Terps show well in NFL Combine

For 300 NFL prospects, the annual NFL Combine in Indianapolis is a chance to stand out among their peers and promote their draft stock come April.

It's no different for the three Maryland Terrapins who were invited to the event: wide receiver Torrey Smith, running back Da'Rel Scott and linebacker Adrian Moten.

The 6-foot-1, 204-pound Smith ran the fourth-best 40-yard dash (4.43 seconds) among wide receivers, just behind players from Abilene Christian, Fort Valley State and Alabama's Julio Jones. Scouts tend to put a huge value on impressive 40-yard dash times, and Smith confirmed he's one of the speediest in the draft.

It was a great on-field combine for Smith, who also ranked second-best among receivers at the vertical jump (41.0 inches), sixth among receivers at the bench press (16 reps), ninth in the broad jump (10 feet, 6 inches), 10th in the 20-yard shuttle (4.13 seconds), 13th in the three-cone drill (6.72 seconds) and 15th in the 60-yard shuttle (11.13 seconds).

Scouts remain concerned about his route-running ability, as several scouts remarked most of his catches came from shorter routes. But fans who watched him for the past two years know he's a legitimate deep threat when healthy.

Elsewhere, Scott confirmed his pure speed, ranking first among all participants in the 40-yard dash (4.34 seconds). He also ranked seventh among running backs in the 60-yard dash (11.51 seconds) and 14th among running backs in the 20-yard shuttle (4.20 seconds). He did not rank in the top 15 in the bench press, vertical or broad jump.

Linebackers (including Moten) work out all day Monday, where he'll have his opportunity to stand out from the crowd.

Bubble watch - Part II

Continuing yesterday's bubble watch entry, here's the rest of the bubble situation.

Mountain West
Who's a lock: BYU, San Diego State
Who's probably in: UNLV
Who's got work to do: Colorado State
Notes: Obviously, No. 6 San Diego State and No. 7 BYU are in. UNLV is hanging on as an eight or nine seed. And Colorado State is suffering from not having a great signature win, despite a decent-looking resume on paper: 18-9, 9-5, 47th-ranked RPI and 43rd-ranked SOS.

Pac-10
Who's a lock: Arizona
Who's probably in: UCLA, Washington
Who's got work to do: none
Notes: Arizona is one of the most under-the-radar teams in the country. UCLA and Washington are hanging in there, but both need to finish strong to relax on Selection Sunday. Other than that, nobody is worth writing home about in the weakest Pac-10 in years.

SEC
Who's a lock: Florida, Kentucky, Vanderbilt
Who's probably in: Alabama
Who's got work to do: Georgia, Tennessee
Notes: I may be overestimating Kentucky's position here, but a 19-8 record with a top 20 RPI and strength of schedule is a pretty good spot to be in. A handful of good wins and no ugly losses should keep Kentucky safe. Alabama (19-8, 11-2) needs a couple more wins, despite its record, because of a super-soft strength of schedule. Georgia is Alabama Light, with a similar resume -- stronger RPI and strength of schedule, but a 7-5 conference record.

Other conferences
Who's a lock: George Mason
Who's probably in: Old Dominion, Utah State
Who's got work to do: Butler, Cleveland State, Gonzaga, Memphis, Missouri State, St. Mary's, VCU, Wichita State
Notes: I'm likely leaving a couple good teams out here, but there's just too much ground to cover. George Mason (24-5, 15-2) has the most impressive mid-major resume, with an impressive RPI and SOS to boot. Old Dominion and Utah State are in pretty good shape, but falling anything short of a conference championship game could be the end of the road. And the "work to do" category might as well not exist, as it may take winning out and winning the conference tourney for some of these teams to get the extra push.

Bubble watch - Part I

In addition to expanding to 68 teams for the first time ever, this year's NCAA Tournament bubble is Charmin soft. There's a lot to get to, so let's get started.

ACC
Who's a lock: Duke, North Carolina
Who's probably in: Florida State
Who's got work to do: Boston College, Clemson, Maryland, Virginia Tech
Notes: Florida State's win over Duke and conference record (9-4) separates the Seminoles from the rest of the pack. The four teams with work to do will all have 11 or 12 losses by season's end, but one or two will likely sneak into the NCAA Tournament.

