"Alligator Arms" Stinkston

Today, an oldie but a goodie. How can one man be so tough?

No seriously, what a disgrace to football players everywhere. If I was the safety it would have been worth the 15 yards personal foul just to late hit that cake.

NFL Cutest Mascot Contest Finalists

The voting has finally been tabulated in our cutest mascot contest and the three finalists are as follows:

Panthers mascot Sir Purr playfully shrugs his shoulders as if he doesn't know who Carolina's favorite cat is!

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The Houston Texans mascot is no bull, it's Toro! What an honor to be seated next to such famous company. The Bushes should be proud!

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No, that's not Shawn Merriman, it's Bolt Man, the San Diego Chargers buff mascot. I don't know what's bigger - his grin or his biceps!

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So vote for your favorite out of the remaining three finalists above and the winner will be declared Silva Sportz "unofficial" mascot with a tribute post to follow. Voting will close Wednesday night.

Look-A-Likes - Batista and Greg Anderson

WWE Superstar Batista

and

Barry Bonds personal trainer Greg Anderson

Situ's All-Time Squad

*OFFENSE*

QB - Dan Marino

RB - Emmitt

RB - Sweetness

WR - G.O.A.T.

WR -Randy Ratio

TE - T-Gon

OT - Willie Roaf

OT - Munoz

OG - Owlin

OG -John Hannah

C - This F‘in game is over!


*DEFENSE*
DE - Deacon Jones

DE - Minister of Defense

DT - Mean Joe Greene

DT - Manster

LB - L.T.

LB - Ray-Ray

LB - Derrick Thomas

CB - Prime Time

CB - Night Train

S - Ryan Nece‘s dad

S - Rod Woodson


*SPECIAL TEAMS*
PR - Ole Prime again

KR - Kansas Comet

K - Adam Vinatieri

P - Ray Guy

HEAD COACH - Bill Belichick

NFL Cutest Mascot Contest - Round 3

It’s the time for the third and final installment of our contest for cutest mascot. If you have missed the previous two rounds, you can check out the first round here and round two here. Vote for which mascot you think is the cutest in each round. The three winners from each round will have a championship run-off where we will declare a final winner. The winner will receive an exclusive tribute to them right here at Silva Sportz! Please note that of today’s final teams, the Giants, Jets, Raiders, Steelers, Rams, and Redskins do not have official mascots (or at least not that I could find). So without further delay, here is the final group:

Swoop

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Bolt Man (how original) - his alias of Jack Nicholson Lightning Bolt is much better.

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Blitz

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Captain Fear

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T-Rac!!!

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So that's all of them. We will leave voting open until Monday morning, so by Monday afternoon the three finalists should be up. If you aren't sure if your favorite is going to make the finals, then you better rally some support for him/her/it and tell some friends to vote!

NFL Cutest Mascot Contest - Round 2

Ok, it's time to vote for your favorite/cutest mascot in the second round of competition. In case you missed it, round one of the mascots can be found here. And I did not leave off the Green Bay Packers, they do not have a mascot. Or at least I could not find one. I think maybe it is just cheese. Vote for your round 2 favorite and check back tomorrow for the final group!

Roary the Lion (bonus Cory Redding on backrow)
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Toro

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The Colts are unique in that they have two mascots. The cute thing on the left doesn't have a name but it is known to bounce around the endzone after the Colts score. The Colt at top is actually brand new this year and the Colts are having a contest to name it.

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Nick and Jessica? Just kidding, it's Jaxson de Ville!

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K. C. Wolf

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T. D.

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Ragnar the Viking - The Vikings are the only team to have a human as their official mascot.

