Freddie Roach joined Into the Night with Tony Bruno to talk about Manny Pacquiao’s upcoming fight against Antonio Margarito, whether or not he will inspect Margarito’s gloves, whether or not he thinks a fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao will happen, how long Pacquiao will remain fighting for, and what he thinks about James Toney losing to Randy Couture.

On whether or not he was surprised Antonio Margarito was cleared:

“There were some other states out there that were willing to give him a license and so forth. Nevada really didn’t turn him down. They said they would make a decision after he applies in California. I knew someone was going to take this fight because the economy is bad all over the world. Let’s face it, this is gonna generate a lot of attention and a lot of money to where it goes and Dallas was smart enough to do it.”

On whether or not someone will inspect Margarito’s gloves:

“Of course and that will be me. If he was loaded in the (Miguel) Cotto fight I blame the Cotto camp for not doing their job. Let’s face it, you have that right when you’re in a world title fight. You watch him wrap, put his hands in his gloves, and make sure it’s up to par. No one would get away with that with me anyway because I don’t trust anyone in this sport. The thing is, even when I checked Oscar De La Hoya’s wraps and then I put my hands inside his gloves, his trainer was like ‘what are you doing?’ I said checking my gloves. They said ‘you don’t trust Oscar?’ I said again I’m doing my job. I don’t trust anybody and I don’t take anything for granted.”

On why he think Mayweather won’t fight Pacquiao:

“I think he just wants that zero on his record. As long as he’s undefeated he can argue and say he’s the best fighter ever, he’s as good as Sugar Ray Robinson and so forth, and he can make that argument as long as he doesn’t have that loss on his record. I think it’s more important for him to stay undefeated than fight the best guy out there. It’s a shame and I hope the fight will happen but I’m worried about that because the only thing that can get him motivated is money and they offered him 40 million dollars. If that’s not enough money I don’t know what is.”

On whether or not Pacquiao will remain driven to fight even though he is 31 and is now a congressman in the Philippines:

“He really is driven. He trains harder now than when he first started off because he doesn’t want to disappoint his countrymen, he wants to win for his country, put the Philippines on the map, and his work ethic is better now than it was when I first got him. He trains like an animal and the only thing that changed lately is his name. He’s going to be congressman Manny Pacquiao, but he still knows what he does best and that’s fight. And that’s what he’s going to be on November 13^th.”

Listen to Freddie Roach with Tony Bruno on Into the Night here (Aduio begins 22:40 into the podcast)

Erickson joined KTAR in Phoenix to talk about naming Steven Threet the starter at quarterback, if he plans to use both him and Brock at QB throughout the season, the new and improved lot of playmakers on offense compared to recent years, and what he feels his defense is capable of in 2010.

On what led him to name Threet as the team’s starting quarterback to start the season:

“Well, basically during the spring it was very close between him and Brock. They were kind of up and down as far as who was going to be the starter. But the biggest thing, and it was both of them, they really got better as far as what we were doing offensively. And the bottom line is the light has gone on with Steven as far as reading things, getting the ball out of his hand quick. Obviously he’s played at Michigan, good leader, and basically it’s just how he’s executed the last couple of weeks. Brock’s not far away. It’s a good problem to have because Brock has improved quite a bit. So Steven will get the nod and he’ll be the starter, and obviously we’ll play Brock some. We’ll just see how it goes as the season progresses.”

On if he plans on playing both quarterbacks even if  Threet goes out there and performs well:

“Oh, no. If Steven goes out and does what we think he’s going to do, then Brock will be his backup. I mean, that’s how it’s got to be. But hopefully Brock gets some experience. I mean we’re obviously not in a position where we can redshirt him at all. He’s got to play, and you never know what can happen in a 12 game season. So hopefully he’ll some opportunities to get better in practice. But if Steven goes out and does what we think he can do then we won’t make any changes. Ideally that’s what you would like to have happen.”

On what is most important for his quarterback to execute in new offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone’s new system:

“Reading things, getting the ball out of his hand quick. We run a bunch of different motions and different motions, and understanding what happens with that motion as far as if we’re going to throw it or hand it off. If he sees blitz, being able to handle that. But it’s relatively simple for them to see things, but they’ve got to see it, they’ve got to understand, they’ve got to understand their reads. And more than anything, it’s being accurate. Accuracy is the key, and getting the ball out of their hands quick.”

