Boise State Broncos vs. Georgia Bulldogs

Two Weeks from tonight Boise State and Georgia tee it up in the Georgia Dome. It will be one heck of a game and one of the featured games of the weekend.

I sure am looking forward to that game, I think Boise has a great shot to redeem itself from the beating we took back in 2005 between the hedges in Athens, Georgia.

This time around we have a different and better coaching staff than the 2005 Broncos, we have a much better more composed quarterback, Kellen Moore finish 4th in the Heisman and is 8 games away from becoming the wining-est quarterback in college history.

Georgia like the Broncos is minus their two best receivers so both teams will be looking for help from new guys and former backups.

Offensively I have to give the edge to BSU in the running back department. Georgia is missing there two best runners while Boise has Doug Martin and DJ Harper back.

Harper is hungry and has alot to prove. In the first half of the 3rd game of the season these last two years Harper tore the acl in the left knee and each year sat out the rest of the season.

In tonight's scrimmage both Martin and Harper looked awesome, both appear ready for the Bulldogs in the Georgia Dome. Having them carry the mail will take pressure off Moore and make the Georgia defense play more honest.

I do not know much about the Georgia Defense but do think they are much better than their 2010 6-7 record indicate. They do have two monsters are the nose guard position. One man weighs in at 350 lbs and the smaller guy at a slim 340. It is difficult for me to imagine men that size and then toss in they are quick and athletic. They will test the Bronco center all night.

I think it will be as close and exciting game as last years opener against Beamer Ball and Virginia Tech back in DC.

Like the VT game I think Boise wins a close one and it will be on the legs and backs of Doug Martin and DJ Harper

Protect Yourself From Heat Sickness

As fall camps begin across the country athletes face the same issue of heat illness and heat stroke. We hear or read stories every year at this time of football players suffering heat related health problems or dying from heat stroke.

This article will provide some tips on how to protect yourself from heat related issues and how to avoid over-hydrating and avoid water poisoning.

Heat Stroke:
Heat stroke is a serious medical emergency that occurs when the body's cooling system shuts down. The core body temperature becomes very high and can exceed 105 degrees. Symptoms can include lack of sweat, hot dry skin, increased pulse rate, confusion, seizures and coma, left untreated heat stroke can result in death.

Athletes are more likely to experience exertional heat stroke.

Exertional heat stroke:
This is the most serious of heat related illnesses. Athletes are moer at risk to suffer exertional heat stroke. The difference between exertional heat stroke and regular heat stroke is that ahletes continue to sweat despite the core temprature.

Diagnosis or Exertional Heat Stroke:
The body core temprature is 105 F with diminished mental status such as confusion, disorientation and clumsiness. If these symptoms are ignored the athlete may collapse and enter into a coma. Should any of these signs be present cooling the patent and emergency treatment are essential.

Hyponatremia:
This is water poisoning and it can be fatal. Water poisoning is when the athlete has many of the same signs as dehydration but they have flushed all the sodium from their system. Adequate sodium balance is necessary for transmitting nerve impulses and proper muscle function, and even a slight depletion of this concentration can cause problems. Studies have shown that high intensity athletes can lose up to 2 grams of salt per liter of sweat. Replacing this during the event is critical to performance and safety.

Symptoms of Hyponatremia:
The symptoms are similar to dehydration, nausea, dizziness, cottonmouth and should not be ignored.
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Treatment:
Drink a sodium containing sports drink or eat salty foods.

When you are working out in these hot temperatures pay attention to what signs your body is giving off. Before practice or workouts drink water and beverages that will supply electrolytes.

Learn more about how to protect yourself from dehydration and heat stroke and learn how to be treated or treat others.

Preventing Environmental Heat Illnesses

Dehydration, Heat Injuries and Sports Drinks

Brett Favre Say It Aint So !!!

Just when we thought Favre was retired and had faded into the sunset his name and a come back resurface. This time it isn't Favre saying he wants to come back it is new speculation that one of the NFL Teams may want him back.

In an online article by Doug Farrar posted today in Shutdown Corner he leads us to believe that the Philadelphia Eagles may want Favre to become their back up quarterback for Michael Vick.

The scary part, Farrar makes sense about having Favre join the Eagles. He points out the association between Eagles Coach Reid and Marty Mornhinweg from his days in Green Bay. Favre would certainly understand the Eagle offehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifnse.

Given Vick's " no prisoners" approach to the game and the injuries he sustained last season, the Eagles do need a veteran backup QB. It is expected Philadelphia will trade current backup Kevin Kolb. Should that scenario playhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif out, Favre would be a perfect fit to run that West Coast aerial assault type of offense.

Adding fuel to the fire of a Favre comeback and joining the Eagles, is the Michael Vick quote when he was asked about how he would feel having old #5 as his backup.

"I would honored to have Brett Favre as a backup.That will be amazing to learn how to toy with defenses the way he did his whole career."

Brett Favre comeback as an Eagle, please Brett say it aint so.

For the best football coaching videos check us out at scoretouchdowns.com

See our latest videos at scoretouchdowns.comnewreleases

New Football Training DVDs

We have added several new football training videos to our list of titles. They are top quality videos by some of the best coaches and trainers in the country and we are excited to be able to offer them.

1. Preventing Environmental Heat Illnesses: The DVD reviews the cumulative signs and symptoms of heat illness and discusses the steps that should be undertaken when a heat-related illness occurs.
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2. The Quick Passing Game - A 'Check With Me' System Made EasyThis quick passing game DVD demonstrates how to beat the defense by calling the right play from the line of scrimmage.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

3. Improving Your Pass Game Efficiency: Coach Longo breaks down his strategies into an easy-to-understand presentation and then sums it all up by showing you each strategy.

4. The Complete Practice Plan for Wide Receivers

5. Teaching Coverage Reads to the Quarterback and Wide Receivers

These are just some of the instructional football training DVDs we have added.
Check us out at New Releases and see all of our newly added videos

How To Do A Healthy Workout

What you do before you workout is as important as what you do when you get started. Before you workout set the tone to ensure you have a healthy workout.

This article will focus strictly on hydration.

The way to set the tone is to make sure you are properly hydrated. Think about how important that statement is. Each year we hear about or see on television the tragedy of student athletes and pros dying from dehydration while working out in hot temperatures. Deaths that could be avoided.

Drink water before a workout. Chugging it down just before you begin wont produce the results you want. It is best to drink water through out the day around 16 to 20 ounces a few hours before you begin.

In a study in the April 2010 Journal of Athletic Training, runners who started a 12-K race dehydrated on an 80-degree day finished about two and a half minutes slower compared to when they ran it hydrated. If you are dehydrated during your workouts you reduce your body's ability to transfer heat, while making your heat work harder, making it difficult for your body to meet aerobic demands.

Cold Drinks

Whether your workout is strictly running or a combination of exercises you want to consume cold drinks prior to your workout. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise published the results of a 2008 study. What they learned was cyclists who drank cold beverages before and during their workout exercised nearly 12 minutes longer than those who drank warm beverages. By cooling the body down the heart does not work as hard, the body transfers heat more efficiently and the you can do a better workout.

Severe dehydration Symptoms:
1. Extreme thirst
2. Lack of sweating
3. 3. Little to no urination. Urine can be a dark yellow
4. Very dry mouth and mucous membranes
5.
Over drinking water can be dangerous, athletes need to have drinks that provide electrolytes and sodium or risk Hyponatremia.

