Category: Sports

Commentary and news about sports and sports teams — and media coverage of them.

Heisman factoid

Two schools have had 20 percent of the Heisman Trophy winners; seven each at USC and Notre Dame.

USC: Mike Garrett (1965), O.J. Simpson (1968), Charles White (1979), Marcus Allen (1981), Carson Palmer (2002), Matt Leinart (2004) and Reggie Bush (2005).

Notre Dame: Angelo Bertelli (1943), Johnny Lujack (1947), Leon Hart (1949), Johnny Lattner (1953), Paul Hornung (1956), John Huarte (1964) and Tim Brown (1987).

In all, 70 men have won the Trophy; one of them, Archie Griffin of Ohio State, won it twice.

Sports talk

These two items via Morning Briefing in the Los Angeles Times:

Here’s what another former Trojan had to say about [Reggie] Bush:

“Best college football player I’ve ever seen, and I’ve watched college football for 25 years. I’ve spent over 25 years affiliated with the USC program in athletics, all the way back from my ball-boy days and stuffing envelopes in the sports information office to being an All-American and first-round pick.”

Speaking those words on his Sirius Satellite Radio show was Keyshawn Johnson, born July 22, 1972.

Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News, on the outcome of the Rose Bowl game: “First team to 50 — loses by 14.”

If I were emperor

I would command a 16-team Division I-A football playoff system and today would be the first round:

USC vs. Texas Tech
Texas vs. UCLA
Penn State vs. TCU
Ohio State vs. Alabama
Oregon vs. LSU
Notre Dame vs. West Virginia
Georgia vs. Virginia Tech
Miami vs. Auburn

How cool would that be? As it is, there are no Division I-A games scheduled today.

(My schedule is based on BCS rankings with a few modifications for teams in the same conference.)

Lobos advance

Maryland has defeated SMU 4-1 and New Mexico has beaten Clemson 2-1 in the NCAA Men’s Division I soccer semi-finals.

The Terrapins and Lobos play for the championship Sunday at noon MST (ESPN2).

It’s the birthday

… of Eli Wallach. Tuco is 90. “Hey Blondie, do you know what you are? You’re a stinking son of a….” [Theme starts.]

… of Ellen Burstyn. Alice is 73. Ms. Burstyn has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress five times, winning for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore in 1975. She was also nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for The Last Picture Show.

… of Johnny Bench. The Hall of Fame catcher is 58.

… of Larry Bird. The Basketball Hall of Famer is 49.

… of T.O., Terrell Owens. He’s 32 going on 12.

Bandidos

From a report in The Albuquerque Tribune:

The proudest man in Albuquerque this weekend might be a 57-year-old Peruvian with an eye for talent and a knack for teaching.

Three of the four teams still kicking in the College Cup [the NCAA Division I men’s championship] have Albuquerque natives who played club soccer for the Classic Bandidos, coached by Ricardo Beraun. …

Three of the four were part of Beraun’s core of original Bandidos, formed when the players were 9 years old. Albright joined the team when he was 13. …

Beraun, who briefly played in Peru, focused much of his coaching on technical skill. Each practice began with about 30 minutes of juggling exercises, and Beraun awarded players with special soccer pins if they reached certain milestones.

Those incentives were so strong that the ex-Bandidos still remember their best juggling performances. Ashwill once juggled a ball 2,000 times without it hitting the ground. Moss reached 1,000. Albright said his personal high is about 500.

C’deBaca is precise; his record is 1,029. …

Two of the four play for the New Mexico Lobos, the third for Clemson and the fourth for Maryland. SMU is the other team in the soccer final four.

Beraun, the coach, is a thermal scientist at Sandia National Laboratories.

Update: The New York Times also reports on UNM and Classic Bandidos.

Old-timers’ game

With the football teams of Joe Paterno, 78, and Bobby Bowden, 76, set to square off in Miami on Jan. 3, Orange Bowl slogan writers have reportedly winnowed their list to “Win One For The Geezer” and “One For The Aged.”

Sideline Chatter

Sideline Chatter also reminded me of this:

Oregon — only loss was to USC.
Notre Dame — lost to USC and lost to Michigan State.

Guess which one got the premier bowl game.

