Archive for category college football

Hey Florida State, SHADDUP!

Posted by klownboy in college football, sports blogging on May 16, 2012

Florida State has been rumored to leave the Atlantic Coast Conference for the Big 12, and things have really heated up the last few days.

FSU’s chairman of the Board of Trustees poured gasoline on the flame when he opened up his yap over the ACC’s new contract with ESPN.  Head football coach Jimbo Fisher didn’t help put out the flames with his initial comments in saying that FSU needed to do what was in its best interest.

Look, having grown up in ACC country I know that the ACC is more of a basketball league than a football league.  I have written MANY times (check the archives) that the ACC had a chance to be a good football league, only to let me down time and time again.

I also know that the ACC did the best it could given the fact that it is frankly a JV-level football conference.  The ACC knew it was at a disadvantage when it renegotiated its contract with ESPN.  We all knew it and more importantly, ESPN knew it.

And I pin the cause of the ACC’s diminished cachet as a football conference on one thing: Florida State (and to an extent, Miami).

Let’s be real about one thing, FSU is not that good anymore.  I could mention the fact that it hasn’t won the ACC since 2005, but let me point out other more important FSU fallacies:

  • FSU has lost four out of its last six games to Wake Forest – WAKE FOREST!
  • FSU lost six out of its last nine games to Clemson.
  • Since 2005, FSU has lost AT LEAST four games per season.

The ACC brought in FSU (and Miami) to enhance its football profile.  If anything, FSU (and Miami) has made it worse.  So instead of clowning the ACC, the FSU brass should look in the mirror and say the following:

“We’re not good enough, we’re not cool enough.  And got-dammit, people know we suck…”

So, FSU can go to crying to the Big 12 if it is about the $$$ (and it obviously is).  FSU can also run to the Big 12 if it makes them feel as important as U. of Florida.

All of this could have avoided if the Florida State Seminoles did what it was supposed to do the last few seasons – WIN MORE GAMES…

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No Props Should Be Given to Arkansas AD

Posted by klownboy in college football, sports blogging on April 11, 2012

Arkansas AD Jeff Long has been universally praised in the media for breaking of football coach Bobby Petrino.  “Long did the right thing” said a few of the college football writers at ESPN.

However, I think a lot of those writers need a good dose of something called “perspective”.

Keep in mind that Long is the same AD who hired Petrino away from the Atlanta Falcons DURING THEIR SEASON.  If that wasn’t bad enough, Long did so without asking permission to speak to Petrino.

Plus, I find it hard to believe that Long did not know of Petrino’s past transgressions.  After all, this is the same Petrino who secretly flirted with Auburn while former coach Tommy Tuberville was still employed there.  And of course there was that Atlanta Falcons “thing”.

So while I am shocked that Long and the University of Arkansas did fire Petrino, I’m not overly impressed.  Long knew he hired a scumbag, so why the need to act all indignant and shed a few crocodile tears at the press conference yesterday?

The late George Carlin said it best: 

“You can’t build your house at the base of a volcano, and then wake up and wonder why there is lava in your living room.”

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Bobby Petrino Will not Be Fired Folks…

Posted by klownboy in college football, sports blogging on April 6, 2012

AP

I’m sure you all have heard about Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino’s motorcycle accident and alleged humping around with football “assistant” Jessica Dorrell.

A lot of people – sports media members and fans – are calling for Petrino’s job.  Meanwhile, this story has legs and is starting to get seedier and more scandalous by the minute.

First, let me pose the following questions.  Is Petrino a scumbag? 

You bet your ass he is. 

Is he getting the deserved karma from what he did to the Atlanta Falcons a few years back?  You bet your SWEET ass he is.

And while I take no pleasure of being a “Debbie Downer”, I would like to introduce you all to a friend named “reality”.  And that reality is this: Petrino will not be fired because he has won a lot of games for Arkansas and has them relevant in college football again.

Petrino’s record at Arkansas is 21-5 over the last two seasons and was a loss away from playing in the SEC championship game.  Arkansas can now recruit NATIONWIDE thanks to Petrino’s success.  Boosters have pumped millions of dollars into the football program, also the result of Petrino’s success.

Let’s put it this way - if the athletic director and chancellor fire Petrino, the boosters will make sure that the university will have a new AD and chancellor. 

The lesson to be learned is two-fold.  First no matter how seedy and slimy the coach, if the dude wins he is not going ANYWHERE.  Second, sex (and Father Time) is, and will always be, undefeated and untied.

Period, end of discussion.

