Jones Leading Rusher for North

Campbell, Watson trade series in Senior Bowl Loss

That's right, Julius Jones was the leading rusher for the North Squad in their 28-10 loss in this year's Senior Bowl. Jones rushed 4 times for 8 yards, leading the team in both categories, as the North needed to go to the air to play catch up for most of the game.
Darrell Campbell had 2 tackles, one for a loss, while playing both defensive tackle and defensive end. Courtney Waston played middle linebacker and special teams and recorded one pass breakup.

Too Little, Too Late, as ND Men Fall to Kentucky 71-73

Improved Effort on Defense Isn't Enough Against #8 Team

When the ND Men's Basketball team releases their "year in review" tape, it should be called "Too Little Too Late." Once again, a late run against a good team couldn't quite make up for a sluggish start.
I'll give Kentucky a lot of credit on the defensive end. Despite being undersized, they were able to swarm to the ball in the low post, and completely shut down Torin Francis. On the offensive side of the ball, athleticism won out over height, as the Wildcat frontcourt was able to maneuver around the Irish big men instead of going up strong.
When the Irish had the ball, there wasn't much to watch. Torrian Jones did a nice job of slashing to the basket a few times. But, with Francis shut down and the outside game gone cold, ND struggled. "Listless," I believe, is a good word to use. Too much standing around. Where are the backdoor cuts? Do something to get someone open down low! Adjust to what the defense is doing!
On D, the Irish have improved in the hustle department a little. They did outrebound UK 38-31, and for once I didn't see any 15 foot offensive rebounds coming off free throws.
Notes on individual performances: Colin Falls has become the token "hustle" guy. He runs around like a man possessed, always swarming to the loose balls and rebounds. He's becoming fun to watch, even though it isn't looking right now like he'll be the second coming of Matt Carroll. Once again, I have a beef with Chris Thomas. Several times, he went all out for a steal in the backcourt, letting his guy get completely by him. Then, he just lollygags back, giving the opponent an automatic power play! I'll quote John Wooden from the recent IBM Linux commercials: "A player that makes the team great is more valuable than a great player." Don't make your teammates do more work just because you want to make a weak attempt at quick personal glory. Oh, and slowing down so you can dunk only to let the defensive guy catch up with you on a steal? Brilliant. Should Thomas jump to the NBA next year. Let's go to this replay courtesy my dad and me:
Me: "Well, he shoots 30% and doesn't play defense."
Dad: "Well, then, he's ready for the NBA."

Random Rambling: Why I shouldn't be allowed to pick the first two songs for my wedding reception

If I were to marry Ellen, our first dance together would definitely be to the classic "I've Grown Accustomed to Your Face."
And, for the first dance with the parents, I'd definitely go with "Que Sera Sera."
"When I was just a little boy
I asked my mother, what will I be
Will I be handsome, will I be rich
Here's what she said to me.
Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be"
(ok, so you have to think about this one a little. Think along the lines of "I asked my mother if I would be handsome, and she couldn't give me a straight answer.")

Thoughts on Jayson Stark's Column on Bud Selig

I just watched Eigth Men Out the other day, and in ESPN Classic's analysis, someone made the point that the comissioner has always been the lackey of the owners, so this could be interesting.

1. Wild cards, more playoffs, interleague play. No, no, and no. OK, the Wild Card isn't so bad, since it gives a team like the Red Sox a chance to make the playoffs playing in a good divison. It wouldn't be to fair to say that the Twins deserved a spot in the playoffs more than they did. As for the expanded playoffs, I personally don't mind playing baseball in November, but I understand that for some people November weather seems a little cold. I'll let it slide since it means more baseball. Interleague play? Well, I finally get to see my team employ the strategy of playing without a DH, but what Bud forgets is that they're supposed to be two separate leagues. That's why there's rule differences, and two different league presidents, and the stats don't carry over. These aren't conferences, they're leagues. Arena Football is not part of the NFL, but the Federal League was a major league. There's a difference, let's keep it that way.


2. The Schedule: The "unbalanced schedule" is forced parity. Teams play schedules of unequal strength in an attempt to level the playing field. This is stupid. Stark points out that it lets division contenders play each other many times in September, but let's look a little closer at that. The Indians and Twins were supposed to be 2 of the AL Central contenders last year, and they did meet several times in September, but their first meeting wasn't until right before the All Star Break. Teams are very streaky in baseball, you have to play them at different times of the year to get the full effect.


3. Attendance and Ballparks: Attendance is up, but this is mostly due to gimmicks (which, as we know, do not pull the train). Most gimmicks are included in #1 above, but the greatest perhaps is the owners' latest get rich scheme. Jon Hart had a great idea for the Indians in the early '90s. A new park was on the way, and he decided to trade away some of the Tribe's older, more beloved players for some young hot prospects. When Jacob's Field opened, Carlos Baerga, Joey (Albert) Bell, Sandy Alomar and Charlie Nagy were just starting to hit their primes. Plus, there were a few newcomers by the names of Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez. So, the team was good for the first time in ages, and when you couple that with a new ballpark, attendance soared. Other owners saw this and though, "oh, if we build a new ballpark, people will start selling out every game, I'll make tons of money, and we'll automatically become good." Unfortunately, that's not how it works, as places like Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee (hmm... own by the Seligs) learned.


4. Globalizing the game: This is a great thing, but I wouldn't give Selig the credit for it. It's the GMs, and owners, and scouts who did it. Plus, once one guy goes, many follow (Ichiro, El Duque, etc)

1. Labor: This is strictly owners vs. players. And the next time you want to complain about how much money baseball players make, just remember that owners make a whole lot more for doing a whole lot less. (That, and many "small market" owners pocket the money they receive to help their ballclub.)


2. Style and Image: All the other major sports comissioners are liked, as far as I know, so I can't say he wins this one.


3. Owner unanimity: OK, great, so he has the owners all teamed up together. Well, baseball isn't about unathletic guys in suits (except at the winter meetings, or maybe when Don Zimmer or John Kruk make an appearance at the ESPYs). You don't want these guys too powerful, especially the baseball-illiterate ones who only care about making a buck.


4. Milwaukee as the center of the baseball universe: Hey, everybody says my team plays like an NL team, let's move them to the NL! Hey, let's contract the Twins so all their fans become our fans! Hey, let's take a team that was great with Paul Molitor and Robin Yount and make them sucky! Hey, I (or my daughter) still own this team, let's have every decision I make benefit us!

And one thing not mentioned: contraction. Let's add 4 teams during my tenure, then take 2 away. While we're at it, why not include one of the most history-rich franchises ever? (the Philadelphia-Kansas City-Oakland A's) Not a good idea, especially for the Twins and A's, and thank God it's been forgotten about

Random Rambling #2

Thank God for the on screen guides that come with digital cable. Friday was AFC playoff classics day on ESPN Classic, and hadn't I been careful, I would have tuned into The Drive, and later The Fumble, both within hours of each other. No so good.

Cavs Commercial Gets it Right

Here's the latest Cavs commercial for Fox Sports Ohio: a set of twins are joined at the finger, and one decides to become an absolutely obnoxious fan who jumps on every bandwagon available. In this instance, he's a Lakers fan. But, the other twin remains a Cavs fan, and he is rewarded. The "moral" of this commercial: with Fox Sports Ohio, you can be a true fan and watch your hometown team, instead of watching all the bandwagon favorites on some national channel. Very nice.

OK, hopefully that's enough for today. We'll have the Transaction Wire tomorrow and a Super Bowl preview Thursday. Also, inspired by the first Baseball Tonight of the season that was on last week, I'll start a division-by-division look at the upcoming baseball season. Here's the proposed order (and why that order makes sense to me):
NL West (no current KankaNation fans)
AL West (one quasi-Seattle fan)
AL East (one bandwagon Yankmees fan)
NL East (one Mets fan)
NL Central (two Cubs fans and a Pirates fan)
AL Central (this is technically an ND AND Cleveland sports site)

Campbell Joins Senior Bowl Roster

Earl Visits to Interview with Scouts

UND.com is reporting that KankaNation Hall of Fame Finalist Darrell Campbell will be playing in today's Senior Bowl, today at 4pm eastern on ESPN. ESPN is also reporting that Glenn Earl also visited practices to talk with NFL teams.

I'll write a little about Bud Selig next week, but for now let's have some fun...

ND Fantasy Coaching Staff

The stipulation: create the ideal coaching staff for ND, consisting of people who theoretically would and could coach the team (in other words, they're still alive and they have some ties to the team, such as being a former coach or player). Some of these are a stretch, so by all means give me your thoughts.
Head Coach: Ara Parseghian. Not only did he bring home two National Championships, but he never had a team that lost more than 2 games. Not bad for someone taking over for a 2-7 team.
Offensive Coordinator: Lou Holtz. The latest head coach to bring a championship to Our Lady's University, he recently took over the offense at South Carolina.
QB Coach: Jon Gruden. The only person on the list never to play or coach at ND. Qualifications: could you win a Super Bowl with Brad Johnson? Assistants: Tom Clements, QB of the '73 team, was QB coach for the Steelers until his recent hire as OC at Buffalo; Joe Montana, just because.
RB Coach: Tom Pagna. He was Ara's backfield coach before becoming a longtime voice of the Irish. Currently works at the Notre Dame Football Fanasy Camp. Assistants: John Lattner, '53 Heisman winner and also a coach at the camp; Hank Stram, who was a backfield coach at ND in the 50s before becoming a legendary coach for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Receivers Coach: Urban Meyer. Held the same position while he was here with Bob Davie. After reviving the Bowling Green (not a state) program, he is currently enjoying similar success at Utah. Assistant: Rocket Ismail - although he will be missed for his hilarious insight on College Gameday.
TE Coach: Andy Heck. Converted from TE to tackle under Lou Holtz. Currently serves as U. of Virginia's OLine coach and also makes appearances at the ND Fantasy Camp. Assistant: Dave Casper - one of my favorite "Oh yeah, he went to ND" players, he had a fine NFL career with the Raiders and Oilers.
OLine Coach: Gerry DiNardo. A guard on the '73 team. After a successful XFL coaching stint, he is currently the head coach of the IU Hoosier(oon)s. Assitant: Dusty Ziegler, recently retired from the New York Giants.
Defensive Coordinator: Joe Yonto. See yesterday's HOF writeup if you have any doubts about his credentials.
DLine Coach: Yonto. Assistants: Mike Trgovac, assistant coach/DLine coach under Lou from '92-'94, was the Carolina Panther DLine coach before being promoted to DC this past year (I'd say he's doing a pretty good job); Greg Mattison - Ellen loves him.
LB Coach: Barry Alvarez. Was DC/LB coach under Lou Holtz from '87-'89. Has been head coach at Wisconsin since. Assistant: Bob Golic - although a nose tackle in the pros, he was a middle linebacker while at ND.
DB Coach: Ty Willingham. Hey, we had to put him somewhere. I thought about making him the RB Coach, as he was before he became the head coach of Stanford, but then I remembered his philosophy on fullbacks ("first a receiver, second a blocker, third a runner"). Willingham began his coaching career as a Secondary Coach. Assistants: Jim Johnson, secondary coach and later DC under Dan Devine and Gerry Faust, and currently DC for the Philadelphia Eagles (although that may not be much of a compliment); Dick Lynch, a HB at ND before becoming a great DB for the New York Giants (also a fired up ND alum who is loved by Ellen).
Special Teams: Davie. Hey, it's the one thing he got right. Assistant: Ismail.

