FRIDAY IS FINE DAY IN THE NFL, UCLA CLOSE TO A NEW COACH & SOME HEISMAN NONSENSE
Friday has become the day of the week that the NFL league office sends out the notifications of fines levied from the previous week's games. This Friday brought an unusual number of high-dollar penalties to be extracted from a few paychecks next week. Oakland DT Richard Seymour led the pack with a $30,000 fine for punching Miami guard Richie Incognito in the throat after the whistle. The move got Seymour ejected from the game. New England linebacker Jerrod Mayo will fork over $25K for his late hit on Indy QB Dan Orlovsky. Lions' tight end Brandon Pettigrew was one of several Detroit players fined for their dismal behavior in Sunday night's game in New Orleans. Pettigrew shoved an official & that will cost him $25K. Packer cornerback Charles Woodson got his 2nd fine this season for roughing Giants' QB Eli Manning, $15,000 worth.
Newly acquired quarterback Kyle Orton will not play this Sunday because of the dislocated index finger he sustained last Sunday on his only snap since joining the Chiefs.
I got a few emails questioning my position that football isn't very important at KU & that Charlie Weis can probably live up to what will be acceptable with the majority of Jayhawk fans. Yes, sorry to my KU readers, but that's the truth, football takes a backseat to basketball in Jayhawk nation. I know you understand that, but how far behind football is to the hoops program is all we have to debate. IMO, if Weis can average 6-wins a season, get to a bowl every three years & keep the football program clean, he can stay there as long as he wants. He might be overpaid a tad at just under $2.5 million annually. With Mizzou's departure from the Big-12, that's a major hurdle Weis won't have to clear. KU boosters could live with an average football program as long as they beat the Tigers occasionally. Mark Mangino caught lightning in a bottle in 2007, it's not likely to happen again soon. To succeed in this conference, recruiting in Texas is a must. This will be new territory for Weis, even at Notre Dame he didn't do well in the Lone Star State. This won't be a quick turnaround & the upside isn't huge, but Charlie Weis can make the Kansas Jayhawks a much more competitive program, that I believe.
UCLA is close to an agreement with a new head coach. Jim Mora Jr. will likely join the Bruins within a week. Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora accepted the vacant job at North Carolina.
One of the most storied traditions in college football takes center stage this afternoon outside Washington D.C. for the 112th meeting of Army versus Navy. In a college football season fraught with controversy & shame, we finish the 2011 regular season with a football game in it's purest form. President Obama will be in attendance. The Air Force Academy has already clinched the Commander in Chief Trophy by beating both of today's teams, but even that doesn't diminish what this game means to so many people around the globe. The game will be hard-fought & cleanly played. You won't see a game with fewer penalties. But regardless of the winner, don't pick up your remote, watch the post-game pageantry. It's like nothing else in college football, mutual respect for your opponent, true sportsmanship. Do yourself a favor & give it some of your time this afternoon, it kicks off at 1:30 Central time. See the men who will be defending us in the future, future ensigns & generals, displaying their discipline & fight in a great traditional rivalry.
WildcatPatti wondered why I haven't posted my season record on the office pool picks. It's 127-65, which is better than 7 of the experts on ESPN & ties me with Sports Illustrated & NBC Sports Peter King. Apparently Patti is looking to gloat over her closest competitor who chose another internet picker, at least that's the way I deciphered her somewhat disjointed email. Still got 4 more weeks, so don't spend the money quite yet.
I declared my Heisman choice last Saturday night, Robert Griffin III from Baylor. He set an all-time record for pass completion percentage for a passer with more than 200 attempts. Tonight, I read one of the most absurd commentaries on the Heisman race. On FOXSports.com, a writer by the name of Steve Eubanks theorized Alabama's Trent Richardson wouldn't win the Heisman because of bias against the SEC. He states Richardson is the one & only real candidate for the award but SEC "fatigue' will cause him to lose out to RG3, who doesn't deserve it. Richardson is a superb back who is the major weapon in a so-so Bama offense. But RG3 is the best choice & I believe he will win because he is the best choice, not because of some perceived SEC "fatigue." SEC players(Tebow-Ingram-Newton) have won 3 of the past four Heismans. The SEC picked up 5 of the twelve awards handed out last night in New York(see post below). No real bias there. The BCS title game has been won by an SEC team five years in a row & on January 9th, it will be number six. So now, after all this, if Richardson doesn't win it's because of anti-SEC bias? Now we have SEC apologists who feel the need to find excuses for anything not won by the SEC? Without question the SEC is the best football conference in the nation, but believe it or not, there are outstanding football players outside the SEC. Seriously, get over yourself Mr. Eubanks.
