Tag Archives: Fox

Purple Yeti Roar 46: Take A Ride On My Carousel

The regular season is official over.  Now it’s on to bowl season!  But before we get into that, we must get on the annual coaching carousel.  I’ll go over that as well as Kansas State, Big 12, Collin Klein, Mante Te’o, Johnny Manziel, Heisman Trophy, SEC, Tennessee, Arkansas, Bret Bielma, Auburn, Tommy Tuberville, Cincinnati, Mike Gundy, ESPN, Fox, and the BCS. Continue reading Purple Yeti Roar 46: Take A Ride On My Carousel

Purple Yeti Roar 39: I Ames To Please

Puns aside, I go over the Big 12 action that was last weekend, all the while pointing toward the massive game Saturday night when Kansas State heads to Morgantown to take on West Virginia.  I also talk about the BCS rankings and the teams involved, minus Oregon (sorry guys!).  Start getting pumped, we are halfway through the season and it’s about to get even more jacked. Continue reading Purple Yeti Roar 39: I Ames To Please

Crib Sheet: Deep in the Heat of Texas

Welp I’m finally settled down here as the KCCGD Express is powered down and unpacked.  You know, people were saying that the heat is bad down here but I don’t mind it so much.  It’s not July yet, but mid 90s in late April/early May is a new thing for me.  And I love it.  People were meant to wear less clothes.  Now on to this week’s Crib Sheet:

Continue reading Crib Sheet: Deep in the Heat of Texas

Crib Sheet: Saddling Up and Settling In

I’m sure you’ve seen my previous post about the major move down to Austin yesterday.  Yeah I’m still pretty shocked myself and I’m the one that knew about it for over month.   Never fear, we’ll still chug along and it continues today with this week’s Crib Sheep:

  • Missouri players get together and bond by paintballing.  I’ve never done it myself but I imagine pelting someone square in the chest with a faux bullet brings some sort of joy.
  • Even though there’s a contest at quarterback this spring for Kansas State, Collin Klein shoulders all of the expectations going into next season.  Meanwhile, Bill Snyder 2.0 is trying to use that competition to blow the steam off of former #1 recruit Bryce Brown.
  • They already are bucking tradition by introducing a championship game, so it makes sense that Big 10 Commissioner Jim Delany is trying to push for later start times on games.  Everyone knows the Big 10 starts mega early, with the Big 12, so why go and change it?  I want to maximize my football watching day.
  • Speaking of the Big 10, Nebraska lost its AAU membership.  Ho man that just made my week.  One of the strong points for Nebraska to move was its AAU membership.  Now both the Cornhuskers and the Big 10 look dumb.
  • Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tubberville offered his viewpoint on the whole ‘birthers’ debate.  It’s few and far between when football comments on politics.  I’d rather have that then the other way around.
  • The BCS set the dates for the bowl games next year, but they have to wait until the NFL cleans up its mess before they can lock it down.  I’m not sure how long they will wait, as the NFL can bump a month and still have a full season.
  • It looks like being a part of the big boys for Boise State means having a couple of NCAA violations attached to their program.  Its secondary so they won’t suffer too much.  Welcome to big time, guys.
  • The Pac 12 will get a mega buck deal from Fox and ESPN, much like the Big 12.  Except it’s the biggest deal in history.  Too bad they have 2 more teams to split up the costs with.
  • The tornadoes last week missed me while I was driving down and it missed Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium.  The Crimson Tide’s long snapper Carson Tinker was injured, however.  Auburn is even reaching out to help the area recover from the nasty storms.  Just goes to show that heated rivals will always team up against mother nature.
  • No more new bowls for the next three years.  The NCAA will review the licensing process in that time to determine if enough is enough.  Three years is plenty time for the FBS to expand so that the bowls can expand without leaving the chance of a school with a losing record in on the fun.
  • ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit is taking some time out from Twitter because his Ohio State homies are bashing him for being fair.  The Internet is a cruel place, Kirk.  A cruel, cruel place.

Crib Sheet: Giant Chocolate Egg

It’s warmed over, too.  This week’s Crib Sheet celebrates Easter by dropping news eggs all over the place.  Grab your basket and find them buried in the grass of the Crib Sheet.  Don’t get your fingers messy:

