September 2011 - Page 2 of 8 - Last Word On Sports

Cedric Benson files an Unfair Labour Practice complaint against the NFL and NFLPA

Posted on September 26, 2011December 24, 2021 by Ben Kerr

The NFLPA apparently reached an agreement with the NFL stating that 8 players, including Benson could be suspended by the NFL for their actions during the lockout. The reasoning of the PA was that the NFL wanted to suspend a number of players who got in legal trouble during the lockout, so they compromised by only allowing repeat offenders to be disciplined.

This means that the NFL will be suspending Benson, and apparently, it’s going to be 3 games.

Benson’s arguments are as follows

1) The Union was decertified at the start of the lockout. There was no union during the lockout. He was not a member of the NFLPA when his actions took place and as such they have no right to negotiate any agreement which respects his rights, due to actions he had during the NFL lockout.

2) He was locked out by the NFL. He was not an employee of any NFL team, and therefore is not subject to the personal conduct policy of the league for any of his actions during the lockout. Legally his issues are between the state and himself. And the league has no right to ask him to adhere to a personal conduct policy at a time when they were not allowing him into NFL facilities to train, not paying him, etc…. He was not technically an employee when he was locked out, so he does not have to adhere to any personal conduct policy of the league at that time.

3) Benson is also complaining that he was not consulted on the NFLPA agreement that allows the league to suspend him and that basically the PA has sold him out to protect the other members without his consent. Obviously, this isn’t the way a Union is supposed to act, and they may be overstepping their authority.

Personally, at first glance, it would appear that that Benson has one hell of a case here, but its really impossible to know based only on media reported details.

Ten Things We Learned In College, Week 4

Posted on September 25, 2011November 5, 2021 by Lindsay Higgins

1. The AP voters couldn’t put off the inevitable any longer: LSU is your new #1

2. Speaking of LSU, Tyrann Mathieu is gonna make some NFL team very happy on draft day eventually. I’m hoping it’s my Giants. Continue reading “Ten Things We Learned In College, Week 4”

NHL Fantasy Strategy: Left Wing Lock

Posted on September 25, 2011November 4, 2021 by ScottyJ

In Hockey, the Left Wing Lock is a defensive strategy designed to prevent 3 on 2 rushes against your team. The left winger drops back acting as a 3rd defenseman playing in a zone formation. In fantasy hockey, it means what it says, lock up your left wings….and do it early. Continue reading “NHL Fantasy Strategy: Left Wing Lock”

Week 3 Picks

Posted on September 24, 2011December 24, 2021 by Ben Kerr

CINCY -2.5 over San Fran – San Fran always gets respect because people always expect them to be good. They can’t pass the ball at all and even though they have looked decent through two games this season both games were at home. Now they go on the road against a team they won’t be able to establish the run against.

New England -7 over Buffalo – At 9 points this is a tough pick. But at 7 it is easy to take the Pats. They will give up tons of points to the Bills but I don’t see how Buffalo gets any stops at all.

NEW ORLEANS -4 over Houston – Tough game to pick. But Houston has beat Indy and Miami, I still don’t trust them.

New York Giants +9 over PHILLY – Nine points? Where does this come from? I don’t care how injured the Giants are. That is insane.

Miami +1 over CLEVELAND – At only one point this game is a stay away. But Miami needs a win to save the season.

Denver +6.5 over TENNESSEE – Too many points. Over reaction to week 2 for the Titans.

MINNESOTA +3 over Detroit – I will abandon the Vikings if they can’t pull this one-off. I have trouble picking McNabb but 90% of the public is taking Detroit so I don’t feel as bad. KC fell apart last week when Charles got hurt but before that it was a deceivingly close game.

Jacksonville +3.5 over CAROLINA – I have no idea.

Kansas City +14.5 over SAN DIEGO – Too many points, simple.

New York Jets -3 over OAKLAND – Never fun to take the road favorite but the Jets look like a great team and Oakland isn’t fooling me.

Baltimore -4 over ST LOUIS – Baltimore coming off a loss and St. Louis hasn’t clicked any game this season. Expected this line to be much higher.

Atlanta +1 over TAMPA BAY – Tampa hasn’t shown anything this year. Don’t understand this line at all.

SEATTLE +3.5 over Arizona – I understand Seattle is terrible but they haven’t played a home game yet. They are a different team at home and it is not like Arizona is good.

CHICAGO +3.5 over Green Bay – Chicago always seems to play well after they have a big loss.

INDY +10.5 over Pittsburgh – Too many points again. But I would never put money on Kerry Collins.

Washington +5.5 over DALLAS – Don’t like Dallas to beat any decent team with points.

Weeks 3, 4, and 5

Posted on September 24, 2011November 4, 2021 by Frank Giuliano

Serie A – Week 3 Review

For those who bet on Serie A matches, Week 3 most likely proved problematic due to the surprising upsets that occurred over the weekend. SSC Napoli pummelled a rather slow AC Milan side 3-1 at the San Paolo with Serie A leading goal-scorer Edison Cavani bagging a hat-trick after Alberto Aquilani had given the Rossoneri the lead in the first half with a splendid header. Continue reading “Weeks 3, 4, and 5”

College Football Picks Week 4

Posted on September 24, 2011November 5, 2021 by Lindsay Higgins

San Diego State @ #22 Michigan: Brady Hoke’s old team vs. Brady Hoke’s new team. Out with the old, in with the new; I’ve got Michigan.

