Sportsnewsmix

For The Informed Sports Person

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If the Mountain West is going down, it's going down with (another) fight. Two nights after Utah handled Big East favorite Pittsburgh, No. 6 TCU (against No. 24 Oregon State) and BYU (against Washington) continued the league's recent success against Pac-10 foes. It would all add to the league's cause in pursuing a future BCS berth -- if not for the fact that two of the three are bolting the conference.

The Horned Frogs did not dominate, their win only assured after Oregon State's muffed snap went into its own end zone for a safety, but it's hard to argue with the result. They held Beavers star Jacquizz Rodgers to 74 yards on 18 carries and Oregon State to 253 total yards in a 30-21 victory. The Beavers' first-time starting quarterback, Ryan Katz, threw touchdowns of 30 and 34 yards early but was largely ineffective down the stretch, finishing 9-of-25 for 159 yards.

TCU's veteran QB Andy Dalton did not have his finest night, tossing two picks, but leading three long touchdown drives. While the Frogs are an experienced club, they did lose several key players from last year's 12-1 team and could be scary a month from now, much how they progressed a year ago.

BYU is in a much different position than TCU, in a perceived "rebuilding" season. While it was favored against the visiting Huskies (5-7 a year ago), some (like me) thought sernior Jake Locker would outduel the Cougars' quarterback tandem of first-time starter Riley Nelson and true freshman Jake Heaps. Not so.

Nelson and Heaps, who rotated series throughout, were solid; but give credit to BYU's defense for clamping down and shutting out Washington in the second half. Locker, whose hype continues to outpace his actual production, was 20-of-37 for 266 yards and zero picks, but he often found himself in difficult third- and fourth-down situations. The Huskies converted just 5 of their 18 attempts on those downs.

Sooners escape agony of defeat

I must confess, I saw only one play of No. 7 Oklahoma's 31-24 win (RECAP | BOX) over Utah State, which I'm told was available only on obscure pay-per-view channels nationally. But the score definitely raises some eyebrows. Bob Stoops' teams usually rout these type teams, but the Aggies were in it nearly the whole way, driving with less than five minutes remaining before a nifty Jamell Fleming interception (the one play I saw) finally put things to a halt.

The good news: Senior tailback DeMarco Murray lived up to Stoops' lofty preseason expectations, rushing 35 times for 207 yards. Unfortunately, quarterback Landry Jones did not pick up where he left off in the Sun Bowl, completing less than half his passes, while Utah State counterpart Diondre Borel lit up the Sooners' defense for 341 yards. Is it too late to revise my Big 12 title pick?

Irish eyes are smiling

New coach, new offense, new NBC color commentator (the impressive Mike Mayock) -- seemingly everything but the fight song has changed for Notre Dame, including the way it beat Purdue, 23-12, in coach Brian Kelly's debut (RECAP | BOX).

The Irish, so pass-heavy last year behind Jimmy Clausen, were balanced on offense, with Armando Allen rushing for 93 yards on 18 carries and new quarterback Dayne Crist delivering an efficient 19-for-26, 205-yard performance. They did struggle at times with the Boilers' pass rush (in particular, All-Big Ten monster Ryan Kerrigan), and receiver Michael Floyd fumbled away a potential long touchdown.

But the real story was Notre Dame's defense, which has struggled so mightily for so many years. Ian Williams and the defensive front relentlessly pressured Purdue quarterback Robert Marve, sacking him four times and intercepting him twice. It also helped that the Irish -- one of the most penalized teams in the country under Charlie Weis -- committed just two all day. All in all, encouraging.

Embarrassing upset for Ole Miss

Before Saturday, Jacksonville State coach Jack Crowe's most memorable distinction as a college football coach was his abrupt firing at Arkansas in 1992 upon losing his season opener to I-AA foe The Citadel. One of the assistants on his staff that day was future Arkansas and Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt.

It may not qualify as "revenge," per se, but 18 years later, Crowe's own FCS (I-AA) squad just handed Nutt's Rebels their own opening-day embarrassment. Down 31-13 entering the fourth quarter, Jacksonville State rallied to send the game to overtime on a touchdown and two-point conversion with 18 seconds remaining. But the real drama came in the second overtime. Down seven and facing fourth-and-15 in the second overtime, quarterback Coty Blanchard fired a 30-yard touchdown pass to Kevyn Cooper in the back of the end zone. Crowe then went for the win, and got it, on a Blanchard two-point conversion pass (RECAP | BOX).

