NCAA 2009

[Berkut]

Wow, people are talking about this ending his college career.

I don't see it. He will (and should be) penalized, but no way is he getting kicked off the team. I wonder if the Pac-10 will get involved, or just leave it up to Oregon to handle?

Agree that this won't end his career, and agree that that is sad.

I do wonder if he will spend some time in the pokey, though.

The police already stated that tehy were not filing charges, and expected the NCAA/Oregon to take care of it.

I wonder if that could change though, if enough pressure arises over it...it is the kind of thing to get everyone all outraged about.

Pretty hard to get a conviction though for things that happen on the field. It has almost never happened.

[Eddie Teach]

Odd that a football player would have a glass jaw like that.

[sbr]

Odd that a football player would have a glass jaw like that.

Glass jaw?

The guy was blind-sided by a guy 6'2" 240+ pounds hitting him bare knuckled square in the jaw.  Almost any human being would have gone to his knees there.

[sbr]

After being tackled by one or two Boise players all night it took 5 guys to drag Blount into the locker room; nice showing idiot.

As I said last night I would like to see Blount kicked off of the team and I wouldn't be surprised if he was.  With a new AD and head coach this is a perfect moment to make a stand and show what they expect from their athletes.  The Ducks have already proved that the pre-season hype was ridiculous and they aren't a BCS caliber team so why keep a guy like that around for the rest of the year.

[Eddie Teach]

Glass jaw?

The guy was blind-sided by a guy 6'2" 240+ pounds hitting him bare knuckled square in the jaw.  Almost any human being would have gone to his knees there.

Football players regularly get blind-sided by 240 lbers using their whole bodies, not just their fists. Just seemed odd to me.

[Berkut]

Glass jaw?

The guy was blind-sided by a guy 6'2" 240+ pounds hitting him bare knuckled square in the jaw.  Almost any human being would have gone to his knees there.

Football players regularly get blind-sided by 240 lbers using their whole bodies, not just their fists. Just seemed odd to me.

Someone needs a basic lesson in force.

[Berkut]

After being tackled by one or two Boise players all night it took 5 guys to drag Blount into the locker room; nice showing idiot.

Maybe he should have used some of that energy to get away from the safety?

[Barrister]

Pretty hard to get a conviction though for things that happen on the field. It has almost never happened.

There's definitely a precedent in Canada for that kind of thing.

[Eddie Teach]

Someone needs a basic lesson in force.

Compare the amount of time it typically takes a football player to make a tackle to the time it takes a boxer to get a knockdown. Obviously tackling allows a greater amount of force delivered in a more effective manner for knocking someone off their feet.

I'm sure I'm being a bit unfair using the term "glass jaw." It was a sucker punch and at the end of the game so he was tired. But I bet you he's taking similar razzing from his teammates.

[Berkut]

Someone needs a basic lesson in force.

Compare the amount of time it typically takes a football player to make a tackle to the time it takes a boxer to get a knockdown. Obviously tackling allows a greater amount of force delivered in a more effective manner for knocking someone off their feet.

I'm sure I'm being a bit unfair using the term "glass jaw." It was a sucker punch and at the end of the game so he was tired. But I bet you he's taking similar razzing from his teammates.

Boxer don't sucker punch each other - in fact, I bet most boxers would go down if they ever left themselves so open that their opponent took an unobstructed shot to their jaw from the side like that.

And making a tackle is an entirely different force dynamic from a punch, and the reaction to being tackled often has nothing to do with having any kind of "glass" anything.

I doubt he is taking any razzing from his teammates, unless they are idiots. There are precious few people in the world who could take a solid shot like that from someone as strong as Blount without crumpling. They are both lucky he didn't seriously injure him.

[Eddie Teach]

/shrug

Maybe you're right, perhaps the angle makes the difference. Not worth arguing over, at any rate.

[MadImmortalMan]

Small, Unathletic Walk-On Injures 9 Starters In Notre Dame Football Practice



SOUTH BEND, IN—During Wednesday's afternoon practice, 17-year-old Brian Novak, a 145-pound walk-on for the struggling Notre Dame football team, injured nine starters, including third-year quarterback Jimmy Clausen, junior wide receiver Golden Tate, and 295-pound defensive lineman Ian Williams.
Enlarge Image Notre Dame

Novak, who had virtually no organized football experience prior to joining the Division I team, has injured a total of 24 players since his arrival in South Bend, prompting many to question whether or not the Fighting Irish have another disappointing season in store.

