Category Archives: College

The Crib Sheet: Signing Day/Week Aftermath

Ouija board

It was a big week of news and the Crib Sheet is back this week to tell you what mattered.  It was Signing Day last week and the ouija board nearly broke from producing signatures sprinkled out across the whole nation.  There were some surprises, but most of what was expected came to be true.  We mixed in some political goobery and a little bit o’ smack talk to keep things fresh.  My guess is the next couple of weeks are going to be dry news wise, so let this be the spike before the long lull.  Here’s the crib:

  • Newly appointed Jesus of Tennessee Lane Kiffin is crying wolf over Urban Meyer trying to hit up one of his recruits.  Lane still got the guy, but maybe the rub off from Al Davis’ fragile shoulders are showing up in Volunteer-land.  It’s nice you got the recruit, Lane, but talking smack on Urban will produce some nasty results.  Just talk to Georgia.  Oh and he apologized.
  • Kansas State expectantly showed weakly recruitng wise.  Ron Prince poisoned the recruiting and Bill Snyder is going to have an uphill battle for the Wildcats.  It’s going to be a big time reboot in Manhattan
  • Kansas on the other hand, nabbed a couple of quarterbacks and some other high profile recruits to lead into their highest rated recruiting class ever.  Will it show up on the field?  Mangino’s shown that he can recruit well and make some talent pay off so look out of the Hawks in the next couple of years.
  • Missouri too, had a pretty good recruiting class.  They promised some tight end play to Sheldon Richardson but realy this kid is defensive tackle all the way.  At any rate, look for them to compete for the North and then choke at some point.
  • Nebraska signed about 21 kids to fill out the black shirts.  Look out for these guys.  With the walk on program back on and some key pick ups, Nebraska will be well on their way to almost going back to the Big 12 Championship game.
  • Conference wise, Texas and Oklahoma went 1 and 2, again.  Hey they do that every year so get used to it.  Colorado had a top 4 conference recruiting ranking last year and look at how they finished.  Sleep tight, Texas A&M.
  • Bryce Brown is hanging out and making everybody speculate the hell out of him.  Everybody else is down and signed but this guy just likes making everyone wait.  Also, the big rumor is he might turn pro in some other league.  Really, Bryce is a huge tease.
  • James Franklin, the Maryland offensive coordinator, was named last Thursday as the successor to Ralph Friedgen.  Overlooking the fact that Maryland has done crap the last couple of years, this pick makes sense.  If the school is satisfied with mediocrity then they should continue in it.
  • Mike Leech is culling his old lawyer skills and is still banging out a contract with Texas Tech.  So the Red Raiders are apparently pulling a Boston College and telling Leech he can’t talk or interview with other teams during his contract.  If they break off now, look for him to be somewhere else after this year.  Come Texas Tech, fumble this one away!
  • Okay, this is getting redonkulous.  Now all of Utah’s lawmakers are sending a resolution to PrezBama to blow away the BCS and give in to the power of playoffs.  Now with football players on hand!  Please somebody tell the whole state of Utah to get over it and focus on getting the Mountain West the automatic bid.  Going the political route won’t work.
  • Missouri pulled in LSU tight ends coach Josh Henson.  It looks as thought some SEC cred might be seeping into the Big 12.  Recruiting wise, this will help out the Tigers immensly.  Tim Griffin’s already saying they’re going after Bryce Brown too.
  • Dana Dimel is coming back to K-State.  So he did a great job for Mike Stoops and reviving some offense and it looks like he’ll be doing the same at K-State.  Let’s hope that it will be more than Ron Prince’s “Throw-everything-up-and-see-what-sticks” offense.
  • In sign of bi-partisanship, Rep. Joe Barton (R) from Texas is siding with PrezBama in setting up a college football playoff.  Does he really need the votes?  Plus, this guy’s an Aggie.  Shouldn’t he be working more toward making Texas A&M a real football team instead of playing up to the playoff people?