On there being more playmakers at the skill positions on offense than in years past:

“Yeah it’s a lot different than we’ve  been the last couple years. You can start at running back. We’ve got Deantre Lewis and Jamal Miles who’s playing there now – and they add so much speed to what we’re doing. And Cameron Marshall will of course be our starter. But you get the ball to those two out in space and they bring us some speed and home run ability in our running game. We saw Jamal some last year, but we’re going to keep him at just one position right now. And Kyle Middlebrooks is a new freshman that we’re going to move around. And then the two junior college receivers, Michael Willie has been very, very impressive as far as making plays. And plus the guys that we’ve got coming back. T.J. Simpson has had a good camp, Kerry Taylor has had a good camp. So we’ve got speed and we’ve got skill that we haven’t had the last couple years. So I’m excited to watch because I think you’ll see more big plays this year out of our offense than you have the last three years”

On his defense and how he’s feeling about it heading into the new year:

Well obviously we’ve got good depth. We’ve had some injuries at defensive tackle the last week or so Corey Adams and Toa are both going to be out for a couple weeks. They’ll be back. Of course, Lawrence Guy and Saia were extremely good there, and Bo Moos has played very well for us. We’ve got six hands that we feel we can play, so our linebacker corps has been well known…we’ve got some depth there. Probably the biggest surprise on defense for me has been our safetys and particularly our corners. We feel like with Devron Carr and Boldin we have two corners who can come up and play man coverage which allows us to do more things. Then our safetys…we have some depth there. So we’re excited about that. If we can stay healthy up front, obviously we’re going to do some things with the 3-4 with the linebackers that we have. Obviously we’re not going to be in it all the time, it will be a change up.”

Listen here to Erickson with Doug & Wolf on KTAR in Phoenix

Hudson joined 790 The Zone in Atlanta to talk about his recent dominant 13 strikeout performance, his nasty stuff that night, if he knows when he’s got his good stuff prior to a game, recovering from Tommy John surgery, if he thinks Stephen Strasburg will be able to recover like he was able to, and being a part of the Oakland A’s young and rowdy teams earlier in his career.

On what got into him before and during his 13 strikeout performance recently:

“I don’t know man. I guess there team must have gone out the night before and stayed out late or something.”

On being described as nasty that night by the opposition:

“I had a good sinker going, I had a good cutter going. Just locating them and staying down in the zone. It was just one of those nights where they were swinging and missing.”

On if it’s dangerous to tailor one’s pitching style to the ballpark, and on if Coors Field in Denver is one of those where pitchers frequently find themselves doing just that:

“I mean, it can definitely get in a pitcher’s head. There’s no question about it. I know most pitchers are very happy when you miss Colorado, there’s no question about that. But you’ve got to deal with it. It’s part of the schedule, it’s part of the game, you’ve got to go out and do your best, hope for the best, hope it’s one of those nights where your guys go out and put up some crooked numbers for you.”

On what he’s done to change his approach and preparation after his Tommy John surgery and on how he thinks Stephen Strasburg will be able to recover:

“I think the big reason why I’ve had success this year is just the overall strength of my arm and my shoulder. I think that’s just the big key – your shoulder and arm is going to be in the best shape it’s ever been after you’ve done the rehab. Not only that, but throughout this whole process this year, you really have to take care of your arm, your forearm, because you’re missing a whole year of pitching at the Big League level. Then all of a sudden you’re back pitching at the Big League level and you start getting innings under your belt, and your body starts letting you know that, hey, you’ve haven’t done this in a while you better take care of me. After about 150, 140-150 innings this year, I could tell I haven’t pitched this deep into the season in awhile. And you really have to make sure you’re stretched out good, you’ve got to make sure your hamstrings are stretched out, you’re taking care of your arm, you’re getting treatment in the training room. That’s something he’s going to have to go through. Obviously he’s never pitched a full Major League season yet, but hopefully he’ll be able to go through that and have no problems next year.”

On the differences between the Braves young clubhouse and the ones he was a part of earlier in his career in Oakland:

“No doubt. We were dubbed the misfits of baseball. If you were young and crazy and wanted to have a great time that’s where you played. But it was one of those things where Billy [Beane] and the manager knew we were young, immature, fun-loving bunch of kids, and they just let us be kids. They didn’t put too much pressure on us. We just went out and played, and in the process we happened to win. If we went out and got our brains beat in every day, I’m sure there’d be a little more discipline in the clubhouse.  But we just went out there, we played video games, we played with remote controlled cards, we played cards in the clubhouse, and we played jokes on everybody, but we went out at 7 o’clock and we won baseball games. And that why we were able to do what we did.”

