Mrs. Wilkie and the Iron Bowl

(Photo courtesy trackemtigers.com)

OK, first of all, in case our faithful readers did not know, Jon Nelson - founder and president of OSG Sports Media - got married over the weekend (which is why OSG was a little silent - we were all at the wedding festivities).

I tell you this to set up one of the funniest moments of the weekend.

Brother Wilkie, Mrs. Wilkie, and I were standing at the reception, admiring all of the Auburn fans in attendance. Brother Jon's wife is a HUGE supporter of the Atlanta Auburn Club, and I think the entire town of Ozark, AL was there for the wedding. The reception band came all the way up from Auburn, Alabama.

They even played War Eagle during the reception, and worked it into the wedding processional. I'm not lying, Auburn was in the house! Brother Jon is a diehard FSU fan, and did have a flaming spear on top of his groom's cake. There was SOME diversity.

Mrs. Wilkie said, "Ya know, I should go up to the new Mrs. Brother Jon and ask her if I can join the Atlanta Auburn Club. I like these people."

(NOTE: Mrs. Wilkie was born and raised in upstate New York. Trust me; it matters.)

Wilkie goes, "You don't need to join. Just say War Damn Eagle at the top of your lungs and you're in!"

Me, being the kindhearted person I am, and knowing that Mrs. Wilkie is not the biggest football fan in the world, I decide to offer my brand of advice.

"Mrs. Wilkie, here's the deal. all you have to do is walk up to any Auburn fan here, take in a deep breath, and say "Roll Tide!" as confidently as you can."

Wilkie immediately shoots me a glance, and we both smile. Mrs. Wilkie innocently said, "OK, I'll do that!"

As I'm brandishing a cheshire cat grin, a very well lubricated Auburn fan came up to Wilkie, pointed his finger at him, and said, "I heard what you said."

Wilkie immediately started backpedaling, saying "I said say War Eagle...I said say War Eagle...that wasn't me!"

Then the Toomer's Corner alum turned to Mrs. Wilkie and said, "It was you. I heard what you said."

With an innocent grin, Mrs. Wilkie said, "What did I say?"

The fan shared with Mrs. Wilkie that, "Those words...Roll Tide...have NEVER brought joy to anyone's hearts...you best stop saying those words."

At this point, Wilkie and I are literally in tears due to extreme laughter, as Mrs. Wilkie is now surrounded by Auburn faithful - getting an earful about why Auburn is better than Alabama. It was like blood in the water, and these Auburn fans were trying to convince Mrs. Wilkie (who kept saying, "I'm from New York...I don't care about football"...still with that innocent grin on her face). She let them talk...and talk...and talk...and we kept laughing our butts off.

Brother Phil comes up and asks what we're laughing so hard about.

"She's getting a crash course about the Iron Bowl!" Wilkie squeezes out between rolls of laughter (yes, I used that word on purpose).

I guess the moral of the story is this. If one is surrounded by Auburn fans, and there are adult beverages around, one must never ever mention "Roll Tide" - even in jest.

Unless you're saying you want them to roll the hell back to Tuscaloosa.

(NOTE: Everyone does know that Alabama just won back-to-back National Championships, right? And three out of the last four? Just saying...)

I'm sorry, Mrs. Wilkie. That was not the way I intended to show you the importance of the Iron Bowl.

BREAKING: Hulsizer And The Blues In Pencil

According to FOSG Scott Burnside, through his Twitter account, it appears that Matthew Hulsizer (one-time Phoenix pursuer) is now locked into a purchase of the St. Louis Blues in a verbal manner...

We are able to confirm Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer has made a verbal agreement to buy the Blues. Still lots of work to be done.

This now means that the Coyotes are back on the clock with Jerry Reinsdorf as your number one pursuer all over again...

According to PuckDaddy and Jeremy Rutherford of STLToday, Hulsizer would be keeping Dave Checketts along for the future. Checketts was looking for a fee in the neighborhood of US$190M and had turned down US$167M in the past.

As an unrelated aside, FOSG Paul Newberry put together a piece on the hockey void left at HQ... required reading...

Our Main Site Has Moved!

Dear Everyone,

Just so you know, we've changed sites, albeit, just slightly. Our latest news and information will be at www.osgsports.blogspot.com. Please make sure you bookmark it.

You can still access the vast OnlineSportsGuys archives by coming here. This site won't be going away anytime in the near future. It just won't get updated as much.

SO PLEASE BOOKMARK THE NEW SITE AND TELL YOUR FRIENDS.

www.osgsports.blogspot.com

As always, we are eternally grateful for your patronage and hope you'll keep looking for the insight, commentary, humor and most importantly the latest on what is going on in the world of sports.

