Wisconsin Badgers Up to #4

With their win Saturday over #2 Pittsburgh the Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team sits at #4 on the AP poll. It’s their highest ranking ever. Coach Bo Ryan said, “We’ve never had any better week than that. There’s a lot more basketball to play, but it’s pretty exciting and I feel good for our guys.”

In celebration we must sing.

Mark your calendar for 01.06.07 when #3 Ohio State with freshman phenom Greg Odom comes into Madison to face the Badgers.

“Badgers Climb to No. 4 in AP Poll”

[Cross-posted to The American Mind.]

Airport security nixes Heisman Trophy

From AP-

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Troy Smith’s Heisman Trophy was shipped home because airport security would not allow the Ohio State quarterback to take it on the plane Tuesday.

Smith wore a black leather jacket with the Heisman insignia on back when he arrived at the airport from New York, where he was presented college football’s most coveted trophy.

Eddie George, the last Buckeye to win the Heisman in 1995, had his trophy get stuck in an airport X-ray machine, losing the tip of its right index finger and bending the middle finger.

“We decided to have it shipped. That’s much easier. How times have changed. Eddie carried it on the plane and put it in the seat next to him,” sports information director Steve Snapp said.

Smith said he didn’t mind.

“No, because Eddie’s finger got bent,” Smith said. “I don’t want that to happen to mine.”

Don’t you feel safer when airport security protects us from a person whose picture was in every newspaper across the country, from carrying a large object onto an airplane? I mean exploding Heisman trophies packed with semtex are a definite national security threat.

Michigan State Hires Cincy’s Mark Dantonio

Mark Dantonio is leaving the University of Cincinnati to become the new coach at Michigan State, which fired John L. Smith while struggling to a 4-8 record this season. The Michigan State Board of Trustees, in a special meeting Monday morning, unanimously approved a recommendation to hire Dantonio. The five-year contract guarantees Dantonio about $1.1 million a year. It also has a $200,000 signing bonus and incentives that could boost his income. The school scheduled a noon news conference to introduce Dantonio.

“Leaving UC is a hard decision for our family,” Dantonio said in a statement posted on the University of Cincinnati athletics Web site. “The last three seasons have been incredible for us as our staff has been able to get Cincinnati football back on track. … Michigan State is a special place for me.”

Michigan State first interviewed Dantonio on Saturday night, followed up by a second interview with university president Lou Anna Simon on Sunday morning. “Everyone agreed, head and shoulders, this was the right person for the job,” athletic director Ron Mason said.

The 50-year-old Dantonio is a former Michigan State assistant who has been head coach at Cincinnati for the past three seasons. He has an 18-17 record, including a 7-5 mark this season with a win over previously unbeaten Rutgers. The Big East school is awaiting a bowl bid, its second under Dantonio.

This seems like an obvious choice: A proven winner with ties to the school who’s young enough to spend several years rebuilding the program.

Still, even the NFL doesn’t allow teams to poach coaches from other teams during the season. It’s quite bizarre that the NCAA allows it to happen at the college level, where coaches have made a commitment to their players on a much more personal basis. Dantonio’s kids at Cincy have played hard for him all year and will now play their bowl game knowing he’s abandoned them for a better gig.

Ohio State and Michigan Remain #1 and #2 After Playing

Despite having lost to #1 Ohio State Saturday, the Michigan Wolverines remain at #2 in the AP poll.

The game of the year didn’t change the top of The Associated Press poll. Ohio State was No. 1 and Michigan was No. 2 in the Top 25 on Sunday. The Big Ten rivals have held the top two spots in the media poll since Oct. 15. After the Buckeyes beat the Wolverines 42-39 in Columbus on Saturday in their regular-season finale, the voters decided to keep them there.

The last 1 vs. 2 regular-season game that didn’t change the top of the poll was the 1966 classic between No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 2 Michigan State, which ended in a 10-10 tie.

The last time No. 2 lost to No. 1 in the regular season and didn’t drop was 1945, when Army beat No. 2 Navy 32-13.

Quite bizarre, really. It’s virtually unheard of to lose and not drop in the polls. Still, I’m not sure who I’d rank above Michigan right now.

Bo Schembechler, Michigan Coaching Legend, Dead at 77

Bo Schembechler collapsed and died during an interview about the Michigan-Ohio State game.

Bo Schembechler, who became one of college football’s great coaches in two decades at Michigan, died Friday after taping a TV show on the eve of the Wolverines’ No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown with perennial rival Ohio State. He was 77.

“This is a tremendous shock and an irreplaceable loss,” University of Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman said at a news conference at Providence Hospital in Southfield, where the coach died.

