| Knight's a few decades late with rant
NCAA Sports All
2009-12-19 13:25:57 Mail Story - Barathrum - 0 Comments
Bob Knight's speech to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame was going to throw shrapnel in all directions, you just knew it. But you were wrong.
The wrong part is that he didn't aim his explosion more directly at his enemies at Indiana. He chose to be gracious through omission, even acknowledging that he might share blame for staying longer than he should have, and credit to him for that.
But his latest broadside at the college basketball system that not only undermined many of his own more noble sentiments but sold itself to the first and highest bidders comes far too late to ever matter, except as a period piece.
In fact, the system had already deteriorated before Knight ever started at Indiana, and though his own contributions to that deterioration were not systemic but individual (a temper that too often smeared the line between tough love and tough), the train had already left the station at the beginning of Knight's tenure, not its end. The only thing that really happened since then was that it picked up size and speed to the point where (a) nobody could change it and (b) nobody wants to.
Former NHLer had condition linked to concussions at time of death
National Hockey League
2009-12-19 13:25:46 Mail Story - Barathrum - 1 Comment
Even in death, Reggie Fleming’s brain is sending messages.
Researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine have determined the former NHL player, who endured multiple concussions during his career, suffered from degenerative brain disease at the time of his death. This marks the first time a hockey player has been diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and adds to the growing concern about the long-term effect of concussions in hockey and the price exacted by the game’s physical nature.
Dr. Ann McKee at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University, examined Fleming’s brain tissue following his death July 11 at 73. Fleming played 13 seasons in the NHL for six teams and suffered approximately 20 concussions, his family said. He was an edgy competitor who didn’t wear a helmet (from 1959 to 1971) and played with little regard for his body.
House panels passes college football playoff bill
NCAA Sports All
2009-12-19 13:25:29 Mail Story - Port - 0 Comments
WASHINGTON — A House subcommittee has approved legislation aimed at forcing college football to switch to a playoff system to determine a national champion.
The bill would ban the promotion of a postseason NCAA Division I football game as a national championship unless that title contest is the result of a playoff.
The measure passed by a voice vote Wednesday by a House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee.
The sponsor, GOP Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, said the current Bowl Championship Series is unfair and won't change unless prompted by Congress.
Extra by Port:
Not sure this counts as news unless it's actually enacted, but I keep being surprised by Congress trying to run the NCAA.
How Tiger Protected His Image After a Tabloid Took Compromising Photos, His Camp
Ladies Pro Golf Association
2009-12-19 13:25:16 Mail Story - Happily Deranged - 0 Comments
Extra by Happily Deranged:
The category is not a misclick
Chris Henry's death isn't reason to deify him
National Football League - Cincinnati Bengals
2009-12-19 13:24:27 Mail Story - Barathrum - 0 Comments
Death doesn't turn Chris Henry into a saint.
It's always tragic, of course, when a young life ends well before its rightful time -- and with such stunning suddenness. Mourn his passing. Pray for his survivors.
But we cannot -- and should not -- forget that the legacy of Henry's pro career is that of one of the poster children for the NFL's zero-tolerance policy to inappropriate conduct.
Sixers should make Barkley GM
National Basketball Association
2009-12-19 13:24:17 Mail Story - Barathrum - 0 Comments
Remember when you were a kid and your parents told you not to stare at the sun because it's harmful to your eyes? That's sort of how people treat the 76ers.
The fans are taking the necessary precautions to avoid prolonged exposure. When Allen Iverson returned to Philly, the Sixers' attendance momentarily spiked, hitting approximately 20,000 for his first game back.
After that, the numbers quickly plummeted, falling below 14,000 for the games against Detroit, Houston, and Golden State. The Sixers drew better than 19,500 when Cleveland came to town the other night, but that wasn't because people were excited to see Thad Young.
Iverson may not be the answer the Sixers are looking for after all. The fans are rightly bored with this team, but that doesn't mean the franchise should stop searching for a way to make people pay attention.
