Benson made some waves last week when he accused his former team of trying to blackball him around the league. (Fortunately, when your running back has just 10 touchdowns in three years it doesn't take much to convince people not to hire him.) Plenty of players have tried to amp themselves up for a big "revenge game" by talking a little smack—and then promptly gone out and laid a big egg on the field/court/rink, proving that the organization that cut/traded/demoted them was right all along. Yet Benson somehow found a way to deliver a career-high 189 yards and a touchdown in a 45-10 pounding of his former mates. While playing for the Bengals even!

Benson said after the game that " it wasn't a revenge day" but he wouldn't have made those comments in the first place if it wasn't. He want to stick it to the team that never believed in him and was one of the lucky few to make that dream of sweet justice come true. Of course, if Benson had ever come anywhere close to leading the league in rushing when he played for the Bears, he wouldn't have anybody to be mad at now. I guess it doesn't matter whose fault that was—indifferent coaches, lumbering o-linemen, noodle armed QBs, or Benson himself?—because the team he leads now looks like a maybe possibly legit sorta contender. For this week, anyway. And this week is all that matters.

So eat your heart out, whoever has played running for the Bears since Walter Payton retired! Those nameless hordes sure look pretty stupid now, huh?

Cincinnati Bengals' Cedric Benson basks in an I-told-you-so day [Chicago Tribune]
Bears humiliated by Benson, Bengals [Chicago Sun-Times]
Wasn't just good running [ESPN Chicago]

* * * * *

Here are some other big winners, who did not win quite as big:

Ricky Stanzi: Mark Dantonio's patented prevent defense prevents the Hawkeyes from losing their first game of the season, and Iowa suddenly finds itself photobombing the national championship picture. Good for them. Jerks. [The Rivalry, Esq./Daily Iowan]

Terrence Cody: The Alabama nose guard blocked two field goals in the fourth quarter against Tennessee to save his team's season. That guy must be swimming in free textbooks right now. [Press-Register]

Manny Acta: After a disappointing season in Cleveland, the Indians decide that what they really need is a little of that Washington Nationals magic. And they actually had to steal it from the Astros! Geez, who do you have to sleep with to not get hired as a major league manager? [PlainDealer/MLB]

Dustin Doe: The Florida linebacker could have been remembered for one of the all-time bonehead mistakes—after being stripped of the ball while prancing into the end zone on an interception return—but was bailed out by a terrible replay review and instead got the game-cinching touchdown to keep his team undefeated. Yeah, I can't wait for baseball to get this stuff. [ESPN]

Philadelphia Phillies: Thanks to poor scheduling by MLB and a little help from God, the WFC got a nice long weekend at home, so now they're all caught up on Glee. [MLB.com]

And the Weekend Loser?: Boise State. After a 54-9 shellacking of Hawaii—on the road, even—the undefeated Broncos fell three spots in the BCS standings and will likely be shut out of the BCS games, never mind the national title. Yay, regular season "integrity"! [The Associated Press]

•Bosh won a suit against a cybersquatter, and gained control of 800 domain names. On a related note, welcome to Boshspin.

•Our top story this morning: In a preseason loss to the Celtics, Chris Bosh led all scorers with 21 points in just 28 minutes. He also added four boards and three assists, and is clearly primed for an MVP-caliber season.

•In non-Chris Bosh news, Michael Vick reportedly declined an invitation to visit with eight of his former pit bulls. Good move. I know a trap when I see one.

•Stafon Johnson appeared healthy and smiling, but didn't speak at a press conference yesterday. He's a walking metaphor for the Trojans: looks good, but falls silent under the spotlight.

•On the eve of the NLCS, Dodgers owner Frank McCourt is separating from his wife. California is a community state, so the former Mrs. McCourt is entitled to exactly half. She will receive two losses to the Phillies.

•Boise State squeaked past Tulsa, probably the team with the best chance at ending the Broncos' undefeated season. And when you read that, you realize just how relative it is and why the BCS is a joke.

•Well, fuck it, if he can't heal himself, how can he be the Chosen One? LeBron has the flu, and he and the team is being tested for H1N1.

•Want to know how the young season is going for the Maple Leafs? Their defensemen are headbutting in own goals:

Congratulations to the American Football Coaches Association for dreaming up the brilliant PR gambit known as Sportsmanship Weekend. Getting two football teams who do not like each other to shake hands before the game really taught everyone a valuable lesson about the importance of fair play and respecting your opponent. Blount also wiped that idea right off the map, but let's not forget that it was Hout's equally egregious display of poor sportsmanship that sparked last night's incident.

