COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY
Written by: Mike in DA
Date posted: 12/29/2010
THE OWNER OF THIS TICKET WILL BE ROOTING FOR AUBURN - 30 GRAND WORTH!
GASBAGS ON THE NFL NETWORK?
Obviously, there was no one at the NFL Network willing to tell Joe Theismann and Matt Millen to take a play off, now and then, to say less, sound better. That means the NFLN bosses think we’re the ones with the problem. In Bob Papa, NFLN has a very strong, alert play-by-player. Yet, he was forced to the side of the road by a lot of hot air from the two gasbags in the booth with him during the second-half of the NFL season.
It's nice to know there's no more Thursday Night Football this season.
FLUB OF THE DAY
The Houston Chronicle continues to mess up, but since less and less people seem to be reading its hard copy, no one seems to notice.
For example, last Saturday (12/25) in a story about the Aloha Bowl game between Hawaii and Tulsa, the story got cut off in mid-sentence/mid-paragraph near the end, probably due to poor spacing.
In Sunday’s Chronicle (12/26), in the “Scoreboard” section of College Basketball, the geography continues to be a problem for whoever edits that section. Mississippi State played at Hawaii, but it was shown in the section under “South” as opposed to “West” where one would expect Hawaii to be located.
And in the TV Guide that comes with the Sunday Chronicle, in the “Sports on TV” section (page 20) for Sunday (12/26), the Minnesota at Philadelphia football game was listed for both noon on Fox and 7:15 PM on NBC. The game was a Sunday flex game, which caused the flub. The ironic thing is the game was pushed back to Tuesday night (12/28) and was shown at neither Sunday time.
ZAMBRANO A YANKEE? WTF!!!
The Houston Chronicle continues to mess up, but since less and less people seem to be reading its hard copy, no one seems to notice.
For example, last Saturday (12/25) in a story about the Aloha Bowl game between Hawaii and Tulsa, the story got cut off in mid-sentence/mid-paragraph near the end, probably due to poor spacing.
In Sunday’s Chronicle (12/26), in the “Scoreboard” section of College Basketball, the geography continues to be a problem for whoever edits that section. Mississippi State played at Hawaii, but it was shown in the section under “South” as opposed to “West” where one would expect Hawaii to be located.
And in the TV Guide that comes with the Sunday Chronicle, in the “Sports on TV” section (page 20) for Sunday (12/26), the Minnesota at Philadelphia football game was listed for both noon on Fox and 7:15 PM on NBC. The game was a Sunday flex game, which caused the flub. The ironic thing is the game was pushed back to Tuesday night (12/28) and was shown at neither Sunday time.
ZAMBRANO A YANKEE? WTF!!!
When the New York Yankees lost out on Cliff Lee to the Phillies, I thought they would use the cash not spent there and invest it elsewhere. They did not pursue Lee just for the heck of it; the Yankees need help in the starting rotation. Since "Plan A" is dead, the Yankees are going to "Plan B".
LET DIVISION WINNERS WITH LOSING RECORDS PLAY – IT WILL ONLY HAPPEN EVERY SO OFTEN!
The word is that the NFL Competition Committee will take up this matter in the off-season. Because the NFL maintains the “division groupings” within the conferences, denying a home playoff game to division winners with less than eight wins or nine wins if the season expands to 18 games, might come out of that committee, but I seriously doubt that it will bar division champions from the playoffs. Otherwise, why even have divisions?
And even if a team with a losing record wins its division, it's no worse than a situation where a team with 11 wins misses a wild card spot because two other wild cards have 12 wins and a division winner only has 9 wins. Some team will always think it got "screwed".
NOW IT'S OHIO STATE'S AND THE NCAA'S TURN TO BULLSHIT US!
How self-servingly convenient for the NCAA. How fuckin’ hypocritical of the NCAA.
The stated reason the NCAA is letting them play in the bowl game is that the players were not aware that this was a violation and that they had not been specifically educated on this particular rule.
If Ohio State had not told them anything about avoiding this kind of behavior, the school needs to be punished severely and immediately.
