Jim Washburn on Leaving Titans: 'I Just Thought It Was About Time'

Filed under: Titans, AFC South

As Jim Washburn saw it, the timing was just right.

Washburn, who spent 12 seasons coaching with Tennessee Titans, left the franchise this week to join the Philadelphia Eagles as defensive line coach. He told Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean he just needed "to get invigorated a little bit.

"It wasn't anything in particular, I just thought it was just about time,'' Washburn said. "It is no reflection on the state of the Titans or anything. As a matter of fact, the Titans having the troubles is the one thing that made me want to stay.

"It almost kept me here. I'd like to be with them to fight their way back to the top. So I don't want it to look like I am running out.''

Washburn, 61, told Wyatt he didn't want to offend anyone while leaving, and spoke highly of the Titans' organization.

"Everyone is trying to read different things into it, but I have choices and I feel good about it," Washburn said. "I have no buyer's remorse or anything. I am not going to be ugly about anything. I want to leave here with a clean break and don't want to have any sour grapes and I shouldn't. It was a really good 12 years, most of them anyway. Maybe one or two of them (stunk), but I enjoyed it.

"I was frustrated when we didn't play good. But my contract is up. So I don't understand how anyone could fault me. Life is about choices. No one is going to put me on a guilt trip because I went over there and worked as hard as I could every day and I enjoyed every minute of it. Now I just wanted to do something a little different.''

Washburn specifically told Wyatt he was happy with how Titans coach Jeff Fisher treated him.

 

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Truly, the Most Interesting Man in the World

by Jordan Schultz

Filed under: TV and Movies, Sports Media, Sports Advertising, FanHouse Exclusive, Sports Business and Media

Jonathan Goldsmith is not a household name. His Dos Equis beer commercials, however, have made him a familiar face. Spend a little time with the man behind the ads, and you learn there is a common bond between the character and the man himself.

The following is a list of some of his more memorable life experiences:

* Hand fed a 750 lb. tiger.

* Met Jackie Robinson.

* Changed his name and then changed it back (Goldsmith is his given name).

* Been shot by John Wayne.

Does this sound like the most interesting man in the world?

 

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Peyton Hillis: 'Every Team' Made Fun of Him for Being White

Filed under: Browns

Peyton Hillis is sort of a rarity in NFL history -- a white tailback. While there have been a few prominent ones, including John Riggins and Larry Csonka, they're the exception rather than the rule.

On The Dan Patrick Show, Hillis said he heard about it every Sunday.

"Every team did it," he said. "They'll say, 'You white boy, you ain't gonna run on us today. This is ridiculous. Why are you giving offensive linemen the ball?'

"All kinds of stuff like that you hear on the field, but I use that to my advantage. I kind of soaked it in, ate it up a little bit, because I enjoyed it."

Hillis said he's been referred to by nicknames such as "The Avalanche" and "White Rhino."

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Tyron Woodley Stays Undefeated, Beats Tarec Saffiedine

by Michael David SmithTyron Woodley didn't have an easy time with Tarec Saffiedine on Friday night's Strikeforce Challengers card, but through three rounds of battling Saffiedine showed that his NCAA wrestling pedigree gives him a great advantage in the clinch, and he won a hard-fought unanimous decision.

"I did well," Woodley said of his performance. "Tarec is a very tough guy. He has some power, he has some pop, switches his stance. Difficult guy to find timing on. I endured, I pressed him, I kept the pressure on with my striking. I did a good job tonight."

 

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Congratulations Crunchies Winners! Twitter Takes Best Startup Of 2010

This year?s fourth annual Crunchies Awards have just concluded, and we?re happy to say that it was an overwhelming success. For those who weren't at the event or watching our livestream, we?ve included the list of nominees and winners below. Our most sincere congratulations to the winners and to all of the nominees as well. It was an incredibly tight race for many of the categories, and it?s safe to say that everyone on this list is at the top of their field. We?d like to take a moment to point out Twitter?s win for ?Best Overall Startup Or Product?, the first time the company has won a Crunchie in this category. Twitter has become an indispensable part of social communication and a key ingredient in the fabric of the web. And congratulations to Groupon's Andrew Mason, who won for CEO of the Year; Mark Pincus, who took Best Founder of the Year, and Quora, which took Best New Startup in 2010.

