Category: Linkage

Let’s face it, all the news I was going to talk about yesterday was football related anyway… so why bother posting a brief line or two about semi-interesting stories, and then turn around on Monday with another post to talk about all the football that was played yesterday. So at least during the football season, T.W.I.S.T. will be moved to Mondays, so that I can recap some of the football that has just been played along with any other worthwhile news from the sports world.

Before we jump into the football, I should point out that Chicago is trying to put together a deal to get Carmelo Anthony out of Denver. Their trio of Rose, Boozer, and Melo would be a very interesting match to the trio in Miami (Bron-Bron, D-Wade, and Bosh). Oh, and I should also throw in that the new look Team USA is surprisingly close to a title at the World Basketball Championship. Alright, enough about basketball, let’s move on to the important stuff.

Let’s go way back to September 6, when Boise State met Virginia Tech. My pick for national champion almost went out the door in week 1! But after taking a big lead early and then getting knocked around for awhile, Boise was able to survive and hold onto the chance for a title shot, beating VT 33-30. However, any good vibes they get from that game was probably canceled out the very next week when Virginia Tech turned around and lost to Division 2 opponent James Madison 21-16.

In other college football news, Michigan QB Denard Robinson is clearly the front runner for Heisman out of the gate. He finished Saturday, against Notre Dame, with 502 yards total offense including 258 yards rushing on 28 carries, one of those carries being an 87-yarder for a TD, the longest run in Notre Dame’s stadium… ever. This guy is sick, you really need to take some time to watch him play if you get a chance.

In semi-local/national sports news, the Omaha Nighthawks signed a few of the late NFL cuts, most notably former Pro Bowler Cato June. Omaha put together a really solid roster for a first year team (QB Jeff Garcia, RBs Ahman Green and Maurice Clarett among others), it will be interesting to see how it translates to the field.

Probably the biggest story out of week 1 in NFL action is the screw job Detroit got in Chicago. WR Calvin Johnson clearly caught the ball, even landing on both feet in the endzone and transferring possession from one hand to another before falling to the ground (all in bounds). But because he let the ball go after it hit the ground, he didn’t “finish the series” that is required to display possession, and it was ruled incomplete. Sure, the call was correct by the rule, but the rule needs to have some area to account for situations like this. If a running back can dive for the end zone and fumble the ball as it hits the goal line, and have it count for a TD… that catch should have counted.

Oh, and for the games tonight, New York Jets vs. Baltimore Ravens and San Diego Chargers vs. Kansas City Chiefs, I pick the Jets and Chargers to win.

College Football is underway and the NFL starts this week, so starting next week, we’ll have a football feature on Mondays to cover all the weeks football news. But for this week, we’ll keep it all right here. Here’s this week’s T.W.I.S.T.

NFL

• Boy, Matt Leinart’s shot at a starting job came and went in record time. He was the favorite to win the job after Kurt Warner retired, and now it looks like he’ll either be released, traded, or demoted to 3rd string. Yikes.
• Troubled running back Maurice Clarett signed with the Omaha Nighthawks of the UFL. It will be interesting to see what comes from him in that league.
• Call this a sign of the apocalypse: Troy Polamalu’s signature long hair has been insured by Head and Shoulders for $1 million.
• Some interesting injury/roster/suspension news this week. Cleveland rookie RB Montario Hardesty tore his ACL and will be out for the season, Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger has had his suspension reduced from 6 to 4 games to start the season, Minnesota WR Sidney Rice (and Brett Favre favorite) has been placed on the PUP list which makes him ineligible for 6 weeks at least, and Seattle seems to be done with WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh and plans to cut or release him before the season.

College Football

• Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, running back for Alabama, had a procedure done on his knee and will be out for the opener. If this becomes some kind of persistent injury, it will be interesting to see how it affects their offense.
• Texas Head Coach Mack Brown has stated that if the Heisman Trophy Trust takes back Reggie Bush’s 2005 Heisman Trophy, he thinks they should give it to his former QB, Vince Young. Hard to disagree with him on that one.
• Boise State thought they were getting a great deal leaving the WAC to join the Mountain West earlier this summer, but then Utah left for the Pac-10 and now BYU is leaving… to go independent!
• The Big 10 conference has released it’s new divisions! Although they are not yet named they will be split up like this: Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, and Northwestern in one and Ohio State, Wisconsin, Penn State, Illinois, Purdue, and Indiana in the other.
• QB Jeremiah Masoli has won his appeal and will now be allowed to play this season for Ole Miss after transferring (being kicked out) from Oregon. He won’t start the opener, but he’ll be their starting QB for the remainder of the season.
• Bodog.com has released the starting odds have been released for the National Championship winners. Here’s some interesting ones: Nebraska 15/1, Iowa 20/1, Texas 14/1, OU 15/2, Bama 4/1, Ohio St 5/1, Boise 8/1. The field 25/1

NHL

After denying his 17 year deal, the NHL has approved a new 15 year deal for Ilya Kovalchuk to sign with the New Jersey Devils. 15 freakin’ years… that’s ridiculous.