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Pat Patriot (and he appears to be pimping)

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Gumbo

Mario Williams' Greatness vs Reggie's Ego

So I’m watching Sportscenter and I just saw a story about Mario Williams. The story was just basically talking about how even though a lot of people who know nothing about football thought Reggie “uuuuuggg” Bush should have gone first, the Texans have no regrets at all about taking Mario first. I would like to take this time to publicly proclaim my man crush for this season on Mr. Williams. Don’t clown, cuz we all have them – Phil/Peyton, Rose/Merriman, Willie B/Jason Taylor, Snow/Dom, Devin/Alstott, and the list goes on and on. So why am I in love with Mario? Well first of all he is such a beastly athlete. 6’7”, 295 lbs, with 4.66 speed, 35 bench reps, and a 40.5” vertical, need I say more? Second, he is humble, like an unproven rookie should be. In the Sportscenter piece, Mario echoed what I have heard him say over and over since the day he was drafted. When asked his goals for this season, he states simply, to help his team get better. What about sacks the reporter presses him? Mario simply answers he just wants to do whatever the teams asks of him and if it’s pressuring the quarterback, then so be it.
Here is a second example of the proper attitude a rookie should have. Later on in the same Sportscenter, John Clayton reported that even though Broncos RB Mike Bell has been named the starter, he is attempting to secure the spot by working on running low so that he can better protect the ball. Clayton then mentioned that Bell was such a huge Terrell Davis fan growing up, that Bell wore Davis’ jersey until the number 30 came off. When the Broncos offered to give Bell number 30 for his own jersey, Bell refused the offer saying he hadn’t done anything to earn it yet. Now compare that attitude to this other rookie who has done nothing but rubbed me the wrong way for the last year. When asked what his goals are Reggie Bush said without missing a beat to become the greatest football player of all time. Wow Reggie, don’t be too humble. I know people are going to argue and say there is nothing wrong with wanting to be the best at what you do, but I think the problem is that Reggie Bush really believes he is already one of the best players ever to play the game. And how has Reggie proved himself? He had a 44 yard run in a meaningless preseason game. Reggie Bush comes across to me as extremely cocky and selfish with an attitude that seems to put himself first before his team. So as I publicly declare my man crush for Mario Williams, I would also like to publicly declare my distaste for Reggie Bush. Reggie, everyone else may worship you and feed your ENORMOUS ego, but I think you are overrated thus far and you have a lot of work to do, and not just on the field, to change my mind. I think Big Kev summed it up best when he said……..well you know.
So which players currently in the league leave a bad taste in your mouth? I’m not necessarily talking about an all turd team of bums who beat their wives and get suspended for violating the substance abuse policy, although they could make your list, I am thinking more along the lines of players who you just get tired of hearing about and who you think are overrated. If you can, give a reason or two why you get tired of hearing about the player.

Happy 65th Birthday Duane Charles Parcells!

Today we honor one of the greatest coaches in NFL history. I hereby give you a birthday tribute to the Big Tuna himself, Coach Parcells.

Here is a brief summary of Parcells’ NFL coaching history.
Parcells coached NY Giants to 2 Super Bowl titles (1987,91); retired after 1990 season then returned in 1993 as coach of New England; took hapless Pats from 2-14 in 1992 to Super Bowl (loss to Green Bay) in 1997; left Patriots after Super Bowl to coach the New York Jets; coached 3 seasons with the Jets (1997-99), turning them from 1-15 doormat to AFC East champ in 2 years; retired again in 2000 but returned to the sidelines in 2003 as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

More general info on the great Coach Parcells, here and here.

Did You Know……..
Parcells began his coaching career as an assistant at Hastings in 1964.
Parcells also coached at Florida State, Texas Tech, and was head coach at Air Force.
Parcells became the first head coach in NFL history to direct four different teams to the playoffs.
The now famous “Gatorade bath” was invented on Parcells during the mid-80’s with his Giants team.

Here is the story of how Parcells got the nickname “Big Tuna” according to Parcells.

Here is an infamous Parcells quote:
“I had an Italian mother. She didn't view what I was doing as really a profession. She viewed it as recreation. I said, "Gee Mom, I'm going to be the head coach of the New York Giants." And she said to me, "When are you going to get a real job like your brother the banker?"”
Read more Parcells’ quotes here.


