jambrosio

ASSSSSSSSSSS-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLE

and it's back to 3...

same, its the one set i bought from my dad this year and now i might not be able to go... ugh

Walker Filling in at CB for the Giants ALBANY, N.Y. — One of the best things to happen to Frank Walker may have been the New York Giants' offseason signing of fellow cornerback Sam Madison. That might sound strange, considering Madison was signed to take over one of the starting jobs that Walker coveted. While the move pushed Walker down the depth chart, it has also helped the career backup in another way. A 10-year-veteran, Madison has become his tutor. "We had Terrell Buckley here last year and Sam said the first thing Terrell Buckley told him after signing was: 'They have a kid named Frank Walker up there, and you have to work with him. He can play,'" Walker said. Buckley also is a cornerback, and Madison's neighbor in the offseason in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "He pretty much gave me a lot of the inside scoop," Madison said of Buckley. "I had a heads-up before I even got here." Since the Giants opened training camp at the University at Albany more than two weeks ago, Madison has worked with Walker, who has all the skills to be a starter. Walker is fast, explosive and has a very good set of hands. What he lacks are some of the finer techniques learned through experience, such as being patient and staying focused. Walker has gambled a lot on the field in his first three seasons in an attempt to make big plays. He has five interceptions in 30 games, including eight starts. But he has also been burned a few times. Those drawbacks are reasons Walker was a backup to Will Peterson and Will Allen in recent years. Peterson was released after last season and Allen signed with Miami as a free agent. That opened both jobs at cornerback. Corey Webster, the second-round draft pick last year, is starting on the left side and Madison was signed and given the job on the right. Now Walker is filling in. "Sam told me to learn a team and take calculated chances instead of feeling like you have to make every play," Walker said. "Make the other team come to you. Sometimes when you try to make a play, you go away from the scheme. You might make a play sometimes, but there are other times where it's going to hurt the team. Sam said if I was patient, I could get seven or eight interceptions." Walker has picked up quickly, and it's a good thing. After tweaking his left hamstring in practice on Sunday, Madison aggravated it early in Monday morning's workout, forcing him to the sidelines. Walker replaced him. Madison downplayed his injury, noting he hurts his hamstring every season. "I like to push my body," Madison said. "You never know what you are going to run into later in the season, so I love to be out there. It's just the pounding on your body. You have to deal with it. I'll be back." In the meantime, Walker has the job and Madison will help him. That's the way it was for him in college and since he came into the NFL with Miami in 1997. Walker looked good in practice on Monday, breaking up a couple of passes, including a sideline throw by Eli Manning. "He is doing pretty well," receiver Amani Toomer said of Walker. "He is definitely focused this year and you can tell he has put a lot of time and effort into his game." The one thing that hasn't changed about Walker is his demeanor. He's always smiling and yapping at anyone within earshot. "That's his personality," Toomer said. "He is not trying to put on an image. I am sure if he wasn't here he would probably be somewhere being the same mouthy guy." Walker agrees. "I love the game, the game is a whole lot of fun," said Walker, who made the Giants as a free agent out of Tuskegee in 2003. "If I weren't here I would probably be back home with my old university trying to help coach in my old cleats."

just wait till chris chambers has a career year cause he'll owe it all to culpepper

There were six ice cream bars waiting on Cory Lidle's clubhouse chair late yesterday afternoon. The irony was delicious. On Monday, Philly reliever Arthur Rhodes told the Post's George King that Lidle would rather eat ice cream than work out, and an anonymous new teammate thought that was hilarious. So after stifling Toronto over six innings of an 8-1 victory that completed a three-game sweep, Lidle dug into one of the tasty treats. "I want to find out and thank them," Lidle said before experiencing the dairy-based delicacy.

he's far from the clubhouse leader that varitek is though. and anyone else think that his decline is due to steroids?

damn i missed it

drama, can you say "arr i'm a pirate" ?

damon (l) jeter ® abreu (l) sheffield ® giambi (l) arod ® matsui (l) posada (s) cano (l)

thanks man

i'm going to the bears game. i'm in philly for work for 2 weeks, and the game is the wekened in between

no takers?

villone or kris wilson

thanks... i wasn't really sure the easiest way to link it if igured someone would be able to find it

they'll move him to first. personally i think duncan will end up getting traded. all depends if they end up signing pena as well

why do you say trade bait? this kid is already like the #3 hitting prospect we have now. tabata, henry/jackson and this kid

