College coaches and Money

This discussion comes up every so often and you see outrage over how much college basketball and football coaches make. This week this issue was brought up again by someone looking to make a name for himself, a 36 year old self described freelance journalist named Ken Krayeske.

Much has been made about Coach Calhoun's response....but I don't see anything wrong with it. People like to bring this up all the time as to how much these coaches make when colleges are making the cust. What these people fail to realize is that the money these coaches are making....they are bringing in themselves and then some. The teams these coaches are leading are running entire the lesser known sports too. The money being paid to the coach won't go towards making tuition cheaper because that money wouldn't exist if not for the coach. The teams bring in big money because of the good teams that these big name coaches put out. Its now like the money for his salary is coming out of the state budget.

Ken Krayeske had been given a photo pass for this game and the post game press conference that followed.....and he decided to go and try make a name for himself. For the record Krayeske has a history of this. According to ESPN:

Krayeske, of Hartford, is a political activist and self-described freelance journalist who has landed in the headlines after other high-profile incidents in the past.

They included his January 2007 arrest at Gov. M. Jodi Rell's inaugural parade, where Hartford police charged Krayeske with breach of peace and interfering with an officer.

The charges were later dismissed.

GOP continues to be a joke

I'll post more on the Non State of the Union sometime tomorrow after watching the speech again but had to put up something on the GOP tonight.

Has this party not learned anything? They keep coming up with one PR disaster after another. It wasn't bad enough that a sitting senator goes out and says that a sitting supreme court justice will die this year. Yes, you read that right. Here's the exact quote:

"Even though she was operated on, usually, nine months is the longest that anybody would live" with pancreatic cancer, said Bunning, a Hall-of-Fame major league pitcher, who has no medical background.

Yes...that is longtime Republican senator and Hall of Pitcher Jim Bunning.

Not to be outdone....was Richard Shelby. Republican senator out of Alabama. Somehow I guess he missed this when it came up during the campaign....or maybe he really is dumb enough to bring it up again.

“Well his father was Kenyan and they said he was born in Hawaii, but I haven’t seen any birth certificate,” Shelby said. “You have to be born in America to be president.”

To top it all off...let me direct you to the GOP response to President Obama's "Not State of the Union." Who wrote this speech? Who thought this was a good response? The quotes that came out of here were just mind boggling.

"Today in Washington, some are promising that government will rescue us from the economic storms raging all around us. Those of us who lived through Hurricane Katrina, we have our doubts."

Yes, that is a member of the Republican party criticizing the response to Hurricane Katrina.

"While some of the projects in the bill make sense, their legislation is larded with wasteful spending. It includes $300 million to buy new cars for the government, $8 billion for high-speed rail projects, such as a magnetic levitation line from Las Vegas to Disneyland, and $140 million for something called volcano monitoring."

For some reason he decided to continue with this Disneyland baloney when the stimulus bill makes no mention of it. I gotta read up on this Volcano monitoring....but if you replaced Volcano with Hurricane...would he be complaining? Would it stop being wasteful spending in that case?

"We need to bring transparency to Washington, D.C., so we can rid our capital of corruption"

Where was his call for transparency in Washington when members of the Bush administration were getting caught left and right?

I'll probably have more tomorrow as I watch both speeches again.

In closing real quick if you turn to Fox New's website...well take a look at the part I highlighted with the red rectangle....

A-Rod continues to be a fraud

What a waste of time this A-Rod press conference from Tuesday ended up being. Why bother to hold this event if you didn't have the intention to answer some legitimate questions? The Q&A lasted about 27 minutes....not nearly long enough. You would think that the Yankees would have been smarter about it and try to start putting this behind them...but for whatever reason they chose to not go that route. The moment they said that there would be no follow ups, you knew this would be a farce.

The idea was to clear up the story...instead he complicated it more. Did someone really bring illegal drugs into the country for him? He claims he didn't know how to use the drug or whether they did work...but still injected himself roughly 72 times over a 3 year span? If you believe that I got a bridge....well you know how the saying goes.

He's going to have to go through another one of these. I am fairly certain there is going to be more revelations when Selena Roberts' book "A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez" comes out on April 14th.

Twitter

By the way I am on Twitter know. If you're not familiar with it you should check it out. It is on its way to becoming a really big thing. It will blow facebook out of the water.

My twitter.

