BIG-12 SAFE.....FOR NOW BUT BEEBE OUSTED, BLAINE GETS A START & DO NFL PLAYERS FAKE INJURIES?
Larry Scott, PAC-12 commissioner, didn't get the positive response from university presidents he was expecting. Therefore Scott was forced to put a stop to any & all talk of expansion. The bottom half of this conference, who challenge for a Rose Bowl berth about every 20-years, were O.K. with Colorado & Utah, but Oklahoma & Okie State? Not so much. Even USC wasn't interested having to contend with OU for "Big Dog" status. In a sad development, Oklahoma tried to spin the rejection as a veiled bluff to scare the other members of the Big-12. Mostly it was directed at Texas, the 800-pound gorilla in the room. The school with the Longhorn Network & more revenue than any other conference member. That Longhorn Network is quite a problem for Texas, no other conference will take them because they all split their television & bowl game revenues equally, a word UT doesn't understand.
So the Horns can huff & they can puff, but they have no place to go....literally. OU can spin until they screw themselves into the ground, but they too aren't in big demand elsewhere. Mizzou would be a better candidate to switch conferences, they don't make a lot of demands, especially those of a financial nature & they don't field top-5 teams year after year. But with Baylor's legal threats to A&M's SEC move, I question how legit the rumored offer from the SEC was. It might have been predicated on an implosion of the Big-12, but that's about all I'm buying into.
Tonight it was reported Commissioner Dan Beebe was sent packing & his severance package was being finalized. There's the first positive move I've seen, it was a demand of Oklahoma. To replace him, it has also been reported, former Big 8 commissioner Chuck Neinas is the man. He's got a helluva lot of work in front of him. First thing on his plate will be to repair the image of this conference, saying it is tarnished is an understatement. They've become a joke around the country. Without this repair, they have no semblance of stability & without stability, they won't be able to fill this conference out to ten teams. Forget about 12 or more teams, just getting one in here won't be easy. He needs to restore peace & trust(never happen IMO) between the member schools in order for this conference to survive long enough to get to the next television contract. Another big problem for Neinas is if one or more of the "lesser" teams gets an offer to move to a stable conference with equal revenue sharing. Why wouldn't they want to move if invited? This conference has shown itself to have a suicidal streak now for 3-years, if that happens, this league is history. But maybe Neinas can talk some sense into two of the "haves" in the Big-12 & make them understand without some of the "have-nots," they have nothing, including a golden parachute into another conference.
Couple of other Big-12 notes. The conference as a whole is kickin' ass in the non-con portion of the schedule. Their record is a very impressive 23-2. The only losses coming in Mizzou's overtime loss at ASU & KU's horrible beatdown at Georgia Tech. Still, very impressive. For all you Mizzou fans expecting a repeat of last season's upset win over #1 Oklahoma, know this, OU is 78-2 at Norman under coach Bob Stoops. According to the Kansas City Star, the last time the Tigers won in Norman was 1966. Forty-five freakin' years is a long time. The major showdown in the Big-12 is the #7 Oklahoma State Cowboys traveling to College Station to play #8 Texas A&M.
This is an amazing stat, Baylor's RG3, quarterback Robert Griffin III, has 8 touchdown passes. That total squares nicely with his 8 incompletions. Really, he has missed on only 8 throws in 2 games while connecting for 41 completions & 8 touchdowns. I love watching this guy play. They host Rice Saturday at 6PM on FOXSports Midwest.
It only took a jury 2 1/2 hours to convict former Mizzou running back Derrick Washington of sexual assault. He will also stand trial on a felony battery charge filed by his former girlfriend. Today's conviction stemmed from an assault on the roommate of his former tutor. Washington led the team in rushing his sophomore & junior season. He had been elected team captain in spring ball just before these charges were filed. The former NFL prospect will be sentenced November 9th.
Blaine Gabbert was named starting quarterback for Jacksonville's game with Carolina this Sunday by coach Jack Del Rio. Gabbert will face off with #1 overall selection, Cam Newton, who's made quite an impression with back-to-back 400-yard passing performances.
How tough is it to win consistently in the National Football League? The parity that the late Pete Rozelle sought is on display weekly. After just two weeks, we have only seven undefeated teams out of 32. Two or three of the undefeated will go down this week.
On the injury front, Buffalo WR & return man, Roscoe Parrish, will be placed on I.R. because of an ankle injury. Frisco WR Braylon Edwards underwent a "knee procedure" that will cause him to be "out for a little bit" according to coach Jim Harbaugh. New England center Dan Koppen who sustained a broken ankle opening weekend was placed on I.R. Two of the league's most productive running backs missed practice on Wednesday. Houston's Arian Foster(hamstring) & Tennessee's Chris Johnson(ribs) were sidelined. Giants WR Domenik Hixon, who made the much-replayed TD catch Monday night, sustained a torn ACL for the 2nd consecutive season & will be placed on I.R. Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles was placed on I.R. Wednesday & was replaced on the active roster by WR Jeremy Horne from the practice squad. Taking Horne's spot is Luke Patterson, yes again. Patterson has been signed, waived, signed, waived & now resigned, in less than 60-days.
The Philadelphia Eagles practiced without Michael Vick. He's been sidelined after sustaining a concussion Sunday night. Their linebacker lineup was completely changed after two games of being run over. Rookie middle linebacker Casey Mathews was moved to the weakside, weakside backer Moise Fokou was switched to the strongside & former strongside guy, Jamar Cheney, will move into the middle. Got that?
Ladies look out, L.J. is back on the street & he's in a bad mood, the Miami Dolphins cut him. Larry Johnson was released after just one carry for 2-yards.