The Yankees signed Venezuelan catcher Jesus Montero for what one source said was a $2.2 million bonus. Yankees senior VP of baseball operations Mark Newman reportedly disputed that amount, saying it was an even $2 million. The Yankees are reported to have signed Montero, whose physical frame gives him more present power potential than most of the players available this year. Several clubs were in on the bidding, but the Yankees abandoned their recent restraint on the foreign market. The organization has concentrated more recently on signing a larger number of players for bonuses more in line with the $500,000 paid to outfielder Jose Tabata, now the Yankees' top position player prospect. While his bat and power potential made Montero a hot commodity, his future behind the plate may be in doubt, according to scouts with other clubs. One scout said Montero was already 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds and disparagingly compared his body to that of Henry Blanco; another said he was too stiff and lacked the athleticism to catch at the big league level. "He has above-average raw power, a lot of power, but where do you put him?" the scout said. "I don't think he'll catch. He's a big-hipped kid and he's going to get bigger; he may have to end up at first base."

can someone make me an avatar? i want a clip of fatboy slim's "weapon of choice" as my avatar... something i could use as my buddy icon as well if possible. gotta love christopher walken tap dancing around a hotel

i'll be the mod, i have espn insider so i can post rumors and relevant articles, i can also shut up the sox fans

tj beam called up

At this juncture of his NFL career, Will Peterson should be heading into his prime, not entering a period of potential football purgatory. But the former New York Giants' standout cornerback, reluctantly released by the franchise on May 26 after he failed an extensive, two-day battery of physical examinations, is facing the latter as a result of his recurring back problems. And because, in a bizarre twist of anatomical fate, his back apparently wasn't broken badly enough in 2005, when Peterson appeared in only two regular-season games. Confused? Well, get in line, right behind Peterson. Just, please, don't bump him in the back. In 2003, his second year in the league, Peterson missed the final 11 games of the season after suffering a stress fracture to the right transverse process, a small bone in the lower back. Peterson returned to camp the following summer and was still so highly regarded by the Giants the team signed him to a five-year, $27 million contract extension. He responded by playing in all 16 games in 2004, arguably enjoying the best campaign of his young career. But then last season, the back woes flared up in camp, worsened early in the season, and eventually forced Peterson, a third-round choice in the 2001 draft, onto the injured reserve list. The diagnosis: An old displaced fracture and so-called "hot spots," an auguring of a potential stress fracture, to the left transverse process of Peterson's back. Unlike the 2003 injury, this one wasn't a full-blown fracture and, as Peterson soon learned, he might have been better off in the long run if the injury actually had been worse. William Peterson Will Peterson's talent is undeniable, but injuries may destroy his playing career. "Basically, they told him it would be better if the bone was broken all the way," said agent Ron Slavin. "So one of the things suggested was that he do some hard running, hoping to break the bone. Instead, with all the running he did, the area around the bone got stronger. Ironically, it didn't make his lower back any stronger, at least in terms that would allow him to play. So now he's got to build up the back before he can return to the league, and we just don't know how long that will take." Surgery is out of the question, Slavin acknowledged, because it definitely would finish Peterson's once promising career. And so the best guess, even as personnel directors from around the league phone Slavin to inquire about the condition of his suddenly free-agent client, is that Peterson will spend a year trying to rehabilitate his back, and then hopefully return to the NFL in 2007. It is far too early in the rehabilitation process to know if Peterson's possible comeback is a long shot or perhaps no shot at all. But consider this: The former Western Illinois star will be only 28 years old this time next year, not exactly a youngster anymore, but still an age at which most cornerbacks haven't yet headed down the most slippery side of the coverage hill. He will be coming off a full year of rest, with some rust, no doubt, but minus the rigors of an NFL season. And in the NFL, everyone is always looking for cornerbacks, a premium position. On the flip side, a year from now, Peterson will have gone 21 months without having lined up in an NFL game. In fact, at that point, Peterson will have appeared in just 23 games in four years. Even those curious teams perhaps intrigued by getting a steal in Peterson aren't going to ante up anything close to the $12.06 million in base salaries that was left on his contract when the Giants released him. Peterson, though, was on his way to becoming an elite cornerback in the league when his back problems stopped his advance. When it comes to cornerbacks, league personnel chiefs have elephantine memories. You can bet that, during Peterson's rehabilitation, teams will continue to monitor him. If he demonstrates any evidence at all of having moved beyond his back woes and returning to his previous form as a solid, physical cornerback, teams will be interested in getting a closer look at him next spring.