Frustrating Week Not to Have the NFL Network
National Football League
2009-12-19 13:24:07 Mail Story - Barathrum - 0 Comments
It was fluky enough for two N.F.L. teams to be undefeated this late in the season, but even more fluky that the Indianapolis Colts’ and the New Orleans Saints’ Week 15 games were scheduled to be shown within three days on the NFL Network.
Gill's hire another brick out of wall in front of black coaches
NCAA Sports All
2009-12-14 22:29:47 Mail Story - Barathrum - 2 Comments
LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Kansas just hired a coach with a career losing record. It's not just below .500 -- 20-30 is subterranean.
Try to remember a sitting Division I-A coach who made the jump up to a BCS conference job with a .400 winning percentage. Gene Chizik (5-19 at Iowa State before going to Auburn) hardly counts. He was going from one power conference to another. Plus, he had a previous relationship with Auburn -- and he is white.
Yeah, that's where this is headed because, sadly, it's still news when an African-American coach is hired at the highest level of college football.
Now remember that for Turner Gill, his record at the University of Buffalo is as bad as the upside is good.
The Hypocritical College Football Planatation
NCAA Sports All
2009-12-14 22:29:41 Mail Story - Barathrum - 1 Comment
Quick, can you name a business in which young men, disproportionately black, take weekly beatings working for no pay while their masters make millions off their backs?
A business whose cartel members enforce this no-pay rule by blackballing any company who breaks it, nary a peep coming from organized labor?
A business not only exempt from corporate income taxes but magically immune to unionization, OSHA, affirmative action, and the anti-trust laws that plague the rest of our economy?
A business whose celebrity executives command multi-million dollar contracts, living as virtual emperors empowered to fire employees without recourse for so much as talking back to them?
Moss runs fade pattern
National Football League - New England Patriots
2009-12-14 22:29:35 Mail Story - Barathrum - 1 Comment
FOXBOROUGH - Randy Moss was out there with the Patriot captains before the kickoff yesterday, even after all that’s happened in the last week.
And at that point, he might as well have ripped the captain’s “C’’ off his chest, handed it to Wes Welker, and joined LateGate mate Adalius Thomas on the couch.
It probably would’ve been better for New England.
UT faculty to discuss football coach’s pay
NCAA Sports All
2009-12-14 22:29:22 Mail Story - Barathrum - 0 Comments
The Faculty Council at the University of Texas has called a special meeting for this afternoon to discuss the compensation package for football coach Mack Brown and other budget matters, according to Janet Staiger, chairwoman of the council and a professor of communication.
The council’s executive committee plans to propose a resolution criticizing Brown’s pay as “unseemly and inappropriate” during tight budget times.
Cowboys need new coach
National Football League - Dallas Cowboys
2009-12-14 22:29:12 Mail Story - Barathrum - 1 Comment
The holiday season is upon us. The hunting season – as in for a head coach – is soon to follow.
We know this from the fact that the Cowboys, not long ago an 8-3 team, are stalled on their quest for 10 victories at 8-5. With the Saints and Redskins up next, 2010 will arrive before that 10th victory gets here, if it ever does.
We know this, too, from the history of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
Although the head coach he fired lasted 28 seasons in Dallas, no one stays for four years unless they win Super Bowls (Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer) or have earned extra credit for Super Bowls prior to coming here (Bill Parcells).
Extra by Barathrum:
I think I've used this image before, but it's worth it.
Garden City wins 6-man football title, 122-88
Other
2009-12-14 22:29:03 Mail Story - Barathrum - 0 Comments
ABILENE – Garden City and Strawn came into Saturday’s Six-Man Division I State Championship game as two of the highest scoring offenses in the state.
They didn’t disappoint on Saturday as five offensive records were broken by the two teams combined. But the biggest was most points scored by a single team in a state championship game as Garden City’s offense only stopped once all night as the Bearkats took a 122-88 victory over Strawn at Shotwell Stadium. It is the first state championship Garden City has won in football.