Listen here to Hudson with Mayhem in the AM on 790 The Zone in Atlanta

Pavin is going to have a hard time selecting four quality players with his captain’s picks because just three candidates have won tournaments this year, and none more recently than May.  One of those, ‘08 Cup hero Anthony Kim, has broken seventy just once since returning from thumb surgery.  The world’s No. 1 player surprisingly is in the pool, but that just underscores Tiger Woods’ crazy year.  Forget about whether Woods deserves to be selected.  The freshly minted divorcee tied for twelfth last week at the Barclays, easing concerns that his game had run upon the same rocks as his marriage.  Does Tiger deserve to be in the running for a final roster spot?  I certainly think so.  If you don’t agree, could you name four golfers with better credentials?  Former Masters Champion Zach Johnson won at Colonial earlier in May and used a strong Sunday run to finish just one shot out of the PGA Championship’s playoff.  He could lend some veteran stability but those are his only top-10s of the year.  For Pavin and the U.S. squad, let’s just hope that someone puts on an impressive performance at this week’s Deutsche Bank Championship so the selection process isn’t as arduous of a task.  Easier said than done.  In contrast to the European roster, where Miguel Angel Jimenez, Peter Hanson and Edoardo Molinari all won tournaments to make the squad, Pavin’s candidates haven’t exactly stepped it up under pressure.

Arnold Palmer on KNBR in San Francisco to talk about whether Corey Pavin should select Tiger Woods to the U.S. Ryder Cup team, whether Tiger’s inconsistent play is a concern for the Ryder Cup team if he is selected, and whether he could give an assessment of Tiger Woods’ 2010 season and whether Tiger can come back or if we have seen the best of Tiger.

Whether Corey Pavin should select Tiger Woods to the U.S. Ryder Cup team:

“Oh yes, I think so.  I think Tiger’s record is such that it would be very bad to not pick him this Ryder Cup team.”

Whether Tiger’s inconsistent play is a concern for the Ryder Cup team if he is selected:

“Well I think that it is probably a little bit of a concern but I think that he will come up to the task to play the kind of golf that he needs to play to help the Ryder Cup.”

Whether he enjoys how big the Ryder Cup event has become:

“Well I think it is good.  I think it is good for the Ryder Cup, I think it is good for golf and the fact that it increased the people that are involved.  The international team is now a wider range team than they had when I was captain playing the Ryder Cup and it is good.  It is good for the game of golf and it is good for the Ryder Cup.”

Whether he could give an assessment of Tiger Woods’ 2010 season and whether Tiger can come back or if we have seen the best of Tiger:

“Well I think you certainly have seen some good golf by Tiger Woods but I think that there is still a lot more good golf to come from him.  The putting that we all know is streaky and it can come and go.  He will be back and he will play very well.  Whether it is as good as he once was, I will even question that.”

Whether it was harder to make putts in his mid-30’s than when it was in his mid-20’s:

“Well  I suppose.  You lose a little bit of the aggressiveness as you get older.  It happened to me and it has happened to every player, but there is always the potential of it coming back and a lot of practice and work on your putting it could help and I think his will come back.”

Whether Dustin Johnson should have known the rules at the U.S. Open or whether the course is to blame:

“Well maybe a little bit of both but he should have known the rules, there is no question about that.  That was his responsibility when he walked into sand, if he would have read the rules he would have known not to ground the golf club and we all saw it.  It was a mistake but it was his mistake and he handled it very well.”

Arnold Palmer on KNBR in SF with Murph and Mac (the interview starts at the 2:35 mark)

PredictionMachine.com’s Take on the AFC West

(results from 50,000 NFL season simulations)

The AFC West may not feature any top ten teams, but it should definitely be competitive this season as the division has clearly compressed. Missing Vincent Jackson for at least three games and LaDainian Tomlinson as a blocker and safety valve (not mention disgruntled tackle Marcus McNeill), the Chargers cannot expect to recreate the tremendous passing attack of 2009. Even with the easiest schedule of any defending division winner, the Chargers should be happy to break .500. Denver had a rollercoaster 2009 and we expect something in between. Kansas City is a sleeper team (and a great pick on the Over 6.5 wins) with young, athletic playmakers on both sides of the ball. Oakland is better too, especially in the passing game. Collectively, the AFC West is just 5% likely to win the Super Bowl – the lowest of any AFC division. The AFC West plays the AFC South and NFC West.

