Football canceled because of possible snow.. WHAT??

A lot has already been made of the NFL’s handling of the snow situation in Philly with regards to moving the Eagle’s game against the Vikings till tonight. The NFL played the “Fan Safety” card in regards to moving the game. What about last week when Minnesota’s game was played outdoors during a snow storm and the players played a frozen field? The NFL dropped the ball on this one and really should never cancel a game unless it is a state of emergency. It was just snow and most people on the northern east coast know how to handle snow. Philly fans are as hardcore as they come, outside of maybe pelting the players with snowballs there was no safety issue. If I am a Vikings player I am pissed about this not only did you play during a storm on a crappy field last week, but any advantage you might have had against Vick and that high powered offense is now gone. Think about it, Vick can’t run as fast in the snow and trying to throw through the wind and snow would be an issue. One sports reporter stated it as a conspiracy for ratings and Vicks MVP status, that the league wants the Eagles to play on a fast track. I am not sure what to believe, but the league needs to reach in it’s pants and try to find a set of balls.

How much is too much?

How much is too much for a quality short stop? The Colorado Rockies have signed Tulo to a 10 year 130+ million dollar deal. If this was the New York or Boston I would not think much of it, but considering the Rockies are a mid market team and past experiences including the Mike Hampton and Todd Helton mega deals, you have to wonder the logic behind it. I read an article on Yahoo that mentioned Tulo probably cost himself some money, by not testing the free agency market in a couple years and possibly a championship. Let’s face it, the Rockies are a good young team, but not a power house year in and year out. I am trying to explore this more from the Rockies stand point; they are fairly young team with a lot of talent, talent that will be looking to be paid in the next couple years. If Cargo has another MVP type year and Jimenz can continue his strong pitching they are going to demand big dollars. I am all for signing good young talent but locking up a quarter of your payroll in one player seems like a lot for mid market team.

Wolfpack vs The Whale....How about we just support hockey?

So in local news The Hartford Wolfpack officially changed their name this past weekend to The Hartford Whale. Reported attendance was close to 14,0000 which is amazing considering the Wolf Pack average attendance was closer to 3,000 a game. What I found quite funny was the die hard hockey heads taking sides in this minor league hockey naming battle.  Local die hard Whaler fans refused to support the Wolf Pack because they were the affiliate of the N.Y Rangers. Yet amazingly they showed up for this past weeks Whale game. Then you have the Wolf Pack fans claiming they are no longer going to attended games. Nothing has changed except the name and the color of the jersey. The team is still affiliates of the N.Y Rangers and it is still minor league hockey. I like hockey so I support any team that Hartford can get, but I am interested to see how the attendance does after the novelty of The Whale wears off.  Hartford as a city is dead, the place is a ghost town after 5:30 pretty much every night of the week. It was recently voted 19^th as the most dangerous city. It won’t be long before hockey leaves with most the businesses. Get past the stupid name change and support what we have Hartford.

UFC's first Mexican errr Mexican - American Champion

For much of the pre fight hoopla leading up to UFC 121 was made about Cain Velasquez becoming the UFC's first Mexican champion. There was a big out cry from all over about how people did or did not like it or how it could be racist. At the end of the day the UFC did what it needed to do and sell PPV buys. My personal opinion is that with Brock Lesnar on the card, the buys would be through the roof regardless. Some fans love Brock and others love to hate Brock. UFC has been trying to build its fan base across the board, from overseas fights to TUF competition with a team from the UK. My only problem with the strong marketing from UFC 121 was Cain was born in the United States, not Mexico. Cain is proud of his heritage, that is obvious by his “Brown Pride” tattoo on his chest, but he truly is Mexican-American Champion not the UFC's first Mexican Champion.   

