After finding out that West Virginia head man Rich Rodriguez had decided to take the head coaching job at Michigan, we decided to take a look back at what was said last season when he considered heading to Alabama. no one jumped on Rodriguez last season for basically extorting money from the Moutaineers. He feigned interest in Bama, then decided to stay in Morgantown once they ponied up more cash. Plain and simple. Read the rest of this entry »

We were watching one of our favorite sports movies of all-time last night - Hoosiers . You cannot watch that movie without getting goosebumps about 15 different times. But we realized something last night that had not struck us before… how much the music adds to the drama of the movie. Read the rest of this entry »

After reading here that former Atlanta Brave Andruw Jones signed a 2-year, $36 million contract with the Dodgers, we realized something.  The Dodgers of today are the Montreal Expos of the early 90s - only the exact opposite.

Back in the 90s, the Expos used to compile some great young talent.  Guys like Pedro Martinez, Larry Walker, Vladimir Guerrero all got their starts in the MLB with Montreal.  But, they could never hold on to these guys because they did not have enough money to pay the big contracts.

So, in our estimation, the Expos were always like a Triple A team playing in the majors.  Once a player got good enough with the Expos, he then signed with another team for a lot more money.  Pedro went to Boston, Walker to the Rockies, and Vlad to the Angels.

Now, the Los Angeles Dodgers are doing the exact opposite.  They are waiting until a player has already had all his good seasons, then paying him far more money than he’s worth.  If the Expos were a Triple A team masquerading as a big league club, then we guess the Dodgers are a Senior Tour team pretending to contend in the NL West.

Last season, Andruw, who is now 30, batted .222 with 26 homers and a whopping 138 strikeouts.  But you can just add Andruw to the list of guys who have played out their best years with one team before becoming overpaid by the Dodgers to not live up to expectations.

Pitcher Derek Lowe gets $9.5 million per year and has compiled a record of 40-37 in 3 seasons.  Jason Schmidt is getting over $15 million a year, and he has only pitched 6 games for LA.  Rafael Furcal is getting over $13 million to bat .270 as a lead-off hitter.

We would suggest that the Dodgers look into some sponsorship from the AARP.  But for guys just a little past their prime, this is a great opportunity.  For those players out there around 28, they know that they don’t even have to put up big numbers to get signed to a huge deal by LA.  See Andruw Jones example above…

Our only suggestion would be to move the Dodgers down to south Florida.  We’re sure the players would be comfortable taking up residence in Del Boca Vista.

Everyone seems ready to argue about whether or not LSU deserves to play in the title game.  But we think the real question is whether Ohio State deserves to be there?  What have they done to prove it?

In the end, the Buckeyes beat one team ranked in the top 25 of any poll (AP, Coaches, Harris, BCS).  The team they beat was lowly Wisconsin, a team who beat 0 teams now ranked in the top 25 of any poll.  So, the Buckeyes lose to Illinois, beat an very over-rated Michigan team, then back their way in because they only have one loss?  That’s just terrible.

For comparison’s sake, Oklahoma defeated the BCS’s 6th place team, Missouri, twice - most recently by 21 on Saturday night.  Georgia has won 6 games in a row, taking down 2 teams in the BCS top 25 in the process.  Oh, and the Bulldogs had the exact same conference record as LSU.  You can even look at Kansas.  While we don’t think Kansas deserves to be in the title game by any stretch, we think the comparison we did between the two teams a few weeks back is still valid.  Check here for that post.  It really is hard to tell the difference between these two teams.  The only update to that comparison is that you can add a loss to both.  Ohio State’s loss was at home to Illinois, while Kansas lost on a neutral field to Missouri.

From our vantage point, this Ohio State team is worse than last year’s.  And we all know what happened when they met up with the SEC last year.  It was not pretty.  How will this year be any different?  They will be exposed as a slow team who looks totally out-classed next to a good football team.

As of right now, Ohio State is set at about a 6-point underdog to LSU.  We assume that by kick-off it could be as high as 8 or 9 points.  But that got us to thinking, what would the Vegas line be if Ohio State played the other teams in the BCS.  Here’s our guess…

Oklahoma -9 vs. Ohio State
West Virginia -3 vs. Ohio State
Virginia Tech -2 vs. Ohio State
USC -9 vs. Ohio State
Illinois - 3 vs. Ohio State (already beat them once)
Georgia -6 vs. Ohio State
Ohio State - 5 vs. Hawaii
Ohio State - 4 vs. Kansas

We think the real question to be asked why everyone just assumes Ohio State is the right choice?  Our vote would have gone to Oklahoma getting a title shot.  Were it not for a first quarter concussion to Sam Bradford a few weeks ago against Texas Tech, we think the Sooners would be sitting at 12-1 with two wins over Missouri.  If the voters really did vote on who they thought were the best two teams, then either (a) they are idiots, or (b) they lied to themselves.  Either seems like a good answer.

The Clemson football program has shown it’s commitment to remaining barely above average.  That’s right, the Tigers have signed Tommy Bowden to a 4-year extension.  On its way to yet another bowl game, only not a New Year’s Day bowl game, Clemson is showing it believes in what Bowden is putting together… and that it’s happy to always finish somewhere between 3rd and 6th in the ACC.

