10/22/2008 - Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR docked Brian Vickers 150 driver points, suspended his crew chief Kevin Hamlin indefinitely and fined Hamlin $100,000 because their Red Bull Racing team dipped its sheet metal in acid, making it lighter than required.
Team owner Dietrich Mateschitz also was docked 150 owner points and car chief Craig Smokstad was also suspended indefinitely.
Vickers' No. 83 Toyota was randomly selected for a post-race inspection after his 11th-place finish at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday. The inspection, which took place on Tuesday in NASCAR's research and development center in Concord, North Carolina, discovered that the sheet metal was too thin.
The penalty drops Vickers from 15th in the standings, a career-best, to 17th. Depending on the length of the suspensions, Hamlin and Smokstad could also miss some races in early 2009. There are only four weeks left in the season.
"As a team we accept full responsibility for the infractions regarding the No. 83's Martinsville car and will not appeal NASCAR's ruling," Red Bull general manager and VP Jay Frye said. "This approach to racing is against the values of the Red Bull Racing Team, and the necessary steps will be taken to rectify the situation ensuring it does not happen again. It is a privilege to race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and we are taking this penalty seriously."
Frye added that Randy Cox, manager for Red Bull's research and development program, will replace Hamlin at this weekend's race in Atlanta.
<< Bailey brothers to miss significant time for Denver
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denver cornerback Champ Bailey and his brother,
linebacker Boss Bailey, will both miss a significant amount of time after
suffering injuries in Monday's 41-7 drubbing at New England.
Champ will miss four
<< Favre denies sharing information on Pack with Lions
Florham Park, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Jets quarterback Brett Favre said
he did not share information on his old team, the Green Bay Packers, with the
Detroit Lions.
This past Sunday, Fox Sports reported that Favre had a conversation
<< Mariners tab former Brewers exec Zduriencik for GM post
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners announced Wednesday that
they have named Jack Zduriencik executive vice president and general manager.
Zduriencik, 57, spent the past nine seasons working in the front office of the
Milwa
<< Kamara, Ricchetti hit with additional suspensions
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Major League Soccer Disciplinary Committee
on Wednesday fined and suspended Houston Dynamo forward Kei Kamara and FC
Dallas midfielder Pablo Ricchetti one game each and $250 for incidents in Week
30 of t
Lightning promote Lawton to GM >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning have promoted Brian
Lawton to the role of executive vice president and general manager, co-owners
Oren Koules and Len Barrie announced Wednesday.
"I appreciate Oren and Len for havi
Blake, Andreev reach Basel quarters >>
Basel, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fourth-seeded American James Blake
and sixth-seeded Russian Igor Andreev posted victories Wednesday at the $1.2
million Swiss Indoors Basel.
Blake fought his way past dangerous German Nicolas Ki
Patriots' Morris misses practice >>
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New England Patriots running back Sammy Morris
did not practice with the team on Wednesday.
The 31-year-old Morris injured his knee during New England's 41-7 victory over
the Denver Broncos last Sunday and
Rams RB Jackson misses practice with thigh injury >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson
missed practice on Wednesday with a thigh injury.
Rams interim head coach Jim Haslett on Monday termed the injury a strain, and
said he did not expect Jackso
The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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