Nevada basketball player gets beat up, kicked off team in strange case

Some crazy stuff went down at the University of Nevada this weekend, and it includes basketball and possibly football players. Let's get this straight:

Coach tells basketball player not to go out on a Saturday night. Player ignores coach and goes out - to a Halloween house party. Player has a good time, dances. Four party crashers show up, one bumps into player while he dances. Player mouths off and gets beaten unconscious and robbed by two of the party crashers, one of whom is a brother of a Wolfpack football player. Party-goers try to kick party crashers out and get shot and killed - three in total. Player gets kicked off the team three days later.

Sound a little screwed up? Yeah, it does to us, too.

But it's true. A Nevada basketball player ignored a coach's orders, ended up getting pummeled and robbed at a party where three people were shot and killed, and then was kicked off the team a few days later.

Just in time: Your NBA season outlook

We've been really behind on NBA preseason/preview stuff here. In fact, we haven't posted anything.

It isn't that we don't enjoy the NBA (ok, maybe just NDub enjoys it), but we've been busy with other posts. Plus, the profs are starting to pile on the homework. Coupled with that tepidness is the lack of productivity on weekends. They are reserved for Bud Light and football. No basketball or blogging.

Since the regular season tips off tonight (The outstanding TNT has a doubleheader beginning at 8 p.m.), we'll give you 10 reasons/storylines to watch the NBA this season and our playoffs predictions.

10. How many forwards can the Atlanta Hawks fit into the starting lineup? Let's take you through their last four drafts: Josh Smith/Josh Childress (No. 17/No. 6-2004), Marvin Williams (No. 2-2005), Shelden Williams (No. 5-2006), and Al Horford (No. 3-2007). It's almost certain to be another losing season in Atlanta. The players won't mesh well together and the coaching/ownership sucks.

9. Greg Oden. It's too bad he's not playing this season. It's even worse the surgery that ended his rookie year before it started was the dangerous microfracture surgery that's ended NBA careers (Allan Houston, Jamal Mashburn, many more). Fortunately, we can look to the most recent (Amare Stoudemire) and see a success story if the player is young (Stoudemire was 24, Oden is 19, Houston and Mashburn were over 30) and has the drive to incessantly rehab. Stay focused on his comeback. He updates his blog often. He posted a new video today and a week ago updating us on his knee. Keep your eyes on LaMarcus Aldridge, who will have to carry the Blazers post game.

8. The New York Knicks vs The World. GM and coach Isiah Thomas has the legal proceedings behind him. Kind of. But let's talk basketball; not law. The Knicks have a solid starting five and about three good bench players. With all of the negative publicity the franchise has received over the past few years because of poor play and off-the-court antics, it's an us-versus-them mentality. How far will it take the Knicks?

7. What kind of whacky shit will 'Hibachi' Gilbert Arenas pull this season? And how about his My Space-loving sidekick, DeShawn 'I post my credit card number on the internet' Stevenson? Arenas is in a world of his own. He blogs. He comes up with silly nicknames. He's eccentric. Stevenson is just a moron who loves red-headed, cracked-out, white women.

6. Was the Golden State Warriors' magical 2007 postseason run just that; or is this team legit? We don't think so. As fun as they were to watch -outhustling, outshooting, outrebounding, simply outplaying the opposition- this team is vastly undersized and defensively outmatched. Sure, they're exciting, but can they stay healthy enough (paging Baron Davis) during the regular season to earn the 7th or 8th spot in the West? Likely since Oden is out for the Blazers, who had a solid playoff nucleus when the big man was healthy.

5. Kevin Durant: The UT Assassin brings his game to The League. He can score from anywhere on the floor, he rebounds, he passes, he plays defense. What more could you ask for? How about 25 pounds? Durant's body won't be able to withstand an 82-game season with a 6-9, 190-pound frame. Not the way he plays. Rip Hamilton (6-7, 190) can do it because his runs around screens and shoots the midrange with the occassional drive to the basket. Plus Hamilton doesn't have to shoulder the scoring or defensive load. Durant does and will have to for the Sonics to have success. Durant is going to be a special NBA player; but he'll first have to add a lot of bulk to sustain an 82-game season and deep playoff run to prove his mastery of the game.

4. Will the league's most talented team, the Dallas Mavericks, wear themselves out in the regular season? And are they any tougher than in the past playoffs? The Mavs blew up for 67 wins last year and were awarded with a whooping in the first round by No. 8 seed Golden State. The Warriors outmuscled and intimidated the Mavs, who've played soft in recent postseason history. Dirk Nowitzki, for all the criticism he takes for not being clutch and playing limper than Mike Ditka's you-know-what, is still the league's reigning MVP. But it's time to take his game to another level and that's why Dirk wasn't traded for Kobe or anyone else this offseason.

3. The Boston Celtics. Well, duh. That'll happen when Danny Ainge trades for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett and pairs the two superstars with Paul Pierce. The Celtics may not be the clear favorite to win the Eastern Conference with Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland in the mix, but one has to consider Boston a legit challenger for the crown.

2. Do the San Antonio Spurs have enough gas left in the tank for a repeat? They're getting old. Michael Finley, Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry and Brent Barry namely. But Tim Duncan has a lot of tread on the tires. Sans Tony Parker, is there enough speed to compete with the Mavericks, Suns, Nuggets, or Warriors for a seven game playoff series? Or will the Spurs play great enough help defense (which has one them titles in the past) and efficient offense for it to not even matter?

1. Kobe Bryant: Are you tired of this story yet? Get ready for a mountain of media coverage (mostly from ESPN and Bryant mouthpiece Ric Bucher) as the Bryant-Lakers saga will drag on until a)Kobe shuts his mouth; b)Phil shuts his mouth before Kobe shuts his mouth; c)Jerry Buss and Mitch 'Cupcake' gets a clue and trades Kobe; d)The Lakers have a hot beginning third of the season. We believe Kobe will play like a pissed off cyborg and average 35 a night. If he's traded to the Chicago Bulls, which has been rumored all summer and up to now, the balance of power in the NBA will shift to the East.

