Matt Leinart Spotted At Pussycat Lounge In Scottsdale, Az

In his recent article, Sports Illustrated's Michael Silver notes that new Arizona Cardinals QB Matt Leinart was spotted at the Pussycat Lounge in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Pussycat Lounge -- not your typical strip club -- hosts such notables as Jamie Foxx and Mike Tyson, who was reported to have grabbed some woman's butt.

Man, dude likes to party.

Remember, Matt was seen earlier this year at a Playboy Party in Atlanta.

Michael Sliver On Kurt Warner's Ride, And Other Matters

Over the year's Sil's written some pretty funny openings to his work, and this one's certainly in the top 20. It's about Kurt Warner, who Mike Silver (of SI) is picking to have a great year -- didn't he do that in 2005?

Anyway, part of it comes from his good relationship with Warner, who lights up with a smile when he hears "You know my friend Mike Sliver." The other portion is that Warner's finally got the right mix of talent and scheme to do some real damage, not to mention a two-time national champ in Matt Leinart behind him.

But back to my point. This is the opening of the article:

"When Kurt Warner utters the words "Pimp my ride," do you:
a) break out laughing;
b) search for hidden cameras; or
c) take a boxy Ford van and turn it into a tricked-out vehicle that will seat the Arizona Cardinals quarterback's family of nine, complete with rims, tinted windows and iPod ports?

The answer, when you are the folks at West Coast Customs -- the company featured in the brilliantly named MTV show featuring some of the world's most accessorized automobiles -- is definitely "c" and probably all of the above.

..For the rest, click here:

Maurice Jones - Drew Video From First NFL Game

Fresh from being wrongly accused for a crime, UCLA's Maurice Drew, drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars -- who now goes by the name Maurice Jones-Drew -- had a great first NFL game against the Miami Dolphins. Preseason, yes, but it's still a great game and features his 55yd catch-and-run for a TD.

President Bush's Wiretaps Snuffed Out By Judge - "Tricky Dick" Accusations Forthcoming

I just saw this Washington Post article (click on the title) where President Bush's secret wiretaps were deemed unconstitutional by a Federal Judge. The trouble is this activity -- an unconstitional one -- has gone on for several years.

What happens to those out there who may have been the target of such efforts and were wrongly accused of a crime? And did President Bush do this to Democratic Party activists?

This opens a new can of worms, but it's also evidence of how the Bush Administration has acted in a very dangerous way that seemed to paint the picture of a president who believed he was above the law.

I know the reason's tied to 9/11, but that seems to be used as a kind of nice excuse for going a little beyond what's really appropriate in this matter.

This wil further the claim that George W Bush has more in common with Richard M. Nixon, than with Bill Clinton. I write this because I know he and Clinton are friends, but I see Bill as more nuanced in his approach.

Andrew Young's Right; His Comment Isn't Racist, Just Race Concious

Former Amabassor Andrew Young had stepped down from serving on a Wal-Mart sub-committee after making remarks that were seen as racially offensive.

This is what he said:

"In the Sentinel interview, Young was asked about whether he was concerned Wal-Mart causes smaller, mom-and-pop stores to close.

"Well, I think they should; they ran the `mom and pop' stores out of my neighborhood," the paper quoted Young as saying. "But you see, those are the people who have been overcharging us, selling us stale bread and bad meat and wilted vegetables. And they sold out and moved to Florida. I think they've ripped off our communities enough. First it was Jews, then it was Koreans and now it's Arabs; very few black people own these stores."

Now the unfortunate fact of modern America is that many black communities have corner stores ran by people who are generally either Mid Eastern or Korean, and in the past some were Jewish as well. That's a fact. Now even today in Oakland, I can show you examples -- many in number -- of stores that are owned by persons such as those Mr. Young pointed out and do have substandard food and produce. In many cases the inventory hasn't been properly turned over in several months. But with that, the prices are up to three times higher than at a larger chain.

On top of all that, I've never seen one of these stores hire anyone black -- ok, once. That's it.

What Andrew Young pointed to is a fact and he should not be shunned for publically pointing to a problem that needs to be adressed by economic development officials around the US.

Moreover, people have to learn the difference between a racist remark and one that's racially concious. I do agree that Andrew Young should have nuanced his expression of the problem. I think what he should have said is "we need to adress the problems of store quality and price and employment where one ethnic group not African American establishes a store in a black neighborhood."

