In two years, what kind of money will Miggy want?

If Tuesday's exhibition opener was any indication, then Miguel Cabrera is going to have a huge season for the Detroit Tigers. Sure, he and the Tigers were playing against a college team, which they whooped 17-4, but Cabrera smashed a 420-foot homer over dead center in his first at-bat as a Tiger.

Cabrera, 25, has better numbers in his first four seasons than NY Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez did at the same point in his career. Rodriguez just picked up the option on the final few years of his contract, one that made him the richest player in baseball history.

Cabrera is contracted through this season and 2009 before he's set to hit the free agent market and make huge money.

When/if that happens, Could Cabrera demand, or even earn, Rodriguez-like money?

Detroit's current payroll is about $130 million - x highest in MLB. Since GM Dave Dombrowski took over in 2003, the Tigers' payroll has drastically risen from $49 million that year to $95 million last season.

Now that Cabrera's trimmed down and his defense is improving and also assuming his numbers remain steady, or likely improve, over his previous MLB service, he could be in for a monster payday.

(Photo: Julian H. Gonzalez/Detroit Free Press)

Untouchable: The soon-to-be Tiger Woods win record?

Poor Stewart Cink. Overall, the guy played a decent round of golf yesterday at the Accenture Match Play Championship. Too bad he was paired with the world's best golfer, who, oh by the way, happens to be in the midst of the greatest play in his storied career.

Tiger Woods dominated again yesterday, beating Cink by eight strokes with seven holes remaining. The win was the 63rd of Woods' career, moving him into fourth all-time and past the great Arnold Palmer.

Woods is just 19 wins away from tying Sam Snead's all-time career wins (82).

Woods will break, probably shatter, that record.

And that got a friend and I talking last night. If Tiger, say, finishes with 105 career wins, will that record ever be broken?

Will it be so insurmountable that no golfer will ever sniff it? I likened it to the Cal Ripken Jr. consecutive games played streak (2,632). Nobody has even come close to The Ironman's record and they probably won't to Woods' win record when his career has come to an end.

Darren McFadden

-said he's going to do some workouts, but those are yet to be determined. He said running the 40 will depend how he feels on Sunday morning.
-not worried about recent reports about his stock sliding because of off-the-field issues.
-admires Adrian Peterson
-not important to him if he's the first RB taken
-feels he's the best player in the draft
-goign to have to adapt to game speed and learn plays - sees that as toughest switch to the pros
-great hands, lots of positions growing up have prepped him for that
-doesn't matter where he plays next year
-loves to lineup behind center (Wildcat formation) and throw it; not sure if there's room for it in the NFL but will do happily do it if asked
-tough guy, can get short and long yards
-not surprised by the recent reports about his character, since it is the Combine and NFL teams want to know everything about every prospect
-said he made mistakes and put himself in bad situations, regrets them, and can only be honest to NFL people in interviews about what happened
-6-1, 211

Colt Brennen

Hawaii QB Colt Brennen has put on 22 pounds since his senior season ended in a BCS blowout loss to Georgia in early January.

Brennen said he's been taking heavy loads of supplements and eating three large meals a day. Plus he's been able to keep on the weight because a tweaked groin kept him relatively subdued for about two weeks after the Senior Bowl.

He said he's 100 percent recovered from the injury but he hasn't caught up on workouts, at least compared to the players who've feverishly worked out over the past six weeks to prepare for drills in front of scouts at this event. Boy, that's a run-on sentence.

OK, gotta' go.

Oklahoma WR Malcolm Kelly is at the podium. He's projected as the top 1-3 WR in this draft.

Chad Henne, Michigan

There were a ton of questions about Chad Henne's injuries this year. Especially since former coach Lloyd Carr was so mum about the extent of the injuries. Henne told the media it was his right shoulder injury was separation of AC joint. Right knee injury was sprain of ACL.

Brian Brohm, Louisville QB

- 6-2 7/8, 230
- going to do all workouts
- training in Irvine, Calif. with 12 other prospects
- system going to help me tremendously, NFL-like system
- same time of system that Tom Coughlin ran with Jacksonville Jaguars
- Harry Douglas, Brohm's top college WR, finished up his interview at a nearby table and walked over to watch Brohm's interview. He eventually worked his way up to the front of the media crowd and asked Brohm a question... "Brian, so what do you think about the receivers?" Brohm joked and said he wasn't so sure about "that No. 85 guy," then continued with a serious assessment of his former college teammate. It lifted chuckles from the writers.
- Brohm has definitely drawn the largest media crowd of the day. I'm seeing well over 75 people here. The podium area is so crowded that about half of the 35 seats staring at the podium are full.

