Peanuts an expensive delicacy nowadays
Warning: you are about to be barraged with a severe dose of sarcasm … Kerry Collins is still a Raider, at least for a few days. Late Sunday night, the NFL and players’ union agreed to postpone free agency until Thursday, giving teams more time to get under the salary cap.
Collins, 33, has been Oakland’s starting quarterback for the past two years, leading the Raiders to a mere seven wins in 28 games. The Raiders managed just six touchdowns in their final five games last season, scoring 51 points during the stretch.
That’s hard to believe with an offense featuring receivers Randy Moss and Jerry Porter.
Part of the problem was former coach Norv Turner, who won just nine games in two seasons. A lot of the blame falls on Collins, too. His numbers – 3,759 yards, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions – look good in print, but are inflated because the Raiders trailed in nearly ever game and were forced to pass.
At the end of the season, Collins said he was willing to restructure his deal but wasn’t going to play for “peanuts.”
With bonuses figured in, Collins is due to make $9.2 million this season.
Kind of makes you feel bad for the poor guy, doesn’t it?
q This overheard at the Iditarod, which officially started in Willow, Alaska, Sunday.
“The key to this race is which team makes the fewest mistakes. This is going to come down to a battle in the trenches, and I’ve told my dogs they have to step it up and just get it done.”
q Wouldn’t it be nice for the Pirates to finally, finally, have a winning season?
q Breaking news just in: Steelers coach Bill Cowher took his family to dinner this past weekend.
KDKA will have the full story, which they’ll share with Steelers Nation, in a two-part primetime special later this week.
q American skier Ted Ligety won a giant slalom race Sunday in South Korea for his first World Cup victory. In case you missed it, Ligety won an Olympic gold medal a couple weeks back in Turin.
Bode Miller didn’t compete in South Korea.
Probably was too busy consoling Collins: “I wouldn’t ski for peanuts dude, let alone get mauled by some crazy middle linebacker … Let’s party!”
q About the Pirates and that winning season stuff: according to Rick Tocchet, don’t bet on it.
q Maybe I’m being too hard on Collins. He has started nearly 90 percent of Oakland’s games the past two years.
That’s more than can be said for Steelers running back Duce Staley. Staley is slated to make $2.5 million this season, but the Steelers plan on restructuring his contract to reduce his salary.
Whatever Staley gets will be more than he’s worth. He does the team no good standing on the sidelines in sweats and a toboggan.
q A year ago, West Virginia’s men’s basketball team advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, downing Creighton, Wake Forest and Texas Tech before falling to Louisville.
The football team then went out last fall and earned a BCS berth, which it made good on with a win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.
Now, we’ve come full circle. The men’s basketball team is the No. 3 seed in the Big East Tournament, has a first-round bye and will most likely be seeded No. 4 or No. 5 in this year’s NCAA tourney.
The women’s basketball team had a mediocre regular season, but upset Louisville and St. John’s in the first two rounds of the Big East Tournament and then added Rutgers, the No. 6 team in the nation, to the hit list on Monday. That earned West Virginia a surprising date with either DePaul or Connecticut in today’s championship game.
Indeed, it’s a perfect time to be a fan of WVU athletics.
And a very bad time to be a sofa.
Dave Stofcheck can be reached online at dstofcheck@ heraldstandard.com