Les Carpenter writes a story about Crean for the tourney. In it, he briefly revisits the early, dark days when Sampson had just left and Crean had just taken the reins of a fallen program. The story shows everyone that the accomplishments this year aren't limited to just getting more ticks in the "Win" column, but rather goes farther and deeper into restoring a program's dignity and honor. This piece, short as it is, is worth a read.

I only wish Carpenter had gone deeper into a longer, multipart story. It would be damn interesting to read a "Season On The Brink" type work of the program's early days under Crean.

Apparently, Reggie claims he owns the 200 yard mark. In response, Phil Richards playfully replies "When was Wayne's last 200-yard touchdown catch? When was anyone's?"

:D

And we get to see Addai get in the faces of all the DBs on this question. Again, it's a fun read.

Paul reveals an email from an NFL spokesman (Michael Signora):

"The movement of the umpire to the offensive backfield will happen in the regular-season. We continue to analyze and review the impact of the change in the preseason, and we may announce some tweaks to the mechanics of the position prior to the regular season, but the move is a definite."

Bull. This is utter bulls***.

From Mike Chappell's piece:
Pro Bowl tight end Dallas Clark was unable to finish the workout after injuring his left leg while running a pass route. There was no immediate comment on the severity of the injury.

Clark was taken to a treatment tent near the practice field, finally emerging with a wrap around his upper left leg. He didn't return to practice and left a few minutes early on a cart.

(∗Sobs∗)

Don Banks writes the following:

"Assistant head coach Maurice Carthon has introduced a new drill during some practices this summer. It's called the Port-a-Potty drill, and here's why: A Chiefs pass-catcher goes into the portable bathroom that's on the side of one of the team's practice fields and closes the door, in full uniform, mind you.

Then, as another player yanks the door open, someone fires a pass at the player in the Port-a-Potty, who must react quickly and make the catch."

I don't know about you guys, but if I were a Chiefs player, I would SO be doing my business anywhere but in the sideline portapotties. And precisely because of that drill! Last thing I'd need is to be deep into reading my paper only to have the door fly open and a football zing me right on the forehead while my pants were down around my ankles! Could you imagine the news photos they'd get outta that?

Phil lets loose some opinions about John Gill's arrest, as well as his opinion on how various parties reacted. We'll start with who he ripped:

"So I couldn't help but comment after reading how so many knee-jerk reactionaries went off on reserve Colts defensive tackle John Gill for his second public intoxication arrest in less than a year. Everybody is entitled to an opinion, but people going for the easy kill and saying how stupid he was, well, why don't we really reach and suggest that as long as Peyton Manning is quarterback, the Colts will probably be good?

Gill has a problem. Who among you doesn't?"

And now, who Phil's impressed with:
"Seriously, folks, I was actually impressed today by Colts president Bill Polian making the public statement that one of his players has a problem and they want to get him help. Many might have thought Gill would be emailed a pink slip after being found drunk and passed out in a ditch on the Westside at 4 a.m. Sunday morning. Sure, that's the immediate reaction.

... hats off to the Colts for seeing the big picture instead of just shipping the guy out and saying, "He's not our problem.""

It's a pretty heart-on-his-sleeve column. Some may wonder why he seems to be taking things so personally; he comes out and states that he "... lived in fear of an alcoholic as a young child", but that must only be part of it. If I may apply my interpretation: I think he realizes that all too often, we're excessively disconnected from the human side of the sports figures we watch and he reports on. Gill getting arrested for an alcohol problem is just the tipping point for his feelings. There may be such a thing as excess clinical detachment, and when a serious matter suddenly becomes fodder for glib opinions, someone in closer proximity to the subject may feel that detachment has gotten out of hand. That seems to be the case here. Phil felt the need to remind people that Gill may have made a boneheaded move, but he's also a person with a problem, and a person who the Colts see as worth investing an IR spot plus some effort in. It's definitely something to keep in mind.

Note in Indianapolis Star column by Mike Chappell:

"McClendon moving
The Colts drafted Jacques McClendon to beef up their guard position. Now, they have decided to move their fourth-round draft pick to center, where he's working behind Pro Bowl veteran Jeff Saturday."

This is a surprise.

Quote:
"The Drug Enforcement Administration said Tuesday it is investigating doctors affiliated with the San Diego Chargers and San Diego Padres to verify the accuracy of controlled substance inventories, records, reports and other documents required to be kept under the Controlled Substances Act."

The piece notes that there are no actual charges or indictments yet. But still... looks like federal authorities are taking a close look at teams now. First New Orleans, now San Diego. Enforcement's being stepped up, isn't it?

Ouch... reading this link sorta puts a damper on things. Looks like Chris Henry's brain showed signs of "chronic traumatic encephalopathy" - quote, "... a form of degenerative brain damage caused by multiple hits to the head"

Notable paragraph from the story with a quote from Julian Bales, Director of BIRI and chairman of neurosurgery at West Virginia University:
"Now, Bailes -- and likely Henry's family, friends and fans -- will wonder if his neural damage contributed to his emotional volatility, including whatever problems he was suffering the day he died.

"I think it did," Bailes said. "Superimposed on the acute brain injuries Chris suffered when he died, there was fairly extensive damage throughout his brain that was fully consistent with CTE. This syndrome is expressed not only as changes in the brain, but clinically, as behavioral changes. And starting with Mike Webster, we have seen common threads in these cases: emotional disturbances, depression, failed personal relationships and businesses, suicidal thoughts, sometimes alcohol or drug use."

More and more datapoints are piling up that demonstrate the need for the NFL to sponsor even more research into head injuries that players suffer.