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Paterno Legacy Unclear

Posted by klownboy in college football, sports blogging on January 23, 2012

The legendary, famous – or depending who you talk to, “infamous” – Penn State football coach Joe Paterno died over the weekend at age 85 from complications from lung cancer.

This is sad for a variety of reasons.

First, his death comes on the heels of a sex abuse scandal that drug Paterno’s previous good name through the mud, and deservedly so.  He failed to follow up on allegations of sex abuse on a minor (a little boy) committed by his former lieutenant Jerry Sandusky.  Either Paterno should have fired Sandusky or reported him to law enforcement HIMSELF, not just sending it up the chain of command (who later sat on the allegations and did nothing).  After all, he’s Joe Freaking Paterno – he ran Penn State, not the athletic director nor the president.

Second, that scandal has tarnished what should have been a memorable legacy.  Before the scandal, Paterno was known for what was right about college football.  He never had the NCAA snoop around his program.  He ran a clean, tight ship that had most of his players graduate.

Paterno really cared about academics.  He donated money he earned from advertisements and bonuses to various departments on campus, notably the campus library that bears his name.

So of all of the good Paterno has done for Penn State and college football in general, it’s a shame that this sex abuse scandal ruined his good name.  It should serve as another reason why Sandusky should be thrown UNDER the jail.

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BCS Title Game Proved Alabama, not Oklahoma State, Was Deserving

Posted by klownboy in college football, sports blogging on January 10, 2012

So much for the notion of a team not being able to compete for the BCS championship because it didn’t win its own conference.

Alabama won it’s second national championship in three seasons by crushing previously unbeaten LSU 21-0 at the last night in New Orleans.

I do not know what was more impressive: Alabama spanking LSU the way it did or the fact that Alabama did so in what was considered a home game for LSU.  I mean sure ‘Bama fans traveled well to the game last night, but make no mistake New Orleans is LSU country through and through.

Last night’s game also signaled just how strong a football conference the Southeastern Conference is.  Sure Alabama didn’t win the SEC (LSU did).  Hell it didn’t even win the SEC West (again, LSU did).  I just do not think it is fair to penalize Alabama because it plays in by far the best conference in college football.  Alabama and LSU were head and shoulders the best two teams in the country, the final score notwithstanding.

And to you Oklahoma State fans who STILL feel that your team should have been given a chance: enough.  You had a chance during the regular season, but you lost to Iowa State.  And I do not care if you were dealing with a horrific plane crash, it’s not an excuse for the Cowboys to lay an egg with so much on the line.  That’s like Alabama or LSU losing to Vanderbilt – that (spit) shouldn’t happen.

Plus, giving up 38 points to Stanford does not prove you are the best either.  Hell Oklahoma State may have given up 50 to either Alabama or LSU.

As I said in an earlier rant, the BCS done its job.  The two best teams in the country played last night.

Congrats to Alabama for being the best team in college football.  Congrats to the SEC for being the dominant league (again).

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O’Brien Hire Signals the End of Penn State Football

Posted by klownboy in college football, sports blogging on January 6, 2012

It has gone from bad to worse for Penn State football.

Penn State hired Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien this afternoon, drawing the ire of Penn State alums and former football players.  Former Penn State running back D.J. Dozier said he was upset to hear about O’Brien’s hiring.  Lavar Arrington sounded off in rather colorful fashion.

“I will put my Butkus (Award) in storage. I will put my Alamo Bowl MVP trophy in storage,” Arrington said. “Jerseys, anything Penn State, in storage. Wherever Tom Bradley goes, that’s the school I will start to put memorabilia up in my home. I’m done. I’m done with Penn State. If they’re done with us, I’m done with them.”

Why are the masses pissed you ask?  Let us count the ways:

  • O’Brien has never been a head coach on ANY level.
  • O’Brien is not a Penn State alum.
  • He played at Brown University, Joe Paterno’s alma mater (shouldn’t the bar at Penn State be higher than that?).
  • The former players and influential alums hated the hire (did I mention that already?).

Look, this is not to bash on O’Brien.  I’m sure he’s a nice guy – and may do a good job at Penn State.  But doesn’t Penn State have the pull to get an experienced retread to coach football, even if he is not a big name?

This reeks of desperation on Penn State’s part.  The Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal left the football program in shambles, Penn State is desperate for ANYONE to coach its team.  Hell, they couldn’t even get the Tennessee Titans’ head football coach to come aboard.  So  Penn State basically hired a guy on the strength of this:

I think this is going to go badly for Penn State.  What kid would want to play for O’Brien and his non-coaching background?  Bad enough the school allowed a child molester to coach there and hang around the program for decades.

