Honey, I shrunk the ‘California Kid’? ‘Skyscraper’ Stefan Struve towers over Urijah Faber

The “Skyscraper,” Stefan Struve, absolutely towers over Urijah Faber in a photo taken at UFC on ESPN 7’s media day in Washington, D.C.

They don’t call him the “Skyscraper” for nothing.

During the UFC on ESPN 7 media day Thursday, [autotag]Stefan Struve[/autotag] and [autotag]Urijah Faber[/autotag] took a photo together.

And nope, this is not Photoshopped. The 7-foot Struve absolutely towered over the 5-foot-6 Faber in a photo that almost doesn’t look real.

There are weight classes in this sport for a reason.

Struve fights on Saturday’s main card at UFC on ESPN 7 in Washington, D.C, against fellow heavyweight Ben Rothwell.

Faber is in town to corner one of his teammates, star pupil Song Yadong, who takes on Cody Stamann in a pivotal bantamweight clash. Faber returns to the cage next week at UFC 245 against Peter Yan in Las Vegas.

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

Rays’ Blake Snell has NSFW reaction to Tommy Pham trade while streaming on Twitch

He wasn’t happy.

The San Diego Padres are about to make a move that will continue to help them build a contending team.

Per USA TODAY Sports, the Padres are “on the verge” of acquiring outfielder Tommy Pham, who had an .818 OPS to go with 21 home runs and 25 steals, in exchange for power hitting outfielder Hunter Renfroe. The two teams will also swap prospects.

It’s a move that may not make Rays fans happy even though Renfroe slugged 33 dingers last year. But it might be necessary for a Rays team that always has to be budget-conscious since Pham could earn a big raise in arbitration.

And now we get to Pham’s now-former teammate, ace hurler Blake Snell, who happened to be streaming on Twitch when he saw the news break about the trade. He wasn’t pleased. (WARNING: NSFW language ahead):

“We gave Pham up for Renfroe and a damn (expletive) prospect?”

Snell later clarified with more feelings about Pham, saying he was “upset” that the Rays gave up “the swag of our team”:

Hopefully his new teammate Renfroe doesn’t take that the wrong way when they see each other for Spring Training.

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Few experts pick Bengals to upset Browns in Week 14

Here’s how NFL pick experts feel about Bengals vs. Browns.

A week ago, a small handful of experts actually picked the Cincinnati Bengals to upset the New York Jets while obtaining win No. 1 on the season.

Can proverbial lightning strike twice?

It’s a similar story this week as the Bengals get ready to take on the Browns in Cleveland. Over at NFL Pick Watch, nine percent of the experts polled think the Bengals can pull off the upset.

And as we’ve noted, there are a few big reasons why the Bengals can indeed win.

Chief among those is the sheer improvements the Bengals have shown over the last few weeks both defensively and in the running game. Andy Dalton is back under center too which doesn’t hurt.

Those Browns, winners in three of their last four, still have some big question marks. The talent is there but the playcalling, lack of distractions and health hasn’t always been.

Either way, this is a far cry from earlier in the season when multiple weeks featured zero experts picking the Bengals at all. The team finally has some momentum going into the season-ending stretch and the picks department has taken notice.

Better later than never, right?

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Ohio State vs. Wisconsin Big Ten Championship Game roundtable: 4 questions with the enemy

We worked with our sister site Badgers Wire on a roundtable Q&A session on the Big Ten Championship Game between Ohio State and Wisconsin.

It’s an even bigger one that what we saw in round one when Ohio State and Wisconsin matched up. That’s because this one is for a title and some hardware that’ll go in one of the two team’s trophy case.

We worked with one or our sister sites Badgers Wire on a Q&A on the game. We’re always interested in the perspective of the opposing team, and Matt Zemek gives us that as he did the first time around when the Badgers and Buckeyes tussled in Columbus.

If you’re a Wisconsin Badgers fan, we encourage you to give Badgers Wire a follow, bookmark the website. There’s a ton of good stuff going on over there, and they are good people.

But we digress. We lobbed four questions over Zemek, and here’s how it went.

