Donte Stallworth got off easy. No two ways about it. Usually, murderers do hard time, not house arrest in their pimpin' pads after a 30-day stayover in the joint. The joker that took Mario Reyes' life on March 14 signed a 7-year, $35 million deal with the Browns last offseason and responded with a half-assed effort in 2008, catching just 17 passes for 170 yards and one touchdown in 11 games. He caught 46 passes for 697 yards and three scores in helping New England to Super Bowl XLII the year before.
So how did the Patriots know this perennial underachiever wouldn't be a good fit to stay on?
As the Red Sox must've had a hunch about Manny Ramirez, the Patriots probably had one about Stallworth. The one team that seemingly never has players with off the field issues (Belichick and the front office must have some serious cover-up skills) now can revel in the fact that they avoided a messy PR situation in Tom Brady's triumphant return year.
Go figure.
Friday, July 03, 2009
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Putrid AL gives edge (like they need it) to Red Sox
Zack Greinke is a nice story. The Seattle Mariners might make a run at the tepid AL West. And the Toronto Blue Jays can only do it with smoke and mirrors for so long. That means, as usual, the Red Sox will reap the benefits of a miserable American League. No Rays like last year. Seemingly no 100-win league-favorite like the Angels. Just a bunch of pretenders who figure to get mowed down in the playoffs by the blessed sons of baseball, Boston.
I know, I know. Boston fans have had a rough year. God for bid the Patriots actually missed the postseason last year! The Celtics may not make it back to the Finals. How do Beantowners even sleep at night? Well, close to $200 million in payroll will help ease what worries them. The Sox are at it again, out to slay the Yankees and nothing more. Hey, they're 5-0 against them this year. So in Sox fans' minds, their team is undefeated this season, right?
The Yankees are a joke, and it's nice to see the team that spent half of America's remaining money failing. The Rays aren't allowed to have sustained success because they play in Tampa Bay, not the charmed city, Boston. My beloved Orioles will be a punching bag over 18 games.
If only we could stop the tape and burn the DVD of this movie. Unfortunately, we are all subject to its inevitable end.
I know, I know. Boston fans have had a rough year. God for bid the Patriots actually missed the postseason last year! The Celtics may not make it back to the Finals. How do Beantowners even sleep at night? Well, close to $200 million in payroll will help ease what worries them. The Sox are at it again, out to slay the Yankees and nothing more. Hey, they're 5-0 against them this year. So in Sox fans' minds, their team is undefeated this season, right?
The Yankees are a joke, and it's nice to see the team that spent half of America's remaining money failing. The Rays aren't allowed to have sustained success because they play in Tampa Bay, not the charmed city, Boston. My beloved Orioles will be a punching bag over 18 games.
If only we could stop the tape and burn the DVD of this movie. Unfortunately, we are all subject to its inevitable end.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
You thought Favre was selfish? Cutler tops all
Maybe the Jets will end up with Jay Cutler. If they do, they'll have traded for a selfish, whining quarterback for the second straight year. Last year, the Brett Favre soap opera carried out all summer, and it resulted in a messy divorce between Favre and the Packers. This year it shouldn't take as long, which should just make it all the more evident that Cutler is in a league of his own when it comes to selfishness. And babiness. And sensitivity. And whininess.
Now, Josh McDaniels is an inexperienced coach, and a chip off the Bill Belichick block. That's my way of basically saying he's an a**. To flirt with the idea of trading Cutler to get an overrated, product-of-a-cheating-system, nobody quarterback in Matt Cassel is ludicrous. But flirtation is flirtation, not infidelity. No trade was ever made, and Cutler was to be the man leading the Broncos.
But now, Cutler has complained to no end. He isn't returning the team's phone calls, as if he were a child who had something said about his momma and doesn't want to confront the situation. The Broncos' franchise quarterback is gone, and a team that once had high hopes for 2008 could be in real trouble. Thanks to one man's complete and utter immaturity.
Now, Josh McDaniels is an inexperienced coach, and a chip off the Bill Belichick block. That's my way of basically saying he's an a**. To flirt with the idea of trading Cutler to get an overrated, product-of-a-cheating-system, nobody quarterback in Matt Cassel is ludicrous. But flirtation is flirtation, not infidelity. No trade was ever made, and Cutler was to be the man leading the Broncos.
But now, Cutler has complained to no end. He isn't returning the team's phone calls, as if he were a child who had something said about his momma and doesn't want to confront the situation. The Broncos' franchise quarterback is gone, and a team that once had high hopes for 2008 could be in real trouble. Thanks to one man's complete and utter immaturity.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Okay Goodell, explain this Patriots draft farce
Because the NFL is supposedly a fair league, 32 teams are awarded "compensatory draft picks" for losing key free agent players. This year, the Cincinnati Bengals and Tennessee Titans (the Titans noticeably lost Albert Haynesworth to a $100M contract from the Washington Redskins) have the most with four. Among the teams with three are the New England Patriots, who lost Donte Stallworth (in hot water for killing a man with his car), Asante Samuel, and Randall Gay after the 2007 season. And guess what? Of all 32 teams, the Patriots have the first compensatory pick, immediately after the conclusion of the third round (97th overall). How? I have no idea.
