8:00 PM Late games recap: Saints stay perfect by beating Panthers 30-20; Vince Young stays perfect as starter as Titans top 49ers 34-27; Chargers hand Giants their 4th loss in a row in a 21-20 comeback win; and the Lions turn a 17-0 1st quarter lead into a 32-20 loss to the Seahawks.
7:42 PM And it wouldn't be an NFL weekend without Chad Ochocinco trying to liven things up on the field: this time the Bengals receiver tries to bribe an official with a whole dollar! Will this stunt cost Chad more than a dollar in fines from Roger Goodell?
7:20 PM How did Joey Porter back up all the jawing he did this week about the Patriots? By finishing Sunday's game with no tackles, no sacks, no passes defensed, no forced fumbles or recoveries, and no comments to reporters afterwards.
What was the best part of playing sports while you were growing up? The camaraderie of participating in team sports with friends both new and old? The thrill of competition? Those badass uniforms that sometimes bore the actual name and logo of a real pro franchise? No, no, no, and definitely no. We played for the snacks, baby.
(From suicide sprints to suicide Sno-Cones. Everyone’s a winner here, folks.)
But that’s small-time athletics, y’know, and all part of the “hey everyone gets to play” low levels of competition. When it comes to real D-I, big-money sports like football, though, things are on a whole different level when it comes to nutrition and other ways of taking care of athletes. Well, everywhere except New Mexico State University.
The conventional wisdom is that the Pac-10 was having an exceedingly down year. In fact, that’s probably the main reason that USC was left out of the National Championship discussion: their one loss against a Pac-10 school was far worse than a loss to an SEC or Big 12 team.
So what do we make of Oregon’s 42-31 victory over Oklahoma State in last night’s Holiday Bowl? Yes, the Ducks featured an explosive offense, which you would expect from an Oregon team and is apparently mandatory to play in the Holiday Bowl. But the story was their defense in the second half, which put the clamps on the Cowboys’ star QB Zac Robinson.
It was just a big day all around for Oregon sports teams. Along with the Ducks winning the Holiday Bowl, the Portland Trail Blazers did the improbable on Tuesday night, taking out the defending champion Boston Celtics 91-86 without the services of injured All-Star guard Brandon Roy.
Keeping in mind it might be foolish for the Celtics to start panicking now - they are still 28-5 - but they have lost three of four. Oh hell, where the fun of having a sense of perspective: between this, the Patriots missing the playoffs and the Red Sox getting rejected by Mark Teixeira, let’s start wildly speculating about the end of the Boston sports dynasty.
Other sports news that happened as you prepare to get your drank on tonight:
LeBron James’ birthday wasn’t as successful as he would have liked, as he lost his showdown with Dwayne Wade’s Heat 104-95. Somehow you excuse me if I’m not too sympathetic. Still, the game was a lot of fun to watch - NESW SPORTS has highlights of some impressive blocks each superstar had during the game:
Most coaches are petrified of their players getting distracted by the glitz and parties that surround bowl games, especially if they are some place exciting like Miami. Which explains why the CINCINNATI ENQUIRER says Bearcats head coach Brian Kelly is debating moving his team from the hotel they are staying at ahead of the Orange Bowl because Sean “P. Diddy” Combs is having a New Year’s Eve party there.
DIME WARS has awesome video of the Pistons’ Rasheed Wallace doing what he does best: taunting and baiting NBA referees. What can you say? The man is the best of all time.
Wrestling legend/sock afficianado Mick Foley is upset with a Sports Illustrated review of the new movie “The Wrestler” that compared him to a homeless person, and he’s written an open letter on the TNA WRESTLING Web site about it. And then, for some reason, he fell 30 feet through three flaming tables to prove his point.
The LA TIMES reports that UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker, long considered to be a prime candidate for a head coaching job somewhere, is finally going to get his chance at New Mexico State. Of the seven African American head coaches in the FBS, two are in the state of New Mexico.
More from the Danny Villa mess: the BOSTON HERALD says that his wife has filed divorce papers against the disgraced former NFL player and HS football coach accused of raping an underage student. Hope he has a good divorce lawyer.
