Duck Alum Ahmad Rashad Inducted Into College

Rashad is among 20 players who will be enshrined on Saturday, along with: Mount Union quarterback Jim Ballard, Oklahoma center Tom Brahaney; Michigan defensive back Dave Brown; Clemson linebacker Jeff Davis; Texas defensive back Johnnie Johnson; Ohio State quarterback Rex Kern; North Alabama linebacker Ronald McKinnon; Texas A&I defensive end John Randle; McMurry halfback Brad Rowland; Indiana running back Anthony Thompson; Houston defensive tackle Wilson Whitley; Dartmouth linebacker Reggie Williams; Southern California linebacker Richard Wood and Notre Dame defensive end Chris Zorich.

Along with Paterno, the coaches being enshrined are Central Michigan coach Herb Deromedi, Jackson State coach W.C. Gorden and Doug Porter, who coached at Mississippi Valley State, Howard and Fort Valley State.

"I haven't been around football players in a long time," Rashad said. "It will be fun to just talk about it and bring you back to the old days for a little while. For a couple of hours you have a chance to tell stories and laugh and then move on with your life."

Rashad Going Into Hall

L.T. Campaigns For Fantasy Football's Top Pick

LaDainian Tomlinson campaigned in Times Square, shaking hands and handing out bumper stickers. He did the talk-show circuit, saturated the media with ads and sent volunteers into the streets of major cities to deliver leaflets.

The Chargers star isn't running for office, though. He's not throwing his support behind any presidential candidates or raising any sort of awareness, either. He's actually pushing a much simpler agenda: He wants Americans to pick him first in their fantasy football drafts.

"I should be the No. 1 pick because I'm proven," Tomlinson told The Associated Press during the start of the tongue-in-cheek "LT in '08" media blitz promoting foxsports.com's fantasy games. "I've been doing it for a while and have experience helping owners win their leagues. I got a good track record, and I'll be ready on day one."

L.T. Wants #1 Spot

Seattle P.I. Writer Says Trade M's Ichiro

During last month's news conference announcing the firing of general manager Bill Bavasi, Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln said he was open to trading anyone on the team.

If that's the case, the Mariners should deal Ichiro Suzuki by the July 31 deadline. If I'm Lincoln, I'm telling interim GM Lee Pelekoudas to gauge the interest in his All-Star right fielder to see if he can get an ace and/or prospects in return.

Nothing against Ichiro, but isn't it time to blow this thing up and start over? Realizing they had no shot at an NBA championship, the Sonics dealt Ray Allen to Boston and began a process that will someday turn Oklahoma City into a perennial contender.

When you blow things up, you don't hang on to your best player, especially one who will be 35 in October. You don't let the player's popularity get in the way. If you're truly serious about winning, you forget about the marketing consequences, understanding that a successful team is more essential to long-term fan appeal.

3rd Rider Cut From Tour De France

Drugs hit the Tour de France again Thursday, the third doping bust in this race and netting the biggest name yet: Italy's Riccardo Ricco, a winner of two stages.

The disclosure came hours before the 12th stage, which was won by Britain's Mark Cavendish while Australia's Cadel Evans kept the yellow jersey.

But as is often the case in cycling, drugs overshadowed racing. This is the third straight year, the sport's showpiece event has been undercut by doping.

"May the cheaters get caught. May they go away," Tour president Christian Prudhomme said. "I said to the riders before the race, behind closed doors, that you have the key. ... Some didn't get the message."

"I'm glad they got caught. The Tour needs to continue and get to the finish in Paris," International Cycling Union president Pat McQuaid told The Associated Press. "It's another blow to the sport but I have to see it in light of the fact that they're getting caught and going to be thrown out."

Rider Cut

Yankees and Sexson Agree To Contract

The New York Yankees and recently released Richie Sexson have come to terms on a tenative contract according to ESPN.com in this article.

Sexson fits in New York because the Yankees needed a right-handed slugger to match up against left-handed pitching -- and Sexson had a .344 average with five home runs in 71 at-bats against lefties this year.

