Fine Blotter: Week 9 -- the "I almost forgot about THIS farce" edition

• Baltimore Ravens: "Murderer" Ray Lewis: $20,000 for a helmet-to-helmet that knocked Hines Ward from the game. The refs called no penalty on that play.
  
• Pittsburgh Steelers: Ryan Clark, a TWO-TIME LOSER, making the fine for his hit on Ed Dickson worth $40,000.
• Chicago Bears: Earl Bennett: $5,000 for illegally-colored shoes, a uniform violation.
• Denver Broncos: Von Miller: $15,000 for roughing the passer.
• Cleveland Browns: Josh Cribbs: $7,500 for a flagrant facemask.
• Two Oakland Raiders add to the reputation of the league's dirtiest team for fouls against Tim Tebow: Aaron Curry draws $20,000
• Jarvis Moss, $15,000.
• Miami Dolphins: Marc Colombo: $7,500 for a late hit
• New York Giants: Antrel Rolle: $5,000 for an illegal University of Miami logo on his eyeblock. The fine now makes Rolle a THREE-TIME LOSER with the league this season.

There was talk James Harrison was going to get fined this week, but he escaped, apparently.

And here's a kicker for you: It has been learned today that the NFL may be about to fine eleven players (suspending one of them) for violations of the substance abuse policy with recreational drugs.

(Source: Yahoo! Sports.)

College football shows true colors -- again

How a college football game can be contested involving Penn State University today (or any time soon -- read: 2-4 years) is beyond any sense of my comprehension.

But it's money and it's basically to tell people that even men fucking boys is to be ignored, as long as we can tee it up on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday to forget it all.

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And Boise bows to reality again. Probably knowing it gets no better than about #5 or #6 anyway, it loses to TCU at home, probably ending even getting in a BCS game at all.

Even if ranked higher than Houston, Boise must win their conference to get the automatic BCS berth. Houston has that now.

PULL THE GODDAMN PLUG NOW -- or you risk losing the entire fabric of football...

Look, I know I've said a lot of things about how the fabric of football has gone beyond repair, but we may now have evidence of that being so true that the only option is to shut the whole mess down.

If you haven't heard it yet, you are definitely going to want to sit down and grab something solid.

Mark Madden, certainly a controversial radio host in his own right, was a guest on The Dennis and Callahan Show this morning (Thursday, November 10). And he was asked what the next shoe to drop would be...

He said something that, if true, the Federal police are going to have to make sure I never set foot in State College, Pennsylvania.

Mark Madden claims that there are two prominent columnists now researching a rumor (and he later stressed on his Twitter that, to this point, the only credence he can give it is the prominence of the columnists involved).

Mark Madden, today, has stated that there is the real possibility that this is an open pedophile ring involving rich donors at Pennsylvania State University.

Let that process... Take time for vomiting if you need it.

He's stating that he believes that Jerry Sandusky was not only participating in pedophilia, but that he was a pimp for young boys, shopping them out for sexual favors to major donors at Penn State (I assume football donors!).

The kicker is that he believes the entire college football community knew, and, well, I'll let what I consider to be the "Money Quote" from this on the table:

"My opinion is when Sandusky quit, everybody knew -- not just at Penn State," Madden added. "I think it was a very poorly kept secret about college football in general, and that is why he never coached in college football again and retired at the relatively young age of 55. [That's] young for a coach, certainly."

It almost sounds as if he's implying that participation in these types of events goes far beyond Penn State.

If I were to give anything more about what I would like to see happen if this is true, they'd take down the blog and probably send people to jail or shoot me. I've been six shades of PISSED OFF over this to begin with, but it really makes me wonder if the "Showbiz Manipulations" Brian Tuohy talks about in his book are really a cover for the most depraved of acts.

The Penn State football program must be shut down -- and, if this is true, the only solution left is Teddy Roosevelt's.

Paterno FIRED. Spanier FIRED.

The Penn State University Board of Trustees refused the resignation of Joe Paterno, instead FIRING him immediately and adding University President Spanier to the carnage.

Source: Yahoo Rivals

No word yet on Saturday's game.

This has now become a safety issue -- retiring Joe ain't enough -- PULL THE GODDAMN PLUG

EDIT 11/10 1354: This post was made BEFORE the riots, and BEFORE the statement that Mark Madden made.

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You know, it takes a lot to get my jaded self as angry as I am now. I am reminded of a discussion I had with a friend this week about how much worse things are in this out-of-control sports world these days.

But this whole situation out of Penn State is just beyond the pale.

Joe Paterno has decided to retire, but only effective the end of the season.

Not enough -- and word I had as of about an hour ago indicates University President Spanier is already a foot and a half out the door.

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But it got me to thinking: The Nittany Lions would (if they didn't do the right thing and close the program down for the year) have three games left. Their last home game is this Saturday vs. Nebraska, and then they have to go to Ohio State and Wisconsin.

I want to ask you something: How in the Hell do you think it would be possible for those three games to take place without violence (from the other players or from the opposing fans) being effected on the current Nittany Lion football team?

