YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!!!! and does tiger owe us an explanation???

Good morning all,

To start this week I wanna give big ups to my man Pete Carroll and the USC Trojans for dismanteling in-city foe UCLA 28-7 in the Coliseum on Saturday night, proving that the football monopoly in Los Angeles is officially NOT OVER, and for adding some spice to a rivalry that has been so one sided for the last decade or so (USC has won 10 of the last 11). I stayed up (kickoff wasnt until 10PM!) to catch this one and let me tell you I'm glad I did because the last minute of clock time was about as interesting as I've seen in a long time. So, with under a minute left, USC is up 21-7 and trying to take a knee and run out the clock- only to see UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel call a timeout (what the hell was he doing?? But more than just this game, what the hell was he thinking taking out the ridiculous newspaper ad in the LA Times seen on the right- did he not think this was going to come back to bite him). So, my man Pete Carroll answered by sending his team back out in a power-I formation and running a play action skinny post for a wide open 48-yard Barkley to Williams TD pass (highlights can be seen here). The Trojans then began celebrating on the sidelines and the majority of the UCLA team left their side of the field and walked towards USC- inciting a near riot which took almost 10 minutes to restore order and finish the game. When asked about calling a bomb with under a minute left, Pete jocked the words of my man Herm Edwards and said (the on field interview by the local FoxWest station),

You play to win the game. Hey, they're calling timeouts so we're running pass plays, just some good solid football

Well said Pete. First, I want to pay tribute to the great Herm Edwards and one of the greatest post-game news conferences of all time which you can see here- (can anyone think of one better than this one??? JS tweeted me a couple of good thoughts- the Jim Mora rant definately being one, Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy's tirade being another, and who can forget about Dennis Green's meltdown???... By the way, Herm's rant is a response to a reporter asking him why he faked a FG- and was turned into a great Coors Light Commercial) any reference to it always gets me excited. Second, what the hell is Rick Neuheisel doing??? USC was trying to run out the clock and end a game which was clearly over- why drag it out??? All blame goes to him- if you are still making moves, so should the other team. Dumb move by Rick and he got the what he deserved- and his team burned for a late TD. In any case, this should make this rivalry a little more saucey in years to come (that is if UCLA can ever get players with anywhere near the talent USC has year after year to make it close).... And one more quick point- will someone please hire Herm?? As much as I love seeing him in the studio as an ESPN analyst- he is a great coach, even better on the podium, a classy guy and the NFL misses him....

So, Tiger has made the news lately after wrecking his car in a non-alcohol related accident going less than 30MPH in his own driveway at 230 in the morning. Police reported that all 4 windows as well as the rear window were smashed out by a golfclub (which Tiger said his wife did in order to help save him), and he went to the hospital where he was treated for facial cuts... To be honest, I really don't care what happened, but I do disagree with the sentiment that Tiger doesn't have to explain it. As a celeb, I understand privacy is difficult, but I don't really feel all that sorry for him because the public has paid him over $1 BILLION dollars (through corporate deals, supporting his golf tournaments and buying products he endorses) and to me, you can't have it both ways. If you don't want the celeb status and money associated with it- don't take it. But if you are the most marketed person on the planet, the highest paid athlete and continue to take huge endorsement deals- you owe explenations to those who pay your salary. And great point made by my man BB today- Tiger went to Stanford (dubbed The Harvard of the West by Zack Morris) which is a great school and you know he's a smart dude. He should take a lesson from athletes and famous people who have been in bad positions before- which has shown that the American public will forgive, and doesn't mind that our superheroes have flaws- but will not put up with being lied to and trying to be outsmarted- (just ask the 42nd President of the United States who was forgiven once he came clean, but almost impeached and scorned in public when he tried to cover the truth up). Other less than perfect celebs who have been pardoned in the court of public opinion- Kobe (the scandal in Colorado), Carmelo (the stop snitchin' tape), Axel Rose (jumped off stage and assulted a fan), Ray Lewis (what happened in that alley??), and many more....

So, in a move that is complete expected, Notre Dame has fired head coach Charlie Weis after 5 completely lackluster seasons in South Bend. A couple of weeks ago, I made my case for why Weis should be gone and who I think will replace him. One thing I will say about Charlie is he is thought of as an offensive genius- whether that is true or not no one knows... But, I do expect to see him land on his feet as an NFL coordinator in the very near future (maybe with his boy Brady Quinn in Cleveland??)

The SEC Championship is this weekend!! Check back later this week for my thoughts on what should be a great great football game between two very very well coached (since Les Miles isn't involved) teams with NFL talent all over the field. If you are planning on heading to ATL and need tickets- check here...

Till Thursday,

MN