Bill O'Reilly's Right to Privacy

Jon Stewart on Bill O'Reilly's being a hypocrite again.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Bill O'Reilly's Right to Privacy

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Funny Political News
Joke of the Day

Super Bowl Prop Bets

Part of what makes Super Bowl Sunday what it is the side bets everyone has. You can bet money on pretty much anything Super Bowl related. Here is a little friendly competition. Even if you don't follow the NFL guess away.....as you probably have just as much of a shot as anyone else to win this thing. Just e-mail me your picks at sahyder1@gmail.com I'll put up my picks in the morning some time.
Pass this link to others as well.
So here they are:

1st Half--Game Line (if you pick Pittsburgh they must be winning by at least 5 points at the half to get a point for this)
Pittsburgh -4
Arizona +4

1st Half--Over/Under (Simply pick whether the halftime score is over or under the # listed below)
Total 23 ½
Under

2nd Half--Game Line (If you pick Pittsburgh they must outscore Arizona by at least 4 for you to win)
Pittsburgh -3
Arizona +3

2nd Half--Over/Under (Total points in second half)
Total 23 ½
over

1st Quarter--Game Line (if you pick Pittsburgh they just need to outscore Arizona in the first quarter)
Pittsburgh -½
Arizona +½

2nd Quarter--Game Line (do I really need to still explain line?)
Pittsburgh -3
Arizona +3

3rd Quarter--Game Line
Pittsburgh -½
Arizona +½

4th Quarter--Game Line
Pittsburgh -½
Arizona +½

1st Quarter--Over/Under (combined first quarter points)
Total 10
Over

2nd Quarter--Over/Under
Total 13 ½
Under

3rd Quarter--Over/Under
Total 10
Over

4th Quarter--Over/Under
Total 13
Over

Team to Score First
Pittsburgh
Arizona


Team to Score First in the 2nd Half
Pittsburgh
Arizona

Team to Score Last
Pittsburgh
Arizona


TOTAL POINTS
Scored by Pittsburgh
Over 27
Under 27

Scored by Arizona
Over 20
Under 20

Scored by Both Teams combined
2-14
15-21
22-28
29-35
36-42
43-49
50-56
57-63
64-70
71-77
78 and up


PITTSBURGH'S MARGIN OF VICTORY (if they win)
1-6
7-12
13-18
19-24
25-30
31-36
37-up

ARIZONA'S MARGIN OF VICTORY (if they win)

1-6
7-12
13-18
19-24
25-30
31-36
37-up

Will at Least One Quarter be Scoreless?
Yes
No

First Scoring Play by either team
FG
TD Pass
TD Run
TD Other
Safety

First Scoring Play by Arizona
FG
TD Pass
TD Run
TD Other
Safety

First Scoring Play by Pittsburgh
FG
TD Pass
TD Run
TD Other
Safety

Last Scoring Play by Arizona
FG
TD Pass
TD Run
TD Other
Safety

Last Scoring Play by Pittsburgh
FG
TD Pass
TD Run
TD Other
Safety

Last Scoring Play of game by either team
FG
TD Pass
TD Run
TD Other
Safety

Any Score in First 7 ½ Minutes?
Yes
No

Any Score in Last 2 Minutes of 1st Half?
Yes
No

Last Team to Score in the 1st Half
Pittsburgh
Arizona

Longest Successful Field Goal
Over 45 ½ Yards
Under 45 ½ Yards

Total Successful Field Goals by Both Teams
Over 3 ½
Under 3 ½

Team to Make Most Successful Field Goals
Pittsburgh
Arizona

Will There Be Overtime?
Yes
No

Will There Be a Successful Two-Point Conversion?
Yes
No

Team That Scores First Will Win
Yes
No

Longest Touchdown
Over 49 ½ Yards
Under 49 ½ Yards

Shortest Touchdown
Over 1 ½ Yards
Under 1 ½ Yards

Team to Have First Penalty
Pittsburgh
Arizona

Total Sacks by Both Teams
Over 5
Under 5

Will There Be a Safety?
Yes
No

Will There Be a Special Teams or a Defensive Touchdown?
Yes
No

Team to Receive the Opening Kickoff
Pittsburgh
Arizona

Will Either Team Have Three Unanswered Scores?
Yes
No

First Team to Challenge a Call
Pittsburgh
Arizona

Will Arizona Ever Have the Lead?
Yes
No

First Team to Call a Timeout
Pittsburgh
Arizona

Player to Score First Touchdown
Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona)
Willie Parker (Pittsburgh)
Santonio Holmes (Pittsburgh)
Edgerrin James (Arizona)
Anquan Boldin (Arizona)
Hines Ward (Pittsburgh)
Steve Breaston (Arizona)
Tim Hightower (Arizona)
J.J. Arrington (Arizona)
Heath Miller (Pittsburgh)
Mewelde Moore (Pittsburgh)
Leonard Pope (Arizona)
Gary Russell (Pittsburgh)
Limas Sweed (Pittsburgh)
Jerheme Urban (Arizona)
Nate Washington (Pittsburgh)
Ben Roethlisberger (Pitts.)
Kurt Warner (Arizona)
Field (All Others)
No Touchdown Scored

