Want your
own Fotopage?
|
|
trinkley's FotoPage
By: trinkley sdy
[Recommend this Fotopage] |
[Share this Fotopage]
| [Track this Fotopage]
|
|
[Archive]
|
|
|
|
| Friday, 8-Apr-2011 02:15 |
Email | Share |  | Bookmark |
|
NBA Jam: On Fire Edition heading to XBLA and PSN this fall
|
|
Electronic Arts is following up their recent NBA Jam revival with the digital-only NBA Jam: On Fire Edition for Xbox LIVE Arcade and PlayStation Network. This souped-up version of Jam features the adaptive AI system from the Fight Night series that should bring a good challenge to pro players.
On Fire's new modes lean towards co-op play so get in some good practice with friends. Road Trip is an online campaign where players are set up against the best NBA players from the past and present while JAM Arena pits teams in various online competitions. EA is bringing back Tag Mode and Team Fire to let partners take control during a match and pull off special cooperative moves.
In addition to the new modes, On Fire will have more NBA superstar players, JAM challenges, animations, and unlockables. Best of all, EA is going to provide roster updates to keep this version of NBA Jam fresh.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Thursday, 24-Mar-2011 02:29 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
On the Steelers: Business as usual for Tomlin
|
|
NEW ORLEANS -- Lockout? What lockout? Mike Tomlin's routine as Steelers coach hasn't changed much since the Super Bowl, and he has spent little time worrying whether it will.
As a matter of fact, he believes a long, protracted lockout might give the Steelers a competitive edge, provided the NFL winds up playing football in 2011.
How? He has a veteran team and a veteran coaching staff that played through the Super Bowl Feb. 6 and would not be doing much anyway right now.
"The better we do at making the irregular regular, I think is going to increase our chances of winning," Tomlin explained. "So you know that's going to be our mentality in Pittsburgh."
While a division rival like Cleveland must contend with a new head coach and staff, and another in Cincinnati must deal with its veteran quarterback who has vowed never to play again for the Bengals, the Steelers remain consistent in personnel and coaching.
That could provide a big edge if the NFL owners' lockout continues into the summer, along with it the inability of coaches to speak with their players, never mind institute new systems on offense and/or defense.
Tomlin said his players also know what it is like to prepare in the offseason, even if they cannot do so at the Steelers' training facility or under supervision from the staff.
"We have a veteran laden group with really good leadership," Tomlin said at a coaches breakfast Tuesday morning at the NFL meetings. "A little extra is required when you're trying to find a winning edge, a winning formula, and that is something our guys embrace."
The previous time the Steelers played in the Super Bowl two years ago, Tomlin pushed his offseason program back a little and had those players who saw more time in games report to spring workouts later.
That was to be the plan again this year.
"To this point it hasn't been very different at all. Our offseason program generally starts around the middle of March. We have a veteran outfit, and our veterans usually don't start at the very beginning. Couple that with the fact I've been on the road at the Pro Days, it really hasn't been very different."
Tomlin has visited five draft prospects' pro workouts with Kevin Colbert, the director of football operations. He plans to visit two more, plus the Steelers will begin entertaining draft prospects at their facility on the South Side next week. Each team is permitted 30 player visits.
"I sit down with all of those in my office," Tomlin said.
During a lockout, no one from management or the coaching staff is permitted to speak with their players, who also are not permitted to visit the training facility or even the trainers' room to rehab injuries. Other than that, there has been little difference for Tomlin in the 12 days of the lockout, mainly because the April draft remains the lone permitted football activity under the expired collective bargaining agreement.
"I'm really not concerned about some of the other stuff going on. I've got no control over it, so I'm in a wait-and-see mentality like everybody else. ... Whatever the circumstances are, we're all going to have to deal with it so, from that standpoint, it's going to be fair."
Tomlin's take on Ward
It had nothing to do with the lockout, but Tomlin did not see Hines Ward's "Dancing With the Stars" debut Monday night.
"I'm not a big television watcher," said Tomlin, who was eating dinner during Ward's competition. "I don't even know what time it comes on. I got a few texts last night, and that's the only reason that I knew it was on. I think everybody was pretty encouraging about his performance. They said he did a nice job, but that doesn't surprise me.
