Sporting News: Roof hired as Auburn defensive coordinator

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=504300

Ted Roof, a successful defensive coach at Georgia Tech who struggled as a head coach at Duke, was hired as defensive coordinator at Auburn by new coach Gene Chizik.

New York Times: Boston College fires coach for interviewing with Jets

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/sports/football/08jets.html

Saying he wanted to find someone who really wanted to be the football coach at Boston College, the university’s athletic director, Gene DeFilippo, followed through Wednesday on his threat to fire Jeff Jagodzinski if he interviewed with the Jets for their open position.

Jagodzinski, the Eagles’ coach for the past two seasons, talked to the Jets on Tuesday night, and DeFilippo called him into his office Wednesday morning and fired him. Jagodzinski had three years remaining in a five-year contract.

ESPN: Saints fire defensive coordinator

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3817145&campaign=rss&source=NFLHeadlines

The Saints fired defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs on Wednesday, 10 days after a disappointing season ended with New Orleans missing the playoffs.

SI.com: Cowboys release Pacman Jones

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/01/07/cowboys.pacman.ap/index.html?eref=si_topstories

Troubled cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones must look elsewhere in the NFL for another chance. The Dallas Cowboys are done with him.

Jones was released Wednesday by the Cowboys following a turbulent season in which he was suspended six games for an off-field scuffle and made little impact on the field.

ESPN: Seahawks hire Knapp as offensive coordinator

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3817272&campaign=rss&source=NFLHeadlines

Greg Knapp will be the new offensive coordinator for the Seahawks, the first of many moves to be made by Seattle under new coach Jim Mora.

A person familiar with the hire confirmed Wednesday that the 45-year-old Knapp has agreed to leave the Oakland Raiders to reunite with Mora, Knapp's former boss in Atlanta.

The person requested anonymity because Knapp has yet to sign a contract with the Seahawks. His contract with Oakland was to run through Jan. 13, according to Raiders coach Tom Cable.

Sporting News: Jason Giambi signs with Oakland A's

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=504541

Jason Giambi and the A's finalized a $5.25 million, one-year contract with a club option Wednesday, bringing the free-agent designated hitter and first baseman back to the place where he began his big league career. The sides had reached a preliminary agreement earlier this week but Giambi still needed to complete the obligatory physical for the deal to get done.

ESPN: Moreno and Stafford head to NFL

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft09/news/story?id=3815504&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford and running back Knowshon Moreno, who led the SEC in passing and rushing this season, respectively, announced Wednesday afternoon that they will enter April's NFL draft.

New York Times: Mangini to be Browns head coach

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/sports/football/AP-FBN-Browns-Mangini.html

The Cleveland Browns have agreed to hire Eric Mangini as their head coach, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press.

Mangini, fired last week by the New York Jets, reached an agreement with the club Wednesday, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because Mangini's contract has not been finalized.

ESPN: Indians agree to one-year deal with Pavano

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3813706&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

The Cleveland Indians and free-agent pitcher Carl Pavano agreed to a one-year contract on Tuesday.

Financial terms were not disclosed. Sources told ESPN.com that the deal was worth $1.5 million plus incentives. Pavano can earn an additional $5.3 million based on starts and innings pitched.

SI.com: Texas beat Ohio State in Fiesta Bowl thriller

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/arash_markazi/01/06/Texas.Fiesta/index.html?eref=si_topstories

It's become a storyline as cliché as boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl in the end.

Only for Ohio State, its romantic comedy has devolved into a horror film where the Buckeyes get the lead, lose the lead and continually fall short in the end. It's a script they've followed the past three years in BCS bowls, although this year's episode provided the most heart-wrenching finale.

The happy ending was dashed when Texas wide receiver Quan Cosby shook off Ohio State safety Anderson Russell in the middle of the field and ran into the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown with 16 seconds to go to give Texas a dramatic 24-21 win at the Fiesta Bowl.

Through three quarters, Ohio State followed the script perfectly. After taking a 6-3 halftime lead, it began to fade in the second half as it had during its last two BCS blowouts, watching Texas take a 17-6 lead that looked as if it would only grow. That's when the Buckeyes were supposed to exit stage left and allow Texas to run away with the win just like Florida and LSU had the past two years. Only this time, they reversed the script. They didn't go away. They planned to leave with the girl this time.

Ohio State scored 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to take a 21-17 lead with less than two minutes to go that seemed about as improbable as senior quarterback Todd BoeckmanTerrelle Pryor, for a touchdown. It was playing out to be a storybook ending for the Buckeyes before quarterback Colt McCoy and Texas won the game on a last-minute drive -- just as Texas Tech had done earlier this season in knocking the Longhorns of the national-championship picture. connecting with his freshman replacement,

"It was a dream come true," Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo said. "When you are a kid, you dream of making plays towards the fourth quarter. Quan made a great catch. Colt made a great throw. Man, it's a story you can write a book about with this 2008 University of Texas team."

While Ohio State did its best to reverse its current trend of three straight losses in the BCS and the Big Ten's now six-game losing streak in BCS bowls, Texas did its best to prove that the best one-loss team in the country may not be in Miami Beach right now.

"I think this is the best team in the country, that's why I'm going to vote us No. 1," said Texas coach Mack Brown, echoing the sentiments USC coach Pete Carroll and Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said about their teams after their recent bowl wins. "I don't think anybody can beat Texas right now."

That's right, move over USC. Step aside Utah. The "What If" club just got a little bigger heading into Thursday's BCS National Championship Game between Oklahoma and Florida.

If all publicity is good publicity, then the BCS has been great for college football, but in a Britney Spears/Lindsay Lohan/Paris Hilton kind of way. Yes, we talk about it ad nauseam, but never in a positive light. Any conversation about the topic is usually pointless and leaves you with an empty feeling.

In what system does an undefeated team that beat six bowl teams, including the No. 1 team for the last half of the season, have no shot at the title? In what system does a former No. 1 team that only played one bad half in September and would be favored to win the national championship by every sports book have no chance to win the championship? And in what system does another former No. 1 team that loses one game on one freaky play get passed over for a title shot in favor of a team it beat on a neutral field by 10 points? It's a system so absurd and illogical that only Paris Hilton might be able to understand it.

Now Texas will not (I repeat: WILL NOT) win a share of the national championship. Yes, it has a strong argument if Oklahoma beats Florida to finish with the same record as the Longhorns, with Texas still holding that 45-35 trump card from October.

Texas will find out that the card has expired. Had it beaten USC, Utah, Alabama or even Penn State, there might be an argument. But beating Ohio State in January, as great as the Fiesta Bowl played out to be, is sort of like beating Kimbo Slice. Sure, it's a "name" opponent, but does it really mean anything at this point?

The loss was yet another stinging blow for an Ohio State program that desperately needed to redeem itself after two straight BCS embarrassments. Perhaps never before had a team entered a game with more at stake for its program and its conference. The Fiesta Bowl wasn't just a statement game for the Buckeyes, who had been blown out of the last two BCS National Championship Games by nearly three touchdowns each time. It was a statement game for the Big Ten, too.

To say that the Big Ten has struggled lately in bowl games would be as obvious as saying the economy has hit a rough patch. There has never been less confidence in the Big Ten, historically one of the strongest conferences in college football. Utah was given a better shot of beating Alabama than Ohio State was of beating Texas, or Penn State was of beating USC. That the conference finished the bowl season at 1-6 isn't surprising, as it is now commonplace for a league that hasn't had a winning record in bowl games since 2002 -- going 15-23 since Ohio State beat Miami for the national championship in a game that seems like a lifetime ago.

Despite its struggles, no conference has benefited more financially from the current BCS set-up than the Big Ten, which has sent the maximum allotted two teams to the BCS in each of the last four years and five of the last six. Although many pundits bemoaned another Ohio State BCS appearance, the truth is the only other viable options were Boise State and TCU.

That most college football fans outside of Ohio would have rather seen a mid-major from the Mountain West or the WAC play in the BCS rather than Ohio State should tell you all you need to know about the backlash against the Buckeyes. It was the same feeling most had at the prospect Penn State playing for the national championship, and we saw how that likely would have played out.

While Ohio State came into the Fiesta Bowl as a 10-point underdog and was given little chance to win, it outplayed Texas for most of the game, being done in largely by third quarter that saw the Longhorns not only score two touchdowns, but gain 14 first downs to Ohio State's zero.

But in the fourth quarter, the combination of Boeckman, who passed for 110 yards and one touchdown, and the Vince Young-like elusiveness of Pryor nearly won the game. Then McCoy took over and put together an 11-play, 78-yard drive in 1:42 that would culminate in the most dramatic game-winner Texas had seen since Young scrambled into the end zone at the Rose Bowl three years ago to win the national championship.