Schembechler collapsed at the studios of WXYZ-TV in the Detroit suburb and was taken by ambulance to the hospital. His death at 11:42 a.m. was confirmed by Mike Dowd, chief investigator for the medical examiner’s office in Oakland County.

Police were sent to the station about 9:25 a.m. along with the city’s fire department and escorted the ambulance, Southfield police spokesman John Harris said.

“It was probably not a heart attack; it just stopped working,” Dr. Shukri David said.

Schembechler had a heart attack on the eve of his first Rose Bowl in 1970 and another one in 1987. He had two quadruple heart-bypass operations, and doctors implanted a pacemaker to regulate his heartbeat after he became ill during a taping at WXYZ on Oct. 20.

No great surprise given his age and long history with heart disease. Still, he was a legendary figure in college football and will be missed.

Revenge of the Nittany Lions?

Note: this preview is being done without the benefit of seeing any highlights from the Minnesota game, solely relying on my pessimistic Dad’s assessment of what happened during that scare. I had quite a busy weekend and had to miss the game (and if I had stayed in Maryland, I probably wouldn’t have seen it anyway.) So it is possible that I am missing something here.

Penn State’s biggest game left in the season is coming up this week. Michigan comes to Happy Valley Saturday to play in the second largest stadium in the country (second, of course, to Michigan Stadium).

Last year at this time, Penn State was unexpectedly doing well. They were unbeaten. They had beaten Ohio State. The hardest game left was Michigan, which was struggling that year with questions at quarterback. Penn State had a senior QB who was phenomenal. They went into the Big House and played a battle for the ages. After the last Penn State touchdown, I called a fellow Penn State fan in this area who had to miss the game to tell him that we were up, and that with one minute left, I figured they had won. We were both very excited, as the prospect of an unbeaten season was going to be much easier with Michigan out of the way.

Then Chad Henne came on the field and lead the game winning drive (with the help of seconds added onto the clock by the refs, which I still disagree with). Henne did an excellent job, and forced me to make a second, much more depressing phone call.

Anyway, this year, the situation looks reversed. Penn State has the questionable quarterback that could be a year away from greatness (although that is far from assured). Michigan has the senior who looks phenomenal. Michigan is coming into Beaver Stadium. They have defeated Notre Dame, a game they were expected to lose. The only big difference is that this isn’t the biggest game left for them, as Michigan was for Penn State last year – Michigan has yet to face Ohio State. I foresee a good game. Penn State will want revenge. They would love to take Michigan out of the national title picture by giving them a loss. Can it happen? I think it can, although I think it is going to be hard. Here’s what is going for Penn State.

1. Lack of Mario Manningham on Michigan. The Manningham/Henne pairing has been quite productive. Taking Manningham away because of injury is going to hurt Henne and the offenses ability to make plays.
2. Defense. Other than the Notre Dame game, Penn State’s defense has done an excellent job keeping the team in the game. Paul Posluszny finally seems to be back in form.
3. Tony Hunt. This running back seems to be the real deal.
4. Wideouts. Penn State has good ones. If they get the ball, watch out.

The main concern is opening up the passing game. Anthony Morelli has not been doing a great job with that so far. He has struggled all season. Penn State fans certainly hope that he can have a game like Chad Henne had last year (without the added second, of course). I can’t remember if Henne was particularly good the whole game, but he did do well when it counted, and that’s what Penn State is going to need. They are playing in Beaver Stadium (a stadium I finally got to see last weekend, although it was empty. From the outside, it is an ugly stadium). This is going to help tremendously – Penn State has great fans. This should be a fun game to watch, unless Michigan opens it up early and takes the crowd out.

Finally, if Penn State wins, and then Michigan beats Ohio State at the end of the season, and all three teams win out, we face the nightmare scenario for the Big Ten Championship. Each team will have beat one of the three top teams, and each team will have lost to the other. I’m not sure what tie breakers apply after that, but since the Big Ten doesn’t have a championship game, it will be fun to watch if that does happen. So Fight On State!

Maurice Clarett Sentenced to 3-1/2 Years in Jail

Maurice Clarett will spend, at minimum, the next 3-1/2 years of his life in jail.

When the day comes that Maurice Clarett can be released from prison 3½ years from now, the former Ohio State football star’s life story will hardly have been told in full. If his lockup ends on the earliest possible date, Clarett, who struck an unexpected plea deal Monday for robbery and concealed weapons charges, will be all of 26 years old. His 8-week-old daughter, who was present for his sentencing, will not yet have turned 4. “It’s in a range that will allow him to get his life back together after his release,” Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said.

