Top 50 Hottest Female College Populations!

Maybe one of the greatest links ever, CLICK HERE.

Stone Cold Bloggin', 1/25/08

QUESTION: What do you get when you cross a ridiculously self-indulgent event like the Mike and Mike Roast with a somewhat horse-faced ESPN host and a full bottle of vodka?

ANSWER: A whole lotta f-bomb laced vitriol for Notre Dame, a one week suspension, and lots of public ridicule.

Dana Jacobson was suspended by ESPN last week for a drunken tirade that included the words "F--- NOTRE DAME! ... F--- TOUCHDOWN JESUS! ... F--- JESUS!" Naturally, this raised the ire of pretty much everyone outside of USC and Michigan fans (who all wholeheartedly agree with her even if they contend that they don't ... I know better ... liars!!) My favorite parts of this whole fiasco:

(1) ESPN actually came up with an idea (the Mike and Mike Roast) that was executed even more poorly than "Who's Now?"

(2) Jacobson's apology, which included this doozy:

"I am sorry. My remarks about Notre Dame were foolish and insensitive. I respect all religions and did not mean anything derogatory by my poorly chosen words. I also deeply regret the embarrassment I've caused ESPN and Mike and Mike."

Yeah, because the last thing that Mike and Mike would ever do is get near anything that would embarrass them ...


No, not at all ....

Ok, now some time wasters for those of you who are looking to either extend your weekend or work your way back into the job slowly on a Monday ...

LINKS

• Check out the automatic complaint letter generator, a real time saver! [Scott Pakin]
• Some riff-raff found their way onto the Big East coaches' conference call this week. Uh oh ... [Awful Announcing]
• Amazing story about Dax Crum, a one-handed college basketball player. [The Big Lead]
• The 1972 Dolphins are a bunch of delusional old men ... it's now confirmed. [FoxSports]
• A comprehensive list of all of the things that made Dr. David Bruce Banner "hulk out" on "The Incredible Hulk". Informative. [KennethJohnson]
• The Cubs marketing department needs to do some more research. [Deadspin]
• Mike Adamle of American Gladiators fame is going to be joining the WWE as a backstage announcer. Kick his ass, Mean Gene! That's YOUR gig!! [411mania.com]
• When someone puts together a list of reasons to hate the Utah Jazz? Well, count me in! [The Dream Shake]
  

VIDEOS

Got this one from Deadspin, this might be the worst (and by worst, I mean best) athlete car endorsement commercial of all-time ....



I mean, Papelbon is close ....



Ah, who am I kidding? NOBODY beats the DC area athletes pimping Eastern Motors!!



And speaking of horrible advertisements, let's take a trip in the WAY BACK machine and check out a young George Costanza gallivanting around the streets of some happy city and telling us about the McDLT ....



I guess that's an improvement over the original McDonald's commercials. And people wonder why kids are afraid of clowns ...



Enough with the ad's. Now a public service announcement. Kids, DO NOT try this at home!!



Had this one sent to me by no fewer than a couple dozen listeners. The downfall of the Cowboys. Very funny ....

Stone Cold Bloggin', 1/5/08

First, I want to thank the crew from the Hugging Harold Reynolds blog for organizing and including the Sports Kolache in the NFL Playoffs Fantasy Football contest, where twenty blogs and highly acclaimed blog dwellers will battle for the most illustrious piece of hardware in our business .... seen below ....
For what it's worth, my favorite blog name amongst the competitors? The Lazy Eye of Stuart Scott. If you're looking to start a blog and come up with a catchy name, there's your benchmark.

As Todd Collins runs for his life in Seattle, here are a few time wasters of the link and video variety to get you through this January weekend ...

