Thursday, March 10, 2011
Buckeye Bull
Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated gets the Jim Tressel/Ohio State University football story perfectly. The coach and the school's reaction to the scandal is, in a word, a crock.
Sorry, I don't buy Tressel's "Father Flanagan" act. Occam's Razor applies here: The simplest explanation is the most likely. Tressel didn't like the idea that he'd lose several of his best players -- so he tried to cover it up. And now OSU is complicit in trying to get him off the hook. Here's hoping the NCAA -- not that the organization's archaic rules didn't help create the circumstances in the first place -- doesn't fall for this.
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Sorry, I don't buy Tressel's "Father Flanagan" act. Occam's Razor applies here: The simplest explanation is the most likely. Tressel didn't like the idea that he'd lose several of his best players -- so he tried to cover it up. And now OSU is complicit in trying to get him off the hook. Here's hoping the NCAA -- not that the organization's archaic rules didn't help create the circumstances in the first place -- doesn't fall for this.
Labels: college football, Jim Tressel, Ohio State University, scandal
Monday, November 05, 2007
More Mid-dlin' Than Fair
I was remiss in neglecting to applaud this weekend's great accomplishment of the state-sponsored school across the street from my alma mater. Fortunately, The Washington Post's John Feinstein takes care of it:
That 43-year streak ended this past Saturday -- in triple overtime. Good for the Midshipmen. Good for Annapolis!
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Some will see the score, shrug their shoulders and note that the Fighting Irish reached a nadir in dropping to 1-8 on the season while seeing their 43-game winning streak against Navy -- the longest in the history of college football -- come to an end.The U.S. Naval Academy is St. John's College's great rival in the gentle sport of croquet -- and the Johnnies have had our way with the Midshipmen in about 21 of the 24 annual tournaments. But even that domination paled in comparison to that of Notre Dame over the Academy in football.
In doing so, they will entirely miss the point.
There is simply no way that any Navy team should beat any Notre Dame team at this point in time. Notre Dame -- even a 1-8 Notre Dame team -- is always going to have athletes who are bigger, stronger and faster than Navy's. Notre Dame is one of the glamour teams in college football, even in a bad year. It has more tradition than anybody; more money than anybody; its own network television contract and more blue-chip recruits than anybody.
Navy beat Notre Dame with a 5-foot-9, 195-pound linebacker making a key sack in the fourth quarter. It won with a 5-6, 168-pound slotback producing the eight points that won the game in the third overtime.
It won with a team that -- physically -- had no chance to win, but won because a huge heart can overcome a lot of things, and you can't play football at Navy (or Army or Air Force) for any extended period of time without a huge heart.
The Midshipmen have all the things Dorothy's friends wished for: brains, heart and courage. On Saturday, that was enough. It was even enough to -- once again -- overcome an officiating crew that played the role of Notre Dame's 12th man.
That 43-year streak ended this past Saturday -- in triple overtime. Good for the Midshipmen. Good for Annapolis!
Labels: college football, Notre Dame, U.S. Naval Academy
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
RAGGED Sports Break
1) Golden Dome in black and white. Those Notre Dame boosters who thought they were so Weis three years ago look fit to be Ty-ed right about now. Pat Forde nails ND perfectly.
2) Who'd a thunk it? Baseball isn't the only sport that uses the wonders of modern technology to, uh, "gain a competitive advantage" (AKA "cheat"). So does the NFL!! So, if the Patriots weren't stealing signs, they might have only scored 24 points on the Jets!
Don't laugh, the Jets did beat the Pats up in Foxboro late last year -- admittedly, Randy Moss wasn't there.
It also appears that this isn't the first time the Patriots pulled this, given that Green Bay's GM claims they pulled something similar last year. Which causes more than a few people to wonder whether Bill Belichik is a true "genius" -- or just another boob tube junkie like the rest of us.
Rather than dunning New England a few draft picks, how about just sending Tom Brady to the Jets? That sounds like a fair punishment!
Oh, and while we're in Beantown-bashing mode, one more thing: In light of this scandal, wonder if Barry Bonds foe Curt Schilling has any choice words to say about Belichick, given the coach's "complicated" domestic issues?
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2) Who'd a thunk it? Baseball isn't the only sport that uses the wonders of modern technology to, uh, "gain a competitive advantage" (AKA "cheat"). So does the NFL!! So, if the Patriots weren't stealing signs, they might have only scored 24 points on the Jets!
Don't laugh, the Jets did beat the Pats up in Foxboro late last year -- admittedly, Randy Moss wasn't there.
It also appears that this isn't the first time the Patriots pulled this, given that Green Bay's GM claims they pulled something similar last year. Which causes more than a few people to wonder whether Bill Belichik is a true "genius" -- or just another boob tube junkie like the rest of us.
Rather than dunning New England a few draft picks, how about just sending Tom Brady to the Jets? That sounds like a fair punishment!
Oh, and while we're in Beantown-bashing mode, one more thing: In light of this scandal, wonder if Barry Bonds foe Curt Schilling has any choice words to say about Belichick, given the coach's "complicated" domestic issues?
Labels: college football, NFL, Notre Dame
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
If You Didn't See...
...the Fiesta Bowl game between the Oklahoma Sooners and Boise State (Idaho) Broncos, you missed one of the greatest college football games of all time. BSU beat OU 43-42. The last hour featured:
But, it didn't end with the game. During the after-game media Q&A, with the whole world watching him, Boise State running back Ian Johnson (who scored the winning two points in overtime) dropped to his knee and asked his cheerleader girlfriend (standing next to him on his arm) to marry him (thereby earning the enmity of every guy trying to figure out the ideal way to propose to his girlfriend).
She said "Yes."
In and of itself, as amazing a play as any that Chris Peterson, Johnson's coach, had called all night.
Also, kudos to last year's Final Four Cinderalla team, George Mason University athletic department for the truly classy move of taking out a full-page ad in the Idaho Statesman newspaper wishing BSU luck in taking on the Goliath football program of Oklahoma Sooners.
By the way, if the Green Bay Packers don't figure out a way to draft BSU QB Jared Zabransky to learn in wait behind Brett Favre (who will come back for the '97 NFL season), they're out of their collective minds.
And a Happy New Year to all!
Technorati Tags: BCS, college football, Boise State University
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- a great OU touchdown drive & three attempts before a successful two-point conversion;
- an OU interception and go-ahead touchdown;
- a 4th-and-18 hook and lateral play by Boise State to tie the game with seven seconds left;
- a BSU running back option pass for a touchdown in overtime -- and a Statue-of-Liberty two-point conversion to win it!
But, it didn't end with the game. During the after-game media Q&A, with the whole world watching him, Boise State running back Ian Johnson (who scored the winning two points in overtime) dropped to his knee and asked his cheerleader girlfriend (standing next to him on his arm) to marry him (thereby earning the enmity of every guy trying to figure out the ideal way to propose to his girlfriend).
She said "Yes."
In and of itself, as amazing a play as any that Chris Peterson, Johnson's coach, had called all night.
Also, kudos to last year's Final Four Cinderalla team, George Mason University athletic department for the truly classy move of taking out a full-page ad in the Idaho Statesman newspaper wishing BSU luck in taking on the Goliath football program of Oklahoma Sooners.
By the way, if the Green Bay Packers don't figure out a way to draft BSU QB Jared Zabransky to learn in wait behind Brett Favre (who will come back for the '97 NFL season), they're out of their collective minds.
And a Happy New Year to all!
Technorati Tags: BCS, college football, Boise State University
Labels: BCS, Boise State University, bowl championship series, college football
