The Rams practice twice today at Baptist Sports Park just outside downtown Nashville, Tennessee. Practice times appear to be 8:30 and 3:30.
* Steven Jackson holdout, day 13. Jim Thomas and Bill Coats can't decide exactly how much Jackson can be fined per day now - Thomas said $15,166 yesterday, Coats says $15,116 today; hey, what's $50 among friends? - so RamView will stick with the round $15,000 number and estimate Jackson's total potential fine at $195,000, assuming he doesn't show up today. (Damn, he could have bought a Cold Stone Creamery with that money!)
No one would love to see Jackson report to Mequon today more than RamView, especially because the Rams are actually in Nashville holding joint practices with the Tennessee Titans.
Claude Wroten's probably kicking himself for missing a joint practice, no?
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Training camp headlines 8/5
The Rams practice at 9:40 this morning, then travel to Tennessee. They start practicing with the Titans tomorrow, leading up to the preseason game between the two teams Saturday night.
* Jackson holdout day 12. Jim Thomas reports that Jackson isn't expected to show up today and is knowingly potentially losing a year of credit toward unrestricted free agency. If the owners void the existing CBA, he'll have to be in the league six seasons before becoming eligible for UFA instead of five. That could make him only a RFA in 2010. Jackson's gamble is that the owners won't void the CBA. Thomas believes it's unlikely. I believe it's completely likely because, well, it's professional sports owners. They're stupid enough to let it get this close; don't bank on them not to pull the trigger. Jackson would seem to be risking millions of dollars down the line in holding out for a deal now, which has me questioning his intelligence now as well as his integrity.
I guess inflation kicked in, because Thomas also reports Jackson's maximum daily fine is $15,166. So if he's an idiot and sacrifices a year of eligibility by not showing up today, his total fine could be as much as $181,992. Well, there goes his ability to buy the world's most expensive bottle of whiskey. C'mon, it's not like you can find that kind of money in between the cushions of your couch or in the walls of your house or anything!
Today for me is the day that Jackson's holdout will have gone on beyond reason. Do I think the Rams are lowballing him? Yes. But if he's willing to let his holdout go to idiotic, self-destructive lengths - all you have to do is show up, bud - he's making it impossible to side with him.
* Yesterday had the first legit fight of training camp, between Leonard Little and Richard Owens. Little objected to a chop-block-like move from Owens. Doesn't that figure, Owens couldn't block anybody last year, now this year, he's trying to take out HIS OWN TEAMMATES. How does this guy manage to stay on the roster?
As for training camp fights, you hear many say they're a good sign, the team is fired up, ready to compete, etc. Well, the Rams had that huge fight at last year's scrimmage between Jackson and OJ Atogwe, with Incognito adding some late Turleyage - how'd that team do? Jackson and Adam Archuleta had a mini-brawl in '05 - how did that team do?
Funny how all these fights involve Jackson, btw.
* Nick Wagoner continues to gush about Brock Berlin. Marc Bulger continues to excel - as a receiver?
* Thomas reported on 1380 yesterday that the offense was actually practicing the "victory formation". Lord knows they didn't get much work at it last year.
* Jackson holdout day 12. Jim Thomas reports that Jackson isn't expected to show up today and is knowingly potentially losing a year of credit toward unrestricted free agency. If the owners void the existing CBA, he'll have to be in the league six seasons before becoming eligible for UFA instead of five. That could make him only a RFA in 2010. Jackson's gamble is that the owners won't void the CBA. Thomas believes it's unlikely. I believe it's completely likely because, well, it's professional sports owners. They're stupid enough to let it get this close; don't bank on them not to pull the trigger. Jackson would seem to be risking millions of dollars down the line in holding out for a deal now, which has me questioning his intelligence now as well as his integrity.
I guess inflation kicked in, because Thomas also reports Jackson's maximum daily fine is $15,166. So if he's an idiot and sacrifices a year of eligibility by not showing up today, his total fine could be as much as $181,992. Well, there goes his ability to buy the world's most expensive bottle of whiskey. C'mon, it's not like you can find that kind of money in between the cushions of your couch or in the walls of your house or anything!
