While watching the Braves/Astros Spring Training game today, John Kruk went on a good ol' fashioned anti-sabermetrics rant. He kept repeating, "Baseball players" as though it was a mantra of some sort.
Because numbers tell you NOTHING about how a baseball player plays baseball. Derek Jeter is apparently a baseball player. Never mind that he has been called the worst fielding shortstop in baseball (Link!). He's got grit and heart and stuff.
Guys like Jimmy Rollins. They're baseball players. I mean, statistics say he's good, but it's the heart and guts and stuff that REALLY make him good.
A-Rod...he's not clutch. Statistics say that he's the best player in baseball. But he doesn't have heart and guts. He's crap. Shouldn't even be in the league.
Look, to deny that there's a psychological aspect of the game is stupid. Plain, outright, stupid. But it's just as stupid to think that there's some sort of quotient for heart. If a guy's good at baseball, why complain that numbers indicate it? Who cares what he looks like? *sigh* I miss the Fire Joe Morgan guys. They could have done this much better than me.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Please Fire Rick Reilly
Mr. Reilly's new column on ESPN.com (remember, highest paid sportswriter ever) features a sarcastic "giving back" of MVP awards to the players who finished second to 'roiders during the infamous "Steroid Era" of baseball.
This, I have no problem with. I mean, it's a decent concept. The problem is, Reilly's assuming that all these other players weren't on steroids. This is not a good thing to do, as we've learned that NO ONE should be trusted during this era in baseball.
Also, in defense of the game of baseball (and totally off the subject of Reilly): It is absolutely ludicrous that baseball is the game being picked on by the sportswriters and the public. To say that baseball is tainted is ridiculous. The game is being treated differently on the basis that steroids help people more in baseball than in other sports.
Really? Because, and I'm young so I might be way off, I thought that being stronger than your opponent conferred a slight advantage to a football player. I was way off.
The MLB's steroid rules dictate suspensions and fines. The NFL says, if you're caught (which basically requires you to go into a crowded room and shout: "SOMEONE SHOULD STICK A NEEDLE IN MY BUTT!!!! I LOVE DA 'ROIDS!!!!") you don't get to go to the Pro Bowl. Wooo. Wow, what a punishment! I'd hate to make, say, 1 million dollars a year (Shawne Merriman, anyone?) and miss out on $45,000 for the Pro Bowl.
So please, someone stop the madness. Baseball players aren't clean. They weren't clean. Neither were football players. Cyclists weren't clean for crying out loud. Make it stop!
This, I have no problem with. I mean, it's a decent concept. The problem is, Reilly's assuming that all these other players weren't on steroids. This is not a good thing to do, as we've learned that NO ONE should be trusted during this era in baseball.
Also, in defense of the game of baseball (and totally off the subject of Reilly): It is absolutely ludicrous that baseball is the game being picked on by the sportswriters and the public. To say that baseball is tainted is ridiculous. The game is being treated differently on the basis that steroids help people more in baseball than in other sports.
Really? Because, and I'm young so I might be way off, I thought that being stronger than your opponent conferred a slight advantage to a football player. I was way off.
The MLB's steroid rules dictate suspensions and fines. The NFL says, if you're caught (which basically requires you to go into a crowded room and shout: "SOMEONE SHOULD STICK A NEEDLE IN MY BUTT!!!! I LOVE DA 'ROIDS!!!!") you don't get to go to the Pro Bowl. Wooo. Wow, what a punishment! I'd hate to make, say, 1 million dollars a year (Shawne Merriman, anyone?) and miss out on $45,000 for the Pro Bowl.
So please, someone stop the madness. Baseball players aren't clean. They weren't clean. Neither were football players. Cyclists weren't clean for crying out loud. Make it stop!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Further Super Bowling
If you're reading this, then I've been captured and eaten by cannibals, please send my belongings to President Obama, who, apparently is supposed to be thanked for everything that happens, including Super Bowl victories. Also, if you are reading this, then you know I'm a sarcastic jerk, and we should all just go down a line and try restarting this paragraph.
Ahem...
If you're reading this, then you watched the Super Bowl. You know all about the Steelers, the Cardinals, the commercials that were good, the commercials that were bad, the 3D commercials, and Springsteen's crotch. Given that, would there be a point to reviewing this game?
No, since it's the most watched sporting event there is every single freakin' year.
In fact, the only really egregious thing to me is James Harrison not being tossed from the game for assaulting a Cardinals player. (Well, that and Harrison's 100 yard touchdown run which was impressive. Less so because it featured some holding and a pretty flagrant clip that would have been called on a kickoff or punt return. But, hey, I'm not a Cardinals fan, so whatever.) The NFL needs to crack down on this sort of thing. Fining Harrison will be completely ineffectual. I mean, the man makes how much a year? It's absurd to think that fining him for about a quarter's worth of "work" will do anything to him.
PS to the NFL rules change committee: Change the "roughing" rule. Please. There is no reason Pittsburgh should have gotten 8 tries inside the 10 to score during the 3rd quarter of the SUPER BOWL!
PPS to ESPN: Please fire Rick Reilly, as reading his articles causes me to question if there is justice in the world. If you do not believe me, please watch this video which you have put on your website's own front page.
It is not about the "right team" winning, sir. It's about who scores more points during the game. The only time the "right team" doesn't win is if, somehow, they score more points and don't win the game. I do not care which fan base cares more. If UVa scores more points than Virginia Tech, then the right team wins the game. If Arizona had scored more points than Pittsburgh, then the right team would have won the game! This inane crap about having a good fan base/"family" is utterly bizarre. The Cubs have a great fan base. Does this mean that the "wrong" team has won the World Series every year since 1908?! In conclusion, please, please quit ruining sports journalism. Thank you.
Ahem...
If you're reading this, then you watched the Super Bowl. You know all about the Steelers, the Cardinals, the commercials that were good, the commercials that were bad, the 3D commercials, and Springsteen's crotch. Given that, would there be a point to reviewing this game?
No, since it's the most watched sporting event there is every single freakin' year.
In fact, the only really egregious thing to me is James Harrison not being tossed from the game for assaulting a Cardinals player. (Well, that and Harrison's 100 yard touchdown run which was impressive. Less so because it featured some holding and a pretty flagrant clip that would have been called on a kickoff or punt return. But, hey, I'm not a Cardinals fan, so whatever.) The NFL needs to crack down on this sort of thing. Fining Harrison will be completely ineffectual. I mean, the man makes how much a year? It's absurd to think that fining him for about a quarter's worth of "work" will do anything to him.
PS to the NFL rules change committee: Change the "roughing" rule. Please. There is no reason Pittsburgh should have gotten 8 tries inside the 10 to score during the 3rd quarter of the SUPER BOWL!
PPS to ESPN: Please fire Rick Reilly, as reading his articles causes me to question if there is justice in the world. If you do not believe me, please watch this video which you have put on your website's own front page.
It is not about the "right team" winning, sir. It's about who scores more points during the game. The only time the "right team" doesn't win is if, somehow, they score more points and don't win the game. I do not care which fan base cares more. If UVa scores more points than Virginia Tech, then the right team wins the game. If Arizona had scored more points than Pittsburgh, then the right team would have won the game! This inane crap about having a good fan base/"family" is utterly bizarre. The Cubs have a great fan base. Does this mean that the "wrong" team has won the World Series every year since 1908?! In conclusion, please, please quit ruining sports journalism. Thank you.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Super Bore!
While I understand that Americans' addiction to football is something that is not new, I really wonder where our priorities as a nation lie when it comes to Super Bowl week. I mean, we are given a feast of college and professional football stories from roughly mid-August to late January. And then...for 2 weeks we're given crumbs.
Why do we have this avalanche of information on the Cardinals and Steelers? There is more unimportant writing out there about these two football programs than a normal human can fathom. Heck, ESPN even spoofs itself on this topic. Mind you, they do that and still shovel this crap down our throats until everyone wants to watch the game for the ads, rather than to see if Kurt Warner can recover from being old, or if Larry Fitzgerald's hair is actually a living organism, or some stupid jargon about the Steelers.
And after that we'll have to wait for several months (and doubtless 7 trillion stories about Michael Vick, Pacman Jones, TO's ego and everything else that's wrong about the NFL) to get more crack, I mean, football into our systems.
On a totally unrelated note, tune in on Sunday for the CFR 24 hour Super Blog! I'm gonna write for 24 hours about the Super Bowl experience in Cullowhee, NC! Isn't that amazingly awesomely great?*
*Answer to this question: No.
