Category: Sports

Kevin Kolb was officially announced out on Friday for the Eagles Sunday matchup with the Detroit Lions. It will be Vick’s first NFL start since the Atlanta Falcons’ final game of the 2006 season against, ironically enough, the Philadelphia Eagles. Kolb suffered a concussion during the team’s season opening game against Green Bay last week.

Vick missed all of the 2007 and 2008 seasons after he was implicated in a dogfighting ring. He served a little over 7 months in a federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas from December ’07 to July ’08 for his involvement in the ring. The Eagles signed Vick at the beginning of last season, and Vick joined the team after serving a four game suspension handed down by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for Vick’s dogfighting activities. Playing primarily as a Wildcat formation option, Vick totaled just 86 yards on 6 of 13 passing with one touchdown. He also ran the ball 24 times for 95 yards and two scores in the 2009 season.

When Kolb went down last week, Vick took over and passed his ’09 season totals in one half, rushing for 103 yards and going 16 for 24 passing for 175 yards and a touchdown in a near-comback against the Packers. Vick has spent the entire week practicing with the Eagles’ first-team offense and is excited to get a chance to start an NFL game again.

“This is a big game,” Vick said in an interview with NFL.com. “It’s not about me making my first start or none of that. I’ve put all of that aside. It’s about us going on the road and trying to get a win. We need to go out there and get a win, that’s what matters. Nobody wants to be 0-2. “It would be gratifying,” Vick said of leading the Eagles to a win. “This team took a chance on me when not many others would.”

The first week of the 2010 NFL season is in the books. The season kicked off with an NFC Championship rematch on Thursday night between Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings and Drew Brees and the world champion New Orleans Saints. The Saints continued their winning ways, holding Favre to just 171 yards passing in the 14 – 9 win. Brees only had 237 himself but the defense held the Vikings offense in check enough to get the victory.

The Sunday games were highlighted by an AFC matchup between the defending AFC Champion Indianapolis Colts and the up-and-coming Houston Texans. The Texans, behinf breakout star running back Arian Foster, defeated the Colts for the first time in their brief history, by a final score of 34 – 24. Foster chewed up the Colts defense for 231 yards and three touchdowns in a sensational effort. The impressive total sets a new franchise record for rushing yards in a game. The Colts’ Peyton Manning had a pretty good game himself with 433 yards passing and three Tds, completing 40 of 57 pass attempts.

In Foxboro, Massachussetts, Tom Brady showed the league that he is back, with a stellar performance in a 38 – 24 rout of the Cincinnati Bengals that was not as close as the final score. Brady 25 of his 35 pass attempts for 258 yards and threw three td passes. Wes Welker, who missed most of last season after undergoing knee surgery, caught eight balls for 84 yards and 2 scores. The Bengals’ overhyped wide receiver combo of Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens combined for 19 receptions for 212 yards in the game.

The game with the most controversial finish was an NFC North matchup between the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears. The Bears won the game 19 – 14. The controversy involved a call on an apparent game-winning touchdown catch by the Lions’ Calvin Johnson. With 25 seconds left on the clock, Johnson outjumped defenders to make the grab and appeared to get both feet down inbounds before tossing the ball aside. After a period of deliberation by the on-field officials, the play was called an incomplete pass, then the call was upheld by replay officials. Bears running back Matt Forte, who had an awful second season last year following an excellent rookie campaign, looked like the new Marshall Faulk in the Bears’ new offense run by new offensive coordinator Mike Martz. Forte, finished the game with 17 carries for 50 yards rushing, and a staggering 151 yards receiving for 2 tds, including an impressive 89-yard touchdown grab in the second quarter.

In other Sunday action, The Steelers defeated the Falcons 15 – 9 on a 50-yard Rashard Mendenhall touchdown run in overtime; the Giants beat the Panthers 31 – 18 with 3 td passes from Eli Manning to Hakeem Nicks; Jacksonville upset Denver 24 – 17; the Raiders lost to Tennessee 38 – 13; Seattle routed San Francisco 31 – 6; Miami beat Buffalo; the Browns lost to Tampa Bay; and the Cardinals defeated the Rams. Green Bay held on to beat the Eagles 27 – 20 after knocking out the Eagles’ starting quarterback Kevin Kolb out of the game, despite a spectacular performance from his replacement, former Pro Bowler Michael Vick. The former Falcon finished the game with 175 yards passing and 1 td, and 103 yards rushing on just 11 carries. Monday night saw the much-hyped New York Jets fall to the Baltimore Ravens thanks to an ineffective offense, and the Chiefs stunned the Chargers 21 – 14.

For the few who missed the 2010 NFL regular season-opening game between the Vikings and the Saints, the game began with all the players from both teams raising their index fingers, the universal sign for Number One, in a show of solidarity against NFL owners. The players were showing that they stand together in the upcoming negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement(CBA). The current agreement between the NFL owners and the NFL Players Association ends in March, and, with the two sides miles apart on a handful of key issues, there has been much speculation about a lockout taking away the 2011 NFL season.

Some of the key issues being debated in the media are the share of league profits that goes to each side. The current CBA promises 57 percent of net profits to the players, but players argue that they actually only get around 50 percent because some owners to not spend their allotted salary cap. The biggest question surrounding the new CBA is how much the players receive, and whether or not that money is guaranteed regardless of the salary cap.

