Tag Archives: Alabama

Crib Sheet: The Heat Is On

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.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5363743

Crib Sheet: Post April Fools Yucks

April Fools came and went and we here at the KCCGD headquarters want to share a few of our favorite tricks.  The first one: cover the laser part of a laser mouse with a piece of tape or Post It note.  Watch as the unsuspecting fool tries to use the mouse and bangs it on the table! Har Har!  Next up: keeping with the tape motiff, tape down the latch to your office mates’ phone. Watch as they try to call, or better yet someone tries to call them, and phone won’t unhook from the latch!  Comedy gold!  Okay, enough yucks.  Here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:

  • Wow that was fast.  Nick Saban wins a BCS National Championship for Alabama and then gets a bronze statue erected in his honor.  So if he wins it again, what will happen?  A whole new stadium in his honor?  How about a permanent seat in Alabama’s government?  They do eat, sleep, and breath football down there.
  • A highly touted recruit for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish fell to his death last Friday.  Matt James was in Florida on spring break when he fell from a hotel balcony.  Apparently he was drunk when it happened.
  • Georgia linebacker Montez Robinson was kicked off the team after an arrest related to battery charges and domestic violence.  S0metimes kids are still kids and they don’t realize that they can’t get away with stuff like that.  If you were wondering, this was the second time he was arrested.
  • Texas Tech quarterback Talyor Potts will have surgery on his injured hand.  He will be out about 8 weeks.  Not a good start for Tommy Tubberville.  But hey, maybe he can install a real running game while Potts is out.
  • Kansas Associate Athletic Director Ben Kirtland resigned Monday with no reason given.  Hrm.  Either something bad happened or this was the fallout from the Jayhawks not getting far in the basketball tournament.
  • While he’s not busy hanging in Key West being a pirate or suing the pants of another school, Mike Leach is consulting.  More specifically, consulting on the installation of his offense at Oklahoma State.  Any type of offensive knowledge that he can implant at that school could only help.  Just make sure he doesn’t send a cowpoke to the outhouse.

Crib Sheet: College Town World Tour

So I’m just now getting back into the swing of things now that I’m back from the SXSW conference.  The yearly Music/Film/Interactive conference can take a toll on your body and even though I got back Monday, I’m still feeling the effect.  The drive there uses I-35 and actually hits up a couple of college towns.  Big 12 wise, we sped through Oklahoma’s home in Norman and landed in Austin, the home of the Texas Longhorns.  Which one is better?  It’s not fair, really.  The conference was in Austin and I only drove through Oklahoma.  Now here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:

  • Speaking of Texas, apparently they are hitting the eiquette skills as well as the plyometric skills down in Austin.  If you are going to be a football dignitary, the I guess you would need to know how to flaunt elitist like chops.  Do they really need to know how to hold a fork right when tearing into some ribs from the Salt Lick, however?
  • Much ballyhooed recruit Bryce Brown has left the Tennessee program, due to either personal issues or the fact that Lane Kiffin left.  So let the rumor mills begin again!  First one out of the gate:  Bryce’s brother left Miami and is heading the K-State.  So that means there may be a chance Bryce will come play for Bill Snyder 2.0 and the Wildcats.  I hope the second round of hype around Bryce is faster.
  • Weakened and ill coach Urban Meyer returned to the Florida Gators and practice last week.  If you remember he quit the team due to health reasons but then came back when he realized that he could get better.  Or at least put on some poundage.  This year will be a nice off year for Meyer so he can reload next year, both on football and his health.
  • Just like when baseball’s Chicago Cubs shocked everyone and had its first ever night game a decade or two ago, now the Big House in Michigan will be doing the same.  What better way to do so than against the Notre Dame Fighthing Irish?  This should be a close game, with a new coach on one side and another almost on the hot seat.
  • Nick Saban is your first ever Bobby Bowden national collegiate coach of the year.  The Over the Mountain Touchdown Club is in Bowden’s home town of Birmingham, Alabama.  Not much surprise here.  The coach that wins the national title for the school in the home state of the award title’s name.  Zlam Dunk.
  • Expansion or not, the Pac 10 may be looking into instituting a conference title game.  Commissioner Larry Scott mentioned that when going over all expansion possibilities with CBS Sports.  There’s an NCAA rule that states you need to have 12 teams to have a conference title game.  So if they do want to do it without expansion, then they need to change that rule.

Crib Sheet: Spring Practice Has Arrived!