The Crib Sheet: No Letter of Intent Needed

Signing Day Starts Young

It’s signing day and the Crib Sheet is trucking along.  Apparently this is like the NFL draft for colleges.  What I’m thankful for is Mel Kiper is busy preening his hair to care about the high school kids.  This is the first time we’re covering signing day and there is an interesting culture surrounding the event.  One thing I noticed was how the scouting reporter guys on the sports radio all sound like they lived in the trailer next ot Randy the Ram from the movie The Wresltler.  Here’s the sheet:

  • Bobby Bowden’s got another year in him.  Florida State made it to a bowl this year and things are looking up.  His contract expired and they brought him on for another year.   But seriously, I think it’s some kind of sick bet between Bobby and Joe Pa to see who will kick the bucket on the field first.  Tune in next year I suppose.
  • Jim Halley reminds us signing day is more like signing year.  The interesting thing to note is that the number one recruit for running backs, Bryce Brown, committed to Miami o’ Florida, but he’s still shopping around colleges.  Yup he’s from Wichita, so K-State still has a chance.  I’m not holding my breath.
  • Another violation by Sarkisian and Washington.  They’re saying that this time it’s minor but the demerits are already piling up.  Yeah the Huskies were winless last year, but are they going to be handcuffed from winning a game next year?
  • Walk ons are back for the Nebraska Cornhuskers agian.  It’s good to see they are bringing back that tradition.  It’s no Rudy, but hey, the whole state is Big Red so you might as well bring some kid on that has the passion.
  • In the “College Football is All Business” department, a Tennessee alum is suing the school because they want to jack up the price of seats he got in a lifetime contract.  Apparently, his dad raised enough funage to land the rights and the University wants to move him and charge him more cash to stay.  It’s a good thing he’s lawyer so he can use the fees he would’ve paid for representation to go into the seats when he loses the case.
  • Now that Bowden’s back, the players are celebrating in the tradition of Florida State football players and getting arrested.  Preston Parker fell asleep at the wheel in a McDonald’s drive thru around 5am on January 24th.  He blew under the limit, but admitted being drunk and stoned to the cops.  He didn’t hurt anybody so this is hilarious.
  • The Sporting News counted down the top recruits for 2009.  Bryce Brown is number one and no one else close to the KC area is in the Top 25.  We should be seeing many of the top guys sign today but rumor has it Bryce is holding out a little bit longer.
  • Ohio State lineman Alex Boone pulls a ‘Don’t Tase Me Bro!’ after yielding a tow truck cable tyring to break stuff.  Yup he was D-Runk.  I’m not sure if this guy’s stock will fall in the draft this year.  Maybe the Dallas Cowboyws will pick him up.
  • A clinical study shows that football players out of high school are getting bigger, the Homer Simpson way.  Instead of doing the GNC Multi Grain Protein Gut Buster, they’re pigging up on fatty food.  Unless they’re doing the Atkins, the study says they are on the way to big time shock.  Good thing college programs straighten out.  Still, the graph’s pretty cool about how big theses guys are getting
  • Condi Rice says no to the Pac 10 and keeps making the cheddah on the speaker circuit.  That makes sense, get money for fluff instead of defending the ridiculous position on the Rose Bowl year in and year out.  Please let’s keep politics out of college football.  I’m looking at you President Obama.

Mascot Monday: It’s a Razorback Menagerie!

Big Red and Sue E.

This week’s edition brings to the SEC and the Arkansas Razorbacks. Many traditions kick up one single, shining emblem that endures and represents the spirit and soul of a university’s athletic prowress. In the case of the University of Arkansas, they kick up like the Rockettes or Michael Flatley’s Riverdance. Today we’re gonna ask, just how many mascots is too many?

Continue reading Mascot Monday: It’s a Razorback Menagerie!

