Ray Lewis mentions Dallas Cowboys as possible home
Ray Lewis, at age 33, is still one of the best linebackers in the game. He's a little slow, a bit chunkier and, well, just older, but that's really not affecting his play.
The most important characteristic of Ray Lewis is his leadership--do drama leadership.
So, when we reported here earlier that Lewis had interest in the Dallas Cowboys, there wasn't any verifiable comment that he made about the situation--until now.
"I don't see all of that outside stuff that they're talking about what goes on in Dallas," Lewis told the NFLN. "I see Dallas as a great opportunity. It's always been America's Team. It's just a great place to play football."
Lewis is also interested in the New York Jets. But the writers at the Cowboys official site believe Lewis is just bluffing with the Ravens to get more money. The Ravens don't want to pay him a ton, and the Cowboys aren't exactly rich with cap space to sign a high-profile linebacker such as Lewis. But, the Cowboys have worked magic before. And maybe, just maybe, the Ravens will want a wide receiver who is the same age. His name is Terrell Owens. But when asked, Lewis said he could play with Owens, called him a great player and a hard worker. This is the same guy that mocked Lewis when scoring a touchdown on the Ravens.
I personally believe Lewis in Dallas is unlikely, but anything is possible. The experiment with Zach Thomas was exact;y perfect.
examiner.com
Holmes, Big Ben headed for Disney World
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Two professional football stars who played college ball in Ohio are headed to Disney World after leading the Pittsburgh Steelers to a dramatic Super Bowl victory.
Former Ohio State standout Santonio Holmes and Miami of Ohio quarterback Ben Roethlisberger were invited to the Florida amusement park after the Steelers' 27-23 victory on Sunday night.
Holmes caught the winning touchdown with 35 seconds remaining and was named the game's most valuable player. It's customary for the MVP to visit Disney for a celebratory parade the day after the NFL championship game.
Roethlisberger also received an invitation after engineering the decisive drive.
The players filmed their "I'm going to Disney World" commercial on the field after the game.
(c)2009 The E.W. Scripps Co
Cardinals are marooned by a town's stolen title
The NFL's first president, Joe Carr, laid down the punishment some 84 years ago. The curator of the National Football League's Hall of Fame validated it more than a half-century later. Bill Bidwill, the man who owned the then St. Louis and now Arizona Cardinals, told me -- in 1963:
"Listen, we only have two championships in all these years. We certainly ain't in a position to give one back."
Minersville Park, where the Pottsville Maroons, their fans and their marching band made a kind of civic magic all their own, is gone. So are the mines. Hard times -- nothing new there -- have hammered the town (pop: 16,000) for a long time.
But the myth and curse live on in Pottsville, Pa.
Only the Arizona Cardinals can remove the curse by winning America's biggest football game on Sunday. The myth? Well, the myth will endure. It nourishes the souls of the old-timers on cold winter nights, and it reaffirms the notion passed on for generations through the years that:
Once giants played the game in this town. Once even the New York Giants moved a home game here because Pottsville drew better. Once Red Grange took $500 in appearance money to play against the locals and walked off the field after two quarters and didn't wait for his $500. "Tell 'em to hell with this. These guys are the toughest I ever played against. I'm getting out while I can still walk."
And once, as strangers in a foreign land called Chicago, they destroyed the Cardinals and apparently had won the NFL title in 1925. Even the Cardinals thought so for a time, and their owner, Chris O'Brien, refused to accept the championship when the league president tried to give it to them by proclamation.
Years later, Joe Zacko, the Maroons' official outfitter, organized a group determined to right what Pottsville considered a scandalous wrong from a command post in his sporting goods store. Personally, after meeting him and Walter Farquhar, a retired newspaperman, and Charlie Berry, who played on that team, part of me sure as hell wanted them to be right.
On the way to my first visit to Zacko in November of 1963, I thought it was a gag. But it didn't take long to understand that people mean what they say in Pottsville. They do not waste words. En route, for example, I passed a drive-in theater whose marquee message seemed to support that theory:
"Closed for season. Reason? Freezin'."
