Tag Archives: Notre Dame

College, Football, Miscellany

GameDay: Quick Thought About Rekindled Rivalries

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rivalries

Perusing the news feeds throughout the week, I couldn’t help but notice the over abundance of items talking about the renewed rivalry of Notre Dame and Michigan.   That rivalry is one built with years of contests and traditions.  But most of the articles talked about how it was renewed.  How?  They play each other every year.  Is this because Notre Dame is ranked and looking for a BCS run?  Usually the shoe is on the other foot with Michigan pushing through the Big 10 and gunning for BCS.   So why is it getting so much press this week?   It’s very simple.  Because college football needs this rivalry.

College football is what it is today because of schools playing each other every year for over 50 years.  The tradition of going against a familiar foe and claiming bragging rights for your school is why college football draws the bank that it does.  So when Notre Dame and Michigan suit up today for the 37th time, remember that they first played each other in 1887.  That’s about 122 years ago.  So when they trot on that field today, they carry on their shoulders a history of competition older than Brent Musberger.   This is the linchpin of college football.

Of course, we would be remiss to mention that there really isn’t any other big games going on this week.  Most rivarly games are played another week.  For the ranked teams, the only marquee match up is USC heading to the horse shoe and playing Ohio State.  So the pick of teams to talk about this week is pretty weak.  Especially because of the big games from last week.   There were Top 20 upsets and down to the wire games for BCS contenders last week.  This week seems pretty lame comparatively..

But college football needs these two teams.  We were lucky enough that it is quiet enough to hear about the Wolverines and the Fighting Irish.  For the Wolves, they need to get better fast.  The Big 10 needs them to be elite much more than college football.  Nowadays, people talk about how weak the Big 10 is.  Sure they have Ohio State and sometimes Penn State, but without Michigan and their tradition (the winningest team in history) people will always scoff at the Big 10 and turn their noses at them.  As for the Irish, it’s been years since they even mattered.  There’s no patience up in South Bend.  Just look at Ty Willingham.   So the vaunted Charlie Weiss led Notre Dame Fighting Irish need to manufacture a BCS trip or face falling back in mediocrity.  It’s been way too long for them.  They even set up a cupcake schedule because they know they’ll make it on name alone.

That’s where we are at today.  In a couple hours, the whole nation will watch an 18th ranked team travel to an unranked team’s home and play football.   Usually in a bigger week with tougher matchups, this game would be overlooked.  Usually teams with higher rankings would get the national rub and this one would be pushed to regional action.  But this is Notre Dame.  This is Michigan.  This is a history rich in competition.  This is college football.  We’re lucky enough to see it.

Picks

Pick It and Stick It: Confidently Digging In

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picking-nose

Here we go strolling into the second week of picks for the KCCGD crew.  Last week saw some impressive (and embarrassing) numbers.  With a new confidence system on top of the picks, we’ve found getting used to it somewhat challenging.  Nevertheless, this week finds the matchups a little easier to swallow.   There aren’t as many ranked teams going against each other.   We were treated to an upset or two last week.  Will we see it again?  We’ll find out over the weekend but until then set your picks and assign confidence to them.  Heeeyaw!
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Barspotting, College, Football, Iowa State

Barspotting: Johnny’s Tavern Tries to Save the P&L

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Johnnys Tavern

This week we’re going back to the Power & Light District and more specifically Johnny’s Tavern.  One of the other overly expensive bars there closed downand Johnny’s swooped in to take the torch.  Now, we aren’t fans of the P&L, especially for sports, but we want to give Johnny’s Tavern a chance to totally save the day.  Johnny’s Tavern is a namesake dedicated to sports bars, especially for the Kansas fans out there.  So we’re sure they will make a decent attempt of fielding a proper sports bar Downtown.  We’ve been to a different Johnny’s before so we are pretty sure we’re gonna have a good time.  See you there.

