LSU got their butts kicked against Alabama in the least anticipated re-match, in years. As if anyone is surprised the game was all field goals and was very low scoring (except for a late 34 yard rushing TD by Trent Richardson). The only thing that was somewhat surprising is that LSU got shut out. No one understands why Jordan Jefferson played the entire game. I don't know why they don't bring the "Honey Badger" in for a few offensive plays (jet sweep anyone?) either. I also didn't get ESPN's love-fest for A.J. McCarron after the game. He had 156 passing yards (0TD) in 1st half. Only had 5 completions
for 78 yards passing TOTAL in 2nd half (0TD). 0 completions last 5
drives. That's the offensive MVP? And he played "great" according to the
ESPN people? Chip Kelly said "one of the greatest QB performances in a
National Championship" -- WHAT?? It has to be that coming
into the game everyone expected McCarron to be a liability and he didn't
end up turning it over. Big deal. He also didn't score, couldn't get a
TD on a drive that started on the LSU 27 (or two other drives that started at midfield or in LSU territory), completed all of 5 passes in
the 2nd half when the score was still close enough that a fluke play
here or there could have made it a one score game, and the last 5 drives he
completed ZERO passes! If they wanted to say he didn't hurt them or he
played well enough, sure, I can agree with that, but saying he played
"great" and that Chip Kelly line make absolutely no sense. If not for
the FG kicker wouldn't they have said the fact that McCarron couldn't
score TD was a huge difference in the game? In reality it was an award that they had to give to someone, so I guess he's about the only true offensive option - unless you go with Trent Richardson since he actually scored a touchdown.
So the game was a snooze fest. Who's shocked? Congrats to West Virginia's own Nick Saban on winning another BCS title, though. Arguably, has to be one of the best coaches in the BCS era.
Along the national champions talk...
WVU lost to UConn in a close game at the XL Center. Don't get worked up over the loss. What we've seen thus far in the Big East 2011-12 season is that winning on the road, in conference, is extremely challenging. Sure, that last out of bounds call was horrendous. But so was shutting down the last few minutes of the game. Regardless, this is a young team, still that doesn't get much scoring help beyond their experienced guys (Jones, Bryant, Kilicli) so this type of game is bound to happen a few times this year. But one would hope that it won't continue throughout the remaining schedule. WVU is 17 games into the schedule now. So there's no reason to use the inexperience line anymore. That was just UConn scoring when it mattered and WVU didn't. 12-5 at this point in the season though is probably better than you would have expected early in the season (especially after the exhibition or Kent State games). So we'll see what happens. I still believe that given the strength of schedule and RPI of this season WVU can get in with 18-19 wins, IF they don't lose to anyone else that they shouldn't. 14 conference games left, plus the Big East Tournament should provide enough opportunities to get to 18-20 wins on the year. And given that the Pac-12 literally has maybe one team that is good enough to get in the NCAA Tournament and several other power conferences aren't "great" you should be able to get in with less than the usual 20+. The Mountaineers return to action on Saturday, in Morgantown, against Rutgers (again). Rutgers is an improved team from last year, as they have beaten Florida and UConn at the RAC of late, but they also lost BIG to WVU just 6 days ago, so we'll see what happens this time around.
In other WVU news...
Still no official word on Jeff Casteel. I'd imagine it will be resolved by the end of the week though as recruiting is about to kick back up a notch for the final push towards Signing Day. If you're interested the two "big" names that have been mentioned as possible replacements for Casteel (assuming he leaves) are Randy Shannon and Brian Stewart. Everyone knows who Randy Shannon is from his time with "the U" but if they could land him it would be a pretty big splash and certainly would help maintain Florida recruiting. I won't rule anything out, at this moment, but it does seem like a long-shot. Shannon has been rumored all week as the new Tennessee defensive coordinator. This is also a guy that sued WVU back in the day over getting hit in the head by a trash can at Mountaineer Field. Would he be willing to forgive and forget? It could actually end up being a good PR move for WVU as inevitably the media would pick up on the story. We'll see. If you're curious, Shannon mainly ran a 4-3 defense at Miami.
Brian Stewart on the other hand isn't as well-known to the casual observer, but has quite the track record/resume himself. Stewart just recently resigned his position as defensive coordinator at Houston after Kevin Sumlin left for Texas A&M. A lot of people believe he's going to end up as the new Mountaineers DC as obviously he has a connection to Holgorsen. Stewart has a lot of NFL ties, which is always a nice selling point for recruits, as he was the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator for two years (2007-08) along with assistant positions with the Eagles, Chargers and Texans. At Houston the past two seasons, Stewart employed a 3-4 defense.
Obviously either of those two would present somewhat of a personnel shift from the 3-3-5, but in reality WVU plays safeties as linebackers part of the time which would be similar to a 3-4 and they have used 4 defensive linemen at times as well, which obviously is what a 4-3 employs...so in reality, the only difference would be the base defense's name and what they are primarily set up in. Casteel has always said part of the reason for running the 3-3 stack is because of the lack/inability to recruit the quality to play anything else. I guess if Shannon or Stewart take over we'll find out.
In recruiting news...
5 recruits enrolled for the spring semester. Far less than originally hoped for, but still getting some in early does help. You can also take those 5 off of the list as fall enrollees meaning WVU can sign 5 more to replace those guys...as the 5 that enrolled will count back towards last year's class. Again, 25 is the "limit" but expect WVU to sign a few over that, if they can. One of the things that gets overlooked is the state of scholarships that Holgorsen walked into. Due to attrition, and Stewart's intentional small signing classes, the number of scholarship players is well below the maximum allowed. So that's why you'll see a push to bring in as many as possible.
A few names to watch: LB Ike Spearman, LB Schlyer Miles, S Clint Heaven, G Adam Pankey (former Pitt commit), T Mark Glowinski and LB Garrett Hope. Those are most of the ones expected to visit prior to Signing Day. Probably several others but that's enough for tonight.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
WVU announces football additions
WVU head football coach Dana Holgorsen has announced that 5 players have enrolled for the spring semester at WVU and will join the football program (aka early enrollees).
The following players have enrolled early:
QB Ford Childress - 6'4" 210 lbs - Houston, Texas/Houston Kinkaid HS
WR Jordan Thompson - 5'9" 163 lbs - Katy, Texas/Katy HS
DT Imarjaye Albury - 6'1" 280 lbs - Miami, FL/Miami Northwestern HS
S Karl Joseph - 5'11" 190 lbs - Orlando, FL/Edgewater HS
S Sean Walters - 6'2" 195 lbs - Hallandale Beach, FL/Hallandale HS
Obviously, the big name here is Ford Childress the stud QB out of Houston, Texas. But don't sleep on the other 4 enrolling early.
Childress did put up video game type numbers this season with 3,171 yards 41 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions while completing 63% of his passes.
Want to know more about these guys? Here is the official release from WVU. Check it out!
The following players have enrolled early:
QB Ford Childress - 6'4" 210 lbs - Houston, Texas/Houston Kinkaid HS
WR Jordan Thompson - 5'9" 163 lbs - Katy, Texas/Katy HS
DT Imarjaye Albury - 6'1" 280 lbs - Miami, FL/Miami Northwestern HS
S Karl Joseph - 5'11" 190 lbs - Orlando, FL/Edgewater HS
S Sean Walters - 6'2" 195 lbs - Hallandale Beach, FL/Hallandale HS
Obviously, the big name here is Ford Childress the stud QB out of Houston, Texas. But don't sleep on the other 4 enrolling early.
Childress did put up video game type numbers this season with 3,171 yards 41 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions while completing 63% of his passes.
Want to know more about these guys? Here is the official release from WVU. Check it out!
BREAKING: Barry Larkin elected to baseball Hall of Fame
Just reported on MLB Network...Barry Larkin elected as the only member of the 2012 baseball Hall of Fame class.
Barry Larkin has been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. 12-time All-Star with the Cincinnati Reds, .295 batting average and 3 Gold Gloves. Larkin gets in with 86% of the vote. He was also the first "30-30" short-stop in baseball history.
Barry Larkin has been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. 12-time All-Star with the Cincinnati Reds, .295 batting average and 3 Gold Gloves. Larkin gets in with 86% of the vote. He was also the first "30-30" short-stop in baseball history.
Some thoughts...
In an attempt to make the blog a little more entertaining I believe that I'm going to just post throughout the day anytime there's a big story or something worth posting on. Or at least put out smaller updates. I probably will still put out a daily update but maybe not to the same large scale I had been.
