Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 566 of 1503)

      South Florida fires head coach Jim Leavitt

      January 8, 2010 /

      South Florida has decided to fire head coach Jim Leavitt after he allegedly struck a player and subsequently lied to investigators.

      From Fanhouse.com:

      USF fired the only coach the Bulls have had in the program’s 13-year history following an investigation initiated after a FanHouse report that stated Leavitt grabbed sophomore Joel Miller by the throat and hit the walk-on twice in the face Nov. 21 at halftime of the Louisville game.

      FanHouse first reported details of the incident Dec. 14. Five witnesses, USF players and staff members, said that Leavitt was upset by a mistake Miller made on special teams during the first half against Louisville, and subsequently struck Miller twice.

      “You do something like that [on the street], you put them in jail,” Paul Miller, Joel’s father and a former Tampa police officer, told FanHouse at the time. “Somewhere [Leavitt] crossed the line.”

      Wednesday, wide receiver Colby Erskin, who was not present in the locker room at the time, told FanHouse that Miller told him about the incident and asked for his advice on what he should do, a few days after the Nov. 21 incident.

      Erskin also said Leavitt cleaned out his locker and threw his personal effects into a trash bin. Erskin said he believed that Leavitt suspected him of leaking the story to the media.

      As the article notes, Leavitt was 95-47 during his tenure at South Florida. He essentially built that program from nothing and deserves credit for making USF relevant in college football.

      That said, there’s zero excuse to hit a kid. There’s a difference between being a hard ass and hitting players because they screw up. If the report is true and Leavitt did strike Miller multiple times, then he deserves to be fired. Many of these college coaches have massive egos and think they can say and do whatever they want to players because they’re above them.

      Leavitt found out the hard way that universities are stepping in to ensure that these types of situations don’t continue and won’t be tolerated.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

      Anquan Boldin expected to be a game-time decision

      January 8, 2010 /

      The Arizona Republic is reporting that Cardinals’ receiver Anquan Boldin will be a game-time decision on Sunday vs. the Packers.

      Cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Antrel Rolle were both able to practice for Arizona on Thursday, however

      Cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and free safety Antrel Rolle practiced Thursday on a limited basis, an encouraging sign for the Cardinals, who are battling significant injuries on defense.

      Rodgers-Cromartie, who suffered a knee contusion last week, participated in a good portion of practice, coach Ken Whisenhunt said.
      DRC said: “I was out there full speed and it felt good. It felt good to be out there flying around, to be back with these guys practicing and working toward something good.”

      Receiver Anquan Boldin remained out with a sprained knee and ankle. Boldin’s status likely won’t be known until Sunday. Guard Deuce Lutui also missed practice with back spasms, but Whisenhunt expressed confidence that he would play.

      If the Cardinals want to avoid being knocked out in the first round of the playoffs then they’re going to have to do two things: Run the football and pressure the quarterback.

      Even if Boldin plays, he won’t be at 100% and the Packers match up well with the Cardinals’ passing game regardless. So if ‘Zona can’t get Beanie Wells and the ground game working early, then the Cards might be in store for a long day. And teams that have had success against Green Bay this season have all been able to get after Aaron Rodgers.

      Obviously the Cardinals want Boldin to be healthy; he’s a game-changer when he’s on the field. But in the end, he won’t be the difference between victory and defeat.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      Would a loss to the Cowboys signal the end for McNabb?

      January 8, 2010 /

      Rich Hofmann of the Philadelphia Inquirer speculates that if the Eagles lose their Wild Card matchup to the Cowboys on Saturday that the team will look to dump Donovan McNabb in the offseason.

      Is this the last go-round for Donovan McNabb, the man who has done everything a Philadelphia quarterback can do except for the one thing that everybody so desperately wants him to do?

      Personally, I think this is it. I think the club made that clear without saying it by giving McNabb a raise during the offseason but declining to extend his contract past the 2010 season. If they win a Super Bowl, of course, things change. If they get to another NFC Championship Game, and McNabb plays great, things change. Short of that, though, I think it’s over.

