Friday, August 31, 2007
No wonder 5-Stars don't get lured to App State
I've seen this promo linked everywhere. Why not here? If I didn't know better, I'd say Christopher Guest was behind the making of this gem. The low bugdet Power Point-esque wipes are precious. And the original score ... wow.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Chicago...College Football's New Mecca?
Here is an intersting article , from the WSJ, on how Chicago bars, by re-creating a watered-down college town gameday atmosphere, create a gettaway for the for Big Ten alumns. (Delaney wet his pants when read this). Bar owners in Dallas and Atlanta could learn a thing or two from the Chicago bars.
How Chicago Cornered The Market on Big Ten Bars
To lure football fans, pubs pledge themselves to schools -- but allegiance is only pigskin deep; 'I just pretend to love Iowa'
To lure football fans, pubs pledge themselves to schools -- but allegiance is only pigskin deep; 'I just pretend to love Iowa'
By BRYAN GRULEY November 18, 2006
CHICAGO -- When the University of Michigan scored its third touchdown against Indiana University last Saturday, 200 Michigan fans at Duffy's Tavern & Grille here leapt up and loosed a deafening cheer. Lights flashed, the Michigan fight song blared, and a man in a Wolverine costume pranced about, furry tail bouncing.
"The ultimate Michigan experience," says Duffy's co-owner Thomas Piazza. He plasters the place with maize-and-blue banners and promotes it as "Chicago's Big House," borrowing the nickname of Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich. "When we adopt a school," he says, "we put our whole heart into it."
But Mr. Piazza owns another bar, McGee's Tavern & Grille, just a mile away. When the second-ranked Wolverines battle No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday, McGee's will be selling "Buck Michigan" T-shirts and the Buckeye fight song will play while bartenders work in scarlet-and-gray.
"I have no allegiance to any football team, except the [Chicago] Bears," says Mr. Piazza, 43 years old, who graduated from Loyola University in Chicago and, with older brother Phil, owns three other local bars that cater to Purdue, Wisconsin and Notre Dame supporters.
Chicago, with no college gridiron power of its own, has bred one of the nation's strongest college football cultures. Tapping a market of more than 450,000 people aged 20 to 29, saloon keepers who align their establishments with one or more teams from the Big Ten Conference can pull in more than $40,000 on a good football Saturday.
The bars, many of which are clustered in the city's North Side neighborhoods, promote cut-rate cocktails and rah-rah atmosphere. They also benefit from their relationships with local alumni clubs, which sometimes get a piece of a bar's revenue for anointing the bar an alumni hangout. McGee's and Duffy's have raised a total of nearly $16,000 this year for Ohio State and Michigan alumni clubs through sales of plastic mugs and T-shirts, Mr. Piazza says. In return, the bars get plugs on the clubs' Web sites.
THE ROSTER
Chicago has a bar for every Big Ten fan. Here is a sampling of them.
• Illinois: Schoolyard Tavern & Grill3258 N. Southport
• Indiana: Hi-Tops3551 N. Sheffield
• Iowa: Merkle's Bar & Grill3516 N. Clark
• Michigan: Duffy's Tavern & Grille4201/2 W. Diversey
• Michigan State: Higgins' Tavern3259 N. Racine
• Minnesota: The Ivy on Clark3462 N. Clark
• Northwestern: Mullen's on Clark3527 N. Clark
• Ohio State: Mickeys Bar & Patio2450 N. Clark
• Penn State: Dark Horse Tap & Grill3443 N. Sheffield
• Purdue: Durkin's Tavern810 W. Diversey
• Wisconsin: Will's Northwoods Inn3030 N. Racine
With multiple bars declaring allegiances to schools, the rivalry is less Purdue vs. Michigan State, say, than Michigan State vs. Michigan State. MSU fans can choose between the Gin Mill, with its boisterous fraternity ambiance, and Higgins' Tavern, a quieter corner bar displaying black-and-white photos of classic Spartan games.
Some bars do little more than hang a school flag. Others strive to recreate the feel of being at the game -- and sometimes miss by a little. A DJ at Duffy's played "The Victors" whenever Michigan scored, then blasted hip-hop music rarely heard at the real Big House. The $7, 32-ounce beer specials came in plastic mugs of white-and-blue instead of Michigan maize-and-blue. Josh Mellender, 21, a Duffy's doorman wearing the Wolverine outfit, was asked whether he likes the Michigan team. "Not particularly," he said.
