FOOTBALL

We’re in the first week of the NFL preseason’s four-week schedule. It’s a great chance for teams to get practice before the regular season begins, but most of the high profile stars aren’t playing full games for fear of injury. In fact, there’s a move to shrink the number of games in the preseason. According to a member of the NFL’s competition committee, Green Bay Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy, “The reality is that the preseason is changing pretty rapidly. The quality is not good, and it’s changing for the worse in terms of the quality of games. Even if you went to two [per team], I still think with the salaries that we’re paying, that people will be just reluctant to expose players to injuries. So you would have to figure out how much preseason you need to develop and evaluate young players. Veterans just don’t need it.”

Even though most of the star athletes only took a few snaps, there were some standout performances. The number one pick in the NFL, Arizona Cardinals rookie quarterback Kyler Murray, had an almost flawless debut going 6 for 7 for 44 yards in a 17-13 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. The New York Giants controversial #6th pick in the draft, Daniel Jones, had a solid drive with a touchdown and no incompletions to beat the New York Jets 31-22.

One of the best stories of the preseason was Sheehy-Giuseppi earning a spot on the Cleveland Browns roster by pretending to know the VP of player personnel. He made the story even better this weekend by catching an 86-yard punt return touchdown in the Browns’ 30-10 win over the Washington Redskins.

FOOTBALL

In the NFL, the controversy surrounding Jay Cutler’s injury continues.  As mentioned yesterday by Law Office of Daniel Deng – Personal Injury Lawyers located in Rosemead area, many NFL players openly criticized Cutler when he sat out the second half of the NFC Championship with a knee injury.  Now, of all people, former NBA star Charles Barkley is coming to his defense with the use of social media for an injury case.  Barkley said that it was okay for the media to bash Cutler, because that’s what the media does, but that fellow player’s shouldn’t question a player’s heart.  He specifically targeted the Jaguars Maurice Jones-Drew, who tweeted multiple times about Jay Cutler during the game.  Barkley called Jones-Drew a hypocrite as Jones-Drew also sat out the last two games of the season with an injury.  Barkley said those were key games for the Jaguars, and firing jabs at Cutler for not having heart just makes Jones-Drew seem worse.  Hopefully for Cutler this will die down soon. Thanks to the existence of personal injury law firms, that help dealing with personal injuries so much more easier. There is more information about the company, that offers best legal professionals for personal injuries, about whom you can learn on their website. The personal injury lawyers practicing in Rochester area can help with any accident cases.

Elsewhere in the NFL, it looks like Michael Vick is finally back in the endorsement game.  Of course, as everyone knows, Michael Vick was public enemy #1 after it was revealed he was heavily involved in dog fighting circles.  He was out of the NFL for a year, and in jail for another. Here are lawyers for OVI cases located in Delaware area that can help in such cases as well.  People didn’t even think he would get another chance to play in the NFL, yet get another endorsement deal.  After all, every one of his sponsors dropped him after the ordeal.  Yesterday he signed a deal with Unequal Technologies, a company that makes extra shock-absorbent padding. The lawyers from https://www.joelhschwartz.com/ are said to be the best at dealing with legalities.  After suffering an injury, Vick wore these pads to protect himself.  So it’s an organic fit for an endorsement:  Star athlete with the padding he uses.  However, it will be quite a while before a major brand like Nike or Gatorade comes his way. The personal injury law firm practicing in Baltimore area is whom you need to help you with your injury cases. Going through a traumatic experience requires one to get legal help from legal experts to get compensation.

BASKETBALL

Finally, in the NBA, Hall of Famer Jerry West made a comment about the Los Angeles Lakers porous defense.  He said he thinks it’s because they are too old.  10 of the Lakers are over 30 years old, and this can lead to a much slower defense.  He mentioned how they don’t really get to loose balls often, which makes sense, because you probably won’t see Kobe Bryant diving for many balls out of bounds.  After crushing the Utah Jazz last night, Utah’s Deron Williams said, “They didn’t look old, they didn’t look tired, and they didn’t look like they couldn’t play defense”.  And coach Phil Jackson said, “I better go out and buy some Omega 3s right away”.  Clearly they don’t put much credence in West’s remarks.  LA Lakers 120, Utah 91.

Sure, March Madness is upon us.  But… it’s not just the Men’s tournament you should take note of.  While the #1 seeds in the Men’s tourney all seem beatable, the UCONN Huskies women’s team is essentially unstoppable.  They have a perfect 33-0 record, and every single team in the Women’s tourney will be gunning for them.  However, UCONN’s women’s head coach, Geno Auriemma is staying modest about the whole thing, saying “we’re just going to take it one game at a time”.  In other words, if the UCONN women’s team doesn’t win the whole thing, it will be a huge upset.

