As always there is plenty to discuss in this week's edition of Mid-Week Miscellaneous.....Ty Warren of the Patriots, perhaps the most consistent member of the Pats D-Line over the past few seasons, begins training camp on the PUP list after having surgeries on both groins and his knee in the offseason. Reason for concern?....If the Celtics can't work out compensation for Marquis Daniels in a sign-and-trade with the Pacers (Larry Bird doesn't want Tony Allen) what happens?.....C's owner Steve Pagliuca's pick for the team that upgraded most this offseason: Washington Wizards.....Is Phil Kessel headed towards a hold out?.....What's up with Daisuke Matsuzaka?....these and any other topics on your sports mind are open for discussion here in MWM.....
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Joining Warren on the Pats PUP list are:
OLB Shawn Crable
OT Rich Ohrnberger (4th rounder)
OL Mark LeVoir
DL Darryl Richard (7th rounder)
The good news..."All five players were placed on the active/PUP list, which means they will be eligible to return during training camp, when the team deems them ready. Reserve/PUP dictates that a player must sit out the first six weeks of the regular season before he can be activated." (The Boston Globe)
This happens every year... Once most of them pass their physical they will be back on the field. I wonder what Warren's recovery time looks like though.
The Dice K thing seems more like stirring controversy to sell papers. My friends that read the Japanese papers say that there are a ton of miscommunication/misreading in the translations. They are making him out to be an ego maniac and ungrateful. He is actually quite humble and just doesn't like the training program.
*Anyone have a worse beginning to a coaching transition than Josh McDaniels?
*NFL coverage on ESPN gets worse and worse to me every year aside from Mortensen/Clayton updates. The talking heads (esp. Schlereth teach me nothing about the game). ESPN's Baseball Tonight however, always helps clarify the game more.
*Garza beaned Teixera on purpose last night and admitted it. I like his competitiveness - but isn't the rule of thumb that you are supposed to play dumb and not admit it? He has to get suspended.
*Ice cold players on my fantasy baseball team: Brandon Inge, Carlos Pena, Clint Barmes, Brian Fuentes
*What are the Celts going to do at backup PG? Marbury is crazy, Lue?
Garza is clearly not the brightest MLB pitcher. How dumb does he have to be to admit that? Fine and suspensions should be coming his way as a stupidity tax.
This swim suit controversy over in Rome is pretty interesting. I think Phelps' coach complaining is making Phelps look like a whiner.
Two weeks until the Pats first pre-season game.
Very excited for the Pats this season. I am heading over to training camp this weekend (possibly on Saturday and Sunday). I will be sure to come back with some goods notes.
Tavaris Jackson sprained his MCL reportedly. I gotta say I already am feeling like this season could be a huge bust for them ala curse de Brett Favre, considering where they could have been if his name had never been in the equation. I could easily see them having a awful to bad year, whereas before the proposed acquisition of Favre maybe a first to second round Playoff team. A shame. Well, they asked for it...
ESPN says that the Pats are looking to sign Cleo Lemon Saturday after working him out.
Trivia concerning Lemon: he is one of the most terrible, in rating, and in execution, QBs & players in Madden video game history. He has been voted so a number of times.
From NFL.com :
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork said Saturday he won't let his contract dispute with the team affect his play on the field.
Wilfork, in the last year of a six-year contract he signed as a first-round draft pick out of Miami in 2004, said his future with the Patriots is "out of my control," referring to off-field negotiations.
He and his agent, Kennard McGuire, are upset that negotiations on a contract extension have been fruitless. Players drafted in Wilfork's position -- 21st in the first round -- are no longer allowed to sign contracts longer than five years.
"I will not let that (the negotiations) interfere with what I have going on in the field," Wilfork said.
Wilfork, who's 6-foot-2 and 325 pounds, is considered vastly underpaid by NFL standards. He has a base salary of $800,000 this season, but incentives will increase that to about $2.2 million, still far short of the going rate for established starting nose guards.
He has started 77 of 80 regular-season games in the past five years and in 2007 was named to the Pro Bowl and AP's All-Pro second team. In 2008, he was named a defensive captain and was second on the team in tackles.
Wilfork, unlike several Patriot veterans, has been present for each Patriot training camp workout thus far.
"If I'm healthy, I'll practice," he said.
That's not to say he loves the two-a-day practices coach Bill Belichick has scheduled for the first week of training camp.
"Two-a-days are tough," he said. "We don't like it, but we're going to get something out of it, and we're going to be a better football team."
Belichick has made no secret of his desire to continue to have Wilfork man the middle of his 3-4 defense. In a press conference Friday, he described Wilfork as a smart, strong and instinctive player.
"He has a good feel for blocking schemes and what the offense is doing, as well as having a lot of physical talent," Belichick said. "He's real good at everything. Some guys are better run players. Some guys are better pass players. I think Vince can play on all downs."
Whatever happens, Wilfork is determined not to be a distraction and not to go onto the field upset with the situation.
"Then my teammates can't trust me to do what I have to do," he said. "I would not put my teammates in that predicament."
Notes: Wide receiver Randy Moss was absent from the morning workout for the second straight day. ... Quarterback Tom Brady, who missed almost all of last season after hurting his knee, continues to look sharp. ... Former Philadelphia Eagles receiver Greg Lewis, obtained in a trade last March, has emerged as a fan favorite with several spectacular catches during camp.
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