With a win over the top-ranked team in the country at the beginning of the month, Texas Tech took control of its own destiny in a bid for its first trip to both the Big 12 and national championship games.
A loss last week, however, has the Red Raiders battling for position again.
The seventh-ranked Red Raiders look to improve their suddenly slim chances of a trip to the Big 12 championship game -- and perhaps even the BCS title game -- Saturday when they host Baylor in both teams' regular-season finale.
Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell connected with fellow Heisman Trophy candidate Michael Crabtree on a 28-yard touchdown pass with one second left to lift the Red Raiders (10-1, 6-1) to a 39-33 win over then-No. 1 Texas on Nov. 1.
That victory left the Red Raiders as the Big 12's only unbeaten team, lifted them to No. 2 in the AP poll and put them in control in the race for the Big 12 South title and a shot at the national championship.
Things aren't as clear cut after Texas Tech was blown out 65-21 on the road against then-No. 5 Oklahoma last Saturday. The Red Raiders, Longhorns and Sooners now all have identical overall and conference records.
If the three teams finish tied, the Big 12 South champion will be determined by the BCS standings, meaning Texas Tech -- seventh in the BCS -- would need to pass both Texas (second) and Oklahoma (third) this week. Texas hosts unranked Texas A&M on Thursday night, while Oklahoma visits No. 11 Oklahoma State on Saturday night.
Texas Tech coach Mike Leach made his opinion clear after the loss to the Longhorns.
"Only a few teams have beaten three (ranked opponents) in a row, and we're lucky enough to be one of those," said Leach, whose team had defeated No. 19 Kansas, No. 1 Texas and No. 8 Oklahoma State in its previous three games before suffering its only defeat. "We should be the top-rated one-loss team."
That's not the case right now, but the Red Raiders have one last chance to make a move in the polls. To do so, they'll likely need a flawless performance against Baylor (4-7, 2-5). They'll certainly need more from their high-octane offense, which was uncharacteristically ineffective against Oklahoma.
Texas Tech, fifth in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 45.5 points per game and fourth with 551.7 scrimmage yards per game, was held to season lows in both categories last week. Harrell was 33-for-55 for 361 yards, three touchdowns and one interception -- not a great night by his lofty standards.
"There's a fine line between being up and not being overhyped so you're out of control," Leach said. "We played out of control. Our problem wasn't motivation or want to. Our problem was trying to make too much happen. Panic. Frantic. Try to be too good instead of doing simple little things.
"The disappointment is not how it turned out. It's that we didn't play our best game and that's too bad. So, we need to find a way to control that."
Texas Tech's underwhelming performance bruised its confidence "a little bit," said senior defensive lineman Jake Ratliff, the lone Red Raiders player made available for interviews Monday.
"But it's over," he said. "You can't do anything about it, so there's really no need to get down about it. We just got to bounce back from it."
They'll try to bounce back against a Baylor team that snapped a four-game losing streak with a 41-21 victory over Texas A&M in its last game Nov. 15.
Robert Griffin was 13-for-23 for 241 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, Jay Finley rushed for 116 yards and a score and Jacoby Jones added two rushing TDs in the Bears' highest-scoring game since they topped Washington State 45-17 on Sept. 12.
First-year Baylor coach Art Briles knows his team will likely need another big performance to keep up with Texas Tech.
"We're excited to go to Lubbock this weekend," said Briles, who played at Texas Tech and coached there for three seasons from 2000-02. "It's a great chance for our team to show our growth against a quality university on the national scene."
The Bears have lost their last 12 games in the series to fall to 32-33-1 all-time against the Red Raiders, including a 14-21-1 mark in Lubbock, where they've dropped eight straight since 1990. Overall, Baylor has lost 10 straight conference games on the road since Oct. 7, 2006.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Rabid shoppers stop at nothing for Black Friday deals
By Kathleen E. Carey, kcarey@delcotimes.com
The cart corrals were empty and a line of gray snaked its way around the Glenolden Wal-Mart Friday as shoppers positioned their carts for the 5 a.m. opening.
First in the Wal-Mart line was Ruby Howard, who huddled with her sister, Nicole Quitalig, and their mom, Vicky, who was visiting her Drexel Hill daughters from Ohio.
The trio arrived at the store at 7:30 p.m. Thursday for the Black Friday specials, shortly after eating dinner, to secure the first spot in what became a long line of shoppers searching for deals and steals.
Howard had her eye on a GPS system, a television and some toys.
Darby Township police officers patrolled the crowd, keeping order and six township police vehicles and two Folcroft police vehicles were parked in front.
“Anyone caught butting, you go to the back of the line,” one officer shouted to the crowds. “Anyone caught butting twice will get locked up.”
