Herp Derp, NFL Free Agency continued.

So, I am a busy guy. I am going to quick do the rest of the league, not in the same fashion as the other post.
Here we go.

The NFC
North

The NFC North was retooled at QB once again (i.e. the year Bret Favre turned it upside down went from Green Bay to New York Jets to Minnesota). With Favre gone from the Vikings they picked up Donovan McNabb and released Tavaris Jackson and their prime receiver Sidney Rice. The Chicago Bears picked up those former Cowboys Marion "The Barbarian" Barber the III, and Roy Williams. That gives the Bears a possible okay receiver and a decent third down back. The Packers didn't really sign anyone, they just cut Nick Barnett. And then there was the Lions, they didn't Pick up anyone big but they added depth to their running game by picking up Mike Bell (a former Bear) and Jerome Harrison (a former Brown).

South

Well in the South the Saints got rid of Reggie Bush and Jeremy Shockey (Bush now with the Dolphins), Shockey ended up in another team in the South the Panthers of Carolina. Who also picked up another Tight end from the Bears Greg Olsen. The Tampa Bay Bucs didn't really do anythings, and the Falcons retooled their defensive backfield and signed Ray Edwards as another pursuer of the quarterback.






West

Oh the NFC West, The big story here is former Eagle back up QB Kevin Kolb came to the Cardinals, this makes them a bigger passing threat in a passing league. Elsewhere Mike Simms-Walker became a St. Louis Ram. The Seahawks let Matt Hasselbeck (QB) go from Seattle and they picked up former Vikings duo Tavaris Jackson and Sidney Rice (QB + WR), they also got Zach Miller (a former Oakland Raider). The 49ers didn't really do anything but trade their safety Taylor Mays to the Bengals (the theory here is that they are sandbagging for Andrew Luck (QB from Stanford formerly coached by now 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh)).

The AFC
North

The Ravens picked up former Bill, Lee Evans giving them another receiver to pick up more attention off of Anquan Boldin, they also grabbed Ricky Williams from the Dolphins. The Steelers basically tried to keep things the same being it got them to the Super Bowl last year, so with that being said I can get to the other team the Browns (who I believe may surprise a lot of people this year) they basically have a young veteran (oxymoron?) offensive line, they like the Steelers didn't make any big moves but some cuts (Like Jerome Harrison and former QB Jake Delhomme). Then there is the Bengals who committed NFL suicide, they basically made their Pro Bowl QB Carson Palmer retire, then T.O. (Terrel Owens) retired, then Chad Ochocinco went to the Patriots, they also got rid of Johnathan Joseph their PRO BOWL Corner back. The Bengals big story is their draft, they basically are trying to go "young" their just doing it wrong in my opinion.

South

So as I was saying Johnathan Joseph was not resigned by the Bengals, so the Houston Texans picked him up so they would have protection from Peyton Manning. The Tennessee Titans picked up Matt Hasselbeck and got rid of Vince Young, and the Jaguars didn't do much. The real story here is the turmoil of my Indianapolis Colts and the pending status of health for their quarterback Peyton Manning. He had off season neck surgery, and has sat out most of the preseason. In the meantime they tried to cover up by picking up the grizzled veteran Kerry Collins, hopefully Peyton starts, they also bulked up on their D by signing (former Bear) Tommy Harris at tackle and (former Lion) Ernie Simms at Line Backer.

West

The Broncos were thought to be giving up their now starting quarterback Kyle Orton, but instead they didn't really do anything but have a fight of whose better Tim Tebow or Brady Quinn? (Time will only tell). The Chiefs picked up former Raven RB/FB Le'Ron McClain who will get them some toughness possibly needed for them since their only other short yardage back is Thomas Jones. The San Diego Super Chargers picked up former 49er and NFL veteran Takeo Spikes at Line Backer, and the Raiders like I said earlier, got rid of Zach Miller and picked up a back up QB Trent Edwards....



So as you can see the infrastructure of the NFL basically went haywire because of the short offseason due to the lockout, pretty crazy stuff.

