When did we break down the schedules in two parts? It just doesn't make sense to me. Or does it? Usually the OOC vs IC schedule parts SEC vs well, everyone else. Fans of Team A blasts Team B for a weak conference. Then Team B attacks Team A's out of conference schedule. Blah, blah, blah. There's truth in both.
Just take a look at the two highest profile games this upcoming year:
Ohio State at Southern Cal
Georgia vs Florida @ the Cocktail Party
Both games are being treated like it's the plus one system in effect. Two games, most likely both will be a top 5 matchups. Here is my point, I think. Ohio State and USC went outside their conference to get their Top 5 matchup while Georgia and Florida have their Top 5 matchup built into their schedule. I'm not saying either is better or worse for it. What I'm saying is that when the season is over, all four of these teams will likely be in the Top 10 in strength of schedule. So can we please put to rest the OOC vs the IC? It's a weak arguement.
This will likely be my last post here. I'm going on a little "vacation" and won't have the time to visit anymore. So I thought I would leave you with a few of my favorite sports memories. While some of them are small in the scheme of things, I will remember these events and tell the stories to my kids and theirs. Hope you enjoy.
- I once scored 33 points in basketball game
Sure, it was a church league, but it was a pretty competitive b-ball league. I never quite had the grades to play school ball. So this was my chance to shine. My older brother was our coach and knew that the rest of the players couldn't handle the rigors of real basketball compared to their street balling ways. He gave me the word and told me to take them game into my own hands, much in the way Phil Jackson runs his offense through Kobe. 33 points may not be a big deal, but I had the high score for the league that year. Oh, we also lost and I fractured my wrist on the last play. Another reason why that game was so memorable.
- The Slide
Growing up in Pensacola (a huge baseball community) we were almost forced to love the hapless Braves. All that changed once Bobby Cox and John Schuerholz arrived. The losers became winners. In Game Seven of the 1992 NLCS against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Braves were headed into the ninth inning down 2-0. What followed was a sac fly from Ron Gant and a miracle. Francisco Cabrera lines a single to left. Justice scores from third. Sid Bream, known for his wheels or lack of, rounds third and heads for home. Barry Bonds (a lot thinner back then, I don't know why), hits Mike LaValliere just slightly before Bream reaches home. The throw from Bonds is slightly off and Bream slides in under the tag. Justice's famous chokehold. Hysteria breaks out. End scene. I remember my mom jumping around our living room with my brothers and me. Let's just say my mom is not the type to get too excited over anything. This was one of the times when she let her emotions go when she heard, "Line drive and a base hit. Justice will score the tying run. Bream to the plate...and he is safe, safe at the plate! The Braves go to the World Series!"
On a side note, one of my good friends is a huge fan of Pittsburgh sports teams. I'm not allowed to mention any of the names mentioned around him or he gets overly sensitive. I love to make him overly sensitive every time I get the chance.
- Payback
Roy Jones fell to Montell Griffin. Not by a Knock Out, not even by a Technical Knock Out, but by Disqualification. Ouch. Roy gets his first loss as Griffin slips to one knee and he hits him. Griffin takes a look around and falls flat (I think he took a dive. If he could have continued, Jones Jr would have lost some points, but if he can't continue Griffin goes home the champ). This ain't WWE, if you're the champ and you get disqualified, you don't keep the belt. Griffin talked a lot of smack leading up to the rematch. Saying that Jones knew that Griffin was beating him so Roy had to cheat. So on Aug 21, 1997, Roy dishes out some vengeance. Roy is one to fight a lot of fights with his mouth. On this day, he used to his fists and showed why he was "The Best Pound for Pound" boxer. Barely into the first round, Jones KO's Griffin. Making Griffin look like a complete punching bag with legs. This was about as lopsided as a fight you will ever see. One more side note...Roy's silver medal in the Olympics is probably one of my worst sports memories. Roy Jones should have won both the Gold and Silver after that fight.
- Am I my brother's keeper
Growing up I was the middle child. I know, it sucked. My older brother was the scholastic dream. He was in more clubs in high schools than the Olsen twins. FBLA, Spanish, varsity baseball team and more that I can't remember. My younger brother was a baseball phenom. He pretty much set records in every year that he played. I remember watching him play third base and throw and kid out from his knees. Sure, that's not too impressive, you see that all the time on ESPN. We'll he did it and nine. Most nine year olds have trouble getting the ball from third to first with a running start. My greatest memory of my brother is when he was playing in an all star game at 11. He was playing with the 12 year olds. Not a lot of kids did that back then. He was playing in a normal 11-12 year old park. Well, he came up to bat and drilled a ball. It went out of the park. Then over two rows of parking. Then over the street and over the powerlines. It landed in some trees...in the guy who lived across the street's back yard. I'm sorry, but that's power. That ball looked like it traveled in slow motion. Not bad for an 11 year old.
