Try NFL Sport Channel Seach:
Selected searches:
NFL Football Players Draft Injuries Rookies Season Superbowl
Items by
Kornheiser’s Reason for Leaving Isn’t Flying
Published: May 18, 2009
No Comments
Whether they believed in a God or not, for the past three seasons the prayers offered up by thousands, maybe millions, of NFL football fans has now been answered.
Tony Kornheiser is leaving the set of Monday Night Football (MNF).
Can I get a hallelujah?
Officially, Kornheiser’s stated reason for leaving is due to aviatophobia, a phobia more commonly known as the fear of flying. With heavy travel scheduled for the 2009 season, Kornheiser apparently felt it was too much to handle.
Let’s be honest, though, it was likely ESPN’s decision, not Kornheiser’s that sent him sent packing. ESPN threw Kornheiser a bone. It’s what is known in the business world as a professional courtesy. ESPN gained nothing by outright firing Kornheiser, the chemistry just wasn’t there. Even a casual viewer of MNF knew that Kornheiser just didn’t comport with his broadcasting mates, Mike Tirico and Ron Jaworski.
Gone now are Kornheiser’s pretencious, long-winded, soliliques that were burdensome on viewers’ ears. Why ESPN ever thought his pregame pontifications were some sort of television gold was beyond me.
On a side note, viewers will also be thanking ESPN for sparing their eyes from perhaps the worst comb-over job in existence. Seriously, Kornheiser’s attempt to fool us with that thing is an insight into the psychosis of those suffering from male pattern baldness.
ESPN plans to inject a bit more football acumen by adding former Super Bowl winning head coach, Jon Gruden, to the mix. Gruden has a surly, yet friendly disposition that is sure to appeal to a more traditional football watching audience, and instantly raises the football IQ on the set.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s two down (Bryant Gumbel, Tony Kornheiser) and three to go: Warren Sapp (NFLN), Derrick Deese (Fox Sports Radio) and Joe Buck (Fox Sports).
The Dallas Cowboys: At Long Last, Stanback.
Published: May 15, 2009
No Comments
For even the most diehard of Dallas Cowboy fans, the name Isaiah Stanback is still a bit of a mystery.
What is known of Stanback is that he played in the Pac-10 conference as a QB for the Washington Huskies. He’s got a cannon of a throwing arm, speed, quick feet, a certain “it” factor, and is dripping with potential.
However, in the two seasons since being selected as the 103rd player overall in the 2007 draft, fans have yet to see more than just a few glimpses of production over promise.
Injury has played a large role in keeping Stanback off the field. His rookie year amounted to a red shirt season, as a lingering foot injury (Lisfranc) kept him from challenging for playing time.
In 2008, the injury bug continued to plague Stanback as he suffered a chronically dislocated shoulder that kept him from seeing the playing field on a regular basis.
Tom Landry was known for his “three year” player evaluation rule, which essentially said that if a player hasn’t shown you anything by year three, it’s probably not going happen.
Jerry and company will be hoping Stanback shows significant improvement, as he enters into his third season with the Cowboys.
A faint endorsement of Stanback could be inferred by the fact that Dallas decided to go against conventional wisdom and opted not to draft a wide receiver high. They did, in fact, draft a wide receiver when they selected Oklahoma’s Manuel Johnson with the their last pick in the seventh round. But Johnson is hardly expected to come in and take a receiving spot from the incumbents.
Stanback’s time is now.
He’s a tremendous physical specimen, standing at 6’2″, 210 lbs of lean muscle. What intrigued Cowboys’ GM Jerry Jones and director of scouting, Tom Ciskowski, the most though, was what Stanback could do with the ball once it was in his hands.
Stanback possesses fluid hips which allow him to change direction without losing much speed. It’s that speed which is Stanback’s game.
His rather pedestrian forty time (4.6) prior to the draft might fool some who just take a cursory look at scouting reports. Stanback was still in the early stages of recovering from his foot surgery, when he decided to run for scouts. Those in the know will refer you to his game tapes as a Huskie when he was deftly dodging and running past would-be tacklers as a QB.
Without stating the obvious, his development and performance in this upcoming training camp will be crucial to his future with the Cowboys.
The Cowboys will be looking for him to put his considerable talents into a useful package that can contribute on the field this season.