OK, that was fun, and remember, it's just a rough draft, very open to discussion. Time for more fun, completely unrelated to this list:

ND Alumni Fantasy NFL Starters

QB: Steve Beuerlein, with backups Rick Mirer and Jarius Jackson.
RB: Jerome Bettis, with 3rd down back Tony Fisher and backup Autry Denson.
FB: Marc Edwards, backed up by Tom Lopienski and Joey Goodspeed (or we could just go jumbo with Bettis, Edwards, and Lopienski in the backfield).
WR: Tim Brown and David Givens, the latter of which enjoying a very good season. 3rd receiver is Javin Hunter, and Arnaz Battle comes in for 4 receiver sets.
TE: John Owens, with Jabari Holloway and Dan O'Leary for the big sets.
T: Luke Petitgout (Ellen loves him) and Mike Rosenthal, with Jordan Black, Brennan Curtin, and Kurt Vollers backing up (what a trio).
G: Mike Gandy and Sean Mahan. That's it, according to ESPN's list.
C: I'll give Jeff Faine the nod over Tim Ruddy, just because I can.
DT: Bryant Young and Lance Legree, backed up by Jim Flanigan, Paul Grasmanis, and Oliver Gibson.
DE: Ahhhh, Mistah Weavah! and Bert Berry, although I think Berry mave have been moved to DT. Backups are Grant "Fo Weel Dog?" Irons and Reynaldo Wynn.
LB: Rocky Boiman and Tyreo Harrison. Hmm... maybe we'll use a 5-2, or use a lot of Nickel.
CB: Jeff "Lead With the Helmet" Burris and Bobby Taylor, Nickel Back Shane Walton, Dime Back Deveron Harper, and Brock "I don't need a 5th year" Williams.
S: Deke Cooper and Shawn Wooden, backed by Gerome Sapp and Ron Israel.
K: John Carney.
P: Craig Hentrich.
H: Hunter Smith.
PR/KR: Allen Rossum and Battle.

ND Senior Player News

Julius Jones and Courtney Watson are headed to the Senior Bowl, this Saturday at 5pm Eastern on the ESPN. Scouts are saying that Watson has "good size and [is a] tough, aggressive player," but it doesn' t look like he has "the athleticism or speed to become much more than [a] backup and special teams player in the NFL." I agree. What happened to his athleticism. This is a guy famous for an interception/fumble run back last year, and this year he's huffing and puffing on a run back against Syracuse. Does anyone know what happened?
Julius is considered the best receiver out of the backfield there, which speaks wonders for a) his improvement catching the ball since the beginning of the season and b) the receiving ability of ND's backs, since Grant and Wilson are considered the best receivers, and Schmidt is just amazing. The scouts think he's a little small, but at 5'10" he's about Tiki Barber's size and much stronger. One scout said he wouldn't be surprised if Julius went as high as the third round with his hands and return ability. (Is it bad that I'm hoping the Browns lose both their 3rd down back and their kick returner to free agency just so we can pick Julius up?)
Darrell Campbell and Ced Hilliard are slated to play in The Villages Gridiron Classic, Saturday the 31st at Noon Easter on ESPN. On most draft reports, these two usually show up as 5th to 7th rounders, and it seems to be a toss-up as to who is better. The one exception is a lone Packers fan who did a complete mock draft and seems to think that Darrell will go in the 3rd round to Seattle.
Not seeking 5th years are Garron Bible, further weakening our secondary, and the much-maligned Ronny Rodamer, who may or may not transfer to the University of Montana (or so hope fans of the Griz). I'll see if I can pull strings with my contacts in the UofM athletic department to see what's going on.
No word yet on the decision for Gary Godsey's sixth year, although a ruling was due last Tuesday.
To see those reportedly seeking 5th years, click here. (rivals.com)

Well, that should keep you occupied for a while. I'll try to get a Super Bowl preview out next week, in the in-depth style I used for ND previews. I'll tell you right now, though, that the winning team will be the Pa

The Class of 2004

Well, we only had 4 ballots returned, but it was still enough to make Snoop Dogg, Bill Simmons, Gary Godsey, and Coach Joe Yonto the inaugural class of the kankasports.blogspot.com KankaNation Hall of Fame.

Snoop Dogg: Simply famous for being cool, he is the most recognized rapper of his generation.
Bill Simmons: Revolutionized sports writing (and the way many men talk and think) with his column on Page 2. Inspired many knock-off sites such as this one.
Gary Godsey: He Beat Purdue. Twice. Nowadays, is more or less famous just for being Gary Godsey.
Coach Yonto: National Championships follow him everywhere: he was an injured member of the B team for ND's '46 championship, Assistant D-Line coach in '66, D-Line coach in '73, Defensive Coordinator in '77, and retired in '87, the year before Lou Holtz lead the Irish to the title. Also well known for his thoughts on gimmicks and locomotives.

Here's how the voting went down (out of 4 ballots, 4 votes required):
Snoop Dogg 4
Bill Simmons 4
Gary Godsey 4
Coach Yonto 4
Joe Namath 2
Kanka 2
Darrell Campbell 2
Elizabeth Hasselbeck 1
Joe Horn's cell phone 1
Jody Gerut 1
the KankaManiacs 1
the other Manning brother 1
DJ Fitzpatrick 1
Dick Lynch 1
the creator of Happy Days (and hence "jump the shark") 1

The Weekend in Review

NFL
Colts/Patriots: A textbook case study of the Peyton Manning face. Every expletive in the book. Every emotion from "are you kidding me?" to "why did I do that?" to "not again." New England was able to shut down the Colt receivers, taking their chances with Marcus Pollard. They made the right choice. This game is a lesson learned from John Hart and the Indians of the mid-90s: no matter how high-powered your offense is, the good all-around team will always win.
Panthers/Eagles: Defense wins championships. We should have seen that coming. The injury to McNabb surely didn't help, but that wasn't the Eagles main problem on Sunday. Carolina just wanted it more. The Panthers were making the hard hits, going out for the tough catches, and fighting for the extra yards. The Eagles, on the other hand, had players like James Thrash olé at passes over the middle and Deuce Staley dance out of bounds a yard short of the first down marker. Freddy Mitchell was one of the few guys fighting hard for that team. In the end, the Panthers had much more heart and determination, and when you combine that with their talent, you get a free trip to Houston.

ND in the Playoffs Update
Baltimore
Javin Hunter DNP, injured
Gerome Sapp DNP?
Anthony Weaver 1 game, 3 Tackles
Denver
Bertrand Berry: 1 Game, 1 Tackle, 1 Assist
Steve Beuerlein: DNP, injured
Jarious Jackson: DNP
Indianapolis
Tom Lopienski: 3 Games, 1 Catch, 2 yrds Rec, 1 TD
Hunter Smith: 3 Games, 1 Punt, 55 yards, 1 heads up play on the safety
New England
David Givens: 2 Games, 12 Catches, 94 yrds Rec, 1 TD
Kansas City
Jordan Black: 1 Game?
Tennessee
Rocky Boiman: 2 Games, 1 Tackle, 1 Assist
Craig Hentrich: 2 Games 6 Punts, 44.7 Average, 63 Long, 4 Inside 20
Carolina
no players
Dallas
Kurt Vollers: 1 Game
Green Bay
Brennan Curtin: 2 Games?
Tony Fisher: 2 Games, 2 Rushes, 9 yrds Rush, 4 Catches, 25 yrds Rec
Philadelphia
Jim Flanigan: ?
Paul Grasmanis: Injured, DNP
Tyreo Harrison: DNP?
Bobby Taylor: 2 Games, 7 Tackles
Seattle
no players
St Louis
Jeremy Akers: 1 Game?
Joey Goodspeed: 1 Game, 1 Catch, 9 yrds Rec
Shane Walton: DNP?

ND Men's Basketball
Well, they lead the whole way to beat VPI Tuesday, but let's talk about that Syracuse game that was on TV. Tom Timmermans deserves all the talk he got from the announcers. Why? He (and maybe Colin Falls) was the only guy showing any semblance of hustle out there! I mean, I watch the Cavs, a mediocre NBA team, and they even box out! A very winnable ball game...

Transaction Wire

Hot off the presses! Cavs trade Darius Miles to Portland (you can't make this up!) for PG Jeff McInnis and center Ruben Boumtje Boumtje! I wish I were kidding. Miles missed practice the other day. He apparently overslept, and when he didn't answer his phone, the Cavs sent the police to check on him. A posse member answered the door, and Miles explained the situation. I don't think this incident is in any way related to the trade. The Cavs need depth at PG, especially since LeBron is becoming overworked. McInnis is a solid, starter-quality ball handler who doesn't turn the ball over. RBB is the question. The Cavs are already fairly deep at center with Ilgauskas, Battie, and Diop, although Ilgauskas and Diop are injury prone. Hopefully this is a sign that the east's best center (scoring-wise, anyway) is about to be traded away. If you would like to see me wearing a Boumtje Boumtje Cavs jersey the next time I visit campus, feel free to send donations to...
Rockie sign "El Presidente." Coming of arm surgery and a bad 2003, Turk Wendell isn't making his situation any better by coming to Coors Field. At least he still hates the Yankees.
Several more Gammons-esque names were involved this week, plus the Giants made many assistant coaching hires, but unfortunately, it looks like this is it for the Transaction Wire this week.