If you're reading this please subscribe and/or comment so I know who is reading. And tell me what stories you care most about. I would assume most of the readers are WVU fans, but if you enjoy the other sports stories as well, please let me know. I'll try to change the blog around to fit the wants of the people actually reading it...at least somewhat.
I still like having all the sports news in one place but you'd be surprised how long it takes to compile all of that with links and so on.
Anyway let me know what you'd like to read about. And subscribe by email as well so you get the updates right away and don't have to go through Facebook posts.
Thanks for reading!
If you're reading this please subscribe and/or comment so I know who is reading. And tell me what stories you care most about. I would assume most of the readers are WVU fans, but if you enjoy the other sports stories as well, please let me know. I'll try to change the blog around to fit the wants of the people actually reading it...at least somewhat.
I still like having all the sports news in one place but you'd be surprised how long it takes to compile all of that with links and so on.
Anyway let me know what you'd like to read about. And subscribe by email as well so you get the updates right away and don't have to go through Facebook posts.
Thanks for reading!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Sports update 12/31/11
Here's your last sports update for 2011...
Just WVU news today so I can post it quickly.
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I like this kid. He should have thrown it away and lit it on fire...and then smacked his sister in the mouth for wrapping it like that.
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WVU is in Miami and take a look at how they're getting around...
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Dustin Garrison out for Orange Bowl. Dustin was injured during practice yesterday and will not play in the Orange Bowl. Clemson's number 2 receiver. Now WVU's starting running back. Garrison sprained the ACL and MCL and will require surgery - expected to take 6 months to recover. With the recent news that Vernard Roberts and Trey Johnson are (both) no longer with the team, coupled with the Garrison news, this leaves WVU with a very limited amount of players at the running back position. Shawne Alston will obviously get a lot of carries, but you'd think this may also open up a spot for a few other guys to get some carries (Kovatch, Lindamood, Clarke, etc). You'll also see a return of more carries for Andrew Buie. The rest...we shall see. More news will inevitably come out on this as the game approaches. Will we see a return of Ryan Clarke to carrying the ball?
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Following up on some things mentioned in the previous paragraph...
4 players off WVU's roster in Miami. Both of the Roberts twins (Vance and Vernard) are apparently off the team (Holgorsen mentioned academics). Trey Johnson and Mike Dorsey are also no longer part of the team. Obviously of the Roberts twins you saw some of Vernard at the running back position, but in rather limited action. Trey Johnson also was a running back and coming into the season was expected to compete for the starting running back job but was obviously passed up by the group of freshmen running backs. Dorsey was a relatively highly recruited player, but hadn't made much of an impact, yet. All-in-all, based off of the current season performances, none of these guys are "huge losses" but you hate to see this type of thing when WVU's roster has had a lot of turnover the past few years. So much so that the scholarship numbers were well below the scholarship limits. No likely impact on the bowl game because of these guys not being there, but still something to mention.
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6-10 freshman attracting attention at WV high school. Big kid at 6'10" and 300 pounds. According to a lot of people he's a "big" (bad pun intended) fan of WVU. You'd think, given that he's 6-10 that he'd grow a little bit more, maybe, but either way I'm sure Huggins loves when things like this come through the WV high schools. Given the small population in the state the quality isn't always there and sometimes when it appears to be it doesn't pan out (Noah Cottrill) but hopefully this kid (Levi Cook) can continue to grow (basketball and size wise) and ends up in Morgantown in a few years. Other link here.
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WVU basketball embarrassed at Seton Hall, 67-48. Just an embarrassing performance all around. Sure it's a young team and I'm in no way a pessimist but that wasn't a great loss. I'm not even talking about the who, I'm talking about the why. Can't play with that little effort and expect it to just happen. Kevin Jones finished with 15 points, but it wasn't like it mattered. WVU shot poorly and went into the half down 38-22. WVU returns to action Wednesday evening at 7:00pm at Rutgers. Yes, that is the same night as the bowl game (Orange Bowl doesn't start until 8:30pm). Hopefully WVU can have a truly "great night" as Tony Caridi would say.
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WVU women host Elon. WVU women return to action tonight against Elon. If you're looking for something to do today head over to the Coliseum and watch the game. You can even print off a voucher to get in for only $1 by going here.
I'm sure there is probably more but hey I'm bored. So enjoy your New Years and see ya soon.
Let's Go Mountaineers!!
Just WVU news today so I can post it quickly.
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Here's what everyone should do when they get Virginia Tech gear...
I like this kid. He should have thrown it away and lit it on fire...and then smacked his sister in the mouth for wrapping it like that.
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WVU is in Miami and take a look at how they're getting around...
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Dustin Garrison out for Orange Bowl. Dustin was injured during practice yesterday and will not play in the Orange Bowl. Clemson's number 2 receiver. Now WVU's starting running back. Garrison sprained the ACL and MCL and will require surgery - expected to take 6 months to recover. With the recent news that Vernard Roberts and Trey Johnson are (both) no longer with the team, coupled with the Garrison news, this leaves WVU with a very limited amount of players at the running back position. Shawne Alston will obviously get a lot of carries, but you'd think this may also open up a spot for a few other guys to get some carries (Kovatch, Lindamood, Clarke, etc). You'll also see a return of more carries for Andrew Buie. The rest...we shall see. More news will inevitably come out on this as the game approaches. Will we see a return of Ryan Clarke to carrying the ball?
-------------------------------------
Following up on some things mentioned in the previous paragraph...
4 players off WVU's roster in Miami. Both of the Roberts twins (Vance and Vernard) are apparently off the team (Holgorsen mentioned academics). Trey Johnson and Mike Dorsey are also no longer part of the team. Obviously of the Roberts twins you saw some of Vernard at the running back position, but in rather limited action. Trey Johnson also was a running back and coming into the season was expected to compete for the starting running back job but was obviously passed up by the group of freshmen running backs. Dorsey was a relatively highly recruited player, but hadn't made much of an impact, yet. All-in-all, based off of the current season performances, none of these guys are "huge losses" but you hate to see this type of thing when WVU's roster has had a lot of turnover the past few years. So much so that the scholarship numbers were well below the scholarship limits. No likely impact on the bowl game because of these guys not being there, but still something to mention.
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WVMetroNews covering WVU's arrival in Miami. WVU is staying at a swanky hotel and apparently this has a lot of people upset. Just one thing to note. WVU doesn't control what hotel they stay in. They are told what hotel they will stay in.
Clemson has some entertaining fans...apparently. Yet somehow this guy thinks we're the rednecks? Good call, champ.
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6-10 freshman attracting attention at WV high school. Big kid at 6'10" and 300 pounds. According to a lot of people he's a "big" (bad pun intended) fan of WVU. You'd think, given that he's 6-10 that he'd grow a little bit more, maybe, but either way I'm sure Huggins loves when things like this come through the WV high schools. Given the small population in the state the quality isn't always there and sometimes when it appears to be it doesn't pan out (Noah Cottrill) but hopefully this kid (Levi Cook) can continue to grow (basketball and size wise) and ends up in Morgantown in a few years. Other link here.
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WVU basketball embarrassed at Seton Hall, 67-48. Just an embarrassing performance all around. Sure it's a young team and I'm in no way a pessimist but that wasn't a great loss. I'm not even talking about the who, I'm talking about the why. Can't play with that little effort and expect it to just happen. Kevin Jones finished with 15 points, but it wasn't like it mattered. WVU shot poorly and went into the half down 38-22. WVU returns to action Wednesday evening at 7:00pm at Rutgers. Yes, that is the same night as the bowl game (Orange Bowl doesn't start until 8:30pm). Hopefully WVU can have a truly "great night" as Tony Caridi would say.
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WVU women host Elon. WVU women return to action tonight against Elon. If you're looking for something to do today head over to the Coliseum and watch the game. You can even print off a voucher to get in for only $1 by going here.
I'm sure there is probably more but hey I'm bored. So enjoy your New Years and see ya soon.
Let's Go Mountaineers!!
Friday, December 23, 2011
Sports update 12/23/11
Just a couple of notes without a ton of links and all the writing...
Congrats to coach Bob Huggins on career win #700 last night vs Missouri State! My dad and I went to Buffalo 4 years ago to see Huggs get #600 vs Canisius. Funny that he got #700 exactly 4 years, to the day, after #600. Hopefully Huggs keeps up that pace over the next 4 (and then 8 and so on) years so he gets above 800...then 900, etc. As for the game...that game was too close for comfort (and then some) but I'll take a win over a loss, anytime, no matter how you get it. In case you missed it, WVU won 70-68 in OT. Tough game to watch so you didn't miss much - although the last 3 seconds of regulation (where WVU made a late three pointer to tie the game) and OT were mildly enjoyable. A win is a win. WVU moves to 9-2 on the season.