The irony, of course, is that the game's original significance was due to Ole Miss' quarterback, Oregon transfer Jeremiah Masoli, making his SEC debut after winning an NCAA appeal just a day earlier. Masoli shared time with starter Nathan Stanley, but he was Nutt's pick for both overtimes, and he performed decently enough, keeping the Rebels alive on a fourth-and-goal option pitch. The problem wasn't the quarterback; it was Ole Miss' defense, which collapsed in the second half and overtime.

Now we know why the Rebels were picked to finish last in their division -- and perhaps why Nutt so desperately wanted Masoli. They may have to score a lot of points come conference play.

LaMichael who?

Remember when Jeremiah Masoli (now at Ole Miss) and LaMichael James (suspended for one game) led Oregon to the Rose Bowl last season? Neither was on the field for the Ducks on Saturday, yet that didn't stop Oregon from running up a 59-0 halftime score against hapless New Mexico (RECAP | BOX). Kenjon Barner, James' replacement, rushed for 146 yards and four touchdowns and scored again on a 60-yard catch, while new QB Darron Thomas threw for 230 yards and two scores.

Ever since visiting Eugene in the spring, I've maintained that Oregon is still the team to beat in the Pac-10, in part because you won't find a faster backfield tandem than sophomores James and Barner. But throttling New Mexico, a 1-11 team last season, is one thing. Next week will provide a better gauge of Thomas -- still admittedly a work in progress -- when the Ducks visit Knoxville.

SPARTA, Ky. (AP) -- Helio Castroneves crossed the finish line in front.

This time it counted.

The IndyCar star won the Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night, driving the final 53 laps on one tank of fuel around the 1.5-mile oval and taking advantage when the leaders were forced to make last-second pit stops to fill up.

Pole-sitter Ed Carpenter was second, followed by Dan Wheldon, Tony Kannan and Dario Franchitti. Series points leader Will Power led 82 laps but slipped to eighth after a late-race slip.

Power's bobble allowed Franchitti to draw within 17 points with two races to go in the season.

The victory was the first for Castroneves since taking the checkered flag in Alabama in April.

The three-time Indy 500 winner was fined $60,000 following a postrace outburst in Edmonton in July, where he was penalized for blocking late in the race.

Officials ordered Castroneves to the back after ruling. He stayed in front instead, crossing the finish line first even as the flagman withheld the checkers until Scott Dixon crossed moments later.

The normally ebullient Castroneves lost his cool in the aftermath, striking a security official.

On Saturday, Castroneves and the same official hugged after Castroneves collected the 24th victory of his IndyCar career.

It was also sweet redemption for Castroneves, who ran out of fuel yards from the finish at Kentucky two years ago.

He received a fist bump from Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Terrell Owens in Victory Lane, then gave all credit to race strategist and Team Penske president Tim Cindric, who told Castroneves to sip fuel after pitting on lap 147.

Castroneves made it hold up, running 6-7 mph slower than the leaders while he stayed off the throttle.

The strategy paid off handsomely, and Castroneves had enough ethanol left in his No. 3 Honda to do a mini-burnout at the end.

A week after a pit road gaffe cost Power at Chicago, a slight bobble while getting up to speed shortly after exiting the pits cost him in the Bluegrass.

Power dominated the middle of the race but briefly got loose while heading into Turn 3. He narrowly missed the wall, but the break in momentum allowed other drivers to slide under him as he collected himself.

Ultimately it wasn't speed, but strategy that mattered.

Carpenter's finish matched the best of his career. Not bad for a driver making just his third start of the season.

Danica Patrick was ninth. Defending race champion Ryan Briscoe, who edged Carpenter by 0.0162 seconds last year, finished 24th after getting collected in a three-car pileup with Vitor Meira and Simona de Silvestro.

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

BOSTON -- It's time Manny Ramirez deserved some credit.

He's more shrewd than nave. He's more aloof than unaware.