Join me tomorrow for what will probably be a short article. I have a few ideas in my mind, plus a look at forming a "not" Hall of Fame. Congrats again to Snoop, Bill, Gary, and the Coach. Watch the message board as I'll try to make sure each HOF member is contacted. Join us again tomorrow - same Kanka time, same Kanka Channel.

NSS meeting tonight, so no "Weekend in Review."
I will tell you, however, that with 2 ballots still out, we currently have 4 new inductees to the Hall of Fame, and 2 more who have yet to be mathematically eliminated. Results announced later this week.

Let's start with the book report - Leahy's Lads by Jack Connor. I recommend it highly. Connor, a former player, went around and interviewed many of the former players from the 40s. This book includes small accounts of each of the games, but mostly it's a collection of anecdotes and inside jokes catalogued so the players themselves can remember them. This "by the players, for the players" approach makes this a very amusing and enjoyable book.
I won't go into too much detail, but here are two things I wanted to point out:

Coach Yonto's Playing Career
The Coach got most of his playing time as a "burly" backup fullback on the 1945 squad, when most of ND's regulars were off to war or playing for service academy/training base teams. You see, for most of '44/'45, college age men were often required to transfer to a school that had their particular training program - ND for Navy, Great Lakes for the Army, or one of the service academies. Anyways, when most of the players came back for the 1946 season, the team was stacked. In fact many third stringers who saw little to no action for the Irish that year went on to incredibly successful NFL careers. So, Coach Yonto was relegated to the "B" team, sort of a JV team that went around playing other schools' B teams. One day, the B team was scrimmaging the first-teamers. The Coach took a handoff and bucked into the line. He came out with a leg so badly broken, his foot was turned at a 90-degreee angle. Ouch. Many people thought he would never walk again. Fortunately he could, and Jack Connor praises his success as a defensive guru under Parseghian, Devine, and Holtz.

Ziggy Czarobski
A great tackle (and member of the Polish Sports HOF) who played before and after the war, may I be the first to nominate this man for Bone Legend. Among his bone-esque accomplishments:
Beat Purdue: It may have been Ziggy who first coined this phrase. Coach Leahy always judged how the coming Saturday's game would be by how the team was at the beginning of Monday's practice. A loose, talkative team meant that they weren't too worried about the coming contest. A quiet team, however, meant there was some anxiety over the coming game. That, of course, meant Leahy would have to work the team harder in the coming week. Knowing this, and being always the "class clown" of the team, Ziggy acted quickly when the team was silent the Monday before a Purdue game. As Leahy approached, Ziggy began clapping and chanting "Beat Purdue! Beat Purdue!" Soon, the whole squad joined in and the team was loose and relaxed for the rest of the week.
The Muggers Club: This exclusive club, comprised mainly of the war vets on the squad, liked to meet weekly at one of the local licensed establishments to drink, share stories, and do other poker night-esque things. The club was very exclusive, and each member had a beer stein with his name engraved on it. Leahy know he couldn't be too hard on the war vets, so he let them have their fun in Ziggy's little club.
Tackles practice: Often, the team would split up to pratice by position. Knowing how long-winded the tackles coach could be, Ziggy and fellow tackle George Connor (a former Bear and Jack's brother) took turns asking questions of their position coach, while the guards worked hard and looked over in disgust. Sound like Bone Circle to me.

NDNation Issues
Monk: As evidenced in Shake Down the Thunder, the debate of overemphasis of football has been with Our Lady's University since the program began. Surely, Monk isn't a huge fan of watching football, but is he really against it? His coaching hires haven't been great, but it wouldn't be the first time 2 straight bad coaching hires have been made. Plus, he did fire the guy who hired Bob Davie. The administration has always grappled with the football program, so I don't know if it's a reasonable scapegoat in this case.
Kevin White: The man has great taste in ties. That being said, let's look at his dealings in the football head coach department:
1. Fired Bob Davie. The "first" time an ND coach was fired, but it was justified. Bob knew he had a great job, so he wasn't going anywhere no matter how much he sucked.
2. Hired George O'Leary. I had a feeling this guy wouldn't be the savior when he came in, but White wanted someone who "got Notre Dame." I've come out and said that White may not necessarily "get" Notre Dame - hiring practices, "aspirational peerdom," deemphasis, the conference talk, but I think this all remains to be seen.
3. Hired Ty Willingham. More below.
Ty Willingham: I'm willing to give him a second chance. His first year was made by great seniors who finally had a reason to be enthoused. Last year can be chalked up to "one bad year for the new guy" - hopefully. I'll give Ty some time, but still it is frustrating seeing the times when he's not being the ubercoach - not making decisions you'd expect a coaching genius to make (then again, I'm no coaching genius either), the 30+ point shutouts, the list goes on. Still, as a college coach (that is, a molder of students as well as a leader of athletes), he may have been the best guy available.
Jon Gruden: The first F-bomb at a pep rally, and he would've been canned. I just don't know if he would have fit in with the administration (you don't have to be their puppet - just let them think they have control over you). Plus, we see he had a case of the sophomore jinx too this past year. Then again, that may be a positive sign. Most of Gruden's troubles came from clashes with the spoiled, self-centered athletes on the Bucs. That could be a sign that Gruden is a big-time discipline guy, which is a great quality for a college coach.
Steve Spurrier: Ah, no, I don't think it would work. He'd be at odds with the administration from day one. His "my system is perfect, my players messed up" philosophy is not what you want to teach college athletes. Plus, if we find out he starts getting into shady recruiting practices, that's it. Ara Parseghian always believe that if you needed to buy a kid with cars and under the table gifts, that kid isn't worth it. Spurrier may be a great Florida "college" coach, but I don't think he'd be a good student-athlete coach.
Olympic sports: I have absolutely no problem with sports other than football doing well at ND. Heck, I am ND Women's Basketball's number 1 fan, at least according to Karen Swanson and the rest of the players on my signed poster. So, hoorah for swimming and lacrosse and fencing and soccer and all the rest.
aspirational peerdom: I'm not even sure I know what this means. Sure, ND wants high academic standards. It's always been that way - starting back in the early 1900s when the Holy Cross priests decided to give a small Catholic school a cutting-edge, mainstream curriculum. The key is to work with it. Leahy found a way to win with reduced scholarships, so it can be done. And, there will always be snobs who go to ND because they were rejected from Harvard, but the school will always have enough hard-working Catholic midwestern kids who go there to live out their dreams. [a basis for the NDNation drinking game: every time you read the phrase "aspirational peer," chug an "aspirational beer"!]
recruiting: Yeah, I'm sure all the spoiled kids will want to go to warm weather schools and have cars handed to them, but once again, we don't want those kids. Get the good kids who are just as talented, or get the good kids who have almost as much talent, and use your coaching skills to make them better.
strength and conditioning: One NDNationer blamed the strength & conditioning program for the recent trend of great in HS->mediocre at ND->decent in the NFL. The only example I have of this is Julius, so I can't make too many assumptions based on one person. I can tell you, however, that Darrell is very large with very little body fat, and that Ced is in such good shape this year (compared to freshman year's Bookstore Tournament) that one Internet draft preview actually said he needed to put on some weight to play DT in the NFL!
independece: The place where I worked over the summer was a tOSU hotbed. One guy was almost drooling over the thought of tOSU, scUM, and ND in the same conference. Should we join one. I'm still in the camp that says, if we play well enough, we don't need to. What about the BCS? Well, after our recent bowl performances, we'll need to gain the bowl sponsors' trust back, which once again starts by playing well. Plus, USuCk has just proved you don't need to play in the BCS championship game to call yourself champion. Conferences: great for our other sports, but not for football. Let's hear it for a better football team.

OK, that's all I have for today. If I feel like it in the next couple days, I might actually look at the NFL playoff games... gasp!... before they play them! We'll see how that goes.

We begin with some "if I had a cell phone" news:
ND Women/UConn: A 15 point victory for the Irish, in case you haven't heard. I first found out about this game from Sports Illustrated. There was an ad for the game being on "CSTV." Being that this was the Connecticut issue of SI, I figured it was a Connecticut sports channel, and wondered why they'd be advertising it in a nationwide publication. Only after the game did I realize that CSTV stands for "College Sports TV," and that we get that channel as part of the new "here's 5 random sports channels we'll give you now but raise the price on later" package of the local cable channel. Dah. I started watching this game on Gametracker while writing yesterday's article. Each time I looked up, the girls were up by 10. Was this a mistake? Knowing that und.com Internet radio is a premium service, I quickly found UConn's Internet brodcast of the game. Was that ever a delight. Here's a recap: Taurasi didn't hit her shots, and no one backed her up. This gave Auriemma fits, including chewing her out before she went to shoot free throws. ND, simply put, made their shots. A huge game from Jackie Batteast, including a key block of Taurasi with 4 fouls, and solid backup from LaVere, Severe, and Borton, and there's your upset. Auriemma may be joining Mike Martz in Larry Coker land soon. He can't handle losing - screaming at his girls and the officials, blaming poor recruiting (I'm sure that really boosts his players' confidence). The list goes on. Auriemma strikes me as the kind of guy who would fill his Little League team with 14 year olds - he didn't get a job as a men's coach, so he has to beat up on every girl's team he can, and when he loses, he can't handle it. Good good. On to the transaction wire.