LINKS

• Wizard of Odds contends something that I've espoused all season -- the SEC is good but not the monster everyone thinks it is. [Wizard of Odds]
• A list of Pat Summerall's announcing screw-ups from Tuesday's Cotton Bowl. Get comfy. [Kansas City Star]
• A most excellent divorce story that yields this shocker -- South Florida football players cheat! No way! Nick Saban must feel vindicated. [Every Day Should Be Saturday]
• And while we're talking about South Florida, here's a link to some pics of a USF cheerleader's Myspace exploits. Gotta love Myspace. [Busted Coverage]
  
• I liked the Kyle Korver trade for the Utah Jazz. I think he's just the type of spot up shooter they need to open things up for Boozer inside. There's a Sixers fan (presumably) who's not as psyched about the deal. HILARIOUS VIDEO ALERT. [Awful Announcing]
• A very helpful flow chart if you are deciding whether or not to eat bacon. [Beer or Kid]
• An Erin Andrews tribute that makes mine look like child's play. [Barstool Sports]
• Worst hairstyles in movies (although I think they were a little hard on the Padme-Leia mother-daughter combo). [Yahoo]
• Speaking of the Skywalker family, if any of you know where I can buy one of these Vader heads, let me know ... because, you know, the Force is strong in my family and shit. [Imperial Holocron]
• Top 25 Sexiest Athletes of 2007. HOT CHICK ALERT. Although no Sue Bird on the list does detract from their credibility. [Coed Magazine]

VIDEOS

Thanks to the good folks at the My Meat on Your Grill tailgater at Texans games, I'd like to think that Harris and I are out in front of this "Beer Pong is the sport of the new millenium" trend. Here is a video about the World Series of Beer Pong ...

Next, I'm sure that most of you have seen this bone-jarring, teeth-dislodging hit on the Titans' Chris Henry by Darrell Reid of the Colts ....



I'm hoping that maybe this video of rugby hits (NOTE: NO PADS) will make Chris Henry and his family feel a little bit better ....



If they ever decide to do a Sesame Street movie with actual people playing the part of Muppets, this video should sew up the campaign for Pesci and DeNiro as Ernie and Bert, respectively ....




Staying with the mob theme, and in honor of Robert Loggia's 78th birthday this week, here is a recap of the Paulie vs Feech Lawn Wars from 2004 on the Sopranos ....

Stone Cold Bloggin', 12/14/07

It sounds like Andy Pettitte has come clean about his use of Human Growth Hormone saying that he used it twice in 2002 to speed up his recovery from an elbow injury. I'm not entirely surprised at Pettitte's admission. By all accounts, he's a decent guy and probably sensitive to whatever criticism was continuing to fester until he answered the allegations in the Mitchell Report. Good for him for admitting it, apologizing to those who feel like they needed an apology, and moving on.

How this effects his legacy remains to be seen. I think the public will be forgiving, especially when you juxtapose Pettitte's accountability next to others' silence or denials (more on that in a minute). As for the Hall of Fame, Pettitte was a borderline case even before all of this came up. His stats and accomplishments are very similar to Curt Schilling's, and Pettitte probably will end up pitching a few more years than Schilling (and presumably pile up more wins). (That's not to say that Schilling is a definite Hall of Famer, but I think people debate about Schilling's inclusion more than they do Pettitte and my point is that if you think Schilling is a Hall of Famer, then Pettitte is right there, too.)

The juicier subplot in Pettitte's admission is what this does to his BFF, Roger Clemens. Clemens' denial is pretty steadfast in that it appears he is saying that the Mitchell Report is bunk and that he hasn't taken steroids or any performance enhancing drugs at all. EVER. It also paints Brian McNamee as sort of a government rat, trying to avoid federal prosecution by throwing Clemens under the bus. Now Pettitte is essentially validating the couple of pages in the Mitchell Report that pertained to him, and along with it he is validating McNamee, at least as pertains to his dealings with him. So are we to believe that McNamee was telling the truth about his dealings with Pettitte, but was completely fabricating everything about Clemens? That's a hard one to swallow. I'm not indicting Roger yet, but one more big brick in the wall fell out today.