When: Saturday, September 12 2009
Time: 12:00 pm-ish (we’ll try to make the rivalry)
Where: Johnny’s Tavern in the Power and Light District. 1310 Grand Boulevard, Kansas City, Missouri 64106 816.268.2260


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Games:

The second week of college football has calmed down a bit.  We needed it too, last weekend was a huge blast off and we need to clean the ash off our faces.  This week is not without its sparklers, however.  The Cy-Hawk Trophy is up for grabs again in the great Iowa vs Iowa State rivalry.  It’s also been a long time since college football was as pumped as it is this year for the Michigan vs Notre Dame game.  The only Top 25 meeting is USC vs Ohio State and it should be epic.  The rest of the Big 12 looks like mop up work, but don’t be surprised if a few more upsets come that way.  We’re looking at you Colorado and Kansas State.  Anyway, it should be fun and we hope to see you out this weekend.

For what it’s worth, here’s the result of poll from the Facebook Fan page.  Next week’s poll should be up alot earlier next week.

bswek2

Bar Games, College, Food, Football, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Sports Bars, Waitresses

Tanner’s Helps Us Kickoff the Year Right

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Hey Hey, My My, College football will never die.  And neither will KC College GameDay.  We’re back again for another year for fantastic football watchin’ and we kicked off the Labor Day weekend full of football at Tanner’s Bar & Grill in the the Waldo district.  There are many a Tanner’s in the KC area (as well as some out of area locations) and they have always been known to be a top notch sporting experience. This location, proved to be right there, even though some trip ups in service and specials hurt it a bit.  We also get to go over a new game for you arcadians out there.  But there’s much, much more.

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Colorado, Football, Picks

Spit Ball Predictions for 2009

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spitball

We can take a couple of more days to draw up a preview of each conference and then roll the dice on how the bowls will shore up but that would take way too much time and reach far out of our happy little niche.  So what we are going to do instead is spit up some predictions for what’s going to happen this year in college football.  We may talk about your favorite conference, we may not.  Chances are we’ll predict the title winner, but we may over look the Outland Trophy Award winner.  Who knows?  We’re loading up our straws (or empty pens) and seeing what sticks to the wall for 2009.

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Big 12, College, Football, Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska, News, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M

Crib Sheet: Running Some Gassers

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footballpractice

Practices are rocking this week as the schools are getting ready for some real hitting here in a couple of weeks.  Some may think that we’ve been practicing every week in this but column but it’s been prime time, every time.  We are still deliberating as to whether or not we’ll continue the Crib Sheet in the regular season.  Feel free to drop a comment below to let us know.  Here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:

  • The Michigan Defense couldn’t mow him down last year, so Appalachian State’s quarterback Armanti Edwards did it himself.  Yup he’s out a couple of weeks with a foot injury.
  • The 12th Man talked a Montana punter to transfer to Texas A&M.  Ken Wood was big on the NFL Seattle Seahawks and when A&M sued them for the use of the 12th Man moniker.  Wood saw this and fell in love.  It’s great, too, because the punter will probably be the MVP on that team this year.
  • The USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll for the preseason came out today and Florida eats the top spot.  Big 12 wise we have Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Nebraska at 2,3, 11, and 22 respectively.  That’s great and all, but the better poll/list for the week was put out by Fox Sports in their Top 10 most annoying fans list.  Oklahoma’s number 4 on that one.  It’s a good list even though it trends to teams that have been traditional powerhouses, sans Clemson.
  • Speaking of Clemson, they are docked two practices for a non conforming uniform modification under NCAA rules.  The crime?  Wearing girdles at  practice.  Let’s hope they don’t catch them wearing leggings or panties.  Yikes!
  • Dezmon Briscoe from Kansas is no longer stupid.  Er, no longer too stupid not to play football that is.  He completed summer courses and can play this fall for the Jayhawks.  He’s sorely needed, too, as he is expected to be a top receiver in the conference this year.
  • Bobby Bowden wants another national title before he retires from Florida State in a couple of years.  Bobby, it’s not gonna happen but we wish you the best of luck.  If only your conference was stronger.
  • There’s a great article about Kansas State quarterback Carson Coffman.  Carson comes from a long lineage of NFL tight ends, with his dad Paul and now his older brother Chase.  So this version of Coffman will try his hand a quarterback this year, but don’t be too excited because he has alot of transferred competition coming his way.
  • Utah spend the offseason crying to everyone that would listen about how they were screwed out a title game and now they a shutting off communication for ‘instantaneous reports’ from any staff and media.  BYU is doing it too.  So, are they breeding whiners or hypocrites up there?
  • Everybody is high on Notre Dame this year, but Charlie Weiss is more interested in walk than talk.   That’s kinda paradoxical when you think about it.  Then again, he was running his mouth from day one so let’s see if a quieter Weiss will help the Fighting Irish live up their hype.   Maybe he’s learning all about walking from his new-found buddy, St. Louis Cardinals’ player Albert Pujols.
  • Ron Prince and his lawyers are asking for an additional $3 million on top of the $3 million he’s already owed by Kansas State after they canned him last year.  The reason?  They state that the school knew of the buyout terms and even went as far as saying that the school wanted Prince to keep terms of the contract confidential.  With that much money on the table originally, it would seem very weird that top brass overlooked that.  Plus it’s punitive.  The way K-State is trying to weasel out of the deal forced Prince’s hand.   This is very ugly indeed.  A contract is a contract no matter how insane it is.  The quicker this goes away the better it will be for the school.  With this lawsuit, the chances are it will stick around for a long, long time.
Big 12, College, Football, Mascots, News