"Man, I wouldn't count Hines out of any competition. If there was a brain surgery competition I'm sure he'd educate himself and compete."
Would he like to see him go the whole way?
"Sure, as long as it doesn't conflict with what I've got going on. At this point, it doesn't look like it's going to conflict with what I've got going on."
Quick hits
On the health status of tackles Max Starks (neck surgery) and Willie Colon (Achilles surgery), Tomlin said "all things were encouraging" the last time he had contact with them before the lockout. "I think they're progressing well; we're moving forward in anticipation that will be the situation." ... Tomlin said he would not close the door on Colon playing guard (provided he does not leave as a free agent). ...On the health of Troy Polamalu, bothered by a foot injury the final two months of the season: "I haven't talked to Troy that much, and that's not out of the ordinary this time of year. He might be in a monastery." ... Tomlin said he is comfortable with the progress of punter Daniel Sepulveda, who missed last season with his third torn ACL since his final college season, but also mentioned that Jeremy Kapinos "did a nice job for us. ... We have some options there, and looking at the draft pool is one of them."
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Wednesday, 16-Mar-2011 04:06 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
10 Tips From The Scouting Trail
|
|
I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to meet with a handful of NFL scouts following some recent pro days. Here are some of the choice observations, quotes, and opinions.
1. I asked two different scouts who were in attendance for Arkansas’ pro day about their impressions of Ryan Mallett. Both agreed Mallett has the best arm in this class. Both also agreed that there are significant issues. To quote one, a veteran NFC South talent evaluator:
“Everyone wants to talk about this and that with the drugs and the cockiness and the immaturity. But before I even get to that stuff when breaking him down, I don’t like the way he handles pressure on the field, period. If he can’t step forward clean, he’s a mess. And he’s so damn big and slow, he needs a lot of space to get the ball off like that. We’ve watched every throw he’s made several times and it’s tried and true that if he cannot get a full step into his throw, bad things happen. …tell me where he can play where he’s going to get that kind of time he needs. People give Peyton (Manning) shit because he can’t move, but he can slide and throw, you know, he can change it up if he has to. Mallett, no, just can’t do that.”
From later in the conversation:
“I know (our GM) has spent a lot of homework on him. Talked to Lloyd Carr (Mallett’s coach at Michigan), talked to all kinds of people at Arkansas, talked to guys he’s played with before. The basic consensus is that he’s a big kid but a good kid. You know, put him in the right environment and he’ll be fine. (The GM) compared him to Michael Vick that way, you know, give him a support system and hold his hand and you’ve got yourself a great quarterback. …but it will always be an effort to keep him pointed in the right direction. Some teams are better suited for that than others.”
The scouts diverged on where they thought he would be drafted. The one responsible for the above quote thinks he will fall to the middle of the 2nd round, but the other scout pretty adamantly believes Mallett will not fall past Minnesota at #12. My own impression is that he’ll wind up being treated like Brady Quinn, a guy that falls into the second half of the first round but gets rescued by a team trading up.
2. More Razorbacks: Tight end D.J. Williams should definitely be seen as a draft board riser. Aside from how he’s handled interviews and performed in workouts, teams are increasingly taking a shine to his proven ability to stretch the seam. One scout compared him to Dallas Clark, another said he’s “a faster Chris Cooley”. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s the first tight end off the board.
Offensive lineman Ray Dominguez is another guy bubbling up. He has built off his strong NFLPA Game week by being jovial and self-aware in interviews. As one scout told me, “he knows what he needs to work on and has no problem starting out as a backup guard/tackle guy”. He has probably gone from a 7th rounder to a 5th rounder. If his feet weren’t “cast in concrete”, he’d go even higher.
His linemate DeMarcus Love is going in the other direction. The latest game film of Love consists of Cameron Heyward eviscerating him in the Sugar Bowl, plus a subpar Senior Bowl week where many felt he was the weakest lineman in attendance. His workouts have not wowed anyone enough to quench that poor taste. Back in October I projected him as a borderline 1st/2nd rounder, but he’ll be lucky to sniff the 4th at this point.