Okay it’s not as exciting as signing day or the first day of summer practice, but it’s enough to get us here at the KCCGD excied for some more college football!  This week’s Crib Sheet dives into cracks and pulls up some loose change and football news.  It doesn’t matter, it’s great to see the kids on the field getting ready for another season.  We’re saving the change for stadium popcorn.  On to the Crib Sheet:

  • We’re heard stories about college players getting arrested for drug and/or alcohol related crimes, but we haven’t heard the story about other players removing student newspapers that feature such crimes on the front page.  Welp, it happened in Texas and the coach is backing his players for the removal.  Is it suppression of free speech?  Or is it a team rallying together?  We don’t know, but we do that a campus full of students walked into class that morning without a crossword puzzle to distract them and that’s just wrong. At any rate, the coach later apologized.
  • Dan Beebe told everyone to chill about the permanent championship homes for the Big 12.   At least not until June.  It looks as though the rumor was Football in Jerryville, Baseball in OKC, and Basketball at the Sprint Center in KC.  Maybe he’s holding out for more money from Jerry Jones, but my guess is that the Big 12 can get more from each city in the Big 12 area when putting the location up for grabs each year.
  • The Notre Dame athletic director, Jack Swarbrick, let slip the possibility that the Fighting Irish may have to join a conference and lose its independence if expansion happens all around them.  This could be a bad thing for the Irish and a great thing for the conference that nabs them.
  • Coaches in Texas and Maryland get a one year reprieve from the new rule that limits successors in waiting to recruit for the team.   The gates are open, boys, take as much as you can before the clock runs out!
  • Speaking of Notre Dame and Maryland, they will be playing each other at FedEx field in 2011.  The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will be the home team.  Huh?  FedEx field is IN Maryland.  Okay now we see why this independence is going away for the Irish.  That’s just ridiculous.
  • President Barack Obama honored the Alabama Crimson Tide at the White House this week for winning the BCS National Championship.  It must be be tough for a Big 10 guy to honor an SEC team, but hey, he’s a politician and he rolls with the tide.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4980678&campaign=rss&source=NCFHeadlines

Crib Sheet: The Calm After the Storm

Another week of the Crib Sheet and we are finally starting to see things calm down around the college football landscape.  There’s still some action here and there but we envision the news will be trickling out here in there for the offseason.  There’s still some loose ends that need to be tied up and we will stay there to make sure the granny knot is tight.    So keep in step with this week’s Crib Sheet:

BCS Title Thoughts and Year End Review

Okay, freshly back from a wedding in California (not MY wedding), I’m now ready to actually talk about the BCS title game and the year that was college football.  We’re going to talk about the game that could’ve been, the season that was bookended by injuries, and some other interesting notes that popped up over the season.  So, while this is a little late, sit back and enjoy us on your little trip through college football memory lane.  Please keep your arms and head inside the windows.

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BCS National Championship Game: Snowed In

We were gonna head out tonight to watch some National Championship flow but then all of the sudden the coldest and snowiest weather in Kansas City that I have ever seen just dumped all over us.  So, in the spirit of the first couple of National Championship games, we will be live blogging tweeting the game that pits Texas against Alabama.  Follow me on twitter @kccgd and be sure to see me when you search for #bcs.  As for who I think will win, I’m sticking with the Big 12 and going Texas.  I’m thinking they make it close and pull out another win similar to the time they won it against USC.  Watch and follow tonight!

Crib Sheet: One More Game To Go

Bowl season and, well, the whole college football season is almost over.  We have one more HUGE game left.  No, not the GMAC Bowl tonight, but the BCS National Championship game!  We here at the KCCGD promise you that we will keep the hype to a minimum as the other outlets have that way covered.  So, in lieu of that, we will have another exciting rendition of the Crib Sheet.  Some emotional coaching moments happened in the last week, both high and low, so let’s get right to it:

  • So Mike Leach up and got fired.  Apparently the officials at Texas Tech didn’t like how he handled Adam James.  We’re thinking they are getting back at him for the contract dispute they had earlier this year.  All they needed was an excuse and they got one from Craig James.  Mild concussion or not, the fact that they had a trainer there with ice and water for the kid doesn’t show that he’s been treated poorly.   If any mistreatment is happening, it’s from Papa James thinking his son has talent.  This one is far from over, folks.
  • The 911 call from Urban Meyer’s wife reveal that he was having massive chest pains after his Florida Gators lost to Alabama in the SEC Championship game.  This guy puts everything he has into coaching.  Funny how all it took was  one practice and he came back to coaching, with 2 days removed from retirement.  It’s truly inspiring and we hopes he recovers.
  • Bobby Bowden won his last game ever against West Virginia , a team he once coached, in the Gator Bowl.  He even got to plants the spear on the filed.  A tradition held by the the team’s mascot.  Our question:  when is Joe Paterno next?  Not soon, as his Penn State team whupped up on LSU.
  • Domino’s CEO David Brandon has accepted the athletic director position at the University of Michigan.  What does pizza have to do with college sports?  Usually during the games in the stadiums its hot dogs and cotton candy.  Who knows?  Brandon did play for Bo Schembechler, however.  So it looks like pizza will send for Rich Rodriguez if he doesn’t make a bowl this year.
  • ESPN will unveil a 3D channel next year and show the BCS National Championship game on it in 2011.  What could be better than seeing that goofy mascot head pop onto Lee Corso’s body in glorious 3D?  Okay, lots of things.  But now all we need are glasses and a tv equipped with 3D technology and we can enjoy it all together!

Big 12 Bowl Preview and Predictions

Alrighty,  we are in the 1st quarter of bowl season and fortunately we don’t have any Big 12 bowl games until next week.  So we have the opportunity to preview and predict what’s coming up in the next couple of weeks for the Big 12.  We’ll talk briefly about the match up and go into our expert predictions.  Chew on this while you are doing your last minute shopping on Amazon.  Oh and please pick us up something nice while you’re at it.

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Bowl Pick It and Stick It 2009: Chucking Gutter Bowls

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Here we go!  Bowl season starts tomorrow and we got your Bowl Pick It and Stick It ready to go!  It’s the somewhat the same format as the regular season.  For each of the 34 bowl games, you will need to assign confidence points.  So for whoever you think will win the strongest, should get the highest confidence points and vice versa for the weakest.  What’s different is the you need to pick the winner straight up.   There is no spread points to play off of for the bowls.  So head on over to Yahoo! Fantasy Sports and sign up!  We’ll go over the bowls after break but first, here’s the info:

Group Site: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/bowl/
Group ID
: 18316
Password
: homer

Continue reading Bowl Pick It and Stick It 2009: Chucking Gutter Bowls

Crib Sheet: Back and Ready to Go Bowling

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After a well deserved week off, we are back to bringing you some tasty college football.  Alot happened during our mini hiatus so we are playing catch up with the Crib Sheet.  We have alot to get to here with the start of bowl season this weekend.  Tune in soon for a couple of year end reviews, bowl picks, and some bowlspots.  Until then, here’s a very chunky Crib Sheet:

