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Sharks improve to 5-0

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Phillip Torres

October 12, 2013

Sports Radio Service

SAN JOSE-The San Jose Sharks (5-0) hosted the Ottawa Senators (1-1-2) on Saturday night at the SAP Center in San Jose. The Sharks returned from a road trip where they improved to 4-0 on the season only to stay undefeated after a 3-2 victory over the Senators to get to a great 5-0 record to start the 2013 NHL Season.

San Jose’s rookie sensation Tomas Hertl got the Sharks on the scoreboard early with a goal 55 seconds into the game. The goal was Hertl’s seventh of the season. The goal was assisted by Dan Boyle and Brent Burns.

Ottawa answered back late in the opening period. Zack Smith found the net for the first time this year as he scored his first goal of the season at the 15:21 mark. The score was assisted by Chris Phillips and Colin Greening. The goal tied the game up at 1-1

Bobby Ryan put the Senators on top for their first lead of the game with his second goal of the season. Ryan placed the puck perfectly into the top right corner of the net past Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi. The goal came on a power play, assisted by Jason Spezza and Patrick Wiercioch at 18:31. Ottawa gained the 2-1 advantage and carried it into the first intermission.

Patrick Marleau tied the game up at two goals apiece with his fourth of the season at 16:12 in the second period. Matt Irwin and Joe Pavellski assisted on the power play goal. Marleau’s back handed goal that came off of a deflection and into the top left corner of the net tied him for 83rd all time on the all time scoring list for goals. It was his 408th career goal. The score tied him with Ray Ferraro.

San Jose regained the lead at the 7:08 mark in the third and final period. Burns put the Sharks in front 3-2 with a goal with just one second remaining on the power play. The goal was Burns’ third of season, and it was assisted by Captain Joe Thornton and Matt Nieto. Burns nailed in the slap shot right in front of the net.

In desperation to avoid the loss, the Senators pulled their goalie with 1:15 left to play in regulation. The strategy did not prevail as the Sharks held on for the 3-2 win. The sellout crowd of 17, 562 had the SAP Center rocking all night long.

The San Jose Sharks will hit the road for the next two games as they will play the undefeated St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night, and then travel to Dallas to take on the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

Phillip Torres covers the San Jose Sharks for Sportsradioservice.com

Late goal sinks the Bulls, Condors win 3-2

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By Kahlil Najar

SAN FRANCISCO –

The San Francisco Bulls started off their second year in the ECHL with a tough preseason loss against the Bakersfield Condors 3-2. The Condors scored the their third and deciding goal with less than 30 seconds left when Gary Steffes put a rebound in after a tilt-a-whirl shot from Nick Wheeler was stopped by J.P. Anderson.

“You try to do everything you can to end up winning but you can’t. We made a lot of mistakes and so did they but we’re just going to learn from it.” said Head Coach Pat Curcio on tonight’s loss. “We wanted to give some of the young guys a chance and it’s a process and that’s the way it goes. You start slow.”

Returning players Dylan King and Kris Belan scored for the Bulls and OHL alum J.P. Anderson was between the pipes and was able to turn away 30 shots against an active Condor offense.

Defenseman Dylan King got the Bulls on the board first when he received a nice pass from Christian Ouellet from behind the next and he was able to beat Condor’s goalie Tyler Bunz top shelf. A little over 30 seconds later, Kris Belan was able to get a nice shot past Bunz from in between the circles in the Condors zone and make it a 2-0 Bulls lead. The Condor’s answered back with two consecutive goals in the second by Daniel Sobotka and Blair Maccaulay to tie the game at two a piece. The second goal being a short-handed masterpiece by the Condors stellar penalty kill line. The Condors sealed the victory with a nice rebound goal by Gary Steffes who shoved the puck under the sprawling Anderson.

The Bulls have a 22 man roster and a lot of them are young guys trying to earn a shot on the team. On putting the young players in the game, Curcio said “We want to see what their abilities are and who can do what.” Curcio continued and called out the play of Right Winger Dale Mitchell and said that he was” very good tonight. He’s going to be a good player for us.”

Also on the roster tonight was Anthony Taylor who earned a spot on the roster after wowing Curico and the Bulls staff at last month’s Open Tryout’s at the Cow Palace. “It was a great experience and it was very good hockey. I really liked the fans, they seemed really cool” said Taylor on stepping onto the Cow Palace ice for an official game. Curcio commented on Taylor’s and gave us a look into his future, “I thought he’s done a good job through training camp. We’re going to get him assigned to a Southern Professional team or Central League team where he can get his feet wet. He’s a young player and if he does well, we’ll give him another opportunity.”

