-After being the worst team in football for much of the year, the Indianapolis Colts are getting hot at just the wrong time, having won two games in a row. You see, when they were far and away the worst team they had the best chance to get the first pick in the draft and take Standford's Andrew Luck, who is considered by many to be the best quarterback prospect in decades and the kind of player who could help stabilize a franchise for the foreseeable future. But instead of running away with the first selection, they are currently tied for the pick with two other teams, Minnesota and St. Louis. Now, if all three teams lose their remaining games the Colts still wind up with the pick thanks to the strength of schedule tiebreaker. However this week they are playing Jacksonville, a team that, despite having more wins, is probably worse than the Colts. Also, they play in the same division which means it would actually be smarter for the Jaguars to lose and thus keep themselves from having to face Luck twice a year for the next decade. Basically, it set up that neither team wants to win this game. But, despite that fact it will still get a huge rating in Indianapolis. Behold the power of the NFL.
-Every year a poll is done of the least-popular NBA players. Typically the list is headed by guys like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James - you know, guys that either win a lot or get a lot of attention despite not winning. The list could almost be renamed the "who are people the most jealous of" because that is closer to the truth. However, this year the list was topped by former Kardashian husband, Kris Humphries. I was stunned by this because Humphries wasn't even in the league when the poll was conducted (he was just re-signed by the Nets a couple days ago and only got a 1-years deal despite being one of the better rebounders in the NBA). Given that the other NBA player married to a Kardashian (Lamar Odom) showed up on the list at #5, I guess I shouldn't be so surprised that Humphries is unpopular, but all the way up to #1? And clearly the poll was accurate, because when Humphries first checked into a game the other night he received the loudest boos heard all preseason. You know, when they first got engaged I remember writing that this was going to really hurt Kris's chances to sign with a contending NBA team, I didn't think it would hurt his chances of catching on anywhere. If this doesn't make athletes swear off reality-TV stars as wives, nothing will.
-When new Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer took the job at Ohio State, he said that he thought all the problems caused by the tattoos-for-jerseys scandal was behind them. Well, he was a little premature in that assessment, because during the week the NCAA came down with more sanctions on the school, including a few lost scholarships and no bowl appearances for the 2012 season. Meyer said he was very disappointed in the ruling. Personally, I don't buy it. Coaching college football is such a high-pressure job that I wouldn't be stunned to learn that Meyer was actually thrilled with not having any expectations for his first year at the school. Ohio State is one of those institutions where the fans expect them to not only contend for the Big 10 Championship year-in and year-out, but to also be a contender for the National Championship. Now Meyer gets a year to check out his talent level, see what roster changes he wants to make and basically spend next year experimenting with no repercussion. Of course they won't be happy if they team plays badly, but it's not like they can go to a bowl regardless of their record, so you may as well get your bad year of the way early and when it won't really count.
-Speaking of coaches getting sanctioned by the NCAA, Georgia coach Mark Richt got a letter of admonishment from the NCAA after it was revealed that he was paying people out of his own pocket. No, he wasn't paying players or recruits. He wasn't even paying one of those shady "recruiting specialist" to guide certain players to UGA. No, Mark Richt was paying his own coaches. Richt was covering expenses that school couldn't or wouldn't, such as bowl bonuses for trainers and strength coaches, who are not technically members of the coaching staff. He also paid out a bonus which normally goes to coaches who have been at the school for 5 years to an assistant who left just short of his fifth anniversary at the school, covered the difference when one of his assistants opted to stay at Georgia instead of taking a higher-paying job at another school and gave money to another former assistant who was having trouble finding a new job after his severance package ended. For this he gets an official warning from the NCAA and was told to stop immediately or face tougher penalties. You know, considering all the extra curricular activities that have come out at other universities this year, maybe the NCAA should spend their days worrying about bigger things. I'm just saying.
-Early in the week the Texas Ranger won the bidding war for the exclusive rights to negotiate with the team that has Japanese pitching sensation Yu Darvish on its roster. The Rangers paid $51.7 million just to talk with the Ham Fighters (yes, really) and try to work out a deal to bring Darvish to Texas in the next 30 days. Now, whatever you think of the prospects of Japanese pitchers coming to America (as a Red Sox fan who watched most of the Dice-K era I'll just say I am not heartbroken that the Sox were apparently out-bid. Actually, I'm not even sure how serious their interest was, which should make Rangers fans a little nervous.), you just have to love the bidding process that goes into this kind of stuff. It's like a giant eBay auction come to life. I just have visions of Nolan Ryan sitting in his office as the deadline to bid drew closer, "$50 million should be enough... Wait, round numbers are bad. Better make it $51... No, everyone is going to go think of that... $51.5. That'll be the perfect amount.... But what if I'm not the only person who adds a little extra?... I know, $51.7! Extra on top of the extra! I'm a genius!" I just hope Darvish works out for them, because it's not like they can get back at the Ham Fighters by giving them a bad seller rating.
-The weirdest story of the week came from the world of Dutch Professional Soccer. AZ Alkmaar was playing against Ajax when a
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