Two things.
One, I keep typing “S-E-X” instead of “S-E-C”, and I’m not sure what that says about me.
And two: someday, I will give you substantive analysis on a Friday afternoon. Today is not that day.
Louis Murphy, of Florida, and others.
Vintage(and groundbreaking) hottie!
The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on their News Blog yesterday that the planned Ernie Davis statue at Syracuse University is suffering from an unfortunate case of anachronism:
The bronze sculpture, unveiled on the campus on Saturday, depicts Mr. Davis wearing Nike cleats and a jersey with a swoosh across his chest, the Associated Press reports. The problem? Mr. Davis hung up his cleats at Syracuse in 1961, years before the brand existed. The university said the mistakes were those of the sculptor, who also included a too-modern helmet.
I love when my good feelings turn out right. Today my boy Rey Maualuga, the one I posted about on Friday, ran an interception 48 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter against Ohio State.
And then humped it.
Now, I am not, of course, always right on these things. Like when fackin’ Tom Brady went down. But whatever, I have Philip Rivers – that’ll work, right? Oh God. I hope so.
Rey Maualuga, 6'3", 255, LB for USC.
I was under the impression that linebackers were, you know, rather lumpy. Not pretty, or at least not appealing to my own sensibilities. Then this cat from USC started showing up in ads and on my television.
Why was I not made aware of this sooner?
More Rey, and other hottie prospects for next year’s NFL and NBA drafts, after the jump.
Around the Horn needlessly assaulted my eyeballs with that one picture of David Hasselhoff with a sharpei on his…self. If you don’t know the picture, you can see it here, but I don’t recommend it. ANYWAY, that visual attack came out of nowhere and totally interrupted by afternoon rythm. Thanks, AtH. Ugh.
Anyway…sports stuff.
Badass! Closer Joakim Soria squashed the Twins' hope for the Wild Card this afternoon.
More baseball and some football, after the jump. Continue reading
[Note: I had this big multi-category weekend preview post planned, and then I woke up Thursday with the dreaded "Flu-like symptoms." Apologies for any fever-induced factual errors.]
Growing up in Oklahoma may not have made me a cowgirl, but it did make me a huge college football fan. Recent thefts of NBA franchises aside, college football is professional sports in Oklahoma (insert NCAA violations jokes here; it’s okay, I can take it). As long as it’s not my Sooners, however, nothing delights me more than a big time football program losing to a tiny I-AA (or FCS, as it’s now known) school. You know, like this:
This couldn’t possibly happen again, right? Surely, all of the Top 25 teams playing FCS (nope, still not used to it) will have spent the last week being warned by their coaches about underestimating their opponent, right?
I read a piece in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune this weekend about Eric Decker, wide receiver for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers football team. It was well-written, thoughtful and informative. But what caught my eye was the picture. So I started looking for wide receivers in the Big 10 to see who’s hot. Because he’s hometown (for me, at least), Eric gets top billing here. But follow me after the jump to see who else is on top for WRs in the Big 10.
I went to my best friend’s wedding this weekend. During the 8-hour drive back, I started thinking about what were some of the Best Sporting Timeframes. With no further ado, here are my choices. Feel free to argue with me in the comments.
Yay Giants!
Best Sporting Day
1. The Super Bowl. You get together with your friends, eat good food, drink a lot, gamble on the game and laugh at the commercials. The game is secondary. And every once in awhile you get a year like this past one where the game lives up to the hype. Awesome.
2. Opening Day. Baseball begins. The smell of spring, the crack of the bat, the sun shining on a beautiful April day. Perfection.
3. January 1st. Hangover from the night before, wall-to-wall college football, in games that usually feature good teams, and generally good food and more alcohol when you’re recovered (or maybe you’re lucky enough to wake up drunk).
I forgot to put the quiz answers in my post today. Here is the NCAA Helmet Quiz, if you’d like to participate. If you are just dying to have the answers for any you couldn’t get, they are after the jump.
I hope you all have something awesome to do today. I just found a Jaws marathon on AMC, so now I know what I’ll be doing from 9:30 am til 5:00 pm today. That’s Jaws I-III, for those of you keeping score at home. Jaws IV sucks balls. II and III suck balls too, but in that so-bad-they’re-awesome way.* IV just sucks big fat donkey balls. Michael Caine should be ashamed of himself. At 5:00 pm my relatives are coming over and we’re grilling succulent pork loin, eating my mom’s killer potato salad, drinking all the sangria we can drink and watching Cubs/Cards. It’s a good day.
But in case you don’t have any good plans or you just want something to entertain you while you put up with your yucky relatives, here is a very fun activity that it took me the better part of yesterday to complete. It is an NCAA Helmet Quiz (just click and “save” to your desktop) where you identify the school that goes with each helmet. Trust me, it’s harder than it sounds.
Today is about one thing-watching basketball from noon until midnight. And as I’m pretty sure even the college basketball hater is going to be plopping him/herself down on a bar stool or a couch sometime today let’s hurry and get to some of the bigger non-college basketball stories from yesterday.