Early Doucet, LSU

-4 interviews with NFL teams tonight, 12 tomorrow
-despite the injury in the Senior Bowl (tweaked hamstring), he said it was a good experience to mingle with NFL personnel
-He's not working out today. March 26 is his Pro Day. He'll run the 40 then.
-Said the most common question asked of him by NFL people is his 40 time
-He was a QB in high school, so he feels he's still developing into a WR. "I don't think I've reached my full potential yet."
-Said he will run in the 4.4 for 40s
-Sees himself in mold of Anquan Boldin/Hines Ward
-Still waiting on his national championship ring

Combine - Day 2, Skill positions

Delaware's QB Joe Flacco has already been brought in. He was on the other end of the media room and I was just rolling in (they brought him in 15 minutes before the work day was supposed to start!). He's a big, big guy.

Dexter Jackson, WR, from DIAA Appalachian State came in soon thereafter. He caught two touchdown passes in that historic upset of Michigan. He's the 11th ranked WR by Pro Football Weekly, who's got a staff here and are passing out their draft preview magazine. Great stuff. Jackson said he believes he can run a 4.28-4.33 40-yard-dash. He's 5-9 and I forgot his weight, something about 180.

Ryan Grice-Mullen from Hawaii is here. He's 5-11, 187. He's doing all the workouts and has been training in California. Said playing in the run-and-shoot shouldn't hamper his development for the NFL system. Said he's still got to run routes, read defenses and catch the ball.

I'm working hardcore on some James Hardy/Indianapolis Colts stuff today, so I'll be updating as much as I can.

Combine update: NFL Network Adam Schefter, more TEs

I walked by NFL Network's reporter Adam Schefter and he was peeved about something. A behind-the-scenes type guy (audio/video) walked up to him to put on one of those belt boxes that are attached to an earpiece, which TV people use. Schefter, in his best impersonation of an angry gnome, spited the tech by turning the other way and rolling his eyes. Schefter was pissed about something. I didn't stick around to listen because I was tracking down NFL.com's Gil Brandt for an interview.

Later, I saw Schefter with another angry look on his face while his crew set up cameras, lights and other stuff. Not sure what he was mad about, but his body language (he was leaning to one side, deeply sighing, and looking disinterested) indicated he was still riled up or found something else to piss him off. Funny shit. Most TV people I've run into can be like this. What's the word? Arrogant... good enough.

Ok, back to the players.

Notre Dame TE John Carlson seems like a good guy. Speaks well, gives thorough answers, from a small town, has a fiancee. 6-5 1/8, 251

Purdue TE Dustin Keller: 6-2, 243; "hybrid-TE." Think Dallas Clark minus the blocking ability (yet). Believes he can be the fasted TE at the Combine. He's doing all the workouts. Has ran 4.47-4.52 at Purdue. Thinks it could be a tad different at Combine because it uses electronic timers, not hand was used at Purdue.

Michigan OT Jake Long: F'n monster. 6-7, 313. He was wearing a long sleeve shirt so I couldn't see his badass tattoos.

USC TE Fred Davis: 6-3, 255. Bench press will be his only workout. His pro day is April 2. He was a five-star WR coming out of HS.

Kellen Davis, Michigan State, TE: Says he's going to to buy a really, really nice pair of shoes when he gets his first NFL paycheck.

The dwindling amount of players being paraded into the media room tells me we're about done with media day here. Still about two hours left to work, but I've seen three guys in the past 45 minutes.

The Cowboys used the franchise tag on FS Ken Hamlin. Apparently the vikings were interested and if Hamlin hit the FA market, Dallas might have lost him to Minnesota.

If anything else crazy happens I'll post it. But I've got the full-time gig work to do, so I'll probably hold off until later this evening. Take it easy.

Tomorrow will be a crazier day with QB, WR, and RB coming in.

Combine update

Nothing too much to note. There's slinging the tight ends to the media room like crazy.

Texas A&M stud Martellus Bennett was swarmed as soon as his name was called. Lights, mics, notepads and tons of bodies enveloped one of the class' top tight ends.