Also, I found David Justice's appearence on the Colin Cowherd show on Friday quite hilarious. If you didn't hear it, Justice spent the entire appearance trying to refute the allegations in the Mitchell Report, which consisted of Kirk Radomski selling him HGH after the 2000 World Series, and Justice discussing HGH with Brian McNamee during his time with the Yankees. Part of Justice's self-defense consisted of basically trash talking himself, citing his shitty performance in 2001 (.246, 18 HR, 51 RBI in 111 games) as proof that there's no way he could've been on any performance-enhancing drugs. I just found it very humorous that for years some players have campaigned for their inclusion in the Baseball Hall of Fame by citing their superior stats, and now in 2007 we have players citing their dog shit stats to try and gain figurative exclusion from the Mitchell Report. Strange days, indeed.

Ok, now onto some time wasters for all of you ....

LINKS (I won't sleep until one of you gets fired)

• Anna Rawson, Aussie model and golfer, just qualified for the LPGA! Women's golf just became more watchable. [Golf Now]
• A study at BYU (!) indicates that young women are more accepting of porn. (And in a related story, applications for admission at BYU quadruple.) [Salt Lake City Tribune]
• An interesting angle on Kevin Young's steroid use. (Damn, whatever happened to that guy?) [Where is Andy Van Slyke]
• ADDICTIVE GAME ALERT - If you get fired for playing this nine hours a day at work, don;t blame me. I warned you. [The Map Game]
• The 33 best Beer Pong tables ever created. Totally sweet. [Pongalong]
• Jerry Jones interhects himself into the Arkansas coaching search. (Satire alert) [College Game Balls]
• The 9 Most Humiliating Sports Moments on video. [Holy Taco]

VIDEO (as if the drunk chick post below wasn't enough)

BEFORE THEY WERE STARS EDITION!!!

DICK VITALE
Check out Dick Vitale back in 1986! I believe the thick windows attached to his head are his glasses. It's strange seeing him so calm and measured in his analysis. If you've ever wondered what 2007 Dickie V would be like if were sedated in a dentist's chair, go ahead and play this video. (Youtube disabled embedding this video into my blog so click here to view it.)

SIMON COWELL
Before he became the resident curmudgeon on "American Idol", Simon Cowell was a contestant on the UK version of "Sale of the Century". I have to admit, dude is pretty smooth and in control even back then. (They've disabled embedding on this video, too -- what are you people afraid of?? -- anyway, click here to watch it.)

TIGER WOODS
A two year old Tiger Woods shows up on the Mike Douglas Show and whacks one 300 yards down the middle (or however far back the stage went). This clip is only 36 seconds long so it leaves out the part where he makes out with a two year old Elin Nordegren afterwards.





MATT LEBLANC
This is supposedly a Heinz ketchup commercial that LeBlanc did before he became Joey on "Friends", but this is so stupid I think it may have actually been an episode of "Friends".





Now get back to work!!

Stone Cold Bloggin', 12/7/07

A few thoughts as the baseball winter meetings become smaller in our rear view mirror:

The two big stories coming out of the meetings (Cabrera and Willis to Detroit, the ongoing "Where is Johan Santana going?" saga) further illustrate the chasm that still exists between the handful of "haves" sitting atop the revenue mountain, and the many species of "have nots" (ranging from the semi-destitute ball clubs like Minnesota to the rancid, flea-ridden homeless like Florida). I know that in the last two years we've seen 15 different teams make the playoffs, but in the end when the revenue pie gets bigger, it still becomes cost prohibitive/reckless for the mid-revenue/low-revenue ball clubs to keep their marquee guys. It's this dynamic that forces the have-nots to have baseball IQ's that virtually double their big market counterparts, and it's this dynamic that allows a dolt like Hank Steinbrenner to run a team that will be one of the odds-on favorites to win it all in 2008. (Of course, in the last eleven years, the Florida Marlins have won as many World Series as the Mets, Dodgers, Angels, White Sox, and Cubs combined so what the hell do I know.)