Player to Score Last Touchdown
Willie Parker (Pittsburgh)
Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona)
Santonio Holmes (Pittsburgh)
Edgerrin James (Arizona)
Anquan Boldin (Arizona)
Hines Ward (Pittsburgh)
Steve Breaston (Arizona)
Tim Hightower (Arizona)
J.J. Arrington (Arizona)
Heath Miller (Pittsburgh)
Mewelde Moore (Pittsburgh)
Leonard Pope (Arizona)
Gary Russell (Pittsburgh)
Limas Sweed (Pittsburgh)
Jerheme Urban (Arizona)
Nate Washington (Pittsburgh)
Ben Roethlisberger (Pitts.)
Kurt Warner (Arizona)
Field (All Others)
No Touchdown Scored

Will the Game be Decided by Exactly 3 Points?
Yes
No

Total Fumbles Lost (Both Teams)
Over 1 ½
Under 1 ½

Total Rushing Yds by Pittsburgh
Over 113 ½
Under 113 ½

Will Arizona Convert a 4th Down Attempt?
Yes
No

Total Rushing Yds by Arizona
Over 65 ½
Under 65 ½

Jersey Number of Player that Scores First Touchdown
Odd Number
Even Number

Distance of First Successful Field Goal
Over 34 ½ Yards
Under 34 ½ Yards

Will the Game be Tied after 0-0?
Yes
No

Will Pittsburgh Score in the 1st and 2nd Quarters? (Must score in both)
Yes
No

Will Troy Polamalu Intercept a Pass?
Yes
No

What Will Happen First?
Arizona Score
Arizona Punt

Will Arizona Score in the 1st and 2nd Quarters? (Cardinals must score in both quarters)
Yes
No

Who will be named the Super Bowl XLIII MVP
Kurt Warner (ARI)
Larry Fitzgerald (ARI)
Anquan Boldin (ARI)
Steve Breaston (ARI)
Jerheme Urban (ARI)
J.J. Arrington (ARI)
Tim Hightower (ARI)
Edgerrin James (ARI)
Dominique Rodgers Cromartie (ARI)
Adrian Wilson (ARI)
Karlos Dansby (ARI)
Ben Roethlisberger (PIT)
Hines Ward (PIT)
Santonio Holmes (PIT)
Heath Miller (PIT)
Nate Washington (PIT)
Mewelde Moore (PIT)
Gary Russell (PIT)
Willie Parker (PIT)
James Harrison (PIT)
Troy Polamalu (PIT)
James Farrior (PIT)
Limas Sweed (PIT)
Jeff Reed (PIT)
Neil Rackers (ARI)
Field (Any Other Player)

Total Passing Yards - Ben Roethlisberger
0-100 Yards
101-190 Yards
191-245 Yards
246-299 Yards
300-350 Yards
351 or more Passing Yards

Will Kurt Warner break Joe Montana's Career Super Bowl Record of 1142 Passing Yards? (He needs 364 Passing Yards to break the record)
Yes
No

Who will catch a pass first?
Hines Ward (PIT)
Santonio Holmes (PIT)

Total Passing Yards - Kurt Warner
Odd Number
Even Number

Who will catch a pass first?
Larry Fitzgerald (ARI)
Anquan Boldin (ARI)

What will Kurt Warner do first?
Throw a Touchdown Pass
Thrown an Interception

Who will have more receptions in the game?
Anquan Boldin (ARI)
Hines Ward (PIT)

Will Edgerrin James score a Touchdown?
Yes
No

Who will have more receptions in the game?
Larry Fitzgerald (ARI)
Anquan Boldin (ARI)

Who will throw more interceptions in the game?
Ben Roethlisberger (PIT)
Kurt Warner (ARI)

How long will it take Jennifer Hudson to sing the National Anthem?
Over 2 Minutes and 1 Second
Under 2 Minutes and 1 Second

What will the TV Rating be?
Over 42 1/2 Neilson Rating
Under 42 1/2 Neilson Rating

Who will the MVP of the Game thank first?
God:
Teammates:
Family:
Coach:
Doesn't thank anyone:

What Color will the Gatorade be that is dumped on the Head Coach of the Winning Super Bowl Team?
Clear/Water:
Red:
Yellow:
Blue:
Orange:
Lime Green:

