Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Mark Ingram wins Heisman

Mark Ingram completed the trophy case at Alabama, delivering the first Heisman to a school that boasts one of the richest histories in college football.

The tough-running sophomore tailback turned tearful after winning the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night in the closest vote in the award's 75-year history. Next, he'll try to lead the most storied program in the South to a national championship.

Ingram finished 28 points ahead of Stanford running back Toby Gerhart.

Ingram wiped away tears and took a moment to steady himself before starting his speech. His voice wavered throughout.

"I'm a little overwhelmed right now," he said. "I'm just so excited to bring Alabama their first Heisman winner."

Ingram received 227 first-place votes and 1,304 points. Gerhart got 222 first-place votes and 1,276 points, while Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, last season's runner-up, received 203 and 1,145.

Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was fourth and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, who won the Heisman two years ago, was fifth.

The previous closest vote in Heisman history came in 1985, when Auburn's Bo Jackson beat Iowa quarterback Chuck Long by 45 points.

Ingram won four of the six regions. Gerhart took the far west and Suh won the southwest.

Ingram has been the backbone of Alabama's offense all season, rushing for a school-record 1,542 yards, gaining 6.2 yards per carry and scoring 18 touchdowns.

And in his final chance to make a case for the Heisman, facing Florida's then-top-ranked defense, Ingram ran for 113 yards and scored three touchdowns to punctuate his season.

The win sent the top-ranked Crimson Tide to the BCS national title game against McCoy and No. 2 Texas on Jan. 7 at the Rose Bowl.

Ingram is the third consecutive sophomore to win the Heisman since Tebow became the first in 2007 and he will be the sixth winner in the last seven years to go on to play in the BCS national championship game.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Brian Kelly is Notre Dame's new coach

Brian Kelly has his dream job. Now he has to figure out how to turn a Notre Dame program mired in mediocrity back into a national championship contender — quickly.

Just as he did when he was introduced as the new Cincinnati coach three years ago, Kelly talked at his introductory news conference Friday about having a five-minute plan, not a five-year plan that reflects the length of his contract.

“When I refer to the challenge, it’s strictly getting to that high bar that’s been set at Notre Dame,” Kelly said in South Bend, Ind. “We’ve got challenges, but we’ll go to work on those right away.”

Kelly said he was ready to get to work restoring Notre Dame’s traditions.

“Those aren’t 8-4 years; those are national championship years,” he said. “So any time you’re talking about restoring a program and the challenges, it’s not about winning the conference championship.”

***

Notre Dame has settled on Brian Kelly as the man who can restore its faded glory, just as he turned Cincinnati into a national title contender.

Just 10 days after Charlie Weis was fired, it's up to Kelly to revive the fortunes of a team that just completed the worst decade of football in the history of the storied program with a 70-52 record and three losing seasons.

Kelly got a five-year deal from Notre Dame and will be introduced as coach in South Bend on Friday afternoon. He declined to comment in Cincinnati, where he informed his players of the move after their football banquet Thursday night. He won't coach them in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

"I am very pleased that a thorough and extensive search has led us to a new head coach in Brian Kelly, who I am confident will help us accomplish our goal of competing for national championships," Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick said in a statement.

The 47-year-old Kelly was 34-6 in three seasons at Cincinnati, leading the Bearcats to back-to-back Big East titles and two straight Bowl Championship Series berths. The Bearcats set a school record last season for victories with an 11-3 record, then topped that with a 12-0 mark this season.

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Jonathan Lyau, Hall of Famer

When Jon Lyau received the phone call in October from the Honolulu Marathon telling him he was going to be this year's inductee into the Hall of Fame, he thought it was a joke.

Hall of Famers, he figured, are over-the-hill, retired runners so far past their prime they don't even consider trekking the 26.2 miles. Lyau, meanwhile, is a 45-year-old who almost always stands atop the Honolulu Marathon's pedestal as the fastest runner from Hawaii. The former McKinley High distance star has won 15 of the last 16 kamaaina awards, including the last three.

mother of judo

Rena "Rusty" Kanokogi, known as the "Mother of Judo" partly for her role in bringing women's judo to the Olympic Games, has died. She was 74. Rena "Rusty" Kanokogi introduced women's judo to the Olympic Games and coached and refereed in the sport for years. Her daughter, Jean Kanokogi, said she died Saturday at Lutheran Medical Center in New York following a three-year battle with leukemia.

Rusty Kanokogi competed in judo against men in the 1950s and helped create the first Women's World Judo Championships, which were held in 1980 in New York City.

"Rusty was the Gloria Steinem of judo, and women's judo would not be where it is today without her relentless efforts," Corinne Shigemoto, the U.S. team's coach at the 1996 Olympics, said in a USA Judo statement on Sunday.

Kanokogi coached the U.S. women's judo team at the Olympics in Seoul, South Korea in 1988 -- the year the sport was added to the Games, according to Colorado Springs, Colo.-based USA Judo. She worked as a judo commentator for NBC during the network's coverage of the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Jean Kanokogi said her mother worked hard to provide opportunities for women to compete in judo after she was stripped of a gold medal she won at the 1959 New York State YMCA Judo Championships. Women weren't allowed to compete.

Jean Kanokogi said her mother had very short hair and wore a T-shirt that flattened her breasts. She never told YMCA competition officials that she was a man when she competed with the Brooklyn Central YMCA team.

"Her coach said, 'Don't bring any attention. Just pull a draw," Jean Kanokogi said. "I guess she couldn't help herself and she beat the guy."