Don’t look now (well, go ahead and look; nobody down here expels that much of a damn either way), but it looks like former Cal coach Jeff Tedford – He Who Helped Make Aaron Rodgers Become Aaron Rodgers – is going be the new head coach of the British Columbia Lions of the CFL. Tedford’s job in Tampa Bay disintegrated after cardiac issues essentially derailed him. He was interested in the vacancy at Oregon State that went to Wisconsin’s Gary Andersen, so one supposes he could be interested in that vacancy as well even though he was talking with the BC people Monday.
But he’ll have to act quickly, because you never know when Lane Kiffin needs to find his new bliss.
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Bad news in Chicago, where the New Orleans Saints won their sixth game and still have a chance to win the NFC South with a non-losing record. Plus, they’ll have a home game in the first round of the playoffs. Plus they’ll have momentum having won three consecutive games.
Oh please, deity who handles such things, make them win the Super Bowl so Roger Goodell can throw up one more time.
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Good news in Chicago, where the Bears seem a little more desperate to pay Jim Harbaugh anything he wants to stanch the spectacularly copious bleeding. One door closes, another one opens.
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Jon Gruden reminded the Oakland Raiders and their fans that, honest and true, you cannot go home again. He didn’t want to come back for a job that he could have had and much prefers broadcasting games with an average final score of 31-19.
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[RELATED: Gruden signs extension to stay in TV booth]
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Quick, who said this?
“So obviously as soon as the politically correct police come out and play, things get flushed down the toilet.”
And this?
“There’s way worse rap songs out there than that one. We’re not condoning drug use or anything like that.”
And this?
“He’s a guy that you love to battle with. He’s scrappy, he’ll fly into a dying death no matter what the score is.”
Yes, of course its American sociologist and dying death specialist Andrew Bogut, who told Grantland’s Andrew Sharp about the end of “CoCo” and the flowering of Draymond Green. He is available for children’s parties.
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Madison Bumgarner, Sportsman of the Year? Yeah, big deal. It isn’t as good as this, because The Onion is more prestigious and important than Sports Illustrated. This is such a magnificent honor than one person could not carry it by him or herself, so this: http://bit.ly/1vWHyJK.
The editorial board did not publicly release its votes, so we’re just going to make this up: Bumgarner finished fourth.
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And finally (hey, it’s the holiday season, and my gift to me is not amusing you for no good reason), the Buffalo Sabres began the race to first pick Connor McDavid by going 3-13-2, but then lost the beat and have won 10 of their last 13 games, a sorry-assed excuse for tanking.
Then the Buffalo Bills maneuvered into playoff contention with their eighth win, the fourth time they have done so in this century. In other words, Terry Pegula, who owns both teams, is the most popular man in town, even for people who hate the rich.
But give it time. It’ll blow over. It always does. He’ll probably say something and ruin the whole vibe.