Warren Reid Pierre Renet Marc de Reuver Michele Rinaldi Joël Robert
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Video: Laron Landry celebrates defensive stop that didn't happen
Throughout his career, the enthusiasm of Laron Landry's celebrations have had an inverse correlation to his play on the field. In his first few seasons, when he overran blitzes, missed tackles and blew coverages, the Washington Redskins safety would celebrate every play like it had won him the Super Bowl. This year, as a position switch and increased dedication have transformed him into one of the NFL's top defensive players, Landry has toned down the antics after his plays.
That all changed on Sunday, though, when Landry excitedly celebrated a third-down stand by the Redskins in the team's game against the Detroit Lions. The LSU product raised his arms, did a semi-karate chop and got in the face of Lions' quaterback Matthew Stafford after the defensive stop.
The only problem was, the Lions got the first down.
Oops.
Jeff Stanton Rex Staten James Stewart Jr Brian Stonebridge David Strijbos
OmniVision to Supply CMOS Image Sensors for Two Cameras on New iPad
Rumors regrading the next generation iPad may not be as robust as, say, rumors regarding the iPhone heading to Verizon, but it’s good to see that they’re still alive and well. With a new report from Barron’s, it looks like the tablet device from Apple will not only be getting one camera on the back [...]
Source: http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/1LPTUbmuDP0/
Someone writes 'Bill McCartney,' and the Dan Hawkins successor derby is off and running
Dan Hawkins isn't dead yet at Colorado, but the faint sound of the dirge is getting louder by the day. The Buffaloes lost their third straight Saturday at Baylor to fall below .500 for the first time this season. One local columnist writes that it's over, and Hawkins is already making some quiet references to "the next guy." Another says it's only a matter of timing. And today, we had not only the suggestion that Hawkins could be out by next week if things go really pear-shaped against Oklahoma; eve more ominously, we have some names:The Buffaloes haven't quit on Hawkins. They still play hard if not well. There is no apparent division on the team. The fans, who keep filling Folsom Field, haven't chanted for Hawkins' head as Minnesota fans did for Tim Brewster's. Buffs fans are too classy. Instead, they boo the kids.However, if the 3-4 Buffaloes lay down against 11th-ranked Oklahoma on Saturday night, Hawkins could be gone next week.
That will bring us to the successor search, which is going on now. I'm told four people are atop the target list: Bill McCartney, Alabama offensive coordinator Jim McElwain, Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn and LSU coach Les Miles.
These don't appear to be really serious names, mind you, especially the first and last of the group. McCartney is Colorado's version of Bill Snyder, a beloved elder statesman who miraculously took a moribund program to national relevance, but unlike Snyder before his return to K-State, McCartney has been out of coaching for 16 years, not three. Les Miles ... well, by most accounts, Les Miles once turned down Michigan, his alma mater. If he got a call from a school that offered him a fraction his current salary, a far-flung recruiting base, an academically oriented administration that nevertheless offers little academic support to athletes and facilities that "make Colorado the Bangladesh of the Big 12," in the words of the Denver Post's John Henderson, I doubt Miles or his agent would bother picking up the phone. They might as well be going after Tony Dungy.
Even Malzahn and McElwain are likely to have better options in December and January for their revivals of moribund offenses in the Yellowhammer State, and the Pac-12-bound Buffs might be in the market for someone with actual California recruiting ties. But the point isn't the names themselves so much as that there are names: The initial arrival of "The List" in the local paper at midseason is like an orange showing up in "The Godfather": Soon, heads are going to roll. Tim Brewster heard the footsteps in Minnesota, and was out three weeks later. With Colorado's November schedule (Kansas, Iowa State, Kansas State), Hawkins might make it through the end. But he has plenty of incentive for keeping it from getting out of hand Saturday in Norman.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
Pierre Karsmakers Vladimir Kavinov Mike Kiedrowski Darryll King Shayne King
Broncos on parade: Even if it wins, Boise can only hold the line in its latest 'national showcase'
Louisiana Tech's visit to Boise State is major college football on a random October Tuesday, and for that we must give thanks. For the inevitable, relentless focus on the Broncos' place in the BCS championship, though – and especially for tonight's role in that debate as a coveted "national showcase" – maybe we shouldn't be so grateful. How does Boise stack up against other elite contenders? How would Boise fare in [insert conference]? What about Boise's schedule? You know the drill, and ESPN2 is prepared to deliver it tonight on an hourly basis, at minimum.
It's not like Boise State needs the exposure here: It's No. 2 in all three mainstream human polls and third in the BCS. It's already won much more high-profile games against ranked teams on broadcast television, on Labor Day and in Saturday primetime. And given that it comes in as an overwhelming, 38-point favorite and has still never lost a WAC game on the blue turf, it's probably not worth speculating on the prospects of a straight-up Louisiana Tech win. Short of a miracle, then, that leaves us with three possible paths for "Broncos on Parade" narrative to follow:
a) Boise routs the Bulldogs in a merciless bloodbath that covers the huge spread by halftime, instantly converting legions of suddenly awed skeptics;
b) Boise scrapes by with a relatively humble escape on the order of last year's 45-35 win in Ruston, forcing Bronco backers to soberly reevaluate their token darkhorse's dominance even within the WAC; or
c) Boise wins comfortably and convincingly but faces a few moments of adversity, fails to leave the Bulldogs strewn across the turf in unrecognizable pieces, takes its foot off the gas with the game in hand late and fails to move the zeitgeist in any way whatsoever in either direction.
