Posts by Bruce Ciskie at FanHouse

Unlike our friend Mats, who apparently has issues with this "decision-making" thing, Joe Sakic has figured out what he wants to do.

The future Hall of Famer announced Wednesday that he intends to play again in 2008-2009. He signed a one-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche, setting him up to begin his 20th season in the NHL.

"Ultimately, it came down to the fact that I still enjoy playing and competing," said Sakic, who won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 1996 and 2001. "I'm comfortable with my conditioning and my overall health. I'm ready for the start of [training] camp."

When healthy last year, Sakic was still effective, averaging around a point per game in the regular season and exactly one point per game in ten playoff games. However, he wasn't the impact player we're used to seeing.

He's still a great leader and a super representative for the Colorado organization, but if the Avalanche are leaning on him to lead them to a Stanley Cup, they're crazy.

Not only that, but Sakic's return doesn't even begin to make up for the loss of Jeff Finger.

Right?

After consulting with every doctor this side of Doogie Howser, Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman has made a rational, well-researched decision.

Or maybe he's continuing to prove that he's absolutely crazy.

"I'm going to play," Merriman said via text message to the Union-Tribune. "I'll deal with it when it's time to get surgery."

You read that correctly. Merriman, after being told by at least five doctors (counting the one employed by the team) that he needs knee surgery, is going to put off the surgery and play for the Chargers this season.

Merriman has two torn knee ligaments, and he's already acknowledged that he could be risking his career by continuing to play.

There's no question that every NFL player faces a certain amount of risk every time they put the pads on and play. It's a wonderful sport, but it's also extremely violent and unpredictable.

There's another part to this story, too.

Not many husbands/fathers can claim to be as lucky as the one whose wife suggests a trip to Lambeau Field for a summer getaway. Not only can I claim it, but I have the photographic evidence to prove it.

We spent this past weekend in Green Bay, purposely timing our trip to coincide with a Packers preseason game on the road. It was surmised that we could have an easier time navigating around Lambeau Field and the Packers Hall of Fame if there weren't 70,000 people around at the same time. There was also the chance to check out a Packers training camp practice on Sunday afternoon.

Since I'm pretty much a complete dork at this point in my life, I figured I'd bring the camera with. I come now bearing photos from our trip to Green Bay to hang out with the Packers (sort of). I'll share a few of them after the jump.

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterbacks: That nagging, annoying question is back. Will Donovan McNabb stay healthy for a full season? Will Kevin Kolb rot on the bench again? Obviously, most Eagles fans hope Kolb doesn't see the light of day this year. McNabb, however, hasn't gotten through a season healthy since he and Terrell Owens were getting along. Injuries have kept him on the sideline for seven, six, and two games, respectively, each of the last three years. The injuries are the only thing keeping McNabb from being mentioned among the truly elite quarterbacks in the game. Certainly, his numbers last year weren't subpar, but McNabb continues to take way too many hits. He was sacked 12 times by the Giants in Week Four last year, and 44 for the season. For a comparison, backup A.J. Feeley started twice for McNabb last year, and he was sacked three times in those two games. Also worrisome is McNabb's sudden inability to throw the deep ball. One season is not a fair sample, especially considering the Eagles' relative lack of big-play ability at wide receiver. However, it's a development that bears watching, especially if McNabb's penchant for getting hurt doesn't go away. Heat Index: 7

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterbacks: Did you hear that Brett Favre retired? Well, don't worry, because he changed his mind. And he did it too late, so the Packers wanted to move on instead of keeping him on board. So they traded him to the Jets. Got it? Aaron Rodgers is the new starter in Green Bay, and while I'm excited for him, I have to admit that this is all a little weird. I was barely 15 years old the first time Favre won a game for the Packers. That means Favre was the starter for more than half my life. Other guys - Rodgers, Mark Brunell, Matt Hasselbeck, Ty Detmer, and T.J. Rubley, among others - have taken snaps for the Packers, but Favre's been the only starter. He didn't even miss a pre-season start for the Packers until Monday night. Rodgers has the physical tools, he appears well-prepared, and he's handled this circus wonderfully. I can't rate him too highly because I just don't know if he can be as good as Favre, but he does appear to be better at reading coverages and making consistently good decisions than Favre was. Favre's improvisational ways were entertaining and often effective, but they also led to mistakes. Rodgers will play a safer style, but won't be nearly as dynamic. Heat Index: 7

The well-chronicled romance of Jarrett Stoll and Rachel Hunter now requires an update.

