Raiders Bond With Fishing and BBQ - Adam Scheafter of The NFL Network

NFL Network's Adam Scheafter reports that Raiders Head Coach Art Shell organized a team fishing trip. 25 Raiders players attended the outing, which was followed by a team-sponsore BBQ. A great way to bond that could produce a Super Bowl Champion.

Cardinals Running Back JJ Arrington Reportedly Concerned About Matt Leinart's "Head" - Video Of Matt and Paris Gives Good Reason

I have it directly from a source I can't name that Cardinals Running Back J.J. Arrington expressed concern about the "head" of new and former USC Quarterback Matt Leinart. Arrington, who played against Leinart when both were in the Pac-10 and at Cal and USC respectively, apparently knows what's said about him on the grapevine.



Arrington claims that Matt Leinart has a "hot dog" reputation because of the fact that he has friends like Paris Hilton and Nick Lachey. (Not to mention Leinart's photo with Paris in May and his party boy reputation ) I don't know how much of this is based just on Arrington's prejudice regarding Leinart -- or even jealously that Matt has as much fun as he does. Because my source reports that Arrington bragged about how many girls he himself has, his brand new Denali, his BMW 750i, and his house in Arizona (I think I left out a car or two).



Finally, Arrington did express concern that his playing time would be effected by the Cardinals "new running back" as he put it to my source. He didn't mention the name of the new player -- fomer Indy Colts Running Back Edgerrin James.

I remarked to my source that if Arrington played better, the Cardinals may not have paid to employ Edgerrin James.

Meanwhile, below you can see the video which contains not only the picture of Matt Leinart and Paris Hilton above, but also of them getting down -- dancing, that is -- in Vegas.

Here's the video:

On Astroturf v. Grass v. Field Turf v. Kentucky Blue Grass

GROUND RULES- Looking at the differences between playing football on natural and artificial surfaces.

The debate over the "ideal" playing surface has been going on for quite a few years now. When artificial playing surfaces began to appear in the late 1960’s Football purists began to wonder aloud if the game was changing for the worse. "The absolute worst thing that could ever happen to the game," said Former Alabama Coaching great Paul "Bear" Bryant. NFL owners, looking for a way to cut the cost of upkeep of their stadiums, had contracted Monsanto Corporation to develop
a type of artificial grass that they would call "Astroturf". It made its first professional football appearance at the Houston Astrodome, and soon began showing up in other buildings throughout the League.

Many players and coaches who were considered to be purists to the game did not care for the new surface. They preferred the cushion that a real grass surface gave them, over the artificial bounce of "The Rug" as it was being called. But looking at both sides of the coin, each surface has it’s good and bad points.

An Artificial surface, while being extremely strong and durable, and able to withstand great amounts of wear and tear over the course of several seasons, as well as hold incredible amounts of water with the proper drainage system, does have one major fault. Under its playing surface is cold hard cement. Once that surface begins to loose it’s cushion (or bounce), it can be very hard to fall down on it without sustaining serious injury. It can also freeze hard during the temperature drops that take place in the northern portions of the country.

A natural surface (like Kentucky Blue Grass) can be more forgiving to players to land hard on it. It is also less stressful on players recovering of lower limb stress injuries then artificial surfaces. However, even the best prescription playing surfaces can not handle constant flooding even with a good runoff drainage system, and can freeze almost as hard as a wet artificial surface can (like soldier field) in cold weather. Although many players will tell you they like grass better then turf, some of those same players have better performance numbers on turf then on grass.

Sports medicine specialists across the country note that more players get hurt on turf every year then on grass. I spoke with two prominent New York City Chiropractors who specialize in sports injuries. One is the official team chiropractor to a major catholic High School’s sports program, and the other treats several hundred people a week, and by his own admission fully one third of whom are sports related stress injuries. "I constantly tell young kids playing on these surfaces to be very careful, and do their best to try and play on a grass field instead. The pressure of resistance from your lower body pounding itself against a hard surface is causing long term damage to ligaments, tendons, and the joints themselves," said one.

