Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Rudi Gets His Money
Restricted free agent tailback Rudi Johnson, coming off a 2003 season in which he wrested the starting job from Corey Dillon, re-signed Tuesday with the Cincinnati Bengals, landing a one-year contract for $1.824 million.
Johnson essentially agreed to the one-year "high level" qualifying offer the Bengals made him in early March to retain right-of-first refusal on the three-year veteran. Despite a breakout season, Johnson did not generate interest in the restricted market, likely because other teams felt Cincinnati would match any offer sheet.
The Bengals did not offer Johnson a multi-year deal over the past two months, although there remains a chance that a long-term contract could be negotiated at a later time. Johnson has indicated he would prefer a longer contract, but a few weeks ago he acknowledged such a deal wasn't likely, and said he would sign the qualifying offer.
The one-year deal creates a multitude of intriguing possibilities for both Johnson and the Bengals, since the tailback will be eligible for unrestricted free agency next spring.
Cincinnati officials were reluctant to offer a long-term deal to a player who has enjoyed just one big season, but if Johnson has another strong year in 2004 they could be inclined to handsomely reward him. On the flip side, if Johnson posts big numbers again, he might eschew any attempt by the Bengals to re-sign him before he reaches free agency and test his value on the open market.
Compounding the situation, the Bengals invested their first-round choice in this year's draft on a tailback, Chris Perry of Michigan, who was said to have been impressive in last weekend's minicamp.
Johnson, 24, appeared in just nine games his first two seasons and the former Auburn star logged only 17 carries for 67 yards. But he took advantage of an opportunity in '03, when Dillon was injured, started five games, and became the Bengals' top back by the end of the season.
He carried 215 times for 957 yards and nine touchdowns, all team highs, and became the first player in franchise history to post three games of 150-plus yards in one season. He also set a club mark for carries in a game, 43, against Houston on Nov. 9.
The emergence of Johnson, a fourth-round choice in the 2001 draft, helped enable the Bengals to trade Dillon to New England last month for a second-round draft choice.
Hopefully, Rudi can repeat his success from last season, and get an even bigger contract next season as a reward. It would be nice to see multiple Auburn RBs (Stephen Davis made his point lound and clear this past season in Carolina) assert themselves on the NFL level. It's within the realm of possibility that Auburn could become to NFL running backs what Miami currently is to NFL linebackers.
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Baseball Update
The 20th ranked Auburn Tigers opened the weekend with a 12-9 victory over the #6 South Carolina Gamecocks this weekend, but followed with losses on Saturday (3-1) and Sunday (12-11). Auburn has yet to win a SEC series at home this season, and has yet to win a game that your humble poster has attended. I'm personally 0-2 after Sunday's game, while Auburn now stands at 30-19 overall, and 10-14 in SEC play.
MONTGOMERY BISCUITS
The Biscuits took the last 2 games of their 4 game set against Jacksonville at home on Monday and Tuesday, but were then swept by Western Tennessee in Jackson, MS on Thursday-Saturday in 4 games (Saturday doubleheader). The Biscuits began a 4-game home series against the Birmingham Barons with a 6-3 loss yesterday (Monday).
B.J. Upton continues to impress at the plate, hitting .330 with an imnpressive slugging percentage of .470. Both marks put him 2nd on the team in those categories. Unfortunately, Upton vastly leads the team in errors, with 10 on the season. The next worst defender has 4. Ladies and gentlemen, Derek Jeter plays for Montgomery!
AUBURN IN THE MLB
Mark Bellhorn of the Boston Red Sox had an uncharacteristic week at the plate and in the field. He has only walked ONCE while striking out 14 times in the last 8 games. Sadly, it seems pitchers have realized that he doesn't handle strikes very well. In spite of this, Bellhorn raised his batting average to .226 (from .214) by going 9-for-36 and had a game-tying 2-run HR in the 9th inning Friday night as the Sox took 2 of 3 from the Royals at home after splitting a 4-game series in Cleveland.
Frank Thomas of the Chicago White Sox had a rough week, going 4-for-22 and lowering his batting average from .303 to .273 as the White Sox took 2 of 3 in Baltimore only to be swept in 3 games at Toronto.
Tim Hudson of the Oakland A's was the hard-luck loser against Minnesota on Saturday, only allowing 2 runs in 9 full innings as the A's lost 3-2 in 10 innings.
Monday, May 10, 2004
In A League Of Our Own
Sweat dripping on the tiles, scuff marks painted across the molding, dents in the side of the water fountian, shards of glass from that little door for the fire extinguisher, and I think a piece or two of Grant.
All these, as we should all know, are remnants left by the participants of the BS league on the 3rd floor.
I miss BS and the unity (violence) that it brought to the game-hungry residents. It separated the winners from the studyers; the Dowdeli from the Lupton. Those who would understand and laugh at the BS signs, and those who would wonder what cows eating grass had to do with soccer.
Share one of your favorite memories of BS, won't ye? I'd like to know if Nathan still has that web page of the teams...
The Return Of The Breadbox
For those of you who are not familiar with it, the Breadbox Editions are highly amusing versions of the scripts of various movies. They are all by the same author, and here is a link to all of her scripts. You can find the Breadbox Editions of both previous LoTR films, as well as several other movies.
