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By Anthony De Franco  August 6, 2009, at 7:11 pm  As the Radiers attempt to get rid of all the terrible mistakes that they’ve made over the last few years, it appears that they are making some headway. PFT reports:
After an offseason worth of rumors indicating a deal might happen, the Patriots acquired Derrick Burgess from the Raiders Thursday. (In a sign of the times, they announced it via their Twitter feed.)
New England will give up “undisclosed draft considerations” in the move. Oakland was believed to be looking for two mid-round picks in the deal, but it’s unclear if they got them.
Burgess is expected to convert to outside linebacker in New England, where the team is in need of a pass rusher.
So, this is an interesting swap. Burgess has proven that he knows how to get to the QB, but has done it as 4-3 for most of his career. In New England, he’ll be asked to learn how to play a new position over the next couple of weeks and I’m sure that Bill Bellichick wants him ready for opening day. However, it’s no lock that he’ll provide the speed and explosiveness that is necessary at the OLB position.
I’d be shocked if the Radiers receive anything more than a 4th in exchange, but at least they don’t have to pay him.
By Jason Comack August 6, 2009, at 5:48 pm Elijah Dukes might be crazy. He’s been arrested at least three times for battery and once for assault, he’s fathered five children with four different women, he allegedly threatened to kill his wife and a 17 year old girl says he impregnated her. When Dukes was traded to the Nationals the team also hired an ex-police officer in the role of “Special Assistant: Player Concerns”. This person accompanies Dukes everywhere to ensure that he keeps himself free of trouble. So why on earth does Dukes keep getting second chances? The answer is simple, Dukes is a damn talented baseball player.
Dukes came up with the Rays and as a 22 year old he hit .293/.401/.488 with 9 steals and 10 home runs in 80 games. He made his MLB debut in 2007 and despite struggling to hit for average, .190, he still manged to have a .318 on base percentage and a .390 slugging percentage. When you factor in that he had a .192 BABIP and .201 ISOP (isolated power) you can see why he would make scouts drool. However, to no ones surprise, Dukes attitude lead to Tampa deciding to cut the cord with him despite his immense potential. Dukes was traded to Washington at the outset of the 2008 season.
In 2008 Dukes again proved that he is worth the trouble. Though limited to 81 games due to various injuries Dukes posted an impressive .264/.386./.478 line while stealing 13 bases and hitting 13 home runs. Many thought that 2009 was going to be Dukes breakout campaign. Baseball Prospectus’s usually deadly accurate PECOTA projection projected Dukes to hit .278/.385/.485 with 19 home runs and 17 steals. It seemed a 20/20 season in 2009 was in reach.
Until today 2009 was a lost year for Dukes.
In the off-season the Nationals had signed Adam Dunn to play left field, creating a giant logjam with Dunn, Lastings Millidge and Josh Willingham all vying for playing time with Dukes. Dukes role was never set, he bounced around between right and center field and after struggling early on he was sent to AAA. At AAA Dukes found his stroke and raked. He hit .279/.388/.529. That’s a .214 ISOP for those of you scoring at home and by the way he also had a low .286 BABIP.
At the trade deadline the Nationals finally cleared up their outfield logjam. Nick Johnson was traded to Florida and Lastings Millidge to Pittsburgh for Nyjer Morgan. This allowed Dunn to shift to first base, Willingham to left, Morgan to center and Dukes was called up to reclaim his spot in right.
Today Dukes went 3-4 with a home run and 4 RBI’s. Just when you thought you were out, he sucks you back in.
The Nationals seem intent on giving him the rest of ‘09 to prove his worth. With all of Duke’s struggles both on, and off, the field it’s easy to forget that he is still only 25 years old. Maybe Dukes will realize his talent maybe he won’t. But talented athletes like Dukes always get second chances.
By Anthony De Franco August 6, 2009, at 5:17 pm Would it shock you if B.J. Penn’s house has a shrine to Georges St. Pierre in it? Is it me, or is Penn just absolutely obsessed with the welterweight champ? Here’s a quote from an interview with Yahoo that proves that B.J. is still thinking about Georges, even days before his title defense against Kenny Florian:
“In my opinion, he doesn’t play by the rules when it comes to steroids and growth hormones and that stuff. Look at him. He’s the worst. He looks like that every day. That’s cheating. There is a reason why there are rules against using steroids. The rest of us, we get fat, then we train and get skinny and the cycle goes over and over again. He looks the same way all the time. Come on.”
GSP didn’t respond (and shouldn’t) but the businesses best cornerman Greg Jackson did.
Greg Jackson, one of St. Pierre’s trainers, laughed at the thought.