Why do we have this avalanche of information on the Cardinals and Steelers? There is more unimportant writing out there about these two football programs than a normal human can fathom. Heck, ESPN even spoofs itself on this topic. Mind you, they do that and still shovel this crap down our throats until everyone wants to watch the game for the ads, rather than to see if Kurt Warner can recover from being old, or if Larry Fitzgerald's hair is actually a living organism, or some stupid jargon about the Steelers.
And after that we'll have to wait for several months (and doubtless 7 trillion stories about Michael Vick, Pacman Jones, TO's ego and everything else that's wrong about the NFL) to get more crack, I mean, football into our systems.
On a totally unrelated note, tune in on Sunday for the CFR 24 hour Super Blog! I'm gonna write for 24 hours about the Super Bowl experience in Cullowhee, NC! Isn't that amazingly awesomely great?*
*Answer to this question: No.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Final Rankings Rant (of the '08 season)
Not sure why I didn't post this earlier...let's look at what's egregious in college football's final rankings!
So someone in the AP honestly thought Southern Cal deserved to be ranked over Utah and Florida? Really? Utah who, you know, BEAT Oregon State (yeah, Penn State did, too, and USC killed them. USC also played a home game for its bowl, so shut up).
Texas didn't get any #1 votes at all which surprises me, given that we've had to hear their griping for quite some time. I guess Ohio State sticking with them was a mark of shame or something? It really doesn't make that much sense. Also, was it just me or did the Big 12 look hideous in all of its big bowl games?
Sliding down...Alabama is 6th?! How is that possible? How can you lose 2 straight and still be in the top 10. If Alabama was in the Big East (or Big 10, or PAC-10, or ACC, or any non-BCS conference...) we'd have to tolerate all of the "Overrated! Easy non-conference schedule!" articles. Instead, they sit pretty at #6. I guess it's because their losses are to the #1 and #2 teams in the country. Still...2 straight losses generally doesn't equal a top 10 finish.
It's good to see TCU in the top 10. They deserve it, and its pretty awesome to see a small conference team in the final top 10 again. Wait, positivity?! What the heck am I doing?!
How is Ohio State still in the Top 10? A well played game against Texas, a spanking at the hands of USC, and a loss to Penn State gave them a 10-3 record, which is respectable if one doesn't look at where their wins came from (a sample: Youngstown State, Ohio, Troy, Minnesota, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan, and like 3 legitimately good teams). Once you look at that...this really isn't a top 10 team. Top 25, possibly, but not Top 10.
Texas Tech slides to 12, and frankly they should have slid further. I do have a question, though, how is TT still ranked higher than the team that JUST BEAT THEM?! Mississippi might not be the 14th best school in the country, but they proved, head to head, on the field that they were better than Texas Tech.
Nothing else is too terrible in the bottom half of the poll, though I must ask voters how BYU got enough votes to be 25th, while the team that beat them (Arizona) only got 4 points in the poll! The PAC-10 had a horrible regular season, including a winless team, a terrible out of conference schedule, and a friggin' 1-6 record against the MWC. Then they win every game in the bowl season, and look pretty dang good doing it. (I hate admitting that.) So BYU should NOT be ranked above California.
Aaaaand that's all I got.
So someone in the AP honestly thought Southern Cal deserved to be ranked over Utah and Florida? Really? Utah who, you know, BEAT Oregon State (yeah, Penn State did, too, and USC killed them. USC also played a home game for its bowl, so shut up).
Texas didn't get any #1 votes at all which surprises me, given that we've had to hear their griping for quite some time. I guess Ohio State sticking with them was a mark of shame or something? It really doesn't make that much sense. Also, was it just me or did the Big 12 look hideous in all of its big bowl games?
Sliding down...Alabama is 6th?! How is that possible? How can you lose 2 straight and still be in the top 10. If Alabama was in the Big East (or Big 10, or PAC-10, or ACC, or any non-BCS conference...) we'd have to tolerate all of the "Overrated! Easy non-conference schedule!" articles. Instead, they sit pretty at #6. I guess it's because their losses are to the #1 and #2 teams in the country. Still...2 straight losses generally doesn't equal a top 10 finish.
It's good to see TCU in the top 10. They deserve it, and its pretty awesome to see a small conference team in the final top 10 again. Wait, positivity?! What the heck am I doing?!
How is Ohio State still in the Top 10? A well played game against Texas, a spanking at the hands of USC, and a loss to Penn State gave them a 10-3 record, which is respectable if one doesn't look at where their wins came from (a sample: Youngstown State, Ohio, Troy, Minnesota, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan, and like 3 legitimately good teams). Once you look at that...this really isn't a top 10 team. Top 25, possibly, but not Top 10.
Texas Tech slides to 12, and frankly they should have slid further. I do have a question, though, how is TT still ranked higher than the team that JUST BEAT THEM?! Mississippi might not be the 14th best school in the country, but they proved, head to head, on the field that they were better than Texas Tech.
Nothing else is too terrible in the bottom half of the poll, though I must ask voters how BYU got enough votes to be 25th, while the team that beat them (Arizona) only got 4 points in the poll! The PAC-10 had a horrible regular season, including a winless team, a terrible out of conference schedule, and a friggin' 1-6 record against the MWC. Then they win every game in the bowl season, and look pretty dang good doing it. (I hate admitting that.) So BYU should NOT be ranked above California.
Aaaaand that's all I got.
Friday, January 9, 2009
National Championship blowout!
Well, the national championship came and went. Florida won the game, and in-depth analysis is for losers who get paid to write. So let's review the practically unreviewable (because everyone else beat me to it...)
The most enigmatic play of the whole game, for me at least, was early in the 4th Quarter, when Tim Tebow ran back to pass, and stopped because he heard a whistle. While this has happened before, it's interesting to note to whom it happened. You see, normally when there's a fake whistle, there's confusion amongst, oh, half the players on the field. In this episode, there was one player who was confused, and that was Tebow! The saddest part of this little affair: the commentators took his side, and not that of the other 21 guys on the field!
Since we're talking Tebow, what was up with that taunting penalty at the end of the game? I mean, he's intense and all, and that's great, but there's a HUGE problem with making the Gator chomp at someone. Especially since Timmy's the golden child of college football. Does this action make him a bad guy? No. But we must avoid talking about how wonderful anyone is, lest we turn him into some sort of mini-god. Think I'm overreacting? The following is an actual quote from the Fox announcer: "I think that might be the first think Tim Tebow's ever done wrong!" Watch it, now. That's Matt Ryan's turf.
Networks that handle college football should be the ones broadcasting it. Now, since ESPN is still not in every house in America (dang Amish...), this leaves us with ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox as our networks of choice. Problem is, NBC has an agreement with Notre Dame and no one else, so they're out. Fox doesn't broadcast college football, so they should be out. That leaves CBS and ABC, both networks with experienced college football analysts. Sure, they have their problems, but they at least know what the heck is going on (exception made for Lee Corso...). So who broadcasts four of the five most important games in college football? You guessed it: Fox! Thank you, amateur and (theoretically) unpaid college athletes! Your hard work has earned you massive ratings, which will be auctioned to the highest bidder!
As for the name of the game....why did we have to hear that it was the FedEx National Championship Game presented in High Definition by DirecTV a subsidiary of Pepsi-Cola Corporation, property of Wal-Mart? Seriously, corporate sponsorship kills the fun of things.
And while we're on the subject of corporate sponsorship, what the heck is up with those ads for the "Angry Whopper?" I'm not sure if I should be frightened by this sandwich, or simply freaked out by the bizarre ad campaign/name of the food. Who wants to eat something called an "Angry Whopper"? What's next, black-dyed, ketchup filled, emo fries? Slogan: "Emo fries: They cut themselves and bleed ketchup because no one understands them. Now available at Burger King. Free if you go cry in the corner."
Props to Percy Harvin, Florida's defense, OU's defense (The top 2 teams in the country in scoring finished 24-14. Both sides did well), and Bob Stoops. Stoops, boys and girls, is an excellent coach who doesn't deserve the "big game choker" reputation. That is a stupid label to put on a coach. A player might get nervous and fumble a ball. A coach will not get nervous and punt on 2nd down, and I don't recall seeing anything else particularly egregious from Oklahoma. Other than that stupid wagon, and that's not Stoops' fault.
Finally, a hearty congrats to Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators for being the National Champions. Before the whining begins, know this: Texas and USC are both excellent football programs. Both of their conferences agreed to the current arrangement, and USC profited from this system during the 2004 season when they had to play undefeated Oklahoma instead of undefeated Auburn. Utah has a legitimate gripe as the little man being shut out. They're not in the title picture because when this system was put in place, Utah was not a top-tier team, and thus has no shot at playing in the title unless every other team loses at least 2 games while they go undefeated! Which (cue music) is why we need a playoff!