"I'm not really that fast or strong or anything," said Novak, adding that of his friends back home he's "not even close" to being the best football player. "But during my first practice with the team I was playing linebacker—or it might have been defensive end—and I got past the big blocker guys no problem, then somehow broke [starting halfback] Armando Allen's leg with a tackle. That's the first tackle I've ever attempted in my life."

"I'm not trying to hurt them or anything, but in general I would say everyone here is a lot slower and weaker than I thought they'd be," Novak added. "I can only bench-press about 90 pounds, but all the players gather around to watch me lift."

According to members of the coaching staff, the former high school yearbook editor is by far the team's most athletic player, despite Novak's inability to do more than two pull-ups or jog a mile without walking. During an intrasquad scrimmage last Sunday, he recorded eight interceptions, rushed for 225 yards, and ruptured the Achilles tendon of safety Sergio Brown with what appeared to be a fairly slow-moving, awkward juke move.

"When I play with these guys I feel like I did when I was a camp counselor playing dodgeball with my campers," said the 5-foot-7 Novak, whose athletic resume consists of two weeks on his high school lacrosse team. "I can pretty much overpower anyone, anytime. It's really fun, but I'm not actually learning anything about football."

Though he reportedly promised Notre Dame's head coach Charlie Weis he would "take it easy" on the rest of the team until the season opener, Novak broke the arm of 302-pound center Dan Wenger during tackling drills last Monday, and fractured starting linebacker Brian Smith's skull on a 14-yard touchdown run in which Novak dragged Smith 10 yards into the end zone.

While Novak went 0-4 in field goal attempts during Sunday's scrimmage, he was the only Notre Dame kicker to get the football up into the air.

"He's really powerful and fast," 255-pound defensive end John Ryan said of Novak."I'm glad he's on our team because looking at the guys we have, he's our only hope if we want to beat USC, Nevada, or really anybody."

"He's a much better leader than Jimmy [Clausen], that's for sure," Ryan added. "Better quarterback, too."

Recently, Novak has even been spotted giving coach Weis several tips about his strategy and tactics.

"Until Brian, I never thought about how establishing the run could create opportunities for us downfield," said Weis, who has led the Irish to 15 losses in their last two seasons. "Novak was telling me about something called a 'fake handoff,' which is like this fake run thing, but then you pass it. I would assume that's illegal, but he's proven himself to be an amazing football player, so I trust him."

According to Novak, when he committed to Notre Dame, he had no intention of walking onto the football team, being more interested in the school's theater group. But when assistant head coach Rob Ianello saw the freshman tossing a football around campus, he knew instantly that Novak would be a valuable addition.

"He was catching the ball," Ianello said. "Like, actually catching it."

Despite the team's recent injuries, and the fact that its best player is admittedly "really terrible" at football, former Notre Dame head coach and college football analyst Lou Holtz still predicted the Fighting Irish would go 12-0 this season and win the BCS championship.

[Barrister]

[Syt]

Onion.

[jimmy olsen]

I loved this comment I saw on the fight. 

http://blog.seattlepi.com/undraftedfreeagent/archives/178319.asp?source=mypi

"On Thursday night (3 September 2009), the Boise State Broncos defeated the offensively impotent Oregon Ducks 19-8. LeGarrette Blount rushed 8 times for an abysmal -5 yards and a safety. After the game, Boise State's Byron Hout taunted Blount and made physical contact with him in a threatening manner. Hout infringed upon the personal rights of Blount. Blount, at that point, had the Allah-given right to self-defense. In order to negate Hout's intimidation, Blount delivered a straight right fist that cleanly contacted Hout. Hout failed to block the punch and went down. Blount successfully fended off the threat against himself without causing permanent or excessive damage to his attacker. He acted exactly as he should have and should be commended for his valor. No further action (e.g., suspension) should be taken against either Blount or Hout."