ESPN Buys College Football Playoff: --sigh--

To the surprise of few, it's now official. ESPN owns College Football. All of College Football...and the rest of us are now powerless to stop them.

Much like the Empire in Star Wars, they've consumed pretty much everything out there in the game today. All the major "BCS" Conferences, the major bowl games and now of course, the upcoming 2014 Playoffs.

Our friends at the "4-letter" now own the rights to all College Football playoff properties for the next 12-years. Oh, the countdown starts with the 1st playoff, at the end of the 2014 season.

((ed note--Does this mean the 2015 Championship game now has to be called "The Tebow Bowl"?))

Details from the Press Release RIGHT HERE

Terms of the deal haven't been released, but expect we'd expect it to be in the $1 billion plus range. (added note--for those who don't follow college football, your cable/satellite bills are going up again in 2015 to pay for this)

Really, there isn't much more to say here other than it happened. If you are a general sports fan you are probably happy. If you are in Sports Media...probably less so. If you aren't a sports fan, well, like we said, your tv bill is going up. For those uninitiated, like many networks, ESPN charges cable/satellite systems based on a "Subscriber/Retransmission" fee. If they decided they want to increase that fee by 25% to pay for this deal, well, you can expect your bill to go up by at least a percentage of that. The reason: Cable/Satellite providers pass that fee down to their subscribers--whether they watch ESPN/Sports...or not.

OSG Prem: DiMatteo Sacked At Chelsea, Rafa On The Clock...??? (UPDATE: Yup, It's Rafa...)

((HT: goal.com))

Roman Abramovich is not one to be patient with what he perceives as failure...

And when manager Roberto di Matteo wasn't having the results both he and Abramovich wanted, it meant that the manager was gone...

Again...

Here's di Matteo's last interview thinking he was still gonna stay- after his loss to Juventus 3-0 this week in Champions League play...


The statement from the Blues:

"The team's recent performances and results have not been good enough and the owner and the Board felt that a change was necessary now to keep the club moving in the right direction as we head into a vitally important part of the season.

"The club faces a difficult task ahead in qualifying for the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League as well as maintaining a strong challenge for the top of the Premier League while competing in three other cup competitions.

"Our aim is to remain as competitive as possible and challenge strongly on all fronts.

"The owner and the Board would like to thank Roberto for all he has done for the club since taking over in March.

"Roberto helped guide us to an historic Champions League victory and a seventh FA Cup. We will never forget the huge contribution he has made to this club's history and he will always be welcome at Stamford Bridge.

"The club will be making an announcement shortly regarding a new first team manager."

Newcastle's Alan Pardew is somewhat shocked and/or disappointed...


Looks like Guardiola, Rafa Benitez, Harry Redknapp, and Jose Mourinho are the favorites to replace di Matteo...

Just depends on who is crazy enough to take the gig... and it is looking more and more like Benitez...

PM UPDATE: Yup... it is...

Fair Play Foul In Champions League

((HT: UEFA/youtube))

Usually, we hold our opinions when it comes to fair play in some sports...
But, this was really bush league...

In the Champions League today, Shakhtar Donetsk was on their way to blowing out Nordsjaelland when a foul was called. Luis Adriano took things into his own hands when FC Nord should have had the opportunity to reintroduce when they felt like it...

Evidence below...


See what we mean...???
Bush league...

Toronto Mayor Locks His Ankles Promoting Grey Cup

((HT: Sportsnet.ca))

At the worst of moments...

Rob Ford is trying to promote the centennial Grey cup Celebration...
So, of course, whaddya do...??? Ham it up behind center...

But, not like this...

Hey, it's an Argos home game for him...
Couldn't be better...

Bevo Francis, We Knew You Well...

Well, at least those of us who knew our basketball trivia did...

Until tonight, Francis was the record-holder for points in a game with 113 against Hillsdale College in 1954...

Grinnell (IA) College sophomore Jack Taylor scored 138 points in a 179-104 win over Faith Baptist Bible College going 52-for-108 from the floor (27-for-71 from 3-point)

In 36 minutes...

And how in the blue hell is he allowed to put up THAT many shots in 36 minutes...???

That's a shot every 20 seconds...

The old Grinnell record was 89 points by Griffin Lentsch last November 19th against Principia...

Seen below...
((HT: Grinnell Basketball))


And here's Jack scoring some of his 138
((HT: Scoutsfocus.com))

"Macho" Camacho Shot, In Critical Condition... (UPDATED w/Camacho On Life Support)

((HT: TelemundoPR))

The former 3-class titleholder in boxing was apparently shot in the face while in a car outside a bar in the Puerto Rico city of Bayamon.

A second man also was shot and killed, but local police don't know if there was any relationship between Camacho and the second gentleman.

Police have no idea on a motive for the shooting at present, but claim to have a suspect in custody...

Depending on which media outlet you get your information from at present, Camacho is being treated for a gunshot wound to the face that may or may not have penetrated two of his cervical vertebrae...

Here's the update with the lead physician at the Centro Medico hospital in San Juan...
And, yes, it's in Spanish, but you get the drift by just tuning in...
More when we know more... WEDNESDAY UPDATE: We know more... Camacho went into cardiac arrest this morning and is on life support... The other gentleman in the car who was shot and killed has now been identified as Adrian Alberto Mojica Moreno. ESPN has more from their sources: Mojica Moreno's relationship to Camacho wasn't immediately known, but on Wednesday, detective Alex Diaz told ESPN.com that Mojica Moreno had nine bags of cocaine in his possession with a 10th bag open in the Ford Mustang, which was registered to Mojica Moreno. He had been arrested for possession of controlled substances in April 2012, according to Diaz. Here's the morning update from Telemundo...

So, Now Rutgers Makes It Official...It's Now The B1G 10/14

((HT: nj.com))

Hello, I must be going...

With the best cut off the album that seems to fit here for some- and more for others...


President Rob Barchi announces the Scarlet Knights move to the B1G...
Part of Big East Commish Mike Aresco's sayeth quote: "Although we are disappointed that Rutgers has decided to leave the Big East conference, we wish them well. They have been a valued member of the conference for many years. "We realize that conference realignment is currently a fact of life in college sports. In the context of this realignment, changes in our membership have been taking place, including important additions. In fact, the Big East has expanded its scope with new members in California, Texas, Florida, Idaho, Tennessee and Pennsylvania."
The HQ gets why Jim Delany is going here...it's the only football school in the tri-state and gets him whatever share of the New York TV market he thinks he's getting by adding a New Jersey school...

It's good for the individual schools involved, not rivalries or history or anything else like it...

Rutgers was $27-million in the red with Maryland $5-million in the hole- and they get the big contract and revenues... makes great sense...