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Page 6A - Tuesday, December 8, 2009 - Plainview Daily Herald http://www.MyPlainview.com
Plainview Daily Herald
http://www.myplainview.com
McCoy, Tebow among
fi ve Heisman fi nalists
By RALPH D. RUSSO
AP College Football Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — In a year when star
quarterbacks were supposed to dominate the
Heisman Trophy race, two running backs
and a defensive tackle made as good a case
to win college football’s most prestigious
award as any of the marquee passers.
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and Texas
quarterback Colt McCoy were named Heisman
fi nalists on Monday along with running
backs Mark Ingram and Toby Gerhart and
defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.
The last time as many as fi ve players were
invited to New York was 2004, when USC
quarterback Matt Leinart won the award.
Tebow, McCoy and last year’s winner Sam
Bradford of Oklahoma entered this season as
heavy Heisman favorites. But Bradford got
hurt and Tebow and McCoy haven’t been as
productive this season as last. Neither will
go into Saturday’s presentation as the frontrunner.
Tebow, who was the fi rst sophomore to
win the Heisman in 2007, is again trying to
become the second two-time Heisman winner,
joining Ohio State’s Archie Griffi n.
Tebow fi nished third in the voting last year,
while getting the most fi rst-place votes.
He’s the fi rst player to be invited to the
Heisman Trophy ceremony three times since
the presentation started being televised in
1981. He’s also the fi rst player to fi nish in
the top fi ve of the Heisman balloting three
times since Georgia tailback Herschel Walker
did it in the early 1980s.
McCoy was the runner-up last season and
has led No. 2 Texas to the BCS national
championship game this season.
Ingram has run for 1,542 yards and scored
By TIM MARTIN
Associated Press Writer
EAST LANSING, Mich.
(AP) — A short-handed
Michigan State team will
head to the Alamo Bowl
to play Texas Tech on Jan.
2 in a matchup of Big Ten
and Big 12 teams.
Kickoff will be at 7 p.m.
on ESPN.
The bowl matchup announced
Sunday will be a
challenge for the Spartans
(6-6).
Texas Tech (8-4) will
bring one of the nation’s
best passing attacks to San
Antonio. Michigan State
has been shaky on pass defense
much of the season
and will be without starting
defensive back Chris L.
Rucker, one of eight Spartans
suspended indefi nitely
and not making the bowl
trip because they were at a
Nov. 22 fi ght with members
of a campus fraternity.
Two starting wide receivers,
B.J. Cunningham and
Mark Dell, also are among
the suspended players. But
the Spartans say the Alamo
Bowl — a good postseason
trip for a team with a .500
record — will give them a
chance to fi nish the season
strong both on and off the
fi eld.
“There’s a lot to play for,”
Michigan State quarterback
Kirk Cousins said. “We feel
we can take a negative situation
and turn it into a positive.”
Cousins say players have
been focused and intense
since the Spartans began
practicing in anticipation of
a bowl Saturday.
“My heart breaks for
those guys,” Cousins said of
his suspended teammates.
“The fact that they’re not
there with us for this bowl
game — it will hurt. But
at the same time, there are
other guys who we work
with who have not had as
much of an opportunity to
play who are now going to
have that opportunity.”
Michigan State last went
to the Alamo Bowl in 2003,
15 touchdowns for No. 1 Alabama.
Stanford’s Gerhart, meanwhile, has run for
more yards (1,736) and scored more touchdowns
(26) than any player in the nation.
And Nebraska’s Suh had 4 1/2 sacks in
an attention-grabbing performance against
Texas in the Big 12 title game. He is the fi rst
defensive player to be a fi nalist since 1997,
when Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson
became the fi rst full-time defensive
player to win the Heisman.
Tebow returned for his senior season to
try to lead the Gators to a third national title
in four seasons, but he won’t reach that goal.
After being No. 1 almost all season, Florida
lost to Alabama 32-13 in the Southeastern
Conference title game on Saturday and was
knocked out of the national championship
race.
The loss likely damaged Tebow’s chances
at a second Heisman, too. He has passed for
2,413 yards and rushed for 859 yards this
year.
Like Tebow, McCoy also returned for his
senior season to make a championship run.
He has Texas a victory away from its fi rst
national title since 2005, but his numbers
also have fallen off compared to ’08.
McCoy has passed for 3,512 yards with
27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He also
nearly threw away the Longhorns’ national
championship hopes on the second-to-last
play of the Nebraska game, coming within
a second of letting the clock run out before
Texas could attempt the winning fi eld goal
in a 13-12 victory.
McCoy could become the fi rst player to
win the Heisman the season after fi nishing
second since Walker did it in 1982.
SPORTS
losing to Nebraska.
The Spartans and Red
Raiders will be meeting for
the fi rst time.
Texas Tech averages
nearly 381 yards passing
per game, second in the
nation behind only Houston.
The Red Raiders average
nearly 37 points per
game.
“Very exciting offense —
they bring a lot to the table
in that regard,” Michigan
State coach Mark Dantonio
said.