There was pure passion in the back room of Zacko's sporting goods store as he told the story. His version went like this:
"It was our second year that we began playing nationally known teams, and we packed our little field. We took our band on the road, and we would march into ball parks in Hammonton and Providence and Rock Island and New York. But not Frankford. Never Frankford. They wouldn't let us march. They were always trouble and they were the ones who got our title stolen.
"There were three kinds of football in those days ... college football, professional football and coal region football. Red Grange found out how tough coal region football was when he walked off. In 1923, Pottsville ran out of opponents. It destroyed Coaldale, Gilberton and Shenandoah. What was left? The locals passed the hat and raised the required initiation fee for an NFL franchise.
"We were 10-2, but we proved we were the champions in just one game."
And this is where the Cardinals take the first tentative steps into the Land of the Angry, Non-forgiving Miners. He was referring to a game played at Comiskey Park in Chicago on Dec. 6, 1925. Pottsville, probably the smallest town in the league, brought everyone with the price of a train ticket with them. In truth it was a great Sunday to knock over a bank in Pottsville.
If the citizens weren't in Chicago, they were in the local theater listening to a guy with a Western Union wire in his hand, re-enacting the play-by-play.
It was Pottsville's Andy Warhol Moment and Pottsville made the most of it, especially Farquhar, whose coverage of the game for his paper consisted of an 18-stanza poem that began "on to Chicago win and fight went the proud little queen of the anthracite."
Long story short, the Maroons won 21-7. There was no playoff system then so at 10-2 everyone agreed they had just clinched the title. And arithmetically they had.
But then management put together an exhibition against the recently graduated Notre Dame All-Stars that included the Four Horsemen. The game would be played at Shibe Park in Philadelphia on Dec. 12, 1925.
And then all hell broke loose. The NFL being what it was then, Frankford claimed that the "suburb" of Philadelphia was clearly in its exclusive territory. Carr said they couldn't play. Pottsville said "nobody tells us who and where to play." So they did, and they won 9-7.
"Then they stole the title," Zacko insisted. "They stole it and they kicked us out of the league for a year. The Cardinals played two more games -- one of them against the Milwaukee franchise that had disbanded for the season and used four high school kids under an assumed name. They won both. Carr awarded the championship to them."
Ironically, Chris O'Brien, who owned the team, refused to accept the title and the truth is that it was never really formalized.
This was 38 years after the fact, but I promised Zacko I would call Bidwill, who still owns the team today, and ask if he would give the title back.
"Until he does," Zacko said, "he will never win another title. Never. You tell him that."
So I called Bidwill, whom I knew.
"Listen," I said, "they are very, very angry. You better give it back."
"Are you in a bar?" he asked. "We ain't giving anything back."
"You know it was Pottsville miners who dug under the city of Petersburg during the Civil War and broke that siege."
"Great. I'll alert the urban renewal people."
I reported back to Zacko, who by then was trying to barter to the NFL the kicking shoe Charlie Berry wore when he kicked the winning field goal in Philly in exchange for the "stolen" title.
"We won't give up. That title belongs to us. If they want to win a real one, they better do the right thing. Until then ..."
And so it's been.
(c)2008 New Jersey On-Line LLC
It's No Mirage, the Cardinals Actually Won
Just as everyone prepares to be amazed at the inauguration of the nation's first black president, the sports world steps up to stretch fans' amazement muscles anew. You thought Barack Obama's winning an election was a cultural whiplash moment? How about the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl?
No, that was not a Sunday afternoon mirage. You did not dream it. The Cardinals actually won the NFC championship game, sending red confetti raining down on the sport.
If you slept through the mostly dreadful history of the Cardinals - and that would be most of us - here are the Cliff Notes: They won an NFL championship in 1947 while in Chicago, bounced around the country before finding a home in the desert Southwest, continued to win a pitiful number of games and last made the playoffs in 1998. Their most televised moment in recent history was a rant by the former coach Dennis Green, screaming "We are who we thought they were," after (surprise!) a collapse and loss to the Bears.
So, The Arizona Republic felt the need to nudge its readers with the reminder that Sunday's victory over the Eagles actually happened with the headline: BELIEVE IT. And then its columnist Dan Bickley admitted that was a difficult thing to do. "The Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl," Bickley writes. "Say it 100 times, and you still won't believe it."