Many players will try to get to a team with a natural surface once they have had a knee or ankle injury on turf. One NFL running back popped both knees on the grass at Soldier Field in 1998, and had to retire in 2000 because he was never able to cut the same way.

The NFL conducted it’s own study in 1997 and determined that there was no significant increase in injuries on turf. Even so, many teams are going back to natural grass surfaces, or at least experimenting with them. Recently the first NFL game on a grass surface was played in Giants stadium, a building that has had an artificial surface since it opened in 1976. Even player agents are beginning to get into the act, by trying to help their players get to teams with Grass surfaces if that is what they desire. More recently, a new surface has been invented and is being rolled out across the NFL and college Football. Called
"Field Turf" it's grass is made of plastic sewn together, with a sponge rubber base that absorbs water. Under the base is a composite of pebbles and sand mixed together to aid in fast drainage. "The wave of the future in stadium surfaces," says George Toma, the "God of Sod."

It seems that the debate will continue for a long time before we have a solid answer to the question of "What is a better playing surface?"

Star Jones Out Of "View" - Did Sandra Bernhard Cat Fight Push Her Over?

The View's ever lovely Star Jones annouced she's quitting ABC's women talk show "The View." But to make matters worse, The View's producer, Barbara Walters said today they've fired her.

I don't know the behind the scenes story, but given this racially-coded exchange with Sandra Bernhard which is in the video below -- some call it a cat fight -- it seems race may have played a role and not in the way you think.

It seems that Jones' may not have been the right demographic for the suddenly gay-friendly media. What I think happened is that Walters and her staff made some weird read on society and concluded they better get a lesbian voice on their show -- enter Rosie O'Donnell. But exit Jones?

Well, some people tend to think in a white - male - centered view, where anyone that's not white or male is considerred a minority, thus the stupid decision to trade one minority -- Jones -- for another -- O'Donnell.

Bernhard -- like Rosie -- is also Lesbian, and it's almost certain Lesbian women called for Jones' head after the exchange, and inspite of the fact that it was the acid-tongued Bernhard who opened her mouth too much. (Not to say I disagree with her on the matter of war and women. I mean, the World would be a better place if every woman refused to have sex with a bigot or a warmonger.)

It won't matter. O'Donnell's not a draw. The View will sink into oblivion.

While it's sinking, look at the video!

Titans QB Vince Young Ahead of Schedule With Norm Chow - www.tennessean.com

Vince Young seems determined to be a great QB; he's not mailing it in.

Vince Young passes inspection
As team's top draft pick learns system, playbook, Titans like what they see

By JIM WYATT
Staff Writer - www.tennessean.com

One of the initial conversations between Titans offensive coordinator Norm Chow and rookie quarterback Vince Young after the NFL Draft had nothing to do with a playbook.

Chow wanted to clear the air about the decision that brought Young to the Titans. He didn't hide the fact that he was among those who preferred Matt Leinart, his former pupil at Southern Cal, to Young. Titans owner Bud Adams, of course, was among those who wanted Young.

"We both understood the situation. We talked about it,'' Chow said. "I wasn't sitting around here pining away for Matt, but if we had to choose he was the one because I knew him better. Vince understood that. It wasn't a big deal for either of us and we got started.''

Nearly two months later, Chow and the Titans know Young a whole lot better. And they like what they've seen of the former Texas star through May and June minicamps.

"The strides have been monumental,'' Chow said. "He is every bit the athlete you thought he was, but he has some good quarterback skills as well. The thing about Vince is he's not an athlete playing quarterback. He is a quarterback who is a good athlete. There is a big difference.''

Young, the third overall pick of the draft, has already pushed his way ahead of Matt Mauck, last season's No. 3 quarterback, but he's still well behind veteran Billy Volek and probably won't catch him before the start of the regular season.