I just want to take the time to thank Parcells in advance for helping the Cowboys to a division, conference, and Super Bowl title this season. Thanks coach!

NFL Cutest Mascot Contest - Round 1

Recently, much has been made about the fact that the Titans mascot, T-Rac ran down an opposing player with a golf cart. Since this has been in the news, it has also brought up the topic of mascots in general. I recently heard a host on ESPN radio say that mascots in the NFL were stupid and that professional football teams shouldn’t have mascots. I really didn’t catch his reasoning but it got me to thinking maybe he was right. So time to weigh in on your opinion, do you like the mascots in the NFL or not? It wouldn't be right to vote on the mascots ignorantly, so I have also decided to feature the mascots. Also please vote on the cutest mascot. I will divide this into a three-part post. I will go alphabetically through the league starting with Arizona and ending with Washington. The winner of the cutest mascot will get a special tribute to them next week.

Today we feature the first ten teams, Arizona through Denver.

Big Red

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Freddie the Falcon

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Edgar, Allan, and Poe (I'm not sure if this means their are three mascots, but I could only find a picture of this one)

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Billy Buffalo

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Sir Purr

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Staley Da Bear

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Who Dey
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The Browns actually have four mascots: Chomps, Trapper, CB, and TD.

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Rowdy

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Miles

So vote for your cutest out of these ten today and we will take the winners of all three days or you can wait until all the teams are posted and have an overall vote. Enjoy these cute beasts and be sure to check back tomorrow for more teams!

News and Notes - What Are Some NFL Players Thinking?

La'Roi Glover thinks he has that little devil and angel on his shoulder. Glover says the devil tells him, "Hey, I'm tired today. I don't feel like going. Let's take the day off." Then his angel says referring to his days with the Raiders, "Hey, last time you did that, you got cut, so pick it up." Umm, ok La’Roi. Which one of them told you to wear your pants so darn high?
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For some strange reason, Trent Dilfer thought he was tough Saturday night against the Ray-duhs. Dilfer got two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. The first one was for head-butting Darnell Bing and the second was when Dilfer went to the Raiders sideline and tried to trash-talk Warren Sapp. I am guessing he told Sapp to put a jersey on if he was so tough. I am then guessing that Sapp emerged from water with a silver face and yelled at Dilfer. These are just my theories. Sapp might have summed it up best when he said, "The apocalypse is definitely on us when Trent Dilfer gets two personal fouls." Sapp really did say that afterward.
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers say they are thinking about moving WR Maurice Stovall to tight end. Stovall was the Bucs third pick this year and he is from Notre Dame. The Bucs say Stovall has the rare blend of size and speed and is considered to be a tremendous downfield blocker. If he is supposed to be so big and fast, why not just leave him at receiver?
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Here is today’s OuT oF wHaCk StAt: Sunday night’s loss to Seahawks was the Colt's eighth straight loss in the preseason, their longest preseason losing streak in more than 50 years. As I recall aren’t the Colts considered one of the best teams in the league, so how much should we read into preseason games again?
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Paul Woody, writing for the Sporting News, reports Washington Redskins OG Derrick Dockery has lost about 15 pounds and appears lighter on his feet with better endurance. He is performing with more consistency and if he can maintain his concentration, could earn a big contract for the 2007 season. Congrats on your diet Mr. Dockery!
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I am a man so I will admit when I am wrong. I will admit that I thought Ron Dayne was a going to be a decent running back this year. Now I am reading that he might not even make the team! This is because RB’s Damien Nash and Cedric Cobbs both shined during Saturday’s game against the Titans. That’s not mention the Bells who are already locks to be ahead of Fat-Ron on the death chart. Dayne, you suck for letting all these rooks come in and own you. I can’t believe you had a long run against the ‘Boys last year.
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Someone please pinch Jerome Harrison and snap him out of his dream world. Here are just a few things Harrison believes: first, Harrison says he was the best running back to come out in last year’s draft (he was a fifth round pick and the 13th RB taken), second Harrison said he should have won the Heisman trophy last year, and finally he says he won’t be surprised if he wins rookie of the year this season. Since you prolly think I am making this up, read the article here. After hearing those ideas about himself and the fact that Harrison is a Brown, I think it is safe to say that he may officially be the gayest player in the NFL.
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Donte Stallworth thinks he is Rader making gay choo-choo sounds. When asked how he felt about playing in Monday night’s game against the Wowboys, Stallworth responded with “Woooo! Woooo!” He thinks he will have a big game, but trust me, the Boys nasty D is going to show up and knock this woman’s train off the tracks.

