"Roll Over" Dungy gets some payback..........

"Roll Over" Tony Dungy got a little bit of payback for his benching of Peyton Manning among other in the Colts season finale' as the Colts were upset by the San Diego Chargers at home yesterday.
This is the second time in three seasons that Dungy has benched players late in the season to "rest" and then were eliminated at home by a lower seeded team that had played the previous week.
Perhaps the Colts loss to an inferior Steeler team two years ago had not sunk in or "Roll Over" enjoys making the same mistake time and time again.
One thing that I noticed in the post-game press conference is Dungy's smiles and almost indifference to the loss.
Perhaps Dungy,who plays the "I don't know if I will coach next year" game seemingly every season,should just pull the trigger and leave the game.
He has a championship and maybe the fire has left the coach...
In any event,congratulations to the Chargers and what goes around comes around to Dungy.....

Bullpen Notes

A final note on the Colts and "Roll Over".
IF they had played it straight against Tennessee,it is possible that they would not have played San Diego in the second round.
Cleveland would have been a much stronger offensive foe for San Diego than Tennessee and may have beaten the Chargers on a day that the Chargers offense was not clicking.

Former Brooklyn Dodger pitcher Johnny Podres died yesterday at the age of 75.
Podres won the 1st World Series MVP in 1955 in winning Game 7 over the Yankees to bring Brooklyn their only World Championship.
Podres was a pitching coach for several teams,most notably the Phillies.
Curt Schilling gives the credit to Podres for turning him into the pitcher that he eventually became.....

Ohio State lost backup QB Rob Schoenhoft,as Schoenhoft announced plans to transfer to 1-AA Delaware.
A good move for him,as Ohio State would have likely moved Antonio Henton ahead of him on the depth chart and the Buckeyes are still in the running for highly touted Terrelle Pryor.

Photo Credits
Dungy-Andy Lyon-Getty Images
Podres-Topps.

Packers end Seattle's season,Devils knife the Sabres

For a short while,it appeared that the Seattle Seahawks were going to have a great day.
Two Ryan Grant fumbles on his first two touches of the football led to a 14-0 Seattle lead and things were looking up.
That was as good as it got as the Seahawks would never reach the end zone again,the Packers offense and the aforementioned Grant got rolling and there was no stopping them in a 42-20 Green Bay win.
The normally dependable Seahawk defense was helpless against the Packer onslaught in the snowcase that was Lambeau Field.
A funny aside on that-I watched ESPN 2's Boxing last night at work on tape from Friday and on the bottom line was the weather forecast for the game-30% chance of snow FLURRIES!
Glad ESPN isn't buying the Weather Channel anytime soon.
Anyway,yesterday I wrote that the team that ran the ball better would win.
Green Bay 235 rushing yards,Seattle 35.
Game,set and match.
The Seahawks continued their anemic road playoff record as they have not won a road playoff game since their AFC days in 1983 against the Dolphins and a ROOKIE Dan Marino!
A somewhat disappointing year in what could be Mike Holmgren's last year as coach.
The team needs some offensive retooling and could use some new safeties,but what they do will depend on a possible new coach and the system that he would install.
Congratulations to Green Bay and here is hoping you go all the way.....

The New Jersey Devils had to be feeling that their game in Buffalo vs the Sabres was payback night.
Daniel Paille scored two goals in the first period,one being on the patented "Brodeur beater" from the parallel net shot and it seemed like Ryan Miller was going to finally get his win over the Devils.
But the Devils never quit and dominated play for the remainder of the contest,despite Miller's stellar play.
Paul Martin finally cut the lead to 2-1 in the second with his goal that deflected off Miller's glove and into the net for Martin's 3rd goal of the year.
But still despite the Devils energetic play,the tying goal had not came until Martin Brodeur left the net with 90 seconds remaining for the extra attacker and through the Devils aggressive forechecking set up David Clarkson stuffing the puck between the pipe and Miller's right leg for the tying goal and Clarkson's 5th goal of the year.
So on to another scoreless Devils-Sabres overtime and then to the shootout.
Zach Parise quickly beat Miller to give the Devils the edge,Brodeur then turned away Ales Kotalik,who is excellent in shootouts and Thomas Vanek,who is not.
That then set up Patrik Elias beating Miller for the clincher leaving a discontented Miller on his stomach pounding his hand on the ice as the Devils pull 2 points from the fire with the 3-2 win.
The only downside was John Madden leaving the game after being cut by the skate of Buffalo's
Henrik Tallinder.
No word on the seriousness of Madden's injury.
The Devils are off until Wednesday against (uh oh) the Islanders at the Rock....

