Monthly Archives: February 2018

Eagles C Jason Kelce gave an emotional speech about persistence after winning a Super Bowl

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Eagles center Jason Kelce was unable to hold back his emotions after the Eagles won the Super Bowl against the Patriots.

Speaking to the media, Kelce said he found himself in the shower crying, because he was dreaming of the moment he won a Super Bowl.

Kelce would go on to talk about how nobody believed in the Eagles during the season, and explained that he couldn’t help but be emotional after overcoming all the doubters.

Kelce was picked in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL draft by the Eagles. He’s made a pair of Pro Bowls in 2014 and 2016, and was a first-team All-Pro in 2017. Despite not being highly recruited out of high school, he’s reached the pinnacle of football, and helped bring Philadelphia its first Super Bowl.

He’s reportedly been getting some encouragement to go into “acting” by none other than The Rock and Sylvester Stallone, a man who made a career out of grunting on screen. There’s millions of dollars to be made for an ambitious muscle head, and it’s a lot easier on a person’s long-term health than the game of football.

Injuries are also said to be a factor for Gronk. He’s only 29, but has dealt with injuries throughout his career, dating back to college.

Gronk will make as much as $9 million next season. He could probably generate that much and more in the same period with the right career moves in Hollywood.

We’ve already had a taste of Gronk the actor. He starred in a fictional trailer for A Gronking to Remember, Lacey Noonan’s soft-core fantasy book.

Once the sheet is all set up, find out how many people in your party are playing and get them to buy squares (one dollar per square is usually the entry price, but it can vary from group to group) until all 100 squares are filled up. There are also online game sites that can make things a little easier to organize.

Now that you have the sheet and players, draw numbers at random from 0-9 to fill out the top and left rows. This determines which two digits will be on each and every square.

From here, the game can go different ways depending on which rules parties want to use. The most popular method is to use the final score, and hand out the pot based on the last digit of each team’s score. For instance, if the New England Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 31-24, the player with both “1” and “4” in their square gets the prize money.jays_062_7e2121aa79537539-180x180

Fantasy hoops: Antetokounmpo vs. Towns

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Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we pose a question to a panel of ESPN fantasy basketball experts to gauge their thoughts on a hot topic.

Today’s contributors are ESPN Fantasy’s Joe Kaiser, Jim McCormick and Kyle Soppe.

Giannis Antetokounmpo (No. 7) and Karl-Anthony Towns (No. 8) sit right next to each other on the Player Rater (averages). Who will finish higher by season’s end?

Jim McCormick: I think the Player Rater will rank Towns higher by the finish of the campaign, but that said, I also believe Antetokounmpo is the more valuable fantasy contributor. I suppose it depends how you value different categories. The Player Rater weighs all stats equally, but I value The Greek Freak’s elite scoring and positive assist production far more than I fear his modest free-throw rate — where he’s being punished on the index.

A good portion of Towns’ value on the Player Rater comes from efficiency (shooting percentages) rather than volume. Towns is an elite rebounder and a peer of Antetokounmpo’s in block rate, but Milwaukee’s unicorn is taking 38.9 percent more shots per game and nearly doubling Towns in steals. Simply put, Giannis is No. 3 in the NBA in shots per game and KAT is No. 50. Once Towns starts taking 18 shots a night, he could become the fantasy hoops MVP, but that’s not happening this season.

I believe our whole walkthrough was just a complete fake walkthrough, Lovato said. We did it at the stadium. There were certain people walking around … I believe I overheard someone say a lot of the plays we were running weren’t even in the playbook for the Super Bowl.

The deal was supposed to start the Kevin Kolb era in earnest, but the former second-round pick suffered a concussion in Week 1 and watched his role get usurped by a resurgent Michael Vick. Despite Vick’s dual threat, the 2010 season ended the same way 2009 did — with a one-and-done playoff appearance.