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Oh No!

Santa left one of his reindeer here!

Merry Christmas!

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Movie critic gets the 'creeps' seeing kids try MMA, Jason Statham disagrees

The UFC can hold all the press conferences it wants, but there's still going to be that element of potential critics who have their pre-conceived notions about mixed martial arts.

Mark down movie critic Jeffrey Lyons as an opponent. The longtime movie guru in the New York area asked actor Jason Statham if there should be a minimum age for kids to train in MMA. Statham, a fan and student of MMA, intelligently shot him down. 

It's not just Lyons. Check out the comment thread on this TapouT-Ruffo brothers commercial. There's lots of folks around the world who are still in the dark on MMA.

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Bears fans thank Bas Rutten for his calm, cool head

Football fans know that on Sunday, the Bears will play the Packers for a shot at the Super Bowl. It's kind of a big deal here in Chicago (you can read all my Bears-related blogging here, and all of Yahoo! Sports' awesome NFL coverage here), but the Bears might not have reached the NFC Championship game without Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Urlacher. It turns out that Brian Urlacher might not be where he is without the kindness of MMA legend Bas Rutten.

So on behalf of all Bears fans, thank you, Bas, and thank you to the bouncers who stepped in and prevented Urlacher from getting the liver shot that Bas would have definitely delivered.

Thanks to Chicago's MMA.

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McKenzie is 'not that athletic,' but plans on finishing Edwards

Cody McKenzie made his name on the 12th season of "The Ultimate Fighter," showing off a nasty guillotine that he renamed the "McKenzie-tine." He gets another chance to pull it off against Yves Edwards at "Fight for the Troops" on Saturday, but he still considers himself unathletic.

McKenzie has 11 straight wins by guillotine, not including his wins on TUF. He'll have his hands full with MMA veteran Yves Edwards, whose last submission loss was to Mark Hominick at UFC 58. 

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Lovie Smith's Down-Home Approach Has Bears on Verge of Super Bowl

Filed under: Chicago Bears, Packers, NFL Playoffs, NFL Coaching

He is a stern teacher. But in his news conferences, during games, he is often viewed as far from stern and routinely stoic.

Lovie Smith knows how to hoard his best shots.

He is honest. He is as blue-collar as the team and city he coaches and represents. He does not strut among his Bears players or coaches, or speak to Chicagoans in a tone that reminds all daily that he is the head coach and that he is in the building. No, Smith has created a family-feel among the Bears in his seven seasons, an atmosphere where people want to come to work and there is not much among them to hide. Teams with grit that Bears fans can grip.

Athletes at every position. Skilled, fast guys who compete to the whistle. A Tampa-2 defense. A Big Sandy, Texas flow.

" I have no idea what my style is,'' said Smith, 52, who grew up in Big Sandy, population fewer than 1,500. " I am who I am -- and I do not know exactly who that is as far as others are concerned."

 

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Retirement Hasn't Quieted Billy Packer

by Viv Bernstein

Filed under: Media Watch, FanHouse Exclusive, Sports Business and Media

CHARLOTTE -- Those old, iconic CBS Sports jackets are long gone from Billy Packer's closet. The premier college basketball television analyst for three decades doesn't own a video or DVD of any of his games, either.

And that Emmy Award Packer won in 1993?

"He's probably using it as a doorstop,'' cracked his son, Charlotte radio personality Mark Packer.

Billy Packer is more likely to display his prized Picasso ceramics or Barbazon art than a faded photograph with some basketball player or coach. He is neither sentimental nor nostalgic about a career he refers to almost dismissively as a "hobby."

