random ramblings fred riecke, gamblersdata
…Here’s an oddity for you. The New Orleans Saints are a combined 0-11 on coin flips this year for kickoffs and overtime play. The Browns are 0-9. The odds of losing 11 coin flips in a row are about 2,000 – 1.
…7 teams in the AP Top 25 poll tasted defeat on Saturday. That included losses from #’s 2,4,5 and 7. Number 11 Houston, the only undefeated team other than LSU will move up, but they have no chance of playing in the national championship – and with their schedule, they shouldn’t. A signature win over UCLA is nothing to write home about.
…If you didn’t catch Saturday night’s UFC match between Dan Henderson and Mauricio Rua, you missed what many are calling the greatest fight in MMA history. It was an epic battle. Too bad Fox didn’t have that one on national television. Be sure to catch that one on replay. You won’t be disappointed.
…Iowa State receiver Albert Gary has ben charged with first degree robbery stemming from a June incident in Ames, Iowa. A man claimed he and two others were approached by sbout six men, one of whom displayed a handgun. Coach Paul Rhodes said Monday that Gary had been suspended for three games and will be available for Friday night’s game against No. 2 Oklahoma State. I’m sure he is a positive role model for the team.
…Missouri head football coach Gary Pinkel was arrested Wednesday night on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, according to Boone County Sheriff’s Office records. Pinkel was pulled over for moving violations at about 10:15 p.m. local time by Boone County Sheriff’s deputies, who established probable cause that Pinkel was driving while intoxicated. He was then taken into custody, according to the records. Pinkel, who is 59, is in his 11th season at Missouri, where he has an 82-54 record entering Saturday’s game against Texas Tech.
…Missouri suspended Pinkel without pay for the final home game of the season and froze his salary for a year. Pinkel also said he would donate a week’s worth of his base salary and guaranteed incentives, and that comes out to about $41,000! If Missouri makes it to a bowl game Pinkel will lose a $75,000 bonus and he also has forfeited a $100,000 bonus for meeting team academic and social goals. Those were some expensive drinks Pinkel consumed. Maybe he could should have called a cab.
…The former chief operating officer of the Fiesta Bowl has been indicted on charges of filing false income tax returns for the bowl game, the first charges against a former official of one of the top national college football bowls and Bowl Championship Series member since a scathing report led to the firing of its president in March. Natalie Wisneski, 47, also faces federal campaign finance and conspiracy charges over allegations she solicited campaign contributions from bowl employees for federal, state and local political candidates and arranged for the bowl to repay them. The U.S. attorney’s office in Phoenix announced the indictment Wednesday. Wisneski resigned from her job in March, shortly after bowl president and chief executive officer John Junker was fired after the apparent campaign-donation scheme was made public.
…Looks like there will be some changes in the divisions for MLB providing the Astros new owner doesn’t balk. The league wants to move the Astros from the National League Central to the American League West. That would even all the divisions – 3 in each league, all with 5 teams. And teams from the AL West shouldn’t complain, who wouldn’t want to play the Astros 18 times a year. Last year the Stros were 56-106.
…It won’t happen, but why not get serious about tweeking the divisions? It can make geographic sense and provide the fans with a better experience. Why not put the Angels, Dodgers, Giants, Padres and Athletics in the same division? Then you could put the Rangers, Astros, Mariners, Rockies and Dbacks in another division. How about a division with the NYY, NY Mets, Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals and the Baltimore Orioles? Makes too much sense for it MLB to even consider such a radical move.
…I have to laugh at the accolades thrown UCLA hoops Coach Ben Howland for his tough stance against star player Reeves Nelson. Howland suspended last year’s biggest producer “indefinitely”, basically for having a bad attitude, being uncoachable and constantly sniping at his teammates. Well, the Bruins were pasted by Middle Tennessee State and before you knew it, Reeves “indefinite” suspension became a one game suspension. Reeves was back for the Bruins foray into the Maui Invitational where teams like Duke, Georgetown and Kansas are lurking.
…Add Reeves – bad behavior is nothing new for Nelson. He was suspended multiple times in high school and at times has shown little or no respect for his teammates or coaching staff. He has admitted anger issues and has had off court issues as well. “I acknowlede there are corrections that need to be made,” said Nelson, “and I’m grateful to Coach Howland to have the opportunity to improve and be a positive force for our team.” And the Bruins started 0-2 and are headed to Maui to play some big guns. Reeves could come in handy.
