Tag Archives: ABC

Purple Yeti Roar 56: Quarterbacks and Receivers Report

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Yeah I couldn’t help it.  Another dig at a crappy sport.  But once you get passed that, you get to some other tasty college football news.  Watch me talk about spring practice, NCAA, Miami, Nevin Shapiro, Texas Tech, Kliff Klingsbury, Alabama, Cam Cameron, LSU, Kansas State, Bill Snyder, ESPN, Big East, Disney, ABC, and NBC Continue reading Purple Yeti Roar 56: Quarterbacks and Receivers Report

Backspin Threw Me Off

I lucked out again with Kansas State not playing at the same time Texas was.  They were actually playing Baylor and on ABC.  The nationally televised match up and the fact that it was not going against Texas led me to think that a remote sports bar south of the city should have that game on.  So Saturday I found myself at the Backspin Texas Sports Bar & Grill.  I’m glad that I picked that place for the game.  Did the tiny nature and remote location lead to a great time?

 

Somehow I managed to get rockstar parking for the Backspin.  When I pulled in, I had a nice view of the patio and a side way look to the joint.  I heard online that it was a small place, but I was hoping it would be wider that what it turned out to be.  Walking inside I instantly felt cramped.  It was room for maybe 3 tables across and a ginormous sports bar.  Okay that’s fine.  Both outside and inside had some sweet looking HD televisions with a huge one in the main dining area.

As for the rest of the Backspin, it filled out as nicely as it could with its real estate.  I was surprised to see a Golden Tee game there and alleviated any worries I had about their effort.  Not only that, but they also had some BuzzTime Trivia, which gave me a chance to try out their app on my new Android based cellphone.  All that internet juice was handled promptly by their free wireless internet.  Connection issues were not a problem mainly because the place is so small.

The service there wasn’t so great.  I got a primo spot in front of the huge big screen for the Kansas State vs Baylor game, but had the chance to watch the end of the exciting Texas A&M vs Arkansas game.  It was about two minutes to go and they somehow accidentally changed the channel.  It was so harried that a patron got up and started jacking with the Direct TV remote.  Seriously, if you have a sports bar, you need to have workers who know how to operate the televisions.  Also, the audio was out of sync for the end of that A&M game.  That, the waitresses were pretty hot and they did a great job of making sure my beers were full.

For this week’s beer pairing, by the way, I had an unexpected mix of food and drink.  I was hoping to get their Reuben but I had to try their Tzatziki dip and fried pickles appetizer.  I’m happy I went that way.  To wash down the lot, I chose some New Castle.  Not only was it on special for $3 but the brown ale helped with the crispness of the fried pickles and the strange combination of yogurt and spices for the Tzatziki dip.  I’ve never had Tzatziki before but it is a nice cool down appetizer to noms on with pita bread.

Now on the to the games.  Non Big 12 wise I caught that big showdown of Wisconsin vs Nebraska as well as the Alabama vs Florida game going on at the same time.  First off, Alabama looks legit and first year Florida head coach Will Muschamp has a little bit more work to do, including keeping his starting quarterback healthy.  Big 10 wise, Nebraska got a great welcome to the conference with a whooping handed to them from the Badgers.  Nebraska isn’t a complete team but it didn’t help them that Wisconsin had the free agent quarterback wonder that is Russell Wilson.

Big 12 wise, I watched a whole heckuva lot of football.  While I was sweating away at the gym, I got watch Kansas go up early on Texas Tech.  Little did I know that the Red Raiders would come back to win on the road in Lawrence.  Both teams are in trouble against Kansas State, more on that later.  So I mentioned Texas A&M and Arkansas.  All I can say that it was awesome to see the Aggies choke again.  They have never won a game against the SEC and will hopefully be competitive against Vanderbilt when they take off next year.  Wow they have no heart.

The big game of the day for me was watching Kansas State host Baylor for their first big test of the year.  Robert Griffin III is the mega stud quarterback for Baylor and he continued putting up great numbers.  The combination between him and Kendall Wright torched the Wildcat defense all day long.  But Kansas State was resilient.  I don’t know how they keep close in these games, but they do.  Everyone will put it on Bill Snyder 2.0 and deservedly so.  Collin Klein kept consistent on the offensive side of the ball and linebacker Arthur Brown broke out and delivered the game saving interception.  These Wildcats are now ranked and they have real good shot of going to a bowl thanks to Texas Tech and Kansas.