If Ohio State told them about avoiding this kind of behavior and the players did not understand the concept, there is no way to continue to pretend that they are actually college students in pursuit of an actual college degree; their academic eligibility becomes a farce.
If Ohio State told them about avoiding this kind of behavior and they did understand it and then did it anyway, the student-athletes need to be declared ineligible immediately and permanently.
Frankly, I don’t give a shit which of these explanations is the real one, but the NCAA has demonstrated once again that its holier-than-thou posturing regarding the purity of its student-athletes is nothing but unadulterated nonsense.
Memo to E. Gordon Gee: Since you have bowed out of any pronouncements regarding football after you put your foot in your mouth, what do you have to say about the learning curve of your “student-athletes” and how your athletic department and football coaching staff are developing these fertile young minds?
I’ll hang up and listen for my answer on the air.
By the way, as soon as the first player “profited from” his football status he became ineligible and therefore Ohio State played some games with ineligible players. Where is the forfeiture of wins? Moreover, with the forfeiture of wins, where is Ohio State’s bowl eligibility?
 |
| Ineligible player |
All of the players are juniors and all have the option to declare for the NFL Draft in the Spring of 2011. Any that do so will avoid any and all sanctions imposed by the NCAA rendering last week’s decision.
The NCAA is an institution beyond shame; we have known that for years. Ohio State still likes to pretend that it is an academic institution first and an athletic powerhouse second, but this episode exposes it for what it really is. Ohio State University is also beyond shame.
BELIEVE IT OR NOT: "THE RYAN LEAF TRILOGY" IS COMING SOON TO BOOKSTORES NEAR YOU!
First, there was the movie, now I recently read that Ryan Leaf, yes, that Ryan Leaf, has a contract with a publisher (Crimson Oak Publishing) to write a trilogy on his life and his career.
If I come across any of the trilogy books at my local Barnes and Noble bookstore, I'll browse through it out of curiosity, but it's definitely not on my must-read list.
THE GOVERNOR SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT HIS STATE'S UNEMPLOYMENT AND NOT A POSTPONED NFL GAME!
A topic that was a favorite one on sports talk shows this past Monday and Tuesday was the postponement of Sunday's Eagles-Vikings game due to the weather. Once again, the guys didn't cover all the points and unlike Pennsylvania Governor, Ed Rendell, I do not think that the postponement demonstrates that we have become a “nation of wussies”. 
I do think, however, that the NFL may have set itself up for ridicule in the future. The game was postponed hours before the storm hit; fans in the western suburbs of Philly did not get snow measured in feet; they got only a few inches. Those to the east of the city got a shitload of snow. So, some fans may wonder what the big deal was.
In a few years, the NFL will host a Super Bowl game in the New Meadowlands Stadium. What are the chances that the Super Bowl would be postponed for safety reasons concerning players and fans, if the same kind of storm were predicted for the Secaucus, NJ area? Moreover, what of any future Super Bowl games scheduled for Detroit or Minnesota (assuming they have a new domed stadium there)? I wonder if “safety concerns” will be nearly as important then.
As to Gov. Rendell, his commentary about becoming wussies is kind of interesting seeing that he would most likely be driven to the game and could have a police escort leading him along the way, so that he is sure to get to his VIP parking spot where it would be a short walk to the VIP entrance to his nice warm box from which he would view the game. The regular schmucky fans probably would have nothing close to that should they try to make it to and from the stadium.
THE GOVERNOR SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT HIS STATE'S UNEMPLOYMENT AND NOT A POSTPONED NFL GAME!
In a few years, the NFL will host a Super Bowl game in the New Meadowlands Stadium. What are the chances that the Super Bowl would be postponed for safety reasons concerning players and fans, if the same kind of storm were predicted for the Secaucus, NJ area? Moreover, what of any future Super Bowl games scheduled for Detroit or Minnesota (assuming they have a new domed stadium there)? I wonder if “safety concerns” will be nearly as important then.
CRIER'S CORNER (SR CREW)
As mentioned in the last Crier's Corner (12/25), here are the SR Crew's write-ups for the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday bowl games.