The Cabrera/Willis-to-Detroit trade was one of those fun "holy shit!" initial reaction trades, where as a baseball fan you immediately start scrambling for Detroit's roster so you can start constructing their opening day lineup. "Mother of God!....Granderson .... Polanco .... Cabrera .... Ordonez .... Sheffield ..... Guillen .... I-Rod .... whoever's playing left .... damn, they're gonna have Renteria in the f--ing NINE HOLE!" And then once you get past that, you realize that even with Willis they still don't have the pitching juice to overtake Boston (or Cleveland, for that matter). Check out the 2007 ERA's of the top four in Detroit's 2008 rotation:

Verlander 3.66
Willis 5.17
Bonderman 5.01
Rogers 4.43 (and a year's worth of injuries)

I'll take the front of the Red Sox and Indians' rotations over that every day and twice on Sundays. And this also doesn't begin to scratch the surface on the Tigers' bullpen issues, which still persist (and are exacerbated by the injury to Joel Zumaya).

Finally, what is the over/under on average attendance for the Florida Marlins this season? 8,000? 7,000? 4,500? Seriously, why would they even play home games? I think the Marlins need to just scrap the whole "Florida" thing and just get a sponsor and turn into one of those barnstorming teams where their whole year consists of road games and they travel from town to town on a motor coach bus. You know, one of those rigs with a phone booth sized bathroom in the back where you get hit with the pungent smell of other people's waste if your within ten rows of the back of the bus? The Marlin Express baby! They'd be like the Globetrotters! The Harlem Marlins! Josh Willingham could throw buckets of confetti at the umpires; Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla could turn double plays by using some fancy, behind the back flip throws, the melodious "Sweet Georgia Brown" playing in the background the entire time of course. Totally sweet.

Now some time wasters, because the economy is doing a little too well ....

LINKS

• The drive time shows at 1560 have been ELFED!!! Merry Christmas, Gamers!!! [Elf Yourself]
  
• About the only good thing left about Sportscenter is the hilarious commercials for Sportscenter. Here is the latest one. [Awful Announcing]
• SI compares the BCS contenders to pro wrestlers, which is right up my alley. The only thing missing is some sweet youtube clips. [SI Quick Slants]
• This was sent to me by an LSU fan, with the email "An Ohio State fan learns about golf." Neal, this is just wrong. Click here.
• A string of Jon Scheyer photoshops that are ... well, don't view this string while drinking anything or your keyboard will get soaked. [Scout.com]
• Peter King reveals his true feelings for Brett Favre [Kissing Suzy Kolber]
• Credit card theft taunts at Doug Gottlieb in an online chat. Like I'm not gonna put up a link to that. [Deadspin]
• A 2008 Heisman forecast that doesn't include Tim Tebow. Not smart. He'll fry this guy with bolts of lightning from his eyes. [Heisman Pundit]
  

VIDS!

Congrats to Missouri QB Chase Daniel for getting the invite to New York City for the Heisman Trophy awards ceremony. He's had many fine performances this season, but none better than this ....



Which brings us to Kentucky freshman Pat Patterson, who upped the ante and actually ate one DURING the game ....



BRAVO.

MORE VIDS!

When I was a kid, Kermit the Frog sang songs like "It's Not Easy Being Green" and "Rainbow Connection". It appears that with the death of Jim Henson, he's gotten in touch with hsi dark side and significantly edgier ....



Melissa Theuriau almost makes me want to move to France. I like at the 0:30 mark where she mentions President "George Boosh"...


They are in the Division 1-AA semifinals, folks ... Appalchian State! And they are HOT HOT HOT!! Best video ever ... and by best, I mean worst ...

