Weather, Favre Headline Monday Night

The Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears will bring Week 15 to its conclusion tonight, but not without a little bit of drama. To kick things off, since the Metrodome is still undergoing repairs, the game will be played outdoors at the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium. The weather for tonight calls for sub-zero windchill temperatures and three to five inches of snow by kickoff. The Vikings and the NFL have already worked all day and night to clear 20 inches of snow out of the stadium.

Secondly, we can’t talk Vikings without mentioning everybody’s favorite 41-year old quarterback Brett Favre. Favre has been upgraded from out to questionable after waking up and experiencing some sort of sense that he might be able to play tonight. With his shoulder in considerable pain and a field that is frozen over, Favre should seriously re-consider his decision if he chooses to play tonight. While I am in the camp that believes an injured Favre gives the Vikings a better chance to win than an experienced Joe Webb at QB, in the long-term, having Favre on the field tonight is simply not worth it, not for Favre, and not for the Vikings. They might as well see what they have in Joe Webb instead of honoring a lame duck future Hall-of-Famer. In two more weeks, Brett Favre will (hopefully) be gone, and everyone can move on from this forgettable year for the Vikings.

Just to give some sort of idea of how poor the playing conditions will be tonight, here’s what Vikings punter Chris Kluwe tweeted, “Serious time — All respect to the people that cleared the field and got it ready, you did an amazing job. That being said, it’s unplayable.” And in a separate tweet, “The field is as hard as concrete an hour and a half after they took the tarp off, and anyone that hits their head is getting a concussion.”

This sounds like a tough predicament for the NFL and the players involved in tonight’s game. A league that has been hellbent on safety this season, the NFL will surely have their fingers crossed tonight. Moreover, it’s a enormous struggle for the fans, who must sit outside in frigid temperatures without being able to fall back on alcoholic beverages, which will not be served. On average, a sold-out NFL game will sell about 50,000 beers.

Man-Ram Could Be Going, Going, Gone

According to sources on ESPN.com, the Los Angeles Dodgers have placed outfielder Manny Ramirez on waivers. The other 29 teams in Major League Baseball will have until Friday afternoon to place a claim on Man-Ram. The team that is awarded the claim will then have until Tuesday to work out compensation with the Dodgers. Additionally, Manny will have to approve of the deal because he has a full no-trade clause in his contract.

A league source told ESPNChicago.com that the White Sox would put a claim on Manny. Adding the 38 year old outfielder seems appealing to the White Sox, who are battling for the AL Central title as the season nears its conclusion. A wild card berth is likely out of the picture, so the Chi-Sox would have to oust the Twins for the division crown. Ramirez would give the team considerable depth. Juan Pierre is absolutely on fire in left field, so it’s likely that he’d stay in the lineup. Manny would probably bat as the designated hitter, replacing Andruw Jones, who has 17 homers and 40 RBI’s, but is batting only .207.

If the White Sox were to acquire Manny, they would have to pay him $1.1 million in base salary and another $3.3 in deferred salary. Ramirez is hitting .306 this season with eight home runs and 39 RBI’s, but has had three stints on the disabled list, playing in only 63 games.

Chan Lays Down The Law

My hat goes off to Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey, who stood up for his team on the final day of training camp at St. John Fisher College. Amidst a ten year playoff drought, Bills fans are understandably upset with the team’s production, or lack thereof. However, in the eyes of Gailey, a couple had gone to far Monday afternoon.

The Bills allow there fans to get pretty close to the field during their camp practices. As someone who has attended such practices, I will even admit that I have been vocal and sometimes critical of a player who is not meeting expectations. I’ve never made it a personal vendetta, but like I said, I’m not afraid to voice my opinions. Other frustrated Bills fans are not so kind. As the story goes, a group of teenagers was heckling quarterback Trent Edwards to the point where the head coach could no longer stand it. After practice, Gailey approached the teenagers and said, “You dog one of us, you dog all of us.”

Attaboy Chan! I applaud coach Gailey for showing, in front of his team and fans of it, that he has his team’s back. As a first year head coach in Buffalo, it’s important for him to establish that early on. It’s a reminder to the Bills’ personnel as well as the most dedicated Bills fans that he is not only in charge of this team, but also a part of it. Kudos to you Chan, you’re really showing Buffalo that you’re dedicated to their team.

