Random Crap Rant time!  Let's do it.

Deion Branch has offcially become a complete moron.  Add him to the list with Kevan Barlow.  Not only is this schmuck refusing to play because he isn't getting enough money, but now he has filed a grievence because the Patriots denied trade offers.  Deion, you aren't Marvin Harrison, or Randy Moss, or Terrell Owens, or Hines Ward.  STOP ASKING FOR MONEY LIKE YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE GUYS.  Branch I believe is an over-rated player, who is made better by the Patriots offense which shares the ball with everyone.  I don't think that Branch would be a legit #1 guy on any team, yet he seems to think he is the best in the league.  Everyone talks about Owens being a bad team-mate, Branch is trying to show him up.  If the Patriots were smart, they would toss this guy as soon as he can.  Altough the recieving group looks weak,  The Patriots like to give everyone the ball, they don't need one great guy for that offense to have success.

Mike Vanderjagt missed two kicks in a preseason game.  Now with regular offensive and defensive players, the preseason is useless.  However with kickers and punters, it actually matters.  This guy thinks he's the greatest thing at the kicker position, and now he's missing easy stuff.  Sure, Vanderjagt is a better kicker than the Cowboy's other kickers last year, Cortez and Cundiff, but I don't see him making the clutch kicks for the Cowboys.

The Dolphins backup running back Sammy Morris tested positive for steroids.  You know what, he's only suspended for 4 games.  I would up that sentance to an entire year.  If you cheat, you should be punished.  Heck, this guy doesn't matter to the Dolphins team, they should toss him.  They have Ronnie Brown and Travis Minor, Morris would be the #3 at best.  Just cut the guy, and maybe he will learn his lesson.

So our USA basketball team lost in the World Championships.  To who?  Greece?  I doubt anyone on this website could even name one player from the Greece team.  It shows the problems with NBA style basketball, it's all flash, and little skill.  What happened to passing the ball to the open guy, or driving to the basket?  All I see is some guy take a few steps, then take a fade-away, and miss is 90% of the time.  It's a shame.

Which brings me to the WNBA,  which is more fundamentally sound, yet no one seems to care about it.  The 2nd game of the finals is tonight between Sacremento and Detroit.  Altough, I must say I probably won't watch it.  Not that it isn't good, I've watched a bit in the past, and didn't find it any better/worse than NBA ball, but it's most likely that I will completely forget about it and end up playing another 4 games of Madden.

By the way, the Madden review is coming soon on this blog!

Also, the Red Sox, who haven't done anything recently, have traded away old/fat/bald/drunk David Wells to the Padres.  Wait, I thought the Red Sox lacked starting pitching, so they traded a starting pitcher?  Makes no sense to me.

College Football saturday is tommorow for the first time this year.  The biggest talked about game on Saturday is Notre Dame versus Georgia Tech.  Now ND is talented, but I think calling them 2nd best in the nation is a little much.  They are over-hyped, as with all big names schools.  Many people may be shocked if they got upset in this game.

Also, the only matchup with two top 25 teams is Cal vs Tennessee.  I'm going to make a prediction that neither of those two teams at the end of the year will be in the top 25.

Back to the NFL quickly, the Rams signed veteran power back Stephen Davis to a deal.  Now this baffles me, because typically when you have a power back starter, you need a speedster to back him up.  But instead, they backup power back Steven Jackson with a has-been power back?  Makes little sense.

Finally, We will end where the RCR has never gone before, Tennis!  Now let me start by saying I am not a tennis guy, in fact I almost never watch it because it kinda bores me.  But watching the last hour of the Andre Agassi vs some guy named Baghdatis, who was ranked 8th in the world, and was 21 years old.  He was facing a future hall of famer (if a Tennis HOF exists) in the old man Agassi who was potenially playing his last match.  Towards the end, Baghdatis had leg cramps, yet he wasn't allow to work on it, and this guy was limping around and still hanging in there.  It was close and back and forth, but the old guy pulled it off.  I never enjoy tennis, but it was a great match, filled with tons of suspense.  In a sport which is fading away, last night they did something right.

Well, that's it.  Hope you enjoyed it.

It's Random Crap Rant time, let's go!

Koren Robinson most likely flushed what was left of his career right down the crapper.  After driving drunk and running from cops, the Vikings have decided to release this guy.  And that is a good idea, Robinson apprently fell of the wagon, and didn't remain sober.  The Vikings were kind enough to give the guy a second chance, and he failed.  Will he get another shot in the NFL?  Maybe, he's likely suspended for this whole season, but someone is always looking for players.  Robinson has talent, and if he ever gets his life together, maybe he will get a third chance.  That's what drinking does, ruins lives.

Well the pre-season has claimed more vicitms, this time two of them are Jaguars.  Linebacker Mike Peterson and fullback/guy who will run when Taylor gets hurt again Greg Jones are both likely going to miss some regular season time.  Which reminds me, WHY DO WE PLAY 4 OF THESE POINTLESS GAMES????

