CFB Week 13 (11/18-11/22) News and Picks
- Thread starter RJ Esq
- Start date
He Hate Me
I hope everyone is treated the same
It is sitting at +7 now across the board if you want it.:cheers:
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Happy Winniversary, Washington!
from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
Congratulations, Huskies: You've made it one full calendar year since your last victory! On this day in 2007, Washington upset once-No. 2-ranked California, 37-23, for its second win in three games, ushering in a sense of progress and optimism that was quickly buried underneath blown fourth quarter leads against Washington State and Hawaii to close the year. Little did we know that those disappointments were merely the first snowballs on the avalanche of the nation's longest active losing streak, now at 12 games after Saturday's loss to UCLA.
Alas, all things must come to an end. The oddsmakers have installed the Huskies as early 8.5-point favorites over Washington State in Saturday's much anticipated Apple Cup. That might seem generous for Washington, which hasn't come closer than 20 points to any Pac-10 opponent except Stanford (the Cardinal downed the then-Jake Locker-led Huskies by a modest 35-28 in September), until you consider that Washington State hasn't come within 25 points of any conference foe, including Stanford (the Cardinal beat WSU 58-0 two weeks ago). Saturday's 31-0 loss at Arizona State, their third shutout loss in four games, is about as well as the Cougars have played against teams not named Portland State.
Oddly, both teams have games left after Thanksgiving -- Washington at Cal and Wazzu at Hawaii -- but if fans of either school want to be able to hang their heads just slightly less for the next 12 months, the Apple Cup is the only antidepressant that counts.
from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
Alas, all things must come to an end. The oddsmakers have installed the Huskies as early 8.5-point favorites over Washington State in Saturday's much anticipated Apple Cup. That might seem generous for Washington, which hasn't come closer than 20 points to any Pac-10 opponent except Stanford (the Cardinal downed the then-Jake Locker-led Huskies by a modest 35-28 in September), until you consider that Washington State hasn't come within 25 points of any conference foe, including Stanford (the Cardinal beat WSU 58-0 two weeks ago). Saturday's 31-0 loss at Arizona State, their third shutout loss in four games, is about as well as the Cougars have played against teams not named Portland State.
Oddly, both teams have games left after Thanksgiving -- Washington at Cal and Wazzu at Hawaii -- but if fans of either school want to be able to hang their heads just slightly less for the next 12 months, the Apple Cup is the only antidepressant that counts.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
At Colorado, a blinded Zac Robinson is an angry Zac Robinson
from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
Colorado fans knew their struggling defense would need all the help it could get against Oklahoma State's high-flying offense Saturday night, and at least one dedicated Buff brought out the big guns -- lasers:
The jumpy laser-pointer from the crowd hit Robinson's visor and cost Oklahoma State a timeout before a 3rd-and-9 snap in the second quarter; video is here. (Hat tip: EDSBS)
That's no way to treat a native Coloradoan, but the light-wielding CU partisan(s) forgot that Zac Robinson and the rest of the Oklahoma State offense is used to having colors burned into their retinas before the snap:
The 3rd-and-9 play following the laser-induced timeout? A 29-yard touchdown pass from Robinson to Dez Bryant that put the Pokes up 13-0, the final margin in their 30-17 win. And you thought the clown-signal system was just a silly distraction.
from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
Colorado fans knew their struggling defense would need all the help it could get against Oklahoma State's high-flying offense Saturday night, and at least one dedicated Buff brought out the big guns -- lasers:
That's no way to treat a native Coloradoan, but the light-wielding CU partisan(s) forgot that Zac Robinson and the rest of the Oklahoma State offense is used to having colors burned into their retinas before the snap:
Aztec4Life
Montezuma Mesa Survivor
Holy shit!!! 128-74?!?!?!
opcorn:
opcorn:
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Morning Coffee Is Ready For Some Aggie Jokes
from Burnt Orange Nation by PB @ BON
Another record for McCoy. When pressed on the radio this summer to make season predictions, the answer I settled on was something like, "Texas will win 10 games once again--9 in the regular season and an impressive 10th in a bowl romp, setting up a great run in 2009." Though that prediction was meant to be a positive one, it obviously sold short greatly the 2008 Longhorns, assuming Vince Young's career wins record was out of reach until next year.
Wrong, wrong, wrong--and barring an unthinkable collapse to A&M in Austin on Thanksgiving, Colt McCoy will become UT's all-time wins leader before Texas even plays in its bowl.
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Speaking of which... I was raised not to kick a collie when it's down, but the meltdown at TexAgs after A&M's blowout loss to Baylor has been impossible to ignore. A sampling of the post titles gracing the front page of the football forum on Monday morning include:
2007 Recruiting Class shines. I remember celebrating at BON when Dallas Skyline safety Christian Scott officially announced his commitment to Texas, becoming the final member of what was already a strong 2007 recruiting class. And in fact, should Scott become a consistent contributor for Texas, he'll join a long list of players from the '07 class who have already made notable contributions to Texas: Michael Huey, Kyle Hix, Blaine Irby, Cody Johnson, Fozzy Whittaker, Malcolm Williams, James Kirkendoll, Brandon Collins, Sam Acho, Curtis Brown, John Chiles, Keenan Robinson, and Earl Thomas.
What will it take for Christian Scott to play more? Coach Boom gave us a hint after Saturday's game:
Gazelles in the hunt for #1 seed. Junior Ashley Engle's 24 kills helped the Gregory Gazelles pull out a tough 3-2 road win over Kansas State this weekend, improving the #4-ranked Longhorns to 22-6 overall, 12-5 in Big 12 play. Though the Gazelles looked like they gave away a shot at a share of the Big 12 title when they slipped up at home to Oklahoma, a Colorado upset of Nebraska has kept the door open, putting Texas in the same position as it was a year ago--playing at home with a shot at the conference title and, perhaps, a #1-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
from Burnt Orange Nation by PB @ BON
Wrong, wrong, wrong--and barring an unthinkable collapse to A&M in Austin on Thanksgiving, Colt McCoy will become UT's all-time wins leader before Texas even plays in its bowl.
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- We are Mississippi State
- Please God make it stop
- I'm done
- I know we are stuck with Sherman for a few more years...
- Pumpers need to open their eyes
- Death Penalty Bad
What will it take for Christian Scott to play more? Coach Boom gave us a hint after Saturday's game:
"Christian’s been a guy that we’ve felt has been there ability-wise all year. We base so much off practice and how they prepare. That’s something he’s got to improve on. It’s great because he’s going to build some confidence. He’s got all the physical tools, he’s just got to have the opportunity."
(emphasis mine)
Practice; we're talkin' about practice. Get after it Christian.(emphasis mine)
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
SF Chronicle: Bears are spiraling - can they avoid drain?
from California Golden Bear Football News by Dave
Jake Curtis
Link.
As Cal's opportunity for a Rose Bowl berth, a national ranking or any other highfalutin achievement vanished Saturday with its 34-21 loss to No. 23 Oregon State, the issue now becomes the team's 2008 identity. The Bears have lost two straight, both times showing excellence on defense and limitations on offense, and they desperately want to avoid the kind of collapse that scarred the 2007 season. "What happens to a lot of teams is they sort of fall apart when they can't reach their goals," Cal cornerback Darian Hagan said.
The Bears know that first hand. Last year, an upset loss to Oregon State in their sixth game sent the Bears on a downward spiral that resulted in six losses in their final seven regular-season games after a 5-0 start that had then ranked No. 2. "We've got to see what we are as a team," Cal quarterback Kevin Riley said. "We don't want the same thing as last year." How do the Bears avoid a similar collapse? "I would love to have a manual for that," Cal center Alex Mack said. The Bears have two games left - against Stanford on Saturday and Dec. 6 against Washington, both at home - to squelch thoughts that this team is similar to last year's. They are confident this team is different, and there were no outward signs of dissention after Saturday's loss. That is becoming increasingly difficult with the defense continuing to play well enough to win and the offense unable to make enough plays.
Riley played the entire game at quarterback and had very little time to create much of a passing game. He was 11-for-25 for 117 yards, had a few passes dropped and was sacked five times behind the Bears' injury-weakened offensive line. "I thought Kevin played pretty well with what he had to work with," coach Jeff Tedford said. Penalties and 10 plays that lost yardage put Cal in difficult situations all day, playing into the hands of Oregon State's aggressive defense. In the fourth quarter, down six with the game there to be had, the Bears netted one yard of total offense. Tedford did not hesitate to say Riley will remain Cal's starter for next week's Big Game, making him the focal point - deserved or not - in the Bears' effort to avoid another precipitous decline. This situation is not entirely comparable to last year, though. The past two weeks the Bears (6-4 Pac-10, 4-3) lost on the road to ranked teams that are competing for a Rose Bowl berth, USC and Oregon State. And both times, the Bears had opportunities to win and were in the game until the closing minutes, so they certainly did not embarrass themselves.
The only defeat for Oregon State (7-3, 6-1) in its past eight games was a three-point road loss to Utah, currently ranked No. 8, and the Beavers will be in the Rose Bowl for the first time in 44 years if they win their final two games against Arizona and Oregon. The Beavers' defense and special teams made sure they got past the Bears. An 86-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by James Rodgers a little more than two minutes into the game stole all the momentum the Bears had garnered by scoring a TD seconds earlier, largely because of Jahvid Best's 51-yard return of the opening kickoff. Later in the first period, Sammie Stroughter returned a punt 56 yards to the Cal 2-yard line. From there, Jacquizz Rodgers ran it in for the score, and the Bears found themselves behind for good, 14-7, even though Cal's defense had yielded virtually nothing. "Our defense played a heck of a game," Cal linebacker Zack Follett said. The Bears did allow Jacquizz Rodgers to rush for 144 yards, but that's about all. Meanwhile, Best rushed for 116 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter that cut the deficit to 27-21. But Best's rushing total accounted for half of Cal's total offensive yardage, and that's not what the Bears needed to win.
from California Golden Bear Football News by Dave
Jake Curtis
Link.
As Cal's opportunity for a Rose Bowl berth, a national ranking or any other highfalutin achievement vanished Saturday with its 34-21 loss to No. 23 Oregon State, the issue now becomes the team's 2008 identity. The Bears have lost two straight, both times showing excellence on defense and limitations on offense, and they desperately want to avoid the kind of collapse that scarred the 2007 season. "What happens to a lot of teams is they sort of fall apart when they can't reach their goals," Cal cornerback Darian Hagan said.
The Bears know that first hand. Last year, an upset loss to Oregon State in their sixth game sent the Bears on a downward spiral that resulted in six losses in their final seven regular-season games after a 5-0 start that had then ranked No. 2. "We've got to see what we are as a team," Cal quarterback Kevin Riley said. "We don't want the same thing as last year." How do the Bears avoid a similar collapse? "I would love to have a manual for that," Cal center Alex Mack said. The Bears have two games left - against Stanford on Saturday and Dec. 6 against Washington, both at home - to squelch thoughts that this team is similar to last year's. They are confident this team is different, and there were no outward signs of dissention after Saturday's loss. That is becoming increasingly difficult with the defense continuing to play well enough to win and the offense unable to make enough plays.
Riley played the entire game at quarterback and had very little time to create much of a passing game. He was 11-for-25 for 117 yards, had a few passes dropped and was sacked five times behind the Bears' injury-weakened offensive line. "I thought Kevin played pretty well with what he had to work with," coach Jeff Tedford said. Penalties and 10 plays that lost yardage put Cal in difficult situations all day, playing into the hands of Oregon State's aggressive defense. In the fourth quarter, down six with the game there to be had, the Bears netted one yard of total offense. Tedford did not hesitate to say Riley will remain Cal's starter for next week's Big Game, making him the focal point - deserved or not - in the Bears' effort to avoid another precipitous decline. This situation is not entirely comparable to last year, though. The past two weeks the Bears (6-4 Pac-10, 4-3) lost on the road to ranked teams that are competing for a Rose Bowl berth, USC and Oregon State. And both times, the Bears had opportunities to win and were in the game until the closing minutes, so they certainly did not embarrass themselves.
The only defeat for Oregon State (7-3, 6-1) in its past eight games was a three-point road loss to Utah, currently ranked No. 8, and the Beavers will be in the Rose Bowl for the first time in 44 years if they win their final two games against Arizona and Oregon. The Beavers' defense and special teams made sure they got past the Bears. An 86-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by James Rodgers a little more than two minutes into the game stole all the momentum the Bears had garnered by scoring a TD seconds earlier, largely because of Jahvid Best's 51-yard return of the opening kickoff. Later in the first period, Sammie Stroughter returned a punt 56 yards to the Cal 2-yard line. From there, Jacquizz Rodgers ran it in for the score, and the Bears found themselves behind for good, 14-7, even though Cal's defense had yielded virtually nothing. "Our defense played a heck of a game," Cal linebacker Zack Follett said. The Bears did allow Jacquizz Rodgers to rush for 144 yards, but that's about all. Meanwhile, Best rushed for 116 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter that cut the deficit to 27-21. But Best's rushing total accounted for half of Cal's total offensive yardage, and that's not what the Bears needed to win.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Penn St vs. Michigan St :: The Land Grant Trophy
from Zombie Nation by Mike 2
Usually, there's some historical or folksy significance to Rivalry Trophies.
The Big Ten probably has the best set of trophy games, but is kind of like the cool kids dragging the nerdy little brother around–Penn State vs Michigan State and the Land Grant Trophy. The conference would love to shake this one loose, but mom said they have to take him along.
It's not so much that the rivalry is not up to par. Penn State and Michigan State have had some good games, usually with some sort of importance. But can we please just get a new trophy? This is the most horrible, embarrassing, second-grade-school-project look-alike trophy out there.
How cool is Paul Bunyan's Axe, or the Little Brown Jug, or even the freaking IlliBuck trophy? Yes, that's right, a damn turtle is more impressive than the "Lame Gross" Trophy. I'll even take the Governor's Victory Bell (PSU/Minnesota) over the LGT, any day.
But there's not much we can do. Every year, we go through the same old thing with this trophy. I guess we'll just have to take solace knowing that Penn State and Michigan State fight for the most well-known "ugly" trophy every year.
No, it doesn't make me feel better, either.
from Zombie Nation by Mike 2
Usually, there's some historical or folksy significance to Rivalry Trophies.
The Big Ten probably has the best set of trophy games, but is kind of like the cool kids dragging the nerdy little brother around–Penn State vs Michigan State and the Land Grant Trophy. The conference would love to shake this one loose, but mom said they have to take him along. It's not so much that the rivalry is not up to par. Penn State and Michigan State have had some good games, usually with some sort of importance. But can we please just get a new trophy? This is the most horrible, embarrassing, second-grade-school-project look-alike trophy out there.
How cool is Paul Bunyan's Axe, or the Little Brown Jug, or even the freaking IlliBuck trophy? Yes, that's right, a damn turtle is more impressive than the "Lame Gross" Trophy. I'll even take the Governor's Victory Bell (PSU/Minnesota) over the LGT, any day. But there's not much we can do. Every year, we go through the same old thing with this trophy. I guess we'll just have to take solace knowing that Penn State and Michigan State fight for the most well-known "ugly" trophy every year.
No, it doesn't make me feel better, either.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
A COMEBACK THAT WAS NOT A COMEBACK
from Every Day Should Be Saturday by Orson Swindle
Troy is good, Troy is good, Troy is good. Get that out of the way before we begin denigrating LSU’s 41-30 victory over Troy Saturday night, a skillfully played game between two Division One (FBS stands for Feminine Body Spray) teams Saturday night. Much contesting and effortization. Sweat and persistence and grunty heroism all around. Yes.
Hey! That was…um…fun?
That said: if you have any illusions that the SEC is in a down cycle from stem to stern, here is further proof. Troy Had LSU down 31-10 going into the fourth quarter, a fourth quarter where LSU had to pull off the mathematically improbable feat of scoring 30 points in 15 minutes to win. Feat accomplished, but not before 45 minutes of football that had LSU fans dropping oaths like “Curly Hallman,” “Gerry Dinardo,” and “Mike Goddamn Archer.”
Add in Georgia’s struggles against the blip-bloop-ERROR UNIVAC offense of Auburn–the one run at random by feeding punch cards into a 1954 computer located in the bowels of Jordan-Hare Stadium–and the continued mediocrity of South Carolina, Arkansas’s year one transition hiccups with Arkansas…it all accrues into the somewhat heretical notion that the SEC is weak this year as a conference.
LSU makes the most baffling case, one likely attributable to HR issues in Baton Rouge. HR questions the decision to not bring in one defensive coordinator to rule them all, instead splitting the responsibilities between Doug Mallory and Bradley Dale Peveto. Sometimes this works–MattiStrong at Florida won a national title this way–and sometimes it doesn’t. By the numbers, they’re not bad, but filter for results against D-1 teams with a winning record things go pear-shaped: 40.2 points per game allowed, with twin fifty point tallies for Georgia and Florida.
Combine that with Jarrett Lee’s ability to score for both teams with equanimity, and the ESPN Insider blue ribbon preview of the Tigers proves to be surprisingly accurate if read in the negative on the “If”:
The foundation is strong, especially on both lines, and the talent at the skill positions is impressive. If the Tigers find and develop the right quarterbacks and cornerbacks, they’ll be hard to beat once again this season.