Playoffs Predictions (in order, top to bottom)
East: Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards
Conference finals: Detroit over Boston

West: Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors, New Orleans Hornets
Conference finals: Dallas over San Antonio

NBA Champions: Dallas over Detroit

Happy Free Taco Bell Taco Day!

Bottom of the 4th. Two outs. Runner on third. Game tied 1-1.

Boston Red Sox centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury draws a walk.

He stands on first base for just a few seconds, then leads off the bag about eight feet. Colorado Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez darts his eyes over his left shoulder and onto Ellsbury.

Sweat drips off Ellsbury's brow, as he catches eyes with Jimenez. Fearless, Ellsbury remains eight feet off the bag. He's stolen second before, but not in such a pressure-packed situation. Never for America.

Jimenez sets, glances over at Ellsbury one last time, and begins his wind up.

Ellsbury explodes to second. His chin buried in his chest, legs pumping, and arms swaying at his sides. In his mind, he only thinks about the American people.

Second base is closing in. He leaps toward the white diamond. His hands reach toward it as his body plods into the dirt.

He is.....
.
.
.
.
.
.
SAFE!

The catcher doesn't even attempt the pickoff. Because, you know, there was a runner on third base and the Rockies didn't want to commit an error, and thus allow an unearned run.

But Ellsbury's done it. He's won a free Taco Bell cruncy taco for every person in America.

And if you're wondering when to wrap your jaws around one of these delectible beasts, that day is today. Between the hours of 2-5 p.m. head to your nearest Taco Bell for a free taco. Tell 'em Jacoby Ellsbury sent you.

AP's Austin Ward joins the ASU bandwagon

CONSTRUDA NOTE: Austin Ward responded on Tuesday morning to our e-mail and we've posted it at the end of this entry.

A second Associated Press media member has voted Arizona State No. 1 in the most recent college football poll.

This time it's Casper Star-Tribune (Wyoming) sportswriter Austin Ward. He briefly justified his selection, but we'll shoot him an e-mail and post what we hope is more detailed reasoning.

Arizona State currently leads the Pac-10 with a 5-0 conference record and is 8-0 overall. It jumped from No. 12 to No. 7 to No. 6 over the last three weeks. It went 2-0 with a bye and defeated (then 2-3, now 2-6) Washington and No. 18 California, it's first ranked opponent of the season. The knock against the Sun Devils is that they're schedule is weak; their opponents are 28-36 through 10 weeks.

Ohio State received 59 of 65 first-place votes. Boston College is ranked No. 2 and received one first-place vote. LSU, which was idle, received three first-place votes and is ranked third.

Mobile (Alabama) Press-Register scribe Neal McCready currently drives the Sun Devils' bandwagon; he voted the team No. 1 in each of the two previous polls and the most recent. He admirably explained his selection to us.

The Sun Devils are at the beginning of the toughest part of their schedule and will face No. 4 Oregon on Saturday. (Awful Announcing broke the news earlier today that ESPN nabbed the rights to show this game to a national audience.) Games against mercurial UCLA, super-talented but inconsistent (No. 13) USC, and a rivarly game against Arizona remain.

Austin Ward's e-mailed response:

I can't think of a single sexy thing about Ohio State. Typically the Buckeyes can get away with a non-conference slate of cream puffs because they can count on the Big Ten schedule making things tough, but is there even one other team in the league that can compete with them this year? My feeling is no, even though Michigan won't be easy.
As such, it would take quite a bit for me to move them higher than No. 3. I haven't been shy about shaking up my ballot, especially with ASU and BC taking up the top slots this week and replacing LSU and Oklahoma. I think the Bayou Bengals and Sooners are the most talented teams in the nation, but the Sun Devils and Eagles aren't leaving them much room for error.
As far as the Sun Devils, I believe they have the best resume of the unbeatens. Boston College certainly picked up a very impressive win last week, but I think most people were already counting out ASU and ignoring what a tough test Cal figured to be -- and were -- on Saturday. ASU has been resilient all season and plays in a far tougher league, but an out-of-league win over Colorado has stood up reasonably well and was the toughest of the 12 between the top three perfect squads.
Austin

NOTE: We can't, for the life of us, find who picked up this story today. Construda has been blowing up from a link from a larger blog/website. If any of our readers can point us to where they found this story, please do so. Our e-mail is construda@gmail.com. Thanks. Also, we apologize for calling Mr. Ward 'Adam.'

Georgia rushes the field... in the first quarter

After playing with what coach Mark Richt called a lack of passion in a pair of losses and pair of lackluster wins, around 70 Georgia football players stormed the endzone and celebrated a first quarter touchdown on Saturday against Florida.



This motivational ploy was encouraged by Richt and it seemed to work. The end result was a 42-30 Georgia victory, aided by the emotional wave created by the first quarter celebration. The win was only Georgia's third in 18 years against Florida and Richt's second in six tries.

As expected, Florida coach Urban Meyer and players were not happy.

By the way, we're never making fun of the name Knowshon again.

More impressive: 14 laterals or the shoddy tackling?

At the risk of being trendy in the sports blogosphere, we bring you this unbelievable video from a Division III football game in Texas. If you haven't seen it yet, you can go to just about any other blog and watch. But you came here, so we'll post it. One team laterals 14 times and the other looks like each player is waiting for a teammate to make the game-ending tackle. Here's the result:

Former Colt's wife avoids prosecution

It's been a while and the wounds have healed - literally and figuratively.

Remember in the 2005-06 AFC playoff game when Indianapolis Colts cornerback Nick Harper scooped up Jerome Bettis' goalline fumble and nearly returned it for a touchdown? Remember when he tried to juke the Pittsburgh Steelers' last line of defense - quarterback Ben Roethlisberger - and he approached midfield but was tripped up?

