The best NFL news on Wednesday was that Brian Westbrook will not play this week. He may be your starting running back in your fantasy league, but the Philadelphia Eagles' all-time leader from scrimmage with 9,711 yards also is a man who is recuperating from two concussions in 20 days.
Right now, Westbrook is not just an NFL star. He is a medical patient.
Thankfully, everyone realizes it's time to focus on Westbrook's health and future well-being, and not how he can help move the chains for the Eagles' offense.
The Raiders' lease with the Oakland/Alameda County Coliseum Authority was set to expire at the end of the 2010 season. Considering the city of San Francisco and the South Bay city of Santa Clara have been offering stadium locations and are competing for the 49ers' services, the future home of Al Davis' franchise was very much in question.
While the lease agreement must still be formally approved by the Joint Powers Authority, the City of Oakland, the County of Alameda and the NFL, it's a foregone conclusion that the Raiders -- love 'em or hate 'em -- aren't going anywhere. At least for the time being.
The Boss, the one who rules Major League Baseball, wasn't in New York Wednesday night as the Yankees celebrated their 27th World Series title with a 7-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. But George Steinbrenner, 79 -- still the architect of champions and the titan of New York sports -- was watching from his home in Tampa.
Every out. Every pitch. Every player celebration. Steinbrenner could see and hear his players express their gratitude, and his family said he was overcome with joy.
"Thank you. Thank you for everything," Yankees catcher Jorge Posada told the owner through a camera lens. "Thank you for this. Thank you for having the team every year, to try to have a team to be here [the World Series]."
The Boss is not in robust health these days. He wasn't in the clubhouse to feel the champagne shower. But he was "teary eyed" said his son, Hank. "It meant everything."
In case you hadn't noticed, sports these days are all about Goliath. In 2009, the Steelers, Lakers, North Carolina Tar Heels and now the Yankees have all won titles in their respective sports. Cinderella is yesterday's news. The teams that win these days are the teams that always win, and if you think that's boring, well, tough. You can kiss one of Derek Jeter's five World Series rings.
So with that in mind, we need to be really careful about overlooking the Dallas Cowboys.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. All you ever hear about the Cowboys is what's wrong with them. Terrell Owens was a pain. Roy Williams is a loudmouth, too, and isn't good enough to replace T.O. Tony Romo's too concerned with his golf game and his high-wattage love life to ever attain his potential. The new stadium is ridiculous...
After the Giants rolled Oakland 44-7 in Week 5, New York linebacker Antonio Pierce spoke rather candidly about the easy victory, saying that the game felt like a "scrimmage" and that "there was no vibe of trying or effort from the Raiders at all from a defensive standpoint."
Not surprisingly, Pierce's comments didn't sit well with the Raiders -- particularly Oakland defensive end Richard Seymour, who enjoyed a little schadenfreude after New Orleans pummeled the Giants in Week 6.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- It's easy to believe Tom Cable when he says he's not worried about the possible criminal assault charges that could be coming his way. Honestly, even if he gets arrested, how bad could it be compared to coaching the Raiders?
Unless he's going to be sentenced to watch an endless loop of his team's 44-7 loss to the Giants (or worse, one single replay of Sunday's Bills-Browns game), Cable has to be thinking about heading up to Napa County first thing Monday morning and turning himself in. Because as embarrassing as the Raiders can be off the field in the middle of the week, they show up on Sundays and take humiliation to new, ever-darker levels.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The question swirling around the Giants all week was whether Eli Manning would play in Sunday's game against the Raiders. The answer, it turns out, was yes -- even though he really didn't have to, as New York routed Oakland 44-7.
Manning played most of the first half of the "game," completing 8 of 10 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns against a Raiders team that looked as if it would rather have been getting a group root canal, or giving depositions for the Napa Valley district attorney's office. Manning showed no ill effects from the foot injury he suffered a week ago, and with a little more than two minutes left in the first half and the Raiders clearly not trying to win, he came out in favor of backup David Carr.
Three days after the trade that sent him from New England to Oakland for a 2011 first-round draft pick, Richard Seymour still hasn't reported to his new team. Several people with knowledge of the situation have told FanHouse that Seymour is upset because the trade blindsided him, and that he'd been hoping to sign a contract extension with New England. Seymour is due to make $3.7 million this year and can become a free agent when it's over -- and there's been some speculation in recent days that he could sit out the season if he doesn't want to play in Oakland.
But according to one NFL source, Seymour can't sit out the year and expect to be a free agent next spring. If he never reports to the Raiders, his contract is frozen, meaning he'd still be expected to play one year for the Raiders (or whichever team controls his rights at that point if the Raiders trade them in the meantime) before hitting the market.
It's a murky situation that still could end up in the hands of the NFL commissioner, because right now, the two teams involved seem to disagree on how official and final the deal is.
OAKLAND, Calif. -- NFL preseason games are about as meaningful as a Lindsay Lohan vow of chastity. But there is a modicum of significance to the third exhibition contest. Starters play for extended periods. Opponent game plans are installed. Coaches expect signs of rhythm, timing, execution. Then they yank the first teams at halftime and put them on ice until Week 1.
All of which made Saturday's surreal 45-7 New Orleans Saints' takedown of the Oakland Raiders at a stifling hot, mostly empty Oakland Coliseum even more disturbing for those expecting to see, well, anything of substance from the always rebuilding home team.
NAPA, Calif. -- Oakland Raiders coach Tom Cable, who is being investigated by the NFL following allegations that he fractured the jaw of defensive assistant Randy Hanson with a blind-sided punch during an Aug. 5 altercation at the team's Napa training camp, offered an emphatic explanation Tuesday of what occurred.
"Nothing happened," Cable blurted out when pressed again for details about a FanHouse report that the head coach struck Hanson with such force the defensive assistant required treatment at Queen of the Valley Hospital in Napa on Aug. 6.
Napa police confirmed to FanHouse on Monday that their officers followed hospital protocol by questioning the 41-year-old Raiders assistant coach, whose name police would not release citing privacy concerns, while he was undergoing emergency treatment for a jaw injury. NFL sources said Hanson sustained a fractured jaw as a result of the punch.
The best NFL news on Wednesday was that Brian Westbrook will not play this week. He may be your starting running back in your fantasy league, but the Philadelphia Eagles' all-time leader from scrimmage with 9,711 yards also is a man who is recuperating from two concussions in 20 days.
OAKLAND, Calif. -- The 
The Boss, the one who rules Major League 
In case you hadn't noticed, sports these days are all about Goliath. In 2009, the 
After the 
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- It's easy to believe 
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The question swirling around the Giants all week was whether 
Three days after the trade that sent him from New England to Oakland for a 2011 first-round draft pick, 
OAKLAND, Calif. -- 
NAPA, Calif. -- 
