Edgerrin James still likes playing football. He just doesn’t like playing the games that come with it.

The three-time Pro Bowler and two-time NFL rushing champion said Thursday he was ready for another big season — even though he’d prefer to have a long-term contract with the Indianapolis Colts.

“I play football, that’s the easy part,” he said. “But after everything I’ve done and you fight back from an injury and it’s still not good enough, there’s nothing you can do. If you say something you get blasted. But I’m cool, everyone’s cool.”

James had hoped to cash in on last year’s big season as a free agent. Instead, the Colts placed the franchise tag on James, one of the key players in their high-scoring offense.

After rushing for 1,548 yards and nine touchdowns and catching 51 passes for 483 yards in 2004, Indianapolis offered him a one-year deal worth slightly more than $8 million. He signed the deal in March and James’ new agent, Drew Rosenhaus, then shopped him in trade talks as he sought a multiyear deal.

When Rosenhaus found no takers, some speculated James’ dissatisfaction could lead to a holdout. It didn’t. James sneaked into camp Wednesday and participated in the Colts’ first practice Thursday morning.

No, things didn’t go perfectly — James and two-time MVP Peyton Manning fumbled their first handoff.

Coach Tony Dungy said it happens on Day 1.

“You’re never quite as good as you want to be,” he said. “As a coach you want it to be perfect and, certainly, we were not perfect.”

The usually free-speaking James took a more cautious approach to questions Thursday.

HE avoided criticizing the Colts but expressed displeasure with a free-agency system that allows teams to retain top players by tagging them with either the franchise or transition designation. The tags guarantee players a big salary for one year but limits their options because most teams are unwilling to part with the two first-round picks required to sign a “franchise” player as compensation.

“Once I got tagged, I knew it was over,” James said. “You’ve just got to take it to the river and go from there.”

Regardless, James is ready to move on.

For those who think his career is winding down after six seasons, James has a message: He doesn’t turn 27 until next week, is as healthy and strong as he’s ever been and intends to take out his frustration on opposing defenses.

“I want to finish off my career strong,” he said. “To come back from what I went through and come back last year and have one my best years ever, you want to keep going. It’s the other game I have trouble with. I’ll figure it out one day.”

With Miami feeling hotter than New Delhi, Dolphins running back Ricky Williams had to feel right at home.

His actions, which led to his press conference, created the biggest buzz to hit South Florida since Shaquille O’Neal.

This is how big it was: Dolphins senior vice president/media relations Harvey Greene received an e-mail wishing him good luck with the press conference from none other than the King of Press Conferences, former White House press secretary Ari Fleisher.

Turned out Greene didn’t need the luck, and Fleisher probably would have been better off directing his e-mail missive at his successor, Scott McClellan.

But we digress. Back to Williams.

Some impressions stood out from the day’s events.

No. 1 — Williams, despite speculation, is not getting traded this season. No way. For starters, he will miss the first four games of the season due to an NFL suspension, and with the Dolphins having a bye in Week 4, Williams will get to play only one game before the trading deadline. Then there’s these other factors.

Williams is one strike away from a year-long ban. He’s coming off a lengthy hiatus on the other side of the world.

He has proven to be unreliable, and has little value to any other team this season — at least any value any team would be willing to surrender.

If the Titans traded a third-round pick for Travis Henry, and no team is willing to give up so much as a third- or fourth-round pick for Shaun Alexander, how are the Dolphins going to recoup anything of value for Williams this season? They can’t; not now.

Next season is a different story. But Williams will be spending this season in Miami, rehabbing his reputation, building back up his value, positioning himself and the Dolphins for a better deal in the future.

But not this season

No. 2 — The most overblown story in football, next to T.O.’s rants, was how the Dolphins players would react to Williams.

The short answer — just fine.

After Williams apologized to them at a team meeting July 24, he had begun the process of mending fences. Sounds like it already has worked.

“At first it was a little uncomfortable, but then once we started to talk, everything was fine after that,” Dolphins linebacker and team leader Zach Thomas said. “He did a great job putting himself out to the whole team. It was probably pretty hard for him to come out and apologize, but you could tell he wasn’t just doing it because somebody told him to do it. He did it coming from the heart. He was sincere and honest, and you felt him. He wasn’t just saying it to say it.

