Game Face

Today the NFL's Free Agency period begins, as those without contracts are finally afforded the opportunity to talk to other teams. Here's a list of the top ten free agents who can make a big difference with their new teams in 2008.

10) Eric Johnson, TE

2007 Team: New Orleans Saints
The former 49er, and now former Saint, has a strong presence in any blocking scheme, and can also be a strong possession receiver, when he's healthy. He's also a very smart player, one of only five Yale graduates currently playing in the NFL.










9) Byron Leftwich, QB

2007 Team: Atlanta Falcons
In 2003, he was selected 7th overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars. His first three seasons with the Jags were solid, and he continued to improve himself as he moved towards becoming a top-tier quarterback. A broken ankle in 2005, and subsequent ankle injuries and inconsitencies lost him his job in Jacksonville. Leftwich also failed to distinguish himself as a starter for the Falcons last year, failing to show anything beyond flashes of his former self as the turmoil surrounding the Falcons following the early departure of Bobby Petrino destracting the public from his struggles. This may be Leftwich's last chance to establish himself as a starting NFL quarterback.




8) Jevon Kearse, DE

2007 Team: Philadelphia Eagles
"The Freak" established himself right off the bat as he exploded onto the NFL scene in 1999 with the Tennesee Titans. After being named Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1999, a 2x All-Pro, and a 3x Pro Bowl selection, Kearse headed to Philadephia following the 2003 season. Injury problems have plagued otherwise solid seasons for Kearse, who in 2007 lost almost 30 lbs. in an effort to improve his speed.








7) Ty Law, CB

2007 Team: Kansas City Chiefs
Law has been a dominant presence in the secondary for the Patriots, Jets, and Chiefs. Rumors are swirling that he's interested in heading back to the Pats, and if he's willing to take a slight pay cut, the Patriots would be wise to bring him back in, as there are significant holes in the Patriots D that they have lost to Free Agency








6) Isaac Bruce, WR

2007 Team: St. Louis Rams
This 3-time all-pro wide receiver has everything he might want in his professional career. He's been named to four pro bowls, and he won a Super Bowl in 2000 with the Rams. Though the Rams are all he has known for his entire 13-year NFL Career, Bruce can bring a strong veteran presence to any team. Though he might have lost a step or two, Bruce can still function as a solid possession receiver, and a final piece for a team that feels it is close to competing for the Super Bowl.




5) Michael Turner, RB

2007 Team: San Diego Chargers
Turner looks to break out and reach beyond the role he played as second fiddle to superstar RB LaDanian Tomlinson. Turner has showed flashes of greatness in limited playing time, but it remains to be seen if any team that is looking for a running back has the confidence in him to offer their starting job to him, especially considering the deep crop of running backs in this year's draft. Turner might be best suited in a tandem set up, getting around half of the carries, and providing transition from a different style of back.






4) Bernard Berrian, WR

2007 Team: Chicago Bears
Rated #2 in scouts.com's list of free agent wide receivers, Berrian looks to build off of the momentum of two solid seasons, after establishing himself with a fantastic beginning to his 2006 season. Losing him and Muhsin Muhammad would be devastating for the Chicago Bears, who need all the help they can get after deciding to give Rex Grossman one last chance at quarterback. He's already scheduled to meet with Vikings officials, who look to add fire power to their young offensive lineup.




3) Asante Samuel, CB

2007 Team: New England Patriots
Asante Samuel has become a cap casualty for the suddenly frugal (again) Patriots, whose one year experiment with spending lots of money on big ticket free agents, which led them to an 18-0 record before losing in the Super Bowl is over. Samuel had a break-out year in 2007, ending up as an All-Pro and a member of the 2007 AFC Pro Bowl team. Samuel seems to be moving fast in this free agency period, as rumors are swirling that he's likely headed to Philadelphia.








2) Lance Briggs, OLB

2007 Team: Chicago Bears
2 times All-Pro and 3 times a Pro Bowler, Lance Briggs finally he has his "freedom" from a Bears organization he lashed out against after being franchised before the 2007 season. His numbers did see a slight drop off, but his season was still strong enough to garner another Pro Bowl selection in '07. A change of scenery should allow Lance Briggs to continue to grow into his role as one of the premier linebackers in the NFL in '08.




1) Randy Moss, WR

2007 Team: New England Patriots
It remains to be seen whether Moss will head on again towards "greener" pastures and take the money and run again, or remain with the Pats and try and win a Super Bowl title. Depending on where he lands, teams should be wary of how he performs when the team is mediocre or downright bad (see Vikings, Raiders), and without a structure like the one he has in New England, he made fade back to his mediocre ways, as he did in Oakland.

-- Tim Fiorvanti

There’s a lot of buzz lately about Derek Jeter’s poor defensive play (http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7824160/Jeter-takes-a-byte-out-of-'worst-shortstop'-label)

So he might not be Dave Concepcion over there, but things were A LOT were as far as scooping grounders go before Jeter came to town. Last year Jeter hit .322 with 73 RBIS, while making 18 errors, posting a fielding percentage of .970.