Stone Cold Bloggin', 12/5/07

A quick follow up to my earlier BCS post. As you can tell from my bottom line predictions, I think the BCS got the correct two teams given the system that we have in place. My problem is not with the system (although a nice 8 or 16 team playoff would be a welcome sight), but rather with pretty much ALL of the teams that are in the BCS "conversation". These teams all had chances to seize the moment over the last month or so and not only did nobody step up, but some of these so-called heavyweights shriveled up in historic fashion. Ohio State? You got Zooked. At home. In November. LSU? They washed the taste of Darren McFadden out of their mouths just in time to win Saturday. (Note: Notre Dame has a longer current winning streak -- two -- than either BCS championship participant.) Oklahoma? We can excuse one loss to an unranked team, maybe. Two? Well, have fun in Glendale. Georgia? Kansas? Win your division, then maybe we can talk. Missouri? Bastards. If you or West Virginia had just taken care of business, than none of this is an issue. Granted, we'd have had Missouri in the title game, but I would have at least not needed to be medicated on the air on Monday. And speaking of West Virginia .... Rich Rodriguez, don't even look at me. Seriously, you're in "time out". You got beat by a guy with a caterpillar on his face. At home. In November. Getting Wannied is WAY worse than getting Zooked. Indeed, across the board ... NO STONES in college football this season.

Come to think of it, screw Ohio State and LSU. Neither of you deserve it. We're going with undefeated Hawaii against Tim Tebow in the BCS title game. And no, I don't mean Hawaii against Florida, I mean Hawaii against Tim Tebow. Tim Tebow taking on all of Hawaii by himself. And not just the football team but the entire population of Hawaii. Crushing all of their heads with his bare hands, ravaging all of their luaus, and then using a palm tree as a tooth pick. Tim Tebow is a superhero. He could do it.

Ok, now a gaggle of videos and links to keep you occupied while you should be working:

• "Suddenly" Suzyn Waldman (the faux Suzyn) has a take on this whole Johan Santana thing. [Hugging Harold Reynolds]. (By the way, if you want to hear the time Johnny Harris and I completely and utterly clowned Suzyn Waldman, click here and then here.)
  
• Those Oscar de la Hoya photos of him in fishnet - unfortunately, it sounds like they were fake. [Macho Chip]
• Best redneck picture page of all time. [Redneck page]
• Maybe the most disturbing Charlie Weis photoshop job of all time. [With Leather]
• This guy likes Jimmy Dean sausage a little too much. Be sure to listen to the very end. [Filecabi.net]
• A site dedicated to the wind beneath all of our wings -- Coach Eddie O. [EDSBL]
• Why the Titans have the worst nickname in sports. [AOL Funhouse]

VIDEO TIME!

Who makes less sense? Emmitt Smith .....



.... or the Ultimate Warrior.

(NOTE: Stuart Scott is an acceptable write-in vote based purely on his horrific use of the word "bananas" at the beginning of the Emmitt clip.)

HEY, LET'S DO MORE VIDEOS!

If you don't have enough money to buy the Rocky DVD box set, this video actually summarizes the entire Rocky series -- all SIX movies in about 24 seconds! A real time saver!



You remember Schoolhouse Rock? The five minute Saturday morning vignettes about harmless subjects like adjectives, simple math, and the Constitution? Well, apparently this is what Schoolhouse Rock would be if it were still around today. Awesome!


For those of you who have a phobia about sitting on strange toilet seats, this contraption is a godsend.



FINALLY, A BIG LOU HOLTZ FINALE!!

This might be Lou Holtz's finest hour. I'd love to see him give this speech to the Knicks. Would they even take their headphones off?

"If you were committed to excellence, and if you care about the Knicks and about the fans, and the people that sacrifice to buy those tickets ... then you would give maximum effort!"

Maybe so. I guess we need to get them committed to that there excellence thing first, Coach. something we've been trying to do for the last, oh, 50 years.

Stone Cold Bloggin', 11/20/07

JoePa could use LifeCall.