It seems that Stoll's move from Edmonton to Los Angeles has helped accelerate things. First, there was the talk of babies, and now comes word that the two are engaged.

"She is engaged. She's never been happier," her rep told People Magazine.

"She has been with Jarret for a long time and everyone is thrilled for them. He was recently traded to the L.A. Kings, so it's a really exciting time in their life together. He is an amazing guy and she is an amazing girl – they're truly meant to be."

We couldn't be happier, either.

I'll bet Stoll is pretty thrilled. After all, it's not often that a 26-year-old, relatively anonymous hockey player can claim to be engaged to one of the most well-known models on the planet.

Yes, it's gossip. But it's August. I mean, unless Mats Sundin wakes up tomorrow and actually makes a decision related to his hockey career (or lack thereof), we got nothing around here.

The very least we can do is share in the joy of the future Mr. and Mrs. Stoll. Or, at least we could be supremely jealous of the groom-to-be.

Anyone got any ideas for the bachelor party?

(Thanks, Jes!)

The United States women were beaten out for a gold medal in the team competition by the women girls from China.

While Chellsie Memmel and her teammates didn't get the gold, Memmel may have established herself as the toughest gymnast in the competition.

Why? She was competing with a broken ankle.

Memmel said after the U.S. women won the silver medal in team gymnastics Wednesday that she'd been competing with a broken bone in her right ankle. The 2005 world gymnastics champion hurt the ankle during training Aug. 4, but competed on uneven bars in both the preliminaries and the team finals.

"I have mixed emotions," she said. "I would have loved to compete on four events, but the silver medal for my team is great."

And you thought hockey players were tough!

If you look at the above photo, you can see the heavy tape on her right ankle. Now, I'm not an expert on gymnastics, but it seems that uneven bars would be about the only event she could safely compete in. The feet and legs aren't relied upon as heavily, and she's probably okay if she can handle her dismount.

Memmel certainly held up her end of the bargain, performing well on the uneven bars in the team final Wednesday morning (Tuesday night U.S. time).

There's no doubt that the rivalry between Minnesota and Green Bay is one of the better ones in the NFL. After a few non-descript seasons in the 1980s and 1990s, when one or both teams sucked, things have heated up nicely in recent years.

It probably all started when Randy Moss stomped all over the Packers defense on a Monday night in 1998. Since then, the intensity has been amped up quite a bit.

Since Mike McCarthy took over in Green Bay, the Packers are 4-0 against Minnesota. This is probably not taken well by Vikings fans, players, or coaches.

For evidence of this, I invite you to join me after the jump, as we present the comments of Vikings defensive tackle Pat Williams.

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: There is little doubt in my mind that Jay Cutler wasn't the problem last year. In his first full season as a starting quarterback, Cutler hit 64 percent of his throws and threw just 14 picks, which is pretty good for a first-year starter. He was good under pressure, which is also pretty good for a guy who was pretty much a rookie. Moving forward, Cutler needs to work on what many, many young quarterbacks need to work on: Decision-making. It's not at all uncommon for college quarterbacks or even Brett Favre to sometimes trust the ol' arm too much, which can lead a guy to throw a lot of footballs in traffic. As long as you grow out of it, or you're Brett Favre, it's okay. Happens to everyone. I really like Cutler. He shows pretty much every skill I like to see in an NFL quarterback, and he's the kind of kid who will only get better because of his dedication and drive. Ignore the fact that he hasn't had a winning season as a starting quarterback since high school. Heat Index: 7

Bob McGinn has been writing for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as long as I can remember. He's covered the Packers, and he's largely done so fairly and with great passion. He brings with him great insight and a keen sense of how to frame a story so it's interesting to the reader.

McGinn recently conducted a lengthy interview with Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson. Naturally, Thompson has been a hot topic of discussion among Packer fans for his recent decision to trade future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre to the New York Jets for only a conditional draft pick. Since McGinn isn't an idiot, he had to ask a question or two about the move and how tough it was to pull the trigger.

I've been involved in journalism since 1996, and spent much of the last decade getting paid to cover sports. I spent seven years hosting a sports talk show, and I have conducted literally hundreds of interviews, chatting with athletes, coaches, front-office people, reporters, analysts, and even agents.

One of my general rules of conducting interviews is that I don't feel it's right to let opinion dictate the questioning. Just because I think a certain way doesn't mean everyone else has to, and interjecting my opinion in hopes of generating agreement is not how to conduct an interview. I feel that's a tactic that makes the interviewer seem more important than the interviewee.

And in this case, I feel McGinn - no matter how much respect I have for the man - crossed the line.