Few bars are truer to their roots than Will's Northwoods Inn, a smoky Wisconsin dive where the knotty-pine walls are covered with stuffed moose heads, muskies, a snapping turtle and, of course, a badger. Owner Jonathan Bunge modeled it on the taverns near his family cottage in Hayward, Wis., where, he says, "If you go in any bar, it's a dump."
On game days, patrons gobble free bratwurst and the white-haired Mr. Bunge, 70, grabs a microphone and raffles off hard hats, thongs, bib overalls and other red-and-white Badger paraphernalia. "I always see old classmates," says Jeremy Tiedt, 28, a Chicago attorney and Wisconsin grad sporting a red "F- 'Em Bucky" T-shirt named for the badger mascot.
After opening in 2004, Merkle's Bar & Grill hung some black-and-gold Iowa flags "and people just started pouring in," says co-owner Jason Levin, 34. He and his four partners, only one of whom is from Iowa, coveted Chicago's large Hawkeye audience. They also raised a University of Illinois flag to lure fans of the school's ranked basketball team.
MSU fans at Higgins'
Today, Merkle's is adorned with Iowa cups, helmets, basketballs, pennants, license plates and T-shirts. One recent Saturday, bartender Kristen King, 31, wore pigtails tied with gold ribbons. "I just pretend to love Iowa," she said, grinning. "That's my job."
The owners have learned a few lessons. For instance, some Iowa fans prefer not to hear their beloved team polka, "In Heaven There Is No Beer," until an Iowa victory is assured. "I started to play it once in the middle of a game and people were throwing things at me and screaming to turn it off," Mr. Levin says. With an official capacity of just 72, Merkle's can gross $15,000 in revenue on a good day, he says.
Alumni clubs can help. Many encourage members to attend "gamewatches" at select bars listed on club Web sites. When Michael Jerit and two partners opened Mickeys Bar & Patio two years ago, they hired OSU graduates and dressed the barmaids in tight-fitting Buckeye jerseys. This year, they sought the alumni club's blessing.
"They sent a guy over and he asked a lot of questions," says Mr. Jerit, a trim, spiky-haired 30-year-old who didn't attend Ohio State but has been a Buckeye fan since boyhood. He offered the club 15% of revenue the bar collects while Ohio State games are on. Mickeys joined McGee's as the only two city bars on the club Web site. Club President Karen Webber, a 1999 OSU grad, says the $15,000 raised by the bars so far this season will help underwrite scholarships for Chicago-area students.
"The ultimate Michigan experience," says Duffy's co-owner Thomas Piazza. He plasters the place with maize-and-blue banners and promotes it as "Chicago's Big House," borrowing the nickname of Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich. "When we adopt a school," he says, "we put our whole heart into it."
But Mr. Piazza owns another bar, McGee's Tavern & Grille, just a mile away. When the second-ranked Wolverines battle No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday, McGee's will be selling "Buck Michigan" T-shirts and the Buckeye fight song will play while bartenders work in scarlet-and-gray.
"I have no allegiance to any football team, except the [Chicago] Bears," says Mr. Piazza, 43 years old, who graduated from Loyola University in Chicago and, with older brother Phil, owns three other local bars that cater to Purdue, Wisconsin and Notre Dame supporters.
Chicago, with no college gridiron power of its own, has bred one of the nation's strongest college football cultures. Tapping a market of more than 450,000 people aged 20 to 29, saloon keepers who align their establishments with one or more teams from the Big Ten Conference can pull in more than $40,000 on a good football Saturday.
The bars, many of which are clustered in the city's North Side neighborhoods, promote cut-rate cocktails and rah-rah atmosphere. They also benefit from their relationships with local alumni clubs, which sometimes get a piece of a bar's revenue for anointing the bar an alumni hangout. McGee's and Duffy's have raised a total of nearly $16,000 this year for Ohio State and Michigan alumni clubs through sales of plastic mugs and T-shirts, Mr. Piazza says. In return, the bars get plugs on the clubs' Web sites.
THE ROSTER
Chicago has a bar for every Big Ten fan. Here is a sampling of them.