But considering that this is the team that lucked out with Tom Brady in the sixth round in 2000, that is extremely, extremely generous. And naturally, as is always the case with New England, comes without reasonable explanation.
In a year in which the gods will smile on the Patriots and Golden Boy Brady's return, them having 11 draft picks is nothing short of a nightmare. Even if they whiff on nine, they will be in good shape.
In other news, credit to BSPN for showcasing their hometown team in next year's Monday Night Football opener. Better yet, to do it against the woeful Buffalo Bills, who the Patriots have demolished 11 straight times. Maybe BSPN will claim that they want to see T.O.'s Bills' debut, but that's baloney. It's to see a Patriots blowout, a triumphant return by Brady, and perhaps a chance to see Julius Peppers (or a sellout like Jason Taylor) shine in a Patriots' uniform.
But considering that this is the team that lucked out with Tom Brady in the sixth round in 2000, that is extremely, extremely generous. And naturally, as is always the case with New England, comes without reasonable explanation.
In a year in which the gods will smile on the Patriots and Golden Boy Brady's return, them having 11 draft picks is nothing short of a nightmare. Even if they whiff on nine, they will be in good shape.
In other news, credit to BSPN for showcasing their hometown team in next year's Monday Night Football opener. Better yet, to do it against the woeful Buffalo Bills, who the Patriots have demolished 11 straight times. Maybe BSPN will claim that they want to see T.O.'s Bills' debut, but that's baloney. It's to see a Patriots blowout, a triumphant return by Brady, and perhaps a chance to see Julius Peppers (or a sellout like Jason Taylor) shine in a Patriots' uniform.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Patriots trade for Peppers; rest of free agent pool to sign as well
I have secretly known all long that Julius Peppers was going to end up in a Patriots uniform – yet every day I prayed I’d be wrong. I wasn’t.
The Patriots, who have already signed more than half of this year’s pool of free agents because God forbid they missed the playoffs last year, just stole Peppers from Carolina for a second-round pick. That’s almost as absurd as that fateful late April day in 2007 when the Raiders gave up Randy Moss for a fourth-rounder.
It has gotten to the point where not only do you have to worry where a player is going when he becomes a free agent, but also where he might go once he starts bitching and moaning about his contract. Franchised by the only team he has ever played for, the All-Pro defensive end said he is demanding a trade.
It was initially believed that he had a list of four teams, at least two of them in the NFC. Call it a pessimistic hunch, but somehow I knew all along that one of the AFC teams was New England.
Things have gotten so ridiculous that it is almost as if when a player hits the market, the 30 other teams might as well not even look twice, because the Patriots will cut an illegal deal with the player (i.e. giving him illegal perks, etc.) to get him to sign a low-cost contract to help them cheat the salary cap. The same thing happened last year when they brought back washed-up sellout linebackers Roosevelt Colvin and Junior Seau, who mysteriously remained available and semi-retired all the way up to December.
Maybe just as disheartening in this whole mess is that the Patriots’ top AFC competition, the Colts, Steelers, and Chargers, are too classy to go out and buy players as the Yankees or Red Sox would in baseball. They simply do not believe in building their team through free agency, and yet how can they sit idly by and watch the Patriots monopolize the entire free agent class?
On Carolina’s side, let me just say that once this becomes official, you can dub general manager Marty Hurney as not only the dumbest football man in America, but also one of the most hated. Al Davis somehow let Moss get tampered with and then traded him for a bag of chips, but apparently the rest of the NFL didn’t get the memo.
The Patriots, who have already signed more than half of this year’s pool of free agents because God forbid they missed the playoffs last year, just stole Peppers from Carolina for a second-round pick. That’s almost as absurd as that fateful late April day in 2007 when the Raiders gave up Randy Moss for a fourth-rounder.
It has gotten to the point where not only do you have to worry where a player is going when he becomes a free agent, but also where he might go once he starts bitching and moaning about his contract. Franchised by the only team he has ever played for, the All-Pro defensive end said he is demanding a trade.
It was initially believed that he had a list of four teams, at least two of them in the NFC. Call it a pessimistic hunch, but somehow I knew all along that one of the AFC teams was New England.
Things have gotten so ridiculous that it is almost as if when a player hits the market, the 30 other teams might as well not even look twice, because the Patriots will cut an illegal deal with the player (i.e. giving him illegal perks, etc.) to get him to sign a low-cost contract to help them cheat the salary cap. The same thing happened last year when they brought back washed-up sellout linebackers Roosevelt Colvin and Junior Seau, who mysteriously remained available and semi-retired all the way up to December.
