Bill Belichick said he was "shocked" to learn the footballs his team used in its AFC championship victory over the Indianapolis Colts did not meet NFL standards.
The coach of the New England Patriots, who has twisted the rules before, is a guy who manages every aspect of the game, down to what shoes the doctors on the sidelines wear.
If he were even mildly surprised that the balls had been deflated, that would have been the shock.
That said, the balls had very little to do with the Patriots' 45-7 victory.
New England was the better team that day. Plus, the Patriots were at home. And they moved the ball on the ground, grinding out 177 yards to just 83 for the Colts. The home team scored three rushing touchdowns, the visitors just one.
The Patriots held the Colts to 209 total yards. Indy had 17 first downs, but four of those were on penalties.
That doesn't mean the NFL shouldn't investigate and shouldn't take appropriate action. Altering equipment -- in this case letting the air out of the balls so they are easier to throw and catch in cold, wet weather -- is against the rules.
The NFL needs more controversy like Jermain Taylor needed to make more videos before turning himself into police.
One thing for sure, the balls for the Super Bowl will be checked several dozen times and right up to kickoff, and probably throughout the game.
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Bret Bielema's hiring of Dan Enos as Arkansas' offensive coordinator seems a bit odd, at least for recruiting purposes.
Then again, none of us were in on the interviews and Bielema has shown a knack for improvement when he's had to replace a position coach or coordinator.
Enos was the head coach of the Central Michigan Chippewas, who scored 34 points in the fourth quarter of the Bahamas Bowl and went for two after its final touchdown but came up short in a 49-48 loss to Western Kentucky.
A quick look at the Chippewas' stats from last year show they ran the ball 504 times and passed it 382.
Generally, assistants are counted on to recruit a specific geographical area, usually where they have contacts. Most of Enos' 46 years have been spent in the North, primarily in Michigan.
Michigan just hired Jim Harbaugh to be its head coach, and it seems to be a foregone conclusion he'll wrap up the best athletes in that area. Plus Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer apparently has persuasive ways.
Enos does have a good reputation for developing quarterbacks.
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People who make a living making predictions in the world of perspiring arts have to be fearless.
Whether they are declaring who will be drafted first by the NFL, NBA or Major League Baseball, or predicting bowl matchups or the NCAA Tournament field, they have to believe they are right and be able to quickly forget if they are not.
Joe Lunardi of ESPN is one of those guys. He loves to predict the entire NCAA Tournament basketball bracket, and lately he has had the Arkansas Razorbacks solidly in the field.
He had them as a No. 7 seed, and while that seems a bit high, it appears the Hogs are very strong on the NCAA radar. The SEC also has a shot of getting at least four teams in the Big Dance.
Kentucky is an obvious choice and headed toward being the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament. The Wildcats have had a couple of scares, but Coach John Calipari is good at making those lessons. Although this is the time of year when you see teams that might have guys getting ready to jump to the NBA become a bit selfish as they look to take care of their numbers.
LSU and Georgia seem to have shots at joining the Razorbacks in March Madness.
Sports on 01/23/2015