Let's Go To The Movies!

Whether it was "Any Given Sunday," "The Last Boy Scout," "North Dallas Forty," or "The Longest Yard," football movies have a special place in the action, comedy and drama genre, but have you wondered what movies football players like to watch?

A recent survey of Miami Dolphins players shed some light on the matter as the majority chose the action-packed "Transformers 2" as their favorite movie of the summer. Cornerback Will Allen was a fan of the Liam Neeson thriller, "Taken," and second-year defensive end Phillip Merling proved to be somewhat clairvoyant when he picked "G.I. Joe" just days before it opened in theaters.

Head coach Tony Sparano treated the entire team to a matinee showing of "G.I. Joe" this afternoon as a reward for their hard work through 33 practices and three preseason games, although he would have preferred a football flick like the one he took the team to last year, "The Express," based on the true story of 1961 Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis. But without a comparable movie out there, Sparano opted to cater to the primal instincts of his players.

"This thing here I just figured there'd be a lot of things blowing up and all those things so I thought it was pretty good," he said. "It had a nice looking woman in it too for them so I think all of those things probably helped."

Of course Sparano is more comfortable in his office watching film of practice and the preseason games than sitting in a crowded movie theater with a tub of popcorn on his lap, and he is going to be pulling a lot of late-night film sessions between now and Saturday afternoon. That's when Miami and the 31 other NFL teams have to submit their opening day 53-man roster, and the Dolphins currently sit at 66, so 13 more moves have to be made. Thursday night's preseason finale at New Orleans against the Saints will help Sparano make some of those final decisions.

Switching gears but staying on theme, I just got my fill for sappy and syrupy romantic comedies after watching the Monday Night Football preseason game between the Minnesota Vikings and Houston Texans. Fortunately I missed the first 30 minutes, but I need someone to tell me that it wasn't even more of a Brett Favre love fest than I suffered through for two-and-a-half hours. Knowing Jon Gruden as well as I do after covering him his first three seasons in Tampa Bay, I shouldn't have been surprised at the amount of praise he was going to lavish on the QB he picked up at the airport when he was an assistant coach with the Green Bay Packers, But Ron Jaworski, Mike Tirico and now the guys in the Sportscenter studio continued to blow him virtual kisses.

As for the rest of the news around the league, here are my four downs:

1. Tedy Bruschi retiring signals the end of an era defensively for the New England Patriots as it comes on the heels of safety Rodney Harrison's retirement. Bruschi was a throwback player who made an inspiring recovery from a serious health scare and will make an excellent coach.

2. Tom Brady's shoulder injury, Matt Cassel's leg injury and Matt Schaub's sprained ankle tonight should serve as a serious warning to the owners and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that they better think long and hard about this proposal to extend the regular season to 18 games.

3. Wasn't it less than two years ago that the New York Giants were on top of the world after upsetting the previously unbeaten Patriots in Super Bowl XLII and touting their closeness as an organization and ability to get along as the reason behind their success? Try reminding two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora, who reportedly got into a spat with new defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan before this morning's practice and stormed out of the facility. Maybe the old Tom Coughlin needs to get into his grill and make it clear that won't be tolerated.

4. Imagine how Vince Lombardi or George Halas would have dealt with the current Twitter phenomenon and use of other social media by their players. As opposed to the perceived hard line approach taken by the league today in allowing the use of Twitter, Facebook and other social media by players, coaches and football operations staff only up to 90 minutes before kickoff and after the game following traditional media interviews, I could just see a pile of smashed Blackberries and cell phones next to the showers. "You tweeted what?" Lombardi would yell. "Now you're just a simple twit without a spot on my roster, pal!"

Until next time, this is the NFL Guru bidding you a wonderful evening.

Slow As Lightning?

Just when you think you've seen it all in this business, something happens to remind you that you haven't.

