Darren McFadden Just Wanted To Tickle Your Ivories

College players getting into a skirmish at a bar is nothing new. Getting into one at a piano bar, however is a bit different.

Arkansas star Darren McFadden was involved in a "pretty rowdy scene" at a Little Rock bar early Thursday, handcuffed by police, then released without charges, a police spokesman said.

McFadden, the Heisman Trophy runner-up, and at least four others were at the Ernie Biggs piano bar in downtown Little Rock when a disturbance broke out shortly after midnight, police Lt. Terry Hastings said. A bouncer was hit in the face as he was trying to get the group to leave, Hastings said. A police report did not specify who hit the bouncer.

"There was a whole bunch of people there," Hastings said. "They were inside and it spilled out into the street."

Outside, McFadden was handcuffed by a police officer "because he was agitated and was provoking aggressive behavior inciting the incident," according to the police report.

"We handcuffed him for a few minutes because he was rowdy," Hastings said.

McFadden, who was the only person handcuffed, was released after he calmed down. Hastings said it was routine procedure to handcuff a person to gain control of a situation.

Apparently, McFadden was just trying to protect his brother when the ruckus started. Though, some involved claim to have seen McFadden hit the bouncer.

A bar employee, Kevin Anderson, told police he saw numerous people, including McFadden, hit Hankins.

It probably doesn't matter much now because I have a feeling that McFadden is headed off to the NFL. However, if this thing somehow drags on, then he could be looking at using his newfound NFL riches to do more than buy a car or a house.

Support Your Favorite NFL Team With My Playoff Beard!

Well, I finally had a crazy eBay idea, and decided to go through with it. I'm sure that most of you out there have heard of the "playoff beard". It's mostly related to hockey, but since I don't follow hockey I'm using it to support one of the remaining NFL teams. Well, any of them except for the Patriots.

It's on eBay right now, though I'm not exactly sure how long it's going to be up. Sometimes they get a little skteched out by certain auctions so it might not last the full 3 days. Anyway, cruise on over to check it out, and if you think your team needs help then put up a bid.

Playoff Beard Auction

It might not be the fullest beard, but I am throwing in the sideburns for free!

If It Wasn't For Date Rape Brian McNamee Might Never Get Laid

When he made his statements about injecting Roger Clemens with steroids, Brian McNamee had to know that everything he's done or said would be scrutinized. Anything salacious and/or illegal would be sought out, and he would be hounded by questions and accusations. It might have taken a little while, but now we know that Mr. McNamee engaged in some questionable sexual conduct, and that that was the reason he was fired by the Yankess.

The records released Tuesday by the St. Petersburg police show McNamee was suspected of raping a woman he had met at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort in October 2001. The Yankees were in town to close out the regular season against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and many players and support staff were staying at the upscale resort.

McNamee was having sex with the woman in the resort's pool and didn't stop when confronted by security, the documents say. Police were notified. When they arrived, they found McNamee had helped the woman out of the pool and get dressed, according to the documents. Groggy and incoherent, she was taken to the hospital, where the documents said she was found to have GHB, the "date-rape drug," in her system.

The woman told detectives she could not remember details of the encounter in the pool. She said she did not give McNamee permission to have sex with her, and witnesses told detectives they had heard her saying "no" during the encounter, according to the documents.

Detectives later recovered some of her jewelry, an empty beer can and a water bottle containing GHB at the side of the pool.

Police interviewed McNamee hours later, according to the documents, and he denied having sex with the woman or knowing Yankees batting practice pitcher, Charles Wonsowicz, who was also in the pool. McNamee refused to submit a saliva sample for DNA analysis, the documents said.

Although the state attorney's office decided not to press charges, the accusations ended McNamee's career with the Yankees.

Clemens knew of the accusations, but hired McNamee as his personal trainer anyway. Though, it might have had something to do with the fact that McNamee would do anything to help someone.

According to the pitcher's lawsuit, McNamee told him that his actions were "actually a life-saving attempt.

Yep, saving someone with non-consentual sex. I knew I should have taken that CPR class!

It's Like Crossing The UFC With "A Bug's Life"

Watching things fight has always seemed to captivate and entertain us humans. Whether it's animals or humans, we can never get enough of watching something get its ass kicked. But what about bugs? Yes, instead of burning them with a magnifying glass, what if we used them for something a bit more sporting? Say, like fighting each other. Well, in Japan they've already realized the potential, and are bringing it to the whole world.