Here's a hint: Forgeddaboutit. There's no way those three games can feasibly take place. Someone is going off on the team. Someone on the team might go off in response.

It's clear that Penn State (though most believe their undefeated conference record to be fraudulent) is going to be rigged to lose at least those two road games.

Why chance that it gets ugly, on top of it? The Big Ten is NOT going to allow Penn State to soil, perhaps permanently, their new conference championship game in football.

If it takes the Big Ten, if it takes the NCAA, if it takes whoever is going to be in charge at Penn State come 8 AM Thursday, if it takes the Feds (who probably should investigate this -- especially when you add that the original district attorney who was looking in to this (and chose not to charge Sandusky back in 1998) disappeared and is now presumed dead!):

Close down the football program at least for the season at Penn State, or risk an even further debacle up the line.

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ON EDIT: I've contacted Chairman Michael McRobbie, the President of Indiana University, who is also the Chairman of the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors, the "ultimate authority and responsibility for Big Ten Conference governance".

I phrased it a bit more delicately than here, but I basically asked if the conference has the ability to pull the plug themselves.

It's official: Something is up with the Green Bay Packers...

I alluded to it earlier in the week, when I did the score update post: The Green Bay Packers have three of the five highest-scoring games of the year, and, in the Worldwide Leader's "Year of the Quarterback" and with the NFL promoting scoring unlike we've seen at least in this millenium, it's no secret they are 8-0.

However, it's pretty clear that the entire game between the San Diego Chargers and the Green Bay Packers last Sunday had several fairly openly scripted moments. Follow along on the NFL Network's/NFL.com's Packer/Charger highlights.

1. 00:10 - 00:26. Much like the Patrick Peterson game-winner for the Cardinals over the Lambs (whom I believe we can now officially put on the "Suck for Luck" chart, even if it's for the boatload of draft picks he'd bring), watch this first interception return for a touchdown and tell me that the San Diego team is even remotely trying here to tackle the Packers' Charlie Pepper. 14-7 Pack.
   
2. 00:28 - 01:11 Tremon Williams. Are you serious? Watch, especially, the replay breakdown on this pass (00:41 onward). Tremon Williams is so locked into that "jump the seam route" Pick-Six that the only way that Philip Rivers could've thrown that ball was damn near with the INTENTION that he had literally locked eyes with Williams and that Williams was going to take it to the house. 21-7 Pack.
3. 01:15 - 01:32 (And let's please never mind showing the San Diego highlights that cut that 21-7 lead to 21-17 in the second quarter, NFL Network, on top of this monstrosity.) Aaron Rodgers, two minute drill, less than 25 seconds to go in the half, TOUCHDOWN PASS to Jordy Nelson. 28-17 Pack, after review... EXCEPT HE DIDN'T CATCH THE BALL!! (Freeze it at 01:28. If you get it properly, you see that ball being trapped to the ground by Nelson, all but being juggled the whole way, and the replay still awards the touchdown.)
4. 02:28 - 02:41 Chargers now down 45-31. 7 1/2 minutes to go, onside kick. Watch this CLOSELY. VERY CLOSELY. Jordy Nelson again, after the ball appears to contact a Packer player in front of him, bats the ball directly to a Charger for the recovery. Drive leads to a touchdown, Packer lead now only 45-38, adding to the already-highest scoring game of the year.
5. 03:36 - 03:49 44 seconds to go, still 45-38. Chargers on that last-gasp drive, 3rd and 10, pass is nowhere close, but there's a flag on Charles Woodson for his second pass-interference call. He may have obstructed the path, but he was going straight and the receiver was cutting into him. Here's the kicker that clip doesn't tell you: If you had watched the game on television or the play on NFL Network's Red Zone: The flag was thrown by an official on the TWENTY YARD LINE! Twenty-five yards from the play! (Brian Tuohy also questions the other PI call Woodson got on him in that game, but I have no clip of that to show you.
6. Next and final part of the clip. Two plays later, Rivers overthrows the only receiver near the ball by ten to fifteen yards for the pick (and almost an inexplicable pick-six!) to seal the win. Thanks for coming, thanks for watching this entire production (andthecommercials) of the National Football League.

You know, someone said to me last night, when ESPN aired a documentary of Alabama-Auburn, that I was effectively the guy who poisoned Toomer's Corner. (Hint from my blog: No shit.)

I said to him that the only reason I haven't been arrested for sporting violence is that I am fully aware that the games are not legitimate, for the most part. Look at that clip and tell me the NFL didn't have something planned for the Packers.

ON EDIT: NFC Offensive Player of the Week for that week: Aaron Rodgers.

That's the third time this season he's gotten the weekly award, and he just got the monthly award for October!

Am I glad to see this, because it means I'm not the only one thinking it...

Look, I'm all for understanding that the kids on this year's football team are all-but-certain to be uninvolved in everything.

Still, there's only one solution for this situation, at least vis-a-vis the current season, and Hayes Carlyon of the (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union has the answer, at least for present, and I'll let you read his blog from mine:

Penn State should forfeit their remaining games of the season and shut the program down for the year.