Clan-Members » Scott in Charlotte and Terence Crutcher in Tulsa

AUSTIN, Texas -- The worst job in football? Big 12 defensive coordinator.Just ask TCU coach Gary Patterson.The worst job maybe in America right now is the defensive coordinator, especially in the Big 12, Patterson said this week after his Horned Frogs gave up 52 points in a loss to Oklahoma. Basically youre going to make about 70 calls in 20 seconds and youre going to be evaluated every seven days, and by the next day whether you did a very good job or not.The Horned Frogs arent alone. Big 12 defenses are suffering every week.Eight of the leagues 10 teams rank No. 77 or lower nationally in total defense as the yards and points come in bunches. Six rank No. 67 or lower in scoring allowed. Four of those -- Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas Tech and Texas -- all surrender more than 35 points or more per game.And it could get worse.Most of those ugly stats were built against non-conference opponents. The leagues high-powered offenses are just getting warmed up as only Baylor and Oklahoma State have played more than one conference game.The outlier in all those missed tackles and wide open scoring passes is Kansas State, which ranks No. 4 in total defense but struggles to score. If the Wildcats can just figure out how to punch in a few touchdowns, they could run away with the league.After two straight losses giving up 50 and 49 points, Texas coach Charlie Strong had seen enough . He demoted coordinator Vance Bedford and will call defenses himself this week against Oklahoma.Bedford may be relieved to not be charged with defending fast-tempo offenses that spread the field, put a premium on open-field tackling and barely give defenders, or game officials, a chance to breathe.For some coaches, its not the game they love.Its beyond ridiculous. The way (offenses) run to the line of scrimmage and the referee has to run out of there to snap the football. To me, thats not football, Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said. What theyre doing to football is tough, its difficult. I dont even know what to call it anymore; I really dont.The Big 12 has had breakneck offenses for years, of course -- it just seems that the defenses havent caught up. The last time a Big 12 team ranked in the top 10 in total defense was in 2010, when Texas was No. 6 (TCU was No. 1 that season but didnt join the league until 2012).The Longhorns were No. 3 in total defense in 2009 when they played for the national title. When Oklahoma won the 2000 national championship, the Sooners had a top 10 unit peppered with big-time playmakers.Those days of rockem, sockem Big 12 defenses are ancient history, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said.Defensive statistics are not what they used to be and theyre not ever going to go back to the way it used to be, Gundy said. His Cowboys beat Texas 49-31 in a game that passed 1,000 yards of total offense.Offenses play fast ... Theres more speed on the perimeter ... (And) were back in a trend here where weve got fantastic quarterbacks playing in this league. When that happens, theyre going to run up 400-500 yards. Thats just the way it is, Gundy said.The league does have some gunslingers. TCUs Kenny Hill, Texas Techs Patrick Mahomes and Oklahoma States Mason Rudolph all rank in top the top 10 nationally in passing.But Big 12 defenses have been beaten up all around the country this season:- Texas has surrendered more than 500 yards and three or more touchdown passes three times in the first four games, while forcing just one turnover with no interceptions.- Texas Tech allowed Arizona States Kalen Ballage to score an NCAA record-tying eight touchdowns in a 68-55 loss. Ballage has scored just two more touchdowns in the Sun Devils four other games.- Defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma, which made the College Football Playoff last season, has given up 91 points in its last two games.When the Longhorns and Sooners play their annual rivalry game in Dallas on Saturday, the loser will come out 2/3 and facing a furious fan base. After two losing seasons, Strong is under enormous pressure to win this season or risk losing his job.A defensive coordinator at Florida when the Gators won two national titles, Strong is betting on himself to turn around Texas defense and season.I dont think its desperate measures, Strong said. Ive done it before. I see where I can help. Sometimes you need new energy and eyes.---AP Sports Writers Cliff Brunt, Stephen Hawkins and John Raby contributed. Scott Niedermayer Ducks Jersey . You can watch the game live on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Flyers had won seven of eight before dropping their last two outings on consecutive days over the weekend. Philadelphia was handed a 6-3 loss by the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Rangers the following night in New York City. Adam Henrique Ducks Jersey . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. http://www.authenticduckspro.com/Customized/ . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Teemu Selanne Ducks Jersey . -- Former San Diego Chargers safety Paul Oliver was found dead at his Atlanta-area home Tuesday night, and a medical examiner said Wednesday that the ex-player committed suicide. Carter Rowney Jersey . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. The Seattle Mariners have suspended backup catcher Steve Clevenger without pay for the rest of the season a day after he sent racist tweets criticizing protesters in Charlotte, North Carolina; the Black Lives Matter movement; and President Barack Obama.In the tweets, which have since been deleted, Clevenger mocked the groups in Charlotte protesting the shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott, whom he called a thug, while referencing Colin Kaepernicks weekly demonstration to kneel during the national anthem to raise awareness of police brutality. He also called Black Lives Matter and Obama pathetic and said everyone involved should be locked behind bars like animals. (Clevenger has since released an apology.)So, can we stop calling Kaepernicks protests meaningless now??What Clevenger didnt realize is the extent to which he was proving Kaepernicks point -- and, perhaps more importantly, the extent to which he was proving Kaepernicks detractors wrong. Here you have a white player aggressively criticizing on-the-ground protesting by implying its too loud, while in the same breath criticizing a silent protest by a fellow athlete.In the weeks of debate over national anthem protests, much has been said about the seemingly no-win situation in which Kaepernick and others find themselves. When protests hit the streets, those inconvenienced by them admonish demonstrators for not undertaking more peaceful means. When peaceful protests occur on the field, players are told their gestures are distracting and ineffective.At the very least, we can debunk the ineffective part. Here we are, weeks later, still talking about the protests, which have grown across players, teams and leagues. The protests have spread from Kaepernick to Megan Rapinoe to entire NFL and WNBA teams. Theyve inspired Adam Jones to spark a conversation about race in baseball and the importance of white allies. Theyve led to quick, actionable consequences for a player tweeting incendiary things.Sure, Seattle is among the most liberal cities in the country, and Clevenger is a journeyman backup catcher who has barely managed a full seasons worth of total games in his six years in the majors. Hes not exactly Dan Wilson, and the Mariners didnt exactly have to sweat over this decision.Clevenger was quick to place Scott into thee thug category, while criticizing protesters for being too violent in the wake of a shooting of one civilian by another during the demonstrations.ddddddddddddut in the wake of the killings of Scott in Charlotte and Terence Crutcher in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Kaepernicks detractors have remained largely silent, save for the few like Clevenger doubling down on the narrative that black people getting gunned down in the streets must somehow deserve it -- and those choosing to speak up about it belong behind bars. That no matter their means, dissenting black voices will always be shouted down.Another somewhat troubling narrative has emerged in the hours since Clevengers suspension: that theres an inherent hypocrisy in supporting the free speech behind on-field protests of the national anthem while condemning a player for tweeting, even if people on both sides disagree with both messages. Thats a rational conversation we can have, but this instance isnt the place.People such as Justin Verlander and Kate Upton have the right to tweet misguided and poorly formed opinions on anthem protests. But when a player refers to black protesters as animals and calls for their mass incarceration, not to mention throwing our president in there, we should draw the line. We can debate where, exactly, that line should be and how it should be drawn. We cant debate that the line does exist. As ESPN the Magazines Mina Kimes put it, theres a difference between political commentary and hate speech. The blurring of that line only leads to more of the latter.So yes, the Mariners suspended a relatively meaningless player, for the relatively meaningless number of 10 remaining games, to the relatively meaningless tune of $34,000 pay. And yes, the Mariners probably decided that Clevengers statements construed conduct detrimental to the team from a PR perspective.?But the movement Kaepernick started, as an extension of Black Lives Matter, in reaction to an ongoing crisis with which scores of both players and fans across the major sports can identify, is what has finally begun to render hate speech detrimental. Hopefully this will continue to extend from speech, to attitude, to action. ' ' '