NFL ROUNDUP: Saints back in Louisiana for '06

The Saints will return to Louisiana in 2006, that much seems certain. Exactly when and where they will play games gets a little fuzzier.

The owner says maybe as early as September in the hurricane-ravaged Superdome. The commissioner says, "It's too early to say."

The two made separate statements Friday about the team's future, and while both were upbeat, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue was far more cautious in setting a timetable or even a site for the Saints' first game in New Orleans.

"There are a lot of things yet to be accomplished to make it more than a one-year arrangement," he said after meeting with players and coaches for about five hours. "There are a lot of chicken-and-egg decisions. It's a complicated situation."



Asked whether New Orleans could support an NFL team long-term, he said, "We think it can, but it's not a slam-dunk."

Earlier Friday, owner Tom Benson released a memo that said not only were the Saints hoping to be back in the dome in the fall, they were returning to their Metairie, La., practice complex next month.

Tagliabue, though, wouldn't rule out more games in San Antonio in '06.

Carolina: Linebacker Dan Morgan (shoulder) did not practice and was downgraded to doubtful.

Cleveland: Browns president John Collins denied that the club was planning to fire general
manager Phil Savage, who was hired less than a year ago to help fix Cleveland's floundering franchise. ESPN.com reported Friday that Savage was on the verge of being fired over "philosophical differences."

Houston: Rookie Vernand Morency will start at running back after Jonathan Wells (thigh) was placed on injured reserve.


Indianapolis: Wide receiver Marvin Harrison (hand) likely will return to the starting lineup for the season finale, but running back Edgerrin James might rest.

Jacksonville: At game time the Jaguars will decide whether quarterback Byron Leftwich returns from his broken left ankle.

Kansas City: Wide receiver Craphonso Thorpe agreed to a three-year contract.
New York Giants: Tight end Jeremy Shockey (ankle) and linebacker Reggie Torbor (hamstring) will miss tonight's game at Oakland.

St. Louis: Former Rams receiver and current broadcaster Jack Snow, 62, was in critical condition with a staph infection.

Washington: Quarterback Mark Brunell (knee) practiced and is expected to start against Philadelphia on Sunday.
source : freep.com

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Almost game time: Fun with Week 17

Those of us at the Fantasy Source have made it clear that the best fantasy football leagues are those that have championship games before Week 17. That's because many of the NFL's playoff-bound teams rest starters to prepare for the postseason.

What we haven't talked about is how fantasy owners still can have fun this week, postponing the imminent feelings of fantasy football withdrawal in the process. In one of my leagues, the commissioner decided to run a side game called the Shootout Bowl, where owners fill their lineups with NFL players of their choosing. It's like a salary cap league without a salary cap, and the owner scoring the most points wins the pot.



My team consists of the following players: Tom Brady, Tiki Barber, Larry Johnson, Chad Johnson, Steve Smith, Anquan Boldin, Antonio Gates, Lawrence Tynes and the Steelers' defense. Oh what I wouldn't do to have that lineup every week!

While overlapping of players is to be expected (I guarantee Gates will be nearly everyone's choice at tight end), there should be enough of a differential to crown a winner. Have at it, and good luck!

While overlapping of players is to be expected (I guarantee Gates will be nearly everyone's choice at tight end), there should be enough of a differential to crown a winner. Have at it, and good luck!


SHOW ME THE MONEY

Why is Tiki Barber among the best running backs in Ultimate Salary Cap Football? It's because 30 rushing or receiving yards count the same as one touchdown. The good news about Week 17 for Barber: He is in a terrific matchup against the Raiders, with plenty of motivation to succeed with a playoff spot on the line. Oakland is in the bottom fourth of the NFL in rushing touchdowns allowed (16) and ranks 24th in rushing yards allowed per game (122.5). Expect Tiki to break off a couple of big runs against a team that has won once in its past eight games.

Looking for a cheap third running back spot for your salary cap team? Consider Dominic Rhodes, as it's unlikely Edgerrin James will play much, if at all, in Week 17. Yes, I know Rhodes had five carries for -4 yards last week against the Seahawks, but if the Colts give him the bulk of touches, he is bound to score against a Cardinals defense that is tied for the most rushing touchdowns allowed (22). Not bad for $2.30 million.

If you need to go cheap with one of your receivers, have I got a deal for you: Mark Clayton. This Ravens rookie has been outstanding of late, averaging 76 yards receiving in his past four games, and he has scored a touchdown in his past three contests. Buy him for $2.05 million, and you're bound to have success -- Clayton faces the Browns, who are struggling to the finish line.


DEFENSE!

Chances are, the person leading your salary cap league is using the Steelers' defense, which means you need to look elsewhere to make up ground in the standings. You should take a long look at the Buccaneers, who will clinch the NFC South with a win over the Saints. New Orleans will be starting quarterback Todd Bouman, who threw four interceptions in Week 15 against Carolina. The Buccaneers should be able to take his milk money.

What's that I hear? You can't afford the Buccaneeers' $4.06 million price tag? Consider the Giants' defense at $2.59 million. Oakland's Kerry Collins has three touchdown passes vs. six interceptions in his past five starts. Although the Giants' defense is dealing with some injuries, I think it is a gamble worth taking.

GAME-TIME DECISIONS

Saturday

SD: E. Parker (foot)
NYG: J. Shockey (ankle)
NYG: R. Torbor (hamstring)


Early Sunday

CIN: C. Palmer (groin)
CIN: R. Kelly (wrist)
GB: R. Ferguson (knee)
IND: B. Stokley (knee)
IND: M. Harrison (hand)
BAL: B.J. Sams (leg)
NYJ: S. Ellis (hamstring)
CAR: D. Foster (toe)
CAR: D. Morgan (shoulder)
DET: K. Jones (elbow)
DET: A. Pinner (ankle)
MIA: R. Brown (knee/ankle)
NE: T. Bruschi (leg)

Sunday afternoon

HOU: J. Wells (thigh)
TEN: D. Bennett (knee)
TEN: C. Brown (ankle)
TEN: E. Kinney (knee)
TEN: S. McNair (pectoral)
TEN: B. Troupe (ankle)
JAX: G. Jones (neck)
JAX: B. Leftwich (ankle) PHI: J. Kearse (knee)

Sunday night
None
Associate Editor Roger Kuznia is a fantasy football expert for Sporting News.

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One-on-one with OSUÂ’s Mangold

PHOENIX — He wore his new, red Fiesta Bowl jogging suit zipped up tight beneath his chin, like a turtle neck. His large hands, cupped together peacefully next to the microphone, bore the nicks and scars of a season in the college football trenches.

But if you slipped behind the skirted table where Nick Mangold, Ohio State’s starting center and senior captain, sat on an elevated stage and held court four days before the Buckeyes’ game here with Notre Dame, you noticed he wore flip flops and you saw the way that golden mane of hair fell onto his shoulder blades.



Business at hand and yet relaxed. That’s the way it looked Thursday, the way it sounded.
In a 45-minute session — often showing that puckish sense of humor — Mangold talked about how he got his football start in Centerville and his greatest glory right here in the Arizona desert.

He talked about his sister Holley, who plays offensive line at Kettering Alter High. He talked about A.J. Hawk’s love life, Jim Tressel’s long hair and Maurice Clarett’s absence.

He told how he turned his back on Notre Dame, why he’s in no hurry to leave Ohio State and how, if a pro career doesn’t work out, he plans to be Hawk’s pool boy:

What it’s like being a center, looking at life upside down and through your legs?

“It gets a little dizzy some times...(laughter). They say it takes a special breed to play the position, but I just fell into the job my seventh grade year. Our guy broke his arm and they asked if anyone could snap the ball and I’ve been there ever since. I might dream about being a wide receiver, but I’m not arguing. It’s worked out pretty well.”

Are you surprised how fast your OSU career went?

“It’s unbelievable... My mom’s been collecting things the past four years — pictures, memorabilia and stuff — and I was home at Christmas I had a chance to go back and look at some of it. It’s amazing to see the pictures from that first Picture Day. How ungodly young I looked... (laughter) How I was scared, crying.”

What was your hair like in those first pictures?

“Definitely shorter, but still just beautiful and blond.”
How about Tressel, they say he had long hair in ’70s?

“Yeah, long hair and a sweater vest.”

Going to a Catholic school — Alter High — didn’t you consider Notre Dame?

