Kansas City Sports & Fitness Magazine

2 AUGUST 2009 KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS

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KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS AUGUST 2009 3

Steve FischPublisher

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Overland Park, KS 66221

Phone/Fax: (913) 764-2050

Email: [email protected]

EditorAlan Eskew

Sales913-764-2050

Steve Fisch

[email protected]

Ed Coan

[email protected]

Contributing WritersBill Althaus, Chris Balda,

Audrey Harman, Tom Cannon,

John Doolittle, Greg Echlin,

Alan Eskew, David Garfield,

Bill Grigsby, Alan Hoskins,

Dr. Andrew Jacobs, John Landsberg,

Jim Potoski, David Smale,

Marc Bowman

Contributing PhotographersScott Thomas, Ed Graunke,

Alan Hoskins, Tom Cannon,

Scott Weaver, Jim Gill, Warren

Ingram

On The CoverPhoto by Warren Ingram

Published MonthlyEntire Contents © Kansas City

Sports & Fitness 2009. The views

and opinions of the contributing writ-

ers contained in this publication do not

necessarily reflect the views and opin-

ions of the editor and/or publisher.

AmeriKick/ World Champ Karate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40Army FREE T-Shirt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21Blackberry Trails Golf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Brookridge 9 West Golf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Cargo Largo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Back CoverEagles Landing Golf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Lake Valley Golf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Rockwood Golf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Teetering Rocks Golf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

August 2009

KC BaseballReport

page 42

Sports EntertainmentReport

page 4

Great OutdoorsReport

page 4

Health & FitnessReport

page 40

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presents THE SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT REPORT


By ALAN ESKEW, Editor

The Range Steakhouse at Harrah’soffers unforgettable dining experience

O ne must follow their nose, not their

eyes, to The Range Steakhouse for

one of the most unforgettable dining

experiences in Kansas City.

The Range is tucked away in a

quiet corner at Harrah’s North

Kansas City. It is on the way to the

casino, but removed from the hus-

tle and bustle, making for a pleas-

ant ambiance.

Because it is a few steps off the

beaten path, many a dining party

might be oblivious to its existence,

which would be a shame. Just fol-

low the signs in the Harrah’s hall

way or better yet the scent to one

of the best dining experiences you

could ever desire.

The Range is the only casino

steakhouse that includes a salad bar.

This is not your usual run-of-the-mill

salad bar. I feasted on not only the wide

variety of lettuce, but heart of palm, arti-

choke hearts and red peppers. The salad

bar, also, included several choices of

fresh fruit.

Another writer ordered the Caesar

salad, which included a generous sprin-

kling of Parmesan cheese, crisp croutons

and perfectly seasoned dressing.

Anchovies are also available on request.

There are eight appetizers on the

menu. We opted for the stuffed zucchini

and baked escargot. The zucchini was

stuffed with delightfully seasoned pork

sausage and melted Parmesan. It was a

delicate balance of light and rich at the

same time.

The escargot was piquant that was

topped with a wonderful pastry topping.

While the Range has steakhouse in its

name, that is a misnomer. The Range has

recently expanded its menu to add sever-

al seafood entrees, including citrus

grilled lobster tail, sea scallops and

seafood penne pasta.

All entrees come with either salad bar

or Caesar salad and two side items.

There are eight side items from which to

choose.

Being a meat lover, I selected the

Grand Prize, an award winning 16-ounce

Kansas City strip, certified Angus beef,

which was aged for 21 days and bourbon

marinated. It was seasoned and topped

with herbed truffle butter. If you are a

steak lover and reading this description

does not have you salivating, something

could be seriously wrong with you. My

succulent steak was cooked to perfection

as ordered.

There is good reason, well make that

several reasons, why it was voted the

“Best Steak in Kansas City” at the 2008

Great American BBQ

Festival. It should

garner the 2009 top

prize, too.

For side dishes,

I ordered the gruyere

potatoes au gratin and

deep fried onion rings.

Both were an excel-

lent compliment to the

thick steak.

The other entrée ordered was the sea

scallops, which were luscious. They

were pan seared and served in the shell

with saffron butter.

A baked potato, about

the size of Vermont,

and broccoli, crisply

cooked, were the

superb side dishes.

There was just one

problem, however.

With the munificent

proportions, no one

left room for dessert.

I had my eyes set on the chocolate

volcano, which was billed as an eruption

of chocolate ice cream covered with

Heath bar crunch and then

dipped in chocolate served on a

pool of flaming strawberry

lava sauce.

But then that is really not a

problem. I plan on returning to

the Range Steakhouse. Next

time I’ll order the halibut

Mediterranee or maybe the

walnut blackened Salmon -

choices, choices - and save

room for dessert.

I would be remiss if I did not

mention our outstanding waitress

Jaclyn, who was very attentive,

making sure the coffee cups never

were empty and checking to make

sure everything was all right with all the

food orders.

When you go to the Range

Steakhouse, there is a good chance you

would meet George Dannic, the manag-

er. He is very friendly, will answer any

questions about the menu and often goes

to the booths and tables to make sure

everything is perfecto. It certainly was

that evening.

ENTERTAINMENT AT HARRAH’SAT VOODOO LOUNGE

AUGUST 7 8:00 PM PETE YORNAUGUST 8 10:00 PM DJ TINAAUGUST 15 10:00 PM DJ MARK STYLZ AUGUST 17 8:00 PM KFKF SUMMER OF FREEDOM

WITH DARRYL WORLEYAUGUST 20 8:00 PM SALIVAAUGUST 21 8:00 PM CLUB WARS SEMI FINALSAUGUST 22 10:00 PM DJ KEVIN SCOTTAUGUST 29 10:00 PM DJ STONEROKK SEPTEMBER 11 7PM & 10PM GET UP KIDSSEPTEMBER 18 8:00 PM CHIPPENDALESOCTOBER 2 8:00 PM MARGARET CHO

AT TOBY KEITH’SAUGUST 7 10:00 PM DJ B BROKER WITH DJ TONY CAUGUST 8 10:00 PM JOHN JOINER BANDAUGUST 14 10:00 PM DJ SKUAUGUST 15 10:00 PM OUTLAW JUNKIESAUGUST 21 10:00 PM DJ SKUAUGUST 22 10:00 PM EMILY ROSEAUGUST 28 10:00 PM DJ B BROKERAUGUST 29 10:00 PM JESSICA HORN

For more information on these events

and other events at Harrah’s,or

for more on the hottest gaming action

around and fast-paced table games,

visit harrahsnkc.com or call

(816) 472-7777

Reservations: 816-889-7159Cuisine: Steak and SeafoodSpecial: Sunday - Thursday: 10 oz.

Prime Strip Dinner, $19.95

Hours: 5PM - 10PM; Monday-Thursday5PM - 11PM; Friday & Saturday5PM - 10PM; Sunday

THE GOLF REPORT


Christmas in October Classic: Prelude to PGA Tour returnThe PGA Tour is coming

back to Kansas City.

W ithout a tour event since the last

Champions event in 2006, the

Nationwide Tour’s Christmas in

October Classic presented by the Kansas

City Crusaders will bring the future stars

of the PGA to the Nicklaus Golf Club at

LionsGate Monday through Sunday,

August 17-23.

With only nine of 29 events left to earn

one of 25 PGA Tour cards and a purse of

$650,000, the Classic is expected to draw

almost all of the Nationwide Tour’s bud-

ding young stars along with many former

Tour players bidding to get back on the

regular tour.

“Sixty-five percent of the players on the

PGA Tour are graduates of the Nationwide

Tour and with only eight tournaments left

after the one here and one of the larger

purses on the Nationwide Tour, we really

expect a strong field,” said tournament

director Gene Barlow. “We’re getting calls

from all over from guys who want to enter

the Monday qualifying.”

The list of Nationwide graduates reads

likes a “Who’s Who” – 2007 Masters

champion Zach Johnson, former U.S. Open

champions Ernie Els and Jim Furyk along

with Tom Lehman, Stewart Cink, Ricky

Barnes, Jim Maggert, David Toms, Steve

Stricker and on and on. “When Steve

Stricker held off Zach Johnson to win the

John Deere Classic, it was the 250th PGA

Tour event won by a former Nationwide

player,” Barlows said.

One of the players in the field will be

Trevor Dodds, who in 1990 won the Deer

Creek Open, Kansas City’s first pro tour

event in several decades and the predeces-

sor to the Nationwide Tour. Dodd, who

won with a spectacular eagle on the final

hole, will have the son of tournament

starter Larry Corrigan as his caddy. Also,

Dodds is about to turn 50

and is looking forward to

playing on the

Champions Tour.

A benefit to Kansas

City’s Christmas in

October project, a field

of 156 players from 20

countries will compete in

the tournament including

the top finishers in a

qualifying tournament at

Fred Arbanas Golf

Course at Longview Lake on Aug. 17.

The field will also include the LionsGate

club champion and the winner of the

Kansas City Crusaders Junior Invitational

Tournament.

Founded last February by Barlow, for-

mer Chiefs quarterback Tony Adams and

Joe Bisogno of Mr. Goodcents, the Kansas

City Crusaders were formed with a goal of

supporting community charities through

the promotion of professional golf with an

ultimate goal of attracting and supporting a

PGA Tour event in the Kansas City area.

“We’re laying the foundation and if

we show the support both from the

AlanHoskins

Contributing

Writer

continued on next page

THE GOLF REPORT


sponsorship aspect from the business com-

munity and from a spectator standpoint, we

feel we have a good chance for success,”

Barlow said.

The Kansas City Crusaders are the pre-

senting sponsor, while other major spon-

sors include Panera Bread, Sprint, Price

Chopper, Southwest Airlines, Brancato’s

Catering, All Seasons Party & Tent Rental,

Holmes Murphy, Prairie Fired, Freedom

Bank, 810 Sports Radio, Weber Slicer and

Kingston Printing.

Classic single day tickets are $8 and

there’s a $25 ticket which includes admit-

tance for any or all of the four days of the

Classic. In addition, those in the military

and any youngsters with a student ID will

be admitted without charge.

The Classic comes on the 25th anniver-

sary of the founding by John McMeel and

Dick Miller of the Kansas City Christmas

in October project in 1984. The largest

such rehabilitation program in the country,

it has an estimated economic impact of

$2.5 million despite the fact many of the

350 participating cities such as New York,

Los Angeles and Chicago have much larger

populations. “Kansas City is by far the

largest and best and we need to keep it that

way,” McMeel said.

In 2008 alone with just two paid staff

workers, repairs and improvements were

made on 1,645 homes at no charge to the

recipients. As a result, 63 homes without

heat have furnaces. Also, 94 houses

received desperately need electrical repairs

and 104 received plumbing repairs, while

157 houses had roofs repaired, 174 had

guttering replaced, 128 had doors replaced,

235 had windows replaced and 81 had

screens replaced.

In addition, 256 houses were winterized,

20 fully insulated, 181 painted and 21 had

wheelchair ramps installed. Community

projects included the Lighthouse, Niles

Home, Ozanam Boys Home, Gillis School,

Crittenton Home, Community of the Good

Shepherd and Cristo Rey High School.

The tournament week will kick off Aug.

17, with a Crusaders Pro Am at the Jack

Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate along

with the 18-hole tour qualifier for pros and

amateurs at Fred Arbanas Golf Course.

There will also be morning and afternoon

pro ams at LionsGate on Wednesday with

the 72-hole Classic to begin on Thursday.

After the winner’s ceremony on Aug. 23,

eight spectators will have a shot at a hole-

in-one from the 18th fairway. An ace will

win a new $400,000 home built by Johnny

Adams Homes. If there’s no hole-in-one,

closes to the pin will win round trip airfare

to any destination in the continental U.S.

from Southwest Airlines.

Ticket information can be found at

www.Christmasinoctober.org or by calling

816 531-6443.

Secrets To Long Golf Drives

What are the secrets to long golf drives? The onesthe BIG boys in those long drive competitions put touse to hit balls over 400 yards. I know you may neveraspire to hit it that long, but how about another 30yards farther than you are now? I’m sure you’d obligewouldn’t you?

You may be thinking those guys are monsters. 6’8”280 of shredded muscle, but you might be surprisedto find out this past years Remax Long DriveChampion is ONLY 165 pounds and just under 6’ tall.AND…he is ONLY 20 years of age! Truly amazing!

So what’s the secret to hitting LONG drives ingolf?

Well…I can tell you first off, if you are tight or weakgood luck

But there’s still hope if you are. You can maximizeyour driving distance with a few simple tips (secrets):

Tee the ball forward in your stance. I mean almostoutside your comfort zone. Draw a line straight outfrom your lead foot big toe and that’s where your ballshould be. This enable you to do two very importantthings to hit it LONG.

First it allows you to get behind the ball and STAYbehind it at impact, imparting “all you’ve got” into thatpoor golf ball Secondly, this promotes an ascendingblow on the golf ball. That means you are catching itup on the UPSWING which promotes a higher launchangle and more distance.

Tilt your spine away from the ball. Most amateursstand with a vertical spine with no tilt. This makes itnearly impossible to hit an ascending blow, and youhave a greater chance of a reverse pivot on yourbackswing. Tilting your spine away from the target,puts you in the ideal position to arrive at impact pow-erfully.

Grip pressure should be on the light side. Hereagain is where we get in trouble. We put a death gripon the club which SLOWS down clubhead speed.Why? Because muscular tension kills speed. Try todo anything fast when you tighten your muscles. Itain’t gonna happen! Next time you want to hit itLONG, just before you start your backswing, lightenyour grip and see what happens.

Create and maintain lag. This is a BIG ONE! Inorder to have maximum clubhead speed at impactand beyond, you MUST hold your wrist cock as longas you can, coming down. This is one of the biggestpower leaks in all of golf. Releasing that angle in thewrist creates a tremendous loss of clubhead speedand ultimately distance. Strengthen your wrists to beable to hold this angle WAY into the downswing.

So there you have it!

Tip provided by Mike Pedersen ofPerformBetterGolf.com. Mike is a Golf SwingBiomechanic specializing in helping golfers producemore power and distance in their golf swings. Visit hiswebsite at www.performbettergolf.com for more tips,and power golf training products.

PGA - continued from previous page

THE GOLF REPORT


Chip shots and short putts from the world of KC golfPainted Hills tourney boost to Petty’s Victory Junction Camp

Thanks in part to a tournament at

Painted Hills, Kyle and Pattie Petty’s

Victory Junction Camp scheduled for

construction in Kansas City, Kansas is off

to a flying start.

The tournament helped raise $16,000

for the camp, which is scheduled to open

in 2011. It is a year-round, medical camp

for children with chronic medical condi-

tions and serious illnesses. Ground break-

ing was held in May on a 71-acre campus

on land donated by the Unified

Government of KCK at 82nd and

Riverview. The camp will operate solely

on donations from corporations, organiza-

tions and individuals, which will allow

campers to attend at no cost.

“I had approached Mike Papore, the

executive director for the Kyle Foundation,

in May but it wasn’t until the first week of

June that we got it finalized,” said Steve

Price, Painted Hills general manager. “We

had just three weeks to put it together and

had a full field of 132 golfers, thanks in no

small part to Matt Hughes, the fund-raiser

for the Petty Foundation who really put it

all together and did a great job.

“It really turned out to be a great tourna-

ment and is going to be an annual event.

Kyle will be playing and we hope to get

some other NASCAR drivers here. The

camp is going to be located not far from us

and it’s going to be the biggest and best

event Painted Hills will be hosting. That’s

going to be my focus.”

Shelton got wake-up callTyler Shelton got a wake-up call on his

way to winning the 2009 Kansas City

Amateur golf championship.

Shelton had built a comfortable seven-

shot lead with rounds of 69 and 66 at

Ironhorse, but forgot that the “lift, clean

and place” rule that was needed because of

muddy conditions on the second round was

not in effect

for the final

round. “I hit

two good shots

on the par 5

second hole

but then

picked up my

ball about a

foot and real-

ized what I

had done,”

said Shelton, who immediately informed

his playing partners what had happened

and took a stroke penalty.

“It kind of got me focused,” said

Shelton, 37, who finished with a 2-over

73 that was five shots better than defending

champion Kyle Yonke and Peter Krsnich.

Curtis Yonke, Kyle’s younger brother, fin-

ished fourth at 217.

It was the second such championship for

Shelton, who was a senior at KU when he

won the Kansas City match play title in

1994. A 6A state champion at SM East in

1990 and former Missouri Amateur winner,

Shelton spent 5½ years playing profession-

ally, mostly on the Canadian Tour until

2001. “I loved every bit of it, but got a lit-

tle tired of golf and came back to Kansas

City,” Shelton said. He regained his ama-

teur status in 2004.

Tom Bachelor of Olathe repeated as sen-

ior champion. It was the third senior title

for the 56-year-old Bachelor, who also won

in 2004. With birdies on the first two holes,

he finished with a final round 68 to nip

Thomas Leonard of Leawood by a single

shot for the title. “This, to me, is like the

pinnacle,” said Bachelor. “This is the

Kansas City Amateur. These are the top

senior players in Kansas City.”

James Isleib of Leawood won the

Players Division with a 76-71-147, while

Guy Cannon of Excelsior Springs (69-73-

142) had low net. Robert Nelson (785-75-

150) of Lenexa took the Legends champi-

onship by two shots over Ron Brewer of

Leawood, although Brewer nipped Nelson

by two shots for low net.

OP scraps three tournamentsOn a much sadder note, because of a

lack of entries, Overland Park has had to

cancel its three annual tournaments – the

St. Andrews club and the Overland Park

club and city championships. At one time

all three were highly contested events.

The oldest of the city’s three “major”

events, the St. Andrews club championship

was first held in 1970 and was won by Ken

McFerren. The OP club championship was

started a year later and was won by Dr,

Tony Amend. Both events were held annu-

ally until last year. It was not until 1990

that the OP city championship was started

and won by Rob Sites. It was won by Dave

Harris last year.

Benn Sledge reigns as the all-time

champion with nine titles – five St.

Andrews, three OP club and one city. R.J.

Patel is next with seven including one St.

Andrews, two OP club and four city titles.

Greg Emas is third on the list with five

championships while Bob Bezak, Mike

Moore, Rob Sites and Bob Chatterton each

had four and Don Cox and Mike Moore

three each.

JoAnn Ball madea difference

Over the past

28 years, the

Ball’s Charity

Golf Classic has

raised well in

excess of $3 mil-

lion for KVC

Behavioral

HealthCare Inc.,

a private not-for-

profit organiza-

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Make Putting Your Number One PriorityPutting only requires three skills. First you need to be able to consistently hit the ball smoothly and solidly.

Second you need to be able to determine how hard you need to hit the ball and be able to consistently swingthe putter at this speed. And, third you need to be able to read greens to be able to visualize how the ball willroll on its way to the hole.

While these skills are not easy, they are much easier than the skills needed to hit your driver or long irons.They are also skills that anyone can master.

You do not need to be super coordinated to be a good putter. You just need practice. But, this practice will bewell worth the effort. Why? Because I guarantee that you will become a better putter.

So why don’t we practice putting more. Well, as the old saying goes, “You drive for show, and put for dough.”We all become obsessed with being able to hit that beautiful long, straight drive. After all, it looks good.

However, that is just show. If you three putt or rarely one put, then I guarantee that you will lower your golfscore more by practicing you putting.

Tip provided by Mike Pedersen of PerformBetterGolf.com. Mike is a Golf Swing Biomechanic specializing inhelping golfers produce more power and distance in their golf swings. Visit his website at www.performbetter-golf.com for more tips, and power golf training products.


By ALAN HOSKINS, Contributing Writer

Sixty years behind the microphone One of the television networks came out

to my place in the Parkville woods.

Seems they wanted to get the story

of my 60 years in the sports broadcasting

business.

It doesn’t seem possible that 60 big ones

have come and gone, but it’s all a part of

the record.

My first football broadcast was in 1948

featuring the University of Missouri and

the University of Colorado. As I recall,

Don Faurot was coaching the Tigers and

playing for Don was one of the current

voices of Mizzou, John Kadlec.

I think the total cost of the room and

meals and an after-the-game martini was

15 bucks.

That was the beginning of the football

best that would later take Merle Harmon

and yours truly across the continent to

every major sports venue.

I alternated my Missouri games with

play-by-play of the Arkansas Razorbacks.

This was about the time Arkansas brought

the foot into football and won more than

one game with a last minute boot by

Pat Summerall.

I couldn’t make it financially with the

college crowd, so I would steal a Friday

night game with a junior college or high

school game in Joplin. I also bought a

striped shirt and entered the business of

officiating. That was another 15 bucks for

groceries. You see, in the late 1940’s a few

bucks bought a lot of milk and potatoes.

In 1950 I got a call in to broadcast the

Joplin Miners - the Yankee farm club.

Their lineup included Mickey Mantle, the

Commerce (Okla.) phenom, and Whitey

Herzog, who would later manage the

Royals to their first three division

championships.

Merle Harmon was airing the Topeka

Owls at this time and it was during those

days we developed a close brother-like

relationship that would last until his death

a few months ago. We would later team up

for the Mutual Game of the Week that

included many Big 10 games and a stop

at Notre Dame.

We also aired the first ever game

between Air Force and the U.S. Military

Academy (Army) in Yankee Stadium.

Merle went on to broadcast on the KU

Sports Network, which I would follow him

to in 1955. I got to travel with the wizard

of the basketball court, Phog Allen.

Those were the great

days for a young

announcer, and they led

to Municipal Auditorium

and the first Final Four

that was done on a

national basis. An ad

agency out of New York

called me to do th e two-

day feed and threw in

$350 a night for the

package. Believe me,

$700 dollars back then

was network pay and

I loved it.

I got back in the referring business and

got a good schedule of basketball and foot-

ball games. All of this announcing work,

which also included the NAIA basketball

tournament and ring announcing and help-

ing promote Thursday night professional

wrestling, was enough to feed a wife and

five hungry kiddies, whose only eyeball

contact with me sometimes was on the TV

screen where I was doing bowling shows.

During this time, I set some sort of

record when I broadcast eight NAIA games

in one day. It burdened my voice and my

mind, but the college round ball games

were fun to do and I made friends from

coast to coast. I would later be inducted

into the intercollegiate basketball Hall

of Fame.

In 1957 Ed Edwards, who was Harmon’s

mic teammate for the Kansas City

Athletics was let go in mid-season and

because I had minor league baseball expe-

rience and had worked with Harmon

before, I got the job to replace him.

This was a beautiful moment in my life

since one of my early dreams was to get a

big league job. This was the beginning of a

new and exciting chapter in Ol’ Grigs life -

and, low and behold, my first broadcast

was a game between the KC Athletics

and the New York Yankees. Ye Gods,

I had arrived.

Next month I will give you the Paul

Harvey “rest of the story” ending...

THE GOLF REPORT


tion providing an integrated system of

services for emotionally and behaviorally

impaired, abused, neglected, runaway and

homeless children from infancy through

age 18.

On any one day, KVC (formerly Kaw

Valley Center) helps more than 10,000

youngsters and their families in five states.

And yet none of it would have happened

had it not been for the First Lady of Ball’s

Charity Golf Classic, JoAnn Ball. “It is

because of you that all of are here today for

this wonderful purpose,” said David Ball,

President of Ball’s Food Stores at the

Classic’s 2009 kickoff luncheon. “Because

of your vision, on behalf of myself and

everyone here today, thank you.”

As a member of the Junior League of

Kansas City Kansas, JoAnn Ball was a cat-

alyst in founding Wyandotte House. A

group home for boys, it started with just

eight boys in a single group home. Today it

is the leading provider of services for emo-

tionally and behaviorally impaired in the

U.S., serving children in 54 counties in

Kansas through three facilities in KCK and

Olathe and 17 satellite centers in the state.

In addition, KVC administers the largest

program in West Virginia, serves 2,500

children in Kentucky and recently took

over management of a similar program in

Nebraska. “It’s unbelievable,” Ball said.

“I just can’t believe so much has been

done and we’ve come this far in such a

short time.”

KVC reached an historic milestone last

April – the adoption of 1,000 children into

homes since July 2000. “That’s 1,000 chil-

dren in 1,000 days,” said Wayne Sims,

KVC President and CEO. “To put that into

perspective, twice as many Kansas chil-

dren are adopted today compared to 12

years ago before the revamping of the

social welfare system.”

Nationally, KVC is the highest ranked

behavioral health care provider in the

nation. “Each four years, all such organiza-

tions are audited in nine different areas,”

said Sims. “Kansas ranks No. 1 in three of

the areas and no worse than fifth in any of

the other six.”

SPORTS COMMENTARY

BillGrigsby

Contributing

Writer

EVENT CALENDAR & MORE


KC Sports Commission PROPS up local sports sceneYou gotta give props to the Kansas City

Sports Commission.

On a beautiful mid-July evening, it trotted

out its best Sport KC PROPS (Party

Recognizing Outstanding People of

Sports) and threw a bountiful bash proving

beyond a shadow of Trey Hillman’s doubt

that the local sports scene remains viable

and vibrant.

The gorgeous Midland Theatre, which is

within the Power & Light District, was a

stunning host.

After receiv-

ing a $28 mil-

lion makeover

that would

make Ty

Pennington

drool, it’s

easy to see

why this

downtown

destination is

considered

KC’s premier indoor theatre for live concerts

and events. The stars of the show were

sports figures of all ages, shapes, sizes, races

and riches from both sides of the state line.

If this gala were considered A

Midsummer Night’s Dream of

Shakespearean proportions, it would unfold

as a three-act play. How doth Kansas City

love it sports and athletic achievements, let

me count the ways:

First Act – arriving guests were greeted

in the Midland’s main lobby with tables full

of silent-auction items. Rabid fans ate up the

memorabilia and penciled in bids. During

this social networking I had a chance for a

meet-and-greet with Kansas State coach Bill

Snyder. He asked for “lots of prayers” as the

season

approaches.

Will do,

coach.

Inside the

darkened the-

ater were sev-

eral buffet

lines of

scrumptious

eats. It was a

first-class

presentation,

right down to the free beer offered by

Central States Beverage Company. Kicking

off the ceremony was actor/comedian

Jimmie Walker. Was he the Merchant of

Venom during his “Dy-no-mite” opening

monologue? Not exactly. With children in

the crowd, he shelved his raunchy Vegas act.

He took shots at local drivers, bad roads,

Bill Clinton and the economy before hand-

ing the baton to emcee Dave Stewart.

