We’ve been sacked from the Big 12 Media Days on this week’s Crib Sheet. We’ll go over the last media day next, as we have a major pile of news dump on you. Here we go:
- The Big 12 Preseason media poll is out and we have ourselves a rivalry game for the Big 12 Championship. The sports media picked Nebraska in the North and Oklahoma in the South, with Missouri and Texas shortly behind in both divisions respectively. Speaking more locally, Iowa State’s big season last year didn’t improve their status as they were voted last. Kansas and Kansas State are neck and neck for the middle of the pack, with the benefit of the doubt going to the Wildcats and its coaching experience. Usually the sports media is wrong so we’re anxious to see how it plays out this season.
- Meanwhile the All Big 12 Preseason was announced as well. Two Missouri kids, one Kansas, one Kansas State, and a whole bunch of Texas and Oklahoma kids make up the team. That pretty much tells you what the sports media thinks of the talent in the conference. Pretty obvious too.
- So the SEC and the NCAA saga continues this week as Georgia is the latest school in the south to be investigated. Apparently the agent/player gaming of the system has been going on for years and the SEC is the first target (after sharpening their sword on USC). The center of which is a reported party in South Beach, Miami hosted by the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers Frank Gore. So it looks like a big dust-up will happen here right before the college football season to make sure all players in the college football game stay honest. For how long? We don’t know.
- In case you are wondering, Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne will be heading to the Big 10’s preseason meetings next month. We’re wondering if he will be shining shoes while he’s there.
- Big 12 media days came and Dan Beebe will spoke, as well as BCS head honcho Bill Hancock. They are bringing out all of the PR guns to fight of the sports media blitzkrieg surrounding the expansion explosion over the summer. Even with detailed recounts of the summer of expansion love. Is Dan Beebe the savior?
- Iowa State defensive back David Simms looks to be under the police gun for a stolen credit card number and is charged. They haven’t filed charges yet, but the police did search his place. We’ll see if he was the culprit or one of his buddies.
- Kansas Frosh Jeremiah Evans’ career is officially over due to his worsened heart condition. It sucks when you can’t get on the field due to health issues and we wish him the best in whatever he decides to do with his life.
- Lane Kiffin ticked off Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher by hiring his running back coach for his USC team. Fisher calls it unprofessional, we think it’s the next step in coaching evolution. Courtesy calls are out the window if you want a guy bad enough. It’s dog eat dog out there. The Titans apparently think that USC broke the law too.
- Bo Pelini was mum on the Big 10 during Nebraska’s media day time. It looks like he’s pulling out the ole coaching classic. And while not chewing any gum with his mouth open. The Nebraska players are wearing reminder bracelets of their loss last year as well.
- Back in his NCAA days, Dan Beebe wanted to contract sports agents with universities so everything could be on the table. If a violation was found, the agent could lose potentially millions and the university may not be on the hook as much. Beebe is looking better and better every week.
- Ron Prince’s side of the story was obvious, as a deposition revealed. He was guaranteed money and now he wants it. There was even a napkin thrown in by former Kansas State athletic director Tim Weiser. It’s another he said she said, with a “Memo of Understanding” between the two. The courts will take this one over and we’ll see who gets the dough.
- The once troubled and jailed Maurcie Clarett is out of jail and back in his former school, Ohio State. Hey sometimes it takes people much longer to realize a college education is a useful tool in this world.
- The Pac 10 has a new logo. Ain’t it cute? They are also changing their name to the Pac 12 once Colorado and Utah join.
- Dan Beebe has also been busy trying to sweep the leaving teams out the door quick. He doesn’t want a court battle over the fees. Plus he thinks Colorado leaving next year instead of 2012 makes much more sense. The sooner the better for everyone involved.
- Oklahoma State safety Victor Johnson was arrested for smoking dope. Ruh roh. Suspension time for that guy.
- Missouri has some beef left over from last year’s Navy blowout. Blaine Gabbert looks to be the guy and Derrick Washington looks to be his running buddy. The Tigers have a couple of chips including being picked behind Nebraska and not being invited to the Big 10.
- Kansas State on the other hand, looks to be clawing it way up, with the help of running back Daniel Thomas. Bill Snyder 2.0 won’t give away the starter at quarterback (again) and he’s dealt with the loss of a puff schedule he like so much.