“My mom — being from a good Catholic family — wanted me to go to Notre Dame when they offered a scholarship. Her whole side of the family did. They really didn’t know anything about football, they just knew the storied history, the tradition and what a great school it is. With the legends that came through there, it’s one of those mystical places.

“But my dad’s side, all being from Ohio, they wanted me to go to Ohio State and I’d always been a Buckeyes fan. And once my mom realized what I was becoming a part of, she was happy about Ohio State, too.”

What was it like, winning the national title here in the Fiesta Bowl in your freshman year?

“There’s no better way to finish off a national championship than in a game like that — hard fought, two overtimes, everyone drained. I remember being with a bunch of guys in the middle of the field, hugging, trying to soak it all in.

“I remember coming back to Centerville, seeing how many people had block O’s on their clothing, seeing the look of excitement on so many people’s faces and realizing how much it meant to so many people.

“And I think the further and further away from it you get, the more you appreciate just how special it was.”

Ever think what might have been had Maurice Clarett played with you guys all four years?
“He was such a great running back, he could make any offensive line look great and it would have been nice. But as we finish this season, I wouldn’t trade Pitt (Antonio Pittman) for Maurice. Pitt’s been such a great guy. He’s real quiet, real humble and when he gets done, he gives credit to us. When a guy does that, it makes the line work that much harder for him. It makes you love him a little more.”

Speaking of good teammates, what about Hawk? You two played together for the Centerville Wee Elks and now live together back in Columbus.

“There was just something about him way back when we were kids. It’s not like he was benching 225 when he was 6 years old or anything, it was a cumulative kind of thing. Everybody used to talk about him when we’d sit in school before practice. ‘What’s A.J. gonna do today?’ And once he got to high school, it got more solidified. There was just an air that said greatness.

When did the guys at OSU see it?

“Freshman year he cut his forehead during camp and they had to hide his helmet so he couldn’t practice. He wanted to be out there so bad and the guys all saw it.

How about Hawk in love? There’s a lot of talk about his relationship with Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn’s sister, Laura

“She’s a sweet girl. Its unfortunate for them that we’re playing Note Dame and they’re thrown into the spotlight. (starts to smile). A.J. doesn’t like talking about anything, much less this. Even when we’re sitting at home, you bring up the Laura thing and he starts squirming... But seriously, I can tell he’s happy. Right now he’s a happy guy.

You and Hawk — even though you’ll both be drafted in the NFL next spring — don’t seem in a rush to end your college careers.

“Sure I’ll remember the games and the scores and when I got in, but the memories that will make me smile the hardest and most are being with these guys. It’s like a brotherhood and I don’t want to leave that.

You don’t plan on leaving A.J. anyway, do you?

“I want to be A.J.’s pool boy. His grocery shopper and gardener, too. Hopefully, I won’t have to do it for a couple of years, but I always want to have that door open. He doesn’t believe me, but one day, wherever he’s playing, there’ll be a knock at the door and there I’ll be.

As for another football player, what about Holley?

“She’s a tough girl and she loves football. I kind of stay out of it so no one says she’s doing it ’cause she’s Nick Mangold’s sister. But (laughing) I like to beat up on her when I get home just so she remembers I’m bigger, stronger...and got better footwork.

What legacy would you like to leave at Ohio State?

“That we fought hard, that we all loved Ohio State and we left behind a sense of tradition for all the young guys to carry on.

Any last words?

“Well, I hope A.J. lands in some place warm. A pool boy in Wisconsin — that might be a little rough.

Tom Archdeacon is a columnist for Cox News Service. Contact him by e-mail at tarchdeacon@coxohio.com.

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Cowher: Our focus is Detroit

It was his regularly scheduled news conference yesterday at the UPMC Sports Performance Complex, but it was pretty clear Coach Bill Cowher was speaking to his players, and to Steelers fans.

Cowher doesn’t believe in revealing conversations he has with his players, because he believes that kind of communication is best kept private. But if anyone really wonders what Cowher said to his team when it returned this morning from a few days off following the 41-0 win over the Browns, it likely was very similar to some of the things he told the media.


“Our focus is on Detroit,” said Cowher. “As I look at this, this is our home playoff game. That is how we are approaching it. If we win this football game, I do know that we will be able to go on and play the next week. We have kind of been in this mode from the time that we started this about three weeks ago. It is an opportunity to utilize this as a home playoff game and to play well in all three phases, and the focus is on winning.

“There will be no talk whatsoever about any other scenario. We are all aware of what the deal is with San Diego. That will have no effect with us.”

The deal with San Diego is this: One of the scenarios in which the Steelers will qualify for the playoffs is if the Chargers defeat Denver in San Diego. The Broncos already have clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs, and the game will be played on Saturday. The Steelers play the Lions at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Heinz Field.

So technically, the Steelers could clinch a playoff spot while they’re in the hotel the night before their game, but Cowher doesn’t want to hear any of that. Nor does he want any of that to creep into his players’ brains.

“Part of the preparation that we will have this week is focusing on Detroit, because that is the one thing we can control,” said Cowher. “That focus is not just done physically, but it is done mentally as we put in the same type of time and preparation that we have done the last three weeks. There is no reason for us to have a letdown. When you get this close and work this hard, that is not even an option. Our guys will be fine in understanding that. We have been in this mode for close to a month now, and it makes it very easy and simple to focus on one thing, and that is Detroit.”

But if the Chargers defeat Denver and the Steelers clinch a playoff spot before their game against the Lions begins, might Cowher be inclined to rest some of his starters, since there is no rest built into the postseason for Wild Card teams?

“With all due respect I’d rather talk about Sunday’s game,” said Cowher. “I think it’s very important you don’t get caught up in all the what-if scenarios. I don’t think that will serve a purpose. Our football team needs to prepare mentally to play this football game like it’s a home playoff game. The fact is if we don’t win we may not go anywhere.

“If you get caught up, deviate from that focus and start looking at other scenarios you start cluttering your mind with things that are very, very dangerous. I think it’s very important that we understand what’s at stake, the mind-set we have to have and the fact that we have no margin of error. It’s been that way; it hasn’t changed my opinion and it shouldn’t change anybody else’s opinion as we get ready to prepare ourselves to play this football game, this week, against a potentially very dangerous opponent.”

The Steelers also are being considered a very dangerous opponent at this stage of the season. The Boston media has expressed the opinion that the Patriots’ easiest path through the first round of these playoffs is to host Jacksonville. The Bengals may be resting starting quarterback Carson Palmer because of a minor injury he sustained in their loss to Buffalo last weekend.

“That’s not for us to make that assessment,” said Cowher about the nobody-wants-to-play-the-Steelers theory. “People are talking about us as if we’re in. We’re going to try to get in. First things, first.”
source : steelers.com

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NFL | Skins' Moss gets NFC's weekly award again

Washington Redskins receiver Santana Moss, who will test the Eagles' secondary on Sunday, was selected as the NFC's offensive player of the week yesterday.

Moss caught five passes for 160 yards with three touchdowns in the 35-20 win over the New York Giants.

Moss also earned the honor in Week 2 for his two fourth-quarter touchdown catches in a comeback victory over Dallas.

Also yesterday, the Redskins placed linebacker Chris Clemons on injured reserve.

Clemons sprained his knee during a kickoff return in Saturday's victory. The second-year player had two sacks this season and was used mostly on passing downs, usually taking LaVar Arrington's spot.

The Redskins announced no replacement for Clemons on the main roster. They made two practice-squad moves, releasing tight end David Kashetta and signing tight end Calen Powell, a rookie from Notre Dame.

Giants. New York continued to shuffle its injury-depleted linebacker corps, placing ex-Eagle Carlos Emmons on injured reserve and signing Jay Foreman, the second player picked up at that position in two days.

Emmons, who has a strained right pectoral muscle, was placed on IR the day after the team did the same with rookie middle linebacker Chase Blackburn, who sprained his neck last week against Washington.

Antonio Pierce, the starter at middle linebacker, has been out since Dec. 11 with a high ankle sprain.

Kevin Lewis, who started for the Giants at middle linebacker last season, was signed Monday. He had been cut in September after he was beaten out by Blackburn. Foreman, cut by Oakland in training camp, began his career in 1999 with Buffalo and also played for Houston.
The Giants also placed reserve running back Derrick Ward on IR with a groin injury and signed veteran running back Mike Cloud.

The Giants already have wrapped up a playoff spot.

Browns. Cleveland tight end Steve Heiden was placed on injured reserve with an injured ankle, ending his season with just one game left.