As Hout passed Blount in the post-game celebration he pointed at Blount, clearly said something insulting, and then slapped him on the shoulder. The reason he didn't see the punch coming was because his own coach was pulling him aside to politely point out that he was being a jackass. Not to sound like a third-grader, but he started it and if anyone wants to cry about the need to eliminate this scourge from the game then that does matter.

Does that excuse Blount at all? No way. You've got be to bigger than that, especially later on when it was the fans who were doing the taunting. (Fans who should probably have kept their mouth shut too. Blount would have ripped them in half if they didn't have security to protect them.) He should be suspended for multiple games, but if Hout gets off with nothing but a sore jaw that'll be too bad.

What does everyone else think?

The Oregonian

The Ducks running back should be arrested and charged with assault today for slugging Hout, who wasn't even looking. Also, Blount should be served up by first-year head coach Chip Kelly as a reminder of everything the program should never become. It was cheap. It was embarrassing. It was disgusting.

Sports Pros(e)

Blount, who's own coaches say he has a lot of maturing to do and was suspended once in pre-season practice already, put the key quote on the board, saying Oregon owed Boise State an "ass-whoopin' " after the Ducks 37-32 upset lost last season in Boise. Unfortunately for Blount, he forgot to open up his can in the 19-8 loss.

Bleacher Report

I have been embarrassed by happenings at the Oregon athletic department before. Dismissals, the lack of action after Luke Bellotti was arrested for drunk driving, Dante Rosario kicking a Cal player in the head and not being punished, you name it. The kinds of things that happen to every college football team and I never like, especially when it happens to my team. But this was so public, so egregious, and showed such a lack of maturity that I simply feel like all my Ducks' paraphernalia needs a good washing.

Willamette Week

Is this the end of the white jerseys?

Wiz of Odds

This last video was posted before the game by something called the Armenian Demon. After Thursday's loss, his whereabouts are unknown.

Every Day Should Be Saturday

He's as completely suspended as Byron Hout was completely bitchmade by Blount's sucker punch. Unsportsmanlike? Oh, certainly. Dirty? Completely, yes, but shit, would you so much as step on Blount's shadow without his permission now? Somewhere he and Ron Artest are walking through a suburban mall right now punching people in the face randomly and talking about how awesome smoothies are.

I suppose that's one way to put it. [Statesman Journal, via The Rookies]

The Horned Frogs of TCU scoffed at BSU's early 13 point lead, rallied with 17 unanswered points, then intercepted a crazy lateral on the final play to beat the Broncos at the Poinsettia Bowl. Now Boise is just another 12-1 team that wasn't quite good enough. (And the dream of a playoff grows slightly fainter.)

It's sort of like what happened with Gonzaga all those years ago. For awhile it was cute when they would knock off top seeds in March and reach the Sweet Sixteen or whatever, but now they start the preseason in the Top 10 and everyone points and laughs when they lose to teams like Portland State at home. Ha ha! Your plucky underdog act only works for so long.

Horned Frogs rally to hand Broncos 1st loss [AP]
Portland St. upends Gonzaga [SF Gate]
Butler fouls up Xavier's night [Cincy Inquirer]

LOUISVILLE CARDINALS

1. Remember, Remember, The Ninth Of February. Barring a run that ends with the third national title in program history, Louisville's 2007-2008 season is likely to be best remembered for the events of Feb. 9. Acting in accordance with a "white out" theme, Rick Pitino walked onto the floor for the Cardinals' home against Georgetown wearing an all-white suit. The questionable sartorial decision resulted in a hoard of predictably disappointing Scarface/Fantasy Island/Saturday Night Fever jokes from the old and new media alike, as well as a 31-23 halftime deficit for his team. He ditched the duds in favor of a more traditional black suit for the second half, and then watched the Cards outscore the Hoyas 36-20 and snatch their biggest win of the regular season. Pitino initially told Erin Andrews after the game that the switch was made because he spilled Diet Coke on himself in the locker room, but later admitted that he was actually worried about sweating through the suit and people being able to see that he was "wearing blue filters." Proving once again that he is indeed the greatest head coach to ever come out of Dickensian London.