If is a dangerous and powerful word. It’s further proof, too, that the snarling SEC of 2007 that went 7-2 in bowl games is short a few thousand megawatts of power this year. Let’s not get into the inanity of trying to compare conference (he says, sipping sherry from a glass and pondering the daylilies,) but admit this much: it’s down in terms of overall performance in-conference, and that is as undeniable and clear as the look of bemused and shamed relief on Jarrett Lee’s face in that photo.
from Every Day Should Be Saturday by Orson Swindle
Troy is good, Troy is good, Troy is good. Get that out of the way before we begin denigrating LSU’s 41-30 victory over Troy Saturday night, a skillfully played game between two Division One (FBS stands for Feminine Body Spray) teams Saturday night. Much contesting and effortization. Sweat and persistence and grunty heroism all around. Yes.
Hey! That was…um…fun?
That said: if you have any illusions that the SEC is in a down cycle from stem to stern, here is further proof. Troy Had LSU down 31-10 going into the fourth quarter, a fourth quarter where LSU had to pull off the mathematically improbable feat of scoring 30 points in 15 minutes to win. Feat accomplished, but not before 45 minutes of football that had LSU fans dropping oaths like “Curly Hallman,” “Gerry Dinardo,” and “Mike Goddamn Archer.”
Add in Georgia’s struggles against the blip-bloop-ERROR UNIVAC offense of Auburn–the one run at random by feeding punch cards into a 1954 computer located in the bowels of Jordan-Hare Stadium–and the continued mediocrity of South Carolina, Arkansas’s year one transition hiccups with Arkansas…it all accrues into the somewhat heretical notion that the SEC is weak this year as a conference.
LSU makes the most baffling case, one likely attributable to HR issues in Baton Rouge. HR questions the decision to not bring in one defensive coordinator to rule them all, instead splitting the responsibilities between Doug Mallory and Bradley Dale Peveto. Sometimes this works–MattiStrong at Florida won a national title this way–and sometimes it doesn’t. By the numbers, they’re not bad, but filter for results against D-1 teams with a winning record things go pear-shaped: 40.2 points per game allowed, with twin fifty point tallies for Georgia and Florida.
Combine that with Jarrett Lee’s ability to score for both teams with equanimity, and the ESPN Insider blue ribbon preview of the Tigers proves to be surprisingly accurate if read in the negative on the “If”:
The foundation is strong, especially on both lines, and the talent at the skill positions is impressive. If the Tigers find and develop the right quarterbacks and cornerbacks, they’ll be hard to beat once again this season.
If is a dangerous and powerful word. It’s further proof, too, that the snarling SEC of 2007 that went 7-2 in bowl games is short a few thousand megawatts of power this year. Let’s not get into the inanity of trying to compare conference (he says, sipping sherry from a glass and pondering the daylilies,) but admit this much: it’s down in terms of overall performance in-conference, and that is as undeniable and clear as the look of bemused and shamed relief on Jarrett Lee’s face in that photo.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Michigan QB Threet doubtful for Buckeyes game
from SI.com - NCAA Football
Read full story for latest details.
from SI.com - NCAA Football
Read full story for latest details.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Sexton and Yates will battle to be Tar Heels' QB
from SI.com - NCAA Football
Read full story for latest details.
from SI.com - NCAA Football
Read full story for latest details.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Crompton to Start (Guns Up)
from Loser with Socks by Jai Eugene
Jon “MDV” Crompton is slated to start, Coleman 2nd team, Stephens 3rd. Why is he starting? Is it the square peg/round hole? A Mouse fucking a football? An old man with a leaky prostate? Plaster on a gaping wound? Polishing a turd? Is he trying to stuff 90 pounds of shit into a 10 pound [...]
from Loser with Socks by Jai Eugene
Jon “MDV” Crompton is slated to start, Coleman 2nd team, Stephens 3rd. Why is he starting? Is it the square peg/round hole? A Mouse fucking a football? An old man with a leaky prostate? Plaster on a gaping wound? Polishing a turd? Is he trying to stuff 90 pounds of shit into a 10 pound [...]
Aztec4Life
Montezuma Mesa Survivor
Sucks that they screwed you over like that bud. But, I still think you're solid at +14.5...hell, I'm on MSU +14.5
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Bitch, we're going global.
E.T.G.
One of trus baby mommas
What about Seastrunk or is he heading to LSU?
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Utah State fires Guy, ponders an old face to slap Ags into shape
from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
A program you almost certainly don't care about, Utah State, has fired a coach you almost certainly have never head of, Brent Guy, after what's rumored to be four awful seasons. At least, his record (8-38, 2-9 this season) is awful; in reality, the only Utah State exposure I've ever had outside of reading their name at the bottom of the standings is meeting ex-Aggie star Chris Cooley once, and being politely informed the offense was actually pretty good when he was there, thanks. Now the hunt is on for someone new, and here's where it gets interesting to the world outside Logan, Utah, and the hot tub in Chris Cooley's Beltway mansion. Who could possibly be interested in one of the most obscure jobs in the country, you ask? According to the Salt Lake Tribune, a certain old face would be more than welcome:
Whoever gets the job, the standards aren't particularly high: Guy reportedly only needed to win four games to keep his job this year. That's doable -- they did it 12 out of 14 years from 1987-2000 -- although Guy never won more than three in his tenure. If the next coach can just get past the San Jose State roadblock, he's golden.
from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
A program you almost certainly don't care about, Utah State, has fired a coach you almost certainly have never head of, Brent Guy, after what's rumored to be four awful seasons. At least, his record (8-38, 2-9 this season) is awful; in reality, the only Utah State exposure I've ever had outside of reading their name at the bottom of the standings is meeting ex-Aggie star Chris Cooley once, and being politely informed the offense was actually pretty good when he was there, thanks. Now the hunt is on for someone new, and here's where it gets interesting to the world outside Logan, Utah, and the hot tub in Chris Cooley's Beltway mansion. Who could possibly be interested in one of the most obscure jobs in the country, you ask? According to the Salt Lake Tribune, a certain old face would be more than welcome:
<embed class="content-block-fix" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RlUO-7m9RuA&hl=en&fs=1" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344">Popout
John L. "Slappy" Smith was 15-18 at Utah State from 1995-97, including a pair of wins over Utah and an appearance in the 1997 Humanitarian Bowl, before moving on to fame, fortune and eventually self-loating insanity at Louisville and Michigan State. That's a good record at Utah State, which had only one winning season in the 15 years prior to his arrival and none in the decade since, and the Tribune says Aggie fans are anxious to have Smith back in tow. There's only one hangup: Smith might also be interested in the Wyoming job when dead coach walking Joe Glenn gets the axe in Laramie. If Smith is angling for the Cowboys, it could scraps again for USU.Whoever gets the job, the standards aren't particularly high: Guy reportedly only needed to win four games to keep his job this year. That's doable -- they did it 12 out of 14 years from 1987-2000 -- although Guy never won more than three in his tenure. If the next coach can just get past the San Jose State roadblock, he's golden.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Is Illinois' Rebuilding Plan Still on Track?
from The FanHouse - NCAAfootball
by Chris BurkeFiled under: Florida, Illinois, Big 10, NCAA FB Coaching
Illinois completed one of college football's all-time great turnarounds last season. After finishing 2-10 in 2006 - after going 2-9 in 2005, 3-8 in 2004 and 1-11 in 2003 - the Illini stormed out of nowhere to claim a Rose Bowl berth.
It was vindication for Ron Zook, who was unceremoniously booted out of Florida after three seasons of at least four losses. The Zooker came to Champaign with the reputation of being a spectacular recruiter, and a miserable in-game coach.
Last season's Rose Bowl run quieted those criticism for a bit, particularly because Illinois marched into Columbus and knocked off previously-unbeated Ohio State.
One year later, the Illini need a win at Northwestern on Saturday simply to gain bowl eligibility - and all those questions about Zook are popping up again.
from The FanHouse - NCAAfootball
by Chris BurkeFiled under: Florida, Illinois, Big 10, NCAA FB Coaching
It was vindication for Ron Zook, who was unceremoniously booted out of Florida after three seasons of at least four losses. The Zooker came to Champaign with the reputation of being a spectacular recruiter, and a miserable in-game coach.
Last season's Rose Bowl run quieted those criticism for a bit, particularly because Illinois marched into Columbus and knocked off previously-unbeated Ohio State.
One year later, the Illini need a win at Northwestern on Saturday simply to gain bowl eligibility - and all those questions about Zook are popping up again.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Profiles in Disillusion: Wolverines down to the cold, bitter end, Plus: Ron Prince's Super Mario memories
from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
A weekly look at conquered favorites and other notables picking up the pieces of shattered ambition. Not loud. Not necessarily proud. Just loyal. Loyal and sad. There is a smattering of Michiganders in this video following the now-3-8 Wolverines' home loss to Northwestern in unholy winter conditions:
Answer the question, Tommy. Auburn's own fans weren't that hard on the Tigers for a close, could-have-been loss to Georgia -- losing six out of eight tends to have a certain numbing effect on expectations -- but Tommy Tuberville comes in for a beating from The Sporting Blog, of all places, for his late game personnel strategy:
One: Fannin is a third-year player who spent two full seasons at running back before moving to receiver, and has been back at running back for like a month; is he just that dumb re: pass protection? And two: Auburn wasn't passing the ball in the above sequence. It was three straight runs, in a one-score game with a minute left. So Lester wasn't running the ball "pretty good," and Fannin's pass protection couldn't have been a liability on, you know, non-passing plays. So why was the hot running back on the sideline with the game on the line, again?
Flat. Everywhere it's flat. And the sky ... it's closing in. Kansas State clinched a second straight losing season by submitting to an old-fashioned pounding by Nebraska, and is probably assured of losing players after this week's pillow fight with Iowa State, too, with the impending exit of coach Ron Prince. Among them is backup quarterback Carson Coffman, who threatened after his third mop-up stint in as many weeks to transfer if he doesn't replace star-studded recruit/scout favorite Josh Freeman as the starter in '09.
The most unscientific poll of all-time suggests K-State fans would prefer Coffman, actually, since Freeman's alleged breakthrough junior campaign has fallen extraordinarily flat. Not up, not down, but flat, like the prairie on which it's unfolded, or Freeman's position on the turf after being knocked out of Saturday's game in the third quarter. In Big 12 play, he's thrown five touchdowns to six interceptions, and gone through four games with neither. If not for non-conference patsies and the three-touchdown, three-interception track meet against Oklahoma, Freeman would be having one of the most boring seasons in history. But there is no quarterback controversy.
Speaking of Prince, if you want an example of a lame duck who's feeling loose in his last days on the job, attempt to connect the dots between this Nintendo-based response and the question it was intended to answer, regarding Prince's aking over the offense in the second half from coordinator Dave Brock:
Elsewhere in Disillusion: South Florida has planted the flag of surrender at midfield. . . . Minnesota is 7-4 on the heels of last year's 1-11 disaster, but after starting 7-1, it feels like the bad old days again. ... And only because I do one of these every week, I can only imagine the comments that didn't make it online during the Houston Chronicle's live blog of Texas A&M's 41-21 loss to Baylor.
from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
A weekly look at conquered favorites and other notables picking up the pieces of shattered ambition. Not loud. Not necessarily proud. Just loyal. Loyal and sad. There is a smattering of Michiganders in this video following the now-3-8 Wolverines' home loss to Northwestern in unholy winter conditions:
<embed class="content-block-fix" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5B5EWFQT8q0&hl=en&fs=1" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344">Popout
If you are one of them, you are automatically awarded the black belt in fandom.Answer the question, Tommy. Auburn's own fans weren't that hard on the Tigers for a close, could-have-been loss to Georgia -- losing six out of eight tends to have a certain numbing effect on expectations -- but Tommy Tuberville comes in for a beating from The Sporting Blog, of all places, for his late game personnel strategy:
Needing a TD late in the fourth quarter with 8 minutes left, Auburn opted for the following play sequence.
1st-10, UGa28 6:08 B. Tate rushed to the right for 3 yard gain
2nd-7, UGa25 5:41 B. Tate rushed up the middle for 4 yard gain
3rd-3, UGa21 5:12 B. Tate rushed to the left for no gain
4th-3, UGa21 4:13 K. Burns incomplete pass to the right
Two cardinal sins in one series occurred here. First, the hot hand, Mario Fannin, who rushed for 107 yards and had 2 TDs on the day, sat on the bench for the final drive. Why? The math-deficient answer from Tommy Tuberville:
"Ben [Tate, who finished with 37 yards on 14 carries -- ed.] was running the ball pretty good," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said afterward.
Clearly, compared to Fannin (7.4 yards per carry), Tate (2.6) was not "running the ball pretty good" by any objective measure. Tuberville clarified his answer Sunday, when he told reporters Fannin (who just moved back to running back from receiver about halfway through the season) hadn't had enough practice time in the backfield to learn pass protection. Two problems with that explanation:1st-10, UGa28 6:08 B. Tate rushed to the right for 3 yard gain
2nd-7, UGa25 5:41 B. Tate rushed up the middle for 4 yard gain
3rd-3, UGa21 5:12 B. Tate rushed to the left for no gain
4th-3, UGa21 4:13 K. Burns incomplete pass to the right
Two cardinal sins in one series occurred here. First, the hot hand, Mario Fannin, who rushed for 107 yards and had 2 TDs on the day, sat on the bench for the final drive. Why? The math-deficient answer from Tommy Tuberville:
"Ben [Tate, who finished with 37 yards on 14 carries -- ed.] was running the ball pretty good," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said afterward.
One: Fannin is a third-year player who spent two full seasons at running back before moving to receiver, and has been back at running back for like a month; is he just that dumb re: pass protection? And two: Auburn wasn't passing the ball in the above sequence. It was three straight runs, in a one-score game with a minute left. So Lester wasn't running the ball "pretty good," and Fannin's pass protection couldn't have been a liability on, you know, non-passing plays. So why was the hot running back on the sideline with the game on the line, again?
The most unscientific poll of all-time suggests K-State fans would prefer Coffman, actually, since Freeman's alleged breakthrough junior campaign has fallen extraordinarily flat. Not up, not down, but flat, like the prairie on which it's unfolded, or Freeman's position on the turf after being knocked out of Saturday's game in the third quarter. In Big 12 play, he's thrown five touchdowns to six interceptions, and gone through four games with neither. If not for non-conference patsies and the three-touchdown, three-interception track meet against Oklahoma, Freeman would be having one of the most boring seasons in history. But there is no quarterback controversy.
Speaking of Prince, if you want an example of a lame duck who's feeling loose in his last days on the job, attempt to connect the dots between this Nintendo-based response and the question it was intended to answer, regarding Prince's aking over the offense in the second half from coordinator Dave Brock:
"Back when I was a kid, my sister used to rip the controller away from me in Super Mario, saying, "Here, let me get us past this level." And, in some ways, it made sense. She had played Mario longer than I had since she was the older, more experienced big sister. But I have to tell you, when she directed Mario into a hungry plant and killed him -- then gave me the controller back -- it got pretty tense. In some ways I resented her for it. I mean, I was a pretty good Mario player. "Well, dangit, Jessica," I would say, "I could have done that!" Safe to say, our working relationship in Nintendo was destroyed forever. It was never quite the same after that."
Along the same lines (sort of), Prince said later on his Sunday night radio show he could tell at halftime "the game wasn't going the way that I wanted the game to go" -- i.e. Kansas State had no chance to win -- and he took over play-calling to deflect blame for the inevitable disaster from Brock (or, on the other hand, take credit for the incredible comeback, however unlikely). By stating that publicly, of course, Prince only humiliates Brock further -- he can't even be trusted to finish his own blowout! Thanks, boss!
Elsewhere in Disillusion: South Florida has planted the flag of surrender at midfield. . . . Minnesota is 7-4 on the heels of last year's 1-11 disaster, but after starting 7-1, it feels like the bad old days again. ... And only because I do one of these every week, I can only imagine the comments that didn't make it online during the Houston Chronicle's live blog of Texas A&M's 41-21 loss to Baylor.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
This Week In Schadenfreude: LSU Descends Into a Maelstrom of Self-Hatred
from The FanHouse - NCAAfootball
by Brian CookFiled under: Florida State, Louisville, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Washington State
scha·den·freu·de
-noun <table> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top">satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune. </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> [Origin: 1890-95; < G, equiv. to Schaden harm + Freude joy]
On This Week In Schadenfreude we explore the sputtering rage, gibbering condemnation, and resigned ennui of the college football fan who has recently undergone humiliating defeat. Because even in your darkest hour, someone else is suffering too, and probably worse than you. Unless you are a Michigan fan who has just finished watching the Appalachian State game. I don't think a winning team has ever pulled down the Tears of Unfathomable Sadness award, but we have history this week. LSU fell behind against the Troy Trojans of Troy (We're From Troy!) 31-3, causing a mass exodus from Death Valley and a truly epic message board war. This is the nuclear bomb:
This Week In Schadenfreude: LSU Descends Into a Maelstrom of Self-Hatred originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:44:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
from The FanHouse - NCAAfootball
by Brian CookFiled under: Florida State, Louisville, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Washington State
scha·den·freu·de
-noun <table> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top">satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune. </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> [Origin: 1890-95; < G, equiv. to Schaden harm + Freude joy]
On This Week In Schadenfreude we explore the sputtering rage, gibbering condemnation, and resigned ennui of the college football fan who has recently undergone humiliating defeat. Because even in your darkest hour, someone else is suffering too, and probably worse than you. Unless you are a Michigan fan who has just finished watching the Appalachian State game. I don't think a winning team has ever pulled down the Tears of Unfathomable Sadness award, but we have history this week. LSU fell behind against the Troy Trojans of Troy (We're From Troy!) 31-3, causing a mass exodus from Death Valley and a truly epic message board war. This is the nuclear bomb:
At this point LSU fans just need to STFU. We are largely irrelevant, living off past glory, full of self-congratulatory bluster. Even now, some tard (sorry PJ) is on my radio talking about Nick Saban. Saban ? We don't believe in our team, we don't believe in our coaches, it's not important to us anymore to even stay at the stadium. We have made second-guessing an art form and have a juvenile view of reality. We bitched our way through a National Freaking Championship and now we are sniveling through a 9/10 win season. THAT IS WHO WE ARE. Snivelers. Whiners. Crybabies. With a ridiculous sense of entitlement.