Side note: As the purpose of this blog (see title of blog) has ended until, like, September, we'll be dabbling in basketball, baseball, pro football, hockey, and potentially poking in on the filthiest part of college football: recruiting.
So keep in touch! All 2 of you!
The most enigmatic play of the whole game, for me at least, was early in the 4th Quarter, when Tim Tebow ran back to pass, and stopped because he heard a whistle. While this has happened before, it's interesting to note to whom it happened. You see, normally when there's a fake whistle, there's confusion amongst, oh, half the players on the field. In this episode, there was one player who was confused, and that was Tebow! The saddest part of this little affair: the commentators took his side, and not that of the other 21 guys on the field!
Since we're talking Tebow, what was up with that taunting penalty at the end of the game? I mean, he's intense and all, and that's great, but there's a HUGE problem with making the Gator chomp at someone. Especially since Timmy's the golden child of college football. Does this action make him a bad guy? No. But we must avoid talking about how wonderful anyone is, lest we turn him into some sort of mini-god. Think I'm overreacting? The following is an actual quote from the Fox announcer: "I think that might be the first think Tim Tebow's ever done wrong!" Watch it, now. That's Matt Ryan's turf.
Networks that handle college football should be the ones broadcasting it. Now, since ESPN is still not in every house in America (dang Amish...), this leaves us with ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox as our networks of choice. Problem is, NBC has an agreement with Notre Dame and no one else, so they're out. Fox doesn't broadcast college football, so they should be out. That leaves CBS and ABC, both networks with experienced college football analysts. Sure, they have their problems, but they at least know what the heck is going on (exception made for Lee Corso...). So who broadcasts four of the five most important games in college football? You guessed it: Fox! Thank you, amateur and (theoretically) unpaid college athletes! Your hard work has earned you massive ratings, which will be auctioned to the highest bidder!
As for the name of the game....why did we have to hear that it was the FedEx National Championship Game presented in High Definition by DirecTV a subsidiary of Pepsi-Cola Corporation, property of Wal-Mart? Seriously, corporate sponsorship kills the fun of things.
And while we're on the subject of corporate sponsorship, what the heck is up with those ads for the "Angry Whopper?" I'm not sure if I should be frightened by this sandwich, or simply freaked out by the bizarre ad campaign/name of the food. Who wants to eat something called an "Angry Whopper"? What's next, black-dyed, ketchup filled, emo fries? Slogan: "Emo fries: They cut themselves and bleed ketchup because no one understands them. Now available at Burger King. Free if you go cry in the corner."
Props to Percy Harvin, Florida's defense, OU's defense (The top 2 teams in the country in scoring finished 24-14. Both sides did well), and Bob Stoops. Stoops, boys and girls, is an excellent coach who doesn't deserve the "big game choker" reputation. That is a stupid label to put on a coach. A player might get nervous and fumble a ball. A coach will not get nervous and punt on 2nd down, and I don't recall seeing anything else particularly egregious from Oklahoma. Other than that stupid wagon, and that's not Stoops' fault.
Finally, a hearty congrats to Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators for being the National Champions. Before the whining begins, know this: Texas and USC are both excellent football programs. Both of their conferences agreed to the current arrangement, and USC profited from this system during the 2004 season when they had to play undefeated Oklahoma instead of undefeated Auburn. Utah has a legitimate gripe as the little man being shut out. They're not in the title picture because when this system was put in place, Utah was not a top-tier team, and thus has no shot at playing in the title unless every other team loses at least 2 games while they go undefeated! Which (cue music) is why we need a playoff!
Side note: As the purpose of this blog (see title of blog) has ended until, like, September, we'll be dabbling in basketball, baseball, pro football, hockey, and potentially poking in on the filthiest part of college football: recruiting.
So keep in touch! All 2 of you!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
News: BC Defensive Coordinator fired for saying "hi" to man in Detroit Lions Shirt
Not really. Just pointing out, however, that the firing of Jeff Jagodzinski is a simply idiotic maneuver by the Boston College Eagles. Had he gotten the Jets job, yes, he would be axed. Duh. But to throw him out for interviewing?! That's insane!
Look, the ultimate goal of any good football coach should be to succeed at the highest level. There's probably thousands of high school coaches out there right now who would LOVE to win a Super Bowl. If Jagodzinski winds up in New York, he'll have that chance! Of course he's going to interview! If you're a fry cook at McDonald's, and the local Burger King has an interview for a manager position, you'll interview! It's a better job!
He had time left on his contract and is, I quote ESPN here, "a long shot" for the Jets job. He took the team to 2 ACC Championship Games (albeit with players he didn't recruit...) and had a pair of good seasons. With all that knowledge, how are you going to fire the guy?
So, in conclusion, good luck to Jagodzinski, since he might need it. If he can't get the Jets job, maybe he can get a position somewhere else. I mean, he did get near Matt Ryan, which automatically qualifies him for CEO positions in most businesses.
Look, the ultimate goal of any good football coach should be to succeed at the highest level. There's probably thousands of high school coaches out there right now who would LOVE to win a Super Bowl. If Jagodzinski winds up in New York, he'll have that chance! Of course he's going to interview! If you're a fry cook at McDonald's, and the local Burger King has an interview for a manager position, you'll interview! It's a better job!
He had time left on his contract and is, I quote ESPN here, "a long shot" for the Jets job. He took the team to 2 ACC Championship Games (albeit with players he didn't recruit...) and had a pair of good seasons. With all that knowledge, how are you going to fire the guy?
So, in conclusion, good luck to Jagodzinski, since he might need it. If he can't get the Jets job, maybe he can get a position somewhere else. I mean, he did get near Matt Ryan, which automatically qualifies him for CEO positions in most businesses.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Texas/Ohio State mashup/matchup/thing
Oh, it's 2009. Oops. See, real sportswriters have an advantage over bloggers in that bloggers have jobs that don't entail writing and aren't paid. That said, I will not be attempting to review the previous bowls, though I would like to say that going to Miami for the Orange Bowl was pretty awesome.
But now, for the review of the Fiesta Bowl....
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Texas-24, Ohio State-21
The Buckeyes have nothing to be ashamed of here, as this is the best bowl that they've played in recent memory. Plus, were it not for an absolutely, shamefully bad "roughing" of Colt McCoy on the first of Texas's 3rd quarter scoring drives, we might have seen a different final score.
If there's a rule in college football that must be amended, it's the 15 yard roughing the kicker penalty. 99 times out of 100 that flag is thrown because the kicker treats a defender's accidental tap as if it were a gunshot wound. If there's a second rule that should be amended, it's the 15 yard roughing the passer penalty.
Quarterbacks need to be protected. To deny that would be, well, stupid. But QBs ARE football players. Getting hit is a part of the friggin' game, just as much as it is for any other player at any other position! When you release a football and are hit 3 seconds later, of course it's roughing! The defender had time to stop. When you're hit half a second later, it's not roughing, because the defender couldn't stop. And, back to the Texas/OSU game, when you're NOT hit in the head, it's NOT illegal contact!
Meanwhile, the Big 12's performance in Bowl games has been shoddy at best. Thus far, the conference's only bowl wins have come against the Big 10 (2 close ones and Kansas's crushing of Minnesota) and the ACC (Nebraska's comeback against Clemson). Since football pundits (including me) spent all season talking about who was better, Big 12 or SEC, I think we've gotten our answer...
As a side note, PTI was talking about the Texas/OSU matchup and felt the need to rip the Orange Bowl. Allow me a moment for rebuttal:
The Orange Bowl featured the champion of a muddled, highly competitive conference who everyone wrote off as crappy (Virginia Tech of the ACC) and an upstart squad who had the best season in school history (Cincinnati of the Big East). Now, we had to put up with fawning and "oooh"s and "ahhh"s over the Fiesta bowl, which featured a 2 loss Ohio State team against a just-shafted out of the title game Texas. Cincinnati had two losses! AND the Big East had a winning bowl record, compared to the 1-6 Big 10! Texas Tech finished in a 3-way tie (with Texas!) for first in the conference, and lost its bowl to an SEC team that was 4th in its conference! Virginia Tech finished in a 4-way tie for first in its conference and beat a Big East team that was first in its conference!
So let's play a little reversal. Let's put Ohio State and Texas Tech against one another. Seems fair. There would be so much hype surrounding these two teams, and if Texas Tech won? Well, then we'd have to put up with news that the Big 12 was superior and that the ACC and Big East certainly didn't deserve to be in such a prestigious bowl.