3. One of the stars of the Combine was Abilene Christian wideout Edmund Gates, but one scout offered this sobering assessment of the speedster:
“Tell me how a kid gets thrown out of a JUCO in his hometown. You can fail every class and they keep you around for the money. This kid got booted from a JUCO. You damn well better believe that’s a flag.”
Two things to go with that:
-- He was at Tyler JUCO as a basketball player, not a football player. His football experience is scant.
-- He turns 25 in June, though to be fair he’s got very fresh legs and little injury history.
Keep all that in mind before going all gooey over Gates and thinking he’s a second round lock. He very well might go that high, but it’s more likely he comes off in the 90-120 overall range.
4. I asked one draft-day decision-maker whether he preferred Julio Jones or A.J. Green as his top wide receiver. He was non-committal, but offered this tidbit:
“A.J. Green did exactly what I expected (in Indy at the Combine). But I didn’t ever see any reason to think Julio Jones could break 4.4.” Read that as: I don’t care what the stopwatch says; Jones doesn’t play that fast on the field. And I agree with that assessment. But I would also add that they are very different styles of receiver, so draft board statuses of who is better are likely to vary.
5. I had a very long exchange regarding Nick Fairley with a scout that knows him well. He likened Fairley’s personality to Warren Sapp’s--good-naturedly obnoxious and gregarious, confident but hungry, highly motivated to prove doubters wrong, eager to improve his faults. He told me Fairley won’t work with every kind of coach. More specifically, the team that drafts him had better have a coach that played in the NFL or commands absolute respect from players on the Xs and Os. I probed whether that means he needs a defensive-minded head coach, and he said that wouldn’t matter as long as the defensive coordinator was a strong presence. He specifically mentioned the Ryan family (Rex from the Jets or Rob with the Cowboys) as perfect fits even though neither played in the league.
6. After hearing Mike Mayock and several other wonks talk about Texas CB Aaron Williams fitting better at safety in the NFL, I brought that subject up with a scout that has professionally seen every Texas game since before the Mack Brown era began. He said he doesn’t believe Williams has the coverage mentality or the ability to quickly process information of the whole field well enough to make the switch. He believes Williams can make a solid zone corner and would be better served staying closer to the line. I hold his opinion highly, but I look at Williams and see a lot of Amari Speivey, last year’s 3rd rounder for the Lions that they quickly moved to safety with mixed results.
7. One of the questions I ask everyone is, “Give me somebody that you think is undervalued.” Three different people gave me the same guy with no prompting: Danny Watkins, the guard/tackle from Baylor. I find that interesting because most everyone pegs Watkins as a late first-rounder. One scout told me that although their final board is far from set, right now Watkins is their top offensive lineman. Another told me that Watkins “could walk in tomorrow and be the best right tackle in our division”.
8. Von Miller gets all the attention at Texas A&M, but one scout was intrigued by quarterback Jarrod Johnson. He said Aggies Coach Mike Sherman, a former Packers head coach, spoke very highly of Johnson and believes a lot of Johnson’s issues in 2010 were injury-related (Johnson was benched for Ryan Tannehill, who was significantly better). The scout told me Johnson has shortened his throwing motion a bit and has learned how to put touch on shorter throws. He should still be viewed as a developmental project, but it sounds like he is indeed developing. He’s similar physically to Cam Newton (6’5.5”, 254 pounds) and throws one of the prettiest deep balls you’ll ever see.
9. One guy trending in the wrong direction is Clemson DE Da’Quan Bowers. Widely considered a candidate to go as high as #1 overall heading into the Combine, concerns about his knee and why he only had one year with more than three sacks are apparently dogging his status. There are growing rumors Bowers needs microfracture surgery, and his inability to work out at Clemson’s pro day only fuel the fire that the knee is in much worse shape than the Bowers camp is letting on. One scout told me this:
“Don’t forget he missed some time with a knee before last year. Two years, two knees, that’s a problem. You know, I think he’s a great pass rusher and a real nice kid but he doesn’t do us any good if he’s on IR.”
I’ve seen and heard similar concerns elsewhere. I still think Bowers has too much to offer to fall out of the first half of the first round, but it sure sounds like the top 5 is probably not going to happen if this iffy knee situation doesn’t get positively resolved before the draft.