Heiden started 13 games this season, catching 43 passes for 401 yards and three touchdowns. His 43 receptions, second on the team, are the most by a Browns tight end since Ozzie Newsome caught 62 passes in 1985.

Broncos. Linebacker Al Wilson, defensive lineman Courtney Brown, cornerback Darrent Williams and running back Mike Anderson will sit out Denver's regular-season finale in San Diego to nurse injuries.

Wilson had surgery Monday to repair a broken right thumb. Brown has a sore knee and shoulder. Williams has missed the last two weeks with an injured groin. Anderson sprained his ankle Saturday against the Raiders.

The Broncos have the luxury of resting starters because Saturday's game against San Diego means nothing in the standings to either team. Denver (12-3) has secured the second seed in the AFC and cannot move up. San Diego (9-6) has been eliminated from playoff contention.
Cardinals. Arizona placed cornerback Lamont Reid on injured reserve, making him the 15th Cardinal whose season was ended by injury. Reid hurt his knee on Dec. 18.
NFL Playoff Picture

AFC EAST

• New England has clinched the division title.

AFC NORTH

• Cincinnati has clinched the division title.

• Pittsburgh can clinch a wild-card berth with:

1) A win or tie.
2) A Kansas City loss or tie.
3) A San Diego win.

AFC SOUTH

• Indianapolis has clinched the division title and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
• Jacksonville has clinched a wild-card berth.

AFC WEST
• Denver has clinched the division title and a first-round bye.
• Kansas City can clinch a wild-card berth with:

1) A win, a Pittsburgh loss, and a San Diego loss or tie.

NFC EAST
• The New York Giants have clinched a playoff berth. They can clinch the division title with:

1) A win or tie.
2) A Washington loss or tie.

• Dallas can clinch a wild-card berth with:

1) A win and a Washington loss or tie.
2) A win and a Carolina loss.
3) A win, a Tampa Bay loss, and a Giants loss.
4) A tie and Washington loss.

• Washington can clinch the division title with:

1) A win and a Giants loss.

Washington can clinch a playoff berth with:

1) A win or a Dallas loss.
2) A tie and a Dallas tie.

NFC NORTH

• Chicago has clinched the division and a first-round bye.

NFC SOUTH

• Carolina can clinch the division with:

1) A win and a Tampa Bay loss or tie.
2) A tie and a Tampa Bay loss.

Carolina can clinch a playoff berth with:

1) A win or tie.
2) A Dallas loss or tie.
3) A Washington loss or tie.

• Tampa Bay can clinch the division title with:

1) A win or a Carolina loss.
2) A tie and a Carolina tie.

Tampa Bay can clinch a playoff berth with:

1) A tie.
2) A Dallas loss or tie.
3) A Washington loss or tie.
4) A Giants win or tie.

NFC WEST

Seattle has clinched the division title, a first-round bye, and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Eliminated from contention: EAGLES, Arizona, Atlanta, Baltimore, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Green Bay, Houston, Miami, Minnesota, New Orleans, N.Y. Jets, Oakland, St. Louis, San Diego, San Francisco and Tennessee.

NFL
INSIDE

McMullen's outlook looking up

The receiver is one of the few Eagles to show promise this year. Plus, the Skins' Santana Moss wins NFC honors. D3.

Redskins at Eagles
Sunday
at 4:15 p.m. TV/radio: Channel 29; WYSP-FM (94.1).
source : www.philly.com

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Alexander ties mark; helps Seattle keep rolling

Shaun Alexander continued his record-breaking season Saturday, as he tallied three more touchdowns to lead the red-hot Seattle Seahawks to a 28-13 win over Indianapolis. Alexander raised his touchdown total to 27 for the season.

He tied Priest Holmes' NFL record of 27 touchdowns in a single season. Holmes set that mark in 2003, and did so by rushing for all 27 scores. Alexander matched the total of 27, but one of them came through the air versus the Colts.

It was the first receiving touchdown of the season for Alexander to go with 26 rushing TDs. He helped carry the Seahawks to a club-best 11th straight win, which raised the team record to 13-2 and established a franchise mark for most wins. This team has won one more game than the 1984 Seahawks squad. Oh, they also hold a slim eight-game lead over Arizona and St. Louis in the NFC West.


Alexander's last touchdown came with just under four minutes to go in the game. Think back to last year when Alexander lost the NFL rushing title by one yard to the Jets' Curtis Martin. This year, head coach Mike Holmgren was about to let Alexander fall short of a different mark.
"I'm just standing on the sideline and Mo (Morris) runs for a touchdown and they decide to stop him on the one," Alexander said. "I'm sitting there and laughing. Here we go again. (Holmgren) turns around and goes, 'OK, I'm giving you one play to score, and if you get hit and get hurt and go to the hospital, I'm not visiting you.'

"I just said, 'OK, I'll do it on the first play. I come in and the crowd was so loud, it was just awesome."

"He's a great back and I'm glad to be blocking for him," said left tackle Walter Jones. "He does some spectacular things out there. He just shows us respect. You've got to stay humble. This year, the whole team is one unit. That's how we've gotten things done this year. The last two years, we got a taste of the playoffs, losing on the last play. This year, we want the whole meal."
All this leads to one big question, what will Alexander do in the season's final game at Green Bay? The team has clinched the No. 1 seed in the NFC and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

For the second time in three seasons, Seattle posted a perfect home record. The Seahawks went 8-0 this year, raising their record to 21-3 over the last three seasons. The win over the Colts, who were without head coach Tony Dungy due to the untimely death of his son, came in front of 67,855 fans, the second-largest crowd in Qwest Field history.

In a class move, the entire Seahawk team came back onto the field after the game to thank the fans.

"The curtain call, it was great," said tight end Jerramy Stevens, who hauled in a touchdown pass for the third straight game. "You usually don't get a chance to do that in football."
Meanwhile, Mike Holmgren will lead his current team to Green Bay this week to face his old squad. Holmgren went 75-37 in seven seasons as head coach of the Packers. He also led them to a Super Bowl title in 1996.

SEE THE BALL, BE THE BALL

Since their Week 1 loss at Jacksonville, one of the main reasons the Seahawks haven't lost much is due to the fact that they have taken care of the football. In that Week 1 loss, Seattle turned the ball over five times.

Since that defeat, Seattle has gone 13-1 and turned it over just 10 times. Four of those five turnovers against the Jaguars were by quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. He fumbled once and tossed three interceptions. Since then, he has thrown only six more interceptions in 14 games, while tossing a touchdown pass in each of the last 12 games.

UP NEXT

Seattle travels to Wisconsin this week for the final regular season game against the Green Bay Packers. The Packers lead the all-time series, 5-4, and have won two of the last three matchups. The teams have split the last two meetings, in 1999 and 2003, both of which were played at Lambeau Field.
source : http://www.sportsnetwork.com/

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Ravaged by injury? Maybe not

One of the great myths of the 2005 season might be that the Green Bay Packers’ roster was ripped apart by injuries.

If you look at our roster now vs. our roster on opening day, kicker Ryan Longwell said, it’s night and day.

But is it?

It may seem that way to those inside the locker room, but in reality, this season's turnover could be viewed as only marginally different from any of Mike Sherman's six seasons as Packers coach. In terms of sheer volume, the Packers roster today doesn't look that much different than it normally would heading into the final game of the regular season, considering the turnover in past seasons.


Of the 53 players who were on the roster for the Sept. 11 regular-season opener in Detroit, 43 of them — or 81.1 percent — remain. Though that’s the lowest number in Sherman’s tenure, it’s not significantly less than in most of his previous seasons.

A comparison of the Packers’ rosters in Week 1 and in the regular-season finale in each of Sherman’s previous seasons showed similar numbers. He was left with 47 of his original players in 2000, 44 in ’01, 46 in ’02, 47 in ’03 and 44 last season. In both 2002 and last year, Sherman began the year with 52 players on the roster. He finished each of his previous seasons with the following percentages of the original roster: 88.7 percent in 2000, 83 percent in ’01, 88.5 percent in ’02, 88.7 percent in ’03 and 84.6 percent in ’04.

Not all roster moves made were due to injuries. For example, the Packers cut cornerback Joey Thomas on Nov. 2 because of substandard play.

So far in the Packers’ 3-12 season, 70 players have spent at least one week on the 53-man roster. That’s more than in any season since 2000, but not by much. The Packers had 65 players on their roster for at least one game in 2000, 63 in ’01, 68 in ’02, 61 in ’03 and 66 last season.