Atlantic 10
Who's a lock: Temple, Xavier
Who's probably in: Richmond
Who's got work to do: Dayton, Duquesne
Notes: Xavier and Temple are both ranked, and have solid resumes. Richmond (21-7, 10-3) is hanging on by a thread with its 134th-ranked strength of schedule. If Duquesne or Dayton go on a hot run from here on out -- finishing as a runner-up in the A-10 Tournament, one should make it in.

Big East
Who's a lock: Connecticut, Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, St. John's, Syracuse, Villanova
Who's probably in: Cincinnati, West Virginia
Who's got work to do: Marquette
Notes: With eight teams in "lock" status, the Big East will be well-represented in the Tournament. Up to three more could get in, which would mean every team with a winning record in the Big East makes it. That is unbelievable. That's the story with the Big East. With eight ranked teams, it's the most elite conference this year, and possibly ever. Marquette has no real bad losses, but a 16-11 record isn't helping its case.

Big Ten
Who's a lock: Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin
Who's probably in: Michigan State
Who's got work to do: Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Penn State
Notes: The Buckeyes, Boilermakers and Badgers are all safely in -- and somewhere between No. 1 and No. 3 seeds. Michigan State (16-11, 8-7) is amazingly in, despite probably the worst record of any at-large team. But the Spartans have the 43rd-best RPI, the fifth-best strength of schedule and wins over Washington, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The four "work to do" teams have good RPIs and strength of schedules, but most have double-digit losses and/or losing Big Ten conference records.

Big 12
Who's a lock: Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M
Who's probably in: Missouri, Nebraska,
Who's got work to do: Baylor, Colorado, Kansas State, Oklahoma State
Notes: There's plenty of unknowns with the Big 12 this year. If the season ended today, it would probably get five bids in. The "work to do" group is a puzzling and inconsistent bunch, and the conference tournament could see an interesting Cinderella like Baylor make a deep run to squeak in.

Coming tomorrow: Mountain West, Pac-10, SEC and the others.

Nuggets (finally) deal Carmelo

The first two things that popped into my head when I heard the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks had finalized a deal to send superstar forward Carmelo Anthony to the Big Apple were: "finally, I was tired of hearing about this story," and, "I wonder what the New York Post's sports section said today.

With both of those items out of the way, it's time to look closer at this deal. The Timberwolves are a miniscule part of this three-way deal.

Knicks get:
F Carmelo Anthony (25.2 PPG, 7.6 RPG)
G Chauncey Billups (16.5 PPG, 5.3 APG)
C Shelden Williams (4.7 PPG, 5.3 RPG)
G Anthony Carter (1.9 PPG, 1.9 APG)
F Renaldo Balkman (2.6 PPG, 0.8 RPG)
F Corey Brewer (8.6 PPG, 2.7 RPG)

Nuggets get:
F Wilson Chandler (16.4 PPG, 5.9 RPG)
G Raymond Felton (17.1 PPG, 9.0 APG)
F Danilo Gallinari (15.9 PPG, 4.8 RPG)
C Timofey Mozgov (4.0 PPG, 3.1 RPG)
C Kosta Koufos (2.7 PPG, 2.5 RPG)
2014 first-round draft pick
2012 second-round draft pick (from Golden State)
2013 second-round draft pick (from Golden State)
$3 million in cash

Timberwolves get:
C Eddy Curry (3.7 PPG, 1.9 RPG)
C Anthony Randolph (2.1 PPG, 2.4 RPG)

All told, the Knicks gave up their No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 leading scorers to acquire the veteran All-Star. The Nuggets, knowing they'd have to compete for Melo's services after this year -- the final year of his contract -- got what they could for him, which includes picking up the 26-year old Felton, 24-year old Mozgov, 23-year old Chandler and 22-year old Gallinari.

And with Chandler, Felton and Gallinari contributing nearly 50 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists per game, it was a move that mortgaged their present value for some long-term opportunities.

As for the Knicks, they clearly felt they needed Melo to join forces with All-Star Amar'e Stoudemire as a formidable one-two punch. In that regard, New York made a slam dunk. But the Knicks gave up an awful lot to get him. And this is Melo's eighth year in the league, so he's got some mileage on his engine. Billups is another win-now type player, and at 34 years old may have a few more years before he starts heading downhill.

