Michigan Pummels Blighting Irish

Take comfort, Michigan fans.

As atrocious as the Wolverines have been this season, Notre Dame is much, much worse.

Michigan crushed the Blighting Irish 38-0 Saturday in the Disappointment Bowl at the Big House.

It was crystal clear was that Notre Dame was the worse of the two teams. What was unclear was whether to be impressed at the life that the Wolverines finally showed or the rigor mortis of the Irish.

Lloyd Carr can relax for the moment, because it looks like his job is safe -- at least until the end of the season.

Backup quarterback Ryan Mallett was just better than mediocre filling in for Chad Henne, but his three TDs look good in the box score. Mike Hart, who had guaranteed a victory prior to the game, rushed 35 times for 187 yards.

University of Washington coach Tyrone Willingham can take solace in the knowledge that he is at least as good of a coach as Charlie Weis. Willingham, whose Huskies lost at home against Ohio State, was run out of South Bend in 2004.

After being proclaimed a genius for Notre Dame's success in 2005 and 2006, Weis is looking fairly pedestrian these days. And Willingham is emerging as the man who may deserve credit for Weis's initial triumphs.

The Irish turned the ball over four times and didn't reach net positive yardage until the second half. They are a far cry from the team the 10-2 team that reached the Fiesta Bowl in January, and miles away from the team that came within inches of beating Matt Leinart's USC Trojans this time two years ago.

There's no concrete evidence that Michigan's win represented a turnaround in this abysmal season; in fact, with Penn State up next and Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State lurking in November, it could get even worse.

But not to worry, Michigan fans, misery loves company and Notre Dame is glad to commiserate.

Livin' in the Past

The past is a useless place to live.

As NFL players, coaches and analysts have talked about the ramifications of the New England Patriots' espionage activities, the "what if?" question has gotten plenty of action.

For example, some Eagles players have wondered if maybe their 24-21 loss to New England in the 2005 Super Bowl wasn't so fair after all. When you're on the wrong side of a cheating incident, "what if?" is an interesting thought to entertain, and it's easy to jump to enormous -- and often erroneous -- conclusions in the process.

The human mind is funny that way.

But if sports fans allowed themselves, dozens (if not hundreds) of historical sports results could be called into question because of cheating, alleged or proven. Here's a sampling.

• The Phoenix Suns could be the 2007 NBA Champions. Phoenix had just begun to accept its physically brutal loss to the Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals when the news of referee Tim Donaghy's illicit activities broke. Somebody did a little research, found out that Donaghy was a whistle blower in Game 3, and the questions began.
  
  
• The Giants deserved to win the 2002 World Series. As word surfaced about Troy Glaus's involvement with anabolic steroids, San Francisco fans immediately thought back to 2002, when Glaus -- then on the Angels -- was literally a Giant killer in the World Series. Of course, most of us have reason to believe that a certain Giant may have had some sort of artificial edge, too.
  
  
• Throw back the Shot Heard 'Round the World. After trailing the Dodgers for most of the 1951 season, the Giants made a comeback to tie on the last day and force a playoff. In that playoff, Bobby Thompson took Dodgers' pitcher Ralph Branca deep in what is arguably the most famous home run in history. (It has its own Wikipedia page!) As it turns out, the Giants were stealing signs for the last several months of the season, which naturally made the Dodgers feel as if maybe they deserved the World Series berth.

And the list could go on. We could talk for hours about the affects of alleged or proven steroid use has had on the record books and World Series outcomes. We could talk about point shaving or betting. And of course, sign stealing.

All of these actions are egregious offenses and should be punished to the full extent of the law and the sport. But it doesn't do any good for the "victims" of the crime to go back and ask for the results to be changed; it should be enough to know that the results were not earned legitimately.

Maybe Philadelphia shouldn't have lost the 2005 Super Bowl, or wouldn't have lost had their play calls not been intercepted. But they didn't win it either, and while I wouldn't opposed to stripping New England of its title, I'm not ready to award the Eagles a ring on that basis.

A healthy mindset in life involves moving forward without dwelling on the past, regardless of how tempting that might be. Sports should be no different.

Separated at Birth: Derrek Lee and Tim Duncan

The latest in All on the Field's Separated at Birth series. Give Timmy a bat and call them twins.

Case Dismissed: Rutgers Player Drops Lawsuit

Quick, name the starting five on last year's Rutgers women's basketball team.

Remember, "Nappy headed hos" doesn't count.

The subject of shock jock radio host Don Imus's politically incorrect blast last spring, the Scarlet Knights were dragged into the national spotlight for reasons other than their dribbling and shooting abilities.

And until yesterday -- when she dropped her slander and defamation lawsuit against Imus --Rutgers junior Kia Vaughn believed the incident had damaged her reputation irreparably.

I beg to differ.

Don't get me wrong, Imus's remarks were completely and totally unacceptable. Racial profiling and name-calling has no place in our society today. Furthermore, I'm sure the words were shocking and hurtful to the recipients.

