He did WHAT on the 1-yard line?!

As a fantasy football owner...this flat out infuriates me. Almost as much as the Dolphins finally winning a game over the hapless Ravens. And yes, they're f**king hapless. Brian Westbrook had a chance to score but didn't on Sunday against the Cowboys. Read one person's thoughts on how much of a financial impact such an act of "compassion" might have had on the world. (Hat tip to Deadspin).

Sports Nuggets: Guys in line for the West Virginia football gig

The following entry is from a new contribtor, Mr. Sports Nuggets, a.k.a. "A Guy Who Knows a Guy." He's kinda like Red in Shawshank Redemption: he knows how to get things. But in this case, it's information.

Top 4 candidates for the West Va. job:

Terry Bowden - dream job for him and he is "all in" for the gig.

Jimbo Fisher - the AD will be in contact w/ FSU and there is a chance Jimbo will talk now that the job in his native West Va. is open and he knows Rich Rod pretty well. His buyout at FSU is $2.5 mill and now, W Va can afford it.

Todd Graham - was the co-DC for the M'neers a few yrs back before going to Tulsa as DC and becoming Rice and Tulsa's head coach. IN 2 seasons as a head coach, Graham has led Rice to a bowl last yr and Tulsa to one this season.

Bud Foster - supp. heir apparent to Beamer at Va Tech, where he is the long time coach's DC. But, Beamer prob. isn't retiring in the very near future and Foster hasn't had many legit shots like he could have now.

Two interesting names:

Tommy Bowden - Clemson coach has a proven track record, and like Terry, played ball for the Mountaineers for their pop. Just received a nice contract extension after Arkansas offered, but in this day and age, that doesn't mean he wouldn't consider this job which holds a special place w/ the Bowdens.

Nick Saban - West Va is home to Saban and he makes reference to West Va OFTEN. W Va. would have to come up w/ some major bucks to take Saban away and Saban has also talked abt how tough it is to recruit kids to Morgantown. He once said that there were abt 5 good looking women in the state - Miss West Virginia, his wife Terri, and 3 models that got lost in the state.

Some second tier guys:

Butch Jones - was Rod's WR coach at W Va. and now head coach at central Michigan, where he led the Chippewas to a MAC title in his 1st year. Still short on "major" college head experience. Will probably get to talk w/ the AD.

Darrell Hazell - Asst. head coach at Ohio State that coached a while back at WV. Said to be interested and would want an interview.

In Conference coaches include Brian Kelly of Cincy and Randy Edsall of UCONN.

Would be surprised if the new coach was not one of the first five coaches mentioned here. But then again…nothing should surprise you in this industry…

Saints (stay) alive

Crappy headline, but I don't care...case the Saints are still playing for something! Tom Mantzouranis of AOL Sports files this report.

"You're gonna have to learn your clichés."

The headline I quoted from Bull Durham. Christ, I hated that movie. But Kevin Costner WAS right about clichés. They're a part of the sports world -- pain in the ass, though. But Gwen Knapp of AOL Sports has a pretty good commentary on who uses the most useless, uninspired jargon in the sports world. Read more.

The best part about the Mitchell Report? The fallout.

Can we say "Tainted Titles" for the Yankees? The New York Post thinks so.

Of course, my Yankee-lovin' dad countered, "Shouldn't the Red Sox title last year be taken away because of Eric Gagne?"

I replied, "You're implying that Gagne actually HELPED the Red Sox win the World Series..." ZING!!!

(Hat Tip to AOL Sports for the original link.)

Your Mitchell Report round-up!

Richard Justice of AOL Sports says the release of the report is good for the game.

Meanwhile, Will Leitch of Deadspin wonders, why the hell did we waste 20 months on that?".

Greg Brady, I mean, Jason Stark of ESPN.com states the obvious: this wouldn't stand up in court. Leitch makes a good point though: Who cares? We wanted our pound of flesh and we got it.

The guys behind 100% Injury Report are of the opinion that Roger Clemens ultimately has it much better than Barry Lamar Bonds. I think people hated (and still hate) Bonds was because he was marching towards baseball's all-time home run record. Chicks dig the long ball...not the 98 mph inside fastball. I know that sounds like an overly simplistic view of the 'Bonds v. Clemens: Who deserves more hate?' BOWL. The correct answer is, of course, both of them.

And finally, The Big Lead was utterly disappointed by the whole damn thing.

Bloggers sure seem disappointed by this whole thing. I think it's because most of them already knew/had suspicions about a number of players and were well aware of the rampart steroids problem plauging the game.

Reggie, it's not your fault...

So...a lot of people are piling up on the "Reggie's a bust!" bandwagon. Bollocks, I say! BOLLOCKS!! Look, Reggie is only in his second year as a pro and has played the better part of said season without a bruising complimentary running back (Deuce McAllister). As a (smart) Saints fans, I know Reggie is not an every down back. He shouldn't be. He's not built for it. He's a high-caliber weapon to be used in various spots. 100% Injury Rate seems to know why Reggie's struggling, and I'm inclined to agree with them.

