Beantown Sports Guys

American Idol Update

So last night’s American Idol wasn’t a great one. It seemed the week before where they all worked with Barry Manilow brought out much better performances. I was agreeing with the judges more times than not being underwhelmed. I thought Paris, Elliott, Chris and Mandiva were all decently strong while Taylor did a good job showing a different side and focusing more on his singing. Was also good to see Chris credit last weeks Walk the Line performance to the band Live’s version since he got so beat up all week in the media over it for falsely taking credit of that arrangement. So how does the top 10 shake out now?

1. Taylor Hicks    (back on top)
2. Chris Daughtry     (took a lot of negative press this past week over that Live rendition)
3. Katharine McPhee     (still holding steady)
4. Paris Bennett     (Probably the best performance last night)
5. Elliott Yamin     (Gaining more popularity with his funk/soul style, I like Elliott a lot)
6. Mandisa      (solid last night as well)
7. Ace Young     (Love that Train song, but he’s taking his act over the top now with his      deep stares and touching his hair and acting just plain gay… and usually      he looks good, but his hair was so flat and terrible last night, awful)
8. Kellie Pickler      (is she the next young Dolly Parton?… sounds like it)
9. Lisa Tucker     (she’s coming to the end of her time on this show)
10. Bucky Covington     (him too)

So who goes tonight? It has to be between my bottom 3 and even though I think Bucky should go, I believe it will be Lisa’s night to bow out with the lowest number of votes. Thank god no Kevin last night!

NFL Competition Committee has a full plate

The NFL Competition Committee has a few suggestions for the upcoming season to consider:

 

The committee will suggest:

"Down by contact calls be subject to instant replay review, a proposal that was voted down last year. Currently, a play is dead once the whistle blows and the ballcarrier is ruled down by the officials. McKay said that last season there were 18 to 20 plays when the ball came out of a player's grasp before he was ruled down. The proposed change would allow any turnover to stand if replay showed the ball came loose before the whistle. No subsequent runbacks with the ball would count, however."

This is a great rule. At one point it seemed that every other game the Patriots played in I saw something like this that effected either the Pats or their opponent. You want to put the game in the officials hands, of making the right choice and not handcuffing them.

"Modifying illegal procedure to allow receivers to flinch if they get back into position before the play and the defense doesn't react to the move."

 

I don't like this rule change. A false start is a false start, even if the defense doesn't notice it. Don't start turning into the Arena League where guys can get a 20 yard full run at the line of scrimmage before the ball is snapped. That is ridiculous and this seems like the first step in something like that.

"Toughening enforcement on pass rushers who hit quarterbacks below the knees, as long as the defensive players could have avoided making the hit. One play that didn't prompt such a point of emphasis, McKay said, was in last year's playoffs on Cincinnati's Carson Palmer by Kimo von Oelhoffen, then with Pittsburgh, that severely injured Palmer's knee. McKay said it was clear von Oelhoffen didn't make any intentional move to hit Palmer, but simply rolled into the quarterback."

 

I agree with this, and I'm glad their noted that von Oelhoffen did not intentionally hurt Palmer. I watched the game, and Kimo's face was wrought with anguish over the fact that he thought he could have very well ended Palmer's career.

"Just like quarterbacks, one defensive player might be allowed direct communication with the coaches next season. The committee will recommend that a defense has the same option as an offense in that area. As of now, quarterbacks get instructions through a small speaker in the helmet until there are 15 seconds remaining on the play clock.

"We hope to get away from offenses -- I don't want to say stealing, so borrowing -- signals from the sideline [for defenses]," McKay said."

 

Another article I read about this said that once the radio helmet is given to a player, once the game starts they cannot give the helmet to anyone else. This adds another strategy. Who do you give the helmet to? Many teams send their plays to their middle linebacker and he calls the play in the huddle; however, what if you have a MLB who is constantly getting hurt, like Panthers LB Dan Morgan? He is a prime example of considering having someone else have the radio helmet simply because he is so injury prone.

 

Quotes from http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2387077

This is almost too funny to be true

Probably one of the funniest things I've heard all Spring Training comes out of Scottsdale, Arizona, via CNNSI.

 

The Royals said pitcher Runelvys Hernandez will begin the season on the 15-day disabled list because of concerns about his weight and stamina.

