Nick’s Notes: August 13, 2008

MEQUON, Wis. –

-         The Rams held their final workout at Concordia on Wednesday afternoon. Tonight, the team will have a pig roast and the annual rookie shows. Rumor has it fifth-round guard Roy Schuening is quite the comedian and has something special planned.

-         Before I get into the action from the practice field, I wanted to throw in my two cents on something the rest of the world is talking about so if you aren’t interested skip over the rest of this. So, about those oil prices… Just kidding, I really just want to go ahead and profess my amazement at the one-man dynamo that is Michael Phelps. By now, every superlative you can imagine has been thrown out in regards to Phelps but allow me to put a Rams twist on it. I was returning from dinner at a fine Mequon establishment called “The Centennial” (seriously try it if you are ever up this way, chicken and asiago ravioli to die for) as Phelps was about to swim the 200 butterfly final. He was an overwhelming favorite to win but as I came upon the Coburg Hall lobby, I saw a variety of Rams gathered around the television. Upstairs, in the players lounge, even more Rams gathered around to watch Phelps. In Beijing, the likes of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James were in attendance. Phelps let nobody down as an anti-climactic final featured Phelps dominating the competition, winning another gold medal and setting another world record.

-         I don’t get into hyperbole much, as I’m not a fan of instantly declaring someone the greatest this or the best ever that but this guy is special. With the exception of Tiger Woods, I’m not sure there has been a more dominant individual athlete in my time. At the least, Phelps is on the level of Woods and Roger Federer. I’m not much of a swimming fan but I do love the Olympics and Phelps is the reason why.

-          Anyway, on to some Rams news. The team made the signing of defensive back Tanard Davis official on Wednesday afternoon. Davis spent one game on Philadelphia’s active roster after coming from Carolina’s practice squad and was with Indianapolis the previous season. Davis attended the University of Miami and was wearing No. 33 in Wednesday’s workout.

-         To make room for Davis, the team released rookie defensive tackle Vernon Bryant. The team has not yet placed cornerback Justin King on injured reserve. The Rams want to wait until surgery is done to ensure all goes well before doing that.

-         The final practice was a torrential downpour that the Rams played through because there was no lightning. It brought out the kid in everyone and it seemed as though the players were having a blast.

-         The likes of Tye Hill, Keenan Burton, Randy McMichael and Marques Hagans prodded the crowd to cheer as they went through the motions.

-         Burton made a nice juggling catch down the sideline, Derek Stanley hauled in one more touchdown pass in front of his home state fans and Trent Green hit Dante Hall for a touchdown on a beautiful deep ball.

-         There’s no telling what it will be like in Seattle in September so maybe the rain was a good thing. Josh Brown, Chris Massey and Donnie Jones certainly took advantage, kicking some field goals in the rain to get some practice in the situation.

-         Steven Jackson missed the entire camp and his fine total is now over $300,000. Linehan said he will meet with President Jay Zygmunt tomorrow to discuss the situation…”I know this is an obvious break in the action and we have some time to collect our thoughts there. I'm going to meet with Jay tomorrow and kind of see where we're at. I'm hoping for the best. I know it will work out soon.”

-         That’s all for this camp. I’ll be around with more notes and the mailbag when I get back to St. Louis. Until then, take care.