OSG Championship: Whelan Charged By FA Over Racist Comments

((HT: SkySports/Beanyman Sports))

Not that this is a surprise...

But ever since Wigan chairman Dave Whelan hired Malky Mackay as his new manager to stop the hemorrhaging of the Latics. Currently, they're next-to-last in the table with only 18 points on the season so far- clearly, nine points above Blackpool but in the logjam in the relegation zone.

So, Whelan hires Mackay who is under investigation for sending racist and anti-Semitic text messages in his time as manager at Cardiff City last season. Then, Whelan says on the record to The Guardian newspaper: "I think Jewish people do chase money more than everybody else."

Whelan also said he did not view the word 'chink' as offensive. It was the term by which Mackay allegedly referred to Cardiff owner Vincent Tan in one of the text messages under review.

From the Guardian newspaper and David Conn at the time:

Asked whether he did not think what Mackay said was offensive, because the claim Jews “love money” has been used as a negative stereotype, Whelan said: “Do you think Jewish people chase money a little bit more than we do? I think they are very shrewd people.”

Asked if he himself believed that, Whelan, the 77-year-old multimillionaire and former owner of JJB Sports, said: “I think Jewish people do chase money more than everybody else. I don’t think that’s offensive at all.”

He then apologized...


The FA said in response: "It is alleged the Wigan Athletic chairman breached FA Rule E3[1] in that his comments were abusive and/or insulting and/or constitute improper conduct and/or bring the game into disrepute.

"It is further alleged that this is an 'Aggravated Breach' as defined by FA Rule E3[2] as it included a reference to ethnic origin and/or race and/or nationality and/or religion or belief."

Whelan said he will quit if found guilty by the FA. He has until December 5th to respond to the charge.

The HQ didn't think the season could have gotten any worse for the Latics, but we think it will.

BREAKING: Jim Rutherford Hired, Dan Bylsma Fired

((HT: Louis Jean's Twitter via TVA))

That didn't take long...

The same day that Jim Rutherford was hired as the new General Manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Dan Bylsma was fired as head coach. It was an odd set from the end of the season when the Pens ownership group decided to fire GM Ray Shero and not Bylsma when the team was bounced from the playoffs prematurely by the Montreal Canadiens.

Three weeks ago...
Here's the talk at the time with TSN's Bob McKenzie
((HT: NHL.com))


So, Bylsma got to twist in the wind and not have the opportunity to look for other work...

Nice work, y'all...

More when we know more, but it now looks like Bylsma becomes the front runner for the Florida Panthers job.

DEVELOPING: Trotz To Caps, MacLellan To GM

((HT: CSNWashington))

Brian MacLellan was promoted to Senior VP and GM of the Washington Capitals as Barry Trotz is now the new head coach of the franchise.

Trotz was on board with the search and was okay with the MacLellan promotion
Chick Hernandez talks to CSNWashington Caps insider Chuck Gormley


The next set of questions will center around the new relationship between Trotz and Alexander Ovechkin. Ovie had a great scoring year for the Caps, a horrible plus-minus, and an owner who wanted to have a fresh set of eyes for his new head coach.

MacLellan has been with the team since the 2000-01 season.
The HQ would like to know how this qualifies.

The defense and goaltending are issues that needed to be addressed in the off-season and it will be interesting to see how this evolves as we head into the summer. The team has very little cap space at present ($1.198M before the new cap adjustment) and 6 players are under UFA status this season- Halak (who left already to the Islanders), Penner, Stoa, Strachan, Brouillette, and Grabovski.

That knocks a little over 11-million off the books, but how you fill the space will be the interesting moves for Ted Leonsis, MacLellan, and Trotz- who will be working with more money in DC than he ever did in Nashville.

You're Hired, You're Fired... After A Few Hours...

((HT: KFBB-TV))

The University of Great Falls (Montana) hired a gentleman by the name of Todd Brittingham as their new Sports Information Director and Marketing Director yesterday. By dinner time, he wasn't the SID/Marketing Director...

UGF said they did a background check, but his criminal conviction in Kansas wasn't a part of their search results.

The local paper, the Great Falls Tribune, revealed in Jesse Geleynse's piece that:

"Brittingham was convicted in 2012 in McPherson, Kan., of endangering a child and furnishing alcohol to a minor, both misdemeanors.

He pleaded guilty to those charges in November 2011, and in exchange, four felony charges of unlawful sexual relations against him were dropped, according to The Associated Press. He was sentenced to one year of probation and a six-month jail sentence that was suspended.

Joe Biega is explaining the kerfuffle...
KFBB.com News, Sports and Weather

Gary Ehnes, the AD at UGF, was understandably stunned thinking that the information he found was all the information he needed and the references Brittingham gave had his back- which they, probably, did...

It's just another case of making sure when you're making sure...

DEVELOPING: Franklin To Penn State...???(Updates)

((HT: College Football Scoop))

According to Scoop, the Langhorne native/Stroudsburg grad/Kutztown coach is heading home...