WVU returns to action tonight against the #6 (or 7) rated Baylor Bears (9pm ESPN, I believe). Baylor is long and big. Not a great match-up for WVU. We'll need a HUGE effort to pull this one off.
ESPN Insider is reporting that junior college offensive lineman Tavon Rooks has chosen Kansas State over WVU. Best of luck to him. WVU will have to put the full court press on now to get the best of whoever else is still out there. I try not to get too upset when kids don't pick WVU because someone else gets their spot and the kids that do come to WVU obviously want to be at WVU so it works out. Pitt commit offensive lineman Adam Pankey is visiting in January (13th) along with junior college o-lineman Mark Glowinski. Plus I'm sure there are some "sleeper" linemen (Sonny/Sunny Odogwu, for example) that may get a look now. We'll see.
WVU transfer basketball player, Aaric Murray was arrested Thursday morning in Philadelphia (he's a native of Philly) for possession of marijuana. As of the time the stories published he was being held on bail. Huggins was in Las Vegas (obviously) and said he's aware of the situation and that it will be handled internally. We'll see what happens here but Murray, as of late, had not been sitting at the end of the WVU bench for home games - sparking speculation that he was in the doghouse. If true that he already was in the doghouse I can't imagine this helps much. Even still, I'd be shocked if this gets him kicked off the team - given that he is currently sitting out and has ridiculous potential. You hope for his sake he can straighten up because his potential has him on NBA radars. We'll see...
Safety Terence Garvin and others out for Orange Bowl. Garvin (knee surgery - out around 6 months or so) is the "biggest" loss here, obviously, as he's the Mountaineer's third leading tackler - and WVU's defense already had enough problems with him there. Others out are two seniors, wide receiver Brad Starks (knee surgery - poor kid...never could stay healthy), defensive lineman Josh Taylor (knee injury - Pitt game) and freshman running back Vernard Roberts (academics).
There's a lot more national news but I'm done typing. Merry Christmas to you all!!
Let's Go Mountaineers!!
Congrats to coach Bob Huggins on career win #700 last night vs Missouri State! My dad and I went to Buffalo 4 years ago to see Huggs get #600 vs Canisius. Funny that he got #700 exactly 4 years, to the day, after #600. Hopefully Huggs keeps up that pace over the next 4 (and then 8 and so on) years so he gets above 800...then 900, etc. As for the game...that game was too close for comfort (and then some) but I'll take a win over a loss, anytime, no matter how you get it. In case you missed it, WVU won 70-68 in OT. Tough game to watch so you didn't miss much - although the last 3 seconds of regulation (where WVU made a late three pointer to tie the game) and OT were mildly enjoyable. A win is a win. WVU moves to 9-2 on the season.
WVU returns to action tonight against the #6 (or 7) rated Baylor Bears (9pm ESPN, I believe). Baylor is long and big. Not a great match-up for WVU. We'll need a HUGE effort to pull this one off.
ESPN Insider is reporting that junior college offensive lineman Tavon Rooks has chosen Kansas State over WVU. Best of luck to him. WVU will have to put the full court press on now to get the best of whoever else is still out there. I try not to get too upset when kids don't pick WVU because someone else gets their spot and the kids that do come to WVU obviously want to be at WVU so it works out. Pitt commit offensive lineman Adam Pankey is visiting in January (13th) along with junior college o-lineman Mark Glowinski. Plus I'm sure there are some "sleeper" linemen (Sonny/Sunny Odogwu, for example) that may get a look now. We'll see.
WVU transfer basketball player, Aaric Murray was arrested Thursday morning in Philadelphia (he's a native of Philly) for possession of marijuana. As of the time the stories published he was being held on bail. Huggins was in Las Vegas (obviously) and said he's aware of the situation and that it will be handled internally. We'll see what happens here but Murray, as of late, had not been sitting at the end of the WVU bench for home games - sparking speculation that he was in the doghouse. If true that he already was in the doghouse I can't imagine this helps much. Even still, I'd be shocked if this gets him kicked off the team - given that he is currently sitting out and has ridiculous potential. You hope for his sake he can straighten up because his potential has him on NBA radars. We'll see...
Safety Terence Garvin and others out for Orange Bowl. Garvin (knee surgery - out around 6 months or so) is the "biggest" loss here, obviously, as he's the Mountaineer's third leading tackler - and WVU's defense already had enough problems with him there. Others out are two seniors, wide receiver Brad Starks (knee surgery - poor kid...never could stay healthy), defensive lineman Josh Taylor (knee injury - Pitt game) and freshman running back Vernard Roberts (academics).
There's a lot more national news but I'm done typing. Merry Christmas to you all!!
Let's Go Mountaineers!!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Sports update 12/21/11
Here is your sports update for Wednesday...
Ohio State receives one year bowl ban. The NCAA hit Ohio State with a one year bowl ban, put the Buckeyes on probation through December 19, 2014 and reduced football scholarships from 85 to 82 through the 2014-15 academic year. Still considering all that USC got this seems pretty light. It's also curious to a lot of people that Ohio State is allowed to have two coaching staffs. The current leftover staff from this season is there to coach for the bowl game while Urban Meyer's staff is allowed to go out and recruit - obviously something other programs aren't able to do to the same extent since they have to practice for their bowl games. So let's not get carried away thinking anything bad happened to them. The only way this slap on the wrist means anything is if Ohio State goes undefeated and should be in the national championship game - since they won't be able to based off of the bowl ban.
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SHOW ME THE MONEY!!
Derrick Rose and Bulls agree to contract extension. 5 years, $94.8 million. Good for D-Rose, great player.
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Braves vs Disney/Pixar. The Braves aren't crazy about the new Brave movie's name. Awww...
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LSU's Les Miles wins AP Coach of the Year.
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UGA head coach Mark Richt paid coaches from his own pocket. Apparently this is a secondary violation.
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Colby Armstrong hid concussion symptoms. Given all the attention concussions are receiving you hate to hear guys are trying to hid that they're dealing with symptoms.
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Endy Chavez agrees with Baltimore Orioles. 1 year, $1.5 million for the veteran free agent outfielder.
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Marshall beats FIU in Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl. Interesting connection to this game - it appears that FIU's head coach is a leading candidate for the vacant University of Pittsburgh head football coaching job.
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WVU women beat Mount St. Mary's, 94-32. Sophomore Taylor Palmer led all scorers with 21 points.
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WVU recruiting news: Not much at the moment. Had heard Tavon Rooks may decide today (Wednesday) but we'll see if it actually happens. Deaysean Rippy did indeed visit over the weekend, as I said the other day but there's no word on what he will do yet. Although as Eerinsider.com points out it appears the WVU staff wants an answer soon or else they'll move on. See the link below for more information.
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I'll probably take a few days off from posting complete updates, but if there's any big news or WVU recruiting news I'll try to post that stuff. If this is the last post before...have a very Merry Christmas (or insert your own holiday) and a Happy New Year!!
Let's Go Mountaineers!!
Ohio State receives one year bowl ban. The NCAA hit Ohio State with a one year bowl ban, put the Buckeyes on probation through December 19, 2014 and reduced football scholarships from 85 to 82 through the 2014-15 academic year. Still considering all that USC got this seems pretty light. It's also curious to a lot of people that Ohio State is allowed to have two coaching staffs. The current leftover staff from this season is there to coach for the bowl game while Urban Meyer's staff is allowed to go out and recruit - obviously something other programs aren't able to do to the same extent since they have to practice for their bowl games. So let's not get carried away thinking anything bad happened to them. The only way this slap on the wrist means anything is if Ohio State goes undefeated and should be in the national championship game - since they won't be able to based off of the bowl ban.
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SHOW ME THE MONEY!!
Derrick Rose and Bulls agree to contract extension. 5 years, $94.8 million. Good for D-Rose, great player.
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Braves vs Disney/Pixar. The Braves aren't crazy about the new Brave movie's name. Awww...
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LSU's Les Miles wins AP Coach of the Year.
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John Elway endorses Tim Tebow.
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UGA head coach Mark Richt paid coaches from his own pocket. Apparently this is a secondary violation.
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Mike Tomlin never thought of sitting Ben Roethlisberger.
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NFL adds trainers to address concussion symptoms.
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Norm Chow to accept Hawaii head coaching job.
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Southern Miss hires Ellis Johnson.
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Abby Wambach wins AP female athlete of the year.
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Colby Armstrong hid concussion symptoms. Given all the attention concussions are receiving you hate to hear guys are trying to hid that they're dealing with symptoms.
