Blogg Doyel : CBSSports.com Blogs

Please keep talking, Gordon Gee

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:32:58 EST

Ohio State president E. Gordon Gee says the NCAA had no precedent for giving Ohio State a bowl ban -- and for a change, Gordon Gee is right.

Has a school ever been busted because its head coach knew about violations by the team's best three or four players, didn't report those violations, then built a BCS-bowl season around those three or four illegally eligible players?

Has that ever happened?

No. It has not.

Tiquan Underwood was released ... for what?

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:15:32 EST

INDIANAPOLIS -- So about that Tiquan Underwood thing ...

It was nothing. And it was everything.

It was nothing to the game. Tiquan Underwood, the receiver the New England Patriots released on Saturday night -- roughly 24 hours before the Super Bowl -- might not have been active for the game anyway. He almost definitely wasn't going to be a major factor in what proved to be a 21-17 loss to the Giants. The final Patriots receiver to make the active roster for Super Bowl XLVI, Chad Ochocinco, played a handful of snaps and caught one pass. He was a non-entity in the game, and that's what Tiquan Underwood almost definitely would have been, had he played. A non-entity.

So this whole story is nothing, in a sports way.

Coughlin and Eli, come on down (to Canton)

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:29:01 EST

INDIANAPOLIS -- It's time to consider that maybe New England's Bill Belichick isn't the greatest active coach in the NFL. Yes he has three Super Bowl rings, and three is bigger than two, and Giants coach Tom Coughlin has just two Super Bowl rings.

But Coughlin won both his Super Bowl rings against Belichick, the second coming Sunday night, a 21-17 victory in Super Bowl XLVI.

Three is more than two. We all know that. But head-to-head matters. It must. And head to head, in the most important game in the NFL, the score is Tom Coughlin 2, Bill Belichick 0.

That is not a fluke. That is a trend. And a fact. And a symbol, perhaps, that Coughlin deserves to be considered up there with Belichick as the greatest coach of this era. And seeing how Belichick has been mentioned -- and rightly so -- as one of the greatest coaches of all time ...

On sparring with a UFC fighter-turned-politician

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 1:35:28 EST

Chris Lytle and Gregg Doyel sparring at Kingdom Martial Arts, February 3, 2012. (Ryan Wilson, CBSSports.com)

GREENFIELD, Ind. -- Chris Lytle doesn't hit like a politician. No shots below the belt, in other words. All to the face -- specifically, my face. We sparred six rounds on Friday, the former UFC fighter and me, and he punches like the professional boxer and cage fighter he used to be ... not like the state senator he's trying to become.

Fascinating guy, Chris Lytle. This is not a political column, so don't read this as an endorsement for Lytle's state senate campaign. Don't read it as the opposite, either. It's neither. But it's recognition of a guy who has always been willing to put his money, as they say, where his mouth is.

New York Giants advance to NFC title game

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 23:17:18 EST

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The NFL playoffs will continue without the top two offenses in the league, now that the New York Giants have eliminated Green Bay.

The Giants' victory on Sunday, which ended a 7-0 run by home teams in the 2012 NFL playoffs, came one day after San Francisco bounced the similarly potent Saints.

The Giants play at San Francisco next Sunday for the NFC title.

In this one, New York stuffed Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers with pressure from the front seven -- linebacker Michael Boley was as devastating as any down lineman -- and with help from Green Bay's receiving corps. The Packers dropped at least five passes, including one in the end zone by Greg Jennings. Instead of drawing within 20-17 on Jennings' (should-be) touchdown, the Packers had to settle for a field goal on the next play that made it 20-13.

Cowardly Jets rear their cowardly heads

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 4:27:48 EST

As if the Jets could be even more dislikeable, we have this: Multiple players ripping starting quarterback Mark Sanchez in the most gutless way possible. No, not on Twitter. See, using Twitter would have required attaching their name to it.

The Jets? They ripped Sanchez anonymously through the New York Daily News.

And this is not me defending Sanchez. It's not. He could well be "lazy," as one gutless wonder told the newspaper. He could be a "baby," as another gutless Jet said. It's entirely possible that "he goes in a hole when someone tells him the truth," as someone sniveled.

