Adalius Thomas Done For The Year

This shouldn’t come as surprise to anyone, after Thomas broke his arm against the New York Jets a few weeks ago, the Patriots have now placed him on injured reserve. They didn’t immediately put Thomas on the injured reserve list because they had hopes that he might be able to comeback this season. This is a crushing loss to the Patriots, as Thomas was perhaps their best defensive player, who really came along this year after being moved back to his more natural outside position. More from Boston.com:

The Patriots have placed LB Adalius Thomas (forearm) on season-ending injured reserve this morning.

With the roster spot, the Patriots finalized the expected signing of LB Junior Seau.

Junior Seau Set To Sign

From Boston.com:

After getting a call from Belichick and vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli Wednesday night, Seau was here yesterday meeting with the team and on the verge of returning for a third season with the Patriots and a 19th in the NFL.

Seau’s agent, Marvin Demoff, said early last night that Seau, whose flight landed at 3:45 p.m., could be signed by today, barring complications. The Patriots would have to clear a spot on their 53-man roster to make room for Seau.

“If Junior is there and nothing is different from what they thought [Wednesday] night, I would suspect they’d do a contract, and he’d be a Patriot [today],” said Demoff. “But I don’t think there were any promises made to Junior or by Junior to them before he got on the plane.”

Seau had surgery to repair a torn left rotator cuff in February, shortly after the Patriots’ 18-1 season ended with a loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII, but Demoff said the shoulder, which prevented Seau from being ready for training camp, is no longer an issue.

Today Is D-Day For The Juice

Today, at noon time, O.J. Simpson will be sentenced for the robbery that he helped commit at a hotel room in Las Vegas. The Juice wanted to get back some of his old sports memorabilia, which he claims was stolen from him. And now today, Simpson will receive a mandatory sentence of at least 16 years for the crimes he helped to commit. Which in some people’s eyes is retribution from his murder trial that was over 10 years ago. From the looks of things, Simpson will spend the rest of his natural-born life in a jail cell. More from the Chicago Tribune:

Simpson, 61, faces a possible sentence of life in prison after his conviction Oct. 3 of kidnapping and armed robbery, among other charges. The Heisman Trophy winner and NFL Hall of Fame running back is being held at the Clark County Detention Center.

According to court papers filed this week, state parole authorities recommended that Judge Jackie Glass, who once chastised Simpson as “arrogant or ignorant or both,” sentence him to at least 18 years in prison. Thomas Pitaro, a defense attorney who teaches at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas law school said judges here tend to closely follow such advice.

Defense attorneys argued that although Simpson showed poor judgment on Sept. 13, 2007—when he and five cohorts carried out $100,000 in footballs, baseballs and lithographs—he was merely trying to recover stolen belongings.

Still, defense attorneys said, Simpson’s actions were not those “of a hardened criminal mind.” They asked Glass for the minimum sentence of 6 years.

Junior Seau Back To New England ?

From Mike Reiss:

Veteran linebacker Junior Seau is en route to New England for a visit with the Patriots, who are considering re-signing him.

Seau’s visit was first reported by Jim Trotter of Sports Illustrated and has been independently confirmed.

Seau, who played for the Patriots in 2006 and 2007, has been out of football this season. In a gathering with New England media members at his San Diego restaurant in October, Seau said he would consider playing again, but only with the Patriots.

“The only reason why I would come back is to finish what we didn’t finish last year,” he said at the time. “That’s the only purpose. There is no other reason for me to come back. With the guys in that locker room, and obviously the organization, there is such a great tie. I have a place in my heart for them forever. I wouldn’t want to fight for anyone else but [Robert] Kraft and [Bill] Belichick.”

The Patriots are thin at linebacker, and re-signed veteran Rosevelt Colvin on Wednesday. Colvin plays outside linebacker in the 3-4 alignment, a position hit by injuries to Adalius Thomas (forearm), Pierre Woods (jaw) and Vince Redd (ankle).

Seau plays inside linebacker, and the Patriots have veteran Tedy Bruschi and rookies Jerod Mayo and Gary Guyton at that spot.

Bruschi has been battling a knee injury of late. Prior to Sunday’s 33-10 loss to the Steelers, Bruschi was worked out by members of the team’s medical and training staff on the field, which appeared to be an indication that his knee injury was serious enough to potentially keep him out of action.

“Do You Think Girls Should Be Allowed To Play In The NFL?”

It appears that Seattle Seahawks quarterback, Matt Hasselbeck still holds a grudge over Ben Roethlisberger from Super Bowl XL, because when doing his part in the NFL’s 60 program this week, Hasselbeck was asked a question by a young girl, reports King5.com. The young girl asked Hasselbeck, “Do you think girls should be allowed to play in the NFL?” and Hasselbeck had quite the response for you Steeler fans :

“Girls can play in the NFL. Ben Roethlisberger plays for the Steelers, right ?” Hasselbeck said, in a playful flashback to Seattle’s Super Bowl loss three seasons ago

“Joking. Totally joking. That was a joke,” Hasselbeck said, chuckling.