NFL Pre-season: Week 2 Review

Buffalo Bills 34, Indianapolis Colts 21
- Trent Edwards seemed to hold down the number one quarterback position, finishing 5 of 8 for 93 yards and a 70 yard touchdown to Lee Evans.
- CJ Spiller dazzled with a 31 yard touchdown run in the first quarter, making three or four of the Colts’ starters miss in the process. He finished with 10 carries for 54 yards.
- Peyton Manning finished 8 of 15 for 91 yards with one touchdown and one interception that wasn’t his fault, but was returned for a touchdown.
- Syracuse grad and Colts WR Taj Smith finished with 3 catches for 91 yards, including a 43 yard touchdown for Curtis Painter.

New England Patriots 28, Atlanta Falcons 10
- Tom Brady had a solid day, finishing 10 of 12 for 85 yards and a second quarter touchdown to rookie tight end Aaron Hernandez.
- Hernandez wasn’t the only rookie tight end to get in on the action. Western New York’s own Rob Gronkowski caught a touchdown in the second quarter from Bryan Hoyer. Gronkowski had 4 catches for 38 yards and the score.
- Fred Taylor and Sammy Morris each turned in a solid outing. Taylor had 11 carries for 54 yards with a touchdown, while Morris had only six carries, but for 52 yards and also added a score.
- Atlanta’s starters were pretty quiet. Matt Ryan completed 8 of 13 passes for 76 yards. Running back Michael Turner carried eight times for 32 yards.

Cincinnati Bengals 22, Philadelphia Eagles 9
- Carson Palmer had a decent day passing, going 15 of 23 for 169 yards, however, he was picked off two times.
- Terrell Owens caught three balls for 67 yards, including a nice 43 yard grab down the sideline.
- The Eagles never found the endzone, settling for three David Akers field goals.
- Kevin Kolb showed signs of the quarterback Eagles fans are hoping for, finishing 11 of 17 for 126 yards.
- Michael Vick was the Eagles leading rusher with 34 yards, but he was horrid throwing the ball. Vick finished with more completions to the Bengals than to his own team. He was 1 of 5 for 6 yards and two picks.

Pittsburgh Steelers 24, New York Giants 17
- Ben Roethlisberger had his pre-season debut for the Steelers, going 6 of 8 for 76 yards and an interception.
- Byron Leftwich, who is assumed to be the starter while Roethlisberger serves his six-game suspension, completed only 3 of 6 passes, but for 95 yards and a nice 68 yard touchdown to Mike Wallace.
- With Eli Manning and Jim Sorgi sidelined, Giants quarterback Rhett Bomar played the entire game, going 13 of 26 for 167 yards and a pick.
- Each team displayed a solid rushing attack. The Steelers had eight different ball carriers rush for 161 yards and two touchdowns, while the Giants used five different rushers to total 129 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Baltimore Ravens 23, Washington Redskins 3
- The Ravens used a very balanced attack to defeat the Redskins, with 253 yards through the air and another 143 on the ground. Joe Flacco was 9 of 16 for 72 yards but Marc Bulger turned in the better performance. He finished 13 of 16 for 130 yards.
- The Redskins nearly abandoned the running game, gaining only 25 yards on the ground. They did, however, throw for 401 yards. Donovan McNabb went 11 of 26 for 206 yards and an interception, while backup Rex Grossman was 14 of 21 for 195 yards and another interception.

St. Louis Rams 19, Cleveland Browns 17
- As if pre-season football wasn’t irrelevant enough, both the Rams and Browns turned in mediocre performances.
- The best Rams quarterback was AJ Feeley, who went 5 of 6 for 45 yards and a score. Rookie Sam Bradford completed only 6 of 14 passes for a mere 24 yards. Even worse off was Keith Null, who finished 3 out of 14  for 46 yards.
- The Browns got a decent outing for new quarterback Jake Delhomme, as he went 12 of 16 for 127 yards and a touchdown. He did lose one fumble. Rookie Colt McCoy only threw 2 passes, completing neither.
- The Browns lost the turnover battle 5-0.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20, Kansas City Chiefs 15
- Josh Freeman played very few downs for the Bucs, completing only 2 of 4 passes for 21 yards.
- Backup Josh Johnson went 6 of 10 for 113 yards and a 53 yard touchdown to Michael Spurlock in the second quarter.
- Matt Cassel showed some promise for the Chiefs, as he went 14 of 19 for 125 yards and a first quarter touchdown.
- The Chiefs used seven different ball carries to rush for a total of 152 yards.