Texas TE Jermichael Finley also got a lot of attention. His measurements: 6-4, 243

Notre Dame center John Sullivan was 6-3, 301 and is doing all the workouts. The Chiefs and Bucs talked to him at Senior Bowl, told him they need offensive line help.

gotta run.

Eric Mangini

Sorry for the delay, got lots of interviews and people flying in and out of the media room. Plus, I had to grab some lunch. Piss off, I was hungry.

He was non-committal about the starting QB for next season. He said he loved the leadership, attitude and competetiveness of Chad Pennington. He loves the QB's desire to be a starter and how he's not content with being the backup. Said some players are OK with being 3-4th string WRs or special teams guys, but he respects Pennington for wanting to take on the pressure of being the starter.

Mangini liked what he saw from rookie QB Kellen Clemens, who saw playing time when Pennington went down with injury/was benched.

Mangini said the NY Jets organization will evaluate the QB position through the offseason.

He also dodged a question about if Pennington was not named the starter would the team trade the QB. Mangini simply babbled about Pennington still being part of the team and about an evaluation process.

Lovie Smith also said he believes Devin Hester, who converted from CB to WR last year and played OK, can be a No. 1 WR in this league. Crazy, I know.

Combine - Lovie Smith

I'm at the NFL Combine and will periodically update some news and notes throughtout the day. Lovie Smith and Dick Jauron have spoken to the media already.

This isn't much, but says Lovie: Ruben Brown, offensive guard, is gone. "We're going in a different direction."

I was working on some Lovie Smith-Chicago Bears stuff, so I didn't hear Jauron's presser.

Keep checking back for updates. I'm here working on stories for my full-time gig, so that's where my priorities lie. It's a 10a-5p day, so I'll be here for a while.

Steelers Director of Football Ops Kevin Colbert, NY Jets coach Eric Mangini are up within the half hour.

NFL Combine coverage

Don't forget, folks. Construda will be at the NFL Combine today and Friday and updating you on all of the happenings. Yours truly will provide nuggets of NFL information on future players, head coaches and front office personnel.

The media work room runs from 10 a to 5 p and linemen are the primary interview topics today.

Check back all day for updates.

Check out tonight's total lunar eclipse!

Yeah, I know this is a sports blog but every once in a while I like to post about other interesting happenings in the world.

Tonight's lunar eclipse is certainly not an exception.

Weather permitting, this tremendous event will be visible to everyone in the U.S. and many parts of the world.

The moon will enter Earth's umbral shadow (the full shadow) at 8:43 p.m. ET (that's 7:43 p.m. Central, 6:43 p.m. Mountain and 5:43 p.m. Pacific) on Wednesday, Feb. 20. It will appear as though an ever-larger bite is being taken out of the moon.

Some 78 minutes later, the moon will slip into full eclipse. About 51 minutes later, a bright scallop will appear as the moon starts emerging. It will be completely out of the umbral shadow at 9:09 p.m. Pacific time, which is 12:09 a.m. ET on Thursday morning.

For Europe and Africa, the eclipse is a predawn Thursday event, with the moon starting entry to the umbral shadow at 1:43 Greenwich (or Universal) Time.

The moon will likely appear some shade of red depending on the clouds and dust in our atmosphere.

It's the last lunar eclipse until 2010.

You can also see Saturn and the bright star Regulus, when the pair form a triangle with the moon as it arches into the sky.

Matt Painter: Twin bother of Shane McMahon?

In this state, we are inundated with basketball. Mostly IU, Purdue and high school. The Pacers suck.

Last night's Big Ten showdown between IU and Purdue has some major implications for the conference race and bragging rights. Since IU won and Purdue lost, it moved the pair into a three-way tie with Wisconsin atop the conference standings. And since it was the only time IU-Purdue meet in the regular season, the Hoosiers also gained some bragging rights.

The game broadcast in stunning high-definition on ESPN. You see lots of things you wouldn't on standard definition. It's easier to pick out people in the crowds, read tattoos on players, and of course, compare coaches to quasi-celebrities.

(Purdue coach) Matt Painter=(WWE CEO-in-waiting) Shane McMahon?

Was that Stephen A. Smith callin' the dunk contest?

TNT NBA analyst Kenny Smith channeled his inner Stephen A. Smith on Saturday night while calling the annual dunk contest.

Smith, who I think does a great job for TNT's NBA coverage, was out of control during the broadcast.

The volume of his voice was near SAS levels. And some of Kenny Smith's comments were, quite frankly (pun intended), odd.