Bullpen Notes

The Eastern Conference All-Stars were announced.
Marty Brodeur was voted in as the starting goalie by the fans.
Good thing because no other Devils were selected as backups.
So the second best team in the conference got 1 all-star and the second worst (Washington) got two?
And Ryan wonders why I believe there is a anti-Devil bias.......................

The Cleveland Browns wasted no time in replacing Todd Grantham as defensive coordinator with defensive backs coach Mel Tucker.
Tucker was the Browns secondary coach for the last three years and was a coach on the defensive side of the ball for Ohio State before that.
My only question is this,nothing against Tucker,but you fire a coach because your defense was not up to snuff and replace him with a coach that was helping him?
Just asking.........

Looks like another good Billy Beane deal for the Oakland Athletics in swapping aging,injury riddled outfielder Mark Kotsay for power armed reliever Joey Devine with the Atlanta Braves.
This tells me that Huston Street will not be in Oakland past July 31st at the latest...

What a right hand by Super Middleweight contender Edison Miranda in knocking David Banks cold in 3 rounds.
The hard punching Miranda is always an entertaining fighter to watch.


Photo Credits
Favre-Mike Roemer-AP Photo
Devils-Don Heupel-AP Photo

Seahawks visit the Tundra in NFC Semis

The Seattle Seahawks visit Green Bay and the Packers in the only game this weekend that I am really rooting FOR someone in.
I have always been an unabashed Brett Favre fan and if the Hawks have to lose to someone in the playoffs,I cannot pick a better team than Green Bay.
The keys to this game in my opinion is the same for both teams-the team that can get the most production from their running game will likely win this game.
The teams are very closely matched except at QB where Favre holds an advantage over Matt Hasselbeck.
Watch for excellent and unsung linebacking play from both teams with Seattle's Lofa Tatupu and Julian Peterson countering the Pack's A.J. Hawk and Nick Barnett.
Both Tatupu and Barnett are excellent tacklers and are know for snaring an interception or two as well.
This is a Pick em game and makes a tough call,but the wisdom is the home field is worth 3 points. and that makes the difference.
Our Pick:Packers 24-20.

Last week we went 4-0 on the playoffs opening weekend.
Here are this weeks picks.
Packers over Seahawks,Cowboys over Giants,Colts over Chargers and Jaguars over Patriots.
Yep,I am going for the home run and I am likely just looking for a silver thread,but I have a crazy feeling that Jacksonville will at least scare the hell of the Patriots tonight.
Plus,when I don't hear ANYONE giving a team the slightest chance,that sets off the red flag for me.

Bullpen Notes

Bill Maher's Real Time returned last night and was a terrific show that featured some guy from Rolling Stone giving as good as he got against former White House mouthpiece Tony Snow.
Plus Mark Cuban got a shot in on Bill O'Reilly as well!

For those of you that mailed me about Kirsten Powers (OK,just one of you),here is a picture of the lefty pundit.
Powers appeared on O'Reilly's show last night and gave us this exchange.
O'Reilly:"C'mon Powers,you love doing this show."
Powers:without a smile or laugh-"yeah,right"

Watched last nights Telefutura fights featuring the "Contender" winner Sergio Mora and was far from impressed.
Mora lacks power and attempts to be a boxer type without the skills of a top level boxer.
Look for Mora to be exposed as soon as he fights a top 20 boxer.

On the fight game,look for a Boxing vs MMA post soon on a slow day.....

Mildly surprised that the Browns let go defensive coordinator Todd Grantham yesterday.
The Browns aren't loaded with talent on that side of the ball and looks like Grantham is the scapegoat.
A shot in the dark as his replacement?
Try former Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan,if he doesn't get the Baltimore top spot.

The New Jersey Devils visit Buffalo tonight for a game against the Sabres at 7.
Coverage here tomorrow............

On the signing front-
former King and Red Wing Jimmy Carson signed through the mail...

