Chip Kelly is leaving Oregon to coach the Philadelphia Eagles

That’s right, news is breaking right now that Chip Kelly will be leaving Oregon to become the new head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) was the first with the news, which has since been confirmed by multiple sources including Bruce Feldman (@BFeldmanCBS).

For those who wonder what changed since two weeks ago when Philadelphia tried to hire Kelly, Mike Freeman of CBS (@freemancbs) has some insight:

“Source says Chip Kelly is indeed head coach of the Eagles… I’m told Kelly got large amount of personnel say.”

Meanwhile, Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) of Sport Illustrated say that you should remember that Kelly never said that he was staying at Oregon. Those were only “reports” but no one ever got a direct quote from Kelly.

An interesting thought, but to me it is semantics considering that Kelly personally called the Oregon Athletic Director Rob Mullens to say he was staying.

Another popular thought seems to be that this means Oregon is going to get hit hard for the Willie Lyles NCAA investigation, but the real truth is that no one knows what the punishment is yet. Everything else is pure speculation.

Honestly, the thing I am most interested in right now is a statement from Phil Knight, owner of Nike and huge Oregon booster. In the past, Knight has been known to speak his mind if he feels he has been wronged.

I imagine this is not going to sit well with Knight.

Likely new head coach at Oregon, Mark Helfrich

As for who Oregon will turn to, common sentiment seems to be that offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich will be hired to replace Kelly.

However, I believe that there are some issues with Oregon state law that require a job to be fully open and posted to the public unless the school can prove a need to make an emergency hire.

2014 BCS National Championship Game Logo

While the logo isn’t anything groundbreaking, it certainly fits the style of the Rose Bowl and looks good to me.

Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) has released an eBook today titled “The Year In Sports 2012.” I recommend you get yourself a copy.

If you don’t know about Torres, he writes about a variety of topics on his own website AaronTorres-Sports.com and college football at Crystal Ball Run; in addition to about another half-dozen internet writing jobs.

Torres is also a published author, having authored “The Unlikeliest Champion” after the 2011 UConn Men’s Basketball championship run.

Beyond being a great writer, Torres has been a great asset to me as I have learned the ropes of blogging, getting credentialed and traveling the country attending sporting events.

In a 12-month span, I met up with Torres at 4 different sporting events in 3 states; Connecticut for a football game, Indiana for the Brickyard 400 and California for both the Oregon versus USC and Arizona versus UCLA games.

He has always been there for me, including the time I kept him on the phone about trivial stuff despite the fact I was making him late for a podcast interview with Tracy Wolfson. Yes, THAT Tracy Wolfson.

The book has more than 40 articles and is over 200 pages long. It covers a variety of sports and is well done. At just $4.99 it is certainly worth the purchase. If you want to know more about the book, or to purchase a copy so Aaron can buy a beer click here.

NOTE: I have never pimped anything on my site, including magazines I had photo credits in, nor am I getting any commission or pay. Just a post for someone who has helped me out tremendously, and also got screwed out of $20 just to park at the Rose Bowl because I am a terrible person to follow while driving.

Someone who is a huge Army fan found a way to hack into the Navy email server and send this email out to every Naval Cadet.

Vice Admiral Michael H. Miller

Dec 5

to goarmysinknavy, AllUSNA, USCC, BTD

Greetings,

In preparation for the humiliating defeat Army will be dealing to us in the near future, I have some guidance to pass down.

First: when we stage for march-on, we need to clean up our act. The internet has us pegged as dirty slobs– this year, we need to bring trash bags and clean up after ourselves. From what I understand, Army is embarrassed to even be associated with us.

Second: clean up the actual march-on. Please at least pretend to be in the military. Dress right dress, don’t talk at attention, etc. Seriously, this one is too easy.

Third: we need to have better accountability of our goats. This is also very embarrassing.

Fourth: when Army sings second, we will be respectful and professional.

Fifth: we need to be better at cyber.

