I was just reading an article where they were hyping Andrew Luck as this masterful quarterback and how great he has been this year. I was confused because I thought the article was about Andrew Luck who quarterbacks Stanford, but that couldn’t be the same guy because that Andrew Luck is 145/106 for 1383 yards and 14 touchdowns. Nick Foles at Arizona is 281/201 for 2255 yards and 15 touchdowns. Even Darron Thomas at Oregon is over 1000 yards with 15 touchdowns. Stanford has played San Jose State, Duke, Arizona, UCLA and Colorado (with 8 players suspended). Real tough schedule with some real crappy defenses and those are the only numbers the worlds greatest quarterback can put up. I’m sorry, but the does the term over-hyped sound familiar? Why can’t the media just admit that they were wrong when they handed him the Hiesman before the season even started. I can name about 25 players who are better than Andrew Luck when it comes to Hiesman voting. Okay, now I have vented, so what do you guys think? How many better players can you name?
Sounds good to me…We shall see…. Missouri curators unanimously approve exploring conference affiliation After a four-hour meeting that included athletic director Mike Alden, the University of Missouri board of curators unanimously authorized chancellor Brady Deaton to explore the Tigers’ conference affiliation. Deaton subsequently resigned from the Big 12’s board of directors to focus on Missouri’s athletic future. This likely means Mizzou will examine the possibility of defecting from the Big 12 to the Southeastern Conference, which had been rumored since the league effectively reassembled following the failed attempts by Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to bolt for the Pacific-12. On Monday, Big 12 interim commissioner Chuck Neinas announced the league members had agreed to equally split most conference-wide football and men’s basketball revenues and to pursue approval at the university level to enter into a grant-of-rights deal that would effectively bind them to the conference for the next six years. Deaton was announced on Monday as a member of the Big 12’s expansion committee, which is seeking new members to replace Texas A&M, which recently announced its decision to depart following this school year to enter the SEC. Neinas said then he believed those developments were positive for Missouri remaining in the Big 12, but Missouri’s action Tuesday was a clear declaration the Tigers intend to depart if they get the invitation they’re hoping to receive. On Tuesday, Neinas stood by his position in a statement: “Missouri is a member in good standing in the Big 12, and I anticipate the university will continue to be a member of the Big 12.” Missouri’s wanderlust is somewhat surprising given its recent success in Big 12 football. The Tigers have played in bowl games the past six years and tied for the division championship in three of the past four. In basketball, Missouri made the past three NCAA Tournaments and reached the Elite Eight in 2009. Coach Mike Anderson has since left the program and Mizzou hired Frank Haith away from the Miami Hurricanes to replace him. Having worked on the geographic fringe of the ACC and struggled to achieve consistent success – or attention – it seems unlikely Haith will be thrilled with a move to the SEC. Missouri has been part of the Big 12 since it was formed in 1995. If it departs the league, it likely will fracture its intense border rivalry with the Kansas Jayhawks, which first was contested in 1907 in basketball and 1891 in football. They have played 119 football games and 265 basketball games. Last year, Missouri tried to gain entry into the Big Ten when that conference was exploring the expansion process. But the Big Ten preferred Nebraska and its powerful football tradition to the Tigers, who haven’t played in a major bowl since losing to Penn State in the 1970 Orange. ________________________________ So what does this mean? It sounds as though the stars may be aligning perfectly in terms of expansion for the SEC. Perhaps The Imperial March is on…
While one game or even 3 games to end the season were not the reason that the Red Sox’s season came to a close last night I feel that they are owed a apology. With the Yankees leading the game in the 9th Joe Girardi did not bring in the greatest closer of all-time, a fellow who had not pitched for several days, Mariano Rivera to close his 603rd game. If Joe had brought him in then Boston and Tampa would have been playing today and deciding their own fate. Instead, Tampa tied the score and went on to win in extras while Boston did what Boston has done best this September-they blew a lead in the 9th inning to the Orioles and flushed a 162 game season down the drain. It is one thing if the Yankees had brought in Rivera and he blew the save. They could then look Boston players and fans in the eye and say “We tried our best with our best” but to not have Mariano Rivera come into the 9th, something that would have been a good warm up for both him and the Yankees and would have allowed Tampa and Boston to decide the Wild Card Race by themselves, well, I’m sorry. That would not have happened if I was the Yankee Manager. Joe Girardi may go on to the greatest won/loss record of any Yankee Manager ever but I will never respect him again the way I did. The Yankees are bigger then to do this. I’m a Yankee. Joe Girardi will never be.
The Jets corner Terell Revis is in deep trouble next Sunday night…I can’t wait to see him matched up against the Ravens rookie Torrey Smith…Smith and Flacco are meshing like two perfect gears and Sunday Revis Island is going to burn…I am also reading that Lee Evens is ready to play Sunday as well…The Ravens are now the 5th youngest team in the NFL,last year they were the 26th oldest..What a difference a year makes, but I must admit I was very skeptical of the Ravens this year after cutting all those proven veterans…Torrey Smith has to be one of the top five fastest WR in the league today…I’am sure Revis will come up with some excuse like a pulled hamstring or something when Smith beats him, he always does…
Willie sure got the SEC in a mess,looks like the NCAA is investigating the Vols now.Boosters sure know where the money is and just might be a nice business degree after college. Gator Nation Willie Lyles strikes again: NCAA investigating Vols Posted by John Taylor on September 27, 2011, 9:06 AM EDT The “scouting services” of Willie Lyles ( pictured, middle ) has already landed Oregon a Letter of Inquiry from the NCAA and significant scrutiny from the same organization for LSU. Now, Tennessee has reportedly become the latest to be Willie’d as well. According to Yahoo! Sports , Lyles paid nearly $1,500 for airplane tickets for then-recruit Lache Seastrunk ( pictured, right ) and his mother to take an unofficial visit to Tennessee in June of 2009. Lyles alleges he was then reimbursed by Willie Mack Garza , who was an assistant on Lane Kiffin ‘s UT staff at the time and the man responsible for setting up the visit by Seastrunk according to Lyles. Garza joined Kiffin at USC when the coach left the Vols after just one season for the Trojans job. Two days before the start of the 2011 season, Garza abruptly resigned his job as USC’s secondary coach, saying in a statement that he had “some personal issues unrelated to USC that I need to address.” Two days prior to Garza’s announcement, Lyles had met with NCAA investigators and provided them with receipts that showed he had been reimbursed by Garza. Lyles also told Yahoo! that this latest NCAA investigation into the UT football program is “a wide-ranging look into Tennessee recruiting practices” under Kiffin. “We are aware of the situation as is the conference office,” UT associate athletic director for communications Jimmy Stanton said in a statement. “We’ve been verbally contacted by the NCAA enforcement staff regarding a recruiting issue in 2009 related to the former coaching staff and a student-athlete who never attended Tennessee.” School’s are permitted under NCAA bylaws to provide airfare for potential recruits for official visits, provided those visits occur after the player has started his senior year of high school. Paying for unofficial visits prior to the start of a recruit’s senior year would be considered a major NCAA violation. Seastrunk ultimately signed with Oregon in February of 2010, but transferred to Baylor earlier this year. The NCAA’s LOI to the Ducks pertains to $25,000 the program paid Lyles , the owner of Houston-based Complete Scouting Services, for outdated recruiting material . Lyles has claimed the UO program paid him for his influence on recruits, including Seastrunk, a native of Temple, Tex. Lyles said Seastrunk was granted immunity by the NCAA and has already spoken to The Association regarding the Garza allegations. “I’m so sick and tired of this ‘Willie Lyles said this and Willie Lyles said that,’” Evelyn Seastrunk told Yahoo! . “I don’t care what Willie Lyles says. I don’t care as long as my son is OK. “Whatever undercover dirty stuff that they’re doing, I’m pretty sure that Willie Lyles is not the only person. He’s just the only one that’s been caught. This is something that they’ve been doing forever.” Just last month, the NCAA announced that it had accepted UT’s self-imposed sanctions for violations committed by the football program during Kiffin’s brief stay in Knoxville. The school said in its statement to Yahoo! that “[w]e believe, as does the conference office, that this matter is not subject to the repeat offender provision.” The school placed itself on probation from August 24, 2011, through August 23, 2013. Because this alleged violation occurred prior to the 24th of last month, UT will likely not be in danger of being labeled a repeat offender, which would have put the program in jeopardy of facing significant sanctions from the NCAA.