Soccer champions are bursting out all over

Fort Lewis College of Durango, Colorado, has won the NCAA Division II men’s national championship, defeating Franklin Pierce College (New Hampshire) 3-1 at Wichita Falls, Texas, today.

And Portland State (Oregon) has won the NCAA Division I women’s national championship, defeating UCLA 4-0 at College Station, Texas.

College Football’s Billy Beane?

Freakonomics author Steven D. Levitt has already gotten to the cover article in today’s NY Times Magazine:

Michael Lewis writes in today’s New York Times Sunday Magazine about Mike Leach, the innovative coach of the Texas Tech football team. As Lewis describes it, Leach takes a totally different view of football and is on the cusp of revolutionizing the game.

It is a very interesting article, and beautifully written. …

Like Moneyball, even though I am suspicious of parts of the argument, it is a thoroughly enjoyable read.

NewMexiKen hasn’t read Lewis’ article yet but one wonders if Leach is all that much of an offensive innovator, to wit: Texas 70-3, USC 66-19.

Go Lobos

The University of New Mexico’s nationally top-ranked men’s NCAA Division I soccer team advanced to the Final Four tonight. The Lobos defeated California 1-0 in OT to move on to the national championship finals in Cary, North Carolina, next weekend. New Mexico’s two previous wins in the tournament have also been in overtime, 1-0 over Cal State-Northridge and 2-2 (5-4) against Wisconsin-Milwaukee. New Mexico will face Clemson in the semi-final next Friday. Clemson has not been scored upon in four championship round games.

Redshirting Your Own Kids

The SportsProf raises some interesting questions. This is just a short excerpt:

Many parents don’t want their kids — especially boys — being the youngest in their grade at school. Are there disadvantages to being the oldest kid in the grade? For example, will the kids of average age write off the oldest kid as less able because if he’s that old and in your grade, mustn’t there be something wrong with him? Or do kids really not think about that type of stuff at all, but rather whether someone is good and nice — or not? And are the decisions made because of a concern about the kid’s overall welfare, or merely about his ability to compete and earn a college scholarship?

What would you do? Suppose you’re not a good athlete and neither is your spouse and your kids haven’t demonstrated any noticeable athletic ability. Suppose one has size and one has speed, and people in your town are putting kids on travel teams at 8 and getting caught up in all sorts of extracurricular sports programs. You hear about kids getting into better colleges, getting better aid, with perhaps some of them getting full rides to a school. What do you do?

BCS in a nutshell

The four BCS bowls are Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose (national championship). Eleven teams have a shot for the eight places.

Six BCS places go to conference champions. USC (Pac 10), Penn State (Big 10) and West Virginia (Big East) are in. Texas (Big 12), Virginia Tech (ACC) and LSU (SEC) play Saturday. If they win, they’re in. If they lose, the team they lose to goes to the BCS (Colorado, Florida State and Georgia respectively).

Two BCS places are left for wildcards. If Texas wins the Big 12 the wildcards will be Notre Dame and Ohio State. If Texas loses to Colorado, Texas will still most likely get a BCS wildcard, bumping Ohio State.

No other teams are in contention for BCS games.

Down the stretch

Jeff Sagarin’s computer has the top six college football teams thus:

1. Texas (11-0)
2. USC (11-0)
3. Penn State (10-1)
4. Ohio State (9-2)
5. Virginia Tech (10-1)
6. Notre Dame (9-2)

If I understand Sagarin’s methodology correctly, the first two are in a class by themselves and evenly matched. The next three teams are also evenly matched. Notre Dame is in a third echelon.

Texas (Colorado), USC (UCLA) and Virginia Tech (Florida State) play next Saturday. The other seasons are complete.

LSU is 11th. They play Georgia Saturday.

Holiday Sports Book and DVD Buying Guide

The Sports Prof has put together a nice list of sports-related books and DVDs just in time for your Christmas list (giving or receiving). His Best Sports Movie Ever? entry has an even longer list of films.

His top movie — Eight Men Out; number two is Hoosiers. NewMexiKen hasn’t seen Eight Men Out, so can’t compare, but my favorite baseball movies are Bull Durham and Bang the Drum Slowly.

The SportsProf’s top-rated sports book is The Glory of Their Times by Lawrence Ritter, about the early stars of baseball. It is indeed a fine book. The Prof says his personal copy cost $2.95 when his dad gave it to him. My copy was $10.

