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The Essendon supplements saga that has blighted the AFL landscape for so long has drawn closer to a conclusion, with a dignified yet defiant Jobe Watson announcing he has decided to hand back his Brownlow Medal.With an AFL Commission meeting looming, Watson announced on Friday he would return his 2012 medal.He was one of 34 past and present Bombers players suspended for the 2016 season for anti-doping code violations arising from the clubs ill-fated supplements program.The commission, while relieved of the onerous task of stripping Watson of the award, must decide on Tuesday if 2012 joint runners-up, Richmonds Trent Cotchin and Sam Mitchell - then with Hawthorn - will be awarded medals retrospectively.Watson, who only announced in September he would return to the club, said he made the decision to hand back the award with mixed emotions.The basis of my decision links back to values, Watson said in a statement.Football has always been a part of my life, from being a young boy watching my dad play, to my own ambitions of pursuing a dream to play at an elite level.I have benefited from being brought up in a community where people strive to be the best they can be and bring out the best in others. It has been incredibly distressing for me to have people question my integrity and infer an intention to act against the spirit of the game - a spirit that is intrinsically a part of who I am.The basic principle behind this prestigious award is to honour the fairest and best. If there is a question in peoples minds as to whether the 2012 award is tainted, the fairest and best thing to do is to give it back and honour the history that has gone before me.The AFL praised Watsons move and said his statement would be considered when the commission met to decide the future of the 2012 medal.The AFL acknowledges that this was an extremely difficult decision to make, AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said.In Jobes own words, he is honouring the history of the medal and putting the interests of the game first, and this is an honourable position for him to have taken.The 34 players involved in the clubs 2012 supplements program have steadfastly maintained their innocence and Watson has been at pains to make it clear his decision had not been an admission of guilt.Those players were sensationally suspended when the Court of Arbitration for Sport in January upheld a World Anti-Doping Agency appeal.Lawyers representing the players appealed the ruling at the Swiss Federal Tribunal, but that bid was dismissed in October - an action Watson said brought an end to the matter from a legal standpoint.Essendon issued a statement shortly after Watsons announcement, apologising for putting him in an untenable position.Jobe has remained unassailably dignified under the most-extraordinary pressure over the past four years, Essendon chairman Lindsay Tanner said.The club takes responsibility for placing Jobe in this position and unreservedly apologises to him and his family.Jobe is a person of the highest integrity and character and has the total support and admiration of our membership, staff, executive and board.The Essendon family has been, and will continue to be, incredibly proud of Jobe Watson.Watson had previously declined an invitation to put his case to keep the medal to the AFL Commission.But he expressed his desire to share his frustration over the whole investigative process with the commission in a forum and at a time that was right for him. 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Price, heading to the 2014 Olympics for Canada, was named the First Star after posting wins in three starts with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .971 save percentage. HOUSTON -- Louisville coach Bobby Petrino was blunt.We blew it, he said.Duke Catalon scored three touchdowns and Houston hurried and harassed Heisman favorite Lamar Jackson all night to propel the Cougars to a stunning 36-10 victory over the Cardinals on Thursday night that dashed the third-ranked teams playoff hopes.Louisville (9-2) entered the game ranked fifth in the College Football Playoff rankings, but was outdone by a Houston team that saw its own playoff hopes foiled by two losses to unranked teams after a 5-0 start.We lost, Jackson said. Cant do nothing about it.The Cardinals were unhappy they werent ranked higher in this weeks CFP rankings after losses by several top teams last week, and some players thought they let that angst affect their play on Thursday.I think we let that get to us too much. I think we paid too much attention to the rankings instead of playing our game, safety Dee Smith said. We were just trying to do too much.Things went wrong quickly for the mistake-prone Cardinals when they fumbled the opening kickoff to Houston (9-2). Greg Ward threw his first touchdown pass on the next play to make it 7-0. Brandon Radcliff lost a fumble later in the first and Houston added a field goal on the ensuing drive to make it 10-0.Jackson threw for 211 yards and a touchdown, but it didnt come until the second half.Houston then scored touchdowns on three straight possessions in the second quarter to push the lead to 31-0 at halftime. Catalon caught a touchdown pass, ran for another score and Houston got the third score in that span on a 50-yard pass by receiver Linell Bonner after a lateral.We were banged up. We were beat up. We were tired. We were exhausted in the month of October, Houston coach Tom Herman said. Thats not an excuse. Thats reality. And our guys fought through it and they fought through that adversity and they never wavered ... and when you get the band back together and you get everybody healthy and everybody fresh and everybody doing their job ... we can play with anybody in the country. And we proved that again tonight.The Cougars were in Jacksons face constantly, sacking him a season-high 11 times and keeping him from hurting them with his feet. He ran for a season-low 33 yards after piling up 338 yards rushing combined in the last two games.After Jackson was sacked for the 10th time he threw up his hands and two of his lineman looked to be yelling at each other about who was to blame for his latest takedown.But the Cougars werent done getting after him just yet. On the nexxt possession he threw the ball away while under heavy pressure from Tyus Bowser and was flagged for intentional grounding, giving the Cougars a safety.ddddddddddddPetrino said he saw frustration build in Jackson as the sacks piled up.Oh yeah, there was frustration there, he said. There was frustration on the protection and frustration on himself -- missing a few throws. Thats one of the things on the sideline there definitely was frustration and it grew.Ward threw for 233 yards and two touchdowns to help the Cougars to the victory that left Cougar fans storming the field to celebrate.---=THE TAKEAWAY=LOUISVILLE: The Cardinals may not have made the playoff even if they didnt lose on Thursday night, but the opportunity was theirs for the taking. Now they only have themselves to blame for being on the outside looking in.HOUSTON: The Cougars looked like the team that knocked off then-No. 3 Oklahoma in their opener instead of the underperforming one that lost at Navy and SMU to fall out of the top 25 weeks ago. The victory, which was their fourth straight over a top-10 team, will go a long way toward put a positive spin on what had turned into a disappointing season.---=KEY NUMBERS=The Cardinals set a season-high with 15 penalties, punted a season-high six times by halftime and the 11 sacks they allowed were more than double their previous season-high. Its the fewest points theyve scored since a loss at North Carolina in 2011.---=HEISMAN HOPES=Jackson entered the game as such an overwhelming favorite to win the Heisman that the loss shouldnt put that big of a dent in his chances. However Jackson insists that he isnt concerned about that.Im not even focused on that, he said. Im focused on winning.---=POLL IMPLICATIONS=LOUISVILLE: This loss will send the Cardinals tumbling down in the poll and in the playoff rankings. Theyll likely drop out of the top-10 but could stay in depending on how the teams above them fare this weekend.HOUSTON: The Cougars are likely to re-enter the poll after being unranked since the week after their loss to SMU on Oct. 22. They had the most points of any team not ranked last week so it wouldnt be surprising for them to move up to No. 20 or so after the big win.---=UP NEXT=LOUISVILLE : The Cardinals wrap up the regular season with a rivalry game against Kentucky next Saturday.HOUSTON : The Cougars travel to Memphis on Friday for their regular-season finale. ' ' '