Ten years ago Tracy McGrady was just a 20-year old kid with all the talent in the world, and was entering the free agent market after leaving high school to play in the NBA with the Toronto Raptors. Ten years ago was also the beginning of the end of a championship era for the Chicago Bulls as Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were all gone.
McGrady was supposed to be the player that would make sure the Bulls continued to be a contender, and further prove Jerry Krause's theory that organizations win championships. That's why McGrady showed up at O'Hare Airport with a ton of fanfare.
Benny the Bull was there, as were the Luv-a-Bulls and a band playing "Sweet Home Chicago." Unfortunately, that wasn't as important to McGrady as the money was, so he ended up scorning Chicago for the Orlando Magic instead.
You don’t want to make too much of one bowl victory, particularly one that came on December 29 rather than January 1 or later, but there is plenty of reason for Wisconsin fans to be optimistic about their squad in 2010. Which is a completely different take on the team than most had of the Badgers coming into 2009.
After finishing last year with a 7-6 mark and getting picked apart by Florida State in the Champs Sports Bowl, people were wondering whether head coach Bret Bielema would even survive the season. Ten wins and a victorious return to the Champs Sports Bowl later, now folks are starting to wonder if the Badgers are in the hunt to get back to the Rose Bowl next season.
In only one game, the Big Ten was able to match their win total in 2008’s bowl season: one.
You couldn’t really tell by looking at the score if you hadn’t watched the game, but the Wisconsin Badgers absolutely dominated the Miami Hurricanes in Orlando on Tuesday night. The overall speed advantage of the Miami team was not evident on Tuesday night, because apparently speed doesn’t matter much when you’re flat on your back.
A position John Clay put the Hurricane defense in quite a bit...
It’s somewhat fitting that the last Big Ten team to take the field all the way back on December 5 will be the first to return to action after 24 days of nothing. Tonight, the Wisconsin Badgers will be taking on the Miami Hurricanes in the Champs Sports Bowl, and it’s a great way to start off Big Ten bowl season.
We get a matchup of two ranked teams who will give us a glimpse of that favored matchup over the years: power vs. speed. Wisconsin will be providing the power, and Miami plenty of speed. Which is why this game is important for the conference as well in it’s bid to bounce back from a horrible bowl season in 2008 and earn some respect.
So will Wisconsin be leaving Orlando with more than just the W on their helmet? I think so, and I’ll tell you how after the jump...
I'm not going to overreact to last night's Bears game and think that suddenly everything that is wrong with this team is fixed, but man, that was fun. I'd forgotten how enjoyable a Bears game can actually be, and I'm sure many of you did as well.
For one night we got to enjoy this season. For one night we actually got to see what could happen if an offensive line gave a quarterback time to find an open receiver. We got to see what a defensive line could do if they actually put pressure on an opposing quarterback.
Of course, there were still plenty of things that went wrong that kind of get lost in the "Holy crap did Ron Turner finally go for the jugular!?" ending. Who here wasn't expecting the Bears to run Matt Forte three times after the Adrian Peterson fumble and set up another Robbie Gould field goal attempt?
It's too bad Ron Turner decided to wait until it was too late to save his job before he finally decided to take some chances on offense.
The biggest problem with last night's victory lies with the head coach and man who calls the defensive plays, and the man who may have saved his job in spite of himself on Monday night.
Brett Favre is a very good quarterback. He's been in the NFL for a while, and he's seen every kind of defense that can be thrown at him. So while what the Bears were doing in the first half was working and stopping the Vikings offense, it seems Lovie didn't expect them to make any adjustments in the second half, and he definitely wasn't going to make any.
We've all learned that over the years.
So when Favre was spending the entire second half making quick drops and picking apart the Bears Cover-2 scheme with short throws highlighted by some deep shots, did Smith adjust the defense? Nope, he kept calling the same plays over and over again.
Linebackers dropping back with two safeties behind them, and Favre just hitting the underneath route over and over and over again. Even after the Vikings had put together two touchdown drives against that defensive gameplan, Lovie went to it in the final minutes.
After Zach Bowman dropped an easy interception, you knew the Vikings were going to tie the game up.
They did, and then the defense bailed their head coach out in the overtime. After Robbie Gould missed a field goal in sudden death, I figured the game was over. Instead the pass rush appeared again and sacked Favre on back to back plays.
