The day Tom Osborne was almost fired as head coach at Nebraska; Pavlik to fight Hopkins

Brian Christopherson from the Lincoln Journal Star writes how Nebraska's 1976 win over Texas Tech in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl is one to remember because head coach Tom Osborne may have been fired if he lost that game... "It’s one of those interesting tales that — three national titles, a statue and an Osborne-named building later — seems to warrant a note in Husker history. If there was any validity in what the regent told Osborne, one could consider NU’s comeback in a now-defunct bowl game to be among Nebraska’s more significant victories." ...

Brian Christopherson

The Zone Blitz has an interesting story about how President George W. Bush has an autographed baseball on his desk in the Oval Office...the ball is signed by John Danks of the Chicago White Sox...find out why W. has this ball on his desk...

The Zone Blitz

The Youngstown Vindicator is reporting that middleweight boxing champ Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik will be fighting Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins in his next fight...the fight will be a non-title fight...

Joe Scalzo

Bryan Mullen of the Nashville Tennessean writes how Tennessee Volunteer head coach Phil Fulmer thought for sure he was going to lose running back Arian Foster to the NFL... ""When he left Tampa, I really didn't think he would be coming back," Fulmer said Friday at a media golf event in Knoxville. "His fondness for school has not always been where it should be. And he had a chance to be a second-round pick." ...

Bryan Mullen

Al Lesar of the South Bend Tribune writes about College Football Hall of Fame enshrinee W.C. Gorden from Jackson State...the 77-year-old Gorden is finally recognized for his work at Jackson State... "Changing Jackson State's style brought criticism, but Gorden wouldn't relent. Instead, he turned to a guy who had success with the wishbone — Alabama coach Bear Bryant — for advice." ...

Al Lesar

Steve Lowe of the South Bend Tribune writes about former Notre Dame great Chris Zorich who is being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame...Zorich was one of the most inspirational stories in college football and one of its toughest competitors... "Zorich, 39, is one of the youngest players to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, but a scan of his personal bio (a healthy three pages long) proves that his football career, while one of the most important aspects of his life so far, does not define him." ...

Steve Lowe

Sam Farmer of The Los Angeles Times provides some NFL news including Tony Romo has never won a playoff game, even in college at Eastern Illinois... "Gil Lebreton of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram notes that in the last three years Romo was the starter at Eastern Illinois, his team lost each of its three first-round games in the Division I-AA playoffs." ...

Sam Farmer

An interesting story I found in the Baltimore Sun archives on the day Johnny Unitas died in 2002...the article was written by Dave Goldberg of the Associated Press...

Dave Goldberg