March 21st update

Peyton Makes a Decision

• The Peyton Manning sweepstakes ended on Tuesday when he decided to sign a 5-year $96 million deal with the Denver Broncos to become the highest paid player in the NFL by annual salary. Manning, the most sought after free agent on the market, was released by the Indianapolis Colts two weeks ago so they could avoid paying him a $20 million bonus.
• The Broncos emerged as a leader for Manning over the weekend. Manning will go to a team with a stout defense and a strong running game that went to the second round of the playoffs last year with a quarterback who is not as talented as Manning.
• The addition of Manning to the Broncos makes last year’s starter Tim Tebow expendable. There is a bit of controversy, as Tebow was riding an incredible wave of fan support for his incredible success either real or perceived, after taking over the starting job last season. Rumors are currently swirling about what the Broncos will do with Tebow. There are many teams who could use him, especially the Jacksonville Jaguars, whose fan base is closely linked to Tebow's Florida Gators and who would come out in droves to watch him play.


Big Injury in NCAA Tournament

• Before the tournament started, the most famous wrist in the tournament was of UNC’s forward John Henson. Henson, who injured it against N.C. State in the ACC tournament, returned to play against Creighton in North Carolina's second game of the NCAA tournament and UNC fans breathed a sigh of release.
• Unfortunately, later in the same game of Henson’s return, irreplaceable point guard Kendall Marshall was fouled hard on a drive and landed hard on his right wrist. (Marshall is left handed). Similar to the Henson injury, Marshall played for a while after incurring the injury, but was in noticeable pain as the game neared its end.
• Undergoing emergency surgery on Monday, Marshall has not been ruled out of UNC’s next game, against the Ohio Bobcats on Friday. There is a chance the wrist heals to a point where Marshall can play. UNC Coach Roy Williams has said the team is preparing for the weekend game(s) with the assumption Marshall will not play.

August 10th update

Wednesday spotlight: Joe Paterno

• Anyone who knows longtime Penn State coach Joe Paterno was very concerned when a player collided with the coach during practice this week. It would be uncomfortable for anyone, but Paterno, or JoePa as he is affectionately called, is 84 years old. But just as people around him would be concerned, they would also be completely unsurprised when he refused to talk about himself, turning the attention to Penn State Nittany Lions football team, saying, "It's time for everyone to turn the attention to the team. We have a lot of hard work ahead in order to be as good as we think we can be."
• Paterno is one of two extremely long tenured coaches of power programs in recent memory, having coached at Penn State since 1966. The other, Bobby Bowden, has since retired but coached Florida State from 1976 to 2009.
• Paterno holds the record for the most victories by a football coach in Division I (now called the FBS), he has coached more bowl game wins than any other coach in college football history and is the first FBS coach to reach 400 victories. Additionally, he led five undefeated teams to wins in major bowl games including the 1986 team which won what many consider to be the first "true" national championship game over Miami.

*On a personal note, my grandfather loved Penn State and JoePa more than any other public figure as far as I can remember so he'll always a warm spot in my heart.


Fight for Denver QB job gets interesting

• Last year the Denver Broncos drafted Tim Tebow the reknowned college quarterback from the University of Florida. Tebow was expected to take a year or two to develop behind established, if maligned, starter Kyle Orton and then take the reins of the Broncos' (we never shy away from a good pun) offense.
• The issue with starting Tebow is that Orton developed into a pretty decent quarterback, throwing the ball over the field and helping make Brandon Lloyd one of the best receivers in the NFL last season. Additionally, Tebow’s development has been slower than originally planned. The cherry on the top of all this is the Broncos had a very poor 2010 season and fired their head coach, Josh McDaniels.
• Many fans expected Tebow to come into this season as the starter, but he has not shown the progression expected (heavily affected by the lockout which didn’t allow him contact with the Broncos). Orton, meanwhile, has performed very well through initial practices and has solidified himself as the starter in Denver.
• Controversy has ensued as Orton was almost traded, and has been booed by fans at training camp. Orton has said he doesn’t care if the fans like him, and he will continue to work hard to help the Broncos win.