The Oregon football team had their spring game last Saturday, and they dedicated the game to the U.S. military.
Before the game, the National Anthem was played by the Oregon marching band, followed by a flyover where two F-15 fighter jets flew over the stadium.
A record crowd of over 44,000 fans came out to watch the spring game. Afterwards, a postgame ceremony was held where select U.S. Armed Forces personnel met the members of the Oregon football team in the middle of the field. The players took the jerseys off their backs and exchanged them for special military challenge coins.
Hats off to the Oregon football team for a nice tribute to the U.S. Armed Forces.
Video via GoDucks.com. H/T Dr. Saturday.
Holdout Sports has a new look. Visit us at holdoutsports.com and tell us what you think.
Subscribe To
Posts
All Comments
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Was Nick Saban recruiting during round 1 of the NFL draft?
The first round of the 2012 NFL Draft saw four former Crimson Tide players taken and Alabama head coach Nick Saban was on hand to congratulate them all. It was the perfect recruiting ploy executed by Saban. As the draft was taking place, Saban managed to broadcast his face in to the living rooms of
Pironkova, Peer lose in 1st round in Budapest
Anna Tatishvili of Georgia upset third-seeded Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 Monday in the first round of the Budapest Grand Prix.
Pironkova broke twice to comfortably win the first set before Tatishvili turned the match around. The 81st-ranked Georgian took a 4-1 lead in the second set and then broke three times in the third to clinch the match.
Seventh-seeded Shahar Peer of Israel was also eliminated after losing 6-4, 6-3 to Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada.
Fourth-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic beat Anne Keothavong of Britain 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2, while No. 5 Marina Erakovic of New Zealand ousted Pauline Parmentier of France 7-6 (3), 3-6, 7-6 (2).
American Varvara Lepchenko had to retire with a right ankle injury when trailing 5-0 in the first set against Russia's Elena Vesnina.
Pironkova broke twice to comfortably win the first set before Tatishvili turned the match around. The 81st-ranked Georgian took a 4-1 lead in the second set and then broke three times in the third to clinch the match.
Seventh-seeded Shahar Peer of Israel was also eliminated after losing 6-4, 6-3 to Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada.
Fourth-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic beat Anne Keothavong of Britain 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2, while No. 5 Marina Erakovic of New Zealand ousted Pauline Parmentier of France 7-6 (3), 3-6, 7-6 (2).
American Varvara Lepchenko had to retire with a right ankle injury when trailing 5-0 in the first set against Russia's Elena Vesnina.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Drafting The Florida Gators To Go Head-To-Head Against?The Florida Gators
The football offseason brings about boredom and plenty of it. It has forced us at The Bull Gator to come up with ways to occupy our time whether they are fun or trivial exercises in futility. Some examples include past attempts at coming up with the best Florida Gators of all-time at each jersey number and a draft consisting of only players available from the schools we have attended. This is another one of those exercises.
One Eyed Willy and I conducted a draft where we each attempted to fill a starting roster made up of all Gators. The rules were simple: 1) you need to fill each position with a player that could realistically line up at that position, and 2) your only real wildcards are going with a fullback or a third wide receiver and playing either a 4-3 defense or a 3-4.
Once we were done, we gave the teams to Evandagator and he let us know which team he thought would win if they went head-to-head. We didn?t tell him which team belonged to which one of us, so he could give his...
One Eyed Willy and I conducted a draft where we each attempted to fill a starting roster made up of all Gators. The rules were simple: 1) you need to fill each position with a player that could realistically line up at that position, and 2) your only real wildcards are going with a fullback or a third wide receiver and playing either a 4-3 defense or a 3-4.
Once we were done, we gave the teams to Evandagator and he let us know which team he thought would win if they went head-to-head. We didn?t tell him which team belonged to which one of us, so he could give his...
Kentucky Derby 2012: The Top Horses to Watch
The Kentucky Derby is right around the corner and the favorites are starting to develop as fans get ready for the biggest day in horse racing.
Some of the greatest horses in the world will be at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on May 5th, and that will lead to one of the most exciting races of the year.
Here are the top horses to keep an eye on this Saturday.
Bodemeister: 9/2 odds
Bodemeister is a great horse, and his experienced handlers will give him a competitive edge as well.
Bob Baffert will be Bodemeister's trainer and his resume speaks for itself. Baffert has won the Derby three times and has won the Preakness as well in each of those years. Baffert accomplished that feat in 1997, 1998 and 2005.
Jockey Mike Smith will be riding Bodemeister. Smith has won each of the three Triple Crown races in his career. He won the Preakness in 1993, the Kentucky Derby in 2005 and the Belmont in 2010.
With all the great people handling him, Bodemeister takes the cake for me. He's easily the safest bet in this race and moving forward in the dash for the Triple Crown.
