The deal is done. Ricky Williams begins to practice with the Toronto Argonauts today.
Should be interesting to see how he does up here.
Call me disappointed, as I took my kids to Argo practice yesterday. They held a practice on the road in Oshawa, which was sponsered by my sons minor football league. We were hoping Ricky would be there, but was busy signing the deal I guess. It also meant that Coach Pinball Clemons left the practice early and wasn't there for the autograph signing, which disappointed a lot of those in attendance...
Anyways, it was fun and I look forward to attending games and seeing what Ricky can do...
(edited by haz on 29.5.06 0812) Where the wild are strong, and the strong are the darkest ones, you're the Darkest One.
Well, Ricky the Argonaut has sold at least two more tickets to the Argos/Stampeders match on the 23rd of September. I don't really follow American or Canadian football much, but this is a big deal.
Aren't the Argos more of an air team than a ground team, though?
I'm sure there will be no shortage of jokes when the Argos head west to play the British Columbia Lions.
Truth be told, the entire CFL is more passing-oriented than running. It will be interesting to see Ricky in that sort of offense. He will certainly need to work on his pass-catching...
After watching the Argos practice without him yesterday, I am sure there are a few RB's that are disappointed. The Argos had the following praticing...
John Avery (also a Dolphin in the past) - was the projected starter...
Jeff Johnson (Canadian product from York U, who played really well last year when Avery was hurt...) - He looked really good yesterday
Saladin McCullogh - looked good yesterday
John Williams - was catching all kinds of balls out of the backfield yesterday
Bryan Crawford - (Canadian from Queens U) - he looked fantastic yesterday
Unfortunate for them, they won't all make it now.
Where the wild are strong, and the strong are the darkest ones, you're the Darkest One.
In other news, Joe Theisman (sports.espn.go.com) is an asshole:
Former quarterback Joe Theismann, who began his professional career with the Argonauts and later went on to star in the NFL with the Redskins, said he was "embarrassed right now to be a Toronto Argonaut" in an interview with ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd.
"I don't ever want to be mentioned in the same breath as Ricky Williams as a football player. He's a disgrace to the game. The man doesn't deserve to play football. He should go on with his life and treat his drug addictions or go do whatever he wants to do. He's been suspended from the National Football League on multiple occasions. Doesn't anybody have any class anywhere? For gosh sakes, let the kid go do what he wants to do. He doesn't want to play football," Theismann, who is part of ESPN's Monday Night Football announcing crew, said.
Williams was suspended by the NFL for the entire 2006 season following a fourth positive drug test. But the Dolphins gave him permission to play this year in the CFL, and he signed with Toronto on Sunday.
Theismann, while calling Williams a "good kid" said he believes that the running back has had too many chances.
"We have rules in the National Football League. It's real simple. Don't do drugs and you can play. It's a privilege to be able to play professional football. It's not some rite of passage. He's insulted the Miami Dolphins after they took him back and gave him a chance to play. Now he insults the intelligence of everybody that thinks that doing drugs is OK. To me, it's the wrong message to send to kids. It's the wrong thing to be doing, and the Toronto Argonauts have embarrassed themselves as an organization signing him," Theismann said.
So he's a "disgrace," but at the same time a "good kid?" First off, Ricky Williams turns 30 this year. So I guess that makes Theismann "Grandpa." Furthermore, Joe is right about the league having rules. Those rules say that Williams is allowed to return after the 2006 season. So what's his problem. Also, the CFL apparently *doesn't* have such rules. So Theismann's condescending voice really sounds stupid here.
What does Theismann bring to the table at ESPN? He's terrible in the booth, not exactly more knowledgeable than guys like Merrile Hodge or Ron Jaworski, and he sounds like an even more ignorant, selfish jerk here than Ricky Williams does. Oh yeah, he changed his last name to rhyme with "Heisman." I forgot. He also hurt his leg once. Wow.
Why do I get the impression that Theismann is saying this more because Ricky "doesn't want to play football" than the fact that he's been suspended four times?
Ricky plays football because that's what he's good at. Plenty of people do their jobs more for the money than because it's something they like to do. But because he's an athlete, it's somehow worse?
In the real world, WWE believes that no matter what our race, religious creed or ethnic background in America, we all share the common bond of being Americans. American-Arabs are a part of the fabric of America, and they should be embraced by all of us.
The $1000 was charged as incedentals on the hotel room tab, a bill that was on the School's credit card, thats why he got caught. I could understand, if some old guy got taken by a young beautiful woman, but http://www.tidesports.com/apps/pbcs.
Thread rated: 6.30
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