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      Notre Dame hires Brian Kelly to be next head coach, Cincinnati players upset

      December 10, 2009 /

      According to ESPN.com, Notre Dame signed Brian Kelly to a five-year deal to become the school’s next head coach. Kelly will not coach Cincinnati when the program takes on Florida in the Sugar Bowl early next month.

      The news didn’t play well with Kelly’s current team. Bearcat players were led into a meeting room, where Kelly told them he was leaving and thanked them for making his opportunity possible. One minute into the meeting, the door opened and receiver Mardy Gilyard walked out angry and alone, save his MVP trophy.

      “He went for the money,” Gilyard told The Associated Press. “I’m fairly disgusted with the situation, that they let it last this long.”

      Players weren’t told of Kelly’s decision until the banquet ended, nearly three hours after the news first broke. A few blinked back tears as they left.

      “We already knew what he was going to say. We weren’t giving him a round of applause or anything,” tight end Ben Guidugli said. “It’s like somebody turned their back on us. We brought this whole thing this far. We’ve come this far. To have someone walk out now is disappointing.”

      Kelly did the exact same thing to his former players at Central Michigan before their bowl game in 2006 after the Chippewas won the MAC Championship. And just like in 2006 when he coached CMU in its bowl game, offensive coordinator Jeff Quinn will fill in for Kelly at the Sugar Bowl.

      None of this should surprise anyone seeing as how Kelly and Notre Dame spoke last week. Kelly has won everywhere he’s been and that’s exactly what the Irish seek right now: A winner. He turned Grand Valley State into a D-II powerhouse, brought a MAC championship to Mt. Pleasant and made Cincinnati a national title contender. He has become the hottest name in college football and if his track record is any indication of how he’ll do in South Bend, he’ll be very successful turning the Notre Dame program around.

      That said, it’s disappointing that yet another college coach turned his back on his players to advance his career. But that’s reality. Players come and go every four years (or less) and coaches have to job hop in order to further their careers. It’s not an ideal format, but I get it.

      Kelly will have his work cut out for him. Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate (ND’s best players) have decided to enter April’s NFL draft and the Irish are void of talent on the defensive side of the ball. But again, if there’s one man that can turn around Notre Dame’s misfortunes, it might just be Kelly.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

      Here comes Tyreke!

      December 10, 2009 /

      When it comes to the rookie class, Brandon Jennings has dominated the headlines, and for good reason. His 55-point outburst against Golden State was quite the coming out party and his 22.1 ppg average in November was far and away tops amongst rookies, right?

      Not so fast.

      Rather quietly, Tyreke Evans has put together a nice month and a half. Here’s a comparison:

      Jennings: 21p, 6a, 4r, 42% FG, 44% 3PT, 1.1s, 3.0t
      Evans: 20p, 5a, 5r, 46% FG, 26% 3PT, 1.5s, 3.0t

      Aside from Jennings’ superior accuracy from long range, those numbers are pretty similar. Evans has been playing more off guard since Kevin Martin has been sidelined, but the Kings are still starting him at the point. In December, he’s averaging 24-5-6 and is shooting 51% from the field. After his hot start, Jennings has cooled off, averaging 19-3-6 this month, while shooting just 39% from the field. He has only hit 9 of 31 threes in December (29%).

      The Kings are a surprising 9-12, while the Bucks are a less surprising 10-11. Evans is much stronger and is probably better suited to the rigors of an NBA season (though it should be noted that he has missed a game this season, while Jennings has not). Meanwhile, Jennings attacks the defense with quickness using more of a finesse game (pull up jumpers, crafty layups, teardrops) to score. It’s going to be interesting to see these two guards battle for status as the ROY frontrunner, and what happens when Blake Griffin returns. Also, can Evans keep up this pace with Kevin Martin back in the lineup?

      We will see.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Is Brady Quinn finally turning the corner?

      December 10, 2009 /

      One game doesn’t define a player’s potential or future, and neither do three games.

      That said, I’m intrigued by the play of Brady Quinn these past three weeks, especially considering how brutal he looked on Monday Night Football against the Ravens four weeks ago.

      In his putrid effort that fateful Monday night, Quinn couldn’t even keep the ball in-bounds on desperation heaves down the field. He struggled with accuracy, turnovers, decision-making and everything else that comes with being a quarterback. He was awful, brutal, terrible – atrocious. He was so bad that I even wrote this in my recap of the game:

      Brady Quinn is bad, so bad that it’s safe to say that he has zero chance of becoming anything resembling a decent starting quarterback in the NFL.

