Cassel Could Miss The Opener With A Rib Injury

This is why you keep your starters in for the bare minimum in the final exhibition game. The Kansas City Chiefs had to place starting tight end Tony Moeaki on injured reserve with a knee injury. Now there is news that starting quarterback Matt Cassel could miss the opener against the Buffalo Bills with a rib injury he s suffered against Green Bay in the final preseason game.

Cassel was sacked by 340 pound nose tackle Howard Green and the team initially said he just had the wind knocked out of him.

Cassel confirmed this afterwards when he said “I just got the wind knocked out of me,’’ he said. “We were just being cautious.’’



Head coach Todd Haley added “Unfortuntately, he got dinged up a little bit. I’m not overly concerned.’’

A report by the Kansas City Star's Adam Teicher said a source close to the situation said they overheard coach Todd Haley tell backup Tyler Palko “You’d better be ready to play Sunday’’ after the game.

If Cassel misses the opener, the Chiefs could be in a bit of trouble. The offense seemed to struggle in the preseason, but you can't put too much stock into that. Haley just better hope that the injury isn't that serious.

I bet that Cassel plays on Sunday, but expect a heavy dose of Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles. I also bet Haley will hold out the starters in next year's preseason finale.

Just remember that Drago vs. Creed was also an exhibition.

Get Your San Diego Chargers Wine

The San Diego Chargers have entered the wine business. The NFL team has combined with Napa Valley winemaker Anthony Bell of Napa Valley’s Bell Wine Cellars to create a Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is to celebrate the fifty years that the team has played in San Diego

It's called Legacy and I guess they call it a celebratory wine. To celebrate what, a legacy of choking in the playoffs? A legacy of slow starts to torpedo an otherwise fine regular season? I'll let Chargers Executive Vice President and CEO A.G. Spanos explain it to you.

“We think our fans will enjoy having a bottle of Chargers Legacy wine for any occasion as well as on game days,” said Chargers Executive Vice President and CEO A.G. Spanos. “We want nothing but the best for our fans.”

“Producing a special wine like Chargers Legacy is similar to winning football games,” Bell said. “It’s a team effort that requires patience, determination, a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, and great talent.”

Isn't that statement a contradiction of sorts. The Chargers have had a team with great talent, only to waste it and lose a game they have no business losing in the playoffs. Or they find a way to lose a home playoff game. Or they waste it with their slow starts in the regular season. Do you want me to go on?

The Chargers aren't the first team to sell wine. The New York Jets came out with "Jets Uncorked" last year. How appropiate. They might have wanted to call it "Rex Ryan uncorked". 

If you want to do the best by Charger fans, don't worry about selling wine at the stadium or in a grocery store, worry about trying to get a Lombardi Trophy in the trophy case. That would be truly celebratory. 

No More Old Style At Cubs Games?

It looks like Chicago Cubs fans will have something else to worry about. No, their World Series-less streak isn't coming to an end, but the well may run dry on Old Style beer being served at Wrigley Field.

According to a published report, billionaire C. Dean Metropoulos fired off a memo to senior staffers shortly after he bought Pabst last year that he wanted to "exit the Cubs deal" in favor of spending more to market Old Style Light.



Pabst's chief marketing officer Bryan Crowley declined to acknowledge the memo exists as the Chicago Tribune first reported this summer. However, he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that a contract is set to expire after this season between the Cubs and the company, which also makes Old Milwaukee and Schlitz.

Old Style has been served at Wrigley Field for 61 years so after hearing the rumor about the beer no longer being served there Cubs fans aren't taking it lightly.

"It's history, this field and this beer," said Fred Kist, a 59-year-old suburban Chicago resident who grew up an Ernie Banks home run away from the park. "Wrigley Field will lose something by losing Old Style."


"I went from vendor to vendor until I found Old Style," said Pete McCarty of Mobile, Ala., who attended his first Cubs game last week. "To me, that's Wrigley Field."

"Not acceptable," said Jennifer Miller.


The question is now what do the Cubs sell if Old Style isn't available. 






 

Reds Prsopect Billy Hamilton Steals 100 Bases

The stolen base seems to be a thing of the past. Once upon a time, the fastest players routinely swiped between 75-100 bags in a year. Nowdays it seems if a player is able to steal 50 bases, it's considered a great feat.