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Cubs, Red Sox strike deal to keep Epstein from hiring from Red Sox organization.
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Endy Chavez agrees with Baltimore Orioles. 1 year, $1.5 million for the veteran free agent outfielder.
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Andrew Luck plans week off after Fiesta Bowl prior to NFL Draft prep.
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Louisville survives scare from College of Charleston to improve to 11-0.
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Marshall beats FIU in Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl. Interesting connection to this game - it appears that FIU's head coach is a leading candidate for the vacant University of Pittsburgh head football coaching job.
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WVU news:
WVU women beat Mount St. Mary's, 94-32. Sophomore Taylor Palmer led all scorers with 21 points.
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WVU recruiting news: Not much at the moment. Had heard Tavon Rooks may decide today (Wednesday) but we'll see if it actually happens. Deaysean Rippy did indeed visit over the weekend, as I said the other day but there's no word on what he will do yet. Although as Eerinsider.com points out it appears the WVU staff wants an answer soon or else they'll move on. See the link below for more information.
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Eerinsider.com has a recruiting update.
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I'll probably take a few days off from posting complete updates, but if there's any big news or WVU recruiting news I'll try to post that stuff. If this is the last post before...have a very Merry Christmas (or insert your own holiday) and a Happy New Year!!
Let's Go Mountaineers!!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Sports update 12/20/11
Here is your sports update for Tuesday...
49ers black out the Steelers, 20-3 on Monday Night Football. Here's all you need to know about this game. The power went out twice - showing just how crappy Candlestick Park is and how desperately the 49ers need a new home. The 49ers defense played extremely well, led by rookie of the year candidate Aldon Smith and his 2 1/2 sacks (and multiple other hurries). Alex Smith managed the 49er offense well enough (given the defense's performance) that his 18/31 for 187 yards (1 pass TD) passing was good enough to win. Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger played (head coach Mike Tomlin had the final say and played Ben) with a high ankle sprain and probably shouldn't have. Despite throwing for 330 yards, Big Ben's lack of mobility in the pocket and inability to plant his foot correctly led to most of his passes sailing on him (translation: the passes were often at receivers heads or higher leading to difficult attempts to catch the ball - often ricocheting off of finger tips directly towards defensive players) and ended up resulting in 3 INTs. Roethlisberger's inability to "escape" in the pocket, as usual, also led to a sack/fumble that all add up to 4 turnovers for the 49ers defense and spelled disaster for the Steelers. Going forward if Roethlisberger isn't healthy it doesn't bode well for the Steelers offense as, once again, they were largely ineffective running the ball. The Steelers did play without starting linebacker James Harrison (1 game suspension for tackling too hard), starting center Maurkice Pouncey and one of their receiver weapons, Emmanuel Sanders. Pittsburgh returns to action on Saturday at home against the St. Louis Rams and finishes the season on New Years Day at the Cleveland Browns. The Steelers and 49ers both came into the game with playoff spots already locked up, but were just battling for position and for home games in the playoffs. With the loss the Steelers fall to 10-4 on the season and a tie with the Baltimore Ravens atop the AFC North. Given that the Ravens beat the Steelers twice during the regular season if both teams finish with identical records the Ravens win the division and the Steelers end up as one of the two wild card teams.
Just a personal note: I did predict prior to the season (to many on Facebook) that the Ravens would win the AFC North and the Steelers would wind up with a wild card. Not sure the Ravens will end up in the Super Bowl, but despite the loss to the Chargers (that was ugly) they're still in position to host playoff games and that's the easiest path to the Super Bowl. We'll see what happens come playoff time.
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Clippers beat up on Lakers. In what will inevitably be one of the biggest story-lines of the entire NBA (shortened) season the Clippers took down the Lakers in style, 114-95. Chauncey Billups led the Clippers in scoring with 23 points while Chris Paul chipped in 17 (also 7 rebounds and 9 assists) and Blake Griffin added 12. It's been quite the two weeks for the two franchises as the Lakers thought they had a deal in place to land Chris Paul only to have the league step in and stop the trade for "basketball reasons." Then to have the Hornets turn around and deal Chris Paul to their (same building) "little brother" giving the Clippers quite the one-two punch of Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. After the trade was made many analysts believed that it could significantly shift the balance of power in the LA market, at least as far as who has the better team. There's no doubt it's a "Laker town" but given the star power the Clippers now have maybe more celebrities (outside of Penny Marshall and Jim Belushi) will show up to watch the action. As for the pre-season game itself, it is the first of two pre-season games vs the Lakers (there are only 2 pre-season games, by the way). The next pre-season match-up will be Wednesday night as they'll flip the court and the Clippers will host this time at Staples Center.
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Texas Rangers buy rights to negotiate with Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish. Confused? Basically to get these players from Japanese leagues MLB teams have to first post the highest bid (among whichever MLB teams decide they want to pursue a deal) just to negotiate a deal with the player (and that posting bid money goes to the team the guy played for in Japan). The posting bid for Yu Darvish is said to be close to what the Red Sox posted for Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2007 which would mean it's around $51 million just for the bid to gain the right to negotiate with him! On top of that you then have to sign said player for whatever amount which means the total investment in the 25-year-old will end up being around $100 million dollars. So much for the Texas Rangers not being a "big-market club" huh? Either way if this Darvish is as good as advertised he's well worth the money the Rangers will end up spending so we'll see how he adjusts to MLB and playing (and living) in Texas.
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Peja Stojakovic retires after 13 NBA seasons. You may say "who?" but if you've even watched a little NBA basketball, an All-Star game here or there, or the NBA Finals last year you've probably seen Peja Stojakovic, at some point. The amazing thing about Peja is he'll go down as one of the finest shooters in NBA history (ranks 4th all-time in 3-pointers made - granted three's haven't always been around) and I'll bet you I could survey 1000 US sports fans and 50% of them wouldn't know who he is. Stojakovic retires at the age of 34.
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New York Knicks sign Baron Davis. A player many thought the LA Lakers may try to pursue, Baron Davis was waived by the Cleveland Cavaliers last week and also has an injury (herniated disk in his back) that will keep him out at least 4-6 (and possibly as many as 8-10) weeks.
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Arizona Diamondbacks agree with Jason Kubel. Two years, $15 million for the now ex-Twins outfielder. Mutual option for a third year.
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Double Secret Probation
Craig James leaves ESPN to run for US Senate in Texas. If you know anything about who Craig James is you'll be thrilled he's leaving ESPN. For those that don't know he was the one who's son played for Mike Leach at Texas Tech and claimed his son was locked in an equipment locker (good recap here). ESPN, surprisingly, stuck with James through all this time, despite the fact that many of his (and his son's) claims about Leach have been debunked. Interestingly, ESPN stuck by James throughout all of that and instead of backing off of James and his allegations (that he was oddly aloud to articulate on air for ESPN) put then-writer Bruce Feldman on some sort of "double secret probation" and didn't allow him to post any information on the website after he published a book with the then-fired former Texas Tech head football coach Mike Leach. Feldman later revealed that he was told he would not received the raise (and 3 year contract extension) he was promised from ESPN and instead they had changed it to one year and no raise (something unheard of at the "worldwide leader" or as Dan Patrick calls it "the mothership."). The ridiculousness of ESPN supporting James throughout all the years, especially over an extremely well-respected writer like Feldman, led to quite the Twitter uprising of #FireCraigJames and #FreeBruce - to no avail. Apparently the only thing that could keep Criag James off the air on ESPN was a shot at being an even bigger doucher than he already is...by running for political office. [Also check out sportsbybrooks.com since he ran big time with this story]
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New York Giants use play from Little Giants. Fun story.
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Adrian Peterson claims the Saints are dirty. Maybe the Vikings just suck...just a thought.
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Canadien's new coach doesn't speak French...and apparently that's a problem, eh? The Quebec government isn't pleased that the new INTERIM coach of the Canadiens does not speak French. What are you all talkin' aboot? And once again, Canada shows it has no clue. Why would any player ever want to play for the Canadiens, that isn't French Canadian? I don't see US sports teams forcing players to learn English. So what they're essentially saying is that they believe speaking French is the most important thing, not winning hockey games or having the best players/coaches they can find. Makes sense to me.
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#10 Marquette loses at LSU...in basketball, yes. And Buzz Williams is still goofy looking.
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Indiana wins, moves to 11-0. First time at 11-0 for Indiana since the national championship season of 1975-76. Cool story to see Indiana basketball back. In this game they crushed Howard...no surprise there.
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New Top 25 poll. Syracuse remains #1. Big East has four top ten teams.
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Chicago Bears WR Knox has back surgery.
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Frank Francisco signs with New York Mets. 2 years $12 million.
