College Football Quiz: 1) Who am I? I quarterbacked Kentucky from 1949-51 and my initials are B.P. 2) Who is LSU’s career passing yardage leader? [1980s] 3) Who is Maryland’s career rushing leader? 4) Who is Miami’s career rushing leader with only 3,331 yards? 5) Who quarterbacked Miami in each of its five national titles; 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, 2001? Answers below.
Coach Lawrence Frank was fired before he could tie the all-time record for worst start in NBA history, as the Nets under interim coach Tom Barrise were blown out by the Lakers, 106-87. Frank finished his Nets career at 225-241. The Nets go for the record on Wednesday, at home against Dallas.
Tiger Fails to Come Clean
[Sunday afternoon, Tiger Woods issued a statement taking full responsibility for his auto accident, while saying he was grateful for wife Elin’s help, but that he would not address “the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me.” Needless to say, we all want, and require, far more than this.]
“There is one thing – and only one thing – that we know for certain: It was not a happy Thanksgiving for Tiger Woods.
“When Woods was involved in a late-night, one-car accident near the driveway of his home in the wealthy gated community of Isleworth in Windemere, Fla., it took 13 hours for news of it to become public. But when the news did break, it proved that there is no such thing as a ‘minor accident’ (as Tiger’s official website described it) when you are arguably the most famous sportsman on the planet. The incident promptly snowballed into a you-know-what-storm, fueled by the twenty-first century dynamic duo of the Internet and 24-hour cable news networks.”
Woods, as we all know, values his privacy, but as Van Sickle writes, “One little traffic accident may cause his carefully constructed circle of privacy to crumble like the Berlin Wall.”
And it’s the timing of it all, with his big annual charity event beginning Tuesday out in southern California.
“What’s the difference between Tiger Woods hitting a wedge shot and Tiger Woods driving a Cadillac Escalade? Tiger can back up a wedge shot with no problem.”
Whatever happened, it all started with a National Enquirer cover story titled “Tiger Woods Cheating Scandal” that has Woods hooked up with a 34-year-old knockout nightclub hostess, Rachel Uchitel. According to the Enquirer, Woods and Rachel have been shacking up all over the place. Both deny it.
Uchitel told the Daily News that she didn’t know the source, Ashley Samson, of the Enquirer’s story, Ms. Samson having detailed the affair, including reports of the two sexting. But the Enquirer released photos of Samson and Uchitel partying together, including on a vacation to Spain. Uchitel has hired attorney Gloria Allred.
A club source told the Daily News that Uchitel and Woods were rubbing shoulders at the Griffin Club in New York back in June. Past reports have tied her to basketball players and Broadway stars. She also lost a fiancé in the attacks of 9/11.
Uchitel told the New York Post, “God forbid Tiger got into a car wreck because of this false report of him having an affair. Despite it being completely untrue, it still must have certainly caused some problems at home – if I was his wife, I probably would have killed him. (Nevertheless) this is nothing to do with me. We have never had an affair, and the claims we did are completely false. We have never had an affair, talked on the phone or sent any type of text, sexy or not. I’m really upset about it because I’m being portrayed as a home-wrecker, when it simply isn’t true.”
Mike Lupica / New York Daily News
“This isn’t about Tiger losing face, the lacerated or unlacerated sections of one of the world’s most recognizable faces. Or losing endorsements. David Letterman got past his own problems with big ratings, Alex Rodriguez has now hit his way past steroids and all the way to the Canyon of Heroes, despite a completely preposterous explanation of how and why he juiced for three years in Texas. Even Rick Pitino can put a skeevy tryst in a restaurant booth behind him by winning a ton of games for Louisville.
“So Tiger can get by even without giving us the straight story. He still ought to try doing that. If he can win the U.S. Open on one leg, he can stand up on this one.
“If the publications alleging he is having an affair are wrong, he ought to sue them to the high heavens, the way he sued a couple of years ago when the Dubliner magazine published false nude pictures of his wife.
“If he had this kind of accident in his own driveway, he shouldn’t have anything to cover up.
“If his wife had to smash a window with a golf club to get him out of the car – if she smashed it out of concern and not out of anger – that should be pretty straightforward, too….