Hyponatremia
This is water poisoning and it can be fatal. Water poisoning is when the athlete has many of the same signs as dehydration but they have flushed all the sodium from their system. Adequate sodium balance is necessary for transmitting nerve impulses and proper muscle function, and even a slight depletion of this concentration can cause problems. Studies have shown that high intensity athletes can lose up to 2 grams of salt per liter of sweat. Replacing this during the event is critical to performance and safety.

Symptoms of Hyponatremia:
The symptoms are similar to dehydration, nausea, dizziness, cottonmouth and should be paid attention to.

Treatment of Hyponatremia:
Drink a sodium containing sports drink or eat salty foods.


Drinks besides water:
During your workouts have more than just water, have sports drinks with sodium and electrolytes. Celery based drinks and vegetable based drinks are a good source of electrolytes and sodium.

Exertional Heat Stroke:
This is the most serious of heat related illnesses. Athletes are moer at risk to suffer exertional heat stroke. The difference between exertional heat stroke and regular heat stork is that ahletes continue to sweat despite the core temprature.
Diagnosis or Exertional Heat Stroke:
The body core temprature is 105 F with diminished mental status such as confusion, disorientation and clumsiness. If these symptoms are ignored the athlete may collapse and enter into a coma. Should any of these signs be present cooling the patent and http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifemergency treatment are essential.

An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure. When you work out and reort to fall camp, use common sense and know how to protect yourself from dehydration and heat illnesses.

Learn more about protecting yourself from dehydration and heat illness when you work out. Preventing Environmental Heat Illnesses

Screen Passing Game for Football

The screen pass has proven to be a very potent weapon in any offensive game plan. When used and executed right it can wreak havoc on the defense.

In this article we will define what is a screen pass, some different screen plays, when to us them and why.

What is a Screen Pass:

It is a play from the short passing game that is designed to look like a long vertical pass play. Teams line up the same way the do when they are throwing the ball down the field.

The quarterback drops back like in any regular pass play and the offensive linemen hold their blocks for up to two seconds before releasing and letting the pass rushers charge the QB. Its purpose is to trick the defense, reduce the number of pass defenders, have the offensive men blocking down field and burn the defense for big yards.

The targets would be the same as any vertical pass play, wide receivers, tight ends and running backs.

Typical Screen Plays:

1. Conventional Screen:

Typically this pass is thrown to the running back who positions himself between

pass rushers and the offensive linemen blocking down field. The pass is thrown

behind the line of scrimmage and the linemen can block down field taking

out the linebackers and the receivers block the defensive backs.

2. Bubble Screen:

The inception of this play is credited to former Montana Grizzly Coach Don Read and credit

for its prominence goes to former Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz who learned the play from

Read and introduced it to Division 1 football.

The wide receivers are the targets for this play. They take one step off the line of

scrimmage then head back towards the quarterback to receive the ball as the linemen

block past them setting up the screen. This play is very effective against man to man

coverages and zone defenses.

3. Quarterback Throw Back Screen:

This play calls for the quarterback to either toss the ball to a running back or

throw it to a wide receiver. Then the QB runs in the opposite direction will a wall

linemen blocking in front of him with the running back or receiver passing the

ball back to the quarterback. This play is also known as the "Blitz Breaker." It is

most effective against heavy blitzing defenses.

4. When to use the Screen Pass:

This passing strategy can be used most anytime during a game and is very effective

against teams that are blitzing a lot. Those teams are very vulnerable to the

Quarterback Throw Back Pass while teams that are in man to man or zone are

exposed to the Bubble and Jail Break Screen.

When the running game is stalling or the offense cant consistently get going the screen

pass is a way to get things going. It can make the defense play honest and give the

quarterback more confidence such as how the Denver Broncos have done with Tim

Tebow.

5. Why Use Screen Plays:

1. Spark a stalled running game

2. Slow down the pass rush

3. Beat the Blitz

4. Open up the vertical passing game

5. Exploit man to man and zone coverages.

In conclusion the screen pass should be part of every team's offensive game plan. It makes defenses play more honest and have to take the strategy into account in their defensive game plan. It creates more ways to get your skill players into space with the ball and get big gains.

There are a lot of screen play coaching DVDs with dozens of screen plays. Use the links below and see which ones best fit your offense.

Football Screen Passing Game DVDs

Football Passing Game DVDs

Football Off Season Training Videos

An effective off season training program can give you the edge over your competition coming into fall or spring football camp!

With that in mind scoretouchdowns.com has created a new category named Off Season Football Training. It is located under the Conditioning Category on the navigation bar on the left.

The DVDs are position specific and designed to get you into great shape. Whether you are a running back, quarterback, receiver, offensive or defensive lineman or a defensive back we have the right training video just for you.

Check out our list of DVDs so you can enter your next training camp in top condition and have the edge over your competition.

Off Season Football Conditioning DVDs

Bank Of America Gets Foreclosed on by Home Owner

You read it right, a branch of the infamous Bank of America was foreclosed on in Collier County Florida.

I know this post runs contrary to the theme of the blog and has nothing to do with sports or football. However we have all heard the horror stories of Bank of America abusing home owners, foreclosing on people they should not have.

This week Brett Bair of Fox News did a special on banks wrongly foreclosing on people, telling customers to let their home get a few months behind to qualify for the home modification loan. Once patrons followed the advice on the home modification loans and made the new lower payments, Bank of America was denying the modification and was foreclosing on these home owners.

In Collier Count Florida the bank initiated foreclosure proceedings against the Nyergers. The problem was, the Nyergers paid cash for the house and still had to go through a court proceeding to prove Bank of America had no interest in the home what so ever since the Nyergers never had a mortgage.

The judge ordered all court costs be assigned to the Bank of America and that is where the banks arrogance came back to bite them. For 5 months after the matter was settled the bank refused to return phone calls and letters of demand. The Nyergers attorney foreclosed on the back and the video below shows.

There is 35 second commercial before the actual foreclosure video starts, it also stops a couple of time but enjoy seeing Bank of America get theirs.


Football Training DVDS

Boise State Football Blue: Is It Becoming A Trend?

In 1986 Athletic Director Gene Bleymaier decided to make a bold move and take big risk. When he was installing a new astro turf field in Bronco Stadium he decided to make it blue. Thus the Boise State Broncos became the first and only team in the country to play on a blue field.

Naturally there were the detractors and I was one of them. Back then the field earned the nick name "Smurf Turf". On those rare occasions the Broncos played on national television the TV announcers would pre-warn the audience, "don't adjust your sets the color of the field is blue."

Today the Boise State Broncos are known nation wide for their blue turf and the way they play football. Gone are the urban legends of ducks mistaking the field for water and dying dive bombing in for a place to float. Gone is the name smurf turf, today we call it playing on "The Blue."

Back in 86 Bleymaier took a big gamble and made his move as a publicity stunt hoping to get Bronco Stadium on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Bronco Stadium did not get on the cover of Sports Illustrated back then. However the team and some of "The Blue" did last season.

If imitation is the best form of flattery then Boise State Blue is becoming a trend, in at least the high school ranks.

Currently there are 3 high schools and one college across the country that have followed suite and have blue football fields and they are about to be joined by another.

West Hills Chaminade High School in California is going blue. Football Coach Croson said the blue turf will be similar to the field at Boise State. Construction will be finished in time for the fall season.

