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:

Oregon fans should be receptive to this Jason Whitlock’s column about Willie Lyles. Whitlock says Lyles’ tale shows the real rat he is. I’ve been quick to jump on the Ducks for their involvement with Lyles but clearly some of the blame should be directed at the attention whore as well. Good stuff from Whitlock.

Suspended Oregon cornerback, Cliff Harris, is nearly all paid up on several different traffic violations and other infractions.  Harris is suspended indefinitely (at least for the opener against LSU) but appears to be on the right track to being reinstated by Chip Kelly.

Alabama’s freshman Blue Chip running back Dee Hart tore his ACL and will miss the entire 2011 season. The Tide should be fine without Hart thanks to running backs Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy but his elusiveness would have complimented the bigger backs well.

Photo via bentcorner.com

SI.com’s Andy Staples caught up with the always entertaining Mike Leach, coach in exile, still biding his time in paradise as he waits for another coaching opportunity. Leach (pictured above) also recently shared a couple of excerpts from his new book, Swing Your Sword. One partially explains how Craig James’ ties to Texas Tech Chancellor Kent Hance got Leach fired and the other provides details from behind the scenes of what Leach was up against at Texas Tech. I’m willing to bet Leach’s book is a very interesting read – I can’t stand Craig James & Leach is fantastic so I probably need to get my hands on it.

Brian Murphy from the Idaho Statesman has been compiling a list of Boise State players, Mountain West Conference players, and Boise State opponents named to the pre-season watch lists. From what I can tell, Murph’s been doing a pretty good job on the list.

Travis Averill was the 11th confirmed verbal commitment for Boise State’s 2012 recruiting class. Averill is described as “very, very athletic” by his Servite High School coach and seems to be a good fit for the Bronco program.

Ohio State vacated wins from the 2010 season and placed the program on probation placing the blame on former coach Jim Tressel for lying to the NCAA and the university’s violations. I’m not sure the self-imposed punishment will be enough considering all that was reported about the culture in Columbus.

On the other hand, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith believes the self-imposed sanctions should be sufficient – I’m not so sure. Good luck with the NCAA Buckeyes!

BYU verbal commit and Eagle High quarterback Tanner Mangum impressed observers at The Opening, an elite player camp in Oregon. It sounds like Mangum could be quite the pick-up for the Cougars.

I don’t believe this has a direct correlation to all the recent NCAA investigations but the NCAA is going to consider deregulation of electronic correspondence (email/texts) that can be sent to recruits. I’m all for loosening some of the NCAA’s ridiculous rules and this would be a good start. (HT Bryan Fischer)

BYU’s athletic director Tom Holmoe (how do you say that last name??) doesn’t believe the Cougars deserve automatic to the BCS – yet. Of course I agree with him but I’m actually somewhat excited to see how BYU fares as an independent this year and in the future.

Soccer:

I never thought I would write this especially about the Women’s World Cup, but if you missed Sunday’s Quarterfinal between the U.S. and Brazil, you missed out. The U.S. Women showed no quit despite playing with 10 players for much of the match, trailing for most of extra time and needing a penalty shootout to seal an improbable win. Here’s are some great reactions to the thrilling game against Brazil:

After such an emotional high, the now favored U.S. must contain their emotions and the French attack to be successful in the Semifinals.  Here are five things to watch in this morning’s Semis.

Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has been ruled out for at least six months after having surgery to repair the ACL and meniscus in his right knee. After a few significant injuries in recent years, it’s unlikely we’ll get to see Essien play at the level he once did.

As the potential transfer sagas of Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas continue to play out, GunnerBlog says if we can only keep one, keep Cesc. I couldn’t agree more – sell Nasri and his soon-to-be expiring contract already and keep Cesc. His transfer value shouldn’t diminish playing another season at the Emirates and he is a superior player to Nasri.

Surfing:

I’m not a photographer but imagine those of you that are will enjoy Surfer Magazine’s Rob Gilley breaking down the nuances of film photography.

Mesurf.com put together a video of Kelly Slater’s Top 10 Waves of 2011. It’s amazing how easy and effortless Slater makes it look:

Hockey:

In a surprising turn of events, dozens of Vancouver rioters have been turning themselves into the police. After the ridiculousness of the riot it’s good to see some Vancouver residents taking accountability for their actions.

16-year-old Luke Grizell isn’t your average hockey player, he plays with one hand and does it well. Seeing a 16-year-old fight through adversity like that should be inspiring for all of us.

National Basketball Association:

NBA ambassador and global icon Yao Ming has decided to retire after nine seasons of fighting through various injuries. When healthy, Yao was nearly unstoppable but unfortunately for the Rockets it wasn’t very often. Yao’s NBA legacy will extend far beyond the court where he has helped bring the NBA to China.

This has nothing to do with the NBA except that it involves Tony Parker – who is allowed to do whatever he wants because the NBA is in a lockout. Anyway, Parker was photographed flying a water-propelled jet pack in the Mediterranean Sea which sounds pretty awesome. Here’s the jet pack promotional video from JetLev which, yep, looks pretty awesome:

Track:

I don’t follow track whatsoever and only watch the Olympics but this one is pretty much a must read – Kellie Wells, America’s newest track superstar, is no longer running from her horrifying past.

Video Games:

IGN posted their NCAA Football ’12 review and the game was released yesterday. I haven’t picked up my copy yet but Adam over at Keggs ‘n Eggs did a virtual simulation providing season predictions based on NCAA ’12. I certainly can’t complain with the national champion!

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