Another one of my worst sports moments is when my brother fell into my crowd in HS. He got into some trouble and baseball has been an afterthought ever since. That's one thing that weighs on me every day.
- Those who can't do...
One of the greatest gifts in sports is teaching others how to play. I try and explain to my wife why a pitcher always bunts with runners on and one or no outs. How a pump fake or play action can freeze a defense long enough to cause some damage. The greatest joy I've felt was coaching youth sports. Teaching young boys and girls to play the game and play it the right way. To teach them fundamentals and to actually see them use them. To teach a young girl, which her mother made her play, that the game can be fun and watch her run down the court smiling and giving high fives. To teach the ball hoggin, streetballer that it takes a team to win after you make him play 1 vs 5.
So if you ask yourself how you can change today's athletes. You can't, but you can affect the next batch. I recommend all of you that take offense to today's games and how they aren't played like they should to go out and coach. Teach them the right way and why it's the right way. Make sports fun for them and they will listen.
Florida president Bernie Machen said Wednesday that he is gaining increased support among leaders of Southeastern Conference schools in his push for a playoff for college football in the former Division I-A.
Machen said he proposed his ideas to SEC presidents at a meeting in March in Atlanta and that the topic will be on the official agenda of the SEC spring meetings in Destin, Fla., in April.
"I will make my formal presentation," Machen said. "This is a big step. I didn't think they'd allow me to be a part of the agenda. But I will have my day in court."
Machen said the SEC needs to lead the way and that time is a factor.
"We need to have these considerations now," Machen said. "Fox wants now to extend our existing BCS deal and if we do that, we're going to be stuck in the same place for the next six to eight years, with a system that could obviously be better."
Machen takes his stand, of course, even though Florida won the national championship under the existing BCS format, which pits the two highest-rated teams in the BCS formula. Machen said movement towards a plus-one format (adding an extra game), a Final Four or eight-team format is not as important as getting a majority opinion among the SEC leaders that a change is beneficial.
"It will take a conference like ours to get this moving in the right direction," Machen said. "We've got to make this a deal with great revenue for league and bowls. Right now, I have more SEC presidents on board than I thought I would. And the majority are willing to listen, which is more than ever before."
Machen said he's spoken to about a hal####ozen presidents outside the SEC to gauge their opinions. And that he has talked to leaders at two BCS bowls who say they "want to be at the table to discuss this, too."
The Big Ten and the Pac-10, with a strong Rose Bowl tie-in, figure to be the conferences least eager to rally support for a college football playoff.
Following is a blog written by Jim Delany, Big Ten Commissioner and can be found on the Big Ten website.
To Fans of the Big Ten and College Football
Feb. 9, 2007 Greetings from the Big Ten Conference, With the conclusion of another tremendous college football season and the recent national signing day, there has been a lot written and said about the Big Ten's recruiting efforts across the country, including a recent article in the Chicago Sun-Times entitled "Big Ten needs to find new talent pool - fast" (see full article here). In response to these commentaries, it seems premature for us to lower our admission standards or give up on the tremendous talent pool in the Midwest. No doubt national programs must recruit nationally wherever the talented students and athletes live. Hats off to Florida and the SEC -- they had a great year. We believe that both the Big Ten and the SEC have been and remain two of the greatest college football conferences in the country. But you may want to keep in mind the following as you review the various recruiting services, listen to talking heads and reflect the blogosphere out there as they compare these two fine conferences. I think most people would agree that head-to-head competition is an effective method to compare relative strengths between competitive entities:
The Big Ten was 2-1 vs. the SEC in this past season's bowl games. The Big Ten is 8-6 vs. the SEC in bowl games over the last five years
The Big Ten is 13-13 vs. the SEC in bowl games over the last decade. Over the last nine years of Bowl Championship Series games, the Big Ten leads all conferences with 15 berths while ranking second with eight victories. The SEC tops all leagues with nine wins and ranks second to the Big Ten with 13 appearances.
In the last 10 years the Big Ten has produced two national champions compared to three for the SEC. I
n the last 15 years the Big Ten has produced five Heisman Trophy winners, more than any other conference. Over that same time span, the SEC has claimed one Heisman.
While the SEC ranked first among various recruiting rankings, the Big Ten ranked second or third nationally with four to five programs rated among the top 25 recruiting classes.