Second Act – the awards ceremony was a

brisk exercise in “the show must move along

and be over by 9:00 p.m.” A sample of those

receiving stylish acrylic plaques included

competitive water skier Ricky McCormick,

who appeared on the Tonight Show with

Johnny Carson and taught King Hussein

how to ski; the 17th overall pick Kansas

State quarterback Josh Freeman of the 2009

NFL draft and third-round pick Missouri

tight end Chase Coffman of the Cincinnati

Bengals; 2004 Olympics Silver medalist

gymnast Courtney McCool; and 6-foot-4

Morgan Johnson who is taking her hoops

heroics to the University of Iowa.

The loudest applause went to Kansas

State School for the Blind shot put record

holder Chad Rohr for his “Special Athletic”

Achievement

Award.

“Smarty

Pants” recog-

nition went to

Olathe East’s

(and future

Texas

Christian

University

footballer)

Rick Settle

for scoring a

perfect 36 on his ACT’s. The final hardware

piece went to quarterback/broadcaster/all

around good guy Len Dawson as the Lamar

Hunt Lifetime Achievement Award winner.

Final Act – after a sendoff salvo from

Walker, VIPs walked across the street to

Kansas City’s coolest rooftop hotspot known

as “The Jones.” This would be the “ultra-

pool” on the sixth floor

atop Cosentino’s Market

Downtown. What a

delightful nightcap on a

surprisingly cool evening.

The pool and bar setup

was spectacular. The

views were amazing.

I felt like I was heli-

coptered into a Sunset

Strip nightclub. All that

was missing was Michael

Phelps. Many of us got a

chuckle out of the upper floors of the H&R

Block building that seemed within a

Coppertone squirt of the pool deck.

Question: How do Block-ers stay focused

during the summer when bar maids and

bikinis are on parade during sun-drenched

afternoons?

Encore –at poolside I caught up with

Kevin Wicker, the Sports Commission’s

Director of Local Events & Development.

“We’re gonna sell out the Midland next

year,” he said. “That would be 1,400 tops

for PROPS. We can do it based on all the

positive feedback. The PROPS acronym

came out of a steering-committee brain-

storming session. Every company has a

banquet. We wanted to create a spectacle

that sports fans and sponsors could get

excited about.”

UPCOMING EVENTS8/11 Martini Mile 2009, Kansas City Power & Light District, Kansas City, MO 8/15 ABA Men’s Pro Basketball Tryout, 68’s Inside Sports, Overland Park, KS8/15 3rd Annual Run with Ian 5K Run/ Family Stroll, Corporate Woods, OP, KS8/15 Mayor’s OP5K Farmstead Stampede

Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead, Overland Park, KS8/16 7th Annual Sunflowers to Roses Bike Tour, BikeSource, Overland Park, KS8/17-23 Christmas in October Classic

Nicklaus Golf Club at Lionsgate, Overland Park, KS,8/18 Contact Sports Injury Prevention Seminar,

Centerpoint Medical Center, Independence, MO8/22 Liver Life Walk Kansas City, Theis Park, Kansas City, MO 8/29 Walk to Cure Psoriasis, Theis Park, Kansas City, MO8/29 31st Annual Tiblow Trot, Kelly Murphy Park, Bonner Springs, KS8/29 Chiefs Charity Game, Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO8/29 The Speedy P.D. 5K/10K for Parkinson’s Disease

Meadowlark Hills, Manhattan, KS9/5 SantaCaliGon 10K & 5K, Independence, MO9/7 Bike for the Brain, Mission, KS 9/11 Patriots Run Ultra, Marathon, Relay and “just come and run,” Olathe, KS

If you have a sports event you’d like included in our calendar, send it tossffiisscchh@@kkccssppoorrttssppaappeerr..ccoomm at least 45 days before the event.

JimPotoski

Contributing

Writer

Len Dawson

Joakim Soria

Josh Freeman



Chiefs are back on track

Losing Tony Gonzalez in a trade isn’t a posi-tive, but it cannot be taken away from what Piolihas done this off-season.

Pioli hired Todd Haley, who was consideredone of the league’s best offensive coordinatorswith the NFC champion Arizona Cardinals.

Pioli and Haley acquired players who camefrom winning teams -QB Matt Cassel, LBMike Vrabel, LB ZachThomas, OG MikeBrown, WR BobbyEngram and S MikeBrown. Those playerscombined have sixSuper Bowl appear-ances, nine Pro Bowlappearances and 10All-Pro selections.

Kansas City is mak-ing a transaction tothe 3-4 defense. TheChiefs focused onmaking their newdefense stronger bydrafting the bestdefensive end that fits their system, TysonJackson from LSU. They also brought backMonty Beisel, who played under the 3-4 defen-sive system with New England and Arizona. Thenew veterans will augment past Chiefs ProBowlers Larry Johnson and Brian Waters.

Chiefs OffenseOffensive coordinator Chan Gailey will be

returning and will be calling the plays. Casselwon’t have Gonzalez to throw to, but he will haveDwayne Bowe and Engram as targets. All eyeswill be glued on Johnson, who hasn’t rushed for1,000 yards for two straight years after coming off

of back to back 1,700 yardseasons. Since 2004,Johnson has put together 31100-yard rushing games. TheChiefs are 23-8 in those 31games. With a more matureattitude and a better offensiveline, Johnson may be able toturn the clock back to 2005-06 and help the Chiefs winmore games this year.

Left tackle Branden Albertonly allowed four sacks in the15 games he played in as arookie. Waters and Mike Goffare the projected startingguards as they’ve had experi-ence blocking for successfulrunning backs.

Chiefs DefenseClancy Pendergast, the former defensive coor-

dinator of the Cardinals, will be the new defensivecoordinator in Kansas City. After 10 team sacks,fewest in NFL history, the Chiefs will make theswitch to the 3-4 defense with players being

moved around to new positions. Glenn Dorseyhas moved to defensive end while Tamba Haliand Turk McBride move to the linebacker spot.

Derrick Johnson will be playing with two veter-an linebackers Vrabel and Thomas, who werepicked up in the off season and both have playedin the 3-4 defense. Jackson is slotted in to start atdefensive end after starring at LSU. Safety Mike

Brown has not played 16 games since 2003.Since 2004, Brown has only played 36 games inthe NFL with multiple injuries keeping him off the

field. In 2001, the Bearswere involved in two back-to-back overtime games andBrown returned an intercep-tion for the game winningtouchdown in both. Brownhasn’t been able to put upbig numbers due to his

injuries, but has been akey player while healthy.

Brown will be challeng-ing safeties Jarrad Pageand Bernard Pollard for a starting spot.Cornerbacks Brandon Flowers and BrandonCarr are coming off successful rookie seasons.

Chiefs Special TeamsAfter cutting kicker Connor Barth and long

snapper Thomas Gafford before trainingcamp, it may be safe to assume rookie kickerRyan Succop and long snapper TannerPurdum will be key players on special teams,along with punter Dustin Colquitt, who missedtwo games with a groin injury.

The Chiefs are in a mediocre division,allowing them hope. With the new off-seasonadditions and only one strong opponent in theAFC West, the Chiefs will improve and couldpossibly challenge the San Diego Chargers forthe division title.

In 2007, the Falcons and Dolphins both hadpoor seasons. After making changes with theirfront office and bringing in a new head coach,both teams won 11 games in 2008 andreached the playoffs. The Chiefs’ off-seasonhas been similar to the Falcons and Dolphinsof a year ago. Now let’s see if the results aresimilar.

Farzin Vousoughian does a podcast called“The Chiefs Zone,” which is featured onTheSportsStuff.com and on iTunes.

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The past two years the Kansas City Chiefs have won six games.They have lost 23 of their past 25 games.

FarzinVousoughianContributing

Writer

L ast winter Chiefs owner Clark Hunt took action and brought inScott Pioli from the New England Patriots organization toreplace Carl Peterson as the general manager. Pioli made

changes, several changes. Kansas City has come off of one of themost active off-seasons in recent memory.

Phot

o by

Ed

Gra

unke

Phot

o by

Sco

tt T

hom

asBrian Waters

Derrick Johnson


Was Cassel signing a good deal for the Chiefs?T here is a great debate going on all over

Kansas City. Did the Chiefs make the rightmove in giving Matt Cassel a long term

extension? The debate basically boils down totwo opinions.

One side says the Chiefs have finally paid alegitimate starting QB, and we don’t have toworry about the position for six years. The otherside asks why the Chiefs would throw all of thismoney at Cassel when they didn’t have to untilthe end of the 2009 season.

Let’s start with the contract, a reported sixyear $63-million deal. The guaranteed money issaid to be $28-million, but Mike Lombardi fromthe NationalFootballPost.com has it at $35.5-million when you add in a bonus that is likely tobe earned in the fir st couple years. Reports alsosay that $40.5-million will be paid out in the firstthree years… meaning that if Cassel is “the man”he would be a cheap quarterback, by NFL stan-dards, the final three years of the deal…givingthe Chiefs a high quality QB and salary cap flexibility.

Generally when there is a debate like this,both sides have an amount of truth on their side,and that is the case here.

Before I get to the two sides let’s play a game.

I’m going to give you the stats for two differentquarterbacks.

QB No. 1: (10-5) 327-516 63% 3,693 yds 21 TDs 11 INTs

QB No. 2: (10-4) 318-533 60% 3,569 yds 20 TD 9 INT

Those numbers look pretty similar. No. 1 com-pleted a slightly higher percentage of his passesand had one more TD, but two more interception.The records (10-5) and (10-4) are very compara-ble as well. I think it is safe to say that these twocould be the same guy…but they aren’t.

Stay tuned on the two quarterbacks.Let’s get back to the two sides of the argu-

ment. The naysayers continue to throw out thenames Scott Mitchell and Rob Johnson. Whilethere are similarities in all, the three had a smallsample of success with one team and then wasmade “the man” by another. However there is amuch bigger sample to work with on Cassel.

Rob Johnson was 25-for-35 in his three yearswith the Jags when the Bills made him the man.That’s right, only 35 passes total. Cassel hasthrown 555 passes. There was a bigger sample

on Scott Mitchell. Mitchell was 135-for-241.While it is clear the Chiefs have a much larger

sample to work with on Cassel, they could have

used the 2009 season to build an even biggerevaluation on him. They had the option to wait

before giving him the big deal.

So what did they gain bysigning himnow? Theyget more caproom thisyear, but withthe hugeamounts ofcap room theyhave thatwasn’t thereason. If Cassel is “the man” theywill actually get him at a bargain.$10-million per season would be abargain for a legit starting QB inthe NFL by the time this deal isdone. By front loading the contract,the Chiefs will have more cap roomto spend at a time they figure to bea contender. The last three yearsof the deal, Cassel’s cap numbercould be as low as $7.5-million. In2012, 2013 and 2014 that cap

number will be a tremendous bargain and givethe Chiefs great cap flexibility.

SorenPetro



The down side is the other side of theargument. While it is true Cassel wouldget more money if he even came close toduplicating last year’s number, what if hedoesn’t come close? If the Chiefs didn’tgive him this deal, they could sign him fora lot less and for fewer years, while con-tinuing to evaluate the position. If Casseltanked, the Chiefs could cut their lossesand look elsewhere for a QB.

The bottom line is the Chiefs evaluat-ed Cassel and thought he was worth asecond round pick (they also got MikeVrabel in the deal). They trust their evalu-ation enough to commit a large contractto him. They need to be right. Along withdrafting Tyson Jackson in the first round,this deal is one of the first decisions thenew regime has made that will hang overthe organization’s head for years tocome…either positively or negatively.

Now back to our two quarterbacks. Doyou know who they are? The first set ofnumbers is pretty easy to figure out.Those are the numbers Cassel put upwhile starting in New England. The sec-ond set of numbers…Drum rollplease…Try Damon Huard. Those are

the cumulative numbers he put up during the first six years of his career.They are three years in Miami, two inNew England, and his first year with the Chiefs.

It should be pointed out that thosenumbers came while playing for strongteams. As the Chiefs deteriorated aroundHuard, his numbers took a hit. Over thelast two seasons Huard threw 13 TDswith 17 INT. However he improved to 62percent completion on his passes. Thattells me Huard was getting better, but theteam around him was falling apart.

The question for Cassel is how will hedo with this team? The Chiefs simplyaren’t as strong the Patriots. Cassel’snumbers are going to take a hit in all like-lihood. It will come down to how fast gen-eral manager Scott Pioli can rebuild theteam and does Cassel continue to growas a quarterback.

PRESEASONDate Opponent Time Network Result 08/15/09 Houston Texans 7:00 PM KCTV5 08/21/09 at Minnesota Vikings 7:00 PM KCTV5 08/29/09 Seattle Seahawks 7:00 PM KCTV5 09/03/09 at St. Louis Rams 7:00 PM KCTV5 REGULAR SEASON 09/13/09 at Baltimore Ravens 12:00 PM CBS 09/20/09 Oakland Raiders 12:00 PM CBS 09/27/09 at Philadelphia Eagles 12:00 PM CBS 10/04/09 New York Giants 12:00 PM FOX 10/11/09 Dallas Cowboys 12:00 PM FOX* 10/18/09 at Washington Redskins 12:00 PM CBS 10/25/09 San Diego Chargers 12:00 PM CBS* 11/01/09 Bye 11/08/09 at Jacksonville Jaguars 12:00 PM CBS 11/15/09 at Oakland Raiders 3:05 PM CBS* 11/22/09 Pittsburgh Steelers 12:00 PM CBS# 11/29/09 at San Diego Chargers 3:05 PM CBS# 12/06/09 Denver Broncos 12:00 PM CBS# 12/13/09 Buffalo Bills 12:00 PM CBS# 12/20/09 Cleveland Browns 12:00 PM CBS# 12/27/09 at Cincinnati Bengals 12:00 PM CBS# 01/03/10 at Denver Broncos 3:15 PM CBS#

CHIEFS 2009 SEASON SCHEDULE

(*) AFL Legacy Games - Chiefs To Wear Classic 1962 Uniforms; (#) Subject to Flexible Scheduling

Soren Petro is the host of

“The Program,” heard weekdays from 10 am to 2pm on Sports Radio 810

WHB. Visit his show’s web-site at theprogramkc.com.

Cassel - from previous page


# NAME POS HT WT BORN EXP COLLEGE76 Albert, Branden T 6-5 316 11/04/84 2 Virginia22 Bates, Jackie CB 5-10 180 10/12/86 R Hampton26 Battle, Jackie RB 6-2 238 10/01/83 2 Houston52 Beisel, Monty LB 6-3 244 08/20/78 9 Kansas State59 Belcher, Jovan LB 6-2 228 07/24/87 R Maine70 Boone, Alfonso DE 6-3 305 01/11/76 9 Mt. San Antonio 82 Bowe, Dwayne WR 6-2 221 09/21/84 3 LSU83 Bradley, Mark WR 6-1 201 01/29/82 5 Oklahoma61 Brown, Colin T 6-7 335 08/29/85 R Missouri48 Brown, Mike S 5-10 207 02/13/78 10 Nebraska39 Carr, Brandon CB 6-0 207 05/19/86 2 Grand Valley St.7 Cassel, Matt QB 6-4 230 05/17/82 5 Southern CA25 Charles, Jamaal RB 5-11 199 12/27/86 2 Texas30 Colclough, Ricardo CB 5-11 194 09/26/83 6 Tusculum46 Collins, Jed FB 6-1 249 03/03/86 1 Washington St.2 Colquitt, Dustin P 6-3 210 05/06/82 5 Tennessee10 Copper, Terrance WR 6-0 207 03/12/82 6 East Carolina87 Cottam, Brad TE 6-7 269 11/28/84 2 Tennessee42 Cox, Mike FB 6-0 252 07/11/85 2 Georgia Tech41 Crabtree, Tom TE 6-5 244 11/04/85 R Miami (OH)12 Croyle, Brodie QB 6-2 206 02/06/83 4 Alabama85 Curtis, Tony TE 6-5 251 02/11/83 4 Portland State57 Dacus, Weston LB 6-1 232 09/19/85 2 Arkansas23 Daniels, Travis CB 6-1 195 09/08/82 5 LSU81 Darling, Devard WR 6-1 213 04/16/82 6 Washington St.60 De La Puente, Brian G 6-2 308 05/13/85 2 California72 Dorsey, Glenn DE 6-1 297 08/01/85 2 LSU

# NAME POS HT WT BORN EXP COLLEGE95 Edwards, Ron DT 6-3 315 07/12/79 9 Texas A&M84 Engram, Bobby WR 5-10 192 01/07/73 14 Penn State24 Flowers, Brandon CB 5-9 187 02/18/86 2 Virginia Tech34 Fryar, Londen CB 5-11 192 05/19/86 R Western MII62 Gales, Dion DE 6-5 259 08/17/85 R Troy State73 Ghiaciuc, Eric C 6-4 303 05/28/81 5 Central MI92 Gilberry, Wallace DE 6-2 268 12/05/84 2 Alabama79 Goff, Mike G 6-5 311 01/06/76 12 Iowa69 Goldberg, Cameron T 6-6 265 11/17/85 R Duke65 Greenwood, Bobby DE 6-5 278 03/02/87 R Alabama91 Hali, Tamba LB 6-3 275 11/03/83 4 Penn State66 Harris, Darryl G 6-4 300 01/14/85 R Mississippi62 Harrison, Edwin G 6-3 314 11/18/84 1 Colorado94 Jackson, Tyson DE 6-4 296 06/06/86 R LSU56 Johnson, Derrick LB 6-3 242 11/22/82 5 Texas27 Johnson, Larry RB 6-1 230 11/19/79 7 Penn State9 Johnson, Taurus WR 6-1 205 04/13/86 R South Florida14 Lawrence, Quinten WR 6-0 184 09/21/84 R McNeese State31 Leggett, Maurice CB 5-11 188 10/02/86 2 Valdosta State69 Lokey, Derek DT 6-1 287 11/25/85 1 Texas71 Magee, Alex DE 6-3 298 04/28/87 R Purdue15 Martin, Ingle QB 6-2 220 08/15/82 3 Furman51 Mays, Corey LB 6-1 245 11/27/83 4 Notre Dame90 McBride, Turk LB 6-2 278 05/30/85 3 Tennessee47 McGraw, Jon S 6-3 208 04/02/79 8 Kansas State77 McIntosh, Damion T 6-4 328 03/25/77 10 Kansas State38 Morgan, DaJuan S 6-0 203 10/21/85 2 NC State

# NAME POS HT WT BORN EXP COLLEGE64 Niswanger, Rudy C 6-5 301 11/09/82 4 LSU45 O’Connell, Jake TE 6-3 250 11/06/85 R Miami (OH)44 Page, Jarrad S 6-0 225 10/19/84 4 UCLA49 Pollard, Bernard S 6-1 224 12/23/84 4 Purdue35 Price, Ricky S 6-1 195 09/16/87 R Oklahoma State43 Purdum, Tanner LS 6-3 270 08/15/84 R Baker67 Richardson, Barry T 6-6 319 05/15/86 2 Clemson89 Ryan, Sean TE 6-5 260 03/27/80 6 Boston College29 Savage, Dantrell RB 5-8 182 02/15/85 2 Oklahoma State66 Smith, Corey LB 6-1 225 01/17/87 R Cincinnati21 Smith, Kolby RB 5-11 219 12/15/84 3 Louisville74 Smith, Wade C 6-4 296 04/26/81 7 Memphis96 Studebaker, Andy LB 6-3 248 09/16/85 2 Wheaton6 Succop, Ryan K 6-2 218 09/19/86 R South Carolina75 Taylor, Herb T 6-3 295 09/22/84 3 TCU4 Thigpen, Tyler QB 6-1 225 04/14/84 3 Coastal Carolina55 Thomas, Zach LB 5-11 242 09/01/73 14 Texas Tech93 Tyler, Tank DT 6-2 306 02/14/85 3 NCarolina State50 Vrabel, Mike LB 6-4 261 08/14/75 13 Ohio State67 Walters, Pierre LB 6-5 269 03/25/86 R Eastern Illinois20 Washington, Donald CB 6-1 197 07/28/86 R Ohio State65 Washington, Tavares G 6-4 315 04/20/83 1 Florida54 Waters, Brian G 6-3 320 02/18/77 10 North Texas80 Webb, Jeff WR 6-2 211 01/31/82 4 SDiego State53 Williams, Demorrio LB 6-1 232 07/06/80 6 Nebraska40 Williams, Javarris RB 5-10 223 04/08/86 R Tennessee St.11 Wright, Rodney WR 5-9 181 11/28/79 1 Fresno State

CHIEFS TEAM ROSTER


When the game was a gameT he year was 1973 and I was a young pup

and I can remember going to WilliamJewell to watch the Kansas City Chiefs.

My brother and I had the privilege to hang outwith the likes of Len Dawson, Otis Taylor, JanStenerud, Jack Rudnay, Ed Podolak, and manyothers. They all looked like giants as they parad-ed from the locker room onto the practice field.This was a great joy for me then and stirs upgreat emotions now as we enter another yearwith hopes of just making it to the playoffs, letalone the Super Bowl.

What I realize now is that we were nearing theend of the great dynasty that brought many AFLchampionships through the 1960s as well as twoSuper Bowl appearances, something many ageneration hasn’t experienced here in KansasCity. Oh how I wish camcorders and digitalrecorders could have been invented back then.All I have are a few snapshots in my memory ofthe glory team of old. I don’t recall seeing HankStram, but we can all thank NFL films for thegreat memories of Super Bowl IV.

Believe it or not, the one player I rememberthe most was Jerrel Wilson, number 44. As a kid,you emulate the running backs, wide receiversand quarterbacks, but for some strange reason,watching Wilson kick those booming puntsacross the field still is etched in my youthfulmemory bank. He came up to me and showedme how to properly hold the ball and step for-ward in order to boot the pigskin 40 yards ormore; I am sure I made it four yards. I am in my40s now, and punters like he and Ray Guy arenearly extinct, not only because of the distance

they kicked, but the coffin-corner placement theyhad. They both would precisely pin opponentsinside the 10 week after week. No punter doesthat consistently now.

I was able to catch up with Bobby Bell and EdBudde lately and conversed with them about thegreat dynasty we had. Both players commentedon how they played like a team, not like a groupof superstars. Every player was talented in theirown right, but it was like taking a box of puzzlepieces and turning it into a Picasso. All of thiswas orchestrated by Stram. Bell mentioned onhow each player knew and respected each otherand their talents. From Willie Lanier to BuckBuchanan to Emmitt Thomas, I truly cannot thinkof a greater ensemble of defensive players

packed onto one team for so long. They weren’tthe “no name” defense; everyone knew theirnames.

Budde talked about how solid the offense wasand how mistake free it played.Led by No. 16 cool Len Dawson,the Chiefs didn’t always put up bignumbers, just big plays whenneeded. Otis Taylor could have ahuman highlight film of his ownand will always be one of the mostunderrated wide receivers in NFLhistory.

A strong offensive line prevent-ed constant pressure on Dawsonand opened holes for many run-ning backs that graced Municipalstadium. Mike Livingston will alsogo down as a forgotten hero forleading the Chiefs during the 1969Super Bowl year, as Dawson wasout several games with an injury.

Oh how I wish I could go backto 1973 and watch all those greats wind downtheir careers. After the loss to Miami onChristmas day in 1971 (the longest game in NFL

history), Kansas City’s runwas coming to an end. By1977, almost all of thegreats would be gone and along playoff drought ensued.

Wilson, Buchanan, JimTyrer, Stram, Hunt andmany others have passedaway but the ring of champi-ons at Arrowhead still revivemany of our memories aswe still hold on to SuperBowl IV, our only champi-onship victory. As we celebrate the 40th anniver-sary of our greatest season ever, I ask many ofyou to share the memories with your childrenand talk about the days of old.

I am not quite sure we or any other place willhave a team that stayed and played together likethe Kansas City Chiefs did under Stram. I justwish I could have been born earlier so I couldhave experienced many more memories.Instead, I just keep thinking about the 1973 day I had in Liberty and how fortunate I was to seethose giants up close and personal.

JamesPeuster

Contributing

Writer

The following is from the “Behind the Stats”radio show with Matt Fulks and Dave Stewart,who were joined by Chiefs Hall of Fame playerEd Budde.

1. My idol growing upwas...?Ed Budde: My daddy.He taught us that ifyou work hard, every-thing will turn outalright.

2. My greatest day infootball was...?EB: 1968 when every-one on our offensewas injured and webeat Oakland, and I was voted the offensiveplayer of the week. And, of course, winning theSuper Bowl.

3. My favorite type of music or musician is...?EB: The blues, but my favorite musicians areFrank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

4. My favorite vacation spot is...?EB: Hawaii

5. My favorite movie of all-time is...?EB: “From Here to Eternity”

6. The best gift I’veever received…?EB: Family. That’sthe most importantthing to me.

7. The one person inhistory I’d like tomeet is...?EB: BenjaminFranklin. He invent-ed so many things

and did so many interesting things that I thinkit’d be fascinating to talk with him.

For more information or to find out the nextbroadcast time for “Behind the Stats,” pleasego to www.BehindTheStatsRadio.com.

7 Questions with Ed Budde

Behind the Stats host Matt Fulks (left), EdBudde (center) and Dave Stewart.


