BUCKEYES IN TROUBLE.....AGAIN, COLTS WILL BE A TOUGH WIN FOR CHIEFS, BIG-12 FUTURE IS NOW & NO MORE MNF FOR HANK JR.
I'm amazed how Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith keeps his job. He threw Jim Tressel under the bus, followed by Terrelle Pryor & then there were the 5 other players suspended for the first five games this season. Smith & his "Bad Boy Buckeyes" are back in the news, once again bringing shame to the once proud football program. The NCAA has been doing some follow-up to their "Tattoo-Gate" investigation & Monday found Smith back in front of microphones & TV cameras trying to explain why the sanctioning body is handing down more suspensions. Seems two of the original 5, who were supposed to be reinstated for Saturday's game at Nebraska, have been suspended again. Seems RB Boom Herron & WR DeVier Posey were consistently overpaid by their summer employer, a Columbus excavating company. Plus they were paid cash bonuses that were delivered by a very famous bagman, yes, none other than Terrelle Pryor. The NCAA alleges he brought the pair cash three different times. Just like the mess in Miami, the cash flowed from a local business man who is nothing more than a glorified jock sniffer. Offensive lineman Marcus Hall was also suspended because he was overpaid as well. The trio had also neglected to inform the athletic department's compliance office of their employment. Smith stands up in front of university officials & the media & has the balls to say "this is about individuals who failed, it's not a systemic failure of the compliance office." Really? How many people will Smith throw under the Buckeye Bus before he admits his office is doing a miserable job monitoring the athletes in the football program? Ohio State is becoming a joke while everyone in Smith's office appears to be totally clueless. I told you Saturday night OSU looked like a pretty ordinary team, this isn't going to rally the troops or help with donors. Look for an embarrassed Nebraska team to take out their frustrations on the Buckeyes this Saturday.
Monday brought a pretty ugly injury report. No word yet on how serious Ben Rothlesberger's foot/ankle is or Andre Johnson's hamstring. The Jets will lose linebacker Bryan Thomas for the season after he sustained a ruptured Achilles tendon Sunday night in Baltimore. Philadelphia defensive tackle Anthony Dixon suffered a torn triceps & will miss the remainder of the season. Also hurting on the Eagles, DE Trent Cole has a "fairly significant calf injury" according to Andy Reid. Philly will also be without left tackle Jason Peters for 2-3 weeks with an ankle injury. Did the St. Louis Rams rush slot receiver Danny Amendola back to the practice field before his dislocated elbow was healed enough? Maybe so, because he was downgraded on the injury list last Friday from questionable to out. There was talk of season-ending surgery for Sam Bradford's favorite receiver, that still might happen. In tonight's game in Tampa, Colts' defensive tackle Eric Foster sustained a really ugly ankle fracture, feet, don't bend that way. He was placed in an air cast & he won't play again this year.
Speaking of the Colts, they're 0-4 now after losing 24-17 tonight to the Buccaneers. Even without all-pro defensive end Dwight Freeney, the Colts defense played hard all night. Sub Jerry Hughes & Robert Mathis put pressure on Bucs QB Josh Freeman from the opening kickoff till the final gun. Indianapolis hung in till the very end, Chiefs fans who think this will be a sure second win, you should have watched the game. You would have seen the effort every Colt player put forth, the body language on the bench that yelled "we're sick of losing." They look absolutely desperate & Kansas City had better be prepared because Indy will be a very tough out on the schedule.
Colts fight all night in Tampa
Bad news for the rest of the NFL, Patriots slot receiver Wes Welker says he is having the best year of his life. He's in better shape, faster & more in tune with QB Tom Brady. Welker has caught 40-passes in 4 games for 616-yards & 5 touchdowns. Take those stats & multiply them by 4 & you have NFL records in receptions & yardage. Considering he tore both his ACL & MCL in his left knee near the end of the 2009 season, the season he's having is amazing. He is going to be matched up against the Jets secondary Sunday & they have proven they can shut down almost anyone, so it will be interesting to see if Welker's magical season continues.