“I couldn’t tell you what is (normal),” Packers General Manager Ted Thompson said. “I think we have like a dozen guys on injured reserve (actually 11). We’ve got another handful that we’ve done injury settlements with. We try not to talk too much about it, because it sounds like excuses, but certainly at a couple of spots, we’ve had our fair share.

“I think as an organization, we’ve done a pretty good job of not really dwelling on it. It’s just the way it is. Sometimes you get key people hurt. Sometimes you get other people hurt that aren’t maybe as integral to your performance.”

To be sure, the Packers were hit hard by losses at receiver and running back.
They lost Javon Walker to a season-ending knee injury in the opener against the Lions and three weeks later lost rookie Terrence Murphy to a neck injury. The Packers were counting heavily on Walker to be their top playmaker in the passing game, but there’s no way to know if he was going to have a repeat of the 2004 season, when he posted career highs with 89 catches, 1,382 yards and 12 touchdowns. That’s the argument the Packers made for not giving Walker the contract extension he asked for in the offseason. Murphy was an unknown but probably would have been the No. 3 receiver.

At running back, starter Ahman Green and top backup Najeh Davenport were lost for the year before the halfway point of the season. However, neither Green nor Davenport helped the Packers to an effective running game before their injuries. The eventual replacement, Samkon Gado, who wasn’t added to the roster until the eighth game, turned out to be the best running back until he injured his knee against Baltimore on Dec. 19. Gado missed Sunday’s game against Chicago and might not play this week against Seattle.

At one point or another against the Bears, the Packers were without nine players who were either starters or may have been starters because of injuries to other players. All but Gado were on the opening-day roster.

However, the Packers’ offense, which ranks 18th out of 32 teams in the NFL, still has its quarterback, Brett Favre, and all of its offensive linemen, though center Mike Flanagan’s availability and effectiveness have been reduced because of a sports hernia.

Perhaps the problem was the original group of 53 was a second-rate collection of players.
“I think we’ve all said this, players, coaches and myself, I don’t think that we’ve played as well as maybe individually we should have played,” Thompson said. “I don’t think that should be lost. It’s not that we’re not trying. It’s just that we’re not quite playing up to the same level.”
source : http://www.packersnews.com/

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To fire or not? Wolf weighs in

Ron Wolf says his decision to fire Lindy Infante as the Green Bay Packers’ coach one day after the 1991 season ended was easy.

Like his protege, current Packers General Manager Ted Thompson, Wolf inherited a coach when he took over the team's football operations and, like this year, that coach had a bad season.

However, Wolf said the similarities between 1991 and 2005 end there, because Infante and his coaching staff had created a country-club atmosphere where players didn’t fear for their jobs after the team performed poorly week in, week out.


“Those guys didn’t want to make any change on a 3-9 team,” Wolf said.

This year, on the other hand, coach Mike Sherman has benched and even cut players with his team struggling to a 3-10 record going into Monday night’s game at Baltimore. He’s changed the starter at right guard twice, left guard once and left cornerback twice. Plus, along with Thompson, he cut cornerback and former third-round draft pick Joey Thomas for not accepting accountability for his errors.


After the season, that will be one of many factors Thompson considers when determining whether to retain Sherman as the Packers’ coach in 2006.

Thompson’s hiring last January placed Sherman’s job in jeopardy because many general managers want to hand-pick their coach. The Packers’ 3-10 season has hurt Sherman’s chances, though he also has a strong overall record (56-37 in five-plus years), and the team has remained competitive despite being crushed by injuries at receiver and running back.
Thompson also has worked with Sherman for 11 months, so he knows his coach better than Wolf knew Infante after taking over as GM in November 1991.

Wolf, who hired Sherman as coach in 2000 and recommended Thompson as GM this year, offered no opinion on whether he would retain Sherman for next year.

“Only (Thompson) knows how to do that,” Wolf said. “He knows what’s taken place in the meetings, what they’re trying to get done, who can play and who can’t play, why they’re playing some.

“Only Ted could answer those questions. I certainly can’t. But he would know being in that situation. If he’s not in agreement, then he has to voice that. If he is, that’s an in-house thing.”
Though Thompson late in training camp extended Sherman’s contract for two years, through the 2007 season, the Packers’ players know that his and almost all jobs on the football side of the organization are in jeopardy after a season with a new general manager.

“I’d like to think all these coaches will be here, and I play like that,” linebacker Nick Barnett said. “I know there’s going to be changes, but you have to play like everybody’s going to be here. You don’t know what’s going to happen as far as what the organization is going to do, what coaches are going to be here, what players are going to be here, even if I’m going to be here. We’re just trying to get better in our time together and win some games, try to finish out the best we can.”

Wolf said he’s seen three Packers games this season — he attended their losses to Cleveland and Minnesota at Lambeau Field and watched their win over Detroit last week on television — and attributed most of their problems this year to season-ending injuries. They lost their Pro Bowl-caliber receiver, Javon Walker, in the regular-season opener, and their top two halfbacks, Ahman Green and Najeh Davenport, in back-to-back games in October.

“Look at the Philadelphia Eagles,” Wolf said. “They’ve got five guys on injured reserve who are Pro Bowl players. They’re 5-8, so that’s part of the deal in football here. That’s one of the reasons I’m not in it. You can’t fix your team (in mid-season) anymore. You have to play the cards you’re dealt.”

Wolf also said that quarterback Brett Favre remains a top-level NFL player and the Packers could have a quick turnaround in the offseason, though to become a championship contender, they also would need some good fortune in the first round of next year’s draft.

“It depends who you get in that draft. It depends where you’re drafting,” Wolf said. “The team right now that everybody is so enamored with is the Colts. They got (Peyton) Manning with the first pick in the draft and (halfback Edgerrin) James with the (fourth) pick in the draft. And they stunk (before then). Suddenly, they get those two players and the whole landscape changed.
“That’s kind of what happened with the Cowboys. They got (Troy) Aikman with the first pick and (receiver Michael) Irvin with I think the 10th or 11th pick, and that changed that whole thing around. That’s what has to happen.”
source : http://www.packersnews.com/

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Collins back in as Raiders starter

Alameda, CA - Oakland quarterback Kerry Collins, who was benched last week in favor of Marques Tuiasosopo, will reassume the role of starter this Sunday against Cleveland.

Collins was demoted after completing just 22 of his 40 pass attempts for 236 yards with one touchdown pass and an interception in the Raiders' 34-10 loss to the San Diego Chargers in Week 13, which dropped Oakland to 4-8.

Tuiasosopo did not change the team's fortunes as hoped. In just his second career start, the Washington product went 14-of-26 for 124 yards with a TD and two interceptions, as the Raiders fell to the lowly New York Jets, 26-10.

On the season, Collins has thrown for 3,118 yards on 245-of-446 throwing with 16 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 12 games.

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NFL to set up football theme park at Cobo Center

DETROIT -- Even if you don't have tickets, you can still get in on the Super Bowl hoopla.

The NFL unveiled plans Tuesday for the NFL Experience, an interactive football theme park that will set up at Cobo Center from Feb. 1-5. The Super Bowl is being played Feb. 5 at nearby Ford Field.

Students from Detroit schools, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and current and former Detroit Lions players were at Ford Field to announce the plans, which include a battery of football skills tests and other games.



Among the attractions at the convention center will be games with players running routes and catching passes and quarterbacks throwing at moving hoops with defenders in the way.


"We think its important to get everybody together in the NFL spirit," Roger Penske, chairman of the Super Bowl XL Host Committee, told reporters.

Tickets go on sale Wednesday and are $15 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under. They can be purchased at the Ford Field ticket office, by calling (866) 849-4635, or by going online to the Super Bowl Web site.

On the Net:

Super Bowl: http://www.superbowl.com

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Future of defense takes hit with Poppinga injury

The Green Bay Packers’ attempts to build their defense through the draft took a step backward with the loss of rookie linebacker Brady Poppinga to a major knee injury.

Poppinga, a fourth-round draft pick, will require reconstruction for a torn anterior cruciate ligament sustained while covering a kickoff in the Packers’ win over Detroit on Sunday.

Poppinga was making the transition from collegiate defensive end to NFL linebacker this year and made his first start of the season against the Lions. Though he still was relatively raw at strong-side linebacker, he would have been in the running for a starting job in training camp next year as part of General Manager Ted Thompson’s attempts to upgrade the defense’s talent.