But there's a right way to do things, and a wrong way, and damn if the Jets don't take the wrong way every ... single ... time.

Broncos 29, Steelers 23 in OT

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 7:54:02 EST

DENVER -- He's no longer a novelty, no longer a mystery, no longer a fluke. Tim Tebow is now a playoff-winning quarterback, and not because he managed this game.

He won it.

With Tebow tying two franchise records set by John Elway and throwing the winning touchdown pass in overtime, the Broncos defeated the Steelers 29-23 Sunday to advance to the next round of playoffs, next weekend at New England.

Tebow threw for 316 yards and ran for 50, and produced touchdowns each way. He joined Elway as the only Denver quarterbacks in the postseason to (1) complete two 50-yard passes and (2) throw and run for a touchdown, both in the same game.

What's with the misguided anger, Penn State?

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:48:53 EST

Penn State people are mad, no furious, with the reported hire of Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien as the man who would replace The Man. Which means Penn State fans just don't get it.

And look, PSU people, I'm not mocking you. Not taunting you. Not enjoying your anger or frustration. You're going to see plenty of those people in the next few days, media people and otherwise, people who were so shaken by the Sandusky scandal that they take it out on anything and everything representing Penn State. And I understand their rage, I really do. But I'm not one of them, so don't miss what I'm writing here.

I'm trying to help. Honest. And what occurs to me, from my point on the periphery, is that there are people at Penn State -- even a truly intelligent insider like ex-PSU linebacker LaVar Arrington -- who are so close to the situation that they can't see it for what it is.

Marlins: 24 men and a baby

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:44:07 EST

And the Marlins were doing so well.

They hired manager Ozzie Guillen. They signed shortstop Jose Reyes. They signed closer Heath Bell. They signed starting pitcher Mark Buehrle. They talked Hanley Ramirez into moving to third base.

The Marlins were all set to move into their Miami stadium with those shiny pieces, but then they went and did the unthinkable. They invited a cockroach into their new home.

You know his name. Carlos Zambrano. He might not be a bad guy 363 days out of the year, but he'll have two or three (2012 is a leap year!) where he just baffles the brain, alienates the fans, abandons his teammates, disrupts his clubhouse.

Ravens get bye, Bengals get wild card

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:48:09 EST

CINCINNATI -- Well, the game wasn't entirely meaningless.

The Ravens won 24-16, and they needed to win given the Steelers victory at Cleveland. Because the Ravens won, they won the division, the first-round bye and the right to host their playoff opener in two weeks.

The Bengals lost, but still they're going to the playoffs because the Jets and Broncos lost. So Cincinnati will play next week at Houston in the first round.

What happened Sunday in this game? Like it matters. But I'll write about it in a few minutes.

Grow up, Atlanta Falcons

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:46:46 EST

The Atlanta Falcons embarrassed themselves Monday night, and I'm not talking about the final score, which was 45-16 in favor of the New Orleans Saints.

I'm not talking about being victimized by Saints quarterback Drew Brees for the 304 passing yards he needed to break Dan Marino's single-season record of 5,084 yards (Brees finished with 307 yards, for a season total of 5,087).

I'm talking about the Falcons' reaction, late in the game and then afterward, to the sight -- shocking! -- of Brees still in the game, still throwing passes, in the final minutes.

The Falcons gestured and stared. They pouted and sulked. They gave our Pete Prisco passive-aggressive comments of the most gutless variety -- anonymously, because none of them had the stones to attach his name to it -- about the nerve (the nerve!) of Saints coach Sean Payton, who let Brees play the game for 60 full minutes.

A college graduate is an adult. Right?

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:26:55 EST

The staredown between Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli and former Hawks center Todd O'Brien -- an SJU graduate who transferred to UAB but hasn't been allowed to play -- is being lost by both people. That's fairly clear. O'Brien is losing his final season. Martelli is losing the public relations fight. Why Martelli is doing what he's doing, we don't know.

But here's something that seems indisputable:

Going forward, the NCAA can -- and should -- make sure this doesn't happen again. And it would be so easy, too. So easy, and so fair. It would take the decision out of a coach's hands, even a coach who (clearly) feels he is justified in playing such hardball with a former player.

