Yahoo- According to ESPN's "Freddie and Fitz" the monstrous second half was motivated by some drunk, trash-talking Ohio State fans who finally got into Mayfield's head.
On Tuesday, Ian Fitzsimmons said that at the start of the second half, Mayfield lost it with the fans and told them he was going to lead Oklahoma to a comeback. "There were a group of Buckeye fans that were beyond over-served," Fitzsimmons said, adding, "these guys are just wearing [Mayfield] out." He continued: "[Mayfield] turns around and goes 'Get ready, I'm about to hang six on you bleeping bleepers.' He goes, leads them right down the field. Score's tied at 10 and he goes right to the bench, stands up on the bench, and just lets the Buckeyes fans behind him that were giving to Baker, he turns at them and says, 'You like that one? I got three or four more that's coming up. Get ready.'" Mayfield then continued to throw two more touchdowns and the Sooners took the 31-16 victory. ------ Incredible. Just simply incredible. There will undoubtedly be some overly critical, tight sphincter'd executives that think this type of behavior is unprofessional. Luckily for Baker Mayfield, the refusal of those executives to pay him even one crimson cent of the billions of dollars he helps them earn officially makes him something slightly less than a professional! It's generally frowned upon to start slinging expletives in the direction of paying customers, but what tends to be lost on those that discuss college football is that the participants are...::audible gasp::...just college kids. I suppose you can frame it in a variety of ways, but a starting quarterback going full-Bruno Mars and pulling a "don't believe me, just watch" on opposing fans is really just one 22 year old giving well deserved hell to a group of his belligerently drunk peers. As someone who was once a barely legal loudmouth, I can't - in good conscience - criticize a kid for refusing to take some shit talk in silence as long as he makes sure he backs it up. Now, if he didn't use that venom to fuel his team's victory then it would be fair to discuss whether or not Oklahoma's early Heisman candidate should have been more focused on football. However, once he channels that hate in the production of a human highlight reel it becomes pretty tough to argue that he's stepping out of bounds by jawing at jackasses from the sidelines. In fact, this little anecdote makes me even more happy that the decided to add insult to injury with the Sooners flag, even if most of those who it was directed at were too busy puking on their shoes outside of the stadium.
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PageSix- New York Giant Odell Beckham Jr. and Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook took things off the court and onto the dance floor Thursday at Catch NYC’s sixth anniversary bash.
Spies tell us the football and basketball players had a dance battle as Wyclef Jean performed onstage at Mark Birnbaum and Eugene Remm’s party. Said a witness, “There were a bunch of models like Taylor Hill on one side and Teyana Taylor and her husband, Iman Shumpert, on the other side cheering them on.” Also there was David Blaine, who did card tricks for guests. ------ This might be the most "Odell" story of all time, and by that I mean that it's a complete non-story that only has legs because the incessantly vain subject of it can't give his a rest and resist from hobbling towards any and all attention when it's up for grabs. If we learned anything from Gronk's postgame performance following Super Bowl 46, the level of lower body health required to effectively play professional football against athletic freaks that are inherently hired to hurt you is a much higher bar than that required to cut a rug. If you take the 'Sunday Night Football' crew at their word then Odell Beckham Jr. spent 2/3 of his waking hours getting treatment on his ankle in preparation for the season. I think it's safe to say that a couple whips and nae-naes didn't completely compromise such an insane amount of rehab. The New York media might imply otherwise, but a dance battle with the NBA MVP isn't even close to being a reason that the Giants put up three points in one of the more offensively offenseless performances in recent history. That said, the wide receiver that serves as the model for all that is truly insufferable about millennials has officially lost the right to play the victim card. The whole "wah, the media is mean to me" routine doesn't exactly play when you are more helpless to the allure of their spotlight than a moth to a flame. Odell Beckham's superhuman performance on the field makes it easy to forgive his nauseating narcissism off the field. Unfortunately, that nauseating narcissism becomes a lot more unforgivable when he's only physically capable of "performing" off the field. I'm actually inclined to agree with the New York Giants' fans that claim his personality doesn't effect his play, but even the most biased of Beckham's nut-huggers would have to admit they are made pretty, pretty, pretttttttty uneasy by the mental image of him milly-rocking a bum boat. I can confidently say he wasn't going to play against the Cowboys regardless of how he spent his Thursday night. However, if I learned anything this offseason it's that being a "distraction" is basically a Class-A felony if your presence alone can't strike fear into the heart of a defense, and Odell Beckham isn't two-stepping into too many nightmares while absent from the active roster.
