HUGE signing for the Skins. Davis, when healthy, has been one of the stronger offensive weapons for the Skins. Even better is that it is a one year deal that appears to make solid sense for both sides. It’s a low-risk move for the Redskins, who have said they want to monitor Davis’ recovery. And for Davis, he’s essentially betting on himself. If he returns healthy, puts up impressive numbers and stays out of trouble, he’ll be set up for a more lucrative, longer term deal in Washington (or elsewhere) in 2014.
And although he flirted with other teams, Davis made it known that he hoped to remain a Redskin. “This is the team I got drafted to. This is all I know,” Davis said. “And we’re finally starting pick it up, get all the right pieces to [contend.]”
Additionally, the Skins add Darryl Tapp. He's a VA Tech product and a solid backup. He will help with depth on the defensive front.
Now we just need to sign Winfield and draft a solid safety and we are in pretty good shape.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
ANNOYING!!
I am working in a conference room with a team of folks and the guy next to me is in constant conversation with himself talking about how he should attack his work. He is animated and it's pretty distracting. Kind of weird.
JMU and VCU routed
JMU was just overmatched against Indiana. Indiana is obviously better than JMU but it clearly wasn't JMU's best game. We were down by as many as 30 points. The only guy that looked like he was fighting was Nation who seemed like the only guy scoring for us. Still, it was a good season and hopefully something to build off of.
Added VCU in here for JSR's sake. After demolishing Akron they took their own beating against Michigan. I like Shaka Smart and VCU and think he is doing a tremendous job over there. Would be cool to have a VA school win it all. VCU has certainly gotten better over the years starting with Capel and Smart seems to be taking them to the next level. Moving to the A-10 helps them with recruiting and attention so hopefully they will continue to grow.
BTW - my bracket is BUSTED! I am embarrassed at how bad it is.
Added VCU in here for JSR's sake. After demolishing Akron they took their own beating against Michigan. I like Shaka Smart and VCU and think he is doing a tremendous job over there. Would be cool to have a VA school win it all. VCU has certainly gotten better over the years starting with Capel and Smart seems to be taking them to the next level. Moving to the A-10 helps them with recruiting and attention so hopefully they will continue to grow.
BTW - my bracket is BUSTED! I am embarrassed at how bad it is.
Urlacher done in Chicago
It's the sad side of sports. Aging veteran who has given his all is overpriced and can't be afforded by his team and is forced out. I don't blame Chicago. Urlacher is older and slower and has had his fair share of injuries.
What I don't like is that the Pears should have just told him outright that he wasn't coming back. Urlacher thinks he can still play and wanted a 2 year deal and gave a higher number knowing that it could be negotiated down. The Pears countered with a 1 year offer for not much money. It was an insult. That leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. Just be transparent and say that it's best to just part ways.
Anyway, will be interesting to see where he lands and it will be strange to see him wear a different uniform. My guess is that he won't be that good transitioning to a new team and defense and will look like a shell of himself. He was Lovie's guy and it will be hard on him to move on. He'll have some moments but his heart is in Chicago so not sure what a team that signs him will get.
What I don't like is that the Pears should have just told him outright that he wasn't coming back. Urlacher thinks he can still play and wanted a 2 year deal and gave a higher number knowing that it could be negotiated down. The Pears countered with a 1 year offer for not much money. It was an insult. That leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. Just be transparent and say that it's best to just part ways.
Anyway, will be interesting to see where he lands and it will be strange to see him wear a different uniform. My guess is that he won't be that good transitioning to a new team and defense and will look like a shell of himself. He was Lovie's guy and it will be hard on him to move on. He'll have some moments but his heart is in Chicago so not sure what a team that signs him will get.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
JMU vs. LIU Brooklyn
JMU faces LIU Brooklyn tomorrow evening. The good news is I expect to win. The bad news is that a win gives us the right to play Indiana. It's all got to start somewhere.
GO DUKES!!!
GO DUKES!!!
Friday, March 15, 2013
Redskins move so far
I like them a lot. Feel like the Skins are being very smart in what they are doing. I have agreed with all the moves thus far outside of hoping we could have kept Lorenzo Alexander. Cutting D. Hall made perfect sense. I like that we have resigned all the blue collar guys that make things run. I mentioned this before but we also resigned LB Kehl which is even more important given that we lost Alexander.
Key now is to get a CB and there are still plenty of them out there. I'm sure we want to buy our time which is smart. It is clearly a buyers market with CBs and there is no reason to rush and overspend. Buy time and wait for prices to drop and we should be able to get a solid CB. How could we do it with our cap situation? The first thing they would have to do is create some cap space, probably by restructuring a contract or two. A simple restructure is a fairly routine procedure as the player usually doesn’t give up any money and gets a chunk of his annual salary up front and guaranteed. Then the team and the agent for the player they are going to sign have to negotiate a contract that is cap friendly in the first year.
For example, the contract Reggie Bush signed with the Lions. He received a four-year, $16 million contract that included a $4 million signing bonus and a $1 million base salary in 2013. So Bush will be paid $5 million in cash in 2013 but will count $2 million against the cap (a $1 million base salary plus $1 million prorated). With higher base salaries in future years, his cap number will rise to $4.5 million in 2014 and 2015, and $5 million in 2016.
Key to this is that you can only do this for a few guys otherwise, you will run into some VERY serious cap problems down the road.
Bruce Allen isn't so much a talent evaluator but one of his real strong points is he is very good at managing the cap and if can be done, he'll do it.
Should be interesting to see if we are able to bring Davis back and add a quality CB.
Key now is to get a CB and there are still plenty of them out there. I'm sure we want to buy our time which is smart. It is clearly a buyers market with CBs and there is no reason to rush and overspend. Buy time and wait for prices to drop and we should be able to get a solid CB. How could we do it with our cap situation? The first thing they would have to do is create some cap space, probably by restructuring a contract or two. A simple restructure is a fairly routine procedure as the player usually doesn’t give up any money and gets a chunk of his annual salary up front and guaranteed. Then the team and the agent for the player they are going to sign have to negotiate a contract that is cap friendly in the first year.
For example, the contract Reggie Bush signed with the Lions. He received a four-year, $16 million contract that included a $4 million signing bonus and a $1 million base salary in 2013. So Bush will be paid $5 million in cash in 2013 but will count $2 million against the cap (a $1 million base salary plus $1 million prorated). With higher base salaries in future years, his cap number will rise to $4.5 million in 2014 and 2015, and $5 million in 2016.
Key to this is that you can only do this for a few guys otherwise, you will run into some VERY serious cap problems down the road.
Bruce Allen isn't so much a talent evaluator but one of his real strong points is he is very good at managing the cap and if can be done, he'll do it.
Should be interesting to see if we are able to bring Davis back and add a quality CB.
Caps pull out win against the Caniacs
A MUCH needed win last night. Wasn't the greatest performance but a win is a win and the Caps needed it in a big way.
Caps fell down early in the first period 2-0 and it looked like another lackluster performance. However, newcomers Aaron Volpatti set up Joey Crabb with a great feed right in front of the net for a one timer to make it 2-1 in the second period.
The Canes took a high sticking penalty right at the end of the second period giving the Caps a PP to start the third and Ovi made them pay by taking a great feed from Brouwer and burying it into the back of the net.
With time dwindling away in the third, Carlson had the puck on our blue line and you could see he was waiting for lines to switch. Ovi hopped on the ice and skated hard towards the Canes net. Carlson made a perfect pass and Ovi threaded between two defenders to receive the puck for a breakaway. He actually lost the puck but it worked out as the Cane goalie committed. It would have been an easy goal for Ovi but he didn't get enough stick on it but it was enough for it to richochet off the near post and slide right along the goal line behind the goalie where Ribeiro was crashing the net for the put back.
HUGE win as a regulation loss would have put us 12 points behind the Canes and pretty much out of the division. Instead, we are 8 points and while still a climb, with 22 games left, it can be done.
Up next are the Bruins tomorrow afternoon and then at home Sunday against the Sabres then it's Shatsburgh and back to back with Winnipeg. Honestly, we need 4 out of the next 5. I could take a split with Boston and Pittsburgh but we need all the other games.
A couple of other notes, stinks that Kundratek got hurt. Looked pretty bad but hopefully just a sprain. Good thing that Erskine is expected back on Sunday. Hopefully Green and Laich will be able to play soon. Both are nursing groin injuries which are tricky because it may feel fine when walking or doing some easy skating but you can reinjure it when skating hard and making cuts so I'm sure they want to play it safe with those guys.