10. Two smaller-school names to watch for on draft weekend that are steadily rising up draft boards are Virgil Green and Shiloh Keo.
Green is a lithe tight end from Nevada who put on quite an athletic display in Indy, most notably as 42.5” vertical jump and a 4.54 40 time. Those are very impressive numbers for a 250+ pound guy, and teams are apparently taking notice. One thing in his favor: the concept of the every-down, do-it-all tight end is quickly becoming as antiquated as my Playstation 2 currently gathering dust somewhere in my attic. One scout told me Green “has a lot of Ed Dickson to him”, and Dickson had a nice rookie season in Baltimore despite being allergic to blocking. My impression is that Green isn’t as fluid or natural catching the ball as Dickson, but definitely shows enough promise to merit 4th-5th round status.
Keo is a thumping safety from Idaho that continues to build off his strong buzz from the East-West Shrine Game. He’s drawn comparisons to Bob Sanders and Louis Delmas for his style of play, though he’s not as fast or rangy as either guy. Sanders is actually a decent comparison because Keo is compactly built but uses his lack of stature (he’s 5’11”) to his advantage. As one scout told me:
“He’s great at hiding behind the linebackers and exploding on runners. Blockers can’t find him. I thought he was quicker on the field than he looked in Indy. That’s not his venue. He’s not an athlete, he’s a football player.”
I have a hard time seeing a 5’11” safety that can’t break 4.7 in the 40 getting drafted before the 6th round, but keep an eye on Keo.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Wednesday, 16-Mar-2011 04:06 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
10 Tips From The Scouting Trail
|
|
I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to meet with a handful of NFL scouts following some recent pro days. Here are some of the choice observations, quotes, and opinions.
1. I asked two different scouts who were in attendance for Arkansas’ pro day about their impressions of Ryan Mallett. Both agreed Mallett has the best arm in this class. Both also agreed that there are significant issues. To quote one, a veteran NFC South talent evaluator:
“Everyone wants to talk about this and that with the drugs and the cockiness and the immaturity. But before I even get to that stuff when breaking him down, I don’t like the way he handles pressure on the field, period. If he can’t step forward clean, he’s a mess. And he’s so damn big and slow, he needs a lot of space to get the ball off like that. We’ve watched every throw he’s made several times and it’s tried and true that if he cannot get a full step into his throw, bad things happen. …tell me where he can play where he’s going to get that kind of time he needs. People give Peyton (Manning) shit because he can’t move, but he can slide and throw, you know, he can change it up if he has to. Mallett, no, just can’t do that.”
From later in the conversation:
“I know (our GM) has spent a lot of homework on him. Talked to Lloyd Carr (Mallett’s coach at Michigan), talked to all kinds of people at Arkansas, talked to guys he’s played with before. The basic consensus is that he’s a big kid but a good kid. You know, put him in the right environment and he’ll be fine. (The GM) compared him to Michael Vick that way, you know, give him a support system and hold his hand and you’ve got yourself a great quarterback. …but it will always be an effort to keep him pointed in the right direction. Some teams are better suited for that than others.”
The scouts diverged on where they thought he would be drafted. The one responsible for the above quote thinks he will fall to the middle of the 2nd round, but the other scout pretty adamantly believes Mallett will not fall past Minnesota at #12. My own impression is that he’ll wind up being treated like Brady Quinn, a guy that falls into the second half of the first round but gets rescued by a team trading up.
2. More Razorbacks: Tight end D.J. Williams should definitely be seen as a draft board riser. Aside from how he’s handled interviews and performed in workouts, teams are increasingly taking a shine to his proven ability to stretch the seam. One scout compared him to Dallas Clark, another said he’s “a faster Chris Cooley”. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s the first tight end off the board.
Offensive lineman Ray Dominguez is another guy bubbling up. He has built off his strong NFLPA Game week by being jovial and self-aware in interviews. As one scout told me, “he knows what he needs to work on and has no problem starting out as a backup guard/tackle guy”. He has probably gone from a 7th rounder to a 5th rounder. If his feet weren’t “cast in concrete”, he’d go even higher.
