More On NFL Network Hiring Bryant Gumbel (Wash Post.com)

Today's Washington Post.com reports on the feud between HBO's Bryant Gumbel -- who was and supposedly still is going to join the NFL Network -- and outgoing NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who responded sharply to Gumbel's statement that the next commissioner (Roger Goodell) should find Upshaw's leash.

Commissioner Tagliabue says he's not going to be involved in the matter after his departure and that he plans to "disappear." The matter will be left to Goodell, who may be more forgiving of Gumbel than Tagliabue. It's good that Gumbel has no other comment. But I say the NFL should just milk the matter to gain more web traffic for blogs like this one and then hire Gumbel.

Again, Gumbel's one of the best in the business.

NFL Network Reconsiders Hiring Bryant Gumbel (AP and ESPN) - Not A Good Move For NFL

In my view hiring Bryant Gumbel's a step toward a desire for serious journalism. Perhaps the league -- and Commissioner Tagliabue -- may not agree with his remarks, but if the NFL Network wants to have a really good and true TV network it should just ignore the matter and move on.

Or do this: milk it. Make it a subject in a new series about NFL Business on the NFL Network. Use the subject as a lightening rod for viewers.

That will make Gumbel's hiring all the more valuable and boost the NFL Network's position as nothing more than a mouthpiece for the league.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The job status of Bryant Gumbel, scheduled to be the play-by-play broadcaster on the eight late-season games on the NFL's in-house network, could be the subject of a discussion by NFL officials after Gumbel's suggestion that Paul Tagliabue show his successor "where he keeps Gene Upshaw's leash."

Tagliabue said Monday that incoming commissioner Roger Goodell and Steve Bornstein, who runs the NFL Network, will discuss the remarks after Goodell takes office Sept. 1.

Gumbel addressed his closing remarks on HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" last Tuesday to Goodell.

"Before he cleans out his office," Gumbel said. "Have Paul Tagliabue show you where he keeps Gene Upshaw's leash. By making the docile head of the players union his personal pet, your predecessor has kept the peace without giving players the kind of guarantees other pros take for granted. Try to make sure no one competent ever replaces Upshaw on your watch."

Tagliabue strongly disagreed with the tenor of Gumbel's comments.

"I think things that Bryant Gumbel said about Gene Upshaw and the owners are about as uninformed as anything I've read or heard in a long, long time, and quite inexcusable because they are subjects about which you can and should be better informed," Tagliabue said.

Tagliabue was also asked if he thought Gumbel should remain with the network.

"Having looked at how other people have had buyer's remorse when they took positions, I guess they suggest to me that maybe he's having buyer's remorse and they call into question his desire to do the job and to do it in a way that we in the NFL would expect it to be done," the commissioner said.

Upshaw did not immediately return a call placed by The Associated Press.

However, a number of owners have said that they thought they had given away too much to the union in a last-minute six-year contract extension that added almost a billion dollars in the league's contribution to the players.

And Upshaw told the AP several weeks ago that he was able to get more from the owners than he had agreed to just a few days before the owners finally agreed on the new deal.

Gumbel, once the host of the NBC pregame show and later co-host of "The Today Show," said when he was hired that no restrictions had been put on his ability to comment on what he sees on the field.

"It's a lot like covering any story," he said. "You see what is front of you and you report on it."

The two-year-old NFL Network will televise eight late-season games on Thursday and Saturday nights this season.

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press

President Bush Committed To Iraq War And America's Soul

President Bush on Air Force One with U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia, and on the way to Iraq, I'll bet.

I'm not making this up. It's in today's Washington Post online , and its scary in my view, this statement he made:

"We're not leaving so long as I'm president."

Wow. I know he's the great decider, but even the most decisive people have to learn when to change their course. Even though President Bush's saying that the very morale of America's taking a beating, he insists that we go through this.

Why?

What's the point of more reports of Americans dying over there? What's the point of more statistics of those wounded and injured? What's the tally? 63,000 or more? That's almost as many people as the population of the City of Berkeley (110,000) and it's oveer twice the number of students there. In other words, that's a lot of hurt Americans.

The War on Iraq has not made us safer. It's not improved the Mid East. It's done little good, if any. It's also caused us to commit financial resources better used to redevelop New Orleans and that part of the South.

It seems it's easier for this president to remake another country than to rebuild his own.

