3:28 AM Thanks to Greg McElroy's four-yard touchdown pass to Roy Upchurch with 1:24 left, Alabama squeaked past Auburn 26-21 to finish the regular season undefeated. Next up is Florida in the SEC Title Game, with a trip to Pasadena at stake.
10:58 PM After today's events, John Ziegler, the man who operates the website Tiger Woods Is God is pretty upset. How upset? He asks, "Does anyone want to buy a website?" If my attempted auction of RickPitinoisgod.com is any indication, he might wanna hold off.
8:00 PM Hit of the day comes from Rutgers safety Zaire Kitchen, who laid out Louisville WR Doug Beaumont. Kitchen was flagged on the play, while Beaumont was taken off the field on a stretcher. Fortunately, Beaumont had movement in all his extremities, and X-rays came back negative.
Earlier this season, Michigan had to deal with the suspension of Jonas Mouton after he was caught sneaking in a quick sucker punch on a Notre Dame player. All of this was much to the chagrin of Rich Rodriguez, who had maintained that Mouton had not done anything wrong and would not be punished by the team. After that, RichRod became the conference’s most vigilant film studier, pointing out a questionable forearm shiver by Purdue’s Zach Reckman on a defenseless Northern Illinois player as that game ended. Out came the Big Ten Banhammer once again, and Reckman caught a one-game suspension from the conference. Video of both offending plays is after the break.
Surprisingly, Reckman and Boilermaker head coach Danny Hope weren’t terribly impressed with Rodriguez’s involvement in Purdue’s disciplinary procedures and took it a little personally. So even as revenge is a dish best served on a scoreboard–Purdue 38, Michigan 36, in this instance–Hope and Reckman decided to make the most of the opportunity of meeting RichRod at midfield after the game. Commence catty slapfight ownage. Read more…
And now a quick recap of Saturday’s early finals, with some selective commentary thrown in.
After last weekend’s exciting matchups, it was back to business as usual for the Big Ten’s big boys, doing what they do best - beat up on MAC schools. Coming off of a heartbreaking loss to USC, Ohio State took out its frustrations on Toledo, blanking the Rockets 38-0 in a game played in Cleveland. Now maybe Buckeyes fans won’t be so miserable & unhappy.
It’s another Saturday, meaning another full plate of college football action - also meaning tens of thousands of fans are setting up shop outside stadiums to tailgate their tails off.
(”It’s coming right at me! Noooooooooo!”)
One of the newest members of the tailgating scene is Joe Tiller, the former Purdue & Wyoming coach. Tiller left West Lafayette at the end of last season, and is enjoying his retirement in the small Wyoming town of Buffalo. Although he’s no longer in the coaching profession, Joe still has an itching to partake in the pigskin festivities. Fortunately for him, he saved up & got himself an RV, so he can travel the country campus to campus and continue to soak the collegiate atmosphere all in.
The recession’s hitting us all pretty hard. Well, as long as our name isn’t Jerry Jones, anyway. But at our institutions of indentured sports servitude higher learning, the cuts are coming hard and fast, and across the board.
Prime example: the Pac-10, which is actually seeking to ban players from staying in hotel rooms before a game. The thought goes that the cost of putting up the players can be better allocated elsewhere, if not just saved. But then where would the players sleep before a game, you ask? Why, their own dorm rooms.
There was a lot of attention surrounding UConn entering last night’s Sweet 16 matchup with Purdue, and it was all for the wrong reasons. In the midst of an ongoing investigation of the school’s recruitment of now-departed super-stud prospect Nate Miles, no one has received as much heat as UConn’s architect himself, Jim Calhoun.
So what is a Hall of Famer like Calhoun to do? That’s easy: Win the whole thing, then walk away. If Calhoun’s Huskies get out of the gate as well as they did against Purdue last night. Not only did UConn sprint to an 8-0 lead and never look back, the Huskies showed the balance and Hasheem Thabeet-led inside dominance that could lift them back to another national title.
Sure, they’re out West, but with the additional inspiration UConn has received since its exit from the Big East tournament — first Calhoun’s hospitalization, then the Yahoo! investigation — UConn suddenly looks like the biggest beast left in the dance.
Meanwhile, Missouri proved that John Calipari - a past subject of NCAA indiscretions & Calhoun’s scorn after he stole onetime UConn recruit Marcus Camby- still has some work to do if he’s ever going to deliver a national title to the C-USA program he’s taken under his wing. Mizzou did everything that Memphis tries to do — run, trap, press and run some more — except they did it more effectively and efficiently. Even a late heat-check from Tyreke Evans and near-collapse from Mizzou couldn’t resuscitate Memphis, which means that the one team standing between Calhoun and a return trip to the Final Four is Mike Anderson. At least we know what the game plan will be come Saturday: Everybody press! Ready, break!
That wasn’t the case back East, where UConn once assumed it would be, and where No. 1 seed Pittsburgh struggled through another lackluster tourney win. It’s certainly not what Pitt fans will want to hear, but the Panthers just don’t seem to be clicking on all cylinders. In fact, one could argue that Pitt hasn’t played on its top speed since knocking off UConn … again … near the end of the regular season. In fact, let’s run the gauntlet of recent Pitt performances: Lost to West Virginia in Big East tournament, underwhelmed in beating No. 16 seed, trailed No. 8 seed Oklahoma State throughout much of second-round win, then eked past a Xavier team that should have been completely overwhelmed.
If that sounds like Pitt has set the table for a suddenly hot Villanova team to swoop in a steal a ticket to the Final Four, well, maybe they have. The Wildcats smoked a Duke team that was finally exposed at the point, with streaky shooters and with no semblance of a legitimate interior game. Perhaps not surprisingly, Duke again rolled snake eyes in the tournament because it was over-reliant on outside shooting and couldn’t stop a deep set of athletic guards and swingmen. Let’s see, Virginia Commonwealth (Eric Maynor), West Virginia (Joe Alexander), anyone in the Villanova starting lineup. Hmmm, anyone else see a pattern?
