FOOTBALL

In college football, the Penn State scandal continues.  The newest development is that wide-receivers coach Mike McQueary will not attend Saturday’s game against Nebraska.  Why?  McQueary was the 28-year old graduate assistant coach in 2002 who accidentally walked in on defensive coordinator Joe Sandusky sexually abusing a young boy.  McQueary didn’t do anything about it at the time, letting the abuse continue, but told head coach Joe Paterno the next day… at his house.  That was 9 years ago and nothing really happened.  Now McQueary is their wide-receivers coach and has reportedly been receiving death threats for his inaction on that pivotal day.  It’s uncertain whether McQueary will remain with the team.

And, in similar news, Nebraska, a team with a rabid fan base, has asked its fans traveling to Penn State to blend in with the rest of the crowd.  It’s an emotional environment at Penn State right now, where their iconic coach was recently fired.  This will be the first time in 46 years that Paterno won’t be on the sidelines.  Nebraska’s president is concerned that the passionate Penn State fan base might take it out on Cornhuskers fans if they show-off all their red garb.  Intelligently, Penn State will be adding security for this game, hoping nothing gets too out of control.  There was speculation that Penn State might forfeit the game, but most agreed that they have to play to show that the university is a bigger deal than just one man — Joe Paterno.

And in the NFL, it was the first Thursday Night Football game of the season between the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers.  Whenever the Chargers play, there’s always the question of which Chargers team will actually show up?  The jelled unit that can put up points like fire, or the team that looks like a confused group of chickens.  The Chargers got off to a rocky start when they lost their star left tackle, Marcus McNeil, to an injury.  He would be ruled out for the game, which instantly made it much easier for the tenacious Raiders to get to Phillip Rivers.  Then, Carson Palmer got into the action, hitting rookie Denarius Moore for a touchdown. But the real hero was back-up Raiders running-back Michael Bush.  He rushed for 157 yards, a touchdown, AND nabbed an additional 85 receiving yards.  The Raiders snatched a road game win, and with it… locked up first place in the AFC West.  Are the Raiders actually playoff bound?  Oakland 24, San Diego 17.

FOOTBALL

In college football, the main story still surrounds Penn State University.  In a follow-up to yesterday’s news about former Penn State defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky’s sexual abuse charges, it looks like there will be some more severe actions taken.  After all, there were first-hand reports that Sandusky had abused boys, but nobody did anything about it.  The 28-year old grad student witness who said he saw Sandusky and a young boy failed to immediately break it up and call the police right away. I still can’t get over how he didn’t scream and break it up or immediately call the police.   He mentioned it to Paterno, but no immediate action was taken. Penn State is now doing something about it.

First, they effectively removed Dr. Spanier as president of Penn State University.  Then, in an action that contradicts a statement yesterday saying that Paterno would leave the organization at the end of the season — the Board of Trustees has now fired Paterno effective immediately.  He’s gone.   He should have mentioned something as soon as he heard about it, but didn’t.  Now he is gone, and his legacy is certainly in shambles.  But that doesn’t really mean much compared to the innocent victims.  Their lives are scarred forever.

BASEBALL

In some more disturbing news out of baseball, it was recently reported that Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos has been kidnapped in his home nation of Venezuela.  Ramos was reportedly taken by gunmen and is still in their custody.  Ramos just completed a successful rookie season, and is supposed to be a key building block for the Nationals going forward.  There are no updates at this time, so we can only hope that Ramos is ok.  His teammates have been tweeting that their thoughts and prayers are with him.  It’s a scary situation.

Finally, in some more news out of baseball, it looks like the Jorge Posada Yankee-era… is over.  Posada was part of the Yankees superstar glory seasons.  He’s a 5-time all-star and a 4-time World Series champion with the Yankees.  Posada was a sturdy catcher and a fan favorite.  But, this past season, there was a lot of controversy surrounding Posada.  They wanted to take him out of the starting line-up, and he publicly complained about it.  Then he become rather ornery on the field towards other teams and even Yankees brass.  Now, at 40, it looks like they’re forcing him to move on.  His best days are most likely behind him, but there will be some team out there that could use a solid relief catcher and clutch hitter like Posada. He’s not done for good.