Miami Dolphins 27, Jacksonville Jaguars 26
- Chad Henne was everything the Dolphins need him to be this season. The Michigan alum was 11 of 14 for 151 yards and two touchdowns, both to Anthony Fasano.
- Brandon Marshall finally caught his first unofficial pass as a Dolphin. In fact, he caught four for 65 yards.
- David Garrard went 6 of 8 for 79 yards and a touchdown. Luke McCown took over for Garrard and finished 14 of 23 for 152 yards with a touchdown and a pick.
- Maurice Jones-Drew had only four carries for -2 yards.
- The Jaguars were down 27-19 in the fourth quarter. After a Brock Bolen touchdown with 4:35 left, the Jags (for whatever reason) neglected to go for two, kicking the extra point to make the score 27-26. Jack Del Rio, how do you keep your job?

New Orleans Saints 38, Houston Texans 20
- Chase Daniel stole the show for the Saints, going 15 of 21 for 182 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Drew Brees was only 5 of 10 for 36 yards but did add a rushing touchdown.
- Reggie Bush had a decent outing as a running back, carrying seven times for 49 yards and a score. Pierre Thomas had seven carries for 24 yards, as well as two receptions for 38 yards and a score.
- Matt Schaub was solid, completing 8 of 10 passes for 110 yards. His backup, Dan Orlovsky, had a decent game as well. He was 12 of 19 for 140 yards and a touchdown.
- Arian Foster had six carries for 28 yards and a score, but coughed one up to the defense, much like his counterpart Steve Slaton is so prone to do. Slaton had 5 carries for 19 yards.

New York Jets 9, Carolina Panthers 3
- The epitome of boring, this game featured 20 punts and 287 COMBINED yards.
- Mark Sanchez was only 5 of 10 for 12 yards. The Jets had only 16 yards passing.
- Jimmy Clausen made a small case for starter, going 9 of 22 for 72 yards and a pick. Why is that a case for starter? Because Matt Moore was 6 of 17 for 57 yards and an interception.

Oakland Raiders 32, Chicago Bears 17
- Jason Campbell completed 10 of 20 passes for 170 yards and a pick, but added a rushing touchdown.
- Michael Bennett led the Raiders in rushing, carrying 15 times for 64 yards, however, 44 came on one carry.
- Jay Cutler went 7 of 15 for 99 yards and a second quarter score to Johnny Knox.
- Matt Forte had only five carries, but for 109 yards, including an 89 yard touchdown in the first quarter.

Detroit Lions 25, Denver Broncos 20
- Matt Stafford turned in a performance that Lions fans will hope continues throughout the regulars season. He was 13 of 18 for 130 yards and a first quarter touchdown to Calvin “Megatron” Johnson.
- Jahvid Best carried eight times for 49 yards and caught two passes for 10 yards, showing that he can be the solid weapon the Lions hoped for out of the backfield.
- Kyle Orton held down the starting quarterback position with ease, finishing 16 of 22 for 177 yards with two touchdowns and a pick. His counterpart, Brady Quinn, went 11 of 17 for 115 yards and lost one fumble. Tim Tebow was held out of action due to injury.
- Jabar Gaffney did his best Brandon Marshall impression, hauling in six passes for 98 yards. Still, I highly doubt he will account for the loss of Marshall.

Dallas Cowboys 16, San Diego Chargers 14
- Tony Romo didn’t have the best of days. He finished 4 of 11 for 30 yards with one touchdown to Miles Austin. He was also intercepted once.
- The Cowboys never got the run game going, as Tashard Choice led the way with six carries for 19 yards.
- Martellus Bennett turned in a nice effort, with four grabs for 40 yards and a fourth quarter score from Jon Kitna that tied the game.
- The Cowboys won the game on a safety with 3:46 remaining.
- Philip Rivers went 11 of 15 for 125 yards and a pick. He did add a rushing score.
- Speaking of rushing, rookie Ryan Mathews was solid, carrying 12 times for 53 yards.
- In the absence of Vincent Jackson, the Chargers have struggled to find a receiver who will breakthrough. Last night it was Seyi Ajirotutu (no, I can’t pronounce it), who had 3 grabs for 71 yards. Malcolm Floyd also added 3 catches for 47 yards.