The trade definitely seems slanted in Denver's favor. The Nuggets weren't going to win anything of substance this year, and now they have a young core to build around. Denver's actually not too far off from being a top team in the West now, as hard as that is to believe. The Nuggets already had double-digit point scorers in Nene Hilario (15.0 PPG, 7.1 RPG), Arron Afflalo (12.8 PPG), Al Harrington (11.3 PPG, 5.2 RPG), J.R. Smith (11.2 PPG, 3.9 RPG) and Ty Lawson (10.4 PPG, 3.4 APG).

And while that's a list of nice role players, it's not hard to imagine the Nuggets will be able to draft or sign a franchise player to take them to the next level soon.

Regardless, you can't help but feel like the New Jersey Nets were the frumpy girl who the Nuggets strung along as a safety net in case the captain of the cheerleading squad (the Knicks) said no.

Making the case for No. 1

We've had a bizarre couple days of college basketball lately, with Kansas, Texas, Pittsburgh and Ohio State -- the No. 1 through No. 4 teams in the country -- all losing.

That left No. 5 Duke, which went 2-0 (with wins over Virginia and Georgia Tech, who rank No. 10 and No. 11 in the conference) last week to leapfrog the rest of the teams to claim the top spot.

But who's the best team in the nation? As you can see, six teams received No. 1 votes this week, the most I can ever remember seeing in one regular season poll.

Let's look at some resumes:

Ohio State (24-2, 12-2 Big Ten) -- It's hard to make a case for the Buckeyes, who lost two of their last three games. But Ohio State was the last undefeated team in the country, and boasts four wins over top 25 teams, behind freshman phenom Jared Sullinger.

Kansas (25-2, 10-2 Big 12) -- The Jayhawks' two losses are to archrivals Texas and Kansas State, and Kansas has won seven of its last eight games. But a 16-point drubbing to unranked K-State this week was too tough for the voters to overlook.

Pittsburgh (24-3, 12-2 Big East) -- The Panthers lost to an unranked St. John's team that has now knocked off five top 10 teams at Madison Square Garden this year. But Pitt has five wins over ranked teams, including two huge wins earlier this month at No. 25 West Virginia and No. 9 Villanova.

Texas (23-4, 11-1 Big 12) -- The Longhorns have the most losses of any of these teams, but until losing at Nebraska this week, they were one of the hottest teams in the country, riding an 11-game winning streak. The scary part? Ten of those wins were by double-digits (the other was a nine-point win). But four losses means it's hard to rank Texas over a two-loss team like Ohio State or Kansas.

San Diego State (27-1, 12-1 Mountain West) -- The Aztecs are the best team in the country nobody continues to talk about. San Diego State has one blemish on its resume: an understandable loss at No. 9 BYU. San Diego State has had just two games against top 25 teams, which means a weak(er) strength of schedule than the rest of the teams on this list will hold the Aztecs back behind the pack.

Brigham Young (25-2, 11-1 Mountain West) -- Another underrated team, the Cougars have a less impressive resume, mostly due to the fact that just two teams in the Mountain West Conference are ranked. BYU has one of the most dynamic players in the country in Jimmer Fredette, and while he can't elevate the Cougars to a No. 1 ranking, he will be one of the most fun players to watch come March Madness.

Announcer falls asleep during game

Former Philadelphia 76ers point guard Eric Snow had a pretty good 13-year run in the NBA. And now, like many retired athletes, he's become an analyst.

Snow is an announcer for the Sixers and an analyst on NBA TV. And he had a bit of an embarrassing moment on Wednesday night during the middle of the Philadelphia/Houston game.

The fun doesn't start until around the 1:10 mark, when his fellow anchor turns and asks him, "Are you meditating?"

A drowsy Snow replies, "I thought I was... trying to stay awoke." He continues to ramble -- or talk in his sleep, it's hard to tell -- until he eventually snaps out of it.

Then, realizing he was just caught dozing off on the job, Snow tries to justify it, making it even more awkward -- and funny:

"When you hear people talk in the huddle, they be like, 'blah, blah, blah,' but then the game starts, and you're like, 'OK, it's time to go.' It's no different on the sidelines."

Well, he's got a point. In neither the NBA nor a job is it totally reasonable to fall asleep on the clock.

Watch and enjoy.