So that was my day at the Backspin.  That place is super tiny but for where it is located, I can make some concessions.  It’s by no means perfect.  When you can’t figure out televisions on gameday, you go down big in my book.  The food was decent and I like the beer specials.  If I had an important game that I absolutely had to watch, I wouldn’t do it at the Backspin.  If I wanted to sneak away from the city and hide out in a decent sports bar, the Backspin is where I’ll head.

Crib Sheet: I’m on a Highway to Carousel Hell

The bowl season ended Monday and there was a ton of news that happened over the last week.  It’s mostly who’s coming and who’s going.  It’s what I like to call the Carousel Hell.  So put your seatbelt on get ready to go round and round, here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:

  • Mike Leach’s legal battle with Texas Tech may have cost him the Maryland job.  He said that he thought he was the frontrunner, but the Terps went with UConn coach Mike Edsall.  He hasn’t been contacted by other schools at the moment.
  • RichRod is officially out of Michigan now.  Blow up the program part two.  It makes me warm inside to think the same thing that happened to Nebraska a couple of years ago with Bill Callahan is now happening with another team I dislike immensely.  Good days.
  • It’s even better for Brady Hoke.  The former Michigan alum and former San Diego State head coach is now your new Michigan head coach.  They wanted a Michigan man and they got one.  I give it about another 3 years before a turnaround happens.
  • After showing up Michigan’s Denard Robinson and holding the team to 14 points, Manny Diaz will take his talents to Texas as defensive coordinator.  He leaves Mississippi State and will be belting buckles in Austin.  Let’s hope he didn’t fall for that ‘coach in waiting’ stuff.
  • No surprises here.  Fox has the rights to the Pac 12 Championship Game.   They already show conference games on Fox Sports Net so it makes sense they do the title game.
  • The Playoff PAC is looking to stir up some smoke on the BCS.  They are filing a complaint with the IRS regarding a cruise the Orange Bowl put on for college athletic directors over the summer.  Shady or not, this seems like arrows instead of missiles for the Playoff PAC people.  If there’s going to be a change, they can’t dink and dunk it.
  • Stanford’s Andrew Luck is staying behind for another year of college.  This will make Blaine Gabbertt a sexier pick for the NFL Draft coming up in a couple of months.  He’ll have to battle for the top quarterback spot with Arkansas’ Ryan Mallet, though.  Gabbert may see his Aldon Smith in the NFL as well.
  • So TCU won the Rose Bowl.  Someone then paid for a billboard congratulating the team.  Except it was in Columbus, Ohio.  Yeah someone with big pockets wanted to rub it in the Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee’s face.  He was running his mouth earlier about the mid-con teams not being worthy and now I guess he gets to eat crow.
  • Speaking of the Horned Frogs, head coach Gary Patterson notched himself a 2 year extension with the program.  You go undefeated in two regular seasons, you deserve that and a ham sandwich.
  • Stud Oklahoma receiver Ryan Broyles will be coming back for another year.
  • A Boise State assitant coach is going to big time.  By big time I mean Texas Offensive Coordinator.  It seems Mack Brown and company lured Bryan Harsin away from the Broncos to infuse the team with a flashier offense.
  • Texas Tech told the NCAA that they texted too much.  That’s alliteration.  And that’s the news!
  • Head BCS Honcho Bill Hancock reminded everyone that a playoff is way below in priority for the college bowl partners.  He said that even the old way of bowls would be considered first. Seriously, he does a great job of stirring the pot.
  • Kansas State athletic director John Currie also gets a two year extension to his contract chock full of some tasty incentives.  He’s done an alright job.  The goal now is to maintain it.
  • The BCS Championship Game happened Monday and it garnished the best cable ratings ever.  Yet, the actual viewership is down.  This is what happens when the biggest game of the year ends up on cable.  Seriously, why didn’t Disney toss the game on ABC instead of ESPN?  Television is becoming more live sport driven than anything else.  Still, until I can replicate the experience of a sports bar in my basement, I will be going out for the games.
  • LSU’s Les Miles went to Michigan to talk about an open job but decided to stay with the Tigers.  Listen up childrens, this is the classic strategy head coaches employ to get them off the hot seat or get a raise.
  • Man we feel for UGA VIII, the mascot of the Georgia Bulldogs.  He didn’t make the trip to the bowl game last week and now we know why.  UGA VIII has lymphoma.  Jinkies, is the team as cursed as this dog is?
  • Former South Florida football coach Jim Leavitt settled out of court for some extra cash from the school.   He was canned for reportedly striking a walk on student.  He’s a defensive guy and because of that, the rumors are now flying about Leavitt coming back to Kansas State to take a defensive coordinator position.  Tune in next week, this is getting hotter.

