It’s the early odds on team’s chances to make the Super Bowl. What are your team’s chances? Just look below. My team, the Falcons, well, they’re pretty much as long a shot as there is, and at 100-1, I think that’s kind of unfair (this one should be somewhere in the thousands or millions). Pats at 7-2? Chargers at 7-1? I like that action. . .

Arizona Cardinals 50 - 1
Atlanta Falcons 100 - 1
Baltimore Ravens 75 - 1
Buffalo Bills 50 - 1
Carolina Panthers 40 - 1
Chicago Bears 35 - 1
Cincinnati Bengals 60 - 1
Cleveland Browns 25 - 1
Dallas Cowboys 6 - 1
Denver Broncos 50 - 1
Detroit Lions 80 - 1
Green Bay Packers 25 - 1
Houston Texans 60 - 1
Indianapolis Colts 7 - 1
Jacksonville Jaguars 12 - 1
Kansas City Chiefs 100 - 1
Miami Dolphins 100 - 1
Minnesota Vikings 18 - 1
New England Patriots 7 - 2
New Orleans Saints 25 - 1
New York Giants 15 - 1
New York Jets 35 - 1
Oakland Raiders 50 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles 20 - 1
Pittsburgh Steelers 15 - 1
Saint Louis Rams 75 - 1
San Diego Chargers 7 - 1
San Francisco 49ers 80 - 1
Seattle Seahawks 25 - 1
Tampa Bay Buccanneers 40 - 1
Tennessee Titans 40 - 1
Washington Redskins 50 - 1

There’s never enough Madden 09 previews, and with that said, I present you with yet another. As long as these things keep popping out, I’m going ot keep showing them.

I posted the original trailer, but this one seems to be the actual gameplay, which is so much more revealing than the closeups that come out at first. Enjoy.

As a former University of Tennessee student, it’s hard for me to see a guy like Travis Henry get released. He’s always seemed like a good guy to me, even if he is a bit of a drug addict. The way I see it, Ricky Williams is a pothead, and he’s been given chance after chance in this league. Why treat the UT man — the other UT — any different?

Well, the Broncos have decided to part ways with Henry, who was one of those guys last year that I was raving about coming fantasy draft time, and absolutely ecstatic someone else beat me to him by the end of the year.

“Although Travis has the ability to be one of the top running backs in the NFL, we have to make decisions that are in the best interests of our organization and its goal of winning a Super Bowl,” Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said in a statement. “We did not feel his commitment to the Broncos was enough to warrant a spot on this football team.”

“He’s just too inconsistent as a person. When you’re too inconsistent as a person, you usually aren’t going to win championships,” Shanahan said during a spring workout later in the day.

He did consistently fail drug tests, though, and also consistently disputed them, to no evail. I guess he’s got something going for him, from a consistency standpoint, anyway.

Here’s a look at Madden 09, which features Brett Favre on the cover, which is probably bad for Brett. Before, Madden only ruined a person’s statistics. Now, it’s gonna mess up sonmeone’s fishing trip on a nice Saturday.

Jay Cutler, first round draft pick three years ago for the Broncos, has been diagnosed with Type I Diabetes.

“It’s something that he’s dealing with and something a lot of other people have,” Garafalo said. “Even though it’s a serious condition, it’s a condition that can be managed. That’s the way he’s treating it right now.

“Everything’s fine,” Garafalo continued. “His condition is fine.”

The report goes on to say that this will in no way affect his football career or whether or not he plays. Cutler was lumped in the draft with Vince Young and Matt Leinart, and is widely considered to be the best of the three.

The day after the draft, and it’s time to see who the winners and losers are. I’m not one who believes you can pick winners and losers the day later — I think it takes two years, not three, like most of the experts say to see who really won — but with that said, I will say this: Tennessee, m’friends, you were losers. They drafted Chris Johnson in the first round, a halfback who’s fast, and that’s about it. In the fourth round, they drafted William Hayes, who wasn’t a player expected to be picked in the full seven rounds.

Aw, such is life; we’ll know more of who won and who lost when the season starts, but for now I cling to the hope that Matt Ryan’s a combination of Michael Vick (without the animal abuse, of course), Brett Favre (without the interceptions, of course), Tom Brady (without being a dick, of course), Dan Marino (without the anger, of course), and Peyton Manning (without being a, you know, a Manning, of course).

It’s hard waiting for the football season, given that it’s baseball and that’s it for quite a while, but the NFL does do whatever the NFL can do to try and pass time. They have a combine, they have a draft and, as little as it may seem, they’ve got the releasing of the NFL schedules (not to mention fantasy drafts, which are always nice). The schedules were released today, and while I won’t go through each game, I will go through some games that are sure to be some fun to watch this year.

Sept. 4
Washington Redskins @ New York Giants
-Super Bowl Champs have a history of sliding off the year after. We’ll get a good idea in week one how New York will handle the pressure of being a Champ.

Sept. 7
Kansas City @ New England
-Wonder what the spread will be for week 1? Remeber: Last year, for the first eight weeks, the Pats covered every Sunday. Vegas finally adjusted and they wore down. Like I said last year, I’ll say it for this year: Pound that ATM until they fail you. Pound it.

