Sports Articles

2010-08-30 | Jim Murphy

The New York Jets received some bad news on the eve of the NFL regular season—linebacker Calvin Pace, the team’s best pass rusher in 2009 will need foot surgery and will miss the start of the 2010 campaign. Current prognosis has Pace out 4 to 6 weeks, though the Jets stressed that they’ll defer any sort of projection on his return until after the surgery is performed Monday. Renowned foot surgeon Robert Anderson will perform the procedure in Charlotte, North Carolina. Pace was injured in the third quarter of Friday’s 16-11 exhibition loss to the Washington Redskins.

2010-08-30 | Jim Murphy

Donovan McNabb hasn’t practiced since spraining his ankle in the Washington Redskins’ second preseason game. Now coach Mike Shanahan is publicly saying that his quarterback may not be ready for the regular season opener against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, September 12. McNabb sat out Friday’s preseason victory over the New York Jets, and won’t play in the Redskins’ final exhibition contest against the Arizona Cardinals.

2010-08-30 | Jim Murphy

Oakland Raiders’ starting quarterback Jason Campbell left Saturday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers with a stinger, but on Sunday it was revealed that a seemingly less significant injury could end up being more troublesome. While the stinger is not considered by the team to be serious, they are concerned about a wrist injury that will necessitate further X-rays and MRI testing early this week. Worst case scenario, the wrist issue could knock Campbell out of the lineup for Oakland’s regular season opener against the Tennessee Titans.

2010-08-27 | Jim Murphy

NFL owners along with league Commissioner Roger Goodell have expressed a desire to expand the season to 18 games from the current 16. During a five hour meeting in Atlanta this week there was no formal vote, but according to Goodell the owners expressed near unanimity in the longer schedule. The NFL Players Association is much less enthusiastic, and the debate over the proposed 18 game schedule could be a major issue as the league and players hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement after this season.

2010-08-25 | Jim Murphy

Now that Brett Favre is done inflicting his annual self imposed retirement drama on the football world, he’s trying to mend fence with coaching staff and teammates. Since returning to the Vikings the NFL’s biggest diva has held two closed door meetings to ‘clear the air’ and stress his ‘commitment’ to the success of the team. The first meeting was similar to last year’s meeting where Favre stressed his commitment to the Vikings and his teammates despite his antics of earlier this summer. This year, he called a second meeting to address a media report that he almost decided against coming back due to his disdain for head coach Brad Childress.

2010-08-25 | Jim Murphy

On a weekend that saw Manchester United’s primary rivals for English Premier League supremacy win their games in blowout fashion, the ‘Red Devils’ had to settle for a hard fought draw at Fulham. Man U played very well in the first half, but a sloppy effort in the second half allowed Fulham’s Brede Hangeland to head home the tying goal in the 89th minute. It was a case of too many missed opportunities for Man U, who missed a penalty kick in the 87th minute which gave Hangeland the opportunity to score the equalizer.

2010-08-25 | Jim Murphy

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco is known as one of the most tech savvy players in the NFL. He has his own iPhone and iPad application and is a frequent user of the Twitter social network. His Twitter usage has now landed him in trouble with the NFL and taken a hefty bite out of his wallet. Ochocinco was fined $25,000 by the league for sending ‘Tweets’ during the August 20 preseason game between the Bengals and Philadelphia Eagles.

2010-08-23 | Jim Murphy

It may only be the second week of NFL preseason action, but in Philadelphia there’s already cause for concern. Against a Cincinnati Bengals team never known for their intensity in exhibition games, the Eagles’ offense came completely unglued and all but handed a 22-9 victory to the home team. The Bengals hadn’t exactly ‘circled’ the game and despite the horrendous showing by the Eagles’ offense led by only 1 point at halftime and trailed at the start of the third quarter. They were able to pull away in the fourth quarter thanks to a one man rushing effort from backup Cedric Peerman, who scored two touchdowns and ran in a two point conversion.

2010-08-20 | Jim Murphy

It’s no secret that the Indianapolis Colts put little emphasis on the preseason NFL campaign, and that ennui was evident on Thursday night in Toronto where they took on the Buffalo Bills. Despite a halfhearted effort, the Colts hung around with the Bills for three quarters until Buffalo pulled away in the fourth to take a 34-21 victory in a game played at the Rogers Centre, home field of the CFL Toronto Argonauts. Buffalo evened their preseason record at 1-1 while Indianapolis dropped to 0-2.

2010-08-18 | Jim Murphy

The Seattle Seahawks opened a 20-7 lead at the end of the third quarter but had to withstand a furious comeback to outlast the Tennessee Titans 20-18 in the preseason opener for both clubs. The victory gave former USC head coach Pete Carroll a win in his Seattle head coaching debut and his first game back in the NFL since he left the New England Patriots in 2000. In the interim, Carroll became one of the most successful college football coaches of the decade as he restored the Trojans to the status of a national powerhouse.

2010-08-17 | Jim Murphy

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback rotation is in fairly good shape, but their preseason preparation has become a mess due to the suspension facing starter Ben Roethlisberger. ‘Big Ben’ will miss up to six games of the regular season, though he’s allowed to practice with the team and play in preseason action. Roethlisberger didn’t see any playing time in Pittsburgh’s 23-7 win over Detroit this past weekend but is expected to see action in the Steelers’ next game on Saturday against the New York Giants.