Also, it's interesting that Ovi seems to be passing way more than he used to. While I kind of like some of the passes, he is a scorer and needs to take the shot as opposed to making that extra pass. There were a couple of times last night where he faked out even his own teammates by passing on the shot and trying to set someone else up. SHOOT DAMMIT!!! Also, we are still giving a lot of odd man rushes.
I'll take the win and will move on to Boston. Will be a tough game in Boston as they are one of the best teams in the league and will know doubt want to exact revenge for the last time we met when Boston jumped out to a 3-0 lead only to lose 4-3 in OT. Hopefully we can rise to the occasion.
Caps fell down early in the first period 2-0 and it looked like another lackluster performance. However, newcomers Aaron Volpatti set up Joey Crabb with a great feed right in front of the net for a one timer to make it 2-1 in the second period.
The Canes took a high sticking penalty right at the end of the second period giving the Caps a PP to start the third and Ovi made them pay by taking a great feed from Brouwer and burying it into the back of the net.
With time dwindling away in the third, Carlson had the puck on our blue line and you could see he was waiting for lines to switch. Ovi hopped on the ice and skated hard towards the Canes net. Carlson made a perfect pass and Ovi threaded between two defenders to receive the puck for a breakaway. He actually lost the puck but it worked out as the Cane goalie committed. It would have been an easy goal for Ovi but he didn't get enough stick on it but it was enough for it to richochet off the near post and slide right along the goal line behind the goalie where Ribeiro was crashing the net for the put back.
HUGE win as a regulation loss would have put us 12 points behind the Canes and pretty much out of the division. Instead, we are 8 points and while still a climb, with 22 games left, it can be done.
Up next are the Bruins tomorrow afternoon and then at home Sunday against the Sabres then it's Shatsburgh and back to back with Winnipeg. Honestly, we need 4 out of the next 5. I could take a split with Boston and Pittsburgh but we need all the other games.
A couple of other notes, stinks that Kundratek got hurt. Looked pretty bad but hopefully just a sprain. Good thing that Erskine is expected back on Sunday. Hopefully Green and Laich will be able to play soon. Both are nursing groin injuries which are tricky because it may feel fine when walking or doing some easy skating but you can reinjure it when skating hard and making cuts so I'm sure they want to play it safe with those guys.
Also, it's interesting that Ovi seems to be passing way more than he used to. While I kind of like some of the passes, he is a scorer and needs to take the shot as opposed to making that extra pass. There were a couple of times last night where he faked out even his own teammates by passing on the shot and trying to set someone else up. SHOOT DAMMIT!!! Also, we are still giving a lot of odd man rushes.
I'll take the win and will move on to Boston. Will be a tough game in Boston as they are one of the best teams in the league and will know doubt want to exact revenge for the last time we met when Boston jumped out to a 3-0 lead only to lose 4-3 in OT. Hopefully we can rise to the occasion.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Caps do or die tonight
Caps are 10 points behind the division leading Hurricanes. They have been horrible over the last three games and now they go to Carolina for a must win tonight. Even with a win, things are tough but a loss and the season is almost a wrap. At this point, I just want to see some heart and some commitment and some solid play that you can be proud of even in a loss. Here's to hoping that the Caps can unleash even the slightest bit of fury.
Lorenzo Alexander to the Cards
Alexander signed a 3 year deal with the Cards yesterday. Too bad as he was the special teams captain and a good locker room guy that had been with the Skins for several years. Liked the guy because he did everything that was asked of him. He was an O lineman, D lineman, LB and special teamer. He also was willing to give the Skins a home town discount. The fact of the matter was that at 29 years of age and coming off of his first Pro Bowl season, he was looking to cash in and the Skins just didn't have the money.
I'm happy for him and a bit disappointed for the us but he wasn't critical to the Skins success so it's fine.
