This is the utter absurdity of polls. Or, better yet, those voting.Houston beat Oklahoma State45-35 in Stillwater, Okla., onSaturday, yet the Cougars (21) findthemselves five places behind theCowboys (16) in The AssociatedPress poll.What, the 10-point road winwasn’t enough to convincevoters that Houston is better thanOklahoma State and, therefore,should be ranked higher?Other notables in the Week 2AP poll:
Underrated:
No. 25Michigan. The quarterback (TateForcier) finally fits the system.
Overrated:
No. 20 Miami.Now how good does that FSU winlook (hello, Jacksonville State)?
Underrated:
Unranked NotreDame. So voters watched thatgame, that Irish offense, and think that loss to Michigan means thereare 25 better teams?
Overrated:
No. 14 Georgia Tech. Jackets defense has a longway to go.
— Matt Hayes
Top 25 Polls,
Page 28
Houston belowOklahoma State?
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
BENWOLOSZYN/AP
Case Keenum and the Cougars clock infive spots below the team they beat.
No. 71 for Tiger
Woods wins BMWChampionship by 8shots,
Page 46
MONDAYSEPTEMBER 14, 2009SEE A DIFFERENT GAMEVOLUME 2 ISSUE 54
Scoreboard
NFL
Atlanta 19, Miami 7Baltimore 38, Kansas City 24Philadelphia 38, Carolina 10Denver 12, Cincinnati 7Minnesota 34, Cleveland 20N.Y. Jets 24, Houston 7Indianapolis 14, Jacksonville 12New Orleans 45, Detroit 27Dallas 34, Tampa Bay 21San Francisco 20, Arizona 16N.Y. Giants 23, Washington 17Seattle 28, St. Louis 0Green Bay 21, Chicaco 15
Baseball
American League
Boston 3, Tampa Bay 1, Game 1Boston 4, Tampa Bay 0, Game 2N.Y. Yankees 13, Baltimore 3Detroit 7, Toronto 2Minnesota 8, Oakland 0L.A. Angels 3, Chicago White Sox 2Kansas City 7, Cleveland 0Texas 7, Seattle 2, Game 1Seattle 5, Texas 0, Game 2
National League
Philadelphia 5, N.Y. Mets 4, Game 1Philadelphia 1, N.Y. Mets 0, Game 2Washington 7, Florida 2Pittsburgh 2, Houston 1Atlanta 9, St. Louis 2Chicago Cubs 5, Cincinnati 2San Diego 7, Colorado 3San Francisco 7, L.A. Dodgers 2Milwaukee 5, Arizona 3
RECRUITING>5 NFL>6 COLLEGE FOOTBALL>25 MLB>30 NHL>41 COLLEGE HOOPS>43 NBA>43 NASCAR>44 TENNIS>45
QUICK LINKS:
A.L. WILD CARD
Doubleheader day:
Red Soxsweep Rays; Rangers split with M’sas Ichiro sets record,
Page 37
N.L. WILD CARD
Showdown in the West:
Giants gain ground on Rockiesbefore big series,
Page 33
BY VINNIE IYER
Quarterbacks ride the roller coasteron the opening Sunday of the ’09season:
Highs
Drew Brees, Saints.
Picking up hisDan Marino-like pace from ’08,Brees says he can do even better thanhis six-TD day vs. Detroit: “Therewas probably one or two more thatwe left out there. That’s what keepsyou coming back.”
Brett Favre, Vikings.
Favre’s mostimportant number at Cleveland: Zeroturnovers. He did what he was hewas supposed to do, facilitating therunning of Adrian Peterson. “As longas we win, that’s what it’s all about,”Favre said.
Aaron Rodgers, Packers.
He had a breakout ’08 season, but the teamfinished 6-10. His last-minute, game-winning TD pass vs. Chicago was acrucial start to Green Bay’s divisiontitle quest.
Tony Romo, Cowboys.
So much forstruggling without Terrell Owens.Romo found each of his top threewide receivers—Roy Williams, MilesAustin and Patrick Crayton—for longTD passes.
Mark Sanchez, Jets.