Green Bay Packers 27, Seattle Seahawks 24
- Aaron Rodgers was his usual self, completing 8 of 11 passes for 116 yards and two first quarter touchdowns.
- Jermichael Finley showed that can be a consistent target, grabbing four balls for 48 yards and a touchdown off the arm of Rodgers.
- Brandon Jackson led the way on the ground for the Pack, rushing 11 times for 80 yards and a fourth quarter touchdown that won the game for the Packers.
- Matt Hasselbeck was 11 of 15 for 127 yards and a first quarter touchdown to Deion Branch.
- TJ Houshmandzadeh and former USC wideout Mike Williams each got into the action, catching four balls each for 60 and 44 yards, respectively.

Week two of pre-season wraps up tonight with the Minnesota Vikings visiting the San Francisco 49ers and the Tennessee Titans hosting the Arizona Cardinals.

SPOTLIGHT:ERIE SEAWOLVES TAKE DOWN The READING PHILLIES FRIDAY NIGHT

The Erie Seawolves are a Double A baseball team located in Erie,PA. The Seawolves are a minor league team to the Detroit Tigers and have produced many talents. Justin Verlander, Curtis Granderson,Brennan Boesch,Ryan Raburn,Matt Joyce,John Lackey,Clete Thomas, etc are the talent that seems to Roar on the Shore of Lake Erie in the Spring through Fall. This team seems to always be tough and this year is no different. They have been through a lot of turnover due to all the injuries in the Detroit Tigers organization. Yet, they still manage to compete every night at a high level and find themselves as one of the hottest teams in the Eastern League.

The Erie Seawolves took down the Reading Phillies Friday night as they won the game 5 to 3. Bryan Pounds was able to drive in 3 runs by hitting a HR and an RBI single. Thad Weber pitched 7 and 2/3 strong innings and Reliever, Lester oliveros came in the 9th and struck out the side as the Seawolves took the game. Erie has a lot of young talent on there team.  First Baseman Rawley Bishop is very solid and was the Eastern League player of the week last week. He had a solid game for the Seawolves on Friday night as well. Also,pitcher Brooks Brown is there stud, he is 11-8 and has an ERA of 4.09.

We were able to catch up with Coach Phil Nevin after the game, along with Bryan Pounds, Rawley Bishop and Brooks Brown. We also sat down with the Eastern League leader in Hitting Tagg Bozied, who is 31 years old and has been in the minors for 10 years. Check out the interviews on We Bleed Sports Radio.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thejman/2010/08/21/erie-seawolves-night

On behalf of the We Bleed Sports Nation, We would like to Thank the Seawolves for taking good care of us on Friday night. MR. Greg Gania was great and is one of the best play by play announcers that there is, in the minor leagues. We also would like to thank Coach/All Star Phil Nevin who answered all our questions as well as the whole team. It was a great experience and we enjoyed it and we hope to continue to cover Erie Seawolve Baseball.

To Keep track of the Seawolves and stay up to date, check out there site.

http://erie.seawolves.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t106

NFL Suspends Bills’ TE Nelson

The Buffalo Bills got some rather unfortunate news from the NFL offices today, as they learned that their second year tight end, Shawn Nelson, has been suspended for the first four games of the 2010 season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

Nelson was not living up to his full potential up to this point in training camp. He did have some personal issues to attend to in his home state of Louisiana, keeping him from participating in most of the organized team activities. Nevertheless, he is the most athletic tight end on the Bills’ roster and the team was hoping he’d be a significant aspect of their passing attack this season.

Now that Nelson is suspended and Derek Schouman suffered a knee injury in last night’s pre-season tilt with the Colts, the Bills find themselves with Jonathan Stupar and Michael Matthews as the only two tight ends on the roster. Being so thin at the position, head coach Chan Gailey might consider adding another tight end into the mix.

Nelson’s suspension begins Saturday, September 4th, and ends Monday, October 4th. He will be eligible for regular season action in week five when the Jacksonville Jaguars visit the Ralph. In the meantime, Nelson will be allowed to participate in all practices and pre-season games.

THE JMAN WITH THE ERIE SEAWOLVES

Whats up We Bleed Sports Nation…We are covering the Erie Seawolves today. They are a Double A baseball team and they are a minor league team of the Detroit Tigers. This team has produced such players as, Justin Verlander,Matt Joyce, Brennan Boesch,Curtis Granderson,Clete Thomas and John Lackey, and thats just naming a few. This club has a lot of gems and we are going down there tonight to check them out.

We will be interviewing players and coaches and we will have it for you on We Bleed Sports radio in a few days. We Bleed Sports is going to try to find the next Verlander and or the next Granderson. To follow the game and all the Seawolves news check out there site at http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=t106

Ofcourse you know what to do…KEEP IT LOCKED INN!

