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NFL Monday Night: Arizona loses fourth straight, 24-3 to 49ers

October 30, 2012 By Admin

631c907699048006813a8e3ebaa8912f NFL Monday Night: Arizona loses fourth straight, 24 3 to 49ers
Randy Moss #84 of the San Francisco 49ers sprints to the endzone in front of linebacker Sam Acho #94 of the Arizona Cardinals on a touchdown catch during the third quarter of an NFL game at University of Phoenix Stadium on October 29, 2012 in Glendale, Arizona.
(October 28, 2012 – Source: Ralph Freso/Getty Images North America)

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona Cardinals had another Monday night nightmare. This time, there weren’t any postgame rants by the coach or the quarterback.

After a 24-3 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, all that was left for the Cardinals was an acceptance that they didn’t play very well and were beaten by a better team.

“Disappointed, that’s my No. 1 feeling tonight,” Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “On that kind of stage, you want to play better. You want to represent your fans and yourself better. We didn’t do it.”

Monday has been a night of horrors for the Cardinals since moving from St. Louis in 1988.

Arizona (4-4) has lost eight of nine Monday Night Football games in the desert and had some memorably ugly postgame moments, from coach Dennis Green’s they-are-who-we-thought-they-were rant in 2006 and quarterback Derek Anderson’s “I wasn’t smiling!” proclamation the last time the Cardinals played on Monday night in 2010.

This one was just plain ugly.

Arizona’s defense, one of the best in the NFL the first seven games, surrendered a nearly perfect night to 49ers quarterback Alex Smith and whiffed on countless tackles while giving up its most points this season.

The Cardinals’ struggling offense was at its stuck-in-the-mud worst, managing 69 yards in the first half and 7 yards rushing overall while quarterback John Skelton was hounded yet again.

The home fans booed once the score started to get out of hand, even when the Cardinals trotted out Jay Feely for a 28-yard field goal in the third quarter.

The players hung their heads when it was over, left with little to say after an embarrassing loss at home, Arizona’s fourth straight after opening the season 4-0.

“It’s in front of a national audience and we only put up three points and lost by 21,” Skelton said. “It’s frustrating and humiliating, to be honest.

San Francisco (6-2) manhandled the Cardinals from the start after a 10-day rest, its offensive line bulling Arizona’s defenders off the line, its defense chasing Skelton relentlessly.

The 49ers built a 17-0 halftime lead behind Smith’s precision passing and prevented even a thought of a comeback by stuffing the run game and sacking Skelton four times.

With four wins in five games, San Francisco has a two-game lead in the NFC West and a bye week coming up.

“I feel very good about the win, very proud of our team,” coach Jim Harbaugh said. “I thought they played exceptionally well. A lot of guys to point to, but first and foremost it was a great team win. Really good by all phases, offense, defense, special teams.”

Smith picked apart Arizona’s defense, completing 18 of 19 passes for 232 yards and three touchdowns for a quarterback rating of 157.1 while connecting with 10 different receivers.

He hit Michael Crabtree for two scores, a 3-yarder in the first quarter and a 9-yard play in the second, and added a 47-yarder to Randy Moss in the third. Smith’s only incompletion was a dropped pass by tight end Delanie Walker on a crossing route in the first half.

“He did a pretty good job of staying with it, waiting for his guys to get open and getting it to them,” Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson said. “They had a pretty good game plan toward us with a couple things we hadn’t seen on film.”

Arizona gave him and the 49ers some extra help. The Cardinals missed numerous tackles, allowing the 49ers extra yards throughout the game.

Sam Acho had a glaring miss in the second quarter, whiffing in the open field during Ted Ginn Jr.’s 35-yard punt return. Several Cardinals defenders were left grasping at air later in the quarter during Moss’ dart-and-dash TD through Arizona’s defense, one that tied him with Terrell Owens for fourth on the NFL career touchdown list with 156.

“We had opportunities to get them off the field and we didn’t do that,” Whisenhunt said. “We didn’t tackle very well and everybody has to be held accountable for those things.”

San Francisco’s defense didn’t miss many of its chances.

The 49ers entered the game with the NFL’s No. 1 rush defense and Arizona barely tested it after falling behind early. The Cardinals ran the ball nine times all night and managed 1 yard in the second half.

San Francisco also battered Skelton, allowing him to throw for 290 yards, but making him feel it on almost all of his 52 throws.

The 49ers held Arizona to 256 total yards and were one drive away from their second shutout of the season.

“We are for real,” 49ers cornerback Carlos Rogers said. “We have a pretty good defense, we can’t deny that.”

The Cardinals certainly can’t after being run over by it during another Monday night meltdown.

