Links and videos from recent happenings around the sporting world. If you come across good articles, videos, etc. – please pass them along, I’d love to take a look.

College Football:

Sorting out the still-muddy national championship race, Muppet-style – Andy Staples [SI]

OTL: The Les You Know… – Wright Thompson [ESPN] I haven’t read this yet (it’s a little long) but it’s highly recommended. (HTKegsnEggs)

Mental conditioning coach Moawad gives Alabama unique prep edge – Andy Staples [SI] This was written before the game but obviously it didn’t work very well for Nick Saban’s kickers on Saturday – I still want to try the exercise in there though.

Miles flips the script as LSU sinks Alabama – Dan Wetzel [Yahoo!] I used to think Les Miles was crazy and a terrible coach – no doubt he’s crazy but he sure seems to know what he’s doing.

LSU defense clamps down to win a classic – Pat Forde [Yahoo!]

Docs: How Cam Newton slipped through the NCAA’s fingers – twice – Matt Hinton [DrSaturday] Sounds like Auburn has quite the compliance department!

Vols make call for last-minute kicker – Jerry Hinnen [CBSSports] Tennessee’s third string walk-on kicker Derrick Brodus was napping before their game on Saturday but ended up getting a police escort to the stadium after the other two kickers were injured in warm-ups. This is great.

Kellen Moore set the record for most wins by a quarterback against UNLV last week – here’s a photo gallery from the game and a picture of Kellen in his 1st win and his 46th - pretty cool.

Tadman Tuesday: How do Boise State coaches motivate for a good/big opponent – Marty Tadman [OBNUG]

Penn State:

I’m sure you’ve heard about the mess at Penn State – former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was indicted for sex crimes  and there’s evidently Penn State has been covering this up for years. Here’s a BUNCH of links related to the evolving story.

Penn State Head Coach Joe Paterno

Photo via elevenwarriors

Paterno statement in abuse case raises more questions – Dan Wetzel [Yahoo!]

Joe Must Go – Many at Penn State deserve to lose their jobs, including Paterno. – Dan Wolken [TheDaily]

Biggest question in Happy Valley: Who watched out fo the kids? – Bruce Feldman [CBSSports]

Joe Paterno Should Resign as Penn State’s Football Head Coach – Ty Duffy [TheBigLead]

Police official: Paterno didn’t do enough to stop abuse [CBSSports]

University culture protected Paterno, buried Penn State deeper in scandal – Matt Hayes [SportingNews]

Penn State’s Spanier silent at wrong time – Dan Wetzel [Yahoo!]

Penn State Said to Be Planning Paterno Exit Amid Scandal – Mark Viera and Pete Thamel [NYTimes]

With no explanation for inaction, Joe Paterno must go now – Andy Staples [SI]

To All Those Who Knew and Did Nothing – Paul Myerberg [PreSnapRead]

Mothers of two of Jerry Sandusky’s alleged victims lash out at Penn State officials’ handling of scandal – Sara Ganim [Pennlive] (HT SportsbyBrooks)

If parting with Paterno, do it now – Dan Wetzel [Yahoo!]

Recruits, families will have plenty of questions for Penn State – Brian McLaughlin [SportingNews]

Students hold rally outside Paterno’s home – Mike Still [Collegian] (HT RichardDeitsch)

Statement by the Pennsylvania State University Board of Trustees [PennState]

Paterno embraces rallying students as the walls close in at Penn State – Matt Hinton [DrSaturday]

Penn State cloud keeps growing – Bruce Arthur [NationalPost]

Number of Alleged Sandusky Victims Now Believed to Be “Closer to 20″ – Ty Duffy [TheBigLead]

Penn State’s Joe Paterno retiring at season’s end amid scandal at Penn State [SI]

As you can see, just about every major college football writer has weighed in on the subject – some more than once. It will be interesting to see how this sad, sickening story plays out at Penn State with Paterno and the administration over the next few days/weeks.

Surfing:

In Memoriam: Andy Irons 1978 – 2010 Gallery [ASPWorldTour] It’s hard to believe AI died one year ago..

GMAC Goes XXL [Surfline] Garrett MacNamara caught a MASSIVE wave in Portugal earlier this month.

Kelly’s Eleventh – Lewis Samuels [SurferMag] Samuels reflects on an unlikely 11th world titles.

Kelly Slater Wins 11th World Title [Surfline]

Surfing’s Heart and Soul – Shea Lopez [SurferMag] Lopez on Slater’s victory on the anniversary of Andy Irons’ death.

Ten pins, eleven titles – Frank Quirarte [ESPNSurf] That’s right, Kelly Slater went bowling after winning his 11th world title.

The funniest part about all of this is that Kelly Slater was mistakenly deemed champion - the ASP made a calculation error and Kelly wasn’t actually the champion when all of these articles (above) were written.

ASP admits Calculation Error Prematurely Crowed 2011 ASP World Champion [ASPWorldTour] Considering some of the dislike (putting it nicely) for the ASP among the surfing community, this is hilarious.

Kelly Slater wins 11th world title … again – Jake Howard [ESPNSurf] Slater re-won his 11th world title the next day.

20 Years Of Slater – A look back at Kelly’s tenure as the world’s greatest surfer [SurferMag] Photo gallery.

Bruce Irons ‘Creepy Fingers’ remix – I could watch Bruce make late drops on bombs all day long..

(HT Surfbang)

Soccer:

Arsenal relies too much on Robin van Persie – Michael Cox [ESPNSoccernet] Unfortunately, he might be right – hopefully RVP can stay healthy!

The Cost of Soccer: Ticket Prices in England, Scotland and USA [UrbanFootballer] Good information if you’re want to watch some soccer here in the U.S. or across the pond. (HT EPLTalk)

National Basketball Association:

‘Magic Johnson Is HIV Positive:’ 20 Years Later, The Man Still Looms Larger Than The Moment – Les Carpenter [ThePostGame]

Age limit on back burner in labor negotiations – Zach Lowe [SI] I don’t have an interest in the NBA lockout but an interesting note is that NBA players who come straight from high school fare better in on-court contributions and of-court “behavior” according to law professor Michael McCann.

Betting:

Vegas Sportsbook Review: Caesars Palace – Bill Barnwell [Grantland] Good information if you’re ever going to Vegas or Caesars specifically. (HT ToddFuhrman)

Searching for value in November: Identifying young teams with an underrated defense [BeyondtheBets]

BTB’s Required Reading List: A collection of sports betting articles you’ll find useful [BeyondtheBets] Bookmark this.

Ask The Oddsmaker: Todd Fuhrman of Caesars Palace answers BTB reader questions [BeyondtheBets]

Any good articles or videos I missed? Happy Humpday Everyone!