Angelo Stengle Blog

FSU to Large 12? School has inflated concept of self-worth

There’s just one factor that throws me relating to this Florida Condition-to-the-Large-12 rumor that’s been growing and mutating in the last a few days: Do school authorities consider themselves some type of super energy? Since I believe time machines aren’t relevant here.

Within the last six years, Florida Condition wholesale jersey from china has performed within the Emerald Bowl, the background music City Bowl, the Champs Sports Bowl, the Gator Bowl, the Chick-fil-A Bowl and also the Champs Sports Bowl again.

They’ve performed in a single BCS bowl (Orange) within the last eight seasons (and lost). They haven?ˉt won any BCS bowl game because the national title 12 years back.

They haven?ˉt won the ACC since 2005. They’ve performed in just one ACC championship game within the last six seasons.

Before a college begins making financial demands and threatening to alter conferences, shouldn?ˉt it a minimum of need to win the ACC Atlantic Division more Boston College?

This, obviously, is about money. However , Florida Condition is residing in its super energy past. It?ˉs frustrated the  ACC isn’t the SEC. Every conference is frustrated that it?ˉs not the SEC. But, sorry, whenever a conference wins six straight national titles, the end result won’t be an amount playing area, least of if this involves television revenue.

Big 12’s Beebe: Ready to move if A&M bolts

 A&M’s defection to the Southeastern Conference is on hold, but maybe only

temporarily.

A meeting Sunday in Atlanta of the presidents of the SEC schools ended with no action

taken with respect to any prospective expansion candidates, including A&M, according

to a statement from Florida president Bernie Machen, chair of the SEC’s presidents and

chancellors.
“The SEC Presidents and Chancellors met today and reaffirmed our satisfaction with the

present 12 institutional alignment,” the statement read. “We recognize, however, that

future conditions may make it advantageous to expand the number of institutions in the

league. We discussed criteria and process associated with expansion.”
Machen’s statement doesn’t kill the Aggies’ chances of eventually bolting the Big 12 for

the SEC, but the SEC would likely then need to add another school in order to have

seven in each of its divisions. Which school that might be is unknown.

Over the weekend, administrators at Clemson, Virginia Tech, Florida State and Missouri

said there had been no discussions with the SEC. The first three schools are members of

the Atlantic Coast Conference. Missouri is in the Big 12 with the Aggies.

A&M’s Board of Regents scheduled a meeting for today by teleconference, and among its

agenda items is the school’s conference home. Specifically: “Authorization for the

President (Bowen Loftin) to take all actions relating to Texas A&M University’s athletic

conference alignment.”
The Texas’ House Committee on Higher Education, chaired by State Rep. Dan Branch,

has scheduled a hearing on the issue for Tuesday.
Loftin was in College Station, Texas, Sunday but was briefed by SEC officials after the

meeting, said Jason Cook, A&M’s Vice President for Marketing and Communications.
Loftin later released a statement, which read: “As we have seen over the past several

days, there has been a considerable amount of misinformation regarding these discussions

and any associated timelines. The chairman of our board has indicated that the regents

will proceed with tomorrow’s agenda item, which authorizes the president of Texas A&M

to take all actions related to athletic conference alignment.
“I will also accept Chairman Branch’s invitation to participate in his committee’s hearing

on Tuesday. These are extremely complex issues, and it is imperative that we proceed

methodically and in the best interests of Texas A&M.”
The Big 12’s remaining nine member schools say the door remains open for A&M to stay

but that the conference will otherwise remain intact and move ahead without the Aggies,

should they eventually leave.
The Big 12 doesn’t have any kind of written membership contract with its 10 schools,

according to a person familar with the league’s processes. But after the conference almost

broke up last summer, the 10 made a commitment to stay with the league for at least 10

years, and they were considered further bound by a 13-year Fox Sports television

agreement to which they all agreed, the person said.
The TV deal is scheduled to go into effect next year.
Current league bylaws would require A&M to forfeit 90% of its revenues from

conference payouts over the previous two years — last year and the one upcoming — if it

leaves in 2012. That would be about $28 million.
However, Nebraska and Colorado, which left the Big 12 for the Big Ten and Pacific 12,

respectively, were able to negotiate a reduced exit fee when they departed the league.
The Fox contract, worth a reported $90 million annually to the league, would have to be

reworked, the person said, as it’s based on a minimum number of games played by 10

schools.

