Mallett: QB battle ‘part of job’
Tim Tebow got the best of Ryan Mallett in their only meeting as college quarterbacks, when Tebow and then-No. 1 Florida beat Mallett and Arkansas 23-20 in 2009.
Now the two are New England Patriots teammates as backups to Tom Brady, and Mallett has at least won the first battle of public opinion.
In an online poll that accompanied stories detailing Tebow’s signing, voters on ESPN.
com are favoring Mallett as the Patriots’ No. 2 quarterback. As of Wednesday evening, Mallett had earned 58 percent of the votes to Tebow’s 42 percent. More than 40,000 votes had been recorded.
Of course, Mallett still has to maintain his spot as No. 2 on the depth chart, something he told reporters he’s not all that worried about.
“He’s a great player,” Mallett said of Tebow. “There’s always competition at every position. It’s part of the job.”
The Boston Globe reported in April that the Patriots were fielding trade offers for Mallett, whom they drafted in 2011 in the third round, but so far he’s still a Patriot.
And, with Tebow, the quarterback position is a bit more crowded.
“It’s kind of unique how it’s set up, but I think we have three great players in that room who have the ability to go out and help our team win games,” Mallett said. “We get it done how we can.”
No feelings
Two tradition franchises in hockey’s premier event should elicit excitement, right? Not from a former player with ties to both teams, at least.
Phil Esposito, who played for both the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks, told the Toronto Sun said he won’t be watching the Stanley Cub final between the two teams.
“You want to know the truth?” he said. “This series doesn’t mean s * * t to me.
“I have no feeling for these teams. There’s nothing emotional about it. They both got rid of me, traded me. So screw them.”
Esposito, 71, played for the Blackhawks in 1963-1967, his first four years in the NHL, before being traded to Boston, where he played in 1967-1976 and then spent his final years with the New York Rangers.
A 1984 inductee of the Hockey Hall of Fame, he led the league in scoring five times and his 717 career goals are fifth all-time.
“I didn’t choose to leave Chicago. I didn’t choose to leave Boston. I signed a contract in Boston for less money than I could have gotten from going to the WHA,” he said. “I could have made millions doing that. And you know how they repaid me? Three weeks later, they traded me [to the Rangers].”
Not mean enough
Dwight Howard’s first season with the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t go so well. The Lakers missed the playoffs and Howard was criticized for his performance.
Even as the NBA Finals are nearing an end, the criticism continues, the latest coming from Shaquille O’Neal.
“He’s too nice,” he said on a Los Angeles radio show Tuesday. “I’m a connoisseur of giggling and playing and all that and making you laugh and playing with the fans, but when I cross that line, I’m ready to tear your face off.”
O’Neal relayed a conversation he had with former Laker Jerry West when he arrived in Los Angeles in 1996. He said West told him his career won’t mean anything if he doesn’t win championships.
“So, for me, it was a lot of pressure, but I like the pressure,” O’Neal said. “Especially when you see other greats say that he’s like a Wilt [Chamberlain] or he’s like a Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar]. I knew I had to step up.”
Quote of the day
“It was like 25 against 72, because all the DL guys were out there, too.” Miguel Montero of the Arizona Diamondbacks on the brawl between the Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night
Sports, Pages 18 on 06/13/2013