The Heisman trophy cannot be won in August or September, but it can be lost. Distant darkhorse Armanti Edwards is officially out. Ohio State running back Beanie Wells and Jeremy Maclin both left their games early with injuries, and if they linger, will cost both of them a shot at the trophy. Missouri QB Chase Daniel will also see his chances decrease if Macling remains hampered with the ankle injury. Pitt RB LeSean McCoy’s campaign sputtered out of the gate, amassing one TD, but only 71 yards, with a 3.1 y/c average. The numbers themselves are not atrocious, but because they lost, they’re magnified.
As baseball enters the final month of the regular season, playoff races are (mandatory cliché) heating up. Focusing on the American League, all six potential playoff teams have series with major implications starting this weekend. Yes, even the Angels and yes, six means the Yankees are included. With 23 of 29 remaining games against playoff teams, the Toronto Blue Jays are in prime position to be the biggest spoiler in the league. With quite a bit of disparity between schedules, a lot of shuffling of the standings remains.
Note: When using the term “playoff teams” it refers to all six teams potential playoff teams remaining in the hunt. Parentheses for remaining games are ( X home / X Away)
A few things I observed and noticed from the action in the opening night of college football.
An SEC preview Saved By the Bell style from Catfish via Friends of the Program. Anything involving SBTB on this site gets immediate glory from me.
I was preparing to write some NFL Divisional previews, but I got distracted by this instead. This is off of memory so there might be some great fictitious QBs I’m leaving out but the question is always posed: who do you want to build your franchise around? Let’s examine the scouting report on these make-believe signal callers
The Chargers’ linebacker has decided against the advice of four doctors and elected to play this season with two torn ligaments in his left knee. Shawn says, “I just want to play football.” Noble words, but there is a fine line between bravery and stupidity and Merriman is lights out dancing down it. The Chargers are no doubt one of the favorites in the AFC this year, but after the way Philip Rivers was hopping around against the Seahawks, and the uncertainty of LT’s health this seems an unnecessary move. Antonio Gates is also returning from a toe injury and says he is not 100% yet either. Merriman may feel like this is San Diego’s year but he is 24 years old, should he really risk the rest of his career for one season?
Tonight, Major League Baseball will officially embrace instant replay, ending its long-standing resistance against introducing the technology. Even Commissioner Bud Selig is not excited to see the purists overruled, “My opposition to unlimited instant replay is still very much in play,” he said. “But when you look at the technology we have and you look at the new ballparks — and even some of the older ballparks that have been reconfigured — there’s no question that [these calls] were a challenge for the umpires and everyone else. Like so many times in life, you have to make an adjustment. And this seemed right for that.” Every sport has its need for technology. Tennis smoothly made the transition, Derek Fisher’s memorable .4 second shot against the Spurs states the case for basketball, and imagining football without replay seems archaic. The ultimate case for technology in sports, however, was made this year in Beijing.
Morning Govna! I have a message to whoever is heading the London Olympic committee. I’m sure you were watching the opening ceremonies at the Beijing games a few weeks ago, and while you no doubt were mesmerized like the rest of us, I’m sure you were thinking “Oh dear, how are we going to match this?” Well you most likely cannot. You don’t employ the same kind of method of funding and you style of government actually lets your citizens think for themselves. But considering your country’s empire once covered one-third of the globe, you need to show some source of pride and I think I know how you can make a memorable moment.
With college football finally arriving, previews are all over the internet, but here are a dozen things you may not know about each of the ACC teams and the upcoming season.
Not More of the Same – Miami has suspended seven players for the season-opener against Charleston Southern, but unlike past coaches, Randy Shannon made these decisions, not the school administration. The most notable suspended player is redshirt freshman starting quarterback Robert Marve. Marve’s suspension results from an incident on October 31 of last year, where he broke a car mirror following a fight with his girlfriend. Charges were dropped in March. Coach Randy Shannon was clear about the suspensions, "When I took the job at the University of Miami, I was going to hold everyone to a higher standard than the rest of the country (in regards to) academically, curfew, study hall and doing the right things in the classroom. We have some guys who won’t be (playing in) the game because of those reasons, and then we move forward.” Shannon’s refreshing stance shows his commitment to changing the program. Bobby Bowden would point out it’s easy to suspend players when you’re playing Charleston Southern, but Shannon has been resolute since becoming the head coach.
This picture has nothing to do with the post, but it's the most incredible sewing project I've seen and I wanted to share.
Some people may hate it, others love it, but virtually everyone has gotten something from Wal-Mart. With football season fast approaching Western Carolina has decided to start shopping for new plays. Fans will be able to submit a play at the local Supercenter and one play will be picked for each home game, including the game against 3-time defending National Champion Appalachian State. I’m not sure where this ranks in terms of admitting your program is a joke, but it has to be just above fielding seven players and wearing flags.
