Oakland has a new pro-athlete who sure is fun to hang with, though he's probably too young to get the reference. I caught up with Raiders rookie Darren McFadden at the EA Sports Rookie Madden Bowl in Los Angeles. He had plenty to say to his new fans in the Bay Area. And to me. And to his Arkansas teammate Felix Jones. I know he's already a blogger starlet in the making, but clearly he's ready for video fame. Someone get this guy a reality TV show, stat!
You've seen them talk big on the red carpet of the EA Sports Rookie Madden Bowl, but do these NFL rookies actually have Madden skills? Follow along with underdog Dexter Jackson and overdog (?) Devin Thomas to find out how the tournament panned out. Stay tuned at 0:32 for an embarrassing cameo by Rashard Mendenhall. I ain't mad at you, Rashard!
EA Sports recently held its second annual Rookie Madden Bowl in Los Angeles. Players competed in a tournament just like the regular Madden Bowl held during Super Bowl week, but this one was just for rookies. Oh how I love rookies! With the exception of whiz kids like Matt Ryan, most of them are pretty goofy and not yet jaded by the media attention. Join me on the red carpet as I talk to Jake Long, Darren McFadden, Devin Thomas, Dexter Jackson, Kevin O'Connell, Andre Caldwell and others before the tournament.
Besides all the smack talking about Madden skills and player ratings, watch at 0:54 to find out if Dustin Keller can handle the heat of Jets questioning ... and make sure to stay for Jonathan Stewart's hilarious ramblings at the very end of the video.
I caught up with Houston left tackle Ephraim Salaam at the Texans Draft Luncheon on Tuesday. He was there to accept the Mickey Herskowitz Award for being the most media friendly Texan. The video above is his message to Texan fans, and what he said to the crowd when he accepted his award. (The "Mark" and "Gary" referred to in the video are Texans TE Mark Bruener and coach Gary Kubiak)
Texans tight end Owen Daniels was one of the players who were at the Shell Houston Open signing autographs. I asked him to say a few words directly to the fans. So, if you are a Houston Texans fan (or perhaps an Owen Daniels fan), please click on the video. The rest of you, well, I will politely tell you to do something else.
The lobbying that Redskins fans did on behalf of Art Monk, which was one of the factors in getting Monk finally in the NFL Hall of Fame, got me to thinking:
Who is pushing for more of the Luv Ya Blue-era Oilers to get into the Hall of Fame?
There are a number in there already, but a case could be made for a number of other ones, such as Oiler linebacker Robert "Dr. Doom" Brazile who played for the Oilers his entire career. He is likely to get lost with Tennessee fans never seeing him play, and Houston fans knowing he will belong in Tennessee's part of the Hall.
He is the only member of the 1970's All Decade Team not in the Hall of Fame. (the others in Canton are Bobby Bell, Dick Butkus, Jack Ham, Ted Hendricks, Jack Lambert). I believe next year is the last year Brazile will be considered with the modern candidates instead of the few senior candidate spots.
Y'know, I've had more than one angry ex-girlfriend tell me that my big mouth would get me in real trouble one of these days. In the meantime, I still spout off far too often, as I did in this Carolina Panthers v. Seattle Seahawks preview, where I boldly proclaimed:
Right. If the Panthers win this game, I will drink a raw egg.
Well, there's your proof, Panthers fans, and that will be the last time I write something like that around here. I'm just glad I didn't go nearly as far as Unsilent Majority did in his infamous Always Be Covering segment at KSK. (Fair warning: those links are potentially NSFW, though they're quite entertaining.)
Whether you're in an office pool or trying to skim some monopoly money off your buddies, you probably could use some advice on your picks. Doc Brown's Sports Almanac Picks gives you some of the best plays of the upcoming week, ATS.
Beats courtesy Modern Sound Productions
Whether you're in an office pool or trying to skim some monopoly money off your buddies, you probably could use some advice on your picks. Doc Brown's Sports Almanac Picks gives you some of the best plays of the upcoming week, ATS.
Beats courtesy Modern Sound Productions
Last year, Deadspin highlighted the issue of wimpy team nicknames and highlighted these as the wussiest. It was an incredibly popular subject, and Deadspin's commenters found some truly awful names. Recently I gave some thought to what the worst team nickname of all--high school, college, professional sports included.
I think the worst name in sports is the Tennessee Titans. Before you disagree with me, here's the video evidence to prove it (maybe a little NSFW):
Last year, 
