Shaka Smart

All of you know that it has been a long time since either Bryan or I posted anything, but this couldn’t go unposted. I can’t say that this is necessarily and indicator that Bryan and I will be blogging regularly again, but this site started because we wanted somewhere to write down our thoughts on different things in the sports world, so that’s what I’m using it for now. If you couldn’t tell by the title, this post is about the Virginia Commonwealth men’s basketball coach, Shaka Smart.

2010 NFL Division Preview: NFC East

Yesterday I put up a post by Michael Wright that gave 15 thoughts he had about his New York Football Giants for this upcoming season. I hinted that my NFC East preview would be written in the near future so here it is. This is the third installment of my eight-part preview of the 2010 NFL season, breaking it down division by division. In each of these posts I will preview each team in the division and then at the end I will predict who will win the division and how the other three teams will end up behind them.

To read my other divisional previews just click on the appropriate link:

NFC South

NFC West

In the NFC East we have had a lot of drama this offseason. A face-of-the-franchise quarterback being traded to another team within the division. Big name veteran free agency signings. A team trying to bounce back from a disappointing 2009 season. A team trying to build on their first playoff win since 1996. We had a big name quarterback get bloodied in the preseason opener. There was a prima donna receiver refusing to carry pads. You get the idea. Let’s jump in.

Teams: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins

Let’s Define A “Truck”

According to dictionary.com a truck is defined as “any of various wheeled frames used for transporting heavy objects.”

Job well done. A great post if I do say so myself.

No, just kidding, this post is not about  a lorry -as the Brits call it- but instead it’s about the word “truck” as a verb, and more specifically the meaning it has acquired with football connotation. Most people know this term, but for those of you that don’t it is in reference to when a player (usually in possession of the ball) flattens or “runs over” his opponent – like a truck.

This is not an example of somebody getting trucked

Eric Berry – More Than Just A Great Football Player

I have recently read a large number of stories, articles, blog posts, twitter feeds, etc. saying how great of a person Eric Berry has been since arriving at the Chiefs training camp in St. Joseph – a great teammate, great to the fans, and of course a great player. Each time I’ve read something about this I swelled with Big Orange Tennessee Pride and considered posting about it. Unfortunately then I would hesitate and think that KC writers, and bloggers that are fans are, of course, going to be writing these things. However today I received an email that was forwarded to me from Bryan. I’m not exactly sure where it originated but it was a first-hand account of just how amazing Eric Berry is – and I’m talking about off the field. We already know how amazing he is one the field. The email I speak of will be copied and pasted in it’s entirety at the bottom of this post.

WMD: 1998 Colts vs 2010 Rams

This segment of WMD (Weller’s Musing and Divination) came via a suggestion from Bryan, which he mentioned in this post. The suggestion was to compare the 1998 Colts team with the 2010 Rams team. The ’98 season was Peyton Manning’s rookie year with the Colts and this 2010 season is obviously going to be Sam Bradford’s rookie year with the Rams. The Colts were coming off an abysmal 3-13 season that landed them the top pick in the 98 Draft. The Rams are coming off an abysmal 1-15 season that landed them the top pick in the 10 Draft. Colts top receiver, Marvin Harrison was entering his third season and had yet to really put together a great season. Rams top receiver, Donnie Avery is entering his third season and has yet to really put together a great season. It was Colts head coach, Jim Mora’s first year with the team. It’s Rams head coach, Steve Spagnuolo’s second year with the team. The Colts star running back, Marshall Faulk, who was easily the best player on the team, was entering his fifth season and was coming off a good season in which he was able to play in three more games than he had the previous year. The Rams star running back, Steven Jackson, who is easily the best player on the team, is entering his seventh season and is coming off a great season in which he was able to play in three more games than he had the previous year. The Colts had finished dead last in the worst division in the league the previous year. The Rams finished dead last in the worst division in the league last year. Also, when all else failed the Colts had the small bright spot that was their punter, Chris Gardocki. And, when all else fails the Rams have the small bright spot that is their punter, Donnie Jones.

Friday 5 – Our Football Teams

For those of you that haven’t been counting down for nearly six months, football season officially starts in less than five weeks with the first games of the college season being on Thursday, September 2. This means I thought it would be a good time for us to evaluate our personal desires for how we would (realistically) like our respective teams to fare this season. Bryan and I are both Tennessee Vols fans, he’s a Missouri Tigers fan, I’m an Indianapolis Colts fan and he’s a St. Louis Rams fan. So for our Friday 5 I’ll put up the schedule for each game, how many wins we expect/hope that team to get and at then end for the final part, to complete the ’5′ in Friday 5 I will put up a total. I will also plan on putting up some sort of weekly chart or graph or both or something to provide something to look at for the progressions our teams our making towards the goals that we are setting for them. Let’s get started:

Good News For Me

Bryan put up a link to an ESPN article yesterday and I’m going to follow suit, the article I’m linking to, however, is much shorter. It’s an article about Joseph Addai and Derek Dooley. And it’s a good article about Joseph Addai and Derek Dooley, which is good news for both my Colts and my Vols.

Here’s the link.

Colts Rookie Camp 2010

The Colts rookie camp is this weekend, starting yesterday and going through Sunday. There had been an extreme lack of official news from the Colts about rookie free agent signings. They did finally announce yesterday though (on their website) who all the rookie free agents are.

The players attending the Colts Rookie Camp are…

Friday 5 – Favorite Highlights

This is going to be short because I have a lot I need to do but figured this would be a good way to start my day. I’m simply putting up my five favorite football highlights. This isn’t including anything that has personal, emotional or any other sort of biased attachment or they would simply be plays from the Colts Super Bowl XLI win, the win during that year’s AFC Championship game, Peyton Manning throwing his 49th TD in 2004, the Vols 1998 National Championship and one of my favorites from Peyton at Tennessee. But alas, none of those will be included. These are just highlights that I love to watch over and over simply because of how awesome they are as football plays, not because they had any sort of meaning (to me or anyone) or influence over a game or season. This was hard to narrow down to five so there are a ton of honorable mentions, but I’m sure all those will come up in the comments. Let’s get started:

Early 2010 NFL Predictions

This isn’t going to be in depth. That will come later. I am planning on doing an in depth preview of each of the eight divisions and that will be when I offer my analysis and thoughts behind my predictions. This is simply me taking a brief (very brief) look at each division, keeping in mind what they did in the draft, what they’ve done this offseason, and all the knowledge of each team that I have accumulated over the years as well as my gut instinct about each one. I won’t be providing anything for this other than simply listing the final standings for each division, the playoff seedings and the winner of each playoff game. Most of which I will be deciding as I go. So without further ado…