Am I saying that Cincy or Virginia Tech deserved a BCS berth? No. But if you're going to market the wonder of an Ohio State/Texas matchup, you'd best not bash a Virginia Tech/Cincinnati matchup. Especially since, inevitably, we are going to have to tolerate a spate of "USC is the REAL national champion!" articles in the coming future.
I, for one, look forward to mocking them...
But now, for the review of the Fiesta Bowl....
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Texas-24, Ohio State-21
The Buckeyes have nothing to be ashamed of here, as this is the best bowl that they've played in recent memory. Plus, were it not for an absolutely, shamefully bad "roughing" of Colt McCoy on the first of Texas's 3rd quarter scoring drives, we might have seen a different final score.
If there's a rule in college football that must be amended, it's the 15 yard roughing the kicker penalty. 99 times out of 100 that flag is thrown because the kicker treats a defender's accidental tap as if it were a gunshot wound. If there's a second rule that should be amended, it's the 15 yard roughing the passer penalty.
Quarterbacks need to be protected. To deny that would be, well, stupid. But QBs ARE football players. Getting hit is a part of the friggin' game, just as much as it is for any other player at any other position! When you release a football and are hit 3 seconds later, of course it's roughing! The defender had time to stop. When you're hit half a second later, it's not roughing, because the defender couldn't stop. And, back to the Texas/OSU game, when you're NOT hit in the head, it's NOT illegal contact!
Meanwhile, the Big 12's performance in Bowl games has been shoddy at best. Thus far, the conference's only bowl wins have come against the Big 10 (2 close ones and Kansas's crushing of Minnesota) and the ACC (Nebraska's comeback against Clemson). Since football pundits (including me) spent all season talking about who was better, Big 12 or SEC, I think we've gotten our answer...
As a side note, PTI was talking about the Texas/OSU matchup and felt the need to rip the Orange Bowl. Allow me a moment for rebuttal:
The Orange Bowl featured the champion of a muddled, highly competitive conference who everyone wrote off as crappy (Virginia Tech of the ACC) and an upstart squad who had the best season in school history (Cincinnati of the Big East). Now, we had to put up with fawning and "oooh"s and "ahhh"s over the Fiesta bowl, which featured a 2 loss Ohio State team against a just-shafted out of the title game Texas. Cincinnati had two losses! AND the Big East had a winning bowl record, compared to the 1-6 Big 10! Texas Tech finished in a 3-way tie (with Texas!) for first in the conference, and lost its bowl to an SEC team that was 4th in its conference! Virginia Tech finished in a 4-way tie for first in its conference and beat a Big East team that was first in its conference!
So let's play a little reversal. Let's put Ohio State and Texas Tech against one another. Seems fair. There would be so much hype surrounding these two teams, and if Texas Tech won? Well, then we'd have to put up with news that the Big 12 was superior and that the ACC and Big East certainly didn't deserve to be in such a prestigious bowl.
Am I saying that Cincy or Virginia Tech deserved a BCS berth? No. But if you're going to market the wonder of an Ohio State/Texas matchup, you'd best not bash a Virginia Tech/Cincinnati matchup. Especially since, inevitably, we are going to have to tolerate a spate of "USC is the REAL national champion!" articles in the coming future.
I, for one, look forward to mocking them...
Monday, December 29, 2008
Bowling!
34.
34 bowls. 68 teams. There's 120 teams in Division 1-A (or FBS for the super-literal among you.) and more than half of them make the post-season. Ridiculous, yes?
Oh, well. Let's size up the bowl picture thus far, starting over a week ago with the...
Eaglebank Bowl: Wake Forest-29, Navy-19
Normally we don't deal with unranked teams here at CFR, but we'll make an exception here (and in about 20 other bowls...) This game was a rematch, and not the best one. It was two weird option offenses facing off against one another, and Wake won. Do these small bowls merit such analysis? No. So let's get brief!
New Mexico Bowl: Colorado State-40, Fresno State-35
So...I watched this game out of the corner of my eye while eating dinner. Fresno lost by five but got outgained by 185 yards. So...I wouldn't say that this one was as close as the score says it was. Honestly, most people couldn't care less about this game. But, come on, this wasn't anywhere near the worst bowl matchup this year!
MagicJack St. Petersburg Bowl: South Florida-41, Memphis-14
Know what I'm sick of? Teams getting to play in home games for their bowls. Saint Pete is a bit closer for South Florida (hometown: Tampa, just a bridge away) than it is for Memphis (I am not explaining where Memphis's hometown is. Wikipedia it). There is a distinct home field advantage, and I'm not just talking about crowd noise. Teams are built around the weather that they are used to. The pass-wacky spread offense would not work well in Michigan, especially if there's a snowstorm going on. So South Florida had a leg up on Memphis before this game started. And this is a trend that's been going on for a while now.
Seriously, USC playing in Pasadena every year? It's ridiculous! Hawaii in Hawaii? Why? Boise playing on that hideous blue abomination they call a field? Come on! It's just a little bit silly, at least as far as I'm concerned...Oh, and South Florida destroyed the Tigers thus proving that the #6 team in the Big East is better than the #5 team in C-USA. I guess this is important.
Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl: Arizona-31, #16 BYU-21
So much for the Cougars being potential BCS busters, eh? Honestly, it's best that this defeat happened here, rather than on the big stage where Hawaii failed so miserably last year. As for 'Zona...good to see them win a bowl. I guess. The PAC-10 still has a lot to prove this bowl season, but they got off to a good start, beating a ranked opponent from a conference that owned them during the regular season. (Positive PAC-10 press?! What am I doing?!)
R + L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Southern Miss-30, Troy-27
Nothing snarky to say here. Other than the fact that Southern Miss has the ugliest uniforms known to man. Seriously, looks like they killed the entire canary population of...wherever the heck canaries live...and slathered it on their uniforms. As a side note, a get well message to Southern Miss receiver DeAndre Brown, who suffered a nasty leg injury during the game.
Aaaaaand that is all for the first part of this little review. Tune in next time when we take a look at some Christmas-themed bowls. And the inferiority bowl!
34 bowls. 68 teams. There's 120 teams in Division 1-A (or FBS for the super-literal among you.) and more than half of them make the post-season. Ridiculous, yes?
Oh, well. Let's size up the bowl picture thus far, starting over a week ago with the...
Eaglebank Bowl: Wake Forest-29, Navy-19
Normally we don't deal with unranked teams here at CFR, but we'll make an exception here (and in about 20 other bowls...) This game was a rematch, and not the best one. It was two weird option offenses facing off against one another, and Wake won. Do these small bowls merit such analysis? No. So let's get brief!
New Mexico Bowl: Colorado State-40, Fresno State-35
So...I watched this game out of the corner of my eye while eating dinner. Fresno lost by five but got outgained by 185 yards. So...I wouldn't say that this one was as close as the score says it was. Honestly, most people couldn't care less about this game. But, come on, this wasn't anywhere near the worst bowl matchup this year!
MagicJack St. Petersburg Bowl: South Florida-41, Memphis-14
Know what I'm sick of? Teams getting to play in home games for their bowls. Saint Pete is a bit closer for South Florida (hometown: Tampa, just a bridge away) than it is for Memphis (I am not explaining where Memphis's hometown is. Wikipedia it). There is a distinct home field advantage, and I'm not just talking about crowd noise. Teams are built around the weather that they are used to. The pass-wacky spread offense would not work well in Michigan, especially if there's a snowstorm going on. So South Florida had a leg up on Memphis before this game started. And this is a trend that's been going on for a while now.
Seriously, USC playing in Pasadena every year? It's ridiculous! Hawaii in Hawaii? Why? Boise playing on that hideous blue abomination they call a field? Come on! It's just a little bit silly, at least as far as I'm concerned...Oh, and South Florida destroyed the Tigers thus proving that the #6 team in the Big East is better than the #5 team in C-USA. I guess this is important.
Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl: Arizona-31, #16 BYU-21
So much for the Cougars being potential BCS busters, eh? Honestly, it's best that this defeat happened here, rather than on the big stage where Hawaii failed so miserably last year. As for 'Zona...good to see them win a bowl. I guess. The PAC-10 still has a lot to prove this bowl season, but they got off to a good start, beating a ranked opponent from a conference that owned them during the regular season. (Positive PAC-10 press?! What am I doing?!)
R + L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Southern Miss-30, Troy-27
Nothing snarky to say here. Other than the fact that Southern Miss has the ugliest uniforms known to man. Seriously, looks like they killed the entire canary population of...wherever the heck canaries live...and slathered it on their uniforms. As a side note, a get well message to Southern Miss receiver DeAndre Brown, who suffered a nasty leg injury during the game.