Saturday was our last chance to lay eyes on many of our NCAA honeys before the draft. Who sizzled? Who fizzled? Who’ll be fielding calls from scouts, and who’ll be sitting at home crying with their hair in hot rollers (or, as Brady Quinn calls it, “Thursday”)?
HOT: Erik Ainge, QB, Tennessee.
Our boy wasn’t even supposed to be at the game, but there he was—taking Brian Brohm’s roster slot and Offensive MVP honors, and handing off the winning TD to…
Continue reading
Tennessee 21, Wisconsin 17. Not the most satisfactory of endings, but that’s appropriate, given our year. After a season of What The Hell, his game wrapped up every plot thread like a proper finale should.
As everyone predicted, Rutgers pounced on Ball State, defeating them 52-30. The story of the game was Ray Rice.
He was simply it: 4 TDs and 280 yards, including a 90-yard score. Rice ended the season with 2,012 yards. Mike Teel, who has garnered a lot of ridicule from me this season, played brilliantly, with 3 TDs and 303 yards. (Of course, he still had an INT. But, we’ll let that one slide.) Continue reading
49-17?? This game shouldn’t have even happened. No one wins. Not the Grandaddy Bowl, which takes a massive PR hit. Not Rashard Mendenhall, a consistently entertaining watch whose 155-yard game was overshadowed by his team taking it in the mouth for four quarters. Not Desmond Reed, whose endzone gymnastics should have been encouraged, not penalized, in the name of giving us something interesting to look at. Certainly not the fans of the game (entertaining though it was to watch the Trojans rack up 633 yards of offense, we will now be treated to another offseason of their media darlinghood..and I say that as a fan of USC).
Kansas was the underdog. The underdog finally won a game. The Jayhawks beat Virginia Tech 24-21 in what turned out to be the best BCS bowl game so far. Who would have thought that? Todd Reasing had an okay game with 227 yards and a TD. And ZZ Top performed at halftime. As someone that was born when ZZ Top stopped being relevant (I’m assuming), good for them for still booking shows. Even if it is in a stadium that wasn’t full in the beginning of January. But this is about Kansas. As you guys know I love celebration pictures so that’s what you’re gonna get.
I know I should do a recap for the Citrus-excuse me, Capital One-Bowl but right now I could care less about stats and crap. Chad Henne had a great game. Adrian Arrington had a great game. Percy Harvin had a great game for the Gators. Hell, even Tim Tebow had a good game when he wasn’t on his back. I’m not going to brag. I’m not going to talk about Heismans or SEC Speed. I’m not going to talk about what could have, should have been this season. I’m not going to talk about the new coach, effective today. Right now, I’m going to take a few moments to completely enjoy the fact that my team won a game that no one, not even Michigan fans, thought they could win. I’m going to take a moment to be happy for the only coach I’ve ever known throughout my fandom so far. I’m going to take a moment to be happy that the seniors get to go out with a win.
More celebration pics… Continue reading
So ya know all that talk about how undefeated Hawaii hadn’t played anybody but maybe they’d beat Georgia and have a strong case against getting left out of the national championship game? Yeah…(/Lumberg).
This game was U-G-L-Y. Somewhere around Georgia’s 52nd touchdown, my mom and I turned it off and watched 3 episodes of the West Wing (including The Supremes, which is in my top 10 of the entire series even if it is in Season 5. Glenn Close rules all and I find William Fichtner strangely attractive). I was really hoping for some kind of Boise State Miracle, but instead tt felt vaguely like watching a big bully beat up a runty hippie kid for his lunch money. Continue reading
Ah, two blowouts. Makes it a little easier on me. Especially since I, ah, didn’t get a chance to watch the games as I was getting ready for our New Year’s party where my parents-and the whole family- were going to be introduced to the BF. I know, I know! I’m sorry.
Oregon put the whoop ass on South Florida, 56-21, and Oklahoma State did the same against Indiana, 49-33. Onto the pics! Continue reading
Are you a college football fan? Do you hate going from blog to blog, website to website trying to find recaps on all the games you just couldn’t see from beginning to end on New Year’s eve? Did you go out and party and get drunk and don’t remember the games you thought you saw? Well then today’s your lucky day, because for one day only we’re offering you a 3-in-1 bowl special! You’ll get three recaps in one post! No clicking around, no finding highlight, no having to go to the rival site to find some pictures, it’s all here! And when you click on the jump we’ll give you a free bottle of Johnnie Walker Black! Because Lord knows if you’re reading about Georgia Tech, Florida State, and Clemson football you need it. But that’s not all! We’ll also give you some food from one of the sponsors. It’ll go well with the bottle of liquor, plus it’s the best chicken sandwich around.
It’s the Blue Turf, music, and peaches! So don’t wait, order your 3-in-1 Bowl special now!
I jumped to cover the Independence Bowl based on the wide margin of hate available. Nowhere else in the 2007 postseason is a team that’s been such a large part of my life (Colorado and the MAJESTIC BUFFALO) facing a team I so loathe (Alabama, and the presence of Saban in Tuscaloosa is only exacerbating things). The prospect of a lovely pink soapbox from which to broadcast my everlasting disdain for the Crimson Tide was a delicious one. I had planned to award these guys some sort of medal.