Assuming the deal is completed, he'll be in the lineup Saturday against Oakland.

The Yankees will have to pay Sexson only the prorated minimum of $390,000 from his $14 million salary with the Mariners. Seattle is eating the remainder of the nearly $6 million Sexson is owed for the season.

Sexson was batting .218 with just 30 RBIs in 74 games when the Mariners cut him loose, on July 10. He hit a career-worst .205 with 21 homers and 100 strikeouts in 2007.

Brandon Jennings Update: Signs Contract W/ Italian Pro Team

Brandon Jennings, a former Arizona signee who was ranked as the class of 2008's top point guard at Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) last season, has signed with Pallacanestro Virtus Roma of the Italian pro league.

After spending the last three days in Las Vegas, where he worked out twice a day for seven international teams from five countries (Russia, Israel, Spain, Greece and Italy) at the Jerry Tarkanian Center, Jennings reached a three-year agreement.

Before leaving Vegas, the point guard -- who maintains he still does not know whether he received a qualifying score to play at Arizona -- reached the agreement in a meeting with Virtus Roma executives at the Tower Suites Wynn Hotel on Tuesday night. The contract features buyout clauses for potential NBA teams.

Jennings Signs With Team

NFL Plans To Crack Down On Gang Signs

The NFL is stepping up its monitoring of on-field player activities to ensure that no one is flashing the hand signals of street gangs according to this article.

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that the league had hired experts to look at game tapes and identify players or team officials who might be using suspected gang signals. Violators would be warned and disciplined if the episodes recurred.

League officials said Tuesday that avoiding gang-related activities has long been stressed.

A-Rod Leaves All-Star Game Early, Literally

A-Rod, already showered and decked out in a snazzy suit and tie, met the media just outside the Yankee clubhouse Tuesday night while the All-Star game was still being played. Rodriguez, who came out of the game in the fifth inning, left the Stadium shortly thereafter.

Rodriguez had a night of highs and lows - he was jazzed by the pregame ceremony featuring 49 Hall of Famers, calling it "by far the greatest show I've seen for an All-Star Game. New York knows how to do it best."

But Terry Francona's plan to take out A-Rod in the middle of an inning to get him an extra ovation - he did the same thing an inning later with Derek Jeter and brought Mariano Rivera into the game in the middle of the ninth - fizzled. It seemed that fans didn't know what was going on when Joe Crede replaced Rodriguez with two out in the fifth and there was hardly a buzz, much less an ovation.

Even so, Rodriguez called it "a very classy move" by Francona.

Early Exit

S.I.'s Top 25 Colleges of 07-08

For nearly two decades, the Collegiate Directors of Athletics have done so, using components like a "64-team non-bracket point system" to determine the Directors' Cup winner. (Stanford finished on top in '07-08 for the 14th consecutive year). But critics argue that its formula is extremely complicated. Moreover, Stanford will likely continue to dominate for years to come.

So in an attempt to clear the air and name a winner that is easily figured out and understandable SI came out with their own top 25 that combined a bunch of criteria that can be found here at their article on their website.

Here is their top 5:

Rank	School	Points Breakdown (based on the 11 men's and 11 women's sports that we chose.)			Total Points
		National Titles	Conference Titles	Top 30 Finishes
1	Arizona State	3 (30 pts)	4 reg, 0 post (12 pts)	12 (24 pts)	66
2	Stanford	1 (10 pts)	4.5 reg, 1 post (14.5 pts)	18 (36 pts)	60.5
3	UCLA	2 (20 pts)	3.5 reg, 1 post (11.5 pts)	13 (26 pts)	57.5
T-4	North Carolina	1 (10 pts)	5 reg, 4 post (19 pts)	12 (24 pts)	53
T-4	Georgia	2 (20 pts)	3 reg, 2 post (11 pts)	11 (22 pts)	53

Oregon came in at #21:

21

Oregon

1 (10 pts)

2 reg, 0 post (6 pts)

5 (10 pts)

26

Roger Clemens In More Trouble

Convicted steroid distributor Kirk Radomski told ESPN.com in this article that while he was moving a broken television off a dresser in the bedroom of his Long Island home last Sunday night, he found a shipping receipt for human growth hormone that he claims to have sent to Clemens' Houston home in 2002 or 2003. Radomski said he found that receipt, along with "seven or eight others" for shipments to other baseball players, under the TV.