San Diego Chargers
Power Rank: 16
Offensive Rank: 6
Defensive Rank: 22
Projected Record: 8.9 – 7.1
Make Playoffs: 57.3%
2009 Playoff Teams on Schedule: 4
Projected 2010 Playoff Teams on Schedule: 4
Biggest Strength: Passing Offense and Defense (Though Not as Dominant as 2009)
Greatest Weakness: Player Unrest (Could Cost Time from Vincent Jackson, Marcus McNeill, etc.)
Most Important Offensive Player: Vincent Jackson, WR
Most Important Defensive Player: Antonio Garay, NT
Fantasy Stud: Ryan Mathews, RB
Fantasy Dud: Vincent Jackson, WR
Fantasy Sleeper: Legedu Naanee, WR

Recent SportsRadioInterviews from the San Diego Chargers:

Malcom Floyd (8/23): Prepares to be the Man in San Diego

Philip Rivers (8/17): Hears a New Voice in His Head

Ryan Mathews (8/12): On His First NFL Training Camp

Norv Turner (8/3): Thinks He Still Has Plenty of Weapons

Kansas City Chiefs
Power Rank: 25
Offensive Rank: 14
Defensive Rank: 26
Projected Record: 7.3 – 8.7
Make Playoffs: 37.6%
2009 Playoff Teams on Schedule: 4
Projected 2010 Playoff Teams on Schedule: 5
Biggest Strength: Favorable Schedule
Greatest Weakness: Rush Defense
Most Important Offensive Player: Dwayne Bowe, WR
Most Important Defensive Player: Eric Berry, S
Fantasy Stud: Jamaal Charles, RB
Fantasy Dud: Chris Chambers, WR
Fantasy Sleeper: Tony Moeaki, TE

Recent SportsRadioInterviews from the Kansas City Chiefs:

Scott Pioli (8/26): Rebuilding Work Continues in Kansas City

Thomas Jones (8/13): On the Porta-Potty Drill

Todd Haley (7/28): Looks to Take a Big Step Forward in 2010

Dwayne Bowe (5/26): Did Dwayne Bowe Import Or Not?

Denver Broncos
Power Rank: 22
Offensive Rank: 21
Defensive Rank: 19
Projected Record: 7.0 – 9.0
Make Playoffs: 28.1%
2009 Playoff Teams on Schedule: 5
Projected 2010 Playoff Teams on Schedule: 7
Biggest Strength: Pass Defense
Greatest Weakness: Pass Offense
Most Important Offensive Player: Ryan Clady, OT
Most Important Defensive Player: Robert Ayers, OLB
Fantasy Stud: Knowshon Moreno, RB
Fantasy Dud: Daniel Graham, TE
Fantasy Sleeper: Eric Decker, WR
Fantasy Dud: Julius Jones, RB
Fantasy Sleeper: Golden Tate, WR

Recent SportsRadioInterviews from the Denver Broncos:

Josh McDaniels (8/5): Hopes Year Two in Denver is More Fruitful

Kyle Orton (6/16): Not Feeling Any Pressure with Brady Quinn and Tim Tebow Lurking

Brady Quinn (5/24): Went to Denver with the Thought of Being Starter

Tim Tebow (4/26): Just Wants to Play Football

Oakland Raiders
Power Rank: 23
Offensive Rank: 18
Defensive Rank: 27
Projected Record: 6.5 – 9.5
Make Playoffs: 11.6%
2009 Playoff Teams on Schedule: 4
Projected 2010 Playoff Teams on Schedule: 5
Biggest Strength: Fresh Offensive Outlook
Greatest Weakness: Being the Raiders (Queue Dennis Green Soundbite)
Most Important Offensive Player: Mario Henderson, OT
Most Important Defensive Player: Chris Johnson, CB
Fantasy Stud: Zach Miller, TE
Fantasy Dud: DEF
Fantasy Sleeper: Louis Murphy, WR

Recent SportsRadioInterviews from the St. Louis Rams:

Darren McFadden (8/18): Can He Shine in the Blackhole?

Tom Cable (8/6): Can He Clean-up Al Davis’ Mess?