I'm not blaming us or even asking for change, I'm just acknowleding the Truth.
Uh. Wow. And then you've got the first response:I'm not blaming us or even asking for change, I'm just acknowleding the Truth.
It was either leave or kill the wife to stop the whining and there were too many witnesses to do the right thing.
Yes, what they say about LSU fans is true: they smell like corndogs and are complete lunatics. (Just kidding LSU fans! Please don't dip me in batter and fry me!) The rest of the week in spleen after the jump.
This Week In Schadenfreude: LSU Descends Into a Maelstrom of Self-Hatred originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:44:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Rocky Long resigns from New Mexico
from Block U by JazzyUte
Shocking news out of New Mexico, as head coach Rocky Long will step aside later today and resign from the program he helped build. Long, who just finished his 11th season with the Lobos, struggled this year, guiding New Mexico to a 4-8 finish. He is 65-69 since taking over the program in 1998.
I'll have more on this when they hold their press conference.
from Block U by JazzyUte
Shocking news out of New Mexico, as head coach Rocky Long will step aside later today and resign from the program he helped build. Long, who just finished his 11th season with the Lobos, struggled this year, guiding New Mexico to a 4-8 finish. He is 65-69 since taking over the program in 1998.
I'll have more on this when they hold their press conference.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Poon-per Bowl Championship Series: Big XII vs. SEC
Let's get to the first leg of the semifinals this week between the Big XII and SEC. Today, we showcase the Big XII girls. On Wednesday, it will be the lovely SEC girls' turn.
(click on links below to view the girls from the winning conferences of Round 1)
SEMIFINALS (Game 1)
Girls of the Big XII
VS
Girls of the SEC
SEMIFINALS (Game 2)
Girls of the Pac-10
VS
Girls of the ACC
BIG XII Round 2
BAYLOR
Be sure to keep the girls from both rounds in mind as you make your thoughts known.
Let's get to the first leg of the semifinals this week between the Big XII and SEC. Today, we showcase the Big XII girls. On Wednesday, it will be the lovely SEC girls' turn.
(click on links below to view the girls from the winning conferences of Round 1)
SEMIFINALS (Game 1)
Girls of the Big XII
VS
Girls of the SEC
SEMIFINALS (Game 2)
Girls of the Pac-10
VS
Girls of the ACC
BIG XII Round 2
BAYLOR
COLORADO
IOWA STATE
KANSAS
KANSAS STATE
MISSOURI
NEBRASKA
OKLAHOMA
OKLAHOMA STATE
TEXAS
TEXAS A&M
TEXAS TECH
Be sure to keep the girls from both rounds in mind as you make your thoughts known.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Brown could change the way he approaches A&M
Texas has lost two in a row to A&M, and the Longhorns have not played well in recent Novembers
By Suzanne Halliburton
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Games in November used to be near locks for Texas coach Mack Brown.
From 2003 through 2005, the Longhorns didn't drop a contest in the final month of the regular season. They also had undefeated records in 2000 and 2001.
But it's been a problem of late, specifically against old rival Texas A&M. And that's why Brown is scrutinizing how he prepares his Longhorns this week and next as Texas gears up for a Thanksgiving prime-time matchup against the Aggies at Royal-Memorial Stadium.
"I'll go back and look at everything I've done," Brown said Monday. "I think the way this team's going, we'll just go back to work, be really physical in practice and realize there's a lot on the line, which is really exciting."
A&M has upset the heavily-favored Longhorns in each of the past two years.
In 2006, Texas would have clinched a spot in the Big 12 Conference championship game with a win over the Aggies. Instead, they lost 12-7, as quarterback Colt McCoy struggled late with the lingering effects of a neck injury. The seven points were the fewest Texas had scored at home in 10 seasons.
The victory clinched a Holiday Bowl appearance for the Aggies, while Texas settled for the Alamo.
A year ago, the Longhorns were playing for a prestigious bowl bid with an outside shot at the league title game. They lost 38-30 at Kyle Field, with A&M's Dennis Franchione coaching his final game. The victory led to an Alamo Bowl invitation for A&M,, while Texas settled for the Holiday.
Overall, Brown is 27-7 at Texas in November. Four of the seven losses have come since 2006. The Longhorns suffered two defeats in 2006 and one each in the past two seasons.
Texas' lone loss of this season came Nov. 1, when it suffered a 39-33 defeat at Texas Tech when the Red Raiders scored with one second to go.
There is plenty to play for this Thansksgiving for the Longhorns. An 11-1 record could put them in the national title game. At a minimum, Texas could be a near cinch for an at-large invitation into a game involved with the Bowl Championship Series.
The Aggies, however, are 4-7 and have only pride going for them in the rivalry that dates back to 1894.
By Sunday, the Longhorns will have a better idea of what's officially on the line against A&M. That's when the BCS will release its rankings, and Texas will know whether it's held on to the No. 3 spot.
The key game will be played in Norman, Okla., Saturday night when Texas Tech takes on Oklahoma.
A Red Raiders win would put them in the Big 12 title game against Missouri at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium, Dec. 6.
Meanwhile, a Sooners victory could propel OU past Texas in the BCS standings. OU, which lost to Texas 45-35 last month in Dallas, currently is fifth, while Tech is second.
OU would then need to beat Oklahoma State in Stillwater on Nov. 29 to create the ultimate chaotic tiebreaker, which could have the BCS standings settling which south team plays in Kansas City.
Brown will watch the Tech-OU game, but will cheer for neither team.
"I remember I pulled really, really hard the time they were playing Kansas State in the Big 12 championship game," Brown said, recalling the 2003 conference championship. "I sat there and I was all pumped up because we were going to the Fiesta Bowl as soon as (OU) won, and Kansas State beat them 35-7. I realized that night that me being a fan of either team doesn't really matter.
"There's so many different things that can happen over the next three weeks that I will simply sit back and watch and be a fan of the game," Brown said.
Texas has lost two in a row to A&M, and the Longhorns have not played well in recent Novembers
By Suzanne Halliburton
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Games in November used to be near locks for Texas coach Mack Brown.
From 2003 through 2005, the Longhorns didn't drop a contest in the final month of the regular season. They also had undefeated records in 2000 and 2001.
But it's been a problem of late, specifically against old rival Texas A&M. And that's why Brown is scrutinizing how he prepares his Longhorns this week and next as Texas gears up for a Thanksgiving prime-time matchup against the Aggies at Royal-Memorial Stadium.
"I'll go back and look at everything I've done," Brown said Monday. "I think the way this team's going, we'll just go back to work, be really physical in practice and realize there's a lot on the line, which is really exciting."
A&M has upset the heavily-favored Longhorns in each of the past two years.
In 2006, Texas would have clinched a spot in the Big 12 Conference championship game with a win over the Aggies. Instead, they lost 12-7, as quarterback Colt McCoy struggled late with the lingering effects of a neck injury. The seven points were the fewest Texas had scored at home in 10 seasons.
The victory clinched a Holiday Bowl appearance for the Aggies, while Texas settled for the Alamo.
A year ago, the Longhorns were playing for a prestigious bowl bid with an outside shot at the league title game. They lost 38-30 at Kyle Field, with A&M's Dennis Franchione coaching his final game. The victory led to an Alamo Bowl invitation for A&M,, while Texas settled for the Holiday.
Overall, Brown is 27-7 at Texas in November. Four of the seven losses have come since 2006. The Longhorns suffered two defeats in 2006 and one each in the past two seasons.
Texas' lone loss of this season came Nov. 1, when it suffered a 39-33 defeat at Texas Tech when the Red Raiders scored with one second to go.
There is plenty to play for this Thansksgiving for the Longhorns. An 11-1 record could put them in the national title game. At a minimum, Texas could be a near cinch for an at-large invitation into a game involved with the Bowl Championship Series.
The Aggies, however, are 4-7 and have only pride going for them in the rivalry that dates back to 1894.
By Sunday, the Longhorns will have a better idea of what's officially on the line against A&M. That's when the BCS will release its rankings, and Texas will know whether it's held on to the No. 3 spot.
The key game will be played in Norman, Okla., Saturday night when Texas Tech takes on Oklahoma.
A Red Raiders win would put them in the Big 12 title game against Missouri at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium, Dec. 6.
Meanwhile, a Sooners victory could propel OU past Texas in the BCS standings. OU, which lost to Texas 45-35 last month in Dallas, currently is fifth, while Tech is second.
OU would then need to beat Oklahoma State in Stillwater on Nov. 29 to create the ultimate chaotic tiebreaker, which could have the BCS standings settling which south team plays in Kansas City.
Brown will watch the Tech-OU game, but will cheer for neither team.
"I remember I pulled really, really hard the time they were playing Kansas State in the Big 12 championship game," Brown said, recalling the 2003 conference championship. "I sat there and I was all pumped up because we were going to the Fiesta Bowl as soon as (OU) won, and Kansas State beat them 35-7. I realized that night that me being a fan of either team doesn't really matter.
"There's so many different things that can happen over the next three weeks that I will simply sit back and watch and be a fan of the game," Brown said.
Aztec4Life
Montezuma Mesa Survivor
LMAO at the avatar, RJ!
Thanks for changing the title under my name...I like it!
:smiley_acbe:
Thanks for changing the title under my name...I like it!
:smiley_acbe:
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
5 POINTS: South Carolina at Florida -- Two days later, it's still ugly
from Garnet And Black Attack by cocknfire
Sorry it's late. No, I wasn't hiding -- in fact, I was proclaiming the greatness of the Gators. Just ran out of time.
1. Florida VROOOOOOOOM! Let's not kid ourselves. The better team won this game. That's not to say that Florida's 50 points better, though it's hard to argue that they aren't. Again, this is a team that has scored 38, 51, 63, 49, 42 and 56 in its last six games. And the talent they have is simply amazing. Against most teams, if you miss a tackle or two, it's a first down; against Florida, it's a touchdown. There's a reason no one has been able to stay on the field against the Gators since the upset against Ole Miss. Admiral Yamamoto might not have said, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve" -- but that's apparently exactly what Ole Miss did.
2. The QB rotation: End it. Apparently, Spurrier is already one step ahead of me on this one, but let's review (once again) the awful, awful results of creating mass confusion.
<hr> <table> <thead> <tr> <th>vs Florida / 11.15.08</th><th colspan="5">Passing</th><th colspan="4">Rushing</th> </tr> </thead><thead> <tr> <th>
</th><th>Comp</th><th>Att</th><th>Pct</th><th>Yds</th><th>TD</th><th>Rush</th><th>Yds</th><th>Avg</th><th>TD</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Stephen Garcia</td> <td>6</td> <td>13</td> <td>46.2</td> <td>28</td> <td>0</td> <td>9</td> <td>3</td> <td>0.3</td> <td>0</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
<hr>
<hr> <table> <thead> <tr> <th>vs Florida / 11.15.08</th><th colspan="5">Passing</th><th colspan="4">Rushing</th> </tr> </thead><thead> <tr> <th>
</th><th>Comp</th><th>Att</th><th>Pct</th><th>Yds</th><th>TD</th><th>Rush</th><th>Yds</th><th>Avg</th><th>TD</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Chris Smelley</td> <td>13</td> <td>24</td> <td>54.2</td> <td>92</td> <td>0</td> <td>2</td> <td>1</td> <td>0.5</td> <td>0</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
<hr> For the two combined weeks, then, the two-QB system resulted in a pass efficiency rating of 88.17. I can understand why Spurrier might have tried it, but it clearly didn't work. Fortunately, it didn't cost us the game that we should have won (Arkansas); short of Brett Favre donning Garnet and Black -- and probably even then -- the Gamecocks weren't going to beat the Gators.
3. The 2:15. Yes, the two interceptions and botched lateral killed South Carolina in this game. On the scoreboard, it didn't matter; the game is still 35-6 without the 21-point lead spotted to the Gators in the first quarter. But with the three miscues, all hope was dead before the second quarter even began.
4. The defense. The three short fields in the first quarter certainly didn't help, but the defense absolutely imploded Saturday. This is probably as much to Florida's credit as it is to South Carolina's detriment, but ugly is ugly. A total of 519 yards, including 346 rushing. This wasn't nearly as bad as Arkansas last year, and it came against a lot better team. But Ellis Johnson and Co. still have some work to do before visiting the Team from the Upstate.
5. Outback Bowl. The Gamecocks still have a trip to Tampa on the menu. Defeating the Team from the Upstate is the only way to make sure this happens. Let's not worry about anything else right now -- the Capital One Bowl is still a stretch.
from Garnet And Black Attack by cocknfire
Sorry it's late. No, I wasn't hiding -- in fact, I was proclaiming the greatness of the Gators. Just ran out of time.
1. Florida VROOOOOOOOM! Let's not kid ourselves. The better team won this game. That's not to say that Florida's 50 points better, though it's hard to argue that they aren't. Again, this is a team that has scored 38, 51, 63, 49, 42 and 56 in its last six games. And the talent they have is simply amazing. Against most teams, if you miss a tackle or two, it's a first down; against Florida, it's a touchdown. There's a reason no one has been able to stay on the field against the Gators since the upset against Ole Miss. Admiral Yamamoto might not have said, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve" -- but that's apparently exactly what Ole Miss did.
2. The QB rotation: End it. Apparently, Spurrier is already one step ahead of me on this one, but let's review (once again) the awful, awful results of creating mass confusion.
<hr> <table> <thead> <tr> <th>vs Florida / 11.15.08</th><th colspan="5">Passing</th><th colspan="4">Rushing</th> </tr> </thead><thead> <tr> <th>
</th><th>Comp</th><th>Att</th><th>Pct</th><th>Yds</th><th>TD</th><th>Rush</th><th>Yds</th><th>Avg</th><th>TD</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Stephen Garcia</td> <td>6</td> <td>13</td> <td>46.2</td> <td>28</td> <td>0</td> <td>9</td> <td>3</td> <td>0.3</td> <td>0</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
<hr>
<hr> <table> <thead> <tr> <th>vs Florida / 11.15.08</th><th colspan="5">Passing</th><th colspan="4">Rushing</th> </tr> </thead><thead> <tr> <th>
</th><th>Comp</th><th>Att</th><th>Pct</th><th>Yds</th><th>TD</th><th>Rush</th><th>Yds</th><th>Avg</th><th>TD</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Chris Smelley</td> <td>13</td> <td>24</td> <td>54.2</td> <td>92</td> <td>0</td> <td>2</td> <td>1</td> <td>0.5</td> <td>0</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
<hr> For the two combined weeks, then, the two-QB system resulted in a pass efficiency rating of 88.17. I can understand why Spurrier might have tried it, but it clearly didn't work. Fortunately, it didn't cost us the game that we should have won (Arkansas); short of Brett Favre donning Garnet and Black -- and probably even then -- the Gamecocks weren't going to beat the Gators.
3. The 2:15. Yes, the two interceptions and botched lateral killed South Carolina in this game. On the scoreboard, it didn't matter; the game is still 35-6 without the 21-point lead spotted to the Gators in the first quarter. But with the three miscues, all hope was dead before the second quarter even began.
4. The defense. The three short fields in the first quarter certainly didn't help, but the defense absolutely imploded Saturday. This is probably as much to Florida's credit as it is to South Carolina's detriment, but ugly is ugly. A total of 519 yards, including 346 rushing. This wasn't nearly as bad as Arkansas last year, and it came against a lot better team. But Ellis Johnson and Co. still have some work to do before visiting the Team from the Upstate.
5. Outback Bowl. The Gamecocks still have a trip to Tampa on the menu. Defeating the Team from the Upstate is the only way to make sure this happens. Let's not worry about anything else right now -- the Capital One Bowl is still a stretch.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
[FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif]Fiu's Cavalcade of Whimsy ... Part 1[/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif]
[/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif]
a.k.a. Frank Costanza's Festivus Airing of the Grievances [/FONT] [FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif][SIZE=-2]
By Pete Fiutak
What's your beef? ... Fire off your thoughts
Past Whimsies [/SIZE][/FONT] 2006 Season | 2007 Season
- Preseason Cavalcade | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4
- Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10
- Week 11
- Part Two This Week The 10 Big Things You Need To Know
If this column sucks, it’s not my fault … I thought I’d use a little gamesmanship against Pete Carroll by tacking on meaningless points late in a blowout loss. He called a timeout to ice my column, so I decided to go for the touchdown. Unlike Stanford, I misfired.