BOWL GAMES ("NON-MILLIONAIRE" GAMES)
BOWL GAMES ("NON-MILLIONAIRE" GAMES)
WEDNESDAY’S GAME - DECEMBER 29
EAGLE BANK BOWL
RFK Stadium – Washington, DC
MARYLAND vs. EAST CAROLINA
Quarterback Dominique Davis of East Carolina is the nation's top points producer. He accounts for an average of 22.7 points per game. The break in the action will have allowed him to heal a sore non-throwing shoulder that bothered him near the end of the regular season.
ECU loves to play against the ACC and has already beaten NC State this season, while very competitive in a loss to Virginia Tech. Davis had played against ACC defenses before, prior to not making grades at Boston College. In his first collegiate start, a 2008 win against Maryland, he threw TD passes of 45 and 7 yards for a BC offense that averaged only 319 yards per game. This ECU offense has averaged 446, and gained very respectable 361 and 347 vs. Virginia Tech and North Carolina, then marched up and down the field for 496 yards against NC State in October (in late November, Maryland’s offense gained 408 yards against NC State).
East Carolina’s alleged defense allowed 479 yards and more than 40 points per game, but Maryland’s defense allowed more yards per game (353) than its offense gained (342), and East Carolina has the quick-score offensive potential to offset defensive matador moments.
Maryland’s eight-season offensive coordinator James Franklin just took the head coaching job at Vanderbilt and will not be calling plays in this game. A handful of head coach Ralph Friedgen’s remaining elves are reportedly seeking other positions as the Maryland brass huffs and puffs trying to push Ralphie Boy up through, and out the chimney for the holidays. MARYLAND, 33-31.
THURSDAY’S GAME - DECEMBER 30
ARMED FORCES BOWL
Gerald Ford Stadium – Dallas, TX
SMU vs. ARMY
Any case that anyone can make for Army – which normally includes its strong offensive Time of Possession numbers, a drastic reduction in turnovers from previous regimes, and the heavy dose of Texas natives on the roster – needs to be tempered with the realization that they can’t pass the ball, have a lousy kicking game, and, although they don’t beat themselves as often as they once did, they still tend to make one, bone-headed, potentially game-changing error that is hard to overcome.
Also, when facing the same-styled June Jones offense in a home game vs. Hawaii this season, they allowed three early TD passes and fell behind 0-21 to an opponent playing 6,000 miles from home. The ability of Army’s offense to stay on the field (only TCU’s defense logged fewer snaps) looks good going against an SMU defense that allowed 44% third-down conversions this season. But if they have to punt, Army backers should be very worried when an SMU coverage team that has blocked five kicks this season is digging in its heels.
For all the worries about Army shortcomings, SMU appears to be no bargain. Although the Mustangs have played Navy’s similar offense the last two seasons, they didn’t make many defensive stops in those two losses. Although their head coach is the guy who implemented the Hawaii offensive system, SMU doesn’t throw the ball with Hawaii frequency or accuracy and lacks the yards-after-catch speed of that blurry offense. SMU, 27-24.
MUSIC CITY BOWL
LP Field – Nashville, TN
NORTH CAROLINA vs. TENNESSEE
The Tar Heels went through Tar Hell this season with the smell of NCAA investigations lingering over their campus. But they managed to get here, and want to use this game as a giant air freshener. UT’s strong season-ending push got them to Nashville, but their four closing wins weren’t over the most impressive teams - Memphis, Ole Miss, Vandy, and Kentucky.
Coach Derek Dooley did a nice job in his first year, but he has a young QB where UNC boss Davis sends out a vet signal-caller in T.J. Yates. Yates solid season was over-shadowed by the off-the-field stuff, but the kid threw for 265 yards per game with 18 TDs and just 8 picks. Dooley will ask freshman Tyler Bray to lead the charge without much of a running game against a UNC pass defense with 16 interceptions this season.