News and Notes - T-Rac getting sued?

T-Rac is off the hook, at least by the NFL. However, Adrian McPherson said Friday that he and agent Leigh Steinberg have discussed the possibility of taking legal action if it becomes necessary. If you ask me T-Rac looks like a trouble-maker (wears a mask) and McPherson should sue him for all he’s worth, which I am assuming to be that cute, baby blue vehicle.
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T.O. pulled a Phil and wore the wrong outfit.
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Despite just getting into camp, the Cards have Leinart penciled in for at least a quarter tonight.
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Pete’s boyfriend has an article about how the Bears think Lovie Smith is underpaid. The column also mentions that Danieal Manning has been making some noise at camp. Lovie Smith says that Danieal Manning has the tools to become their best DB in time! Also, scroll down in the column to read about how great Steve Hutchinson is.
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Speaking of the Bears, Brain Urlacher returned an interception 64 yards for a touchdown on the game's third play from scrimmage and Rashied Davis took a kick 100 yards for another first-quarter TD Friday night to lead the Bears over the San Diego Chargers 24-3. I also personally witnessed a big Danieal Manning hit.
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Here is just more proof that the Packers are a very gay team.
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My boy Jon Kitna was 7 of 12 for 94 yards and a a TD. Unfortunately they didn’t let him play the whole game so the Lions lost to the Browns 20-16. Kellen Winslow had three catches for 37 yards and he still thinks that he is the best TE in the league. Kamerion Wimbley had a sack.
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The Bills lost 44-31 to Cincinnati. How you gonna let someone put up 44 on you in the preseason? Gay-Bills, ya’ll better not get Posluszny with the top pick next year!

It's Great - to be - a C-H-S Cougar

If you haven't heard the news, the Silva boyz have expanded. We not only have the privilege of bringing the latest sports news and sharing the inside info here at Silva Sportz, but now we are sharing the latest high school football news at Go Friday Night.com, too. We haven’t quite gotten to the point of writing for ARN, but we will do the next best thing, and that’s hitting up the Cooper football blog! So check out gofridaynight.com under the blog section, under the Cooper section to read about the latest Cooper info and to cheer on the Coogs! And just like Silva Sportz, you’ll wanna leave your two cents there also. Here is the link to the site and from now on it will be posted in the sidebar with the other links for future reference.

P.S. If you have any hot info on the Coogs or a suggestion for anything you want to see covered, just hit us up with an e-mail and we will be sure to give you proper credit.

News and Notes - Brady, Balco, and Angry Thomas Jones

First Bonds, now Brady? New England Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady has emerged in the BALCO investigation.
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The Iron Heads pull a Secord...
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Roethlisberger's thumb is fine.
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Is Thomas Jones getting screwed in Chi-town? Apparently Jones thinks so. Exclusive interview here.
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Is Faulk done with football? He sure does sound like he is.
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Does this make you happy?

Look-A-Likes - Derrick Blaylock & Dave Chappelle

NY Jets running back Derrick Blaylock

and

Actor/Comedian Dave Chappelle

Let the Debate Begin - NFL or NCAA Football?

It’s time to tackle the age old debate: NFL or college football, which do you prefer? I know personally of several people who will give a vote for college ball (shout outs Gary Word) including Ivan Maisel of ESPN.com. Maisel has an article where he gives 20 reasons why college football is better than the NFL. Read all his 20 reasons here. I want to clarify that if you prefer one, it doesn’t mean you don’t like the other. However, since Maisel presented his case in the great debate, allow me to take a stand for the pros. I give you in no particular order, 20 reasons why NFL is better than college ball.