Man makes $50,000 shot, gets stiffed

Richard Marsh was just enjoying a night at a minor league hockey game when he was selected to compete in an intermission contest.

Standing at one end of the rink, he was to shoot a hockey puck all the way across the ice and through a tiny part of the goal.

The contest, held on "Hockey for Heart" night, would donate $50,000 if Marsh's shot was good. And, from 175 feet away, he scored through the tightest of spots.

An unbelievable shot, with the (soundless) video shown below. And after Marsh celebrated with the Ice's mascot, the insurance company that backed the contest refused to pay up.

Why? Because Marsh was across the red line when he took the shot, technically disqualifying him from donating $50,000 to St. Vincent's Cardiovascular of Indiana and the American Heart Association. Real classy.

So owners Paul and Cindy Skjodt stepped up. They later announced they'd donate an undisclosed dollar amount to those two charities.

Watch the video. It's an impressive feat. Given 100 attempts, I'm not sure the average Joe would make even one shot. It's far harder than a half court shot at halftime of a basketball game. In fact, it's more like taking a full court shot while blindfolded.

Knowing the story has a happy ending makes it even more hilarious to watch Big-E-Foot, the Ice's mascot, celebrating like he just won the lottery.

Montana transfers to Montana

Like Michael Jordan's son Jeffrey, Joe Montana's son Nate was, well, not Joe Montana. Like the younger Jordan, he opted to walk on at Notre Dame (Jordan walked on at Illinois for basketball) rather than playing lower-level college sports.

But, unlike the elder Montana, Nate won't ever be an NFL Hall of Famer, a four-time Super Bowl champion or an eight-time Pro Bowler.

Instead, Nate's taking his talents to Missoula, Montana to play for the University of Montana. Yes, Nate Montana is going to a school practically named after him.

It's not clear whether Montana knew if his options were limited to schools of his last name or not.

Corny jokes aside, his time in South Bend included riding the bench and getting arrested. At one point, he transferred to community college "for more playing time" before transferring back to Notre Dame.

He finished his illustrious, decorated career as a member of the Fighting Irish with one interception and no touchdowns.

That's about it. Like I said yesterday, it's a slow week in sports.

Treadmill blooper

Well, besides unranked Kansas State upsetting newly No. 1 Kansas last night, there's not much interesting going on in the world of sports right now. So I'm keeping this short and sweet. Here's a hilarious video of a treadmill blooper.

Warning: This video has some not safe for work language. Enjoy.

Terps on the bubble (again)

It's mid-February, and for six of the last eight years, that's meant sweating out Selection Sunday for the Maryland Terrapins. And this year appears to be no different.

That was sort of expected this year, with the Terps graduating 55 percent of their scoring from last year's team and returning just 65 starts among this year's squad.

But that doesn't mean the 16-9 (5-5 ACC) Terps haven't given fans hope at times.

Still, single-digit losses to No. 5 Pittsburgh, No. 13 Illinois, Temple, Boston College (twice), No. 1 Duke and No. 7 Villanova do nothing for the NCAA Tournament committee.

Falling just short of a signature win over and over just doesn't do much for a postseason argument.

And so with its best wins against Penn State and the
College of Charleston, Maryland's resume does not stack up well to other bubble teams'.

The Terps have no business getting in ahead of other bubble teams like Boston College (who beat them twice), Michigan State (who owns wins over Washington, Minnesota and Wisconsin), Oklahoma State (wins over Missouri State, Alabama, Stanford, Kansas State and Missouri), Richmond (wins over Purdue and Virginia Commonwealth), Baylor, Alabama, Duquesne, Clemson or New Mexico, all listed ahead of Maryland on the best bracket-tracking website on the Internet.

But all hope is not lost. With six games left on their schedule, the Terps have a few opportunities to pick up their best win of the season. Tuesday's road trip to Virginia Tech is followed by home games against N.C. State and Florida State. Then, Maryland heads to face No. 20 North Carolina and Miami (FL), before finishing up at home to Virginia.

Finishing 5-1, as unlikely as that is, would put the Terps at 21-10 (10-6 ACC) and would likely be enough to get them in. A 4-2 finish would make Maryland 20-11 (9-7 ACC) and would require one, maybe two ACC Tournament wins. And a 3-3 or worse finish would require no fewer than two ACC Tournament wins, and possibly even an ACC Tournament championship run to be dancing in March.