An emailer named Joe McGreal "from Bangkok, Thailand" decided to rip up on Peyton some:
"Why do sportswriters not get down and dirty with Manning on his big game failures? To throw a pick 6 in the Super Bowl at least warranted some additional scrutiny on his big game prowess...

... I truly believe sportswriters in general are way too lenient on Manning. Piling up stats in regular season against mainly substandard defenses is not a measure for greatness."

Kuharsky pens a fine response:
"If it’s so easy to pile up stats in the regular season, why haven’t more people done it? Manning is superb in the regular season in a way few of his peers can imagine. Against mostly substandard defenses? That’s a huge stretch.

... And who is great by your standards beside Terry Bradshaw and Troy Aikman, then? John Elway lost the Super Bowl more often than he won it. Brett Favre and Kurt Warner have the same Super Bowl record as Manning. What losers. "

Nice too see a national writer 1. Meet some of those canards head on, and 2. Tell an emailer how it is.

ESPN writer/blogger Paul Kuharsky thinks out loud (well, on screen) about which Colts team is the best one, ever. He lists the 1958, '59, '68, '70, and 2006 teams as candidates, then solicits feedback. And as a departure for an ESPN comments section, the replies are mostly well thought out. It's an interesting albeit short read.

Looks like Al Davis finally rolled over and yelled "Uncle!". And now there's a competitor to Leaf for "Biggest Bust Evah".

Even though this isn't Colts news, this does make a Colts fan like me thankful we have a steady organization. It's rough out there for some other teams.

BBS Update: Somewhere, Dom Rhodes is smiling. Also, The Big Lead references our Dom Rhodes article as a "damning" indictment of Russell. Again, Russell has to be a Grade-A schmuck to get someone like Dom Rhodes to hate him.

Normally, I view Sports Illustrated columnist Perloff as a minor irritation, often choosing to write something contradictory just to stir the pot. In spite of that, he said something in his current column that I totally agree with myself:

"Most draft graders have their formula all wrong. Experts reward teams that got recognizable players from big programs who went lower than projected in all the mock drafts. Teams were lauded for picking up Notre Dame's Clausen, Texas' McCoy and Sergio Kindle, Alabama's Terrence Cody, USC's Everson Griffen, Tennessee's Dan Williams, Maryland's Bruce Campbell, etc. Aren't these players less likely to be steals because teams have had so many opportunities to scout them?"

He's got a good point, actually. When a prospect falls from his projected slot in a draft, is it because the player is genuinely good but simply passed over for bad reasons? Or is it because everyone else was accurate and you, Mr. Favorite Franchise's Drafting Executive, are the one somehow not seeing the problem?

For once, Perloff's got a good point: Managing to find a player projected for the first round but falling out of it may not necessarily be a "steal". It may be that your team is simply blind to a very real issue. So automatically grading a draft choice as a "steal" is presuming that the press pundits have got it more right than the franchise. That's possible, but not guaranteed Hence, the problem of calling someone a great pick just because he sunk in the draft.

Scott Sicko leaves football after not being drafted.

"But as the final day of the NFL Draft progressed Saturday, and Sicko continued not to see his name pop up on ESPN, that easy answer to The Question grew hazier, then clearer.

Thanks, but no thanks."

Quotes from him indicate that the move is not petulance, but rather a realistic appraisal of the life and length of career the average undrafted free agent experiences.

"Not getting drafted, he decided, provided a new clarity, a different answer to the question of whether he wanted to get started on his life after football.

"If I were to be drafted I would have had more confidence of a much longer career in the NFL," Sicko said. "I have to look at my life and decide what will make me the happiest. And the thing that will make me the happiest now and in the long run is to pursue my education."

Quote: "Former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow has decided not to attend the NFL draft in New York City and instead will watch it at his home in Jacksonville, Fla., a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter"...

Before anyone gets too excited, keep in mind that only half of the article talks football. On top of that, it's from 2008, and the football parts talk about scouting a QB that we now know couldn't make the Redskin's roster, is 3rd on New Orlean's depth chart, and has made a total of 14 completions in his entire NFL career.

That said, this columns is still an excellent read (HT to CNNSI's Andy Staples for linking it). The piece describes the problems faced in evaluating current talent and predicting future performance of prospects in football (concentrating on New Orleans backup Chase Daniel when he was in college), education (yes, teachers), and financial management. And while the football parts are not particularly revealing - it's not like the NFL scout reveals any trade secrets - it's still an illustrating and fascinating look at what goes through one scout's mind. And while the sections discussing how to evaluate teacher performance is off topic to football, it too is fascinating.

It's worth a read, even if just to remind us of the dangers of overvaluing a college prospect during draft time. The scout quoted in the article was VERY high on Chase Daniels. And we can see in retrospect how that's translated to the NFL. Yet, even that scout was aware of the pitfalls of translating college achievements to pro performance, even going so far as to cite Joey Harrington as an illustration. It's amazing to think about how much effort goes into prospect evaluation in any professional field, yet at the same time how so many performance characteristics have yet to have reasonable metrics identified for them. It's why talent evaluation - college scouting, in the context of the NFL - is still as much art as it is science.

The article is worth a read.

Is ex-Colt (and now, ex-Redskins) punter Hunter Smith unemployed again? One story comes out and says so ("The Washington Redskins signed punter Josh Bidwell to a contract this morning, effectively ending the run of veteran Hunter Smith with the team"), whereas the Washington Post Skins blog says he "... hasn't ruled out returning to the Redskins..." (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/bruce-allen/hunter-smith-isnt-ruling-out-a.html).

He was a good player for the Colts in his day, and many of us fans were wishing him well wherever he went. Hopefully, he'll land on his feet elsewhere; he'll be able to contribute to a team in need of a good punter.

Not a big story. In fact, it's nothing more than a photo and a caption. But Peyton sure looks focused in.