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Jimmy Rollins finalizes deal with Philadelphia Phillies. 3 years $33 million.
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Milwaukee Brewers win rights to sign Norichika Aoki. See the Darvish story above but basically the Brewers had to be the highest bidder to the player's Japanese club to gain the negotiating rights and then has to sign the player after winning the bid.
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Cincinnati Reds acquire Mat Latos. The Reds pick up Latos from the San Diego Pardes for Edinson Volquez and 3 others.
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Indiana Pacers ship Brandon Rush to Golden State Warriors. Louis Amundson heads back to the Pacers.
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Couple of recent NBA transactions I missed as I didn't post yesterday:
Troy Murphy signs with LA Lakers. One-year at veteran's minimum (which is $1.3 million).
Sacramento Kings claim Travis Outlaw. Claimed off waivers under the new amnesty provision.
Detroit Pistons re-sign Rodney Stuckey. 3-year deal worth $25 million.
Charlotte Bobcats acquire BJ Mullens from Oklahoma City Thunder. For a 2013 second-round draft pick.
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Marshall plays in the Who Gives a Crap Bowl...actually called the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl. Actually my version may be better. I'll still watch though...if I'm really bored.
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WVU men's basketball beats Tennessee Tech, 72-53. WVU won their 4th straight game and Bob Huggins won his 699th career game. Kevin Jones again led the Mountaineers in scoring with 25 points (14 rebounds). Truck Bryant added 15 and Deniz Kilicli also added 12. Walk-on Paul Williamson continued his strong shooting making the two shots he took in the game (of course three-pointers) and finished with 6 points. The Mountaineers return to action Thursday (Dec. 22nd) in Las Vegas against Missouri State (8:00 pm EST) and follow that up the next day (Fri, Dec. 23rd) in Vegas against top ten ranked Baylor (9:00 pm EST). WVU sits at 8-2 on the season. MetroNews recap here.
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Tickets for troops. Want to send some troops to the Orange Bowl? Here's an article about it. If you're interested you can go to WVUGame.com or VetTix.org
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Tavon Rooks visited Morgantown over the weekend and apparently enjoyed his visit. According to this article he will decide Wednesday between WVU and Kansas State.
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Ryan Brodie eliminates WVU from his list. Brodie is one of the offensive linemen that WVU has had in for a visit (Dec. 9th) but apparently it wasn't the place for him. The New Jersey product will choose between UConn, Miami (FL) and Rutgers.
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Eerinsider.com's recruiting info from Saturday. Click here to read. Most of this I've already told you, but if you missed something have at it.
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Let's Go Mountaineers!!
49ers black out the Steelers, 20-3 on Monday Night Football. Here's all you need to know about this game. The power went out twice - showing just how crappy Candlestick Park is and how desperately the 49ers need a new home. The 49ers defense played extremely well, led by rookie of the year candidate Aldon Smith and his 2 1/2 sacks (and multiple other hurries). Alex Smith managed the 49er offense well enough (given the defense's performance) that his 18/31 for 187 yards (1 pass TD) passing was good enough to win. Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger played (head coach Mike Tomlin had the final say and played Ben) with a high ankle sprain and probably shouldn't have. Despite throwing for 330 yards, Big Ben's lack of mobility in the pocket and inability to plant his foot correctly led to most of his passes sailing on him (translation: the passes were often at receivers heads or higher leading to difficult attempts to catch the ball - often ricocheting off of finger tips directly towards defensive players) and ended up resulting in 3 INTs. Roethlisberger's inability to "escape" in the pocket, as usual, also led to a sack/fumble that all add up to 4 turnovers for the 49ers defense and spelled disaster for the Steelers. Going forward if Roethlisberger isn't healthy it doesn't bode well for the Steelers offense as, once again, they were largely ineffective running the ball. The Steelers did play without starting linebacker James Harrison (1 game suspension for tackling too hard), starting center Maurkice Pouncey and one of their receiver weapons, Emmanuel Sanders. Pittsburgh returns to action on Saturday at home against the St. Louis Rams and finishes the season on New Years Day at the Cleveland Browns. The Steelers and 49ers both came into the game with playoff spots already locked up, but were just battling for position and for home games in the playoffs. With the loss the Steelers fall to 10-4 on the season and a tie with the Baltimore Ravens atop the AFC North. Given that the Ravens beat the Steelers twice during the regular season if both teams finish with identical records the Ravens win the division and the Steelers end up as one of the two wild card teams.
Just a personal note: I did predict prior to the season (to many on Facebook) that the Ravens would win the AFC North and the Steelers would wind up with a wild card. Not sure the Ravens will end up in the Super Bowl, but despite the loss to the Chargers (that was ugly) they're still in position to host playoff games and that's the easiest path to the Super Bowl. We'll see what happens come playoff time.
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Clippers beat up on Lakers. In what will inevitably be one of the biggest story-lines of the entire NBA (shortened) season the Clippers took down the Lakers in style, 114-95. Chauncey Billups led the Clippers in scoring with 23 points while Chris Paul chipped in 17 (also 7 rebounds and 9 assists) and Blake Griffin added 12. It's been quite the two weeks for the two franchises as the Lakers thought they had a deal in place to land Chris Paul only to have the league step in and stop the trade for "basketball reasons." Then to have the Hornets turn around and deal Chris Paul to their (same building) "little brother" giving the Clippers quite the one-two punch of Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. After the trade was made many analysts believed that it could significantly shift the balance of power in the LA market, at least as far as who has the better team. There's no doubt it's a "Laker town" but given the star power the Clippers now have maybe more celebrities (outside of Penny Marshall and Jim Belushi) will show up to watch the action. As for the pre-season game itself, it is the first of two pre-season games vs the Lakers (there are only 2 pre-season games, by the way). The next pre-season match-up will be Wednesday night as they'll flip the court and the Clippers will host this time at Staples Center.
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Texas Rangers buy rights to negotiate with Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish. Confused? Basically to get these players from Japanese leagues MLB teams have to first post the highest bid (among whichever MLB teams decide they want to pursue a deal) just to negotiate a deal with the player (and that posting bid money goes to the team the guy played for in Japan). The posting bid for Yu Darvish is said to be close to what the Red Sox posted for Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2007 which would mean it's around $51 million just for the bid to gain the right to negotiate with him! On top of that you then have to sign said player for whatever amount which means the total investment in the 25-year-old will end up being around $100 million dollars. So much for the Texas Rangers not being a "big-market club" huh? Either way if this Darvish is as good as advertised he's well worth the money the Rangers will end up spending so we'll see how he adjusts to MLB and playing (and living) in Texas.
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Peja Stojakovic retires after 13 NBA seasons. You may say "who?" but if you've even watched a little NBA basketball, an All-Star game here or there, or the NBA Finals last year you've probably seen Peja Stojakovic, at some point. The amazing thing about Peja is he'll go down as one of the finest shooters in NBA history (ranks 4th all-time in 3-pointers made - granted three's haven't always been around) and I'll bet you I could survey 1000 US sports fans and 50% of them wouldn't know who he is. Stojakovic retires at the age of 34.
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New York Knicks sign Baron Davis. A player many thought the LA Lakers may try to pursue, Baron Davis was waived by the Cleveland Cavaliers last week and also has an injury (herniated disk in his back) that will keep him out at least 4-6 (and possibly as many as 8-10) weeks.
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Arizona Diamondbacks agree with Jason Kubel. Two years, $15 million for the now ex-Twins outfielder. Mutual option for a third year.
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Double Secret Probation
Craig James leaves ESPN to run for US Senate in Texas. If you know anything about who Craig James is you'll be thrilled he's leaving ESPN. For those that don't know he was the one who's son played for Mike Leach at Texas Tech and claimed his son was locked in an equipment locker (good recap here). ESPN, surprisingly, stuck with James through all this time, despite the fact that many of his (and his son's) claims about Leach have been debunked. Interestingly, ESPN stuck by James throughout all of that and instead of backing off of James and his allegations (that he was oddly aloud to articulate on air for ESPN) put then-writer Bruce Feldman on some sort of "double secret probation" and didn't allow him to post any information on the website after he published a book with the then-fired former Texas Tech head football coach Mike Leach. Feldman later revealed that he was told he would not received the raise (and 3 year contract extension) he was promised from ESPN and instead they had changed it to one year and no raise (something unheard of at the "worldwide leader" or as Dan Patrick calls it "the mothership."). The ridiculousness of ESPN supporting James throughout all the years, especially over an extremely well-respected writer like Feldman, led to quite the Twitter uprising of #FireCraigJames and #FreeBruce - to no avail. Apparently the only thing that could keep Criag James off the air on ESPN was a shot at being an even bigger doucher than he already is...by running for political office. [Also check out sportsbybrooks.com since he ran big time with this story]
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New York Giants use play from Little Giants. Fun story.