Aaaaaand that is all for the first part of this little review. Tune in next time when we take a look at some Christmas-themed bowls. And the inferiority bowl!
Monday, December 8, 2008
Saturday in Review: Conference Championship Edition
Nothing on the non-championship games this week. Do you really want another article on how much I hate Pete Carroll? Or how the PAC-10 is right down there with the Big East and ACC but you never hear how much they suck because (Omigosh!) that would require belittling the might of the USC Trojans?
No, you don't want to read that, and I don't want to write it. So let's move on, shall we?
#12 Ball State-21, Buffalo-42
This is like one of those new-wave sports movies where the lovable team loses in the championship game. I hate those sports movies. Imagine Remember the Titans with the Titans losing! Sorry, angry tangent there.
This one here, though, does suck. I really wish the Cardinals had pulled it off, but I think they'll still settle for the best season in school history. Aaaaaand that's about all I got. I didn't watch this game, can you tell?
#25 Virginia Tech-30, #17 Boston College-12
While winning a conference two straight years is certainly something to celebrate, I still don't think Virginia Tech needs to be in a BCS bowl (though they're playing Cincinnati, so cheers for that: 2 undeserving teams in the same bowl!). Still, hard to argue with results, and the Hokie defense looked very good against the Eagles. Then again, BC was working with a redshirt freshman QB, not Chris Crane.
The Eagles will be going to the Gator Bowl to play against Vanderbilt. A reminder to the Eagles: Despite the ACC beating itself up badly this year, the conference has a winning record against the SEC. Duke beat Vandy! So....we expect something good out of you! Call Matt Ryan, he can help. He can do anything...
#20 Missouri-21, #2 Oklahoma 62
Want my review of this game? Look at the dang score! There! There's your review!
Seriously, though, Oklahoma played its way into the national title game, and it'll be good to see them play against the winner of...(drum roll)
#1 Alabama-20, #4 Florida-31
A pretty darn good game by anyone's standards. For 3 straight years now an SEC team has gone to the national title game. It'll be interesting to see if they can win it 3 straight years. This blurb is short because, frankly, I failed you dear readers. I did not watch this game because (don't tell the other bloggers) I have a social life.
But enough about me...College Football Review's BOWL (P)REVIEW™ will be coming up soon! That's right, a sardonic, somewhat poorly written review of all 976 bowl games!
(NOTE: No, there's not that many, it just seems like it. I think my 4-7 high school team is bowl eligible this year)
No, you don't want to read that, and I don't want to write it. So let's move on, shall we?
#12 Ball State-21, Buffalo-42
This is like one of those new-wave sports movies where the lovable team loses in the championship game. I hate those sports movies. Imagine Remember the Titans with the Titans losing! Sorry, angry tangent there.
This one here, though, does suck. I really wish the Cardinals had pulled it off, but I think they'll still settle for the best season in school history. Aaaaaand that's about all I got. I didn't watch this game, can you tell?
#25 Virginia Tech-30, #17 Boston College-12
While winning a conference two straight years is certainly something to celebrate, I still don't think Virginia Tech needs to be in a BCS bowl (though they're playing Cincinnati, so cheers for that: 2 undeserving teams in the same bowl!). Still, hard to argue with results, and the Hokie defense looked very good against the Eagles. Then again, BC was working with a redshirt freshman QB, not Chris Crane.
The Eagles will be going to the Gator Bowl to play against Vanderbilt. A reminder to the Eagles: Despite the ACC beating itself up badly this year, the conference has a winning record against the SEC. Duke beat Vandy! So....we expect something good out of you! Call Matt Ryan, he can help. He can do anything...
#20 Missouri-21, #2 Oklahoma 62
Want my review of this game? Look at the dang score! There! There's your review!
Seriously, though, Oklahoma played its way into the national title game, and it'll be good to see them play against the winner of...(drum roll)
#1 Alabama-20, #4 Florida-31
A pretty darn good game by anyone's standards. For 3 straight years now an SEC team has gone to the national title game. It'll be interesting to see if they can win it 3 straight years. This blurb is short because, frankly, I failed you dear readers. I did not watch this game because (don't tell the other bloggers) I have a social life.
But enough about me...College Football Review's BOWL (P)REVIEW™ will be coming up soon! That's right, a sardonic, somewhat poorly written review of all 976 bowl games!
(NOTE: No, there's not that many, it just seems like it. I think my 4-7 high school team is bowl eligible this year)
Friday, December 5, 2008
Since everyone else is doing it...
Here's the Florida/Alabama preview!
Florida: Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin. That's about it.
Alabama: Defense.
Honestly, the way the college football season's been going, I'd say that the following is going to happen: Florida will kill Alabama. Slaughter them. Like, 30 points, Tebow runs for 150 and throws for 200. Oklahoma gets upset by Missouri. Florida plays USC in the title game filled with teams I hate.
Sorry, went on a tangent there...
The way Florida is playing right now, I think that they are going to benefit from the twisted logic of college football that a loss in September means less than a loss in November. Oklahoma, by the way, will beat Missouri.
In fairness, I've been wrong before.
Florida: Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin. That's about it.
Alabama: Defense.
Honestly, the way the college football season's been going, I'd say that the following is going to happen: Florida will kill Alabama. Slaughter them. Like, 30 points, Tebow runs for 150 and throws for 200. Oklahoma gets upset by Missouri. Florida plays USC in the title game filled with teams I hate.
Sorry, went on a tangent there...
The way Florida is playing right now, I think that they are going to benefit from the twisted logic of college football that a loss in September means less than a loss in November. Oklahoma, by the way, will beat Missouri.
In fairness, I've been wrong before.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Varia 12/1/08
Well, we're back! Just a side note, the actual site called collegefootballreview.com is actually a defunct website which hasn't been updated since 2006. For spite, and no other purpose, I would now like to point out the last article on there. It reads as follows:
I wonder if we could get that domain name...on the grounds that we'd type more intelligent gibberish. Let's move along...
Considering how few good games there were recently, it's unsurprising that there's not been much action on here. I mean, I could write you an in-depth review of the Virginia Tech/UVa game, but does anyone really want to read that? I mean, UVa sucks. No offense.
Which I guess brings me to a point. College football needs a playoff. There is no reason that the winner of the ACC Championship (even if it's my beloved Hokies) should go to a BCS bowl, while Texas, Texas Tech, or Oklahoma will get left in the cold. It's simply inconceivable! The ACC was a middle-of-the-road conference this year, the PAC-10 has only one half-decent team, and the Big East was horrible. Of those three conferences, only one team really should go to a major bowl (and that one team, USC, would get killed by Oklahoma, Texas, or Texas Tech)
Seriously, does anyone want to see the Cincinnati/Boston College game? No. Get more Big-12/SEC teams in there this year. Next year the ACC will be a competitive and good and fun conference. This year the conference isn't that good, and that's OK! Neither is the PA(theti)C-10! Honestly (I can't believe I'm about to type this) I say that, if the system must stay the same, we should send Utah and Boise State to the BCS bowls. Seriously.
As for the Big 12...wow. Texas got screwed, Oklahoma got lucky, and Texas Tech has the misfortune of being the new kid on the block.
I could keep going, but time is short, and our predominant reading audience has ADD. So...yeah, we'll see you later.
No doubt about it, The Ohio State University is the #1 team in the country. The are the real deal and have it going not only on offense but defense also!
I wonder if we could get that domain name...on the grounds that we'd type more intelligent gibberish. Let's move along...
Considering how few good games there were recently, it's unsurprising that there's not been much action on here. I mean, I could write you an in-depth review of the Virginia Tech/UVa game, but does anyone really want to read that? I mean, UVa sucks. No offense.
Which I guess brings me to a point. College football needs a playoff. There is no reason that the winner of the ACC Championship (even if it's my beloved Hokies) should go to a BCS bowl, while Texas, Texas Tech, or Oklahoma will get left in the cold. It's simply inconceivable! The ACC was a middle-of-the-road conference this year, the PAC-10 has only one half-decent team, and the Big East was horrible. Of those three conferences, only one team really should go to a major bowl (and that one team, USC, would get killed by Oklahoma, Texas, or Texas Tech)
Seriously, does anyone want to see the Cincinnati/Boston College game? No. Get more Big-12/SEC teams in there this year. Next year the ACC will be a competitive and good and fun conference. This year the conference isn't that good, and that's OK! Neither is the PA(theti)C-10! Honestly (I can't believe I'm about to type this) I say that, if the system must stay the same, we should send Utah and Boise State to the BCS bowls. Seriously.
As for the Big 12...wow. Texas got screwed, Oklahoma got lucky, and Texas Tech has the misfortune of being the new kid on the block.
