Tag: Anthony Stalter (Page 54 of 133)

Titans claim Randy Moss off waivers

Minnesota Vikings Randy Moss raises his hand during warm-ups before the game against the New York Jets in week 5 of the NFL season at New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on October 11, 2010.   UPI /John Angelillo Photo via Newscom

The Titans have claimed Randy Moss off waivers from the Vikings according to Jim Wyatt via his Twitter page. They were also the only team to put in a claim on the troublemaker.

The only thing that remains to be seen is if the Titans are good enough to acquire Moss’ services. Earlier in the day, Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald reported that the receiver would be willing to sit out the remainder of the season if he dislikes the team that claims him. He apparently wants a ring and won’t allow a little thing like self respect get in the way of what he wants most in life.

If you haven’t picked up on my distaste for Moss (it’s more of his attitude than him as a player) in the first two paragraphs, let me lay it on a little thicker for you: I hope he doesn’t want to play for Tennessee and he winds up sitting out the rest of the year. Then, in protest of his attitude, none of the 32 teams pick up the phone and call him this offseason.

But that’s not going to happen. Even at his age, he’s too talented for teams to stay away, although I find it interesting that the Titans were the only ones to put a claim in.

If does he report, he’ll make Chris Johnson even more lethal because teams won’t be able to stack the box and leave their corners on an island with Tennessee’s receivers. Moss is too good not to at least have a safety shading to his side, so CJ might see some open running lanes.

This of course doesn’t bode well for Kenny Britt’s hamstring injury. He won’t play in Week 10 when the Titans come back from their bye and if the team thought he could return shortly thereafter, there would be no sense in claiming Moss. They’re 30th in pass attempts per game and obviously their commitment is to getting Johnson the ball, so if Britt was healthy I imagine they would have taken a pass on Moss.

We’ll see how this all turns out. But given that it’s Randy Moss, it probably won’t be pretty.

Childress admits trade for Moss a “poor decision.” You think?

EDEN PRAIRIE, MN - OCTOBER 7: Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress answers questions from the media during a press conference at Winter Park on October 7, 2010 in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

Brad Childress didn’t say much to the media on Wednesday about the Randy Moss situation, although he did admit that trading for the troubled receiver was a “poor decision.”

Not to mince words, but I actually disagree with Childress’ take on the Moss trade. It wasn’t a poor decision – it was a horrible decision. A horrendous decision. A decision that should cost Childress his job.

I don’t know who the genius was behind the Moss trade, but Childress is the one who should take the fall for it. He signs off on whom he wants on his 53-man roster and obviously he put his Herbie Hancock on the deal or else it never would have happened. Then, after he shockingly couldn’t handle Moss’ rotten attitude, he waived him four weeks later.

In the grand scheme of things, losing a third round pick in a trade that doesn’t pan out isn’t the end of the world. It happens all the time in the NFL. But when you give up a third round pick for a guy who you know is a malcontent and then you waive him four weeks later because he was being a malcontent, said trade falls into the unnecessary and idiotic categories.

Why the Vikings didn’t sit down with Moss and give him a new contract immediately after acquiring him is beyond me. I mean, you made the decision to give up a third round pick and you knew he wanted money, yet you don’t pay him? Don’t you think it would have been smart to make a financial commitment to a guy who mails it in if he’s unhappy about his contract? How unbelievably stupid and shortsighted. What did Childress think, that Moss was going to be a good boy and play on his current deal because he got the opportunity to play with Lord Favre? Dude doesn’t care about Favre – he cares about money. And he wasn’t going to take the Vikings to a Super Bowl with Favre playing as bad as he was.

The Minnesota Vikings will never win a Super Bowl with Brad Childress as their head coach, their offensive coordinator or the person in charge of scrapping the gum off the Metrodome seats at the end of games. He clearly doesn’t know how to handle NFL personalities, his play calling is a joke in pressure situations and he can’t be trusted to make big decisions in terms of personal.

2010 NFL Week 9 Power Rankings

INDIANAPOLIS - NOVEMBER 01: Jacob Tamme  of Indianapolis Colts runs with the ball during the NFL game against the Houston Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium on November 1, 2010 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Another No. 1 team falls and more shakeup in the top-5. At least things are starting to shake out as we head into the second half of the season.

As always, let’s get nasty, Ricky.

Check out Week 8’s Power Rankings

1. Indianapolis Colts
Previous Week: 2
I knew there was a reason I left the Colts at No. 2. Houston’s secondary is brutal, but Peyton Manning put on a clinic Monday night. Only he could turn Jacob Tamme into a star overnight.

2. Pittsburgh Steelers
Previous Week: 1
I could have dropped the Steelers further down but I think they were due for a loss. They were fortunate that Big Ben’s fumble two weeks ago in Miami didn’t cost them a loss and they were beat by a desperate Saints team on the road last Sunday. It was bound to happen.

3. New York Giants
Previous Week: 5
This team didn’t do anything last week so it may be unjustified to move them ahead of the Patriots. But before compiling the rankings this week I asked myself, “Would the Giants beat the Patriots this Sunday on a neutral field?” I think you have my answer.

