Here’s your guide to jumping on the Bucco Bandwagon.
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At least more than hockey, football and basketball
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Among other findings, a look at personal foul and unsportsmanlike conduct data from the past 10 years turns up a LOT of aggression in the Lone Star State and the allegedly relaxed West Coast.
Nebraska didn't actually come up in our calculation, but probably only because Ndomukong Suh eventually ran out of eligibility.
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It's intuitively obvious to any college football fan that their team's main rival is the dirtiest, most unsportsmanlike program in the game. But what are the actual facts of the matter? We used a database of play-by-play data generously provided by the MGoBlog Michigan site to answer the question, looking at the last 10 full seasons of games between FBS teams to find which programs had been charged with the least and most personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties per game. (Personal fouls are given for unnecessary, dangerous plays like clocking a guy who's already run out of bounds, while unsportsmanlike conduct penalties are for non-contact infractions like taunting and telling a ref you're going to murder him. For simplicity's sake we only counted plays marked "personal foul" or "unsportsmanlike conduct" in the NCAA's play-by-play info. A few other specific aggressive acts, like roughing the passer, have their own separate designations.)
Check the complete info here or read on for the highlights.
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Trends!
• The four dirtiest teams in this sample were the University of Texas San Antonio, UMass, Idaho, and South Alabama, all of whom made the jump from lower-level football to the FBS at some point in the last decade. This result might make sense to anyone who's found themselves physically outclassed in competition — sometimes your only recourse is to hack, shove, and elbow and hope the ref doesn't see it — except that UTSA was actually not bad last year, its first at the FBS level, putting up an 8-4 record. UTSA's coach, by the way? Larry Coker, late of the University of Miami.
• The most misbehaving team of the last decade in a single season: last year's UCLA squad, which racked up a remarkable 45 personal fouls and eight unsportsmanlike conducts over the course of 14 games.
• The West Coast is definitely NOT mellow when it comes to football. Seven of these squads — UCLA, Utah, Oregon State, Oregon, Arizona State, USC, and Washington State — are members of the Pac-12. SoCal and the Portland area getting testy!
• In less surprising stereotype news, Texas is all ABOUT violent fouls and trash-talking. Texas Tech, Texas State, Texas, and the aforementioned UTSA all crack the top 20, with Baylor (22), UTEP (28), Texas A&M (29), and TCU (32) just outside the chart. Only 10% of FBS teams are from Texas, but a quarter of the dirtiest 32 teams play there. Meanwhile, only one Texas team (Rice) is on the cleanest-teams chart below.
Just try to get on base against Koji Uehara. We dare you.
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What a blessed life that would be.
Sprint
The frequently forgotten Manning brother is a highly successful energy trader in New Orleans.
There’s nothing quite like a kid at a game.
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The Seahawks starting fullback Derrick Coleman isn’t letting his hearing slow him down.
Before the season, the Seattle Seahawks were a popular pick to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl and after a 2-0 start — includes a dominating 29-3 victory over the reigning NFC champion 49ers — those preseason predictions appear to ring true. The Seahawks are led by a dynamic young quarterback in Russell Wilson, an all-pro running back in Marshawn Lynch and an absolutely punishing defense.
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One position that never seems to lead the league in jersey sales or media coverage is the fullback. It's the most thankless skill position on the field. Fullbacks rarely see the ball, and the only time their names are mentioned is when they miss an assignment or are featured on HBO's Hard Knocks.
It takes a certain type of man to cherish that role, and in Seattle that man is Derrick Coleman. However, Coleman is different than the typical NFL fullback — not because he hits like a Mack truck or possesses uncommon speed for his size — but because he's deaf.
A Russian football team is holding out hope. But Tebow’s agency calls reports of a $1 million offer to play for Moscow-based team “ridiculous.”
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There's at least one football team left that wants Tim Tebow to play quarterback. He'll just have to go to Russia to do it.
Tebow has until Friday to accept a $1 million offer to play for a Russian football team, the owner of the Moscow-based club told BuzzFeed Sports on Wednesday. Mike Zaltsman, owner of the Moscow Black Storm, said Tebow wants to accept the deal but that his agents don't want him going to Russia.
"His agents are afraid he will get injured," Zaltsman said during a 15-minute phone call from Russia. "What we say is that we're the only league in the world that can be something close to NFL."
A staffer in the office of Tebow's agent Jimmy Sexton told BuzzFeed on Wednesday that, "we're not going to comment on that now or ever. It's ridiculous."
Since being released by the New England Patriots on Aug. 31, Tebow has been unable to drum up interest from other NFL teams. Some have even speculated Tebow may have finally run out of chances to make it in the NFL.
