A couple of days ago, I discussed comments that Penn State coach Joe Paterno made about the Big Ten expanding to 12 teams, and I came to the conclusion that changes, in some way, do need to be made in order for the conference to return to being a real power on the national stage. Is expansion that change that needs to happen? An expansion to 12 teams may well make the Big Ten need to change its name, ...Read More

A few weeks ago, Penn State coach Joe Paterno made a call for the Big Ten to follow the path of the SEC, Big 12, and ACC to expand to 12 teams in an attempt to help the Big Ten be a bigger factor on the national stage. But last week, Paterno took a much different stance from the one that he'd taken just a couple of weeks prior, saying that expansion is something that should be left in ...Read More

Image by ianenos03 via Flickr The NFL Draft is a sporting event unlike any other.  Where else can you see thousands of football fans cheer for their teams without a single pass being thrown or a single yard gained.  Every April, thirty-two NFL teams gather in Radio City Music Hall, huddle within their war rooms and make decisions that will dramatically affect the direction of their franchise.   Often, #1 draft picks, like Peyton Manning, Troy Aikman and John Elway, are so clear ...Read More

As a kid, I used to play a lot of backgammon with my father.  He used to beat me mercilessly.  I could barely get a win in edgewise.  There was no taking it easy on the kid. As I was young and immature, I would whine about his seemingly endless winning streaks.  He was a sore winner, which made me even more sore of a loser.  I’d even go so far as to call him a cheater, in disbelief that he ...Read More

The coronation of the Pittsburgh Steelers as Super Bowl champions marks the end of another football season… unfortunately.  But for those of us who eat, drink and sleep pigskin 365 days a year, football season is never really over. Football is a passionate sport for passionate fans and nobody is more fanatical about the sport than its head coaches.  Over the years, many of football’s more charismatic coaches have lost their tempers in not-so-gracious fashion after frustrating losses. To ease those of ...Read More

Winning is everything, right? Well, if you’re a coach in any sport, it is, if you want to stay employed for an extended period of time. However, there’s more to success than just winning, but how you win. If you win fair, then you can sleep easier at night. If you don’t, you still may be able to sleep just fine at night, but you and many others might be out of a job if you don’t ...Read More

I don't have a wealth of time to post an in-depth preview of today's conference championship games, but I will give a short prediction about both. I haven't exactly had a ton of success with my picks so far, but I'm feeling pretty good about today. True enough, two #6 seeds are taking part in today's conference championship games, and the NFC winner will either be the #4 or #6, but the way things have gone thus far ...Read More

The 2008 college football season has only been over for a week, but I’m already brimming with excitement for the next season. As close as the Heisman race was this past season, how close will it be next season, with not one, not two, but all three of the top three finishers back? Runner-up Colt McCoy announced his intentions to return even before the season ended, 2007 winner and 2008 third-placed finisher Tim Tebow announced earlier this week, and ...Read More

Pinch me, I’m dreaming. Mid-season, as it became more and more evident that my alma mater, the University of Florida, might be granted another shot at a title, my illustrious travel companion, the Don Calvino, booked a hotel room on South Beach in preparation for the festivities.  The rooms on the beach are closet-like, making a Parisian domicile look spacious by comparison, but we didn’t plan on spending much time there as Mango’s, a South Beach staple, was within stumbling distance. We ...Read More

Some love him, some hate him, some envy him, but you can’t argue with the fact that Urban Meyer is one heck of a program builder. Florida was crowned BCS national champion last night with their 24-14 victory over Oklahoma, and as expected, the Gators finished #1 in the AP poll today, getting 48 first-place votes to top the poll. But, he’s got to feel pretty good about the fact that his old school is right below him ...Read More