Barring an injury or a free-agent acquisition, Volek is expected to start the season opener against the New York Jets at LP Field on Sept. 10. If Volek plays well and stays healthy, he could hold the job the entire season while Young gets a chance to mature.

Right now when the Titans speak of Young, they can speak only to what they've seen to this point.

"The first thing I told Vince when he got here is, 'The media is going to pump it up for you to be out there from the very beginning, but just stay patient. It took you 23 years to get here — you don't have to get on the field immediately,' '' tight end Ben Troupe said. "It is going to come when he's ready, and when he is ready I think it is going to be fireworks out there.
"So far we've seen just some of the things he's capable of doing, but we'll see more. I know he can make some throws that I don't think guys that have been in the league a while can make.''

Young attended rookie orientation in May and then began working with the veterans in minicamps later that month. This week veterans recalled a player who was unsure of himself in the huddle, a guy who sometimes used the wrong verbiage when calling the plays because of his nervousness. He even had trouble with the most basic things, like taking a snap.
But during the two weeks of June workouts, Young cut down on his mistakes. He looked more comfortable behind center and his footwork was improved. He said he knows his plays.

"He is throwing much better in the pocket,'' Coach Jeff Fisher said. "He is making instinctive throws down the field, back shoulder, away from the coverage and so on. We have seen steady improvement and we expect to continue to see that.''
Young, however, hasn't been perfect. On the final day of minicamp, he mishandled at least one snap and some footballs hit the ground in the shotgun, though coaches put most of the blame on the snapper. Young was intercepted near the goal line during a 2-minute drill.

Over the last month, Young didn't get a whole lot of reps with the starters. Those snaps went to Volek. When Young did work with the first unit, he made some good throws and some bad ones, along with some risky ones that coaches probably didn't want him to make. He also showed he was willing to run when the opportunity presented itself.

As for his willingness to learn, coaches said they couldn't be happier. They said Young has put in extra time on the field and in the classroom.

"If I wasn't coming in and doing the things behind the scenes, I wouldn't be as far along as I am," Young said. "But I am getting more comfortable every day, getting better and better. I know the plays so I can be more loose out there."
Indications are Young has been embraced by his new teammates.

"I wanted to come in here and earn the guys' respect and show those guys, just because I got picked third I don't think I'm over anyone," Young said. "I am the same guy and I am going to get in here and work and win ball games. I'm getting more used to things. I just want to keep it going.''

The Titans wrapped up their offseason workouts on Thursday and aren't scheduled to be back on the field until training camp begins in Clarksville on July 28.

Young is scheduled to attend the NFL Rookie Symposium in California, and he'll get away on his own for a while. Young said he'll also be studying his playbook, and he has plans to work out with veteran receiver David Givens while the two are in Houston next month.

When Young returns, the learning process will continue. Fisher said Young could play a half a game in the preseason, and even hinted that he might start a preseason game.

"But were are getting Billy ready to win games for us,'' Fisher said.

Eventually, Young's time will come.

"He has an opportunity to be something special, but really, you never know what will happen,'' veteran center Kevin Mawae said. "You've had guys come into this league that nobody gave a shot to and now they are Pro Bowlers and then you have guys who are supposed to be the next Joe Montana and they don't end up doing squat.

"It is just one of those things where you just have to play it out and see what happens. (Young) seems to have a pretty good work ethic and desire to want to be a better player. He is the kind of guy that could be a great player in this league if he can figure it out, which I think he will. But we'll have to see.''

Eagles Place All Tickets With RazorGator - Eagles Fans Upset ; Phillynews.com

Lower prices at Stubhub.com, just click on the title of this post.

Scalping in Birdland?
By DAVE DAVIES - Phillynews.com

daviesd@phillynews.com 215-854-2595
Redskins faced similar issue in '05


LINCOLN Financial Field's scalping policy, as stated on its Web site, prohibits "the resale of an event ticket at a price higher than face value, regardless of the price paid for the ticket and regardless where the resale occurs."