Transaction Wire
Knicks fire Don Chaney and hire a former Cavs coach. But wait... it's not Mike Fratello (the Czar of the Telestrator). It's Lenny Wilkens! Wilkens can be a good molder of men on this team, but as great as he is, he couldn't take Toronto too far. He'll make the Knicks decent, but it may only be killing time until the next great coach comes in.
Bears hire St. Louis defensive coordinator Lovie Smith. As long as he wasn't the guy who put Jason Sehorn in at cornerback, this is a good deal. Chicago is a defensive-minded club, and if Lovie can find a good offensive coordinator to work with, the team will be in good shape.
Browns promote Terry Robiskie to offensive coordinator and hire Rob Chudzinski as TE coach. Robiskie, a former OC at Washington, plans to return hard-nosed, smashmouth football to Cleveland. Exactly what I wanted to hear. Chudzinski, OC/TE coach at scUM South (including a few years under Butch Davis) is a lifelong Browns fan. Great, as long as our first round pick isn't wasted on Kellen Winslow. I might have to shoot myself if that happens.
Angels sign Vlad Guerrero. Wait, the Angels were even interested in Vlad Guerrero? Apparently, the Angels are trying to compete with the Twins for most people trying to play right field at the same time. I can see giving Tim Salmon rest or moving him to DH, but they just signed Jose Guillen, too. Baseball Primer seems to think that the Angels should put Garrett Anderson on the block, but I don't buy that. The Angels are definitely looking to contend again in a tough division, but they will need to stay healthy. Maybe that's their plan: Jeff DaVanon plays center when Darin Erstad goes down again, Guillen and Vlad play right when Tim Salmon gets hurt, and Kelvim Escobar tries to prove he's not a flash-in-the-pan when Aaron Sele and the newly acquired Bartolo Colon are on the DL. If you have the money to overstock, why not do it? Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if their were more moves ahead...
Orioles sign Raphael Palmeiro and BJ Surhoff. This transaction copied and pasted from my 1989 Transaction Wire.
Astros sign Roger Clemens. Boo hoo, he's a traitor. He lied to us. No he didn't, he said he wanted to be by his family. His family is in Houston, so this makes sense. The Astros are lucky to have a deep bullpen, because without the DH, Roger may only average 4 IP per start. With Pettitte, Roy Oswalt, and Wade Miller, this is a great rotation. If they stay healthy, they complement the bullpen perfectly. If they get hurt (when they get hurt - all of them), things could get interesting.
Indians sign Jose Jimenez and Lou Merloni. Jimenez threw a no-hitter against Randy Johnson once, and Merloni is famous for keeping his starting 2B job in Boston by being Nomar's best friend. Other than that, Jimenez will be a good late innings/innings eater guy, and Merloni will be a decent clubhouse guy who can be this year's stopgap at 2nd and 3rd when John McDonald's back starts acting up again.
Cubs make an offer to Greg Maddux. This will be a good move for Maddux. Get your $7mil a year over the next 2 years before you don't get any offers after this year. In addition, while it may seem tempting to join Tom Glavine with the Mets, Chicago is the better place to go. Sorry Dave, but since Shea has Questec and Wrigley doesn't (correct me if I'm wrong), Maddux will be able to settle into his new surroundings earlier and avoid a tough start like he did last year. A better support staff, both on the mound and at the plate, will also help.
Many more solid trades that didn't make this list at the link above, including many by the Devil Rays, who are definitely trying to go somewhere this year.

Tomorrow: Leahy's Lads, NDNation, and more as the Spirit moves me.

NFL
Panthers/Rams: Unfortunately, I missed this classic to go to a high school basketball game. The good news is, Lorain Catholic was able to hold off the larger Huron High School 44-42. Am I surprised with the outcome? Not overly. The Rams were on the decline for the second half of the season, and Mike Martz is definitely the Larry Coker of the NFL right now. With Stephen Davis likely out (or is that just a tactic?) can Jake Delhomme prove he's a Super Bowl QB? Or can he prove that his coach has a Super Bowl system?
Pats/Titans: Eskimo Up! The Pats did just enough to win, but that's all that matters. My buddy Matt quipped that maybe Drew Bennett deserved to have the Gatorade dumped on him (due to the 4 degree weather), but, on the same token, he did have two key catches to keep that drive alive. Once again, Steve McNair can only carry his team so far. And is there a more clutch guy out there than Adam Vinatieri? When the Pats had the ball late, I had no doubt they'd be getting a sure 3 from the drive. (and with that, watch for a key miss from him or Mike Vanderjagdt next week)
Colts/Chiefs: Kansas City was also a team on the decline (or did the media just stop covering them after the 9-0 start and after Dante Hall cooled off?). This game featured little defense, go figure, and that's how I figured that KC had a chance in this one. However, the Indianapolis offensive machine just kept marching, and they'll try to keep it going next week.
Packers/Eagles: The Packers, like the Rams, were a "good enough because there's nobody better" team to this point. But, Philadelphia silenced the critics once again, playing a full 60 minutes (and even more). I thought that the winner of this game would be able to breathe a sigh of relief knowing that Carolina would come in tired, but with two overtime teams going into the NFC championships, this could be interesting.

ND Alumni in the Playoffs Report
The comprehensive list.
Baltimore
Javin Hunter: DNP, injured
Gerome Sapp:
Tony Weaver: 1 Game, 3 Tackles
Denver
Bert Berry: 1 Game, 1 Tackle, 1 Assist
Steve Beuerlein: DNP, injured
Jarious Jackson: DNP
Indianapolis
Tom Lopienski: 2 Games, 1 Catch, 2 yrds Rec, 1 TD
Hunter Smith: 2 Games, 0 Punts, several nice holds
New England
David Givens: 1 Game, 4 Catches, 26 yrds Rec
Kansas City
Jordan Black: 1 Game?
Tennessee
Rocky Boiman: 2 Games, 1 Tackle, 1 Assist
Craig Hentrich: 10 Punts, 40.4 Average, 63 Long, 6 Inside 20
Carolina
no players
Dallas
Kurt Vollers: 1 Game
Green Bay
Brennan Curtin: 2 Games?
Tony Fisher: 2 Games, 2 Rushes, 9 yrds Rush, 4 Catches, 25 yrds Rec. Unfortunately, his hold cost Green Bay crucial field position late in the game.
Philadelphia
Jim Flanigan: ?
Paul Grasmanis: 1 Game
Tyreo Harrison: DNP?
Bobby Taylor: 1 Game, 3 Tackles
Seattle
no players
St Louis
Jeremy Akers: 1 Game?
Joey Goodspeed: 1 Game, 1 Catch, 9 yrds Rec
Shane Walton: DNP?

ND Men's Basketball
After a solid showing against Nova, the Irish came out strong against a flat Pitt team. However, things started to fall apart towards the end of the first half, as a 31-24 advantage became a 31-30 halftime lead. Then, the team started playing Breyball. I'm not criticizing Mike Brey as a whole, I'm just saying that Mormon Bachelor Party could out-rebound the team just because we know how to box out. OK, maybe not MBP, but at least UBUF. I'm just getting a little sick of us being "the only finesse team in the Big East." Our 3's almost got us back in it, but poor free throw shooting combined with Pitt remembering that they're a physical team spelled doom for the Irish. Thomas started well, and Quinn had a hot streak at the end, but where was Francis? Was it just Pitt's size? Tough loss. The men need to start winning these ones.
Random notes I scribbled into my new Palm Pilot during the 1st half:
Which team are we? Are we trying to blend in with the Pitt students?
Bill Rafferty on Tom Timmermans: "Good screener, capable rebounder." A good description. I especially liked the word choice of "capable." Nice booty screen in the second half, too.
When did Torrian Jones get good? Oh, 3 games ago. Play like this for 4 years, and you may find yourself at the end of the bench in a place like Atlanta or Golden State (speaking of Golden State, see below).
My favorite play of the night: Thomas races up the court, then pump fakes like he's about to airball another stupid three. Then, to everyone's amazement, he passes! Way to know your tendencies and use them to your advantage.
Taft - cocky freshman. Good good. He's a little on the skinny side, so hopefully the big bodies will knock him around in league play.
At least Zvackas is gone, but I guess that Demetris is his replacement.
That Brown guy was 35 years old last year! Is he in his 18th year of eligibilty now?

ND Women's Basketball
Trailing VPI (that's VaTech for the newcomers) 20-16 at the half, the Irish went on a 22-7 spurt and outmuscled the Hokies to a 53-40. Leading the way were Jackie Batteast and Theresa Borton, with help from Katy Flecky, Le'Tania Severe, and Megan Duffy. The Irish currently are leading the UConn Huskies 33-26 at the half, let's see if they can hold on.

NBA
Warriors: Remember Brian Cardinal, the balding 40something guy from Purdue? Well, apparently Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy weren't enough to make up for the loss of Bob Sura, so now Cardinal plays for the Warriors. Who knew?
cavs/Lakers: Shaq and Malone out + Kobe gets hurt + 11 point first quarter lead = 10 point loss. Dah. If Austin Carr (now one of the local color commentators) wants to start talking playoffs, the Cavs need to win games like this.

That's it for today. Join us tomorrow for the Transaction Wire - Rocket and Vlad and Raffy oh my! Later, we'll look at my book report on Leahy's Lads, and that NDNation thing I promised, which turned out to be not as big as I originally thought.
Don't forget to keep the HOF discussion alive, and if you have any ideas for 2003 year end awards, let me know.

Weekend in review tomorrow, but for today, start thinking about the first ever kankasports KankaNation Hall of Fame inductees. Inspired by the baseball HOF, each reader (that's you guys) gets to vote for up to ten (10) personalities that have been mentioned on this site, be they sports figures, celebrities, or even one of us. I'll tally up the votes, and anyone who gets higher than a 75% share gets inducted. Feel free to discuss this on the message board (it'll probably be easier to get 75% for someone that way), and email your votes to kanka@kankasports.zzn.com. I'll give you a week, so ballots are due by 5:30 pm eastern time on Monday, January 19th.

Be on the look out for the Best of 2003 awards, too, even if they're a little late.

Also, a few weeks ago, this site named Ced Hilliard ND DT of the year. In fact, Ced is often considered a Nose Guard. Therefore, Ced will now receive the NG of the year award, and the DT of the year award will be given to Darrell Campell. Congratulations to both. Kanka regrets this error.

