Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 559 of 1503)

      South Florida player wants apology from Leavitt

      January 14, 2010 /

      The player who claims Jim Leavitt slapped him twice is seeking an apology from the recently fired South Florida head coach.

      From SI.com:

      The attorney for Joel Miller said Thursday that the sophomore walk-on is not interested in filing a lawsuit, but could if Leavitt doesn’t “man up” and admit wrongdoing in the locker room incident that cost the coach his job.

      Leavitt was fired last week after a university investigation concluded he grabbed Miller during halftime of a game, slapped the player twice in the face and then lied about it. The coach strongly denies the accusation and wants his job back.

      “We’re ready for a fight,” said Barry Cohen, Miller’s attorney. “We don’t want a fight. We don’t want a lawsuit. We don’t want to pursue any criminal cases. We just want you to say, I made a mistake.”

      “He grabbed me by the neck and he hit me twice,” said Miller, flanked by Cohen and sitting in front of his parents.

      “Everyone knows the truth inside that locker room. All the players know the truth. All the coaches know the truth. … I covered it up, and then it got to be where it was too big for me to handle any more. All I want is for the truth to come out, and I want coach Leavitt to just admit that he did grab me and did hit me twice.”

      If I were this young man’s parent, I’d probably recommend him to move on and concentrate on his playing career. But the eye-for-an-eye in me applauds Miller for seeking an apology. If Leavitt did hit him, then he deserves to suffer some public embarrassment for what transpired.

      Either way, I think Miller will be waiting a while to get that apology. Leavitt isn’t going to admit to anything and further damage his reputation.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

      NFL Playoffs Fan Battle: Cardinals vs. Saints Preview

      January 14, 2010 /

      To get you ready for the Cardinals-Saints’ Divisional Round tilt in the “Big Easy” this Saturday, here’s a preview of the game via a mock dialogue between an Arizona and a New Orleans fan.

      Saint Fan: I bet Sean Payton couldn’t sleep after watching the Packers rip apart the Cardinals’ defense last Sunday! Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, James Jones and Jermichael Finley lit you guys up and we have similar weapons in Marques Colston, Jeremy Shockey, Devery Henderson and Robert Meachem. I can’t wait to see what that group will do against Arizona’s brutal secondary this Saturday!

      Cardinal Fan: Last week was an anomaly – the Cards’ defense won’t play that bad two weeks in a row. Ken Whisenhunt and his staff have already dissected what went wrong and are working to correct the problem. Besides, tackling was the main issue last week, which is correctable.

      Saint Fan: Payton just won coach of the year and is one of the brightest offensive minds in football. If Mike McCarthy figured out how to rack up 40-plus points on Arizona, then Payton might double that.

      Cardinal Fan: This isn’t the regular season – it’s the playoffs.

      Saint Fan: Wow, you’re just figuring this out now?

      Cardinal Fan: Hear me out; Whisenhunt is 4-1 in the postseason as the Cardinals’ head coach. He has already been to the Super Bowl and thus knows what it takes to get there. There’s no doubt Payton is a great coach, but there’s a lot more at stake for him this weekend with the Saints being the No. 1 seed and expected to reach the Super Bowl after running through the competition for most of the season.

      Saint Fan: Yeah, but let’s give defensive coordinator Gregg Williams his due. His aggressive style has changed how the Saints run their defense and he deserves just as much credit for our team’s success this year as Payton does.

      Cardinal Fan: Oh, you mean the same Gregg Williams-led defense that can’t stop the run? Once we establish the ground game with Beanie Wells, Kurt Warner is going to pick your fading defense apart with his precision passing. Plus, once we get inside the red zone we’re nearly unstoppable. We’ve scored touchdowns on 70.4 percent of our trips inside our opponents’ 20-yard line, which is the best in the league.

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      NFL

      Staples: Alabama, Boise top early teams for 2010

      January 14, 2010 /

      Andy Staples of SI.com put together his 2010 Top 25 in college football, with Alabama and Boise State ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.

