• Anquan Boldin, one of the brightest receivers in the NFL, isn’t pleased with Arizona Cardinals management. After saying the Cardinals lied to him about his request for a new contract, Boldin has come out and said he won’t resign when his contract expires after the 2010 season. While it’s often hard to side with a client of Drew Rosenhaus, at least Boldin will still hit the field during training camp and bust his ass, something his own starting quarterback hasn’t even done.

• The last couple days have seen nearly every major conference be put into the spotlight of Media Day. One of those was the Big Ten, my least favorite conference. New Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez took the podium and gave one of the week’s most amusing comments. Rodriguez said he would answer a reporter’s question about West Virginia “so he wouldn’t have to address it for 13 or 14 more years.” Get real, Rich. The questions won’t stop, especially when your Wolverines lose their opener to a talented Utah team.

• One of the NFL’s most consistent receivers, Rod Smith announced his retirement from the NFL today. The 38-year-old had battled injuries for the last couple years, but remained a positive force in the Broncos’ locker room. Smith’s numbers support his induction into the NFL Hall of Fame, but the Broncos need him to continue to mentor troubled receiver Brandon Marshall, who appears hellbent on destroying his NFL career before it even begins.

In my preseason top ten, I warned Michigan fans of the fact that their head coach, Lloyd Carr, was a piece of shit. But I never would have expected this. In the biggest upset of the season history college football’s history, D-1AA Appalachain State rolled into the Big House (Yes, the 107,000 capacity Big House) and defeated Michigan, 34-32. It’s the first time a D-1AA team has ever defeated a ranked D-1A team. The fact that it’s Michigan, a preseason national championship contender, makes it a little more relevant.

Let me start this off by saying Appalachian State is a good team. They’ve won consecutive national championships at the 1AA level. Sure, it’s 1AA. But they’re still a confident group with tons of big game experience. That resume should have encouraged Lloyd Carr to try and give his team a sense of urgency. He didn’t. And unlike most early season scares, the Mountaineers didn’t hand the game back to them. Instead, they were the ones making plays down the stretch.

This, my friends, is why college football is so great. In a day that was supposed to be dominated by Virginia Tech and that big Cal-Tennessee clash, a previously unknown football school made a huge splash on the 2007 BCS picture. Where does this leave the Wolverines? If they’re smart, it’ll lead them to make a coaching change. In 60 minutes, Lloyd Carr turned one of college football’s most hallowed stadiums into a laughingstock.

Two times a week, we will be putting out podcasts based on events around the sports world. You can expect our podcasts to cover a wide variety of topics. Hosts will be rotated in order to provide different opinions and insight. To start, hosts will include myself, Kevin, and Sonny, along the way we will possibly have other contributers. This will become a staple for Sportable.

Today’s show was mainly focused on the latest BCS polls and the controversy surrounding the #2 spot in the poll. My co-host Sonny and I debated on what team, Michigan or USC, deserves the #2 spot and a matchup with Ohio St. on January 8th. In the later parts of the show, we discussed the playoff hopes of teams like the New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, and Baltimore Ravens.

You’ll notice my voice sounds different from Sonny’s. That’s because I was talking into the back of the microphone. Who knew that there was a back and a front on a microphone.

Without further ado, here’s Episode 01 of the Sportable Spot. [mp3]

[odeo=http://odeo.com/audio/3296373/view]

You’ve likely heard the unfortunate news of legendary Michigan coach Bo Schembechler’s passing. Our condolences go out to Michigan fans and Schembechler’s friends and family. He was an absolute legend. He coached the Wolverines from 1969-1989 and won 194 of the 247 games he coached in Ann Arbor. In that time, he made 10 Rose Bowl appearances and won 13 Big Ten Championships. He’ll be remembered for the love he had for this Michigan-Ohio State rivalry, the biggest rivalry in college football. His passing has made tomorrow’s game between #1 Ohio St. and #2 Michigan even more epic.

Schembechler went 5-4-1 versus Ohio St. coach Woody Hayes in their famed “Ten Year War”, between 1969-1978. Between 1970-1975, both teams were ranked in the top five when they met. But they were never #1 and #2. Until tomorrow. While he never won a national championship while coaching Michigan, the success Schembechler had against Woody Hayes and the Buckeyes made him a legend.

As if Michigan needed more motivation. They’re one win away from the National Championship Game on January 8th in Phoenix. Better yet, they can deny their hated rivals at the same time. Now they have another thing to play for: the memory of a Michigan legend. The tribute that will be given to Schembechler makes this game even more special. We all expected last year’s USC-Texas Rose Bowl to be a special game. This one should be the same. There’s so many storylines that make this game the biggest in the history of the rivalry.

What better way to honor Schembechler than knocking off Ohio St. in Columbus? Now all that’s left to do is to beat arguably the most talented team in the nation…coached by arguably the best coach in the nation…while doing it in front of over 100,000 in the Horse Shoe.

Sure, the BCS Championship Game isn’t until January 8th. But for many, the real game of the year is this Saturday. #1 Ohio St. #2 Michigan. Over 100,000 people. The best rivalry in college football and maybe in all of sports. It really doesn’t get much better than this. If your Saturday doesn’t involve #1 vs. #2, make it happen. It’s the 103rd meeting between Michigan and Ohio St. and it’s the first time the teams have ever been ranked 1 and 2 when they’ve met. Basically, it’s the biggest game in the history of college football’s biggest rivalry. What’s not to like?

This is a game that creates legends. One of the most famous celebrations in football history took place in this game: the simple Desmond Howard “Heisman” pose in 1991. Charles Woodson used his punt return touchhdown against the Buckeyes as his pedestal to the 1997 Heisman Trophy. In that same game, a hit laid on David Boston inspired a famous cover of Sports Illustrated. And that’s just the last 15 years of this meeting.

This is a game that cements legacies. Troy Smith can all but clinch the Heisman Trophy if he performs on Saturday. But more importantly, the winning team can clinch a spot in the BCS National Championship Game. The winner of this game will surely be the heavy favorite on January 8th because if you can win this game, you can beat anyone. Maurice Clarett may be remembered for lots of incidents off of the field, but he’s also remembered for his performance in the 2002 game, the season Ohio St. went on to win the National Championship.

Consider the fact that this was expected to be one of the best games of the year to begin with. But the implications of this year’s game are greater than any past meeting these hated rivals have had. This game is so big, vote tallying is being delayed. It’s simply an enormous rivalry with enormous implications. If you’d like to take out a second mortgage, tickets are available.