Football Season is Open

Greg Ellis is pouting already …Man, I like this guy. He has built up 8 years of credibility with me as a class guy, but he is throwing much of that away right now…

A few moments after he walked off the team plane at Naval Air Station Point Mugu, signaling the start of Cowboys' training camp, a defiant Greg Ellis said he had no interest in playing for the Cowboys.

"I still don't want to be here," Ellis, a defensive end, said. "I'm not looking forward to it [training camp]. It's still disappointing to me. I'm going to go and play as hard as I can, but I'm a 4-3 guy, and I really don't want to be in a 3-4.

I've tried to take the high road, but it really hasn't worked. It is what it is. It isn't anything against Bill [Parcells] or Jerry [Jones], but I don't want to be here."

Keith Davis lied??? No Way! …

Dallas police said Thursday that Dallas Cowboys safety Keith Davis initially lied to investigators about where he was just before he was shot while driving on Interstate 635 this month.

Mr. Davis' initial account to both the police and The Dallas Morning News was that he was driving home from a family gathering in Shreveport, La., about 5 a.m. July 16 when bullets pierced his customized 1995 Chevrolet Impala. The bullets grazed his head and lodged in his leg.

He was later released from the hospital and on Thursday was at Cowboys training camp in California.

Police on Thursday confirmed that during subsequent interviews with detectives, the Cowboys safety admitted he was at a private party in North Dallas for a few hours just before the shooting.

"All you have to do is pull my affidavit," Mr. Davis said Thursday. "That will tell you exactly where I was and what I was doing. I'm out here to play football. It seems to me that people are a lot more concerned about where I was and what I was doing than the people who shot me."

Apparently, Vince Young’s agent can do a decent job …

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Titans promised they wanted Vince Young, the third pick overall and the first quarterback taken in the draft, under contract before they opened training camp.

They avoided any lengthy holdouts Thursday, agreeing to terms with both Young and LenDale White a day before the first practice Friday afternoon.

Young, the No. 3 overall pick out of Texas, agreed to a five-year deal, with an option for a sixth, with $25.7 million guaranteed and an overall value that could reach $58 million with option and roster bonuses and salary.

The contract includes a $12.3 million option bonus due next March, a $2.365 roster bonus due this year and six years of guaranteed salary totalling $11.075 million, for guaranteed money totalling $25.74 million, ESPN.com's Michael Smith reports.

There's a one-time bonus of $4.1 million Young can collect should he play in 35 percent of the Titans' snaps this year or 45 percent in any other year.

That would top the six-year, $54 million deal with $26.5 million guaranteed for the top draft pick, defensive end Mario Williams of Houston.

"It was a great deal for us," said Major Adams, the quarterback's agent.

Alex vs New York ….

Rodriguez, who turned 31 yesterday, was last season's American League MVP but went 2-for-15 against the Angels in the Division Series. This year he's hitting .280 with 22 homers and 73 RBIs, but his performance in the clutch has been uneven at best.

For the record, A-Rod is hitting .293 with runners in scoring position this season. He's hitting .300 with runners in scoring position and two outs. With the bases loaded, he's batting .455 with two homers. In 31 postseason games, he has hit .305 with six home runs and 16 RBIs. Most recently, he hit a long home run to centerfield in the eighth inning of the Yankees' 8-7 victory over Texas Wednesday night.

On the other hand, in the late innings of close games, he's hitting .220 (9-for-41) with an on-base percentage of .289 and a slugging percentage of .439, all subpar figures.

He has 18 errors in less than two-thirds of a season, six more errors than he made last year. The only time he committed more errors was 1997, when he made 24 while playing shortstop for Seattle. This year's problem seems to stem from throwing sidearm, which he seemed to correct in the Texas series.

TR Sullivan on what moves are out there to be made …

The pitchers that the Rangers hoped would be out there by now just aren't there. They asked about San Francisco's Jason Schmidt, but the Giants went into Tuesday's game just one game out of first place and aren't willing to trade their No. 1 starter.

The Brewers, according to sources, want Minor League pitcher John Danks and shortstop Joaquin Arias in exchange for Lee. That may be too steep for the Rangers if they can't keep Lee beyond this season.

So the Rangers wait to see if the Indians are willing to move right-hander Jake Westbrook and mull over some of the lesser names sitting out there. Jon Lieber and Cory Lidle could both get moved by the Phillies, and Arizona right-hander Miguel Batista is a possibility, but the Diamondbacks are just 1 1/2 games out of first place in the NL West.

The Rangers are scouting the Nationals carefully but are not getting good reports about right-hander Livan Hernandez. Tony Armas Jr. is another intriguing name, but has made just two starts after missing a month with a strained right forearm.