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Next … How is the rematch going to be different?

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

Micah Hyde told other teams ‘don’t sleep’ on Bills this year

On RapSheet+Friends podcast, Hyde shared this idea with host Ian Rapoport that some did not agree with the safety’s vision.

The Buffalo Bills made several upgrades to their roster in the offseason via free agency and the draft. With the additions of John Brown, Cole Beasley, Frank Gore, Devin Singletary, Mitch Morse, Jon Feliciano, Ed Oliver, Quinton Spain, Dawson Knox, and Andre Roberts, the Bills worked to mitigate the talent gap on the roster from a year ago.

Some may have been skeptical that the moves were not enough. However, Bills safety Micah Hyde had no problem telling people, including former college teammates, that Buffalo would be a force to be reckoned with this year.

On RapSheet+Friends podcast, Hyde shared this idea with host Ian Rapoport that some did not agree with the safety’s vision. Hyde told, “I remember having a conversation with some buddies on other teams, former players that I played with in the past whether it’s in Green Bay or even my days in Iowa. And I was telling guys, ‘Hey, don’t sleep on us this year. We’re going to be good.”

Hyde also made reference to the team’s second-year quarterback Josh Allen, highlighting the confidence that the team had with the former first-round pick entering this season. “Obviously we have a young quarterback, but he’s a competitor. He’s a stud.” Hyde added, “Once he gets that confidence from year one to year two’ we’re going to be a pretty good football team.’”

Even so, others paid little attention to what Hyde discussed. “And obviously all the guys were like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. Whatever. Whatever.’” Nevertheless, Hyde knew that this year could stand out from the recent history for the Bills. “Maybe I was a little biased, because I appreciate this football team. I know the hard work and stuff that a lot of guys put in, but I really did.”

Buffalo is on the verge of its first double-digit win season since 1999. They are a near-lock to make the playoffs, as publications give the group give the Bills around a 95-percent chance of making the playoffs.

“I saw the potential in this football team for sure,” Hyde highlighted. Now, it’s all coming together for the Bills year.

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Todd Gurley responds to Sean McVay calling himself an idiot for lighter workload

Todd Gurley didn’t have much to say about Sean McVay calling himself an idiot.

Todd Gurley hasn’t had the Pro Bowl season everyone’s come to expect from the two-time All-Pro running back, gaining just 642 yards on the ground in 11 games. He hasn’t been involved much in the passing game, either, catching 22 passes for 134 yards; he had at least 59 catches in each of the last two years.

It seems like the Rams were trying to keep his touches down in an attempt to keep him healthy in the future, which is something Sean McVay vehemently denied. Gurley’s workload has grown in the last few weeks, surpassing 20 touches in two of the last three games for the first time all year.

McVay said it’s the result of “me not being an idiot,” admitting he was wrong for not getting Gurley more involved – especially in the loss to Pittsburgh. Gurley was asked about McVay’s comments Thursday and didn’t have much to say about it.

“He said it, I didn’t,” Gurley said laughing. “That’s all I got to say. I don’t have anything else to say.”

When asked if he wants to continue getting more touches, Gurley repeated what he’s said in the past: It’s a team sport and there’s only one ball.

“It doesn’t matter. Hit you with the same answer: team sport, man,” he said. “Only one person gets the ball. We’ve got great running backs in Malcolm (Brown) and Darrell (Henderson Jr.) as well. Four great receivers and some good tight ends. (Tyler) Higbee had a great game last game. Whatever he calls, I’ll do my part and be ready.”

Against the Bears and Cardinals in the last three weeks, Gurley had 97 and 95 yards rushing, respectively. And his performance Sunday against Arizona included a 28-yard touchdown run that was called back due to a holding penalty.

He’s certainly running better, and the offensive line has improved, so maybe McVay has noticed that and will continue feeding the running back.

Behind Enemy Lines: What does Austin Hooper’s return mean for Falcons?

To learn more, we spoke with Matt Urben, managing editor of Falcons Wire.

The Panthers play the Falcons again this week, not long removed from a blowout 29-3 loss to Atlanta at Bank of America Stadium. Despite that dominant showing, this division rival has fallen dramatically short of expectations this season.