Union Rags: 9/2 odds
Union Rags is the second favorite at the same odds as Bodemeister. Unfortunately for this animal, the people handling him aren't as experienced as Bodemeister's people. That puts Union Rags at a slight, but not overwhelming disadvantage.
Michael Matz is the trainer for this horse and has had some success in the past. In 2006, Matz trained Kentucky Derby winner, Barbaro. Sadly, Barbaro suffered a broken leg in the second race of the Triple Crown, an injury that led to his death.
Jockey Julien Leparoux, who will be riding Union Rags, has yet to win a Triple Crown race. But that doesn't mean he doesn't have a winning pedigree. Leparoux won two of three Breeder's Cup races in 2009.
His winless streak in Triple Crown races could come to an end this year. Union Rags will be one of the best, if not the best, horses Leparoux has had the privilege to ride.
Gemologist: 12/1 odds
Of all the horses in the Kentucky Derby field, Gemologist might have the best chance of winning a Triple Crown. Not only is Gemologist fast, but he can maintain that speed over long distances, something that will help in the Belmont.
Gemologist is also no stranger to Churchill Downs, having won two races there.
His trainer Todd Pletcher has won big races before. Pletcher was the trainer for Rags to Riches, the winner of 2007 Belmont Stakes. In 2010, Pletcher got over the hump in the Derby, training the winner, Super Saver.
As for the jockey, Javier Castellano has won several big races, but none bigger than the Preakness Stakes he won in 2006. That was his first and only Triple Crown race victory.
Costly mistakes will haunt top drivers
For many of NASCAR's top competitors, Richmond will be remembered for the race that got away.
While race winner Kyle Busch exclaimed, "What up boys, we back," as he came to the checkered flag at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday night, Jimmie Johsnon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards were trying to ascertain what went wrong.
Johnson's team lost control of a tire during pit stops on Lap 311. The No. 48 car, which had led a lap and was running in the top 10 most of the race, had to battle back from 14th after a penalty for that infraction. He salvaged a sixth-place finish.
Edwards led 206 laps throughout the evening and assumed he controlled the lead coming to the green flag after the fourth caution on Lap 319. However, Stewart was scored as the leader, and as he spun his tires, NASCAR accused Edwards of jumping the start and black-flagged the No. 99 Ford. Edwards was forced to serve a drive-thru penalty on Lap 321. He lined up 15th - the last car on the lead lap.
"What was the black flag for?" Edwards asked his team at the time. "If they say (NASCAR) made a mistake, they have to rectify it ... If they can give me an explanation, I'm curious as hell."
Crew chief Bob Osborne attempted to keep Edwards focused and replied, "They will in the truck after the race."
Edwards salvaged a 10th-place finish. He told the crew over the radio at the finish, "You did a really good job on pit road. We definitely got screwed there. I don't want anybody yelling or whining too much about it, all right? We'll talk about it with NASCAR. We'll tell everybody what happened and move on. I know we're frustrated. We're all frustrated."
While Edwards and team owner Jack Roush took their concerns to the NASCAR trailer, Stewart pouted about his pit crew's miscue on the final stop. Although Stewart started 22nd, he blazed through the field. Seventy laps in, he had moved to just outside the top 10. On Lap 200, Stewart led the first of his 118 laps at the front. During a 73-lap run at the point, NASCAR called a caution for debris on Lap 387.
"We lost (the race) on a plastic bottle on the backstretch," Stewart added, citing the debris. "For a caution for a plastic bottle, so you tell me how you'd feel?
"Hard to feel good about that one. We threw it away on pit road. I don't know what their malfunction was, but I'm pretty ticked off about it."
Stewart lost the lead to Busch in the pits. Although he restarted second when the race went green on Lap 392, Earnhardt soon passed him for position. But with a set of soft brakes, Earnhardt felt fortunate just to salvage a top-five result.
"Good job, good cars, we'll just work on the brakes a little bit," Earnhardt said over the radio. Crew chief Steve Letarte, ever the optimist, was quick to remind his driver that second place "was a helluva lot better than we were here last year," when the team posted finishes of 19th in the spring and 16th in the fall. Earnhardt agreed.
"We outran a couple of guys there that were faster than us all night," Earnhardt said. "Just got lucky on that restart being on the inside. We had some brake problems all night long. Kinda tried to overcome them best we could. We were a top, maybe a fifth-place car. I'm really happy to gain a couple of spots there at the end with that caution and get some more points."
Earnhardt's second-place finish, which elevated the driver to second in the points standings (five points behind leader Greg Biffle, who finished 18th) proved more beneficial than the finishes of Stewart or Edwards, who maintained eighth and ninth, respectively, in the standings.
Although the winless streak grew to 138 races, Earnhardt remained optimistic.