Well, they have to ask, I guess, but the reality of the situation pretty much ensures c) – that is, your regularly scheduled gridlock. The time for impressing has passed: Even before the season, something between a comfortable, convincing win and an all-out, scorched-earth assault against Louisiana Tech was already taken as a given on both sides of the debate. An impressive blowout will be status quo. The divide is over whether that says anything about the Broncos' qualities as an elite contender. And the only way tonight's minor spotlight can possibly close that divide or change the nature of that debate is by revealing an unexpected struggle against a team that lost by 32 at Texas A&M.
At this point, Boise isn't going to win any new converts by crushing a team even its critics fully expect it to crush. The only drama is whether it can keep the cross fire roiling at full steam.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
John van den Berk Marnicq Bervoets Fritz Betzlbacher Dave Bickers Anthony Boissiere
That sound from South Bend was the last man off the Brian Kelly bandwagon
Tulsa 28, Notre Dame 27. In the grand scheme of things, even a home loss to a Conference USA also-ran with the smallest enrollment in the Football Bowl Subdivision is an afterthought in the wake of the genuine catastrophe at Notre Dame this week. The final score wasn't even the worst fate to befall the Irish on the field today, given that starting quarterback Dayne Crist may have suffered a season-ending knee injury for the second year in a row.But man, Notre Dame is bad. Shockingly bad, and not in the "Brian Kelly needs a year or two to get his recruits in place" sense. Bad in a "Back-to-back losses to Navy and Tulsa" sense. NBC's announcers commended Tulsa after the game on "the biggest win in school history," adding the Golden Hurricane to a motley crew of underdogs that have added an upset in Notre Dame Stadium to the top of their resumés over the last four years: Navy, Syracuse, Connecticut, Navy again.
The illusion that the Kelly administration would relegate those flops to the "History" section of the media guide officially went up in smoke last week in the Meadowlands. Still, when students joked this week about rushing the field to commemorate the loss that would mark the current seniors as the losingest class in Irish history, it was suggested for Utah's visit in two weeks. Even the most pointed skeptics on campus didn't think it could be bad enough to fall to 4-5 against Tulsa.
Oh, but it is. And with Utah and USC still in front of them, with Crist apparently sidelined for a true freshman who served up three interceptions today to go with the pick he threw on one of his two attempts against Michigan in September, it's only going to get worse. A losing season is all but in the books. The only question at this point is whether the Irish can even take Army for granted in two weeks to avoid going out on a straight five-game losing streak.
The transition to Brian Kelly changed nothing: A sobering reality to end a terrible week. But only the beginning of another depressingly familiar crawl to the finish line.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
Arne Kring Brad Lackey Arthur Lampkin Steve Lamson Grant Langston
Upset Bait: UNC survivors' tour guns for five in a row at Miami
Perusing in search of a shocker or two. The Line: North Carolina (+6½) at Miami.
History says: Butch Davis is 3-0 against his former employer since landing at UNC in 2007, all three coming as an underdog, and all in large part thanks to the 'Canes' consistent generosity: The Tar Heels picked off Kyle Wright four times in 2007, Robert Marve twice in 2008 and Jacory Harris four times last year, including a pair of pick-six returns by Kendric Burney that accounted for the final margin in a 33-24 UNC upset.
I'm feeling lucky. Carolina was written off immediately with half its starting lineup in NCAA limbo in losses to LSU and Georgia Tech, between which the most high-profile assistant coach resigned in disgrace. Even shorthanded and beset by potentially program-crippling distractions, though, the Tar Heels took both the Tigers and Yellow Jackets to the wire, and have quietly taken the last four in exactly the fashion suggested by the pre-scandal hype this offseason: None of the four victims (Rutgers, East Carolina, Clemson, Virginia) has topped 17 points, making UNC the second-best scoring defense in the ACC.
For his part, Jacory Harris hasn't done anything to suggest significant growth since serving up a buffet of interceptions last year in Chapel Hill. Since connecting on three touchdown passes in an opening-night scrimmage against Florida A&M, Harris is completing just below half of his passes and been picked off nine times in the last five games. North Carolina quarterback T.J. Yates, on the other hand, has been leaps and bounds better than the mediocre scapegoat who guided the ACC's most impotent passing game in 2009, delivering a stellar 11:1 touchdown:interception ratio with big games against LSU (412 yards, 3 TDs) and Virginia (325 yards, 3 TDs). Receiver Jheranie Boyd has been the legitimate big-play threat the attack desperately needed – at least, when they've been able to get him involved.
Reality check. The Tar Heels still haven't been able to generate any kind of consistent running game, and Yates will be throwing into the teeth of a veteran defense that ranks second nationally in pass efficiency D and fourth in sacks. But UNC's biggest concern remains its own secondary: As wildly erratic as Harris is on a weekly basis, he can challenge the Heels deep more effectively than any other quarterback they've seen, and Carolina is still operating with both of its starting cornerbacks and arguably the best pass rusher in the nation watching from home. At some point, the attrition has to begin taking its toll.
Moment of truth: Straight-up, against the spread or take the chalk?
North Carolina has been a better team than Miami over the last month, but the Tar Heels don't have the one clear advantage – a consistent, multi-pronged running game on offense – that put Ohio State and Florida State over the top against the 'Canes earlier this year. As presumptuous as it is to put anything past Jacory Harris, relying on him to do more harm than good to his own team is no way to gamble. The high probability of a Jacory bomb or two blowing up in Miami's face may be worth taking UNC with the points, but the Heels are still too shorthanded in the wrong places to trust straight up on the road.
See also...