AFC East Team W L T PCT PF PA Home Road AFC NFC DIV Streaky-Dolphins 11 5 0 .688 345 317 5-3-0 6-2-0 8-4-0 3-1-0 4-2-0 WON 5Patriots 11 5 0 .688 410 309 5-3-0 6-2-0 7-5-0 4-0-0 4-2-0 WON 4Jets 9 7 0 .563 405 356 5-3-0 4-4-0 7-5-0 2-2-0 4-2-0 LOST 2Bills 7 9 0 .438 336 342 3-5-0 4-4-0 5-7-0 2-2-0 0-6-0 LOST 1AFC North Team W L T PCT PF PA Home Road AFC NFC DIV Streaky-Steelers 12 4 0 .750 347 223 6-2-0 6-2-0 10-2-0 2-2-0 6-0-0 WON 1x-Ravens 11 5 0 .688 385 244 6-2-0 5-3-0 8-4-0 3-1-0 4-2-0 WON 2Bengals 4 11 1 .281 204 364 3-4-1 1-7-0 3-9-0 1-2-1 1-5-0 WON 3Browns 4 12 0 .250 232 350 1-7-0 3-5-0 3-9-0 1-3-0 1-5-0 LOST 6AFC SouthTeam W L T PCT PF PA Home Road AFC NFC DIV Streakz-Titans 13 3 0 .813 375 234 7-1-0 6-2-0 9-3-0 4-0-0 4-2-0 LOST 1x-Colts 12 4 0 .750 377 298 6-2-0 6-2-0 10-2-0 2-2-0 4-2-0 WON 9Texans 8 8 0 .500 366 394 6-2-0 2-6-0 5-7-0 3-1-0 2-4-0 WON 1Jaguars 5 11 0 .313 302 367 2-6-0 3-5-0 3-9-0 2-2-0 2-4-0 LOST 2AFC WestTeam W L T PCT PF PA Home Road AFC NFC DIV Streaky-Chargers 8 8 0 .500 439 347 5-3-0 3-5-0 7-5-0 1-3-0 5-1-0 WON 4Broncos 8 8 0 .500 370 448 4-4-0 4-4-0 5-7-0 3-1-0 3-3-0 LOST 3Raiders 5 11 0 .313 263 388 2-6-0 3-5-0 4-8-0 1-3-0 2-4-0 WON 2Chiefs 2 14 0 .125 291 440 1-7-0 1-7-0 2-10-0 0-4-0 2-4-0 LOST 4

NFC East Team W L T PCT PF PA Home Road AFC NFC DIV Streakz-Giants 12 4 0 .750 427 294 7-1-0 5-3-0 3-1-0 9-3-0 4-2-0 LOST 1x-Eagles 9 6 1 .594 416 289 6-2-0 3-4-1 2-1-1 7-5-0 2-4-0 WON 1Cowboys 9 7 0 .563 362 365 6-2-0 3-5-0 2-2-0 7-5-0 3-3-0 LOST 2Redskins 8 8 0 .500 265 296 4-4-0 4-4-0 1-3-0 7-5-0 3-3-0 LOST 1NFC North Team W L T PCT PF PA Home Road AFC NFC DIV Streaky-Vikings 10 6 0 .625 379 333 6-2-0 4-4-0 2-2-0 8-4-0 4-2-0 WON 1Bears 9 7 0 .563 375 350 6-2-0 3-5-0 2-2-0 7-5-0 4-2-0 LOST 1Packers 6 10 0 .375 419 380 4-4-0 2-6-0 1-3-0 5-7-0 4-2-0 WON 1Lions 0 16 0 .000 268 517 0-8-0 0-8-0 0-4-0 0-12-0 0-6-0 LOST 16NFC South Team W L T PCT PF PA Home Road AFC NFC DIV Streaky-Panthers 12 4 0 .750 414 329 8-0-0 4-4-0 4-0-0 8-4-0 4-2-0 WON 1x-Falcons 11 5 0 .688 391 325 7-1-0 4-4-0 3-1-0 8-4-0 3-3-0 WON 3Buccaneers 9 7 0 .563 361 323 6-2-0 3-5-0 1-3-0 8-4-0 3-3-0 LOST 4Saints 8 8 0 .500 463 393 6-2-0 2-6-0 3-1-0 5-7-0 2-4-0 LOST 1NFC WestTeam W L T PCT PF PA Home Road AFC NFC DIV Streaky-Cardinals 9 7 0 .563 427 426 6-2-0 3-5-0 2-2-0 7-5-0 6-0-0 WON 149ers 7 9 0 .438 339 381 4-4-0 3-5-0 2-2-0 5-7-0 3-3-0 WON 2Seahawks 4 12 0 .250 294 392 2-6-0 2-6-0 1-3-0 3-9-0 3-3-0 LOST 1Rams 2 14 0 .125 232 465 1-7-0 1-7-0 0-4-0 2-10-0 0-6-0 LOST 10

2008 TEAM STANDINGS

x - Clinched playoff berth y - Clinched division title z - Clinched division title and home-field advantage throughout playoffs


WEEK-BY-WEEK 2009-10 NFL SCHEDULEWEEK 1THURSDAY, SEPT. 10Tennessee at Pittsburgh . . . . .7:30 PMSUNDAY, SEPT. 13Miami at Atlanta . . . . . . . . . . .12:00 PMKansas City at Baltimore . . . .12:00 PMPhiladelphia at Carolina . . . . .12:00 PMDenver at Cincinnati . . . . . . .12:00 PMMinnesota at Cleveland . . . . .12:00 PMN.Y. Jets at Houston . . . . . . .12:00 PMJacksonville at Indianapolis . .12:00 PMDetroit at New Orleans . . . . .12:00 PMDallas at Tampa Bay . . . . . . .12:00 PMSan Francisco at Arizona . . . . .3:15 PMWashington at N.Y. Giants . . . .3:15 PMSt. Louis at Seattle . . . . . . . . . .3:15 PMChicago at Green Bay . . . . . . .7:20 PMMONDAY, SEPT. 14Buffalo at New England . . . . . .6:00 PMSan Diego at Oakland . . . . . . .9:15 PM

WEEK 2SUNDAY, SEPT. 20Carolina at Atlanta . . . . . . . . .12:00 PMMinnesota at Detroit . . . . . . . .12:00 PMCincinnati at Green Bay . . . . .12:00 PMArizona at Jacksonville . . . . .12:00 PMOakland at Kansas City . . . . .12:00 PMNew England at N.Y. Jets . . .12:00 PMNew Orleans at Philadelphia .12:00 PMHouston at Tennessee . . . . .12:00 PMSt. Louis at Washington . . . . .12:00 PMTampa Bay at Buffalo . . . . . . . .3:05 PMSeattle at San Francisco . . . . .3:05 PMPittsburgh at Chicago . . . . . . .3:15 PMCleveland at Denver . . . . . . . .3:15 PMBaltimore at San Diego . . . . . .3:15 PMN.Y. Giants at Dallas . . . . . . . .7:20 PM

MONDAY, SEPT. 21Indianapolis at Miami . . . . . . . .7:30 PM

WEEK 3SUNDAY, SEPT. 27Cleveland at Baltimore . . . . . .12:00 PMTennessee at N.Y. Jets . . . . .12:00 PMWashington at Detroit . . . . . .12:00 PMJacksonville at Houston . . . . .12:00 PMSan Francisco at Minnesota .12:00 PMAtlanta at New England . . . . .12:00 PMKansas City at Philadelphia . .12:00 PMGreen Bay at St. Louis . . . . . .12:00 PMN.Y. Giants at Tampa Bay . . .12:00 PMNew Orleans at Buffalo . . . . . .3:05 PMChicago at Seattle . . . . . . . . . .3:05 PMPittsburgh at Cincinnati . . . . . .3:15 PMDenver at Oakland . . . . . . . . . .3:15 PMMiami at San Diego . . . . . . . . .3:15 PMIndianapolis at Arizona . . . . . . .7:20 PM

MONDAY, SEPT. 28Carolina at Dallas . . . . . . . . . .7:30 PM

WEEK 4SUNDAY, OCT. 4Detroit at Chicago . . . . . . . . .12:00 PMCincinnati at Cleveland . . . . .12:00 PMOakland at Houston . . . . . . . .12:00 PMSeattle at Indianapolis . . . . . .12:00 PMTennessee at Jacksonville . . .12:00 PMN.Y. Giants at Kansas City . . .12:00 PMBaltimore at New England . . .12:00 PMTampa Bay at Washington . . .12:00 PMBuffalo at Miami . . . . . . . . . . . .3:05 PMN.Y. Jets at New Orleans . . . . .3:05 PMDallas at Denver . . . . . . . . . . .3:15 PMSt. Louis at San Francisco . . . .3:15 PMSan Diego at Pittsburgh . . . . .7:20 PM

MONDAY, OCT. 5Green Bay at Minnesota . . . . .7:30 PM

Bye: Arizona, Atlanta, Carolina,Philadelphia

WEEK 5SUNDAY, OCT. 11Cincinnati at Baltimore . . . . . .12:00 PMCleveland at Buffalo . . . . . . . .12:00 PMWashington at Carolina . . . . .12:00 PMPittsburgh at Detroit . . . . . . . .12:00 PMDallas at Kansas City . . . . . . .12:00 PMOakland at N.Y. Giants . . . . . .12:00 PMTampa Bay at Philadelphia . .12:00 PMMinnesota at St. Louis . . . . . .12:00 PMAtlanta at San Francisco . . . . .3:05 PMHouston at Arizona . . . . . . . . .3:15 PMNew England at Denver . . . . . .3:15 PMJacksonville at Seattle . . . . . . .3:15 PMIndianapolis at Tennessee . . .7:20 PM

MONDAY, OCT. 12N.Y. Jets at Miami . . . . . . . . . .7:30 PMBye: Chicago, Green Bay, New Orleans,San Diego

WEEK 6SUNDAY, OCT. 18Houston at Cincinnati . . . . . . .12:00 PMDetroit at Green Bay . . . . . . .12:00 PMSt. Louis at Jacksonville . . . .12:00 PMBaltimore at Minnesota . . . . .12:00 PMN.Y. Giants at New Orleans . .12:00 PMCleveland at Pittsburgh . . . . .12:00 PMCarolina at Tampa Bay . . . . . .12:00 PMKansas City at Washington . .12:00 PMPhiladelphia at Oakland . . . . . .3:05 PMArizona at Seattle . . . . . . . . . .3:05 PMTennessee at New England . . .3:15 PMBuffalo at N.Y. Jets . . . . . . . . . .3:15 PMChicago at Atlanta . . . . . . . . . .7:20 PM

MONDAY, OCT. 19Denver at San Diego . . . . . . . .7:30 PMBye: Dallas, Indianapolis, Miami, SanFrancisco

WEEK 7SUNDAY, OCT. 25Chicago at Cincinnati . . . . . . .12:00 PMGreen Bay at Cleveland . . . . .12:00 PMSan Francisco at Houston . . .12:00 PMSan Diego at Kansas City . . .12:00 PMMinnesota at Pittsburgh . . . .12:00 PMIndianapolis at St. Louis . . . . .12:00 PMNew England at Tampa Bay(in London) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12:00 PMBuffalo at Carolina . . . . . . . . . .3:05 PMN.Y. Jets at Oakland . . . . . . . .3:05 PMAtlanta at Dallas . . . . . . . . . . . .3:15 PMNew Orleans at Miami . . . . . . .3:15 PMArizona at N.Y. Giants . . . . . . .7:20 PM

MONDAY, OCT 26Philadelphia at Washington . . .7:30 PMBye: Baltimore, Denver, Detroit,Jacksonville, Seattle, Tennessee

WEEK 8SUNDAY, NOV. 1Denver at Baltimore . . . . . . . .12:00 PMHouston at Buffalo . . . . . . . . .12:00 PMCleveland at Chicago . . . . . . .12:00 PMSeattle at Dallas . . . . . . . . . . .12:00 PMSt. Louis at Detroit . . . . . . . . .12:00 PMMinnesota at Green Bay . . . .12:00 PMSan Francisco at Indianapolis 12:00 PMMiami at N.Y. Jets . . . . . . . . .12:00 PMOakland at San Diego . . . . . . .3:05 PMJacksonville at Tennessee . . .3:05 PMCarolina at Arizona . . . . . . . . .3:15 PMN.Y. Giants at Philadelphia . . .3:15 PM

MONDAY, NOV. 2Atlanta at New Orleans . . . . . .7:30 PMBye: Cincinnati, Kansas City, New England, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay,Washington

WEEK 9SUNDAY, NOV. 8Washington at Atlanta . . . . . .12:00 PMArizona at Chicago . . . . . . . .12:00 PMBaltimore at Cincinnati . . . . . .12:00 PMHouston at Indianapolis . . . . .12:00 PMKansas City at Jacksonville . .12:00 PMMiami at New England . . . . . .12:00 PMGreen Bay at Tampa Bay . . . .12:00 PMCarolina at New Orleans . . . . .3:05 PMDetroit at Seattle . . . . . . . . . . .3:05 PMSan Diego at N.Y. Giants . . . .3:15 PMTennessee at San Francisco . .3:15 PMDallas at Philadelphia . . . . . . .7:20 PM

MONDAY, NOV. 9Pittsburgh at Denver . . . . . . . .7:30 PMBye: Buffalo, Cleveland, Minnesota, N.Y. Jets, Oakland, St. Louis

WEEK 17SUNDAY, JAN. 3Indianapolis at Buffalo . . . . . .12:00 PMNew Orleans at Carolina . . . .12:00 PMJacksonville at Cleveland . . .12:00 PMPhiladelphia at Dallas . . . . . .12:00 PMChicago at Detroit . . . . . . . . .12:00 PMNew England at Houston . . . .12:00 PMPittsburgh at Miami . . . . . . . .12:00 PMN.Y. Giants at Minnesota . . . .12:00 PMCincinnati at N.Y. Jets . . . . . .12:00 PMSan Francisco at St. Louis . . .12:00 PMAtlanta at Tampa Bay . . . . . . .12:00 PMGreen Bay at Arizona . . . . . . . .3:15 PMKansas City at Denver . . . . . . .3:15 PMBaltimore at Oakland . . . . . . . .3:15 PMWashington at San Diego . . . .3:15 PMTennessee at Seattle . . . . . . . .3:15 PM

POSTSEASON

WILD CARD WEEKEND - JAN 9-10

DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS - JAN 16-17

CONF. CHAMPIONSHIPS - JAN 24

AFC-NFC PRO BOWL - JAN 31Dolphin Stadium

Miami, Florida (NBC)

SUPER BOWL XLIV - FEB 7Dolphin Stadium, Miami, Florida

Sunday, February 7 (NBC)

*Sunday night games subject tochange in weeks 11-17

WEEK 10THURSDAY, NOV. 12Chicago at San Francisco . . . .7:20 PMSUNDAY, NOV. 15 PMAtlanta at Carolina . . . . . . . . .12:00 PMTampa Bay at Miami . . . . . . .12:00 PMDetroit at Minnesota . . . . . . . .12:00 PMJacksonville at N.Y. Jets . . . .12:00 PMCincinnati at Pittsburgh . . . . .12:00 PMNew Orleans at St. Louis . . . .12:00 PMBuffalo at Tennessee . . . . . .12:00 PMDenver at Washington . . . . . .12:00 PMKansas City at Oakland . . . . . .3:05 PMSeattle at Arizona . . . . . . . . . . .3:15 PMDallas at Green Bay . . . . . . . . .3:15 PMPhiladelphia at San Diego . . . .3:15 PMNew England at Indianapolis . .7:20 PMMON, NOV 16Baltimore at Cleveland . . . . . . .7:30 PMBye: Houston, N.Y. Giants

WEEK 11THURSDAY, NOV. 19Miami at Carolina . . . . . . . . . . .7:20 PMSUNDAY, NOV. 22Indianapolis at Baltimore . . . .12:00 PMWashington at Dallas . . . . . . .12:00 PMCleveland at Detroit . . . . . . . .12:00 PMSan Francisco at Green Bay .12:00 PMBuffalo at Jacksonville . . . . . .12:00 PMPittsburgh at Kansas City . . .12:00 PMSeattle at Minnesota . . . . . . .12:00 PMAtlanta at N.Y. Giants . . . . . . .12:00 PMNew Orleans at Tampa Bay . .12:00 PMArizona at St. Louis . . . . . . . . .3:05 PMSan Diego at Denver . . . . . . . .3:15 PMN.Y. Jets at New England . . . .3:15 PMCincinnati at Oakland . . . . . . . .3:15 PMPhiladelphia at Chicago * . . . . .7:20 PMMONDAY, NOV. 23Tennessee at Houston . . . . . . .7:30 PM

WEEK 12THURSDAY, NOV. 26Green Bay at Detroit . . . . . . .12:30 PMOakland at Dallas . . . . . . . . . .3:15 PMN.Y. Giants at Denver . . . . . . .7:20 PM

SUNDAY, NOV. 29Tampa Bay at Atlanta . . . . . . .12:00 PMMiami at Buffalo . . . . . . . . . . .12:00 PMCleveland at Cincinnati . . . . .12:00 PMIndianapolis at Houston . . . . .12:00 PMChicago at Minnesota . . . . . .12:00 PMCarolina at N.Y. Jets . . . . . . .12:00 PMWashington at Philadelphia . .12:00 PMSeattle at St. Louis . . . . . . . . .12:00 PMArizona at Tennessee . . . . . .12:00 PMKansas City at San Diego . . . .3:05 PMJacksonville at San Francisco .3:05 PMPittsburgh at Baltimore * . . . . .7:20 PMMONDAY, NOV. 30New England at New Orleans .7:30 PM

WEEK 13THURSDAY, DEC. 3N.Y. Jets at Buffalo (in Toronto) 7:20 PMSUNDAY, DEC. 6Philadelphia at Atlanta . . . . . .12:00 PMTampa Bay at Carolina . . . . .12:00 PMSt. Louis at Chicago . . . . . . . .12:00 PMDetroit at Cincinnati . . . . . . . .12:00 PMTennessee at Indianapolis . . .12:00 PMHouston at Jacksonville . . . . .12:00 PMDenver at Kansas City . . . . . .12:00 PMOakland at Pittsburgh . . . . . .12:00 PMNew Orleans at Washington .12:00 PMSan Diego at Cleveland . . . . . .3:05 PMMinnesota at Arizona . . . . . . . .3:15 PMDallas at N.Y. Giants . . . . . . . .3:15 PMSan Francisco at Seattle . . . . .3:15 PMNew England at Miami * . . . . .7:20 PMMONDAY, DEC. 7Baltimore at Green Bay . . . . . .7:30 PM

WEEK 14THURSDAY, DEC. 10Pittsburgh at Cleveland . . . . . .7:20 PMSUNDAY, DEC. 13New Orleans at Atlanta . . . . .12:00 PMDetroit at Baltimore . . . . . . . .12:00 PMGreen Bay at Chicago . . . . . .12:00 PMSeattle at Houston . . . . . . . . .12:00 PMDenver at Indianapolis . . . . . .12:00 PMMiami at Jacksonville . . . . . . .12:00 PMBuffalo at Kansas City . . . . . .12:00 PMCincinnati at Minnesota . . . . .12:00 PMCarolina at New England . . . .12:00 PMN.Y. Jets at Tampa Bay . . . . .12:00 PMSt. Louis at Tennessee . . . . .12:00 PMWashington at Oakland . . . . . .3:05 PMSan Diego at Dallas . . . . . . . . .3:15 PMPhiladelphia at N.Y. Giants * . .7:20 PMMONDAY, DEC. 14Arizona at San Francisco . . . . .7:30 PM

WEEK 15THURSDAY, DEC. 17Indianapolis at Jacksonville . . .7:20 PMSATURDAY, DEC. 19Dallas at New Orleans . . . . . . .7:20 PMSUNDAY, DEC. 20Chicago at Baltimore . . . . . . .12:00 PMNew England at Buffalo . . . . .12:00 PMArizona at Detroit . . . . . . . . . .12:00 PMCleveland at Kansas City . . . .12:00 PMAtlanta at N.Y. Jets . . . . . . . . .12:00 PMSan Francisco at Philadelphia 12:00 PMGreen Bay at Pittsburgh . . . .12:00 PMHouston at St. Louis . . . . . . .12:00 PMMiami at Tennessee . . . . . . .12:00 PMOakland at Denver . . . . . . . . . .3:05 PMCincinnati at San Diego . . . . . .3:05 PMTampa Bay at Seattle . . . . . . . .3:15 PMMinnesota at Carolina * . . . . . .7:20 PMMONDAY, DEC. 21N.Y. Giants at Washington . . . .7:30 PM

WEEK 16FRIDAY, DEC. 25San Diego at Tennessee . . . . .7:30 PM

SUNDAY, DEC. 27Buffalo at Atlanta . . . . . . . . . .12:00 PMKansas City at Cincinnati . . . .12:00 PMOakland at Cleveland . . . . . .12:00 PMSeattle at Green Bay . . . . . . .12:00 PMHouston at Miami . . . . . . . . . .12:00 PMCarolina at N.Y. Giants . . . . . .12:00 PMJacksonville at New England .12:00 PMTampa Bay at New Orleans . .12:00 PMDenver at Philadelphia . . . . . .12:00 PMBaltimore at Pittsburgh . . . . .12:00 PMSt. Louis at Arizona . . . . . . . . .3:05 PMDetroit at San Francisco . . . . .3:05 PMN.Y. Jets at Indianapolis . . . . . .3:15 PMDallas at Washington * . . . . . . .7:20 PM

MONDAY, DEC. 28Minnesota at Chicago . . . . . . .7:30 PM

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No “A’s”handed out before first Chiefs’gameF or the first time in many, many years, I am

excited about the upcoming edition of theKansas City Chiefs.

Not Super Bowl excited. Just excited that theteam might play football the way it should beplayed. A .500 season would be acceptable.

From Day One I was not a HermEdwards fan. The Chiefs hired him as hewas getting booted from the New YorkJets. That’s not the best way to hire a coach.

When Edwards joined the Chiefs, theNew York media were reporting thesame things about him that we soonlearned in KC: He didn’t give interviews,he preached (soon known as“Hermanettes”), he was a horrible end-of-game coach, and his teams did notwin often enough.

The media in Kansas City initiallylapped up to Edwards because he wasso accessible and gave them plenty ofquotes. However, as the losses piled up they finally realized he had been simply blowing smoke.

A typical interview: “Coach, you called thesame play unsuccessfully on the goal line fourstraight times. Why would you do that?”

“Let me say the object of the game is to getthe football over the goal line,” Edwards wouldsay. “All I can say is we didn’t get it over the goalline. Sometimes it goes over and sometimes itdoesn’t. That’s football.”

To me, though, the main reason I was turnedoff by Herm Edwards is he proudly wore the labelof being a “Players’ Coach.”

The term “Players’ Coach” to me in an oxy-moron up there with “Jumbo Shrimp,” “RushHour” and “Dry Ice.” You are either a player or a

coach. Trying to be both simply doesn’t work.As an example, I (try) to teach college stu-

dents. I know if I enter a classroom and attemptto show them that I am really just one of them I will be unsuccessful. They expect a teacher, notanother “student” guiding them.

Early on I heard the story of the college pro-fessor who announced in her first class that shedidn’t want students worrying about their grade.She proudly announced that everyone would get

an “A.” She felt she was doing them a favor. Shewas wrong.

“When she said everyone was getting an ‘A’the good students who had worked hard for theirgrades and took school seriously felt there wasno need to put any effort into the class,” said one

student. “Thelousy students,who did as littleas possible inother classes,did even lesswork since theyknew theywere still get-ting an ‘A.’”

That’s why I like thechanges atArrowheadStadium thesedays. Thingshad become

too lax under the regime of President-CEO-GM-Manager-King-Duke Carl Peterson. When hebrought in his buddy Edwards as coach, theplayers were all guaranteed “A’s” just for showingup. They took full advantage of it.

To me, the biggest example of the countryclub atmosphere was when Peterson andEdwards allowed HBO to film the Chiefs’ trainingcamp. Heck, even Larry Johnson pretended likehe wanted to sign his contract and play hard

while the cameras wererolling. It was a prelude to an absolute disastrousseason.

Well, there is a new sher-iff in town named Scott Pioliand he has brought in coachTodd Haley. It is very clearthat not everyone in theirclass gets an automatic “A”just for showing up. See anyHBO cameras at this train-ing camp?

Pioli has set a tone throughout the organiza-tion that the tradition of being the worst team inpro football the past few years is no longer toler-ated. I’ve been told that he has shaken up theentire organization, including setting up timeswhen regular staffers can use the exercise room.

Does anyone think that Haley would have lis-tened to Tony Gonzalez whine about not beingthrown to enough and really care? Do you thinkthat Dwayne Bowe will be dropping passes thisseason and act like it is no big deal?

Yes, things at Arrowhead Stadium are a-changing. To my way thinking these changesare long overdue and a breath of fresh air. Thereare no more A’s just for showing up.

Send your thoughts, comments, complaints, etc., to John at [email protected].

John LandsbergContributing

Writer


Point/Counterpoint:“Bowe Show”or No Show?Steven St. John and Nate Bukaty,

co-hosts of the Border Patrol,heard weekday mornings on

Sports Radio 810, agree to disagreeon how Kansas City Chiefs widereceiver Dwayne Bowe will fare thisseason.

Bowe has had his moments, bothgood and bad, the past two seasonsafter the Chiefs drafted him in the firstround in the 2007 draft out ofLouisiana State University.

Steven: Let’s start with somethingthat we agree on:If the Chiefs aregoing to have adecent seasonthis year offen-sively, DwayneBowe is going to

have to take a big step forward astheir primary playmaker. The questionbecomes, will he? My answer to thisquestion is a qualified “no.” The mainreason I say this is simply that I don’t

see the game-breaking skills the truegreat receivers possess.

He doesn’t have breakaway speed,but that doesn’t mean he can’t be thego-to guy. However, if you’re not a“burner” you need to have hands likeChris Carter. To this point in hiscareer, Bowe has not proven to be adependable guy. He’s got the size andthe strength that should give a quar-terback the confidence to throw himthe ball even when he’s covered. I say“should” because Bowe has ruinedthat confidence by ranking second inthe NFL in drops last year.

If Bowe can somehow develop amore dependable set of hands, hemight be able to turn into that true No.1 receiver. This is possible, but I’mskeptical. Mostly, I’m skepticalbecause Bowe seems to be in denialabout the magnitude of his drops. Justgo back and look at his quotes afterthe crucial drop in game one at NewEngland and the on-sides kick against

San Diego. If Bowe really equatescatching the ball to “luck,” then I don’tsee a man who is destined to breakout this year.

Nate: I agreethe Chiefs des-perately needDwayne Bowe tobecome a studreceiver, if theyintend on seeing

the post-season anytime soon. ToddHaley has been around several terrificreceivers in his coaching career.Keyshawn Johnson, Terrell Owens,Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald.So, he knows a good receiver whenhe sees one and I suspect he knowswhat it takes for a good receiver tobecome great. I think Bowe is a goodreceiver.

In just two seasons, Bowe hasamassed 156 catches, 2,017 yardsand 12 touchdowns. Yes, he can comedown with a case of the drops fromtime to time, but we’re talking about aplayer that hasn’t turned 25-years-old,yet, and has only played two seasonsin the NFL. He’s got the size andstrength to be a No. 1 in this leagueand with Tony Gonzalez in Atlanta,he’ll have every opportunity to d o so.If we are to hope that Bowe has a sim-ilar career to one of the receivers Imentioned above, the guy we shouldlook at is Johnson. In Johnson’s firsttwo seasons with the Jets, he had 133catches, 1,807 yards and 13 touch-downs. Pretty similar numbers toBowe.

