A few interesting names have popped up on the waiver wire in the past few days. The Raiders cut DE Greg Spires, who's had a pretty good career, mainly with Tampa. Oakland also picked up FB Luke Lawton after the Eagles cut him.
A bunch of wideouts have been cut, including former Eagle Darnerian McCants, by Baltimore, and former Giant Tim Carter, by Houston. Jacksonville cut former Penn Stater Isaac Smolko, a tight end.
And the Steelers cut Jeremy Bloom - I would not have enjoyed seeing him become a success with them after flaming out with the Birds.
Anyone think Spires or Carter is worth a look-see for the Eagles?
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Not Linebacker U. in 2008, Most Likely
In tandem with Penn State’s return to respectability since 2005 came the re-emergence of standout linebacker play for the Nittany Lions. The dark years of 2000-2004 – four losing seasons sandwiched around one solid but unspectacular 9-4 campaign – were marked by mediocrity at the position around which Penn State typically builds its defenses.
In the place of past stand-outs like Shane Conlan, Mark D’Onofrio and Jack Ham, the early 2000s teams featured mediocrities like Gino Capone, underachievers like Derek Wake, and even linebackers unworthy of playing in Division I-A, let alone the Big Ten, like Tom Williams and Marc Benfatti.
The arrival and quick ascension into the starting lineup of Paul Posluszny, Dan Connor and Sean Lee changed all that – and not coincidentally, the team’s fortunes followed suit. Things were not perfect in Happy Valley, but they were at least better. Linebacker U. was not a punch line anymore.
Poz graduated after the 2006 season, with a junior year Butkus Award to his credit, and moved on to the Buffalo Bills, like Conlan before him. This past offseason, Connor, who started from day one as a true freshman, finished up his eligibility and moved on to the Carolina Panthers. But senior Sean Lee, who like Poz and Connor forced his way onto the field as a true freshman, was supposed to be on hand to lead the linebacker corps – and leave Penn State as the school’s all-time leader in tackles, a mark Poz had set, and then Connor had topped.
Lee, unfortunately, tore up a knee in spring drills and will miss the entire season, although the plan is to redshirt and play as a fifth-year senior in 2009. But for 2008, the linebacker corps suddenly looks a lot different – and probably less imposing to Big Ten foes.
This is not due to a lack of talent or potential. But the Penn State coaching staff’s penchant for head-scratching personnel decisions means that the Nittany Lions may get significantly less playmaking from the linebacker corps than in the past three seasons.
Going by the team’s official depth chart released on Aug. 25, redshirt junior Josh Hull, a former walk-on, is listed as the starting middle linebacker, with fifth-year senior Tyrell Sales, a disappointment to this point in his Penn State career, listed as one of the starters on the outside. Speedy but smallish redshirt sophomore Bani Gbadyu is listed as the other starter at outside linebacker, and he might do just fine. But Hull and Sales might remind a few veteran PSU watchers of the 2003 tandem of Capone and Wake, who helped lead Penn State to a program-worst 3-9 record.
Simply put, those two just don’t remotely have the play-making ability of the players who preceded them, while players behind them on the depth chart – sophomore Chris Colasanti, redshirt sophomore Navarro Bowman and true freshman Michael Mauti – just might.
Maybe it should be reassuring that Mauti shows up on the depth chart at all – true freshman usually do not, although Posluszny, Connor, Lee, senior receiver Derrick Williams and sophomore right guard Stefen Wisniewski all were notable exceptions in recent years. Mauti is the only member of this year's freshman class to show up on the official depth chart, even though other true freshmen like fullback Mike Zordich Jr. and defensive back D'Anton Lynn are expected to play.
But it remains all but impossible for Penn State fans to figure out if PSU football is a meritocracy, a patronage system, or something in between. No one thinks Hull is the same caliber of football player that Colasanti – who earned playing time as a true freshman – could be. And Sales has shown little in his previous four years to indicate he has the playmaking ability of Bowman. To be fair, Bowman, like a few other current Nittany Lions, has found his way into off-field trouble on multiple occasions, while Sales largely has steered clear of controversy.
