8:00 PM Northern Iowa advances to the Sweet Sixteen (and blows up plenty of more brackets) by upsetting #1 Kansas 69-67. And in case you were wondering why CBS play-by-play guy Kevin Harlan sounded a little shocked & glum, he's a KU alum.
7:45 PM The casting call is out for Chad Ochocinco's new VH1 reality dating series. Remember, ladies - no boyfriends or husbands!
The ASSOCIATED PRESS reports today that Adrian Peterson was popped for a 109-in-a-55(!) speeding ticket last weekend:
Minnesota Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson said Thursday that he’ll be more careful after police clocked him driving 109 mph on a suburban Minneapolis highway over the weekend and cited him for speeding.
Peterson told The Associated Press he “got a little speeding ticket. I need to be more aware of the speed I was going and not let it happen again.”
Peterson was pulled Saturday night at 8:30 while driving his BMW through a 55-mph zone on “a normally busy stretch of road known as the Crosstown that connects Minneapolis with southern and western suburbs.”
What’s interesting is that police are saying it was a “routine” traffic stop. Read more…
The NFL opening weekend continues on Saturday, and a whole lotta eyes will be on the shores of Lake Erie, where the Minnesota Vikings will pay a visit to the Cleveland Browns. Most folks will be watching to see how Brett Favre does with his new team now that the games actually count. But the Vikes also have another primetime player in the backfield in electric RB Adrian Peterson.
However, had things shaken up differently in the draft two years ago, Peterson could be running like mad for this Sunday’s opponent - Purple Jesus could have been Brown Jesus. And a former Cleveland personnel staffer says his team screwed up by not picking Peterson.
So much for Purple Jesus coming good on his samaritan role, huh? Just more than a day after Northern Iowa Area Community College announced that Vikings star Adrian Peterson was donating $150,000, enough money to save the school’s football program, the man who broke news of the donation, assistant football coach Kevin Griffin, admitted he made up the whole story.
(Northern Iowa Area what?)
While the news, which we tripped across at COLLEGE FOOTBALL TALK, is a slight publicity hit to Peterson — who didn’t do anything wrong to earn the trouble himself — it’s a crushing blow to the NIACC program, quite literally. The team needed at least $150,000 to continue operating, and with the revelation that Peterson’s donation was, well, never a donation, the school is shuttering the football program altogether, effective immediately.
She will be coming to Minnesota anyway, she said. She plans to arrive today.
“I’m not canceling my trip; he’s still on the team regardless,” she said from Montgomery, Ala. “It’s still his team whether he’s starting or not, so I’m supporting him. I’ll be there.”
We know she loves her son, but if someone treks all the way to Minnesota for an NFL game, I’m guessing the chance to see Adrian Peterson play is part of the deal. Read more…
• INTENTIONAL FOUL tosses up a group of cheerleaders taking the whole “Be Aggressive! B-E Aggressive!” thing a bit too far, as they beat up a teammate - and are stupid enough to videotape it.
• THE DENVER POST throws out news that Mark Grace says he was only joking, but the Rockies aren’t laughing about the commentator’s comments that pitcher Manny Corpas“didn’t have enough Vaseline on that ball.”
• SOCCERLENS focuses in on the real goal for a successful World Cup in South Africa - legalizing prostitution.
• Jason Whitlock of the KANSAS CITY STAR wants his March Madness now, as he’s bored with the college b-ball regular season.
• THE BIG LEAD is rooting for Dudley Hart to win the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, considering he missed a lot of golf time caring for his lung cancer-stricken wife.
• FAN IQ’s 100% INJURY RATE suggests that if the Olympic discus toss doesn’t thrill you, why not try the live-goat-into-the-lions’-den toss?
VIKES’ PETERSON TEARS KNEE LIGAMENT, OUT NEXT WEEK: Adrian Peterson is out for next week’s game after suffering a torn knee:
BLOOMBERG reports the Vikings running back tore a knee ligament after getting hit by the Packers’ Al Harris during Minnesota’s 34-0 loss to Green Bay.But don’t jump out of any windows yet, fantasy football owners. Coach Brad Childress said Peterson’s injury would not require surgery.
“The good news is that the knee otherwise is stable. I’m told that’s a good-healing ligament. So if it was a lineman, maybe he’s braced up and plays this week.”
There’s no set time for Peterson’s return to the sidelines. But it’s a safe bet that Purple Jesus will rise again.
ESPNer DIDN’T BELIEVE IN PURPLE JESUS BEFORE BIG DAY: Matthew Berry was so worried about Adrian Peterson.
THE BIG LEAD notes that the ESPN fantasy football analyst had concerns about how well the Vikings running back would do that weekend.From Berry’s article last week about AP, under his heading “I’m officially worried about…”:
“It’s not as if he didn’t get the ball plenty. But his 20 carries were good enough for only 70 yards, and he gets the strong run defenses of the Chargers, Packers and Giants in three of the next four.”
The following Sunday, Peterson went on to chew up an NFL- record 296 yards against the San Diego D, making many Vikes fans and fantasy owners very, very happy.
Maybe Berry should be officially worried about his own predictions.