  • It looks like Texas new defensive coordinator’s had a weird upbringing in coaching terms.  He’s been at ESPN first, then a video guy at Florida State, and then on to coaching positions.  It also looks like he takes inspiration from other sports, too.  Will this shake things up enough for the Longhorns and turn the defense around?  We’ll find out.
  • The Big 12 Conference announced a mega-deal with Fox for broadcasting rights.  Dan Beebe was right.  They reportedly negotiated a $90 million a year deal through the next 13 years.  The big plus?  Every home game will be on some form of television starting in 2012.  Well that and each school has a the chance to kick up their own network.
  • The officer who shot and killed the Pace University football player, Denroy Henry Jr., received the Officer of the Year Award from the police union where he works.  Their reasoning is that the officer showed bravery through that time and all of his time working for the department.  This angered alot of folks.  It depends on who you believe on what happened.  I just don’t like that it’s a union that gets to dole out the award.
  • Not to be outdone by fellow conference fashionistas Oregon, Arizona State unveiled their new uniforms for the year.  They will be changing colors left and right.  On top of that, their helmets are new, with big giant pointy tridents.  The Ducks did this and they won but they also hired the right coach.  That’s the kind of makeover the Sun Devils could really use.
  • In another case of me-too’s, Auburn will build statues for their Heisman Trophy winners, like what Florida did.  The only difference is that there’s a darker cloud hanging over Cam Newtan than there is hanging over Tim Tebow.  I wonder if they’ll add that to the design.  Oh, and Nick Saban had his own statue erected, too.
  • There will be even more Blubaughs in prison as Tom’s wife, Charlette, will get 57 months in prison for her role in the Kansas ticket scandal.  I didn’t know women’s prisons had Blubaughs too.  Maybe they should make a movie about it.
  • Dennis Dodd of CBS has an interesting article on 7-on-7 leagues in high school.  It seems they are the AAUs of football.  Jay Paterno is correct about how coaches can’t tell if a kid can take a hit.  I hope something gets down soon about these because I don’t want football to turn into a ballet.  We could use a couple of big hits in a game.
  • Now that the Fiesta Bowl is in trouble, they are scrambling to get money back from lawmakers who took the kickbacks from them.  If it’s anything related to government, then it will take a long time before the Fiesta Bowl sees a dime.
  • A couple of rule changes are coming down the pike for next year.  The NCAA approved more stringent below the waist penalties and gave the option for teams to run 10 seconds off the clock on penalties within the final minute of the half.  Nothing earth shattering but an improvement indeed.
  • Notre Dame released the investigation report relating to Declan Sullivan’s death earlier this year.  They found the no single person was responsible but there was a lax in safety.  Apparently the weather data was out of date.  This does seem kind of fishy,  I hope the school pays tons of money to parents of Sullivan to avoid a lawsuit.
  • There was a tussle online about the Boise State’s AD, Gene Bleymaier, and his fiery words about the BCS.  That’s just talk.  What’s more important to me is that the school trademarked the blue turf and will protect the likeness of the field in FBS terms, while allowing it to happen to divisions below.  Since when is a blue field trademarkable?  That seems a little too much to me.  At least one coach in the Mountain West Conference, sees it as an unfair competitive advantage as well.  San Diego State’s Rocky Long hates it and I suggest the Aztecs change their field to candy striped or fractal like patterns.
  • So while the NCAA is busy messing up student athletes and their lack of scholarship funding, they find time to make some even dumber team name penalties.  North Dakota passed a state law to keep the Fighting Sioux nickname but it will not stop the NCAA from administrating penalties because of their perception of the name.  The NCAA considers it offensive and will take money away from the school.  The deeper issue is that two tribes in the area are split over the decision.  Why is the NCAA trying to influence an issue that clearly doesn’t involve them?  Let the tribes and the state figure it out and get out of the way.

Crib Sheet: Spring Fever Pitch

Spring is in the air and unfortunately, some of it stinks.  Now I could be talking about the Fiesta Bowl scandal or perhaps the NFL lockout.  Nope, it’s none of that.  It’s the fact that I have to suffer through another summer of baseball before the real American pasttime takes the stage.  Fortunately for me I have the Crib Sheet to keep my occupied.  Oh and thank you Beano Cook for being awesome.

  • Now that the Fiesta Bowl report came out and the bowl’s CEO John Junker got canned, people are speculating about the BCS and its ties with the Fiesta Bowl, including David Ubben.  It seems that the Cotton Bowl and its home, the Jerry Jones Cowboys Stadium spectacular, would be a great fit for the BCS.  It is the largest football stage out there.  If the BCS moves forward with Cotton, then this report and subsequent firing will also seem a little to coincidental.  The real loser here is the cancelled spring retreat for the Fiesta Bowl.  Well, that and the FEC complaint against the Fiesta Bowl filed by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.  It’s nothing a meeting with the NCAA can’t fix.
  • A former Texas A&M coach said that Willie Lyes, the same guy who was paid $25,000 from Oregon and is under NCAA investiagion, approached him and stated that he had beat $80,000 for a star recruit.  With all of this money blowing up and flowing around college football, it was onlya a matter of time that recruitment services looking to get a cut of the pic made moves like these.
  • Former Kansas assistant athletic director Rodney Jones gets 4 years in jail for the $2 million dollar ticket scandal involving him and some other cohorts, including Kassie Liebsch who got 3 years.  I’m pretty sure he’s going to get the fluffly white color crime prison and not the dark, stank, blue collar crime prison.  Still, he was all Niagara Falls during the sentencing.  Yet, ticket scalpding still goes on.
  • The Pac 10 is open for business and they’re letting the world know it.  The exclusive negotiating rights for Fox expired and now it’s time to shop the conference across all of the television networks.  Oh, they’ll get bank.  It’s the big time now.
  • ESPN filed suit against Conference USA for dipping into the FX deal for prime time football games.  It’s always cute when television stations and football conferences fight.
  • Soslan Gagloev was a Russian in Japan’s waters and kicking it sumo style.  And he was winning.  But he was busted for weed and now he’s playing some college football at Webber International Univeristy.  Defensive back he ain’t.  That said, sumo and any other kind of wrestling requires leverage work and that applies fantastically to line work in football.  He should do alright.
  • Here’s a shocker:  drug policies across all facets of college sports completely varies in policy.  I think the AP suggests to streamline the whole process.
  • Colt McCoy’s younger brother, Case, is looking to take the reigns for the Texas Longhorns.  He had a stellar spring practice.  Who knows?  Maybe that magic can happen again.
  • Speaking of Texas, their new network will be called the ‘Longhorn Network.’ There’s no deal for satellite deistributors but I’m guessing that it will blow up once they annoucne a couple of football games on the network.