Shame on you Mr.Garnett

It’s a sad day when Kevin Garnett needs to stoop so low as calling another player a “cancer patient”. Apparently on Tuesday night Garnett took his act to Charlie Villanueva of the Detroit Pistons. This is nothing new as Garnett is one of the biggest trash talkers in the league, but come on Kevin “Cancer Patient” really?  Why tarnish your legacy?  I always thought highly of Garnett. He suffered through years of crappy teams in Minnesota and crappy teammates (Marbury anyone?). Year after year Minnesota would struggle and for the most part Garnett went with it and continued to build his name. He did develop a rep for trash talking along the way. Basketball is all about trash talking, it starts at your local park all the way through the NBA. Typically nothing is off limits mother,sister,family everything is fair game. This however is overboard and I would like to see the league fine him for this. Cancer is a tragedy that affects everyone’s life. Everyone knows somebody whose life has been affected by this horrible disease. Mr.Garnett you have just labeled your career and you will not be remembered for being an MVP or being part of the championship Celtics. You will be labeled just another trash talking punk.

How does Brad Childress keep his job?

How does Brad Childress still have a job? He recently traded away a 3rd round pick for the troubled Randy Moss. Then one month later decided to waive him with out consulting the gm or owner. From the reports out of Minnesota of how Moss was acting, I do not blame him for wanting to waive Moss, but you need to work through the chain of command. You don't hold a press conference announcing you allowed Moss to say in New England to visit his family, then turn around and tell the team you released him. Another question is why did you sign him in the first place? Remeber Childress dealt with Terrell Owens while with the Eagles.Let's put the Moss issue aside. Childress is the same coach that cut wide out Marcus Robinson on Christmas Eve, this is the same coach who tried to fine Troy Williamson for missing time from the team for attending his grandmother funeral. Never mind how he has handled the Favre situation and throws his own players under a bus. Two weeks ago he went public against Favre for throw 3 picks in the Greeen Bay game. Last year he pointed blame on his full back Tahi for being the12th man in the huddle during the championship game. The year before he went public about possibly cutting punter Chris Kluwe for punting to Reggie Bush. Not to mention his in game coaching decisions, I have no idea how Brad Childress can still retain his job.

Time to move on..

For a couple teams, the time has come to fire their coaches.. Mid season or not a change is needed in Dallas and Minnesota.

Where is the D in Dallas? People will look at Kitna’s 4 int’s and blame the offense, but 3 of those hit receivers in the hands. The defense was supposed to be the team’s strong point and each week they are being embarrassed. The season is over for Dallas along with Wade Phillips coaching career there.  Might as well give Garrett a open audition for the position now instead of signing him to a huge contract after the season. Let him run the team for 9 games and see how the players respond. I am not sure Garrett is the answer though, the people of Dallas were very high on him two years ago and now he has cooled off quite a bit. I think Dallas needs a high profile coach... Bill Cowher anyone?

Speaking of poor coaching, does Brad Childress understand how the challenge system works? Is so how do you challenge Tate’s catch and who is relaying the info to challenge that? Not only should Childress be fired, who ever relayed that should update his resume. The circus has officially arrived in Minnesota. Like the Dallas situation the Vikings need a clean slate from the Childress era. While the team is not completely out of the race in the weak NFC they are close. Childress has lost the respect of his players in the locker room and has continually proven he is not head coach material. You can’t doubt his ability to create a good team, but his coaching decisions are beyond questionable.  Waiting in the wings is Leslie Frazier, who has interviewed for numerous head coaching positions over the last 3 years. If the Vikings don’t make him the head coach this year another team will next year, that is assuming there is football with the looming lockout.

Some items I liked from yesterday…

Nice to see Troy Smith have a good start for the Niners..Thought he got a raw deal in Baltimore.

The Detroit Lions will compete for a playoff spot next season. The Lions are a lot better than their record.

Are the Patriots the best team in the NFL? Yes and quietly doing so, kind of reminds me of their championship seasons.

Big 3 or the field?

So the NBA season kicks off tonight and I am sure most people will only be watching one game. The Miami Heat at the Boston Celtics. I'm not a huge basketball fan nor do I pretend to be. I pretty much only watch when it's playoff time. With the whole Lebron watch over the Summer it made me a little more intrigued to watch this season in hopes the Heat fall flat on their face. You can't convince me that the whole thing wasn't planned and then for Lebron to use a Charity event at boys and girls club in Greenwich,CT as a pr stunt was ridiculous. Why do you pick one of the richest areas in the U.S to host it? Why not host it somewhere in Cleveland or Miami? It was very clear that Lebron's mind was made up way ahead of time and he just went through the motions of visiting other teams. Anyways that is all pretty much old news, my question to everyone is who are you taking this year? The Big 3 or the field?

