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Archive for May, 2009
T.O. Invades Buffalo
The Bills welcomed T.O. to the Bills this week as the well known WR ran routes, caught a few passes from Trent Edwards, and remained serious despite the presence of about fifty reporters on the sidelines. It’s been quite some time since a talent like T.O. could be found in Buffalo, a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in nine seasons. The Bills have struggled to compete in their division, and T.O. might be just what the team needs to get back to playoff form. While T.O. was quite the personality in Dallas, in Buffalo he seems more reserved… for the moment. T.O. is known to take over the locker room and cause problems for teams like a cancer with his egocentric attitude. However, most would say Randy Moss was the same before he moved to the Patriots, and Moss’s image changed a lot after a few seasons with New England; T.O. could be the same with Buffalo.
T.O. joins Lee Evans at WR on the Bills, and now Trent Edwards has two viable weapons that will demand coverage in the backfield, providing him more throwing options. The Bills also have RB Marshawn Lynch, who will make balance out the Bills’ offense attack and ensure defenders remain honest. 2009 could be the year that Bills jerseys are worn in more places that Buffalo.
2009: Dallas Cowboys Return to Fame?
Dallas fans have been miffed of late as the Cowboys haven’t quite been the same team in the last few seasons. While Dallas still has the talent to be a playoff or even Super Bowl team, the Cowboys have failed to show the teamwork needed to move past some of the better teams in the league. With names like Tony Romo, Roy Williams, and DeMarcus Ware in the lineup, the Cowboys have the offensive and defensive weapons to be a competitive and even dominant team in the NFL. But critics and fans speculate that what the Cowboys have been missing is unity amongst the team, and a QB who can lead.
Terrell Owens, or T.O. as he is more often known, was like a cancer in the locker room, and because he expected to catch the most passes all the games, it put QB Tony Romo in a tough spot. Keeping T.O. happy was often seen as more important than the team winning, and that’s the kind of attitude that doesn’t win games in the NFL. T.O. was shipped off to Buffalo in a trade, and the Cowboys managed to acquire a few receivers in the process. Now, Tony Romo will be a much more viable QB, and can perhaps provide the leadership the Cowboys need. Teamwork won the Steelers the Super Bowl in 2009, and time will tell whether Cowboys jerseys will be seen all around the Super Bowl stadium in 2010.
Roger Goodell is on the Job
Working to create a proposal for NFL team owners as soon as next month, Roger Goodell, has been looking to substitute two preseason games for games that would be a part of the regular schedule. This would not change much by the way of games that were a part of the overall season but did include pushing back Super Bowl weekend.
“You are taking the quality and improving it, taking two meaningless games and making them meaningful within the 20-game framework.”
However a change of date for the Super Bowl could cause conflict with a number of other major sporting events including the Daytona 500, the NBA All-Star game and Winter Olympics – at least every four years, something NFL commissioner is could receive a lot of heat for from other sports organizations.
“I think there are a lot of positives and opportunities to it, but there are some cautionary things,” Goodell said, many teams and players had raised the issue of health and safety with a prolonged regular season.
Although there is coverage during the current preseason games there are still negotiations that would have to be made with television and other media formats that have set interest as well. The proposed outline looks to address all of these issues I assume.
National Baseball Hall of Fame
Rickey Henderson visited the National Baseball Hall of Fame and put on an old glove and shoe a 1981 Brooks spikes that he wore with Oakland in his third MLB season, the wings of Mercury back then. It was the first time he touched the shoe since 28 years ago.
“They don’t make ‘em like this anymore,” Henderson said Friday, clad in black slacks and a white checkered shirt, and poring over artifacts from a big league life. “It makes you sad that not many guys steal bases today. You should be able to move to the next base, to get yourself in scoring position. I used to steal to get in scoring position because I wanted to be the person to score the most runs.”
Joey Gathright Gets Knocked Around Again
Orioles and Cubs both trying to fix an organizational surplus traded Ryan Freel, utilityman, to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for outfielder Joey Gathright.
Andy MacPhail, Baltimore’s president of baseball operations said, “I think it’s the same thing on both sides of the equation,” he said. “Since we acquired Ryan, we ended up acquiring [Ty] Wigginton, who can play third base and bats right-handed. And we acquired [Robert] Andino, who can play shortstop and second base. So we didn’t get the at-bats there that we originally anticipated. It’s just one of those things that sort of evolved. I think the Cubs had the same thing on the Gathright side. [Kosuke] Fukudome got off to such a hot start that how much they envisioned using Joey initially didn’t pan out either.”
Freel had nearly $4 million remaining on his contract when he was originally traded, and Gathright was owed less than $1 million. The Baltimore Orioles apparently kicked in more than $1 million to even out the scales, which is why the trade required approval from the Commissioner’s Office before it could be approved and announced.
The Orioles gain another veteran outfield for injury insurance at Triple-A Norfolk. This 28 year old is hitting .214 this season and .262 for his career, very defensive-minded and a speedster.