Peyton Manning and Co. got the Colts into field goal range... and well, you know the rest. The lips of every coach and player in the replay mouthed the same thing: "He missed it."

We wondered and still to this day question had Harper not been stabbed in the knee by his wife the day before that game if he could have eluded the swiping arm of Big Ben.

Almost two years later and Harper's now ex-wife, Daniell, will not face prosecution for the incident. She successfully completed a first-offenders program in which she had to underwent marriage counseling and passed all drug and alcohol tests for a year.

The 66-inch highjump

I was at the NFL Scouting Combine this February in Indianapolis and some writers were talking about Wyoming (and now Buffalo Bills) safety John Wendling's superb athleticism. One writer said he heard Wendling jumped a 66-inch vertical and that the video clip was floating around on the Internet.

You tell sportswriters something like that and they're going to find the video clip; it's part of the natural curiosity of the career. Sure enough, someone found it and we crowded around his laptop.

The reason why we brought this up is because in this week's Sports Illustrated is a piece about how Arizona Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson builds explosiveness and speed. He too jumped a 66-inch vertical.

Think about that - five feet, six inches. These guys aren't getting huge running starts either; they're taking three steps and then leaping the hurdle.

First is Wendling's (last year). Then Wilson's (two years ago).

WS Game 1 thoughts: Where's Karl Ravech?

Why is ESPN torturing, er, dousing us with Chris Berman as the lead anchor for the on-location Baseball Tonight crew?

Karl Ravech has been the lead baseball personality all season, yet ESPN trades him for this bloviating swine. I know Ravech did some in-studio baseball work for SportsCenter after last night's game, but he's needed on-location with the rest of the Baseball Tonight guys. Please, for the sake of our ears.

Ravech is one of the few tolerable personalities at ESPN. He doesn't drop the cliches or snarky remarks. And he certainly doesn't torture us with an over-used shtick like 'DeeJay' Stuart Scott.

Berman's gimmick hasn't grown old; it's been annoyingly ancient for years now. He yells, he spews unfunny nicknames and songs, and he grunts and groans his way through highlights. He's the epitome of the ESPN personality - he makes himself part of the highlight rather than letting the action carry the viewer.

Such a prestigious event like the World Series, even though ESPN only has the rights to an on-location show, deserves a lead anchor who isn't vexatious. Ravech is that guy; Berman isn't.

Some other World Series thoughts:

*Joe Buck, who is known for sometimes making smug comments, is one of the best baseball play-by-play broadcasters in today's business. His delivery is smooth. His tone flows with the game. He tolerates McCarver. And Buck knows his baseball.

*Colorado Rockies manager Clint Hurdle's hat bill moves in unison with his jaws as he chomps his gum. Look closer next time Fox puts the camera on him. By the way, what's up with Hurdle's complexion? It looks like he hits the tanning bed before every first pitch.

*Jason Varitek is the Red Sox's captain, but answers questions like he's the 25th man on the roster. "(Beckett) was good....he was... (nods).... he was good (smile)," he said to Fox's Ken Rosenthal after the game. That's the best quote you can muster up with 11 years in the Majors?

*Why did Fox keep putting the camera on that 7-year-old dancing kid? You know the one I'm talking about. He appeared to be seizing, but instead was dancing like most dancing white guys. You're on your way, son.

Quote of the night goes to Fox color commentator Tim McCarver:

"The bigger you are, the longer your stroke." - 8th inning, on Matt Holliday

More mishaps in the Ball State athletic department

Maybe it's because I'm a student at the university so I'm exposed to more of the garbage that goes on in the athletic department.

Or perhaps it's simply because most of this athletic department, starting at the top, is a joke.

The Ball State athletic department suffered another black eye today.

The Daily News reported today that five student-athletes tested positive for banned substances. The test was administered to 25 student-athletes on Oct. 5; two of the five tested positive for a second time.

Ball State's smarmy athletic director Tom Collins said the positive tests do not reflect on his department.

Of course they do. In fact, it adds to the pile of negativity the athletic department has garnered since Collins' arrival in Dec. 2005.

The student-athletes clearly made poor choices. Whether it was drugs, performance enhancers, energy or fat-burning boosters, or something else on the NCAA's list of banned substances - it was wrong.

Coaches and athletic department officials can't make decisions for their student-athletes. They can only educate and reiterate the importance of staying clean.

There are rules to be followed, and not just for substance abuse. Rules that were created to maintain success and inspire respect for self, team, program and university. Ball State student-athletes, coaches and athletic department officials know these rules. But they don't seem to be following them.

In Collins' brief era, men's basketball coach Ronny Thompson quit after one season amid racial tensions and NCAA violations - three when Thompson was coach. That situation is a slimey one, and Thompson lawyered up. A volleyball coach of 18-years was inexpicably fired because of his connection to the men's basketball situation.

New head men's basketball coach Billy Taylor recently kicked two players off the team for violating team policy in separate instances.

The head of women's basketball operations was arrested for DUI in August but retains her job.

In less than two years, this is the state of Collins' athletic department. Leadership is what the Ball State athletic department needs but leadership is not what the Ball State athletic department is getting.

(NOTE: We've e-mailed some local beat writers and hope to post their thoughts on the state of the BSU athletic department. We'll post them if we get them.)

Rams OLine takes another blow

One could make an argument for the Miami Dolphins or St. Louis Rams, both mired in 0-7 misery, as the worst team in the NFL.

We'll go with the latter because this season's expectations were higher. With Marc Bulger, Steven Jackson, Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce and a decent defensive line and linebacking group, the Rams were supposed to challenge for the weak NFC West. But an average offensive line quickly morphed into a woeful one with an inordinate amount of injuries.