But there were other sports outside of the tournament right? Well, we suppose.
We’ve seen plenty of big sports stars in bad movies in the past — Kazaam comes to mind, no? — but none may be worse than the upcoming flick Never Surrender, which features Quinton Rampage Jackson, Anderson Silva, Heath Herring, and Georges St. Pierre and B.J. Penn.
This is just made for a bad-karma jinx. They’re plenty of points away from clinching a division title, but you can already get your hands on Washington Capitals Southeast Division Championship gear if you know where to look.
Speaking of the Caps, coach Bruce Boudreau is more than sick of people bitching about Alex Ovechkin’s celebration of his 50th goal. He can’t even take it anymore.
Darren Rovell: Responsible economic journalist, proud CNBC talking head, expat of ESPN integrity, producer and eater of preposterously large burger? Now he is.
Has anyone bothered to tell Colorado coach Dan Hawkins that he’s been struggling to make bottom tier bowls the past couple years? How, exactly, does he expect to win 10 games in 2009?
Brazilian soccer stars are known for being big partiers — seen any pictures of the older, fatter Ronaldo lately? — but this may take the cake: A 12-hour soiree with a transvestite pornstar.
The thing about bribing bartenders is that, if you do it right, you get a better deal on your booze and you don’t get arrested. Well, evidently Dallas Cowboys linebacker/defensive end Anthony Spencer missed the memo, because he was arrested early Sunday morning outside an Indianapolis bar for drunken belligerence in public after a local bar refused to let them pay to keep it open after closing time.
(The Anthony Spencer contribution to Mug Shots R Us.)
Ironically, the bar was called Have a Nice Day Cafe, which is precisely what the former Purdue Boilermaker (hence why he’s back in Indiana) isn’t having today. What constitutes drunken belligerence in public, you ask? Try this choice quote, for example, as gleaned from this report by Indianapolis NEWS CHANNEL 6, via their web site THEINDYCHANNEL.com:
Off-duty Indianapolis police officers, who were working security for the bar, said Spencer told them, “I don’t give a f*** if you’re the police,” when told to leave the bar peaceably.
Hmmm, wonder why that wouldn’t go over so well with the Indianapolis police, huh?
Hey there, readers. Before you head off for that great glorious weekend, why not make an attempt at today’s SbB Clever Caption Contest?
For Friday, we’re featuring a couple of Purdue alums catching up on old times - the Bears’ Kyle Orton & the Saints’ Drew Brees:
What would these ol’ Boilermaker QBs be yakking it up about? Submit your suggestions into the comments section linked below. The winning quip will be announced in the end-of-the-day recap.
Write something quickly before Joe Tiller finishes cleaning out his office!
Congratulations to Kobe Bryant for scoring his 22,000th career point against the Indiana Pacers last night. Your reward? A total fourth-quarter collapse by your team’s defense and a head-scratching 118-117 loss. Personally, as I gift I’d rather receive a pair of socks, or even a gift certificate to Arby’s than that.
The reason the Lakers blew a 15-point fourth quarter lead was simple: they stopped playing defense. They gave up 32 points in the quarter and six offensive rebounds, the last being Troy Murphy’s tip-in that gave the Pacers the victory. It’s the first Lakers loss to a bad team this season, but knowing the team’s recent history of falling victim to seemingly overlooking bad teams. (Between them and the USC football team, there must be something in the LA water.)
Meanwhile, Dallas Stars winger Sean Avery’s mouth has gotten him in trouble yet again. He’s been suspended indefinitely for “inappropriate public comments” after running his mouth before a game against the Calgary, specifically targeting Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf, who happens to be dating Avery’s ex, hottie actress Elisha Cuthbert.
Here’s Avery’s comments. If you look closely, you can see his teammates praying for an errant piece of Sputnik to come crashing down on him:
A class act, that Sean Avery. USA TODAY breaks down some of his recent “greatest hits“, including his swipe a few years ago at French-Canadians. This is Avery’s first season with the Stars, but he’s already managed to alienate his team. Dallas owner Tom Hicks said that the team would have suspended Avery if the league didn’t, and teammates like Marty Turco are already sick of his act. And we know how opponents feel about him.
If you are Thomas Cole, a former assistant girls high school basketball coach in Orange County, and you are accused of having sex with a minor, you might not want to text her. The ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER says that apparently Cole felt otherwise.
JOE SPORTS FAN gets into the world of sports humor videos, and they’re already ahead of the Sklar Brothers in terms of making something funny. Their first topic: EA Sports’ Adult Mens Softball 09.
To the surprise of some, the ACC/Big Ten Challenge has actually been a challenge so far, with each conference winning three games. Duke won the marquee match-up last night, rolling past Purdue 76-60 in what FOX SPORTS’ Jeff Goodman calls an especially impressive performance.
Today’s UF-UK tilt wasn’t really about winners and losers, as Florida re-established their credentials by crushing No. 4 LSU in their last game. It was about getting Tim Tebowback in the Heisman discussion. I’d say he made his point.
Tebow’s numbers weren’t great — 180 yards for 2 TDs in the air, 48 for 2 on the ground –but he took full control of the game, leading Florida to a 63-5 blowout of Kentucky.Jeffrey Demps, who was featured in this great NEW YORK TIMES piece, led all players in both rushing and receiving. The Gators face their last real test of the regular season next week at Georgia. Seriously, for an SEC squad, it’s a pretty soft schedule. We’re headed toward about 15 one-loss teams this year.