This team has had growing pains many expected. But that doesn't make it any less frustrating to watch the Terps continue to fall short in big games.

And it's left fans yearning for the 1993 to 2003 years, when Maryland made 11 straight NCAA Tournament appearances, rather than the last six years, which have included as many NIT appearances as NCAAs.

Shannon expected to be new Terps DC

I've been wrong before, but everything I've heard lately points to Maryland hiring former Miami (FL) head football coach Randy Shannon as the team's new defensive coordinator.

According to the Baltimore Sun, Maryland has already offered Shannon the position. He's already turned down the UCLA opening, presumably because of the tenuous head coaching situation and lack of job security.

It would be an outstanding hire -- possibly the best Maryland could have hoped for -- after the sudden departure of last year's defensive coordinator, Don Brown.

Brown headed to the University of Connecticut, a puzzling career move, but one that brought him closer to his family in the northeast.

Nonetheless, it left the Terps scrambling to replace him, just one day after receiving several letters of intent on National Signing Day.

Shannon has already been around campus and interviewed for the position earlier this week.

The only downside to this move is that, if successful, Shannon would almost certainly leave for the next major football head coaching opportunity that came up. On the flip side, if he did leave, it would mean he had some immediate success at Maryland.

Shannon's Miami defenses were consistently among the best in the country as a defensive coordinator. His defenses ranked sixth, seventh, second, 28th, fourth and seventh nationally in total defense from 2001 to 2006.

And as head coach, his recruiting classes were excellent, ranking 19th, fifth, 15th and 16th in the country by Rivals.com from 2007 to 2010.

JJ Redick's embarrassing moment

It's not a ground-breaking revelation that Duke basketball and I get along about as well as peanut butter and gravel.

So it's not unreasonable to say I took the slightest bit of joy in seeing Duke alum J.J. Redick have an America's Funniest Home Videos moment during Tuesday's 101-85 win over the LA Clippers.

To Redick's credit, he's actually turned out to be a much better player than I ever thought he'd be. And as the fifth-best team in the Eastern Conference's sixth man, he's averaging a respectable 10.3 points per game and has increased his shooting numbers across the board by a tick or two.

Still, I'll always remember Redick as a nose-picking, drunk-driving, poetry-writing, white-boy-rapping Dookie. And with that, enjoy today's video. I know I did.

Wake Forest coach donates kidney

Wake Forest baseball coach Tom Walter probably isn't a guy you've ever heard about before. He's not the head coach of a prominent team -- the Demon Deacons were just 18-37 (8-22 ACC) in his second year.

But if I were a parent, I'd send my kid to play for him without hesitation.

Walter found himself in a put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is position earlier this week after freshman outfielder Kevin Jordan became ill with kidney problems.

According to USA Today, "Doctors determined Jordan's kidneys were functioning at 8% of capacity, and he needed a transplant as soon as possible. None of Jordan's family members were suitable donors. Walter volunteered to be tested and was found to be a strong match."

Amazingly, the coach was willing to donate his kidney to one of his players, a kid he's known personally for a year or so.

"When we recruit our guys, we talk about family and making sacrifices for one another. It is something we take very seriously. I had the support of my family, Wake Forest and my team. To me it was a no-brainer," Walter said before the surgery.

Wake Forest, a small school of just 4,500 undergraduate students, clings onto a family atmosphere. So it speaks volumes that Walter would be willing to donate a kidney to a member of the "Wake Forest family."

"Just showing up on our campus was a more courageous act than anything I'm doing. Now Kevin and I are forever going to be joined at the hip, so to speak," Walter joked.

The baseball coach expects to travel with the team to LSU when the Demon Deacons open their season in nine days.

Last year, the New York Yankees drafted Jordan in the 19th round.

Think he'll stick around for a couple more years, regardless of the professional baseball teams that come knocking?

And think Wake Forest just earned a few more baseball fans? Me too.

Ticketholders turned away from Super Bowl

Amidst all the chaos of Super Bowl XLV, with thousands of fans pouring in from Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, falling ice injuring people and all-time high TV ratings, one story has flown slightly under-the-radar.

Some ticketholders were turned away from the game in what NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy called an "incomplete installation of temporary seats in a limited number of sections."