Thanks and we'll just have Les Miles express our thoughts.




Much love,

The OnlineSportsGuys

Your Morning Conference Realignment Update

((ht: statesman.com))

Well, the next dominos to fall in the "Galactic Realignment" of College Football should fall if not today (Monday), then sometime in the next couple of days.

We, along with the rest of the universe, reported both Texas and Oklahoma regents would be meeting today to discuss their options. Those options, at least from their perspective got a bit clearer this weekend when Pitt and Syracuse committed to the ACC.

According to the Austin American-Statesman, substantive talks between Texas and others with the Pac-12 occurred this weekend. Made more convenient due to Texas playing UCLA in Los Angeles. This despite Pac-12 commish Larry Scott saying just last week, "We're happy where we are". And we will say, these schools are coming to the Pac-12, not the other way around.

Statesman reporter Kirk Bohls reports Texas would prefer to stay in the Big 12, but that may not be possible.

Read the entire story RIGHT HERE

What it appears will happen is this: Oklahoma, Oklahoma St., Texas Tech and Texas appear all but certain to head to the Pac-12. Scott is doing his best to try and accommodate/fold in, the Longhorn Network. We are reasonably certain, that will work out.

The only question really is when?

In light of this weekends moves, we expect this all to go down this week. There has been speculation that the Big 12 will try and absorb some schools from another conference. (The Big East football schools?).

Initially, we thought it would be the Big East and ACC who would have to combine to make their own super-conference, we don't think that now. It will end up being the remnants of the Big 12 combined with the Big East. It has to be. There's no other choice for any of the remaining schools to survive in the new landscape.

There are still questions out there. There is no guarantee Missouri or Kansas will sit for a combined conference. Though they certainly could and be just fine.

The other wild card is West Virginia. There's been a lot of speculation they want in the SEC. In a bad way. They question is: "Does the SEC want them?". And really, nobody knows the answer to that.

A Sports-Talk radio host in Pittsburgh tweeted Sunday that the Mountaineers have already sent their paperwork to the SEC. And the interest is mutual.

We could go on forever discussing the repercussions of all this. There are a lot of teams and a lot of people who are anxiously awaiting the fallout. The seismic shift is coming and while Saturday's announcement was big and in some ways, very surprising, it won't be the biggest. That friends, is a rose that has yet to be delivered.

We don't watch this show, though the Lovely Bride does, and don't totally understand this, but it is the best analogy would could think of visually to go along with this story, because these schools and conferences are essentially doing the same thing.

John Schmitt Has His Super Bowl Ring...

40 years later...

He went surfing in February of 1971. The Jets O-Lineman took his first surfing lesson in the waves off Waikiki Beach. He paddled out in front of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel... and...

"I never thought about the fact that if you stay out in the water for 5 or 6 hours, your hands shrink and the ring fell off about a quarter mile out from the shore," Schmitt told Hawaii News Now.

A lifeguard discovered the ring, gave it to his mom- who filed it away...

HNN has the update from there...
((HT: HawaiiNewsNow))

Nightowls Rejoice: Tulsa-OSU Finishes At 3:35

In the blessed AM...

After a three-hour weather delay, Oklahoma State beat Tulsa 59-33, but that's not the kicker in all of this...

The game was scheduled to start shortly after 9PM, but didn't kick off until 12:17AM central time ((1:17 Eastern time)) because of three hours' worth of lightning and strong storms.

The NCAA requires a 30-minute cushion to let lightning clear the area before starting the game, and the teams were almost ready to stop the game period, but went ahead and started and finished in front of a few thousand die-hards...

Which does raise the question about: When is too late actually too late...??? And when do you cancel for the sake of cancelling...???

We've seen the MLB folks know when to put in curfews, but should the NCAA put this stuff in play as well...???

Here's the wrap from our friends at newsok.com

Mayweather decks Ortiz, clean or not?

Mayweather vs. Ortiz

((ht: usatoday))

This question may be debated for awhile, particularly if you are a fan of either boxer.

Let's set the scene:

4th Round of Saturday nights big boxing showdown, Floyd Mayweather versus Victor Ortiz for the WBC Welterweight championship. Late in the 4th round, Ortiz is pummeling Mayweather on the ropes and for some unknown reason head-butts him. Ortiz tries to apologize while being penalized a point for the head-butt. Ortiz steps away and tries to apologize again, when Mayweather clocks him.

The move enraged the crowd at the MGM Grand Hotel, and replays showed Ortiz wasn't looking at Mayweather when he got hit.

