Lions Trying To Right The Ship, Have An R-Rated Chant To Haters

After losing three of their last four, the Detroit Lions are trying to get their season back.

Wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson set the tone for a recent practice by gathering the players at midfield and chanted "F--- Them".

Go ahead and fill in the blanks on that one. That wasn't directed to anyone in particular, but they're trying to get the swagger back after being beatdown by the Chicago Bears last week. I suspect it probably had more to do with various media memebers calling them a dirty team and some saying that they'll flop and miss the playoffs after a 5-0 start.

Hopefully it'll translate to something positive for the team.

Syracuse Assistant Investigated For Molesting Ball Boy

On the heels of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal comes another bombshell. Longtime Syracuse basketball assistant Bernie Fine is at the center of a police investigation for molesting a ball boy for more than a dozen years in the 1980s.

Police stressed to Outside The Lines they are in the early stages of the investigation.



The alleged victim, Bobby Davis, now 39, told Outside the Lines that Fine molested him beginning in 1983 shortly before Davis entered the seventh grade. Davis, the team's ball boy for six years beginning in 1984, said the abuse occurred at Fine's home, at the Syracuse basketball facilities, and on road trips, including the 1987 Final Four.


In addition, a second man -- a relative of Davis -- told OTL that he was also molested by Fine around the same time as the first boy.

Davis reported the crimes to the police in 2003 but was told that the statute of limitations had run out. davis also said that it was possible that other boys were molested.

Davis said that Fine molested him at Fine's home, at the basketball facilities at Syracuse, on recruiting road trips and even at the 1987 Final Four. Davis said he was Fine's constant companion at all those places. He said that Boeheim would come into Fine's room, and see Davis lying on the Fine's bed, but never asked him any questions.



Davis said he was molested by Fine until he was around 27 years old. Through the years, he said he has felt bitter emotions over the molestation as sex scandals have emerged in the Catholic Church and lately with former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.


Davis said he reported the abuse to Syracuse police in 2003, but that a detective told him that the statute of limitations had run out. Davis said the detective told him that if he knew of boys being molested by Fine at the time, that Syracuse police would investigate those allegations. Davis said he told the detective that he thought other boys were being molested but that he had only direct knowledge of Fine molesting him.


At the time, the Syracuse police chief was Dennis Duval, a former Syracuse basketball player for Boeheim. Duval, who retired in 2004, could not be reached for comment. He played at Syracuse from 1971 to 1974, and started with the Syracuse Police Department in 1978.


Outside the Lines investigated Davis's story in 2003 but decided not to run the story because there were no other victims who would talk, and no independent evidence to corroborate the boy's story. In recent days, a second man contacted Outside the Lines with information alleging that Fine had also molested him. That man said he was inspired to finally talk after seeing news coverage of the Sandusky case.

This is just sick. This is slightly different from the Penn State case only because there is no evidence of a cover up.

Victims of these type of crimes need to speak up. It's a shame that these men use their power and influence to prey on impressionable young children. I don't care how long it's been, if this is indeed true, Fine needs to be locked up immediately. You would've thought that Boeheim might've asked questions if he saw some kid laying on his bed.

Boeheim might not be as culpable as Joe Paterno, but he needs to ask questions if something looks amiss.

  

Davie Looks To Revive His Coaching Career

It took awhile for former Notre Dame football coach Bob Davie to get another job, but he finally found one. No I'm not talking about Davie leaving ESPN for another TV gig, but he'll be taking over the New Mexico football program.

First of all I thought that Mike Leach would take over this reclamation project. With the high powered offenses he's constructed in the past he would've sold some tickets. Davie is a name, but not one who comes with a lot of sizzle that will move people to buy tickets.

Secondly, why would Davie want this job? I know that he probably had an itch to get back into coaching, but taking the New Mexico job might ruin him for life. No one has won there and the Lobos have back to back 1-11 seasons which got Mike Locksley canned among other things.

I guess it could be a no lose situation for Davie. If he wins five games a year he might be revered in Albuquerque. Hell, they might even put a statue up of him if he gets them to a couple of bowl games. Nonetheless, Davie has a major job in making New Mexico football matter.

TCU Makes A Celebratory T-Shirt

After ending any slight hope that Boise State had at a national title shot, TCU has a t-shirt celebrating their win. I'm sure the players or coach didn't have anything to do with it, but it's out there.

This was more of a slap in the face to Boise State and the Mountain West conference after they felt slighted since the MWC decided to move the game to Boise State after TCU announced they were moving to the Big East. The Horned Frogs won the game and will be going to the Big 12 and not the Big East. Also Boise State will be moving to the Big East.

It looks like the Horned Frogs got the last laugh on Boise and the MWC in the end.

Barry Switzer's Insight On The Penn State Scandal

Once he saw the footage of the Penn State coach standing on his lawn, talking to reporters and admitting to the world that he should've done more, the former Oklahoma coach realized his fate was sealed. He would be forced out. He would be fired.

“I knew that it would come to this,” Switzer said.

“They did the right thing at the university,” he said. “The university had to do this, and it was the right thing to do.”

He paused and sighed.

“It's a tragic, sad story. There are no winners here.”

He paused again.

“There are no winners at all.”

“Having been in this profession a long time and knowing how close coaching staffs are, I knew that this was a secret that was kept secret,” Switzer said. “Everyone on that staff had to have known, the ones that had been around a long time.”