I'm not here to backtrack on what I wrote a few days ago about this. I'm not here to rehash it and defend that position all over again, either. I wrote it, I stand by it, and if you want to know why I still stand by it, read that story again.

Colts 19, Texans 16: Bad result for both teams

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:35:28 EST

The Colts picked a bad time to start winning. The Texans picked a bad time to start losing.

But there we are. The Colts rallied for a 19-16 victory Thursday night, scoring on a 1-yard pass from Dan Orlovsky to Reggie Wayne with 18 seconds left to stun the Texans and jeopardize not only the Texans' playoff seed ... but also the Colts' shot at Andrew Luck with the No. 1 overall draft pick.

Houston has lost two in a row. Indianapolis has won two in a row.

I have no ideas what either side is thinking.

Gene Smith sabotages Urban Meyer, keeps job

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 5:48:29 EST

When Ohio State athletics director Gene Smith pulled Urban Meyer out of a hat, I thought he had saved his job. More to the point, I thought he should have saved his job. That was a huge hire, the perfect hire, and for being able to pull off that coup, Smith deserved to stay.

Until Tuesday.

And now I'm back to where I've been for the last year, wondering how the hell Gene Smith still has a job.

Other than the Meyer hire, Smith has shown the kind of incompetence that gets a guy fired in almost every other walk of life. If he was a football coach, he'd be Cam Cameron (NFL career record of 1-15, meaning he did win a game once). If he was a cook, he got the salad right but he burned the main course ... and the restaurant.

You can have Rudy; give me Tebow

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 12:42:22 EST

I don't ask for much, but I'm asking for Tim Tebow to be left alone. By gold-digging groupies and drug-pushing lackeys. By friends with big mouths, and by strangers with cell-phone cameras. By TMZ.

Most of all, by TMZ.

We don't have many fairy tales in sports, feel-good stories like that movie about the 5-foot-6 walk-on at Notre Dame who spent four years getting his ass kicked in practice before finally being allowed to play in his final home game, against Georgia Tech. He recorded a sack on the last play and was carried off the field by teammates. That's how the movie Rudy ends.

The real story? Rudy Ruettiger was unmasked this week as a financial fraud, a liar and a swindler who used his fame -- and a series of lies -- to pump up the profile of his company to unwitting investors, then dump the stock at an enormous profit.

Texans rally past Bengals, 20-19

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 18:45:10 EST

CINCINNATI -- Maybe this is heresy. Maybe this will look stupid in a few years, or even a few weeks. But I'm not sure Andy Dalton was the best rookie quarterback in this game.

And the other rookie quarterback was a fifth-round pick most folks had never heard of before last week.

His name is T.J. Yates, and he's now 2-0 as a starter after driving the Texans 80 yards in the final 2:33 to rally the Texans past the Bengals, 20-19, and keep Houston in position for a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs -- while all but knocking the Bengals out of the postseason picture.

Andy Dalton is a fine quarterback, don't get me wrong. But Yates is equally impressive, with much less pedigree and hype and draft status.

Cronin's press conference: must-see TV for all

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 8:11:10 EST

What happened Saturday between Cincinnati and Xavier was disgusting, and it deserves words along those lines. Words of disgust and revulsion, heavy-handed words about the need for suspensions or expulsions after players from both teams brawled so badly that officials simply called off the game with time left on the clock. It was either that, or eject almost everybody and call it a forfeit on both sides. Which wouldn't have been a bad idea, come to think of it ...

But anyway, those are not the words I'm writing today. Other people have written those words, and they are fine words, but not me. Not here. Not today.

Because what happened Saturday after Cincinnati and Xavier brawled was beautiful, and it deserves words along those lines. Words of wonder and passion, high-minded words about the need for self-improvement and self-respect. In fact, it deserves words I'm not capable of writing, because nothing I write here -- with hours to think, edit, arrange -- can compare to the 12 minutes of words that flew out of Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin in the aftermath of the ugliest afternoon of his coaching career.

Heisman has to be RG3 -- but I'm skeptical

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:25:39 EST

Right about now, I'm a lot like will.i.am or Taboo or Fergie. OK, you're right. I'm nothing like any of them.

Because I got a feeling ...

... that Saturday night's not gonna be a good night.