For Jen MacCrory of Ridley Park and friends, Wal-Mart was the second stop on a list of several stores.
“We were in and out of Kohl’s in 18 minutes,” MacCrory said. In that time, she bought picture frames, games, clothes, toys, blankets and watches.
MacCrory said she took a Tylenol PM to lull her to sleep early Thanksgiving evening, although her friend, Lori Pepe of Glenolden, was shopping on an hour-and-a-half sleep.
Her neighbors, Alana and Marty Glancey, enjoyed the Eagles game before resting up for the big day.
Pepe, an Eagles season-ticket holder, chose to sell her tickets to the Thanksgiving game for the once-a-year phenomenon. “I’m going shopping,” she said.
MacCrory understood why.
Surrounded by friends and her sister, Michelle Quinn of Glenolden, who was No. 100 in the Wal-Mart line, MacCrory said she liked the camaraderie.
“It’s so much fun,” MacCrory said. “You meet people. You laugh.”
Her kids, however, had a different view. “They think I’m at the North Pole,” she said.
Unlike past years, the shoppers did not enter the store all at once.
They were eased into the store gradually, with a few allowed to enter at a time.
Backed by the police presence, shoppers made sure overeager shoppers didn’t try to push their way to the front of the line. When the offending people left on their own or with assistance from police, the shoppers would applaud.
By 5:08 a.m., eight minutes after the store opened, Aileen Campbell of Prospect Park was loading a red SUV with a pink Easy Vac toy.
“I just came here for a few things,” she smiled. “I’m not greedy.”
Campbell said she arrived at the Wal-Mart at 11 p.m. and her adult children laughed, “Just to save $7.”
She said she does it every year and now, does it with her kids.
Her plans after sitting out all night? “Go home,” Campbell said.
The retail frenzy wasn’t only along MacDade Boulevard.
Donna Rush of Boothwyn was trying to squeeze a whole lot of shopping into one day at Granite Run Mall. She was Christmas shopping for her two children and planning to get an outfit for her 20th Chichester High School reunion Friday night.
“I’m in charge of it but I have to get something,” she said as she browsed the racks at J.C. Penney’s. “This is great, though, 4 o’clock in the morning.
“Forty to 60 percent off, you can’t beat it,” Rush said. “And, especially with the economy, I could not justify not coming out (Friday).”
Over at the Kohl’s, “Jingle Bell Rock” was blaring out of an SUV as a line formed in front of the building for the 4 a.m. opening.
Christine Reid of the Wallingford section of Nether Providence has been rising early the day after Thanksgiving for 15 years.
“It used to be nobody else out here with me,” she said.
This year, she’s working the shopping from both ends. “I got most of the doorbusters online yesterday,” she said, adding that she likes actually going to the stores Friday to have the wish list items in hand.
Desaree Jones of Collingdale used to spend her days behind the counter on Black Fridays as an employee of Foot Locker. This year, having left the retail industry, she was shopping for a very important person: herself.
“I like shopping better than working,” she said. “You get to go to different stores.”
Jones said the day would be monotonous standing in the same store all day long.
On Friday, she had a plan for her holiday shopping. “One for them, one for me,” she said. “That’s how you lose money. It’s not the gifts that get you.”
Lindsey Scalies of Ridley was also shopping for herself, but brought Jeff Stewart of West Chester and Nicole Elias of Boothwyn with her to the Kohl’s in Middletown.
“We had Thanksgiving dinner and we went to the bar and then we had breakfast and then we came here,” Scalies said.
She said one item was on her coveted list: candles.
By the late hour of 6 a.m., Ruby Tuesday at the Springfield Mall was ready with its salad bar for those who craved greens at that hour.
Mall staff were handing out goodie bags and cookies and beverages for early risers.
For Joanne Day of Philadelphia and Colin Bauer of Ridley Park, the day held its sentimental moments as well.
When they passed the Yankee Candle store, Day had to pause. Each year, Day bought a candle for her sister and Bauer’s mother, Lisa, for Christmas.
Lisa died in July and Day missed her.
But, it gave her an opportunity to share the shopping ritual with her nephew.
“We recruited Colin this year,” she said.
Having perused the ads on Thanksgiving and charted out a plan, she pulled out the lists from her purse.
“Every year now, it’s tradition,” Day said. “We just have to get up at 4 o’clock every year.”
The cart corrals were empty and a line of gray snaked its way around the Glenolden Wal-Mart Friday as shoppers positioned their carts for the 5 a.m. opening.
First in the Wal-Mart line was Ruby Howard, who huddled with her sister, Nicole Quitalig, and their mom, Vicky, who was visiting her Drexel Hill daughters from Ohio.