“You think that a 13-year assistant … hasn't told someone else?” Switzer said. “His wife? His father? People knew. The community knew.”

“There are more people culpable than just Joe Paterno and the athletic director,” Switzer said via telephone while traveling in Texas. “There are so many other people that have thought, ‘I could've done something about this, too' that didn't come forward. That's the tragedy of it.”

That is the tragedy. The adults who had the power to protect kids from a monster. The adults who passed the buck and expected someone else to take care of the problem. The adults who could've saved at least eight little boys from carrying the scars of sexual abuse for the rest of their lives.

“There's no university immune to this,” Switzer said. “No one is immune to what happened at Penn State or what happened at Oklahoma. It happened years ago, and it'll happen years in the future.

“People make poor decisions, poor choices, and this is what can occur.”

“I'll tell you how it happens — it's the American sports phenomenon,” Switzer said. “I've seen it happen all my life; we've made coaches and players and athletes more than what we are. It's what happens in American sports. Because of that, they've gotten away with more than they should have.

“These students the other night, I watched ‘em occupy State College, and I thought, ‘They don't understand.' If they stopped and thought about … how many people were involved and knew this and did nothing, they just haven't lived long enough.

“And what they've done is try to support somebody the university can't support.”

Words from former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer. And you know what, he's dead on.

Switzer presided over the Oklahoma crime spree that ended up with quarterback Charles Thompson on the cover of Sports Illustrated being led away in handcuffs in an orange prison jumpsuit for conspiracy to traffic cocaine. The wild west days of Norman. Switzer knew it was best for him to walk away from the school he loved so much.

Just like how Penn State had to rid themselves of Joe Paterno after the child sexual abuse scandal involving long time assistant Jerry Sandusky. And it's not over by a longshot. There is another layer or two to this story that has yet to come out.

There was no way that Paterno could survive this assault of mounting evidence of a possible cover up for Sandusky. The best thing for Penn State to do was to fire Paterno. Paterno said he would resign at the end of the season, but I think that was nothing more than to keep the wolves at bay. If Paterno wouldnt've felt any heat from this scandal, he'd be defiant about retiring and would be talking about coming back next year. I'm not here to blast Paterno, but this was for the greater good of the university and bigger than football.

I kind of feel sorry for Paterno. After all the years of loyalty to Penn State he goes out under a dark cloud. And it wasn't like the players being paid or an academic scandal that forced him out.

I know Paterno thought he was doing the right thing by following a chain of command and going through typical university protocol. But once he realized something was amiss he should've checked in with the athletic director again and then went to the authorities. It's not like they wouldnt've doubted him. He's Joe Paterno, the lord of State College, Pennsylvania.

He once said that he wouldn't retire to leave the game to the Barry Switzers and Jackie Sherrills of the world. At least they went out cheating the game or on their own terms, rather than trying to cover up a crime against children.    

Leach Linked To The Ole Miss Opening?

Another job opening, another Mike Leach rumor. After being metioned for the Tulane opening last week, Leach is being linked to the Ole Miss job after the Rebels canned Houston Nutt.

Let's see here, there have been Leach rumors of him going to Arizona, both of the New Mexico schools, Tulane, Florida International, even UCLA and they still have Rick Neuheisel at the helm, and now Ole Miss.

Leach sounds as if he's interested in the job if the Rebels will have him.

“I haven’t heard from anybody, but I’m not too hard to find,” Leach said. “It’s a great job. I’m sure the (Ole Miss) administration has a certain individual it is looking for, and I’m sure they’ll find the right guy.”


No one knows if Leach will actually be a candidate for the job. There is the matter of the pending lawsuit against Texas Tech, which probably means he won't be coaching anywhere.

Leach is one of the brighter offensive minds in the college game and would be a great hire. I do think he brings a lot to the table when it comes to exciting football. I think he will end up at some sort of middle of the road BCS team and Ole Miss could be it. No coach that is thinking of winning a national championship is going to Ole Miss, but Leach clearly would. They should make the call.


  

The M In Missouri Will Stand For Mediocrity

Missouri will be leaving the Big 12 for the SEC. When you look at the bottom line (money) I'm sure it stands to be a good move, except from a travel standpoint where moving to the Big Ten would've made more sense for both parties.

The problem I have is from a sports point of view, especially football. I think Missouri will be able to compete in basketball. They have a traditionally strong program and will be able to hang with most of the teams in the SEC, Kentucky and Florida are the exceptions. The Tigers will strengthen the SEC as a basketball league. They should be able to bring in their share of high profile recruits and finish in the upper division.

Football is a different story. The Tigers have had some recent success in the Big 12 and have gained a reasonable foothold recruiting the talent rich state of Texas. They've also been successful in keeping the best in-state kids at home. There is Texas and Oklahoma in the Big 12, but I think it's easier to recruit against those schools than it will be against LSU, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, and the list goes on. And that's just off the field. I guess it's time to adopt the SEC style of recruiting. And no I don't want to hear how (insert school here) is clean and does it right.

On the field I don't see the Tigers consistently competing with the top tier SEC teams. They can be a dangerous opponent but I just don't see them beating a loaded Alabama team. Or Florida. Or LSU. It is possible that they could pull off a shocker here and there, but that's it. Other than that, they just went from being one of the Big 12's top four teams to being a Texas Tech like program. Someone that will rise up from time to time but will never be a threat to win it all. I know it will piss off Missouri fans, but I see the football team sinking into mediocrity and could ultimately cost Gary Pinkel his job.