“But here is the bottom line: This isn’t worth covering up or lying about because nothing like this ever is, not in sports or politics or with the dim-bulb parents of balloon boys or with pathetic former cheerleaders crashing state dinners.
“One thing never changes with stories like these, even when they involve some of the biggest people in sports or show business or politics: How they panic like everybody else when they get themselves into trouble.”
Something has been amiss with Woods this year, regardless of what happened the other night. He has been surlier than usual on the course, cussing more than ever, and it culminated at the recent tournament in China, for which he received a $3 million appearance fee, when he flung his driver into the crowd (thankfully not hurting anyone). Had this occurred on a Sunday here, with millions watching in the States, the condemnation would have been severe. It’s been the most frustrating aspect of a man some love, and I greatly admire. The sport of golf has largely sucked when he’s been absent.
Equally frustrating is the fact he’s done some tremendous things for people. The Tiger Woods Foundation is legitimately one of the great ones of its kind and has furthered the education of countless kids who otherwise wouldn’t have had the opportunities he’s given them. But he’s never been able to pull off the Arnold Palmer / Phil Mickelson Man of the People act. [Speaking of Phil, boy is the door open for him now…the advertising world that is…he should be salivating.]
College Football Review
1. Florida 12-0
2. Alabama 12-0
3. Texas 12-0
4. TCU 12-0
5. Cincinnati 11-0…plays Pitt next week
6. Boise State 12-0
7. Oregon 9-2…plays No. 13 Oregon State on Thurs. in Eugene for Rose Bowl
8. Ohio State 10-2
9. Iowa 10-2
10. Penn State 10-2
1. Florida .9868
2. Alabama .9513
3. Texas .9282
4. TCU .8689
5. Cincinnati .8547
6. Boise State .8096
7. Oregon .7343
8. Ohio State .6882
9. Iowa .6028
10. Georgia Tech .5803
What a crummy season it’s been. Past years have given us all kinds of drama, but not the 2009 campaign. Our only hope is to have a great SEC title game, Texas get upset by Nebraska, and then the SEC winner playing TCU for all the marbles.
—Florida’s Tim Tebow finally had a big game, but the Gators defeated a lowly 6-6 Florida State squad. You can’t get too excited over this one. And for FSU coach Bobby Bowden, finally, it’s windbreaker time.
–Johnny Mac and I were disgusted by Auburn’s clock management at the end of the ‘Bama contest, where they ran like five plays in 1:30. Just pitiful. Or as J. Mac noted, “Even in my sandlot days we always ended practice with a 2-minute drill, and that was in leather helmets.”
–Texas defeated a mediocre Texas A&M squad 49-39, as the Aggies went to 6-6. But I do have to give Longhorn QB Colt McCoy credit. 24/40, 304 yards, 4 TDs, and 175 yards rushing on 18 carries. Not bad…not bad at all. Does McCoy win the Heisman? Why not. [Pssst…it’s going to Tebow.]
—Cincinnati defeated a terrible Illinois team just 49-36 and, let’s face it, Cincy has been less than impressive its last three contests, defeating UConn and West Virginia by a combined 5 points in the other two games.
–West Virginia did beat Pitt, 19-16; a bad loss for the Panthers who can still get a BCS bid by defeating Cincinnati.
—The ACC looks like crap after South Carolina (7-5) whipped up on No. 18 Clemson, 34-17, and Georgia, also now 7-5, beat No. 7 Georgia Tech, 30-24.
[In the Clemson contest, C.J. Spiller did at least have a record 7th kickoff return for a touchdown.]
–Dick Weiss / New York Daily News, on Notre Dame’s Charlie Weis, following ND’s 45-38 loss to Stanford that dropped the Fighting Irish to 6-6.
“Weis will be judged by his 35-27 record in five years, and a winning percentage that is lower than his predecessor, Ty Willingham (21-16), who was fired with two years remaining on a five-year contract in 2004 because the administration felt he wasn’t making enough progress toward the program’s quest for its first national championship since 1988.
“Weis must know his fate. He refused to show up at the media tent afterward and exited from the back door of the locker room. School officials instead distributed a transcript of the postgame interview he did with the Notre Dame radio network….
