Griffin Calls Capel Firing "Unfair"

It came as a surprise to many that Oklahoma decided to fire head basketball coach Jeff Capel. I wasn't floored but it caught me off guard. Considering the Sooners had to bounce back frm a difficult two years, I thought Capel should've been given more time to get things back on track in Norman.

Blake Griffin was bothered by the firing and labeled it as "unfair" and said OU was "piling it on". (  http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=6221727)

"What bothers me the most is that everyone is saying he did all of this when Blake Griffin was there," Griffin said. "Well to me, you say he deserves no credit when a certain player is there and then, when things go bad, throw all the blame on him. To me, they're piling it on. He took over the program after Kelvin Sampson and all of those sanctions and he put his faith in everyone. This is what he gets? Within two years we're in the tournament and now two years later he's fired? It's completely unfair."

"As soon as he got the job he started recruiting me and we were in it together," Griffin said. "When I committed to Oklahoma, it wasn't a popular thing to do at the time but I went because of Coach Capel. We all take pride in what we did there and what we built and for them to turn their backs on him so quickly, it really disappoints me."

After Griffin left, Capel quickly reloaded with freshman Tommy Mason-Griffin and big man Keith "Tiny" Gallon along with highly regarded returnee Willie Warren. That squad fell flat and Capel never could find the right combinations. There was some off court trouble and Gallon, Warren, and Mason Griffin left town. The NCAA came around again regarding a loan given to Gallon.

"I understand you have to win and I understand the coaching carousel," Griffin said. "And I know about the NCAA but he has said he knew nothing about it and I believe him. Besides, look around at some other coaches and what has happened. They're still coaching. In comparison to Oklahoma, you can't even compare it."


Regardless of what happened, Griffin still has love for the college he went to. He just thinks it wasn't right that the coach he played for was fired.

"I just want people to know the respect I have for Coach Capel and to let people know that I feel like they're giving him a really unfair boot," Griffin said. "I don't claim to know everything when it comes to basketball, but I do know a great coach. He's a great coach and I think Oklahoma has made a mistake."


Capel was once an up and comer in the coaching ranks. Maybe he'll get another shot elsewhere since there are some recent openings.
   









  

How Vikings Punter Chris Kluwe Spends Part Of His Free Time

For some reason it seems like there have been a lot of stories involvng Minnesota Vikings players this offseason, both good and bad. There was Bryant McKinnie blowing $100,000 at a party, conerback Chris Cook brandishing guns in Virginia, the Williams wall and their legal fight and Adrian Peterson's slavery rant.

Punter Chris Kluwe spends his time as a bass guitaristin a rock band called tripping icarus. I'm not hip to rock music so I wouldn't know if this was good or bad. At least he's doing something that doesn't make the police blotter or out blowing money during a time when he should be saving.

Here's a sample of him playing with the band.

 

Quote Of The Week: Don King

After seeing this I had to give this week's award to Don King.

"I have a PhD in Caucasianism."

He also says he graduated from the university of the ghetto the school of hardknocks and broken dreams and describes his political affiliation as "republicrat."

Chris Cook Arrested For Brandishing A Gun

Minnesota Vikings cornerback Chris Cook isn't doing a good job of using his time wisely during the NFL lockout.

According to a story at nationalfootballpost.com, Cook was arrested Saturday night in Lynchburg,Virginia after pulling a gun during a fight.

Now my logic says you don't pull a gun on anyone unless you're in immediate danger. I don't know the extent of the situation so I really couldn't say why he pulled it. My logic also says that if you're gonna pull a gun you better use it. Don't get me wrong because I don't advocate violence, but why get in trouble for brandishing a weapon and not use it, when the person you pulled it on may exact revenge.

We'll have to wait and see how the Vikings handle this and since the league can't contact players during the lockout we also have to see if something comes of this regarding Mr. Cook.

We know Roger Goodell doesn't play around when it comes to weapons offenses.      

Pelphrey Canned By Arkansas

When Arkansas head basketball coach John Pelphrey landed the number 7 recruiting class in the nation, it looked like he would get a stay of execution for another year to coach those players. Now it looks like he won't get that chance. Also those players may now be questioning their committmentsto the Razorbacks.