NFL Free Agency BANZIA

First off let me tell you, I Sports d00de have moved from my hometown of Saint Joseph, Michigan to Grand Rapids, Michigan (technically Wyoming, Michigan). Anyways throughout the move some major things happened in the NFL structure of teams. After I moved the dust settled and I went on a well needed vacation. I stopped by my parents house, after said vacation, and my mother mentioned to me about some players she knows from fantasy and "Why they aren't on their teams anymore?". Don't worry mom, I got you covered, and for all the d00de and d00dettes out there, here is your NFL free agency coverage.

For the sake of a shorter read I will be posting two divisions (either East, West, North, or South) from each conference (AFC or NFC). I will Start with the east for both Conferences.

NFC East

Alright lets knock out the big one first....

The Eagles

The Eagles were the big movers and collectors. They resigned their quarterback and live action Madden player, Michael Vick, they moved their backup "future" quarterback Kevin Kolb to the Arizona Cardinals, they got a new backup by signing Vince Young (former Tennessee Titans), they got a better pass Defense by taking the best free agent out there in Nnamdi Asomugha (former Oakland Raider), and got a veteran running back in Ronnie Brown from the Miami Dolphins (who is versatile in running the wildcat offense).
This team has proclaimed themselves the "dream team" (by Vince Young), and Vick has said that this feels like the best team he has been on. With a head coach like Andy Reid I bet they will make some noise in the NFC. So far this preseason they are 1-1 though, they just came off a defeat from the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the first team offense didn't look that sharp. Though Vick claimed to be forcing things, hopefully the pressure to be great doesn't come upon this "dream team".

The Cowboys

America's team.....(cricket, cricket, cricket....) not so much last year. With Tony Romo getting injured early, and their former "Head Coach" Wade Phillips looking like what he is now, a coordinator, they didn't have many bright spots. That is until their new head coach (Jason Garret) stepped in and their young talent stepped up (Players like Dez Bryant and Felix Jones). With that in mind, they didn't sign anyone (big that is) and they had the mentality of "out with the old and in with the new". With that said, they released the following (Released OT Marc Colombo, G Leonard Davis, WR Roy Williams, RB Marion Barber, PK Kris Brown, OT Robert Brewster, G Travis Bright, LB Kelvin Smith and WR Troy Bergeron.)
:O
Ummm that might be a bit to much Jerry! (Jerry Jones owner of the Cowboys). They I am assuming released big contracts to free up room to keep around main pieces like Jones and Bryant. The big names from that list are Colombo, Marion Barber, and Roy Williams (each who have new homes in the NFL later to be covered.) Maybe, just maybe the Boys got something on their minds.

The NY Giants

The Giants kind of didn't make much sense this short post lockout "off season". They released a bunch of linemen, got rid of Eli Manning's safety blanket Steve Smith (who is now with guess who, the Eagles). I guess they kind of have the Cowboys idea of bringing in a new era, and allowing Hakeem Knicks to grow and their first round draft pick Prince Amukamara (Ah moo kah mur rah, lol).
I guess their big free agency transaction would be Wide Receiver Michael Clayton. Nothing big.

The Redskins

So, last year they tried the Donovan McNabb experiment, and it didn't go so well. The Skins sent him to the Minnesota Vikings (to be covered in future article). They haven't exactly found a replacement, but they have a dual between Rex Grossman....and John Beck.....Ya, you be the judge.
Their big transaction of players that you might know, is that they signed the running back from the Cardinals, Tim Hightower, since they got rid of Clinton Portis. Not to much for them either.



The AFC East

The Bills

The Bills are caught in NFL purgatory, they never have a good record, or big name players. They moved their NFL caliber wide receiver Lee Evans, who ended up in Baltimore (The Ravens). They did get a draft pick though for Evans, and on the bright side, the Bills do have some young talent (i.e. running back C.J. Spiller).
Their big pick ups were ferocious Line Backer (former Packer) Nick Barnett, fancy looking back-up QB from the Dolphins Tyler Thigpen. They also picked up a former teammate of Shawne Merriman (picked up from the Chargers last year to the Bills), Craig "Buster" Davis, a wide receiver from the San Diego Chargers, probably to cover for the loss of Evans.

