Is timing right for 'L.T. Style Electric Glide?'

LaDainian Tomlinson’s “L.T. Style Electric Glide,” video on YouTube is hilarious.

Tomlinson dances around in a bright, bright, bright white suit and raps about what he does best on the football field.

It brought laughs to his teammates … and probably most everybody who watched it in the past several days. (It’s a side of LT we’ve never seen before.)

The video, a Nike commercial shot 2 ½ years ago, was released over the weekend on YouTube.

Here is part of the story published by the great Associated Press writer Bernie Wilson regarding the video:

The video starts out with Tomlinson turning on a boom box and saying, “What it do? My name's L.T., I've got a new dance for you all.”

He raps about waving to his mom, saying hi to his wife, reading the defense, catching the pass, throwing the ball, about safeties not being able to see him “because I move my hips, toward another six.”

If the Chargers need an updated theme song on the road to Miami to replace their dated disco smash, "San Diego Super Chargers," this might be it.

Two minutes and 14 seconds worth of a dancing, rapping L.T. ends like this:

"Stiff arm the guys, hit that hole.
"Let's see a touchdown dance. Celebrate.
"Now challenge that call. You don't like that call.
"Pick up the blitz. Here comes the blitz. Take a knee. Another victory."

It's certainly not "The Super Bowl Shuffle," but there's potential for more.

"My teammates and I might do a remix on it," Tomlinson said with a laugh.

"It was entertaining," quarterback Philip Rivers said. "He's taken a good jabbing for it all morning."

"I'm jealous, man," said outside linebacker Shawne Merriman, who has a spasmodic "Lights Out" sack dance. "I thought that was pretty cool to do that. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm going to find a way to top that."

Not so fast. While the Chargers are getting a good laugh over the video, what about their opponent in this weekend’s AFC Divisional playoffs … the New York Jets?

The Jets already feel disrespected by opening as a 9-point underdog. Watching a video of LT strutting around might only get them more fired up for Sunday.

Yes, the video may be a laughing matter to most. But it will probably only increase the bunker mentality of “Us vs. the World” that the Jets are already portraying.

If you haven’t seen it, here is “L.T. Style Electric Glide:”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA2B47_l9kg

Wisconsin Badgers: College football's most overlooked team?

Who is the most overlooked team in college football today?

For now, it could be the Wisconsin Badgers.

Sure, the Badgers went their typical 3-0 in non-conference games by beating teams they were supposed to.

But Wisconsin’s impressive 38-30 win over Michigan State in last week's Big Ten opener (the Badgers led by 21 points late in the game) showed that they might be a team to reckon with in 2009.

Of course, the Badgers will find out a lot about themselves in the next two weeks when they play their first road games of the season at Minnesota and The Ohio State. Yet with the way this young team is playing right now, don’t be surprised if Wisconsin beats Minnesota and gives Ohio State all that it can handle.

What’s most noteworthy about the Badgers is that they are winning with a very young team.

Junior QB Scott Tolzien has completed two-thirds of his 99 passes for eight TDs with just two interceptions. Sophomore running back John Clay is averaging 99.5 yards per game and has four TDs.

Sophomore wide receiver Nick Toon (18 catches-236 yards-2 TDs) is the son of former NFL standout Al Toon. Tight end Garrett Graham, one of the few senior starters on the team, has 16 catches including four TDs.

And if you watched the Badgers on ESPN last week, you noticed No. 53 was all over the field on defense. He’s linebacker Mike Taylor, a freshman.

Wisconsin received enough votes (20) to be 32nd in this week’s Associated Press poll, one spot ahead of Notre Dame.

The Badgers may not have made a name for themselves yet, but they could very well do so in the next two weeks.

Peavy trade may turn out OK for San Diego Padres

It’s waaaaaaaaaay too early to judge how the trade of Jake Peavy to the Chicago White Sox will turn out.

Was it just another fire sale move for the San Diego Padres?

Or did they actually receive some value in return for Peavy … and getting rid of the $55 million remaining on his contract?

This line from the Associated Press sure catches one’s attention:

“White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen remains optimistic that Jake Peavy will pitch again this season. Peavy will make his third rehab start today.”

What’s up with some of the four pitchers acquired for Peavy?

Clayton Richard is 3-0 for San Diego with a 3.67 ERA.

Adam Russell has been called up from the minors to help out San Diego’s overworked bullpen.

Aaron Poreda could be called up from the Triple-A Portland Beavers as soon as Saturday to make a start for the Padres.

As for Peavy, he may start again this year.

It may be a poor trade for San Diego in the long run, but early returns say that the Padres did not get duped in the exchange.

Players should concentrate on football; not Twitter

Joe Tiller, former head football coach at Purdue University, was right about modern day players.

On an ESPN broadcast last season, Tiller said it’s hard to know what you will get from Saturday to Saturday because players sometimes “take a day off.”

