Huge Selection of Discount Automotive Magazine. Save up to 86%.

This article is

a duplicateoffensiveplagiarized

What is the duplicate article?

Why is this article offensive?

Where is this article plagiarized from?

Why is this article poorly edited?

Flag This Article

Article source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1184755-post-spring-ranking-of-every-college-football-team

Everybody watch your ACLs…..it’s Purdue Potluck time.

Iowa’s Most Hated Rival (thanks to Jim Delany) had a roller-coaster 2011 season — a loss to Rice, a win over Ohio State, a bowl win, a contract extension for Coach Danny Hope….it was a fairly eventful year in West Lafayette.

So what better way to celebrate than with a Boilermaker (whiskey chased by beer) themed Potluck? (Feel free to follow the dish links to actual recipes). Follow the OTE writers and special guest BoilerTMill from Purdue’s SB Nation site Hammer and Rails below the jump for 4800+ words on the red-headed step-children of football, the three-headed CaRobRob MaHenBush monster, contract extensions, another edition of the annual “how bad does MSULaxer27 think Purdue is going to be” game, and how to improve our favorite teams’ mascots/colors/logos….

We all know what happens next…..SNAP. Sobs. Tears ACL.

1. Beer Battered Onion Rings: Special teams are the red-headed step-children of football — easy to overlook or ignore, but they can occasionally murder you in your sleep and/or save you from a burning building. (That’s what red-headed step-children do, right? Or am I just irrationally wary of gingers?) Purdue’s special teams embodied this perfectly last year: having a game winning FG blocked against Rice; blocking an extra point against Ohio State to get a much-needed (for bowl eligibility) win; Raheem Mostert led all FBS with an average of over 33 yards per kickoff return; and in the Pizza Pizza Bowl versus Western Michigan special teams stole the spotlight — Mostert had a 99 yard kickoff return for a TD, Carson Wiggs kicked three FGs (including one 49 yarder), and Purdue recovered two onside kicks. Can Purdue’s success on special teams (Rice notwithstanding) continue in 2012? Or is the departure of Carson Wiggs going to hurt the Boilermakers? And how does a team/coaching staff (like Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech) develop consistent success in the special teams area?

Ted Glover: Wiggs was probably the best kicker you’ve never heard of, and replacing him will be difficult to do. Kickers, for whatever reason, aren’t nearly as good at the collegiate level as they are in the NFL, and a good one is very tough to replace, yet so important. That’s going to be a bigger issue than a lot of people care to think right now, but hopefully whoever wins the job can step up. Special teams is only good if the head coach emphasizes it, and we have two recent examples in both directions. Jim Tressel preached that the punt was the most important play in football, and one of the hallmarks of his legacy is that OSU had stellar special teams while he was there. On the flipside was Rich Rodriguez, who eschewed special teams in a way I had never witnessed at the major college level. In his last season Michigan’s kickers were a horrid 4 of 13 in FG attempts. Hope’s teams stress it, and a huge play on special teams can change the mometum of a game in an instant — look no further than Purdue-OSU last season. And for Purdue, special teams can help be a great equalizer when they are an underdog, which will happen enough in conference play this year.

KennardHusker: I freaking loved the Pizza Bowl. Of all the inane early bowls, that bowl kept things fun the whole time (or at least for the better part of the whole time). I mentioned this in the comments section, but I think if a coach spends time perfecting special teams, he can really make a difference on the field. Give Hope and Company an inch, they’ll take a mile (or something like that). With the kickoffs moving up, I have zero idea how the return game will be affected. I’m under the impression that coaches are going to go for the pooch kicks with less distance to hit someone approach, so returns will go down, but it could also go the NFL route where returners say, “eff it,” and take it out from 8 yards deep and still get TD’s. Sorry, what was the actual question here? Oh right, success, special teams, consistency. Sure, why not? Beamer has done it for years, and if you practice it, you’ll be good at it. The SEC is still working on that one.

BabaOReally: I would be surprised if Purdue’s success on special teams continues into 2012. The new kickoff rules will negate most of the advantages of having a solid kickoff return game. Purdue will also have a new kicker next year, as Carson Wiggs won’t be back. It sounds like Paul Griggs, a freshman will be the man in 2012. Even if he is good, I doubt he will be Wiggs’ equal in his first year kicking on a relatively big stage. I don’t know the secrets to building a consistently good special teams unit, but I would think devoting a lot of practice time to special teams would be a step in the right direction.

Jonathan Franz: The tired meme we’re used to hearing about special teams is that they’re an “overlooked” phase of the game. I’m no coach, but I have a hard time believing that a notorious group of control freaks routinely leave a 1/3 of their preparations to chance. I think the real reason that special teams take a back seat in our collective consciousness is that they represent parts of the game that are (traditionally) the farthest removed from the scoreboard. Blistering punt and kickoff returns for touchdowns and blocked kicks notwithstanding, we tend to identify better with offense and defense because there’s a clear measure of success or failure on each and every series. Special teams results are often harder to quantify, and accordingly, easier to forget. But wait — you might protest — Coach X doesn’t put his first-teamers on kickoff coverage, surely this proves he doesn’t care as much about special teams. No. It just proves he’s risk adverse and doesn’t want to put his stars in harm’s way any more than he has to. It’s a strategic sport. Everything is calculated.

But I digress. The reason I mention this is because I believe, like anything else, good special teams are a product of sound coaching, superior talent, and a little bit of luck. I can’t predict which way the ball will bounce for the Boilermakers in 2012, but I do know that the loss of Carson Wiggs (like any impact player) is a sizable obstacle they must overcome.