“We are the state champions,” Garden City coach Vance Jones said in the team huddle after the game. “It’s a dream come true just to get to this level, and then to win it is a credit to our fans and our kids because they have worked so hard this year. It’s unbelievable that it’s been 20 weeks since we’ve started and now we’re state champs.”
Saturday’s game was the highest scoring game in Six-Man state championship history.
Where will Big 10 expand?
NCAA Sports All
2009-12-14 22:28:41 Mail Story - Barathrum - 0 Comments
For 18 years, the staunch old Big Ten has watched the SEC's two-division, championship game model take hold and proliferate, quickly helping submerge one conference (the SWC) to create the Big 12 and relegate another (the Big East) to seemingly permanent second-class status in the service of expanding the ACC. The results have been an affront to the traditional calendar, postseason structure and regional balance of power and the Big Ten has finally decided it wants a piece of the action, according to Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez:
Tide ruin Florida Gators' perfect ending
NCAA Sports All
2009-12-08 13:28:46 Mail Story - panzergeneral - 0 Comments
ATLANTA -- The Perfect Game -- 1 vs. 2, 12-0 vs. 12-0 -- was going to be won by the team with the better passer. Everybody knew it. Everybody was right.
They just had the quarterback wrong, that's all.
The perfect player, the chosen one, Florida's Tim Tebow, walked off the Georgia Dome field Saturday night in tears, the wrong kind. His face was splayed onto the big screen, a surrounding phalanx of cameras recording his raw disappointment as the streamers and confetti fell and the Alabama band boomed happy brass.
The other quarterback, the one supposedly not up to this game or this stage -- but the better QB this night -- was being smothered in too any hugs to count, and hearing his name announced as the SEC championship game's MVP as the celebrating fans in red chanted ``Rollllllll Tide!''
Alabama 32, Florida 13.
Mail Story - - Comments
D-League owner apologizes for Michael Jordan hoax
National Basketball Association
2009-12-08 13:14:29 Mail Story - Voyons Donc - 0 Comments
An NBA Development League team owner is apologizing for misleading fans who thought Michael Jordan would play in a charity game at the Utah Flash's home opener.
Flash owner Brandt Andersen acknowledged sending a Jordan lookalike around town Monday, when supposed "Jordan" sightings and an Internet video of the impostor eating at a local restaurant created buzz that Jordan really was in town. More than 7,500 fans showed up hoping to see Jordan play 1-on-1 against former Utah Jazz guard Bryon Russell at halftime.
The Flash had been pitching the Jordan-Russell rematch since September despite never hearing from Jordan after Andersen issued the first challenge.
Charlie Weis asks reporters for a job with the Bears
National Football League - Chicago Bears
2009-12-08 13:14:08 Mail Story - Viator - 0 Comments
A source close to Charlie Weis confirmed that the former Notre Dame coach would be interested in the Bears’ offensive coordinator position if it were to become available after this season.
Ron Turner currently holds that position with the Bears, although the offense’s poor performance and quarterback Jay Cutler’s struggles has led to speculation that the Bears will dump Turner.
[...]
Weis would never break protocol and contact the Bears while Turner is still employed by the team, according to the source, but would be open to discussing the possibility if the Bears contacted him.
January Madness: This BCS playoff would work
NCAA Sports All
2009-12-08 13:13:56 Mail Story - Barathrum - 0 Comments
Forgive me for what I'm about to do. It must be done.
This BC-Mess has frustrated college football lovers to no end, and even though fans in Tuscaloosa and Austin are giddy with anticipation of next month's showdown in Pasadena, some of us — call us that small voice crying out in the wilderness — still ache for an eight-team playoff to determine a true national champion.
Let them keep the other bowls. That's fine. But give us seven games to crown one team above all the others.
Since the BCS computers were so kind to give us the top eight teams, I'll do them a solid and make those our top eight seeds. Whatever happens beyond that is anybody's guess.
I'm taking my shot here:
Patriots in full collapse
National Football League - New England Patriots
2009-12-08 13:13:45 Mail Story - Barathrum - 2 Comments
MIAMI - Slowly but inexorably they are dissolving in front of our eyes. It is a process that didn’t begin this year for the New England Patriots [team stats] but way back in 2004, when nobody was paying attention to much else but the lifting of another Super Bowl banner.