In his third season with the Jets,Keyshawn went for 83/1131/10. Inseason four, he was good for89/1170/8. I think we can agree ifBowe continues to follow the careerpath of Johnson (including winning aSuper Bowl ring), we will all be veryhappy. Johnson, who was also criti-cized early in his career as a big, slowreceiver that couldn’t get separation,ended his 11-year-career with 814catches, 10,571 yards and 66 totaltouchdowns. Keyshawn did have bet-ter hands, but, like Bowe, he hadsome rough times early on with theJets. That’s where Haley’s coachingand a much better quarterback situa-tion comes into play with Bowe. He’san ascending player with a newreceiver-friendly coach and stabilitywith a quarterback he can grow with. I

think we are going to be very happywith Dwayne Bowe for several sea-sons to come.

Steven: Keyshawn Johnson is agood comparison to the type of careerthe Chiefs should hope for out ofDwayne Bowe.Johnson wasnot a burner byany means,and I have toadmit that I wassurprised whenI looked back atsome of thenumbers thathe put up. And,even more toyour point, itappears asthough Bowewas more suc-cessful thanJohnson in hisfirst couple ofyears in theleague. All ofthat bodes wellfor your argu-ment.

But there area couple of rea-sons that Iremain skeptical. For one, I don’tremember Johnson having a reputa-tion for crucial drops early in hiscareer, the way that Bowe has. Andnumber two, even if Bowe emulatesJohnson’s career, you have to wonderhow much good that will do the Chiefs,unless they assemble a defense likethe Bucs had when Keyshawn won hisring. Johnson never finished higherthan seventh in the League in receiv-ing yards, and he only landed in thetop 10 twice.

To take it a step further, he onlyreached the century mark in recep-tions in once season. He surpassed1,000 yards four times out of his 11years. Contrast those 1,000 yard sea-sons against the other guys you men-tioned that Haley has coached: Owens(nine times), Bolden (four times in sixyears) and Fitzgerald (three in fiveyears), and all three of those years hehas been over 1,400 somethingJohnson never did.)

If Bowe could somehow get tothose types of numbers, then we’dreally be talking. But for right now,

I think I’d settle on a KeyshawnJohnson-type career.

Nate: I actually think Bowe can bemore productive than Johnson. I don’tthink he is as talented as Fitzgerald orOwens, but I do think he could come

close to matching Boldin’s production,if his head is screwed on right. Duringhis six seasons in the NFL, Boldin hasaveraged 83 catches, 1,082 yards andseven touchdowns per season. Onceagain, these numbers are very similarto what Bowe has put up in his firsttwo campaigns. Furthermore, Boldinhas averaged 12.9 yards per catch.Guess how many yards Bowe hasaveraged per catch, so far in hiscareer? That’s right, 12.9. As we canall see, Bowe is well on his way to acareer similar to those of KeyshawnJohnson and Anquan Boldin and thebest is yet to come.

Bowe now has the best quarter-back he’s had in his young career anda more offensive-minded coach thatwill get the most of his talents. I thinkit’s time to let down your guard andget ready for the Bowe Show!

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Steven St. John & Nate Bukaty host

“The Border Patrol,” heard weekdays from

6 to 10 am on Sports Radio 810 WHB.

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Larry Johnsonmight be a keeper

U nless you’ve been hiding under a rock,you know the Kansas City Chiefs haveundergone massive changes this off-sea-

son, starting with the hiring of general managerScott Pioli and coach Todd Haley.

Interest is especially high in what Kansas Cityis going to look like offensively. Haley coordinat-ed the high-flying Arizona Cardinals attack, and,accordingly, the Chiefs traded for and signedquarterback Matt Cassel to a long-term deal,along with also bringingin veteran receiverBobby Engram to com-plement Dwayne Boweand Mark Bradley.

It all sounds well andgood, but the questionfantasy owners pose atthis point, however, iswhat will Haley’sapproach mean forLarry Johnson?

I’m one of thoseowners. Prior to lastseason, I joined a newkeeper league andinherited a former owner’s team. Then, I decid-ed to make Johnson one of two allowed keepersbecause I thought there was no way the runningback would duplicate the disaster of a fantasyseason he put up in 2007 – 158 attempts, 559yards, three touchdowns in eight games beforegetting shelved with a foot injury.

Surely, I thought, the Chiefs would find a wayto get a healthy, rested Johnson involved to thepoint that he would approach the 3,539 yardsand 37 touchdowns he tallied in 2005-06. Nevermind the Chiefs didn’t have a good quarterback,offensive line and were going to play the majori-ty of games from behind. Johnson was goodenough to overcome all that.

The lesson learned, of course, is that it’s really hard to run and score when a defensivelineman, linebacker or opportunistic safety hasyour leg as soon as you take the handoff.

Still (and credit to o-coordinator ChanGailey’s creativity a year ago), Johnsonimproved…but barely. Again, he was barelylackluster – scoring five TDs in 12 games withonly 874 yards in 12 games.

The factors for those numbers ranged all overthe map and aren’t really important now. What isimportant to me as a fantasy owner is this:

Johnson has appeared in 16 games justtwice as he enters his seventh year; not oncesince his NFL record-setting 416 carries in 2006.

In 2008, under Haley, Arizona was dead last rushing the football, getting just 73.6 yardsper game.

In 2007, the Cardinalswere only slightly better,ranked 29th of 32 teamsat 90 yards per game.

Several things standout here. Were thosenumbers an indication ofHaley’s preferred ways tomove the football, or wasit simply a coach taking

advantage ofthe weaponshe had at hisdisposal? And, say Johnson washealthy. Say he was an ArizonaCardinal instead of an aging, slow-ing Edgerrin James. Would thathave mattered to Haley?

Nothing against Anquan Boldin,Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Breastonand others, but I say yes; hadArizona had someone like Johnson,the rushing numbers would havebeen much better.

That said, Kansas City hasJohnson, but can he be counted on

for a full season? History and logic dictate no –not after the pounding he took during his break-out years. However, off-season reports sayJohnson has been impressive in nearly everyteam activity – appearing to be refocused andreenergized.

The team, along with fantasy owners like me,is hoping Johnson can return to top formbecause it doesn’t have the Cardinals receivingcorps. It has a solid (from most accounts) quar-terback and decent receivers. The defense is awork in progress, which means the Chiefs mostlikely will utilize the running game for its defen-sive properties as much as its scoring potential.

Either way, it makes me feel a lot better aboutholding on to a guy who is projected by mostfantasy prognosticators to score well more than120 points, which would be oh so welcome.

Bottomline: Keep him if you’ve got him, and ifyou can trade on the cheap for Johnson, as anumber two guy, do it. It might be a little bit of areach considering the injury potential we dis-cussed, but if Johnson returns to form this sea-son, the Chiefs play weak-sisters Buffalo,Cleveland and Cincinnati in weeks 14-16 –playoff weeks in most leagues.

The return on that investment could be wellworth getting Johnson. Of course, I’m hedgingmy bet on him with my other keeper – Chicagorunning back Matt Forte.

You know…just in case.

2009 NFL SEASON PREDICTIONSSoren Nate Doug Craig Curtis Dan KurtisPetro Bukaty Stewart Brenner Kitchen Ferguson Seaboldt

Super Bowl Champ Eagles Eagles Patriots Patriots Chargers Cowboys SteelersNFL MVP Phillip Tom Peyton Donovan Adrian Tony Ben

Rivers Brady Manning McNabb Peterson Romo RoethlisbergerRookie of the Year Jason Mark Knowshon Jeremy Aaron Michael Mark

Smith Sanchez Moreno Maclin Curry Crabtree SanchezOffensive Player Adrian Tom Peyton Adrian Adrian Tony Adrianof the Year Peterson Brady Manning Peterson Peterson Romo Peterson

Defensive Player Mario Jared Jared Antonio James DeMarcus Jamesof the Year Williams Allen Allen Cromartie Harrison Ware Harrison

Leading Rusher Adrian Adrian Adrian Adrian Adrian Adrian AdrianPeterson Peterson Peterson Peterson Peterson Peterson Peterson

Sack Leader Jared Jared Jared Jared DeMarcus DeMarcus JamesAllen Allen Allen Allen Ware Ware Harrison

Team w/worst record Lions Lions Lions Lions Lions Lions RaidersBiggest Fantasy Jerious Rashard Pierre Ray Chris Jonathan LarryPlayer Sleeper Norwood Mendenhall Thomas Rice Henry Stewart JohnsonBiggest Fantasy Michael Terrell Terrell Michael LaDanian DeAngelo TerrellPlayer Bust Turner Owens Owens Turner Tomlinson Williams OwensKC Chiefs Record 6-10 6-10 6-10 5-11 5-11 6-10 5-11NFC Champion Eagles Eagles Eagles Panthers Bears Steelers EaglesAFC Champion Chargers Patriots Patriots Patriots Chargers Cowboys SteelersAFC West Champs Chargers Chargers Chargers Chargers Chargers Chargers ChargersAFC South Champs Texans Colts Colts Colts Titans Colts ColtsAFC East Champs Patriots Patriots Patriots Patriots Patriots Patriots PatriotsAFC North Champs Steelers Ravens Steelers Steelers Steelers Steelers SteelersAFC Wild Card Titans Steelers Texans Texans Colts Ravens TitansAFC Wild Card Colts Texans Bills Ravens Jets Titans TexansNFC West Champs Seahawks Cardinals Cardinals Seahawks 49ers Cardinals CardinalsNFC South Champs Panthers Saints Saints Panthers Panthers Saints PanthersNFC East Champs Eagles Eagles Eagles Eagles Giants Cowboys EaglesNFC North Champs Bears Viikings Vikings Vikings Bears Bears VikingsNFC Wild Card Vikings Bears Giants Saints Vikings Vikings PackersNFC Wild Card Giants Packers Cowboys Cardinals Cardinals Giants Giants

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1) Adrian Peterson, MIN – An explosive, game-break-ing runner, Peterson just exudes points every time hetouches the ball. Peterson will be the top pick in manyfantasy leagues, and will carry his fantasy team tomore weekly victories than any other player. (Bye Week - 9)2) Michael Turner, ATL – Perhaps Peterson’s bestchallenger for fantasy scoring dominance, Turner putup some huge games as a first-time starter in 2008,including 11 touchdowns in his final eight games, andbook-ending the year with 200-yard games. Turner willgo in the top three picks in most drafts. (4)3) Maurice Jones-Drew, JAX – A double threat as arunner and receiver out of the backfield, Jones-Drewwill no longer have to split duties with Fred Jackson.With Jackson gone and a new five-year contract,Jones-Drew will get more than the 12.4 carries-per-game to which he was limited in 2008, and will easilyset a new career best in yardage. (7) 4) Matt Forte, CHI – The surprise was not Forte was astrong runner, nor the Bears would give him the ballwhen it counted on the goal line, but that he could alsobecome a solid passing target. Unless Lovie Smithunexpectedly switches to a passing offense, Forte willagain get 300 carries and will especially get the ballwhen it’s near the goal line. (5)

5) DeAngelo Williams, CAR – After the Week 9bye in 2008, Williams busted out with seven straightsolid performances, averaging 124 yards per gamewith 15 scores. The Panthers discovered Williamscould be the feature back they needed, and heshould step right back into that role again to start2009, even with the threat of Jonathan Stewart tak-ing some of the carries. (4) 6) Steven Jackson, STL – Another big-game back,Jackson had a second straight disappointing year dueto injury. When healthy, Jackson can pile up the pointslike any of the top five listed above. He can run for bigpoints, but is also a good receiver. If he stays healthy,he’ll be worthy of the first-round pick he’ll garner inmany fantasy leagues. (9)7) Chris Johnson, TEN – Because LenDale Whitetends to attract a lot of attention in the Titans backfield,Johnson seems to escape the attention of many fanta-sy owners. Johnson will get a lot more opportunities in2009 as Tennessee hopes to put him in the slot onpassing downs. He’ll slide to the second round in manyfantasy drafts, but could earn first-round points. (7)8) Frank Gore, SF – Gore just hasn’t quite had thebreakout season expected the last couple of seasons.Lacking a credible passing attack, the 49ers often sawdefenses put eight in the box to stop Gore, and it hasworked. Because he can grind out the yardage, and

because he’ll match up with some lesser defenses in2009, Gore still rates a top 10 RB pick, and he shouldgo early in the second round of most drafts. (6) 9) Steve Slaton, HOU – Now that the job is his tobegin the season, Slaton will get a chance to prove hisrookie season was no fluke. Slaton’s success willdepend a lot on how well the Texans pass. He’s not thekind of back who can run between the tackles 20 timesper game. (10) 10) Brandon Jacobs, NYG – Jacobs is an unusualcombination of power-running and an ability to maketacklers miss. He has sometimes had trouble hangingonto the football, although that was less of an issue in2008. He’s the number one back in the Meadowlandsnow as Derrick Ward has moved on to Tampa, leavingJacobs with all the carries. (10)

11) LaDainian Tomlinson, SD – Someone will get agreat steal with Tomlinson, who will fall into the secondround of most drafts for the first time in seven years.Still, the warning signs are there for anyone who does-n’t like risk. His age and heavy usage seemed to havea negative effect last year, and the decline was espe-cially noticeable in the second half. If you chase L.T.,be sure to take some insurance and get his likely back-up, Darren Sproles, with a mid-round pick. (5)12) Clinton Portis, WAS – Although Portis is a consis-tent points producer, he has been a disappointment tofantasy owners who have to rely on him as their num-ber one back. He’s starting to show the effects ofheavy use. He has already peaked, so let him slide tothe third round as a number two back, only. (8)


TOP QUARTERBACKS1) Drew Brees, NO – Last year’s overall scoringleader returns as the top QB on the strength of theNFL’s second-best-ever passing yardage. With sev-eral potent targets and a passing-oriented offense,there’s no reason Brees should slide much,although he’s unlikely to get 5,000 passing yardsagain. (Bye Week - 5)2) Peyton Manning, IND – A perennial favorite asone of the first couple of QBs chosen in all drafts,Manning the Elder has slipped a bit recently.Although he’s lost a little mobility and his O-line isn’tas strong as in his dominant years, he’s still a mas-ter passer who will rank among the top few in bothTDs and passing yardage. (6)

3) Tom Brady, NE – After suffering a season-ending knee injury against the Chiefs in the sea-son opener last year, Brady has dropped a notchin the rankings, but consider just one numberwhen rating Brady: 50 – the number of TD pass-es he threw as the NFL’s MVP in 2007. (8)4) Phillip Rivers, SD – A surprising success lastyear, Rivers benefited from the Chargers switch tofrom a LaDainian-dominated offense to passing farmore often. With LT still a question mark, Rivers is agood bet to be productive again. (5)5) Aaron Rodgers, GB – Favre’s replacement nomore, Rodgers is a full-fledged top-five QB in hisown right. The Pack returns a strong O-line andseveral good receiving targets. If Rodgers can keep

from making too many pressured mistakes, he canput up some very good numbers. (5)6) Tony Romo, DAL – Romo’s an above-averagesignal caller, but he will be limited by a lack of quali-ty targets. Outside of Roy Williams and JasonWitten, the Cowboys’ offense is mediocre, and theyhave a difficult schedule; the Boys and Romo willmiss T.O.’s production, even if they don’t miss hisdramatics. (6)

7) Kurt Warner, AZ – Reminiscent of Jim Plunkett,if not George Blanda, Warner has shown he’s still aviable QB after regaining his starting job. Warner isa dangerous choice for fantasy as he could drop offthe charts in a hurry simply due to his age and injuryhistory. (4)8) Matt Ryan, ATL – Ryan is not nearly as good asthis ranking, strictly as a QB, but gets in the top 10

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13) Marion Barber, DAL – Prized for his short-yardage ability prior to 2008, Barber took a seriousstep backwards last20year and saw his touches sufferas a result. He’ll be pushed for carries by Felix Jones,which might actually work out for the best, as Barberhas done his best work as a third-down and goal-lineback, not as a primary feature back. (6)14) Brian Westbrook, PHI – An ankle injury requiredJune surgery will slow Westbrook to start the season,and could create an open for an opportunistic fantasyowner as he’ll be ignored by non-risk taking owners.Still, the oft-injured Westbrook is likely to miss sometime even if his ankle proves healthy, making him anumber two back at best. (4)15) Kevin Smith, DET – Smith is a much better ball-carrier than his raw numbers would indicate. He’s ham-pered by playing for one of the league’s worst offen-sive units, a team that was often behind from the out-set, thus requiring them to pass too often and squashrushing opportunities for Smith. Still, Smith is talentedand if he gets some help he can be one of the betternumber two fantasy backs. (7)16) Pierre Thomas, NO – No, he’s not ReggieBush…he’s better. Thomas can run for hard yardage inaddition to getting the quick scores and he’ll catch afew balls, too. The Bush hype will help keep his profilelow. He can be had as late as the fifth round, but he’llproduce third-round points. (5)17) Ryan Grant, GB – Outside of South Bend, Grantwill draw less attention than most backs, and he canbe a productive number two, especially after a disap-pointing sophomore campaign. Don’t go overboardchasing Grant; there are a lot of similar backs who willbe available in the middle rounds. (5)18) Ronnie Brown, MIA – If the return of RickyWilliams has come to an end in Miami, Brown willagain return to his full-time starter status and again geta large number of carries. After two down years due toinjury and platooning, Brown will be undervalued andcan be a fine supplemental back. (6) 19) Marshawn Lynch, BUF – A player with obvioustalents on the field, Lynch has had some unfortunateoff-field problems which have escalated to the pointwhere he will be suspended by the league at the startof the season. Once he returns, he’s capable of puttingup good enough numbers to be a number two fantasyback. (9)20) Darren McFadden, OAK – The former Razorbackis a much better player than he showed as a rookie ashe suffered through a bad case of turf toe and lostplaying time to lesser backs. He’ll bounce back wellthis year to become almost as useful as his over-draft-ing owners thought he would be last year. (9)21) Thomas Jones, NYJ – A threatened contract hold-out puts a big question mark on Jones’ 2009 value.He’s shown some talent as a runner, and also hadsome trouble holding onto the football. If he comes tocamp Jones will move up in these rankings. If not, lethim be someone else’s headache. (9)22) Jonathan Stewart, CAR – One of the most valu-able part-time backs in the league, Stewart will occa-sionally take away carries from DeAngelo Williams, butit is Williams’ job to lose and until he does Stewart isnothing more than injury insurance. (4) 23) Joseph Addai, IND – Will Addai bounce back in2009? The early line says no, at least not enough tomake him worth picking as a number two back. He hasto overcome his own injury history, an old and fading

offensive line, and possibly sharing rushing duties withDonald Brown; it’s too much risk for smart fantasyowners. (6)24) Reggie Bush, NO – Bush is one of the biggernames who will be over-drafted in 2009, just as he hasbeen in recent seasons. Pierre Thomas is the betterback and will get the majority of carries. Bush will stillhave some good games and score a few points hereand there, and possibly crack the 100-yard barrier(something he hasn’t done in almost two years), but hewon’t do enough to warrant much fantasy attention. (5) 25) Knowshon Moreno, DEN – Beware. Moreno’s talent is surpassed by the over-hyped rookie syn-drome, but more significantly by the likelihood thanhe’ll share carries with more than one other back,severely limiting his opportunities. Don’t worry aboutdrafting him. He’ll be available in the free agent poollater in the year. (7)26) Derrick Ward, TB – Is it better to be a small fish ina big pond (as a backup to Brandon Jacobs in NewYork) or a big fish in a small pond (as a part-timestarter in Tampa)? Ward’s number of carries willimprove, but he’ll be hard-pressed to realize the sameper-carry success he had while spelling Jacobs. Someowners will take Earnest Graham before taking Ward,and some of them will be right to do so. (8)27) Larry Johnson, KC – LJ could bounce back in abig way, but the smart money says he’s no longer evena number two back for fantasy use. Johnson has beenat serious odds with Chiefs management over off-the-field issues, putting him at risk of losing his job out-right, although he has reportedly been a model citizenthis off-season. When he is on the field, the youngChiefs O-line won’t open many holes and the rebuiltoffense is likely to be passing more than they have runin the past anyway. (8)28) Willie Parker, PIT – Parker has developed a repu-tation as a malingerer and underachiever who hasrarely lived up to his abilities. Opportunities have beenmade available to Parker on several occasions, but hehasn’t yet thrived. This is likely his last year andchance to be a star back, but with RashardMendenhall waiting in the wings, it’s not a good bet. (8)29) Chris Wells, AZ – Big and fast, the formerBuckeye will win the Cardinals starting job, for whatthat’s worth in the most NFL air-oriented offense.Beanie’s not an especially talented receiver out of thebackfield, which will limit his chances, but he couldthrive as a short-yardage back – a job which currentlybelongs to Tim Hightower. If you want him, wait untilthe second half to pick him up when he’s had a chanceto establish himself. (4)30) LenDale White, TEN – The flashier, but less suc-cessful of the Titans’ backs, White has also done someof the dirty work on short-yardage downs, with anunusually high rate of success in getting the TD or firstdown. If Tennessee slots Chris Johnson as has beenreported, White will still get a lot of carries. (7)31) Cedric Benson, CIN – Just because Benson isthe number one back in Cincinnati doesn’t mean heshould be a number one, number two or even numberthree back for a fantasy team. He has squanderedseveral opportunities to shine as a feature back, andwill likely lose his starting job. (8) 32) Donald Brown, IND – Brown will likely split carrieswith Addai, although he’ll get the lesser number ofopportunities. He’s best used in fantasy as insuranceagainst an Addai injury, but should not appear in yourstarting lineup unless Addai is out. (6)

33) Jamal Lewis, CLE – Zero…that’s the number of100-yard games Lewis had in 2008, and the number of TDs he scored after Week 10. It should be the number of starting fantasy lineups in which he appearsin 2009. (9)34) Ray Rice, BAL – It’s hard to score many fantasypoints if you don’t get in the end zone, which Rice did-n’t in his rookie campaign in 2008, despite being theprimary ball carrier most games in a run-orientedoffense. Since the Ravens still have no passing gamethey will still rely on Rice a lot, but that doesn’t mean afantasy owner has to. (7) 35) Felix Jones, DAL – Felix the Cat can certainlybust out for some big plays. Of course, the question ishow often he’ll get a chance to do that with MarionBarber scheduled to get three-quarters of the carries,including the short-yardage work. If Jones gets achance as a slot back on third down, the Cowboysmay be able to create some open-field opportunitiesfor this quick cat. (6) 36) LeSean McCoy, PHI – Because Brian Westbrookis injury prone and has an ankle injury which will slowhim for the outset of the season, the Eagles will belooking to someone to fill in the gaps. McCoy has achance to win that job and, as such, has some smallvalue as injury insurance for Westbrook’s owners. (4) 37) Darren Sproles, SD – Olathe North star Sprolesshone as LT’s backup in 2008 and will have thechance to do that again in 2009. He’s a sure pick foranyone who owns Tomlinson, simply as injury insur-ance, but he’s good enough on his own to be worthusing in fantasy play if he gets a chance to play. (5) 38) Willis McGahee, BAL – Ray Rice’s counterpart inthe Ravens backfield, the self-described “best back inthe NFL” isn’t even the best back on his own team.Even if he manages to take the job away from Riceagain there’s no guarantee he’ll hold it (Le’RonMcClain might get the job instead), nor will he get thescoring opportunities he’ll need to be of any value infantasy play. (7) 39) Julius Jones, SEA – Jones will be the featureback almost by default in Seattle, but that doesn’tmean he’ll have much value to fantasy owners. In thelast two years, he hasn’t had a score in any gamewhen he hasn’t carried for at least 100 yards, and hedoesn’t do that very often, nor will he in Seattle’soffense in 2009. (7) 40) Earnest Graham, TB – Graham will suffer with theaddition of Derrick Ward to the Buccaneers backfieldsimply because they are the same kind of runner. Still,he has had some success even in a reserve role, andcan again be a useful backup. (8) 41) Rashard Mendenhall, PIT – Mendenhall’s sopho-more season can’t be any worse than his rookie cam-paign, especially since he has over-hyped WillieParker ahead of him on the depth chart. Mendenhall isa good choice for late rounds or as a free agent pick-up, especially if he starts to get the ball more often inplace of Parker. (8) 42) Ahmad Bradshaw, NYG – Bradshaw steps inwhere Derrick Ward left off, as Brandon Jacobs’ cad-die, but he has not yet established himself as a viablebackup, so he’s not worthy of fantasy use until he getsmore opportunities, or until Jacobs goes down withinjury. (10) 43) Fred Jackson, BUF – Jackson likely will start the season opener, at least, with Marshawn Lynch’sNFL suspension, so Lynch’s owners will need to pickhim up in the late rounds. If he performs well in theopener, he may get a larger role later in the year,

but without a longer absence by Lynch, Jackson is notgoing to get enough touches to help fantasy owners inthe long run. (9)44) Leon Washington, NYJ – Thomas Jones’ fantasyowners probably disliked Washington more than Jetsopponents in 2008 as Washington periodically wouldsteal Jones’ fantasy points, particularly while pickingup some scores as a receiver. Washington will againget third-down touches and targets, although he maynot have as much good fortune with them in 2009. (9) 45) Chester Taylor, MIN – If you take Adrian Petersonwith the first pick, you’ve got to have Taylor simply asinjury insurance. Taylor isn’t nearly as good as his per-carry or per-reception numbers show; they are a cre-ation of opportunity and third-and-long situations. (9)46) Jerious Norwood, ATL – Perhaps if Norwoodwould get a starting opportunity – someplace outsideof Atlanta – he could pull a surprise much like team-mate Michael Turner did in 2008. All the pieces are inplace for Norwood to break out if Turner gets hurt,which is the only situation in 2009 where Norwoodmight have fantasy value. (4) 47) Le’Ron McClain, BAL – If he gets the ball himselfinstead of having to open holes for Rice or McGahee,Le’Ron could have some fantasy value in short-yardage situations. Alas, it isn’t likely to happen oftenenough to give him much value. (7) 48) Ricky Williams, MIA – It’s hard to take a couple ofyears off from this job and still perform at a high level.Ricky still the talent, but he doesn’t have the legs tohandle the full-time job all year. Ronnie Brown is thebetter back at this point, and will push Ricky out of ajob by mid-season. (6) 49) Fred Taylor, NE – Merely a bye-week roster fillerat this point in his career, Taylor will have to battleLaurence Maroney and others for touches. (8) 50) Tim Hightower, AZ – A better receiver than ball-carrier, Hightower will lose rushing opportunities torookie Beanie Wells. That may be a blessing as theCardinals will throw the ball and Hightower will getchances in third-down situations and in situationswhere they have a chance to score, the latter of whichcan help fantasy owners. (4)Bye week in red.