It was certainly easy to marvel at Dwight Howard's breathtaking dunks and creativity, but Kenny The Jet was overbearing.

Take a listen...

A strange day for baseball

So the congressional hearing on the Mitchell Report has begun.

On one hand, I think/want the information shared in this hearing will be great for baseball. It'll strike an undercurrent to the Mitchell Report and perhaps even some closure to this ugly chapter in baseball history (don't forget about BALCO!).

With Roger Clemens and his former trainer, turned nemesis, Brian McNamee testifying under oath about their involvement in steroids in baseball, we'll get some truthful answers. If they lie, they'll perjure themselves.

On the other hand, today is the first day for a lot of of MLB ballclubs to begin work with pitchers and catchers. Over the next two days, all of MLB pitchers and catchers will be in Spring Training.

As baseball fans, this should stroke our excitement. But we reserve those feelings, knowing today's congressional hearing and the subsequent fallout will marr our jubiliation for just a few more days. Then, damnit, it's time to play ball.

* Jayson Stark live blog (ESPN.com)

* MLB's drug policy (MLB.com)

* Hearings: Untruth and consequences (Jeff Passan at Yahoo! Sports)

* Roger Clemens career statistics (Baseball-Reference.com)

Single moms support NY Giants

The strippers at New York's gentleman's club 'Rick's Cabaret' are offering free lap dances to all Giants, according to the NY Daily News Gossip page.

"They've spent a fortune here," says one dancer. "It's the least we can do to show our appreciation."

No, you can do plenty more. Lap dances aren't trampy enough. C'mon, these are the SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS.

Could you imagine rolling into Rick's Cabaret and seeing Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning, patented dumbfounded look on his face and bed head to boot, making it rain ala Pacman Jones?

Thank the football gods that walking felony wasn't a NY Giant this season. Who knows how these free single mom nights would turn out.

Curtis Granderson's ESPN blog to continue this year

Detroit Tigers centerfielder Curtis Granderson, who just became a wealthy man, will continue his blog at ESPN.com beginning this Thursday, the first day Tigers pitchers and catchers report.

"We have reached an agreement with ESPN.com for Curtis to once again blog on their web site," said a bulletin posted on Granderson's MySpace page.

ESPN.com tapped Granderson to blog twice a week last season and bring the unique insight only a player can offer. Granderson did more than just blog about his team and self, but also experiences with other players and what life is like as a baseball player.

He's an intelligent fella' and I recommend checking it out. Beginning next week, he'll post twice weekly - Tuesdays and Fridays - throughout Spring Training and the regular season.

Our NFL Combine coverage

I've been granted access to the 2008 NFL Combine, which runs Feb. 20-26. I'll be in Indianapolis covering the event for my newspaper. I've been fully credentialed, meaning I'll have access to NFL coaches, executives, and the college players invited to the event.

My priority is to complete my work for the full-time gig, since it pays the bills and it's how I was able to gain access. But there will be all sorts of great information I won't use in my stories simply because there's so much going on. That's where this blog comes in.

I will create at least two entries a day regarding news coming out of the NFL Combine. Whether it's a coach making staff changes, a player running an eye-popping 40, or Mike Lupica getting beat up in the media workroom, I'll let you know.

Stay tuned... and I'll remind ya'll as we draw closer to the event.

Sean Salisbury, ease up

The "Four Downs" bickering segment between ESPN's Sean Salisbury and John Clayton may have finally reached a low blow.

We're used to these "debates" dwindling into gripe sessions and personal attacks. The most common is Clayton taking shots at Salisbury for riding the bench his entire career or Salisbury poking fun of Clayton for never playing the game, but we've got fireworks today.

Instead of poking holes in Clayton's argument, Salisbury pokes fun of him, calling Clayton the "crypt keeper" and said "Tales From the Crypt."



Yikes! Is there a resemblence? At the risk of sounding mean, I see what Salisbury is getting at. But it's downright mean. And a very classless act to pull on national TV.

(The Big Lead)

New design

After nearly six months in the blogosphere, I've decided to make a layout change to Construda. The blog is getting more hits now on a daily basis than ever before. I think we've built a decent reputation in the blogosphere as far as popularity goes. That's to a lot of good work from Construda bloggers and linkage from other sports blogs on the Web. We really appreciate that.

