LSU could be a darkhorse in next season's SEC race

This year's version of the LSU Tigers overachieved to some degree. The Tigers finished  19-12 and went 9-9 in a weakened version of the SEC. That was good for ninth place in a season where not much was expected. The talent level was down and they had a new coach in Johnny Jones. The only player of note was power forward Johnny O'Bryant III.

With a .500 conference record and having 19 wins you would've thought the tigers would've been a lock for the NIT. They were snubbed and watched the postseason from their dorm rooms. But things won't be so bleak next season.

O'Bryant will be returning for his junior season and Jones has a recruiting class that some rank as high a sixth in the nation. Much will be expected from Jarrell Martin, Tim Quarterman, and Jordan Mickey. Add to that the experience of Anthony Hickey and Andre Stringer, the Tigers appear to be in good shape. Also, don't sleep on Jones as as bench boss. Don't let the lack of NCAA tournament appearances at North Texas fool you. He had that program on good footing before he left and turned them into a Sun Belt contender. See how good they were without Jones calling the shots form the sideline. 

In my opinion, the Tigers could be a darkhorse in next year's SEC race. They won't win it. Kentucky and Florida still are head and shoulders above the rest and you don't know which Missouri team you'll get. Alabama and Tennessee also return a lot but LSU should be in the mix and be watching for their name to be called on Selection Sunday.

Mike Ditka thinks encouraging crowd noise is stupid

When the NFL made some in stadium rule changes this week, former Chicago Bears boss, Mike Ditka, was not a fan of the changes. The rule that gets under his skin the most is the rule that allow scoreboards to encourage crowd noise.

Ditka called it stupid and thinks it has no place in the game.

"It's stupid," Ditka told the Chicago Sun-Times. "The NFL... who are they appealing to? It would be like the owners working at their desk and all of a sudden, they encourage people to come in their office and make a lot of noise. It doesn't make sense."

Stadiums will also be able to encourage crowd noise through the use of audio until there's 20 seconds left on the play clock. In the past, the audio encouragement had to stop at the 30-second mark.

"The key to football is you want to be able to see it executed properly," Ditka said. "You want to hear the snap count. You want to see these guys use their talents where they're not tainted. Sometimes when you have crowd noise, you're not seeing the player at his best."

Well Mike, the NFL is trying to make the environment more fan friendly, especially the casual fan. But I do agree with what Ditka is saying. If you're a hardcore football fan you don't need to know when to make noise. The league needs to cater to the true fan and not the one that has the most money therefore they have the seats and don't really know what's going on out on the field.

To Roger Goodell, if you really wanted to enhance the fan experience, you'd tell teams to lower ticket prices,concessions and parking fees. Then you would see the true fans at the games and wouldn't need a video operator to tell you when to get loud.

Brett Favre says if the Cowboys play better, Tony Romo will be less reckless

Tony Romo will be the whipping boy of the Dallas Cowboys until they win a Super Bowl or any game of consequence. The team does have talent but for some reason it hasn't came together for them.

Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre believes that Romo shouldn't be judged on his one playoff win and that if the Cowboys play better Romo wouldn't have to be reckless.


“It’s the ultimate team sport,” said Favre, the featured speaker at an SMU athletic forum luncheon in Dallas. “I think it’s misleading to say that a quarterback has wins and losses and say he was a part of one playoff victory. I think there are a lot of factors that go into the success of not only Tony Romo but any player. Just what little bit I’ve watched the last couple of years, it seems like they were a little bit in disarray offensively. I thought he did a good job, from what I saw, of managing and making plays.

“Does that get you in trouble sometimes when you try to do too much? Sure it does. But I think I’d rather have a guy who’s willing to take those chances.”

“I like the way he plays,” Favre said. “I think there’s times that he’s made plays or decisions that were bad. But I think based on how the team has played or the way that the game has gone, for the most part, has kind of dictated the way his decision-making has played into it.

“I guess the way for me to explain it would be that if the Cowboys offense is going according to plan, say you’re up by 14, or you’re never out of it and your running game is OK, and you know where everyone is going to line up and you know what you’re going to get out of your defense, then I think he would probably play less recklessly. I think it just kind of falls in line with how maybe the season or the game goes.”

Romo had his finest statistical season in 2011, and Dallas finished 8-8. His worst season came last year, and, again, Dallas was 8-8. I've watched Cowboys games where the team was rolling and bad Romo decisions blew it for them (2011 vs. Lions). So while you can't pin the blame on Romo, Favre's claims aren't dead on.