The Bulls return to action on Saturday to host the Stockton Thunder at 7:30 pm at the Cow Palace.

Verlander’s gem KO’s A’s, sends Tigers to ALCS

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By Daniel Dullum
Thursday, October 10, 2013

After struggling throughout most of the 2013 regular season, Detroit pitcher Justin Verlander has more than made up for it in the postseason.

In the decisive game five of the American League Divisional Series, Verlander tossed eight innings of shutout ball, scattered two hits and dominated Oakland in a 3-0 Tigers victory before 46,359 at the O.co Coliseum.

While Detroit moves on the American League Championship Series against Boston, the Athletics again endure a disappointing end to their season. It’s the third year in a row that Detroit has ended the A’s season.

Oakland has lost nine of its last 10 postseason series, dating back to the 1990 World Series. The A’s last postseason series win came in the 2006 ALDS against Minnesota.

The second-guessers will likely be out in force, questioning the wisdom of A’s Manager Bob Melvin for his decision to start rookie Sonny Gray (0-1) instead of veteran 18-game winner Bartolo Colon. Gray surrendered a two-run homer to Miguel Cabrera and three earned runs overall in his six-plus innings of work.

Addressing the media following the game, Melvin explained, “(Gray) pitched fine tonight. He basically just gives up the home run to Cabrera. When you don’t score a run and only get a couple of hits, you know you have to be perfect.”

While Gray wasn’t his sharpest, it was one of Verlander’s finest outings of what was an off-season for the former Cy Young Award winner. The veteran hurler gave up singles to Josh Lowrie and Yoenis Cespedes, walked one, and struck out 10 over eight innings.

Joaquin Benoit, the Tigers’ closer by default, continued to excel in that role, tossing a scoreless ninth for his second save of the postseason. With two on, he retired Seth Smith on a fly ball to close out the series.

A’s relievers Dan Otero, Sean Doolittle and Grant Balfour shut out Detroit over the last four innings, but the A’s offense never got on track.

The injury-hobbled Cabrera hit his two-run bomb in the fourth inning, his first round-tripper since Sept. 17. With the home run, Cabrera has hit safely in all 29 of his career postseason games – the longest such streak in Tigers history, exceeding 18 by Hall of Fame slugger Hank Greenberg (all in World Series play).

It was nearly one year ago that Verlander tossed a complete-game and shutout over Oakland in the same ballyard to end Oakland’s 2012 season.

Verlander’s playoff mastery over the Athletics has now taken on historic proportions. His consecutive scoreless inning streak against the A’s has reached 30 – the longest such streak by any starter in major league history.

Hall of Fame pitcher Christy Mathewson, who tossed 28 consecutive scoreless World Series innings for the New York Giants against the Philadelphia Athletics, held the previous mark.

Ultimately, in this ALDS, it came down to pitching as it often does. Over the five games, A’s hitters struck out 57 times, setting an LDS record. Coco Crisp was Oakland’s top hitter in the ALDS, going 7-for-18 (.388) with two doubles, one triple, two RBI and four runs scored.

At the other end of that spectrum, Brandon Moss fanned 13 times, setting an Athletics record for a postseason series in that category. Moss broke the previous mark of 12, set by Josh Reddick last year.

When the ALCS opens Saturday, it marks the first time the Red Sox and Tigers have ever met in postseason play since divisional play began in 1969.

(subject Oakland Athletics)

(TAGS: Oakland Athletics,Detroit Tigers,ALDS,Justin Verlander)

http://sports.yahoo.com/photos/verlander-sends-tigers-past-game-photo-040528698–mlb.html

Larry Levitt on Sharks and Bulls hockey

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 by Larry Levitt

DALY CITY–The San Jose Sharks who opened up their first three games at SAP Arena and won all three there’s nothing like home cooking that makes a big difference. The team is well rounded they have strength throughout all four lines now. The fourth line is a little weaker than what I would have expected but surprisingly their coming through really strong probably the biggest surprise obviously is just analyzing the guys individually it looks like Joe Pavelski has taken his game to another level too.

Pavelski is one of those players that’s out on the ice a lot and does a lot of the little things that doesn’t get noticed by most people and it’s really exciting to see him have a good year. For Tomas Hertl scoring four goals on Tuesday night against the New York Rangers he doesn’t speak much English so maybe when the fans are yelling at him he doesn’t get too excited and doesn’t realized what he’s done or what he hasn’t done and he’s a 19 year old rookie.