Jason Campbell (7/26): Impressed with Oakland’s Roster

Rolando McClain (4/26): Always Wanted to be a Raider

Masoli intended to transfer and play using a rule that states that if you graduate from one institution, are not kicked out of school, and intend to begin a graduate school program not offered at your previous school, you can request an academic waiver and play for a new program.

The NCAA rejected that claim saying the transfer wasn’t based on academics, which brings up an interesting quandary. In the argument of athletics and academics, did the other players who have requested this waiver truly do it just for the academics? And was Masoli’s waiver denied, at least in part, because of off-the-field issues that wound up getting him booted off the Oregon football team?

Houston Nutt joined WGFX in Nashville on the 3 Hour Lunch to discuss his frustration over the late decision on Masoli’s case, whether Ole Miss was treated differently than other programs might have been, how another committee will look at Ole Miss’ appeal, why it took so long for the first decision to be made, how he’s keeping his team focused on the start of the season, what the actual rule states and whether he believes they will win the appeal.

On how frustrated he was that the decision on Jeremiah Masoli came so late:

“It’s pretty frustrating to allow a young man to come all the way across the country, pay his own way, and then, by the way, three or four days before the game, [tell him] that he can’t play. That’s what hurts. When you go by the rule and look at the rule and read the rule which specifically states that if you graduate, if you find a degree in the graduate program, a degree where they don’t have that same degree at Oregon, and that if you’re not suspended by the university. … It just looks like a different interpretation. … The biggest thing is that it looks like this is a very high-profile guy and a lot of questions were asked.”

On whether he feels the case was treated differently because it was Ole Miss:

“I don’t know. I don’t know that. Again, this was a curveball for me because this was my first experience with it. I just assumed. That’s where I probably did a bad job, I just assumed that this was going to be like just about all the other transfer cases. I don’t know if we were treated any different.”

On how a new committee will review the appeal:

“It’s a different committee. When you do appeal, there’s another committee, a sub-committee of different people, faculty reps, athletic director, coaches, whoever, that will now decide.”

On why it took so long to find out the initial ruling:

“That’s a good question. That’s one that I don’t know. It started worrying me a little bit when it did take a long time for the committee to decide. That’s what worried me, but I didn’t know. I just remember having a basketball player that Coach [Andy] Kennedy had, that he dismissed, that went on to Seton Hall and he got [a decision] fairly quickly. Of course there was a basketball player at Duke that transferred to Syracuse. When I studied this thing, and this was my first experience, it just seemed like things moved pretty quickly if you did everything by the rule.”

On how he keeps his team focused on the season despite the national news story:

“It’s important that we do get everything because there’s so much attention, so much media, everything’s on Jeremiah. I want to quickly, quickly shift everything today. … I will make sure that we are 100 percent focused on Jacksonville State because I’ll tell you this, they had Florida State beat.”

On what the actual NCAA rule state:

“The rule states this: No. 1, if a young man graduates from a university, if he can go to another program and find a degree in the graduate program that the previous school did not offer, if you get into that school and you have not been suspended by that university – kicked out for whatever reason … – you’re eligible for a waiver to be able to play a year without sitting out for a year. If you look at all the cases of the people that have transferred. … What it gets down to is they start asking questions about, ‘Well, did you transfer for academics?’ … Let’s not be naive, people transfer, usually, it’s athletic related. But Jeremiah graduated in three years, so he’s doing something right, academically. He could’ve gone back to Oregon to go back to graduate school. He wasn’t kicked out of that school, he was dismissed from the team. And so, he had a chance to come here, to get a waiver where he didn’t have to sit out a year, because he followed the three steps of instruction by the way the rule reads.”

On whether he expects to win the appeal:

“I just don’t know. Again, this is my first experience. I’m in uncharted water. … I looked it up, not very many have won an appeal. But, I’ll say this, this is the most different case that this new committee will ever read about. I’m hoping they’ll put all things aside and don’t go by high profile, don’t go by what he’s done in the past, just look at the student athlete and look at the rule.”

Listen to the interview with Houston Nutt on WGFX in Nashville here

PredictionMachine.com’s Take on the NFC West

(results from 50,000 NFL season simulations)

Pete Carroll may consider the NFC West the most winnable division in the NFL. Play-by-play announcers calling divisional games may call it the most competitive. PredictionMachine.com would say that it’s the worst. San Francisco has an emerging defense and some interesting weapons, yet it would be hard to consider the 49ers a better than .500 team in any other division. Arizona may have back-to-back playoff appearances to its credit, but the team lost much of its foundation when Kurt Warner, Anquan Boldin, Karlos Dansby and Antrel Rolle left. And, Seattle and St. Louis have two of the weakest rosters in the NFL (both ranking in the bottom five in the Power Rankings). Collectively, the NFC West is just 2% likely to win the Super Bowl. The NFC West plays the NFC South and AFC West.