Kentucky (+4) over Georgia. The Wildcats may not be as "hot" as the Bulldogs after a single upset over South Carolina, but how many times is Kentucky ever going to get Georgia in Lexington as a toss-up game, with the SEC East ripe for the taking? This is exactly the sort of not-that-impressive upset that memorable seasons are built on, and Kentucky putting itself in the thick of the division race going into Halloween weekend would certainly qualify as "memorable" in that long-suffering neck of the woods.
Georgia Tech (+5) over Clemson. An odd line, considering Georgia Tech shows every sign of returning to the form that lifted it to the ACC championship last year, and two of Clemson's three wins thus far have come over North Texas and Presbyterian. The Tigers haven't done of much offensively since a big first half at Auburn more than a month ago, including in last week's turnover-fueled, 31-7 win over Maryland, in which the offense barely cracked 200 total yards. At least the Yellow Jackets still have the triple-option attack going for them, which is one more thing than Clemson at the moment.
Western Kentucky (+6) over Louisiana-Lafayette. I'm calling it right here: After last week's heartbreaking fourth-quarter collapse with victory seemingly in hand against UL-Monroe, the nation's longest losing streak is due to end at 26 games. WKU remains as bad a team as they come in almost every conceivable way, but Lafayette's nothing to write home about, either – one of the Cajuns' two wins was by a single point against hopeless, injury-ravaged North Texas, after UNT failed to come up with a two-point conversion for the win. The Hilltoppers have to get over the hump sometime, and this looks like as good a place as any.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
Thomas Allier Håkan Andersson Victor Arbekov Les Archer Nicolas Aubin
Video: Cory Sarich's own goal helps Caps pile on Flames
Poor Cory Sarich. Not only were the Calgary Flames in the middle of an epic meltdown against the Washington Capitals in front of their home fans, he added to the misery by scoring an own goal on Miikka Kiprusoff in the second period:
Calgary held a 2-1 lead at the end of the first before the Capitals put up a six-spot in the second period and take a 7-2 lead. Washington scored two goals in 12 seconds and two goals in 13 seconds (one being Sarich's) in the second to put things out of hand. Kiprusoff seemed to have pulled himself after Washington's sixth goal. Five minutes later, David Steckel would score shorthanded on a penalty shot to give the Capitals their lucky seventh of the night.
The way things are going, Flames coach Brent Sutter is not far from pulling a Robbie Ftorek and just dumping everything that isn't nailed down behind the bench onto the ice.
Peter Johansson Rick Johnson Gary Jones Mark Jones Ake Jonsson
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Video: Neither rain nor snow nor drunken fans will keep West Virginia's band from its appointed rounds
Let's be honest: Who hasn't seen a particularly impressive marching band formation and thought, "Wow. I'd really like to take a nap inside that"? Many have dreamed; few have mustered the ... let's say, exuberance to try. For this Mountaineer fan, however, "exuberance" was no problem as he singlehandedly invaded the northern border of the Pride of West Virginia's pregame show Saturday (first video) for a brief taste of the dream before being dragged away by authorities:
Most of the thousands on hand in Morgantown saw the invasion and subsequent deportation as just another drunken, shirtless interloper scoring points in the frat house. Local writer Mitch Vingle, however, saw the episode for what it really was – a strained metaphor for the Mountaineers' descent against a double-digit underdog:
MORGANTOWN - Before Saturday's Syracuse-West Virginia Big East football game, an intoxicated fan ran onto the field and lay down on the artificial turf. The WVU band literally marched right over him before the police intervened.
Little did the partisan crowd of 58,122 at Milan Puskar Stadium realize it was a harbinger. The host Mountaineers staggered into the game against the lightly regarded Orange, then allowed SU to march through and over them on a beautiful Homecoming day.
With the Pride of West Virginia, as with Syracuse's long-awaited return to respectability, there are no obstacles. There is only march, and the unlamented cries of those unfortunate enough to find themselves in its unrelenting path.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
Marty Smith Steve Stackable Jeff Stanton Rex Staten James Stewart Jr
BDL's 2010-11 Season Previews: Portland Trail Blazers
Last year's record? 50-32, lost in the first round to the Utah Jazz.
Significant departures? Travis Outlaw, Martell Webster, Jerryd Bayless, Juwan Howard's furrowed brow.
Significant arrivals? Luke Babbitt y'all, Armon Johnson, Wes Matthews, Fab Oberto.
Projected record, as predicted three months ago in time to publish in Yahoo! Sports' NBA Preview Magazine? 50-32
Why I think that sounds about right?
Because these aren't massive upgrades, while the team's notoriously injury plagued roster has lost a little depth.
The squad is still gathering assets, more or less, and relying on internal development to make a big step forward in a still-tough Western conference. On top of that, Andre Miller's wheels could fall off at any second, which would force Brandon Roy to play even more point guard. He's quite capable of running the show, but you would prefer he wouldn't. And if Greg Oden suffers through another injury plagued year, the team's defense (though the raw numbers are good due to the team's slow pace) will continue to mitigate all this offensive greatness.
Why I think I might be terribly, terribly wrong?
Because if things go right -- and believe me, at lot has to go right -- this team could be beastly.
If Nic Batum can stay healthy the entire season, and he gets the minutes he deserves? You're going to be laughing for months about the way I just called Travis Outlaw and Martell Webster "significant."
If Brandon Roy can find a nice balance between last season's minor step-back and 2008-09's "holy crap, this guy is nearly as good as Kobe" seasons? Then the Blazers will be battling for second in the West.
And if, and you knew it was coming, Greg Oden can give this team 60 games at 30 minutes a night? Then we could be looking at a 60-win team. Oden is that important, and his expected play (even after yet another injury) is that potent.