His eccentricities and generally unpredictable behavior -- including his public apology to Boston on Friday -- are all about doing what's best for the brand of Manny.

Right now, with the market for free-agent-to-be Manny uncertain, the best thing he can do is help his team win. So far it's working. After the Dodgers awarded Ramirez to the White Sox on waivers on Monday, Chicago has won four straight games, including two wins Saturday in a doubleheader sweep of the Red Sox.

It was the sequel to Ramirez's June homecoming when he returned to Fenway Park with the Dodgers. On Saturday, he hit scattered three hits over two games and is now 4-of-11 since joining Chicago. He received another mixed greeting from Red Sox fans, though unlike the crowd in June that leaned slightly toward cheers, this time the boos -- perhaps two-thirds -- prevailed.

On this visit, however, Ramirez anticipated the groundswell of boos awaiting him -- likely expecting the tide to have turned given his second unceremonious exit from a team and a Red Sox fan base frustrated by its season going nowhere -- and offered a blanket apology. Had he not, the reaction Saturday might have been worse.

Soon after it was announced at 2:30 p.m. on Friday that the game evening had been called in expectation of Hurricane Earl's landfall, Ramirez held court with a handful of media in the underbelly of Fenway Park and assumed blame for the end of his tenure with the Red Sox in 2008, when the club with whom he won two World Series unceremoniously dumped him in a trade despite being in playoff contention.

"Everything was my fault, but you have to be a real man to realize when you do wrong," Ramirez told reporters. "It was my fault, right? I already passed that stage. I'm happy. I'm on a new team. . . . It takes a real man to go and tell a person it was my fault and that's what I did."

That sounds nice, but two questions: Why didn't he say any of this -- or anything at all -- when he visited Fenway in June as a member of the Dodgers? Also, couldn't he have let his words and actions speak for themselves rather than actually telling everyone he's being "a real man" for having made such an apology? Ramirez even included the preposterous suggestion that he'd welcome a return to play for the Red Sox.

Why speak now? The answer is obvious. Ramirez always has an eye on what's next and what's best for him -- in other words, he's looking for his next contract. In 2008, the final year of his eight-year contract with the Red Sox, he acted as cantankerous and tempestuous as he needed to in order to get the change of scenery he wanted. After his trade to the Dodgers, Ramirez hit 97 points higher and homered twice as frequently, earning himself a two-year, $45-million deal.

This summer, he grew unhappy and unhealthy in Los Angeles and, likely realizing his best bet to stay on the field and audition for a new contract was to move to the American League where he could prove he could still hit as a designated hitter. After learning that the White Sox had claimed him off waivers, Ramirez got himself ejected arguing a called first strike while pinch-hitting with the bases loaded in a game the Dodgers needed to win to preserve their longshot playoff hopes. The Dodgers gave him up on waivers the next day.

Because of his talent -- surefire first-ballot Hall-of-Fame numbers (.312 career average, 554 home runs, 12 All-Star appearances), if not for his suspension for failing a test for performance-enhancing drugs -- and because of his promise to replicate the dominant 53 games he had for the Dodgers in 2008 when he batted .396 with 17 home runs, he'll always be welcomed in a new place.

The White Sox certainly need him. They trail the Twins by 3 games in the AL Central, and their designated hitters have batted just .242 with a .317 on-base percentage and 16 home runs this year. Twice in three games has a White Sox player delivered a key home run with Ramirez standing in the on-deck circle, leading one to suspect he played at least a small role in his teammates getting the right pitch to hit.

"When he gets in the box, everybody knows it," Chicago second baseman Gordon Beckham said. "It's not just a DH. It's Manny Ramirez."

Indeed, Ramirez seems to have a set of enablers everywhere he goes.

Regarding his ejection in his final at bat, Beckham defended his new teammate, saying, "If you saw the pitch, it was a pretty bad call. It was in the other batter's box. I don't blame him for that. I think the umpire had a pretty quick trigger right there."

On Tuesday, Ramirez's first with the White Sox, he said he felt like energized a 25-year-old, only he didn't start that game because he had taken a redeye flight and felt too tired. Apparently earning $3.83 million for the final 31 games doesn't supersede a little fatigue. Either that or he's just the most lethargic, got-that-2:30-feeling 25-year old around.

