Page 2092 of 2957

      Nick Saban threatens reporters with “chewing” if they bring up his LSU past

      November 3, 2008 /

      Nick SabanAlabama head coach Nick Saban doesn’t want to focus on the past. That’s why he warned reporters not to bring up his LSU past this week as his No. 1 Crimson Tide prepare to face his old team, the LSU Tigers.

      “It’s going to be about our players and about our team,” he said after Saturday’s game. “I don’t care how hard anybody tries to make it about something else, it’s not going to be. I’m kind of giving you a little forewarning.

      “If somebody wants to get a you-know-what chewing this week, that’ll be a good way to get it.”

      Saban coached the Tigers from 2000-05, going 13-1 in 2003. His homecoming to the school he spurned for a two-year stop with the NFL’s Miami Dolphins just happens to coincide with what certainly appears to be his best team since then. Saban’s return to an SEC West rival makes a warm welcome by LSU fans highly unlikely.

      “It’s not going to be about that,” he said of facing his former team. “This team is 9-0 and has played extremely well all year long. LSU has a very, very good football team. They were national champs last year, they’ve lost to two top-10 opponents this year, and we’ve got to play them on the road.

      “And it’s going to be about our players and their players and the players on the field. That’s what it should be about. If anybody makes it about something else, then you’re not really being fair to the players.”

      Sorry Saban, but it’s reporters jobs to ask questions like, “Hey Nick, remember when you gave the middle finger to LSU so you could stroke your ego in the NFL for two years only to come back to college football, but help build a different SEC program?”

      Saban is trying to make the ‘Bama-LSU game about his players, which it should be. But journalists have to seek out the story and the story this week is his return to Baton Rouge. If he doesn’t want to be asked hard questions than maybe he should work on having a less shady past.

      College Football

      Man plunges 35-feet at Qwest Field in Seattle

      November 3, 2008 /

      A man had to be rushed to the hospital after falling 35 feet into a stairwell at Qwest Field after the Seahawks’ loss to the Eagles on Sunday. The man is still alive, but his condition has not been released.

      The victim, described as a 34-year-old man, fell from one level of Qwest Field to the one below, said a spokesperson for the Seattle Fire Department.

      Medics responded to the scene at about 5 p.m. and transported the man to Harborview Medical Center.

      Witnesses at the scene said the man was hooked to an intravenous tube and a respirator as medics rushed him into the ambulance. They said the victim did not appear to be breathing on his own.

      The accident happened after the Seahawks lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in Sunday’s NFL game.

      At Harborview on Sunday night, the man’s friends said they had all traveled up from Portland for the game. They said the man’s family is on the way to Seattle to be by his side.

      The poor guy had to sit through another Seahawks loss and then fall 35-feet into a stairwell. Things just aren’t very good in Seattle right now.

      NFL

      Fantasy Fallout: Week 9

      November 2, 2008 /

      Everything you need to know (and a lot that you don’t) about the fantasy implications of Sunday’s action.

      QUARTERBACKS

      Trent Edwards threw two picks and fumbled, but he threw for more than 197+ yards and a TD for the sixth time in eight games…Kyle Orton suffered an ugly ankle injury and it looks like he could be out for a month. Rex Grossman will fill in for him…Gus Frerotte (182 yards, 3 TD, INT) continues to play solid ball for Minnesota. Since he took over six games ago, he is averaging 245 yards and 1.3 pass TD per game.