Finally, I award you all with PMI (sleep ins) until Christmas. Maybe even a little longer, depending on how morale is going after Army defeats us on Saturday.

Cheers.

Go Army, Sink Navy!

Seriously funny stuff, that I am sure will cost someone their security clearance and entire future. Let’s hope not.

Now, if you would like a real preview of Army trying to break the 10-year Navy winning streak, check out this great story from Kevin McGuire (@KevinOnCFB).

[via @kujoatc75 | h/t @BryanDFischer]

[h/t @lostlettermen]

A photo of the oak trees at Toomer’s corner on fire

The already nearly-dead trees at Toomer’s corner had to be pruned after being set on fire

The already nearly-dead trees at Toomer’s corner had to be pruned after being set on fire

Back in the day, it normal to try and steal the other teams mascot, then return it right before (or after) the game. Today, idiots like this ruin a fun portion of collegiate athletics.

You can watch video of the entire act here.

[via @allbuffs]

Alabama fans beg Auburn to keep Gene Chizik as coach

[via @ClayTravisBGID | h/t @Aaron_Torres]

The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl will be moving from AT&T Park to the new 49ers Stadium in Santa Clara, California in 2014.

This is a major win for fans, who will no longer be subjected to trying to watch football in a baseball stadium.

Notice how the seats are angled strangely to the playing field

If you have never been to a football game in a baseball stadium you might not realize how uncomfortable it is. You have to sit a  weird angles in your seat just to be able to see the action, and often times you view is limited.

By all accounts, the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl is a well-run bowl game that is worth a visit. Having it in a real football stadium will only make the fan experience better.

Here are some renders of the stadium, along with a shot of the construction from today.

Ariel view

External view of the concourse structure

A full stadium shot

Love the ground level club pictured here

A live construction shot from today 11-20-2012

My favorite part is the ground level club. I’m sure it isn’t going to be the best view, but it will be one of the best places to hang out for a bowl game in the entire country.

I’ll be making the trip in 2014 to check out the new stadium.

Full press release:

(Santa Clara, CALIF) – The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl is moving to a new home.

Bowl organizers, the Santa Clara Stadium Authority (SCSA) and the San Francisco 49ers today confirmed in an afternoon press conference that the annual Bay Area postseason college football game will move to the New Santa Clara Stadium beginning in December 2014.

Construction of the new state-of-the-art home for the San Francisco 49ers is well underway, with more than 20 percent of the total project already completed. The first 49ers game in the new building will take place in August 2014, and will now be followed by the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl four months later. Seating capacity at the new stadium is set for 68,500, with 9,000 club seats and 165 luxury suites.

From its inception in 2002, the Bowl game has been played at AT&T Park in downtown San Francisco. Each year, at the conclusion of the San Francisco Giants playing season, AT&T Park has been transformed into a football venue. In just over a decade’s time, the Bay Area’s Bowl game grew from infancy to its rightful place as one of the 35-game bowl constellation’s brightest stars.

Gary Cavalli, Bowl co-founder and the only Executive Director in its history, said today that a number of factors entered into the decision to change game venues.

“This is an exciting, historic moment for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl,” Cavalli said. “Moving to the 49ers’ new state of the art stadium in Santa Clara is an opportunity to take our Bowl to the next level. The college football landscape has changed dramatically in recent months with a revamped post-season structure and ongoing conference realignment. This beautiful new venue will give us the ability to attract better teams, secure additional sponsorship support, and grow the game.

“The teams that participate in the Bowl will have the opportunity to play in a world-class NFL stadium that in all likelihood will host the Super Bowl, and fans who attend the game will have all the amenities of a premier football facility full of technological advancements. That combination is going to make our Bowl a more desirable destination for college football teams throughout the country and fans throughout the Bay Area. It’s a real game-changer for us.”

The Bowl’s game week activities and team hotels will remain in San Francisco, while on game day, teams and fans will also have a chance to experience Santa Clara and Silicon Valley.