Crib Sheet: The Flood Gates Have Opened

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flood_gates_football

Media days are over and the flood gates have opened up for college football news.  Practices start this week and the preview magazines are all over the place.  We are so close and the Crib Sheet has made it so far.  We’re not sure yet if we’ll continue this in the regular season or not, but for the next couple of weeks prepare to get bombarded with news from all sides.  Bring a snorkle, here is this week’s Crib Sheet:

  • Wrapping up Big 12 Media we have K-State and Bill Snyder still angry about the audits after Jon Wefald left.  Bill, it happens after every school president leaves.  Relax.  The sad thing is people are talking about that and not his return at the media days.  Maybe he is spending too much time keeping up with technology.
  • Colorado coach Dan Hawkins backtracked from the 10 win guarantee and stated that it was a challenge to his team to win 10 games.  There is no way he is going to achieve that goal.  The way the North is looking in the Big 12 and the toughness blowing up from South, it would be hard pressed for this Buffalo team to compete.
  • Sergio Kindle from Texas made a surprise appearance at the media days.  Awhile ago he crashed a car into an apartment complex apparently while texting.  We think he was drunk.  He got away and Mack Brown will make sure he leaves the phone at home from now on.
  • Big 10 media days happened as well.  The big surprise is they might adjust the schedule to pad some games at the end of the season.  They need that to actually compete in the big bowls that happen around the start of the year.  The not so big surprise is that Joe Pa is not going to retire soon.
  • Steven Sipple seems to be the only one crying about the new Cowboys Stadium in Texas.  He makes a good point but the massive complex might help draw more money for the league.  Yes, it would continue the South slant perception in the Big 12, but that’s  a perception and not a reality.
  • Hawaii coach Greg McMakin apologized about a remark he made at the WAC media days when the Rainbow Warriors played The Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Hawaii Bowl.  He essentially said the Fighting Irish danced like they were little things that the British call cigarettes.  Yeah, he probably shouldn’t have said it in a press conference.  But it’s a little ridiculous that he is now suspended for 30 days with no pay.
  • Looks like Jake Trotter polled 29 of the 38 football players at the Big 12 media days and found that Ralphie is the most favorite mascot, followed by this week’s Mascot Monday entrant Bevo.  We here at the KCCGD think that maybe the football players polled should take a better look at some of the local talent (Willie the Wildcat, Truman, Big Jay, and Baby Jay) before they plunk down their choice.
  • When Lee Corso suffered a stroke in May, everyone thought his career would be over.  Well, not so fast my friends.  The former coach and now goofy commentator is hitting the weights hard to get ready for his return to College GameDay on ESPN.  Good luck, Lee.
  • Looks like Oklahoma will be playing Army for a 2 game series in 2018.  No, they won’t be playing at Yankee Stadium, it will be at each team’s home field.  We’re gonna go out on a limb and say that Army will be competitive by then, either from the Black Knights rising or the Sooners dropping.  Hopefully they’ll keep those cool camo uniforms for the game.
Big 10, Big 12, College, Football, News, SEC

