...Jerry Richardson

Jerry Richardson is the owner of the Carolina Panthers, the team that drafted controversial Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton. At their first meeting, Richardson asked the star quarterback whether he had either of those things. Newton responded, "No, sir." Richardson said he'd like to keep it that way. Though most of his team members have tattoos and earrings, I think Jerry is looking at Cam as a future star for the team and he wants him to stay as clean cut and marketable as possible. Why? Well look at the other controversial, for other reasons, Heisman Trophy winner all the way in Denver. Tim Tebow has yet to prove himself as a quarterback in the NFL. He may end up being the 4th string quarterback this year, but he has made millions from Gatorade, Jockey, etc. He has 0 piercings and 0 tattoos and he has a squeaky clean image. Could Cam Newton be like Tebow? Maybe, though Tebow is much more humbler than Newton, but they both have winning past. I am not a fan of tattoos, piercings I can handle. I do hope that Cam sticks with this idea, even if he goes to another team. I am giving Jerry Richardson 2 yes 2 Digits Up for having the gall to request this.

...Michael Koenen

In my hometown of Tampa, Florida $19 million dollars can buy you a lot. You can literally buy 4 or more homes on the beach and buy a high end car for each driveway. It is not the cheapest place to live, but it is one of the nicest bang for your buck cities in Florida, with an unusually high crime rate. In Tampa, Florida you can also buy Michael Koenen. Who is Michael Koenen? A punter, a punter who just received the biggest deal ever given to a punter in the NFL. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers gave him a 6 year $19.5 million dollar contract. Among punters with 50 or more punts last year, Koenen ranked 30th in the league with an average of 40.7 yards. His net average was 35.6 yards, 28th in the league. At dropping punts inside the 20-yard line, doing that 29 times last year, tied for eighth in the league. He put 23 balls in the end zone for touchbacks on the kickoff last year, good for third in the league, but with kickoffs moving up to the 35-yard line this year, a larger percentage of kickers will be able sail the ball into the end zone. Though Shane Lechler signed a deal with the Raiders in 2009 worth more per year ($16 million over four) and had more guarantees, this is still impressive. This is going to cost them in the long run if they fail to deliver. They have a good young quarterback and a chance, but this is still an odd move. However I am going to give Michael Koenen a Digit Up for making out like a bandit with this deal. By the way the Bandits used to be a football team in Tampa Bay during the United States Football League days... HA!

...NFL

The lockout is over. After 4 1/2 months and a possible threat to the regular NFL season the NFL is back. As a fan I am happy, and I know millions more across the nation are as well. I am giving this a Digit Up Below is a breakdown of what the new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) consist of and what to look forward to.






1. Familiar free agency is back: Free agency returns to the way it was done from 1993 through 2009. A player needs four years of experience to become an unrestricted free agent. In the uncapped year of 2010, players needed six years of experience to hit the open market. That puts 448 players on the market, starting July 28. Owners tried and failed to slow the potentially hot market by asking for right-of-first-refusals on three players, but players vetoed that notion, complaining that 236 budding unrestricted free agents in 2010 were relegated to restricted free-agent status. Restricted free agency is limited to players with three years of experience.

2. Cap stands at $120.375 million: The salary cap is $120.375 million, but each team has the option of using a $3 million exemption this year on a signed player to free up some room. Next year, teams will have the option of designating three player exemptions at $1.5 million each. These are used to transition into a salary cap that decreased from $128 million in 2009. There is also a mandatory cash minimum payroll for each team at 89 percent of the cap, which translates into $107.1 million per team.

3. Rookie wage scale 2.0: In 1993, owners thought they had a hard, unbreakable rookie wage system, but agents broke it by negotiating option bonuses, escalator clauses and one-time bonuses. The new rookie wage scale is supposed to cut top rookie contracts by more than 50 percent. First-round picks get four-year deals in which the club holds a fifth-year option. There are slotted four-year deals from Rounds 2 through 7. Here's the discount. Cam Newton, the first pick in this year's draft, would be eligible for a four-year, $22.03 million contract. If the Panthers keep him for a fifth year, his salary would be at the average of the top 10 salaries of other quarterbacks. One unique part about the new system is it should prevent long holdouts. At some point in August, unsigned draft choices lose their leverage if they aren't signed. There is another clause that prevents draft picks from holding out after they sign. If he holds out during the deal, he is prohibited from renegotiating his contract. There is a limit to the amount of money given to rookies. The max total in 2011 is $874 million.

