Denver Broncos to ditch playbooks in favor of iPads

In a league full of copycats, the latest trend is starting to take form. The Denver Broncos are moving from the traditional playbook to using the iPad. 

The Denver Post reported that the Broncos are tossing out the tradition of printing 500-page playbooks every week for each of the 120 players, coaches, scouts and other personnel. The iPad will feature the week's game plan, scouting reports and more. The Broncos aren't the first team to switch to an electronic format as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Baltimore Ravens were the first two teams to make the switch.


"The advantage is that when they leave the building, they can take everything home with them very easily and watch tape at night and review the game plan installation," said Broncos general manager Brian Xanders. "This is their full-time job — to prepare and do whatever they can to help us win each week. "

Teams won't be allowed to keep the iPads or other similar tablets on the sideline. But from what I'm reading it might give teams that use them an advantage, which means that every team will gradually start making the switch.  

Michigan State's Adreian Payne fine after deer causes accident

Michigan State center Adreian Payne is doing fine after being involved in a car accident. He wasn't doing any reckless driving or driving drunk. The reason for the accident was a deer that ran into the road.


A driver with the last name of Payne was involved in a car crash about 5:45 p.m. Friday while heading eastbound on Interstate 70 in Montgomery County, Ohio, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol online crash log. Three drivers were listed, and one was reported to be injured.


"A deer ran out to the road," a Montgomery County dispatcher said. "That is what caused the crash."


Payne felt lucky to be alive and tweeted “I should not be here. God blessed me. I was in a car accident someone hit me on the highway…”


Payne also tweeted a picture of his car after the accident. Payne is thanking his lucky stars that he wasn't seriously injured and was able to walk away from the accident.

Paterno family says no to Penn State renaming the stadium

After one of the messiest breakups between a coach and a college football program, the Penn State brass wants to rename Beaver Stadium after Joe Paterno. Not so fast says the Paterno family. They don't want the stadium named after the late Joe Paterno, because Paterno said he never wanted the stadium named after him. Part of the reasoning is also because it would have meant signing a release that exonerating the school from being sued by the family.

 "[Renaming the stadium] has always been a fan-driven matter. It was never important to Joe," a source close to the family told the newspaper. The family said it would rather have the school library named after the coach, who invested in the facility.


The problems came up in January when Penn State University was trying to make the final contract payment to the late coach's estate in exchange for a full release signed by the family. That showed that there is a lot of bad blood between Penn State and the Paterno family.

The Paterno family is still upset that the university didn't let JoePa follow through with his retirement plan. Joe wanted to retire after the season in January and Penn State canned him before the end of the season. They also feel that the university made some misleading statements to justify Paterno's firing.

Paterno was Penn State and it's sad that he had to go out this way but the truth lies somewhere in the middle.  

Camby says Blazers players believe in a curse

The Portland Trail Blazers have historically been ravaged by injury. Going back to Bill Walton up to LaMarcus Aldridge and his bad hip this season. If it's not an injury it's been bad people on the team (Jail Blazers) or talented teams that choked (the Clyde Drexler Blazers).

Big man Marcus Camby was traded to the Houston Rockets and it probably extended his career a few more years. In an interview with ESPN's Marc Stein Camby touched upon the Blazers injuries and said that the players in Portland do believe there is a curse.


Q: You know those of us in the media throw around words like "curse." But what about the players on that team? In the Blazers' locker room, are guys asking: What next?


A: They might not want to admit it, but when I was there, my goodness, people were saying, "Are we really snake-bit? Are we really cursed?" Doubts and talks like that came about. Everybody just tried to brush it to one side and remain positive, but it was hard to escape because everybody was talking about it. It's hard to argue when it keeps happening year after year after year.


Maybe the team needs some kind of good luck charm or something. Maybe having a group prayer around the arena might work. I've seen to many Blazers seasons and players go down in flames because of some debilitating injury.

