Starting Five

1. It isn’t often ever that Honduras makes sports news, if any. If you’re like us, you know that it is located in Central America but you cannot say exactly what nations border it ( answer: Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua) and you definitely cannot pronounce the name of its capital city (Tegucigalpa). Anyway, that’s Honduras, which somehow defeated the United States, 2-1, in a World Cup qualifier yesterday afternoon in 85-degree temperatures in the city of San Pedro Sula (fyi: Honduras’ population is roughly that of New York City’s). Our favorite aspect of it is that ESPN sent Bob Ley on-site to cover the match, and Ley reported that he was reporting “from one of the most dangerous cities in the world.” ESPN could have saved a ton of money by simply sending Ley to Bridgeport.

Honduras: The Mayans lived here.

2. The top five in terms of National Signing Day hauls according to Rivals.com: Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Florida and Michigan. According to Scout.com: Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, Notre Dame, UCLA. According to ESPN.com: Alabama, Florida, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Mississippi. What is clear. Either the Big 12 and Pac-12 are sliding or the recruiting experts fail to focus on them as well as they do the SEC and a certain Midwest triangle composed of the cities of South Bend, Columbus and Ann Arbor. Just a reminder, too, that while Alabama won the national championship, neither Notre Dame nor Ohio State lost a game last autumn. The lesson: You can talk about climate and uniforms and coaches’ personalities, but what it comes down to is this…kids want to play for a winner.

Mountainous-looking Eddie Vanderdoes, who was raised in the foothills of the Sierras, was the last 5-star to sign. The DL chose Notre Dame.

3. No. 5 Kansas, the nation’s top-ranked school a few weeks ago, loses at TCU, which entered the contest 0-8 in Big 12 play. Jayhawks coach Bill Self: “It was the worst team Kansas has ever put on the floor. Since Dr. (James) Naismith was here. I think he had some bad teams and lost to the YMCA the first couple years…For the first half, there’s not been a team play worse than that. Anywhere. Maybe Northern Illinois earlier this year.” So, if you are scoring at home, Self not only coached a team that suffered the nation’s most embarrassing defeat of the college hoops season last night, but he also dissed the YMCA, Northern Illinois and the man who invented the game of basketball.

4. Kobe tells teammate Dwight Howard, a man who missed seven games in his first seven NBA seasons (he is now in his 9th) to stop coddling that shoulder injury and play. For what it’s worth, Kobe has had fewer 82-game seasons (4) in his 17 years than Howard has (5) in his nine.

5. Congratulations to my man Tyler Bruggman, a quarterback at Phoenix Brophy Prep who signed with Washington State yesterday. Have known him since the fifth grade and he has always been perhaps the most all-around impressive young man I’ve ever met. Absolutely fantastic parents, Curt and Michelle. You may recall Arash Markazi mentioning young Tyler’s encounter with Charlie Weis before the 2006 Fiesta Bowl. Three years later, before the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, I introduced Tyler to Pat Haden (who, like Tyler, was raised in Scottsdale, Ariz., and would become a Pac-10/12 QB), who then mentioned him on-air the following day. I have no idea how successful Tyler will be as a college quarterback, but I’d pay to see him and the Pirate Captain watch film together.

Bruggman: From Brophy to Mike Leach

Also, if you did not read the link above, Bruggman was scheduled to play a high school All-Star game in Austin last Saturday, but a lady on the plane threw up on him and he in turn got sick.