The Bears scheme works when Alex Brown is giving us the Gator chomp. When Mark Anderson is blowing by a slower tackle. When Tommie Harris is getting into the backfield -- and last night was the best game Harris put together in a while.
Then there was Hillenmeyer punching the ball out of Adrian Peterson's hand in a tribute to the fallen Peanut Tillman, who had to leave the field on a board in absolute agony after Craig Steltz's friendly fire shattered a few ribs.
Then there was Aromashadu, who the coaching staff felt wasn't good enough to get on the field and take playing time away from such luminaries as Johnny Knox, Devin Hester, Greg Olsen or Earl Bennett until the final weeks of the season. Maybe they just couldn't say his name, and therefore never bothered calling his number.
They finally figured out that they had a receiver on the roster who was big, has good speed, and can actually run a route and make adjustments on a thrown ball. So they let him play, and then there he was running right past Antoine Winfield and pulling in a game-winning touchdown catch.
Even in victory, the Bears coaching shortcomings were readily apparent to anyone who bothered to look for them. Still, I fear it was the front office who wasn't.
We’re only a few days away — and only a day away from the Big Ten’s first bowl game THANK GOD — from Ohio State’s date with the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl. It’s a huge game for the Buckeyes to help restore their national reputation, and that of the conference as well.
So if the Buckeyes are going to take down a very explosive offense in Chip Kelly’s Ducks, that means quarterback Terrelle Pryor is going to have to give us the best performance of his career. You know, if Jim Tressel actually lets him anyway. So this isn’t good news to be hearing only a few days before the game.
Turns out that Pryor has a partially torn PCL in one of his knees. If there’s any good news, it’s that he’s had it for a while...
It’s been an odd few weeks for the Minnesota Golden Gophers and head coach Tim Brewster. With Brewster’s contract status up in the air the Gophers had been losing recruits, and the school kept saying that a decision on Brewster’s future wouldn’t be made until after the team plays Iowa State in the Insight Bowl.
Then rumors came out that Kansas was interested in Brewster to take over their program after they fired Mark Mangino, but Brewster came out and said he wasn’t interested and the Jayhawks eventually settled on Turner Gill. Still, at the time when Brewster seemed to be a candidate, Minnesota Athletic Director Joel Maturi didn’t seem all that pleased with the situation.
“There are rumors that he’s going to Kansas, so I don’t know,” Maturi said. “What can I say? So I can’t guarantee it, no. I can’t guarantee the decisions of other people...
On Christmas morning Vinny Del Negro must have felt a huge sigh of relief. Unlike a couple of former Bulls head coaches he was able to survive Christmas Eve without losing his job. He probably sat there by the Christmas tree as happy as could be with all the new combs and hair products that Santa had left there for him the night before.
Then, in the blink of an eye, all that yuletide joy was gone.
Del Negro can't be in a very good mood this morning as he's no doubt heard the news he's a dead man coaching. According to a report from ESPN's Chris Broussard on Sunday night, the decision to fire Del Negro has already been made, and it's only a question of when the Bulls will pull the trigger.
I may be on a hiatus from being a Bulls fan these days, but that doesn't mean I've stopped paying attention to things that are going on with the team. After all, if I took on a policy of ignoring Chicago teams that suck here at Foul Balls, this would quickly become a Chicago Blackhawks blog.
So we're one day away from the holiday known at the Berto Center as "Fire That Bastard Day" and Vinny Del Negro still has a job. Whether he still will at this time next week, I don't know, though I'm thinking he will. You know who might not still have his job on Saturday, though?
With the contract between MLB and the WUA -- World Umpires Association -- set to expire on December 31, the two sides had been working on a new deal for the past few weeks, and on Wednesday morning it was announced that both sides have agreed on a new contract that will last through the 2014 season.
Which means we won't have robots calling balls and strikes until 2015 at the earliest.
Of course, robots may be in the deal. Nobody knows for sure at this point what the new contract covers since both sides have said neither will comment on what the new contract contains until it's ratified by both sides. That should come in January when the owners hold their next meeting on January 13, and the umpires meeting on January 18...