San Francisco 49ers
Power Rank: 17
Offensive Rank: 20
Defensive Rank: 6
Projected Record: 8.9 – 7.1
Make Playoffs: 53.8%
2009 Playoff Teams on Schedule: 6
Projected 2010 Playoff Teams on Schedule: 5
Biggest Strength: Run Defense
Greatest Weakness: Young Offensive Line
Most Important Offensive Player: Alex Smith, QB
Most Important Defensive Player: Nate Clements, CB
Fantasy Stud: Frank Gore, RB
Fantasy Dud: Ted Ginn, Jr., WR
Fantasy Sleeper: Anthony Dixon, RB

Recent SportsRadioInterviews from the San Francisco 49ers:

Alex Smith (9/1): Is Breathing Easy for Once

Brian Westbrook (8/19): On Joining the 49ers

Glen Coffee (8/18): At Peace with Leaving, Glen Coffee Still “Quit” on Teammates

Mike Singletary (7/29): Is Not Interested In Making Predictions

Arizona Cardinals
Power Rank: 24
Offensive Rank: 13
Defensive Rank: 16
Projected Record: 8.1 – 7.9
Make Playoffs: 49.7%
2009 Playoff Teams on Schedule: 4
Projected 2010 Playoff Teams on Schedule: 6
Biggest Strength: Explosive Playmakers
Greatest Weakness: Quarterback
Most Important Offensive Player: Matt Leinart/Derek Anderson, QB
Most Important Defensive Player: Greg Toler, CB
Fantasy Stud: Beanie Wells, RB
Fantasy Dud: Matt Leinart, QB
Fantasy Sleeper: Stephen Williams, WR

Recent SportsRadioInterviews from the Arizona Cardinals:

Derek Anderson (8/31): Battles for Starting Job in Arizona

Matt Leinart (8/30): Feels Like He Has Nothing to Lose

Beanie Wells (8/23): On Being Comfortable and Healthy

Larry Fitzgerald (8/18): Minor Setback Won’t Keep Him from Achieving His Goals

Seattle Seahawks
Power Rank: 28
Offensive Rank: 24
Defensive Rank: 28
Projected Record: 5.7 – 10.3
Make Playoffs: 19.1%
2009 Playoff Teams on Schedule: 4
Projected 2010 Playoff Teams on Schedule: 5
Biggest Strength: Fresh Attitude
Greatest Weakness: Health and Stability
Most Important Offensive Player: Russell Okung, OT
Most Important Defensive Player: Earl Thomas, S
Fantasy Stud: John Carlson, TE
Fantasy Dud: Julius Jones, RB
Fantasy Sleeper: Golden Tate, WR

Recent SportsRadioInterviews from the Seattle Seahawks:

Aaron Curry (8/25): Is Motivated for a Breakout Season

Mike Williams (8/17): Slimmer Mike Williams Attempts Comeback in Seattle

T.J. Houshmandzadeh (8/5): Says He Didn’t Get the Ball Enough Last Year

Pete Carroll (7/19): The NCAA Investigation at USC was a Factor in His Decision

St. Louis Rams
Power Rank: 32
Offensive Rank: 30
Defensive Rank: 32
Projected Record: 3.2 – 12.8
Make Playoffs: 0.2%
2009 Playoff Teams on Schedule: 5
Projected 2010 Playoff Teams on Schedule: 5
Biggest Strength: Special Teams and Steven Jackson
Greatest Weakness: Everything Else (Especially When Steven Jackson May Not Be Healthy)
Most Important Offensive Player: Sam Bradford, QB
Most Important Defensive Player: All of Them
Fantasy Stud: Steven Jackson, RB (by default)
Fantasy Dud: Daniel Fells, TE
Fantasy Sleeper: Danny Amendola, WR

Recent SportsRadioInterviews from the St. Louis Rams:

Steven Jackson (8/19): Battering Ram is Bulked Up and Ready for 2010

Steve Spagnuolo (8/12): “A.J.’s the Starter for Now”

Sam Bradford (8/4): Without Taking a Snap, Bradford Strikes it Rich

Bill Devaney (7/30): On Signing Sam Bradford

Kurt Busch on 790 the Zone in Atlanta to talk about what goes on during a race that gets him angry, what it is about Atlanta Motor Speedway that works so well for him, and on the notion that his brother Kyle likes the booing he gets from the crowd and how that fuels his fire.