The Spartans also have a
powerful offense, averaging
nearly 30 points per game.
The Alamo Bowl selected
Michigan State over
Minnesota even though
both have 6-6 records and
the Gophers defeated the
Spartans this season. Minnesota
instead will go to the
Insight Bowl.
The Alamo Bowl has
higher team payouts and
better TV exposure than the
Insight Bowl.
Richard Porter/Plainview Daily Herald
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Page 6A
HEAVY
PRES-
SURE: PlainviewBulldog
Rick
Jackson
(22) applies
pressure to
a Lubbock
Cooper
player during
a recent
game. The
Dogs host
Levelland
in a doubleheader
with the
Lady Dogs
starting
at 6 p.m.
today in the
DogHouse.
Plainview
Christian’s
Eagles
and Lady
Eagles take
on Miami
starting
at 5 p.m.
today at
“The Box”
at West
Texas A&M
University
in Canyon.
Ex-NBA ref Donaghy has standards, just not high ones
By TIM DAHLBERG
AP Sports Columnist
Apparently, Tim Donaghy does
have standards after all. They just
aren’t very high.
That’s about all I’ve learned
from the media blitz that just happens
to coincide with the release
of Donaghy’s book on the fun
he used to have refereeing in the
NBA. That, and the fact Donaghy
seems to be one cold fi sh.
Prison can turn you into that,
so maybe it isn’t surprising that
Donaghy didn’t do what most
disgraced public fi gures do when
they return to the national stage
and shed tears of remorse to show
everyone that, yes, he understands
that what he did was wrong.
Still, the path he’s taking is
both familiar and well-worn. It’s
helped keep Oprah on top in the
daytime, and has been a mainstay
on “60 Minutes” for nearly as long
as Andy Rooney has been alive.
Televised confessionals are
good for the soul, and even better
for the ratings.
Sometimes they even help you
See Heisman, Page 7A
sell a few books, as An-
true, but if the fi x is in,
dre Agassi demonstrat-
then someone didn’t
ed with such startling
get the memo last sea-
effi ciency.
son when LeBron and
Donaghy, of course,
company were uncer-
has one coming out,
emoniously dispatched
though I can’t under-
before he could square
stand why anyone
off against Kobe in the
would buy it. Actually,
fi nals.
I don’t know why any- DONAGHY
one buys any of these
Donaghy presents all
of this like it is some
books — Agassi’s included — be- insider tale of what really happens
cause all the good stuff is already behind the scenes in the NBA.
out and the rest is usually fi ller But it’s the kind of thing that any
that no one cares about anyway. wise guy who is betting his own
So far, though, Donaghy’s good money in Las Vegas knows just
stuff isn’t even that good. from watching trends and follow-
So referees don’t like certain ing teams closely.
players and do like others? Big The rest of Donaghy’s claim of
deal, it’s not like we haven’t fi g- winning bets on three out of four
ured out before that the best play- games based just on what he knew
ers usually get the benefi t of the from watching players and refer-
doubt.
ees is certainly plausible. Good
Teams also apparently don’t bettors can beat the point spread
like it when their superstars are consistently if they pick the right
called for fouls. Wow, who would games and understand trends and
have known?
tendencies.
And this just in: The NBA likes But anyone expecting Donaghy
it when the star teams advance to blow the lid off of all kinds of
in the playoffs, and the more NBA conspiracies and scandals
games the merrier. That may be had to be disappointed with the
early returns. If anything, the most
interesting thing Donaghy had to
say on “60 Minutes” backs up the
conclusion of both the league and
prosecutors that he was telling
the truth when he said he didn’t
call fouls in games simply to win
bets.
Once a game began, Donaghy
said he put his bets out of his
mind and tried to uphold his duty
as an NBA referee — even when
it angered the mobsters he gave
betting picks to. That included
ejecting San Antonio coach Gregg
Popovich one night in a game
where he had a bet on the Spurs.
“I didn’t think about the bet
during the game,” Donaghy said.
“And in my mind, he needed to be
ejected.”
Donaghy’s appearance on the
show drew the predictable David
Stern statement that nothing
the former referee has said or
done shows any evidence that
the NBA’s integrity was compromised
by anyone other than
Donaghy. But Stern had to be
pleased that, instead of breaking
open a festering scandal,
Donaghy’s book tour seems to
be putting closure on one of the
league’s most embarrassing episodes.
The commissioner’s reaction
all along has been to call Donaghy
a rogue referee and hope
nothing more serious surfaced to
prove him wrong. Nothing more
has and, if anything, Donaghy’s
actions look less reprehensible
now than they did at the outset
when everyone just assumed he
was blowing the whistle to make
himself money.
Both prosecutors and league investigators
who watched hours of
tapes of Donaghy’s calls say they
have no evidence he was doing
that. He was winning his money
while keeping his hands clean, at
least on the court.
That’s not a small distinction,
which is one reason why Donaghy
is so eager to talk about it now.
He does, after all, have his standards.
(Tim Dahlberg is a national
sports columnist for The Associated
Press. Write to him at tdahlberg@ap.org)
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