Thibodeau doesn’t want his players getting caught up in retaliating over physical play

These words have been used by many Bulls fans who are tired of seeing their players being bullied by hard fouls from the Pacers. All-Star guard Derrick Rose, in particular, has been the target of Indiana enforcers in the paint when he drives to the basket.

But under the direction of coach Tom Thibodeau, Bulls players are instructed to turn the other cheek when elbows fly and concentrate on closing out the series Tuesday night at the United Center.

“Derrick is a tough guy and he is going to get back up. It’s a physical game,” Bulls forward Taj Gibson said following practice Sunday. “It’s all about us playing our game. Don’t get distracted.”

Overheard: Thibodeau has been impressed by Kyle Korver’s play in the playoffs and all season.

“He complements Derrick and Carlos (Boozer) extremely well with his ability to shoot,” Thibodeau said. “It creates space for both of those guys.”

Sights seen: Hall of Fame catcher Carlton Fisk dining at Harry Caray’s in Lombard last Thursday. … Bulls players Ronnie Brewer and Gibson at Hugo’s Frog Bar and Fish House. Also there were Mayor Richard Daley and White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.

Adviser: Cowboys’ Dez Bryant is ‘in a dark place’

An adviser to Dez Bryant said Wednesday the Dallas Cowboys receiver is in turmoil after a spate of recent legal issues shed a light on debts nearing $1 million.

David Wells, Bryant’s confidant, told KESN-FM in Dallas (via ESPN) that he spoke with the receiver on Tuesday — after two lawsuits emerged seeking more than $800,000 in overdue bills from Bryant.

“He wants to get past this,” Wells told the station.

“He wants to get all these deals past him and closure. He’s in a dark place in his life. Until you find that light, you’re going to continue to be in a dark place.”

Bryant was also involved in a dust-up with police at a Dallas mall earlier this month when he received a warning in a dispute about clothes members of his party were wearing. Bryant later apologized for his role in the incident.

The two lawsuits filed against Bryant claim the receiver failed to pay for jewelry, loans and sporting tickets proffered to him in the past two years.

Bryant signed a five-year contract last July after being drafted in the first round. It included about $8.3 million in guaranteed money.

Former NFL player Deion Sanders — whose connection to Bryant in 2009 prompted the receiver’s suspension by the NCAA — said last week that Bryant “needs help.”

The Cowboys have not commented on Bryant’s status, and are unable to work with him during the NFL lockout.

Wells told KESN that Bryant wants to be left alone and has a plan to repay his debts.

“He’s got a plan that he talked to me about yesterday, that he wants to move forward with,” Wells said. “The greatest thing in the end is if Dez comes out and does what he has to do in the community, as a father, with the Cowboys organization, then I think he’ll be OK.”

Aldon Smith Reportedly Working Out for Patriots

Dynamic pass-rushing prospect Aldon Smith (DE/OLB, Missouri) will hold a private workout for the New England Patriots, according to KOMU TV in Missouri. However, other sources are currently disputing this account. NEPD is currently trying to confirm the story independently.

 At only 20 years old, Smith is an incredibly talented, if a bit raw, defender that has flashed the athleticism needed to project as a 3-4 outside linebacker in the Patriots system. He is incredibly quick, long, and has a great swim and rip moves.

After a 2009 season that saw Smith absolutely dominate (19 TFL, 11 sacks), his 2010 season was hindered by injuries, including a broken leg. Playing through pain, Smith still totaled 4.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss. The former Tiger also batted down two passes and made one interception.

Smith (6-4/263) impressed with a 4.7 forty and put up decent numbers in the bench press (20 repetitions) and vertical leap (34″) at the NFL Combine earlier this February.

‘Madden NFL 12’ Cover Vote Update

Chris Johnson is one of the top running backs in the history of the “Madden” video game. He’s the reason people play as Tennessee and the flashy force behind thousands of dollars wagered on a nightly basis online and in living rooms across the country based on that blazing speed. And it’s because of this fan loyalty, I thought he’d make it pretty far in the “Madden NFL 12” cover vote hosted by ESPN’s SportsNation.

But so far, CJ2K’s fans just haven’t shown up as I checked the latest voting results, and Johnson is losing to Andre Johnson of the Texans by a near 70-30 margin. Wow.

Another shocker is the fact that Tim Tebow, the man who was leading the NFL in jersey sales as a rookie, is losing to Jamaal Charles of the Chiefs, 64.9% to 35%. What happened to all of those Tebow fans out there? Are we seeing a fan backlash against the quarterback? Should EA Sports have went with Brandon Lloyd for the cover instead?