WIDE RECEIVERS (13) – *Isaac Bruce, Donald Driver, Henry Ellard (also PR), Torry Holt, Chad Johnson, Randy Moss, *Terrell Owens, Sterling Sharpe, Jimmy Smith, Rod Smith, Steve Smith, John Taylor, Hines Ward
Assuming that (the other) Steve Smith didn't actually write himself in, I feel pretty bad for him right now. I'm sure that championship ring and the outlier that was his only Pro Bowl-caliber season have helped him come to grips with the shortness of his playing days, but still. For someone that was basically the epitome of a flash in the pan, it can't feel great to metaphorically get seared on both sides by a mildly humorous 'Hall Of Fame' nomination. If only for a half of a half of a second, (the other) Steve Smith thought his career was close to Canton-worthy, and that just feels like an unnecessarily...well...mean joke to play on someone. Not only that, but the one sadistic asshole that found this psuedo-loophole hilarious did something far worse than throw a wrench in the simplistic gears of sports writers. He reminded everyone that (the other) Steve Smith is technically 'Hall Of Fame' eligible. Seriously, tell me that your first thought after reading this story wasn't "holy shit, (the other) Steve Smith has been out of the league for 5 fucking years already?!?". Poor bastard was just minding his own damn business, and all the sudden he's got sports world talking about he was the NFL equivalent of dust in the wind. I mean, it's hard not to look at those 2009 numbers and wrap your mind around the fact that the person who posted them has been out of football long enough to have his accomplishments mockingly mistaken for those of someone that happens to share his name. That drop-off was nothing short of Shaun Alexander-esque, and someone with farrrrr too much time on their hands just had to rudely awaken us to it at the expense of the peace of mind of a Super Bowl Champion...
Some might say this is an instance of kicking someone when they are down. Those people would be spot-on. That's not to say that I disagree with Geno Smith's decision to beat a horse that's so handicapped that you'd think Craig Carton placed a fruitless 6-figure wager on it. In fact, I'm actually happy that he learned how to throw a proverbial jab after becoming a literal punchline by failing to defend himself against one. After all, there's no telling how much air time the public figure turned professional scam artist devoted to crapping all over the eventfully infamous career of a Jets' quarterback that absolutely refused to suck in silence. This series of tweets is just an example of long-belated vengeance, and who doesn't like to make light of the misfortunes of people that have spoke ill of them?! That said, let not the magnitude of the crime that made Geno Smith finally feel free to fire back fall completely by the wayside here. You have to consider that, at one point or another, almost every person that's been tasked with objectively analyzing the sport of football has said something at least mildly derogatory about Geno Smith, and this is the first time (that I can remember) that he felt comfortable offering a rebuttal? I guess what I am trying to imply is that professional shortcomings - like everything else in this world - are relative. The fact that it took millions upon millions of dollars in ticket fraud and the accusation of running a "charity" solely to fund gambling debts for Geno Smith to publicly point down at someone else really speaks to the the shortness of the tree stump that he's using as a pedestal. Especially since he did his best to make the hypocrisy sound worse by sneaking in a (potentially fictitious) allegation of casual racism like the only person that would take notice was too busy prepping himself for life behind bars....
Again, I have no problem with Geno Smith kicking dirt on Craig Carton's grave, but we probably shouldn't forget that he sorta had to come back from the dead to do so.
NOLA- On the first defensive snap of the season, the Saints had just 10 players on the field. Coach Sean Payton said Tuesday that a third cornerback was supposed to be out there in the team's nickel package, but the team was a man short for the play.
