3:03 PM Thanks to an ankle injury to QB Ricky Stanzi, Northwestern beat Iowa 17-10 in Iowa City today to end the Hawkeyes' undefeated season. Stanzi's replacement, redshirt freshman James Vandenberg, went 9-27 as a passer for 82 yards and a pick.
2:04 PMNewsday's Alan Hahn was courtside for Knicks' embarrassing non-competitive loss to the Cavaliers last night: "Knicks down 51-25....boos come at a timeout. Quick, throw the Yankees back on the court!"
1:57 PM Iowa's QB Ricky Stanzi is out of the Hawkeyes' game against Northwestern with a right ankle sprain. It's doubtful he'll return against the Wildcats, who lead 14-10 midway through third quarter. Iowa's new QB is redshirt freshman James Vandenberg.
1:04 PMMike Florio reported this week that a source told him NFL players might be considering striking during the playoffs. Patriots linebacker Adalius Thomas did his best to marginalize Florio in strongly denying the possibility. Florio is a former practicing attorney, he ain't making stuff up A.T.
Today on “Real Housewives of Norfolk County,” Mass., Sally Reese has a few things to say to the management of the Tennessee Titans. And as you know, there’s nothing better than NFL trash talking from wives. Sally, of course, is the wife of Floyd Reese, who was fired as the Titans’ general manager in 2007.
Floyd Reese is now a senior adviser to the New England Patriots, so you can imagine his delight in his team’s 59-0 win over the Titans on Sunday (slide whistle here as we type Tennessee’s record, 0-6). The husband, however, knows that boasting in such situations can come back to bite you in the keister. But his wife has no such qualms. Sally says that her only regret is that the Patriots didn’t “run it to 100.” Wow. Read more…
We tend to get pretty cynical around here; understandable, because there’s only three parking spaces at SbB, and Gaines takes them all up with his used motorhome. But every now and then a story hits us like a basket of kittens, and we must emote. This item about Vince Young and the young sons of the late Steve McNair is one of those.
If anyone wanted to know the difference between college football and the NFL, you just needed to watch the two games last night. (At least the two that anyone cared about - sorry, Florda A&M at Winston-Salem State on ESPNU.) If you like offense, crazy plays and wild comebacks, then the Clemson at Georgia Tech game was for you. But if you prefer low-scoring, hard-hitting football that’s kind of not very exciting until the final five minutes, then the NFL kickoff game between Pittsburgh and Tennessee was for you. (Sorry, is my bias showing?)
First let’s talk about the Steelers’ 13-10 overtime victory. Plainly put, Pittsburgh had no reason to win this game. They could not run the ball, gaining a whopping 33 yards. (Note to the guy in my fantasy league bragging about “stealing” Rashard Mendenhall: eat it.) And between Jeff Reed almost shanking the game-tying 32-yard field goal into the offensive line’s backsides and Hines Ward fumbling after a reception took him inside the Titans’ five with a minute to go, they were teetering on disaster. Read more…
Let’s add punting to the list of things that Jerry Jones knows less about than he thinks he does. And the placement of HD Jumbotrons in his new stadium. And…well, I’ll just stop there, because we could go on all day like this with issues that aren’t really relevant to the story at hand: while the debut of the new Cowboys Stadium might have been a success last night, ESPN says the stadium is a punter’s nightmare because of the enormous, low-hanging HD screen in the middle of the stadium.
In fact, Titans punter A.J. Trapasso managed to hit the screen with a punt in third quarter in Tennessee’s preseason game against Dallas - the debut of the new stadium. And while Trapasso has a leg on him, this wasn’t a display of punting prowess like Ray Guyhitting the screen at the Superdome, either - this seems like a problem that is going again and again.
Video of Trapasso’s punt plunking the video screen after the jump:
Hey, it’s early August, so it’s that time of year to get really fired up about football and be let down again and again by the abyss of suck that is the preseason. The Hall of Fame Game was last night, and it was billed as Terrell Owens‘ big debut for the Bills against the Titans. It’s exciting and all since it’s football, but it’s lame because even before halftime you’re watching guys that even the UFL would reject. Owens was fine in limited action, and both teams only used their starters briefly. By the end of it, guys like Gibran Hamdan and Alex Mortensen (both of whom I think I just made up) were playing quarterback. There was even a Patrick Ramsey sighting.
