Billy Paultz Reconsidered

I am extremely loathe to employ a word as overused and misunderstood as “choke.”
But the truth, it says here, is that certain athletes lose their comfort zone in pressure situations. Think of the ex-Phillie Bobby Abreu, an excellent ballplayer at his peak.
Abreu normally had sort of casual, milk-the-strike-zone approach that made him a .400 OBP guy. But […]

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I’ve tried to stay away from politics for a while now because…. I’m not sure, exactly. Maybe I wanted to avoid a big, sloppy omnibus thing about Obama that would be embarrassing in retrospect.
But I can’t keep quiet any longer about one thing: Naming Hillary Secretary of State is an awful, horrible, insane idea on […]

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here. This appeared in Wednesday’s Slate.
Actually I disagree with the Great One on a couple things here - his overview of the NCAA and the relationship between the haves and have-nots of college sports is simplistic at best.
But he does make a couple points that haven’t been made enough. The computer rankings aren’t rankings by […]

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Let’s see…. Utah beat Alabama, which beat Ole Miss, which beat Florida… and Ole Miss also beat Texas Tech, which beat Texas, which beat Oklahoma. AND Utah beat Oregon State, which beat USC.
It’s all on this handy chart.
I know, every year you can create a chart of “so-and-so beat so-and-so, which beat so-and-so, which beat….” […]

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One more Rose Bowl anecdote before blowing out of La-La early tomorrow morning: The Kodak Theatre here employs people dressed as familar stars or characters (Wonder Woman, the Joker, and the like) to hang around in front of the theatre, pose for photos, etc.
So Elmo, of Tickle Me fame, is standing there, and a small […]

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Sanchez in the second quarter: 14-17 for 225 yards and two TDs. USC has 341 total yards at the half against what’s supposed to be one of the best defenses in the country.
The decisive matchup has been USC’s big receivers against Penn State’s little DBs. Didn’t see that coming, but neither did anyone else. What’s […]

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Now USC goes 80 yards and scores on a QB draw. Mark Sanchez, the Trojans’ QB, started a little slow but is rolling now.

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Penn State goes 80 yards in 7 plays, despite a crushing illegal shift call that amounts to a 46-yard penalty. Have to say, the play-calling has been excellent so far- the QB draw for Daryll Clark’s 9-yard TD was perfect, and oh by the way one of about four plays, so far, that Pat Devlin […]

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USC goes 86 yards for a TD after Aaron Maybin knocks the ball loose from QB Mark Sanchez, but is panelized for offsides.
Nits had better move the rock here, or the landslide could start.

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On Penn State’s first snap, they went with tight end Andrew Quarless split wide, tailback Evan Royster in the slow and Derrick Williams in the backfield. Don’t remember seeing that much in the regular season.
And starting the Rose Bowl….. Manheim Central Baron Graham Zug.

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