Thanks to JapaneseBugFights.com you can now witness for yourself how these bugs fight for survival in the wilderness. I haven't really figured out which ones are the baddest, though some of the scorpions appear to be a bit Chuck Liddelish. They seem like they should whoop ass all of the time, but sometimes falter. No doubt after a night of watching ladybugs and drinking sugar water.

If only Michael Vick had chosen to fight spiders and beatles instead of dogs. He never would have been punished like he was.

These Pictures Have To Be Worth More Than A Thousand Words

Just some shots off of the TV from last night's LSU beatdown of Ohio State. You get to relive Todd Boeckman getting clotheslined off of his feet, and you can pinpoint the exact moment when an OSU fan's heart breaks. All in all, good stuff!

Yeah, when your team gets stomped in the championship game for the second year in a row there's not much else to do but plug your nose, close your mouth, breathe really hard and hope that your head explodes.


The school band is supposed to be eternally optimistic. You know, doing things like playing the fight song when the team gets a late touchdown, and makes the loss a respectable 70-7. When they've seemingly given up hope you know things are bad.

This picture really doesn't offer much outside of it looks sort of like Kumar is at the game wearing gaudy Paris Hilton glasses.

Just another OSU fan looking despondent. I was surprised they didn't have more shots of the crowd, but after last year they must have decided to tone it down a bit. Like that lamp reflection? I told you we were dealing high quality stuff here!


I watch this loop with the following commentary accompanying it: "Hey, look at that! Ohio State did something gre...uh...wait a minute...ah damn it." I love how he just disappears in the last frame.

And finally, Todd Boeckman took some shots last night, but this one was probably the worst. Ali Highsmith is obviously working on his form for Summer Slam.

Bowl-O-Rama: Final Update

Once again, an SEC defense proved to be too much for the Ohio State Buckeyes to handle. LSU applied good pressure all night, and outside of the long Chris Wells run there wasn't much going on for OSU. Boeckman was sacked five times, and harrassed into throwing two interceptions. One of which might have kept three points off of the board, and another that gave LSU the ball on OSU's side of the field. The pressure was very evident on third downs which resulted in the Buckeyes converting just 3 out of 13 chances.

Early on it looked like LSU would be in for a fight, but putting 31 unanswered points on the scoreboard has a way of turning things around. And it wasn't like LSU was getting setup with a short field for all of those scoring opportunities. They went 65, 84, 66, 24, and 80 yards to score those 31. Though, some were aided by Ohio State penalties.

In the end, LSU's defense made the plays when it had to, and forced Ohio State into committing mistakes that doomed them. The Tigers' offense played steady and smart, and didn't make the same type of costly errors that the Buckeyes did.

BCS Title Game
Prediction: LSU wins 31-21.
Actual Result: LSU won 38-24.

Level of Correctness: Picked the winner, and close on the score. A good way to close out the season.

Urban Meyer Gets "SEC'ed"

Lots more breakdown tomorrow, but for now just sleep tight knowing that the SEC is still the elite conference and Cheaty McSweatervest can't beat them.

Oh yeah, Urban Meyer is capable of smiling, even if he does look like he wants to snap Jai Eugene's arm off at the elbow.



Update 1/9/08: Thanks to all of you stopping by from TigerDroppings, AllHipHop, FightinTigahs, the Miami Scout boards and other various referrers. Your traffic is greatly appreciated.

June Jones Says Aloha To Hawaii

Seriously, June Jones must be smoking some mauwie wauwie because he's accepted the SMU head coaching position, and is leaving Honolulu behind for Dallas.

Honestly, it's a move that I can't really figure out. Jones didn't attend SMU, nor was he raised anywhere near Dallas. And moving from the WAC to Conference USA doesn't really increase his chances of contending for a BCS title year in and year out. Besides, he's turned Hawaii into a contender, and really reaped the fruits of his hard work this season with a Sugar Bowl berth.

Obviously, Colt Brennan won't be back next year, but Tyler Graunke has proven this year that he can step into the starter's role. So it's not like next year's squad will be devoid of talent.