“Georges is a phenomenal athlete and he’s such an honorable guy, if he felt he cheated, even inadvertently, it would drive him crazy and he wouldn’t be able to sleep,” Jackson said.
B.J., Listen. I know that you are still pissed that you got your ass beat by GSP. I would be too. You had delusions that you were the worlds best fighter, but the sad truth is that you aren’t even in the conversation. However, to make completely baseless claims like this is truly juvenile. It doesn’t make you sound like a great white knight for the sport. It makes you sound like an idiot.
If I’m Kenny Florian, I am pumped as anything right now. This clearly means that B.J. has his mind on other things, and that he still hasn’t put the stomping that St. Pierre put on him behind him.
By Jason Comack August 6, 2009, at 4:09 pm From Rotoworld:
Kurt Warner says he is only 85 percent after off-season hip surgery. Warner admits his hip is still sore despite being over four months removed from the operation. According to KTAR Sports Radio, he’s appeared “slightly hindered” in practice.
If you listen to 4th Down on WCWP Sports this is a point I have been making for months. How did anyone expect a 38 year old Kurt Warner to be able to bounce back from major hip surgery right away? Remember this is the same surgery that A-Rod, 34 years old, had and it took him a significant amount of time to recover. Factor in that A-Rod still needs occasional days off, is four years younger, and most importantly plays a much less physically demanding sport you have to worry about Warners health this season. Don’t forget that besides this most recent injury Warner has only played a full 16 game season only once since 2001.
I’ll set the over under of games started at 8.
By Anthony De Franco August 6, 2009, at 8:00 am Jesse Lennox v. Danilo Villefort
Both of these guys are coming over from the WEC and will be having their first official fight in the octagon this saturday. Villefort is an IFL veteran who specializes in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He is the godson of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. He also has a judo background, which I believe doesn’t work (see Paraysian, Karo) but who knows. It’s another tool in the tool box.
Lennox also had one IFL fight, but lost. That’s his only loss so far, but you have to wonder if the competition he fought was of the caliber of his IFL opponent. Lennox is a Miletich fighting systems product, which means he is a good wrestler out of Bettendorf, Iowa.
Prediction: Villefort via submission Round 2
George Satiropoulous v. George Roop
These two ultimate fighter alumni will be fighting at 155, which is new territory for Satiropoulous. He’s fighting out of Serra jiu-jitsu on Long Island, which makes me love him, but I’m worried about the switch in weights as he comes down from 170.
His jitz is top-level, but he suffers from the same problem that a lot of top level jiu-jitsu guys do, he hates getting hit. He’s 2-0 since his days on TUF, but Roop provides some interesting problems for him.
Roop is 6′1 and weighs in at 155. He’s huge for the division and was successful against Dave Kaplan by using his reach. It also doesn’t hurt that Kaplan sucks. Roop will have the advantages on the feet, but on the ground, his long limbs could be a detriment. It’s easier to submit someone with longer arms and legs then someone with stumpy ones.
Prediction: Satiropoulous via Submission Round 1
Matt Riddle v. Dan Cramer
Riddle is famous for accepting an Xbox 360 from Tim Credeur on TUF after a loss. He’s also one of the UFC’s youngest fighters at just 23. You saw the potential that Riddle had when he was being coached by Rampage Jackson, and it seems to be coming out now. He’s 2-0 in the UFC and has a chance to improve and be a decent fighter. He’s being brought along slowly and that’s probably the right way to approach someone with a high ceiling, but has to mature.
Cramer is also from that season of TUF and is 1-0 in the UFC after a win against Matt Arroyo. However, I expect Riddle to take him down and ground and pound out a victory.
Prediction: Riddle via Unanimous decision
Thales Leites v. Alessio Sakara
This is the ultimate battle of one trick ponies. Sakara is a strong boxer, but has no other redeeming qualities, unless we count cool tatoos. Leites is a good BJJ practitioner, but can’t stand. I’ll always take the grappler over the boxer.
Prediction: Leites via submission
Tamdan McCrory v. John Howard
This is a bit of an uninteresting fight, if only because neither of these fighters are all that exciting. McCrory is 3-2 but hasn’t really beat anyone of note. Howard is 1-0, but beat a no name. McCrory is 6′4 and Howard is 5′7. I got McCrory.
Prediction: McCrory via unanimous decision
Shane Nelson v. Aaron Riley
This is a rematch of a fight that Nelson won in what most people refer to as the worst stoppage in the history of the UFC.
Nelson is best known as the idiot in the TUF 8 house not named Junie Browning. However, he is 2-0 since his TUF stint with wins over George Roop and Riley. Another Hawaiian that trains with B.J. Penn, Nelson has excellent jiu-jitsu.
