ROTOWIRE.COM NFL MLB / Minors NBA NHL GOLF RACING    COMMUNITY FORUMS PODCASTS MYROTOWIRE ASK AN EXPERT GAMES

Archive September 2006

All of the articles archived for the month that you have specified are displayed below.

Cubs Burning Through Arms

From the Cubs' Web Site: When Dusty Baker called on Jae-Kuk Ryu to pitch in the ninth inning of the Cubs' 14-6 win Tuesday over the Brewers, it marked the team's 522nd pitching change of the season. That's a Major League record. The previous mark was set by Felipe Alou's Giants in 2004.

Feel Bad for Drew Bledsoe

Owens took shots at McNabb in the media, but he never implied McNabb was so awful, he'd rather just kill himself.

Oldest Living Baseball Player

Pro Baseball Player discovered to be still alive at 110.

This guy was born in the same year as Babe Ruth.

Super Fan Review

Got hooked up with the Super Fan package by DirecTV and promised I'd comment on it.

Didn't use the player tracker - I can just as easily track my guys online - but did use two channels a lot - the red zone channel where they switch to games where teams are in the red zone automatically for you - it's convenient if you have a hangover, and don't want to constantly jump around, plus you don't watch commericals.

Also like the channel where you can watch all eight games at once and select which one you want to hear the volume on. My screen is 37 inches - a little small for that feature - if I had a 60-inch screen, that would be tremendous. Also, would be good if the individual games used up more of my screen and were a little bigger - there are big margins on the top and bottom (maybe I can change the settings on my TV to fix that somewhat). But I can see enough to click through to where the action's at or at least move the volume to that game. If you had a projection size screen, though, it would be like having a sports bar in your house.

Still haven't used Short Cuts (20-minute games replayed without huddles or commercials), and intend to do so this week - if they ever send me a DVR, that would be nice so I can catch all of it when I have time.

Zambrano the Slugger

From the Cubs' Web Site:

Zambrano now has six home runs in 70 at-bats, and he ranks third in the National League behind sluggers Ryan Howard (9.52) and Albert Pujols (10.98) in terms of fewest at-bats per home run at 11.67.

Jack Del Rio is Too Conservative

The Jags defense looks great, but to constantly punt on 4th and short inside the other team's 40 is just cowardly. I mean, doesn't it cut both ways, if your defense is playing well, then what's the big deal if you fail to make it? You'd think the chance to get points rather than the worry about giving them up would be the main priority. Jacksonville just punted on 4th and 6 from Jax's 37, got a touchback - that punt was worth 17 yards.

Eli Manning - How Great Was His Performance?

It would be premature to say Manning has definitively turned the corner after his outstanding game in Philadelphia - since consistency over several games is what he still needs to establish. But for that one game, Mannning has to be credited with putting up one of the better quarterback performances in recent memory. Consider the following:

  • He threw for 371 yards and three touchdowns on 43 attempts (8.6 YPA) and completed more than 70 percent of his passes. (Very good, but not unusual).
  • He threw just one interception, and that was on a good pass to Tiki Barber which was deflected. (The pick was not his fault).
  • He put up these numbers despite being sacked 8 times and hit and hurried several others. (Would love to know of a quarterback who put up better numbers on the road having been sacked eight times).
  • He put up these numbers while the Giants normally efficient running game averaged only 3.3 yards per carry.
  • He did this on the road in one of the most hostile environments in the NFL, facing a good defense and perhaps the league's best defensive coordinator.

Manning's shown flashes before only to revert to bad decisions and inaccurate throws, but on Sunday, he played like a quarterback who will win some big playoff games in his career.

Visanthe Shiancoe - Unsung Hero of Giants Win

While starting tight end Jeremy Shockey was limping around like he usually does, his backup Shiancoe made three crucial plays that allowed the Giants to win Sunday's game - and scarcely got a mention in the post-game story:
  • When Plaxico Burress fumbled, and the ball was loose, the Eagles Michael Lewis jumped on it, and Shiancoe, who had been hustling down the field, dove into Lewis just as he was corraling it, and helped knock it loose toward the end zone, where Tim Carter fell on it for a touchdown. If not for Shiancoe, Lewis recovers the ball, and the game is over.
  • On a subsequent drive, Shiancoe caught a pass that Brian Dawkins was able to simultaneously catch, and held onto it long enough to make it a reception and not an interception - I'm quite sure Dawkins is not a guy who it's easy to wrest a football from.
  • Finally, when Eli Manning was sacked (can't remember if this was in overtime or in the fourth quarter), it was Shiancoe who fell on the football.

Shiancoe literally saved the game three separate times. If any one of those plays isn't made, the Giants lose.

More Bad Calls

Didn't actually see the replay, and was just flipping though channels, but noticed a Bucs' defensive TD was called back on a hold that wasn't. Also, Tim Carter did hold in overtime against the Eagles, but the play was eight yards past him and essentially over with by the time he did it. Do the officials really need to flag that and potentially change the outcome of the game? On pass interference calls, if the ball is uncatchable, there's no flag, , why should it be different for holding calls that don't affect the play? I'm not talking about defensive holding on a pass play, where the quarterback lost a possible option - that DOES affect the play. I'm talking about a situation like Carter's where Brandon Jacobs was eight yards down the field and being tackled when he made his senseless hold - why not let something like that go?

