Marion Barber calls it a career

The writing must've been on the wall for Chicago Bears running back Marion Barber after the Bears signed Michael Bush to be the backup to Matt Forte.

After a few subpar seasons Barber has decided to retire. There was no reason given and at age 28 it's pretty mysterious since he probably could've still been a productive short yardage/goal line back. But with his hard running style maybe his body took more of a pounding than any other back at that age.

He finished last season with 422 yards on 114 carries with six touchdowns.

"I want to thank everyone who gave me the opportunity to play, and I’m very thankful to have had the chance to suit up for two of the NFL’s most storied organizations,” Barber told Chicagobears.com.


"I want to thank everyone who helped me become a better player,” Barber said. “I owe a lot to a lot of coaches, and am also very grateful to the owners and organizations I played for. Last but not least, I want to thank the fans for the support and inspiration they gave me.”


For some reason I don't think this is the end for Barber. Injuries do happen and teams will be looking for a proven running back at some point. I'm sure his phone will be on during the season.

St. Paul Saints to have a bounty promotion

Minor league baseball teams are always cooking up some kind of comical gimmick and the St. Paul Saints are no stranger to it.

Their latest brainstorming session has resulted in the Saints coming up with a "bounties for big hits" promotion for their Sept. 1 game against the Wichita Wingnuts. It's clearly a shot at the New Orleans Saints and the "bountygate" scandal, but it's all in the name of charity so I do see some humor in it.


On Saturday, September 1, the one year anniversary of Minnesota’s youth concussion law going into effect, the St. Paul Saints will be gunning for the opposition and plan to PAY a TON of money for a worthy cause. For each bone crunching hit the Saints will collect a bounty and the bigger the hit, the larger the sum: a single is worth $100, a double $200, a triple $300 and a home run is worth $400. For every pitcher the Saints “knock-out” another $50 will be collected. Each time a Saints pitcher “punches out” an opposing hitter, $10 will be donated. At the end of the night all the money collected from the bounty system will be placed in a LOOMIS armored truck and taken to Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota and donated to their new concussion research program.


The first 1,500 fans entering the game that night will receive a football helmet piggy bank with the Saints logo on one side (the S will be in the shape of a $) and the Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota logo on the other. It should be a BREEZE for fans to fill it up with their own bounty and they can take the piggy bank to the Children’s (either the Minneapolis or St. Paul hospital locations) to donate the money to concussion research.


Since this is in the Twin Cities, the locals will have a good time with this one, since it might've been some of the Saints' (New Orleans) dirty play that made Brett Favre a bit gimpy and possibly ruined their shot a t a Super Bowl.

Mike Leach wants a 64 team college football playoff

Inevitably college football will be heading toward a playoff. All the talking heads have to agree upon is how many teams will in the derby. If it were up to Washington State coach Mike Leach he would have it just like the NCAA tournament and have 64 teams in a playoff.


"The minimum should be 16 teams,’’ he said. “I think 32 is better than 16, but I think 64 would be ideal," he started to explain to me, without taking a breath.


"You could cut the regular season down to 10 games, but guarantee everybody 12 games. In the end, the champion would play 16 games."


Don't bring up school workload to him as an argument. "That's a bunch of foolishness," he chided, in a nice, polite tone.


"Basketball players go to school, volleyball players go to school, baseball players go to school and they play a lot more games than football [players do]."


Although I do support a playoff, this is a little insane, but Leach always seemed to be in his own world anyway. I'm with him about the "school" part. The talking heads believe that it would take too much class time away from the "student-athelete". Everyone knows that's a load of bull.  

Drew Stanton wants out of New York

When former Detroit Lions quarterback Drew Stanton signed with the New York Jets, he signed there with the knowledge that he would be the number two quarterback behind starter Mark Sanchez. But the Jets went out and traded for Tim Tebow and now his backup status is in doubt and Stanton wants out of New York.

Stanton passed over other teams and more money to sign with the Jets and now he feels screwed. The Jets are trying to accommodate Stanton by seeking out a trade for the disgruntled third stringer.

"When we signed Drew, obviously this (trading for Tebow) was not contemplated in that decision," Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum told the newspaper on Wednesday. "When you get an unexpected opportunity to add a player like Tim, you have to take advantage of that."  


If I'm Stanton I'd just wait on getting released. Not that he is a bad player, it's just that there is hardly a trade market for him. But hey we said the same thing about Tebow.

Prince Fielder's mom has a book in the works

The tension in the Fielder family might get a little worse by the end of spring. Father and son already don't get along and now mother, Stacey August, is getting in the act. She has a book in the works and it could be out by next month.

The book will be title "Stealing Home On A Fielder's Choice" and is due to be available online and in stores this spring, maybe by next month.

August said the nine-chapter, 300-page, self-published book subtitled "A Revelation of a Ravished Rose," details the triumphs and adversity the Fielder family experienced throughout Cecil's professional baseball career and Prince's childhood before his rise to big league stardom.


August says the book won't be focused on the Prince-Cecil relationship although it will talk about how it changed over the years.

"I hope it gives other families a sense of hope that, at the end of the day, love may not conquer all, but it does cover all," August said. "It's a story of grace and mercy."


"It's a spiritual memoir that really talks about the core issues," she said. "It goes a little deeper for the underlying issues. It will address the situation that has happened to the two of them."


August says that both Cecil and Prince know about the book and don't have any problems with it. We'll have to see how long either of them will hold out on saying they don't like the book.

Jerry Tarkanian has a mild heart attack

The battle Jerry Tarkanian has now is bigger than any with the NCAA.

The former longtime UNLV basketball coach has been hospitalized by a mild heart attack.

"It was a mild heart attack," son Danny Tarkanian said. "He said he feels pretty good, but he was scared."


"He was very alert, and he sounded good. Hopefully he's going to be OK for a while," Danny Tarkanian said. "As a family, we feel pretty relieved at this point.


Tarkanian was one of the best college coaches of all time, however his long time battle with the NCAA overshadowed his sideline accomplishments. Here's to a timely recovery by Tark the Shark.

Cromartie doesn't want Tebow with the Jets

With Peyton Manning signing with the Denver Broncos, everyone figures Tim Tebow will be useless. So everyone is in a haste to trade Tebow. I wouldn't but I'll save that for later. The frontrunners in the Tebow derby are the New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars. I'm sure new offensive coordinator Tony Sparano could develop a package of plays for Tebow and the Jaguars probably could sell more tickets and jerseys.

There is one Jet that doesn't want Tebow with the Jets. The outspoken Antonio Cromartie. Cromartie says the Jets don't need Tebow and they should let him go elsewhere.

"We don't need Tebow," Cromartie wrote on his Twitter account. "We sell out every home game, let him go to Jacksonville, Tampa or Miami. Out wildcat offensve can (be) run by (Jeremy) Kerley or Joe McKnight. We straight."


At least Cromartie is showing support for other teammates. But he's not in the front office and they are the ones that call the shots. Also if I'm the Broncos I might be in no hurry to trade Tebow. I know he's not the greatest quarterback, but maybe, just maybe he could watch and learn under Manning and be a better player because of it. Also, what if Manning gets hurt because his neck isn't right? Then you're back to ground zero. Unless John Elway already has a plan for the draft and free agency for a backup.