2. You Are My Everything. Senior center David Padgett's college career was thought to be over after he broke his right knee cap in the second game of the season, but he made a miraculous five-week recovery, and ended up being a unanimous All-Big East selection. When asked about how important Padgett was to the team, junior forward Terrence Williams tried to sum up his feelings in a way everyone could relate to: "How much do people eat off plates? We feed off him a lot because he's our point-center, our point-forward, our point-shooting guard. He's everything because he rebounds the ball, he passes the ball, he leads us. He could lead us out of the closet, lead us to the ocean. He's just our everything." Also, a fun game to play if you're watching Louisville in the tournament is to count how many times Padgett is referred to as a "coach on the floor," or some slight variation. You won't win anything, but it's a good "God, announcers suck" anecdote to use around your friends, which is the only real reason you watch the tournament anyway.

3. Say It Right, People. There's a lot of confusion over the proper way to say "Louisville," so I'm going to use this space to clear up the issue once and for all. It's not "Loo-ee-ville," it's "Loo-uh-vull." The correct pronunciation, of course, is derived from the city's namesake: King Louah XVI of France, whose zany antics and legendary late-night dance parties endeared him to an entire nation. While the right answer is common knowledge to all Lou-uh-villians, debate over the appropriate way to articulate the beloved King's name has raged since his peaceful passing at the end of the 18th century, and was the subject of a hit song by The Kingsmen in 1955. — Card Chronicle

BOISE STATE BRONCOS

1. I Just Flew In From Boise, and Boy Are My Legs Tired. Four days might not be near enough time for the Broncos to rest up for their first round game. They needed three overtimes and 107 points to put away the pesky New Mexico State Aggies and take the WAC's auto-bid. The good news is that it was only 10pm in Las Cruces when the game finished up, so I guess everyone got their beauty sleep.

2. Dear Tiny, Infant Jesus. Call it the Ballad of Reggie Larry. The man with two first names is the most dangerous college player you've never heard of. The New Jersey native played two years at College of Southern Idaho before transferring in to BSU. He's averaging 19 points and 9 rebounds, and he can do this.

3. Multiple Personality Disorder. The Broncos have been a baffling team all season. They began the season with an obvious laugher against DI independent Utah Valley State, but needed OT to pull out the win in the home opener. They then proceeded to lose to Loyola Marymount in December, giving that moribund program one of their five wins this season. Then they finished 2007 with a huge out-of-conference home win over a ranked Brigham Young squad. They could lose by 20, or pull the upset of the tournament. I have no idea. — Storming The Floor

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2. Dear Tiny, Infant Jesus. Call it the Ballad of Reggie Larry. The man with two first names is the most dangerous college player you've never heard of. The New Jersey native played two years at College of Southern Idaho before transferring in to BSU. He's averaging 19 points and 9 rebounds, and he can do this.

3. Multiple Personality Disorder. The Broncos have been a baffling team all season. They began the season with an obvious laugher against DI independent Utah Valley State, but needed OT to pull out the win in the home opener. They then proceeded to lose to Loyola Marymount in December, giving that moribund program one of their five wins this season. Then they finished 2007 with a huge out-of-conference home win over a ranked Brigham Young squad. They could lose by 20, or pull the upset of the tournament. I have no idea. — Storming The Floor

Turns out, Johnson has had to hire extra security because of racist letters and phone calls.

Johnson said he's received phone calls, 30 letters and, in some instances, personal threats from people who objected to his plans to marry Popadics.

"You take it for what it is — the less educated, the less willing to change," Johnson told the Statesman. "But we're not acting like we're naive to all the stuff that's going on. We know what's been said. We're going to make sure we're safe at all times. It's an amazing day for us, and we'd hate to have it ruined by someone."

Seriously, man: Racists suck. Hey, racists: You're assholes. Knock it off. Christ.

BSU Player Hires Wedding Security After Racist Threats [SI.com]

No, really, he is. We're not necessarily sure this is going to help the game sell more copies than having Reggie Bush on the cover, but hey, we doubt the Broncos were paying Zabransky thousands of dollars to attend their university either. (Boise State and Yahoo: Friends!) This is, without question, the most exciting event to happen in Idaho since Lana Turner was born. Boise State was our favorite story in college football last year, and it's nice to see them getting a bit of attention, even if no one will remember in a year, because, jeez, there are Notre Dame games to be show.

By the way, the state motto of Idaho is Esto Perpetua, which is Latin for "Let It Be Perpetual." We have no idea what that means.

Latest Gig For 'Z' — Cover Model [Idaho Stateman]

(Sorry we called them "Idaho" State earlier. It has been a long week.)

We guarantee you that Johnson is looking at video of this right now, and throwing the red flag. Unfortunately, there must be indesputable video evidence that a proposal was not made in order to overturn the call, and we simply don't see that from this angle.