The team pushed its chips into the middle of the table in 2011 by constructing what free-agent acqiusition Vince Young called a dream team. Philadelphia added players like Nnamdi Asomugha, Ronnie Brown, Evan Mathis, Jason Babin, and Cullen Jenkins in a signing spree that made the Eagles contenders on paper. On the field, they got off to a 4-8 start — which included an 18-point home loss to the Patriots.
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Do we have the 2018 bracket yet?

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In more exacting terms, the Skills Challenge is essentially an obstacle course in the vein of American Ninja Warrior, except that instead of feats of strength and balance, the competitors are tested on their ability to perform basketball skills. These skills include pinpoint chest and bounce passes, jump shots, slalom-style dribbling, and layups.

How closed-minded of you. Big men — Karl-Anthony Towns in 2016 and Porzingis last year — have won in each of the last two years, thank you very much. One of the lead narratives of the modern NBA is that big men can do anything now. Also, it is hilarious watching large humans attempt to be nimble.

It will not be unveiled until the event on Saturday night. Assuming the format retains the shape of the 2017 Challenge, the big men will all be on one side of the bracket and the smaller players will be on the other. That ensures a big-vs-small championship. (Porzingis defeated small Gordon Hayward last season.

Who is the favorite?
Who knows. Joel Embiid missed last year’s event due to injury, so it’ll be fun to see him actually compete this time. Jamal Murray strikes us as the best bet among the guards.

Gone is the star power that the NHL could bring to the festivities, and in its place is an opportunity for players who probably never dreamed of being here.

That was disappointing given what a stacked team the U.S. could’ve brought to South Korea, but it also set the stage for an otherwise fun tournament. These players have never played under such high stakes. The intensity, passion, and pride that have always defined Olympic hockey are still be there, even if the talent level isn’t quite the same.

The Russian team, which is officially being called Olympic Athletes from Russia as part of the IOC’s punishment for doping violations, remains the heavy favorite. The team led by former NHL stars Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk dominated the Americans to end the group stage and looks primed for a trip to the gold medal game.

Team USA has been led by former Sabres captain Brian Gionta and a trio of young forwards in Troy Terry (University of Denver), Jordan Greenway (Boston University), and Ryan Donato (Harvard). Donato in particular has been the star for the U.S. with four games on four games. However, despite putting together a comeback in the quarterfinals, Team USA has been booted out of medal contention after a 3-2 shootout loss to the Czech Republic.bears_275

Union head Tony Clark noted the sides technically did not reach a deal.

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I am pleased that we were able to reach an understanding with the players association, commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. My strong preference is to continue to have ongoing dialogue with players on this topic to find mutually acceptable solutions.

The focus on mound visits and/or the level of commitment on the other pieces simply didn’t focus enough attention on the areas the players wanted to address — so no agreement was reached, he said in an email to the AP.

While a number of pitchers will acknowledge that some mound visits are unnecessary, a limitation combined with what the experience has been of late in regard to technologically enhanced sign stealing means that there are concerns about how this will work … or not work.

Over the last two years, App State has fallen from No. 22 to 75 to 99 in special teams S&P+. Last year’s tumble was due mostly to an extreme makeover — the punter was a freshman (Xavier Subotsch), kicking duties were shared by a freshman (Chandler Staton) and a sophomore (Michael Rubino), and the punter returner was a freshman (Thomas Hennigan).

Punting was an issue (the Mountaineers were No. 120 in punt efficiency), but otherwise the unit was merely mediocre instead of simply bad. That’s technically encouraging? Everybody’s back, but we’ll see if big improvement, or merely incremental improvement, is possible.

Carruth is scheduled to be released from Sampson Correctional Institution in Clinton, North Carolina, on Oct. 22. He was sentenced to 18 to 24 years in 2001 after being found guilty of hiring Van Brett Watkins and Michael Kennedy to murder Adams. Watkins, who shot Adams multiple times, was sentenced to a minimum of 40 years. Kennedy, who drove the car, was released in 2011.