"(Hendrick Motorsports) built a great race car," Earnhardt said. "Our team did a good job on pit road. We're just trying to click away some good runs. We want to win a race or two here and there. If we keep running up front, that will happen."
Honorable mentions While it's hard to believe, Kasey Kahne earned his first top-five finish of the season at Richmond on Saturday night.
Kahne, who has endured a rash of bad luck over the first six races of the year, posted his third consecutive top 10 of the season and broke into the top 25 in the points standings with his fifth-place finish.
"We're definitely trying to run top 10, top five, do the best we can," Kahne said. "Once we get things figured out, hopefully we can get a couple of wins. Right now the guys are doing a good job. We had good pit stops tonight. It was a pretty solid race for us. We made gains throughout so it was good."
Paul Menard finished 13th after starting 35th in a backup car, having wrecked his primary during first practice on Friday. Menard maintained 14th in the points standings.
Numbers game
4: Consecutive victories for Kyle Busch in the spring Richmond race.
24: Career wins for Kyle Busch, which ties him with his brother Kurt for 26th on the all-time wins list.
5: Positions gained by Mark Martin in the points standings after finishing eighth -- the most of any competitor. Despite missing two of the first nine races of the season, Martin is 19th in the standings.
Say what?
AJ Allmendinger qualified fourth and was running in the top 10 for most of the race until Juan Pablo Montoya punted the No. 22 Dodge late in the race. The incident caused Allmendinger to lose several positions before dropping to 16th. However, before Allmendinger was lapped, he asked the crew: "Is that the leader behind me?'' When the question was answered in the affirmative, he added, "That's awesome." That earned the reply from an unidentified voice on the No. 22 radio, "Why don't you focus on driving and quit (complaining)."
While race winner Kyle Busch exclaimed, "What up boys, we back," as he came to the checkered flag at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday night, Jimmie Johsnon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards were trying to ascertain what went wrong.
Johnson's team lost control of a tire during pit stops on Lap 311. The No. 48 car, which had led a lap and was running in the top 10 most of the race, had to battle back from 14th after a penalty for that infraction. He salvaged a sixth-place finish.
Edwards led 206 laps throughout the evening and assumed he controlled the lead coming to the green flag after the fourth caution on Lap 319. However, Stewart was scored as the leader, and as he spun his tires, NASCAR accused Edwards of jumping the start and black-flagged the No. 99 Ford. Edwards was forced to serve a drive-thru penalty on Lap 321. He lined up 15th - the last car on the lead lap.
"What was the black flag for?" Edwards asked his team at the time. "If they say (NASCAR) made a mistake, they have to rectify it ... If they can give me an explanation, I'm curious as hell."
Crew chief Bob Osborne attempted to keep Edwards focused and replied, "They will in the truck after the race."
Edwards salvaged a 10th-place finish. He told the crew over the radio at the finish, "You did a really good job on pit road. We definitely got screwed there. I don't want anybody yelling or whining too much about it, all right? We'll talk about it with NASCAR. We'll tell everybody what happened and move on. I know we're frustrated. We're all frustrated."
While Edwards and team owner Jack Roush took their concerns to the NASCAR trailer, Stewart pouted about his pit crew's miscue on the final stop. Although Stewart started 22nd, he blazed through the field. Seventy laps in, he had moved to just outside the top 10. On Lap 200, Stewart led the first of his 118 laps at the front. During a 73-lap run at the point, NASCAR called a caution for debris on Lap 387.
"We lost (the race) on a plastic bottle on the backstretch," Stewart added, citing the debris. "For a caution for a plastic bottle, so you tell me how you'd feel?
"Hard to feel good about that one. We threw it away on pit road. I don't know what their malfunction was, but I'm pretty ticked off about it."
Stewart lost the lead to Busch in the pits. Although he restarted second when the race went green on Lap 392, Earnhardt soon passed him for position. But with a set of soft brakes, Earnhardt felt fortunate just to salvage a top-five result.
"Good job, good cars, we'll just work on the brakes a little bit," Earnhardt said over the radio. Crew chief Steve Letarte, ever the optimist, was quick to remind his driver that second place "was a helluva lot better than we were here last year," when the team posted finishes of 19th in the spring and 16th in the fall. Earnhardt agreed.
"We outran a couple of guys there that were faster than us all night," Earnhardt said. "Just got lucky on that restart being on the inside. We had some brake problems all night long. Kinda tried to overcome them best we could. We were a top, maybe a fifth-place car. I'm really happy to gain a couple of spots there at the end with that caution and get some more points."
Earnhardt's second-place finish, which elevated the driver to second in the points standings (five points behind leader Greg Biffle, who finished 18th) proved more beneficial than the finishes of Stewart or Edwards, who maintained eighth and ninth, respectively, in the standings.