MSULaxer27: Special teams are one of those marginal areas that can bring great reward if you focus on them. How many times (in college and the pros) have we seen a return man with a great reputation affect the coaching decisions of the other team? Think Devin Hester. Mostert is now a known commodity and will probably see fewer kicks next year. MSU had a similar situation this season with Keshawn Martin, who coming into 2011 had 45 KR for 1070 in his career, nearly a 25 yd. return avg. In 2011, he had two (2!) KR’s for 30 yards total. Teams kicked away from him and Nick Hill, a redshirt freshman, gained the majority of the KR yards for MSU this season (and second most in school history). If Purdue is going to replicate their KR magic in 2012 it will probably have to come from the other side of the field when teams kick away from Mostert. Also not to take anything away from Mosterst, but if we delve into his stats last season over half of his return yards (and the TD) came against 3 teams: IU, WMU and Wisconsin (on the bad end of a blowout). Against everyone else he was a little more ordinary. The requirement to replace the kicker is a tough position to find yourself. Kickers are rarely highly ranked or strongly recruited so I would imagine you will see a bit of drop off initially, at least until the new kicker becomes comfortable in the role. I think it’s a mindset to develop success in the special teams area, just like any other position, but I do think success breeds success. If Wiggs’ replacement is as good as he was then maybe it begins a trend of success in the position and makes Purdue a place where kickers want to go. Again pointing to State, our last three starting kickers have made the league (at least for a minute), that has to help us recruit guys for the position.

2. Whiskey Glazed Sweet Potatoes: It appears that Purdue is heading into 2012 with CaRobRob MaHenBush as their starting quarterback. When you have two quarterbacks, you have no quarterback. But when you have three (in this case, Caleb TerBush, Robert Marve, and Rob Henry), what do you have? Crippling indecision? An opportunity to play rock/paper/scissors for the QB position with every drive? A chance to infuriate 2/3 of your fanbase at any given moment? How do you see Danny Hope deciding between these three (underwhelming?) choices at quarterback? And since it may have different answers, what’s the best decision for Purdue this year at QB vs. going forward for the long-term (remember, Marve is a senior)?

BoilerTMill: TerBush is also a senior, with Henry being a junior. It’s a difficult scenario because TerBush has been steady, but lacks the big play ability. Marve can make the big play with his arm or his feet, but he can also force a crippling interception. My personal preference is Marve. He is the highest rated of the three in terms of raw talent., but has never in his career had a chance to showcase it as THE guy. I would like to see us have Henry play a role similar to Justin Siller last year, where Siller was a receiver and occassionally lined up under center in a Wild Siller formation. Henry is more of a runner and we need to find creative ways to get the ball in his hands on the field, but he’s also the likely starting quarterback next year unless we go with one of the 2,430 freshmen QB’s we’re bringing in that will likely redshirt. I think Marve and his big play ability gives us the best chance of pulling an upset or two, but the coaches have been saying TerBush is the starter and played the best in the spring. Who knows what will happen. I hope we simply pick a guy and stick with him, while sprinkling in a Wild Henry play or two for his running ability.

Ted Glover: When you have three quarterbacks, you have a hot mess. That’s what you have, and it doesn’t allow any guy to step up and become the leader of the team. They’re all looking over their shoulder, and become too afraid to make mistakes. When that happens, you start playing not to lose, as opposed to playing to win, and the Boilermakers need to be aggressive if they are going to challenge in the Leaders division. look, all three guys have talent, and I understand that they all eserve a shot, but I think the team would be better off knowing that there is one guy, with two capable backups if the starter goes down.

JDMill: Oh Purdue, your recent quarterback soap opera has been quite a mess. Do you realize that it’s been two years since Marve was named the starter at Purdue after his transfer from Miami and then sitting out a season due to the transfer? This guy was good enough to be the starter then, but couldn’t stay healthy. He was good enough to be the starter last year, but wasn’t yet healed when the team needed him. Time has not been on this guy’s side, but by all reports he’s healthy heading into the summer, and I have to believe that he will emerge as QB1 for the Boilers this fall.

KennardHusker: Someone needs to photoshop CaRobRob MaHenBush. I mean, it just really needs to happen. I think a three headed monster (in the literal, as in ugly, form) at QB is a terrible idea. At this point, all three seem to be about the same thing. Some upside running the ball, some downside throwing the ball further than eight yards, and a penchant for injury. I think that Hope needs to pick one guy and ride it until that one guy fails miserably. As for who that is, I’ll let the Purdue bloggers answer that. They all look like iffy choices in my book.

BabaOReally: I honestly don’t know who is the best bet at QB next year. I like the idea of having of a running QB, as Rob Henry was in 2010, but he will be only a year removed from tearing his ACL. Even if he comes back fully healthy and good as new, his passing needs to be better than it was two years ago or he won’t be the starting QB. I see Hope using Henry in a similar fashion to the way Northwestern used Kain Colter this year. I doubt Henry will be as effective a WR, but his running could help move the chains and keep the opponent’s offense off of the field.

Between TerBush and Marve, I really don’t know. Before the 2010 season, Hope couldn’t stop talking about Marve. He said he was the most talented QB he’d ever seen or something similar. Then Marve tore his ACL for the second time and he wasn’t quite healthy last year. Based on reports, he had a good spring game, but the coaches at this point see TerBush as the #1. TerBush was a decent, but not great QB last year. He was thrust into the starting position when Henry got hurt in August and Marve wasn’t quite healthy enough to start the early games. TerBush did a much better job than Marve in not making stupid mistakes, and he improved as the season went along.

I would say the job is up for grabs going into fall practice. I do not want a two-QB system like we had this year. If I were the coaches I would choose a starter for the first game based on performance in practice. The first game is against Eastern Kentucky (an FCS team) so it would be a good game to split in half. Whoever performs better in that game is the starter. Unless the starter plays poorly enough to get the hook, keep him in the game. I don’t mind switching QBs if something is not working, but planning on playing two QBs a game is a bad idea.

