What about Bob? Glauber's NFL Blog

It is a different world these days, as we all know. Which may partially explain the hubbub over what to do with Brett Favre's locker.

With Favre's legend casting a massive shadow in Green Bay, the team decided to ship Favre's locker to Mississippi, rather than have it serve as a makeshift shrine that might ultimately cause bad vibes for successor Aaron Rodgers.

Back in the old days - you know, like three or four year ago - this would not have been that big a deal. It's not unusual for teams to keep the lockers of legendary players unoccuppied, or else somehow make it special. It's what the Giants did with the lockers of Phil Simms and Lawrence Taylor.

This, according to the Rocky Mountain News. If it's true, it at least provides some measure of justice for the senseless murder of a talented young man.

I know. I know. It's supposed to be a football blog.

But it's May, it's Friday, I've just eaten an egg white omlette, and I'm saddened over the loss of actor/comedian Harvey Korman, whose wit and humor transcended the generations like few others.

My favorite Korman character was in a Mel Brooks movie I've seen perhaps a dozen times: Blazing Saddles.

Korman played a conniving politician named Heddy Lamar, and was continually referenced as Heddy Lamarr, the Austrian born actress.

"It's Hedley," he would say.

Great movie.

Great actor.

Great comedian.

He will be missed.

... ok, there is football business to take care of. There are OTAs and mini-camps and impending holdouts and contract signings.

Even though the Titans quarterback said as much in a recent column on NFL.com, he now says he never seriously considered stepping away from football.

Young admits he occasionally overcome with the burden of expectations after his rookie season, but that he never seriously considered walking away. Even though he said just that in the column.

Oh, well.

Not a good month for Young.

A few days ago, he apologized after pictures of him drinking at a party and walking around shirtless surfaced on the Internet.

The lesson in all this: You're a quarterback, Vince. Everything you do or say can or will become an issue.

Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor spoke about football for the first time since head coach Tony Sparano opined that the player had no plans to report to the team any time soon. Including training camp.

Taylor said that wasn't necessarily the case.

"I'm under contract with the Dolphins," he said at a charity golf event in Des Moinse, Iowa. "So again, I'm looking forward to playing some golf."

Yes, that clears it up.

Cowboys safety Roy Williams, whose pass coverage liabilities have been well documented in this space and others, decided to change numbers from 31 to 38 after the end of last season.

It was a way of reinventing himself. Or so he thought.

But Williams has become a lightning rod for criticism in Big D, and the fact that he has shunned the media only adds to the distraction and creates more controversy.

Not surprisingly, his teammates, coaches and own came to his defense in talking about the veteran safety, who is more widely known for his big hits and horse collar tackles than his solid pass coverage.

I've written about my brother, Mickey, who was named after Mickey Mantle.

Now someone else has written about him after his headline appearance at a Maguire's in Queens, which remains a big part of the Newsday circulation area. (Of course, the earth is our circulation area in the age of the Internet, but you know what I mean.)

I'm not quite sure how Mickey's "man band" got its name, "Rusty Chicken," but perhaps he can fill us in.

The Cowboys reportedly want to have the veteran wide receiver sign an injury waiver because of the risks associated with a knee problem.

Glenn isn't sure what his future holds in Dallas, but when a team goes down the "injury waiver" road, it's not good.

Got a chance to see a hockey game last night, because it was actually on a television network (NBC) that lots of people get.

In case you didn't know, I don't get Versus ... oh, never mind.

It was great to see Sydney Crosby and the Pens make a series of it last night. Let's hope for more of the same now that the country can actually see the goings-on.

Note to Sandy, Islander505, Black N Gold and anyone else who needs a makeshift chatroom to discuss hockey, feel free to comment below. Enjoy the banter.

The Packers' defensive end drove earlier this week to his boyhood neighborhood of Parkersburg, Iowa after a tornado ripped through the town, killing seven and injuring 50. Among the injured was Kampman's grandfather.

Winds of more than 200 mph whipped through the town of 1,800, leveling homes and buildings before moving east.

Kampman, a native of nearby Kelsey, said he couldn't have imagined the destruction he saw when he arrived. But he, along with other residents, used a chainsaw to help remove trees and debris.

