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The Daily Digest for Thursday, October 11, 2007 |
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October 11, 2007 |
≡ Interim Report ≡
 Francione: caught in his own Web! |
= Program Note =
We expected that TheGoodSportsNetwork.tv would be up and running on Monday, September 24, but the site is still not live. We have been told that TheGoodSportsNetwork.tv site will be up soon, but no firm date has been given.
While we wait, we’ll continue posting a weekday note and sending out the Tip Sheet to keep you informed. Stay tuned, and hope for the best.
= Tonight’s Menu =
>> The National League Championship Series starts tonight in Phoenix, with the Diamondbacks pitching ace Brandon Webb against Jeff Francis of Colorado. Webb has been terrific in his last three games, with a 3-0 record and just a 2.21 ERA while Francis is 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA. But the Rockies are 6-2 against Arizona in their last eight and won two of three from Arizona in the last weekend of the regular season to get into a playoff for the N.L. Wild Card spot. But with Webb, the D-backs are favored: it takes $128 to try to win $100 on the home team but $105 on the Rockies to try for the same $100.
The American League Championship Series will start tomorrow in Boston.
>> In tonight’s college football game on ESPN, Florida State (4-1) will visit Wake Forest (3-2) in a rematch of what was one of last season’s shockers: Wake 30, FSU 0 in Tallahassee. This time, the question is more about which of Bobby Bowden’s quarterbacks – Drew Weatherford or Xavier Lee – will get to play, while the Seminole defense is once again rock solid, allowing only 15.6 points per game. FSU has won four in a row after losing its opener at Clemson while the Demon Deacons have three straight wins to their credit after two losses to start the season. The Seminoles are favored by five to six points depending on where you shop, and with an over-under of 44 points, the final is supposed to be Florida State 23, Wake 17.
= L.A. Stories =
>> What’s Bruin: See our daily blog on UCLA sports at LATimes.com!
What’s Bruin: Thursday practice report: Counting on Cowan?
What’s Bruin: Weekend Warm-up: Bruin women footballers are no. 1 again!
>> Talk of Troy: After USC’s thunderous collapse against Stanford, there’s much worry and hand-wringing among the Trojan faithful. Not to worry; 2-4 Arizona is on its way to the Coliseum and should be the perfect antidote. Arizona hasn’t beaten USC since 2000 and the Troys are favored by 21 points with an over-under of 57, so the sharpies have the final as USC 39, Wildcats 18.
>> Honors of Troy: SI.com came out with its mid-season All-American picks and two Trojans made the list: defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis on the first team and offensive tackle Sam Baker on the second team.
>> History of Troy: One distinction that the Trojans can claim, however, is that the loss to Stanford as a 40-point favorite is the greatest upset of all time. Betting historians, going back to 1980, found that the biggest prior upset also happened this season when 37 1/2-point favorite Louisville was beaten by Syracuse. The prior high was 36-point underdog UTEP beating BYU in 1985.
How improbable was Stanford’s win? Since 1980, in the 703 games in which a team was favored by 30 points or more, only nine underdogs (1.2%) have beaten the odds.
= Panorama =
>> The National Pastime: It’s not the playoffs, but waiting to see what George Steinbrenner will do about Yankees manager Joe Torre. The latest is that a meeting will be convened in Tampa, Florida (where Steinbrenner lives) probably early next week to decide what will happen to Torre and if excused, who will be the Yankee manager for 2008.
So far, there has been no announcement of television rights being sold for the meeting.
>> College Firing Line: The hysterical Web site CoachesHotSeat.com – whose logo is a burning chair! – has Dennis Franchione as far and away the most likely coach to be fired at the end of the season. That was confirmed today when Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne told the Associated Press, “The Aggies are embarrassed right now. This has been a very unfortunate incident that we do not want to experience again.”
Byrne said that Franchione has been ordered to shut down his Web site – CoachFran.com – immediately, will receive a “letter of admonishment” from the school and A&M will make a report to the NCAA of possible rules violations which came out of its internal investigation of the situation. Franchione’s contract makes it clear that he is required to report any outside income to the university annually and the $80,000 he grossed from the Web site and his “VIP Connection” newsletter was not included on any of his reports. Franchione reportedly made about $37,806 from the Web site and newsletter, on top of his $2 million per year salary.
Byrne told the AP that these issues, as well as Franchione’s disappointing 30-24 record in his tenure in College Station, “will be part of his personnel review” at the end of the season.
>> NFL Ticker: Having to face prison and other criminal and civil penalties is an enormous challenge for ex-Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. But now his old high school has turned its back on him.
Vick’s jersey has been removed – probably permanently – from the trophy case at Warwick High School in Newport News, Virginia. Principal Varinda Robinson decided to remove the jersey after his guilty plea on dogfighting charges was entered.
>> Kicker: How about a penalty for a soccer player who fakes an injury? About time, right?
But a goalkeeper?
That’s the story at AC Milan, where Brazilian goalkeeper Dida was suspended for two games in the Champions League for faking an injury and being carried off the field on a stretcher after being lightly touched by an out-of-control Celtic fan during the 90th minute of a Champions League match in Glasgow, won by the Scottish team, 2-1.
Celtic didn’t get away “scot-free” however. It was fined $25,400 (converted from Euro) for the incident and will have to pay the same amount again if it does not exert better control over its fans in its matches. At the 27-year-old goofball who ran on the field was found and banned for life from Celtic matches.
>> Rings & Things: Attention, citizens of Chicago! Consider this story out of London when you consider how enthusiastic you should be about Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympic Games . . .
The Guardian of London reported that the cost of the Olympic Stadium to be built for the 2012 Olympic Games is now projected to cost 496 million British pounds or about $1.009 billion, up 77 percent from the original cost projection in the London bid for the Games! And the swimming venue for the Games, expected to cost 75 million pounds ($152 million) will likely cost more than double that, or more than $305 million!
As Dick Pound, an International Olympic Committee member from Canada has said on many occasions, some of the greatest fiction ever written is contained in Olympic city bid books.
>> Eatertainment: Can’t forget to mention the results of the Waffle House World Waffle Eating Championships, staged at the State Fair of Texas! In another upset, American vacuum cleaner Joey Chestnut lost to Patrick “Deep Dish” Bertoletti by a half a waffle, 29 to 28 1/2 over a 10-minute inhalation period. Eater X was third at 21 1/4 waffles.
Bertoletti won $3,500 for winning and pledged not to spend it all at the Fair’s hundreds of concession stands. He also won the Waffle House Belt, which cannot be traded in for food. He might be able to eat it, though.
~ Rich Perelman
>> Have an opinion? You can send it using the “Comment” button below!
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