What goes on during a race that gets him angry:

“It has got to be just one of those circumstances that happens out on the track where a driver makes a mistake or does something intentionally to spin you out or wreck you, just do something completely stupid.  Then you have those days where you blow your motor or your team gives you a bad pit stop.  That is just part of it when your own team does something.  You have got to deal with that because you win as a team together and you die as a team together, but if a another competitor does a quick jab at you or something wrong that is when the blood gets pumping.”

What it is about Atlanta Motor Speedway that works so well for him:

“It is a fun race track and it is really cool how you can race there in any groove, low groove, middle groove, high groove.  Just depends on when your tires start to fade a little bit on your car and you have got to adjust your racing line.  That is what is so fun about it is that just the options you have in Atlanta and if your car is not perfect, you change your line around and you find something different.  All of the race fans that go there get a great front row seat action in seeing the drivers slide coming out of the corners, and we are doing 180 while we are doing it.”

Whether he knows right away when someone intentionally wrecks him:

“Yeah you got a pretty good sense of it but then there are those times where you watch the tape and you see that there was as third party involved or something that couldn’t avoid and something happened but most of the time you pretty much have to have a good understanding because you have to know all the time who you are racing around whether it is a rookie or a veteran or somebody that you had run-ins with.”

What he would do if his brother Kyle ever wrecks him and whether they would just fight right there on the track:

“That hasn’t happened.  We’ve raced each other pretty clean over the years.  There is a good incident we had at the All Star Race a few years back where he passed me front solo on the straightaway and I thought he was on the grass, so I said, ‘If you want to go that low, here I am going to give you the low line going into turn one.’  So I pinched him down and he ended up spinning out and wrecking us both.”

On the notion that his brother Kyle likes the booing he gets from the crowd and how that fuels his fire:

“Yeah he has definitely done an interesting job handling the media, enticing the fans, doing the things that he has done to be a different type of person out on the race track.”

Which race car driver he has ‘beef’ with:

“There are plenty of guys that each driver has on their list and for me I have learned that it is better to have more friends than enemies on your list.  Right now, the four-time champion Jimmie Johnson keep running into each other and my scorecard ends up going into the wrong favor every time.  If I have to race Jimmie pretty hard, you will see that coming up.”

Kurt Busch on 790 the Zone in Atlanta with Mayhem in the AM

Still, his Tigers program has incidents surrounding suspicion of driving under the influence and now a former captain has basically been kicked off the team following charges of deviate sexual assault. And all of this has gone down with a season-opening rivalry game in the near future. That’s obviously going to turn some heads.

It has turned the head of Pinkel as well, but the veteran coach insists that he’ll stay the course, using the same disciplinary principles that have worked at Missouri for the better part of a decade.

Missouri coach Gary Pinkel joined ESPN Radio 101 in St. Louis on the Bob Stelton Show to discuss why this weekend’s meeting with Illinois seems to be the final one in the rivalry matchup, whether recruiting receives a boost from the rivalry game, what it’s like to dominate such a rivalry, how he approaches players who are receiving NFL Draft or Heisman attention and how he’s ensuring that the bad off-the-field decisions come to a halt.

On why this is the final meeting currently scheduled with rival Illinois:

“I think in basketball … when you have that many games [on a schedule] it’s easy to schedule [that matchup]. It’s a great rivalry game, there’s no question about it. St. Louis does a great job of putting it on, first class and it’s good for the community and good for both schools. That being said, to have some variety a little bit and be able to schedule … we’d like to have this game be played six out of every 10 years. … Hopefully we can do that again.”

On whether Mizzou gets a recruiting boost from having the game:

“I think it’s a plus. It’s always televised, that’s good. It’s in St. Louis, that’s one of our great recruiting areas. It’s a plus in many ways.”

On what it’s like to dominate such a rivalry:

“I don’t ever talk about the past. I never do. I never, ever talk about the past. Whether you won them all or lost them all doesn’t matter. What’s important is focusing on this game and taking care of our business. … My biggest concern in any opening game is in that opening game, are you going to protect the ball? Are you going to play a good kicking game? Are you going to not have mental errors? Are you going to not have penalties? Those things that you have to learn how to not lose before you start winning. Those things are things that are important.”