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Arron Afflalo remains with the Denver Nuggets.
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Adrian Peterson claims the Saints are dirty. Maybe the Vikings just suck...just a thought.
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Canadien's new coach doesn't speak French...and apparently that's a problem, eh? The Quebec government isn't pleased that the new INTERIM coach of the Canadiens does not speak French. What are you all talkin' aboot? And once again, Canada shows it has no clue. Why would any player ever want to play for the Canadiens, that isn't French Canadian? I don't see US sports teams forcing players to learn English. So what they're essentially saying is that they believe speaking French is the most important thing, not winning hockey games or having the best players/coaches they can find. Makes sense to me.
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#10 Marquette loses at LSU...in basketball, yes. And Buzz Williams is still goofy looking.
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Davidson upsets #11 Kansas...at Kansas.
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Indiana wins, moves to 11-0. First time at 11-0 for Indiana since the national championship season of 1975-76. Cool story to see Indiana basketball back. In this game they crushed Howard...no surprise there.
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New Top 25 poll. Syracuse remains #1. Big East has four top ten teams.
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Joe Paterno out of the hospital.
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Zach Collaros looking good in Cincinnati bowl preparations.
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Chicago Bears WR Knox has back surgery.
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New England Patriots DE Carter out for season.
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Frank Francisco signs with New York Mets. 2 years $12 million.
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Jimmy Rollins finalizes deal with Philadelphia Phillies. 3 years $33 million.
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Mike Cameron agrees to minor league deal with Washington Nationals.
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Milwaukee Brewers win rights to sign Norichika Aoki. See the Darvish story above but basically the Brewers had to be the highest bidder to the player's Japanese club to gain the negotiating rights and then has to sign the player after winning the bid.
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Cincinnati Reds acquire Mat Latos. The Reds pick up Latos from the San Diego Pardes for Edinson Volquez and 3 others.
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Indiana Pacers ship Brandon Rush to Golden State Warriors. Louis Amundson heads back to the Pacers.
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Washington Wizards re-sign Nick Young to 1-year deal.
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Kemba Walker scores 18 in debut as Charlotte Bobcats beat Atlanta Hawks, 79-77.
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Couple of recent NBA transactions I missed as I didn't post yesterday:
Troy Murphy signs with LA Lakers. One-year at veteran's minimum (which is $1.3 million).
Sacramento Kings claim Travis Outlaw. Claimed off waivers under the new amnesty provision.
Detroit Pistons re-sign Rodney Stuckey. 3-year deal worth $25 million.
Charlotte Bobcats acquire BJ Mullens from Oklahoma City Thunder. For a 2013 second-round draft pick.
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2012 NHL Winter Classic preparations coming along in Philadelphia.
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ESPN's MLB Free Agent Tracker here.
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Marshall plays in the Who Gives a Crap Bowl...actually called the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl. Actually my version may be better. I'll still watch though...if I'm really bored.
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WVU news:
WVU men's basketball beats Tennessee Tech, 72-53. WVU won their 4th straight game and Bob Huggins won his 699th career game. Kevin Jones again led the Mountaineers in scoring with 25 points (14 rebounds). Truck Bryant added 15 and Deniz Kilicli also added 12. Walk-on Paul Williamson continued his strong shooting making the two shots he took in the game (of course three-pointers) and finished with 6 points. The Mountaineers return to action Thursday (Dec. 22nd) in Las Vegas against Missouri State (8:00 pm EST) and follow that up the next day (Fri, Dec. 23rd) in Vegas against top ten ranked Baylor (9:00 pm EST). WVU sits at 8-2 on the season. MetroNews recap here.
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WVU's basketball practice facility tour here.
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Big East's dismissal request of WVU's lawsuit denied.
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Tickets for troops. Want to send some troops to the Orange Bowl? Here's an article about it. If you're interested you can go to WVUGame.com or VetTix.org
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In WVU football recruiting news:
Tavon Rooks visited Morgantown over the weekend and apparently enjoyed his visit. According to this article he will decide Wednesday between WVU and Kansas State.
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Ryan Brodie eliminates WVU from his list. Brodie is one of the offensive linemen that WVU has had in for a visit (Dec. 9th) but apparently it wasn't the place for him. The New Jersey product will choose between UConn, Miami (FL) and Rutgers.
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Eerinsider.com's recruiting info from Saturday. Click here to read. Most of this I've already told you, but if you missed something have at it.
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Let's Go Mountaineers!!
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Sports update 12/17/11
Here is your sports update for Saturday...
McQueary testifies; Penn State officials can be tried. Mike McQueary testified Friday in a preliminary hearing and said he believed he saw Jerry Sandusky molesting a boy on campus. McQueary also said he 'fully conveyed' the details to the Penn State officials. Those officials, former AD Tim Curly and Gary Schultz, can now be tried, the judge ruled, Friday.
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Which brings me to my next point...
Bears cut Sam Hurd after arrest.
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Bonds sentencing goes as expected. Barry Bonds...steroids...yawn. This thing BALCO investigation has been going on seemingly since the Giants moved to San Francisco. All you need to know is that the US attorneys wanted a prison sentence but given the other athletes convicted of "obstruction of justice" Bonds' sentencing went exactly as expected. He'll serve a two year probation period and 30 days of house arrest (he's appealing so this won't even start for a year or more from now...if it even happens) - which is laughable when athletes/celebrities get house arrest...who wouldn't want to be forced to stay in 15,000 square feet homes? So there you have it - whether or not Bonds did steroids isn't important. He stood trial and the only thing he was found guilty of was obstruction of justice - something that isn't all that unusual in cases like this. And if you're a 'Bonds should be in prison' person I hope you're saying the same thing about Ryan Braun and EVERY other player ever associated with steroids or failed drug tests because there's no conclusive way to ever know who really did what.
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Pitt freshman Khem Birch leaves basketball team. Highly recruited forward/center Khem Birch has left the University of Pittsburgh basketball program for "personal reasons" according to head coach Jamie Dixon. This news flew all over the internet yesterday prior to the official announcement but it has to be noted that the Pitt coach that helped recruit Birch to Pitt left the team prior to the season starting. Is that the only reason? We may never know. There is no confirmation, at this time, if Birch texted his resignation to Pitt or not.
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Billy Donovan officially signs 5 year contract, through 2016. The University of Florida officially announced the contract had been signed, Friday. A deal that will continue to pay Donovan $3.5 million, annually.
Isn't the following what we all say about getting paid...
Just a quick observation about this video of Moss. He goes on to say "what's 10 grand to me?" yet fiddles around with his keys? I highly doubt his tricked out auto didn't come with key-less entry. [Sorry this really has nothing to do with Billy Donovan...I just wanted a reason to play the "Straight Cash Homie" video, lol.]
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Kobe's wife files for divorce. Hate to hear stuff like this, no matter who is the subject of the divorce. Been a rough week for Kobe when you factor in the non-trade/trade/mismanagement issues with the Lakers.
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Cowboys player restrained after near dust-up with reporter. I'm surprised they didn't duel. That's how they handle things in Texas, right?
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Miami Heat extended the contract of Erik Spoelstra. No word on how many championships he guaranteed the Heat.
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Mike Milbury charged with assault. Former Boston Bruins player and coach, "Mad Mike Milbury" was charged with assault and battery on a child after an incident at a pee-wee hockey game. It's a shame he has no history of this sort of thing. Ohhh wait...
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Free agent OF Michael Cuddyer agrees to multi-year deal with Rockies. It will be a 3 year deal worth around $30 million. Cuddyer spent his first 11 seasons with the Minnesota Twins.
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NFL denies Harrison's appeal. In what comes as a shock to absolutely no one, including James Harrison, the NFL denied his appeal for his 1 game suspension to be overturned. Prior to the hit on McCoy last week, Harrison had not been flagged for ANY helmet-to-helmet hits this season (despite a rash of them last season - some of which were extremely iffy but were obviously flagged because of who was doing the hitting not because of the severity of the hit).
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WVU football continued their hot streak with their 5th commitment of the week. Defensive Tackle Christian Brown became the 28th player to give their verbal commitment to the 2012 recruiting class at WVU. Defensive line help was an obvious need in the class as the team will lose stars Bruce Irvin and Julian Miller to graduation. Christian Brown is a big ole boy that checks in around 6'2" 290 pounds and hails from Bridgeton, NJ. Brown is a 3 star player (Rivals, Scout, 247, ESPN) and is ranked as one of the top 70 DTs in the country on all sites (highest ranking being #38 DT by Rivals). Brown chose WVU over offers from Illinois, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina State, Purdue, South Florida, UConn, Indiana, Duke, Minnesota, Iowa State, UAB and UCF. Rivals profile here. Scout profile here. 247 profile here. ESPN profile here.