Big edge in the QB department to the Heels, plus you cannot underestimate the importance of this game to Butch Davis. He was brought in to lead UNC to ACC mastery, but to date has achieved only ACC mediocrity. NORTH CAROLINA, 28-20.
HOLIDAY BOWL
Qualcomm Stadium – San Diego, CA
NEBRASKA vs. WASHINGTON
Nebraska routed Washington, 56-21, on the Huskies’ home field earlier this year in a Best Bet winner, but history isn’t likely to repeat itself here. This marks the second straight season that the Huskers lost the Big 12 title game in the final minutes and received a trip to San Diego as a parting gift. They were motivated to raise Arizona last year, but the shine is off a bit this year.
Washington barely even got here, getting their 6th win in the last game of the year. That said, look for Coach Sarkisian to be very stingy with the football, using the legs of RB Polk and QB Locker to keep his defense off the field. Nebraska is good against the run, but great vs. the pass, so Sark will choose the lesser of two evils.
This game is also huge for Locker’s future employment in the NFL. At this time last year, he was thought of as the draft’s #1 pick. That changed after his 4-for-20 performance vs. this team in September. Husker QB Martinez and his crew will do enough with their one-dimensional offense to win, but the Washington run D played much better in the 2nd half of the season. Just ask Oregon. NEBRASKA, 32-23.
FRIDAY'S GAMES - DECEMBER 31
MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL
Bank of America Stadium – Charlotte, NC
CLEMSON vs. SOUTH FLORIDA
Picking between Clemson and USF is kinda like "Frosty the Snowman" having to choose vacation spots between Hawaii and the Bahamas – neither seems like a good option.
The USF Bulls run the football with about 60% of their offensive snaps, and if injured QB Daniels is forced to give way to true frosh walk-on quarterback Eveld, that percentage could increase. The offense really wasn’t that good with Daniels playing, so it might not matter who is under center when your offense averaged only 63 offensive snaps per contest due in large part to an anemic 28% third-down conversion rate. If you watch this one, let’s just say you’ll get very familiar with the USF defense. Or will you?
The Tigers offense has a perpetual limp after shooting itself in the foot time and time again. The offense can move it between the 20s, but the wheels fall off from there. That said, the Tigers have more play-makers on the offensive side of the football and they played a much tougher schedule. Slight edge to Clemson, but Bulls’ boss Holtz is a solid coach who will have his team ready to scrap. CLEMSON, 19-16.
LIBERTY BOWL
Liberty Bowl – Memphis, TN
GEORGIA vs. CENTRAL FLORIDA
Dawgs have the athletic edge here on both sides of the football, but don’t count out UCF just yet. Golden Knight coach, O’Leary, has a physical football team that will smack these pups in the mouth if they misbehave. Game plan for the underdog is simple – possess the football on offense and limit the big play on defense.
Despite a solid run D, mobile QBs have given UGA trouble this season – just pop in the tape against Mississippi State, Colorado, Florida, and Auburn. UCF runs the ball on 67% of their snaps, but they use a mix of running backs and speedy freshman QB Godfrey to get it done. Despite all the runs, coach O’Leary’s team converts third downs at a 52% clip, which tells you they’re in third and short a lot.
As for Mark Richt’s Bulldogs, running the ball has been an issue all year with an underachieving line. UCF’s defense is stout vs. the run. It will likely be up to Georgia redshirt freshman QB, Aaron Murray, to move the sticks. He has a bevy of wide receivers and tight ends who can make plays. Murray averaged 9.2 yards per attempt, which ranked 8th nationally. Needless to say, the Golden Knights must prevent yard gobbling big-gainers, if they want to keep it close. Expect a close ball game, but Georgia has excellent special teams and they’ll be the difference late. GEORGIA, 27-23.
CHIK-FIL-A BOWL
Georgia Dome – Atlanta, GA
SOUTH CAROLINA vs. FLORIDA STATE
Statistically speaking, these teams are pretty even straight across the board: good, but not great rushing attacks; solid, but mistake-prone passing games; excellent defensive lines that stuff the run; and secondaries that have been picked on during the season. So who has the edge?
