Danny Groner

Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno, the all-time leader in college football history who was involved in the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State, has died at age 85 of lung cancer.

What better way to start off the new year than with a ton of firings? Raheem Morris and reportedly all the assistant coaches and coordinators of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were asking themselves this question when they lost their jobs Monday.

College football analyst Craig James is taking some time off from his duties with ESPN to contemplate a run for US Senate in Texas. If he does decide to run before the Monday deadline, he’d do so as a Republican, and face some steep competition as he eyes the vacated seat of the retiring Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Less than a week after winning the Heisman Trophy, Baylor junior standout Robert Griffin III was named the Sporting News’ player of the year. The quarterback helped revitalize the flailing Baylor college football program, and helped propel them to a 9-3 record this season.

Well, Todd Haley isn’t the only coach looking for work now. The Miami Dolphins also fired their head coach, announcing that Tony Sparano (not to be confused with Tony Soprano) is being replaced by defensive backs coach Todd Bowles for the team’s remaining three games this season. The Dolphins sit at 4-9 after starting the season 0-7. In total, Sparano was 29-32 with Miami in his four years there

Oregon State freshman defensive tackle Fred Thompson died Wednesday night of a heart attack, sending shock waves around the university’s campus and through the Beavers’ football program. The 6′ 4”, 317-pound athlete was playing pick-up basketball at the time of his collapse.

Hordes of football enthusiasts took the title of crazed fans to a new level on Saturday. After #3 ranked Oklahoma State took care of #10 Oklahoma 44-10, thousands of fans rushed the field, tearing down goalposts, and leaving 13 people injured, including two in critical condition.

Normally it’s an accident that causes permanent limb damage and changes the course of an athlete’s career. But for paralympian Monique va der Vorst, the opposite proved to be true. The paralympic cyclist and two-time silver medalist recently got into an accident and found herself left with a bit of a surprise — after 14 years of living in a wheelchair, she could suddenly walk again.

Oklahoma State, which dealt with the tragic deaths of 10 people in a 2001 plane crash, including some men’s basketball players, is reeling from another crash that took the lives of women’s basketball coach Kurt Budke and an assistant coach, Miranda Serna.

After 51 hours in captivity, Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos was rescued on Friday after being kidnapped from his home in Venezuela. Investigators quickly found the car used to abduct Ramos, and the house used to prepare for the kidnapping. From there, they zoned in on a cabin in the mountains where they suspected Ramos was being held.