MSULaxer27: I’m going to be a bit more judicious than last year. I’m not sure how the QB situation will play out for Purdue…I’m not sure I’m much different in this regard than the PU coaching staff or any of their fans. Best-case scenario: The three push each other enough that one stands out (and leaves hope with a couple of change of pace options). The worst-case scenario: Hope can’t make up his mind, leaves his QB’s to hang in the wind, sniping, and infighting commences destroying all three’s confidence and sowing salt in the position for the near future. To be brutally honest, I’m not particularly impressed with any of the three. Marve has battled injuries and clearly hasn’t lived up to anyone’s expectation. Henry has been injured and has a career line of 11 games, 86 for 162, 8 TD, 7 INT, 966 yds. TerBush hasn’t been able to claim the position for his own even though he has had the most opportunity (which may be a function of Hope’s coaching acumen or lack thereof).

MUSTACHES RIDES FOR EVERYONE!!!!!

3. Big Bud’s Beer Can Chicken: All Hope-related puns aside, last year’s 7-6 campaign was a much needed bounce-back for Danny Hope. Indeed, it landed him a two-year contract extension (through December 31, 2016) before their Pizza Pizza Bowl appearance. Purdue certainly has the defensive playmakers to succeed in 2012 (Kawann Short is a NFL first-rounder after this year, and the same could be said about Ricardo Allen at CB), but their 3-headed QB monster, offseason issues (WR Antavian Edison’s arrest on a weapons charge, O.J. Ross’s grades), and injuries (Ralph Bolden’s torn ACL) make the offense a large question mark. Also, looking at the schedule, the home conference schedule is brutal (Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State all come to visit) and even the “winnable” games based solely on expectations seem to be on the road (at Notre Dame, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, and Ohio State, the latter of whom Purdue has some weird magic over lately). Purdue and Hope could backslide considerably in 2012, even if the team is better. Was the extension for Hope premature? What level of achievement does Hope need to reach to justify that extension in 2012? And, more importantly, how do you see Purdue turning out in 2012?

BoilerTMill: Our weird magic over OSU ends at the Tippecanoe County line, as we haven’t won in Columbus since 1988. Also, don’t forget Dwayne Beckford’s arrest before the bowl game. The Edison arrest is looking more like it was his uncle’s gun, not his, but he was driving the car (hence responsible). I think the offense can be decent if we settle on a QB and the Akeems (Hunt and Shavers) continue to show improvement. Akeem Hunt rushed for 100 yards against IU last year, and Akeem Shavers was pretty awesome in the bowl game, but that’s against IU and a MAC team.

I am cautiously optimistic that we might sneak into the Big Ten title game. It will take some luck, but OSU is ineligible, Penn State and Illinois just changed coaches and are in disarray, and IU is still IU. That leaves Wisconsin, whom I think is the heavy favorite in the division. If we beat Penn State at home and shock Wisconsin, who knows what will happen. We might slide into the title game at 6-2 or even 5-3 (losing to OSU, Michigan, and Iowa) with some help at that point because of OSU’s issues. Sure, it might be through the crawl space instead of the back door, but I’d take it.

Ted Glover: Yeah, but two years isn’t a big deal, because his salary isn’t so big that they would be hamstrung budget-wise to go get a new guy if they so chose. Since Purdue rallied and got to a bowl last year, I would think that would be the standard this year. Purdue’s magic over OSU doesn’t extend past the borders of West Lafayette, so I don’t see that as a win. And when you look at their schedule, getting bowl eligible isn’t impossible, but it’s not even close to in the bag, either. I can see them getting as few as 3 wins, but I can also see them getting as many as 6 or 7. Illinois and Minnesota will be better, Indiana is a rivalry game so anything could happen, and they have a lot of questions on offense. Hope has the talent on his roster to beat teams of equal athletic ability (Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota) but I’m not sure that he is the smartest guy on either sideline in any of those matchups, either.

JDMill: Don’t extensions for college football coaches almost always seem premature? These things get done at least a year ahead of schedule because everybody is so deathly afraid of what kind of impact it will have on recruiting if the coach’s future is in limbo. None of it matters, of course, because if Hope craps the bed in 2012… he gone. In fact, if Morgan Burke wants any guidance on this, outgoing Minnesota AD Joel Maturi can give him some advice as Maturi extended both Glen Mason and Tim Brewster just a year before showing each of them the door.

In any case, was Hope’s extension premature? Yeah, probably. But there’s nothing to say he can’t earn it after the fact. If Hope can take the Boilers to another bowl game he’ll be given more time. The problem, of course, is that Purdue’s schedule isn’t necessarily 6-win friendly. The easiest path for PU to get back to a bowl is by winning all 3 of their non-con home games (Marshall, Eastern KY, and Eastern MI), winning 2 out of 3 games against Minny, Illinois Iowa on the road, and finishing up at home with a win over Indiana.

It’s too bad we’re putting aside Hope-related puns.

BabaOReally: I don’t think the extension was premature, unless there was a substantial increase in his buyout. The buyout is really the only thing that matters in these contracts, as far as I am concerned. I would imagine the extension would help in recruiting, so that incoming freshman would know that their coach would be under contract for their entire collegiate career.

Jonathan Franz: The Boilermaker faithful aren’t going to like it, but I think this is a 5-7 team, with losses to Notre Dame, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa, and Illinois. Notre Dame has too much offensive firepower. Michigan is simply more talented on both sides of the ball. Wisconsin, by default, is the division favorite. Purdue’s weird magic over the Buckeyes doesn’t seem to work at the Horseshoe. Penn State’s defense will stymy an off-centered Boilermaker attack. Iowa is a tough out at Kinnick, and Illinois gets revenge for last year’s debacle.