Hertl is exciting the best part he puts the fun back into the game he’s always smiling and on the other hand you have to feel sorry for the Rangers they were playing on back to back nights coming from Los Angeles where they played the Kings the night before and it was a tough game. They really didn’t have their legs and were always slow to the puck and there have never been more pucks that have bounced the right way than that night.

Everytime the puck went off something it went right to a Shark and Joe Thornton got a lucky bounce it was a clearing pass it went off the end of a stick that was laying on the ice that was broken and went right to Thornton so he was able to pass it right up to Hertl and there was a goal. Every bounce seemed to go right for the Sharks that night to a Shark player.

The Rangers goalie Hendrick Lundquist was pulled from the game and sometimes when you pull the goalie to make a statement to your team because they’re not playing well and sometimes you pull the goalie because he’s not playing well. It was a combination of both but the team didn’t really support him at the beginning the Rangers did get the first goal of the game but it was on a five on three power play but after that they really didn’t support him. They were really slow to the puck and when they were shooting it and getting the puck they were trying to knock it off the boards and it would bounce right to the Sharks players.

The Sharks win that one 9-2 and played the Canucks on Thursday night and continue their winning streak now at 4-0 after winning their first road game in Vancouver.

San Francisco Bulls update: Bulls head coach Pat Curcio is quite a head coach and he’s really helped a lot of players and one of the players actually made it to the NHL playing for Toronto they see that Curcio has a lot of heart he’s put a lot into the team and therefore their going to try and benefit from that and make their career better for that reason.

The Bulls are an exciting club to watch in their first year they did very well they made the playoffs their expectations were set any lower. The thing is just keep that exciting brand of hockey going and keep it out in the neighborhood that their playing well and playing hard and the people who are really enjoying the sport will come watch them.

The longest part of travel for the Bulls are when they make their long trek to Alaska to play the Aces which they have on tap for the first week in April. The Bulls will miss the freezing ice and snow and the beginning of April will work for them. The players love to play the sport it’s just a matter of the travel and once your in the ice rink and skating it’s all just a game.

As far as the travel when your in a minor league set up like the ECHL your going to have the buses your going to have the long drives not as much luxury but that’s part of paying your dues to get in the Big Boy league.

The Bulls have a long eight game road trip to open up the season with the rodeo coming to the Cow Palace which takes precedence so they’ll melt the ice after these two pre season games at the Cow Palace. The Bulls will go on the road and sometimes being on the road forces a team together more and maybe be more solid of team players. There’s no where to hide when your own the road. Your so close to each other and that might be a benefit if they play their cards right they make it a benefit.

Larry Levitt does weekly commentary on San Francisco Bulls and San Jose Sharks hockey for Sportstalk Radio

SF Bulls Are Back, Moving Forward

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By Mary Walsh

Seven players have returned to the San Francisco Bulls for a second season. Team Captain Scott Langdon, forward Kris Belan and defenseman Dylan King all signed again early in ECHL free agency. Last week, Dean Ouellet and Jordan Morrison returned from a stint in the Kazakh league to rejoin the Bulls. Christian Ouellet and Brett Findlay, rookies who impressed last season, are also back.  These players are not the only ones showing confidence in the San Francisco Bulls organization.

The San Jose Sharks renewed their affiliation with the Bulls in late August, but they had already given the organization a significant stamp of approval last season. They sent seven prospects to San Francisco from Worcester, including five skaters. This season, Bulls President and Head Coach Pat Curcio expects the Sharks to continue sending prospects to the ECHL:

We could have possibly ten guys from [the Sharks]. They signed a lot of players, and they signed them with the intention [that they will] have a place to put them. So our relationship’s been great and I’m real excited.

The Sharks are happy with the arrangement as well. In their August press release about the renewed affiliation, GM Doug Wilson explained: “We had an extremely positive relationship with the Bulls last season as a development vehicle for players within our system and we look forward to continuing that agreement.” -San Jose Sharks

Prior to their affiliation with the Bulls, the Sharks used the ECHL primarily for goaltender development. The Sharks have the option of using many places to develop players, including Canadian Junior leagues and university programs. The AHL has no cap and no roster limit, so in theory a team could use an AHL team to stash all their prospects without regard to whether there was room on the ice for them or not. Of course, that is not ideal. It is far better to have a pro hockey environment where your prospects can play a lot of minutes.