On paper, Penn State clearly appears to have sufficient talent to win 10, maybe even 11 games. But with the defensive line depth thinned out by dismissals and a key injury and with serious questions remaining in a defensive secondary that disappointed in 2007, personnel mistakes at the linebacker spots could prevent this team from achieving all that it might.
More later on my outlook for the 2008 Penn State Nittany Lions.
- Joe
In the place of past stand-outs like Shane Conlan, Mark D’Onofrio and Jack Ham, the early 2000s teams featured mediocrities like Gino Capone, underachievers like Derek Wake, and even linebackers unworthy of playing in Division I-A, let alone the Big Ten, like Tom Williams and Marc Benfatti.
The arrival and quick ascension into the starting lineup of Paul Posluszny, Dan Connor and Sean Lee changed all that – and not coincidentally, the team’s fortunes followed suit. Things were not perfect in Happy Valley, but they were at least better. Linebacker U. was not a punch line anymore.
Poz graduated after the 2006 season, with a junior year Butkus Award to his credit, and moved on to the Buffalo Bills, like Conlan before him. This past offseason, Connor, who started from day one as a true freshman, finished up his eligibility and moved on to the Carolina Panthers. But senior Sean Lee, who like Poz and Connor forced his way onto the field as a true freshman, was supposed to be on hand to lead the linebacker corps – and leave Penn State as the school’s all-time leader in tackles, a mark Poz had set, and then Connor had topped.
Lee, unfortunately, tore up a knee in spring drills and will miss the entire season, although the plan is to redshirt and play as a fifth-year senior in 2009. But for 2008, the linebacker corps suddenly looks a lot different – and probably less imposing to Big Ten foes.
This is not due to a lack of talent or potential. But the Penn State coaching staff’s penchant for head-scratching personnel decisions means that the Nittany Lions may get significantly less playmaking from the linebacker corps than in the past three seasons.
Going by the team’s official depth chart released on Aug. 25, redshirt junior Josh Hull, a former walk-on, is listed as the starting middle linebacker, with fifth-year senior Tyrell Sales, a disappointment to this point in his Penn State career, listed as one of the starters on the outside. Speedy but smallish redshirt sophomore Bani Gbadyu is listed as the other starter at outside linebacker, and he might do just fine. But Hull and Sales might remind a few veteran PSU watchers of the 2003 tandem of Capone and Wake, who helped lead Penn State to a program-worst 3-9 record.
Simply put, those two just don’t remotely have the play-making ability of the players who preceded them, while players behind them on the depth chart – sophomore Chris Colasanti, redshirt sophomore Navarro Bowman and true freshman Michael Mauti – just might.
Maybe it should be reassuring that Mauti shows up on the depth chart at all – true freshman usually do not, although Posluszny, Connor, Lee, senior receiver Derrick Williams and sophomore right guard Stefen Wisniewski all were notable exceptions in recent years. Mauti is the only member of this year's freshman class to show up on the official depth chart, even though other true freshmen like fullback Mike Zordich Jr. and defensive back D'Anton Lynn are expected to play.
But it remains all but impossible for Penn State fans to figure out if PSU football is a meritocracy, a patronage system, or something in between. No one thinks Hull is the same caliber of football player that Colasanti – who earned playing time as a true freshman – could be. And Sales has shown little in his previous four years to indicate he has the playmaking ability of Bowman. To be fair, Bowman, like a few other current Nittany Lions, has found his way into off-field trouble on multiple occasions, while Sales largely has steered clear of controversy.
On paper, Penn State clearly appears to have sufficient talent to win 10, maybe even 11 games. But with the defensive line depth thinned out by dismissals and a key injury and with serious questions remaining in a defensive secondary that disappointed in 2007, personnel mistakes at the linebacker spots could prevent this team from achieving all that it might.
