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      Norv Turner sees Ryan Mathews as his workhorse back

      April 27, 2010 /

      When asked how many carries he thought rookie RB Ryan Mathews would have this season, Chargers head coach Norv Turner had this to say: (SignonSanDiego.com)

      “That is so hard to say, because there are games that come up like the Tennessee game and the Denver game (last season) where you run the ball 40 times. I’d like every game to be that way. Unfortunately, it’s not. But I would expect Ryan to have 250 carries and 40 catches, something like that. That’s obviously saying Darren is going to have the same role he’s had.”

      As a reference, LaDainian Tomlinson carried the ball 223 times for 730 yards and 12 TD, and caught 20 passes for 154 yards. LT2 is a very good pass-catcher, but Sproles took over most of those duties in recent years, so I’m not sure how Mathews gets to 40 catches this season. The carries I can see — Tomlinson missed a couple of games and would have carried the ball about 255-260 times had he stayed healthy.

      If Mathews gets that kind of work and takes over the goal-line duties, I can see a 1,000-yard season and double-digit TDs in 2010. If we project 1,100 total yards, with 10 TD and 15 catches, that puts him at 185 fantasy points (in a PPR league). Last season, those were RB20 numbers, so Mathews should go somewhere in the middle of the fourth round, along with Jerome Harrison, Ronnie Brown and Knowshon Moreno.

      Man, I have to get used to spelling “Mathews” with one “t.” Sigh.

      External Sports, Fantasy Football, NFL

      Jim Schwartz: Jahvid Best highlights akin to porn

      April 27, 2010 /

      Lions head coach Jim Schwartz delivered the quote of the year on Monday with his comments about first round pick Jahvid Best.

      From the Detroit Free Press:

      “Some people watch adult videos on their computer. I go to YouTube and watch Jahvid Best highlight clips. That’s what gets me aroused.”

      Schwartz also had a great line about Mr. Irrelevant Tim Toone:

      “He’s a white guy with dreadlocks who looks like Jeff Spicoli.”

      Congratulations Jim, you’ve just become a drop on Detroit sports radio for the rest of eternity.

      Jahvid Best porn – there may be nothing finer.

      External Sports, NFL

      According to former teammates, Big Ben wasn’t popular in locker room before scandal

      April 27, 2010 /

      Let the piling on Ben Roethlisberger begin.

      ESPN’s Kelly Naqi recently did a story for “Outside the Lines” in which details emerged about Big Ben’s popularity (or lack thereof) among his Pittsburgh teammates. Two of his former teammates, Najeh Devenport and Mike Logan, were quoted in the story and what they had to say won’t help Roethlisberger fix his already damaged image.

      From Yahoo! Sports.com:

      • Davenport estimated that about 60 percent of the locker room felt like Roethlisberger thought he was “bigger than the team,” and not focused on winning.

      • Davenport also discussed a time when Joey Porter(notes) called out Roethlisberger in a team meeting for being the last one in to practice and the first one to leave. Porter also accused Roethlisberger of not being dedicated to the team, and criticized him for not fraternizing with his teammates.

      • Mike Logan confirmed the incident where Porter addressed Roethlisberger, and said that all the things Porter mentioned were already being talked about in the locker room.

      • Someone identified only as “a close friend of a Steelers player” said that the reason Roethlisberger had a bodyguard was because of an incident where a man put a gun to Roethlisberger’s head because Roethlisberger was involved with the man’s girlfriend.

      • Naqi spoke with people who work at Pittsburgh bars and nightclubs, and they described Ben as someone who was condescending to the staffs and rude to other customers. One bar owner said Roethlisberger always expected he and his entourage to be given free food and drinks.

      I remember when news started to break left and right about Michael Vick’s involvement in dog fighting. One day he was being indicted, and the next came intimate details about how he had always spent money carelessly, was always mixed up with the wrong people and how the Falcons were always covering up for him. So this story about Roethlisberger isn’t shocking. In fact, it would have been more surprising if new details didn’t emerge about what a piece of crap he is.
      Usually when a celebrity is down, that’s when it’s the perfect time to kick him. I’m not saying these new details aren’t true (how would I know either way?), but this story seems incredibly convenient. Everyone already thinks Roethlisberger is a slimy douche, so why not toss more fuel onto the fire? If he’s going to burn, let’s make him burn.

      It’s all about timing. Had this story not come out on the tails of his latest sexual assault incident, then nobody would have cared. Either that, or we all would have written this off as just another athlete that thinks he’s above it and then we would have all quickly moved on.

      Regardless, Big Ben has a lot of work ahead of him if he wants to change the way people perceive him. If it matters to him, then it sounds like he’s going to have to make wholesale changes immediately. And his former teammates aren’t making things easier on him, that’s for sure.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, NFL

      Thomas, Gadzuric key Bucks win

      April 27, 2010 /

      Left for dead by many (including this long-time, pessimistic fan) after the loss of Andrew Bogut, the Bucks beat the Hawks again last night to tie the series at 2-2.

      Brandon Jennings played very well (23-4-6, 56% shooting), and John Salmons continued his steady play (22 points). I’m tempted to credit Carlos Defino’s 22 points (on 6-of-8 from 3PT) as the difference in the game, but it was the play of Milwaukee’s centers that put the Bucks over the top. Kurt Thomas and Dan Gadzuric combined for 16 points, 14 rebounds, two blocks and a steal, which looks like a typical line that Bogut was posting late in the season. The much-maligned Gadzuric played big late in the third and early in the fourth, and eventually gave way to Thomas, who drew a couple of crucial fouls in the final minutes of the game.

      But back to Delfino for a moment. We’ve come to expect big games out of Jennings and Salmons, but Delfino had averaged just 6.0 points in the series, so his big night was something of a surprise. Here’s a look (and be sure to check out the dunk at the 0:13 mark):

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Behind the scenes of a live MMA event

      April 27, 2010 /

      My hands were sweaty, my face was red but I wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass.

      “Dana, could you tell me where you see Jose (Aldo) on your pound-for-pound list.”

      The question was simple enough. I mean I ran it through my head a million times in a little over two minutes. The wording, the timing, the tone all needed to sound just right. After all, this question was directed at Dana White, President of the UFC and WEC.

      Following Saturday’s WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber pay-per-view event, which was sponsored by AMP Energy, White and select fighters addressed the media. And there I was, covering my first MMA live event thanks to the people at AMP Energy.

      At 27, I have been a dedicated MMA fan for seven years. Having seen the early days of Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock, I was re-introduced to the UFC with Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture at UFC 43 and have been hooked since.

      But I am not just a fan, I am a sports writer, and have been for about 10 years now.

      I knew that the opportunity of covering MMA for Bullz-Eye.com and The Scores Report was one I wanted to be a part of because I knew that I could do it objectively and with the respect and knowledge that MMA fans want from their writers. I’m not just a fan. Still, even having interviewed some of the top athletes in the world, my eyes were locked in with White’s as he awaited my question.

      As any MMA fan knows, if White thinks you asked him a stupid question, he will let you know and he will probably sprinkle in a few expletives to describe his feelings.

      So I asked my question.

      Continue reading »

      Mixed Martial Arts, UFC

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