The NFL's Top Cheerleaders - AFC

Today I am showing you all the top Cheerleaders in the NFL. As I said earlier, think of it as the Pro Bowl of Hottness. I dropped the NFC Representatives earlier so here are the AFC Champions of Cheer.

Baltimore Ravens: Lauren St., Sarah B., Kate, Lauren Sp., Abbie M. -

Buffalo Bills: Danielle, Jessica, Jill, Lisa -

Cincinnati Bengals: Heather B., Lindsay -

Denver Broncos: Sara, Nicole, Elizabeth, Romi, Stephanie, Amanda, Sarah -












Houston Texans: Andrea, Amanda, Candice, Marissa, Randi, Susannah -

Indianapolis Colts: Jessica E., Hillari, Christina, Bailey, Amy -

For the Rest of the AFC Keep Reading on the next page:

Jacksonville Jaguars: Emily C., Kelli, Kristyann, Michelle, Shenette, Sunny -

Kansas City Chiefs: Andrea, Ashley, Jeron, Jessie, Shaelley, Susie, Felisha -

Miami Dolphins: Brittany F., Jaime, Johanna, Genesis, Fabiola, Ashley, Bibiana, Jennifer B., Missy -

New England Patriots: Julia, Lindsey, Kelly, Jillian -

Oakland Raiders: Noni, Nicole J., Natalie M., Jonni, Ariel, Alisha -

San Diego Chargers: Breann, Jacquelyn, Ashley, Nicole L., Carissa, Kiirsta -

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The NFL's Top Cheerleaders - NFC

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BREAKING: Tom To Tucson - Izzo Top Candidate for Arizona Job

Breaking news from McKale Center.  There are current unconfirmed reports that among others in serious contention for the Arizona Basketball Head Coaching vacancy, Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo has tossed his hat in the ring. 

Izzo, who has been the Head Spartan for Michigan State since 1995, has often been considered a leading candidate in many job openings.  Most recently his name was mentioned in the possible replacements for Tubby Smith in

 Kentucky after his departure in 2007.  He quickly shot that rumor down.  ESPN's lead College Basketball guru Andy Katz has cited Coach Izzo with the success of the program in East Lansing over the last decade plus.  

As opposed to when his name was in contention for the Kentucky job, sources have informed me that Izzo reached out to the AD's office in Tucson.  Landing Izzo in Tucson would be a the Cats best chance at avoiding too lengthy of a rebuilding process.  

Others listed in the first batch of candidates Arizona is rumored to be considering are Mark Few of Gonzaga and John Calipari from Memphis.  Calipari being an interesting suggestion as former Arizona Assistant Josh Pastner left Arizona for Memphis after a lengthy tenure beginning with his playing days in Tucson.

Calls to both the Arizona and Michigan State Athletic Departments were not returned.

More after the jump...

For anyone who swings by this weekend here's a heads up. Stop by Monday afternoon for 2 new articles that should prove rather interesting plus, if all goes according to plan, there may be a new weekly feature coming by the Beardown featuring myself and 4Real, more details Monday morning. Have a great weekend and Beardown!



Go CATS!
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Spencer Larsen Hit

Spencer Larsen




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How it Could Happen

As avid Beardown Readers should be aware, I hate the BCS System. I'm not asking for a +1, or an 8 or 16 team playoff (though I proposed a 16 team Playoff at this point last year). I am just sick of the BCS and how wrong it has been, so many times in the past. Hell it promised no more split titles when it originated, and then as you may remember, in it's thrid installment - there was a split National Champion.......Whoops.

So as I said, as a proponent for more BCS blunders and bloopers, here is how I would love the remainder of this season to turn out.

BCS Rankings (as of this morning):
1. Alabama 10-0 (6-0)
2. Texas Tech 10-0 (6-0)
3. Texas 9-1 (5-1)
4. Florida 8-1 (6-1)
5. Oklahoma 9-1 (5-1)
6. USC 8-1 (6-1)
7. Utah 10-0 (6-0)
8. Penn St. 9-1 (5-1)
9. Boise St. 9-0 (5-0)

Here's where the hypotheticals come in, all of which are very, very possible:

Bama's upcoming schedule consists of Mississippi St., Auburn, and #4 Florida. If Bama beats Miss St. and Auburn and drops to Florida they will be 12-1 (8-1) to end the regular season atop the SEC West.