Some cheese with your Whine?

Enough is enough with the players crying about how the NFL is going soft and stopping them from doing their jobs. You are paid millions of dollars from the NFL to play a game to which they set the rules. Therefore you are obligated to play by their rules. If you don’t like it then please retire and leave millions of dollars on the table.(Maybe that would lower ticket prices.)This wouldn’t be an issue if players weren't so careless with their bodies and launching them at receivers. All I read over and over on Twitter is about “we are taught separate the receiver from the ball”.  The Robinson hit this past week in my opinion was a legit hard hit. The hits I am referring to are the ones when the line backer or db lowers and leads with their heads. I also understand that sometimes you aim low and the receiver tries to protect himself and lowers his body causing you to hit him high. The NFL has to take all this into consideration when making these suspensions, but please stop trying to make yourselves out to be a victim in all of this.

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Chris Johnson owners please send all thank-you cards to ESPN..

There is a little tidbit over on PFT regarding ESPN asking the coaches of the Titans and Jags to use their time outs. What??? The airing network asking a team to use timeouts?  Apparently ESPN did not meet their network obligations for TV times outs and needed some help from the teams. So of course Jack Del Rio was happy to listen to ESPN and on a 4th down with under two minutes left C.J breaks off a 35 yarder to the house. My question is how is this allowed during a game? How can the league allow a network to influence the game? In my opinion this is similar to fixing a game.Of course this will be swept under the carpet because ESPN has the market cornered and it will not be reported on their own network.I believe that TV timeout ruin the flow of a game and should be eliminated completely. If you would like to read the full story you can check it out here.

1st and Goal "The Seat Is A Little Bit Warmer"

This is the time of the season that can make or break a coach. You can come out of the gate on fire and get a couple years added to your contract or you feel that coaching seat getting a little bit warmer. Can you feel the heat Wade Phillips? With the NFC Super Bowl favorites losing to the Titans yesterday at home, you have to wonder if Mr.Jones is starting to fill out some pink slips. In my first post of the season I pointed out that Romo shouldn't be passing 50+ times a game.Yesterday Romo was 31-46 for 406 yards 3 td's and 3 int's. The last int coming on the final drive to seal their fate. Romo's stat line could have been much worse as I seen at least 3 interceptions dropped. Romo is a good qb, but again he is not a clutch QB. This coaching staff is failing to make the changes needed to get this team going. They battled back and forth with the Titans ,there was no need to have Romo drop back 46 times. Felix Jones had only 15 carries for 109 yards.Jones is a electric player and  Dallas needs to give him the ball more and stop letting Romo throw so much.The Cowboys are a Super Bowl caliper team, but if they lose next week in Minnesota those Super Bowl vision's will start to fade and people will need to start looking for new jobs.

Another phantom hit by pitch...

Alright now we are gonna need replay for "hit by pitch". How the umpires continue to miss these is beyond me. Apparently Chase Utley thought he was going by a pitch and thought it did hit him so he trotted on down to first base.This missed call could have ended up costing the Reds the game. Yahoo has the full story here.  Either way in a post season that we should be talking about some great pitching, we are crying foul on the umpires for missing this call. To all the fans out there who gave Jeter crap about faking it (yeah I am talking to you Sox Nation) please make sure you show Mr.Utley all the same love!

For someone who likes to be private, Favre sure likes to show his privates (Allegedly)

Back in August Deadspin.com ran an item regarding allegations of Jenn Sterger, co-host of The Daily Line on Versus. Allegedly Brett Favre was nice enough to send her some photos of his lower area and left her a few voice messages back in 2008 when he was QB for the Jets. At the time Sterger  was the in-house sideline reporter for the Jets. Yesterday Deadspin released the photos and two audio messages on their site. The voice does sound a bit like Favre, but it is still not clear. Favre declined comment  when he was asked about it yesterday after practice saying "I've got my hands full with the Jets".  Without Sterger placing any charges of sexual harassment or allegations against Favre what can the league do? PFT has a good read on the story here.In the meantime, tell us what you think with our poll question above..Or if you want to skip everything and get right to the audio here it is at Deadspin.