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NFL: Alex Karras, former NFL lineman, actor, dies at 77

October 10, 2012 By Admin

cf8712802a2d0bba7d3a885d3136a8a6 NFL: Alex Karras, former NFL lineman, actor, dies at 77

DETROIT (AP) Alex Karras was one of the NFL’s most feared defensive tackles throughout the 1960s, a player who hounded quarterbacks and bulled past opposing linemen.

And yet, to many people he will always be the lovable dad from the 1980s sitcom “Webster” or the big cowboy who famously punched out a horse in “Blazing Saddles.”

The rugged player, who anchored the Detroit Lions’ defense and then made a successful transition to an acting career, with a stint along the way as a commentator on “Monday Night Football,” died Wednesday. He was 77.

Karras had recently suffered kidney failure and been diagnosed with dementia. The Lions also said he had suffered from heart disease and, for the last two years, stomach cancer. He died at home in Los Angeles surrounded by family members, said Craig Mitnick, Karras’ attorney.

“Perhaps no player in Lions history attained as much success and notoriety for what he did after his playing days as did Alex,” Lions president Tom Lewand said.

His death also will be tied to the NFL’s conflict with former players over concussions. Karras in April joined the more than 3,500 football veterans suing the league for not protecting them better from head injuries, immediately becoming one of the best-known names in the legal fight. Mitnick said the family had not yet decided whether to donate Karras’ brain for study, as other families have done.

Born in Gary, Ind., Karras starred for four years at Iowa. Detroit drafted Karras with the 10th overall pick in 1958 and he was a four-time All-Pro defensive tackle over 12 seasons with the franchise.

He was the heart of the Lions’ famed “Fearsome Foursome,” terrorizing quarterbacks for years. The Lions handed the powerful 1962 Green Bay Packers their only defeat that season, a 26-14 upset on Thanksgiving during which they harassed quarterback Bart Starr constantly.

Packers guard Jerry Kramer wrote in his diary of the 1967 season about his trepidation over having to play Karras.

“I’m thinking about him every minute,” Kramer wrote.

For all his prowess on the field, Karras may have gained more fame when he turned to acting in the movies and on television.

Playing a not-so-bright bruiser in Mel Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles,” he not only slugged a horse but also delivered the classic line: “Mongo only pawn in game of life.”

Several years before that, Karras had already become a bit of a celebrity through George Plimpton’s behind-the-scenes book about what it was like to be an NFL player in the Motor City, “Paper Lion: Confessions of a Second-string Quarterback.”

That led to Karras playing himself alongside Alan Alda in the successful movie adaption – Karras and Plimpton remained friends for life and one of Karras’ sons is named after Plimpton – and it opened doors for Karras to be an analyst alongside Howard Cosell and Frank Gifford on “Monday Night Football.”

In the 1980s, he played a sheriff in the comedy “Porky’s” and became a hit on the small screen as Emmanuel Lewis’ adoptive father, George Papadapolis, in the sitcom “Webster.”

He also had roles in “Against All Odds” and “Victor/Victoria.” He portrayed George Zaharias in CBS’s “Babe,” in which he starred with Susan Clark, who later became his wife. The two formed their own production company and it was Clark who played the role of his wife on “Webster.”

Recently, his wife said Karras’ quality of life has deteriorated because of head injuries sustained during his playing career.

Susan Clark said her husband couldn’t drive after loving to get behind the wheel and couldn’t remember recipes for some of the favorite Italian and Greek dishes he used to cook.

“This physical beating that he took as a football player has impacted his life, and therefore it has impacted his family life,” Clark told The Associated Press earlier this year. “He is interested in making the game of football safer and hoping that other families of retired players will have a healthier and happier retirement.”

Clark has said he was formally diagnosed with dementia several years ago and has had symptoms for more than a dozen years. He joined hundreds of other former players suing the league.

“It’s the same thing as back in the gladiator days when the gladiators fought to death,” Mitnick, who represents Karras and hundreds of others in the suit, has said. “Fans care about these guys when they’re playing and they are heroes. But as soon as you’re not a hero and not playing the fan doesn’t really care what happens to them.”

The NFL has said it did not intentionally seek to mislead players and has taken action to better protect players and to advance the science of concussion management and treatment.

Karras played his entire NFL career with the Lions before retiring in 1970 at age 35. He was a first-team All-Pro in 1960, 1961 and 1965, and he made the Pro Bowl four times. He missed the 1963 season when he was suspended by NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle in a gambling probe. Karras was recognized by the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a defensive tackle on the All-Decade Team of the 1960s.

Karras later wrote an autobiography, “Even Big Guys Cry,” and two other books, “Alex Karras’ and “Tuesday Night Football.” Lewand said Karras also loved to garden and cook.