On how to approach players like quarterback Blaine Gabbert who have Heisman Trophy and NFL Draft hype surrounding them:

“I think you have to earn all that stuff. I think he’s very talented and hopefully he can have that kind of year where those things will really come out and those things become a reality. The way it looks is he’s done a good job and he’s played well, but he can play remarkably better. If he’s having a great year, that means we’re probably winning a lot of games. What goes all along with this, I used to tell Chase Daniel and Brad Smith this, is that’s how you get those kind of recognitions – the team wins and you play at a high level. Hopefully those things happen.”

On how he’ll go about ensuring recent off-field troubles come to an end:

“We’ll just do what we’ve always done. That’s how we’ve built our program. We run a disciplined program. We’ve had some kids that have made some serious mistakes and errors in judgment, but do we put a handle on it? No. It just is what it is. I think we’ve always been respected nationally for being first class and doing the right things. The way it sits now is there’s consequences for those decisions and what we have to do then is we have to earn some respect back. That’s what we’ll do. That’s my job. These things, as the leader here, I’m responsible for everything that happens here.”

Listen to the interview with Gary Pinkel on ESPN Radio 101 in St. Louis here

After a disappointing 2009, the Dolphins went out and made some significant changes to the roster and the coaching staff. Mike Nolan came in to run the defense, Karlos Dansby came from the desert to be the quarterback of the defense, and Brandon Marshall was brought over from Denver to give Chad Henne one of the best receivers in the NFL to throw the ball to.

The Jets seem to be the hot team in the AFC East after what they did last year in the playoffs and the additions they made in the offseason and the Patriots look like a team playing with a chip on their shoulder. But the Dolphins are heading into Tony Sparano’s third year with the best roster they have had in years and will certainly have some say in who wears the crown this year in the AFC East.

Tony Sparano joined WQAM in Miami with Joe Rose to talk about how he feels about the team so far in the preseason, what he has seen from Chad Henne, whether or not he has a good idea of who will make the 53 man roster at this point, how frustrating it is to deal with some of the injuries he is dealing with right now, and what he likes about his two first round picks.

On whether or not he is going to extend the playing time of the starters based on the struggles last game:

“It wasn’t just the offense last game, but I’ve considered expanded playing time for all and any. We’ve got all hands on deck this week and right now there’s really no timetables. We’re just gonna show up and play and get the work that we need to get done. I will be the judge and jury there.”

On Chad Henne’s development:

“He’s been really good I think. He’s been getting better and better each week.  I thought during the course of the ballgame this weekend, he made some really good throws in that game. Missed one or two during the course of the game and maybe had a poor decision on one play, but for the most part, during his time in there, I thought fairly efficient at what it was that he was trying to get accomplished. Of course earlier in the preseason that one first game there was a hard evaluator with all the rain, the mud, and those things. He’s been really consistent, he’s been getting better each week and he works really hard at it.”

On the frustrations with some of the injuries right now:

“It’s frustrating Joe a little bit, but you gotta trust in the process. We’ve been very fortunate here that our doctors have been really good with some of these rehabs when you look at the Pat Cobbs, the Ronnie Browns and these types of people. They have really done a good job on some of these rehabs. The frustrating thing is just not really being able to put your finger and pinpoint a timetable. I’m always asked the question do you think coach and how long? It’s just really hard and that’s the frustrating part. I don’t know how the kids’ body is and at the same time I don’t think you can really put a timetable on some of those things.”

On how excited he is about Jared Odrick and Koa Misi, the team’s first two picks:

“Yeah I really am. I see improvement in both these players. The thing you have to realize with both these young guys, they are both playing positions that they haven’t played. With Jared playing in a different defense and with Koa really this is completely different for him. I like the progress they are making and I thought Koa was more productive this week than he was in the previous game even against Jacksonville. He made some plays, he had some plays that he left there on the field that he learned from and he is a very good study in the classroom and effort and energy is never going to be a problem with him or with Jared. Jared is a guy that of course he is going to get measured on tackles and sacks and all those things, but when you’re slugging it out  in there doing what he’s doing against some of these people a large part of it is what we call unsung heroes is when you’re giving up yourself for those linebackers in the back of you too and he’s done a good job of holding the point and some of those things.”

Listen to Tony Sparano on WQAM in Miami with Joe Rose