NFL

In the NFL, the drama between Denver Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels and starting quarterback Jay Cutler continues to escalate.  Cutler was insulted that McDaniels went after Patriots QB Matt Cassel, basically sending Cutler a message that he doesn’t believe in him.  McDaniels tried to explain the misunderstanding — that, yes, he did want Cassel, but only because he has been working directly with him in New England the past couple seasons.  McDaniels was upfront and honest about his intentions, but this excuse just wasn’t enough for Cutler.  And yesterday, he said he wanted to be traded.  This… is a stupid move on Cutler’s part.  He’s the starting QB in a major football city, and he wants out?  The Detroit Lions have expressed some interest in him, and they hold the rights to the #1 pick in the draft, but McDaniels has said he doesn’t want the #1 pick, and isn’t interested in trading Cutler.  We’ll have to see how this develops, but as of right now… it’s pretty messy.

Elsewhere in the NFL, the end of a 4-year experiment.  Matt Jones was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars to be an all around player.  He was a phenom in college, and the Jags thought he could step in at QB, Wide Receiver, or even defense.  He was that talented.  They picked Wide Receiver for him, but he just never panned out.  Plus, he had a lot of ‘off-the-field’ issues with the law (specifically marijuana problems).  Well, last week Matt Jones was arrested on another drug charge, and placed in jail.  That was all she wrote for the Matt Jones era in Jacksonville, as the Jags decided to part ways with the former college stand-out.  He will probably get another chance somewhere, but based on his experience in Jacksonville, teams know what they’re getting into, and most would agree — he’s just not worth it.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Finally, in some rare college FOOTBALL news this time of year, the #1 blue-chip running-back prospect in the country, Bryce Brown, has officially decided where he will spend his college football career.  His answer:  The Tennessee Volunteers.  This is very exciting for Tennessee, and will be a great start for new head coach for Lane Kiffin.  Brown was considering other major football programs (Miami & Oregon), but heading to Tennessee could breathe new life into their program.  The Volunteers are usually always in the Top 10 in college football, but have fallen off a bit in the last few seasons (with Florida taking the reigns as the dominant SEC team).  With this new recruit, expect to see Tennessee back in a major bowl next season.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

It’s that time of the week again — college football time.  This week’s featured match-up:  #1 Texas v. #11 Missouri.  Here’s why this game is nuts.  Texas is new to the #1 seat, and now are playing protector.  However, just last week, Missouri was vying for the same throne, but a poor performance against Oklahoma State prevented them from moving up the ladder, and they fell to #11.  Usually teams that lose their first game of the season are mentally scared because they know their National Championship hopes have taken a lashing.  But now Missouri gets a crack against the #1 seed, and if they win, they still have a good case at the end of the season to play in the BIG GAME.

Note:  Both of these teams are extremely talented.  Texas is led by QB Colt McCoy (who is the darling of Texas right now), but Missouri has the strong arm of arguably the best QB in the nation — Chase Daniel.  Daniel is on a Heisman campaign and is chomping at the bit for this Nationally Televised Game.  An opportunity to topple the #1 seed is what every college football program lives for (in addition to actually BEING the #1 seed).

Elsewhere in college football, Clemson’s head coach, Tommy Bowden, was fired yesterday because of Clemson’s average 3-3 start.  Clemson was expected to make waves before the season, but have been nothing special and viewed as ‘just another game’ on their opponents schedules.  Furthermore, to make this into a comical situation, Tommy’s brother and Auburn’s head coach, Terry Bowden, said he didn’t feel sorry for his brother whatsoever.  On Yahoo.com, he stated, “So, did Tommy Bowden deserve what happened to him Monday? Unfortunately, yes, he deserved it because he, of all people, knew what to expect when he got into this business. We grew up in it.”  You gotta admire brotherly love.

And the QB controversy in Dallas continues.  Earlier this week, it was reported that Tony Romo would be out for a month with a broken pinkie.  Brad Johnson, the 40-year-old QB, and former Super Bowl winner, would step in.  However, 2 days later, Romo said he thought he could play through the injury.  Now in Dallas, Romo has been practicing one day, then sitting out the next.  The Dallas community has no idea who will start at QB on Sunday against the Rams.  Jerry Jones, the Cowboys owner, fears that Romo could get hurt and miss an extended period of time.  But, from a coach’s perspective, having Romo at the helm gives them a much better chance of winning the game — if, in fact, he CAN play.  We’ll have to wait and see how this drama unfolds, but it could be a game-time call. (This, of course, is so frustrating for Fantasy Owners who have Romo…fortunately I don’t have him, but I feel for those who do.)

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Finally, last night was Midnight Madness, when all the college basketball programs take the court at midnight to have their first practice of the season in front of packed stadiums.  It’s a campus cultural event that you simply can not miss.  And you have to imagine that in Lawrence, Kansas, home of the Kansas Jayhawks, they must have gone absolutely insane last night when the first ball bounced on the Allen Field House court.  Can they repeat?  Well, at least everyone in that stadium last night thinks they can.