• Illinois: Schoolyard Tavern & Grill3258 N. Southport
• Indiana: Hi-Tops3551 N. Sheffield
• Iowa: Merkle's Bar & Grill3516 N. Clark
• Michigan: Duffy's Tavern & Grille4201/2 W. Diversey
• Michigan State: Higgins' Tavern3259 N. Racine
• Minnesota: The Ivy on Clark3462 N. Clark
• Northwestern: Mullen's on Clark3527 N. Clark
• Ohio State: Mickeys Bar & Patio2450 N. Clark
• Penn State: Dark Horse Tap & Grill3443 N. Sheffield
• Purdue: Durkin's Tavern810 W. Diversey
• Wisconsin: Will's Northwoods Inn3030 N. Racine
With multiple bars declaring allegiances to schools, the rivalry is less Purdue vs. Michigan State, say, than Michigan State vs. Michigan State. MSU fans can choose between the Gin Mill, with its boisterous fraternity ambiance, and Higgins' Tavern, a quieter corner bar displaying black-and-white photos of classic Spartan games.
Some bars do little more than hang a school flag. Others strive to recreate the feel of being at the game -- and sometimes miss by a little. A DJ at Duffy's played "The Victors" whenever Michigan scored, then blasted hip-hop music rarely heard at the real Big House. The $7, 32-ounce beer specials came in plastic mugs of white-and-blue instead of Michigan maize-and-blue. Josh Mellender, 21, a Duffy's doorman wearing the Wolverine outfit, was asked whether he likes the Michigan team. "Not particularly," he said.
Few bars are truer to their roots than Will's Northwoods Inn, a smoky Wisconsin dive where the knotty-pine walls are covered with stuffed moose heads, muskies, a snapping turtle and, of course, a badger. Owner Jonathan Bunge modeled it on the taverns near his family cottage in Hayward, Wis., where, he says, "If you go in any bar, it's a dump."
On game days, patrons gobble free bratwurst and the white-haired Mr. Bunge, 70, grabs a microphone and raffles off hard hats, thongs, bib overalls and other red-and-white Badger paraphernalia. "I always see old classmates," says Jeremy Tiedt, 28, a Chicago attorney and Wisconsin grad sporting a red "F- 'Em Bucky" T-shirt named for the badger mascot.
After opening in 2004, Merkle's Bar & Grill hung some black-and-gold Iowa flags "and people just started pouring in," says co-owner Jason Levin, 34. He and his four partners, only one of whom is from Iowa, coveted Chicago's large Hawkeye audience. They also raised a University of Illinois flag to lure fans of the school's ranked basketball team.
MSU fans at Higgins'
Today, Merkle's is adorned with Iowa cups, helmets, basketballs, pennants, license plates and T-shirts. One recent Saturday, bartender Kristen King, 31, wore pigtails tied with gold ribbons. "I just pretend to love Iowa," she said, grinning. "That's my job."
The owners have learned a few lessons. For instance, some Iowa fans prefer not to hear their beloved team polka, "In Heaven There Is No Beer," until an Iowa victory is assured. "I started to play it once in the middle of a game and people were throwing things at me and screaming to turn it off," Mr. Levin says. With an official capacity of just 72, Merkle's can gross $15,000 in revenue on a good day, he says.
Alumni clubs can help. Many encourage members to attend "gamewatches" at select bars listed on club Web sites. When Michael Jerit and two partners opened Mickeys Bar & Patio two years ago, they hired OSU graduates and dressed the barmaids in tight-fitting Buckeye jerseys. This year, they sought the alumni club's blessing.
"They sent a guy over and he asked a lot of questions," says Mr. Jerit, a trim, spiky-haired 30-year-old who didn't attend Ohio State but has been a Buckeye fan since boyhood. He offered the club 15% of revenue the bar collects while Ohio State games are on. Mickeys joined McGee's as the only two city bars on the club Web site. Club President Karen Webber, a 1999 OSU grad, says the $15,000 raised by the bars so far this season will help underwrite scholarships for Chicago-area students.
Last Saturday, Ohio State fan Matt Morgan drove from Ohio for a Mickeys tailgater before the Buckeye game at nearby Northwestern University. He and his father-in-law, Jim Probasco, had planned to go to the McGee's tailgater -- until they learned the owner, Mr. Piazza, also has a Michigan bar. "Business is business," Mr. Probasco says, "but it just doesn't feel right."
Mr. Piazza, a burly man with a wide smile, chuckled at the criticism while sitting amid the varnished wood stools and dozens of TVs at McGee's earlier this week. "We're not here to fight, we're here to have fun," he said. In another room, his staff prepared for today's Michigan-Ohio State clash. The game plan included a side-by-side newspaper ad for "Kegs and Eggs" at McGee's and "Big House Breakfast" at Duffy's.
