Salary Cap increases leaves NFL free agency quite boring.

I am a Chicago Bears fan and I have to be honest I thought the Bears had lost their star outside linebacker Lance Briggs to free agency this year. Fortunately for the Bears, and me I was wrong. You see this past year the players association finally got their way. They voted to increase the team salary cap from $85.5 million to $109 million. This allowed the Bears to assign the franchise tag on Lance Briggs. This gave Briggs a mandated salary and also required other teams to be forced to trade 1st round draft picks in exchange for the rights to sign Briggs should he decide to go somewhere else. The only negative thing is now there are no big names for the Bears to pick up in free agency. What do you think, is the increase in the salary cap a good idea or a bad one?

Adrian Peterson did well in the NFL combine finishing with a 4.38 40-yard dash and second place in the vertical jump just showing what Oklahoma fans didn’t fully get to enjoy. Yes, they remember the fabulous freshman season when the whole team was dominant but really since then Oklahoma missed out in my opinion. Probably the best player to walk Oklahoma’s campus did not achieve a BCS victory, Heisman trophy, or the coveted all time Oklahoma yardage leader. He could have been so much to the Sooners, but the injuries were always there. I think when he is healthy he is the most exciting player to watch in football period. However, I think that Adrian is not going to last in the NFL. I hope I am a wrong, I hope that suddenly he decides that he should start drinking milk and miraculously his body becomes invulnerable to injury, but these are wishes and hopes, not reality. Adrian’s first week at OU he messed up his shoulder or collar bone, and look what bothered him this year. You think the NFL will be easier on him? I think not. Good Luck AD, wish we could have seen you more at OU, good luck getting drafted onto one of the worst teams in the NFL, I hope they draft some good offensive lineman to help you out…

Go away Roger...

Roger Clemens, one of the best pitchers ever is at it again. Last year he was 99% he was retired and finally returned to the Houston Astros after skipping spring training and a large part of the regular season he was paid him $12.25 million to play just part of the season. Now Clemens says he is 80% sure he is going to stay retired. The Astros are preparing for life without him, but Roger continues to be in the news. Where will Roger go? When will he decide to play? Why don’t other super-phonemes try to pick contracts like this? I think he is one of the most selfish players anywhere. Barry Bonds immediately comes to mind when I think of selfish non-team players, but he plays the whole year if he is healthy. Overall, this is ridiculous that teams depend so much on one individual, and the problem is he still seems to be worth the money.

Now I like NASCAR, but have never considered it a sport even though some people do, so that is why this post is in regards to NASCAR. I find it amazing how many racers have got caught cheating on the NASCAR circuit. The big headline for NASCAR this year was supposed to be that Toyota was now going to compete against American traditional racecars, Chevy, Ford, and Dodge. So far they have been the highlight but not in the way you would expect.
Toyota’s biggest name, Michael Waltrip, was caught cheating by injecting some type of illegal substance into his cars fuel. Meanwhile only two of the other Toyota’s qualified for Daytona.

Then yesterday Jeff Gordon, probably one of the top two most popular drivers got penalized for having his car too low to the ground but NASCAR officials declared this as part failure and not cheating. Prior to all of this, Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and Scott Riggs, had their crew chiefs fined and suspended for violating rules. What a great way to start off the year of NASCAR. I guess it just shows that people will try anything to win.

Remind me to never be a coach that goes 14-2...

It was said that it couldn’t be done. The Chargers could never be a Super Bowl contender again. Especially after the end of the 90’s and the beginning of the millennium. Marty Schottenheimer did it. He turned the San Diego Chargers from the worst to the first. He finished the season with a better record than anyone else in the NFL. His team lost to the only modern day Dynasty, New England Patriots, who were seconds away from beating the Super Bowl Champion Colts. So what happens this week to reward Marty for his amazing accomplishment? He was fired. Fired because the general manager did not get along with Marty. What a bad move. Maybe Eli Manning made the right choice after all.

Bye Bye Tiki and other NFL news...

Tiki Barber scored his final Touchdown Saturday as he heads off into a his new career. What a great way to finish, at the top. Over the past five years he has been one of the best running backs in the game. He over came the fumbleitist of his early career and became very productive even leading his team to a Super Bowl. How fitting was it that Tiki got to enjoy his last game by scoring a touchdown at the Pro Bowl.

Devin Hester DID IT AGAIN. Is he not the best kick/punt return specialist in a very long time? Tim Dwight had a great rookie season, Desmond Howard won a Super Bowl MVP but I don’t know anyone that is this much of a threat on punt and kick returns. Meanwhile, Brett Favre told the world that he is coming back to play another season. How do you think an athlete should retired? Should they leave on top like Tiki? Or leave after they have given their all like Joe Montana?