While fellowrookie Matt Stafford struggled (threeinterceptions), Sanchez delivered apoised, veteran-like performance in awin at Houston.
Lows
Jay Cutler, Bears.
He couldn’t askfor a more disastrous debut, pressingand throwing four interceptionsagainst the rival Packers.
Jake Delhomme, Panthers.
In hisfirst game since his six-turnoverplayoff meltdown, Delhomme gaveup the ball five times to the Eagles before being benched. Coach JohnFox will give Delhomme the startnext week at Atlanta, saying, “I don’tthink it was all Jake’s fault.”
Donovan McNabb, Eagles.
He sus-tained a broken rib at Carolina, whichmight cause the team to turn to KevinKolb at least for a week. Running back Brian Westbrook, however, isoptimistic: “Donovan is very resil-ient. He heals fast.”
Matt Schaub, Texans.
Houston’spotentially prolific offense didn’tproduce a touchdown against the Jets’ 3-4 defense.
Kurt Warner, Cardinals.
The 49ers’pass rush rattled Warner, resultingin several inaccurate throws and twocostly interceptions.
Arms race
NFL: WEEK 1
Breer: Favre maintains ‘aura’,
Page 9
P AGES 6 -2 4
O F N F L I N S I D E
19 PAGES
19 P AG E S
PAULCONNORS/APMORRYGASH/AP
Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is looking to addteam success to his impressive stats from 2008.Kurt Warner opened Arizona’s NFC title defensewith a sloppy performance in San Francisco.
At the opening bell, QBsgo in opposite directions
SPORTING NEWS TODAY
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2009
2
See a Different Game
THE
WORLD
’
S
FIRST
DIGITAL
DAILY
SPORTS
NEWSPAPER
CHAIRMAN & CEO . . . . . . .Ray Shaw (1989 to 2009)PRESIDENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Whitney ShawPUBLISHER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ed BakerEDITOR-IN-CHIEF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jeff D’AlessioMANAGING EDITOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Paul KaskoCREATIVE DIRECTOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Keith WoodDIRECTOR, DIGITAL MEDIA. . . . . . . . . . . . Geoff ShawVP, MARKETING & SALES DEVELOPMENT . .Eric Karp
EDITORIAL
OFFICES
120 West Morehead Street, Suite 200Charlotte, NC 28202704-973-15501-800-443-1886
Letters to the editor:
General feedback:
National Digital Sales Managers
Joey Glowacki, 704-973-1546
Gary Strauss, 212-500-0672
After years as an understudy at both the col-lege and pro levels, Chiefs QB Matt Casselwill make his first start as an undisputed No.1 today. Follow his road from USC to NewEngland to K.C. in
Tune In Today
A quick look at the best sports on TV
— all times Eastern
NFL
Bills at Patriots
7 p.m., ESPN
With Tom Brady coming back from his majorknee injury, you can bet Patriots fans won’t relaxuntil their superstar looks healthy and fires off hisfirst TD pass of 2009. There’s a good chance hethrows it to Randy Moss, who will need to sharethe superstar wide receiver spotlight with new Bill Terrell Owens.
— Vinnie Iyer
Chargers at Raiders
10:15 p.m., ESPN
It should be fun to watch the Chargers’ offenseat work all season. The opener should be allabout LaDainian Tomlinson and Darren Sprolesin the rushing attack against the Silver and Black.Oakland will try to counter on the ground withsecond-year sparkplug Darren McFadden.
— Vinnie Iyer
CINEMA
The Longest Yard
9 p.m., CMT
In case the Bills-Patriots game gets out of hand, here’s the perfect filler before you investin the nightcap game. Instead of the AdamSandler remake of this movie in 2005, you’ll beseeing the 1974 original that stars Burt Reynolds.Prison inmate Paul Crewe (Reynolds) is asked puttogether a team of fellow prisoners and then loseagainst an assembled team of guards in exchangefor an early release. Old school footballers RayNitschke and Joe Kapp are among the guest stars.