"Start'em" Quick Fantasy Hits

Tony Romo  against The Titans   Romo looked good against Houston two weeks ago and coming off a bye I expect him to light up the score board and pass close to 300 yards with 2 td's. 

Cedric Benson against The Bucs  Carson Palmer has not looked well this season and the Bucs give up a lot of yards on the ground. Look for the Bengals to run early and a lot.Benson will break the 100 yard mark with a td.

Reggie Wayne against The Chiefs   I don’t know how he does it, but no matter what Manning finds Wayne open. With Collie in a boot this week look for Manning to Wayne combo to put up points. Wayne 85 yards and 2 td's.

"Take your base"

Yesterday was a busy sports day. The coverage all day was the blockbuster trade that sent Randy Moss back to the Minnesota Vikings. While all that was going on history was quietly being made when Roy Halladay pitched the second post season no-hitter in history and against one of the leagues best hitting teams (Reds) none the less. The only other time this happened was in Don Larsen in 1956 for the Yankees. The way Halladay is pitching do not be surprised if he does it again. Don't forget he pitched a perfect game back in May against the Marlins. My hats off to you Mr.Halladay...

 I do have one gripe and that is with major league baseball. You need to stop sandwiching a late afternoon game. People on the east coast are just getting out of work, while people on the west coast are at work. I am betting that the majority of fans missed this historic milestone because they could not watch the game. I don't have the answer on how to fix this, but something needs to be done.

Quick Hit "Moss to Minnesota"

Well it looks like Moss's run in New England is coming to an end. Everyone knows he is not happy about not being offered a contract extenstion. Reports came out late yesterday that after week one Moss's agent when to the Patriots and requested a trade. Well here we are going into week 5 and multiple outlets are reporting Moss will be traded to Minnesota for a 3rd round pick. Huge pick up for Minnesota, but you have to wonder where Moss's head will be if they do not sign him to a contract extension? More to come as all the details come out....

1st and Goal "Protect The Players"

I am tired of linebackers and secondary players taking cheap shots on defenseless wide receivers. Yes the league is cracking down by fining and penalizing the team 15 yards, but big deal. If it happens more than once it should be grounds for a suspension. T.J Ward of the Cleveland Browns yesterday laid out Shipley of the Bengal’s in the end zone. The ball was already tipped and Shipley had no chance at catching the ball. As you can see in the video below Ward did lead with his shoulder, but it was not a needed. Then to sit there and stare Shipley down as he was lying on the ground just shows how much of punk Ward really is. In his post game interview Ward said

“I hit him with my shoulder," Ward said. "They [Bengal’s] tried to yap at me, but I ignored them. I would do it again."

These types of plays are not needed with the speed of today’s game. We all love clean hard hits, but in a game where a player can barely touch a QB without picking up a flag, why can’t the league focus more on protecting all of it’s players. Instead of focusing on fining people for their end zone celebrations or now Jared Allen’s calf roping sack celebration ($15,000 fine if he does it anymore) let’s protect the players health and bring down the hammer on cheap hits.

T.J Ward's Hit On Shipley

This Weeks "Start Them" Fantasy Picks

QB – Aaron Rodgers against Detroit.  The Lions front four have improved but the secondary is a mess. Last week they let the one Vikings receiving threat in Harvin run wide open into the end zone. Look for big numbers from Rodgers.

RB - Rashard Mendenhall against Baltimore. Last week Cleveland showed that you can run against the Ravens.  The Ravens will have to play honest with Batch at QB and won’t be able to stack the box. I expect typical smash mouth Steelers football.

WR - Marques Colston against Carolina. Brees is the ultimate company man and he knows how to spread the wealth. Last week Lance Moore was the go to guy and that made Moore a hot pick up on the wavier wire. If I have learned anything from Brees it is never the same guy two weeks in a row. Colston will get a lot of looks this week from Brees. 