St. Louis' offensive line took another hit today when guard Claude Terrell was arrested and charged for beating his wife, a Class A misdeamenor. He appeared in six games (three starts) and was cut by the team today for "performance on the field, and just because of how he was playing."

This is just another blow to the Rams' shoddy offensive line. Two of five starters are on the injured reserve, including Pro Bowler and protector of Bulger's backside Orlando Pace. The top backup tackle and guard were also lost for the season. Other linemen, like center Brett Romberg, have missed time due to injury.

Bulger has been sacked 18 times in five games and has a passer rating of 58.7 after tallying above a 92 in four of his first five seasons. Backup Gus Frerotte, who's played in three games this season because Bulger broke his ribs, was sacked six times.

In his Monday Morning Quarterback column this Monday on SI.com, Peter King said, "The Rams' line is one of the worst in recent NFL history. Maybe in all of NFL history."

High school soccer coach fired for 'vulgar comment'

This story isn't making national attention, so we apologize for getting our hands on it three weeks after the incident happened.

Hillsboro-Deering High School (New Hampshire) athletic director/baseball coach/boys soccer coach Mike Dupont was fired from all three positions for making a "vulgar comment" at halftime of a recent soccer game.

His team was losing and he wanted to fire up his players.

"It was almost like they were being toyed with by (the opponent) Sanborn," Dupont told the (Concord) Monitor last night. "They were playing very lackadaisical."

He continued: "I was trying to talk about taking pride in what they were doing . . . that if you're not going to take pride in this, you're not going to take pride in anything you do."

During that speech, he asked the boys, "What do I have to do to piss you guys off?" According to Tim Grass, whose son is on the team, Dupont then said, "f--- you mothers."

Last night, Dupont said that sounds "about right," although he said in his mind, the statement was, "You wouldn't care if that team went to your house and f---ed your mother."

Grass' son refused to play in the second half because he was offended by the fiery comment. Dupont realized he crossed the line and apologized to the player.

The father complained the next day, Dupont was put on administrative leave for about a week, and then was fired.

Cussing is something most coaches do. We remember growing up playing sports and getting cursed and hollered at, with the ultimate reason being motivation. In this case, the soccer coach meant well but crossed the line.

'Fuck' likely wasn't why he was fired; it was insinuating the players didn't care if the opponent (or the coach as one player and his father said) boffed their mothers.

In our opinion, Dupont shouldn't have been fired from all three positions. But because he did drop the comment on high schoolers, he deserved to lose the soccer job. Not all of them. He did, however, retain his job as a social studies teacher.

On the heels of this story comes the Indy Star's report that the NCAA will crack down hard on cussing basketball coaches this season. Referees will give technical fouls for one curse word; the second profanity is an ejection. The stripes will receive coveted postseason assignments for their crackdowns.

The NCAA is pushing the limits with this decision. Collegiate sports are a higher level of competition, coaching and players are more mature than high school. Motivation is necessary because hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars are pumped into programs to win championships, earn national recognition, and build prestige.

Profanity is in the fabric of the sport. If a coach feels cussing is the tool he needs to use to improve play, then why can't he use it? As long as his comments aren't vulgar like Dupont's, then cursing should be OK. Especially at this level and the pressure to win.

A pro basketball history lesson

Fifty years ago today the NBA's Detroit Pistons were born in a YMCA league in Fort Wayne, Ind. (This takes somewhat special interest to us as the Fort Wayne area is all of Construda's place of residence.)

For all of you history buffs out there, here's a detailed piece from Bill Dow of The Detroit Free-Press.

Here's a brief timeline of the franchise.

1938: The Pistons are formed and play in the YMCA Industrial League in Ft. Wayne, Ind. Their sponsor is the Zollner Machine Works.

1941: The Zollner Pistons join the National Basketball League.

1948-49: The Zollner Pistons join the Basketball Association of America, which merges with the NBL and becomes the NBA.

1957: The Pistons move to Detroit and play their first game Oct. 23, 1957.

For what it's worth, Zollner Machine Works was a company created and owned by Fred Zollner, who has a high school football stadium in Fort Wayne named after him.

The photo is of Memorial Coliseum, where the Zollner Pistons played until the move to Detroit. The building still stands and was renovated a few years ago. The NBA D-League's Fort Wayne Mad Antz and college program IPFW play their home games at the arena, which holds up to 12,000.

Neal McCready votes ASU tops, again

No big surprise here.

Mobile (Alabama) Press-Register scribe Neal McCready voted Arizona State No. 1 in the AP football poll for the second straight week.

McCready told us last week in an e-mail that he chose the Sun Devils as the top team because they were undefeated and play in one of the two best conferences - Pac-10 and SEC - in the country.

Arizona State was idle this past week but moved from No. 12 to No. 7 in the AP poll. It is 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the Pac-10 but hasn't played a ranked team this season.

The schedule takes a brutal turn in the next weekends. The Sun Devils host No. 18 California, whose lost two straight games and fallen 16 spots in the poll. Then they play at No. 5 Oregon and UCLA and then host No. 9 USC and Arizona.

McCready told us in the e-mail "others will start to jump on the wagon" if the Sun Devils win against these ranked opponents.

Josh Beckett was dealin' last night

So what's more impressive?

Josh Beckett - unfazed by his ex singing the National Anthem for Game 5 - fans 11 Indians at The Jake and pulls the Red Sox to 3-2 in the ALCS...

or

His postgame response to Cleveland trying to fluster him by trotting his former ol' lady out there.



Gold.

Bobby Knight talks MLB playoffs at Big XII media day

Chair-throwing, player-slapping, tirade-loving Texas Tech basketball coach Bobby Knight had a press conference today at Big XII media day.

During his 10-minute podium interview, Knight answered one basketball question and then answered questions about the MLB postseason - namely the Boston-Cleveland series. Here's the transcript.

