SB Nation User Blog: Ampallang

Kokinis No Longer Employed by Cleveland

Ampallang — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:12:58 -0000

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/11/02/kokinis.fired.ap/index.html

George Kokinis, the hand-picked GM of first-year coach Eric Mangini who was rarely seen or heard in Cleveland, left the team Monday under unexplained circumstances after less than one year on the job.

After reports surfaced that Kokinis was fired, the team issued an awkwardly worded statement saying Kokinis "is no longer actively involved with the organization." The Browns also denied reports that Kokinis was escorted from team headquarters.

From the Wiki:

George Kokinis, the hand-picked GM of first-year coach Eric Mangini who was rarely seen or heard in Cleveland, left the team Monday under unexplained circumstances after less than one year on the job.

After reports surfaced that Kokinis was fired, the team issued an awkwardly worded statement saying Kokinis "is no longer actively involved with the organization." The Browns also denied reports that Kokinis was escorted from team headquarters.

Also from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Kokinis:

The story goes that when Kokinis was a young boy he became lost while walking through the forest. As the night took hold, a mysterious old woman appeared in the darkness. She told Kokinis not to be afraid and took his hand. She then led him home. How she knew where he lived is anyone's guess. Before leaving him, the woman revealed that she was a fortune teller. She told Kokinis that he was destined to be a great man.

I guess it takes a great man to actually be allegedly escorted from the premises of the Browns' facility.

Interview with Steve Hauschka

Ampallang — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:46:13 -0000

Interview with Steve Hauschka

Troy Smith Beats Out Flacco and Smith

Ampallang — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:34:22 -0000

Troy Smith Beats Out Flacco and Smith

In a moment of levity, quarterbacks Joe Flacco, Troy Smith and John Beck took turns dunking footballs over the crossbar of the field goal posts behind one end zone. Flacco and Beck put down one-handed jams, but Smith was the clear winner after completing what appeared to be a 360-degree dunk.

Harbaugh Coaching

Ampallang — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:34:04 -0000

Harbaugh Coaching

The first part of the video shows some clips of Harbaugh during some practices. It's great stuff, but my favorite is when he tells somebody "You see the 20-yard line down there? It's got the '2' and the 'O.'" And what was that part about only having to say Hauschka and he falls apart? Was that directed at Gano?

The second part of the video has some team analysis. Brian Billick, as usual, is very fair with his assessment of the team. When asked if we can improve in 2009, he says that would entail going to the Super Bowl. Unlike a lot of pundits (see below), he says that you know we'll be playing good D for a number of reasons, and actually mentions Landry's return. It's refreshing to hear that kind of talk from a national media figure.

And then there's Marshall Faulk. The first words out of his mouth seem to be agreement with Billick, but he goes on spew all the usual idiotic crap. According to Faulk, Rex Ryan is the reason for Ray Lewis's success. How can you argue with that? Watch Billick's face while Marshall is talking; he looks like he wants to jump over the table and slap him while he's talking.

Marshall Practices Before Suspension

Ampallang — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:11:11 -0000

Marshall Practices Before Suspension

I seriously hope this cuts down on the amount of Marshall-to-Ravens chatter we're having. There's a right way to go about getting what you want, and this most definitely isn't it. I know he's acting out because he's unhappy, but who's to say he wouldn't pull that same shit here if we didn't give him the contract he wanted? This is most definitely not the type of player we need right now, even with our deficiencies at receiver.

Bad News for KJ Gerard

Ampallang — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:05:00 -0000

Bad News for KJ Gerard

Gerard has no chance of making the team now, right Bruce?

Ravens on Sports Illustrated

Ampallang — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:33:18 -0000

Ravens on Sports Illustrated

Ross Tucker has a piece on the first day of Ravens training camp. He covers Flacco's leadership progression, teammates' praise of Ngata, and a bit about center Matt Birk. This is currently the "front page" story on SI.com's football page, which is fairly unusual for a Ravens piece. Check it out before it's supplanted by King's MMQB.

Is Big Ben a Rapist?

Ampallang — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:41:13 -0000

Is Big Ben a Rapist?

Big Ben has allegedly raped a casino worker. Check out the link for details.

Matt Birk fills in for Peter King to write MMQB

Ampallang — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:30:25 -0000

Matt Birk fills in for Peter King to write MMQB

Matt Birk writes this week's MMQB for Sports Illustrated, touching on retired players, Brett Favre, OTA's, and more. He's either well-spoken or has a great editor.

Le'Ron McClain

Ampallang — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:33:03 -0000

Le'Ron McClain

It's a fantasy football post, but it has a quote from Cam Cameron I haven't seen mentioned here yet.

"You know, I’ve read that everybody thinks we’ve moved him back to fullback and I’m not sure where that came from," Cameron said. "He’s a running back. That’s the way I view him. To me, Lorenzo Neal is a fullback, and a great one. Le’Ron, to me, and I felt like this when I saw him in college, is a potential running back. He’s also a guy that can play fullback, play tailback, and actually we’re going to use him a little bit at tight end this year."

This is just a reassurance that we'll be seeing a familiar running scheme, regardless of what we've heard about McClain moving to Full Back.

I'm also wondering if his statement about having McClain play a little tight end is telling of Cameron's opinion of the health and depth of our tight ends.