"My TV broke and I said, 'Damn, I got to get it off the dresser,'" Radomski said Wednesday. "And it was right there."

Radomski said he turned the evidence over to federal authorities on Monday

Ted Miller's Top QBs In The Pac 10

Ted Miller a college football writer for ESPN.com came out with a top 10 list of Pac-10 QBs and here is how the list was broken down.

1. Rudy Carpenter, Sr., Arizona State: He enters his senior season with 65 touchdowns and 8,000 yards passing, meaning he's going to dust such luminaries, such as Matt Leinart, Jake Plummer, John Elway and Carson Palmer in the Pac-10 record book. Moreover, the Sun Devils figure to finish in the top-third in the conference.
2. Willie Tuitama, Sr., Arizona: It's hard to imagine if he stays healthy that he won't lead the conference in passing and touchdown passes. And if he leads the Wildcats to their sixth or seventh win and their first bowl berth since 1998 with an upset victory over ASU, it would be hard to deny him.
3. Mark Sanchez, Jr., USC: Got a feeling Sanchez, an outstanding talent, will break through this season in large part because an underachieving receiving corps is due to, er, achieve.
4. Jake Locker, So., Washington: If he were surrounded by budding NFL talent, he'd be Tim Tebow. Locker is an outstanding runner who improved on his passing accuracy this past spring. His receivers are athletic but unproven. It wouldn't be shocking if he accounted for 3,500 to 4,000 yards of total offense.
5. Nate Longshore, Sr., California: In 2006, he looked like a budding NFL draft pick. In 2007, he looked befuddled and overwhelmed. He might not even beat out Kevin Riley. Or he might again throw for 3,000 yards and 24 touchdowns.
6. Ben Olson, Sr., UCLA: He remains a big talent but Olson has lacked consistency and can't stay healthy. Of course, a few years ago in LA, Norm Chow hooked up with another talented but inconsistent QB: Carson Palmer.
7. Nate Costa, So., Oregon: Ranking Costa ahead of more experienced QBs is a leap of faith due to this: I've heard so many great things about this dual-threat that it's hard to believe he's not going to become a star.
8. Lyle Moevao, Jr., Oregon State: He'll have to be more than a game-manager relying on a great defense this season, and he could lose his starting perch. Still, he looked good this spring and is a respected team leader.
9. Tavita Prichard, Sr., Stanford: He beat USC, which is good, but he didn't do much else. He completed just 50 percent of his passes with nine interceptions and five TDs.
10. Gary Rogers, Sr., Washington State: He's huge -- 6-foot-7, 233 pounds -- but he's an unproven guy running a new offense. Helps that he has a solid group of receivers, led by Brandon Gibson.

Here is the entire article that can be found on ESPN.Com

Its Brett Favre Day!!!

Since I'm a Packer fan and a Brett Favre fan I'm gonna throw this up on the blog.

Favre Watch: Day 194

No its not Day 194 but it seems like this show of a circus is crazy and has no intentions of ending any time soon. Now, according to Brett Favre in this article he is considering just showing up for summer camp for the Green Bay Packers in little under a month.

In the second part of an interview with Fox News, the 38-year-old quarterback said he knows his arrival in camp would cause a media circus, but that might not stop him. Packers players are scheduled to report July 27. "It's tempting just to, as everyone said, you know, call their bluff or whatever," Favre said, according to an excerpt provided to The Associated Press. "I think it's going to be a circus in itself already, whether I go there, whatever."

"I like my teammates," Favre said. "I had a lot of fun with them. I have talked to numerous guys throughout this whole ordeal. I wish them the best, I really do. I hold nothing against those guys. We had a lot of fun together. We had, it was an amazing year last year. I don't want to make it any worse than it is." And right now, it's pretty bad. Favre and the Packers appear headed toward a messy divorce after Favre demanded his release last week.

