Tigers in tuxedos: LSU cornerbacks Tyrann Mathieu and Morris Claiborne will be up for several national honors at 8 p.m. tonight as the two, along with head coach Les Miles, will be attending the 2011 ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards at Walt Disney World’s Atlantic Boardwalk Dance Hall in Orlando, Fla. Miles will be the recipient of the Coach of the Year Award during the two-hour show, while Mathieu is up for the Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation’s most outstanding defensive player and is also a finalist for the Walter Camp Player of the Year. Claiborne is one of three finalists for the Jim Thorpe Award, presented annually to college football’s top defensive back. LSU seeks to bring home the Bednarik Award and Thorpe Award for the second straight year, as Patrick Peterson swept the honors last year. Read more about the Tigers’ awards road trip here.
Build it and …: Tulane University believes a home-field advantage will make all the difference. The school announced today plans to build a $60 million stadium on campus. The Green Wave has played most of its home football games in the Superdome since 1975. Tulane’s old stadium was demolished in 1980. Tulane, which hasn’t had a winning season in a decade, hired New Orleans Saints wide receiver coach Curtis Johnson to lead the program on Dec. 5. Johnson has never been a head coach, but he’s had extensive success at the college and pro levels, including a Super Bowl victory with the Saints and a national championship with the Miami Hurricanes.
Pay day: Three-time NL MVP Albert Pujols agreed to a $254 million, 10-year contract today with the Los Angeles Angels, leaving the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals after more than a decade for a new baseball life in southern California. Pujols’ contract, which is subject to a physical, is the second-highest in baseball history and only the third to break the $200 million barrier, following Alex Rodriguez’s $252 million, 10-year deal with Texas before the 2001 season and A-Rod’s $275 million, 10-year contract with the Yankees before the 2008 season. Read the full story by The Associated Press here.
Déjŕ vu: Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky emerged from an overnight jail stay today after posting bail on new charges that he sexually abused two additional boys, including one who said Sandusky assaulted him in his basement while his cries for help went unheeded. Sandusky was driven from a Pennsylvania county jail to his home in the backseat of a gray sedan in the middle of a three-car convoy. The former coach kept his gaze straight ahead, clutching a manila envelope during the short car ride. He then went inside without answering questions from reporters. Sandusky was arrested Wednesday and charged with 12 new child sex abuse counts involving two new alleged victims. In all, he faces more than 50 charges. He has maintained his innocence. Read the full story from The Associated Press here.
