Texas A&M Aggies Football

It’s been widely reported that coach Mark Turgeon’s 49 victories at A&M are the most of any coach in his first two seasons at a Big 12 school since the league was formed. But Aggie men’s hoop publicist Colin Killian dug a little deeper to put that into a little more perspective. Turns out that in the entire histories of all Big 12 teams stretching back to their inceptions, only one coach has had more than 49 victories in his first two years — Oklahoma State’s Eddie Sutton, who combined... for 52 victories in 1990-91 and ‘91-‘92. Turgeon’s 49 victories ties him for second on the all-time list with Kansas’ Roy Williams and Texas’ Tom Penders.more>>

Normally, these types of highlight reel posts are saved for the LeBrons and Howards of the world, but sometimes you run across something that’s just so cool, you can’t help but sharing. Yes, the dunk in the lead video is a nice one with plenty of authority, but for me, the reason it’s so [...]A post from the Intentional Foul Sports Blog, sponsored by Ticket Solutions. Can Your Pops Dunk Like This?

Last night, I went to Madison Square Garden for the first time since I caught the circus there at age four, and one thing was immediately clear—Ranger fans love Sean Avery. The crowd was...

Detroit has dumped their $14 million DH with 499 career home runs. Oh, don't worry ... he gets to keep the money! [MLB; But The Game Is On]

After Shawn Johnson spent last week worried about a deranged stalker, she returns to "Dancing With The Stars" only to be greeted by what appears to be a deranged boner in her partner's pants. (NSFW?)...

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin With Texas' spring scrimmage approaching on Sunday, Vondrell McGee has emerged as the leader in the Longhorns' tight battle at running back.     Brian Bahr/Getty Images   Vondrell McGee has taken the lead in the race to be the Longhorns' starter. Earlier in the spring, redshirt freshman Cody Johnson appeared to have taken a step forward to claim the starting position. But the bullish, 255-pound Johnson tweaked his hamstring last week... and has been kept out of the lineup. Since then, McGee has been the best player at the position, Texas coach Mack Brown said Monday. McGee has been challenged by sophomore Fozzy Whittaker and redshirt freshman Tre' Newton since Johnson has been idled. "Vondrell has been the experienced guy who has practiced every day," Brown said. "The other guys have had some little something wrong with them throughout the spring. Vondrell's been the most consistent and the most healthy. If we lined up to play today, Vondrell would be our starting tailback." McGee, a junior who has made three starts earlier in his career, has shown flashes of potential throughout his time with the Longhorns. But his running skills have been negated by blocking difficulties and inconsistency. He is the leading returning rusher among the Texas running backs after rushing for 376 yards and four touchdowns last season. Texas will play on a 90-yard field at its Sunday scrimmage because of construction at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. But the short field will enable Brown and his program to honor the military for its contributions. "We'll work on a 90-yard field, but we're going to take out the 40-yard line in honor of the 40 percent of our reserves and current active military that are deployed right now," Brown said. "We're inviting our military back from across the state back in their honor."more>>

It's a good thing that Virginia-Maryland lacrosse game ended after seven overtimes, because this poor college radio announcer might not be with us today if it hadn't. [YouTube]