This is about the Heisman ceremony on Saturday night, a trophy that Baylor's Robert Griffin III should win easily. And that's what some are projecting, including CBSSports.com's Dennis Dodd, whose straw poll of 23 voters shows RG3 winning huge.

Steelers 35, Bengals 7

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 18:19:08 EST

PITTSBURGH -- These aren't the same old Bengals.

I'm not saying that for your benefit, but mine. I'm sitting here, staring at my computer, telling myself not to go off on the Bengals. Telling myself to remember how improved the Bengals have been this season, how promising. Telling myself to fight the urge. Not so I can be nice here in a minute when I return from the locker rooms to write this game column -- but so I can at least avoid being cruel.

But cruel seems like a plausible option, given what just happened here.

The Steelers were good, yes, but the Bengals were horrible. They were so horrible, I wish Chad Ochocinco was back in uniform -- just so he could have experienced this defeat. That's how bad this 35-7 loss to the Steelers was for Cincinnati.

Meyer to the Buckeyes

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 13:20:31 EST

Urban Meyer has come out of retirement again to become the football coach at Ohio State, opening himself to mocking by most of the country -- but assuring that Ohio State will make a quick return to national power.

Meyer is that good.

And his story, of course, is that bizarre.

After retiring from Florida in 2009 for a whole day, then retiring again in 2010 for a whole year -- to be with family, he said -- Meyer is back on the sideline according to his most recent employer, ESPN, which reported the deal to be worth $40 million over seven years.

There are survivors among you.

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:30:40 EST

It has been my horror to write about the Jerry Sandusky allegations, and it will continue to be my horror. I don't like it. I'm not enjoying it. I wish this story never happened.

I also wish the following emails never happened. Well, to be more clear, I wish the events in the following emails never happened. But I applaud these three readers -- one I know from Twitter, two I don't -- for having the courage to share their stories with me.

The fact that they're strong enough, all these years later, to write what they wrote me? That gives me hope. So thank you, Ryan. And thank you, Patrick. And thank you, Wayne. You know who you are.

From: Ryan

Leaving Sandusky, Pennsylvania

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:15:07 EST

CLAYSVILLE, Pa. -- This isn't for you. Feel free to read it, but I'm not writing for you. I'm writing for me, because I'm trying to get Jerry Sandusky out of my head, and maybe this will help.

Nothing else has helped. The Penn State-Nebraska game on Saturday didn't help. Putting State College in my rear-view mirror after that game didn't help. Checking into a hotel an hour down the road Saturday night and watching something other than college football didn't help. Reading? I read the twisted fiction of James Patterson. That didn't help.

Driving home didn't help. In fact, I'm not home yet. Tried to get there, but couldn't stop thinking about Sandusky, so I pulled off Interstate 70. I'm writing this on Sunday afternoon from a gas station parking lot in, let's see, Claysville. So let me go put that in the dateline real quick. All capital letters. OK, there it is. Dateline: CLAYSVILLE, Pa.

Tom Bradley gets his dream job. For now.

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 10:22:18 EST

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- This is the job Tom Bradley always wanted, but he didn't want it like this. And he won't keep it like this, either. This job he has, head football coach at Penn State? It's a temporary tag, and it's never going to become permanent.

Add Bradley to the pile of collateral damage in the Jerry Sandusky scandal that has cost an untold number of alleged victims their emotional well-being, and has cost four of the most powerful men on campus -- coach Joe Paterno, president Graham Spanier, athletics director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schwartz -- their job.

And it will cost Tom Bradley his job, too. Maybe he comes back next season as an assistant coach, maybe not. That will be up to the next head coach, whoever it is -- but it won't be Tom Bradley. He's the interim coach, but that's all he is. That's all he ever will be. Tom Bradley hit his career peak on Thursday, even as he plumbed the depths of personal lows.

Joe Paterno, hero

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:16:23 EST

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- More than 1,000 Penn State students gave Joe Paterno the hero treatment on Tuesday night, gathering outside his house to wave supportive signs and chant his name -- and roaring in glee when he stepped outside to thank them.

"You've been great, just great," Paterno said softly, comments that couldn't have been heard by more than 25 people.