Today for me is the day that Jackson's holdout will have gone on beyond reason. Do I think the Rams are lowballing him? Yes. But if he's willing to let his holdout go to idiotic, self-destructive lengths - all you have to do is show up, bud - he's making it impossible to side with him.
* Yesterday had the first legit fight of training camp, between Leonard Little and Richard Owens. Little objected to a chop-block-like move from Owens. Doesn't that figure, Owens couldn't block anybody last year, now this year, he's trying to take out HIS OWN TEAMMATES. How does this guy manage to stay on the roster?
As for training camp fights, you hear many say they're a good sign, the team is fired up, ready to compete, etc. Well, the Rams had that huge fight at last year's scrimmage between Jackson and OJ Atogwe, with Incognito adding some late Turleyage - how'd that team do? Jackson and Adam Archuleta had a mini-brawl in '05 - how did that team do?
Funny how all these fights involve Jackson, btw.
* Nick Wagoner continues to gush about Brock Berlin. Marc Bulger continues to excel - as a receiver?
* Thomas reported on 1380 yesterday that the offense was actually practicing the "victory formation". Lord knows they didn't get much work at it last year.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Training camp headines 8/4
The Rams will practice at 8:45 and 4:00 today.
* Jackson holdout. It'll be Steven Jackson's 11th missed day of practice if he continues his holdout. The total potential fine of $165,000 could crimp any plans Jackson may have had of buying a vineyard in Argentina.
* Quick notes. Quinton Culberson tweaked an ankle during Saturday's scrimmage but shouldn't miss any time. Richie Incognito is back at starting RG right now with Mark Setterstrom still out due to a leg muscle strain.
* Preseason challenge. The 2008 Preseason Challenge got off to less than a rousing start last night. Computer problems delayed me from blogging the game for a couple of hours, but I was able to get it in thanks to TiVo. Next game: Saints at Big Dead Thursday night.
* Around the league. Panthers suspend Steve Smith for the first two games of the regular season for beating the crap out of teammate Ken Lucas. So both the NFL's Steve Smiths are now notorious for beating up teammates, which Steve Smith of the Giants did to Dominique Byrd at USC.
* Jackson holdout. It'll be Steven Jackson's 11th missed day of practice if he continues his holdout. The total potential fine of $165,000 could crimp any plans Jackson may have had of buying a vineyard in Argentina.
* Quick notes. Quinton Culberson tweaked an ankle during Saturday's scrimmage but shouldn't miss any time. Richie Incognito is back at starting RG right now with Mark Setterstrom still out due to a leg muscle strain.
* Preseason challenge. The 2008 Preseason Challenge got off to less than a rousing start last night. Computer problems delayed me from blogging the game for a couple of hours, but I was able to get it in thanks to TiVo. Next game: Saints at Big Dead Thursday night.
* Around the league. Panthers suspend Steve Smith for the first two games of the regular season for beating the crap out of teammate Ken Lucas. So both the NFL's Steve Smiths are now notorious for beating up teammates, which Steve Smith of the Giants did to Dominique Byrd at USC.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Training camp headlines 8/3
Nothing going on at Rams training camp today, though it will still count as Steven Jackson's 10th day of unexcused absence if he doesn't show up. My guess is he shows up tomorrow or Tuesday, but meanwhile, he has now rung up $150,000 in potential fines for violating his contract. So that Porsche chronograph may have to wait another day.
Yesterday's scrimmage appears to have run smoothly. The best account of it I saw was espn.com's. Thumbs up and down from the scrimmage:
* Up: Marc Bulger's throwing better and getting a better feel for the new offense by the day. Bulger's success is obviously crucial to the Rams having any kind of chance this season. It's very good to see that the Ram offense is finally clicking in training camp after a rough start.
* Down, as in way, way down: Dante Hall muffed a punt return for a turnover. Hall has never gotten out of my shithouse for losing the Whiner game in St. Louis with a crucial turnover, and he ought to be deep in Scott Linehan's, too. When you're not Devin Hester, Josh Cribbs, Az Hakim or the old Dante Hall, the chance of you making a big play isn't worth the risk if you're going to fail to field EVERY punt cleanly. Dante Hall made a couple of exciting plays last year, but he also cost the Rams a game. At this stage of his career, he damn sure should field punts without being a turnover risk. And though he appeared to be a good investment last year, he still didn't make enough big plays, and wasn't durable enough, to justify the risk. The coaching staff had better put Hall on notice. If he's not going to hold on to the ball, he has no use on this team.