The Big Ten has a history of developing players - the most recent Heisman Trophy winner, Troy Smith, was one of the last players to receive a scholarship from Ohio State.
The Big Ten has slightly less than 300 players in the NFL while the SEC has slightly more than 300; Sixteen former Big Ten players earned Super Bowl rings with the Indianapolis Colts earlier this month.
I love speed and the SEC has great speed, especially on the defensive line, but there are appropriate balances when mixing academics and athletics. Each school, as well as each conference, simply must do what fits their mission regardless of what a recruiting service recommends. I wish we had six teams among the top 10 recruiting classes every year, but winning our way requires some discipline and restraint with the recruitment process. Not every athlete fits athletically, academically or socially at every university. Fortunately, we have been able to balance our athletic and academic mission so that we can compete successfully and keep faith with our academic standards. Let's see if the five- and 10-year trend lines hold or whether the recruiting services and talking heads are seeing a new day. We are quite proud of our history and tradition and remain optimistic about the future of Big Ten football.
Thanks.
Jim Delany
Thanks Jim. Basically you summed it up by saying your a competitive conference, but just not there athletically with the Southeastern Conference. You sound like a 13 old boy who just got beaten in a game of basketball and your only excuse is "they're better than us, that's why they won, but I bet they couldn't beat me in a spelling bee."
Jim Delany, do us a favor. Worry about your own conference.
Yeah, that's right. I finished in the top 200 (I believe 190) to be exact in the world in College Pick 'em on Foxsports.com. That put me in the 99.2 percentile. Normally I wouldn't brag about this (I've been busy bragging on Florida), but I received an e-mail from foxsports yesterday telling me that I get a free year subscription to scout.com. I've always wanted to get a subscription to scout, but the $100 a year usually swayed me against the idea. So I'm pretty excited about trying it out free for a year.
Alright, that's enough for right now. I'm headed to the Senior Bowl Saturday. So if anyone wants to meet up and buy me a beer, I'd be glad to oblige. I'll be at the Tailgate Party that starts 12, so you can start buying me beer around then. I'll post one last College Football Blog when I get back. Hopefully I even add some pics from the day.
Sure, a playoff is what is needed most in college football. I won't even argue with you over that. What kind of playoff I'm not going to argue either. I'm in favor of a plus one myself. How do we truly get those "four best teams" or even the "two best teams" together? To me it's easier than putting together a playoff or sleeping with Lindsey Lohan after she's had a couple of shots of Patron Platinum in her.
It's as simple as not ranking teams until later in the season. How many teams have been ranked in the Top 10 during preseason only to fall out of the Top 25 by years end? How many teams start way behind because those supposed teams fall from grace and show growth and maturity? I think what we have learned more these last couple of years is that rankings mean nothing when two teams are playing.
I say start ranking teams after week six. Let them get past their out of conference schedule and into the heart of their conference before we start picking who is going to play in the BCS National Championship game.
I think this puts everyone at the same starting line. Isn't that what we truly want? An equal chance to get to the Championship game. Look, the BCS is not going to add a playoff system until at least 2010. So get used to it. We need changes that are going to work and benefit every team now. Not just the USC's, Ohio State's, Oklahoma's, Florida's, etc. I think this is one change that would benefit every Div I school.
I wrote a super long post only to have it disappear in thin blogness. So I am going to give you the short and sweet.
Key aspects for Florida:
Reggie Lewis and Ryan Smith
Chris Leak
Key aspects for Ohio State:
Offensive Line
Anthony Gonzalez
Pick: Florida 31, Ohio State 28 (I have a strong feeling that a Chris Hetland field goal will be the difference in this game. It's will be an ironic end to his season for sure since he's been 4-13 this year.)
Here is a list of five things that won't matter between the Buckeyes and Gators when they meet in two weeks from Christmas. We’ll get to the more important stuff later. Enjoy.
Weather:
The weather in Columbus on Dec 20, 2006 is 47 degrees and cloudy.
The weather in Gainesville on Dec 20, 2006 is 74 degrees and cloudy.
Winner: Florida Ohio State fan about Gainesville "I couldn't live here, cause I like seasons.” Gator fan replies "Yeah we do too, but we got rid of the #### ones"
The Mascot:
Florida has the gator
Ohio State has the buckeye
What is a buckeye? It is a fruit or poisonous seed: a prickly or smooth fruit of a tree or bush of the horse chestnut family, or the large shiny brown poisonous seed it contains
Winner: Both will kill you. So I guess a tie. I still would rather be killed by fruit than an alligator that has all those teeth and no toothbrush.
