Gregg Henson.com

ESPN’s Ryen Russillo and WEEI’s John Dennis Nearly Got in a Fight at the ESPN Super Bowl Party

What a couple of self important cheeseballs.

At ESPN’s Super Bowl party last night in Indianapolis, apparently Massachusetts boys Ryen Russillo (ESPN) and John Dennis (WEEI) nearly started the fight they should have had seven years ago.

The 2005 backstory: Allegedly, Russillo was at a party in Boston and is rumored to have hit on a female.This female was the daughter of John Dennis. Naturally, Dennis wasn’t too thrilled – it’s unknown what else Russillo may have said – but he ended up leaving Russillo an expletive-filled voicemail (listen here).

You can read more about the incidenthere and here.

According to someone who was at the ESPN party Friday night, the two ran into each other again, words were exchanged, and they nearly came to blows. You know these mouthy types from Boston – it was probably just a lot of talk. But Russillo apparently still wants a piece of the old man – he’s been tweeting at him this afternoon and would love to get in the ring with him “for charity.” Dennis is lobbing love notes right back. (H/T:  The Big Lead)

 

Are The Lions Really Super Bowl Contenders?

According to Chad Millman (no clue who he is) the Detroit Lions are now 10-1 odds to win the Super Bowl in 2012 in Indianapolis.  I'm not sure I am buying that kind of success just yet, but I think we will all be forced to reevaluate our attitudes about the Lions before the 2011 season is over.

There are many reason why I don't think the Lions are actual Super Bowl contenders just yet.  I think Stafford is still really young and will likely make some more mistakes as he grows into one of the NFL's elite QB's.  Yes, I do think he has the intangibles to blow past the Tony Romo's of the world in the pecking order, I doubt he will plateau as Romo has for Dallas.  The offensive line is also a concern, I understand that Pittsburgh made it to the final game last year with a patchwork line, but this current O-line isn't even mediocre.  Jeff Backus has seen his best days and Gosder Cherilus is a waste.  The O-line will be the Lions downfall this season.

Luckily the team is young enough that over the next few seasons they will be able to draft and add offensive lineman that can truly anchor this team and propel Detroit into an extend run of playoff appearances that end in..dare I say, multiple Super Bowl opportunities?

This team is different than past years, the Lions are finally built on a solid foundation.  Face it, the success of the 90's teams were build on the back of Barry Sanders.  They were never a solid teams, it was always Barry. 

The Lions are stocked with great young talent like they have never had before, Stafford, Best, Johnson, Suh and company form a crew that is finally, after so many years of trying....built to last!

 

Wade Phillips Show with Jagger and Henson

Don't forget to listen to the Wade Phillips Show every Wednesday Morning @ 8:15 with Jagger and Henson on 105.3 The Fan.  We'll have plenty to talk about this week as the Cowboys dropped to 1-6 and into last place in the NFC East.  Listen to it live at 105.3 The Fan!

 

 

20 football players attack fans in the stands!

http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/268240--not-investigating-football-donnybrook-police

 

John Sally's funny NBA stories.

John Salley is writing some pretty funny NBA stories on Deadspin.  Check 'em out, he's got some great tales from his days with the Detroit Pistons, including Dennis Rodman being a nark and how he bought that huge house in Palmer Woods in Detroit.

Sally's usually good for some great stories.  I've linked to a couple of them here! 

Sally on Dennis Rodman

Sally on the Palmer Woods mansion and the corrupting of Jalen Rose and Chris Webber

Sally on the Toronto Raptors and Isiah Thomas

 

In Case You Were Wondering, Albert Haynesworth Says he Is Not a Slave!

Breath easy Redskins fans, Albert Haynesworth says that he is not a $100 million dollar slave.

Hayensworth, talking with 106.7 The Fan in D.C. explained that he was upset with the teams switch to a 3-4 defense.

"I guess in this world we don't have a lot of people with, like, backbones," Haynesworth said. "Just because somebody pay you money don't mean they'll make you do whatever they want or whatever. I mean, does that mean everything is for sale?

"I mean, I'm not for sale. Yeah, I signed the contract and got paid a lot of money, but ... that don't mean I'm for sale or a slave or whatever."

Isn't it good to know that Albert is fighting the good fight for "millionaire slaves" everywhere?

Wade Phillips update on Prosportsblogging.com

This is the latest update!

UPDATE – 7pm EST – One of my original two sources on this story has stated that Jerry Jones wants a longterm solution for his HC and is really working the phones about getting this done.  Believe it or not, the name of Jimmy Johnson has been mentioned to me before but not until getting confirmation at dinner tonight.   I now believe Johnson could actually be among one of the three former head coaches that Jones seriously wants roaming the Dallas sidelines.  Who would you take – Johnson, Billick or Cowher?