49ers Chief Executive Officer Jed York has been the driving force behind the team’s efforts to find a new home venue in Santa Clara. He graciously welcomed the Bay Area’s Bowl game as the first non-49ers event to be scheduled in the new building.

“The 49ers are very excited that an established college football game such as the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl has become the first special event to commit to the New Santa Clara Stadium,” said York. “We look forward to facilitating world-class sports and entertainment events in a stadium that we anticipate becoming one of the world’s premier outdoor venues. This facility will bring together all that is special about the Bay Area and Silicon Valley to deliver an unequalled user experience.”

In March of 2012, the SCSA hired Forty Niners Stadium Management Company LLC to manage the new stadium and recently authorized it to enter into contracts for non-NFL events, such as the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, and to procure necessary services to operate the stadium on behalf of the SCSA.

Jamie L. Matthews is in his first term as Mayor of Santa Clara. In addition to his mayoral responsibilities, Matthews is also a Board member of the Santa Clara Stadium Authority.

“We are excited to have college football again in the City of Santa Clara, with a nod to a rich tradition dating back to Buck Shaw and Santa Clara University,” said Matthews. “It is a bit of tradition while offering a state-of-the-art game day experience in college football. This is an excellent example of a non-NFL event signing on with the new stadium and how the stadium is looking forward to booking more sports and entertainment events in the future.”

The Pac-12 Conference, newly-aligned from the former Pac-10 with the addition of Utah and Colorado in 2011, has long been the Bowl’s “anchor” conference. The first Pac-12 team to play in the game was UCLA in 2006 in a historic matchup with Florida State of the ACC.

Since then, Pac-12 members Oregon State, California, USC and UCLA again have played to the Bay Area’s substantial fan base.

This year’s game is Saturday, December 29th with a 1 p.m. kickoff and will be televised nationally on ESPN2. Navy, which played in the game in 2004, will meet a team from the Pac-12 that will be determined after the conference championship game on November 30. This year’s game and the 2013 contest will be played at AT&T Park.

ABOUT THE NEW SANTA CLARA STADIUM

The stadium in Santa Clara will be the new home to the San Francisco 49ers. It was designed by HNTB and is being built by Turner/Devcon; the stadium is expected to be one of the world’s best outdoor sports and entertainment centers, setting the standard for the next generation of sports venues. The $1.2 billion venue will have 1.85 million square feet, seat approximately 68,500 and will feature an expected 165 luxury suites and 9,000 club seats. It was designed to be a multi-purpose facility with the flexibility to host a wide range of events including, domestic and international soccer, college football, motocross, concerts and various civic events, and will be expandable for major events such as the Super Bowl.

For more information, go to www.NewSantaClaraStadium.com.

ABOUT THE SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

The San Francisco 49ers, owned by Denise and John York, currently play in the NFC West division and won each Super Bowl contest it entered, earning five Super Bowl trophies including Super Bowl XVI, XIX, XXIII, XXIV and XXIX. The franchise also has five conference championships and 18 divisional championships and was the first major league professional sports franchise to be based in San Francisco over 60 years ago.

ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO BOWL ASSOCIATION

The not-for profit association has been the driving force behind the Bowl game since its inception in 2002. In that time, the game, played at San Francisco’s AT&T Park, has generated over $130 million in economic benefit for the City and County of San Francisco. Several of college football’s most storied programs have already participated in the contest, formerly known as the Emerald Bowl. They include onetime national champions USC, Miami and Florida State, plus Navy, California, Boston College, UCLA, Oregon State and Utah. The 2009 game between USC and Boston College was at the time ESPN’s third-most-watched college football bowl game ever. For more information, visit www.kraftbowl.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

[h/t @D1scourse]

The billboards are already being installed today and tomorrow.

Quality control sure isn’t what is used to be.

[via @anotherhogfan | @Year2]