due to thursday's ncaa ruling, the fresno state bulldogs actually did beat usc in this classic 2005 game ...

whatcansay ... it's been a fun year, touting the merits of "the blind side" book ... and "the blind side" movie" ... and michael oher ... and the tuohy family ... and sandra bullock ... and michael lewis. and to see sandra put an exclamation point on the oscar-nominated best picture with her own academy award sunday night was just priceless. sniff ... so congrats again to everybody named oher, tuohy, bullock, lewis, hancock, howerton, etc. ... we will now put away our cheerleading outfit and take a "blind side" vacation for the rest of the month. and then when we return from our memphis beach vacay, we'll start to hype the shit outta "the blind side 2"!! oops ... sorry for cussing ... [see sandra's oscar acceptance speech here ... and her backstage thankyou speech here] ... photo by michael caulfield / wireimage via mtv

okay. his 7 bench presses at 225 pounds ain't gonna win any strongest man competition ... but nobody at the 2010 nfl scouting combine matched the atheticism numbers that fresno state's a.j. jefferson posted tuesday. nobody. in fact, if the nfl gave out olympic gold medals for this 4-day foray, a.j. would HAVE to be the winner ... his 44-inch vertical jump was the official best leap of anyone at the combine ... his 20-yard shuttle (4.00) and 60-yard shuttle times (11.04) were the best marks again of anyone at indianapolis (according to the postings at the nfl.com site) ... and his 4.43 40 time, official 10'6" broad jump & official 6.72 3-cone drill time were all top 5 amongst cornerbacks. originally projected as a late-round nfl draft pick at best, a.j. just did an air jordan leap up the draft ladder ... he may even be a mid-round pick now. and remember 2 days ago when i wrote "ryan mathews & fresno state bulldogs rip up nfl combine" with fresno state players putting up amazing numbers all across the board? ... now you tack on a.j.'s performance on top of that showing and it's even more impressive ... a db with a 44 ...

fresno beach fave ryan mathews has the buzzzz at the 2010 nfl scouting combine after running a 4.45 40 and benching 225 pounds 19 times sunday. might even go to the san diego chargers at pick #28 ... who knows? check out this nfl.com vid of run ryan run at the combine in indianapolis. and congrats too to fellow fresno staters lonyae miller, who was a beast of a man benchin' 225 26 times (tying for best among all running backs) while runnin' a 4.53 40 ... and to robert malone as well after benching 225 19 times ... WOW!! ... next best punter had 16. i got no 40 times yet on seyi ajirotutu & chastin west, but they got 14 & 15 reps respectively on the bench press ... a.j. jefferson goes tuesday. [update1: seyi had a 4.53 40 time while chastin had a 4.54 40 ... here's audio of a blog talk radio on-location interview with the two bulldog receivers] [update2: well, a.j. jefferson just completed his combine tuesday and only had the best performance of any nfl player in this whole 4-day competition, lol. WOW! hit this link and check out his numbers ... and while i'm here updating this ryan mathews ...

sorry. but ever since the super bowl, i haven't been able to get this version of the song outta my head ... you feel me? ... it's in your head too? ... cool. well, now i'm gonna play it again so it'll be stuck in our heads next week too, okay? "SUP?" (that's me doing jay-z) ...

winning the super bowl for new orleans while holding your son before a cheering stadium: "priceless." ... photo by david bergman / sports illustrated

the saints have indeed arrived ... CONGRATULATIONS NEW ORLEANS!!! ... photo by andy lyons / getty images via espn

what's G? ... "when 12 tribes become 1."

peyton manning does his best "blue steel" ...

the almost twins--jack packard & jake szymanski--are back-to-back to high-five the soup outta the super bowl ... HIGH-FIVE SUPER BOWL! - watch more funny videos

so, exactly what was bryant mckinnie doing to get kicked out of the pro bowl??? ... dan le batard has the answers. ... photo by seth browarnik / miami herald

stack tv & wheaties fuel show peyton manning goin' traditional, while drew brees goes crossfit ... ... photo by danny vega / stack magazine

brooklyn decker has just informed me (and all her twitter friends) that my favorite running back of the '00s is now on twitter! that's right, TIKI BARBER, Y'ALL!!! ... make sure you add him, buy plenty of ritz crackers for super bowl sunday and dance with tiki too in his new ritz commercial ...

