26

Going into last night’s game against the Detroit Pistons, the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers were actually favored to win. Yes, the same team who lost 25 in a row were picked to beat the Pistons. Now, the Pistons are undoubtedly not world beaters but the Cavs are absolute junk. In reality, their roster might be the worst in the league history. Not surprisingly, the Pistons laid the wood to the Cavs for most of the first half and won 103-94. Sorry Cleveland, maybe another night.

50

In the biggest rivalry in college basketball, Duke stormed back from a 14-point deficit to defeat North Carolina, 79-73. The Blue Devils miraculously scored 50 points in the second half to just 30 for the Tar Heels. One of the biggest differences in the game was the 3-pt line. Neither team was on fire but Duke was able to sink 8, while North Carolina struggled going 2-16 from beyond the arc.

1250

It was only a matter of time, but a lawsuit was filed against the NFL, Jerry Jones and Cowboys stadium by some of the 1250 fans who were not able to get seats for the Super Bowl. The fact that the NFL knew about the situation days beforehand does not help their cause. “Los Angeles-based attorney Michael J. Avenatti, a Cowboys season ticketholder who attended Sunday’s game, filed the federal lawsuit Tuesday in Dallas and seeks $5 million in damages for the plaintiffs. The suit alleges breach of contract, fraud and deceptive sales practices.”

597

Former Michigan quarterback and Heisman favorite in 2009, Tate Forcier, has decided to take his talents to South Beach and attend the University of Miami. Forcier had threatened to transfer several times in his collegiate career but last month, he was suspended from the bowl game for not attending classes. Forcer leaves the team after throwing for 597 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions this past season.

I mean, is it really necessary to have TV cameras at your HS gym with 5 different schools’ hats in front of you? Gimme a break. You could have made your decision months before but decided that the “all eyes on me” mentality is the best way to go.

Kids these days.

Anyways, former Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez is doing some work for CBS as an analyst for National Signing Day. And what do you know, new Michigan coach Brady Hoke was being interviewed by CBS over the phone.

Considering Rodriguez was employed by the university only a few weeks ago, I think it’s fair to say this makes for an awkward moment.

Picture via AP writer Larry Lage:

37

Of course the play everyone is talking about this morning is Michael Dyer’s 37-yard run that almost wasn’t in last night’s BCS title game. Dyer appeared to be down after being hit by a Ducks defender but replays showed that his knee never hit the ground. The argument today seems to be the discrepancy of “wrist or hand” being down as was a call in the Sugar Bowl just last week. If you’re an Auburn fan, you don’t care at this point but Ducks fans may feel like they were just robbed of a possible overtime.

90-36

Last I checked, Les Miles is still under contract at LSU currently. But the rumors are getting stronger that he is inching his way towards Ann Arbor. Miles allegedly met with Michigan AD David Brandon yesterday and a decision is set to be made today one way or another. This isn’t the first times Miles has been courted by the Wolverines. Three years ago, before they hired Rich Rodriguez, Miles was the front runner for the job. In fact, Kirk Herbstreit even reported that he had taken the job and ESPN rolled with that story. So at this point, it’s hard to tell what is really going on. A waiting game for sure.

61-5

In five seasons at Boise State, Chris Petersen is an astounding 61-5. And though he’s been courted by several teams around the country the last few years including Stanford, it appears Petersen wants to stay put in Idaho. “I’m really happy to be in the position I’ve been the last five years,” said Petersen. “I think [Stanford] is a very special place. I just thought it was worth having a conversation about, but that’s about as far as it went.”

3

The third time is supposed to be the charm right? For the University of Pittsburgh, let’s hope that’s the case. After a tumultuous month that saw them have three separate head coaches, they’ve finally rested on Tulsa’s Todd Graham to spearhead their program. The school was embarrassed recently when newly hired Mike Haywood was arrested only days later on a domestic violence charge. The mug shot was plastered on every major newspaper, website in the country leaving the Panthers no other decision but to fire Haywood.

15-22

First, Rich Rodriguez’ job was safe. Then rumors circulated yesterday that he was fired by Michigan Athletic Director Dave Brandon. Then the university came out and said those rumors aren’t true. And now today, the fate of Rodriguez is somehow still in the balance. In this day and age of breaking news, it’s very possible that someone is lying. If RichRod is fired today, the athletic department and the entire university will look like fools. Something UM is all too familiar with the last few years.

