Little Giants, Locker Room Fights, and the '72 Dolphins

With the NFL playoffs looming just around the corner, tensions have begun to rise, as have the stakes. Here is a glance around this weekend in sports:

Facing a critical point in the game, the Carolina Panther's offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski turned to... a movie.  The play, which involved Cam Newton handing the ball between his legs to fullback Richie Brockel, went for a touchdown in the Panther's 28-13 win over the Houston Texans.  The play was loosely adopted from  the 1994 movie "Little Giants".  Whatever it takes to win. 

More disappointing news from Penn State: Quarterback Matt McGloin got in a fight in the locker room with wide receiver Curtis Drake. Apparently several punches were thrown, and McGloin was knocked unconscious when he hit his head against the concrete floor.  He was taken to the hospital, but discharged that evening with no injuries of any sort. He took full responsibility for the fight.  McGloin has not been cleared for practice, so normally Rob Bolden would step in. Bolden split snaps with McGloin for the first half of the season before McGloin was named the definite starter.  This would work, however Bolden is facing internal discipline for the theft of a Gator-Aid bottle from a campus store Friday night. Penn State could be facing serious quarterback questions going into their January 2 meeting with #19 Houston in the TicketCity Bowl.  The situation at Penn State just keeps getting worse and worse. 

The biggest news of the weekend (aside from Tebow's ball security issues) was the Packers' unprecedented 19-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.  The 1972 Dolphins can now exhale, their perfect 17-0 season record is intact for another year. This just proves how amazing that season was. There was quite a bit of talk about whether or not the Packers should bench Aaron Rodgers. The Chiefs answered that question for them, beating the Pack with Rodgers under center.  With everyone amazed that Green  Bay could lose, I want to remind you that they are still 13-1, and I expect them to make another deep run in the playoffs.

It was quite the weekend in sports, and I hope everyone can watch a little football. Oh, and that thing called the NBA starts Sunday.  'Til next time.