His linemate DeMarcus Love is going in the other direction. The latest game film of Love consists of Cameron Heyward eviscerating him in the Sugar Bowl, plus a subpar Senior Bowl week where many felt he was the weakest lineman in attendance. His workouts have not wowed anyone enough to quench that poor taste. Back in October I projected him as a borderline 1st/2nd rounder, but he’ll be lucky to sniff the 4th at this point.
3. One of the stars of the Combine was Abilene Christian wideout Edmund Gates, but one scout offered this sobering assessment of the speedster:
“Tell me how a kid gets thrown out of a JUCO in his hometown. You can fail every class and they keep you around for the money. This kid got booted from a JUCO. You damn well better believe that’s a flag.”
Two things to go with that:
-- He was at Tyler JUCO as a basketball player, not a football player. His football experience is scant.
-- He turns 25 in June, though to be fair he’s got very fresh legs and little injury history.
Keep all that in mind before going all gooey over Gates and thinking he’s a second round lock. He very well might go that high, but it’s more likely he comes off in the 90-120 overall range.
4. I asked one draft-day decision-maker whether he preferred Julio Jones or A.J. Green as his top wide receiver. He was non-committal, but offered this tidbit:
“A.J. Green did exactly what I expected (in Indy at the Combine). But I didn’t ever see any reason to think Julio Jones could break 4.4.” Read that as: I don’t care what the stopwatch says; Jones doesn’t play that fast on the field. And I agree with that assessment. But I would also add that they are very different styles of receiver, so draft board statuses of who is better are likely to vary.
5. I had a very long exchange regarding Nick Fairley with a scout that knows him well. He likened Fairley’s personality to Warren Sapp’s--good-naturedly obnoxious and gregarious, confident but hungry, highly motivated to prove doubters wrong, eager to improve his faults. He told me Fairley won’t work with every kind of coach. More specifically, the team that drafts him had better have a coach that played in the NFL or commands absolute respect from players on the Xs and Os. I probed whether that means he needs a defensive-minded head coach, and he said that wouldn’t matter as long as the defensive coordinator was a strong presence. He specifically mentioned the Ryan family (Rex from the Jets or Rob with the Cowboys) as perfect fits even though neither played in the league.
6. After hearing Mike Mayock and several other wonks talk about Texas CB Aaron Williams fitting better at safety in the NFL, I brought that subject up with a scout that has professionally seen every Texas game since before the Mack Brown era began. He said he doesn’t believe Williams has the coverage mentality or the ability to quickly process information of the whole field well enough to make the switch. He believes Williams can make a solid zone corner and would be better served staying closer to the line. I hold his opinion highly, but I look at Williams and see a lot of Amari Speivey, last year’s 3rd rounder for the Lions that they quickly moved to safety with mixed results.
7. One of the questions I ask everyone is, “Give me somebody that you think is undervalued.” Three different people gave me the same guy with no prompting: Danny Watkins, the guard/tackle from Baylor. I find that interesting because most everyone pegs Watkins as a late first-rounder. One scout told me that although their final board is far from set, right now Watkins is their top offensive lineman. Another told me that Watkins “could walk in tomorrow and be the best right tackle in our division”.
8. Von Miller gets all the attention at Texas A&M, but one scout was intrigued by quarterback Jarrod Johnson. He said Aggies Coach Mike Sherman, a former Packers head coach, spoke very highly of Johnson and believes a lot of Johnson’s issues in 2010 were injury-related (Johnson was benched for Ryan Tannehill, who was significantly better). The scout told me Johnson has shortened his throwing motion a bit and has learned how to put touch on shorter throws. He should still be viewed as a developmental project, but it sounds like he is indeed developing. He’s similar physically to Cam Newton (6’5.5”, 254 pounds) and throws one of the prettiest deep balls you’ll ever see.
9. One guy trending in the wrong direction is Clemson DE Da’Quan Bowers. Widely considered a candidate to go as high as #1 overall heading into the Combine, concerns about his knee and why he only had one year with more than three sacks are apparently dogging his status. There are growing rumors Bowers needs microfracture surgery, and his inability to work out at Clemson’s pro day only fuel the fire that the knee is in much worse shape than the Bowers camp is letting on. One scout told me this:
“Don’t forget he missed some time with a knee before last year. Two years, two knees, that’s a problem. You know, I think he’s a great pass rusher and a real nice kid but he doesn’t do us any good if he’s on IR.”