As a veteran sportswriter closing in on two decades of covering every sport imaginable, I have sat through my share of long rain delays in baseball and weather delays in high school football, soccer and even swimming. But last night at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa was a first for me in terms of seeing an NFL game (albeit preseason) stopped in the middle due to lightning.

Two years ago in Pittsburgh when the winless Dolphins were taking on the Steelers in a Monday Night Football game destined to set a new ratings low, the start of the game was postponed due to weather. All that did was make a very painful game from a spectator standpoint last even longer (Pittsburgh won the mudfest on one of the worst fields ever, 3-0). But in that instance the players never left the locker room until it was clear to play, unlike last night when with 10:11 remaining in the first half of another sloppy game the referee ordered everyone off the field with the Bucs leading 6-0.

So as all of the scribes bantered back and forth on the phone with their editors back at the newspaper about how this game would now end after every conceivable print deadline, the national television crew from FOX got creative and treated it almost like an intermission between periods of a hockey game. Pam Oliver kept busy by doing interviews with Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano, Falcons quarterback Byron Leftwich and running back Cadillac Williams in the tunnel just like they do during NHL games.

One other benefit of the delay was being able to see how Michael Vick did in his debut for the Eagles. And in a perfect snapshot of today's reactionary society, apparently some Eagles fans already are saying Vick looks better than McNabb, which is absurd! The guy has been out of football for two years, so while his physical skills and athleticism are still there, you can't miss that much time and simply pick up where you left off. It'll be just one of many interesting story lines to follow this season.

Sticking with the Bucs-Dolphins game I will close with these observations:

1. Tampa Bay threw the ball better that anticipated considering they were without three of their regular wide receivers (Michael Clayton, Dexter Jackson and Antonio Bryant), but the Bucs' bread and butter still has to be their running game. Cadillac Williams and Earnest Graham can be a pretty imposing backfield duo as each broke long runs last night against a Miami defense that had done well against the run the previous two weeks.

2. Dolphins second-year quarterback Chad Henne no doubt has one of the strongest arms around, but he still needs time to develop some of the other necessary skills that come with being an NFL QB, which is why Sparano loves the fact the he has Chad Pennington there to mentor Henne. Pennington made two big-league plays on Miami's lone touchdown drive, connecting with rookie receiver Brian Hartline on a 54-yard pass that he threw on the run rolling to his right and then hitting tight end Anthony Fasano in the left corner of the end zone right before taking a vicious hit after he rolled right and then spun back to his left. Later in the second half, after Henne completed a 52-yard pass to Greg Camarillo, he threw an ill-advised pass on 3rd-and-7 from the Bucs' 10 while under pressure that was picked off by defensive tackle Chris Bradwill and returned 19 yards. He also was sacked four times as he looked a little unsure about whether not to get the rid of the ball, but his poise was good and he has credited Pennington with teaching him more about football last year than he had learned his entire life. Henne will be fine with more grooming behind Pennington.

3. Hartline is making a serious case for being just another prime example of this Dolphins regime seeing something in the draft that others didn't and hitting on a fourth-round pick. When Hartline chose to leave Ohio State early and declare himself eligible for the draft there were plenty of critics calling him crazy and predicting that he would not get drafted. Now he has moved up the depth chart and quite possibly could be the starting receiver opposite Ted Ginn, Jr. on opening day.

4. Kendall Langford continues to validate his third-round draft status last year coming out of a small school in Hampton University as he was a disruptive force last night. His sack of Leftwich and forced fumble as the Bucs were primed to put it in the end zone from Miami's 5-yard line was a momentum changer and he was in the backfield numerous times from his defensive end position in the 3-4 run by the Dolphins. This young man began his pro career with a sack of future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Brett Favre in the 2008 season opener and doesn't appear to be slowing down.

