The Sports Review

It’s that time of year sports fans! The National Football League will back in preseason action all across the country this weekend. Fans have been aching to see their favorite team on the gridiron smacking shoulder pads. Although the preseason does get a bit tedious after the third game, I love watching guys battle it out for a chance to make the team. Unknown players will distinguish themselves as key contributors as teammates battle for position. We will also get our first look at rookies  like Tim Tebow, Russell Okung, Ndamakong Suh, and Sam Bradford as professionals. The NFL should probably shorten the preseason to just three games, but it’s great to have America’s favorite sport back in our stadiums and on our TVs. Pay close attention to primetime match ups this week, such as, Carolina vs Baltimore (Tebow’s debut, airs 8 PM ET on Thursday on ESPN), New Orleans vs New England, and the New York Jets vs the New York Giants inside the New Medowlands Stadium on Monday night.

The New Orleans Saints will be hosting Brett Farve and the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game with the opportunity to go to the franchise’s first Super Bowl on the line. The Saints will have their hands full with the Vikings balanced offense of Farve airing it out and Adrian Peterson moving the chains between the tackles, however, when looking back at the Vikings’ last loss (against the Chicago Bears on December 28th) there are some lessons to be learned.

The Bears certainly didn’t shut down the Vikings as Farve forced overtime with a miraculous touchdown pass in the final moments of the fourth quarter only to be outdone by Jay Cutler connecting with Devin Aromashodu in OT. The biggest thing that allowed the Bears to defeat the Vikings was their offensive line’s ability to protect their quarterback. Left tackle Chis Williams surprised many in the way he handled Jared Allen (one of the NFL’s best pass rushers).

If the Saint’s offensive line led by Jonathan Stinchcomb and Jonathan Goodwin can protect Drew Brees then they should be able to put points on the board. That being said with the seasons these two teams had offensively look for Sunday’s contest to be a classic scorefest.

The Oakland Raiders were badly in need of improving their defense and this was achieved by signing a one-year contract with free agent defensive end Greg Spires, an ex-Bucs player. The Raiders were on the hunt for someone to play in unison with left end Derrick and the think tank of the Raiders now feel that Spires can do that job. Greg Spires took part in the team’s offseason practice session after joining the Raiders last Tuesday. Greg, who has received rare reviews for his defensive skills in America’s premier sports event, NFL, has had 39.5 sacks in his 10-year tenure and his best season at the NFL was in 2004. 

The Washington Redskins affable receiver Antwaan Randle El recently underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and will be out of commission for the time being. When pressed for comments, Coach Jim Zorn revealed that Randle El was lucky to have taken an MRI scan and found the foreign body in his knee that was causing him hurt and irritation. Doctors estimated that Randle El will spend between three to four weeks recuperating. Translated, this meant that the receiver might have to miss out on offseason practices in June. Randle El expressed his regret but hopes to make a full comeback very soon.

 Pete Johnson has been accused of writing a bad cheque for US$13,300 to buy a pickup truck! Johnson played for the Bengals from 1977 to 1983. He was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Champaign County Common Pleas Court. Johnson didn’t have enough funds in his account when he wrote the check. A Champaign County grand jury indicted Johnson in December. Urbana is about 65 kilometres northwest of Columbus.Johnson, who was part of four Big Ten championship teams while at Ohio State in the mid-1970s, played for the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins in 1984 and retired at the end of that season.

Michael Dwayne Vick is a well known National Football League star, quarterback in Atlanta Falcons team.
On Monday he was condemned to 23 months in prison by a federal judge as a result of his role in illegal dog fighting and related gambling activity and then lying about it. He also was mulcted of $5,000 and given a trial period of three years. It’s quite difficult to predict when see Vick back in game (not in gambling of course), but it’s absolutely clear that world sport is not ready to sacrifice him!