Although it's a mistake, the oversight wasn't too costly as the Vikings gained just 4 yards on the play, a reception by rookie running back Dalvin Cook. Still, Payton acknowledged that it was frustrating to start the season that way. The official game book shows the Saints with just 10 starting defenders. The third cornerback presumably would've been De'Vante Harris, but it's unclear if the error was on Harris, coaches or another player. "There's communication that goes on between base and nickel, and without singling anyone out, look, we didn't get it communicated clear enough," Payton said. "Fortunately, it didn't end up hurting us on that specific play." ---------- Maybe I'm slightly overreacting in saying this, but if the Saints really cared about their fanbase they would hold a communal bonfire where every season ticket holder could burn the bill of goods that they were sold throughout the entirety of the offseason. I mean, I was skeptical that the preseason success would translate to regular season success on the side of the ball that has become the bane of the franchise's existence. That's why I was more sad than mad when Sam Bradford summoned the magic from up under his wizard sleeves to make Dennis Allen's finest look like they were back under the greasy-fingered spell of Rob Ryan. I've been blindly confident in far too many Sean Payton-deployed defenses to get tricked into thinking one was at least average before seeing them hit anything other than rock bottom when it actually mattered. "Fool me once, shame on you; Fool me into an autumn full of alcohol abuse damn near annually for the entirety of a decade, shame on me", as they say. That being said, I would be kidding myself if I told you that I didn't buy in to the narrative that they had become a more cohesive unit that was capable of doing their communicating before the ball was hiked and their assignments were already past due. That's why I feel so violated right now. The first snap? THE FIRST SNAP?!? They couldn't make it to 2nd-and-fucking-6 before betraying the most minuscule amount of trust that a fan could possibly put in a seemingly proud group of professional athletes that he's far too emotionally invested in? I feel like I just caught someone cheating on me and I can't stop questioning if literally any part of the relationship was genuine. Were all the overly positive reviews and preseason shutouts just part of one big lie?! Did the Saints ever have any intention of stopping their opponent? Did they ever even care about fielding the correct number of players? Considering they had an entire summer and a full goddamn commercial break to learn how to count to eleven and still miscalculated, I really have my doubts as to whether or not their lip service was aimed at improving anything other than their ability to suck their own cocks. I guess Steve Bannon would be proud, but the Who Dat Nation is most certainly not.
I don't want to start pointing fingers here. For one, I'm pretty sure that Jim Mora informing his anchor that he's completely full of shit through a third party was the most entertaining part of that post-game coverage. Also, that one obscenity wasn't anywhere near as appalling as the performance of the team being covered by the person who accidentally used it. However, if we are going to start distributing blame then the two people sitting next to an 82 year old man with his head - almost literally - in the clouds are going to have to bear the brunt of a relatively harmless, live expletive. I don't know if there is some "on-air" tell that was missed, but something tells me that Jim Mora officially stops taking hints at 9:45PM. That's why his co-panelists should have been more wary of their co-worker's level of disengagement before casually asking him a question in a conversational tone. Considering the fact that Fletcher Mackel was reacting to the "shit" before it even made it to the airwaves, I am pretty sure Jim Mora responds to 95% of statements with which he disagrees by telling the source of them that they are full of feces. That's why it's on Fletcher Mackel to make sure that the senior citizen seated next to him doesn't get caught off guard once the cameras start rolling. I don't know what age it becomes socially acceptable to mentally check out while on the clock, but you can bet your sweet ass that it's under 82. Baker Mayfield Apologized For Planting The Oklahoma Flag At Midfield After Defeating Ohio State9/12/2017
Aww, did Ohio State get it's feelings hurt? Did the University that's taken it upon themselves to dub themselves thee University not like having their oh-so-sacred territory marked? Does the team/coach that's known for trying to tack on unnecessary two point conversations when their games against inferior competition are already well out of hand not like being kicked when they are already down? Someone get Ohio State a hanky, because apparently the school that doesn't mind singing their fight song on enemy turf doesn't like the feeling of having dirt on their nose. Those poor Buckeyes. It's a damn good thing football is played in pads, because they'd be screwed if skin that thin was left exposed. I suppose I understand why Baker Mayfield felt inclined to apologize for something that everyone outside of the illustrious walls of Ohio State thought was an incredible moment of abject disrespect. With an inevitable future in a league that prides itself on drawing absolutely ludicrous conclusions from the pasts of teenagers, the college quarterback with an arrest record should probably play it safe when backpedaling on eggshells. It's in his best interest to throw himself at the mercy of the court, even if the court of public opinion looked like the stands at the 'And 1 Mixtape Tour' after he tried to plant Oklahoma's flag in the heart of 'The Horseshoe'. Still, considering the self important program that finally ended up on the ass end of humiliation, I wish the person responsible for it flipped the bird at the conventional stupidity that governs college football and doubled down on emasculating Urban Meyer and his boys.