Current list of high schools with blue fields.
High schools in Barrow, Alaska; Hidalgo, Texas; and Lovington, N.M., play their football games on artificial blue surfaces. Division II The University of New Haven reinstated football in 2009 and went with Boise State Blue as the color of their football field.

Football Training Videos

Ohio State Football Coach Jim Tressel Resigns

Several Months ago I asked the question Is Jim Tresse's job safe? So did the press."Asked if he considered firing Tressel, Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee said then: “No, are you kidding? Let me just be very clear: I’m just hopeful the coach doesn’t dismiss me.

Today we got that answer, no it was not. Shocking Buckeye Nation, Jim Tressel has resigned as coach of the Ohio State Football program. Even though it comes as a shock, it had to be anticipated.

I never felt a self imposed 5 game benching of Tressel was going to satisfy the NCAA. Tressel just crossed to many lines. The NCAA was generous to the Buckeyes when they allowed the players involved in tattoo gate to play in their BCS Bowl. But when it became apparent Tressel knew far more than he let on and began a cover up, it was just a matter of time before Tressel would be forced to resign or Ohio State would have to fire the legendary coach. Today was the day.

Obviously this was not a spur of the moment thing nor will Ohio State miss a beat by having to do a job search for a new coach. Athletic Director Gene Smith has things well in hand. “We look forward to refocusing the football program on doing what we do best—representing this extraordinary university and its values on the field, in the classroom, and in life,” Smith said in a statement Monday. “We look forward to supporting Luke Fickell in his role as our football coach. We have full confidence in his ability to lead our football program.”

After 10 years at the helm, Tressel leaves Ohio State with a record of 106-22-0 and eight BCS Bowl Game appearances.

Football coaching DVDs & football training equipment

John Elway vs Elway

It seems more than the NFL lockout makes John Elway unhappy. He is displeased with a Fort Collins punk band using his surname and calling themselves " Elway".

Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of John Elway for the way he conducted himself on and off the field. He is a fine role model on how athletes should conduct themselves on and off the field.

Elway has taken such offense to the bands choice of name that he had his attorney write the group "Elway" requesting the band change its name, however he did stop short of suing or issuing a cease and desist order.

One would think with all that is going in with the NFL lockout as a Denver Bronco vice president he would have much more to worry about than the name of a punk band.

The band, to its credit, was mostly amused. In a statement released via punknews.org, the band acknowledged the letter and suggested Elway had better things to do in the wake of the Broncos' disastrous 2010 season.

"We have no intention of changing the name again. We love the name, regardless of what connotations are inferred by the listener. Surely, if the Dead Kennedys could become one of punk's most popular bands without incurring litigation, Elway can keep their moniker and continue making so-so music for our dozens of fans to enjoy."

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Elway John Elway
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Quarterback Training DVDS & Equipment

Mark Richt Is A Stud

By now some of you have heard that Georgia Football Coach Mark Richt is selling his Lake Hartwell property and that it is a sign of him getting ready to leave UGA. The bloggers and others who have speculated that as being the reason are wrong.

Coach Richt may or may not be on the hot seat at Georgia but his position as head coach has nothing do with his decision to list the property. No his decision to sell is based on a higher calling and more noble reasons. After he read a book, “The Hole in Our Gospel,” written by Richard Stearns, it altered the coaches life.

His noble reasons for selling the lake house are simple, he and his wife saw that it would free up more cash for them to donate to charity, to make a positive impact on the lives of those less blessed.

My source for this information comes from the UGA Sports Blog in an article written by Chip Towers posted on May 25,2011.

Rather than tell you what Mark Richt said I will copy and paste from the article.

“Within the last year, I read this book, “The Hole in Our Gospel,” written by Richard Stearns. He’s the president of World Vision, U.S. I think people understand who World Vision is but, basically, they help the poor. Through their organization, you can help children, you can help build wells, you can buy them donkeys, whatever people need. World Vision helps people across the world. Well, anyway, there was a lot of statistical data in there about the amount of people that live on a dollar a day around this world. Billions of people. So I’m reading this book and it really affected me. It helped me realize that what we have is way more than we need and that our ability to give is hindered by this property. I guess that’s the best way to tell you. We just wanted to be in a better position to give and bless people that don’t have anything. We felt like this was one way to be able to do that.”

Richt went on to say the reason he delayed his decision to list the house was he knew the speculation it would cause so he delayed till after recruiting season and spring ball.

I have long known that Mark Richt was a class act and a credit UGA and college football. Now he is even more, the man is a stud who walks his talk. This summer he and his family are taking a trip to Honduras to watch World Vision in action and help dig and develop water wells for the people there. Thanks Mark Richt for being who you are, a wonderful role model on and off the field.

Troy Polamalu is a Stud

Troy Polamalu is a stud and ideal role model. During the current players strike Polamalu has walked his talk. Troy has always said and education and degree are more important than athletics. Last Friday at age 30 he took care of unfinished business as he crossed the stage in cap and gown and received his diploma graduating from the University of Southern California. He posted the following thoughts on his website www.troy43.com

"I'm thrilled to announce that on this cool, sunny Friday morning I donned a cap and gown, walked across the stage in the beautiful Alumni Park at University of Southern California, and was handed my diploma. I'm officially a USC graduate! While I feel excited and fulfilled, that's not really what I want to focus on in this message — I want to talk about the reason behind my decision to go back and finish what I started.

The majority of top picks in the NFL get drafted before they complete their college education. I truly love football and it's such an immense blessing and privilege as an athlete to be given the rare opportunity to use those talents at the highest professional level, but it's certainly not a replacement for an education. So I decided to finish what I started and walked that stage today not only because it was very important to me personally, but because I want to emphasize the importance of education, and that nothing should supersede it."

He has also been involved in sponsoring a student of the year program. We read so many stories of athletes being idiots on and off the field, its nice to post a story about an athlete that is grounded and is a great role model for all..........Troy Polamalu you are a stud of the highest degree.

Harmon Killebrew Stops Fighting

It was announced today that baseball slugger and hall of famer Harmon Killebrew will enter hospice care and end his battle with cancer. His doctors have informed him the cancer has progressed beyond medical treatment and is incurable.

The world of sports will lose a true gentleman, great baseball player and role model.
God Bless you and take you Harmon, the world will be a smaller place without you.

Oklahoma Remembers Boise State

This is not a victory lap posting. I am a fan of the Sooners unless they play Boise State.

Recently Boise weatherman Rick Lanz from KTVB had occasion to visit Norman, Ok and the Sooner campus. He was there to visit the meteorology department. While he was there he decided to interview some students and ask if they remembered the 2006 Fiesta Bowl. The following video is the interview.



Adding to the myth that ducks mistake the blue field for water is the student who says Boise State pays a fine every year to have blue turf. This simply is not true any more than ducks dive bomb the field thinking its a body of water. Its the Geese, they overfly the river and dive bomb the turf.

Mess With The Eagle: You Get The Claw

Sunday night osama bin laden got clawed. For over three decades he messed with the Eagle and Sunday night he got clawed as he felt the bullet from a Navy Seal's gun crash through his forehead and end his life.

I recall the first time I ever heard his name and like others, then Senator Al Gore, had trouble pronouncing his name. At Congressional hearings during the Reagan years a young Oliver North pronounced bin laden as the most dangerous man on earth. Sadly we became more aware of who bin lade was and why Colonel North made his pronouncement.

Like any who was old enough and saw the Twin Towers go down that assault on the Pentagon and saw the wreckage of the jet in Pennsylvania, I was incensed and wanted revenge.

