Phil Knight is at it again!

Quack, Quack, Quack, Quack, Quack, Quack, Quack, Quack, ZOOM! That is the sound of the Oregon football team as they blow by Pac 10 defenses. Above is a picture of the uniforms that the ducks will wear in the national championship vs Auburn on January 10th. What do you think? Note: the shoes fade to highlighter green going up to the socks. I think some of the Oregon uniforms are fantastic and some are over the top, this one is alright I suppose. Five colors is a bit much for me to handle.

I do hope the ducks win the national championship. That way, when it is discovered that Cam Newton is being driven to Ruth Chris by Drew Rosenhaus we don't have to skip the "2010 BCS Champion" line in sports almanacs for years to come. TCU beating Wisconsin by 70 would also be phenomenal for BCS destruction. 

Dear Sausages...

Sausages!

Sorry for the long absence. I hope you all spent Thanksgiving with the ones you love and have come back rejuvenated for some TSR to round out the year and take you into 2010. The whirlwind of the Thanksgiving holiday came and went, most of it was spent sitting (screaming) while watching my Redwings/Lions/Muskies enjoy their success and the red-headed stepchild of the bunch, the once-great Detroit Pistons get mercilessly beaten into a pulp night in and night out.

Since we're getting back fresh into things here, lets do a quick recap of the sports happenings recently.

MLB:
Crawford and A-Gon head to Beantown/Yankees court Lee - another reason why a salary cap needs to be instituted in baseball, but I'm not here to B&M about politics. Hell, if the Marlins can win it, anyone can.

NBA:
Who cares? It's December.

NCAA:
Once conference play starts, we will begin to see the true movers and shakers in the land of true basketball. And a special shoutout to XUCB alum and Xavier walk-on Kevin Feeney, who played 2 minutes of sound, fundamental basketball in Xavier's 51-49win over Butler last Thursday.



NFL:
Are the Pats the class of the NFL? Are the Jets for real? Is the NFC West deserving of a playoff team? Will Brett Favre be broken this week? Are the Saints back? Hopefully all of these questions will sort themselves out in the upcoming march into the NFL Playoffs.

Hey, Brett...Call Me (pun intended)

NCAA Football:
Sausages, yes there will be a Bowl Preview and the possibility of a ESPN Bowl Pick'em Group sponsored by TSR. Stay tuned for that. In other NCAAFB news, Cam Newton rightfully won the Heisman by a landslide. Off the field news aside, Cam was the most dominant player in the country this season and one of the best all-around football players I've seen in a great while. Vince could run, but Cammy Cam can do it all.

#1 Auburn vs. #2 Oregon for the National Championship should be a very interesting matchup and could result in the first team to 55 wins. Be sure to not miss this one.

Premier League:
Arsenal sit top of the table which is the only reason why this update has been included (bias intended)

I want to finish this welcome back post with an aerial photograph of "The Big Chill at the Big House". This was the world's largest outdoor hockey event ever. 113,411 packed the newly-renovated Michigan Stadium above capacity (109,901) and cheered the Wolverine hockey team to a 5-0 victory. It doesn't matter if you root Blue or Green, this was an exceptionally cool sight and one that many people will not forget for a very long time.




That's it for tonight, Sausages. If you have any hard feelings due to the absence, write a letter and send it to Brooks Conrad.

- KA

Red Card Range Rover

Happy Thanksgiving Sausages,

I hope you're all having nice buildup to Turkey Day. Our blog tends to take a look at the lighter side of sports and this story continues that trend. We have all seen athletes have altercations with coaches (looking at you Latrell) and less often with officials/umpires. But I stumbled upon a story across the pond where an amateur footballer was so incensed by the mere threat of a red card that he stormed off the pitch, hopped into his Ranger Rover (a big boy) and tried to run down the ref in his ride. This is so bizarre I had to do a double-take to make sure it was true. Imagine if an MLB player with a volatile temper got called out on strikes due to a questionable strike zone. Would he hop in his H3 and try to kill the umpire? or even pull a Robert DeNiro in The Fan?

Have a look at the complete story here: Footballer goes Mental

24 weeks in prison is a good deal of time in the Iron Bar Hotel but that referee's peace of mind is gone like LeBron from Cleveland (too soon?). Anywho, thats about it for today. I hope you all have a very Sausage Thanksgiving.

Cheers,

- KA

The Worst 100!