"There's so much devastation, you can't look at the big picture," Kampman said. "You've got to look at the small victories. That's been (the residents') rallying cry."

Kampman, a 1998 Aplington-Parkersburg High School graduate, said the Packers will get involved at some level to help out the town.

"This is an opportunity to get as much help (from) all the different circles of influence that people like myself have found themselves in," he said.

The foot injury that ruined most of Larry Johnson's 2007 season appears to be fully healed.

Just for good measure, Herman Edwards is keeping his fingers crossed.

The Dolphins' cornerback, who is now the subject of a legal investigation, and the former Giants' cornerback Collins.

The Neil Best story goes like this: When he was on the Giants' beat, he was talking to Allen one day about then Giants receiver Tim Carter. At one point in the conversation, Best said of Carter: "He has nice abs." There was some context to the quote, but let's just put it this way: Best quickly discovered this is not something you say in an NFL locker room.

The NFL has been onto Allen, the former Giants cornerback who now plays in Miami, for quite some time.

Apparently, Mr. Allen drew the attention of the league when a bank in Detroit notified the NFL about a suspiciously large amount of money that was wired to South Florida.

Allen is a former first-round pick of the Giants.

He was a decent, if unspectacular, cover corner.

Unfortunately, Neil Best could catch the football better than Allen.

But at least they got a seventh-round pick for their troubles.

The Redskins ponied up a conditional seventh-rounder in a deal for first-round bust defensive end Erasmus James, whose career has been marked by injury and ineffectiveness.

The Vikings told James on Friday that they planned to release him, but Redskins personnel director Vinny Cerrato convinced the Vikes to trade him for a seventh-round pick in 2009. The deal is contingent on James making the Redskins' opening day roster this year.

James and first-round receiver Troy Williamson turned out to be huge disappointments in Minnesota, and now neither is with the team. The Vikes deal Williamson to the Jaguars earlier in the off-season.

Bobby Petrino finally went into some detail about his controversial decision to leave the Falcons with three games remaining in the 2007 season to accept the head coaching job at Arkansas.

All of which should do zero for his credibility within the Falcons organization and among the team's fans.

No win situation, Bobby. You came, you took the money, you bailed. As far as the Falcons are concerned, that's the bottom line.

"It was hard on my family. It was hard on my wife and my kids, but I didn't hear a lot of it," Petrino said. "That was probably good."

Yes, it was. There was nothing good to be said.

Perhaps now NFL teams will take a closer look about whether it's really worth it to throw a pile of money at college coaches. Too often, it just doesn't work out. Whether it's Lou Holtz with the Jets, Steve Spurrier with the Redskins or Petrino with the Falcons, there are far too many examples of college coaches bombing at the NFL level. Jimmy Johnson is the clear exception.

Just one PS about Petrino: Imagine what would have happened if the Giants had not make the playoffs after the 2006 season. Had Tiki Barber not scorched the Redskins in the regular season finale to put his arch-enemy Tom Coughlin into the postseason, the Giants would have made a coaching change.

That coach most likely would have been Petrino, who topped then general manager Ernie Accorsi's short list.

I'm too lazy to find out whether Stapler put in writing that he thought the Red Wings would beat the Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals, but I can attest to his verbal prediction, because that's what he told me before the series started.

I, of course, went with the Penguins, who are down 2-0 in the series that no one has really seen so far because Games 1 and 2 have been on Versus. In case you didn't know it, I don't have Versus, just like millions of other hockey fans in this great land of ours.

Thankfully, the nation will get to watch this series, because NBC is carrying the remaining games.

There's still a chance for the Pens, who now get two games at home. But Stapler's Wings are now the heavy favorites with a commanding lead.

Incidentally, Black N Gold tried to bury this in a comment, but the man who professes to be a huge Penguins fan actually BET AGAINST HIS TEAM in Game 1. B N G also claims to be a huge Steelers fans, but he BET AGAINST HIS TEAM in last year's playoffs, too.

Just thought you'd want to know.

:)

Vilma played the good soldier during his two years with Eric Mangini's Jets, who run a 3-4 defense. But now that he's in New Orleans' 4-3 alignment, Vilma admits the obvious: He's much more comfortable.