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on the strength of his surroundings. Defenses haveto defend game-breaking runner Michael Turner,giving Ryan more time to throw and better targetingoptions. Adding Tony Gonzalez will only improve histargets. (4)9) Donovan McNabb, PHI – Another injury-plaguedQB, McNabb could also drop well down this listshould he not be able to make 16 starts as he did ayear ago. Plusses for McNabb include relatively fewmistakes (INTs and fumbles) and a knack for gettingthe ball in the end zone, even if he doesn’t run formany scores anymore. (4)10) Matt Schaub, HOU – The long ball to AndreJohnson makes Schaub dangerous even if he isotherwise mediocre. Schaub has the ability to put upbig games, and also the tendency to disappear withsub-par games in favorable match-ups. His fantasyowners will be alternately pleasantly surprised anddisappointed in 2009. (10)11) Jay Cutler, CHI – Now that the Bears finallyhave a real quarterback, they won’t have to rely on their defense and special teams to win.Unfortunately, Cutler’s move to Chi-town will hurt hisfantasy value as he will have lesser targets (say-onara Brandon Marshall) and a Bears offensivescheme that prefers to grinds out yardage on theback of ball-carrier Matt Forte. (5)12) Matt Cassel, KC – An obvious upgrade overrecent Chiefs QBs, Cassel brings winning experi-ence where it’s needed most. The biggest questionmark about Cassel’s performance will be answeredby how well the line protects him. Fortunately,Cassel runs as well as any NFL QB and will get hisfantasy owners some points on TD carries, too. (8)13) Ben Roethlisberger, PIT – Consistent whenhealthy, Big Ben often doesn’t do enough to warrantstarting in most fantasy formats. His best use is as abye-week supplement or as a second QB for teamswhich have Warner or McNabb as a number one. (8)14) Carson Palmer, CIN – Strictly a speculativepick at this point due to injury and the nearly com-plete meltdown of the Bengals passing attack,Palmer is a big question mark coming off of a seri-ous elbow injury. He will go undrafted in manyleagues, but could be a nice surprise as a mid-season pickup. (8)15) Eli Manning, NYG – The Manning with themore recent Super Bowl ring has his older brother’sflair for the dramatic if not his flair for success. Eli isa match up play only. He should just be used whenfacing the worst defenses. (10)

16) Matt Hasselbeck, SEA – The addition of T.J.Houshmandzedah helps the Seattle passing attack,although it’s still uncertain how much it will helpHasselbeck since it’s unclear how often he’ll bebehind center. Last season was bad all the wayaround, including back injuries and mistake-proneoutings. He’s still the starter for the Seahawks, butshouldn’t be for fantasy squads. (7)17) Kyle Orton, DEN – The change of scenerywhich hurts Cutler will help Orton, who will now getto throw it more than 20 times per game and willhave much better targets. Orton will go undrafted inmost leagues, so he’s a good sleeper candidate tobreak into fantasy viability in 2009. (7)18) Trent Edwards, BUF – The biggest question forBills fans – which Edwards may well be asking, too– is will they open up the offense to take advantageof top receiving talents in Lee Evans and TerrellOwens. Edwards is another sleeper candidate willgo undrafted in many fantasy leagues. (9)19) Joe Flacco, BAL – Unless your leagues givespoints for handing the ball off the running back,Flacco is not going to win many fantasy match-ups.Only the deeper leagues will include Flacco on theirrosters, and then only as a backup QB. (7)20) Jason Campbell, WAS – Campbell is in a do-or-die situation; the Redskins need him to be a moreconfident, aggressive passer in 2009 or they’ll belooking elsewhere in 2010, and maybe sooner. (8)21) Shaun Hill, SF – A prototypical overachieverand backup QB, Hill may get the nod to open theseason behind center for the 49ers. Although SanFrancisco is better than the past two years, is stillhas a below-average offense, and are still run orient-ed. There’s little to love here for fantasy owners. (6)22) Chad Pennington, MIA – Because Penningtonisn’t much of a downfield passer, he’s not going to be very helpful to fantasy owners, even as abackup QB. (6)23) Jake Delhomme, CAR – Always a favorite topickup off the waiver wire for a bye-week replace-ment, Delhomme has the ability to occasionallythrow a big game on the board. The Panthersoffense, however, is more run-oriented makingthose big Delhomme games more sparse. (4)24) David Garrard, JAX – One of the most gutsyQBs in the game, Garrard is also one of the betteron-field generals. He has succeeded in a small way in spite of the lack of support given by hisreceivers and O-line. However, from a fantasystandpoint, he remains a second-tier QB becausethe Jaguars still lack credible receiving threats orgood pocket protection. (7)25) Sage Rosenfels, MIN – Although Rosenfels willbenefit from defenses having to key on Peterson, heis still a below-average points producer. (9)Bye week in red.

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TOP WIDE RECEIVERS1) Larry Fitzgerald, AZ – What’s not to love aboutthe top receiver in the league playing for theleague’s most pass-happy team? Kurt Warner’sfavorite target has speed and great hands, and isin his prime. A repeat as the top receiver is likelyand Fitzgerald is the only receiver who will defi-nitely be taken in the first round of most drafts. (Bye Week - 4)2) Andre Johnson, HOU – Another top receiver inanother pass-happy offense, Johnson will also goin the first round of many drafts. The NFL’s recep-tion and yardage leader in 2008 is a great matchup with Matt Schaub as a deep threat. (10)3) Calvin Johnson, DET – Fast, big and talented,Johnson would be the league’s most productivereceiver if he had a similarly talented QB slinging it to him. Because he frequently has to do most of the work himself, Johnson is a cinch for severallarge gains every year. He’ll get picked behindother, better publicized receivers, but he’lloutscore almost all of them as a fine early second-round pick. (7)4) Randy Moss, NE – Few receivers are as deadly on the deep pass. The Patriots high-per-formance offense will be back in gear in 2009 andMoss will benefit more than any other receiver.Moss should go early in the second round in most drafts. (8) 5) Reggie Wayne, IND – Now appearing in therole of Marvin Harrison: Reggie Wayne. Actually,Wayne has been a better receiver for a couple ofyears running, but he had to wait until now to gethis due as a No. 1 receiver and top five fantasywide out. With Peyton Manning back at fullstrength, Wayne will be able to shine. (6) 6) Greg Jennings, GB – Perhaps a bit underappreciated in Green Bay and elsewhere,Jennings runs excellent routes and is a favoritetarget of the new sheriff in town, Aaron Rodgers,particularly on the deep ball. The occasionallysputtering Packer offense has led to some disap-pointing games from Jennings, but he’s gettingbetter and is ready to become a bigger star in thesecond post-Favre season. (5)

7) Steve Smith, CAR – Once he hit his stride in2008, Smith was good as he’s always been,even though he had a lot more trouble gettinginto the end zone. Perhaps it was because thePanthers seemed to have better rushingoptions, but Smith wasn’t targeted as often asin the past. That trend will continue in 2009 asDeAngelo Williams gets even more attention, butSmith is still deadly on the long passes. (4) 8) Roddy White, ATL – White is a good exampleof what can happen when a talented receiver issuddenly given a good, long look by a new, youngQB. Once Matt Ryan began to target White consistently, Roddy turned in game after game of solid play, and he’s only going to get better in2009. (4) 9) Anquan Boldin, AZ – It’s nice to have a talentlike Boldin as a No. 2 receiver, if only he stays putin Arizona. Disputes with the coaching staff haveled to Boldin asking for a trade. If he goes any-where else his value drops considerably, even ifhe becomes a No. 1 elsewhere because no teamthrows the ball like the Cardinals. (4) 10) Marques Colston, NO – When healthy andready to be a part of the offense, Colston will light up the scoreboard, even when he’s not theprimary target of the league’s most-productive QB,Drew Brees. This big-play receiver is a good third-round fantasy choice. (5) 11) Dwayne Bowe, KC – Bowe supplants LJ andTony G as the Chiefs’ best scoring option. He’ll beglad to have Matt Cassel throwing to him, but hisupside potential is limited by the Chiefs O-line’sinability to protect the quarterback. If Bowe can be targeted frequently in more of a short passinggame, he may get fewer scores but be more effective overall. (8) 12) Brandon Marshall, DEN – Marshall is goingto miss Jay Cutler’s deep throws, and his fantasyvalue will also suffer from new head coach JoshMcDaniels’ penchant for shorter passes, eventhough he will probably get more targets overall. A hip injury and off-field issues may knock him outof the lineup for some early games in 2009. (7)

13) Terrell Owens, BUF – The dramatic roadshow that is T.O. goes off-Broadway, to Buffalo,where he’ll team with Lee Evans as one of themore dangerous wide receiver duos in the league.If T.O. gets the double-team defense to which he’s accustomed, it could mean a breakout yearfor Evans. (9) 14) Wes Welker, NE – The short to Randy Moss’long, Welker will simply catch a lot of passes. OK,maybe he’s boring, but he catches the ball andthat’s half the battle. The problem with Welkerfrom a fantasy standpoint is he doesn’t get into theend zone very often; even when Tom Brady threwfor 50 scores in 2007, Welker got just eight ofthose TD balls. Still, he’s good enough as a num-ber two in fantasy play. (8) 15) Roy Williams, DAL – With T.O. gone,Williams becomes the number one target for TonyRomo. There’s a question about whether he canstep up and be the No. 1 receiver the Cowboys need, especially if he’s constantly facing double cov-erage should Dallas lack a credible second wideout option. (6) 16) T.J. Houshmandzedah, SEA – TJH has neverenjoyed the luxury of being a primary receiver,except as “filling in” for an injured teammate, soentering 2009 as the Seahawks number one maybe an unusual role for him. He’s up to the task andcould surprise, especially if Seattle adopts a pass-ing-first offense as is anticipated. (7) 17) Vincent Jackson, SD – Jackson has emergedas a surprising home run threat, especially afterbeing used as a No. 2 receiver for so long. Nowhe’s a No. 1, so the defenses will begin to targethim more often and Phillip Rivers may not be ableto find him for the deep ball as often. (5) 18) Antonio Bryant, TB – Who is going to throwto this notably mercurial receiver? The Buc-

caneers will feature a ball-control offense, and,besides, Bryant hasn’t exactly been the model ofconsistency when they do throw to him. He hasmore talent than he has shown on the field and inthe unlikely event he gets more targets, he cansucceed, but the signs are not good. (8) 19) Braylon Edwards, CLE – Few receivers haveregularly disappointed a s much as Edwards did in2008. He had, basically, one really good gameand a couple of useful games, but otherwise wasalmost useless, and certainly wasn’t worth hisaverage draft position that made him a top numbertwo receiver. It’s not likely to get any better in2009; be very careful. (9) 20) Santonio Holmes, PIT – Santonio gets thedeep looks after the defense bites on the insideroutes to Hines. Unfortunately, he hasn’t donevery much with those opportunities, and he hasnever seemed to be in sync with Roethlisberger.Holmes may eventually have to go elsewhere tofully realize his potential. He’s a marginal numbertwo fantasy receiver. (8) 21) Chad Ochocinco, CIN – Mr. Eight Five is stilla talented receiver, despite a horrible 2008 seasonthat was at least partly attributable to losing QBCarson Palmer to injury. That said, he’s not nearlyas good as he thinks he is, nor is he as good ashe once was. Look for a bounce-back year fromChad in 2009, good enough to again be useful infantasy ball. (8) 22) Eddie Royal, DEN– Royal has the ability tobecome the strong, reliable underneath receiverneeded to offset Brandon Marshall’s deep ball tal-ents. Royal can also catch the deep ball, but newBroncos QB Kyle Orton is less able to throw thatpass than departed QB Jay Cutler. It likely meansmore targets for Royal, although fewer scoring

1) Stephen Gostkowski, NE – It’s all about thepoints and the Patriots score like it’s an ArenaFootball League game, giving Gostkowski plentyof chances. (Bye Week - 8)2) Mason Crosby, GB – The Packers can scorewell enough, and Crosby has usually been fairlyaccurate, including accuracy from distance. He’llhave a rebound year after struggling a bit at theend of 2008. (5) 3) David Akers, PHI – The Eagles’ game planseems to include an inordinate number of clutchfield goal tries, and he has historically been one ofthe league’s most accurate from 30-45 yards,where the vast majority of FG tries are taken. (4) 4) Jason Elam, ATL – Accuracy and consistencyhave been the hallmarks of Elam’s nearly-two-decade career. It doesn’t hurt the Falcons give him

plenty of opportunities and kicking in the weather-controlled conditions of the Georgia Dome helps,too. (4) 5) Ryan Longwell, MIN – Another extremelyaccurate kicker working in a dome, Longwell has alot more leg. If the Vikings’ pinball-game offensewouldn’t get into the end zone so often he’d getmore FG tries. As it is, he’ll have to settle for scor-ing in the top five yet again in 2009. (9) 6) Rob Bironas, TEN – Perhaps the antithesis tothe high-scoring offense philosophy of pickingkickers, choosing Bironas means buying into theidea that close enough (for field goal range), oftenenough is one way to score kicking points. Bironasgets an unusually high percentage of scoring fromdistance, which requires a bit of faith on the part ofhis fantasy owners. (7)

7) Nate Kaeding, SD – The Chargers can light upa scoreboard with the best of them, and Kaeding’shappy to go along for the ride. (5) 8) Neil Rackers, AZ – Rackers might have thebiggest leg of the group, capable of knockingdown 50-plus yard FGs with the best of them, andit doesn’t hurt that the Cardinals can score inbunches. (4) 9) Robbie Gould, CHI – Good as Gould, indeed.Robbie’s longest miss over the past two seasonsis from 39 yards, meaning the Bears know if theycan get inside the 20, they’ll get points every time,and their conservative offensive style reflects thatphilosophy. (5) 10) Nick Folk, DAL – Nick the Kick missed justonce from inside the 40 last year and is a near-perfect 17-of-18 in tries from 40-49 yards. Thebiggest question mark is about the Cowboy soffense; will it be as potent without T.O.? (6)

11) Garrett Hartley, NO – Yet another high-scor-ing offense performing in a climate-control domewill produce a lot of chances for the kicker toscore. (5) 12) Kris Brown, HOU – Another dome kicker witha high-scoring team, Brown has a big leg, but isn’tquite as accurate as some of his competitors. (10) 13) John Kasay, CAR – Kasay no longer has therange for the long kicks, but the tradeoff has beenaccuracy as he has been among the top 10 infield-goal success percentage in four of the lastfive seasons. (4) 14) Rian Lindell, BUF – This will be a better Billsoffense in 2009 and Lindell could be the benefici-ary with more opportunities. (9) 15) Joe Nedney, SF – Likewise, the 49ers willscore more often than in the past two seasons,and Nedney has been very consistent. (6) Bye week in red.

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TOP TIGHT ENDS1) Jason Witten, DAL – He wasn’t quite as goodin 2008 as he had been the previous years, but hewas still one of the top two TEs in every usefulcategory, and also got his share of scores.Fantasy owners will be satisfied with Witten’ssteady performance, even if he doesn’t have theflash of Antonio Gates’ occasional multi-TD per-formances. (Bye Week - 6)2) Antonio Gates, SD – If Witten isn’t the top dog,Gates is, despite the down season in 2008. Hehad nagging injuries all year but still managed toget in the end zone every other game. A reemer-gence of L.T. could really help Gates, as he would-n’t have to take on as many really short passes inwhich he gets little yardage in exchange for muchpunishment. Gates will be one of the first threeTEs taken in every fantasy draft. (5) 3) Dallas Clark, IND – Coming off a much morereliable season in 2008, Clark now also gets PeytonManning back. Manning has often targeted Clark aspart of a short passing game, which could boostClark into levels not previously reached. Considerhe’s not considered a top tight end and fantasyowners can get him very late in the draft. (6)4) Tony Gonzalez, ATL – Gonzo gets a shot at aring, which he wouldn’t have had in KC. Despitehis relatively advanced age, Gonzalez still runswell and has stood up remarkably well to the rig-ors of catching balls over the middle and takingthe solid hits delivered by linebackers and defen-sive backs. He’ll fare a little worse in 2009 in therun-first offense in Atlanta, although not much, ashe has thrived under similar circumstances in KC,too. (4) 5) Greg Olsen, CHI – Jay Cutler likes throwing tothe TE, especially in the red zone, and Olsen willmake a big gain this year as a direct result.Chicago had already been focusing more onOlsen, giving him consistent targets nearly everyweek. The additional boost from Cutler will pushOlsen into the top half of fantasy TEs and he’ll alsobe a bargain as he’ll be ignored by fantasy ownerswho look for more of a “big play” tight end. (5) 6) Chris Cooley, WAS – In previous years,Cooley could sneak into the end zone and find sin-gle coverage, but last year defenses were wise tothe tactic and he rarely had open looks. Thingswon’t get much better as the Redskins still havean inconsistent passing attack, but he’ll have toget a little bit luckier than in 2008 when he only got

into the end zone once. (8) 7) Kellen Winslow, TB – Winslow’s acquisitionby the Buccaneers will put their short passinggame to the test. He’s got a high profile forsomeone with mostly disappointing numbers(except for the 1,100 yards receiving in 2007)and because of Tampa Bay’s offensive style,Winslow is going to expect a lot of looks. If hedoesn’t get enough targets, will he be patientenough to let the offense come to him before heblasts the organization in the press? (8) 8) John Carlson, SEA – Poised to expand on hisstrong rookie campaign, Carlson will fly under thefantasy radar in most leagues. He’s got an oppor-tunity to become a real steal, though, as much ofthe Seahawks receiving crew is fragile and theywill look to throw to the tight ends when (not if)they don’t have a full complement of useful wideouts. (7) 9) Owen Daniels, HOU – While Daniels is good atmaking the most of his catches between the 20-yard lines, he has been almost a ghost in the redzone. Perhaps it is a reflection of the big-playpassing offense employed by Matt Schaub andAndre Johnson, but you’d think he’d get a fewmore touches close to the goal line. Maybe hisluck will change in 2009. (10) 10) Dustin Keller, NYJ – A part of a successfulrookie tight end class, Keller has good hands andshowed consistent progress for the first part of his2008 debut season. He has less obvious talentthan some of the ends rated lower, but he’ll be amore regular point producer, even if he doesn’t getinto the end zone very often. (9) 11) Zach Miller, OAK – Like Gonzalez and Gates,Miller does his best work in deeper routes whichhas resulted in large yardage marks, even playingfor an awful offense. The Raiders’ attack can’t beas bad in 2009 (can it?) and Miller should benefitfrom the improvement, perhaps by getting into theend zone a little more often. (9) 12) Visanthe Shiancoe, MIN – Shiancoe put upsome very good numbers in 2008, but much of hisfantasy scoring came in one game, Week 16against Atl anta, when Adrian Peterson was large-ly held in check. That seems less like a standardby which to choose a tight end than a fallbackposition. Shiancoe makes the top 12 only by virtueof better health and circumstances than those list-ed lower, not based on talent. (9)

13) Kevin Boss, NYG – Boss did fine with hisopportunities, getting in for six scores despite limit-ed targets, but this is still a below-average passingoffense that has lost nearly all of its receivercorps, thus exposing the short passing game tobetter defenses. It’s hard to see Boss makingmuch improvement, although he’s still an upgradeover his prede cessor in the Meadowlands. (10) 14) Jeremy Shockey, NO – This just in, JeremyShockey has been a disappointment. Well, no kid-ding. Still, simply because he gets to run out onthe field with the top-rated quarterback and sever-al top-notch offensive weapons he’s going to getsome fantasy points. He’ll have to get in the endzone at least once in 2009 to keep getting to trotout there with Brees and Co., though. (5) 15) Brent Celek, PHI – Celek may benefit fromthe need for the Eagles to play it close to the vestwhen they have the ball; McNabb and Westbrookwon’t play as much of the wide-open offense as inthe past which could result in more short passesand tight end targets. (4) 16) Tony Scheffler, DEN – Ouch. Scheffler willdefinitely miss Cutler. You had to wonder when thetrade went down if Scheffler called the BroncosGM and asked if he could go along, too. To makematters worse, the new offensive scheme will like-ly push Scheffler even more to the edge of useful-ness. (7) 17) Heath Miller, PIT– Miller’s value to theSteelers is more than to his fantasy ownersbecause he’s a considered a good blocker. HavingRoethlisberger regress as a QB has n’t helpedwith Miller’s fantasy value; Miller has similarlyregressed to the point where he’s merely a bye-week substitute at this point. (8) 18) Bo Scaife, TEN – The Titans run, run andthen run some more, which tends to marginalizeScaife and other tight ends, who are often on thefield merely to block. There are better optionseven for bye weeks. (7) 19) Vernon Davis, SF – San Francisco has a bet-

ter offense than in the past, but coach MikeSingletary is focused on fundamentals, includingsolid defense, taking care of the ball, and solidblocking, and that means you, Vernon. (6) 20) Anthony Fasano, MIA – Fasano was a bigsur prise over the final four 2008 games, reachingthe end zone four times, but he was doing it at theexpense of three of the four worst defenses in theNFL. Prior to that outburst he had virtually disap-peared. If it looks like a fluke and sounds like afluke…it’s probably a fluke. (6) 21) Donald Lee, GB – Another tight end with goodtools who simply hasn’t lived up to his potential,the best opportunities have passed Lee by. Hewas more of a favorite of Favre than Rodgers,which doesn’t bode well as the Pack look to throwthe ball downfield even more. (5) 22) Brandon Pettigrew, DET – It’s hard to recom-mend a rookie tight end playing for a team comingoff an 0-16 season, but Pettigrew is talented andthe Lions appear to be focused on spreading theball around. He’s a better choice as a fantasybackup that most of the other retreads. (7) 23) Todd Heap, BAL – Does he have anything leftin the tank? Heap’s demise as a reliable fantasytight end is mysterious as he doesn’t seem tohave lost his ball-catching ability and he can’thave gotten that old, that fast. He still has some-thing left, perhaps enough for a bounce back sea-son. (7) 24) Martellus Bennett, DAL – For sheer talentand opportunity, Bennett is a good choice, espe-cially for owners who have invested a middle-round pick on Jason Witten. (6) 25) Marcedes Lewis, JAX – Lewis would be amore valuable commodity in an offense that prizedthe short game more. (7) Bye week in red.

opportunities. Fantasy owners should target Royalas a decent number two receiver option and as aplayer with good upside. (7) 23) Lee Evans, BUF – Outside of Anquan Boldin,and possibly Eddie Royal, Evans is the most dan-gerous No. 2 receiver in the game. Despite hisbig-play ability, Evans was surprisingly held to justthree scores in 2008. That will change for the bet-ter in 2009. Evans makes for a decent number twoas a fantasy receiver. (9) 24) Bernard Berrian, MIN – Berrian is one of fan-tasy football’s biggest teases. He frequently alter-nates big-point games with stinkers, enough thatfantasy owners don’t know when to play him.