Another key topic of debate is the implementation of a rookie pay scale and where the money saved will go. Both sides agree there should be a rookie cap, but they differ greatly on where to use the money saved. The players want half of the money a rookie cap would create to go to retired players and the other half to veteran salaries. The owners would like to take control of the money to reinvest it to expand the league’s overall profits, which they say would find its way into players’ pockets anyway. Estimates say the rookie cap would create around $200 million a year in savings for the league.

The final issue, which is being debated heavily, is the proposed addition of two regular season games. The owners are proposing to expand the regular season to 18 games, but dropping two preseason games. They say that the move would increase the value to fans, while still keeping the total season, excluding playoffs, at 20 games. Players, of course, argue that most regular starters play very little in the preseason, so eliminating the exhibition contests will not make up for the extra wear-and-tear two extra regular season games would cause.

A spokesman for the Players’ Association said the show of solidarity on the field was intended as a move to gain fans’ support in the impending battle. What they failed to realize, however, is that fans do not care where the hundreds of billions of dollars created by the NFL go. All we care about is that wonderful day at the end of a rough work-week when we can sit in our easy chairs, crack open a beer, and watch some overpaid, incredibly entertaining athletes bust each other in the mouth. Players should keep their focus on the game when they’re on the field; and find a way to come to terms with owners to prevent a 2011 lockout. Not that we side with the owners, either; we just want the two sides to assure us that we are important enough to them that they won’t take away a whole season.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the Dallas Cowboys are entering the season with one of the most talented teams and should be a major contender to play in the Super Bowl at season’s end. The Boys shook off their playoff demons last postseason at home against the hated division rival Philadelphia Eagles. It was QB Tony Romo’s first post-season victory and the team’s first playoff win in more than a decade.

They enter the 2010 campaign with dreams of being the first team in League history to play at a Super Bowl in their home stadium; the game is scheduled to be played in Cowboys’ Stadium in Arlington. The team has arguably the best trio of running backs in the league with Marion Barber, Felix Jones, and Tashard Choice, and they add much-hyped rookie wide receiver Dez Bryant to an already deep and talented pool of pass catchers. The offensive line, while they have been hampered by injury in training camp and through the preseason, should be a much more solid unit after getting rid of Flozell Adams, the most penalized O-lineman in the game over the last ten years.

Then there’s the defense, with DeMarcus Ware, one of the most dangerous pass rushers in the league, a solid crew of linebackers led by the “quarterback of the defense” Keith Brooking, and the team addressed a need in the draft by drafting two cornerbacks and a safety to add depth to the secondary, and so far the rookies have looked good.

The biggest question, however, just like it was at the beginning of the last three years, is Tony Romo’s maturity. This guy has thrilled the fans for much of the last three regular seasons by looking like one of the best Qbs in the game, then seemingly fallen apart in December with costly fumbles and interceptions to lose games. In the end, no matter how much talent surrounds him, the Dallas Cowboys will only go as far as Tony Romo takes them. With a first-place schedule, the run won’t be easy, but this team definitely has enough talent to play at home next February for a record-tying sixth NFL title.

It seems as though die-hard NFL fans are figuring out that it’s much more convenient and inexpensive; and, depending on how nice your TV is, more enjoyable to watch their favorite NFL teams at home. Season ticket sales are down 5 percent from last year and league officials are projecting a decline in overall attendance to the league’s lowest level since 1998. The average attendance at an NFL game in 2009 was just over 65,000.

At the same time, TV ratings spiked in 2009 for FOX, NBC, ESPN, and the NFL Network, and CBS had it’s best season since 1993 in terms of ratings. What’s worse for the league is that high definition TVs are becoming more and more affordable, and 3D broadcasting of television shows is just around the corner. All of this has the stay-at home football viewing experience much more enjoyable. In addition, the growing popularity of fantasy football has many potential attendees of football games choosing to stay home where they can keep one eye on the game, and the other on their computer screen so they can monitor their fantasy games.

The NFL is taking steps to keep people coming to games. Many NFL stadiums this year are showing the popular RedZone channel on scoreboards before, during, and after games. A few are even offering hand-held video devices to allow spectators to keep an eye on other games. The league has also changed its policy to allow more fan-noise during games, lifting a ban on scoreboard messages like “Raise the Roof” or “Pump it Up”; and they’ve enacted a fan-conduct policy in an attempt to make attending football games a more family friendly experience.

A big reason for the dropping attendance is ticket prices, especially with the struggling US economy. The average NFL ticket price rose in 2009 by 3.9 percent. That’s a $75.00 average ticket price with thousands of Americans out of work and struggling to pay bills and put food on their table. Going to an NFL game is just a luxury that many Americans can simply not afford in this tough economy.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones opened the new Cowboys Stadium last season. The venue cost a whopping $1.2 billion to construct and features the world’s largest high-definition video screen that stretches from one twenty-yard line to the other. Jones said he could easily have gotten away with spending $400 million less on the stadium, but went the extra mile to enhance the experience of the fans.

On Sunday The New York Giants will host the first regular season game at the New Meadowlands Stadium, which it shares with the Jets. At a staggering $1.6 billion cost, it’s the most expensive sporting venue in US history. A spokesman for the Giants said that the design focuses on enhancing fan experience with improvements like four times as many bathrooms and points of food and souvenir sales in comparison to the old stadium, better roads and parking, full-time rail service and massive HD video screens.