4

Speaking of the Michigan Wolverines, one of their alums doesn’t appear to want to come back home. Stanford Cardinals coach Jim Harbaugh is being courted by several NFL teams including the Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers. One report yesterday even said that Harbaugh had already agreed to terms with the 49ers, although, the way things have been going lately, without a press conference, nothing is solid.

0-9

Going into yesterday’s Sugar Bowl, Ohio State University had never beaten an SEC team in a postseason game. Quite an embarrassing feat for such a storied program. But the Buckeyes came out firing early and often taking a 28-7 lead and holding on during a furious late 4th quarter comeback for the win. The victory was a bit tainted though as Pryor and four other Buckeyes were allowed to play despite breaking NCAA rules.

.950

Ok, perhaps some buried the Miami Heat a tad too soon. They’ve won 19 out of their last 20 games (.950) and are looking like the well-oiled machine many thought they would look like. Dwyane Wade has found his role again as the primary scorer while James seems to thrive in the distributor role that he has always excelled at. If they can continue this run, 65 wins is certainly in the cards but more importantly, so is an NBA championship.

38

We’ll get to more LeBron stuff later but in case you missed the shenanigans last night, LeBron dropped 38 points in his first game back in Cleveland. The Heat ended up bombing the Cavs 108-90, and at no time was the game ever in doubt. In fact, the more pressing question became, how many fans would get arrested by the end of the contest.

302

The Eagles staged a 4th quarterback comeback against the Texans to win 34-24 in Thursday night action yesterday. And again, the win propelled Michael Vick into MVP talk. Coming into the season, Vick only had two 300-yard passing games his entire career. This year, he has three including his 302-yard performance against the Texans. No one knows where Vick will ultimately play next season, but it’s a good bet that he’ll be making a lot more money.

2018,2022

Soccer-loving countries Russia and Qatar will host the World Cup in 2018 and 2022 respectively. The decision came as a surprise, because, at the present time, neither are really prepared to handle such a large sporting event. Both the U.S. and England lost out on their bids, even though both were seen as safer picks in the eyes of the soccer community.

65

For only the second time in 2010, a familiar name is atop a golf event. Yes, Tiger Woods, who has arguably had the worst year of his entire life, both on and off the course, is leading the Chevron World Challenge with an opening round 65. It should be noted that there are only 18 players in the entire event, however, all 18 are ranked in the top 50. The way Tiger’s season has gone, he’ll take any win he can get, regardless of field.

90

The 90th football bust for the Michigan Wolverines was slightly more emotional than past end of the year award ceremonies. A teary-eyed Rich Rodriguez essentially begged for Michigan AD David Brandon to keep him on as coach. Though the message was not straightforward, Rodriguez led the team with a Josh Groban song, “You Raise Me Up” as players held hands. Rumors have been swirling that Michigan plans on hiring Jim Harbaugh in the near future, but thus far, the job is still Rodriguez’ through the bowl game.

The Wolverines had a rough go of it Saturday afternoon. Their rivals came into the Big House and pretty much dominated every aspect of the game. Denard Robinson’s Heisman candidacy, while not totally gone, certainly took a big hit. Head coach Rich Rodriguez went from genius to having his butt firmly on the hot seat again.

Outside the stadium, the tailgating atmosphere was great. Drunken debauchery, hot girls, beer bongs and kids smashing a Spartan car.

Everyone seemed to do well until this young UM student got a bit too aggressive. It resulted in a rather embarrassing moment for him.

It was a bad Saturday for the Wolverines.  Frankly, its been a bad year for them in general.  The 1-6 Fighting Illini absolutely rolled over them in the second half en route to a 38-13 blowout.

And some of the Wolverines didn’t take it too well.  Mark Ortmann, an offensive linemen decided when the going got tough, take out your opponents family jewels.

Happens quickly at the :14 second mark but you can clearly see #93 from the Illini walking with a strange limp off the field.

Hell, I’d walk off with a strange limp too.  No actually, they’d have to cart me off the field with one of those neck braces on my groin.  Shoot me up with morphine too while you’re at it.

I actually feel bad for this Michigan center.  Not only did he screw up the snap here but he is getting ridiculed on live TV by Matt Millen.

Matt freakin Millen.

The man has a 31-84 record as General Manger
The man once had an entire city and state wanting to kill him
The man who didn’t make a single decent decision  in his entire Lions tenure

Hell, if I were this kid, I’d hang up my jersey and never step on the football field again. Getting made fun of by Matt Millen is like getting turned down for a lap dance by a fat stripper

(Not like I know how that feels or anything….I just saw it once….I swear….chick weighed 2 bills easy)

There have been rumors since Rich Rodriguez took the job at UM…..Lloyd Carr and many of his friends in the athletic department weren’t fond of the Rodriguez hire.

There was never really any concrete proof of it.  More or less, just rumblings.

But Rick Leach, former Qb and one of the more trusting voices amongst players from the Bo Schembechler Era called into an Ann Arbor radio station and had this to say…

“I saw an article that said Lloyd Carr was at the game in Iowa,” Leach told WTKA-AM (1050). “… No. 1, whose ticket did he go on? Whose private box was he sitting in, and whose university staff was in the box with him?

“As far as I’m concerned, as a former player that loves this program, I love our head coach, I love what they’re trying to do — our ex-coach flipped a huge middle finger right in our current coach’s face.”

Wow. That’s a hell of an accusation being hurled. Even though I’m an admitted UM hater, I can’t imagine Lloyd Carr going to the game on Iowa’s dime.

The ultimate slap in the face if true. If the UM season spirals out of control, its a wonder how long Rich Rod can hold the program together.

I’d like to place ex UM star Rumeal Robinson amongst the following list of lowlifes

1) Charles Manson
2) Jeffrey Dahmer
3) The Juice
4) Roman Polanski
5) Rumeal Robinson

This is one of the more disheartening stories you’ll read in awhile. Helen Ford, the adopted mother of Robinson was evicted from her home recently after being swindled in a shady business deal spearheaded by Robinson himself.

Ford, 65, is close to tears when she explains the day when a constable came to her door this past March and handed her an eviction notice — giving her one month to clear her home of her belongings and leave. Back in 2003, Robinson, now 43 years old and living in Florida, allegedly tricked his foster mother into signing over the deed to her own home — on a street named after him — and transferred the property to people unknown to her. They held the home as collateral in a suspected business transaction gone wrong.

Way to go Rumeal. Lady takes you in after your mother abandons you and you kick her to the curb. There is a place reserved in hell for people like you.

How bad has it gotten in Ann Arbor? Well first, head coach Rich Rodriguez was so fed up with the message board fodder that he told fans “to get a life”.

And now the fans are so irate with the poor season Michigan is having and the fact that RichRod hates them so much, that they are selling their UM allegiance on ebay.

Yes folks, for the very cheap price of $81, you can purchase a new team for this sorry UM fan. And by sorry, I mean, everyone knows he’s just trying to make a few bucks.

The seller promises to denounce the University of Michigan and to burn all his Michigan belongings. He’ll even go along if the winning bid is from an OSU fan.

On a side note, whenever I think the human race can’t fall any further, I read stuff like this. All for the almighty buck I guess.

(By the way, click on an ad or two while you’re here….)

It appears some Wolverine fans have already had enough with Mr. Rich Rodriguez because Firerrod.com is up and running just a handful of games into his first season.

And though the site lacks any real substance, I do find it hilarious that it was actually created well before UMs most recent debacle against the Toledo Rockets.

(For those of you scoring at home, yes, it was the Wolverines first ever loss to a MAC school…..and not even a good one at that as Toledo entered the game with only one win on the season.)

Here’s a short excerpt from the site detailing one of the reasons RichRod should leave

Recently, I saw an ad on ESPN for college football that illustrated why he should be fired. In the ad they made a reference to “anything can happen”, in context implying that a poor team can beat a good team on any given Saturday. During this ad game footage of large upsets were playing in the background, one of which was the UofM vs. Wisconsin game. Michigan has now become an example of an underdog in contrast to its proud tradition of being a consummate championship caliber football institution. What a shame.

And easily my favorite part of the website is the Les Miles Countdown Clock. It has delusion written all over it.

You know how I know you’re a loser, you drive around with a BAC of .281

A vehicle driven by University of Michigan running back and former East Grand Rapids High School football standout Kevin Grady was pulled over early Wednesday, and he was arrested for allegedly having a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit.

Wyoming Police pulled over the 22-year-old as he drove south on Byron Center Avenue SW near 44th Street in a 2007 GMC Yukon Denali just before 2 a.m.

According to the ticket issued to Grady, he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.281. Michigan’s legal definition of drunk is 0.08.