5. You will be hard pressed to find an NFL coaching staff better at making half-time adjustments -- or in this case, lightning delay adjustments -- and between game adjustments than Miami's. Sparano, offensive coordinator Dan Henning and defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni proved it last season when they pulled out the "Wildcat" against New England and in Kansas City when they bucked conventional wisdom in cold and icy conditions by opening up the passing game in a 38-31 win that kept their playoffs hopes alive.

All right. That's all I got for now, but stay tuned as the picture around the league begins to clear up with the regular season less than two weeks away.

NFL Talk Guru Style

Let's hit the ground running, shall we?



Here we are, half way through the 2009 preseason, and as your window into everything Miami Dolphins and the rest of the National Football League I can tell you this:



1. Brett Favre is more likely to pull a hammy by Minnesota's second game than he is to have another 6-touchdown pass afternoon like he did last year with the New York Jets while playing in their throwback uniforms against the Arizona Cardinals.



2. The above Brett Favre reference is likely the last one you are going to see on this blog until said hammy is pulled or he melts down against his former team, the Green Bay Packers.



3. Jason Taylor was poised to have the type of season he had in 2006 when he was the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year before Matt Roth landed on the Non-Football Injury list. With 12-15 pounds of added muscle to his 6-foot-6 frame and having gone through Miami's rigorous offseason conditioning program, Taylor is going to give opposing defensive coordinators nightmares as they try to decide who to double team, him or Joey Porter.



4. Jets fans are in for another long season with rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez looking like a deer in headlights last night against the Ravens and Kellen Clemens looking even worse. To use the old adage, "Be careful what you wish for," how many Jets fans are rethinking their push to get rid of Chad Pennington right about now?



5. Tom Brady is less than a year removed from one of the most severe knee injuries imaginable, one that it took Carson Palmer two years to come back from and show his old form, yet just about everybody and their brother are picking the Pats to win the Super Bowl? Am I missing something here? There is no doubt New England will be a force to be reckoned with again, but a little perspective here people; the AFC East is not as down as it was two years ago when Brady and company tore through it and the rest of the league like a vicious tornado.



6. The NFC East certainly will be entertaining to watch this year between the Philadelphia Eagles and the whole Michael Vick-Donovan McNabb dynamic and how the Dallas Cowboys adjust to life in a ridiculously over-the-top stadium minus Jessica Simpson in the crowd.



7. Last year the NFC South almost sent three teams to the playoffs, with the Bucs getting eliminated on the last day of the season by the Oakland Raiders. That won't happen again this year as Tampa Bay and Carolina look like they are rebuilding, but Atlanta, with the addition of Tony Gonzalez at tight end, could be dangerous if Matt Ryan repeats his rookie performance.



8. As easy it would be to anoint the Arizona Cardinals as repeat winners of the NFC West with Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald still in the fold, don't be surprised if the San Francisco 49ers sneak in there and make things interesting. Now that Mike Singletary has had a full offseason and training camp in charge, he will prove more than capable of competing with the big boys.



9. The Pittsburgh Steelers' chances of defending their Super Bowl title have taken two hits directly related to their quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger. First they had to deal with the off-the-field distraction related to a civil suit filed against Big Ben for alleged sexual assault, and now his Achilles' injury is going to require delicate care, which will limit his reps between now and the opener. The last time Roethlisberger had these many issues to deal with before the season (can you say motorcycle accident without a helmet?), Pittsburgh finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs and that was 2006, the year after they won Super Bowl XL.



10. See what one successful season under the Bill Parcells regime can do for you? The Dolphins netted four primetime games (two on Monday Night Football, one on Sunday Night Football and one on Thursday Night Football) after having none, zilch, zero last year. The networks know compelling story lines when they see them, and after Miami unveiled the "Wildcat" again on Saturday night against Carolina, it's clear this will not be a boring team.



Since this is my first post I'm not yet sure if I will follow this format each time out or just mix things up a little to keep it fresh. But summer is definitely over my friends, so feel free to dive into football with the Guru and engage in some healthy debates.



Sayonara for now!!