The Dolphins

So, Ronnie Brown left, and they didn't make a move on Broncos QB Kyle Orton. BUT, they did pick up Reggie Bush from the Saints. I know what you're thinking, "So what?" Well Reggie Bush will get a lot of outside short passes which is what he likes which in turn should make the Miami offense a bit more spread out, and defenses will have to choose to cover either a former NFL powerhouse at wide receiver, Brandon Marshall, or up incoming Devon Bess. People are booing QB Chad Henne but he might have a good year this year. They also gave previously mentioned Offensive Tackle Marc Colombo a home.

The Jets

J-E-T-S! JETS! JETS! JETS! Last years version of the Eagles, they signed a bunch of guys last year.....they competed in the "Nnamdi Asomugha sweepstakes", they tried to keep their former wide receiver Braylon Edwards, and then a light came on. They got former Giant player Plaxico Burress fresh from prison, and they are hoping for a "Michael Vick at WR" redemption story.
They also signed wide receiver Derrick Mason from the Ravens. But, they lost most of their pass rush (Kris Jenkins announcing his reitrement, and Shaun Ellis becoming a Patriot), but head coach Rex Ryan says he is looking for young guys to step up.

and with that, we come to....
The Patriots

....Ochocinco.....Haynesworth.....Ellis.....meh
They are a super-powered team, yadda yadda yadda, Tom Brady this, Tom Brady that, *cough* cheaters *cough* (not anymore, cause they aren't making AFC Championships anymore). Anyways they got Ochocinco who might actually make them semi-fun to watch, he is already showing he can be top tier by catching a touchdown in their last preseason game against Tampa Bay. BUT they will not be the team to beat, if you ask me there are better teams in the AFC, but ESPN has to have their hype being they are in the New England area.


So there you have it the east is knocked out. Prolly get working on the north next article expect it in the middle of the week or next weekend.

d00de of the Month: August Cliff Lee

A three way tie between nominees of Cliff, Aramis, and Novak. Here's how the tie break went, there hasn't been much tennis since the British open, Aramis had to hit a homer to win the night voting ended, and Cliff Lee just had to get back to pitching like Cliff Lee.
So of course, Cliff Lee pitched like Cliff Lee. So he is d00de of the Month.

I consider Cliff as a number one pitcher in the league. Roy Hallday (also of the Philadelphia Phillies) is considered to be the most consistent, but he just has a different style than Cliff. Cliff Lee's style is that of a charging bull. His pitches are aggressive and (what appear to the batter as) fast, his quick pace keeps batters on their toes.

To really understand the pitcher, Cliff Lee, you have to know his pitches. He has an arsenal of pitches including, a four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball, a cut fastball, a slider, a circle changeup, and a knuckle changeup. Basically if you are going to swing thinking you know what is going to be pitched next, you will swing and miss.

It all really comes down to his month of June, Cliff was unstoppable. He pitched three consecutive shut outs over his span of starts, one involving an outing against the potent offense of the Boston Red Sox. Even though he stepped into humanity for the month of July, he also did something that helped him earn the coveted title of "d00de of the Month" and that was hit his first career home run off of Tommy Hanson of the Atlanta Braves. (Here is the proof)



Once he finished July with a win against Pittsburgh by striking out eleven batters, Cliff might be back on a run of godly pitching Thursday night he threw another shut out against the reigning world champs, the San Francisco Giants. Beware other teams in the majors, Cliff Lee is getting warmed up.

NFL UNLOCKED

Hip Hip HOORAY, mark the day on the calendar. NFL is now unlocked with a new CBA. We now have the new past time, gladiator sport of the century. Pretty sweet huh?

Well of course this means that I have a to do list, so here are my upcoming post ideas.

Sports d00de Upcoming Posts:

1. d00de of the Month
2. Free Agency coverage
3. Quaterback ratings
4. Season Predictions
5. Fantasy Picks
6. Inside the Sports d00de Fantasy Football League
   
   
   
   So, I have some work ahead of me! Keep voting for d00de of the Month. Subscribe, pass the word, Get you're popcorn ready!
   
   
   -Sports d00de

Sports d00de of the Month Nominations

Ok so I've been busy as of late. BUT I will open the poll for d00de of the Month, if you are new to the d00de of the month concept, what I do is I give you a couple of athletes within the sports world who had a really good month you vote who is the d00de and I give you some updates on them.

