With the 94th overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, the Indianapolis Colts take:
Freddie Keiaho, ILB, San Diego St
(HT: 5’11 / WT: 224 / 40: 4.65)
Analysis:
Category: Sports
sport: an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature. Posts in this category pertain to following and participating in various sports.
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2006 NFL Draft: Round 3 – Colts
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2006 NFL Draft: Round 2 – Colts
With the 62nd overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, the Indianapolis Colts take:
Tim Jennings, CB, Georgia
(HT: 5’8 / WT: 182 / 40: 4.33)Analysis:
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2006 NFL Draft: Round 1 – Colts
With the 30th overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, the Indianapolis Colts take:
Joseph Addai, RB, LSU
(HT: 5’11 / WT: 214 / 40: 4.4)
Analysis:
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My New Friday Night Stress Reliever
Can’t think of a better way to end the week for the next eight weeks: Co-Ed Sand Volleyball. Our low-rec team, Bananas, lost all six games we played last night; but I guarantee we had more fun than anyone else!
On that note, happy Daylight Savings Time-change night!
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Goodbye, Vandy; Hello… Vinatieri!
Well, if you’re going to let go of the most accurate place kicker in NFL history (and in a lot of ways, good riddance), might as well replace him with Mr. Clutch:
Among the first to welcome Adam Vinatieri to Indianapolis this week was Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. The significance of a thoughtful phone call was not lost on the kicker, introduced Thursday at Union Federal Football Center as the heir apparent to Mike Vanderjagt. Later Thursday, Vanderjagt signed with the Dallas Cowboys.
“Yeah, that’s a good start. It’s cool when you get star quarterbacks calling the lowly kickers,” said Vinatieri, who won three Super Bowl rings with New England but departed via free agency for the long-term security of a five-year, $10 million contract with the Colts.
I know, I’m a week late on this one… it’s been a long week!
In other Colts news, Mathis signed a one-year, $2MM RFA tender.
And finally, the Colts will continue a couple recent trends next season: playing on the road in New England, and opening the season on the road – though this year’s opener will be a prime-time face-off of the brothers Manning, as the Colts will be visiting the New York Giants.
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Arizona Now Has The Edge
According to the Official Arizona Cardinals web site, Edgerrin James, formerly of the Indianapolis Colts, has agreed to a 4-year contract:
The Arizona Cardinals Football Club has agreed to a 4-year contract with running back Edgerrin James. In accordance to team policy terms of the deal were not disclosed.
This deal is important for me for a couple reasons: one, obviously, as a Colts fan, I am disappointed to see one of the team’s best running backs (and a decent person all-around) leave, and two, living in Saint Louis, I’ll be very interested to see what this move does for the hometown team’s NFC West Division. Kurt Warner, with a good receiving corps and now one of the game’s best RBs – along with a good defense – could mean that a new sheriff could be coming to town in the West. We’ll see…
I’ve always been in the school of thought that the Colts’ offense is as balanced, diverse, and potent as it is because of the caliber of James’ play: running, receiving, and blocking; few RBs can do all three as well as Edge. But, I’m sure the Colts’ management knew this day was coming (as with the Faulk trade that brought James to Indy in the first place), and have a plan in mind to deal with it.
Some people are upset that James would leave Indy to go to a supposedly non-contender like Arizona, simply for the money; however, the owners view all aspects of football as a business, and why shouldn’t the players? In modern professional sports, we are long past the era of the true “franchise” players. Rare is the player – especially the super-star – who starts and ends his career with the same team (in any sport).
James has done nothing but produce on the football field for the Colts, and had done so quietly and without glory-hogging. For that, I will be eternally grateful and will always have great respect for Edge. He has always demonstrated that his desire is to provide for his family and to give back to his community, while maintaining his ability to enjoy his life after his football career is over. This contract is likely his last, and if going to Arizona will allow him to continue to pursue his goals, then I say: more power to him, and best of luck with Arizona.
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Almost A Magical Season
My high school alma mater almost had a magical season, but the Shelbyville boys basketball team fell to Bloomington South 46-45 in the title game of Class 4A Sectional 14.
Class 4A No. 5-ranked Shelbyville had several chances to find a way to win its first sectional championship since 2001 and keep its unbeaten streak alive, but in the end the Golden Bears were left doing the same thing they did last season — watching Bloomington South celebrate.
Bloomington South senior Cole Holmstrom stole the win in the final minutes then almost gave it back to the Golden Bears, but Sean Drake’s 12-foot jumper from the wing rattled off the rim and into Ben Chappell’s hands. Chappell fired a pass to Holmstrom, who raced up court and ran out the final seconds on the clock to preserve a 46-45 win.
They finished the season 23-1.
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The Colts’ New Home: Lucas Oil Stadium?
Several Indiana news outlets, including the Indy Star, are reporting that Lucas Oil Products will have naming rights to the Colts’ new stadium, expected to be completed in 2008:
The naming rights for the new Colts stadium are expected to be awarded to Lucas Oil Products, a California-based company started by a small-town Indiana trucker, according to people with knowledge of the negotiations who requested anonymity.
And as for how they’ll use those naming rights?
The domain names www.lucasoilstadium.com and www.lucasstadium.com were registered Monday with the Internet company Network Solutions.
I can see the nicknames already:
The Oil Field
The Petroledome (well, I’m leaning toward this one, anyway)
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Tennis Update
Lost my tennis match this afternoon, 7-5, 7-5. Might have something to do with my right quad not loosening up at all until the second set. Or, it might have something to do with playing with a different partner every match this year. Oh well, the team still won, 4-1.
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One Of The Reasons I’m a Fan
The Colts moved to Indianapolis when I was seven years old. (Ironically enough, before then, I was a Steelers fan – insofar as a toddler can be a “fan” of anything; but I do remember my Steelers pajamas.) While I followed my new hometown team since their arrival, my footbal fanatacism began in earnest in high school, and gained prominence when my interest in baseball waned after the mid-90s strike. I discovered true passion for the team because of the players: Biscuit, Goose, Captain Comeback of the mid-90s era, to the players today. I appreciate that the team – whether be design or coincidence – seems to emulate the midwestern values of its host city: hard work, humility, faith. When Tony Dungy was hired as head coach, I couldn’t have imagined a better choice. He is a great coach, but he is an even greater man. A good coach sets the tone for the team, and this Colts team is truly a family:
Every year, we hear about teams whose bonds have been forged through the fires of adversity — adversity meaning a three-game losing streak. The members of this organization, though, have come together through the most personal and distressing of all circumstances.
The Colts are not just the best team in the league and the prohibitive favorite to win Super Bowl XL. They are also the most united, the most resolute team, and they have been all season.
Anyone who follows this team knows that such sentiment is more than just flattery. And I’ll say without hesitation that the team unity has much to do with the faith of it’s coach – it’s leader and symbolic father: the same faith shared by many of the players:
The Colts’ Johnson, 45, leads a weekly Bible study for coaches and another for players. With his wife, Della, he hosts Bible studies for players and their wives and offers marriage counseling.
He delivers a short sermon and sometimes sings at the 30-minute worship services over which he is primarily responsible on the eve of most games.
Not that I would try to put anyone up on a pedestal, but is good to be able to follow and root for men like these. It makes the success that much sweeter. In the words of Bob Kravitz:
A Super Bowl won’t bring James back, won’t be a salve on a wound that will last forever. But for a group that has cried together, the chance to celebrate together, to chase away one man’s grief for a couple of hours, would be very sweet, indeed.