Month: December 2011

Mid-Week Grades — Dec. 28

Posted by dobrien – December 28, 2011

I’m back after a few weeks off to dominate the award-winning WGEM SportsCenter show, which can be heard weekdays from 7 to 9 a.m. on ESPN 1440 and wgem.com. Here’s a peek at the final grade book of the year. Since Houchins in playing hooky today, I’ll go over these around 8:20 on Wednesday’s program. Feel free to text your grades in at 217-617-9437 or email them in at sportscenter@wgem.com.

A — Drew Brees. Monday was quite a day for the Saints quarterback. First, we found out that he endorses something called Advocare (more on that later in the grades). Then, he went out and threw for more than 300 yards in a win over Atlanta to become the all-time single-season yardage leader in NFL history. ESPN treated it like McGwire breaking Maris’ single-season HR record back in 1998. Let’s hope this record-setting performance isn’t ruined by anything down the line.

B — Cam Newton. He has a long way to go to reach Brees’ status as an NFL icon, but the Panthers’ rookie QB has proved a lot of people wrong. He’s been fantastic this season and has been a fantasy football players’ dream. He can pass the 4,000-yard mark this weekend — the most ever for a rookie. He’s passed for 20 scores and run for 14 more — the most by a QB ever. The Heisman winner is the real deal. ESPN can hype Tim Tebow all it wants, but Newton has quietly put together a fantastic rookie season. Too bad he’s trapped in Carolina.

C — Chicago Bulls. I know it’s a bit early to slap a grade on a team that’s played just two games, but the NBA season isn’t as long as usual thanks to the lockout. The Bulls split two games so far on the West Coast, but haven’t looked that good. All teams are having to adjust to each other on the fly with the short training camps and the compressed schedule. If the team is still playing like it is now — bad defense, no flow and too many turnovers on offense — in March, that’s when it’s time to panic. Give your favorite team some time.

D — Independence Bowl. Congrats to Mizzou for its win over North Carolina, but the entire event was pretty much a disaster. The day started with Truman the Tiger, Mizzou’s mascot, breaking the game’s trophy. The weather was crummy and no one was in the stands to watch it. Those who were subjected to watch the game on ESPN2 had to put up with an ESPN crew that couldn’t spell the name of the city the game was played in, and two announcers who didn’t fully grasp the fact that Mizzou is going to be playing in the SEC next year. And I’m glad that Brees has a deal with Advocare, but those commercials were some of the cheesiest I’ve seen in a long time.

F — Rex Ryan. The New York Jets head coach likes to talk a lot of trash. Unfortunately, his team can’t back it up. The Jets were one of the biggest losers in Week 16 of the NFL season when the New York Giants put a whupping on them after Ryan had talked a lot of stuff during the week. After the game, Giants running back Brandon Jacobs allegedly told Ryan that “It’s time to shut up, fat boy.” Couldn’t have said it better myself. That line made a great cover for the New York Post the following day.

Two for Tuesday — Dec. 27

Posted by dobrien – December 27, 2011

And we’re back in business. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Here’s what’s on my mind during one of the best weeks of the year — holiday tournament week:

1. Thank goodness the NBA is back

I’m not ashamed to say that I like the NBA above all other forms of basketball. In some people’s eyes I’m weird. They think the college game is superior. Whatever. Loved the present the NBA gave us on Christmas with five games. The Celts-Knicks battle was great — the Knicks will be contenders. Heat-Mavs was a dog, but the Bulls’ last-second theft in L.A. against the Lakers was good TV. Toss in a little new-look Clippers and there’s plenty of reason to be excited about the season. Loving my free NBA League Pass on DirecTV until Jan. 8, too.

2. Another empty FFL season

I’m in two fantasy football leagues and came up title-less in both — again. My season in both leagues took a nosedive when Chicago running back Matt Forte went down with a knee injury. Even with Drew Brees in one league, I wasn’t able to taste the sweet taste of FFL victory. Now that the FFL playoffs are over — most leagues have their title games in Week 16 of the NFL season since so many players rest in Week 17 — we FFLers can get back to having normal lives on Sundays.

Blogcation

Posted by dobrien – December 14, 2011

Taking a few weeks off for the holidays. We’ll be back in business the week between Christmas and New Year’s. See you then.

Slap of the Week — Dec. 9

Posted by dobrien – December 9, 2011

We’ll step away from the Albert Pujols drama even though he should get slapped around a little bit.

Instead, we’ll head to the Lone Star state for a little football. In Texas, I believe the pecking order of sports is football, spring football and then everything else. A young man named Taylor Markeith Smith loved the game and wanted to try out for the freshman team in high school back in 2007. Too bad Smith was already 18 years old then.

Over the course of the next four years, Smith tried out for the freshman team at a whopping 14 different Dallas-area high schools. He tried to walk on at every school in one conference.

The Dallas Morning News has a fascinating story on Smith’s journey from school to school. It’s obvious that Smith has a few issues he needs to work out.