2010-08-16 | Jim Murphy

The New England Patriots opened up a 17-7 halftime lead but needed a Stephen Gostkowski field goal in the final minute to beat the New Orleans Saints 27-24 in the first preseason game for both teams. The Super Bowl Champions looked listless and their starting offense sputtered, but got back in the game behind their reserves in the late 3rd and early 4th quarters. New Orleans would tie the game on a Garrett Hartley field goal which would set up Gostokwski’s game winning strike with :53 seconds remaining.

2010-08-16 | Jim Murphy

The Cincinnati Bengals spotted the Denver Broncos a 14-0 lead before roaring back in the second half to win the NFL preseason contest by a final score of 33-24. Denver QB Kyle Orton looked very sharp in the first quarter, but most of the attention was focused on former Florida standout Tim Tebow who made his pro football debut. Tebow looked decent in limited action and scored a touchdown on the final play of the game to narrow Cincinnati’s margin of victory.

2010-08-16 | Jim Murphy

Sure, it’s only the first game of the preseason but when you’re off a year as bad as the Washington Redskins had in 2009 you take the positive wherever you can. On Friday night, the Redskins got the Donovan McNabb/Mike Shanahan era off to a good start with a 42-17 blowout victory over the Buffalo Bills. Washington spotted Buffalo a 3-0 lead before McNabb scored his first touchdown in a Redskins uniform to give his new team a lead they never relinquished. The Skins would go on to score five unanswered touchdown and build a 35-3 lead before the Bills tacked on some points in ‘garbage time’ to make the final score somewhat more respectable.

2010-08-12 | Jim Murphy

The New York Knicks made news last week by offering former team president and head coach Isiah Thomas a job as a ‘consultant’. On Wednesday, Thomas announced that he won’t be accepting a job and instead will remain in his current position as head coach of Florida International University. The Knicks’ decision to hire Thomas met with a good deal of criticism, since his reign with the team was not only unsuccessful on the court but controversial off the court including a well publicized sexual harassment lawsuit that cost the organization $11.6 million. Despite these struggles, Thomas has maintained a close friendship with Knicks’ owner Jim Dolan and that appears to be the basis for the team offering him a job.

2010-08-10 | Jim Murphy

The NFL preseason got underway on Saturday as the Dallas Cowboys faced off against the Cincinnati Bengals in the annual Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio. In a defensive struggle contested mostly by both teams’ reserves the Cowboys forced four turnovers to take a 16-7 win. David Buehler kicked three field goals for Dallas, who also added a Brandon Sharpe interception return for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. The Bengals were shut out until the final minute of the game when Jordan Palmer hit Darius Hill on a one yard touchdown pass.

2010-08-10 | Jim Murphy

The New York Jets are taking a hard line with holdout All Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis. The team rejected a contract offer from Revis’ agent on Monday and is now planning for the NFL season under the assumption that he won’t be with the team. Revis is slated to make $1 million this season and while the Jets concur that he’s underpaid they’re not prepared to meet his demand that he become the highest paid cornerback in the NFL—a price tag that would exceed $15 million a year.

2010-08-09 | Jim Murphy

Considered by many to be the best running back and wide receiver to ever play in the league, Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice were inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame on Saturday night in Canton, Ohio. Smith and Rice headlined a group of seven inductees that also included John Randle, Dick LeBeau, Rickey Jackson, Russ Grimm and Floyd Little.

2010-08-05 | Jim Murphy

Despite a media frenzy over a series of text messages that Brett Favre allegedly sent to his Minnesota Viking teammates saying he planned to retire, the veteran quarterback maintains that he’s not made any decision on whether or not to return for another NFL season. Favre says that his position remains the same—that he’ll play if he’s healthy. He’s planning to have his surgically repaired ankle examined next week, and will make a decision on his pro football future based on that diagnosis.

2010-08-04 | Jim Murphy

Corey Hart had been the subject of trade rumors heading into the deadline, but on Monday the Milwaukee Brewers did just the opposite—they rewarded him with a long term contract extension. The 28 year old Hart agreed to a 3 year deal worth $26.5 million that’ll keep him in a Milwaukee uniform through the 2013 season. Hart is in the midst of a solid season, batting .288 with 23 home runs and 72 RBIs in 92 games.

2010-08-03 | Jim Murphy

It didn’t take long for Chris Bosh to respond to Toronto GM Bryan Colangelo’s assertion that he’d ‘quit’ on his former team last season. Bosh and LeBron James have signed with Miami to join Dwayne Wade, and the team has since become the NBA betting favorite to dethrone the LA Lakers as NBA champions. Both James and Bosh have taken their share of heat about how the move was handled, but on Friday Bosh denied Colangelo’s claims and insisted that he always ‘played hard’.

2010-08-03 | Jim Murphy

A flurry of reports in the UK media is suggesting that Chinese billionaire Kenny Huang is negotiating to take control of Liverpool. Huang isn’t looking to buy the club directly, but is instead bidding to the Royal Bank of Scotland to buy the club's £237 million debt. While this in itself wouldn’t give him control, it would provide Huang with what is being described as "a ridiculously large amount of leverage" to oust the English Premier League team’s current owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett.