While on a Los Angeles radio show Carson Palmer said that he, “Cannot stand the Buckeyes. It's amazing to hear what those guys think about that university and what they think about that football program and Tressel and all the #### I gotta put up with being back there. I just can't wait for two years from now when SC comes to the 'Shoe and hopefully we'll have a home game that weekend and I can go up there and watch us pound on them in their own turf. I'm really getting sick of it and I just can't wait for this game to get here so they can come out to the Coliseum and experience LA and get an old-fashioned Pac-10 butt-whoopin' and go back to the Big Ten.”
I am actually disappointed that Carson slightly backed down from his statements later saying that,” I’m a Trojan all the way, and I was talking to a Trojan audience in California. I guess I got a little fired up, as all good fans will do. But I really do respect the Buckeyes, and I know their fans are passionate, too. I hope they all understand I’m just looking forward to a big game for my school against a very tough opponent, and that it’s all in the good fun of a rivalry. You don’t have a real rivalry unless both sides are great teams.” The fact is that Ohio State is an overrated team in an overrated conference.
Carson Palmer, thank you for coming out and saying what so many people are thinking. Nobody likes Ohio State University. I love how Buckeye fans are so fired up over these comments saying things like Carson is jealous.
What exactly is he jealous of? Palmer actually won a BCS bowl, unlike Ohio State who just seems content on getting there. He has his number retired and has won a Heisman trophy. Carson is about as accomplished as a college quarterback as you can be. (He does lack a championship) Although both teams have great history, USC has more championships and while Ohio State fans will bring out all the other stats, the rings are all that matter.
Now all the “obnoxious” Ohio State fans are going to jump on this and obnoxiously claim that USC fans are horrible and that the Pac-10 is overrated despite the fact that 6 of its 10 teams were ranked in the top 25 at one point or another last year. They will say that even though they lost, at least the reached the title game two years in a row. To that last argument I have two things to say: 1) Who Cares? You lost the championship, which is all that matters, nobody thinks the Buffalo Bills are great why should you be different? 2) You finished your season last year ranked number 7 and sat out for the final few weeks as teams lost and Ohio State snuck into the title game by default. Why don’t the Buckeyes try to earn it on the field this year rather than let other teams lose it?
We should all thank Carson’s Trojans’ as they will prevent everyone from being forced to watch the Buckeyes getting beat in the BCS title game for the third straight year.
Towards the end of last season Oregon fans got a preview of life without Dennis Dixon, and it was almost unbearable to watch. The once potent offense suddenly looked lost and confused and they went three and out on every possession. However, with Head Coach Mike Bellotti and Offensive Coordinator Chip Kelly given the entire offseason to retool the offense, it should fair a lot better. The Ducks will not be able to make another National Championship run, but they should be able to finish towards the top of the pack and go bowling once again.
Offense:
A good offense starts with the offensive line. Led by Center Max Unger, Oregon hopes that its line will live up to the expectations. All 5 projected starters on the offensive line are seniors and this very experienced line has the potential to be one of the best in the Pac-10. This offensive line is the reason that Oregon has led the conference in rushing each of the past two seasons. Despite losing Jonathan Stewart, Oregon’s running game should remain strong because of the arrival of junior college transfer LeGarrette Blount. The 6 foot 2, 229 pound running back topped 1,100 yards in each aof his two seasons in community college. Also look for a big season from Jeremiah Johnson who missed most of last season due to a torn ACL. Johnson has great size and speed and is a good fit in the spread offense. He features one of the best stiff arms in the country and has averaged 6.3 yards per carry over the past three seasons. One of the biggest questions in the offseason is who will fill the void left by Dennis Dixon. Although it will be impossible to replace Dixon, Nate Costa and Justin Roper have both shown that they can play and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly should be able to work them into a successful season. Costa and Roper may have problems at receiver if Jaison Williams continues to drop passes. Williams was impressive his sophomore season, but had a tremendous amount of drops last year. Also, tight end Ed Dickson proved last season that he can be a threat to catch the ball down the field as well as over the middle.
