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.
It’s hard to get too misty-eyed about the integrity of college sports when coaches are dealing with sex scandals, players are getting arrested on a daily basis and Yahoo! Sports is ready to let loose with the blockbuster news that a USC football player might have received an extra large slice of apple pie at the cafeteria because he’s on the team. But then you hear about things like the following story and you remember why you cry like a girl every time “Rudy” is on.
Vanderbilt head basketball coach Kevin Stallings had been planning a 10-day trip for his basketball team to Australia for well over a year when he learned that school wide budget cuts threatened to nix the trip. So what did Stallings do? He decided to decline the $100,000 raise he was owed by the school in order to pay for the journey. The team played OK - going 3-2 in five games - but I would imagine that the benefits go much further than that. Plus, how do you not play hard for a guy who gave up $100,000 so you could go to Australia?
“Jermaine, remember when you got to feed that kangaroo straight from your hand? Then how about screening out your man?”
This comes on the heels of Mississippi State’s star basketball player Jarvis Varnadogiving up his scholarship so the team could sign more players. That’s two totally selfless acts involving SEC basketball in the space of less than a week, which is probably more than we saw all of last season. Sometimes its good to be reminded that sports are supposed to be, you know, uplifting.
Meanwhile, just to cut the legs out from under you as you’re actually starting to feel good about sports again: look, British football hooligans are back! I guess if The Specials are touring again, then it really is like 1982 in London, which apparently means it’s time for pitch invasions, fights in the stands and undoing 25 years of progress toward making soccer in England respectable again.
The trouble came in a Carling Cup match between rivals West Ham and Millwall. West Ham won the game in extra time, 3-1, but the story was the “fans” of the two teams. One man was stabbed and at least 10 people were arrested in what appeared to be planned brawls outside of the stadium before and after the game. Plus, West Ham fans staged a “pitch invasion,” storming the field after West Ham scored the go-ahead goal early in extra time, forcing the match to be delayed for several minutes and riot squads to escort the visiting Millwall players off the field for their own safety.
I’m guessing this isn’t exactly what ESPN was hoping for when they paid for the partial rights to cover EPL games this season. Although I’d like to see the “ESPN Axis” technology be used to highlight some hooligan taking a dart to the eye - let’s see Tommy Smyth put that one in the old onion bag. (Also, it should be noted that the Carling Cup is about as important as winning the Cactus League title - I shudder to think what things will be like by the end of the season.)
Speaking of awful people, we have a Floyd Landis sighting. Even though he’s was stripped of his Tour de France title for doping offenses, he’s got at least one cycling team who would consider hiring him. And of course it’s with Lance Armstrong’s new team. Really, were you expecting anything else? Armstrong had been out of the headlines for a whole three or four weeks, and we can’t have that. P.S.: Have fun with that sponsorship, Radio Shack.
As you probably know, Senator Ted Kennedy died late last night at the age of 77. Regardless of where you stand in the political spectrum, it’s hard not to think that an era in American politics died along with him. But did you know that he was also a fair football player in his day? In fact, he was good enough to be the starting end on the Harvard Crimson football team and be offered a shot at the NFL by the head coach of the Green Bay Packers.
The head football coach at Ogden High in Utah has been suspended after allegedly getting into a confrontation with the band director over the use of the field for practice. Sounds like someone wound up getting a piccolo stuck somewhere it shouldn’t be.
Apparently in Canada, stomping on a goalie and breaking his neck during a soccer match can get you arrested, but only earn you a yellow card on the field. I think that using hockey refs as soccer officials might not be working out.
Jerry Stone, one of California’s top high school running backs, has been arrested and charged with attempted murder for his alleged role in a drive-by shooting on Friday in Compton.
A drunk city official in Snohomish, WA offers to show a female employee of the group sponsoring a golf tournament “the size of his tee” and whips off his…ahem…head cover. That’s one way to lose your job.
The woman who was accused by Michael Vick of ripping him off of more than $2 million has been charged in a Ponzi scheme involving an investment firm co-founded by NFL players Demorrio Williams and brothers Josh and Daniel Bullocks.
Keep mind that this is coming from the mouth of Smith, so take it with a grain of salt (right, Chris Bosh?), and the Rockets aren’t confirming the report. But they sure aren’t denying it either, and with Rockets owner Leslie Alexander telling the HOUSTON CHRONICLE to expect official news on McGrady later this week, it looks highly likely that T-Mac is going on the shelf for a long time.
Alexander also told the paper that McGrady is a “superstar” and that the team has no plans to trade him. Which is probably code for “we really wanted to trade him, but now that he’s damaged goods we’re stuck with him.” How much his absence will impact the Rockets is unclear - he’s either been ineffective or out of the line-up for most of the season to begin with, but losing him can’t help.
The only thing injured on Alex Rodriguez right now is his reputation, which is doing about as well as Jack from Jack in the Box. His press conference at Yankee spring training didn’t help much - I would recommend not using the phrase “I’m here to take my medicine” again any time soon - and might have got his unnamed cousin in trouble.