Knight is an Indians fan and said Eric Wedge is his "next best friend."

To be fair to Knight, he wasn't being his characteristic ornery self and declining basketball-related questions. According to a few posters at sportsjournalists.com, Knight and his coaches chatted in a more face-to-face setting about Texas Tech and Big XII basketball for about an hour.

Saw IV trailer

We occasionally stray from sports on this blog. So today we're bringing you a trailer from Saw IV, which hits theaters next Friday.

If you haven't seen these movies, you need to. They're a serious mind-scramble. They boast plenty of gore and blood, and the plots are severely twisted.

Check out this trailer.


Brand New Saw 4 Trailer - Watch more free videos

OK, so that wasn't the real trailer, but freakin' hilarious nonetheless. Here's Yahoo's page with three video clips, including two trailers. And, of course, the movie's Webpage and a fan club site.

Kevin Everett update

Very good news on the rehabilitation of Injured Bills tight end Kevin Everett. Reports are coming out that he has been able to walk to some extent. Doctors are still optimistic that Everett will be able to walk on his own once he completes his rehab.

In case you have been living under a log this season, Everett was injured making a tackle on special teams September 9 while playing Denver.

You can purchase Kevin Everett shirts online and all net proceeds will benefit Spinal Cord Injury Research.

Colorado: The historic run, and checking out the last loss

It seems like forever ago.

The Colorado Rockies have won 21 of 22 games and seven straight in the postseason to earn the franchise's first ever World Series berth.

A lot of us sports and MLB fans are caught up in this 'Rocktober Fever' and for good reason. The run has been improbable, majestic, and some believe even divine.

Many of us probably can't even name when and to whom the Rockies last suffered a loss.

Strange that it was a 4-2 defeat against the Arizona Diamondbacks, who the Rockies closed out last night in a four-game sweep of the NLCS. The game was played on Sept. 29 and, ironically, the victory clinched a postseason berth for the Diamondbacks.

The winner was 2006 NL Cy Young winner Brandon Webb, who went seven innings and allowed two runs on eight hits. Stephen Drew led the DBacks with three hits and Conor Jackson tallied two RBI.

The loss fell on the shoulders of Jeff Francis, who's won two games this postseason. Francis went six innings, allowed seven hits and four runs in the loss. Brad Hawpe and Matt Holliday each had an RBI.

But that seems like forever ago (for those who actually remember) and now we wait for the outcome of the ALCS between the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox. The Tribe lead 2-1 and Game 4 is tonight in Cleveland. Does it really matter who wins this series, though? I mean, not just because the Rockies are on a historic tear, but will anyone outside of Boston or Cleveland (or maybe Philadelphia or Glendale) actually not root for Colorado? How can anyone not?

Marion Barber III's awesome 2-yard run

If you watched the New England Patriots-Dallas Cowboys game on Sunday, then you saw Marion Barber III run with the grace of Barry Sanders and power of Eric Dickerson all in the name of gaining two yards and avoiding a safety.

Neal McCready: Please put down the crack pipe (includes response)

Arizona State: the number one team in the country?

Mobile Press-Register sports writer Neal McCready voted the Sun Devils No. 1 in the most recent AP poll released on Sunday.

Arizona State is currently ranked No. 12 in the AP poll. It is 7-0 and sits atop the Pac 10 with a 4-0 conference record. The Sun Devils haven't played a ranked team this season and have only played two road games - at Stanford and Washington State. Their biggest wins, if they can even be called that, are over Colorado and Oregon State, both now 4-3.

So why does McCready rank Arizona State as the top team in the country? He hasn't written a column defending his choice, so we're going to e-mail him and ask for justification. If he responds, we'll post it.

UPDATE: That was quick. Neal McCready responded. Here's what he said:

Sure.

ASU's 7-0 and unbeaten in one of the two best leagues in the country, the Pac 10 and SEC. Those leagues are 1 and 2 in some order; that's for someone else to debate. Regardless, Ariz. St. is the only team from those leagues unbeaten. It comes down to Ohio State (bad league this year), South Florida (two huge wins but a weak schedule otherwise) and Boston College (weak league this year). I considered them all, but I went with the team from the best of those leagues.

ASU has to win next week, obviously, but if they do, you'll see others begin to jump on the wagon. If not, they'll just be the latest to fall by the wayside in a wacky year in college football.

Neal McCready

TUESDAY UPDATE: Construda would like to thank Neal McCready for responding to our inquiry.

Randy Moss vs. Terrell Owens

New England and Dallas will face off on Sunday in a battle of the unbeatens. It's a big game, yes, but it's still early in the season and plenty of things can happen. Injuries occur, opposing coaches get smarter and figure out schemes, players wear down, teams get lax and teams get hot.

So we're not touting the matchup of the 5-0 teams (though this is an interesting piece). Instead, we're checking in on two of the game's best receivers and how they compare.

New England's Randy Moss is arguably the most talented wide receiver the NFL has ever seen. He's tall, runs fast, jumps high, boasts amazing hands, and is underrated when it comes to football smarts. Terrell Owens is also all of those traits but to a lesser degree. He is stronger than Moss, will avidly go across the middle, and gets more yards after the catch. Also, he isn't talking to reporters this week.

Both players, certainly Hall of Fame worthy, have been called 'divas' because of their past attitudes. Each holds baggage, too.

Moss has had run-ins with the law, claimed he doesn't always play hard, and got pouty when he played for a miserable Oakland franchise. Owens is a self-centered ego maniac whose made comments like "I love me some me." Remember his holdout days in Philadelphia? His 'suicide attempt?' His zany touchdown celebrations?

Each has played for three teams and has eventually worn out his welcome. But now both seem to be happy and fulfilled in their current situations.