Photo Credits
Helmets-Helmet Project
Powers-PowersPoint.com

Devils Rock Raleigh

The New Jersey Devils invaded Raleigh and their jam-packed crowd of 623 people and dominated the Hurricanes in a battle of division leaders in a 4-1 victory.
The Devils scored the only goal of the first period when Travis Zajac grabbed a rebound from Zach Parise's rejected shot off Cam Ward and slammed the puck into the net for his 8th goal of the season.
Zajac's goal came on a Devil power play.
The Hurricanes tied the game early in the second and played most of the stanza on even terms before Patrik Elias broke the tie with a wrister from the outside that beat Ward.
Elias reached double digits in goals,as the goal was his tenth.
The Devils dominated play in the third and the Canes simply could not keep up.
Brian Gionta's power play goal (13) put the game away and Sergei Brylin added a late insurance goal to complete the scoring with his 4th lamp lighter of the year.
A great performance by the Devils against a team that usually gives them a great deal of trouble.
Nice to see Elias and Zajac both picking up their play over the last few games,they are badly needed to score on this team.
As the Captain Jamie Langenbrunner said after the contest "We don't have to score a lot of goals to win,".
Dead right,Captain-the Devils wont lose many games that they score 3 or 4 goals in-that is certain!
The Devils return to action Saturday in Buffalo against the Sabres.

Bullpen Notes

Bill Maher returns to the airwaves on HBO tonight at 11 with Real Time.
The writers strike has forced a few changes in the show though.
No monologue or New Rules.
Instead he will take audience questions and lengthen the panel talk.
Still well worth watching!!

For those of you that watch Fox news,anyone notice that Democratic analyst Kirsten Powers often looks like she is in pain during her appearances??
The smart and witty Powers should know the stuff she will have to stomach when you take the $ from Fox.....

Speaking of Fox News,watch for them during our next poll!

Finally.in case you were wondering-I watch Fox news sometimes for the same reason coaches watch game films of their opponents-To exploit weakness in them!LOL!

Photo Credit
Devils-Jim Bounds-AP Photo

Random Ramblings

Time for a little thing that we call Random Ramblings...........

From the self-congratulation dept.-The last ten days has seen us setting records for hits.
Why this has begun,we don't know,but we are certainly pleased about it!

John Kerry has decided to endorse Barack Obama.
We weren't surprised by this endorsement,but figured that Kerry might wait until just before Super Tuesday to do so.
Kerry and former running mate John Edwards weren't close behind the scenes and disagreed on many things during the 2004 election including Kerry's reluctance to challenge the notorious "Swift Boat" ads and on challenging the questionable decision in Ohio.
I don't think the Kerry nod brings much to Obama other than the 3 million email addresses in Kerry's files from the 2004 election and winces from seeing the man that gave us 4 bonus years of George Bush.......

No word currently on Mike Dukakis or Walter Mondale's current thoughts on candidate endorsement............

Neal Huntington sees the roster as mostly set.
This is crummy because this team is not good enough to contend and/or the Pirates failed to add to a less than great farm system.
I know some say that you don't want to sell low on Jason Bay and I can see that,but if he starts fast,the Pirates will have some delusions on contending and perhaps not do anything..........

Browns Town thoughts include the extension for Romeo Crennel.
The Browns improved this season and I certainly am in favor of retaining Crennel,but an extension seems to be premature.
Let's not forget the years before under his guidance.
The Browns didn't exactly play a great schedule this year as they defeated just one team with a winning record and the slate will be far tougher next year.
Not ripping Crennel,just saying the extension might be better off coming after a solid 2008......

GM Phil Savage also is talking two year extension for Jamal Lewis,which is also too long.
No problems here with a one year bringback,but 2 is questionable for a 29 year old back.
Backs can lose it very quickly,look at the demise of Shaun Alexander for example.

I do like the proactive thinking of talking to Derek Anderson before others can talk to him in late February.
The cost keeping him can do nothing but go up when other teams get involved,so this is smart by Savage and the Browns..

As a casual golf fan (at best) I didn't see the Kelly Tilghman comments on Tiger Woods,but the punishment of a two week suspension fits the crime.
Using the word "lynching" was less than bright,but if she had said "Jump him in a back alley" instead of "lynch him in a back alley",I don't think anyone would have seen it....
Like that many were watching the Golf Channel anyway..............
She apologized,Woods accepted it gracefully and she was suspended.
Things should die down,right??
Nope,Here comes Al Sharpton to stick himself into things and make demands..
Just one question on Al Sharpton and then I am finished giving this glory hound his few lines of publicity here..
Just WHO decided that this guy was THE guy to ask about anything involving the African-American community?????