Crib Sheet: Step Up to the Mic

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microphones

This week finds us smack dab in the middle of Big 12 Media days.  This is the week of the year where all of the schools congregate and spit words into a hungry set of microphones in preparation of a new college football season.  Next week camp starts and before you know it, it’s football time!  But to sum up this week so far, Kansas was media voted #2 in the north and they have a chip on their shoulder,  Missouri is regrouping, Nebraska doesn’t feel like number 1, the South teams are the bomb, and nobody is really interested in the new head coach for Iowa State (Paul Rhodes).   We’ll talk a little about the teams left next week.  For now,  hold on tight because we just exited the gate and are starting to build steam to a new season.  Here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:

  • Pittsburgh State football player Joe Windscheffel is out for the season with an arm injury due to a Zebra charge.  He needed to paint a fence and had to move some zebras.  The male zebra charged and he’s out for the season.  Be careful childrens, animals are wild.
  • If you are tired of SEC talk, then cover your eyes for this one.   The SEC is striking deals with regional television stations to broadcast games, most notably in regions that cater to the Big 12 and the Big 10.   The hype machine is in full swing and they have the national titles to back them up.  I guess we’re gonna see more and more of the SEC until some other conference pins them down.
  • So last week, we talked about Army playing Yankee Stadium in 2010.   Welp a couple of days after news of that came out, they announced that they will be playing there for the next 4 out of 5 years.  Great stuff.   They used to play there every year and now they are bringing back the tradition.  Let’s hope they keep the new tradition of camouflage gear.
  • Our favorite analyst Kirk Herbstreit is suing the IRS for taxing Herbsreit on a burnt down house.  So Kirky wanted to build a new house on his current and caught wind of the local fire department needing some training.  He ‘donated’ the house to the fire department and they promptly torched it.  Now he thinks he should get the tax credit for the donation but the IRS is saying no way.   What a dumbass.  Quoting Kritter, “He should fire his accountant.”
  • Looks like some team from the Mountain West Conference manned up and is scheduling some big time schools.  Boise State will play Virginia Tech next year.  Welp if the Broncos go undefeated next and beat Va-Tech, then they should have a shot at the title game.
  • Lou Holtz and his Notre Dame alumni beat up on Japan this year in the Notre Dame Japan Bowl.  It’s nice to see some aged alumni hit the field and play again for the Irish.   We wonder if the folks over in the land of the rising sun though Lou was drunk the whole time he was there.  Don’t worry guys, he sounds that way all of the time.
  • The Rose Bowl tweaked some rules with the current BCS contract to allow non BCS schools to play in to the bowl.   If one of the automatic qualifiers for the Rose Bowl goes to the national title game, then the slot is open to anybody.  That’s a break from how things were done in the past.  It used to be only Big 10 and Pac 10 teams.   This is a good first step and this should help to even things out just a little bit more.
  • Meanwhile, Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe spent most of his time this week drumming up support for more TV exposure for the conference.  Part of which includes tossing around the idea of making the new Cowboys Stadium the permanent home for the Big 12 title game.  Beebe needs to hurry up because the other big television friendly conferences are pushing out further and further.
College, Football, News, Texas Tech

Crib Sheet: Better Late Than Never

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late

It seems recovery from the float trip took longer than expected.  Well, that and KCCGD headquarters purchased a new laptop that’s in the middle of indoctrination.  The radio shows are starting to talk more college ball and the preview magazines are popping up on the stands.  We have about a month and a half to go for the big show and the new laptop will help us in getting ready for the relaunch.   In the meantime, here’s this week’s belated Crib Sheet:

  • Looks like people are making bank from student athlete autographs on eBay.   The NCAA is trying to lock it down but we don’t see the issue.  They are already building a fortune off of these kids, why not let some other small entrepreneur make a couple of bucks from an autograph?
  • As expected, the cheap ticket deal for K-State and Bill Snyder’s return blew up all over.  John Currie commissioned more tickets and it looks like they were snatched up fast too.  I’ve been to games there and a $9 ticket versus a $50 tickets makes a world of difference.  Currie should really do more tickets because the game wouldn’t sell out otherwise.
  • Erin Andrews will now skirt the sidelines in video game form for EA’s NCAA College Football 2010.  Apparently she spend days recording insightful comments to be dropped during the game.  That’s great.  We wonder if they did her up a 3D modeling suit for better precision on microphone holding.  Oh to be that suit…….or in the hotel room.
  • Graham Harrell is heading to Canada.  After not getting a sniff from the NFL, he will be smelling the brisk Canadian air for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.  Many say he’s a product of the Texas Tech system but we’d like to think his career path is going down the same road that Warren Moon went.
  • Get your tickets fast, folks, Notre Dame will play Army at Yankee Stadium.  This has been rumored before and now they will play in 2010.  Around the Kansas City area, Arrowheads plays host to some college games as well as the Big 12 Championship every once in awhile.  Hopefully this will lead to more and more big time games being played in a large enough stadium.
  • University of South Florid kicker Maikon Bonani fell 35ft off a Busch Gardens ride.  An employee was injured too while holding on to the door that he thought was unlocked.  Apparently the ride took off and Bonani and the employee fell.  Yeah, the Purple Yeti will not go on roller coaster rides.
  • Ron Simmons, former WWE and WCW wrestler, is now in the college football hall of fame.  He used to play for Florida State and ended up being an All American.  We here at the KCCGD congratulate Ron and wish him a big ole DAMN.
BCS, College, Football, News

Crib Sheet: And We’ll All Float On

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a swing

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.
BCS, College, Missouri, News, Texas

Crib Sheet: Go Forth on the 4th

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fireworks accident

It’s Independence Day weekend coming up and we’re getting ready to rock out and blow up some cans with Black Cats.  So in preparation of the the fireworks menagerie,  we’re gonna give you more bang for your buck on this week’s Crib Sheet.  Before everyone goes out to stick explosives into other containers and shoot bottle rockets off, please remember to be careful, especially your hands.  They need to be healthy to handle the frosty beverages over the weekend and later on in the fall for college football.  Now here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:

  • Mark your calendars, the Michigan vs. Notre Dame game September 12 at 3:30 pm ET.   Both programs are looking to rebound and we should be witnessing a treat as two boisterous head coaches fight for their jobs.
  • To no surprise, the BCS rejected the Mountain West’s proposal of an eight team playoff.  Hopefully this will end the playoff talk for awhile.  We all know this is not going away forever.
  • Texas student assistant coach Matt Nader got a big ole gun pulled on him at the golf course last week.  Apparently he was arguing with a Texan and he later showed up with a gun ready to go.   Seeing as this all took place in Texas, I’m not too surprised.  Crazy thing was the gun toting Texan was 73, talk about a cranky golfer.
  • After another death and settlement from complications due to sickle cell traits at Rice University, the NCAA will start recommending that test for sickle cell issues be conducted at universities.  After this and the death of former Missouri Tiger Aaron O’Neil, it would make more sense to require the testing of  players for these issues.  The NCAA and schools make bank off of these kids, let’s make sure they get taken care of while they promote the schools on the field.
  • Look out Missouri Tigers, the kid of a maybe future NFL Hall of Famer is coming your way in Derrion Thomas.  He wasn’t high up on anyone’s radar due to only one year of playing high school ball, but he does look and play like his dead dad.  Let’s hope this walk on will do well over in Columbia.  My advice to Derrion:  remember to wear a seat belt.
  • USA Today has a profile of Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing.  It looks like it’s another one of those, short Big 12 quarterback come from behind stories.   The difference this time is Kansas might actually have what it takes to win the big game.  They did it on the Orange Bowl, maybe it’s their year this year.  Sorry Chase Daniels, have fun trying to play for the Redskins.
Big 12, Big East, College, Football, Kansas State, Nebraska, News