* Up: UFA RB Lance Ball, who's getting a lot more carries thanks to the absence of a certain Pro Bowl running back. He had one of the TDs of the scrimmage and has impressed at practice. Good to see another candidate for best underdog story of camp.
* Down: It doesn't sound like there was a whole lot of offense at the scrimmage, just two TDs, the other by Keenan Burton. Then again, starters played just 18 snaps at most.
* Down: "a number" of pre-snap penalties. INTOLERABLE.
* Up: UFA LB Mark Magro. It doesn't sound like Magro had stood out a lot in practice, but in the live environment of scrimmage, he stood out with a pass break-up and what would have counted as a sack in a real game. Gotta like the guys who play best when it counts.
* Down: Julius Wilson, dominated at OT by the likes of Magro and Eric Moore. Would have given up two sacks. I suppose he deserves some slack since he hasn't been in camp long, but yeah, I don't know how much we were supposed to expect out of that great Dolphins offensive lineman factory.
* Up: Brock Berlin, at least if you're Nick Wagoner. Wagoner reports that Berlin is quite improved over last year, though he undermines his credibility in saying Berlin "handled himself fairly well" in last year's loss to the eminently beatable Bengals, a game the Rams could have won had Gus Frerotte been even 50% healthy. Berlin was about as ready for that game as Admiral Stockdale was for the 1992 Vice-Presidential debate. He was so shaky Scott Linehan was afraid to call any pass route that went more than five yards downfield. The fiasco at QB was the reason the Rams lost that game. Good for Berlin if he's actually improved; goodness knows he couldn't be any worse. As for Wagoner, I'll hope he's being more of a benefit-of-the-doubt reporter here than any kind of a company shill.
* Down: Nepotism. LB Vince Hall has been waived/injured, and replaced by - I'm SURE the best player they could find out there - WR coach Henry Ellard's cousin, Marcus Riley of Fresno State. I'm disappointed Hall couldn't translate his college success to the NFL, and let's just say I'm curious that the Rams decided the next best person to get would come off the old family tree. Good luck to Riley. Maybe he's not even supposed to be a factor; maybe Chamberlain and Vobora and Magro aren't going to give him a real chance anyway. But you always want to have the best competition available at every position, and I'm not convinced the Rams went that extra mile with this acquisition.
Yesterday's scrimmage appears to have run smoothly. The best account of it I saw was espn.com's. Thumbs up and down from the scrimmage:
* Up: Marc Bulger's throwing better and getting a better feel for the new offense by the day. Bulger's success is obviously crucial to the Rams having any kind of chance this season. It's very good to see that the Ram offense is finally clicking in training camp after a rough start.
* Down, as in way, way down: Dante Hall muffed a punt return for a turnover. Hall has never gotten out of my shithouse for losing the Whiner game in St. Louis with a crucial turnover, and he ought to be deep in Scott Linehan's, too. When you're not Devin Hester, Josh Cribbs, Az Hakim or the old Dante Hall, the chance of you making a big play isn't worth the risk if you're going to fail to field EVERY punt cleanly. Dante Hall made a couple of exciting plays last year, but he also cost the Rams a game. At this stage of his career, he damn sure should field punts without being a turnover risk. And though he appeared to be a good investment last year, he still didn't make enough big plays, and wasn't durable enough, to justify the risk. The coaching staff had better put Hall on notice. If he's not going to hold on to the ball, he has no use on this team.
* Up: UFA RB Lance Ball, who's getting a lot more carries thanks to the absence of a certain Pro Bowl running back. He had one of the TDs of the scrimmage and has impressed at practice. Good to see another candidate for best underdog story of camp.
* Down: It doesn't sound like there was a whole lot of offense at the scrimmage, just two TDs, the other by Keenan Burton. Then again, starters played just 18 snaps at most.
* Down: "a number" of pre-snap penalties. INTOLERABLE.