Time for WWE!  (As many people click on the "back" button) Kurt Angle, who has been a huge part of the WWE the last couple years has been released.  Apprently, Angle is incredibly beat up physically, to the point that he gained an addiction to pain killers.  For now, the wrestling world is without Angle, which is a shame, because he was intense, and always gave his all.  It might not be the last we see him, but for now, he's done.

On to NASCAR, Matt Kenseth won last nights Bristol race for the second straight year.  Right now, Jimmie Johnson leads the standings, Kenseth is only 7 back.  And the nearest guy is 321 points away from Johnson.  If anyone else other than Johnson or Kenseth wins this title, it will be a robbery.  All the great finishes they had through 26 races could be meaningless if they have 1 engine failure, or one stupid guy wrecking them.  Well, that's today's NASCAR.

Well we have about a month left in the MLB season, and anything can still happen.   That's why I think the media is stupid by already handing divisions to certain teams.  The only team I think you can do that legitimatly is the Mets, because they lead by 14.5 games, but if they bomb it, they can still lose it.  People are already handing certain teams divisions when all it takes is one losing streak, and all of a sudden you are on the outside.

Finally, the media is stupid for already handing people the Heisman Trophy.  How many games have we played in the college football season?  SQADOOSH!  Now you can always guess, but saying "Oh yeah, Player A will win the Heisman for sure" is just stupid.  They are about as dumb as the preseason polls, since about half of those teams will end up stinking.   Wait until we've played a few games before handing people trophies.

Well, that's all for today.

Well it's been a while since PTI was bumped. Altough over the last few weeks we've had to suffer through the occasional Le Batard, Whitlock, and/or Ryan, PTI was still there. Well today, it's bumped by golf. And whenver PTI isn't on, I choose to give you, the sports fan, your dose of sports with my cheap rip-off...

Ok, I had the cheap logo up, but now Fox is being stupid, and I can't get anything to work with font's and such, so no cheap logo.

LET'S BEGIN!

OPENING RANTS

Kevan Barlow already proved that he is a lackluster running back by strug-a-ling to get 4 a carry in San Francisco. Now apprently, this guy is also an idiot, as he in an interview compared 49er coach Mike Nolan to who? Hitler, Adolf freakin Hitler. Umm Barlow, when Nolan starts senselessly murdering people on your team, then say something, but a hard-ass coach is nothing compared to a real dictator. And now he's playing for Eric Mangini, who also is a very tough no nonsense coach. Have fun Kevan...

So the Dodgers got 3 people ejected Wednesday. Brad Penny thought it was a strike, when the ump called a ball. Also the manager got tossed, as well as outifelder Lugo, who was mad he got called out, and threw his helmet. Hey guys, your team has a legit shot at the World Series, why are you acting like idiots? Yelling at umpires doesn't make them change their mind. These guys do not realize how tough calling balls and strikes is, and yelling at the ump doesn't make him change his mind. If you don't like the call, calmly ask the ump why it went the other way, then regardless of the response, go back out, and finish your game. Quit acting like schmucks.

This week in the world of NASCAR, they race at the short track Bristol. It's always a good race, fulled with tons of lead changes, and LOT's of caution flags. My beef is, Why isn't Bristol in the Chase schedule? As many of you know, I think the "Chase" is incredibly stupid, but that's for another day. I look at the schedule for those last 10 races, and I laugh. New Hampshire? Dover? Kansas? Come on, these tracks aren't worthy of these races and neither is Texas. Now looking at the others, I agree with Talladege and Martinsville, but I still think for this thing to be legit, Daytona and Darlington deserve to be in there, along with Bristol. Phoenix, Charlotte and Homestead, meh. I also think a road course should be in there, those races truely take talent to win and not just money. If this is the schedule they want to use, then the NFL will destroy them in the ratings, and that's why this "Chase" was made. But NASCAR wants to get away from the unique tracks, and get to the in-original boring tracks like Kansas, California and Texas.

We are a week away from college football, and I am pumped. I've never been one to watch much of the college game, but this year, I will watch, and I will enjoy. But one thing I find interesting is former Arizona State quarterback Sam Keller sitting out an year and transferring to Nebraska because he lost the starting job. I don't know a lot about the college game, but this seems a lot like the college version of demanding a trade. But hey, I'm probably wrong.


Now, let's do some Oddsmakers!

ODDS that everyone is making too much out of the Terrell Owens injury.
100% Come on people, the guys injured! He's not trying to frustrate Parcells and they aren't going to have a fight anytime soon. Altough ESPN likes talking about it 24/7. That's one of my two problems with ESPN, the other is poker, but that's for a different day.

ODDS that the Phillies get the wild card
17% I chose them because they won't win the division, while all of the other wild card contenders can. They have decent batting but not so much from a pitching staff. They also have to worry about the Reds, Padres, Cardinals, Dodgers, but 2 of them get bounced out because they win the division.

