Lane Kiffin was trolled on social media in response to his subtle confidence ahead of Saturday’s game at Alabama.
Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels lost 42-21 at Bama and make a bit of a second half comeback after falling behind 28-0 at halftime.
Prior to the game, Kiffin was interviewed by CBS and told fans to “get your popcorn ready.” The implication was that his team was getting ready to put on a show.
Unfortunately, they fizzled out pretty quickly and got dominated in the first half. After the game, fans had a fun time with the “popcorn” quote on Twitter. They had all sorts of jokes.
Hey, Kiffin promised fans a show, but was never specific. Maybe he was talking about what Alabama was going to do in the game?
A video Holly Sonders posted on Instagram during the week went viral. The video involves her interpretation of tennis.
In the video, Sonders has some strategically-placed tennis balls covering areas of her body. The rest is left up to your imagination.
The video is captioned, “I push limits. I create art. I make money. And I don’t mind getting kicked out of your country club.”
We’re guessing that video would get Sonders accepted at many more country clubs than kicked out of.
Sonders, who used to cover golf for Golf Channel and FOX Sports, seems right at home with tennis as well. She seems to enjoy using the sport for props. Sonders is currently dating Oscar De La Hoya and giving him facials.
The Cincinnati Bearcats got a massive resume win over Brian Kelly and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday. The fact that Kelly used to coach the Bearcats was not lost on anyone, either.
Cincinnati came armed and ready on social media after their 24-13 win. Most notable was a video of various comments made by Kelly during his time at Cincinnati, stitched together to sound like he was praising the Bearcats’ performance.
That wasn’t all. The Bearcats also referenced a comment Kelly made in the leadup to Saturday’s game in which he said he wanted to give schools like Cincinnati “an opportunity to play Notre Dame.” Some Cincinnati fans found the comment from their former coach patronizing, and the team’s Twitter account didn’t let it go unnoticed.
Kelly replaced Charlie Weis at Notre Dame in December 2009, having left Cincinnati to do so. That still stings for some in southwest Ohio, and you can hardly blame the Bearcats’ social media folks for embracing that. Kelly probably should have seen it coming, especially since he’s been motivated by perceived slights in the past, too.
Before Andy Reid became a Super Bowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs, he established himself as a head coach with the Philadelphia Eagles. Make no mistake — Reid still looks back fondly on his time coaching the Eagles.
One of the reasons, as Reid would readily admit, was the Philadelphia cuisine. The city is known for its cheesesteaks, which Reid used to sum up his time with the Eagles as he prepares to lead the Chiefs into Philadelphia for Week 4.
“There wasn’t a cheesesteak there that I didn’t like,” Reid said, via Adam Teicher of ESPN.
That’s high praise from Reid, who likes to keep it simple when celebrating big wins. Perhaps beating the Eagles would be cause to celebrate with a cheesesteak.
Reid spent 14 seasons as head coach of the Eagles before moving to Kansas City in 2013. He’ll be on the sideline as usual Sunday after a brief health scare last week.
Chiefs fans, you’ll love this Andy Reid cheeseburger shirt. Reid loves his cheeseburgers, and you can wear it. This makes a perfect gift for you or a friend. You can buy it here.
The Brooklyn Nets have more than their fair share of puzzling personalities. Now one of their star players is essentially admitting as much.
Nets guard James Harden spoke to the media this week and made a pretty interesting comment about the dynamic of the team, particularly about the number of introverts that they have.
“I’ll try to get guys together for dinners and hangouts more often, just so we can get to know each other outside of the court,” said the ex-MVP, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “We’ve got a fairly quiet group. Most of the guys are to themselves. They stay in their own little shells. It’ll be nice to get them out, open up a little bit, even myself.
“I’m not that loud,” added Harden. “But … I’m more loud than anybody on this team, like Paul [Millsap], LaMarcus [Aldridge], Patty [Mills], [Kevin Durant]. You’ve got a lot of guys who are just to themselves. So it’s my job to open them up a little bit more.”
Given the current state of the Nets roster, it is easy to see where Harden is coming from. Kyrie Irving is a mystery wrapped in an an enigma wrapped in a Dan Brown novel. Kevin Durant enjoys conversing with 12-year-old trolls on the Internet. LaMarcus Aldridge was too confounding for even the sage Gregg Popovich to figure out. And Blake Griffin once broke his hand on an equipment manager’s face. Not to mention that the Nets went out and added a karate black belt nicknamed “Bloodsport” (James Johnson) and a guy named David Duke (Jr., that is) to the mix this offseason.