But when the Eagles' Web site - separate from the Linc's - announced June 14 that single-game tickets for next season had sold out within an hour, the story ended on this hopeful note: "Still looking for tickets? Go to RazorGator.com where fans can buy or sell tickets... "

Indeed, thousands of tickets are advertised there, but at prices that violate the 25 percent markup limit under Pennsylvania's anti-scalping law.

Cowboys-Eagles tickets, for example, average around $400 apiece on RazorGator, with some running as high as $900. The face value of the tickets runs from $65 to $80 for seats in the stands and as high as $350 for the enclosed Club seating area.

The lack of access to tickets except from scalpers has left more than a few Eagles fans mighty ticked off.

"When this happened, we got a flood of calls from people who said the ticket sales [from the Eagles Web site] were closed in a matter of seconds, literally seconds," said WIP-AM sports-talk host Angelo Cataldi.

"Now regular Joes can't go see a game unless they pay four or five times the value, and the team is actually suggesting that they go to scalpers," said Tony, a longtime Eagles fan who declined to give his last name to the Daily News.

He and others who vented their fury on talk shows and Internet sites wonder if the Eagles shoveled tickets this year to RazorGator in return for a piece of the scalpers' action.

The Eagles insist they did no such thing. "This is crazy," said Eagles president Joe Banner.

"The same number of single-game tickets were available this year as last year, and it's more than when we were at the Vet," Banner said. "What was different this year was that, in response to fan complaints, we made them available through the Internet as well as Ticketmaster, so they went that much more quickly."

While no evidence has emerged of an improper relationship between the Eagles and RazorGator, the quick sellout of tickets and the Birds' promotion of the site clearly have touched a nerve.

The controversy in part reflects fans' schizophrenic attitude toward ticket-scalping: We hate getting gouged for seats, but at times will pay a fortune to anybody willing to part with a ticket for the big game.

And while ticket resales at more than a 25 percent markup are illegal in Pennsylvania, they are widely practiced - and authorities say an out-of-state Web site like RazorGator is probably beyond the reach of state law.




Banner sees nothing mysterious or unusual in the Eagles' relationship with RazorGator, a national ticket-resale exchange based in Beverly Hills, Calif. It's simply an advertiser in the Eagles' stadium, in the team's publications and on its Web site, Banner said.

And while the Eagles give RazorGator and other business partners a small number of tickets for their own use, the Eagles don't give them tickets for resale and get nothing from RazorGator's marketing of tickets, Banner said.

"The cynicism and distrust in that question is offensive," Banner said, "and I wonder why it's not asked of anyone else."

Banner noted that several teams have marketing arrangements with sites like RazorGator and StubHub, and that expensive tickets for concerts and sporting events everywhere appear on Web sites for sale.

Still, the distrust persists. WIP host Glen Macnow said he got 25 to 30 calls on his Saturday show from fans who wonder how so many tickets ended up on RazorGator so quickly.

"What's difficult to believe is that hundreds and hundreds of Eagles fans independently would decide to sell their tickets for the Cowboys game, the biggest of the year, and by coincidence sell them through RazorGator," Macnow said.

But even if RazorGator is nothing more to the Eagles than an advertising partner, many see hypocrisy in the Eagles promoting the resale of its tickets.

"My biggest complaint about this is that they've gotten in bed with a scalper," Cataldi said.

Asked if promoting RazorGator is inconsistent with Lincoln Financial Field's anti-scalping policy, Banner said, "I think we're playing with semantics here. We accept advertising from a variety of places - including, in this case, a Web site."

The deals available on RazorGator and other Web sites would be illegal if the resales occurred in Pennsylvania, but a transaction through an out-of-state Web site is a murkier issue, according to Pennsylvania Deputy Attorney General Barry Creany.

Some fans regard scalping as a time-honored tradition and a useful service for those who want to splurge on a game now and then.

"OMG [Oh my God,] People! This is crazy. The Eagles are a hot team, who sells their tickets fast and markets their product well," wrote one fan on an Eagles Internet bulletin board. "If you did not get tickets (and I am one of you by the way) then that's that. Watch it on TV or buy them at inflated prices. Just stop the damn crying."

