The NFL and NBA thread

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by otiscleotus

The Bills should consider hiring a defensive coordinator.

It's true that their problematic offence performed much better this time. They have conceptually grasped the basic idea that the QB has to throw into a space; the wide receiver has to communicate with the QB and know which area the QB will aim for; the offensive linemen must protect both the QB and the wide receivers from the opposition defence, or else these poor wights will spend the whole game colliding with medium sized deep freezers at full run. Obviously, you would rather that the Offence and their coach wrapped their heads around this stuff in pre-season training camp rather than on Week 7 but that's gone. The point is that they have performed for the first time this season and they now know what they've got to do and they know they can do it. The Bills don't have to be anyone's push over any more unless they choose to be.

In fairness the Ravens have a potent offence which has hurt teams with better track records than the Bills this year. Even the Patriots didn't have a comfortable time. 37 points is a lot to let by though and if the Bills defence could have been even only a little bit more effective, a very different face of things would have been seen yesterday afternoon. But that's not all bad news. The Offence have turned things around and must not regress. But the defence weren't hopeless and can improve as well; only a relatively minor improvement would be sufficient to make the Bills (finally) into a force to be reckoned with.

I bet the teams who haven't met them yet are aware of all this and aren't smiling any more.

[tygrkhat40]

Originally Posted by cardinalcary

Three ponies left in the race... all with 10 wins

P-Dog - 'boys

bro gro - NYG 50

Ghaleon - NYG 56

I may be the only one, but I wish the NFL would adopt the one-foot in bounds only needed rule that they have in the NCAA. Fewer great plays would be disallowed like we saw at the end of the Vikes game.

I like that, it would have given the Bills the pick at the end of the first half yesterday. I'd also like to see the NFL adopt the rule of stopping the clock on a first down to set the chains.

[tygrkhat40]

Originally Posted by otiscleotus

The Bills should consider hiring a defensive coordinator.

They should have kept Perry Fewell. He'll unleash Big Blue against the Plowboys tonight!

[Rick Danger]

In the spirit of Halloween, we were treated to some horrid football this week........

If I heard correctly, TWENTY SEVEN (27) interceptions were thrown on Sunday.......

Did Randy Ross dog Brett Favre's last second desperation pass, or had Favre's interceptions already decided the game ? Or did Brad Childress'failure to challenge the TD call on the Aaron Rodgers to Andrew Quarless pass in the 2d quarter cost the game ?

Should the Saints (4-3) be pushing the panic button ? After all, that was the Browns (2-5) ............ and has the "Mangenius" returned ?

Who made out better on the big Cutler for Orton QB trade: the Broncos (2-5) ? The Bears (4-3) ? Neither ?

Do you celebrate the Raiders' (3-4) big win, or cringe because Al Davis will be deluded into thinking his "Commitment to Excellence" is actually working ? And is Josh McDaniels, who is 4-13 since starting his first season with six wins, now on the coaches' Death Row ?

How can the Chargers lead the NFL in both total offense and total defense yet be 2-5 ? And how in the hell can you have a false start on a last minute field goal attempt ????

Anyone still have the Bengals (2-4) going to the Super Bowl ?

Who's the biggest surprise, the Chiefs (4-2), Bucs (4-2) or Seahawks (4-2) ?

With the Yankees now Texas toast, and the Phils having left their hearts in San Francisco, who do you like to win the World Series ?

Who wins the NBA Championship ? Heat ? Lakers ? Celtics ? Magic ? Thunder ?

[Rick Danger]

Rangers’ Molina gets a ring no matter what
By Steve Henson, Yahoo! Sports
Oct 24, 11:49 am EDT

Bengie Molina would get a World Series championship ring regardless of whether the Texas Rangers or San Francisco Giants win it all. He is about to become the first catcher in baseball history to appear in the Fall Classic against a team he played for earlier in the season.

Molina is the Rangers’ catcher, a savvy veteran whose three-run home run in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series was critical to knocking off the Yankees.

[Rewind: Bengie Molina was the last person to know he was traded]

Bengie Molina knows what it's like to play with the Giants and now the Rangers. Molina also was the Giants’ catcher from 2007 until July 1 of this year, when he was traded to Texas for reliever Chris Ray and minor leaguer Michael Main. Ray, a reliever who pitched credibly for both teams, also could end up with a ring regardless who wins, although the Giants haven’t put him on their playoff rosters.

Molina played 61 games for San Francisco and 57 games for Texas during the regular season. He has sparkled during the postseason, batting .333 with two homers and seven RBIs in nine games.