Well, well, well....how about Tony Romo just busting straight into a brand new profession guns-a-blazin? Who even needs a microphone when you can just whip your metaphorical dick out and flex on those that came before you? I didn't pay much attention to the people who said that a former athlete would have a hard time adjusting to life in the booth, but I'd be willing to bet that the target of that skepticism was listening intently. I would imagine that's why he just started prognosticating plays as if he were the one calling him. Now, you can probably only be a part of a broadcast that requires a spoiler alert for so long before people start to get upset with you for ruining the element of surprise, but the occasional reminder that he knows more about football than literally anyone that doubted him serves as quite the middle finger to his haters. Tony Romo will probably still have moments where he struggles to dead air when he's asked to do something other than call audibles, but he truly stunted on every analyst that felt like they were unjustly passed over for a more popular personality when he Nostradamus'd the shit out of the entire telecast. Something tells me the guy that can paint a picture before it even comes to fruition has quite the future in color commentating. Even if doing so might as well have been a Degeneration-X-esque crotch chop in the direction of Phil Simms supporters. Well, if nothing else, the Saints brought a little clarity to the phrase "the more things change, the more they stay the same". Eight new starters, an infusion of youth, and a supposed attitude adjustment on the defensive side of the ball, annnd they still managed to get gouged to the tune of 346 yards by a quarterback that usually needs about a month to reach that number. The preseason hype train that had people (myself included) hesitantly tooting the horn of a pass rush that added no top-end talent didn't even make it past the first stop before encountering technical difficulties. The strength that was supposed to be the secondary couldn't have been any weaker in making Diggs/Thielen look like a Carter/Moss reincarnate. I don't know why Ken Crawley was scratched, but the island that it left DeVante Harris on got sunk quicker than Atlantis. Now, Sam Bradford definitely made some throws that I had no idea Sam Bradford was capable of making, but they were only a light sprinkle in a mixed bag of monstrous plays that had Vikings players running roughshod. But let's not pretend that the problems began and ended with the defense, because the Saints offense was somehow equally as hard to watch. A lot of credit has to go the Vikings front four, but an offensive genius had an entire offseason to game plan for that game and THAT'S what he came up with? A predictably sporadic running back rotation that only had less rhyme and reason than it did effectiveness? A red zone offense that was so inefficient that it looked like Wil Lutz drew it up to give himself an opportunity to pad his stats. Zach Strief's early injury didn't help matters, but a "great offense" shouldn't be the loss of a 33 year old right tackle away from having to desperately grate out first downs. All in all, that game couldn't have gone worse for New Orleans. Never mind the 10 point loss, because the all-too-familiar fashion in which it came is really what made it so demoralizing. Speaking objectively, the takeaway from that performance is that Saints are a team that crumbles in hostile conditions, can't stop anyone, and has it's forever top 5 offense inflated by empty stats. Tough to argue that that's not more of a fact than a narrative after watching a team that preached "fast start" fall flat on it's face right out of the gate. Oh well, Tom Brady's coming to town off an embarrassing loss in 6 days on 10 days rest. Surely that's what will quell the woeful effort that has fans resigned to another season of 7-9.
As for Adrian Peterson's short confrontation with Sean Payton, I begrudgingly admit that he has a point. He knew what he was signing up for when he decided to join a team that has always refused to feature even it's feature back, so it's concerning that his usage as a backup had him staring through the back of his head coach's skull halfway through Week 1. However, as quickly as I rolled my eyes while seeing him get in ear of one of the few people to give him a chance, I admittedly related to his level of frustration with the play calling. Lastly, I actually have no problem with Sean Payton burning timeouts in an effort to get the ball back before the end of the half, and ultimately giving the Vikings enough time to score another touchdown. It's his job to put points on the board, not stop a mediocre offense from marching 95 yards in under two minutes. He'll have to shoulder the criticism for that polarizing decision as always, but I don't consider trusting his players to get one single fucking timely stop a coaching error....unless he does it again this season.