The decision blindsided the Packers. They were open to Favre's return for much of the offseason -- even after Favre's retirement in early March -- but had since committed to moving forward with Rodgers as their starter. Favre conceded that the latest in his long line of reversals on his football future has been tough on Rodgers, the Packers' first-round pick in 2005.

"The one thing in this, I do feel bad for Aaron a little bit," Favre said. "I think he'll do a fine job, to be totally honest with you, I do. He has been injured. I mean, the two injuries are not his fault. Couldn't control. I know this has been tough on him. I think he'll do a fine job. And this has nothing to do with him, this whole deal."

MLB Home Run Dery Declared Home Run Event

What a performance! Josh Hamilton going for 28 bombs in the first round! Great story behind the scenes on Hamilton and his addiction to drugs and his life threatening use. Then on top of that Hamilton was beat us by a wild card and on top of that, a Canadian in Justin Morneau from the Twins who hit 5 home runs in the last round to Hamilton's 3.

Question for the day is: Did the Home Run Derby create a stir for you that got you excited for the All Star Game and and the Home Run Derby itself?

Justin's Pac-10 WildCard UCLA Bruins

Here is a clip of Slick Rick giving his speel on why UCLA will be good in the future...

Billy Packer Sent Packing

CBS has decided to part ways with the college basketball anaylist Billy Packer after a streak of 27 straight final four series done by Mr. Packer.

"These are really good circumstances," Packer told The Associated Press by phone. "This decision was made with myself and CBS over a year ago. Their timing to announce it is their business. I have nothing to do with that. I was working on a series of 1-year contracts for several years. ... I did say there would be no mention during the season so as not to detract from the games and the guys involved."

Kellogg, a game and studio analyst for CBS for 16 years, will be the man next to Jim Nantz on the 2009 Final Four broadcasts.

"With his unquestioned popularity and performance over the years, Clark Kellogg earned all rights to this top spot," Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports, said in a statement. "Like Billy Packer, Al McGuire or any of the most highly regarded broadcasters, Clark is an original voice with his own style and perspective."

Packer Leaves CBS

Michigan's New Football Unis

Check out this new uniform picture of Michigan's new road uni as they replaced what could be said to be one of the most traditional and historic uniform combo in all of college football.



Honestly, they look a tad like these....



On a side note...doing my dedicated research for this blog when I was looking for a picture of West Virginia's road uni I found a ton of pictures through google's images of Oregon Duck Jerseys.

Favre Fans Hold Protest To Get Favre Back

Brett Favre’s fans came to his defense Sunday, rallying outside Lambeau Field in an attempt to pressure the Green Bay Packers to reinstate him as the starting quarterback.

The crowd of more than 100 chanted “We want Brett,” and carried signs reading “Favre for President” or “Favre Forever.” Many in the parking lot wore No. 4 jerseys.

“We’ve always appreciated the passion of our fans,” the Packers said in a statement. Team spokesman Jeff Blumb said there would be no other comment.

Come on now guys this is a little bit on the sad side of things....

Fans Protest

Sheets and Lee: Starters For MLB All-Star Game

Cliff Lee of the Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee ace Ben Sheets were picked as the starting pitchers for Tuesday night's All-Star game at Yankee Stadium.

Lee is 12-2 with a 2.31 ERA, a remarkable resurgence after the left-hander was demoted to the minors last season. He was chosen by American League manager Terry Francona of Boston.

"I'm just honored to be here, to be honest with you," Lee said Monday. "To get the start is just icing on the cake. ... I'm kind of awe-struck by it."

NL manager Clint Hurdle of Colorado tabbed Sheets, who is 10-3 with a 2.85 ERA. Several other National League All-Stars pitched Sunday, making the well-rested Sheets a logical choice.

"I've never been to Yankee Stadium so I'm going to try to take it all in and just enjoy myself," Sheets said.

Entire Article