Now he returns to San Francisco for Games 1 and 2 of the World Series, the scene of many of his most cherished memories in 13 big league seasons. Molina, 36, is credited by several Giants pitchers as being a key to their maturation. He was Tim Lincecum’s catcher during two Cy Young award seasons and got him to trust his changeup regardless of the count. He urged Matt Cain to attack hitters with his fastball. He helped Brian Wilson become one of the game’s top closers.

“He molded me,” Lincecum said. “He knows batters’ tendencies and put the right fingers down for me to throw the right pitches. He knows every hitter in the game.”

Molina was dealt because the Giants believed rookie Buster Posey was ready to catch every day. They were right about that: Posey is a top candidate for rookie of the year and has solidified the cleanup spot in the batting order. Posey is a better hitter than Molina and more than a decade younger. But the Giants pitchers privately say they miss Molina’s encyclopedic knowledge of opposing hitters.

“When I was with the Giants, I became a brother. I became a father, sometimes,” Molina said shortly after he was traded. “I became a guy who took aside a lot of the young kids and talked to them about not only baseball, but life itself.”

Molina is the oldest of three brothers who grew up in Puerto Rico to become major league catchers. Jose Molina, 35, has two World Series rings as a career backup: the first with the Angels in 2002 and the second with the Yankees in 2009. Yadier Molina, 28 and regarded as one of the best catchers in baseball, has been to two World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals, losing to the Red Sox in 2004 and beating the Tigers in 2006.

And this isn’t Bengie Molina’s first World Series. He was the Angels’ starter in 2002 when they defeated the Giants in seven games. Overall he’s been in 38 playoff games, hitting .281 with five homers and 19 RBIs.

Molina is regarded as a superior clutch hitter. He drove in at least 80 runs in each of his three full seasons with the Giants. And his blast against A.J. Burnett in Game 4 of the ALCS was among the most important in the Rangers’ ascent to the AL pennant. Moments earlier, Nelson Cruz had advanced to second on a fly out to center fielder Curtis Granderson, prompting Yankees manager Joe Girardi to order left-handed hitting David Murphy to be walked intentionally. Molina turned on an inside pitch and drove it into the left-field seats to transform a one-run deficit into a 5-3 lead.

He’s also providing the same leadership and knowledge to Rangers pitchers that he did for Lincecum, Cain and Wilson. Young starters C.J. Wilson and Colby Lewis say they have benefited from his ability to call a game, and rookie closer Neftali Feliz has become a Molina disciple.

“Bengie was quiet when he first got here,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “He’s gradually become more vocal, and everybody is benefiting from his experience. When he says something, everybody listens.”

They especially will tune in now. Because he knows the Giants staff so well, Molina might be of greater help to his fellow Rangers hitters than to the pitchers. It doesn’t smack of betrayal, because everybody has to do what it takes to win.

“He’ll try to beat us, and we’ll try to beat him,” said Pablo Sandoval, another Giants player Molina took under his wing. “It’s all part of the game.”

And if the Giants can overcome Molina’s input and defeat the Rangers, they’d award him a championship ring for his service the first half of the season. He might even get a winner’s share of the playoff cash pool regardless who wins. If so, he ought to accept the spoils. That’s part of the game, too.

Steve Henson is the MLB editor for Yahoo! Sports

[grossnex]

I don't know if you guys have seen this or not. LeBron James has a new Nike commercial to kick off the NBA season. Considering he was the inspiration for my brother Qwerty to start this thread, I had to add this. I'm completely flabbergasted. I thought that press conference was the height of narcissistic idolatry, but I stand corrected:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdtej...layer_embedded

[wozhere]

Originally Posted by otiscleotus

The Bills should consider hiring a defensive coordinator.

There's a thought

Originally Posted by scoundrel

But the defence weren't hopeless and can improve as well; only a relatively minor improvement would be sufficient to make the Bills (finally) into a force to be reckoned with.

The Bills set a franchise record allowing 30+ pts in five straight games. It's an long way to go just to see minor improvement

Originally Posted by tygrkhat40

I like that, it would have given the Bills the pick at the end of the first half yesterday. I'd also like to see the NFL adopt the rule of stopping the clock on a first down to set the chains.

I've wanted for years to see the clock stop to move chains, but it won't happen; because of TV, the NFL wants games played in 3 hours. NCAA games take 3 1/2 hours, primarily due to moving chains (they have longer half-time too, but that's only 8 extra minutes).