For drama on Monday, you couldn't beat this game, with the Broncos and Sooners scoring 22 points over the final two minutes of regulation, Boise finishing its season 13-0. Down by one with the conversion pending in overtime, Broncos head coach Chris Petersen opted for the two-point conversion, with Johnson taking a handoff on an apparent pass play and running in untouched for the victory. Begone BCS committee, you have no powers here.

• Rose Bowl: USC 32, Michigan 18. Gerald Ford proved no more help from the beyond than did Bo Schembechler, as the Wolverines were trampled into putty to run their losing streak to two games. Rather than bore you with dry statistics, we think this about sums things up. But this was probably a foregone conclusion: Michigan had to know it was in trouble when USC summoned the power of Lord George Lucas and his Legion of Nerds for the Rose Parade.

• Gator Bowl: West Virginia 38, Ga. Tech 35. Because we know you're keeping track, the Mountaineers and Yellow Jackets set Gator Bowl records for scoring (Tennessee 45, Virginia Tech 23 in 1994), total yardage (928), plays from scrimmage (121) and first downs (40). WV quarterback Patrick White shook off a variety of injuries to throw for 131 yards and two touchdowns and rush for 145 yards and a TD.

• Outback Bowl: Penn State 20, Tennessee 10. They're saying that this gives Joe Paterno his record-setting 22nd bowl victory, but does it count if he spent the game in the press box? Penn State (9-4) forced three turnovers, holding Tennessee (9-4) to a season-low in points.

• Capital One Bowl: Wisconsin 17, Arkansas 14. The Badgers finish 12-1 behind quarterback John Stocco (two first-half TD passes), but a second-quarter pass by Wisconsin punter Ken DeBauche was the big play in this one. Sad, really.

• Cotton Bowl: Auburn 17, Nebraska 14. See above. OK, actually this was a different game, as no punters attempted passes, and Tommy Tuberville was involved. Carl Stewart scored two touchdowns on his only two carries, and the Tigers won despite only 178 yards total offense. — RC

Update: Thanks to reader Kenny Loggins for pointing out this tasty YouTube footage.

And not only can he not make any money from them, he can't give them to charity, either. The NCAA has a star running back on their hands who is able to crochet, and willing to give hats and scarves to charities, and they've stepped in to stop the practice. I think they should have commissioned him to crochet Boise State's uniforms for next year.

I suppose there's some logic in there somewhere about "protecting student athletes," but I can't find it. Maybe they were afraid his crochet hook would slip and he'd poke himself in the bad lung.

But the good news for Ian Johnson is that he was healthy enough to get back in the lineup today for the big game against Nevada. He's had four carries for 9 yards in the first quarter of a scoreless game.

NCAA to Ian: No more beanies [KTVB.com]

1. The Mark Of The Z. Oh, Boise State. Where to begin? BSU not only participated in, but won the 2005 intercollegiate gay, lesbian and bi-sexual games (sadly, not affiliated with NCAA), and three returning football starters took part in those games ... Head coach Chris Peterson is an avid follower of Scientology and has invited Tom Cruise to serve as an honorary assistant coach during a game this season ... Heisman hopeful quarterback Jared Zabransky was born with a birthmark on his bicep in the shape of the letter "Z" which is uncanny, given his name. He also eats a gigantic loaf of bread before every game as a ritual ... The school allows Boise's homeless people to come and see home games for free and even supplies these people with festive orange Broncos apparel and hot soup. (Thanks to Nick "I'm With Leather" Wollen).

2. It's November; Time To Switch The Sign. Idaho uses the same building for both football and basketball; with a 16,000 seating capacity for football, the Kibbie Dome is the smallest venue in Division I-A. Then, the structure is renamed the Cowan Spectrum for basketball. But with Washington State's Martin Stadium only eight miles away, the Vandals often use that for football.

3. V Is Also For Victory. We've often wondered why Fresno State players have a V on their helmets. It's for "Valley," denoting the agriculture industry in the San Joaquin Valley. Or so we're told. Among alumni of note, who did not go into agriculture, are David Carr, Trent Dilfer, Jeff Weaver, Orlando Huff and of course, Jerry Tarkanian.

4. Head Over Heels For SJS. Despite having produced Dick Vermeil and Bill Walsh, San Jose State isn't very good in football. But the Spartans are the best judo school in the nation, having won 38 of 42 national championships. Plus, San Jose State students and alumni have won more than half of the U.S. olympic medals in judo.