"It wasn't that I didn't fit into the system," Vilma told the Biloxi Sun-Herald. "It was one of those adjustment-type things where it's you are right-handed and someone is telling you to write left-handed. It was a really big adjustment, not just learning the defense but when you go out there and play and you have to consciously think about fitting and your assignment and footwork.

"That takes time just like anything," he said. "Two years and it was still a learning process. Now that I'm back to something that I'm used to playing with through most of my career, the learning process isn't there. It's just learning Xs and Os."

Vilma was drafted by the Jets to be a 4-3 middle linebacker, and he simply didn't have the kind of juice Mangini was looking for in the 3-4. The hope was that Vilma would replicate the contributions of Patriots inside linebacker Tedy Bruschi. Never happened.

Vilma, meanwhile, continues to rehab a knee problem that eventually forced him onto injured reserve last season. He is now walking without a limp, and the Saints believe he'll be ready to start the season.

Read into that any way you like, but it's true.

In fact, Deion has counseled Pacman in recent weeks as the troubled cornerback hopes to be reinstated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and begin training with his new teammates in Dallas.

The two share a lot in common. Both are cornerbacks. Both have dabbled in playing receiver. Both are controversial.

As for whether Deion is as enamored with strip clubs as Jones, we can't say.

But we can say that if Jones is permitted back into the NFL, he'll wear No. 21 in Dallas. The same number Prime Time wore during his NFL career.

Click here to see a recent interview with Jones.

A couple former NFL players - cornerback Otis Smith and linebacker Mike Caldwell - are serving as assistant coaches for the Eagles.

It's not something that's common in the NFL. Unlike, say, hockey, basketball or baseball, where ex-players are the norm among coaches, former NFL players rarely go into the coaching ranks.

The two biggest reasons: not much money and looooooooooonngg hours.

My five best would-be coaches among former players:

1. Brett Favre. He's a coach's son, which is always a plus. Lives, breathes and sleeps football. Unfortunately for the NFL, more interested in cutting grass than coaching. He might even consider playing again.

2. Ronnie Lott. Career resume with 49ers speaks for itself. But Lott had that unique ability not only to read offenses and play hard-nosed football, but he was a great locker room leader.

3. Phil Simms. He makes way too much money and has way too much fun being an announcer. But the former Giants' quarterback knows x's and o's as well as anyone.

4. Aeneas Williams. The former Cardinals and Rams cornerback was smart, tough and extremely disciplined. Also had that kind of personality that players are drawn to.

5. Mike Singletary. He has had some nibbles for head coaching positions, but teams are scared off by the fact he hasn't called plays, and it's a legitimate issue. That said, Singletary is a terrific teacher, and an even better motivator.

... it was a monumentally bad draft.

Not only are the two first-round picks they had that year - receiver Troy Williamson and defensive end Erasmus James - now gone. But there is only one player left from the entire draft. And he's not even a starter.

The Vikings aren't alone in missing big in that draft. It's the year that quarterback Alex Smith of the 49ers, running back Cedric Benson of the Bears, and wide receiver Mike Williams of the Lions came into the league.

All of them are barely hanging on.

Watching Langer in the Senior PGA Championship today, it was stunning how much he looked like Bayless, he of ESPN First Take fame.

Langer was one of the world's great golfers during his prime, and Bayless remains the most passionate sports aficianado I've ever met. His intensity and knowledge are unmatched, and no one in sports journalism works harder or prepares longer than Bayless.

If you've ever watched him, you'll know he's also not a very big fan of LeBron James, Roger Clemens or Terrell Owens.

It's not just the fact that Harrison may have been involved in a recent shooting incident outside his bar in Philadelphia.

It's the fact that he's 35 years old, barely played last season, and is still not 100 percent healthy because of knee problems.

Ashley Fox of the Philadelphia Inquirer takes a closer look at where Harrison is at these days.

If you haven't, it's understandable. He is a third-year defensive end with the Vikings, and the only time he was ever in the news was when he got suspended four games last year for violating the NFL's steroids policy.

Well, Edwards plans on becoming a household name very soon. He plans on breaking Michael Strahan's single-season sack record.

Forget the fact that Edwards has only eight career sacks in two NFL seasons.

Settle down, Ray. Settle down.

Why not tone things down just a little bit - at least publicly - and shoot for something a little more attainable.

Like actually meeting Strahan, who has probably never even heard of you.