Transaction Wire
(warning: the above link contains names of a Gammons-esque nature)
Knicks get Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway from the Suns for 25 guys who were immediately cut. New York finally decides that one good PG and one good-when-healthy kinda-PG are better than 6 mediocre PGs. They didn't win the first night out, but the changes being made will make the Knicks a decent team. Tough luck for Charlie Ward - just when he thinks he's becoming a real journeyman (see my article a few weeks back), he's cut. As for the Suns, apparently they're planning on playing 5 PFs at all times, since they're only carrying 2 real guards as of right now. The best part about researching this trade: going to the Sun's website, and watching the rotating image on the left of the page, which cycles though (I kid you not) Jake Voskuhl, Tom Gugliotta, and the gorilla. High comedy.
Giants hire Tom Coughlin. Coughlin, an assistant under Bill Parcels while in New York, promises to return to smashmouth, mistake-free football. That remains to be seen. Smashmouth, mistake-free football may also mean doom for Tiki Barber (Ellen loves him), the small, fumble prone runnning back. We'll see how that plays out. I don't know what else to say. Head coaches are hard to come by these days, and except for Nick Saban (who they weren't getting) and maybe Dennis Green, Coughlin may be the best fit for this team.
Padres sign David Wells. You know, with Phil Nevin, Ryan Klesko, Trevor Hoffman, et al., the Padres really shouldn't be a bad team if they stay healthy. As the past few years have shown, however, that's a huge if.
Yankees sign Javier Vazquez. For years, I've been trying to figure out if Vazquez is underrated by the media or just overrated by baseball uberintellectuals. Although his record may not show it (perhaps due to the team he played for in Montreal), he has good numbers. The way the Yankees are, though, expect the W-L numbers not to change much. At 28, he's very young compared to Mussina, Clemens, and Wells, but that could mean another Jeff Weaver-type disappointment.
Indians get Scott Stewart for Ryan Church and Macier Izturis. I grew up playing baseball with a kid named Scott Stewart, so I'm sure I'll run the "Did you hear Scott Stewart signed with the Indians?" joke into the ground around here. Stewart is a good pickup in the back of the bullpen, considering the loss of Danys Baez, the uncertainty of Bob Wicman's health, and the contract situation of David Riske. Church was buried deep in the Indians' rotation of minor league outfielders, and Izturis apparently isn't going anywhere, so this is a good deal for the Tribe.
Indians also sign Kevin Orie, Jeff D'Amico, and a few others. Orie, the former Cub, is AAA insurance at 3rd. Believe it or not, there are actually 2 starting pitchers named Jeff D'Amico. After the "bad" Jeff D'Amico toiled in the Cleveland minors for a while, the Indians must have realized they had the wrong guy, and finally signed the "good" Jeff D'Amico, who will be a good middle-of-the-rotation starter for this young staff.
Mets sign Brandon Looper. He's a solid young back-of-the-bullpen guy. He's another good-as-a-closer-but-great-as-a-setup-man pitcher.
Diamondbacks sign Robbie Alomar for $1mil. If Arizona contends, Robbie will love the change of scenery and the huge gaps of the BOB. If they don't, he may get sick of being in the middle of nowhere and continue his fall from grace.
Royals sign Juan Gonzalez. Hey, we're spending money now! He has some pop, which will help the team especially if he hits behind Mike Sweeney. But, with his health, this may be another case of "spending loads of money to show we want to contend" turning into "we're a small market club who screwed ourselves by not spending wisely."

The Baseball HOF
Who's in:
Paul Molitor, a great hitter (3300+ hits, .306 lifetime average) who found a way to keep playing (2nd to 1st to DH) and keep winning (Yount's Brewers to Kirby's Twins).
Dennis Eckersley. He tips his cap to a hitter that wins the battle (screaming "WOW" when Manny Ramirez crushes a game-winner off of him, being the "victim" of Kirk Gibson's "This is gonna be a home run!", coining the phrase "walk-off"). We remember him as a dominant closer from the A's mini-dynasty of the early 90s, but my dad remembers the day he didn't feel like walking from his Cleveland State dorm room to municipal stadium and ended up missing a young starter named Dennis pitch a no-hitter.
Who's not in:
Ryne Sandberg: solid ballplayer, nice guy, consummate professional. Unfortunately, first ballot inductions are more for guys like Molitor and Wade Boggs (next year), but Ryno should be there some day.
Bruce Sutter
Jim Rice
Andre Dawson
"Goose" Gossage
Lee Smith
Bert Blyleven
Jack Morris
Steve Garvey
Tommy John
Alan Trammell
Don Mattingly
Dave Concepcion
Dave Parker
Dale Murphy
Keith Hernandez
Joe Carter
Fernando Valenzuela
Dennis Martinez
Dave Stieb
Jim Eisenreich
Jimmy Key
Doug Drabek
Kevin Mitchell
Juan Samuel
Cecil Fielder
Randy Myers
Terry Pendleton
Danny Darwin
Bob Tewksbury
Many good names on this list. There will always be the Jim Rice argument. Dale Murphy is incredibly underrated, and Dennis Martinez got a surprisingly low total in my opinion. Other than that, there are some good names on this list, and a few will make it some day (Mattingly, Dawson, Carter), but this isn't the NFL. It's nice that the NFL lets everyone in, but in a way it's awe-inspiring at who doesn't get into Cooperstown. For instance, Fernando would be a shoe-in in the NFL for his personality, and Tommy John's legacy of the elbow surgery would also get him in the hall. But, just because these guys don't have plaques, that doesn't take away from great careers.
Joe Jackson: with all the Pete Rose talk, I once again wanted to get on the Shoeless Joe soapbox. He had a great career for the Indians and ChiSox. He was one of the greatest hitters of all time, and his glove was
"where triples go to die." He was accused of throwing the 1919 World Series, but, as Field of Dreams points out, how are you throwing the series when you hit .375 and commit no errors? Say what you want about Pete Rose, I'm still undecided on that one, but Shoeless Joe does deserve the respect of induction into the Hall.

Alright, that's enough time in front of the computer. Time to go enjoy this unusually balmy January day (wind chill is actually above 0!)

We'll break it up this week: games of the weekend today, issues tomorrow/Thursday, and the NDNation thing at the end of the week. Let's go bowling... (now that's original)

NCAA Football
Florida/Iowa: You know what I absolutely loved about this game? Listening to Bob Davie point out every single decent player on the field, then proceed to say, "You know, I tried to recruit him." Great. Just great.
scUMSouth/Free Shoes: This was just not a good football game. The lack of discipline, stupidity, and mistakes, just made this unbearable, I'm sorry.
USuCk/scUM: Michigan needs to establish the run or they're in trouble. USC has a run defense that's unusually good for the PAC 10, and combine that with decent talent at WR, and there you have something. Mike Williams: "You see this hat, this says 'Champions' and that's what we are." Mike, you're an idiot. More on this tomorrow.
tOSU/KState: Wow, did Oklahoma not show up for the Big XII championship. KState had a lot going on, but they just didn't play well. Should El have sat for breaking curfew? Yes. Would Tressel have benched his best player for this game? Heck no, not even if he pulled a Ray Lewis. tOSU lucks out again against the perenially overrated Wildcats.
Oklahoma/LSU: Bob Stoops was outcoached (there I said it, it had to be said). His team committed too many stupid penalties, and they played scared. Oklahoma may have been the better team, but I think one too many cakewalks hurt them. The Heisman curse continued, this time for Jason White. Was Mauck better than White, though? Not really. He got the job done when he needed to, but he also had the help of a great running game - something White didn't have due to LSU's stifling D. LSU's the champion, no questions here.

NFL
Titans/Ravens: McNair can't carry this team all the way, but he's still better than the Lewis twins. Note to Ray Lewis: did you notice that the Titans didn't dance after stopping Jamaal for a 1 yard loss, even though you had to celebrate stopping Eddie George after a 6 yard gain?
Panthers/Cowboys: The bad thing about this is Bill Parcels will now be hissed for a mediocre ending to the season. What people will forget is that he took over a team that was striving hard to be mediocre, and he made them a solid team. They'll still need some talent if they want to go anywhere, though. Carolina, on the other hand, may be a receiver or two away from a great team (then again, with all this parity, they may end up at 4-12 next year).
Packers/Seahawks: I knew the 'Hawks were falling apart as the year went by, and they may be another victim to parity next year, even with a solid team. The Packers are once again one of those teams that may not seem incredibly great, but then you turn around and see the competition's not much better.
Broncos/Colts: You know, I almost felt bad for all of the one Broncos fan that I actually associate with, then I realized, wait a minute... (and no, I didn't realize this after flipping to ESPNClassic and watching it for more than 15 seconds) I don't know whose idea it was to let Peyton Manning's 12 year old cousin (Brandon Stokley) play receiver, but it sure payed off.

NCAA Men's Basketball
Texas/Providence: Turned this one on just as overtime was starting. As soon as I saw who the refs were (our favorite "I'm too old" crew - too old/drunk to get anything right), I knew something bad was going to happen. Sure enough, Texas puts up a buzzer-beater, and the crew, with persuasion from Texas's head coach, decides that, even though the clock read 0.0 before the shot was taken, the red light/horn hadn't gone off yet. The shot counts and Providence is screwed much like the Heart Break Kid in his title fight against HHH just over a week ago (HBK's shoulders were down during his pin of HHH, so Eric Bischoff rules that the tie allows HHH to keep the belt. Just when I thought we'd have a legitimate ending to a good match...)

NCAA Womens' Basketball
ND/Purdue: ND cemented their status as a "good middle-of-the-road" team with a 13 point loss to the 7th ranked Boilermakers. This game was actually on TV locally, but I had no idea. Well, I'd better watch what I say, since the 5 year rule is still in effect.
Duke/UConn: Heartbreaker at the buzzer - how happy was I to see that? And it was Taurasi that hit UConn's last shot to put them up with a few ticks left! It was a great moment for me being able to see Ray Lewis, Diana Taurasi, and Shannon Sharpe all experiencing the agony of defeat on national television less than 48 hours apart.

Well, sorry to cut this short, but like I said I'm on the installment plan this week. Tomorrow we'll look at the Transaction Wire, Pete Rose, Tom Coughlin, USC whiners and LSU winners, and why computer nerds may be better than agenda-minded coaches and media.