Nearly three years after he left CBS following the NCAA championship game between Kansas and Memphis in 2008, having broadcast 34 Final Fours with NBC and CBS and more tipoffs than he would ever care to count, Packer is focused on private business ventures in a life that remains active away from the cameras and lights.

No, he doesn't long to return to broadcasting. Nor does he spend much time watching basketball. At any given moment, his TV is just as likely to be turned to the Food Network as SportsCenter.

"I like the chef battles,'' Packer said as he turned off a cooking show he was watching one day last month.

But Packer still follows the sport that has in many ways defined his life. That has not changed for the former Wake Forest point guard and assistant coach-turned-broadcaster.

"I have a passion for the history and the value of the game and its direction,'' Packer said. "I will say this, not to be in a bragging fashion: I do understand the game. I would not be averse to debate the status of basketball with anybody.''

 

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mSpot Lands In Europe, Lets You Take Your Music Wherever You Go

I'm a big fan of music streaming startup Rdio, but one thing it does not do (and probably never will): let me upload the music I already owned before I subscribed to their service so I can stream it on the go (it does have an iTunes syncing feature, but it's limited to the music they've licensed). Enter mSpot, a music locker service that does exactly that: let people carry around the music they've already paid for. And today, mSpot is formally launching in Europe.

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Hair Apparent: Long-Locked Clay Matthews Eyes Title Glory

Filed under: Chicago Bears, Packers, NFL Playoffs, NFL Analysis

At Southern Cal, Clay Matthews first got a lot of attention because of his bloodlines associated with the storied Trojans program. Eventually, he earned some of the highest collegiate accolades and was a first-round draft choice.

As a rookie with the Green Bay Packers in 2009, Matthews made an instant impact on a highly rated defense, and followed it up with a season that may very well garner the hell-raising outside linebacker the 2010 Defensive Player of Year honors.

And then there's the marketing opportunities with those flowing golden locks.

"I need to talk to Troy (Polamalu)," Matthews said. "I need to get on that 'Head & Shoulders' campaign."

Win Sunday and Matthews can probably eliminate the middle man. Not that television fame is what he seeks.

Matthews, 24, had zero Division-I scholarship offers coming out of high school, so he went to USC (same as his father. Clay, and Pro Football Hall of Fame uncle, Bruce) and willed himself from walk-on to college standout. He was the fourth linebacker taken in the '09 draft -- the second from USC that year, in fact (Brian Cushing was the other) -- but only two players in the NFL (DeMarcus Ware and Jared Allen) have more sacks than Matthews' 23 1/2 the last two seasons, both of which were rewarded with trips to the Pro Bowl.

 

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Gap Contest Winners

Okay, wow, did this take a long time to figure out. After counting how many people entered to win each item, I assigned each person a number based on the order they signed up, then used Random.org to pick a winner.

So, let's start with the jeans...

 

C - Sexy Boot 26/2L (I have two pairs)

13 people entered. And the winners are...  #6 - Amanda K. and #4 - Amanda R.  (the sixth and fourth person to sign up to win C)

 

D - Sexy Boot 28/6L

13 people entered. And the winner is... #7 - Madeline

 

E - Sexy Boot 29/8L

12 people entered. And the winner is... #12 - Rachel E.

 

F - Sexy Boot 31/12L

25 people entered. And the winner is... #16 - Laura R.

 

G - Real Straight 27/4

19 people entered. And the winner is... #2 - Kristi D.

 

H - Always Skinny 27/4

16 people entered. And the winner is... #16 - Kathleen S.

 

I - Always Skinny 30/10

11 people entered. And the winner is... #9 - Sara F.

 

J - Always Skinny 31/12

14 people entered. And the winner is... #2 - Kara P.

 

Next, the gift card...