Here's how the two stackup against one another.
Age: Moss-30; Owens-33
Size: Moss-6'4, 210; Owens-6'3, 224
Draft: Moss-1998, 1st round (No. 21), Marshall; Owens-1996, 3rd round (No. 28), Tennessee-Chattanooga
Teams played for: Moss-Minnesota, Oakland, New England; Owens-San Francisco, Philadelphia, Dallas
2007 numbers: Moss-34 rec./551 yds/7 TD; Owens-21 rec./387 yds/3 TD
Career numbers: Moss-710/11,251/108; Owens-822/12,102/117
Career achievements: Moss-Owns or ranks very high in many NFL receiving records. Seventeen TD receptions as rookie is NFL record; Owens-Holds NFL record for 20 catches in one game, and is notable in many other receiving records.

More reasons why we're sports fans

Monday night is why we all love sports.

It wasn't because Major League Baseball's and the National Football League's most popular teams were playing on national television.

It was the excitement of the games they were involved in. It was the importance of the New York Yankees final loss and subsequent end of their dynasty and the luster of this season's Dallas Cowboys.

For the fourth straight season, the Yankees, a team once dubbed "the evil empire" by Boston Red Sox owner Larry Lucchino because of their gigantic payroll and superbly talented roster, lost in the ALDS.

They looked older, slower, and less motivated than their opponent, the Cleveland Indians. And this loss seemed like the final straw for the 12-year dynasty created under manager Joe Torre.

Game 4 of the Yankees-Indians series drew a 7.5 rating on TBS - quite the high number for a sport that slumps on television. Fans and viewers who know anything about baseball had a feeling this could be it for the Yankees. It was a feeling we had since C.C. Sabathia outdueled Chien-Mang Wang in Game 1 and concluded with the Indians slapping timely hits and using the effective but unspectacular arm of starter Paul Byrd in Game 4.

On the flip side, the Cowboys somehow pulled out a victory in Buffalo last night. Tony Romo threw five interceptions - two returned for touchdown - and lost a fumble and the Bills defense did just about everything right last night, but couldn't clamp down in the waning minutes to defeat the NFC's top team.

Terrance McGee even returned a kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown to put the Bills up 24-13 midway through the third quarter. Even rookie Trent Edwards' fourth quarter interception that was returned deep into Buffalo territory was not capitalized upon because Romo threw his fifth interception at the goalline.

Late in the fourth quarter, however, Dallas was still hanging around. Romo got the team into the endzone with 20 seconds remaining, but Terrell Owens dropped the two point conversion pass that would have tied the score. But Dallas recovered an onside kick and Romo moved them into position for the game-winning field goal.

And Nick Folk drilled it. Twice. His first was true but the Bills called a timeout about a half second before the snap to ice the rookie. Folk, however, was unflappable, drilling the second 53-yarder. It was one of those games where you shake your head and say, "Damn" as Folk's kick split the uprights and gave the Cowboys a 25-24 win. Trailing the entire game until the final second, the Cowboys snatched the improbable victory.

The game was ESPN's highest rated Monday Night Football contest of the year, drawing a 9.4 rating.

Dallas improved to 5-0 and set up the game of the season thus far against 5-0 New England.

Race horses have funny names

In the near 90 minute gap between a good friend's wedding and wedding reception on Saturday, myself and another pal (we'll call him 3UI) headed to Applebees to indulge in beer and college football.

After the noon game on ESPN (or ESPN2, I don't remember) ended, the World Wide Leader elected to put on some horse racing.

3UI acknowledged that he liked horse racing. I said I usually only watch unless it's the Triple Crown. 3UI furthered the conversation by saying something like "race horses have funny ass names." I told him I saw a horse named Panty Raid who won a race early this year. We laughed.

Readers are probably thinking the reposting of this conversation is trivial and this post is going nowhere. Well, they're probably right since that was the extent of the exchange.

But now, to the point. NDub found a hilarious post of current and past race horse names over at 100% Injury Rate. Some of the favorites include but aren't limited to:

Cum Rocket, Date More Minors and Golden Shower.

For the record, Panty Raid won a race on Saturday.

Is South Florida a true national contender?

We first saw them on a steamy Saturday night in Alabama.

They traded blows with then No. 17 Auburn and forced an overtime.

They captured the attention of the nation when sophomore quarterback Matt Grothe's 14-yard corner pass fell into the hands of Jessie Hester, lifting the South Florida Bulls over the perennial SEC power Tigers 26-23.

Three weeks later the Bulls defeated then No. 5 West Virginia 21-13, stopping the Heisman Trophy hopeful duo of running back Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White.

Now these Bulls bask in the national spotlight, sitting at 6-0 and No. 5 in the nation. Only LSU, California, Ohio State and Boston College are ranked higher; all undefeated and perched where they belong.

But not this South Florida team. A top 25 appearance is surprising enough, but a top 10 and even top 5 showing is an anomoly.

Sure, it's a Big East team. And, yes, it's defeated at least one ranked team in each of the last three seasons. But... South Florida?

Just one week away from the first Bowl Championship Series poll of the season, are the Bulls a legitimate BCS contender?

If they run the table or suffer just one loss, should they be playing on or after Jan. 1, 2008?

Will they get a chance like Boise State did last year? And even better, will they shock the world like those Broncos did?

South Florida's remaining schedule is tough. It has games remaining at one of last year's national darlings Rutgers (3-2), at Connecticut (5-0), and it hosts top 25 surprise Cincinnati (No. 15, 6-0) and offensive power Louisville (2-3).

If South Florida is one of two undefeated teams left in the country, will it play in the national championship?

If South Florida ends up 11-1 and USC (who lost to lowly Stanford) or Florida (who's lost twice) or one of the four teams ahead of the Bulls lose in the final week(s), will the BCS system work in it's favor? Will we get the Bulls against another perennial power? Or will they end up like Auburn (13-0) did three years ago and be snubbed because two other teams were also undefeated.