That season they won their third Super Bowl in four seasons but also began a widely ignored decline that manifested itself emphatically the past month and came to a sad head yesterday at Land Shark Stadium when they lost for the third time in four weeks, blowing a 14-0 lead to be beaten at the buzzer by the Miami Dolphins [team stats], 22-21.
Five years ago, the Patriots draft garnered two starters, both on the first round. Not another player drafted in April of 2004 is still in uniform. That fallowness continued in 2005 when they again picked only two current starters. In 2006, they got only one, running back Laurence Maroney [stats], plus kicker Stephen Gostkowski. Then came the disaster of 2007, when only first-round pick Brandon Meriweather was good enough to still be in pro football.
BCS Quarantines TCU, Boise in 'Separate But Equal' Bowl
NCAA Sports All
2009-12-08 13:13:13 Mail Story - Barathrum - 0 Comments
If you needed a sign that the BCS muckety-mucks are beginning to tremble behind the Big Six castle walls, a Fiesta Bowl matchup between Boise State and TCU is the latest evidence that something is rotten in Denmark.
I've written before about Congress's antitrust investigations and the fig-leaf design of the BCS entity -- it's not actually named -- that makes everyone gnash their teeth at the end of the season. The Fiesta Bowl matchup between Mountain West and WAC teams is the latest in a string of panicked moves that demonstrate true BCS fear.
Top 10 Games of 2009
Other
2009-12-08 13:12:46 Mail Story - Barathrum - 0 Comments
The holiday season is upon us once more, and with it comes the traditional gift giving (unless you celebrate Festivus, in which case, best of luck in the Feats of Strength).
It is also the time of year that we as sports fans are reminded just how lucky we are. Each and every year, after a full calendar of games and matches has been played, we are fortunate enough to be able to recount the overtime buzzer-beaters and epic baseball games, all of which seemingly get better with each passing year.
So worry not, sports fans - there will be more epic games in the following year. But for now, let's look back at the Top 10 Games from 2009, from Pittsburgh and Arizona in Super Bowl XLIII to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh in the Big East Championship.
Fire Kubiak
National Football League - Houston Texans
2009-12-08 13:12:37 Mail Story - Barathrum - 0 Comments
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Should a football coach be fired over one play? No.
Even if it is one of the worst play calls in a franchise's history and so nonsensical that his players were openly critical of the move.
Gary Kubiak shouldn't be sent packing after the 2009 season because he opted to have running back Chris Brown try to “lob” the ball into the end zone instead of directing quarterback Matt Schaub to throw it there.
Kubiak should be fired because over and over, through his nearly four years as their head coach, the Texans have made game-losing mistakes and failed to make game-winning plays.
Those were Gary Kubiak's Texans on Sunday, doing whatever it took to lose in a 23-18 defeat to the Jaguars. The loss dropped Houston's record to 5-7 and moved its playoff hopes from slim to next-to-none.
U.S. draws mother country in World Cup
Other
2009-12-04 13:51:14 Mail Story - Barathrum - 0 Comments
CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- The United States will play England, Slovenia and Algeria in the first round of next year's World Cup in what appears to be a relatively easy group.
The U.S. opens against England in Rustenburg on June 12, their first World Cup matchup since the Americans' 1-0 upset victory at the 1950 tournament in Brazil.
The United States then plays Slovenia at Johannesburg's Ellis Park on June 18 and completes the first round on June 23 with its first-ever match against Algeria in Pretoria.
PETA wants Georgia mascot Uga replaced with robot
NCAA Sports All
2009-12-03 20:18:07 Mail Story - Barathrum - 0 Comments
From Michael Vick's involvement with dog fighting to Tony Gonzalez posing nude for an anti-fur ad, the People for
the Ethical Treatment of Animals
hasn't had trouble staying involved with sports.
After the death of Uga VII, the University of Georgia's bulldog mascot, PETA requested to Georgia Athletic Director Damon Evans that the school use either an animatronic or a costumed mascot.
