Week 14: NFL Play of the Week: Jets

The Jets.  Giving only 6 points to the Dolphins in New York, the Jets have to be the play of the week.  The Jets are also 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a ATS loss. 

The Jets are just happy they don't have to play the Patriots again.  Take the Jets.

As a bonus, the total is 39.5 in this game.  Take the under.

Metrodome Roof Collapses in Minneapolis

Information out of Minnesota this morning says the roof of the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis has apparently collapsed. Witnesses say the roof is no longer visible above the dome's concrete bowl.

The Vikings were to host the New York Giants in an important NFC game today, but due to the winter weather, the Giants have been stuck for a day in Kansas City.  On Sunday, word came out that the game would be moved to Monday night.  Now, it is not known where, or when this game will take place.

The game should not be played in New York, that would give the Giants 9 home games, when every other team has 8.

This was a picture from 2007 when the roof deflated.

Update on Sunday, December 12, 2010 at 9:00AM by Rick C.Limpert

Here is video shot by KARE 11 in the Twin Cities early this morning showing the roof, or lack of one at the Metrodome.  Officials are calling it a partial collaspe.  It began to collaspe early this morning, has to be due to the 18+ inches of snow.

Update on Sunday, December 12, 2010 at 11:04AM by Rick C.Limpert

ESPN reporting that there are at least 2 tears in the roof of the Metrodome.  The Vikings/Giants game will not be played in Minnesota.  The game will be played Monday Night, at a site to be determined.  Possibilities include Detroit, Indianapolis or New Orleans.  I would guess Detroit would be the most likely location.

Update on Sunday, December 12, 2010 at 2:34PM by Rick C.Limpert

Here is an even more dramatic video of the roff of the Metrodome tearing and collasping because of the snow.  It was shot from a camera inside the dome.

20 Inches of Snow, And it's Not Winter Yet

A powerful snowstorm socked the upper Midwest on Saturday with as much as 20 inches of snow, forcing authorities to close state roads across five states as heavy winds made for treacherous driving conditions.

The storm started Friday in the Rocky Mountains and swept overnight into northern Nebraska and Iowa. By Saturday morning, the blizzard hit eastern South Dakota, northwest Iowa and southwest Minnesota.

Winter storm advisories were posted Saturday for parts of northern Illinois, warning of blizzard conditions and winds of up to 50 mph overnight in the Quad Cities area.

With near whiteout conditions in many areas, Minnesota transportation officials closed westbound Interstate 90 from Albert Lea to the South Dakota border, pulled plows off roads in the southern part of the state and told drivers to stay home.

Between 8 and 18 inches of snow were expected in Minnesota, with the heaviest snowfall stretching from near Hutchinson and Mankato to the Twin Cities. Heavy snow also was falling in northern Iowa, where up to 10 inches were expected, and eastern South Dakota, where 5 to 8 inches were forecast.

The New York Giants are still trying to get to Minnesota for their game with the Vikings. The Giants-Vikings game was moved to Monday night because Minnesota had at least 15 inches of snow and wind gusting over 30 mph and the New York team was waiting it out in Kansas City. With close to a foot-and-a-half of blowing snow accumulating in the Twin Cities area throughout the day Saturday, the Giants’ charter flight was diverted to Kansas City instead. After hanging out in the terminal for a bit, the team then settled in to spend the night there, with an initial plan in place to fly to Minnesota on Sunday morning and make it to the stadium in time for regularly scheduled 1 p.m. EST kickoff. But the NFL made the announcement later Saturday night that the game was being moved.

Giants spokesman Pat Hanlon said on Twitter the team "monitored weather all week" and moved up the departure time by 3 1/2 hours Saturday. That didn’t prove to be enough of a head start to make it to Minneapolis before the airport shut down all runways.

113,411 Watch Outdoor Hockey

A world-record hockey crowd of 113,411 packed Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday to watch the Wolverines roll to a 5-0 victory against archrival Michigan State.  Including this tool who thought he was at a Red Wings vs. Canadians tilt. 

The turnout smashed the previous hockey record of 77,803 set at last the International Ice Hockey Federation world championships in Germany this spring. It's the largest crowd in the history of the venerable stadium, which routinely draws more than 100,000 fans for football.

It was the second time the teams have played outdoors -- they drew 74,544 at Michigan State's Spartan Stadium in 2001, setting a record for the largest hockey crowd at the time. This game featured temperatures in the low 40s and an 8 mph wind, producing a wind-chill factor that was just above freezing.

Michigan St. Spartans coach Rick Comley was thrilled with the scene, if not the outcome.

"The whole thing was great. If you can separate losing, you can't as a person involved in hockey experience anything better than what you experienced tonight," he said.

Gators Get a Good One in Muschamp

Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp has been hired as the new head football coach at the University of Florida.

Muschamp, who is a 15-year assistant coach who joined the Longhorns' staff in 2008, will replace Urban Meyer after his sudden resignation on Wednesday. An official announcement is pending the dotting on "I's" and crossing of "T's".

Muschamp is a former University of Georgia player who had originally agreed to be the coach in waiting, and take the head coaching position at Texas when Mack Brown decides to retire.

The Associated Press is also reporting that Muschamp has been hired, citing a source.  Muschamp is considered one of the nation's premier defensive coordinators and was a 2007 Broyles Award Finalist (nation's top assistant coach). He joined the Longhorns' after spending the previous two years as defensive coordinator at Auburn.

In his five years as a coordinator at Auburn and LSU, Muschamp's defenses ranked among the nation's top 10 in total defense five times and scoring defense three times.

The Gators get a good young coach.  The only downside, he has never been a head coach before.