Here are a few notes and announcements that deal specifically with Buffalo Rumblings:
One of the newest community members here at Buffalo Rumblings, labill, yesterday asked a question in regards to Darwin Walker that general Google searches could not answer:
Well, I have an answer for you, labill. After consulting with a friend of mine, Jeff G of The Big Red Sheet, Jeff (a big-time Cards fan and blogger) gave us a little inside info on Walker's stint with Arizona. I posted his response in the Darwin Walker thread from yesterday, but I'll put it here too for a bit more prominence:
Walker was in the same draft class as DT's Mao Tosi and Jabari Issa; both of whom impressed as rookies (although they faded from view after that). Cardinals also had Mark Smith (who had played well before being injured) and Russell Davis (a FA or trade pickup from the Bears whom I never liked, but had apparently impressed the coaches - I always wondered if Davis had incriminating photos of a Cardinal bigwig).
I know I was caught by surprise when Walker was released, but then again, the Cardinals at the time had always had a spotty record evaluating talent, so I kind of put it out of my mind (though with the same nagging concern you've raised). Needless to say, some of us were more than a bit upset when Walker went on to perform well in Philly - perhaps because he was utilized better as a smaller more mobile tackle by D-line coach Jim Johnson.
On hindsight - having read the recent headlines - it appears Darwin is being stubborn about signing a contract with the Bills and has opted out of "voluntary" minicamps. Quite possibility, this "independent" streak may have miffed the Cardinal brass who (fairly or unfairly) mayhave decided that Walker didn't have enough upside to tolerate unwillingness to be a "team player." But that's just a guess.
So there you have it! By the way, if any of you ever have any questions that you'd like answered, you can always email me at buffalorumblings@gmail.com and I'll do my best to get them answered for you.
In case you missed it, we are setting up the first ever Buffalo Rumblings Fantasy Football League! We have already received e-mail from a few interested individuals, but we're still looking for interested parties - so if you'd like to get to know some of the members of the Rumblings community, have a great time playing fantasy football and join in on the party, just leave a reply in the comments. Even if you've never commented here before, we'd love to have you!
This Friday (6/15) will be the first installment of a new feature here at Buffalo Rumblings called "Around the AFC East". Phinatic from The Phinsider, tommasse from Pats Pulpit, Jetfighter from NY Landing Strip and myself will be exchanging questions about our favorite AFC East teams and posting responses on each other's blogs. So this Friday you will see answers to a few questions from each of the three aforementioned bloggers! This is going to be a weekly feature, so if any of you have questions that you'd like to ask these highly-intelligent fellow bloggers of mine, please send them my way and I'll see if I can't get them answered.
This Thursday (6/14) I will be making a guest appearance on The Buffalo Beat, a live radio show hosted by our friend D.O. over at Buffalo Sports Stampede. DO's podcast is a featured show for the TPS Radio Network, and he does a high-quality job of bringing you news from the Bills as well as the Buffalo Sabres. If anyone's interested in listening in, I'll be appearing at 8:10 for about a 20-minute segment, so tune in, join the chat room and talk Buffalo sports with us!