We’ll give it to the Gamecocks. Despite laying eggs in their last two bowl games, the chickens’ x-factor is the play calling of coach Spurrier. FSU’s defense is at its best when getting teams in 3rd-and-long, so they can unleash their freakish d-line. With the Seminoles surely focused on freshman tailback Lattimore, look for Spurrier to use the short and mid-range passing game on first and second down to mitigate the d-line push. After he gets the lead, then the ‘Ole Ball Coach will feed Lattimore.
The ’Noles are not quite as dynamic on offense and when the running game stalls, their QBs are not the drop-back and pick-you-apart type guys. That said, they’ll need to move the chains through the air because South Carolina gave up just 104 rushing yards per game, good for 8th nationally. Also, don’t discount the fact that the Gamecocks just played in the Georgia Dome four weeks earlier and will be familiar with the surroundings, the noise, etc. As for FSU, the last time they played in a dome was October 9, 2004. That was 5 days after Scottie Pippen announced his retirement from the NBA. SOUTH CAROLINA, 24-17.
"MILLIONAIRE" GAMES
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES – DECEMBER 29
TEXAS BOWL
Reliant Stadium – Houston, TX
BAYLOR (-1) over ILLINOIS
The Zooker’s Illini team was 3-3 SU in its last three games, beating seriously damaged Indiana and Purdue while +6 in TO Ratio combined in those games, and beating seriously damaged Northwestern in the idiotic one-way game at Wrigley Field.
Illinois fields a rush-heavy, 47-22 Run-Pass offense which was the nation’s third-runningest attack that wasn’t an option-based offense. Problem: Illinois scored 15 fewer points per game than Auburn, and allowed 7 more points per game more than Nebraska. If an opponent can score against the Illinois defense, it forces the offense away from its rushing comfort zone.
Baylor is the more balanced offensive team, averaging better than 200-200 to boot. They can move the ball and score points. Bears’ quarterback Robert Griffin is as fast or faster than quarterbacks Illinois played against in the Big Ten, Michigan’s Denard Robinson and Ohio State’s Terrell Pryor. Griffin and RB Jay Finley (1,100+ yards, 12 TDs) make it that much harder for opponents to defend the quick-strike passing game that functions like a running game with big yards after the catch by wideouts – five different Baylor receivers have scored big-play TDs ranging from 43 to 96 yards.
The Baylor defense was victimized repeatedly by opposing offenses that do what Baylor’s offense does - aggressive, up-tempo quick/short-passing. Those styles go through the Big 12, but aren’t in Illinois’ bag of tricks. Meanwhile, Reliant Bowl honchos expect their first sell-out, with a big push from Waco way after 30,000 tickets were purchased by Baylor. "This ain't neutral," Zook said. "Nor is it close.” BAYLOR, 41-27.
ALAMO BOWL
Alamodome – San Antonio, TX
ARIZONA (+5) over OKLAHOMA STATE
On October 30th, Arizona was sitting at 7-1 with dreams of Roses dancing through their heads. Their regular season ended with a nightmare and today they sit 7-5 and are headed to San Antonio. That four-game slide pushed the ’Cats out of the national eye, while Oklahoma State was playing for the Big 12 South title all the way to the last weekend.
With two teams going in seemingly opposite directions, why back 7-5 getting less than a TD as opposed to 10-2 giving less than a score? Arizona is hungry for this win. Coach Mike Stoops and most of these players were husked by Nebraska, 33-0, in last year’s Holiday Bowl. Afterwards, the coaches and players admitted that their preparation for that game was more “for fun” than “for win”.
It is a different story this year. Stoops has a bevy of athletes on both sides of the ball that can run and jump with any team in the nation, including the athletic Cowboys. On offense, Arizona averaged 73 plays per game, meaning that they can keep the ball out of the hands of Okie State’s offense, which ranked #1 in total offense this season. Wildcat QB Foles has a big arm that can stretch a defense, but he also excels at throwing the short routes that keep the chains moving.