He may have only played in 14 games with the St. Louis Cardinals last season, and he's only played first base six times in his 12-year career, but the Atlanta Braves have decided they'd rather have Troy Glaus playing first base next season than pay what Adam LaRoche is asking for.
The girlfriend and I were settled in on a cold, snowy night last night watching both the Bulls game and Monday Night Football. I had a couple of players going in my fantasy football playoff game, and a very slight chance of winning. I was down quite a bit, and it turned out that my opponent was a lot better at holding 30-point leads than the Bulls.
Still, as I was watching the Bulls dismantle the Kings for the first 24 minutes of the game I remember telling the woman that I'd liked the Bulls a lot better over the last week than I had all season. They seemed to be getting their act together.
They didn't play bad in a loss against the Lakers, they were just out-gunned in the end. That loss was followed by two wins against the Knicks and Hawks in which it was apparent that Derrick Rose's ankle is finally healthy, and maybe this team might be starting to turn the corner.
I told her, "Don't get me wrong. They aren't going anywhere, but at least I don't feel like I'm watching a snuff film anymore."
Sunday's Bears game against the Baltimore Ravens has been pushed back from a noon start time to 3:15 due to a snowstorm that hit the Baltimore area. That's not the only news of change to come out of Bears camp this weekend.
Though the second bit is more about a lack thereof.
Comcast SportsNet's Moon Mullin reported on Saturday that Lovie Smith's job is not on the line over the Bears final three games of the season and he will be back for the 2010 season.
According to ESPN's Bruce Levine on the Waddle and Silvy show, the trade is done. That particulars aren't all known as MLB needs to approve the deal so that means there's at least $1 million being moved in the trade as well.
Which would likely be coming from Seattle since Silva is owed $4 million more on his contract on Bradley is. Yes, you read that right. The Cubs got rid of Bradley for a bad pitcher who actually costs more than Bradley does.
Don't be too upset by this though, Cubs fans. Now that Bradley's gone you can go and sign Scott Podsednik or Rick Ankiel.
World Series, here you come.
UPDATE: According to Paul Sullivan the Mariners are sending $9 million to the Cubs, so at least that makes this trade a bit better. It's still not good, but it's better.
I’m not a huge proponent of the Big Ten’s possible expansion to twelve teams, though I’m not staunchly opposed to it either. I’m more in the line of thought that if the conference wants to add a 12th team so it can have a championship game, as long as it’s a strong school they’re adding, I’m okay with it.
If they’re going to add some patsy like Syracuse to go 1-7 in the conference every year — in football — and add a win to to everybody’s conference schedule just for the sake of more money, then I’m against it. I want this conference to get better, not just bigger.
That being said, I read something in the Chicago Tribune on Thursday — sorry, I wasn’t around to write then — that gave me pause. It seems that if the Big Ten can convince a 12th school to join the conference, they may not stop there...
One of the funnier things that kept taking place during baseball's winter meetings were all the trades of Milton Bradley that were about to happen. Depending on which reporter from whichever newspaper or website you were reading at the time, Bradley was traded about five times during the meetings.
There were reports that a deal to Tampa Bay for Pat Burrell was imminent, and then Burrell would be sent to the Mets for Luis Castillo. Then there were reports that Milton was going to Texas for Kevin Millwood. After that the mercurial one was headed to Beantown -- oh what fun that would have been -- for Mike Lowell.
Then none of these pending deals happened. There was always a "snafu" that kept them from happening.
Last week the Minnesota Golden Gophers lost two recruits who had previously committed to the Gophers when they became somewhat worried about Tim Brewster’s contract status at the school. Well, while the school may have lost a four-star running back and a three-star cornerback, they made quite the pickup on Wednesday afternoon.
Wednesday is the first day that junior college players can sign and the Gophers will be inking the services of four-star wide receiver James Green. Green had originally signed on with Tennessee last season but didn’t qualify academically and had to attend a junior college this year. Well, the Volunteers backed off on Green, and now that he’s qualified to enroll, Green says it didn’t take long to choose Minnesota..
Before the 2009 season began it was basically a foregone conclusion that Illinois wide receiver Arrelious Benn would be leaving Champaign after his junior season to enter the NFL draft. Then the Illini had a horrible season, and once again, Benn was not able to maximize his ability in a struggling Illinois offense.