That left 400 fans holding onto worthless ticket stubs after making the journey to Dallas.

But the NFL hooked those fans up. As the tweet to the right suggests, those fans got free tickets to next year's Super Bowl, free food, drinks and gear, got to go onto the field after the game, got to watch the game in the standing room-only section and got $2,400 for their troubles -- more than three times the face value of a Super Bowl ticket.

Of course, not everyone was able to get their hands on tickets for face value. Some fans spent up to $3,000 on tickets to the game, and if it was anyone in that section, they're eating $600-plus. Ouch.

The icing on the cake was the fact that Dallas fell just short of setting a Super Bowl attendance record. The 103,219 people in the stadium was 766 people shy of the all-time record.

The best and worst Super Bowl XLV ads

Well, the Super Bowl has come and gone, and for 95% of the general population, the real fun was watching the stuff in-between downs: the commercials.

FoxSports.com has the best and worst Super Bowl XLV ads listed on its website, based on fan votes.

With the Super Bowl dominated by car commercials, it's no surprise that a car commercial ranks as both the favorites and the least favorites. We'll glaze right over the bottom three, since they were forgettable.

The bottom three:
3) The Castrol "strongest drive," where the oil company showed the Steelers' strongest drive of the playoffs.
2) Hyundai Elantra: Snap out of it. The description reads, "Just cause you have a compact car doesn't mean you have to compromise."
1) Ford: Focus Rally. The car company wants people to sign up for a cross-country adventure.

The top three:
3) Bridgestone: Karma. When a driver swerves to miss running over a beaver, the beaver helps him out six months later.



2) Volkswagen Passat: Young Vader. A little kid who thinks he has "the force" becomes disappointed by his inability to control stuff. So his dad plays a little joke on him.



1) Volkswagen: Black Beetle. Not a particularly funny commercial, but the new VW Bug is revealed as a beetle runs through the forest.

The funniest Super Bowl XLV prop bets

For casual fans and obsessive stat-crunchers alike, the Super Bowl is a time for gambling. Whether it's your office squares, a fun prop bet or a wager on the actual outcome of the game, it's the single-most gambled-upon event of the year.

Here are some of the most interesting and/or funny prop bets (also called a side bet), according to betting website Bodog.com.

What will be higher on February 6th 2011?
Aaron Rodgers Completion % -6 (meaning you subtract 6% from his total)
Dwight Howard Free Throw % +6 (meaning you add 6% to his total)

What will be higher on February 6th 2011?
Ben Roethlisberger TD Passes
Sidney Crosby Points

Who will the Super Bowl MVP of the Game thank first? (Note: Wager is on Interview done with the Super Bowl MVP on field during the Trophy Presentation only. If Co-MVP wager is on first to speak.)
Coach 10-to-1
Family 4-to-1
God 1.5-to-1
Teammates 2.5-to-1
Does Not Thank Anyone 2-to-1

Will Christina Aguilera's hair color be anything except completely blonde when she sings the National Anthem? (Note: Must be any other color than completely blonde for Yes to be graded as the winner.)
Yes pays 1.75-to-1. Interestingly, there are several National Anthem prop bets, including how long the anthem will go (over/under 1 minute, 54 seconds) and how long Aguilera will hold the note "brave" (over/under six seconds).

What will Fergie be wearing when she first appears on stage during the Super Bowl Halftime Show?
The longshot: Thong/G-String/Bikini Bottom +1000. She's also listed at 5-to-1 to dress as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.

What Color will the Gatorade be that is dumped on the Head Coach of the Winning Super Bowl Team?
The options here are all standard Gatorade flavors, plus white/clear (for water). Yellow is the favorite at 3-to-2.

Which Super Bowl commercial will have a higher rating on USA Today's annual Ad Meter?
Bud Light 11-to-4
Budweiser 11-to-4
Doritos 11-to-2
GoDaddy.com 10-to-1
Pepsi Max 6-to-1
Skechers 12-to-1
Teleflora 15-to-1
Other 5-to-2

Redskins owner wants journalist fired

Around these parts, Redskins owner Daniel Snyder's name draws shudders, curse words and middle fingers from fans.

The latest story certainly won't help his P.R. image.

Snyder is trying to get a journalist fired.