A Second UK NFL Game is No Debate
“The fan reaction we’ve had in London has been extraordinary. We would like to feed that passion,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said in hopes of expanding the number of UK games this 2010 NFL season.
The first regular-season NFL game London hosted in 2007, when the New York Giants beat the Miami Dolphins 13-10 and last years 37-32 New Orleans Saints win over the San Diego Chargers produced sell-out games, which equals easy money for NFL interests.
“We have a great fan base in the UK. There have been discussions of taking the second game and playing it in another market in the UK. That’s something that we’ll evaluate. Whether it’s two consecutive games in the same stadium, we don’t necessarily know. But we have a great foundation.”
With Londons Wembley Staduim hosting this years UK NFL game between the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Millennium Stadium is looking for their oppportunity to host a second game as the idea has drawn league owners support.
Holmgren’s Future In Football Remains Hopeful
It appears that in some fashion Holmgren may be looking for a potential return to football, hopefully the Seattle Seahawks. However given the current circumstances it may not be practical with Tim Ruskell still the general manager.
“Right now, it would be pretty hard to say that. However, I will say this. We love Seattle. Seattle is our home. We are always going to have a home there…[it] would be a nice thing if I could come back in some capacity and work for the club, but right now they are pretty much set and they are going to have a good season.”
Holmgren was mostly forced into quiting given his circumstances and lack of control over the roster despite after loosing the general manager duties in 2002 and ultimetly what became control of the Seahawks roster. Looking back Holmgren had stated that he panned on taking the next year off, but never referred to his departure as retirement.
Andre Johnson Leads the Texans into 2009
When fans and critics discuss the Houston Texans, there aren’t a lot of big names that come up. However, one name that has become synonymous with the Texans is Andre Johnson, who is featured on most if not all Texans jerseys. While Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin of the Arizona Cardinals received most of the attention in 2008, it was Johnson who led the NFL in receptions and total yards gained. Numerous other players contributed to the Texans success, but it was Johnson that pushed the team to its 8-8 record. Since the Texans were introduced to the NFL in 2002, they’ve yet to have a winning season, but in the last couple years, they’ve started to break even, finishing 8-8 in both 2007 and 2008. The Texans had a solid draft and managed to acquire some superb players, and 2009 just might prove to be the year that the team manages to finish with a winning record.
The Texan’s QB, Matt Schaub, has shown flashes of brilliance and some real potential to be a winner in the NFL. With the Texan’s defense shored up and their offense booming, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the team as a wild card in the playoffs, however the AFC South is no easy division either.
Royals Young Sensation Creates Wave
Zack Greinke is the Royals young sensation, creating a wave of excitement, the 25 year old right hander delivered a gem with the best starts ever to a season. He is yet to allow a single run in tow starts. His six-hit, no-walk, 10-strikeout complete game blanking of the White Sox on Monday raised his record to 6-0, with a near perfect 0.40 ERA. Only two other pitchers in Major League history have done as well — Walter “Big Train” Johnson in 1913 and Fernando Valenzuela in 1981.
Kansas City can you call him the best in baseball?
He was a pretty polished 13-10 with a gleaming 3.47 ERA last year. Blinding new record 6-0, 0.40 ERA, 54 strikeouts — all bests in the MLB. Greinke had a 3-0 victory over Chicago, and White Sox manager praised his performance stating: It doesn’t surprise me what he’s doing right now at all,” Guillen said, “because he’s that good. He’s been good for a long time. Now he believes in himself.
“To me, he’s the best in the league right now.”
Walking no one, with his sixth victory he struck out 10 batters and only threw 104 pitches. The Kansas City Royals are in first place in the American League Central, one and a half games over the Tigers. The Royals have a 15-11 record and the fans are feeling good with impressive crowds and excited about Zack!
The AFC bEast
Is the AFC really shaping up to be the toughest division?
With the Patriots Tom Brady coming back stronger then ever along with a younger and healed defense. Barring any major calimities the Pats look to capitalize and reclaim a seat atop the AFC East.
The Jets making defensive chess moves and clinched the key role of quarterback with Sanchez. Will the soCal star live up to the hype against NFL opposition? All fingers seem to be pointing to him as the starting QB for the Jets. But fortunate for him the Jets have a slew of defensive cards to play with Bart Scott and Jim Leonhar’s renoun Ravens defense.
Returning off of a stunning turnaround from an 1-15 to a 11-5 team Bill Parcells look to perform again in 09.
And finally the Bills who have been making moves on both sides of the ball looking stampede their way through opponents. The Bills looked to capitalize on a talent move with T.O. on the Buffalo bandwagon along with QB Trent Edwards and RB Marshawn Lynch.
With what has and is happening accross the board for the NFL’s AFC East teams it feels all to easy to say, anything can happen ‘again’ in 2009. The bEast that is the AFC East teams have made some pivotal moves and this coming season will be a test of time for all as they battle their way to the top of not only the AFC but more importantly the NFL.
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