“We know Alex first and foremost as one of the cornerstones to our `Fearsome Foursome’ defensive line of the 1960s and also as one of the greatest defensive linemen to ever play in the NFL,” Lewand said. “Many others across the country came to know Alex as an accomplished actor and as an announcer during the early years of `Monday Night Football.”‘

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NFL: Former Ravens owner Art Modell dies at age 87

September 6, 2012 By Admin

ce6929805d1e9a3ee2f1282921384df8 NFL: Former Ravens owner Art Modell dies at age 87
Art Modell, previous owner of of the Baltimore Ravens comes onto the field for halftime celebrations of the ten year Super Bowl anniversary team during the game against the Buffalo Bills at M&T Bank Stadium on October 24, 2010 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Bills lead the Ravens at the half 24-20.
(October 23, 2010 – Source: Larry French/Getty Images North America)

(PhatzRadio / AP) — It was 2003, and Art Modell was joking about his health: “Ten hospitalizations, two heart attacks, a stroke, internal bleeding … and every one of those she was at my side he said, turning to his wife.

With Modell, there was almost always a punchline.

“You know what?” he told her, “I think you’re bad luck, babe.”

PHOTOS: Remembering Art Modell

Modell — the man loved for bringing his NFL team to Baltimore, but hated for yanking it out of Cleveland — lived another nine years, much of it in infamy, before passing early Thursday morning. One of the most influential owners in the league, and also one of the most quotable, he was 87.

David Modell said he and his brother, John, were bedside when their father passed “peacefully of natural causes.”

Ironically, peace had been difficult for Modell to find.

During his four decades as an NFL owner, he was one of the league’s shakers. But he will be forever remembered – and vilified — as a mover, too.

Despite negotiating lucrative television contracts that kept the league thriving on its way to its current $9 billion in annual revenue, Modell will be known as the man who stole Cleveland’s beloved football franchise and left fans without a team for three years until the NFL awarded city an expansion franchise, resurrecting the Browns.

Most fans do not know that Modell served as league president from 1967 to 1969, nor do they realize that he chaired the first collective bargaining negotiations with players in 1968. He also was one of the driving forces for Monday night football.

But, faced with bankruptcy, he moved the Browns out of Cleveland in 1996, settled his team in Baltimore, and called them the Ravens – as Cleveland fans screamed.

Wednesday, when his death was announced, fans bombarded Twitter with comments – some positive, many negative (and a few vicious) from those still holding a grudge.

The Ravens won their lone Super Bowl in January 2001, less than a year after Modell sold a minority interest of the team to Steve Bisciotti. In April 2004, Bisciotti completed purchase of the franchise, but left Modell a 1 percent share.

At one time one of Cleveland’s biggest civic leaders, Modell became a pariah in Ohio after he moved the team.

“I have a great legacy, tarnished somewhat by the move,” he said in 1999. “The politicians and the bureaucrats saw fit to cover their own rear ends by blaming it on me.”

The move was also believed to be the main reason why Modell never made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was one of 15 finalists in 2001 and a semifinalist seven times between 2004 and 2011.

“I believe Art belongs in the Hall of Fame,” former New York Giants owner Wellington Mara, now deceased, said in 2002. “I don’t think I know a person who has done more for the league than Modell, especially through television.”

After the passing, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell posted on Twitter: “Art Modell’s leadership was an important part of the NFL’s success during the league’s explosive growth during the 1960s and beyond … Art was a visionary who understood the critical role that mass viewing of NFL games on broadcast television could play in growing the NFL.”

Goodell also appreciated Modell’s sharp wit.

“Art’s skills as an owner and league contributor were matched only by his great sense of humor,” he tweeted. “Any conversation with Art included laughs.”

Wednesday, within minutes of Modell’s death, the reactions streamed in from around the league.

“Art was a giant in our industry,” said Ravens general manager and executive vice president Ozzie Newsome. “He was my boss – but he wouldn’t let me call him that – my mentor, and most importantly, my friend. He was the most caring, compassionate person I’ve ever known. The opportunities he gave me are historic, and I will be forever humble and grateful.”

Modell’s Browns were among the best teams of the 1960s, led during his first few years as owner by legendary running back Jim Brown. Cleveland won the NFL championship in 1964 — Modell’s only title with the Browns — and played in the title game in 1965, 1968 and 1969.

Modell said he lost millions of dollars operating the Browns in Cleveland and cited the state of Maryland’s financial package, including construction of a $200 million stadium, as his reasons for going to Baltimore. The Ravens replaced the Baltimore Colts, who moved to Indianapolis in 1984.

“This has been a very, very tough road for my family and me,” Modell said at the time of the move. “I leave my heart and part of my soul in Cleveland. But frankly, it came down to a simple proposition: I had no choice.”