* Up: UFA LB Mark Magro. It doesn't sound like Magro had stood out a lot in practice, but in the live environment of scrimmage, he stood out with a pass break-up and what would have counted as a sack in a real game. Gotta like the guys who play best when it counts.
* Down: Julius Wilson, dominated at OT by the likes of Magro and Eric Moore. Would have given up two sacks. I suppose he deserves some slack since he hasn't been in camp long, but yeah, I don't know how much we were supposed to expect out of that great Dolphins offensive lineman factory.
* Up: Brock Berlin, at least if you're Nick Wagoner. Wagoner reports that Berlin is quite improved over last year, though he undermines his credibility in saying Berlin "handled himself fairly well" in last year's loss to the eminently beatable Bengals, a game the Rams could have won had Gus Frerotte been even 50% healthy. Berlin was about as ready for that game as Admiral Stockdale was for the 1992 Vice-Presidential debate. He was so shaky Scott Linehan was afraid to call any pass route that went more than five yards downfield. The fiasco at QB was the reason the Rams lost that game. Good for Berlin if he's actually improved; goodness knows he couldn't be any worse. As for Wagoner, I'll hope he's being more of a benefit-of-the-doubt reporter here than any kind of a company shill.
* Down: Nepotism. LB Vince Hall has been waived/injured, and replaced by - I'm SURE the best player they could find out there - WR coach Henry Ellard's cousin, Marcus Riley of Fresno State. I'm disappointed Hall couldn't translate his college success to the NFL, and let's just say I'm curious that the Rams decided the next best person to get would come off the old family tree. Good luck to Riley. Maybe he's not even supposed to be a factor; maybe Chamberlain and Vobora and Magro aren't going to give him a real chance anyway. But you always want to have the best competition available at every position, and I'm not convinced the Rams went that extra mile with this acquisition.
For St. Louis fans, training camp may be a microcosm of their NFL future
The Rams estimated attendance at yesterday's team scrimmage at Concordia University in Mequon, Wisconsin, six hours from downtown St. Louis, at 2,000. Attendance at last year's scrimmage, held at the "Russell Training Center" or whatever in Earth City, Mo., about half an hour from downtown St. Louis, was estimated at 1,500. (And no, the Cardinals weren't in town that weekend last year.)
The Rams website has an article up in which the team's most visible individuals, QB Marc Bulger, WR Torry Holt and head coach Scott Linehan, are all practically gushing at the way Wisconsin locals have shown up to watch the team practice. Linehan makes a remark in the article about hoping more Rams fans will come up in the future. I can't tell if he is encouraging Rams fans or cajoling us.
The evidence is, more people in Wisconsin are showing up in August to watch practices of a team that isn't even theirs than show up in St. Louis to see their hometown team.
Does this trend hold true throughout the week? No, not from what I've seen reported so far. Was St. Louis 12-15 degrees hotter this time last year than Wisconsin is now? I suspect yes. And of course Scott Linehan wants to make the decision to move training camp look good - it was his!
But there's no shaking that attendance figure, assuming we can trust its veracity, and there's no shaking that the Rams are immediately using it to embarrass St. Louis fans from their very own website. The Rams' whole PR campaign this summer has been more about embarrassing fans into showing up than anything else. Oh, and highlighting the opponents like the Giants, Cowboys and Bears who'll likely be better draws because of their large national followings.
If St. Louisans doesn't think this franchise isn't already building its case to move again, they're not paying attention. And the fact that Rams' training camps are better attended when they're moved six hours away is pretty damning evidence.
The Rams website has an article up in which the team's most visible individuals, QB Marc Bulger, WR Torry Holt and head coach Scott Linehan, are all practically gushing at the way Wisconsin locals have shown up to watch the team practice. Linehan makes a remark in the article about hoping more Rams fans will come up in the future. I can't tell if he is encouraging Rams fans or cajoling us.
The evidence is, more people in Wisconsin are showing up in August to watch practices of a team that isn't even theirs than show up in St. Louis to see their hometown team.
Does this trend hold true throughout the week? No, not from what I've seen reported so far. Was St. Louis 12-15 degrees hotter this time last year than Wisconsin is now? I suspect yes. And of course Scott Linehan wants to make the decision to move training camp look good - it was his!