All nine remaining Big-12 schools voted to grant their first & second tier television rights for football, bowl games, men's basketball & men's post-season hoop tournaments to the Big-12. The revenues will be divided equally amongst all the member universities. They voted to do so for the next 6-years, which allows for another ABC/ESPN television contract. Their deal with FOXSports is thru 2021 & is worth $1.3 billion. To stay in compliance with the TV networks, the conference will have to add at least one additional school to bring it's membership back up to 10. Twelve would be even more desirable. Now every university will have a meeting of their board of curators to vote on the proposal. Mizzou is believed to be the lone question mark in keeping the current status quo. The problem in Columbia is they just don't trust many of their Big-12 brethren. "High Noon" for Mizzou begins at 4PM today when the board of curators meet behind closed doors in St. Louis. We should know the future of this conference very, very soon.
"Are you ready for some football?" This opening diddy has been a part of Monday Night Football since 1991. He won 4 Emmy's for the theme song. In the past six years, he wrote a different version for every game to fit the two teams playing that night. But no more, ESPN pulled the opening song tonight & it won't be back. Williams committed a huge mistake when he compared our president to Adolf Hitler. I've said my piece about how offensive I find comparing anyone to Hitler or Nazis. There really isn't a reasonable comparison to draw when it comes to Hitler & the Nazis. O.K. Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot & a few others compare. But Williams making this comparison on Fox & Friends the other morning was a major mistake. I saw where the hosts tried to get him to back track the statement but Williams only made it worse. He'll lose some big royalty money, but he's ridiculously wealthy anyway. But this is how he'll be remembered, which I have no problem with. The only part that bothers me is thinking of all the people who compared our last president to Hitler & Nazis, politicians who compare a populist movement to the Nazis, governors who are compared to Hitler & the Nazis, but they got a pass. Folks, it's never, ever O.K. to compare Hitler & the Nazis to anyone in our Government or our people. Unless they are in fact Nazis, there are a few very misguided souls out there who believe such hatred makes sense. Anyway, Monday Night Football will have to find a new theme song, any ideas who can do the job?
See ya! Good riddance!
Monday brought a pretty ugly injury report. No word yet on how serious Ben Rothlesberger's foot/ankle is or Andre Johnson's hamstring. The Jets will lose linebacker Bryan Thomas for the season after he sustained a ruptured Achilles tendon Sunday night in Baltimore. Philadelphia defensive tackle Anthony Dixon suffered a torn triceps & will miss the remainder of the season. Also hurting on the Eagles, DE Trent Cole has a "fairly significant calf injury" according to Andy Reid. Philly will also be without left tackle Jason Peters for 2-3 weeks with an ankle injury. Did the St. Louis Rams rush slot receiver Danny Amendola back to the practice field before his dislocated elbow was healed enough? Maybe so, because he was downgraded on the injury list last Friday from questionable to out. There was talk of season-ending surgery for Sam Bradford's favorite receiver, that still might happen. In tonight's game in Tampa, Colts' defensive tackle Eric Foster sustained a really ugly ankle fracture, feet, don't bend that way. He was placed in an air cast & he won't play again this year.
Speaking of the Colts, they're 0-4 now after losing 24-17 tonight to the Buccaneers. Even without all-pro defensive end Dwight Freeney, the Colts defense played hard all night. Sub Jerry Hughes & Robert Mathis put pressure on Bucs QB Josh Freeman from the opening kickoff till the final gun. Indianapolis hung in till the very end, Chiefs fans who think this will be a sure second win, you should have watched the game. You would have seen the effort every Colt player put forth, the body language on the bench that yelled "we're sick of losing." They look absolutely desperate & Kansas City had better be prepared because Indy will be a very tough out on the schedule.
Colts fight all night in Tampa
Bad news for the rest of the NFL, Patriots slot receiver Wes Welker says he is having the best year of his life. He's in better shape, faster & more in tune with QB Tom Brady. Welker has caught 40-passes in 4 games for 616-yards & 5 touchdowns. Take those stats & multiply them by 4 & you have NFL records in receptions & yardage. Considering he tore both his ACL & MCL in his left knee near the end of the 2009 season, the season he's having is amazing. He is going to be matched up against the Jets secondary Sunday & they have proven they can shut down almost anyone, so it will be interesting to see if Welker's magical season continues.