FOOTBALL

In college football, the major scandal at Penn State continues.  It was reported that head coach Joe Paterno’s protoge, Jerry Sandusky, sexually assaulted and abused young boys while at Penn State.  Sandusky, apparently, had several sexual encounters with boys in the Penn State locker room.  This was going on for 15 years, with the boys visiting the college via a local charity.  Finally… somebody reported Sandusky.  Now, all media surrounds Penn State.  Yesterday, Paterno was scheduled for a weekly press conference, but it was canceled just an hour before.  Paterno said he wanted to speak about the allegations, but would respect the university’s decision to cancel the press conference.  As of right now, Joe Paterno still has his head coaching job, but maybe not for long.

Elsewhere in college football, the big game this weekend is #3 Stanford vs. #7 Oregon.  This will essentially decide the fate of Stanford’s BCS championship hopes.  If they win, they still have a chance, but if they lose, they can probably expect to drop in the rankings, as Oregon is the toughest team they’ve played.  Fortunately for Stanford… they have Andrew Luck, arguably the best college quarterback in the last 15 years, and a lock to be the #1 pick in the draft. Unfortunately for Stanford… Luck will be without his best receiver Chris Owusu.  You’re talking about a guy whose good for at least 1 or 2 touchdowns a game, and Stanford will need them against a high-scoring Oregon team.  Then again, Stanford is looking for revenge against the only team that beat them last year.  This game is a must-see.

Finally, in the NFL, the Patriots brought in some big name free agents in the off-season.  That included Chad Ochocinco, and the big man… Albert Haynesworth.  Haynesworth had been known as a troublesome guy in the NFL.  He was amazing on the Titans, leading to the Redskins giving him a $100 million dollar contract.  On the Redskins, he was terrible and had a bad attitude, and was ultimately released.  In the off-season, Pats coach Bill Belichick decided to give him another chance, and the Pats have a history of including veterans and making them successful (Randy Moss, Corey Dillon).  But it looks like Haynesworth still didn’t care while in New England, and while Belichick is a genius, you simply can’t coach effort.  If a player doesn’t care, no coach can make him care.

FOOTBALL

In the NFL, it was Monday Night Football between the Chicago Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles.  The Eagles trounced the Cowboys last week on national TV, showing the world that they are now a force to be reckoned with again — that they were going to make a second half playoff run.  Their next victim was to be the Bears.  But… the Bears are no slouch this season.  They were ready.   Quarterback Jay Cutler came out and put them up 10-0 right away.  But, the Eagles would come soaring back, and thanks to a strong rushing attack led by LeSean McCoy, they jumped out to a 24-17 lead in the 3rd quarter.  A safe lead, except… we had an Earl Bennett sighting in Chicago.  That’s right, the former Vanderbilt receiver, who was supposed to have the same connection in Chicago with his QB at Vandy (Jay Cutler), finally caught fire.  He caught a key touchdown to put the Bears up 27-24, and they could hold onto the lead.  That puts the Eagles at 3-5 and 3 games back out of first place.  Chicago 30, Philadelphia 24.

And in college football, Houston Nutt was brought into reinvigorate the once storied Ole Miss program.  These guys have a very classy program, where students dress up in nice clothes for the game.  Nutt did a good job when he first got there, but recently, they have been below average, and this season they’ve been just horrible — even losing to a putrid Kentucky team this past weekend.  Ole Miss decided that it was time to move on.  They need to find another coach that can help them compete in the very challenging SEC conference, where they must face LSU AND Alabama every year.  They need a new system and someone who can lead them back to a BCS Bowl appearance.