In November, Dave McKenna, a longtime writer for the Washington City Paper, wrote an excellent piece called "The Cranky Redskins Fan's Guide to Dan Snyder: From A to Z (for Zorn), an encyclopedia of the owner's many failings."

It was epic. As in, 56-pages-long epic. And it chronicled every single one of Snyder's snafus since taking ownership of the Redskins in 1999.

As you'd imagine, Snyder didn't take too kindly to the piece. But instead of taking it on the chin like a politician would, Snyder is taking it back to the presses.

Snyder wants blood. According to an article in the Washington Post, Snyder "has threatened legal action against the newspaper. He also is seeking the dismissal of the article's author, staff writer Dave McKenna."

This is just another notch in Snyder's bedpost of bad ownership. He's been the subject of much controversy over the last decade-plus, and rightfully so. Snyder has become synonymous with losing football and overspending on over-the-hill veterans since he bought the team.

Over the years, there's been thousands of articles criticizing his style and decisions. So why is he fighting back, nearly three months after the piece was published? Of course McKenna's article paints Snyder in a bad light.

But it's not an untrue light. It's not like McKenna made up things like the Redskins' failed lottery ticket campaign, the Jeff George signing or the suing of the 73-year old grandmother who couldn't afford to pay for her season tickets anymore.

Hell, McKenna even gave links to back up his claims!

At the end of the day, Snyder will likely lose (or drop) his lawsuit when he realizes he won't realistically be able to win it. Heck, Snyder is pretty good at losing.

Fernando Torres moves to Chelsea

Liverpool fan Shaun McCormack is, without a doubt, one of the angriest people in the world right now.

In December, McCormack legally changed his name to Fernando Torres to honor the Liverpool striker.

Torres appeared in 102 games over a four-year span with Liverpool, and most fans expected him to stick around for the foreseeable future. But Liverpool had other ideas, and approved a deal to sell Torres to rival Chelsea for a whopping $80 million (in U.S. dollars).

Liverpool quickly bought two players, Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll for $22 million and $30 million, getting rid of Torres' heavy contract for two somewhat up-and-comers.

Not unlike the New York Yankees trading Alex Rodriguez or the Los Angeles Lakers trading Kobe Bryant, Liverpool made a move it considered necessary to better the team.

And while most Liverpool fans realize it was just a business decision, try and explain that to the the 36-year old internet trader who went through the trouble of changing his name on his birth certificate.

"It's a dream come true. I know he isn't having the greatest of seasons but, for me, he's the best striker on the planet. I did think about changing my name to [Liverpool star] Steven Gerrard, but I wanted something a little more flamboyant," McCormack told London newspaper The Sun in December.

Well, there isn't much more flamboyant that.

Breaking: Analyst Ron Thompson is terrible

Even more amazing that Comcast SportsNet analyst Ron Thompson maintains employment on the air is the fact that he won a Regional Emmy award.

Anyway, the former Ball State men's basketball coach and owner of a 9-22 career record, has a segment during Comcast's broadcasts of college basketball games called "Instant Analysis."

In this segment, Comcast features quick one-liners from
Thompson throughout the game, much like a running Twitter account.

During Sunday night's Maryland-Georgia Tech game, Thompson offered up gems like "Maryland is using a small lineup because James Padgett is struggling," well before the Terps even subbed out their (normal) starting five.

Later, he said power forward Dino Gregory "has no business shooting 12-foot jump shots." And while Gregory's jersey may never hang in the Maryland rafters, his field goal percentage (50.7%) ranks second among players averaging at least 15 minutes per game.

Next, Thompson claimed reserve wing Cliff Tucker was sparking the Terps from outside, at a time when Maryland was 0-for-4 from three-point range. The Terps ended up 0-for-6 from downtown, breaking a 407-game streak of hitting at least one three-pointer.

After the game, Thompson noted that freshman point guard Terrell Stoglin "really got his jump shot going in the second half" after the Arizona native went 2-for-4 from the field.

He finished off the terrific performance by emphatically stating that it was February (it was January 30th) and mentioned that we have "less than a month until March Madness," despite the fact that the ACC Tournament was 39 days away.

Being an on-air analyst isn't easy, and normally I'd lay off making fun of a guy whose livelihood is dependent on live television. But when you've been doing it for four years, you'd think Thompson would either be better or less prominently featured by now.