College Football 2012

[sunvalleylaw]

Didn't see a thread yet and had something to cheer about! Go Huskies! They handled Stanford with great D and some gutsy play by Price and his receivers, and a couple good runs! Way to Go! I love beating the tree!

http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/45860/instant-analysis-washington-17-stanford-13

Oh, and ESPN's point about the win being bad for the Pac 12?! Well they can go suck it! No way am I ever going to feel like some other team in the conference is "supposed" to win because it will be better for the conference.

Go Huskies!!!

[R_of_G]

Oh, and ESPN's point about the win being bad for the Pac 12?! Well they can go suck it! No way am I ever going to feel like some other team in the conference is "supposed" to win because it will be better for the conference.

+1

I've come to the conclusion that aside from the airing of live sporting events, ESPN itself is bad for sports. They seem dedicated to making sports about everything other than what happens on the field of play.

On the same note, it's becoming increasingly difficult to watch USF games knowing the Big East Conference has been entirely gutted and sold for parts. It's sad and pathetic what money has done to sports in general, but much sadder what it's done to college sports.

[sunvalleylaw]

I agree. I am saddened by the increased influence (now dominance) that money and seeking to make money off of college teams via entertainment networks, skyboxes, etc. is changing college sport. Of course money was there before, but moving the actual students out of their midfield seats to the endzone (as they are doing at the "renovated" Husky stadium), and making WSU play its home game against Oregon in Seattle are two examples. I blame Oregon. ;)

But, I still love a beautiful football day and an unexpected upset win for the Huskies. That is all I want from that team. Before they were dominant in the 90's, depending on the year, they were generally in the mix, and capable on any given day of beating anyone in the Pac-10, and in the hunt for a decent bowl game. The Rose Bowl on good years.

But I fear that the influences you mention will increase the dominance of certain teams, and make those "on any given day" situations less often. Look at last night's game. The bets weren't on would the Huskies lose, but how many points would they give up! But hope remains where heart is true. I love it when a college team can shock all those danged experts.

[R_of_G]

I love it when a college team can shock all those danged experts.

Particularly when it upsets their rigged BCS nonsense.

[sunvalleylaw]

Particularly when it upsets their rigged BCS nonsense.

Yep, so let's celebrate the fun stuff that remains in college ball fretters! Celebrate the wins and upsets, whine about the losses, Laugh at the silliness. How is anyone else's team doing?

[sunvalleylaw]

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w92/sunvalleylaw/lsu-keg_640_851_s_c1_center_top_0_0.jpg

From the Husky tailgaters making the best of it at the LSU game. I love this thing!

[R_of_G]

This IS the droid you're looking for. :)

[sunvalleylaw]

Oregon justnabsolutely crushed the Huskies. I wished for better from the Huskies, but they turned it over repeatedly against a superior team. A lot of doubters from fans of SEC etc. teams. Now the Huskies have to shake it off and set ready for USC. Tough task. Man they have a tough early schedule this year.

I just read about Alambama Coach Saban's complaint during his week off on hurry up offenses. He doesn't mention Oregon, but he might as well have. I scoff at that guy. But then I hate everything SEC, and I'll thrown Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas football fanatics, etc. in with them. Player safety? Really, Saban says he is concerned with player safety? Whatever. His record of concern really doesn't impress me based on the articles below. I am no Ducks fan, but I am excited to see them square up with whoever remains in the top slot at the end of the year. I know the BCS thing is stupid, but I would love to see the Ducks use something new to defeat whatever SEC team (probably) ends up playing.

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2012/10/canzano_nick_sabans_transparen.html

http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/2012/saban-doesnt-like-no-huddle-offenses/

[R_of_G]

I will have to look up Saban's complaint as I've not read it yet, but in principle, I have no problem with the hurry-up offense. I also find the notion that Nick Saban is concerned about player safety to be preposterous. As a transplanted New Yorker living in Florida, I can definitely side with you on the over-rating of the SEC. Can't side with you on Texas football fans. My brother is one of those which makes me one of those. :)

[sunvalleylaw]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1358269-alabama-coach-nick-saban-better-get-used-to-defending-hurry-up-offenses Here is one report. I don't buy the player injury pace of game thing. Plus, Saban throws the "player safety" card out there, very unconvincingly in my opinion, but concludes by asking "is this what we "want" football to be?" Sounds like he is comfortable in his style and wants to stay that way.

Plus, there is no rule to interpret or enforce. The hurry up offenses are doing the same thing everyone else is, just faster. It is a tool or strategy. And at some point, some defensive coordinator will figure out a way to exploit some weakness that is not yet seen or recognized. But I see no reason to regulate it to suit a slower style of play.

BTW, my team is not adept at that style, other than the typical end of game runs that they have success with sometimes. But I am not complaining. Though I did want to. Watching last night's game, it was hard to want to yell, "Hey, hold up, let the team get set here!" But, that's progress. The Ducks have the upper hand right now, but at some point, the other teams will figure some stuff out and even out the playing field.

[R_of_G]

Part of the fun of college football, for me anyway, is watching the many different styles of play to see how coaches will matchup in different situations. If Nick Saban is looking for less diversity in offensive packages, perhaps he should consider a return to the NFL. Didn't work out so great last time.

[R_of_G]

Found this an interesting piece reflective of the current state of the game.