First, I'd like to say that we at TSR dropped the ball by not thinking of this first. Deadspin has released a list of the worst 100 players in NFL history. Numerous D'Skae Lobases are featured including Boston College great/Cleveland Browns bust William Green. In his defense, William might have done better if he didn't get stabbed by his wife and have to miss a full season. Part 1: http://deadspin.com/5690535/

Part 2: http://deadspin.com/5690560/

Coming to a Stadium near you

This weekend, Illinois and Northwestern will be hitting the gridiron in the annual Battle for Illinois but this clash won’t be taking place in Champaign or Evanston. The friendly confines of Wrigley Field will be playing host to the game. Let’s hope a receiver on a go route doesn’t run into the ivy/brick wall. Hell, that would be the first play made on the warning track at Wrigley since Soriano starting “playing” left. We’ve been seeing a lot of this recently; venues typically suited for one sport have been dramatically altered to host a one-time sporting event not originally meant for the venue. I think that it’s great for stadiums to be converted into a venue for another sport. It gives us as fans a unique opportunity (heck, even once in a lifetime) to see a sport in a completely different element. Some might say that it is a marketing promotion or media relations ploy but I believe it’s all for the good of the sport. Sports are entertainment and keeping the fans wanting more is their objective. Fans have certainly responded by selling out every venue these events have taken place in and quite frankly they have kept demanding more. I took the liberty of summarizing some notable games that have taken or will take place at somewhat unorthodox venues.

Baseball:
Red Sox vs. Dodgers (LA Memorial Coliseum) – with that short porch, even Jason Tyner could get the ball out of the yard…after the picked it up and hit it again.

Football:
Bush-League Bowl Games at Chase Field, AT&T Park, etc. (I mean who cares about the Tang-Rayovec-Parker Bros Bowl for the Good presented by Sears and Bounty)

Hockey:
Heritage Classics – Oilers/Canadiens. Please bring back the retro Gretzky-era uniforms!

Winter Classics – novelty in comparison to the Heritage Classic. Canada does it better.

Frozen Four at Ford Field – numerous “complaints” regarding ice quality. Sounds like a bias against the Motor City.

Cold War I – Michigan vs. Michigan State

The Big Chill at the Big House – Michigan State vs. Michigan. 100,000 + tickets already sold for 12/11/2010 matchup.

Basketball:
Suns at Tennis Court – I only hoped when the scores were at 0, 15, 40 that they announced them like tennis scores. Even better would be when someone was shooting a free throw. “Nash, first serve. Nash, second serve.”

Final Fours at Ford Field/Indy – have to do it big for the Final Four.

Michigan State vs. North Carolina on an aircraft carrier – this is supposed to be confirmed soon for Veteran’s Day next year. What a gesture for our troops serving at home or abroad. I love how they always show the troops watching a big game overseas so it will be awesome to bring the game to them. Should be a heck of a game too.

Soccer:
Fenway Park – GGGGOOOOLLLLAAAAZZZZOOOO

The next step would be playing a baseball game inside of an arena. That would be complete chaos. And we thought playing in Tropicana Field was a nightmare.

- KA

*Update: Only the West Endzone will be used for the Illinois/Northwestern game.

La Flama Blanca

I know that many readers of TSR are fans of the HBO show Eastbound and Down. While trolling the internet the other day, I stumbled upon the wikipedia article of the show's main character Kenny Powers. The article has fictional statistics! How great is that! Also somehow his stats from 2006 are "unknown," like someone could play in the bigs and not have their stats recorded. Any speculation on how this could happen?

Why Sports are Great

Good Afternoon Sausages,

I only worked a half day today so I have some time to catch up on the happenings with TSR. Here is a video of the final play of a high school football game which saw Encino Crepsi (Cal) take on Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (Cal). The plot thickened because this game was a do-or-die situation for both teams striving for the playoffs. With the score tied and barely seconds remaining on the clock, Crepsi took the snap and with a herculean effort from the QB to stay on his feet, he threw the ball to the diminutive playmaker near the sidelines who scooted across the field only to pitch it into the open arms of a waiting teammate to rumble the rest of the way in the endzone.



We've been seeing this recently with amateur sports. There was a middle school who ran a trick play right up the gap to score a touchdown against a dumbfounded defense and countless others come to mind with varying degrees of trickery and ingenuity. But his one is all heart. I love seeing how much those kids wanted to win and how much it would mean for them to make it to the playoffs. I also love seeing the smallest kid in the stadium playing an integral role in the deciding touchdown. You can tell Crepsi wanted it more. Look at #72 on Notre Dame just flat give up on the play. Come on, man!

With all of the distractions that professional and college athletes are having on and off the field, its nice to have a change of pace where a couple high schools are playing for the love of the game and a simple win can mean so much to them.

Well done, kids.

- KA