Category: Sports

No Bowl for Notre Dame

Posted on by TL

Charlie Weis likely put in his last official appearance as Notre Dame’s football coach Friday night. It was the team’s annual football banquet. And, lucky for Irish fans everywhere, there will be no bowl game to suffer through this year.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Notre Dame’s disappointing season arrived at two punctuation marks Friday: Officially, there will be no bowl appearance, and dismissed coach Charlie Weis made what is likely his final appearance with the program in an official capacity.

Weis attended the team banquet Friday night, presenting team awards and speaking to players, coaches, staff, families and guests, according to a release that provided no further detail.

Weis did not address the team in full upon his dismissal Monday.

Earlier in the day, as expected, the Irish pulled themselves out of consideration for a bowl game. It’s the first time a bowl-eligible Notre Dame team hasn’t played in the postseason since 1996, after Lou Holtz resigned.

According to the Trib, Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate shared the MVP award.

I would have given the nod to Golden Tate alone. Jimmy Clausen is overrated. He’ll survive as a backup in the pros, but he won’t start.

Yes, I make predictions on matters relating to sports, which matter next to nothing anyhow.

Golden Tate has potential.

Pittsburgh’s Mike Rupp Pulls Hat Trick as Penguins Top Rangers 5-2

Posted on by TL

The Steelers may be having a rough season, but the Keepers of the Cup Pittsburgh Penguins top the Atlantic Division with a 19-9 record. As of today, the Penguins have the most wins of any team in the NHL.

Well, that’s something. Hats off to Mike Rupp for his first career hat trick.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Mike Rupp got his first career hat trick and Sidney Crosby scored twice to lead the Penguins to a 5-2 victory against the New York Rangers tonight at Madison Square Garden.

The victory was the Penguins’ first at the Garden since March 1, 2007

Read more here.

Charlie Weis Out as Notre Dame Coach

Posted on by TL

From the Chicago Tribune:

In a widely expected move, Charlie Weis is out as Notre Dame’s football coach, athletic director Jack Swarbrick announced today.

Swarbrick cut ties with Weis following a disappointing 6-6 season that ended Saturday with a 45-38 loss at Stanford. Weis has six years left on his contract.

“We have great expectations for our football program, and we have not been able to meet those expectations,” Swarbrick said. “As an alumnus, Charlie understands those goals and expectations better than most, and he’s as disappointed as anyone that we have not achieved the desired results.”

Swarbrick recommended the dismissal Sunday night to Notre Dame’s president, Rev. John Jenkins.

“We have established an evaluation process for all of our athletic programs that, in the end, results in a recommendation from Jack to me,” Father Jenkins said. “I accepted Jack’s decision and look forward to working with him on selecting a new head football coach who is the very best choice possible for the University and especially for our student-athletes.”

Whew.

Read more here.

Charlie Weiss Again Snatches Defeat from the Jaws of Victory

Posted on by TL

Unless Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick gets bizarre marching orders from above, today’s 45-38 loss to Stanford will serve as Charlie Weiss’ swan song. In a game full of spectacular offensive drives, Notre Dame’s defense collapsed time and time again to finally surrender the lead to Stanford’s resilient Hiesman-hopeful, Toby Gerhart.

From the Chicago Tribune:

The Irish ended up 45-38 losers to Stanford on a 4-yard touchdown run by Toby Gerhart in the final minute in a full-throttle race to test scoreboard capacity, blowing another double-digit lead and eradicating Weis’ slim hope to return and prolonging a miserable month.

The final score, really, was the only mystery here. Weis’ departure is expected within days, maybe hours, of the Irish’s early-morning return to South Bend, Ind., Sunday.

From the Sun-Times:

For all the media criticism of Weis, those attending his professorial weekly news conferences learned a lot about football. They learned that if an elite high school coach became an NFL offensive coordinator, his head would swim with Xs and Os. They also learned that an NFL offensive coordinator is just as overmatched coaching a team composed mainly of freshmen and sophomores.

That Weis spent so much time playing three-card Monte with young and inexperienced signal-callers heading into the 2007 season was the first sign of his failure to understand how to develop a young team. Instead of an identity, he gave them a split personality.

When his team needed a steady dose of Football 101, Weis delivered graduate-level courses. The program would never fully recover, and it would be a lack of fundamentals that would be largely responsible for where the Irish find themselves heading into today’s game at Stanford, which likely will be Weis’ last as ND’s coach.

Just when his teams learned how to block, they forgot how to tackle.

And a suggestion for ND’s next head coach from David Haugh at the Chicago Tribune:

An Irish change of the guard appears to be under way that, if governed correctly, will alter college football’s balance of power. As Charlie Weis coached what was believed to be his final regular-season game in an entertaining 45-38 loss Saturday night on the Farm, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops dodged rumors back in America’s heartland.

Bob Stoops at Notre Dame? With the schedule and talent in place, Stoops could promise his next recruiting class it will play in a national title game, and it wouldn’t sound like blarney.

What a tough year it was to be Irish.

On the off chance Notre Dame is offered a bowl bid, we can only hope and pray AD Swarbrick spares us all the embarrassment.

Ben Roethlisberger Likely To Sit Out Against Ravens

Posted on by TL

The bad news for Steelers fans from WTAE in Pittsburgh:

There’s word that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will not play Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens.