Defense:
With an offense that won’t put up nearly as many points as it did last year, Nick Aliotti’s defense will be extremely important. The defense is returning seven starters including lineman Nick Reed who led the nation with 22.5 tackles for a loss. Also returning are cornerbacks Jairus Byrd and Walter Thurmond III as well as strong safety Patrick Chung. This is a defense that forced 33 turnovers last season, the second most in the Pac-10, they will have to continue to be aggressive this year because they won’t have the offense of Stewart and Dixon to help them out.
Special Teams:
Oregon is set with Groza Award semifinalist Matt Evensen at kicker. While running back Andre Crenshaw will replace Stewart as the return man. Kick-off and punt coverage both need to be improved as they were both awful last season.
The Autzen Zoo:
Autzen stadium is one of the best home-field advantages in the country and helped the Ducks achieve some big wins last season. However, Autzen won’t help the Ducks as much this season as the real tests will be on the road. Of the six home games that the Ducks will play, Boise State is the only team that had a winning record last year. However the road schedule is extremely difficult as Oregon has trips to USC, Cal, Arizona State, Oregon State, Washington State, and a trip to Purdue.
A sports rivalry is defined as “intense competition between athletic teams or athletes.” This is a very broad definition and it does not appear to cover the true meaning of a rivalry. Rivalry games are always more intense than other games, they mean more to both the players on the field and the fans in the stands. Beating a hated rival provides fans with bragging rights that are comparable to nothing else while losing to a rival gives the fans an unbearable pain as well as a fear of going to school or work on Monday.
We all have our favorite teams and along with cheering for these teams, we learn to hate their rivals. However, what makes these hated teams “rivals?” Is a rival a team that shares the same geographic region? Or, is a rival a team that may be in the same division as your favorite team and is always competing for the division title? Are rivals two teams that may not play often, but have rich histories and possibly only meet in championships? Can teams truly have multiple rivals?
Local rivalries are always fun for territorial bragging rights, but sometimes both local teams are not equal as competitors. If one team is clearly better than the other and always seems to win, I do not feel that it is a true rival. If both teams are on a level playing field, but are both bad it may be a good game and provide the fans with bragging right, but what is the point if nobody cares and the results of the game do not matter? Territorial rivals are only as good as the teams that participate. If a region has two teams that tend to be towards the top of the standings and both are able to beat each other then the area has a true rivalry that is able to be enjoyed by both sets of fans. Yes, we all want our team to win all the time, but rivalry games are not nearly as fun if we know our team will win or if we have to pray for the upset.
Divisional foes are sometimes the best types of rivals because of the importance of the game. Watching a game where a postseason berth is on the line makes a rivalry game all the more dramatic. This is what gives so much appeal to rivalries such as the Red-Sox and the Yankees as well as Ohio State and Michigan. Both of these sets of rivals always compete with something on the line. There have been plenty of postseason series involving the Red-Sox and Yankees that add to the rivalry. The Ohio-State and Michigan football game usually decides the winner of the Big-10 Conference. The bigger the magnitude of the game, the more intense the rivalry.
What about teams in opposite conferences, but are each rich in tradition? Rivals such as the Celtics and the Lakers or Notre Dame and USC have plenty of appeal to historians and true fans of the teams, but lack the appeal to the casual fan. Although these games may be fun to watch, the true significance of the rivalry may be lost to the casual fans as well as the younger fans.
Darren McFadden is a great running back and should be a great player on whatever offense he is added to. However, the Raiders already have Justin Fargas, Lamont Jordan, and Dominic Rhodes. Although the latter two are probably on the way out, Justin Fargas showed talent last year and was Raiders decided to resign him. The other thing that cannot be forgotten is that the Raiders still have Michael Bush. Bush has tremendous upside and potential, but was unable to play in his rookie year due to injuries. Once healthy, Bush has the talent to be a franchise running back. With Fargas and Bush why did the Raiders take McFadden?
I am excited to see McFadden coming to Oakland because of his talent and potential, but I think it would have been smarter to trade up and get some more talent in other places, draft Dorsey, or an offensive lineman because that is where the Raiders are truly weak.
Apparently McFadden was too great of a talent to pass on and the Jamarcus Russell Darren McFadden backfield should be fun to watch.
I am currently in high school. I will try to post reguarly, but at the very least I will comment your blogs daily. I am aspiring to become a sports writer or broadcaster and plan to attend collge and major in journalism or broadcast journalism.