“"All warfare is based on deception..." Sun Tzu says, If your enemy is superior, evade him, if angry, irritate him, if equally matched, fight... if not, split and reevaluate.” … Oh, that’s right, Jim Harbaugh. Poke the bear, poke the bear.
You don’t need Sun Tzu or Bud Fox to know that if you’re Stanford, you don’t tick off USC. You genuflect at the altar and fly under the radar. USC doesn’t lose when it’s focused and fired up, and now, after Harbaugh and Carroll have become the Maggie Simpson and the unibrow baby of Pac 10 coaching rivalries, Stanford will now be a “focus” game for the Trojans.
Does it take beating the Trojans to get them pumped up? No, otherwise USC would’ve been focused against Oregon State. It takes something extra. UCLA was able to rile things up after coming close to beating USC, the eventual national champion, in a 29-24 battle in 2004. The Bruins started popping off and got whacked 66-19 the following year. Mark it down: A long as Harbaugh is coaching Stanford and Carroll is at USC, expect the need for more late tack-on scores from the Cardinal.
Great Moments In Sports Gambling History … With all the attention paid by the investment community to the debacle at the end of the Pittsburgh Steeler – San Diego Charger game, the end of the USC – Stanford game was swept under the rug.
“This means something to (Harbaugh’s) team and players,” said the announcer. Uh-huh, and to a gaming public that was either horrified or elated like getting a Red Rider on Christmas morning at Harbaugh’s decision to try for a meaningless touchdown at the end of the USC game. Down 45-17 with the spread at -22.5, the Cardinal came up with a touchdown to beat the number. And you thought your GM stock was having a rough day.
Three words: “Bonds on Bonds”… ESPN appears to be on the verge of getting the rights for the BCS games for 2011 and beyond. Meanwhile, the network has ponied up $2.5 billion for the rights to televise the SEC games other than the one CBS will snag for its game of the week. That means ESPN will be the equivalent of the SEC Network during football seasons.
As if the $55 million a year the SEC will be getting from the deal isn’t enough, let’s just say it’ll be in the Boo-Ya’s best interest if the league just so happens to be promoted all the time when it comes to lobbying efforts to get an SEC team into the national title. Also, be prepared for any and all critical thought when it comes to BCS discussion to be gone from the Worldwide Leader, and for any hint of the P-word, be it for an eight-team tourney or a plus-one format, to be squashed like Harold Reynolds.
Oh, hi Head. I’d like to introduce you to Ass. Ass, Head. … In response to Barack Obama’s appeal-to-the-masses call for a college football playoff, BCS head honcho John Swofford released a statement containing this all-timer of a whopper.
"… For now, our constituencies, and I know (Obama) understands constituencies, have settled on the current BCS system, which the majority believe is the best system yet to determine a national champion while also maintaining the college football regular season as the best and most meaningful in sports. …"
John, honey, you can’t do that. If you want to defend the bowl system that’s one thing. If you want to roll about the importance of the regular season, that’s great. But you can’t open up your fly and throw a whiz on the 99% of the college football world that’s not happy with this system. I’ll defend you if you want to defend the system, it’s far better than the old poll ‘n’ boll style, but you can’t say it’s what the fans, players, or coaches want.
The statement showed that the BCSers 1) don’t get it, don’t care, and aren’t even trying, and 2) are the enemy.
I’ll keep writing this column after column to hammer it home. Eight teams. Six BCS conference champions, the top non-BCS conference champion, one wild card, one integrity of the regular season fully intact. John, that’s what your constituencies want. More to the point, that’s what your president is asking of you.
But no one pulls off Blue Steel like Pelini … You want to dog the BCS system, go for it. I’m about four days away from officially being sick of all the whining, but the frustrations are fair. However, when it comes to deciding the Big 12 South champion this year if there’s a three-way tie, don’t blame the BCS for being the deciding factor. What do you want? The stalemate has to be broken somehow. Would you be happier with a coin flip? A Zoolander walk off between Mack Brown, Bob Stoops and Mike Leach?
On a slight tangent, the personal belief that you must win your conference title to play in the national championship will be relaxed this year. If, say, Texas gets left out and Missouri beats Oklahoma for the Big 12 title, I have no issue with the Longhorns playing the SEC champion for the national title.
Newsweek reported that the Election Night euphoria is expected to produce a baby boom nine months from Nov. 4. In other news, the hospitals are expected to be clear nine months after Nov. 15 after continuous sightings of a wet Charlie Weis during the win over Navy … Well isn’t that convenient of ole Chuck Weis. Now you want to take over the offense when Navy and Syracuse are on the schedule. Where were you for Pitt and Boston College?
To all Irish lovers and haters (they’re often one in the same, even if they don’t realize it), what did you expect this year? Notre Dame is going to a bowl game, likely a decent one. The franchise quarterback is in place for the next two years, the baby-young receiving corps has the potential to be special, and the defense is light years better than it was even during the BCS years under Weis.
The offensive line was among the most inept in college football last season, allowing 58 sacks, and this year it has given up 14 in 10 games. The offense isn’t Texas Tech, but after finishing dead last in America averaging 242 yards per game, and 16.4 points, it’s averaging 372 yards and 24.6 points per outing. The team is improving, and it’s still young with most of the key parts coming back, with the big exception of safety David Bruton and LB Maurice Crum.
Next year has to be the year. If Weis doesn’t have the Irish in a position to be in the discussion for the BCS, then it’ll be time for a serious hot seat. But until then, a little bit of credit has to be given to Weis (even if it’s through clenched teeth) and the coaching staff for coming up with a major overall improvement from last year.
“Hey, you wanna hear the most annoying soundin the world? Braaaahahahhhhhhhhhhh!” … Be warned before you read this; it’ll put you in a grouchy mood for about nine minutes. No, not the High School Musical 3: Senior Year soundtrack or Arianna Huffington’s voice.
If Oregon State beats Arizona and Oregon, and if Penn State beats Michigan State, your 2009 BCS season will kick off with a rematch of the September 6<sup>th</sup> 45-14 Nittany Lion beatdown of the Beavers. Maybe that Winter Classic game between the Blackhawks and Red Wings really isn’t that bad an option.
However, all is fine if handled by the announcing team of Big Jim McBob and Billy Sol Hurok … I have no problem with Oregon State going to the Rose Bowl, new blood in the mix is always a good thing, but I just don’t want to see a rematch with Penn State. As the Grand Poobah of all things college football, I get to come up with the five games and matchups, within the confines of the system (my powers only extend so far), that America would most like to see. I’m not saying this is fair; I’m saying this would be the most fun and would generate the biggest buzz. As far as the conference champions, I shall make it so for the Big East and ACC choices.
- BCS Championship: Florida vs. Oklahoma
- Rose Bowl: Penn State vs. USC
- Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. Ohio State
- Fiesta Bowl: Texas Tech (someone from the South has to be left out) vs. Utah
- Orange Bowl: West Virginia vs. Miami
“I was young. I needed the work.” … One of the most important things to keep an eye on over the final few weeks of the season will be the development of LSU QB Jarrett Lee. Thrown into the full-time role after Andrew Hatch had problems from a concussion, Lee has been, well, spotty. He has thrown 15 interceptions on the year, going just one game without tossing a pick, and he has been hidden by the coaching staff at times, thrown under the bus at others, and given the keys to the car in crunch time in key games. He seems like he has the skills to grow into a good SEC passer, but will he be the guy to revolve the program around for the next three years? LSU has some major rebuilding to do next year, and for a place that can go into every season shooting for the national title, it’ll be interesting to see how the coaching staff handles this.
“These people are peasants. They are too ignorant to vote. Hear me. l am your new president. From this day on, the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish. Silence!” … Alright, fans. You really want to do this right? You really want take ownership of your program while giving a head coach an honest, fair shot? Take a cue from the recent presidential election. The fans are given a few options for a head coach and it’s put to a vote. The winner gets a four-year term. There are no term limits here; if you like the guy, you keep voting him in. My tongue is only half in my cheek here. The coach would have stability, the fans have no one to blame but themselves if their guy stinks, and a recruiting class would know where it stands from the start.
“If anybody, but you, returns this ball to me, you'll wish you'de never been born.” … A little tip for the Michigan coaches: Make the players walk around campus for the next nine months holding a football at all times The Program style. Only Army has lost more fumbles than the Wolverines, and the Knights have the excuse of trying to figure out the timing of the option.
And if you’re on offense, go deep the play after … Not to go all Bill Maher here, but to all the players who kneel in prayer whenever a player is down and the ambulance comes out, keep that moment in mind for the rest of the game going forward and in your thoughts for the following week. God isn’t the one making the helmet-to-helmet kill shots. That’s on you, sport.
Ranger: “There are over 200 active geysers in Yellowstone Park alone. Old Faithful here is one of the largest. During an eruption the water can reach as high as 200 feet!”
Butthead: “So?” … Full body hugs and a carafe of strawberry warm fuzzies to Vanderbilt for getting bowl eligible. However, that shows how much the SEC sucks this year. In a normal season, the Dores aren’t beating South Carolina and Auburn and they’re not going 5-3 in conference play, like they’ll probably do after facing a hapless Tennessee.
Random Acts of Nutty … Provocative musings and tidbits to make every woman want you and every man want to be you (or vice versa) a.k.a. things I didn’t feel like writing bigger blurbs for.
- Is making a catch when trapping the ball on your helmet really that big a deal? Kansas WR Dezmon Briscoe made a great grab against Texas as he took the bobbled ball and pinned it against his helmet while falling down; the highlight types on every station went wild. I sort of thought the Dez Bryant one-handed catch and run on the move for a score against Colorado was more impressive. And by the way, the escape and throw by Eli in the Super Bowl was more amazing than the David Tyree catch.
- Most interesting fun stat of the week part one: Utah converted 13-of-14 third down chances against San Diego State.
- No, Jimmie Johnson isn’t a “modern day icon.” Bring up the name without the spelling to 1,000 sports fans and 914 will say he’s the former head coach and current Fox NFL studio man.
- Most interesting fun stat of the week part two: UCF beat Marshall even though QB Rob Calabrese completed 4-of-17 passes for 29 yards and a touchdown. I’m sure this wasn’t even close to an NCAA record for combined passing futility, but the 11-of-46, 113-yard, two touchdown, two interception performances by the two passing games wasn’t a thing of beauty.
- I’m not picking the upset, but watch out for Cal Poly out of the FCS against Wisconsin this week. The Badgers are known for taking the foot off the gas in layup games, while the Mustangs, who beat San Diego State to open the season, lead the FCS in total offense and scoring. They have the third best running game, averaging 304 yards per game, and is No. 1 in passing efficiency. The defense is second in the nation among FCS teams in sacks.
- Very quietly this year in the loaded Big 12 has been a great season from Nebraska QB Joe Ganz. The steady senior has thrown for 3,103 yards and 21 touchdowns with 10 interceptions, and he has rushed for 248 yards and five scores. Speaking of under the radar …The 10 Big Things You Need To Know
“I hearby designate Graham Harrell, Texas Tech as my First Choice to receive the Heisman Memorial Trophy awarded to the most outstanding college football player in the United States for 2008. To the best of my knowledge he conforms to the rules governing this vote.”
My Second Choice Is: Colt McCoy, Texas
My Third Choice Is: Sam Bradford, Oklahoma (although Iowa’s Shonn Greene is hovering)
“You know I'm born to lose, and gambling's for fools/But that's the way I like it baby, I don't wanna live forever” … The three lines this week that appear to be a tad off.
2-1 for the second week in a row?! These are heady times helped by a gift of the Lock Of The Millennium Notre Dame -3 over Navy pick. I’m up to 14-21-1 overall.
I press on by taking the three games I’m sure of … 1) Washington -7.5 over Washington State, 2) Oklahoma -6.5 over Texas Tech, 3) South Florida -3 over Connecticut
Last Week: 1) Central Michigan +3 over Northern Illinois (WIN), 2) Notre Dame -3 over Navy (WIN), 3) Georgia -8 over Auburn (LOSS)
Sorry this column sucked, but it wasn’t my fault … Jon Gruden just turned down my advances to take over the column. Oops, now Randy Edsall isn’t interested, either. Maybe Skip Holtz will grab the gig.
- Part Two This Week The 10 Big Things You Need To Know
[/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif]
a.k.a. Frank Costanza's Festivus Airing of the Grievances [/FONT] [FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif][SIZE=-2]
By Pete Fiutak
What's your beef? ... Fire off your thoughts
Past Whimsies [/SIZE][/FONT] 2006 Season | 2007 Season
- Preseason Cavalcade | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4
- Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10
- Week 11
- Part Two This Week The 10 Big Things You Need To Know
If this column sucks, it’s not my fault … I thought I’d use a little gamesmanship against Pete Carroll by tacking on meaningless points late in a blowout loss. He called a timeout to ice my column, so I decided to go for the touchdown. Unlike Stanford, I misfired.
“"All warfare is based on deception..." Sun Tzu says, If your enemy is superior, evade him, if angry, irritate him, if equally matched, fight... if not, split and reevaluate.” … Oh, that’s right, Jim Harbaugh. Poke the bear, poke the bear.
You don’t need Sun Tzu or Bud Fox to know that if you’re Stanford, you don’t tick off USC. You genuflect at the altar and fly under the radar. USC doesn’t lose when it’s focused and fired up, and now, after Harbaugh and Carroll have become the Maggie Simpson and the unibrow baby of Pac 10 coaching rivalries, Stanford will now be a “focus” game for the Trojans.
Does it take beating the Trojans to get them pumped up? No, otherwise USC would’ve been focused against Oregon State. It takes something extra. UCLA was able to rile things up after coming close to beating USC, the eventual national champion, in a 29-24 battle in 2004. The Bruins started popping off and got whacked 66-19 the following year. Mark it down: A long as Harbaugh is coaching Stanford and Carroll is at USC, expect the need for more late tack-on scores from the Cardinal.
Great Moments In Sports Gambling History … With all the attention paid by the investment community to the debacle at the end of the Pittsburgh Steeler – San Diego Charger game, the end of the USC – Stanford game was swept under the rug.
“This means something to (Harbaugh’s) team and players,” said the announcer. Uh-huh, and to a gaming public that was either horrified or elated like getting a Red Rider on Christmas morning at Harbaugh’s decision to try for a meaningless touchdown at the end of the USC game. Down 45-17 with the spread at -22.5, the Cardinal came up with a touchdown to beat the number. And you thought your GM stock was having a rough day.
Three words: “Bonds on Bonds”… ESPN appears to be on the verge of getting the rights for the BCS games for 2011 and beyond. Meanwhile, the network has ponied up $2.5 billion for the rights to televise the SEC games other than the one CBS will snag for its game of the week. That means ESPN will be the equivalent of the SEC Network during football seasons.
As if the $55 million a year the SEC will be getting from the deal isn’t enough, let’s just say it’ll be in the Boo-Ya’s best interest if the league just so happens to be promoted all the time when it comes to lobbying efforts to get an SEC team into the national title. Also, be prepared for any and all critical thought when it comes to BCS discussion to be gone from the Worldwide Leader, and for any hint of the P-word, be it for an eight-team tourney or a plus-one format, to be squashed like Harold Reynolds.
Oh, hi Head. I’d like to introduce you to Ass. Ass, Head. … In response to Barack Obama’s appeal-to-the-masses call for a college football playoff, BCS head honcho John Swofford released a statement containing this all-timer of a whopper.
"… For now, our constituencies, and I know (Obama) understands constituencies, have settled on the current BCS system, which the majority believe is the best system yet to determine a national champion while also maintaining the college football regular season as the best and most meaningful in sports. …"
John, honey, you can’t do that. If you want to defend the bowl system that’s one thing. If you want to roll about the importance of the regular season, that’s great. But you can’t open up your fly and throw a whiz on the 99% of the college football world that’s not happy with this system. I’ll defend you if you want to defend the system, it’s far better than the old poll ‘n’ boll style, but you can’t say it’s what the fans, players, or coaches want.
The statement showed that the BCSers 1) don’t get it, don’t care, and aren’t even trying, and 2) are the enemy.
I’ll keep writing this column after column to hammer it home. Eight teams. Six BCS conference champions, the top non-BCS conference champion, one wild card, one integrity of the regular season fully intact. John, that’s what your constituencies want. More to the point, that’s what your president is asking of you.
But no one pulls off Blue Steel like Pelini … You want to dog the BCS system, go for it. I’m about four days away from officially being sick of all the whining, but the frustrations are fair. However, when it comes to deciding the Big 12 South champion this year if there’s a three-way tie, don’t blame the BCS for being the deciding factor. What do you want? The stalemate has to be broken somehow. Would you be happier with a coin flip? A Zoolander walk off between Mack Brown, Bob Stoops and Mike Leach?
