Good Morning, It's Tuesday December 1, 2009
Great TV tonight and it wasn't sports. HBO reran the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert from last month. It was great. Also a better-than-average Nightline. More on both a little later.
THE WATCH BEGINS
As expected, Notre Dame fired Charlie Weis Monday. Does Brian Kelly take his place? Some reports say he's the top choice, others seem to think the Irish want a higher profile coach. Truth is, nobody knows.
NOT INTERESTED
So far, Urban Meyer and Bob Stoops have indicated that they're staying put. I'm sure that was said to take their names out of consideration and so it wouldn't affect recruiting. Neither has anything to gain by going to South Bend, only a lot to lose.
WHY KELLY?
Kelly has shown he can recruit the Midwest. He's recruited kids to Central Michigan and Cincinnati, maybe not the bluest of the blue chippers, but they're kids that fit his system and can win. They also have to like his personality. Kelly is funny, smart and quick. Weis obviously was a good offensive mind at New England, but he had limited success at ND and worse yet, he has the personality of toad.
WHY NOT KELLY?
Notre Dame has become a graveyard for coaches. Look up Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis.
They want to win national championships, but as an independent, they have a rough road to get there. It's a straighter path for a coach at a BCS school like UC.
OBVIOUS CHOICE
UC's Tony Pike who riddled the Illinois defense on Saturday was named the Big East's Offensive Player of the Week.
POLL PARTNERS
For the first time ever, both the UC football and basketball teams are ranked in the nation's top 25 at the same time. UC football was fifth in every poll known to man on Sunday. Then Monday, the basketball team hit #22 in the AP and #24 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll. It's the first time for the UC hoopsters to crack the polls since 2006. Welcome back.
SATURDAY ON CHANNEL 9
11am: Bearcat Fever, The Climb to the Top. Part 3
Noon: UC vs Pitt for the Big East title
3:30: USC vs Arizona to fill 3 hours
8:00: Texas vs Nebraska in the Big 12 title game.
CEDRIC THE HEADLINER
Marvin Lewis says Cedric Benson will be his starter when the Bengals play the Lions on Sunday at PBS. That wouldn't have been questioned a few weeks back. But then Bernard Scott rushed for over a hundred yards against Oakland and then Larry Johnson did the same against the Browns.
JUST WIN BABY!
Marvin was asked about trying to figure out how to use four running backs in his rotation. He answered, "the only thing I have to figure out is how to win the game, Right? I have one job, to win the football game."
BACK ON DEFENSE
Keith Rivers will return to action on Sunday. He's been out a few games with a calf injury.
SELLING OUT PBS
The Bengals say 6,000 tickets are available for Sunday's game against Detroit. Seems like we've heard that figure thrown around on Monday afternoon in recent weeks.
SLIDE CARSON SLIDE!
Geoff Hobson at Bengals.com said that offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski and quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese talked with Carson Palmer about his head-first slide on the first series Sunday. After the game, Carson freely admitted, "that was stupid." He says he'll be working on a baseball slide instead.
NEW BENGAL, OLD BEARCAT
Former UC cornerback Mike Mickens signed with the Bengals on Monday. Former Buckeye Antonio Smith was released.
LET BROWN DO IT
Quarterback Dominique Brown of Winton Woods was named Ohio's Division II Offensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press. He scored 7 touchdowns in the state semi-finals last Friday. They'll play for the state title in Massillon on Friday night.
FIRST TEAMERS
Here's the Division II first teamers from our area. Brown is joined on offense by Winton Woods running back Jeremiah Goins and Little Miami receiver Lance Fanthrop. The defensive first team includes defensive lineman Joe Heath of Mount Healthy, and defensive backs Avery Cunningham of Winton Woods and BJ Lowery of Hughes.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Woody Allen is 74. I still watch "Annie Hall" and "Manhattan" and "The Front" every chance I get. "Bananas" and "Sleeper" still make me chuckle.
BIG BLUE BLOWOUT
Kentucky rolled over UNC Asheville 94-57 on Monday. Demarcus Cousins had 24 points and ten rebounds. Joe Wall had 14 assists. UK had a 29-6 run midway thru the second half in which they made five straight dunks.
TOP MUSKIES
April Phillips of Xavier was named the A-10's Player of the Week. She averaged 14 points and 7 rebounds in the three games that Xavier won last week.
BACK HOME FOR REDSFESTSilverton's best, Barry Larkin will be at Redsfest on Friday at the Convention Center. The show runs 4-11pm on Friday and 11-7pm on Saturday.
SUPER SHOWS
The HBO Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert was fabulous. Springsteen, Bono, Crosby, Stills, Nash, Aretha, John Fogarty, Stevie Wonder, BB King, Metallica, Simon and Garfunkel, Jackson Browne, Smoky Robinson, Mick Jaggar...etc. The only jerk was Ozzie Osbourne, who came onto the stage with Metallica and started throwing around the "f" word. An absolute wreck
SUPER SHOW PART 2
Nightline had three pieces on Monday. The Tiger Woods saga, the slaying of four police officers in Tacoma and a lighthearted piece on The Onion, a satirical news service. Each was done well. It was much better than Conan or Letterman reruns.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY.
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks wouldn't give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery Alabama. She was arrested. The rest is history.
TODAY
Brian Kelly holds his weekly media gathering. Think any questions will involve Notre Dame?
TONIGHT
7:30 Texas Southern at UC mens basketball
7:30 Maryland at Indiana mens basketball
7:30 Bluffton and Mt St Joe mens basketball
Should be a fun week. Hope it started well for you.
See you on TV
Popo
WHAT DAT?
The undefeated Saints rubbed out the Patriots 38-17 Monday Night. Drew Brees thru for 370 yards and five touchdowns. The Saints, like the Colts are 11-0. The Patriots, fell to 1-4 on the road.
