Lane Kiffin Acts Like The Petulant Child Again, Blaming Referees For Loss To Stanford

Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I'm not a Lane Kiffin fan.  I feel that Kiffin is one of those coaches who routinely places blame on others for his own shortcomings.

That being said, he still had his team in a position to beat Stanford on Saturday night.  With the score tied, a USC wide receiver caught a pass and attempted to go out of bounds to stop the clock.  Close observation of slow-motion replay showed that the player landed in bounds with a knee before he slid out of bounds.  The time on the game clock was 0:01 as he hit the ground.

Kiffin is telling anyone who will listen today that apparently he had some sort of agreement with the sideline official nearest him that he would call timeout as soon as the play was whistled dead.  He feels (and is probably right) that, with one play left in the game, his kicker could have made the game-winning field goal.

While the play was being reviewed, Kiffin reminded side judge Brad Glenn to tell the head referee that he had requested the timeout, and he said he received an assurance that the timeout would be called if it was ruled after the review that there was one second left."I was basically lied to," Kiffin said Sunday. (emphasis is mine)

Please explain your rationale to me, Coach Kiffin.

My Yahoo Article On Why Tim Tebow's Days As a Starting Quarterback Are Numbered

Tim Tebow's Final Days As An NFL Starting Quarterback Are Approaching

Cam Newton Proving All The Doubters, Including Me, Wrong

I was so certain that Cam Newton was never going to succeed in the NFL.  Smug in my certainty, I waved off the early reports that Newton was grasping the offense and leading his team in pre-season workouts during the lockout. Why did I think he was going to have such a hard time in the NFL?

My Three Reasons Why I thought Newton Would Have Difficulty In NFL

Tim Tebow Can't Compare to Matt Stafford, Or Even 2011 Rookie Quarterback Class

Anyone who watched today's game between the Denver Broncos and Detroit Lions saw a disparate tale of two first-round quarterbacks.

On one side, you have Matt Stafford, #1-overall pick of 2009, throwing for three touchdowns and racking up a 130.2 quarterback rating on 22 of 30 passes.

On the other side, you have Tim Tebow, the 25th pick of the first round in 2010, looking pretty lost at times while he threw for 172 yards on 18/39 passing with one touchdown, one interception, one fumble lost, and a qb rating of 56.8.

Both players came into the NFL after storied college careers (Stafford at Georgia, Tebow at Florida) where they looked competitive against each other on the field.  My, how times have changed.

San Diego Chargers Let Player Stay in Game With Concussion; Later Suffers Seizure on Plane

I've previously written more than a few times about how the NFL is missing the boat with their concussion management policy.  Teams are circumventing this in a myriad of ways, with the players ultimately suffering.  I think, until this week, that the most obvious victim of this abuse has been Michael Vick of the Philadelphia Eagles.  Not anymore.

Last Sunday, San Diego Chargers offensive lineman Kris Dielman appeared to have suffered a head injury on a play during the fourth quarter of the game with the New York Jets.  He went to make a block and then reeled away from the defender and fell to the ground.  When he attempted to get up, he was noticeably shaky and had a hard time standing.

The referee saw him, but didn't blow his whistle for an injury timeout.  Dielman seemed to be able to pull himself together after a few seconds and stay in the game.  No one from the Chargers sideline came in for him.

Now that incident itself might have been swept under the rug if Dielman has remained okay.  However, on the team charter flight back to San Diego that same night, Dielman went into a grand mal seizure.

Now the NFL is investigating.  Dielman was never evaluated for a concussion during the game, and was only diagnosed afterwards.  I've written before about how I believe it's only a matter of time before the NFL puts independent doctors on the sidelines of games to watch over the players.  Clearly, the teams are failing at this in some cases.

Miami Dolphins Reach Out To Cowher; Another Stupid Move By Owner Steve Ross

One would think that Miami Dolphins owner Steve Ross would have learned his lesson last year.  While he still had a head coach on staff who had not yet been fired, he courted Jim Harbaugh and tried to hire him away from Stanford.

The move received a lot of negative  publicity in the NFL, where typically a coaching search is not supposed to start until you've actually got the head coaching position open.

Well, here he goes again.  Rumors are flying that Ross has contacted yet another potential coaching prospect before he has yet to fire Tony Sparano.  This time it's Bill Cowher, former coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers and current CBS analyst.

My Guest Post About Matt Forte and His Contract Situation

I'm a guest contributor on another sports site, State of the Sport.  Last week I contributed an article that I wanted to share with my readers here.

Chicago Bears Risk Losing Matt Forte By Not Getting Deal Done Now

Indianapolis Colts Should Not Draft Andrew Luck, And This Is Why

When the 2012 NFL Draft rolls around next April, the overall consensus #1 pick will be Andrew Luck from Stanford (if he comes out of college, that is; he still has a year of eligibility left).

Of the three teams that right now will be most likely to have that #1 pick, the Miami Dolphins seem a much more likely choice to select Luck than either the Indianapolis Colts or St. Louis Rams (who already have their franchise QB in Sam Bradford).  

However, even if the Colts do get that #1 draft spot, they should not take Luck.  Even if Peyton Manning is unable to fully recover from his neck surgery of a few months ago, they should not take Luck.  

Here are my reasons why:

The Legend of Tim Tebow Adds Another Thrilling Chapter With Comeback Victory Over Dolphins

For anyone still watching the Denver Broncos game against the Miami Dolphins late in the fourth quarter (and honestly, outside of Denver/Miami fans, you'd have to be a true glutton for punishment to be still watching), you got to see some of that special Tim Tebow magic that makes his fans love him so much.

There was something for everyone in that game, however.  If you despise Tim Tebow, there was plenty in the first 54 minutes of the game to love as well.  Wildly thrown balls (some, to be honest, were probably throwaways), near-frenzied scrambles as soon as a defensive player touched him, and virtually none of the excitement that we all thought we'd get watching Tebow start a game.

Denver couldn't even manage a conversion on a third-down play until the first scoring drive with about five minutes left to play in the game.  It was just overall a completely inept offensive performance that confirmed all the bad things his detractors have been saying for a long time now.

(Photo: John Leyba/Denver Post)

Then, all of a sudden, it was like the second coming of Tebow.  I don't know why, but suddenly he was completing passes.  He wasn't running, mind you.  The ball moved down the field via passing, and what was a 15-0 deficit turned very quickly into a 15-15 tie by the end of regulation.

Jerome Harrion's Brain Tumor Removed, Doctors Say They Got It All

Neurosurgeons have removed the brain tumor from Jerome Harrison and are saying they think they got the entire mass.  The diagnosis is a ependymoma, an uncommon tumor arising from brain tissues.  The tumor was discovered earlier this week on a physical prior to being traded to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Apparently Harrison was truthful with his team doctor during the physical, and told him he was experiencing headaches. Most commonly symptoms of an ependymoma in the fourth ventricle of the brain (where Harrison's was found; a ventricle is a space in the brain where the cerebrospinal fluid is found) are severe headaches, vision loss, vomiting.  Other symptoms of this type brain tumor can include insomnia, temporary inability to identify colors, twitching, and seeing horizontal or vertical lines when staring into bright light.

About 85% of these type tumors are benign, but team officials haven't released information yet as to whether the tumor is benign or malignant.

Take-home message:  BE TRUTHFUL WITH YOUR DOCTORS AND THEY MIGHT SAVE YOUR LIFE