The Jamaican drug debate is in full swing, and Victor Conte is weighing in! Plus the Jamaican team doctor comments on slavery, and Bolt's father comments on magic yams. Yahoo! Sports
After the past sixteen days we have seen everything that is virtuous about sports in the global society. A great many other things have been seen along the way and naturally not all of them have been positive. I will not focus on the political implications (or at least try to) and I will limit the discussion of the downside of the games mainly because I thoroughly enjoyed this installment of the Summer Olympic Games. I believe our country’s athletes exemplified what is pure in the exaltation of athletic victory.
This post is light on humor, and long. For me, that's not a good combo, but I hope it is enlightening.
In the past month the NCAA has denied a sixth year of eligibility to both University of Cincinnati quarterback Ben Mauk and Pitt University forward Michael Cook. The rulings, however, are not the problem. The problem is the systematic hypocrisy of the NCAA in these cases. Ben Mauk is hardly a sympathetic figure. He took advantage of a loophole to flee Wake Forest and start playing with Cincinnati without having to sit out a year. Now, he's fighting to take back the quarterback job from Dustin Garza, again. Garza is Aaron Rodgers to Mauk's Favre. Mike Cook suffered a knee injury just minutes before LeVance Fields hit a late three pointer in overtime to beat Duke in Madison Square Garden. Both players could be tremendous assets for their teams, but as it stands, both of their collegiate careers are over. The sixth year of eligibility has been a lifeline for many student-athletes, but with each approval or denial the contradictions mount up.
Darius Miles is now a Celtic. He signed a non-guaranteed contract and now, two-plus years after a “career-ending” knee injury he’s looking to return to the league. The former third pick in the draft, Miles’s greatest impact will occur 2,500 miles to the west. When Miles’s knee injury was determined to be career-ending, the Trailblazers were able to get his remaining contract taken off their salary cap. If he plays in ten or more games over the course of the next two seasons, two years and $18 million will go back on the Blazers’ payroll. In other words, if Danny Ainge heads to Orgeon expect Kevin Pritchard and Francis Fratelli to force him to do the truffle shuffle and threaten to blend his hand unless the Celtics cut Miles.
Sports fans, as a whole, have been suckered in. Debates about whose favorite player reigns supreme is nothing new, but the need instantly quantify an athlete’s place in history is a phenomenon intensified by the Talking Heads. We no longer have 24 hours to enjoy an accomplishment before we have to rack and stack their performance against history. The problem is not the debate, but that battle lines are drawn, hyperbole and insults serve as ammunition instead of facts.
The (shudder) BCS remains the defining end to the college football season. We have reviewed the BCS Conferences, now here are my picks for the BCS match-ups and the attempt at explanation for the choices:
For the final BCS Conference preview we head out West. And in a huge shocker we choose USC to take the title. Despite the sliding kneecaps and the loss of more talent, Pete Carroll and crew should take the Pac-10 title and compete for a spot in the BCS title game. It will not be as glamorous as years past with the absolutely dominating performances, but USC is simply more talented than their opponents with the exception possibly of Ohio State. The stumbles the Trojans had last year including the inexplicable loss to Stanford and Jim Harbaugh at home, and a loss in Eugene to Oregon fuel the fire for this year. They have a similar chip on their shoulder to Georgia in that both teams were playing better than anyone in the country at the end of last year, but while Georgia’s case was shot down by not winning their Conference, USC could not overcome a loss to the trees. There might be a few close contests in the mix, but the Trojans should once again be champs of the Pac-10.
Mike Tranghese and friends over at the Big East have been quite happy with themselves with the recent success the conference has had despite losing its three top programs to the ACC. While the ACC has floundered in football, especially in BCS games while the Big East has been strutting. Capped off by last years’ West Virginia lambasting of Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, the Big East looks (and mostly prays) for the trend to continue. They already lost one high profile coach, and may lose their others to other power conferences, but the talent keeps coming in and the Big East keeps performing. Bottom line is, the trend will not end this year, and it figures to be West (by God) Virginia taking the title home again.
Big Ten discussion begins and ends with Ohio State. They’ve won two straight Big Ten titles, but lost two straight national championship games. This year they are poised to become the first team to win three straight Big Ten titles, but will they receive an invitation to a third straight national championship game? The question could be answered on September 13th, when they hit the road to take on USC. A win would legitimize a team that people are increasingly questioning, due to their less than stellar performances in the past two championship games. If they lose that game, it would not be hard to imagine them being left out of the BCS National Championship.
