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      USC appeals NCAA ruling, asks for 1-year bowl ban instead of two

      June 25, 2010 /

      USC has appealed the NCAA’s sanctions that prohibits them from playing in any postseason games over the next to years and has asked that the ban be reduced to only one year.

      From ESPN.com:

      USC appealed only certain aspects of this month’s ruling. Among the penalties were a two-year bowl ban, four years of probation, scholarship losses and removal of several victories. The school will accept a bowl ban for the upcoming season and certain scholarship penalties in football, but believes the full sanctions were unduly harsh.

      USC asked for the two-year postseason ban to be reduced to one year. The school also wants the NCAA’s scholarship reductions in football from 2011 to 2013 to be reduced to five lost scholarships in each season, rather than 10.

      “We disagree with many of the findings in the report from the NCAA Committee on Infractions and assert that the penalties imposed are too severe for the violations identified and are inconsistent with precedent in similar cases,” said Todd Dickey, USC’s senior vice president for administration.

      USC already announced it would appeal immediately after the sanctions were handed down June 10. The NCAA’s appeal process typically takes at least several months, and Dickey said the Trojans might get an answer by spring only in a best-case scenario.

      If the NCAA wants to make an example out of USC, then there’s little hope that the ban will be reduced. This situation could serve warning to all programs that if they’re caught breaking rules, that they could be punished as severely as the Trojans were.

      That said, considering those that were at fault (ahem, Reggie Bush, Pete Carroll, etc.) for the ban aren’t involved with the program anymore, one can make the argument (and many certainly have) that the NCAA was too harsh in its ruling.

      We’ll see what they rule…in a year.

      College Football, External Sports

      Giants’ rookie Chad Jones suffers career-threatening injuries in car wreck

      June 25, 2010 /

      In what can only be described as a horrific car wreck, New York Giants’ rookie Chad Jones suffered career-threatening injuries when he slammed his SUV into a streetcar pole in New Orleans early Friday morning.

      WDSU 6 in New Orleans has the details:

      The crash happened around 5 a.m. on Carrollton Avenue in New Orleans, in front of the Home Depot.

      WDSU has learned that Jones’ most serious injuries are to his left ankle and leg. A source close to the situation describes the injury as “dire,” noting that amputation of the leg is a possibility.

      The same source said Jones did not sustain any serious injuries to his upper body and that the situation was not life-threatening.

      New Orleans police spokeswoman Shereese Harper said Jones was driving his 2010 Range Rover on North Carrollton, headed toward Canal Street, when he lost control and hit a streetcar pole.

      Emergency crews had to cut him out of the vehicle, Harper said. Two other people in the car were not badly injured.

      Jones was taken to a local hospital, where he was in critical condition and was in surgery Friday morning, Harper said.

      Here’s hoping Jones makes a full recovery and he can walk again. Reports earlier in the day stated that doctors had saved his left leg, but amputation still hasn’t been ruled out. From the looks of the photos, it’s fortunate that everyone made it out without any life-threatening injuries.

      Nobody currently knows how the accident happened or if Jones was being a reckless driver. It’s also unclear at this point whether or not he had been drinking before the accident, so it’s not fair to speculate if he was driving while inebriated. I’ll update this post as more information is released.

      External Sports, NFL

      Did ESPN do a good job covering the draft?

      June 25, 2010 /

      The Big Lead says ESPN’s coverage was unimpressive.

      We’ll get into some detail below, but here are our main gripes with ESPN’s 2010 NBA draft coverage: 1) College players are being drafted, so why are NBA analysts the ones doing most of the talking?; 2) Far too much LeBron/free agency talk (a smattering was inevitable, but it was relentless; food for thought – Does the NBA need to consider pushing up free agency or pushing back the draft?); 3) there was zero energy from the ESPN talking heads. Maybe it was just a dull, predictable draft, or perhaps the flurry of trades killed whatever flow the draft could have had. But in a word, last night was dull. Was there even one distinguishable moment?

      There are two separate issues here: 1) the predictability of the draft, especially the early picks, and 2) the quality of the coverage.

      The first part of the draft was a snoozer, and that pretty much made the whole night a snoozer. Chad Ford nailed the top 8 picks, and there were no trades, so there were no surprises. After the marquee names are off the board, the draft became a grind, and that’s not really ESPN’s fault.

      I thought Van Gundy was funny when given the opportunity and did a decent job adding levity to a night that needed it. Like TBL goes on to say, Jay Bilas needs a foil, someone to argue picks with, so ESPN should bring in another college scout type to play McShay to his Kiper. One NBA guy (JVG) is enough. He can put the pick into perspective and discuss the free agency rumors that are bouncing around.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, NBA Draft, Television

      Looking back on Joe Horn’s career

      June 25, 2010 /

      As a fan, there was always something that drove me absolutely nuts about Joe Horn. I couldn’t figure out why until later in his career, but looking back I think the answer was simple: He always made plays when they mattered most.

      According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Horn will retire after signing a contract with the Saints, who elected him into their Hall of Fame earlier this spring. He’ll hang ‘em up with 603 receptions, 8,744 receiving yards, 58 touchdowns and four Pro Bowl appearances to his credit.

      Compared to other receiving greats, there wasn’t anything uniquely special about Horn, although he certainly had enough speed, intelligence and playmaking ability to torch defensive backs every Sunday. He also had incredibly soft hands, which is something that is often overlooked in today’s day and age, where 40 times for receivers often carry more importance to scouts.

      Granted, even some Saint fans won’t miss him. He was a controversial player at times, always ready to speak his mind and his attitude rubbed some the wrong way. He’ll also probably be more remembered for his cell phone touchdown celebration than for his play on the field. But in the end, his contributions (especially during the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged season of 2005 when he became the unofficial spokesperson for the team) to the Saints far outweigh whatever negative attention he may have brought to himself throughout his career. He was a leader on a team that desperately lacked that trait for many years and he’ll always have a place in Saints history.

      In the end, Horn won’t be remembered as a great receiver. But for those that watched him play (whether you rooted for him or hoped he would trip over a pylon and be swallowed whole by the turf), he left an impression.

      External Sports, NFL

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