RealClearSports: The Hit That Turned the Tide

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

PASADENA -- It was Bama, all right. BAM-a. As in the hit Marcel Dareus put on Colt McCoy. BAM-a. "It was a great hit,'' said Nick Saban, the Crimson Tide coach. "It sort of made them change their offense.'' 

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010

RealClearSports: Colt Is the Real McCoy

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- This is southern California at its luxurious best, the Marriott Hotel on a bluff, the Pacific in the distance, the outside temperature in the mid 70s.

Except the kid wearing the white jersey with No. 12 on the front is inside, and his view is of cameras, microphones and prying journalists.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010

RealClearSports: Five Million for Mack Brown; That's America

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

The University of Texas is giving a $2 million yearly boost to the man who (a) discovered a cure for cancer, (b) created an infallible program to end the violence in the Mideast, or (c) coached a football team into the national championship game.

It's not the fault of Mack Brown, who will be receiving $5 million annually, that his specialization is teaching kids how to score touchdowns or, need be, keep others from scoring them instead of teaching them to score on an exam.

It's the educational system's fault.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2009