Without looking it up, do you know what state Appalachian State University is in?
You can bet they’ll know after today in Ann Arbor!
Category: NCAA Football
NCAA – Football Records Book
The brand new 2007 Divison I-A/I-AA Football Records Book is available as a pdf file.
There’s a 2007 Division II/III Football Records Book, too.
I’ve updated the Largest College Stadiums page.
College football 1-to-242
Jeff Sagarin has all 242 Division I college football teams ranked.
Play begins tonight with four of the Top 25 in action: LSU, Louisville, Rutgers and Boise State.
25 Reasons This College Football Season Will Be Special. Number one: Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium this Saturday.
Ranking the conferences
An SI writer, Bill Trocchi takes a pre-season look at NCAA Division I-A and ranks the 11 conferences.
Stuff about Stuff
Speculation is that new iPods will be introduced next Wednesday so don’t go out and buy one this weekend. People are guessing they’ll have full-size screens like the iPhone.
Though we are less certain of the specifications for the new sixth generation iPod, it may closely resemble the iPhone (without calling features). Specifically, we expect the sixth gen iPod to be a widescreen device with multitouch technology. It may also have Wi-Fi capability and the capacity could be as high as 160GB.
Test Your Internet Speed. The test said my download speed was 6.03 Mbps and my upload speed 2.08 Mbps.
All-Time Great College Football Quotes. Example: “Football is not a contact sport-it is a collision sport. Dancing is a contact sport.” — Duffy Daugherty, Michigan State.
The HubbleSite has a nice feature about Tonight’s sky. It’s a short film each month on what to look for among the constellations, deep sky objects, planets, and events. And I learned about the Teapot.
Best line of the day, so far
“Over-hyped Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn learned the difference between media fawning and the free market in yesterday’s NFL draft when he went not as the first or second pick, but as the 22nd.”
Best line of the day, so far
How resounding was Florida’s 41-14 triumph in the BCS Championship Game on Monday?
The Buckeyes already have been downgraded to merely An Ohio State University.
Winning style
In case you missed it, Boise State’s Ian Johnson scored the winning two-point conversion in OT, threw the ball into the stands, celebrated with his 56 family members present, and — on his knee — proposed marriage to his cheerleader girlfriend live during the post-game interview.
She accepted.
Best line of the year, so far
“Michigan brought its horse-and-buggy offense to the Rose Bowl on Monday and produced what horses-and-buggies usually do. Manure.”
Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times, who concludes, after considering Michigan and its three-point loss to Ohio State:
“There are still seven shopping days left before the Jan. 8 national title game, plenty of time to ponder the phrase ‘Florida and the points.'”
[USC defeated Michigan 32-18 in the Rose Bowl.]
Unfrigginbelievable
“How about that Heisman Trophy winner, Troy Smith, from Ohio State, huh? You know, he was taking his Heisman Trophy home with him and they wouldn’t let him through airport security. Yeah, we can’t get Bin Laden, but we’ve got the Heisman, by God.” — David Letterman
Sometimes NewMexiKen realizes just how screwed up everything is and I just want to cry. But, of course, I don’t cry because I’m a man, and even if I did go to the ballet I don’t want you to think I’ll be weeping over everything.
Best sports line of the day, so far
“You want to know why Steve Spurrier turned down the chance to pursue the Alabama and Miami jobs to stay at South Carolina?” wrote Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel. “He just got a $500,000 raise for taking the Gamecocks to the Liberty Bowl.
At South Carolina, you get a raise for going to the Liberty Bowl. “At Alabama and Miami, you get fired.”
Why?
Arizona State University has hired Dennis Erickson as its new head football coach. Does this look like a ticket to success to you? If he’d moved around much more he’d need his own UPS tracking code.
| 1982-1985 | Idaho |
| 1986 | Wyoming |
| 1987-1988 | Washington State |
| 1989-1994 | Miami |
| 1995-1998 | Seattle Seahawks |
| 1999-2002 | Oregon State |
| 2003-2004 | San Francisco 49ers |
| 2005 | Did not coach |
| 2006 | Idaho |
Best line of the day, so far
“The game should be a boon to New Orleans’ ravaged economy. Not only will Irish fans descend on the city, but there’s also a decent chance they’ll be hitting the Bourbon Street bars by halftime.”
Stewart Mandel referring to the Sugar Bowl game between Notre Dame and LSU. Or, as he calls it, “the Blowout on the Bayou.”
Serious Matters Discussed Here
Enough already with politics, the sins of the media elite, education in America, and the wrongs done Al Gore. Today Bob Somerby gets to the serious matters. College football!