  • Alabama took the high road when it announced that they will cancel classes for the BCS National Championship.  That’s nice for football fans, but the last time I remembered there are people who actually don’t like football AND go to college.  It seems kinda chintzy to lob off classes for everyone during the bowl game.  Then again, this is South and it is football.
  • Congress will crack the whip on the BCS soon and vote on a bill to ban promotion of the NCAA division I football series unless they get a playoff.  The argument against it is that they have better things to do (health care bill, anyone).  The argument for it is that the NCAA is a business and they should treat the conferences like companies in an industry.  Problem with that one is that then the argument will come up that the students should get paid then (on top of free college).  The slippery slope just got some juice.
  • Charlie Strong is you new Lousiville head coach.  This guy was rumored for the Kansas job, but right now the hot note is Buffalo’s Turner Gill.  Anywho, back to Strong.  This guy was co-defensive coordinator for Florida and looks to be a real good hire.  Good luck to Cardinals.
  • Tennessee confirms that there is an investigation into their Orange Pride group and possible recruiting violations.  Basically, the Orange Pride comprises mostly of very attractive Volunteer females that drive around and persuade recruits to join the program.  They would even friend them on Facebook.  Did they break any rules?  Who knows?  This has been going on for a long time, however.  The power of gender persuasion is a might force, my friends.
  • Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh hired his dad Jack to be interim running backs coach for the Sun Bowl.  It’s nice to see that the Harbaughs like to keep in the family.  His dad won some titles in Division II and his brother John just happens to the head coach of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens.
  • Notre Dame took the plunge and finally hired a head coach.  His name?  Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly.   It’s a good fit for the Domers.  They guy won the Big East the last two years and has won at least 10 games the last three.  Let’s hope the boosters expectations aren’t too high this time around, otherwise we’ll be seeing this dance again in three years.
  • Mack Brown from Texas is getting an extra $2 million per year on the rest of his contract for doing such a great job.  The guy now will make about $5 million per year.  Meanwhile, an Iowa senator complains that coaches are being paid too much.  Nevermind that Texas brings in about $100 million a year via the athletic department.  Oh and don’t let Kirk Ferentz or Paul Rhoads hear this guy.  They might  go somewhere else and the voters will vent on their frustration in the voting booth.
  • Colt McCoy wants a bowl playoff.  He’s thought about long and hard.  Did he think about it while he almost blew the game for the Longhorns at the Big 12 Championship?  Maybe that’s why he wants playoff.  It would’ve covered up his mistake.  Doh!
  • A handful of awards were handed out on ESPN last week to college football players.  We’re not going to go through the whole list but we will say that Big 12 was represented very well.  Congrats to Colt McCoy and Ndamukong Suh.
  • So Kansas ended its coaching search over the weekend.  Some people thought it was Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, but that was denied big time.  So the Jayhawks fell to their 2nd choice, Turner Gill.  This guy turned around Buffalo from perennial losers to a decent MAC team, even winning the title last year.  Some people have overlooked that and started a fire-this-guy website.  Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers.
  • Congrats to Northwest Missouri State who became the Division II champions over the weekend.  It was their first title since 1998.   Good job guys!
  • Mark Ingram won the Heisman over the weekend as well.  The race ended up being the closest ever with Ingram taking it over Gerhart, McCoy, Suh, and Tebow respectively.  The sexy pick leading up to it was Suh, but that’s why it was sexy.  No chance of winning and you get to appear smart.  That said, there was no clear leading guy running up to it, so it’s no surprise it was this close.
  • Kansas State special teams stand out Brandon Banks was released from jail after beating a women while stoked on some stimulants.  Ruh Roh.  At least there’s no bowl to damage for the Wildcats.  Hopefully this guy will get his act together and salvage his draft status, if there’s any left.
  • Looks like Illinois will hire Kansas State co-defensive coordinator Vic Koenning to be their sole defensive coordinator.  He was with Clemson for a couple of years before his one year stint with the Wildcats.  Hopefully the Wildcats defense won’t suffer that much.
  • Looks like the Big 10 will finally come into the century and explore a possible 12th team and conference championship.  Who will it be?  Some say Missouri or Iowa State.  We know Missouri would listen.  Others are point toward the Big East and Syracuse, Rutgers, or Pittsburgh.  Let’s hope they keep it Big East for the east coast television money too.
  • The NCAA, following the lead of the NFL, will recommend keeping an athlete out of the game if they lose consciousness or show signs of a concussion.  Head trauma is big news nowadays and the NCAA is quickly stepping in to cover their own heads with this rule.  Now I get the old folks harping about leather helmets and poor pads being a better sport.  We’ll be talking like that in a c0uple of years.

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:

BCS Goes Bowling, Finally!

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We here at the KCCGD decided to split off the BCS Standings from the Pick It and Stick because of how important the BCS announcements were over the weekend.  We’ll go in depth into some of the games and the final standings.  Later on either this week or next, we’ll take a look at the bowls and maybe a specific Big 12 bowl post.  Right now, it’s BCS time.  As eveyone should know by now, the BCS Championhip game will be held in Pasadena, California at the Rose Bowl and it will be between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Texas Longhorns.  It’s not without controversy, however.  First, here are the final standings:

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Brooksider Brings Us the Best in Football and Bars

Ahh, nothing like a good ole familiar barspot to round out the year and watch some major championship games. This will be our third year in row heading to the Brooksider Bar & Grill and it’s well worth it. We’ll go over this year’s additions as well as revisit some of the amenities that make the Brooksider to place to be for sports watching. Most importantly however, we have the SEC and the Big 12 Championship game to buckle up and ride along with. So hold on and we’ll tell the tale of the year’s last barspot.

Broosider Inside

This time around the first thing we noticed was how open the joint was. We can’t remember if it happened last year or not, but the they knocked down some walls to make it more open and pleasing. We swear they added even more flat screen televisions since our last appearance. And, yes, we still love the 71 inch plasma television. They added wireless and we were rocking it for the post during the games. There’s nothing else new we really noticed. They still have plenty of space for smoking outside, dancing downstairs, and local bands up front.