Looks like UCLA finally found their man - a man named Rick Neuheisel:
ESPN reports that the ex-Bruins QB will be coming back to Westwood to lead his alma mater’s football squad. Neuheisel takes the reigns over from Karl Dorrell, who was let go almost a month earlier.
Neuheisel comes back to the Pac-10 coaching ranks, previously leading the Washington Huskies before getting fired in 2003 for betting in an NCAA basketball pool.
Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick would appear to be happy for his soon-to-be ex-offensive coordinator. Billick was quoted earlier as saying that Rick’s “enthusiasm and affection is for the college game.”
Based on the Ravens’ woes this year, Rick wasn’t much help pro-wise.
But the hiring may also be helpful for the Huskies, who’ve been inquiring about interim UCLA coach DeWayne Walker. Neuheisel’s selection may mean Washington has found their new defensive coordinator.
The LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS reports that Owls coach Al Golden has removed his name from the job opening at UCLA. It appears that Al doesn’t want to give up the Golden opportunity of turning around one of the worst teams in college football. With a 5-19 record in two seasons, he still has a ways to go.
Meanwhile, Bruins defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker interviewed with Westwood brass Wednesday morning, hoping his interim job as UCLA coach could become a full-time one. But Walker will need some better resume material than that 17-16 loss to BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl.
The other well-known applicant, Baltimore Ravens OC Rick Neuheisel, is staying mum at the moment. But when the SEATTLE TIMES talked to the former Bruin QB about the Las Vegas loss, he replied, “I was disappointed we didn’t pull it out.”
‘We’? Hmmm….a tell-tale sign about coming back to the alma mater?
As for UCLA, it’s one thing to emulate long-time football powers like Michigan and Arkansas, but to copy their crappy coaching confusion?
Statement from Guerrero: “This was a very difficult decision for me. Karl has represented this program with dignity and class. He is a true Bruin and I respect what he has accomplished in his five years as our head coach, particularly off the field.“The folks at USC would certainly agree that Dorrell was a “true Bruin”, which is why they are so upset that he was fired.
MORE: “Boise State’s Chris Petersen, Texas Tech’s Mike Leach and former NFL coach Steve Mariucci have already been contacted by representatives on behalf of the athletic department. DeWayne Walker will be the Bruins’ interim coach for the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 22..“
PC RUNNING INTERFERENCE FOR INCOMPETENT ASSISTANT: Adam Rose of the LOS ANGELES TIMES records Pete Carroll admitting that he “blew it” by allowing quarterback John David Booty to finish the USC loss to Stanford this season despite a “broken hand“:
“We really blew it against Stanford. We screwed it up because we played a guy that was hurt. I made a mistake on that. That was me. That wasn’t Norm or Lane or Eddy-O, or any of those guys. That was me screwing it up and not recognizing it, and sitting on the football at the end of the game. We kept throwing it with a guy with a broken hand.“Pretty contrite, eh? And if you don’t know anything about USC football, you would think Carroll is legitimately owning up to his own mistakes. But what he’s really doing is covering for under-fire offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. Why else would Carroll mention former offensive assistants Norm Chow and Lane Kiffin in his denial?
Like we said, that works well for the masses outside the 213, but if you really know what the hell is going on, you understand that Carroll’s inability to hire quality assistant coaches has been the major on-field downfall of the program.Norm Chow made the careers of Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart and based on his USC, NC State and BYU accomplishments, may well be the most-decorated assistant coach in college football history. Here’s what he told Scott Wolf of the L.A. DAILY NEWS last year about the competence of Sarkisian and Kiffin (in relation to UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker): “I know DeWayne Walker may be better than both of those guys.”
And we all know what happened last season at the Rose Bowl.If Carroll really wants to own up to the true error of his ways, he should fire Sarkisian. Because since they are such close friends, that won’t happen. But you can bet Carroll will be working hard to get Sark a “promotion” this offseason - much like the black hole Kiffin has since been sucked into in Oakland.