Some links if you're looking to waste some time:

• Several people who are NOT master of their domain. [Dailymotion]
• A long overdue feature - tracking Dick Vitale's verbal diarrhea. [Awful Announcing]
• It's Christmas shopping season. Buy A-Rod's used nuthuggers for that special someone. [Deadspin]
• Apparently, there's a method to winning Monopoly that involves hording the railroads. Who knew? [Amnesta]
• A-Rod is a great American. Not really. [Sons of Sam Malone]
• An outstanding breakdown of the Heisman trophy race with the candidates as Pulp fiction characters. [Cake Rocks the Party]

Weekend Thoughts 11/11/07

I hope everyone had a good weekend, and that those of you who were able to partake in Juegopalooza managed to shake off the rust in time to take in all of the football action. As I type this, I am sitting at the Buffalo Wild Wings in midtown (taking in the Gametime show with David Nuno on 1560 The Game) with two big screens in front of me. On one screen, Green Bay Packer RB Ryan Grant is running over various Minnesota Vikings on his way to a touchdown this afternoon and on another screen is a highlight of Illinois coach Ron Zook getting the Gatorade bath after the Illini's 28-21 upset over #1 ranked Ohio State.

Understand that if someone had bet you at this time in 2004 that either of these things would ever occur, let alone both on the same weekend, you would have gotten odds of roughly 1,000,000,000,000 to 1. You see, at this time in 2004, Ryan Grant was a backup RB on a somewhat brutal Notre Dame football team (as opposed to the otherworldly brutal current version) who was about as elusive as a Winnebago and who would go down half the time after minimal to no contact. It was also about this time in 2004 that the Zooker was getting run out of Gainesville in favor of wunderkind Urban Meyer (and rightfully so) and was a mere few weeks away from thanking folks for the kind welcome at his introduction presser at the "University of ILLINOISE". (Yes, the Zooker pronounced the silent "s" at the end of Illinois.) And now one of them is the starting RB for an 8-1 NFL team, and the other one is going to be coaching in a New Year's Day bowl game.

And the scary thing is that these things rank only as #541 and #767 respectively on the list of unlikely occurrences that have actually happened this football season.

Other thoughts from the weekend.....

ROCK, CHALK, MANGINO!

Go ahead and count me among the believers in Mark Mangino and the Kansas Jayhawks. What a contrast between those two teams last night in Stillwater. Kansas was able to minimize penalties (3 for 18 yards for the game) and protect the football (no turnovers), while Oklahoma State played with a lack of discipline that you would expect from a team coached by a guy who has a propensity to become a bit unhinged sometimes -- poor tackling, untimely penalties, four turnovers, and a seemingly insatiable need to talk shit to their Jayhawk counterparts after every four yard catch. In short, one team played smart and the other one played stupid. And yes, Mike Gundy, I realize that I am writing this about children who have mothers -- mothers who probably have my blog bookmarked in their Netvibes, and that now you hope that my kids come home crying because they're fat, or something like that. Yes, I realize that I am crap ... and that the administrator of Google who allowed me to register my blog is crap. And you are 40. And a man. A man who coaches a team that should be 8-2 right now, but instead is 5-5. But a man nonetheless.

Now, you have to wonder about Kansas and where they deserve to be if they win out. Right now, it would seem that on the heels of this weekend with Ohio State losing, the best they can hope for right now is a #3 BCS ranking behind LSU and Oregon. I would contend that if that Kansas is able to win out the rest of the way (including the Big XII title game), and LSU and Oregon win out as well, that the Jayhawks would deserve to leapfrog one of them (likely Oregon) and go to the BCS title game. The reasons behind my rationale:

1. Going undefeated through the Big 12 this season is an accomplishment that deserves to be rewarded. Kansas will have taken care of all their business this season, while LSU and Oregon (and everyone else in BCS conferences will not have).


2. If the polls had Ohio State as such an overwhelming #1 before their loss to Illinois, it would seem logical that Kansas, with a resume that would include a comparable schedule at this point to Ohio State's PLUS wins over likely top ten teams in Missouri and Oklahoma (Big XII title game), would deserve a ranking in the top two.