BOXING

Finally, in some sad news out of the boxing world, at the age of 67, Joe Frazier has died.  Frazier is most popular for his trio of bouts against the superstar Muhammad Ali.  Without Frazier, there would be no legend of Ali.  After all, Ali had to beat someone mighty in order to get the legend title.  In 1971, Joe Frazier got Ali again and finally beat him.  He ruled the boxing world for 2 years, until he ran into another juggernaut, George Foreman.  Foreman beat Frazier, but then Frazier got a rematch with Ali (who beat Foreman) in the classic Thrilla in Manilla.  Both these guys were past their prime, but they had one heck of fight.  Frazier lost, and prompted Ali to say, “I’m just happy there are no more Joe Fraziers to fight”.  He was a true legend not only in the boxing world, but to sports in general.

FOOTBALL

In college football this weekend, it was the unofficial National Championship Game between #1 LSU and #2 Alabama.  If the season ended prior to this game, these two would face off in the National Championship on a neutral field. But, this game wasn’t played on a neutral field, it was played on an Alabama’s field — one of the toughest places to play in college football.  Then again, LSU has arguably the most traveling fan base in college football, so they would definitely have a presence.

The game, as predicted, was a defensive showdown (as both offenses are clearly inferior to the team’s defensive squads).  It was a field goal contest, as the game went to halftime with Alabama leading 6-3 (then again, Alabama botched a few field goals or it would have been more).  LSU tied it up in the second half, but neither team could do anymore, so we were headed to overtime.  In OT, Bama got the ball first, but LSU’s defense shut them down, and Bama missed a long 52-yard field goal.  LSU got the ball, and punched it to Alabama’s 5-yard line — setting up an easy field goal to firmly establish themselves as the #1 team in America.  Alabama isn’t completely out of it yet, but baring a major upset, LSU controls its road to the National Championship.  LSU 9, Alabama 6.

In the NFL, it was a rematch of a much remembered Super Bowl between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots.  The Pats came into the game with a 21-game home winning streak.  Most of the action of this game came in the 4th quarter.  With 3 minutes left, Eli Manning hit Mario Manningham in the endzone to put the Giants up 17-13.  But Brady answered, marching the Pats down the field, then, on 4th down, hitting tight end Rob Gronkowski alone in the end zone to put the Pats up 20-17.  Suddenly, however, it seems Eli Manning has established himself as an elite quarterback.  He drove all the way into the Pats red zone, thanks to a horrendous Pats defense, then hit tight end Jake Ballard in the corner of the end zone to ice the game and end the Pats home winning streak.  NY Giants 24, New England 20.

Finally, in the Sunday night showdown, it was another rematch as the Steelers were looking to avenge the beating the Baltimore Ravens gave them on opening day.  Except… the Ravens were ready and stopped the Steelers offense in the first half.  But, in the second, the Steelers got back to business.  Roethlisberger got the job done, leading the Steelers to the end zone (with a TD from running back Rashard Mendenhall) and then a beautiful strike to speedy wide receiver Mike Wallace.  It looked like the Steelers had the game won, but they didn’t expect Joe Flacco to finally become clutch.  He marched the Ravens down the field, and with 10 seconds left hit Torrey Smith with a 26-yard touchdown strike to win the game and sweep the season series against the Steelers.  Baltimore 23, Pittsburgh 20.

FOOTBALL

In the NFL, Colts owner Jim Irsay said the Peyton Manning era isn’t over in Indianapolis.  Manning was cleared to practice by doctors, but Manning still said his neck is healing slowly.  Manning has made it clear that he’d still like to play in 2011 if possible, but knows he could be jeopardizing his future if he were to take a hard hit that could instantly end his career.   The neck is a fragile thing after all.  But the Colts have some larger concerns to deal with — they need to decide if they want to opt out of Manning’s five-year contract.  With their current situation, they are headed for a winless season and the #1 overall draft pick.  At that point they will have to choose:  Stick with Manning, or draft his heir apparent Andrew Luck.  And according to most experts, Manning will have no interest in mentoring Luck for a few seasons.  Plus, Luck is a once in 20-years quarterback.  He’s ready and able to play NOW and shouldn’t have to wait behind Manning.  We’ll see how this plays out.