4. Minimum salaries going up: One of the selling points for the players is an increase in the minimum salaries. Owners have agreed to a 10-12 percent increase in the minimum salary structure. Rookies, for example, would go from $330,000 to $375,000. The increases go to $450,000 for second-year players, $525,000 for third-year players, $600,000 for fourth-year players, $685,000 for players with five-to-seven years of experience, $810,000 for players with eight-to-10 years of experience and $910,000 for players with more than 10 years of experience.

5. Franchise tags: Although this was one of the last big issues being contested by the players, there will be no change in a team's ability to annually place a franchise or transition tag on a top player to retain his rights. Players were pushing for a system in which players could be franchised only once. That would free up Drew Brees of the Saints for free agency next year and stop the Colts from franchising Peyton Manning next year. Owners voted to move ahead with the deal without that change.

WINNERS

• The owners and the players. Call it a tie. Each got a little something they wanted, and most important, each will get a lot of money. The owners now will keep 52 percent of the revenues, not the 47 percent from the previous collective bargaining agreement that so rankled them, but they also will have to operate with a $120 million salary cap, with an additional approximately $20 million for benefits, and have a guaranteed spend. That guaranteed spend was important to the players, and they got it. In the end, the owners and players are splitting more than $9 billion. No one is losing.

• Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith. Sure, both men took hits, and the rhetoric, at times, was ugly. But the two men were able to keep their constituents together. Neither had massive factions develop, and Smith put together a sharp executive committee to negotiate.

Although they probably never will have the close, collegial relationship Paul Tagliabue and Gene Upshaw enjoyed, Goodell and Smith worked together to close the deal and keep the owners and players from losing games. That was the ultimate goal.

• The lawyers. Goodell was right when he kept hammering home the point that a new collective bargaining agreement would not be negotiated in the courts, it would be negotiated at the table. The various court cases created leverage for each side, but ultimately it only benefitted the lawyers, who earned hundreds of millions of dollars in legal fees.

• Veteran players. Life just got a little easier for them.

Minimum salaries will be increased, so that is a win. Also, the offseason got five weeks shorter, and easier. Coaches cannot make players report to team facilities until late April. There will be four fewer organized team activities, fewer full-contact practices in the preseason and regular season and a lower limit to the amount of practice time and contact.

These will be welcome changes, particularly to the older players. Coaches like practices in full pads. Players, not so much.

• The city of Indianapolis. All that was at stake for Indy was the projected $400 million economic boost from hosting Super Bowl XLVI on Feb. 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium. The league had asked the city to keep two weeks open, in the event they had to push back the date for the Super Bowl. Now, the city can welcome upward of 150,000 cash-carrying people who will descend upon Indianapolis, stay in its hotels, eat in its restaurants, drink in its bars and ride in its cabs.


LOSERS

• The plaintiffs in Brady v. the NFL, particularly Logan Mankins and Vincent Jackson. They got nothing for putting their name on the lawsuit filed against their employer, not money nor leverage nor freedom. To hear Mankins' agent tell it, they did not even get clear communication from the union's lawyers, particularly Jeff Kessler.

Mankins and Jackson have been portrayed as greedy, asking for a cash settlement for their efforts. Frank Bauer, Mankins' agent, told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen that Mankins has not made monetary demands.

"We haven't talked to Jeff Kessler," Bauer said. "There has been no communication, but it's irresponsible to report Logan has made monetary demands. Are we disappointed there has been no communication? Hugely. He trusted the union and Kessler to fight for Logan Mankins and the other players."

• The first-round draft picks. Oh, to be Sam Bradford, the last No. 1 overall pick to land the monster first contract. Last year, without ever having thrown a pass for the St. Louis Rams, Bradford got a six-year, $78 million contract with $50 million guaranteed. Cam Newton, this year's No. 1 overall pick, will make roughly half that in his first contract with the Carolina Panthers.