Ironically, the cost of the move to Baltimore left him financially strapped and left him no choice but to put in motion the chain of events that enabled Bisciotti to assume majority ownership of the franchise.

Bisciotti has since poured millions into the team, financing construction of a lavish practice facility in Owings Mills, Md. As a tribute to Modell, Bisciotti insisted that a huge oil painting of Modell be hung above the fireplace at the entrance to the complex.

Modell wasn’t the kind of owner who operated his team from an office. He mingled with the players and often watched every minute of practice.

“Art talked with me every day when I played in Baltimore,” former Ravens tight end Shannon Sharpe said. “He knew everything about what was going on in my life. He showed real concern. But, it wasn’t just me. He knew the practice squad players’ names. He treated them the same. He was out at practice when it was 100 degrees and when the December snows came. I loved playing for him.”

Born June 23, 1925, in Brooklyn, N.Y., Arthur B. Modell dropped out of high school at age 15 and worked in the Brooklyn Navy Yard cleaning out the hulls of ships to help out his financially strapped family after the death of his father.

He completed high school in night class, joined the Air Force in 1943, and then enrolled in a television school after World War II. He used that education to produce one of the first regular daytime television programs before moving into the advertising business in 1954.

He started in TV production in New York in the 1940s. Later, he was a partner in an advertising firm when he got a tip that the Browns were for sale. He loved football, and with some partners he swung the deal in 1961 for the “earthshaking” price of about $4 million.

“I went into hock and borrowed my money,” he said. “I told people, ‘Nobody has as many toasters and irons and ironing boards in the garage as I do from opening up accounts and borrowing money.’

“You get few chances like this,” he said. “To take advantage of the opportunity, you must have money and friends with more.”

He also had TV experience when other owners didn’t. In 1962 he became chairman of the Television Committee. That year the NFL signed its first single-network TV deal ($4.65 million league-wide, annually, with CBS).

Aside from his work with the Browns, Modell became a leader in the Cleveland community. He served on the board of directors of a number of large companies, including the Ohio Bell Telephone Co., the Higbee Co. and the 20th Century-Fox Film Corp.

Modell and his wife, Patricia, continued their charitable ways in Baltimore, donating millions of dollars to The Seed School of Maryland, a boarding school in Maryland for disadvantaged youths; Johns Hopkins Hospital; and the Kennedy Krieger Institute. The couple also gave $3.5 million to the Lyric, which was renamed the Patricia & Art Modell Performing Arts Center at The Lyric.

His wife of 42 years passed away in 2011. When they met, she was starring as nurse Meg Baldwin on the TV soap opera General Hospital. Modell asked her what time her show was on and promised to watch it.

“This magnificent woman comes on the (TV) set, beautiful mink coat, diamonds and earrings,” Modell said. “So that night at dinner, I said, ‘You looked fantastic in that mink coat.’ She said, ‘What are you talking about? I wear a white uniform. I’m a nurse.’ ”

Said Modell: “I had the wrong channel.”

Modell was beloved in Baltimore, and hoped one day the people of Cleveland would remember him for what he accomplished in the city. Long after the move, Modell pointed out that Cleveland ultimately got the new stadium he coveted, and that the expansion version of the Browns could draw on the history he helped create.

“I think that part of my legacy is I left the colors, the name and the records in Cleveland,” Modell said. “The fans in Cleveland were loyal and supportive. They lived and died with me every Sunday for 35 years.”

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NFL banking on Peyton’s return to form; more 2012 schedule thoughts

April 18, 2012 By Admin

655924299896108b15ecb4b4fced7401 NFL banking on Peyton’s return to form; more 2012 schedule thoughts
Quarterback Peyton Manning (R) shakes hands with executive vice president of football operations John Elway during a news conference announcing Manning’s contract with the Denver Broncos in the team meeting room at the Paul D. Bowlen Memorial Broncos Centre on March 20, 2012 in Englewood, Colorado. Manning, entering his 15th NFL season, was released by the Indianapolis Colts on March 7, 2012, where he had played his whole career. It has been reported that Manning will sign a five-year, $96 million offer.
(March 19, 2012 – Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images North America)

(PhatzRadio / SI) — Musings, observations and the occasional insight as we digest the NFL’s just-released 256-game regular-season schedule …

• To absolutely no one’s surprise, the NFL has blown it out as only it can, deciding to put Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos on the biggest stages it has in the opening two weeks of the regular season. First comes a prime time Week 1 playoff rematch against visiting Pittsburgh on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, and then a prime time Week 2 trip to Atlanta on ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

BURKE: Can’t miss game for each week of the season

It’ll be a veritable Peyton-palooza in early September, and the spotlight will be on No. 18 and burning hotter than ever before. To which I say: Great. Can’t wait. And, oh, by the way, I hope he can play.

