http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=270022&cc=5901 This I want to see. Wide receiver? Have they seen him flap at crosses?
For me, it was my Diet Coke. Can't be real. MAYBE, just maybe, he will get ONE snap at QB with the third team so the UK journalists can snap a picture or two. And that's a big stretch. He's probably never thrown a pigskin in his life. Even less likely at WR, given that he would actually have to CATCH a ball to warrant the snapping of a shutter. He might be able to punt a ball, though. I recall Tony Meola getting a tryout with the Jets in the mid-90s, but he had problems with directing the ballflight. However, even as a publicity stunt, it doesn't make much sense. Nobody in the states cares about David James. Nobody in the UK cares about the Dolphins. What gives?
Funny what he said about the training to be better athletes. David Moyes said a few months back how he would like to see some of the training regimens that go into making NBA players such great athletes. I think they are so used to the academy system over there to create sports stars that they've forgotten that pure athleticism is mostly God-given, then enhanced by weight training, diet, and other procedures. Soccer, being a skill-based sport, teaches scouts to look for skilled players, rather than athletic ones. Someone should tell these guys that they come like that.
This was discussed on the Tony Kornheiser show today and (I forget who Tony was talking to at the time) it was reported that James was simply there to participate in conditioning drills. No publicity stunt. A bit odd nonetheless.
This has been misreported. His sponsors (who also sponsor the Dolphins) have arranged this as a pure "sports exchange", apparently on James' request (he's a big Gridiron fan, for whatever god-forsaken reason). He will be doing some practice sessions with them, working with their physios and observing the fitness regimes in place at a typical NFL team. This ties in with his long-held interest in physiotherapy (in past interviews he has said that whilst he could never see himself going into management, he could see himself as a physio). It's just a low-key thing he's doing out of interest. It's not a "try-out". Are you joking? The man's an absolute Adonis, he's got one of the most perfect physiques out there. As for his agility and athleticism, take another look. His concentration may be suspect, but his ability to shift that frame ain't. And now, for making me sound like a woman, I am going to have you red carded.
I hesitate to say this, as it might draw Mr. Cam out from under its rock, but... I work at the college where the Pittsburgh Steelers hold their preseason camp. James is going to see a lot of standing around, and if the Dolphins are like the Steelers, he'll probably be shocked to see guys waiting 10 minutes for a golf cart to take them 300 yards to the cafeteria for lunch, rather than walking. Now, for weight training and injury rehab, he's going to mecca, but he's not going to learn much about fitness, since that's not really what they're worried about at this stage of their training. I was actually thinking he'd be better off going to math camp or something that would help him learn to pay attention for 90 minutes. But what do I care, he's a Hammer.
Contrary to what most foreign sports fans think, US Football players are actually in extremely good shape. Most of us see the overweight defensive lineman and assume the rest of the team is like that, but it couldn't be more opposite. Running backs, wide recievers, cornerbacks, etc, etc... these guys have to stay in peak physical shape. Every athlete in the world, not just English football players, could probably learn something from an NFL training camp.
But at least if he blows a field goal in the Super Bowl, he won't pull a "Yepremian" and screw up the pass.
I don't know. I have visions of James throwing a wobbly desperation pass right in to the path of Eric Cantona, who returns the interception for the winning touchdown.