Who will win the coin toss:
Cardinals
Steelers

Will the coin land on: (Intersting side note....through 42 Super Bowls the # is tied at 21 each with it being tails last year)
Tails
Heads

Will Barack Obama bring back US tradition and call winning team before broadcast goes off the air?
Yes
No

Jersey number of player to score first touchdown
Over 38.5
Under 38.5

Will Matt Millen pick the correct winner during the pregame show?
Yes
No

How many planes will be included in the pre-game flyover?
2 or less
3
4
5
6

The Overlooked $170 Billion of American-Muslim Spending Power

Huffington Post today put up an excerpt from an article on the American-Muslim Spending Power. The full article found here is definitely worth a read. I've linked you guys to my cousin Saad's blog in the past....well, "Chill Yo, Islam Yo" got a mention in this article.

"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!"

With all apologies to John McEnroe....."YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!"

So I mentioned yesterday that Fox News was claiming that Obama wasn't really the president yet because of the mix up at the oath ceremony. So imagine my anger when I see this just moments ago on MSNBC.

Barack Hussein Obama

Gotta say I was shocked he did use his middle name today when taking the oath of office. In the days to come it will be interesting to find out whether that was Obama's decision or if Roberts just threw it in there. When Obama was introduced at the inauguration he was introduced as "Barack H. Obama. " Gotta say the scenes were amazing. Really wish I'd been able to go. Loved the booing and serenading of Dubya with "Na Na Na.....goodbye." Amazing stuff.

You might have noticed a little slip up during the oath ceremony and the clowns at Fox News are now trying to stir up some trouble with that. You can't make this stuff up.

A sign of the times? Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri was twittering at the inauguration.

Wildcard Round Picks

So we all ended up going 2/4 for the Divisional Round. Everyone's picks are listed below.

Me:
Ravens +3
Cardinals +10
Giants -4
Chargers +6

Faraz
Ravens +3
Panthers -10
Giants -4
Steelers -6

Mike
Panthers -10
Eagles +4
Steelers -6
Titans -3

Ross
Ravens +3
Panthers -10
Giants -4
Steelers -6

Lance
Titans -3
Cardinals +10
Eagles +4
Chargers +6

Overall here is how the records look:

4/8
Faraz
Lance

3/8
Me
Mike
Ross

Kyle picked only the first round and was 1/4. Its all for fun so jump in even if you didn't pick in the first 2 rounds.

Eagles are a 4 point favorite over the Cardinals
Steelers are 6 point favorite over the Ravens

My picks are:
Cardinals +4
Ravens +6

Barack Obama and the Golden Ticket

So when Barack Obama created history by winning this election millions of people sent in requests to their local representatives and senators to get tickets to this historic inauguration. I wasn't one of them. So imagine my surprise as I open my mail today and see this.....




More on this in a bit.

Daily Show - Medicine Cabinet

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Medicine Cabinet

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Must watch piece from Asif Mandvi ( or should I say Dr. Asif Mandvi?) and the team at the Daily Show. Those of you who are Desi will really appreciate it. Here's the link.

Divisional Round Picks

Didn't mean to be this late putting up the results but it's been a busy week.

4/4

3/4

2/4
Faraz
Kyle
Lance

1/4
Me
Mike
Ross


As you can see the picks were nothing to write home about. Lets see how the 2nd round goes

Titans are a 3 point favorite over the Ravens
Panthers are a 10 point favorite over the Cardinals
Giants are a 4 point favorite over the Eagles
Steelers are a 6 point favorite over the Chargers

My picks are:
Ravens +3
Cardinals +10
Giants -4
Chargers +6

NFL Playoff Predictions

Just want to do a little prediction contest for the playoffs picking against the spread. I'll keep track of everyone's records here. I'll get the line off of yahoo. Anyways just post your picks in the comments section or send them to me via e-mail or IM. Pass this link off to others.


The lines are as follows:

Falcons are a 1.5 point favorite over the Cardinals
Colts vs Chargers is a pick'em game
Ravens are a 3.5 point favorite over the Dolphins
Eagles are a 3 point favorite over the Vikings


My picks are Falcons -1.5, Colts, Ravens -3.5 and Vikings +3

For those of you who aren't posting your predictions as a reply to this post but sending it to me by IM or e-mail I'll post your name here to acknowledge your pick. If you don't see your name let me know.

Received from:
Ross
Mike
Faraz
Kyle

Iraqi Journalists have bad aim

I'll post the video when I find it online somewhere but for now it is all over the news channels but here's a little article from BBC.

Mr Bush met Iraqi leaders to celebrate the new security agreement between the nations and was to thank US troops.

But at a news conference in Baghdad, a man threw his shoes at Mr Bush, calling him "a dog" but missing the president.