(Hat tip to Deadspin for sending me there in the first place.)

Protesters on their way to Atlanta already, I'm sure...

Wanted to bring this up on the radio show with Ralph last night, but we didn't have time. The blog 100% Injury Rate (hat tip to AOL Sports as well) has the video of Arthur Blank in the MNF booth, talking about a possible Michael Vick return:



When Blank uttered the "fried chicken" line, my buddies and I exchanged an "oh sh*t" look and immediately burst into laughter. Why laughter? Because we're certain that somebody's going to have a HUGE problem with Blank's statement--innocent and innocuous as it sounded--and launch a full scale "how dare he?!" commentary against the man. It's only a matter of time.

The funny thing is that, for reasons I don't understand, the whole "fried chicken" thing is considered racist. I don't even know how it came to that. I mean, show me somebody (black or white) who doesn't like fried chicken. I don't see how you stereotype people by what they eat because, chances are, the food's really good and so many other people of different ethnic backgrounds enjoy it, too.

Then again...I immediately jumped to the conclusion that some African-Americans would take Blank's comments the wrong way, so I don't know what that says. Maybe we're all wound up too damn tight: that somebody WOULD take offense to something that sounded so random and innocent, and that I would automatically assume that somebody WOULD be offended.

I almost wish Arthur Blank would've just said "fatty foods" instead.

Falcons -- Good for what ails ya!

When Saints fans (myself included) were screaming for the head of Sean Payton after last Sunday's debacle against Tampa Bay, somehow we all had to know the Saints would relish the chance to blast the Falcons on national television -- which they did. Read more.

David Patten and Marques Colston were lights out, and Drew Brees dissected the Falcons' secondary like a ninth grader cutting up a damn frog in biology class. Kudos to Payton for having the balls to run the reverse to Devery Henderson on the very first play from scrimmage...and additional kudos for having even more balls for going for it on fourth down (that means Payton has something like eight pairs of testicles, right?)

Spoke with Ralph tonight on the postgame show at Forecast Radio, and we had some jag-off Falcon fan call in and try to stir the drink with a Katrina comment. Classy, Atlanta. Ralph had a pretty good joke about Atlantans: "I watch 'Gone With the Wind' over and over just to see Sherman torch Atlanta time and again."

I don't want to think about the playoffs at this point...I'd rather savor the win against our bitter rivals for the week. But I do know that the Saints-Cardinals game WILL BE an elimination game of sorts.

Joe Horn takes swipe at Sean Payton

He managed to keep it classy when he left the Saints at the end of the 2006 season, but Joe Horn decided now was the time to open his mouth and take "umbrage" (good word) with Coach Sean Payton. Read more.

Look, it may be true that Sean Payton didn't want Joe Horn after last season. Joe was getting older and his production had dipped (any one doubt me? look his stats THIS SEASON), but the thing that pisses me off most is that he signed with the Saints' bitter rivals, the Atlanta Falcons. It makes it very difficult not to boo this clown when the Falcons play the Saints.

Maybe in a few years I can get over it and appreciate the good years he gave this team and city, but in the meantime...you broke my heart, Fredo Joe.

Suddenly, the Red Sox may actually HAVE TO GET Johan...

Red Sox fans seem to fall into two camps right now:

1. Yes, we're willing to part with Jacoby Ellsbury in a package deal to get Johan Santana.

OR

2. No, we're not giving up The Ellsbury Doughboy (Like it? Made it up on the spot.) for Santana. The Twins are either taking Coco Crisp, Jon Lester and a prospect or two or else they can kiss my ass!

I've been firmly entrenched in that latter group. However, when the Detroit Tigers pick up Miguel Cabrera AND Dontrelle Willis, well...I've got only three words for it:
Jesus. Fucking. Christ.

The Red Sox might not be the favorites going into the 2008 season. But hey, at least it's not the Yankees.

And by the way...kudos to My Brain Says Rage for posting instructions on how to build your own crappy sports blog. Wish I'd found this thing before I got started, but I think I'm getting the hang of it:

No posting no cry...

Sorry for the lack of posts in the last six days. Been job hunting. It's a lot like searching for a college to attend. (Where is it? What's the crime like in that area? Are the people nice? And so on...and I'm not even taking into account, you know, the pay scale.)

But I come baring gifts, in the form of this tremendous post on Sports Illustrated's On Campus section comparing BCS teams to pro wrestlers. Papa Shango?! Seriously...Papa friggin' Shango?! If you wanna go obscure wrestlers, why not go with Max Moon or Saba Simba. Bonus points to Ty Hildenbrandt for bringing up Hacksaw Jim Duggan's Royal Rumble win in 1988. (Kudos to The Big Lead)

And I also bring you The Pro Bowl voting form!

Still not impressed? Well at no extra charge, I bring Deuce of Davenport's look at the injuries of daredevil Evil Knievel and quarterback Steve McNair. (Kudos to Deadspin)

Enjoy.

Oh, and one more thing...



That would be Trish Stratus. She's a lady wrestler. At least, I still think she is. I haven't watched that shit in about five years.