Author Archive
May 20th, 2012 | 
Author: 
Jim Harbaugh is arguably among the top five coaches in the NFL.
His transformative work with the San Francisco 49ers last season was no fluke. Harbaugh is inventive, a master motivator and just a little bit obsessed with scattering the competition.
Breer: West Coast worries
San Francisco was the feel-good story of 2011, while Seattle showed promise. But Albert Breer says both face QB questions. More …He’s also underpaid.
We have a few issues with Forbes’ list of the highest-paid coaches in sports for 2012, and here’s one of them: Harbaugh is the lowest-paid coach in the NFC West.
St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher ($7 million), Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll ($7 million) and the Arizona Cardinals‘ Ken Whisenhunt ($5.8 million) all top Harbaugh, who signed a five-year, $25 million contract in 2011, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
(Let’s be real: None of these men recall the inviting/despairing smell of Ramen noodles wafting from the next room.)
Harbaugh won’t lose sleep over greenbacks. The man drives a ramshackle blue pickup; owns a limited, modest wardrobe; and doesn’t talk about his earnings. As you read this, he is tucked away in a dark room, with last season’s NFC Championship Game on loop, searching for answers. Let the rest of the division prance about town with their fat wallets and steak dinners. Harbaugh is burning the midnight oil, probably irritated with somebody, drawing plays on napkins, late for a meal: Totally unsatisfied with what happened last season.
Posted in 
Scanning through a few items from Jim Harbaugh’s interview with KNBR-AM in San Francisco this week:
• The 49ers coach has repeatedly praised Randy Moss for his speed and production on the field during practice, but we know Harbaugh prizes intelligent players, and this is where the 35-year-old wideout is scoring points: “In the classroom, he sits in the front row, he soaks up the knowledge and also gives the feedback, too,” Harbaugh said. “He’s a coach. He’s like a coach. You know, like the way Alex Smith is now becoming. I mean Alex knows as much as anybody, as much as any of our offensive coaches do at this point. And Randy has picked it up so fast because he’s seen so much football.”
• Harbaugh squeezed every drop out of his roster last season, forging San Francisco’s offense into a battering, run-first attack. The team has used this offseason to stock up on pass-catchers by acquiring Moss, former New York Giants wideout Mario Manningham and rookie A.J. Jenkins. Smith also will throw to Michael Crabtree, a sometimes puzzling performer who earned high praise from his coach on Friday.
• We all recall the mildly hurt feelings when Harbaugh and Co. snuck into the Peyton Manning derby. That’s yesterday. Smith and his coach are in a good place here in May and Harbaugh is again the young man’s champion: “Just to watch him mature physically in front of our eyes, even though he’s 28 years old,” Harbaugh said. “I think if you look at some of the pictures of him when he first came into the league as a young, skinny 20-year-old, and watch him develop and watch him — maybe call it a late-bloomer physically, but he’s really a man now. A real strong man.”
Many in South Florida are excited at the prospect that No. 8 overall pick Ryan Tannehill could grab the Miami Dolphins starting quarterback position, but 2011 Dolphins MVP Matt Moore has other ideas.
Harrison: Quarterback battles
Elliot Harrison analyzes six hotly contested quarterback competitions for 2012, plus a bonus “battle” on Broadway. More …“When I hear it over and over 100 times it gets a little annoying,” Moore told the Palm Beach Post. “I just try to win ballgames and do my best. They’ll talk about me when they need to talk about me.”
Moore led the Dolphins to a 6-3 record after taking over in Week 5 when Chad Henne suffered a season-ending separated left shoulder.
The Dolphins brought in more veteran competition for Moore when they signed veteran David Garrard in the offseason before the draft.
Garrard recently said that Tannehill has been able to pick up the Dolphins new offense faster than the veterans because Miami’s new offensive coordinator Mike Sherman was his coach at Texas A&M.
Moore is entering the final year of his contract and hopes to establish himself as a starter before potentially entering free agency at the end of the season.
“It’s an important year personally,” Moore said. “And if (that future) is here, that would be great. Obviously I want my career to continue, and I’m just very excited. It is a crucial year. Guys always have years like this in their careers. I’ve had years that are important, but this is a big one.”
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross played down expectations for instant results from rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill, saying the team won’t rush the eighth-overall pick in April’s draft, according to The Palm Beach Post.
