11:35 PMCal upsets Stanford @ The Farm on Saturday night 34-28. Cardinal QB Andrew Luck goes 11-29 passing, including a late INT deep in Cal territory. Coach Jim Harbaugh with a questionable 4th down, Belichickian call that caused Stanford to need a late TD to win.
10:09 PM ESPN BCS guru Brad Edwards reports today on ESPN Radio that Penn State will be selected over Iowa for Fiesta Bowl. Iowa is likely to land in the Capital One Bowl, in a game against Ole Miss. Edwards cited TV ratings, fueled by Joe Paterno's presence, as reason PSU gets BCS over Iowa.
10:08 PMDrew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press reports on ESPN News Saturday night that UM AD Bill Martin has confirmed Rich Rodriguez will be back next season as Michigan Coach.
Longtime SNL fans (or just Will Ferrell fans) probably recall the epic sketch with Ferrell and Sarah Michelle Gellar in which a frigid family of WASPs sit down for dinner, only to have the situation devolve into an affluenza-riddled shouting match in which Ferrell bellows, as a point of pride, “I DRIVE A DODGE STRATUS!” Y’know, this sketch.
(No word on if they were girl push-ups. We’re running this picture anyway.)
We bring the sketch up for a reason, and not just because it’s early on a Friday afternoon and we’re already too drunk to walk. No, before Ferrell’s climactic scream, another of his pedestrian boasts is that he “can do a hundred push-ups in 20 minutes.” For whatever reason, something in the wiring of a straight man’s brain* will lead him to believe that large amounts of push-ups are an effective demonstration of how correct he is in an argument. Like, for example, what transpired between Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano and his right tackle, Kevin Haslam.
Hey there, readers! We know your hearts are all a-twitter for tonight’s monumental MAC championship game between Ball State and Buffalo. But before you partake in the fun at Ford Field, why not put yourself in a festive mood by participating in today’s SbB Clever Caption Contest?
Friday’s photo features Rutgers senior signal caller Mike Teel celebrating his Scarlet Knights’ Thursday night thrashing of Louisville:
However, how would you describe this sword-centered scene? Submit your suggestions into the comments section linked below. Winner will be announced in the end-of-the-day recap.
So, put your sharp minds to use and share some of your cutting wit now!
The NEWARK STAR-LEDGER, via the underrated COLLEGE FOOTBALL TALK, today follows up on a gruesome tackle endured last night by Rutgers running back Jourdan Brooks against Louisville.
During his 62-yard run in the first half, Brooks was yanked down by Louisville defender Travis Norton — after 10 yards, by his hair. After he trotted back to the sidelines, television cameras caught a strand of Brooks’ dreadlocks on the field.
You know, I was just thinking recently that Alex Rodriguez needs to do some more to endear himself to the rest of the country the way he has with the people of New York. It seems now that, in addition to not being a True Yankee, A-Rod is also not a True American as he’s allegedly decided to play for the Dominican Republic in March’s World Baseball Classic. He played for the U.S. in the 2006 WBC, but perhaps thinks that jumping ship might be the only way he sees a title of any kind in his career.
(Flipping countries. Rooting for Duke. Seriously, what’s not to like about A-Rod?)
None of this is a done deal yet, as the only source of this info seems to be YAHOO! SPORTS’ Gordon Edes, who says Big Papi told him that A-Rod has chosen to play for the D.R. and will make an official announcement soon. And last time, he wavered between playing for the D.R., then the U.S., then not at all, then back to the U.S.
This isn’t totally egregious (like Chris Kaman playing for Germany in the Olympics), as other players chose to play for their countries of heritage rather than their birthplace in the last WBC, but none of those guys were good enough to be chosen to play for the U.S. team (except maybe Mike Piazza, who played for Italy). A-Rod is one of the best players in the world, and while he did live in the D.R. for a while as a kid, he was born in New York City and went to high school in Miami. Luckily, Americans are totally reasonable about nationalism. I’m sure U.S. fans will greet him very warmly if the two teams meet up.