Sunday night that was fulfilled as bin laden became a victim of his own hate, hate he used to justify murdering peoples from all around the world in many nations. People who were unable to fight back because they never saw it coming. People who were innocent and were only in the wrong place at the wrong time. Their deaths have screamed for decades for retribution and finally at long last it has come and bin laden can no longer kill or maim people.

For me it is justice that like his victims the last thing he heard was the sound of a blast and saw a flash of light as he realized his life was over. As an American it makes me proud to know the last face he ever saw was that of an American, a US Navy Seal that resolved our differences with extreme prejudice while extending the compliments of President Obama and the citizens of the United States and sent bin laden into eternity with the message firmly implanted in his brain, mess with the Eagle___ you get the claw and Sunday night thanks to all the men and women who spent all most 10 years focused on finding him, bin laden got clawed.

Is Jim Tressel Finished At Ohio State?

Jim Tressel just keeps digging his hole deeper and deeper. When you see the video below you will see what I mean. He is learning the hard way that the cover up is worse than the crime.

Tressel now owns he broke the rules and went from a two game suspension to a 5 game suspension. I dont think that will be enough. I think he will be forced to leave. His actions have OSU in deep dirt.

The NCAA does not like to be played or lied to, as tattoo gate continues to unfold it becomes more apparent that OSU and Tressel are both guilty. They should have just fessed up and taken the hit. Instead they lied and cheated another team out of a BCS berth. I look for the NCAA to come down on them like thunder and tag them as repeat offenders.



As you can tell from the video, Tressel is packing a weak lunch and every time he opens his mouth he does further damage to The Buckeyes, time for Jim to go?

Cam Newton Beats Reggie Bush

Why should college athletes play it straight? It seems in the world of college sports if you are crooked you can get a big pay check, doesn't seem to matter that they cheated to win.

I know I rant about this sort of thing alot and have gone off on Cam Newton a few times. I recognize his football talent but have no respect for the player or the man.

Is it just me or did some of you think Newton was laughing all the way through last season on his way to the Heisman and the National Title Game? I was left with the impression he was taunting the public laughing at all of his as he saw rules changed or ignored to protect his eligibility status. What little I read of his Heisman speech made me sick. To me he comes across as arrogant and with the opinion I am Cam the rules don't apply to me.

Personally I think Stanford's Andrew Luck should have won that award, not Scam Newton.

You look at Reggie Bush, he did similar to Newton and got a nice endorsement deal with Addidas and was paid a million a year to be the face of their products. Bush became and instant millionaire for cheating, he did suffer giving back his unearned Heisman. To me, so what, that doesn't give the guy that should have won the thrill of having his family and friends see him have his day in the sun.

What Bush did was become instantly rich and left others to pay the bill and the USC Trojans of today are the ones picking up the tab. Pete Carroll is safe in the pros with the Seattle Sea Hawks while the men from Troy lose scholarships and can't play in an bowl games.

So far Newtons's career seems to be following that of Reggie Bush, he has signed a deal with Under Armour that is said to surpass the amount received by Reggie Bush.

I guess all that's left is to see if Auburn will get punished as hard as USC and if Heisman people will more quickly ask for the trophy back than they did with Bush. Right now Newton, well he is laughing all the way to the bank while when its all said and done will leave others to pick up the tab for his act.

Bill Murray Did What Jack Lemmon Couldn't

We all know that Bill Murray and Jack Lemon have left large footprints in the entertainment industry. Both actors have enjoyed huge commercial success in comedy movies and playing serious roles.

Both men were serious golfers with a deep love for the game. Each of them loved playing the tournament at Pebble Beach. Some might recall it when the tournament was called the Crosby after Bing Crosby. Seems when the contract expired Mrs Crosby thought Bing's name would pay her more than the tournament was willing. But that's another story.

Over the years Lemmon had what many would consider great success at Pebble Beach and finished high in the Pro Am rankings as the amateur. However he was always close but no cigar. Lemmon made it a life time goal to be on the winning team just once in his life. he did not make it.

Bill Murray has succeeded where Lemmon didn't. Murray and pro golfer D. A. Points won the AT&T Pro Am at Pebble Beach this last weekend. It was Murray's and Points a tour veteran, first PGA win. I think this has to be one of the top Cinderella sports stories of 2011.

I dont know about you but I do love the Cinderella stories. Congrats to Bill Murray and D.A. Points.

Tiger Woods: In the Woodshed Again

Once again Tiger Woods has gotten himself taken to the woodshed. Not for his poor golf or for playing with the "babes". This time Tiger is in trouble for his on course etiquette.

No he was not caught cussing off camera or throwing one of his now infamous hissy fits over a poor shot. According to TV reporter Ewen Murray what Tiger did was "Disgusting". Murray went on to say, "there are some parts of him that are just arrogant and petulant". What Tiger did that so upset Murray was spit on the green. Yes indeedy Tiger has found new ways to upset some of the folks. Granted this is just poor judgment, he spit on the green. Yes this heinous crime was spitting.

Seems Tiger just cant do anything right these days. His game is in the gutter, his public image is shot and now he spits in a golf course. I would think Mr Murray has better things to focus on but apparently not. Any how Tiger has apologized and is paying a fine to the PGA.

Regardless of his personal life Tiger has been for golf in his generation what Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus were for theirs.

Whats Wrong With The Univeristy of Indiana?

Talk about rejection, the University of Indiana is sure getting their fair share and more. They hired a new football coach and like any coach he started scouring the country for coaches he thought would be a good fit for his program and help turn Indiana football around.

He raided the Boise State Broncos coaching staff and came away with the receivers coach, Brent Pease. However 2 weeks after Pease accepted the OC job at Indiana the Texas Longhorns came to the Broncos courting OC Bryan Harsin and managed to take him back to Texas with them.

Pease had been up front with Indiana and told them his real desire was to be the OC at Boise State and saw it as a launching pad into becoming a head coach. When he accepted the Indiana position he had no prior knowledge that Harsin would be offered and accept the Texas Longhorn position. Once Harsin moved on the job was offered to Pease, Indiana showed tremendous class and let Pease out of the contract with no penalties.

Since then things have gone from bad to worse for Indiana. Since Brent Pease was hired and left three other new hires have followed suite. Jerry Montgomery of Michigan and Corey Raymond of Nebraska were recent hires that moved on shortly after accepting their positions with Indiana. The most recent defection was running backs coach Jemal Singleton. Hired just last week he has already accepted new position with the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

I don't know what is wrong with Indiana but somethings amiss. I don't know how they can truly field a team if they cant even fill their coaching jobs. Indiana Coach Kevin Wilson seems to be the most snake bitten coach in all of college football.

Whois Johnny McEntee? Why Should I Care?

Yep time for another of those who is this person and why should I care. So first lets find out who is Johnny McEntee. He is the third string back yo quarterback for the UConn Huskies. Now I'm sure that has you all giddy with excitement.

Currently McEntee's claim to fame as a UConn quarterback goes back to the 2009 season when he got into the game for a few plays in a blow out against Rhode Island. Since then he has seen little action and certainly wont grab the attention of any Heisman voters. I doubt any of them have heard of this kid.

So why does this kid stand out and garner attention. He would be the Paul Newman or Tom Cruise from The Hustler movie of quarterbacks. Were he in the Dr. Pepper half time show, he walks away with all the gold. If there was a football answer to basket ball's Harlem Globetrotters, bar none UConn's Johnny McEntee is the football rebuttal.