Texas Tech will be looking at #5 Oklahoma, Baylor. Going 1-1 in that stretch (with the loss to Oklahoma) would put the Raiders at 11-1 (7-1) ending the regular season and the Big XII Championship.

Texas has a pair of wins in the bag looking at Kansas and Baylor which would mark them at 11-1 (7-1) ending their regular season in a tie with Texas Tech for the Big XII South, but Tech holds the tie-breaker.

Florida has South Carolina, Citadel, Florida St, and Alabama. What if they drop the game to South Carolina but win out over the other 3. They would end the regular season at 11-2 (7-2) and atop the SEC East.

Oklahoma matches up with Texas Tech and Oklahoma St. As we said earlier beating Tech but losing to Oklahoma St. They would thus end the season at 10-2 (6-2), and out of the Big XII Championship.

USC looks at Stanford, Notre Dame, and UCLA and wins out to end their season at 11-1 (8-1) atop the Pac 10.

Utah has San Diego State and #17 BYU. Utah beats SDSU and BYU in the de facto Conference Championship game at the end of the season, they finish up at 12-0 (8-0) and win the Mountain West.

Penn State has Indiana and #15 Michigan State to end the season. If they win out they finish up 11-1 (7-1) and winners of the Big Eleven.

Lastly, Boise State makes it past Idaho, Nevada, and Fresno State to take the WAC Title and a nice 12-0 (8-0) record.

Then we head to the SEC and Big XII Championships:
SEC - West Champ Bama faces the East Champ Gators in a rematch of their last loss, and drops to the Gators again.
Big XII - South Champ Texas Tech faces the North Champ Mizzou and gets upset.

So what we would be looking at going into the BCS Championship would be:

Alabama: 12-2 (8-2) SEC Runner-Up
Texas Tech: 11-2 (7-2) Big XII Runner-Up
Texas: 11-1 (7-1)
Florida: 12-2 (8-2) SEC Champion
Oklahoma: 10-2 (6-2)
USC: 11-1 (8-1) Pac-10 Champion
Utah: 12-0 (8-0) MWC Champion
Penn St: 11-1 (7-1) Big Eleven Champion
Boise St: 12-0 (8-0) WAC Champion

So who goes to the National Championship:
A two loss team who didn't win their conference (Bama and Tech)?
A one loss team who didn't play in the Conference Championship (Texas)?
A two loss team who won their conference (Florida)?
A two loss team who didn't play in the Conference Championship (Oklahoma)?
A one loss Conference Champion in a weak Conference (Penn St. and USC)?
Undefeated non-BCS Conference Champion (Utah and Boise St.)?

Arguments can be made for each of these teams:
You can't put both Utah and Boise St. in the National Championship, but then again, if you take one, don't you have to take both?
Can you take Penn St. or USC since they don't have Conference Championship games and the risk associated with them like the Big XII and SEC?
What about Florida, they would have won a tough conference, and beat former #1 Alabama TWICE in the closing weeks? But they have two losses and there are 1 loss and 0 loss Conference Champions in the mix.
Can you consider Texas? They only have one loss but they didn't even play in their Conference Championship.
What about Bama and Texas Tech? They both have two losses, and neither of them won their Conference Championship.

I want this scenario to happen. I REALLY want this scenario to happen. At the very least we could expect varied voting from the AP again like USC in 2003, and perhaps another split title. That would mean that in the BCS era, an era that promised no split titles, we would have 2 years out of 10 in which there was a Split Championship, that's 20%.

What if Penn St. and USC are both snubbed from the National Championship game. Well the Rose Bowl would feature a great match-up. If one of these teams won by a convincing margin, I guarantee many people would be suggesting that the winner be mentioned in the same breath as the National Championship.