"Buckeye Guy" at Mickeys
Mr. Piazza and his brother, who attended Chicago's DePaul University, bought McGee's in 1987 and slowly built a University of Nebraska following. As they added bars to their company, Bar1Events, the Piazzas dedicated each to a single college, thinking they'd attract a more devoted clientele.
"It developed into something that's kind of loyalty and kind of business," Mr. Piazza says. After losing the lease on Jack Sullivan's, their popular Ohio State tavern, the Piazzas this year rechristened McGee's as a Buckeye bar, ditching Nebraska. Mr. Piazza says his bigger bars -- such as Duffy's, with an official capacity of 199 -- can bring in $30,000 to $45,000 on a strong day.
Saturday could easily be one of those. Duffy's and McGee's are scheduled to open more than five hours before the 3:30 p.m. EST kickoff. And who will win the biggest college game of the year? Mr. Piazza declines to make a prediction, saying, "I don't want to make anybody mad."
Write to Bryan Gruley at bryan.gruley@wsj.com
Mr. Piazza and his brother, who attended Chicago's DePaul University, bought McGee's in 1987 and slowly built a University of Nebraska following. As they added bars to their company, Bar1Events, the Piazzas dedicated each to a single college, thinking they'd attract a more devoted clientele.
"It developed into something that's kind of loyalty and kind of business," Mr. Piazza says. After losing the lease on Jack Sullivan's, their popular Ohio State tavern, the Piazzas this year rechristened McGee's as a Buckeye bar, ditching Nebraska. Mr. Piazza says his bigger bars -- such as Duffy's, with an official capacity of 199 -- can bring in $30,000 to $45,000 on a strong day.
Saturday could easily be one of those. Duffy's and McGee's are scheduled to open more than five hours before the 3:30 p.m. EST kickoff. And who will win the biggest college game of the year? Mr. Piazza declines to make a prediction, saying, "I don't want to make anybody mad."
Write to Bryan Gruley at bryan.gruley@wsj.com
College Football BabyDaddy Scoreboard
With the recent revelation of NFL'er and former Vol Travis Henry setting the gold standard for non-marital children (time to get busy, Rainman!), the Salon offers an NCAA football tally for this category of "scoring," which appears to be as important to athletes as touchdowns, interceptions, and tackles. I would have started with Leinart, but I think his BabyMomma had the kid after he graduated. Anyway, first on our list is one of the most touted recruits in recent years, tailback (and I do mean tail!), Noel Devine. A true freshman with 2 kids already, the young man is setting a torrid pace. Could he be the youngest BabyDaddy champion ever? All the pieces are in place. You put a guy like that in West Virginia for 4 years, and BabyDaddy records are going to fall. One thing is for sure: Travis Henry is looking over his shoulder at this upstart. Please fill out the leaderboard in your comments, and I will add them to the post.
1. Noel Devine - Freshman - West Virginia - 2 kids
Monday, August 27, 2007
Blast From the Past
1991 Cotton Bowl Miami#4 vs. Texas #3
Do youreslves a favor and fast-forward to the 2:05 mark.
Also, note the color commentator's comments on Randall Hill "here's a guy who dreams of running with cheetahs and getting pulled over by the police for speeding"
Yet another reason why Southern football players are faster than the rest. They dream about outrunning wild animals and getting pulled over by the police for speeding but not because they drive fast because they run fast.
Do youreslves a favor and fast-forward to the 2:05 mark.
Also, note the color commentator's comments on Randall Hill "here's a guy who dreams of running with cheetahs and getting pulled over by the police for speeding"
Yet another reason why Southern football players are faster than the rest. They dream about outrunning wild animals and getting pulled over by the police for speeding but not because they drive fast because they run fast.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Military Academy Super Bowl: Fork Union vs. Hargrave ... perhaps not a lot of future PhDs on the field, but there will be a lot of speed
It's finally here. I suppose I've spoiled the surprise, but it's a landslide victory for the OSU Beavs, 2007 Non-Qualifier Champs. A spectacular effort with 16 signees for the class who are not with the team this fall (though 14 of them are classified as "delaying" enrollment, whatever that means ... possibly didn't get their paperwork in time to the Registrar's office?)