The first-round picks will not really cash in until their fifth year, when the teams will have the option to extend the first-rounder's contract at what the league called "agreed-upon tender amounts." That is not Bradford or Matthew Stafford money, not even close.

• As a result, the agents. Because the rookie contracts will be significantly less, so too will be the agents' haul. Also, the new deal will reduce agent fees for rookie contracts from a maximum of 3 percent to a maximum of 2 percent beginning in 2012.

So not only will the agents be taking a percentage of a smaller contract than they had in the past, that percentage will be even smaller. For agents, this is very, very bad news.

• The Hall of Fame game. It has been canceled. Good news for the Chicago Bears and St. Louis Rams, who will not have to rush to get ready for the Aug. 7 game, bad news for the city of Canton and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Now all 32 teams will play four preseason games apiece, not five, as the Bears and Rams would have done had the game been played.

It is only fair, after an irregular offseason, that the teams open training camps at the same time and play the same number of games.

• The fans. Yes, there will be football in the fall, but the fans had to listen to all of this nonsense for more than four months.

The draft was not as fun because no trades involving players could happen. There were no practices or signings or depth charts, no look at how the draft picks will fit in.

In essence, the NFL has been the No Fun League.

...The Green Bay Packers

First my favorite football team won the Super Bowl. Then the lockout happened and now football is cancelled. Players and teams are not supposed to "fraternize" during the NFL lockout, but the league gave special dispensation to the Packers. Why? To receive their all important Super Bowl rings!!! Here are the ring's stats, so to say:

-The "G" logo in the middle of the ring includes 13 diamonds, one for each of the Packers championships (four Super Bowls, nine pre-merger NFL Championships).

-Football-shaped diamonds dot the corner of the top of the rings, representing the four Super Bowl titles.

-A total of 92 diamonds surround the crest, representing the 92 years that the franchise has existed.

-On the inside of the ring, the scores of all the Packers playoff wins are included, as well as the logos of the opponents (congratulations, Eagles fans, you're on a Super Bowl ring!).

-Also on the inside is a "1" alongside the words "Mind, Goal, Purpose and Heart," a sort of mantra that the Packers used on their way to the title.

-One side features the Lombardi trophy and the player's name and number, with the number encircled as it was on the Packers throwback jerseys this year. On the other side is a rather exquisitely crafted likeness of Lambeau Field.

In total the ring weighs in at 3.35 carats. It kind of looks like a classy high school graduation ring...maybe college as well... PURE CLASS! All kidding aside no matter what the ring looks like it is just nice that the Packers finally got their rings. Now if only the lockout would end, Brett Favre would return and the games can begin again. I am giving the Green Bay Packers a Digit Up. If you think about it a little some of this Digit goes to the NFL as well for bending the rules a little.

...AEG

AEG has been leading the way when it comes to bringing a NFL team back to Los Angeles. They already have, somehow, secured the naming rights to a stadium that has yet to be built nor have they purchased land for it. That has not stopped them from talking to teams though. As AEG owner Philip Anschutz said in an interview with the Orange County Register, "St. Louis, Jacksonville, not extensively, certainly Oakland, San Diego, Minnesota are still in the mix. We're not packing any [moving] vans right now." Oddly enough though it will cost them $1.35 billion, at this point in time, to build a stadium, but AEG is also committing to write checks to cover any bridge between a debt on stadium bonds and revenue created. They may have the upper hand. Whenever the current NFL lockout end the bill for that will fall in the lap of Roger Goodell. The best way for him to save his money would be to facilitate the sale of a team, or the expansion of the league, and the fees those moves generally put in the pockets of all owners. So it will basically be like buying a house when the market is down in your dream neighborhood because the owners were forced to sell...something like that. Either way it seems like AEG is going to get a team within the next 3 years which kind of sucks for me because I wanted to own a NFL team and move them to L.A. but this does mean I do not have to pay those crazy Cali taxes and I could buy any other team, except for the Packers, for a lot less. I am giving AEG a Digit Up, though this could backfire on them 10 years down the road.

