Larry Brown Sports

Bruce Pearl loves attention.  Anyone who has seen him in action knows that’s the case.  You think he really wears that loud orange suit just because he’s proud to be a Tennessee Volunteer?  That may be part of it, but the guy loves the spotlight.  Unless, of course, the spotlight comes in the form of major recruting violations and lying to NCAA investigators.

So what’s a funny guy to do when he finds himself in a sticky situation?  Thank everyone for their support, apologize, and make a funny.  Check, check, and check.  If I coached at a school with a Lane Kiffin connection, I’d probably use him, too.  Kiffin is known for things like taking jersey numbers without explanation.  He also wasted no time getting himself into hot water when he took over the USC football program.

For those reasons and more, Pearl decided to lighten the mood by taking a shot at Kiffin.  Sports by Brooks Live called our attention to Pearl’s comments, as told by Go Vols Xtra, which he made after admitting that he had embarrassed and humiliated the university.

I’ve made mistakes, I clearly did, but what I was hoping for was that some other dumbass would get on the front page and take me off the hook,” Pearl said. “I miss Lane Kiffin.”

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.  I understand he was trying to loosen up the room, but I doubt Kiffin will appreciate being called a dumbass.  On second thought, who cares what Kiffin thinks?  We certainly love it.

The Giants-Jaguars game on Sunday at the Meadowlands featured a big second half comeback by the Giants. They were down 17-6 at halftime and outscored Jacksonville 18-3 in the second half to get the win. Apparently the fans were not pleased with New York’s performance in the first half and let the players hear it with boos.

Giants safety Antrel Rolle, who signed with the team in the off-season, said on WFAN he didn’t appreciate the boos, especially given that the Giants came back to win. Asked what he thought about the boos, he said “We’re not going to always have those dominant, blowout games. We’re not going to win each and every game. We need (the fans) to have confidence as we have confidence in ourselves. … You don’t boo your team. I don’t care what the situation is. You don’t boo your team.”

The hosts of course justified the behavior by saying, hey it’s New York — that’s the way things are. I don’t understand why fans aren’t accountable for anything. The team wasn’t playing well at the half but they wound up winning. Maybe reserve the boos next time until the team has actually lost, how does that sound?

Derek Anderson can thank Stuart Scott for making sure he wasn’t the only one dropping curse words on live television after the Cardinals embarrassing loss to the 49ers on Monday night.  Last night, we showed you Anderson’s rant after a reporter asked him why he was laughing during the game when his team was getting spanked.  As a Deadspin reader pointed out, our man Stu wanted to make sure the Cardinals’ QB was in good company, so he took it upon himself to warm up ESPN’s “bleep fucktion” — as he so gracefully put it.  Check out the Stuart Scott f-bomb video, courtesy of YouTube user weaksauc321:

Here is some advice on working the waiver wire in your fantasy league (for personal advice email larry at larrybrownsports.com):

Matchups to Avoid (at your discretion): Packers, Bears, and Steelers defenses are not impenetrable, but they’re good. Avoid Saints, Chargers, Giants, and Bears pass defense. Still avoid Steelers, Bears, Chargers, Jets run defense.

Matchups to Exploit (at your discretion): Houston, Buffalo, Seattle, Jacksonville, New England and Oakland’s secondary (Asomugha is out). Buffalo, Arizona, Tampa Bay, Detroit, Denver, and Indy’s run defense.

The waiver wire has been thinner and thinner the past few weeks because players have been able to stay healthy for the most part. An injury to Frank Gore made Brian Westbrook the top target, but outside of that we’re just picking at players who are likely available. Take a look at our thorough guide of working the waiver wire for advice on how to manage your fantasy football roster:

Brian Westbrook, RB, 49ers – Westbrook looked great on Monday night, running for 136 yards and a touchdown. With Frank Gore out for the season, Westbrook will be their feature back.
Toby Gerhart, RB, Vikings – Gerhart’s no Adrian Peterson (who is?), but he is a physical runner that would stand to get a lot of carries if an ankle injury keeps Peterson out.
Ben Obomanu, WR, Seahawks – Now the top receiver in Seattle, he hauled in an 87-yard score on Sunday and has scored in three of the last four games.
Matt Cassel, QB, Chiefs – We’ve frequently advised picking up Cassel as a one-week monster play, but now we’re just recommending picking him up. He’s a safe play most weeks because he doesn’t make mistakes. The connection with Dwayne Bowe, while likely to slow down, has helped his stats tremendously.
*Make sure they’re not still available: Todd Heap

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You may still be getting used to the idea of a school from Fort Worth, Texas being part of a Big East of anything as am I. That’s right, Texas Christian University will now join the likes of UConn (from Connecticut), Pitt (from Pennsylvania), Providence (from Rhode Island), and Syracuse (from New York) in the same conference. Nevermind the idea of geographical differences between TCU and everyone else, what I don’t understand is the comments from athletic director Chris Del Conte.

At one point during his speech made on Monday, Del Conte said “Having BCS automatic-qualifying status was a priority for our football program and a great reward for the success we’ve had the last decade.” At another point Del Conte mentioned that “The BCS does not define TCU. TCU defines the BCS as evidenced by our football program but the academic institutions that we’re going to be associated with.”

Got it? So this move was done so that TCU could be more appropriately aligned with academic institutions on its level. You know, those notable bastions of academia like Louisville and West Virginia. So if TCU is moving its school and all its sports teams to the Big East, all so the football team becomes a part of an automatic qualifier conference, then how is the school not defined by the BCS? Someone ‘splain that to me, because we see right through you, Del Conte.