4. New England Patriots
Previous Week: 4
Statistically this is an average team – even below average, actually. They rank 25th in total defense and 24th in total offense and yet they’re 6-1 and are currently atop the AFC East. To me, that speaks volumes about Bill Belichick’s ability to make in-game adjustments and this team’s refusal to beat itself.

5. New York Jets
Previous Week: 3
How does this team prep for two weeks to face the Packers and not manage to score a single point at home? Inexcusable.

6. Baltimore Ravens
Previous Week: 6
We’re going to find out a lot about this Ravens team over the next two weeks. They host a Dolphins team this Sunday that has been outstanding on the road and then they travel to Atlanta to play a Falcons squad that has only lost one game at the Georgia Dome when Matt Ryan starts.

7. Green Bay Packers
Previous Week: 10
I don’t feel entirely good about moving the Packers up this far after only one win, but it was a big win so they deserve it. To shut out the Jets on their home turf when New York had two weeks to prepare was impressive. The game plan Dom Capers put together was outstanding.

8. Philadelphia Eagles
Previous Week: 8
Much like the Ravens, the Eagles will be tested over these next four weeks. They host the Colts on Sunday, play at division rival Washington next week, are home against the Giants in Week 11 and are then at Chicago in Week 12. Hope Mike Vick is ready.

9. Atlanta Falcons
Previous Week: 9
I personally think that the Bucs’ season up to this point has been a mirage but the Falcons better not overlook them this Sunday. Not with the two teams having the same record and the Saints jumping back into the NFC South race with a win last week.

10. New Orleans Saints
Previous Week: 11
Huge win for the defending champs last Sunday, although I’m not ready to have them skyrocket up the rankings yet. That loss to the Browns two weeks ago still smells of something awful.

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Vikings officially release Randy Moss – so what now?

EDEN PRAIRIE, MN - OCTOBER 7: Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss answers questions from the media during a press conference at Winter Park on October 7, 2010 in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

This Randy Moss situation is an absolute mess.

The only thing that mattered to this guy four weeks ago was a new contract and then after he realized he wasn’t going to win, he had no problem trashing the Vikings (a team that gave up a third round pick to acquire him) in an attempt to get the Patriots to welcome him back with open arms. How pathetic.

Moss doesn’t miss the Patriots — he misses the opportunity to play for a winner. He realized very quickly that the Vikings aren’t going to win, so he did the only thing he does well off the field: resort to being a malcontent and a distraction.

Make no mistake, Moss has a ton of talent, even at his age. He’s a game changer when he has his head on straight and he even commands double-teams when he’s really trying.

But when is that? He wanted out of Oakland so bad that he didn’t say a word for the first couple of seasons in New England. He was a choirboy because all he wanted to do was be a part of a winner. But when he got that, it wasn’t enough and the second his contract only had one year remaining on it he reverted back to the old Moss.

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Team of destiny or just the better team? Giants finish off Rangers, win 2010 World Series

Following their 3-1 win in Game 5 of the World Series on Monday night, somewhere in this country someone started writing about how the 2010 San Francisco Giants were a team of destiny this postseason.

But their status as 2010 World Series Champions has nothing to do with destiny. They were just the better team.

In the NLCS, people expected the Giants to lose to the Phillies, who had the better offense, the better pitching, more experience, etc. But when the Giants knocked off the defending NL champs to reach the World Series, people expected them to succumb to the mighty Rangers, who had the better offense, a pitcher in Cliff Lee who never loses in the postseason, etc.

But it was the Giants who came up with the clutch hits. It was the Giants’ Bruce Bochy who outmanaged the Rangers’ Ron Washington. It was the Giants’ pitching staff that turned in one of the most dazzling performances that we’ll ever seen in a Fall Classic.

A team of destiny? The Giants were just flat out better. The Rangers, with all their power and with all their Cliff Lee, were absolutely dominated in four of five games. And that’s a good Rangers team, mind you. They didn’t get to the World Series by accident and something tells me that this won’t be this group’s last crack at a championship. They’re also a classy bunch from their manager (who heaped tons of praise on the Giants in his post-game presser), down to the grounds crew that let San Francisco fans celebrate on the field hours after the game.

But back to the Giants. It was rather humorous to listen to people use the term “lucky” when it came to this club in the postseason. Do you know what they had to do in order to get to this point? First off, they had to beat Mat Latos and the Padres on the final day of the regular season to clinch a playoff berth. There’s nothing lucky about winning 92 games, I don’t care if San Diego choked over the final two months or not.

There’s also nothing lucky about beating Derek Lowe (twice), Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels, C.J. Wilson and Cliff Lee not once, but twice, including once with the series on the line.

Think about that for a second. The Giants, with their cast of misfits, went through some of the best pitchers from this decade in order to win a World Series. Luck had nothing to do with that. Luck also had nothing to do with this team being able to clinch every series on the road (Game 4 at Atlanta, Game 6 at Philadelphia, Game 5 at Texas).

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