By JOE SANTORO
Sports fodder for a Friday morning . . .
Boston College can hire and fire any football coach it wants whenever it wants. But what, exactly, was the point of firing Jeff Jagodzinski just because he interviewed with the New York Jets? Boston College says it wants its head coach to be loyal to the school. Good luck with that. The only coaches who are loyal to an institution are the coaches who have earned supreme court justice or pope status. Joe Paterno, Bobby Bowden, Chris Ault and that's about it. Every other coach is only loyal to his paycheck. Who can blame them? If your job status was being judged by media, fans and boosters you'd be sending out resumes, too.
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The college football bowl season couldn't have ended soon enough. A total of 34 games -- 33 of which didn't mean a thing -- in 20 days. It was like watching one Kansas City Royals-Colorado Rockies spring training game after another with an early-morning B game thrown in every other day just for fun. College football has turned into one giant youth soccer league for 8-year-olds where everybody gets a trophy and a slice of pizza at the end of the season. Of the 68 teams involved in the bowl games, no less than 35 of them finished the season with five or more losses. There were 17 teams that finished no better than one game over .500. And the only team that finished without a loss in the middle of all that mediocrity didn't even win the championship. None of it makes any sense.
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If the NFL was like college football, the San Diego Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles would have been eliminated from title consideration before Thanksgiving. The Arizona Cardinals wouldn't even be allowed to compete for the Super Bowl because they won a garbage division. The Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos would have played in the AT&T Verizon Wireless General Motors Model Dairy Nestle Betty Crocker Smucker's Milk Bone Morton Salt Bowl and the winner would have received a three-foot high crystal trophy with diamonds.
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Barry Bonds insists that he has not retired. Well, OK, then why doesn't Bonds play in the World Baseball Classic this March to prove that he can still play? Could you imagine the interest in the WBC if Bonds was playing? It might even make us ignore that 17th Rockies-Royals exhibition game.
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Nevada's Armon Johnson is talented enough to be a good point guard but he would be a great shooting guard. Teammate Luke Babbitt has the skills and the work ethic to make himself into a productive center and play in the post but he would be a great small forward. Right now they are inconsistent because they are playing out of position. The sooner the Pack puts the right pieces around Johnson and Babbitt, the sooner this program will return to the Sweet 16.
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Manny Ramirez on the San Francisco Giants is a tremendous idea for about a half-dozen reasons. First of all, he is a perfect fit. There is no team in professional baseball " and that includes the Reno Silver Sox " that needs a cleanup hitter more than the Giants. The second reason is that Ramirez on the Giants means that he wouldn't be on the Los Angeles Dodgers. The third reason is that Giants fans need a reason to stay in their seats and not go gaze at the Bay or buy fish tacos when the Giants are at the plate. The fourth reason is that pitchers like Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum do not come around often and, well, they are being wasted right now. The fifth reason is that one big hitter might be all it takes for this team to win the division. The sixth reason is that the Giants already have experience in handling a moody, lazy, play-when-I-feel-like-it left fielder. If the Giants don't sign Manny, we better not hear any excuses about money, not when they are going to pay Randy Johnson and Barry Zito about $2 million for each of their dozen or so combined victories this year.
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There is a video circulating around the World Wide Web of Warren Sapp swimming in a race against Michael Phelps. Hey, Michael, if you really had a craving to swim with the whales, there are easier and safer ways to do it.
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It was fitting that the Indianapolis Colts lost in the playoffs this year 23-17 in overtime to the San Diego Chargers. This year, after all, is the 50th anniversary of their 23-17 overtime championship victory over the New York Giants in The Greatest Game Ever Played. And, yes, we believe in payback. The Giants will beat the Baltimore Ravens, the team that replaced the Colts in Baltimore, 23-17 in overtime in this year's Super Bowl. Frank Gifford will finally be able to get those nightmares of Alan Ameche falling into the end zone out of his head.
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In case you were wondering, the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers will meet in a classic AFC title game and the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers will tangle in a boring NFC Championship game.