If you haven’t hard, the Indianapolis Colts cut backup quarterback Jim Sorgi a few days ago.  There’s really no surprise there since they kept Curtis Painter on the roster last season, Sorgi ended the season on the “IR” and he would be due a hefty veteran pay check for sitting on the bench.  And let’s be honest, if Peyton Manning gets hurt there’s no one who can step in and fill those shoes.

But the time in free agent land didn’t last long as the New York Giants quickly picked up Sorgi to be the backup to Peyton’s brother, Eli Manning.  Given history, Sorgi probably has a little better of a chance of getting in the game with the Giants, but let’s hope that doesn’t happen, as we need to see another Manning vs. Manning Throw-down this coming season!

Best of luck to Jim Sorgi though. I’ve always admired the man &have been a little bit jealous that he gets to hang out with Peyton Manning & gets paid the big bucks to do so. Not to mention, he’ll be in much better physical shape in retirement than many ex-NFL players are.

Via the WJS & AP:

Men’s Olympic luger Nodar Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled during a test run and struck an unpadded steel pole near the finish line at Whistler Sliding Center. Kumaritashvili, of the former Soviet republic of Georgia, died of his injuries, according to an Olympic official with direct knowledge of crash, the Associated Press reported.

The reports are that this is one of the fastest tracks ever and there have been vocal concerns over not allowing International teams enough time to get familiar with the track for luge, skeleton & bobsledding.

UPDATE: After seeing the video of Nodar Kumaritashvili’s accident over & over again, this is pretty disturbing. They’re blaming rider error, but in my opinion you must do everything possible to protect the safety of both the athletes and the spectators.  What are your thoughts? Please leave a comment or leave a voice mail at 317-565-4250.

UPDATE #2: Via The Wall Street Journal

Nodar Kumaritashvili, the 21-year-old Georgian luger who died in a training accident hours before the opening of the Vancouver Winter Olympics told his father he was terrified of the track before doing the run that killed him.

“He called me before the Olympics, three days ago, and he said, ‘Dad, I’m scared of one of the turns,’ ” David Kumaritashvili said in an interview at his house in the small mountain town of Bakuriani Sunday.

Read the full story.

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Last weekend I was watching Tim “Tree Boy” Bush report live from The Colts Pro Shop at Lucas Oil Stadium and he carefully ignored the fact the there were Indianapolis Colts thongs hanging on the wall (quite visible in HD though).  But Mary Milz decided to go right for it tonight.

Scroll over to 2 minutes in to watch Mary Milz try to sell the last Indianapolis Colts thong at The Colts Pro Shop at Lucas Oil Stadium.

At least later in the newscast the anchors voted against Bob Kravitz wearing a Speedo next week from Miami.

Via ESPN

“ESPN’s second annual College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon — featuring 12 consecutive live college basketball games in 24 hours Tuesday on ESPN — will include extensive coverage across the ESPN platforms to celebrate the beginning of the 2009-10 season. ESPN games will tip off every two hours, starting at midnight ET with Cal State Fullerton at UCLA.”

I somehow missed this one last year, but the idea sounds interesting. I’ll have to pass on those middle of the night games though.

After watching most of the first United Football League game I have a few observations and comments.