The New Jersey Devils return to action tonight against the Wolfpack at Reynolds Coliseum tonight at 7.
Coverage here tomorrow.

Oil drops in price again due to "low demand".
Could people be waking up and starting to hit back at big oil by driving a little less???
We all need to get to work and get around for fun,but just a small decline would hit everyone from the oil companies to speculators to OPEC....

Johnny Grant passed away at the age of 84.
Guess there will be no more "Johnny Grant" parties for Marvin Milkes to break up..............

On the signing front
Signatures by mail from
Hall of Famer George Kell,Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr,Pirate pitcher Zach Duke,Former Marlins manager Jack McKeon and Prospects Todd Frazier,Travis Ishikawa and David Haehnel.
Former Packer wideout Carroll Dale signed as did well traveled goalie Don Beaupre and for me the biggest catch-former Devil and US Olympian Mark Johnson......

Photo Credits
Tilghman/Faldo-Golf Channel
Johnson-Topps cards

Rice just misses Hall,Shocker in New Hampshire

Jim Rice is down to one more chance to get into the baseball hall.
Rice fell 16 votes short in receiving 72.2 percent of the vote that requires 75 % for induction.
Rice will get one more shot in 2009,if he does not make the hall then,he will have to wait for the Veterans Committee to look at him.
Goose Gossage was the only candidate to make it in the 2008 election and deservedly so.
The good news for Rice is this-no candidate has ever gotten above 70 % of the vote and then never get inducted to Cooperstown.
Tough break for Rice,but I would wager that next year FINALLY is Jim Rice's year.......

The New Hampshire primary showed exactly why one should make up their mind on politics without paying much attention to the media and polling.
When all networks,cable news outlets and polls pointed to Barack Obama as the eventual winner,Hillary Clinton shocked the nation (and me) by winning New Hampshire.
Clinton won by three points (39-36) over Obama and John Edwards finished third with 17 percent.
This could be looked at as Edwards doing mildly better than he was projected to be and Edwards appears to be hanging in there.
But South Carolina is looking to be a must win in the Palmetto State for Edwards.
But tonight's result is exactly why I am hanging in there with John Edwards until he decides that enough is enough.
Just because someone else thinks that they know the voter does not mean that it is true and therefore-vote for the candidate that YOU think represents you the most!
Not the candidate most likely to win,the candidate YOU want!
That is the only way that the voters can keep the power that sometimes gets usurped by the media.
It is a vicious game that they play-Only certain people can win therefore a vote for anyone else is a wasted vote and then the few chosen candidates can win.
In any event,Obama did seem to put forth a less than wonderful effort in the debate last Saturday and that seems to have hurt him.
For all the Obama hype about his speaking,he struggles in debate settings.
I watched that debate with Ryan (An undecided voter) and talked about for someone noted as an excellent speaker,he has real difficulties thinking quickly on his feet in debate formats.
Plus,Clinton's emotional outburst that I thought "finished her" apparently won over the Granite State voters.
This one baffles me,but the Dems now move onto Nevada and South Carolina...........

The New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres hooked up into one of those Brodeur vs Miller battles last night in Newark and the Devils were the last team standing with a 2-1 shootout victory.
I missed the first period with a family obligation and therefore missed all the scoring for the first 58 minutes as Andy Greene's power play goal (2) held up until Buffalo used some great passing and some over aggressiveness by the Devils defense to tie the game late in the game.
After 5 minutes of 4 on 4 play,it was onto to the shootout.
But after a stop by each goalie,Ales Kotalik scored for the Sabres to give them a shootout lead,Brian Gionta quickly tied the shootout with a quick wrist shot.
Brodeur then stopped Thomas Vanek (who seems to have no clue in shootouts) which set the stage for Patrik Elias winning the game with his shot eluding Miller.
Another great game between these two teams and they will see each other again in Buffalo Saturday.
In between the Buffalo games is a Thursday visit to N.C.State for a game against the Hurricanes.