My pick for the 2011 Heisman Trophy
Newly acquired quarterback Kyle Orton will not play this Sunday because of the dislocated index finger he sustained last Sunday on his only snap since joining the Chiefs.
I got a few emails questioning my position that football isn't very important at KU & that Charlie Weis can probably live up to what will be acceptable with the majority of Jayhawk fans. Yes, sorry to my KU readers, but that's the truth, football takes a backseat to basketball in Jayhawk nation. I know you understand that, but how far behind football is to the hoops program is all we have to debate. IMO, if Weis can average 6-wins a season, get to a bowl every three years & keep the football program clean, he can stay there as long as he wants. He might be overpaid a tad at just under $2.5 million annually. With Mizzou's departure from the Big-12, that's a major hurdle Weis won't have to clear. KU boosters could live with an average football program as long as they beat the Tigers occasionally. Mark Mangino caught lightning in a bottle in 2007, it's not likely to happen again soon. To succeed in this conference, recruiting in Texas is a must. This will be new territory for Weis, even at Notre Dame he didn't do well in the Lone Star State. This won't be a quick turnaround & the upside isn't huge, but Charlie Weis can make the Kansas Jayhawks a much more competitive program, that I believe.
UCLA is close to an agreement with a new head coach. Jim Mora Jr. will likely join the Bruins within a week. Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora accepted the vacant job at North Carolina.
One of the most storied traditions in college football takes center stage this afternoon outside Washington D.C. for the 112th meeting of Army versus Navy. In a college football season fraught with controversy & shame, we finish the 2011 regular season with a football game in it's purest form. President Obama will be in attendance. The Air Force Academy has already clinched the Commander in Chief Trophy by beating both of today's teams, but even that doesn't diminish what this game means to so many people around the globe. The game will be hard-fought & cleanly played. You won't see a game with fewer penalties. But regardless of the winner, don't pick up your remote, watch the post-game pageantry. It's like nothing else in college football, mutual respect for your opponent, true sportsmanship. Do yourself a favor & give it some of your time this afternoon, it kicks off at 1:30 Central time. See the men who will be defending us in the future, future ensigns & generals, displaying their discipline & fight in a great traditional rivalry.
WildcatPatti wondered why I haven't posted my season record on the office pool picks. It's 127-65, which is better than 7 of the experts on ESPN & ties me with Sports Illustrated & NBC Sports Peter King. Apparently Patti is looking to gloat over her closest competitor who chose another internet picker, at least that's the way I deciphered her somewhat disjointed email. Still got 4 more weeks, so don't spend the money quite yet.
I declared my Heisman choice last Saturday night, Robert Griffin III from Baylor. He set an all-time record for pass completion percentage for a passer with more than 200 attempts. Tonight, I read one of the most absurd commentaries on the Heisman race. On FOXSports.com, a writer by the name of Steve Eubanks theorized Alabama's Trent Richardson wouldn't win the Heisman because of bias against the SEC. He states Richardson is the one & only real candidate for the award but SEC "fatigue' will cause him to lose out to RG3, who doesn't deserve it. Richardson is a superb back who is the major weapon in a so-so Bama offense. But RG3 is the best choice & I believe he will win because he is the best choice, not because of some perceived SEC "fatigue." SEC players(Tebow-Ingram-Newton) have won 3 of the past four Heismans. The SEC picked up 5 of the twelve awards handed out last night in New York(see post below). No real bias there. The BCS title game has been won by an SEC team five years in a row & on January 9th, it will be number six. So now, after all this, if Richardson doesn't win it's because of anti-SEC bias? Now we have SEC apologists who feel the need to find excuses for anything not won by the SEC? Without question the SEC is the best football conference in the nation, but believe it or not, there are outstanding football players outside the SEC. Seriously, get over yourself Mr. Eubanks.
My pick for the 2011 Heisman Trophy
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