I'm not going to lie to you. As excited as I am about the prospect of Damon Severson blossoming into two-way, top-4 defenseman on the Devils' watch, him signing on the dotted line didn't exactly have me bumping my skull on the ceiling. After all, hearing that the only young, proven member of your defense came out on the other side of restricted free agency unscathed is kind of like hearing that the foundation of the house you're building managed to survive a windstorm. That's not to take away from how imperative it was to lockup Damon Severson long term, but it's not so much great news as it is an avoidance of demoralizing news. Now, doing so at a figure that is almost guaranteed to be a bargain for the next six years? That's a reason for excitement. His excessively negative plus/minus on a dreadful team might cloud the memory of some, but Damon Severson started last season playing a brand of hockey that was easily worth $4.1 million. The following might say more about the market value of young, mobile defensemen than it does about the true development of a 23 year old that was basically thrown in the deep end without floaties when asked to anchor an awful blue line. However, even if he doesn't follow the ascending career trajectory of the last right handed defenseman to get an eerily similar financial commitment from New Jersey, we are talking about a guy that should make a fairly compensated second pairing defenseman for the foreseeable future. If he comes into his own like most promising players at his age and position then the money he's due will only become a laughable underpayment, but - even if he doesn't - he'll likely earn every cent of his 25 million. Just another example of Ray Shero pulling a 'Shero' if you ask me. Now if he could just find a way to sniff out more competent defensive talent without making a move that equates to cutting off the franchise's nose to spite it's face then we would really be on to something. I can't believe I am going to say this because a decade is a hell of a long time to be suspended for anything short of premeditated murder, but I don't think ten years is a long enough in this instance. Let's put aside the fact that assaulting referees is universally frowned upon, because there's no way the guilty party will have recovered from the humiliation of having a recently pubescent official casually eat his fist like it was nothing more than a bee sting by 2027. Seriously, if I were the commissioner of this league I'd banish him forever, because being unable to knock a 13 year old off his feet with a completely blind sucker punch is an awful look for rugby players everywhere. We are talking about a violent sport in which success is supposed to be predicated on brute force and toughness, and they have someone out there representing them that could easily get rope-a-doped by the long lost Jonas' brother? Time to send chubs walking off that field for the last and final time. Making rugby players look like pussies (with a right jab that couldn't even knock out the feeling in an unsuspecting arm) the one time they produce a clip that's worthy of going viral is grounds for an eternal dismissal.
Imagine hearing the song 'Rock You Like A Hurricane' at a baseball game and automatically believing that some sadistic, second rate "DJ" was tucked away in the annals of the stadium maniacally laughing while making light of the natural disaster that is barreling towards the home town of the visiting team. Like, you really got to be desperately looking for controversy to assume that some dude making minimum wage to press a button is creating inappropriate, opponent-specific playlists. Could it be that a popular oldie just happened to be up next in the rotation that almost definitely doesn't get filtered pregame, since - ya know - what are the odds that a catchy, common tune is going to remind the Marlins that if the Braves don't crush them then a tropical cyclone of epic proportions just might? Nope, absolutely not. Definitely some behind-the-scenes dickhead with a twisted sense of humor and too much time on his hands. Only possible way an awkward, untimely reference could be made by way of a universally overused pump-up song. In fact, I bet 'The Scorpions' were the only 80's rock group to use a super over-over-top metaphor to describe careless, casual sex. Since that's more than likely the case, there's simply no way the Braves' half-asleep music technician could have ended up on the ass end of such unfortunate irony without being a tone deaf jerk. It's a shame his employer is too much of a coward to admit that...
NBC- Parents of students at a New Jersey high school were ordered to get their children’s blood and urine tested after a can of beer was discovered at a football game.
The can of beer reportedly landed on the ground and was spotted by a school official during a game at Randolph High School on Friday night. It’s unclear if the can was thrown or fell, but it came from bleachers filled with students, according to a letter from Randolph Superintendent Jennifer Fano, who said some of the students appeared drunk and that several additional opened containers of alcohol were later discovered. After the can of beer was found, about 75 students who were in the bleachers were taken to classrooms as school officials contacted parents so they could pick them up. Each student was given a form — a rule-out test — requiring blood and urine samples. Parents were given two hours to get to health facilities in Morristown, Dover and Denville so their children could be screened. The students faced suspension from school if they didn’t complete the screening. Superintendent Fano released a follow-up letter Wednesday, in which she apologized to the parents and kids who were inconvenienced by going to the emergency rooms for screenings. But she said she stands by the decision of staff to carry out the procedure at the game. Fano also said social media video later surfaced showing kids drinking at pregame parties, a video that has since been turned over to police. "Teenage drug and alcohol abuse is a national epidemic and Randolph is certainly not exempt from the problem. I am hopeful that Friday’s events will serve as an important learning experience for all of us," she said in the letter. ------- Teenagers consuming alcohol at a football game on a Friday night? WHY, I NEVER!!! But seriously though, at what point do you think school administrators realized that demanding 75 students get hauled off to nearby hospitals to pee in cups was a laughable overreaction to finding one beer can? Was it when they had the hallways looking like a 2nd grade fire drill, or when they kicked off to the deafening silence of the 6 people left in the stands? I'm not letting the kids off the hook here. Any self respecting under-ager would have had their vodka in a water bottle and made sure it stayed out of the sight lines of their supervision. Still, stopping a game to disperse the entirety of the student section to medical centers like you were trying to find a Patient Zero for relatively harmless teenage binge drinking is easily overbearing enough to make the students look like the victims. Not only that, but are teachers aware that the 16 year olds of today are as familiar with substance abuse as the 21 year olds of 2002? Shit, at least beer can be measured in empty cans. Pretty sure the same can't be said for the goddamn heroine epidemic. Honestly, I only see two outcomes that result from this active quarantine of mildly buzzed brats. Either no student ever is coming to a Randolph football game every again, or they are showing up stoned out of their gourds. There's only one type of kid that watches the entirety of a high school football game they aren't participating in sober, and he views it from the sideline as part of the third string. So, since the alternative is the use of recreational substances that can't be tracked via the trash, maybe a couple swigs out of a tainted 'Gatorade' isn't worthy of sending the entire student body to the ER for something that's more of a certainty than an emergency. Especially since the parents who were wildly inconvenienced probably considered it a blessing that all their kid did was steal from their liquor cabinet.