Mike Gundy-Coors Light press conference

The Coors Light NFL coaches press conference commercials are not funny at all, but this mock of them is. It's clips from Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy's tirade against Jenni Carlson mixed with college-age looking dudes asking him questions. It's truly hilarious.

HBO plans movie from Duke lacrosse book

HBO has acquired the rights from a book about the Duke University lacrosse rape case and plans to make a movie for the cable channel, Variety reported on Wednesday.

The name of the book is "Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke LaCrosse Rape Case," which was written by Stuart Taylor Jr. and K.C. Johnson.

The book was just published.

The movie will explore the dynamics of race and class issues that made the case a national story.

The three accused players were exonerated of all charges and it was proven prosecutor Mike Nifong only trumped up the charges because he was seeking re-election.

Columnist, Nick Saban pick on South Florida academics; Bulls quickly respond

We're not sure who's more of a douchebag after reading this story. The Birmingham News columnist Ray Melick or Alabama football coach Nick Saban.

Melick wrote a piece titled, "Lower standards help some schools" on Tuesday regarding flexible admission policies between NCAA schools.

And while the South Florida bandwagon has suddenly become the place to be in college football, rival coaches are not quite as enthusiastic about the success of programs like South Florida, and similarly fast-rising schools like Rutgers and West Virginia.

"The distribution of players is not the same for everybody," said Alabama head coach Nick Saban. "There's a significant amount of players who don't qualify (at some schools) and they end up being pretty good players at some other schools. I think there are six guys starting on South Florida's defense who probably could have gone to Florida or Florida State but Florida and Florida State couldn't take them. And if you do a good job of recruiting that way ..."

Saban stopped there, but the implication is obvious: If you recruit that way you get players that are good enough to elevate a program in a hurry.

Melick goes on to explain what he called a "sliding scale" where higher SAT test scores can compensate for lower GPAs when it comes to admission at some schools. He says coaches who benefit from this claim an extreme difference between SAT and GPA scores is very rare, but then goes on to say "the people who work in NCAA compliance say it happens more than you might think" yet doesn't provide any proof.

Melick continues by saying some coaches are willing to admit players based on these lower standards, while others don't and that creates "a very real advantage-disadvantage in recruiting."

Melick's constant mention of "coaches" baffles us since his only quoted source was Saban. He makes no reference to any other SEC coach other than writing the conference has pushed for legislation that would increase NCAA minimum standards.

Furthermore, he doesn't even bother to ask coaches or officials at South Florida, Rutgers or West Virginia - schools he's insinuated have lower academic standards - to defend their admission policies.

South Florida responded to Melick's column and Saban's comments on Wednesday. USF coach Jim Leavitt said only two Bulls were non-qualifiers to play as freshman and both are on pace to graduate.

"For a guy to make a statement like that is ... not right," he said. "It's a knock on our program."

Here's some irony. Bulls senior cornerback Mike Jenkins was offered a scholarship by then LSU coach Saban, but spurned it.

"I was a SuperPrep All-American (recruit) coming out of high school. I picked USF because I wanted to pick USF," Jenkins said. "I could have gone to the Floridas, the Florida States, the Alabamas, the LSUs. (Saban) offered me a scholarship (at LSU). I didn't go there. He offered me a full scholarship and I picked USF. So I disagree with that."

Senior center Nick Capogna's rebuttal was not as cordial.

"Where's he getting that research off? Did he open up our records?" Capogna said. "It's a shot at me. I don't know if I can play at Florida State, but it says I'm not academically smart enough to play at another school. It's disrespectful. He's entitled to his opinion. I got a good SAT score, had a good GPA in high school. If he wants to look at transcripts, I'll give him mine gladly."

We're not even sure how Melick was able to write this column since his mouth was on Saban's cock the entire time. Good for the St. Petersburg Times writer, Greg Auman, who brought this up to South Florida so coaches and players could actually have a platform to respond.

Bartman still lives in Chicago, may attend a Cubs playoff game

Chicago's favorite human being, Steve Bartman, has been found alive and well in... wait for it... Chicago.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen's favorite "bundle of sticks," Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti, scribed a piece today about how Bartman remains in Chicago's midst.

Bartman lives and works in the city and is still a diehard Cubs fan. Bartman Family spokesperson Frank Murtha wouldn't deny that Bartman has been dared to attend a Cubs game since the infamous night of Oct. 14, 2003. He also wouldn't confirm or deny that Bartman has been back to Wrigley Field or that he'll attend a playoff game this postseason.

Tonight the Cubs begin their first postseason series since the 2003 season that many fans claim ended prematurely and undeservedly because of Bartman. Chicago's first home game of the series is Game 3, this Saturday.

This obviously bodes the question: Will Bartman actually show to a Cubs postseason game? Or is he such a diehard fan that somewhere, deep inside, believes he's part of the Cubs' curse and will just stay away... far away?

NFL QB shakeups and controversies

Today we have the news that San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith may be out for the season with a shoulder injury and Gus Frerotte will start this Sunday for the St. Louis Rams in place of ailing Marc Bulger.

This obviously does not bode well for two teams that had legitimate playoff chances before the season. Now the 49ers (2-2) will look to journeyman Trent Dilfer to salvage their season. The Rams (0-4) are probably already out of the postseason given the impactful injuries of left tackle Orlando Pace and budding superstar running back Steven Jackson.

Tack on these two quarterback changes to the long list of quarterback moves already made in just four weeks of the 2007-08 NFL season. Whether it be because of injury, a change of pace, or criminal mischief, the quarterback situation in the NFL is crazy this season.

(Asterisk indicates different starter now than opening day)

Arizona Cardinals: Matt Leinart; Kurt Warner - Since Week 3 coach Ken Whisenhunt has done a 50/50 with these QBs, hoping for a change of pace and using each in situations. Leinart remains the starter for now.