4. Bourbon Balls: The biggest news in West Lafayette lately seems to be the re-branding of Purdue’s mascot and logo, with basically every fan hating the new attempts at re-imagining each. Since the fans are the ultimate arbiters of this, tell me what you think about your team’s mascot/logo/colors. Would you like to see some changes? What would you change? (For purposes of this exercise, you are dictator and can change your team any way you want).

BoilerTMill: No need to change anything. I am not too upset with the logo, but I think the programs that historically are strong never change their logos. Look at the Yankees. They never change and are one of the most storied teams in sports. Then you have the Miami Marlins….

I am thankful that they went back to the old Pete. If they ever change the Boilermaker Special, however, heads will roll. Fortunately, it received a major overhaul last year that didn’t tweak too much of the overall design, and should be fine.

Ted Glover: OSU’s colors, mascot, and logo are all timeless, at least to me. Drastic changes will spark a revolution. If there is one change, I would change the home stripes on the sleeves back to all gray, and on the road uniforms thay’d be all scarlet. The scarlet, black and white iteration they went to for both uniforms in 2006 wasn’t something I was a big fan of.

JDMill: I’m not one who gets excited about laundry, and the rotating pro-combat, flavor-of-the-week jersey combos are a bit disgusting and overdone as far as I’m concerned. But when Minnesota released their new jerseys for the upcoming season I was pleasantly surprised. The new look goes back to a more classic, basic Gophers look, and adding the matte maroon helmets is pretty bad-ass if you ask me.

As far as Goldy, he’s decent. I’ve been trying to find the old football logo for the Gophers from my childhood (late 80′s) when the Goldy used for football was more buff than other Goldy’s, he had an angry look on his face, and he was stiff-arming whatever was coming at him. You know, exactly the opposite of what a real gopher is like in the wild, but exactly what you’d want you football playing college mascot to look like.

KennardHusker: As far as football uniforms go, nothing really needs to change. I appreciate that Nebraska will don an alternate Uni for the players (and pocketbooks of Adidas/Nebraska), but why mess with a classic look? Red and white just work. The only thing I would change about the brand at Nebraska would be the abomination of a mascot that is Lil’ Red. It wasn’t cool when it started, it wasn’t cool when people thought it was a novelty act for kids at events, and it won’t be cool when it starts shooting lasers out of its eyes and massacres the town of Lincoln.

BabaOReally: As a Purdue fan, I am pretty happy with the color scheme. Black shirts, gold pants, and gold helmets have always looked good on the field, regardless of how the team performed. I don’t really like the modified jerseys that the Boilers wore last year, but they could be worse. The helmet looked better when it had a black stripe with a white stripe on either side of it. It looks weird now with just a black stripe in the middle.

Article source: http://www.offtackleempire.com/2012/5/16/3023308/b1g-2012-otes-purdue-potluck-three-headed-monsters-and-an-extension

AP

Dwight Jaynes of Comcast Sports Northwest recently dropped a bombshell regarding the status of the Seattle Seahawks and their basketball cousins, the Portland Trail Blazers.

Jaynes says that there is a “persistent rumor” that both franchises are available, and that the two teams and the arena in which the NBA team plays can be had for $2 billion.

Tuesday, he reiterated the contention on KJR radio in Seattle.

NBA Commissioner David Stern has since said that the TrailBlazers are not for sale.  “We know all the investment bankers, all the prospective purchasers, because many of them come through us,” Stern said, told the Oregonian (via SportsBusiness Daily).  “And I have been definitively told by Paul ‘Do not send any to us.’”

Allen has owned the Blazers since 1988 and the Seahawks since 1997.

Article source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/05/16/report-paul-allen-entertaining-offers-for-seahawks-blazers/

The problem with creating a list of the 25 most influential people responsible for making the National Football League the world’s greatest team sport is deciding which people to leave off of the list.

There are probably at least 50 names I could think of to include in this list, but for whatever reasons, I decided not to include them. Here is a quick list of 25 players that I could have easily made a case for that could have been added to this group.

Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Bill Cowher, Bart Starr, Jimmy Johnson, Johnny Unitas, Roger Staubach,  Jerry Jones, Emmitt Smith, Ray Lewis, Deion Sanders, “Mean Joe” Greene, Michael Irvin, Barry Sanders, Gale Sayers, Mike Ditka, Ronnie Lott, Walter Payton, George Allen, Otto Graham, Norm Van Brocklin, Jim Thorpe, Tom Landry, Randy Moss and John Elway are people that I would have really liked to include, but then I would have to delete somebody from the group of 25 people that I selected.

No sooner did I type those names, then new names started popping up. How about a case for Ralph Wilson, Lamar Hunt, Sid Gillman, Dick LeBeau, Dick “Night Train” Lane, Gene Upshaw, DeMaurice Smith, Lawrence Taylor, Bruce Smith, Red Grange, Ernie Nevers, Chuck Noll, Fran Tarkenton, Terry Bradshaw, Ken Stabler, John Mackey, George Blanda, Joseph Carr, Thurman Thomas, and…. I could keep going on and on. The point is that there are just too many important figures involved in the NFL history to limit the group to just 25 names. If you disagree with my choices, so be it.

If you would like to leave a comment regarding somebody that you would like to make a case for inclusion that I omitted, feel free. Thanks for checking out the presentation.

Photo courtesy of Fan IQ.com

Article source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1183381-25-influential-individuals-responsible-for-making-the-nfl-worlds-greatest-sport

Transformers Car Coils RC Circuits View the complete course: ocw.mit.edu License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA More information at ocw.mit.edu More courses at ocw.mit.edu
Video Rating: 4 / 5

It is true that Louisiana lawmakers have asked the NFL to reconsider the Saints penalties.
And, it’s also true that one of those New Orleans Saints penalized, Jonathan Vilma is promoting the legislator’s recent display of support.