Now, Poppinga has minimal chance to be practicing at the start of training camp next season and could miss the entire camp. Recovery from ACL surgery generally is eight to 12 months, so he’ll have to make an especially fast recovery to be much of a factor next season.

“I was already talking to him and thinking about things we’d do in the offseason to speed up his progress,” said Mark Duffner, the Packers’ linebackers coach. “I was and still am pretty encouraged about what he might be able to do.”

Poppinga is the second linebacker in the Packers’ 2005 draft class to sustain a serious knee injury. Kurt Campbell, a seventh-round draft pick from Albany, tore an ACL in training camp.

Campbell was a college safety/rover who at 6-foot-1, 227 pounds had the speed defensive coordinator Jim Bates covets in linebackers. He played at a lower level (Division I-AA) than Poppinga but had shown enough in camp to pique the Packers’ interest as a special-teams player and potential weak-side linebacker before getting hurt 12 days into two-a-day practices.

There’s no guarantee Campbell would have made the Packers’ roster this year, but he’s lost a valuable chance to grow if he had.

He missed extensive practice reps in training camp, and if he’d made the roster, he might have gotten on the field occasionally because of injuries to the rest of the linebacker corps.

“Unfortunately, these things happen,” Duffner said. “Campbell, early in camp, because he’d been a defensive back he was kind of a multi-purpose player, flashed early at times and kind of caught our eyes. A guy we had some high hopes for — it’s way early still, but we’d have loved a chance to see him more. Same for (Poppinga). It was more of a project for him coming from playing defensive end. He only played (linebacker) his senior year, but with his attitude and effort, he brought that along.”

Even without Poppinga in the running, the Packers probably will have turnover at starting linebacker next year. Middle linebacker Nick Barnett is a core starter, but one or both of the other starters probably will change next year as Thompson and Bates try to upgrade the defensive talent with young players on hand and probably a draft pick or two as well.

For instance, Paris Lenon has started nine games and figures to start the final three weeks this season, but he’s a career backup. Roy Manning, an undrafted rookie from Michigan, started two games at strong-side linebacker early in the year and plays occasionally in the nickel defense, but it’s still uncertain whether he was just a stop-gap or if he’s a future starter.

The Packers traded for Robert Thomas from St. Louis to start at weak-side linebacker before the start of the regular season, but that move was more for this year than a long-term solution at that key position. Thomas has 51 tackles but has blown coverage on several red-zone touchdown passes, has no fumbles forced and one interception and has missed three of the last four games because of a quadriceps injury.

Even Na’il Diggs’ future is uncertain after his season was ruined by a torn medial-collateral ligament in each knee — one in training camp, the other during the season. Diggs, who’s 27, has been a full-time starter since his rookie season of 2000 and has one year remaining on his contract, which consists of a $600,000 roster bonus due in March and a $2.3 million base salary in ’06.

The injuries raise concerns about Diggs’ long-term health, and there remain questions about how well he fits into Bates’ speed-oriented scheme. Diggs hasn’t been healthy enough to show one way or the other since he first was injured Aug. 8.

On the other hand, with Poppinga out, the Packers have one fewer option at linebacker, and depending on their offseason plans, might find Diggs’ $600,000 bonus a small price to pay for insurance. Poppinga’s injury might get Diggs back in the starting lineup this season.

“Even when he came back after the one injury, he was making progress and then got injured again,” Bates said. “It’s been hard for us to evaluate where Diggsy’s at in the scheme of things. We’ll go with where we’re at and at the end of the season sit down and have a total evaluation.”

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Super Bowl will bowl for charity

When in Detroit, do as Detroiters do.

And in Detroit and its suburbs, we bowl.

So when the NFL Charities was looking for a replacement for its annual bigwig celebrity golf tournament the day before the Super Bowl -- no golfing in metro Detroit in frigid February -- the choice was obvious: Ditch the clubs and grab a few bowling balls.

Considering bowling's blue-collar image -- think sweaty shoes, polyester pants, smoky halls -- it might not sound like the greatest tradeoff, especially for out-of-towners already leery of a cold-weather Super Bowl host.

The big surprise is that the event looks to be an early hit, so much so that the NFL is already planning a 2007 version at Miami's Super Bowl. So the NFL has turned what looked to be a problem into a positive, and the bowling industry gets to work on its image by partnering with one of the most successful brands in sports.

Normally, the Super Bowl is held in warm weather states, and NFL Charities hosts a golf tournament the day before the big football game, raising at least $200,000 each year, and drawing at least 75 celebrities, mostly former and current football players. Earlier this year, they held a scaled-back version at the Bloomfield Hills Country Club, but still wanted an event Super Bowl weekend.

Alternative plans were tossed around in meetings in the New York offices. The decision was important: The golf tournament is considered to be one of the top events connected to the Super Bowl.What could possibly take its place, organizers wondered? Indoor miniature golf? Nope, that was ruled out. NFL Charities staff flew in to ask real Detroiters what would make sense.
The answer, again and again? Bowling. Doesn't matter what the weather looks like outside, people eagerly head inside to knock down pins.

"Once we started to float the bowling idea out to our players -- both current and former -- we found the sport of bowling was immensely popular among even our own athletes," said Beth Colleton, director of community affairs for the NFL. "Our own Jerome Bettis, who is one of your own, too, was a bowling champion in high school," she said, referring to the Pittsburgh Steelers star. He played at Detroit's Mackenzie High School and at one point, thought about being a professional bowler.

Invitations will begin going out this month. In years past -- the golf tournament is a 20-year tradition -- NFL Hall of Famers such as Dick Butkus, Marcus Allen and Tony Dorsett have participated alongside fans who could foot the entry fee, which earlier this year in Jacksonville cost each golfer $1,500. The bowling event will fetch $750 per bowler, though individual sign-ups are limited.

The NFL folks won't be sure who'll be bowling for a few weeks, but they say the early buzz has been overwhelming. Scores of phone calls have already been made by local bowlers looking to sign up, and it caught the NFL a bit off guard.
"The U.S. Bowling Congress told us this was going to be an incredibly popular event. But we weren't prepared for just how popular it's becoming," Colleton said.

A logical location

"Detroit is the capital of bowling," said Mark Voight, who with his wife, Diane, owns Community Bowling Centers, which includes more than 20 bowling facilities in Michigan and Indiana. With NFL event organizer Nick Nicolosi and their director of operations, Roger Philipi, the Voights are teaching the league how to put on a bowling tournament.When Voight talks about the popularity of bowling in metro Detroit, he isn't overstating the case. The region has more than 90,000 registered certified bowling members, leading the country in bowlers who want to compete in tournaments and awards programs.

The state of Michigan has more than 260,000 league bowlers. This doesn't account for the recreational or part-time bowlers, which, if included, brings the number of bowlers in southeastern Michigan up to about 1 million.

"It's a very blue-collar sport and we're in an area that has been very industrialized," said Tim Otteman, a sports history professor at Central Michigan University, in the Recreation, Parks and Leisure Services department. "The automobile industry in Detroit creates that environment. It was very affordable and very accessible for those folks to be involved, versus to go to a country club. You can't learn to play golf without clubs. But you can rent shoes and get a ball. There's public bowling alley accessible to everyone in every community."

The Voights, who live in Farmington Hills, will be hosting the event at their Canton alley, which coincidentally is named Super Bowl. The Canton center is their biggest; it's 60,000 square feet and has 60 lanes. Putting on the Super Bowl event will mean a lot of extra work for the Livonia-based business. They have 10 staff members working on the tournament logistics, and expect it'll take at least 100 volunteers to staff the event that day.

One of the perks that will come with participating in the tournament is a gift bag that with at least $500 in merchandise. Bowlers will get a limited edition Super Bowl XL bowling ball, a regulation pin that will be signed by the participating football players, a bag and several pieces of Reebok apparel.

The bowling industry is excited to be a part of the event, and sees it as a way to promote the sport in a different arena.

"When you really look at what bowling is and what it does, it's just a great sport. ... For years, we've got this image that we've had. I think we're getting out of it," said Frank DeSocio, president of Strike Ten Entertainment, the marketing arm of the bowling industry.
"The NFL is the premier sports brand in America, and we as the United States Bowling Congress love partnering with a sport as great as football," DeSocio said.

Detroit may have hipped the NFL to a new fund-raising outlet, one that they're considering using beyond the Miami Super Bowl in 2007.