Best conference effort, you ask? This wasn't close either. The SEC puts up an impressive 45 non-qualies. We want to give a shout out to a particularly solid effort by Tommy Tubberville and his 10 kids who didn't pass muster , many of whom will be suiting up for Hargrave Millitary Academy this year (where, ironically and appropriately, passing muster is an institutionalized and daily requirement). Then there's Fork Union, where 4 Spurrier signees are headed.
Perhaps this is the best route for bulked-up 18/19-year olds to get serious about their books. "God damn right you better salute me, you newbie puke! Or someone's goin' Full Metal Jacket on your ass with a pillow case and 50 bars of Irish Spring."
Post Graduate Schedule portends a big showdown on November 2, pitting would-be Tigers versus would-be 'Cocks. Let's just hope Hargrave can make the '61 Hoops team proud, which as this story indicates, was responsible for HMA's finest hour. I suppose the preferred term is "baller" nowadays, but what happened to the days when you could call yourself a courtman with no little measure of pride upon beating a "determined Wyoming Seminary Prep" squad?
Friday, August 24, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
BlogArt: TeeTee
a
b
c
d
A) "Dude, my mom says that Stafford's on the cover of this thing back home. That cat threw like 10 picks in 5 games last year. What's up with that? ... What do you mean you can't see me on Athlon's beyond a 100 radius of G-ville? That's dumb."
B) Halloween 2005: Winner "Freakiest Costume" for hand-growing-out-of-side-of-head effort.
c) "How does your neck like the forearm, Jesse? Ughhh! That's right, eat it!"
d) "Diver Down so kicks 5150's ass ... Senorita I'm in trouble again and I can't get free ... Sen-or-ita ..."
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Party all the time
Here is Raul's take on the Princeton Review's recent party school rakings:
1.WVU-Take away all the students from suburban Pittsburg and you have one large white-trash bash
2.Mississippi-“At Ole Miss, we may not win the game, but we never loose a party” They certainly live up to the former.
3. UT Austin-Having the president’s daughters cited for multiple alcohol violations will do wonders for your party ranking.
4. UF- We're only #4 b/c everyone at UGA would slit their wrist if they had to read another article about UF being #1 at something.
5.UGA-“No… seriously, We’re just as good as Florida”
6.PSU-They’ve perfected the “zombie nation” student section cheer.
7.University of New Hampshire-Those bright minds at the New England public universities, situated in the middle-of –nowhere, have come up with some of our favorite drinking games like “Edward 40-hands” and "Beirut." So, be thankful.
8. Indiana-Homogenuity must have been heavily weighed in coming up with this one.
9.Ohio University- Don't own enough J Crew to go to Miami(oh), not pretentious enough for Denison, but too smart for Ohio State. I guess OU is the place for me!!!
10. UCSB-Frosted tips rule!!!
2.Mississippi-“At Ole Miss, we may not win the game, but we never loose a party” They certainly live up to the former.
3. UT Austin-Having the president’s daughters cited for multiple alcohol violations will do wonders for your party ranking.
4. UF- We're only #4 b/c everyone at UGA would slit their wrist if they had to read another article about UF being #1 at something.
5.UGA-“No… seriously, We’re just as good as Florida”
6.PSU-They’ve perfected the “zombie nation” student section cheer.
7.University of New Hampshire-Those bright minds at the New England public universities, situated in the middle-of –nowhere, have come up with some of our favorite drinking games like “Edward 40-hands” and "Beirut." So, be thankful.
8. Indiana-Homogenuity must have been heavily weighed in coming up with this one.
9.Ohio University- Don't own enough J Crew to go to Miami(oh), not pretentious enough for Denison, but too smart for Ohio State. I guess OU is the place for me!!!
10. UCSB-Frosted tips rule!!!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
They're at it again.
Once again, an "old money" major conference is having issues with the noveau riche aspects of college football. This time its not the Big Ten but its the Big Ten's more attractive cousin, the PAC Ten. A recent conversation between Jim Delaney and Tom Hansen(Pac-10 commish) went something like this:
Hansen: First those thugs from Miami now those God damn internet Millionares (Texas, Louisville and Florida) are destroying the flawless system we had in place.
Delaney: Tell me about it. All they do is bitch about how tough their conferences are. Then, they kick our ass in championship games.
Delaney: They keep exposing us. Especially those mother F*#ckers in Gainesville. I don't know who they think they are. They forget who the blue bloods are.
Hansen: Oh yeah, the first thing I think of, when I see 90,000 blue collar Ohioans masturbating to a guy in a Beret dotting an I, is blue-blood.