Here are the nominations:

Aramis Ramirez- The Chicago Cubs third baseman has been stellar throughout June and July for that matter. He is nominated this month because one he is on my favorite team, and two while he was injured for a little while and hasn't played many games he still manages to crush the ball out of the park. He leads the Cubs in OPS (On base plus slugging percentages) that means he hits a lot of balls far away, plus he is just fun to watch.




  Dale Earnhardt Jr.- I just watched a bit of the race last night in Daytona, and even though Junior wasn't doing that good, he has had a good year. He stands seventh in points standing, and has two top ten finishes within the last five races. He may be going winless, but like the cubs when he does win it's going to be a fun day!


Novak Djokovic- Well lets look at his resume and see if he is deemed worth a Sports d00de of the month nomination. Took over the tennis world as the new number one ranked player, went on a win streak of 43 straight matches and only broke that streak when playing against a highly respected player known to us as Roger Federer, Won the Australian open and Wimbledon (British Open), and is a really funny d00de (No Djoke). A good Nominee indeed.

Cliff Lee- Some d00de named Cliff Lee is a good pitcher, and though he lost today to the Toronto Blue Jays, he was riding a month of June that was insane he had a three game shutout streak, basically no one in baseball could hit this guy. Now today he was roughed up, but I watched a bit of it on TBS and some of his pitches were nasty, he threw a slider to a Jay today that broke right at the plate the batter looked up and went "why Cliff today?".


So that's all the nominees I will have the poll up for you guys to vote, stay classy.
Sports d00de.

So....Ya.....NBA Draft?

So, the d00des of the Month didn't exactly follow through for the predictions (for those who care that's a 2-3 on Sports d00de calls). And I took a vacation like LeBron for a bit (really just busy with life). But, I'm back and I'm gonna cover some NBA stuff in this post (mainly Draft).

So here we go!

So of coarse the over joyous city of Cleveland have two of the top picks (1st & 4th) they need a point guard, and a big. Recently if you check the Sports d00de twitter I purposed the idea to Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, trade the fourth pick to San Antonio and get hopefully Tony Parker (a good scoring guard) and with the first take Derrick Williams a good (future) NBA talent.

The underlying story of the Draft is pick number two to the Minnesota Timberwolves, I find it weird that this organization has shot itself in the foot by picking two Point Guards a couple drafts ago (Ricky Rubio's rights & Johnny Flynn) They have a tough choice, because they might have (who everyone else is picking as number one) Kyrie Irving sitting there and they may be forced to take another guard...but do you push Kyrie over as a Shooting Guard or do you find some other guy???
ALSO, Speaking of Rubio, people were wowed by his Olympic stuff....but did he take home gold, nope, and he's a soft Euro player. He has announced that he will come up and play in the NBA this year though.

Finally, former d00de of the Month noms, Jimmer and Kemba. Their fates are up in the air. Jimmer has a youtube series that is cool showing how he has prepared for the draft called FollowJimmer. The videos showcase some clips of his drills, his personal life, and his interaction with the business a player in the NBA has to conduct. Kemba had some business to conduct with the President, considering his Huskies won the NCAA Tourney. During his stand on the mic he claimed he was ready!
It seems in Jimmer's videos there seems to be a very strong possibility that he lands up either in the Knicks organization, or the Suns. Kemba is being looked at by the Spurs (which would be cool), but he is a part of trade bait for Tony Parker (possibly trade rights from the Cavs, that'd make me look pretty smart).

People say this NBA draft is a weak one, but there is talent. With a lockout looming, and future players getting ready for an off season of confusion and panic only the strong will prevail.

So draft predictions:

• Cavs will take Derrick with overall first, and draft Kemba and trade his rights to the Spurs for Tony Parker.
• Timberwolves will take Kyrie Irving. (Possible Steve Nash trade...doubt it though).
• Suns will take Jimmer before Knicks can get to him.
• AND, we'll be locked out of the NBA next season....O WELL, at least we get Football.

Sports d00de, Peace

=

d00des of the Month update

LeBron and Dwyane rockin' it in the finals....(despite a game 2 loss).

Here's some proof from game 3 of the NBA 2011 Finals.

LeBron monster dunk/ri-donk-ulous pass for game winner (pass to a rare Bosh siting), and D-Wade going bananas on the boards and overall on the Mavs D.
Heat in 6 please.