The Crib Sheet: Cannonball Comin’

Jeremy Wolfert's Winning Dive

It’s the Crib Sheet today and this week we focus a little more on K-State.  What can I say?  Most of the news from the week exposed the Wildcats as a middle tier type college trying to be big time.  Speaking of making it to the big time, there’s rumblings again for some shake up,  BCS style.   This argument will die down again when March Madness hits and probably won’t pick up again until August.  So consider this the last hurrah for the BCS/playoff argument for awhile.  In the meantime, the Crib Sheet’s got your paper for the week:

  • Apparently there was a big rift at K-State between Jon Wefald and Tim Weiser.  I kinda wondered why they gave Ron Prince an extension last year.   As well as know, reality hit and they realized he sucked so they bought out his contract.  Wildcats out over $3 million.  Good job Ron.  Hopefully the administration in the Little Apple will quit trying to be big time and let the athletic department do its thing.
  • Because of the nasty little tidbit, we get a resignation from Bob Krause, the current AD.  I knew this guy was out of his league when listening to the press conference on Ron Prince’s firing.  This guy had greenhorn written all over him.  He really botched the firing and hiring of K-State’s head football coach.  If this guy had a tighter lid 0n things, we may be seeing Gary Patterson instead of Bill Snyder 2.0.
  • Florida is not a unanimous champion, well at least in Congress.  Congress passed a resolution recognizing the Florida Gators as national champions in college football, but some members voted “No” and some members voted “Present”, including all of the Senators from Utah.   It’s nice to see that in this economic climate, the nation’s leaders are sticking their nose in college football.  You know, they did that for Major League Baseball and look how that turned out.  Yes We Can!  Well….Maybe that is.
  • Now ex-kicker for Mizzou Jeremy Wolfert will rejoin the dive team to help out his swimming buddies.  It seems after finishing his illustrious career as a kicker (and missing some important tries) J-Dog will go back to the team to help win the Big 12 in swimming.  Hey, didja see the missed kick he had against KU?  He doesn’t win.  Make sure he doesn’t miss the pool wide right.
  • So you figure a Big 12 Congressman would be all for the BCS, but some guy in Texas wants a law for a playoff.  Excuse me?  Aren’t we in one of the worst economic times evar?  So why are politicians introducing bills for college sports when they need to save their butt on real domestic issues?  Clearly it’s a play for votes, but this kinda stuff that bubbles up actually influences the opposite position for me.
  • The Mountain West Conference is ready for the big time!  With Utah going undefeated twice and winning their BCS games twice, they have legitimate beef.  I’d say give them the auto-bid to replace an open bid.  Either that or demote a weaker conference down.  ESPN thinks it should be the Big East.  Let’s face it, the contract is all about the current big conferences so any changes that affect the big guys probably won’t come until it’s time to renew the contract in a couple of years.
  • Hi my name is Josh Freeman, I’m overhyped and I like Lil Wayne and Garth Brooks.  Let’s do a couple of more – How many years in the NFL will I play: 3 (riding the bench for 2), My favorite target on the field:  The opposing player, if I’m under pressure,   Who I want to be most like in the NFL: Jamarcus Russell or Vince Young, The best thing I learned in college:  Could you repeat the question?

The Crib Sheet: One Spicey Meatball

Crib Sheet

We kicked off the off season with our first Mascot Monday here at the KCCGD and now we’re continuing the trend with our first edition of the Crib Sheet. Yup, it’s a weekly news round up of college football with our own little Jamaican Jerk style spice tossed on top.  Much like how a good number of student-atheletes need a crib sheet to get by the student part, well lay out what you need to know for college football news wise.  Chances are you’ll get better news elsewhere, but you won’t walk away from it with a minty fresh feeling like you would hitting up the Sheet. So buckle up because here we go:

Welp that’s it for round one of the Crib Sheet.  Well be back every Wednesday to spit up nuggets of news we chowed down on from previous week.  Until then, eat your vitamins and say your prayers, brotha.  Yup, the Yeti’s filling his time by watching a lil wrasslin’ Sunday by way of the Royal Rumble.  Hey, you gotta pass the time in the off season somewho.  As Ric Flair would say, “WHOOOOOOOO!”

