The NCAA recently reported its annual academic progress ratings (APR), claiming progress for many sports. At first look, the scale seemed padded to me: 1,000 is the highest possible score, 925 supposedly represents a 60% graduation rate, and the lowest score I’ve seen is 811. Looking for methodology, I poked around the NCAA web site [...]
Odds and ends on a warm weekend: storm windows, a visit from Erin’s friend Cindy, etc.
Michigan 41, Florida 35: Meyer outcoached by a mile
Saw this SEC East craziness on an email list this week:
If FLORIDA beats Vanderbilt and loses to South Carolina;
If VANDERBILT loses to Florida and beats Kentucky and Tennessee;
If GEORGIA loses to Auburn and to Kentucky;
If TENNESSEE beats Arkansas and loses to Vanderbilt and Kentucky;
If SOUTH CAROLINA loses to Arkansas and beats Florida;
If KENTUCKY loses to [...]
After another topsy-turvy week in college football, South Carolina and Florida share the drivers’ seat in the SEC East. This is quite surprising–and not because of the Gamecocks. In what is arguably a rebuilding year, Florida has certainly exceeded my expectations. The defense has been mediocre, especially on third and fourth downs, but special teams [...]
Every now and then, a witty lede gets by the AP style police:
English megastar David Beckham resumed his tour of American soccer benches on Sunday, sitting out the Los Angeles Galaxy’s game against the New England Revolution to rest his tender left ankle.
Brady Quinn is holding out. Dumb move. How will he prove that, as he claims, he’s better than 22nd pick of the first round if he’s not in camp? Unless Golden Dome Boy gets his butt to Berea soon, the only thing he’s going to hold the rest of the year is a clipboard. And [...]
A few weeks ago, the Danish national cycling authority announced that Michael Rasmussen, the guy wearing yellow, missed some drug tests and would be kicked off their national team. Now Tour favorite Alexandre Vinokourov fails a blood test, and is out of the race, along with the entire Astana team. And this comes in the [...]
New NFL commish boots “Pacman” Jones and Chris Henry for a year and half a season, respectively. Good.
Jones’ mother, Deborah Jones, said: “I just pray that this can be changed. This is not fair for him. It’s just not fair.”
I’m glad Ms. Jones’s logic wasn’t applied to Don Imus, who deservedly got the boot from [...]
ESPN has a new ombudsman. There’s no doubt the “worldwide leader” needs somebody in this position; their power on sports television is unquestionable, and conflicts of interest are rising—for example, consider that ESPN picked up a stake in Arena Football (Warning: Arenafootball.com is the Second Worst Sports Web Site Ever, right behind Gatorzone.com, so I [...]