Berrian is only for the strongest of stomachs; if youwant to draft him, know what you are getting upfront and be prepared to ride the rollercoaster. (9) 25) DeSean Jackson, PHI – Jackson is officiallylisted as the club’s No. 1 receiver, but he’s relative-ly week for a No. 1 as he has very limited big-playability and has trouble finding the end zone. Thedifference between Jackson as the Eagles No. 1and Maclin as the third or fourth-best receiver isvery small. (4) 26) Anthony Gonzalez, IND – With ReggieWayne becoming Marvin Harrison, Gonzalez willnow become Wayne, which isn’t a bad thing to beunder the circumstances. That said, Gonzalez isn’tnearly as talented as Wayne, so fantasy ownersshould temper their expectations despite Gonzalez

likely getting far more targets from the accuratearm of Peyton Manning. (6) 27) Jerricho Cotchery, NYJ – WithoutLaveranues Coles to draw the defense away,Cotchery may find it harder to get open in 2009,leading to more games where he simply disap-pears, as happened all too often in 2008. Cotcheryis a sketchy number two receiver for fantasy pur-poses. (9) 28) Hines Ward, PIT – The beating Ward takes byrunning routes over the middle is taking its toll onthe fine receiver. He is a top target forRoethlisberger, but doesn’t get the long ball optionvery often; most of his big-yardage plays the lasttwo years have been created after the catch.Ward’s peaked. (8)

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TOPDEFENSES

1. Pittsburgh (8)2. Baltimore (7)3. NY Giants (10)4. Minnesota (9)5. NY Jets (9)6. Tennessee (7)7. Philadelphia (4)8. New England (8)9. Chicago (5)

10. San Diego (5)11. Green Bay (5)12. Dallas (6)13. Washington (8)

14. Carolina (4)15. Miami (6)16. Arizona (4)17. Tampa Bay (8)18. Buffalo (9)19. Indianapolis (6)20. Atlanta (4)21. San Francisco (6)22. Jacksonville (7)23. Seattle (7)24. Oakland (9)25. Houston (10)

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NFL TEAM OFFENSEScrm 3rd 3rd 3rd 4th 4th 4th Pens

Team Pts/G TotPts Plys Yds/G Yds/P 1st/G Md Att Pct Md Att Pct Pen Yds ToP/G FUM Lost TONew Orleans 28.9 463 1,047 410.7 6.3 22.1 97 200 48 10 18 56 86 797 30:28:00 18 8 -4San Diego 27.4 439 924 349 6 18.8 89 194 46 8 11 73 95 748 28:53:00 18 9 4Arizona 26.7 427 998 365.8 5.9 20.5 83 198 42 8 16 50 107 781 30:11:00 27 15 0NYGiants 26.7 427 1,021 355.9 5.6 21.1 88 204 43 5 11 46 102 821 33:19:00 18 3 9Green Bay 26.2 419 1,012 351.1 5.6 18.7 99 224 44 8 18 44 110 984 31:37:00 25 8 7Philadelphia 26 416 1,056 350.5 5.3 19.9 93 225 41 4 9 44 74 635 31:24:00 16 10 3Carolina 25.9 414 938 349.7 6 17.9 78 197 40 3 8 38 94 637 29:28:00 12 7 6New England 25.6 410 1,095 365.4 5.3 22.2 96 222 43 17 22 77 57 501 32:25:00 17 10 1NYJets 25.3 405 981 331.7 5.4 19.2 81 197 41 9 16 56 77 569 31:06:00 22 8 -1Atlanta 24.4 391 1,011 361.2 5.7 19.6 95 219 43 6 13 46 71 591 31:10:00 18 10 -3Baltimore 24.1 385 1,058 324 4.9 18.8 95 232 41 7 11 64 103 785 33:22:00 28 9 13Minnesota 23.7 379 1,014 330.9 5.2 18.2 86 218 39 9 18 50 90 692 31:19:00 31 14 -6Indianapolis 23.6 377 969 335.5 5.5 20.1 101 201 50 11 16 69 86 619 28:39:00 13 5 9Chicago 23.4 375 991 295.9 4.8 16.5 78 219 36 6 14 43 78 610 28:36:00 19 13 5Tennessee 23.4 375 973 313.6 5.2 16.8 78 216 36 5 11 46 108 855 29:19:00 18 8 14Denver 23.1 370 1,019 395.8 6.2 22.1 95 200 48 4 10 40 77 739 28:44:00 18 12 -17Houston 22.9 366 1,019 382.1 6 21.2 83 197 42 14 23 61 80 664 32:05:00 28 12 -10Dallas 22.6 362 979 344.5 5.6 18.2 91 212 43 7 12 58 119 952 30:02:00 29 13 -11Tampa Bay 22.6 361 1,045 341 5.2 18.6 88 229 38 10 18 56 95 834 32:14:00 21 13 4Pittsburgh 21.7 347 1,015 311.9 4.9 18.1 92 224 41 3 12 25 95 812 31:41:00 28 10 4Miami 21.6 345 965 345.6 5.7 19.2 71 192 37 10 15 67 81 669 31:03:00 18 6 17San Francisco 21.2 339 961 311.1 5.2 17.9 75 198 38 5 11 46 98 732 29:31:00 36 16 -17Buffalo 21 336 956 305.1 5.1 17.9 81 203 40 7 16 44 71 538 30:04:00 33 15 -8Jacksonville 18.9 302 1,005 319.1 5.1 19.5 87 213 41 14 24 58 104 813 31:29:00 23 11 -7Seattle 18.4 294 927 274.1 4.7 16.6 62 198 31 10 12 83 79 601 26:38:00 20 12 -7Kansas City 18.2 291 957 308.7 5.2 17.1 82 214 38 7 18 39 78 645 28:04:00 20 8 5Detroit 16.8 268 913 268.2 4.7 14.6 59 205 29 10 20 50 88 729 26:59:00 31 10 -9Washington 16.6 265 1,026 320 5 18.4 76 216 35 10 16 62 83 644 31:31:00 20 12 0Oakland 16.4 263 919 272.2 4.7 14.1 61 214 28 9 21 43 109 823 28:31:00 28 12 1Cleveland 14.5 232 921 249.1 4.3 14.6 72 212 34 6 14 43 100 669 27:33:00 17 6 5St. Louis 14.5 232 982 287.2 4.7 15.6 69 216 32 11 23 48 97 718 29:32:00 18 12 -5Cincinnati 12.8 204 984 245.4 4 15.3 82 236 35 7 14 50 75 591 29:18:00 27 11 -2

NFL TEAM DEFENSEScrm 3rd 3rd 3rd 4th 4th 4th Pen

Team Pts/G TotPts Plys Yds/G Yds/P 1st/G Md Att Pct Md Att Pct Pen Yds ToP/G FUM LostPittsburgh 13.9 223 974 237.2 3.9 15 71 226 31 10 21 48 91 801 28:42:00 22 9Tennessee 14.6 234 1,022 293.6 4.6 17.2 79 226 35 8 18 44 93 750 31:02:00 28 11Baltimore 15.2 244 928 261.1 4.5 14.2 71 212 34 3 16 19 114 792 27:00:00 21 8Philadelphia 18.1 289 994 274.3 4.4 15.5 73 227 32 5 14 36 80 593 29:32:00 26 14NYGiants 18.4 294 931 292 5 16.8 83 204 41 5 16 31 111 866 27:24:00 22 5Washington 18.5 296 933 288.8 5 16.2 74 208 36 8 12 67 80 639 28:29:00 16 5Indianapolis 18.6 298 983 310.9 5.1 19.1 100 211 47 3 7 43 68 543 31:21:00 24 11New England 19.3 309 920 309 5.4 16.8 91 205 44 2 10 20 81 636 28:04:00 17 8Miami 19.8 317 979 329 5.4 18.5 79 209 38 11 19 58 86 615 28:57:00 27 12Tampa Bay 20.2 323 945 306.1 5.2 16.2 81 214 38 5 13 38 88 660 29:24:00 16 8Atlanta 20.3 325 998 348.2 5.6 19.3 79 208 38 10 20 50 109 854 29:31:00 18 8Carolina 20.6 329 1,026 331.2 5.2 18.5 87 219 40 9 20 45 88 736 30:51:00 25 13Minnesota 20.8 333 946 292.4 4.9 15.9 68 203 34 5 13 38 109 1,002 28:41:00 34 13Buffalo 21.4 342 971 326.1 5.4 18.3 73 202 36 8 16 50 72 540 29:56:00 21 12San Diego 21.7 347 1,041 349.9 5.4 21.2 84 207 41 13 24 54 78 708 31:07:00 18 9Chicago 21.9 350 1,087 334.7 4.9 19.6 81 232 35 10 21 48 100 827 32:27:00 17 10Cleveland 21.9 350 1,004 356.5 5.7 19.7 95 207 46 11 17 65 95 770 32:27:00 19 8NYJets 22.2 356 1,020 329.4 5.2 19.7 81 210 39 13 18 72 93 663 30:10:00 37 16Cincinnati 22.8 364 1,013 325.5 5.1 18.5 93 218 43 5 11 46 102 772 32:02:00 20 12Dallas 22.8 365 969 294.3 4.9 17.2 77 216 36 8 14 57 87 601 30:02:00 28 14Jacksonville 22.9 367 922 330.9 5.7 18.1 82 200 41 5 11 46 80 691 28:44:00 15 4Green Bay 23.8 380 1,003 334.3 5.3 18.4 80 210 38 17 23 74 89 721 28:56:00 20 6San Francisco 23.8 381 1,027 326 5.1 18.3 83 219 38 12 19 63 111 869 30:47:00 16 6Oakland 24.2 388 1,045 360.9 5.5 20.3 103 232 44 9 13 69 74 633 32:16:00 21 8Seattle 24.5 392 1,058 378 5.7 20.2 94 222 42 8 13 62 81 671 33:40:00 26 11New Orleans 24.6 393 999 339.5 5.4 18.7 82 206 40 8 14 57 84 637 29:42:00 16 7Houston 24.6 394 935 336.6 5.8 18.8 74 188 39 10 13 77 81 659 28:09:00 19 10Arizona 26.6 426 993 331.5 5.3 19.5 92 207 44 13 17 76 98 816 29:53:00 26 17Kansas City 27.5 440 1,041 393.2 6 21.5 100 211 47 6 14 43 81 588 32:13:00 30 16Denver 28 448 990 374.6 6.1 20.4 89 202 44 10 18 56 83 738 31:16:00 15 7St. Louis 29.1 465 975 371.9 6.1 20 74 187 40 4 6 67 89 654 30:28:00 24 14Detroit 32.3 517 1,009 404.4 6.4 21.9 90 197 46 6 10 60 91 753 33:01:00 31 16

TOP QUARTERBACKSName Team G QBRat Comp Att Pct Yds Y/G Y/A TD Int Rush Avg Sack YdsLPhilip Rivers SDG 16 105.5 312 478 65.3 4009 250.6 8.4 34 11 31 2.7 25 151 Chad Pennington MIA 16 97.4 321 476 67.4 3653 228.3 7.7 19 7 30 2.1 24 121 Kurt Warner ARI 16 96.9 401 598 67.1 4583 286.4 7.7 30 14 18 -0.1 26 182 Drew Brees NOR 16 96.2 413 635 65.0 5069 316.8 8.0 34 17 22 -0.0 13 92 Peyton Manning IND 16 95.0 371 555 66.8 4002 250.1 7.2 27 12 20 1.1 14 86 Aaron Rodgers GNB 16 93.8 341 536 63.6 4038 252.4 7.5 28 13 56 3.7 34 231 Matt Schaub HOU 11 92.7 251 380 66.1 3043 276.6 8.0 15 10 31 2.2 23 149 Tony Romo DAL 13 91.4 276 450 61.3 3448 265.2 7.7 26 14 28 1.5 20 123 Jeff Garcia TAM 12 90.2 244 376 64.9 2712 226.0 7.2 12 6 35 4.2 23 100 Matt Cassel NWE 16 89.4 327 516 63.4 3693 230.8 7.2 21 11 73 3.7 47 219 Matt Ryan ATL 16 87.7 265 434 61.1 3440 215.0 7.9 16 11 55 1.9 17 104 Shaun Hill SFO 9 87.5 181 288 62.8 2046 227.3 7.1 13 8 24 4.8 23 148 Seneca Wallace SEA 10 87.0 141 242 58.3 1532 153.2 6.3 11 3 16 4.9 14 76 Eli Manning NYG 16 86.4 289 479 60.3 3238 202.4 6.8 21 10 20 0.5 27 174 Donovan McNabb PHI 16 86.4 345 571 60.4 3916 244.8 6.9 23 11 39 3.8 23 149 Jay Cutler DEN 16 86.0 384 616 62.3 4526 282.9 7.3 25 18 57 3.5 11 69 Trent Edwards BUF 14 85.4 245 374 65.5 2699 192.8 7.2 11 10 36 3.3 23 143 Jake Delhomme CAR 16 84.7 246 414 59.4 3288 205.5 7.9 15 12 20 1.1 20 130 Jason Campbell WAS 16 84.3 315 506 62.3 3245 202.8 6.4 13 6 47 5.5 38 266 David Garrard JAC 16 81.7 335 535 62.6 3620 226.3 6.8 15 13 73 4.4 42 288 Brett Favre NYJ 16 81.0 343 522 65.7 3472 217.0 6.7 22 22 21 2.0 30 213 Joe Flacco BAL 16 80.3 257 428 60.0 2971 185.7 6.9 14 12 52 3.5 32 276 Kerry Collins TEN 16 80.2 242 415 58.3 2676 167.3 6.4 12 7 25 2.0 8 60 Ben Roethlisberger PIT 16 80.1 281 469 59.9 3301 206.3 7.0 17 15 34 3.0 46 284 Kyle Orton CHI 15 79.6 272 465 58.5 2972 198.1 6.4 18 12 24 2.0 27 160 JaMarcus Russell OAK 15 77.1 198 368 53.8 2423 161.5 6.6 13 8 17 7.5 31 210 Tyler Thigpen KAN 14 76.0 230 420 54.8 2608 186.3 6.2 18 12 62 6.2 26 162 Gus Frerotte MIN 11 73.7 178 301 59.1 2157 196.1 7.2 12 15 19 0.4 29 164 Dan Orlovsky DET 10 72.6 143 255 56.1 1616 161.6 6.3 8 8 7 4.1 14 95 Marc Bulger STL 15 71.4 251 440 57.0 2720 181.3 6.2 11 13 14 2.9 38 263 Ryan Fitzpatrick CIN 13 70.0 221 372 59.4 1905 146.5 5.1 8 9 60 5.1 38 193 Derek Anderson CLE 10 66.5 142 283 50.2 1615 161.5 5.7 9 8 25 2.2 14 87

TOP RUNNING BACKSName Team G Rush Yds Y/G Avg TD Fum FumLAdrian Peterson MIN 16 363 1760 110.0 4.8 10 9 4 Michael Turner ATL 16 376 1699 106.2 4.5 17 3 2 DeAngelo Williams CAR 16 273 1515 94.7 5.5 18 0 0 Clinton Portis WAS 16 342 1487 92.9 4.3 9 3 3 Thomas Jones NYJ 16 290 1312 82.0 4.5 13 2 1 Steve Slaton HOU 16 268 1282 80.1 4.8 9 3 2 Matt Forte CHI 16 316 1238 77.4 3.9 8 1 1 Chris Johnson TEN 15 251 1228 81.9 4.9 9 1 1 Ryan Grant GNB 16 312 1203 75.2 3.9 4 4 3 LaDainian Tomlinson SDG 16 292 1110 69.4 3.8 11 1 0 Brandon Jacobs NYG 13 219 1089 83.8 5.0 15 3 1 Steven Jackson STL 12 253 1042 86.8 4.1 7 5 3 Marshawn Lynch BUF 15 250 1036 69.1 4.1 8 2 1 Frank Gore SFO 14 240 1036 74.0 4.3 6 6 3 Derrick Ward NYG 16 182 1025 64.1 5.6 2 2 0 Jamal Lewis CLE 16 279 1002 62.6 3.6 4 2 1 Kevin Smith DET 16 238 976 61.0 4.1 8 2 1 Brian Westbrook PHI 14 233 936 66.9 4.0 9 2 1 Ronnie Brown MIA 16 214 916 57.3 4.3 10 1 1 Le’Ron McClain BAL 16 232 902 56.4 3.9 10 4 1 Marion Barber DAL 15 238 885 59.0 3.7 7 7 3 Larry Johnson KAN 12 193 874 72.8 4.5 5 5 1 Justin Fargas OAK 14 218 853 60.9 3.9 1 3 1 Jonathan Stewart CAR 16 184 836 52.3 4.5 10 2 1 Maurice Jones-Drew JAC 16 197 824 51.5 4.2 12 6 2 Willie Parker PIT 11 210 791 71.9 3.8 5 0 0 Warrick Dunn TAM 15 186 786 52.4 4.2 2 0 0 LenDale White TEN 16 200 773 48.3 3.9 15 1 1 Cedric Benson CIN 12 214 747 62.3 3.5 2 2 1 Sammy Morris NWE 13 156 727 55.9 4.7 7 1 1 Julius Jones SEA 15 158 698 46.5 4.4 2 4 2 Willis McGahee BAL 13 170 671 51.6 3.9 7 3 3

2008 NFL STATS


TOP KICKERSName Team G 0-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+ FGM FGA Pct Lng XPM XPA Pct PtsStephen Gostkowski NWE 16 0-0 10-12 16-16 9-11 1-1 36 40 90.0 50 40 40 100.0 148 John Carney NYG 15 0-0 15-15 14-15 5-7 1-1 35 38 92.1 51 38 38 100.0 143 David Akers PHI 16 2-2 11-11 10-12 8-10 2-5 33 40 82.5 51 45 45 100.0 144 Matt Bryant TAM 16 0-0 12-12 15-15 5-8 0-3 32 38 84.2 49 35 36 97.2 131 Josh Brown STL 16 0-0 8-8 7-7 10-13 6-8 31 36 86.1 54 19 19 100.0 112 Phil Dawson CLE 16 0-0 10-10 12-14 5-6 3-6 30 36 83.3 56 18 18 100.0 108 Rian Lindell BUF 16 1-1 7-8 11-11 10-15 1-3 30 38 78.9 53 34 34 100.0 124 Kris Brown HOU 16 0-0 9-10 10-10 8-10 2-3 29 33 87.9 53 37 37 100.0 124 Rob Bironas TEN 16 0-0 6-6 7-7 15-19 1-1 29 33 87.9 51 40 40 100.0 127 Jason Elam ATL 16 0-0 11-11 7-8 10-10 1-2 29 31 93.5 50 42 42 100.0 129 Joe Nedney SFO 16 0-0 9-9 10-10 8-11 2-3 29 33 87.9 53 34 34 100.0 121 Ryan Longwell MIN 16 0-0 10-10 7-9 6-9 6-6 29 34 85.3 54 40 40 100.0 127 John Kasay CAR 16 0-0 7-7 9-9 11-12 1-3 28 31 90.3 50 46 46 100.0 130 Nate Kaeding SDG 16 0-0 13-13 10-10 3-8 1-1 27 32 84.4 57 46 46 100.0 127 Mason Crosby GNB 16 1-1 8-8 10-13 5-6 3-6 27 34 79.4 53 46 46 100.0 127 Jeff Reed PIT 16 1-1 9-9 8-9 8-10 1-2 27 31 87.1 53 36 37 97.3 117 Matt Stover BAL 16 0-0 11-11 11-12 5-9 0-1 27 33 81.8 47 41 41 100.0 122 Robbie Gould CHI 16 0-0 6-6 12-12 8-11 0-0 26 29 89.7 48 41 41 100.0 119 Shaun Suisham WAS 16 0-0 7-7 7-9 11-16 1-4 26 36 72.2 50 25 25 100.0 103 Matt Prater DEN 16 0-0 7-8 8-9 5-11 5-6 25 34 73.5 56 39 40 97.5 114

TACKLES, SACKS, INTERCEPTIONS, FUMBLESTackles Interceptions Fumbles

Player Team Total Solo Ast Sck SFTY PDef Int TDs Yds Lng FF Rec TDD’Qwell Jackson CLE 154 95 59 2 -- 9 3 0 29 16 0 -- --Patrick Willis SF 141 109 32 1 0 11 1 1 86 86T 1 1 0Jon Beason CAR 138 110 28 0 -- 11 3 0 52 44 0 1 0Barrett Ruud TB 137 102 35 3 -- 8 2 0 10 10 0 1 0Kirk Morrison OAK 135 99 36 1 -- 2 1 0 0 0 2 -- --James Farrior PIT 133 87 46 3.5 -- -- -- -- -- -- 1 1 0London Fletcher WAS 133 96 37 0.5 -- -- -- -- -- -- 1 1 0Jonathan Vilma NO 132 98 34 1 -- 7 1 0 8 8 2 3 0Gibril Wilson OAK 129 96 33 1.5 1 6 2 0 5 5 1 3 0Jerod Mayo NE 128 100 28 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 1 1 0Eric Weddle SD 127 105 22 1 0 6 1 0 3 3 0 1 1Paris Lenon DET 121 81 40 1.5 -- -- -- -- -- -- 2 2 0Yeremiah Bell MIA 120 100 20 1 -- -- -- -- -- -- 3 1 0Eric Barton NYJ 119 93 26 1.5 -- -- -- -- -- -- 1 1 0Karlos Dansby ARI 119 95 24 4 -- 7 2 0 47 34 2 3 0Ray Lewis BAL 117 85 32 3.5 -- 12 3 0 43 29 2 2 0Bradie James DAL 116 80 36 8 -- -- -- -- -- -- 3 2 0Dhani Jones CIN 116 75 41 0 -- 9 1 0 13 13 1 1 0Chad Greenway MIN 115 86 29 5.5 -- -- -- -- -- -- 3 -- --Channing Crowder MIA 113 92 21 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 1 1 0Thomas Davis CAR 113 92 21 3.5 -- -- -- -- -- -- 2 1 0Ernie Sims DET 113 71 42 1 -- -- -- -- -- -- 0 -- --DeMeco Ryans HOU 112 86 26 1 -- -- -- -- -- -- 2 3 0Lance Briggs CHI 110 90 20 0.5 0 13 3 0 12 9 1 2 1Paul Posluszny BUF 110 87 23 0 -- 7 1 0 9 9 1 1 0Stewart Bradley PHI 108 86 22 1 -- 7 1 0 17 17 1 1 0Freddy Keiaho IND 105 79 26 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 0 2 0Pisa Tinoisamoa STL 104 88 16 3 -- -- -- -- -- -- 2 -- --Keith Brooking ATL 102 71 31 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 0 -- --Antoine Bethea IND 101 74 27 0 -- 6 2 0 0 0 0 1 0James Harrison PIT 101 67 34 16 1 4 1 0 33 33 7 -- --

TOP TIGHT ENDSPlayer Team Rec Yds Avg Yds/G Lng TD 20+ 40+ 1st 1st% FUMTony Gonzalez KC 96 “1,058” 11 66.1 35 10 10 0 67 69.8 0Chris Cooley WAS 83 849 10.2 53.1 28 1 7 0 43 51.8 3Jason Witten DAL 81 952 11.8 59.5 42 4 14 1 50 61.7 0Dallas Clark IND 77 848 11 56.5 33 6 13 0 41 53.2 2Owen Daniels HOU 70 862 12.3 53.9 35 2 10 0 46 65.7 2Antonio Gates SD 60 704 11.7 44 34 8 8 0 39 65 1Bo Scaife TEN 58 561 9.7 35.1 44 2 4 1 29 50 1Zach Miller OAK 56 778 13.9 48.6 63T 1 16 1 32 57.1 0John Carlson SEA 55 627 11.4 39.2 33 5 10 0 36 65.5 0Greg Olsen CHI 54 574 10.6 35.9 52 5 6 1 31 57.4 2Jeremy Shockey NO 50 483 9.7 40.2 26 0 4 0 30 60 2Dustin Keller NYJ 48 535 11.1 33.4 54 3 7 1 32 66.7 0Heath Miller PIT 48 514 10.7 36.7 22 3 4 0 29 60.4 1Billy Miller NO 45 579 12.9 38.6 41 1 11 1 30 66.7 0Kellen Winslow CLE 43 428 10 42.8 30 3 3 0 25 58.1 1Visanthe Shiancoe MIN 42 596 14.2 37.2 40 7 12 1 30 71.4 0Desmond Clark CHI 41 367 9 22.9 35 1 5 0 18 43.9 1Marcedes Lewis JAC 41 489 11.9 30.6 30T 2 8 0 21 51.2 0Tony Scheffler DEN 40 645 16.1 49.6 72 3 13 1 28 70 1Donald Lee GB 39 303 7.8 18.9 26 5 3 0 12 30.8 0L.J. Smith PHI 37 298 8.1 22.9 25 3 3 0 16 43.2 0Jerramy Stevens TB 36 397 11 28.4 31 2 6 0 16 44.4 0Todd Heap BAL 35 403 11.5 25.2 30 3 7 0 23 65.7 1

TOP WIDE RECEIVERSPlayer Team Rec Yds Avg Yds/G Lng TD 20+ 40+ 1st 1st% FUMAndre Johnson HOU 115 1,575 13.7 98.4 65 8 20 4 79 68.7 1Wes Welker NE 111 1,165 10.5 72.8 64 3 13 1 57 51.4 1Brandon Marshall DEN 104 1,265 12.2 84.3 47 6 16 1 65 62.5 3Larry Fitzgerald ARI 96 1,431 14.9 89.4 78T 12 20 5 66 68.8 1T.J. Houshmandzadeh CIN 92 904 9.8 60.3 46 4 10 1 51 55.4 0Eddie Royal DEN 91 980 10.8 65.3 93T 5 8 2 43 47.3 1Anquan Boldin ARI 89 1,038 11.7 86.5 79T 11 10 3 56 62.9 3Roddy White ATL 88 1,382 15.7 86.4 70T 7 18 4 61 69.3 1Dwayne Bowe KC 86 1,022 11.9 63.9 36 7 12 0 49 57 0Antonio Bryant TB 83 1,248 15 78 71T 7 16 4 60 72.3 1Reggie Wayne IND 82 1,145 14 71.6 65T 6 13 3 63 76.8 0Hines Ward PIT 81 1,043 12.9 65.2 49 7 15 2 55 67.9 1Greg Jennings GB 80 1,292 16.2 80.8 63 9 21 8 55 68.8 1Derrick Mason BAL 80 1,037 13 64.8 54 5 12 1 60 75 2Lance Moore NO 79 928 11.7 58 70T 10 8 2 40 50.6 0Santana Moss WAS 79 1,044 13.2 65.2 67T 6 15 3 50 63.3 1Calvin Johnson DET 78 1,331 17.1 83.2 96T 12 21 7 52 66.7 2Steve Smith CAR 78 1,421 18.2 101.5 65T 6 23 6 59 75.6 1Steve Breaston ARI 77 1,006 13.1 62.9 58 3 13 3 44 57.1 0Donald Driver GB 74 1,012 13.7 63.2 71T 5 13 6 44 59.5 0Jerricho Cotchery NYJ 71 858 12.1 53.6 56T 5 11 3 43 60.6 2Laveranues Coles NYJ 70 850 12.1 53.1 54 7 12 2 44 62.9 1Randy Moss NE 69 1,008 14.6 63 76T 11 14 3 46 66.7 3Terrell Owens DAL 69 1,052 15.2 65.8 75T 10 15 6 38 55.1 1Matt Jones JAC 65 761 11.7 63.4 35 2 9 0 47 72.3 1Muhsin Muhammad CAR 65 923 14.2 57.7 60 5 12 3 46 70.8 2

KICK RETURN LEADERSKick Returns-------------------------------------------------------- Punt Returns--------------------------------------------------------------

Name Team KR Yds Avg Long TD PR Yds Avg Long TD FCJosh Wilson SEA 69 1753 25.4 61 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0Leodis McKelvin BUF 52 1468 28.2 98 1 2 26 13.0 14 0 0Darren Sproles SDG 53 1376 26.0 103 1 22 249 11.3 43 0 12Quintin Demps PHI 52 1314 25.3 100 1 0 0 0.0 0 0 0Jerious Norwood ATL 51 1311 25.7 92 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0Rock Cartwright WAS 51 1307 25.6 87 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0Ellis Hobbs NWE 45 1281 28.5 95 1 0 0 0.0 0 0 0Allen Rossum SFO 47 1259 26.8 104 1 15 223 14.9 45 0 7Brian Witherspoon JAC 52 1250 24.0 51 0 17 192 11.3 38 0 9Leon Washington NYJ 48 1231 25.6 94 1 29 303 10.4 37 0 9Will Blackmon GNB 55 1157 21.0 45 0 36 398 11.1 76 2 11Glenn Holt CIN 46 1110 24.1 60 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 7Joshua Cribbs CLE 44 1110 25.2 92 1 28 228 8.1 32 0 0Danieal Manning CHI 36 1070 29.7 83 1 0 0 0.0 0 0 0Andre’ Davis HOU 43 993 23.1 50 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0Clifton Smith TAM 36 992 27.6 97 1 23 324 14.1 70 1 4Chris Carr TEN 35 984 28.1 52 0 32 323 10.1 44 0 20Mark Jones CAR 40 958 24.0 59 0 39 443 11.4 55 0 20J.J. Arrington ARI 36 923 25.6 93 1 0 0 0.0 0 0 0Ahmad Bradshaw NYG 39 867 22.2 58 0 1 6 6.0 6 0 0Brandon Middleton DET 39 864 22.2 42 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0Johnnie Lee Higgins OAK 36 842 23.4 69 0 44 570 13.0 93 3 12Justin Miller OAK 33 816 24.7 92 2 0 0 0.0 0 0 0Pierre Thomas NOR 31 793 25.6 88 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0Dante Hall STL 37 763 20.6 41 0 9 93 10.3 34 0 1Aveion Cason DET 32 746 23.3 46 0 3 27 9.0 13 0 0Maurice Hicks MIN 29 690 23.8 38 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0Devin Hester CHI 31 679 21.9 51 0 32 198 6.2 25 0 14Steve Breaston ARI 33 667 20.2 38 0 33 237 7.2 25 0 10Ted Ginn Jr. MIA 32 657 20.5 41 0 7 54 7.7 15 0 1Dantrell Savage KC 26 633 24.3 59 0 8 17 2.1 11 0 2