"On that last play when they brought everybody, [Quan] kind of said over and over, 'If I catch the same look, give me a slant, give me a slant behind the linebacker,'" said McCoy, who completed a Fiesta Bowl record 41 of 59 passes for 414 yards and two touchdowns. "If he comes, you just make that (guy) miss, we will score. I gave him a good ball and he made the play."

Of course he did. In the end, as intriguing as Ohio State made it, you knew how it was going to end. The same way it always does for Ohio State and the Big Ten -- with Buckeyes leaving empty handed, no matter how much hope they gave you that it would finish any other way.

ESPN: Brees AP Offensive Player of the Year

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3813555&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

Drew Brees understood what breaking a record set by Dan Marino would mean to the New Orleans Saints.

So coming up 15 yards short was disappointing to the Saints quarterback, who on Tuesday was named The Associated Press 2008 NFL Offensive Player of the Year.

Brees threw for 5,069 yards, 15 fewer than Marino's 1984 mark and only the second time someone has eclipsed 5,000 yards passing in a season.

SI.com: Twins owner Carl Pohlad dies at 93

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/01/05/twins.pohlad.ap/index.html?eref=si_topstories

Carl Pohlad, a billionaire banker whose Minnesota Twins won two World Series titles during nearly his nearly quarter-century as owner, died Monday, a baseball official said. He was 93.

MLB.com: Rays sign Pat Burrell to two-year deal

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090105&content_id=3733114&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp

The Tampa Bay Rays have signed veteran right-handed hitting outfielder Pat Burrell to a two-year deal. He will donate a portion of his contract to the Rays Baseball Foundation, the official charity of the Rays.

Sporting News: Cubs agree to deal with Bradley

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=503752

The Chicago Cubs have reached an agreement in principle with free agent Milton Bradley, FoxSports.com reports.

The deal is believed to be in the three-year, $30 million range, sources told the website, and will be completed when Bradley passes a physical and some language in the contract is ironed out.

The Cubs plan to play the 30-year-old Bradley in right field. A switch-hitter, he fills the team's need for a lefthanded bat in the middle of the order.

ESPN: Pittsburgh new No.1

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3811369

For the first time in 101 seasons of Pitt basketball, the Panthers are No. 1, making the jump from third in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' rankings on Monday after previously unbeatens North Carolina (to heavy underdog Boston College) and Connecticut (to Georgetown) lost in the last week.

Pitt received 30 of 31 first-place votes. The third-ranked, 13-1 Tar Heels still hold onto one first-place vote in the wake of a top-to-bottom shakeup among the poll's top 10.

Pitt improved to 14-0 after winning its first two Big East games, against Rutgers and Georgetown on the road. Its win over the Hoyas was a smackdown -- a 70-54 victory for Pitt after Georgetown had just taken out host UConn earlier in the week.

"I don't think it will change anything for us," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon told ESPN.com's Andy Katz on Sunday night, alluding to the Panthers likely reaching the top of the heap. "We've become rivals of schools over the years, rivals of schools that weren't rivals before."

Besides Pitt, the other undefeated Division I men's teams are Wake Forest (13-0), Clemson (14-0) and Illinois State (14-0). Wake, off to its best start since the 1996-97 season, plays host to North Carolina on Sunday.

The Panthers collected 774 total points in the voting, 60 more than No. 2 Duke (12-1), which made a three-spot leap from last week. Wake Forest was fourth, followed by UConn, Oklahoma (13-1), Texas (11-2) and UCLA (12-2) in a tie for seventh, Syracuse (14-1) and Georgetown (10-2).

Eleventh-ranked Clemson kicked off the second 10 after a five-spot jump, followed by Michigan State (11-2), Notre Dame (10-3), Purdue (11-3), Marquette (13-2), Arizona State (12-2), Villanova (12-2), Xavier (11-2), Minnesota (13-1) and Top 25 newcomer Butler (12-1) at No. 20.

No. 21 Louisville (9-3), West Virginia (11-2), Baylor (12-2), Boston College (13-2) and Tennessee (9-3) rounded out the Top 25. Gonzaga, Ohio State and Michigan dropped out of the poll.

Sports Business Journal: Super Bowl gets a 'Trophy Towel'

http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/61058

Bath towels will join the championship caps and T-shirts distributed to the winning players on the field after Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Fla.