First and foremost, whew. Jon Dorenbos may not get to play for the Saints as he had hoped coming out of college, but he gets to live to see another day. As someone that magically (figuratively and literally) managed to come out on the other side of a childhood that saw his father brutally murder his mother only to make it as a longtime professional football player with an upbeat personality that is lauded by any and all former teammates, he'll know how to make the best of it. On the surface it may look like the Saints didn't do their homework on yet another player, but the trade that brought Jon Dorenbos to New Orleans ultimately saved his life. Finding out about a deadly aortic aneurysm is undoubtedly worth a hell of a lot more than a 7th round pick and/or a temporary hole left at long snapper, so it's impossible for an initial response to be anything other than a sigh of relief. Much less importantly, what kind of sick and twisted fate is currently haunting this team? I'm only being mildly facetious when I say that I would get four separate opinions on a skinned knee before I truly believed it wasn't a staff infection if I were a member of the New Orleans Saints. I can't definitively say that their personnel department is being governed by 'Murphy's Law', but Murphy is definitely doing his damndest to make sure clean bills of health don't get passed. Including Nick Fairley's heart issue, this makes two potentially fatal conditions that were found in one offseason, and both came to light immediately after resources were committed to obtaining the players suffering from them. It would be nothing short of stupid to say that's anything other than a coincidence, but I'd bear in the mind the black cloud that's following this franchise if I were a Saint that felt inclined to push back a doctor's appointment. The bright side is that the medical staff finally proved competent in providing a helpful diagnosis that prevented a tragic, almost certain death. They may have failed in spectacular fashion when giving Delvin Breaux nothing more than an Advil and a pat on the ass to heal his fractured fibula, but at least they can be trusted to show up when the much more significant game of life is on the line. This isn't the time to be selfish or grim as it relates to something as trivial as football so I won't mention the long snap related loss that's sure to eventually come later in the season, and instead I'll just send thoughts and prayers the way Jon Dorenbos. By all accounts, this unfortunately couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, but at least we won't be forced to talk about that nicer guy in the past tense anytime soon.
Was Miami overly cautious in immediately dismissing the notion of traveling to Arkansas State for a football game as soon as they heard that a natural disaster was en route? Potentially. Could they have compromised with a cupcake opponent that was desperate for the national attention and moved up a lopsided matchup to well before Hurricane Irma literally broke ground? Probably. However, I can't - in good conscience - say there is anything odd about their decision not to, and I don't just say that because I think Mark Richt wanted to play it safe. Making sure that his staff and players were well prepared for the arrival of (what has the makings of) a historically destructive storm definitely played a factor, but so did the fact that they had no interest in inconveniencing themselves to do a huge favor for a program that can't possibly return it. If I were Arkansas State I would take the date and time that the game was supposed to be played, throw it on a plaque, and hang in the trophy case, because getting Miami to schedule an away game with a school from the Sun Belt Conference was an accomplishment in and of itself. As far as I am concerned, there is nothing suspicious about not wanting to waste your time steamrolling your way to a sure victory when it could be better spent doing literally anything possible to make your region doesn't get completely steamrolled by unprecedented winds. Simply put, if Mark Richt wanted to rally his troops to battle anything other than flood waters then he would have taken a job at A state instead of The 'U'. When you're the head coach of Miami you're afforded the luxury of tending to Hurricanes - of any kind - above all else. As they say, better safe when your competition is sorry. Texas A&M Coach Kevin Sumlin Received Racist Hate Mail Following Their Shocking Loss To UCLA9/8/2017
