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Monday, July 21, 2008

Taylor, Shockey Sent Packing

Two big-time NFL football stars are now on the move. In the past two days both Jason Taylor of the Miami Dolphins, and Jeremy Shockey of the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants have been traded, and will be in a new uniform this fall.

Defensive end Jason Taylor will be shipped off to Washington D.C. for two draft picks—one in the 2009 draft, the other in the 2010 draft. The Dolphins’ motive to trade Taylor was his partial differences with the Executive Vice President of Football Operations, Bill Parcells. The move was complete just two days after rumors about a possible trade were started. The season-ending injury to current defensive end, Phillip Daniels, on the very first day of practice, was just the icing on the cake. The trade, which will allow Miami to allow more youth to the already young team, was finalized Monday when Taylor passed his physical, and was formally introduced as the newest Redskin team member.

New York Giant tight end, Jeremy Shockey, was also traded for two draft picks, both in the 2009 draft. Shockey will be headed to New Orleans to play for Sean Payton’s Saints. It’s quite obvious Shockey is no longer wanted in New York, especially after the Giants won the Super Bowl with him on the bench. Yes, Shockey was a first-round draft pick in 2002, and has four Pro Bowls to his name, but Shockey has had disagreements with the organization for several years now, and it was time for a change. Jeremy will be the go-to guy in New Orleans, and I’m sure Drew Brees will be glad to have a player of his caliber on the team.

When you break it all down, there really is no “winner” or “loser” in these two trades. Washington was looking for a superstar to replace the 35-year old Daniels at the defensive end position, Miami and New York were just trying to do what’s best for their organization, and New Orleans needed a playmaker to accompany Brees, and Reggie Bush on the offensive side of the ball.

Look for Shockey, and Taylor to make an immediate impact on their new teams, whether it be attracting more fans, or making big plays on the field. Both these guys will be Pro Bowlers come time in February.

Walker-Sports AFC East Preview


As we all eagerly wait on the upcoming football season, let’s continue our look around the NFL, today we will switch conferences and take a look at the AFC East. There’s a lot going on in this division, but it’s pretty straight forward to guess what the outcome of this conference will be.

New England Patriots:
17-1 pretty damn good unless that one lost came in the biggest game of the year. Everyone knows the story of the Patriots, and you can believe they will use the disappointment at the end of the story as fuel to climb back to the top of the mountain in 08. The Patriots will go to battle with the usual cast of characters. Their offense will have the same quick pace and explosive scoring ability as it did last season. I doubt they will break scoring records like last season, but they will not struggle to get into the endzone. Look for the Pats to change it up the attack plan just a bit this season. They will move Moss around and get him into the slot and let Welker play the outside. While this will cut into Welker’s numbers it will open up more opportunities for Moss. It will be hard for a defense to get a corner and a safety on him when he comes out of the slot where a nickel back or a linebacker would typically be the first line of defense.

On the defensive side the Pats lost some talent in the secondary with the departure of Ashanti Samuel. However, they were very active in free agency and have found very good replacements and in typical Patriots fashion it will cost the franchise a lot less cash. The biggest pickup in the off season has to be drafting Jerod Mayo at linebacker. Mayo will make an instant impact which the Patriots need since their ageing linebacking core was actually the wink link on their defense last season.

The Patriots will be ale to tear through this weak division and once again take home the title. Division Title that is.

New York Jets:
The Jets barely fall into this second spot, and it does not mean they will have a successful all around season. The Jets have questions at QB and they have a bunch of new faces on the offensive line. They are some very talented faces and a solid mix of veterans and young guys. The upside is if the line can gel together, the Jets can potentially make a stable offense, and that could be enough.

Two seasons ago the Jets began to put together a solid defense and while they backtracked a little last season, they will look to rebound in 08. Their defense is good enough to keep them in a lot of games this season, especially when you look around the rest of the division.

Buffalo Bills:
The Bills could easily be a huge surprise in 2008, especially if Trent Edwards can completely grasp the system and the league. Last year Edwards burst onto the scene and he showed lot of promise and there is no doubt he will build and grow this season. If he can progress, the Bills have the weapons on offense to make some noise. Marshawn Lynch was a stud in the back field and he will only improve now that he has a better understanding of the blocking schemes and the tempo of the game. Lee Evans is a deep threat receiver who had a down year last season due to erratic play at the QB position. If Edwards can settle down and deliver the ball then Evans could feast from the improved play and have a breakout year.

Miami Dolphins:
They went out and drafted the cheapest number one draft pick available. But Jake Long should be able to anchor the line for a long time to come. Too bad no one has a clue who will be under center. What the Dolphins do have going for them is Ronnie Brown. He is a tough runner who can get solid yardage on every carry. If Miami can keep him healthy during the season he will help to jump start what was a terrible (say it like Charles Barkley) offense last season.

The one thing Miami has going for them entering next season is the Big Tuna. That’s right Bill Parcells has taken over and he is already making his presence felt. Parcells put Jason Taylor on notice and he has the Dolphins on notice from front office to towel boy. If nothing else, Parcells running the show will insure that everyone puts their best foot forward. He will make the Dolphins raise their level of play unfortunately that level just wont be good enough.

Freshly Hungover "Linkin' Logs"

You might have missed me over the weekend (probably not). What I did manage to do was A) See Batman and B) Drink too much. The former was spectacular (I really can't say enough about how well down the film was or Heath Ledger's amazing performance) and the latter resulted in most of my day being spent in bed (oh how amazing a serious hangover is).

While attempting to sleep off this one I did happen to watch Padraig Harrington's pretty stunning performance in "The Open Championship." Needless to say, Greg Norman was the underdog yet hopeful leader and Harrington was the whimsical Irishman who did not relent on the back nine nailing two shots to really seal the deal. I'm not an avid golf watcher, but this event was very entertaining.

I also caught the beginning of the the F1 race on Sunday. Unfortunately the fireworks were on Saturday, when Danica Patrick, unable to pass Milka Duno during a practice round, confronted the fellow female racer. Normally, this would only be slightly entertaining than Nascar (i.e. not at all) but...well, I'll let the video speak for itself (Personally, I like the part where Duno throws a towel...twice!)

Well, enough banter, on to the links:

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