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      A college football head coach cheated? Shocking!

      March 9, 2011 /

      I have to say, I’m shocked this morning. I’m shocked that so many people are shocked that the head coach of a major college football program would stoop so low as to lie or cheat in order to gain an advantage on the field.

      As I wrote yesterday, the media loves to get on their high horse when it comes to scandals like Jim Tressel’s at Ohio State. For those unaware, the Buckeye head coach knew about “Tattoogate” eight months before the NCAA disciplined his players and on Tuesday, Ohio State suspended Tressel two games and fined him $250,000 for not coming forward about what he knew. (He received e-mails from an attorney in April 2010, which indicated that his players were receiving improper benefits.)

      In other words, he cheated. He knew his players were violating rules and he did nothing about it. He kept quiet so that his season wouldn’t implode and he convinced the NCAA to allow Terrelle Pryor and the other suspended players to participate in the Sugar Bowl so he could finally get the SEC monkey off his back. (Thanks to Pryor, the Buckeyes beat Arkansas in a 31-26 thriller.)

      But back to my point: Is any of this surprising? Because it’s “The Vest” we’re surprised that a college football coach in this day and age is capable of something like this? Everyone lies and cheats to get ahead in college football. Whether it’s Lane Kiffin, Bobby Petrino, Nick Saban, Rich Rodriguez or yes, even Tressel, we’ve reached a point where nothing should surprise anymore. I’m not saying that what Tressel did was right because it’s not. But you mean he withheld information that some of his star players were violating NCAA rules because he wanted to win in 2010? No way! There’s no way a college football head coach would do that!

      The only thing that matters in college football is winning and if you don’t like that statement then don’t watch because it’s true. And speaking of the media getting on its high horse, I couldn’t help but scoff when I read the conclusion of Mark Schlabach’s article on Tressel this morning:

      For the record, Michigan’s football team hasn’t beaten Ohio State in 2,663 days.

      But the Wolverines won on Tuesday.

      At least they had fired their cheating coach.

      No, they fired a losing coach. That’s the difference.

      Welcome to the present day world of college football. You’ll feel right at home if you lie, cheat and steal to get ahead because it’s almost become expected. Just make sure you win, baby.

      College Football, External Sports

      Michael Strahan vs. Peter King: The Tiki Barber Twitter War has begun

      March 9, 2011 /

      Ever since the news broke that Tiki Barber was coming out of retirement to play football again, most fans and media members have taken it upon themselves to ridicule him via blogs, Twitter and carrier pigeons. (One writer even compiled a list of 10 reasons why Barber’s un-retirement is a great thing, although the 10 reasons were all cheap shots.)

      But at least one prominent media member is in Barber’s corner and that’s SI.com’s Peter King. His Twitter page reads more like a Tiki Barber fan page than a NFL reporter.

      New York Giants running back Tiki Barber carries the ball against the Dallas Cowboys in the third quarter of their NFL football game in Dallas, Texas in this October 23, 2006 file photo. The all-time leading rusher, took the first step towards returning to the NFL on Tuesday and ending a four-year retirement. Barber filed paperwork with the league to remove him from the reserve-retirement list, according to a report on Sports Illustrated magazine’s website, clearing the way for a return. REUTERS/Mike Stone/Files (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

      At start of 2011 season, Burress will be 34, Tiki 36. It’d be pretty interesting if the Giants bring Burress back but not Tiki.

      One last thing on Tiki: If he wants to play, I think he still can. Retired healthy. No reason why he shouldn’t try. TB makes most sense.

      RT @B_Frigo: Tiki did dirt when he retired, should have kept lips sealed … You’re wrong. At NBC, he was paid to call ’em as he sees ’em.

      But it was this tweet that has drawn the most attention:

      Strahan’s been critical of Giants on FOX. It’s like nobody hears that. Tiki criticized Eli’s leadership and Coughlin’s way. So what?

      The Strahan that King is referring to is none other than Michael Strahan, a former teammate of Barber’s and someone who didn’t take kindly for King’s statements.

      Strahan fired back via his own Twitter page:

      @SI_PeterKing Why am I even in your conversation?? This isn’t about me so don’t make it so!!!

      Regular readers know that I’m a big King fan, but I’ve got to side with Strahan on this one. When Barber criticized Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin, he was doing so because he wanted to make a name for himself in television. Barber wanted to be a TV star, which is one of the reasons he retired from football in 2007. He probably figured that he could cause a stir with his comments and thus, wasn’t shy about ripping his former quarterback and coach.

      When Strahan has been critical of the Giants on FOX, it’s in a constructive manner. It’s not like he criticized Manning by saying his motivational pre-game speeches sounded “almost comical” like Barber did in an interview before the start of the ’07 season. Granted, I haven’t heard every single word that has ever come out of Strahan’s mouth about the Giants, but I’m under the impression that he keeps his comments related to the team as a whole and not about individual players.