To learn more, we spoke with Matt Urben, managing editor of Falcons Wire.

Panthers Wire: The Falcons are 3-9 this season and just 1-5 at home. What’s going on that has them under-performing so much?

Falcons Wire: Atlanta has been disjointed all season, but the team’s biggest issue has been its inability to play a complete game. One week, it’s the
offense starting slow, while another week, it’s the defense getting
picked apart. If I had to point to one area that’s been the biggest
disappointment, though, I’d say it’s the offensive line. The Falcons
started the season with three new starters up front, two of them
rookies. Injuries to Chris Lindstrom, James Carpenter, Alex Mack and
Jamon Brown have hindered this group from building any real chemistry.
This has led to poor protection up front and a non-existent rushing
attack. The Falcons have won just 10-of-22 games at Mercedes-Benz
Stadium and have looked a step slow at home all year.

PW: Are we going to see tight end Austin Hooper back in the lineup this week? If so, how does he help Atlanta?

FW: The Falcons’ star tight end was back at practice on Wednesday and
Thursday. He should be back out there on Sunday after suffering an MCL
sprain a few weeks ago. Hooper became QB Matt Ryan’s second-favorite
weapon this season, and his absence was especially noticeable with
backups Jaeden Graham and Luke Stocker offering very little in the
receiving game. Hooper has been a consistent threat over the middle
and his consistency this season made Mohamed Sanu expendable. If he’s
back out there, the Falcons unquestionably have a better shot at
winning.

PW: Julio Jones hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 3. Are they not using him right or is there something else wrong?

FW: Julio Jones is one of the most dominant players ever between the 20s,
but this season especially, the team isn’t getting him the ball in the
red zone. It’s mostly due to a lack of protection causing Ryan to
throw the ball before the play has developed. Some of that is on
Falcons OC Dirk Koetter. who has made fans think of the glory days
when Steve Sarkisian was calling the plays. You also can’t overlook
the presence of Austin Hooper and Calvin Ridley, each of whom have six
touchdowns this season. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for the
team going forward, however.

PW: Game prediction?

FW: I think we see the same inconsistent Atlanta team we’ve seen all
season at home. The Panthers, on the other hand, are coming off of a
coaching change, which tends to wake players up. Even with Julio and
Hooper back, something is just missing from the Falcons this year.
Carolina has been the better team in 2019, and I think they give
Atlanta its sixth loss this season at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday:
Falcons 20, Panthers 24.

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UFC on ESPN 7: Rob Font and Cody Stamann offer different takes on non-matchup in Washington D.C.

Rival bantamweights Rob Font and Cody Stamann offer different takes on their non-booking at UFC on ESPN 7 in Washington D.C.

Rival bantamweights Rob Font and Cody Stamann offer different takes on their non-booking at UFC on ESPN 7 in Washington D.C.

Former NFL player Will Blackmon has a new career as the NFL Wine Guy

In retirement, former NFL player Will Blackmon is studying wine instead of plays. He’s dubbed himself the NFL Wine Guy and created a wine concierge service.

In retirement, former NFL player Will Blackmon is studying wine instead of plays. He’s dubbed himself the NFL Wine Guy and created a wine concierge service.

WATCH: Ohio State hype video for Big Ten Championship Game

Ohio State released the hype video for the Big Ten Championship Game against the Wisconsin Badgers. Watch the epic production here.

And off we go.

The Ohio State creative team shared the hype video for the Big Ten Championship Game against Wisconsin, and it’s a good one as always. Everything up until this point has exceeded anyone’s expectations, but it doesn’t mean anything if the Buckeyes can’t seal the deal in Indianapolis and walk away with a conference title to move on to bigger and better things.

If you haven’t had a chance to view this trailer, take a moment and click on the below video shared by the official Twitter feed of Ohio State Football. It goes through some Ryan Day passionate speeches and includes highlights of the season to date as it opens up with an overhead shot of Lucas Oil Stadium — the setting for Saturday nights’ game.

Enjoy!

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