Bullpen Notes

The Chicago Cubs sent outfielder Angel Pagan to the New York Mets and acquired two former Hagerstown Suns in the swap.
Outfielder Corey Coles and pitcher Ryan Meyers join the Cubs organization.
Coles played well in Hagerstown,but Meyers was far from impressive as a Sun.
Meyers did have an excellent season in 2007 at Savannah and is still just 22.
Coles turns 26 this season,so he needs to get things moving soon.

For more New Hampshire opinion,check out our friends over at Bag of Health and Politics on our links page.
They are pushing heavily for Obama right now......

Maybe the Cubs could sign Jim Wladyka next???

Until next time

Photo Credits
Rice-Topps Cards
Elias-Bill Kostroun-AP Photo

Buckeyes fall in title game,LSU wins Sugar Bowl

The Ohio State Buckeyes scored the first ten points in their game at LSU.
However, they allowed the next 31 pts to be scored by the Tigers on the way to a 38-24 loss.
Other than the long early run by Chris Wells, the Buckeyes generally seemed to be a day and a dollar short on offense.
I don't want to get into the game details, but I would like to share some thoughts on things that should be looked at Jim Tressel and the staff to continue to upgrade the program and look at the current personnel.

Three things stood out to me as the difference between these two teams.

One-The Ohio State offensive line is not big enough or quick enough to handle top teams pass rush.
By this, I mean that the Buckeyes have some big, slower road paver types and a few undersized, finesse blocker types and neither type match up well with the larger, yet speedy pass rushers that seem to populate SEC football.
This needs to be addressed in recruiting and it cannot be fixed overnight, but needs to begin the process of changing the type of offensive linemen that are recruited by Ohio State.
The line has been very effective in Big Ten play, but has been overmatched in bowl play against a different type of team.

Two-The constant talk before the game was the "speed difference" between the two teams.
I really only saw one area that affected the game.
The OSU corners simply could not keep up with the LSU receivers and that too is a recruiting issue.
Ohio State needs to add more speed and athleticism to the secondary to better combat the smaller, speedier SEC pass catchers.
As with the offensive line, this will not be a quick fix, but subtle recruiting changes need to begin ASAP.

Three-Whether or not Ohio State lands the heralded freshman passer Terrelle Pryor or not (the Bucks are considered the favorite, but are far from a lock) Todd Boeckman needs to be at least challenged for the quarterback job by Pryor (if they land him) or Antonio Henton.
In the three biggest games of the season, Boeckman looked confused, overmatched and generally looked and played lost.
Boeckman seems like a very nice young man, but next year, when the Buckeyes will play USC (no more schedule complaints), OSU will need a mobile passer that can make plays.
Boeckman fails that test on both marks.
Jim Tressel is known for his loyalty to his players, but there needs to be competition at the minimum next season.
This was a disappointment for sure, but to achieve this much in what was supposed to be a reloading season made a great year.
Kudos to the Buckeyes and here is hoping for a great 2008.

Bullpen Notes

Later today, the baseball hall of fame announces the 2008 inductees.
As we wrote last week in the HOF ballot post, here is hoping that today is finally the day for Jim Rice.

A brief note from the sour grapes files.
All these southern football fans that revel in their spread option offenses etc that cannot be stopped etc should remember that every offense has its peak periods.
Ryan and I had this discussion last night and recalled the days of the "unstoppable" Wishbone in the '70s, Flexbone in the '80s, Run and shoot in the '80s and early '90s.
Every new offense has its heyday until the defense figures it out.
Sooner or later-that day always comes...

June Jones leaves Hawaii for SMU.
5 years and 10 million.
But this is not the typical blasting of a coach leaving while the getting is good.
Jones has an expired contract at Hawaii and is not breaking a deal to leave, plus he is going to a program with great new facilities and boosters that want to restore SMU to gridiron glory.
He had probably done all he could at Hawaii and if anyone gets blamed, it should be Hawaii.
They seemed to not even try very hard to retain Jones.....

A nice read from Yahoo on our favorite NBA player, former Xavier star David West.
West is a poster ad for staying in school for 4 years, getting your degree and improving your game for the next step by playing instead of sitting on the bench.

Another interesting interview comes from Australia with WWE champion Randy Orton.
Orton likely got himself into some political hot water in the company after expressing these views with an Aussie newspaper.

And finally, today is the New Hampshire primary.
Looks like Barack Obama and John McCain are favorites in their respective primary heats.

Photo Credit
Chris Russell-Columbus Dispatch