1) Parity
I don’t care what anyone says, it is much more exciting to watch a game where you don’t know who will win each week. No disrespect to Louisiana Lafayette, but did anyone think they would beat Texas last year? And you will never read in the paper the next morning that one NFL team beat another 70-0. Bor-ing!

2) Cream of the crop
Best athletes performing at their peak abilities each week. Enough said. I’ll admit that if you watch major D1 schools (Texas, OU, USC, Miami, Ohio St, etc) you’ll see some talented athletes who can play some ball. But there gets a point where the talent pool is watered down at smaller schools. Even the worst teams in the NFL are have rosters filled with the world’s most gifted athletes.

3) Competitiveness
Combine #1 and #2 and I don’t see how you can argue college is more “competitive.”

4) Honesty
Who came up with the myth that every pro is just in it for the money and every college kid plays because they love the game so much? Can I just say full ride? College kids might not reap the level of benefits that pros receive, but let’s not act like they get nothing out of it. Scholarships, free education, countless perks, and if you go to Oklahoma paychecks without working. You never have to worry about an NFL team being placed on probation for NCAA/recruiting violations. Pros receive their compensation with no strings attached.

5) Madden is way better than NCAA

6) It’s the pinnacle of the football world.
The best college football players are just giving a try-out, a sampling if you will of their talent of things to come. Their goal is to make it to the big time and play on Sundays. When you are a starter in the NFL, then you’ve arrived.

7) Only 32 teams to follow
NCAA D1-A alone has over 100 teams! That’s not even counting D1AA, DII, and DIII. Too many teams means too many teams to care about.

8) Names on jersey’s
Trust me it makes a difference.

9) Every NFL team has at least a few cool people.

10) Two Words. Super Bowl
It is the single greatest sporting event, hands down.

11) No fake greatness
In the NFL if you are the all-time leader in passing yards you would be Dan Marino. In NCAA, that honor belongs to the great Timmy Chang! 2000 yards rushing in the NFL = E.D.; O.J.; Barry. 2000 rushing yards in college = Troy Davis or Rashaan Salaam.

12) The NFL draft
Another one of the most exciting times of the year for sports period. Plus it just makes sense to let the worst team go first, unlike college recruiting where the best teams get the best recruits and the strong only get stronger.

13) Real play-offs that leave no doubt who is the best team.
Sometimes the BCS works out, but other times it doesn’t. How can you not have an “undisputed” champion?

14) Jerry Rice, Walter Payton, Tom Brady
In their college years who had heard of these guys?

15) 16 game season plus playoffs into February.
Just more to love.

16) No turnover rate.
And I'm not talking about fumbles and interceptions. Pick your favorite college team. Now can you name me all 22 starters from last year? Didn’t think so. You are lucky if your favorite player plays for more than two full seasons in college.

17) Scheduling just works.
Noon game, 3:00 game, Sunday evening game, and then Monday Night Football. I never know when my fave college teams are playing or if they will even be on T.V.

18) Better uniforms.
Compare something like Bengal’s orange jersey vs. Oregon. How bout Falcons black on black vs. Penn St. No contest!

19) More exclusive fan base
Girls go to college. So do nerds. So now you have people going to college games and cheering for their team just because they go to school there. Football becomes a social event. If you go to an NFL game, you can trust the guy sitting next to you actually knows what is going on in the game. Casual fans suck!

And finally….

20) The Dallas Cowboys
What more can I say? Words cannot express my feelings for this great organization. They forever have my loyalty.


So that's my input. Now your turn to take sides. NFL or college, who ya got? Let me know who you prefer and don't just say because, give a reason or two why.

What's really the hold-up with holdouts?