All nine remaining Big-12 schools voted to grant their first & second tier television rights for football, bowl games, men's basketball & men's post-season hoop tournaments to the Big-12. The revenues will be divided equally amongst all the member universities. They voted to do so for the next 6-years, which allows for another ABC/ESPN television contract. Their deal with FOXSports is thru 2021 & is worth $1.3 billion. To stay in compliance with the TV networks, the conference will have to add at least one additional school to bring it's membership back up to 10. Twelve would be even more desirable. Now every university will have a meeting of their board of curators to vote on the proposal. Mizzou is believed to be the lone question mark in keeping the current status quo. The problem in Columbia is they just don't trust many of their Big-12 brethren. "High Noon" for Mizzou begins at 4PM today when the board of curators meet behind closed doors in St. Louis. We should know the future of this conference very, very soon.
"Are you ready for some football?" This opening diddy has been a part of Monday Night Football since 1991. He won 4 Emmy's for the theme song. In the past six years, he wrote a different version for every game to fit the two teams playing that night. But no more, ESPN pulled the opening song tonight & it won't be back. Williams committed a huge mistake when he compared our president to Adolf Hitler. I've said my piece about how offensive I find comparing anyone to Hitler or Nazis. There really isn't a reasonable comparison to draw when it comes to Hitler & the Nazis. O.K. Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot & a few others compare. But Williams making this comparison on Fox & Friends the other morning was a major mistake. I saw where the hosts tried to get him to back track the statement but Williams only made it worse. He'll lose some big royalty money, but he's ridiculously wealthy anyway. But this is how he'll be remembered, which I have no problem with. The only part that bothers me is thinking of all the people who compared our last president to Hitler & Nazis, politicians who compare a populist movement to the Nazis, governors who are compared to Hitler & the Nazis, but they got a pass. Folks, it's never, ever O.K. to compare Hitler & the Nazis to anyone in our Government or our people. Unless they are in fact Nazis, there are a few very misguided souls out there who believe such hatred makes sense. Anyway, Monday Night Football will have to find a new theme song, any ideas who can do the job?
See ya! Good riddance!
Has there been a case where a university sues these individuals who are compensating players outside NCAA rules? The financial impact to the university is enormous, and it would seem like a logical move to re-coup losses or dissuade them to stop.
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Daryll,
You would think some of these jock sniffers could be sued wouldn't you? But it would take each state's legislature to pass laws forbidding these creeps from getting too close. But honestly do you think a law would keep them from doing whatever they wanted to do? Let's look at two recent cases. The guy(his name escapes me)who handed out the cash & free tattoos at Ohio State is in prison for possession with the intent to distribute & he'll be there for about ten years. In the Miami case, Nevin Shapiro is in prison for fraud & will be there for about 20-years. These are the quality of people who get close enough to college programs & their athletes to wreck them real good.
At what point does a university cut their ties with athletes who, while already on suspension, repeat the offense that got them suspended in the first place. This pair at Ohio State has walked around Columbus with their hands out looking for cash since they got there. IMO these two should have been dismissed from the program yesterday. But A.D. Gene Smith is trying to hold onto any shred of real talent to keep this program relevant this season. He should realize it's already over, the season that is.
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I am no lawyer, but it seems a civil suit wouldn't require any law changes to file.
Maybe it opens up universities to embarrassing questions, such as "When did you know?" etc. I can imagine the only reason these kinds of cases aren't common is that a lot of other things may come out that the university would have to answer for.
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Darryll,
You could be right concerning civil lawsuits. But I do believe the less dirty laundry the offending schools has in public, the better P.R. for the institution.
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Given the injuries that are piling up across the league, maybe a real mellow opening song delivered by the king of mellow, Perry Como. Something like "Don't Leave Me" or "Oowee Oowee." For the OSU situation, the theme song could be Como's cover of "Send in the Clowns."
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Joy,
Three things:
1. Your knowledge of Perry Como music, while impressive in it's totality, is bizarre for someone your age.
2. I can tell you from personal experience nothing gets the patrons in the sports bars around the country more fired up than a Perry Como song. It works well with the Jello shots & $1 drafts to work them into a frenzy every Monday night. Since Como died about ten years ago, he won't be making any Hitler/Nazi comparisons. So Perry Como for Hank Jr? Why the hell not?
3. You never fail to make me laugh. Thank you for that.
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Man, your going overboard again on Hank Jr. He's no genius but he's no racist Hitler lover either. First amendment allows him to say whatever he wants. Nice to see you mention the Hitler analogies go both ways.
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