Unless I am drastically underestimating the state of race relations in 2017, I think we can all agree that the person who penned a 1960's-style threat to an underperforming college football coach is the lowest form of human kind. We are talking about the type of disgusting, pathetic piece of shit that represents everything that is wrong with sports fandom. Like, if Karma had any sense of direction then it would immediately come his way like a moth to a flame, and I say that while suspecting that he's already living a pretty unfulfilling life. Still, this bigoted douchebag's decision to use a wildly inefficient form of communication to slander the coach of his favorite team of teenagers brings to the forefront a disjointed line of thinking that I have never quite understood. Maybe it's because I don't live in the South and thus able to think rationally about things like this, but how could you be such a huge fan of college football that you send terrorizing hate mail when games don't go your way and also be a discriminatory dickhead? Call me crazy, but if I inherently thought less of people due to the color of their skin then I certainly wouldn't enjoy watching those people perform athletically, never mind becoming emotionally invested in the outcome. The way I look at racist football fans would be the same way I would look at a vegan food critic giving a Yelp! review on a Rodizio restaurant. How could even the greatest of experiences elicit a proverbial 5-Star reaction when you are already predisposed to despising the most highlighted aspects of it? There's probably some super discomforting connection to the days of slavery and the concept of sacrificing black people for sport, but it just seems ridiculously hypocritical to look at Kevin Sumlin and think "ugh, nigger" right after losing your voice ecstatically rooting on his African American running back. But hey, that's just the opinion of someone that doesn't live in a region where flying your school colors in unison with the confederate flag is something that's considered a supportive tradition. Nick Saban Thinks He's Probably Not Worth His 11 Million Dollar Salary, And He Might Just Be Wrong9/7/2017 TheBigLead- Nick Saban was asked this week whether or not he was worth his $11 million salary this season. His answer was tremendous, and actually very un-Saban like. Instead of snapping or getting snooty, he responded with this.... --------- Goddamn it. Leave it to Nick Saban to finally say the "right" thing, and still be 100% wrong. Sure, if we are discussing a fair and equitable dispersion of funds that's based on time, effort, and performance then Nick Saban probably owes a shekel or two to all 100-or-so student athletes that were handpicked from the tippy top of their respective recruiting classes. The fact that he makes exactly $11 million more than the dozens of future NFLers on his roster combined admittedly clouds the question of "worth", because he certainly wouldn't be annually favored to be on the sideline for the National Championship without them. However, given that coaches are obligated by the NCAA to retain every cent that is put towards their football programs, I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility to say that Nick Saban is worth $11 million to Alabama. After all, the average human being would consider a 'Crimson Tide' a product of an active imagination - a la 'a blue duck' - if it didn't represent the football team whose success is tied directly to it's curmudgeon of a coach. We are talking about the preeminent participant in a multi-billion dollar industry. Why wouldn't the guy whose presence makes sure it stays a well-oiled machine be worth what amounts to a small piece of an obnoxiously large pie that's shared by the most gluttonous, self indulgent assholes in sports? Relative to his players he might (definitely) be wildly overpaid, but whose fault is that? When you really think about it, his bank account is a testament to their hard work and success and they should take pride in that. Mostly, because it's the only thing left to take once all the profit is gone. Seriously though, I'm sure Nick Saban understands how fundamentally flawed the NCAA's power structure is. That's why I would bet my bottom dollar that he would totally use some of the millions they've made him to treat his team to their very own 'Happy Meals' every once and awhile....iffff he wouldn't immediately be met with sanctions before the fries even cooled off. Still, comparatively speaking, a program that is built on the reputation of its coach and is all-but-guaranteed to finish with double-digits win and a playoff berth is worth well over $11 million. If only because the market value has been set too high by schools that don't stand a chance of ever catching up on the field.
TheComeback- After a long offseason, everyone was excited for college football’s Week 1. Hawaii opened its season with a 41-18 win over Western Carolina. At one point, defensive lineman Viane Moala blocked a field goal, and assistant coach Sean Duggan got a bit overzealous in the celebration.