The worst rule in sports

… is the NFL overtime, sudden-death rule. How can any group of supposedly super-competitive people countenance such an unfair procedure? You win the coin toss, you move the ball, you kick a field goal. Other team doesn’t get a chance. Game over. Go home. A tie would be better.

It’s the birthday

… of three generations of sports hall-of-famers. Stan Musial is 85, Earl Monroe is 61, and Troy Aikman is 39.

Also, Kate Hudson’s mother is 60 today. (That’s Goldie Hawn.) “That Girl,” Marlo Thomas is 68.

Update: Aikman is not yet in the Hall-of-Fame. He’s on this year’s list.

Tribes’ Basketball Passion Turns Into Business

From the front page of today’s New York Times, an article on basketball, Indian tribes and the Yakama Sun Kings.

The stands in the SunDome were unusually full Tuesday night when Yakima’s minor league basketball team, the Sun Kings, bounded onto the court for an exhibition game a few days before the start of the season.

The crowd itself was atypical, too, filled with hundreds of members of the Yakama Nation, an Indian tribe that rarely mingles with the world outside its vast reservation about five miles east of here. But in a move that riveted tribes across the country and created a rift among Indians here, leading to the ousting of three tribal officials, the Yakama Nation became the new owners of the Sun Kings last spring.

And after Tuesday’s game, the first at home under the new ownership, the Sun Kings signed an Indian player, a Sioux from Montana who had electrified the crowd with his dazzling shooting for the opposing team. The player, Richard Dionne, a 6-foot-5, 210-pound forward, is believed by officials to be the only American Indian on the roster of the Continental Basketball Association, a national eight-team league that can be a steppingstone to the N.B.A.

The tribal ownership of the team and the signing of Mr. Dionne, 24, who had been playing here for a nonprofit team not in the league, come as Indians are slowly making their way into college, semiprofessional and professional basketball.

Indians have passionately played basketball for decades on the crude courts of reservations, on half-court patches of Alaska’s frozen tundra, or anywhere they can hang a hoop. Now, for the first time, tribes are looking to buy teams as they expand their reach beyond gambling and other traditional tribal businesses.

And this, at the end:

The team’s new logo features a band wrapped around a basketball with two feathers, replacing a flaming ball. And Mr. Palmer, the tribal director, said he would suggest to team and tribal officials that they start home games with an Indian prayer and traditional Yakama drumming, to go along with the Pledge of Allegiance.

USC 50 Fresno State 42

The score doesn’t do it justice.

NewMexiKen watched the second half of the USC-Fresno State game last night (it lasted until after midnight Mountain time). Sports can be more dramatic, but it just doesn’t get much more entertaining.

Down 21-13 at the half, USC scored 21 points in four minutes early in the third quarter to go up 34-21. With that momentum, and superstar Reggie Bush on a record-setting tear, it would be all USC now, right? Wrong. After the teams exchanged touchdowns, Fresno came back with two more TDs (one after a Bush fumble) and the Bulldogs led the number one Trojans 42-41 with 9:47 to play. USC scored again, missed the two-point conversion, but then got a field goal to lead 50-42. Fresno State drove 47 yards to the USC 25, but with a minute left the underdog Bulldogs went for the end zone and were intercepted. Game over. Phew! 58 points in the half.

Bush, despite a key fumble and an unfortunate personal foul, was incredible. Every time he got the ball you expected a 50-yard run. Nearly forced out at the left sideline Bush stops, cuts and scores crossing into the end zone near the other sideline. He had 513 all-purpose yards, including 294 rushing. The 513 was the second best ever in Division 1-A.

Block That Mascot? Bite Your Tongue

Marc Fisher in The Washington Post:

Two major studies show that while activists are busy suing teams, many Indians take no offense. A survey of Indians conducted in 2002 for Sports Illustrated found that 81 percent don’t think high school or college teams should drop Indian nicknames. Asked about the Redskins, 75 percent said the name doesn’t offend them. Last year, the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Election Survey found that 90 percent of Indians did not consider “Redskins” offensive.

Best team name mentioned in the column: Southeastern Oklahoma State University women’s teams — the Lady Savages.