Which isn't to say there's been no call for his services: The L.A. KISS indoor football team, which is co-owned by KISS lead vocalist Gene Simmons, has also offered him a contract, and a group of Jacksonville Jaguars fans held a rally earlier this week to call on the hapless club to sign him. Their bid to land Tebow got some support from an unexpected source:
But Saltsman believes Tebow's best option is to join the Moscow Black Storm for their semifinal playoff game on Sept. 28. If the Black Storm wins that contest, Tebow would be obligated to play in the Russian league championship game the following week.
Saltsman said Tebow's presence could help elevate the 19-team league, where most players aren't paid and few games draw more than a few hundred fans. He compared Tebow's opportunity in Moscow to English soccer superstar David Beckham joining the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007.
"It's real football with real games and people here like it," Saltsman said. "We don't have millions of people who worship it like (the U.S.). We're trying to get it together. Tebow himself can move our league forward."
As for concerns that Tebow could get injured, Saltsman downplayed them even as he admitted that the Russian league was "a lot more rough than NFL. It's like we have more amateurs. We have boxers and wrestlers who are trying out the game. It's sort of like the U.S. college game."
Check it out for yourself:
When pitching a product goes wrong. Way wrong.
About a month ago the New York Mets announced that star pitcher Matt Harvey had a partial tear of his UCL in his elbow. He had two options: 1.) Get Tommy John surgery and miss the 2014 season or 2.) Rehab and hope the ligament heals correctly.
After consulting the famous Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion, Harvey announced yesterday that he will rehab instead of getting the surgery. His decision leaves the door open to play next season, but he risks tearing the UCL completely and being sidelined for even longer.
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A foolproof way to make sure you’re cheering for the right squad.
Check out Louisville Sportscaster Adam Lefkoe adding 46 classic rap lyrics into his five minute spot. No diggity, no doubt.
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He can literally kill you in so many ways.
On Tuesday, Mike Tyson visited the Crowd Goes Wild crew and participated in a pre-show segment called "Celebrities Throwing Sharp Objects Blindfolded." So they put a mask over Tyson's eyes and made him throw a few darts. And surprisingly enough, he hit the board on his first try.
And then he nailed a bull's-eye on his second throw!
And then another bull's-eye!
That's two bull's-eyes in three throws, blindfolded.
Like Will Smith circa 1994-level fly.
This is Jordan Binnington. He's a 20-year-old Canadian goalie prospect who was drafted by the St. Louis Blues with the 88th pick in the 2011 draft. Currently, he plays in the minors for the Chicago Wolves. He's one of the top goalies in the minor leagues, but most importantly he's a big fan of Will Smith — especially The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
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Despite the fact that Binnington was 3 years old when The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air series finale aired, Will Smith's breakout TV role made a profound impact on his life — so profound that Smith's face is prominently featured on Binnington's goalie mask.
This is unreal.
twitter.com / Via nydailynews.com
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This was more entertaining than the game.
That’s so L.A.
At the beginning of July, the Dodgers were in last place in their division and had been labeled the biggest disappointment in baseball. But on Thursday night, the L.A. Dodgers completed one of the best turnarounds in MLB history and clinched the NL West division title with a 7-6 victory over the Diamondbacks on the road in Arizona.
The Dodgers' unlikely comeback will most likely be traced back to the Yasiel Puig's insertion to the underachieving, yet talent-rich lineup. Puig hit .436 in the month of June with 44 hits, which are both records for a player's first month in the MLB.
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Wow. Just wow.
Toledo and Central Michigan faced off this afternoon in what promised to be a matchup between MAC rivals that you paid zero attention to. Alonzo Russell had other plans.
While being held by a Central Michigan defender, the sophomore Toledo receiver reeled in this CRAZY one-handed touchdown grab in the second quarter on the way to a 38-17 Rockets victory.
His footwork is so fancy.
With just over two minutes to go, and trailing the Houston Cougars 26-31, the Rice Owls had no choice but to go for the onside kick. And with the entire stadium expecting it, the Owls somehow surprised everyone with the best onside kick we've ever seen.
As you can tell, the timing of the recovery was perfect, but the kick itself was a thing of beauty, as Rice's kicker channeled his inner Ronaldhino and smacked the football by bending his leg around the back of his plant foot (also known as a "rabona kick" in soccer).
You literally cannot draw it up better than that.
Despite recovering the ball, the Owls were unable to score and lost the game. But what's more important: winning the game or making a super-cool play? Well, winning the game, obviously, but making a super-cool play is a nice consolation prize.
Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ou—
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That's his patented "Swedish Hurricane" takedown. (No it isn't.)
UFC
UFC
UFC
Good effort, Philip Rivers.
A nice grab by Tennessee Titans rookie Justin Hunter, who played his college ball for the Tennessee Volunteers.
The Sandman has exited.
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