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In other WVU football recruiting news... WVU will play host to several more players in on official visits this weekend. The word on the street is the group of visitors is headlined by 4 star linebacker Deaysean Rippy from McKees Rocks, PA and junior college (Navarro College) Offensive Tackle (OT) Tavon Rooks. Obviously, these two would be HUGE gets for the WVU recruiting class, especially Rippy. And if you were wondering about WVU trying to get a few Pitt commitments, WVU met with Pitt commit Offensive Guard (OG) Adam Pankey the day the news about Graham leaving broke and they scheduled an official visit to WVU for January. There's also a possibility WVU will go after a few others, but we'll discuss those as they pop up (if they do). It appears Pankey will visit on January 13th along with Lackawanna offensive lineman Mark Glowinski and possibly a few others (Clint Heaven was rumored for this weekend as well). You may also see Garrett Hope visit in January as well along with several others. If you'd rather view another recruiting site's page type in said player's name and see their rank on that site. For the commitments I give you all the links but for prospects I just stick with whatever site I'm on.
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Nice article from Bob Hertzel on WVU freshman Pat Forsythe. Read it and pass it along to your friends and family.
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WVU seeks to dismiss Big East's suit.
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Nike's 'Rise and Roar' Campaign tabs WVU. Nike's new campaign relies on fan voting and the top 16 schools with the most feedback will earn a cool Nike designed shirt for their school/team. Here's an article about the campaign from WV Illustrated. And here is the link to the voting - spread the word!!
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Have a great weekend!! Let's Go Mountaineers!!
McQueary testifies; Penn State officials can be tried. Mike McQueary testified Friday in a preliminary hearing and said he believed he saw Jerry Sandusky molesting a boy on campus. McQueary also said he 'fully conveyed' the details to the Penn State officials. Those officials, former AD Tim Curly and Gary Schultz, can now be tried, the judge ruled, Friday.
----------------------------------------
Which brings me to my next point...
Bears cut Sam Hurd after arrest.
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Bonds sentencing goes as expected. Barry Bonds...steroids...yawn. This thing BALCO investigation has been going on seemingly since the Giants moved to San Francisco. All you need to know is that the US attorneys wanted a prison sentence but given the other athletes convicted of "obstruction of justice" Bonds' sentencing went exactly as expected. He'll serve a two year probation period and 30 days of house arrest (he's appealing so this won't even start for a year or more from now...if it even happens) - which is laughable when athletes/celebrities get house arrest...who wouldn't want to be forced to stay in 15,000 square feet homes? So there you have it - whether or not Bonds did steroids isn't important. He stood trial and the only thing he was found guilty of was obstruction of justice - something that isn't all that unusual in cases like this. And if you're a 'Bonds should be in prison' person I hope you're saying the same thing about Ryan Braun and EVERY other player ever associated with steroids or failed drug tests because there's no conclusive way to ever know who really did what.
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Pitt freshman Khem Birch leaves basketball team. Highly recruited forward/center Khem Birch has left the University of Pittsburgh basketball program for "personal reasons" according to head coach Jamie Dixon. This news flew all over the internet yesterday prior to the official announcement but it has to be noted that the Pitt coach that helped recruit Birch to Pitt left the team prior to the season starting. Is that the only reason? We may never know. There is no confirmation, at this time, if Birch texted his resignation to Pitt or not.
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Billy Donovan officially signs 5 year contract, through 2016. The University of Florida officially announced the contract had been signed, Friday. A deal that will continue to pay Donovan $3.5 million, annually.
Isn't the following what we all say about getting paid...
Just a quick observation about this video of Moss. He goes on to say "what's 10 grand to me?" yet fiddles around with his keys? I highly doubt his tricked out auto didn't come with key-less entry. [Sorry this really has nothing to do with Billy Donovan...I just wanted a reason to play the "Straight Cash Homie" video, lol.]
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Kobe's wife files for divorce. Hate to hear stuff like this, no matter who is the subject of the divorce. Been a rough week for Kobe when you factor in the non-trade/trade/mismanagement issues with the Lakers.
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Cowboys player restrained after near dust-up with reporter. I'm surprised they didn't duel. That's how they handle things in Texas, right?
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Miami Heat extended the contract of Erik Spoelstra. No word on how many championships he guaranteed the Heat.
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Mike Milbury charged with assault. Former Boston Bruins player and coach, "Mad Mike Milbury" was charged with assault and battery on a child after an incident at a pee-wee hockey game. It's a shame he has no history of this sort of thing. Ohhh wait...
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Free agent OF Michael Cuddyer agrees to multi-year deal with Rockies. It will be a 3 year deal worth around $30 million. Cuddyer spent his first 11 seasons with the Minnesota Twins.
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NFL denies Harrison's appeal. In what comes as a shock to absolutely no one, including James Harrison, the NFL denied his appeal for his 1 game suspension to be overturned. Prior to the hit on McCoy last week, Harrison had not been flagged for ANY helmet-to-helmet hits this season (despite a rash of them last season - some of which were extremely iffy but were obviously flagged because of who was doing the hitting not because of the severity of the hit).
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WVU news:
WVU football continued their hot streak with their 5th commitment of the week. Defensive Tackle Christian Brown became the 28th player to give their verbal commitment to the 2012 recruiting class at WVU. Defensive line help was an obvious need in the class as the team will lose stars Bruce Irvin and Julian Miller to graduation. Christian Brown is a big ole boy that checks in around 6'2" 290 pounds and hails from Bridgeton, NJ. Brown is a 3 star player (Rivals, Scout, 247, ESPN) and is ranked as one of the top 70 DTs in the country on all sites (highest ranking being #38 DT by Rivals). Brown chose WVU over offers from Illinois, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina State, Purdue, South Florida, UConn, Indiana, Duke, Minnesota, Iowa State, UAB and UCF. Rivals profile here. Scout profile here. 247 profile here. ESPN profile here.
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In other WVU football recruiting news... WVU will play host to several more players in on official visits this weekend. The word on the street is the group of visitors is headlined by 4 star linebacker Deaysean Rippy from McKees Rocks, PA and junior college (Navarro College) Offensive Tackle (OT) Tavon Rooks. Obviously, these two would be HUGE gets for the WVU recruiting class, especially Rippy. And if you were wondering about WVU trying to get a few Pitt commitments, WVU met with Pitt commit Offensive Guard (OG) Adam Pankey the day the news about Graham leaving broke and they scheduled an official visit to WVU for January. There's also a possibility WVU will go after a few others, but we'll discuss those as they pop up (if they do). It appears Pankey will visit on January 13th along with Lackawanna offensive lineman Mark Glowinski and possibly a few others (Clint Heaven was rumored for this weekend as well). You may also see Garrett Hope visit in January as well along with several others. If you'd rather view another recruiting site's page type in said player's name and see their rank on that site. For the commitments I give you all the links but for prospects I just stick with whatever site I'm on.
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Nice article from Bob Hertzel on WVU freshman Pat Forsythe. Read it and pass it along to your friends and family.
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WVU seeks to dismiss Big East's suit.
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Nike's 'Rise and Roar' Campaign tabs WVU. Nike's new campaign relies on fan voting and the top 16 schools with the most feedback will earn a cool Nike designed shirt for their school/team. Here's an article about the campaign from WV Illustrated. And here is the link to the voting - spread the word!!
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Just a quick reminder that WVU men's basketball has a game today.
WVU takes on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Morgantown (2pm Saturday)
in the opening game of the iBN Sports Las Vegas Classic. They follow
that up with another game of the tournament in Morgantown on Monday
night (7pm) vs Tennessee Tech. From there the Mountaineers will travel
to Las Vegas for the last two games of the tournament. Thursday,
December 22nd vs Missouri State at 8:00pm and the finale on Friday,
December 23rd vs Baylor at 9:00pm.
WVU women's basketball plays today, as well. WVU travels to Pittsburgh to take on Duquesne at the A.J. Palumbo Center (2pm). If you decide to go see the game it's "Buck Day" where tickets, hot dogs and drinks are all $1. After that the ladies will be back in Morgantown for a Tuesday night (7pm) tilt vs Mount Saint Mary's.