And while there are a lot of blowouts in the voting (Matt Ryan, Vick, and Rodgers are dominating!), there are a couple of close races to keep an eye on.

Most notably, the Patrick Willis vs. 12th Man vote, and the shockingly close Mark Sanchez vs. Jake Long battle. In checking the numbers, Willis leads by only four percentage points over The 12th Man, while Sanchez holds a narrow 54.7% to 45.2% lead over Long. With a few days left to vote, both of these contests could go either way.

Don’t like these results? Want to see your favorite player advance? There’s still time to

‘Madden NFL 12’ Cover Vote Update

Chris Johnson is one of the top running backs in the history of the “Madden” video game. He’s the reason people play as Tennessee and the flashy force behind thousands of dollars wagered on a nightly basis online and in living rooms across the country based on that blazing speed. And it’s because of this fan loyalty, I thought he’d make it pretty far in the “Madden NFL 12” cover vote hosted by ESPN’s SportsNation.

But so far, CJ2K’s fans just haven’t shown up as I checked the latest voting results, and Johnson is losing to Andre Johnson of the Texans by a near 70-30 margin. Wow.

Another shocker is the fact that Tim Tebow, the man who was leading the NFL in jersey sales as a rookie, is losing to Jamaal Charles of the Chiefs, 64.9% to 35%. What happened to all of those Tebow fans out there? Are we seeing a fan backlash against the quarterback? Should EA Sports have went with Brandon Lloyd for the cover instead?

And while there are a lot of blowouts in the voting (Matt Ryan, Vick, and Rodgers are dominating!), there are a couple of close races to keep an eye on.

Most notably, the Patrick Willis vs. 12th Man vote, and the shockingly close Mark Sanchez vs. Jake Long battle. In checking the numbers, Willis leads by only four percentage points over The 12th Man, while Sanchez holds a narrow 54.7% to 45.2% lead over Long. With a few days left to vote, both of these contests could go either way.

Don’t like these results? Want to see your favorite player advance? There’s still time to

Evaluating potential NFL rule changes

Hey, Calvin Johnson — guess what? It is still not a touchdown.

Rich McKay, president of the Atlanta Falcons and chairman of the NFL’s Competition Committee, confirmed Wednesday that no significant changes to the rule regarding complete or incomplete catches have been made that would have taken a play that most everyone thought was a touchdown and made it exactly that.

The “is-it-a-catch?” controversy occurred in the 2010 season opener between Johnson’s Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears, when the Lions receiver made what appeared to be a game-winning touchdown reception with less than a minute remaining in regulation. The reception was later ruled incomplete because the ball touched the ground while still in Johnson’s hand as he attempted to leap up and celebrate.

McKay said Wednesday that the rewritten rule — which reintroduces the statement “controlling the ball long enough to perform a football act” — still has to “put responsibility on the receiver to hold on to the ball.”

Think that is a bit confusing? McKay went on to say that although the receiver has to maintain control long enough to perform a football act, “he doesn’t have to perform a football act.”

McKay explained that there are three elements to completing a catch:

1. Control the ball.

2. Maintaining control when you touch the ground with both feet or another body part.

3. Controlling the ball long enough to perform a football act after completing steps one and two.

Long story short — it is still a mess. And guess what, folks? It will still be a mess for a long time.

This is a very tough fix. I certainly don’t have an answer.

I agree with McKay when he said that there is an inherent conflict between the way the rule is interpreted and instant replay. The conflict is slow motion.

When you have to analyze possession and whether a receiver has maintained control “long enough” to complete the catch, real time would say no. But in slow motion replay, the answer would be yes.

Great minds likely spent hours and maybe days trying to figure this out and couldn’t. It doesn’t surprise me.

Instant replay has really had a negative effect in this area of the game.

Here is my last suggestion; make catch/no catch only reviewable at the sideline or endline. Focus on only the feet or another body part. If the receiver gets two feet down, it is a catch. Forget the element of time and whether he maintained control long enough. These are judgment calls anyway.

Leave it in the hands of the officials and forget replay.

***

Speaking of replay …

There is a proposal that will be voted on during the March 20-22 NFL owners meetings that would eliminate the third challenge for a coach who wins his first two challenges.

In exchange, coaches will not have to use a challenge any time a touchdown, field goal or safety is ruled. The replay assistant will be able to initiate a review if necessary just as he does inside of two minutes of each half.

Not sure I like this.

This focuses on scoring plays only. I am OK with that since scoring plays are the most significant focus in the reply system with change-of-possession plays running a close second.