— Roger Kuznia
GUIDE
NFL
7 p.m.ESPN—
Buffalo at NewEngland
10:15 p.m.ESPN—
San Diego atOakland
TENNIS
1 p.m.ESPN2—
U.S. Open,women’s doubles champi-onship, at New York
4 p.m.CBS—
U.S. Open, men’ssingles championship, atNew York
OFF THE FIELD
LeBron celebrates book release in NYC
Cavaliers F
LeBron James
partied atNew York’s Monkey Bar with Revlonchair
Ron Perelman
, movie mogul
Har-vey Weinstein
, director
Ron Howard
andauthor
Fran Lebowitz
in an eventthrown by
Vanity Fair
editor
GraydonCarter
for James’ new book,
Shooting Stars
, co-written with
Buzz Bissinger
,the
New York Post
reported.
President Obama
, in a move to bol-ster Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olym-pics, will host Olympians andParalympians on Wednesday at theWhite House, the
Chicago Sun-Times
reported. Meanwhile, Chicago 2016Chair
Pat Ryan
told the
Chicago Tribune
that he “does not expect”
Michael Jor-dan
to be part of the city’s Olympic bid delegation in Copenhagen nextmonth.Suns PG
Steve Nash
, a Victorianative, will carry the 2010 WinterOlympics torch during a portion of its 45,000-kilometre, cross-country journey to Vancouver, according tomultiple reports. Thousands of peo-ple will run a portion of the routeover 106 days, culminating in thelighting of the cauldron at B.C. Placein Vancouver. The Winter Olympicsare Feb. 12-28.Hockey legend
Jean Beliveau
has afan in outer space. The former Cana-diens star will be hooked todaythrough a video link to chat withCanadian astronaut
BobThirsk
aboardthe International Space Station. Theastronaut brought a photo of Beliveauin uniform for his space voyage. Therecord-breaking astronaut, Canada’slongest-serving spaceman, is into thefourth month of his six-month stayon the orbiting space lab.Red Sox pitcher
Josh Beckett
wasthrowing strikes of another sortThursday as he hosted the BeckettBowl, his annual bowling tourna-ment that raises money for his foun-dation and Children’s HospitalBoston,
TheBoston Globe
reported.
SHAMILZHUMATOV/AP
Astronaut Bob Thirsk will have a hockey legend to help keep him company via video link.
SPORTING NEWS TODAY
My Profile
Blake Griffin
Clippers rookie forward, No. 1 draft pick
(What you won’t find on Facebook …even if you are approved as a friend)
Born:
March 16, 1989, in Oklahoma City
Status:
Single
Alma mater:
Oklahoma
What’s on TV:
The Office
,
Family Guy
,
Entourage
What’s in my iPod:
Drake, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Jay-Z
What I drive:
White Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG
Favorite flicks:
Wedding Crashers
,
The Hangover
,
Old School
,
Training Day
What I’m reading:
Russell Rules: 11 Lessons on Leadership From the Twentieth Century’s Greatest Winner
, by BillRussell and David Falkner
Magazine subscription:
GQ
Bookmarks:
Google, Twitter,ESPN.com
On my office walls:
Pictures and posters
Love to trade places for a day with …
Rob Dyrdek from
Rob and Big
on MTV because he seems like he has a lot of fun.
First job:
Worked at a trophy company my parents ownedwhen I was 6 years old. I assembled trophies, plaques andmedals.
Talent I’d most like to have:
I’d like to sing well.
Favorite meal:
Salmon
Favorite athlete to watch in another sport:
Adrian Peterson
Favorite city to visit:
Miami
Favorite team as a kid:
Chicago Bulls
Favorite value in others:
Good sense of humor
Dream date:
Megan Fox
My greatest love:
God
My heroes:
My parents and brother
My bucket list:
1. Learn another language, 2. Travel aroundthe world
My motto:
Work hard, respect others, fear God
— Jeff D’Alessio
LAURARAUCH/AP
Search History:
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
p.
Quick Links:
Sporting News Today
Revista americana de desporto
THE WORLD’S FIRST DIGITAL
DAILY SPORTS NEWSPAPER
Revista americana de desporto
THE WORLD’S FIRST DIGITAL
DAILY SPORTS NEWSPAPER
1.4K
Reads
0
Readcasts
0
Embed Views
More From This User
Notes
Load more