On a slight tangent, the personal belief that you must win your conference title to play in the national championship will be relaxed this year. If, say, Texas gets left out and Missouri beats Oklahoma for the Big 12 title, I have no issue with the Longhorns playing the SEC champion for the national title.
Newsweek reported that the Election Night euphoria is expected to produce a baby boom nine months from Nov. 4. In other news, the hospitals are expected to be clear nine months after Nov. 15 after continuous sightings of a wet Charlie Weis during the win over Navy … Well isn’t that convenient of ole Chuck Weis. Now you want to take over the offense when Navy and Syracuse are on the schedule. Where were you for Pitt and Boston College?
To all Irish lovers and haters (they’re often one in the same, even if they don’t realize it), what did you expect this year? Notre Dame is going to a bowl game, likely a decent one. The franchise quarterback is in place for the next two years, the baby-young receiving corps has the potential to be special, and the defense is light years better than it was even during the BCS years under Weis.
The offensive line was among the most inept in college football last season, allowing 58 sacks, and this year it has given up 14 in 10 games. The offense isn’t Texas Tech, but after finishing dead last in America averaging 242 yards per game, and 16.4 points, it’s averaging 372 yards and 24.6 points per outing. The team is improving, and it’s still young with most of the key parts coming back, with the big exception of safety David Bruton and LB Maurice Crum.
Next year has to be the year. If Weis doesn’t have the Irish in a position to be in the discussion for the BCS, then it’ll be time for a serious hot seat. But until then, a little bit of credit has to be given to Weis (even if it’s through clenched teeth) and the coaching staff for coming up with a major overall improvement from last year.
“Hey, you wanna hear the most annoying soundin the world? Braaaahahahhhhhhhhhhh!” … Be warned before you read this; it’ll put you in a grouchy mood for about nine minutes. No, not the High School Musical 3: Senior Year soundtrack or Arianna Huffington’s voice.
If Oregon State beats Arizona and Oregon, and if Penn State beats Michigan State, your 2009 BCS season will kick off with a rematch of the September 6<sup>th</sup> 45-14 Nittany Lion beatdown of the Beavers. Maybe that Winter Classic game between the Blackhawks and Red Wings really isn’t that bad an option.
However, all is fine if handled by the announcing team of Big Jim McBob and Billy Sol Hurok … I have no problem with Oregon State going to the Rose Bowl, new blood in the mix is always a good thing, but I just don’t want to see a rematch with Penn State. As the Grand Poobah of all things college football, I get to come up with the five games and matchups, within the confines of the system (my powers only extend so far), that America would most like to see. I’m not saying this is fair; I’m saying this would be the most fun and would generate the biggest buzz. As far as the conference champions, I shall make it so for the Big East and ACC choices.
- BCS Championship: Florida vs. Oklahoma
- Rose Bowl: Penn State vs. USC
- Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. Ohio State
- Fiesta Bowl: Texas Tech (someone from the South has to be left out) vs. Utah
- Orange Bowl: West Virginia vs. Miami
“I was young. I needed the work.” … One of the most important things to keep an eye on over the final few weeks of the season will be the development of LSU QB Jarrett Lee. Thrown into the full-time role after Andrew Hatch had problems from a concussion, Lee has been, well, spotty. He has thrown 15 interceptions on the year, going just one game without tossing a pick, and he has been hidden by the coaching staff at times, thrown under the bus at others, and given the keys to the car in crunch time in key games. He seems like he has the skills to grow into a good SEC passer, but will he be the guy to revolve the program around for the next three years? LSU has some major rebuilding to do next year, and for a place that can go into every season shooting for the national title, it’ll be interesting to see how the coaching staff handles this.
“These people are peasants. They are too ignorant to vote. Hear me. l am your new president. From this day on, the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish. Silence!” … Alright, fans. You really want to do this right? You really want take ownership of your program while giving a head coach an honest, fair shot? Take a cue from the recent presidential election. The fans are given a few options for a head coach and it’s put to a vote. The winner gets a four-year term. There are no term limits here; if you like the guy, you keep voting him in. My tongue is only half in my cheek here. The coach would have stability, the fans have no one to blame but themselves if their guy stinks, and a recruiting class would know where it stands from the start.
“If anybody, but you, returns this ball to me, you'll wish you'de never been born.” … A little tip for the Michigan coaches: Make the players walk around campus for the next nine months holding a football at all times The Program style. Only Army has lost more fumbles than the Wolverines, and the Knights have the excuse of trying to figure out the timing of the option.
And if you’re on offense, go deep the play after … Not to go all Bill Maher here, but to all the players who kneel in prayer whenever a player is down and the ambulance comes out, keep that moment in mind for the rest of the game going forward and in your thoughts for the following week. God isn’t the one making the helmet-to-helmet kill shots. That’s on you, sport.
Ranger: “There are over 200 active geysers in Yellowstone Park alone. Old Faithful here is one of the largest. During an eruption the water can reach as high as 200 feet!”
Butthead: “So?” … Full body hugs and a carafe of strawberry warm fuzzies to Vanderbilt for getting bowl eligible. However, that shows how much the SEC sucks this year. In a normal season, the Dores aren’t beating South Carolina and Auburn and they’re not going 5-3 in conference play, like they’ll probably do after facing a hapless Tennessee.
Random Acts of Nutty … Provocative musings and tidbits to make every woman want you and every man want to be you (or vice versa) a.k.a. things I didn’t feel like writing bigger blurbs for.
- Is making a catch when trapping the ball on your helmet really that big a deal? Kansas WR Dezmon Briscoe made a great grab against Texas as he took the bobbled ball and pinned it against his helmet while falling down; the highlight types on every station went wild. I sort of thought the Dez Bryant one-handed catch and run on the move for a score against Colorado was more impressive. And by the way, the escape and throw by Eli in the Super Bowl was more amazing than the David Tyree catch.
- Most interesting fun stat of the week part one: Utah converted 13-of-14 third down chances against San Diego State.
- No, Jimmie Johnson isn’t a “modern day icon.” Bring up the name without the spelling to 1,000 sports fans and 914 will say he’s the former head coach and current Fox NFL studio man.
- Most interesting fun stat of the week part two: UCF beat Marshall even though QB Rob Calabrese completed 4-of-17 passes for 29 yards and a touchdown. I’m sure this wasn’t even close to an NCAA record for combined passing futility, but the 11-of-46, 113-yard, two touchdown, two interception performances by the two passing games wasn’t a thing of beauty.
- I’m not picking the upset, but watch out for Cal Poly out of the FCS against Wisconsin this week. The Badgers are known for taking the foot off the gas in layup games, while the Mustangs, who beat San Diego State to open the season, lead the FCS in total offense and scoring. They have the third best running game, averaging 304 yards per game, and is No. 1 in passing efficiency. The defense is second in the nation among FCS teams in sacks.
- Very quietly this year in the loaded Big 12 has been a great season from Nebraska QB Joe Ganz. The steady senior has thrown for 3,103 yards and 21 touchdowns with 10 interceptions, and he has rushed for 248 yards and five scores. Speaking of under the radar …The 10 Big Things You Need To Know
“I hearby designate Graham Harrell, Texas Tech as my First Choice to receive the Heisman Memorial Trophy awarded to the most outstanding college football player in the United States for 2008. To the best of my knowledge he conforms to the rules governing this vote.”
My Second Choice Is: Colt McCoy, Texas
My Third Choice Is: Sam Bradford, Oklahoma (although Iowa’s Shonn Greene is hovering)
“You know I'm born to lose, and gambling's for fools/But that's the way I like it baby, I don't wanna live forever” … The three lines this week that appear to be a tad off.
2-1 for the second week in a row?! These are heady times helped by a gift of the Lock Of The Millennium Notre Dame -3 over Navy pick. I’m up to 14-21-1 overall.
I press on by taking the three games I’m sure of … 1) Washington -7.5 over Washington State, 2) Oklahoma -6.5 over Texas Tech, 3) South Florida -3 over Connecticut
Last Week: 1) Central Michigan +3 over Northern Illinois (WIN), 2) Notre Dame -3 over Navy (WIN), 3) Georgia -8 over Auburn (LOSS)
Sorry this column sucked, but it wasn’t my fault … Jon Gruden just turned down my advances to take over the column. Oops, now Randy Edsall isn’t interested, either. Maybe Skip Holtz will grab the gig.
- Part Two This Week The 10 Big Things You Need To Know
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
[FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif]Fiu's Cavalcade of Whimsy ... Part 2[/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif]
[/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif]
a.k.a. Frank Costanza's Festivus Airing of the Grievances [/FONT] [FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif][SIZE=-2]
By Pete Fiutak
What's your beef? ... Fire off your thoughts
Past Whimsies [/SIZE][/FONT] 2006 Season | 2007 Season
- Preseason Cavalcade | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4
- Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10
- Week 11
- Part One, Week 12
The C.O.W. airing of the grievances followed by the feats of strength
The 10 best things happening in college football so far this year that you have had no interest in whatsoever.
10. The service academies
The average fan has no clue great the disparity in talent level is between the service academies and the rest of the college football world. There are several players out there for Army, Air Force and Navy that have little business playing at an FCS level, much less against Notre Dame or BYU. The available talent pool to choose from is microscopic, yet these three programs keep on competing. Navy is going to yet another bowl game, Air Force is the fourth best team in the Mountain West, which is nothing to sneeze at this year, and Army’s transformation into a Navy-like running team has paid off averaging 258 yards per game while playing relatively well in several close losses. The Black Knights have gotten night-and-day better since an ugly start.
9. Arkansas State DE Alex Carrington
Alabama head man Nick Saban commented that Carrington could play for anybody. The 6-5, 280-pound junior defensive end might get his chance sooner than later to play against the elite of the elite as he has grown into a special pass rusher. He is second in the nation in sacks (behind TCU star Jerry Hughes) with 10.5, is third in tackles for loss with 16, and he has been consistent. He was erased by Alabama, but so were the rest of the Red Wolves.
8. Western Michigan QB Tim Hiller & WR Jamarko Simmons
Central Michigan’s Dan LeFevour and Ball State’s Nate Davis get all the attention, but Hiller is having the best year of the three. He’s fourth in the nation in passing, throwing for 3,382 yards and 33 touchdowns with just six interceptions including a 301-yard, two touchdown day in the win over Illinois. Meanwhile Simmons, a huge target who might be a perfect No. 2 tight end or a big No. 3 wide receiver at the next level, has been on fire with 92 catches for 1,100 yards and seven touchdowns. He has made 49 grabs in his last five games.
7. Rice
Rice might be the most fun team no one in America has seen play. The Owls are in the thick of the Conference USA title hunt going 5-1 with the one loss coming to Tulsa (along with non-conference losses to Vanderbilt and Texas). The offense is averaging 40.8 points per game thanks to QB Chase Clement, who has bombed away for 3,116 yards and 32 touchdowns with just six interceptions while rushing for 510 yards and nine scores. WR Jarett Dillard has gone over the 1,000-yard mark this season with 17 touchdowns averaging 15.8 yards per catch. Give a look to the game against Houston in a few weeks for a fun shootout.
6. The Rutgers comeback
The Scarlet Knights were miserable. In mid-October, they were 1-5 with the lone win coming against Morgan State. However, three of the five losses came by seven points or fewer, there was fighting and bickering on the sidelines, and things appeared on the verge of imploding with the meat of the Big East season about to kick in. Four wins later, including a 54-34 destruction of Pitt and a 49-16 win over South Florida, and Rutgers is a win away from being bowl eligible with home games against Army and Louisville to close. Where has the turnaround come from? The running game has improved, the defense has been more aggressive, and most importantly, the turnovers have slowed. Over the first four games, Rutgers turned the ball over 11 times. There have been six turnovers over the last six games (although the interceptions have picked back up over the last two weeks).
5. Illinois LB Brit Miller
J Leman looked like a linebacker out of central casting for a hip football movie. He had long hair, a chiseled, pro wrestler-like physique, and he made tackle after tackle. And then there’s Brit Miller. The 6-1, 250-pound senior isn’t all that big, has some pudding around the middle, and he carved out a nice career playing second-fiddle to Leman with 151 tackles coming into the season. With Leman gone, Miller has turned into the star of the show making 124 tackles, six sacks, and 15.5 tackles for loss. He’s third in the nation in tackles and 14<sup>th</sup> in tackles for loss.
4. RB James Starks and Buffalo
Buffalo is 6-4 and can win the MAC East with a win over Bowling Green this weekend. The Bulls could be 8-4 if they win their last two games (Kent State follows the date with the Falcons). To put this into perspective, they won a total of seven games from 2002 to 2006 and haven’t come up with a winning season since moving up to the FBS level. Veteran QB Drew Willy has been one of the main reasons, but the star has been junior RB James Starks, who has rushed for 638 yards and 10 touchdowns in his last four MAC games.
3. BYU WR Austin Collie
It’s Collie, not Michael Crabtree or Dez Bryant or any of the other big names, who leads the nation in receiving yards with 1,315 on 85 catches with 15 touchdowns. Not only has he gone over the 100-yard mark in each of the last nine games, but he has only caught fewer than seven passes once in the run. He and tight end Dennis Pitta have combined for 161 grabs for 2,307 yards and 21 scores on the year.
2. Houston QB Case Keenum
Conference USA was Tulsa QB David Johnson’s show and everyone else was just taking up space, and then Keenum showed everyone last week who the real star of the league is. Second in the nation in total offense, Keenum has bombed away for 317 yards or more in every game this season with 35 touchdown passes and nine interceptions.
The sophomore now has 6,053 career passing yards with 49 touchdown passes and 19 scores, while running for 623 yards and 12 touchdowns. If Houston plays for the Conference USA title, it’ll have four more games this year. If Keenum stays healthy and the Cougars go bowling over the next three seasons, there’s a chance he’ll play 30 more games. He has to average 367 passing yards a game to break the NCAA record of 17,072 yards held by Hawaii’s Timmy Chang, who basically did it in six years. Sound crazy? Keenum is averaging 379 passing yards per game this season.
1. The ACC
It’s finally starting to come together. John Swofford’s raid on the Big East for all the good teams (other than West Virginia) is starting to pay off as the foundation has been set for the ACC to become the super-conference it was supposed to be a few years ago.
Some might call it mediocrity with everyone other than NC State and Duke still with an outside shot at winning the ACC title, but this is the year when everyone is rising up. Tom O’Brien’s Wolfpack and David Cutliffe’s Blue Devils are hardly pushovers, while the rest of the league is getting really good, and it’s still really young.
You scoff? Just look at some of the non-conference wins of note this year. There might be some blowout losses, like USC’s blasting of Virginia, South Florida’s crushing of NC State and Florida’s win over Miami, but Boston College (Notre Dame), Duke (Vanderbilt, Navy), Florida State (Colorado), Georgia Tech (Mississippi State), Maryland (California), Miami (Texas A&M), North Carolina (Rutgers, Notre Dame, Connecticut), NC State (East Carolina), Virginia (East Carolina), Virginia Tech (Nebraska), Wake Forest (Baylor, Ole Miss), have put together the best non-conference résumé of any league in America.
The league is only getting better with phenomenal coaching everywhere but, at the moment, Clemson. There hasn’t been a week off for anyone this year, and things are only going to get tougher as stars Butch Davis, Paul Johnson, Tom O’Brien, Jeff Jagodzinski and Randy Shannon have a bit more time to work with their respective programs, Frank Beamer, Bobby Bowden and Ralph Friedgen each producing, and Jim Grobe still working wonders at Wake Forest.
Give it one more year, maybe two, and the league will really start to rock. The pieces are in place.
[/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif]
a.k.a. Frank Costanza's Festivus Airing of the Grievances [/FONT] [FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif][SIZE=-2]
By Pete Fiutak
What's your beef? ... Fire off your thoughts
Past Whimsies [/SIZE][/FONT] 2006 Season | 2007 Season
- Preseason Cavalcade | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4
- Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10
- Week 11
- Part One, Week 12
The C.O.W. airing of the grievances followed by the feats of strength
The 10 best things happening in college football so far this year that you have had no interest in whatsoever.
10. The service academies
The average fan has no clue great the disparity in talent level is between the service academies and the rest of the college football world. There are several players out there for Army, Air Force and Navy that have little business playing at an FCS level, much less against Notre Dame or BYU. The available talent pool to choose from is microscopic, yet these three programs keep on competing. Navy is going to yet another bowl game, Air Force is the fourth best team in the Mountain West, which is nothing to sneeze at this year, and Army’s transformation into a Navy-like running team has paid off averaging 258 yards per game while playing relatively well in several close losses. The Black Knights have gotten night-and-day better since an ugly start.
9. Arkansas State DE Alex Carrington
Alabama head man Nick Saban commented that Carrington could play for anybody. The 6-5, 280-pound junior defensive end might get his chance sooner than later to play against the elite of the elite as he has grown into a special pass rusher. He is second in the nation in sacks (behind TCU star Jerry Hughes) with 10.5, is third in tackles for loss with 16, and he has been consistent. He was erased by Alabama, but so were the rest of the Red Wolves.
