Wednesday, September 21, 2011

South Carolina's New Duds

It looks like UnderArmour is trying to catch Nike in the unique uniform design department.

South Carolina will be sporting new Wounded Warrior Project uniforms for their game against Auburn on October 1.

In an effort to recognize the sacrifices made by members of our Armed Forces as well as to commemorate the tenth anniversary of September 11, this year’s uniforms will embrace the American spirit by incorporating a custom “USA stars and stripes” head-to-toe design. To further support all veterans, each team will replace their last names on their jerseys with a core value embellishment – Duty, Honor, Courage, Commitment, Integrity, Country, or Service – and will be led on field by selected wounded warrior honorary captains.



“As we continue to reflect on the tenth anniversary of September 11, we recognize the importance of honoring those that lost their lives on that day and the men and women of our Armed Forces that continue to fight for freedom,” said Matt Mirchin, Under Armour Senior Vice President, Sports Marketing. “We are privileged to work with Wounded Warrior Project, South Carolina, Texas Tech, and the University of South Florida to carry on the tradition of these special games and support the Believe in Heroes campaign.”




First there were the crazy Maryland uniforms and now these. Actually they don't look that bad. I like them more than their regular uniforms.

Deon Grant Says He Wasn't Faking

After the St. Louis Rams filed a complaint with the NFL about the New York Giants faking injuries, the league sent out a memo basically stating that those caught faking an injury will be punished.

Giants safety Deon Grant says that if there's a problem he'll gladly address it. Grant was the main culprit along with teammate Jacquian Williams in the injurygate scandal. Grant isn't too happy about it and says he's too tough to fake an injury.

"I wanna ask a question: From the first time I touched the football field, how many games (have) I (missed)?" Grant said Wednesday, noting that he's played 162 out of 162 possible games since he came into the league back in 2001. "None, right? None. Now to this day I got two torn MCLs. I just had wrist surgery two years ago. I had a hole in my labrum and a torn rotator cuff. I (haven't) missed (any) games."


"I went out one play," Grant said. "I got banged up, and went right back in and finished the game -- (just like I have) every game for my career. My whole thing is when (do) you know (if) somebody faking an injury? ... I'm not no duck or no dummy. I'm not about to be going out there banging myself up like they do in the movies.




"You look at my knees now, do you see this knee (my right one), this knee is smaller than that one (my left one)? You see the bang up, right?"


Grant claimed he banged knees on the previous play and the Rams tried to line up while he was out of position. Besides going out of his way to prove how macho he is, he also implied that a teammate, maybe Justin Tuck told him to "just go down".

"And I was like, 'No,'" Grant said. "But as I was walking they lined up knowing I couldn't get back into my position because of the injury, so I went down. It just so happened Jacquain -- he was catching a cramp at the same time -- and he went down.

Grant had plenty to say. He said if the league wants to fine him he's ok. Just give him some money for the metal plates in his knees and the surgeries. He also doesn't care what the Rams think either.

"Like I just told (you), if you want me to be fined for that, how about (the league) give me money for playing on these torn MCLs, for me finishing the season with a torn rotator cuff and with a labrum that I got fixed before the season so I won't miss (any) games and sell my team out like that," Grant said.




"Give me some money for this metal plate and screws that I have in my hip that was a career-ending injury," he continued. "I can keep going on and on. Give me some money for finishing the season with a cast on, with a broken wrist and torn ligaments. Want me to keep going? Give me some money for me breaking my finger and it popping through my skin and the bone's just hanging out and I wrap it up and finish a preseason game or start a preseason game because the game hasn't even started -- I did that in warmups.


"I can go on and on and on. So if you want to talk about claims and all that other stuff, and all this toughness and softness, nobody's gonna try me first of all with the softness thing. But if you wanna talk about this whole toughness and all that, I got the injuries to speak for it.


"What was that down and distance when that happened?" Grant asked. "(Second-and-2) So they had, what, (three) plays to score right? So how you slowing somebody down?




"They already got down the field right? You got (three) plays, and I'm not even in the game the next play. You got (three) plays to score and that's what you're complaining about? C'mon."

We get it Deon. You're just way too tough to be faking. Personally I don't care one way or another. There will always be a team willing to bend the rules to get an edge. If he wasn't faking then oh well. Life goes on. We know football players are big and tough, I just don't care for someone to go out of their way to prove it.