(Ok, I really don't know if Strahan has ever met Edwards. But sheesh. Can the guy put together a season of double-digit sacks before he talks about breaking one of the greatest records ever?)

In an earlier post about Mike Keenan ascending to the presidency of the Browns, we had a throwaway line wondering where hockey's Mike Keenan was these days. To which commenter "HockeyBob" chastised us for not knowing that Keenan was coach of the Calgary Flames.

"HockeyBob" also questioned our devotion to hockey, or whether we simply used this blog to whine about the sport disappearing off the pro sports landscape, in part because of its decision to go with Versus and thus not be available to millions of would-be fans.

Which got us/me thinking ...

This is exactly what's wrong with the sport, and exactly why the ill-fated decision to go with Versus was a colossal mistake. If someone like me - who grew up obsessed with both watching and playing hockey, including several trips north of the border to hockey camp - is now ignorant of all that goes on in hockey because I don't have the kind of television access to it I should, then there's the problem right there. Why should it come down to "Islander505" inviting us over to watch just because he has Versus and I don't?

In other words, if the sport is leaving a willing customer who grew up idolizing Rod Gilbert is leaving him in the dark - or at the very least, making him pursue other cable/satellite alternatives because the sport is not readily available on basic cable - then how can that sport expect to attract new fans and grow to the point where it's more than a flyspeck in terms of ratings and exposure?

Just askin', "HockeyBob."

Enjoy the finals. It's Pittsburgh-Detroit, right?

That's the lesson Vince Young learned after he saw bare-chested pictures posted on a couple of entertainment websites.

A few weeks back, it was Matt Leinart trying to explain away photos showing him helping some coeds drink from a beer bong and then taking a dip in a hot tub.

It's a different world out there, fellas.

No, not that Mike Keenan, the psycho coach who led the Rangers to their first Stanley Cup victory since 19fawty.

A different Mike Keenan, who has been elevated to team president. He replaces John Collins, who was ousted last year in a front-office power play.

We're not sure what the Mike Keenan who is more familiar to NHL fans is doing these days. We'll leave that one to Baumbach, who owns the "Where Are They Now?" beat at Newsday.

As for Boland, when he's not busy reading our blog and posting juvenile comments, he's covering the Jets and offering some pretty decent insight ... for a guy who grew up rooting for the Browns, anyway.

For our first installment of the guest blog, we had BBiB! weigh in with a well-reasoned, thought-provoking piece on the state of youth sports in America. And plenty of thoughtful comments poured forth.

Without further ado, Hook tries his hand at blogging:

So I've been toying with the idea of writing a guest blog for Bob.
I always thought it would be a piece of cake...just go on and on about something and try to throw some funny stuff in there...
I wanted my guest blog to be funny and to generate page hits and a lively debate amongst the blog-readers...

but just as importantly, I wanted Bob to like it and to ask me to do it again..

I wanted Neil Best to say..."hmmm...that individual is rather humorous, and he expresses himself quite succinctly"

I wanted Mark Lamonica to say "Yo, Bob....that dude cracked me up"

I wanted Black N Gold to say "okay...I admit it...he's funnier than me...but, I still think he's an idiot and he should be banned from the blog"

My plan was to mix three things:
- Current pop culture references.
- A display of some sports knowledge...
- Some personal reference to Bob and his blog.

But every time I spent a couple of minutes thinking about what to write, I came away empty...a couple of funny lines but nothing entertaining...nothing "Bob-worthy"

I try to read the blog as often as possible...and finally...I hit the blog yesterday and was inspired to write my guest blog....so here goes:

Bob...American Idol is Over....

Your boy lost...get over it

Grab a beer and a slice of pizza...get on the next bus out of Estrogenland, and come back to us...you're a football writer for god's sake.

Scott Norwood's missed field goal attempt against the Giants in Super Bowl XXV is probably the most vivid example of how fate can change a team's fortunes and a man's career.

But yesterday, there was another cruel football moment that another young athlete and his team will have to live with for a long, long time.

His name is John Terry and he plays for the Chelsea Football Club. (That's soccer, to us Yanks.)

Yesterday, during the European Champions League final against venerable Manchester United, he slipped a flubbed a penalty kick that would have won the game for Chelsea. Norwood's moment will forever be remembered as "wide right." Same cruel fate for Terry.