That would have -- or should have -- gone down better.

How To Get Raiders WR Randy Moss Open - Part One

I've been so critical of Oakland Raiders Offensive Coordinator Tom Walsh's approach , I figured it was only fair to place my own ideas out there.

Here's how I would solve the Raiders offensive line problem and get famed wide receiver Randy Moss open all at the same time.

Then formation here calls for a personal grouping of really three wide receivers and one back, but the third wide receiver plays flanker (Z) in the play, and Randy Moss is three-and-a-half-yards behind the weakside tackle where the fullback would normally be.

We place Moss in motion to the wide weakside before the snap of the ball. This forces the defense to 1) reveal its overall coverage and 2) place a slow defender -- more than likely a safety on first down -- on the fleet Moss. But this manuever also forces the defense to spread out to get Moss, thus leaving a nice passing lane for the tight end, who runs a five-yard out pattern. This second receiver in the pattern set will see the ball most of the time.

Note that Moss has an option to run either a fly pattern against man coverage or a kind of skinny post (break at 12 yards) into the seam of a three-deep defense, should the safety already be back in that position. It's not logical to try to run by the safety; we take our chances with the idea that we can drill our QB to make the throw on time to Moss should he chose to run the skinny post. We also chose the fly as the base pattern, in case the defense makes the mistake of not accouting for Moss in motion out of the backfield.

But Moss and the tight end open up the short middle for the halfback who runs a simple pattern to about 12 yards over the ball. There's nothing fancy here. The idea is to exploit the chance that between the free safety either covering the deep post or "spliting" the field and the middle linebackers moving into short hook zones or rushing the passer, that area will be open.

Finally, the Flanker runs a fake drive pattern, then turns and moves into what I call a "sweet spot" between the two deep zones post and corner and just over the hook zone. The Flanker's the fourth receiver.

The line blocking is zone-push: the linepeople don't give ground and instead push the defenders to keep them at bay. The strong guard is "uncovered" and so watches for the inside linebacker first and then the outside linebacker blitz. If the outside linebacker rushes, the guard slides out to get the defender. If both linebackers rush, the guard plays inside and the QB throws the hot pass to the halfback, who should be wide open.

The QB takes five steps-- three big and two small -- reading the weak safety and the middle linebackers as the drop back is taking place. Then once taking a hitch step set, looks to one, and if not open, then two, and so on...

In this case, the split end "Y" is a decoy that runs a pattern to basically shield the Flanker and then spread the defense wide and to the sideline, perhaps bring the free safety that way depending on the coverage. But a variation of this would have the split end as the primary receiver.

This can be the bread and butter play for any offense, but it's best use is to create a mismatch for Randy Moss. As for the o-line, we solve the problems they have faced by 1) QB and receiver timing and 2) an aggressive blocking style more like the run.

Banarama - Cruel Summer Video

This is one of my all time favorite songs. I never tire of hearing it, and it's still hard to believe it's 23 years old. But Banarama's still going strong; their most recent album's called "Drama."

The Rolling Stones On The Mike Douglas Show

This is vintage video footage of the Rolling Stones on The Mike Douglas Show.

Black Velvet - YouTube Video With Alannah Myles

If you thought the timeless rock song Black Velvet was a product of The Wilson Sisters -- as I did -- you're flar wrong. The amazing voice behind this classic is of none other than Alannah Myles. Take a look and give a listen here:



Here are the lyrics (according to Songfacts, it's about Elvis Presley, but I thought it was refering to black men in the South, or an African American man she knew -- wishful thinking):

Mississippi in the middle of a dry spell
Jimmy Rogers on the Victrola up high
Mama's dancin' with baby on her shoulder
The sun is settin' like molasses in the sky
The boy could sing, knew how to move, everything
Always wanting more, he'd leave you longing for


Chorus:
Black velvet and that little boy's smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring ya to your knees
Black velvet if you please


Up in Memphis the music's like a heatwave
White lightening, bound to drive you wild
Mama's baby's in the heart of every school girl
"Love me tender" leaves 'em cryin' in the aisle
The way he moved, it was a sin, so sweet and true
Always wanting more, he'd leave you longing for


Black velvet and that little boy's smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring ya to your knees
Black velvet if you please

Every word of every song that he sang was for you
In a flash he was gone, it happened so soon, what could you do?


