neration will see fit to rank him higher. Maybe hell even, along with Bonds and Clemens, get serious

Iowa has come to be known for its smart, tough and physical offensive lines.This season, the Hawkeyes earned an award for that prowess that had special meaning to coach Kirk Ferentz.Last week, Iowa was named the winner of the second annual Joe Moore Award, given to the nations top offensive line. The honors namesake was one of the most respected line coaches in the history of college football -- and made a deep impression on Ferentz during a season spent as a graduate assistant on the same staff with Moore at Pittsburgh in 1980.The 21st-ranked Hawkeyes (8-4) will try to finish the season on a four-game winning streak when they face No. 20 Florida (8-4) in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 2.Hes probably the reason Im here right now. On a lot of levels, said Ferentz, who also played high school ball under Moore, on Thursday. He was a really special person in my life.Unlike many college football honors, the selection process for Moore Award finalists and its winner is tough to dispute. Every FBS line coach in the country gets a vote, and the award committee evaluates line play by video every week.Despite leaky play at points in 2016, Iowa beat out Alabama and Ohio State because of what committee chair Aaron Taylor, a former All-American lineman under Moore at Notre Dame, said was teamwork.The Hawkeyes needed nearly every lineman they had this season.Iowa was forced to use eight different starting units, and none of their linemen started all 12 games. But the Hawkeyes put it together down the stretch, throttling Nebraska 40-10 in the season finale.Iowa was also a finalist for the award in 2015.It honors a group. Not an individual. And when you talk about the offensive line, thats what its all about, Ferentz said.The good news for the Hawkeyes is that every lineman listed as a starter against the Gators will be back in 2017.Whether that will be enough to help fix one of the lowest scoring offenses in the country will be heavily debated in the offseason.Iowas young receivers didnt do much developing in 2016, although the expected return of star wide receiver Matt VandeBerg should give the Hawkeyes more stability. Freshman quarterback Nathan Stanley looked solid in limited duty, and running back Akrum Wadley will be among the early favorites for Big Ten player of the year.But it will all start up front -- and the Hawkeyes look like theyre in good shape there moving forward.The thing Im happiest about and proudest of this football team thus far is just the way theyve stayed with things. Theyve stayed determined, theyve stayed positive, and stayed together. Theyve pushed forward. So whether its the offensive line or entire football team, I think thats what weve witnessed.---More college football at www.collegefootball.ap.org Adidas Gazelle Tarjous . A big centre with all the tools to be an elite player, Johansen paced the Blue Jackets with a standout game Saturday night. He had a goal and two assists for a career-high three points as Columbus beat the New York Islanders 5-2 to snap a five-game losing streak. Myydään Adidas NMD . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. http://www.nmdhalvalla.com/adidas-falcon-halvalla.html . -- Charlie Graham stopped 67 shots as the Belleville Bulls edged the visiting Guelph Storm 6-5 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Adidas NMD R1 Miehet . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. Adidas NMD Tarjous . Bryzgalov stopped 25 shots on Saturday in the Oklahoma City Barons 4-1 victory over the Abbotsford Heat. The Oilers signed Bryzgalov to a one-year $2 million contract last Friday after shedding payroll by dealing defenceman Ladislav Smid to the Flames. The collective baseball minds at ESPN have determined that only 20 players in the history of Major Baseball have been better than Alex Rodriguez.According to Baseball-Reference.com, the online encyclopedia of the sport, that encompasses some 18,485 players who have appeared in at least one major league game.And yet, a case can be made that A-Rod was better than that, better statistically than at least two of the hitters ranked ahead of him -- Ken Griffey Jr. and Joe DiMaggio --?and perhaps more than that, given that only three players in history have hit more home runs than Rodriguezs 696 or driven in more runs than his 2,084 and only nine had a higher career OPS than his .932.Rodriguezs career WAR of 118.3 is higher than that of all but eight position players. It is nearly 10 points higher than that of Mickey Mantle and six points higher than that of Lou Gehrig. It is 35 points higher than that of Griffey Jr., his former teammate on the Seattle Mariners, who sits higher in our rankings, despite retiring with 66 fewer home runs, 248 fewer RBIs and a career batting average 11 points lower than A-Rods .295.That brings us to the essential problem with, and the tragedy of, Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez. No one knows how good he was or is or could have been because of what he once termed the pink elephant in the room.That curious animal, of course, was a euphemism for performance-enhancing drug violations, a crime against baseball that Rodriguez has copped to twice. And that is why, despite his incredible numbers on a baseball field, his number in our all-time rankings is a bit lower than you might expect.Rodriguezs misdeeds off the field left many voters scratching their heads over where he belongs in baseball history and how many of his gaudy numbers can be trusted.?I wrote a column about this in June 2015 on thee occasion of his 3,000th hit.dddddddddddd It is worth reading again, if only to remind us of what Rodriguez is and, more importantly, what he might have been.Interestingly, strong indications of PED use were not enough to work against Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens, who finished ahead of A-Rod. In both cases, the numbers are both too impressive to ignore and too ridiculous to fully trust -- for me, anyway.For some reason, A-Rods numbers did not work in his favor the same way. Perhaps after he retires and another 20 or so home runs are added to his total, a younger and presumably more permissive generation will see fit to rank him higher. Maybe hell even, along with Bonds and Clemens, get serious consideration for the Hall of Fame, which at one time seemed to be the destination of all three.There are other curiosities in the final voting, some of them no doubt generational. Were Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux really better pitchers than Bob Gibson and Tom Seaver? Was Mike Piazza, at No. 99, truly one of the 100 greatest ball players who ever lived? Was Griffey Jr. really a better player, by a considerable margin, than Rodriguez? Clearly, our voters put more trust in Griffeys numbers than in those of A-Rod, who bests him in virtually every offensive category.Arguments such as that are what make lists such as this so popular and entertaining. Theyre the reason these polls will be done again and again by numerous outlets. No doubt, ESPN will do another one sometime in the future.When we do, it will be interesting to note what a future generation sees when it looks at Rodriguezs career. Greatness? Artifice?Or simply an unsolvable mystery, which, it seems, is how many of us view him now. ' ' '