“The important thing is not to have great expectations up front, and bring him along,” Ross said on the sidelines during a team charity event Friday. “See how it works for him. He certainly has the talent, and you don’t want to get a guy down early. We’ve seen that before.”
Tannehill is seen as a boom-or-bust type of prospect with outstanding athleticism but has limited game experience at quarterback, playing the position for less than two seasons at Texas A&M.
“We drafted Tannehill because we thought he’d be a great franchise quarterback. He has all the intangibles, (he’s) a great athlete,” Ross said.
Ross’ comments come after current Dolphins have raved about the quarterback’s acumen and maturity. Tannehill will also be running coordinator Mike Sherman’s offense, which is very similar to the one he ran under Sherman in college.
Tannehill will compete for the starting spot against veterans Matt Moore and David Garrard.
“Obviously there’s a big competition for the quarterback slot,” the owner added. “We’re not going to rush him into it, that’s for sure.”
New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora fell short of the half-million Twitter followers he said he needed in order to buy the Super Bowl ring of Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor.
Rap Sheet: Tainted glory
Ian Rapoport explains why, in his opinion, the news that Lawrence Taylor’s Super Bowl ring is up for sale sullies the status of the sport’s holy grail. More …The ring is being auctioned off by Taylor’s son, and Umenyiora said he would buy it and give it back if he got 1 million followers on Twitter by the end of the auction (10 p.m. ET) Saturday. Umenyiora later revised that figure down to 500,000.
Although the defender came up well short — he had short of 55,000 followers by the deadline — it did net him some 35,000 new followers, according to the New York Daily News.
Umenyiora has been silent on the micro-blogging site since around 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
Published: 19 May 2012 – 17:31:24
Last-gasp Vaz Te seals Hammers triumph.
Ricardo Vaz Te’s late strike fired West Ham back to the Barclays Premier League after a dramatic 2-1 play-off final win against Blackpool at Wembley.
The Portuguese winger, a bargain £500,000 January signing from Barnsley, earned the Hammers an estimated £90million windfall with the goal which sank the Seasiders.
Boss Sam Allardyce vowed to take the club back to what he calls the Promised Land at the first attempt following last season’s relegation, and he was as good as his word as his side saw off Ian Holloway’s play-off specialists.
Carlton Cole had given them the lead in the first half, but Thomas Ince showed he has inherited his dad Paul’s uncanny knack of irritating West Ham’s fans when he equalised just after the break.
However, after an end-to-end second half it was Blackpool, who were unbeaten in their previous 11 play-off matches, who cracked as Vaz Te rifled in the winner four minutes from time.
They may have been short-priced favourites having put eight goals past Blackpool in their league meetings this season, but West Ham looked extremely twitchy in the opening stages.
After just three minutes Matt Taylor’s attempt to chest the ball back to Robert Green fell short and Stephen Dobbie sneaked in behind the left-back.
Fortunately for Taylor, the angle was tight and Dobbie’s shot was kept out by a combination of Green and the near post.
Matt Phillips then twice squandered glorious opportunities to put the Seasiders ahead.
The winger latched onto a ball over the top only to shoot weakly at Green, and passed up an even better chance moments later when Guy Demel slipped, allowing him time to curl a shot narrowly wide.
West Ham eventually settled into the game and a slick move between Cole, Gary O’Neil and Vaz Te ended with the latter hitting the side-netting.
Cole then headed O’Neil’s cross over before Jack Collison curled a shot just too high.
And the goal West Ham had been threatening arrived in the 33rd minute when Taylor robbed Ince and charged down the left before sending a cross towards Cole.
The striker took the ball in his stride, held off the challenge of Seasiders defender Ian Evatt and swept the ball past Matt Gilks and into the net.
Vaz Te could have doubled the lead before half-time but he dragged his shot wide.
Instead, two minutes after the restart Blackpool hit the Hammers with a sucker-punch.
Cole gave the ball away near the halfway line and Matt Phillips raced forward before swinging in a diagonal cross over the heads of the West Ham defence and right to the feet of Ince.
The winger, whose every touch was jeered by the Hammers fans who never forgave Ince senior for the manner in which he left the club some 23 years ago, still had plenty to do.
But he found a superb finish his dad would have been proud of, firing the ball across Green and inside the far post.
With West Ham reeling, Blackpool almost went ahead moments later when Kevin Phillips played in Alex Baptiste, who dinked the ball over Green only for Taylor to clear the danger on the line.