I am as clueless as the next guy about this story but Kevin Lee from the web site prosportsblogging.com is all over this story.  It is so odd that it is hard to believe but we grilled this guy on the show today, he seems legit.  Here is the grilling.

Was MSU's play clock expired on game winning Field goal attempt?

Was MSU's play clock expired when it attempted a game winning field goal against Notre Dame on Saturday night?

The scree shot to the left appears to show the play clock at 00 before the snap, however, people in the stadium are adamant that the clock wasn't exactly synced with the actual clock at Spartan Stadium.

Either way the fake field goal was a ballsy call by MSU Head Coach Mark Dantonio and they deserved to win the game on large 'nards alone!

If you watch the video, you'll see that the Irish actually had the play covered but the linebacker fell down and the tight end got open.

Thrilling finish to a fun game, best to Mark Dantonio as he recovers from a heart attack after the game Sunday morning.

Here is a video of the fake FG.

 

Great new sports book.

While I was in Denver last week, I picked up a book called "Black 14."  It is the story of the University of Wyoming football team in the 60's and early 70's.

In 1969 a group of 14 black players on Wyoming's team asked Coach Lloyd Eaton if they could wear black arm bands in their game against BYU in protest of the policies of the Mormon church which didn't allow blacks to enter into the priesthood.

Eaton over-reacted and kicked all 14 players off the team immediately.  It ruined the program for years to come.

There are some fascinating things in this book.  I was never even aware that Wyoming was on the verge of becoming a national powerhouse in college football, I didn't know blacks couldn't be priests in the mormon church and I didn't have a clue about this story until I read the book.

Michigan native "Fritz" Shurmur was an Assistant Coach on the 1969 team and was hired a year later to clean up the mess left by the scandal.  Sadly his brilliance as a coach couldn't turn the tide as the black players who had previously embraced Wyoming decided not to play football there for many years after the incident.  They really didn't get back to winning until Paul Roach returned to Wyoming in 1987.

Funny too that there is a long list for Head Coaches who used Wyoming as a stepping stone to bigger and better jobs, Like Fred Akers who left after a year to coach at Texas, Pay Dye who stayed a year before taking the Auburn gig and Dennis Erickson who lasted one season before he went to Washington State.

The paperback is an easy read and it's a great story, if you are a college football fan you will love it.  I expect a Disney version soon.

If you'd like a copy of the book for free, I have posted mine on Paperbackswap.com.  If you sign up for free and offer a few of your own books to swap you can get my book shipped to you.

How the loss of WDFN is felt at Red Wing playoff time.

Last night following the ridiculous call made against the Wings that cost them a shot at overtime, I felt the loss of WDFN for the first time.

After the loss I wanted to hear local reaction to the call, I wanted to hear other Detroiters talking about the colossal screw job the Wings suffered on the Hossa goal with :64 seconds left in the game 3 loss to Anaheim.

So, like any good displaced sports fan would, I fired up the computer and went looking for local radio reaction, what I found was disheartening in this era of syndicated corporate radio.

I knew right away that the flagship station wasn't an option for honest discussion immediately following the game because they certainly aren't going to be overly critical and they had to get through the ridiculously long post game show of the same crap I'd just heard on Versus.  So I went to WDFN to see if they would have spent at least a couple of bucks on a local post game call-in show and got....NOTHING.  I got a syndicated radio show, J.T. the Brick harping on the Red Sox vs. Yankees.  This is where corporate ownership of the local radio stations screws the fans, there was no chance to have immediate conversation about the game.

Instead of waiting for the Red Wings post game show to finish on the flagship, I started searching the net for an LA station that would be discussing the game and again, I got syndicated radio crap.

5 years ago there would have been 3 or 4 stations running local post-game reaction shows for a team defending the Stanley Cup.  WDFN, WJR, WKRK and WXYT all would have had shows discussing the travesty at Anaheim, last night...not one.  This whole episode is exactly why the FCC needs to review radio ownershiprules, how can JT The Brick bitching about the yankees be in Detroit's local interest and not a Red Wing playoff hockey game?

Technology couldn't help me listen to live react on the Wing game, but it certainly kept me in touch today.  I recently got a blackberry and found a new application that allows me to listen to radio shows around the country on my phone.  The website is called www.moodio.fm and it allows you to register streams of radio stations you would like to listen to on your PDA and listen to them anytime, anywhere.  Cool application.