      Here is his top 5:

      1. Alabama Crimson Tide
      It’s no coincidence that after linebacker Rolando McClain announced his decision to skip his senior year and enter the draft, rising junior Donta’ Hightower was brought before the media. That baton pass should go smoothly, and if you watched the BCS title game, you already know rising junior Marcell Dareus can take over a game. On the other side of the ball, the Crimson Tide only return a national-title winning quarterback (Greg McElroy), a Heisman Trophy-winning tailback (Mark Ingram) and the back a lot of people think is better than the Heisman winner (Trent Richardson).

      2. Boise State Broncos
      It’s time to stop doubting the Broncos. I ripped on their schedule plenty last season, but all they do when they get on the big stage is win. It’s easy to say they wouldn’t go undefeated in a better conference, but when Boise State has played teams from better conferences in the past few years, the Broncos have won. So to all the teams that think Boise State shouldn’t be ranked this high, you have one way to prove it: beat the Broncos.

      3. Ohio State Buckeyes
      Now that the Buckeyes have cast the BCS bowl gorilla from their backs, it’s time to work on Ohio State’s personal King Kong — the BCS title game. The Buckeyes have the talent. They have experience at key positions. Their only problem? The 2010 Big Ten will be deeper than it’s been in years.

      4. Texas Longhorns
      Rising sophomore quarterback Garrett Gilbert offered a glimpse of how good he can be in the BCS title game. The Longhorns’ defense loses end Sergio Kindle, but this is Texas. Kindle’s exit only means rising sophomore Alex Okafor has a chance to become a household name.

      5. Iowa Hawkeyes
      Defensive tackle Adrian Clayborn said he would be back next season, but that was before he owned Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl. If he can fend off agents the way he fends off blockers, he’ll be the anchor of a stacked team playing a schedule that brings Penn State and Ohio State to Iowa City.

      If Ohio State can take what they did against Oregon in the Rose Bowl and build upon it for next year, there’s a good chance we’ll be seeing the Buckeyes in the national title game.

      It’s a little early to be making predictions, but it’s fun to look ahead. I remember last year how everyone thought Ole Miss was going to make some noise in the SEC and the Rebels failed to deliver on that.

      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

      Longhorns’ DC Muschamp says he’s staying in Texas

      January 14, 2010 /

      Amidst the rumors that he could possible take the head coach opening in Tennessee, Texas’ defensive coordinator Will Muschamp stated that he’s staying in Austin.

      “I’m happy at Texas and plan to be here for a long time,” Muschamp said through a school football spokesman.
      He added that he has not interviewed for any other jobs nor does he have intention to do so.

      People in the Texas athletic department spent Wednesday saying they fully expected Muschamp to be on the staff next week, next month and next season.

      Media reports from Tennessee provided Internet whiplash. Supposedly, Muschamp topped the list of candidates to replace Kiffin. There were suggestions of a five-year contract offer for $3 million annually.

      He was interviewing in Knoxville. Or Dallas. Or Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton was in Austin. Pick a rumor, any rumor.

      Muschamp is in line to take over for Mack Brown at Texas, so it makes sense that he’s exercising a little patience right now.

      One name that I haven’t heard being tossed around for the Tennessee position is Mike Leach. After the Lane Kiffin debacle, the Vols might take a more conservative approach with their next hire, but Leach would make for an intriguing choice in Knoxville.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

      Sean Payton wins Coach of the Year

      January 14, 2010 /

      The Saints’ Sean Payton has been named NFL Coach of the Year by the Sporting News.

      For the second time in his four seasons as leader of the New Orleans Saints, Sean Payton is Sporting News Coach of the Year.

      After two years of the Saints not making the playoffs since they advanced to the NFC championship game after the 2006 season, Payton guided them to a 13-3 record. The five-game turnaround from 2008 took New Orleans from worst to first place in the NFC South.

      If Payton could split the award in half, I’m sure he’d give part of the honor to defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. The Saints’ defense has really struggled down the stretch, but most of that can be attributed to injuries on all three levels. For the most part, Williams has done a remarkable job turning the Saints’ defense into a unit that can (along with the offense’s help, of course) contend for a Super Bowl.

      I’m looking forward to seeing how Payton fares in his second postseason stint. His offensive schemes are excellent and he knows how to attack an opponent’s weaknesses. However, he couldn’t figure out the Cowboys in the regular season this year and the Bears in the postseason in 2006, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens if New Orleans meets Dallas again next week.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

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