Statrick Ewing
Sebastian Pruiti, the wunderkind behind NBA Playbook, shared this gem on Twitter yesterday: Portland has snared 39 offensive rebounds in the first two games of the season, or 43.8 percent of all available offensive caroms. That's just a crazy, crazy number, and a big reason that they're 2-0.
To give you an idea of how impressive that is, the highest Offensive Rebound Rate (ORR) that any NBA team posted last season was the Memphis Grizzlies' 31.3. Only the Grizz and the Detroit Pistons grabbed more than 30 percent of available offensive rebounds last year; the league average was 26.3. So to get up over 40, even in a ridiculously small sample size, you're doing something.
Because of that ridiculously small sample size, it's unlikely that Portland's abject offensive-glass dominance will continue to such a significant degree -- the rates for players like LaMarcus Aldridge (a remarkably skilled big man, but not exactly a Rodman-esque vacuum on the backboard), Nicolas Batum (a 6-foot-8 small forward who's been seeing time as an undersized four) and Andre Miller (whose six rebounds this season have all come on the offensive end) are all likely to drop as the games and minutes wear on. But it might not drop off quite as much as you'd expect -- the Blazers were ORR studs last year, too, finishing with a rate of 28.2, the league's fourth-best mark, and they did that largely without injured centers Oden and Przybilla, both of whom should be back in the lineup by Christmas (with Przybilla possibly back as soon as next weekend).
--
"So many people here, they are loving my slick and dirty hair"
"Finally, for Fabricio, a home is found. Gracias, Puertorlando."
--
Greg Oden is big: A three-minute reminder
"Rise, rise, rise, rise, rise
Rise, rise, rise, rise
Reign, reign, reign, reign, rrrreeeeeeiiiiigggggnnn
Fly through the air
Come in hard
He don't care
'Cause he's big"
I guess every sentimental folk hero need his theme music. Pretty great.
(Also: Get your minds out of the gutter. Ought to be ashamed of yourselves.)
Fritz Betzlbacher Dave Bickers Anthony Boissiere Frederic Bolley Xavier Boog
Ageless Mark Brunell, 'Last of the Mohicans,' Keeping NFL Career Alive
Filed under: Jets, NFL Quarterbacks, NFL Analysis
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- He will see the Packers' green and gold on Sunday. It will serve as another NFL deja vu moment for Mark Brunell, since the Packers drafted him in 1993. Of course, when you have played for five teams (Packers, Jaguars, Redskins, Saints and Jets) over 17 NFL seasons, toiled in 176 NFL games and thrown nearly 5,000 passes for nearly 32,000 yards, what goes around comes around in vivid circles.Brunell is the Jets' backup quarterback now, which should mean he is the next man up to starter Mark Sanchez when Green Bay visits the Jets on Sunday. Both Jets coach Rex Ryan and Brunell saw what happened to the Cowboys on Monday night, when starter Tony Romo went down and backup Jon Kitna went in. No team relishes injury to its starting quarterback, but if that reality smacked the Jets, Ryan said that's simply "the nature of the game.'' Ryan said he'd talk about such a scenario with his coaches and decide whether Brunell or No. 3 quarterback Kellen Clemens would be the quarterback "who gives us the best chance to win that week.''
Brunell has a simpler view: "I'm the backup quarterback. I'd go in.''
And just what would that mean for the Jets?
Source: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/10/29/ageless-mark-brunell-keeping-nfl-career-alive/
John Banks Mark Barnett Jonathan Barragan Andrea Bartolini Willy Bauer
netTALK offers free VoIP app for Android, iPhone, and more
NetTALK unveiled its interesting netTALK DUO VoIP device for computer users back in July. The company has now announced a new smartphone application that is available for all major platforms. The app is offered free on the iPhone, Android, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile devices. The app allows the smartphone users to make calls to people [...]
Source: http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/yMSLYjQ-8m4/
Mickael Pichon Jim Pomeroy Christophe Pourcel Sebastien Pourcel Wyman Priddy
Headlinin': Add free LASIK, organized fan backlash to the perks of being an SEC ref
Making the morning rounds.
• The pitchforks show they care. Dismayed SEC fans are circulating at least two open letters in the wake of more sketchy officiating in Saturday's Auburn-Arkansas game, one of which implored conference officials, media and the governor of Mississippi to open "a full scale investigation" employing "local law enforcement, state law enforcement, federal law enforcement, or government leaders at all levels" if necessary to fix the crisis. (Note to Democrats: You want to improve your standing in the red states over the next two weeks? Here is your issue.) Thankfully, a Fayetteville optometrist had a lighter touch: Any on-field or replay booth official who worked the Razorbacks' 65-43 loss on the Plains is hereby welcome to free laser vision surgery, courtesy of McDonald Eye Associates. [Clarion-Ledger, Arkansas Democrat Gazette]
(For the record, the conference says the refs got the calls right.) [Birmingham News]
• I keed, I keed. BYU receiver O'Neill Chambers told the student paper Tuesday his season-long suspension is the result of a "prank" he pulled on the Cougars' true freshman quarterback in September, when Chambers said he "jokingly packed up items from Jake Heaps' locker and delivered them to coaches and told the coaches that Heaps 'wasn't putting the team first because he [Jake] wasn't thinking of the team first.'" Hilarious. He also took the opportunity with the campus press to accuse coaches of "hindering Jake's progress" during the team's 2-5 start, which nobody got. It's like his sense of humor is way up here, and all these squares are just plodding around on a lower level, you know?