"A lot of our Super Bowls are hosted in major metro markets where there may or may not be golf courses accessible," Colleton said. "But there are always bowling centers."
Contact KELLEY L. CARTER at 313-222-8854 or carter
@freepress.com.

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Seattle is swept up in Seahawks fever

Time is running out.
Ticket for tomorrow's Seahawks game against the San Francisco 49ers?

That Seahawks jersey?
Best place for a brew and a large screen?
You weren't watching all that closely as the team fashioned a 10-2 record, won eight consecutive games, clinched the NFC West championship and now stares at 3 to 1 Vegas odds to win the Super Bowl.

Now you need to talk the talk.

For those late to the party, hold on and we'll take you through a remedial course at a pace faster than the Hawks ran the score to 42-0 against the Eagles on Monday.
For those who haven't figured out that the Seahawks are for real -- or didn't realize that quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is bald -- this is for you, because time is running out.
Jump on the bandwagon!

How to get tickets

We are definitely late to the party and, to get in, we're going to have to pony up our resources. Sunday's game against the San Francisco 49ers, as well as the Christmas Eve showdown with the Indianapolis Colts, is sold out.

"Officially," that is.

Tickco.com has upper-level seats between the 20-yard line and the end zone for as low as -- gulp -- $135. In the 100 level, tickets run between $120-$345, depending on the location. And, chances are, you'll have to go alone because single tickets are about all that are available.
(However, if you want your friends with you, a luxury suite remains available for the Colts game -- 12 seats, a wet bar, TVs, four parking passes. Shoot, it's only $16,705!)
Back to reality.

There also are Web sites like RazorGator.com and StubHub.com, where you can buy and sell tickets. Craig's List is another option, especially if you're selling tickets.
You can always roll the dice and just mosey down to Qwest Field on Sunday and grapple with a street salesman. After the first quarter, you just might get a bargain. Then again, you may get nothing.

It's never too early for next year, either.

Official word out of the Seahawks ticket office is that they have collected nearly 3,000 new deposits for season tickets for 2006 -- this week!
According to Lane Gammel, assistant director of public relations, July and August are typically the peak time for deposits when they average about 250 per week.

Over the past 10 days, they've averaged about 250 deposits per day.

Where to watch

Since a 32-inch Toshiba at Best Buy would run you as much as one of those scalped premium tickets, the option to watch Sunday's game on KCPQ/13 is favorable.
Recent ratings indicate you won't be alone.

The division-clinching Seahawks-Eagles game shown on KOMO/4's "Monday Night Football" broadcast received a 30.9 rating with a 48 share in the Seattle market, the highest mark of the season.

The "share" portion of the Nielsen ratings represents the actual percentage of televisions in use tuned into program.

According to the Seahawks front office, Monday's game marked the fourth consecutive week the Seahawks set a season-high and the seventh consecutive week the game earned a 20.0 rating or higher.

Equally as impressive is the fact that the Monday's game and Sunday's San Francisco game could end up being the week's No. 1- and No.2-rated shows in the Seattle market.

If you don't want to stay home, every bar in town with a television will be airing Sunday's game -- with the exception of maybe Club Manray on Capitol Hill. (Manray's TVs are devoted to RuPaul, Kelly Clarkson and Scissors Sisters.)

Want some Qwest Field atmosphere with that pitcher of Bud Light?

Any establishment around Pioneer Square is going to be riddled with blue and green, but Sluggers on Occidental is a Josh Brown field goal away from the stadium's entrance.

It is stuffed with Seahawks fans before, during and after the game. Sluggers airs all the games, thanks to the DirecTV NFL Ticket package. The staff hustles and the crowd borders on ill-behaved.

For a more upscale experience -- although separate from the Qwest ambiance -- try Jillian's on Westlake Avenue or Sport at the Seattle Center.

What to wear

ESPN.com devoted an entire column this week to the fashion faux pas that is grown men wearing jerseys. But let's face it -- this isn't a passing fad.

Seahawks merchandise has flown off the shelves, reportedly at a 30 percent higher clip than it did a year ago.

According to the Seahawks merchandising department, the biggest seller is the pink jersey, further proof that the ladies are way into this, too.

NFC West Division Championship gear -- hats, T-shirts, sweatshirts -- had to be reordered just two days after the Seahawks clinched.

The official Seahawks Pro Shop is at the stadium, but you can order merchandise online (www.seahawks.com/proshop or www.nflshop.com), hit one of the independent stores along Occidental for licensed gear and even find caps and T-shirts at Target, department stores and gas stations.

Face-painting, bright green wigs, the XXXL replica jersey ... this clearly isn't Paris, but who cares? It's fun.

However, you only get a hall pass on Sundays.

What's cool

Knowledge is cool, so don't sound like you are just jumping on the bandwagon.
Fast facts: The Seahawks offense is the NFC's best. Shaun Alexander is rushing toward the NFL season touchdown record. (He needs six more to break Priest Holmes' record.) The defense is much improved, and rookie linebacker Lofa Tatupu is a rising star.

Other cool things: Public transportation, tailgating on the sly, Grant Wistrom's hair and football-savvy women.

What's not

While Alexander is cool, buying his jersey isn't.

He is a free agent at season's end, and, well, you know how Seattle franchises are with their stars. (See Gary Payton, Ken Griffey Jr., A-Rod, et al.) You don't want to be stuck with your favorite former Hawk's jersey, right?

Other things that are not cool: DUIs, public nuisances, swearing in the stands. Oh, and three playoff wins in 29 years.

DID YOU KNOW?

The "Monday Night Football" game against the Eagles received a 48 share in Seattle, the highest mark of the season. The MNF game and the 49ers game Sunday could be the No. 1- and No. 2-rated TV shows for the week in the Seattle market.

The final regular-season home games against the 49ers and the Colts are sold out, but tickets can be had for as much as $345 on Internet sites.

Champion Party Supply on Denny Way stocks blue, green and silver face paint.

P-I reporter Molly Yanity can be reached at 206-448-8295 or mollyyanity@seattlepi.com.

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Super Bowl merchandise already is easy to score

For most of us, the closest we'll get to experiencing Super Bowl XL in Detroit is wearing the official ball cap, slipping on the logoed jacket or sipping from the embossed shot glass.

The big game is less than two months away, and Super Bowl merchandise is arriving in town by the truckload and showing up in stores just in time for the holidays.

Charlene Smith, 58, of Warren already has spent hundreds of dollars on Super Bowl merchandise. She picked up an $18 pink angora Super Bowl hat for her granddaughter last week at the Super Bowl Superstore at Oakland Mall in Troy.

And her grandsons can expect major Super Bowl swag under the tree.
"I'll be back to buy more," Smith said.

Don't worry, Charlene: There's plenty.

Super Bowl XL merchandise is as plentiful as tickets to the big game are scarce.
From polo shirts and infant onesies to golf ball sets and CD/DVD holders, Super Bowl stuff is hitting store shelves in the kind of retail frenzy usually spawned by a Pistons or Red Wings championship run. Super Bowl merchandise has been in some stores since September.

The popular items? Anything pink. Women's pink Super Bowl XL hats with a pink logo were nearly sold out at the Super Bowl store in Troy. White jerseys with pink lettering and women's varsity jackets are also a big hit, said manager Jason Neal.

"Most women shop for men, so they grab something for themselves as well," Neal explained.
The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Super Bowl store opened five locations in late October at Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn, Oakland Mall in Troy, Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills, Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights and Laurel Park Place in Livonia.

The NFL has increased marketing to women after its apparel business surged 90 percent compared to a year ago, the league said.

This year, it's offering 20 percent more products after discovering more women watch the Super Bowl than the Academy Awards. The lineup includes not only fitted T-shirts, tank camisoles and $99 diamond and titanium rings, but also $300 compact mirrors and $2,700 Helmet bags adorned with Swarovski crystals.

More than $100 million in Super Bowl merchandise is sold each year, according to the NFL. Many retailers count on the annual bonanza.

Curt Zupi has been to the last 15 Super Bowls but he's never seen a game. The Ypsilanti resident is one of a handful of retailers nationwide who have the right to sell NFL-licensed merchandise.

This year, he doesn't even have to leave home. His company, CZ's Sports Marketing, already has opened two stores in Detroit to sell Super Bowl merchandise.

"The outerwear is going to be popular," Zupi said. "We have nice jackets, stocking caps and gloves. If the game is in Miami, you don't even produce that stuff."

