This is BBS' gig but I figured I'd give him the day off, it is Labor Day after all. I hope you don't mind big guy.
- Columnist Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune claims Merriman's days are numbered in a Chargers uniform. He states the recent incident involving Tila Tequila has no bearing on his chance to re-sign with the Chargers. I find that hard to believe for a few reasons. 1) Despite my loathing of Merriman, he's a good LB. 2) Their defense obviously struggled without him last season, but sadly was good enough to beat the freakin Colts (wwhwhhyyy?!). 3) The Chargers are seriously stupid if they just let someone like Merriman walk. If the Chargers FO has already planned to get rid of him at seasons end, why not trade him now and get something out of it ala Bill Belichick? I would think Merriman is worth at least a first round pick, wouldn't you? And speaking of Belichick, I'm sure he is watching this like a hawk; Merriman lighting up his radar like a christmas tree.
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Tedy Bruschi just sold his soul to the devil. It was only a matter of time before ESPN offered him a job. I hope he gets fired.
- Have you ever wondered how much it must suck to be a Jaguars player? Well look no further than Tony Pashos. He refused a pay cut and change of position and decided to go on the free agent market all the while knowing he'd be making even less money than what the Jaguars were offering. I can't say I blame him.
- Richard Seymour doesn't seem to happy about being traded to the Raiders. In fact, there's a possiblity that the trade could end up a bust. Mike Florio explains.
- Lions coach Jim Schwartz officially announced that Mathew Stafford will be the starting quarterback. Good for him, I wish him luck, because he's gonna need it.
- Mangina also refuses to announce who the Brown's QB will be.
- If you thought Manning was obsessed with preparation, he aint got nothing on Coach Caldwell. Here's a quote:
"I have every talk, every meeting that every head coach I've ever worked for has ever given in my presence," said Jim Caldwell, who succeeded Tony Dungy as Colts coach in January and will make his regular-season debut Sunday against Jacksonville at Lucas Oil Stadium. "Bill McCartney, Joe Paterno, Howard Schnellenberger, Dennis Green. I have them all. Every one that Tony ever made."
Caldwell has about 50 notebooks from his eight years under Dungy, one at Tampa Bay, 2002-08 with the Colts. They are stored in Caldwell's office. The rest fill box on box in a storage facility near his North Carolina home.
They contain the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of six head coaches and 31 years. Hear it, see it. Write it, read it.
"That's how I remember," Caldwell said. "If I write it down, chances of me forgetting it are very slim."
- Bob Kravitz states the obvious: the Colts will win 12 games for the 7th season in a row. But he goes farther than that. He makes the bold claim that the Colts will not lose a division game all season. I find that hard to believe, but as Kevin Garnett showed us all two years ago: AAAANNYYYTTTHINNGG IS POSSSIBBBBBLLLLEEEEEEEE!!
- John Oesher follows suit in stating the obvious by stating five things the Colts must do to win the AFC South.
- ESPN's AFC South blogger Paul Kuharsky provides us with a chart depicting the average age of each team. To no one's surprise the Colts are the second youngest team in the league.