Elsewhere in the NFL, a surprise in the October awards.  Cam Newton has the been the golden boy rookie this season.  His passing yard numbers are off the charts as he’s on pace to throw for over 4,000 yards this season… which would be a rookie record.  However, the Panthers are still only 2-6, which is why Newton didn’t get the award for Offensive Rookie of the Year.  That honor went to the Bengals’ Andy Dalton (the phenom out of TCU), who has quietly led the Bengals to a 4-0 record in the month of October.  That makes them 5-2 on the season and in line to make the playoffs.  And this is a team that EVERYBODY was writing off in the beginning of the season BECAUSE OF Andy Dalton.  This poor kid got a bad wrap right from the start, but he’s actually really good.  Plus, he’s got top wide-receiver AJ Green to connect with for many years going forward.  The Bengals could actually be quite dangerous, and Andy Dalton deserves the kudos.

Finally, in some relatively uplifting news, Bryan Stow, the Giants fan that was beaten at Dodger stadium on opening day, is slowly starting to make a recovery.  Yesterday, it was reported that he was able to write his own name.  That’s actually quite remarkable for someone who has suffered severe brain damage.  The men who attacked him have both plead not guilty to the charges, and that court case will be one that everybody in Los Angeles and San Francisco will have their eyes on.  Even so, Stow’s family is thrilled that Bryan is making any kind of recovery at all.  More reports on this should come in soon.

FOOTBALL

In college football, with teams fleeing the Big East left and right (including Pitt, Syracuse, and what soon looks like UCONN), the Big East is forced to rebuild.  This is not always a bad thing, as there are a number of high-profile mid-major teams out there who have been walloping their current competition.  Joining a major conference like the Big East at least gives them a chance to prove they have what it takes to compete for a National Championship.  Plus, if they win the Big East, that could score them a birth in a major BCS Bowl (and that’s good money for the school).  So, yesterday, the Big East announced plans to invite Navy, Air Force, and Boise State for football only, and SMU, Houston, and Central Florida for all sports.  Sure, those aren’t exactly geographically ideal, but it would make the Big East interesting again and give those 6 schools stiffer competition from year to year.  We’ll see if those school accept the invite.

And, in the NFL, the Raiders are coming off a bye week with a new quarterback at the helm:  Former Bengals star Carson Palmer.  Palmer may be a bit older, but many think a fresh location and, more importantly, new organization (as it was reported that Carson was very unhappy with the Bengals management — after all, he opted to retire as opposed to taking money to show up), could breathe new life into Palmer.  This could also reinvigorate the Raiders passing attack, which would then open up their vicious running-game headed by Darren McFadden.  In order to help Palmer, the Raiders have signed one of his former favorite targets in Cincinnati:  T.J. Houshmanzadeh.  These two definitely had a great chemistry for a few seasons, and putting T.J. in the mix could help the Raiders pick up some key first downs.  Remember, the Raiders are still in playoff contention, and once you get in, there’s no telling what could happen.  It will be interesting to see how the Palmer experiment works out.

GOLF

Golf Magazine has named Rory McIlroy, not Tiger Woods, player of the year.  Clearly, Tiger wasn’t even in the running considering his poor performance on the courses this year.  But McIlroy was a beast out there.  McIlory is clearly golf’s “It” kid right now.  In fact, his quick ascension is reminiscent of Tiger Woods early success.  After all, McIlroy is only 22-years old, and already has a U.S. Open victory under his belt.  On top of that, he nearly won the Masters tournament, before slipping up at the end.  Of course, McIlroy is one of those golf prodigies who had a club in his hand at 2 years old, and, reportedly, hit a 40 yard drive as a toddler (the mythology begins).  It’s clear that this kid is only set for big things.  The main question is:  Can he continue winning now that he’s got the spotlight on him?