Archive for the ‘Sports’ Category
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Photo lifted from The Advocate
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You’ll have to forgive me for not jumping on the LSU baseball bandwagon earlier but, for someone who was never a fan of college baseball, it didn’t seem right to crash the festivities. (I would’ve felt like the one person at a Halloween party not wearing a costume.)
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But now the Tigers face off against the Texas Longhorns in a deciding third game and in a few hours we’ll know if Baton Rouge will celebrate yet another sports title or if college baseball will fall back into the blissful obscurity.
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In any event, if you’re like me and have absolutely no idea what’s going on, there are several places where you can read up on tonight’s game so you can show up to your local drinking tavern and yellow and purple with the best of ‘em. There is one thing I know about baseball, though, and that’s when a team has had hot bats for weeks and are piling up the runs and then suddenly only score once in a losing effort, well, that’s not good.
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Also, someone contact the LSU writing and English departments about this lady. Really, she’s bringing shame to you all.
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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman
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You’d hardly recognize the ‘09 New Orleans Saints - same uniforms, different attitude. Last year the Saints were a disappointing 8-8 and finished in last place in their division. Quarter back Drew Brees and the NFL’s number one ranked offense held up their end averaging 28.9 points and over 400 yards a game. But their defense was a joke that seemed to invariably crumble at crunch time. Now, with a restocked secondary and a proven tactician, in defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, the Saints appear poised for shot at the Lombardi trophy.
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Sure its technically still the off-season, but this off-season has been very revealing for the Saints. Brees and head Coach Sean Payton see hunger in the team’s workouts-especially from his new and Improved defense.
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In ‘08 the Saints gave up 24.6 yards a game and ranked thirteenth in the NFC in pass defense-right above Detroit. Since then the Saints have undergone some significant upgrades. On top of their highly publicized acquisitions (Jabari Greer, Malclom Jenkins, and Darren Sharper) the Saints have some more than capable backups.
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Usama Young has been garnering praise at his new position-free safety. Corner back Tracey Porter is coming off a wrist injury that sidelined him for the better part of his rookie year but not before he proved that he could compete against some of the league’s best. The Saints also drafted safety Chip Vaughn from Wake Forrest in addition to signing 10 year vet Pierson Prioleau, who followed Williams from Jacksonville.
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“What I’ve liked is the way that they’re flying around to the ball,” Payton said. “We’re getting a lot of different looks and a lot of challenging looks. They have grasped it pretty quickly.”
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Payton says that attendance to OTA’s has had a huge affect on Williams’ ability to implement different schemes and sophisticated blitz packages. New Orleans had 90 percent of its players participate in the voluntary workouts-a big indication that this year’s Saints won’t be satisfied with another mediocre season.
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“You can say the last two years we’ve not gotten exactly what we set out to get,” Brees said. “I feel like we’ve learned a lot along the way. I feel we’ve assembled a great group of veteran free-agent guys who have been a part of good teams and know what it takes to win and be professional and fight through adversity. . . . We’re much better prepared for the journey this year than we ever have been.”
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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman
We’ve all seen talented teams fall well short of their early summer projections. With a different starter going down almost every week, last year was proof enough that no matter how much talent you have in June, depth will probably be one of the most important factors in putting together a championship run.
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The Saints have taken great strides to ensure that attrition won’t play a factor in the upcoming season. New Orleans has added a lot of depth to their team-particularly to their 23rd ranked defense. The arrival of defensive backs Darren Sharper, Jabari Greer, and Malcolm Jenkins has forced the incumbents to step up.
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Former corner back Usama Young has answered the call-switching to free safety to earn a spot on the team. So far Coach Sean Payton is pleased by Young’s performance in OTA’s.
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“I’m encouraged with (Young’s) play. He has picked it up, he has range, he has a pretty good feel. You don’t know how it’s going to transition when you make a change, and he seems to have handled it pretty smoothly.”
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Another player trying to reestablish himself is second-year pro DT Sedrick Ellis. Ellis is eager to improve. The seventh pick in the 2008 draft, Ellis’s rookie year was okay. Big number 98 finished the season with twenty tackles and four sacks. This year however, okay just won’t cut it. Starting defensive ends Will Smith and Charles Grant will likely miss at least four games for violating the leagues banned substance policy and the Saints will definitely need Ellis to play better than he did in ‘08.
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“…this year is a whole new year. Last year doesn’t matter anymore,”said Ellis. I guess we’ll find out in September.
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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman
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Organized Team Activities (OTAs) are supposed to be voluntary practices, a chance for rookies and free agents to make a good first impression on their coaches. But the Saints have seemingly thrown that aside for most of their OTAs and minicamp - turning in spirited performances on both sides of the ball. The defensive players, of course, are under greater pressure this year because of the new coach with new schemes and a new attitude. But the offense, with all that talent - not to mention the controversy - would be remiss if it tried to take time off.