"Like other dogs, bulldogs love to run and play, but their compromised respiratory system causes these playful animals to struggle for breath," wrote Desiree Acholla, the animal rights group's specialist in animals that are used in entertainment. "Poor ventilation and hot or humid weather can be deadly for a purebred bulldog."
Who the hell would possibly defend the BCS? Why Ari Fleischer, of course!
NCAA Sports All
2009-12-03 20:18:00 Mail Story - goat - 2 Comments
The nation’s most burning issue—how to decide the national championship—has come to Washington. In an exclusive interview, Ari Fleischer, just hired by the Bowl Championship Series to spearhead their PR strategy—talks to Bryan Curtis about how he’ll to stop the Obama "scheme": "It’s like saying we should get rid of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and hold smaller parades all across America."
Extra by goat:
I couldn't decide whether this was a prime example of "Bush Admin officials incapable of making a good decision, ever" or "BCS officials incapable of making a good decision, ever."
Ward calls out Roethlisberger
National Football League - Pittsburgh Steelers
2009-11-30 19:50:48 Mail Story - Barathrum - 4 Comments
BALTIMORE -- If Hines Ward's words sounded cutting in an interview aired before the game, he later explained they were merely spoken in frustration.
In a taped interview with Bob Costas aired beforehand on NBC's "Football Night in America," the Steelers' all-time leading receiver talked about the locker room being "like a 50-50 toss-up" over whether quarterback Ben Roethlisberger should have played last night despite a concussion from seven days earlier. Ward talked about lying to team doctors on occasions when he suffered from concussion symptoms and how many NFL players overlook them, statements that league officials won't relish reading and hearing amid an increased effort to protect players from such life-altering injuries.
The fruit of the poisonous Belichick tree
National Football League - New England Patriots
2009-11-30 19:23:27 Mail Story - Barathrum - 0 Comments
In law, "the fruit of the poisonous tree" refers to the inadmissibility of evidence obtained through illegal means.
In football, it's become a good description of the coaching descendents of a certain New England genius.
In other words, he's Bill Belichick, and they're not.
That appears to be the lesson of the disappointing Charlie Weis era at Notre Dame, and the recent careers of several Belichick lieutenants.
Under their enigmatic head coach, the Patriots won three Super Bowls in four years from 2001-4. The team's offensive and defensive coordinators became hot commodities; both landed head coaching jobs before the 2005 season.
Romeo Crennel went 24-40 in four seasons running the Cleveland Browns, posting one encouraging 10-6 season but surrounding it with disheartening 4-12 ones. His supposed defensive wizardry left the Browns with worse overall rankings in points and yards allowed than they had in the four previous years under Butch Davis.
The 10 best NFL teams of the last decade
National Football League
2009-11-30 19:22:26 Mail Story - Barathrum - 0 Comments
1. 2007 New England Patriots.
Record: 16-0. Eventual fate: Lost to Giants in Super Bowl.
No, they didn't get the big shiny ring at the end, and everyone outside of New England thought "18-1" was pretty funny. Let's not kid ourselves, though. No one saw a better team in the '00s. They went 16-0 in the regular season, and only four of those wins were of the single-digit variety. They just annihilated teams. Randy Moss(notes) set a record with 23 touchdown receptions, Tom Brady set a record with a mind-blowing 50 touchdown passes, and Brady also got 49 of 50 MVP votes.
Tiger doesn't owe us an explanation
Pro Golf Association
2009-11-30 19:22:20 Mail Story - Barathrum - 17 Comments
The media members/outlets asserting Tiger Woods owes the public and the Florida Highway Patrol an explanation for a fender-bender and his wife's jaws-of-9-iron rescue owe America an explanation for their self-serving jealousy and obvious stupidity.
"Tigergate" is a Twitter, Facebook, TMZ and blog controversy. It's great gossip. It's excellent monologue material for Letterman, Conan and Kimmel.
Extra by Barathrum:
Jason Whitlock column
|
| |
