intentions on trading Cutler and that the two parties would have a meet and greet. But Cutler continued to carry on the public tantrum leading up to the meeting and McDaniels (who mind you never wanted Cutler in the first place) essentially makes a half-assed attempt to reconcile things with Cutler. And now Cutler wants to be traded.

      Another major possibility is that Cutler is just so much of a prima dona that as soon as he heard that the Broncos were trying to trade him, he flipped out and immediately wanted out of Denver. The coach that drafted him (Mike Shanahan) was fired over the offseason and instead of starting fresh with McDaniels, he saw an opportunity to get out too and now is carrying on this act for the public.

      NFL

      Browns’ Stallworth hits and kills pedestrian in Florida

      March 15, 2009 /

      Cleveland Browns’ wide receiver Donte Stallworth hit and killed a pedestrian with his Bentley on Saturday morning in Miami while driving to the beach.

      Donte StallworthStallworth was headed toward the beach when he hit Mario Reyes, 59, around 7 a.m., said Miami Beach police spokesman Juan Sanchez. Reyes was taken to a nearby trauma center, where he was pronounced dead about an hour later. He was near a crosswalk but it’s not clear if he was crossing legally.

      Stallworth, 28, was cooperating and no charges have been filed, Sanchez said. Officers drew blood to test for drugs or alcohol, which is routine. Sanchez said results from the test could take anywhere from three days to three weeks.

      Police would not say where Stallworth was coming from or where he was headed, and Sanchez didn’t have anymore information about Reyes.

      Miami-Dade County property records show Stallworth owns two condos in a building on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami not far from the causeway and another condo in a different building in Miami.

      Stallworth will be prosecuted regardless, but a DUI charge would obviously come with serious consequences.

      My thoughts and prayers go out to the victim’s family.

      Update: Stallworth will eventually be charged, but for what is still undetermined at this point.

      NFL

      Championship Week Wrap-Up

      March 15, 2009 /

      There are four games left — Duke/FSU, Miss. St./Tenn, Ohio St./Purdue and the Southland final — but just one, the SEC final, has bubble implications. Despite their tournament run, the Mississippi State Bulldogs will have to beat Tennessee to get a berth, and the Volunteers are already in.

      As of this morning, Joe Lunardi says the last four teams in will be Minnesota, Maryland, Creighton and Saint Mary’s. His first four out are Penn St., Arizona, San Diego State and Auburn. His next four out are Florida, New Mexico, UNLV and Tulsa.

      It seems odd to me that he has SDSU out of tournament after the Aztecs finished the season with back-to-back wins against a bubble team (UNLV), a win over an in-the-Dance team (BYU) and a near-miss against another in-the-Dance team (Utah). Sure, SDSU doesn’t have a marquee win, but neither does Saint Mary’s. I guess Lunardi points to the head-to-head matchup (which the Aztecs lost) as the difference. But SDSU is playing better right now, so it depends on how much stock the committee puts in late season versus early season play. Also, SDSU lost to Arizona by 13 (on the road), so that can’t help either.

      It’s also odd to see Creighton back in after being on the “first four out” or “next four out” lists all week. After all, they didn’t do anything to improve their situation after losing by 24 points against Illinois State. SDSU has a tougher schedule (35 vs. 111), a better RPI (35 to 40) and Creighton doesn’t have a single win against a top 25 RPI team. (The Aztecs beat Utah back in January.) Maybe SDSU doesn’t deserve a nod over Saint Mary’s or even Arizona, but they should get in before the Blue Jays do.

      It seems to me that if Mississippi State loses, there are two spots available for five teams: Creighton, Saint Mary’s, SDSU, Arizona and Penn State. If the Bulldogs win, there will just be one spot available for those five teams.

      On the flip side, Lunardi has removed UConn from his top line and replaced the Huskies with the Memphis Tigers, who blew out Tulsa en route to their 987th straight C-USA title. I just don’t know what to make of Memphis. They lost to Syracuse at home, lost to Xavier on a neutral court and had a road loss to Georgetown. They did blow Gonzaga out by 18 in Spokane, and that’s their only really good win. I watched some of the C-USA championship game and they didn’t wow me despite beating Tulsa (#56 RPI) at the FedEx Forum.

      Michigan State and Oklahoma knocked themselves out of contention for a #1 seed with poor performances in the conference tournaments, but Duke can make a case if they can beat Florida State in the ACC tourney. Either way, I think North Carolina, Louisville, Pitt and Memphis will be the #1 seeds and Oklahoma, Duke, Michigan State and UConn will be #2 seeds, just as Lunardi has it. I don’t think there is anyone on his #3 line — Kansas, Missouri, Wake Forest and Villanova — that has a strong argument to be a #2 seed.

      College Basketball, March Madness

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