Adams died a month after the shooting. Her son, Chancellor Lee Adams, was born prematurely and has battled the challenges that come from cerebral palsy, which was the result of his traumatic birth after the shooting.

The case is the same as South Carolina’s, only substitute Oklahoma for Clemson, reduce the size of the fan base a little (30th in attendance and 37th in revenue), and add in the prospect of T. Boone Pickens telling the world to kiss a fat man’s ass.bears_016

New England appeared to be well in control throughout the first half against the Dolphins, leading 20-7 at halftime.

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The Patriots locked up homefield advantage throughout the playoffs with a 35-14 victory over the Miami Dolphins, who are settled into the AFC’s No. 6 seed.

The Dolphins rallied to make it 20-14 to start the second half, but the Patriots answered with a long catch-and-run by Julian Edelman to push the score back to 27-14. Tom Brady, an MVP candidate despite playing in just 12 games following a four-game suspension for is role in the Deflategate scandal, had three touchdown passes on the day.

Phil Simms, the two-time Super Bowl-winning former Giants quarterback, had been ensconced as the Tiffany network’s lead game analyst for nearly 20 years. Romo, on the other hand, had zero broadcasting experience. CBS took a beating publicly when it announced Romo’s hire on April 4 without comment from the vacationing Simms — leading son Chris Simms to fly to his dad’s defense.

Some critics wondered if Romo would fold under the pressure of calling both Sunday afternoon and Thursday Night games in his first year. Or if CBS should have eased him into the job via a three-person booth. Others expected Romo to follow the siren song of Cowboys sugar daddy Jerry Jones and return to the NFL — ala Jay Cutler, who spurned the No. 2 analyst job at Fox Sports to join the Dolphins this season. There were the inevitable Twitter jokes/memes, such as Romo would be the first announcer to break his collarbone in the broadcast booth.

McManus and CBS ignored the naysayers. Their faith was rewarded. Now Romo is the toast of TV sports.

Trump read a supportive letter from Belichick during a campaign rally, and Brady, while calling Trump a good friend and golfing buddy, has stopped short of saying that he voted for the president. His wife, supermodel Gisele Bündchen, was more definitive, saying, “NO!” when asked by an Instagram user whether she supported Trump.

Belichick and Kraft were among Patriots players who celebrated the team’s Super Bowl victory with a visit to the White House. Brady cited family plans as the reason he stayed away. During that visit, Kraft gave Trump a Super Bowl ring.jaguars_094

Is anyone surprised that starting Brock Osweiler on Sunday against the Eagles didn’t fix the Broncos’ QB problems?

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The next move must be to Paxton Lynch as soon as he’s deemed ready to play, as he works his way back from his preseason shoulder injury. In the meantime, Coach Vance Joseph is sticking with Osweiler. No matter what happens at QB, the defense must play far better than it did in Philadelphia.

There’s no good reason to sit him. It’s doubtful that Manning’s successor is in the fold at this point and his two Super Bowl triumphs with the franchise should buy him the opportunity to finish out this miserable season on the field and with his professional dignity intact to whatever extent remains possible.

Jimmy Garoppolo needs to be put into the starting lineup as soon as possible, and he needs to be re-signed for next season and beyond. All this silliness — about how Garoppolo might play or he might not, and about how he might be re-signed and he might not — needs to be put aside.

This is a very flawed team. Winning a playoff-elimination game against the Cowboys with more penalty yards than yards of total offense was next to unthinkable. But the Seahawks retain their playoff possibilities, needing a win Sunday over the Cardinals and a Falcons loss to the Panthers.

The success of QB Jimmy Garoppolo playing in Coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense provides plenty of hope for next season in Year 2 of the Niners’ new regime. The 49ers are playing like a playoff team right now. Unfortunately for them, it took them until December to get Garoppolo into the lineup.