I could keep going, but time is short, and our predominant reading audience has ADD. So...yeah, we'll see you later.
Friday, November 14, 2008
A sad day.
I'm not even referring to the Virginia Tech-Miami game, either. (Though that was pretty crummy. Sean Glennon looked horrific. We won't address it any further.)
No, I'm referring to the demise of one of my all-time favorite blogs ever. FireJoeMorgan.com. You have to understand where I'm coming from, that blog is basically the inspiration for this little rinky-dink affair that you're currently reading. And so, even though they won't see it (and almost no one will read it) this is my nod to the FJM guys. Thanks to dak, Junior, and KT. Your contribution to the world will be missed.
No, I'm referring to the demise of one of my all-time favorite blogs ever. FireJoeMorgan.com. You have to understand where I'm coming from, that blog is basically the inspiration for this little rinky-dink affair that you're currently reading. And so, even though they won't see it (and almost no one will read it) this is my nod to the FJM guys. Thanks to dak, Junior, and KT. Your contribution to the world will be missed.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Maryland vs Virginia Tech, with a side of Utah/TCU
#23 Maryland-13, Virginia Tech-23
Give me a moment to savor this...Ahhhhhh.
OK, let's analyze: First off, the score of this game actually makes it appear closer than it is. I have always hated big play intensive teams. You know, the schools who rely on 4 plays a game to win or lose it all. Maryland is one of those schools. Were it not for one play, on which the Tech defense utterly failed to stop a screen pass, the score would have probably been 23-6 or 23-9. Maryland's offense was nothing short of pathetic on the ground, which enabled Tech to pressure the Maryland QB (Who has hideous hair. Just a thought.) into throwing pathetic passes for minimal gain. But the defense wasn't the only good thing for the Hokies...
Darren Evans was a show stopper in the game on Thursday night. He was quick, dynamic, etc. etc. There are a few cautionary points I will make however:
1) This was a game against Maryland. Let's not have the Hokie nation screaming that this guy is the next Lee Suggs. Yet.
2) What was with all the camera shots of Evans' young son asleep? It's like ESPN picks a plot line to follow and shoves it down your throat for a few hours, regardless of how tired of it you are. I wonder what they would have done with all that time had Evans gotten hurt on the first drive or had an awful game? Probably showed some old Matt Ryan footage.
3) Evans' son slept through most of the game. It was kinda cute. But after the game Erin Andrews walks up to Evans and the last question she asks before the team huddles up is, "Your son James slept through most of the game. How does that make you feel?" What the heck?! You're gonna tell the guy "Oh, good game, your kid missed it." In fairness, Evans took it well, despite the utterly inappropriate question, and he will be able to hold this over James' head for a long time:
"Dad, how come you don't come on my field trips?"
"How come you slept through my record-breaking performance on national television?"
4) In the final minutes of the game, Maryland had to know that the ball was going to Evans. Keep the clock running, etc. So it stands to logic that they put 8 guys in the box, tried to slow down Evans, and went away at least TRYING to grab a win. Except...they didn't. Evans ran all over the Terps on that final drive, and they went down like a turtle who'd forgotten how to swim. Sad, if a bit unsurprising.
#12 TCU-10, #8 Utah-13
Utah is still a boring state.
TCU apparently only brought its offense for the first quarter, and they still almost won. I don't like the Utes' odds against any BCS team. Unless, of course, it's the Big East champs...
Give me a moment to savor this...Ahhhhhh.
OK, let's analyze: First off, the score of this game actually makes it appear closer than it is. I have always hated big play intensive teams. You know, the schools who rely on 4 plays a game to win or lose it all. Maryland is one of those schools. Were it not for one play, on which the Tech defense utterly failed to stop a screen pass, the score would have probably been 23-6 or 23-9. Maryland's offense was nothing short of pathetic on the ground, which enabled Tech to pressure the Maryland QB (Who has hideous hair. Just a thought.) into throwing pathetic passes for minimal gain. But the defense wasn't the only good thing for the Hokies...
Darren Evans was a show stopper in the game on Thursday night. He was quick, dynamic, etc. etc. There are a few cautionary points I will make however:
1) This was a game against Maryland. Let's not have the Hokie nation screaming that this guy is the next Lee Suggs. Yet.
2) What was with all the camera shots of Evans' young son asleep? It's like ESPN picks a plot line to follow and shoves it down your throat for a few hours, regardless of how tired of it you are. I wonder what they would have done with all that time had Evans gotten hurt on the first drive or had an awful game? Probably showed some old Matt Ryan footage.
3) Evans' son slept through most of the game. It was kinda cute. But after the game Erin Andrews walks up to Evans and the last question she asks before the team huddles up is, "Your son James slept through most of the game. How does that make you feel?" What the heck?! You're gonna tell the guy "Oh, good game, your kid missed it." In fairness, Evans took it well, despite the utterly inappropriate question, and he will be able to hold this over James' head for a long time:
"Dad, how come you don't come on my field trips?"
"How come you slept through my record-breaking performance on national television?"
4) In the final minutes of the game, Maryland had to know that the ball was going to Evans. Keep the clock running, etc. So it stands to logic that they put 8 guys in the box, tried to slow down Evans, and went away at least TRYING to grab a win. Except...they didn't. Evans ran all over the Terps on that final drive, and they went down like a turtle who'd forgotten how to swim. Sad, if a bit unsurprising.
#12 TCU-10, #8 Utah-13
Utah is still a boring state.
TCU apparently only brought its offense for the first quarter, and they still almost won. I don't like the Utes' odds against any BCS team. Unless, of course, it's the Big East champs...
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Phil Phulmer Phired?!
(Apologies for the awful post title)
It's like the powers that be want me to write about this. By now it's old news in the college football world that Phil Fulmer has been fired as the head coach at Tennessee. This is not a surprise. To anyone.
What's sad is that they didn't have the decency to wait until the season was over. Seriously, Ty Willingham got axed but is holding onto his job until the season ends, Tommy Bowden was just dumped for some guy named "Dabo," and Tommy Tuberville won't be at Auburn next season unless the Tigers win out.
But let's get back to Fulmer. I've never understood the purpose of telling a coach not to come back BEFORE the season ends! It provides almost no inspiration for this team to do anything for the remainder of the year. Tennessee's not very good--and with their coach gone no matter how well they do, they have no real impetus to improve.
Fulmer's problem is that he's in the "Win it now!" SEC. He lasted for a long time, and he did very well in the conference. The man had a great string of wins and teams. And while Tennessee hasn't been the same since the turn of the century, Fulmer will go down as one of the best things to ever happen to Tennessee football. Tennessee will eventually be back as an SEC contender, but Coach Fulmer will be remembered as the one who got them to the top in the first place.
Good luck to the next coach in Knoxville. In today's football climate, you've only got 3 years to prove yourself, so you'd best hope the recruits are good this year.
It's like the powers that be want me to write about this. By now it's old news in the college football world that Phil Fulmer has been fired as the head coach at Tennessee. This is not a surprise. To anyone.
What's sad is that they didn't have the decency to wait until the season was over. Seriously, Ty Willingham got axed but is holding onto his job until the season ends, Tommy Bowden was just dumped for some guy named "Dabo," and Tommy Tuberville won't be at Auburn next season unless the Tigers win out.
But let's get back to Fulmer. I've never understood the purpose of telling a coach not to come back BEFORE the season ends! It provides almost no inspiration for this team to do anything for the remainder of the year. Tennessee's not very good--and with their coach gone no matter how well they do, they have no real impetus to improve.
Fulmer's problem is that he's in the "Win it now!" SEC. He lasted for a long time, and he did very well in the conference. The man had a great string of wins and teams. And while Tennessee hasn't been the same since the turn of the century, Fulmer will go down as one of the best things to ever happen to Tennessee football. Tennessee will eventually be back as an SEC contender, but Coach Fulmer will be remembered as the one who got them to the top in the first place.
Good luck to the next coach in Knoxville. In today's football climate, you've only got 3 years to prove yourself, so you'd best hope the recruits are good this year.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Rankings Rant 11/2/08
Wow! No updates in, like, a week? More than a week! Who runs this thing?! *looks in mirror* Oh.
Might/might not do a Saturday in Review. Who knows? Not I! The Rankings are much more fun to look at this week. We're using BCS rankings here. To prove computers screw up too.
Nick Saban and Alabama got rewarded with the #1 slot in the nation be beating...Arkansas State?! How the heck did that happen?! Now I am certainly not knocking the Crimson Tide. In my humble opinion (and what do I know?) they should have been #1 that week Oklahoma lost to Texas. But apparently it's a college football sin to move to #1 during a bye week. So here we are, eh? 'Bama's the team to beat it would seem, and I look forward to seeing what happens to them from here on out. For now, however, I have no complaints with the Tide as the #1 team in the land.