I’ve seen and heard similar concerns elsewhere. I still think Bowers has too much to offer to fall out of the first half of the first round, but it sure sounds like the top 5 is probably not going to happen if this iffy knee situation doesn’t get positively resolved before the draft.
10. Two smaller-school names to watch for on draft weekend that are steadily rising up draft boards are Virgil Green and Shiloh Keo.
Green is a lithe tight end from Nevada who put on quite an athletic display in Indy, most notably as 42.5” vertical jump and a 4.54 40 time. Those are very impressive numbers for a 250+ pound guy, and teams are apparently taking notice. One thing in his favor: the concept of the every-down, do-it-all tight end is quickly becoming as antiquated as my Playstation 2 currently gathering dust somewhere in my attic. One scout told me Green “has a lot of Ed Dickson to him”, and Dickson had a nice rookie season in Baltimore despite being allergic to blocking. My impression is that Green isn’t as fluid or natural catching the ball as Dickson, but definitely shows enough promise to merit 4th-5th round status.
Keo is a thumping safety from Idaho that continues to build off his strong buzz from the East-West Shrine Game. He’s drawn comparisons to Bob Sanders and Louis Delmas for his style of play, though he’s not as fast or rangy as either guy. Sanders is actually a decent comparison because Keo is compactly built but uses his lack of stature (he’s 5’11”) to his advantage. As one scout told me:
“He’s great at hiding behind the linebackers and exploding on runners. Blockers can’t find him. I thought he was quicker on the field than he looked in Indy. That’s not his venue. He’s not an athlete, he’s a football player.”
I have a hard time seeing a 5’11” safety that can’t break 4.7 in the 40 getting drafted before the 6th round, but keep an eye on Keo.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Wednesday, 2-Mar-2011 03:03 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
Rockets Accumulate Assets, Are They Really Worse Off For It?
|
|
Feb 28, 2011 - It wasn't exactly the ideal trade deadline for Daryl Morey and the Rockets. The superstar they need has never looked further away, the top draft picks they were hoping to find instead became lottery-protected, and they dealt away two pretty popular players in Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks. It's easy to look at the returns, look at the lack of a big move, and come up with the idea that the Rockets are no less stuck than they were before.
Every little bit will help when it comes to trading for a superstar. The Rockets have two more first round picks than they did last Wednesday, and even though they're not likely to be premium picks, volume can make up for a lot of shortcomings. Granted, they're not much closer, but they're closer than they were. But that brings me to the more important point.
Look past Battier's lockdown defense, look past Brooks' playoff heroics: is this team really worse than it was on Wednesday?
Battier was 32, and will be 33 before the start of his next season. He's still a technically sound defender, but he no longer has the tireless energy he did four or five years ago. Moreover, in Courtney Lee, the Rockets have a player with the exact same skillset minus some basketball intelligence and seven years. The minutes that the Rockets have opened up by dealing Battier would be a big deal on another team, but Houston has been accumulating assets for years that have deserved more of a chance than they got. I'm not a huge Chase Budinger guy, but going off for 27 points in his first game as a starter was eye-opening. That's a week for Battier. Terrence Williams' upside needed minutes to flourish as well, and even if Lee, Budinger, and Kevin Martin are the main rotation guys on the wings, at least he's getting a chance to impact his value positively.http://stavrositu.blogspot.com/
As for the Brooks-Goran Dragic trade, I'm not sure that's a downgrade. Dragic has the size to bother opposing guards that Brooks really didn't on defense, and they look like pretty similar players offensively. Both rely on their speed, both can shoot the three, and both turn it over a little more than they should. The only difference between the two of them are their ages (26 for Brooks, 24 for Dragic) and their contracts (Brooks would've been a free agent, Dragic has a cap-friendly team option for next season). Throw out the fact that Dragic is a better asset for the Rockets because they still get another year from him and got a first rounder to make the deal: is he even worse than Brooks? I think you can make the case that he is, but I'm not sure it's by enough to actively hurt the team in limited minutes. I also think you can make the case that Dragic is a better player and not be wrong.