Riley is 1-2 after beating Jorge Gurgel, but losing to Nelson and Spencer Fisher. Don’t look for this fight to end any differently than the last one.
Prediction: Nelson via Submission
Check out Anthony’s main card predictions.
By Jordan Lauterbach August 6, 2009, at 2:59 am For the next few weeks our very own Jordan Lauterbach will be previewing the upcoming 2009 College Football season. Each day, he will be posting a new preview so be sure to check in everyday.
Last Season: 12-2, lost to Utah in Sugar Bowl
Resurrection came a year early for Nick Saben and the Alabama Crimson Tide. A three year plan skyrocketed to the present when Alabama shocked the country and won the SEC West. A SEC title game loss to Florida and a bad bowl game loss to Utah may have dampened the memories for a little bit, but now Alabama is ready to both embrace and build on the season that snuck up on all of us.
But doing so may be easier said than done. The Tide will have to hope that the loss of starting quarterback, John Parker Wilson and running back, Glenn Coffee doesn’t have to much of a negative effect. But if history is any judge, loosing your record breaking quarterback and top rusher never bodes well for building.
To avoid having to start over again, the Alabama offense will rest its hopes on quarterback Greg McElroy and running back Mark Ingram.
One thing that benefits McElroy is his experience. He has sat behind Wilson for two years after being redshirted in his first season. In limited action last season, McElroy completed 8 of 11 passes for 123 yards, one touchdown, and threw one pick. However, if I’m looking for reasons to get excited about McElroy is that he knows the playbook inside and out. That’s a positive. Whether he succeeds or not is anybodies guess. His stat line, although interesting to look at, is too small to make any bold predictions.
McElroy is helped by the return of sophomore receiver Julio Jones. Jones had an outstanding freshman campaign. He caught 58 passes for 924 yards and four touchdowns last season. Unless McElroy is downright dreadful, I would expect Jones’ 2009 stats to, at the very least, stay the same- if not improve a great deal.
But Jones alone does not give the Tide a dangerous passing attack. McElroy will need contributions from Mike McCoy, Earl Alexander, and Marquis Maze to contribute. None of these players saw a tone of action last season. Mike McCoy is the most experienced of the group. McCoy caught 16 balls for 191 yards and one touchdown last season. The offense will certainly need a better year from one of these three to complement Jones.
What may put even more pressure on the passing game is a running game that will not be quite as dangerous as it was last season. The 1000+ yards and 10 touchdowns that Glen Coffee brought are gone. The Tide will now be relying on Mark Ingram. Ingram had a nice season last year, rushing for 728 yards and 12 touchdowns. But the real question is how much of Ingram’s production was because of Coffee’s presence. If Ingram can handle starting running back carries, the running game won’t miss a beat. But if he can’t, the late season rushing game might suffer severely. Also look for big time recruit Trent Richardson to make an impact. Richardson is drawing comparisons to a young Emmit Smith
But as important as Ingram is to the running game, one can make an argument that the rebuilt offensive line is just as much a question mark. The loss of nutcase left tackle Andre Smith and All-American Antoine Caldwell hurts the line tremendously. James Carpenter, a junior college transfer, and William Vlachos will try and fill those large shoes. I would be concerned about the offensive line, particularly how it affects the running game. Yes, Coffee and Ingram had an outstanding season, but how much of that had to do with an outstanding line?
It’s a concern- most likely the biggest that ‘Bama has coming into 2009.
Offense is where the problem areas for Alabama may arise, defense is another story. The Tide only lost two starters off a defense that ranked second in the nation in stoping the run and third in total defense. While loosing Rashad Jones hurts, it certainly could be a lot worse. Assuming that none of the starters get hurt or decline in production, the defense will be just as good- probably better.
The biggest concern is how the offense transitions with a new quarterback and a new starting running back. I could see this Alabama team struggling to score. Expect a lot of 14-7 games, especially early in the year.
After last year, it might be a season filled with disappointment in Tuscaloosa
3 Games To Watch
September 5th- @ Virginia Tech- A brutal way to open the schedule. Coming off a slashing of Cincinnati in the Orange Bowl last year, Virginia Tech looks to again be a top team in the A.C.C. A fantastic opening weekend game could put ‘Bama in a hole early.
October 10th- @Ole Miss- 5-3 in the SEC last year, Ole Miss projects to be one of the nations most improved teams this year. Picked by The Sporting News to finish first, Ole Miss and Jevon Sneed could return Ole Miss to national prominence quickly. If Alabama has any hopes to make it back to SEC championship game, they will need to win this one.
November 7th- LSU- A Les Miles coached team is always a tough play. If ‘Bama is still in the hunt for an SEC west title, this is the game that could decide it… and don’t think LSU has forgotten that overtime loss last year at home.
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