Atlanta Falcons: Mike Vick out; Joey Harrington - The franchise and face of the team Vick is a guilty criminal, gets suspended by the league, and Harrington is forced in for the preseason.

Baltimore Ravens: Steve McNair; Kyle Boller - Boller has made spot appearances this season because McNair has been dinged. The elder McNair is not playing well and the Ravens are struggling right now.

*Buffalo Bills: J.P. Losman; rookie Trent Edwards - Losman goes down early in Week 3 and Edwards has had the reigns since.

*Carolina Panthers: Jake Delhomme; David Carr - Delhomme tweaks his throwing elbow and Carr starts in Week 4. Carr also stinks, mightily, in Week 4.

*Chicago Bears: Rex Grossman; Brian Griese - Grossman continues to be horrible and harms the team so coach Lovie Smith makes the move to the veteran Griese for Week 4. Griese responds with 3 INTs.

*Cleveland Browns: Charlie Frye; Derek Anderson - Frye struggles in the first half of Week 1 and is replaced by Anderson. Frye is traded to Seattle three days later.

Detroit Lions: Jon Kitna; JP O'Sullivan - Kitna takes a couple hard hits early in a Week 2 game against Minnesota, leaves the game, returns in the fourth quarter by a 'miracle' and leads the Lions to victory.

*Minnesota Vikings: Tavaris Jackson; Brooks Bollinger; Kelly Holcomb - Jackson is ineffective in the first two weeks, gets injured in Week 2 and is replaced by Bollinger for the remainder of that game. Holcombs starts Week 3 and 4.

NY Jets: Chad Pennington; Kellen Clemens - Pennington gets hurt in Week 1, Clemens finishes the game and starts in Week 2, only to lose the job to Pennington in Week 3 and 4.

*Oakland Raiders: Josh McCown; Daunte Culpepper - McCown gets banged around the first couple weeks and Culpepper gets the start in Week 4 and leads the team to a road victory. The Raiders have a bye in Week 5 and that's plenty of time for the words "quarterback controversy" to be thrown around.

That makes eight NFL teams who've changed starters since opening day and three more who've made in-game moves.

Injury aside, what other teams might be on the brink of changing quarterbacks?

Miami Dolphins: Trent Green has been abysmal. He barely beat out Cleo Lemon for the job, plus rookie John Beck could get the nod if the Dolphins fall out of contention.

Kansas City Chiefs: Damon Huard is bad. But so is backup Brodie Croyle. The Chiefs might let Croyle play out the season to see how good he is; they did invest a third-round pick on him a few years ago.

To catch a predator (NFL Style)

Chris Hansen: Daniel Barron?

Barron: Yes, sir.

Hansen: Why don't you have a seat right over there, please.

A CBS sports television producer was arrested and charged with solicitation to commit sexual battery on a child under that age of 12 in exchange for tickets to a Miami Dolphins game.

Police say Daniel Barron, 56, chatted on the Internet with a detective who posed as an 11-year-old girl's father willing to let Barron have sex with his daughter in exchange for Dolphins tickets.

Somewhere in NBC studios Chris Hansen pumps his fist.

NY Jets season ticket holder sues Patriots, Belichick for $184 million

We have no idea how we missed this story when it was reported by the AP last Friday. A New York Jets season ticket holder filed a class action lawsuit against the New England Patriots and coach Bill Belichick for "deceiving customers."

The Jets fan, Carl Mayer, is seeking more than $184 million in damages for New York season ticket holders. The lawsuit stems from the infamous Spygate scandal in which the Patriots were caught illegally videotaping signals from Jets coaches in New England's 38-14 season opening win over the Jets.

"They violated the integrity of the game," Mayer's attorney, Bruce Afran, told The Associated Press. "This is a way of punishing Belichick and the Patriots."

"They were deceiving customers," said the 48-year-old Mayer. "You can't deceive customers."

The lawsuit maintained that because other teams found illegal videotaping by the defendants, Jets ticket holders should be compensated for all games played in Giants Stadium between the Jets and Patriots since Belichick became head coach in 2000.

The two calculated that because customers paid $61.6 million to watch eight "fraudulent" games, they're entitled to triple that amount -- or $184.8 million -- in compensation under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act and the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.

"How many times have the Patriots done this? We find it hard to believe they did it just once," Mayer said. "We just want to get to the truth of the matter of what the Patriots did to the Jets. I think the ticket holders are genuinely concerned about it. This is a type of misrepresentation."

Michigan may have to forfeit victory over Penn State

Just when the Michigan Wolverines' season seemed like it was turning around, the team may face sanctions, including the possibility of a forfeit, for using an ineligible player during the 14-9 victory on Sept. 22 over Penn State.

The player in question is freshman safety Artis Chambers, who was ruled ineligible because of grades. Chambers enrolled at Michigan in January, but his winter semester grade point average did not meet eligibility requirements.

Chambers' high school coach Russ Isaacs (Snider, which is right in our backyard in Fort Wayne) said it was his understanding that Michigan thought the freshman's improved GPA in summer classes would count toward his fall eligibility, but that was not the case and led to eligibility confusion.

"We've had a misinterpretation of the Big Ten freshman-eligibility rules," Michigan athletic director Bill Martin said. "He was eligible under NCAA rules, not Big Ten rules."

Martin said Chambers will not play again this season because of the eligibility issue. He can practice with the team.

A Big Ten spokesman said the case is under review and the conference will determine what sanctions, if any, the Wolverines may face. Forfeiture is a possibility, but there are a wide range of sanctions depending on the severity of each case.

A forfeiture punishment may be harsh, though, as Chambers plays just a few snaps on special teams.

Michigan started the season with back-to-back embarrassing home losses but has now won three straight games, including the 14-9 victory over then No. 10 Penn State.

(High five: 100% Injury Rate for linking to SPORTSbyBROOKS, which led us to this small piece, which led us to check out the Detroit Free Press).