What if snubbed Boise St. faces off against Texas in the Fiesta Bowl, and wins. or Snubbed Utah beats Florida in the Sugar Bowl? There would be plenty of people backing both Utah and Boise St. as a real National Champion contender.

If there was only a way to get these top tier match-ups out of the way earlier, and have the National Championship Game come after all the other games have given us a real look at who deserves a shot at the Title. If only there were a format that would let these teams face off and prove who really deserves to be there.

I will mention here that after this was originally published (November 10, 2008) it was pointed out to me by one of our readers, that I am not smart. In fact this anonymous person was much more courteous by pointing out to me that Florida and Bama are set to play each other in the SEC Championship and it is already on the schedule, thus this throws off part of my argument. So without deleting the prior mis-statements, so you will all know and ahve a record that I am in fact an idiot, what we would be seeing here would not be a rematch and Bama would have one less loss and Florida one less win.

Meaning that instead of Two 2 loss teams who hadn't won their Conference Championship as previously noted we would actually have Bama as a 12-1 and the SEC runner up and Florida as 11-2 and the SEC Champion.

This would leave us with Texas Tech as the lone two loss team who didn't win their conference and add a one loss Alabama who didn't win their conference to this mix.

So who do you take from the SEC a two loss Conference Champion or one loss runner up? Who from the Big XII 3 loss Conference Champion Mizzou? One loss Texas or two loss Oklahoma neither of whom played in the Conference Championship or the aforementioned two loss Tech who lost the Conference Championship? How do you leave out the Pac-10 or Big Eleven one loss teams in that mix, or the aforementioned undefeated teams.

The point remains the same, the BCS is a Mess. Thank you to the reader for pointing out my error, and please feel free to continually point out when we are wrong.

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Allen Iverson: Practice Again

A.I. is in Detroit and he's at it again. "Practice, We Talkin about Practice?"



It looks like Joe and AI could go on the road with their new stand up special. Look out Abbot and Costello, Who's on First might be overtaken on the sports related comedy scale.

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If Rex can get it done, does this mean McCain has a shot?

If Rex can do it then it signals to me that John McCain might still stand a fighting chance even with the numbers against him. Let's break it down.

The Bears are down 23-13 at the half against the Detroit Lions, Kyle Orton gets injured (this morning his injury update was a high level ankle sprain), in comes the back up qb. Granted a back up quarterback for most teams starts frantic paranoia of a loss- but not every teams backup quarterback is Rex Grossman.

I am by no means calling Kyle Orton the Barack Obama of the NFL, but Rex Grossman and John McCain share some characteristics that if they play out like last Sunday's Bears game mean John McCain may still have a chance.

Consistency

Rex Grossman has never been consistent, someday's he's good, someday's he's horrible- he can never decide what he wants to be, so he got benched. John McCain, says he is a consistent politician, crossing over party lines to get things done. True the man is been around a long time to form relationships with other senators, but his voting record shows inconsistency. Crossing party lines by voting only works if it's to build unity, not for personal friendships.

Numbers Game

McCain's poll numbers aren't looking good, statistically if the states electroal votes come in the way they are predicted today McCain is still almost 100 electoral votes away from clinching the Presidency, that's even with the swing states ( which historically have never all gone to one party). Grossman last Sunday was in a similar position, down 23-13 at the half to a team that was 0-7. Grossman scored a touchdown to propel the Bears to win the game, go onto a 5-3 record and grasp the lead of the NFL north. This gets me thinking, maybe you're down but not necessarily out. McCain still has a chance at the undecided states, Florida isn't necessairly a slam dunk for democrats and Colorado, Iowa, Virgina and Wisconsin have a possibilty of swinging in the GOP's favor. That's 66 electoral votes, he's getting closer.

Good Players

Hello Matt Forte, with 126 rushing yards, and 40 of 54 yards on the go- ahead drive, you made Rex Grossman better. John McCain has good teammates too- remember his years in the Senate, make no mistake he's made some valuable allies, who will campaign on his behalf. Do I think they rival Bill Clinton or Al Gore working it down in Florida, absolutely not- but I do think that in ultra conservative states his allies carry great influence. A great teammate can create a game winning play ( think Forte), therefore all it takes is one play for McCain to switch the momentum on Barack Obama.

