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The deadline for underclassmen to declare for the NFL Draft came and went Friday. DeMarco Murray and Ryan Broyles decided to return to school for next season, brightening the outlook of OU’s 2010 season. Murray felt he had unfinished business in Norman. I still had some more things I wanted to get accomplished with my teammates and become a better player as well,” Murray told ESPN. "I won’t have to share carries anymore, so I will get to play a lot more than I have here and be the guy.” Murray will finally get his opportunity to be "the guy.” OU’s coaches have used running back rotations in part to keep their backs fresh. But also because there wasn’t that drastic of a difference between the three, or two. But next season, there will be a dropoff from Murray and the rest of the backs. If he can remain healthy, that could do wonders for Murray’s draft stock, which has been damaged by his tendency to get injured. Being "the guy” means Murray could also make an assault on the OU record books, in addition to improving his draft stock.
Ha! Well I am starting to think the Clippers should just trade away future #1 picks because they never star out good for them. Look at the past two, Danny Manning played just 26 games in his rookie season in 1988-89 after tearing his knee ligament and undergoing surgery, though he eventually became an All-Star before fleeing town. And Michael Olowokandi, the top pick in 1998, played just 45 games in his rookie season, and he wasn't much help even when healthy during five underachieving seasons. Now, Blake Griffin will have surgery on his broken left kneecap, keeping him out for at least more four months. Griffin hasn't played a regular-season game yet for the Clippers after injuring his kneecap in their final preseason game. This hurts me as an OU supporter but hopefully for the sake of OU and Blake's future he will bounce back from this injury.
Like I predicted, as a consolation prize, Chris Johnson won the Offensive MVP. But CJ should have won the MVP over Peyton Manning. I mean a runningback on an 8-8 team deserved the MVP award over the game's best quarterback playing on a 14-2 team. It's hard to argue either way, but this is to congratulate him. Johnson received 38 1/2 of 50 votes from a nationwide panel of NFL writers and broadcasters in balloting conducted by the Associated Press. New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was second with nine votes. Johnson rushed for a franchise-record 2,006 yards to join Eric Dickerson, Jamal Lewis, Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis and O.J. Simpson as the only NFL running backs to reach the 2,000-yard mark in a season. Johnson rushed for at least 100 yards 12 different times, including his final 11 games. His top performance was a franchise-record 228- yard. Back to this topic though why didn't he get the MVP. I mean the last time an MVP went to a non-QB on a team with fewer than 10 wins was 1997, when Barry Sanders shared the honor with Brett Favre. That year, Sanders finished with more than 2,000 yards rushing for a 9-7 Lions team. So maybe if the Titans would have made the playoffs we wouldn't be singing this song. So the conclusion is Offensive Player of the Year is simply a consolation prize for players with crazy stats.
I hope everybody has heard bout the earthquake that hit Haiti. Not only did it send shock waves to nearby places but it is affecting the NFL. Pierre Garcon, the second-year veteran has relatives in Haiti, most of whom are his family. If you are still lost there was a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that destroyed buildings, made communication all but impossible and officials fear death totals near or over 100,000. Garcon was born in New York and grew up in South Florida, but his mother, father and three sisters were born in Haiti. He said he has more aunts, uncles nieces and nephews on the island than he can count. Garcon is using his Twitter account, www.twitter.com/ShowTimeP85 to raise awareness for the situation. Keep this man and everybody else in Haiti in your prayers.
Word is USC wanted a "Pete Carroll'' guy to replace the real Pete Carroll. And while there have been rumblings the last few days that that could mean USC would look to pry Steve Sarkisian away from UW, good sources have indicated tonight that the ex-Carroll assistant that the Trojans will instead get is Lane Kiffin, who just finished his first year as head coach at Tennessee. Like Sarkisian, Kiffin was an offensive coordinator under Carroll, and is reported to be making about $2 million a year with the Vols, a salary he would likely increase substantially at USC. He also has what's reported to be a pretty small buyout of $1 million. Sources indicate that Sarkisian was never in the running for the job, preferring to stay at UW. However, if what we're hearing is true, he will now have to play his good buddy Kiffin at least once a year. The two worked together on the USC staff for five years, Sarkisian once saying they used to sit and draw up lists of schools they regarded as good jobs. Kiffin was an assistant at USC from 2001-2006 before leaving to become head coach of the Oakland Raiders, and then on to Tennessee.
