MONDAY NIGHT SHOWDOWN IN NEW ORLEANS

Even though New Orleans is undefeated, the Saints are working themselves into a lather with hopes that a victory over the 7-3 Patriots in a colossal Monday night showdown in the Superdome proves their uncharted 10-0 record isn’t a mirage. A loss would hardly be a backbreaker or season-ender to the Saints, but it would be a punch to the gut.

Following practice on Wednesday, players gushed and hurled bouquets of love at New England they’ve been conditioned to show opponents. Yet, you could sense the reality that the Saints feel they’re the team that should be the target — a right that must be earned, record be damned.

Quarterback Drew Brees said beating the Patriots is far more important at the moment than winning the NFC South, which the Saints could do with a win and a loss or tie by the Falcons.

“I can’t say the mindset this week or the talk is, ‘Hey, let’s go win the division this week,’” Brees said. “That’s a big deal, especially this early on but the mindset is, very much, we are playing a quality opponent. We’re not trying to put any added pressure on ourselves, we’re just trying to out-prepare our opponent and play our best game.”

New Orleans’ coaches have spent a great deal of time “self-scouting” on film this week to see how many of its favorite plays — or plays it thinks could be effective — they’ve put on film for New England to digest.

The Saints aren’t going to get away from what they do, which is spread the ball out in the passing game and complement that with a highly effective running attack. It’s pretty safe to say that head coach Sean Payton, the best play caller in the game, is going to break out some stuff that’s been on ice for a few weeks, if not since the preseason.

Instead of worrying so much about the challenge the Patriots pose, Brees said New England needs to worry about what the Saints have coming their way. Brees has far more toys to work with than Tom Brady, but somehow, the scales seem pretty even since Randy Moss and Wes Welker, as a tandem, are scary productive.

I’ve been following the Saints closely since pegging them to be a playoff team in the preseason. Their level of determination and focus has always been a little different than most of the other teams I’ve been around. They are incredibly detail-oriented and no player seems to mind doing what’s been asked.

This clearly is a big game for New Orleans, which, like so many other teams, wants to establish the type of consistent success New England has sustained. By kickoff, the Saints are going to be a little tired of hearing about the Patriots, though. You can sense the edginess in that regard already.

Source: NFL.com

Crazy Posada

NEW YORK — Yankees star Jorge Posada and Toronto reliever Jesse Carlson got into a fight near home plate, leading to a frenzied, bench-clearing brawl during the Blue Jays’ 10-4 victory over New York on Tuesday night.

Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion and All-Star second baseman Aaron Hill were hit by pitches before Carlson threw behind Posada in the eighth. Posada glared out at the mound and appeared to say, “You don’t want to do that.”

Carlson motioned toward Posada as the benches and bullpens emptied, though the teams never got close to each other and order was quickly restored. Johnny Damon and manager Joe Girardi aggressively pulled teammates away, aware any suspensions could be costly to the Yankees as they close in on a playoff berth.

Moments later, a nasty rumble broke out.

After scoring on Brett Gardner’s double, Posada brushed Carlson, who was on his way to back up the plate. Home plate umpire Jim Joyce promptly ejected Posada as Carlson shouted curses at the star catcher.

Posada spun around, sidestepped Joyce and came back at Carlson, who took a high swing with a punch that missed. The two wrestled to the ground as the benches and bullpens emptied and other scuffles broke out between home plate and the New York dugout.

Blue Jays catcher Rod Barajas and Yankees reserve Shelley Duncan got in a particularly rough scrap.

When things finally settled down, there was catching equipment strewn all over the field behind home plate. New York pitchers CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte escorted Posada into the dugout.

Carlson, also ejected, was left with a large red bump on the left side of his forehead.

