Here we go sports fans, the weekend was jam packed full of lots to talk about, so let’s jump right into today’s SCL’s Fresh Take.
The Milton Bradley experiment has ended on Chicago’s north side in a manner many expected it would. The Cubs suspended Bradley on Sunday for the remainder of the season and as many believe, once and for good. One year into a three year contract looks very bad on Cubs GM Jim Hendry, who may also be shown the door at season’s end considering new ownership and all. How do you sign Bradley to a three year deal considering his volatile past? He’s on his seventh team in ten big league seasons. WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! Were the signs not large enough or loud enough? I bet the warning signs for new Cub ownership won’t be as hard to see or hear come this off-season.
U-Dub! U-Dub! U-Dub! I can still hear the chants from Seattle and I’m on the right coast. The University of Washington football team did the unthinkable on Saturday as they beat the number three ranked visiting Trojans on a last second field goal. Sure, the Trojans were down to a backup quarterback with zero experience but this was NOT supposed to happen. It did and that is why I don’t bet on college football. What a great win for Steve Sarkisian and his newly acquired program. The Trojans will be fine as a freshman quarterback is always worth one or two road losses anyway. This wasn’t to be USC’s year and now it is not. U-Dub! U-Dub! U-Dub! Lovin’ those Huskies.
Can you spell impeccable? We’ll, if you can’t, I’ll spell it two different ways for you. B-R-E-E-S and M-A-N-N-I-N-G (as in Eli). Did you get a load of what Drew Breese and Eli Manning did yesterday? The two signal callers completed a combined 69% of their passes yesterday while throwing a combined five “six-pointers.” Those are touchdowns if you are a little slow. I excluded Kurt Warner’s 24 of 26 performance from this list because the Saints (no longer the Aints) and the Giants are 2-0 on the season and the red birds are 1-1. Of course, both New Orleans and the New York were recipients of some pretty poor performances by their respective opponents. Both the ‘Boys (Dallas) and the Birds (Philly) committed four turnovers each and made a whole bunch of other gaffes to boot. Can you give these two quarterbacks a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T?
It was too much Tebow in the Swamp on Saturday as the Gators outlasted an undermanned but spunky Volunteer team. Florida was just too much for Tennessee as the VOLS were limited in their play calling due to not having a viable signal caller under center and the Gators took advantage of two Tennessee turnovers in route to the 23-13 “W”. The much anticipated showdown between Urban Meyer and Lane Kiffin came and went without much fan fare as the two exchanged pleasantries at mid-field after the game. Meyer has the BIG BLUE machine matching toward Pasadena once again while Kiffin is a few years behind but has the VOLS headed in the right direction. I can’t wait for this rivalry to get back to national prominence once again. Game-On, next year in Neyland stadium.
What is wrong with the Oilers (I mean Titans) and the Jags this season? The mighty have fallen as both the Oilers (Damn! I did it again), the Titans and the Jags have come out of the gates still stuck in first gear. Tennessee is starting to resemble a Phillip Fulmer coached team from Knoxville and not the Jeff Fisher coached team from Nashville who went 14-2 last season. The Titans will be fine for the most part as their biggest issue is finding someone to plug the holes in the damn after Albert Haynesworth departed for the nation’s capital and lots of dinero. The Jags, on the other hand, are a dumpster fire. Simple as that. Although they opened the season against two playoff teams from last year, they look lost. Their problems go much deeper than just on the field issues as their owner stated last week that they would consider drafting hometown favorite Tim Tebow just to sell tickets. If you are a Jags fan, look to use 2009 as a transition year in finding a new team to root for. Atlanta and Tampa Bay are the closest venues for replacement, but hey, the Gators from nearby Gainesville may be a better bet.
And that, my friends is what is HOT in sports. Join us again for the next SCL’s Fresh Take.
This week, Florida Head Coach Urban Meyer signed a six-year, $24 million contract. He will be the highest paid coach in the SEC in 2009. When Alabama lured Nick Saban out of the NFL with an enormous compensation package, the nation sighed in disbelief—aghast at the total package. Well, that’s the going rate for a sure thing these days. And if a coaching hire reaches the lofty expectations of a perennial national title contender, it’s a good idea to make sure he’ll be sticking around. $24 Million over six years for Meyer–worth every penny.
In 2008, the Big 12 scored points and put quarterbacks in New York for the Heisman Trophy Ceremony. With obscene offensive numbers, the media jumped on the bandwagon as the Big 12 barked at the heels of the SEC as the dominant conference in college football. How can the Big 12 shake its reputation as the second-most dominant conference? The answer lies in two places: College Station, TX and Lincoln, NE. The Big 12 needs Black Shirts and a Wrecking Crew. The Big 12 needs Nebraska and Texas A&M to be good again. 