“Weis’ absence spoke volumes about his stewardship of this storied program. He left his players to answer questions about his failures. (Quarterback Jimmy) Clausen, sporting a black eye he suffered when he was sucker-punched by an irate fan outside a South Bend, Ind., bar following last week’s double-overtime loss to Connecticut, tried his best to defend Weis. But it was a tough sell.”
For his part, Clausen, a junior who had a terrific season and finished up with five TD passes against Stanford, is clearly going to declare for the draft.
Meanwhile, as my friend Mark R., a ND alum, has complained from day one of the Charlie era, the guy’s a cheat (think tapegate) and a fraud.
“Buying out the remaining six years of Weis’ contract will be costly,” writes Dick Weiss, in the neighborhood of $10 million.
“Notre Dame’s rich history has been a curse to its head coaches, who have a national platform and an NBC contract from which to recruit, but all too often suffer by comparison to legends such as Knute Rockne (105-12-4), Frank Leahy (87-11) and Ara Parseghian (95-17-4). Those three icons are responsible for the bulk of the Irish’s 13 national titles.
“There was a time when Notre Dame was considered one of the plum jobs in college football. Now, it is more of a challenge.”
So who are the frontrunners to replace Weis? Some say Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, not Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly, has the inside track.
–Turning to USC’s 28-7 triumph over crosstown rival USC, as reported by the L.A. Times’ Bill Plaschke, the game turned into a catfight and UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel acted like “a brat.”
“The strife began with USC leading 21-7, and holding the ball at the UCLA 48-yard line with 54 seconds left.
“(USC coach Pete) Carroll ordered quarterback Matt Barkley to take a knee. This normally signifies a winning team refusing to pile up the score, the winning team willing to gently end the game.
“But Neuheisel refused to accept the gesture by calling a timeout.
“On the next play, Barkley threw deep to Damian Williams, who sprinted down the middle past the UCLA defenders to catch the ball inside the 10-yard line and streak into the end zone for the extra touchdown.
“In any other situation, this would be considered piling on. But on Saturday, it was simply getting even.
“By calling a timeout, Neuheisel was making it clear that he did not agree with Carroll’s decision to take a knee. So Carroll said fine, he would keep playing.
“If Carroll had ordered the Trojans to continue to take a knee in the wake of Neuheisel’s timeout, it would have symbolized a lack of respect for his players. Neuheisel had a choice. His decision left Carroll with no choice.
“ ‘He called timeout, nothing wrong with that, just compete,’ Carroll said of Neuheisel. ‘Then the play came up on the headset and I thought, great freaking call.’
“The crowd erupted in the loudest cheers of the night. The USC players began jumping up and down in their biggest show of emotion….
“When the game finally ended, Carroll and Neuheisel met for only a moment at midfield before parting ways.
“Said Carroll: ‘We’ve been saying it for years, living it for years…just compete.’
“Here’s guessing he’ll want to forget this one. On this night, the brat who called a timeout needed to be put in one.”
It’s been a tough year for USC. They’ve been totally overmatched at times despite a roster filled with All-Americans. Some say Pete Carroll has been outcoached and it’s certainly looked that way.
But I do respect the guy. How can you not? It’s just that for some reason this year his players didn’t compete, as much as he talks about it. One thing is a lock, though; USC will be back in a big way next year.
As for Rick Neuheisel, his name was just thrown in the December file for yearend awards consideration.
–The ACC met the standard for only seven bowl representatives (last year it was a record ten) yet they have nine bowl affiliations, so this is leaving some games scrambling. For example, the EagleBank Bowl in Washington, D.C. was going to have Army if they beat Navy, but Army (5-6) has to win, first, and then the EagleBank folks have to find someone outside the ACC. Plus, the Army-Navy game for some reason is being held Dec. 12 (I guess because all the conference title games are Dec. 5 and the game would get lost in the shuffle). So I’m thinking if my high school wins its state championship game this week, maybe they could get one of the slots.
—Houston was up 59-0 at half over Rice on the way to a 73-14 win.
—No. 24 UNC had a terrible loss to 5-7 North Carolina State, 28-27. No. 25 Ole Miss choked against 5-7 Mississippi State, 41-27.
