SAY WHAT?
Dwight Howard complained that the Orlando Magic assigned “his” No. 12 to another player: “That number was special down there, and I was a little upset about that.”
Followup question: Should you win a championship before your number is retired?
The New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony said, “Everyone dreams of being a free agent.”
Followup question: Do you ever dream of winning championships?
San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh on the Tennessee Titans: They’re the best there are at clubbing, punching, stripping, lawnmowering or dislodging it out of opponents.”
Followup question: Are you talking about football or sex?
Steve Spurrier on his 14th trip to Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium: “I’ve coached there more than some of their head coaches.”
Followup question: Should the stadium be renamed for you?
Asked how they were able to beat the Denver Broncos and Peyton Manning, Indy’s Vontai Davis said, “We prepared really hard for Tom Brady.”
“The Giants have signed Peyton Hillis. The Giants already had the wrong Manning, and now they have the wrong Peyton also.”
–Jim Rome, CBS Sports Network, commenting on the running back who joins his fifth team in six seasons.
More on the Giants: a twitter battle between fumble-prone runner David Wilson and stone-handed receiver Rueben Randle. After Wilson zinged Randle for not knowing his playbook, Rueben sent out this tweet: “U go get in urs! Oh wait. . . U might fumble it.”
To which Wilson replied: “Drop another pass and I’m DROPPING U from my fantasy team.”
Randle: “Fumble another ball, I’ll put you at the end of my bench like coach Coughlin did.”
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay irked some Peyton Manning fans by mentioning that he quarterbacked the team to only one Super Bowl win and was knocked out of the first round of the playoffs 7 of 11 times. Manning said “no comment,” while his current coach, John Fox, called it “a cheap shot.”
But Dan Wolke of the Orange County Register, speaking on the Rome show, said Irsay made a valid point:
“You want to win rings, and they only won one. And congratulations, you beat Rex Grossman in the Super Bowl to do it. Peyton Manning has not been a dominant postseason player, and part of the reason everyone is reacting to this is that it’s a scab that’s being picked.”
Phil Simms, on Showtime’s Inside the NFL, said this about Thursday Night Football:
“The quality of the games as you watch them, it just doesn’t have the feel of NFL football. . . . Last Thursday, about six o’clock, I was with a couple of NFL players and they unsolicited said to me, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s a game tonight. Can you imagine if we were playing?’
“You put yourself in their position, to feel what you feel after playing the Sunday before. I can’t imagine trying to be ready to play a game right now.”
Patrick Vint of sportsblog SB Nation called the appointment of former Wisconsin football coach Barry Alvarez to the 13-person Football Playoff Selection Committee “a bad idea.” He explained: “Big Ten fans know what the rest of the world is about to find out: Barry Alvarez can’t keep his mouth shut. . . and half of what he says is true. . . . Barry Alvarez’s presence is good for transparency. It’s not so good for cohesion among the committee members.”
“Coach Steve Sarkisian is now 5 for 5 in autumnal swoons during his Washington tenure.”
–Jerry Brewer, Seattle Times
As far as CBS Sports Network’s Tim Brando is concerned, Les Miles took a little too much blame for LSU’s loss to Mississippi.
Miles: “In my opinion it’s me. I did not get it across to them. I made the points. I spoke the words. But I need to teach better.”
Brando: “I don’t want to hear this crap from LSU about how we just weren’t up enough. No, you were beaten because you’re a bad matchup in the secondary. And your offense was confused because their defense did a wonderful job of coordinating against you. You got your ass kicked. Deal with it and move on.”