Source: http://premierleaguevideo.com/2011/07/history-of-soccer-in-the-us-2/
How many blindside collisions can one man take?
Joe Paterno is 84-years-old. During a practice on Sunday, Paterno was accidentally blindsided by one of his receivers.
This is not the first time this has happened to the icon, who has been Penn State's Head Coach since 1966.
In 2006, the Nittany Lions were playing Wisconsin when Paterno broke his leg in similar fashion.
In 2008, Paterno suffered a hip injury while attempting to demonstrate an onside kick.
Following Sunday's collision, Paterno went to the hospital. He's still there and undergoing tests, but surgery does not appear to be necessary and Paterno doesn't expect to miss any time on the sideline.
“I expect to be back at practice soon. I'm doing fine; tell everyone not to worry about me. I like the effort I have seen from the squad during our first few practices, but we have a long way to go to get ready for the schedule we have.”
As of now, things are okay, even somewhat humorous. It's certainly not funny that Paterno is hurt and in the hospital, but the fact that the injury is not serious makes the situation a bit more comical.
But this is the third time in five years that Paterno has been hurt. He'll be 85 years old in December. It's fortunate that Paterno is fine, but he very easily could have been seriously injured.
Also, remember that collisions aren't the only thing Paterno has to worry about. While the football season is generally over by the time the worst part of the winter comes around, he coaches in Pennsylvania.
When Penn St. goes on the road, they're going to places where the weather is as cold, if not colder.
In 1990, former Bears, Rams and Redskins Coach George Allen died less than two months after his team poured a bucket of cold water over his head after his last win.
That didn't directly kill him, but he was sick for the final month and a half of his life.
The older you get, the more susceptible you are to things like bitter cold. It's harder to overcome these things, as well as bone shattering collisions.
As hard as it is to imagine a college football season without Joe Paterno, it may be time to consider that.
At this point in his life, what does Paterno possibly feel that he needs to prove as a coach? He's already the winningest coach in FBS history.
It wasn't too long ago where people were criticizing Paterno, saying that the game had passed him by. Honestly, he's pretty much silenced those critics. Since 2004's 4-7 season, Penn St. is a combined 58-19.
That's very respectable for a guy who is supposedly out of touch with the game and its players. There are coaches half his age that would kill to have a six season record like that.
While coaches getting hurt is not a common occurrence, it happens on a relatively routine basis. After all, they are standing only a few feet away from a hard hitting sport that's played with a lot of speed.
Paterno's been lucky. While he did break his leg in 2006, none of these injuries have resulted in long term injuries.
The next one could. It's on Paterno to take steps to be sure that there is no next one. If retirement isn't an option, then he should at least stand a little further away from the action.
Source: http://premierleaguevideo.com/2011/08/english-premier-league-to-see-changing-of-guard/
The New York Giants finished 10-6 last season, but failed to make the playoffs for a second consecutive year after another late season collapse.
The Giants are to ready to make a playoff push, and with the lockout finally being lifted; teams have finally began to gear up for the 2011 season,
The Giants play in the always tough NFC East, and once again their schedule favors them in the beginning of the season.
Tom Coughlin signed a one-year extension in the off-season, but that does not mean that he is off the hot seat. Another late season collapse will cause the Giants to venture elsewhere, and you can see who I predict will be the coach if Coughlin were to be fired here.
Without further ado, here are my 5 bold prediction for the Giants 2011 season.
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/796023-new-york-giants-5-bold-predictions-for-the-2011-nfl-season
A record not so many people talk about, but Cena has solidified himself as truly one of the top WWE wrestlers/Superstars of all-time.
John Cena, with his nine WWE championship reigns (a record in itself), has a combined length of over 1,027 days, and it's still counting.
By passing 1,027 days he has passed Pedro Morales (who was the fourth WWE champion), for the all-time combined reign length and is now fourth all-time on the list behind Bob Backlund who is third, Hulk Hogan who is second and, of course, Bruno Sammartino who is first all-time with a combined 4,040 days as champion.
