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      Giants contact Michael Strahan about return

      August 25, 2008 /

      According to the New York Daily News, Giants’ GM Jerry Reese has reached out to Michael Strahan’s agent about possibly returning to the team in wake of Osi Umenyiora’s season-ending injury.

      According to the agent, Tony Agnone, he spoke with Reese earlier today about whether Strahan would be interested in returning to the Giants. Agnone said the discussion was very general and very preliminary and definitely didn’t involve any talks about money.

      They ended with Reese telling Agnone to let the Giants know if and when Strahan decides he’s serious about a return.

      “They reached out and they talked to us about the possibility of Strahan returning,” Agnone said. “It’s something he’s thinking about.”

      Agnone said that Strahan wasn’t considering a return at all before his friend and former teammates, Osi Umenyiora, suffered a season-ending knee injury Saturday night. After seeing that, Agnone said, Strahan “feels the ship isn’t even out of the harbor and they’re already taking on the cannons. He feels like maybe he should jump back in there.”

      Agnone insisted he had no idea what the 37-year-old Strahan would decide to do, or what would happen if he told the Giants officially that he’d like to return.

      If I were a betting man (“if” – ha!), I’d throw money on Strahan returning. Either way I think it’s a good move by the Giants. I know they’d be willing to move Mathias Kiwanuka from outside linebacker back to end (he played end in college), but why move him after he’s already spent two years learning linebacker? And when Umenyiora returns next season, what do they do with Kiwanuka? Move him back to end? Strahan coming back for one more year just makes sense if he’s willing to do it.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Bengals shopping Rudi Johnson, Chad Johnson to play with torn labrum

      August 25, 2008 /

      With the emergence of Chris Perry and Kenny Watson, the Cincinnati Bengals are reportedly shopping running back Rudi Johnson.

      ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that the Bengals are shopping Rudi Johnson in trade talks.
      Mort says they’re asking for a “real receiver,” or someone who could help if Chad Johnson (partially torn labrum) has a setback. We doubt Cincy could get anything for Rudi, but this may be a sign the team is ready to move on with Chris Perry and Kenny Watson. Johnson’s roster spot could be in doubt.

      Johnson is only 28, but he got a ton of carries from 2004 through 2006 and he looked worn down last year. It just goes to show you how much of a pounding this running backs take. It’s no wonder more teams have moved on to a running back-by-committee approach in efforts to keep their players healthy and fresh all season.

      On a related note, Bengals’ wide receiver Chad Johnson apparently will play with a torn labrum this season according to the team’s website.

      Chad Johnson jammed his feet into his locker and angled his arms down on his stool and executed the pushups on what ESPN.com is reporting as a torn left labrum.

      But nothing has changed. While he said he would need surgery if the shoulder pops out again (and that is presumed to be a season-ending procedure), he said “it’s unlikely.”

      But, it’s the kind of injury where people have had it pop out in their sleep. So he is literally snap-to-snap, and he says he won’t need the surgery, “If I make it through.”

      Wearing a harness on his shoulder and his ankles taped as if he was going to go through a full practice, Johnson said he’s talked to 10 players who have played seasons with the injury. Among them are Kellen Winslow, Donte Stallworth and Brian Westbrook.

      Well if the man is doing pushups, obviously the injury isn’t too serious. But still, it can’t be good that he could miss the season if it pops out again (something that could happen even if he slept on it wrong).

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Review of “10 Yards” – a fantasy football documentary

      August 25, 2008 /

      Fantasy football teams are like assholes… everyone has one. Okay, not everyone has a fantasy football team, but an estimated 20 million people do and the number seems to be growing every year. The game’s exploding popularity makes it ripe for a documentary and filmmakers Hunter Weeks and Josh Caldwell stepped in to fill the void.

      “10 Yards” follows three friends, Hunter, Josh and J. Fred (a.k.a. “The Commish”), who own and operate three of the 15 teams in the Intergalactic Championship League. Hunter and Josh travel around the country interviewing different fantasy football players, real football players and analysts (including Boomer Esiason and Shannon Sharpe) to get insight into why the game has become so popular. Meanwhile, The Commish chimes in with his weekly diary covering all the league happenings as well as his random ramblings. Over the course of the film, a full season is played and a champion is crowned.