 

"The bottom line is, where he's at is not where he needs to be," general manager Allard Baird said. "To say we're putting him on the DL because he is overweight, I think that is a little unfair. Does it factor in? Sure."

 

That is some funny stuff. Football is one thing, where you hear guys like Antowain Smith when he was with the Patriots and how he never made it through the conditioning program and requirements the first time through. Weight is a key component in the NFL, whereas in MLB it isn't. The funniest part of all this is it's a pitcher. The last time I heard someone having a weight issue like this was our very own El Guapo (aka Rich Garces) here in Beantown.

 

Could the Pats snag Moulds from the Bills?

According to a report from the Houston Chronicle, the Patriots are interested in obtaining Wide Receiver Eric Moulds from the Buffalo Bills, while the Chronicle reports the Bills are asking for a fourth-round draft choice.

Looking over the Patriots' draft picks (including their appointed compensatory picks that were assigned today), they have two 4th round draft picks, one being the 9th and the other being the 21st.

Both teams should do this, as it would help both of them equally. He's a headache for the Bills, and if I were the Pats, I would not offer anything higher than that 21st pick in the 4th round. It would give them leverage to move up if they wanted to with their own 4th round pick, and the Patriots would get a great receiver.

If a similar package comes their way from someone that isn't in their division, I'm willing to bet they will opt to trade him out of the division and not to a rival like the Pats. Then again, they may really undervalue him like the Pats did to Milloy and let him go to their rival.

Sox claim Hee-Seop Choi off waivers

The Red Sox claimed first baseman Hee-Seop Choi off waivers today. This is a pretty decent move I think for the Sox, as he provides a little insurance for Youkilis and Snow at first. He's still relatively young (27) and has options left so he can be optioned down to Triple-A if the Sox want to get him at-bats and playing time.

It's insurance for both 1st and 3rd, because if Lowell doesn't pan out, the Sox can bump Youk back to 3rd, and have legit first baseman in Choi and Snow to choose from.

It's a good sign to see that the Sox aren't settling with their roster and constantly trying to improve, even this late in Spring Training. I think it will be interesting to see what happens to Kapler when he heals up and where he will be (if it's even on the Sox roster). Having good players that play hard all the time isn't a problem, it's trying to find the right combination that works for the overall team chemistry that is the tough part.

Patriots finally make a few moves

WEEI is reporting that the Patriots have re-signed Wide Receiver Troy Brown, and they are close to re-signing Offensive Lineman Stephen Neal.

The Patriots also lost out on re-signing Tom Ashworth, as it looks like he went off to Seattle. He'll be good for them, but Offensive Line isn't really one of our problems. We have a little depth in that area with guys like Brandon Gorin, Nick Kazcur, and Matt Light.

I'd be very happy if the Pats just blindsided all of us with extensions for Seymour and Branch, as well as the signing of LaVar Arrington. If that happened, even if they didn't steal LaVar, I think the Patriots fans would be more than happy to forget a fan favorite player like Vinatieri is playing for the truly hated Colts.

It would give all of us a little solace knowing they are doing what needs to be done. This needs to happen before the Draft. A lot needs to happen before the Draft, and the creed of 'In Bill We Trust' resonates louder right now than it ever has before, because of the fact we've never really had a true reason to doubt him.

At this point, there are a number of kickers coming into the Draft that are great. If we don't sign Paul Edinger, I don't see it as a major issue. Olindo Mare will probably be available as well, but how good is he? I think he's a couple steps behind Vanderjagt. His kickoffs are a bit off sometimes, but sometimes he's dead on. Maybe a change of scenery would be good, maybe it wouldn't. But I wouldn't spend a lot of money on him considering there are many options out there, such as the kickers from Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Tennessee. As long as they stay away from the kickers from Penn State and Florida State, I think they'll be just fine.   

Please, let's have Mo of that

The move for Wily Mo Pena is already paying dividends.

And it makes it even sweeter that he originally came from the Yankees.

Yesterday the young slugger hit a two run bomb to tie the first game between the Sox and Yanks of spring. Granted, the Sox lost, but the power numbers for the Sox seem to be climbing even though the number in the Win column isn't.

There have been rumors of the Sox flipping Wily Mo to the Nationals for Alfonso Soriano, but I don't think that would be the right move. It would make trading Mirabelli pointless, and Loretta will do just fine for us. Wily Mo is a great complement to Nixon, since he crushes lefties.

