1. William Hung has more rhythm than the officiating crew of the USC-UGA game. The only thing they were good at was stopping frequently enough to allow me to replenish my beer. So thanks for the hangover, incompetent refs!
2. On that same note, I don't think the refs changed the outcome of the game. I do think that they affected both offenses. The game did not have to look that ugly, offensively, for either team. Georgia's offense and South Carolina's offense looked decent on certain drives when the refs stayed out of the damn way. I'd actually like to watch these two teams play each other with a competent crew.
3. AJ Green is good. I'd have liked a few more deep throws yesterday. And I expect more next week.
4. Speaking of next week... Will Sun Devil fans blame Chick-fil-a for the turd dropped against UNLV? Will Gameday not go to the desert now? Will they instead go to Florida-Tennessee? It's an odd twist of fate. Will Georgia benefit from ABC/ESPN corporate synergy for once?
5. I am excited for the inertia-driven polling that will eventually place an early-losing, once-beaten Ohio State ahead of a later-losing, once-beaten Southern California team. Pollsters: remember how shitty the Buckeyes lost and put their ceiling at #10, no matter how many mediocre Big Ten teams they beat.
6. Speaking of mediocre... Cal, what the hell? Oregon, what the hell? Arizona State, what the hell? UCLA, what the hell? Arizona, what the hell? With the Pac-10 having exactly one good team, the ACC having no good teams, the Big Ten having maybe one good team (I'm talking about Penn State), and the Big East having maybe one decent team (South Florida), who is going to fill those at-large BCS slots? Might be the time to amend the prohibition against having more than 2 teams from the same conference (SEC and Big XII) or the prohibition against more than one non-BCS-automatic-qualifying conference team (so ECU and BYU could both make it). At the least the powers that be should start thinking about this.
7. Shiner Black Lager = good.
8. Was that Mark Richt Ford commercial national or local? It made him look really good.
9. A short annoyance about College Gameday yesterday... would it kill Lee Corso to at least know what conference the teams he talks about play in? Rice has not been a member of the WAC for several years now. Related: Vandy is half way to bowl eligibility, and that's awesome.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
About Saturday
Monday, September 08, 2008
Rare Realism
I have long been annoyed by the deluded fan-sac who passionately, pathetically brandishes a single finger at the camera, frantically declaring the numerical supremacy of his beloved football squad. In reality, his team may not have cracked the top 25, but don't tell that to the ol' nostril-shovel of his. Whether signaling barehanded or with oversize foam, there are thousands of these fartheads in every stadium across the land.
That's why I was pleased to see the two Dawg fans shown here proudly displaying our actual ranking from their seats in Sanford. With Knowshon flying through the air with the greatest of ease, you can understand the grumblings among some of the Bulldawg faithful who were mad about slipping from the top spot in the polls, but I applaud these levelheaded Dawg fans, obviously pleased to cruise along in the deuce hole. After all, that's all we'll need to get to play for the shebang, so like these fine gentlemen, I'm happy right where we are.
UPDATE:
The Jersey version.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Russell Brand is funny
I always appreciate an emcee who goes a bit further than his audience or producers would like. And his hair looks like a 1985 Jersey skank in a camaro.
Also, his columns on the Premiership in the Guardian are usually extremely interesting and well written.
One other thing about Florida-Miami from last night
One of the nicer things about not having College Football around is the complete lack of Penn Wagers' presence in our living rooms and stadia.
How that guy has a job still is a question science cannot answer.
Not too bad Matt Ryan
Pretty good first NFL pass.
I expect nothing less than multiple Super Bowl titles now.
OK, new mission statement
So yeah, I haven't written on this site much, and hopefully a lot of folks think it's dead. I suppose I owe folks an explanation...
WHY?
Well, I've got other stuff going on, so it's not as much a priority.
Also, I've been a little more politically focused, or on family or movies or books. I've thought about this site and how I didn't start it as a college football blog, but then it got some attention as a college football blog. And I'm not really that specialized, or one-track-minded, or something. I meant for this to be a zip drive for my brain and my thoughts on all things, but at some point it turned into something else, and that kind of bored me.
Another thing is that a lot of the college football thoughts I've had, well, they're out there already. 3 years ago, I think there was a decent amount of sub rosa aggravation with how the sport was covered, how titles were conferred, etc. People complained on message boards and around water coolers. Maybe I thought there was a voice unheard back then. But now, there are tons of people who are writing and talking about media bias, subjectivity in sports coverage, statistical analysis above intangibles, local coverage advantages, etc. Sure, there's a mission in further spreading the gospel and staying on mission, but... well, I've got other fish to fry, and there are smarter people out there frying that one.
So here's the new way forward. I'm going to write what's on my mind when I can or need to. I'm not going to pigeonhole myself. I'm not doing Gameday recaps anymore - I can barely bring myself to watch it, let alone spend 4 hours parsing it. I probably won't do the Lebowski stuff anymore - you can figure it out. That doesn't mean that when I hear Kirk Herbstreit raving about Ohio State's intangibles I won't shudder and sometimes post. That doesn't mean that I won't ever post about how Craig James shouldn't be allowed to puff up Texas Tech without disclosing that his son plays on the team (FOUR NEGATIVES IN THAT SENTENCE, TOP THAT!).
The good news is that now that I've let the weeds overgrow this place, nobody's reading. And that leads to a great sense of freedom.
This is confusing
This Week on ABC is having their political roundtable, and from what I can tell, David Freaking Brooks is representing the most liberal view on such roundtable this week.
Two ideological conservatives, two nonideological journalists and a referee. This definitely presents all views.
Also, everyone just laughed out loud about McCain/Palin's ridiculous claim about foreign policy by osmosis near Russia. Why don't they call the candidates and their surrogates out on that to their faces? Are they scared to say this unless they're among their own kind?
UPDATE: Take it back. Brooks just basically said everyone in latte-sipping New England thinks Palin's trailer trash. Nobody paints with a broader brush (but the wrong color) like David Brooks. He should go choke on a Red Lobster cheese biscuit.
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Dear Brent Musberger
Florida did not kick a meaningless field goal to impress recruits, or voters.
Florida did not throw to the end zone or run plays with time left on the play clock on their final drive to win "the beauty contest."
Florida did not continue to "showcase their offense," with all starters in, when Miami had already not used their final time out, and when Florida could have kneeled out the clock.
No, Brent, you naive drunk.
The line was between 21 and 22, depending on the source. Florida was up 20. It was a gambling move alone. Please the big donors.
I'm sure there's a network taboo with mentioning gambling. But it does a disservice to viewers. Urban Meyer pressed his O to please his gambling fans. Don't mention it though. Might not match the narrative of Saint Tim and Pope Urban.