“As long as we win at least 7 games every year but no more than 10, then this program is right where we want it to be,” athletic director Terry Don Phillips might have said.  “We feel completely confident that every year Coach Bowden will win some games early in the season that give the fan base hope, then inexplicably lose a game we shouldn’t to a team like Wake Forest or Maryland.”

It’s Bowden’s commitment to pulling off a big win in September that really pleases Phillips.  Of course, there is also the guarantee of a few unexpected losses along the way to make things exciting.  This season, for example, it looked like Clemson could make the ACC title game - only the Tigers fell to Boston College at home in November.  And the 13-3 debacle at Georgia Tech was solid gold.

“Any coach that can motivate his team to win at Florida State and manage to lose to Duke in the same season is our kind of guy,” Phillips likely said.  “We aim to get to no better bowl than the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl every year, and we know that Bowden will give us that opportunity.  Of course, throw in the occasional Music City Bowl or Champs Sports thing as well.  But once he got us back to the promised land in Atlanta on New Year’s Eve yet again, we knew Tommy was the right fit for at least four more years.”

We applaud Phillips for his commitment to mediocrity.  With a few bounces going their way, we feel certain the Tigers can go 8-4 or 9-3 again next season.  Maybe they’ll lose to North Carolina State next year - that has happened in a while.  But no matter what, pencil in the Tigers for a final season ranking in the Top 25 but outside the top 10.

We first read about this story yesterday involving an attack by a monkey in Rutherford, NC.  However, our inside sources today are reporting that the monkey plans on appealing immediately on the grounds of a violation of its due process rights, namely a faulty line-up produced by the authorities.

The monkey, who asked to remain nameless, claims that just a lineup of “pets” made it easy for the woman to identify him,  the only monkey in the entire lineup.  In fact, the monkey has supplied us with the photos used in the actual lineup utilized by police and animal control.

We here at CIV think the monkey has a pretty solid case.  Additionally, the monkey has claimed he will also file a lawsuit for defamation based on the clerk implying he might have rabies.  The monkey feels certain rabies were not an option, seeing as “the animal never really went outdoors.”

Porn star Mary Carey, who rose to fame in her gubernatorial campaign against Arnold Schwarzenegger, is keeping it real by auctioning off her fake breast implants. Yes, she is auctioning off her recently removed and autographed fake breasts. Now, don’t get us wrong, we are all for supporting charities, such as the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation which is apparently going to be the recipient, BUT what kind of precedent is this “act” of generosity going to set? Also, isn’t a little ironic for a perfectly healthy breasted woman to intentionally be reducing or removing her breasts in order to support a cause for which many women involuntarily lose their own? Isn’t that a little demeaning, or at least braggadocios? That reminds me of one of my favorite Mitch Hedberg, RIP, one liners:

It’s very dangerous to wave to people you don’t know because what if they don’t have a hand? They’ll think you’re cocky. Look what I have. This thing is useful. I’m gonna go pick something up.

Similarly, it’s also very dangerous to presume breast cancer sufferers want porn stars to voluntarily remove their fake breasts, sign them and then auction them off all in the guise of supporting that charity. Whatever happened to volunteering your time???

And now, if you don’t mind, we will step off our soapbox so we can go get our wallets.

On Saturday night, we decided to stay up and watch the Hawaii vs. Washington game on ESPN2.  Apparently, the folks at ESPN did not expect many other people to stay up that late.

Why?  Because they stuck some guy named Ed Cunningham as the commentator.  (And yes, now we will make the appropriate “Happy Days” joke.)  We think Richie Cunningham would have done a better job than this guy!  Or hell, even throw Randall in there, since ESPN thinks all former athletes are experts on their sport (see Emmitt Smith).

Anyway, from all his awful analysis, one thing he said stood out to us the most.  Colt Brennan completed a pass to Jason Rivers in the end zone that cut the Washington lead to 28-21.  At first, the ref on the field ruled that Rivers was out-of-bounds, so no catch.  As they show the replay, the fans at the stadium start moaning and cheering for a replay challenge.

At this point, Ed Cunningham emphatically explains to everyone: “You cannot challenge an incomplete pass in college football.”  He says that it’s going to be tough luck for all those Hawaii fans and that they’re griping will go unanswered.  He had no doubt in his mind about this rule, no question about whether this could be challenged.  It could not.

Guess what happens?  The ref announces the play is under review.  After moments of thinking how to cover this obvious gaffe, Cunningham explains that in college football, he has just been told, you can challenge an incomplete pass only in the end zone.

What?  This is another falsity covering up his previous totally incorrect statement.  And this is the last game of the regular season!!!

Are you telling us that Ed Cunningham has not watched a college football game this year where an incomplete pass was reviewed by the replay booth?  That’s not possible - is it?

This guy is getting paid to give commentary on a major college football game and he does not know the basic rules?  It’s not like this was a complex call, such as some slightly illegal formation.  Or a missed yard line, giving credit to the wrong receiver for a catch.  These are understandable to us, as we know calling live action is not easy.

But to not know the rules at this point in college football, come on.  After this, we expected Cunningham to start questioning why the clock did not start immediately after the kick-off.

So Ed Cunningham, do us a favor and learn at least some basic rules of the game before you ever get up in the booth again.  You are an embarrassment.