Stadiums:
The Horseshoe: Largest Crowd 105,708 Mel Kiper has even said that Ohio Stadium has the second-best atmosphere of any college venue.
The Swamp: Largest Crowd 90,716 EA Sports’ NCAA Football has Ben Hill Griffin Stadium the #1 toughest place to play in every version in which home field advantage has been ranked. Winner: The Swamp, The Shoe is close though, besides, I never listen to what Mel Kiper's hair tells me
Cool Traditions:
The Gator Chomp: Whether during kickoff or just cheering for a certain “Touchdown Maker” standing in the end zone, this tradition is fun for everyone.
Script Ohio: The script is an integrated series of evolutions and formations. The band first forms a triple Block O formation which will slowly unwind to form the famous letters. The drum major leads the outside O into a peel-off movement around the curves of the script, every musician in continual motion. The middle Block O revolves counter-clockwise as the other two rotate in a clockwise manner. Slowly the three blocks unfold into a long singular line which loops around, creating the OSUMB's trademark.
Winner: Script Ohio. While everyone can do the gator chomp, only a special few can do the honors at Ohio State. Besides the fourth or fifth year sousaphone player, there has been Bob Hope, Woody Hayes, Buster Douglas, and Jack Nicklaus.
Helmet and Uniforms:
Gators: The blue jersey with the blue helmet with a gator head on it. It’s not very stylish.
Buckeyes: Sure the plain silver helmet (wich looks like it was painted with boat paint) isn’t that cool either. It’s those darn pride stickers or whatever they are calling them these days.
Winner: Buckeyes. Sure maybe one little buckeye won’t hurt you, but if you see a helmet full of buckeyes you might want to pack some antacid and have the number to your physician ready.
*I want to start a petition to have Florida wear the helmet and jerseys that they wore for the Alabama game this year. Those were sharper than a razor blade.
I'm putting together an all Ohio State vs Florida so nobody steal my idea.
With the season coming to an end this week, I just want to give some shout outs to college football
- Shout outs to Ohio State for going undefeated
- Shout outs to Florida for going 12-1 in the SEC and turning enough heads to get them in the title game
- Shout outs to the talking heads who said it wasn’t possible for USC to lose to UCLA
- Shout outs to Michigan for finishing 11-1. If you finish your season off with a win, you will finish the number two team or even a split title.
- Shout outs to Auburn. They are the only team that boasts wins over two of the top five in the BCS
- Shout outs to Oklahoma. They are a call away from being in the talks with Florida and Michigan. How messed up would that have been? They did it all without their starting QB and a running back that missed most of the season.
- Shout outs to Rutgers for playing George Mason this year.
- Shout outs to Louisville, Wake Forest and Boise St for their first BCS bid
- Shout outs to LSU for sneaking in under the radar and finishing with two loses and fourth in the BCS.
- Shout outs to Troy Smith and Darren McFadden. They are the two best players in the country, in that order.
- Shout outs to Auburn and Wisconsin. Two teams left out of the BCS due to a two team rule.
My Sarcastic Shout Outs
- Shout outs to the great officiating this year
- Shouts out to the Michigan fans crying about Urban Meyer crying
- Shout out to Rhett Bomar and Marcus Thomas
- Shout outs to Notre Dame for earning your chance to play in the Sugar Bowl.
1: a mania for great or grandiose performance 2: a delusional mental disorder that is marked by feelings of personal omnipotence and grandeur
A delusional mental disorder? Maybe so. Most people who have disorders don't know they have them.
SEC fans carry a certain cockiness and arrogence that would make a spoiled Prom Queen jealous. Do they have a right to be that smug? I don't think anyone has a right to be smug. There are some proud people out there and they don't know how to debate, just attack each others character. Those of you will have a great career in politics.
Here's my explanation for the whole why the SEC is a tougher, (not better conference):
Look at the competition. I'm not talking about week in and week out. I'm talking about competition for the conference title.
BIG TEN: You have Ohio State and Michigan in a two man race every year. Sure Iowa or Penn State comes up every year or two to make it look like a wider race, but they often fall victim to the top two.
Big 12: Texas and Oklahoma have this conferece on lock down. Nebraska and Kansas State may be worthy opponets, but it's more like Texas and Oklahoma are the main events and K-State and Nebraska are the undercard.
Big East: You have a Louisville and West Viriginia team both trying to flex some muscle. Rutgers in right there, but with a blow out loss to Cinncinatti hurt them. I still believe year in and year out, it's a two team marathon.
PAC-10: This is a one team race. USC could speed walk and still beat out Cal. They've won the last five conference titles. The PAC-10 also has Oregon, but they aren't consistant enough.