WVU women's basketball plays today, as well. WVU travels to Pittsburgh to take on Duquesne at the A.J. Palumbo Center (2pm). If you decide to go see the game it's "Buck Day" where tickets, hot dogs and drinks are all $1. After that the ladies will be back in Morgantown for a Tuesday night (7pm) tilt vs Mount Saint Mary's.
Have a great weekend!! Let's Go Mountaineers!!
Friday, December 16, 2011
Sports update 12/16/11
Here's your sports update for Friday...Friday...gotta get down on Friday...
Here's a small quote from Chris Paul in the ESPN article: "Why did I make a long-term commitment? Because I believe in this organization," Paul said. "I believe in the players here and I want to win and I want to win now. I'm excited about what the future holds. I can't wait. I'm tired of doing everything else, I want to play."
Kobe wants to be traded? Stephen A. Smith claims Kobe is 'livid' (because of the Paul deal falling through and the Odom to Dallas deal) and will demand a trade. I'm not a fan of Stephen A. Smith, but the NBA guys seem to love him so I doubt he's making it up. Kobe has every right to be furious at the Lakers, but more of his anger should be directed towards David Stern and whomever 'vetoed' that Chris Paul trade - because in reality the Lakers front office had the Chris Paul deal DONE and it was squashed. Not exactly anything the Lakers could have done better there. Turning around and trading Lamar Odom to the team that knocked you out of the playoffs (Dallas) didn't make ANY sense and didn't help make Kobe happy. This could also just be Kobe trying to make sure the Lakers bring in a big name guy. Either way all of this goes away if the Lakers pull off the deal for Dwight Howard (or another super star). Here is what Stephen A. Smith had to say; [transcribed from the link here - which got it from larrybrownsports.com]:
Appearing on SportsCenter, Smith said “I
predicted that Kobe Bryant will demand a trade, and I am not budging
from that. He’s livid. I’ve known Kobe too long. He is ticked off."
“It’s not just because [the Clippers] got Chris Paul, which is a guy that he expected to have. It’s because Jim Buss seems to be doing the inexplicable,” Smith said. “It makes no sense. It’s one thing for the team not to have improved [after losing to the Mavericks], it’s another thing entirely for them to regress. If you know anything about Kobe, that is the last thing that he wants to do.
I don't have any better or official links for this story - other than the one I linked you to that had the Stephen A. Smith quote. Will post more as it's available (or tomorrow).
“It’s not just because [the Clippers] got Chris Paul, which is a guy that he expected to have. It’s because Jim Buss seems to be doing the inexplicable,” Smith said. “It makes no sense. It’s one thing for the team not to have improved [after losing to the Mavericks], it’s another thing entirely for them to regress. If you know anything about Kobe, that is the last thing that he wants to do.
I don't have any better or official links for this story - other than the one I linked you to that had the Stephen A. Smith quote. Will post more as it's available (or tomorrow).
Barry Bonds to be sentenced today for obstruction of justice. A non-story, really, unless for some odd reason the judge hands out a harsher sentence than is expected. Most analysts assume Bonds will end up with some variation of house arrest and/or community service based on the other sentences handed out to other sports figures convicted of similar charges. The main point here is that it will "end" the BALCO investigation. ESPN version here. Yahoo! version here.
Chicago Bears' Sam Hurd arrested on federal drug charges. Lots of drugs, lots of problems. Bad things happening in Chicago? I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you! Yahoo! version here. Also, here's a few lines from the ESPN article:
The investigation into Hurd's attempt to buy large amounts of cocaine and marijuana began in July 2011, when he was still a member of the Dallas Cowboys, and concluded when he personally met with an undercover agent Wednesday at Morton's The Steakhouse in Rosemont. At that meeting, Hurd told the informant that he wanted to buy "five to 10 kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 pounds of marijuana per week for distribution in the Chicago area," according to the complaint.
High school students suspended for 'Tebowing.' In what has to be one of the dumbest suspensions of all time, a group of high school students were suspended for what must have been "Excessive Tebowing" after they continued to perform the Tebow pose in the hallways at school. Yahoo! version here.
MLB owners ratify CBA. Labor peace for the next 5 years.
Josh Willingham signs with Twins. 3-year, $21 million deal.
Prison inmate the 4th man to accuse Bernie Fine. Wow, sickening (if true). Glad Jim Boeheim defended this guy so vehemently. Yahoo! version here. ESPN version here. Also, here is a small excerpt from the ESPN article:
A 56-year-old New York prison inmate says former Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine began molesting him more than 40 years ago and continued to have sexual contact with him into adulthood. Floyd VanHooser told The Associated Press during a prison interview Thursday that Fine began sexually abusing him when VanHooser was 14 years old. As an adult, the contact included sex acts for money.
Falcons blow out Jaguars on Thursday Night Football, 41-14.
Dwight Howard still on the trading block. The Lakers are bummed about not getting Chris Paul and will almost certainly put the full court press on to land Dwight Howard. The Nets are also looking. And every other day Orlando seems like they might want to keep him. Ever-changing story. With this short pre-season though it might make it hard to pull off prior to the season starting. Yahoo! version here. ESPN version here.
New info on the death of IndyCar racer Dan Wheldon. Yahoo! version here. ESPN version here.
Flyers captain, Chris Pronger, out for season because of post-concussion symptoms. Concussions are a HUGE issue/topic in sports, right now, and even though this is a Flyer ya still have to feel for anyone dealing with this. Yahoo! version here. ESPN version here.
USC offensive tackle, Matt Kalil, to enter 2012 NFL Draft. Yahoo! version here. ESPN version here.
Joe Lunardi's latest 'Bracketology' is updated.
WVU sports news:
WVU football received two more verbal commitments, Thursday (at least that's when they became public knowledge, officially) bringing them to 27 total verbal commitments. One was well-known (Joseph), if you read this post yesterday. The other (Johnson) may not have been as widely known (on Thursday) but will replace the graduating Tyler Urban nicely. The order in which they were published is irrelevant, but I'll use the WV Metronews posts (since they're free).
Tight End Will Johnson commits to the Mountaineers. Will Johnson, from Osseo, Minnesota became WVU's 26th commitment (again if you're going by order they were posted). A 6'7" 245 pound tight end chose WVU over offers from Auburn, Boston College, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Minnesota and Mississippi. Johnson is a 3 star prospect (Rivals, Scout, ESPN and 247) and is ranked 24th best tight end by Rivals, 38th best tight end by Scout and 54th best tight end by ESPN. Scout profile here. Rivals profile here. ESPN profile here. 247 Sports profile here.
Safety Karl Joseph verbals to WVU. Karl Joseph, a 5'11" 190 pound safety, gave his verbal commitment to the Mountaineers at a press conference at his high school, Thursday. This marks the 27th commitment for WVU's 2012 class. Joseph is a versitle athlete that could play multiple positions in college (safety, OLB) but probably projects as a bandit safety for WVU. Joseph is a 3 star prospect (Rivals, Scout, ESPN and 247) and is ranked the 31st best safety by Rivals, 37th best safety by Scout and 36th best safety by ESPN. Joseph chose WVU over offers from Florida, Northwestern, Michigan State, East Carolina, Nebraska, Illinois, Kentucky, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Miami-FL, South Carolina and Tennessee. His final two were believed to be WVU and UCF. Scout profile here. Rivals profile here. ESPN profile here. 247 Sports profile here. WV Illustrated has more coverage here.
Nike's 'Rise and Roar' Campaign tabs WVU. Nike's new campaign relies on fan voting and the top 16 schools with the most feedback will earn a cool Nike designed shirt for their school/team. Here's an article about the campaign from WV Illustrated. And here is the link to the voting - spread the word!!
WVMetroNews Statewide Sportsline interviewed Johnson and Joseph's high school head coaches. You can listen here.
Here is a look at WVU's new football cleats:
Upcoming WVU basketball:
Just a quick reminder that WVU men's basketball has a game tomorrow. WVU takes on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Morgantown (2pm Saturday) in the opening game of the iBN Sports Las Vegas Classic. They follow that up with another game of the tournament in Morgantown on Monday night (7pm) vs Tennessee Tech. From there the Mountaineers will travel to Las Vegas for the last two games of the tournament. Thursday, December 22nd vs Missouri State at 8:00pm and the finale on Friday, December 23rd vs Baylor at 9:00pm.
WVU women's basketball plays tomorrow (Saturday) as well. WVU travels to Pittsburgh to take on Duquesne at the A.J. Palumbo Center (2pm). If you decide to go see the game it's "Buck Day" where tickets, hot dogs and drinks are all $1. After that the ladies will be back in Morgantown for a Tuesday night (7pm) tilt vs Mount Saint Mary's.
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