…Final add Reeves Nelson – The LA Times Bill Dwyre came off about as pompous as any sports writer can be when describing the situation in the Times last week. I almost threw up on the paper while I read it. Quoting Bill Dwyre – “Howland took Nelson back because he thinks he can be a better man, not because he needs a better basketball player.” I’m sure the folks at Penn State would agree.
…Reeves update – Not so sure Howland got his better man back. Less than a week after being suspended in part for being late a team meeting, Nelson missed the team bus to LAX on Saturday for the Bruin’s flight to Hawaii. Nelson took a later flight but missed a players’ banquet. UCLA kept Nelson off limits to the media after his latest erratic display. Howland commented that “He understands it doesn’t look good.” Really.
…Speaking of Penn State, and I think we have all heard enough, will the Nittany Lions accept a bowl bid? They are certainly bowl eligible. Of course there is the question of who would consider inviting them. I think the players should be the ones to decide. And it is possible, though unlikely, that PS could still win an automatic bid if they defeat Ohio State, Wisconsin and win the Big Ten title game.
…Nice to see that Tiger Woods is tying records again. This time, however, it was a record for futility. Woods and Steve Stricker equaled the record the the biggest loss in the history of the President’s Cup last week. The pair failed to even make one birdie or win one hole against Adam Scott and K.J. Choi. Woods came back with a new partner on Thursday, Dustin Johnson, and the pair also lost. Woods did get a win late in the week.
…Popular and attractive Heidi Watney is leaving NESN for warmer territory. And that is a big disappointed to many of her fans. Watney, whose contract expired, is leaving to work for Time Warner Cable in southern California. Time Warner Cable lured the Los Angeles Lakers away from Fox Sports West and KCAL-TV last February with a landmark 20-year deal said be worth in excess of $2.5 billion. Watney will work as a sideline reporter on the Time Warner Cable Laker telecasts, beginning with the 2012-13 season. She had worked on NESN’s Red Sox telecasts and other Red Sox programming for the past four seasons. Her new job allows her to return to her native California. The Lakers, of course, are idle for now.
…The Penn State catastrophe has claimed another. NFL Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris was a 9-time Pro Bowl selection and 4-time Super Bowl winner with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He also played for Joe Paterno at Penn State, helping the Nittany Lions to a 29-4 record from 1969-1971. In the wake of Paterno losing his job Harris has come to his defense and believes the board made a bad decision in letting Paterno go. Last month Harris was hired by the Meadows Race Track & Casino to help with charitable events and also appear in advertisements. Yesterday Harris’ relationship with the casino came to an end as a result of his support of Joe Paterno.
…The Kevin Kolb homecoming to Philly resulted in an improbable victory for Kolb’s Cardinals even though he was injured on the sidelines. Although he couldn’t help his teammates out on the field due to injury, Cardinals QB Kevin Kolb remained an asset by reading the hand signals the Eagles were employing and barking out orders from the sideline. Kolb said he was able to identify some of the Eagles’ plays and was shouting out instructions to the Cardinals defensive backs. Uh…do you think the Eagles should have perhaps changed their signals knowing Kolb was coming to town?
…While Auburn has seemingly escaped the wrath of the NCAA, Ohio State may be in for some further problems. The NCAA has notified Ohio State that it will face a “failure to monitor charge” in addition to more allegations related to its football program. On Thursday Ohio State announced it will dock itself five total football scholarships over the next three years in response to the new alleged violations. The NCAA, by the way, docked USC 10 football scholarships over three years. The Buckeyes are currently awaiting a ruling after going before the NCAA’s committee on infractions back in August for the tattoo-for-memorabilia scandal that forced former coach Jim Tressel to resign. They received another notice of allegations from the NCAA on November 3, and those infractions revolve around a Cleveland-area booster who allegedly provided impermissible benefits to players. The “failure to monitor” charge is one of the most significant the NCAA can bring against a member school and is typically one step short of a “lack of institutional control” charge.
