Sports fodder for a Friday morning . . .
Don't feel sorry for Tiger Woods. The second he signed his first $50 million endorsement deal for Nike he knew what he was getting himself into. Should we care whether or not Woods is having marital problems? Of course not. But we also shouldn't care whether or not Woods wears a swoosh on his cap, sips Gatorade or shaves with a Gillette razor. But we do. And that is why Woods was paid $92 million for endorsing various products last year alone, according to Sports Illustrated. He only made $7.7 million playing golf. So, if Woods is willing to earn millions of dollars off the public's fascination with everything he does and says, he also has to accept all of ugliness and stupidity included in that fascination. Don't feel sorry for Tiger, folks.
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Who should win college football's Heisman Trophy? Who cares? It is the most meaningless award in a sport that seemingly hands out two meaningless awards every week. But, in case you care, Stanford running back Toby Gerhart should win it with Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore a close second. But they won't win it. It looks like Florida's Tim Tebow and Texas' Colt McCoy are the favorites now. Nobody, though, has done more for their teams this year than Gerhart and Moore. Take Gerhart off Stanford and Moore off Boise and, well, nobody would be talking about those two teams this year. And the Nevada Wolf Pack would be celebrating a Western Athletic Conference title right now.
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Tebow doesn't deserve the Heisman any more than the Wolf Pack's Colin Kaepernick deserves the award. Tebow as a passer this year is 162-of-244 for 2,166 yards, 17 touchdowns and four interceptions. As a runner he has 796 yards (4.1 average) and 13 touchdowns. Kaepernick is 151-of-253 as a passer for 1,875 yards, 19 scores and five interceptions. As a runner he has gained 1,160 yards (7.8 average) and has scored 16 touchdowns. That's 2,962 yards and 30 TDs for Tebow and 3,035 yards and 35 scores for Kaepernick. And don't tell me Tebow has played a much tougher schedule than Kaepernick. Florida, don't forget, has played Charleston Southern, Troy, Florida International and Vanderbilt this year as well as mediocre teams from Florida State, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas.
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Does anybody this side of Lou Holtz actually believe that Notre Dame will make the right choice in hiring its next football coach? This is the same program that hired Bob Davie, George O'Leary, Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis with its last four hires. Davie was just in the neighborhood, O'Leary was the best liar, Willingham was the only coach still interested in the job after the O'Leary mess and Weis was the flavor of the month. If Notre Dame knew what it was doing, it would toss a ton of money at Cincinnati's Brian Kelly or Boise State's Chris Petersen and then take a step back and see what happens. If that doesn't work out, they can always check out O'Leary's new resume.
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Since we are on the subject of what-we're-they-thinking-coaching-hires, does Florida State know what it's doing with Jimbo Fisher? Who, exactly, is Jimbo Fisher and why does Florida State think he is the obvious choice to replace Bobby Bowden? On second thought, we probably should give FSU a break. This school, after all, hasn't had to hire a football coach since Chris Ault was a rookie head coach. They are a little out of practice. When one coach stays forever, it is always difficult for that school to find his replacement. Just ask the Wolf Pack.
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No Wolf Pack football regular season, by the way, has ever started and ended with as much disappointment and frustration as this season. Notre Dame was a chance of a lifetime to start the year. Beating Boise State last Friday night would have meant the end of a decade of that disappointment and frustration, not to mention arguably the biggest win in school history. But it didn't happen. So, now, what are we left with? We are left with a meaningless bowl game and all of the same familiar questions. Can this program beat Boise? Is the defense improved? When will this program win a big non-conference game? Next year, Pack fans. Next year.