Rolling on through Phil Steele’s Preseason Top 40 standings and reviewing the mascot on the list we’ve yet to check out, we find ourselves at number 15 and Auburn’s Aubie. There’s also a confusing status in the War Eagle we’ll take a look at. The Auburn Tigers are a former national championship team and the mascot has won a couple himself. This year, former Iowa State head coach Gene Chizik looks to take the winning attitude down there to the next level, and Aubie looks to follow suit. This week we find out of Aubie’s suit is up for and try figure out just what the heck War Eagle is.
Continue reading Mascot Monday: Aubie and War Eagle(kinda) →
Okay the holidays are over and we are in the middle of summer. College football is so close right now we can taste it. You know how we can tell? We have a buttload of news to go over in this week’s Crib Sheet. So enough jibba jabba, here’s the sheet:
- The Big House expansion set the new stadium attendance capacity at 109,901 for the Michigan Wolverines. Now all they need to do is actually when games to get it filled up.
- The hottest game coming into this year has to be Texas at Nebraska. David Ubben runs over the list of candidates for the name of this somewhat rivalry. Our pick? The Big Beef. The winner? The Big Beef.
- Speaking of the one time rivalry, Nebraska removed the end part of the video they put out earlier this year for their fan video. It said “Beat Texas.” The smack talk is already beginning and it’s not even the start of training camp yet.
- Dontavius Jackson will be transferring from Georgia after summer school following his DUI arrest. Goes to show folks, don’t get caught breaking the law if you are a football player. You might get your scholarship dumped.
- The two Kansas dudes who were indicted last week have plead guilty in court for the ticket scandal they covered up. Hopefully for Jayhawk fans, this will blow over and they can start focusing on rebuilding for the football season. Or focus on the start of basketball season.
- We’ve been trying for the last couple of days to come up with something exciting to attach to the release of EA Sport’s new NCAA College Football 11 game. It’s out. That’s it. Nothing exciting here.
- Lambeau Field and the Packers want to host a potential Big 1o Championship Game. Okay, this would be sweet. Lambeau embodies the Big 10 better than Indianapolis by far. The closest next match is Chicago with Soldier Field, but we think a title game in icy weather trumps all.
- Bob Krause, former Kansas State Athletic Director, described in a deposition how he got duped by Ron Prince at the last second, which then gave Prince a tasty buyout from his contract. So Krause was out of his league big time and now we see why.
- Ex Florida Gator Maurkice Pouncey was the subject of an investigation that addressed and allegation that he took about 100K from a middle man to an agent. If the investigation finds it to be true, Florida could lose the Sugar Bowl victory last year. It doesn’t matter to Pouncey because he is in the NFL right now. It seems agents have found a loophole to exploit kids in their senior year. The kids get paid and leave before any repercussions. Kinda like pulling a Pete Carroll. Stewart Mandel points this out and we just found out from Nick Saban that Alabama is investigating its own issue too.
- Missouri linebacker Tyler Crane was kicked off the team for violating team rules. Neither Crane or Missouri will say just what he did. It seems like he was a back up so it shouldn’t affect the Tigers this year that much.
- 11 Notre Dame athletes were arrested for underage drinking at a party last week, including Joe Montana’s son Nate. Doh! It’s nice to see the Fighting Irish are with the times in terms of off the field troubles. This tells us that they might be competitive this coming year.
- It seems an investigation will open in Arizona to see if current and former Fiesta Bowl employees made campaign contributions to politicians whom supported the bowl. The major issue is not the contribution but the reimbursement from the bowl. Ya, that’s a no no.
This week on Mascot Monday we take a look at Phil Steele’s #21 pre season top 40 team in South Carolina and their costumed buddy Cocky. Yes, the Fighting Gamecocks have a high falootin’, arrogant little bird named Cocky. We’ll find out whom he took over the job from as well as some other moments in Cocky’s history that let him to his current winning attitude. We’re counting down the rest of the mascots we’ve yet to cover leading up to the final Mascot Monday of the year. After that, it will be football time and no more mascot for the rest of the season. Now, let’s check out Cocky.