On the other hand, teams don’t want want to send young talent into a meat grinder. The ECHL is shedding a reputation for being a lawless slug-fest, and becoming a league where talent can be showcased and developed. That San Jose felt confident enough to send so many players to San Francisco in its first season speaks very well for the Bulls.

It also speaks well for the ECHL, as other NHL teams are also investing more talent in the Triple A league. The ECHL is an increasingly viable stepping stone in pro hockey development. In theory, this could also improve the level of play in the AHL, by giving less experienced players a different team to develop with. AHL players could come to the NHL more ready for having been in a system tailored to the needs of experienced prospects.

While the team has bolstered its connection to the AHL and the NHL, the Bulls still have a grass-roots element. In mid-September, the team held open tryouts. From that group, Anthony Taylor was chosen to participate in the team’s main training camp. He will also play in at least one pre-season game. The tryouts gave the Bulls a chance to scope out available talent that they might need through the season, as Curcio explains:

You’re going to need players that are readily available at the drop of a hat. If a player gets injured on a Thursday night and [someone] has to fly out Friday to Worcester or San Jose, it’s hard to find a player over night. You need some good players that are local.

The Bulls will play two pre-season games at the Cow Palace, on Thursday, October 10 and Saturday, October 12. Puck drop at 7:30 pm. Their regular season home opener will be on Friday, November 8 against the Bakersfield Condors.

Cardinals improved with ex-Raider Carson Palmer

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by David Zizmor

SANTA CLARA–The 49ers who improved with a big win over the Houston Texans last Sunday they have another home game coming up against the Arizona Cardinals and this should be a good game. Arizona has not been great this year but their sitting there pretty right now with the 49ers at 3-2. The Cardinals while they’ve had their struggles the last year adding quarterback Carson Palmer has helped them.

They at least have a semi competent offense something that you could not say about them last year when they kind of had a carousel going on with their quarterbacks. Last week Arizona won 22-6 against Carolina they flexed their muscles on defense and did a really good job and here they come into San Francisco looking not too bad their on a two game winning streak.

You have to worry a little bit because Arizona might be coming in feeling a little confident because they’re obviously familiar with the 49ers so their not going to be surprised by anything they throw at them. The 49ers can’t take this team lightly and sure the 49ers have had some success against the Cards the last several years. Nevertheless you can’t rest on your laurels you have to focus on who your playing and right now and it’s the Cardinals.

What the 49ers have going for them is their offense which is finally starting to pick up some steam, they’re playing well in the running game, the offensive line is blocking really well and what they really need to do is improve their passing game it’s going to be tough against Arizona. Arizona has a very good one of the best cornerbacks in the league in Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu the Honeybadger is doing a good job as a rookie, they have Darnell Docket on that offensive line, Calais Campbell is also very good, their defense is not going to roll over and let the 49ers run all over them.

They’re going to have something to say and let’s face it if you watch these Niners-Cardinals games in the last couple of years they’ve been very, very physical. Arizona’s offense is still underwhelming I did mention before Palmer is an improvement over the quarterack play from last year. Everybody in the Bay Area who watches Palmer play for the Raiders last season knows that while Palmer is competent he does have a tendency to make mistakes at the worse possible moments.

Palmer is a guy who will throw an interception at the worst possible moment or could lose the ball with a big hit and for the 49ers one thing they know if they hit Palmer it could really rattle him but lately the Arizona offensive line has been horrid add to that the fact that Arizona hasn’t had any semblance of a running game and that means the 49ers can really focus on pass rushing Palmer and wreck havoc on him.

That’s probably going to be the difference when you can focus on one half of the offense and not the other and not worry about the other that makes it a whole lot easier for a defense. The fact that the 49ers are already a good running defense to begin with means their not going to be worried about giving up big chunks of yardage on the ground. The 49ers running game has been very good in the last couple of weeks they do what they want to get the passing game going a little bit better.

Daivd Zizmor is covering the NFL for Sportstalk Radio

Morrison and Ouellet back with the SF Bulls

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By Kahlil Najar

SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco Bulls announced today that forwards Jordan Morrison and Dean Ouellet have agreed to terms. Morrison and Ouellet join last season’s other core members, Scott Langdon, Kris Belan, Dylan King and Christian Ouellet.

“It’s great news for the organization and the fans to get Jordan and Dean back for this season,” said SF Bulls President and Head Coach Pat Curcio. “Their return from Kazakhstan shows their desire to reach the next level in North America. Dean is an all-star and Jordan is a proven leader.”