The Smartest—or Dumbest—Tweet an Athlete Ever Sent
Dave Zirin on October 8, 2012 - 10:59 AM ET

http://www.thenation.com/blog/170414/smartest-or-dumbest-tweet-athlete-ever-sent#

Many allegedly great minds from professors to school presidents have devoted peals of pages to the multi-billion dollar industry otherwise known as NCAA athletics. Yet no one has quite put their finger on the contradictions, frustrations, and tragicomedy of being the labor in this industry - a so-called student-athlete - quite like Ohio State's third string freshman quarterback, Cardale Jones. On Friday Jones tweeted, “Why should we have to go to class if we came here to play FOOTBALL, we ain’t come to play SCHOOL, classes are POINTLESS.”

Jones immediately deleted the tweet – as well as his entire twitter account - but as many have learned before him, deleting a tweet is like cleaning a grease stain with fruit punch. As soon as the 18 year sent his tweet out into the world, Cardale Jones was held up as yet another example of (altogether now) "everything that's wrong" with today's athlete. Even worse, Jones, who hasn't played one snap all season, was benched for Saturday's game. As the Toledo Blade put it, "Mark it down as DNP (tweet).

But Jones’s crime wasn’t authoring what the Daily News called a “lame-brained tweet.” It was committing, to paraphrase Michael Kinsley, the greatest sin in sports: he was caught telling the truth. "We ain't come to school to play classes" will most likely be a quote of mockery that rings through the ages. But Cardale Jones has also hit on something factual. Ohio State football, like a select sampling of the sport's aristocracy, has morphed over the last thirty years into a multi billion dollar business. Even in the shadow of sanction and scandal, according to Forbes Magazine, the Buckeyes program creates $63 million in revenue every year and accounts for 73% of all the athletic departments profits.

Columbus is where legendary coach Woody Hayes was pushed out after striking an opposing player in 1978. He was making $40,000 a year when removed. Their coach today, Urban Meyer, draws a base salary of $4 million and is the highest paid public employee in the state. Meyer also gets use of a private plane, a swanky golf club membership, and a fellowship in his name. He can also earn six figure bonuses as well as raises for staying on the job. The football coach earns three times Ohio State President Gordon Gee. As higher education lawyer Sheldon Steinbach said to USA Today. “The hell with gold. I want to buy futures in coaches' contracts."

The source of the contradictions and confusion that create this moral cesspool is not the riches earned by the Urban Meyers of this world. It's that the players are given nothing but the opportunity for an education they often have neither the time nor desire to pursue. These are 18-22 year olds treated like a hybrid of campus Gods and campus chattel. I once had a former All-American tell me a story of hitting the books until an assistant coach stopped by his dorm room and said, "You know you don't have to do that right?" This particular athlete persevered and graduated and good for him. I can only say that when I was 19, if an authority figure told me I didn't have to study, I would have held an impromptu book-burning in my dorm room. We are corrupting these young people by demanding that they become complicit in a sham. We are telling them to be grateful for the opportunity to be party to their own exploitation. We are telling them effectively to do exactly what Cardale Jones said, and “play school.”

This mentality of “play school” and get a shot at the NFL or the NBA is profoundly effective. It acts as a form of discipline that keeps players in line. This discipline doesn’t only come from coaches, academic advisors, and family members, but other student-athletes as well. A culture is created through “amateur-athletics” that incentivizes keeping your head down. If you’re going to cheat, or take easy classes with compliant professors, you do it quietly and keep the trains running on time. One thing you don't do is point out that the Emperor is buck-naked.

I have a friend who is a professor at Ohio State and he outlined this to me very clearly. He told me that in the wake of Cardale Jones’s tweet that "many student-athletes are enraged. They feel he makes them all look bad when all of them are busting their butts." Their anger is what allows this system to continue as sure as the NCAA. They are angry because Cardale Jones just pulled back the curtain on an NCAA moral terrain built on a 21st century bedrock of bewildering moral confusion. This only changes if Jones’s fellow football players stand with him and ask the question: “Are we all just ‘playing school’ so Urban Meyer can live like some sort of absurdist sports Sultan? Are my blood sweat and tears first and foremost a means to pay for the fuel for my coach's private plane?” We don't know if this will cost Cardale Jones his scholarship in the days to come. But one thing we can be sure about: whether or not he stays will have less to do with his effrontery than whether the freshman can effectively throw a football.

[sunvalleylaw]

That is an interesting and telling piece. It hits on some of what I have been feeling. After feeling my frustration build after the Huskies getting clobbered by OR, and Saban's comments, and the lack of respect for any program that is not Alabama, Florida, etc. exhibited by a couple friends, I am choosing to dial back my interest in college ball (and pro for that matter), and just accept the game(s) for what it is, and enjoy it if I get to catch part of a Seahawks or Huskies game. It just gets too frustrating otherwise.

[sunvalleylaw]

Sweet! The UW Huskies pull off an upset of yet another top ranked team (previously undefeated Oregon State) on their schedule this year! I did not expect this with a beat up front line. Way to go Dawgs!

http://www.thenewstribune.com//2012/10/28/2347417/huskies-pick-off-upset.html?storylink=fb&fb_action_ids=10151206597547086&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210151206597547086%22%3A283 654015085180%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210151206597547086%22%3A%22og .likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=[]

[R_of_G]

I saw that UW final score this morning and knew you'd be happy about it Steve.

As for me, yesterday makes six straight losses for the USF Bulls who are having the worst season in recent memory. I was all for replacing Jim Leavitt as coach several years ago, calling for it a season before it happened, but Skip Holtz is a disaster. The alumni booster groups have been calling for his termination for weeks now, and after yesterday's loss to Syracuse, I'd can him today. Sadly, with the status of Big East football being one of the primary victims of the mega-conference money grab, the USF football program may be trending towards losing the relevance it fought so hard to attain.