Sports Then and Now

Tom Brady and the Patriots are in for a dogfight in the AFC East.

It looks like the Patriots will be in a dog fight this year in the AFC East, the division that New England has dominated over the last decade. The Pats have captured the AFC Crown seven of the last ten seasons, but a changing of the guard is looming on the horizon.

The Patriots are looking more like the least than the beast of the AFC East.

The New York Jets are getting better every day it seems. The team that went to the AFC Championship last year on the shoulders of rookie quarterback, Mark Sanchez is loading up their arsenal.

On the offensive side of the ball they acquired disgruntled Cleveland Browns wide out, Braylon Edwards last season. A talent for sure, but has consistency issues and a chronic case of the drops. However, he showed sparks of what he is capable of when he is focused. In 12 games with New York, Edwards caught 35 catches for 541 yards with 4 td’s.

This off season the Jets have been very busy signing former San Diego and fantasy football stud, LaDainian Tomlinson. Tomlinson replaces the productive Thomas Jones who was unsigned before landing with the KC Chiefs. A puzzling signing considering Jones was more productive than LT. Jones had 1400 yards and 14 touchdowns in comparison to Tomlinson’s 730 yards and 12 touchdowns.

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Would a salary cap in baseball give more teams like the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks a chance to compete for the World Series title?

Talking about a salary cap with a baseball player or his agent is as usually received as well as asking Tiger Woods how married life is treating him.  The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) has a pretty simple stance on the concept of placing a ceiling on what teams can spend on wages, and that stance is “Nope!”

While purists still know that baseball is the American pastime, football is king these days in all real senses.  It is outwardly more popular, has better television ratings (mostly since there’s so much less of it), and makes lots and lots of money.  Oh, yes, it also has a salary cap.  What’s more, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wants you to know that it is one of the main reasons the NFL is as great as it is, for it’s the salary cap and revenue sharing that create the NFL’s wonderful parity.

There is a continuum in professional sports where the concept of parity is concerned. In a nutshell, it tells us that the higher a team ranks in terms of league payroll, the less they care about parity. This is irrelevant for the NFL, because they have a salary cap. Read the rest of this entry →

Courtesy of Engy’s

Favre was beaten and battered by the Saints.

The popular question following the victory by the New Orleans Saints over the Minnesota Vikings to clinch the NFC Championship and the right to play in the Super Bowl has been, “Are you happy now?” Happy is not the word I use.

Watching Sunday’s game I grimaced at every painful hit given by the Saint defense onto the Viking quarterback. Every tackle that was borderline late, I winced at. But each time the veteran QB got up off the Superdome turf and returned to the huddle. Every time but one, then he was helped off the field at the end of a possession. While watching the trainers and doctors of the Vikings checked him out and re taped his ankle, many wondered if he would answer the bell. But like a great title fighter he came back in to take his licks and fight his team one more time.

But was I happy the Vikings lost? No, I was relieved.

I was relieved that the one time QB of my favorite team, the Green Bay Packers wasn’t able to take the division rival to the Super Bowl. Throughout the year all Packer fans were expecting the “old” Favre to come back. We were waiting for Brett to begin forcing the ball, being intercepted and costing the Packers a possible victory. Green Bay fans would shrug it off as “Brett being Brett.” We felt that is what made him the QB that Packer fans fell in love with.

But the divorce wasn’t pretty and eventually Brett wanted to prove to the administration of the team that he parted ways with that he could still play. He did take Green Bay to the NFC Championship game in his last year in Wisconsin just two years ago and he knew there were still many touchdown throws left in that right arm.

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Who is the best all around qb?

This is the debate that may never be answered.

The arguments of all arguments.

Who is the best quarterback in the NFL today?

Is it Tom Brady? Peyton Manning?

Some can even make an argument for “Big Ben” Roethlisberger. However, I think Roethlisberger needs about four more years to add to his body of work before he can be held in the same breath as Brady and Manning.

So how do we make the determination of who is the best all around quarterback? What variables will be used to measure both quarterbacks?

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Browns team president, Mike Holmgren addressed the media for the first time today.

New Cleveland Browns President, Mike Holmgren addressed the media for the first time today.  This is his first day on the job and he hit the ground running.

He has a lot of work ahead of him.

Decisions on his coaching staff especially head coach Eric Mangini.

The signing of Josh Cribbs.

Bringing the Cleveland Browns back to respectability and to a Super Bowl.

Holmgren brought the cities of Green Bay (1-1) and Seattle (0-1) Super Bowl appearances and has one Lombardi trophy on his resume.

He has rebuilt franchises and there is no reason he can’t do it in Cleveland.

As a team executive, you need to be able to speak to the media and keep them abreast of the workings of the team.

He did a stellar job in his first press conference. Holmgren had the media in the palm of his hand.

As a Cleveland Browns fan, he is making me drink the kool aid.

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Wes Welker suffered a season-ending knee injury against the Texans.

With wide out Wes Welker being carted off the field with what appears to be a serious injury to his left knee, fans of the New England Patriots have already begun asking the question why.

Why did coach Bill Belichick decide to play his starters in a near meaningless game? Why did we have to lose the heart and soul of our offense? Why have our play-off hopes been dashed for the second year in a row.

With the Patriots driving down the field in the first quarter of their game with the Houston Texans, Welker, who entered the game with a league leading 122 receptions, caught a ball from quarterback Tom Brady in the left slot and ran for a first down before getting his foot caught in the Texans turf and immediately grabbing for his left knee.

Welker was being covered by safety Bernard Pollard, though the injury was sustained before Welker was hit.

With Brady, receiver Randy Moss and the Patriots trainer looking on, Welker was helped from the field and was seen with a towel over his head in a display of obvious pain and disappointment. He was carted off the field to the Patriots looker room with approximately six minutes to play in the first quarter.

Many fans believe that any hopes of the Patriots competing in the upcoming AFC playoffs rest squarely on the shoulders of the diminutive receiver who has caught 345 passes over three years with the Patriots and is a key component to their effective passing offense.

The Patriots missed the playoffs last season after Brady was injured in the first period of their first game against the Kansas City Chiefs when he was hit below the knee by Pollard, who played for the Chiefs at the time. Despite an 11-5 record the Patriots missed the playoffs.

Entering today’s game with a 10-5 record, the Patriots have clinched the AFC East and a home game for the first round of the playoffs and are playing today’s game simply to determine whether they would be a number three or four seed.