Rodriguez claims that his cousin brought something called “boli” from the Dominican Republic, which the USA TODAY says usually refers to the steroids Dianabol or Deca-Durabolin. And now a DEA agent is ominously warning that “those who violate drug laws are always at risk of arrest and prosecution.” We don’t know who this cousin is yet - although BIG LEAGUE STEW has a list of candidates - but I’m guessing we’ll find out soon enough.
In related news, the AP reports that the MLBPA has sent a memo to its players informing them how to respond to questions about the 2003 drug testing. Their recommendation: don’t respond. The memo also goes into detail about little details like why the tests weren’t destroyed, and how the union did not give advance knowledge of tests of players.
Alas, no luck last night. As the TENNESSEAN notes, with the game tied at halftime Edwards chose to interview Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings instead of Gillispie, telling the paper “I cut my losses.” This is, of course, the entirely wrong approach, and there should have been a producer in Edwards’ ear demanding she interview Gillispie. Not having her interview Gillispie would be like if Chuck Wepner replaced Muhammad Ali at the last minute for “The Rumble in the Jungle” - totally unacceptable.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL TALK says Texas Tech’s Board of Regents has a teleconference scheduled on Friday to discuss the status of head football coach Mike Leach, who turned down the school’s $12.7 million contract offer. But they also might be discussing AD Gerald Myers, who is clashing with Leach. Sounds like it’s time for a Loser Leaves Town cage match.
Larry Bowa hates Brad Penny with the type of white hot passion usually only found in telenovelas and Billy Gillispie interviews. The RIVERSIDE PRESS-ENTERPRISE asked Bowa about Penny’s claim that Bowa talked behind his back, which prompted this retort: “The same guy that’s never on time, out of shape, has one complete game (in his Dodgers career)? That Brad Penny?”
The SANTA ROSA PRESS-DEMOCRAT says that despite rumors to the contrary, you can forget about the San Francisco 49ers pursuing Michael Vick when he returns from exile in Leavenworth. Same goes for the Buccaneers, the Jets and the Lions.
The BOSTON GLOBE looks at the list of witnesses in the Barry Bonds trial and finds Patriots special teams captain Larry Izzo, who is expected to testify that Bonds’ trainer Greg Anderson gave him performance-enhancing drugs back in 2003. There goes his Hall of Fame chances…
Police tell WGRZ-TV that the Bills’ Marshawn Lynch not only had a loaded gun in his car when he was arrested last week in California, but also pot. Roger Goodell is coming for you, Marshawn - may God have mercy on your sou.
MLIVE.Com reports that former Michigan All-American cornerback and current Indianapolis Colt Marlin Jackson is testifying in a civil case involving a fight he had as a student back in 2003. The alleged victim claims Jackson hit him with a bottle, while Jackson says it was a punch in self-defense; he is countersuing for damages to his reputation.
Hey, readers! HAPPY NEW YEAR! (Oops, sorry for shouting. *snicker*) What better way to kick off a brand new year than with a brand new SbB Clever Caption Contest!
2009’s first honoree of the SbBCCC is Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson, who yesterday not only led the Commodores to their first winning season in 26 years, but their first bowl victory in over five decades:
So, what words of wisdom or sage advice could the man in stripes be offering to the man in black? Submit your suggestions into the comments section linked below. Winner to be announced in the end-of-the-day recap.
Good luck & good writing! (But only if you’re not hungover enough to focus.)
Teams that were supposed to win won, and players that were supposed to perform performed, as the day’s early games seemed just an appetizer for the big OSU-Michigan and Texas-Mizzou tilts.
(The closest Vandy came to stopping Moreno all day).
As Knowshon Moreno goes, so goes the Georgia Bulldogs. Vanderbilt found that out the hard way, falling to UGA 24-14 in the early slate’s only matchup of ranked teams. Moreno trampled the Commdores for a season-high 172 yards, touching the ball on more than a third of Georgia’s snaps. Freshman AJ Green, who is becoming one of Matthew Stafford’s favorite targets, had 132 yards and a touchdown.
That news should make Ball State’s famous alumni happy, including David Letterman and…um, David Letterman. Actually, that’s not true: there are several other notable Cardinal alums, including Janet from Three’s Company and Jim Davis, creator of Garfield. News of the Cardinals’ cracking the Top 25 probably made him so giddy, that maybe we’ll see Jon Arbuckletalking to himself while wearing a Ball State sweater this week.
It’s not surprising that College GameDay will be making its third straight appearance in SEC country this weekend. But Nashville? I thought UT was in Knoxville. Oh, Vanderbilt? They have a team? That’s right, sports fans, Lee Corso will be embarrassing himself at Vandy this Saturday as the 4-0 ‘Dores prepare to face off with Auburn.
It’s a nod to the stunning new college football landscape, where Vandy, Duke, and Northwestern are a combined 12-1 (with the only loss being by Duke to Northwestern). Vanderbilt hasn’t had a winning season since 1982. Northwestern hasn’t been 5-0 since 1962. Prior to this past Saturday, Duke hadn’t won an ACC game since Millard Fillmore was president. It’s insanity.