Tiller further elaborated on the distractions of some players being more interested in spending the pregame making sure they know where friends are sitting so they can wave “hello” during the game than paying attention to a pregame pep talk.

Maybe Tiller has said goodbye to football, but we continue to say hello to the 21st century player who has trouble focusing.

First of all, the current generation has been raised to think they are special. It’s all about “me, me, I and I.”

Take the latest case of San Diego Chargers cornerback Antonio Cromartie sending out the following tweet on his Twitter account:

“Man we have 2 have the most nasty food of any team. Damn can we upgrade 4 str8 years the same ish maybe that’s y we can’t we the SB we need.” It cost Cromartie a $2,500 fine.

“I just thought it was harmless. It was just me talking about the food and stuff. I took it as a joke. But other people took it as a different kind of way,” Cromartie told the Associated Press.

One of the reasons San Diego did not make the Super Bowl in 2008 was a huge regression by Cromartie. He went from 10 interceptions in a Pro Bowl 2007 season to just two picks last year.

Then, we found out that Cromartie has seven children (under the age of 5) by five women in five different states.

Between having kids all over the place and his Twitter account, no wonder some in the Chargers organization question his concentration involving football.

Don’t blame it all on Cromartie, though. He’s just a typical example of the many players that drove Joe Tiller nuts.

Florida Marlins do things the right way

You have to give credit to the Florida Marlins for the way they operate.

Not only do they have the lowest payroll in MLB; they also have the best record after two weeks.

And it may not be a fluke.

This is a team built on a MLB-low $36.8-million budget, a wing, a prayer … and with a lot of talent.

Outside of Hanley Ramirez and his 6-year, $70 million contract, the Marlins have very few players in the higher level of MLB payrolls.

Dan Uggla does make $5.35 million this season and Jorge Cantu is at $3.5 million. But after that, the rest of the team is below the MLB average.

And “average” is something that the Marlins are not. In fact, they may be able to challenge the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets in the tough NL East. After all, the San Diego Padres have exposed both of those teams in the past week.

As for the Marlins, they keep rolling along with a seven-game winning streak.

Why? Take a couple of comments made to the Associated Press after Sunday’s 7-4 win at the Washington Nationals.

“When we're down, nobody panics,” Cody Ross said. “We have a feeling we're going to win. It's just a matter of time. That's the way we've approached it the last week or so and it's kind of paid off for us.”

Added Uggla: “It's not just one guy getting the job done. Multiple people are capable of getting the job done.”

When you consider all of the MLB teams trying to buy a pennant, it’s hard not to pull for the Marlins.

Tiger takes control at U.S. Open

The U.S. Open went prime time, and so did Tiger Woods.
With unbearable pain and three unforgettable shots, Woods turned in one of his most memorable performances in a major Saturday by holing two long eagle putts, chipping in for birdie and somehow taking a one-shot lead over Lee Westwood.
Right when some 50,000 fans at Torrey Pines thought they had seen it all, Woods knocked in a 30-foot eagle on the 18th for a 1-under 70 and his first 54-hole lead in the U.S. Open since he won at Bethpage Black in 2002.
That he made it to the finish line was nearly as impressive as a magical array of shots.
His tender left knee first buckled on the 15th hole, and Woods used his club as a cane to get down the fairway, limping along while trying to stay in the hunt. He played the final six holes in 4 under - and that included a bogey - and will play in the final group for the sixth time in the last eight majors.
This time he has the lead, and he has never lost a major from the front.
But he has never won a major with a limp, either.
"Is it getting worse? Yes, it is," said Woods, playing for the first time since surgery April 15 to clean out cartilage in his left knee. "Certain shots, I'll feel it. I can't say it's a drive, can't say it's a wedge. I'm not sure what shot it's going to happen on."
Woods was at 3-under 210, one of only three players still under par.
As spectacular as Woods played, Westwood got it done with steady golf so often required at this major. He holed a short birdie putt on the par-5 13th and finished with six straight pars, missing a 4-foot birdie on the last hole for a 70. The 35-year-old from England has never had this good an opportunity in a major.
"It will be nice going out last tomorrow and having a chance," Westwood said.
Rocco Mediate, trying to become the oldest U.S. Open champion at age 45, looked as though he would leave everyone behind when he made an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 10 to reach 4-under and kept putting his shots in the fairway and on the green.
But a three-putt bogey on the 13th was the start of a four-hole stretch that he played 4-over par. That included a chip he bladed over the green and into a bunker for double bogey on the 15th. He had to settle for a 72 and was at 1-under 212.

(courtesy of Associated Press)

Chicago Cubs just keep on pounding

How about those Chicago Cubs?

After watching the Cubs pound the Padres the last two nights, it’s obvious this is a team with legitimate high hopes in 2008.

The Cubs are flat-out beating the Padres; rather than having the Padres beat themselves as they do so often.

What’s most impressive about the Cubs is how they just seem to hit line drive after line drive after line drive.