At The Varsity Shop in Birmingham, $21.95 men's hats are selling quickly. Sweat shirts and polo shirts also are likely to be hot sellers, said manager Ryan White.

At last year's Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., lightweight jackets, sweatshirts and T-shirts were the money items. But with the game moving north, cold-weather gear such as blankets, heavy jackets and headwarmers are expected to be popular.

One cold-weather item football fans can't seem to resist: a $300 leather varsity jacket with logo patches on the sleeves from every championship game. It's the top seller at the Super Bowl store, which sold 125 jackets in less than a month, Neal said.

The Motor City is only the third cold-weather town to host the championship game, and this marks the second time it's been played in Metro Detroit -- a potential public relations coup for a city that is often maligned in the press.

"It's a great marketing opportunity for the city," said Ken Kettenbeil, vice president of communications for the Detroit Super Bowl XL host committee. "A lot of people will purchase the merchandise and wear it around. It's another opportunity to talk about Detroit and change the conversation about the city."

The game is one big marketing blitz for supercenters such as Grand Rapids-based Meijer, where keychains, cups and mugs are popular. Meijer plans to give away Super Bowl tickets and host in-store Super Bowl parties and appearances by NFL players, said Cathy Cooper, the chain's director of promotions and partnerships.

To discourage counterfeit goods, the NFL has lawyers in Detroit and as far away as Toledo to nab unofficial merchandise, said NFL spokesman Dan Masonson.

"It protects the interests of the fans," Masonson said. "If you buy something that is not a well-made product, it could be inferior. We don't want our fans to associate an inferior product with the NFL."

For all the Super Bowl hype, it's not exactly a game day buying bonanza yet. Traffic at the Super Bowl XL's Oakland Mall store was light one afternoon last week, but manager Jason Neal expects business will pick up.

"It's in phases," said Neal, whose store will remain open until early February. "Once the two teams are announced and the game gets closer, we'll have a whole line of clothing all dedicated to the two teams."
source :
http://www.detnews.com/

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An NFL guy's college try

I've always wanted to do one of those Andy Rooney rants, only for the coveted Sporting News demographic of males 18-34. . . .

They hand out something called the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night. You may remember that past NFL "greats" such as Gino Torretta, Rashaan Salaam and Charlie Ward have all won the award. This year, the finalists are USC's Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush and Texas' Vince Young. Seems to me they all will be playing in this big game in Pasadena next month, so wouldn't it make sense to give the award for college football's biggest big-game playmaker after its biggest game?

So much for the Brady Quinn Heisman talk. Apparently playing only three games against teams with winning records and that final-game rally against "mighty" Stanford wasn't good enough to put him in the mix with Leinart, Bush and Young. At least Notre Dame won that all-important Independents Bowl over Navy. In contrast, their Fiesta Bowl opponent, Ohio State, played only three games against teams with losing records.

No offense to Leinart, Bush or Young, but if they didn't play for their teams, USC and Texas would have, let's see, at the most, combined for two losses? How about some love for Vanderbilt's Jay Cutler and Northwestern's Brett Basanez. Without those guys, Vandy and NU wouldn't have been on the college football map this season. The Commodores pushed Florida to two thrilling overtimes and beat Tennessee, while the Wildcats earned victories over Wisconsin and Iowa. And oh yeah, they have the whole academic thing going for them.
I'd pay to watch the backups of USC and Texas play in a "B" national title game. Even if it's called the Van Nuys Bowl.

By earning a berth in the Sugar Bowl, West Virginia is the only school to make it to the Elite Eight of basketball and football this year. Prepared to be Pittsnogled, Georgia.
What was Texas coach Mack Brown thinking in casting his coaches' poll No. 1 vote for USC? Even the President of the United States votes for himself (we think).
If the NFL had the BCS, the Colts would somehow be No. 3

Poinsettia Bowl? This only opens the door for the Mistletoe Bowl, Fruitcake Bowl and Annoying In-Laws Bowl.

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Titans' Vanden Bosch eyes NFL sack title

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A few months ago, Kyle Vanden Bosch simply wanted a job playing football. Now the Tennessee defensive end has much higher goals, like leading the NFL in sacks.
If not for penalties that wiped out two rare sacks of Peyton Manning last week, the five-year veteran would already top the NFL with 12 1/2 sacks. Still, his 10 1/2 sacks are tied for second in the AFC, a half sack behind Oakland's Derrick Burgess and Osi Umenyiora of the New York Giants.

"It is a big deal," Vanden Bosch said Thursday in a national conference call.
"I'm a team player, and I want to win games. That's the most important thing to me. But I didn't think I'd have this kind of season, and ... it's great. It's been a great ride for me this year despite our record. It's fun to be among the top sack guys every week, and it's fun to get that kind of respect."

Few people even heard of Vanden Bosch before he put his name on the sack list this season because his first four years in the NFL were nearly erased by knee injuries.
Originally the 34th overall pick in the 2001 draft by Arizona, the 6-foot-4, 278-pound Vanden Bosch came into the league with 13 sacks at Nebraska.
Then the injuries started.

He tore his right ACL and MCL after his third game in his rookie season and had both surgically repaired. He played every game in 2002 with a career-high four sacks, then tore his left ACL after the third preseason game of 2003.

In 2004 with new coach Dennis Green, Vanden Bosch played in 16 games and found himself a free agent with only three or four teams interested in talking with him. He targeted the Titans because they had a youthful defensive line, but he worried his career might be over.

"After being in the league for a few years, you see guys you think can still play or can still help a team out just kind of get phased out and don't get another shot," Vanden Bosch said.

The Titans finally signed Vanden Bosch in April to a one-year deal for the veteran's minimum of $455,000. He came to Nashville determined to work just as hard as he did when he was a boy helping his father's construction company on Saturdays and during the summer.

The tendinitis that bothered him last season healed and he found himself in training camp finally feeling as healthy as he's been since college. No longer did he unconsciously back away from piles on the field, worried that someone might roll up on his legs.

"After a couple preseason games, I had three sacks in the preseason and I thought, 'Whoa.' After sacks were so few and far between my first four years, it was like 'I can really do this,'" Vanden Bosch said.

Vanden Bosch started with a career-high three sacks against Baltimore on Sept. 18 and grabbed two more the next week against St. Louis. The man who never stops running, not even in practice, is second on the team with 81 tackles and has three forced fumbles.

Numbers like that are attracting Pro Bowl attention, with Vanden Bosch second in fan voting at his position behind Dwight Freeney of Indianapolis as of Monday. Fan voting ends Tuesday, and players and coaches vote on Dec. 19-20 with the team announced on Dec. 21.
He calls such attention a tremendous honor.

"It's a credit to our fans here, just NFL fans in general, because I thought maybe I'd get some recognition from players and coaches around the league because they see the tape. We don't have any prime-time games," he said.

Titans coach Jeff Fisher doesn't expect Tennessee's 3-9 record to affect Vanden Bosch's status when players and coaches vote.

"Typically, when they vote, they're going to go across the board and take guys that have sacks, so I'd say he has a chance," Fisher said.
And that's all Vanden Bosch has ever wanted.

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What else can happen? Eagles' Westbrook out for the season

PHILADELPHIA - Donovan McNabb, Terrell Owens and Brian Westbrook.
They were the Eagles' version of the Big Three at the start of this season.
Now, like the team's playoff hopes, they are all gone.

Westbrook became the third and final player from that trio to check out of the 2005 season on Tuesday when an MRI exam revealed that the running back has a Lisfranc sprain of his right foot. He suffered the injury on the Eagles' first offensive series of Monday night's disastrous 42-0 loss to the Seattle Seahawks at Lincoln Financial Field.

It is unknown if Westbrook will need surgery to repair the injury.

The Eagles have plenty of experience with the Lisfranc sprain. The injury ended running back Duce Staley's 2000 season after five games. Staley's injury was severe enough that he needed surgery and an extensive rehab.

Two seasons ago, safety Brian Dawkins suffered a Lisfranc sprain in the season opener against Tampa Bay and missed nine of the Eagles' next 10 games.

The most recent Eagle to suffer the injury was veteran tight end Chad Lewis, who was forced to miss the Super Bowl last season after severely spraining his foot while making the second of his two touchdown catches in the NFC championship win over Atlanta.
Baltimore foot specialist Mark Myerson performed surgery on Lewis, who needed 10 months to rehab the injury.