2012 Week-by-week schedule | Team schedules | Monday night

Look, the very act of assembling and releasing a schedule is a leap of faith of sorts, and I get it that the NFL wasn’t going to backload the schedule as a means to give Manning as much slack as possible in his quest to return to the playing field. But it’s at least worth remembering that by the time Manning steps foot on Sports Authority Field in Denver to do battle with the Steelers, he will have gone exactly 20 months and one day between meaningful football games. And even now, he’s still almost four months away from proving himself even in the setting of a preseason game.

All signs have certainly been positive and pointing toward Manning’s return to health and form for weeks now, and I’m not discounting the firsthand accounts of his throwing arm looking very Peyton-esque of late. But he did miss an entire season with his repeated neck problems, and there are still a lot of hurdles for him to clear. There are no guarantees that his rehab will continue to be a nice, steady ascent. Setbacks are possible.

But the NFL clearly is counting on Manning being Manning again. And right from the start. Denver is one of eight teams scheduled for the maximum five prime-time games, with four of those falling in the first eight weeks of the Broncos season: at home against San Diego on Monday night in Week 6 and at the Saints on Sunday night in Week 8, in addition to the Week 1-2 games already noted. In addition, the Broncos will travel to New England in Week 5 in a resumption of the Manning vs. Tom Brady showdowns that were traditionally the league’s game of the year when No. 18 wore a horseshoe (instead of a horse’s head) on his helmet.

All told, Denver draws a 2011 playoff team in four of its first five games, with only a Week 4 home game against the division-rival Raiders posing anything resembling a breather. And don’t forget Oakland beat the Broncos last season in Denver.

For Denver’s sake, and the NFL’s, Manning had better be ready from the first snap of the regular season on. Caleb Hanie, at the moment, is the Broncos backup quarterback. And we all know what happened in Chicago last season when he was forced to center stage.

• Good luck to the defending Super Bowl champion Giants. Lord knows they’re going to need it. You can’t project these things accurately, of course, but New York’s schedule looks brutal at first glance.

Not only does Tom Coughlin’s team have rematches with all three teams it beat in the NFC playoffs — Week 6 at San Francisco, Week 12 at home against the Packers, Week 15 at Atlanta — but also New York faces four other playoff clubs from a year ago: Week 9 vs. the Steelers, Week 10 at Cincinnati, Week 14 vs. the Saints, and Week 16 at the Ravens.

On top of that, you can mix in a tough trip to ascending Carolina in Week 3, two games against Robert Griffin III and a Redskins team that swept the Giants last year, and then the four annual knock-down, drag-out games New York seems to have with NFC East foes Philadelphia and Dallas.

Want more? The Giants play three of their first four games in prime time, don’t get their bye until Week 11, and become the first team in NFL history to play on a Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday and Monday night in the same season.

Enjoy that defense of your Super Bowl title, G-men. If you go back-to-back, you’re going to earn it maybe more so than any other champion in recent memory.

• Plenty of paranoid Saints fans out there are convinced the NFL office had it in for their heroes because of the bounty investigation. But if so, the NFL has a curious way of showing its antipathy via the Saints 2012 schedule.

Logic tells us New Orleans arguably would have it toughest earlier in the season, with interim head coach Joe Vitt being suspended for the team’s opening six games, and any potential player suspensions likely falling in that time frame as well. Also, coping with regular-season life without suspended head coach Sean Payton figures to be more difficult at the start of the year, before the team adjusts to its new realities.

But New Orleans at least has a chance to catch its breath early on, playing only one 2011 playoff qualifier in its first six games of the year: a Week 4 trip to Green Bay. Other than that, the Saints face off against four teams that had losing records last year, plus one .500 club.

New Orleans opens at home against Washington, then plays at Carolina, home against Kansas City, at Green Bay, home against San Diego, takes a Week 6 bye, and travels to Tampa Bay. At worst, I could see the Saints being 3-3 in that span, but 4-2 or even 5-1 is entirely possible. And it’s not as if the league office is trying to bury New Orleans and keep the Saints out of its showcase games either. Drew Brees and Co. will have four prime time games this season, in Weeks 5, 8, 9 and 13.

Saints or sinners, the NFL isn’t out to get New Orleans. Otherwise someone in the league office missed a nice opportunity to deepen the price and pain of the bounty saga.