I am not OK with the fact that this only applies to a ruling of a score and not if a runner is ruled down short of the goal line or if a field goal is ruled no good. The rationale for this is when a score is ruled, the clock stops and there is no action until the try or the kickoff.

There are a couple of things that I don’t like about this, and overall I think this proposed rule change will extend the length of the game.

I don’t like the fact that the only time the replay assistant will get involved outside of two minutes is if a score is ruled.

What if a runner is ruled down short of the goal line with three minutes to go in the game and the coach is out of challenges or timeouts? Sorry. No review, even if video shows conclusively that the ball had broken the plane. If the official had ruled touchdown, the replay assistant could initiate a review, but since the official ruled the runner short, nothing can be done.

It is a scoring play and it should be reviewed. Who cares if you stop the clock outside of two minutes? You would stop the clock inside of two minutes.

This is one way that rulings in replay are not good in my mind.

If a coach is out of challenges or timeouts, officials are going to officiate to the replay system. If it is close they will and should rule touchdown. That way it can be reviewed.

We have been through this before when the ruling of fumble was reviewable but the ruling of down by contact wasn’t. If it was close, officials were told to rule fumble and many times went against their instincts. It made some appear indecisive.

I am also concerned that this new rule will lead to more reviews and more delays. The replay assistant is going to stop the game anytime he is uncertain. Replays don’t come up immediately after a score as the networks have a job to do and must present player, coach and fan reaction.

The game is either going to get stopped or the umpire is going to stand over the ball for an extended period of time not letting the scoring team attempt the try. This will give the television networks more time to show some replays.

The simple solution for this is to let the replay assistant review this all the way up to the kickoff after the try. Everyone has plenty of time, including the networks. In most cases the networks will come up with the shot that confirms the score and the stoppage would then be avoided.

McKay said the competition committee discussed this but, “at the end of the day you have to keep the standard to the idea that the review stops at the next legal snap.”

The try is hardly a play that applies here. The clock does not run during a try. It is a dead play. If you find out after the try that a touchdown ruling should have been reversed you have compounded the problem by letting an extra point count that never should have been allowed in the first place.

I vote against this replay proposal.

***

The competition committee is out to totally revamp kickoffs.

This is all about player safety and I vote for this. I’m not sure this will pass. Special team coordinators will be up in arms about this. Kickoffs would be from the 35-yard line. Touchbacks would come out to the 25-yard line.

Kicking team members could only get a 5-yard running start as they would have to line up outside of their 30-yard line. All wedge blocks will be illegal even if just by two players.

This will result in fewer returns and fewer injuries. A reduction of injuries is always a good thing.

I like everything about this change, but it is a radical departure from the way the committee has looked at kickoffs in the past.

It wasn’t long ago that the rule changed moving the kickers’ line back to the 30 and the NFL went to “K” balls that weren’t doctored and prepared by the kickers. This was done to get more returns back in the game because the percentage of touchbacks had gotten too high. The feeling was that the kickoff return was one of the most exciting plays in the game.

The focus was quite different then. Injuries take precedent now.

It’s interesting how the NHL has announced it is looking into “accidental concussions” and may try to slow the game down a bit. Same thing should apply on kickoffs. Slow it down by not giving a kicking team member a full-fledged running start.

This should pass, as owners rarely vote against anything that promotes player safety.

***

The other rule proposal discussed was the standardization of defenseless players and their protections. This is an automatic. There will also be a foul for a player launching and contacting an opponent anywhere with his helmet.

There appears to be a total of only five changes that will go to a vote in New Orleans, three of which appear to be very simple.

This will be the fewest number of proposed changes in the last 10 years.

I wonder why? Might it be that I am no longer a part of the process?

I always wanted to tweak the rules, and maybe I went a little too far once in a while. I do know that if I would have been there, I would have continued my fight to get the “Tuck Rule” changed, among others.

I am sure the competition committee is happy that I have moved on.

NFL and union intensify talks as labor deadline looms

The 14th day of mediated negotiations may have produced a breakthrough with reports the two sides reached an agreement on rookie wages which would include limits on length of contracts and guaranteed money.

But with a Friday deadline fast approaching, the main issue standing in the way of a new collective bargaining agreement remained firmly in place with NFL and NFL Players Association unable to make progress on how to carve up revenues.

The two sides spent part of Wednesday haggling over the financial information that the league was willing to provide to the union.

According to league and union sources in a story posted on the NFL’s official website , the NFL offered the NFLPA an aggregate of profitability over a five-year period at the league level.