In fact, Benn had the worst season of his three-year career, finishing with only 38 catches for 490 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for a third. So there was some wondering if such a bad season might force Benn to stay for his senior season to get his draft stock back up to a first round pick.
Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan only spent five of his 27 Major League seasons with the Texas Rangers, but while there he recorded career strikeout 5,000, picked up his 300th win, and threw the final two of his seven career no-hitters. In other words, even though he was in his forties, he still owned the mound while in Arlington.
The 2009 season has been a very exciting one for the Iowa Hawkeyes and their fans. Along with playing in a bunch of closely contested games, the Hawkeyes also flirted with perfection and a Big Ten title until they lost Ricky Stanzi to a sprained ankle. Still, all the work resulted in the school’s first BCS berth since the 2002 Orange Bowl.
Still, there is one slight problem for many a Hawkeye fan living within the state of Iowa regarding the bowl game.
Considering the speed in which Ron Zook is filling out his coaching staff after firing a bunch of his assistants last week, it’s pretty clear that he already had his targets lined up before making the decision. The Illini hired Paul Petrino to be their new offensive coordinator only days after canning Mike Shultz, and now it seems they’ve found their new defensive coordinator as well.
I remember last season when Kenny Williams talked a lot about the White Sox' need to get younger. That's why they went with guys like Chris Getz, Jayson Nix and eventually called up Gordon Beckham. It's also why when the trade deadline came along they parted ways with Jim Thome, and why it was a foregone conclusion that Jermaine Dye and Octavio Dotel would be allowed to walk away via free agency this winter.
Of course that doesn't explain the moves the team has made this winter. Apparently Kenny has changed his mind about that whole age thing because aside from the trade to bring in Mark Teahen -- who's only 28 --the White Sox haven't brought in anybody under the age of 32.
First it was re-signing Mark Kotsay, then they signed Omar Vizquel to help mentor a young infield. After that Kenny signed Andruw Jones to be the team's fourth outfielder and possible designated hitter. Now, today, the team traded for Juan Pierre.
Now that the Boston Red Sox have agreed to a contract with Mike Cameron it's pretty clear that Jason Bay will not be back in Beantown next season. He still could end up playing plenty of games in Fenway, however, as the word is that the Yankees have contacted Bay's agent Joe Urbon to let him know of the team's interest in Bay.
The Mets, Angels and Mariners have been considered the front-runners to land the 31-year old left-fielder, but if the Yankees interest is serious, it's safe to assume that Bay would be interested in them as well. It's important to point out, though, that even if they've expressed interest, the Yankees have not made a contract offer to Bay...
The Los Angeles Dodgers have finally found a taker for Juan Pierre, and it looks as though it's only going to cost them a little over half of the two years and $18.5 million left on his contract to do so. According to Yahoo!'s Tim Brown the Dodgers have traded Pierre to the Chicago White Sox for two minor league pitchers and have agreed to pay $10 million of his remaining salary.
The two minor leaguers the White Sox will be sending back to the Dodgers in the deal won't be announced until later, but at least they've finally freed up the logjam in their outfield they've had since they acquired Manny Ramirez from the Red Sox during the 2008 season...
While the announcement of the official Heisman Trophy will be announced later tonight on ESPN, the 2009 Sports Blog Heisman Trophy winner is already known. The Blue Workhorse sent out ballots to sports bloggers all over the blogosphere, including yours truly, and 71 ballots were returned.
Ah, it’s that time of the year again. When the college football season comes to a halt as we await the start of bowl season. It’s a pretty boring time for any college football fan. They wake up on Saturday morning, and for the first time since August they don’t have any games to turn on.
It’s terrible. It leaves you feeling cold and dead inside.
Which in turn starts to make you wonder what the point of this existence we call life really is. It’s the start of a deep shame-cycle that nobody enjoys, so they start thinking of things to distract themselves from the depressing slate of Saturday afternoon television.
And in the Big Ten that can mean only one thing: adding a twelfth team.
Earlier this week we learned that Tim Brewster made up the fact that he was a candidate to take over the head coaching job at Kansas, where Mark Mangino was recently fired. Brewster later came out and said that he had no interest in the job, but whether or not it was more Kansas’ lack of interest, that’s for you to decide.