Not Rock, not Austin, not Bret Hart, not The Undertaker, not Shawn Michaels, not Triple H, not Randy Savage, not anyone else who has had the WWE title other than the three I named before have had longer combined reigns.
Cena beats "Stone Cold" Steve Austin by 500 days just to put it in perspective.
John Cena was also the first person to have a WWE title reign longer than 365 days, a full year, in over 18 years, which is unheard of for a major wrestling promotion to have happen in the age where a long title reign could be considered to be only five or six months.
Winning his first WWE Championship at the age of 27 in 2005, six years later he is now 34 years old and possibly has a good six or seven years left in his tank without injuries possibly holding him back.
He definitely won't break Sammartino's record (unless he holds the WWE title for the next nine-plus years straight which is unlikely), but if he keeps winning the WWE title on a regular basis with good length of reigns, he could pass Bob Backlund and even possibly Hulk Hogan.
I personally think he'll end up just short of Backlund, but who knows?
With stats like this, including seven years straight of a World Title match at WrestleMania (another record), and an amazing work ethic, we are witnessing one of the greatest names in the history of the business right now.
After seeing his debut against Kurt Angle, who would of thought this guy would end up like this?
Not bad for a guy who has only five moves of doom, huh?
Emmanuel Frimpong Kieran Gibbs Laurent Koscielny Rhys Murphy
When it comes to the Hall of Fame, it pays to be a Yankees fan. Not only does New York have more members in Cooperstown than any other squad, but they also have at least four future members suiting up for them this season.
Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Alex Rodriguez are practically shoo-ins, and with a couple more seasons like their last few C.C. Sabathia and Mark Teixeira might have decent cases as well.
If you're an Astros fan, you're slightly less enthusiastic about any member of your team's chances to one day have a bust in Cooperstown. Especially now that Hunter Pence is out of town. Now who's the most likely? J.A. Happ? Brett Myers? Or is it the almighty, five-foot-seven, 155 pound Jose Altuve?
Seriously though, every team has to have at least one (or more) Hall of Fame worthy candidate right?
This is my quest: to find one player from each Major League team who is going to wind up in Cooperstown, next to Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle.
Just one player per team, hence no A-Rod, Rivera AND Jeter from New York. And obviously since not every team has an established player with a solid case, I'm going to have to use some creative math to get him there.
Let it begin!
All statistics courtesy of Baseball Reference.
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/791554-projecting-each-mlb-teams-most-likely-future-hall-of-famer
This may be one of the toughest years to predict who will be in the running for the Heisman trophy at the end of the college football season.
With players like Andrew Luck of Stanford, Oregon?s LaMichael James and Kellen more from Boise in the front runner positions, I think it may be tough to consider Barkley among that group of talent right now.
But, there is a second tier of Heisman hopefuls that I think Barkley will definitely contend for, and he may just be the most talented out of all of them.
As the quarterback of the Trojans Barkley is going to get a lot of exposure and limelight, and I think that will go a long way in keeping him in contention.
The Heisman is as much about on the field talent as it is about exposure, and Barkley has already gotten, and will continue to get a ton of exposure at USC.
ESPN?s Pedro Moura also feels that Barkley has a chance to compete for the Heisman. Here is what he thinks:
First, USC would need to have a very good, if not great, season. Any less than 10 wins, coupled with the lack of a bowl game, would eliminate him from consideration. He probably needs to lead the Trojans to an 11-1 or 12-0 season to really have a chance. He also needs to bring his interception total down from 12 to fewer than 10 and up his touchdown total at least to 30.
He also needs to have big games in USC's big games and lead an upset over Stanford or Oregon while hanging tough with each of those schools' candidates.
These conditions are demanding, and Barkley would have a much better chance if he were to stay for his senior season because of the bowl-game aspect and the extra year of experience. But that seems unlikely at this point. A good goal for this season, then, is to simply get to New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation as one of four finalists.
Obviously I think the feeling with Barkley is that he is extremely talented and on a good team, but that he has an outside chance at contending for a Heisman.
A one or no loss season would go a long way in getting him to New York, and I think the growing sentiment is that Barkley has a good chance at being a Heisman hopeful.
Follow Andrew on Twitter: @AKonSports