Remember when it looked like Louisville might be a football dynasty in the making? We can pretty much put that to rest. The Cards simply forgot to show up last night and got rolled by Rutgers, 63-14. With the loss, Louisville finishes 1-6 in Big East play and misses a bowl game for the second straight year. Meanwhile, Rutgers has risen from the dead and looks like one of the best offensive teams in the country all of a sudden. Quarterback Mike Teel, who was smacking teammates earlier in the season in the midst of the team’s 1-5 start, threw six touchdown passes in the first half as the Scarlet Knights built a 49-0 halftime lead. Louisville was so bad they had to resort to tackling RU players by the hair:
I forgot that the Raiders and Chargers were playing on the NFL NETWORK last night, and by the time I turned it on it was already 24-0 in the second quarter. San Diego cruised to a 34-7 win. Oakland’s only points came on a kickoff return at the end of the first half. Good to see the Raiders are back after that inexplicable win over Denver a couple weeks ago. As for the Chargers, it looks like too little, too late. The Bolts have to win out (including a win over the Broncos) and hope Denver loses every game. And the Broncos are playing the Chiefs this weekend. Not looking good.
With the ACC-Big Ten thing over with, college basketball now turns its attention to the awkwardly-named Pac 10-Big 12 Hardwood Series, which saw both L.A. teams go down on the road. UCLA fell to Texas, 68-64, while USC squandered a late comeback bid and lost to Oklahoma, 73-72. I gotta say, though — I like Blake Griffin and think he’s a stud, but he’s already getting the superstar treatment from the officials and it’s only December 4th. Although, Griffin did get elbowed in the nads by USC’s Leonard Washington during the game, which was a pretty legitmate foul. See for yourself:
• The BOSTON HERALD tells us about a high school football player in Massachusetts who dropped out of school, then returned for a fifth year to play football and graduate. He’s been ruled ineligible because the state’s rules say that a player beyond a fourth year of school can’t play. The guy’s only been in seven plays all year, but his team may have to vacate it’s league and potential state title (provided they win this weekend). Of course, there’s all sorts of legal challenges going on. The lesson here: don’t try to better yourself by returning to school.
• FANHOUSE’s Bruce Ciskie says the Stars are looking at ways to get rid of Sean Avery. That was quick. At least he lasted longer than Melrose did in Tampa. To make this more exciting, here’s a photo of Avery’s “sloppy seconds” with new boyfriend Dion Phaneuf:
• The last time the Bills played in Toronto, during the preseason, thousands of tickets went unsold and had to be given away. NATIONAL POST says that this weekend’s game at the Rogers Centre is finally sold out, but the fact it took so long is not exactly what the Bills and the NFL were looking for in this whole Canada experiment.
• So far, it appears as if Michelle Wie is actually going to qualify for the LPGA tour. She’s tied for the lead after 2 rounds of Q-school, and only has to finish in the top 20 to earn a tour card. So, it’ll be like, an actual accomplishment. In golf.
Oklahoma State played like the second-best team in the nation this afternoon. There was one tiny problem, however, with Oklahoma State’s virtuoso performance, and that is that they were facing the best team, Texas. The Cowboys’ feisty resistance kept them in the game all day long, and Texas was only able to escape, 28-24, after a last-second Hail Mary fell harmlessly to the turf, batted down at the 10-yard line. Sure, superman WR Dez Bryant had gotten past the Texas secondary, but that’s mainly because the secondary was playing the ball, which was nowhere near Bryant when it came back down to earth. It was a gritty, gutty fight on both sides, though, certainly a better fight than (ahem) Oklahoma put up, and only the most careless of pollsters will drop Oklahoma State more than a spot or two for this loss.
Elsewhere in college football this afternoon… Read more…
• Lions fans should be pretty excited that they’re still going to go 12-4, according to Roy Williams. The Cubs are also going to be the only team to come back from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-five series.
Following a 1-4 start that has Scarlet Knights fans hearkening back to the good ol’ days, Rutgers coach Greg Schiano thinks pretty much everything may be holding them back. Coaching, talent, luck, graduation timelines, the NFL, halftime adjustments, and even confidence.
(Don’t worry, SUNJ fans; the last couple years were an aberration)
From the NEWARK STAR-LEDGER:
“Probably, maybe I overestimated a little bit,” Schiano said of the current team’s talent level, compared to those of seasons past. “Probably we haven’t played at some veteran positions as well as we’re capable of. “
And probably we haven’t coached as well as we’ve needed to. So when you add those three things up — maybe one area on one day and one area on another play — the result is where we are.”