Rather that go on and on about his throwing skills I will have the video below do all the talking.


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Charles Woodson: Is He Leaving The Packers?

The Super Bowl is barely in the books and sports analysts are already speculating as to the future of Charles Woodson as a Green Bay Packer. Guess that is the ugly side of the business of pro football.

Woodson has had a remarkably injury free career as a cornerback and his broken collar bone will not cause him to lose a step but age will. Woodson who is currently 34 would turn 35 during the 2011 season. In cornerback years he is close to social security age.

What will Woodson decide what will the Packers decide? He still has good legs and his speed yet the front office does have to look to the future.

I hope that both parties can come to some form of an agreement that would keep Woodson at Green Bay. He has certainly established himself as a team leader. In my opinion the Pack would be smart to keep him as long as they can. Not only as a team leader but as a mentor. Who better than Woodson to train his eventual successor. Your comments are invited.

Boise State Broncos Lose a Budding Football Star

Today Boise State announced the forced retirement of a future running back sensation, Matt Kaiserman. Matt first came to the attention of Boise State fans during the 2009 season in a game against Hawaii. It is the game I will most remember him for and his performance that sticks out over all others in that game.

Kaiserman got in to replace an injured Bronco. He was a red shirt freshman if my memory is correct. He looked pretty good, he was gaining some yards up the middle, making some guys miss and other guys pay for tackling him. He was playing hard nosed in your face football.

There was one drive that stole the show. The Broncos started around their 20 yard line and gave the ball to Kiaserman, he plowed ahead for some good yardage. They just kept giving him the ball and he kept getting first downs. Finally it became apparent, every snap was going to Kiaserman, this was his drive. All the fans knew it Hawaii knew it and the challenge was clear, Kaiserman is coming through the center of the line until you can stop him. The drive ran 10 or 11 plays ending with the K Man getting his first touchdown as a Bronco. It was apparent, this kid has a great future at Boise State.

Later in the season he was injured so we did not get to see him as much as we had hoped. Last season he was sustaining more injuries and saw little action. Today he paid the price, forced retirement. Kaiserman was such a head down go through you type of guy he suffered head concussions. The most recent ended his career, he still suffering from lingering side effects from this concussion.

I hate to lose this kid, he was a special type of running back, yet better the team lose him or he lose his life. How far we have come in the world of football. Ten years ago maybe even less, he would have been expected to report to spring ball. Today teams players and team doctors are more aware of the risks and taking better care of the players, as it should be.

Concussions are no joke and should not be treated that way. Athletes love to compete and are driven to play with injury but not with concussions. Helmet makers are getting into the action. Schutte and other football helmet manufacturers are working hard to develop better and safer helmets. Rules are being made to make the game safer and coaches and doctors are more educated. I hate to see a kid like Kaiserman end his career do to concussions but better his career than his life. Good luck to you Matt in what ever you do. I am one fan that will always remember your special drive against Hawaii and for your sake that has to be enough.

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DeSean Jackson is "The Man"

In season fraught with more scandals from players in all the sports, Brett Favre of the NFL. The spoiled brat antics of Randy Moss its nice to see some one from the pro ranks step be the man and knock one out of the park.

This week in a show called The View, they teamed up with Philadelphia Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson and hit the big grand slam.

Earlier this week they had a segment about school yard bullies. The featured guest was a 13 year old boy, Nadin Khoury. Khoury came to the national spot light when videos of the boy being bullied by 7 or so older boys became public. It appears the bullies had plenty of ego and no brains, Of course if they had brains they would not be bullies, these airheads in an effort to promote themselves as legends, posted their cowardly acts on YouTube.

Young Mr. Khoury agreed to appear with Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters and the rest of the ladies in The View to promote more awareness to the problem of school yard bullies.

The show did its homework and found out Nadin is a Philadelphia Eagles fan and that his favorite player is DeSean Jackson. The show obviously contacted Mr. Jackson and told him about his big fan and the courage this kid had to come on national television and stand up to the kids and bullies in general. I do believe the Nadin Khoury earned the respect of many and gleaned a few fans of his own, including DeSean Jackson and two of his teammates.

Jackson sat next to Nadin and literally took the jersey off of his back and gave it to the kid then signed if for him. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house and certainly not in my house. DeSean Jackson is the man and proves once again the old adage, never does a man stand so tall as when he bends down to help another.

Is The Running Game The Packers Achilles Heel?

Sorry Green Bay fans for the most part the picture depicts the Packer running attack. Long gone are the days of the Green Bay Packers simply running over people.


Gone are the days of power backs like Hall of Famers Paul Hornung and Jim Taylor (the first running back in NFL history to gain over 1,000 for five consecutive seasons)would run through and over defenders challenging the defense to stop them.

Missing are the offensive linemen like Jerry Kramer leading the way for great running backs like Elijah Pitts. Pitts scored two touchdowns in the first Super Bowl.

What Green Bay does have is late season God send running back James straks and fireplug of a fullback in John Kuhn. However this does not give the Pack a running game that scares anybody, especially the Pittsburgh Steelers.

What the Packers face in the Steelers is the NFL's best run defense, one that has crushed better running attacks than the Packers will be able to throw at the steel Curtain. Green Bay doesn't need to establish a running game that the Steelers fear just on that forces the respect from Pittsburgh.

What the Pack must do to take full advantage of the talent Rodgers and the receivers bring to the game is establish a running attack that will force the Steeler defense to play honest. If the can get some first downs and develop short and second or third downs via the run, the Steelers will have to respect the run and keep from becoming a one dimensional offense. Anything short of that and Green Bay is in for a long day.

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Do the Pittsburgh Steelers Have An Achilles Heel?

As we get closer to game day, we seem to be overloaded with Super Bowl History and trivia. Like who are the most disliked players in the NFL. For those of you that don't know it appears Big Ben has displaced Michael Vick as the most disliked player and hanging in there is Patriots Tom Brady.

However I did read one article that I thought was interesting and relevant to the up coming super bowl. It asks the question, do the Steelers have a weakness an Achilles heel? According to Jason Cole of Yahoo Sports, yes they do.

Cole suggests the weakness is none other than vaunted Steel Curtain itself. His research reveals the way to get over on the Steelers is through the air. Others in the league have told him pass on Pittsburgh, attack them with a relentless aerial assault. Don't get me wrong, if it were that easy every team would have done it and someone other that Pittsburgh would be representing the AFC. In order to make the blitz-happy scheme, run by Hall of Famer Dick LeBeau, look downright average you need more than just to airing it out, you need the right personnel groups to make it happen.

Speed is the key. One NFC coordinator suggests the Green Bay's quarterback and receivers have to react faster than the Steel Curtain or the Pack will get killed. Making the case for that argument, is over the last five years and eight games, quarterbacks who have taken their teams to the Super Bowl have fared well against Pittsburgh. In fact quarterbacks like Tom Brady, Kurt Warner and yes Aaron Rodgers have done well, they averaged a 105.7 passing average accumulating 28.5 points per game with 20 touchdowns passes versus two picks and the Steelers did lose five out of eight of those games.

One AFC coach volunteered the Steelers prefer to hit people and are not a patient lot and are very uncomfortable sitting back in coverage. In fact is the Packers can find ways to avoid corner back Ike Taylor and safety Troy Polamula then they will be facing a less than average secondary.