It did not initially appear as if Westbrook suffered a severe injury Monday night. The play occurred with 4 minutes, 49 seconds left in the first quarter, when Westbrook went across the middle for a 10-yard first-down reception from Mike McMahon. After being pushed out of bounds by Seahawks cornerback Jimmy Williams, Westbrook started limping back toward the huddle. When the officials called for a measurement, he went to the bench, where team physician Peter DeLuca examined him.

Westbrook returned three plays later and had eight runs and four receptions over the remainder of the first half. Just a few minutes into the second half, however, he could be seen leaving the field and did not return.

The news came exactly one month after Westbrook's often-contentious contract negotiations came to a happy ending when he signed a five-year contract extension. One of the team's concerns in its negotiations was his injury history. Westbrook, 26, has never played all 16 games of a season.

Of course, his season-ending injury hardly makes him the Lone Ranger. He will become the 11th player and fifth offensive starter placed on injured reserve. That list does not include Owens, who was banished for disciplinary reasons, but it does include McNabb (sports hernia), whose season ended after the Nov. 14 loss to the Cowboys.

Westbrook finished the season with 617 yards rushing and 616 receiving.

In his absence, rookie Ryan Moats became the Eagles' primary runner during the second half Monday night. Moats carried a career-high 10 times for 26 yards. He fumbled on his first carry of the second half, and it was returned for a touchdown by Seattle cornerback Andre Dyson.
In addition to Moats, the Eagles have Lamar Gordon and Reno Mahe as running backs. Gordon, for the first time this season, was deactivated for Monday night's game. That decision was made because the Eagles had to activate rookie tight end Stephen Spach as a precautionary measure because fullback Josh Parry was playing with a sprained ankle.

The Eagles will likely sign former seventh-round pick Bruce Perry from the practice squad on Wednesday. Perry is a Philadelphia native and was The Philadelphia Inquirer's offensive player of the year as a senior at George Washington High. He spent last season on injured reserve after suffering a shoulder injury in the preseason.
source : www.mercurynews.com

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Packers stand behind error-prone Favre

As the Green Bay Packers’ injury-ravaged season freefalls, the number and cost of quarterback Brett Favre’s interceptions climb.

The 36-year-old Favre has tried to carry the undermanned Packers more than ever this season, but in recent weeks, he’s made some of the 2-10 team’s most crucial errors. He’s had two of his worst games the past two weeks, and made an egregious decision in each that led to a critical interception.

Going into this season, coach Mike Sherman and his offensive assistants tried to walk the fine line of preaching to Favre to be more calculating with his riskier throws without destroying the playmaking qualities that make him special.

“With whatever it is, 21 interceptions, I would say it hasn’t (worked),” said Darrell Bevell, the Packers’ quarterbacks coach.

Favre heads into the Packers’ game this week against Detroit as bruised and battered as he’s been in his 15-year NFL career. After the Bears’ No. 1-ranked defense gave him his worst physical beating of the season, his throwing arm Monday was bruised on the forearm and cut on his hand. He also had a huge and painful blister on one foot.

Then there’s the psychological battering with his struggles trying to carry an offense that has only one skill-position player of note, receiver Donald Driver.

The Packers’ season-ending injuries to receiver Javon Walker and running back Ahman Green have put them in a Catch-22. They need Favre to play better than ever with limited playmaking talent around him, yet, this undermanned team can least afford the interceptions that go with his gunslinger mentality.

It’s difficult to know whether the frustration of losing, or more of a devil-may-care mentality, has crept into Favre in recent weeks, as the Packers’ season went downhill. Favre threw eight interceptions in the first six games, but as the quality of skill players around him has dwindled, he’s thrown 13 interceptions in the last six games.

Asked if Favre was only making matters worse for his outgunned team with costly risks the past couple of weeks, Sherman answered: “I’d never say that, because his goal is like mine — we’ve talked about this — to win football games. I think he gives you everything he has on every play to win the football game. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”

On Sunday at Chicago, Favre made one of the worst decisions of his career on the game-turning play in the final 30 seconds of the first half. When a Bears all-out blitz aborted a shovel pass, Favre chose not to throw the ball at halfback Tony Fisher’s feet but tried to throw the ball away in the end zone to receiver Robert Ferguson, who was blocking rather than running a pattern. Favre’s floater was intercepted by Nathan Vasher and returned to set up a field goal that turned around the game and gave Chicago a 9-7 lead.

The Packers’ coaching staff says it goes over game plans with Favre in detail and reminds him during games of the situation.

“He’s coached on a daily basis,” said Tom Rossley, the Packers’ quarterbacks coach. “Told when he’s right, told when he’s wrong in practice. But when it comes to actually lining up and playing in a game, a quarterback has to be a quarterback. He has to play on instinct, and his instinct has been right more than it’s been wrong. We’ve had a few wrong ones lately, and we’re all jumping on him. I don’t think that’s a fair deal.”

Favre had his best seasons under former coach Mike Holmgren, and he often was the target of Holmgren’s volcanic temper. Neither Sherman nor Rossley has that kind of personality, and Bevell said he abandoned getting in Favre’s face after his first game as quarterbacks coach, in 2002.

“If I thought yelling and screaming at him every time he did something wrong would help, I’d certainly do it,” Bevell said. “That could be my style. I tried that the first game, and I thought it was counterproductive.”

Favre no doubt is more hamstrung this year than he’s been in his career because of the lack of talent around him, and it’s come at an age when he’s not as athletic as in his prime. His passer rating of 75.9 points is well below his career average coming into this season (87.4 points), and his 21 interceptions puts him on pace for a career-high 28. His previous high was 24 interceptions in 1993.

“I think at times he gets impatient,” Bevell said. “He took a lot of checkdowns in that (Chicago) game. Then he threw one into coverage and they knocked it down, and then he threw a couple more checkdowns. Yeah, he gets impatient at times, as all quarterbacks do. You’re always trying to push the ball downfield.”

Bevell said that in meetings, Favre has been accountable for his mistakes and listens to his coaching. He also said he hasn’t given up on trying to get Favre to play safer while also being a playmaker.
“I don’t think we’ve ever thought that he was going to be the safe quarterback,” Bevell said. “I think we know what we have, and we keep harping on the things that we think are important to harp on — being able to know when to take a chance. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Sherman said Favre’s bruised forearm and cut hand don’t appear serious enough to bother him much this week against the Lions.

“Anytime something is affected to the throwing hand, forearm, arm or shoulder, you’re concerned,” Sherman said. “But he played with it and doesn’t seem to be any worse (Monday) than (Sunday). So I think he’s going to be OK with it, but I’m not sure 100 percent.”
source : http://www.packersnews.com/

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Orange Bowl to pit Bowden vs. Paterno

MIAMI - When their teams last met, Bobby Bowden asked Joe Paterno how much longer he planned to stay in coaching.

Sixteen years later, the legends may have that conversation again.

Florida State and Penn State will meet in the Orange Bowl at Miami on Jan. 3, a game that'll mark a showdown between major college football's two winningest coaches. It's the sixth Bowl Championship Series appearance in eight years for the Seminoles, the first-ever for Paterno's Nittany Lions.

Bowden's Florida State team (8-4) earned its Orange Bowl trip by upsetting then No. 5-Virginia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game on Saturday night. And the Seminoles' reward is a matchup with another highly touted opponent, a third-ranked Penn State team (10-1) that nearly went unbeaten.

It's a matchup of septuagenarians, with Paterno turning 79 later this month and Bowden now 76. Bowden has 359 wins, six more than Paterno - and both steered their teams to surprising comeback stories in 2005.

"I hope it doesn't come down to where it's Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno because he can't run and I run slower," Paterno said on ABC, shortly after the expected pairing was formally announced. "I hope it comes down to Penn State and Florida State and people get away from the idea that this has got to be a matchup between two old guys that have had a lot of fun coaching."
Amid whispers that their longtime coach is too old to compete, Paterno's Nittany Lions had lost 17 of their last 24 games entering this season and haven't won a bowl game since the 1999 season. But only a last-second touchdown by Michigan kept Penn State from finishing this regular season with a perfect record.

"Joe Paterno, to me, is maybe the greatest coach ever in my opinion," Bowden said Saturday night. "I mean that truly, and I said that 10 years ago."

And Bowden's Seminoles had lost three straight and fell from the national rankings before the surprise win over Virginia Tech on Saturday night, one that gave Florida State its 12th ACC title in 14 seasons.

Bowden is 1-6 all-time against Paterno; he lost all six meeting