Gators Chomp on Sooners and The PurpleYeti Chomps on Bar Food

Congratulations go out to the Florida Gators as your BCS Champion! I’m a little bummed out because this Yeti was going for Oklahoma Sooners. It could have been worse. The game could have been a complete blowout. At least the Sooners kept the game close until the last couple minutes of the game. Also, congratulations go out to Wharfrats for picking smartly and going against the Sooners for the Bowl Pick ‘Em title. It was a let down Thursday night, but JJ’s Other Place kept me warm.

Continue reading Gators Chomp on Sooners and The PurpleYeti Chomps on Bar Food

BCS Title Game Makes Me Race To JJ’s Other Place

BCS Title Logo

To quote Keith Jackson, “WHOA NELLY!”  What a game Monday night!  Apparently a month of planning from Coach Tressel can help the Ohio State Buckeyes make a game against the Texas Longhorns.  The McCoy/Crosby connection toward the end of the game reminded me of the Harrell/Crabtree connection made from Texas Tech earlier this year.  The Longhorns eeked out of the Fiesta Bowl with a win and the Ohio State Buckeyes go home a BCS bust (again).

Continue reading BCS Title Game Makes Me Race To JJ’s Other Place

Bowl Pick It Standings: Two Minute Warning and the Marching Band is on the Field

We’re running into the last stretch of big games and we are getting ready for the final 3 games of the college football season.  The last week brought us some upsets, some blowouts, some intrigue, and some fatter bellies and stinkier rooms.  Bowl season so far has proved to be, well, anticlimactic but we’re geared up for Florida vs Oklahoma.  The other two games landed on nonplussed for our feelings.

The vaunted, Charlie Weiss led, Notre Dame fighting Irish played hard for their coached and blew the heat off of him by blowing out Hawaii in the, you guessed it, the Hawaii Bowl.  The Pac-10 quieted all detractors by going undefeated in their bowls year, topping it off with a USC blowout of the somewhat Paterno led Penn State Nittany Lions.  Speaking of the Big 10, they are 1-5 in bowls this year with one game left to go.  The Purple Yeti loved the finish to the Kentucky and East Carolina game when Kentucky’s defensive lineman Ventrell Jenkins stiffed armed East Carolina’s Partrick Pinkey after picking him off and tumbled into the endzone for the winning score 25-19.

But that’s not all that happened.  The Big 12 so far has a decent showing going with Missouri kicking it off and barely chugging by Northwestern.  The Tigers should’ve lost the game but the found a way to come out on top.  I was in the gym when Oklahoma State was up 17-7 over Oregon at half and dang near dropped my jaw to the floow when I saw the final score later, Oregon 42, Oklahoma State 31.  KU handled Minnesota rather easily, which worked out well for the evening as Wii Sports were to be had.  The best game of New Year’s Day happened to be the Gator Bowl where Nebraska came from behind to beat the Clemson Tigers.  Too bad Texas Tech couldn’t make a case for being in the title chase when Ole Miss handed them an Ole Whuppin 47-34 in the Cotton Bowl.

Continue reading Bowl Pick It Standings: Two Minute Warning and the Marching Band is on the Field

Bowl Pick It Standings: Post Holiday Belly Burst

With the Christmas portion of the holidays over, it’s now time to gear up for the Bowls.  It’s a weird time of year.  The bowls have started but it still feels pretty empty from the downtime between the end of the regular season and now.  There’s been 11 games already but it feels like no one’s really played.  That will change tomorrow night, however, but more on that in a second.  First, here is the Bowl Pick ‘Em update:

Rank Pick Set Points Correct Picks
1 i choo choo choose you 108 6 of 11
2 Crazy Train 102 5 of 11
3 Bowies In Space 95 6 of 11
4 Hokey 92 8 of 11
5 Sasquatch Willy 91 5 of 11
6 Wharf Rats 83 5 of 11
7 B-Nutz 78 4 of 11
7 M I Z – Z O U 78 7 of 11
9 I Win! 46 4 of 11
10 I Heart Bill Snyder’s Perineum 37 2 of 11
10 Pat’s PIcks 37 5 of 11
12 Snyder for President 31 3 of 11
13 Goobersinmynose 28 4 of 11
14 keltron3000 17 4 of 11
15 Sometding else to kill time 15 3 of 11
16 Hit it and Quit it 0 0 of 11

The confidence points skews the actual picks as Hokey (the Yeti’s other alter ego) and MIZ-ZOU are 1 and 2 with the total number of correct picks.  Since the confidence ranking kicking in, i choo choo choose you is number one with a Simpsons bullet.  We’re getting into the meat of the Bowl schedule this week so look for some major movement coming from the top and bottom of the standings.