Duggan, a second-year assistant, leapt up to chest bump Moala, who is listed at 6 feet 7 inches and 270 pounds, and went flying like a rag doll. “I’ve never seen anything like it. You advise against chest bumping a 6’7”, 300 pound Tongan. That’s just — as a new haole (non-native Hawaiian) guy on the island, that’s just not something you make a habit of. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but he’ll get through it. “He’ll never forget it. And I’ll never let him forget it. I don’t care if I’m as gray as gray can be. He’ll hear it from me.” ------ The most laughable part of this video - other than the actual clip of a grown man being made to look like a frail little boy that begged his dad to launch him across the pool - is that Hawaii's head coach truly thinks that his linebackers coach actually learned some sort of lesson here. I wouldn't know Sean Duggan from any other unfortunate asshole walking down the street looking like he came out on the ass end of a bar room brawl, but you don't become a college football position coach in the front seven by letting some passing physical pain (or as he undoubtedly likes to call it, "weakness leaving the body") alter your behavior. Hell, he probably wears that sling like a badge of honor. I don't even care that he obtained a broken wrist and dislocated elbow from doing something as stupid as trying to chest bump a mountain of a man that looks to have absorbed more impactful blows from a windy afternoon. If that 6'7'' behemoth notches a sack next weekend and comes barreling towards the sideline with with his torso exposed then their better be security detail aimed specifically at making sure that Sean Duggan doesn't end up hurling the entirety of his weight into a full-on body cast. Knowing the size, strength, and toughness of the unit he's held responsible for disciplining, that man is simply too crazy to be shamed out of celebrating by a silly little fracture of two. Even odds that the guy that asked him if he plans on coaching this weekend is now in worse shape than he is.... Duggan will be in a sling for a while with a broken wrist and dislocated shoulder, but that’s not stopping him from coaching this week against UCLA at the Rose Bowl. SportsNet- The NHL is making a very interesting rule change for the 2017-18 season, introducing a harsher penalty for one particular video review. From now on, a failed offside challenge will result in a two-minute penalty against the club asking for the review. It’s a potentially powerful infraction. Can you imagine a team in a tight game giving up a goal it thought was offside, losing the challenge, then having to withstand an immediate power-play opportunity? It’s going to make bench bosses much more wary — and ratchet up the pressure on video coaches. ------- I have to admit, this news catches me off guard. It's as though I have been left at a loss for words, which is odd since I should be dusting the cobwebs of all the positive things I haven't had an opportunity to say about the NHL's decision making for at least the last few seasons. It took just a few minutes of looking for a sarcastic angle to take here only for me to realize that the league who never seems to think through changes before making them actually managed to address a problem caused by one of said changes. Not only that, but they did so in a relatively timely fashion! I feel like the sun just got a little bit brighter after having learned that gone are the days of referees squinting at an iPad in hopes of determining a fraction of an inch within a split of a second of a grainy still shot that was inexplicably taken from the other side of the ice. No longer will the momentum of a game be brought to a screeching halt so a bunch of dudes in vertical stripes could huddle together to ultimately determine that they would be better off flipping a coin in trying to decide what actually happened during the zone entry prior to a goal that was scored 15 seconds later. Of course, there might a couple NHL coaches who start the season with balls big enough to risk leaving the fate of their penalty kill in the unpredictable hands of an official and his judgement call. However, something tells me those testicles will shrivel up faster than had they been plopped down on a block of ice the first time that hasty decision comes back to frostily bite them in the ass. There will certainly be circumstances where potentially spending two minutes shorthanded will be worth the retraction of a goal against. That said, this almost guarantees that a vast majority of offsides challenges will be quick, painless, and - most importantly - more obvious than frivolous. Controversial calls will always exist given the erratic nature of NHL referees, but the league finally did something to minimize the amount of times they could be made to look stupid. If you can't lightly applaud that then you might as well clap off the lights in whatever fantasy land has you thinking that Gary Bettman and the boys are capable of much better. In conclusion, clearing this up is more important to the integrity of the game.... ...than clearing this up...
Credit where credit is due. Roger Goodell definitely failed in truly backing his players with this politically correct public statement that he (wink, wink) totally conjured up all by himself. But hey, at least he found a more socially acceptable use of the President's "many sides...many sides" argument! Context aside, there is nothing wrong with the promotion of "mutual respect" between police officers and predominantly black professional athletes. Unfortunately, this particular context featured a black professional athlete - who happened to be completely innocent - being forced face-first to an unforgiving surface while referring to the police officer that had a knee dug into his spine and weapon drawn behind his head as "sir". Perhaps my definition of "mutual" differs from that of the NFL's, but that reverence seems one-sided enough to mention directly. Now, I can't say I expected something other than an overly diplomatic line of bullshit that continues to avoid addressing the obvious truth that African Americans of every tax bracket are more likely to end up with a literal or figurative target on their back. After all, the league views kneeling as an unforgivable act of terrorism, so god forbid they attempt to tackle the violent issue that's ultimately responsible for the peaceful protest. Still, it would have been nice and - to be quite frank - easy for the Commissioner to stray ever-so-slightly from toeing the company line, and back those that make his product possible instead of worrying about stepping on the toes of his political connects. Especially since the employer of the unquestionably guilty party didn't hesitate to give him such a quick defense that some might even view it as being laughably blind to the actual offense...
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