Padres’ catcher Michael Barrett, who played for the Cubs until last June, is certainly aware of his former team’s offensive prowess.

“One thing that’s impressive about them is that they have such a high on base percentage,” Barrett told the Associated Press. “The biggest thing about that lineup is that they really forced us to come to them. You don't see them making too many quick outs.”

Speaking of, it’s hard to get quick outs when you don’t throw strikes.

Padres starting pitcher Wil Ledezma threw 100 pitches in 4 2/3 innings Tuesday night, including 61 to the last 12 batters he faced (averaging more than five pitches per batter.) Ledezma walked five and went to full counts on eight of 21 batters; a terribly high percentage.

But that’s the way the Cubs play, forcing pitchers to get behind in the count because they’re evidently afraid to throw strikes.

Of course, the Padres are an easy target this season. But considering the Cubs have won nine straight and boast the best record in baseball, don’t be surprised if/when they play deep into October this season.

No insult: Chargers haven't won anything

Radio talk show host Lee Hamilton recently said the Associated Press sent out a story that was “insulting” to the Chargers.

What was so insulting?

Read on:

SAN DIEGO. A team that has everything but wins nothing.

Now, what’s so insulting about that?

If you read the San Diego Union-Tribune, you know by now that the Chargers have absolutely everything.

And if you follow the NFL, you know the Chargers have won absolutely nothing when it comes to the Super Bowl.

No less an expert than Chargers General Manager A.J. Smith has said the team has won nothing.

This is the same Smith that the Union-Tribune has referred to as a genius, John Wayne, the smartest general manager ever in the NFL, etc.

It’s anything but insulting to say the Chargers have won nothing. To say they have won something is what’s really “insulting.”

To view the Chargers' 2008 schedule, visit:

http://www.chargers.com/schedule/schedule.htm

Chargers' injuries: Who can you believe?

If you think the New England Patriots have been less than honest concerning Tom Brady’s foot injury before Super Bowl XLII, then maybe it’s time to look in the mirror in San Diego.

Or have you not heard?

Kicker Nate Kaeding played the final four weeks of the season with a fractured fibula in his left leg (an injury never told on the official NFL injury report), according to the Associated Press.
QB Philip Rivers played the AFC Championship game after having arthroscopic surgery for a torn knee ligament, which the team had reported as a sprained knee ligament.
RB LaDainian Tomlinson wasn’t even on the injury report before the AFC title game in New England, yet had to leave after four plays with a lingering knee injury.

The San Diego Union-Tribune, which acts as an apologist for the Chargers, has already said the Chargers followed procedure according to an NFL vice president.

This same paper also said "most" NFL teams would have reported the injuries in the same manner as the Chargers; which is an interesting conclusion in that no actual poll of NFL teams was taken.

Certainly, NFL teams fudge with their injury reports. The Oakland Raiders and New England have long been considered among the top culprits.

But have the Chargers joined that group with their less than up-front reporting of injuries before the New England game?

Aztecs missed out on Tedford, Harbaugh

Jeff Tedford coaches the California Bears, ranked No. 2 in the nation by the Associated Press.

Jim Harbaugh is the first-year coach at Stanford, which pulled off arguably the Upset of the Year last weekend by beating then No. 2 USC, 24-23.

So, what do these two coaches have in common?

Among other things, both could (and should) have been named the head coach at San Diego State when their time had come.

Tedford’s time was before the 2002 season. SDSU tried to hurry the former Oregon assistant coach into a decision, causing him to withdraw from the process.

Harbaugh’s time was prior to the 2006 season.

After leading the University of San Diego to the first of two national titles for schools of its size, Harbaugh politicked for the SDSU job. The Aztecs didn’t even give him a sniff.

What do you think the Aztecs would be like now if Tedford or Harbaugh was the head coach?

It’s a question to ponder, because it will never become reality.

Instead, Chuck Long is 5-12 overall in his second season. He’ll take a 2-3 overall record (1-0 in the Mountain West Conference) into Saturday’s game at Utah.

Tedford? Harbaugh? Long?

You make the call as to which coach would have fit best at SDSU.

Prediction:

Utah 33, SDSU 21

Padres: It's the hitters; not the coach

It’s bad enough that the Padres have turned over 20 percent of their roster in less than a week.

But firing hitting coach Merv Rettenmund on top of it all?

Maybe one day, management will learn it’s the hitters on the team – not the hitting coach – needing to take the blame for the team’s woeful offense.

The Padres fired their last hitting coach, Dave Magadan, 14 months ago. But doesn’t Magadan look like a great hitting coach now that he’s with the Boston Red Sox this year?

As for the Padres’ moves, it sure doesn’t appear as if the roster is any better than it was a week ago.

"It doesn't really serve a purpose, other than there's chaos in the clubhouse, and that's not a good thing, either,'' Trevor Hoffman told the Associated Press.

Chaos, indeed. And it’s not the fault of the hitting coach.