What all this suggests is to run four and five receiver sets at Pittsburgh. These receivers cannot give up on a play and have to run crisp sharp routes. How the receivers line up will also be key to the Pack success. One coach opined they are best lining up three receivers to one side and just before the snap of the ball sending one in motion to limit the defensive scheme that Pittsburgh can use.

With Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, James Nelson and Jordy Nelson in the line up, Green Bay has the receiving corp to make the strategy work. In the plays offs this stable of receivers combined for 47 catches 620 yards and three touchdowns. Each of these receivers understands the success of the passing game depends on each of them doing their job, helping each other out, getting all them open so Rodgers can get rid of the ball quickly.

Does Pittsburgh have an Achilles heel certainly but knowing and exploiting it is two different things. Can Green Bay puncture the Steel Curtain? We'll see come Super Sunday.

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Feds seize sports websites before Super Bowl

By JENNIFER MARTINEZ | 2/2/11
The federal government has seized the Web addresses of 10 websites that allegedly live stream sporting and pay-per-view events online, shutting them down just days before one of the biggest televised sporting events of the year: the Super Bowl.

The U. S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York, working in conjunction with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, seized the Web addresses Tuesday. The seizure affidavit was unsealed Wednesday.

The websites, which include channelsurfing.net and Spain-based rojadirecta.org, were said to illegally provide access to content from the major professional sports organizations, namely the National Football League, National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League. The sites do not host the pirated sporting content themselves, but instead provide links to other websites where people can access it illegally.

Government officials argue that the sites are not only distributing pirated content illegally, but in the process, are also denting the revenues of the professional sports leagues and broadcasters as well as negatively impacting viewers.

“The illegal streaming of professional sporting events over the Internet deals a financial body blow to the leagues and broadcasters, who are forced to pass their losses off to fans by raising prices for tickets and pay-per-view events,” said Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney in Manhattan. “With the Super Bowl just days away, the seizures of these infringing websites reaffirm our commitment to working with our law enforcement partners to protect copyrighted material and put the people who steal it out of business.”

Fans have increasingly abandoned watching sports games on their television sets, opting instead to watch them on their computers via the Web instead. The shift has jolted professional sports organizations, which are grappling with how to control the growing problem of the illegal streaming of sports games online in real time. The organizations copyright the content of their sports games — from the audio, video, text and images — and restrict others from distributing it without prior written approval.

But the government’s action didn’t provide a permanent solution to the problem. One of the sites that was shut down on Wednesday, ATDHE.net, has already reappeared at a new Web address, ATDHE.me.

The federal government launched a similar campaign last November that shut down 82 websites offering counterfeit goods and digital music and movie content. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and ICE Director John Morton had warned that the two agencies were committed to going after more websites that offer copyrighted content illegally.

Morton repeated that message during Wednesday’s operation.

“This swift action by our Homeland Security Investigations New York special agents and analysts sends a clear message to website operators who mistakenly believe it’s worth the risk to take copyrighted programming and portray it as their own,” Morton said. “We will continue to aggressively investigate this type of crime with our law enforcement partners.”

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Boise States Legendary Coach Tony Knap

It is kind of ironic that yesterdays post was about the Boise State Broncos, UNLV Runnin Rebels, Jim Criner, Tony Knap and the new stadium proposed for the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

In today's Idaho Statesman they had a feature story about Coach Knap. In that story I was once again shown how flawed my memory has become. I stand corrected when I said the 1976 meeting between Boise State and the UNLV Runnin Rebels was the last time they played. They did play in Bronco Stadium in 1977 and Boise won handily 45-7. It was the last time Tony Knapp ever prowled the sidelines at Bronco Stadium.

Coach Knap is 96 now and the Statesman reports he moved to a retirement home,Bishop's Place in Pullman, Washington. Sadly the report included Knap suffers from Alzheimer's disease. His wife Mickey, age 90 is with the venerable old coach. In fact the good Lord willing, The Knap's, their children, grand children and great grand children will help Tony and Mickey on April 5th of this year, celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary. Wow isn't that something, 70 years of marriage. That is more years married than most of worlds current population has been alive.

Tony Knap took the reigns of Bronco football in 1968, the first year Boise State became a 4 year school and played 4 year football, it was called Boise College back then.

When Knapp took over the Broncos many fans were worried if he could continue the winning ways of Lyle Smith. Knap did and exceeded all expectations. During his time the Broncos never had a losing season and Knapp took them to their first 10 game winning season. He finished his career at Boise State 71-19-1.

When Knap moved onto UNLV he took his winning ways with him. He coached the Runnin Rebels from 1976 through 1981 retiring at age 66. In UNLV's 40 some years as a football team, Tony Knapp still leads the pack of coaches that preceded him and have followed him with 47 wins.

Knap was known as the Silver Fox because of his silver mane of hair and his offensive genius. While at UNLV he established the four best offensive seasons in school history. The Rebels averaged a record 491.3 yards per game in 1981, 472.1 in 1979, 453.7 in 1977 and 446.2 in 1980. UNLV has averaged 400 yards only four times in the 29 years since Knap retired.

One of Knap's greatest honors came after his stellar coaching career was over. A former player of Knaps from Utah State, Merlin Olsen asked his old coach to induct him into Cooperstown and the Football Hall of fame.


Tony Knap helped make Boise State and UNLV football power houses during his time at each school. Sadly many of today's fans have never heard of the old coach and have no idea what they are missing. It was nothing for a Knap team to throw the ball 40 times per game.

In closing Boise State owes much of its success to Tony Knap and he believed in the Broncos and said something once that left an audience speechless and kind of prophetic when considering most of this last season Boise State was in the chase for the national title game.

One day in Boise, Coach Knap got up before stunned Bronco boosters and media and proclaimed that “ Boise State will one day be a major football power, not just at Division II but in all of college football.”

How did he know that?

That…..is the story of a legend.

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Is Sam Boyd Stadium a Ghost?

Sam Boyd Stadium has been home to the Runnin Rebels for the past 39 seasons and if Neal Smatresk, President of the University of Nevada Las Vegas, and California based billionaire Ed Roski have their way, the Rebels will be a memory.

Sam Boyd is at least two furlongs away from Las Vegas and the UNLV Campus. Built in 1971 with a seating capacity of 15,000, it actually resides in the unincorporated town of Whitney, Nevada. Even though its mailing address is Las Vegas.

I was there in 1976 when Vegas played host to my Boise State Broncos. What a trip it was driving in a caravan of cars from Boise down to Las Vegas. I wont go into details, but lets say over half of the drivers today would have gotten DWI's, self included.

It was the last time these two teams would meet until this upcoming 2011 season. Both teams were division II powerhouses and this was the 6th meeting. Neither team had a win in the other teams house.

In 1974 and 1976 this clash had such drawing power in Nevada each game set a new sports attendance record for the state of Nevada. We were billed as the Boise State Aerial Circus.

What made this game unique was each team had a new head coach. The Runnin Rebels had the wiley veteran head coach Tony Knapp, also known as the river boat gambler and Boise State had Jim Criner. Jim Criner had replaced Tony Knapp as the Boise State coach in 1976 as Knapp had moved onto UNLV.

What I most remember is how long it took to get out to the stadium, it really was out in the sticks. It was a state of the art stadium only 5 years old and like in the pros they sold beer in the stadium.

Today Sam Boyd Stadium plays host to many events and can currently seat 36,800 fans. The stadium has hosted the Las Vegas Bowl since 1992 and in 2005 when nationally ranked Brigham Young came to play in the bowl game, adding additional seats in the open end north end zone, the set a new attendance record of 44,615 the largest crowd in state history to ever see a team sport contest.