Now, you can say that the Rockets negatively impacted their slim playoff chances by improving a pair of the teams they're competing with for those last few seeds in the West with, but did they really improve them much? Memphis was already getting surprisingly good play from their wings like Sam Young and Tony Allen behind Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo. Battier can solidify things for them while Gay is hurt, but he's hardly replacing negative value on the court. Likewise, if you follow the dots on the Brooks-Dragic trade, Brooks could be a slight upgrade for the Suns, but not by enough to really matter in the few games that the two teams have left this season.
It's easy to look at the direction of the Rockets two deadline trades and think that they're just spinning their wheels. I would have much rather seen a big move, and I think most Rockets fans would say the same thing, but given that the assets just weren't good enough for Morey to pull it off this season, I think he did a fine job under the circumstances. The Rockets picked up two first round draft picks and didn't really gain or lose any ground on the competition. What's not to like?
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Friday, 18-Feb-2011 04:00 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
New England Patriots – 2011 NFL Mock Draft 3A
|
|
New England has two picks in the third round of the 2011 NFL draft. This is a look at the first of those picks, the 74th overall selection in this year's draft.
The Patriots found that no matter how good Cheap NFL Jerseys QB Tom Brady is, if you cannot put pressure on opposing quarterbacks, the chances of winning drop significantly. Defensive end is the team's number one priority this off-season, and that should be addressed early in the draft. New England must also add talent and depth at the outside linebacker position, and this would be a good spot for the Patriots to address that need.
Here is a quick look at potential prospects that the Patriots could select with this pick, and help New England in 2011 reach the playoffs and potentially another Super Bowl.
LB Mark Herzlich – Boston College. Herzlich is a big and physical linebacker at 6'4” and 250 pounds. If the Patriots are looking to add a physical force on the outside, Herzlich would fit that need. With a motor and desire that is un-coachable, his only drawback is speed.http://stavrositu.blogspot.com/
LB Dontay Moch – Nevada. If the Patriots are looking to add speed from the outside, Moch has it with plenty to spare. Moch runs a sub 4.4, but is just 225 pounds. Moch is eighth all-time in tackles for loss in college football history, and could give the Patriots defense speed and pass coverage not seen in these parts in years.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Friday, 18-Feb-2011 03:54 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
No Super seats for relative of 1st Packers exec
|
|
NEW YORK — A granddaughter of the first president of the Green Bay Packers was among the 400 ticketholders forced out of the stands at the Super Bowl because their seats weren’t safe.
In a letter sent to the NFL, which she provided to The Associated Press, Peggy Beisel-McIlwaine said Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones should never be allowed to host another Super Bowl. She called her experience at Cowboys Stadium a “total disaster.”
Beisel-McIlwaine wrote that it took several hours — and miles of walking — before stadium and league officials finally led her and other displaced fans from their upper deck seats to a field level bar area behind the Pittsburgh Steelers bench — with no view of the field.
The 55-year-old woman from Michigan told the AP she received a call Wednesday from the NFL, and will be going to the league office Friday in New York to meet with a person who is handling her situation.
“I hope we can get this remedied quickly,” she wrote.
Beisel-McIlwaine’s grandfather was Andrew Blair Turnbull, the Packers’ first president and a member of the team’s Hall of Fame. Her father was Daniel C. Beisel, a Packers’ board member from 1968 until his death in 2009.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said Thursday that 40 employees have been assigned to help identify and assist fans who were left without seats. He said 260 of the ticketholders have either been located or have called the league. Some have shown up at the league’s New York office.
In the days after the Packers’ 31-25 win over the Steelers, the league has given the displaced fans two options: $2,400 — triple the face value of the ticket — and a ticket to next year’s Super Bowl, or a ticket to any future Super Bowl, with round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations included.
On Thursday, the NFL said an additional 2,000 fans forced to sit in temporary seats will receive either a face-value ticket refund or a free ticket to a future Super Bowl.
The Seatless 400 episode has already spawned at least two lawsuits. Two Packers fans filed suit against the NFL, the Cowboys and the stadium alleging fraud, breach of contract and negligence; and a class-action suit filed against the league, the Cowboys and Jones alleges breach of contract, fraud and deceptive sales practices.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
[Archive]
|
|
 |
|
