The restructuring in football was not exclusive to the NFL's new CBA this year. The Big Ten also welcomed the Nebraska Cornhuskers which resulted in a divisional split up of the conference. The Legends (Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Northwestern) will face the Leaders (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, and Wisconsin) in the all new Big Ten Championship Game the week after Thanksgiving this year. The championship game is a great addition to the Big Ten season, but it will make create a clear winner instead of the three way tie that seems so common in the Big Ten.
no comments
Earlier in the week I brokedown Alabama's linebacking corps, which I view as the strength of our defense. Some others, however, believe that our secondary will be our strongest unit. And they have good reason to believe that.
no comments
Tonight, with tempered expectations, the Jurgen Klinsmann experiment begins. Just over a week after Sunil Gulati named Klinsmann the head coach of the USMNT, Klinsmann and his rag-tag group of Americans enter the pitch in Philadelphia to take on El Tri like Johnny Depp in Once Upon a Time in Mexico. And just like Depp in the aforementioned movie, it will probably not end too well. Still, that doesn't mean one shouldn't have hope.
If you were with front office blogs last year, you may remember this series of blogs breaking down each of Alabama's positions leading up to the season. It got some good reviews, so I am bringing it back this year. Without further adu, I will break down one of Alabama's best corp of players: the linebackers. no comments
Trades, free agents, and cuts, all words that are synonymous with the “free agency frenzy” of 2011 following the NFL lockout. Many deals were made, but one thing is for sure; people got paid. The Eagles hit the jackpot with Nnamdi Asomugha, the Patriots made clever deals to facilitate their needs (as always), the Cardinals finally picked up a decent quarterback, the Seahawks retooled their offense with Tavaris Jackson and others, and the rest of the league had some average pickups. A lot went on in just three days, but who made the best of the three day “free agency frenzy?”
no comments
Suddenly the upcoming friendly against Mexico got a whole lot more interesting.
When a soccer story makes the front ticker of ESPN, you know it is a big deal. Last night's firing of Bob Bradley is as big as soccer stories get in the United States.
Bradley should have never been resigned in the first place. Most countries do not hold onto a national team coach for more than one World Cup cycle. However, the United States Soccer Federation is not like the rest of the world. They had Bruce Arenas as its coach for 9 years. Then they put Bradley --who in turn was a top assistant for Bruce Arena-- in place for the five years following that. This makes it so the USMNT has been running with pretty much the same coaching style for 14 years, or 3 World Cup Cycles.
no comments
So, I wake up this morning to what I thought was the first sign of the Apocalypse and no I don't mean the never ending congressional budget debate. I mean, the Patriots seemingly taking Albert Haynesworth in trade for a 5th round pick or something thereabouts.
no comments
No one ever starts to play a sport and says, "Gee, I hope I'm really average at this." This is why All-Conference teams exist as early as elementary school. They are there to award the best-of-the-best, with yet another meaningless award. These "teams", who never even see the field as a perfomring unit, are basically promotional tools to let spectators know who they should be watching in years to come.
no comments
Most athletes think that if they win a certain game they are victorious. If they win a Super Bowl, a World Series, a Stanley Cup, a World Cup, then they can say they are victorious. Most people think that they are victorious if they achieve a certain place in life, job, money, success. But for some, just living is to be victorious. Mark Herzlich is one such person.
no comments
There's something about the new Longhorn Network and ESPN affiliation that strikes me just a little too close to pimping. Maybe, I'm just not understanding the situation but it seems like just another college football team skirting the edges of the rules.
no comments