And then I read Spencer Hall’s Sporting News column on the matchup. And he took (seriously, seriously mild) shots at Shreveport. And the people of this fine metropolis rose up, pitchforks in hand, to write their Congressperson ululate about it on the internet, which fixes everything, and that’s about where the trouble started. As one commenter put it,
The Independence bowl was only singled out because if you say POULAN WEEDEATER BOWL out loud, it’s kinda funny. What is certain, though, is that people in Shreveport are passionately proud of their city and their culture, and they are just a bit touchy. A bit. Touchy….
As an added bonus, several clever trolls figured out how to make LARGE!RED!LETTERS! in their comment boxes. It was positively FanHousian. And it was time to bring back the Poetry Slam.
Standard disclaimer: I swear, I did not make any of these up. Original spelling, grammar, and punctuation have been preserved. All [sic]s implied.
Your designated Big 10 representative for the evening (Lady Andrea) and the only Big XII representative around these parts (me) were both tasked with a difficult job: watch the Alamo Bowl. Doesn’t sound hard- except that every single other person in the country was watching the Patriots take on the Giants. But Lady A’s allegiance to the Big 10 and my hatred of the Aggies is so strong that we persevered.
Since I’m 99% sure no one else watched the Alamo Bowl- here’s our play-by-play of the important action. You will notice we did not make one single “Remember the Alamo!” pun.
Sometimes you watch college football and think, “Gee willikers! This is so exciting! Balls are just a’flying every which way! Anything can happen!”
Sometimes you watch college football and think, “Jesus fucking christ, it is the opening kickoff and they cannot catch the ball. MORE. GIN. NOW.”
Michigan State and Boston College both tried their damnedest to lose this game. 7 turnovers in all, 5 by Michigan State. And yet, at the end, the Spartans had a real shot to win it. They kind of pissed it down their legs, though, with “tricky” plays like the QB running backwards for 12 yards on a 4th and inches instead of handing the ball to the damn fullback and punching it through. Big Ten Bowl record: 1-1. Sigh.
In part 2 of what is sure to become a regular series here at Ladies where I ogle barely-legal football players (seriously, these fellas are born in ’87 and ’88), I’d like to share with you the festivities from the Champs Sports Bowl Kickoff Luncheon. Following the Quiche Course, Spartan freshman linebacker Jon Misch played the piano. I don’t recognize the piece; I’m assuming it was written by some gentleman who wore a powdered wig at one time or another.
This is the logo for the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs. You do not need to see the bowl logo, or to know anything else about tonight’s matchup (because it’s at 8:00 on a Friday night on the NFL Network; you won’t even see the damned thing), apart from the following:
Why, hello, Colt McCoy. Aren’t you looking all fine with that Offensive MVP trophy and those awesome Texas guns? I’m so glad to see you show up in San Diego at the Holiday Bowl without bringing along those friends of yours Mr. Int and Mr. Erception — you know, the ones that have been hanging around you all season. (Although I did notice that you couldn’t get rid of the other member of the Suck Trio, Mr. Fumble – but considering the scoreboard, I’ll forgive you.) You’re like our own Matt Saracen, all grown up – wide-eyed and full of small-town boyish charm. I am required by Texan law to lavish schmoopy praise on our QB- especially when his name is Colt McCoy, as clearly he was destined to lead us to victory with a name like that. (See? There I go again!)
Heck, now that I think of it, just about every member of the Longhorns team that stepped on the field last night looked pretty darned hot– winning will do that for you. Why don’t you all take a step forward so we can appreciate your hotness. NOT SO FAST, CHRIS JESSIE.
I’m pretty sure that you should never, ever, EVER step foot on the field of play again, unless you are specifically instructed to do so by a member of the coaching staff who is not your stepfather. I’m also pretty sure we need to outfit you with one of those child leash things, so that the coaches can yank you backwards like Phillip the Hyper Hypo if you try to run up and grab a live ball again.
Now that we’ve covered that unpleasantness, we can move on to all the pictures of hotties, after the jump…
So, I’m suddenly very familiar with Dan LeFevour. Hello you. I’m sorry your second-half surge fell short and you lost to Purdue on a last-second field goal. But you still threw for almost 300 yards and had 4 touchdowns. And you’re hot. Here’s my tribute to Mr. LeFevour. Because I’ve got a fever and the only prescription is…more LeFevour.
I feel like the delivery boy in Big Daddy, except instead of screaming, “He get all da easy ones!” I’m screaming, “They get all da exciting ones!” Seriously. So far we’ve had a great Utah/Navy that came right down to the wire and last night BYU tips a game-winning field goal to hold on against UCLA. Very exciting stuff. The New Mexico Bowl? Not so much.
Few things give a sports blogger greater pleasure than a team roster that lists personal tidbits on players. Join us after the jump for a bowl prediction based entirely on bio supremacy. UCLA versus Brigham Young. Tonight, 8 PM, ESPN.