Now comes word that Brewster isn’t the only Big Ten coach who happens to be on the Jayhawks radar. While the word around the water cooler is that Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh is Kansas’ top choice, if he doesn’t take the job then the school will turn its attention to another coach.
While it’s pretty safe to assume that Ron Zook will be back on the sidelines for Illinois next season, it looks as though he’ll be the only coach who survived the 2009 season.
It was announced by the school on Friday that offensive coordinator Mike Schultz, quarterbacks coach Kurt Beathard, wide receivers coach Jim Pry and special teams coordinator Mike Woodford will not be back for the 2010 season. In addition, co-defensive coordinators Dan Disch and Curt Mallory survived the purge, but neither will return as defensive coordinator next season, but rather as position coaches...
What? You expect me to say something after that? Sorry, I’m too terrified by the last part of the video that said there were more videos to come.
On the bright side, at least now we all know what Oops Pow Surprise and Hawkeye State do in their spare time. I smell a new theme to the Black Heart Gold Podcast.
The Chicago White Sox solidified the back of their bullpen and gave themselves some options on Friday afternoon, as it was announced that they'd signed reliever J.J. Putz to a one-year $3 million deal. The 32-year old reliever is coming off a down season with the New York Mets that ended prematurely when he needed surgery to have a bone spur removed from his right elbow on June 9.
Before then, Putz had gone 1-4 with a 5.22 ERA serving as a set up man for Francisco Rodriguez in the Mets bullpen. In his first six big league seasons, Putz pitched for the Seattle Mariners where he racked up 101 saves and made the AL All-Star team in 2007...
The moment it was announced that Brian Kelly was going to be leaving Cincinnati for Notre Dame, I knew it was coming.
Somewhere out there, somebody was going to talk about what a horrible person Kelly was for leaving his 12-0 team behind in Cincinnati to "sell out" and take the job at Notre Dame.
It happens every time a college coach moves on to another job.
There will be those in the media who focus on what a good hire this coach is for his new school. But then there will be those in the media who call the coach "scum." Seriously, Jeff Pearlman -- a writer whose work I enjoy and respect -- called Brian Kelly "scum" for taking the Notre Dame job.
I can't take the credit for thinking of this first, as I saw it on EDSBS. It's a perfect song to celebrate the occasion I think.
Also, Brian Kelly Kelly Kelly Kelly Kelly Kelly has already changed his Twitter page to better reflect his new position in life. Why? Because he's Kelly Kelly Kelly Kelly Kelly....
Well the long wait is finally over. No more rumors, no more denials, no more worrying about whether or not the school is serious when they say Randy Edsall is a candidate.
Though at least this time, he didn’t hurt anybody.
I’m guessing that there’s going to be a new rule for football players in East Lansing, and it’s going to be that nobody on the team is allowed to go within one hundred feet of Small Planet. The same nightclub in which Glenn Winston got into a fight and eventually led to the incident at Rather Hall that has resulted in many a suspension and nine Spartans players to have charges filed against them.
On the same night that his teammates were at Rather Hall looking for trouble, fellow receiver Myles White was at Small Planet and was cited for being a minor in possession of alcohol and public urination/disorderly conduct. He had his day in court Thursday morning...
I went to work on Wednesday night not quite at 100%. I felt like crap all day, but figured I'd go in and soldier through the night anyway.
I didn't make it.
I went home sick (so if my writing in this post is even worse than usual, blame the Nyquil) and crawled into my bed a few minutes after the Bulls tipped off against the Atlanta Hawks.
Let this be a lesson to all of you.
If you're sick, going home to the Bulls is not the best way to help you feel a little better. As if my stomach wasn't doing enough cartwheels, watching this team play basketball had me wishing that I was back at work. Or dead.
Over the last few days there has been some talk coming out of both Minnesota and Kansas that Golden Gophers head coach Tim Brewster was a candidate to replace the recently fired Mark Mangino at Kansas. In all honesty the talk never made that much sense to me.
Why would Brewster want to leave Minnesota for a basketball school, and on the flip side, why would Kansas want a coach who is 14-23 (including 0-9 against Iowa, Wisconsin, Penn State and Ohio State) in his three years in Minnesota? My guess was that Brewster was hoping to use the Kansas job as some leverage to get a contract extension out of the school, but on Wednesday night Brewster texted Adam Rittenberg at ESPN to let him know he was not a candidate for the job...