Back came West Ham and Collison poked Taylor’s low cross wide before Gilks made a fine save low down to deny Cole, while at the other end Dobbie missed his kick in front of goal and also forced a fingertip save from Green.
The Hammers were inches away from taking the lead again when substitute George McCartney overlapped down the left and crossed for Nolan, whose first-time volley was tipped on to the crossbar by Gilks.
But the winner arrived four minutes from time in the most dramatic of fashion.
Nolan crossed from the left and Cole’s attempt was blocked by Gilks, but the ball fell kindly for Vaz Te, who crashed it over the grounded Gilks and into the roof of the net.
end
Related Blackpool News
Published: 19 May 2012 – 18:17:06
Ricardo Vaz Te admitted feeling “blessed” after his late strike sealed West Ham’s promotion to the Barclays Premier League as they beat Blackpool 2-1 in the npower Championship play-off final at Wembley.
The game looked to be heading towards injury time after Blackpool’s Thomas Ince cancelled out Carlton Cole’s opener for West Ham early in the second half, but Vaz Te fired Sam Allardyce’s side into the lead in the 87th minute to seal a dramatic win.
Vaz Te told Sky Sports 1: “It’s a great effort form the lads. Its not about the goal, we showed great character. I think we deserved it. We’re a Premier League side and we deserved to go up. It’s terrific really. I feel like I have been blessed with a second chance in my career and it’s great to be here.”
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce said: “Blackpool were easily as good as us today but it is about taking your chances and no more so that today. We managed to swing it just at the death. It’s 49 games and it’s the first one we’ve won in the last few minutes this season. I’m sure (owners) David Sullivan and David Gold will be very happy.
“It was a magnificent game, end to end and in the end we got one more goal than Blackpool. It’s everything to me. It was difficult at the start to turn the club around with the relegation problem we’ve had but we turned it round and came good at the end.
“I’ll look forward to the celebrations first before I start worrying about the Premier League next year. We’re just delighted about how much it means at West Ham for the players, the owners, the staff and the 30 or 40,000 fans here.”
Blackpool manager Ian Holloway was left to rue missed chances. Stephen Dobbie’s shot was kept out by a combination of West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green and the near post before Matt Phillips twice squandered glorious opportunities to put the Seasiders ahead.
“It looked as though there was a foul but at the end of the day they’ve scored on 88 minutes,” Holloway said. “Sometimes in life it goes against you and it did that time but you have to congratulate your opponents.
“I thought my lot gave a great account of themselves today, we created more than enough chances to win the game. We lost Fletch (Gary Taylor-Fletcher) as well, he might have fancied sticking one of them away.”
He said: “We’ve got to get over playing in the Championship again because we were all hoping we would be in the top flight. They’ve just lost a great big bonus and I feel for them because they deserve more. We’ve got to get on and bounce ourselves straight back, it’s about building now.”
Related West Ham United News
- Republic of Ireland News
- Fixtures
- Results
- News Archive
- Information
- League Table
- Statistics
- Squad
- World Cup Euro Qual Gp 8 News
Published: 19 May 2012 – 18:47:07
Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane is on course to feature at Euro 2012 after scans revealed his hamstring injury is only minor.
A recent report in Ireland claimed the 31-year-old striker might not be able to train with Giovanni Trapattoni’s squad in Malahide this week after suffering a hamstring problem.
But a scan has revealed there is no tear and it is hoped LA Galaxy star Keane, who is his country’s record scorer with 53 goals, will join his team-mates before the squad heads off for a training camp in Italy next weekend.
A Football Association of Ireland spokesman said: “Robbie Keane’s scan result came through today and showed all clear with no sign of any tear or blood.
“He will be assessed when he comes in and should be fine.”
Former Tottenham and Liverpool forward Keane, who scored seven times in Ireland’s qualification campaign, is key to this country’s hopes of advancing from a tough Euro 2012 group that includes Spain, Italy and Croatia.
Related Republic of Ireland News
Published: 19 May 2012 – 22:46:56
Didier Drogba was the hero as Chelsea shattered Bayern Munich’s Champions League dream here on Saturday with victory in a nail-biting penalty shoot-out at the Allianz Arena.