The Louisiana legislative body, on Monday, in between trying to juggle dollars for a runaway budget formally requested that the National Football League reconsider the penalties imposed upon the Saints in association with Bountygate. The formal request received final legislative passage with a 28-1 Senate vote.
In the resolution, lawmakers say there is ”widespread public opinion throughout the state of Louisiana and beyond that the penalties imposed upon the Saints are too harsh and should be reconsidered.”
Apparently, Vilma agrees with the legislature.
Today, in two tweets, Vilma said, “

onvilma51 Jonathan Vilma
KEEP SHOWING YOUR SUPPORT…FLOOD THE NFL
we can win this!

Public Opinion Swinging in Favor of the New Orleans Saints –
http://t.co/lZoONAJ2

In reality, however, there is no chance at all that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will actually be swayed by this resolution event though the reminder that the taxpayers have invested millions into the Mercedes-Benz Superdome might be enough to give him a perfunctory statement about how he respects the legislature’s opinions and appreciates the fans’ passion for the Saints…

DESPITE some remarkable progress following a horrific car accident that nearly cost him his life,ex LSU safety/pitcher is not close to being able to compete at an NFL level. The Giants had to acknowledge that reality on Monday when they waived him as in injured after he failed the physical. Jones, a 2010 third-round draft pick, was expected to develop into a sturdy and athletic safety coming out of LSU, but his career was derailed by the car accident. He reported last month for the Giants offseason conditioning program to continue his rehabilitation, but was not cleared to participarte in football activities. “We consider Chad to be part of the Giants family and we’ll continue to work with him in his rehab,” GM Jerry Reese said in a statement. “As we’ve said since his accident, we’re thankfuj he is alive and able to live a normal life.”…

“It was great to back on the field after the offseason we’ve had,” said Saints interim head coach Joe Vitt at Monday’s news conference. The three-day rookie minicap ended Sunday. It was the first time the coaches had been of the field since the 49ers game in the playoffs last season.

Vitt didn’t have much to say about the absence of Drew Brees except that he would.be signed. The Saints will bring in more quarterbqacks in Brees’ absence. Running back Mark Ingram was limping on a knee he had scoped, but that didn’t concern Vitt because Ingram will be healed during training camp.

He said wide receiver Nick Toon and safety Corey White impressed the coaches during the three-day session. Earlier, White said he was looking foirward to intercepting some Drew Brees passes in practice. Brees said he’d throw 10 touchdown passes over him to his one interception .

Saints news briefing

The assistant coaches answered media questions during the news briefing. These coaches participated in the news conference:

Vitt, Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, Offensive Coordinator Pete Carmichael and Special Teams Coordinator Greg McMaho.

Vitt’s opening statement: “Thursday night we brought 64 players in here for our rookie minicamp. One of the things we try to do around here is not assume anything. Really this is an indoctrination for all our rookies, to the football operations aspect of the program. They talk to the trainers. The trainers give an orientation and (discuss) the proper protocol in the training room. The equipment department talks to them and fits them for their uniforms. Our PR people meet with them and make them understand what their media obligations are and then Thursday night we get into install. We install Thursday night and Friday morning and then had two practices Friday. We tell the players when they come here, they undergo no only a physical evaluation but a mental evaluation. Can the player learn? Does he know what to do and will he do it? Does he do it on a consistent basis? I would say overall the whole weekend was great. Our players came in here and they really worked hard. They tried to do what was being asked of them. The tempo was good. The attention to detail was outstanding by these young guys. At the conclusion of minicamp on Sunday, they went into the weight room. Dan Dalrymple gave them an orientation of the weight room and discussed what was expected of them. Overall it was an exciting weekend. We haven’t been on the field since the San Francisco game. It was great to get back on the field and be around these players. It was a real good weekend.”

Vitt Q: Did anyone in particular stand out?
Vitt A: “I thought (Nick) Toon had a good weekend. I thought he caught the ball well. He ran routes very well and ran with the ball well afterwards. I thought (Akiem) Hicks did well. He ran after the ball well, especially on a couple screens. For a big man, you saw his speed and range. And again, these minicamps are a little different with the new CBA. We’re really trying to teach our offense and defense. We’re having them take two steps and pull up. So, I think the line evaluation is going to be a little tougher with this new agreement, but our guys responded to it.”

Vitt A: “I thought he did well.”
Spagnuolo: “He didn’t look out of place and it’s been a while. He lost a lot at that last season at Pitt. He looks the part. He looks the way they’re supposed to look as defensive ends. But, he’s obviously very rusty.”
Vitt: “What I thought was encouraging was his conditioning was very good. He didn’t hold back on anything. He went full speed on his pursuit.”

Spagnuolo Q: Can you expand on the progress of Hicks and does he show some rawness having been in Canada the last two years?
Spagnuolo A: “A lot of energy. He was very in tune. I do not think he got overwhelmed with the volume. I preface that with that we did not feed the guys a lot of volume. But I would echo what Coach Vitt said where it’s very difficult to get good feel for a lineman when you don’t have any pads on. Their game is physical and banging heads on every play. With this particular camp you can’t do that. In all the things we could assess, in terms of athletic ability and how he moved around, I thought it was very good.”

Vitt Q: If Drew Brees is not here next week, do you plan on bringing in another quarterback?
Vitt A: “Yes, we looked at a couple more. Potentially we could.”

Carmichael Q: Is it a world of difference for you not having Drew in here to talk to him?
Carmichael A: “Obviously at this point, we haven’t missed anything with him. The guys are in the weight room. Obviously we’re going to miss the leadership he brings, but this is going to be an opportunity for Chase (Daniel) and Sean (Canfield) to get more reps and (for us to) get a good look at those guys.”