With all apologies to the Pittsburgh Steelers, their half of the Super Bowl story on Sunday gets reduced, at least for a moment, to a footnote. The Steelers have won five Super Bowls, most recently in 2005. When they make the playoffs, it ranks up there in the news with the sun rising in the morning and leaves falling in autumn. The Cardinals? They are the NFL's punching bag. They are Charlie Brown, foiled again and again by various Lucys.
Sports Illustrated's Lee Jenkins said they had a similar miracle in baseball this season, the Tampa Bay Rays making the Word Series, and notes that a framed Cardinals jersey hangs prominently in the Rays' clubhouse. "Manager Joe Maddon keeps it framed on a wall in his office, in part because he roots for the Cardinals, and in part because he identifies with them," Jenkins writes.
"The Rays and the Cardinals are like brothers who play different sports, linked by their longstanding lack of success, lack of support and seeming lack of hope. But in this bizarre season on the sports calendar, when every team seems to have a chance, the Rays and the Cardinals have turned their respective leagues upside down."
For various other sidelights to the Super Bowl, we get you kick-started with these:
The Eagles' agony is colorfully described by the Philadelphia Daily News columnist Rich Hofmann: "It was the exact same hell: infuriating start, furious comeback, then splat. It was maddening. It was identical. It was microcosm-by-de Sade - and that still does not begin to describe Cardinals 32, Eagles 25," Hoffman writes. And then there is the future of quarterback Donovan McNabb already being dissected.
The Super Bowl's coaches provide a twist, highlighted by Yahoo Sports' Dan Wetzel, because they both interviewed for the Pittsburgh job two seasons ago. In hiring Mike Tomlin, the Steelers passed over Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm, who then went on to be assistant head coach and offensive line coach of the Cardinals. "Now everyone will meet again, a world championship on the line, plot lines and deep motivations going in every direction," Wetzel writes. "One coach wants to prove the Rooneys got it right; two others that they didn't."
Steelers receiver Hines Ward, injured in the victory over Baltimore, is vowing to play in the Super Bowl. And The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Ron Cook, while saluting the Steelers' defensive effort and hailing Troy Polamalu's game-sealing interception, was saddened by what happened next: Steelers safety Ryan Clark's brutal helmet-to-helmet hit on Baltimore running back Willis McGahee, who was taken off the field on a stretcher with "severe neck pain." Cook writes, "It was a sad ending to a fabulous football game."
The Baltimore Sun's Mike Preston said that while the Ravens' loss was disappointing, they did awfully well for having a rookie at quarterback and at head coach.
The Ravens' loss looks as if it will be the Jets' gain, in that they are now free to hire Baltimore's defensive coordinator, Rex Ryan, as their new head coach, which is being widely reported, including by ESPN.
While most other sports take an understandable back seat while the Super Bowl contestants steal the show, there is word, reported by The New York Post, of movement in the Knicks' Stephon Marbury circus.
And baseball will try to grab a headline or two by announcing the rosters of the teams in the World Baseball Classic at 6 p.m.
Then, we can all go back to thinking about the inauguration. According to the Associated Press, even athletes are doing so. We are linked in amazement.
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Steelers Picked as Super Bowl Favorites by Oddsmakers
Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The Pittsburgh Steelers have been tabbed by Las Vegas oddsmakers as the new favorites to win the Super Bowl after the defending champion New York Giants were eliminated from the playoffs yesterday.
The Steelers have the best record among the four teams playing for the National Football League's conference championships. They have 11-10 odds to claim their record sixth Super Bowl title, according to Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which advises Nevada sports books on betting lines.
Pittsburgh (12-4 in the regular season) will host the Baltimore Ravens (11-5) in the American Football Conference championship game, while the Philadelphia Eagles (9-6-1) visit the Arizona Cardinals (9-7) in the National Football Conference title game.
The winners of the Jan. 18 conference championships advance to the Super Bowl, which is Feb. 1 in Tampa, Florida.
The Eagles are the second Super Bowl favorite at 11-5 after eliminating the Giants, Las Vegas Sports Consultants said. They're followed by the Ravens at 7-2 and the Cardinals at 11-2.
At 11-10 odds, a winning $100 bet on the Steelers would return $110.