Shockingly, Chambers has put in for a transfer, preferably to a school that will appreciate a more cultivated wit. For his part, coach Bronco Mendenhall chalked up the suspension to "repeated mistakes," which somehow sounds ... plausible. [BYU Daily Universe, Salt Lake Tribune]
• Sorry, Beano, this is real life. The Rose Bowl has picked up a new sponsor for the next four years: Vizio Inc., the Irvine, Calif.-based HDTV and consumer electronics company, which partnered with ESPN to "present" the Granddaddy through 2014, when it will also put on the Pasadena leg of the BCS Championship Game. Judging from those endless Vizio commercials, the halftime show will consist of a quick-cutting medley featuring Beyonce, the Numa Numa guy, ninjas, David After Dentist and of course, the Doobie Brothers. [Associated Press]
• Do not adjust ... you know, actually, you might want to adjust your set. Oregon is lobbying fans to wear bright yellow for Thursday night's visit from UCLA, a nationally televised game that will also be broadcast in 3D by ESPN. The school feels that "yellow will best represent our football program and fan base to the rest of the country," presumably by blinding it – just like the Duck offense does to opposing defenses. [OregonGridiron.com]
On the field, the Oregon defense may come in shorthanded, with three regular starters – defensive tackle Zac Clark (groin), defensive end Terrell Turner (toe) and cornerback Anthony Gildon (ankle) – looking doubtful to play. [The Oregonian]
• Not-so-happy trails. Hyped Miami safety Latwan Anderson, one of an elite handful of five-star recruits in this year's freshman class, has apparently left the team over a lack of playing time, though he remains on the Hurricane track team, where he's on scholarship. A source told the Miami Herald that "Anderson is frustrated but should have known he likely would redshirt this season." [Miami Herald]
Quickly... Mike Leach is willing to listen if Minnesota calls. ... Some relief is on the way for Penn State's banged up defense. ... Oregon assistant Scott Frost likes the cut of the Ducks' jib. ... Bret Bielema says Wisconsin runs "American Football." ... Bo Pelini rips Nebraska's tackling against Texas. ... San Jose State police close the book on the Case of the Colliding Flag Corps. ... When Nick Saban was a player, he walked 50 miles uphill in the snow every day, and he was grateful. ... And Jim Harbaugh really likes his starting quarterback. Like, like likes.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
Christian Beggi Mike Bell John van den Berk Marnicq Bervoets Fritz Betzlbacher
C-a-C: 'Go five miles, turn right, then hang your first left'
"I really don't appreciate you giving me directions to 'The Jump Shot Store,' Coach Saunders. In fact, I suspect no such store even exists."
That's just my hilarious out-of-context interpretation of this sideline conversation between Washington Wizards bench boss Flip Saunders and heralded rookie John Wall from last night's debacle. What's yours? Best caption wins a Third Eye Blind song, complete with lyrics. Good luck.
In our last adventure: Shane Battier tries his hand at telepathy.
Note: Every single entry that referred to Shane using magic and casting spells literally made me laugh out loud, so I couldn't pick one above the others. On the minus side, that means none of you aspiring wizards won. On the plus side, here is part 1 of the 1978 CBS version of "Dr. Strange." So we're all winners!
Winner, vfettke: Monta: I'm the dude that risked millions of dollars driving a moped. There's not much of a mind to control, Shane.
Runner-up, Arian C: When asked where he got his defensive techniques, Shane Battier proudly replied, "The Mighty T-Rex."
Second runner-up, Mike: Battier: "These aren't the droids you are looking for ..."
Ellis: "These aren't the droids ..."
Battier: "Wait, that's not what I meant to say."
Kees van der Ven Javier Garcia Vico Ryan Villopoto Jacky Vimond Tallon Vohland
Friday, October 29, 2010
Which Giant will get DH duties for Saturday's Game 3?
SAN FRANCISCO — The World Series is picking up and moving to Texas. With the migration comes a home crowd for the Texas Rangers, a new set of rules that are beneficial to getting Vladimir Guerrero at-bats and another chance for San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy to extend his stellar set of moves this postseason.
Bochy said after Thursday's Game 2 that he's going to huddle with his team on the flight to Dallas-Fort Worth to decide what they're going to do with the designated hitter spot. It's uncertain if Bochy will announce their findings at the media sessions later Friday, but he's already highlighted his main three options: Pat Burrell, Pablo Sandoval and Aubrey Huff.
FRIDAY NIGHT UPDATE: To DH, Bochy picked the giantest Giant of them all: Kung Fu Panda.
Here's a closer look at what each option would bring to the Giants:
Pat Burrell .171 (6-for-35), 1 HR, 4 RBIs — 2010 postseason
Tabbing Burrell as the DH would pull him out of left field and probably lead to a more defensive lineup that would allow Cody Ross to slide into Burrell's LF spot and defensive wiz Nate Schierholtz to patrol right field. Burrell hasn't exactly gotten off to a hot start in the World Series, though, striking out four times and walking twice in seven plate appearances. Would Bochy take away the dual offense-defense roles that Burrell has said is a key to his success?
Pablo Sandoval .214 (3-for-14), 0 HR, 2 RBIs
Kung Fu Panda has yet to see any playing time this World Series and I'm guessing we'll see him in at least one of the three games in Texas. He came up big for the Giants in Game 4 of the NLCS and you have to figure Bochy will try to go to that well for some added punch. Sandoval's main obstacle to at-bats, though, is that the Giants aren't solving a defensive problem by DHing him. He's already sitting on the bench and there are two other players on the field — Burrell and Huff — that could stand to have their gloves hidden.
Aubrey Huff .283 (13-for-46) 0 HR, 6 RBIs
Huff has been a defensive liability for the Giants at first base and it has to be tempting for Bochy to let him work his red rally thong magic from a hitting-only standpoint. Play Huff at DH and Travis Ishikawa gets a shot at his first World series start.