At this point, Kansas is being penalized somewhat for a weak non-conference schedule but moreso for "being Kansas" and starting the season outside the polls (and, in turn, being forced to play leapfrog over teams in front of them). The fact of the matter is also when you look at this Kansas team, they just don't look like a Top 3 team. I don't mean that as an insult, they just don't have nearly the number of athletes that pass the "eyeball test" as do LSU or even Oregon (or Oklahoma State, for that matter). I mean, Brandon McAnderson just doesn't look like a big time college RB. Joe Mortensen doesn't look like a starting middle LB for an undefeated Big XII team. But it works. Because the Jayhawks don't beat themselves and they play with a chip on thier shoulder. And they have a coach who is fat and, therefore, merry. Most of the time anyway. There was that one time he wasn't merry....

But we can forgive that. I've said many times, I like college football more when the traditionally elite programs are the ones vying for the big prize. But I have to say, a BCS game involving Kansas intrigues me. And it's always more fun when the token fat guy is at the party. At least that's what I gather from the number of times I've arrived at parties and people tell me how badly the party sucked until I got there.

GOOD RIDDANCE, OB!

And while the Kansases and Illinoises of the world continue their assault on college football's upper echelon, some traditional powers continue to stumble. If you didn't see it, the University of Miami turned out the lights on the Orange Bowl this weekend, but not before the Virginia Cavaliers decided to show up at the party and drink all of the Canes' beer, eat all of their food, and deflower all of their lady folk. Wow, what a way to close the OB. I couldn't help but take some pleasure in watching the Cavs have their way with the Canes (to the tune of 48-0), seeing as "da U" and they're band of thugs (who doubled as really good football players back in the day) was directly responsible for many hours of therapy during my childhood and collegiate years, culminating with this. The building itself, though, was haunted. As you can tell from this clip, the Canes didn't even need to be present for the OB to suck worse than a torn groin muscle for a Notre Dame fan.

Anyway, while the OB was a cradle of spine-tingling memories for many college football, NFL, and Ashlee Simpson fans, by all accounts it was falling apart at the seams (Mike Patrick actually called it a "dump" during his broadcast last night on ESPN, presumably when he wasn't waxing poetic about Britney Spears) so good riddance, OB! Don't let the wrecking ball hit you in the ass on the way out!

Question though -- is Lamar Thomas going to be as protective of the Canes new house?


SPEAKING OF TRADITIONAL POWERS....

Let me first say that I am a Notre Dame graduate, and I like Charlie Weis. I think he is a good and generous man, a fine representative of the University of Notre Dame, and by all accounts one of the hardest workers in the college football head coaching business. While I wasn't shouting from the rooftops in 2004 for the university to fire Tyrone Willingham, I did think it was a very defendable move and had no problem with it. Anyone who followed the program any closer than watching highlights (the few that there were) in 2004 knows that the direction of the program was headed decidedly downward with Willingham. Recruiting was at an all-time nadir (which is manifesting itself in part this season), talent was not being developed, and Willingham was steadfast in his refusal to make changes to his coaching staff, most notably his bizarre desire to keep offensive coordinator Bill Diedrick, whose idea of "creative playcalling" consisted of fifteen bubble screens per game. Notre Dame was not going to ever get near a BCS bowl with Tyrone Willingham as their coach -- not in 2005 nor 2006 (when they did make BCS bowls with Weis) nor any other season. Never, ever, ever. I will debate this with anyone who would like to do so.