The Weekend in Review

NFL
Browns/Bengals: The family was visiting my uncle out in Parma (yes, as in "Moon Over Parma"), so I listened to this one on the radio. Well, I'll tell you what, that Lee Suggs kid is pretty good. The D played solid, and I'm hopeful for next year - as long as the right moves are made.
Green Bay/Denver: The Cleveland market was lucky enough to see this game the same time as
Minnesota/Arizona: ..and what a finish! I couldn't believe it myself. The Anquan Boldin 1st down was questionable, but I'll take it. I only have one question: if you give your kid a stupid first name that isn't really a name, is FSU required to give the kid a football scholarship. Anyways, that was the finish of the year. I like Mike Tice, but if he isn't careful, he'll slip into Matt Daugherty "great motivator, solid players' man, mediocre coach" territory.
Steve Spurrier: He can't change his system to fit in the NFL, so what does he do? Change it? No, he gives up. I personally don't think he's a good fit for ND. The Oline is still young, and Spurrier makes no effort to protect his QB. For the sake of Brady Quinn, let's not hire Spurrier. Maybe he can go to Nebraska so we don't have to hear statements like "Jamaal Lord passed for a career high 160 yards in the win."

College Bowls
MiamiU/Louisville: Ben Roethlisberger practically pulls a Chris Thomas and declares for the NFL draft during a TV timeout, and the Redhawks roll. Ben didn't get a chance to play in Sun Devil Stadium this year (maybe they deserved a shot?), but he may get to in the near future...
TCU/Boise St: OK, I don't remember too much from this game, but I was definitely dissapointed that for all the shots of the band, I still wasn't able to see Cronk's Sister.
Texas Tech/USNA: Leading 31-14, Tech passes for a TD with 4 minutes left, then does that "the ball's a bomb and we all fall down" thing... against the NAVAL ACADEMY! Classy.
Oh yeah, USuCk still doesn't deserve the national championship, so shut up everyone. That is all.

ND Basketball
Since we last joined the men at the end of their 3 game losing streak, they've rattled off 4 straight victories, including a solid showing against DePaul. Big East play starts on the 7th - let's see what these boys have.
Since the womens' loss to Washington, they've beat Dayton and USC handily, as they should, and topped Colorado State in a close contest. The CSU game is one the team probably would have lost last year, so let's hope this is a sign of good things to come. Congrats go to Jackie Batteast for her Big East POW honors.

OK, that was incredibly short, but I'll see if I can figure out a way to make up for it the rest of the week. Feel free to post your memories of 2003 on the message board, including the top moments, top performers, and even moments you may wish to forget.

Yeah, so I have this blog here, so I might as well try the whole "writing stuff for it" thing. Let's ease ourselves into it.

The Cavs
Why should we trade Ricky Davis?! Oh. Yes, Davis was finally trying to do more than just "get buckets," but Paul Silas proved that veteran leadership was an important piece of the puzzle ("veteran," in the NBA, of course means "someone born in the 70s"). Eric Williams has been solid, and Tony Battie provides a body at center when defense is needed late in the game. Kedrick Brown was also a nice throw in. Silas is showing a no-nonsense attitude with his players, first with the Davis deal, then by sitting Zydrunas Ilgauskas for large spells, especially at the end of games. Silas wants Big Z playing big D, and until he gets it, Big Z sits on his big... well.... Sure, it will (and has already) cost the Cavs a few tight losses, but on a team that isn't exactly playoff bound, learning what to do is better than a few cheap wins the wrong way. I hope.

Transaction Wire
A-Rod not for Manny: So Rodriguez wanted to restructure his contract, but his side said no? Good good. I stick up for the massive amount of money players make by saying the owners make even more for doing even less, then the Players Union has to do something like this. C'mon, let's leave baseball to the baseball players, please?
Nomah not for Magglio Ordonez: It's a great trade. Jose Valentin can't play shortstop forever on the South Side, and Mags is a solid player that fits into the Theo Epstein/Bill James mold. Plus he'll stay healthy and play solid D. Every team would have won (except the Rangers, who would have traded a disgruntled overpaid star for someone on the verge of becoming a clubhouse cancer), but alas, it's not to be.
Omar Vizquel not for Carlos Guillen: This deal was foiled by Omar's failed physical. Seattle would have won with this deal, if Omar stays healthy the whole year. The Tribe would have done alright, too, offensively getting a younger version of Omar (I haven't seen him too much defensively to comment, but I'm guessing he's no Omar) that would have filled a gap in the middle infield nicely until Brandon Phillips and Jhonny "That's not a typo" Peralta are everyday players.
Red Sox sign Kieth Foulke: When the ChiSox traded him straight up for Billy Koch last season, they probably figured they were getting the better end of the deal. However, Billy Bean (or is that Billy Beane?) knew better, and now Theo Epstein helps solidify the back end of his bullpen with a solid closer.
Mets sign Mike Cameron: A solid ballplayer who will do well in Shea's big outfield, although that may hurt his offensive numbers. He'll be a solid 6 hitter, and hey, at least he's not Roger Cedeno. Also sign John Franco. Very nice.
Devil Rays sign Jose Cruz Jr.: Not a huge deal, except that it shows Lou Pinella is actually willing to win a few games. I just thought it was funny that Cruz's Gold Glove brought about a Heisman-like curse that caused Cruz to misjudge fly balls on consecutive days, leading to 2 Marlin wins in the first round of the playoffs.
Cubs get Michael Barrett from the Expos via the A's: Mike, don't worry. This is a solid young NL catcher, and he'll do fine unless Dusty decides to go with a rotation of Joe Girardi, Jim Leyritz, and Pat Borders at catcher this year.
Yankees sign Gary Sheffield and Kenny Lofton. Hey, at least they didn't get Vlad Gurerro. The Yankmees finally will have two corner outfield spots solidified at the same time, but even playing Lofton and Bernie Williams at the same time in center won't get the job done.
Marlins sign Armando Benitez, and everyone worried about a repeat breathes a huge sigh of relief.
Orioles sign Javy Lopez and Miguel Tehada: hey, why don't we try winning this year?
Indians can't get Todd Walker, so they end up with Ron Belliard. If I had known that second base was this wide open, I would've gone to open tryouts. Geez.

Of course, many more Gammonsesque names at the link above. I'll try to have a Weekend in Review tomorrow, and maybe even play with a Year in Review as the week goes on. Plus, there's still that book report...

I apologize for my prolonged absence (both from here and from a few emails), but there is much going on in the Kanka family these days. I'm going to continue my sabbatical until after Christmas, but I should return next week. Also, I'll be hanging around the message board as much as possible until then.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season,
Kanka

We're going to go on the installment plan again this week, for too many reasons to mention.

NFL
Browns/Broncos: Got to see The Drive twice that day. Good, because they forgot to include it in that MNF "Cleveland Sucks" montage last week. Well, at least the team's playing with some heart now. If they would've started the season playing like they are now, they might be somewhere.
Steelers/Jets: Nice. Always wanted to see a game like this in person. Reminds me of another game (see below).
Bengals/49ers: Dear NFL, Now that my cousin has been cut, I can now be the most annoying idiot in the family. - Chad Johnson
Giants/Saints: Well, the Giants obviously lost because Luke didn't play. About that whole cell phone thing (and I'm not just doing this because cell phones are evil): Amazingly, Kanka doesn't think that Joe Horn was even the biggest idiot in the whole Joe Horn cell phone Joe Horn thing. First, there's Jim Hasslett, who thought the league should have fined Joe Horn for Joe Horn's actions. Of course, it's not like Joe Horn's head coach could have done anything about the situation. Wait... penalize the guy as long as it doesn't hurt your chances of winning, coach? Way to go. Then, there's Joe Horn's agent, who compared the fine to a penalty for capital murder. Obviously, since we all know that people who really do commit capital murder get a fine that amounts to roughly a week's pay (Joe Horn's fine was 1.5% of his total salary). Shoot, I'll even spend a week's salary at one time, so it can't be that huge. One more thing about the Joe Horn situation: spectators who run out on the field during football games, or baseball games, or soccer games, are looking for a stupid and easy way to get publicity, right? And that's why the TV networks refuse to show them. Well, football players who create signs or pull out cell phones or dance like an idiot do it as a stupid and easy way to get publicity (I'm excluding celebrations that involve the fans, such as leaping into the stands, because that's good celebration - you're happy for the team, and so are the fans). So, why don't the TV networks stop showing these stupid celebrations over and over? Just a suggestion. I also like what Mike Tice did at a Minnesota practice: he let everyone - receivers, kickers, OLine, DLine - catch a TD at practice, then do their craziest TD celebration. Then, everyone made fun of it. By showing how stupid and funny these dances are, Tice is hopefully cutting down on these stupid displays during games.

OK, my rant is over. Major transactions tomorrow - Ricky Davis, Omar Vizquel, and of course many more Gammons-eque names. Plus, eventually, a Shake Down the Thunder review.

No post tonight (well, no Weekend in Review at least) due to the National Slovak Society meeting, but I'll have plenty of time tomorrow to discuss the NFL, Joe Horn, the Transaction Wire, Ricky Davis, and then some.

I do have one major announcement, though. I'm about to be published regularly in a national magazine! Well, ok, the national magazine is the aforementioned NSS's monthly newsletter, and the regular "column" will be a two paragraph report on Assembly 160 (Lorain, OH)'s upcoming activities, but hey. Today I was officially elected Activities Chairman of Assembly 160, after my Grandpa (from my dad's side, not the one you guys have met) decided to step down after 20+ years and strongly recommend me for the position. So yes, now I'm more or less the poor man's Pete McCall of the Lorain chapter of the NSS. Good time stuff.

(Please note now that the Message Board links are linked to the new message board and not a random porn site. Sorry if this disappoints anyone.)

Irish POYs. Shouldn't be too much controversy here, unless I fell asleep and put someone at the wrong position.