If you watched the Monday night game, did you notice the Giant defenders dropping to the ground with leg injuries after the play was concluded? It happened on successive plays when the St. Louis Rams were running the no-huddle hurry-up offense right down inside the 10-yardline. It was kinda obvious the feigned ailments were intended to slowdown Sam Bradford's offense. It worked, but if it was obvious to me, it was also obvious to the league office. They issued a new policy for teams caught faking an injury to stop the clock or an advancing offense. We'll see how they implement the rule, I think it's going to be tough to do it in a fair & precise manner.
So the Horns can huff & they can puff, but they have no place to go....literally. OU can spin until they screw themselves into the ground, but they too aren't in big demand elsewhere. Mizzou would be a better candidate to switch conferences, they don't make a lot of demands, especially those of a financial nature & they don't field top-5 teams year after year. But with Baylor's legal threats to A&M's SEC move, I question how legit the rumored offer from the SEC was. It might have been predicated on an implosion of the Big-12, but that's about all I'm buying into.
Tonight it was reported Commissioner Dan Beebe was sent packing & his severance package was being finalized. There's the first positive move I've seen, it was a demand of Oklahoma. To replace him, it has also been reported, former Big 8 commissioner Chuck Neinas is the man. He's got a helluva lot of work in front of him. First thing on his plate will be to repair the image of this conference, saying it is tarnished is an understatement. They've become a joke around the country. Without this repair, they have no semblance of stability & without stability, they won't be able to fill this conference out to ten teams. Forget about 12 or more teams, just getting one in here won't be easy. He needs to restore peace & trust(never happen IMO) between the member schools in order for this conference to survive long enough to get to the next television contract. Another big problem for Neinas is if one or more of the "lesser" teams gets an offer to move to a stable conference with equal revenue sharing. Why wouldn't they want to move if invited? This conference has shown itself to have a suicidal streak now for 3-years, if that happens, this league is history. But maybe Neinas can talk some sense into two of the "haves" in the Big-12 & make them understand without some of the "have-nots," they have nothing, including a golden parachute into another conference.
Couple of other Big-12 notes. The conference as a whole is kickin' ass in the non-con portion of the schedule. Their record is a very impressive 23-2. The only losses coming in Mizzou's overtime loss at ASU & KU's horrible beatdown at Georgia Tech. Still, very impressive. For all you Mizzou fans expecting a repeat of last season's upset win over #1 Oklahoma, know this, OU is 78-2 at Norman under coach Bob Stoops. According to the Kansas City Star, the last time the Tigers won in Norman was 1966. Forty-five freakin' years is a long time. The major showdown in the Big-12 is the #7 Oklahoma State Cowboys traveling to College Station to play #8 Texas A&M.
This is an amazing stat, Baylor's RG3, quarterback Robert Griffin III, has 8 touchdown passes. That total squares nicely with his 8 incompletions. Really, he has missed on only 8 throws in 2 games while connecting for 41 completions & 8 touchdowns. I love watching this guy play. They host Rice Saturday at 6PM on FOXSports Midwest.
It only took a jury 2 1/2 hours to convict former Mizzou running back Derrick Washington of sexual assault. He will also stand trial on a felony battery charge filed by his former girlfriend. Today's conviction stemmed from an assault on the roommate of his former tutor. Washington led the team in rushing his sophomore & junior season. He had been elected team captain in spring ball just before these charges were filed. The former NFL prospect will be sentenced November 9th.
Blaine Gabbert was named starting quarterback for Jacksonville's game with Carolina this Sunday by coach Jack Del Rio. Gabbert will face off with #1 overall selection, Cam Newton, who's made quite an impression with back-to-back 400-yard passing performances.
How tough is it to win consistently in the National Football League? The parity that the late Pete Rozelle sought is on display weekly. After just two weeks, we have only seven undefeated teams out of 32. Two or three of the undefeated will go down this week.
On the injury front, Buffalo WR & return man, Roscoe Parrish, will be placed on I.R. because of an ankle injury. Frisco WR Braylon Edwards underwent a "knee procedure" that will cause him to be "out for a little bit" according to coach Jim Harbaugh. New England center Dan Koppen who sustained a broken ankle opening weekend was placed on I.R. Two of the league's most productive running backs missed practice on Wednesday. Houston's Arian Foster(hamstring) & Tennessee's Chris Johnson(ribs) were sidelined. Giants WR Domenik Hixon, who made the much-replayed TD catch Monday night, sustained a torn ACL for the 2nd consecutive season & will be placed on I.R. Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles was placed on I.R. Wednesday & was replaced on the active roster by WR Jeremy Horne from the practice squad. Taking Horne's spot is Luke Patterson, yes again. Patterson has been signed, waived, signed, waived & now resigned, in less than 60-days.
The Philadelphia Eagles practiced without Michael Vick. He's been sidelined after sustaining a concussion Sunday night. Their linebacker lineup was completely changed after two games of being run over. Rookie middle linebacker Casey Mathews was moved to the weakside, weakside backer Moise Fokou was switched to the strongside & former strongside guy, Jamar Cheney, will move into the middle. Got that?
Ladies look out, L.J. is back on the street & he's in a bad mood, the Miami Dolphins cut him. Larry Johnson was released after just one carry for 2-yards.
If you watched the Monday night game, did you notice the Giant defenders dropping to the ground with leg injuries after the play was concluded? It happened on successive plays when the St. Louis Rams were running the no-huddle hurry-up offense right down inside the 10-yardline. It was kinda obvious the feigned ailments were intended to slowdown Sam Bradford's offense. It worked, but if it was obvious to me, it was also obvious to the league office. They issued a new policy for teams caught faking an injury to stop the clock or an advancing offense. We'll see how they implement the rule, I think it's going to be tough to do it in a fair & precise manner.
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