Grossman was quoted as saying after the game, " I always thought I was going to play a little bit, I never figured that I wouldn't play at all- odds are that at least two quarterbacks play some especially here in Chicago". It seems that perhaps John McCain has been counted out because of the momentum and media train that is Barack Obama- but I imagine that Mr. McCain believes he's going to play a little bit on election night, after all at two quarterbacks play some, especially here in Chicago, and I wouldn't count McCain out, just yet.

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How far have we fallen?

The past 18 months have been nothing short of brutal for Wildcat Basketball fans. The roller coaster of emotions that the program and its' fans have endured has been long and winding. I thought I would take the opportunity to document just what we have lost and endured in the last 18 months and what the future looks like.

I think the logical starting point is the reassigning of Assistant Coach Jim Rosborough to make room for Kevin O'Neil. Coach Roz was a player favorite and the move came as a shock to most people in and around the program. The reason given was that we had become a weak defensive team and KO was (and is) regarded as one of the best defensive coaches in America. All seemed to be fine until the start of last season when Coach O unexpectedly takes a leave of absence and KO is left to be the interim head coach. Several of our recruits express concern over Lute's long term plans and who will be their coach at the University of Arizona should they commit. Athletic Director Jim Livengood addresses this by naming KO as Lute's successor with no definite time table in place. KO's coaching style immediately rubs freshman Lavell Lucas Perry the wrong way and he transfers to Michigan. The class of 2008 begins to take shape as All-American PG Brandon Jennings de-commits from USC and commits to the U of A. This along with the commitments of PF Emanuel Negudu and Combo Guard Brendon Lavender give the Cats a top 25 recruiting class for the millionth time in a row. It gets better when 7'0ft tall center Jeff Withey de-commits from Louisville and commits to the Cats.

The season is nothing short of F.U.B.A.R. and the players stage a mini revolt against KO behind the scenes. Lute moves to have KO reassigned and the University scrambles to avoid a law suit over having publicly named KO the head coach in waiting. Thankfully KO takes a new job and spares us anymore heartache over his short tenure as our head coach. This of course leaves an opening on the staff and opens the discussion as to how the hierarchy of assistants should be shuffled. Before the problem could get clearer Coach Miles Simon is let go with little or no explanation. Many players and recruits are concerned about the instability but feel loyal to playing for Lute and Coach Pastner.

Pastner tells Lute that he wants to be named the #2 guy in the program when they hire new staff to fill the 2 vacant positions. Coach O balks at this request and hires Mike Dunlap and Reggie Geary (who had been previously stiffed over the Miles Simon hiring process). Lute names Dunlap the #2 and Pastner promptly accepts the #3 job at Memphis under John Calapari. Lute fills Pastners spot with former scummie assistant Russ Pennell.

Meanwhile Emanuel Negudu, who had been recruited by Pastner, no longer feels comfortable with the situation at Arizona and asks for a release from his Letter of Intent. Lute begrudgingly grants his request and Negudu signs with Tennessee and Coach Bruce Pearl. Then news comes that Jerry'd Bayless is leaving the program for the NBA, despite his original plan to play at least two years for Lute. When asked what changed he sites the internal chaos of the program. Chase Budinger waits until the last minute to withdraw his name from the draft and says that the prospect of playing one more year for Lute is what brought him back. Jamelle Horne tells anyone in ear shot that he is transferring and it takes guarantees and personal visits from Lute and the new staff to keep him in the fold. Then Nic Wise tells Coach O that he is seriously considering transferring and by some accounts had the paper work filled out and ready to submit but a last minute plea from Lute swings him back to staying. Just when it seemed the tide was turning incoming word leaks that PG Brandon Jennings, arguably the most talented player to ever commit to the Cats, is considering playing in Europe for a year rather then at Arizona. In the end he did choose to go to Europe, and ultimately failed to register a qualifying SAT/ACT score to be admitted. The new coaching staff takes 3 fairly low rated and under the radar players in Garland Judkins, Kyle Fogg and Darnell Shumpert to round out the 2008 recruiting class with Lavender and Withey. Abdul Gaddy the corner stone of our 2009 recruiting class also felt unsure about the situation around the program and de-commits. In light of Gaddy's commitment Lute offers 2009 PG Reger Dowell who previously had been committed to Alabama. Dowell immediately accepted the offer.