The Yeti is still recovering from the month long pig out fest from the holidays, but will unloosen the belt and mosey on down to JJ’s Other Place to watch Missouri take on Northwestern.  It’s a curtain call for Chase Daniels and we’re hoping that the Tigers can kick off the Big 12’s bowl season with a victory.  I’m not too up to date on the Northwestern Wildcats, but they are from the Big 10 so that’s all this Yeti needs to know.  Go Tigers!

Pick It and Stick It: Big Bad Bowl Edition

Picking Machine

Just when you thought it was done, the Pick It and Stick It is back for the bowl season!  We’re gonna do something a little different this year.  For the bowl picks, everyone is invited to participate.  That’s right, you’ll get the chance to compete with the Purple Yeti, Krizzou, Cabbottmtf, and the rest of the KCCGD crew.  We’re using the fantasy sports College Bowl Pick’Em system from Yahoo at http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/bowl?tid=1289.  Here’s how you can sign up:

Be sure to read the rules and figure out how to pick the games.  It’s the kind of pick ’em where you rank the order of confidence as well as who’s gonna win.  The first game is on December 20th so be sure to set your picks by then.  As for the prize?  We’ll come up with something or post below and let us know.  At the very least it will be something comparable to what Cabbottmtf won in the regular season Pick It and Stick It.  Good luck to all and go Big 12 in the bowls!

Pick It Standings Week 15: Final Final BCS and Pick It and Stick Title

Oklahoma is the new number one and the bowl schedule is set.  Some say Texas got bushwhacked in the decision making process, and I’m not sure if the argument is there.  Yes, head to head was a Texas win on a neutral field.  But with the provision in the Big 12 stating that it goes to the BCS rankings, Oklahoma is on top.  You’re gonna see that rule changed shortly after the end of the season.  Maybe even shorter if the Sooners lose and the Longhorns win.  But what about Texas Tech?  They were in it as well.  The argument was base off head to head but the Red Raiders beat the Longhorns.  Where is their say?  I think people forgot.  Which is why the head to head argument is weak when its three teams.  So the BCS rankings take the role but the Big 12 should’ve been consistent and had the rule the other leagues had.  Hopefully the decision proves right for this year and both Texas and Oklahoma win their BCS Bowls.  In the meantime, here’s the Pick It Standings:

Rank Pick Set Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Total
1 Cabbottmtf 17 11 9 13 8 11 10 10 11 7 7 7 7 7 4 139
2 Krizzou 16 12 8 11 9 10 6 10 8 5 9 9 6 0 0 119
3 Purple Yeti 14 10 8 10 4 6 6 7 10 6 9 8 6 6 3 113

So Cabbottmtf had the Virginia Tech Hokies winning over Boston College in the ACC Championship game and that was all he needed to win the week.  Krizzou is still on vacation but narrowly averted a late comeback from the Purple Yeti.  Here’s your final standings for the Pick It and Stick It league.  Congratualaitons to Cabbottmtf as he earned himself a picther of beer the next barspot he makes out.  Pick It’s not over yet, as details about it will come out Friday.  That’s right, Bowl Pick ‘Em.  Get ready as there is a gajillion bowls and Yahoo! will keep track of all of them.  We’ll post standings and so forth and probably lob up another pitcher as the prize.  Good luck!  Speaking of luck here’s the final BCS Standings:

Continue reading Pick It Standings Week 15: Final Final BCS and Pick It and Stick Title