      Ouch.

      Since that point, however, Brady has thrown seven touchdowns and zero interceptions over a three-game span. Thanks to Jerome Harrison taking over the starting running back duties and Cleveland’s use of the no-huddle offense, Quinn has been solid. In fact, he’s looked like a completely different quarterback than he did earlier in the season.

      But alas, here comes another prime time opportunity for Quinn, and against another division rival no less. The Browns take on the Steelers tonight – a team that has a habit of making quarterbacks look silly. Granted, this isn’t the same Pittsburgh defense we’re accustomed to seeing and its loss last week to Oakland proves that. But this is a team in desperate need of a win after losing four straight, and is trying to keep their fading playoff hopes alive.

      It would be nice to see Quinn continue to develop his craft. If he is turning the corner, then he’ll need to prove that he can have success against a tough opponent in prime time. Again, one game doesn’t decide anything. But confidence and consistency mean so much to a young quarterback, so his performance tonight is bigger than one would think.

      I’m neither a Browns nor a Steelers fan, but here’s hoping the kid puts on a good show tonight.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      Report: Angels make offer to Blue Jays for Roy Halladay

      December 10, 2009 /

      According to a report by the Toronto Sun, the Angels have offered starting pitcher Joe Saunders, shortstop Erick Aybar and outfielder Peter Bourjos to the Blue Jays for ace Roy Halladay.

      For the second day in succession the Angels are the lead team in the chase for Halladay, a year away from free agency.

      And unless someone steps up with a better offer could the Angels wind up with Halladay? Will Halladay report to a west coast team which has spring training in Arizona?

      “Let me ask you this,” said one major league executive, “do you think that the Angels would be running through hoops, having one conversation after another with the Jays and not know whether Halladay would report to Los Angeles?”
      Good point.

      The Angels are also in on free agents John Lackey, Jason Bay and Matt Holliday.

      For the past three seasons, the Angels have made the postseason and have yet to even sniff a World Series appearance (although last year they did push the Yankees to a Game 7 in the ALDS). Thus, it would make sense that they’re trying to load up in efforts to match the Yankees and contend for a title next season.

      As the article points out, the question now becomes whether or not Halladay would want to join a club that holds their spring training in Arizona instead of Florida. It has become public knowledge that Halladay wants to go to a team that trains in Florida, because his home is in Tampa.

      That said, if Halladay truly wants to play for a contender, this might be his best and most realistic shot.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      MLB

      Agent: ‘I couldn’t get Bonds a job.’

      December 10, 2009 /

      On Thursday, Barry Bonds’ agent Jeff Borris confirmed what everyone already knew: The juiced up slugger’s career is officially over.

      From the San Francisco Chronicle:

      “It’s two years since he played his last game, and if there was any chance he’d be back in a major-league uniform, it would have happened by now,” agent Jeff Borris told The Chronicle. “When 2008 came around, I couldn’t get him a job. When 2009 came around, I couldn’t get him a job. Now, 2010 … I’d say it’s nearly impossible. It’s an unfortunate ending to a storied career.”

      Technically, Bonds hasn’t retired, and he repeatedly has said he won’t retire, leaving open the outside chance that some team will call.

      There are many who believe that baseball owners blacklisted Bonds from the game because of his alleged ties to steroids. If you believe in conspiracy theories, then it’s an easy argument to buy; surely one AL team in need of a DH would have called Bonds in 2008 when the Giants dumped him, right?

      But considering he was severely limited (and that’s putting it mildly) in the outfield, it would make sense that no NL team would sign him. And given that he was being probed for lying to a grand jury regarding his involvement with performance-enhancing drugs, it would make sense that no AL clubs would sign him either. Let’s not forget that Bonds was also highly regarded as an a-hole and was poison to a clubhouse with what, his extra lockers, reclining chairs and big screen TV. It would make sense that no club would think he was worth the risk.

      What’s interesting about Borris’ comments is that back in 2008, he said that multiple teams were interested in Bonds. Yet now Borris claims that he “couldn’t get him a job.” I realize all agents lie, but it’s just interesting to hear Borris admit now that nobody wanted his client.

      MLB

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