Mr Bush was speaking to reporters with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki when the footwear was thrown.

"All I can report is a size 10," Mr Bush said according to the Associated Press (AP) news agency.

The shoe thrower was taken away by security guards and the news conference continued.

Link



Edit:



Video

More RU fun

The entire stadium booed at the end of the play because everyone wanted a horse collar penalty called here. There was a replay from another angle on the stadium big screen and again the crowd booed. When you watch the ESPN Feed....you can see why there was no penalty on the play. Summaiyah found this for me.....wait.....what was Summaiyah doing on ESPN.com?

Kenny Britt is a Monster

Hoping to get it from another angle....and possibly the ESPN clip but here is the hit that Britt laid out on some poor Louisville WR to end the first half. For those not familiar with RU Football, Kenny Britt is a WR and will be a 2nd round pick in next year's NFL Draft.

63-14

What a night. 63-14. Need I say more? So right before heading to the game I made a pick for ESPN's Streak for the Cash....and went with the over at 53. I told my brother at the time jokingly that it was going to be 44-10.....definitely wasn't expecting this.

The night started with a bang with RU scoring less then 2 minutes into the game....and the intensity never stopped after that. Take the hit Britt lashed out on the last play of the first half for example with the score 49-0 at the time.

Hoping to get it from another angle....and possibly the ESPN clip but here is the hit that Britt laid out on some poor Louisville WR to end the first half. For those not familiar with RU Football, Kenny Britt is a WR and will be a 2nd round pick in next year's NFL Draft.



Crazy play in the first half when everyone in the stadium thought there should have been a penalty.....turns out the refs were right in not calling one.

Rutgers has been on the other side of this score far too often over the years.....it was great to see this night. Gotta feel good for Mike Teel. I wanted to blog earlier about when is booing counterproductive but I'll save that for another day but what a turnaround he had. Definitely a well deserved night. Glad I brought out the Teel Jersey for the first time on this senior night.

Can someone explain to me why people leave early when it is their team that is winning big? It has always bothered me. Why are you there if you don't want to stick around to watch your team win?

Some postgame notes courtesy of the Knights' website:

POSTGAME NOTES

Team Notes
Rutgers’ 63-14 victory over Louisville was the Scarlet Knights’ sixth-straight win. It tied for the fifth-longest winning streak in school history to close out a regular season with the six consecutive victories. The win was also the Scarlet Knights’ fifth-straight BIG EAST victory, a school record.

It was the first home victory in the month of December since Dec. 7, 1878.

The 63 points scored was the most Rutgers has ever scored in a BIG EAST game. It topped the previous total of 62 scored in a 62-0 victory over Temple on Oct. 2, 1993. The 63 points were also the most scored in a game by the Scarlet Knights since the 1993 season, when RU defeated Colgate 68-6.

The 63 points was the most allowed by Louisville in a BIG EAST game.

The 49 first half points were the most Rutgers has ever scored in a half in a BIG EAST game and the 49-0 advantage was the largest halftime lead the Scarlet Knights have ever had in a league game in school history.

The 49 first-half point total tied for the third-most scored by a league member in the conference’s history.

Rutgers’ 98-yard, first-quarter scoring drive was the longest scoring drive of the season for the Scarlet Knights

Rutgers averaged 15.1 yards per play in the first half and finished the stanza with 468 total yards of offense.

The Scarlet Knights achieved a season-high 671 total yards, the most-ever by a Greg Schiano coached team at Rutgers.

Rutgers finished with a season-high 224 yards on the ground on 33 carries. The Scarlet Knights averaged 6.8 yards per rush.

I'll have more to say about this game once I watch it again....but man. What a night!

C.C Sabathia

I can't be the only person who does not want C.C Sabathia on their team correct? You have no idea how much it is bothering me that after being relatively quiet over the years with Free Agency the one year the Angels go after a pitcher is this year....and with Sabathia no less? This upcoming contract has disaster written all over it for some team....God willing it won't be the Angels. He'll be well over 300 lbs by the end of the contract.....and still stinking it up in the playoffs. Normally I would compliment an athlete who takes less money to go play somewhere...but not in this case. Please let Sabathia go anywhere but to the Angels. Come on Yankees....open up your wallets for him.

Should see a bunch of transactions next week with the winter meetings. I hope Teixeira is back with the Angels.

John Oliver and CNN's Magic Wall

The two new weapons unleashed upon America this election cycle were John Oliver and CNN's Magic Wall, a toy you saw John King playing around with for the past year. Well the wall and John King himself made a cameo in this piece with John Oliver on The Daily Show Tuesday night.

Link