Read more from USAToday RIGHT HERE

The question is...was it clean? It's somewhat hard to tell and may be a question for a long time. Ortiz, should have known, that while the fight is still going, don't turn away from your adversary. Ever. And yet he did. And while Mayweather may or may not have taken advantage of a questionable period of time, it doesn't appear he did anything illegal.

We might also mention after the fight, Mayweather let loose a profanity filled tirade against HBO Boxing Analyst Larry Merchant. We won't go into too much detail there other than to say, Floyd has a few image problems and that probably won't help them.

Mayweather pocketed a cool $25 million for the fight and we suspect the fight will help rejuvenate his career which had stalled a bit due to several legal issues.

It also, in our opinion will help marginalize boxing, a once proud sport that has support in some circles and still manages to pull of big payday's somehow for it's fighters. It has appeal in certain circles and it works. But when push comes to shove, is it any different these days than professional wrestling?

Your video:

Oregon, You're On The Clock

And you have Willie Lyles and Lache Seastrunk ((among others)) to thank for this go-round...

The NCAA relayed the official "Notice of Inquiry" in a telephone call to Oregon President Richard Lariviere this week. The school announced this development before Oregon's game against Missouri State.

The inquiry is the result of reports that surfaced this spring concerning payments Oregon made to recruiting services, including a $25,000 payment to Willie Lyles and Houston-based Complete Scouting Services.

Most of the info Lyles and CSS gave Oregon was outdated and even included information on players that were playing against the Ducks in bowl games.

"This notice has been anticipated and is simply the next stage of the process," UO athletic director Rob Mullens said in a University release. "The University of Oregon football program, from Head Coach Chip Kelly through the entire organization, has tremendous respect for the NCAA's important role in monitoring collegiate athletics and, to this end, continues to fully cooperate with the NCAA 's ongoing examination.

"The Athletic Department, Coach Kelly and the entire staff remain committed to operating the athletics program consistent with the highest standards and ensuring our program follows best practices."


Of course, you will...

Lyles has admitted that he made a mistake in this and that CSS, for all intents and purposes, is a dead business nowadays...

Interesting to see who comes out alive in this one...

ACC increases buyout and getting applications for membership

((ht: espn/dinich))

It appears the ACC has taken some measures to keep themselves from being brushed aside during the "Galactic Realignment" of college sports.

The conference presidents apparently...and quietly, have increased the buyout for schools wanting to leave from $13 million to $20 million. And while it may not stop it from happening it will certainly make anyone looking to defect to think twice about it.

The other ACC news is this: The New York Times, Friday night reported that both Pittsburgh and Syracuse from the Big East. Heather Dinich from ESPN.com confirmed that report. Dinich also reports that the ACC has received at least 10 applications for membership.

You can read her report RIGHT HERE

This is interesting. Certainly adding Pitt and Syracuse makes more sense than adding say, Texas, but it is even more intriguing that so many schools have inquired. And while we fully anticipate that global shift of the continents, we, like everyone else don't really know how that shift is going to play out.

We reported Thursday night that Oklahoma intends to have a regents meeting on Monday to discuss whether or not they are going to leave, now, Texas and their board is meeting too.

At some point there one of these schools will be forced to take the plunge and go. The guess as to who is first is anyone's guess. We think it will be Oklahoma, but we wouldn't put money on it. Once one of the majors takes the plunge, the rest of the domino's will fall into place.

In the meantime, this is the only video that makes sense to attach to this story right now:

What If World B. Free Met Metta...???

((HT: LA Times))

It's now official... but haven't we been here before...???
Just ask Lloyd...
((HT: NBA/NBAE))


The World was a better scorer, but will Metta World Peace take hold- especially on the road...???

Ron Artest's name change is officially official...
An LA Superior Court commissioner okayed the move from Artest since his outstanding traffic tickets had been addressed...

Apparently, his 8-year-old daughter, Diamond, may be close behind in the name change department...

This may be the only case where a diamond could bring world peace...???
And what happens when Metta goes on tour...??? The world could become one after all... "Peace in the Middle East" sounds pretty solid for starters...

Any ideas, everyone...???

NASCAR Probing Menard Spinout After All

((HT: NASCAR/NASCARImages/ABC/youtube))

After Jeff Gordon raised the radar of NASCAR officials eveywhere by intimating that Paul Menard's tire issue with 17 laps left was a bit of a shenanigan...

They're investigating...
Witness below...


There's unsubstantiated evidence that Menard's team went to an encrypted channel just before the crash... in a race that RCR teammate Kevin Harvick went on to win...