...Terrelle Pryor

Well it seems like all of the unwanted and negative attention and possible future NCAA sanctions, along with the leaving of his head coach, have gotten to Terrelle Pryor, so much so that he has decided to leave Ohio State and forfeit his senior year. In a statement released by his lawyer he said, “In the best interests of my teammates, I’ve made the decision to forgo my senior year of football at The Ohio State University.” Many people think this is best for him and for the school. The distraction would have been too great on the team. Fellow students were already turning against Terrelle and some of the other players after their coach Jim Tressel resigned last week. Most likely he will go into some NFL type system within the next few months. This works out well for him since the NFL is still under its lockout he will have time to workout and prepare for his future. If he were to stay at Ohio State he would have possibly faced more suspensions and whatnot. Even with him leaving there are 4 other players suspended and the school can still face further sanctions, though I doubt it will be as harsh as anything USC faced. From his 1st day at school Pryor has had pressure from everyone to do great things and get Ohio State a championship. He came close last year, but there was a really good chance he could have done it this year...until he was suspended. Now he is gone and he really probably would not have had anything to play for anyway, just pride and experience. With Pryor no longer a college football player, he is no longer obligated to meet with the NCAA. He can do whatever he wants with whomever he wants and I am sure he is beyond happy to do so. I am giving him a Digit Up for leaving because although it was for the team, we all know that he is 21 and he really did it for himself and his future. He needed to remove himself from the school and give the next QB a sure shot at leading this team to some sort of bowl. Now going into the pros he will have a new set of rules and he can all but shake off all of his college past and start all over again.

...Laura Vikmanis

I am always complaining about how Hollywood has no original ideas and whatnot. Well Hollywood got one, sort of, and they are going to use it to punish me. Laura Vikmanis is the NFL's oldest cheerleader at age 42. She cheers for the Cincinnati Bengals and she is about to be forced on us because she is getting her life story told in the form of a movie. Are you kidding me? The film will be penned by Emily Cook and Kathy Greenberg, who co-wrote the animated film "Gnomeo and Juliet", which makes sense because this is only amovie that women would truly be interested in, or think they are interested in. I am already ready for this movie not to be a smash hit, a box office failure. You can listen to her sob story below. While you do that I will be giving her a Digit Down.

...The NFL

I am going to be completely honest; I have no idea what is going on in the NFL. I know for sure that there was no agreement reached between the owners and the players. I know that the players or the NFLPA (National Football League Player's Association) has decertified, but what does that mean? I know that there may be class action lawsuits to prevent the NFL from issuing a lockout. I know that the NFL plans on going forward with a lockout. I know all of that and some, but the legal issues are mind boggling. So much was up for discussion: an 18 game season, rookie salary caps, player minimum salary raised, retied player's benefits, etc. So since I can not wrap my mind around what is going on let us see if the experts and those in the thick of things can better help us all understand.




Did that help you at all? Probably not. Why? Because no one really knows! This is horrible. I am sure this will not be resolved anytime soon. We may all end up missing some football come this September. This is automatically getting 2 Digits Down from me and millions of fans across the nation, maybe the world but not really, unless you count American service members in other countries. The only way I will reverse this is if Brett Favre come back and has the season of his life! Topping it of with a Super Bowl championship.

...Farmers Field

Well Los Angeles does not have a football team nor do they even have a stadium to host them, the coliseum will not due anymore, also they do not have a approval for a stadium to be built. With all of that said there is one thing they have, naming rights! Famers Insurance has agreed to pay $700 million for 30 years on their future, maybe, stadium. Terms of the deal were not released but a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press that AEG would get $700 million over 30 years if the firm builds the 64,000-seat venue, to be called Farmers Field, and secures an NFL team to play there. In any case, AEG promises Farmers a minimum of 50 events per year, with an attendance of at least 40,000 per event. AEG, the company building the stadium who also owns and operates the Staples Arena, has promised to put more than $1 billion toward construction costs, but is not above sweet-talking the L.A. City Council into helping out with the rest with $350 million in public bonds. Majestic Realty Co. Vice President John Semcken said after Leiweke briefed a City Council committee last week that the bond arrangement would leave the city saddled with debt. Majestic wants to build a stadium as well, but they are not nearly as far along as AEG. Either way this is okay, no team has committed to moving there so there is just money in the air. Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders, said if they build a stadium he would move back to L.A. Yay...? I wanted to bring football back to L.A., but that seems to be fading. Oh well.I will just buy a team and move them to Oklahoma or something. I am giving this a Digit Up, why not.