ODDS the Red Sox still win the wild card.
8% They are only 4 games back, but they looked terrible against the Yankees, and not only would they have to do well, but the White Sox and Twins would have to struggle.

ODDS that Pat Riley retires after this next year.
45% He is pretty old, and if the Heat win again, he may feel that he has accomplihsed all he can. However if they don't win, he still may hunger for the title.

ODDS that Sidney Crosby wins the NHL MVP award this upcoming season.
33% His team was bad last year, but he played great. But he does have to worry about Ovechkin, and any other player who decides to have a great year.

THAT'S IT FOR ODDSMAKERS!

Finally

OVER/UNDER

Over/Under Julio Franco playing to age 50.
OVER. This guy is now 48, and he is still serivceable. As long as someone gives him a job, he'll still play.

Over/Under 1 more field goal kicked in the regular season by Martin Gramatica.
Well he got tossed from the Pats, however people always need kickers. Even crappy ones like him may get a game or two if a starter gets injured. OVER.

Over/Under 5th place finish this year for Jeff Gordon.
I say UNDER, meaning less than 5th, like 6th-10th. The way this chase is, if he has one bad race, he's screwed, and I just don't like his odds.

Over/Under 30 games started for Dominik Hasek.
Hasek is still good, but he is old, and had injury problems last year with the Senators. UNDER.

Over/Under -10 for Tiger Woods in the Bridgestone Invationial.
Well Tiger is really good, and will probably do better than that in the end, I say OVER.

OK lets do the Big Finish!
Deion Branch thinks contract negotiations will work out, do you agree?
Yes, he won't hold out too long.

Bloggers taking shots at other bloggers, will it last?
I hope not, it's pointless.

Mike Mussina on the DL, big deal?
As long as he's back for the playoffs they will be fine.

Last one, Cardinals vs Mets tonight, who ya got?
Dave Williams is a weak starter, Cards in upset.

Well that's all the time I got, I'll try better next time. I'm MrNFL and you can catch this again by clicking on the refresh button at the top of your browser.

ETD

What a fall for this kicker.  When Martin started with the Bucs in 1999, he was successful, hitting over 79% of his kicks for his first four years.

Then things go wrong, he tanks the 2003 season, missing 10 out for 26 kicks.  Then the next year he continue to struggle with the Bucs, and they tossed him.

Since then, the poor guy couldn't find work.  In 2005 the Colts picked him up to handle kickoffs, and that's it.

Now, this year he finally had a chance to re-deem him self with the Patriots.  What happens?  He gets cut by the Pats, in favor of a rookie named Gostkowski.

Anyone else kinda feel sorry for this guy?

So a three team trade took place yesterday between the Washington Redskins, Denver Broncos, and Atlanta Falcons.

The Falcons gave up power-back T.J. Duckett, who went to the Redskins.  The Falcons in return got under-achieving reciever Ashley Lelie.  And the Broncos get 2 un-determined draft picks.

How this changes the Falcons.
One of the big weaknesses of the Falcons the past couple years was lack of recievers.  They have yet to have a real deep threat, and Lelie has the speed to do that.  However, that is what the Falcons thought of Peerless Price, and that flopped in their face.

They lose Duckett, who is a great power guy, and is only 25 years old.  The pride of the Falcons offense has been the great running game they had between Duckett, speedster Warrick Dunn, and quarterback Michael Vick.  Now Warrick Dunn will have to do more himself.  Dunn is 31 years old, and being a small back, you can't expect him to take too much of an extra beating.  They don't have anyone proven behind these Dunn, and I think in the end, this trade will hurt the Falcons more than it will help.

How this changes the Redskins.
Getting Duckett was really just a security blanket in case Clinton Porits misses significant time.  If Portis ends up fine, Duckett will probably not get the ball very much, except in short-yardage.  But the Redskins are playing it safe with Portis's shoulder injury.

They have given up two picks to the Broncos, but no one knows what picks.  This is a quote from ESPN.com "At worst, the Broncos will receive two draft choices from Washington -- third- and fourth-round picks -- and those picks could escalate based on a complicated formula."  Giving up two potenial future starters for one insurance plan seems a little shaky, but they realize Gibbs is old, and the Redskins want to win now.

How this changes the Broncos.
The Broncos are now minus a whiny Leile, who wanted out because he didn't want to be the slot reciever.  They drafted him in the frist round in 2002, and he has yet to ever do anything great.  They have David Terrell or Darius Watts to take the slot spot, and they won't be much worse than Lelie.

Depending on what picks they end up getting, the Broncos could end up being the real winners.  If the picks do escalate, they could end up with two quality rookies who end up doing more than Duckett or Lelie.


It is indeed an interesting trade, and it will be fun to see how it all goes down.

THAT'S ALL I GOT

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