The Wiz of Odds

Reporters Notebooks

Pete Flutak, College Football News: There's a bad, bad, bad mix potentially brewing between a sport whose national championship matchup is decided, mostly, by opinions and judging in a system that thrives and flourishes on chaos and open dialogue, and a network with financial rooting interests and no tolerance whatsoever for even the most minor of controversies. Yes, it will be a problem at some point that ESPN will control the message and the information that those voting for the top teams will be receiving.

Mark Baker and Rob Moseley, Eugene Register-Guard: The state Department of Justice plans to review the $2.3 million severance payment from the University of Oregon to departing athletic director Mike Bellotti. Plus, suspended quarterback Jeremiah Masoli has decided to remain at Oregon. Speculation abounded that Masoli might transfer rather than sit out a season as a redshirt before returning to play as a senior in 2011. Eugene police have also released their report into the Masoli and Garrett Embry theft incident. Thanks to Ryan!

Bob Smith, Penn Live: After Tim Tebow, would you send your son to play quarterback for Urban Meyer?

C.L. Brown, Louisville Courier-Journal: Former Louisville staffers Brent Guy and Joe Kenn filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit for nearly a half-million dollars against the university's Athletic Association for the full compensation of their contracts.

Kyle Ringo, Boulder Daily Camera: Colorado quarterback Cody Hawkins is refusing to do interviews with beat reporters from the Camera, the Longmont Times-Call and Denver Post. The reason? "Cody is not talking to reporters he feels have been attacking his dad [Dan]," according to the sports information office.

Jeff Arnold, Ann Arbor.com: A 6-inch by 4-foot portion of FieldTurf near the Block "M" at the center of the Michigan Stadium field was removed by vandals last weekend.

How Cold Are Big Ten Games?

Back in the day, Woody Hayes wouldn't let a little snow get in the way of his choice in winter wear. Instead, he would prowl the sidelines like it were a summer day.

Maybe Woody was onto something, that Big Ten games weren't as cold as advertised. Perhaps fall weather in the upper Midwest was simply perfect for football.

The Daily Gopher researched game day average temperatures for Big Ten home games in 2009 and found that only six of 77 games were played in weather below 40 degrees.

The coldest places were Iowa and Minnesota, which averaged 51.4 degrees on home football Saturdays. The warmest was Purdue, which averaged 58.4.

Only one game was played in freezing temperatures. That was the Dec. 5 matchup between Fresno State and Illinois in Champaign, which went off under 28-degree conditions.

The warmest was the Sept. 12 matchup between Air Force and Minnesota in Minneapolis, played in 74-degree conditions.

USC's Lane Change

Like him or not, Lane Kiffin, all of 34 years old, is back at the scene of his prime.

USC opens spring practice Tuesday, its first with Kiffin as head coach. As a six-year assistant, Kiffin helped USC roll to the best of times, including a victory over Oklahoma in the 2004 Bowl Championship Series title game.

"This is a unique place," says Kiffin, who has a 12-21 record as coach.

He's happy to be out of the Knoxville fishbowl, where it was impossible to make a trip to the market or dine at a restaurant. Demands for autographs and photos would keep him occupied for hours.

Jackass Urban Meyer Apologizes to Reporter

Florida's Urban Meyer apologized to Orlando Sentinel reporter Jeremy Fowler over the weekend. That's a good first step, but Meyer took the chicken salad approach by doing it in private and not in public.

Meyer publicly threatened Fowler last week and, in fairness to Fowler, the Florida coach needs to apologize in front of the other reporters who watched the coach bully the reporter. Anything less is unacceptable. Gene Frenette of the Florida Times-Union shares this opinion.

Then there is the case of the spineless reporters stood up for Meyer, and Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi writes that those members of the "media" also should tell Fowler they were wrong. I couldn't agree more.

Reporters Notebooks

Luisa Yanez, Miami Herald: Florida International running back Kendall Berry was stabbed to death on campus Thursday night. Barry, a junior, was fatally wounded outside a recreation center by another man. The two had been in an argument. The university said spring practice would be suspended indefinitely.

Matthew McGowan, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lawyers for a local school district want Mike Leach’s legal team to pay nearly $10,000 for a massive stack of documents relating to Tommy Tuberville and his children. Frenship Independent School District attorneys are billing Leach for the time they spent compiling and reviewing some 17,000 pages of records he requested through a subpoena.

Tommy Deas, Tuscaloosa News: More legal troubles for Rich Rodriguez. The Michigan coach is one of several defendants being sued in Alabama over a real-estate deal gone bad. West Columbia Trading Company of South Carolina is asking for more than $995,000 plus interest on a $1-million loan for the Legends of Tuscaloosa complex built near Bryant-Denny Stadium. The suit claims payment was due Dec. 31, 2007. Illinois assistant Ron West is also a defendant.

Joe Henderson, Tampa Tribune: One has to wonder what's going on inside Urban Meyer's head? A rational person doesn't behave this way. He is supposed to be reducing stress in his life, but instead he is seeking ways to create more.

Steve Duin, Oregonian: Has the Oregon athletic program become the private plaything of rich men like Phil Knight and Pat Kilkenny?

George Schroeder, Eugene Register-Guard: In an American Football Coaches Association survey taken earlier this year, 93% of Division I-A coaches prefer the bowls over a playoff, and 85% say that they like the way the Bowl Championship Series picks its teams.

Jon Solomon, Birmingham News: The Alabama athletics department spent $188,442.62 for a law firm to defend the university in its NCAA major infractions case that ended this week.

Northern Illinois' Bowl Bill: $271,152

Northern Illinois' trip to Toronto for the Jan. 2 International Bowl cost the team $271,152, the second year in a row the Huskies have taken a financial beating in the postseason.

Northern Illinois ran up a deficit of $154,125 for its appearance in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport in 2008, meaning the Huskies are in the hole $425,277 for their past two postseason trips.

Nonetheless, officials were quick to defend the expenditure for the trip to Canada.