(Solo)

Black velvet and that little boy's smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring ya to your knees
Black velvet if you please

Black velvet and that little boy's smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring ya to your knees
Black velvet if you please

If you please, if you please, if you please

Junior Seau May Join New England Patriots

Dolphins training camp, originally uploaded by dougllio.

Just three days after giving a stirring speach that he was graduating and not retiring from the Miami Dolphins, and the San Diego Chargers, and
The NFL, Junior Seau may graduate alright, right to the New England Patriots.

It's not suprising given that Seau remarked that no one wanted him, so he got out.

Well, no one asked the Pats.

NY Giants Crush KC Chiefs 17-0

The Chiefs have not yet played at home.

Manning, Giants sharp in win over Chiefs

NFL.com wire reports

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (Aug. 17, 2006) -- Eli Manning and the New York Giants showed flashes of offense they'll need to repeat as NFC East champions. They also showed Herm Edwards how much work his Kansas City Chiefs have left to do.

Manning threw for one touchdown and set up another and the Giants starters and backups dominated in a 17-0 preseason victory over Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night, spoiling Edwards' return to Giants Stadium.

"We came out here and played very well," Manning said. "The defense did a great job of getting us good field possession on the first series and we were able to run the ball, throw the ball and convert third downs."

The Giants did just about anything they wanted in outgaining the Chiefs 309-111 while holding the ball for more than 37 minutes.

If the game showed anything, it was that the Giants (2-0) have the talent to repeat in the NFC East and that Edwards, the former Jets coach, has a lot of work ahead to get the Chiefs (0-2) back to the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

"We've done this two weeks in a row," Edwards said matter of factly. "I flat out told the guys it wasn't a good job coaching, and you just can't play like that against a team that went to the playoffs last year. We have to hurry up and rally now."

Edwards led the Jets to three playoff appearances in five seasons, but he was ushered out after a 4-12 mark last season. In taking the Chiefs job, he promised to shore up their porous defense.

No such change was evident against the Giants.


Eli Manning was effective in limited action for the Giants.
Manning shredded Kansas City for touchdowns on two of the first three drives, capping the first with a 5-yard toss to Amani Toomer and handing off the Brandon Jacobs for a 1-yard plunge on the third series.

The other drive probably would have resulted in points had not Jeremy Shockey and Tim Carter been hit with consecutive holding penalties in Chiefs territory.

Defensively, New York limited Trent Green (4-of-6 for 32 yards) and halfback Larry Johnson (4 carries for 8 yards) to two first downs in two series before turning things over to the backups. The Chiefs only got into Giants' territory once in the game, getting to the New York 40 on their second series.

"Is it time to panic?" Green asked. "No, but I definitely think there has to be much more of a sense of urgency on the starters part."

Manning finished 11-of-14 for 80 yards playing for the first time this preseason with all 11 starters from the offense that scored 422 points last season.

Manning spread the ball around extremely well, hitting Toomer, Plaxico Burress and Carter with two passes each. Tiki Barber, appearing for the first time, ran five times for 22 yards and caught a pass for nine more.

Shockey, who missed the preseason opener with a concussion, caught one pass for 10 yards and cleared out the middle on the short touchdown pass to Toomer.

"I'm excited we have something to build on," Shockey said.

In the second-quarter drive, Manning used a no-huddle offense to move New York 52 yards in eight plays without all starters in the game. Jacobs had a 14-yard run on the second play of the drive in which the Giants had only one third-down play: Jacobs' touchdown run.

Kansas City never threatened.

"Last week we didn't come out the way we wanted," Giants safety Gibril Wilson. "This week we came out flying."

The game also marked the return of quarterback Rob Johnson to NFL action for the first time since December 2003. He missed the last two seasons with an elbow injury that required surgery.

The 33-year-old Johnson, who the Giants signed in May, replaced Manning midway through the second quarter and played five series, completing 7 of 14 passes for 62 yards. The 10-year veteran put up points on his last drive, taking New York 65 yards for a 31-yard field goal by Jay Feely on the final play of the third quarter.

"I'm not satisfied," Johnson said. "I have a lot to improve on."

The most serious injury in the game was a sprained knee sustained by Giants starting center Shaun O'Hara. He will have an MRI on Friday, but he was not concerned.

"I'll be back working at Albany," O'Hara said, referring to the team's training camp site.