Delaney: Are you being sarcastic.
Hansen: No really, West Lafayette, the Metro-dome, and grown men wearing corn fed shirts and overalls screams blue blood.
Delaney: Screw you, you west coast fag. Why don't you go sip on a Latte and start another hippie revolution. Those hippies in Berkley really accomplished a great deal .
Hansen: At least my region isn't referred to as the "Rust belt."
Delaney: At least one of our most storied campuses isn't in South Central LA.
Hansen: I thought we were friends. I thought we were in on this together. Why don't you just go and keep securing bowl tie-ins with of those illiterate redneck schools from the SEC.
Delaney: Is that what this is all about.....Bowl Tie-ins.
Hansen: I feel like your Big Ten schools don't come over and play anymore. I just want things to be like they used to be when College football was only about USC, Notre Dame, Michigan and Ohio State.
Delaney:The Sec is where the money is at. They bring their whole F*#cking redneck states to their bowl games. Not to mention those coaching contracts. I'm sorry Tom but UCLA, Cal and Stanford are so 1983 that I'm embarrassed to play them.
Hansen: You can go to hell. The Rose bowl is ours and will always be ours. We only invited you guys because you had cool helmets and cheesy trophies.
Hansen: First those thugs from Miami now those God damn internet Millionares (Texas, Louisville and Florida) are destroying the flawless system we had in place.
Delaney: Tell me about it. All they do is bitch about how tough their conferences are. Then, they kick our ass in championship games.
Delaney: They keep exposing us. Especially those mother F*#ckers in Gainesville. I don't know who they think they are. They forget who the blue bloods are.
Hansen: Oh yeah, the first thing I think of, when I see 90,000 blue collar Ohioans masturbating to a guy in a Beret dotting an I, is blue-blood.
Delaney: Are you being sarcastic.
Hansen: No really, West Lafayette, the Metro-dome, and grown men wearing corn fed shirts and overalls screams blue blood.
Delaney: Screw you, you west coast fag. Why don't you go sip on a Latte and start another hippie revolution. Those hippies in Berkley really accomplished a great deal .
Hansen: At least my region isn't referred to as the "Rust belt."
Delaney: At least one of our most storied campuses isn't in South Central LA.
Hansen: I thought we were friends. I thought we were in on this together. Why don't you just go and keep securing bowl tie-ins with of those illiterate redneck schools from the SEC.
Delaney: Is that what this is all about.....Bowl Tie-ins.
Hansen: I feel like your Big Ten schools don't come over and play anymore. I just want things to be like they used to be when College football was only about USC, Notre Dame, Michigan and Ohio State.
Delaney:The Sec is where the money is at. They bring their whole F*#cking redneck states to their bowl games. Not to mention those coaching contracts. I'm sorry Tom but UCLA, Cal and Stanford are so 1983 that I'm embarrassed to play them.
Hansen: You can go to hell. The Rose bowl is ours and will always be ours. We only invited you guys because you had cool helmets and cheesy trophies.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Who did they have do the background check, Jim Harrick?
Generosity, UCLA is thy name. Second chance? You got it. Third offense? We forgive you. Fourth? No man is beyond redemption. Fifth? Why don't you come on back and coach our wide receivers. According to the LA Daily News, Eric Scott
"had been arrested four times previous, and twice was either convicted or pled guilty to a misdemeanor."Can anyone explain this? A wide receivers coach? It's not like this guy is Jimbo Fisher or Norm Chow or David Cutcliffe. Now those are the kind of assistants for whom you could let a criminal record slide, if you're a win-at-all-cost kind of program. Or apparently, if you're UCLA, a program that wants to preserve that 7-5 mark.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Husker Football is a Wild World
More from the NU football crime blotter: apparently it's not Tea for this Tiller-man. Husker football - No power option, no small-town walk-on program, a West Coast offense and heaps o' JuCo transfers. Don't ya dare miss it! About the only Osborn tradition they're carrying on these days is being soft on domestic violence.