Now, all of that said, what's happening on the field in South Bend this season is a complete and utter disgrace. I don't care if you have junior and senior classes full of two-star and three-star recruits. At Notre Dame, you should not be losing to service academies at home in November. Period. Not in 2007, not ever. We hear a lot about how young this Notre Dame team is, and it's true. A sizable portion of their two deep on both sides of the ball consist of freshmen and sophomores; not coincidentally, most of the raw talent on this team is in those classes as well. (For what it's worth, Weis currently has the #1 recruiting class in the country for next season as well.) However, youth is not an excuse for the number of missed assignments on the offensive line -- not this late in the season against inferior athletes. Youth is not an excuse for putting the ball on the ground a ridiculous number of times; last I checked, they didn't start teaching ball security in college. I do believe there are high school and Pop Warner teams that work on this skill in practice. Understanding the snap count would seem to require mere listening and counting skills, yet watching this ND offensive line you'd think it required a masters degree as well.

Weis has shown he can recruit. He's also shown that he can take experienced talent and show them the way (the Quinn/Samardzija led teams in 2005 and 2006). However, he hasn't shown he can develop young talent. That's on Weis and his staff and has nothing to do with Willingham. The team is 1-9 right now, and I'm guessing they're not done losing yet. Unlike Willingham, I don't expect Weis to stand pat. He's already shown he'll make changes when he let Rick Minter go this past winter, and he hired Corwin Brown as his defensive coordinator. Expect more changes. The question is how damaged is this group's psyche now? And how many of the recruits will jump ship? (None yet, but it's early.) Weis' recruiting and ability to sell the school have bought him time. But there are some serious chinks in the armor now. The clock is ticking....

TIME KILLERS

• Maybe the best Tom Cruise impersonation ever. [I Am Bored]
• In case anyone was wondering whose huddle it is in Boston now.... [YouTube]
• If Mike Gundy were to channel his inner Al Roker. [Wizard of Odds]

Stone Cold Bloggin', 11/07/07

Seven links and seven vids for all you kids out there on a lazy Wednesday night.... like Coach Mangino, pick one!

LINKS

• What do you get when you allow plumbers, salespeople, washed up athletes, and the homeless to decide the fate of the BCS? Why, the Harris Poll of course! Who is your favorite pollster? [Epic Carnival]
• Trev Alberts picked Alabama this past weekend. He was wrong. He admits to being "dumb". He is right. [CSTV]
• A reminder that baseball writers sometimes are not very smart. Undeserving MVP's. [Vegas Watch]
• Pick the Worst Sports Announcer, March Madness bracket style. And please, please, PLEASE vote for Chris Berman!!! [Awful Announcing]
• John Harris and I were wondering why anyone would pay A-Rod $30M when they could probably lock up Miggy Cabrera for half that. We're not alone [The Big Lead]
• Kige Ramsey has a plan to make America powerful again. It's time we all sat up and listened. [Bottomless Chips]
• QUALITY CRAPPER READING ALERT! A preview of every free agent in baseball this offseason. [Cake Rocks The Party]
  

VIDS

• Auburn DC Will Muschamp is going to be a hot name when coaching jobs open up in the next month. Note to AD's - he likes to work blue....

• ... 0f course, Will Muschamp is no Iron Sheik. Even Andrew "Dice" Clay thinks that the Iron Sheik is a little over the top with the twelve, ten, and four letter bombs.

• It should be noted that when the Iron Sheik takes a break from calling people mean names, that he does have thoughts on Tom Cruise and Hillary Clinton.

• In memory of the recently departed Fabulous Moolah, here's a women's battle royal from WWF TV circa 1985. Wrestling has made many advancements over the last 20 years, but without a doubt I feel the most signifcant one is the shift in aesthetics of the female participants. In 1985, the average female wrestler was a 55 year old, 200 LB, chain smoking tranny. In 2007, the average female wrestler is a 22 year old bikini model who is considered a failure if they haven't been in Playboy by their second year in the business. Enjoy.

• Speaking of Playboy, this might be the hottest weather reporter I've ever seen. Ken Hoffman, if you're reading this, please get her on your show.....

• Speaking of weather women, how's this for grace under pressure? And who is the marketing genius that comes up with the "WHIZ Storm Team"?

• This week's sign that we as a country have too much time on our hands -- this video has over 15 MILLION views. The last 20 seconds are scarier than any horror film you've ever seen.