Xaxaxe wrote:Badmike wrote:
 I distinctly remember the 1990 Cotton Bowl where the Canes played UT and hammered them unmercifully 46-3.

That's actually a historic game, although many don't realize it.

That game (1991, BTW, although following the 1990 season), more than any other, led to the current NCAA rules regarding "excessive celebrations," taunting, and other limitations.

For anyone who didn't see it ... well, it was ugly. I stopped watching after a while and I was a pretty fanatic football fan. Miami went totally OTT in celebrating every first down, every big hit, and every Texas miscue. And they were all posing on the sidelines for the cameras (CBS, I think), flashing gang signs, etc.

Which was another interesting issue: almost without exception, the most out-of-control players were blacks. They just were; there's no arguing it. But when the NCAA began to limit celebrating and taunting, some civil rights groups became upset that the rules were"targeting" blacks. It was a hot-button issue for a year or so, but, thankfully, the NCAA showed some backbone and basically said, "These rules affect all players, regardless of race." After a few months, the whole debate sort of just went away.

I think that game set a bowl record for penalty yardage ... or maybe it was a record for personal-foul penalties (Miami had like eight calls for either roughing or unsportsmanlike conduct). Either way, it was disastrous: it was a poor reflection on Miami, the Cotton Bowl, and the state of the college game at the time. Miami was hardly the only team from that era doing way too much posing and preening.

January 2, 2008 - 6:24AM

Vandals have torched 372 cars as France celebrated the New Year, down on the figure last year after a night the police described as "relatively calm".

Cars are burned fairly regularly in France and the image of vehicles in flames in poor suburbs became symbolic of riots in 2005 when angry youths set fire to thousands of cars.

There is usually an increase in the number of cars torched on New Year's Eve compared to other days of the year.

"The night was relatively calm, without notable incident, there were very few direct clashes with the security forces," said a spokesman for the national police.

At 0500 GMT (1600 AEDT) the Interior Ministry said 372 vehicles had been burned - 144 in the Paris region and 228 in the rest of France. That was down from 397 last New Year's Eve.

At the height of the 2005 riots as many as 1,400 cars were attacked in overnight violence. In protests over President Nicolas Sarkozy election last May, demonstrators set fire to 730 vehicles.

Police had stepped up their presence on French streets in anticipation of the year-end celebrations and the sale of petrol in cans was banned in some places.

Deadlord39 wrote:They play football in college?

Kingofpain89 wrote:
So Martin...exactly which school do you root for the most?  Or is it that you just root for the Big Ten in general, not caring who wins as long as someone does.  Does this mean that you would pull for Purdue, Northwestern, or Iowa?  Or does it have to do with proximity?  If so, wouldnt you be better off cheering for Pitt, Kentucky, or Cincinnati?

Just curious since I guess I think completely the opposite.  The only Big 12 team I pull for is Texas.  I despise Texas A&M and Oklahoma.  I hope they lose to everyone especially Texas.  I dont really care for Texas Tech, Nebraska, or any other Big 12 team either.  I did think it cool that Kansas beat Va. Tech though simply because they have never really amounted to anything as it pertains to football.  I felt the same way about Boise St. and Rutgers last year when they had successful seasons.

Other than Texas...Michigan is the only other school I normally root for.  I have been a Michigan fan as long as I can remember and pull for them in basketball as well.  It helps that my father-in-law is an alumni.  If I was an Ohio St. fan he would probably hate me.  

And you cant feel too badly about the Appalachian St. loss at the beginning of the year.  They won the NCAA division 1 national title for the third straight year.

Badmike wrote:
The funniest thing for a Giant hater like me is that now Coughlin is guaranteed to come back and ruin that team another year since he got them to the playoffs. Eli is so overmanned in the NFL it's not funny, they have already lost Shockey, their best receiveing threat, and now another four starters. The Buccs should hammer them....

I think the Seahawks will finally burst the Redskins bubble next week, emotion can only carry you so far, Collins has a reason no team has started him at QB in ten years. So it should be Seahawks at Packers, and Cowboys vs the Buccs.  Still looks like a Packers vs Cowboys NFC championship instant classic showdown.

In the AFC, the Titans are going down quick and early vs the Chargers. The Jags are the surprise team of the year and I'm not going to be shocked to see them move on vs the Steelers. But really, is there any doubt there will be a Colts/Pats showdown inthe championship game?  Another instant classic.

Mike B.

FormCritic wrote:
The Steelers almost won on yet another incredibly bad call.  Was anyone else watching the Steelers receiver dragging the  defender by his facemask on that crucial 4th down play...that let the Steelers get four more downs and the go-ahead score?

After the game, I simply had to pause the TV on the stricken faces of a few Steelers fans.  They've got a mother load of Karma still comin' back at 'em.