Red State Values
The following is from our Seattle correspondent:
Surprise! Maurice Purify has been reinstated to the NU football team! Even by Nebraska's standards, this astonishing episode has left me combing the thesaurus in search of more synonyms for the word "slimy." The ironically-named Purify has a rap sheet longer than the drink menu at TGI Friday's. In May, he was cited for two counts of assault from a violent altercation at a nightclub. (One of his assault victims was a woman, by the way. Sound familiar, Nebraska fans?). Oh, and for good measure, he was also charged with resisting arrest, trespassing, and failure to comply. Then, less than five weeks later, our wayward friend was busted again--this time for drunk driving (which by itself has led to the dismissal of several high-profile college players recently.) In late July (surprisingly just two weeks before the start of fall camp), prosecutors combined all six charges in a bundling maneuver that would make Comcast envious. After sifting through all that confusing legal mumbo-jumbo . . . Ala Kazam! . . . prosecutors dropped one of the assault charges and the resisting arrest charge, and reduced the trespassing charge to disturbing the peace. Purify gets a one-game suspension (he'll miss the much-anticipated Nevada tilt--ouch!) and probation. Just in the nick of time, Purify is back in good graces, and all is right in Huskerland. Whew! In an unrelated story, Maurice Purify has been deemed Nebraska's most talented player by nearly every college football publication in print. But, lest you feel that Purify's life still might be careening in a dangerous direction, you can take comfort in the words of Head Coach and Chief Mentor Bill Callahan, who for some reason has turned very touchy-feely in this whole episode: "I met with Maurice Purify this afternoon and I believe that he has made a sincere effort to redeem himself and move forward in a positive direction," Callahan said. "During his suspension from our program these past six weeks he has complied with all the requirements imposed upon him by the legal system, the general expectations of a student-athlete in our program, and the specific additional conditions demanded of him as a result of his actions." Well, that's a relief. He's obviously rehabilitated. He didn’t screw up for six whole weeks. That's certainly good enough for me. And it's apparently good enough for Husker fans everywhere. I haven't heard one word of apprehension or disapproval from any of the faithful in Husker Nation. Why not seal the deal and make him team captain? I haven't given Callahan credit for much over these past few years (besides making Texas Tech look like the '92 Cowboys), but I have to give him credit for something. He's actually succeeded in making Lawrence Phillips look like Roger Staubach.
Surprise! Maurice Purify has been reinstated to the NU football team! Even by Nebraska's standards, this astonishing episode has left me combing the thesaurus in search of more synonyms for the word "slimy." The ironically-named Purify has a rap sheet longer than the drink menu at TGI Friday's. In May, he was cited for two counts of assault from a violent altercation at a nightclub. (One of his assault victims was a woman, by the way. Sound familiar, Nebraska fans?). Oh, and for good measure, he was also charged with resisting arrest, trespassing, and failure to comply. Then, less than five weeks later, our wayward friend was busted again--this time for drunk driving (which by itself has led to the dismissal of several high-profile college players recently.) In late July (surprisingly just two weeks before the start of fall camp), prosecutors combined all six charges in a bundling maneuver that would make Comcast envious. After sifting through all that confusing legal mumbo-jumbo . . . Ala Kazam! . . . prosecutors dropped one of the assault charges and the resisting arrest charge, and reduced the trespassing charge to disturbing the peace. Purify gets a one-game suspension (he'll miss the much-anticipated Nevada tilt--ouch!) and probation. Just in the nick of time, Purify is back in good graces, and all is right in Huskerland. Whew! In an unrelated story, Maurice Purify has been deemed Nebraska's most talented player by nearly every college football publication in print. But, lest you feel that Purify's life still might be careening in a dangerous direction, you can take comfort in the words of Head Coach and Chief Mentor Bill Callahan, who for some reason has turned very touchy-feely in this whole episode: "I met with Maurice Purify this afternoon and I believe that he has made a sincere effort to redeem himself and move forward in a positive direction," Callahan said. "During his suspension from our program these past six weeks he has complied with all the requirements imposed upon him by the legal system, the general expectations of a student-athlete in our program, and the specific additional conditions demanded of him as a result of his actions." Well, that's a relief. He's obviously rehabilitated. He didn’t screw up for six whole weeks. That's certainly good enough for me. And it's apparently good enough for Husker fans everywhere. I haven't heard one word of apprehension or disapproval from any of the faithful in Husker Nation. Why not seal the deal and make him team captain? I haven't given Callahan credit for much over these past few years (besides making Texas Tech look like the '92 Cowboys), but I have to give him credit for something. He's actually succeeded in making Lawrence Phillips look like Roger Staubach.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Veruca Salt reincarnated as SEC fan
They want their national respect, Daddy, and they want it now!