QB: Brady Quinn. He's the future, and he showed he can be calm under pressure. Finally the Irish have a reliable passing attack. Runner up: Carlyle Holiday. Took the demotion with class, and tried to help the team any way he could.
HB: Monogram Club MVP Julius Jones. Duh. With strength and speed, he finally lived up to his potential and made the OLine better by giving them confidence.
FB: Knute Rockne Scholar-Athlete Josh Schmidt. In true Rockne style, went from interhall to the varsity, and showed the greatest hands out of the backfield. Runner Up: Rashon Powers-Neal. Started making catches towards the end of the season. Now all he needs to do is convince the coaching staff to run him up the middle on 3rd and 2, instead of going to the shotgun.
OL: Had a tough time with this one, and I wanted to give 1 award per OLine position, but instead I'll just go with these three guys (and feel free to ream me out on this one; unfortunately OLine guys normally go unnoticed unless they screw up or they're Jeff Faine): Ryan Harris of MTV and frosh All-America fame, Bob Morton who stepped up and stole the center job from Zach Giles, and Jim Molinaro, who must have done something right to have been named a captain.
TE: Antony Fasano. Looks like this award was going to Jared Clark, but Fasano actually finished ahead of Clark in catches. Another piece of the puzzle for this offense's future.
WR: Rhema McKnight. He can break the big one or go over the middle for a 3rd down conversion. A nice weapon for Quinn to have. Runner up: Captain Omar Jenkins. I considered giving this to Jeff Samardzija, since he'll probably be Quinn's go-to guy someday, but then I looked at the numbers and realized that Jenkins once had another Omar Jenkins season, quiet but great.
DT: In the shocking upset of this column, the award goes to the Moose Krause Chapter of the National Football Foundation and the Hall of Fame Lineman of the Year Cedric Hilliard. He blocked Mike's first ever Bookstore shot, and he also improved his fitness greatly, staying in the game longer and being able to move more to get to the ball. Close Runner Up: Captain Darrell Campbell, because I know him, and he's very large. Had another solid season, and did have to fight double teams most of the time. I'm not worried at all about his future, and I'm sure he'll take the Nick Pietrosante award (see article linked above) over a Kanka POY award any day. Both of these guys will do just fine in the NFL. Can't wait til draft day so I can order my Darrell custom NFL jersey.
DE: Justin Tuck. Wait, what? I actually like the guy now? He had a great year. Third on the team in tackles, and first in TFL, he's finally lived up to all the praise everyone's been throwing at him over the years. Keep up the good work. Runner Up: Westwood One/State Farm Student-Athlete of the Year Kyle Budinscak. Had a solid season cut short my injury, but he'll be back.
ILB: Senator Courtney Watson. Had another great year, although has he lost a step (the Syracuse interception)? He'll catch on somewhere in the NFL, even if he is "undersized."
OLB: Brandon Hoyte. You might not recognize him as a dominating linebacker by meeting him without pads on, but this run-stopper finished second to only Watson in tackles this year. Runner Up: Paul Green's freshman roommate Derek Curry was 4th on the team in tackles, and had 2 picks and 2 forced fumbles.
CB: Captain Vontez Duff. An off year for Vontez, but he proved he can shut down some good receivers.
S: Glenn Earl. Even though he missed half a season, he was still the best guy the secondary had, and still finished second in tackles by a DB to Quentin Burrell. He'll do well in the NFL, as he'll probably start off at special teams, where he can once again block and return every single kick and punt that comes his way. Runners Up: Burrell and Garron Bible. Both struggled, but finally got it together by the end of the year. The story of the season for the whole team.
K: Well, I'll give you a hint - it's someone Ellen LOOOVES. And no, it's not Chad, Toby, or me. It's DJ Fitzpatrick. For a walk on, he did a great job in his double-duty role. Sure, he wasn't hitting 50 yard punts, but this guy is a walk on - Nick Setta wasn't supposed to get hurt. DJ did a fine job, considering at most schools a backup kicker would be 2/15 in FGs with a 25 yard punt average. Runner Up: Setta. We were spoiled by the Setta/Joey Hildbold years. Let's hope this freshman punter can do enough that we don't have to miss those two too much.

MNF: I think this game summed up my entire life as a Cleveland sports fan. Watching the pregame and Kelly Ripa's little thing, I was starting to wonder if the Browns were even playing in this game, because they never mentioned them. I was very fired up about that couple getting married in the Dawg Pound, but as I was watching the kiss, I couldn't help but think, "are they allowed to show this on a network owned by Disney?" The game started off on the right foot. The D was shutting the Rams down, and the offense had momentum. I was getting really fired up. Then, things were starting to slip away. The D was playing bend but don't break, but the offense wasn't helping. Then, Aeneas Williams happened, and I went into the half wearing the Pete Carroll face. I was mad at Holcomb - my dad muttered something in disgust about the defense playing their hearts out - but after I saw Kelly was also wearing the Pete Carroll face, I knew he felt the same way I did. After cursing out the halftime segment where the Rams coach for yelling at their practice squad QB because Kelly Holcomb doesn't look off receivers, it was time for LeBron. He was dressed in a Jim Brown throwback, a white fur coat, and a brown and orange Nike hat. It's a good thing, too, because in a pregame interview, he mentioned that "they ain't given me nothin' yet." Now it's time for the 3rd quarter; this could get ugly. Now it's time for the "Cleveland hasn't had a championship since..." montage... again. The Fumble, Willie's catch, Tony Fernandez doing his Bill Buckner, and the Shot. Thank you. This is what prompted the trivia question. Mike, I owe you a beer. Heck, Dave, Ellen, I owe you a beer. Cronk, if you're reading this... I'm still not buying you a Mike's Hard, even if the Cranberry is pretty good. (yeah I said it. It had to be said.) But wait - Bulger still isn't doing squat, and Jamel White and Tim Couch are giving us a competent offense. The Brownies are in this game! Then, the Browns are down 6, and the Rams are lining up for a chip shot. While I'm starting to think about how everyone will be criticizing Butch for going for 2 early, the kicker misses the field goal! This can't be happening! The Browns have to punt on their next possession, but the D is huge again and forces the 3 and out! There's a good return on the punt, and no flags! This could be it! No, not today... This is Cleveland, though. Our teams play their hearts out, and win or lose, we're proud of them.

ND Basketball
Men: Two lackluster performances in the past couple games. Francis has been huge, and Thomas is putting up good numbers (except for FG%), but we just need one more scorer (we also need to play hard against the CMUs of the world). It doesn't have to be an outside shot, althought I think Falls can be that guy some day (in a good sense). Maybe another down low scorer to take some attention from Francis. As far as Quinn, he's never going to be a 5 3's per game sharpshooter, but he'll get good numbers and be solid with a few shots from behind the line. OK guys, you know you need to step up, let's do it.
Women: For some reason, whenever there's nothing better to show (not even Best Damn), Fox Sports Ohio likes to show random PAC 10 womens' sporting events (thank you, Jenny Finch). So, I got to see our womens' team take on Washington. Washinton was lead by Giuliana Mendiola (not to be confused with Gioconda Mendiola, who is hot but doesn't have as much talent) and a good game by freshman Cameo Hicks. Jackie Batteast played a solid game, but she just couldn't take it over. Our post players are getting there, but it's not there yet. This is still a relatively young team. The seniors are Severe, Joyce, and Hernandez, and Severe's the only one to see good PT over the past couple years. The triangle offense will work for this team, but they still may be a year away from once again becoming a great team.

Transaction Wire
Mets: Sign Kaz Matsui. Nice. And by "nice," I mean "thank God the Yankees didn't get him." Looks like he'll be a solid ballplayer, and he's unselfish enough that the Reyes situation will work itself out.
Angels: Signed Bart Colon. And they're going for Nomar? The championship the other year made them believe they can contend with this team, and if they can land Nomar (in exchange for Adam Kennedy, moving David Eckstein to his natural 2B) and another power bat, they'll contend in the ALWest.
Rangers: Sign 1B/DH Brad Fullmer.
Twins: Resign Shannon Stewart.
Good, good. Both these teams just added a guy to an already overstocked position. Maybe the Rangers can play 9 guys at first and the Twins 9 in right field.
Astros: Now that Andy Pettitte is off the Yankees, I can maybe finally admit that he's halfway decent. Too bad he looks like Diana Taurasi.
Yankees/Dodgers: Trade Jeff Weaver and prospects for Kevin Brown. I think the Dodgers win this one actually, if Weaver can get back on track. And, as Rick Ankiel proved, that's not as easy as it should be. Weaver is a good pitcher when he allows himself to be a wildman. Once he joined the Yankees, he tried to be calm and clean-cut, and that was the end of him. Dodger Stadium is a pitcher's park like Comerica, and if someone talks sense into him, he'll regain his mini-dominance. Plus, the Dodgers get prospects (the Yankees still have minor leaguers? I thought it was just Drew Henson and Luis Sojo playing catch in Columbus, with Jose Contreras occassionally joining so they can play pepper.) and the Yankees get a good if (big IF) he's healthy old man. Oh yeah, the Yankees suck.
As always, more Gammons-esque transactions at the link above - Vinny Castilla, Daryle Ward, Fernando Vina, Brent (no relation to Brett) Butler, Benito "even Kanka's dad thinks I'm old" Santiago, Everyday Eddie Guardado, Scott Sullivan, Lenny Harris, and about 40 former Indians and Devil Rays, including a Jason "why did Mike Hargrove keep putting me in when I sucked" Grimsley sighting.

Tomorrow: ND football POYs (yes, there were a few)

Maryland/Florida are in overtime. Let's see if we can get the college football part out of the way.

ND/Syracuse: I guess I'm not too surprised that a good RB on turf ran all over a young, disorganized D. We have multiple weapons on offense now, why not use them when it's obvious they have Julius scouted? Oh well, it's over.
MiamiU/BGSU: Bowling Green is not a state, and it also didn't have an answer for Ben Rothelisberger. They're still a solid team, and this was a great game to watch with two solid QBs.
Central Florida: By George, things will be even more MAC-tastic next year (yes, CFU is in the MAC) when George O'Leary becomes the head coach. Yes, I am officially an Ohio-MAC school cheerleader. Live with it. Oh yeah, I still have that shirt, too.
OU/KState: Guess who forgot to show up. Way to go. As good as the Sooners are, I really don't think they deserve the title now, nor does anyone really. You have to show up week in, week out, and prove you want it. It also would be nice if you're the head coach and you show up for the BCS selection special. And I was just starting to like Bob Stoops.
LSU/Georgia: Well, if anyone deserves the title, I guess it's LSU. They're not a great team, but they play hard and don't take a game off. A note of trivia: Nick Saban, then a Browns coordinator, was tabbed to be a then-unliked Bill Belichick's replacement in Cleveland. But Saban darted for MSU and the rest is history.
USC/O....S....U....: Hey, killing the Beavers didn't do anything. If you show up against Cal, none of this is an issue, so stop whining. As it is, you'll still claim the AP title, whether you deserve to or not. You want comedy? Cheerleader Pete Carroll's "I'm so depressed I want to puke" face during the BCS selection special was priceless. Should we have a playoff? No, you idiots, because then we'd just be whining over which 8 (or 16 or whatever) teams deserve to be in, instead of which 2 make a title game. So stop your whining, everyone.

