Walker Practices Sin City receiver Javon Walker worked out with team captain and fellow receiver Chad Johnson and quarterbacks coach Warren Moon this afternoon, fueling talk he may earn himself the third retainee spot on the Grifters roster heading into August's draft. "I can't even think about my contract right now," Walker dismissed between sessions. "If I get my knee as healthy as possible, things will take care of themselves. I'd love to stay in Las Vegas, but if the team doesn't think I'm worth the gamble, I'm sure one of the other nine teams will give me a shot." Walker, the Grifters' second pick overall in the 2005 draft, was lost for the season when he tore two tendons in his right knee during the season opener. Doctors have cleared him to play in the 2006 season, but Sin City coaches have indicated Walker's contract status will be decided in training camp. Johnson and tight end Antonio Gates are expected to be the team's two other retainees. "It's far too early to speculate about next year's roster," insisted general manager Jake Bell, "but Johnson, Gates, and Walker were our first three picks in last year's draft. They have to be at the top of the list when considering retainees."

Atoms Power Up this Fall

For the third straight year, the former Boston Lagers franchise has a new home. The now-Springfield Atoms revealed their logo and uniforms designs during the groundbreaking of the soon-to-be constructed Douglas Adams Field in Springfield, Oregon.

The team, which has had four hometowns and three owners in the last four years was purchased from a Hochstapler Enterprises, a Buccaneer Football League holding company, by Hank Scorpio, billionaire industrialist and president of the Globex Corporation. Sam Adams had owned the Lagers from 1998 to 2004, moving them to Oregon and renaming them the Beaver State Woodies for a "Willie Mays in a Mets jersey"-like season most fans try to forget and that the BFL has debated retconning to show the team remained in Massachusetts.

Scorpio, self-proclaimed as the man who first thought of wearing jeans with a sports jacket, wasted no time in hiring former BFL owner and advisor Rob Hart to be the team's general manager. Hart owned the Beijing Dissidents during the 1999 season and has been the architect of the last two Athenian Woodchucks drafts.

He is perhaps best known, though, as the man who retained Brett Favre instead of Peyton Manning prior to the 1999 draft, which has proven a sore spot for West Virginia Woolfs owner Rick Lord, who retook ownership of the team in 2000 after drafting Manning to the then-Texas Sexists as a rookie.