2008 NFL STATS


TEAM-BY-TEAM DEPTH CHARTPos Starter BackupARIZONA CARDINALS

QB Kurt Warner Matt LeinartRB Chris Wells Tim HightowerFB Dan Kreider Tim CastilleWR1 Larry Fitzgerald Jerheme UrbanWR2 Anquan Boldin Steve BreastonTE Leonard Pope Anthony Becht PK Neil Rackers

ATLANTA FALCONS QB Matt Ryan Chris RedmanRB Michael Turner Jerious NorwoodFB Ovie MughelliWR1 Roddy White Harry DouglasWR2 Michael Jenkins Brian Finneran TE Tony Gonzalez Justin PeellePK Jason Elam Michael Koenen

BALTIMORE RAVENS QB Joe Flacco Troy SmithRB Ray Rice Willis McGahee FB LeRon McClainWR1 Mark Clayton Kelley Washington WR2 Demetrius Williams Justin HarperTE Todd Heap L.J. Smith PK Steven Hauschka Graham Gano

BUFFALO BILLS QB Trent Edwards Ryan FitzpatrickRB Fred Jackson Dominic Rhodes FB Corey McIntyreWR1 Terrell Owens Josh Reed WR2 Lee Evans Roscoe ParrishTE Derek Schouman Derek FinePK Rian Lindell

CAROLINA PANTHERS QB Jake Delhomme Josh McCown RB Deangelo Williams Jonathan StewartFB Brad Hoover Tony FiammettaWR1 Steve Smith Ryne RobinsonWR2 Muhsin Muhammad Dwayne JarrettTE Jeff King Dante RosarioPK John Kasay Rhys Lloyd

CHICAGO BEARS QB Jay Cutler Caleb HanieRB Matt Forte Kevin JonesFB Jason McKie Jason DavisWR1 Devin Hester Juaquin IglesiasWR2 Earl Bennett Rashied DavisTE Desmond Clark Greg OlsenPK Robbie Gould

CINCINNATI BENGALS QB Carson Palmer J.T. OSullivanRB Cedric Benson Kenny WatsonFB Fui Vakapuna J.D. RunnelsWR1 Chad Ochocinco Chris HenryWR2 Laveranues Coles Andre CaldwellTE Reggie Kelly Ben UtechtPK Shayne Graham

CLEVELAND BROWNS QB Brady Quinn Derek AndersonRB Jamal Lewis Jerome HarrisonFB Lawrence Vickers Charles AliWR1 Braylon Edwards Mohamed Massaquoi WR2 Brian Robiskie David Patten TE Robert Royal Steve Heiden PK Phil Dawson

Pos Starter BackupDALLAS COWBOYS

QB Tony Romo Jon Kitna RB Marion Barber Felix JonesFB Deon Anderson Julius CrosslinWR1 Roy Williams Sam HurdWR2 Patrick Crayton Miles AustinTE Jason Witten Martellus BennettPK Nick Folk David Buehler

DENVER BRONCOS QB Kyle Orton Chris SimmsRB Knowshon Moreno Correll Buckhalter FB Peyton Hillis Spencer LarsenWR1 Brandon Marshall Jabar GaffneyWR2 Eddie Royal Brandon Stokley TE Daniel Graham Tony SchefflerPK Matt Prater

DETROIT LIONS QB Daunte Culpepper Matthew StaffordRB Kevin Smith Maurice Morris FB Jerome Felton Terrelle Smith WR1 Calvin Johnson Dennis Northcutt WR2 Bryant Johnson Derrick WilliamsTE Brandon Pettigrew Casey FitzsimmonsPK Jason Hanson

GREEN BAY PACKERS QB Aaron Rodgers Matt FlynnRB Ryan Grant Brandon JacksonFB Korey Hall John KuhnWR1 Greg Jennings Jordy NelsonWR2 Donald Driver James JonesTE Donald Lee Jermichael FinleyPK Mason Crosby

HOUSTON TEXANS QB Matt Schaub Dan OrlovskyRB Steve Slaton Ryan MoatsFB Vonta LeachWR1 Andre Johnson David AndersonWR2 Kevin Walter Andre DavisTE Owen Daniels Joel DreessenPK Kris Brown

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS QB Peyton Manning Jim SorgiRB Joseph Addai Donald BrownWR1 Reggie Wayne Pierre GarconWR2 Anthony Gonzalez Austin CollieTE Dallas Clark Gijon RobinsonTE Jacob Tamme Justin SnowPK Adam Vinatieri Patrick McAfee

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS QB David Garrard Todd BoumanRB Maurice Jones-Drew Chauncey WashingtonFB Greg Jones Montell OwensWR1 Torry Holt Jarrett DillardWR2 Mike Walker Mike ThomasTE Marcedes Lewis Greg EstandiaPK Josh Scobee

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS QB Matt Cassel Tyler ThigpenRB Larry Johnson Jamaal CharlesFB Mike CoxWR1 Dwayne Bowe Bobby Engram WR2 Mark Bradley Devard DarlingTE Brad Cottam Sean RyanPK Ryan Succop

Pos Starter BackupMIAMI DOLPHINS

QB Chad Pennington Chad HenneRB Ronnie Brown Ricky WilliamsFB Louaska PoliteWR1 Greg Camarillo Davone BessWR2 Ted Ginn Jr. Patrick TurnerTE Anthony Fasano David Martin PK Dan Carpenter

MINNESOTA VIKINGS QB Sage Rosenfels Tarvarias JacksonRB Adrian Peterson Chester Taylor FB Naufahu Tahi Nehemiah BroughtonWR1 Bernard Berrian Bobby WadeWR2 Sidney Rice Percy HarvinTE Visanthe Shiancoe Jim Kleinsasser PK Ryan Longwell

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS QB Tom Brady Kevin OConnellRB Sammy Morris Fred Taylor WR1 Randy Moss Matthew SlaterWR2 Wes Welker Sam AikenWR1 Joey Galloway Greg LewisTE Benjamin Watson Chris Baker PK Stephen Gostkowski

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS QB Drew Brees Mark Brunell RB Pierre Thomas Reggie BushFB Heath Evans Olaniyi SobomehinWR1 Marques Colston Devery HendersonWR2 Lance Moore Adrian ArringtonTE Jeremy Shockey Billy MillerPK Garrett Hartley

NEW YORK GIANTS QB Eli Manning David Carr RB Brandon Jacobs Ahmad BradshawFB Madison HedgecockWR1 Domenik Hixon Hakeem NicksWR2 Steve Smith Mario ManninghamTE Kevin Boss Travis BeckumPK Lawrence Tynes

NEW YORK JETS QB Kellen Clemens Mark SanchezRB Thomas Jones Leon WashingtonFB Tony Richardson Jehuu CaulcrickWR1 Jerricho Cotchery David ClowneyWR2 Chansi Stuckey Brad SmithTE Dustin Keller Richard OwensPK Jay Feely

OAKLAND RAIDERS QB JeMarcus Russell Jeff Garcia RB Justin Fargas Darren McFaddenFB Lorenzo Neal Luke LawtonWR1 Darius Heyward-Bey Johnnie Lee HigginsWR2 Chaz Schilens Javon Walker TE Zach Miller Tony Stewart PK Sebastian Janikowski

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES QB Donovan McNabb Kevin KolbRB Brian Westbrook LeSean McCoyFB Leonard Weaver Kyle EckelWR1 DeSean Jackson Reggie BrownWR2 Kevin Curtis Jason AvantTE Brent Celek Matt Schobel PK David Akers

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QB Ben Roethlisberger Charlie Batch RB Willie Parker Rashard MendenhallFB Carey Davis Frank SummersWR1 Hines Ward Limas SweedWR2 Santonio Holmes Shaun McDonaldTE Heath Miller Matt SpaethPK Jeff Reed

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SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS QB Shaun Hill Damon HuardRB Frank Gore Glenn CoffeeFB Morran Norris Zak KeaseyWR1 Isaac Bruce Brandon JonesWR2 Josh Morgan Michael CrabtreeTE Vernon Davis Delanie WalkerPK Joe Nedney

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS QB Matt Hasselbeck Seneca WallaceRB Julius Jones T.J. Duckett FB Owen Schmitt Justin GriffithWR1 T.J. Houshmandzadeh Deion Branch WR2 Nate Burleson Deon ButlerTE John Carlson John OwensPK Olindo Mare Brandon Coutu

ST. LOUIS RAMS QB Marc Bulger Kyle Boller RB Steven Jackson Kenneth DarbyFB Mike KarneyWR1 Donnie Avery Derek StanleyWR2 Keenan Burton Ronald CurryTE Randy McMichael Daniel FellsPK Josh Brown

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS QB Luke McCown Byron Leftwich RB Earnest Graham Derrick WardFB B.J. Askew Jameel CookWR1 Antonio Bryant Brian ClarkWR2 Michael Clayton Sammie StroughterTE Kellen Winslow Jerramy StevensPK Mike Nugent Matt Bryant

TENNESSEE TITANS QB Kerry Collins Vince YoungRB Chris Johnson LenDale WhiteFB Ahmard Hall Casey CramerWR1 Nate Washington Lavelle HawkinsWR2 Justin Gage Chris DavisTE Bo Scaife Alge Crumpler PK Rob Bironas

WASHINGTON REDSKINS QB Jason Campbell Todd Collins RB Clinton Portis Ladell Betts FB Mike SellersWR1 Santana Moss Malcolm KellyWR2 Antwaan Randle El Devin ThomasTE Chris Cooley Fred DavisPK Shaun Suisham


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presents THE GREAT OUTDOORS REPORT


By TOM CANNON, Contributing Writer

Stripes Under the StarsH aving spent some time at glorious Beaver Lake in the

Arkansas Ozark mountain range, I found myself won-

dering why I had never fished for Stripers there.

I grew up seeing big Striped Bass that had come from

the crystal clear waters of Beaver, but for some unknown

reason I had yet to feel

the tug of one on my

line. This spring

I made arrangements

with Ed Chapko of

E & C Guide service

to try and remedy my

“lack of stripes.”

My maiden trip was

to take place in July, at

the peak of summer heat. Typical day time temperatures

hover near the century mark and humidity is so high you

can literally see it. Thus when Ed advised me we would be

going out in the evening I wasn’t the slightest bit upset.

“Summer is really a great time to fish (for Stripers),”

Chapko said. “I can get on a solid pattern, and consistently

catch fish every night.”

The stable weather and the fact the Stripers really thrive

in the depths, where the dissolved oxygen forms (common

in summer) means summer is prime time to catch good

numbers of these silver striped beauties.

Joining us would be Paul, a regular fishing buddy of

Chapko’s. After handshakes and introductions the three of

us set out to try our luck. We weren’t on plane for more

than a minute or two when Chapko brought the boat to an

idle and began to prep his gear.

“This is a good place to start,” he said. Immediately he

prepped his two rod s, which were wide spool baitcast rigs

complete with line counters. The reels sat on seven-foot

medium heavy Ugly Stick rods and were spooled with

fifty pound test mono to which our guide tied an umbrella

rig to the end.

Basically the “umbrella rig” is two pieces of heavy

gauge wire that form an “X”. In the middle is a big chunk

of lead weight and the eye the main line attaches to. Each

wire has a jig tied to the end via a leader of monofilament

line. Various combinations from four to nine leader rigs

are available. Chapko uses a rig employing nine leaders.

From each leader a jig hangs, all at varying lengths so to

reduce the chance of tangles. When held by the wire har-

ness the entire “umbrella rig” looks very much like a pup-

pet harness. Of course, when the rig is placed in the water

and trolled properly it resembles a school of shad or bait-

fish, which is the primary forage of Stripers. The likeness

of the rig to the real thing in the water is20incredible and

it’s plain to see how the fish are fooled.

Once Chapko deployed an umbrella rigged rod on each

side of the boat and laid out about 160 feet of line, he

eased the motor in gear and began to troll. The lead

weighted rigs quickly got down to the desired depth while

he kept the boat cruising through fish infested waters.

Within minutes, my host yelled “fish on” and motioned

me to grab the left rod. Instantly I felt the strength of the

fish and seconds later Paul sounded out that he had one

hooked up on the other rod as well. Suddenly we had a

free-for-all going as a pair of Stripers battled us, all the

while we tried to keep the fish apart and gain some line.

Stripers are hardy fish. Right away I wa s impressed

with their spirit and how much fight they had against the

heavy tackle we were using. After a courageous battle my

fish was eased alongside the boat and was carefully landed

and released by Chapko.

Moments later Paul repeated the process, and his fish

eagerly swam back to the depths. Of course Paul had the

larger fish, a 15- pound specimen while my “runt” would

go only about five pounds. Still I was hooked after boating

one Striper. All I wanted to do was get back into the fight

and catch another one.

Chapko is efficient. In the time it took Paul and I to dip

our hands in the lake and offer each other a congratulatory

handshake, our guide had the rigs deployed again and was

slipping the outboard back into gear for another run. My

kind of guy.

We didn’t have to wait long for another chance.

It seemed like we had just made one or two passes through

the same area when the left rod tip bugged out and the rod

doubled over. Chapko pointed to the rod, but before he

could speak, I was on the rod like sticky on glue. Again

I had a blast fighting a carbon copy of my first fish.

Anytime you have that much line out initially it gives the

fish a sporting chance and allows the angler to really enjoy

the moment.

Once again our guide boated the stout fighter, posed

for a quick picture with it and then released the fish to

fight another day. Chapko explained in Beaver Lake the

Stripers grow an average of three to five pounds per year.

but the amount of fish per acre isn’t as high as some other

Striper lakes.

Consequently, the fish in Beaver are consistently larger

than other lakes, but there are not as many Stripers in the

lake. If an angler wants a shot at a real “trophy fish” then

Beaver Lake is the place to go since the waters here are

home to fish pushing the fifty pound mark. Just a week or

so prior one of Ed’s clients was able to hoist a 36-pound

Striper out of the lake. continued on page 43

THE ABA BASKETBALL REPORT


A s David Francis, Kansas City ABA

CEO, paced the gym floor at 68’s

Inside Sports he shouted out “The

initial tryout camp was successful but I am

not satisfied, I want the best players

around!”

More than 20 players from the Kansas

City area and the Midwest came to fulfill

their dreams by showing their skills at the

first tryout camp sponsored by Kansas

City’s new ABA basketball team. The

camp was held on Saturday July 11, 2009

at Will Shield’s 68 Inside Sports in

Overland Park.

Players were evaluat-

ed through a battery of

general basketball drills

and game situations

which allowed them to

showcase their knowl-

edge of the game and

offensive and defen-

sive skills. “I was

pleased to the hustle

and heart the guys

showed today, a lot of

coaching is still

required,” stated

Assistant Coach

Dennis Still.

The team’s

General Manager

Reggie Harris point-

ed out that the first

tryout camp yielded

a few blue chip

players. Harris elab-

orated, “We owe

Kansas City the

best and we will

put the best talent

on the floor.”

The team, which

starts play this

November, will

hold round two of tryouts on SaturdayAugust 15, 2009 from 10 am – 1 pm at

Inside Sports, located at 11301 W. 88th St.

in Overland Park.

Qualified participants may register any-

time online at www.kcabateam.com or on

the day of the event. A $75 non-refundable

registration fee is required for all partici-

pants. Photo identification is required.

Francis is

currently

working on

the team’s 30-

game season

schedule.

They will

soon

announce the

local venue

where they

will play their

home games.

At that time

tickets will go

on sale.

The ABA

franchise will

also name their first head coach and

announce the official name for this expan-

sion team in the upcoming weeks.

The team has also received endorse-

ments from Kansas City leaders including

Mayor Mark Funkhouser (pictured) and

Sugar Creek Mayor Stan Salva.

For more information on tryouts and the

team visit www.kcabateam.com.

Round 2 of KC ABA team tryouts set for August 15

Just HORSE ‘N Around at the CBEShooting stars were abundant when the

College Basketball Experience (CBE)

hosted the “Horse N Around Hoops”

event in July.

The event featured several local sports

celebrities, including Rockhurst and Mizzou

football star Tony Temple, former UMKC

basketball player Tim Blackwell and former

Kansas player Lester Earl, along with

national celebrities, such as comedian J.J.

Walker, actor Cylk Cozart (cylkcozart.com)

- famous for talking trash to Woody

Harrelson and Wesley Snipes in the film

“White Men Can’t Jump” - and David Kalb,

who gained celebrity by twice beating NBA

star LeBron James in a H.O.R.S.E. contest.

While the contest was more than just a

better-regulated version of the traditional

driveway game, it still retained the flavor of

showmanship and creativity which makes

the commonplace game so much fun for so

many amateurs.

“That’s the great thing about this game,”

said Keith Zimmerman of Double Dog

Sports & Entertainment, the event sponsor.

“Anybody can play H.O.R.S.E. We want to

get the public to come out and play and

enjoy this game. There were about 300 peo-

ple here today, which is pretty close to

capacity for this venue and that shows how

much interest there is in H.O.R.S.E. It has

this instant fan appeal, a lot like American

Idol, because the fans get to come out and

play with the celebrities. It can be like the

reality shows.”

The reality for Kalb in this event was a

loss to Blue Valley High School star Ryan

Magdziarz.

Kalb, whose video of his

defeat of James last summer

has gotten millions of inter-

net hits, was appreciative of

Magdziarz’s skill.

“He’s a good athlete,”

Kalb said. “He’s got

those young legs and

he can jump. Most of

the shots he made

were pretty tough and

I was happy to hit some

of them. He’s a good

athlete and a great shot.”

Magdziarz enjoyed the

competition, although his

basketball scholarship to

Johnson County

Community College

prevented him from tak-

ing advantage of chance afforded

the winner to make three timed shots – a

lay-up, a free throw, and a half-court shot –

to win a $25,000 prize. Magdziarz hopes to

eventually move on to big-time college bas-

ketball at Wichita State or another Missouri

Valley Conference school.

“Probably the one off the backboard and

through the legs,” Magdziarz said when

describing the most difficult shot he used

against Kalb, while admitting he had trouble

with a couple of Kalb’s more creative

efforts. “Especially the shot off of each of

the (supplemental) backboards.”

After splitting the first two games of the

best-of-three series, Magdziarz finally put

Kalb away with a double-tap-off-the-rim

followed by a reverse lay-up.

MU football star Temple made a surpris-

ingly good showing against some strong

players.

“It was some pretty good competition,”

Temple said. “There were some old cats and

some young cats. I think I held my own.

They didn’t think I had a jumper in me.

They didn’t know I played (basketball) my

freshman year. I guess I kind of snuck up on

them a little. But some of those guys, they

can shoot lights out.”

“Those shots off the other backboards,

that was pretty serious,” Walker commented

after entertain ing the crowd as an on-court

M.C.

The tricks shots might sound a bit like an

old Michael Jordan commercial, as the com-

petitors worked as hard to create new shots

as they did to actually sink them.

But these amazing shots were made with-

out the benefit of television magic.

“Well, maybe white men can’t jump,”

Cozart said, “but they sure can shoot. This

was a great event and everybody had a lot of

fun. The beauty is in the creativity. Whether

it’s in sports or real estate or business, if you

have the creativity you can be successful.”

“I look for anything to bounce it off of,”

said Kalb of what he looks for when enter-

ing an arena for a H.O.R.S.E. competition.

“Anything to bounce it off or throw it over.

It comes from being in the gym a lot and

getting bored with regular shots. I end up

just playing around and making up shots.”

Zimmerman and entrepreneurial partner

Cozart have big plans for expanding their

H.O.R.S.E. competition elsewhere around

the country.

“We want to take this world wide and

bring the community out,” Cozart said. “If

you watch the people who came out for this

event you see that it gets their attention. If

you can get their attention you can reach the

children and then you can teach them some-

thing. We want to have celebrities, sports

figures, athletes and members of the public.

We have some things in the works for Los

Angeles, Chicago and Portland. This was a

chance to iron out some of the kinks.

Having the eight-minute time limit was a

good thing. We need to incorporate David

(Kalb) more. This event gave us a good

foundation.”

Zimmerman is looking to expand the

event to other venues.

“There is a major sporting goods dealer

on the west coast which is getting behind

our events out there in San Francisco, Los

Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, and Las

Vegas,” Zimmerman said. “And there is

another chain like that in the Mid-Atlantic

States. We’ve had discussions with Wal-

Mart and Best Buy so we’re trying to get the

sponsors. The U.S. Army has been a spon-

sor and will probably do that again. We’re

negotiating with the Basketball Hall of

Fame in Indianapolis to set up an event

there.”

The College Basketball Experience,

located adjacent to the Sprint Center, could

host future H.O.R.S.E. events.

“We think it was pretty good for a first

effort,” said CBE CEO Kevin Henderson.

“Double Dog put this together and we were

able to have a partnership to bring it to the

CBE. We’ll definitely take a hard look at

hosting it again. We want to be a part of bas-

ketball in the loc al area. As long as it’s

legitimate and promotes the game, we are

glad to be a part of it.”


By MARC BOWMAN, Contributing Writer

THE KC SPORTS HORSE EXTRA!

THE HOCKEY REPORT


Mavericks’ interview: Jeff ChristianThe new Missouri Mavericks hockey

team have been on a roll. With the

home season starting in mid-November

at the new Independence Event Center, the

team the fans will see on the ice has begun

to take shape. Eight of the 19 roster spots

have been filled with experienced talent

including:

Goaltender Mike Gorman, 29, a nine-

year veteran who has played 362 games

and has a goals-against average of 2.97

Goaltender Doug Groenestege, 26, a

four year professional who has played in

118 pro games with a goals-against aver-

age of 2.34.

Forward Carlyle Lewis, a 10 year veter-

an who is 6’3” with 255 career points in

590 pro games and has 2,059 career penal-

ty minutes.

Defenseman Doug MacIver who has

played 302 games over seven seasons.

MacIver is 6’5”, 235 lbs. and has 80 points

and 1,392 penalty minutes.

Defenseman Travis Martell who played

for Mavericks head coach Scott Hillman

last season. The 6’5”, 225 lb. defenseman

played in 58 games last season and fin-

ished with 20 points for the season and 89

penalty minutes.

The team also recently added defense-

man Tyler Fleck and Shawn Arvai and

Travis Kauffeldt.

The first player to be signed by the team

for their inaugural season is Jeff Christian,

a 19-year professional hockey veteran

with NHL experience.

The Kansas City Sports &

Fitness Radio Show, heard

Saturdays from 8-9 AM on

Hot Talk 1510 and Friday

nights from 6-7 PM on 1140

and 1160 AM caught up with

Christian right after he was named

to the team.

Here is a part of that broadcast,

hosted by Steve Fisch, Kansas City

Sports & Fitness publisher and contribut-

ing writer Jim Potoski.

SF: Welcome to Kansas City, Jeff.

Fill us in on how you became the very first

member of our new expansion Central

Hockey League team?

JC: Well, the last two seasons I played

for the Tulsa Oilers in the Central Hockey

League and I became a free agent when my

contract came up. I had my sights set on

coming here. I’d been part of an expansion

team before in Youngstown, Ohio. I loved

the excitement.

I had some buddies who played for the

Blades in the International Hockey League

days and they told me Kansas City was a

great area. My family and I are really

excited to be here.

We had a lot of hockey fans come out to

the meet-and -greet when I was announced

as the first player. There was a lot of

excitement at that event. Once they get into

the new (Independence Event Center)

arena and see the promotions, the game

and the whole atmosphere, it’s going to

be a lot of fun.

JP: So what position

do you play, Jeff?

JC: I’m a

forward.

Right wing

mostly.

I shoot left

and play

right. I’m

6’2”, 230 so

I get involved.

Most players who

shoot left, play

left wing.

I switched over

a few years

back and in

that position it

opens up dif-

ferent angles

and a differ-

ent perspec-

tive. It

takes a

little

while

to get

used to,

but when I

made the change

it really opened up

my offensive game.

They teach that style of

play to a lot of players in

Europe. You’re always opening up

to the net with your stick towards

the middle of the ice rather than it

towards the boards like it would

be if you shoot left and play left.

JP: What are you doing now to stay in

shape for the season ahead?

JC: I don’t really like to play a lot in the

summer because you can develop a lot of

bad habits. It really doesn’t affect me that

much to not play in the summer. We have a

decent training camp in October and I stay

in pretty good shape by working out.

SF: Besides playing for the team, you’re

also going to help out in other ways too?

JC: My duties this summer will be help-

ing to recruit players, promotion and assist-

ing the sales team.

JP: So how will you find the players for

the team - do guys send in resumes?

JC: They do. They’ll send them to Scott

(Hillman, Mavericks’ head coach). I’ve

had a lot of phone calls, Facebook mes-

sages and emails from guys I’ve played

with and against.

A lot of them say I’m in

a certain situation on a

certain team which I’d

like to get out of

(laughs). Can you bring

me in there?

We’ve only got a

limited amount of

spots, so we want

to make sure

we’ve got the

right fit with

each player

we bring to

the team.

What I

really like

about the

Mavericks

and one of

the reasons

I came here

is because the

team is really

going to be pro-

fessionally

run... They’re

going to

take care of

their play-

ers, Guys

know that

that is what

I looked for

so when

they hear

that I’ve

come here

they call me.

What I do

primarily is

call agents,

coaches, buddies

on other teams or may

be going to play overseas and ask “Hey,

who do you know...”

SF: So did you know Scott Hillman

before this opportunity came up?

JC: I played against him a couple times

and maybe spoke to him once before at an

All Star Game.

I came in and we went golfing to see if

we’d click and see how we’d get along.

I am his assistant so all season we’re

going to be working together, breaking

down film. Talking about players. Talking

about different teams and so we had to

have a chemistry.

Scott is a great guy. He’s really focused

and determined to make this work right

from the start. I’m excited that he gave me

the opportunity to help him.

SF: I was looking at your stats...1,377

pro games; 570 goals; 753 assists ; 3,543

penalty minutes. Plus 110 playoff

games...that’s a lot of hockey.

JC: It’s a great way to make a living.

All my buddies who are coaching or the

GM of a team or work at other positions

for a team keep telling me the same thing..

