Sometimes Holdouts Aren't Completely Ridiculous

NFL training camps are opening up all around this great land and so there will probably be a bit of NFL posting trickling into these parts... I mean, what with the Boiled Sports success mesching going on around here ('dowd's Colts winning the Super Bowl in our first year, then my Giants winning it in our second... we fully expect Tim's Browns to take the title this year).

But I had to comment on Devin Hester currently holding out on the Chicago Bears, wanting a better deal. And for once, I can't blame the player in a holdout situation.

Hester is by far the most feared returner in the NFL -- maybe in history. He also led the team in offensive TDs last season, too. And he sees guys like Brian Urlacher demanding new contracts -- despite being in the midst of a $56 million deal -- and, well, he wants to get paid.

Devin Hester is slated to make $455,000 this year. Do you realize that there are likely many Bears season ticketholders who make more than him? That if Hester was just a fan, he couldn't afford the seats that people sit in to watch him?

Now, no, I'm not suggesting any of us cry for someone making almost half a million bucks a year to play a game. But let's just remember it's a brutal game that is often shown to shorten life expectancy and, oh yeah, the Bears are making millions off of guys like Hester. So he should get his cut, too.

Did he earn the right to do this too?

"I feel comfortable in Wrangler...I'd feel comfortable in Minneapolis."

All of the clowns out there who have been telling me for weeks or months that Brett Favre has the RIGHT to be a spineless yo-yo and hold the Packers hostage were wrong and are wrong. But even you buffoons don't think Ms. Favre's most recent antics are warranted...do you?

I guess he did win a Super Bowl and played two days after his Dad died...and he did get addicted to prescription drugs before bravely beating his self-inflicted addiction...he also is a gun-slinger...and threw a lot of TDs (and interceptions off of his back foot)...So I guess you're right- Dumb guys do dumb things.

This was dumb.

The drama queen of Mississippi decided to break a myriad of NFL rules and got himself into a dialog with the hated Vikings...all on the Packers' nickel. Well, I would guess the fifty-or-so fans that rallied for him last week are probably off the bandwagon. Hell, maybe even EspN and Madden will admit Favre (gasp) actually made a mistake...maybe not.

Regardless of whom is willing to admit it, Favre has now officially ruined his legacy.

Eh der, how you feel about your boy now?

Atta boy, Rick!

You all know I wouldn't mind if the WNBA fell into a deep abyss never to be seen, heard from or smelled again, but something awesome happened tonight in one of that league's contest- A girl fight broke out...And dudes got involved.

Bad Ass

The most noteworthy man who stepped into the scuffle was former Bad Boy Rick Mahorn who was said to push down WNBA superstar Lisa Leslie. Way to go, tough guy!!!

The most sad thing of all is that these players and coaches took something so beautiful as a WNBA game and made it ugly.

BS Reader Poll -- Game 6

For game 6 of the Joe Tiller farewell season, Joe and the boys get to go to Columbus – one of Joe’s least-favorite places to go, judging by his record – to visit the 'vest and take on the perennially national championship game-bound Buckeyes. I don’t have any empirical data on this (yet) but I’m willing to bet this is the game Purdue fans have the least confidence about. I mean, other than being confident that the Boilers will lose.

Nevertheless, we’re curious. Do you think the Boilers have a shot in this game? Can they win it? Or is there no chance? You only get to vote one way or the other. So vote it up.

Game 6
October 11, 2008
Purdue at Ohio State
OTT Preview




Vote on other games!

Wouldn't it be nice if...

Wouldn't be nice if everyday had that feeling of Saturday afternoon in the fall...or if kittens never became cats? One can dream.

Over at BigTenNetwork.com, they've begun dreaming about the upcoming football season...And in this Purdue-centric universe at BS, I only saw two points that were noteworthy-
First- One of their writers believes Curtis Painter is the best QB in the Big Ten. I think that argument can be made. He throws for a high percentage, throws for an absurd amount of yards, lots of TDs and got much better last year at controlling turnovers. That said, I don't know if I'd go this far: Brent Yarina thinks our boy is going to blossom into a handsome man this year and throw for nearly 3,800 yards, throw 30 TDs and a mere 8 Interceptions all while completing over 63% of his passes. To me, the completion % is about right, but I don't know if I see Curtis leaping all of the other tall buildings on this list. If he did do that, his Senior year would be better in all major statistical categories than Brees' Senior campaign. Brees came second in the Heisman voting that season...

My response to this prediction is simple- If Curtis reaches Mr. Yarina's marks, he will win the Heisman Trophy. This schedule seems to get tougher every time I look at it. Think about these fun facts-

Purdue has replaced a MAC cupcake from previous seasons with a ranked Pac-10 opponent in Oregon, Purdue plays at Notre Dame (only won there once in the last 25 years), then welcomes a PSU team they haven't beaten in 3 seasons, heads to Columbus (where they haven't won there in 20 years), a few weeks later, hosts a UM program that they haven't beaten since Brees was QB, then after playing a tougher MSU team in East Lansing, goes to Iowa (haven't won there since I was a Senior in High School ['92]). In a not-so-succinct way, I'm just saying it's going to be tough.