Calling Ouellet an All-Star isn’t just a euphemism, it’s a fact. Last year, Dean Ouellet was the lone Bulls player to represent San Francisco in the ECHL All-Star game. Jordan Morrison on the other hand, may not have been voted an All-Star but he was definitely deserving of the title. Not only did he contribute 16 goals and 25 assists but he was one of the key players to help get the Bulls into the first round of the playoffs. In the playoffs, Morrison played in all five games and had two goals an assist.

On returning to the Bay Area, both players are looking forward to being back and bring the same kind of intensity to the ice that they did last year.

Dean Oulette said, “Coming back to the Bulls this season feels really good. San Francisco is like a second home for me. It’s going to be a great season.”

“It’s good to see so many familiar faces back with the Bulls,” said Morrison. “San Francisco became a home away from home last season. There were great fans and it was a great city. I’m looking forward to a productive season and doing better than last year.”

Gaels’ Dellavedova earns training camp spot with the Cavaliers

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Days after his 23rd birthday, Matthew Dellavedova came one step closer to achieving his dream.

Yesterday, September 30th, former Saint Mary’s Gael shooting guard Dellavedova was officially named to the Cleveland Cavaliers 20-man training camp roster. After graduation last year, Delly entered the NBA draft, and went undrafted. He was invited to attend the Cav’s Summer League in Las Vegas, and now has a strong shot to make the Cavaliers’ roster. Reports have said Delly is a strong candidate for the third point guard spot.

Dellavedova hails from Maryborough, Victoria, Australia, and was just one of many Aussies brought to SMC by head coach Randy Bennett. A stand out on the Gaels, Delly padded his resume as the all-time leader in scoring, 3-point field goals, free throw percentage, assists, appearances and starts. As a senior, he averaged 15.8 points and 6.4 assists per game. Seemingly always a standout, he was named the WCC Player of the Year as a junior, and then as a senior, and went on to earn the Mike Gilleran Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.

Delly has also shined at the national level. In 2012, he was selected alongside another former Gael and Aussie, Patrick Mills, to represent his country at the London Olympics. The Aussies advanced to the Quarterfinals before being eliminated by the United States 119-86. Delly played 26 minutes, posting just 3 points, but earning 7 rebounds, all defensive, and 4 assists.

Dellavedova still has to make the team out of training camp. The Cavs first preseason game is scheduled for October 8th, the entire contintinent of Australian will be waiting to see if their WCC favorite has made the squad.

GAEL FORCE PRIDE!

The Rays Eliminate the Rangers

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The Rays Eliminate the Rangers by Jerry Feitelberg

The Tampa Bay Rays had to travel to Texas to play the Rangers in a one game playoff to determine who would go to Cleveland and face the Indians in the one game Wild Card playoff. The Rays and Rangers both ended the season at 91-71. The Rangers had won seven in a row and the Rays were hot,too. The Rays entered the game having won nine out of their last eleven.

It was a battle of left handers. The Rays sent their ace, David Price, to the hill. Price was 0-3 against the Rangers in the playoffs but he won the Cy Young Award last year and could be tough if he had his stuff working for him. The Rangers countered with Martin Perez was was 10-5 during the season and was especially strong in the latter half of the season. It was Price’s night as he pitched a complete game

and the Rays won the game 5-2 and now are on their way to Cleveland to play in the Wild Card elimination game.

The Rays took an early 1-0 lead in their half of the first inning. A walk, two singles and a sacrifice fly put the Rays in the lead. The Rays made it 3-0 in the third. Desmond Jennings walked and scored

when Evan Longoria hit his 32nd home run of the year. The Rangers got on the board in the bottom of the third. Craig Gentry singled then advanced to second on a groundout and scored on a single by Ian Kinsler. Rays lead 3-1 after three.

The Rays and Rangers both scored in the sixth. Rangers’ manager Ron Washington took Perez out in the sixth with one out. Alexi Ogando in to pitch. Evan Longoria greeted him by with a double to right center. The Rays sent up former Athletic, David DeJesus was sent up to pinch hit and DeJesus came through as he hit a double to right to drive in Longoria. The Rangers came back when Elvis Andrus singled and then stole second. Alex Rios doubled to drive in Andrus and the Rangers trail 4-2 after six.

There was no more scoring until the ninth. Tanner Scheppers was now pitching for Texas and he gave up a leadoff single to Sam Fuld. Fuld advanced to second on a ground out. Fuld then attempted to steal third base. Scheppers throw went into left field allowing Fuld to score the Rays’ fifth run of the game.