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So it can’t be encouraging when Sean Payton calls today’s practice - er - OTA, “sloppy”. Payton and his assistant coaches said they felt both the offense and defense suffered from a weekend malaise. (Most of the reporters would have blamed the oppressive heat.) Sluggish may have been a more operative word considering the weather and how this practice generally lacked the chatter and “pep” of those ones that have come before.
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But one man who definitely didn’t take the day off was defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. He was his usually glaring, jawing self, marching up and down the sidelines barking orders and making sure his players had their helmets in hand. If anyone took a break, it wasn’t him, as he kept on his players to play “after the whistle” - is there a more fitting metaphor for change for a squad which, last season, appeared to at times not even play to the whistle, let alone after?
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But how much can you really gleam from these practices? Even coaches will tell you that, aside from seeing if a player is picking up the playbook, not much. Well, it’s all about knowing where to look. Joey Harrington, for instance, is looking as jittery and jumpy as ever. He pulled the ball down several times with the “pass rush” (remember, they weren’t wearing pads) and even scrambled once. Not what you want to see from your possible second-string QB. But other than that? The Saints have been implementing their 2-minute drill and, well, we’re all waiting for the real season practices to start.
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/sigh
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by Clay A. Smith
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Photo by Clay Smith
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They’re only dressed in helmets and shorts but you wouldn’t know it by the energy that defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ squad brought to day three of Saints’ OTA’s. Williams has added a three-four look to the Saints’ defensive repertoire in addition to an assortment of attacking blitz packages. The Saints’ “D” gave coach Sean Payton’s lauded offense all that it could handle, getting to the quarterback early and often. Read the rest of this entry »
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By Clay Smith
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Photograph by Clay Smith
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Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and the Saints’ defense brought their lunch pales with them to the second half of today’s OTA’s. The Saints’ reconstructed Defense went to work on the NFL’s number one ranked offense but not before giving up big plays over the middle of the field to tight end Billy Miller and deep threat wide receiver Devery Henderson. Read the rest of this entry »
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By Clay Smith.
NOTE: As mentioned earlier, computer problems have prevented me from attending the first two days of minicamp. Thankfully, Clay Smith was up to the task and has written up this report from Day 2.
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Minicamp, a national holiday for football fanatics, resumed today in front of 3,108 chanting “Who Dats.” Reggie Bush and Lance Moore were among a few Saints who saw limited action. Moore is coming off of minor shoulder surgery and Bush is coming off of knee surgery-both appear to be recovering well.
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For the most part it was an impressive day two, despite some early timing issues for the Saints’ offense.
Dressed in helmets and shorts, both defense and offense quickly split into their respective squads, with starters working with starters and back ups working with backups.
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The intensity level picked up quite a bit as the day progressed and the atmosphere began to take on an entirely new feel. During one on one drills a chorus of “oohs and awes” from excited fans enveloped the Saints’ practice facility when quarterback Drew Brees connected with Robert Meachem and Devery Henderson for two long scores.
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“We can always get better. We didn’t make the playoffs last year so we can get better,” Bush said. “It’s not just about the offense or the defense, it’s about us as a team collectively winning.”
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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman
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NOTE: Because the computer Gods decided to destroy not one, but two hard drives this week, I have not been able to make it to Saints minicamp. Thankfully, Clay Smith made it out and he’s filing some reports. Below is the transcript from Sean Payton’s press conference after this morning’s session.
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Opening statement from New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton on Saturday:
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“Just a couple notes: Malcolm Jenkins obviously had his first practice; Thomas Morstead had his first practice. With Dan Campbell, I mentioned yesterday that he’s going to have surgery done on Monday morning. With Darnell Dinkins, it’s an ankle sprain, and with Dan Morgan, it’s a calf strain. We’ll go from there.” Read the rest of this entry »
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Kim Kardashian and Reggie Bush have been an item for quite some time now. They’ve done everything rich, young celebrity couples do: magazine photo shoots, party in the Hamptons, completely disregarding the well-being of others. So of course it stands to reason that, in their intimate moments, Bush and Kardashian are talking about settling down and starting a family. Apparently, though, talk is not enough for Kim. No, she went ahead and picked out her engagement ring, even though Bush hasn’t, you know, actually proposed yet.
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Oh, and did we mention that said ring is supposedly worth around $20 million?
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So what rationalization did Kim have for picking out an engagement ring despite not being engaged? “It’s just easier”, she told E! Online. “Isn’t it easy if someone’s like, ‘This is exactly what I want.’? It’ll make your life so easy.”
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Yes, nothing makes your life easier than your celebrity girlfriend telling national publications about the ridiculously-priced engagement ring she’s picked out in the event that you decided to get married. Yes, why be bogged down by complicated things like discretion and tact — especially if you’re like Bush and you value your privacy. Seriously, if Kim knows that Reggie would “rather die” than marry her in a public ceremony, what makes her think it’s OK to tell E! Online about her engagement-ring shopping spree when, and we can’t stress his enough, she’s not actually engaged?
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I see no way this stunt could backfire.
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