Now, if he does have such a season, he must have someone to throw to that's of note...Here's my second focal point from the Top-Five blog over at BTN.
Brees had Stratton and Sutherland. BTN.com thinks Greg Orton will most definitely become Painter's go-to guy that many around here think he can be. So much so, that Brent's Blog only has two better receivers in the Big Ten- Robiskie from aOSU and Benn from Illinois. His predictions for Orton are more human than those for Painter- just over a thousand yards receiving and 13 TDs. To put it in Purdue terminology, that would be, almost exactly like Vinny Sutherland's 2000 season w/ Brees at the helm. I've compared Orton to the Colts' Reggie Wayne for a few seasons- he's got good size, great body control, but performs inconsistantly. To do what Brent's blog prognosticates, he'll have to become an every game guy.

In his Purdue preview, Pete Fuitak over at CFN thinks aloud that Painter's not as good as Brees, but is better than Orton. Honestly at this point in his career, I'd say Painter isn't as good as Brees or KO coming into his Senior year. But, he has one more season in black and gold to become one of the best QBs in the Cradle and definitely under Tiller. For that to happen, he has to learn how to look off of the first and second receivers and definitely NEEDS to beat some teams that are real contenders for the Big Ten title. I'm not saying he can't do it, but you might be dreaming if you think he definitely will.

I'm not telling BTN's Brent, or anyone else not to dream...I'm just saying that some dreams are just that...But, it would be awfully, awfully nice.

Painter for Heisman?

New Orleans To Be Hit By Another Devastating Hurricane

Yeah, I'm sure I'm not the first one with that joke, but I am the most handsome.

For those who haven't heard yet, Jeremy Shockey -- reknown, overrated douchebag -- has been traded to the Saints for some ankle tape and a bucket of used athletic cups. Actually, no, the Giants got a couple of decent picks for him so that's a win-win, especially considering Kevin Boss proved to actually be a better tight end as a rookie than Shockey ever was.

Shockey never really fit into the Giants team atmosphere like everyone thought he might. The Giants, despite being a "New York" team, aren't as hatable as most NY squads and so Shockey's act did more to piss off the real football fans in the stadium. Sure, once or twice his helmet flew off from a collision and people were like, "Man, he's a gamer!" But mostly he just infuriated real Giants fans by doing things like dropping critical -- and easy to catch -- screen passes or elaborately signaling first down when the Giants were losing games. He definitely had the highest ratio of in-your-face moves to actual plays made in the league.

In the end, as a Giants fan, I'm really happy to have him gone because it means I don't have to root for him anymore. He's a Miami Hurricane, which means he's colossally arrogant and entitled to begin with and simply not capable of humility (witness the way he's acted since being proven wholly unnecessary to the Giants success -- the guy still acts like the team owes him something).

Sean Payton, the Saints head coach, was on the Giants staff under Fassel so he knows what he's getting. So maybe he'll know how to handle him. Or maybe Drew Brees will tattoo Shockey with a laser pass during mini-camps to show him he's not dealing with Eli anymore.

Regardless, good riddance jackass. We will not miss you.

The Next Tom Brady?

"Maytag Man" finally being called into action

Something unusual is going to happen in a few weeks when the Colts take the field for their first pre-season contests- A quarterback beside Peyton Manning will be starting. When I first heard about Manning's sack needing to be removed, I thought it sounded painful and serious...Turns out it's only a span of 4-6 weeks that he'll need to sit. So, he'll be back in time for the beginning of the season, if not a pre-season contest (or two). Or will he?

In practice, 18 looks to Sorgi for leadership

Perhaps this is just time to see a change; I mean Manning's numbers were obviously down last season...Jim Sorgi has shown over and over that he can play the game. Hell, he's thrown 152 less interceptions Manning during his career. It's obvious that the Colts offense needs to be more efficient...Much like young Tom Brady stepped in and took charge in the stead of injured Drew Bledsoe, maybe we're on the eve of a similar changing of the guard. Only time will tell.

Sorgi shows poise under fire that Manning never seems to display

THE Open

With all due respect to the Brits and their insistence that the British Open simply be known as "The Open," there's no nearly the excitement or interest in yours as their is in ours.

And that's not just me, the obnoxious American, talking. It's also me the obnoxious golf fan.

See, I just can't get excited about seeing guys struggling to avoid going to +10. I can double bogey holes, guys! I watch golf to see excellent shot making and skilled players. And when Greg fricking Norman is leading a major after 54 holes, that indicates that something is amiss. When the younger, more talented players simply cannot hack it because the conditions are just ridiculous, it's not fun anymore. It's not fun for the players, for sure, and it's not fun for me to watch.

Word came out on Saturday night that course officials were going to check things out on Sunday morning and were considering suspending play if the winds reached their potential of 50 MPH gusts. That's kind of stupid. Guys were backing off of putts because the wind would begin to move their balls! And when the wind moves my balls, I call it a day. (Heh.)