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William Shatner Roast - Leonard Nimoy

This is a clip of a totally funny roast of TV legend William Shatner. I saw this on Comedy Central and loved it.

Matt Leinart 4 of 11 and Cardinals Fall To Pats 30-3

Pats QBs stellar in 30-3 drubbing of Cards

NFL.com wire reports

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (Aug. 19, 2006) -- In the first minute of his NFL career, Matt Leinart looked like a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback -- running a hurry-up offense that impressed even Tom Brady.

For the rest of the night, there was little for Leinart and the Cardinals to be proud about.

"To go against this team on this field and get something in my first drive, that was pretty cool," Leinart said after his debut, which featured a quick 54-yard drive that netted Arizona its only points in a 30-3 loss to the New England Patriots.

But he spent the rest of the night resembling what he is -- a rookie with almost no real practice experience.

Five days after reporting to the Cardinals' training camp, the 2004 Heisman winner entered Arizona's exhibition game with 1:09 left in the first half. He promptly drove the Cardinals down the field to set up Neil Rackers' 48-yard field goal, scrambling for 29 yards on two runs and completing 3 of 6 passes for 20 yards on the drive.

That was against a New England defense made up mostly of regulars.


In extended action, Tom Brady looked to be in midseason form.
The Patriots' starters should have stayed in the game. In the third quarter, he was just 1 for 5 -- a 25-yard completion to tight end Eric Edwards -- and was sacked twice by New England backups. He finished 4 of 11 for 49 yards.

It was a miserable night all around for Arizona, which last week opened its new stadium with a 21-13 win over Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh. In fact, Leinart's drive at the end of the half was the only positive.

"I don't think anyone could have expected any more," said Kurt Warner, Arizona's starter, who two years ago helped break in Eli Manning with the New York Giants. "I thought he did a great job in the two-minute drill. He handled the situation well."

For New England, it was a workmanlike effort. Brady played most of the first half and completed 15 of 20 passes for 149 yards as the Patriots marched up and down the field but usually stalled before reaching the end zone.

Rookie Stephen Gostkowski, competing with Martin Gramatica to become the replacement for Adam Vinatieri, kicked three field goals for the Patriots (1-1). Matt Cassel, Leinart's backup at Southern Cal, threw two TD passes -- a 9-yarder to Heath Evans in the third quarter and a 5-yarder to Rich Musinski in the fourth quarter -- as both sides inserted subs liberally.

That made Leinart, who signed a six-year deal that could be worth $51 million, the major part of the show. He was the NFL's last draft choice to sign.

At first, he made it look as though his drop to 10th overall in the draft was a mistake -- at one point he was considered the top rookie coming out or at least one of the top three.

Because the Patriots had the ball on three long first-half scoring drives, Leinart didn't enter until 1:09 was left in the half.

His first NFL play was a pass in the right flat to wide-open running back J.J. Arrington that picked up 11 yards. His longest play was a 16-yard scramble up the middle that might have gained more had he not slid down at his 45. His second longest was a 13-yard run to the New England 37.

"I'm not a runner, but they were laying back and the middle was open," he said.

But in the second half, Leinart looked like a raw rookie and the Cardinals reverted to their old selves -- a franchise that has made the playoffs only once in 19 seasons in the desert. On one sack, Leinart fumbled but teammate Marcel Shipp recovered. As the game went on, he looked more and more unsure.

Leinart has a fan in Brady.

"I thought he did a great job," the two-time Super Bowl MVP said of the rookie. "He's a big strong kid. What impressed me was that he had such excellent scrambling ability. I remember when I was a rookie. There's so much to learn and he's coming in with just four days practice, which makes it doubly tough.'

Cassel, by contrast, got better as the Cardinals put in more subs. When Patriots coach Bill Belichick was asked about Leinart, he replied: "I liked the way our quarterback from USC played."

A seventh-round draft pick a year ago, Cassel finished 14 of 20 for 192 yards and those two touchdowns, far better than Leinart, who beat him out for the starting job at Southern Cal after Carson Palmer was the No. 1 pick by Cincinnati in the 2001 draft. "I was happy for him," said Leinart. "We're good friends and we talked a couple of times last week. He showed he can be an NFL player."

For that 1:09, so did Leinart.