Sept. 14
San Diego @ Denver
-Remember Philip Rivers, Jay?

Sept. 21
Jacksonville @ Indianapolis
-The Colts will win, they always do against the Jags, but these matchups are always close.

Sept. 28
Cleveland @ Cincinnati
-Let’s see if one of these defenses can hold the other to under 40 points.

Sept. 29
Baltimore @ Pittsburgh
-It’s a fun rivalry, and based on the other MNF games leading up, it’ll be the best of the first five.

Oct. 5
Pittsburgh @ Jacksonville
-Last year, Pittsburgh was thought to be one of the best in the AFC, and then Jacksonville steamrolled them at home, then did it again in the playoffs. The Steelers should have a sour taste in their mouths, and will hopefully have some kind of plan to stop that Jaguars running game.

Oct. 12
New England @ San Diego
-Let’s hope a Super Bowl berth isn’t on the line and LT doesn’t have a stubbed toe. Let’s also hope Tom Brady throws to Wes Welker more than he does Antonio Cromartie, who terrorized him in the AFC Championship.

Oct. 19
Tennessee @ Kansas City
-Around this time, you’ll hear fans saying V-Young should be benched. Mark my words.

Oct. 26
Cleveland @ Jacksonville
-A strong defense and strong running game vs. no defense but one ridiculous passing game. Makes for a fun matchup.

Nov. 2
New England @ Indianapolis
-May want to mark this one on the calendar. ESPN is licking their chops for this Sunday Night game.

Nov. 8
New Orleans @ Atlanta
-Just kidding.

Nov. 16
Philadelphia @ Cincinnati
-Two good offenses, though one has to wonder just how good the Bengals offense will be without Ocho-Cinco. Guy’s a douche, I get that, but he’s a douche that’s really good at catching and then running.

Nov. 23
Indianapolis @ San Diego
-Peyton plays his worst games against the Chargers. Every time I say it’s a fluke. I’m starting to just think they know what they’re doing against the guy. He won’t have six interceptions in this one, but I don’t see him winning.

Nov. 30
Indianapolis @ Cleveland
-Two good offenses. Who doesn’t want to watch that?

Dec. 8
Carolina @ Tampa Bay
-It’s one of the few MNF games that I think will have playoff implications. I said it last year, and I was wrong, but I think the Panthers do win the NFC South, and NFC overall, this year.

Dec. 15
Cleveland @ Philadelphia
-If you haven’t noticed, I’m looking forward to seeing Cleveland this year. They’re young, they’re fast, and they don’t play defense. It’s everything I love in watching a game in which I bet the over.

Dec. 22
Green Bay @ Chicago
-Eh, it’s a rivalry. But I don’t see either team being over .500 at this point.

Dec. 28
Cleveland @ Pittsburgh
-Let’s hope the Browns are good, or else half the games I’ve said to watch will be no fun to watch.

Jay Cutler doesn’t strike me as the person to really throw insults — he’s from Vandy, after all — but he doesn’t seem happy with Brandon Marshall right now, and he’s voicing it in an otherwise boring time for the NFL.

“We’re going to be fine. I’m not that overly concerned about it, but it just would be nice coming into our third year, coming off a big year he had last year, for him to get more work done and get more time in and just a little more trust out there,” Cutler said. “But it’s going to take some time now, maybe training camp, maybe even longer.”

Marshall has found himself in the news a lot lately. He faces a DUI charge stemming from an October incident and had a spat with his girlfriend last year that landed him in court. And he was partying with Darrent Williams the night the cornerback was slain in a drive-by shooting on Jan. 1, 2006. Former teammate Javon Walker said Marshall sprayed champagne on some bar patrons, sparking a confrontation that preceded the shooting, which remains unsolved.

“I’ve talked to him many times. I think a lot of people have. … He knows he’s running out of chances,” Cutler said. “This wasn’t like his DUI and other stuff he’s had. It was an accident, but still, things like that can’t happen. He knows it.

One thing forgotten in there is where he slips on the McDonald’s bag and cuts his arm up. When you do something that violates your contract, and is therefore going to dock your pay, blame it on the McDonald’s bag. I can’t imagine why Jay’s upset right now.

When you’re an NFL player, what do you eat? Steak? Crab? Lobster? Expensive shit that doesn’t even taste good, but you order it because you can?

It’s possible, but not if you’re Brandon Marshall, who prefers a basic menu from McDonald’s.

In what I imagine will be investigated, Marshall cut up his arm after falling because he slipped on a McDonald’s bag.

Marshall, who had a 102 receptions in his second season with the Broncos last year, said his arm went through a TV entertainment center as he tried to brace his fall after slipping on the bag at the Westgate Lakes Resort. Along with the cast, Marshall also received stitches in his arm, but he did not know how many, according to the Internet report.

Tough to imagine this is actually what happened. Athletes love to get in motorcyle or accidents involving a jet ski, and then cover it up with something else. Only most times, they cover it up with something more believable than this. Most of the time.