Search Engine Sports

It was one part Spiderman, one part Man on Wire, one part Showgirls and all parts stupid. A 34-year old fan at a Canadian Football League game climbed a goalpost last weekend in the middle of a game and then shimmied down 40 feet to the waiting arms of police.

Alcohol was involved, confirmed police in the least surprising announcement of all-time. The man was arrested but not charged with criminal trespassing, as would have been likely had this occurred in the United States. Instead the man received a provincial offence notice. That'll show him! And in case you're wondering why police caught the guy when he dropped from the crossbar (instead of letting him fall, which would have been my natural inclination), any injury involving police must be investigated by Ontario's Special Investigative Unit.

If you happened to miss it yesterday, Eagles defensive back Sheldon Brown(notes) took the field yesterday wearing a mask like the one worn by the evil Jason in the "Friday the 13th" movies. It was kinda scary, I guess, but would've been much scarier if Brown's real head was in the helmet he was carrying down at his side. Was there a significance to the mask? Apparently so, but Sheldon's not telling anyone what it is. From 950 ESPN's post-game quotes:

"I don't want to talk about it. That's the way my career has been and I'll let you figure that out."

Hm. It's kind of hard to say. All you can tell from that quote is that Sheldon Brown is really, really deep. My guess at Sheldon's interpretation is this: Jason, who wore the mask in the movies, was killed and resurrected about 892 times. Perhaps Sheldon feels like he, or the Eagles defense, has been pronounced dead over and over again, and yet, they keep coming back to life and killing people. I don't know. Something along those lines is my guess. Sheldon Brown is a cipher. A ciper, wrapped in an enigma. Smothered in secret sauce. Read the rest of this entry »

The major storyline in the NFL last week was all the talking that the New York Jets did before their game against the New England Patriots. As it turned out, all their smack-talking didn't get them into one bit of trouble, as they were able to back it up and slap around the Patriots on Sunday. This week, though, we're talking about a whole new kind of talk from the Jets, and it might get them in a whole lot of trouble. Gary Myers and Rich Cimini of the New York Daily News are reporting that the San Francisco 49ers have filed tampering charges against the Jets. The 49ers are reportedly alleging that the Jets have made contact with Crabtree or his agent, which would be a no-no.

Although the specifics aren't known, it's not hard to connect the dots. Crabtree, the 10th overall pick in the draft, is threatening to sit out the season and reenter the draft in 2010. The 49ers may believe the Jets contacted Crabtree's agent, Eugene Parker, to let him know they'd be interested in trading for his rights, or in drafting him in 2010 with a better salary than the 49ers are offering. The NFL's trade deadline is Oct. 20, while the 49ers must either sign Crabtree by Nov. 19, or surrender his rights, putting him back into the draft pool for 2010.

Now, if they wanted to, the 49ers could have called up the Jets and said, "Hello, would you be interested in trading for the rights to Michael Crabtree(notes)?" The Jets are absolutely not allowed to contact Crabtree on their own, though, without going through the 49ers. Read the rest of this entry »

Herschel Walker, the Heisman Trophy-winning running back and former NFL player with the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys, has found a new career: mixed martial arts. The 47-year-old Walker has signed a contract with Strikeforce to fight at an unspecified date. He will begin training with American Kickboxing Academy, the high-profile camp in San Jose, Calif., that trains UFC standouts Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick, Jon Fitch, Cain Velasquez and Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson. "I've been training for several years.  I would play college football games on Saturday and then compete in martial arts tournaments on Sunday after church. I'm now looking forward to opening up another chapter in my life and to competing in MMA," said Walker in a news release. Walker is not the first high-profile athlete to make the jump to MMA. In the current season of "The Ultimate Fighter," four former NFL players are trying for a chance at a contract with the UFC, most notably Marcus Jones, who played with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for seven years. Cleveland Cavaliers star Shaquille O'Neal has trained in mixed martial arts for years, and made jokes about challenging former UFC champ Chuck Liddell. That doesn't mean that the road to MMA success will be easy for Walker, who retired from football in 1997. During last week's episode of "The Ultimate Fighter," Jones became sick from the intense workouts that MMA requires. Afterwards, he noted that he never had to work that hard in the NFL. Walker will also have the obstacle of age in front of him. Though there are fighters who compete well into their forties -- most notably Randy Couture, who is 46 -- but those fighters did not spend much of their lives being tackled by 265 pound linebackers. The wear and tear on a running back should not be dismissed when looking at Walker's chances. At the same time, it will be hard not to root for him. He's been an MMA fan for years, and was even at UFC 103 this past weekend in Dallas. Walker is a modern-day Jim Thorpe, having competed in the Olympic bobsled, professional football and now MMA. Now, he will test the bounds of his age and health again in MMA. Seeing a 47-year-old man walk the walk in this manner is downright inspirational.