Vince Young - 11 of 19 But Titans Drop To Denver 35 to 10

Broncos ride Bell to 35-10 win over Titans

NFL.com wire reports

DENVER (Aug 19, 2006) -- Mike Bell made another big blunder and got another earful on the sideline.

Last week, the undrafted, unheralded rookie running back fumbled away the football just days after his dazzling rise through the depth chart to become the Broncos' top tailback.

He redeemed himself by scoring two touchdowns in Denver's 35-10 rout of Tennessee on a wet and chilly night, when he rumbled for 73 yards on 10 carries.

Still, he had some more explaining to do.

Wide receiver Rod Smith chastised him for going out of bounds at the end of a 34-yard run instead of burying his helmet into safety Lamont Thompson.

"There is no one on our football team who has the right to run out of bounds on his own unless it's the quarterback," Smith said. "You always fight for the extra yard. You never know. They might miss the tackle. They might slip. So, he didn't know that, so we let him slide on that one."

Smith intercepted a fuming running backs coach Bobby Turner and convinced him that the admonition should come from a teammate.

"The guy got like 30 yards. You can't be mad at him," Smith said. "But at the same time, you're like, 'Look, man, don't ever run out of bounds again. That sideline is not for us; it's for the quarterbacks."


Jake Plummer looked very sharp early on as he got the Broncos back on the right track.
That is something Denver coach Mike Shanahan had to remind Jake Plummer to do when he took a big hit from linebacker David Thornton while trying to score on a scramble to the pylon in the second quarter.

"I've got to be smart in the preseason to make sure I'm not taking those hits," Plummer said. "It wasn't like I got hit that hard but, still, the head coach doesn't like to see me take those hits in the preseason if I don't have to, so next week you won't see me do that again. I don't want to get yelled at."

Neither does Bell, who said he didn't know about the Broncos' rule that nobody goes out of bounds on their own accord unless they're the one taking the snap.

"I didn't know about that, but as a running back, that's like the golden rule: you never go out of bounds. I don't know what I was thinking," Bell said. "I'm definitely never going to do it again. So, you live and you learn, right?"

Sandwiched in between Bell's 1-yard dive and 1-yard dart into the end zone was a 35-yard touchdown pass on fourth down from Plummer to tight end Nate Jackson after the Broncos got the ball at midfield on safety Nick Ferguson 's interception of Billy Volek's pass.

Plummer kept the Titans off balance with a bevy of rollouts and completed 7 of 9 passes for 97 yards before giving way to backup Jay Cutler, the Broncos' top draft pick, who led Denver on touchdown drives on his first two possessions.

Denver didn't punt until the seven-minute mark of the fourth quarter and led 35-3 before Vince Young, the No. 3 pick in the draft, led the Titans on a late scoring drive.

The Broncos' defense was almost as efficient and impressive as its offense. Despite missing linemen Courtney Brown (knee) and Gerard Warren (toe), the Broncos registered three sacks of Volek, two by Demetrin Veal, who started in place of Warren.

Two Broncos defensive captains, cornerback Champ Bailey and linebacker Al Wilson, were held for breaking curfew: "If you miss curfew, you don't play," Shanahan said. "We've got rules, and they're good for everybody."

The Titans trailed 35-3 before they finally got into the end zone, and even that was an adventure.

Young recovered his own fumble at the goal line after Hamza Abdullah punched the ball loose following an 11-yard scramble up the middle in the fourth quarter.

"It's been a while since I've been hit like that," said Young, who led Texas to the national championship last year.

Young completed 11 of 19 passes for 125 yards against second- and third-stringers. He also had an interception that was wiped out by a penalty. Fellow rookie LenDale White, a Denver native, led the Titans with 28 yards on seven rushes in his NFL debut after sitting out last week for spitting on a teammate during practice.

"All I could say about tonight's performance is I'm glad it was preseason," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "We've got a lot of work to do. We played a really good team tonight and didn't do a good job of matching up."

Notes: Tennessee DE Antwan Odom sprained his right knee making a tackle in the first quarter and was carted off the field. He'll undergo an MRI. ... Broncos WR Javon Walker didn't have any passes thrown his way in his first start since blowing out his right knee in Green Bay's season opener last year.

