My 2011 NFL Predictions

My NFL Picks for 2011

It’s the year of Michael Vick, but will he play like a dog now that he’s making huge bucks?(If Vick can stay out of trouble, both the Eagles and the entire canine race can take a deep breath.)

Will Carson Palmer sit at home all season-long, watching the Bengals go 3-13? (No, I think he will be traded to some team whose quarterback gets beheaded around Week #3)

Will Plaxico Burress, Braylon Edwards, and Chad Ochocinco have good seasons, despite changing surroundings? (Yes, yes and yes. Burress is still an elite athlete; Edwards has a heart of steel... (more)

Tags:

NFL Fines Head-To-Head Hits: Is This A Fair Warning?

...that these devastating hits and head shots will be met with a very necessary higher standard of accountability. We have to dispel the notion that you get one free pass in these egregious or flagrant shots. What we saw Sunday was disturbing. We're talking about avoiding life-altering impacts." NFL Executive VP of Football Operations, Ray Anderson

However, Harrison says NFL's new ruling may impact his time in the league, saying "I'm going to sit down and have a serious conversation with my coach tomorrow and see if I can actually play by NFL rules and still be effective."

Tags: gillean smith, nfl fines, james harrison, brandi meriweather, dunta robinson, head and neck injuries

The Chickification Of The NFL

The new rules coming out of the NFL are absolutely ridiculous. Well half of them are. But that half is heading the NFL straight to flag football.

The head shots rule is already a rule. There is a rule already on the books for helmet to helmet hits. It's very obvious to see a helmet to helmet hit. It's even pretty easy to tell if a guy meant to do it or if it was just an accident. The Dunta Robinson hit was not intentional. The hit on Joshua Cribbs was. It's just that simple and easy to deter

mine. These hits should be officiated. These hits are more dangerous than your... (more)

Tags: football, nfl, rules, illegal hits

WIll the NFL stop Helmet to helmet Cheap shots? Probably not

...game is in fact, what defines the game. Is this child’s game, played by some of the most superb athletes on the planet really nothing more than blood sport? Is this game so important that paralyzing or killing someone for the sheer sake of entertainment is an “Acceptable risk”?

The NFL Rulebook, which is, for the most part, merely a guideline for the geriatric and often confused NFL officiating corps, has the following:

“using any part of a players helmet (including the top/crown and forehead/hairline parts) or facemask to butt, spear, or ram an opponent violently or... (more)

Tags: nfl, helmet to helmet, cheap shots, poor officiating

NFL Picks Week 9

Here we go - the weekly installment of NFL embarrassment. However, I think I'm getting better. Last week, I missed only 3 picks. Let's hope this week I do the same or even better - that would be surprising!

NYJ @ DET - Even though the Lions won last week with the return of Stafford, they won't win this week. They will however make a game of it as they are much better than their record indicates. Jets win.

MIA @ BAL - Huge defensive showdown between these two teams. It could come down to the last play of the game. I think the Ravens win, but the Dolphins have just as much... (more)

Tags: football, nfl, football picks

NFL Primer: Exactly what does the NFL commissioner DO?

Roger Goodell the son of a U.S. Senator and from a prominent, politically connected family that obviously had a few markers to call in is the current commissioner of the National Football League. This means that just about every distasteful thing involving the NFL starts with “Today the NFL announced” and ends with “by Commissioner Roger Goodell”. So except for being the barer of bad news, getting really good seats at NFL Games and being interviewed by the “B” team at ESPN (Suzy Kolber is so underutilized), what exactly does the commissioner actually do?

Evidently, about 1925, the owners... (more)

Tags: nfl, commissioner, roger goodell

How to fix an NFL Game… Hypothetically speaking

It is the early evening of Thanksgiving Day and I want fervently to recline in a blissful, gluttonous stupor and watch the Jets-Bengal’s Game. Shortly before the game is to start, I discover much to my chagrin that the powers that be at the NFL have decided I am to be denied the privilege of viewing this game. While I would humbly defer to the marketing geniuses employed at the NFL, it seems rather short sighted to be in the business of providing entertainment while carefully crafting a distribution network that denies access to potential customers…. Not able to watch the game, I now have about... (more)

Tags:

Nfl Play60 Kids' Day At Nfl Experience

NFL Play60 Kids’ Day At NFL Experience

My journey to Tampa, Florida to cover events leading up to Super Bowl XLIII has come to an end. I return to Los Angeles Thursday afternoon. I had a marvelous journey here for NFL Experience presented by Bank of America and Super Bowl Media Day for the six days that I was in Tampa, Florida.

My exciting journey began several hours after I landed with a Media Tour of the grounds of the NFL Experience presented by Bank of America on Friday, January 23. The skilled tradesmen and women did a great job of getting the area set-up before... (more)

Tags: los angeles, football, nfl, education

Why Do Love The NFL Draft?

...will they count on Calvin Johnson falling to them? Will the Cardinals do what everyone expects and take Joe Thomas? And considering their draft trade history, you never know what the Washington Redskins are up to. And on it goes, ever in flux, yet at the same time also semi-predictable. Nobody knows, yet lots of us sort of do, and everyone will know come Saturday. _____________________ 2007 NFL Draft coverage: Saturday, April 28th (Rounds 1-3) -ESPN 11am-8pm ET; 8pm-10pm ET on ESPN2 -NFL Network 11am-11pm ET Sunday, April 29th (Rounds 4-7) -ESPN 11am-6pm ET -NFL Network noon-7pm ET (more)

Tags: nfl

LA's NFL Team: The Houston Texans

NFL training camps open next month, and LA football fans are gearing up like every other summer for the past 12 years: By ignoring the Chargers (as they’re an out-of-town team), treating the Rams as a bad, Tommy Chong-style brown acid flashback, complete with images of Chris Everett sacking himself in Anaheim, Wendell Tyler fumbling, and the Youngbloods getting worked by the Steelers, and by either a) Worshipping the Raiders more than Jesus, Michael Moore and Hillary combined, or b) Rolling our eyes at Raider Fan for just not getting it- they’re rooting for a team owned by Al Davis. ‘Nuff... (more)

Tags: soccer, football, jesus, nfl, nhl, michael moore, hollywood, burbank