–Virginia’s Al Groh was fired after a 3-9 season, 59-53 overall. However, as noted the other day, he’s sent a ton of players to the NFL.
–But at least Wake Forest goes into the offseason with a win, 45-34 over Duke, thus snapping our five-game losing streak. We finished up 5-7.
Yes, it was a highly disappointing season for Demon Deacon fans as the Riley Skinner era came to an end. Skinner, with 9,762 yards, is now 4th on the all-time ACC list. He ended up 33-19 in his four years, which any of us would obviously take, including the three bowl contests, it’s just the progression that was disturbing.
We have virtually all of our skill players back next year, including a great set of receivers, but now we need a quarterback and it appears the cupboard is bare.
Richmond defeated Elon 16-13, Villanova bested Holy Cross 38-28, and Appalachian State beat South Carolina State, 20-13, as Armanti Edwards did not have one of his better efforts.
The game of the week in I-AA, though, was the South Dakota State-Montana contest. I was following it on the Net, saw SD State was up 41-14 over 11-0 Montana in the third quarter, thought, ‘Gee, this is a huge upset,’ went out to meet a friend at a local watering hole, only to be told later that Montana won the game 61-48! You’re reading that right. No wonder they are now 12-0.
–Nice job by the NFL Network in airing Denver Broncos coach Josh McDaniels’ “mother-bleepin’” vulgarity, eh? Coming out of a commercial break, the network thought they’d give us an up close and personal look at a coach’s teaching moment as McDaniels was going ballistic, yelling, “All we’re trying to do is win a [@#$%@#%] game!”
Announcer Bob Papa came on a minute later. “We do send our sincerest apologies for the Josh McDaniels audio that got out there.”
Geezuz. Thanksgiving, families gathered around, national television…it was a disgrace. And this coming from the league’s own network! A league that fines players $10s of thousands for wearing their socks improperly.
–Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger sat out Sunday’s contest with at least his 4th concussion, sustained last week. Distressingly, he passed early concussion tests but then started having headaches at week’s end. Roethlisberger’s days are numbered. I know some of us have been saying this for the past two seasons, but there just isn’t any way he can continue to take this punishment, including from his motorcycle accident. You feel for the guy because odds are his post-NFL days will not exactly be happy ones. Us Jets fans always point to the examples of Al Toon and Wayne Chrebet, two former stars who live many a day in darkness as the result of too many blows to the head.
–Meanwhile, the Giants laid an egg in the Denver game, losing 26-6.
Steve Serby / New York Post
“It wasn’t the altitude that sucked the air out of the 6-5 Giants. It’s the attitude. They don’t have any. They don’t have any meanness, they don’t have any toughness and they don’t have any clue, and if they keep playing like this, they will not have any hope.
“ ‘It seemed like there was no fire,’ he said. ‘It just flat-out seemed like they wanted it more. You’d be hard-pressed to find one or two games where you could say that about this team.’
“Snee was told that was inexcusable in a game of this magnitude.”
This is what always cracks me up; statements like “we didn’t come out with fire, we weren’t prepared.” How can that be?
Tim Smith / New York Daily News
“We know it was a short week and the Giants had to fly halfway across the country to face Denver on Thanksgiving night, but come on! Can we get a little more life from a team that was expected to make a run for the Super Bowl at the start of the season?
“With so much on the line, and looking to build on their victory over Atlanta last Sunday – one that snapped a four-game losing streak – the Giants came out flat, listless and disinterested. Consequently, they lost, 26-6, to the Broncos, who snapped their own four-game losing streak. Maybe the Giants were suffering the sleepy effects from tryptophan from too much turkey.
“There were better games of football played by fat guys on the lawn after Thanksgiving dinner than what the Giants displayed against the Broncos Thursday night. Actually, that’s just who Brandon Jacobs looked like trying to get out of the Giants’ backfield….
“The Giants did play as a team. They played as a bad team. And that is what they are now. Despite all the preseason predictions and the 5-0 start, which now looks as phony as Monopoly money, the Giants are a team that gets pushed around on offense and defense, and doesn’t push back.”