Obviously, this isn't as easy of a decision as Ron Washington's slam-dunk choice of Guerrero in the DH spot. Which way do you think Bochy will — or should — go?
Follow Big League Stew all through the postseason on Twitter and on Facebook.
Ben Townley Pedro Tragter Marty Tripes Vlastimil Valek Julien Vanni
The helmet-to-helmet backlash has already arrived on campus
If you're a football fan of any stripe, you haven't been able to get very far the last couple weeks without encountering some version of the really big story of the season, the NFL's controversial crackdown on helmet-to-helmet hits via stiff fines, suspensions and public shame campaigns. The league is super-serious about this. Coincidentally, it was about this time last year that college fans began to worry about the increasingly touchy, NFL-style personal foul calls beginning to trickle down to the amateur game.
So it probably shouldn't come as any surprise that the NFL's new, highly publicized threats to begin suspending players for vicious hits have already inspired two fairly unprecedented suspensions this week in college, beginning with the SEC's decision to bench Mississippi State linebacker Chris Hughes for one game for a helmet-to-helmet hit he put on UAB's Frantrell Forrest Saturday in the second quarter of a close Bulldog win. The Big 12 followed suit today by levying a one-game suspension against Nebraska linebacker Eric Martin for the knockout shot Martin put on Oklahoma State's Will Hudson Saturday during a 'Husker kickoff return:
As obviously dangerous as it is, there's not really anything conventionally wrong with that hit. If you've ever played football, you'll recognize it as exactly the kind of "kill shot" every player dreams of landing from the first time he puts on a helmet in elementary school. It's one of Ronnie Lott's "woo licks," an alpha-male shot that makes the entire crowd sit up and go "woo" and sends a jolt of electricity coursing through the entire stadium. It's these kinds of hits – violent but certainly not dirty, coming neither late, low nor from behind – that coined the cliché "keep your head on a swivel," and have forever been celebrated as the kind of dominance display that largely defined the game. Injuries happen, but the "big hit" is an entrenched point of pride on par with any other aspect of the game, and Martin's crackback on Hudson applies under almost any prevailing definition.
How long will it take increased flags and suspensions to change that? If they're serious and consistently applied over an extended period of time, maybe not very long. Maybe in a decade, we'll have a new crop of recruits who have never been explicitly encouraged to take an opponent's head off. If it's a point of emphasis in offseason clinics, etc., maybe the headhunter mentality can be coached out of them sooner, if it can be effectively legislated out of the coaches – and it will have to be legislated out of most of them. Out of most fans, too. Given what we're learning about concussions, though, there's probably no other alternative to keeping the game viable in a society that will be increasingly unwilling to tolerate those risks, much less cheer them on.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
Julien Vanni Pekka Vehkonen Marc Velkeneers Jaak van Velthoven Kees van der Ven
Listen To Puck Daddy Radio, with Blue Jackets' Derek Dorsett
It's a Friday edition of Puck Daddy Radio, and we're chatting about the following and much more:
• Special guest today: Derek Dorsett of the Columbus Blue Jackets, on the season so far and whether the NHL is still safe for pests.
• Game Show Friday! Featuring "Whale or Fail?"
• Question of the day: Are these the worst batch of Winter Classic jerseys we've seen since the outdoor game tradition started?
Email your thoughts to puckdaddyradio@thescore.com.
Puck Daddy Radio is on Monday through Friday, from 1-2 ET/10-11 PT on The Score Radio Sirius Channel 98. Featuring yours truly and guest co-host Joe Ross, in for the dentally challenged Rob Pizzo, it's your show: Calls, tweets, special guests and a ton of hockey goodness every day.
The call in number is 1-888-942-7326 (1-888-9-HARDCORE). We'll also be reading emails to puckdaddyradio@thescore.com and tweets that you send to @wyshynski and @robpizzo.
We're all about interaction here; call in, email, tweet ... we'll discuss whatever you'd like. Listen Live by clicking the link below:
Gordon Crockard Craig Dack Roger De Coster Ken De Dycker Yves Demaria
Ballistic Cases drops Ballistic SG for iPhone 4
Back during the summer, I talked a bit about a new case from Ballistic Cases for the iPhone 4 called the Ballistic HC. Ballistic Cases is now back with another cool case for the iPhone 4 called the Ballistic SG that has three layers of protection and looks pretty cool to boot. The case has [...]
Source: http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/aV78lN6dMcQ/
Gary Jones Mark Jones Ake Jonsson Julien Bill Pierre Karsmakers
Ballistic Cases drops Ballistic SG for iPhone 4
Back during the summer, I talked a bit about a new case from Ballistic Cases for the iPhone 4 called the Ballistic HC. Ballistic Cases is now back with another cool case for the iPhone 4 called the Ballistic SG that has three layers of protection and looks pretty cool to boot. The case has [...]
Source: http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/aV78lN6dMcQ/
Cody Copper Gordon Crockard Craig Dack Roger De Coster Ken De Dycker
Thursday night live blog: Return to the Wolfpack lair
The intrigue abounds tonight from Raleigh, where quietly streaking Florida State visits N.C. State for the title of de facto frontrunner in the ACC Atlantic. Can the Seminoles sustain the three-headed running game that animates the most balanced attack in the country? Will Russell Wilson light up the FSU secondary for his sixth straight 300-yard passing game? Will the feral bronze idol that greets the Pack as they emerge from their smoke-filled lair instill them with the spirit of the Wolf in battle? There's only one way to find out, while also sharing snarky comments about it ... in real time.