As far as I'm concerned, the NFL rules re what constitutes a legal reception have become a quagmire of complexity Technicalities have over-ruled common sense (recall the Week 1 Det/Chi game). Common sense says that non-pick call at the end of the half was clearly a catch for the Bills, but was taken away on a technicality.

I see the NFL is praising the players for clean play yesterday. The way the players were talking last week, you'd have thought the sky was about to fall. All that was needed was to put a few cheap shot artists in their place and that's what the league did effectively. I saw lots of good hits yesterday, without anyone being knocked out silly.

Originally Posted by Rick Danger

Or did Brad Childress'failure to challenge the TD call on the Aaron Rodgers to Andrew Quarless pass in the 2d quarter cost the game ?

I'm starting to see keefriff's point of view about Chilly - he does appear strategically challenged. Did you guys see Lovie Smith also blew a challenge situation - Cutler scored a TD clearly on replay, the refs said no and no challenge I don't know, some of these coaches (including my boy Bum Jr) seem brain-dead or clueless at times. How do they get and/or keep their jobs coaching at this high level?

Originally Posted by Rick Danger

Who wins the NBA Championship ? Heat ? Lakers ? Celtics ? Magic ? Thunder ?

The Raptors, of course

Originally Posted by grossnex

I don't know if you guys have seen this or not. LeBron James has a new Nike commercial to kick off the NBA season. Considering he was the inspiration for my brother Qwerty to start this thread, I had to add this. I'm completely flabbergasted. I thought that press conference was the height of narcissistic idolatry, but I stand corrected:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdtej...layer_embedded

Thanks for ruining my dinner appetite grossnex, bro Can you believe that s**t?

btw grossnex, I see your Wanks canned their pitching coach today any thoughts? (btw, btw, I used to coach BBall myself; that and hockey, of course)

[grossnex]

Originally Posted by cardinalcary

Thanks for ruining my dinner appetite grossnex, bro Can you believe that s**t?

btw grossnex, I see your Wanks canned their pitching coach today any thoughts? (btw, btw, I used to coach BBall myself; that and hockey, of course)

I tell ya, I used to really like LeBron. I just can't stand looking at him anymore. As far as I'm concerned, just shut up & play. Even Nike told him at the end of the commercial to "Just do it." If he wants a legacy, then he needs to earn one. Win a Championship. It's that simple.

Dave Eiland getting fired was predictable, to me anyway. He's kind of like your new manager. He has a proven track record with the kids, but not so much with the veteran pitchers. AJ Burnett went into the toilet this year & Eiland couldn't do anything to fix it. He did develop Phil Hughes, but the Yanks need a guy who can work with veterans since we always have more veterans than young pitches on the roster. Ironically, if the Jays still need a pitching coach, he would be a good candidate. There's no word yet on who the Yanks are going to get as a replacement, so until I start hearing some names I'm going to be worried. The perfect guy would be Dave Duncan from St. Louis, but I don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon. We'll see, I guess...

[Rick Danger]

Brett Favre has two fractures in his ankle..................

Vikings coach Brad Childress said Monday an MRI on Favre's foot revealed the fracture and an "avulsion" fracture in the calcaneus, which is the heel bone. An avulsion fracture occurs when a fragment of bone is torn away by a tendon or ligament.

Favre had arthroscopic surgery on the ankle in May, and he received a series of lubricating injections in the joint at the beginning of the season. The ankle has bothered him at times this fall, but he hurt it in Sunday's 28-24 loss at Green Bay as he was being tackled from behind while throwing his first of three interceptions against the Packers.

The 41-year-old Favre was limping around during the game and walking gingerly afterward, and Childress said he was wearing a walking boot around the practice facility on Monday to make him more comfortable. He refused to rule Favre out of Sunday's game at New England, but he also insisted that the streak won't influence the decision on whether to play him against the Patriots (5-1).

from ESPN.com

The NFL is sending the 49'ers (1-6) to Merry Ol' England to play the Broncos (2-5). Geez, I thought the British were our friends ? This is really going to help the NFL get a foothold in the UK/Europe - NOT...................

Allen Iverson inks two-year, $4 million contract with the Turkish pro team Besiktas.

[wozhere]

Originally Posted by grossnex

The perfect guy would be Dave Duncan from St. Louis, but I don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon. We'll see, I guess...

Ya, ESPN says Duncan just signed a two-year deal plus a third year option with the Cards.

With Farrell here, Manny Ramirez says he wants to come here too. That's all we'd need although, he might put more fannies in the seats, just to see what his next stupid antics will be.