Nap time new strategy for Wildcats

Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald was not pleased with his team's effort the last time it played an afternoon game.

The Wildcats are accustomed to playing most of their games at 11 a.m. CDT, but their Sept. 15 game against Boston College was moved to 2:30 p.m., and Fitzgerald thought his squad looked sluggish in falling behind 10-9 in the second quarter before rallying to win.

With the Wildcats' game Saturday against Nebraska rescheduled for 2:30 p.m. for TV, Fitzgerald asked a group of players the reason for the poor effort last time and what could be done to fix it.

Though not happy with the answer, Fitzgerald reluctantly agreed to schedule nap time Saturday morning. Players told Fitzgerald the late kickoffs fall right around the time they typically nap during the week after busy mornings of meetings, practices and classes.

"Unbelievable," he told the Chicago Tribune. "This is what I get paid to do. Seriously. Create nap time. It's pathetic."

Quarterback Kain Colter is pleased with the idea. "We'll wake up, have our pregame meal, do our mental things and then have a mandatory nap," he said. "Those hotel beds are really comfortable, and the pillows are soft. (Then) we'll come down refreshed and ready to kick some butt."

Fitzgerald might want to make sure the players double-check the a.m./p.m. setting and the volume on their alarm clocks when trying to sleep before a major sporting event, as any "Seinfeld" fan can tell you.

■ CANDID CAMERA - Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News tweeted news that injured Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis has a film crew following him to produce a documentary on his surgery and rehabilitation from a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Rumors are swirling that teammate Antonio Cromartie also plans to make a movie about the birth of his next five children. The Cromartie film should be completed and released in early 2014.

■ WATCH YOUR MOUTH - Joe Flacco's response to ESPN's Ed Werder on a question about 37-year-old linebacker Ray Lewis' future with the team after a season-ending injury might not have been too well thought out.

"If you tell Ray you hear he's not playing anymore, he'd freaking kill you," Flacco answered, according to Werder's Twitter feed.

■ EYES ON THE PRIZE - Struggling former superstar Alex Rodriguez reportedly had a ball boy toss a ball to two blond fans at Yankee Stadium during the eighth inning of New York's Game 1 loss to Detroit on Saturday with a note asking for their phone numbers.

The New York Post detailed the alleged dugout flirtation, which allegedly took place after A-Rod was pulled for a pinch hitter but before the Yankees rallied to force extra innings and well before teammate Derek Jeter suffered a season-ending ankle injury.

The story says one of the women wrote her number on the ball and returned it to Rodriguez, prompting the couple to exchange flirtatious glances for the rest of the game.

Rodriguez's teammates apparently aren't angry with the high-priced benchwarmer for his transgression. They mostly are shocked he took a swing without striking out.

COMPILED BY ADAM HILL
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL