I’m disgusted with the way the NCAA handles coaching interviews in college and football. There shouldn’t be any coaching discussions during the regular season. ESPN is reporting that “LSU athletic director Skip Bertman confirmed Wednesday night through spokesman Herb Vincent that his Michigan counterpart, Bill Martin, has officially requested permission to speak with Les Miles about becoming the next coach of the Wolverines. Bertman requested that the meeting not take place until after LSU plays Tennessee Saturday for the SEC championship. Martin told Bertman he will comply.”

Doesn’t Michigan know that LSU has a SEC Title game to play on Saturday. Can’t they wait 4 more days before they start calling Les Miles and creating distractions for the LSU team? It’s not fair to the players who committed to Miles and gave it their all this season. They deserver a chance to be an SEC Champion.

Les Miles could probably give two shits about what LSU does this weekend. He’ll be coaching Michigan next year. If Miles does leave LSU to coach the Wolverines, he must pay LSU $1.25 million. But big deal, the UM will probably reimburse him for those losses.

I don’t blame Miles for wanting to leave LSU. It’s every coaches dream of coaching for their alma mater. Just freaking wait until your done with the current season before you go making arrangements to fly to Ann Arbor.

If there’s any word that is overplayed more then ‘gunslinger’ this year among NFL analysts then I don’t know what it is.

Tomorrow on the NFL Network (which means I won’t be watching unless I go to my friend’s house), the Cowboys and Packers will play in what many people are calling a preview to the NFC Championship game. Both teams are 10-1 and playing the best football in the NFC. I still think the Pats, Colts, Jaguars, and Steelers could beat these two teams, but anways… we can’t all play in the NFC.

The Packers have the first true gunslinger, Brett Favre. While the Cowboys have the newest young gunslinger in Tony Romo. Being a gunslinger pretty much means you just throw the ball as much as you can and try to force throws. You rack up hundreds of yards and don’t worry about throwing interceptions. It’s a risk/reward mentality and fortunately for these two it has been working.

The game is being played in Dallas, so I’m expecting America’s team to win.

Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor died after he was shot in the leg during a possible burglary at his Florida home. He was 24.
Talk was positive last night after Taylor grasped a nurses hand. Doctors thought he would pull through. However, in the early AM this morning, Taylor passed away in the hospital.

Sean Taylor was a bad ass safety for the Redskins. He was a multiple Probowler and one of the biggest hitters in the league. He presence on and off the field will be missed by his teammates and the fans.

What I don’t understand is why the authorities are calling this a possible burglary. Taylor’s girlfriend and daughter were in the house during the shooting and weren’t injured. Criminals who try to rob someone, won’t go in the house and shoot up one person and leave the other’s alone. They’ll shoot everyone. I think that this was a targeted hit on Taylor. He may have messed with the wrong guys and they waited for a time when they could get back at Sean. They knew he would be home in Miami.

It’s a tough situation to lose someone in the public eye. The Redskins were already having a down year. They’ll either go further down with this news, or they could rally around Sean’s spirit and move in a positive direction.

We all somewhat expected Carr to retire after this season, and following Ohio State’s recent Michigan beatdown out expectations were confirmed. Michigan legend Llyod Carr will retire. It’s a good thing he chose to retire, because Michigan might have fired his ass anyways.

From ESPN.com

The Jim Tressel-led Buckeyes beat the Wolverines 14-3, Saturday, dropping Carr to 6-7 overall in the matchup that matters most.

“Lloyd Carr is one of the true gentlemen of college football,” Tressel said Sunday. “His legacy is extraordinary and his leadership in the coaching profession is greatly appreciated. He made a difference in collegiate athletics.”

Carr led the Wolverines to the 1997 national championship. He won 77.9 percent of his conference games, trailing the success rate of just two coaches that were in the Big Ten for at least a decade: Michigan’s Bo Schembechler and Fielding Yost. Against top-10 teams, Carr was 17-9.

And that 6-7 overall record against Ohio State is a bit skewed. He’s like 1-6 in their last 7 meetings. Sure Carr has a great ‘body of work’, but really he just wasn’t getting the job done as of late. They got beat by a DII school earlier this year and ended this season with two straight losses. Not quite what I call leaving on a high note.

Michigan will likely target current LSU head coach Les Miles to replace Carr.

