Clemson linebacker Ben Boulware was stirring things up again Saturday, drawing the ire of opponents (and their fans) with his typically aggressive play.
Boulware was flagged for a personal foul during the Tigers' 54-0 victory Saturday after grabbing Syracuse running back Dontae Strickland and body slamming him, like a "suplex" move in wrestling. Boulware told Charleston, S.C. newspaper The Post and Courier after the game that the 15-yard penalty was assessed for unnecessary roughness.
"Honestly, he was trying to go forward, and I'm behind him, so I don't know what other way I'm going to tackle him, other than trying to pull him back," Boulware told the Post and Courier's Aaron Brenner. "I'm too strong. I play football too hard, I guess."
As Brenner pointed out,. it's not specifically clear whether a defender flipping an offensive player over his back is explicitly a disallowed hit in college football.
"I don't think it's illegal. It's football. I'm trying to get him down," Boulware said. "The way I tackled him, people are going to freak out, but he's trying to get extra yards, I'm trying to not let him get extra yards."
Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney had a similar opinion about the penalty call.
"They said he tackled him too hard," Swinney said. "I know it looked bad, I get that. I was trying to make the point that their guy was running toward the goal line. Like, that way. Ben's behind him, just trying to get him on the ground. But that's a judgment call. You get some of those."
Just don't play too hard.
Air time
According to Charles Curtis of USA Today Sports, the baseball memorabilia scene in the wake of the Chicago Cubs' World Series victory is getting a little, well, airy.
"Someone put a 'bag of air' from the Cubs' World Series win on eBay," wrote Curtis, "and as of Saturday afternoon, there have been a whopping 11 bids (!) and the current high bid is $11.
"Yeah. That's right, $11 for a bag of air."
It's not the first time someone took this route. Back in April, someone tried to sell a bag of air from Kobe Bryant's final NBA game on eBay, with bids flying in until the item was taken off the auction site for an undisclosed reason.
As of Sunday evening, the Cubs' air had faced a similar fate.
Guess Cubs fans will just have to get their air the old-fashioned way.
Gatekeeper
Boston Red Sox fans will soon have another memory of recently-retired slugger David Ortiz when traveling out of Boston's Logan Airport.
An employee of JetBlue Airlines announced to Big Papi and a crowd that the airline was naming Gate 34 in Terminal C after him during a private party to honor the star at a restaurant in Boston's Seaport District on Friday.
"You mean I'm going to have my own gate at the airport?" Ortiz said, holding a microphone on the stage. "You're [messing] with me, aren't you?"
The event was sponsored by JetBlue, MasterCard, Bank of America and Dunkin Donuts and was billed as "an evening dedicated to honoring David Ortiz."
Ortiz, 40, retired after his 20th season in the majors when Boston was swept in the American League division series by Cleveland last month.
He went out with a solid regular season, hitting .315 with 38 home runs and 127 RBI in his 14th and final with the Red Sox.
Boston picked up his option on Thursday as a formality. Now he just needs someone to pick up his luggage.
Sports quiz
Who was the first linebacker selected in the 2015 NFL Draft?
Answer
Florida's Dante Fowler was selected with the third overall pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Sports on 11/07/2016