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Norm Chow:
Reportedly will take Titans O.C. job today (for
not-unsubstantial $900K). Credit Tennessee and Chow for making a bold move. Keep reading. QUICKIE LIVE! 9-10 a.m.
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The Lead Item
Two Words For You:
TURNOVER. RATIO.
Forget Weis and Crennel. The Pats'
assistants are so yesterday's story.
Except for the drama that Weis, the NFL's reigning
best offensive mind, just left to go Back to
School ...
.. And there to claim his title is the Titans' new
O.C., Norm Chow, making the reverse commute from
college to the pros.
It's the best coaching move of the day-old NFL
offseason.
Labels like "innovative," "genius" and, frankly,
"college coach" usually cause NFL fans and analysts to
have an allergic reaction.
But given Chow's role as the offensive architect
of the USC dynasty, his presence in an NFL booth
instantly makes Tennessee must-see. Have you ever felt
that way about the historically unremarkable
Titans?
As a pro O.C., Chow will quickly position himself not
just for the college job of his choice (see Charlie
Weis), but for an NFL head job.
(Say: San Diego? Picture him back in SoCal with LT,
Gates and ex-protege Philip Rivers.)
Admirably, Chow has made no secret that he welcomes
the chance to be the first Asian-American head coach
(in either college or the NFL).
With this move, he gets closer -- and the Titans get
better.
Ex-Pats: What Next?
Crennel to Browns: Where the
selfless Pats spirit is replaced with a Cleveland
culture in which the answer to any motivational slogan
Crennel may have is:
But there IS a 'ME' in TEAM.
Weis to Notre Dame: And he thought Pats
Nation was needy? Wait until he gets a taste of the
Irish boosters.
Early line on the over/under until they break Weis'
independent, "We'll-do-things-differently" spirit:
September 10 (at Michigan).
Canseco's Book
Wow, the backlash is fierce! I'm among
those quick to disbelieve Canseco, too. He's a
punchline, not a former Bash Brother. "Canseco and
Able?" Not quite.
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CHECK OUT THE QUICKIE EVERY WEEKDAY MORNING! |
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| WHO'S GOT THE MOMENTUM ... |
Pacific: Make first-ever hoops top 25 appearance
Gilbert Arenas: 43 pts (Wiz d. IND); ASG reserve lock!
Black One Black: Funky Nike golf ball is hot new thing
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| ... AND WHO'S GOT NO MO' |
Syracuse HCA: UConn snaps Orange 16-G home W streak
Lakers: Relocating to "Rock Bottom?" Lose to lowly Hawks
MLB Free Agent Watch: Finally over! Maggs signs with DET
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But let's just remember that Mark McGwire did
fuel his home-run binge with a substance later banned
by MLB for being steroid-ish.
Palmeiro denies allegation: "At no point in my
career have I ever used steroids, let alone any
substance banned by Major League Baseball."
(Left unsaid: Viagra rules!)
Bush denies, too: "If there was [roids], he was
not aware of it at the time," the President's spokesman said.
Canseco is playing WAY out of his league with that
claim.
Reid's Rep Wreck
O.C. Childress, too: Just decimated by
well-deserved day-after Philly-fan agita, driven by
the worst embarrassment of time management since the
1972 Olympic hoops final.
"We did try to get it going," Reid said Monday.
"(But) I can't tell you in detail why it didn't work
as well as it should've." Maybe that's part of the
problem.
T.O.'s Rep Repair
If it's possible to win, even in loss,
Terrell Owens did it with his gritty 9-catch, 122-yard
game. Amazingly, he did more to create fans (even turning
critics into fans) than any previous celebration
gesture, nervy yapping or on-field exploit.
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All-Star Reserves
Announced today. I did a mash-up of
Chad Ford, Marc Stein and ESPN.com users' reserve
picks to craft a Consensus Reserve List:
East: Wade, J. O'Neal, Arenas, Francis, Okafor,
Jamison, Pierce
West: Nash, Amare, Dirk, Marion, Ginobili, Brand,
Allen
Snubs: Bosh, C-Webb, Gasol
Rivalry Week
Tonight's top matchups:
1 Illinois at Michigan: Remember the '89
"Flying" Illini team (knocked out in FF by Michigan)?
Reminds me of this '05 squad. (7, ESPN)
4 B.C. at Notre Dame: Great if it was football;
even better with B.C. visiting as unbeaten. Will
Charlie Weis be there? (7, ESPN2)
Florida at Kentucky: You know what that means,
right? Possibility of an Ashley Judd sighting! Need
any more reason to watch? (9, ESPN)
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GoDaddy:
Despite airing the most talked-about ad of the Super
Bowl, an encore airing in the 4th was reportedly
yanked. (Wait: Good enough for 1st, but not 4th?!)
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Today on ESPN.com
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| Quickie Live! |
| Bracketology |
| Olney on Canseco |
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Ways (Gack!) Boston
(Ugh!) Rules in
(Cough!) Sports |  Baseball
| Nothing tops reversing Curse
|  NFL
| 2 in row; 3 in 4 ... phew!
|  College hoops
| B.C. is new St. Joe's
|  Running
| Marathon is annual show
|  Hockey
| | Beanpot: sport's marquee event |
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Let me get this straight: Nuggets SG Vashon Lenard has
been sidelined with injury since Day 1, but feels well
enough to defend his 3-PT title? ...
Rest of NBA ASG 3PT field: Suns Joe Johnson,
Q. Richardson; Sonics Ray Allen, Vlad Radmanovic;
76ers Kyle Korver (Hoiberg snubbed!) ...
Mailman to Spurs? Having a hard time understanding how
Karl Malone is the missing piece to put SA over the
top; isn't Duncan the power forward? ...
Boston owns baseball, football, college hoops -- now
NHL-free hockey?! Beanpot is sport's top event in 2005
(NE d. Harvard; BU d. BC) ...
VC 10K: Congrats to Vince Carter, who became the 41st
NBA player to reach the 10,000-point plateau (scoring
season-high 43 in Nets W) ...
Scuttlebutt mill: Rick Majerus taking Mike Davis' job
at Indiana? Or, at least, someone is planting that
rumor. Tracking ...
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