Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 601 of 1503)

      Tennessee being investigated for use of hostesses

      December 9, 2009 /

      According to a report by ESPN.com, Tennessee is under investigation for using recruiting “hostesses” to help lure high school football prospects to come to the university.

      The NCAA appears to be strongly interested in Tennessee’s use of hostesses — students who are part of a university group that hosts prospective students on campus visits, including athletes. It was not clear whether the university sent the hostesses to visit the football players, the newspaper reported.

      In one case, hostesses traveled nearly 200 miles to attend a football game at James F. Byrnes High School in Duncan, S.C., one of the nation’s best high school football programs, where at least three potential Tennessee recruits were playing, according to the report.
      Two of Lattimore’s high school teammates, Brandon Willis and Corey Miller, have orally committed to Tennessee. Lattimore said the hostesses were “real pretty, real nice and just real cool” and thinks they had “a lot” of influence in his teammates making oral commitments, according to the report.

      “I haven’t seen no other schools do that,” Lattimore said, according to the report. “It’s crazy.”

      According to the article, Tennessee has committed at least six secondary NCAA violations since Lane Kiffin took over as head coach.

      It might be hard to gather evidence in this situation outside of talking to the young recruits, but considering Tennessee has committed six violations one would assume that the NCAA is going to take their time investigating these “hostess” allegations.

      Not a good start for Kiffin at UT.

      College Football

      Phillies began long-term extension talks with Lee

      December 9, 2009 /

      According to Mark J. Miller of Yahoo Sports, the Phillies have begun preliminary talks with ace Cliff Lee about a contract extension.

      The Philadelphia Phillies got Cliff Lee this summer and knew he was good, but didn’t know he’d be that good. The guy cruised through the postseason, making behind-the-back catches, stealing a base, seemingly annoying former Phils ace Cole Hamels, and, of course, racking up wins. He went 4-0 in five starts with a 1.56 ERA in the postseason after going 7-4 in 12 starts for Philadelphia in the regular season.

      The Phils would love Lee to continue doing that last one for them for a long time to come and the team and Lee’s agent have apparently entered into talks on a possible long-term contract, according to New York Newsday. Lee’s agent, Darek Braunecker, says that he and the team have had “very preliminary talks” about an extension.

      I’ve always been of the mindset that if a club trades multiple prospects for a player that they should lock said player up long-term. After all, if that player was worth giving up part of your future, then he should be worth a long-term investment.

      Lee was brilliant for the Phillies last year and there’s no reason to think that he can’t be great again over the course of a full season. Philadelphia is built to win now, so it would make sense that they lock up their ace with an extension.


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      MLB

      Decade Debate: 10 Worst NFL Head Coaching Hires

      December 8, 2009 /

      Perhaps more than any other sport, a bad head coaching hire in the NFL can ruin a franchise for the better part of a decade. When you consider the free agent and draft acquisitions that are made to fit a coach’s style and philosophy, it’s no wonder that it usually takes years for a team to rebound after a bad coaching hire. As part of our ongoing Decade Debate series, here are the 10 worst head coaching hires of the past decade. To be clear, this ranking is based on the result of the hire, and not necessarily the hire itself. (Although the ranking could be a combination of the two.)

      10. Eric Mangini, Cleveland Browns, 2009

      One might argue that since Mangini hasn’t even gotten through his first year in Cleveland yet that he doesn’t deserve to be on this list. But others will argue that since he was absolutely despised in New York that the Browns should have never hired him in the first place. After all, was the one winning season he had with the Jets worth the Browns giving him a shot? Some of the moves that Mangini has made since arriving in Cleveland haven’t been bad at all: Trading Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow, trading down multiple times to acquire more picks in the draft, acquiring safety Abram Elam, etc. But considering he hasn’t won many players over with his crass attitude, has made two quarterback changes and only has one win under his belt, things couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start in Cleveland. It’ll be interesting to see if the Browns fire him after only one season.

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      NFL

      Yankees acquire Curtis Granderson in three-team deal

      December 8, 2009 /

      According to Jon Morsoi of FOXSports.com, the Yankees have acquired outfielder Curtis Granderson from the Tigers as part of a three-team deal that also includes the Diamondbacks.