• It’s not the juiciest of seasons on the revenge-game front. I’m sure to be overlooking a few potential paybacks in 2012, but unless the postseason comes to our rescue, the following grudge matchups will not occur this season:

No Peyton Manning versus the Colts; Tim Tebow won’t get a crack at the Broncos; Brandon Marshall and Miami won’t cross paths again; Jeff Fisher won’t square off against his former players in Tennessee; and new head coaches like Jacksonville’s Mike Mularkey, Miami’s Joe Philbin and Indy’s Chuck Pagano won’t get to go up against the teams they just left (Atlanta, Green Bay and Baltimore, respectively).

True, Mario Williams gets to make a statement in his Week 9 return to Houston, as a member of the Buffalo Bills, but Williams is a pretty quiet guy and we’re not expecting fireworks.

We do get a few other bones thrown our way in terms of revenge games. The visiting Dolphins in Week 14 will get their first crack at Jim Harbaugh since he spurned them for the 49ers gig in early 2011; Romeo Crennel will take his Chiefs into Cleveland in Week 14, where he once led the Browns; and Matt Flynn (maybe) faces off against Aaron Rodgers and his former Packers teammates in Week 3 at home on Monday night.

Other than that, unless Raheem Morris returning to Tampa Bay as the Redskins defensive backs coach (in Week 4) or Raiders new head coach Dennis Allen against his former New Orleans club in Week 11 floats your boat, there’s not much grist for the revenge mill. I kind of miss those days of Terrell Owens returning to Philly, Brett Favre returning to Green Bay, and Donovan McNabb returning to Philly made for screaming headlines and weeklong hype-fests.

• An NFC team has claimed four of the past five Super Bowl titles, and the balance of power in the NFL seems to have shifted for the time being in favor of that conference. Not only are the Giants (twice), Packers and Saints recent Super Bowl winners, but also five of the eight teams that will have the maximum five prime-time appearances this season are from the NFC: Green Bay, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco and the Giants.

The only three AFC teams in that club? The Manning-led Broncos, the Steelers and the Chargers. Somewhat surprisingly given its track record of dominance, New England will have just four prime-time games, with only one taking place before Week 12.

• I don’t know how many years we sat through bad and uncompetitive games on Thanksgiving, but those days are hopefully gone for good. This year’s triple-header is again looking like it holds promise: Houston at Detroit to lead off, Washington at Dallas in the middle, and a nightcap of the Patriots at the Jets on the NFL Network.

That’s two 2011 playoff teams in the Texans and the Lions doing battle in Detroit, followed up by two outstanding divisional rivalries in the Redskins-Cowboys and Pats-Jets. Two Ryan brothers coaching, a Matt Schaub-Matt Stafford quarterback battle, and the Cowboys-Redskins grudge match sounds like a fitting football feast from this vantage point.

And don’t forget, the NFL will have 14 weeks of Thursday night games this year, beginning in Week 2 when the Bears visit the Packers.

• The pressure is really on now. In 2010 on schedule-release day, I accurately predicted the Bengals and Vikings would be teams that missed the postseason after qualifying in 2009. Last year, I went with the Chiefs and Bears as my fallback teams, and again went 2-for-2.

Using my same formula of one team in the NFC and one in the AFC, I’ll go with the Giants (see above note on their killer schedule) and the Bengals, given that Cincinnati has never qualified for the playoffs in two consecutive non-strike seasons.

If you’re looking for bounce-back teams that will take a step up and into the playoffs this year, give me Seattle in the NFC and Tennessee in the AFC.
Eight ridiculously good games I can’t wait to see:

• Steelers at Broncos, Week 1: If Manning loses to the team that Tim Tebow beat last January in the playoffs, John Elway’s gonna have some ‘splaining to do.

• Lions at 49ers, Week 2: Jim Harbaugh versus Jim Schwartz, in the rematch of the Handshake That Shook the NFL. The league will require both coaches to take a sedative just before the final gun.

• Patriots at Ravens, Week 3: It means more to Baltimore than it does New England, but the Ravens will want revenge after having their Super Bowl dreams snuffed out so cruelly by the Patriots at the last second.

• Broncos at Patriots, Week 5: Bill Belichick, Brady and New England have already had a weird once-in-a-while rivalry with the Broncos, but now that you add Manning to the mix, well, what more could you ask for?

• Giants at 49ers, Week 6: This will be New York’s third trip to Candlestick since mid-November 2011, but after their overtime victory in the NFC title game, the Giants know their rivalry with the 49ers has been reborn.

• Panthers at Redskins, Week 9: Cam Newton and RG3 matching “wow factors” on the same field. That could be fun.

• Raiders at Bengals, Week 12: Carson Palmer is a Raider and Hue Jackson is a Bengals assistant? What’s wrong with this picture?

• 49ers at Saints, Week 12: If it’s even remotely as thrilling as their NFC Divisional round playoff showdown, it’ll be the stuff of instant classic.