No particulars yet on contract, contract length, or a signing, but Scoop is confident this is happening as Franklin went 16-4 in his lst 20 games in Nashville...

Here's Franklin's last win on campus, the win over Houston in the bowl in Birmingham...
((HT: ESPN))


More when we know more…

More:

According to USA Today Sports reporter Dan Wolken, Franklin will take the job if he's offered and Penn State Athletic Director Dave Joyner went so far as to release a statement saying he anticipates having a coach in a "Couple of Days"

Read Wolken's full story RIGHT HERE

Vanderbilt's Athletic Director, David Williams is telling anyone that will listen that he expects Franklin to remain the football coach at the Nashville school.

CBSSports.com has more RIGHT HERE

Smart money says Vandy will counter and try to keep him, the question though is will it be enough?

Wake Hires Bowling Green's Clawson

Dave Clawson will be introduced as the 32nd head football coach in Wake Forest history this afternoon...

He was the head coach at Bowling Green for the past five seasons, leading them to the 2013 Mid-American Conference championship after their 47-27 win over Northern Illinois.

Evidence below...
((HT: MAC Digital Network/ESPN))


“We are very pleased to have Dave Clawson leading our football program,” said Wake's Director of Athletics Ron Wellman in a press release. “Dave is a proven winner and leader and has had great success at every institution he has coached.”

Clawson takes over for Jim Grobe, who resigned after 13 seasons as head coach...

He takes over a very difficult situation where the head coach has to balance the throes of academics and wanting to have a competitive athletic team in the field at the same time...in the ACC...

It will be interesting to see if Clawson wins the press conference in Winston-Salem...

So, Sark Goes Back To USC...Perhaps...Now With Updates

And it looks like he did interview after all...

From Joe Schad and his Twitter, looks like he took the job...

But, there are others who are saying that a contract has been delivered, but not signed and sealed... (@InsideUSC gets the tip for that one...)

Sarkisian was the USC QB coach in two stints- 2001-03 and 2005-06- and was Assistant Head Coach and OC from 2007-08.

He does get the culture...

Now, the Silly Season leads itself to U-Dub...and poo-poo's the story earlier this morning on ESPN.com speculating that Vandy's James Franklin and Boise State's Chris Peterson were the USC leaders in the clubhouse.

Anyone calling Chris Petersen...??? Paging Chris Peterson. A call from Seattle on Line 2.

RealDawg247 is reporting that there is a 2PM meeting on the U-Dub campus to tell the team "something..."

Perhaps, that they can get a better head coach than the one that they're letting go...

More when we know more...

Sarkisian's not stopping presses, but USC obviously couldn't do any better. They tried. They got stoned. This is who they are now.
— Jim Rome (@jimrome) December 2, 2013

It's not apples-to-apples, but should USC fans be concerned that Lane Kiffin had a better Pac-12 winning pct than his replacement?
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) December 2, 2013

Note--Reports say interim USC coach Ed Orgeron has turned down an offer to become Associate Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator.

Confirmed: Despite being offered more money and an Assistant HC position, Coach Ed Orgeron has sent in his resignation to #USC.
— Heather Brittany (@HeatherBrit) December 2, 2013

here's how the news is being viewed in Seattle...
((HT: KING5))

OSG Prem: Looks Like Poyet To Sunderland

Let's face facts...

Paolo DiCanio left his old club in nothing short of dumpster fire condition...

So, the Black Cats have turned to former Brighton manager Gus Poyet to turn things around on a two year deal...

"It's a huge challenge but one I am excited about and I am grateful for the opportunity to manage in the Premier League," Poyet said, via Sunderland's official Twitter feed.

"I look forward to proving my ability to the fans. I want them to believe because we need to stick together."

Interim manager Kevin Ball, who lobbied hard for the gig, has no idea about his future with the club:

"No idea at the moment. I don't know whether they are going to give me a ring, speak to me or anything like that.
"But I am sure in the next couple of days, they will do something."

This was how Poyet was sacked from his time in Brighton... on live TV...
((HT: BBCNews Manchester))


Just as odd how DiCanio got sacked this season...

DEVELOPING: Brad Stevens To Celtics

Well, now we know what it will take...

The last time that we saw Brad Stevens, he was encouraging a bulldog to get in shape for a conference move...
((HT: Butler Athletics))


And, now the school may have to edit this piece of video since head men's basketball coach Brad Stevens is leaving for the Boston Celtics- replacing Doc Rivers...

Stevens led the Bulldogs to back-to-back Final Fours and spent six seasons as Butler’s head coach. His first finals squad came a buzzer beater bouncing off the rim from being national champs in the game against Duke...
((HT: NCAA/CBS))


"We truly love Butler University and Indianapolis, and are very thankful to have had the opportunity to celebrate so many wonderful things together,” Stevens said in a statement released by the school. “What makes Butler truly unique is the people that we have been so blessed to work with. When it comes time for our kids to look at schools, we will start with Butler University."

Here's reaction from Indy...
((HT: WTHR-TV))
13 WTHR Indianapolis

And Pat Forde discusses...
((HT: Yahoo!Sports))