But in the long run, wouldn't an event of this nature be the best thing to happen to a person like Vaughn? I have no idea how good she is at basketball, nor what her WNBA prospects might be. Basketball star or not, she did nothing stupid or illegal to earn this publicity, so any name recognition derived from the incident would probably conjure up feelings of sympathy, right?

Imus has apologized, and regardless of whether it was right for him to reclaim his job, it's time to move on.

Someday, Vaughn herself will be applying for a job. The potential employer may scan the resume, look at Vaughn, and ask, "Hey, weren't you on the basketball team when Imus made those idiotic comments?" Vaughn's ability to answer "yes" might be just the thing that separates her from the pack.

Of course, it's altogether possible that Vaughn has thought through this herself and come to her senses. Or maybe, as her lawyer said in a statement Tuesday, she just wants to focus on school and basketball. Either way, dropping the lawsuit was the right decision.

Life is Great for Huskies Fans... For Now

It's a picture perfect day: rich, blue skies and piercingly sunny and warm. But on the horizon is a dark cloud. And if you look closely, you can see more coming.

Off to its best start since 2001, the University of Washington is loving college football right now. But Huskies fans, pay attention to the forecast.

Coming into the season, most analysts agreed that UW had the toughest schedule in the nation. So far, so good, though. The Huskies beat Syracuse on the road, then ended the longest winning streak in the nation by beating Boise State at home.

Sunny skies. Votes in the AP and USA Today polls. Fans jumping on the bandwagon.

But #10 Ohio State lurks. And so does #11 UCLA, at the Rose Bowl. Let's not forget top-ranked USC. If that sounds tough, there's also #8 California, #21 Oregon, rival Washington State and "should-beats" Hawaii and Oregon State, both on the road.

If you think you can handle it, here's a look at the Huskies' full schedule.

Make no mistake, the tide is turning for the Huskies. The defense has held its own, and the offense has reawakened behind redshirt freshman Jake Locker. For the first time since 2000, the UW is looking like a team that should be taken seriously.

That team, coached by Rick Neuheisel quarterbacked by Marques Tuiasosopo, beat Purdue in the Rose Bowl and finished the season ranked third. A little deja vu would be nice, right?

It won't happen this year, not with this schedule. And next year doesn't look much easier.

More sunny skies are in your future, Huskies fans. But storm clouds will be settling in for the next few weeks, so I'd suggest you grab an umbrella.

Asafa Powell Breaks Own 100m Record

The World's Fastest Man keeps getting faster.

Asafa Powell, the latest holder of the title, improved his 100 meter time to 9.74 seconds Sunday at the Rieti Grand Prix in Italy. The venue was no big deal, but the time is.

There was a time when 10 seconds seemed remarkably fast. Jim Hines first reached the milestone in 1968, and his record of 9.95 seconds stood until 1983.

But these days, breaking the record is like the limbo: how low can they go?

There are lots of explanations for how times have improved over the years: artificial track providing enhanced spring, improved training regimens, strict diets, and technologically advanced shoes.

But the biggest explanation feels like an elephant in the room.

Scandal began leaking into the sport with Ben Johnson's steroid-aided 9.79 in the 1988 Games, and it continued with former record-holder Justin Gatlin failing a drug test last year. And there were others in between.

It's hard to believe that everyone in the sport is on drugs, and I don't want to. But as time goes on, the public has less and less reason to assume that athletes -- track and field or otherwise -- are clean.

Innocent until proven guilty is a great standard for the court room, but it may be worth reconsidering on the playing field.

Federer Survives Djokovic to Win 12th Grand Slam

For much of Sunday's US Open Final, Roger Federer looked about as comfortable as an Amish kid in a computer lab.

Federer made 15 unforced errors in the first set -- already exceeding his tournament average of 14 per match -- and had yet to put pressure on Novak Djokovic's serve. After coughing up his serve at 5-all, Federer found himself down 5-6, love-40 with Djokovic serving.

But somehow, Houdini-like, Federer escaped to break serve and later win the set in the tiebreak.

And so went the story of the match; with his back against the wall, Federer made the shots when Djokovic couldn't. When opportunity knocked, Federer answered.

Down a break at 1-4 in the second, Federer broke Djokovic again and eventually pushed the set to another tiebreaker, which he won on a wicked backhand down the line. Taking a page out of his pal Tiger Woods' book, Federer unleashed a deep fist pump in celebration.

Behind two sets to love to one of the greatest players all time, Djokovic was a man defeated.

It was Federer's fourth consecutive US Open victory and 12th Grand Slam, leaving him two behind Pete Sampras, who holds the record with 14. I've said before that without a win at the French Open, Federer still has something left to prove.

I've changed my mind.

Today's match was far from pretty, but Federer got the job done with less than his best stuff. the 20 year-old Djokovic brought his best arsenal of shots -- though there's room for improvement and maturation -- but Federer survived to defend his turf.

That's the mark of a champion.