Gridiron Fanatics

Here is the first installment of Gridiron Fanatics’ College Football Hottie of the Week (CFHOW).

For some reason I am thinking of becoming a Clemson Tiger fan this season. I can’t quite figure out what that reason is though but I think it has to do with that “take me now or lose me forever” look in her eyes.

View more college football hotties.

Or the next Kobe Bryant? Pro Football Talk is reporting that Harrah’s employee Andrea McNulty is alleging sexual assualt against Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Rothlisberger.

Roethlisberger faces one civil count of assault, one civil count of sexual assault and battery, one civil count of false imprisonment, one civil count of false pretenses, one civil count of fraud, and one civil count of intentonal infliction of emtional distress.

And just how did Big Ben get himself into this perdicament? With the foolproof, time tested line of “Hey, want to come fix my tv?”

McNulty alleges that Roethlisberger asked her to come to his hotel room to fix the television, and that he thereafter forced her to have sex with him.

Really Ben? You just won the super bowl for a second time, earned Superbowl MVP and you have to resort to cheesy lines to pick up girls?

Right now this is a classic case of he said she said but I guarantee that the Pitsburgh Steelers wish Ben was out riding motorcycles instead cruising for girls. This has the potential to be a big distraction for the Steelers as preseason camp is set to start soon.

Sportsbook.com has posted their NFL super bowl odds. The New England Patriots are the frontrunners at 9-2 while the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants and San Diego Chargers are the next favorites at 10-1. This year’s long shots include the Tampa Bay Buccanneers, Saint Louis Rams and Detroit Lions all currently a 100-1 shot. Here is the complete list of teams and their current odds to win the super bowl:

Arizona Cardinals 30/1

Atlanta Falcons 25/1

Baltimore Ravens 20/1

Buffalo Bills 50/1

Carolina Panthers 25/1

Chicago Bears 10/1

Cincinnati Bengals 60/1

Cleveland Browns 75/1

Dallas Cowboys 15/1

Denver Broncos 50/1

Detroit Lions 100/1

Green Bay Packers 20/1

Houston Texans 30/1

Indianapolis Colts 12/1

Jacksonville Jaguars 40/1

Kansas City Chiefs 75/1

Miami Dolphins 50/1

Minnesota Vikings 12/1

New England Patriots 9/2

New Orleans Saints 20/1

New York Giants 10/1

New York Jets 40/1

Oakland Raiders 75/1

Philadelphia Eagles 12/1

Pittsburgh Steelers 10/1

Saint Louis Rams 100/1

San Diego Chargers 10/1

San Francisco 49ers 40/1

Seattle Seahawks 40/1

Tampa Bay Buccanneers 100/1

Tennessee Titans 20/1

Washington Redskins 25/1

Some things that jump out at me are how are the Patriots going off at 9/2? I guess the book makers feel Tom Brady is 100% healthy and ready to destroy the league again. Or it could just be all the Boston bandwagon fans out there betting that line down? Either way that line is way too high for me to even think about touching it. How are the Oakland Raiders not 1000/1? That team has 0 chance of winning the super bowl. I see some good value in taking the Tennessee Titans at 20/1, Carolina Panthers at 25/1 and the Baltimore Ravens at 20/1. I would steer clear of the San Diego Chargers at 10/1, Vikings at 12/1 even with Brett Favre and Giants at 10/1. I just feel that those odds need to be a lot lower for it to be worth your while to actually place a bet on those 3 teams. I wouldn’t trust any of those QBs on the road in the playoffs.

Click here to bet on your favorite team to win this year’s super bowl.

With the NCAA football season right around the corner I thought I would weigh in with my preseason conference champ selections.

Atlantic Coast Conference:

Atlantic Division: Florida State Seminols – FSU returns a solid defense and an experienced QB in Christian Ponder that should prove the difference in an otherwise weak division.

Coastal Division: Virginia Tech Hokies – Va Tech’s defense should be one of the best in the country this year coupled with a running game that figures to get back on track Virginia Tech will be a formidable foe this season in the ACC.

Championship Game Winner: Virginia Tech Hokies – Va Tech’s experienced defense will prove the difference in this game and send Virginia Tech to another BCS appearance.

Big East Conference:

Cincinnati Bearcats – Cincinnati is returning a very experienced team, outside of the QB position where a redshirt freshman will start, that will help the Bearcats win their 2nd Big East title in a row.

Big Ten Conference:

Penn State Nittany Lions – Penn State returns with Big 10 offensive player of the Darryl Clarke at QB. Along with RB Evan Royster the Nittany Lions figure to have a potent offensive attack. Pivotal game against Ohio State in Happy Valley make Penn State the front runner for the Big 10 title.

Big 12 Conference:

North Division: Nebraska Cornhuskers – QB Joe Ganz leads an experienced offensive unit in the weak Big 12 North division this year. Coach Bo Pelini looks to get the Nebraska defense back on track with their old “blackshirts” days.

South Division: Oklahoma Sooners – OU’s offense returns with star QB and heisman trophy winner Sam Bradford. Mix in the rushing attack of DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown and the Sooners will put up a lot of points again this year.