“Play as long as you can.” Because playing

is fun and it’s relatively easy compared to

the jobs they’re doing now. Because as a

player, you practice in the morning, rest in

the afternoon and play at night.

As a coach you’re working all the time.

I’ve been in this role as a player/assistant

coach for the past five seasons. There’s a

fine line with this job because I’m in the

locker room with the players and I hear

their side of things and then I work with

the coach. So I’m kind of the go between if

a player has an issue and doesn’t feel com-

fortable going to the coach with it. I’m

there to help bridge the gap.

We also help teach the players how to be

professionals...to show up to work and

perform every day. That’s something the

young guys don’t always understand.

Hockey has been my life and it’ll

be my life after I’m done play-

ing. I’m going to stay in the

game in some capacity.

I just love

working with

the young

continued onnext page


players and with kids in the community.

I’ve done a lot of individual private train-

ing and worked with teams in the past and

will do this again as we build the

Mavericks up in the community.

SF: You had a Jeff Christian charitable

foundation...what services did it offer?

JC: My wife and I started that together

when I played in Youngstown, Ohio. We

brought underprivileged kids to games. We

had some fundraisers and donated the pro-

ceeds to youth organizations.

Here in Kansas City my involvement

will continue in some sort of capacity

The Mavericks have plans for it’s own a

charitable foundation which I’ll be directly

involved in.

The charity work of the Mavericks will a

big part of the community.

For tickets and information, visit mis-

sourimavericks.com or call 816-252-

PUCK (7825).

THANK YOUI want to take this time to thank the people of

Kansas City and Lawrence for making these past fivemonths a successful and fun filled launch for HORSEN AROUND HOOPS. Back in November when ourpartner, CYLK COZART (cylkcozart.com), the famedactor from WHITE MEN CAN’T JUMP, BLUE CHIPS,CONSPIRACY THEORY and more came to KC, Cylkagreed to let Kansas City be the launch market forour new H.O.R.S.E. basketball program. Cylk, alongwith our other Los Angeles based partners, instantlyrecognized the great hoops history and excitement inthe KC/Lawrence area. In July and early August, wecompleted two great events that have the rest of thecountry waiting for their turn to host HORSE NAROUND HOOPS.

On Friday, July 17th the CBE (College BasketballExperience) was the site for our KC RegionalH.O.R.S.E. championships. This fantastic venue isreflective of the great History of College Hoops. Toour surprise, our associate, David Kalb ,who late lastyear defeated LeBron James in H.O.R.S.E., wasdefeated by local Hoops standout , Ryan Magdziarz.Ryan just moments earlier won the KC playoffs thatincluded personalities such as Lester Earl, TonyTemple, Tim Blackwell and soap opera star and KCnative, J Eddy Peck. The event was hosted by come-dian, Jimmie “JJ” Walker from the hit sitcom GOODTIMES. The audience included national representa-tives from corporations and television entities whowill be part of the future of our HORSE N AROUNDHOOPS programs.

On Saturday, August 1st, we took H.O.R.S.E. out-doors where Miles Schnaer and CROWN TOYOTAhosted an exhibition featuring MARIO CHALMERS’return to Lawrence. Mario along with RussellRobinson and Aaron Miles, played a very competitivegame of H.O.R.S.E. which was won by MarioChalmers. Mario then very narrowly defeated RyanMagdziarz in the championship game, which by theway, included Mario reenacting THE SHOT.

The hundreds of people in attendance at CROWNTOYOTA loved every moment of the exhibition.When I asked Mario what we could do to thank himfor his appearance, his request is for Cylk to hook upa H.O.R.S.E. exhibition between Mario and JamieFoxx. Cylk has already received the commitmentfrom Jamie Foxx for the future meeting.

I want to say special thanks to Steve Fisch andKANSAS CITY SPORTS and FITNESS MAGAZINEwho have been a great partner for the past fivemonths. In addition to providing great coverage ofour events, Steve and his publication have displayeda great spirit and belief in a START UP EVENT dur-ing an economic time that to say the very least hasbeen very challenging to everyone.

As we now take our program nationwide, we havea network of celebrity athletes and entertainers want-ing to play H.O.R.S.E. that include: Adam Sandler,Jamie Foxx, Deon Sanders, Oscar Robertson,Charles Barkley, Eddie Murphy and more!

We have built a special relationship with the CBE.Stay tuned for a series of CELEBRITY H.O.R.S.E.promotions which will be taking place at their greatfacility in the coming months.

In conclusion, thanks to our supporting sponsorsincluding the US ARMY, CROWN TOYOTA, CARGOLARGO, 810 WHB, The KANSAS CITY SPORTSCOMMISSION, BIG BOB’S FLOORING OUTLET,KPRS/HOT 103 JAMZ, STANFORD and SONSCOMEDY CLUB and DICK’S SPORTING GOODS.Most of all, thanks to you the people of Kansas Citywhose appetite for sports and fun is why we will con-tinue to call Kansas City our home base.

KEITH ZIMMERMAN- PRESIDENTDOUBLE DOG SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Above:On August 1st, KU’s RussellRobinson (left), Mario Chalmers, andAaron Miles (right) took part in aHORSE N AROUND HOOPS exhibitionsponsored by Miles Schnaer ofCrown Toyota in Lawrence.

Right:Russell Robinson tries a trick shot.

Photos courtesy studioallen.com

HOCKEY AND HORSE

Hockey - continued from previous page


A s most of us know, protein is great

for building and maintaining lean muscle

mass. Did you know not getting enough

protein could be dangerous? As reported

by the Harvard School of Public Health, lack

of protein can cause growth failure, loss of

muscle mass, decreased immunity, weakening

of the heart and respiratory system and

even death.

On the other side of the coin, too much

protein is just as detrimental. Researchers

learned high-protein diets might be associated

with decreased kidney function. Your body

cannot store extra protein, so when you take

in more than you need, it has to work hard to

convert amino acids (protein building blocks)

into organic acids that acidify the blood-

stream.

Then the kidneys have to neutralize the

acidity by pushing large amounts of calcium

into the urine. This increased calcium excre-

tion is not only harmful to the kidneys, but

also increases the risk of osteoporosis. The

later I can personally attest to from personal

experience after being a bodybuilder for

many years. Additional negative impacts on

health include an increased risk of certain

cancers, as well as a reduced intake of vita-

mins, minerals, fiber and phytochemicals.

Research trials have shown high-protein,

low-carbohydrate diets do tend to work faster

than low-fat diets. High-protein foods do slow

the movement of food from the stomach to

the intestine. This slower stomach emptying

means you feel satisfied longer, getting hun-

grier later.

Additionally, protein’s steady effect on

blood sugar avoids the quick, steep rise in

blood sugar and just as quick hunger-bell-

ringing fall that occurs after eating a rapidly

digested carbohydrate, such as white bread,

pasta, or baked potato. The body uses more

energy to digest protein than it does to digest

fat or carbohydrates. Unfortunately, much of

the weight lost from these diets occurs due to

muscle glycogen depletion.

Doesn’t More Protein Build More Muscle?Athletes know the importance of protein.

Strength trainers do need to consume more

than the non-exercisers; however, most

strength athletes get far more protein than

necessary to promote muscle synthesis. The

current protein recommendation for optimal

muscle building in a strength athlete is 1.6 -

1.7 gm protein per kg of body weight. For a

200 pound athlete this equals 145 - 154 grams

of protein per day.

There simply is no scientific evidence that

more than 2.0 grams of protein per kg of body

weight has any additional benefit in muscle

strength or size. All high intensity, powerful

muscle contractions, such as weight lifting,

are fueled by carbohydrates. Protein and fat

cannot be oxidized fast enough to support

high-intensity exercise. It is important to have

adequate carbohydrates consumed on a daily

basis to restore glycogen levels. Protein does

not restore glycogen levels.

Glycogen is the stored energy in the muscle

and liver helping our muscles to retain water.

Glycogen depletion is one of the reasons ath-

letes ‘hit the wall’ during endurance competi-

tion. This combination is critical for high

intensity athletic performance, and depleting

these energy stores will decrease athletic per-

formance. Inadequate amounts of carbohy-

drates can result in decreased endurance,

decreased maximal effort, decreased serum

glucose levels and increased risk of hypo-

glycemia

Protein sourcesEating proper amounts of high protein

foods from poultry, fish, and red meats can

eliminate the need to supplement with protein

shakes and/or bars. Convenience is nice, how-

ever, read the labels. Some products typically

have high amounts of hydrogenated oils, arti-

ficial sweeteners and preservatives.

When using protein supplements, many ask

whether whey or soy proteins are best. Men

believe whey protein is best, while women

prefer soy. There are benefits to both. Whey

protein is a naturally complete protein, con-

taining all of the essential amino acids

required in the daily diet. It has the ideal com-

bination of amino acids to help improve body

composition and enhance athletic perform-

ance. It is also absorbed much more quickly

than soy, getting into the muscle tissues faster

being great for post workouts.

Research suggests regularly eating soy-

based foods lowers cholesterol, prevents

breast and prostate cancer, aids in weight loss

and wards off osteoporosis. Additional bene-

fits to soy protein are evident in the studies

proving soy to reduce and even prevent heart

disease, as well as reducing menopause symp-

toms due to the phytoestrogens present in soy.

Fifty grams of soy is necessary to obtain most

of these benefits. Soy is a larger protein mole-

cule taking longer to digest being especially

helpful in regulating blood glucose levels.

So What Shouldan Athlete Eat?

An athlete’s nutrition

program should be individ-

ualized to meet the specific

needs of training and com-

petition. There are not any

definitive answers on ratios

of protein, carbs and fats. It

is important to educate

yourself by using trustwor-

thy sources such as The

Mayo Clinic and the

American Dietetic

Association. Any diet restricting entire food

groups like fruits and veggies should raise a

red flag. Carbohydrates, fats and proteins are

not bad, but too much of any or all of these

can lead to weight gain. Choose complex

carbs (9-13 servings daily fruits and veggies)

over simple carbs (soda/candy). Stick with

diets that safely reduce your calories to a rea-

sonable level that do not leave you starving.

presents THE HEALTH & FITNESS REPORT

Audrey Harman

Contributing

Writer

Centerpoint Medical Centerpresents Sports Injury

Seminar in AugustCONTACT SPORTS INJURY

PREVENTION SEMINAR

Centerpoint Medical Center

Sports Medicine and Wellness is

offering a free contact

sports injury prevention

seminar on Tuesday,

August 18, 2009 at 6:30

p.m. A seminar present-

ed by Dr. David Dyck,

FAOSM, and Dr. Lori

Boyajian-O’Neill,

FAOSM will be followed

by a question and

answer period.

ThIs program will take place in

the Auditorium at Centerpoint

Medical Center, 19600 E. 39th

Street, Independence, MO. Call

816-751-3000 to register. More

information can be found at

www.centerpointmedical.com.


Protein…how much do you really need?


Supplement your fitness routineW hen I talk to people about fitness rou-

tines, the emphasis usually is on some

exercise or workout system.

Sometimes the conversation will go into diet.

No matter the person’s interest, I try to

remind them that fitness is a lifestyle and

incorporates far more than just a single exer-

cise or routine. Being fit and healthy is a way

of life and that incorporates everything from

how you eat to how actively you live.

Besides regular exercise and eating right,

supplements have a place in your regime.

How much depends on the individual and

their goals. But for this article I’ll address the

healthy work-out fanatic. By definition sup-

plements are in “addition to” your healthy

lifestyle. And certainly some manufacturers

overstate their place in your routine. Without

sound exercise and nutrition, supplements are

useless. But let’s look at some basics:

Multivitamins- I do recommend a basic

multivitamin for everyone, regardless of their

goal or activity. A basic centrum-type vitamin

is not a bad place to start, as those contain

100 percent of your recommended daily

allowances (RDA). From there you can some-

what tailor fit your multivitamin to your

needs.

Women for instance need more calcium

and iron. While men need more zinc. Heavy

exercisers can benefit from high B-vitamin

formulations-with anti-oxidants for recovery.

People with joint issues can add glucosamine

and chondroitin. I would put a limit after a

certain point. Many multivitamins promise to

cure every ailment without a shred of

research-backed data. Sticking with the basics

is the best.

Protein powders and bars- These can

come in handy for many individuals from the

weight-loss crowd to the muscle builders.

Protein powders offer a easy to use, easy to

assimilate source of low-fat protein. It’s easier

to carry around a protein jug than a bunch of

chicken breasts. They also offer a quick solu-

tion to increasing your protein intake, as

opposed to constantly cooking eggs.

I love adding a scoop of chocolate whey to

my morning coffee for a “mocha” taste. I

would look for a “whey” based protein, and

make sure that’s the primary ingredient on the

label. Choosing bars can be a little more com-

plex. Protein bars have been very popular

lately, and like all fads, many ghastly prod-

ucts are out there.

Read the labels. Be aware many are high in

calories and sugar. Look on the labels for the

first ingredients, as those are the primary

ingredients. The sugars should be around 10

grams max. Sometimes manufacturers will

play with the labels to make the bar look

attractive. If it says “net carbs” what they have

done is add some fiber, and then subtracted

the fiber grams from total carbohydrate.

Energy enhancers and athletic

enhancers - This is a category that is espe-

cially prone to fraud. For every ten ad claims

there are perhaps one or two that “work.” The

problem is the FDA does not regulate supple-

ment claims, so if an ad looks too good to be

true then buyer beware.

There are many energy supplements out

there that can help you get a good workout, or

“boost.” Most contain a variety of B-vita-

mins, which help your body release energy,

and stimulant-based herbs, such as caffeine,

ginseng, and guarana. So they’re relatively

safe, but since they’re stimulants be aware of

interactions with other drugs or caffeine.

On the weightlifting side, there’s nitrous

oxide (NO2) and various creatines. Creatine

has been out awhile, and still is one of your

best supplements for getting bigger and

stronger. Recently many companies have

developed better delivery systems, such as

“estyl-ether” that eliminate the old “loading”

phase.

Now nitrous increases blood flow to your

muscles, which results in both a more pro-

nounced “pump” and a harder workout. I’ve

used it myself and would recommend it. The

only caution I offer is that no long term stud-

ies have been done on the effects-but it does

not work hormonally,

which is good.

Supplements can and

should be a part of a fit

individuals’ regimen.

Provided you are exercis-

ing and eating smart, you

can truly enhance your

health.

Chris Balda is a USAWeightlifting coach,National Strength andConditioning Associa-tionTrainer and owner of FixXprt, a fitness andtraining consulting business. Contact him at(913) 244-0287 or at [email protected].

presents THE HEALTH & FITNESS REPORT

ChrisBalda

Contributing

Writer

In summary, choosing high-protein foods

that are low in saturated fat will help build

muscle, protect the heart, and even help the

waistline. However, remember carbohydrates

are the primary fuel for intense muscular

efforts and should be the cornerstone of an

athlete’s diet, regardless of the sport you play.

Audrey Harman is a nutrition consultantand can be reached at 913 707-4717 or atwww.NutritionbyAudrey.com.

Protein - continued from page 40



Anderson, Betancourt are Royals’ additionsIwas hanging by the phone and plugged

into my computer as the trading deadline

ticked off the final minutes on July 31.

I figured it would be futile time spent.

It was.

The deadline came and went without the

Kansas City Royals making a trade. I did-

n’t think they would and if they did I did

not believe it would be anything major.

In truth, the last-place Royals had few

players other teams wanted, especially

contending clubs. Zack Greinke and closer

Joakim Soria, both signed to long-term

contracts, were put on the untouchable list.

Gil Meche has a no-trade clause and was

on the disabled list most of July, virtually

making him untouchable.

There was reportedly mild interest in

right-handed starting pitcher Brian

Bannister and utility player Mark Teahen.

General manager Dayton Moore, howev-

er, was asking for far more in return than

any team wanted to give up for either.

A scout for an opposing team said his

club had five starters with better stuff than

Bannister and he was uninterested.

Bannister is a thinking-man pitcher and

could play several years in the majors, but

most other clubs consider him no better

than a No. 4 or 5 starter on a solid staff.

Teahen is a nice complimentary player,

who can play several positions without

hurting you. He has started at first, second,

third and in the outfield, but championship

and contending clubs consider him no

more than a

deluxe utility

player.

The Royals

would have

dealt relievers

Juan Cruz,

Ron Mahay

and John Bale,

but found they

had limited to

no market

value. They

were like

penny stocks.

Who would

want Cruz

anyway?

While the

trading dead-

line without a

player having to clear waivers passed, the

Royals did make three acquisitions in July.

They acquired outfielder-infielder Ryan

Freel from the Chicago Cubs for a minor

league player to be named; shortstop

Yuniesky Betancourt from the Seattle

Mariners for minor league pitchers Daniel

Cortes and Derrick Saito; and outfielder

Josh Anderson from the Detroit Tigers for

cash considerations.

Freel, who turns 34 next March, is not

part of the

Royals’ future.

Kansas City

was his third

big league stop

this year and

his fourth team

in 18 months.

His better days

on the field are

behind, not

ahead. With

the aquisition

of Anderson,

Freel was des-

ignated for

assignment in

early August.

The

Betancourt

trade was cer-

tainly controversial. Cortes was considered

the Royals’ top pitching prospect close to

the majors . He could throw hard, up to 97

mph fastball, and was only 22.

Betancourt turns 28 on Jan. 31 if you can

believe his Cuban birth certificate. His

defense that was once superior took a per-

ceptible slide last year with many fielding

metrics labeling him one of the worst

shortstops.

Moore felt he needed to do something to

fill the “black hole” at shortstop. Tony

Pena, Jr., the Royals’ Opening Day short-

stop in 2007-08, hit like a pitcher, so the

Royals are moving him to the mound. He

is in Surprise, Ariz., learning the nuances

of pitching.

Mike Aviles was the Opening Day short-

stop this year after hitting .325 as a rookie.

Aviles hit .183 in 35games this year before

going on the disabled list with what the

Royals called a right forearm strain on

May 23. That strain turned out to be a

severe tear that needed “Tommy John” sur-

gery and he likely won’t be completely

healed when the 2010 season opens.

Willie Bloomquist and Luis Hernandez,

who is back with Class AAA Omaha, also

have started game at shortstop, so it has

been a revolving door this year. The Royals

lack any shortstop prospects close to being

ready for the majors; hence, out of need

Moore made the move to acquire

Betancourt, even if it meant giving up a

blue-chip pitching prospect like Cortes.

If Moore and his scouts are correct on

their assessment of Betancourt, he will be

the Royals starting shortstop for the next

few years, but the early returns have not

been good at the plate. He rarely walks,

only three percent in his 2008 plate-

appearances, which ranked as the worst

percentage in major league baseball. He is,

also, not a good bunter, which someone

who hits low in the order should be able to

do to advance runners.

Most clubs consider Anderson, who

turns 27 in August, a fourth outfielder on a

championship-caliber club. The Royals are

going to give him a chance to win the start-

ing centerfield job the final two months of

the season.

Anderson, who bats left-handed and

throws right, does have some assets. He

has speed, 24 stolen bases in 28 attempts,

in 135 games in the majors. He has a

career .283 batting average with a .327 on-

base percentage. He hit .242 in 75 games

with eight extra-base hits in 165 at-bats

this season with the Tigers, who designated

him for assignment.

With Coco Crisp out for the season after

having surgeries on both shoulders and for-

mer first-round pick Mitch Maier flunking

in his trial to replace him and to prove he is

an everyday big league outfielder, the

Royals are taking a flyer on Anderson.

Whether he pans out remains to be seen,

but they had to give up no prospects and

only money to take a look at him.

The shame is the Royals could have used

some topflight prospects in return if they

had any players contending clubs desired.

The minor league system is thin of bona

fide prospects outside of first baseman Eric

Hosmer and third baseman Mike

Moustakas, who played this year with

High-A Wilmington (Del.).

presents THE KC BASEBALL REPORT

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OR EMAIL [email protected]



Hillman will be on clock next yearM anager Trey Hillman received the

dreaded vote of confidence from

Kansas City Royals general manager

Dayton Moore.

Why one was even needed a year and a

half into Hillman’s reign? After all he guid-

ed the Royals to 75 victories as a rookie

manager in 2008 and

that was the most

Kansas City victories

since the 2003 team

went 83-79 under

rookie manager Tony

Pena. That, by the way,

is the Royals’ lone

winning year since the

strike-shortened

1994 season.

With the Royals’

struggling mightily –

losing 18 of 26 games

in July and 52 of 74

games from May 7,

when they were seven

games above .500,

through Aug. 1, when

they were 23 games

below .500, that causes

managers to be ques-

tioned and fired.

The expectations

were high this year

and the payroll was

the highest in franchise

history.

The first five weeks of the season teased

us, in first place in the American League

Central with a three-game lead, before the

Royals went into a tailspin – including a

10-game losing streak in July – that would

not cease.

However, Moore said Hillman would not

only finish this year, but be back next year.

We know this scenario. Been there, done

that. Bob Boone was fired during the 1997

All-Star break. His successor Tony Muser

was20fired 23 games deep into the 2002

season and he learned about it from the

media, not general manager Allard Baird.

Pena quit 33 games deep into the 2005

season. Buddy Bell announced on Aug. 1,

2007 he was stepping down at the end of

the season after the Royals refused to give

him a contract extension. It is Hillman’s

turn to be on the clock now.

We know what will happen next

year, probably no later than then All-Star

break, if the Royals are floundering in the

standings and 15 games below the .500

water level.

If that occurs, Hillman would be fired.

Attendance will lag. Apathy will set in.

Moore will be questioned why he hired

Hillman, who had never played or coached

in the majors, in the first place. Managing

teams in Japan to playoff appearances and

a championship may be great, but it is

still Japan.

So much was expected this season,

but everything that could go wrong has

gone wrong.

The Royals resemble a MASH unit more

than a baseball team. Coco Crisp and Mike

Aviles are finished for the season after sur-

geries. Jose Guillen might not play again

this season because of a knee injury. Alex

Gordon, who was supposedly poised for a

breakout year, instead missed 79 games

with a hip injury requiring surgery.

Closer Joakim Soria and Opening Day

starter Gil Meche have spent time on the

disabled list. So have relievers Kyle

Farnsworth and Doug Waechter, both

signed in the off-season to help a bullpen

that looks helpless outside of Soria.

“This isn’t the team we put together in

the off-season or left spring training with,”

Moore said.

True, so that gives Hillman a semi-pass

for this debacle season.

But what we see on the field is an error-

laden team, fundamental miscues, an

offensively-challenged club and poor base

running. Some of that falls on the shoul-

ders of the manager.

Mike Jacobs, who was supposed to be a

middle-of-the-order run producer after hit-

ting 32 home runs last year with the

Florida Marlins, has turned into a part-time

player who strikes out frequently and hit-

ting in .220s with few RBIs. And when

Billy Butler won the first base job over

Jacobs that speaks volume about his field-

ing, or lack of it.

Juan Cruz was signed to a two-year deal

on Feb. 28 with the Royals forfeiting their

second-round draft pick to the Arizona

Diamondbacks. Cruz and Farnsworth were

supposed to be the eighth inning setup for

Soria, but both have been busts. Cruz was

hit so hard in July his confidence was shot

and Hillman was using him earlier in

games that were not close.

Moore filled out the rotation with

mediocre over-the-hill veterans Sidney

Ponson, who was mercifully designated for

assignment in August, and Bruce Chen.

They were a combined 1-13 entering

August. Thanks for showing up.

The worst and most revealing Royal sta-

tistic is in the first 21 games Zack Greinke

started the Royals were 1 0-11. Greinke

was winless, 0-3, in five July starts. The

Royals scored six runs in those five starts.

When a team has a losing record with their

All-Star pitcher that has the best earned run

average in the majors that is inexplicable.

r

presents THE KC BASEBALL REPORT

As the sun began to set, we made a few

more passes with the umbrella rigs and

without warning the left rod again buckled,

signaling me that another fish was on. I

was having a ball, and enjoying the fact the

left rod was rigged with Culprit “swim-

baits” I had brought with me.

Immediately I noticed this fish had “big-

ger shoulders” than the previous two. He

had an attitude and apparently he was

reluctant to have his picture taken. After

flexing his muscles for a bit he eventually

tired enough so our Captain was able to

haul him from the water. Sure enough he

was nearly twice the size of his predeces-

sors. I thanked him and he was swimming

away seconds later.

Since the sky was slowly progressing

from amber to red to gray, Chapko advised

us it was time to change locations and

tactics.

“Once the sun goes down, I quit fishing

the umbrella rig and start trolling a big

Bomber,” he said Of course it wasn’t quite

so simple as to toss out a big minnow-type

plug and begin motoring away. No Chapko

had to hook the main line from each rod to

a “downrigger,” which would drag the

main line and lure down to whatever depth

he choose.

Sure enough, the experience of our guide

was evident as it took just a couple minutes

for Chapko to stow the umbrella rods and

bring the “Bomber” rods into action. Once

more he clicked the outboard into gear and

we motored off into the setting sun. Like

magic, one of the rods danced and bowed.

I reeled up allowing the downrigger to pop

loose and began to make some progress on

my latest “Striper.”

As the fish got closer to the boat, we

could see that it didn’t have the distinctly

stout boxer type body of a Bass but instead

had a more elongated body much like a

Walleye. Yep, somehow we had faked out a

beautiful Walleye, one of the rarest fish in

Beaver according to Ed.

Still rare or not, this Walleye was easily

legal at 23-inches long and since they are a

real culinary treat I asked Chapko if I

could keep this fish. “No problem,” he said

and after we admired the golden color and

the obvious namesake eyes, this one made

its way into the live well.

Catching Stripers takes a lot of work.

Chapko hits the lake daily in an effort to

scout for new area s that hold big schools

of Stripers. When he isn’t scouting or tak-

ing out clients, he is rigging up tackle or

maintaining his boat.

Once an angler sees what is involved in

catching these fish day in and day out, its

easy to see why people hire a guide like Ed

Chapko. This man has lived and breathed

Striper fishing for a long, long time and

has been guiding for two decades.

It’s a foregone conclusion if you want

results like what I encountered you need to

venture about three hours south of Kansas

City and hook up with Ed Chapko of E &

C Guide Service. He can be reached at 479

631-3858 or via his website by going to

www.Striperguides.net and look for E&C

there. Believe me you will get your share

of Stripes under the stars.

Once more, Chapko rigged the rod up

and off we went.

Trey

Hill

man

pho

to b

y Sc

ott

Wea

ver

Outdoors - continued from page 35

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