• What: Thursday night live blog, all games in play, all day long. All comments welcome.
• When: Game kicks at 7:30 ET, give or take some lamentable pregame banter. Come as you please.
• Who: You, of course, along with your best smoke machine.
• How: Hit "Watch Now," enter comments into the available box and do your part to accelerate the slow, agonizing death of conventional journalism.
• Why: Prizes! Best comment wins a certificate redeemable for a firm, masculine handshake from Tom O'Brien (airfare not included).
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
Joël Smets Jeff Smith Marty Smith Steve Stackable Jeff Stanton
Alabama takes a break, and waits for the mulligan to drop in its lap
Alabama doesn't play Saturday, and it may have already yielded its claim to greatness in a two-touchdown loss at South Carolina. But it could still come out of the weekend in control of destiny to eventually reclaim the iron grip it held on the No. 1 ranking at the start of the month. The Crimson Tide are already the highest-ranked one-loss team in every relevant poll, including the BCS. Two of the six undefeated teams ranked in front of them, Michigan State and Missouri, are seven-point road underdogs Saturday against top-20 conference rivals. A third, Oregon, is traveling to face a rested USC outfit that's calling the showdown "our bowl game." A fourth, Auburn, is bound for Tuscaloosa for what's shaping up as a cataclysmic, winner-take-all Iron Bowl date on Nov. 26. The fifth and sixth are Boise State and TCU. Look at the landscape, do the math, and be honest: Based on what we know right now, what team would you put your money on to make it out of that scenario in December?
I don't have Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy pegged as a gambling man, but it sounds like he's feeling pretty good about the Tide's chances down the stretch after Saturday's 41-10 victory at Tennessee. From Alabama Live:
...The blemish is misleading, according to Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy.
"Believe it or not, at this point of the season going into the bye week, I think we're stronger right now than we were a year ago," he said late Saturday night on a national radio show. "Last year, we were really limping going into the bye week. We didn't have a great game in any of the weeks leading up to the bye week." [...]
"The record speaks for itself," McElroy said, "but as far as continuity and the trust we have for each other and the way we played tonight, I think we're playing better than we were a year ago.
"It's just whether or not we'll be able to continue to improve. Last year's team over the course of the bye week really made a few strides. That's what we need to do this year."
The most glaring difference between this year's team and last year's going into the Halloween-weekend bye is the '09 Tide seemed wholly reliant on the defense. The offense had managed a single touchdown in the last 10 quarters, an all-Mark-Ingram-all-the-time drive against South Carolina, and barely escaped the upset bid by Tennessee by virtue of Terrence Cody's infamous field-goal blocks. The 2010 defense, as expected, is not on the same level as last year's squadron of veteran, draft-bound killers, but it's hanging pretty tough – 'Bama still leads the SEC in scoring and pass efficiency D and comes in second in yards allowed. It's also forcing the most turnovers.
Where this team has the opportunity to separate itself, though, is in the versatile attack that may yet emerge as the best offense in school history, or at least of the post-Bear Bryant era. The bar isn't incredibly high, statistically, but McElroy is currently clearing 34 points and 440 yards per game on 7.1 yards per play, all in the upper reaches of any 'Bama attack of the last 25 years. For all the hype over the Ingram/Trent Richardson beast in the backfield, the passing game is putting up over 250 yards per game – easily a school record if it stands – and already has as many completions of 15 yards and 25 yards as the '09 offense had in almost twice as many games. After his record night at Tennessee, Julio Jones already has more catches for more yards than he did through all of last year.
So far, the Tide are outscoring and outgaining opponents (on a per-play basis) by slightly wider margins than last year's SEC and national champions. They should come out of the bye week at full strength, with two straight games against currently ranked teams (LSU and Mississippi State) to shore up their poll position – especially according to computers, where they lag outside of the top 10 – going into the Armageddon game with Auburn. They need a little bit of help, of course, but if the preseason No. 1 has any of that dust left, the path is still there over the next month to justify the hype.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
Gordon Crockard Craig Dack Roger De Coster Ken De Dycker Yves Demaria
An unedited transcript of Derek Dooley comparing his team to Nazis
Your history lesson for the day begins around the 10:40 mark.
Weary Tennessee fans didn't expect much from Derek Dooley's first season as head coach, which is a good thing for both sides: For a team with hope, an 0-4 conference start punctuated by a devastating finish against one rival and a record-breaking blowout at the hands of another might be getting really ugly right about now. With a hopelessly green, obviously overmatched lineup that he had almost no hand in putting together, Dooley isn't under quite that much pressure. The season isn't going to kill him.
It's just going to drive him slowly, entertainingly crazy for the next couple months:
"Right now we're like the Germans in World War II. Here comes the boats, they're coming. You have the binoculars, and it's like, 'Oh, my God, the invasion is coming.' That's what they did, they were in the bunkers. It's coming, they call Rommel -- they can't find Rommel. (Pretending to speak into a radio.) 'What do we do? I'm not doing anything until I get orders.' (Pretends to look through binoculars.) 'Have you gotten Rommel yet?'
"All right, and the Americans were the exact opposite. We hit the beach, and we were on the wrong spot. 'What do we do?' 'I don't know, but these guys are firing and we better hide over there and blow some stuff up to get up there.' They weren't looking for (help). That's where we've got to make that transition.
"I don't want the German people to get upset at me. I'm not attacking them, but that's what happened. You had one group, they weren't worried about what the plan was and orders and all that. When the war hits, things change. You've got to go. You had the other group, and they go, 'Wait a minute. They told us the invasion was way further north' where we had the empty tanks and we were hiding Patton out. 'We weren't ready for this, now what do we do?' 'We better wait until Rommel tells us what to do.'