And already, the fallout has begun. In the age of the Internet, the teasing is both creative and instantaneous.

This pic was sent along by our British soccer pal "Mitch," with whom we've played many a match with our aging group of has-beens and - in my case - never weres.

Anyway, here's a terrific article on Terry's sad moment written by former Newsday columnist Chuck Culpepper, who was covering the game for the Los Angeles Times.

Chuck now lives in England and has written extensively on soccer.

I ran into Chuck on the "tube" leaving the Giants-Dolphins game in London last October.

That was the trip on which I got to see Mr. Terry's Chelsea mates drub Manchester City in a memorable trip to Chelsea's home pitch. Terry was injured at the time.

Hang in, mate.

The Packers running back had a breakout season last year in helping the Packers reach the NFC Championship Game against the Giants.

Not bad for a guy who was traded by those Giants to Green Bay for a sixth-round pick in 2008.

Now he's hoping to get a little cha-ching for his efforts. Grant's current contract has him making the NFL minimum this season.

This NFL thing sure is popular these days

Super agent Drew Rosenhaus, who represents about a million players, has come up with a creative way of disseminating information about his clients.

The other day, he was getting calls from several reporters in Cleveland wondering why Kellen Winslow Jr. wasn't at the team's voluntary off-season workouts.

So Rosenhaus responded by posting a video on Youtube to answer the question.

An absolutely brilliant call by Joe M., one of our faves in the look-a-likes business. A tour de force.

Bowen's Spurs are in the NBA Finals, and Smoove is the actor who played Leon on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Joe M. tells us he is also on "Til' Death."

Bowen first:

Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said earlier today that it's his belief that veteran defensive end Jason Taylor will not only miss the rest of the team's off-season activites and mini-camps, but that he'll also be missing from training camp.

Translation: See ya.

Taylor, who has been a popular contestant on "Dancing With the Stars," has hinted he'd like to be playing elsewhere. And the Dolphins looked into trading him before and during the draft. But they couldn't find anyone willing to give up enough for a stud pass rusher.

But now that the head coach is saying that he doesn't expect Taylor to be at training camp, it's a fait accompli (sorry, I love that phrase when it's applicable) that Taylor is history in Miami.

Spygate.

Matt Walsh.

Owners opt out of CBA.

Spygate.

Lockout possibility in 2011.

Take a break from the misery and check this out.

Then check this one.

It's a reminder of what football is all about.

If you're a frequent reader of this blog, you will know of the Glauber family's obsession with the American Idol competition. And the lone male in the family is also obsessed with NHL hockey.

If you've never read this blog, you now know the Glauber family is obsessed with American Idol. And that I love hockey.

Two predictions now that we're in the finals of both competitions.

David Archuleta will be a shoe-in tonight when the American Idol winner is announced. He was sensational last night, vastly superior to David Cook, who will become a star in his own right. Just not tonight.

As for the NHL finals, it will be Black N Gold's beloved Penguins over Staple's beloved Red Wings. Sydney Crosby & Co. beat Chris Chelios & Co. in six.

If you're one of the 42,342 people in this country who gets Versus, enjoy the series.

It's something NFL commissioner Roger Goodell floated at the owners meetings outside Atlanta yesterday, possibly as a means to placate the players in their bid to reach accord on a collective bargaining agreement extension.

The idea would be to add a 17th regular season game and remove a preseason game.

We're all in favor of taking away a preseason game, but we DO NOT favor adding another regular season game.

For starters, 16 is a perfect number, especially for a 32-team league that now has as balanced a schedule than at any time in league history.

Second, you'd have an unbalanced number of home and away games each year. The plan is to alternate between conferences each year (AFC teams get nine home games one year, NFC teams get nine the next year.) Too awkward.

Third, you only add to the injury factor in a league that is often defined by key injuries.

No, we like the schedule just the way it is, and can't see how the NFL would use the carrot of a 17-game season to entice the union into extending the labor agreement.

Next.

I don't know who wrote this, but I do know he took no prisoners in ripping the media over its handling of Spygate.

Caution: if you open this link, you will see steam pouring out of your computer.

He calls it the "most disgraceful episode in recent sports media history."

Enough said.