…Tim Tebow, arguably the least skilled quarterback in the NFL, continued to do what he does – win! After doing virtually nothing for the first 55 minutes, Tebow led the Bronocos on a 95 yard drive and the winning touchdown against the shell shocked NY Jets Thursday night. Tebow, who has no support from his coach or team honcho John Elway, is now 4-1 as a starter. The look on Elway’s face when Tebow scored the winning touchdown was priceless – sort of a smirk with some disgust tossed in! And you are right, Tebow has won more games as a starter this year than Michael Vick, helmsman of the Eagles “Dream Team.”
…In a rather laughable move, new Cub boss Theo Epstein reached out to Dale Sveum (no – spelling is correct) as the new Cub manager. Sveum was the hitting coach for the Millwauke Brewers. He has a grand total of 12 games experience as a fill-in manager. Epstein had turned down the popular former Cub Ryne Sandberg because he said he wanted someone with managerial experience. And I guess 12 games experience will do in this case.
…Johnny Jolly could be going to the Super Bowl. Instead he is going to prison. Suspended Green Bay defensive lineman Johnny Jolly was sentenced to 6 years in prison for violating the terms of his probation for a Texas drug conviction. Jolly, 28, was charged with possession of a compound containing codeine, a controlled substance, after a traffic stop in Houston last October. He was also charged with tampering with evidence for attempting to conceal the substance from investigating officers. Sad story.
…The Baltimore Ravens may be underachievers on the field, but they are perhaps the techiest team in the NFL. Instead of asking their players to carry around humungous playbooks, the Ravens have provided their players with the far more mobile iPad2 and distribute information to them electronically every week. Here’s the best deal. If a player loses his iPad, the team’s director of information technology just clicks a button and wipes it out!
…Multiple outlets are reporting that an announcement might be imminent that Ohio native and former OSU assistant Urban Meyer is headed to Columbus to lead the Buckeyes. Meyer said not true, so assume he will take the job sometime soon.
…A sad day for Oklahoma State off the field. Oklahoma State’s women’s basketball head coach Kurt Budke and assistant Miranda Serna were killed in a small plane crash Thursday. The crash comes nearly 11 years after 10 men associated with OSU’s basketball team were killed in a plane crash returning to Stillwater from a game in Colorado. The pilot of the plane was former Oklahoma state Senator Olin Branstetter, who was also killed along with his wife. Branstetter was 82 years old. I’m sure that Branstetter was a fine gentleman and probably more mentally acute than I am. But I don’t want to drive in a car with an 82 year old driver. And a plane?????
…Here’s a real rarity. The USC football team outscored the USC basketball team Saturday. The Trojans upset Oregon on the football field 38 – 35. The Trojan hoops squad was upset by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 42-36. So the football team outscored the basketball team 38-36. That is an embarrassment of monumental proportion.
…Bobby Valentine says he has spoken with the Boston Red Sox about their vacant managerial position. He said Friday that he has talked to general manager Ben Cherington and that ”I’d be honored” to have further discussions with team officials. ”I’m looking forward to having conversations, if that’s what they want to do,” the former manager of the New York Mets and Texas Rangers said in a telephone interview. The Red Sox are seeking a replacement for Terry Francona, who left Sept. 30, two days after a loss in the regular-season finale left them out of the playoffs. The Red Sox also interviewed new Cub manager Dale Sveum but the Cubs grabbed him first!
…I think I’ve decided to give up any thoughts of running. Authorities said that two men who ran in the Philadelphia Marathon collapsed during the race and died of apparent heart attacks. Philly police said a 21 year old man collapsed at the finish line and a 40 year old man collapsed about a quarter mile from the finish line.
…Even though they are bowl eligible, the Miami Hurricanes will not go to a bowl game this season. The school instituted a self-imposed ban they felt was necessary in response to the NCAA investigation. Coach Al Golden said “I’m clearly disappointed.” And I think that pretty much sums up his opinion of the entire Miami situation he inherited.
…Not many details available at time this went to publish, but Arkansas back up tight end Garrett Uekman was pronounced dead at Washing regional Medical Center in Fayetteville on Sunday afternoon. University officials said he was found unconscious and unresponsive in his dorm room about 11:15 am. Uekman was seen playing video games by a roommate about an hour earlier.