NFL banking on Peyton’s return to form; more 2012 schedule thoughts is a post from: PhatzRadio.com

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Aikman says concussions, saturation could be NFL’s downfall

February 22, 2012 By Admin

0e2972f12e4621c1ef50ee140d45e694 Aikman says concussions, saturation could be NFL’s downfall
(By Joel Auerbach, US PRESSWIRE)

(PhatzRadio / USA Today) — To most people it would seem the NFL sits safely atop the American sports pyramid, but former quarterback Troy Aikman says the league could be in for a fall.

Aikman, who is in the college football and Pro Football Halls of Fame and is now an analyst for Fox, was participating last week on a panel examining whether Los Angeles is ready for an NFL team when he expressed concern about the direction of the league, specifically the NFL’s attempts to reign in the rate at which players are sustaining concussions.

“The long-term viability, to me anyway, is somewhat in question as far as what this game is going to look like 20 years from now,” Aikman said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Aikman’s 12-year career was cut short as a result concussions. He doesn’t have a son but said if he did he would have second thoughts about sending him into a career as a football player. “I wouldn’t tell him he couldn’t play football,” he said. “If he wanted to, I would say ‘OK, great.’ But I don’t know if I would be encouraging him to play. Whereas, with the other sports, you want your kids to be active and doing those types of things.”

Aikman, 45, also said the NFL may be making other strategics mistakes that will set itself up for a fall, including televising too many games. He said the fact L.A. has been without a team since 1994, and doesn’t seem to miss it, is evidence that the NFL isn’t a must in people’s lives.

“At one time, watching football was an event,” Aikman said. “Monday Night Football was a big event. Now you get football Sunday, you get it Monday, you get it Thursday and, late in the year, you get it on Saturday.

“People in Los Angeles realized, ‘You know what, life’s OK without the NFL.’ If I’m an owner, I don’t want any fan thinking that.”

The NFL continued to draw strong TV ratings last season, including a record 111.3 million viewers for the the Super Bowl earlier this month. Aikman acknowledges there’s not much to support his point of view but says wait and see.

“I believe, and this is my opinion, that at some point football is not going to be the No. 1 sport. You talk about the ebbs and flows of what’s popular and what’s not. At some point, the TV ratings are not going to be there,” he said. “I can’t justify that because the numbers say otherwise, but I guess time will tell.”

Aikman says concussions, saturation could be NFL’s downfall is a post from: PhatzRadio.com

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Ron Jaworski: Jets should go after Colts QB Peyton Manning

February 21, 2012 By Admin

4e4f2e20f9a414e249961be40df6a80e Ron Jaworski: Jets should go after Colts QB Peyton Manning

(PhatzRadio / ESPN) — ESPN’s Ron Jaworski may no longer be part of the Monday Night Football booth, but he’s far from done dispensing his NFL analysis for the network.

Asked about his outlook for Colts QB Peyton Manning in a recent radio interview, “Jaws” didn’t hold back.

“I think Peyton Manning ends up playing somewhere else,” Jaworski told 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia. “Certainly, when you look at the Colts right now, they’re a team that’s going through their development process with a new coaching staff and new players.

“I think it’s best for Peyton to go and play on a team that can compete for a Super Bowl, a team that might be a quarterback away from elevating that team to Super Bowl status, and I think that would be a win-win situation.”

And who might that would-be Super Bowl team that best fits Manning be?

“The New York Jets,” opined Jaworksi. “I love (Jets QB) Mark Sanchez, and there are 25 other quarterbacks in this league that I would take Peyton Manning over. (But) there’s a turf war in New York. The Giants just won the Super Bowl. The Jets are fighting for every inch of space they can get in the newspaper. How do you get that inch? How do you get the headlines? You sign Peyton Manning.”

And speaking of headlines, Jaworski also elaborated on his recent departure from the MNF booth, one he called “bittersweet,” which leaves just Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden to call the games in 2012.

a77741657bc07a089b0312fe203e7d9c Ron Jaworski: Jets should go after Colts QB Peyton Manning
Peyton Manning #18 of the Indianapolis Colts watches the action in the first half against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on December 4, 2011 in Foxboro, Massachusetts.
(December 3, 2011 – Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images North America)

“(ESPN) just feel that a two-man booth was the way to go. Obviously, I’m the odd man out. I’m the 60-year-old guy and Jon’s the young guy that they believe is the future. I’m not going to argue with that,” Jaworski said, admitting he was speculating for the rationale behind the new direction.

“I think what was crystal clear is they had great respect for me, incredible respect, which I truly appreciate. … They put me in a position that is really, really good in giving me the platforms to develop some of my own programming to do some things that I’ve always wanted to do. And at the end of the day, they’re paying me a lot of money, so I can’t argue with any of that.”