Baseball fans from around the world can finally rest now. The government finally got him. While Barry Bonds is supposed to be ‘innocent until proven guilty’, the federal government doesn’t just indict people unless they know they have the evidence to send them away. 3 or 4 years ago Bonds was given the chance to speak the truth in front of a Grand Jury… he chose to lie and now must pay the consequences.

“There was an opportunity for him to help the investigation, but he chose a path that let him to this point … I’m not surprised by this indictment,” said Kevin Ryan, the former lead prosecutor for the BALCO case.

Bonds, like Vick, had a chance to come clean and tell the whole truth. Bonds could have walked away a free man if he just talked. He decided to deny everything and said he knows nothing. Now we’ll see what happens next. Bonds could accept a plea agreement like Vick or he could take it to trial and attempt to prove his innocence.

If convicted, do we really put an asterisk by his records? It’s an interesting question. Either way, Bonds has played his last game of baseball. Even if he gets off, what team would want him?

The NFL’s biggest pot head, Ricky Williams, has officially been reinstated into the NFL and rehjoined the Miami Dolphins today. “The meeting was positive,” Cameron said. “He’ll be a member of this team and will start with us Monday. He’s a Miami Dolphin.”

“My motivation for coming back to the NFL? Could we start with an easier question?” Ricky said. “My motivation is to get my life going again. Being out of football in the situation I was in makes it difficult, you know? I want to create a better life for myself and for my family, and being a football player, for me, is a big part of that.”

Or you ran out of money? I wonder if Ronnie Brown wasn’t on IR if the Dolphins would welcome Ricky back with such wide open arms. Do they remember what Ricky put them through? Ricky pretty much ditched the team for a joint. I’d be willing to bet the farm that he does it again. Ricky is addicted to weed, and he won’t stop smoking it. I don’t buy this crap that he is looking to change his life and start over again. Blah Blah Blah. We’ve heard it all before.

Good luck to the Dolphins though. Maybe Ricky can get you that first win.

On Sunday against the Tennessee Titans, the most underrated runningback in NFL history Fred Taylor, surpassed the 10,000 rushing yards mark. He became the 21st person in history to reach that milestone. Not bad for a guy labeled as ‘Fragile’ early in his career.

I found this post on a Fantasy Football message board, FFToday, and thought this guy accruately described Fred Taylor. I know we’re talking about real football, but a lot of Fred negative image in the fan’s eyes is due to his poor fantasy football performances over the years.

I’ve seen him bust moves to deek out defenders, his feet are quick and he’s damn nimble for a guy his size. He’s got surprising power and could both go up the gut and around the corner. He’s got it all - hands, burst, vision, and in the open field good luck catching him because he also had breakaway speed.

He’s knocked by FFBers more than just about any player year after year and it’s a shame. He’s one of the best RBs in the NFL. Maybe not today, but certainly in his prime. He deserves a lot more respect than he gets. Warrick Dunn gets way more love and he’s been hurt more and had up & down production his whole career. Taylor has been the man, and 10,000 yds in that short a time is amazing.

He’s also not a douchebag - in an age of Larry Johnsons with the holdouts and attitude, Fred Taylor is playing the elder statesman to MJD and enjoying every minute of it. Lose GL carries? So what - long as the team wins. Never EVER hear a gripe out of him. The only time I heard him complain was when they were losing - he’s a total team guy. Gotta respect that.

Congratulations Fred! We at Mugdish love you!

It’s time for everyone in the country to know who Percy Harvin is. I’m sick of this guy going under the radar or living in Tebow’s shadow. If you don’t know his name right now, you will learn it. And you will respect it this season. And you will be in awe of it next season when he makes Reggie Bush look like a ‘Bush’ Leaguer.

Percy Harvin is the greatest non-QB duel threat player in college football today. Last Saturday he became the first UF player to ever rush and catch over 100 yards in a single game. I’m glad he got the first one off his back, because there will be many more 100-100 games to come in the future.

Harvin was the #1 WR recruit in the country two years ago, and he is definitely showing us why. Not only did he wow Gator fans last season on route to a National Championship, but he hasn’t taken one step back in that notorious ’sophomore slump’ so many players succomb to. He was the SEC Championship Game MVP and SEC Freshman of the year in 2006. Next year he’ll be in the running for the Heisman.

For more about Percy Harvin, check out Harvin Zone.