More later on my outlook for the 2008 Penn State Nittany Lions.
- Joe
When Phillies baseball is just too aggravating ...
I'll admit it - I gave up on that game multiple times. After it went to 6-0, I watched the season finale of Battle Galactica on my DVR.
Back to the game around 8:50 - just missed Rollins' homer, saw Howard's.
Had been recording a Penn State football preview from Fox College Sports. Put that on, still certain the Phillies were only going to tease, not win.
Back to the Phillies after, occasionally flipping over to Roger Federer's first-round US Open match on USA.
Games like tonight's are very hard for me to watch because literally all I end up doing while watching is worry about who's going to be available to pitch tomorrow. I know they have Rich Dubee to worry about that, but somehow I feel obligated to obsess about it too.
I'm back to watching the Phillies after the Penn State preview and realize I still have last night's Tonight Show on DVR, which I recorded only to see Juliana Hatfield play her new song "This Lonely Love." I fast-forward thru the two-segment interview with John McCain, about which I could not care less, and see Juliana, wearing the exact same outfit she is wearing in the video play her new song. She looks great but her vocals come out thin. She now has a six-piece band - many times in the past, it was just a three-piece.
Now, I'm done with the Tonight Show and I agonize thru the 8th inning as Utley strikes out with the tying run on third and one out. Then Joe Smith gets Pat the Bat to fly out to the warning track. Watching the replay, I determine Burrell's flyball would have been in the flower bed in 2004 or 2005.
I flip over to Hillary Clinton's speech, certain the Mets will put up a 3 spot in the ninth while I'm gone. By the time, I flip back, they're already in commercial, which I take as a good sign. I stick around for Howard's flyball to the warning track, which just proves to me once and for all this is not the Phillies' night.
I go back to the convention - and think at least Hillary is hitting a home run - and turn back to see the score, to my amazement is 7-7. Some dorky looking Mets fan is getting all kinds of camera time on SNY, looking dumb even for a Mets fan. Now I have to watch.
I stick with the game thru the 11th inning, then go to bed. But not to sleep. I read the Baltimore Sun, then the Washington Post.
Then I log on to my computer, not so much to find out if the Phils won or lost, but to check all our relievers' pitch counts for the evening to see if anyone will be available tomorrow night. I read about Shane's triple and Chris Coste going 4 for 4.
Then I check in at BSG. I should try sleep sometime soon. Work beckons in 8 hours.
Back to the game around 8:50 - just missed Rollins' homer, saw Howard's.
Had been recording a Penn State football preview from Fox College Sports. Put that on, still certain the Phillies were only going to tease, not win.
Back to the Phillies after, occasionally flipping over to Roger Federer's first-round US Open match on USA.
Games like tonight's are very hard for me to watch because literally all I end up doing while watching is worry about who's going to be available to pitch tomorrow. I know they have Rich Dubee to worry about that, but somehow I feel obligated to obsess about it too.
I'm back to watching the Phillies after the Penn State preview and realize I still have last night's Tonight Show on DVR, which I recorded only to see Juliana Hatfield play her new song "This Lonely Love." I fast-forward thru the two-segment interview with John McCain, about which I could not care less, and see Juliana, wearing the exact same outfit she is wearing in the video play her new song. She looks great but her vocals come out thin. She now has a six-piece band - many times in the past, it was just a three-piece.
Now, I'm done with the Tonight Show and I agonize thru the 8th inning as Utley strikes out with the tying run on third and one out. Then Joe Smith gets Pat the Bat to fly out to the warning track. Watching the replay, I determine Burrell's flyball would have been in the flower bed in 2004 or 2005.
I flip over to Hillary Clinton's speech, certain the Mets will put up a 3 spot in the ninth while I'm gone. By the time, I flip back, they're already in commercial, which I take as a good sign. I stick around for Howard's flyball to the warning track, which just proves to me once and for all this is not the Phillies' night.