Now they have hired the second coming of Charlie Weiss.

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ACC Football STILL not Ready for Prime Time

Posted by klownboy in college football, sports blogging on January 5, 2012

Sigh…

The more I keep typing rants on ACC football, the more delirious I become.  I tried to be more positive on the ACC’s progress on football here and here.

Not only did the Atlantic Coast Conference finish the bowl season with a stellar 2-5 record, but it went 0-2 in the BCS bowl games.  None were more embarrassing than the  70-33 ass-whupping West Virginia – that’s right, a Big East school – but on the Clemson Tigers in the Orange Bowl.

Given that the ACC champion Tigers lost to the Big East champs by over 30 and allowed 70 points in the process, it’s safe to say that the Big East has now passed over the ACC in the football totem pole.

Boy, do I feel like a dumbass.

Just like my tortured love affair with my alma mater NC State football and basketball programs, I will never, EVER, over-hype ACC football again.  I should have learned my damn lesson.

 

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Ohio State Ruling Proves NCAA Is a Joke

Posted by klownboy in college football, sports blogging on December 20, 2011

So let me get this straight…

A university where its former coach (Jim Tressel) was cited for failing to report infractions got a one-year bowl ban.  The same university where some of its players sold memorabilia and said former coach allowed ineligible players to compete in the 2010 season, including in the Sugar Bowl.

A bowl ban?  Just ONE bowl ban?

That is such bull(spit).

Sure there is this “reductions of scholarships” thing.  And the school did impose its own sanctions – the scholarship reductions, vacating wins, and giving back money for bowl appearances.

But just ONE bowl ban?

And I do not care of Tressel himself got hammered.  He had done the deeds, but don’t tell me the athletic department did not know what Tressel was up to.  Ohio State is too big and powerful to not know what went on – and if it didn’t, then it should have known.

ONE bowl ban?

USC should be screaming from the rooftops.

And spare me the argument that USC’s violations were worse that Ohio State’s.  Both schools committed violations surrounding illegal benefits, with Tressel lying about it!

I guess the NCAA had to make things easier for ESPN’s Urban Meyer eh?

Way to go NCAA for levying “blind justice”.  Something tells me North Carolina is going to cry “uncle” when the NCAA hammers them worse than it did Ohio State.

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Lots to Love about the College Bowl Season

Posted by klownboy in college football, sports blogging on December 14, 2011

The college bowl season is upon us.

The bowl season will kickoff this Saturday with three bowls.  The Gildan New Mexico Bowl will pit Temple against Wyoming.  The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (what the hell?) will feature Ohio and Utah State.  And finally, the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl has San Diego State playing Louisiana-LaFayette.

Sure, there may be too many bowls – check that, there are too many bowls – but you gotta love the pageantry behind the bowl season.  The tradition, the parades, the hype and excitement (and gambling), there is nothing like bowl season in college sports – outside the NCAA basketball tournament.

A lot of these bowls are in cities that do not host many sporting events.  Memphis always looks forward to hosting the Liberty Bowl.  Do you think Mobile, Alabama is bitching about hosting the Godaddy.com Bowl?  Ditto for Birmingham and the BBVA Compass Bowl?

Bowls bring lots of $$$ to those and other cities every year.  And remember, lots of $$$ means lots of jobs.

Plus, college kids need a reward for completing winning seasons, right?  And believe me, no matter how minor the bowl, college football players are VERY proud of their bowl wins.

So let’s just sit back and enjoy the bowls: all 1,000 of them…

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The Right Person Won the Heisman

Posted by klownboy in college football, sports blogging on December 12, 2011

Getty Images

Baylor’s Robert Griffin III won the 2011 Heisman Trophy Saturday night.  And after years of questioning whether past winners were truly the best players in those given years, I came away with one thought.

Griffin was indeed the best college football player this season.

If you do not believe me, check out the highlight reels against Texas and Oklahoma.  Hell, just check out the 2011 reel on Griffin.

Without Griffin, Baylor is no better than a three-win team.

Now as for Stanford QB (and future #1 draft pick) Andrew Luck, he was over-hyped from Week 1 of the season.  Yes, I know: Luck had a good season.  However, he stunk up the joint against Oregon on national TV and his team lost a chance to compete for the Pac-12 and national titles.  He also did not look but so good against Cal the week after the Oregon loss.

I also would have given some consideration to LSU’s Tyrann Mathieu.  All the cornerback has done was make big play after big play – be it returning punts for scores on special teams or making interceptions on defense.

Nevertheless, the Heisman belongs to the player who performed when the spotlight was shining the most.  That person was Robert Griffin III.

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