8. Western Michigan QB Tim Hiller & WR Jamarko Simmons
Central Michigan’s Dan LeFevour and Ball State’s Nate Davis get all the attention, but Hiller is having the best year of the three. He’s fourth in the nation in passing, throwing for 3,382 yards and 33 touchdowns with just six interceptions including a 301-yard, two touchdown day in the win over Illinois. Meanwhile Simmons, a huge target who might be a perfect No. 2 tight end or a big No. 3 wide receiver at the next level, has been on fire with 92 catches for 1,100 yards and seven touchdowns. He has made 49 grabs in his last five games.
7. Rice
Rice might be the most fun team no one in America has seen play. The Owls are in the thick of the Conference USA title hunt going 5-1 with the one loss coming to Tulsa (along with non-conference losses to Vanderbilt and Texas). The offense is averaging 40.8 points per game thanks to QB Chase Clement, who has bombed away for 3,116 yards and 32 touchdowns with just six interceptions while rushing for 510 yards and nine scores. WR Jarett Dillard has gone over the 1,000-yard mark this season with 17 touchdowns averaging 15.8 yards per catch. Give a look to the game against Houston in a few weeks for a fun shootout.
6. The Rutgers comeback
The Scarlet Knights were miserable. In mid-October, they were 1-5 with the lone win coming against Morgan State. However, three of the five losses came by seven points or fewer, there was fighting and bickering on the sidelines, and things appeared on the verge of imploding with the meat of the Big East season about to kick in. Four wins later, including a 54-34 destruction of Pitt and a 49-16 win over South Florida, and Rutgers is a win away from being bowl eligible with home games against Army and Louisville to close. Where has the turnaround come from? The running game has improved, the defense has been more aggressive, and most importantly, the turnovers have slowed. Over the first four games, Rutgers turned the ball over 11 times. There have been six turnovers over the last six games (although the interceptions have picked back up over the last two weeks).
5. Illinois LB Brit Miller
J Leman looked like a linebacker out of central casting for a hip football movie. He had long hair, a chiseled, pro wrestler-like physique, and he made tackle after tackle. And then there’s Brit Miller. The 6-1, 250-pound senior isn’t all that big, has some pudding around the middle, and he carved out a nice career playing second-fiddle to Leman with 151 tackles coming into the season. With Leman gone, Miller has turned into the star of the show making 124 tackles, six sacks, and 15.5 tackles for loss. He’s third in the nation in tackles and 14<sup>th</sup> in tackles for loss.
4. RB James Starks and Buffalo
Buffalo is 6-4 and can win the MAC East with a win over Bowling Green this weekend. The Bulls could be 8-4 if they win their last two games (Kent State follows the date with the Falcons). To put this into perspective, they won a total of seven games from 2002 to 2006 and haven’t come up with a winning season since moving up to the FBS level. Veteran QB Drew Willy has been one of the main reasons, but the star has been junior RB James Starks, who has rushed for 638 yards and 10 touchdowns in his last four MAC games.
3. BYU WR Austin Collie
It’s Collie, not Michael Crabtree or Dez Bryant or any of the other big names, who leads the nation in receiving yards with 1,315 on 85 catches with 15 touchdowns. Not only has he gone over the 100-yard mark in each of the last nine games, but he has only caught fewer than seven passes once in the run. He and tight end Dennis Pitta have combined for 161 grabs for 2,307 yards and 21 scores on the year.
2. Houston QB Case Keenum
Conference USA was Tulsa QB David Johnson’s show and everyone else was just taking up space, and then Keenum showed everyone last week who the real star of the league is. Second in the nation in total offense, Keenum has bombed away for 317 yards or more in every game this season with 35 touchdown passes and nine interceptions.
The sophomore now has 6,053 career passing yards with 49 touchdown passes and 19 scores, while running for 623 yards and 12 touchdowns. If Houston plays for the Conference USA title, it’ll have four more games this year. If Keenum stays healthy and the Cougars go bowling over the next three seasons, there’s a chance he’ll play 30 more games. He has to average 367 passing yards a game to break the NCAA record of 17,072 yards held by Hawaii’s Timmy Chang, who basically did it in six years. Sound crazy? Keenum is averaging 379 passing yards per game this season.
1. The ACC
It’s finally starting to come together. John Swofford’s raid on the Big East for all the good teams (other than West Virginia) is starting to pay off as the foundation has been set for the ACC to become the super-conference it was supposed to be a few years ago.
Some might call it mediocrity with everyone other than NC State and Duke still with an outside shot at winning the ACC title, but this is the year when everyone is rising up. Tom O’Brien’s Wolfpack and David Cutliffe’s Blue Devils are hardly pushovers, while the rest of the league is getting really good, and it’s still really young.
You scoff? Just look at some of the non-conference wins of note this year. There might be some blowout losses, like USC’s blasting of Virginia, South Florida’s crushing of NC State and Florida’s win over Miami, but Boston College (Notre Dame), Duke (Vanderbilt, Navy), Florida State (Colorado), Georgia Tech (Mississippi State), Maryland (California), Miami (Texas A&M), North Carolina (Rutgers, Notre Dame, Connecticut), NC State (East Carolina), Virginia (East Carolina), Virginia Tech (Nebraska), Wake Forest (Baylor, Ole Miss), have put together the best non-conference résumé of any league in America.
The league is only getting better with phenomenal coaching everywhere but, at the moment, Clemson. There hasn’t been a week off for anyone this year, and things are only going to get tougher as stars Butch Davis, Paul Johnson, Tom O’Brien, Jeff Jagodzinski and Randy Shannon have a bit more time to work with their respective programs, Frank Beamer, Bobby Bowden and Ralph Friedgen each producing, and Jim Grobe still working wonders at Wake Forest.
Give it one more year, maybe two, and the league will really start to rock. The pieces are in place.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Coaching Em Up Early
Teaching flip cup at an early age will pay off benefits in the long run.
<object width="425" height="344">
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ow_PpRxYnek&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></object>
Translation: She will hold her own in drinking games, while wearing skimpy outfits like these Sun Devil coeds.
Teaching flip cup at an early age will pay off benefits in the long run.
<object width="425" height="344">
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ow_PpRxYnek&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></object>
Translation: She will hold her own in drinking games, while wearing skimpy outfits like these Sun Devil coeds.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Diddy Learns Lesson: Gold Bowling Shoes Attract Attention AND Poo
<script type="text/javascript"><!-- ch_client = "gibbs12"; ch_type = "mpu"; ch_width = 468; ch_height = 90; ch_color_title = "06c"; ch_non_contextual = 4; ch_vertical ="premium"; ch_default_category = "200001"; ch_sid = "Chitika Premium"; var ch_queries = new Array( ); var ch_selected=Math.floor((Math.random()*ch_queries.length)); if ( ch_selected < ch_queries.length ) { ch_query = ch_queries[ch_selected]; } //--></script> <script src="http://scripts.chitika.net/eminimalls/amm.js" type="text/javascript"> </script><iframe style="display: none;" id="ch_ad708" name="ch_ad708" src="about:blank" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" vspace="0" hspace="0" allowtransparency="true" scrolling="no" width="0" frameborder="0" height="0"></iframe> Let me break down the sequence of events:
“Damn I look good today, take that take that”
SMOOOSH
STEP
“AWW SHEEEEIT”
“TINY, YOU’RE FIRED. CLEAN MY SHOE WITH YOUR SHIRT”
<script type="text/javascript"><!-- ch_client = "gibbs12"; ch_type = "mpu"; ch_width = 468; ch_height = 90; ch_color_title = "06c"; ch_non_contextual = 4; ch_vertical ="premium"; ch_default_category = "200001"; ch_sid = "Chitika Premium"; var ch_queries = new Array( ); var ch_selected=Math.floor((Math.random()*ch_queries.length)); if ( ch_selected < ch_queries.length ) { ch_query = ch_queries[ch_selected]; } //--></script> <script src="http://scripts.chitika.net/eminimalls/amm.js" type="text/javascript"> </script><iframe style="display: none;" id="ch_ad708" name="ch_ad708" src="about:blank" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" vspace="0" hspace="0" allowtransparency="true" scrolling="no" width="0" frameborder="0" height="0"></iframe> Let me break down the sequence of events:
“Damn I look good today, take that take that”
SMOOOSH
STEP
“AWW SHEEEEIT”
“TINY, YOU’RE FIRED. CLEAN MY SHOE WITH YOUR SHIRT”
This definitely qualifies for pic of the month.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Sexy Swedish Party Girls
<abbr class="published" title="2008-11-17T16:45:39+0000"><script type="text/javascript">document.write(time_since(1226958339, "November 17, 2008 - 4:45 pm,"));</script>November 17, 2008 - 4:45 pm,</abbr> By COED Staff
<abbr class="published" title="2008-11-17T16:45:39+0000"><script type="text/javascript">document.write(time_since(1226958339, "November 17, 2008 - 4:45 pm,"));</script>November 17, 2008 - 4:45 pm,</abbr> By COED Staff
Sweden - that magical land of meatballs, IKEA, reindeer and 6-foot-tall blonds. Just the word “Swedish” brings to mind fair-haired honeys gallivanting around in the snow in blue and yellow bikinis, throwing snowballs and making out - at least it does for us. And then we came across these Swedish girl party pictures, which further confirmed our everyone’s theory that Sweden is one of the sexiest countries on the planet. There’s so much Nordic booty here, it’s like a Viking ship after a good pillaging. Enjoy!
(click thumbnail to view full image)
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Monday, November 17, 2008
The Sammy Braddy boob show rolls on!
On Friday we shared with you Sammy Braddy's boobalicious 2009 calendar photos, today our girl Sam is topless again, this time in Front magazine. And once again we are faced with the fact that if you like hot chicks who take their tops off for magazines, the UK is the only place to be.
You gotta love a country where the self-proclaimed "Funniest <input name="IL_MARKER" type="hidden">Magazine" in the country has a topless Sammy Braddy as part of it's content. Jeez...
Sammy Braddy topless for Front
<style>#fullpost {display:none;}</style>
Sammy Braddy may have one of the best set of tits I've ever seen.
View the rest of this post...
Summary only...
The Sammy Braddy boob show rolls on!
On Friday we shared with you Sammy Braddy's boobalicious 2009 calendar photos, today our girl Sam is topless again, this time in Front magazine. And once again we are faced with the fact that if you like hot chicks who take their tops off for magazines, the UK is the only place to be.
You gotta love a country where the self-proclaimed "Funniest <input name="IL_MARKER" type="hidden">Magazine" in the country has a topless Sammy Braddy as part of it's content. Jeez...
Sammy Braddy topless for Front
<style>#fullpost {display:none;}</style>
Sammy Braddy may have one of the best set of tits I've ever seen.
View the rest of this post...
Summary only...
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Kelly Brook - Stunning As Always In J Portugal (11/08)
Posted on November 18th, 2008 by Manny
<!-- sphereit start --> <center>
</center> Here is Kelly doing what she does best, looking stunning in a Bikini for J Portugal.
Click read more for her sexy shoot.
<center>
</center> <script type="text/javascript">SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Kelly Brook - Stunning As Always In J Portugal (11/08)", url: "http://www.cameltap.com/?p=5530" });</script>ShareThis
Posted on November 18th, 2008 by Manny
<!-- sphereit start --> <center>
</center> Here is Kelly doing what she does best, looking stunning in a Bikini for J Portugal. Click read more for her sexy shoot.
<center>
</center> <script type="text/javascript">SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Kelly Brook - Stunning As Always In J Portugal (11/08)", url: "http://www.cameltap.com/?p=5530" });</script>ShareThis
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Half Naked Asian Misa Campo
There are a few things that I absolutely love in this world, beers, hockey, golf and gorgeous fucking half naked asian chicks. This Is super hottie Misa Campo… Misa Horny… Get it. Sorry. 
There are a few things that I absolutely love in this world, beers, hockey, golf and gorgeous fucking half naked asian chicks. This Is super hottie Misa Campo… Misa Horny… Get it. Sorry. 
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Headlinin': ESPN takes BCS rights from Fox, one more step toward total world domination
from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
• One more piece of the Earth owned by Disney. Fox has decided not to match ESPN's bid to broadcast BCS bowl games when its contract runs out after the 2010 season, so barring a last-second blowup over the Ps and Qs, the Series will move to the Worldwide Leader beginning in 2011. I'm not the biggest Disney/ABC/ESPN fan, to say the least, but compared to Fox's absence from the regular season and completely lost production in the biggest games of the year -- forever defined by endless shots of the Kansas band in the Orange Bowl -- at least the WWL has a clue about putting on a college football game. Just pray Ron Franklin and Chris Spielman get a chance to call a game before Pam Ward and Craig James. • Surprise! I'm fired. Rocky Long "essentially fired himself" as New Mexico's head coach Monday, apparently surprising his alma mater while conceding he did "a terrible job" this season as the Lobos descended to 4-8, and just 2-6 in the Mountain West. From the outside, Long was a sort of folk hero at UNM, rattling off five bowl appearances in the last six years, and is the rare coach to leave Albuquerque with a record even approaching .500 (65-69 over 11 years).
Long says he's still interested in going somewhere else as a defensive coordinator, and terrible job notwithstanding, at least he's willing to assess his performance honestly. In the meantime, the school has to throw a search together from scratch. There's no list or anything, but in a pinch, Long's highly successful predecessor is available.
• Chapel Hill Confidential: The Trial. One of the wildest stories of 2007 was the December arrest of two women and one man in North Carolina accused of tying up, sexually assaulting and robbing Tar Heel football players after a night out, and the first day of testimony on Monday did not disappoint. I could excerpt the entire story, it's so sordid, but here's just a small taste of what's waiting behind that last link:
The only disappointment is that the players in question aren't named, per North Carolina law re: sexual assault victims, though if you dig hard enough, I suspect you can find a message board or two willing to make a guess.
Quickly ... UConn's Randy Edsall continues to insist he is not a candidate for the Syracuse job. ... Jim Harbaugh, heavily linked to the open Oakland Raider job, said he's close to an extension at Stanford. ... Notre Dame's leading receiver, Michael Floyd, is out for the last two games of the regular season with a knee injury. ... Cincinnati has dismissed freshman receiver Nick Truesdell. ... Defenders Jahi Word-Daniels and Vance Walker have improved, physically, but Georgia Tech quarterback Josh Nesbitt is still questionable to play against Miami on Thursday. ... N.C. State defensive end Shea McKeen is out for the season. ... Kentucky defensive end Jeremy Jarmon will undergo knee surgery and probably miss the Wildcats' finale with Tennessee in two weeks. ... After missing the Gophers' game with Wisconsin, Minnesota receiving leader Eric Decker is likely to play against Iowa. ... Michigan's Nick Sheridan is likely to start at quarterback against Ohio State in place of injured Steven Threet, if it makes any difference. Brandon Minor wants to play, too, if they'll let him. ... Are they still talking about Auburn's streak in the Iron Bowl? ... Texas Tech's Rylan Reed isn't intimidated by big crowds. ... And the Eric-Berry-in-the-shotgun meme, revived at regular intervals since the preseason, will never die.
from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
Long says he's still interested in going somewhere else as a defensive coordinator, and terrible job notwithstanding, at least he's willing to assess his performance honestly. In the meantime, the school has to throw a search together from scratch. There's no list or anything, but in a pinch, Long's highly successful predecessor is available.
• Chapel Hill Confidential: The Trial. One of the wildest stories of 2007 was the December arrest of two women and one man in North Carolina accused of tying up, sexually assaulting and robbing Tar Heel football players after a night out, and the first day of testimony on Monday did not disappoint. I could excerpt the entire story, it's so sordid, but here's just a small taste of what's waiting behind that last link:
The other player went down the hall of the apartment in search of the teammate who had come home earlier. He encountered a naked man in the hallway with a kitchen knife, the player said.
The naked man told the player that his teammate was in the bedroom with two women.
The naked man told the player that his teammate was in the bedroom with two women.
Quickly ... UConn's Randy Edsall continues to insist he is not a candidate for the Syracuse job. ... Jim Harbaugh, heavily linked to the open Oakland Raider job, said he's close to an extension at Stanford. ... Notre Dame's leading receiver, Michael Floyd, is out for the last two games of the regular season with a knee injury. ... Cincinnati has dismissed freshman receiver Nick Truesdell. ... Defenders Jahi Word-Daniels and Vance Walker have improved, physically, but Georgia Tech quarterback Josh Nesbitt is still questionable to play against Miami on Thursday. ... N.C. State defensive end Shea McKeen is out for the season. ... Kentucky defensive end Jeremy Jarmon will undergo knee surgery and probably miss the Wildcats' finale with Tennessee in two weeks. ... After missing the Gophers' game with Wisconsin, Minnesota receiving leader Eric Decker is likely to play against Iowa. ... Michigan's Nick Sheridan is likely to start at quarterback against Ohio State in place of injured Steven Threet, if it makes any difference. Brandon Minor wants to play, too, if they'll let him. ... Are they still talking about Auburn's streak in the Iron Bowl? ... Texas Tech's Rylan Reed isn't intimidated by big crowds. ... And the Eric-Berry-in-the-shotgun meme, revived at regular intervals since the preseason, will never die.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Cincinnati players broke the Keg of Nails
from Card Chronicle by Mike Rutherford
I'm going to be completely upfront with you: you should not watch this video.