The trio arrived at the store at 7:30 p.m. Thursday for the Black Friday specials, shortly after eating dinner, to secure the first spot in what became a long line of shoppers searching for deals and steals.
Howard had her eye on a GPS system, a television and some toys.
Darby Township police officers patrolled the crowd, keeping order and six township police vehicles and two Folcroft police vehicles were parked in front.
“Anyone caught butting, you go to the back of the line,” one officer shouted to the crowds. “Anyone caught butting twice will get locked up.”
For Jen MacCrory of Ridley Park and friends, Wal-Mart was the second stop on a list of several stores.
“We were in and out of Kohl’s in 18 minutes,” MacCrory said. In that time, she bought picture frames, games, clothes, toys, blankets and watches.
MacCrory said she took a Tylenol PM to lull her to sleep early Thanksgiving evening, although her friend, Lori Pepe of Glenolden, was shopping on an hour-and-a-half sleep.
Her neighbors, Alana and Marty Glancey, enjoyed the Eagles game before resting up for the big day.
Pepe, an Eagles season-ticket holder, chose to sell her tickets to the Thanksgiving game for the once-a-year phenomenon. “I’m going shopping,” she said.
MacCrory understood why.
Surrounded by friends and her sister, Michelle Quinn of Glenolden, who was No. 100 in the Wal-Mart line, MacCrory said she liked the camaraderie.
“It’s so much fun,” MacCrory said. “You meet people. You laugh.”
Her kids, however, had a different view. “They think I’m at the North Pole,” she said.
Unlike past years, the shoppers did not enter the store all at once.
They were eased into the store gradually, with a few allowed to enter at a time.
Backed by the police presence, shoppers made sure overeager shoppers didn’t try to push their way to the front of the line. When the offending people left on their own or with assistance from police, the shoppers would applaud.
By 5:08 a.m., eight minutes after the store opened, Aileen Campbell of Prospect Park was loading a red SUV with a pink Easy Vac toy.
“I just came here for a few things,” she smiled. “I’m not greedy.”
Campbell said she arrived at the Wal-Mart at 11 p.m. and her adult children laughed, “Just to save $7.”
She said she does it every year and now, does it with her kids.
Her plans after sitting out all night? “Go home,” Campbell said.
The retail frenzy wasn’t only along MacDade Boulevard.
Donna Rush of Boothwyn was trying to squeeze a whole lot of shopping into one day at Granite Run Mall. She was Christmas shopping for her two children and planning to get an outfit for her 20th Chichester High School reunion Friday night.
“I’m in charge of it but I have to get something,” she said as she browsed the racks at J.C. Penney’s. “This is great, though, 4 o’clock in the morning.
“Forty to 60 percent off, you can’t beat it,” Rush said. “And, especially with the economy, I could not justify not coming out (Friday).”
Over at the Kohl’s, “Jingle Bell Rock” was blaring out of an SUV as a line formed in front of the building for the 4 a.m. opening.
Christine Reid of the Wallingford section of Nether Providence has been rising early the day after Thanksgiving for 15 years.
“It used to be nobody else out here with me,” she said.
This year, she’s working the shopping from both ends. “I got most of the doorbusters online yesterday,” she said, adding that she likes actually going to the stores Friday to have the wish list items in hand.
Desaree Jones of Collingdale used to spend her days behind the counter on Black Fridays as an employee of Foot Locker. This year, having left the retail industry, she was shopping for a very important person: herself.
“I like shopping better than working,” she said. “You get to go to different stores.”
Jones said the day would be monotonous standing in the same store all day long.
On Friday, she had a plan for her holiday shopping. “One for them, one for me,” she said. “That’s how you lose money. It’s not the gifts that get you.”
Lindsey Scalies of Ridley was also shopping for herself, but brought Jeff Stewart of West Chester and Nicole Elias of Boothwyn with her to the Kohl’s in Middletown.
“We had Thanksgiving dinner and we went to the bar and then we had breakfast and then we came here,” Scalies said.
She said one item was on her coveted list: candles.
By the late hour of 6 a.m., Ruby Tuesday at the Springfield Mall was ready with its salad bar for those who craved greens at that hour.
Mall staff were handing out goodie bags and cookies and beverages for early risers.
For Joanne Day of Philadelphia and Colin Bauer of Ridley Park, the day held its sentimental moments as well.
When they passed the Yankee Candle store, Day had to pause. Each year, Day bought a candle for her sister and Bauer’s mother, Lisa, for Christmas.
Lisa died in July and Day missed her.
But, it gave her an opportunity to share the shopping ritual with her nephew.
“We recruited Colin this year,” she said.
Having perused the ads on Thanksgiving and charted out a plan, she pulled out the lists from her purse.
“Every year now, it’s tradition,” Day said. “We just have to get up at 4 o’clock every year.”
