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      Michael Crabtree won’t run the 40 at the combine

      February 2, 2009 /

      According to Eric Williams of the Tacoma News Tribune, Texas Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree won’t run the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine later this month, but will run it at his Pro Day.

      Michael CrabtreeCrabtree, who recently announced he’s entering this year’s draft, is working out with Olympic champion sprinter Michael Johnson and receiving advice from Irvin and Deion Sanders as he prepares for the combine and his pro day. Crabtree will not run the 40-yard dash at the combine, but will run at his Pro Day.

      This won’t hurt Crabtree’s stock because it couldn’t get much higher. He’s easily the best receiver available and he’s arguably the best player in the entire draft. A lot of early mock draft projections have the Seahawks taking him with the fourth overall pick, which wouldn’t be a surprise although in Greg Knapp’s West Coast Offense, receivers are required to run block a lot of the time. If Seattle does select him, they better make sure he doesn’t mind getting under defenders’ pads frequently or else they will eventually have a frustrated receiver on their hands.

      College Football, NFL, NFL Draft

      Santonio Holmes vs. David Tyree Super Bowl catches

      February 2, 2009 /

      The last two Super Bowls have given fans two of the greatest catches in NFL history.

      It seemed that David Tyree’s amazing “helmet reception” in the Giants’ thrilling upset of the Patriots in last year’s Super Bowl would never be topped given the magnitude of the game and the fact that it led to New York’s game-winning touchdown. But after Santonio Holmes’ amazing sideline grab in Super Bowl XLIII on Sunday night, maybe Tyree’s catch was bested.

      What catch was better?

      David Tyree’s against the Patriots:

      Santonio Holmes’ against the Cardinals:

      There truly isn’t a wrong answer here because both were freaking phenomenal. But if a gun were placed to my head and I had to choose one, I would go with Holmes’ catch against the Cardinals and not just because it was more recent.

      The magnitude of both catches were both incredibly high, as well as the degrees of difficulty. Tyree had to fight with Rodney Harrison in midair just to catch the ball, then as it’s slipping from his grasp, press it against his helmet and make sure that it didn’t bounce out when the two players hit the ground. He also had to make sure that no part of the ball touched the turf, which is probably the most amazing part.

      Holmes had to jump up, snag Ben Roethlisberger’s pass as it was heading out of bounds, use only his hands to make the catch, make sure both of his feet came down in bounds and as he was falling to the turf, make sure he remained in complete control. He also had to show immense concentration because three defenders were around him at the time.

      Both were amazing, but I give the slight edge to Holmes because his catch actually scored the game-winning touchdown. I know Tyree’s led to the Giants’ game winning touchdown and without it, New York probably doesn’t win the game. But Holmes’s was officially worth six points, so I’m giving the nod to him.

      Related content:

      Holmes’ catch the best ever?

      NFL, Super Bowl

      Does Chris Bosh want out of Toronto?

      February 2, 2009 /

      The answer is yes, according to Stephen A. Smith. Bosh has apparently told the team he doesn’t have any interest in staying in Toronto, and Smith said that Miami and Dallas were likely suitors in a possible trade.

      Bosh’s contract runs through the 2009-10 season, so he is one of the members of the vaunted free agent class of 2010. Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo is no dummy, so his first step will be to try to convince Bosh to stay. If that fails, there’s a chance that the team could move him before the trade deadline, which is about three weeks away. They should be able to get more for Bosh now than during the offseason since whatever team trading for him will have his services for the remainder of this season and the playoffs.

      Smith mentioned the Heat and the Mavericks as possible trade partners. Miami’s major trading chip is Shawn Marion, but he’s in the final year of his contract and most of the league seems to be unwilling to pay him what they believe he is going to ask this summer. For that reason, trading for the Matrix is a dicey proposition. In Dallas, Josh Howard would presumably be the centerpiece of a deal for Bosh, though he has now stated publicly that he wants to stay in Dallas.

      One team that should put a trade offer together is the Cleveland Cavaliers. They do have Wally Szczerbiak’s expiring contract ($13 M), so the Raptors could get immediate salary cap relief. They could package Wally’s contract with J.J. Hickson and two or three future first round picks and see if the Raptors bite. It would be a heck of a lot easier to re-sign LeBron if Bosh were already in Cleveland.

      I’d also like to see the Bucks make a play for the talented power forward. Would the Raptors take Michael Redd and Charlie Villanueva for Bosh? I realize that Bosh would be unlikely to re-sign unless the Bucks vaulted into the top four in the East, but with a starting lineup of Ramon Sessions, Charlie Bell, Richard Jefferson, Bosh and Andrew Bogut, that would be one of the better teams in the East.

      I really don’t know what happened to the Raptors. After re-signing Jose Calderon to a long-term deal, acquiring Jermaine O’Neal to help down low, and the emergence of Andrea Bargnani as a legitimate scorer, the Raptors should be a lot better than they are. They’ve already lost two in a row and they have the Lakers, Cavs and Hornets coming up in a brutal three-game stretch. And now the news breaks that their franchise player doesn’t want to return.

      Things are bad in Toronto.

      2/2 Update: Bryan Colangelo says the rumors about Bosh not wanting to re-sign with Toronto are untrue.

      “It isn’t true,” said Colangelo. “It’s a complete fabrication.”

