2010 February 01 | Cheap Tickets News

Video: Rudy Gay’s internal clock malfunction

By Cheap Tickets at 1 February, 2010, 11:05 pm

It’s been a wild and wacky week in the NBA, chock-full of flying Gatorade cups , shoeless blocks , players leading officials on the fast break , dance-offs , and even a Phoenix Suns guard morphing into a creepy blue alien that lives inside James Cameron’s dreams and/or bank vault. Quite honestly, I couldn’t make this stuff up. But this clip might top ‘em all. During Monday night’s game against the Lakers, Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay (notes) hoisted up a desperation three-quarter court shot to try and beat the first quarter buzzer. Sounds pedestrian enough, right? Only one problem: Gay let his livin’-on-a-prayer fly with seven seconds to go in the quarter!

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A word of advice to Jay Cutler: Duck!

By Cheap Tickets at 1 February, 2010, 10:49 pm

With the news that Mike Martz has become the new offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears , Chicago fans can expect a couple of things to change. First of all, the passing offense will become more explosive on a “no-matter-what” basis, and Jay Cutler (notes) will be running for his life — and frequently losing the protection battle. When he was the head man in St. Louis, Martz had a lot to do with the “Greatest Show on Turf” offenses, but the quarterbacks always seem to suffer. In 2003, Marc Bulger’s (notes) first season as a full-time starter, he was sacked 37 times in 15 games. Then, 41 in 14 games in 2004 and 26 in only 10 games in 2005. Bulger kept getting pounded in the pocket even after Martz moved on to Detroit. Now, it was Jon Kitna’s (notes) turn to get whacked. In 2005, three Lions quarterbacks combined to get sacked 31 times. That total skyrocketed to 63 in 2006, Martz’s first year as the Lions’ offensive coordinator. Why? According to Football Outsiders , the Lions drastically altered their offense, and thus their protection schemes, when Martz took over. They lined up with four or more wide receivers 9 percent of the time in 2005, and 22 percent in 2006. They went from 18th in passes when ahead in the second half in 2005 to first in 2006. Basically, Martz was putting as close to a spread offense on the field as he possibly could. In 2007, the four-wide sets increased even more — up to 32 percent, first in the NFL. Add in the five-wide sets, and the total of four-or-more was 28 percent, and no other team went above 20. Why? Because with that many receivers, you’re taking blocking backs and tight ends out of the equation. Add in Martz’s propensity for seven-step-drop plays in which the quarterback has to wait that extra split second for routes to develop, and you’ll understand why Kitna was sacked another 51 times in 2007. They ran 31 percent of the time, by far the lowest percentage in the league. When Martz moved to San Francisco for the 2008 season, the trend continued. In 2007, the 49ers went four-wide eight percent of the time. Under Martz, that total increased to 24 percent. Total quarterback sacks stayed at 55 from one season to another, but dropped to 40 in 2009 under a more conservative game plan. With Cutler under center in 2009, the Bears’ offense was a misfit in many ways — they wanted to go pass-heavy without the receivers to do it, and their offensive line had eroded from years of neglect. Cutler’s efficiency basically fell off the planet , and he was sacked 35 times in 2009 after suffering a total of 38 takedowns in his prior two seasons with the Denver Broncos . The Bears went four-wide or more on a grand total of 50 of Cutler’s 555 attempts, and he was noticeably worse in that situation — his Yards per Attempt dropped from 6.61 overall to 4.28 with four or more receivers. Under Martz, whether it works or not, you can expect the multi-receiver sets to increase, for Cutler’s protection to get even worse (if that’s at all possible) and for the Bears’ offense to struggle mightily. There are teams set up for Mike Martz’s particular brand of genius. Right now, the Chicago Bears are not one of them.

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Kentucky Wildcats: ESPN College Gameday Tickets 2/13/10

By Cheap Tickets at 1 February, 2010, 10:44 pm

US $10.00 End Date: Monday Feb-08-2010 19:44:59 PST Buy It Now for only: US $10.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list

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Big League Stew Blogbook: Pittsburgh Pirates

By Cheap Tickets at 1 February, 2010, 10:33 pm

The BLS Blogbook aims to map the online information terrain by providing a separate web directory for each team. The product below is a result of submitted entries by team-specific bloggers and compiled information from the Big League Stew staff. Please subscribe, follow and bookmark to your heart’s content. If you’re a blogger who would like to be listed, please visit this post for further instructions. * * * The ‘Burgh Blues RSS Established: May 2008 Twitter: @TheBurghBlues Specialty: Baseball satire, SABR, interviews, personal insight Post We’re Proud of: Interview with Prospect Daniel Moskos Who We Are: “The ‘Burgh Blues online publication documents the travesties and travails that the Pittsburgh Pirates initiate each year. While poking fun at heart-wrenching losses, we analyze the ball club in terms of efficiency by offering insight as to how the club can improve its status. Since creating TBB nearly two years ago, the site has won numerous awards, including Best Baseball Blog by YES Network’s THE MAX. Will the ‘losing tradition’ end in 2010? No one really knows, but do us all a favor and embrace the blues.” * * * North Side Notch RSS Established: July 2008 Twitter: @northsidenotch Specialty: Pittsburgh Pirates News, Live Blogs, Prospect News Post We’re Proud of: Why Not? Who We Are: “North Side Notch is a blog that covers everything that involves the Pittsburgh Pirates. Whe may have 17 straight losing seasons, but we’re still here supporting our Bucs! We have live blogs up for every single game and since the big league club isn’t all that great, we get pretty excited about our prospects.” * * * Raise the Jolly Roger!

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