A 24-inch-by-42-inch towel from longtime NFL licensee McArthur Towel and Sports will join the ranks of championship licensed products given out to players during the championship celebration, and will immediately be shipped to retail in the hopes that the Super Bowl TV exposure will boost the hot market sales that inevitably follow a championship.

Locker-room championship T-shirts and caps have been a Super Bowl annuity for years, and many NFL licensees have attempted to get the badge of authenticity, credibility and sales afforded by being a part of the Super Bowl party. “We’ve been approached by a lot of licensees that wanted access to the Super Bowl field,” said NFL hard lines chief Leo Kane. “The towel just felt right. It’s because they are a part of every sport, and we think it will provide our players and fans with another great way to celebrate their championship.”

What’s being called the “Trophy Towel” (although it will not have an image of the Vince Lombardi championship trophy) will be a “high-quality,” nine-pound towel that will feature championship team marks and retail for about $25 at sports specialty and midtier retailers, including Dick’s Sporting Goods, JCPenney and Kohl’s. The towels will also be immediately available at NFLshop.com, along with the Reebok championship shirts and caps, as part of a “Trophy Collection” supported by a TV ad on Super Bowl broadcaster NBC just after the final gun.

In its initial year, the program is limited to 50,000 to 60,000 towels. A small amount will also be made to commemorate the AFC and NFC championships winners, with a more limited distribution, including on NFLshop.com. A replica version of the championship towel in a size closer to the “Terrible Towels” waved by Pittsburgh Steelers fans since 1975 will be sold at mass merchandisers.

“This is a whole new level of exposure for our product,” said McArthur President Gregg McArthur, whose company has manufactured previous terry cloth hits, including the “Terrible Towel” and the Green Bay Packers “Title Towel.”

“[The towel] has always been a great vehicle in sports,” he said, “Anyone at Gatorade could tell you that. We’re taking the next step by turning them into an authentic championship item.”

If the “Trophy Towel” program is successful, expect to see it copied by other leagues. Since towels usually fall under the “hard goods” category at properties, any success will probably give them the leverage to consider adding more non-apparel items to their authentic championship licensed goods.

ESPN: Steelers' Harrison AP Defensive Player of the Year

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=503683

James Harrison slams down the current version of the Steel Curtain better than any Pittsburgh Steeler, earning him The Associated Press 2008 Defensive Player of the Year award.

The linebacker who had a career-high 16 sacks, setting a team record, and led the NFL with a career-high seven forced fumbles, beat Dallas' DeMarcus Ware in balloting by a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters announced Monday. Pittsburgh defense was the league's stingiest in total defense, pass defense and points allowed. Harrison was its main hammer.

"That's something that everybody in the league would love to have, to be voted the top player in the league for that year," Harrison said. "In my mind, I think I do -- and it's going to sound boring -- what the defense allows me to do and what my teammates allow me to do."

Harrison earned 22 votes to 13 for Ware.

Baltimore safety Ed Reed, the 2004 winner, got eight votes. Tennessee defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth had five and Harrison's teammate, safety Troy Polamalu, got two.

Harrison credited defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau's schemes with allowing him, an undrafted free agent from Kent State who was cut several times by Pittsburgh and once by Baltimore, to eventually become a star.

"The defense is built to play with 11 guys, and if all 11 guys are on the same page, playing the same defense on the same play, there's nothing that can go wrong and that's just how we feel about it," Harrison said.

But fellow linebacker James Farrior, who has seen Harrison develop from a backup to Joey Porter into one of the game's biggest playmakers, sees Harrison as the key.

"His whole attitude about football, I think he works harder than anybody else in this locker room," Farrior said. "He has a great work ethic. He's very tuned in to what he has to do to make himself better. That's all he strives for, to try to be better than anybody else, and you can see his determination when he's out there on the field.

"We've got good players on this team, and every team has good players, but he seems to be -- this year and last year -- making the plays that made the difference in the game."

Harrison is the fifth Steeler to win the award, including three Hall of Famers from the original Steel Curtain: Joe Greene (1974), Mel Blount (1975) and Jack Lambert (1976). In 1993, Rod Woodson was AP Defensive Player of the Year, and he is eligible for the Hall for the first time this year.

The Steelers did not allow a 100-yard rusher or 300-yard passer in 2008. Harrison didn't limit his work to that stingy unit, though: Harrison also had 12 special teams tackles.

