As the playoffs continue to separate the NFL’s contenders from pretenders, fans of lesser franchises continue to pour over mock drafts and off-season strategies. And while some of those teams are able to find hope in the success they had this season, the rest of us can only pray that our general managers and owners abstain from making some glaring personnel gaffe that will take years of rebuilding to repair. Some people question why we suffer through our team’s incompetence year after year, raising our hopes at the beginning of every season, then having them subsequently destroyed 17 weeks later. Rooting for a perpetual loser is a labor of love. A labor which lifelong Bengals fan Brett Kostoff can’t stand any longer, so he’s selling his NFL allegiance on eBay.

In the item description, the 28-year-old fan describes how he’s fed up with the team’s losing ways and unhappy with the organization’s direction under owner Mike Brown.

“I have come to the conclusion that I will not suffer anymore. I’m looking for bids to become a fan of your city’s NFL team. All proceeds will go to my new team’s gear (hats, hooded sweatshirts, jersey’s), I will not take one penny for my own personal use…strictly apply it to be able to support my new team.” –First Up

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Nothing fires me up for another day of post writing like a good pump up speech, and few in recent history have been better than the speech Miami of Ohio head coach Lance Guidry gave his team last night. The Redhawks defeated Middle Tennessee in the GoDaddy.com Bowl last night, becoming the first team in college football history to go from a season with 10 or more losses, to a season with 10 or more wins the following year. And now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to finish this post, put that chip back on my shoulder, and get ready for an afternoon of drunken shenanigans. Video after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

When Auburn and Oregon meet for the BCS National Championship game Monday night, there will be more on the line than just college football’s ultimate prize. One male Oregon fan has decided that it would be funny to make an interesting wager with a lady supporter of the SEC champs. And where better to find willing, sexually liberated women than Craigslist?

Ryan Tharp is willing to bet that the Oregon Ducks will crush the Auburn Tigers in the BCS Championship game. He’s so sure of it, he posted an ad on Craigslist saying so.

In that ad, he says he’s looking for an Auburn fan who’s willing to join him in a post-game, short-term Las Vegas wedding.

“I, along with several buddies, will be celebrating the Duck victory in Vegas from Jan. 11 to 14. During that extravaganza, I plan on taking in the entire Vegas experience, including marrying a stranger,” he writes in the ad.

Herein lies the wager: The loser of the game must pay for the following day’s annulment. –KPTV

Maybe I’m just a grumpy Gus constantly yelling at kids to get off my lawn, but this is a really horrible idea. I can just see this dude and his buddies, trying to get laid, commenting how ‘money’ their Ed Hardy tees are. If you do happen to be interested, ladies, and I can’t understand how you wouldn’t be, the Criagslist post can be found here. I, meanwhile, have a lot of things to complain about and little time to do so.

Considering that I had not the slightest idea the ABA still existed, this story came as a shock to me, and is certainly more interesting than hearing more Jim Harbaugh rumors. I’ve heard that Harbaugh’s 8 feet tall and owns a diamond mine in Sierra Leone. And now those are rumors, because you’ve heard them too.

Anywho, the Jacksonville Giants played the Georgia Gwizzlies (no, I’m not trying to phonetically write a hilarious speech impediment, that’s their actual name) in a game that was over at halftime, with he score 94-46 in favor of Jacksonville. This article’s halftime adjustments are courtesy of jacksonville.com.

The Georgia Gwizzlies got lost on the way to the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, delaying the start of Sunday night’s ABA game by one hour. Once they made it to the arena, the Gwizzlies seemed lost on the court as well.

The Giants dominated Georgia, 205-102, breaking their own record for points in a game set earlier this season. Jacksonville’s full-court press and fast-paced offense led to a 47-31 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Giants kept the pressure on the Gwizzlies, and with every turnover, Jacksonville responded with a fast break and an easy basket. Jacksonville went on a 12-0 run midway through the second to open up a 68-33 lead, and by halftime led 94-46. –jacksonville.com

I don’t even think the Heat could score 205 points playing against my high school team. What kind of locker room adjustments do you make after giving up 94 points in the first half? “Play some damn defense, or you won’t get paid” would be the best bet, but I can’t imagine that the Georgia Gwizzlies get paid at all. I have no idea who their owner is, or if they even have an owner, but I know that sound financial investments like buying an ABA team are the key to getting our country’s economy back on track.

Now-former Connecticut football coach Randy Edsall was hired to coach at the University of Maryland, yesterday, which is odd, considering he turned down the opportunity to coach Syracuse, his alma mater, in 2009 and because his team was dominated by Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Edsall had been the only coach of UConn since their rise to the FBS, guiding the team to their first bowl game in 2004, and their first BCS bowl this season. After arranging the deal, Edsall his best Lane Kiffin impression by not addressing his team about the decision.

Edsall did not accompany the team on its charter flight back to Connecticut, and players said he told them nothing of his coaching plans after the Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma. A freshman who asked not to be identified told the Hartford Courant that Edsall informed some of his players over the phone.

“It really pisses me off because he made [running back] Jordan [Todman] address the team last night to say he was leaving [for the NFL draft],” said the freshman, who also expressed his desire to transfer. “And he isn’t man enough to do it face to face to us?

“A lot of people were just really upset by the call. He made Todman get up and tell the whole team: ‘Jordan, I think you have something to say to these guys.’ He made him do it face-to-face. But he didn’t do it face-to-face.” –ESPN.com

A pretty scumbag move from Edsall, who was also a candidate to fill the Notre Dame vacancy last season. Edsall replaces Ralph Friedgren, who was let go despite having another year left on his contract. Initial reports said that Maryland made the move in order to grab Mike Leach while he was available, but that would make too much sense, considering his strong recruiting ties to Texas, and success in a more competitive conference. Maryland, however, decided to go with Edsall, who recruited heavily from New England prep schools and went 5-2 in his best season in the abysmal Big East. Personally, I would have gone with Leach, but I’m biased because of my disdain for UConn and the spoiled children of ESPN analysts.

With Leather’s power rankings are our way of giving back to the community, fulfilling a court-sentenced community service requirement for the staff’s drunken debauchery. This week, their straight from the brain of Ryan Walsh, an incredibly handsome and mysterious With Leather contributor; these were his favorite sports stories from 2010.

From a critical perspective, 2010 was a pretty revolutionary year in sports coverage. A young Ryan Walsh quickly emerged as one of the internet’s rising young stars, everybody and their hot cousin started a podcast, and ESPN quoted almost as many tweets as actual newspapers. The world became more digitally connected by the day; and with the rise of smart phones and 3G networks, degenerates like myself could devote even more time to tracking scores, fantasy updates, and Brett Favre’s many failures instead of wasting our time with family and friends.

But the ability to cover the world of sports would be obsolete without the sports stories themselves. This is a list of ten that managed to get more than a ‘meh’ from my pouty, handsome lips.
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