Now it appears all that might come to an end. UNLV President Smatresk and Ca. business man Ed Roski want to form a public-private partnership and build a new domed stadium close to The Strip and the UNLV campus. Tomorrow, Tuesday Feb 1st it is expected they will hold a press conference announcing the plans. What they purpose is a new domed stadium and entertainment center that will be state of the art.

What will become of Sam Boyd Stadium is not clear other than it will no longer be home to Runnin Rebels of UNLV.

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Boise State Broncos -Titus Young & Austin Pettis

Today the Senior Bowl is played in Mobile, Alabama, a opportunity for many of colleges best seniors to show case their football skills and increase their stock in the up coming NFL Draft. Its a big day for a lot of kids and their families. Of all the post season bowls, like the Shrine Bowl, this is probably the single most important bowl game for the college seniors. Each team is coached by an NFL coaching staff. General managers are there, kids interviewed by different pro teams, this the biggest and final showcase for players to make their case as to why they should be drafted.

What I like about it, is its based in large by talent, not just the name of a conference or school. Players from all over the country are invited regardless if they played for Auburn, Bama,Texas or even smaller lesser known schools like the Boise State Broncos.

Boise State has two players in today's game, Titus Young and Austin Pettis, for us Idaho spud peelers that is pretty big doings. Pettis and Young are the two best receivers to ever play on "The Blue." That is what we call our field, guess cause the field really is blue.

In today's game Young will be wearing the #2 jersey and Pettis #1, just the opposite of what they wore their senior season. I will share a bit of each of their history, to me that Titus is in today's game is amazing in and of its self.

Austin Pettis: Boise States all time leading receiver and receiving touch downs. The scouts really seem to like Pettis. Hi speed and ability to separate are questionable, but he does have good hands and the ability to shield the ball from defenders and the ability to get open. There are two plays by Pettis that just stand out for me, they were awesome. The first one was in his junior year, I think against Tulsa. Pettis ran a fade route and went up for the ball, the defender never turned around. The pass was under thrown. Pettis exhibited his body control, as he made his jump he was able to see the ball was under thrown and folded over the defender and caught a ball for 6 that would have hit the defender square in the numbers.

The second play also took place in his junior year in the Fiesta Bowl. Pettis was coming off a broken ankle and surgery. The guy could hardly walk and barely make a cut. Pettis got into the game and some how got open and made a critical first down catch. I was amazed at his dedication to his team, his ability to some how get open and jump and make that catch.

Mel Kiper projects Pettis as a 4th or 5th round draft pick. Today he has the opportunity to lock that in or even raise his stock.

Titus Young: Young was Boise States speed merchant and deep threat receiver and holds the Bronco record of most receiving yards. To me this is where the Titus Young story gets interesting.

During Young's sophomore year he was suspended for like a game and half at the beginning of the season, seems he needed some attitude readjustment time. Young was barely back in the line up before what happened before got him suspended for the rest of the season and kicked off the team. Coach Pete would not even talk to Titus, but there was some sort of window of opportunity to get back on the team left open.

Most people expected Young to transfer to another school and take the easy way out. I don't know what Pete and his staff have that Young wanted so badly but he stayed and ate what ever humble pie necessary to rejoin the team.

His junior year saw some changes in attitude but he still had that showboat its about me tendencies. Once Titus got in the end zone he had excessive celebration penalties plague him all season, especially when the games were televised.

Titus had three plays I will always remember. During the 2009 Fresno State game played there. Running back Jermey Avery got to the edge and rambled for what have been around a 60 yard score. As Avery approached the goal line a Fresno player slapped the ball from his arms. It looked as if the ball would roll through the end zone giving Fresno a two point safety and the ball. Young followed the play all the way down, jumping on the ball and turning a disaster into a Boise State touchdown.


That same season against the University of Idaho on kick off his guys signaled take a knee. In stead Titus took it out of the end zone and ran it back for a 103 yard touchdown.

The catch in what proved to be a losing effort against the Nevada Wolf Pack.


ESPN's Mel Kiper sees Young as a second or third round draft pick.

Their days at Boise State are over, the memories they created will long endure and I do hope the best for them in pros. Titus, Austin thanks for the memories

Are the Utah Utes & Norm Chow A Good Fit?

Now that it is a done deal and Norm Chow returns to the Utah Utes, where he was an offensive linemen from 1965 through 1967, it begs the question will Coach Chow be a good fit for Utah?

My unqualified opinion is yes, he is the perfect fit for the University of Utah Utes.

1. Utah has left the MWC and joined what is now the PAC12.
Chow gives the Utes instant street cred. Given his years at USC and UCLA the man knows the conference inside out. Chow will be indispensable in the transition from MWC to the PAC 12.

2. Recruiting, Utah now has to recruit at a higher level to try to compete in the new conference. Chow gives them recruiting credibility they need. His offenses are legendary and have won national championships. His ability to develop quarterbacks is second to none. The QB list is comprised of Heisman Trophy winners and Super Bowl winners.

3. His offensive strategies already compliment the type of athletes the Utes have on the roster. They should not miss a beat and should be able to move more quickly to make the transition from MWC competitors to viable competition in the PAC 12.

Don't get me wrong, I think it will take a few years for the Utah Utes to make the climb to the top half of the conference. They are coming into a conference that has better teams, better athletes than what they currently enjoy. Adding Chow to the coaching staff will only accelerate the process.

The Utah Utes could finish the 2011 season around 6th or 7th. They should be able to beat the Colorado Buffaloes who are in total disarray. They should be able to handle the Washington State Cougars who are years away from being the team that went to the Rose Bowl. I do think they can win a close one against Arizona State. Washington without Locker that could be a toss up. However the Huskies head coach and DC Nick Holt know Chow as well as he knows them. If the game is played in Utah I like the Utes in a close one. UCLA has too many growing pains to work through to be a contender in 2011 and Utah should get the W there while the Bruins develop their offense and recruit players that will work in their version of the Pistol.

Given Norm Chows record and reputation I think he is the perfect fit for the University of Utah Utes and is exactly what the doctor ordered to help Utah transition from the MWC to the new PAC 12.

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Norm Chow & The Utah Utes

I know, I am late and a dollar short on this post. Last week was rife with rumors that UCLA OC genius Norm Chow was headed back to his alma mater the University of Utah to become the OC for the Utah Utes. Saturday the rumors were laid to rest with confirmation that the job change had taken place.

Actually it was all very poorly handled, the same day the Utah Utes announced they had Norm Chow in the fold as their new OC, slick Rick Neuheisel announced they had a new OC.

Anyone that saw the Bruins play this season knows they had a very poor offense this season far below the Chow standards. Was it Chows undoing at UCLA? Yes but in my opinion it was not his fault. Simply put square pegs and round holes don't work.

Neuheisel has changed the offensive strategies for the UCLA Bruins, they are one of the newest converts to the Pistol Offense. Norm Chow is just a Pistol Offense coach, the athletes recruited to UCLA are not Pistol oriented. It will take time for the Bruins to stock the shelves with players that can operate in the new offensive scheme.

It was time for Chow to leave, the differences in offensive strategies were to wide to bridge. The upside is Chow does get to return to his alma mater and Neuheisel will be able to employ some one that can install and operate an effective Pistol Offense.

Michael Vick: Is The Jury Still Out?