So the team clearly good do much worse.
Here’s a refresher of how things used to be:

1993 Spike Owen, .234 BA, 14 errors, .968 fielding percentage in 96 games
1992 Andy Stankiewicz, .286 BA, 11 errors, .973 fielding percentage in 81 games
1991 Alvaro Espinoza, .256 BA, 21 errors, .969 fielding percentage in 147 games

and everyone’s favorite

1985 Bobby Meachem, .218 BA, 24 errors, .968 fielding percentage in 155 games

--Pete Catapano

Personal foul on whoever designed those hideous NBA All-Star Game uniforms!

Look at this photo: The West All-Stars wore jerseys with white fronts and gold backs, while the East sported blue fronts with silver backs. Since the players don’t always face the same direction, at times it looked there were four different teams on the floor at once. It made the game difficult to watch.

And look at the difference in this photo between the East’s silver and the West’s white. I can’t speak for what it looked like in person, but on my standard-def TV (yeah, I’m behind the times) and in this photo, the differences are so subtle you could easily confuse a West All-Star for a player from the East. If anyone ever played defense at these games, we might have seen 50 turnovers last night.

AP photo by Bill Haber

Swimsuit models, from left, Tori Praver, Oluchi Onweagba, Julie Henderson, and Brooklyn Decker pose together as they
arrive to the Sports Illustrated 2008 Swimsuit Issue launch party in New York, Tuesday, Feb., 12, 2008. (AP Photo/Stuart Ramson)

“This is very adorable,” said Anne V, a $14 million diamond necklace draped below her exquisite Russian visage. “I’m very happy.”

She smiled, winked, nodded and made a little clicking sound.

“I like that!” exclaimed Meghan White, a New England Patriots cheerleader. “It’s unbelievable.”

I had long thought that I was alone in considering my faded, cornflower-blue swim trunks hot stuff.

But I won some proof of the trunks’ irresistibility on Tuesday when I pulled them over my slacks and asked a dozen swimsuit models their opinion of my treasured garment, a J. Crew edition from the early part of this decade.

Just look at them, I said, throwing an unexpected challenge at the feet of these flawless beauties. Marvel at the delicate white stitching, the oversized drawstring, the nautical accents, the accommodating size.

And amid their prances through 7 World Trade Center to launch Sports Illustrated’s 45th swimsuit issue, these slender Valentines bathed my suit in praise.

Well, Meghan and Anne did.

The consensus among several other ladies was that the swimsuit simply included too much material.

It seems that the models’ preferences — for bikinis, sarongs or just body paint — had colored their expectations for men’s swim wear.

“It’s too long,” said Irina Shayk, a compatriot of Anne who joined her for a shoot in St. Petersburg, and who was so stunning that I forgot everything I ever learned while I watched her talk.

“It’s too big. I prefer tiny one.”

Thanks, Irina. I’ll go for a smaller fit next time I go swimsuit shopping.

That will be soon. Because I’m framing these trunks.

--Max J. Dickstein

See photos of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit models by clicking here

Read more Max J. Dickstein columns by clicking here.

The ongoing saga of Clemens v. McNamee is fast becoming one of the most intensely bizarre conflicts in recent history.

Today comes news that McNamee testified that he showed Roger Clemens' wife how to inject herself with HGH.

It stands to reason that McNamee has little to nothing to gain from lying to congress, but this new wrinkle to the story is simply out of this world.

Perhaps I am biased, as I had Brian McNamee as an associate professor during my studies at St. John's (in Queens, NY), but the general feeling I get on this situation is that Roger Clemens is in a lot of trouble, and he's digging himself deeper by the day.

Should be an interesting show next Wednesday on Capitol Hill.

-- Tim Fiorvanti

Most war heroes have scars. Behind every scar is a story – about a struggle against adversity, about lessons learned, about survival.

The Giants lost more games by Week 2 than the Patriots lost all season. And just maybe, oddly enough, that was the advantage that propelled Big Blue to a 17-14 Super Bowl XLII upset of New England on Sunday night.

Consider Giants middle linebacker Antonio Pierce’s comments back when his team was riding a four-game winning streak that rescued its season after a 0-2 start: “Honestly, I think the reason we’re playing so good is because we’ve still got that 0-2 mentality,” he said. “We went into this game thinking we were the 1-4 team.”

Pierce’s words prove that these Giants learned long ago to embrace their own mortality -- and kept on embracing it until they were world champs.

That’s a luxury not afforded to the previously perfect Patriots. They never reaped the benefits of being defeated.

Yes, there’s good in losing.

And perhaps, as the Patriots and Giants exhibited Sunday night, losing is a necessary evil in building a champion – at least in the NFL.

Do the math. There were 33 NFL and six AFL champions during the pre-Super Bowl era and now 42 Super Bowl champs. Of those 81 teams that achieved their ultimate goal, 80 lost at least once.

Yes, the 1972 Miami Dolphins were a perfect aberration, and having an undefeated squad in a championship game is extremely rare in the first place, happening just four times. But those teams, which seemed so invincible during their regular seasons, are a combined 1-3 in title games.

And it makes perfect (or imperfect?) sense. Losing builds character. It gives players and coaches a greater chance to learn from their missteps. It’s a natural deterrent to overconfidence.

Without losing, you can never fully appreciate winning. And most important, it’s impossible to be driven by a fear of failure if you’ve always succeeded.

As ironic as it may sound, the Giants had all these things going for them.

This year's Patriots, however, had no losses, no scars.

And now no world championship.

AP Photo by Chris O'Meara