Under normal circumstances, any player cut by the Seahawks is a non-factor, fantasy-wise. But Duckett is the worst sort of NFL free agent. He’s a rogue touchdown vulture, free to sign anywhere. We’re not urging you to add him right now, obviously. All you can do at the moment is worry.
The following teams could reasonably have an interest in Duckett’s short-yardage services (listed according to a complicated fear/plausibility calculation): New Orleans, Houston, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Green Bay, Denver, Arizona, Detroit, St. Louis, Carolina.
Duckett has scored eight touchdowns or more in four different seasons, including ’08. He’s still only 28 years old. He’s a 254-pound bulldozer. (Just ask this official). If you’ve invested in Pierre Thomas(notes) or Steve Slaton(notes), you’re on heightened alert.
LONDON – British authorities vowed Wednesday to clamp down hard on hooligans following “large-scale” violence at a London derby in some of the country’s worst football-related thuggery in years.
A 44-year-old man was stabbed in the chest and two others were treated for non life-threatening injuries as fighting flared before, during and after Tuesday’s English League Cup match between bitter rivals West Ham and Millwall.
In scenes recalling the dark days of English football hooliganism, West Ham fans repeatedly invaded the pitch inside the Hammers’ Upton Park stadium, interrupting the match as police and stewards battled to remove them.
More than 200 riot police and 20 police on horseback struggled to contain the violence outside the stadium as running battles rampaged in the streets around the east London ground.
Bricks and bottles were among the missiles hurled and small fires were lit during hours of violent scenes. Television pictures showed fans bleeding from head wounds.
“Anyone who thinks that thuggery has any place in modern-day football is living in the dark ages,” said Home Secretary Alan Johnson who branded the violence “disgraceful”.
London’s Metropolitan Police, which made 13 arrests, said the violence was “large-scale” and appeared to have been pre-meditated. “It looks like there has been some planned trouble from fans,” a spokesman said.
“We will be reviewing all the events, looking at CCTV both inside and outside the ground to identify offences and offenders.”
The incidents were a throwback to the bad old days of English football in the 1970s and 1980s, when matches were frequently scarred by fighting between rival fans.
“It was mad …It was real hatred you could feel,” one the 33-year-old man who attended the match told AFP, asking not be identified.
While Britain was once notorious for football violence, outbreaks are now rare. Close security camera coverage at grounds plus heavy punishments for those caught now means violence within stadiums has been all but eradicated.
Rather than flaring up inside the ground, hooliganism is now largely organised by rival gangs well in advance and away from the match.
Football Association spokesman Adrian Bevington told BBC radio: “We have to make sure that the individuals concerned face such tough actions that they can’t go to football again.
“We all want a big atmosphere at matches — that’s part of football, part of the passion.
“However, we also want to make sure it’s a safe environment to watch games and we’ve just spent the best part of 20 years working towards that.”
England’s 2018 World Cup bid team and British Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe also condemned the hooligans.
West Ham won 3-1 after extra time in the first match between the clubs for four years. The Hammers are in the top-tier Premier League while Millwall are in League One, the third tier.
The bitter enmity between Millwall and West Ham goes back decades, though they have only met 24 times since 1930 in the main competitions, with the Hammers usually in a higher division than the Lions.
Both sides drew their fan base from the London’s docklands and the rivalry continued despite the Lions’ move from the Millwall area across the River Thames to south London in 1910.
Both clubs threatened life bans for anyone involved in the violence.
The east London neighbourhood where Tuesday’s trouble broke out is less than three kilometres from the site of the main stadium being constructed for the 2012 Olympics.
No matter how good things seem to be going, nearly all contenders are forced to worry about a weak spot as the season winds down and the playoffs approach.
For the Phillies, who lead the NL East by seven games, that Achilles’ heel comes in the form of struggling closer Brad Lidge(notes), who was the team’s surest thing only a championship season ago.
Even though Charlie Manuel is still standing by his man after Lidge (right) blew his ninth save of the season in a 6-4 loss to the Pirates on Tuesday night, it seems obvious that the Phillies manager will have to explore other alternatives for the final innings.