A - $50 Gap Gift Card

121 people entered. And the winner is... #83 - Elena

 

And finally, the certificates for a free pair of jeans...

 B - Gift Certificate for a Pair of Gap 1969 Jeans (I have six)

112 people entered. And the winners are... #54 - Lesli L., #8 - Brenda R., #32 - Ellene, #37 - Heather V., #111 - Megahn K., and #60 - Jennifer R.

 

Congratulations, everyone!

For the people who didn't win, you will all be getting a boobie prize. Once I get all the jeans sent out, I'll contact you to get your address. Please note, boobie prizes will not be a photo of my boobies. They will, however, be something in my apartment that I don't want anymore... maybe a book or a CD or a vase with a cheetah design on it that my mom gave me a long time ago that I simply do not use.* Your boobie prize is to stay wrapped and under the tree until Christmas morning, at which point you may open it. I'm decluttering my apartment, so it's either you or goodwill, and to be honest, this seemed more fun.

God, I totally feel like Oprah right now.

(And honestly, would you rather win a trip to Australia or an Ally McBeal CD?** Because I have one of those and someone's going to get it.)

*

**

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Don King, Bob Arum Still Going Strong in Promoting Game

Filed under: Top Rank Promotions

NEW YORK -- Two legendary boxing promoters stood at B.B. King's Blues Club and Grill Wednesday in Times Square fielding questions from the media about an upcoming boxing fight they were promoting.

One stood holding a glass of brandy, wearing a blue denim jacket with pictures of him embedded on it, diamond crosses hanging from his neck. The other looked as if he had just walked out of a Goldman Sachs meeting wearing a blue suit and tie.

One could be heard throughout the room, boasting loudly about how his fighter was going to "woop" the other as a pack of reporters huddled around.

The other spoke so lowly reporters had to stand closely to hear the promoter talk about the state of boxing.

Don King and Bob Arum are not likely business partners. Arum, a Harvard graduate who looks every bit the part, is on another end of the spectrum compared to the flamboyant, boisterous and confident King, who once said he graduated from the "University of Ghetto."

Bob Arum and Don King Joining Forces
Bob Arum and Don King: 'A Breed Apart'

The two were promoting a March 12 fight card at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The fight features 37-year-old former world champion Ricardo Mayorga of Managua, Nicaragua, against WBA junior middleweight titlist Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico.

Arum, the Top Rank Promotions CEO, represents Cotto while King represents Mayorga.

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B.J. Penn learning how to box correctly, according to Floyd Mayweather Sr.

B.J. Penn is on a mission. After two straight losses to current UFC lightweight champ Frank Edgar, Penn scrapped most of his old trainers and began seeking out new voices and experts. The latest he worked with was Floyd Mayweather Sr.

Big Floyd has a solid reputation as a boxing trainer and a very high opinion of his work outside the ring.

Mayweather Sr. told FightHype he wasn't impressed when he first began to work with "The Prodigy."

"I’ll be honest, at first, it didn’t seem like he could fight that good. I mean, I don’t know about his ground game and all of that stuff, but he’s got some pop and in just the three days I’ve been working with him, he has improved, man."

Penn is a quick learner. Mayweather continued:

"In his words, man, he told me, ‘I ain’t never seen some of this stuff you’re showing me, man.’ And that’s only after three days. BJ is learning fast, man. He's a good guy."

Mayweather looks forward to helping more MMA fighters, and thinks he's given Penn an edge for his fight against the taller Jon Fitch in February at UFC 127.

"I work with a couple now and I'm all for it. I don't know [expletive] about that ground stuff, but I can get their defense tight and get them throwing their shots right. I got B.J. working something just for a taller opponent. I don't know what B.J.'s ground game is like at all, but if he uses what I'm showing, he won't need it."

