The blog returns to a reader favorite recurring segement today. Here are ten notable storylines or opinions from the sporting world you might have missed:
1. Eric Decker, one of the Broncos' two main wideouts, is listed as out for Saturday night's game. Should Denver be worried about a key piece of their offense missing? Maybe, but I doubt they're going to lose any sleep tonight. On the other side of the field, the Patriots have thirteen players listed as questionable- which means it's likely that at least 6 or 7 of them will not play, as the questionable tag usually leads to a coin flip, game time decision. Among the questionables: safety Patrick Chung, corner Kyle Arrington, linebacker Brandon Spikes, linemen Marcus Cannon and Dan Connolly, and receiver Wes Welker.
2. The Clippers are a respectable 5-3, but in Los Angeles? How about 4-1 with wins over Portland AND Miami? Their lone home loss comes against the Bulls on a night reigning MVP Derrick Rose netted 29 points, 8 rebounds, and 16 assists. The Clippers are in action again Saturday night in LA, this time against their crosstown rivals. You might have heard of them.
3. You may be (but you probably aren't) farmiliar with Tino Sunseri, the rather poor quarterback for the University of Pittsburgh. His father Sal, also a former Pitt player, is the associate head/linebackers coach at Alabama. Or rather, he was the associate head/linebackers coach at Alabama. Sal has taken a job as the new Defensive Coordinator at Tennessee. On the move, Sunseri had the following to say:
"The chance to work with Derek Dooley, who has been around championships and knows what it takes to build an elite program...makes this opportunity so exciting to me."
Okay, to quote Deion Sanders' twitter, Hold On Playa. You're leaving Alabama- that school that's won two national championships in the last three years- because you think Derek Dooley is going to build an elite program at Tennessee? If you're looking to help mould an elite program, you're probably already in the right spot. #LOL. #nosenseofirony #thinkbeforeyoutalktoreporters
4. In a basketball game in East Lansing a few days ago, Iowa's basketball coach Fran McCaffery was having a no-good, very bad day. His players didn't show up to the game with any real desire to play, and he had already been T'ed up. So what does he do, rather than talk through his feelings? He goes all Bobby Knight and throws a chair in the huddle during a Timeout. I can't say I can blame him. If I was being blown out by 30 points and my parents had named me Fran, I would probably be a little upset too.
On second though, my parents did name me Fran. Why am I not a more angry and violent person?
5. ESPN has released its all-Bowl team, and if I've taken one thing away from it, it's that stereotypes exist for a reason. I've broken everything down for you, and here are my thoughts:
-The SEC has 6/25 players on the team. One is Alabama's place-holder; the other five are all defensive players. That means that the SEC accounts for half of the all-bowl team defense. They had no players on offense.
-Conversely, the Big 12 had 4/25, and all four were on offense, highlighted by Justin Blackmon. Again, stereotypes.
-The Big East conference, and both BYU and Boise State all totaled more representatives (3,2,2 respectively) than the ACC (1). I've been saying it forever. ACC football is massively overrated, and no stat says that like a 2-13 overall BCS bowl record.
-The Big10 and Pac12 combined for only 5 spots- two defense, three offense. Kind of underwhelming when you consider the hype and media coverage they get.
Notable players:
Quarterback- Geno Smith (WVU)
Runningback- Doug Martin (Boise)
Receiver- Justin Blackmon (Ok St)
D. Tackle- Mike Martin (Michigan)
Linebacker- Courtney Upshaw (Alabama)
Linebacker- Khaseem Green (Rutgers)
DBack- David Amerson (NC State)
DBack- Brandon Boykin (Georgia)
All Purpose- Tavon Austin (WVU)
6. The Capitals beat the Penguins Wednesday night in one of the most heated rivalries in hockey. The penguins are in the midst of a six-game funk, but they haven't been shut out all season. That all changed in the Verizon Center, where Jason Chimera scored the only goal for Washington's 1-0 victory. Crosby, Backstrom, and my boy Mike Green all missed the game because of injury. Maybe all the missing star power contribute to the lack of no one really caring at all about a game that has traditionally blown up my facebook feed to obnoxious proportions.
7. ESPN always does a "way-too-early" top 25. LSU is listed at #1, and its not a sympathy vote folks. The amount of talent they bring back from an already amazing team is just flat out unfair. But that's not what I want to talk about. West Virginia is ranked at #7 in the poll, mainly on the heels of their 70-point coming-out party for what Dana Holgorsen's offense can actually do when the players buy into the scheme. Now I know preseason polls don't really matter, especially those that are written in January, but I'd just like to say...
Seriously, ESPN? Seriously?
Are you trying to cripple us? That's setting the bar wayyyyy too high. Even I don't think we should be ranked that high, and that should say something. This is Geno for Heisman all over again. Don't set impossible standards. There's virtually no benefit to meeting them (other than, you know, winning, which feels good regardless) and it sets the Mountaineers up for an all-too-likely failure to reach them. Pat White is gone, folks. This isn't 2007. WVU is not a preseason top ten team, especially because of one game.
8. Former Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher was recently hired by the St. Louis Rams in a move that about 90% of America scoffed at. My question is... why? Fisher gets to work with Sam Bradford, one of the premiere young quarterbacks of the league. What's even better is that the boys in St. Louis have the second overall pick in this year's NFL draft. It's projected that a team in need of a quarterback may want to trade up to grab whoever remains from the monster tandem of Andrew Luck and RG3. Such a huge pick could potentially trade for numerous picks from both the 2012 draft future drafts. If you're looking for precedent, rememeber how the Cleveland/Atlanta trade that ended up nabbing the Falcons wideout Julio Jones last year? Cleveland made out like a bandit with five or six picks just for JJ. I expect even more will be coming the Rams' way. It's not a bad time to be Jeff Fisher. Who cares if the Rams are 15-65 in the last five years?
9. I have consistently argued that the Big East has been the best AND deepest league in college basketball for the last few years, but this year... I think they've taken a step back. Syracuse is certainly the best team in the country thanks in no small part to their amazing bench play, but after that, there are no more great teams... just a lot of really good ones. I'm not complaining though- parity makes for better games and conference races. I'm willing to go on the record saying a few things about this conference.
-Syracuse will win the regular season title, but not the conference tournament title
-Nine teams will make the NCAA tournament from the Big East
-The Big 10 is a better conference than the Big East
-Kevin Jones will be a first team All-American (or else I will twitter bomb cbb like there is no tomorrow)
-Herb Pope will be a second team All-American.
Please note that both of the above players are the only players in all of college basketball average 20 points and 11 rebounds.
10. I know everyone's favorite point man/power man combo is now CP3 and the human highlight reel, aka Blake Griffin, but how about some love for their poor man's Minnesota equivalent, Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love? Most casual fans have heard of Love by now after his insane consecutive games with a Double-Double streak last year, but Rubio isn't quite a household name yet. The rookie sensation from Spain is tearing up the NBA in his first season, averaging 8 assists in limited minutes with the Timberwolves. My only question is... why in the name of David Stern is he only playing limited minutes?
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