(I don’t even know who I am)
This particular rivalry is well-known for the “Music City Miracle” back in 2000, and Tennessee pulled another fast one on Buffalo in last night’s games — though the stakes were just slightly smaller. It all started when Titans punter AJ Trapasso took a long snap, and then pulled off one of the best fakes I’ve ever seen:
It’s too bad they can never run that again, since every team has now seen it. Well, except for the Raiders, who I’m sure haven’t figured out this whole “videotape” concept yet.
And how about the jerseys? Both are old AFL teams and were wearing throwbacks that will be brought out periodically during the season. Though for the Titans, the oil derrick image has some uncomfortable connotations. While the Oilers certainly had their moments of success, to the younger generation the logo serves as a reminder of the team’s ugly divorce from Houston (when a couple of thousand people would show up to see the lame duck team during their last year), and their odd welcome in Tennessee (when they played a season in Memphis, wearing the Houston unis and not exactly packing in the fans). When the team switched looks (and the nickname), things started to head the right direction and the Titans have been one of the better teams in the regular season over the last decade.
It’s officially the time in the baseball season when things start getting weird. The Red Sox were held scoreless for 31 innings by the Yankees over the weekend before finally breaking through with a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning last night by trade deadline prize Victor Martinez. But even that wasn’t enough, as Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira went back-to-back in the bottom of the inning to finish off a 5-2 Yankee victory and a four-game sweep of the suddenly hapless Sox.
The Yanks now lead the AL East by 6 1/2 games with roughly 50 to play. Boston, meanwhile, has allowed half of the AL to creep back into the wild card picture. The Rangers are now tied for the lead with the Rays lurking just a game and a half back. Heck, Seattle, a team that traded away Jarrod Washburn and his sub-3.00 ERA, is only 4 1/2 out and have re-appeared as a contender.
But nothing is as odd as what’s going on in the District. The Nats, a team left for dead in early April, have now won eight games in a row after beating the D’Backs yesterday. Quite an accomplishment for a team that only won 32 of its first 104 games. In fact, it’s the third-longest run ever for a team that started a streak at least 40 games under .500.
By comparison, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen’s threats to start throwing at every hitter in the AL in retaliation for the Indians plunking three of his players in Saturday’s game between the two teams seems downright mundane.
• So you know that guy the Raiders drafted first that everyone says they were totally crazy to pick that high? You’re not going to believe this, but it seems as if he’s not really very good. Like, the Niners are still glad they took Crabtree over this guy.
• WAG extraordinaire Colleen Rooney (wife of England soccer player Wayne Rooney) talks about her daily beauty routine in the DAILY MIRROR. She’s not really big on waking up with “panda eyes.”
The Tennessee Titans take on the Buffalo Bills in the Hall of Fame Game to kick off the NFL preseason on Sunday, and aside from the always delightful antics of Terrell Owens, viewers will also be greeted by this: A decal on the Titans’ helmets honoring the late Steve McNair.
The Titans, in fact, wanted to honor their former quarterback with a uniform patch, but the league had already committed to patch honoring the 50th anniversary of the American Football League, and they can’t have two. But now comes the question that the Titans probably never thought they’d have to answer: Does McNair deserve such an honor? Many, even including some Titans fans, are saying no. Read more…
At first blush, we’re all thinking ‘Vince Young, as crazy as ever.’ (Exception, Mike Greenberg: ‘I really like pie.’). And truthfully, I’m not really ready to let him do my taxes or babysit the kids. But could it be, perhaps, that the Titans quarterback is on the road to recovery?
The man has had his ups and downs to be sure. In an article that appeared on ESQUIRE.COM on Tuesday, Young talked about his life, his tribulations, and his belief that he will rise from the ashes. And not only did he give notice that he will win a Super Bowl title, but he also had another, bigger prediction. Read more…
It’s fair to say that LenDale White has been a rather, ahem, easy target for jokes. And tacklers. And paint balls. LenWhale, as he was affectionately known, routinely tipped the scales at over 260 pounds; though he was an effective goal-line option, his low yards per carry had many people thinking “bust.”
(”You’re looking good, LenDale.” “Thanks, man.” “You enjoying your new life?” “F**k no.”)
But White’s in training camp now, and he’s looking surprisingly svelte, as seen above (on the right, of course; nobody’s ever going to confuse him with speedy backfield partner Chris Johnson). He’s even below 230 pounds now - which could very well mean that now he’s just another average running back - but hey, he deserves some credit for dropping 30 pounds, right? Well, maybe; unfortunately, White’s diet may have most of us wondering if it was even worth it.