But there's no shaking that attendance figure, assuming we can trust its veracity, and there's no shaking that the Rams are immediately using it to embarrass St. Louis fans from their very own website. The Rams' whole PR campaign this summer has been more about embarrassing fans into showing up than anything else. Oh, and highlighting the opponents like the Giants, Cowboys and Bears who'll likely be better draws because of their large national followings.
If St. Louisans doesn't think this franchise isn't already building its case to move again, they're not paying attention. And the fact that Rams' training camps are better attended when they're moved six hours away is pretty damning evidence.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Training camp headlines 8/2
The Rams began scrimmage at 9:50 this morning. Hope everybody up there got word about the schedule change...
* Steven Jackson holdout, day 9. Jackson's potential fine at the end of today will be $135,000. That's just short of what it would take him to buy a new Winnebago Adventurer and drive around Mequon in style...
There's also some confusion now on what date Jackson could lose a year of free agency. August 8, 30 days prior to the Rams' season opener, has previously been reported as that date, but the NFL season starts September 4 in the Meadowlands, so the date may actually be August 5. Either way, odds are we'll finally hear from Jackson sometime next week...
* Best news of training camp so far. Bill Coats blogs that Chris Long has "improved noticeably" since arriving in camp. Huh, I thought all these two-a-days were supposed to be useless wastes of time that only get guys injured. Anyway, this sure stokes the fires of those of us hoping Long will contribute right away, which is looking like a good probability...
* Injuries easing some. Tye Hill, Drew Bennett, Brett Romberg and others were back in action yesterday after missing some time with minor injuries. Then again, Dan Kreider is out now due to a knee problem, and Justin King is missing some time due to tight hamstrings...
* Why NFL refereeing still sucks. Never mind that the league itself appears to think Jeff Triplette's crew is one of the league's best. Members of that very crew were in camp yesterday to go over this year's "points of emphasis", which includes everybody having their chin strap fastened every play.
Yes, in a league where there's still too many dirty hits, too many quarterbacks getting roughed, too much offensive and defensive holding, and where half the crews have little or no idea what pass interference should be, this year, the NFL is going to crack down on unfastened chin straps.
The specter of a long and/or game-winning play getting called back because somebody not even in the play didn't have his chin strap fastened looms...
* Bulger goes deep? The highlight play of Friday's practice, according to Nick Wagoner's blog, was a deep pass down the sideline, not from, but to, Marc Bulger, thrown by fullback Russ Weil. Hey, that's what the article/entry said. So this may be the one trick play the Rams run next season. Hopefully it does better than last year's version, a flea-flicker play for Jackson seen in practice that only went for one yard when it was attempted in the regular season...
* Steven Jackson holdout, day 9. Jackson's potential fine at the end of today will be $135,000. That's just short of what it would take him to buy a new Winnebago Adventurer and drive around Mequon in style...
There's also some confusion now on what date Jackson could lose a year of free agency. August 8, 30 days prior to the Rams' season opener, has previously been reported as that date, but the NFL season starts September 4 in the Meadowlands, so the date may actually be August 5. Either way, odds are we'll finally hear from Jackson sometime next week...
* Best news of training camp so far. Bill Coats blogs that Chris Long has "improved noticeably" since arriving in camp. Huh, I thought all these two-a-days were supposed to be useless wastes of time that only get guys injured. Anyway, this sure stokes the fires of those of us hoping Long will contribute right away, which is looking like a good probability...
* Injuries easing some. Tye Hill, Drew Bennett, Brett Romberg and others were back in action yesterday after missing some time with minor injuries. Then again, Dan Kreider is out now due to a knee problem, and Justin King is missing some time due to tight hamstrings...
* Why NFL refereeing still sucks. Never mind that the league itself appears to think Jeff Triplette's crew is one of the league's best. Members of that very crew were in camp yesterday to go over this year's "points of emphasis", which includes everybody having their chin strap fastened every play.
Yes, in a league where there's still too many dirty hits, too many quarterbacks getting roughed, too much offensive and defensive holding, and where half the crews have little or no idea what pass interference should be, this year, the NFL is going to crack down on unfastened chin straps.