• Mr. Chill. Depending on who you ask, either early-enrolling freshman Matt Barkley was "the star" of Southern Cal's first practice Saturday, or no one stood out at all in the three-way race to replace Mark Sanchez as the Trojans' quarterback/automatic Heisman candidate/babe magnet. Whatever his chances of passing Mitch Mustain and Aaron Corp, though, you have to give Barkley this: He's not overwhelmed out there. Buried amid longer answers in Barkley's Q&A with the Orange County Register... is an 18-year-old just getting off another day at work: Were you nervous? "Not really." Did you struggle with anything? "Not really." Is it harder being a freshman when the other guys have been in the system for a few years now? "I don’t find it that hard at all." Was there a big difference in speed? "It’s not that bad." Was practice what you expected? "I’ve been here, watching spring practice last year and years before. It’s the same thing." The Register, especially, was suspiciously enthusiastic over Barkley's debut, in contrast to the ho-hum reaction by the rest of the SC media, which does not seems as impressed by the freshman's "innate confidence" -- maybe they're just waiting for, you know, a second practice for confirmation. They get their chance today after taking Monday off. Quarterback battling aside, all we can ask of USC practices is this: Even though last year's video had to be removed, please, please bring back Brennan Carroll's walk-on tryouts on YouTube. That's all we ask. • Bellotti is back! Well, in a sense, for a limited time, in a greatly reduced role: The just-retired Oregon coach/soon-to-be Oregon athletic director will hang around to coach the quarterbacks during spring practice, assuming the as-yet unfilled spot on staff created by offensive coordinator Chip Kelly's promotion to Bellotti's old chair. Most of Bellotti's career was spent molding passers, including Joey Harrington, Akili Smith, et al, making him one of the most overqualified quarterbacks coaches in the country. Just remember who's boss, now, boss. As an aside, I first saw this news announced the news on its Twitter page but sounds instead like Bellotti would be conveying his wisdom to players in 140 characters or less. That would be a cutting edge move. • By the hand of Nassib, we shall be resurrected. Amid the irony of a snowy spring practice Monday, Syracuse became the first team to "officially" settle its quarterback quandary: Redshirt freshman Ryan Nassib took every snap with the first offense and received a vote of confidence from coach Doug Marrone, who said "it's his job to lose." This is something of an upset: Nassib was a completely anonymous recruit last year and opened the spring behind last year's starter, senior Cameron Dantley, who dutifully reassumes the backup role. In the meantime, poor Andrew Robinson, full-time starter for the Orange in 2007, part-time starter last year and beleaguered subject of a thousand "kwaddaback must go down" shots, feels "a sense of rejuvenation" at tight end. Quickly ... Chris Forcier, apparently on the outside of UCLA's quarterback derby, has been given his release from the Bruins. No word on his next stop. ... Notre Dame's defense shined during the team's first scrimmage, but still doesn't know where it will fit Manti Te'o. ... On the heels of some Bobcat fans, the Cleveland Plain Dealer calls out Ohio U. for weak scheduling. ... Mike Gundy can already tell Oklahoma State's defense will be improved. Glad that's settled. ... SMU is switching to the 3-4 defense for the spread offenses of C-USA. ... The Orlando Sentinel somehow thinks Percy Harvin can be replaced. ... And would you pay $300 to watch Texas A&M play Arkansas?more>>

• Mr. Chill. Depending on who you ask, either early-enrolling freshman Matt Barkley was "the star" of Southern Cal's first practice Saturday, or no one stood out at all in the three-way race to replace Mark Sanchez as the Trojans' quarterback/automatic Heisman candidate/babe magnet. Whatever his chances of passing Mitch Mustain and Aaron Corp, though, you have to give Barkley this: He's not overwhelmed out there. Buried amid longer answers in Barkley's Q&A with the Orange County Register is... an 18-year-old just getting off another day at work:Were you nervous? "Not really."Did you struggle with anything? "Not really."Is it harder being a freshman when the other guys have been in the system for a few years now? "I don’t find it that hard at all."Was there a big difference in speed? "It’s not that bad."Was practice what you expected? "I’ve been here, watching spring practice last year and years before. It’s the same thing."The Register, especially, was suspiciously enthusiastic over Barkley's debut, in contrast to the ho-hum reaction by the rest of the SC media, which does not seems as impressed by the freshman's "innate confidence" -- maybe they're just waiting for, you know, a second practice for confirmation. They get their chance today after taking Monday off.Quarterback battling aside, all we can ask of USC practices is this: Even though last year's video had to be removed, please, please bring back Brennan Carroll's walk-on tryouts on YouTube. That's all we ask.• But the rest of the SEC thought it looked great, coach. Florida's new I-formation package, which made some minor news last week for daring to take the Tebow Child out of the shotgun, isn't rubbing Urban Meyer the right way just yet "That I-package, I'm not sure how long that will be sticking around here," Meyer said. "You want to have it in, but like I said four years ago when I walked on this campus, we don't really have an offense. It's an offense based on what we have, so we can run [the I-formation] all we want, but if the players struggle ... we won't run [it]."(For the ellipses, I just assume you can insert profanity.) The problem is personnel, not surprising for a team that used one player, Aaron Hernandez, for all its tight end and fullback needs after Cornelius Ingram's injury last year. There are no real fullbacks on the roster, and as for freshman tight end Dez Parks? "[He] has no idea which way right or left is," according to Meyer. "It's not looking very good."• Bellotti is back! Well, in a sense, for a limited time, in a greatly reduced role: The just-retired Oregon coach/soon-to-be Oregon athletic director will hang around to coach the quarterbacks during spring practice, assuming the as-yet unfilled spot on staff created by offensive coordinator Chip Kelly's promotion to Bellotti's old chair. Most of Bellotti's career was spent molding passers, including Joey Harrington, Akili Smith, et al, making him one of the most overqualified quarterbacks coaches in the country. Just remember who's boss, now, boss.As an aside, I first saw this news announced the news on its Twitter page but sounds instead like Bellotti would be conveying his wisdom to players in 140 characters or less. That would be a cutting edge move. • By the hand of Nassib, we shall be resurrected. Amid the irony of a snowy spring practice Monday, Syracuse became the first team to "officially" settle its quarterback quandary: Redshirt freshman Ryan Nassib took every snap with the first offense and received a vote of confidence from coach Doug Marrone, who said "it's his job to lose." This is something of an upset: Nassib was a completely anonymous recruit last year and opened the spring behind last year's starter, senior Cameron Dantley, who dutifully reassumes the backup role. In the meantime, poor Andrew Robinson, full-time starter for the Orange in 2007, part-time starter last year and beleaguered subject of a thousand "kwaddaback must go down" shots, feels "a sense of rejuvenation" at tight end.Quickly ... Chris Forcier, apparently on the outside of UCLA's quarterback derby, has been given his release from the Bruins. No word on his next stop. ... Notre Dame's defense shined during the team's first scrimmage, but still doesn't know where it will fit Manti Te'o. ... On the heels of some Bobcat fans, the Cleveland Plain Dealer calls out Ohio U. for weak scheduling. ... Mike Gundy can already tell Oklahoma State's defense will be improved. Glad that's settled. ... SMU is switching to the 3-4 defense for the spread offenses of C-USA. ... The Orlando Sentinel somehow thinks Percy Harvin can be replaced. ... And would you pay $300 to watch Texas A&M play Arkansas?more>>