This past weekend the 2006 NFL season got under way with the each team playing their first preseason game. Many notable players were absent, most due to injury and many held out for precautionary reasons however in the case of Deion Branch and Matt Leinart they were absent for another reason altogether. Branch has chosen to holdout from camp because he does not agree with the contract that he currently has with the Patriots. Leinart has also chosen to holdout from camp because he is still in contract negotiations with the Cardinals. So to holdout or not to holdout, that is the question.
On one hand, I can understand where the player is coming from. I mean no one wants to be treated unfairly. I’ll never forget what Emmitt Smith said when he held out the preseason and two games to begin the 1993 regular season. Smith compared his desire to get fair market value for his skills to that of a plumber. Smith’s analogy went something like this, if you were a plumber and you were the best plumber out there, would you want to get paid any less than your competitor? So then why should it be different for athletes? If an athlete is the best at his position/job shouldn’t his salary reflect that? So here is my conclusion so far. A player deserves to get paid for what they are worth. Fair market value. It doesn’t make any sense for running back A to get paid less than running back B if back A is the superior back.
Now here are some problems with that argument. First, who decides who the best at their position is? I believe that is the biggest hindrance to contract negotiations. Teams and their owners see the value of the player differently than the player sees his own value. So who determines what the player is worth? Do you go by stats? Do you go by what a player means to his team?
A second problem is how do you determine a rookie’s value as he has never even proven himself to his team? I believe the answer is that a rookie’s value would be solely based on their potential. Also draft position plays a large part of it. But here is an example of the problem Leinart and the Cardinals are running into. Leinart was the 10th pick in the 2006 draft, so in theory he should get paid less than the 9th pick but more than the 11th pick, right? Wrong. A quarterback will always demand more value than say a center or a safety, even if they were taken ahead of the quarterback.
A second issue to look at when holding out is the effects of the hold out on both the player and the team. First dealing with the team, the most obvious effect of a player holdout is that the team misses that player’s services. If your star offensive weapon is absent from games, obviously offensive production will be affected. Also a player’s holdout usually affects teammates because a holdout is basically a player and team management butting heads. Other players will usually side with either their teammate if they believe that teammate deserves the salary, or they will side with management if they believe management is correct to deny a larger salary. This “siding” can affect team chemistry. Tom Brady is an example of a player sticking up for his teammate. One the other hand, it is believed that the Bears players recently let Cedric Benson know they did not approve of his holdout that occurred last season. As you can see the absence of a key contributor from games coupled with team chemistry being strained can ultimately show it’s affects in the win/loss column.
Now that we’ve seen what kind of influence a holdout can have on the team, what about the affect it has on the player? First it needs to be reiterated, a holdout is just that, a holding out from practice and games. Usually holdouts occur during the begin of a season, so a player holding out will miss training camp, preseason games, and depending on how long they carry it out, they may miss some regular season games. The most obvious affect of a player being absent from camp is that they miss valuable practice time. This applies to every player but even more so for rookies. For example, Leinart who is supposed to be the heir apparent in Arizona will now be third string whenever he decides to come to camp. Leinart is setting himself back from learning the playbook and getting in valuable reps with his offense. Also I would imagine that a holdout will leave a bad taste in the mouth of owners, and that in turn may lead to that player being out in that city. Case in point, T.O. in Philadelphia.
So the question is to holdout or not to hold out. How did you feel or how would you feel if your favorite player refused to show up to camp, practice, and ultimately games? Then again how would you react to learn that your favorite team didn’t value their star enough to pay them fair market value? Who is the bad guy, the player, the team, or is it a case by case basis? Let me know what you think about holdouts and how you suggest that they be handled.

UFC News and Notes

First the bad news. It is being reported that the highly anticipated Chuck Liddell/Vanderlei Silva fight is off as of now. The fight was supposed to go down at UFC 65 in November but UFC Prez Dana “No” White hinted it could be off due to problems with Pride, the organization Silva fights out of. Silva was going to attempt to be the first man to unify the Pride title and UFC title. I have no idea who would have won, but actually if you got Liddell, Silva, and then Big John McCarthy in the octagon together, there could have been a serious explosion due to kingness overload. Dana White also hinted that since Silva was a no go UFC 65 would likely headline with Liddell fighting Tito Ortiz. I personally don’t know how that would go down as Tito is supposed to fight less than a month before. Who is Tito fighting?