New York Jets 27; Waahington Redskins 14

Team effort lifts Jets over Redskins 27-14

NFL.com wire reports

LANDOVER, Md. (Aug. 19, 2006) -- If Derrick Blaylock can have another game or two like this, the New York Jets might stop trying to find another running back.

As for the Washington Redskins? Well, suffice it to say that coach Joe Gibbs was agitated and terse, sounding as if he'd just lost by four touchdowns to Dallas in Week 6 of the regular season.

Blaylock made a promising bid to win a starting job, rushing for 46 yards on 10 carries in the Jets' 27-14 victory over the Redskins. He punished what is supposed one of the league's best run defenses with four consecutive carries for 27 yards to start New York's opening drive.

"I feel real good. I felt good about getting the holes, hitting the holes, and seeing the way everybody performed," Blaylock said. "It felt good tonight."

Rookie Brad Smith ran 61 yards for a touchdown on a double reverse, and fellow fourth-round draft pick Leon Washington returned a kickoff 87 yards for a score. Reggie Newhouse added a fourth-quarter touchdown catch as the Jets showed some all-around improvement after last week's 16-3 loss to Tampa Bay.


Leon Washington had six carries for 17 yards to go along with this punt return for a touchdown.
The Jets entered the game trying to sort out two marquee positions. Three quarterbacks got a chance to make a case for the No. 1 job, but none made the kind of statement that would put them ahead of favorite Chad Pennington, who missed the game due to a family illness.

Patrick Ramsey, acquired from the Redskins in the offseason, got the start in his return to his old home stadium. His performance wasn't bad but it was hardly inspiring -- he went 6 for 9 for 33 yards, was sacked twice and didn't have a completion for longer than 9 yards. Ramsey was on the field for one score, but it was the one-play drive that consisted of Smith's long TD run.

"I do feel like we took a step," Ramsey said. "But there are plenty of things that we can clean up."

Brooks Bollinger entered midway through the second quarter and seemed at times to do as much running as throwing. He completed 10 of 16 passes for 69 yards and ran five times for 35 yards. He led a 23-play, 76-yard drive that took nearly 12 minutes and resulted in a field goal in the third quarter.

Second-round pick Kellen Clemens played the fourth quarter and threw the first touchdown pass of the game, a 5-yard toss snagged nicely by NFL Europe product Newhouse, son of former Dallas fullback Robert Newhouse.

With Curtis Martin's career in doubt because of a knee injury -- and after last week's attempted trade for Lee Suggs fell through -- the Jets are left with Blaylock, Washington and Cedric Houston in the mix at running back.

Washington, playing the part of the second quarter and all of the third, ran for 17 yards on six carries. Houston ran for 53 yards on 14 carries in the fourth, when the stands were half-empty and the starters long gone.

The Redskins wanted to see something from their starting offense after last week's 19-3 loss to Cincinnati, but new assistant coach Al Saunders' attack generated only three first downs in three drives with starting quarterback Mark Brunell. The first-team defense was embarrassed by Smith's reverse and allowed 145 yards rushing in the first half.

"I'm concerned all the way across the board," Gibbs said in a postgame news conference that lasted less than three minutes. "I think it's not playing, and me not coaching. When we show up and do stuff like that at home, I take it real serious. I think our players do, too. We're going to do something about it. It's hard for me to find something where I thought we played well."

Jason Campbell, competing with Todd Collins for the No. 2 job, threw an interception in his first drive, but made a nice 20-yard completion under pressure on his next drive to set up Washington's first score, a 1-yard run by Rock Cartwright. Collins, playing the fourth quarter, recovered from a miserable outing last week and went 12 for 18 for 114 yards with one touchdown and an interception.

Redskins defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin left the game in the first quarter with a sprained right knee. Griffin was able to jog off the field, and Gibbs said it was "just a bump -- nothing serious." Backup tight end Robert Johnson injured his left ankle in the third quarter; X-rays were negative.

The Redskins were already playing without three key starters: running back Clinton Portis (shoulder), cornerback Shawn Springs (abdomen) and defensive end Phillip Daniels (back).

In addition to quarterback and running back, the Jets might want to think about starting some competition at punter. Ben Graham, the only punter on the preseason roster, produced a 7-yard shank on his first attempt, then later launched an 8-yarder at the end of a bizarre play. Graham at first looked as if he were going to run the ball on a fake, then, just before reaching the line of scrimmage, he booted the ball diagonally well into the stands.