A source told ESPN.com that Pelphrey will be let go after 4 seasons at the school. Pelphrey learned of his fate during an end of the season meeting with Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long Sunday morning. Though the exact number isn't given in his employment contract, Pelphrey's buyout is believed to be in the neighborhood of $1.8 million to be paid out over three years.


Arkansas failed to make the NCAA tournament the last three years, which seemed to be his undoing in Fayetteville. Not to mention the off court troubles of the program that saw 15 players suspended during Pelphrey's tenure.

Who coaches the Razorbacks now that Pelphrey is gone? I don't know. Word is that they'll go after Missouri's Mike Anderson, who was an assistant under former coach Nolan Richardson. If they can't land him they might go after Marquette's Buzz Williams. No matter who it is, they'll be in the market for a high profile coach. That'll be crucial to the recruits that have pledged to come on board next season.   

Leyland Better Get Used To The Cabrera Questions

Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland says he's tired of all the questions about slugger Miguel Cabrera. Earth to Leyland: Get used to it. The questions aren't going away anytime soon. At least right now anyway. That's what happens when your best player acts like a buffoon while drinking himself into oblivion. What in the world made him go into a restaurant threatning to shoot and kill people. I never mad those threats on my wors drinking night. Usually you try to make it somewhere to pass out.

Team president and general manager Dave Dombrowski is hitching his and Leyland's immediate future to Cabrera. And how does Cabrera repay them? By going out and behaving like some college frat boy. Right now they look like enablers which isn't a good thing. Which means that reporters and writers will be asking questions about him as long as the Tigers haven't hardlined Cabrera, and that day ain't coming anytime soon.

It'll be hard for the general public to move past Cabrera follies, if you want to label it as such, as long as the organizational powers enable him to act in an irresponsible manner. The Tigers hired Raul Gonzalez to babysit Cabrera for this season. Whether this works or not I don't know. I call it more of a smoke screen. Cabrera can still go out and get blasted, and have Raul drive him home and help him to his couch and make sure he gets to the ballpark on time the next day. I think it's more of an enabling process than trying to help the guy. And yes he does need help.

There will be more questions coming and no matter how pissed you get Jimmy they're gonna keep coming. The vague answers aren't good enough. The reporters don't want to hear about what shape he's in or how he's gonna have his best season ever. What they want to know is whether you guys are going to give him some legitimate help off the field. What they want to know is if he's a functioning alcoholic, if he does this all the time or are his previous incidents just a blip. I'm betting that it's more of a problem than Leyland or Dombrowski are letting us know.

As a Tigers fan I won't be hypocritical, because I know I'll be rooting for the guy on the field. I don't expect anyone to agree with me. But he really needs to get it together off the field and they need to get him some real help and not a babysitter. By doing that all they're doing is enabling his activity and saying he doesn't have a problem, which is what Cabrera's probably saying to the Tigers.   

Marshall Avoids Another Tragedy

In November of 1970 37 members of the Marshall University football team along with 8 memebers of the coaching staff and 25 boosters died in a plane crash in West Virginia. The crash and the way the program was put back together was mad into a movie, "We Are Marshall".

On Wednesday night, history almost repeated itself. Members of the coaching staff were on a plane that had to make an emergency landing in Louisville,Kentucky. A very scary case of deja vu.

From CBSSports.com: Around 6 p.m. on Wednesday, a landing gear malfunction aboard ComAir Flight 5359 diverted a flight bound for Charleston from Atlanta to Lexington. The flight included Marshall’s entire offensive coaching staff and two of its defensive coaches.



Entering into its final descent, the landing gear finally came down on the plane and a crash-landing was averted as the coaches made their way off the flight safe and sound.

I've flown a few times and consider myself lucky not to have any kind of turbulence on those flights. I know I would've feared for my life considering history.

 “On our way back, we kept circling flying into Charleston — three times,”tight ends coach Phil Ratliff told the Huntington Herald-Dispatch. “He (the pilot) went back up in the air and we knew something was wrong.



“The crew basically came back and told us that they were diverting us to Lexington. They didn’t say it but if we had to crash land, it was a bigger runway.


“You grow up hearing about this for 40 years. For this to happen 40 years later, it was just unbelievable. We were all praying. It was calm, but we were definitely praying. It was a situation that you never want to go — thinking about your family, having your life go before your eyes. It was just unbelievable.”
 
Fortunately everyone on the flight was safe and unharmed. That had to be a scary situation for everyone involved.