Sooner Signing Day

I am a transplanted Iowa Hawkeye Fan but have found it easy to root for the Sooners as most of their coaches have come from Iowa. National Signing day was yesterday. The Oklahoma Sooners finished strong by obtaining the written commitment from Austin Box, Desmond Jackson, Keith Nichol, and Mike Reed. They even stole a recruit from Oklahoma State in Ryan Broyels. Travis Lewis decided at the last minute to switch from Nebraska to Oklahoma. Overall I think the Sooners did great in recruiting. Keith Nichol is the odds on favorite, even though Coach Bob Stoops would not admit it, to be the Quarterback for the Sooners next season. Mike Reed looks to have an immediate impact as he is 6’4" and weighs 245 and is a top linebacker in the country.

Mike Reed

At the same time the Hawkeyes ended up finishing strong by obtaining a late commitment from Michigan standout Cedric Everson. He is a defensive back/athlete that is ranked as one of the top in the country. Iowa lost their Quarterback Drew Tate and possibly found a future replacement in Marvin McNutt from Missouri. Perhaps the greatest get by the Hawkeyes was Jordan Bernstine from Des Moines who is one of the greatest players ever to come out of Iowa high school football. Other key recruits to Iowa were: OL Bryan Buluga, TE Christian Everson, and Diauntae Morrow.

Click Here to see how your team did in recruiting and please respond with your feelings on your team!!!

Jordan Bernstine

A Super Bowl Lost...

Well, Devon Hester gave me great hope, and so did Thomas Jones, then it was all over. Rex Grossman took care of the rest for the Bears as he had three turnovers, two of which came right after the defense had obtained two great turnovers! Its obvious if the Bears are going to win the Super Bowl they are going to need someone who will not lose the game for them. Rex was supposed to super charge the offense with his long ball, but the long ball wasnt there as he underthrew his receivers all game long. Maybe next year, maybe a new quarterback.

Here is a picture of Devin Hester setting an NFL record 6th return for a touchdown. He had two in the game. He is also the same person who took a kick back for a touchdown to win the game for the Bears against Arizona.

Here is a picture from last year that I had to post. This one is from The Herald Review. This is a picture of Urlacher after he sacked one of the fastest guys in the NFL, Michael Vick.

SUPER BOWL

Well this is Super Bowl week! I have been a long time Bears fan and I am finally witnessing some success. I hope the success continues on Sunday! Brian Urlacher has been the backbone of this team since he was first drafted. Devon Hester could be the difference maker however. I am very worried because almost everyone that talks about the Super Bowl says that the Colts will win, but that’s why they play the game right? The Bears have had an awesome year either way. That defense was amazing. When Rex Grossman had six turnovers on Monday Night Football, the defense and Devon Hester won the game by themselves. What a great year Bears, lets hope it continues into this weekend!

Random thoughts…

Great job to the police officers and Community for qucily finding Marissa Graham and her alleged abductor, and as far as that goes to those who found the two missing Missouri boys, what a great start for 2007! As far as the weather…. What are you thinking?! Oklahoma became Icelahoma last week and now you are going to dumb up to 10" of snow on us? I think the equator changed its shape last year because California, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Georgia are getting hit with winter weather but New York, New Jersey, and the rest of the North East are having very mild temperatures with very little snow. I heard that the Indian Tsunami made the earth tilt off its axis by a fraction, I wonder honestly if this weather has anything to do with that. Anyway this weather has got to go because I do not want to have to buy a snow shovel!

Ice Storm 2007

Well it is finally upon us. After viewing the worlds longest list of cancellations, standing in line for an hour at Wal-Mart, as people prepare for Armageddon, and listening to Gary Daniel display "see I told you so attitude," on television it can definitely be said that the ice storm is here. I didn’t realize that the storm was going to be such a big deal until I went to Wal-Mart on Thursday night. People were backed up to the back of the store and all the bread and milk was gone. I realized then that it was probable that Wal-Mart has invented a weather controller. Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott has decided that the cure for January sales slumps is just to initiate bad weather. Well after I picked up my out door faucet cover, (everyone should have one as a 97 cent foam cover would have saved me $500 in repairs from last years freeze) I went over to the snack area as I knew there was a possibility that I would be snowed in the next day. People were counting out individual "survival" meals for their kids and thinking out loud, as they would say "ok, we need two meals for Joey, three cans of soup for Sarah." Living in Oklahoma we often are not able to prepare for natural disasters as Tornadoes come up with very little warning. I think times like this when our governor declares a state of emergency, we understand in a small measure the preparation that Floridians have to go through during each hurricane season.