      Like “King of Kong,” “Air Guitar Nation” and “Word Wars” before it, “10 Yards” attempts to take a humorous slant on the hobby of a subsection of society. Unfortunately, the cast of characters in “10 Yards” isn’t nearly as unique or as engaging as those of the aforementioned docs. They’re not trying to set the world record score in Donkey Kong, flying to Europe to compete in an air guitar compeition or entering cutthroat Scrabble tournaments. They’re regular, average Joes, just like you and me, and truth be told, we’re just not that interesting. The film has its moments, but too much of its humor comes off as shtick.

      That said, Weeks and Caldwell do a nice job of moving from one topic to another, all the while keeping the season-long storyline – the retirement of The Commish – in sight. The graphics and transitions are smooth and the film is well constructed. “10 Yards” is a worthwhile distraction for hardcore fantasy footballers and for those that want to learn about the game (or about those who play it).

      Starting August 21 and running for two weeks, OurStage.com is offering a download of the film if you register with the site. (It’s free.) SnagFilms.com will stream the movie for free and allow for viral sharing via its widgets. A nationwide DVD release rolls out on September 30.

      Fantasy Football, NFL, Video

      Texans face many questions at running back

      August 25, 2008 /

      In the weeks leading up to the kickoff the 2008 NFL Season, I’ll take a look at position groups that could potentially lift teams to new heights, or bury them and their postseason hopes. Today I take a look at the Houston Texans’ potential issues at running back.

      Will it be Ahman Green, Chris Brown, Steve Slaton or Chris Taylor? In other words, which running back will start for the Houston Texas this year?

      Just one year ago, Green signed a four-year, $23 million contract to join the Texans from Green Bay. But in just six games last season, Green rushed for only 260 yards and two touchdowns on 70 carries because he was limited by injuries. So far this preseason, he’s battled with a groin injury and might not even make Houston’s roster.

      The thought is that Green is battling Chris Brown for a roster spot. Brown, a 27-year old who has shown flashes of potential throughout his career but can’t seem to catch on with one team, has been limited this preseason due to a lingering back injury.

      The rookie Slaton seems to have the most promise out of any of Houston’s current backs. The former West Virginia product fell to the third round of the 2008 draft because of his small size (5’9”, 201 pounds), but Slaton is incredibly quick and gives the team a homerun threat out of its backfield.

      Taylor has the size (5’11”, 220 pounds) Houston covets, but is inexperienced. In the Texans’ third preseason game, Taylor started and rushed 11 times for 47 yards. Last season, the team tried him at fullback but it appears that he has successfully made the transition to half back.

      If the season were to start today, it Taylor would probably be the Texans’ starter, with Slaton as the change-of-pace back coming off the bench. It makes no sense for Houston to keep both Green and Brown, so the roster spot might come down to which player is healthier.

      Either way, does a Taylor/Slaton tandem give the Texans the best chance to win? Taylor certainly has good size and will be utilized in short yardage situations, but he doesn’t have a ton of speed and has never carried a full rushing load before. Slaton, on the other hand, has plenty of speed, but the concern is whether or not he can take a beating running between the tackles. It appears that the Texans have what they want in a running back, just not in one running back.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Misty May-Treanor will appear on “Dancing With The Stars”

      August 25, 2008 /

      There’s a joke about Sir Mix-a-lot’s “Baby Got Back” in here somewhere.

      It’s true, the two-time gold medalist will appear on “Dancing With The Stars” along with Warren Sapp and sprinter Maurice Greene.

      A record 13 dancers will compete on the show. Included are the program’s youngest dancer ever — 18-year-old Cody Linley of the popular Disney Channel show “Hannah Montana”, and its oldest, 82-year-old actress Cloris Leachman.

      Others contestants include singers Lance Bass and Toni Braxton, Emmy-winning soap actress Susan Lucci, reality-show participant Kim Kardashian, television actor Ted McGinley, chef Rocco DiSpirito, television personality/model Brooke Burke and stand-up comedian Jeffrey Ross.

      Wow, Misty May and Kim Kardashian?!? Those are some serious derrieres.

      Here is May-Treanor (left) in a bear-hug with Kerri Walsh…

      And here’s Kardashian (a.k.a. Reggie Bush’s girlfriend)…

      Big is definitely back.

      Humor, Rumors & Gossip, Television, The Olympics

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