This isn't the first time Penn reached out to a top boxing trainer. In the past, he worked with Manny Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach. Roach once told me that Penn was the best MMA fighter he'd worked with as far as straight boxing. Said Mayweather:

"I bet he ain't going back to [Freddie Roach] either. He worked with Freddie 'The Joke Coach' Roach, and he telling me he has never see the stuff I'm showing him. So what does that tell you? Man, the only thing Freddie Roach can do better than me is wash my car."

Expect more of this crossover work in the future. MMA fighters like Penn are smart to seek out the experts from the world of boxing.  

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Fedor goes the Mayweather route, wants strict drug testing for Strikeforce GP

Floyd Mayweather made headlines in 2010 by insisting on Olympic-style drug testing for all his opponents. Shane Mosley agreed to the terms. Manny Pacquiao still hasn't. The boxer wants to ensure a level playing field. M-1 Global, the management team for MMA star Fedor Emelianenko, never used the term "Olympic-style," but it sure sent a similar message during a press conference today in Moscow.

"Two out of eight fighters in the (Strikeforce heavyweight) tournament previously failed a drug test. Obviously, I'm talking about Josh Barnett and Antonio Silva," said Fedor's manager Vadim Finkelchtein.

"We want fair competition for everyone, so that's why I will ask the commission to perform a strict drug testing. Fedor is not using any kind of substance to enhance his performance, and will be ready for any kind of testing. So if the commission decides to follow our suggestion, we'll be ready."

Fedor often refers to Barnett as a good friend, but it's clear there's still some lingering resentment from the American's last positive drug test. 

"We have never shied away from a particular battle, I just want for his fighter to be professional opponent, not a chemist. Today doping can significantly add speed and endurance. We just want all parties to the Grand Prix and potential rivals to play by the rules," Finkelchtein said. "Our organization paid a heavy price after the cancelation of the fight between Josh Barnett and Fedor. We did a lot of promotion for this fight, which in the end did not take place. That's why as a promoter and manager, I don't want this to happen ever again."

Barnett is on the other side of the bracket in Strikeforce's heavyweight Grand Prix. The only way the fighters could meet is in the finals tentatively scheduled for late 2011. It's still not a certainty Barnett is a lock for the tourney. He appeal and re-instatment process in California has dragged on for months. The fighter is now planning on skipping the next hearing in the Golden State. The California State Athletic Commission is planning on ruling on Barnett's license either way. 

During the presser, M-1 management also talked about Fedor's new three-fight deal which is more of a three-way pact with M-1, Strikeforce and Showtime. Last time around it was just M-1 and Strikeforce. Finkelchtein hopes to announce a Showtime deal to televise four or five M-1 fight cards in the next month.  

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Strikeforce Tournament Could Crown MMA's Top Heavyweight

by Michael David SmithThere's no such thing as "the heavyweight champion of the world" in mixed martial arts. That's a title that various promoters can bestow on their fighters, but the reality is that the promotions have their own heavyweight champions. If those champions won't fight each other, then we never really know, for sure, who the champ is.

But there is usually a consensus opinion among MMA fans and the MMA media about who the top heavyweight is. For years, the top heavyweight was Fedor Emelianenko, which meant that the No. 1 heavyweight resided outside the UFC. The combination of Fedor's loss to Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez's victory over Brock Lesnar, however, solidified Velasquez, in the eyes of most observers, as the No. 1 heavyweight.

None of the fighters participating in Strikeforce's eight-man heavyweight tournament will get the opportunity to wrest control of the mythical heavyweight crown away from Velasquez inside the cage. But the tournament will give the winner a lot of ammunition for an argument that he is, in fact, the best. And the tournament gives Strikeforce its best chance of making a legitimate case that its champion -- and not the UFC's -- is the best heavyweight.

 

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Au revoir: Vera, Davis, Baroni and McKee cut after UFC 125 losses

Four more fighters became victims of the post-merger UFC. Brandon Vera, Marcus Davis, Phil Baroni and Antonio McKee all were given pink slips after losing at UFC 125.

