Mike Ford finally uses up his chances at USF

Running back Mike Ford looked set to have a breakout senior season for USF in 2010, but now he’s off the team for an unspecified violation.  Ford commented on his “mistake” in the Tampa Tribune:

“To all of my family, friends and fans, I made a mistake that I really, really regret and I apologize for that,” Ford said. “I am responsible for my own actions. Please forgive me for I am only human. This will not be the last of Mike Ford. I will continue my dream, and I will graduate.”

He showed some flashes of brilliance for the Bulls in his freshman season back in 2007.  In the team’s final three regular season contests that year (wins over Syracuse, Louisville and Pittsburgh) he ran for a combined 337 yards.  His 12 rushing touchdowns on the season led the team.

Then came the suspensions and various injuries.  Ford was becoming an afterthought before his 207-yard outburst against Northern Illinois in the International Bowl less than three months ago.  Now he’s Audi A-6.

Not that they’ve needed him, but Alabama dodged a bullet on this one.  If you recall, Ford was originally going to join the Tide’s ‘05 recruiting class along with fellow running backs Glen Coffee and Roy Upchurch.  However, he failed to meet academic requirements and spent one year at Hargrave Military Academy before heading to USF.

DeLoss Dodds says Texas is staying put and hoping to make bank

Yes, I’ll use any excuse to include the name “DeLoss Dodds” in a title, it’s the best college sports name this side of Foge Fazio.  The AP got ahold of the Texas AD earlier today and asked Dodds point blank if Texas was interested in making the Big 10 a 12-team league.  His answer:

He said there have been no talks between the Texas and the Big Ten.  He said the Big 12 has been a good fit for the Longhorns since the conference started in 1996 with the members of the old Big Eight and four members of the old Southwest Conference.

“I think it’s been a great conference for us and we’ve been good for the conference.  Before the (Big 12), we were struggling with recruiting and struggling with all kinds of things.  The Big 12 has brought us stability, kept Texas kids in Texas,” he said.

But this was the most interesting aspect of the article to me:

The Big 12 does not have the lucrative TV deals the Big Ten and SEC do, but its day will come, Dodds said. The league’s contracts with ABC/ESPN and Fox Sports Net will be up for renewal in 2015.”

That’s the year we’ve got the leverage,” Dodds said. “It will be the Big 12’s turn.” (read the whole article here)

Does Dodds think that the Big 12 will be able to command SEC type of money in 2015?  This past football season marked the beginning of the SEC’s 15-year, $2.25 billion contract with ESPN that coincides with a 15-year, $800 million contract with CBS.

The Big Ten isn’t garnering that kind of coin, but they’re not doing too bad.   The Big Ten Network channel grosses roughly $70 million in revenue for the league, a figure that will grow in coming years.   The league is also in the midst of a 10-year, $1 billion deal with ABC/ESPN.

Who knows how the broadcasting landscape will change between now and 2015, but I seriously doubt the Big 12 will realize a windfall that approaches even what the Big Ten is currently banking, much less the jackpot the SEC is sitting on.

Big 12 football is a two horse race (the ponies being Texas and Oklahoma) and both of those teams reside in the league’s South Division.  Even with Nebraska football showing improvement under Bo Pelini, the Big 12 North is still a wasteland (sorry, Mizzou fans).

I’m not saying the Big Ten is throwing anything superior out there, but they’ve already signed their deal and have nothing to prove.  If the Big 12 wants to get more curb appeal for the networks, then schools like Texas A&M, Missouri and Colorado have to break through and become at least infrequent BCS visitors in the next six seasons.

I guess Rupert Murdoch is cutting corners

So FoxSports.com has a video feature called “Hoops Hysteria” hosted by some dude named Brian Webber.  I get a definite used car salesman vibe from this guy, but that’s not what makes the link below funny.

At the 3:30 mark they link Webber to FoxSports.com college analyst Jeff Goodman, a guy who couldn’t name the entire MAC even if you spotted him every directional school in the state of Michigan.

Is this not the worst video feed you’ve ever seen?  The Numa Numa guy on YouTube had a better cam in his bedroom than Goodman does here.  Just skip to the 3:30 mark to see what I’m talking about:

Doing it on the cheap at FoxSports.com

I can’t believe this dude is 60 years old

Can’t the Nature Boy just go quietly into the sunset? Over the weekend, wrestling legend Ric Flair was assaulted not by Dusty Rhodes, not by Hulk Hogan and not even by Ricky Steamboat…instead, it was Flair’s wife Jacqueline Beems who did the deed.

On Sunday night cops were called to the Nature Boy’s Charlotte, NC home (not sure if he calls it Space Mountain) to break up a domestic dispute.  Beems was subsequently hauled to jail and charged with simple assault.  She was released from the cooler after a few hours, and it’s unclear whether or not Bobby “The Brain” Heenan was the one who bailed her out.

For anyone who grew up watching the ridiculous spectacle of pro wrestling, Flair is the icon who just won’t go away. His mountain of debt keeps him wrestling to this day, and every year or two he ends up on the police blotter. Check out these lowlights from the Smoking Gun web site:

Ric twirls his johnson on a transatlantic flight

Ric tries to Figure Four a fellow motorist

This isn’t the first time Ric’s been hit upside his head by a woman, start at the 4:40 mark of this clip to see him take one like a champ:

Jamere Holland: When keeping it real goes wrong

The Spirit of the U is alive and well…in Eugene, Oregon of all places. Okay, let’s start from the beginning…Oregon linebacker Kristian Kiko Alonso was arrested this past Saturday on suspicion of driving under the influence, making him the fourth Duck to be cuffed and booked in the last month.

Alonso’s teammate Jamere Holland got wind of it, but he mistakenly thought Alonso had been suspended from the team. However, Oregon coach Chip Kelly had made no such move.  Here are the Facebook status updates from Holland’s own page regarding the situation:

Holland’s now the one who’s been kicked off the team, thanks to the miracle that is the Interwebs.  Judging from his posts, he probably has a bright future as a DJ for the Shade 45 channel on Sirius XM.

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