According to FOXSports.com, Roethlisberger has decided to sit out Sunday.

A report on NFL.com indicated that Roethlisberger had yet to decide.WTAE Channel 4 Action News has called the Steelers for comment Saturday morning and will update this report when information becomes available.

I’ll be padding on extra black and gold Sunday for third string quarterback Dennis Dixon, who will likely get the start as Charlie Batch is still recovering from a wrist injury.

The Steelers and Ravens kick off Sunday night at 7:20 p.m. Central. The game will be televised on NBC.

Read more here.

Trib: Jimmy Clausen Gets Black Eye in Fight Outside Bar

Posted on by TL

Jimmy Clausen recieved a figurative black eye from Connecticut Saturday, losing in double overtime. It would appear an altercation outside a South Bend bar was enough to give him a real black eye.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Starting quarterback and team captain Jimmy Clausen was involved in an altercation outside a South Bend, Ind., bar in the hours after a double-overtime loss to Connecticut on Saturday, taking a punch to the face in the incident, sources told the Tribune.

Clausen suffered at least one black eye as a result of the punch, according to a source.

A spokesman for Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said he could not reach Weis for comment Monday night.

A South Bend police spokesman said Monday no police reports were filed over the weekend that involved Clausen.

The particulars of the confrontation are unclear, though a person answering the phone at CJ’s Pub, the bar in question, said the incident "absolutely did not take place inside the bar."

WGN-AM 720’s David Kaplan reported that it occurred at 2:30 a.m. Sunday.

Another Reason to Kick Yourself When You Lose a Golf Ball: 1000 Year Decay

Posted on by TL

Golf balls take 1,000 years to decompose, and they release toxic metals into the environment as they break down.

Yet another reason to kick yourself when you lose a ball.

From Green Living Ideas:

Golf balls are often lost by players, in fact there are a few lost in my own meadow and I don’t even play golf. Live Science reminds us that in 1971, Alan Shepard even left some on the moon (two or three golf balls). Golf ball litter is becoming an environmental concern on this planet. CNN reports:

Research teams at the Danish Golf Union have discovered it takes between 100 to 1,000 years for a golf ball to decompose naturally. A startling fact when it is also estimated 300 million balls are lost or discarded in the United States alone, every year…The scale of the dilemma was underlined recently in Scotland, where scientists — who scoured the watery depths in a submarine hoping to discover evidence of the prehistoric Loch Ness monster — were surprised to find hundreds of thousands of golf balls lining the bed of the loch.

Not only do golf balls take between a century and millennium to break down, they release toxic zinc in the process. This heavy metal attaches “itself to the ground sediment and poisoned the surrounding flora and fauna” when in water. Other heavy metals used in golf ball production include tungsten, cobalt and lead.

Read more here.

Steelers Bedroom Surprise for Dallas Cowboys Jason Witten

Posted on by TL

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcdfw.com/video.

Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten gets an unexpected surprise right before take a player to school day.

This video is cute. The kid is really a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

And, really, who isn’t? The Black and Gold is awesome.

I had quite the chuckle over this.

Lesbian Leads Chicago Cubs

Posted on by TL

From On Top Magazine:

A leading voice of the gay rights movement took the helm of the Chicago Cubs front office last week, gay newssite ChicagoPride.com reported.

Forty-one-year-old Laura Ricketts is a member of the Ricketts family, whose members completed their purchase of the sports landmark earlier in the year. With the purchase, Laura became the first openly gay Major League Baseball owner.

Laura serves on the board of New York-based Lambda Legal, a nationwide group that advocates for gay rights. The group’s lawyers represent LGBT clients, including those seeking the right to marry.

What role Laura will play in the actual day-to-day management of the team remains unknown, but if recent appearances are any indication, she’s likely to become a major voice of the team.

From Chicago Pride:

41-year-old Laura, the only daughter, is openly gay and lives in Chicago. With the Rickett’s purchase of the Cubs, she becomes the first openly gay MLB owner.

Laura is a gay rights advocate and fights for gay marriage. She serves on the board of Lambda Legal, a national organization fighting for gay rights.

41-year-old Laura, the only daughter, is openly gay and lives in Chicago. With the Rickett’s purchase of the Cubs, she becomes the first openly gay MLB owner.

Laura is a gay rights advocate and fights for gay marriage. She serves on the board of Lambda Legal, a national organization fighting for gay rights.

The oldest sibling is 45-year-old Peter who lives in Omaha. He ran for U.S. Senate as a conservative Republican. Peter opposes gay marriage.

All this must make for wonderful Thanksgiving Day conversation at the Ricketts table.

Forgive the attempt at humor.. I’ll try better down the road.

There’s always next year, after all…

Green Bay Fans Boo Favre in Return to Lambeau Field

Posted on by TL

From Steve Wyche at NFL.COM:

Vikings quarterback Brett Favre ran into a half-full Lambeau Field at 2:37 local time for warmups and was met predominantly with boos by the Packers faithful, who once cheered him for the better part of his 16 seasons here.

There were a smattering of cheers, but he was hit mainly with a negative vibe right out of the tunnel. The chiding didn’t last for long, though. Once he settled in around the 35-yard line near the Vikings’ sideline and began throwing passes with Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson, most of the reaction turned toward the home team.

Not a great way to welcome back a team hero. Very small.