Dan O'Brien, an oddsmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants, said the Steelers' experience -- making the AFC championship game for the third time in five years -- and league-best defense make them the favorites to hoist the Super Bowl trophy.
"The Steelers might actually fly a little under the radar," O’Brien said in a telephone interview. "They have one of the best defenses of the past 20, 30 years. And defense wins championships."
Six-Point Favorites
The Steelers are six-point favorites over the Ravens, while the Eagles are favored by 2 1/2 points over the Cardinals, according to Consultants, which advises Nevada sports books on betting lines.
The Steelers have the best seeding of any of the teams left in the playoffs after the two conference No. 1 seeds lost in the second round to sixth seeds. The NFC's top seed, the New York Giants, were beaten by the Eagles 23-11 yesterday, and the AFC's top team, the Tennessee Titans, fell to the Ravens 13-10.
"It definitely would have been more attractive from a betting standpoint if the Giants had made it in again," said Jeff Sherman, assistant manager for the Hilton Race and Sports Book in Las Vegas. "There's a lot of people from New York, all over the country."
Arizona Cardinals
The Steelers are the second seed in the AFC, while the Cardinals are the fourth seed in the NFC.
"If the Cardinals make the Super Bowl, that will definitely be a less-attractive matchup for the betting public," Sherman said. "The larger the market, the more attractive from a betting perspective."
The Eagles and Ravens were each seeded sixth after receiving wild-card playoff berths, which go to the two non- division winners from each conference with the best records.
It was the first time in NFL history that two sixth seeds upset No. 1 seeds in the second round of the playoffs.
"The most marquee matchup we would have had would be the Giants and Steelers," Sherman said. "The Eagles-Steelers would be pretty good too."
(c)2009 BLOOMBERG L.P.
Studs and Duds, Wild Card Weekend: Ed Reed Can't Be Stopped
We've decided to extend Studs and Duds into the playoffs. Here's Wild Card Weekend at a glance, where we point out the horses destined for the Kentucky Derby and jeer those headed to the glue factory.
Studs
Ed Reed, S Baltimore (2 interceptions, 1 returned for a TD) -- As one of my colleagues said in an email yesterday, there isn't a football player in the NFL (or the world, for that matter) playing better football than Reed. The Ravens' shifty Robin to Ray Lewis' Batman has hauled in six interceptions in his last three games, all must-wins, and has given the Baltimore defense that scary title that no other unit, offense or defense, can claim this season -- "Group You Do Not Want to Play Under any Circumstances." The '07 Patriots offense carried that torch and now the Ravens defense, thanks to Reed, is happy to be strutting around with the acclaim.
Both his interceptions were tough catches, and it was really too bad a potential third interception went through his hands late in the game. Up next for the Ravens? A quarterback who threw just seven interceptions all season. If only they had some experience with a quarterback who only tossed seven interceptions before the playoffs (rubs chin).
Darren Sproles, RB San Diego (330 all purpose yards, 2 TDs) -- All year I've been calling Sproles "The Hummingbird" because the little guy gets those wings a-movin' and ain't nobody catching him. This week, "The Hummingbird" moved to a whole different level. With just about washed-up star LaDainian Tomlinson subjected to sideline cheering, Sproles came in and rushed for over 100 yards, including a 22-yarder in overtime for the win and a visit to Pittsburgh this Sunday.
Duds
Chad Pennington, QB Miami (25-for-38, 252 yards, 1 TD, 4 INTs) -- When you are shooting hoops behind your house as a kid, or practicing 10-footers on the putting green or even throwing fade routes to a certain spot, envisioning yourself doing so to win some huge sporting event is the norm. This performance from Chad was the complete opposite of what you'd hope for as a kid. His passes were off all day, the long ones sailed a little more than he'd hoped and if not for an incredible play by Ronnie Brown towards the end of the game to catch a touchdown pass, he would have gone without a score in his first playoff game with Miami.
Two losses for Pennington against the Ravens can only really mean one thing -- lobbing the ball around the field doesn't work with a defense this quick. Somewhere, in a land of cheese and Wranglers, a man that shall not be named is smiling as he gets "gunslinger" tattooed on his arm.