Beware Of Trojans Around Your Girlfriend

So, not only will the USC Trojans disobey NCAA restrictions by wearing their home red jerseys this Saturday when they take on UCLA, but they will also steal your girlfriend. Or so, Lendale White says. On a radio interview when White was questioned what he would do if his son went to UCLA, instead of his alma mater USC, White said:

“I probably would ground him until he realized that that’s the worst grief you would ever imagine. You know, powder blue. I guess enough said. Their powder blue uniforms and that ugly mustard color.

“UCLA [stinks]. It’s the worst school you could ever go to if you were a football player. … You got to make your choice. If you want to get dominated by your crosstown rival, where they can come on your campus and take your girlfriends and stuff, then you make that decision.”

USC, where amazing happens

Somebody Made A Movie About Ryan Leaf

I know the anticipation to view this 82-minute film about Ryan Leaf must rival that of Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Lord of The Rings. But, one thing the Leaffilm has over all the rest is its FREE!!! Which must of come as a shock to everyone. Surprisingly, the San Diego Chargers are not trying to recoup any of the $11.25 Million dollar bonus they gave to Leaf. SignonSanDiego.com, reports that director and likely Oscar candidate Tim Carr did this film because “For me, it is (redemptive). Here’s a guy who kind of tried to make it right, but just could never get it right. But I want to leave it up to the fans”. No word yet if they will include Leaf’s coaching career at West Texas A&M were he asked players for pain killers. More from SignonSanDiego:

“Leaf,” an 82-minute film written and directed by its star, Tim Carr, will screen for the first time on the West Coast at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow at the San Diego Library, 820 E Street. And it won’t cost you a nickel.

“I insisted it be free for all the Chargers fans because it’s their story,” Carr said. “I was like, ‘Chargers fans have been through enough – let them have this.’ ”

“I put myself in the San Diego fans’ spot so many times because I’m a huge sports fan and I love my team like San Diego loves their team,” Carr, a diehard Philadelphia Eagles fan, said by phone from his home in Delaware.

“I think when they see it, they might get on me for maybe taking it easy on him, although I assure you I didn’t – we throw everything in – but the way we kind of left it was so people can kind of make their mind up: Maybe he redeemed himself; maybe he moved beyond this.

Rosevelt Colvin Is A Patriot Once Again

From Boston.com:

Linebacker Rosevelt Colvin inked a one-year contract with the Patriots this morning, according to a league source.

Colvin, who played for the Patriots from 2003-2007, has been out of football this season after being cut by the Houston Texans at the end of training camp. He addresses a need at outside linebacker, where the Patriots have been without Adalius Thomas (forearm) and also had Pierre Woods leave Sunday’s loss to the Steelers in the third quarter with a mouth injury.

Mike Vrabel and Woods have been starting at outside linebacker in the 3-4 alignment in recent weeks. The top backups are rookies Gary Guyton and Vince Redd.

The Patriots had an open roster spot after placing cornerback Jason Webster on injured reserve Tuesday, and thus did not have to make a move to create room for Colvin.

The Patriots have also contacted veteran linebacker Victor Hobson in recent days, according to a league source. Hobson was with the Patriots in training camp, and like Colvin, has not played this season.

Sorry, I will be out the remander of the day.

Could Jim Mora Spur The Seahawks For The Huskies ?

According to The News Tribune, rumors are swirling that Jim Mora Jr. the next head coach of the Seattle Seahawks may turn down that offer and become the head coach at the University of Washington. That would be going from dating Nikki Cox to Nikki Blonsky. When he was the head coach with the Atlanta Falcons there were also rumors that Mora could bolt for that job. Mora has been it abundantly that someday he would love to be the coach of the Washington Huskies, but is that time now ? He could possibly command a higher salary coaching at the University of Washington, that with the Seahawks, because he does have some bargaining position. And, the Seahawks are years away from being good again. There are rumors that they may cut Matt Hasselbeck at year’s end. More from The News Tribune:

I don’t know if this is like the game of telephone, where something is passed on from one person to the next, the context of the message gets changed and the misinformation picks up steam; or whether there is legitimacy to any of it, but the Jim Mora-to-Washington rumors simply will not die.

I was just taking a look at Bob Condotta’s blog over at the Times, and he posted an item that says Mora’s Wikipedia entry was briefly updated — then changed — saying Mora would be announced as UW’s coach on Dec. 3. It is an eight-year deal, the item said, before being taken off the site. Here is a link to Bob’s post.

I myself have gotten a flurry of emails informing me that Mora would be announced in the next 24 hours; that Paul Allen and Scott Woodward have sat down to discuss the issue; that Mora is definitely going to be the Huskies’ next coach and it will be announced any moment. There has been no indication from Renton that anything has changed from Mora’s initial — and only — statement on the topic, saying he is not a candidate for the position. Yet the rumors will continue in earnest until UW hires a head coach — whether that is Mora or somebody else.

Is That Craig Stadler Posing As Romeo Crennel

Thanks to Busted Coverage