Well, that brings me to the good or bad news, depending on how you look at it. As you may have heard Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz III is gonna be on like donkey kong. The third fight between rivals will be sometime in October and this time instead of on pay per view, it will televised for free on Spike TV. This is supposedly because many people were unhappy with the outcome of Ortiz/Shamrock’s most recent fight on PPV. If you missed it, Ortiz beat down Shamrock in less than a minute. Mike Doyle has a great article on why this fight might not be as exciting as you think. Doyle concludes the following. Why Ortiz wants this fight: Represents another easy payday for something he could accomplish sleepwalking. Why Shamrock wants this fight: Simply put, Shamrock is delusional. If you gave him two Popsicle sticks he would likely wage war against a thousand Hezbollah trained guerrillas. Read the entire article here. So while I agree with Doyle, I will also admit I will definitely tune in to the three-match (third rematch). Why? Well because like De La Hoya once said, “Dios mijo, it’s fun watching Shamrock get punched.”
I hate Shamrock. He is a baby and if you think he is the most dangerous man, then you must also think surfing the web is dangerous and you are scared right now. Shamrock is still complaining about the last fight. He even had the gall to claim he was just about to get up and "break Tito's will." Yeah, Shamscrub, lot’s of people talk a big game after their beating is over. The final straw for me might be that Shamwimp called Herb Dean a coward because as gayboy puts it, Dean wouldn’t admit the he messed up by stopping the fight. Herb prolly saved Gayrock from severe damage and that is all the most dangerous woman can say? I know one pay per view I would order - Herb Dean beating up Ken Wussrock.

Finally, the really good news. The upcoming UFC events look to have some great match-ups. UFC 62 already has Liddell/Babalu and Griffin/Bonnar. UFC 63 will be headlined by a rematch between Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre. Hughes submitted St. Pierre in 2004 at UFC 50. Dana White says the winner of Hughes-St. Pierre will face either the undefeated Diego Sanchez or Karo Parisyan, who headline the Aug. 17 Fight Night on Spike TV. Whatever the outcome, we should see some excellent matches involving talented fighters. If you think that’s nice how ‘bout UFC 64. White says 64 will feature middleweight champion Rich Franklin against Anderson Silva. So potentially Situ could knock out Jim Carey. Could be..could be… Finally, Frank Mir will take on the highly rated Brandon (The Truth) Vera at UFC 65. What match are you looking forward to most? What match would you love to see scheduled that maybe hasn't been yet?

Preseason Notes - Cowboys vs Seahawks

Did you catch the Cowboys first preseason game last night? I did so here is my brief assessment.

Who impressed:

Tony Romo. Wow! Romo played the entire game and finished with 117.9 QB rating. Romo moved excellent in the pocket, had good placement on his passes, and generally manged the game well. More on Romo’s performance here.

The Cowboys O-line in pass protection. The line didn’t give up a single sack Saturday night and anyone who watched this line last year knows that is a marked improvement.

Greg Ellis. Ellis looked unstoppable on the first few series. His swim move was on and he was entirely too much for the right tackle and backs to block. Ellis also did an excellent job against the run and even made an open field tackle one on one against Bobby Engram.

Junior Glymph. Who? Exactly. That beast had two sacks and two forced fumbles! Bet you know him now.

The defensive pass rush. I’ve already mentioned Ellis and Glymph coming off the edge but the defensive line caved the Seahawks pocket all night. The Cowboys obviously held off on blitzes in the first preseason game but they really didn’t need them Saturday night. I believe the D finished with six sacks. Impressive indeed.

The defensive pass coverage. I want to go on record as being the official creator of T-New’s newest nickname. I call him Michael Jackson’s son ‘cuz Newman blanketed his man in coverage. But it wasn’t just Newman, Seattle’s wideouts simply couldn’t run away from Dallas’ DB’s on their routes. I know towards the end of the game, Dallas gave up some passing yardage but it looked to be mostly receivers getting open against a soft zone. In man coverage, there were several passes knocked away by Dallas defenders.