...Ted Williams

Who is Ted Williams? Well if you were online yesterday you might have come across this homeless man with a "Golden-Voice". He was spotted in Cleveland with a sign saying he had a "Golden-voice" and some officers put him to the test. He wowed them and all who watched the video. Literally 24 hours later he was cleaned and got a hair cut and some clothes and put on morning television for the rest of America and the world to see. He is becoming a wanted man as well, in the good way. The Cleveland Cavilers have offered him a full time job and house, but MTV and the NFL have also offered him jobs to do voice over roles. Even though he says he got caught up in drugs and alcohol and other stuff, his voice never left him, lucky guy. Watch the video below, it explains everything much better. I am all for this guy. He is representing the new America, the 2011 America. I like this so much that I am going to give him 2 Digits Up.

...Brett Favre

Another day another Brett Favre story. After almost 3 months of investigation into whether or not Favre did anything wrong in contacting, leaving voicemails and possibly sending pictures to Jets Hostess Jen Sterger during his one year with the Jets, the case is closed. What was the outcome? Favre will not be suspended, but he will be fined, $50,000. Why? Because Favre was deemed uncooperative and not candid during the league's investigation into the incident. While Favre did admit to leaving the voicemails, he denied sending the pictures, and if you say the pictures you would deny them as well. This is most likely Favre's last season playing in the NFL, it saddens me to say it but it is most likely true... Unless there is a lockout and the season is reduced to 9 games and Favre gets a chance to make it to the Super Bowl again because he and his key players are all healthy! JOY! Doubt it. Jen's lawyer said that they were both disappointed with the outcome, of course. I still find it hard to believe that this is the same woman who did not even want to have anything to do with this, but with the help of others, become totally involved in taking Favre down. Whatever. I am giving Favre a Digit Up for getting through this. It tarnished his image for sure and his career went out with a fizzle, but at least he gets to keep the bulk of his $16 million this year.

...Brett Favre

I'm so sad to report that the streak is over. After 18 years and 297 consecutive starts in a sport as hard and brutal on the body, Brett Favre failed to start due to an injury. Brett Favre as we know is my football hero. I love watching him play and I know that this may be his last season and it saddens me, but his streak ending saddens me even more because some think that he may not be able to return for anymore games this season. Is it wrong to feel like you want to cry? A little sad? A little angry? A little bitter? I mean if T.O. can cry about his quarterback I think I can as well. He has had a laundry list of injuries, and he has always come back and played. Here are just some of his injures:
Dec 03, 2010 Ankle, neck, right shoulder
Nov 26, 2010 Ankle, foot, right shoulder
Nov 19, 2010 Ankle, foot
Nov 12, 2010 Ankle, foot, calf
Nov 05, 2010 Foot, ankle, chin
Oct 31, 2010 Chin Oct 29, 2010 Foot, ankle
Oct 25, 2010 Left ankle
Oct 22, 2010 Ankle, right elbow
Oct 15, 2010 Ankle, right elbow
Oct 09, 2010 Ankle, right elbow
Sep 24, 2010 Ankle, right elbow
Sep 17, 2010 Ankle/back
Sep 08, 2010 Ankle
Dec 11, 2009 Not injury related
Nov 20, 2009 Groin, hip
Nov 13, 2009 Hip/groin
Oct 30, 2009 Hip
Oct 09, 2009 Foot/ankle/knee
Oct 03, 2009 Foot Sep 26, 2008 Ankle
Dec 07, 2007 Right elbow, left shoulder
Nov 29, 2007 0 Left game - forearm
Sep 28, 2007 Finger (right)
Nov 29, 2006 Right elbow
Nov 22, 2006 Right elbow
Nov 20, 2006 0 Right arm
Nov 15, 2006 Ankle
Oct 04, 2006 Head
Dec 07, 2005 Right Hand/Right Forearm
Sep 07, 2005 Ankle
Oct 27, 2004 Right hand
Oct 06, 2004 Concussion
Sep 29, 2004 Hamstring
Jan 07, 2004 Thumb
Dec 31, 2003 Thumb
Dec 24, 2003 Thumb
Dec 17, 2003 Thumb
Dec 10, 2003 Thumb
Dec 03, 2003 Thumb
Nov 26, 2003 Thumb
Nov 12, 2003 Thumb
Nov 05, 2003 Thumb
Oct 29, 2003 Thumb
Jan 02, 2003 Ankle/knee
Dec 26, 2002 Knee/ankle
Dec 18, 2002 Knee/ankle
Oct 30, 2002 Knee
Oct 20, 2002 Sprained left knee
Oct 09, 2002 Elbow
Jan 16, 2002 Back/side
Jan 09, 2002 Side/back
Jan 02, 2002 Side/back
Nov 29, 2001 Back