As Micheal Vick continues to play and the quality of his game improves he seems to be winning over more fans and sports writers. As he continues to perform his court ordered community services he appears to be winning over more people outside the world of sports and football.

Recently Vic has taken a couple of more steps in rebuilding his public image and attempting to get more social acceptance. Not to long ago he did some local endorsement work for a company named Woodbury Nissan. Reported is that Vic received no compensation for the commercials done a few months ago and from what I have read, there were no backlashes against Woodbury Nissan.

Things in the business world have picked up for Michael Vic, he has his first commercial endorsement deal since being released from prison. It is not one of the mega deals he enjoyed before his dog fighting arrest and conviction. He did not land a deal with a company like Nike.

Unequal Technologies has inked a deal with Vick the public face of the company. Sources say it is very a very lucrative deal. Unequal is a national company but their product isn't main stream like shoes or Ipods, they are the manufactures of the protective vests that Vick and so many other quarterbacks wear to protect their ribs when playing football.

As yet no commercials have been shot nor has Vick been pressed into service marketing the product. Vick is slowly inching his way into mainstream endorsement deals and will he succeed, will the general public accept him? Until the commercials are run and printed and there is a public response I would have say on Micheal Vick the jury is still out.

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Football Senior Bowl 2011

The Mobile Under Armour Senior Bowl will be played this Saturday January 29th at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Kick off is slated for 3pm central standard time on the NFL Network.

The South Team will feature 22 players from the SEC, including Arkansas's Mackey Award Winner D.J. Williams. Missing from the SEC stars are guys like Cam Newton who don't need the Senior Bowl to increase their stock in the upcoming NFL Draft, but there will be stars a plenty from all of your favorite SEC Teams.

As a Boise State fan I am really excited to see two Broncos in the Senior Bowl, I think this is the best we have ever done, placing two in the game. The WAC has five players representing the conference and the Broncos are represented by the two best receivers in Boise State history, Titus Young and Austin Pettis. Also representing the North Team will be an Big Twelve Backfield with four 1,000 yard rushers like Kansas State's Daniel Thomas, from Oklahoma State Kendall Hunter.

Each team is coached by a NFL Team coaching staff. This year the North will be coached by the Cincinnati Bengals Staff and the South by the Buffalo Bills staff.

Each year the Senior Bowl has what they call the Senior Bowl Super Star competition and the winner gets to sing the National Anthem at the game and on the NFL television Network. This years winner hails from Spanish Fort, Alabama and is junior at Spanish Fort High School. Congrats to 17 yr old Rebecca Womack.

Anyhow this years Senior Bowl is laden with talent and future NFL stars and I for one look forward to watching the NFL stars of tomorrow play this Saturday at 3pm Central Time on the NFL Network.

UCONN Huskey Football: Rebellion In The Ranks

Last season was a dream season for the UCONN Husky football program. They were the Big East Conference Champions, the earned a berth to the Fiesta Bowl and an opportunity to play the Blue Bloods of college ball, the Oklahoma Sooners. Sound like the Boise State Cinderella story of 2006. The outcome for the Huskies was different, the Sooners destroyed UCONN and now things have gone from bad to worse.

After a crushing defeat on the deserts of Arizona, UCONN saw its best player bolt for for the NFL Draft. Making matters the coach, Randy Edsall, who guided the Huskies from Division 1AA to ta BCS Bowl, has fled for his "dream job" to Maryland. Sources say he did not even bother to speak to the team before his departure.

Hard to imagine, but from there things got worse. Talk about things going downhill fast, UCONN is the new poster child for the old saying, " just when I didn't think things could get any worse, they did."

Last week UCONN athletic director Jeff Hathaway received a six page scathing letter from Husky supporter Robert G. Burton, CEO of Greenwich, Conn.-based Burton Capital ManagementRobert. This letter expressed in no uncertain terms Burton's chagrin at being left out of the hiring loop and was particularly disenchanted with the hiring of former Syracuse coach, Paul Pasqualoni.

Apparently Burton had a son who played football under the tutelage of Pasqualoni and he didn't care for the coach. Below is a copy of Burton's letter.

Burton informed UConn Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway of his intentions via a six-page letter dated Jan. 19, a copy of which was obtained by The Day. […]

"After we get our money back, you can take our name off the complex," wrote Burton, who also has a luxury box at Rentschler Field and who donated more than $1 million to endow two scholarships at the school.

Burton cited philosophical disagreements with Hathaway and his management style as reasons for his decision to end his involvement with UConn.

"The primary reason (former coach) Randy (Edsall) took another job is because he couldn't work with you," Burton wrote in the letter to Hathaway. "You are not qualified to be a Division I AD and I would have fired you a long time ago. You do not have the skills to manage and cultivate new donors."

According to the letter, Burton called Hathaway on Jan. 3 and asked to be "kept in the loop" with the hiring process for the next football coach. It was "the same process that (former Athletic Director) Lew Perkins had with me when Randy was hired."

Burton also wanted to "provide insight" about coaching candidates who he felt "would be a good fit." Burton wrote that he didn't hear from Hathaway again until Jan. 13, when the process ended.

"I was not looking for veto power," Burton wrote. "Your lack of response on either of these requests tells me that you do not respect my point of view or value my opinion.

Since Burton's son Micheal played for the Huskies back in 1999 and was captain of the football team, Burton has donated over $7m to UConn. Now as the letter implies he wants some of his money back, $3m to be exact.

Adding insult to injury, Subsequently, he's threatened not only to revoke his donation, but also to give up his $50,000-per-year luxury suite ("You already have many other empty boxes at Rentschler. My box will just join the list."), cut off an annual $20,000 donation for summer coaching clinics, transfer all remaining scholarship dollars from football to the business school, and begin training "front line managers" for his company at Syracuse's business school instead.

The timing could not have been worse for UConn when considering donations to the UConn athletic department are reportedly down $9 million from five years ago.

Let this be a lesson for aspiring athletic directors, and managers in all fields, really: When considering major decisions, always, always value the opinion of the guy whose name is on one of the buildings you go to work in. Otherwise, there won't be any more buildings anytime soon, and even if there are, you're not going to be working in them.

The material for this article and most of the quotes are derived from an article published by Matt Hinton: Top UConn donor wants his money (and his name) back over Huskies' new coach


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Fired Over A Green Bay Packers Tie?

We sports fans are a crazy bunch, that's for certain. Fired over a tie? Isn't that taking things a bit to far? John Stone was fired yesterday from a Chicago area car dealership.

Seems when Stone showed up to work Monday morning sporting a Green Bay Packer tie he was violating company policy. Granted he is in the Chicago area and his dealership had been running promotions involving the Chicago Bears but firing him over a tie seems a bit much even for sports fans.

I have no doubt in my mind, such as it is:}that Mr. Stone is not the innocent he proclaims. He knew his dealership was pro Chicago Bears and that wearing a Green Bay Packer tie would ruffle some feathers. His justification that he wore the tie to remember his late grand mother does hold some substance. When he was asked or told as the case might be to remove the tie, common sense says remove the tie.

Firing the man, to me that sounds a bit over the top. He was insubordinate for refusing to remove the tie and get back to work. Seems to me sending him for a day would have been an adequate form of discipline.

The game is over and the post game drama continues, one guy is fired for wearing a tie. The newest on Jay Cutler is he walked up stairs to a private dining area after the game, making him more suspect for being a quitter.

To me it appears some fans are just taking it to far. Thats my take what is yours?