Monday's Headlines...

The New England Patriots and Tom Brady have agreed to a new 3-year, $27 million contract that will keep Brady in a Patriot uniform through the 2017 season.

The new Coaches and AP polls have been released in college basketball, with Indiana holding firm in the #1 position.  Gonzaga moved up to the #2 spot after Miami fell to Wake Forest over the weekend.  Duke, Michigan and Miami round out the top 5 of the AP poll, with Kansas taking the #5 spot in the Coaches poll.

The 49ers are reportedly in trade talks regarding former starting quarterback Alex Smith.  There are no deals on the table as of yet, but the 49ers are confident they can trade Smith to a franchise like the Kansas City Chiefs or the Arizona Cardinals.

Manti Te'o completed his workouts at the NFL Combine today, including a rather slow 40-time of 4.82 seconds.  Projections still have Te'o as a first round selection, but it appears to no longer be a guarantee for the former Notre Dame standout linebacker.

2/21/13 Links...

Two #1 seeds fell on the opening day of the Accenture Match Play Championship: Tiger and Rory...

Want to watch your favorite Super Bowl Commercials again? Here is your chance...

In a world of bankrupt athletes, here is a great story about St. Louis Rams rookie RB Terrance Ganaway and his minimum wage offseason job.  Ganaway hopes to "stay out of trouble," and "save some money" in the offseason (Smart man!)...

And in case you were wondering, yes you can take a lightsaber combat class in San Francisco...

Memorable Valentine's Days in Sports

Once again St. Valentine's Day has arrived to the chagrin of men worldwide. But not to worry, while your significant other fumes over your Valentine's Day fail, enjoy these top moments in Valentine's Day sports history:

1960- Jim Kelly- On this day in 1960 Jim Kelly was born, and eventually led the Buffalo Bills to 4 consecutive Super Bowl appearances, and was later inducted into the Hall of Fame.

1966- Wilt Chamberlain- On this day in 1966 Wilt Chamberlain made history as he passed Bob Pettit for most all-time points scored.  "The Stilt" reached the mark of 20,884 points that day, although in recent years his record has fallen to other NBA stars, such as Michael Jordan and Karl Malone.

1971- Gheorghe Muresan- On this day in 1971 in the Romanian countryside, one of the tallest basketball players ever at 7'7" was born.  He began his 8 year career with the Washington Bullets in 1993, and later played for the New Jersey Nets.  Muresan averaged 9.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks for his career.

1988- Bobby Allison- On this day in 1988 50 year old Bobby Allison became the oldest driver to win the Daytona 500.

2010- NBA All Star Game- On this day in 2010 the NBA held the largest indoor sporting event in history as 108,713 fans attended the All Star Game.  The East held off the West 141-139, and Dwayne Wade was named MVP in this historic game.

NFL Considering Radical Change

The NFL is reportedly looking into widening the playing field to Canadian Football League (CFL) dimensions.  The National Football Post reported that the league has had talks about increasing the width of the field from 160 feet to 195 feet, and may look at the idea again this offseason.

“I’m not so sure we shouldn’t think about widening the field,” former competition committee member Bill Polian told the National Football Post. “It’s a radical idea, but I think it’s worth thinking about. You would have more space and perhaps a safer game. I say that based on my CFL experience. There are less collisions of that type in the Canadian game.”


Concerns over the prevalence of injuries and hard collisions have led to the discussion, as the NFL looks to make the game as safe as possible, while not decreasing the toughness essential to football.  Although the National Football Post argues that a larger field would allow players to gain more speed, thus leading to even more violent collisions.  Additionally, players like quarterbacks who duck out of bounds to escape large hits, would have an even more difficult time reaching the sidelines.
Widening the field could potentially also lead to more of a spread offense type-game, as quarterbacks could throw the ball much more easily to speedy targets across the field.

Logistical issues must be taken into account however before any change is made, as most new NFL stadiums have been built to house a 160-foot wide field.  A larger field may not fit in certain stadiums, or sidelines would be precariously close to walls and infrastructure. Changing the size of the field would be a drastic change to the NFL game, and most likely would not occur anytime soon.  The NFL has made known over the years though, that they are taking player safety very seriously, and will make the necessary policies to achieve a safer game.

NFL field dimensions

CFL field dimensions

The First Post! 2/7/13 Links...

Today marks the first edition of our "Links..." series which will feature links from around the web to interesting, unique, crazy, and more sports stories.  Today's edition includes:

Ever wonder how much NFL teams travel, or who travels the most? Here is your answer...

49ers star QB Colin Kaepernick has spent his early off-season "enhancing" his image...

And finally, a truly inspiring story as a one-handed high school football player signs a national letter of intent...