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Giants' Burress shot in leg at club
New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress was accidentally shot in the leg at a nightclub, it was reported Saturday.
ESPN.com and Fox Sports.com said the wound was not life threatening. It was not clear at what club the shooting took place. The Fox Web site said Burress spent the night in the hospital.
"I don't have anything for you at this stage," team spokesman Pat Hanlon told The Associated Press from Giants Stadium before the Super Bowl champions left for a flight to Washington for a Sunday game against the Redskins.
Repeated phones calls to Burress' home and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, were not immediately returned.
Police in Totowa, N.J., where Burress lives during the season, and New York City, where he occasionally visits clubs, had no reports of a shooting involving the player.
"We are gathering information, just like everyone else," NFL spokesman Joe Browne said.
Burress injured a hamstring two weeks ago against the Baltimore Ravens. The Giants said Friday he would not play Sunday.
The 31-year-old receiver was suspended for a game against Seattle on Oct. 5 and fined $117,500 for missing a team meeting and failing to notify the team of his absence. He said he had a family emergency.
He also was fined $45,000 by the NFL for his conduct during an Oct. 19 game against 49ers in which he abused an official and tossed a ball into the stands .
Burress caught the winning pass in the Giants' Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots. He signed a five-year, $35 million contract hours before the season opened in September.
The signing came after an unsettling offseason during which Burress was fined $25,000 for refusing to practice during a mandatory minicamp in June. He also missed most of training camp at the University at Albany with a sprained ankle. He insisted the injury — not his contract — kept him off the field.
Despite his lack of practice, Burress started in the opener against Washington and caught 10 passes for 133 yards. The following week, he had five catches for 81 yards and a touchdown in a win over St. Louis.
The rest of the season has not been as productive. The most passes he has caught in any game since is four in a loss to Cleveland on Oct. 13, the game which followed his suspension.
Burress has 35 catches for 454 yards and four touchdowns in a season in which he has constantly drawn double coverage. His streak of receptions in 115 consecutive games ended last week in Arizona. He aggravated his hamstring injury during the first series and did not return.
It was the sixth-longest active streak in the league, dating to Nov. 26, 2000 against Cincinnati, Burress' rookie season in Pittsburgh.
Signed as a free agent in 2005, Burress had caught a pass in all 56 previous games in which he had played for the Giants.
Associated Press writers Colleen Long in New York and Samantha Henry in Trenton, N.J. contributed to this report.
ESPN.com and Fox Sports.com said the wound was not life threatening. It was not clear at what club the shooting took place. The Fox Web site said Burress spent the night in the hospital.
"I don't have anything for you at this stage," team spokesman Pat Hanlon told The Associated Press from Giants Stadium before the Super Bowl champions left for a flight to Washington for a Sunday game against the Redskins.
Repeated phones calls to Burress' home and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, were not immediately returned.
Police in Totowa, N.J., where Burress lives during the season, and New York City, where he occasionally visits clubs, had no reports of a shooting involving the player.
"We are gathering information, just like everyone else," NFL spokesman Joe Browne said.
Burress injured a hamstring two weeks ago against the Baltimore Ravens. The Giants said Friday he would not play Sunday.
The 31-year-old receiver was suspended for a game against Seattle on Oct. 5 and fined $117,500 for missing a team meeting and failing to notify the team of his absence. He said he had a family emergency.
He also was fined $45,000 by the NFL for his conduct during an Oct. 19 game against 49ers in which he abused an official and tossed a ball into the stands .
Burress caught the winning pass in the Giants' Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots. He signed a five-year, $35 million contract hours before the season opened in September.
The signing came after an unsettling offseason during which Burress was fined $25,000 for refusing to practice during a mandatory minicamp in June. He also missed most of training camp at the University at Albany with a sprained ankle. He insisted the injury — not his contract — kept him off the field.
Despite his lack of practice, Burress started in the opener against Washington and caught 10 passes for 133 yards. The following week, he had five catches for 81 yards and a touchdown in a win over St. Louis.
The rest of the season has not been as productive. The most passes he has caught in any game since is four in a loss to Cleveland on Oct. 13, the game which followed his suspension.
Burress has 35 catches for 454 yards and four touchdowns in a season in which he has constantly drawn double coverage. His streak of receptions in 115 consecutive games ended last week in Arizona. He aggravated his hamstring injury during the first series and did not return.
It was the sixth-longest active streak in the league, dating to Nov. 26, 2000 against Cincinnati, Burress' rookie season in Pittsburgh.
Signed as a free agent in 2005, Burress had caught a pass in all 56 previous games in which he had played for the Giants.
Associated Press writers Colleen Long in New York and Samantha Henry in Trenton, N.J. contributed to this report.
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