What started off as a promising night for Frank Gore fantasy football owners swiftly turned into a Derek Anderson-like tirade. Gore had a 25-yard run to open up the game and he went ahead for another 19 on his next two. After losing a yard on his fourth carry, Gore left the game but later returned on the team’s second drive.

Frank was hurt during his first carry back and did not see action after that. Reports on Monday night were that Gore was out for the season with a fractured hip, an injury that seemingly came out of nowhere. Anthony Dixon became San Francisco’s short-yardage and goal-line back while Brian Westbrook quickly emerged as the team’s feature back.

Westbrook, who previously only had nine yards on five carries for San Francisco, carried the ball 23 times for 136 yards and a touchdown. The 23 carries were the most Westbrook had since week 14 in 2008, and the 31-year-old looked more like the stud we saw for six years in Philly rather than the concussion case he became last year.

The year off of action has left Westbrook with fresh legs and he still appears to have the strong speed and good moves. Playing for a team that likes to employ a conservative ball control offense like San Francisco, Brian Westbrook will become an excellent fantasy addition.

Photo Credit: Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Following Arizona Republic reporter Kent Somers on twitter, you could tell he had something brewing for the postgame press conference on Monday night. The Cardinals got spanked at home 27-6, losing their 6th straight game. Quarterback Derek Anderson was his typical below average self, going 16/35 for 196 yards and an interception. Making matters even more frustrating for Arizona fans was Anderson getting caught on camera smiling on the bench late in the game. Jon Gruden ripped Anderson for showing positive emotions while his team was getting crushed.

During the game, Somers tweeted “Anderson is back in after yucking it up on the sideline with Deuce Lutui. will have to find out what was funny with 6th consecutive loss.” Well Somers was a man of his word, asking Anderson that exact question in the postgame news conference. Anderson was busted and did not react well. Here’s the Derek Anderson tirade video as he dropped several s-bombs on Somers:

Normally I don’t like reporters who try raking up the muck, but Somers was right on point with his questions. The Cardinals were getting killed on national television and have been embarrassing themselves all season. The line of questioning was within reason and Anderson needs to realize in addition to playing better, he needs to act the part of a professional quarterback. So far he’s 0-for-2.

If 49ers tight end Vernon Davis knew the Cardinals were going to lay down for them on Monday Night Football, maybe he wouldn’t have poured in as much emotion to his pregame speech as he showed. As our man Steve shared with me, VD got so carried away with things pregame it looked like he was crying. Check it out:

Maybe he just splashed some water on his face because I sure saw some moisture in those eyes and what appeared to be tears streaking down his face. I’m not missing something there, right? VD only had 32 yards on two catches but Troy Smith missed him for a wide open touchdown. Luckily against the Cardinals it didn’t matter. Arizona, which has lost six in a row, got outrushed 261-13. It doesn’t get much more pathetic than that.

LBS recently caught up with Super Bowl and National Championship winning coach Jimmy Johnson who’s running the first annual Crown Royal Jimmy Bowl (enter here for your chance to play football at Cowboys Stadium after the Super Bowl and be coached by Jimmy Johnson!). Jimmy already told us he thinks coaching is an issue for the 49ers, but what about their Monday night counterpart? Johnson thinks the players are the problem with the Cardinals, not the coaches.

The Cardinals reached the Super Bowl under coach Ken Whisenhunt and have won the NFC West twice. Jimmy attributed Arizona’s 3-7 start to the loss of key players over the off-season, including Kurt Warner, Karlos Dansby, Antrel Rolle, and Anquan Boldin. He said the coaching is the same, but they’ve lost a lot of good players.

While losing Dansby and Rolle have hurt the defense tremendously, the biggest dropoff for the Cardinals has been at the quarterback position. Arizona has gone from starting potential Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner to using Derek Anderson and Max Hall in games. Under Whisenhunt with Warner at QB, the Cardinals have had the 7th, 3rd, and 11th most productive offense in football. This year they’re the 28th, only better than three teams. I agree with Jimmy — it’s the players that has resulted in the losing in Arizona, not the coaches.

There’s nothing wrong with using the latest technology to get what you want.  In Carl Crawford’s case, the desired result is money.  He’s going to get lots of it, so giving each potential suitor a $500 gift that’s fully loaded with — well, Carl Crawford — doesn’t sound like a bad idea.

According to Hardball Talk, Crawford’s agents are sending out iPads that come pre-loaded with a video of the outfielder which showcases his talents.  I wonder if they loaded his nut shot video on there.  Considering the former Ray is one of the most coveted free agents on the market, the video probably can’t tell any MLB team something they aren’t already aware of.  Unless of course it features some sort of secret talent that would set him apart from Jayson Werth like, say, speed?

In any event, it can’t hurt.  If Crawford’s agents sent on of these things out to every single MLB team, they’d be looking at a bill of around $16,000.  Let’s do a little math.  Say Crawford inks a 6-year, $100 million contract.  If he remains relatively healthy and plays 125 games a year, that’s 750 games over the course of the contract.  Divide $100 million by 750 and you get $133,333, which is what Crawford would be making each game.  Assuming he gets around 4 at-bats per game, that works out to $33,333 per at-bat.  In other words, they’ll literally get the iPad money back and then some the second Crawford steps to the plate for his new team.