Carmichael Q: Does it affect your preparations with Chase Daniel there instead of Drew Brees to start the OTA’s?
Carmichael A: “No, we’ve been meeting all offseason offensively. Really, this week we’re going to use what we’re doing next week to get ready. We’re going to throw the volume of offense at them that we would in a normal week. It won’t be any different in that aspect.”

Carmichael Q: How has Chase responded to this? Is he eager to step up?
Carmichael A: “I think he is. Obviously we haven’t had any time with him in the classroom. Really he’s just focusing on the weight room. This will be an opportunity for him and he knows it. He’ll have an opportunity to work with the ones if Drew’s not here.”

Carmichael Q: Do you take it as a compliment if it seems internally as well as externally, people seem to think the offense is still in good hands even in the absence of Sean Payton?
Carmichael A: “I think the experience is something that helps from last year. I hate the way that it happened last year, but from a confidence standpoint it helps. To be honest we’re going to miss Sean. I think everyone knows that and we’re just going to have to do our job.”

Carmichael Q: Do you feel that this year your job is similar to how it’s always been or is it different now?
Carmichael A: “I think what I’ve been doing since I’ve been here every year more and more I think has been more responsibility. I feel comfortable going into next year. I don’t think the job’s going to change too much.”

Vitt Q: Can you discuss the team’s confidence in Pete?
Vitt A: “We kind of hit on this last year. Nobody knows Drew Brees as well as Pete. Nobody knows Pete as well as Drew Brees. They were tied at the hip in San Diego, so they speak a common language and common verbiage. After Sean (Payton) got hurt, Pete called 95 percent of the offense a year ago and had to install a lot of the offense during the week. This is not uncharted waters for him and it’s not uncharted waters for our offense. Again, are we going to miss Sean? Absolutely. He’s unique in what he does. I think Pete has proven and our offense has proven what they can do when Sean’s on the shelf.”

Vitt Q: With all that’s gone on around here how has it been to get back to football?
Vitt A: “I think the question is twofold. Number one we couldn’t wait to get back on, because that’s what we do. We couldn’t wait to get back on the field because of the offseason we had here and really to coach the group of guys in here that were eager to learn, eager to compete, eager to do what was being asked of them, was even that much more fun. It was a good weekend. It really was.”

Vitt Q: What will you miss the most about Sean Payton, in terms of you terming him unique in his approach?
Vitt A: “It’s a good question. I said it to Spags a couple times. As soon as we got off the practice field, ever since I’ve been here in ’06, Sean and I would go right into meeting and we’d start to critique the practice and (discuss) what we may want to do differently in the afternoon. We may want to go indoors in the afternoon. That critique after practice, I didn’t have it this year. That’s the first thing that hit me right away. The next thing that hit me right away was not having him on the practice field. We would do a lot of communication on the practice field. Look at this player. Look at that player. What do you think of this? I didn’t have that. There was a huge void right from the get go. It’s something we have to get used to.”

Vitt Q: Have you found yourself thinking what would his thought be in this situation?
Vitt A: “Every day. I think the biggest one was off the field going into his office thinking about getting ready for the afternoon practice, the last practice. That wasn’t there.”

McMahon Q: Was John Kasay brought back for the purpose of competition with Garrett Hartley in camps?
McMahon A: “Yes, we’re going to make it competitive absolutely. All phases of our team are. We re-signed John for a reason. Garrett knows that and it will certainly be good competition. It’s healthy. It’s good for us.”

McMahon Q: Often the late round picks are brought in for the purpose of initially contributing on special teams. Did any stand out for that purpose?
McMahon A: “I think the guys we signed to the roster that came in (produced). Certainly Corey White is a draft pick we’re excited about. He did a good job. What we try to do special teams wise in rookie minicamp are a lot of evaluation type of drills. Certainly our fundamental techniques, but we’re going to do some cover drill, to see if they can transition and things like that. We got good work with them. We’re excited about this class. We think it’s a good class and with the undrafted free agents and draft picks that we received some good evaluations on.”
Vitt: “I think a good example of that is (Lawrence) Wilson who we signed at the conclusion of the camp from UConn. He did a good job on special teams this weekend. We obviously saw his athleticism in individual drills and that’s how he really made the roster.”

Vitt Q: A lot of fans are worked up about a report that the Saints and Drew Brees haven’t talked in over a month. Do you have any thought on that?
Vitt A: “No, I don’t.”

Vitt Q: How do you go forward with the potential ramifications facing Jonathan Vilma and Will Smith?

Vitt A: “Both of those players were in the building today and we’re moving forward. We had a great film session with these guys. I think I have to go back to what we said a couple weeks ago. We’re trying to win today. Today, we got a little bit better than yesterday. This weekend we got a little bit better than the previous weekend. We’re going to adjust those challenges when we have to face them.”

Vitt Q: Do you need to have conversations with Mickey Loomis or do you want to have conversations with Mickey Loomis in regards to Drew Brees’ contract?
Vitt A: “I’ve never been a math major and I’m not an accounting major so there’s nothing I could advise Mickey to do that what he already knows how to do. Those guys are both on the same page and have the same aspirations and same goals. This is going to get done. I don’t anybody ever thought it was going to be easy. I think they’re both working to the same goal.”