Tarvaris Jackson, QB Minnesota (15-for-35, 164 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT) -- If you're a Vikings fan, the elephant in the room all year has been the quarterback issue. Nobody wants to talk about it even though it is all that you should be talking about. Jackson made some abysmal passes yesterday, including the interception to Asante Samuel, and never looked comfortable in the pocket, not for one second. More than his 42.9 percent completion percentage and his 45.4 passer rating is this stat -- Jackson -- one true run, 17 yards. As a mobile quarterback, Jackson only took off once all game long.
Adam Gretz made a brilliant point in the Sunday chat that I think should be brought up again -- with Adrian Peterson in his prime as a running back, how many more years with the Vikings surround the best rusher in the league with incompetent quarterbacks? Ironically, the only situation I can think of to compare it to was Kevin Garnett's best years as a member of, you got it, the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Near Studly -- Mike Scifres, Larry Fitzgerald, Bertrand Berry, Joe Flacco and David Akers.
Near Dudly -- Dolphins running backs, Matt Ryan, and Vikings special teams (Surprise).
(c)2007 AOL LLC
Can the Gators or Sooners beat the lowly Lions?
Could the Sooners or Gators (assuming that their entire rosters is healthly) beat the 0-16 Detriot Lions. There are plently of future stars on the both the Sooners and Gators but could they match up against an NFL team as bad as the Lions?
Oklahoma: Sam is an eligible sophomore. He plays QB for Oklahoma. In just 2 years he has shown that he has the ability to take over games and become a superstar in the NFL. Sam is 6'4", 220 lbs and he runs between a 4.5-4.6 40 yard dash. His ability to throw his passes accurately and with power on it gives him the chance to be the #1 QB taken and maybe for the Lions the No. 1 pick in the Draft, top 3 pick
Comparison - Eli Manning
Reggie Smith (CB) - Smith is an outstanding athlete who covers a lot of ground in the secondary. He's a versatile defender who can play corner or safety at the next level, 1st rounder
Nic Harris (CB) -Harris is a big-time safety who has the skills to play in coverage or in the box and defend the run. He has great awareness and positions himself well to make plays, 1st rounder
Malcolm Kelly (WR) - Kelly is a big, physical vertical threat who possesses game breaking ability when the ball is in his hands. He gets a quick release off the line, uses his frame to his advantage, and has the ability to make acrobatic receptions with his tremendous athleticism. 1st or 2nd
Other drafties - Juaquin Iglesias, George Robinson, Phil Loadholt, Curtis Loften, and Lendy Holmes.
Side Note: DeMarco Murray - 3rd most yards from scrimmage in the NCAA this year but is out for the national title game.
Florida: Tebow is one of the best college players ever, wining the Maxwell Award twice, the Heisman, and a National Championship as a freshman (with Chris Leak.) He will probably enter the draft this year because next years draft will be stacked with McCoy, Sanchez, Stafford, etc...He is very physical, makes smart plays, but his slow release is what may hinder his success as a pro. ( 2nd or 3rd round)
Percy Harvin: Percy Harvin, junior, Florida, has been selected AP All-American Second Team for the 2008 college football season as voted on by The Associated Press. The versatile Harvin is averaging 103.0 all-purpose yards per game for the Gators and has scored 16 touchdowns in 2008, nine rushing and seven receiving. He has scored a touchdown in each of the last 14 games he has played in, which is the best in the nation. He has rushed for 538 yards on just 61 carries this season, averaging 8.8 yards per rush, second best in the nation. Harvin leads the Gators with 35 catches and 595 receiving yards, averaging 17.0 yards per catch (1st rounder)
Brandon Spikes: He is just a great linebacker, period. Spikes hits like a ton of bricks and has nice size at 6' 3" 240 lbs. He recorded 87 tackles, 8 TFLs, 2 sacks and 4 INTs in 2008.
Other drafties: Carlos Dunlap, Louis Murray,
Now compare: The Detroit Lions struggle @ virtually every position with the exception of Calvin Johnson and Kevin Smith being a few of the bright spots. Both the Sooners and Gators put up points in bunches which could make the game a shoot out. With strong offenses, it helps to cover their slightly suspect defenses. I just saying this would be a good game to have national broadcasted. Picking up what I'm putting down.
(c)2008 CBS Interactive
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