North Carolina @ #25 Georgia Tech: North Carolina is still in some degree of disarray after a season of NCAA violations and a midsummer coaching change. I’m taking the Ramblin’ Wreck From Georgia Tech.

Continue reading “College Football Picks Week 4”

F-Bomb – Favre to the Jets?

Posted on September 24, 2011November 4, 2021 by Ben Kerr

Earlier this week Bob Kravitz of Indystar.com suggested Brett Favre should be a target of the troubled Colts. The Colts are in trouble but there is no chance this happens. Why? I don’t know what Favre has in his plans but I do know that he isn’t a fool.

When Favre left Green Bay in 2007 he ended up picking the Jets for his comeback the following season. The Jets made the playoffs that season, but they also played the easiest schedule in the entire league according to advanced statistics. The following season he made his way to Minnesota. Another semi-successful season, but another season playing chumps – the 29th ranked schedule in the league.

I am not taking anything away from Favre, but he put himself in favorable positions. He is too smart to attempt a comeback to save this hopeless team.

NHLer Takes Banana Incident in Stride

Posted on September 23, 2011November 4, 2021 by ScottyJ

On Thursday night the Detroit Red Wings faced off against the Philadelphia Flyers in London, Ontario for what was expected to be an awesome pre-season match-up. It was, until some idiot threw a banana peel at the Flyers’ Wayne Simmonds during his shootout attempt. Simmonds went on to score the goal and wasn’t flustered by the flying fruit.

You really have to have a total lack of respect to do something as ignorant as toss trash at an athlete, many considered it as racist. Wayne Simmonds is a talented, gritty hockey player who will dig in the corners and drop the gloves if he has to. He is a hard worker and should fit in well with Philly’s tough style of hockey. I respect him as a good player and now I respect him as a classy one too. Simmonds has shrugged the incident off completely.

It shows a lot of character to be able to put something behind you when it obviously has bothered many others. Just read the article in the Philadelphia Daily News on the topic. It contains statements and quotes of disgust from teammates, agents, other NHL players and Gary Bettman himself about the incident. Simmonds said:

“When you’re a black man playing in a predominantly white man’s sport, you’ve got to come to expect things like that, over the past 23 years of my life, I’ve come to expect some things like that. But I’m older and more mature now, I kind of just left things roll off [my back]. I try not to think about stuff like that.”

In another statement through the team he was quoted:

“It was unfortunate that this incident happened but I am above this sort of stuff. This is something that is out of my control. Moving forward, this incident is something I will no longer comment on so I can just focus on playing hockey for the Philadelphia Flyers.”

The person responsible remains unidentified but there is a cash reward to whoever can name banana bandit. It’s too bad when one person can put a smudge on the reputations of others. Here in Canada I thought we were above this kind of nonsense.

NFL Protection Farce

Posted on September 22, 2011December 24, 2021 by Ben Kerr

Last Sunday night we got to see Cris Collinsworth lose his mind when Dunta Robinson delivered a hard hit on Jeremy Maclin as he was completing a catch. You can see the clip as well as someone else’s overreaction. Robinson saw Maclin catch the ball and had a split second to react, he lowered his helmet and drove his shoulder into Maclin. Maclin dropped down and braced for the hit. Because he went lower Robinson’s helmet hit Maclin’s and then the key part of the play happened. Maclin went down, and stayed down.

Because Maclin got hurt everyone was outraged. Need some proof? The hit happened with 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. Later, with 2 minutes left in the 3rd quarter an eerily similar play happened. Roddy White went over the middle and caught a pass, he looked up and had a split second longer to react than Maclin had. Roddy went low, lower than Maclin, but the defender went low too and led with his helmet. Helmets collided. Then both players got back up and got ready for the next play. How outraged was Collinsworth about this hit? He never acknowledged it even happened.

I’m not saying that Robinson was not somewhat reckless. He probably could have gotten lower. But I don’t think he could have known he would hit Maclin in the helmet. This is all beside the point anyways. Penalizing for this type of hit is hypocritical. How is it different, or worse, to lead with your helmet on a runner as opposed to a receiver or quarterback? Last week we saw Nick Collins lost for the season due to a helmet-to-helmet hit on a ball carrier. Later in the day Kyle Arrington of the Patriots crashed down on Ryan Matthews at the end of the Chargers game. Matthews went low to brace for the hit and got the best of the helmet-to-helmet contact. Arrington was hurt, no foul on either player.

These examples only concern the ball carrier. The most violent hits generally occur around the line of scrimmage. A fullback barreling through the hole looking for the first man to deck. A linebacker crashing into a guard to fill a running lane. Giving penalties only for blows to the head of a QB or wide receiver would be like if we collectively decided as a society to only give out traffic tickets for speeding even though we know there are other more dangerous forms of driving because it is more visible, oh wait, bad example.

The rule is intended to protect defenseless receivers, but really the rule should read: “No leading with your helmet to a defenseless receiver’s helmet, if that player gets hurt.” That is the only time anyone ever cares.

What is the solution? I don’t have one. I haven’t seen a good one. You can’t take the hitting out of football. Rules like this are making the game impossible for the players. They can not control some of the actions that are now being called fouls. Is this good for the game or not?

Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

Month: September 2011