Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Jim Harbaugh’s wife is not a fan of the $8 Walmart khakis he wears every day

Jim Harbaugh is stuck in his ways. The 49ers coach looks the same every week. Black logo sweatshirt, ball cap, red Sharpie around his neck, and khakis.
Always the khakis, which apparently come from Walmart.
Sarah Harbaugh hates her husband's pants, and she told 99.7 FM's "Fernando & Greg" in the Bay Area all about it. Here's what she said, via the San Jose Mercury News:
"I've thrown them away many of times," Sarah Harbaugh said. "I've asked him: 'Please, pleats are gone. Wear the flat front.' He has a flattering body."
We'll take Sarah Harbaugh's word for the last part, but she has tried to at least make it harder for Jim to come to work wearing the same version of that outfit day after day. And he finds a way to thwart her attempts.
"I threw them out and when he went to the combine, he found a Walmart," Sarah Harbaugh told "Fernando & Greg." "They were $8. $8!"
When you figure that Harbaugh's hat and sweatshirt are always 49ers-issued gear, and the cleats he has been wearing on the sideline also likely come from the team's equipment room, you realize the coach spends a pittance on his wardrobe, buying his khaki pants from Walmart $8 at a time. And maybe a few bucks on the Sharpies. Harbaugh makes $5 million a year.
Sarah Harbaugh said on the radio show that her husband has agreed to let her or someone else dress him next year. We'll see. Harbaugh is obviously stuck in his ways, and with the 49ers preparing for their third straight NFC championship game appearance, whatever he's doing is obviously working.

Report: Rob Ryan Being Denied Head Coaching Jobs Because Of His Hair

On paper, Rob Ryan of the Saints appears to have a stellar NFL head coaching resume.
The 51-year-old has worked as a defensive coordinator for four teams, including the Cleveland Browns, who are looking for a new head coach. In his first year in New Orleans, Ryan turned one of the worst defenses in NFL history into the fourth-ranked unit in the league. His short tenure has been so impressive that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has already admitted that it was a mistake to fire Ryan.
Ryan's schemes and teaching methods are in high demand, especially with NFL offenses advancing at such a fast pace. So, what's holding him back?
Apparently, it's not what's in Ryan's head that scares away teams, it's what's on his head.
 ESPN's Chris Mortensen said several NFL executives told him that Ryan's flowing locks won't fly with front offices.
"If he wants to be a head coach, he has to cut his hair," Mortensen said, quoting team executives. "It is about image for these guys. They want a CEO-type. That's what they want."
This puts Ryan in a hairy situation. He has the resume and the pedigree to be a head coach (his twin brother, Rex, is the coach of the Jets and his father, Buddy, coached the Eagles and Cardinals). But he may need to shave his locks.
For his part, Saints head coach Sean Payton thinks Ryan is ready for a top job.
"Obviously he's a coach that I think is going to be a head coach," Payton said. "Obviously we made great improvements from a year ago. He brings an enthusiasm with him, a personality that is contagious."
If Ryan does decide to get a cut, we'd recommend he avoid Kobe Bryant's barber. (refer to Kobe Bryant haircut story below on my blog)

Three of final four QBs were drafted by MLB, only Peyton Manning wasn’t

The baseball roots are pretty strong with this weekend's NFL teams, namely at quarterback.
Three of the four starting quarterbacks remaining were drafted by MLB teams, and the one who was not — the Denver Broncos' Peyton Manning — was backed up in college at Tennessee by someone who would go on to become an All-Star: Colorado Rockies legend Todd Helton.
It's fascinating to look back and play the what-if card with Russell Wilson, Colin Kaepernick and Tom Brady. What would have happened had they considered baseball over football, and how good of players would they have made?
Let's take a look at the diamond options the three quarterbacks had available to them.