Brooksider Downstairs

The Brooksider wasn’t without its faults, however. We understand that fans are needed to circulate air, especially in smoking joints, but it was little ridiculous in this kind of weather. Speaking of which, the front door kept opening up and letting in some wickedly cold air. For their next expansion they need a breeze way. Downstairs used to be the place where the dancing and partying took place, but it’s all gone now. Thank you dress code. To make up for it, they have special parties booked down there, but when we were there it was empty and smelled like sewage. Clean it up, guys.

Brooksider Waitress

The service started out really cool. The first shift waitresses looked pretty cute and they did do a good job of taking orders and accommodation our sitting needs. The 2nd shift waitresses met the standards the Brooksider set as they all matched the beauty we remembered from last time. Although it was a little troublesome when they didn’t know all of the bottles available for the special, they still hooked us up when we needed.

Brooksider Mac N Cheese WedgesBrooksider Bologna

The food always starts with Mac N Cheese Wedges at the Brooksider. We ended up washing it down with their game day special of 5 bucket beers at $15. Get the imports for that deal when you come. It was hard to overlook the $5.99 wing special but the wedges always warms our bellies well. For the second round of foodstuff, we filled our tummy with some fried bologna on toast. It was tasty, but it still doesn’t beat Harry’s Country Club.

We showed up early to knock out a good seat and we were glad we did. We spied the dramatic finish of the Big East title game with 2 touchdowns below 2 minutes to go in the game. It was a shootout all day but Cincinnati pulled out at the end to finish with an undefeated season. We were also fortunate to check out the finish of the Fresno State and Illinois game. A 2 point conversion off a touchdown happened after a deflection and a lineman catch. Already the day started out great.

Brooksider Inside 02

But we were really there to see Florida take on Alabama and Texas take on Nebraska. First up, Florida and Alabama locked horns in the in the SEC title game. It was all Alabama to begin with as Mark Ingrim ran all over the Gator D and Florida had a hard time answering. Florida finally put some points with a field goal around the end of the 1st quarter. Tim Tebow and company tried to keep up in the 2nd quarter, but couldn’t match Alabama’s running game. The Crimson Tide pulled away in the third and their stingy defense was just too much for Tebow to handle. The Gators were outmatched and the better team in Alabama won. Contrats to them.

Next up was the Big 12 title game with Texas and Nebraska. The first half opened up with a couple of costly turnovers for Colt McCoy and the Longhorns. Not to be outdone, Zac Lee lobbed a couple of ducks Texas’ way. It was field position that was the factor as Nebraska took advantage of the turnovers and went up on top 6-0. It took some whittling down, but Texas came back toward the end of the first half and scored on a McCoy draw to cap off a long drive. Not much action for the first half as it was Nebraska’s style of play all the way.

Brooksider Christams Tree

The second half continued in that tradition and it led to a shocker of a finish. We could talk about the third quarter, but the best part of the whole game ended at the end. After a kick return back into Texas’ territory, Nebraska finished again with a field goal to take the lead late. The kickoff wobbled out of bounds and Texas started with the ball and under a minute to go at their own 40.

After a horse collar tackle and a couple of plays, it was down to the last couple of seconds of play. Colt McCoy took the snap in the hopes of running down the clock. He floated the pass out of bounds with no time left on the clock. Or was there? After a review, the Longhorns did have one second. The kicker for Texas lined up and punched in a kick at the end of the game to beat Nebraska and put Texas in the BCS Championship game. Instant Classic.

The Brooksider Bar & Grill lived up to expectations, but they are starting to get a little shaky. Places like Johnny’s Tavern in the Power & Light district is coming up fast to match their stellar service. As for the BCS College Football Championship, we now have a clearer picture. Bowl Season is just upon us and we’re hoping that all of the games are exciting as the majority of the games over the weekend. Hopefully, our breath will be caught up in time just to lose it again.

Pick It and Stick It: Holiday Nosicles

RudolphTheRedNoseReindeer

Here we go into the last week of picks and there’s not that many to choose from.  That’s a good thing, though, because most of our focus is squa’ on the holidays.  Turkey Day is over and it’s a full bore Christmas conga line.  Most of our shopping is done and that’s a first for the KCCGD crew.  Usually it’s a last minute managerie through the isles of crappy malls and Targets.  Since we’re done, we are going to focus on the nicer things for the holidays.  Like  bowl games. After this weekend, we’ll find out who will play who and when.  Tune in as we will make our list and check it twice for bowlspots to watch football games on holiday nights.  But first, here’s the last pick set:

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