–And then there are the Jets. Safety Kerry Rhodes was benched for Sunday’s contest. Rhodes is being paid a staggering $10 million this season as part of a five-year, $33 million contract extension he signed before 2008 (much of it front-loaded as you can see). $10 million and Rhodes had zero interceptions, no sacks, no forced fumbles and no fumble recoveries. Rhodes also earns $2 million if he’s on the roster come March, so with NFL contracts not being guaranteed, you can be sure Rhodes’ days are numbered. Good riddance.
But what’s this? Rhodes had two interceptions in the Jets defeat of Carolina on Sunday, playing as a nickel back? Sports is funny that way.
Cleveland 1-10
Tampa Bay 1-10
St. Louis 1-10
Detroit 2-9
[Indianapolis, 11-0, and New Orleans, 10-0, remain on the other side, with New Orleans matched up against 7-3 New England tonight.]
Congratulations to Tennessee\’s Vince Young for guiding the Titans to five straight wins after their 0-6 start, the first team in NFL history to accomplish this.
—NCAA Soccer Championships
Stanford vs. UCLA; North Carolina vs. Notre Dame
Wake Forest vs. UCLA; Maryland vs. Virginia; Akron (22-0-0) vs. Tulsa; North Carolina vs. Drake
–Newcomer Roberto Alomar heads up a weak Baseball Hall of Fame lineup for 2010. Among the other new candidates on the ballot are Fred McGriff, Barry Larkin and Edgar Martinez, all marginal. Alomar collected 2,724 hits, batted .300, made 12 All-Star teams and won 10 Gold Gloves, and would’ve been a shoe-in years ago, but he’s suspect to me. Let’s wait another year or two to see if anymore news on the steroids front emerges. As for McGriff, I know his career is being reassessed because he didn’t do steroids, but his 493 home runs (including zero 40-homer seasons) just aren’t enough. Results will be announced Jan. 6.
–Total disaster on the hardwood, Saturday in Winston-Salem, as William & Mary defeated Wake Forest, 78-68. William & Freakin’ Mary!!! I just got a reminder to send in my Deacon Club contribution and I’m wondering why I would?!
Get this…Wake had just 10 turnovers, but with 3 main players over 6’10”, plus All-American candidate Al-Farouq Aminu at 6’9”, we took 35 3-pointers! And made only 10, of course. Aminu had 20 rebounds, but shot 4 of 18 from the floor, and 0 for 7 from downtown. W&M had 35 free throw attempts to our 12. This wasn’t Richmond…it was William & Mary Travers! No wonder I’m getting T-shirts from other schools these days.
“It was a tale of two Black Fridays for New York’s baseball teams.
“The Yankees Clubhouse on 42nd Street, still basking in the glow of the team’s 27th World Series championship, was flooded with customers elbowing through racks of commemorative T-shirts, hats and jackets. Pedestrians stopped to snap photographs of the storefront.
“Two blocks east, the Mets Clubhouse hosted a handful of passers-by who gazed at the rows of jersey and sweatshirts, many 50 percent off. The store seemed to be as quiet as Shea Stadium was after Carlos Beltran looked at Adam Wainwright’s called third strike to end the 2006 season.”
[The New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles were the only two that didn’t have a player get a single vote for the post-season awards.]
–“All eyes were on Jennifer Aniston, single and totally unattached again, in Marrakech, Morocco, this week, when she outshone the other stars at the reopening of the legendary La Mamounia Hotel.”
–The other day I wrote of how a Chinese tiger breeding facility is meeting with great success, but a report on Siberian tigers overall says the numbers in the wild are declining.
However, lest this factoid ruin your holidays, consider that in the late 1940s, there were only 30…and by 2005 they had recovered to 500. But now they’re back on the decline.
Then again, we have that breeding farm where by end of next year there could be 800, so now I’d just release them all at once. Maybe provide free transportation to Siberia.
–Jeff B. went to the UConn basketball game at the Garden on Wednesday and with Duke playing in the second contest, some Duke grads sat down in front of him. “During a break in the action, one of them turns around and asks me, ‘Excuse me, is this the same Madison Square Garden where the Knicks’ basketball team plays?’” Jeff said he could only imagine the look on his face.