We’ve been waiting for charges stemming from the attack of a student at Michigan State’s Rather Hall that involved members of the football team to come down for a while now, and on Wednesday, they came. All in all, nine Spartans football players have been charged with assault and conspiracy thanks to the attack that took place on November 22.
Most of the names shouldn’t come as much of a surprise as the players involved have already been kicked off the team or suspended, but there are a couple new names added to the list, and those players have been suspended as well...
So far the winter meetings have been pretty quiet for both the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs. The only news you hear coming from the Cubs side is that they're trying to trade Milton Bradley, and apparently aren't getting that much interest.
As for the White Sox, the biggest move they've made so far at the winter meetings has to do with a trade they made weeks ago. It was announced today that the team has avoided arbitration with newly-acquired Mark Teahen and signed him to a three-year deal worth $14 million.
It's not exactly exciting news, but it's news none the less.
Other than that the only things I've heard regarding the Sox were supposed trade talks with the Rays that would have sent Carlos Quentin south for Carl Crawford, and that Ozzie Guillen is considering batting Gordon Beckham at the top of the order.
Oh, and Scott Podsednik still thinks he's a lot more valuable than he really is.
It's starting to look as though the story behind the movie version of Michael Lewis' book Moneyball could end up being more interesting than the movie itself. The movie is based on Lewis' book about Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane and his rebuilding of the Athletics organization using statistical data.
The movie was originally supposed to be directed by Steven Soderbergh and star Brad Pitt as Billy Beane, but it was pulled by Sony Pictures during the summer because the studio feared it wouldn't play as well internationally as it would with baseball nerds across the United States. Well, it seems they've gotten over those fears because the movie has a new director and is back on track to getting finished...
The Insight Bowl could end up being very important to Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster as he enters the fourth year of his five-year contract as the Gophers head coach. Athletic Director Joel Maturi has gone on record as saying that any decision on whether or not Brewster will get a contract extension will have to wait until after the Insight Bowl.
A statement that implies that Brewster needs to win the game if he wants the extension. As if that wasn’t enough pressure on Brewster, it seems that his contract status is also affecting his recruiting. The Gophers have now lost two recruits to other schools in recent weeks, with one of them openly saying that Brewster’s contract situation was a deciding factor in his decision to de-commit...
Barry Bonds' 19-year old son Nikolai Bonds was arrested on Saturday morning for doing what a lot of teenage sons do: getting into an argument with his own mother. What a lot of teenage sons don't do, however, is get booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon afterward.
It seems Nikolai and his mother, Sun Bonds, had an argument on Saturday morning around 10am and Nikolai allegedly threw a door knob at Sun Bonds, and damaged pictures and vases while doing so. He was then taken into custody after a neighbor called the police...
Once again, the Big Ten has two teams in a BCS bowl for the fifth straight season. They’ve also done it nine times in the twelve year history of the BCS, and have sent more teams total (21) than any other conference in the BCS history. Just further proof that this conference sucks (or that not having a championship game has its benefits).
I’ll have more in-depth breakdowns of each bowl game as they draw nearer, but for now I’ll give you my initial impression of each game.
While the coaching search at Notre Dame continues into it's second week, there is more news coming out regarding those who actually play for the team. Specifically quarterback Jimmy Clausen and wide receiver Golden Tate.
Both players sat down with Charlie Weis last week to discuss their future, and whether or not they should stay in school or enter the NFL Draft. Well, we have a definitive answer from one of the players, and signs are pointing that the other will follow.
While no official announcement has come forth just yet, it seems at this point that the Iowa Hawkeyes are BCS-bound and heading to Miami for the Orange Bowl, which means Penn State should start packing their bags for the Capital One Bowl in Orlando.
It also means that the Fiesta Bowl will feature a matchup of two non-BCS conference powerhouses: Boise State and TCU.
Why is the Fiesta Bowl going with this matchup? Well, what they’ll likely tell you is that it’s because they believe both schools deserve a chance to be in the spotlight, and what better way to do it than by having them face each other? Now while it’s true both schools deserve the BCS honor, that’s not the reason they were chosen to play against one another.
No, the real reason is to preserve the flawed system that is the BCS...