They would not let him suit up and take a snap? He did not want to but I am sure he could have been talked into it. Maybe Peyton Manning will get injured and he will not be able to break the record, who knows. For now it is all Brett's. I am giving this news 2 Digits Down. I can see the sunset nearing.... The video below gets it.

...Jenn Sterger

Jenn Sterger is becoming a major pain, more so than before. She is, of course, the woman that Brett Favre allegedly sent voicemails and nude photos too while he was with the Jets. Her public relations manager Phil Reese said that Sterger will not sue Favre, the NFL or the Jets if the NFL suspend Favre immediately."If the commissioner suspends Favre and puts a program in place to prevent it from happening again ... 100 percent, Jenn would not pursue any litigation against Favre, against the Jets, against the NFL. Nothing. All she wants to do is clear her name. This is not about money," Reese said. To this I say CHICK PLEASE! It is not that major to begin with. I remember when this all started she did not want anything to do with it and she did not even want to talk tot he NFL, some guy talked her into it and wanted to ruin Favre's image. Well both succeeded there! I doubt ti will come down to that. The season is almost over and we all think that Favre is really going to retire this time. If he does not retire then we will talk about this next season. Any who I am giving Jen Sterger a Digit Down for pretty much trying to scare everyone and kick a man when he is down.

...The Minnesota Vikings

Well the Minnesota Vikings finally fired their head coach Brad Childress less than a year after he took them to the NFC Championship game. After a horrible 31-3 loss to Green Bay Sunday the owner just said eh and fired him. Of course there were a lot of other things such as their 3-7 record this season, the waiving of Randy Moss without the owner's knowledge, the grumblings of other players saying they had no respect or trust for him. When the cards are stacked against you like that, not much else you can do. What will happen to the Vikings now? Their season is over, unless somehow they win the last 6...DREAMS. People are wondering how long Brett Favre will last as the starting quarterback or if he will even finish the season. The Vikings are obviously a huge bust this season and no one could have thought it would be this bad for them. I do not see Favre returning, although I would love to see him play until the age of 43, but with everything that has happened to him on and off the field....yeah. Next season may just be their comeback season, especially if Rice is healthy and all of the other players, the main players, are giving 110%. I am going to give the Minnesota Vikings a Digit Down for this season. It is just a great disappointment.

...Ochocinco

It seems like Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson is ready to get married. He recently proposed to a woman who was on a VH1 reality show. The problem I have is that it was not his show, the show he had where he was looking for "love". He is engaged to Evelyn Lozada, the star of the show "Basketball Wives". It does not surprise me that they are engaged, I am not sure how much they have in common, they have only been dating for 4 months, but I am sure they have known each other for much longer. I wonder if she will be on the show when, if, it returns. I say if because it should be on now, but the boring "Football Wives" spin off is on now, yawn. I am giving them a Digit Up thought because all in all if I had to pick a black and white yes or no to whether or not I liked them both, it would be a solid yes.

