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It’s a shame the Florida State cheating scandal isn’t making a bigger splash these days. Guess there’s too much A-Roid, T.O. and Manny Ramirez news.
The fact is, a host of football players cheated their tails off two years ago under the watch of Bobby Bowden, one of the greatest coaches in college history.
The school didn’t escape the NCAA’s wrath, absorbing a punishment package that included four years’ probation and — this is where it could get interesting — being asked to self-evaluate which wins it should forfeit based on which games the dirty players played in.
According to the reports I read, the Seminoles will likely have to give up at least seven victories and as many as 14. This means Bowden, 79, embroiled in an epic back-and-forth with Joe Paterno, 82, for the most coaching wins in major college history (Paterno leads Bowden 383-382), could be relegated to second place for perpetuity based on his athletes’ recent indiscretions.
Which, in these eyes, would be fitting. More than any coach in America, Bowden seems to have lost touch with his players’ behavior, and his record — and thus his legacy — should reflect that. …
We’re a week away from college basketball saturation, which is the best news I’ve got to offer today. We’ll know soon enough which team is deemed the favorite to win the national title by which receives the NCAA selection committee’s No. 1 overall seed.
There should be no debate: It’s Pittsburgh. Not just because the Panthers beat top-ranked UConn for the second time this regular season on Saturday — but because Pitt has more weapons than anyone else.
Any given game, you’re apt to see one of three players carry the team: Forward Sam Young, a high-flying display of lean versatility who averages 19 points and 6 rebounds; forward DeJuan Blair, who muscles and wills his way to 15.6 points and 12.4 rebounds per game; or point guard Levance Fields, who scores 11 points to go along with 7.6 assists.
No other team in America has as many capable leaders. …
While digging for information on Terrell Owens’ signing with Buffalo (“from America’s team to North America’s team,” he quipped), I came across a pretty interesting quote from a 1998 Sports Illustrated story on Owens’ taking over as the 49ers’ main man for Jerry Rice.
“He was one of those people who just didn’t fit in,” said Jeremy Freeman, a childhood friend of Owens’. “If there was a party, he probably wasn’t invited, and if he showed up, no one would talk to him.”
Sounds familiar, no? …
As college football waits to hear how the NCAA will respond to the Mountain West Conference’s proposal for an eight-team playoff, I keep going back to one element in this story that makes me laugh.
Barack Obama is the most powerful man in the world, and he’s made it very clear he thinks the BCS stinks; yet not even he can change the irrational system that rules college football. …
NBA pundits go back and forth about whether the East trumps the West, but when evaluating this argument it pays to consider one bottom-line stat. Right now the Suns, at 34-29, would be the first team left OUT of the playoffs in the West, while the Bulls, at 29-34, would be the last of eight teams to MAKE the playoffs in the East. …
In parting, with Lindsey Vonn a wink away from clinching her second straight overall World Cup title and reigning men’s overall champ Bode Miller having hung up the boots for the season, you don’t hear as much about the men’s title chase this spring outside of Europe.
But it’s as tight a competition as we’ve seen in years. Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic and 2006 champ Benjamin Raich of Austria are tied for first with 837 points, and 2007 champ Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway is only eight points back. Get ready for a wild World Cup finals in Sweden this week.
Breckenridge resident Devon O’Neil’s $0.02 column runs Tuesdays. He can be reached at devononeil@hotmail.com.
The fact is, a host of football players cheated their tails off two years ago under the watch of Bobby Bowden, one of the greatest coaches in college history.
The school didn’t escape the NCAA’s wrath, absorbing a punishment package that included four years’ probation and — this is where it could get interesting — being asked to self-evaluate which wins it should forfeit based on which games the dirty players played in.
According to the reports I read, the Seminoles will likely have to give up at least seven victories and as many as 14. This means Bowden, 79, embroiled in an epic back-and-forth with Joe Paterno, 82, for the most coaching wins in major college history (Paterno leads Bowden 383-382), could be relegated to second place for perpetuity based on his athletes’ recent indiscretions.
Which, in these eyes, would be fitting. More than any coach in America, Bowden seems to have lost touch with his players’ behavior, and his record — and thus his legacy — should reflect that. …
We’re a week away from college basketball saturation, which is the best news I’ve got to offer today. We’ll know soon enough which team is deemed the favorite to win the national title by which receives the NCAA selection committee’s No. 1 overall seed.
There should be no debate: It’s Pittsburgh. Not just because the Panthers beat top-ranked UConn for the second time this regular season on Saturday — but because Pitt has more weapons than anyone else.
Any given game, you’re apt to see one of three players carry the team: Forward Sam Young, a high-flying display of lean versatility who averages 19 points and 6 rebounds; forward DeJuan Blair, who muscles and wills his way to 15.6 points and 12.4 rebounds per game; or point guard Levance Fields, who scores 11 points to go along with 7.6 assists.
No other team in America has as many capable leaders. …
While digging for information on Terrell Owens’ signing with Buffalo (“from America’s team to North America’s team,” he quipped), I came across a pretty interesting quote from a 1998 Sports Illustrated story on Owens’ taking over as the 49ers’ main man for Jerry Rice.
“He was one of those people who just didn’t fit in,” said Jeremy Freeman, a childhood friend of Owens’. “If there was a party, he probably wasn’t invited, and if he showed up, no one would talk to him.”
Sounds familiar, no? …
As college football waits to hear how the NCAA will respond to the Mountain West Conference’s proposal for an eight-team playoff, I keep going back to one element in this story that makes me laugh.
Barack Obama is the most powerful man in the world, and he’s made it very clear he thinks the BCS stinks; yet not even he can change the irrational system that rules college football. …
NBA pundits go back and forth about whether the East trumps the West, but when evaluating this argument it pays to consider one bottom-line stat. Right now the Suns, at 34-29, would be the first team left OUT of the playoffs in the West, while the Bulls, at 29-34, would be the last of eight teams to MAKE the playoffs in the East. …
In parting, with Lindsey Vonn a wink away from clinching her second straight overall World Cup title and reigning men’s overall champ Bode Miller having hung up the boots for the season, you don’t hear as much about the men’s title chase this spring outside of Europe.
But it’s as tight a competition as we’ve seen in years. Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic and 2006 champ Benjamin Raich of Austria are tied for first with 837 points, and 2007 champ Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway is only eight points back. Get ready for a wild World Cup finals in Sweden this week.
Breckenridge resident Devon O’Neil’s $0.02 column runs Tuesdays. He can be reached at devononeil@hotmail.com.
