Real Salt Lake won this year's MLS Cup over heavily favored Los Angeles and while the result was surprising, it didnt surprise me that much that this game ended up with penalty kicks deciding the winner. It seems as if any big soccer result ends up coming down to penalty kicks. Soccer needs to change their rules on this. Not asking for big radical moves here, just ones in regards to high profile matches, such as the World Cup.
The past two World Cups have been decided by penalty kicks, and in my opinion, I think that somewhat tarnishes the result. I know the soccer purists out there are against changing the rules, but what is wrong with having the game decided by the same way in which you played it for the past 90+ minutes. Yes, I realize that players get tired after running up and down the pitch so much during this contests, but endurance is part of the game.
Here is my proposal. Have a 45 minute sudden death period (with a 15 minute break after each sudden death period), where each team has three opportunites to subsitute players. If they prefer, teams can also make substitutions for players who previously left game.
What makes a product good is consistency, and thats why soccer should change to this format in order to make the world's most popular sport even that much more popular.
Notre Dame fans everywhere have to be devastated that Jon Gruden has agreed to a two-year contract extension with ESPN, to continue to do Monday Night Football for the network. If Jack Swarbrick knows what he is doing, he will have Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly on the sideslines in South Bend next season.
The football program at Cincinnati has grown by leaps and bounds in the three seasons Kelly has been there, just like Central Michigan did in the three years Kelly was their prior to taking the Bearcat's job. Kelly is an offensive mastermind, as evidenced by his Grand Valley Univeristy team averaging a staggering 58.4 points a game during the 2001 season.
The Irish have a hard time getting top notch recruits due to their academic requirements compared to a typical college or university. Urban Meyer was oh so close to coming to Notre Dame instead of Florida, but withdrew his name from consideration at UND because of the aforementioned academic requirements. This is another reason why hiring Brian Kelly makes so much sense. He has the brains to put up decent offensive numbers no matter how talented the team is in which he is coaching.
Not sure if many of you know this, but in late October, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed off on a stadium bill to help expedite construction of an NFL stadium in the San Gabriel Valley. So it looks like the NFL will be coming to Los Angeles very soon.
Now comes the question. What team will Los Angeles land? All signs have to be pointing to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
While it may be the largest city in Florida, Jacksonville has a lack of major corporations which has caused the city to fail to consistently support the NFL team year in, year out. The Jags have poor attendence despite having one of the lower average ticket prices in the league.
Another thing that doesnt bode well for the Jags surviving in Jacksonville, is they have no real legacy with the city. The team has only been in Jacksonville since 1995, and while the Jags miracuously made the AFC Championship game in just their second season, the team has yet to win an AFC Championship, having reached that game one other time in 1999.
Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States and is currently without an NFL team. With with the way the economy is, and with the Terminator signing the stadium bill, you can be assured that the NFL will be back in Los Angeles in the next couple years.
Heisman Selection Committee, Voters Getting Lazier and Lazier
Personally, I think its offensive that the Heisman trophy winner is always given to an offensive player, typically a quarterback. Often times the Heisman winner isn't really even one of the top three quarterbacks at the collegiate level. I am not saying that the Heisman should go to whatever player is most NFL ready, but I think its a crock that the quarterback for the best college team for a particular season, routinely wins the Heisman Trophy. Gino Torretta winning in 1992 and Danny Wuerffel winning in 1996 seem to fit the bill here.
Torretta defeating Marshall Faulk for the Heisman in '92 is certainly one of the bigger travesties in Heisman history. Torretta was in a great system, and wasn't a great player. First of all, he is playing for one of the better programs, and had three star wide receivers (Kevin Williams, Lamar Thomas, Horace Copeland) to throw to and they were all drafted ahead of him in the NFL. Since Torretta was a senior, and Faulk a sophomore, many voters voted for Torretta, figuring Faulk would win the Heisman the following year. Ignorance is bliss. Wuerffel also had three great wide receivers (Ike Hilliard, Jacquez Green, Reidel Anthony) who would play in the NFL, so his winning the Heisman was the product of being in a great system at the time, not being a great player.
I understand that 15-20 years ago, they didnt have access to see the games like they do today, so I give the voters back then some leeway. But in today's age of technology, there should be dozens of Heisman contenders mentioned, and as a result there would often be fluctuations on who are the Heisman frontrunners. Otherwise, I dont think that a defensive player will ever be in consideration to win the Heisman, because too many voters seem to go by the "monkey see, monkey do" mentality.
Going into last week's game against Tennessee, Alabama running back Mark Ingram was favored to win the Heisman. In case you didnt see the game, Ingram fumbled at a crucial time of Alabama's 12-10 win over Tennessee, and had to be bailed out by his DEFENSIVE teammate Terrence Cody blocking a field goal to end the game. Cody had two field goal blocks in the 4th quarter. At the moment, Ingram is still favored to walk away with the Heisman. Unbelievable.
There hasn't been one defensive player finish in the top five in Heisman voting since '97 Heisman winner DB Charles Woodson, who also played wide receiver for Michigan.
The Heisman Trophy is supposed to be awarded to the best college football player, not the best offensive player for a team ranked in the top five.