Yes, even if ol’ Cholly keeps insisting that he doesn’t have any.
Myers is still battling back from a hip injury and is slated to pitch for single double-A Reading tonight. If all goes well, he could rejoin the big league club in mid-September and would still be eligible for the posteason roster because of his disabled list status. Myers has experience as a closer — he saved 21 games in 2007 — and the makeup to handle the pressure.
Whether or not he’d have the stuff to be successful remains to be seen, but at this point the performance of Lidge practically forces the Phillies to give Myers some consideration.
Call me a purist if you want to, but I believe that the number one purpose of a football stadium should be to host football games. And in hosting those games, I don’t believe it’s too much to ask that the building itself not play an active role in determining the outcome of the game.
It’s not asking much, really. You need a big, flat area that can fit a football field, and then a reasonable amount of room above it so flying footballs are unimpeded. That’s all.
Now, some people may tell you that the new Cowboys Stadium has that, and that the placement of the video board, 90 feet above the field, isn’t a problem. And when I say “some people,” I mean, of course, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Jones has so far refused to move his massive TV, saying that it’s not a problem.
“If you look at how you punt the football, unless you’re trying to hit the scoreboard, you punt the ball to get downfield,” he said. “You certainly want to get some hangtime, but you punt the ball to get downfield, and you sure don’t punt the ball down the middle. You punt it off to the side.”
Oh, so Jerry’s a punting expert. And if it does hit the scoreboard, Jerry?
“If you hit the screen, you just kick it over.”
Oh, okay. “Do-overs,” you mean. Well, as long as you have a plan. I mean, we’re talking about a multi-billion dollar enterprise here, where head coaching jobs, playoff appearances and untold dollars are riding on the outcome of every single game, but that there’s no reason that we shouldn’t have “do-overs.”
What’s good enough for a group of hyperactive 6-year-olds playing Wiffle Ball in little Jimmy’s backyard with the inconveniently-placed maple tree should absolutely be good enough for the National Football League.
Fortunately, we don’t have to just take Jerry’s word for it. We can also listen to the opinions of people out there who are actual punting experts. I call them “punters.” There are only two of them who aren’t employed by the Cowboys who have also punted in the new Cowboys Stadium. Let’s see what they have to say. Mr. Trapasso?
“They are good kicks that were hitting it [in warm-ups],” Trapasso said. “It’s not going to happen every time, but it’s there, and it has to be addressed. A guy like [Mike] Scifres out in San Diego is going to hit it every time. He has a huge leg. I don’t know how much further up it could go, but it’s in the way.”
“Probably somewhere around a five-second punt is going to hit it and some of the guys in the league wouldn’t be able to punt here if it’s not raised; they’d just be nonstop hitting it. I don’t know what the people were thinking. I guess they should have tested things out before they put that thing in place. It’ll have to be raised.”
The options appear to be these: 1) We believe the unbiased opinions of the two opposing punters who have punted there, and we move the scoreboard, or 2) We save Jerry Jones from having to admit there may be a flaw in his new stadium, and we go into the 2009 season with “do-overs.”
I’m not unsympathetic to Jerry Jones here. The stadium is his baby, in his eyes it’s perfect, and besides, he checked with the NFL beforehand about the height of the video board, and the NFL cleared it. If he insists that the NFL pay part or all of the costs to move the thing, I don’t blame him.
But it does have to be moved. We do not have “do-overs” in the NFL, because we’re adults and we’re professionals. The thing impedes play, so it has to be moved. It’s that simple.
From a fantasy perspective, of course, the play tells us little. It’s not as if the 2009 Ravens will lean heavily on the Statue of Liberty in short-yardage situations. But it was certainly encouraging to Rice involved in the goal-line offense. Red zone workload is the fantasy community’s lingering concern regarding the second-year back.
Baltimore’s ground game was devastatingly effective last year – first in the AFC in yards (148.5), first in the NFL in carries (37.0 per game) – but the committee became an unknowable mess. Three backs reached triple-digit carries; none of them reached 1,000 yards. Le’Ron McClain(notes) accounted for half of the team’s 20 rushing touchdowns while Willis McGahee(notes) broke the plane seven times.