The following was forwarded by a colleague. He's a UGA graduate and an all around decent fellow. I gather he's just to get my nostrils flaring. It worked.
Don't know who penned this, but it seems typical enough of the claptrap I hear among the greater Atlanta airwaves and read in newsprint.
Colin Cowherd is a big fan of college football.
The primary promoter of this nonsense is ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd who picked up the idea from John Kincade, an afternoon sports talk host on 680 AM in
So the SEC is a lesser conference because its teams don't play enough "out of region" games, huh?
Let me ask you something, why do teams play "out of region" games?
1. To get attention.
2. To find good games.
3. To enter new recruiting territory.
Does any SEC team have any of those problems?
Say you're
Suppose you're USC, you know that you need to play Notre Dame regularly and supplant that with games at Nebraska or Auburn because you have a league that is historically weak and to get poll and BCS "cred," you need to beef up your schedule.
If you're
Here's the reality, and here's the reason so few SEC teams travel out of the South for games – they don't need to.
Top flight SEC teams are on network TV or ESPN in primetime six or seven times a year already.
Marquee non-conference games can be found down the road as evidenced by
Finally, SEC teams recruit the bulk of their talent in the
When you do something, there should be a good reason for it and there's no good reason for SEC teams to travel extensively for games.
Don't forget, traveling an 85 member football team, 15 coaches, an administrative staff, cheerleaders and a band is no small expense. Why blow big money flying cross country for games when your athletic department already is operating on a razor thin profit margin to begin with?
Let me put this "out of region" jive in terms we can all understand. I live in
You get what I'm saying here?
Criticizing SEC teams for not going "out of region" for games is like telling someone from Manhattan they don't know what good musicals are because they never leave Broadway.
Why would you travel for what you have the best in the world of next door?
People from
I realize it's difficult for many to accept that the SEC is the best conference in college football and has been for 20 years and likely always will be. Folks in the Midwest and Texas have pride and most of the national media doesn't want what they believe to be a batch hayseeds and bumpkins to dominate an entire sport, so you'll continue hear all manner of fanciful ideas about how the SEC is overrated or no better than any other conference. This "out of region" gibberish is just the most recent attempt to poke a hole in what is a doubtless college football fact: the SEC is the best conference hands down.
Well, with absolutes like that, dressed with powerful modifiers like "hands down," I'm convinced.
LSU lands Aunese son, McCartney Grandson ... Promise Keepers HQ to relocate to Baton Rouge?
Could it be 18 years ago that Sal Aunese passed away?
Some great CoachSpeak in this article. Check out this gem:
"T.C. is definitely a stroker, a guy who will throw the ball," said Fairview coach Tom McCartney, Bill's son and T.C.'s uncle.Imagine that, a quarterback who will throw the ball ...
Also, from this photo, it appears that conservative Christians have taken a page out of the Tressel fashion playbook. (Wow, the cheese factor on that metaphor might have to be measured by NASA. Apologies.)
Friday, August 3, 2007
Like fish in a barrel...
Ok, I'll take the first shot here at the annual geometrically configured (think circumference) sexual act known as the NCAA college football preseason poll.
First item, thanks to everyone who voted Karma into the number 5 slot. Looking forward to the now virtually guaranteed September loss. Glad we locked that up early.
Also, I know being ranked at #6 is hardly a snub, but are people really going to be caught sleeping on WVU? Their returning talent combined with their borderline D2 schedule has to give them the early advantage to locking up a BCS bid and possibly making a run into the title game. The only real road game they play is at Rutgers and no one can really be sure that lightning will strike twice.
The only solace here is that someone could make the argument that their schedule is actually what is keeping them from being ranked higher. And then we can let the crying begin about how the Big East is disrespected. See, the preseason poll allows us to focus on those aspects of college football that we missed so dearly...
First item, thanks to everyone who voted Karma into the number 5 slot. Looking forward to the now virtually guaranteed September loss. Glad we locked that up early.
Also, I know being ranked at #6 is hardly a snub, but are people really going to be caught sleeping on WVU? Their returning talent combined with their borderline D2 schedule has to give them the early advantage to locking up a BCS bid and possibly making a run into the title game. The only real road game they play is at Rutgers and no one can really be sure that lightning will strike twice.
The only solace here is that someone could make the argument that their schedule is actually what is keeping them from being ranked higher. And then we can let the crying begin about how the Big East is disrespected. See, the preseason poll allows us to focus on those aspects of college football that we missed so dearly...
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)