Championship Game Winner: Oklahoma Sooners – OU just has too much talent for Nebraska. OU wins in a shootout and goes back to another BCS bowl.

Pac 10 Conference:

USC Trojans – A plethora of RBs will lead USC to yet another Pac 10 championship.

South Eastern Conference:

East Division: Florida Gators – With Tim Tebow returning for his senior season at QB he is a proven leader who can put the team on his back and lead them to victory.

West Division: Alambam Crimson Tide – Solid defensive unit returns along with stand out WR Julio Jones to make Alabama a top team in the SEC.

Championship Game Winner: Florida Gators – Experience and talent carry Florida past the Crimson tide in the SEC Championship game.

Bonus Pick:

National Champs: Oklahoma Sooners – OU avenges last year’s loss to the Gators and Bradford gets a National Championship ring to go with his Heisman trophy.

Espn.com is reporting that Notre Dame will play Army at the new Yankee Stadium in 2010, link.

A source close to the situation confirmed to ESPN.com Friday that Army and Notre Dame will play the first football game at the new Yankee Stadium in 2010.
Army issued a release Friday afternoon touting a “major college football announcement” Monday at the stadium. The announcement will be a game against the Fighting Irish, said the source, renewing a once-vibrant New York City tradition.

What is the deal with playing sports other than baseball in baseball stadiums these days? This was started with the Detroit Red Wings playing the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2009 Winter Classic at Wrigley Field:

Which will be followed up with Fenway Park hosting the 2010 Winter Classic between the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers.

At least with the NHL you have the novelty of taking a sport that is played indoors and moving it outside. This move to play Army at Yankee stadium seems like nothing more than a dumb marketing ploy for a once proud program that has been floundering as of late. With Notre Dame’s stadium seating approximately 30,000 more fans than the new Yankee Stadium it seems pretty stupid for ND to forfeit those ticket sales. They are going to need the money to buyout Charlie Weiss’ contract after another disappointing season.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas unless you are Adam “Pacman” Jones. The Las Vegas Review Journal has uncovered video footage of the infamous night during the NBA’s all star weekend in 2007.



In the video Pacman can be seen making it rain with close to $100,000.

Jones told police he arrived at the club with “close to $100,000.” He took $40,000 out of his Louis Vuitton bag and exchanged it for several stacks of $1 bills, which he put in a black trash bag, according to his statement. So much money was thrown onto the main stage that dancers, after their sets, started filling buckets with the loose bills covering the stage

Even rappers Nelly and Jermaine Dupri get into the act.

When several dancers bent over to collect the cash, Dupri took over the DJ’s microphone and said: “We gonna show y’all how to make it rain.”
“Don’t start getting the money until I tell y’all to get off the stage,” Dupri said. “… Just keep f—ing dancing! Don’t bend down and try to get your money.”

That is where things started getting out of control and sadly the video cuts out. How do you not expect things to go differently than planned when you are carrying around $100,000 in a Louis Vuitton backpack telling strippers they can not pick up $1 bills? Telling a stripper to not pick up the money is like telling Matthew McConaughey to not be a douchebag, it just isn’t going to happen.

I vote that we get Pacman his own reality show. Like you wouldn’t watch Pacman making it rain in everyday situations? Pacman in the laundromat…make it rain, Pacman in the grocery store…make it rain, Pacman at the mall…make it rain. Come on TV execs lets make this happen. If you can get B list celebrities in a jungle you can get Pacman making it rain for us.

Earlier this week Major League Baseball held it’s annual mid summer classic in St. Louis, MO.  With yet another American League victory that can mean only one thing.  Yup, football is right around the corner.  With some teams opening training camp on July 26th (You can find your team’s opening date here) I couldn’t help to think what this season might bring. Here are some predictions for the 2009 NFL season.

T.O will start a fight in in the Bills locker room
We are supposed to believe that Terrell Owens is a changed man and going to behave in Buffalo? He goes from a team that was 13-3 in 2008 and 9-7 (with a significant QB injury) in 2009. He couldn’t stop demanding the ball be thrown his way, even when he still dropped it, and accused Tony Romo of everything short of being a Klansman. Now he is in Buffalo where they measure the snow in feet, were 7-9 the last two years and have a QB platoon of Trent Edwards and JP Losman. I predict T.O. blows a gasket before the BYE week and is counting the paychecks until he gets to go implode another franchise in 2010.

Brett Favre’s arm will fall off
This is more wishful hoping on my part than a prediction. I’m not sure if I can handle another offseason where Favre retires then unretires and all of the media following that comes with it. So please for the love of God Brett if you retire next season, for the thrid time, please stay retired.

The Detroit Lions will win atleast 1 game
This might not seem like the least bold of the predictions but for a team that is 1-23 in their last 24 games winning is the exception in Detroit these days. I feel this is the Lions year to get at least one victory although I do not think it will come until week 8 when the St. Louis Rams come to town.

Carolina and Baltimore will play in the Super Bowl
This year’s super bowl will feature two hard hitting defenses between the Carolina Panthers and Baltimore Ravens. Although I think Carolina’s two headed rushing attack will prevail it will be a tightly contested low scoring game.

No matter how the season plays out I just know one thing I am ready for some football!