Larry Brown Sports

Sometimes you have to look at yourself in the mirror, be honest, and ask yourself, “Can I really do better than that?” If Mississippi State were to ask themselves that question regarding their head football coach, my answer would be “No.” I don’t know who Mississippi State thinks they are, or what they expect to be in a football sense, but I thought Sylvester Croom did a pretty good job with the program. From what I remember, he inherited a program on NCAA probation with scholarship reductions, one that had gone 7-27 in the three previous years. Sure, it took a few years before Mississippi State was no longer a punching bag, but they had reached that point.

Croom scored a big win over Florida in his first year as the Bulldogs’ head coach, helping launch the fire Ron Zook movement. In 2005, Croom’s squad obliterated rival Ole Miss 35-14. Finally by mid-season in 2006, his third year with the program, Mississippi State started to play at a respectable level. The Bulldogs kept all of their games in the second half of that season close, proving to me that Croom was getting Mississippi State to a respectable level.

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When a guy throws 46 touchdowns in a season, it’s pretty hard to narrow down his very best plays. That’s why I’m guessing the following play will standout in Sam Bradford’s highlight reel at the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York. Aching to get into the endzone, Bradford let his body go and just leaped for the goalline against Oklahoma State. He didn’t quite make it, but the spectacle was phenomenal:

That reminds me so much of the John Elway play from the Super Bowl, the way they both just laid their bodies on the line. Bradford said after the game that he felt his team needed the lift and that’s why he went airborne. The move must have worked because the Sooners were pretty charged up after that point and went on to win the game. Now it’s just a little computer mess to sort out before the National Championship Game is decided.

It’s a shame I don’t crank these bad boys out prior to the Thursday games, because I can promise you the Eagles would have been one of my picks. That’s the thing about McNabb — the guy thrives under circumstances of adversity. Oh well, now the pressure’s on to produce three more winners. And Doc Brown followed the developing pattern of going 3-0 after an 0-3 week for the second time, lifting the season record against the spread to 20-16. Here’s to another 3-0 week, thanks to the online sportsbook at betus.com for providing the odds.

Picks to follow.

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A lot of people, myself included, wondered what Lane Kiffin was thinking when he took the Raiders job. Nobody lasted there longer than like two years, and nobody had a positive experience working for Al Davis. It was a miserable gig where one was guaranteed to fail, so as a result, nobody was willing to take it. But after getting rejected by several candidates, the Raiders came across Lane Kiffin who was eager to accept the gig. Knowing he was doomed for failure and a miserable experience, why would Kiffin take the job? Now we know why.

Lane Kiffin only had to put up with Al Davis for a year and a half, getting compensated handsomely in the process, before moving on. He got to skip a couple steps in the coaching tree to get to the top level — NFL head coach — and raise his profile in the meantime. It’s unlikely that he would have drawn serious consideration for the Tennessee job had he remained at USC as their offensive coordinator. Usually top coordinators at top schools are offered head coaching gigs at second level schools, not top notch schools such as the Michigans, Tennessees, and Alabamas. Those schools are looking for guys with head coaching experience. But having been in the NFL working for the Raiders, Kiffin got to pad his resume and make himself qualified for any job out there. If he could make a dysfunctional team like the Raiders competitive, he surely could compete with any college program.

I wondered what Lane Kiffin was doing when he took that Raiders job, but now I know. And when someone else accepts the gig in the near future, I’ll understand that they have a reason for doing it, too.

Even if Chad Ocho Cinco’s making millions, you can bet for sure that the money hasn’t gone to his head. How else do you explain this photo?

Well, I guess you can’t accuse the guy of being lazy. Funny thing is, he was trying to buy a present for Marvin Lewis, he said. I’m sure Guitar Hero is right on the top of Lewis’ list. And I always knew that Ocho Cinco and Ron Artest were on the same level mentally, considering Artest tried to work at Best Buy while he was with the Bulls for the employee discount. This Ocho Cinco guy is a riot.

They’re just blowing smoke, playing the game. See, the Angels’ real target is Mark Teixeira — he’s the one that really beefed up their team and rounded out their lineup. Adding Sabathia would just make the Angels pitching heavy but still leave their lineup vulnerable. Sure, he’s a nice addition for any club, but not a legitimate target for the Angels. So why all the rumors and reports floating out there? The Angels and Tony Reagins want people to think they’re interested in Sabathia because it helps them. Let’s go over the process here:

1. Boras wants monster deal (10 years) for Teixeira, needs lots of bidders
2. Angels willing to offer Tex big deal, but not 10 years
3. Boras/Teixeira waiting for better offers
4. Angels drop rumors they want Sabathia to try and make Yankees overspend
5. Yankees panic, bump up offer to Sabathia, leaving less money to offer other free agents
6. Market for Teixeira comes back to earth, he now decides between 7 year $150 million offers from Angels, Yanks, Red Sox and maybe another team

See, the whole thing is part of a plan by the Angels to help themselves out. Everyone’s just waiting around for a player to sign before everything else gets decided. And don’t forget, the Angels still have to extend John Lackey whose contract is up after this season. Expect them to pour around $90 million over five years into Lackey, just like the Cubs did with Zambrano. How could they afford to extend Lackey AND sign Sabathia without addressing their offense? They can’t, which is why they’re not signing CC.

Almost as inherently as I’m drawn to the points category in a basketball boxscore, I’m interested in the field goals made and the field goals attempted by a player. For instance, 30 points is great and all, but how spectacular is it if you had to bomb up 24 shots to get that mark? Or last week for example, everybody was going gaga for Stephen Curry after he scored 44 points in a showdown with Oklahoma. Only problem is he did so shooting 41% from the field in a loss. That was the bottom line to me — not the 44 points — but the loss. Was it worth it? Well, we kind of had our test case in the matter as Loyola of Maryland decided they would make a conscious effort to shutdown Curry.

From the moment the ball was tossed up to start Tuesday night’s game against Loyola (Md.), Davidson’s star guard was hounded by two defenders.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Davidson coach Bob McKillop told FOXSports.com shortly after the victory. “From the time the ball entered the court, there were two guys on him and they didn’t leave him the entire game.”

So Curry decided that he would hang out by the sidelines to make it a 4 on 3 game for his team — a clear advantage. Curry’s personal stats took it in the shorts as he went 0-3 with zero points for the game, but his team won easily, 78-48. I’m guessing they wouldn’t have won by as large of a margin had Loyola (Md) played a standard defense and not allowed the open man each time. Curry took it well and decided to put the team first, something I really respect. And I think this further cements my point: it’s not about how much the top scorer gets, it’s about how much he helped his team while scoring the points.

This was easily one of the best highlights of the day in Maui. Texas and Notre Dame squared off in an excellent battle between two highly-ranked teams. Notre Dame won a nail-biter, with Luke Harangody going 29 and 13 as usual. Despite his strong performance, he did have one embarrassing moment — Justin Mason of Texas absolutely posterized him with a fierce dunk. Check it:

This video also shows a good message — basketball and sports aren’t about the highlights, but the outcome. Mason may get on the reels for that dunk, but Notre Dame got the W and that’s most important. Let’s not forget that. (Still, it was an awesome jam!)