The union has pushed for more information at the individual club level.

“There is a long way to go, but as long as we stay at it, we have a chance to get an agreement done,” NFL general counsel Jeff Pash told the NFL Network.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Pittsburgh Steelers President Art Rooney II and owners John Mara of the New York Giants and Clark Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs were among those representing the league.

NFL Players Association (NFLPA) executive director DeMaurice Smith and union president Kevin Mawae led the players’ delegation.

The league, claiming costs have risen dramatically since the previous deal of 2006, wants to increase the amount it takes off the top by a billion dollars to $2.3 billion. That would shrink the players’ share, which currently is about 60 percent of remaining revenues.

League owners also want to increase the number of regular season games from 16 to 18 while cutting out two preseason games in order to raise more revenue.

The current bargaining agreement was originally set to expire last Thursday. But that was extended twice, first by a day, then by a week.

Without an agreement, owners most likely would lock out players from team facilities and free agents would be in limbo, affecting about 400 players.

A potential lockout by owners was expected to be met by court action from the players.

Rookies entering uncharted labor territory

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Prodded late last week about his thoughts on a possible lockout by owners, former Alabama defensive lineman Marcell nfl jerseys cheap Dareus, at the podium for the media grilling that accompanies the annual NFL job fair, responded: “I hope it’s dissolved.”

That malapropism likely will transform into a self-fulfilling prophesy by the end of the week, when the NFLPA decertifies or “dissolves” in a last-ditch effort to avoid a lockout. But it also symbolized the lack of clarity that many draft prospects at the combine possessed about what is about to transpire with their careers. No doubt, the 330 players present in Indianapolis were prompted by the players association on what is coming down, the scary ramifications of what it could mean to them.

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But until the lockout becomes reality — and the window of opportunity for them to exhibit their value to a team becomes perhaps a two- or three-week audition instead of several months of tutelage through minicamps and OTAs — the full impact of a work-stoppage is just words for now.

It would be hyperbole to suggest that the labor situation hung like a pall over Indy, although it was difficult to have any kind of conversation with a team official or a veteran player without the subject quickly bubbling to the surface. But in the room in the Lucas Oil Stadium bowels where prospects were herded for media sessions, the potential lockout drew mostly shrugged shoulders.

“You hope,” said University of California defensive end Cameron Jordan, clearly one of the brightest and most engaging prospects of the week, “it doesn’t happen at all. If it does, well, it’s too bad. But nobody’s really gone through anything like this before. It’s hard to say what it means.”

Not even Jordan’s famous daddy — former NFL tight end Steve Jordan, who played 13 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, and was named to six Pro Bowl games — really can offer much advice on this one. Somewhat ironically, Steve Jordan also entered the NFL in the year of a work stoppage; his rookie season, 1982, was delayed by a players’ strike that truncated the season to nine games. But that was the NFLPA rank-and-file pulling the plug on the season, not owners, and the pending lockout offers a whole, new set of rules.

Most of which haven’t sunk in yet on would-be first-year players.

“What I know, from the (briefings) I’ve had, is that it’s not going to be the usual stuff a rookie goes through,” acknowledged highly-regarded Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green. “You’re going to be counted on to do a lot of stuff individually, because there aren’t going to be team workouts. It’s going to kind of be, “OK, every man for himself.’ No support group. The whole thing is kind of scary.”

Maybe not quite as scary as the prospect of drafted players being left to their own devices. One potential plus is that the rookies won’t have big money in their pockets — because while franchises can select them, they won’t be able to sign players, until there is a new collective bargaining agreement — and so the temptation to squander new-found wealth probably won’t be as great. On the flip side, the NFL won’t be able to provide baby-sitters, either, to make sure the rookies read playbooks, hit the weight room, adhere to team rules and methodologies.

Said Kansas City general manager Scott Pioli: “All the rookies in the NFL essentially will be equal. They’ll all be starting from the same place, wherever that is. Whatever happens, the rules will be the same for everybody.”

It would be Pollyannaish, though, to assume every rookie will react the same way with time on his hands.

One NFC general manager in Indianapolis assessed that the 2011 pool of prospects his team interviewed might be the brightest with which the club has ever dealt. He and his coaches might also hope the group is the most diligent and self-motivated.

Because if the CBA isn’t miraculously dissolved, er, resolved by the end of the week, clubs will require those qualities of their rookies classes. Maybe more than 40-yard dash times, Wonderlic scores, or quickness in the 3-cone drill, those attributes might be most important.