After entering the 2017 season as one of the best cornerbacks in the country from a storied CB factory at Virginia Tech, injuries prevented a potentially dominating season. When he’s at his best, Facyson offers an outstanding Cover 3 skill set, winning at the line of scrimmage with good initial technique and mirroring at a high level. He’s a sound tackler who breaks down and finishes in the run game, seeking out plays in the backfield when possible.
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Expect Garoppolo’s fantasy numbers to rise to meet his grading in Week 14.

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Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers: It’s easy to get sucked into the fantasy box scores, especially when, you know, that’s what we do here. And from the fantasy box score, Garoppolo was something of a disappointment in his debut as a starter, tying Blaine Gabbert as the No. 25 fantasy quarterback of Week 13. But look deeper, and you’ll see a quarterback with an 86.7 PFF game grade, against a Bears team that hasn’t allowed a quarterback to top 300 passing yards since Week 1. This week, Garoppolo gets to face a Texans defense that has allowed 13 passing touchdowns in six games since its Week 7 bye, and has allowed three-plus passing scores in a game five times this year.

Frank Gore, Indianapolis Colts: Since joining the Colts in 2015, Gore has finished a week as a top-10 fantasy running back just seven times (only once since Week 9 of 2016), while he’s been top-20 22 times in 44 games, top-30 33 times.

Even if Martin returns for Week 14 (which doesn’t seem likely), Barber should keep the job, and gets to face a Lions offense that has been miserable against the run lately, allowing 10 rushing touchdowns to running backs in the last seven games, and allowing a nice three-week run of me picking backs against them in this space and looking smart.

At the bottom of the conference sit the winless Cleveland Browns, an Indianapolis Colts team without quarterback Andrew Luck, a Denver Broncos team that was so fed up with its quarterback play they decided to give Brock Osweiler another chance. (A terrible idea: He completed 19 of 38 passes for 208 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, giving him a 53.4 passer rating.) None of them projects as solid playoff candidates.

The teams a little closer to the playoff pack, but still outside the picture, are the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets and Houston Texans — three teams that aren’t expected to break .500.jaguars_031

You know you’ve entered a temple when disagreement is treated as sacrilege.

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The animosity directed toward NFL players kneeling at the anthem, protesting police brutality and structural racism, is the sort of acrimony we reserve for infidels.

Many professedly “religious” believers will be among those most incensed by resistance to this secular liturgy — a sign that even believers in God are not immune to being captivated by secular rituals, confusing what is holy.

The physical play of Coughlin-led teams is the reason he’s been such a consistent coach.

Carr: Although we’d run simple schemes, Coughlin was great at adding subtle differences in the alignment of a defensive end, or playing outside leverage instead of inside leverage. Coughlin came into our quarterbacks room during the first week of prep leading up to Super Bowl XLVI and said, “We’ve run that in-route so much off play-action that I think we should return the receiver back to the sideline.” Sure enough, on a crucial drive in that game, Manning play-action faked and New England’s cornerback had run the in-route before our receiver, Hakeem Nicks, did. Then, Nicks stopped and came back toward the sideline to make a huge play. It’s the small things that give Coughlin an edge.

It’s also an important event for many other NFL draft prospects, who will get the chance to compete against the best of the best. Though a few potential first-round picks pulled out of the event, the roster is still solid.

We asked our NFL draft experts -Todd McShay, Mel Kiper Jr., Matt Bowen and Steve Muench -to pick out the best and most intriguing prospects who will be in Mobile. Before we get into that, here’s a quick primer on the Senior Bowl:

Fantasy spin: Theo Riddick has been a good find for the Lions this season and is expected to see a larger share of both carries and receptions should Abdullah miss any time. But, there’s always a but, the team is expected to also utilize Dwayne Washington, as well. Not your normal 7th-round rookie, Washington is a monstrous, athletic freak. Listed at 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, the Washington product (yes, it’s confusing) ran a 4.44 40-yard dash at his Pro Day to go along with a 37-inch vertical. Those numbers are awfully similar to David Johnson in Arizona.
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