After about ten days of non-denial denials, Bob Stoops finally came out and said the only thing he needed to say to stop all the speculation that he would be coming to Notre Dame next season.
On Saturday Stoops issued a release through Oklahoma that said he will not be leaving to become the next head coach at Notre Dame.
"For the third, and hopefully final time, let me again state that I will continue to be the coach at Oklahoma," Stoops said. "I appreciate the history and tradition of Notre Dame. I also appreciate the history and tradition of Oklahoma, and I have been part of building that tradition here.
"I work for a wonderful president (David Boren) and athletic director (Joe Castiglione), who have created an incredible work environment at OU. There haven't been any plans for a meeting or negotiations with Notre Dame and there will not be. Any reporting to that fact is completely erroneous. I will not be the next coach at Notre Dame."
There are still no arrests connected to the fight at Michigan State’s Rather Hall that led to two players being kicked off of the team and eight more being suspended, but details of what went on that night are starting to emerge. While the players involved have been told to keep their mouths shut on the situation, it seems that their parents are a lot more open to discussing what they’ve heard.
Including suspended wide receiver Mark Dell’s father, Mark Dell Sr. Dell Sr. talked to the Detroit Free Press about what his son has told him went down, and not surprisingly, he says it all started over a girl...
We have reached the final regular season weekend in college football, and this first season at Blog Ten has gone by incredibly fast. After Saturday everybody will know a whole lot more about the bowl picture throughout college football, including whether or not Iowa or Penn State will be going to a BCS game this January.
What we already know is that Ohio State will be taking on the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl after Chip Kelly’s boys beat their in-state rival Oregon State last night in Eugene.
And while the Fighting Illini’s game against Fresno State won’t have any impact on the bowls on Saturday, Wisconsin could really use a win on Saturday night to help ensure they’ll be going to the Outback Bowl, where they’re likely to face the Auburn Tigers...
With only Wisconsin and Illinois playing this weekend against WAC opponents (Hawaii and Fresno State respectively) you might think that as a fan of Big Ten football, unless you support either of these teams, there’s really not all that much college football of interest to you this week.
You’d be wrong.
Just because the other nine teams in the conference aren’t playing, that doesn’t mean there aren’t a couple of games that will have a direct impact on teams across the Big Ten starting tonight, and ending on Saturday night. So let’s take a look at those games and see what they mean for teams across the conference...
If there has been a major sporting event in the United States over the last 40 years or so, odds are that Dick Enberg has covered it at some point. Be it a Super Bowl, March Madness, Wimbledon or the Olympics, Enberg has been there. Now it seems that he'll be returning to do play by play for a baseball game for the first time since working the booth for the California Angels in 1985.
Last week it was announced by Michigan State that they had dismissed two football players in relation to a fight that took place inside Rather Hall in which a student was attacked by what he said were numerous football players. Glenn Winston and Roderick Jenrette were kicked off the team for their part in the attack on Brent Mitchell, but with the word that there were other players involved you knew that more disciplinary action would be taken by the school in the coming days.
That action came on Tuesday night when Michigan State announced that they had suspended eight more players from the team for their involvement in the assault...
Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan only spent five of his 27 Major League seasons with the Texas Rangers, but while there he recorded career strikeout 5,000, picked up his 300th win, and threw the final two of his seven career no-hitters. In other words, even though he was in his forties, he still owned the mound while in Arlington.
Considering the speed in which Ron Zook is filling out his coaching staff after firing a bunch of his assistants last week, it’s pretty clear that he already had his targets lined up before making the decision. The Illini hired Paul Petrino to be their new offensive coordinator only days after canning Mike Shultz, and now it seems they’ve found their new defensive coordinator as well. 
Now that the Boston Red Sox have agreed to a contract with Mike Cameron it's pretty clear that Jason Bay will not be back in Beantown next season. He still could end up playing plenty of games in Fenway, however, as the word is that the Yankees have contacted Bay's agent Joe Urbon to let him know of the team's interest in Bay.
Last week it was announced by Michigan State that they had dismissed two football players in relation to a fight that took place inside Rather Hall in which a student was attacked by what he said were numerous football players. Glenn Winston and Roderick Jenrette were kicked off the team for their part in the attack on Brent Mitchell, but with the word that there were other players involved you knew that more disciplinary action would be taken by the school in the coming days.