      RUNNING BACKS

      Kevin Smith got 16 touches to Rudi Johnson’s 10, and Smith also scored a TD, so it looks like he is the lead back in Detroit…Cedric Benson (25 touches, 109 yards, TD) seems to be settling into the RB1 role in Cincy…All that pregame talk about Michael Bennett getting most of the work for Tampa Bay turned out to be erroneous. Earnest Graham is a solid start as long as Warrick Dunn is out. He fumbled twice, but threw a TD to Alex Smith to make up for it…There were rumors that the Cardinals were going to cut Edgerrin James’ touches and give Tim Hightower more of the workload, but I wasn’t expecting Hightower to register 23 touches (108 yards, TD) and James to register zero. It looks like Hiightower is officially RB1 in Arizona…Ryan Grant (20 carries, 86 yards) ran pretty well against a good Titans defense, which is encouraging for his owners. He failed to score a TD, however…The Denver running game was awful against the Dolphins. Three RBs (Michael Pittman, Andre Hall and Ryan Torain) combined for 12 yards on 11 carries…Michael Turner (31 carries, 139 yards) once again tore up a bad rush defense. He has four 104+ yard games (OAK, GB, KC, DET) against mediocre-to-bad defenses and four sub 58-yard games (PHI, CHI, CAR, TB) against four good defenses. He doesn’t get any action in the passing game (3 receptions all year), so he can’t make up for a bad rushing day in PPR leagues…Maurice Morris (8 touches, 43 yards) and Julius Jones (11 touches, 45 yards) split the RB work almost evenly…BenJarvus Green-Ellis (16 touches, 65 yards, TD) and Kevin Faulk (15 touches, 98 yards) split the work with Sammy Morris and LaMont Jordan out. Faulk has more value in PPR leagues while Green-Ellis is the better play in standard and TD-heavy leagues.

      WIDE RECEIVERS

      Shaun McDonald has gone for 11-133-1 over the last two weeks and is the clear WR2 in Detroit. He’s worth a pickup, especially in PPR leagues…Rashied Davis (5-64-1) led the Bears in receiving this week, but Devin Hester (4-42) was a factor as well. Brandon Lloyd wasn’t active despite partially participating in practice this week…Both T.J. Houshmandzadeh (7-65) and Chad Johnson (5-37-2) have played pretty well the last couple of games, even with Ryan Fitzpatrick under center…After a dreadful week against the Raiders (1-3), Derrick Mason exploded with a 9-136-1 day. He has caught at least four passes in seven of eight games this season and is a solid start in PPR leagues…Antonio Bryant (8-115-1) continues to thrive even with Joey Galloway (1-22) back. We might be seeing a changing of the guard in Tampa…Torry Holt (6-58-1) showed some life after complaining about his role in the St. Louis offense…Donald Driver (7-136-1) has caught 17 passes over the last three games, and is still a good WR2 in most PPR leagues…Greg Camarillo (11-111) continues to post solid numbers in PPR leagues. He has caught at least four passes in the last seven games…DeSean Jackson (2-20) had an unusually quiet game, and it might have something to do with the return of Kevin Curtis (6-83).

      TIGHT ENDS

      Owen Daniels had a huge (11-133) game for the Texans, outgaining Andre Johnson and Kevin Walter combined…Visanthe Shiancoe (1-25-1) found the endzone for the fourth time in six games…Jason Witten (0-0) was active, but failed to catch a pass. He was targeted four times and two resulted in interceptions. Hopefully, he can heal with the week off…Kevin Boss (3-30-1) continues his up and down play. Until he can show more consistency, he’s nothing but a spot starter.

      FREE AGENTS

      Now here are my thoughts on a few guys that might be on your league’s waiver wire…