...NBA

The NBA season has just begun. Over the Summer everyone was talking about LeBron and Miami and The Big 3 and so on. I was watching every move because ti was good television. Now that the season has started I find myself not that into it...yet. Nothing matters at the moment so I am just not that into it. Even though my favorite team, The Atlanta Hawks, are perfect and unbeaten, I sometimes have no energy to sit and watch them play, live or on television. I do watch, even if I am flipping back and fourth or in a daze. I cannot wait for the season to get good, around Christmas time I guess. At the moment football has all of the drama and is leading the sports shows and grabbing all the headlines, especially since baseball is over. What makes it even odder is that I find myself watching more NHL than NBA and I have not been into hockey since the Lightning won the Stanley Cup way back in 2004. I would have kept watching but in 2005 they cancelled the season. So yes I do plan on watching the NBA when it matters and gets exciting. I do like what I am seeing, even Blake Griffin is playing well for his 2nd season as a pro, 1st in action. Until later I am giving the NBA a Digit Down.

...The Oakland Raiders

Wow! The Oakland Raiders scored 59 points, the most in the team's history. They scored these points on the Denver Broncos, their longtime rival, holding them to only 14 points. The running-back alone scored 4 times on them. This is pretty good because the Raiders have been the laughing stock of the NFL, well the Lions might be worse. Everyone knew they had the potential, they just though tit was left in the 80's, joke. In a 7 game stretch last season the Raiders managed to only score 55 points, but in 3 hours they topped that. They improved their record to 3-4, second in the AFC West. Could they be Super Bowl contenders? Possibly actually, and that is a tad scary. If they were to make it to the Super Bowl, or dare I say win it, this could make Al Davis' dream of moving back to Los Angeles a little closer to reality, especially since Magic Johnson is looking to buy a team (Jaguars) and bring them to Los Angeles, and even more so because Al Davis said he would not sell the team or retire until the Raiders won another Super Bowl, which at this moment in time is not longer a pipe dream. Digit Up Raiders.

...Football

Last week college football kicked of and it was good. Well professional football kicked off last night and it was pretty good. It was a close game and even though the Vikings lost, it was still good. I think this season will be full of surprises. So many moves were made over the Summer and so much hype is going around for so many team it makes it hard to follow. key members from a few teams are missing due to injuries and then there are those traded players that will either be a great move or bust for whatever team that acquired them. Rookies also could have a major impact, although the one that everyone seems eager to watch is Tim Tebow. I am just ready to see some great football. It always seems like it takes forever for the season to come around, but when it comes it is worth it. I am of course giving football a Digit Up.

...Josh Kroenke

Josh Kroenke is a lucky guy. His mother is a Wal-Mart heiress and his father Stan Kroenke just purchased the St. Louis Rams. The problem with that is in the NFL you cannot own more than one sports team. Easy, Stan gave his other teams, NHL's Avalanche and the NBA's Nuggets. Stan had this to say about his son, "Josh Kroenke, in my view, has been ready to take over the Nuggets for a couple of years. I just haven't put him in that position. He was and still is very young, but he's had his 10,000 hours, if you read Malcolm Gladwell. Josh is ready to do that." Josh played college basketball and I know for a fact when you grow up in a business family you learn things even if you do not want to. Stan is just 30 years old! He will be one of the youngest owners of a major sport ever I am sure. I do not know if I admire him or envy him. This is nepotism at its best, and I like it. I am going to give Josh a Digit Up. I thin he will better relate to the players sense he is closer to their age and I think, or hope, he will bring a fresher look on things into the basketball and hockey world.

...Brett Favre

My football hero Brett Favre has returned to the Minnesota Vikings in grand style. Farve watch 2010 sort of ended yesterday when he flew in with 3 fellow teammates from his home in Mississippi. Today he went t practice and told us all how this came about.

As you can see this was more than just a simple little decision, no duh right. He says this will be his last season, and it just might be. 20 is a good long even number. I do know what he means about the Super Bowl thing, and last year he was oh so close to going to the big game. I can sit here and tell you a million reasons why I love Favre, why I want him to win this year and blah blah blah, but for some reason I can only hope that this is a great year for him. He does not have to be as great as last year if he wins the Super Bowl though. I also just hope that he makes it through the season without getting injured very badly. Favre is almost 41 and he is a big target for and defensive player. I am going to give him a Digit Up for coming back and giving it one more shot.