Although the winless streak grew to 138 races, Earnhardt remained optimistic.
"(Hendrick Motorsports) built a great race car," Earnhardt said. "Our team did a good job on pit road. We're just trying to click away some good runs. We want to win a race or two here and there. If we keep running up front, that will happen."
Honorable mentions While it's hard to believe, Kasey Kahne earned his first top-five finish of the season at Richmond on Saturday night.
Kahne, who has endured a rash of bad luck over the first six races of the year, posted his third consecutive top 10 of the season and broke into the top 25 in the points standings with his fifth-place finish.
"We're definitely trying to run top 10, top five, do the best we can," Kahne said. "Once we get things figured out, hopefully we can get a couple of wins. Right now the guys are doing a good job. We had good pit stops tonight. It was a pretty solid race for us. We made gains throughout so it was good."
Paul Menard finished 13th after starting 35th in a backup car, having wrecked his primary during first practice on Friday. Menard maintained 14th in the points standings.
Numbers game
4: Consecutive victories for Kyle Busch in the spring Richmond race.
24: Career wins for Kyle Busch, which ties him with his brother Kurt for 26th on the all-time wins list.
5: Positions gained by Mark Martin in the points standings after finishing eighth -- the most of any competitor. Despite missing two of the first nine races of the season, Martin is 19th in the standings.
Say what?
AJ Allmendinger qualified fourth and was running in the top 10 for most of the race until Juan Pablo Montoya punted the No. 22 Dodge late in the race. The incident caused Allmendinger to lose several positions before dropping to 16th. However, before Allmendinger was lapped, he asked the crew: "Is that the leader behind me?'' When the question was answered in the affirmative, he added, "That's awesome." That earned the reply from an unidentified voice on the No. 22 radio, "Why don't you focus on driving and quit (complaining)."
Ohio State Buckeyes Football: Complete Season Predictions with Support
The Ohio State Buckeyes are looking to bounce back after stumbling through a disastrous 2011 season. Although they are barred from playing for the Big Ten title or a bowl game, they have a great deal of pride and will play hard to satisfy it.
After being the whipping boys for a season, the Buckeyes will have a chip on their shoulder in 2012. Will their game be enough to back them up when the chip is knocked off?
They are certainly going to have their plates full. The defense returns most of its starters, but it will have to contend with the high-flying offenses of Michigan, Wisconsin and Michigan State.
The offense is young but gritty. Quarterback Braxton Miller is the beacon of hope for Ohio State fans. He is developing into a nice double-threat quarterback. During the annual meeting with Michigan last season, he put together some big-yardage hookups with his receivers, though he seemed to be throwing blind at times.Sometimes he is right on the money, and sometimes he is 10 yards off-target.
He will definitely need to tighten up that margin if he wants to see success in the Big Ten.
In the NFL draft, Ohio State lost a couple of stars in tailback Dan Herron and DeVier Posey. It will be interesting to see who steps into those large shoes. Miller will need someone to help him bear the burden.
The biggest trouble is that the Buckeyes will face some of the most crushing defenses in the country. Michigan, Penn State and Michigan State will not let the Scarlet and Gray simply wash over them.
In the Wisconsin game, Ohio State will simply be outgunned on offense. Wisconsin has the fearless Montee Ball returning, as well as wide receivers Jared Abbrederis and Jeff Duckworth. Bret Bielema will find the best quarterback on his roster to get them the ball.
They will suffer losses in those games. Sheer determination will bring them close to overcoming their hated rivals, the Wolverines, but they will fall short.
Ohio State Buckeyes: 8-4 (4-4)
W: 09-01-12: Miami (OH) RedHawks 7 @ Ohio State Buckeyes 31
W: 09-08-12: UCF Knights 3 @ Ohio State Buckeyes 45
W: 09-15-12: California Golden Bears 17 @ Ohio State Buckeyes 34
W: 09-22-12: UAB Blazers 14 @ Ohio State Buckeyes 37
L: 09-29-12: Ohio State Buckeyes 20 @ Michigan State Spartans 41
W (OT): 10-06-12: Nebraska Cornhuskers 34 @ Ohio State Buckeyes 38
W: 10-13-12: Ohio State Buckeyes 45 @ Indiana Hoosiers 24
W: 10-20-12: Purdue Boilermakers 17 @ Ohio State Buckeyes 42
L: 10-27-12: Ohio State Buckeyes 20 @ Penn State Nittany Lions 34
W: 11-03-12: Illinois Fighting Illini 14 @ Ohio State Buckeyes 31
L: 11-17-12: Ohio State Buckeyes 24 @ Wisconsin Badgers 44
L (OT): 11-24-12: Michigan Wolverines 42 @ Ohio State Buckeyes 38
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)