Another week two, another blown call at the end of a game for Ed Hochuli. This year's, however, was far less significant than the game-changer that embroiled the NFL's most well-known referee in controversy last season. With 12 seconds left today in the Packers-Bengals game, Green Bay wide receiver Donald Driver(notes) caught a deep pass from Aaron Rodgers(notes) deep in Bengals territory. The Packers rushed to the line to get off a final play and seemed to snap the ball in time. But a flag was thrown and whistles blew the play dead with zeroes showing on the clock. The officials congregated before Hochuli made his announcement:

"The game was over before the ball was snapped. There was also a false start on the last play. If the ball had been snapped, there was a false start on the last play which would require a 10-second run-off. So, in either case, the game was over."

Hochuli got the second part right. There was a definite false start on the Packers (players must be set for at least one second and few of the players on the line were set at all) and the run-off associated with the penalty would have ended the game. But he and the other officials were wrong about Green Bay getting the snap off in time. As the picture above plainly shows, Rodgers had taken a three-step drop as time still showed on the clock. The ball was actually snapped with two seconds left in the game. With the false start penalty, it's irrelevant. Just like Hochuli said, the game was over either way. But it's interesting that he covered his bases this time just in case. Maybe last year's incident has caused Big Guns to become a little gun shy.

Over the last several years, it's been accepted conventional wisdom that Tom Brady(notes) and Peyton Manning(notes) are the NFL's best quarterbacks. Oh, you'll have the odd Big Ben, or Philip Rivers(notes), or Kurt Warner(notes) (Cardinals version) in the argument, but since Kurt Warner (Rams NFL MVP version) became Kurt Warner (New York Giants version), it's been Tom Terrific and Manning the Elder at the top, with a nice list of second-tier signal callers. At this point, I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that if Brady's "1A" and Manning's "1B", Drew Brees(notes) is at least "1C" and climbing. Last season was the warning shot, when he came within a couple plays of Dan Marino's single-season passing yardage record (5.069 yards to Marino's 5,084) in an offense with no consistent running game, and tied to a defense that assured his constant passing just to stay in games. In other words, everyone knew what Brees was going to do, and nobody has been able to stop it. Read the rest of this entry »

If you listen to Jerry Jones, the new Cowboys Stadium is the eighth wonder of the world, a massive, state-of-the-art structure built with the populist masses in mind. Others haven't been so kind. The New York Times blasted the new stadium in an architectural review published Friday:

With a $1.15 billion price tag and a flying saucer-like form, the stadium's design mercifully avoids the aw-shucks, small-town look that has become common in many American stadiums over the years. There's no brick cladding, no fake wrought ironwork, no infantilizing theme restaurants that seem as if they had been commissioned by Uncle Walt for the Happiest Place on Earth. Still, Cowboys Stadium suffers from its own form of nostalgia: its enormous retractable roof, acres of parking and cavernous interiors are straight out of Eisenhower's America, with its embrace of car culture and a grandiose, bigger-is-better mentality.

Having a building critic rip Jones for making this stadium too big is like The New Yorker criticizing Transformers 2 for having too many explosions and special effects. That's sort of the point. Jones didn't set out to please critics with his 100,000 seat boheameath, he built a stadium for the masses with a few flourishes thrown in to make it somewhat aesthetically pleasing. (Lest you think Ouroussoff is an architectural snob who automatically decries all edifices dedicated to sport, he showered accolades upon the new Arizona Cardinals stadium in 2006.) The Los Angeles Times agrees:

For all the spaciousness and grandeur -- after all, everything's supposed to be big in Texas, right? -- the interior is surprisingly understated and welcoming. In fact, you can see it all and get in half a mile of pre-game exercise by walking around its upper level. The palette is a sophisticated mix of silvery steel, charcoal and navy blue punctuated by colorful murals splashing the concourses and ramp ways. Contrary to expectation, Cowboys' stuff is not plastered everywhere; it's largely confined to more than 400 small video screens dotting posts, pillars and food stands. Read the rest of this entry »