Drogba stepped up to rifle home the winning penalty for Chelsea after earlier saving his side with an equalising goal two minutes from time to cancel out what looked like a winner from Thomas Mueller as the match finished at 1-1.
It was an agonising defeat for Bayern, who saw midfield maestro Bastian Schweinsteiger miss with their final kick to give Drogba the opportunity to score the penalty to clinch the shoot-out 4-3.
Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech also saved brilliantly from Ivica Ovic to get Chelsea back into the shoot-out after Juan Mata had missed the Premier League side’s opening effort.
Drogba’s winning spot-kick was a fairytale ending for the 34-year-old Ivorian striker, who had been sent off in the final minutes of Chelsea’s Champions League final defeat in Moscow four years ago.
But the loss left Bayern shattered as their dream of lifting their fifth European title before their own fans at their home ground ended in agony.
A match Bayern had dominated went to penalties after a frenetic finish to normal time, with Mueller heading Bayern into the lead seven minutes from time only for Drogba to equalise for Chelsea in the 88th minute.
A dramatic start to extra-time then saw Bayern’s former Chelsea winger Arjen Robben miss a penalty — saved by Cech — after Drogba had needlessly brought down Franck Ribery in the area.
For much of the match a Bayern victory had looked the likeliest outcome, with the Bundesliga giants revelling in the raucous support of their home fans.
They suffered an early setback when Schweinsteiger was booked for a nervy handball after only two minutes, but thereafter they enjoyed a virtual monopoly of possession.
Schweinsteiger was the first to set alarms off in the Chelsea back four, having his shot deflected behind by Gary Cahill after only three minutes.
Toni Kroos was next, his low shot drifting just wide of Cech’s upright.
Chelsea coach Roberto Di Matteo had sprung a surprise by handing a first Champions League start to youngster Ryan Bertrand in an effort to cut off the supply lines to Arjen Robben down the right flank.
However the wily Dutchman found space with ease in the eighth minute, cutting in from the flank and curling a shot over the bar.
The former Chelsea winger produced the best chance of the half on 21 minutes, teasing the ball past Jose Bosingwa to dart into the area. Robben’s shot was low and hard, but Cech stuck out a leg and the ball cannoned to safety.
The closing stages of the half saw Bayern up the tempo and they carved out a string of openings that they could well have scored from.
On 36 minutes Ribery and Diego Contento combined down the left to send Contento racing away. The left-back whipped in an inviting cross but Mueller could only slash his first-time volley wide of the post.
Chelsea, largely anonymous in attack until that point, then forced Neuer into his first save of the match.
A sweeping counter-attack saw captain Frank Lampard lay off to Salomon Kalou whose thumping low drive was gathered at the near post by the Bayern keeper.
Bayern’s pressure should have earned a reward but Mario Gomez squandered two promising openings shortly before half-time, slicing from close range on 39 minutes and then blazing over from just inside the area after losing Cahill.
The second half followed largely the same pattern as the first, with Bayern having a goal disallowed for offside by Ribery on 54 minutes.
The Germans were thwarted by some dogged Chelsea defending, with Cole saving the Londoners with a series of telling interventions.
It looked all over for Chelsea when Mueller headed in to put Bayern 1-0 seven minutes from time. But Drogba had other ideas to set up the extra-time finale.
However Chelsea looked to have squandered parity in the fourth minute of extra-time, when Drogba needlessly clipped Ribery to concede the softest of penalties from referee Pedro Proenca.
Once again though Chelse’sa refusal to yield came to their rescue, Cech diving low to his left to thwart Robben’s spot-kick with his legs as the tension rose to excruciating levels.
Substitute Olic almost won it for Bayern in the 108th minute, but his shot flashed across goal as the game went to penalties.
Related Chelsea News
- Chelsea News
- Fixtures
- Results
- News Archive
- Information
- League Table
- Statistics
- Squad
- Premier League News
- Forum
Published: 19 May 2012 – 22:46:56
Chelsea have won the Champions League for the first time in their history as Didier Drogba scored the decisive penalty in a 4-3 shoot-out victory over Bayern Munich.
Drogba dragged Chelsea back into the game with a late equaliser after Thomas Muller had given Bayern a deserved lead eight minutes from time.
Petr Cech then saved Arjen Robben’s penalty in extra time to ensure the trophy would be decided by spot-kicks. And Chelsea erased the memory of their failure in Moscow five seasons ago by creating history.
Related Chelsea News