Unlike Kevin Drum, we weren’t real surprised when Southern Cal fell to the Bruins on Saturday. Yes, the Trojans had trampled the best of the rest, beating Arkansas, Nebraska and Notre Dame by an average of 25 points. But they struggled within the potent PAC-10—they went 7-2, with several close calls—and UCLA was always capable of beating them. The real pain of this weekend’s games? Being forced to hear all that tired old pap about the SEC’s manifest greatness.
The BCS’ dumb obsession with finding America’s second-best college football team
At Slate Chris Suellentrop takes a contrary point of view about the BCS — one I find convincing. You should read it all, but here’s a couple excerpts:
Playoff systems are designed to determine, in a fair manner, which is the single best team in a particular sport. Their purpose is not to pit the two finest teams against each other in a season-ending game. The Yankees and Red Sox do not play annually in the World Series. The Indianapolis Colts will never be given a chance to play the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. When the two best college basketball teams in the country face off, as they routinely do, in a Final Four semifinal or even in the round of eight, does anyone think that the loser deserves a rematch?
Do we know if Florida is the second-best team in the country? Of course not. Here’s what we do know: Michigan is not the best. How do we know that? By the traditional criterion: They scored fewer points in a football game than Ohio State did. The only team that has the “right” to play in the BCS championship game is the best team, Ohio State. And the only teams that should be scratched without question are teams that have already been determined to be “not the best,” like Michigan.
Hey, College Presidents, Who Pays Your Salary?
To state the obvious, if there was a playoff system, this morning eight teams would still have a shot at the NCAA Division I-A football championship instead of two. That is so much better than the BCS, it’s by orders of magnitude.
Most of the football powers are state schools. That means the people that run those schools are public employees (whether they realize it or not).
So excuse me, but why are our employees f***ing with us?
Shoe-In
As recruiting goes, this one was a shoe-in.
John Robinson, the former USC football coach, once paid a visit to a top high-school prospect — only to find Bo Schembechler, his Michigan counterpart, already ensconced in the kid’s living room. “When Robinson finally got inside,” wrote Bill McGraw of the Detroit Free Press, “Schembechler put his arm around him and told the parents that Robinson is a fine man, but he added, ‘You can’t trust a man who wears shoes like that.’
“And all during the visit, Robinson said, the parents and their son kept looking at his shoes.
“The recruit went to Michigan.”
You Snooze You Win
No. 1 Ohio State played No. 4 Florida in one NCAA football semifinal.
And then No. 2 USC met No. 3 Michigan in the other.
And then the winners played for the championship one week later.
And then … our alarm clock went off.
This and That, But Mostly That
By the Sunday after Thanksgiving I’ve usually been enough of a glutton that I swear off food entirely. You know, go cold turkey.
Reading this article by Seymour Hersh in The New Yorker last night I couldn’t help but think we’ve turned into a country that Shakespeare could write a historical tragedy about.
NewMexiKen lives near a state highway with a posted speed limit of 50 mph. (That translates to about 65 in practice). Parallel to the road, and about 50 feet away from it, is a bike path. The path, however, is used by strollers (both the people kind and the kid-carrying kind) and slower bicycle riders. Most of the lycra-wearing bike riders use the bike lane on the highway itself. I understand that drivers are often rude to cyclists and that some drivers seem to get off on endangering bicycle riders. That said, though, why do so many of these bicycle riders — including those riding solo — hug the painted line separating the bike lane from the traffic lane? Isn’t that inviting trouble? The bike lane is eight or ten feet wide. I drive down the middle of my lane, why can’t/won’t so many cyclists ride down the middle of their lane?
Why is it that some people put on both socks then both shoes, while other people put on one sock and one shoe then the other sock and shoe? I’m the latter type.
I kind of like the logo for the New Mexico Bowl, which is having its first game December 23. It’ll be UNM vs. Nevada or San Jose State.
Grinding the beans just before brewing the coffee really does enhance the flavor. It also gives you something to do while drinking the coffee — clean up the mess.
Notre Dame really needs to get into a conference for football. I know they like taking home ALL the TV money and not having to share it (as conference teams do), but playing the other independents like Army and Navy isn’t going to prepare them for pro teams like USC. Playing Stanford (1-10) and North Carolina (3-9) didn’t help either. The Big 10 has 11 teams. Why not 12?
I bought some Christmas lights at Costco. According to the info on the box, this 100-light string of multi-colored LED bulbs uses just 8 watts, compared to 36 watts for mini lamps and 500 for incandescent Christmas lights (C-7 bulbs). Seemed like a good choice; for indoor or outdoor. Bulbs never need replacing.
How come cocaine is against the law but Costco is permitted to sell chocolate covered bing cherries?