Now, I know, there are golf fans out there who will claim this is a true test of skill.... that the atrocious northwestern England weather "levels the playing field."

They're wrong.

If the Indianapolis 500 was raced in six inches of snow, would that be a great leveler? Would that show some real driving skill? I suppose so, but would be an enjoyable race? (Actually, that's a bad example because I think that would make me watch it... but you get my point.)

In the end, Padraig Harrington won his second straight Open, and he shot a 32 on the back nine to do it, which is kind of nice and a lot better than the way he won last year, with Sergio choking.

And then there's poor Greg Norman. I've never been a fan of Norman, but I do distinctly remember his various choke jobs over the years. The guys a tremendously talented golfer who simply cannot finish. He's the anti-Tiger: He's taken the 54 hole lead into Sunday eight times in his career -- he is 1-7 in those tourneys. Yikes.

However, I'm sure Chris Evert, his new bride, will make him feel like a champion who can finish.

Hey-oooo!

Cat Fight!!! (& other Indy Car notes)

I think Danica Patrick is a whiny lil' b--all of energy, but you all know what I think of Milka Duno...At least Danica has the capability to compete. Duno is Hugo Chavez' pet project so she still has a ride. Otherwise, she'd be just another quadra-lingual, multiple-masters degree-holding race car driver on the dirt tracks in South America. Anywho, when the perpetually bitchy, attention-hogging Patrick decided to "talk" to Duno about her lack of skeelz, of course, the ESPN cameras were there (how'd they know where Danica was going?). Here's what happened-



Now, Patrick was out of line in a couple of ways- she had to bring the cameras down to the Dreyer and Reinbold pit (and couldn't handle it in private) and she started off the conversation by cursing at her less-good-looking counterpart. But, Charro...errrr Duno, whose high-level education clearly was not in Zen studies, tact or diplomacy (or driving, by the way), responded by throwing a towel at Danica...not once, but twice. If this was two men, it would have surely been a fight after the initial cursing, let alone something being thrown at the other person...There's an easy, sexist joke in there some place about how they should have settled this, but I'll leave that up to you guys.

A day later, the Indy Car ladies and gentlemen raced a pretty solid road course race in mid-Ohio. Thankfully, Ryan Briscoe earned the victory after a series of unfortunate events had left him empty handed in his last few races. Penske finished one-two as well as Roger's strategery and maybe a little bit of luck boosted both of his drivers to the podium. I was told this would be a race where the ex-Champ Car guys would dominate as their road course experience would bring them all to the top...Will Power & Servia had solid days, but, both Rahal and Wilson had unforced mistakes that kept them out of contention in the end.

Marco Andretti continued to make rookie mistakes...and due to an early one, he was later an innocent victim of a pile-up that knocked him out of the race. Dixon hung around the top and earned third place, Marty Roth continued sucking, and Vitor Meira also put in a solid effort that nearly earned him a top-5 finish.

In six days, Indy Car's in Edmonton with new old guy, Tracy...and IMS hosts NASCAB on Sunday. Should be a fun weekend.

IU compliance chief: No thanks!

From ESPN.com, Less than a month after he agreed to become Indiana University's associate athletic director for compliance services, Chad Hawley has changed his mind about the job.

The Indianapolis Star reports Hawley, who last served as the Big Ten's assistant commissioner for compliance, returned to his role with the Big Ten. He also held compliance jobs with the Mid-Continent Conference and Ivy League and at North Carolina State and Appalachian State, his alma mater.

Hawley's annual salary at IU would have been $105,000.

Indiana University reorganized its athletics compliance staff ahead of the NCAA infractions committee hearing over alleged rules violations by former basketball coach Kelvin Sampson.

IU athletic media relations director J.D. Campbell told the Star on Friday that the school is close to hiring a new compliance director.

"We are looking at all of our options and hope to have the situation resolved in the very near future," Campbell told the Star.


I can understand why he left. This would be a terrible job. When it's your sole responsibility to ensure that your university complies with NCAA regulations, and your university chooses to ignore all of those rules as frequently as possible... well, it wouldn't exactly be a good career move.

Why is this guy leaving? Does he know something that hasn't been reported yet? Is there, perhaps, a lack of institutional control down in Bloomington? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Brady Quinn Cannot Avoid All This Gay Stuff

You know, if it's not a picture of Brady grabbing a dude's crotch or dressing up like the freaking Village People or being accused of shouting anti-gay slurs, it's the fact that he's featured prominently in an online ad campaign for gay men hookups (findmen4men.com).

According to TMZ, Brady is still officially straight but, then, so is Ricky Martin.

I mean, it doesn't matter to us really if Brady Quinn is gay or not. We'd make fun of him equally either way. But it's weird how often Quinn is in the news for something gay-related.

I can't imagine all this is good for his relationships in the locker room or on the field. I mean, I'm speaking hypothetically, of course. Everybody knows Brady Quinn is rarely on the field.