While we shouldn't blame Tony for his reckless playing style.  We need to blame whoever's responsible for the team falling far enough behind that desperate play becomes needed -- i.e. the defense, who gives up points.  Oh, and the offense, who doesn't score enough to keep up, including (and especially) the leader of the offense... uh, oh yeah -- that'd be Romo, himself.

Which means that Romo will always get the blame no matter how you spin it.

Urban Meyer rewards Ohio State players for 12-0 season

The Ohio State Buckeyes could consider themselves the uncrowned champions if they wanted to. They finished the season 12-0 but since they were on probation and couldn't participate in a bowl they weren't allowed to compete for the national championship.

The fact that that the Buckeyes went 12-0 wasn't lost on head coach Urban Meyer. Meyer rewarded the players with rings for finishing undefeated. 



There are some who are offended by this including ESPN's Mark May. May tweeted:


Just a checking my integrity meter didn't know you could give out 12-0 rings when your on probation or banned from bowls..just a thought.

I'm no Buckeye slappy but I have no problem with Meyer rewarding the players for their hard work. They were Big Ten divisional champions even though they didn't get to play in the conference championship game they probably would've won. It's not like they calling themselves the national champions.

Incoming Michigan basketball recruit, Derrick Walton Jr., sets the bar high for himself

Trey Burke is expected to leave Michigan for the NBA. It would be a major surprise if he doesn't. Cult hero, Spike Albrecht will be expected to pick up some of the slack. Which means that once again in John Beilein's tenure at Michigan he might have to hand the reins of the team to a freshman point guard.

That freshman would be Michigan Mr. Basketball runner up Derrick Walton Jr. Walton is up to the task of keeping Michigan basketball among the elite next season. Walton has been looked at as Burke's replacement for two years.


"I expect to play big minutes my freshman year," he said Wednesday. "Either way, if he stays or goes to the league, I'm excited. If he does go, it gives me more of an opportunity to play more minutes. I'll count on Spike a lot. With him there, it'll help with the transition.

"I know I'll make freshman mistakes. People will expect me to step in for Trey. My thing is not to get caught up in that. I can't be Trey. I've got to be me."

Walton averaged 25.6 points and 10.2 assists in his senior year at Harper Woods Chandler Park Academy, so the kid can play. With a high probability of stepping in for Burke, much will be expected of Walton and he will need those skills he displayed in high school. If Walton can step in and be a complement to Albrecht the Wolverines can keep this machine going for a few more years.

UConn gets a new logo

The athletic teams University of Connecticut will be getting a new look. Gone is the family friendly husky and in comes Jonathan Husky, a new, hungrier, vicious logo the teams will be sporting.

This caps the rebranding of the athletic teams at UConn.

The two major changes will be the use of “UCONN” across the front of every uniform worn by each team, and a new look for the Jonathan Husky logo. The new look is part of a new institutional branding and marketing program announced in early April by President Susan Herbst that uses “UCONN” as the primary mark of the University in all signage, publications, advertising and marketing activities. 

“This logo is everything that a Husky is supposed to be -- powerful, aggressive, determined,” women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma says. “It is looking right through you and saying ‘Do not mess with me.' This is a streamlined, fighting dog, and I cannot wait for it to be on our uniforms and court.”

The new logo looks a lot better than the one used in years past.

Patriots' Alfonzo Dennard sentenced to 30 days in jail

Remember the night when New England Patriots cornerback Alfonzo Dennard thought it was a good idea to hit a police officer? Today was the day when it was time for Dennard to pay the piper.

Dennard was sentenced to 30 days in jail that will begin on March 1, 2014. Dennard will also be serving two years probation and will have to complete 100 hours of community service. A far cry from the six year sentence he was facing. Also the judge will accommodate his football schedule so he won't have to serve time until after the season.


In court, Dennard apologized to his coaches, supporters, police and his family and promised to abide by the terms of the probation. He declined comment after leaving court.

Dennard's attorney, Terry Dougherty, said he would ask Lancaster County District Judge Stephanie Stacy to suspend the jail sentence if Dennard complies with the terms of his probation over the next 11 months. Stacy said she would consider such a motion at that time.


Dougherty had also said that Dennard had already paid a fine of $500,000 since his draft stock plummeted after his arrest and he was eventually drafted in the seventh round. Dennard agreed with the punishment. Of course he did since the punishment didn't fit the crime.

Dennard got off relatively easy in this case. I know, athletes and entertainers live in a different world than the average American citizen. That doesn't mean you should be able to run around punching police officers because you had a lapse in judgement. If it's not alright for Joe Average to do it then you shouldn't either. I'm not saying Dennard is a bad guy, but he should've made a better choice.

Someone please enlighten me about this situation and give me a point as to why Dennard received a pretty light sentence.