Vera has had a long, strange trip through the UFC. He's headlined cards and fought legends like Randy Couture, but is on a three-fight losing streak. Cage Potato called him one of the MMA's best can-crushers. Perhaps he needs to take out a few tomato cans to get his career back on track.

Davis started with the UFC on the second season of "The Ultimate Fighter," and has had 14 bouts with the promotion. He won Fight of the Night three times, but lost four of his last five. Dropping to lightweight didn't help him, as he was knocked out by Jeremy Stephens at UFC 125. 

Despite long careers in MMA, both McKee and Baroni had short stints with the UFC. McKee fought for the IFL and Canadian-based MFC before getting his shot in the Octagon against Jacob Volkmann at UFC 125. Baroni fought for PRIDE, Strikeforce and EliteXC before getting two fights in the UFC. Both were losses, to Amir Sadollah and Brad Tavares. 

Losing fighters like these robs the UFC of some of the fun and personality that fighters like Baroni bring to it. Davis, Vera and McKee have perfected the art of trash-talking like few others. But with so many fighters on the roster after the merger with the WEC, this is the reality of the UFC today. This is especially true at lightweight, where McKee and Davis competed.

The upside is that it gives fighters in the UFC a level of accountability that is unheard of in professional sports. Football players can slump for an entire season and not worry about being cut. The same is true in basketball and baseball. The closest comparable can be found in golf, where players who don't make the top 125 in earnings don't automatically get their tour card for the next year. Like golfers, fighters know that they have to perform to keep their jobs.

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Diplomats Say, 'Together, We Can Always Do Better'

Reunited Dipset show up for 'RapFix Live,' where Jim Jones says he's glad to have his 'brothers back.'
By Jayson Rodriguez, with reporting by Sway Calloway

The Diplomats
Photo: MTV News

When it comes to the reunited Diplomats, the Harlem collective's spat was largely between frontman Cam'ron and capo Jim Jones.

Cam and Jim tossed barbs at each other during interviews, though they were civil enough to acknowledge their childhood friendship. And while Juelz Santana remained neutral for a long time (he eventually sided with Jones), it was Freekey Zekey who constantly urged the pair to put aside their differences.

"Zeke never had a problem with anyone, so he was always trying to get everybody to talk," Cam'ron told host Sway during the Dipset's appearance on "RapFix Live" on Thursday (January 20). "I think everyone just needed to come to an understanding. We could all do great by ourselves, but if we all together, we can always do better. Like Snoop said, I can do whatever I want by myself but when I'm with Dr. Dre, it's breakthroughs, it's miracles, it's stars and it's all types of things in the air."

The rift between Cam and Jones lasted roughly three years until last year when the two announced they'd reconciled; in April 2010 they revealed they were in negotiations for a new record deal. A month later, in Atlanta, the two made their most pronounced appearance together in years when they joined forces at a Converse-sponsored hoops tournament, where they took first place.

Since then, the Harlem crew have been back to their old tricks — with an added wrinkle in new affiliate and Cam protégé Vado — taking shots at Kanye West, re-injecting humor and irreverence back into hip-hop and talking the talk they often do.

In October, Jones spoke to MTV News about being in the studio with Dre, a precursor to their presumed new alliance with Interscope Records.

Now, Jones and company are basking in the glow that their comeback has sparked.

"It's a good feeling, above all," Jones said on "RapFix Live." "You got your brothers back. Me and Cam grew up since we were young. Me and Zeke since 2nd grade. We knew Juelz since he was a young teenager. It's a life-learning lesson. Above all, we kept the brotherhood; no one disrespected anyone. To know we all back, to know we all on the same playing field. The music is even better due to all the experience, walking in your own lane. And it feels good."

What did you think of Dipset's appearance on our "RapFix Live" show? Tell us in the comments!

Related Videos

• 'RapFix Live' With The Diplomats

Related Artists

• The Diplomats

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