This Date in Sports History

On December 29th 1978, Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes blows up in the closing stages of the Gator Bowl with the Buckeyes losing to Clemson 17-15. When Clemson linebacker Charlie Bauman intercepts an Ohio State pass and runs into the sideline area, Hayes sets off a brief bench-emptying scuffle. The next day, the 65 year old OSU mentor will be fired after 28 years with the team, a 205-61-10 record and 5 national titles.

Happy Birthday to...

1. Richie Sexson, Born in 1974
2. Laveranues Coles, Born in 1977

And an early Happy Birthday to Cleveland star LeBron James who will be celebrating his birthday tomorrow, December 30th

My Top Ten Favorite Browns Players

This Sunday December 31st is the last week of the NFL and since my fantasy football season is over, I finished in third place by the way, I decided to make a list of my ten favorite Browns players.

10. Josh Cribbs - the WR/KR is a very exciting player to watch. If only he was more consistent.

9. Webster Slaughter - a mainstay of the Browns offense in the '80s.

8. Brian Brennan - He began the 1991 season as the 5th leading receiver in Brown's history.

7. Braylon Edwards - obviously his affiliation with the University of Michigan is a negative, but he is a

major piece of the Brown's future.

6. Lou "The Toe" Groza - from the Brown's future to the Brown's past. Groza was a real football player. He was a kicker (hence the nickname "the toe") and a defensive lineman.

5. Stevon Moore - in his second season as a Brown in 1993 Stevon had 157 tackles.

4. Pepper Johnson - Johnson was part of a defense that in 1994 set a 16 game record allowing only 204

points.

3. Steve Everitt - drafted with the 14th pick in 1993 Everitt stabilized the middle of the offense. He also endured himself to Browns fans everywhere by wearing a Browns Memorial Doo-Rag, during the first exhibition game as a Raven.

2. Eric Metcalf - Metcalf was the spark plug of the Browns teams in the early '90s. He was a great Punt Return man who made the fans of the Dawg Pound really feel like part of the team.

1. Bernie Kosar - was there any doubt that he would be # 1 on the list. Belichick made a real big mistake when he cut Bernie in favor of Vinny Testaverde.

My Top Ten Sports Movies

Here is a small list of my favorite sports movies.

10. Little Giants - Rick Moranis and Ed O'Neill as brother?! It just doesn't get much funnier than that.

9. Rookie of the Year - The whole premise of the movie is far-fetched but thanks to Daniel Stern's performance as the Pitching Coach of the Cubs it makes the list

8. D2: The Mighty Ducks - The original Ducks, headlined by Goldberg the goalie get some new players as they go for the gold. With cameo appearances by Wayne Gretzky, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Chris Chelios.

7. Jerry Maguire - Although some of the lines in the movie has been overused, it still is a great inside look at the life of a sports agent.

6. The Waterboy - Henry Winkler and Adam Sandler are great in this movie.

5. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story - "If you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a ball". Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Rip Torn are all wonderful but Stephen Root trying to dodge traffic is definitely the funniest scene in the movie.

4. Hoosiers - The movie is a little bit too long but it's a great story.

3. Major League - When the widow of the owner of the Cleveland Indians realizes that she is stuck with a small stadium in a cold climate, she decides that a move to a Southern, warmer climate is called for. Unfortunately the only way she can unload her stadium is due to low attendance, so she needs to plan for a losing and lackluster season. The team of misfits and losers that she has hired, though, decide that if they really pull through, they may not wind up in last place and not be the losers that the owner thinks that they are. This offbeat baseball comedy, starring Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen and Rene Russo, was a surprise 1989 hit.

2. Remember the Titans - Only one word needs to be said why this movie was as great as it was...Denzel.

1. Field of Dreams - This movie is much more than a sports movie. A wonderful cast, a wonderful story and a wonderful message. The one major issue is that "Shoeless" Joe Jackson was a lefty while Ray Liotta who plays Jackson was batting from the right side of the plate.

The Good Guys

Nowadays in Sports the "Bad Boy" image is alive and well. All you need to do is watch Sportscenter as they report about the 8th Cincinnati Bengal this season to be arrested/suspended for any number of things. Or listen to the radio as they talk about players named T.O., Ron Artest, Steven Jackson (of the Pacers not the Rams), Barry Bonds, or any player who went to "The U". Unfortunately because of these people all athletes get a bad name. Unfortunately The Sporting News only has their "Good Guys" issue once a year. So this post is in honor of the good guys.

Dikembe Mutombo - the 7 foot 4 Center has built hospitals and schools in Africa.

LaDainian Tomlinson - after breaking the single season record for touchdowns with three games left to go in the season L.T. stayed after the game to talk with underprivileged youth instead of going out with his teammates and celebrating his accomplishment.

Everson Walls - most people probably never heard of Everson Walls, the truth is that before I heard this story on Jim Rome's radio show I had never heard of him either. Everson Walls was a player for the Dallas Cowboys (back when they were America's Team...not America's Most Wanted). He recently gave one of his kidneys to Ron Springs (father of NFLer Shawn Springs) a former teammate of his. Everson Walls did not give of his time, he did not give of his money he gave of himself...literally.

There are many more athletes who have done good things, I would not want to leave anyone out and that is why I'm only mentioning 3 athletes. Let us celebrate and idolize these guys and people like them.

BCS National Championship Game

On January 8th the Ohio State Buckeyes will be going up against the Florida Gators. Here are a few of my thoughts on this games. Both teams have explosive offenses, both have good young defenses, both have excellent coaches. For Ohio State this will be the 3rd time this season they will be playing the #2 team in College Football (the other two being Texas and Michigan). Also Ohio State needs to run the ball effectively because Florida has a few of their D-linemen imjured, so the more Ohio State can run the more time Florida's defense will be on the field and they'll be very tired. When Florida has the ball Ohio State needs to remember 2 things, if you get pressure on Chris Leak he'll make mistakes, also when freshman QB Tim Tebow comes on the field he runs to the left, never to the right always to the left.

Mr. Big Game a.k.a. Troy Smith will have to lead his team if they want to win this game, it can definitely be done but it will be difficult.

Go Buckeyes!!!