As the fall practices were set to begin the class of 2009 began to take shape with PG Abdul Gaddy recommitting to the Cats after meeting with the new staff and establishing a relationship with Reggie Geary. This along with the commitments of PG Reger Dowell, PF Mike Moser, SF Solomon Hill and PF Greg Smith give the Cats a top 5 recruiting class in the eyes of most experts. Shortly after committing to play at Arizona Greg Smith de-commits. He cites family issues as the reason. With the recommitment of Abdul Gaddy and the de-committing of Smith, it was decided that we needed to find an additional front court player to solidify the recruiting class. In order to make this possible Lute had to rescind Reger Dowell's scholarship offer. He did so immediately and sent Dowell off to find what would be his third school in 6 months.

Then just a few days after Media Day, ESPN announces the Lute is retiring. Of course none of the current players or recruits had been notified about this and learned the news through outside sources like any other fan. With no certainty about who will be coaching them in college Gaddy, Hill and Moser all de-commit within three days of the announcement. Mike Dunlap, who was named #2 over Josh Pastner, declined the interim head coaching job when he was offered it. Now former scummy Russ Pennell, who has never been the head coach of a program higher then AAU level, is our Interim Head Coach. The latest blow is the news that Freshman Center Jeff Withey is transferring. That leaves us with one player from the original recruiting class of 2008(Lavender) and no one from the class of 2009.

I am a loyal and dedicated fan. My faith does not and will not waiver but I want people to realize how dire the situation is. We are no where near an elite program right now, we will be lucky to finish in the middle of the Pac-10 this year and next year will be difficult at best to watch. Remember that each program gets 13 scholarship players and at the end of this season we will have lost 6 of the 13 scholarship players we have recruited in the last 4 years. Of the 7 remaining players on our roster only Alex Jacobson, a work in progress to say the least, is over 6'7 ft tall. The only players left that were rated higher then 3 stars by any of the recruiting services will be Nic Wise and Jamelle Horne.

As it stands right now we have NO ONE in our 2009 recruiting class, largely because we won't be able to name a coach until March at the earliest. It stands to reason that the 2009 class is a wash. This means that we have a starting line up in 2010 that looks like this:
PG - Lavender SG- Judkins SF - Johnson PF- Horne C- Jacobson Bench - Fogg/Shumpert

And then empty bench space……….

Obviously we will fill some of these spots with JUCO players or late signings, but let’s be honest and accept how bleak the situation is. Honestly it could get worse; Jamelle Horne could realistically transfer still as could Lavender.

Who ever we hire to be the next Head Coach has some serious rebuilding to do. The depths to which this program will have fallen at the end of this season may scare away some of the top candidates. Prepare your self Wildcat fans; it will get worse before it gets better.


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Arizona's Coaching Search: Part II

Perhaps some of you out there read my first post upon hearing of Lute Olson's exit from the University of Arizona. Much of that article was done tongue in cheek. Especially considering the candidates consisted of, among others, Denise Austin, Bob Dole, and Craig T. Nelson. But the U of A is facing a serious problem for the future. They need a new coach. And Russ Pennell, Reggie Geary, and Mike Dunlap are not nearly qualified enough to fill in for the Great Lute Olson, no offense to either. Perhaps Pennell's audition this year will buy him a long term contract stepping in Lute's shoes, but let's be honest, we all know that probably won't be the case for the former AAU Coach.

