Stanford Band Not Allowed At The Orange Bowl

The Stanford band has a history of doing some crazy tricks, usually going with a theme of a particular momemt. Like the white van with bloody handprints during the O.J. Simpson ordeal. Or how about the "Hearst Burger" incident. Or poking fun at the UCLA football team over the handicapped parking scandal when the band formed a handicapped symbol on the field and wheeled the Stanford Tree out in a wheelchair. Hell, they've been banned form the entire state of Oregon. They're also famous for being on the field on the wackiest kickoff return in college football history.

They're now banned from performing at the Orange Bowl. Speculation is that bowl administrators don't want the band to ridicule LeBron James. I say let them perform and have some fun. I would love to see what stunt they would pull tonight.

Delmas Riding Shotgun In Road Rage Incident

Detroit Lions safety Louis Delmas was indirectly involved in a road rage incident. Delmas was a passenger in a Nissan Titan driven by Ravelle Sadler of Cincinnati. Sadler waved a gun at people in another vehicle. The incident happened at 2:15 am on December 21 in Canton,Michigan.

Delmas didn't have to play the "do you know who I am" card since officers didn't know who he was. To Delmas' credit he did cooperate with the authorities when asked if there was a gun in the car. Police didn't arrest Delmas but did seize the gun. Let's hope he has a license for that. 

Pearl Laying Down The Law Before His Suspension

With his team looking shaky in the last six outings, including two wins in that stretch, Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl has made it known that those who play defense will get the majority of the minutes. With an upcoming date with Memphis and the SEC season starting in a week Pearl has to do something to get things in order in Knoxville.

I know it may seem like I'm picking on the Volunteers. I just call it as I see it. I believe they started reading their own press clippings and got fat and sassy. i watched the game against Charleston and the defensive intensity was lacking. They played a lot of one on one basketball on offense. I don't see them attacking and wearing teams out like in previous years. I don't know what it is with this year's team. Maybe they miss the leadership of J.P. Prince and Wayne Chism.

“It’s no longer about fatigue,” Pearl said. “The minutes will be played based on over a period of time who needs to be out there.”


That means there will be some angry players picking wood on the sidelines. I do believe Pearl when he says it's fixable. Maybe he should try selling the players on what got them to a No.7 ranking earlier. Which means team play and defense.

Is Marvin Lewis Next In Line For The Pitt Job?

Will the Pittsburgh Panthers be reaching back into the ranks of the NFL to find their next coach. Maybe. Rumors are that Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis might be a candidate for that job.

Of course, I can't stand to see anyone unemployed, so I would like to see Lewis land on his feet. Because I really don't see him staying in Cincinnati beyond this season. Michael Lombardi from the NFL Network reported that Lewis might be on the short list of cnadidates to take over for the newly departed Mike Haywood.

Lewis was asked about the position and said "he hasn't thought about it". Lewis also said "I don't know what happens from here". It's true that Lewis probably knows he's probably done in Cincinnati, but no one has told him where he stands so therefore he won't speak on his job situation or anything else. Sources say that he would like to return, but that's not guaranteed.

John Elway's New Gig

A report from the Denver Post says Denver Broncos have hired John Elway to be their vice president of football operations.  It's not yet a done deal as they have to finalize a deal.

"If and when we reach an agreement with John Elway, Pat is very confident that John's intelligence, his leadership, business savvy, his knowledge of the game, and competitive fire, plus the respect that everyone in this building will have for him, will make us better right away," Broncos chief operating officer Joe Ellis told the Denver Post.


Considering how they've played the past few years, I doubt the Broncos will be better in the short term. Unless Elway decides to turn back the clock and play quarterback and the Orange Crush defense is reincarnated. Also, Elway may have a good business acumen, but the trying to put together a football team is a different story.

The Broncos insist this isn't a PR move, but think about it. The team isn't doing to well and what better way to get fans back to the gate than to bring back a local legend. For Bronco fans' sake, just hope he isn't the next Matt Millen. 

Quote Of the Week: Mike Patrick

When Michigan was getting blown out in the Gator Bowl, ESPN know it all Craig James said that people (David Brandon) should not use the bowl game as a measuring stick for Michigan since Mississippi State is a Top 25 team.

His partner Mike Patrick replied "52 points is 52 points". Maybe Craig should take the blinders off and realize that Michigan has fallen a lot since Rich Rodriguez took over

A Big 0 For The Big Ten

Well, Gordon Gee. It's all up to your Ohio State Buckeyes to salvage the reputation of the battered and bruised Big Ten. That was a mighty pimp slap the rest of the college football world put on the boys from the midwest. Throw in Nebraska's loss to a mediocre Washington team they whacked by 35 earlier this season, that makes it a little bit worse.

For starters Northwestern fought the good fight in losing to Texas Tech 45-38. The Wildcats dug themselves too big of a hole to climb out of, but at least they made a game of it. More than what i can say about the next two games. That would be the simultaneous beatdown suffered by Michigan and Michigan State. The Michgan schools were outscored 101-21 and thoroughly embarassed by Alabama and Mississippi State. The Rodriguez era will end on an ugly note, no matter what David Brandon is saying. The Spartans are not ready for prime time. Penn State and Florida went down to the end until the Gators finally locked up an Outback Bowl victory with a pick 6, 37-24. Then in the Grandaddy of them all, the Rose Bowl, Wisconsin lost to an unbeaten TCU squad, 21-19. No shame in that, except if Ohio State president Gordon Gee didn't make those ridiculous comments about teams like TCU not playing anyone. It's not like anyone wants to sign up to play them. Anyway, how did that taste Gordon.

The bowl season actually started out pretty good for the Big Ten, with wins by Iowa and Illinois, only to see the roof cave in during the postseason. Five losses in five games. And I'm not feeling to confident about Ohio State, with the distractions created by the Buckeye 5 and all.