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This and that
Dick VitaleSPECIAL TO ESPN.COM
What a wacky weekend in college football. Hey, it figures when you consider how wild this season has been! The LSU Tigers won the SEC Championship and coach Les Miles says he is staying in Baton Rouge and is not interested in talking to anybody. He said he is the head coach at LSU and he is not going anywhere. A new contract came his way and that ended any thoughts of going to his alma mater, Michigan.
So what else is new when No. 1 and No. 2 go down again? Missouri falls to Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game, losing 38-17. But the bigger shocker came when Pittsburgh, with just four wins coming in and as a four-touchdown underdog, stunned West Virginia. It was one of the most painful games for the Mountaineers as the offense laid an egg. Pat White was hurt, and give him credit for coming back in the fourth quarter, The bottom line is the Pittsburgh defense deserves a ton of credit. Dave Wannstedt got one of his biggest wins as Pittsburgh coach and it came after he just received a contract extension.
Those shocks set up a wild time for the detractors of the BCS. As I have said many times, college basketball is light years ahead of college football. On the hardwood, we get a true national champion with a 65-team tournament. In college football, there is no playoff and a lot of controversy. You can't tell me a playoff isn't feasible. It is done at lower levels, and there are plenty of schools that can make a case for being part of the BCS this season. It is amazing that Missouri went from No. 1 in America to on the outside looking in with the BCS. By rule three schools from one conference cannot be in BCS bowls, so the Tigers go to the Cotton Bowl.
In baseball, the Winter meetings could be wild. There have already been lots of rumors, but one thing is for sure ... Delmon Young is a Minnesota Twin. The potential alll-star was sent to Minnesota for pitcher Matt Garza and shortstop Jason Bartlett. Garza will join the rotation with young teammates Scott Kazmir and James Shields in a formidable trio. Bartlett fills a need at shortstop. Now if the Rays can get a healthy Rocco Baldelli in the outfielder joining stars Carl Crawford and BJ Upton, watch out. This move could come back and haunt Tampa Bay if Young develops into a superstar. Young has a decade of stardom in front of him
The Johan Santana sweepstakes should be wide open. There has been a lot of talk about the Yankees and Red Sox battling for the lefthander's services, but others could make a run at him too ... stay tuned.
What about Lastings Milledge being dealt by the Mets to the Washington Nationals for Ryan Church and Brian Schneider. Wow, something tells me Milledge will turn the corner and become a superstar in our nation's capital. If that happens, the Mets will get the same kind of heat they received when they dealt Scott Kazmir.
The Sean Taylor situation was such a tragedy. It was senseless violence that took away the life of the Redskins defensive back. It is simply a sad thing for a young man to lose his life so prematurely, losing the chance to be a loving father to a young child. It is terrible.
Peyton Manning is a flat-out winner. He has found ways to get the job done despite Indianapolis suffering a number of injuries. Go ask Jacksonville about Mr. Manning as he teamed up often with Reggie Wayne on Sunday.
Remember when Lions quarterback Jon Kitna picked his team to win 10 games this season? He looked smart earlier, but now Detroit is at .500 after being blown out by the Vikings and Adrian Peterson.
There has been a lot of excitement in college basketball already, and I am looking forward to seeing three of the nation's premier diaper dandies at the Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. OJ Mayo of USC, Derrick Rose of Memphis and Michael Beasley of Kansas State will be in action during a very special evening.
How about a salute to Rick Barnes and his Texas Longhorns. When Kevin Durant decided to go to the NBA early, there were some that felt Texas would slip badly in the Big 12. Think again my friends as the Longhorns went into Pauley Pavilion and came out with a big, big W!
Congratulations to the United States Davis Cup team, winning the championship over Russia. The environment in Portland, Oregon seemed to be electric as Andy Roddick and James Blake won singles matches in day one, and the Bryans, the world's top-ranked doubles team, locked up the title by winning Saturday. Captain Patrick McEnroe worked hard for seven years to assemble a group that came through and won this championship.
Dick Vitale coached the Pistons and the University of Detroit before broadcasting ESPN's first college basketball game in December 1979. Send him a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.
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