Other fans say that they aren't troubled by a season-ticket holder selling a game or two, but that too many season tickets go to people or brokers who aren't fans but predators, buying them just to make a killing.

Should the Eagles pick and choose to whom they sell? In an unusual step last year, the Washington Redskins revoked the season tickets of an undisclosed number of people who were auctioning them on the Internet.

Since the team knew who had which tickets and the seat numbers were on the Internet auctions, it wasn't particularly hard detective work.

"It was pretty obvious which blocks of tickets were up for sale again and again," said Redskins spokesman Carl Swanson.

Eagles fan Tony said if the same thing were done in Philadelphia, more tickets would become available for real fans.

"This is a crazy theory," Banner said of the idea that the team should crack down on scalpers. Discouraging the resale of tickets would actually make fewer tickets available to the public, he said.

Banner also wondered why fans (or reporters) are suddenly obsessed with scalping Eagles tickets when the practice is so widespread in other sports and entertainment events.

Indeed, scalping prosecutions are rare, and in 2001 the city of Pittsburgh decided to permit scalpers to hawk tickets around stadiums as long as they bought a $250 license and wore it around their necks.

The city later decided to limit scalping to a small area between Pittsburgh's football and baseball stadiums.

Creany, the deputy attorney general, said one of the few recent enforcement actions against a large scalping operation occurred in 2000, when the AG's office sued the Ohio-based ticket dealer Front Row for hawking tickets to shows by the Backstreet Boys and John Mellencamp at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center.

Creany said the action was prompted by complaints from operators of the center, and it was legally possible because Front Row advertised tickets in Pennsylvania newspapers.

Web sites outside the state are much harder to prosecute, Creany said.

Virginia LB Ahmad Brooks To Visit 49ers For Physical June 28th - Dolphins Interested Too

This is from the 49ers / Scout message board

"Scot McCloughan will be on hand when former Virginia linebacker Ahmad Brooks works out for scouts Thursday in Charlottesville, Va.

Brooks will then fly to the Bay Area on June 28 and have a physical with the 49ers the next day.

[Sacramento Bee]

Really hope we go after this guy. Will be the next Ray Lewis."

Here's the report on Miami's interest:

Dolphins GM meets with linebacker Ahmad Brooks

BY JASON COLE - MIAMI HERALD

jcole@MiamiHerald.com
The Dolphins have taken an interest in former University of Virginia linebacker Ahmad Brooks, who is considered by many the top player available in the NFL's supplemental draft on July 13.

Dolphins general manager Randy Mueller and director of college scouting Ron Labadie were among those who attended Brooks' workout Thursday.

Mueller and Labadie met with Brooks after the workout.

In addition, the Dolphins sent Brooks to Michigan last week to meet with Lon Rosen, a psychologist and longtime friend of Dolphins coach Nick Saban, agent Greg Williams said Friday.

Rosen does character research on players for Saban.

Williams also said he presented information to scouts, coaches and executives in attendance, showing that Brooks has passed drug tests taken on a regular basis over the past two months. Williams acknowledged that Brooks had ''issues'' with drug use during college.

Brooks was arrested in March 2003 on a marijuana possession charge.

According to two sources, Brooks failed multiple drug tests for marijuana use during college.

That led to the school's dismissal of him from the team this winter.

''Ahmad knows that he has to make good decisions in the future and change the people he hangs out with if he's going to take advantage of the athletic talent he has,'' Williams said. ``He's a good kid who wants to get this turned around and be an example to kids about how someone can change for the better.''

Brooks weighed 260 pounds, down approximately 30 pounds from two months ago. The weight issue is another question for NFL teams.

Brooks was considered one of the top high school players in Virginia history before going to college.

Some scouts have said he has the talent to be a first-round pick.

However, the off-field issues could drop Brooks into the fourth or fifth round of the supplemental draft.