I stand corrected on Texas Tech. This, friends, is a good football team. They're fairly predictable (53 pass attempts compared to 28 run attempts) but danged if it doesn't work. I guess this is less of a rant than analysis. Meh...
Penn State's still at #3. I sincerely hope they get a shot at the title. It's hard to argue against Texas Tech and Bama (Ooooo, that'd be a good one.) But still. JoePa's a legend (even if he's not a great disciplinarian) and it'd be good to give him a shot. Frankly, weak Big 10 or no, I have a problem if a 1-loss school gets in ahead of an undefeated Penn State team.
I also have a problem with Utah at #8. Not that they're not the 8th best team in the country (they're not, but let's ignore that for now). No, it's more of the fact that they're ahead of Oklahoma State, but behind USC. This is not right. Oklahoma State lost to the #1 team in the country, beat then-number 3 Missouri (who I was totally wrong about...), and plays in one of the 2 best conferences in the country! USC (who, admittedly, I hate with a passion. Keep that in mind if you like being objective) lost to Oregon State and plays in the third-worst BCS conference.
Conclusion: If Utah is "better" than Oklahoma state, then they're "better" than USC too. Utah could beat Washington State by 69, too.
An old "friend" is still hovering in the top 15. #11 Ohio State. I need someone to rationalize this for me. They drop a few spots after losing to Penn State, then move up during a bye week. I'm not OK with this. Who has Ohio State beaten?! They're not in a good conference, and the 2 good teams they've played have defeated them. USC crushed them, and Penn State beat OSU in the Horseshoe! Weird...
Georgia's gone from preseason #1 to a middle of the road SEC team. Still good, but after what Florida did to them on Saturday...the Dawgs have some work yet to do before they hoist that ugly crystal football again.
At #14 sits Missouri. I am of the opinion that any time you beat Baylor by 3, you deserve to stay where you are in the rankings. So I'm glad they didn't move up. As a side note: Chase Daniel, I am sorry for jinxing you...
Ball State sits at #17. I hope they do well. I also enjoyed how, when Tulsa lost the ESPN commentator said "Another fly in the ointment gone." Wow. Do people really think that lowly of non-BCS schools. I mean, Boise State-Oklahoma was a thriller. Utah crushed Pitt in the first BCS game featuring an outsider. Sure, Hawaii stank in the Sugar Bowl last year, but what's with the phrase "fly in the ointment." That kinda screams "elitist conspiracy" to me. Frankly I was hoping for a Tulsa/Utah title game...
Stat o' the day: UNC's record against schools from Virginia: 0-2
UNC's record against schools from the other 49 states: 6-0.
Best hope their 1-AA opponent next year isn't the Richmond Spiders...
As a side note 4 ACC teams are ranked this week. That's impressive. What's sad is that the highest ranked one is UNC. They're the #19 team in the land.
I am curious as to how Maryland is #23 and Cal is #21. Is this anti-East Coast Bias bias? I mean, same record, Maryland's beaten more ranked teams (side note: 1 was Clemson. So...). The kicker, clearly is that these 2 teams played each other. And in that head-to-head matchup, the winner was...Maryland? No, wait, I must've read that wrong. No, no, it was Maryland. I watched that game. Maryland dominated in that game for 3 quarters. How in the heck are the Golden Bears "better" than the Terps?! Isn't that what the rankings are supposed to indicate?! Maryland plays in a mediocre but balanced conference, and has defeated the team ranked 2 slots above them! Cal plays in a conference with one good team, 6 OK to fairly bad teams, and 3 awful teams. AND they lost to Maryland. I am sorry, but that's just wrong.
Oh, and congrats to West Virginia. The only Big (L)east team in the BCS rankings. I'm not going to rant on this...I'm just saying that without Pat White we'd be talking about UConn here.
Might/might not do a Saturday in Review. Who knows? Not I! The Rankings are much more fun to look at this week. We're using BCS rankings here. To prove computers screw up too.
Nick Saban and Alabama got rewarded with the #1 slot in the nation be beating...Arkansas State?! How the heck did that happen?! Now I am certainly not knocking the Crimson Tide. In my humble opinion (and what do I know?) they should have been #1 that week Oklahoma lost to Texas. But apparently it's a college football sin to move to #1 during a bye week. So here we are, eh? 'Bama's the team to beat it would seem, and I look forward to seeing what happens to them from here on out. For now, however, I have no complaints with the Tide as the #1 team in the land.
I stand corrected on Texas Tech. This, friends, is a good football team. They're fairly predictable (53 pass attempts compared to 28 run attempts) but danged if it doesn't work. I guess this is less of a rant than analysis. Meh...
Penn State's still at #3. I sincerely hope they get a shot at the title. It's hard to argue against Texas Tech and Bama (Ooooo, that'd be a good one.) But still. JoePa's a legend (even if he's not a great disciplinarian) and it'd be good to give him a shot. Frankly, weak Big 10 or no, I have a problem if a 1-loss school gets in ahead of an undefeated Penn State team.
I also have a problem with Utah at #8. Not that they're not the 8th best team in the country (they're not, but let's ignore that for now). No, it's more of the fact that they're ahead of Oklahoma State, but behind USC. This is not right. Oklahoma State lost to the #1 team in the country, beat then-number 3 Missouri (who I was totally wrong about...), and plays in one of the 2 best conferences in the country! USC (who, admittedly, I hate with a passion. Keep that in mind if you like being objective) lost to Oregon State and plays in the third-worst BCS conference.
Conclusion: If Utah is "better" than Oklahoma state, then they're "better" than USC too. Utah could beat Washington State by 69, too.
An old "friend" is still hovering in the top 15. #11 Ohio State. I need someone to rationalize this for me. They drop a few spots after losing to Penn State, then move up during a bye week. I'm not OK with this. Who has Ohio State beaten?! They're not in a good conference, and the 2 good teams they've played have defeated them. USC crushed them, and Penn State beat OSU in the Horseshoe! Weird...
Georgia's gone from preseason #1 to a middle of the road SEC team. Still good, but after what Florida did to them on Saturday...the Dawgs have some work yet to do before they hoist that ugly crystal football again.
At #14 sits Missouri. I am of the opinion that any time you beat Baylor by 3, you deserve to stay where you are in the rankings. So I'm glad they didn't move up. As a side note: Chase Daniel, I am sorry for jinxing you...
Ball State sits at #17. I hope they do well. I also enjoyed how, when Tulsa lost the ESPN commentator said "Another fly in the ointment gone." Wow. Do people really think that lowly of non-BCS schools. I mean, Boise State-Oklahoma was a thriller. Utah crushed Pitt in the first BCS game featuring an outsider. Sure, Hawaii stank in the Sugar Bowl last year, but what's with the phrase "fly in the ointment." That kinda screams "elitist conspiracy" to me. Frankly I was hoping for a Tulsa/Utah title game...
Stat o' the day: UNC's record against schools from Virginia: 0-2
UNC's record against schools from the other 49 states: 6-0.
Best hope their 1-AA opponent next year isn't the Richmond Spiders...
As a side note 4 ACC teams are ranked this week. That's impressive. What's sad is that the highest ranked one is UNC. They're the #19 team in the land.
I am curious as to how Maryland is #23 and Cal is #21. Is this anti-East Coast Bias bias? I mean, same record, Maryland's beaten more ranked teams (side note: 1 was Clemson. So...). The kicker, clearly is that these 2 teams played each other. And in that head-to-head matchup, the winner was...Maryland? No, wait, I must've read that wrong. No, no, it was Maryland. I watched that game. Maryland dominated in that game for 3 quarters. How in the heck are the Golden Bears "better" than the Terps?! Isn't that what the rankings are supposed to indicate?! Maryland plays in a mediocre but balanced conference, and has defeated the team ranked 2 slots above them! Cal plays in a conference with one good team, 6 OK to fairly bad teams, and 3 awful teams. AND they lost to Maryland. I am sorry, but that's just wrong.
Oh, and congrats to West Virginia. The only Big (L)east team in the BCS rankings. I'm not going to rant on this...I'm just saying that without Pat White we'd be talking about UConn here.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Multiple birds, singular stone.
As a Virginia Tech fan, let me give you the Saturday in Review for last week: Worst Saturday ever! Tech lost, UVa won, and USC scored 69 points. What was worse was having to see Matt Ryan every 2 seconds on my TV. The man was the main attraction in a game that he WASN'T EVEN PLAYING IN!