Russell Wilson

The Seahawks quarterback played A-level ball for the Colorado Rockies as a second baseman in the 2010 and 2011 seasons, overlapping his college career at North Carolina State (prior to transferring to Wisconsin) and he has admitted that he still thinks about his love for the sport. In fact, Wilson's rights still belong to the Texas Rangers after he was selected in baseball's Rule 5 draft in 2013.
* * *
Colin Kaepernick
The football-throwing arm of San Francisco 49ers' Colin Kaepernick might be one of the strongest in the NFL, and the Chicago Cubs thought enough about it to draft him in the 43rd round back in 2009. The team wanted him to consider pitching while playing football at Nevada, but it never worked out. It did for Kaepernick's football career, though; meanwhile, the Cubs are kind of baseball's cruel, recurring joke. And Kaepernick likely has an open invitation of throwing out first pitches at Giants games for lifetime after he scalded an 87 mph fastball before a game this past June. Showoff!
* * *
Tom Brady
 The New England Patriots' Tom Brady has a story that has been well told, but people seem to forget about his baseball roots. Brady was a catcher, and he was a good enough prospect to be picked in the 18th round by the Montreal Expos — and he might have gone higher had he not signed a football scholarship with Michigan. They continued nagging him even after he landed in Ann Arbor, but Brady was determined to stick with football.
Even Manning played baseball as a youth. He was a shortstop, and a pretty good one, but there are not too many great tall shortstops (Manning is 6-foot-4) in baseball history, save for Cal Ripken and Alex Rodriguez. Not that Manning ever was in their zip code of talent, anyway ...
In all four cases, it would be hard to argue that any of them made a poor career choice. After all, look where they are now. Perhaps Kaepernick with that golden right arm could have become a staff ace somewhere over time, and maybe Wilson had the goods and the grit to make it to the big leagues.
But we're talking about four of the NFL's best quarterbacks — two surefire Hall of Famers on the AFC side, and two budding franchise quarterbacks on the NFC side of the ledger. We'll go ahead and say they made wise choices unless someone can convince us otherwise.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Want goosebumps? Watch this commercial featuring deaf Seahawks fullback Derrick Coleman

Seattle Seahawks fullback Derrick Coleman is one win away from playing in Super Bowl XLVIII.
That might just be another victory Coleman adds to his amazing list.
Coleman, who lost his hearing at the age of 3, but managed to survive by reading lips and hearing aids, is the first legally deaf offensive player in the NFL. The former UCLA standout was signed by Seattle as an undrafted player in 2012. He appeared in 12 games this season and scored the first touchdown of his career against the New Orleans Saints on Dec. 2 (8-yard reception during a 34-7 victory).
He was recently highlighted in Duracell's "Trust Your Power" campaign, and it is hard not to be inspired after seeing this incredible commercial featuring Coleman.

8th grader makes full-court buzzer beater, recreates it on 1st attempt for local news!!!


"Oh, my gosh," is right. If Easton Gamoke's name hasn't already made him the coolest kid at Winona (Minn.) Middle School, his remarkable feat this week probably sealed the deal.
The 13-year-old broke a 44-44 tie with a full-court, game-winning shot at the buzzer while competing for his Winona YMCA Runnin' Rebels at a tournament in Holmen, Wis., over the weekend, according to a Minneapolis Star Tribune post.
Then, when KMSP-TV showed up to interview the eighth-grader about the "one in a million" shot, he did it again. On his first attempt. Holy Gamoke.

New Internet Video Trend Of 'LeBroning' Mocks Heat Star's Exaggerated Flops

LeBron James is the best basketball player in the world, but there's still one "skill" he needs to work on: Flopping.
The four-time MVP is known to exaggerate his flops to the point where there are several "highlight" videos on YouTube dedicated to the King's overacting. Here is one:

Beyond that, James' flops have apparently inspired a new Internet trend, appropriately called LeBroning, in which people perform egregious flops in ordinary situations. This is like Tebowing, except in video version. Check out a few:


LeBroning isn't specific to basketball, however, and now any exaggerated flop can be termed "LeBroning." Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee tweeted this in response to Cam Newton's flop on Sunday.

Guess How Much Nike Pays For Kobe Bryant's Haircut In Prep For Commercial?

Before you pass judgment on Kobe Bryant for signing a two-year, $48.5 million contract extension while his franchise struggles to rebuild, know this: Haircuts aren't as cheap as they used to be.
TMZ got its hands on an invoice for one of Bryant's grooming bills from a recent commercial shoot, and it is exorbitant to say the least. The Lakers superstar apparently received a $725 grooming treatment which, combined with a 15 percent tip, came out to cost Nike $833.75.
And yes, Kobe is bald.

TMZ spoke with a rep from Nike, who offered this quote about the star's "grooming":
"Kobe doesn't typically wear makeup during the shoots, so the grooming would be primarily for hair."
OK, so Kobe doesn't wear makeup during commercial shoots, but there's got to be something missing here. A $750 haircut is absurd, so perhaps Kobe had some other work done that will be revealed when the commercial is released. These shoots can be glitzy, and it's not like the hairdressers were working with much when they styled Bryant.
Or, maybe Bryant's haircuts are simply super expensive. After receiving a $24.3 million check from the Lakers in November he's certainly got the dough to afford it. Oh yea just for the record, I pay $15 dollars for my haircut!