He's young, a little brash, and a little impatient at the plate, but that's not necessarily his fault. In a way, maybe it is though. It's his fault he was so good so young. He played for the Dominican team at 16, and was optioned back to the minors so many times he has been forced to learn in the big leagues rather than in the minors.

His patience will get better as he gets older. He'll walk a bit more and he'll strikeout a bit less, but his numbers overall will increased.

If he is half the Mo that Vaughn is, I'll be ecstatic.

We'll see though. With close friends in Manny and Ortiz, he's in good hands and good company.

Celtics - Playoffs or Lottery Bound?

I am torn and have been for a few weeks now over this. With 13 games remaining and a nice win last night, the C’s find themselves within striking distance of the 8^th and final playoff spot and a death match with Detroit. Do we want this to happen? I was lobbying against this weeks ago saying the Celts should just lose now and get the highest draft pick they can in the lottery. But that was before Pierce went on his scoring streak and spurred the C’s on to a bunch of victories. At one time they were in line for the 4^th pick in the draft and only 2 games within the 2^nd or 3^rd picks. Yes, their record was that bad! Now they are in line for the 9^th pick in the draft and only a half game behind three teams, which could drop them to a 12^th pick very easily. With no instantly gifted special franchise players coming out this season (LeBron, Duncan, etc...), will a high pick make any difference for this team anyway?… especially one as low as 9-12. Even the top 3 picks will be suspect to make any type of impact next season for any team. So how much does getting the young guys some playoff experience mean? Obviously Detroit will take us out in a first round match-up. But all those potential games, even the losses, would probably benefit Delonte and Gomes and Kendrick and Al-Jeff and Tony Allen, etc… Plus an upset win or 2 would be even more beneficial to build towards next season. This team is already young enough, so adding yet another young lottery pick doesn’t really help us from where I’m looking down. We already have a Gerald Green riding the pine with all his future potential. So I’m going back on my previous decision and saying now I am hoping the C’s can make the playoffs. Even that is still a long-shot as I believe this morning they are still 4 games out of the 8^th spot that Philly currently is holding. So with 13 games remaining, they’ll need much help from other teams along with winning their own. But I guess now, either way I won’t be too upset as I like their chances to grow for next season. These young guys along with Pierce and Wally make a fun team to watch at least. GO CELTS!

Vinatieri is GONE!

So late yesterday, the bad news dropped. Adam Vinatieri had reached an agreement to sign with Peyton Manning’s Indianapolis Colts. One of the Patriots main rivals these past few seasons along with Pittsburgh. Talk about a kick in the pants for fans. I’m sure I wasn’t the only fan hoping the Pats would just sign him and keep him kicking in New England. We all know how clutch and important the man has been to our franchise, but the kicker is the lowest paid position on the team basically. He has been worth being paid the highest kicker in the league. And if that is $3 mil a year? That’s chump change to the Pats. So I’m very surprised at this. Maybe they know something we don’t and see his skills diminishing having to setup their field goal attempts closer to around the 30 yard line than deeper 40 and 50 range? I don’t know. But I along with many this morning am sad about this. Not only because he is gone, but did he have to go to Indy??? UGH! Not quite as bad as Damon leaving the Sox for the Yanks, but it’s probably the next worst thing that could have happened. I would have rather seen him go to Dallas with Parcells! We all knew this was very possible, but I still expected to wake up one of these mornings and learn we had re-signed Vinatieri along with extending the contracts of Branch and Seymour since those guys are next if we don’t lock them up soon! I’m not mad at Vinatieri like I was with the greedy, self-centered Damon, but he is making it very hard on us to root for him signing with Indy. So OK now Belichick, Pioli and Kraft. Let’s get moving here! We are still $19 mil UNDER the salary cap last I heard!

Breaking News: Adam Vinatieri signs with Colts

About 20 minutes ago I put the news on and saw this headline streaming on the bottom of Channel 5 news:

Breaking News: Adam Vinatieri signs with Colts

Currently only FoxNews is reporting this, and they have no details at all.

This is terrible, as the Pats will look to sign either Paul Edinger or Mike "Mr. Drunk Colt" Vanderjagt. Neither is nearly as clutch as Vinatieri, and I absolutely hate both of those guys.

Vinatieri should have retired a Patriot, and now I am going to end up rooting against him.

Update:

It's not speculation any longer with ESPN and the Globe reporting it as well:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2378824

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/reiss_pieces/