Maybe just as disheartening in this whole mess is that the Patriots’ top AFC competition, the Colts, Steelers, and Chargers, are too classy to go out and buy players as the Yankees or Red Sox would in baseball. They simply do not believe in building their team through free agency, and yet how can they sit idly by and watch the Patriots monopolize the entire free agent class?
On Carolina’s side, let me just say that once this becomes official, you can dub general manager Marty Hurney as not only the dumbest football man in America, but also one of the most hated. Al Davis somehow let Moss get tampered with and then traded him for a bag of chips, but apparently the rest of the NFL didn’t get the memo.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Orioles Spring Training update
Orioles manager Dave Trembley offered his thoughts on the state of his team and some of his newcomers before Sunday's exhibition game against the Minnesota Twins. Some snippets:
On pitcher David Pauley, acquired in a trade with the Boston Red Sox: "The first time he pitched he was out of his lane, so to speak... The last two times he's pitched he been very good. He's a control guy, sink, curveball, he pitches early to contact. He's gonna get an opportunity to pitch. He's a guy that's in the mix.”
On veteran hurler Mark Hendrickson: "[He] had movement, had some life on his pitches. He says that's the best he's felt."
On former Cubs prospect Felix Pie: "He's worked very well with Crow [hitting coach Terry Crowley]. I think he's the kind of guy that needs to play a lot... He's been a little bit better than what I thought. I didn't know the guy. I saw him a long time ago... We want him to start being a line-drive type of hitter... His work ethics have been tremendous.”
On the Twins and their philosophy which has worked so well for them over the past several years: “They play baseball the old fashioned way... They police themsevles... They rely on their farm system, they bring their own guys up... You know when you play them, you better bring your A game because they're going to come at you all 9 innings.”
On pitcher David Pauley, acquired in a trade with the Boston Red Sox: "The first time he pitched he was out of his lane, so to speak... The last two times he's pitched he been very good. He's a control guy, sink, curveball, he pitches early to contact. He's gonna get an opportunity to pitch. He's a guy that's in the mix.”
On veteran hurler Mark Hendrickson: "[He] had movement, had some life on his pitches. He says that's the best he's felt."
On former Cubs prospect Felix Pie: "He's worked very well with Crow [hitting coach Terry Crowley]. I think he's the kind of guy that needs to play a lot... He's been a little bit better than what I thought. I didn't know the guy. I saw him a long time ago... We want him to start being a line-drive type of hitter... His work ethics have been tremendous.”
On the Twins and their philosophy which has worked so well for them over the past several years: “They play baseball the old fashioned way... They police themsevles... They rely on their farm system, they bring their own guys up... You know when you play them, you better bring your A game because they're going to come at you all 9 innings.”
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
2009 MLB Predictions -- Predictable
I always say when I pick Boston or New York, I HOPE I'm wrong. If I pick them and they fail miserably and someone comes back to me at the end of the year and says, "See!", I'm perfectly fine with that. With that said, I will try not to let my hatred of the Evil Empires stand in the way of my sure-to-be-off predictions:
AL East
1) New York
2) Boston*
3) Tampa Bay
4) Baltimore
5) Toronto
AL Central
1) Cleveland
2) Minnesota
3) Chicago
4) Kansas City
5) Detroit
AL West
1) Oakland
2) Los Angeles
3) Seattle
4) Texas
ALDS: New York over Oakland, Boston over Cleveland
ALCS: New York over Boston
NL East
1) New York
2) Florida*
3) Philadelphia
4) Atlanta
5) Washington
NL Central
1) Chicago
2) Houston
3) Cincinnati
4) St. Louis
5) Milwaukee
6) Pittsburgh
NL West
1) Arizona
2) Los Angeles
3) San Francisco
4) San Diego
5) Colorado
NLDS: Chicago over Florida, Arizona over New York
NLCS: Arizona over Chicago
WS: New York over Arizona
Hope I'm wrong!
AL East
1) New York
2) Boston*
3) Tampa Bay
4) Baltimore
5) Toronto
AL Central
1) Cleveland
2) Minnesota
3) Chicago
4) Kansas City
5) Detroit
AL West
1) Oakland
2) Los Angeles
3) Seattle
4) Texas
ALDS: New York over Oakland, Boston over Cleveland
ALCS: New York over Boston
NL East
1) New York
2) Florida*
3) Philadelphia
4) Atlanta
5) Washington
NL Central
1) Chicago
2) Houston
3) Cincinnati
4) St. Louis
5) Milwaukee
6) Pittsburgh
NL West
1) Arizona
2) Los Angeles
3) San Francisco
4) San Diego
5) Colorado
NLDS: Chicago over Florida, Arizona over New York
NLCS: Arizona over Chicago
WS: New York over Arizona
Hope I'm wrong!
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