One of my favorite newspaper headlines of all time — because it took something extraordinarily stunning and world-changing, and made it sound utterly matter-of-fact — is from the front-page New York Times “news analysis” the day after Mikhail Gorbachev’s resignation. The headline: “The Soviet State, Born of a Dream, Dies.” Obviously, nothing in the world of sports can match that…. Read more »
So say rumors on the Internets. (Hat tip on the LOTR reference: B. Minich.) P.S. To review why Nebraska’s departure will trigger the epic realignment apocalypse, click here. P.P.S. How about some other Lord of the Rings quotes to sum up various players’ positions in this whole mess? Big East: “Are you frightened?” Big 12: “Yes.” Big East: “Not nearly… Read more »
This morning, in response to some reporting by the New York Times — money quote: “Does Notre Dame become the 12th team in the Big Ten or does it risk being forced to later join the conference as the 16th team?” — and SportsByBrooks (which summarized things thusly, in a tweet: “Notre Dame AD: No current talks w/ Big 10…. Read more »
Here is where things apparently are, from what I understand of what’s being reported: • From the Pac-10’s perspective, everything hinges on Texas. The Pac-12 thing (add Colorado and Utah) seems unlikely to happen; not enough upside. It’s Pac-16 or status quo, because Pac-16 is the only way to get Texas, and Texas is what the Pac-10 really wants. •… Read more »
ESPN’s Pac-10 blogger, Ted Miller, reports that Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott is attempting to shoot down yesterday’s report that an en masse membership offer to the entire Big 12 South, minus the fat kid (Baylor), plus the cool hippie (Colorado), is imminent: Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott released a statement on the matter to The Sporting News: “We are aware of… Read more »
If this report is correct — and the sourcing sounds solid — we may soon be looking at a Pac-16 instead of a Pac-10: According to “multiple sources close to the situation,” the Pac-10 plans to offer conference membership to six Big 12 teams at its conference meeting in San Francisco, forming a 16-team behemoth that spans the entire Western… Read more »
It’s been almost four full months since my series on Brendan’s Defining Days of the Decade — of the previous decade, that is — came to a screeching halt. We’re now almost a third of a year into the 2010s, which means 3.2% of this decade is already over! And yet I’ve still got four “Defining Days” posts to go…. Read more »
The NCAA’s new president, the University of Washington’s Mark Emmert, said eighteen months ago that he thinks a college football playoff is… This according to a Seattle Times column by Bud Withers: Here’s a wild guess. When Emmert hangs ’em up as NCAA president — in five years, in a decade — we might remember him as the guy who… Read more »
The University of Washington’s Mark Emmert is Indiana-bound, replacing Myles Brand as the NCAA’s president. You think maybe NOW we’ll get some changes to that excessive celebration rule that was used against Jake Locker in the BYU game in 2008?
The NFL draft is rolling along, no big surprises so far as Sam Bradford and Ndamukong Suh take the top two spots. – Oklahoma is dominating so far with 3 of the top 4 picks. – Lots of linemen taken so far, 6 out of 11. – WOW! Tebow to Denver? Probably the biggest surprise pick of the 2010 draft…. Read more »