Even despite his own hijinks from time to time (including getting his jersey retired at a strip club), Harden probably seems like one of the most normal guys on the Nets roster by comparison. It sounds like he is trying to take on a greater leadership role as well in order to help the bewildering bunch in Brooklyn build some championship-level chemistry.
Rob Gronkowski’s rib injury is more significant than initially believed, and it could be a few weeks before he plays again.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Gronkowski suffered multiple rib fractures during last Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams. That could keep the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end out for “multiple weeks.”
Gronkowski was on the receiving end of a huge hit (video here), but the initial prognosis seemed to be quite good. It means Gronkowski will miss a long-awaited return to New England, at minimum.
The veteran tight end has been in outstanding form in 2021, with four touchdown receptions in the first three games of the season.
JJ Redick is officially hanging up his jersey, but he wishes that his career could have played out differently with one particular ex-teammate.
During the latest episode of his “The Old Man and the Three” podcast, Redick revealed that he had an emotional moment with his former LA Clippers teammate Chris Paul before publicly announcing his retirement from the NBA. Redick said that his inner circle knew he was retiring but that he felt he had one last phone call to make.
“I had this, like, weird feeling,” said Redick. “I was like, ‘I feel like I need to make one more call.’ And I realized who that call was. It was Chris. I called Chris, and I don’t wanna get emotional, but I called him.
“I told him what was happening,” Redick went on. “What I said to him was, ‘The only thing I would change about my career in terms of an outcome, I wish I had won a championship. If there was one person that I played with in my career that I could win that championship with, it was you.’ And I mean that sincerely. I wish it was Chris.”
Redick and Paul were the Clippers’ starting backcourt for four seasons during the team’s “Lob City” days. It was an era of regular season success but playoff failure as those Clippers never made it past the second round.
Not all of Paul’s former Clipper teammates hold him in high regard. But Redick obviously has a very meaningful connection with Paul that will last well beyond their playing days.
Ole Miss wide receiver Braylon Sanders stepped up and made one of the most ridiculous catches of the year during Saturday’s game against Alabama.
Sanders managed to reel in quarterback Matt Corral’s throw in the first quarter with about the highest degree of difficulty possible. Sanders caught it one-handed, got his feet down, and managed to retain possession for an incredible grab.
Doing any one of those three things on a ball like that is tough. Doing all three just adds a level of ridiculousness to the grab.
Sanders stepped up here on a day Ole Miss really needed him to. They’re playing the Crimson Tide without their star receiver, but Sanders at least temporarily rendered that irrelevant.
Zion Williamson has the time of day to respond to the rumors that he supposedly wants out of New Orleans.
The Pelicans star appeared this week on SiriusXM NBA Radio and said that he “love[s] it” in New Orleans, calling it “the city for me.” Williamson further stressed his desire to stay by sharing various posts about his remarks to his own Instagram Story.
The rumors about Williamson were growing pretty loud, especially after a recent report questioning his relationship with executive David Griffin. Other recent claims were that Williamson’s family allegedly wants him out of New Orleans. For what it’s worth, Williamson’s rookie contract runs through 2023, at which point he can become a restricted free agent.
The Pelicans have some very real problems to address. They have not had a winning campaign since 2018 and are now on their third head coach in as many years. But the speculation that Williamson wants to hop on the first train out of New Orleans seems to be premature at this point.
The recriminations are beginning for the San Diego Padres after a brutal second half of play.
According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the Padres have decided to fire manager Jayce Tingler in light of the team’s failure to make the playoffs. Heyman adds that the move does not come as a surprise.
Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune added that the Padres disputed the report, calling it “premature.” However, he added that this is a standard denial, and the expectation is that Tingler and his staff will be fired after Sunday’s season finale.
Someone was going to be the fall guy for what happened to the Padres, and Tingler is the unlucky one. He can’t have many complaints considering how the second half went. The Padres went 25-42 after the All-Star break, culminating in a brutal 6-19 record so far in September. They’re on their way to a sub-.500 season, a remarkable fall considering they were 67-49 at the end of play on Aug. 10.
It’s a quick fall from grace for Tingler, who was the NL Manager of the Year runner-up in 2020 and got only two years on the job. Ultimately, though, this was a team with World Series ambitions that won’t come all that close to making the playoffs.
Tingler’s departure isn’t the first change the Padres have made in response to their collapse. It’s unlikely to be the last, either.