Rice himself had a relatively quiet rookie season, although he led all Ravens running backs in both yards per carry (4.2) and receptions (33). He enters 2009 atop the depth chart following a stellar offseason, and Baltimore’s offensive line added center Matt Birk(notes) and tackle Michael Oher(notes). Rice’s setup has improved substantially. Don’t sleep on him at your draft.
Last year’s second-round draft pick is running with power, driving through tacklers in training camp. Rice is also much smarter. When the hole closes up, he knows where to bounce, making the cut with confidence. … His commitment to hard work this offseason has made the 5-foot-8, 210-pound running back a leading candidate to become the team’s breakthrough player. … “Ray Rice, to me, is just one of the most exciting players to watch play football,” linebacker Ray Lewis(notes) said.
We’ll repeat ourselves, just to be clear: Do not sleep on Rice in fantasy drafts. His current Mock Draft Central ADP is 66.7, so he’s buried in Willie Parker(notes)/LenDale White territory. Rice’s situation is fantastic and he beats nearly every occupant of his tier on talent. Don’t fear the committee; hugely productive fantasy backs emerge from job-share situations every year.
When you’re drafting in the middle rounds, you can’t afford to chase after predictable, brand-name, low-ceiling talents. Instead, get the guys who have a chance to emerge as an elite fantasy entities. You’ll note that half the players in this year’s first round were available in Round 3 or later in ’08. Some of them – like DeAngelo Williams(notes),Matt Forte(notes) and Steve Slaton(notes) – were available much later in standard leagues. Rice is a clear candidate to be the DeAngelo of ’09, if there’s going to be one at all.
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey – Tiger Woods aims to ease the sting of a rare season without a major title when he launches his bid on Thursday for the FedExCup series title and the $10 million bonus it awards the winner.
Woods will be playing in the Barclays Classic for the first time since 2003 when he tees off at 0821 (1221 GMT) with fellow-Americans Steve Stricker and Zach Johnson at scenic Liberty National in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty.
The world number one lost a Sunday duel with Yang Yong-eun of South Korea at the U.S. PGA earlier this month, failing for the first time to capitalise on holding the lead heading into the last round of a major after 14 such triumphs.
The runner-up finish sealed Woods’s first season since 2004 without a major title.
“That night was tough, no doubt,” Woods, 33, told reporters on Wednesday about his defeat to Yang at Hazeltine. “It was disappointing that I didn’t win.
“But it’s just like golf, you move on to the very next week. Went home and took a few days off away from golf and didn’t touch the clubs after three straight weeks of playing golf just about every day.
“I was a little tired of it, and (then) started working for it this week.”
Woods played a light schedule early in the year to ease his way back after season-ending knee surgery last June. He still racked up five wins, including victories in the two events preceding the PGA.
“It’s worked. I feel great now,” Woods said about his pacing. “The whole idea is to make sure that I was ready for this long haul at the end of the season, and I didn’t hurt myself at the beginning of the season.”
However, Woods said he felt the effects of the grind of playing three weeks in a row culminating in a major.
“Three weeks is fine, but being in contention just about every day, it puts a toll on you,” he said. “Still, I was in position to win the championship on the last day and just didn’t get it done. It was a long three weeks.”
Woods said returning to action at Liberty National was important given the tweaking of the format for this year’s playoffs to add suspense after Vijay Singh virtually clinched the 2008 series by winning the first two events.
“You want to put more weight at the end of the season which they are trying to do, trying to make it a little more interesting,” said Woods, who heads the field of 124 players in the Barclays.
The top 100 players on the points list, now led by Woods, advance to the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston, with 30 more players eliminated for the BMW Championship in Chicago.
Points will be reset for the finale, the Tour Championship, which will be contested by the top 30. The reset will allow any player in the top five to clinch the big prize with a victory in Atlanta.
“I think we have to support the tour, there’s no doubt, especially in this economy right now,” Woods said.
