Updated 3 nanoseconds ago
Colleges
Alas, there'll be no post-season Bottom Ten Bowl series inasmuch as talks broke down with NBC to hold the competition on its show, ``The Biggest Loser."
So, four teams will be in contention for the prestigious title on Saturday: New Mexico (1-10), Akron (1-11), Indiana (1-11) and Florida Atlantic (1-10).
New Mexico is the favorite because of a favorable schedule: Lost Lobos get to close against Boise State, giving them a chance to lose by anywhere from 40 to 60 points.
No. 3 Florida Atlantic, by contrast, could actually defeat its opponent, No. 10 Louisiana-Monroe (named for James, not Marilyn).
All Akron and Indiana can do is wait_their seasons are over (for which their fans can be thankful).
The end of the season is, unfortunately, a time for firings. Sure enough, the Bottom Ten axed several staff members, including one who ranked Oregon No. 1 after the Ducks' opening loss to LSU, another who reported that the University of Texas was going to jump to the American League West and a third who believed Urban Meyer last week when Meyer said he had not been offered the coaching job at Ohio State.
Wreck, Record................................ Last Loss........................Next Loss
1. New Mexico (1-10).............................Idle.......................................Boise State
2. Akron (1-11)..................................... 19-68, W. Michigan................*
3. Indiana (1-11)....................................25-33, Purdon't...................... *
4. Florida Atlantic (1-10).......................Def. Ala. (Birm.), 38-35...........La.-Monroe
5. UNLV (2-9)...................................... 14-31, San Diego State...........TCU
6. Two Lane (2-11).............................. .23-35, Hawaii .........................*
7. Maryland (2-10)............................... 41-56, N.C. State......................*
8. Kansas (2-10).................................. 10-2, Missouri .........................*
9. Near Miss (2-10)............................. 3-31, Ole Miss State.................*
10. Louisiana-Monroe (3-8).................. Idle...........................................Florida Atlantic
11. Duke (3-9); 12; Idaho (2-9); 13. Central Michigan (3-9); 14. Oregon State (3-9); 15. Washington State (4-8); 16. Rice (4-8); 17. Tennessee (5-7); 18. Kentucky (5-7); 19. Closed Until Summer; 20. UCLA (6-6).
* Denotes season is over, done, finito, toast.
Rout of the Weak: New Mexico (1-10) at Boise State (10-1). Alternate selection: Oregon (10-2) vs. UCLA (6-6).
Crummy Game of the Weak: Louisiana-Monroe (3-8) at Florida Atlantic (1-10).
Correction of the Week (from the New York Times): ``A chart on Monday about the contenders for the Heisman Trophy misstated the number of passes that Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley threw and completed against UCLA on Saturday. He completed 35 of 42 passes, not 3 of 12."
Correction of the Week Comment: So that's how USC won, 50-0!
Quotebook: On his blog, UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero promised he ``will leave no stone unturned in finding the best person" to replace fired coach Rick Neuheisel. Mused the L.A. Times' T.J. Simers: ``Do you really want UCLA finding its next football coach under a rock somewhere?"
Pros
Dan Orlovsky is starting at quarterback for Indianapolis (0-11) Sunday and it will be a familiar experience for him. His last start was in 2008 for Detroit, which went 0-16 that year. Orlovsky is replacing Curtis Painter, who hasn't figured out the art of playing quarterback in the NFL.
Unfortunately for Orlovsky and the Dolts, they face New England (8-3). The overs-and-unders for the game is 50, the same number of points the Patriots are favored to win by.
Exciting as the Dolts' winless drive may be, there was even more talk about the stomping epidemic sweeping the pro football world.
Just the other day, ex-NFL QB Joe Kapp, age 73, knocked down a former rival at a Canadian Football League annual alumni luncheon, then kicked him. Kapp is expected to be suspended from the next two annual alumni luncheons.
Kapp's outburst came on the heel of Detroit defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh of Detroit stepping on a Green Bay player. Suh (rhymes with ``shoe") will sit out the next two games, unless an appeal to halve his suspension is granted.
In order to save plane and hotel fare, Suh has rented an apartment in Manhattan to make it easier for him to commute to his weekly scoldings by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Wreck, Record........... Last Loss................ Next Loss
1. Guess Who (0-11)...... 19-27, Carolina........... New England (!)
2. St. Louis (2-9)........... 20-23, Arizona ............San Francisco
3. San Diego (4-7)......... 13-16, Denver OT*........Jacksonville
4. Minnehaha (2-9)........ 14-24, Atlanta.............. Denver
5. Philadelphia (4-7)...... 20-38, New England......Seattle
6. Jacksonville (3-8); 7. Kansas City (4-7); 8. Cleveland (4-7); 9. Buffalo (5-6); 10. Rest of NFL vs. Tebow (1-4).
*OT stands for ``overcome by Tebow."
Crummy Thursday Night Game of the Weak: Philadelphia (4-7) at Seattle (4-7). NFL Network promoted it as a ``primetime showdown" in one ad. For what? The Bottom Ten title?
Crummy Monday Night Game of the Weak: San Diego (4-7) at Jacksonville (3-8).
Rout of the Weak: Guess Who (0-11) at New England (8-3).
A kicker whose aim must be good in more ways than one: Chargers kicker Nick Novak, caught by cameras urinating on the sideline during the San Diego-Denver game, told the New York Times: ``I usually go two or three times a game...We can't really go inside to do it. You just take a knee, have teammates hold up towels."
Defining Black Friday: ``Just think of it as going shopping with 5,000 Ndamukong Suhs," wrote Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times.
No comments:
Post a Comment