      “It’s a non-story. Stephen A. got a little carried away. I’ve e-mailed him to talk about it but he’s in bed with the flu. Maybe the basketball Gods have something to do with that. I don’t know where that story came from.”

      It will be interesting to see what Smith has to say about this. He didn’t cite a source or act like he was breaking a story; he just said that Bosh has already told the team he doesn’t want to return as if it were common knowledge. I’d like to see Smith defend himself here.

      2/3 Update: Chris Bosh speaks out about the story.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Rumors & Gossip

      Holmes’ catch the best ever?

      February 2, 2009 /

      Gregg Doyel of CBSSportsline.com writes that Santonio Holmes’ game-winning touchdown grab was the best catch in NFL history.

      Santonio HolmesYou can’t dispute that Pittsburgh receiver Santonio Holmes, given the stakes and the degree of difficulty, just gave us the greatest catch in the history of professional football — a 6-yard, leaping, tightrope grab in the back corner of the end zone with 35 seconds left to give the Steelers a 27-23 victory Sunday night against Arizona in Super Bowl XLIII.

      The ball was high, and heading out of bounds. Holmes wasn’t merely going to have to make a leaping catch — that’s routine enough; Holmes himself said later that he didn’t leap, but he did a little bit — but he had to make a leaping catch as his momentum was taking him out the side door near the back of the end zone. Leap, focus on the ball long enough to make the catch, then forget about the hands and worry about the feet. Get them down, both of them, because this isn’t Ohio State, son. Two feet down in the NFL, or it’s no catch.

      Do all that … oh, and did we mention this is the Super Bowl? And that there is less than a minute left? That the other team leads 23-20?

      Doyel goes onto compare Holmes’ catch to Lynn Swann’s in Super Bowl X and David Tyree’s in last year’s Super Bowl.

      Swann and Tyree made their catches in the Super Bowl, so they’re still in the running. I guess. But neither guy made his catch in the end zone. Neither guy scored on the play. Swann made the prettiest catch we’ve ever seen, and Tyree made one of the most difficult catches we’ve ever seen, but they came in the middle of the field. Tyree’s grab led to the winning touchdown, true, but it didn’t score it. So give Swann credit for being a ballerina in cleats, and applaud Tyree for making one of the most ridiculous catches you’ve ever seen.

      But don’t compare their non-scoring catches to what Holmes did — not just in the end zone in the Super Bowl, but in the final minute with his team trailing 23-20.

      I don’t find myself saying this too often but I actually agree with Doyel. I didn’t think that anything could top Tyree’s catch last year considering the degree of difficulty in which he had to hang onto the ball by pressing it against his helmet while he was falling to the ground and wrestling with Rodney Harrison at the same time. But if you were like me last night when Holmes caught that ball you said, “No way – no way was he in.” But he was and it was incredible.

      Holmes had to use his hands and his hands only to snag that ball. Not only that, but he also had three defenders around him and while Roethlisberger’s pass was placed in a spot only Holmes could catch it, it was still sailing well out of bounds when the Steeler wideout snagged it out of the air. And as Doyel points out, when you factor in the magnitude of the game and the fact that Holmes had to get two feet down while his momentum was being carried out of bounds, it all adds up to the greatest catch ever.

      NFL, Super Bowl

      Officials confirm Warner’s fumble on final play

      February 2, 2009 /

      NFL vice president of officiating Mike Pereira confirmed after the Super Bowl that Kurt Warner did fumble on the Cardinals’ final play of the game.

      Kurt Warner“I was really surprised on that one because I was definitely moving my arm forward to throw the ball,” Warner said. “I thought I’d almost gotten the ball off, so yeah, it does surprise you that in that kind of situation — five seconds to go to decide the Super Bowl — you would think it was something they’d do. But maybe somebody saw it clearly.”

      According to NFL VP of Officiating Mike Pereira, the replay official upstairs did see the play clearly.
      “We confirmed it was a fumble,” said Pereira. “The replay assistant in the replay booth saw it was clearly a fumble. The ball got knocked loose and was rolling in his hand before it started forward. He has to have total control.”

      Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt also was irked by the seemingly random ending.

      “I was hoping it would be (reviewed),” he said. “I knew it was inside two minutes and it was a booth review. Obviously I would have liked to seen it replayed because it looked to me that Kurt was throwing the ball.”

      The Cardinals had a difficult night with the officials. They were penalized 11 times for 106 yards. On one Steelers drive that ended with a field goal, Arizona was called for three personal fouls. The Cardinals also had to challenge two blown calls by the refs — one on a Ben Roethlisberger run that was initially ruled a touchdown, the other on an earlier incompletion that was initially ruled a fumble.

      There is no doubt there were several questionable calls last night that went in the Steelers’ favor. The roughing the passer call on Karlos Dansby midway through the third quarter was brutal and as the article noted, the Cards had to challenge twice in order to get the correct call on two huge plays.

      That said, I thought the penalties started to even out in the end. Not that the refs were trying to make up from previous calls, but no one can say that Pittsburgh didn’t get called for their fair share of penalties. Warner’s fumble still should have been reviewed, but at least Pereira came out and made the statement that the play would have stood as is had they went to the booth. (Not that that makes Arizona fans feel good or anything.)

      NFL, Super Bowl

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