Meanwhile, the Skins continue to restructure contracts including Moss, Carriker, Meriweather and others to try and get some cap relief. It looks more and more like we won't be able to go after Fred Davis which kind of stinks but we didn't have him for much of the last two years so it's not a huge change for us. Will need to get as much cap space as possible to sign a FA or two in our secondary and our draft picks. The good news is that there are a number of FA DBs and the draft is deep in DBs so we should be able to get some help. I'm sure the Skins are waiting for the market to dip and be patient with the DBs and then try and pick someone up on the cheap.
It's a tough situation and we got to get through this season with hopefully a decent roster. Next offseason will be much better for us although I'm sure we will want to extend RG3 and he will likely be the highest paid player in the league. That will be interesting as we see what is happeing to the Ravens. Flacco cashes in but at the expense of the entire team as the Ravens are purging and have already lost Boldin and five defensive starters from last season and perhaps will lose Ed Reed. Gotta love the cap.
I'm happy for him and a bit disappointed for the us but he wasn't critical to the Skins success so it's fine.
Meanwhile, the Skins continue to restructure contracts including Moss, Carriker, Meriweather and others to try and get some cap relief. It looks more and more like we won't be able to go after Fred Davis which kind of stinks but we didn't have him for much of the last two years so it's not a huge change for us. Will need to get as much cap space as possible to sign a FA or two in our secondary and our draft picks. The good news is that there are a number of FA DBs and the draft is deep in DBs so we should be able to get some help. I'm sure the Skins are waiting for the market to dip and be patient with the DBs and then try and pick someone up on the cheap.
It's a tough situation and we got to get through this season with hopefully a decent roster. Next offseason will be much better for us although I'm sure we will want to extend RG3 and he will likely be the highest paid player in the league. That will be interesting as we see what is happeing to the Ravens. Flacco cashes in but at the expense of the entire team as the Ravens are purging and have already lost Boldin and five defensive starters from last season and perhaps will lose Ed Reed. Gotta love the cap.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
JMU - CAA CHAMPS!!!
Great win! Pretty much ran away with it from the get go. Jumped out to a 22 point lead in the first half and never looked back.
It did get a little interesting at the 9 minute mark of the second half as Northeastern started pressing and we had difficulty dealing with it and had a few turnovers cutting the lead to 10 but after a timeout and some calming down, we regained our composure and finished them off.
First time we won the conference since 1994. On to the big dance!
Monday, March 11, 2013
Caps thoughts
Last week, the Caps were looking pretty good. They had won 5 of 6 capped off with a thrashing of division rivals Florida. Things looked good. They had climbed back into the playoff picture and things finally looked to be clicking for this team.
Then comes this weekend and back to back games against the Islanders and Rangers. I was thinking it'd be great to win both games but a split is fine. They took the loss on Saturday against the Islanders which put some pressure to beat the Rangers on Sunday. It was a nationally televised game and we were back at home so thought it was even more important to get the win. The Caps started out good and scored within the first three minutes on Steve Oleksy's first career goal. I like this guy Oleksy and was glad he got the goal.
However, after about the first 10 minutes of the game, we were beaten. Just a boring game. Didn't see much life from the team and outside of a few chances late in the second period and a couple in the third, we were beaten and took the 4-1 loss.
Frankly, we need to get Mike Green, John Erskine, and Brooks Laich back. I like Tom Poti but he sucks. Not a big fan of Jeff Schultz either. Offensively, we need to get some type of production from Jason Chimera. He needs to get a goal and get that monkey off his back. Newcomer, Aaron Volpatti, is fine but we don't have enough scorers to make great use of that guy. MoJo and Backstrom have got to get some goals as well. I think Ovi is trying his best and most games he is playing really well but the Rangers game he seemed to be hot dogging it. He did a fly by on a Ranger at center ice in the first period that resulted in a the Rangers first goal. Just a bad play. Not sure what he was thinking. Then he took a couple of penalties that resulted in a NY PP goal. The only guys on offense who I have been consistently happy with are Ribeiro and Brouwer as I see these two guys giving max effort night in/night out. They are deserving of better play around them.
All that said, we have back to back games against division leaders Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday and Thursday this week. The season hangs in the balance on these two games. Two losses would make things very difficult in terms of winning the SE division but two wins and we are right back in the thick of the divisional race.
If the Caps can't get up for these two games, they don't deserve the playoffs. Hopefully they show something this week.