      Eleven years is a long time for a quarterback in one city. Five years is a long time for a fan base to be locked in perpetual debate about a quarterback – and that is how long Eagles fans have been burying me in a digital avalanche every time I type the guy’s name, pro or con. Ever since that achingly slow fourth-quarter drive in the Super Bowl, when McNabb either did or did not throw up in the huddle, the town has been thoroughly divided. During the flash points, you can read the exhaustion on everyone’s face, including McNabb’s. Another flash point is coming, maybe as soon as tomorrow night. When this season is over, there is nothing that anybody will say concerning McNabb that hasn’t already been said a million times. The answer here is not obvious until you look at the contract. McNabb has trade value only as long as he is under contract – which means you trade him now or you have to extend him for X-number of years after the season, with a new signing bonus and plenty of color and pageantry (and a likely one-way ticket out the door for Kevin Kolb, whom you have previously identified as your future).

      If the Eagles lose tomorrow, does anybody really think they are going to do that? Or that they should?

      This has been a heated debate for years. Some feel as though Eagle fans should be happy getting to the playoffs on a regular basis, even though they come up short of a Super Bowl victory every year. But when you watch the same product repeatedly fail over and over again, you get tired of it.

      Personally, if you have a quarterback that can consistently get a team to the playoffs every year, or every other year or whatever, they have to hold onto him. But I understand the frustration that Eagle fans go through in that the team is always knocking on the door of more and never producing.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      Colt McCoy is the epitome of class

      January 8, 2010 /

      The college football gods owe Colt McCoy a massive apology, because what they did to him on Thursday night was extremely cruel.

      On the fifth play of the 2010 BCS National Championship Game, an Alabama defender hit McCoy on his right side and the quarterback’s arm immediately went dead. He motioned to come out of the game and was replaced by freshman Garrett Gilbert for the remainder of the series.

      That was the last time McCoy took a snap for the Texas Longhorns, who eventually fell to Alabama, 37-21.

      It’s not fair what happened to McCoy. You could see how distraught he was while having to watch from the sidelines as his team fought an uphill battle. He came back for his senior year for the opportunity to win a national championship and instead he was forced to be a spectator for his team’s biggest moment. For what he did at Texas and for college football, he deserved more than this ending.

      But even though he was handed the most unfortunate of breaks, McCoy proved to everyone how much character he has. Following the game, he held back tears while talking to ESPN reporter Lisa Salters about having to watch the game from the sidelines. Nobody would have blamed him if he vented his frustrations or talked about how the outcome of the game would have been different had he played.

      But instead, he made it a point of emphasis to congratulate Alabama not once, but twice while wrapping up the interview. And it wasn’t a clichéd, tongue-in-check type of congratulations: It was as sincere as they come.

      McCoy managed to muster the strength to congratulate an opponent that had just benefited from one of his darkest moments. Now that’s class.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

      Alabama overcomes Saban’s first quarter mistakes to win national title

      January 8, 2010 /

      Those that tuned into the 2010 BCS National Championship Game don’t need a breakdown of what transpired on Thursday night: Alabama took advantage of a Colt McCoy shoulder injury and managed to survive a late rally by Texas to cash in a 37-21 victory.

      Had McCoy played the entire game, would Texas have won? We’ll never know, although the Longhorns certainly had everything working in their favor early on, taking advantage of one Nick Saban mistake after another.

      Saban’s decision to receive instead of putting his defense on the field first was unwise. His decision to fake a punt after the Tide went three and out on their first possession was unnecessary. And his decision not to instruct his return team to call for a fair catch or re-position themselves after Texas had already kicked the ball short at the start of the game was neglectful.

      Due to those three decisions, Saban essentially spotted the Longhorns a 6-0 lead. Had McCoy not been hurt, who knows whether or not that 6-0 lead could have been 14-0 to start the game.

      Saban obviously deserves enormous credit for turning Alabama’s program around and building a national championship team. What he’s been able to do in such a short period of time has been remarkable and speaks to how good he is at what he does. He’s a motivator, a master game planner and manages to keep young men focused, which cannot be easy to do.

      Continue reading »

      College Football

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