      Here’s how the trade breaks down:

      Yankees Get:
      Curtis Granderson (Tigers)

      Tigers Get:
      Max Scherzer (Diamondbacks)
      Daniel Schlereth (Diamondbacks)
      Phil Coke (Yankees)
      Austin Jackson (Yankees)

      Diamondbacks Get:
      Edwin Jackson (Tigers)
      Ian Kennedy (Yankees)

      The Yankees and Tigers did very well in this deal. The Bronx Bombers get a five-tool player in Granderson, who can play either center or left field depending on whether or not the club re-signs Johnny Damon this winter. Granderson struggles hitting lefties, but he’s only 28-years old and his potential is still very high.

      The Tigers, meanwhile, get financial flexibility by trading Granderson and also hauled in a coup of young talent. Austin Jackson was highly regarded as the Yankees’ centerfielder of the future. He’s 22 and hit .300 with four home runs, nine triples, 23 doubles, 65 RBI and 24 stolen bases in 132 Triple-A games last year. If he continues to develop, he might turn out to be Detroit’s next Granderson.

      Scherzer is a 25-year old, hard-throwing right-hander who can eat up innings and is a workhorse. Schlereth was Arizona’s 2008 first round pick and saw some game action late last season and Coke already has experience at the big league level himself.

      Not to take anything away from the Edwin Jackson, but this seems like a lateral move for Arizona. Scherzer is just as talented as Jackson (if not more talented), so why part with him and Schlereth to complete this deal? They better hope Kennedy starts fulfilling some of his potential or this might look like a bad deal for the D-Backs in a couple years.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      MLB

      Did blog rip off beat writer on Butch Jones contract story?

      December 8, 2009 /

      One of the biggest beefs that the standard news outlets have about blogs is that blogs will claim work as their own, even though they borrowed the information from an original source.

      We here at The Scores Report make a conscious effort to not only link to the original source, but to also state who the source was that we got the information from.

      Maybe FootballCoachScoop.com should try the same practice.

      Here are two excerpts from an article Central Michigan football beat writer Drew Ellis (who writes for the Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun) wrote last night about Chippewa head coach Butch Jones, who is being pursued by other programs, including former MAC rival Marshall:

      Heeke spoke Friday about working on a new contract for Jones, and sources close to Central Michigan University have confirmed that the new contract would make Jones the second highest-paid coach in the Mid-American Conference with a base salary over $400,000 and incentives that could earn Jones another $200,000 annually.

      The new contract offer would be a five-year deal and begin immediately.

      Jones also has a $475,000 buyout in his current CMU contract, which increases to $700,000 if he is to leave the Chippewas prior to the end of the season, which includes the GMAC Bowl on Jan. 6.

      This morning, FootballCoachScoop.com wrote this about the Jones’ contract situation in their “Scoop” section:

      Our source close to the situation has confirmed that Athletic Director Dave Heeke has offered Head Coach Butch Jones a new contract. According to our source, the new contract would make Jones the second highest-paid coach in the Mid-American Conference with a base salary over $400,000 and incentives that could earn Jones another $200,000 annually. The new contract offer would be a five-year deal and begin immediately. Jones also has a $475,000 buyout in his current CMU contract, which increases to $700,000 if he is to leave the Chippewas prior to the end of the season, which includes the GMAC Bowl on Jan. 6.

      Sound familiar? While it’s possible that the site has its own source, the fact that their report is a word-for-word copy of Ellis’ article makes this highly unlikely. This is a clear case of a blog ripping off a newspaper’s information and passing it off as their own. Look at Ellis’ final paragraph and compare it to the last line in FootballCoachScoop.com’s paragraph. It’s identical and again, Ellis’ article posted last night and the blog posted their “scoop” this morning.

      Now, you might be thinking to yourself, “It’s a MAC story – who cares.” But if FootballCoachScoop.com is stealing from Ellis, then who else are they stealing from? The blog routinely bolds the phrase “FIRST TO REPORT” on some of their stories, but are they the ones actually reporting the news first? Or are they stealing the content from beat writers across the country?

      I’d love for FootballCoachScoop.com to reveal their “sources” on this story, because I’m pretty sure their “sources” are ctrl-alt-c for copy and ctrl-alt-v for paste.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

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