Rays manager, Joe Maddon, let David Price continue pitching and his decision paid off as Price

set the Rangers down in order to close out the game. Rays win 5-2.

Game notes- The Rays finish the regular season 92-71 and the Rangers 91-72. Evan Longoria had three hits- a single, double and home run in addition to a walk.

The umpires missed a call in the seventh inning. The Rays had two men on with two out when Delmon Young hit a bloop to shallow center field. The Rangers’ Leonys Martin appeared to have made a fantastic catch but the replays showed that he trapped the ball. The left field umpire had responsibility for the call and he did not get it right. Rays’ skipper Joe Maddon did not argue the call but it cost the Rays a run.

After the game, David Price said when asked about his poor record against Texas said “ I beat them the last time out” and that pitching a complete game was “pretty special.” When asked if he lobbied Joe Maddon to pitch the eighth and nine innings he said no. He said that Maddon “let me go and I appreciate that.

The AL Wild Card elimination game will be played Wednesday in Cleveland. Alex Cobb will go for the Rays and he will be opposed by Danny Salazar.

David Price.odt
Evan Longoria.odt

Michelle Richardson on the NCAA

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by Michelle Richardson

Lane Kiffin firing at USC: What took you so long USC? People are finally finding out about former USC head coach Lane Kiffin for what he is, he’s a charlatan and he has not had any success anywhere he’s gone. People called former Raiders owner Al Davis crazy when he hired him, “what was he thinking he’s crazy” crazy alright, Al Davis crazy like a fox. Davis saw him for the charlatan for who he was and Kiffin has been getting jobs on the strength of his father Monte Kiffin.

Monte is an excellent defensive coordinator and once his father is gone from him Lane Kiffin he would be a worse head coach he has no people skills and it’s his time, it was just Kiffin’s time. I don’t ever see him ever getting another coaching job in the pros and if he gets a job it will never be a head coaching job. He might get another coaching job but it won’t be a head coaching job. I don’t necessarily see him getting another head coaching job in the college ranks either.

When he first came out everybody was saying, “he’s Monte Kiffin’s son, he’s Monte Kiffin’s son”, and I always hate that because I know what Monte could do. You got to earn, got to earn your respect, you can’t live off your father’s respect. That goes for anything you do, if you sing, if you play basketball, if you play football, no matter what you do. I don’t want to hear about who your parents are I want to know what you could do.

Oaklahoma 35 Norte Dame 21: The Fighting Irish (3-2) have a lot of problems and the newness of the new head coach has worn off and you got to realize that Norte Dame but the Fighting Irish took their fight to Oklahoma last year and beat the Sooners on their own turf. Saturday was a little payback by the Sooners actually a lot of pay back and the Sooners did it with retribution. Sooners head coach Bob Stoops gets revenge if you’ve beaten him.

This has been something that he’s been chewing on since that loss last season and he took the opportunity to make good on it this season with a win over the Fighting Irish. Brian Kelly and the Fighting Irish came in and stole the victory away last year so this year Stoops was going to make sure it was not going to happen. Three turnovers committed by the Irish and turnovers was the big thing and as we said you got to have the ball to score points.

The Irish gave up the points quite a bit and those turnovers came from reach over interceptions, Fighting Irish quarterback Tommy Rees went 9-24, 104 yards and two touchdowns. He did throw two TD’s but he threw three interceptions as opposed to Sooners quarterback Blake Bell. Bell was pretty efficient he went 22-30 for 232 yards and two touchdowns. The Sooners weren’t a powerhouse on the ground but they were efficient in Saturday’s duel with the Fighting Irish.

Alabama shuts out Ole Miss 25-0: The Crimson Tide are going real well now and they could win three in a row with three national championships. It’s really on the Tide to win back, to back, to back. It’s on the Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban. The Crimson Tide are pretty much running NCAA college football.

If you look at it the Crimson Tide are just basically playing for the post season and they have to keep on being the buzz saw that they are in order to get back to the national championships. The way their playing I don’t see anybody else challenging. Georgia took care of LSU and that could be closest team that could give Alabama problems.

So it’s going to be interesting when the Tide gets closer to the heart of the NCAA schedule when they get to their NCAA title game. Like I said the ball is in Alabama’s hands and I don’t see anybody else taking it away from the Crimson Tide. I’d love to see a game like Oregon and Alabama and right now everything except their opponent is up for grabs.

Michelle Richardson covers the NCAA for Sportstalk Radio