—NASCAR’s television ratings were down big this year, about 8% over the four networks that cover it. Jimmie Johnson needs a major foil. Of the existing drivers, Tony Stewart would make for the best rival. Danica entering the sport would also help. So would Brooklyn Decker, for that matter; except Brooklyn doesn’t race, though I’m assuming she has a driver’s license. And, after all, the vast majority of NASCAR’s tracks are just one big left turn.
“Europe’s wild boar population is exploding because of climate change and increased biofuel production from corn and rapeseed – crops boars like to gorge upon, David Crossland reported in Der Spiegel….
“ ‘Barely a week goes by in Germany without a news story about a human encounter with wild boars – joggers getting chased up trees, boars smashing their way into living rooms and tearing up the furniture, even whole hordes of the shaggy beasts rampaging through village streets,’ he wrote.
“ ‘Last year, two police officers were so scared of a marauding boar that they kept onto a low balcony and opened fire on it with their service revolvers. They missed.’
“An estimated 2 million to 2.5 million boars roam the forest, suburbs and maize fields of Germany. Hunters shot a record 450,000 boars in the 2008-09 season.”
Yet another reason to stick to dairy farming, I always say. Producing corn is too dangerous.
–So remember how I ordered some Prairie View A&M shirts, first, because they look cool, second, to honor the comeback in their football program?
Well, I received them and the purple and gold (on gray) does indeed make for a great shirt, but I didn’t know there was wording on the back.
Doh! It’s one thing to be white and wear a Prairie View shirt. It’s another to be white and then have the stuff on the back. Oh well. At least at the mall it will get mom and junior talking. “Mom, why is that old white man wearing that shirt?” “I have no idea. But don’t talk to him.”
—Donald Trump was seen filming a scene for “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps.” It seems Trump gets a haircut with Gordon Gekko and Trump gives Gordon some tips.
–Interesting story if you’re a bar owner. It seems that the New York State Liquor Authority investigated the Mad River Bar & Grille in Manhattan the other week and confiscated 50 cases of Spotted Cow. The beer is brewed by New Glarus Brewing Co. in Green County, Wisconsin and the beer is not licensed for sale outside the state.
“Liquor authority spokesman William Crowley told the Wisconsin State Journal that businesses selling alcohol in New York need to purchase their alcohol through a wholesale distributor. He says the bar could have its liquor license revoked for selling the beer and for not paying the appropriate taxes.” [Crain’s New York Business]
—The World’s Most Interesting Man…on pickup lines.
—The HBO show on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concerts was absolutely outstanding. [Sunday Night Football took a major backseat.] And you know what? I’m gonna buy my first ever Metallica CD. I’ll remind you when the DVDs for the entire two nights comes out as well.
Top 3 songs for the week 11/28/81: #1 “Physical” (Olivia Newton-John) #2 “Waiting For A Girl Like You” (Foreigner) #3 “Private Eyes” (Daryl Hall & John Oates)…and… #4 “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” (The Police) #5 “Here I Am” (Air Supply) #6 “Oh No” (Commodores) #7 “Start Me Up” (The Rolling Stones) #8 “Tryin’ To Live My Life Without You” (Bob Seger) #9 “Arthur’s Theme” (Christopher Cross) #10 “Why Do Falls In Love” (Diana Ross)
College Football Quiz Answers: 1) Babe Parilli quarterbacked Kentucky from 1949-51 and then went on to a lengthy AFL/NFL career, 1952-69, throwing 178 TD passes (and 220 INTs). 2) Tommy Hodson, 1986-89, is LSU’s career passing leader with 9,115 yards. [He only played sparingly in the NFL over four years] 3) Lamont Jordan is Maryland’s rushing leader, 1997-2000, with 4,147 yards. [He’s had a respectable NFL career since then.] 4) Miami’s career rushing leader with just 3,331 yards is Ottis Anderson, 1975-78. [O.J. went on to pick up 10,273 yards in a great NFL career spanning 1979-92.] 5) Miami QBs during title years: 1983, Bernie Kosar; 1987, Steve Walsh; 1989, Craig Erickson; 1991, Gino Torretta; 2001, Ken Dorsey.