But our previous layout was quite amateur-ish. That's my fault as I was trying to give Construda a unique look, but nothing too fancy. Instead, it was rather dull. This format is more organized. There will be some tweaks to it in the upcoming days, including a picture in the banner.

I know change isn't usually accepted, especially when it's not gradual. This layout is certainly different and I'm understanding if readers are nonplussed about it. I'm not going to say "too bad" or "get over it," but please just give yourself some time to adjust, if that's possible.

Thanks.

Chris Berman's outburst now makes sense

Emmitt Smith should never be allowed to analyze anything every again. He's horrible. The only thing worse than Emmitt's 'analysis' is his butchery of the English language.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out

If this was Robert Montgomery Knight's last stand then good riddance.

The Texas Tech coach bailed on his team with 11 games left in the regular season. Bobby Petrino was shredded by his players, fans and the media for dropping the Atlanta Falcons like a hot potato with three games left in their regular season. So why shouldn't we put the heat on Knight?

Supporters and diehards say Knight did things the right way - he graduated his players, he never violated NCAA rules, he stalwartly stuck by his beliefs. All true. Knight is one of the best coaches in college basketball history, as proven by his 902 career wins, most all-time.

But for a man who stringently demanded so much discipline out of his players, The General hypocritically lacks the description in his persona.

He was verbally and physically abusive to everyone around him. He choked and slapped his own players, berated reporters for honest questions, shoved fans, and verbally embarrassed coaches.

All of those volatile actions, yet Knight demands the utmost discipline from his players.

That's hypocritical.

Quitter: Knight violates own principles - Jay Mariotti (Chicago Sun-Times)

Knight's final act a hypocritical one in a career full of them - Pat Forde (ESPN.com)

You stay classy, Bobby - Low Percentage Shot

Monday NFL Hangover: Super Bowl reaction

My head and hand hurt today. An easy explanation accompanies both "injuries."

The head is simple - I drank too much, plus my sinus' are acting up thanks to this wacky Indiana winter weather. I fired it up about 2:30, along with a couple of buddies. The Pistons-Mavericks were on and I declared I would take a shot of rum every time my man Rasheed Wallace hit a three or ran his mouth.

'Sheed was 3-of-4 from behind the three-point arc. And we all know how much trash he talks. Plus we were playing beer pong. Needless to say, I was drunk before kickoff and earned this hangover.

The hand, well that also self-inflicted. Upon hearing 1972 Dolphins asshole Mercury Morris again flap his gums about the 2007-08 Patriots, I punched the door. Stupid, I know. But damnit, I was drunk and mad. That guy is a total dickhead.

His arrogance is unparalleled. Don Shula and Bob Griese have been interviewed countless times about the undefeated record and historical significance and both handled themselves with class, and respected the Patriots. But Morris? The guy has done nothing but belittle the Patriots' achievements, even referring to them as a "bride."

On a lighter note, I thought Tom Petty was boss. Yes, the man has aged, but his music is timeless. Can't wait for his July 3 concert when he comes to Indy.

The commercials? Meh, just OK. The Doritos one was creepy.

I'm still a little shocked today that the Giants won. Eli's drive... what do you say? After Tom Brady's fourth and 20 pass fell incomplete, effectively ended the game, I got two text messages from two buddies - "fucking wow" and "speechless." Yup.

Yes, Emmitt Smith used the word "debacled" in his post-game "analysis." Another gem from ESPN's resident moron. That guy has got to go. He is the only reason I'm happy the football season is over, because now I won't have to suffer through his destruction of the English language.

Beast Mode to the rescue

We've harped on the broadcast tandem of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman a lot recently. It's simple: they're Dallas Cowboys homers. Aikman, slightly understandable. Buck, not so much. It's fun to listen to their voices quiver and see the tears well up in the corners of their eyes every time they broadcast a Dallas loss. None, of course, better than the NY Giants' big Divisional Playoff win a few weeks ago. By the way, Buck is pretty good doing baseball, so he's not always on our bad side.

So how do we spice up what should be a below-average SuperBowl broadcast?

Beast Mode, of course.

As if his mere broadcast presence were not enough to convince FOX, a few seconds of his demo reel would be all even the most ignorant of network executives would need to see. Marshawn is incredibly engaging, funny and analytical. Plus, he's supremely comfortable and experienced in front of the camera.

Why not?

You've probably already seen it as its pasted all over the blogosphere after Deadspin unearthed it yesterday, but you can never get enough of this hilarity.