Jaworski will continue to appear on ESPN’s NFL programming and a national radio show.

Ron Jaworski: Jets should go after Colts QB Peyton Manning is a post from: PhatzRadio.com

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Ron Jaworski: Jets should go after Colts QB Peyton Manning

February 21, 2012 By Admin

4e4f2e20f9a414e249961be40df6a80e Ron Jaworski: Jets should go after Colts QB Peyton Manning

(PhatzRadio / ESPN) — ESPN’s Ron Jaworski may no longer be part of the Monday Night Football booth, but he’s far from done dispensing his NFL analysis for the network.

Asked about his outlook for Colts QB Peyton Manning in a recent radio interview, “Jaws” didn’t hold back.

And who might that would-be Super Bowl team that best fits Manning be?

Jaworski will continue to appear on ESPN’s NFL programming and a national radio show.

Ron Jaworski: Jets should go after Colts QB Peyton Manning is a post from: PhatzRadio.com

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Porn Star Profile – AVN – Amia Miley

October 6, 2011 By Admin Leave a Comment

Amia Miley

Age: 20
Height: 5′ 3″
Measurements: 30B-23-32

BIOGRAPHY

The exuberant Amia Miley made her adult entertainment debut on her 18th birthday for the amateur site FTVgirls.com, and since then she has left an impression everywhere she’s gone. The Phoenix native remembers being inspired to perform in adult movies after seeing the Digital Playground/Adam & Eve epic Pirates.

“After I watched that I said, ‘Oh my God, I’m so going to do this,’” Miley says. “It was crazy, though, because I never thought that a few months down the road that I would end up meeting the majority of the people in that movie.”

Miley dabbled in modeling and acting in Arizona, doing swimwear catalogs and fashion shows in addition to working for a marketing company. She also did a stint at Discover Card. Since entering the adult industry, the former cheerleader has been in demand for her gorgeous smile, lithe body and sexy scenes.

She says she has “learned a lot” so far in the industry. “I love it. It’s fun. I hope it doesn’t go to shit in the next year,” she says. “It’s the funnest job ever, and if it would be over it’d be sad. When I first got in I had absolutely no clue in the world what it would be like, so I can’t really say if it’s better or worse than I thought. I’m not disappointed. I would like to be in it for as long as possible but I’m not going to depend my future or my life on it because anything can happen. I do save my money.”

Some of Miley’s movies include Jailbait 7 (Erik Everhard Entertainment/Jules Jordan), Cum Spoiled Brats (JennaRation X/Jules Jordan), Cuties (Elegant Angel) and Naughty Cheerleaders Club 3 (New Sensations).

Follow Amia Miley at twitter.com/amiamiley.

Related Content:
Albums
‘Jailbait 7′
‘Unfinished Business’
‘Beach Patrol 2′
‘Hocus Pocus XXX’
‘Teens Like it Big 6′
‘Cum Spoiled Brats’
It’s not the Super Bowl it’s LFP’s ‘Not Monday Night Football XXX’
Amia Miley
‘Geekettes’
‘Slut Puppies 4′
‘Bus Stop Girls’

Articles
PantyPops.com Comes to DVD Through Buttman Mag Choice
Brazzers’ Get Rubber! Campaign Premieres Third PSA
Evan Stone Makes Directorial Debut for Hustler Video
Kirsten Price Explores Higher Learning In ‘Unfinished Business’

Media
A Taste of Amia Miley
A Chat with Amia Miley
Movies Cast In
Throated 32
Panty Pops
Study Buddy Booty Call
Sex Dolls (Studio A Entertainment)
Girls Can’t Think Straight 4
Teen Splash
Paste My Face 16
4 Some
Black Girl Gloryholes 01
Latinistas 3
Real Slut Party 2
Beach Patrol 2
The Girl Next Door 11
TSA: Your Ass Is in Our Hands
ATK Socially Active Babes
Couples Bang The Babysitter 5
Foot Fetish Daily 5
Teens In Tight Jeans (Third Degree)
Keeping It Up for the Kard-ASS-ians 2
Teen Mother Fuckers 2
Cheerleaders Academy
Bus Stop Girls
Naughty Bookworms 17
Cum Spoiled Brats
Suck It Dry 7
Jailbait 7
Boffing the Babysitter 3
Make Me Cum
Not Monday Night Football XXX
Midnight Prowl 16
Cuties
Teens Like it Big 6
Hocus Pocus XXX
Pound Pussy 2
Rocco’s Bitch Party 2: Teen Bitches
Slut Puppies 4
Brand New Faces 26
Teen Babysitters
Babysitter Diaries 2
Starlets 2010
The Naughty Cheerleaders Club 3

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