Paterno said something else that surely wasn't heard by most of the crowd, which is a shame:

"The victims," Paterno said. "Say prayers for them."

Who is Scott Paterno? A guy who won't shut up

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:00:45 EST

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The more Scott Paterno talks, the worse it looks for his father. And here he goes, talking some more.

"Nobody has asked Joe to step down," Scott said outside his father's house on Tuesday, where about 75 reporters were waiting for the chance to speak with the coach as he left for practice. "No more comment, guys."

Scott Paterno has become a major player in this story, if only because he's the mouth that won't stop flapping. Before this Jerry Sandusky scandal, which will bring down Joe Paterno one way or another, I didn't know about Scott Paterno. Didn't know he was a lawyer. Didn't know he had a goatee. Didn't know he existed.

Now, you can't miss him. He's everywhere, and if you can't find him in person, find him on-line.

Steelers went soft, and lost

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 22:48:09 EST

Mike Tomlin was scared to kick a 46-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter, and his team lost because of it. Up 20-16, he punted instead of going for the long field goal.

The punt put the Ravens at the 8. It worked, in the micro-sense. But the Ravens drove for a touchdown that won the game 24-20 -- not forced overtime at 24-all.

That was the call of the game. Mistake, in hindsight.

Props for Joe Frazier, all-time great

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:57:06 EST

Sad day. Goosebumps just writing this. But Joe Frazier is dying, sooner than later, and when he's gone boxing will have lost one of its toughest, its most talented, and its most underappreciated champions of all time.

Yes, I believe every word of that last sentence.

Joe Frazier, who is living his final days under hospice care because of liver cancer, is one of the best heavyweights of all time. He's the victim of timing, fighting during the heyday of the heavyweight division and retiring with a modest-looking (for an all-time great) record of 32-4-1. His only losses, though, came to Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, two losses each. He also beat Ali once, in addition to victories over high-quality heavyweights like Jimmy Ellis (twice), Jerry Quarry (twice), Bob Foster, Joe Bugner, Oscar Bonavena (twice), Buster Mathis and George Chuvalo.

Little Bear Bryant, up to his old tricks

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 15:24:24 EST

He's doing it again, Little Bear Bryant, the son of The Man. He's standing in the way of, if not outright blocking, the progress of the football program at UAB.

Five years ago I wrote this when Little Bear did that, helping the Alabama System Board of Trustees block UAB from hiring its first choice, and then its second choice, for football coach.

Now, Bryant and his BOT -- Little Bear serves as president pro tempore, a Latin term for "over my dead body" -- have stopped UAB from building an on-campus football stadium. Actually, the Little Bear-run BOT (LBRBOT) has done something more galling than that.

The LBRBOT has stopped UAB from even discussing the concept.

Aaron Boone or Johnny Knoxville? Let's ask Aaron!

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 17:58:54 EDT

ST. LOUIS -- Aaron Boone is a great guy. There are some guys on TV -- guys who smile and crack jokes and call each other cute little nicknames, like the real ballplayers do -- who aren't great guys. Some of them are a little bit phony, is my point.

Aaron Boone is no phony.

There's not a lot of journalistic merit to what I'm writing here, so don't bother looking for it unless you have a periscope or a stethoscope or maybe even a proctologist's scope. And I suppose I could be wrong about Aaron Boone, but I doubt it. Before going to ESPN he used to work here at CBSSports.com, giving us analysis on camera, and while he and I never crossed paths, my colleagues universally considered him a great guy.

Anyway, because I can, I wanted to share my smallish meeting with Boone from Game 1 of the World Series.

Carson gets what he wants. So why am I happy?

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 16:04:37 EDT

I was going to be mad. How mad? Ballistic. The Bengals were trading Carson Palmer today to the Raiders, that was the news, and I was going to be furious with Bengals owner Mike Brown for letting Palmer get what he wants.

But then I heard what the Bengals are set to receive for Palmer.

Two first-round picks? Two? OK, anger subsided. Palmer gets what he wants, yes, but the Bengals got more than they deserved. Palmer isn't worth two No. 1 picks, not anymore, not with his knee surgically repaired and his elbow a question mark and his pilot light flickering where a competitive fire ought to be raging.

Two No. 1's?