I go back to the convention - and think at least Hillary is hitting a home run - and turn back to see the score, to my amazement is 7-7. Some dorky looking Mets fan is getting all kinds of camera time on SNY, looking dumb even for a Mets fan. Now I have to watch.
I stick with the game thru the 11th inning, then go to bed. But not to sleep. I read the Baltimore Sun, then the Washington Post.
Then I log on to my computer, not so much to find out if the Phils won or lost, but to check all our relievers' pitch counts for the evening to see if anyone will be available tomorrow night. I read about Shane's triple and Chris Coste going 4 for 4.
Then I check in at BSG. I should try sleep sometime soon. Work beckons in 8 hours.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Juliana Hatfield on the Tonight Show, 8/25
Well, I'll get out the sports range right away, with my second post. Just wanted to note that singer/songwriter Juliana Hatfield will be performing onNBC's Tonight Show tonight. (The other guest is none other than Sen. John McCain.)
Juliana, who has gotten almost no mainstream publicity in about a decade, will be playing a song from her new CD. I'm expecting she will play "This Lonely Love" for which there is a video on her MySpace page. It's a pretty good song - it's not My Sister or Fleur De Lys, but it's tuneful and good.
I have no idea how Juliana, who puts out her CDs on her own label, got this booking, but good for her. She's also slated to begin a tour in September, including a show at Iota in Arlington, VA, on Sept. 9. I hope to be there.
Juliana, who has gotten almost no mainstream publicity in about a decade, will be playing a song from her new CD. I'm expecting she will play "This Lonely Love" for which there is a video on her MySpace page. It's a pretty good song - it's not My Sister or Fleur De Lys, but it's tuneful and good.
I have no idea how Juliana, who puts out her CDs on her own label, got this booking, but good for her. She's also slated to begin a tour in September, including a show at Iota in Arlington, VA, on Sept. 9. I hope to be there.
Welcome to my blog
Wow, that's an exciting title for my first post, isn't it?
Oh well, I hope you'll check back in as I add actual content to this blog, for which I've had the idea for years.
The title is a reference to football season and the fact that I am a fan of Penn State (and wear my blue on football Saturdays) and the Philadelphia Eagles (and wear green on football Sundays).
While I've had this title in mind for years, for some reason it took me until now to launch this blog. It will be mainly about football but you also can expect to hear from me on baseball, tennis, politics, music, movies, all sorts of stuff.
But I will get started later this week - maybe even later today, with my 2008 Penn State football preview, which I used to write and post annually at PhilaPhans.com. While I am still fond of many people at PhilaPhans, founded by the late Jeff Lamana, I no longer feel a part of that community. And BackSheGoes.com, where I frequently post on the subjects listed above as "BuddyGroom" does not really offer a space for the posting of full-length articles.
So, for better or worse, I blog from here now. I hope people will check in, check back and give me feedback.
- Joe
Oh well, I hope you'll check back in as I add actual content to this blog, for which I've had the idea for years.
The title is a reference to football season and the fact that I am a fan of Penn State (and wear my blue on football Saturdays) and the Philadelphia Eagles (and wear green on football Sundays).
While I've had this title in mind for years, for some reason it took me until now to launch this blog. It will be mainly about football but you also can expect to hear from me on baseball, tennis, politics, music, movies, all sorts of stuff.
But I will get started later this week - maybe even later today, with my 2008 Penn State football preview, which I used to write and post annually at PhilaPhans.com. While I am still fond of many people at PhilaPhans, founded by the late Jeff Lamana, I no longer feel a part of that community. And BackSheGoes.com, where I frequently post on the subjects listed above as "BuddyGroom" does not really offer a space for the posting of full-length articles.
So, for better or worse, I blog from here now. I hope people will check in, check back and give me feedback.
- Joe
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