The biggest factor I see in Jones making this decision is that he probably believes that it will be easier to recruit in Dallas. It is tough to get young kids to leave their comfort zone, and head a few hours offshore of the U.S. with the possibility, not even a guarantee, that they will play. Being based in Dallas, Jones gets to canvas Texas, as well as the surrounding states for recruits, and they can make it home without having to fly through a few time zones.

While I'm not sure that leaving Hawaii for SMU is the best decision, even if Jones was determined to get back to the mainland, I do applaud all the work that he's done in making Hawaii a competitive program. Though, I'm sure that a part of him hopes that he won't be remembered solely for that awful Sugar Bowl loss. On the brightside, I'm pretty sure that Colt Brennan doesn't remember much of that loss at all.

Breaking Down The BCS Title Game

Yes, this thing is getting broken down like Pete Rock doin' some samples yo!



With that out of the way, I'm going to take a look at what each team must do to win tonight's game. I already made my predicition in the Bowl-O-Rama post, but this one is going to be a bit more in-depth.

Ohio State Can Win If...
They can stop LSU's strong rushing attack. In their loss against Illinois, the Buckeyes were ran over to the tune of 260 yards with a 5.1yards/carry average. Their average for the season ended up being 77yards/game and 2.5yards/carry. Not being able to stop the run like they had been really took them out of their element.

Their inability to stop the run also allowed Illinois to control the clock, and hold Ohio State's time of possession below their average. In that game, the Buckeyes had the ball for 27 minutes. For the season, they averaged about 32 minutes.

A second key to Ohio State getting a victory will be their production on third down. Throughout the course of the season, they averaged a success rate of 47.6% on third downs. Against the Illini, they averaged just 38% on third down.

Vernon Gholston is going to have to be a disruptive force along the defensive line, but LSU is probably going to concentrate on blocking him out of most plays. That means that other d-linemen like Heyward and Larimore will have to step up their game.

LSU Can Win If...
They can consistently get their backs into the second and third levels. The Tigers need to get their strong rushing attack going early. If they can dominate the line of scrimmage early, and allow their running backs to force the linebackers and defensive backs to make tackles on them, then they can wear them down. This would in turn allow LSU to turn short pass plays into long gains as a result of sloppy tackling because of fatigue. I wouldn't be surprised to see a consistent rotation at running back to keep those guys fresh, and keep the pressure on OSU's LB's and DB's.

LSU also needs to focus on pressuring Boeckman. The Buckeyes have allowed just 14 sacks all year. If the Tigers can bring pressure from different areas on the field, like bringing McCray on blitzes, then they should be able to force Boeckman out of his comfort zone and into making some mistakes.

Why I Think LSU Will Win
In the end, I think that LSU's rushing attack will prove to be too much. They were held under 150yds rushing in just two games this year(Tulane-134, 'Bama-87). That attack will wear down Ohio State's defense, and allow Matt Flynn to make some plays downfield. It will also give the receivers a chance to catch some short passes, and turn them into long gains. And a healthier Glenn Dorsey should help ratchet up the pressure on Boeckman. All of which leads to an LSU victory.

Bowl-O-Rama: Fourth Update

I wanted to check in on the picks that have occured between the Fiesta Bowl and tonight's BCS title game. That way I can focus a bit on a breakdown of the LSU vs. Ohio State tilt.

Orange Bowl
Prediction: Kansas wins 28-20.
Actual Result: Kansas won 24-21.

The story of the game wasn't the Kansas offense, but rather its defense. The Jayhawks sacked the Hokies five times, and picked them off three times returning one for a touchdown. Virginia Tech never got much going on offense, and that pick-six combined with Reesing's two touchdowns was just too much to overcome.

Level of Correctness: Not enough emphasis on the defense, but it will do.

International Bowl
Prediction: Rutgers wins 38-17.
Actual Result: Rutgers won 52-30.

Nate Davis did play well for Ball State, but Ray Rice was just too much for their defense to handle. He definitely had a "big day" as Rutgers put up almost 600yds of offense.

Level of Correctness: A little low on the points, but the margin of victory was just about right.

GMAC Bowl
Prediction: Tulsa wins 42-31.
Actual Result: Tulsa won 63-7.

Paul Smith was way too much for Bowling Green to handle, and Tarrion Adams played pretty good as well. Tulsa showed why their offense was ranked #1, and the Falcons had no answer.

Level of Correctness: Wow, just wow. Right winner, but way off on margin of victory.