March 23rd update

Jets Land Tebow

• As discussed on Wednesday morning’s post, the Denver Broncos' signing of Peyton Manning cleared the way for Tim Tebow to leave town. Later on Wednesday, the Broncos made it official by trading him to the New York Jets. The Jets already have a young, relatively unstable, quarterback in Mark Sanchez which makes the trade curious at best.
• The deal hit a snag when the Jets initially refused to pay a $2.5 million clause in Tebow’s contract. The Jets eventually relented and agreed to pay. The Jets are currently planning on figuring out a way to get both Tebow and Sanchez on the field with Tebow playing the “wildcat” position. One developed by Jets offensive coordinator Tony Sporano while he was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
• In probably the most hilarious aspect of the story, the man the Jets signed in the offseason to be Sanchez’s backup, Drew Stanton, demanded to be traded from the Jets. He said he was signed with the expectation and promise of being the backup, and with Tebow in his way he wants out.

NCAA Tournament Update

• Two 1-4 matchups ended different ways on Thursday night. Syracuse defeated Wisconsin in a nail biter. After one of Syracuse’s best free throw shooters missed a free throw that would have iced the game giving Wisconsin a chance to win the game. The Badgers missed two shots and fell just short of the Orange. Meanwhile, the Big East champion Louisville Cardinals, defeated the Michigan State Spartans. The Spartans only scored 44 in an ineffective offensive effort that was beset with sloppy play. The Cardinals will move onto the round of 8 for the first time since 2009.
•  Meanwhile, the Ohio State Buckeyes rolled easily to victory over Cincinnati 81-66. Buckeyes star sophomore Jarad Sullinger scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the victory. While this game was going on, Bradley Beal was leading his Florida Gators to a 68-58 victory over the Marquette Golden Eagles. The Gators are on a cinderella like run trying to get back to the final four for the first time since their back-to-back championships in 2006 and 07. The Gators will next play Louisiville, where head coach Billy Donovan will face off against his mentor Rick Pitino.
• There are four more games tonight. The Xavier Muskateers play the Baylor Bears. The Ohio Bobcats play the North Carolina Tar Heels. The Indiana Hoosiers play the Kentucky Wildcats, and the North Carolina State Wolfpack play the Kansas Jayhawks.

Saints crushed by penalties

• It appears that New Orleans has not been acting so saintly, with a bounty program that paid defensive player in injure opponents being active for the past few years coming to light. With the NFL wanting to ensure player safety even moreso lately, big sanctions were expected and now the hammer has been dropped.
• Coach Sean Payton will be suspended for the whole 2012 season, GM Mickey Loomis will be suspended for half the season, Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams will be suspended indefinitely (He's now with the Rams) the Saints will forfeit second round picks in 2012 and 2013 and there are still rumors that individual defensive players (Such am Jonathan Vilma, who offered $10k out of his own pocket to anyone who injured Brett Favre in the 2000 NFC championship game) may face sanctions as well.
• The Saints are looking to pick up the pieces and are scrambling to find a coach for the season. Former Rams coach and Giants Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is one of the first names to be aired as a candidate.