“I just told him to go out there and show he’s committed and work hard. That’s the type of player he is. He’s a hard worker. It’s still a distraction if you beat it up too much. He kept it simple, but he said everything right. He didn’t drag it out and he didn’t want to be a distraction. That’s the one thing he said. I thought he did a great job.”

Asked if Williams needs to do any more explaining, Thomas said: “No, no. It’s over. It was over before he even got here. You should get second chances. If he came in here and was like, ‘Hey, I did what I did and didn’t really feel sorry about it,’ it would be different, but he does. He feels bad about it. He put himself in a situation that he’s in. He was a man. He stood up and he talked about it. He told the whole team first. I thought he did a great job at it.”

Now Williams needs to go back to doing the great job he has done on the field. Because for the start of training camp, Dolphins coach Nick Saban listed Williams at the bottom of the depth chart.

Undisputed middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins will face undefeated middleweight heir apparent Jermain Taylor in a fight being billed as “NeXt in Line” on Saturday, July 16 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The championship card will be presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with DiBella Entertainment and televised and distributed live on HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9pmEST/6:00pmPST.

“Bernard Hopkins has always done things his own way, and this fight is no exception,” said Oscar De La Hoya, President of Golden Boy Promotions. “At a time when most champions would waltz into retirement against easier opponents, Bernard is taking on the toughest available challengers, and making the final fights of his career the most meaningful.”

It’s a classic boxing match-up where Hopkins, the veteran warrior blessed with experience and skills that has lead to a record-setting 20 straight title defenses, takes on Taylor, the enthusiastic upstart, who many boxing insiders believe is heir apparent to Hopkins’ throne.

“Hopkins-Taylor is a significant crossroads fight between an undisputed world champion determined to cement his legacy and a rising star who is ready to challenge for the throne,” said Mark Taffet, HBO Senior Vice President of Sports Operations & Pay-Per-View. “Boxing fans will not want to miss this important event.”

For Hopkins, Taylor is just next-next in a long line of pugilist who have tried and failed to upset his throne. “Jermain Taylor has the skill and talent to become middleweight champion of the world one day,” said Hopkins. It’s just that the day won’t be July 16.”

The young Taylor views it differently. “Yes I am next,” said Taylor. “The next undisputed middleweight champion of the world.”

Bernard Hopkins (46-2-1, 32 KOs) is already assured a place in the Boxing Hall of Fame thanks to his ten-year reign atop the middleweight division and his amazing record. An old-school warrior who is the epitome of a Philadelphia fighter, the 40-year-old “Executioner” is one of the rare fighters who just gets better and better with age. In his last bout, on February 19, Hopkins scored a dominating 12 round decision win over highly ranked British contender Howard Eastman. Hopkins, who has publicly stated he will retire upon his 41st birthday next January is ready for a hectic career finale that begins with Taylor.

“I give credit to Jermain for accepting this challenge,” said Hopkins. “Unfortunately for him, he will not stop me from finishing out my career the way I’ve always done things – my way.”

Jermain “Bad Intentions” Taylor (23-0, 17 KOs) is a 2000 US Olympic Bronze Medalist who has carried that success with him into the professional ranks. A versatile boxer with a stiff jab and thudding power, the 26-year-old resident of Little Rock, Arkansas has defeated former world champions Raul Marquez and William Joppy. His spectacular victory over previously unbeaten Daniel Edouard at the Staples Center in Los Angeles last February made him the most logical contender for Hopkins WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO titles.

“Bernard Hopkins is a great champion and I have a lot of respect for him,” said Taylor. “But I will not respect him once the bell rings. I have waited for this moment for my entire life, and I won’t be denied on July 16. If Bernard won’t pass the torch, I’ll just take it from him.”

A world-class undercard for “NeXt in Line” will be announced shortly.

Venus Williams out-slugged champion Maria Sharapova to reach her fifth Wimbledon final with a 7-6 6-1 victory on Centre Court on Thursday.

Showing the kind of form which won her the title here in 2000 and 2001, Venus tamed her tough 18-year-old Russian opponent in a hard-fought semi-final and will now face Amelie Mauresmo or Lindsay Davenport on Saturday.

Venus, seeded 14th, won the first set on a tiebreak after an exhilarating rally before racing away with the second set which she took when Sharapova blazed a shot wide.

The 25-year-old, whose sister Serena beat her to win the title in 2002 and 2003 and lost to Sharapova last year, ensured that the Williams family would represented in the Wimbledon final for a sixth successive year.