Spagnuolo Q: Do you have the fire getting onto the practice field for the first time here and coming from different programs, what is your approach to OTA’s?
Spagnuolo A: “It won’t be any different than any other place I’ve been. But I know one thing about here and I felt it as soon as I got here. I think these players understand that this league is all about competition. During the season you’re competing against other teams. Now they’re competing against each other. When you have that, the team gets better as a team. That’s why they’ve been so good here. I think with Mickey, Sean (Payton) and Joe, they have always continued to bring more people in to compete. It was great to get back on the practice field. I enjoy the teaching part. It was nice to get on the field. It was disappointing Joe had us inside when it really didn’t rain.
Vitt: “I hate lighting.”
Spagnuolo: “I have to razz you a little bit for that Joe. No it was good to get out there and do some coaching. I really look forward to next week when we can get the full allotment of guys out there to do some things.”

Spagnuolo Q: Will you guys be looking at some depth issues at cornerback?
Spagnuolo A: “There are a lot of concerns. There’s competition there, but we do know who the two guys are that were there from last year (Jabari Greer and Patrick Robinson). Corey White will certainly be in there, Johnny Patrick, Marquis Johnson who we just added to the fold here. There will be a bunch of these young guys. I will be saying it through the whole offseason here is there will be a lot of competing. One of the things we have to find here is a third corner, nickel back. We’ll be looking for that.”

Carmichael Q: What impresses you about Nick Toon so far?
Carmichael A: “Obviously he knows the business a little from his dad. The maturity and going out on the field we were able to put him in a couple of different positions and the volume was not a challenge to him, even though there wasn’t a whole lot of volume. He could get lined up at a couple of different spots and ran his routes real well. I thought he showed great hands. He was a guy we felt real good about after the rookie camp.”

Spagnuolo Q: What do you guys make of Marquis Johnson?
Spagnuolo A: “I familiar obviously because I had him in St. Louis. He’s been banged up a little bit, but we’ve said it and Joe and I have talked about it a lot that these players that come out of this Alabama program, especially on defense for whatever reason (have been impressive). I think we know the reason. They have good coaching down there. Marquis has shown that. Marquis is new here and has some things to work through. He knows that. It’s a second chance. We’ll give him a good look.”

Vitt Q: Have there been any decisions made about training camp and how much time will be spent here yet? Is there any consideration to going anywhere else?
Vitt A: “I think there is consideration and we’ll be ready to announce that in about a week. I think that we’re going to open up our training camp here. We’ll open up a little early because we have the Hall of Fame game and then we’ll probably go and practice against one of our upcoming opponents in training camp. I think Mickey’s ready to talk about it in a week when it gets settled, but we’ll go away, kind of like we did in California for a week. We did it two years before that in Houston. We’ll go away and practice with an opponent that we have in our preseason schedule.”

Vitt Q: Is that the only time you’re practicing away from here?
Vitt A: “Yes, it would be that somewhere close to that Hall of Fame game.”

Vitt Q: It wouldn’t be two separate things would it? It would be like New England two years ago and Houston that year?
Vitt A: “Exactly.”

Vitt Q: It wouldn’t be like in Oxnard?
Vitt A: “No, it would be practicing with an opponent we’re going to play. We’ve been working on it during the offseason and we’re working on getting that cinched.”

Carmichael Q: At what point on the calendar, do you get worried about the offense and not having Drew Brees in here?
Carmichael A: “Obviously we want him in the building. We just have to go forward with what’s here right now. Obviously as Joe Vitt said, Drew and Mickey are going to get this worked out. We can’t spend time worrying about it. We have to move forward. We’re going to keep the same volume of what we’re going to install and just go from there.”
Vitt: “The only thing that Drew has missed to this point right now is the conditioning program. When Drew reports, he’s going to be the best conditioned athlete on our football team, so there has been no time lost.”

Carmichael Q: Has Drew missed a lot not being with the team?
Carmichael A: “We have a lot of leaders on this team and so, when the time is right, we’ll be excited when he gets here.”

Carmichael Q: At what point in a normal offseason would you know what plays you want to install for offseason programs?
Carmichael A: “We kind of go as the offseason goes. We put together our rookie camp a couple of weeks ago. Right now this week, we’re concentrating on what we’re going to do for the OTAs and for minicamp. We’ll have all that done this week. A lot of what we put into the minicamp carries into training camp.”

Carmichael Q: Would most of the play installments have been done by now if Sean Payton was here anyway?
Carmichael A: “I would say 95 percent of it is carried over from years before, and then five percent or maybe ten percent is maybe something new that you put in the year before that you liked. This is really going on year seven for us with Sean’s (Payton) offense. The progression is pretty smooth.”

Vitt Q: With the way the season ended in San Francisco, can you see it in the players that they’re ready to get back to work?
Vitt A: “There’s no doubt. I don’t know that we’ve got that taste out of our mouths yet from that San Francisco loss. That was heartbreaking. It’s carried over a little bit to the offseason. We’ve talked about it a lot. Our players in the offseason conditioning program up to this point have been phenomenal. The weight work has been good. Our players’ weights are good. Our film sessions have been outstanding. To this point right now in this offseason, it really couldn’t have been better. Our guys are working hard. Our leadership has really done a good job within the locker room. I think with the new acquisitions of our players, they are everything that we thought they would be up to this point. They’ve meshed very well with the existing players that we have on our team. It’s been a great offseason, it really has.”

Vitt Q: Are you at all concerned with the health of Mark Ingram?
Vitt A: “I think anytime you see a player limping around with a late-season offseason surgery like he had, you’re concerned. What I’m not concerned about is his dedication to getting better and his accountability to his teammates. He’s shows up to treatment on time every day. He’s not late. He’s taken a good business approach to this thing. The surgery is probably something that he didn’t have to get done, but as an organization we all agreed that he should get it done to make him a stronger player. Mark (Ingram) is a dependable guy now. He’s not going to miss his treatment. He gets his work done. You’re concerned obviously with this, but not much with him.”