Game Notes: Bills Preseason Game #2

- It was the Indianapolis Colts vs. the Buffalo Bills in a game that only 5 people attended in the debacle known as the Toronto Bills series. The Colts offensive and defensive schemes looked very vanilla. The Bills on the other hand looked like they game planned a little bit as that would be the difference in the 34-21 victory over the Colts.

- CJ Spiller was involved early as he went the distance for a 31 TD run. He looked impressive making defenders miss multiple tackles. The biggest thing to note was his ability to stop and start to get the defense stuck in their blocks as he accelerates in the other direction. He looks to be one of the bright spots for the Bills offense this upcoming season. But we’ll have to see where he fits when Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch return to the fold.

- Trent Edwards had some nice plays but don’t buy into the hype of his stat line as the 70 yard touchdown was pretty much a blown play by the defense. But the throw on that play had some nice zip and maybe Chan can really make Trent look like he did before that concussion against the Cardinals in week 6 of the 2008 season. Brian Brohm was impressive and looked like he should leapfrog Fitz in the depth chart which could possibly spell end for the former Cincinnati back-up. Joique Bells had some great plays later on in the game and looks like a lock to the make the team as he finished with 80 yards on 11 rushes with a TD to boot. Levi Brown in clean-up duty was 2-5 for 10 yards.

-The secondary made a great play early as Terrence Mcgee picked off a deflected pass from Peyton Manning. Addai would later find the end zone after he showed Whitner what a punk he really is. (News flash Donte one arm tackles don’t work) They would later get burned over the middle when Manning hooked up with tight end Jacob Tamme  for a 21 yard touchdown play. Which is nothing new as most fans are familiar with this in Buffalo. Maybin looked his usual worthless self and the Bills still haven’t learned how to stop the run to the outside. Poz is still getting adjusted to the defense and game speed as he looked pretty lost out there. All in all not a great day for the Bills defense.

-The Special teams were god awful, I think I understand why Wade Phillips fired Bruce Dehaven. This team misses Bobby April immensely.

Western New York Native Shines

It’s always nice to hear about the success of Western New Yorkers on a national scale. This time, it’s Rob Gronkowski who has turned heads in the NFL. Gronkowski, a tight end for the New England Patriots, scored a touchdown in the team’s 28-10 pre-season win over the Atlanta Falcons. For the day, Gronkowski finished with four receptions for 38 yards and the score.

Gronkowski is a product of Amherst, New York. He attended Williamsville North High School for three years, playing on the football team as a tight end as well as center on the basketball team. As a junior, he was named to the All-Western New York first team and All-State second team. Gronkowski spent his senior season as Woodland Hills High School just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Upon graduation, he attended the University of Arizona. Other schools he was recruited by include Clemson, Louisville, Maryland, Ohio State, and Syracuse. There, he would set school records for single-game, season, and career receptions, yards, and touchdowns by a tight end.

In the 2010 NFL Draft, Gronkowski was drafted in the second round (42nd overall) by the New England Patriots. At 6’6 and 265 pounds, Gronkowski is a virtual lock to make the Patriots roster with his unique power to block effectively as well as catch the ball and demonstrate open-field speed.

Local Bills fans may be hopeful that another Western New Yorker, Naaman Roosevelt, makes the final squad for the Bills. He is certainly more of a long shot than Gronkowski is for the Pats. I’m sure that Buffalonians are saddened to see him go to the “enemy” in New England.

SPILLER LOOKS GOOD AS BILLS TAKE DOWN COLTS

The Buffalo Bills drafted RB C.J. Spiller to spark an offense that was really lacking any sort of excitement. Well C.J. didn’t disappoint. On the first seris of the game vs the Colts, he broke a 31 yarder and ran into the endzone. He finished with 10 carries 58 yards. C.J. looks like the guy the Bills thought he would be.

Trent Edwards also threw a 70 yard bomb to Lee Evans for a TouchDown. Evans, one of the most under rated WRs in the game, looked very good tonight as well. I think its very clear that Trent is the number 1 QB on the Buffalo Bills.

Terrence McGee picked off Peyton Manning and took it 78 yards to the house, which was a bright spot for the Buffalo Bills defense. They did hold Peyton down on the first seris to a three and out. However, Peyton did lead 2 scoring drives.

All and all, a decent preformance from the Bills. They still have a long way to go but atleast there are some signs that are pointing in the right direction. I think the “Bills Shout” song will be played quite a bit, after MR.Spiller has the ball in his hands.