Handicapping the field

Posted by dobrien – December 8, 2011

The four candidates for the Quincy University football job have all made their way through town. If everything goes according to Marty Bell’s plan, the program should have a coach next week. As part of each candidate’s trip, they spent time with area media. I was able to meet all four candidates — the only member of the local media to do so. Here’s how I handicap the field, in order of chances to get the job:

1. Tom Pajic

Bell saved the best for last. Pajic is the most ready to come in and coach this team. He’s done great things at his current spot in Bloomsburg (Pa.), a Division II school. He has the Division II experience that the QU brass desires, but is lacking on any Midwestern ties. Then again none of the other finalists had a ton of recruiting ties to these parts. He’s cut from the same mold as Bell was — a long-time assistant looking for his first chance. Bell hired a coach with a similar background when he tabbed Jeni Garber as JD Gravina’s replacement for the women’s basketball program. Would not be surprised if Pajic was the next person in that mold to make his way to QU.

Pajic has had a hand in fund-raising at Bloomsburg. Fund-raising will be a big part of the QU job. Former QU coach Bill Terlisner was a tireless fund-raiser for his program and the school. Now, Pajic is a Bloomsburg grad, so it was a little easier for him to cultivate those relationships than if he were to come here and do it cold.

QU’s scholarship situation doesn’t bother him as the Hawks have more scholarships than what he currently has at Bloomsburg. He said all of the right things to the media on Thursday.

2. Phil Longo

Longo was the only one in the finalist pool with prior head coaching experience. He came across as a guy who would sleep in his office to get the job done. He was very energetic and appeared to do more background on the QU job than of the others. The guy was watching high school tape of current QU players to get an idea of what he had to work with here.

Longo’s family situation might hold him back. His wife is the head women’s basketball coach at Slippery Rock and there aren’t any openings for her around here. Plus, Slippery Rock’s offensive coordinator retired on the same day that Longo was here for his interview. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he was promoted to that spot. I would be a bit worried about Longo going from job to job, too, as he’s been a bit of a nomad. If he were to take the QU job, it would be his fourth job at four different schools in the last four seasons.

3. Bob James

The defensive coordinator at Wingate (N.C.) is a friend of Bell’s, which is likely the main reason he receive an interview. He’s been at Wingate the last four seasons as the leader of the defense, but his teams haven’t been the reason for the team’s success. Wingate was 5-6 this season and the team was last in its eight-team conference in points allowed. His teams have never been higher than fourth in the league in total defense, which includes the 2010 season when the school won its league crown and made the Division II playoffs.

4. Nick Anderson

The surprise finalist. He has never been a full-time coach in his professional career. He’s worked a ton of hours at Butler, but hasn’t had to deal with the number of responsibilities a head coach of a program must contend with. Anderson feels like a fall-back candidate. He would bring an enthusiasm and a knowledge of the school and the program’s history, but he’d need a good staff around him to help him get his feet under him.

Mid-Week Grades for Dec. 7

Posted by dobrien – December 7, 2011

These are your final Mid-Week Grades for a few weeks. The professor is taking a few weeks off. As always, we’ll gnash these over on WGEM SportsCenter, which you can listen to on ESPN 1440 or on wgem.com. If you have a grade, please text it to us at 217-617-9437 or email us at sportscenter@wgem.com. Here we go:

A —Tiger Woods. I’ve always been a big fan of Tiger Woods. Wasn’t crazy about some of the stuff he did behind the scenes, but that never took away from the fact that he’s the greatest golfer in my lifetime. I was happy to see Tiger get back on track with a win last weekend at the Chevron World Challenge. No, it wasn’t against a full PGA Tour field, but it’s a start, which is what Woods needs. We’ll see if this is a springboard for him into 2012. I’m hopeful he’ll still beat Jack Nicklaus’ record for most major championships won. I don’t know that he’ll do it, but at least it’s looking like he might be a contender again. And that’s good for him and the game of golf as a whole.

B —Miami Marlins. You might not care for the fact they’re no longer the Florida Marlins and that they’ve changed their color scheme to some type of rainbow concoction, but there’s no doubting that the Marlins have been the big story of the Hot Stove League so far. First, it was Heath Bell and then it was Jose Reyes. After locking down those two free agents, the team is supposedly in the hunt for the biggest free agent fish in the pond — Albert Pujols. If the Marlins land Pujols, it’ll be a terrible Christmas for St. Louis Cardinals fans everywhere.

C — Quincy University men’s basketball. I teed up the Lady Hawks in this spot last week, now it’s the men’s turn. After a 4-0 start to the season, the Hawks dropped their first Great Lakes Valley Conference games of the season last week, losing at William Jewell and Rockhurst. It’s the second straight year the Hawks have opened league play with a regrettable loss. Last year, they opened with a loss at lowly Missouri S&T. The good news for the Hawks is that they can get things turned around at home. They’ll play their next six games at Pepsi Arena, including gimmies against NAIA opponents Robert Morris-Springfield and Missouri Baptist the next two Saturdays. Last weekend likely will be little more than a blip on the radar.

