Two Liners

The hiring of Dennis Erickson by Utah was vigorously endorsed by the Utah Department of Corrections.   It seems wherever Erickson coaches, the population in the local corrections facilities diminish....

Kudos to the Oregon football program for encouraging their athletes to be multi-sport participants.   Now if only this generosity would  filter down to our high schools.....

Texas running back Dontre Wilson changed his mind and headed for Ohio State instead of Oregon.  Must have decided tattoos were better than sneakers....

Under Armour is suing Nike for the use of the phrase "I Will".   In other developments, the Greek Goddess Nike has retained legal counsel to sue the shoe company for unauthorized use of her name.....

The Detroit Lions have identified 4 areas of need for 2013; safety, defensive end, cornerback, and offensive line.   You would think a team that was 23rd in run offense might be looking for a running back.....

Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said, "It's not the end of the world," regarding the cuts scheduled to take place on Friday.  Easy to say when you are pulling down $174,000 a year and the poor schmucks who are going to lose their jobs are just making ends meet.....

Just Sayin'

     Bigotry in Canada?    Toronto pitcher Mark Buerhle will be forced to leave his family behind when he takes his place on the Blue Jays pitching staff.    His family will remain in the states so that they don't bring in a family member who is not welcome, Slater, one of their dogs.  Why?   The province of Ontario has a ban on Slater's breed, the Staffordshire Terrier.  

     Wait Staffordshire, isn't that part of England - and isn't Canada part of the British Commonwealth?   Hmmm, seems like picking on one of your own family members.  And all this time I thought the Canucks were enlightened.    I wonder if they'll place a ban on all Slovaks, after all, we are pretty intimidating, oh wait, Slovaks can play hockey, they must be OK.   Solution to the Buerhle's, teach Slater to skate and he's in!

    Recently, the IOC voted to eliminate wrestling from the 2020 Olympics.   One of the original sports in both the ancient and modern games, it seems a tragedy to drop a "founding father".   All is not lost, wrestling is in the running for the final sport in the games against seven others - baseball, karate, wushu, squash, softball, roller sports, sport climbing, and wake boarding. My vote, keep it.   We need to respect some traditions (I know this coming from a guy who loves the designated hitter) and maintain our link with past games.   Wrestling in this form has no other pinnacle, the Olympics are this sport's top honor.    When we look at the others I have a hard time thinking one of them would bump grappling.    Baseball, no, they have a pro outlet.   Karate and wushu?   Nope, we already have two martial arts in Judo and Tae Kwon Do.   Squash, roller sports, sport climbing, and wake boarding.   Get a grip, would ya?  


     Why not Recliner Chair Remote Control Switching?    Softball may be the only serious contender in this list, but I still vote for wrestling.

     After watching the WSU - UO basketball game, I think a special award is due one of the Cougar hoopsters.    In recognition of the amount of time he spent on his back, I award the Dick Fosbury Flop Award to Brock Motum. 


Sorry, the trophy just couldn't stay upright.

Head Scratchers

      On national letter of intent day, I tuned in to all the shows, checking to see how the Ducks had done.   Were there surprises, did we keep the commits?   But instead of reveling over the signees, I was struck that ESPNU had hired, of all ex-coaches, Gene Chizik as a guest analyst on recruiting.    It would seem that speaking to his experience it would only take a few minutes - open your wallet and check with the recruit's parole officer.   And that worked out well for him didn't it?   His recruits were of such high caliber that he was out of a job in only 4 years.  Yes, I am still flailing away at the Auburn program, eventually the cone of silence will be lifted and the Tigers will have to find something else to occupy the space that will be vacated by the National Championship trophy.  How about an autographed picture of Cecil Newton?   I'll bet we can get you one for around $180,000.

Items I will never buy:
Gatorade
Under Armour
Windows 8 phones
Anything from Foot Locker

Why?  All endorsed by Scam Newton.   You see, some of us have to stand on principle.   

     A real mystery is the ability of Ole Miss to have the #2 recruiting class in the nation!   How does a 7 - 6 team rate so highly with recruits.   Must be the lure of beautiful Oxford, the football tradition, or the state of Mississippi and their progressive attitude.......

     However, another 7 - 6 team topped the nation with five 5 star recruits - USC!   Wow, the tradition is gone guys, why?   A simple answer, the best agents seem to be based out of L.A.   We saw from last year that the Trojans play as individuals and give up when they realize they're not coming out on top.  They were nothing but front runners that weren't worthy of their 2012 pre-season #1 ranking.   It seems it's one season-long audition for the NFL.  The question here is how long will Lane Kiffen be the head man at USC?

     Speaking of USC, firing your basketball coach in January?  If A.D. Pat Haden thinks this will right the ship, you missed the boat.  Firing O'Neal at the end of last season would have allowed the new coach the chance to recruit.   Now it just looks like the program is in chaos and recruiting will be no easy chore.

     A mother knows best, at least that's what H.S. running back Alex Collins' mom thought when she hid her son's letter-of-intent to Arkansas.   Look, I get it, I don't like Bret Bielema either, but sometimes you just have to let kids make mistakes for them to learn.  How can you argue with a chant like 
Woooooooooo, Pig ! Sooie!
Woooooooooo, Pig ! Sooie!
Woooooooooo, Pig ! Sooie!
Razorbacks!
On second thought, Alex, listen to your mother!

     On to baseball!   The Tigers open spring training games with the Atlanta Braves on February 22nd.   An awkward situation is brewing.   My son-in-law is a staunch Braves fan, while, well, you know my loyalties.  This is the quandary, my grandson has both Tiger and Braves gear, what will he wear that day?  A tough decision for a 5 month old.