      Willis McGahee owners are cursing the Ravens right now. He was active for the game, but didn’t register a touch as Ray Rice (24 touches, 176 yards) and LeRon McClain (15 touches, 37 yards, TD) handled the rushing duties. It looks like Rice has passed McClain on the depth chart and is the guy to own in PPR leagues… Joe Flacco has put up pretty decent numbers over the last three weeks. Against the Browns, he posted 248 yards and two TD…Kolby Smith got off to a good start, but left the game with an injury. Now it looks like Jamaal Charles (18 rushes, 106 yards) is the Chiefs’ RB1…Tyler Thigpen (164 yards passing, TD, 22 yards rushing) put up decent QB numbers for the second straight week. Last week, it was against the Jets, but this week it was against a good Bucs’ defense…Mark Bradley’s 4-65 day followed up last week’s 5-42-1 day against the Jets. With defenses focused on Dwayne Bowe and Tony Gonzalez, Bradley is a sleeper at WR, especially if Tyler Thigpen continues to play good ball…Sage Rosenfels (224 yards, 2 TD, INT) was back under center in the second half against the Vikings after a shot to the knee knocked Matt Schaub out of the game…Michael Jenkins (2-64-2) scored on two long pass plays. This came on the heels of four straight games with 3+ catches. He should see his value rise as Matt Ryan gains experience…JaMarcus Russell (6/19, 31 yards, INT) was absolutely brutal against a shaky Falcons pass defense…Brent Celek (6-131) started in place of the concussed L.J. Smith and had a great game…Koren Robinson (4-105-1) has caught four passes in each of the last two weeks and right now it looks like he is the Seahawks’ WR1. Bobby Engram (3-20) was pretty quiet. Don’t look for Engram to really get it going until (or is it if?) Matt Hasselbeck comes back.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Penn State vs. Texas Tech

      November 2, 2008 /

      If Alabama, Penn State and Texas Tech win out, we’ll be hearing plenty of arguments over who should be facing Alabama in the National Championship game. Call it this year’s BCS mess.

      In today’s BCS standings, Texas Tech has jumped Penn State to take the #2 spot, mostly due to better computer rankings even though Penn State is #2 in the polls. That’s not too surprising given Texas Tech’s win over Texas, tough that’s little consolation to Penn State fans.

      It’s hard to have much sympathy for Penn State, however, given their embarrassing non-conference schedule – Coastal Carolina, Oregon State, Syracuse and Temple. Would it kill Joe Paterno to schedule some national powers?

      But, Texas Tech’s non-conference schedule is even worse – Eastern Washington, Nevada, SMU and Massachusetts. Pathetic. Of course, Texas Tech is playing in the Big-12, which has some very good teams this year, even if the entire conference seems to have forgotten how to play defense. In the end, playing in this conference will save Texas Tech.

      Or will it? They still have to face #9 Oklahoma State and #6 Oklahoma on the schedule, not to mention the Big-12 championship game. If they win out, they deserve to play for the BCS championship. It will be a tough road.

      Which brings us back to Penn State. If Joe Paterno and an undefeated Nittany Lions team get left out of the title game, it might be enough of an outrage to finally force a playoff format.

      College Football

      Giants absolutely crush hapless Cowboys

      November 2, 2008 /

      Cowboys-GiantsPerhaps no team in the history of the NFL needs their bye week more than the Dallas Cowboys do right now. After suffering a 35-14 blowout at the hands of division rival New York on Sunday, the Cowboys need to regroup before this season continues to slip away from them.

      Brad Johnson was once again horrific while completing just 5 of 11 passes for 71 yards and two interceptions. Brooks Bollinger replaced him at halftime, who promptly threw an interception himself on his first pass attempt in the second half. Without the threat of the pass to beat them, the Giants loaded up against the run and stuffed Marion Barber, who only finished with 54 yards on the ground.

      What’s worse for Dallas is that the defense that played so well against Tampa last Sunday disappeared again. The Cowboys surrendered 23 first downs, 319 total yards and 35 points. They certainly didn’t get any help from the offense, who constantly put them in poor field position all game, but still, the G-Men essentially did whatever they wanted.

      Once again, the Cowboys are in serious trouble. The backup quarterback position remains unsettled and it’s not going to get any better until Tony Romo returns. The idea that Johnson could manage games and keep the team afloat until Romo was healthy again has blown up in their face and Wade Phillips continues to have no clue on how to fix the defense. Phillips better do something over the bye week or his seat will only continue to get hotter throughout the second half of the season.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