Who disappointed:

Cowboys’ running game. Just never seemed to get on track. I kept waiting for the big run but it never came. MB3 was hesitant on a few runs. The line never opened up clear running lanes.

Young rook Bobby Carpenter. Carpenter didn’t do anything terrible but at the same time he didn’t do anything great. I would have liked to see him in on more plays. I think he finished with just one tackle.

Young rook Sam Hurd. I know, I know, Hurd had some great catches and piled up some receiving yards, but he makes this list for his two dropped balls on easily catchable passes. Gotta make the routine play first.

Skyler Green. The numbers will disagree with me, one kickoff return for 29 yards and 11.7 yards average on three punt returns, but I didn’t like the way Green appeared to dance around after fielding the ball on his punt returns. He seemed to be looking for the home run return instead of just getting up the field.

Mike Vanderjagt. I know Vandy made his only attempt at a field goal, but that’s just it. I would have liked to see him get some more work instead of the other kickers as there is no way they will be kicking field goals when the season starts. Add that to the fact that I haven’t been hearing rave reviews about Vanderjagt from camp and he disappointed me. Oh, and did you see his interview during one of the breaks? Vanderjagt basically anointed himself as the greatest kicker of all time and he actually complained that it was a negative to be as good as he was in previous years because he doesn’t know if he can improve on his unbelievable accuracy. I am just going to assume he was liquored up again.

Unfortunately, the Cowboys’ game was the only game I was able to watch yesterday, as nothing else was televised in my area. Other than a few highlights and clips from the game I don’t feel that I saw enough to make a valid assessment. Therefore, I will reserve comment on how other players/teams looked. However, I do feel it necessary to comment on one play. I have to comment on Reggie Bush’s “amazing” 44 yard scamper. As I said before, since the Saints/Titans game wasn’t televised in my area, I had to rely on secondhand info to know what was going on in the game. All I heard and read over and over was that Bush was spectacular in his first game and that he rattled off an impressive long gain. Well, I finally saw the play on Sportscenter and I have to say I wasn’t that impressed. Chalk that “amazing” run up to poor defense more than to spectacular running. Bush made decent cut, then out-ran an over pursuing defense (where was the containment? I guarantee some defensive end got chewed out). I will give Reggie props on his speed to outrun the defense, but I will maintain what you saw was the exception in the NFL rather than the norm. What was more impressive than Reggie’s 44 yard run was the hit he took on the sideline after catching a pass in the flat. Why was that impressive? Because the big stick came from Pac-Man Jones who usually chicken wings more than Colonel Sanders.

So that's my assessment. What's yours? Did you get to see another game? How'd your team do? Let me know what you think.

Madden '07 Player Ratings

IGN.com has just released a complete listing of player rankings for Madden 2007. Every player on the game is listed, you just have to find their team and scroll through. They also have some cool screenshots.

Some notable players:
Reggie Bush - 87 overall , 97 speed
Freeney – 98 overall, 87 speed
Dominic – 83 overall, 89 speed
Mario Williams – 86 overall, 85 speed
Vince Young – 82 overall, 89 speed
Larry Johnson – 96 overall
and disappointingly Brian Moorman only has 59 speed.

Here are the Cowboys top players:
T.O. – 97 overall
Marco Rivera – 95 overall
Vanderjagt – 94 overall
Roy Boy – 94 overall
Witten – 92 overall
Duh-Mah-kiss has 84 speed

There are 7 players who are 99 overall. They are Antonio Gates, Lorenzo Neal, Shane Lechler, Walter Jones, Ed Reed, Peyton Manning, and Champ Bailey.

If I left off a player you just gotta know about or you are curious about the rest of the league, the complete listings are here. Or you can just wait until the 22nd. Comment on what you think about the ratings. Who is rated too high? Who's too low?