<embed class="content-block-fix" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-jAmCdPv6pM&hl=en&fs=1" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="never" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344">Popout
The Green Mile, Field of Dreams, Flubber and Tapping the Keg of Nails: the only four moving pictures that have ever made me openly weep in front of other human beings.
from Card Chronicle by Mike Rutherford
I'm going to be completely upfront with you: you should not watch this video.
<embed class="content-block-fix" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-jAmCdPv6pM&hl=en&fs=1" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="never" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344">Popout
The Green Mile, Field of Dreams, Flubber and Tapping the Keg of Nails: the only four moving pictures that have ever made me openly weep in front of other human beings.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Butch Davis Downplays NC State Rivalry, Importance of Anything But Notre Dame Game
from The FanHouse - NCAAfootball
by Will BrinsonFiled under: NC State, UNC, ACC, NCAA FB Coaching, NCAA FB Gossip, NCAA FB Media Watch
NC State football has not been what you would call "great" this year; Russell Wilson has been a pleasant surprise and the team is showing some improvement under Tom O'Brien, particularly as the year closes out, but, yeah, it hasn't been the greatest season for Wolfpack fans.
But that doesn't mean that the game this week against North Carolina has lost any importance -- it actually gives State, with wins already over Wake Forest, Duke and East Carolina -- a shot at "sweeping the state." But, please don't try and tell Tarheel coach Butch Davis that it really matters.
In football, this is very much a huge game, and while it probably hurts to admit as much coming off a loss to Maryland, Butch should probably own up to the fact that Notre Dame would be the worst team he's played all season if he hadn't been so full of foresight as to schedule McNeese St. instead of App.
from The FanHouse - NCAAfootball
by Will BrinsonFiled under: NC State, UNC, ACC, NCAA FB Coaching, NCAA FB Gossip, NCAA FB Media Watch
But that doesn't mean that the game this week against North Carolina has lost any importance -- it actually gives State, with wins already over Wake Forest, Duke and East Carolina -- a shot at "sweeping the state." But, please don't try and tell Tarheel coach Butch Davis that it really matters.
"At the end of the season," North Carolina coach Butch Davis said Monday, "they're all insignificant, it's just the number [of wins]. During the course of the season, certainly there's games -- home games take on more importance than road games sometimes, conference games take on more importance than other games. Marquee games against Notre Dame take on a certain amount.
See, I tend to disagree ... but then again, I'm not <strike>a hired gun just looking for the next marquee job</strike> Butch Davis, so how can I really know? The truth is that for as much as someone like Davis would like to downplay the idea that State and Carolina aren't rivals (there's a distinctly elitist and somewhat delusional approach to this rivalry from the Chapel Hill side), such a meme only exists in the basketball world.
In football, this is very much a huge game, and while it probably hurts to admit as much coming off a loss to Maryland, Butch should probably own up to the fact that Notre Dame would be the worst team he's played all season if he hadn't been so full of foresight as to schedule McNeese St. instead of App.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Florida State's Darius McClure sidelined by the cruel fist of irony
from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
Like most athletes, Florida State safety Darius McClure trusts his body. Here he is earlier this month, screwing around with FSU basketball player Angel Gray during a game of N-O-L-E-S to promote the start of hoops season:
McClure survived that move -- which for yours truly and most other people would qualify as "death defying" -- as well as nearly four years of steady playing time on special teams and defense for the Seminoles without getting seriously hurt; according to his bio, McClure's only missed two games since he was a redshirt freshman. Which only makes the irony of the season/career-ending knee injury he suffered against Boston College Saturday that much more painful:
It's painful for Florida State's secondary, too, which is already without starting safety Myron Rolle for at least half of the Maryland game while Rolle is in Alabama waiting to accept a Rhodes Scholarship, completing what must be the most bizarre circumstances for a depth chart problem in Florida State history: One safety out via jubilation, another via extreme braininess. Even at Bobby Bowden's age, you've never seen it all.
from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
Like most athletes, Florida State safety Darius McClure trusts his body. Here he is earlier this month, screwing around with FSU basketball player Angel Gray during a game of N-O-L-E-S to promote the start of hoops season:
McClure injured his knee against Boston College while celebrating his first career interception. McClure slipped and landed wrong following his celebration jump with Toddrick Verdell.
Ted Ginn and Bill Gramatica welcome you to the club, Darius.
It's painful for Florida State's secondary, too, which is already without starting safety Myron Rolle for at least half of the Maryland game while Rolle is in Alabama waiting to accept a Rhodes Scholarship, completing what must be the most bizarre circumstances for a depth chart problem in Florida State history: One safety out via jubilation, another via extreme braininess. Even at Bobby Bowden's age, you've never seen it all.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Rumors: Steve Spurrier to Retire?
from The FanHouse - NCAAfootball
by Ryan FergusonFiled under: South Carolina, SEC, NCAA FB Coaching, NCAA FB Gossip, NCAA FB Rumors
After the Gamecocks suffered their latest loss under Steve Spurrier -- this being the worst defeat ever suffered by the Visored One -- rumors have begun to circulate that Steve Spurrier could retire after this season.
College Football Talk writes:
FanHouse Gut Feeling<sup>TM</sup>: Not happening.Spurrier is nothing if not a man of his word, and he's said more than once this season that he believes he has another 4-5 years of coaching left -- and that South Carolina is his "last gig." Still, it'd be hard to blame Spurrier if he chose to start focusing more on his golf rather than college football. Since his departure from Florida in 2001, he's gone 12-20 in the NFL and 28-20 at South Carolina, losing more SEC games than he's won (15-17). If anything the SEC has become even more competitive since Spurrier's return; 5 Southeastern Conference teams found themselves ranked among the Top 10 in the early part of the college football season .
Regardless, Steve Spurrier is still the Ole' Ball Coach and is a living legend. South Carolina might be a "hill too far", but we believe Spurrier will continue the fight -- at least for now.
from The FanHouse - NCAAfootball
by Ryan FergusonFiled under: South Carolina, SEC, NCAA FB Coaching, NCAA FB Gossip, NCAA FB Rumors
College Football Talk writes:
We're hearing increasing chatter from our NFL sources that South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier will retire after the 2008 season. Spurrier, 63, was thought to be leaning heavily toward retirement before Saturday's 56-6 debacle against Florida. It's unknown whether the 50-point loss will affect Spurrier's thought processes.
We've also heard that Spurrier is upset that South Carolina officials aren't inclined to give the head coaching job to his son, Steve Spurrier, Jr.
CFT also references an article in which a recruit suggests that he might choose Clemson over South Carolina because he "has a feeling" that Spurrier might retire soon.We've also heard that Spurrier is upset that South Carolina officials aren't inclined to give the head coaching job to his son, Steve Spurrier, Jr.
FanHouse Gut Feeling<sup>TM</sup>: Not happening.Spurrier is nothing if not a man of his word, and he's said more than once this season that he believes he has another 4-5 years of coaching left -- and that South Carolina is his "last gig." Still, it'd be hard to blame Spurrier if he chose to start focusing more on his golf rather than college football. Since his departure from Florida in 2001, he's gone 12-20 in the NFL and 28-20 at South Carolina, losing more SEC games than he's won (15-17). If anything the SEC has become even more competitive since Spurrier's return; 5 Southeastern Conference teams found themselves ranked among the Top 10 in the early part of the college football season .
Regardless, Steve Spurrier is still the Ole' Ball Coach and is a living legend. South Carolina might be a "hill too far", but we believe Spurrier will continue the fight -- at least for now.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Who replaces Greg Robinson as the country's easiest target?
from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
Greg Robinson's ouster at Syracuse leaves a void in the nation's coaching ranks: most obvious hatchet job. Robinson took over a proud program and ran it instantly into the worst four-year ship wreck in its history, an unmitigated disaster in every way, at every turn, that never hinted at the possibility of a turnaround. With Robinson gone, the race is on to find his successor in futility.I'm not talking about Dennis Franchione/Karl Dorrell/Bill Callahan bad, the kind that occasionally breaks out for a big upset or a middling bowl game that buys another year and a brigade of defenders. I mean an immediate transition from competence to the kind of embarrassing, irredeemable collapse that can't be squared with anything that's happened on campus for the last 100 years, the kind that throws the entire fan base into perpetual death watch for virtually the length of the coach's tenure. I mean names that they might end up telling ghost stories about. Only a few guys still have that kind of potential at places that care:
Mike Sherman Texas A&M. The perfect storm of doom. In so many ways, Sherman at A&M is Greg Robinson at Syracuse: An NFL success taking over the helm of a second-tier power fed up with mediocrity, and immediately driving it to disaster. Sherman lost his first game to Arkansas State; nearly three months later, his Aggies were lucky to add a couple late, meaningless touchdowns Saturday that let them get out of Baylor with only a 20-point loss. A&M historically plays third fiddle regionally to Texas and Oklahoma, especially in recruiting, and has only succeeded nationally in the brief intervals (like the late nineties, for example) when one or both of those programs is down. Now is not one of those times, and TAMU has fallen well behind the offensive revolutions at Texas Tech, Missouri and Oklahoma State, Presented by T. Boone Pickens. The team is ranked 100th or worse in every possible defensive category and has no discernible upside at the moment.
Rich Rodriguez Michigan. I've been riding Brian Cook's Rodriguez bandwagon from the moment Rod put on his Michigan sailor's cap, even through most of this disastrous season, including the losses to Toledo and Purdue. It's an incredibly young team, full of freshmen and young, bad quarterbacks, very much like Notre Dame in 2007, and like this year's still-maturing Irish, the Wolverines should be back in bowl territory next year, and stay there. Rodriguez's exceptional track record at Tulane, Clemson and West Virginia guarantees he'll get three years in Ann Arbor, minimum; after rocky starts at all of three of his previous stops, he left riding the crest of some of the highest-ranked teams in school history.
But his patience in public has grown thinner with each successive loss, and he seems close to the end of his rope. You cannot, for example, under any circumstances, tell Michigan fans to "get a life" for writing things about the worst team in school history on the Internet. Michigan Football is a defining association for thousands of people, whose investment in it -- first emotional, then financial -- pays Rodriguez's enormous salary. The record loss total should be cut in half in '09, or fans' patience -- those that still have any after enduring the current season from hell -- will be.
Paul Wulff Washington State. Such an easy target right now, it's not even fun. It's not a fair fight. It's not like anyone expected Washington State to be any good, but this kind of disaster -- the Cougars are losing Pac-10 games by an average of seven touchdowns and rank in the bottom five nationally in rushing offense, total offense, scoring offense, rushing defense, scoring defense, turnover margin, pass efficiency and sacks allowed -- is past rock bottom. It's like, embedded deep into the rock at the bottom, soon to be fossilized for the amazement of future gridiron archaeologists, who will speculate over the myriad causes of death.
The good news: WSU's historical standards are low enough that it can afford to be patient, and there is nowhere to go but up. The bad news: At any normal rate of "up," the Cougars still won't crack four wins during the first Obama administration.
Steve Kragthorpe Louisville. Took over a defending top-five, Orange Bowl winner with a likely first round draft pick at quarterback. Lost to Syracuse two years in a row. Likely losses to West Virginia and Rutgers will leave the Cardinals alongside 'Cuse in last place in the Big East, bowl-less for the second year in a row and on track to bounce Krags sometime after falling out of bowl eligibility in 2009. And to think, they probably could have hired Brian Kelly instead.
Gene Chizik Iowa State. ISU is historically terrible -- the Cyclones haven't won a conference championship since sharing the Missouri Valley crown in 1912. But Dan McCarney, amid a few desperate seasons, at least got ISU to seven wins on a semi-regular basis (five out of six years from 2000-05). A loss at Kansas State Saturday will drop Chizik to 5-19, well below even the low, low standard set by ISU's .historical winning percentage of .463 through 2006 (or even the .408 percentage since 1950). Whatever football pride the Cyclones have, regressing to 0-8 in the Big 12 in Year Two of a rebuilding job certainly offends it.
from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
Mike Sherman Texas A&M. The perfect storm of doom. In so many ways, Sherman at A&M is Greg Robinson at Syracuse: An NFL success taking over the helm of a second-tier power fed up with mediocrity, and immediately driving it to disaster. Sherman lost his first game to Arkansas State; nearly three months later, his Aggies were lucky to add a couple late, meaningless touchdowns Saturday that let them get out of Baylor with only a 20-point loss. A&M historically plays third fiddle regionally to Texas and Oklahoma, especially in recruiting, and has only succeeded nationally in the brief intervals (like the late nineties, for example) when one or both of those programs is down. Now is not one of those times, and TAMU has fallen well behind the offensive revolutions at Texas Tech, Missouri and Oklahoma State, Presented by T. Boone Pickens. The team is ranked 100th or worse in every possible defensive category and has no discernible upside at the moment.
Rich Rodriguez Michigan. I've been riding Brian Cook's Rodriguez bandwagon from the moment Rod put on his Michigan sailor's cap, even through most of this disastrous season, including the losses to Toledo and Purdue. It's an incredibly young team, full of freshmen and young, bad quarterbacks, very much like Notre Dame in 2007, and like this year's still-maturing Irish, the Wolverines should be back in bowl territory next year, and stay there. Rodriguez's exceptional track record at Tulane, Clemson and West Virginia guarantees he'll get three years in Ann Arbor, minimum; after rocky starts at all of three of his previous stops, he left riding the crest of some of the highest-ranked teams in school history.
But his patience in public has grown thinner with each successive loss, and he seems close to the end of his rope. You cannot, for example, under any circumstances, tell Michigan fans to "get a life" for writing things about the worst team in school history on the Internet. Michigan Football is a defining association for thousands of people, whose investment in it -- first emotional, then financial -- pays Rodriguez's enormous salary. The record loss total should be cut in half in '09, or fans' patience -- those that still have any after enduring the current season from hell -- will be.
The good news: WSU's historical standards are low enough that it can afford to be patient, and there is nowhere to go but up. The bad news: At any normal rate of "up," the Cougars still won't crack four wins during the first Obama administration.
Steve Kragthorpe Louisville. Took over a defending top-five, Orange Bowl winner with a likely first round draft pick at quarterback. Lost to Syracuse two years in a row. Likely losses to West Virginia and Rutgers will leave the Cardinals alongside 'Cuse in last place in the Big East, bowl-less for the second year in a row and on track to bounce Krags sometime after falling out of bowl eligibility in 2009. And to think, they probably could have hired Brian Kelly instead.
Gene Chizik Iowa State. ISU is historically terrible -- the Cyclones haven't won a conference championship since sharing the Missouri Valley crown in 1912. But Dan McCarney, amid a few desperate seasons, at least got ISU to seven wins on a semi-regular basis (five out of six years from 2000-05). A loss at Kansas State Saturday will drop Chizik to 5-19, well below even the low, low standard set by ISU's .historical winning percentage of .463 through 2006 (or even the .408 percentage since 1950). Whatever football pride the Cyclones have, regressing to 0-8 in the Big 12 in Year Two of a rebuilding job certainly offends it.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Sam McGuffie, Others Leaving Team
from mgoblog by Brian
There will be significant attrition this offseason. The first to fall:
EVERYBODY PANIC.
Okay. Done panicking? Some context for this information:
How solid is it? Very solid. Three sources very close to the situation.
How official is it? It is not official until it is official. Earlier this year I said freshman RB Mike Cox was transferring based on equally solid info, but Cox reversed course and decided to stick out the year. Until someone actually enrolls somewhere else there is always the chance for a reconciliation.
Is this the end of it? No. The rumors are flying fast and furious about a couple guys buried on the depth chart; I don't have confirmation on anyone else and at this point I think they're still on the fence.
from mgoblog by Brian
There will be significant attrition this offseason. The first to fall:
In today’s weekly Big Ten teleconference, Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said sophomore Zion Babb was no longer with the team. Rodriguez said the wide receiver hasn’t been with the team since Sunday.
So… yeah. I was sitting on this until I had some outside confirmation and this serves as outside confirmation since three guys were mentioned as a group of players who had already made their decisions. The other two who have told the coaches they are out: sophomore LB/S Artis Chambers and Sam McGuffie.
EVERYBODY PANIC.
Okay. Done panicking? Some context for this information:
How solid is it? Very solid. Three sources very close to the situation.
How official is it? It is not official until it is official. Earlier this year I said freshman RB Mike Cox was transferring based on equally solid info, but Cox reversed course and decided to stick out the year. Until someone actually enrolls somewhere else there is always the chance for a reconciliation.
Is this the end of it? No. The rumors are flying fast and furious about a couple guys buried on the depth chart; I don't have confirmation on anyone else and at this point I think they're still on the fence.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
YES, PANIC. PANIC IS APPROPRIATE.
from Every Day Should Be Saturday by Orson Swindle
The promised transfer panic begins at Michigan. Everybody panic, indeed. Sam McGuffie, midget white running back, should consider transferring to Florida so that we may diversify our shades of tiny quarkbacks. (Honkie=”strange,” for your quark categories.)
McGuffie, seen here in an early photo from MGoBlog, is allegedly looking to take his Dragonball Z toys elsewhere.
This will be cited as further evidence of the disastrous trajectory of the Michigan program, proof Rich Rodriguez should NEVAH HAVE LEFT WEST VIRGINNY COCK MOUTH TRAITOR, and so on and so on. This is presumptuous, and further proof that Michigan fans happen to be hapless virgins when it comes to programmatic chaos.