Don't tell Cincinnati Reds farmhand Billy Hamilton that the art of the steal is dead. Hamilton who plays for the Dayton Dragons, the Reds' Single-A farm team, swiped three bases against the Lansing Lugnuts to reach the 100 stolen base plateau.

Hamilton became just the 12th player in recorded Minor League Baseball history to steal 100 bases in a season. He broke the Cincinnati Reds all-time organizational record, surpassing Ramon Sambo's 98 with the Cedar Rapids Reds in 1988. Hamilton is the first player to steal 100 bases in a season since 2001 when Chris Morris of Peoria stole a Midwest League record 111.


Hamilton is regarded as the Reds' top infield prospect and fastest player. His stats say he needs work at the plate, but if he can find a way to get on base he's a dangerous player.

I would love to see the stolen base become a bigger part of baseball. Some of these managers need to turn their fastest players loose on the bases.  

Pryor Appeals His Suspension

With Jim Tressel being hired by the Indianapolis Colts this week, Oakland Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor has notified the NFL to appeal his five game suspension according to the NFL Network's Albert Breer. 

Some have applauded this as a smart move by Pryor since he was disciplined for the problems he had while he was still at Ohio State.

Yahoo.com's Doug Farrar tweeted Sunday morning that it was a "Smart decision by Pryor and his people to appeal five-game suspension now. NFL has to address Tressel, change the [suspension], or REALLY look bad."

In my opinion NFL commisioner Roger Goodell shouldn't have power over anything that happens outside of the NFL unless it has to do wtih drugs or criminal activity. Pryor's mentor and Pittsburgh Steeles backup quarterback Charlie Batch feels that Goodell overstepped his boundaries on this particular issue.

As of now the league faces a dicey situation. Tressel's contract and status still has to be approved by the NFL. But he did resign from Ohio State under pressure from the NCAA and admitted  that he failed to share with the NCAA information regarding activities that jeopardized the eligibility of Pryor and other players. 

The best thing to do is to give both parties (Tressel and Pryor) a three game suspension. To me that would be the right thing to do, although since the Ohio State scandal didn't come under his jurisdiction neither should be punished.

  

Brandon Meriweather Finds A New Home

That was fast. Shortly after being cut by the New England Patriots, two time Pro Bowl safety Brandon Meriweather has signed with the Chicago Bears.  The terms of the one year contract are undisclosed.

Meriweather was the biggest name on the cut list this weekend. This could wind up being a good signing by the Bears especially if Meriweather can play up to his Pro Bowl status of the last two years. He is known as a freelancer so it's unknown what impact he would have on an already solid defense.   

Gary Pinkel Fingers Dan Beebe For The Big 12's Problems

In an interview on Tim Brando's Yahoo! Sports show, Missouri head football coach Gary Pinkel didn't mince words when he talked about the problems the Big 12 conference is having trying to stay together.

"Obviously, we have some issues in our league. When you have Nebraska leave one year. Colorado leaves. Also now Texas A&M. Three really good football teams. … You know, we’ve got some issues. Without question there’s some issues that other leagues don’t have. You don’t hear anything about any other league in the country having these kind of problems. We all know where it starts. Mike Alden’s not the point man here. Dan Beebe is. Dan Beebe’s our commissioner. He’s the guy to ask. I don’t know what they’re going to do. I’m just focusing now on winning the football game. … There’s just no one in the country, no other league in the country, where this stuff goes on. And it’s really a shame because the potential of the league is just so tremendous. Anyway, I have no control over it. We’re just trying to beat Miami (Ohio)."


This is almost a repeat of what he said in Dallas for Big 12 media days in late July. He lays the blame right at Dan Beebe's feet for pretty much bowing down to Texas and letting them call the shots in the Big 12. The fact that Nebraska left should have been a red flag right there. To chase off one of the original Big 6 teams takes some work. It's clear Beebe will do whatever he needs to keep Texas happy. Tom Osborne is far too classy to come out and say why the Huskers bolted though I think most of us with a pulse can figure out why. I think Pinkel summed up what a lot of others in the conference are thinking but won't say. Texas A&M simply went public with it albeit in a very aggressive manner.

It's beginning to look like the Big 12 may crumble sooner than expected.