Of course, Ramirez did not say anything in English. He used bench coach Joey Cora to translate his Spanish to English at a press conference. Nevermind that Ramirez went to high school in the United States and never required a translator earlier in his career, but suddenly he needed help with the language barrier, a stunt that inspired a hearty laugh from members of both the Red Sox and White Sox.

"He asked me to do that," Cora said Saturday. "Maybe he wanted to make a point, maybe he didn't. He's blessed in the fact that he can speak Spanish and English. Maybe that day he wanted to talk Spanish. That's the way it goes. Nobody else blame anybody else to speak English when they go to the Dominican or anywhere else. I don't see it as the big deal that everybody else has."

It's a big deal because Ramirez's comments are so infrequent. With the Dodgers, Ramirez only managed to play 66 of his team's 131 games and spent most of that time in public silence.

"Sometimes I think he can be misunderstood because he's a guy that prepares a lot before the game," Cora said. "Sometimes the media wants their time of his time, but he's one of the better prepared guys in the game. He takes a long time to get prepared. Sometimes he gets misunderstood when he says 'I'm not going to talk to you because I've got to prepare' because it is true. People don't believe him."

Approached exactly three hours before the start of Saturday's game and asked if he would talk, Ramirez said, "No, I've got to get ready for the game." Fair. Will you talk after the game? "No," he said. And, sure enough, he did not make himself available in the visitors' clubhouse.

Though White Sox ownership has a team rule barring long hair, Ramirez flouted the rule for his first two days with the club, then had his personal barber snip 99 millimeters -- about four inches, proportionally an insignificant amount -- off the ends of his dreads. Get it, 99? It's all about self-promotion. This is the barber, after all, who is also a close friend of the player and the man credited for suggesting he wear No. 99 with the Dodgers and now White Sox.

"The last thing I'm worried about right now is Manny's hair," Gullien said. "He doesn't want to be bothered. He just wants to play the game. As long as he runs out the balls for me and goes out and performs, I'm fine. I just worry about what he does for the White Sox. I don't know what happened with Manny with the Dodgers or with Boston."

Still, though, Guillen and his outsized personality may be the best match for Ramirez. Guillen has smartly gone out of his way to temper early expectations, insisting that the White Sox still belong to Paul Konerko, who is having an MVP caliber season, and refusing to say that Chicago needs Ramirez.

"Manny did not come here to save this ball club," Guillen said. "Manny has come here to make us better."

In the Red Sox's clubhouse, Ramirez's apology was generally well-received, especially by his friend, David Ortiz.

"That made me really, really happy because Manny is a good person and isn't a bad guy," Ortiz said. "He's just a person who had a lot of things going on in his mind and he wouldn't focus on one of them. Now he's focusing on things better. He's trying to slow things down. I hear that he's getting closer to God and doing things like that, and that's the best thing that could ever happen to him."

Others were a bit more conservative in their appreciation of Ramirez's comments. His one personal apology was to Boston first baseman Kevin Youkilis, with whom he engaged in a dugout shouting match in 2008. Youkilis acknowledged that Ramirez had indeed apologized to him on his last trip to Fenway in June, but otherwise Youkilis was restrained in discussing the final year of Ramirez's Red Sox tenure.

"To say that I was angry at Manny? No. I was disappointed that he wanted to leave," Youkilis said. "We wanted to win another World Series. But on the other end, it was a great thing, too, because Jason Bay came here and had a great year, so you can't be too mad.

"Back four, five years ago, I probably would have gotten more angry about stuff like that. I think guys were frustrated because they didn't understand why he wanted to leave."

But leave Ramirez did, twice now on unhappy circumstances within just the last three seasons. He has only been with the White Sox a few days, so his new teammates don't know him all that well. Beckham says he's only exchanged pleasantries with the new designated hitter, nothing more than this:

"I'm told him we're happy to have him," Beckham said. "He said, 'Yeah, I'm happy to be here.' Then I told him, 'Now go get a hit.'"

Ah, there's that word "hit" again. And that's the extent of the relationship Ramirez is likely to form with the rest of the White Sox. He will hit. And they will enjoy him for as long as he does.

So the charade begins anew, because excuses always get made for blinding talent.