ACC: Wow, this conference is having a down year to say the least. On most years, this is a three to four team race. Miami, Florida State, and Virginia Tech are your front runners. Though they are having a downward spiral this year, I believe this is one of the deepest conferences.
SEC: Now to the arrogent, pompous SEC. Say what you want, but they are top heavy. Every year it could be one of five teams that wins in Atlanta: Auburn, LSU, Florida, Georgia or Tennessee. Arkansas already has it's invitation to join the mix and it looks like they will be RSVPing.
I'm not saying I'm right or wrong. I'm just saying this is why I believe the SEC is the strongest and toughest conference. When half of your conference has a chance of taking home the championship, those are pretty good odds. Who knows though, I could just be messed up in the head and not even know it.
It’s been a while since I last posted. Mostly because there are so many good blogs on here that by the time I do find something to write about, it’s been said already. But since most of the SEC is being covered (Carolina – Demon, LSU – by LSU fan (like who didn’t see that coming, and Arkansas – hogfan), I figured why not shine a little more light on Florida.
You may all know the names of Florida standouts Chris Leak, Dallas Baker, Earl Everett, Brandon Siler, and Eric Wilbur. (Okay, the last one was for those not paying attention.) There are some new Gators in town and they’re going to be making an impact sooner rather than later. Some of them have already shown what they do. These individuals are showing up fashionable early for the BCS party.
Riley Cooper – While he hasn’t gotten a boat load of playing time, he’s proved vital to Florida. He’s the player that made the hit on Doucet that caused the fumble and then safety.
Brandon James – As the return specialist, this kid is quick and elusive. He’s always one cut or block away from taking it to the house. Just ask Tennessee who saw him take the kickoff back only to be called back by a phantom holding call and then lucky enough to trip him up (literally) to prevent him from scoring. It’s just a matter of time before he officially makes his mark.
Ryan Smith – While not a true freshman, Smith is playing his first year with Florida. Transferring from Utah, where he graduated in three years, he’s making a name for himself in the secondary. Smith had back to back games with two interceptions with a couple of chances at having three against LSU. Florida’s secondary was a huge question mark coming into the season. Smith along with Tony Joiner and Reggie Nelson has turned that question mark into an exclamation point.
Percy Harvin – While hobbled for the last few games with a high ankle sprain, number eight hasn’t been able to show his flair for big plays. Harvin did show brilliance in the backfield and at receiver for the first two games. He’s a playmaker in every since of the work. He’s already getting comparisons to a certain Bush (not George W.) When his ankle completely heals, look for Meyer to find new ways to get the ball in his hands.
Tim Tebow – Either you love him or you are tired of hearing about him. The kid runs over highly touted, veteran safeties, moving piles like he was Jerome Bettis. The defenses know what’s coming, but they can’t stop it. He still needs to work on his throws, but it doesn’t matter if the secondary is frozen by your first step and your receiver is standing alone in the end zone. If he’s a sign of things to come, things are looking very well for Tebow Meyer, and the Gator Nation.
SEC Notes:
Florida represented well on ESPN College Game Day – Whether they were chanting “Leak for Heisman” or belting out their conference pride with huge “S-E’C” chants. Game Day is always a fun way to start off your Saturdays, but it just seemed like Gainesville upped the ante a little bit. Side note…got to love the guy painted bronze and doing the Heisman pose.
Auburn did not look well. Florida better keep their eyes on them and not get distracted by their ranking.
Arkansas looked good. Really good. Felix Jones and Darren McFadden are a deadly combo.
Tennessee is officially back. Great come from behind win for them.
Funniest College Game Day sign (to me)
HETLAND FOR GROZO
Chris Hetland has yet to come through on a field goal attempt. He’s 0-4 on his attempts. As most of you know, the Grozo award goes to the Nations Top Kicker.
Wedding note:
I went to a wedding on Saturday. (Yeah I know, who plans a Wedding on Saturday during college football season. Let alone Florida vs LSU.) I had my phone on me and my brother texting me with updates of the game. There were more people talking about that game than paying attention to the bride and groom.
Sign that SEC is king of college football – Two ladies (both late 50’s, early 60’s) sat at our table and talked football for over 45 mins.
Personal notes:
I saw Gary Allan on Saturday night as well. He puts on a great concert. The place was packed and you could hear everyone singing along. Pretty good stuff.
$4.50 for a beer is way too much. But of course I still paid. I'm sure that won’t stop them from selling $4.50 beers.
I'm not trying to be a sports writer. I just want to share some different views with you.
Sid Bream sliding into home may be my favorite sports memories.