Mike Dunalp, who many thought would be replacing Lute on an interim basis this year, rejected the University's propsal on the basis that he didn't want to be the "interim" Head Coach. It seems that Jim Livengood will be spreading his search nationally and that others may be standing in the way of Pennell, Geary, or Dunlap taking over the Cats for the long haul. So my Top 10 candidates, for reals this time, to replace Lute Olson are below. I should note that there are a couple names on this list that probably wouldn't happen, but these would be the names that I would accept leading the Kitty Cats onto the Hardwood.

Josh Pastner
Arizona Asst Coach 2001-2008
Memphis Asst Coach 2008-Present
Jamie Dixon
UCSB Asst Coach 1991-1992
Hawaii Asst Coach 1992-1994
Northern Arizona Asst Coach 1994-1998
Hawaii Asst Coach 1998-1999
Pittsburgh Asst Coach 1999-2003
Pittsburch Head Coach 2003-Present
Larry Eustachy
Miss. St. Asst Coach 1981-1986
Idaho Asst Coach 1986-1987
Utah Asst Coach 1987-1989
Ball St. Asst Coach 1989-1990
Idaho Head Coach 1990-1993
Utah St. Head Coach 1993-1998
Iowa St. Head Coach 1998-2003
Southern Miss Head Coach 2004-Present
Southern Miss HC - Leave of Absence 2008-2009
Lorenzo Romar
UCLA Asst Coach 1998-1996
Pepperdine Head Coach 1996-1999
Saint Louis Head Coach 1999-2002
Washington Head Coach 2002-Present
Tony Bennett
Wisconsin Asst Coach 1999-2003
Washington State Asst Coach 2003-2006
Washington State Head Coach 2006-Present
Keno Davis
Iowa Asst Coach 1991-1995
Southern Indiana Asst Coach 1995-1997
Southeast Mizz Asst Coach 1997-2003
Drake Asst Coach 2003-2007
Drake Head Coach 2007-2008
Providence Head Coach 2008-Present
Mark Few
Gonzaga Asst Coach 1989-1999
Gonzaga Head Coach 1999-Present
Lon Kruger
Pitt St. Asst Coach 1976-1977
Kansas St. Asst Coach 1977-1982
UTPA Head Coach 1982-1986
Kansas St. Head Coach 1986-1990
Florida Head Coach 1990-1996
Illinois Head Coach 1996-2000
Atlanta Hawks Head Coach 2000-2003
New York Knicks Asst Coach 2003-2004
UNLV Head Coach 2004-Present
Bob McKillop
Davidson Asst Coach 1978-1979
Davidson Head Coach 1989-Present
Jay Wright
Rochester Asst Coach 1984-1986
Drexel Asst Coach 1986-1987
Villanova Asst Coach 1987-1992
UNLV Asst Coach 1992-1994
Hofstra Head Cosch 1994-2001
Villanova Head Coach 2001-Present

All of these guys are under 60 (the oldest being Bob McKillop at 58) and they all have experience at successful programs. All but Josh Pastner have Head Coaching experience, and what Pastner lacks in head coaching experience (at the collegiate level) he makes up for in recruiting ability. Often considered one of the top recruiters in the game and specifically in the West and Southwest areas.

A Coach like Few or Dixon should jump at the opportunity to coach, not only at a Big level school, but a Basketball powerhouse none the less. Either of those two, Pastner, Wright, or Bennett would be able to lock in for a long time (26 years+) as they are all 46 or under. Look at the track records of some of these guys, specifically Few and Wright turning around semi-non-existant/failing programs like Gonzaga and Villanova and becoming successful. And Thought Eustachy would fit in great in Tucson (we do love our Natty Light) My money is on....

....Mark Few as the next University of Arizona Head Basketball Coach. He has to be getting sick of beating up on the rest of the WCC and want to measure himself against the likes of Ben Howland and UCLA rather than the likes of Tom Asbury and Pepperdine. I know he has been contacted, every single offseason by teams looking for a new coach and yet he stays in Washington...or wherever in the Pacific Northwest Gonzaga is located. But Arizona is a different opportunity, especially being able to jump in (presumably) a full year after the official exit of Lute Olson and really 2 years since he coached in Tucson, making his shadow a little less grand.
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