Vick 2.0

It’s funny how quickly the general public can switch sides. Less then a year ago people were saying Vick was done and could never be a starting pro NFL quarterback again. Today they are singing a new tune, not only is Mike Vick the starting QB for the Eagles but he is going to get a huge pay day at the end of the season. Outside of the 30^th birthday night club episode, Vick has followed the golden public relations rule for troubled athletes and stayed out of the press.  He is making the most of his chance to start again and letting his play do the talking. The new Vick 2.0 experience is making plays with his arm more than his feet. Gone are the days of one hoping and over throwing receivers. He is throwing tight spirals with great accuracy and hitting his receivers in stride. Vick is completing 60% of his throws and has thrown 6 touchdowns to no interceptions. The biggest improvement I have seen is his pocket presence. He is going through his progressions and moving the pocket. He is still making plays with his feet when the pocket breaks down, but he has his head down field and still trying to throw before running. This is the maturation that the analysts are taking about. Vick is a completely new QB and teams will be lining up at the end of season if the Eagles allow him to leave.

Chad Ochocinco The People's Champ

People claim football is a man’s sport. I like to think it’s a kid’s sport that men play. Which leads me this weeks “People’s Champ” Chad Ochocinco. If you are not on Twitter and don’t follow Chad I recommend you get on that. Chad makes it all worthwhile. I was never a huge Chad Ochocinco fan as I thought he was very arrogant, cocky and selfish. After locating Chad on Twitter I figured I would follow him and see what he was all about. I was completely wrong with judging Chad and I will be the first to admit it. Chad is really just trying to have fun out there. He works to give the fans what they want and that is entertainment. Yes, Chad has gone a little far like bribing the ref’s, but the golf putt or the gold jacket was all in good taste. He continues to come up with creative ways to celebrate and never show’s disrespect to the opposing team. This is the Chad we see on the field, what I was most surprised about is Chad off the field. Chad likes to communicate with his fans and tries to give them insight to his life. Over the year that I have followed Chad he has taken fans (hometown and on the road) out to dinner and movies. At one point last year Chad took select fans on a bus tour with him up and down the east coast. You just don’t hear about this type of connect between fans and athletes anymore. Chad has truly helped bridge the gap that had widened over the years. To all the people out there who like to bury Chad, I send you a big “Child Please”.

Oh and 2... Who is in more trouble Dallas or Minnesota?

So here we are in week 2 of the NFL season and two of the superbowl favorites are looking at a 0-2 hole. Let's take a quick look at both teams starting with Minnesota.

Favre looks old...plain and simple. He doesn't appear to be having any fun and is still picking himself up off the turf a lot. Granted he missed all of training camp, but that is his own fault. These excuses about chemistry with the receivers are out the window because he chose to skip camp. Minnesota's defense looks solid despite the fact they are missing two of their top cornerbacks in Chris Cook and Cedric Griffin. If the Vikings choose to make a play for Vincent Jackson he could help stretch the field when he returns from suspension against the Cowboys. The Vikings are really missing the big body that Sidney Rice provided and his jumping ability. Jackson could relief some of that, but Favre needs to step his game up. Last week against the Dolphins the defense played well and Peterson ran for 145 yards. Favre and the current group of wide receivers are the key to the Vike's success moving forward.

Down in big "D" a lot of heat is on the coaching staff. In week 1 I did not agree with the hand off to Choice before the end of the half. That was just text book bad coaching, but that said Choice needs to understand the situation and secure the ball. On paper Dallas is one of the most talented teams in the league and should be considered a superbowl favorite. The team just needs to bring it all together. This past week they were able to get pressure on Cutler early, but that tapered off once the Bears made the proper adjustments. One thing I would like to see in Dallas is more of a role for Felix Jones. He only had 7 carries this past week for 7 yards, but he is a very explosive player should see more touches. I like Tony Romo as a QB but I do not like him passing 50+ times a game. Dallas needs to be more balanced on offense and allow Romo to work his magic when needed.

Both teams need wins this week. The Vikings have Detroit who have been playing better. I expect the Vikings to run, run and run on Detroit. Keep going to the work horse AP. If Favre continues to struggle and the Vikings lose, we could see a full blown meltdown in Minny. Dallas is taking on the new and improved Texans in Houston. The Dallas defense needs to get to pressure on Schaub and force turnovers. It is that simple. If Schaub get's time in the pocket he is going to pick apart the Dallas secondary. I am looking for Ware to have a big game. I believe both teams win this week and stop the panic.