FriendFeed: ESPN: “The USC football program will receive a two-year postseason ban, a reduction in scholarships and a forfeiture of wins from at least the 2004 season when the NCAA releases it sanctions on Thursday.”
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 »
A true legend, a fine human being, a man whose greatness and goodness transcended the bitterest of rivalries — the only Bruin who could get a standing ovation in a roomful of Trojans — has died at age 99. Rest in Peace, John Wooden. P.S. I’m sad he won’t be around to see the UConn women potentially break his team’s… 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 »
Bud Selig is reportedly “considering the unusual move of overturning the call at first base on Wednesday in Detroit that cost Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game.” The New York Times‘s Tyler Kepner invokes an interesting analogy to make the case that Selig shouldn’t do it: It was not a perfect game. The game continued after Joyce awarded Jason… Read more »
Baseball almost had its third perfect game in a month tonight. Correction: baseball did have its third perfect game in a month tonight, but the record books won’t reflect that fact, because an umpire blew the call on (what should have been) the game’s final play: Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers lost his bid for a perfect game Wednesday… Read more »