Clark ready to build on 100-catch season
Football Betting Lines
09/07/2010 -
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Dallas Clark knows there is no such thing as a perfect game or a perfect season in the NFL.
The goal is to keep improving, no matter what the record-breaking stats suggest.
So after posting the two best seasons ever by a Colts tight end, back-to-back, Clark has returned to Indy to chase perfection.
``I'm doing the same thing that I've been doing the last seven years,'' Clark said during the offseason. ``I come to work, and I don't want to become complacent. I'm not trying to focus on what I did last year. Each year, whether it's bad or good, you have to look at it as a fresh start.''
Clark was so busy working out Monday that he didn't even have time to answer questions in the locker room.
But starting over isn't exactly what the Colts have in mind for the new dad.
Almost from the moment Indy drafted Clark with the 24th overall pick in 2003, Peyton Manning & Co. could see how valuable Clark could be in this high-scoring offense.
He's fast enough to burn defenses daring to cover him with a linebacker, agile enough to make circus catches, and shifty enough to fake out anyone measuring him up for big hits. It's a rare combination for a 252-pound guy, which is also why Clark is among the NFL's best tight ends.
Since signing a six-year, $36 million contract in 2008, Clark has proven to be worth every penny.
Over the last two seasons, he has 177 receptions, produced the first 1,000-yard season of his career, become the second tight end in NFL history to haul in 100 catches in a season, and, yes, even earned that elusive first Pro Bowl trip. His numbers broke the franchise records John Mackey set in the '60s.
Clark played a key role in the Colts' Super Bowl run in 2006, and his versatility to split out as a receiver and create mismatches is one of the reasons Indy is so proficient in the no-huddle offense.
Not bad for a former college walk-on who needed seasons to learn all of the nuances of Indy's offense. His new job is to teach the rest of his four-man gang his old tricks.
``He's one of the best, if not the best, in the league,'' backup tight end Jacob Tamme said Monday. ``Our offense gives the tight end a chance to do some things, and that's been really instrumental in what he's done and what we've done.''
Clearly, the Colts are loaded in the passing game.
Manning, the only four-time MVP in league history, will spend this season distributing the ball to perhaps the most talented receiving corps he's ever had. There's Clark and Pro Bowl receiver Reggie Wayne, emerging contributors in Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon and former first-round pick Anthony Gonzalez.
Add Tamme and rookie Brody Eldridge to the mix, and the toughest job for the Colts might be keeping everyone happy.
``All I wanted was what was promised to me,'' Gonzalez said Monday when asked about the competition for the No. 2 receiver's job. ``Whether a job is open, whether there's a competition is something that is determined by the coaches, not by the players.''
The only other real question is health.
Gonzalez lost his job as Wayne's complementary receiver after going down with a season-ending injury in the first quarter of last season's season-opener. He pulled a hamstring in the offseason but now says he's healthy heading into Sunday's opener at Houston.
Clark, however, missed the entire preseason because of an undisclosed upper left leg injury. That left most of the snaps to Tamme, a three-year veteran, and Eldridge, who is considered more of a blocking tight end than a Clark clone.
Colts coach Jim Caldwell hasn't said whether Clark will start against the Texans, but Clark practiced Monday and has ``guaranteed'' he will be on the field this weekend.
So what does Clark have planned for an encore?
Stay tuned.
``That's the beauty of football. There's no such thing as a perfect game,'' he said. ``You can never relax, you're always trying to stay on top of your game.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) - Darrelle Revis and Rex Ryan looked at each other, huddled in a conference room in Florida, and immediately knew they had the same game plan.The New York Jets' star cornerback wanted to get back on the football field.The bra
<< Padres end skid at 10, nip Dodgers to stay alone in first
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Hundley homered and drove in two runs,
and the Padres snapped a 10-game skid with a 4-2 win over the Dodgers to
barely maintain first place in the NL West.
The San Francisco Giants threatened to
<< Indians use Choo's single in ninth to edge Angels
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shin-Soo Choo's single in the ninth inning
scored Michael Brantley with the game-winning run, as Cleveland opened a
three-game set against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim with a 3-2 victory.
Jayson
<< Federer gains quarterfinal berth, rematch with Soderling
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer continued to roll at the
U.S. Open on Monday, this time scoring a straight-set victory over Austrian
Jurgen Melzer to reach the quarterfinals.
The second-seeded Federer earned a 6-3
<< Late rally lifts Boise State over VaTech
Landover, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kellen Moore's 13-yard touchdown pass to
Austin Pettis with 1:09 remaining in the game provided third-ranked Boise
State with a thrilling 33-30 win over No. 10 Virginia Tech in an action-packed
season-
They didn't need to dust off the ol' Statue of Liberty play, never thought of pulling off a fake punt.Save those for, say, Jan. 10 in Arizona. That may be the only time this season that Boise State has to dig into its bag of tricks.OK, so the hugely
Iowa State looks to snap TD drought against Iowa >>
AMES, Iowa (AP) -Former Iowa State quarterback Bret Meyer's second-quarter touchdown run gave the Cyclones a 14-3 lead over Iowa back in 2006, and it looked as though Iowa State was set to stun its rival yet again.Little did anyone know, that would
Report: Bush to be stripped of Heisman >>
Sunnyvale, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Southern California star Reggie Bush
will reportedly be stripped of the Heisman Trophy he won in 2005.
According to Yahoo! Sports, the Heisman Trophy Trust is close to completing
its investigatio
Tiger gets Ryder Cup nod >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiger Woods received one of Corey Pavin's four
captain's picks on Tuesday and will play for the U.S. in this year's Ryder
Cup.
Zach Johnson, Stewart Cink and Rickie Fowler were Pavin's three other picks to
A's aim to extend home win streak over Mariners >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oakland has played well at home this season and nobody
knows that better than the Mariners. The two AL West rivals will go at it
again tonight in the second test of a three-game series from the Coliseum.
Oakland recorded i
2007 NFL Football Betting Preview
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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FOOTBALL TRASH TALK
NFL Football Trash TalkTrash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.