The game was interrupted for about 10 minutes. When play resumed, there were only three umpires on the field. Third base ump and crew chief Derryl Cousins was missing — it wasn’t immediately clear if he got hurt during the fight.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

Mrs. Mina Brees

Drew Brees returned to New Orleans Saints training camp for a pair of practices Monday after leaving the team over the weekend to attend to the death of his mother, Mina Brees, in Colorado. Brees said he expects to play in the Saints’ preseason opener on Friday night but also believes he will be excused from training camp again next week to attend a memorial service. A medical examiner said Mina Brees, an attorney from Austin, Texas, died Friday in Grand County, Colo., a mountainous area about 50 miles northwest of Denver. Cindy Eller, the county’s chief deputy coroner, said the cause of death remained under investigation on Monday.

Let Vick Play

Tony Dungy believes Michael Vick is focused on putting his life back together.

The former Indianapolis Colts coach has agreed to mentor Vick as part of the quarterback’s conditional reinstatement to the NFL.

“I’m not sure what football is going to hold for him; that will be discussed at length in the sports pages over the next few weeks,” Dungy said in a post on his blog Tuesday. “I believe in second chances for people who admit their mistakes and are committed to changing.”

“I think Michael deserves the chance to show people he has changed and learned from past mistakes, but my true hope is that he will make sound decisions about his future and, at the same time, let people know more about the person that I’ve come to know recently. I know the public will be skeptical, but I think, over time, people will find there’s a different side to him than what they’ve seen so far.”

ESPN Source

New Moves In the NBA

Cleveland signs Shaquille O’Neal

Lakers signs Ron Artest

Boston signs Rasheed Wallace

Orlando signs Vince Carter

Houston signs Trevor Ariza

Portland signs Paul Millsap

Orlando signs Brandon Bass

Champions Once Again

Once again the trophy heads back to the sunshine state. Bryant and the LA Lakers took care of business and defeated the D. Howard and the Orlando Magic 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals. Kobe and Derek Fisher capitalized on their fourth NBA championship ring, making them 2 out of 4 active players with four titles. On a personal note for Kobe, the monkey is officially off is back. The word on the street was that Kobe couldn’t win a NBA title without O’Neal. For all you haters out there in the world of sports, what do you have to say now about the kid. As for Phil Jackson, he has proven to the NBA Gods that he is the best NBA coach of all times with 10 NBA coaching titles. Sorry Red.

KING JAMES IS BACK!

Once again it’s on. King James has another opportunity to take his team, his organization and his city back to the NBA Finals. D. Howard and the Magic have had LeBron and the Cavielars on their to do list for awhile. Expect, this series to go to seven. The Cavs role players will be the difference makes in this series. Alston, is now on the main stage. Let’s see how this New York guy handles the playoff pressure.

Is Boston Back on Track?

The Celtics win in Game 5 against the Magic was huge. With 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter the Celtics proved why they are still the team to beat. Mr. Marbury was the game changer down the stretch with double digit points. Boston went from an 85-75 deficit to an 88-85 lead on a 13-0 run in the fourth quarter.  Game 6 heads back to Orlando.

The Playoffs Are Here

What a game Tuesday night against the Trailblazers and Rockets! The battle was on. The Trailblazer’s fought their hearts out to get their first playoff win in six years. The closer Brandon Roy, point guard of the Portland Trailblazers led the team with 42 points. While LaMarus Aldridge assisted with 27 points and 12 rebounds. The game simply went back and forth with key players playing a huge role. Late in the game 8 time All-Star and Defensive Player of the year, Dikembe Mutombo went down with a knee injury ending his 18 year career in the NBA. The series is even and heads to Houston for game 3.

Donte Stallworth is in big terrible

Donte Stallworth, wide reciever for the Cleveland Brown was arrested Wednesday for killing Mario Reyes, a construction crane operator from Miami. Stallworth is looking to be released from jail on a $200,000 bail. This is a very sad story to hear about. These athletes are told time and time again not to put themselves in dangerous situations. Stallworth’s career in the NFL might be over but that’s not the most important thing here. He has killed a man because of a bad decision. Please pray from Donte Stallworth and the Mario Reyes’s family.

Take Care Sports World!

NationSports

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