Ask an Alabama fan: this shit is nothing. You’ll all be fine.
from Every Day Should Be Saturday by Orson Swindle
The promised transfer panic begins at Michigan. Everybody panic, indeed. Sam McGuffie, midget white running back, should consider transferring to Florida so that we may diversify our shades of tiny quarkbacks. (Honkie=”strange,” for your quark categories.)
McGuffie, seen here in an early photo from MGoBlog, is allegedly looking to take his Dragonball Z toys elsewhere.
This will be cited as further evidence of the disastrous trajectory of the Michigan program, proof Rich Rodriguez should NEVAH HAVE LEFT WEST VIRGINNY COCK MOUTH TRAITOR, and so on and so on. This is presumptuous, and further proof that Michigan fans happen to be hapless virgins when it comes to programmatic chaos.
Ask an Alabama fan: this shit is nothing. You’ll all be fine.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Weis to retain play-calling
<!--END Headline--> <!--Extra Eyebrow Field--> <!--ArticleByline--> By JEFF CARROLL
Tribune Staff Writer
<!--Extra Break if needed--> <!----> Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis will call offensive plays for the rest of the regular season, encompassing games against Syracuse and USC, he announced at his Tuesday press conference.
Weis explained that offensive coordinator Mike Haywood would miss practice this week, prior to Saturday's home contest against Syracuse, for "personal reasons."
"Personal reasons that I support," Weis added.
Weis had taken over the play calls a week ago while Haywood dealt with the death of a 24-year-old cousin back home in Houston. Weis, at Haywood's request, declined to elaborate on whether this week's personal issues are related to last week's.
Weis called plays for his first three seasons at Notre Dame, but surrendered those duties before this season in order to concentrate more on the entire program operation. Last week, in a 27-21 victory over Navy, the Irish ran for 230 yards. However, quarterback Jimmy Clausen's recent interception issues continued, as he threw two first half interceptions to keep the Midshipmen in the game.
"I felt very comfortable doing it," Weis said. "I think the easiest thing for me to do was to come in at halftime and do what we needed to do to win the game. When you're involved in play-calling, that's easier to do than when you're not involved in the play-calling."
Notre Dame will be facing a Syracuse team that has mostly struggled this season. The Orange are 2-8, and head coach Greg Robinson's firing, effective at the end of this season, was announced over the weekend after a loss to UConn.
This week promises to be a calmer week around the Notre Dame program, following a week in which Weis' job status was a matter of rampant speculation. The Irish were coming off a 17-0 loss at Boston College a week ago, which came after a devastating second-half collapse at home against Pitt.
The victory over Navy seems to have calmed the waters for now, though Weis said he didn't feel it necessary to make a big deal of the controversy surrounding him a week ago.
Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said last week that he will not make it a habit to evaluate coaches in midseason, but didn't consider Weis to be in any danger.
"Because the media says it doesn't mean there's any fact to it," Weis said. "That's not being disrespectful. Sometimes speculation is conjecture."
With wide receiver Michael Floyd unavailable with a knee injury this week, Weis won't be able to turn to junior George West, who has had his knee scoped and is out. Weis also said that he would not consider using freshman wide receivers Deion Walker and John Goodman, who have not played this season and still retain the possibility of a fifth year of eligibility.
Weis also said senior cornerback Terrail Lambert would be "doubtful" for action this week. Lambert, who has started 32 games in his Notre Dame career, missed last week's game at Navy with a leg injury. He was replaced by freshman Robert Blanton.
<!--END Headline--> <!--Extra Eyebrow Field--> <!--ArticleByline--> By JEFF CARROLL
Tribune Staff Writer
<!--Extra Break if needed--> <!----> Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis will call offensive plays for the rest of the regular season, encompassing games against Syracuse and USC, he announced at his Tuesday press conference.
Weis explained that offensive coordinator Mike Haywood would miss practice this week, prior to Saturday's home contest against Syracuse, for "personal reasons."
"Personal reasons that I support," Weis added.
Weis had taken over the play calls a week ago while Haywood dealt with the death of a 24-year-old cousin back home in Houston. Weis, at Haywood's request, declined to elaborate on whether this week's personal issues are related to last week's.
Weis called plays for his first three seasons at Notre Dame, but surrendered those duties before this season in order to concentrate more on the entire program operation. Last week, in a 27-21 victory over Navy, the Irish ran for 230 yards. However, quarterback Jimmy Clausen's recent interception issues continued, as he threw two first half interceptions to keep the Midshipmen in the game.
"I felt very comfortable doing it," Weis said. "I think the easiest thing for me to do was to come in at halftime and do what we needed to do to win the game. When you're involved in play-calling, that's easier to do than when you're not involved in the play-calling."
Notre Dame will be facing a Syracuse team that has mostly struggled this season. The Orange are 2-8, and head coach Greg Robinson's firing, effective at the end of this season, was announced over the weekend after a loss to UConn.
This week promises to be a calmer week around the Notre Dame program, following a week in which Weis' job status was a matter of rampant speculation. The Irish were coming off a 17-0 loss at Boston College a week ago, which came after a devastating second-half collapse at home against Pitt.
The victory over Navy seems to have calmed the waters for now, though Weis said he didn't feel it necessary to make a big deal of the controversy surrounding him a week ago.
Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said last week that he will not make it a habit to evaluate coaches in midseason, but didn't consider Weis to be in any danger.
"Because the media says it doesn't mean there's any fact to it," Weis said. "That's not being disrespectful. Sometimes speculation is conjecture."
With wide receiver Michael Floyd unavailable with a knee injury this week, Weis won't be able to turn to junior George West, who has had his knee scoped and is out. Weis also said that he would not consider using freshman wide receivers Deion Walker and John Goodman, who have not played this season and still retain the possibility of a fifth year of eligibility.
Weis also said senior cornerback Terrail Lambert would be "doubtful" for action this week. Lambert, who has started 32 games in his Notre Dame career, missed last week's game at Navy with a leg injury. He was replaced by freshman Robert Blanton.
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Megan Fox renders me speechless
Seriously, is there a hotter woman in the universe than Megan Fox? Back in September I said that Megan Fox in a bikini was "out of this world." Now come these "outtakes" from that GQ photo shoot and really, I don't even have the words to describe how ridiculously hot she is...
Sweet mother of all that is holy...
Megan Fox renders me speechless
Seriously, is there a hotter woman in the universe than Megan Fox? Back in September I said that Megan Fox in a bikini was "out of this world." Now come these "outtakes" from that GQ photo shoot and really, I don't even have the words to describe how ridiculously hot she is...
Sweet mother of all that is holy...
RJ Esq
Prick Since 1974
DISAPPOINTMENT HAS A FLAVOR: FOUR
from Every Day Should Be Saturday by Orson Swindle
Part one of Disappointment Has a Flavor is here. You’ll be disappointed it it, no doubt.
West Virginia/Boyfriend-Girlfriend-Spouse of Convenience. If you’ve ever known true love, it is horrible, horrible, horrible. It makes you say and do very stupid things. It makes you allocate goods and service in unimaginable ways. It controls you in a manner slaves would deem “bitchmade.” Being in love is like receiving instructions from the Mysterons, only you aren’t rendered bulletproof in the effort, but instead are twice as vulnerable to everything afterwards.
Still, love is preferable to the rebound, or the girl/boy/friend or spouse of convenience. And with that said, for no reason at all, we discuss the fourth most disappointing team of 2008, West Virginia.
Rollback all initial fears of complete and utter incompetence. Bill Stewart had problems with coaches’ friend TIMEOUT early in the season, and most took this to be a harbinger of horrors to come. (The royal ourselves included.) Snafus with clock management at Colorado followed the unqualified ass-branding they took from East Carolina, and it seemed like the inevitable collapse of WVU post-Rodriguez into the morass of the Big East basement.
Then, suddenly, West Virginia began playing with some measure of consistency. If you look at the schedule, the Mountaineers popped out five wins in a row against some decent competition, including UConn, Auburn on national television on a Thursday night, and Rutgers, a team proven to be unhorrible now that Mike Teel has decided to play with his contacts in for all four quarters. On paper, even when you factor in a loss to Cincy (a likely Big East champ at this point) it doesn’t reek.
This is about disappointment, though, a state impossible without the contrast of earlier, greater expectations.
You had hopes despite the new management, which wasn’t really new management, but rather promoted management, as if West Virginia had, in a fit of indecision, despair, and loneliness post-breakup had decided not to test the market, but instead went directly for the meh but sweet friend of your ex who always seemed to like you well enough, and who had decent credit, all of her teeth, and the kind of “Can-do” attitude people not obviously rich, gifted, handsome, or intelligent have to have to survive.
He also kept what was left of the staff together, a fine move from the start. What Stewart didn’t mess with is fine, as Jeff Casteel’s defense is 20th in the nation despite personnel losses from 2007, and has kept the Mountaineers competitive in all of their games save East Carolina. Nothing was broken there, and sometimes doing nothing is the best decision a manager can make.
(When the record of the season is writ, please note the astonishing boomlet and subsequent bust of ECU early in the season, and let it not be forgotten. They came out shredding before imploding at Houston and NC State, returning to equilibrium with an audible thump to C-USA status.)
The muddling and disappointment came on offense, where Bill Stewart chose Jeff Mullen of Wake Forest as the offensive coordinator, insisted on more balance out of the West Virginia offense, and took last year’s 15th best offense in the nation and drove into the earth of the bottom half of offensive performance nationally. The Mountaineers are ranked 70th in total offense, mostly because Stewart both believes in two of the hoariest and least-substantiated of football nostrums:
a.) that running quarterbacks get hurt more than drop-back passers, and
b.) that “balance” is a virtue unto itself in offense
To wit:
Stewart believes that step will be made with the introduction of more passing….The downside is what happened in the Mountaineers’ two losses this past season. White got hurt: a bruised quad in the 21-13 loss at South Florida, and the aforementioned thumb against Pittsburgh.
“Patrick White running the ball 197 times?” Stewart said.
He knocked on his desk and followed by knocking on his skull. This did not make a hollow sound. We’re sure the reporter would have mentioned this. If they didn’t, shame—ed.
“Living on the edge. My God, I pray that boy doesn’t ever get hurt. We’re living on the edge.”
This season more passing has equaled fewer yards for White through the air, actually, since an offense as successful as WVU’s on the ground has no need for increased passing. Also, White may have missed games due to injury, but quarterbacks miss time due to injury all over the place regardless of system, and no one has ever systematically proven that qbs lose more time in run-first systems than in pass-first system.
In fact, there may be more of an argument to the idea of running quarterbacks having an advantage due to their ability to inflict punishment and transfer force rather than absorbing it. The safest system currently operating is Leach’s Air Raid, btw; Graham Harrell has thrown the ball 1,256 times in three years without losing a start. Pirates, yes; clean pirates, double yes.
Digressions on faulty football theory aside, the meddling with an extant effective offensive system and the occasional outbreaks of confusion on the sidelines have been the primary complaints of West Virginia fans, who see Noel Devine, Jock Sanders, Dorrell Jalloh, and Pat White on the depth chart and expect instant thirty point-spots on the board. With the talent available, that is not an unreasonable request, and the bitter gap between those expectations and the orbit-sweeping reality of Wake Forest’s offense imposed on the former spread ‘n shred is the source of any and all griping about the first year of the Bill Stewart era.
That glimpse into the future is also the source of that ball of dread sitting between your ribs and stomach, Mountaineer fan. You suspect they’ll never be as pretty as the previous, or as hot, or as beautiful from stem to stern, never worthy of the madness of absolute amour fou. In all likelihood, you’re right, and it hurts to admit.
But…but she/he does the dishes, and never cuts you off in mid-sentence! Really, what was so great about that other person anyway, the one who smelled so…good…and who cheated on you, yes…but what were we saying? About a preseason top ten ranking in both the coaches poll and the AP? [/cries uncontrollably, puts on "I'll Follow You Into the Dark."]
from Every Day Should Be Saturday by Orson Swindle
Part one of Disappointment Has a Flavor is here. You’ll be disappointed it it, no doubt.
West Virginia/Boyfriend-Girlfriend-Spouse of Convenience. If you’ve ever known true love, it is horrible, horrible, horrible. It makes you say and do very stupid things. It makes you allocate goods and service in unimaginable ways. It controls you in a manner slaves would deem “bitchmade.” Being in love is like receiving instructions from the Mysterons, only you aren’t rendered bulletproof in the effort, but instead are twice as vulnerable to everything afterwards.
Still, love is preferable to the rebound, or the girl/boy/friend or spouse of convenience. And with that said, for no reason at all, we discuss the fourth most disappointing team of 2008, West Virginia.
Rollback all initial fears of complete and utter incompetence. Bill Stewart had problems with coaches’ friend TIMEOUT early in the season, and most took this to be a harbinger of horrors to come. (The royal ourselves included.) Snafus with clock management at Colorado followed the unqualified ass-branding they took from East Carolina, and it seemed like the inevitable collapse of WVU post-Rodriguez into the morass of the Big East basement.
Then, suddenly, West Virginia began playing with some measure of consistency. If you look at the schedule, the Mountaineers popped out five wins in a row against some decent competition, including UConn, Auburn on national television on a Thursday night, and Rutgers, a team proven to be unhorrible now that Mike Teel has decided to play with his contacts in for all four quarters. On paper, even when you factor in a loss to Cincy (a likely Big East champ at this point) it doesn’t reek.
This is about disappointment, though, a state impossible without the contrast of earlier, greater expectations.
You had hopes despite the new management, which wasn’t really new management, but rather promoted management, as if West Virginia had, in a fit of indecision, despair, and loneliness post-breakup had decided not to test the market, but instead went directly for the meh but sweet friend of your ex who always seemed to like you well enough, and who had decent credit, all of her teeth, and the kind of “Can-do” attitude people not obviously rich, gifted, handsome, or intelligent have to have to survive.
He also kept what was left of the staff together, a fine move from the start. What Stewart didn’t mess with is fine, as Jeff Casteel’s defense is 20th in the nation despite personnel losses from 2007, and has kept the Mountaineers competitive in all of their games save East Carolina. Nothing was broken there, and sometimes doing nothing is the best decision a manager can make.
(When the record of the season is writ, please note the astonishing boomlet and subsequent bust of ECU early in the season, and let it not be forgotten. They came out shredding before imploding at Houston and NC State, returning to equilibrium with an audible thump to C-USA status.)
The muddling and disappointment came on offense, where Bill Stewart chose Jeff Mullen of Wake Forest as the offensive coordinator, insisted on more balance out of the West Virginia offense, and took last year’s 15th best offense in the nation and drove into the earth of the bottom half of offensive performance nationally. The Mountaineers are ranked 70th in total offense, mostly because Stewart both believes in two of the hoariest and least-substantiated of football nostrums:
a.) that running quarterbacks get hurt more than drop-back passers, and
b.) that “balance” is a virtue unto itself in offense
To wit:
Stewart believes that step will be made with the introduction of more passing….The downside is what happened in the Mountaineers’ two losses this past season. White got hurt: a bruised quad in the 21-13 loss at South Florida, and the aforementioned thumb against Pittsburgh.
“Patrick White running the ball 197 times?” Stewart said.
He knocked on his desk and followed by knocking on his skull. This did not make a hollow sound. We’re sure the reporter would have mentioned this. If they didn’t, shame—ed.
“Living on the edge. My God, I pray that boy doesn’t ever get hurt. We’re living on the edge.”
This season more passing has equaled fewer yards for White through the air, actually, since an offense as successful as WVU’s on the ground has no need for increased passing. Also, White may have missed games due to injury, but quarterbacks miss time due to injury all over the place regardless of system, and no one has ever systematically proven that qbs lose more time in run-first systems than in pass-first system.
In fact, there may be more of an argument to the idea of running quarterbacks having an advantage due to their ability to inflict punishment and transfer force rather than absorbing it. The safest system currently operating is Leach’s Air Raid, btw; Graham Harrell has thrown the ball 1,256 times in three years without losing a start. Pirates, yes; clean pirates, double yes.
Digressions on faulty football theory aside, the meddling with an extant effective offensive system and the occasional outbreaks of confusion on the sidelines have been the primary complaints of West Virginia fans, who see Noel Devine, Jock Sanders, Dorrell Jalloh, and Pat White on the depth chart and expect instant thirty point-spots on the board. With the talent available, that is not an unreasonable request, and the bitter gap between those expectations and the orbit-sweeping reality of Wake Forest’s offense imposed on the former spread ‘n shred is the source of any and all griping about the first year of the Bill Stewart era.
That glimpse into the future is also the source of that ball of dread sitting between your ribs and stomach, Mountaineer fan. You suspect they’ll never be as pretty as the previous, or as hot, or as beautiful from stem to stern, never worthy of the madness of absolute amour fou. In all likelihood, you’re right, and it hurts to admit.
But…but she/he does the dishes, and never cuts you off in mid-sentence! Really, what was so great about that other person anyway, the one who smelled so…good…and who cheated on you, yes…but what were we saying? About a preseason top ten ranking in both the coaches poll and the AP? [/cries uncontrollably, puts on "I'll Follow You Into the Dark."]
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