this time, fave sarah spain of "no spain no gain" sits & talks with another fresno beach fave brooklyn decker about next week's 2010 sports illustrated swimsuit issue @ super bowl radio row in miami ... ... photo by randall grant / sports illustrated

fresno beach fave sarah spain of "no spain no gain" takes a walk on "the blind side" with another fb fave michael oher @ super bowl radio row in miami ...

hundreds of central cali's finest will be meeting the crossfit-ftf fitness challenge february 27 in fresno, including fresno state's greatest pro ever lorenzo neal, who just this week was named the decade's best fullback by the pro football hall of fame selection committee. you don't have to be a 16-year nfl pro ... people of all fitness levels and ages will celebrate crossfit-ftf's one-year anniversary ... it is open to the public. crossfit, live band, vendors, barbecue ... 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. february 27 ... hit this link for more info.

guess it's official ... after making the nfl's all-decade team for the '00s at fullback, lorenzo neal has to go down as fresno state's greatest pro ever ...

go colts!! ... go saints!! ... and another thing that needs to go is the nfl ot rule ... advanced nfl stats' brian burke explains at the new york times nfl blog.

now that their nfl season is over after reaching the elite eight, my favorite offensive linemen not named michael oher a.k.a. the dallas cowboys are transforming themselves into free reign, the heaviest metal band ever ... meet felix jones' secret service and the biggest thing in heavy metal these days--from right to left--leonard davis (bass), marc colombo (lead singer), cory procter (drummer) & justin chapman (lead guitarist), the only band member not on the dallas cowboys ... free reign "all in vain" ...

somewhere tattoo is screaming, "boss! look! the playas! the playas." ... and in walks the smooth ricardo montalban, simply saying, "welcome to football island." where else but american samoa can you find a population of 65,000 producing 30 current nfl players ... Watch CBS News Videos Online Watch CBS News Videos Online Watch CBS News Videos Online

sandra bullock deservedly wins the "best actress" golden globe for "the blind side" ... ... photo by huffington post

after watching the colts-ravens and vikings-cowboys games, i discovered something that no one has reported yet--somehow the oakland raiders infiltrated both baltimore and dallas camps this weekend and played disguised as ravens & cowboys... investigation underway. alas, my preseason super bowl picks are eliminated. one more note: if wade phillips was coaching the los angeles lakers, he'd start sasha vujacic over kobe bryant ... stat for running backs not named felix jones: 9 rushes, 15 yards. ... photo by star-tribune

the wall street journal's david biderman had a good story revealing that the typical nfl game only has 11 minutes of actual action ... here's the tv breakdown ... 75 minutes of players huddling, standing at line of scrimmage or milling around 17 minutes of replays 11 minutes of actual playing time "COMING UP NEXT, THE NFL PLAYOFFS ON C-PAN!!!" ... photo illustration by jeff mangiat / photos by getty images, associated press & nfl via wsj

you haven't been to a rex ryan party til you've been to kissing suzy kolber ... if you wanna get fired up, go check out the r-rated fun with coach rex ryan, mark "paunch" sanchez & thomas "jonesy" jones ... you'll never watch a jets game the same way again. and make sure to go in this order: a trip down m-----f------ memory lane: "there's a new rex in town" ... "coach ryan's got a message for you" ... "coach ryan breaks in the new guy" ... "coach ryan likes hot dogs" ... "coach ryan brings in the new guy" ... "a very special thanksgiving with a very special guest" ... "santy claus gets a little extra motivation" ... "coach ryan brings in a surprise" ... "coach ryan gets an unwelcome visitor".

rick reilly on matthew costello ... a must-read. ... photo by jamie costello via espn