"People said I couldn't do this or couldn't do that," he noted. "I was too short, too slow. Basically, I play and prepare myself in the offseason with the thoughts of what people said I couldn't do."

And he's proven he can do just about everything.

Sporting News: Green Bay fires 6 defensive coaches

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=503684

The Green Bay Packers have cleaned house, releasing defensive coordinator Bob Sanders and five other assistant coaches.

Also let go Monday were: defensive ends coach Carl Hairston, defensive tackles coach Robert Nunn, secondary coach Kurt Schottenheimer, nickel package/cornerbacks coach Lionel Washington and strength and conditioning coordinator Rock Gullickson.

ESPN: Southern Miss linebacker Gerald McRath to enter draft

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3810338&campaign=rss&source=NCFHeadlines

Southern Mississippi junior linebacker Gerald McRath said Sunday night that he will enter the NFL draft.

"I've graduated with a degree in sports administration and business and now I want to work my butt off for the pros," McRath said from his Georgia home.

McRath, 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, can play inside or outside linebacker. He is a Conference USA defensive player of the year winner and a two-time first-team all-conference selection.

SI.com: Ravens beat Dolphins in playoffs

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/scoreboards/2009/01/04/3294_viewcast_recap.html?eref=T1

The Baltimore Ravens had Chad Pennington spinning, ducking, on his heels and on his back. When he did manage to get a pass away, they were often there to snatch it.

The Ravens came up with four interceptions, including one returned 64 yards for a touchdown by Ed Reed , and won 27-9 Sunday to spoil the Miami Dolphins ' first playoff game in seven seasons.

ESPN: Boston College stuns #1 North Carolina

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=290040153&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

Tyrese Rice came through with another big game against North Carolina, one that ended all the talk of a perfect season for the top-ranked Tar Heels.

Rice scored 25 points and Rakim Sanders added 22 to help Boston College stun North Carolina 85-78 on Sunday, likely ending the Tar Heels' run atop the early season polls with a surprisingly one-sided road victory.

New York Times: Eagles beat Vikings

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/sports/football/05vikings.html

For the better part of Sunday’s National Football Conference wild-card game, the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense managed merely three field goals during an afternoon of frustration against an injury-depleted Minnesota Vikings defense. Philadelphia led by 2 points only because cornerback Asante Samuel returned an interception for a touchdown, but the Vikings appeared one big Adrian Peterson play away from stealing the game.

Then the Eagles turned to Brian Westbrook, their gifted runner and receiver who spent much of the season battling injuries. With less than seven minutes to play, Westbook took a short pass from Donavan McNabb, turned upfield, juked free and dashed through the Minnesota secondary for a 71-yard touchdown. That was enough for the Eagles to finish off the Vikings, 26-14, before a boisterous, white-towel-waving crowd of 61,746 at the Metrodome.

SI.com: Mike Smith is AP's NFL Coach of the Year

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/01/04/smith.coach.of.the.year.ap/index.html?eref=si_topstories

Atlanta's Mike Smith edged Miami's Tony Sparano by one vote Sunday for The Associated Press 2008 NFL Coach of the Year award.

ESPN: Patriots to put franchise tag on Cassel

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3809444&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

Sources told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen that the Patriots will use a franchise tag on Cassel that will give the team two options: Trade him if all goes well with Tom Brady's rehabilitation from a knee injury or keep him because all is not well with Brady.

SI.com: Cardinas beat Falcons

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/scoreboards/2009/01/03/3293_viewcast_recap.html

Kurt Warner opened with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Larry Fitzgerald and connected with Anquan Boldin on a 71-yard scoring play as the Cardinals beat Atlanta 30-24 Saturday before a raucous, towel-waving crowd.

ESPN: Alabama's Andre Smith declares for NFL Draft

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3808765&campaign=rss&source=NCFHeadlines

Alabama offensive tackle Andre Smith made it official Saturday when he announced through a Montgomery, Ala., law firm that he was leaving school early to enter the NFL draft. Smith, the 2008 Outland Trophy winner, was suspended for the Crimson Tide's Allstate Sugar Bowl loss to Utah amid allegations that he or someone on his behalf had improper dealings with an agent.

New York Times: Chragers beat Colts in OT

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/sports/football/04chargers.html

The Chargers, who were 4-8 and seemingly going nowhere at the end of November, are headed to the second round of the postseason after upsetting the Indianapolis Colts in overtime, 23-17, Saturday night in an American Football Conference wild-card playoff game.