Paulus refuses to go away, named starting QB

On one hand, it's rather impressive that Greg Paulus went from playing basketball at Duke to being named the starting quarterback at Syracuse. On the other hand, Paulus's name will be mentioned in the sports world for at least a few more months. So that's unfortunate.

And in case you're still wondering (hopefully you're not), Paulus is still a scrapper:

Orange head coach Doug Marrone officially named the former Duke basketball player as his starting quarterback on Monday night, even though Paulus has not played football in four years and has never played a collegiate snap. . . . "He has instincts that are hard to teach," Marrone said. "He knows how to look people off, how to take control of the game and how to change plays.

"If you had ever met Greg Paulus, you'd understand and I wouldn't get a lot of the questions that I get," Marrone said. "If something can be accomplished, he can do it."

Marrone's exactly right; just take a look at how Paulus successfully demonstrates proper defensive positioning:



It's a shame that Paulus won't have any hardwood floor to slap before he takes the field for Syracuse.

Weekly Rundown: Garnett, Paulus, Madden

Weekly Rundown is a combination of links and brief comments on stories and topics that I couldn't get to during the week. If there's something important that I missed, don't hesitate to send an email or leave a comment.

• The Celtics' chances to repeat as NBA champions took a big hit with the news that Kevin Garnett could miss the entire postseason with a lingering knee injury. Bill Simmons gives his own thoughts on the KG situation, handicaps the Celtics' chances to win without Garnett, and offers an insightful discussion on the continuing demise of the newspaper industry. [ESPN]


• Greg Paulus will apparently be given a chance to compete for the starting quarterback job at Michigan. Duke coach David Cutcliffe offered Paulus a chance to try out for the team -- but at wide receiver, not quarterback. Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez must really be desperate. [ESPN]


• John Madden has decided to retire from broadcasting. Mike Florio offers some comments from Madden and toots his own horn for predicting in January that Cris Collinsworth would take over for Madden after the season. [PFT]


• Redskins fans really want Mark Sanchez. Or not. [Redskins Insider]


• Truth provides some end-of-the-season thoughts on Antawn Jamison and now former coach Ed Tapscott. [Truth About It]


• The Nationals just can't seem to get anything right. They're 1-10, they can't spell "Nationals" correctly on all of their jerseys, and they even suspended outfielder Elijah Dukes for showing up five minutes late after doing some charity work. [Big League Stew]
  
• ESPN's Rob Neyer wasn't a big fan of MLB's Jackie Robinson celebration idea, in which every player, coach, and umpire wore No. 42 in honor of Robinson on Wednesday. Neyer: "Never underestimate the ability of the commissioner to take a pretty sweet idea and just drive it into the ground until it's dead." [SweetSpot]


• ESPN actually being reasonable and willing to acknowledge criticism? This can't be right. [Awful Announcing]


• Peter Schmuck thinks umpire Doug Eddings did a horrible job behind the plate on Saturday: "Eddings needs to go back to one of the umpire academies and learn the strike zone." [The Schmuck Stops Here]