Tuesday, October 28, 2014

"Lazzari's Sports Roundup" - - - - 10/25/14

Nice gesture by Yale last weekend--honoring Penn football coach Al Bagnoli prior to coaching his final game at the Yale Bowl. Bagnoli is retiring at the end of this season after coaching at Penn for 23 years. Yale head coach Tony Reno and athletic director Tom Beckett met Al at midfield in a pre-game ceremony--exchanging pleasantries and presenting him with a packaged retirement gift. Bagnoli will go down as one of the great Ivy League coaches in history--having won nine outright titles. Altogether (he started his coaching career at Union), he is one of a handful of coaches in FCS history to record over 200 career wins. Best of luck, Coach Bagnoli--and kudos to the folks at Yale for recognizing the accomplishments of such a tremendous coach/gentleman..........TRIVIA QUESTION: The 1988 Detroit Lions--who finished 4-12 under head coaches Darryl Rogers and Wayne Fontes--were led in rushing by a running back who would play just three years in the NFL. Can you name this former LSU product? Answer to follow..........Speaking of Penn, the school's band started playing Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls" at one point during last week's game at the Yale Bowl. Now THAT's a song you will NOT heard played very often at a college football game--if EVER. Sounded GOOD, too!..........Still waiting to hear back from the lovely Christie Brinkley regarding a decade-long invitation to play tennis. Can it be that she's simply been out of the country for the majority of that time and doesn't read sports columns on a regular basis?..........Did you know that the 2006 Oakland Raiders' highest TD total in a single game was just three--and they accomplished that just ONCE the entire season? It happened during Week 3 when they lost to Cleveland--and ONE of those touchdowns was by the defense. Oh, yes, they scored just 168 points that year--dead last in the NFL..........ITEM: Tennessee Titans RB Shonn Greene is arrested after he allegedly parked in a handicapped space. Instead of accepting the penalty of a simple parking ticket, Greene chose to speed away from the scene and now faces MULTIPLE charges. Call me judgmental, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and state that Green was NOT enrolled in advanced microbiology courses while he was attending Iowa between 2005 and 2008..........I used to think that a Tom Seaver slider was the ultimate thing of beauty. That all changed the other day when I saw a picture of actress/model Sofia Vergara decked out in a Ruben Singer gown while at a recent event in New York City. BREATHTAKING, folks; so sorry, "Tom Terrific"..........Lazzari's "Lopsided Score of the Week": In a college football game played in Kentucky last weekend, Murray State annihilated Kentucky Wesleyan 86-29; the winning squad totaled a whopping 720 yards of offense in this game. Incredibly, this match-up was still competitive at halftime--with MSU holding a 41-29 lead. Yes, folks--that means Murray State outscored Kentucky Wesleyan 45-0 in the SECOND HALF. I can only think of two scenarios that would explain the second half dominance of the winning team: 1) MSU must have REALLY been angry at halftime after giving up 29 points and vowed to shut down Kentucky Wesleyan the rest of the way, or 2) The Kentucky Wesleyan starters got on the bus and WENT HOME at halftime--thinking 41-29 was the final score..........The more I read about "character issues" possessed by both Percy Harvin and Marshawn Lynch, the more I am impressed by Pete Carroll and his coaching ability/player management skills after winning the Super Bowl last season..........Answer to trivia question: GARRY JAMES--who rushed for 552 yards (at an average of only three yards per carry); James played in the league from 1986-1988..........Finally, condolences go out to the family of former USC swim team coach Peter Daland--who died recently in California at the age of 93 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Daland coached at USC from 1958-1992 and was also an assistant at Yale during the 1950's. Altogether, he won NINE NCAA championships at the southern California school and coached approximately 400 All-Americans. In addition, he coached the U.S. women in the 1964 Olympics and the U.S. men during the '72 Games in Munich--where he mentored the great Mark Spitz. He has been inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, the American Swimming Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and the USC Athletic Hall of Fame. Yes, the pool at USC's aquatic center now bears the name of this legendary coach. Peter Daland is survived by his wife of 50 years, Ingrid, five children, and eight grandchildren. Rest in peace, "Coach."

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