The Crib Sheet: Making Sense of Commencements

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Not much happening this week in the ways of college football.  The kids are graduating and commencement speeches are happening all over.   That just means we are a few more months away from some serious college football.  Speaking of the football side of college, some players have left and more of the bigger named ones are coming back.  What does that mean?  A potential repeat of last year’s championship game.   Or Texas might slip in and take on Florida again.  Who knows?  We’ll have our predictions coming up later.  For now, congrats to the graduates as you take a new step into the real world and out of the 4 year party that is college.  The hangover will be real short, trust me.  Here’s this week’s news:

  • Greg Paulus made up his mind and he’s heading to Syracuse to be an Orangemen.  The rumor, along with other rumors and visits,  started when the hype around this guy did.  I’m sure he’ll be happy for a year out in the Big East.  And no, Syracuse doesn’t matter anymore.  He might show some flashes but he’s really just Syracuse’s main recruiting tool now.
  • The guff Big 12 officiating has gotten in the last couple of years may have an old solution, thanks to Nebraska athletic director Tom Osburne.  He wants to introduce and old Big 8 rule to bench officials that are performing poorly.  If the stripes know they could get benched and docked a week’s worth of pay that may help them pay just a little more attention to the action on the field.
  • John Currie is your new Kansas State athletic director.  Straight out of Tennessee, Currie brings some youth and vigor to the position that was briefly held by an internal, pencil pushing, bumbling amateur in Bob Krause.  Hopefully Currie will make his mark when he helps choose Bill Snyder’s successor in a couple of years.
  • The old ball coach in Steve Spurrier is jabbing a spur in the saddle of both his former employer’s coach Urban Meyer and current Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weiss.  Surrier went on radio and seeded the rumor that if Meyer has another big year, he may take over as the head coach in domerland.  We already laid down the ultimatum on Weiss and this little double jab only deepens the severity of Weiss’s challange this year, lest he be heckled by President Obama or they erase his history.  Now whether Meyer will actually do it is another thing because he turned down the offer before.  But if Tim Tebow reigns in another title there may be nowhere else to go for glory.
BCS, Big 10, Big 12, College, Football, News

The Crib Sheet: Oral Fixation

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pig_mask__code-1

For some reason this week people are scared of the swine er h2n1 flu.  It’s a flu, usually if you are really young or super old it will hurt you bad.  The oncoming pandemic only points out that yes, the United States is a clean nation.  Thanks to all of the pump bottles of disinfectant gels pushing out the very lifeblood of our safety, we can be fully prepared for a Real American Flu.  Not some cheap Mexican knock off.  So I say, lick and finger everything is sight!  It’s okay!  And while you’re at it, suck on this week’s Crib Sheet:

BCS, Big 10, Big 12, College, Football, Nebraska, News, Oklahoma, SEC, Texas Tech

The Crib Sheet: The Boys Of Summer Will Soon Be Gone

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baseketball

In case you didn’t notice, the professional baseball season is under way.  Isn’t that great!  Just like what Beano Cook says, it just means that the football season is getting closer!  We here at the KCCGD do not cover college baseball but we’re sure it’s really exciting.  If the major leagues didn’t draft all of the real talent first, we’re sure it would be better.  This is the same problem basketball suffers from.  Which we don’t cover too (yet).  At some point, once the staff gets filled out, we’ll cover the more important college sports for the Kansas City area.  Until then, here’s this week’s college football news:

  • The vaunted, Charlie Weiss led, Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Head Coach, er, Charlie Weiss confirmed that we was thinking about leaving the program.  He asked his family about after weighing options and a major lumping from USC to close out last season.   Last year, they were 7-6.  If they can bump that up a win or two and win the bowl, he should be safe.  If he dips, he’s a goner.
  • Michigan was offering Greg Paulus a chance to vie for quarterback this year.  Paulus, who didn’t even toss a ball around when he was visiting the campus, now has the option to join the graduate program and the football team.  This is turning into a crazy situation.  Is Rich Rodriguez desperate?  Or does he see a golden opportunity.  This story wasn’t done, however.  Paulus skipped the Wolverines and now is visiting both Nebraska and Syracuse.  Good luck to whoever wastes their time on the guy.
  • The Big 12 comes in at number 3 in terms of attendance broken out by conference last year.  It’s a 3% jump whereas number 1 SEC grew by about 2% and number 2 Big 10 dropped by about 1%.  It looks like that trend may continue next year, which will keep this writer happy and bring hope to eventually passing the Big 10 in attendance.
  • Oklahoma can’t surf the internet as much, due to NCAA voliations and a new policy from the administration.  If you are an Oklahoma Sooner, athlete or alumni, this site is safe to use.  Tell your friends and family.  We are So0ner friendly.  Kinda.
  • Colby Whitlock from Texas Tech gives major props to wrestling, as Tim Griffin writes.  As a former high school football player/wrestler I can attest to how much more an athlete can gain by participating a wrestling.  Balance, speed, and endurance will raise up, which is important for the the fat middle guys like myself.  The actual wrestling part I didn’t like, but the condition part was great.
  • The Mountain West Commissioner did a song and dance to argue for the proposed playoff structure for the BCS.  It seems Utah won’t let this go.  Hopefully a nice little press release will send this one away.  Methinks it won’t go, but one can hope.
Big 12, College, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, News, Texas Tech

The Crib Sheet: Easter Football Egg Hunt

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easter_football

We were starting to get worried here at the Crib Sheet that this week’s news would be weak.  Wednesday rolled around and we were totally saved.  Perhaps Easter had something to do with the slow news over the weekend.  This week we sift through some practices and look at some red tape a danglin’ around.  Here we go:

  • Bo Pelini is spitting out chewing gum again in Lincoln.  He’s fired up after a bad practice and is telling everyone on the block about it.  It seems to work fine up there as Nebraska is turning the corner and it’s nice to see some passion from a coach when you’re living with the Pinkel/Mangino/Snyder non speak on a daily basis.
  • Mike Leach is a definite oddball and his practice tactics are proving it.  Making players study on the field in the snow and some high balancing is unique enough.  Still I’m not sure if it will work this year after losing Michael Crabtree.
  • Glen Winston is going to jail for 6 months for kicking the tar out of fellow Michigan State athlete A. J. Sturges.  I thought hockey players were supposed to be tough?  I guess not.  Then again, he was up against Winston and Michael White from the football team.  Two football players > one hockey player.
  • Texas is trying to lure the College Football Hall of Fame away from South Bend, Indiana.  Both Dallas and Arlington have put together proposals to build a hall as well as convention center in support of the move.  Traditionally Notre Dame is king for football but recent years have shown the Fighting Irish’s prominence waning.  Now is a good time to snatch the hall, especially in a state where people eat, sleep, and crap football.
  • Other universities are interested in Kansas Atheltic Director Lou Perkins and the Jayhawks are willing to pay up to keep him.   That makes sense.  The guy produced a national champion basketball team and built and honest to goodness football team down there in Lawrence.  So another $750,000 goes to Lou.  I’m sure it will eat into Mark Mangino’s Ho Ho fund.
  • Bill Snyder still has no clue who’s gonna quarterback the Kansas State Wildcats.  It’s a tough job to replace the overrated Josh Freeman.  Chances are we’ll see all three start next season and the one who does a better job with the option will get the nod.
  • Legal documents stuffed in the AP’s pocket show that the Missouri Tigers officials and staff failed to follow proper steps to keep Aaron O’Neil from collapsing and eventually dieing back in 2005.  The director of sports medicine for the athletic department apparently even rejected suggestions from concerned players to check up on O’Neil.  Yet another example of the Tigers dropping the ball, off the field even.
  • Former Duke basketballer Greg Paulus, after trying out for the Green Bay Packers, sat down with Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez to explore the possibility of using his one year of eligibility to play college football.  So the Rich must be feeling the heat already because even the Duke football doesn’t want him.  Both Paulus and Rodriguez are starting to look a little silly here.