"In light of the suspicions, we're going to look into it and see if there is anything," NASCAR president Mike Helton said Friday at Chicagoland Speedway to David Newton of ESPN and others. "And a lot of it is going to be interpretation. Certainly, it is on us to understand exactly what all we can find as far as facts are concerned."

The "ethics of racing" discussion begins anew...

OSG High: Crazy Or Crazy Like A Fox...???

That's our question for today...

We focus on Kevin Kelley of Pulaski Academy out of Little Rock, Arkansas...

He never punts, doesn't want his kids to field them, and almost always onside kicks after his own scores...

His school of 1,500 played Cabot- a school five times his size Friday...

Here's the preview...
((HT: KATV-TV Little Rock))


And the highlights... yes, the video title is correct...
((HT: PulaskiAcademySports))


What say you on all of this...???

Stars Get Gagliardi As New Owner, Probably...

The Dallas Stars have signed an agreement to sell the team to Vancouver businessman Tom Gaglardi and have filed a prepackaged bankruptcy plan to help facilitate the transaction.

The Stars said Thursday that the deal is subject to a court-approved auction and NHL approval. The other team once owned by Tom Hicks, the Texas Rangers, pulled the same track to expedite the sale of the baseball team when Hicks declared the same financial fate with them...

"Today's filing culminates months of cooperative effort by the League, the Club, the Club's lenders and Dallas Arena LLC," said NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly. "It represents an extremely positive step toward what we expect will be an orderly transition to new ownership for the Dallas Stars."

Gagliardi has tried to get the Stars before, but it hasn't worked out until now. He's a co-owner of the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League and is big in the hotel and restaurant industry in Canada.

A court hearing is scheduled for Monday, when the Stars are expected to present customary motions for court approval.

George Riba of WFAA-TV says his sources are calling the Gagliardi bid a "stalking horse bid."

From Riba...

That means any individual who wishes to get involved in the bidding must up Gaglardi's bid for the team by at least $10 million. The source said Gaglardi's agreement would allow him to buy the team for around $230 million from the Hicks Sports Group, which defaulted on loans in 2009.

More when we know more...

Tebow turmoil now on billboard

Tim Tebow

((ht: denverpost))

Apparently Denver Broncos fan Jesse Oaks of Independence, Kentucky has seen enough. Or at least enough of Kyle Orton.

Oaks is adding even more fuel to the Denver quarterback fire by telling the Denver Post that he and seven friends intend to spend $10,000 to buy space on two billboards in downtown Denver that will say Tim Tebow should replace Kyle Orton as the teams QB.

Really?

Coach John Fox was asked about it after Thursday's practice, he told the Denver Post, "I've seen a lot of billboards and can't remember one that really influenced me".

Read the Post Story RIGHT HERE

Our question is, why is someone in Independence, Kentucky which is well over 1,000 miles from Denver weighing in on this at all?

Sure, we get that fans have no boundaries. And we get that they all have a right to their opinion, but could Mr. Oaks and his friends not find something better to do with $10,000?

This whole Tim Tebow argument in Denver is, at least to us, stupid. We aren't nearly as polarized about it as so many so-called experts and the fans are. Right now, he doesn't need to get a chance, the Broncos are "1" game into the season.

If, 5 weeks from now, they are 0-5 and heading nowhere, then yeah, the Tebow should get his shot. At some point, he should get the opportunity. No, talking ESPN heads, he isn't a "Traditional" quarterback and he may or may not be successful, but if his team is in the tank then yeah, why not? Give the guy a chance to see what he can do. Despite what the talking ESPN heads think, and yes, I know most are former players and coaches, we don't subscribe to the theory that you must fit into a specific category to be successful. Football is one of those things that you either get it....or you don't. And there is no way to know if Tebow "Gets" it, if he doesn't get the chance.

Click on the link for a TV story from KDVR/Fox 31 in Denver RIGHT HERE

Jerry Kill out of hospital, will coach U of Minnesota Saturday

((ht: kstp-tv))

University of Minnesota head football coach Jerry Kill has gotten the ok to coach his team on Saturday against Miami University (Ohio). He showed up at his teams practice Thursday afternoon.

You'll recall that Kill suffered a seizure at the end of the Gophers loss against New Mexico State this past Saturday. He was taken from the field on a stretcher, straight to the hospital.

According to KSTP-TV in Minneapolis, Kill's doctors gave him the all clear and said he could continue with his life as normal.

KSTP gives us the TV version of this story:

Change in the air: Oklahoma regents talk realignment on Monday

((ht: newsok.com))

Could the conference realignment dominoes start falling on Monday? It's possible.