D — Some Massachusetts football official. On his way to scoring what he thought was the game-winning touchdown in his class’s Super Bowl in the Massachusetts football playoffs, Cathedral quarterback Matthew Owens raised his left arm  for a stride or two as he galloped into the end zone. Unfortunately, his gesture was seen as taunting by one of the officials and the play was wiped out. Cathedral wound up losing the game and Owens’ 18th birthday will be one he’ll always want to forget. If you look at the video, you’ll see that the official flat out blew the call. What Owens did wasn’t even close to taunting. It’s unfortunate that the call will haunt Owens for a long time.  Judge the play for yourself:

F — Jason Garrett. St. Louis Rams fans can complain all they want about how poorly the team has played under Steve Spagunolo. Bears fans can be bitter about Lovie Smith and his supposed shortfalls as a coach. I can’t remember either of them — or anyone else for that matter — doing what Garrett did on Sunday and ice his own kicker with a time out. Dan Bailey made what would have been a game-winning kick from 49 yards had Garrett not called a timeout. Bailey tried again and missed the kick after the timeout and the Arizona Cardinals wound up beating the Cowboys in overtime. The delusional Garrett said he wouldn’t change anything he did down the stretch. This is the beginning of the end for the Cowboys, who will surely lose to the visiting New York Giants on Sunday night.

Two For Tuesday — Dec. 6

Posted by dobrien – December 6, 2011

Welcome to the first snow of the season in the Tri-States. Get ready for a batch of “how to stay safe during winter” stories. Here’s what’s on my mind:

1. Good for Ron Santo.

I really couldn’t tell you whether or not Ron Santo deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. His career ended in 1974 when I was all of 4 years old. I do know that Santo really wanted to be a Hall of Famer. He thought his career was deserving. So did a Hall of Fame committee, which did what the Baseball Writers Association of America didn’t do and vote the Chicago Cubs’ legendary third baseman into the Hall. It’s really a shame that Santo isn’t here to celebrate the accomplishment. As we all know, Cubs fans don’t get to celebrate much. Many took to Twitter and other social media outlets on Monday to express their pleasure with the news, but their displeasure that it didn’t happen while Santo was alive. It should have been a big celebration for the city. Maybe the induction ceremony next year will still be a big party. I’m saddened because I think Santo would have given one heck of an acceptance speech.

2. QU’s open interview policy a good move

Had an interesting conversation with some local media types on Twitter on Monday night. Some are intrigued by the fact that Quincy University is being so open with its search for a new football coach. QU Athletic Director Marty Bell is taking a page out of the Pat Atwell playbook. When he was looking for a new men’s basketball coach in 2003, Atwell allowed me to meet each of the finalists. Can’t remember if the other media members got the same access or not, but it was helpful. He did it again when he was looking for a women’s basketball coach after Larry Just’s departure. The media was also given a chance to speak to the finalists for the women’s basketball opening earlier this year. There are few (if any) NCAA  Division II schools that get the kind of local media coverage that QU’s teams do. Can’t imagine there are too many that have a newspaper and two TV stations tracking their every move on a daily basis, and those moves are often in the headlines and not buried deep in the paper or in newscasts. Having the prospective coaches meet the media on their trips is a big factor in the hiring process. The school needs to know it will have a good “face” for the program. Someone who isn’t media-friendly won’t last long in these parts. Across the board, QU coaches are great to work with. That’s no accident.

Who’s next at QU? Part Deux

Posted by dobrien – December 1, 2011

QU football head coaching finalist Nick Anderson. He's currently the tight ends coach at Butler University.

QU football head coaching finalist Tom Pajic. He is currently the offensive coordinator at Bloomsburg.

QU football head coaching finalist Bobby James, who is currently the defensive coordinator at Wingate, N.C.

QU football head coaching finalist Phil Longo. He's currently the wide receivers coach at Slippery Rock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just a few hours after I posted my speculation on who some candidates for the QU coaching post would be, I was able to find out the final four.

Here’s a link to my story in Thursday’s Whig on who the finalists are.

An interesting group that I’m looking forward to talking to next week.

Phil Longo, who is the wide receivers coach at Slippery Rock, is the only one with any previous head coaching experience. It will be interesting if he can move since his wife is also the women’s basketball coach at Slippery Rock.

Bobby James is the defensive coordinator at Wingate (N.C). He’s been at several different schools — big and small — and has a nice background.

Tom Pagic in an interesting finalist. He’s been the offensive coordinator at Bloomsburg for eight years. Bloomsburg also happens to be his alma mater. The QU job may entice him since it would give him a chance to run a program for the first time.

Nick Anderson, a former Hawk, seems to be a bit of a wild card in this race. He’s only been an assistant at Butler, serving as a position coach there for five years. I actually covered him when he played for the Hawks. He was a three-year starter at defensive back from 2000-2002.

I had none of the names correct in my post from Wednesday, but I had the backgrounds pegged. Two of these guys are currently in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference — Longo and Pagic. One of them has a Drake background — James — and the other has ties to the school — Anderson.

QU Athletic Director Marty Bell seems to be on track for the Dec. 15 deadline he hoped to hit. That’s the final day of finals for the fall semester.