The Fools Stayed at the Granfalloon

The last regular season barspot brought us to the Granfalloon.  The Big 12 Championship game pitted Missouri versus Oklahoma and we wanted to celebrate the pagentry with the lights of the Plaza.  It was a cold evening and traffic was a holiday shopping nightmare, but we braved the conditions and made our way in.  It would take a Christmas miracle for Missouri to win and we felt the mojo would be had at the Granfalloon.
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Pick It and Stick It: Championship Weak

Here we go into the last week of picks and its rather anti-climatic.  Not only for the Pick It and Stick It season, but also for the Championship games.  The Mizzou and Oklahoma game was hyped up big as a rematch at the beginning of the year.  After the Tigers choked off a couple of games and the Sooners backed their way into the title game,  it seems more of a like chore now than it does a big match up.  Maybe KU beating Mizzou last week had something to do with it.  At any rate, the focus will be on the SEC title for the day and I somehow wish that they swapped times to save the better game for the last of the evening.  Though really the last game of the evening is Cinncy at Hawaii and I’m not sure advertisers would like the time slot.  Well at least we have a whole seven picks for this week.  Here they are:

Continue reading Pick It and Stick It: Championship Weak

Barspotting: Making a Grand Fool of Ourselves at the Granfalloon

The Granfalloon

This week, we’re making a quick pit stop the Granfalloon.  The only memories I remember of this place is being a crowded multi room bar.  After further inspection on their website, it seems like they have a pretty good amount of HD flat screens for barspotting.  So why not give it a shot.  The Big 12 Championship is at 7pm so hopefully we squeeze on in there.  This is the last barspot before bowl season, so we hope it’s a good one.

When: Saturday, December 6th 2008
Where: The Granfalloon608 Ward Pkwy Kansas City, MO 64112
Time: 7:00 PM – for the only real game of the weekend
Continue reading Barspotting: Making a Grand Fool of Ourselves at the Granfalloon

Pick It Standings Week 14: Pulling Apart the BCS and Big 12 Entanglement

Following up on the Skybox barspot review, Oklahoma beat up Oklahoma State to make their case for a trip to the Big 12 title game.  Not to jump the gun, but the Sooners made it to number 2 and they are heading to Big 12 Championship game.  So the Standford stalwart in Ivan Maisel has pointed the finger of shame at the Big 12 for the latest BCS/Big 12 confusion.  Basically since it was a 3 way tie at the top of the Big 12 South, the conference rule is to go to the BCS rankings.  The Big 12 is the only conference that doesn’t have a provision where it says that if the teams are within 5 spots of each other, they revert to head-to-head matchups.  In that case, Texas would go to the conference championship.

In keeping with the need for consistency in the BCS, the Big 12 should enable that provision.  Then after that, the Pac 10 and Big 11 should have a conference championship game.  Until that happens, we just have to deal with the setup this year.  That said, I think it’s a good thing for Texas.  Oklahoma has another chance to choke and Missouri has a great opportunity to save their season and go to a BCS bowl with a win.  With all of the noise about Texas getting screwed in the last week, the upset should see Texas penciled in for the BCS title game for the second time in Longhorns history.   Sheesh, the drama almost writes itself.  Now on to the picks:

Rank Pick Set Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Total
1 Cabbottmtf 17 11 9 13 8 11 10 10 11 7 7 7 7 7 0 135
2 Krizzou 16 12 8 11 9 10 6 10 8 5 9 9 6 0 0 119
3 Purple Yeti 14 10 8 10 4 6 6 7 10 6 9 8 6 6 0 110

So Cabbottmtf needs to head down to Ameristar Casino and hit up the slot machines because he’s been showing all 7’s for the fifth straight week now.  I would say that luck came into play for the picks, but it all comes down to him being the better betting man.  Krizzou on the other hand is securely holding 2nd and laughing the whole way at the Purple Yeti because of the weak pick set in the upcoming week.  Okay, so the standings are pretty much locked in and now all we have to do is play out the next week.  If anyone has any ideas about what the Yeti should do bet wise at the title game, drop a comment below.  Here’s the wrap up of the BCS standings:

Continue reading Pick It Standings Week 14: Pulling Apart the BCS and Big 12 Entanglement