Continue reading Mascot Monday: Cocky →
The heat is on. It’s on the street. Oh Glenn Fry, you save us from the sultry steam of summer with your cool saxaphone riff and Eddie Murphy praising rock music. Yes, the heat is mos def on as we hit our first hot spot of the summer. It’s just in time, too, as the rain left us watching the Beverly Hills Cop series 10 times over, including the terrible 3rd part. Cabin fever, indeed. So we’re hitting the pool this week and dreaming of the new college football season while laying in our floaties sipping some cold beverages. Hit up the Crib Sheet then do the same.
- The Kansas ticket scandal has a couple of new charges against former athletic department staffers Brandon Simmons and Jason Jeffries. They both were dinged with a count of misprision of a felony. It seems they are lining up the small bananas to get to the big gorillas in the case.
- Even if USC goes undefeated this season, they will not be ranked in the USA Today Coaches Poll. This is what happens when you have recruiting violations. Lane Kiffin has a long time to wait to rebuild the program.
- ESPN and the ACC agreed to a 12 year deal which has links to all football games, including some basketball and other non revenue making sports. This looks like something that the Big 12 (10) will get into once they start negotiating their deals.
- Alabama moved its game against Georgia to a Thursday night and now because of that change, the students get a day off. Education is way more important than football. Well, not in Alabama we guess.
- Okay, here’s the Crib Sheet’s weekly police blotter: Iowa defensive end Broderick Binns arrested for drunk driving, Tennessee players Da’Rick Rogers and Darren Myles Jr. got charged for assault after a bar fight, North Carolina’s Quan Sturdivant was arrested last Saturday for possession of marijuana, and Georgia’s Dontavious Jackson and Tavarres King were arrested for drunk driving and MIP, respectively. The Bulldogs kicked the last two to the suspension dog house.
- Erin Andrews shook her almost clothed tail and now will be joining the College Game Day crew with her newly resigned contract for ESPN. If you remember, Andrews was the penultimate sideline reporter babe that ran into some peeping issues and used it to get onto Dancing With the Stars. Let’s hope she wears the same clothing for the football show.
- The gates are about to flood open with Big 12 (10) schools launching their own television networks. Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri of all schools are looking to make some cash off their own television rights. Will this set the trend for the rest of the schools across the nation? Tune in to find out.
- ESPN’s Big 12 blogger David Ubben talks about the uphill battle that Turner Gill has with his offensive line, now that starting junior tackle Jeff Spikes injured his Achilles tendon and is out for the year. I would for Kansas to fill out the bottom the Big 12 (10) North this year. The new coach has way too many broken parts and the once touted line is now depleted.
- This is a college football blog so we would be remiss not to mention that George Steinbrenner died of a heart attack this week. He used to be an assistant football coach for Northwestern.
- Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins is too busy preparing for retirement to pursue the charge of blackmail against William Dent. His job is saved and will be cruising toward closing the door on his career late next year so he really doesn’t need to recoup anything from this guy.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5363743
Off season continues for college football and we’re rolling through Phil Steele’s Preseason Top 40 for our Mascot Mondays. This week, it’s #33 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the inanimate Ramblin’ Wreck and buggy Buzz. So we ran into one of the few abstract mascots last week and now we have something solid in an old timey car. On top of that, there’s a giant costumed Yellowjacket. Where one was born from the history of its region, the other comes from the affectionate nickname of the products of the students work in South America. Buckle up, folks, we’re going for a ride through the ATL. Don’t forget the bug spray.
Continue reading Mascot Monday: Ramblin’ Wreck and Buzz →
Okay, after a rough week of moving and celebration, we are back in the swing of things at the KCCGD headquarters. This week’s Crib Sheet reminds us that politics and law cover college football like a blanket during the night-time of the offseason. Sure once the sun rises in September and the action goes back on the field, it will all be forgotten. For now, let’s take this week’s edition to plod through the behind the scenes maneuvering that will most certainly shape the year to come.
Okay so we were a couple of days late, but when you combine moving the KCCGD headquarters, ‘Merica’s birthday, and yours truly’s birthday, time gets tight. So here we are sitting in the middle of the week after a long haul and holidays pumping out yet another mascot to review for Mascot (mostly) Monday. This week we hit up Phil Steele’s number 34 ranked preseason team in Stanford with its official and unofficial mascots. The path to having a color be a mascot had some controversial bumps, while the path for the tree just seemed plain goofy. That said, we’re glad we’re back at the keyboard to bring you another mascot to munch on.
Continue reading Mascot Monday: Cardinal and Tree →
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