OK, that's it for today. Join us tomorrow for the NFL, college basketball, and the MLB transaction wire.

OK, I lied about the post, but there will be a huge one tomorrow. I'm off to watch the men's game, but be sure to check out my trivia question on the message board.

Just lost the post. Good good. Hopefully will be up tomorrow. Baseball Primer

This is how it ends.

Syracuse comes in with a 5-6 record, and it looks like they've had an up and down year, too - losing to the good Big East teams and beating up on the crappy ones (with a few exceptions. Really, there's no consistency. They'll blow out a Toledo or a BC, hang in there against Miami, or get trampled by VPI or Rutgers. Nobody knows which Syracuse team will show up on Saturday.
Syracuse's offense relies on their rushing attack. The main man is Walter Reyes at 105 YPG, but QB RJ Anderson and a decent supporting cast bring the team total up to 184 YPG. Reyes will get his yards, but the key will be for Tuck, Watson, and Hoyte to keep him at bay, and to keep Anderson in the pocket.
Anderson has also made every pass attempt this year (but don't rule out a trick play in this game) and has a respectable 177 YPG. His leading receiver is Johnny "I'm not Alaskan, but I did have a nice TD catch against WVU" Morant with 63 YPG. Anderson spreads the ball out fairly well, I suppose. Reyes is second in YPG, so look for quite a few short passes and dumpoffs, especially on what will be a fast turf. Don't be surprised to see our secondary make a few mistakes speedwise on the turf, too. Syracuse is averaging just over 1 sack given up per game, and our Dline's knees might have problems with the turf, too. So, our DBs will have to step it up for this one.
When the Irish have the ball, power football should be key. Syracuse gives up 145 YPG on the ground. Julius's speed and power are perfect. He needs 223 yards to tie Vagas Ferguson's single-season mark of 1437, but I'd be happy if he only got 123 (hoo hoo!). Just keep pounding the football.
Syracuse gives up 224 YPG in the air, but they have played some decent passing teams. Still, I think Quinn has put it together, and he and his receivers should do alright.
Nothing out of the ordinary in the special teams department. Play heads up and everything will be fine.

Look for a big game from: the Seniors, BHoyte, Quentin Burrell, Matt Shelton, and Ty.

ND 30, Syracuse 20. Nothing wrong with a conservative bet.

Time to go play Leprechaun vs. OrangeMan in NCAA 2004.

I apologize for the message board being down. Feel free to email at my normal account, or to my other account through the link above.

ND/Stanford: 57 points? I haven't seen that in a while. It was as if a bitter NDNation poster took out his frustrations on Monk's aspirational peerdom by setting NCAA 2004 to ubereasy. A solid game by all. Ryan Grant had the easy job by benefiting from all of Julius's hard work. The D was aggressive. Quinn continues to show flashes of brilliance, and the receivers are finally putting it together. What? We only have one game left this season? Dah. On a personal note, I was actually able to see this game, thanks to the now infamous Cleveland Dave and Buster's subscription to ESPN Game Plan. There also was a tribe of ND students watching the game there, but I must be getting old because I didn't recognize a single one.
FSU/Florida: Bobby Bowden again proves his idiocy, this time by letting his players stomp and dance on the Florida "F" after their win. If any Florida players are punished for trying to stop those idiots, I'll be greatly disappointed. Also, I can't wait to see what Bobby does to his players, as he plans on "review[ing] the situation... [to] see if any action needs to be taken." Good good.
BGSU/Toledo: In a game that had major implications for 10s and 10s of people I know from high school, Bowling Green (not a state) was lead by a Steve McNair-esque Josh Harris to a victory that puts them in the conference championship against Miami U this Thursday in Bowling Green.
Miami/Pitt: Got to watch this at the same time as the ND game and the Cavs double overtime choke (dah). Pittsburgh has no defense, Larry Fitzgerald once again emulates his idol Randy Moss, and Miami rolls.

NFL
Browns/Seahawks: Ugh. Next.
Lions/Packers: In a move that surely delighted the Hatton household, the Packers simply forgot to show up, and the Lions were able to hold on for an 8 point win. Still, I was just waiting for the Pack to run back an INT for the tying score as the annoucers were going on and on about their lack of enthousiasm. In case you were wondering, those were the Packer throwback uniforms. Their facemask color, sleeve stripe pattern, pants stripe pattern, and socks were different. Hey, I'm a Browns fan. That's more than what's changed on the Browns unforms since the dawn of time (except for the great orange pants of the Kardiac Kid days and the awful orange jerseys of the current Brownies).
Jets/Titans: The introductions were somewhat bland this week, and I missed most of the action due to the ND game (more later). My only question: did Ellen's dad introduce Dave to John Madden?

NCAA Men's Basketball:
ND/Marquette: Just like last year's team, the men started slow, came back, but didn't have enough. The shooting was off. Quinn had a bad night, but that will happen. Thomas needs to settle down. His shooting percentage has been terrible in each game this season. Cornette still has Ryan Humphrey Small Forward Syndrome. Marquette is still a good team. Novak (Steve, not Kelly) and Merritt once again put up big numbers against ND. This year's Irish Men will have their ups and downs, but it's still early.
CSU/UNC: Cleveland is not a state, but Cleveland State is the Alma Mater of Mr. Kanka. He wasn't at this near-upset, but I was, with Matt of BYU-weekend fame. In his homecoming, UNC's Jawad Williams was supposed to be the star. His whole family sat front row in powder blue #21 jerseys. Unfortunately, there were no "That's My Baby" signs, and none of the jerseys read "Jawad's Mom." There were, however, many locals posing as bandwagon UNC fans. Jordan left 20 years ago - you can put his jersey away. I'd like to interject here and say that "Jawad" and "Craphonso" have officially replaced "Dick" and "Gaylord" as the top "I want my kid beat up in school" names. Moving on. UNC got of to a quick lead behind swarming defense. But, as soon as they backed off, CSU came back. UNC wide body Shawn May was neutralized by CSU wider body (and fan favorite) Pete Ritzema. 7-2, 280? There had to have been at least one MAC O-Line coach knocking on his door. CSU doesn't have their own football program, but it might be time to start one. Once again, back to the game. CSU star Omari Westley and juco transfer Amadou Koundoul were everywhere, and CSU had the lead at the half. Whenever UNC threatened, Percell Coles answered with a 3. Over time, the bandwagoners who started the game by saying "I can't believe were watching North Carolina" and proceeded to refer to the Tarheels as "us" and "we," were soon pleading the crowd to "represent Cleveland." The game was reffed fairly. The calls went in spurts, but they evened themselves out. RoyBoy (Williams) wasn't able to intimidate the refs, as I had originally feared. Unfortunately, with 1:27 left and down 1, UNC misses the back half of a 1-and-1 (the bonus!), and the rebound gets kicked out to hometown Jawad, who hits the go ahead three right in front of his mom. UNC never looks back, and only then did the bandwagoners start cheering and chanting for their tarheels.
Some other game notes:
Since I'm sure you're concerned, Mike, the band was wearing green Hawaiian shirts with white floral print, and foam Viking hats (the Vikings are CSU's mascot; they used to use Hagar the Horrible's likeness, but now their mascot is a weird, green-headed guy in viking horns). Their song selection was not massive, but I was very fired up that they played the sackbut cheer after every player introduction and key play.
The student section was very small, only about 30 people, and it consisted mainly of a few overly-drunk frat kids and many of the basketball players' posse members.

Obscure College Scores
All obscure PA colleges we follow are done for the year. I'll let you know if local favorites Mount Union or John Carroll do anything special in the playoffs.

The Trading Block
Richie Sexson to Arizona for 6 players and a kitchen sink to be named later. Arizona gets rid of some guys who didn't work out, or who they were going to get rid of anyways. Milwaukee at least takes a stab at rebuilding. Not a bad trade, but this doesn't make Arizona an overnight contender, unless Brandon Webb et al. can prove me wrong.
Bruce Chen, who has been with almost every single NL Central team, has now signed with the Blue Jays. Baseball Primer (link above) says this is his 8th team, and he's still under the age of 27. Also by clicking on the link above, you can see other transactions involving many Gammons-esque names.
Other rumors:
The Schilling deal did go down, obviously.
Scanning NDNation's Back Room, I see Manny for A-Rod and Jeff Weaver for Kevin Brown.
The Manny trade would be bad for Texas. If you're going to have an overpriced player on a bad team, it might as well be the one that isn't a clubhouse cancer. John Hart once again proves that you can look smart without actually being smart. (Schilling! Pedro! We could have had them both! Dah!)

Visits
This site has begun to show up on web searches, and thanks to Blogger being owned by Google, this page often shows up high on the list. Things people have searched for that have lead to this page:
Sportscenter NFL Love Song (it helped that I mentioned "I Love the 70s" in the same paragraph here)
"Schilling Saga" (I called it the same exact thing last week)
"Never Scared" + "Football"
nd vs stanford 11/29/2003
"Kathleen Eich" (mentioned in the BYU weekend article; judging by the computer name, Kathleen was searching for herself)
Greg Bosl (ND basketball transfer, mentioned in the preview)
but the winner is... "Elizabeth Hasselbeck", generating at least 8 hits so far. I'll assume you've come looking for pictures, so here they are, running a Google Image Search on her maiden name, Elisabeth Filarski.

"What I'm Reading" Update
Shake Down the Thunder is a very long, very wordy book. I'll have a review as soon as I finish it, which should be before Christmas, hopefully.

Kanka Nation
The message board has been completely down the past couple days. I'll look at a few new ones tomorrow and hopefully have a new one up soon if this one doesn't come back.
Until then,

Go Irish, Eat Leftovers!