Then comes this weekend and back to back games against the Islanders and Rangers. I was thinking it'd be great to win both games but a split is fine. They took the loss on Saturday against the Islanders which put some pressure to beat the Rangers on Sunday. It was a nationally televised game and we were back at home so thought it was even more important to get the win. The Caps started out good and scored within the first three minutes on Steve Oleksy's first career goal. I like this guy Oleksy and was glad he got the goal.
However, after about the first 10 minutes of the game, we were beaten. Just a boring game. Didn't see much life from the team and outside of a few chances late in the second period and a couple in the third, we were beaten and took the 4-1 loss.
Frankly, we need to get Mike Green, John Erskine, and Brooks Laich back. I like Tom Poti but he sucks. Not a big fan of Jeff Schultz either. Offensively, we need to get some type of production from Jason Chimera. He needs to get a goal and get that monkey off his back. Newcomer, Aaron Volpatti, is fine but we don't have enough scorers to make great use of that guy. MoJo and Backstrom have got to get some goals as well. I think Ovi is trying his best and most games he is playing really well but the Rangers game he seemed to be hot dogging it. He did a fly by on a Ranger at center ice in the first period that resulted in a the Rangers first goal. Just a bad play. Not sure what he was thinking. Then he took a couple of penalties that resulted in a NY PP goal. The only guys on offense who I have been consistently happy with are Ribeiro and Brouwer as I see these two guys giving max effort night in/night out. They are deserving of better play around them.
All that said, we have back to back games against division leaders Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday and Thursday this week. The season hangs in the balance on these two games. Two losses would make things very difficult in terms of winning the SE division but two wins and we are right back in the thick of the divisional race.
If the Caps can't get up for these two games, they don't deserve the playoffs. Hopefully they show something this week.
GO DUKES!!!
JMU Dukes find themselves in the CAA finals tonight facing top seeded Northeastern. A win means our first conference title since 1994 and a trip to the Big Dance.
With wins over rival W&M on Saturday and a close game yesterday against Delaware in which we won on two last second free throws, it sets up a chance to finally win the conference for the first time since I was at JMU.
GO DUKES!!!
Skins moves
So the Skins don't have lots of money to work with given the $18M cap penalty they take this season. The good news is that we are still taking care of some blue collar performers that are needed. I like the re-signings of Logan Paulsen, Rob Jackson, and Durell Young and even LICHTENSCHTEIGER!!!!
They let Fred Davis hit the open market so will be interesting to see what happens with him. Would love to keep him as he is a good offensive weapon; however, he has had his share of injuries and off the field issues which have kept him from playing the last couple of years.
We are going to need to find some cap room to help sign our draft picks and even try and get a FA for the secondary. An option being discussed is getting rid of D. Hall. I would be okay with that. I like D. Hall and think he is vastly underrated/under appreciated here. I think that is in large part to his mouth. I don't think he is deserving of his salary. He gets paid top dollar for his position and in reality, he is an average CB in the league. I could see them getting rid of him or certainly trying to restructure his deal.
Moss is another option. I think Moss would be much more amenable to restructuring as he doesn't have too many options left in his career and frankly I don't think he wants to go anywhere else at this point.
Still, I like that they kept those blue collar guys that are necessary to keeping this team moving in the right direction. I also like that all those guys are quality character guys.
FA starts tomorrow pm. Should be interesting.
HTTR!!!
They let Fred Davis hit the open market so will be interesting to see what happens with him. Would love to keep him as he is a good offensive weapon; however, he has had his share of injuries and off the field issues which have kept him from playing the last couple of years.
We are going to need to find some cap room to help sign our draft picks and even try and get a FA for the secondary. An option being discussed is getting rid of D. Hall. I would be okay with that. I like D. Hall and think he is vastly underrated/under appreciated here. I think that is in large part to his mouth. I don't think he is deserving of his salary. He gets paid top dollar for his position and in reality, he is an average CB in the league. I could see them getting rid of him or certainly trying to restructure his deal.
Moss is another option. I think Moss would be much more amenable to restructuring as he doesn't have too many options left in his career and frankly I don't think he wants to go anywhere else at this point.
Still, I like that they kept those blue collar guys that are necessary to keeping this team moving in the right direction. I also like that all those guys are quality character guys.
FA starts tomorrow pm. Should be interesting.
HTTR!!!
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