I bought the Obama book (mentioned in the previous post).
It was a great game
And Michigan is a good team.
But if they play Ohio State again in the BCS title game I’ll take the Buckeyes and give you 10.
Michigan vs. Ohio State
The iTunes Store has videos of three classic Michigan-Ohio State games (plus this year’s to come).
But go see the free classic ESPN ads. The “Blind Date” ad is funny.
The Blind Side
NewMexiKen spent much of the day reading Michael Lewis’s The Blind Side. While I often recommend books, I hate to rave about them because I realize we have different interests, tastes and sensibilities. But if you have any interest whatsoever in NFL or college football or American socio-economic conditions, I urge you to get this wonderful work of nonfiction literature. Perhaps it even surpasses a need for those interests.
The Blind Side is the story of Michael Oher, a black virtually abandoned child from the worst slums of Memphis who gets admitted to a Christian prep school, adopted by a wealthy white family, and ends up at Ole Miss (where he’s currently in his second season.) Along the way, Lewis tells how the left offensive tackle became the second most valued position in pro football — because the left tackle protects the blind side of a right-handed quarterback.
We went to dinner again, but this time my wife, Tabitha, came along. When we got around to the subject of Michael Oher it took Sean [Oher’s guardian] about ten minutes to get her laughing, twenty to get her crying, and thirty to ruin the meal. But it was worth it, because in the car on the way home she said, “I don’t understand why you are writing about anything else.”
Three amusing, yet insightful passages:
“Where are his parents?” asked [prep school football coach Hugh] Freeze. He felt a twinge of interest. If a man who weighed 400 pounds was referring to someone else as “Big Mike” he’d like to see the size of that someone else.
She didn’t know a lot of gay people. White Evangelical Christian Memphis—which is to say most of East Memphis—wasn’t really designed to make black people feel comfortable in it, but if you had a choice of being black in East Memphis, or being gay in East Memphis, you’d think at least twice about it.
Of course, football players weren’t the only Ole Miss students majoring in Criminal Justice. But when the Criminal Justice program took the field trip to Parchman Farm—aka the Mississippi State Penitentiary—the football players were the only students with friends on the inside.
A fascinating, informative and moving story.
Suspending Officials?
Mark Cuban sounds off on the blown call situation. An excerpt:
There is a reason why there is so much secrecy around officiating in college football and basketball; to protect the people doing the hiring. If you dont have to worry about scrutiny, why not throw the people you hired under the bus ? Or if you can, just lie about the entire situation and tell everyone it was the right call, or say nothing at all so all the suspicion falls on the games officials.
In the Oklahoma game, the officials got it wrong according to statements from their bosses, and of course the many Tivo replays. Of course the bosses conveniently left out that the replay official wasnt provided all the angles that TV viewers saw, or that the equipment dosnt provide for freeze frame. Freeze frame is what, a $99 dollar software upgrade ?.
Conveniently leaving out key information that would change the publics expectation of the person actually doing the job is one quick and easy way for management to throw their employees under the bus. Which is exactly what happened here.The result was the suspended replay official being harassed and threatened and suffering physical repurcussions.
…Oklahoma fans suggested it was a conspiracy by the Pac 10. The Pac 10 said nothing. When you hear such inflammatory comments without response, its never the work force with the problem, its management. Just ask any PR firm that specializes in crisis management.
When you see problems on a repetitive basis in any profession, the first place to look isnt the people on the job, its the people managing the people on the job.
They’d Better Fight Like Wildcats
Former USC coach John McKay, bless his heaven-sent soul, used to analyze Trojan opponents by listing both starting lineups, side by side, on a blackboard. McKay used a point system to grade each player, 1 to 5, with 5 as the best.
When McKay completed grading each player, he totaled the figures and, most Saturdays, stepped back and lit a cigar.
On the few occasions opponents had more points, McKay would turn, and with his dry wit, say, “Well, men, it looks like we’ll need some brilliant coaching today.”
Story told in The Arizona Daily Star today by sports columnist Greg Hansen. Hansen did a McKay-like inventory for today’s game between USC and Arizona and figured 20 of the best 22 play for the Trojans; the other two play for the Wildcats.
It has always troubled NewMexiKen by the way, as an Arizona alum, that the nickname Wildcats came after a game against Occidental College in 1914. The Los Angeles Times‘ Bill Henry wrote: “The Arizona men showed the fight of wildcats….” The name stuck. The troubling part wasn’t that the game was versus Occidental. The troubling part is that Arizona got its nickname from a game they lost 14-0.
Perspective
A Post We Wish We Didn’t Have To Write
Just go read it.