The specter of a long and/or game-winning play getting called back because somebody not even in the play didn't have his chin strap fastened looms...
* Bulger goes deep? The highlight play of Friday's practice, according to Nick Wagoner's blog, was a deep pass down the sideline, not from, but to, Marc Bulger, thrown by fullback Russ Weil. Hey, that's what the article/entry said. So this may be the one trick play the Rams run next season. Hopefully it does better than last year's version, a flea-flicker play for Jackson seen in practice that only went for one yard when it was attempted in the regular season...
Friday, August 1, 2008
Training camp headlines 8/1
Practices scheduled today for 8:45 and 4:00.
Team scrimmages tomorrow at 10:45. Sunday is an off day.
Training camp seems to have hit a quiet spell...
Single-game tickets go on sale at 10:00 today. C'mon and buy, buy, buy, people; I want to be able to record some home games!
* Jackson holdout, day 8. Still no news here, other than the daily accumulation of Jackson's potential fine, which could be as much as $120,000 now if he doesn't report today. And to think, he could have kept that money and used it to rent out Radio City Music Hall...
* 15 of 80 players missed practice yesterday, per Jim Thomas. Great to hear the team is over last year's injury bug, eh? And once again, viva Field Turf! The positive side of this is that none of the current injuries, save Victor Adeyanju's broken finger, are the type that would cause players to miss games had this been the regular season. At least that's how they're reporting it; I guess Josh Thompson's injury doesn't count any more...
* QB news. Thomas reports Brock Berlin is definitely ahead of Bruce Gradkowski in the third-string QB competition, saying Gradkowski has "no accuracy". So, the Rams' front office can't find a QB out there better than Brock Berlin? That's not exactly bolstering my confidence in them. Boy, you'd have thought Gradkowski would be better than Berlin, simply because it can't be that hard to do, but...
In better QB news, Marc Bulger appears to have knocked off any off-season rust now and has looked very sharp the last couple of practices. Let's just hope Bulger stays healthy. Trent Green figures to last about one hit backing Bulger up, and after them, apparently it's going to be Berlin. Yikes.
* Justin King outplaying Jonathan Wade. On its face, this isn't really a huge surprise. King is a real cornerback; Wade is a converted college wide receiver. Wade's play, though, is by all accounts improving over last year, so what we could get here is one of the better competitions of camp, between two up-and-coming young DBs. Early on, King's looking like one of the better bargains of the '08 draft.
Team scrimmages tomorrow at 10:45. Sunday is an off day.
Training camp seems to have hit a quiet spell...
Single-game tickets go on sale at 10:00 today. C'mon and buy, buy, buy, people; I want to be able to record some home games!
* Jackson holdout, day 8. Still no news here, other than the daily accumulation of Jackson's potential fine, which could be as much as $120,000 now if he doesn't report today. And to think, he could have kept that money and used it to rent out Radio City Music Hall...
* 15 of 80 players missed practice yesterday, per Jim Thomas. Great to hear the team is over last year's injury bug, eh? And once again, viva Field Turf! The positive side of this is that none of the current injuries, save Victor Adeyanju's broken finger, are the type that would cause players to miss games had this been the regular season. At least that's how they're reporting it; I guess Josh Thompson's injury doesn't count any more...
* QB news. Thomas reports Brock Berlin is definitely ahead of Bruce Gradkowski in the third-string QB competition, saying Gradkowski has "no accuracy". So, the Rams' front office can't find a QB out there better than Brock Berlin? That's not exactly bolstering my confidence in them. Boy, you'd have thought Gradkowski would be better than Berlin, simply because it can't be that hard to do, but...
In better QB news, Marc Bulger appears to have knocked off any off-season rust now and has looked very sharp the last couple of practices. Let's just hope Bulger stays healthy. Trent Green figures to last about one hit backing Bulger up, and after them, apparently it's going to be Berlin. Yikes.
* Justin King outplaying Jonathan Wade. On its face, this isn't really a huge surprise. King is a real cornerback; Wade is a converted college wide receiver. Wade's play, though, is by all accounts improving over last year, so what we could get here is one of the better competitions of camp, between two up-and-coming young DBs. Early on, King's looking like one of the better bargains of the '08 draft.
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