Vitt Q: Do you think he’s a green light for the beginning of the season?
Vitt A: “I think he’s a green light. We’ll probably have to back off a little bit at the beginning of training camp, but I think he’s a green light by when the season starts. Absolutely.”

Vitt Q: Are there any guys that might not be ready for next week?
Vitt A: “There are a couple of guys. We’ll go over that with you guys when the time comes. There are going to be a couple of guys we’ll back off of. Obviously (Jonathan) Vilma, we’re going to back off on. Jahri Evans, we’ve got to back off on a little bit. That’s been an ongoing process with the rehab this offseason. There are no surprises.”

Vitt Q: Did Jahri Evans have offseason surgery?
Vitt A: “No, not that I’m aware of. He’s a little sore right now.”

Spagnuolo Q: How would you rate the acquisition of free agent Jerico Nelson?
Spagnuolo A: “That’s a good group. There are three guys that the pro personnel department signed after the draft, three young guys. I just said this to Mickey (Loomis) this morning that that’s as good a group of three post-draft that you could get. Now where we’ll go or what will happen, who knows. We’ve still got to get in there and compete, but I thought all those guys – Jose Gumbs, Jerico Nelson, Johnny Thomas – all did enough things to say, ‘These guys have a chance.’ So we’ll see.”
Vitt: “I think it’s interesting. You talk about the safety position, that’s been one of the positions over the past six or seven years that’s the most difficult to fill on your roster. I think the position has changed in the National Football League where you’d like to have a safety that can also cover man-to-man on a wide receiver, good blitz ability and then range on the back end. They’re hard to find. Spags and I were talking about this after Sunday’s practice, this is as good of a young group as we’ve ever had here.”

Spagnuolo Q: One of your safeties led the defense in tackles and sacks last season. Is that something you want out of you safety?
Spagnuolo A: “You just want the tackles to be really close to the line of scrimmage. It doesn’t matter who gets them, you just don’t want them to be downfield. It’s a great skill. You’ve got to be talking about Roman Harper. When you have a guy that’s that effective, you want to use him and obviously they did last year. It’s a good thing to have.”

Vitt Q: Last season when Sean Payton went down, the coaches kind of divvied up some of the duties. Are you all planning on doing that again this season?
Vitt A: “Yes, there’s no doubt. We’ve started to do that already. We’ll get more comprehensive with that as the offseason goes.”

Carmichael Q: Normally, would all the coaches at this time be working corroboratively anyway and what do you miss most about not having Sean Payton here?
Carmichael A: “Yes. We miss everything we know about him. He’s special. He has some magic to him, but during the offseason he usually lets the coaches coach and he kind of oversees and pays attention to what the whole team is doing. For us up to this point, other than him maybe not being able to come in and giving the OK to what we’re doing, not much has changed from that perspective.”

Vitt Q: You joked at the draft about being able to draft more defensive players. Is there anything else you’re enjoying while you’re running the show?
Vitt A: “I just know that I blow the horn to go to the next period when Spags is doing his install on defense. The offense is waiting on the defense now.”

Article source: http://www.bayoubuzz.com/buzz/latest-buzz/503888-saints-vilma-tweets-pleased-with-louisiana-legislature-on-bounty

Follow @Rich_Campbell

• 

  Enlarge Photo

  **FILE** Washington Redskins general manager Bruce Allen (The Washington Times)

Facebook

Follow @washtimes

The Washington Redskins disputed the NFL’s $36 million salary cap penalty against them during an arbitration hearing Tuesday in Philadelphia.

It is not clear when arbitrator Stephen Burbank will rule in the case or if there will be another hearing.

“We got to present some of our issues, and the league presented some of their issues, and we’ll leave it at that,” general manager Bruce Allen said Tuesday evening. “I think we just have to let the process play out. We wanted to present our case, and we were able to present.”

The NFL declined to comment. Proceedings are confidential until a decision is finalized, as stipulated by the collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players union.

On the eve of the new league year in March, the Redskins were docked a total of $36 million in salary cap space over the next two seasons for moving expensive contracts into the uncapped 2010 season. The league considered it an attempt to gain a competitive advantage.

The Redskins had little more than $18 million subtracted from the $31 million in salary cap space with which they expected to enter 2012. The rest of the penalty is scheduled to affect their 2013 cap.

The Dallas Cowboys, who were penalized $10 million for similar practices, joined the Redskins at the arbitration hearing Tuesday.

Some NFL owners were displeased by how the Redskins and Cowboys restructured contracts to dump salary into the uncapped 2010 season even though neither team was found to have violated the collective bargaining agreement, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

The league retroactively penalized the Redskins and Cowboys despite approving those contracts at the time.

“I thought the penalties imposed were proper,” John Mara, New York Giants owner and chairman of the NFL Management Committee, told reporters at the NFL annual meetings in late March. “What they did was in violation of the spirit of the salary cap. They attempted to take advantage of a one-year loophole, and quite frankly, I think they’re lucky they didn’t lose draft picks.”

Allen spoke to media Tuesday evening after the Redskins launched their 80th anniversary campaign at an event inside the team’s new indoor practice facility.

The Redskins unveiled throwback uniforms they plan to wear during two home games in 2012. They are a modern interpretation of the franchise’s 1937 uniform. The helmets are designed to look like they are made of brown leather.

© Copyright 2012 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.

Article source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/10/redskins-argue-against-cut-to-cap/

Some cool Car Bikini images:

545641-R1-00-1

545641-R1-00-1

545641-R1-00-1

Car Bikini bikini

The Insecticons have come to Earth. They certainly give the Autobots and the Decepticons good reason to take notice. The Insecticons have more in common with the latter than the former. These collective enemies don’t scare the Autobots into submission, but bravery is hardly enough. Faced with such sheer power, the Autobots must rely on their intelligence and all of their resources to win.