• The fan base is lacking. The announced attendance was 14,209 which would be about average for an Arena Football game, but this isn’t Arena Football and the budget is larger as are the stadiums.  And we all know that actual attendance is usually lower than what is announced. While attracting 14,000 to any event seems amazing to me, they’ll probably need to be more in the 20-30k range to be comfortable.
• The play is sub par (thus far). From the other reviews I read I know that I have some people who disagree, but on one drive I seriously saw the quarterback fumble the ball a few times.  I don’t know if it was nerves or the footballs are greased up, but that is poor ball handling. Sure, there were some good plays and amazing hits, but it wasn’t quite up to speed.  But maybe I’m being too critical.  There was scoring and hopefully this will improve once they get settled in.
• I’m not sure that I like the in game interviews. That wouldn’t fly in the NFL beyond the Pro Bowl.
• The uniforms are hideous. They’re the same uniform with different colors and they aren’t easy on these half color-blind eyes.
• The uniforms are flimsy. I saw two uniforms that were ripped without even looking for it. I know NFL jerseys (and pants) do rip from time-to-time, but I’ve never seen it on that consistent of a basis. Maybe it’s a fluke, but I wouldn’t be buying an authentic jersey (plus, like I said, they’re ugly anyway).
• The team logos are OK, though I’m not really fond of California’s. I may have given a little more thought to the names and marketing efforts, but of course, that’s my line of work and my mind always goes there.  And living in Indiana I have no idea what their local efforts were in each market.
• There’s a lack of major sponsorship. I’m not saying that’s good or bad, just a little odd.  There were quite a few products being touted that I’d never even heard of before. In a way this is good for the “little man” and if the league takes off I hope they get some sort of special “ground floor supporters” status and benefits.
• High School Cheerleaders? Honestly, I don’t know that we really need cheerleaders at any sporting events (and in come the flaming arrows), but if you must I’d probably steer clear of bringing in minors.  There are some strange birds out there, so as a parent, I’m just saying.

So there’s my run down.  I’ll continue to catch the games as I’m able and truly do wish the league to best of luck. You can never have too much football!

In case you missed it, the inaugural UFL (United Football League) game is on Versus tonight from 9:00PM-12:30AM (Eastern) featuring California Redwoods (coached by Dennis Green) vs. Las Vegas Locomotives (coached by Jim Fassel).

The current setup involves four teams playing six regular season games with a championship game being played in Las Vegas in November.

• California Redwoods, coached by Dennis Green
• Florida Tuskers, coached by Jim Haslett
• Las Vegas Locomotives, coached by Jim Fassel
• New York Sentinels, coached by Ted Cottrell

The players are a mix of recent collegiate players on up through semi-retired NFL players, including Simeon Rice & Tatum Bell.

My hunch is that this will be better than the goofy XFL that failed miserably back in 2001, but I’m not holding my breath for anything spectacular.  But it’s football and I’ll watch for a sports history lesson if nothing else (like I did with the XFL).  I’m not sure on the decision to compete with the NFL season, but maybe that’s to avoid competition with the new Arena Football 1.  Regardless,  I wish the UFL the best of luck and if it takes off, bring a team to Indiana!

Related posts around the web:

• Las Vegas Sun: UFL officials ready, optimistic
• UFL Season Kickoffs Today In Las Vegas
• With modest expectations, the UFL is open for business

Thursday night, the best night of Network Television, is on it again.  The largest audience will probably be watching The Office hour long wedding episode.

Here are my top picks for the evening:

8-9

1. Bones (FOX) – 05×04 – The Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
2. Flash Forward (ABC) – 01×03 – 137 Sekunden
3. Community (NBC) – 01×04 – Social Psychology (30 minutes)
4. The Vampire Diaries (The CW) – 01×05 – You’re Undead To Me

9-10

1. Fringe (FOX) – 02×04 – Momentum Deferred
2. Supernatural (The CW) – 05×05 – Fallen Idol
3. The Office (NBC) – 06×04 – Niagara (1) (30 minutes)
4. The Office (NBC) – 06×05 – Niagara (2) (30 minutes)

And don’t forget that we have Nebraska vs. Missouri on ESPN from 9:00PM-midnight (Eastern) and the inaugural UFL (United Football League) game on Versus from 9:00PM-12:30AM (Eastern) featuring California Redwoods (coached by Dennis Green) vs. Las Vegas Locomotives (coached by Jim Fassel).

According to ESPN, the San Francisco 49ers have signed Michael Crabtree to a 5 or 6 year deal (the 6th year has a performance based clause).  I still hold to my belief that regardless of how good he is, Michael Crabtree is an ungrateful crybaby.  If I were the 49ers I’d make him sell cotton candy in the stands for a week or two.

Other thoughts from around the blogosphere:

• Michael Crabtree signs with 49ers…finally!
• Michael Crabtree Finally Signs with the 49ers
• Crabtree addresses the media for first time as a 49er
• Crabtree meets 49ers, calls negotiations a ‘humbling experience’