The refs should err on the side of letting the players play.

Has Dennis Green Lost His Mind?

How can the Cardinals punt down 11 points with no timeouts and less than three minutes left? And how can the announcers not mercilessly get on his case for that? It's as if this game took place in a different universe. They're running the ball, and then they punt. Sometimes, coaches forget whether it's third or fourth down, but the only excuse for Green's decision is that he forgot whether it was the third or fourth quarter.

Also, what's up with Herm Edwards punting on the road on 4th and 13 from midfield with 22 seconds left in the game? One pass completion, and you have a field goal chance. If you turn it over on downs, there will be only about 12-15 seconds left from midfield for Denver. If getting into field goal range on one play is so tough, then why are you scared that they'll be able to do it?

Moss' Penalty for Taunting

Moss got a 15-yard penalty for flipping the ball to Nate Kaeding on the sideline after the catch. Is new commish Roger Goodell responsible for this b.s. new policy of ticky-tack foul calling on the league's "bad boys"? If so, he's off to a bad start.

And why won't Marty Schottenheimer let Philip Rivers play? I know they're up 13-0, but it's ridiculous to hand the ball off 20 times in a row when it's no longer working.

Monday Night Football 9/11 Charade

I can't believe I just watched the governor of California in the MNF booth waxing patriotic with a firefighter from California. How ridiculous! The guy flew to NY, it seemed they were saying, AFTER 9/11 to help out. While that's a noble thing to do, and firefighting in general is a noble profession, why is this guy different from any garden variety fireman? And why couldn't they spring for a firefighter that was on the ground during 9/11? Not that it would make any difference, (it's all cheesy made-for-TV crap), but if you're going to play that card during the game, at least get a guy who risked his life on THAT DAY.

What a Stupid Game

What a ripoff that Giants-Colts game was. That b.s. offensive pass interference call? Those refs were the dregs of humanity - what a bunch of senseless fools. As a ref, rule No. 1 should be DON'T EVER MAKE UP STUFF THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN. They thought Carter pushed off because the defender slipped, but they didn't SEE it. If you don't see it, don't infer it. Err on the side of missing the call rather than making up a call where none exists. That was a key first down, and instead put the Giants in second or third and long in their own end. Ridiculous. Of course, that's not half as bad as the five or six calls they jobbed Seattle with in the Super Bowl, but it's the same issue, and it damages the game.

On a side note, Jay Feely really blew it when he missed that easy kick. If it were up to me, he'd be running sprints after the game. The Colts run defense really blows. I've never seen a team so consistency run with such ease.

DirecTV's New Features

A P.R. person for DirecTV contacted me and said she'd hook me up with some of the new features they have for fantasy owners so that I might promote them to our readers. Of course, I want as much free stuff that I'd consider paying for as possible, so I agreed. If the features are crap, I'm not going to lie and promote them, of course, but if they worth getting, I will let you know.

One thing I have to look into is that they might have been a little shady on the pricing. (This is totally separate from the P.R. deal). When I signed up, they told me if I bought the NFL Sunday Ticket for $70 per month for four months, I'd get four months of DirecTV for free with everything (all the HBOs, movie channels, etc.). So $280 for four months including everything. But then Tim Schuler told me it's only $169 bucks or so for Sunday Ticket, so they ripped me off by $110 bucks, acting like I was getting everything else for free, but really that $110 is going toward my regular subscription. I'm going to call today.

Anyway, interested in the Short Cuts feature where you can watch NFL games without the commericals or huddles in 20 minutes. That's probably the biggest one for me, but we'll see, they said they have some new stuff as well.

Tell Someone

  • Digg it
  • submit to reddit reddit
  • Add to Mixx!

Recent Favorites

NFL Notes
A look around the league regarding Week 10:
Week 10 Observations
  • We've beaten to death Bill Belichick's decision to go for it on 4th and 2 in Sunday night's game (the best take on it I've seen is here), but the real takeaway is how much Cris Collinsworth, Al Michaels, Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison felt it was their duty to spout the conventional wisdom without even attempting to analyze Belichick's basis for the decision. Throw in Bob Costas, and it's appalling that five guys collectively making more than $10 million a year to interpret the sport for us didn't even consider the issue from a probability standpoint. Sadly, the NBC crew is probably the best one on TV. (Update: Jon Gruden just defended Belichick's call on MNF - good for him).
    • Dominant Offense but Shaky Defense...Barkley and Dirk
    This topic is a spin-off from the Michael Jordan thread of last week.  In the excellent discussion on that thread a mini-debate broke out as to how Charles Barkley compares to Kevin Garnett.  The gist of the brief debate was to question whether Barkley was enough better than Garnett offensively to make them comparable in value as overall players despite Garnett’s huge defensive advantages.  The thing is, though, to me there is a much better comp for Barkley in this generation than Garnett:  Dirk Nowitzki.
    What is Iverson's Legacy?
    What are we talking 'bout? We're talking 'bout *IVERSON*.
    Jennings vs Rose
    Last year Derrick Rose was the NBA Rookie of the Year.  One year later, would you take him over current rookie point guard phenom Brandon Jennings?

    RSS Feeds