Missouri places eye catching billboards in other SEC states

There are some that figure Missouri's football program might fall back to the pack since they are moving to the SEC. There is one thing that could change that perception and that's recruiting, the lifeblood to any program. The Tigers don't have much of a tradition before head coach Gary Pinkel came to Missouri, but he has turned things around in a big way. They'll be one of two new entrants in the SEC and have figured out a way to attract high level recruits from the traditional SEC powers. The Tigers have placed billboards along highways in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Dallas, and Memphis.    

The traditional SEC powers have kept those kids home and Missouri wants a piece of the action.

“Oh yes, I get text messages and emails from Mizzou people that live in that area and that region,” head coach Gary Pinkel told the AJC. “They talk about it and say how excited they are to see it.”


There are 16 billboards, including eight that have been placed out of state. There are three in Georgia, including two in Atlanta and one near Valdosta, while one each in Tampa, Fla., Dallas, Birmingham, Ala., Jacksonville, Fla., and Memphis. What was the idea behind the billboards?


“It’s to market Missouri,” Pinkel said. “We’ll be in Georgia recruiting. We’ve got great respect for the high school football in Georgia, especially in the Atlanta area. We’re just marketing our brand name a little bit. We’re going to get there and actively recruit … and we’re excited about it.”  


It's a good idea to market the Missouri brand and make inroads into kids' homes who otherwise might not think about going to Missouri. Kids see the billboards and become curious about the school. Not a bad move by any means.


“We’ve done a complete analysis of players that sign with BCS schools out of Georgia, and certainly out of the Atlanta area,” Pinkel said. “The size and production of SEC and BCS is parallel to the Metroplex area in Dallas. The numbers out of Atlanta and Dallas are nearly identical. Both have great high school football.


“What you do is go down there and figure out how many players from Georgia stay in the SEC and stay in the ACC, and how many leave the state and go elsewhere to play. We’ve got data on these kinds of things. And, if anything, it’s about identifying good players and selling Missouri.


“We want to go down there with a good reputation of winning football games and graduating our athletes. It’s about marketing and developing trust … and slowly and slowly working ourselves into Georgia. We’re excited about doing that.” 


“The facts are, in the last six years, we’re eighth in the BCS with winning in the nation. Those are facts. We’re certainly one of six teams that have won eight or more games in the last seven years. So we win at Missouri, and we consistently win. Over the last six years, we’ve graduated 96-percent of our players. Missouri is a great place and it’s a great college town with 33,000 students. Kids love to go to school here. We’ve got a lot to sell.”


Missouri has become a player in the college football world. Recruiting wise they've kept the best players in Kansas City and St. Louis from going elsewhere and have made some connections in talent rich Texas. They won't get the kids deep in the heart of SEC country immediately but they'll get some. And if they keep winning it'll draw even more attention to the school.

Missouri's Gary Pinkel separating from wife

Missouri head football coach Gary Pinkel is separating from his wife of nearly 40 years.

In a statement released Friday, Pinkel says he and Vicki, his wife of nearly 40 years, separated earlier this year. He thanks friends and family for their support and says ''I would ask that you please respect the privacy of the entire Pinkel family during this difficult time.''

Let's just hope this isn't due to any scandalous activity. At this moment no one knows why but that's an awful lot of years to flush down the toilet.

Terry says teams want to play the Mavericks in the playoffs

Remember last season when Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl said that he hoped that his team would face the Dallas Mavericks when the playoffs started. Of course he was wrong because the Mavs went on a roll and wound up toppling the Miami Heat for the NBA championship.  

The Mavericks have struggled in the shortened season and finally clinched a playoff berth, but they still remain dangerous. Mavericks guard Jason Terry thinks teams are feasting their eyes on the Mavericks as a possible playoff opponent, but issues a warning to those that think the Mavericks will be cannon fodder when the playoffs begin.

"We haven't gotten much respect all year long," Jason Terry said. "It doesn't surprise me. I think a lot of teams are hoping and wishing they can play the Mavericks, similar to last year _ and they get what they ask for sometimes."


Translation: Teams are overlooking us and think they're getting a weak opponent. Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. Remember we're still the champions.

Teams still should be wary of the Mavericks, especially if Dirk Nowitzki gets hot and the rest of the team follows suit. When the Mavericks get rolling they're hard to beat.