Niblets for July 2010

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NOTE:  We will finish our question mark review for the NFC South and West Thursday.

Best comment of the month:

teeth whitening gets the comment of the month again. Comment on LeBron is LeGone to Miami I wonder if the incentives in the contracts for the beach boys are going to impose problems during their season? What if one of the players decides to pad their stats instead of playing team ball and set off the egos.

TW, I think we have a new name for the guys in South Beach–the Beach Boys. Well done and thanks for reading our site.

Updates on previous columns:

LeBron, Gilbert, Miami and Cleveland The Heat added F Juwan Howard, Joel Anthony, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Jamaal Magloire and rookies Dexter Pittman and Patrick Beverley. Z is nearly useless and was at the end of the bench during the Cavs run in the playoffs last season. Howard is not what he used to be but will help. Magloire gives the heat some physical play inside at C.

The Cavs have done very little to add talent despite owner Gilbert’s statement. The fact is that if the team could not attract a top UFA with LeBron on … Read more at FryingPanSports

Sports Buffet for 5/25/10

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Note: I will have a B I G announcement about getting back on the Internet radio very soon. We will also have Niblets this Saturday.

NFL

The NFL took a huge loss in the Supreme Court Monday. The Court in effect said that the league is not a single entity in regards to licensing producers of apparel but 32 separate businesses. For the details about what this means, check out my NFL News, Notes and Rumors on NFLDraftDog.com.

Vikings QB Bret Favre had the surgery on his ankle that he had said would be required to play in 2010. Expect him to be back this season the day AFTER the team breaks camp. At 40 timing is everything.

NBA

Most analysts are saying that the Magic just have not shown much effort in their series with the Celtics. They said the same thing about the Cavs. Could it be that the Celtics are just so good that they make their opposition look inept? Yes. The combination of very good coaching, experienced veterans that know how to play the game and the fact that for the first time all year the team is healthy have all contributed to the Celtics success … Read more at FryingPanSports

What to look for in the Sunday Divisional round games.

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Cowboys @ Vikings

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Prior to this season the Boys folded in December. When JJ issued his threat to blow up the team and the coaching staff this season unless the Boys got into the playoffs and did well, the team got the message. This team has played a lot better than they did in previous seasons but I am not on the Boy bandwagon yet.

The O has been solid but the last two games were played against an Eagle D that seemed to give up after being in a position to win the NFC East. In the upset win over the Saints, QB Romo had a QB rating of 104. In the two games against the Eagles he had ratings of 86.1 and 106. That is a great improvement over last year when he finished the year with ratings of 44.9, 66.2 and 55.8 in the 3 losses. The improved Romo is the key to difference in this years team. The Boys will need as much passing as he can generate because they will not be able to get much on the ground against the Vikes.

RB Jones ran for 148 yards but that is misleading. Take out Read more at FryingPanSports

HE'S BACK!! Bret Favre signs with the Vikings.

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The 08 Vikings had an outstanding D, solid O line, the best RB in the league but no quality WRs and not much at QB. The result was an good season including winning the NFC North title ended without success in the playoffs. Now Favre steps into the huddle. But having Favre at QB doesn’t answer all the questions, it just creates others. The QB question is will Favre last the whole season? Probably. Is he an upgrade over what they had? Definitely.

Favre can do what the Vikes want to—pass just enough to keep the D honest. Will he? Probably not. Favre wants to put the ball down the field. But he will do what he is asked to do most of the time because even more than long TDs, he wants to stick it to the Packers.

Another question is does Coach Brad Childress lose credibility with the locker room? That depends on what he told the team vs. what he said publicly. If he was honest with the team, he will be fine. If he wasn’t honest with his team there will be a problem.

Favre has some nice weapons in his quiver. WRs Bernard Berrian and … Read more at FryingPanSports

Niblets for 5/9/09

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By Bill Smith

Best Email of the week:

Comment from Alex on “Anatomy of a blown draft—Browns and Raiders”:

you are completely wrong about the browns draft. i’m not even of fan of theirs but can you really not understand what they were trying to do? the team is in rebuilding mode because their last coach and GM had a terrible roster. they trade down and add depth. you know who did that? the patriots as soon as belicheck took over. the browns got players that are familiar with mangini’s system and added a bunch of depth. the draft value chart is a guide and not a strict rulebook. many people have even argued that those figures are out of date based on when it originated and how the cba has changed. in conclusion, you’re a dumba**

This was just one of a number of rather less than complementary comments I received about that column. First of all, I agree that the Browns were smart to trade down. However, they did not get anything close to market value. I am not the only one to say that. For example, several teams traded down a couple of spots … Read more at FryingPanSports

Brett Favre is messing with his legacy.

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By Bill Smith

Several sources are reporting that Brett Favre is going to meet with the Minnesota Vikings coaching staff this week. It is a stupid move for Favre because it is the one thing he could do that will damage his reputation. Favre has seen Dr. Andrews and is considering surgery that would enable him to be ready to play in training camp. This is another signal that he is considering a comeback.

If he decides to come back and play, he will have again un-retired. But this time it is different. At the beginning of the 2008 season, it was the Packers and not Favre that decided that his services were no longer required. If he come back to play again, he will have broken his word to his fans and the media. His greatest fans will be hurt but will forgive him. The media will be less forgiving.

When he came back he hurt the Jets and it took a gift by Cleveland to get the team out of the mess that signing Favre created. The Jets had a QB that fit Coach Mangini’s offense perfectly. Chad Pennington was extremely accurate in the short and medium throws … Read more at FryingPanSports