2010 Year End Reviewards

Yes, it’s the 2010 edition and first ever annual KC College GameDay Year End Reviewards!  What’s a revieward?  Welp, it’s a half assed attempt to round up the year in review and then dole out some nameless awards out to who or what I think mattered in the year of college football.  It applies to the regular season only as I really don’t want to come back to this.  At any rate, I’m shooting from the hip so all you midgets our there better watch your heads.

Tailgaters Sports Cafe Shuffled Us In and Out of Minneapolis

Okay so this will be a lil weird.  Barspotting found me outside of Kansas City again Saturday for the second week in a row.  This time, I was in Minnesota.  Minneapolis to be exact.  So prior obligations held me up north and by some crazy chance I was able to stumble into a sports bar up there to catch at least one football game.  Among the lessons learned on this trip was that regional football coverage can sometimes cramp your football watching style.  Well that and onion rings alone can be pretty tasty.

Continue reading Tailgaters Sports Cafe Shuffled Us In and Out of Minneapolis

Crib Sheet: Tis the Season

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As expected, there is a ton of news this week.  Conference championships are over, coaches are fired, kids are leaving for the NFL, and the bowls are lighting up.  Here’s this week’s Crib Sheet while we go do some Christmas Shopping:

Crib Sheet: And We’ll All Float On

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This weekend is the annual float trip weekend and we are super distracted.  The annual event down in the Ozarks leads to all sorts of cathartic releases and gets us ready for the football season to come.  For those of you not in the know, a float trip is basically an all day canoe or raft run down a river with food and beverages.   This can be known as a Booze Cruise.  This year it’s running a little late, but thankfully the weather isn’t too bad, sans any chance for rain.  If you ever get a chance, find the closest river and spend a weekend camping.  It’s a great way to get away.   Here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:

  • Right after the Crib Sheet say the Mountain West Conference’s beef with the BCS wouldn’t be over until the beginning of the college football, a new press release came out last week stating that they finally signed with the BCS on the new television deal.  Wow that was fast.  So they trotted the BCS out to Washington with Utah buddy Orin Hatch to shake them up before finally giving in and signing.  Trying to save face much?  Time to dust the hands off of this topic.
  • Western Carolina junior defensive back Ja’Quayvin Smalls died after a voluntary workout last week.  This may be along the lines of the sickle cell issue that have been the cause of the number one death among college football players in the last decade.  Our condolences go out and we hope that this builds the case even stronger for mandatory sickle cell tests for colleges.
  • We’ve usually ignore player arrests here on the Crib Sheet because, let’s face it,  a player or two gets arrested every week.  Let’s take a look at this.   We’ll give a nice even 100 for the number of division I football teams.  There’s about 50 players per team.   Those are both conservative numbers.  So there are about 5,000 football players.  Take that and add in college life.  There’s about 6 months in the off season.  Two players arrested per week is about 48 players.  Or less than 1% of the total amount of players.  That seems reasonable to us for the college population as a whole.  So while it makes news, there’s nothing exciting about it except that they play a big time sport.
  • ESPN and ABC are switching up announcers this year.  Michael Hiestand points out that Matt Millen will come to the fray and Paul Maguire will be out completely.  WOO HOO!  Maguire was about as bad as announcer as they come.  There’s a reason they dropped him down on the field and didn’t allow him in the booths for the games last year.
  • It looks like after the fiasco of the Bob Krause/Ron Prince fiasco last year and the massive audit fiasco involving the university, Kansas State and their new athletic director John Currie will do what they can to rebuild the fan base.  One such way is to sell 1,989 tickets for $9 at the home opener this year in Massachusetts, in honor of Bill Snyder’s first game as head coach.  It’s a nice little ploy, but the opponent  and the number of tickets for sale don’t do much in terms of a rebuild.  It’s a nice start, but they’re going against a weak non-conference team so chances of a sell out are nill.  Currie and Co. have a long way to go but it’s a decent first step.
  • Urban Meyer let the cat out of the bag this week and told the whole world he’ll never coach for Notre Dame.  Never say never.  Granted Charlie Weiss will have to make a bowl to keep the job, but with what Florida giving Meyer everything he wants, including national titles,  an open Fighting Irish job and a pot of gold won’t be enough.  Then again, he did say never.