Judge David Fais announced the agreement on the day Clarett’s aggravated robbery trial was to begin. He was sentenced to 7½ years with release possible after 3½ years, and five years of probation.

A bearded Clarett, wearing handcuffs and jail-issue clothing, remained expressionless throughout Monday’s hearing. “I’d like to apologize for my behavior, and I accept the time that was given to me,” Clarett said when asked if he wished to address the court.

After the judge accepted the deal, Clarett looked over at his mother in the first row of the gallery. She was sobbing and holding his infant daughter while sitting next to his girlfriend.

Minutes later, one of his attorneys summed up Clarett’s saga — from the time he was one of college football’s brightest stars to the day he began life as an inmate. “He was up here,” Michael Hoague said, raising his arm up to eye level. “He got down here,” he said, lowering his arm to his waist. “And he’s going to be back up here again.”

Sadly, he’s not. He’ll never be a guy who could taste a multi-million dollar signing bonus and a life of luxury.

Clarett largely chose his own fate and I’ve got very little pity for him. After all, most of us are blessed with his amazing athletic gifts and the expectation of wealth and fame that comes with that in our culture. On the other hand, I can’t help but believe that if the NFL had been less unbending and allowe d a kid who, let’s face it, had no business on a university campus to play football professionally, things might have been different.

Ohio State Student Drives into Crowd after Big Win

An Ohio State student drove his car into three people during a post-game riot after the Buckeyes beat the Texas Longhorns in a big football game over the weekend.

An Ohio State University student accused of driving his car into three people, injuring them slightly, was among several people arrested during a raucous celebration of the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes’ win over No. 2 Texas. There were about 40 fires reported, with couches and mattresses set ablaze, in student neighborhoods Saturday night, said Columbus police Sgt. David Howson, whose department arrested about 17 people, five of them on arson charges. A trash bin also was set on fire, burning two nearby cars, he said.

Battalion Fire Chief Kevin O’Connor said he was treated for bumps and bruises after he and two others were struck by a car that came through a temporary command post set up in the driveway of a student union building. The two others, Ohio State assistant vice president for student affairs Barbara Rich and her husband, were treated early Sunday at Ohio State University Medical Center for minor injuries.

The driver of the car, George Karadimas, 22, a student at the school, has been charged with vehicular assault, said Ohio State Assistant Chief Rick Amweg. He declined to comment on whether alcohol was involved. Karadimas was being held in a Franklin County jail and is scheduled to appear in court Monday morning for an arraignment, said sheriff’s deputy Travis Carter.

Oddly, “Karadimas” doesn’t sound Muslim to me. Perhaps he converted?

Seriously, I’m as big a sports fan as the next guy. But I’ve never done anything more violent than cursing at the television in reaction to a victory or loss involving my team.

OTB

Joe Paterno Ties Longetivity Record

Joe Paterno ties record for coaching longevity.

When Joe Paterno runs out of the Beaver Stadium tunnel on Saturday afternoon to kick off another Penn State season‚ he’ll officially equal a record for coaching longevity established 74 years ago.

Predictably‚ Paterno said he knew nothing about the impending milestone until asked about it during Tuesday’s teleconference.

When his Nittany Lions open the 2006 campaign against visiting Akron‚ the 79-year-old coaching wonder will begin his 41st season stalking the sidelines for Penn State‚ joining another football legend – Amos Alonzo Stagg – as the only major college coach to serve so long at one institution.

Stagg spent 41 seasons at the University of Chicago from 1892-1932.

That is simply an amazing run, and puts Paterno in the company of a simply amazing coach. Let’s take a look at Stagg’s accomplishments:

He is credited with numerous innovations‚ including the huddle‚ the lateral pass‚ the man in motion and using a tackling dummy in practice.

…

“I’m in good company‚” Paterno said.

“When I was a younger coach‚ (Illinois coach Robert) Zuppke had a book out and Stagg had a book out. They had a great impact on the game and I read those books‚ but I never met (Stagg). I met his son when he coached at Susquehanna‚ but I never met the dad.”

First off, that is an amazing list of accomplishments for Stagg. However, staying with any program for that long is amazing – and I am certain that when Paterno was starting, reading the book written by Stagg to learn about coaching, there is no way he thought he was approaching that record. Paterno will certainly go down in history as one of the best coaches in college history, and definately one of the best of this era (Bobby Bowden being the other standout). It is impossible to imagine Penn State without him, considering that Paterno had been coaching almost 20 years when I was born. I have known no other Penn State coach, and have no idea who will come next.