For all of their offensive accolades, the Cowboys’ pass defense gave up close to 300 yards per game due in large part to their over-aggressive play that often leads to big plays for the offense. Those defensive shortcomings where hidden by an awesome offense that got it done on the ground and through the air. But Arizona has a fast defense that prefers to play offenses that rely on speed (Okie State) as opposed to power teams like Stanford.
Also can’t expect the Cowboys to be as efficient offensively after their offensive coordinator Holgorson was announced as the “coach in waiting” at West Virginia. He’ll call plays in the Alamo Bowl, but the distraction factor definitely comes into play. Finally, Coach Stoops has a spy in the family in Coach Bob Stoops who runs the Oklahoma operation that just beat this Oklahoma State team on November 27th. You think the Cowboys were a topic of their holiday conversations? ARIZONA, 38-31.
THURSDAY’S GAME – DECEMBER 30
PINSTRIPE BOWL
Yankee Stadium – Bronx, NY
KANSAS STATE (Pick 'em) over SYRACUSE
The point-spread opened at K-State (-2.5), and has come down to a pick’em. But is the line move due to a perception thing – a debatable connection possibly being made between Syracuse, Syracuse alumni, ticket sales, screaming fans in attendance, and how that all of that usually works very well for Syracuse basketball when they play in New York City?
This is a football game, and there is a big difference between a perennially strong, re-stocking hoops program, and a depth-shy football team that hasn’t played in a bowl game since Hector was a pup, whose cold fans could be heading to the rest rooms for warmth after realizing they’ve bought into the hype and begin wondering why they expected their team to win when they were 0-for-Big East, plus 0-for-Boston College on their own home field this season. Syracuse is a home-dome team that averaged only 17 points per game from September through November against nine FBS (Division 1-A) opponents, now playing outdoors in December.
Everything you’ve read all year about Kansas State says that their offense is too one-dimensional and that opponents can just load up the box at the line of scrimmage and stop meal-ticket running back Daniel Thomas from getting his yards. And then, the K-State team went out and scored 32 points per game at their own level.
Obviously, or not so obviously, the Wildcats can do other things. Like forcing offensively challenged opponents (Texas, for instance) into making mistakes and turning a match-up like that into a blowout win. Like scoring 37 rushing touchdowns (to only 11 rushing TDs for Syracuse), with Thomas accounting for less than half of them. Like returning five kickoffs for touchdowns. Granted, Syracuse doesn’t score much, so the Orange don’t kickoff much, but teams that don’t score much can’t afford to give it right back after they do. KANSAS STATE, 34-20.
FRIDAY'S GAME - DECEMBER 31
SUN BOWL
Sun Bowl – El Paso, TX
MIAMI-FL (-3) over NOTRE DAME
In the four games the U. played without #1 quarterback, Jacory Harris (bonked on the head), they still managed to gain 507, 434 and 504 yards from scrimmage in ACC games, and a fair 353 yards against South Florida. The problem in this 2-2 SU, 1-3 ATS season-ending stretch was turnovers: 13 in the last four games while step-in quarterback, Stephen Morris, completed only 50% of his throws with a 5-8 TD-INT ratio. Reports would have people believe that Morris played well enough to supplant Harris. Stats say differently.
The new Miami head coach Al Golden, from Temple, is staying out of the picture for this affair but retained offensive line coach and interim head coach Jeff Stoutland, as well as several other assistants from Randy Shannon’s staff. Stoutland is playing the gamesmanship game – saying Harris and Morris are “so close together.” Baloney. For the Hurricanes’ best chance to win, Harris is the guy.
Theo Riddick’s absence (he’ll be playing) left the Irish without an edge-getter and more of a plodding offense that relied on wideout Michael Floyd to stretch the field against many overmatched pass defenders. But here in El Paso, Notre Dame features an inexperienced quarterback, Rees, against a fast defense that allowed only 146 passing yards per game (national median is 218). The Hurricanes weren’t too stout against the run, but Notre Dame’s average of 121 rushing yards per game was 32 yards (21%) below national median. MIAMI-FL, 31-19.
MIKE IN DA
HMW
Email: houstonmediawatch@yahoo.com
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