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin Bo Pelini's new contract received much of the buzz Monday as the Cornhuskers' second-year coach received a hike that will push his yearly contract to $1.851 million per season. Lost in that fanfare was the 22.2 percent boost that Nebraska assistant coaches received in the new deal. The highest-paid assistant will be offensive coordinator Shawn Watson, who will receive a whopping 66.7 percent increase from last season. Watson's new yearly salary will be hiked to... $375,000, according to figures obtained by the Lincoln Journal Star. It will make Watson the highest-paid assistant coach in Nebraska football history. Here's a look at the salaries of Pelini's staff for the 2009 season. Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson                                   $375,000 Defensive coordinator/defensive line coach Carl Pelini           $208,360 Running backs coach Tim Beck                                           $208,360 Tight ends coach Ron Brown                                               $208,360 Offensive line coach/associate head coach Barney Cotton      $208,360 Wide receivers coach/assistant head coach Ted Gilmore        $208,360 Secondary coach Marvin Sanders                                        $208,360 Linebackers coach Mike Ekeler                                            $150,000 Defensive ends coach John Papuchis                                   $150,000 The collective package will pay Nebraska assistants a total of $1,925,160 -- the highest collective total ever paid to Nebraska assistant coaches. The school said the assistants' new salaries rank sixth among Big 12 teams.more>>

Five months…it ain’t happenin’ raight now. I think their estimates of half a million at Tennessee’s practices do not jibe with the reported numbers, but sure. There’s nothing else going on. A HALF A MILLION PEOPLE SHOWED UP FOR TENNESSEE’S PRACTICE. You’ll inevitably comment, “Wow, that’s ten minutes, which is a Von Stroeheim five hour [...]

• Nice grab: How to catch a BP home run ball without dropping the video camera. [Home Run Derby] • Jose Lima would never hurt you like that: The Long Beach Armada has won a $250,000 lawsuit against...

The atty for Plaxico Burress keeps working to strike a plea deal that will keep him out of jail despite the overwhelming statistics that show similarly accused defendants getting locked up. Burress, the Giants receiver who went out to an NYC nightclub and filled his quad full of lead last November while fumbling with a Glock he had in his sweatpants and trying not to spill his wine (Aside: this is not a cartoon, people...), is facing two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a loaded... and unlicensed weapon, each of which carries a mandatory minimum of 3.5 years in prison. In Newsday, Wallace Matthews says Burress better get jail time. Meanwhile, Ralph Vacchiano in the Daily News says the delay in getting this resolved could wind up costing Burress. Vacchiano writes, "Whatever the result, the 31-year-old Burress had clearly been hoping for a quick resolution since his desire, according to sources, is to resume his NFL career as quickly as possible. He still faces a likely suspension from the NFL for violating the league's Personal Conduct Policy, but he had held out hope for returning at some point during the 2009 season. Any delay in his case, of course, could put that return to the field this season in jeopardy."more>>

You're forgiven if you've forgotten that Kurt Angle was once a serious athlete. In addition to being a championship college grappler, he won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1996 Atlanta...