      In other words, I think King is reaching with his comparison between Barber and Strahan. One has fans’ respect, while the other has turned into the butt of jokes.

      External Sports, NFL

      Chuck Liddell hosts UFC 128 Q&A session

      March 9, 2011 /

      MMA Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell will host the UFC 128 UFC Fight Club Q&A session on March 18 according to HeavyMMA.com.

      The weigh-ins for “UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones” takes place on Friday, March 18 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

      Prior to the official weigh-ins, former UFC light heavyweight titleholder Chuck Liddell will host a special Q&A for UFC Fight Club members.

      UFC champions Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz will be signing autographs along with TUF 1 finalist Stephan Bonnar.

      The Q&A begins at 2 p.m. ET. The doors will open to UFC Fight Club members at 1 p.m. ET. The weigh-ins will begin at 4 p.m. ET with the door opening for the general public at 3 p.m. ET.

      You can watch the live UFC 128 weigh-in video stream here at Heavy.com.

      UFC 128 is headlined by the UFC light heavyweight title bout between champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Jon Jones.

      Read more MMA headlines.

      External Sports, Mixed Martial Arts, UFC

      Blazers send Heat to fifth straight loss

      March 8, 2011 /
      Portland Trail Blazers’ Andre Miller (L), Gerald Wallace (C), and Rudy Fernandez congratulate each other as the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade (R) looks on, during fourth quarter NBA basketball action in Miami, Florida March 8, 2011. REUTERS/Hans Deryk (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)

      I made a point to watch tonight’s game from start to finish to see how the Heat responded to the loss to the Bulls and how they weathered all of the jokes about Heat players crying in the locker room after Sunday’s defeat.

      Once again, the effort was there for Miami, but the execution was not. Dwyane Wade (38 points, six rebounds, five assists) was excellent, and LeBron (31 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists) was pretty damn good. That means the rest of the roster accounted for just 27 points, including Chris Bosh, who shot a dreadful 3-for-11 and scored just seven points.

      He was completely outplayed by LaMarcus Aldridge (26 points), who hit jumper after jumper, including a key baseline fadeaway (on Bosh) to push the lead to nine with 2:06 to play.

      But the difference in the game was Gerald Wallace (22 points, nine rebounds), who keyed the Blazers’ bench and made LeBron work on both ends of the court. Wallace was a great acquisition for the Blazers and he seems to be fitting in quickly because at heart he’s more of a glue guy than he is a player who needs the ball in his hands. Brandon Roy (14 points) also came off the bench and hit a key three pointer late in the game to keep the Heat at bay.

      Back to the Heat — they did run some pick and roll with Wade and LeBron, and for the most part it was successful, but the Blazers didn’t do a very good job defending it because it took them by surprise. Whenever Wade has the ball, his defender should go underneath LeBron’s ball screen and force Wade to shoot the three or dribble into the switch. By going underneath, Wade’s defender would be in great position to switch onto LeBron and defend his roll to the hoop.

      On Thursday, Miami hosts the red-hot Lakers, who will be looking to avenge their blowout loss to the Heat on Christmas Day. It should be a good one.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News

      We Got Game: The MLB All-35+ Draft

      March 8, 2011 /

      If you’re anything like me, I hate it when my favorite team signs an aging veteran free agent. I’ve uttered the phrase, “Please God don’t let them sign that crusty old vet,” too many times to count.

      But those “crusty old vets” hold a ton of importance to a team’s success, especially in baseball where World Series-winning rosters usually have a mixture of both youth and veteran experience. Take the World Champion Giants for example. They won because of their young pitching, but it wasn’t Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain or Madison Bumgarner who wound up holding the World Series MVP Trophy at the end. It was 35-year-old Edgar Renteria, who was cursed by the SF faithful for being yet another horrible Brian Sabean signing, but wound up being a Fall Classic hero.

      Today’s media doesn’t pay enough homage to the older MLB players. In fact, when fellow TSR contributor David Medsker and I were brainstorming ideas for a new feature, the first thing I brought up was that we should do an all 24-and-younger MLB team comprised of…well the idea is pretty self explanatory.

      It wasn’t until David and I exhausted that idea before he sent me an e-mail that simply read: “Has anyone done an all 35-and-over team?”

      Perfect. The moment I read it I burst into laughter. Could you imagine compiling a team of players that were only 35 years or older when present day teams usually build around youth? I love it.

      Unfortunately, the guys over at Off Base Percentage beat us to the punch by compiling their own 35-plus year old team, so David and I decided to actually hold a live draft in order to make two teams. (Take that OBP.)

      Below is a round-by-round breakdown of our all 35-and-older MLB draft. We selected a player for every infield position, plus three outfield positions, four starting pitchers (we only had eight to choose from), three relievers, one DH and two bench spots. Once the draft started, David and I quickly developed different strategies for building our rosters, so it was interesting to see how the draft played out. Take a look and let us know if you would have gone a different route.

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, Fantasy Baseball, MLB

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