Crib Sheet: Tis the Offseason

Baseball’s right around the corner and I figured the news would be super quiet for college football.  Boy was I wrong.  There’s tasty chunks of news going around all over the place.  I’m done salivating you taste buds, time to feast on this week’s Crib Sheet:

Continue reading Crib Sheet: Tis the Offseason

Crib Sheet: Double Your Pleasure Double Your Fun

Whoops! I guess I missed a Crib Sheet last week. . You know, I was in the midst of SXSW and was about to endure the worst Montezuma’s Revenge on this planet. I’m all caught up now and will deliver on this week’s Crib Sheet. That’s right, it’s a double sized version of the Crib Sheet. Whip out the bib we are about to get messy:

  • Stanford’s getting rid of their ‘easy’ classes for student athletes. Um, since when is any class at Stanford easy? Oh wait, I guess ‘Beginning Improvisation’ or ‘Social Dances of North America III’ can be classified as easy. Hey, Stanford’s rep is that they are in the upper echelon of scholastics so they need to make sure that everyone falls in line with it.
  • Oklahoma made about $10,000 in the Fiesta Bowl due to a policy in the Big 12 that states that the conference absorbs unsold tickets for the bowl game. Man, too bad UConn and the Big East didn’t have that one, the Huskies ended up losing out big time for the game.
  • On that same trip, let’s see what the Big 12’s finances were for the school last year. Obviously Texas made and spent the most dough. I think it’s interesting that Kansas State spent the least amount of money in the conference and still made a bowl game. Facts to chew on.
  • So while I was out, a rumor popped up that Fox was in the running for a new television deal with the Big 12. Numbers are flying all over the place but the important point is that there is demand. Predicted demand. I can fall asleep a little better tonight knowing that the smoke here will fire up the flame to keep the Big 12 warm for a long time.
  • So a lawyer, and former Ohio State player, tried to warn Jim Tressel about violations and it got Tressel in big trouble. So Jim Tressel violated NCAA rules and apologized to all about his err of ways. Being the great guy that he is, Tressel then decided that his two game suspension was not enough and took the same 5 game suspension that the players who broke the rules got. The only thing I see coming down from this is that the Big 10 next year is wide open. Maybe the streak for Big 10 titles for Ohio State will end next year?
  • I don’t like talking NFL as much, but former Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert is tearing it up. Not only was he sharp on the ball, he was also sharp in the Wonderlic. Having taken the Wonderlic myself recently, I can say that it’s very impressive to score as high as he did. Gabbert just may be the real deal.
  • In no surprise to everyone, Indiana regulators fined Notre Dame for six violations that led to the death of a 20 year old student. Hopefully everyone can take a look at this and try harder to make sure all personnel involved in college football are safe.
  • Kirk Herbstreit moved out of Ohio because the locals don’t get that being an analyst means that you should be objective. I guess the fans there complain about fairness and give away freebies to the local players. Great state that Ohio is.
  • A frosh lawmaker backed away from hinting that a recent bill introduced in the Texas legislature to allow former Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach to sue the state was money driven. Money as in money toward the guy that introduced it. Did I mention how much I love Texas?
  • Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops talks about his Twitter policy. I’m glad they didn’t ban it altogether but it is a little creepy that school officials are monitoring the accounts. But hey, everyone is monitoring everyone’s Twitter accounts, right?

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.

Crib Sheet: A Thanksgiving Feast

Ho boy do we have a feast of news for you to munch in this Thanksgiving edition of the Crib Sheet.  There should be enough left over to keep you fed over the whole weekend as there is college football on pretty much all of the time.  Grab a bib and get ready for some Crib Sheet:

Continue reading Crib Sheet: A Thanksgiving Feast