Sports

[gardenman]

The new season is getting closer and closer! We heard from Jim Schwartz, the Eagles defensive coordinator for the first time yesterday and he seems pretty happy with the new toys he's got to play with. He was positively beaming when talking about Derek Barnett, the first round defensive end we drafted. He seems to be expecting big things from the kid. Oddly enough even the Philly press has been impressed by what they've seen of the kid so far. In fact, the Philly press seems oddly positive about the whole Eagles team this year.  Of course, with the Phillies in a tailspin and the Flyers and Sixers missing the playoffs yet again, they need something positive happening in Philly.

Don't worry though, they're still not complete homers. They seem to be delighting in every incomplete pass by Carson Wentz. He apparently threw a ball at the feet of Zach Ertz the other day during one of the rare practices open to the media and I've read about his inaccuracy, citing that one pass, about ten times in different articles.

[teganslaw]

The Colts have signed Christine Michael. It didn't work out with other teams, so not sure what to expect. There was a reason that Michael was released by so many teams, but the Colts are giving him a chance. He would most likely compete with other rb's Turbin, Ferguson and Mack. Frank Gore is still the number one rb.

I don't understand the reasoning behind signing him, but Ballard must have something in mind. Have to see how this works out.

[gardenman]

Christine Michael is one of those really tatalented guys who never hangs around. I suspect there's a locker room issue of some sort with him.

The Chiefs cut Jeremy Maclin. That's a bit of a surprise. I suspect he'll get signed someplace pretty soon. Tampa would be a possible landing spot.

[gardenman]

Dennis Pitta, the tight end of the Ravens, may be forced to retire now that he's dislocated his hip for the third time. This time it was in a noncontact drill, so his career may be over. Serious hip injuries aren't all that common in the NFL, but he may have a genetic abnormality that makes him more prone to that type of injury.

[Spurt]

@gardenman

Talking about complete homers...well a couple of the sportscasters here already have the Cowboys winning the Super Bowl ...LOL!!!  "coach" Jerry Jones talked about how much more of a role backup RB, McFadden is going to play this year..... I hope he talked over these plans with Jason Garrett  I still can't believe Jerry is going to be inducted into the NFL Hall Of Fame....meanwhile one of the architects of the game like Don Coryell still hasn't gotten into the Hall yet........Super Bowl-winning coaches who studied under Coryell include John Madden and Joe Gibbs. Other coaches who went on to successful careers as offensive coordinators include Martz, Jim Hanifan, Ernie Zampese, Rod Dowhower, Al Saunders and Tom Bass.  So many coaches and players have petitioned for him to get the nod....but guess they'd rather put Jerry in a gold jacket.........

Yes the sticking point is he never won a Super Bowl.....but in his coaching tree were a lot of coaches that did!! There have been 4 top QBs that never won a SB but still inducted into the HOF..........Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Warren Moon, Fran Tarkenton....

[teganslaw]

Jeremy Maclin is in talks with the Bills. McCoy wants him to join the team, and it sounds like some others in Buffalo are also interested.

Hank Williams Jr. is returning to MNF. I'm not getting into the reasons for his departure, but just glad that he will be back. "All my Rowdy Friends" is an iconic football song, and it fits with MNF. Maybe he's coming back to help ESPN's ratings.

I don't care about Carrie Underwood's new SNF rendition; she should have stayed with the original one.

[Spurt]

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@teganslaw

With all the Colt's depth at RB I wonder if Michaels will even make the roster....with all the teams Michaels has been on there just seems like a big red flag......

I'm glad Hank Williams Jr is coming back to MNF....now if they would just get a decent play by play guy...I cant stand McDonough...he's awful, he has no energy no excitement........its like he's caliing  a golf tournament ....ZZZZZZZZZZZ

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[gardenman]

I love hearing that Hank Jr is back! As to Carrie, as long as she has those long legs and a short skirt, I don't care what she's singing.

Guys like Christine Michael and the Redskins' safety DJ Swearinger are guys with those big old red flags flying. High draft picks who are on multiple teams in a short time in the league make me very nervous. Teams just don't give up on high draft picks for no reason. There's some sort of a ticking time bomb there that makes teams flush them pretty quickly. Michael is on his sixth team now after being a second round pick in 2013 and Swearinger is now on team four after also being a second round pick in 2013. There's something there that makes teams unload them very, very quickly.

If you absolutely have to fill a void, try one of those guys, but don't get too attached to them. Where there's smoke there's fire and there's a lot of smoke around those two guys. Both of those guys are competent football players, so why can't they stay with a team? Coaches and GM's aren't idiots. A team can make a mistake and cut a guy loose who they should have kept, but when two, three, four, five teams cut a guy loose, there's a reason.

[brandiwine]

Excited for the Steelers!  TJ Watt is getting all sorts of praise from the veteran players.  Keep up the good work.

[teganslaw]

Former Colts TE Dwayne Allen seems to be struggling in NE. He is having trouble getting on the same page with Brady. Allen has had too many dropped passes, and Belichick has shouted at him that "This isn't Indy; these drops matter!" I thought that was kind of funny: NE demands excellence and Indy doesn't? Belichick just being Belichick, I guess.  Anyway, Allen needs to get it together by opening day or he'll be benched or cut.

He had the same problems in Indy with dropped passes; why did NE think that would change?

Andrew Luck hasn't thrown a pass yet in OTA's. There is no timetable for his return. The preseason starts in two months, so this could be a concern. They say that rehab is going OK, but they don't want to rush it. Maybe they're just being extra cautious so Luck doesn't reinjure himself. I hope it's nothing more than that.