According to multiple published reports, the University of Oklahoma board of regents will meet on Monday and one of the topics of discussion: Conference realignment. Word is they will try and figure out which conference situation is best for them.

Read the story from NewsOK.com RIGHT HERE

As most of you know, despite Texas A&M handing withdrawl papers to the Big 12/10, the chips won't fall...or move in any form until Oklahoma does something.

A&M can't do anything due to the SEC's no legal action stipulation. One brought on by most of the remaining Big 12 teams to protect themselves. They've threatened to file a suit to stop them from moving. Oklahoma didn't make that threat. 

The general consensus is that Oklahoma will go to the Pac12, despite commissioner Larry Scott saying they aren't "Looking" to do anything. Oklahoma State will go with them. That in turn will be the death knell for the Big 12, who'd be left with Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor, Kansas, Missouri and Iowa State. It would be the sad end, to a once proud conference.

We'll spare you are rant as to why this is happening, we agree with OutKickTheCoverage's Clay Travis that ESPN has become the root of all this.

The funny thing is, it all came about due to Texas and their "Longhorn Network" had they not done that, we may not be having this discussion. Now Texas is a "Major" program with limited options. They too can't do anything until Oklahoma decides too. And yes, we join the chorus of pundits who are highly amused at the thought of Texas being placed in the "2nd Class Citizen" category in all of this.

Senser Charged In Hit-And-Run Accident

((HT: MyFoxTwinCities))

The wife of former Minnesota Viking, and current Vikes broadcaster, Joe Senser was formally charged on "criminal vehicular homicide or operation – driver who causes accident leaves scene" – a felony count – by the Hennepin County ((MN)) attorney's office.

Amy Margaret Senser’s bail was set at $150,000. If she's convicted, there's a maximum penalty of ten years incarceration and a $20,000 fine.

The medical examiner's report was released in the death of local chef Anousone Phanthavong. Phanthavong's family is suing in a wrongful death proceeding and is asking for several questions to be answered during the discovery phase including if anyone else was in the car with Amy Senser.

Here's the report from the night of the accident...

Charges Filed in Senser Hit & Run Case: MyFoxTWINCITIES.com

Moore-Bertuzzi Civil Case Set For 2012

((HT: CBC Sports))

A civil case former NHL'er Steve Moore has against Todd Bertuzzi and the Vancouver Canucks could be in court late next year.

The target date for the Ontario Superior Court trial to begin ((if there is no settlement)) is September 24th, 2012 if Bertuzzi is still an active player. If he's not, it's set for October 22nd if he's not.

Court-ordered mediation between the sides has failed to lead to a settlement.

Shocker, there...

Moore suffered three fractured vertebrae and said back in 2007 that it was not possible to undertake strenuous exercise for long stretches.

Here's the hit...
((HT: NHL/FSN/youtube))


And the presser immediately after Bertuzzi returned from the Toronto NHL offices...
He's sorry...
((HT: NHL/BCTV-GlobalTV/youtube))


Should be interesting come 2012...

Spirit Settles Lawsuit With Their Lawyers

Surprising no one, what's left of Atlanta Spirit settled their lawsuit with their local lawyers at the King and Spalding firm over what ASG called poor representation over their legal malpractice lawsuit against former ASG partner Steve Belkin.

Steve Collins, who represents the firm, said Wednesday that King & Spalding and Atlanta Spirit settled the US$195-million.

Spirit said in a January lawsuit that the firm negotiated a "fatally flawed contract" to end the Belkin dispute.

Collins said the terms of the settlement were confidential. The Atlanta Spirit did not immediately comment.

The HQ thinks it was aomething along the lines of recovering legal fees in the process- and that's about it... the sooner that Spirit is away from sports, the better off we all are...

Booster Falls On Sword For 3 tOSU Players

Robert "Bobby" DiGeronimo told The Columbus Dispatch that he played a key role in the $200 payments given to Jordan Hall, Travis Howard and Corey Brown at a charity run in February for a charity run by DiGeronimo's son-in-law.

Hall, Howard and Brown were suspended for Ohio State's first two games before being reinstated. They are eligible to play Saturday against Miami.

DiGeronimo told The Dispatch that former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor provided the money to his teammates, adding that the payments were reimbursement for travel expenses to the event.

"However Mr. Pryor got the money, I take responsibility," DiGeronimo told the newspaper. "I am responsible for those kids coming up here from Columbus. I handled it wrong. I should not have handled it the way I did."

DiGeronimo cooperated with the NCAA the whole time, and said no one from the charity organization knew about the payments.

More when we know more...

The HQ finds it interesting that Pryor's name came up- again...