When the Falcons and Saints have the most potent defenses in their division after one week, you know one of two things have happened: Either we have a series of outlier performances that indicate very little, or the Buccaneers and Panthers, two teams long known for great defense, need to reboot. New Orleans: Last week, the new Gregg Williams defense got fat off of Matthew Stafford's(notes) rookie mistakes and a questionable call on a Calvin Johnson(notes) non-touchdown. Darren Sharper(notes) intercepted Stafford twice (the rook threw three total picks), and Williams threw some interesting blitz looks at the new-look Lions. This week, that defense may have an easier time than expected ... at least to start. Kevin Kolb(notes) will start for the Eagles, but the recently signed Jeff Garcia(notes) is waiting in the wings. Garcia isn't what he used to be, but he can still move in the pocket and make defenses pay for their mistakes. Atlanta: In 2008, the Falcons enjoyed a miracle season on the strength of their offense, and almost despite their defense. GM Thomas Dimitroff, one of the most able minds in the business, followed up by replacing more than half the starters on the defensive side of the ball and drafting heavily to retool. It worked like a charm against the Dolphins last week; now the challenge will be to replicate the inside pressure against the Panthers that caused Jake Delhomme(notes) to ... well, you know. John Abraham(notes), seen above sacking Chad Pennington(notes), will provide the heat from outside. Read the rest of this entry »

Second Quarter • Let's hope you didn't give up on Matt Schaub(notes) after one rough week. He led the Texans to a 34-31 win on Sunday, overcoming another no-show by his defense and a spectacular performance by Titans running back Chris Johnson. Here's the final fantasy line for Schaub: 357 passing yards, four TDs, no INTs. He's not just a match-up play; Schaub is a must-start. That Houston-Tennessee game really had everything…except Steve Slaton(notes). He gained only 59 yards on 20 touches. Chris Brown poached red zone snaps. But still, if you're selling Slaton, I'm buying. The schedule ahead is friendly: vs. JAC, vs. OAK, at ARI, at CIN, vs. SF, at BUF, at IND. • We'd show you Chad Ochocinco's(notes) Lambeau leap, but a Packers fan made an unfortunate (yet understandable) gesture, spoiling the photo. Ocho finished with four catches for 91 yards and the promised TD. Some dude in a Cedric Benson(notes) suit had a workhorse-type game for the Bengals, rushing for 141 yards on 29 carries. Ced had a bunch of red zone chances, but he doesn't quite have the necessary push and he can't turn the corner. Pity. • If you're a Shaun Suisham(notes) owner, you can't be too happy with Jim Zorn right now. Washington declined to kick a gimme field goal late in the game on fourth-and-1, despite the fact that the 'Skins led by two. Clinton Portis(notes) ran for a short loss, then St. Louis took over with 1:55 remaining and a chance to take the lead with a field goal. But Brian Orakpo(notes) basically took over the game, harassing Marc Bulger(notes), refusing to let Zorn become the goat he should've been. When does a win feel like a loss? Maybe when you're at home and you narrowly beat a bad team, 9-7. • Give a game ball to Jets head coach Rex Ryan. His defense brought all kinds of pressure against Tom Brady(notes) in the final two minutes after the Pats took over at their own 10, trailing 16-9. No Prevent D for New York. Instead they stormed Brady, rushed his throws and forced incompletions. Jets corner Darrelle Revis(notes) basically made the Pro Bowl today, limiting Randy Moss(notes) to four catches for 24 yards. You'll recall that Revis locked down Andre Johnson(notes) in Week 1 (4 REC, 35 yards). Read the rest of this entry »

17 completions in 36 attempts for 277 yards, one touchdown and four picks? After Jay Cutler's(notes) Bears debut in Green Bay, you could hear the Chicago faithful wondering if, instead of giving up two first-round picks, a third-rounder, and Kyle Orton(notes) for the ex-Bronco, Jerry Angelo should have just re-signed Rex Grossman(notes) and saved the picks. It's a bit early to pan the deal that so many thought had the Bears as a preseason Super Bowl favorite, but the people who watch quarterbacks for a living are concerned. On ESPN's NFL Matchup this morning, Ron Jaworski shared his notes on Cutler's inaugural performance:

Poor mechanics; Flat-footed throws; Off-balance throws; Reckless with the football; Bad decisions; Perceived pressure - running out of the pocket; Inaccurate with his throws; All-arm throws; No hip flex; Missed sight adjustments; Eyeballing the receivers...

And that was just in the first half. Read the rest of this entry »