"I hope I got my names right."
Don't worry, coach, you made the History Department proud. The alumni association, probably not so much. But what do they know about fighting it out in the trenches when the entire operation is FUBAR?
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
Rick Burgett Jimmy Button Michael Byrne Antonio Cairoli Trey Canard
Caroline Wozniacki Clinches Year-End No. 1 Ranking at Doha
Filed under: WTA, WTA Rankings
Caroline Wozniacki clinched the WTA's year-end No. 1 ranking on Thursday by defeating Francesca Schiavone, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, in their round-robin match at the WTA Championships in Doha, Qatar. She is the youngest player to end the year at No. 1 since Martina Hingis accomplished the feat in 2000. "That's something I've dreamed about since I was a little girl," Wozniacki said after the match. "I'm really happy, really proud about what I've achieved this year."
Wozniacki, who lost the first set, rallied back and strengthened as the match progressed. She earned three vital breaks in the third set to seal the win. The match was a microcosm of Wozniacki's year. She wore down her opponent, and was stronger -- both mentally and physically -- than Schiavone was by the contest's end.
"Francesca was playing really good in the first set," Wozniacki said. "I just hang in there, and I kept my focus, and I tried to stay a little bit more aggressive and not let her dictate the game in the second and third, and that helped me through."
Source: http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2010/10/28/caroline-wozniacki-clinches-year-end-no-1-ranking/
Kurt Nicoll Bill Nilsson Jorgen Nilsson Graham Noyce Carl Nunn
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Upset Bait: Texas on high alert for Bear attack
Perusing the weekly lines in search of a shocker or two.The Line: Baylor (+7½) at Texas.
History says: Baylor hasn't beaten the mighty Longhorns since the Great Collapse of '97 that initially brought Mack Brown to Texas, and hasn't won in Austin since 1991. It hasn't come within three touchdowns of the 'Horns in more than a decade. It hasn't faced Texas as a ranked team when Texas is unranked since 1986, in the days of the old Southwest Conference.
And at 3-1 to open Big 12 play, the Bears are also bumping against their historical ceiling as they hit the meat of the schedule: Baylor hasn't finished .500 in conference games since the Big 12 was formed in 1996, and prior to this year, only the 2005 team (3-5) even seriously entertained the possibility
I'm feeling lucky. Baylor – Baylor which is Baylor – is legitimately explosive on offense for what might as well be the first time ever, as far as anyone on the field is concerned. Art Briles' spread passing attack has the Bears sitting fifth nationally in passing and total offense, with at least 30 points in seven of their first eight games. Quarterback Robert Griffin is the most efficient, least sacked quarterback in the conference, leads the league in big plays and total offense and should own all of Baylor's career passing marks by the end of the year. He already has five different receivers with at least 25 catches for the year. Last week's 683-yard barrage against Kansas State broke the school record for total offense for the second time in less than a month. They passed their way out of the "fluke" phase a long time ago.
Compare that to a Longhorn attack on the other side that's putting up a little below 24 points per game, hasn't hit 30 since early-September scrimmages against Rice and Wyoming and currently ranks 106th nationally in turnover margin. Baylor's defense is nothing special, but it's been far better than the rock-bottom Iowa State outfit that completely handcuffed Texas last week. The 'Horns may not have found the end zone at all there or in the embarrassing home loss to UCLA in September if both defenses hadn't loosened with the game well in hand in the fourth quarter, and there's nothing at all to suggest this might be the weekend it all comes together.
Reality check. The Bears' prolific numbers so far have come exclusively against some of the worst defenses in the country; the one remotely competent D they've seen, at TCU, held them to 263 yards and sacked Griffin three times in a 45-10 rout. Texas hasn't been nearly as dominant as the Horned Frogs, but it still leads the Big 12 in total defense and knows how to handle spread attacks of all varieties, as Texas Tech and Nebraska can attest. Griffin's 6-of-19, 71-yard effort in Austin in 2008 was the worst passing effort of his freshman year.
Oh, and there might be a minor talent gap.
Moment of truth: Straight-up, against the spread or take the chalk?
Honestly, if the logos were reversed and these two teams were measured strictly on the season to date, Baylor would pretty clearly come in as the favorite, even on the road. And if you're looking for a cogent counter-argument to the Bears' statistical edge on paper, there's not a better one than this: Texas is Texas, and Baylor is Baylor. For their obvious improvement, the Bears still haven't earned the "wow" win against a conference heavy. If the most talented team in the Big 12 can't come out swinging with enough fury to cover the spread against an obvious upstart, the ongoing malaise is even worse than UT fans imagined.
See also...
• Texas Tech (+7) over Texas A&M. Although, with these two defenses, only if the Red Raiders get the ball last.
• East Carolina (+7½) over Central Florida. The Pirates are the masters of the to-the-wire shootout – 51-49 over Tulsa on the final play, 44-43 over Southern Miss on a failed two-point conversion to put USM ahead in the closing minutes, 33-27 over N.C. State in overtime – and bring the first semblance of a competent, up-tempo spread passing attack that UCF has seen all year.
• North Texas (+6) over Western Kentucky. Yes, UNT is as bad as they come, and just fired its coach. But Western Kentucky just its first game ever as a full-fledged I-A/FBS program after 23 consecutive losses. Now Vegas is tapping the Hilltoppers for two in a row? Slow down, guys.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
Jim Pomeroy Christophe Pourcel Sebastien Pourcel Wyman Priddy Alessandro Puzar
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