Via ESPN
Well I guess Primetime got this one right. Charles Woodson has won The Associated Press 2009 NFL Defensive Player of the Year award. He said that Woodson just deserved it this season but Revis is just as good if not better. He doubled the number of votes for that Darrelle Revis received (Woodson got 28 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters). Woodson tied for the league lead with nine interceptions, returning three for touchdowns, and was a key to the Packers' turnaround on defense. His role played a huge part in Green Bay's ranking second in overall defense. How funny is it that Woodson is the first cornerback to take home the honor since Deion Sanders.
A basketball source has confirmed that Michael Redd suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament and torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee on Sunday night in Los Angeles. The injury will sideline the Bucks shooting guard for the rest of the season. The injury is the same one that Redd suffered nearly one year ago, on Jan. 24 against Sacramento at the Bradley Center. He suffered a torn ACL and torn MCL in his left knee on that night and was lost for the rest of the season. The 30-year-old Redd has been plagued by injuries in recent years. He missed the final 35 games of last season after being injured, and he was out for 16 games earlier this season due to a left patella tendon strain. Redd has one year remaining on the six-year, $91 million contract he signed with the Bucks in the summer of 2005. The final year of the deal is a player option worth $18 million. This may be it for him and I am sure it will be for the Bucks as they have plenty of back up shooting guards.
Finally it's official. The Seattle Seahawks just announced they have hired Pete Carroll as the eighth head coach in the club's history. "We are excited to add Pete as our coach," Seahawks Chief Executive Tod Leiweke said in a written release. "We now turn our full attention to the hiring process for a general manager. Our intended structure is for Pete and the new GM to work in a collaborative capacity on football matters."The Seahawks did not release financial terms of the deal, but The Times has learned it's a five-year agreement worth $32.5 million, or $6.5 million per season. His assistant coaches may range from USC assistants to Pac-10 coaches. Let's see how long it takes him to get Seattle back to being halfway decent.
Ok so maybe I am exgeratting. But nobody is really shocked about the fact that Mark McGwire has used steriods. Rather they just want to know what took him so long to tell.Here is the text of the statement Mark McGwire issued Monday, admitting he used steroids during his career, as provided by The Associated Press:"Now that I have become the hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals, I have the chance to do something that I wish I was able to do five years ago.I never knew when, but I always knew this day would come. It's time for me to talk about the past and to confirm what people have suspected. I used steroids during my playing career and I apologize. I remember trying steroids very briefly in the 1989/1990 off season and then after I was injured in 1993, I used steroids again. I used them on occasion throughout the '90s, including during the 1998 season. I wish I had never touched steroids. It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era. During the mid-'90s, I went on the DL seven times and missed 228 games over five years. I experienced a lot of injuries, including a ribcage strain, a torn left heel muscle, a stress fracture of the left heel, and a torn right heel muscle. It was definitely a miserable bunch of years and I told myself that steroids could help me recover faster. I thought they would help me heal and prevent injuries, too. I'm sure people will wonder if I could have hit all those home runs had I never taken steroids. I had good years when I didn't take any and I had bad years when I didn't take any. I had good years when I took steroids and I had bad years when I took steroids. But no matter what, I shouldn't have done it and for that I'm truly sorry. Baseball is really different now - it's been cleaned up. The commissioner and the players' association implemented testing and they cracked down, and I'm glad they did. I'm grateful to the Cardinals for bringing me back to baseball. I want to say thank you to Cardinals owner Mr. DeWitt, to my GM, John Mozeliak, and to my manager, Tony La Russa. I can't wait to put the uniform on again and to be back on the field in front of the great fans in Saint Louis. I've always appreciated their support and I intend to earn it again, this time as hitting coach. I'm going to pour myself into this job and do everything I can to help the Cardinals hitters become the best players for years to come. After all this time, I want to come clean. I was not in a position to do that five years ago in my congressional testimony, but now I feel an obligation to discuss this and to answer questions about it. I'll do that, and then I just want to help my team."