The Baltimore Orioles are willing to move right-hander Rodrigo Lopez, and the Pittsburgh Pirates have offered Oliver Perez for outfielder Kevin Mench. The Rangers weren't interested in that and have bigger plans in mind, especially if they need to include Mench in a deal to get an impact player.

Despite wishing failure on Manchester United, I have always thought Ruud Van Nistelrooy was great, But now, Ruud is off to Madrid …and Manchester needs a scorer badly…

His departure will represent the end of an era at Old Trafford. Van Nistelrooy scored 150 goals in 219 games at the club after joining for a then British record £19m in 2001, with United's supporters chanting his name during Wednesday's friendly victory at Celtic in recognition of that achievement. Sir Alex Ferguson, whose relationship with the forward deteriorated markedly last term, must now find a replacement, with his principal target, Atlético Madrid's Fernando Torres, having ruled out a move to Old Trafford.

By the way, United Keeper and American Tim Howard on today’s show as he is in town with Everton to play in Frisco tomorrow night… I swear.



Arrested Development lives! …

The syndication rights of the critically acclaimed yet criminally unwatched Arrested Development have been simultaneously licensed by Microsoft's MSN.com and the cable channels HDNet and G4, allowing the series to run on all three outlets through 2009.
While the arrangement to air the reruns on the cable channels is a standard one, the decision to allow the show to run concurrently online is one of the first of its kind.

The deal allows for all 53 episodes from the show's three-season span to appear on each of the outlets and was made despite the fact that the number of shows typically required for syndication is 100, nearly double what Arrested Development had produced.

Is Tony Stewart the new Dale Earnhardt? …

Now, some of us knew Dale Earnhardt, and some of us believe Stewart's no Dale Earnhardt. But there are a lot of people who believe he's the closest thing to the Intimidator in racing today, and one of those people is apparently Stewart.
Here's what he said afterward:

"If the 3 car was here, I don't think we would have the same problems in this series as we have. He always had a way of letting drivers know where they stood, when to move and when not to move.''

Stewart then said some other things that didn't make any sense, but his twisted logic was clear. He didn't really know Dale Earnhardt.

Earnhardt was dangerous, too. He took drivers out and moved them and let them know when they stood in his way.

He did not let drivers know when to move. He pushed them out of his way. He did not tell them when not to move. It wasn't that way.

Over time, Earnhardt learned the difference between destroying someone's car and simply taking the air off the deck lid. He learned, over time, that careers were at stake.

He became one of the best drivers to ever race because he finally realized he was part of something larger than himself and was dangerously close to ruining his own career.

Mid Term Grades for the Aikman/Staubach team …

C-minus – Tony Raines

Raines, after taking over for Terry Labonte in the No. 96 Chevrolets, has kept the Hall of Fame Racing team safely inside the top 35, which is about all a first-year, single-car team can reasonably expect.

Listen to Matt Barnaby on BaD Radio …if you missed it the first time…

And finally, this email from a fellow Liverpool guy. In fact, Simon is from Liverpool:

Hi Bob, I just wanted to let you know that some Liverpool Supporters have organized here in Dallas and we have a Official Texas Chapter of Liverpool Supporters Club. We will be watching all the matches at the Tipperary Inn and have a couple events coming up that you may be interested in. On Fri Aug 11TH will be having a showing of the Champions League Cup Final from Istanbul..should be a good night. The day after is The Charity Shield Match versus Chelsea. Then on Aug 20th We have a Liverpool Legend, Ronnie Whelan from the all conquering team of the eighties coming to speak at a dinner in The Tipperary Inn. Please let me know if would be possible to post the club info on your Blog for any other Reds that may be interested in Joining the Club.
Simon

For Genius Comedy, Push Play below…



---added 9:20 am

The return of Fernando Tatis …

Fernando Tatis surfaced again Thursday night after all but disappearing from baseball for two years.

Tatis, starting in the major leagues for the first time since June 15, 2003, had two hits, drove in a run and scored twice to lead the Baltimore Orioles to a 6-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

“This guy was a heck of a player, and then he kind of dropped off the face of the earth for a couple of years and now he’s back, so it’s nice to see him back,” said Kevin Millar, who homered in the sixth to put the Orioles ahead 3-2. “I wish him good things. He’s a great guy, a great teammate. I’m happy for him to be back.”
Tatis hit 34 home runs, drove in 107 runs and became the first player to hit two grand slams in the same inning in 1999, with St. Louis. Then groin, shoulder and knee injuries took their toll on him and Tatis missed the final 92 games of the 2003 season because of inflammation in his chest wall.

“I’m very excited,” said Tatis, who had his first multi-hit game since May 7, 2003. “I’m healthy. I’m 100 percent. I just wanted to go out and try to have a good game, just be myself. The best part is we won the game.”

Tatis, who was released by Tampa Bay in spring training in 2004 and did not play professional baseball the past two seasons, doubled in the seventh and scored on a fielding error by third baseman Mark Teahen.