From Foxsports: Boston Red Sox pitcher John Lackey has filed to divorce his wife, Krista, who is in the middle of battling breast cancer, TMZ reports. Lackey filed on August 30, according to court docs in Texas, claiming “the marriage has become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities.” Krista and John got married in November, 2008. Sources close to the family tell TMZ that Krista underwent a double mastectomy in March and underwent chemotherapy as recently as June. The divorce petition says John and Krista had a prenup. It also says Lackey has “separate property” he wants to keep for himself. Lackey filed the divorce papers using only his and Krista’s initials, a tactic Tony Parker and Eva Longoria, and Sandra Bullock and Jesse James, also used in their Texas divorces. It’s unclear why Lackey, who’s struggled on the field all season long, didn’t wait until the off-season, which for the reeling Red Sox could start in a week or so, to start divorce proceedings. Lackey’s camp had no comment. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/20 … z1Z4f3iLlO
Outside of my team, I think the best game this week will be New England @ Buffalo. It should be a good test to see if there will be a three horse race or not in the AFC East. The Jets may not be the only contender to the Pats. Also I like the matchup between the Redskins and Cowboys on Monday night. Washington could really gain some momentum in establishing their shot at the division.
Congradulations to Mariano Rivera as he saved his 43rd game of the season and 602 regular season save. He thus passes Trevor Hoffman as the all-time saves leader in major league history. Most baseball experts also just think of him as one of the greatest pitchers of any era. I know I do.
In the Phillies/Marlins game yesterday, there was a play where a double was taken away from Hunter Pence due to fan interference, only after the umpires reviewed the play. The instant replay rule in baseball has little grey area. It can only be used on boundary home runs. From MLB.com: “Instant replay will apply only to home run calls — whether they are fair or foul, whether they have left the playing field, or whether they have been subject to fan interference. The decision to use instant replay will be made by the umpire crew chief, who also will make the determination as to whether or not a call should be reversed.” After the game, crew chief Joe West told reporters, who tracked him down in the parking lot, that Manuel asked him to review the call to see if it was a home run. Charlie Manuel denied this, and if you watch the replay, there was no communication between Charlie and the umpires before their decision to review the play. Since this play did not involve a home run, replay should not have been used. Whether or not the umps got the call right, they went in a direction that was not in accordance with the rules. So the Phillies protested the game, pointing out the obvious. The most famous incident in which a protest was upheld occurred in a game between the Royals and the Yankees in August 1983, the infamous George Brett pine tar incident. Three years later, in 1986, a game between the Pirates and Cardinals that was called due to rain was protested by the Pirates because the umpires called the game too quickly, not in accordance with the rules. Since then, not one single protest filed by a major league baseball team has been upheld by the powers-that-be. In the case of the Phllies/Marlins game, most reports that I have heard have said the there is little chance that the call will be overturned. I believe that the league will rely on West’s claim that Charlie asked for the review, even if he cannot prove it. So, my question is, why even have a protest procedure in MLB? Why not just say that the umpires be demigods who never make a mistake and be done with it? If the blatant misuse of a rule is not grounds for protest, I don’t know what is. Joe West strikes again.