05/13/2008 - Alameda, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Raiders signed veteran free agent defensive end Greg Spires on Tuesday.
Spires has started in 94 of the 147 games he's played in over his career, which began in 1998. He has 39.5 career sacks and has forced 11 fumbles during his 10-year NFL career. He has spent the previous six seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, after playing for Cleveland in 2001 and New England from 1998-2000.
Also Tuesday, the Raiders waived fullback Matt Hahn, released cornerback Duane Starks and signed wide receiver Marcel Reece.
<< Tigers release Jacque Jones
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers waived struggling
outfielder Jacque Jones on Tuesday.
Jones had struggled with the Tigers in his first season with the club, batting
just .165 with one homer and five runs batted i
<< Red Wings' Franzen out for Game 4
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Red Wings forward Johan Franzen is still
experiencing concussion-like symptoms and has been ruled out for Wednesday's
Game 4 of the Western Conference finals against the Dallas Stars.
Franzen was also
<< Mets place Pagan on DL, shuffle up roster
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The ailing New York Mets shook up their
roster on Tuesday, making six moves, including placing outfielder Angel Pagan
on the 15-day disabled list with a left shoulder injury.
The Mets also designated
<< Detroit G Billups out for Game 5
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pistons guard Chauncey Billups will
miss Game 5 of Detroit's Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Orlando
Magic on Tuesday with a strained right hamstring.
Billups was hurt with 8:11 left
Orioles scratch Mora >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles were without the
services of third baseman Melvin Mora for Tuesday's series opener against
Boston after he took a ball off his shoulder during warmups.
He was replaced at thi
New indictment against Bonds unsealed >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Federal prosecutors have filed a new
indictment against Barry Bonds, baseball's all-time home run king.
According to documents released Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San
Francisco, Bond
U.S. to play in Madrid for Davis Cup semifinals >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The U.S. Davis Cup team will head to Madrid to
play Spain in the semifinals from September 19-21.
The Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas in Madrid will be the site for the matches.
Spain lost to the U.S. in the
Pistons reach East finals for sixth straight year >>
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Richard Hamilton scored 31 points, and
Tayshaun Prince came up with a crucial block in the closing seconds, as the
Pistons moved into the Eastern Conference finals for a sixth straight year by
holding
The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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