The thing is, it isn't his fault. Matt Ryan isn't the one who did this to himself. He's not responsible for the media worship of him. I'm sure he's probably a nice guy! (Mind you, I thought that about the last Falcons QB to come from the ACC, too...) But this is absurd. I don't need to see him beat Tech again. I sure as heck didn't WANT to see it.
Carrying on, in this brief and somewhat boring Saturday in Review, Chase Daniel isn't who I thought he was. I had him winning the Heisman, etc, etc. He's looked fatally flawed this year, and I'll admit that I was wrong. I'm sure Nolen enjoys that. Colt McCoy's looked simply amazing (and now I've probably cursed him, too.)
As for the rankings: I sincerely hope that the dang USC Trojans aren't in the national title game. Barring a major upset, though, they're going to be undefeated for the rest of the year because they play in the PA(theti)C-10. So...I'm now a Texas, Alabama, Penn State, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech fan. Just so you know.
Finally, the battle of the underachievers:
Auburn-17, West Virginia-34
This is insane. Auburn has gone from "new look" to "just plain bad" in a matter of weeks. They're in a tailspin, and I'm not sure how they're gonna get pulled out. As I said last week, Tommy Tuberville is going to be fired. He has no chance of NOT being fired. Thus, he should start having fun. Run the option on 3rd and 27. Bring in an O-lineman to play wideout. Threaten to kill a puppy for every 3 and out. Actually, scratch that last one. One dead puppy is bad. Auburn would kill, like, 30 a game.
As a note to West Virginia fans: Your team may get back into the Top 25 this week. Don't read anything into it, please. You haven't beaten anyone. The ONLY 2 ranked teams on the schedule are South Florida and Pitt, neither of whom have beaten a good school (sorry, Kansas). So please don't get cocky WVU fans. Or I'll call the ECU Pirates on you again.
See y'all on Saturday!
The thing is, it isn't his fault. Matt Ryan isn't the one who did this to himself. He's not responsible for the media worship of him. I'm sure he's probably a nice guy! (Mind you, I thought that about the last Falcons QB to come from the ACC, too...) But this is absurd. I don't need to see him beat Tech again. I sure as heck didn't WANT to see it.
Carrying on, in this brief and somewhat boring Saturday in Review, Chase Daniel isn't who I thought he was. I had him winning the Heisman, etc, etc. He's looked fatally flawed this year, and I'll admit that I was wrong. I'm sure Nolen enjoys that. Colt McCoy's looked simply amazing (and now I've probably cursed him, too.)
As for the rankings: I sincerely hope that the dang USC Trojans aren't in the national title game. Barring a major upset, though, they're going to be undefeated for the rest of the year because they play in the PA(theti)C-10. So...I'm now a Texas, Alabama, Penn State, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech fan. Just so you know.
Finally, the battle of the underachievers:
Auburn-17, West Virginia-34
This is insane. Auburn has gone from "new look" to "just plain bad" in a matter of weeks. They're in a tailspin, and I'm not sure how they're gonna get pulled out. As I said last week, Tommy Tuberville is going to be fired. He has no chance of NOT being fired. Thus, he should start having fun. Run the option on 3rd and 27. Bring in an O-lineman to play wideout. Threaten to kill a puppy for every 3 and out. Actually, scratch that last one. One dead puppy is bad. Auburn would kill, like, 30 a game.
As a note to West Virginia fans: Your team may get back into the Top 25 this week. Don't read anything into it, please. You haven't beaten anyone. The ONLY 2 ranked teams on the schedule are South Florida and Pitt, neither of whom have beaten a good school (sorry, Kansas). So please don't get cocky WVU fans. Or I'll call the ECU Pirates on you again.
See y'all on Saturday!
Friday, October 17, 2008
An actual BYU review! And Florida State, too!
#9 BYU-7, TCU-32
This wasn't a good game. Nor, in fact, was it close. (Appropriately, this happened in Texas, where it is not nearly as boring as in Utah.) TCU's lone loss on the season came against Oklahoma, at Oklahoma. I'm not implying that the Horned Frogs could beat Oklahoma in a neutral site game, or even at home. What I am saying, however, is that OU is the one team that's beaten TCU, and Oklahoma's one of the best teams in the friggin' country.
BYU's not out of bowl contention, but they're not going to be going to a big bowl. Heck, they might not even win their conference. So the old BCS men can breathe easy for now. If Utah stays undefeated, though, then there will be trouble. I have a suggestion: It's called a playoff! (And now, a short film, inspired by the previous statement:)
BCS guy: That's untenable! It will make the season longer, hurting precious academics, and it will eliminate critical bowl games.
Me: [incredulous] But, sir, you don't really care about academics. I mean, come on, I watch football. Most of these guys have majors like "Sociology" and "Ballroom Dancing." And are we stalling a playoff so we can still have the Poinsettia Bowl? Seriou--
BCS guy: [shoots me in the head, walks away]
[end scene]
Yeah, so that's your Mountain West Conference update. Here's something from 2 unranked major conference teams:
Florida State-26, NC State-17
OK, here's an example of two unranked schools playing each other in a game which is meaningful for one team, and a trap-ish game for the other. NC State nearly beat the Seminoles, but Florida State stayed strong and pulled off the win. It wasn't the prettiest game ever, but it's OK. At least no one from Utah was involved....
This wasn't a good game. Nor, in fact, was it close. (Appropriately, this happened in Texas, where it is not nearly as boring as in Utah.) TCU's lone loss on the season came against Oklahoma, at Oklahoma. I'm not implying that the Horned Frogs could beat Oklahoma in a neutral site game, or even at home. What I am saying, however, is that OU is the one team that's beaten TCU, and Oklahoma's one of the best teams in the friggin' country.
BYU's not out of bowl contention, but they're not going to be going to a big bowl. Heck, they might not even win their conference. So the old BCS men can breathe easy for now. If Utah stays undefeated, though, then there will be trouble. I have a suggestion: It's called a playoff! (And now, a short film, inspired by the previous statement:)
BCS guy: That's untenable! It will make the season longer, hurting precious academics, and it will eliminate critical bowl games.
Me: [incredulous] But, sir, you don't really care about academics. I mean, come on, I watch football. Most of these guys have majors like "Sociology" and "Ballroom Dancing." And are we stalling a playoff so we can still have the Poinsettia Bowl? Seriou--
BCS guy: [shoots me in the head, walks away]
[end scene]
Yeah, so that's your Mountain West Conference update. Here's something from 2 unranked major conference teams:
Florida State-26, NC State-17
OK, here's an example of two unranked schools playing each other in a game which is meaningful for one team, and a trap-ish game for the other. NC State nearly beat the Seminoles, but Florida State stayed strong and pulled off the win. It wasn't the prettiest game ever, but it's OK. At least no one from Utah was involved....
Monday, October 13, 2008
Auburn, now Clemson, not a good time to be a tiger...
Special Orange text edition!
In a development that literally everyone saw coming, Clemson fired their coach Tommy Bowden today.
This isn't surprising. I didn't note this one in the Saturday in Review because I was too focused on Tennessee's and Auburn's coaches. They're gonna get fired too, but I digress.
This isn't surprising, however, because one does not generally go from being a Top 10 team to being a 3 loss team in 6 games. I actually feel bad for Bowden, and I think he'll make a good coach at some point in the future at some other school. Unlike Clemson, however, these other schools won't have a fan base that threatens to kill him when he loses.
Seriously, the man lived with his job on the line for years. It was inevitable that he was going to get fired ignominiously, and by a school that didn't really like him and a fan base that hated him.
Well, good luck Tigers. You're gonna need it against an ACC that isn't good, but has teams that are smart enough not to fire their coaches in the middle of the season.
It's gotten bad enough that I hope Clemson loses to Spurrier-led South Carolina. That, friends, is sad.
In a development that literally everyone saw coming, Clemson fired their coach Tommy Bowden today.
This isn't surprising. I didn't note this one in the Saturday in Review because I was too focused on Tennessee's and Auburn's coaches. They're gonna get fired too, but I digress.
This isn't surprising, however, because one does not generally go from being a Top 10 team to being a 3 loss team in 6 games. I actually feel bad for Bowden, and I think he'll make a good coach at some point in the future at some other school. Unlike Clemson, however, these other schools won't have a fan base that threatens to kill him when he loses.
Seriously, the man lived with his job on the line for years. It was inevitable that he was going to get fired ignominiously, and by a school that didn't really like him and a fan base that hated him.
Well, good luck Tigers. You're gonna need it against an ACC that isn't good, but has teams that are smart enough not to fire their coaches in the middle of the season.
It's gotten bad enough that I hope Clemson loses to Spurrier-led South Carolina. That, friends, is sad.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
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