So the first official weekend of fall lead to what we called football weather and it turned some things upside down. The Central Florida at Kansas State game was delayed for one hour and a half. Baylor also had to sit through a delay. Now on the field, the Texas loss to UCLA also turned some heads as lighting struck 3 times in a row for the Bruins. Yup, UCLA beat Texas the last 3 times they played each other. Now, there were the typical blow outs but we are about to head into Week 5 and it will get even messier. Let’s check out how the Pick It and Stick it played out first.
Even thought the weekend at hand had more than just college football at play, we managed to make it out to a hot spot of sports for Des Moines, Iowa. Granted it was in the downtown district and amazingly enough we got the same type of people out there that we see in downtown Kansas City. Yeah, lots of Ed Hardy shirts. But even though the efforts of the douche bag army tried to stamp out our fun, we managed to kick it pretty well up there in God’s Country. Recovery mode on.
So I woke up this morning to a cool and crisp chilly Iowa morning. Yeah it’s football weather. I love it when people say that. It usually means it’s getting colder and there’s potential for rain or snow. You never hear that with any other sport. I guess that is part of what makes football so manly. You look forward to playing in terrible weather. Let’s just hope the powers that be don’t screw that up.
Some teams are on their way up and some are falling down. Things usually tend to even out right before conference play starts. Most underrated teams start getting talk and the overrated teams get even more. When conference play hits, you have to throw out the numbers because of rivalry and tradition. That said, this week’s Pick It and Stick It takes a look at the teams from all points including the Big 12. Let’s hope that everyone’s picks doesn’t fall down as well.
So let’s take a look at those falling down. The big one from last week was Iowa. They went to Arizona and lost. Did you know that Iowa has not won a game west of the Central Time Zone since 1986? Crazy stuff. They should still be tough though. They get to take out their aggressions against Ball State.
Virginia Tech is another team that fell down. You don’t see them this week on picks. That’s because they lost their first game against Boise State and another against FCS opponent James Madison. Yeah, the Hokies lost to a President. So Frank Beamer is way down and he may actually he on his way out after this year. He’s had a long long run there in Blacksburg.
The weird falls are the ones for schools that win and still lose ground. Texas is a great example. They win all of their games but do not look that impressive. Because of that they fall to 7. Now, UCLA is coming to Austin and if they look real good they may climb back up. Chances are, though, that any jump back into BCS fray will come from an undefeated conference season. Yes, the Big 12 is tough. Don’t listen to anyone else.
So way back in 2007 we went on a road trip up to Iowa and now we are finally heading back. Des Moines, specifically. Much has happened up there and we’re itching to see what’s changed. We’re gonna do the same thing we did with Wichita and just pick a spot. Same stips’ apply. If you are lucky enough to be in the Des Moines area or want to follow us on up there, check out this page or our twitter feed (@kccgd) and we’ll let you know. Until then, we got some tasty roasted corn like games for the weekend that you need to check out.
The only other thing this week’s Crib Sheet needs is bacon. Grab some and check it out:
Notre Dame’s Dayne Crist played the rest of the first drive of the game against Michigan with blurred vision out of his right eye. It was just enough blurry vision to keep him out of the rest of the first half. It was a great game and we wonder what the score would be like if he was healthy for the whole game.
Much like Wrigley Field of baseball, the Big House will get permanent lights for night games. Will we ever see the docket of Big 10 games go well into the night? Since the Big 10 Network is around you can bet on the conference trying to expand all of its games throughout the day and weekends.
Speaking of stadiums, the Richmond Spiders will actually get to play a home game in their own stadium for the first time in 82 years. It seems the city owned the place they were playing at and it wasn’t even on campus. This should help Richmod realize its full potential and become a powerhouse in football for years to come.
We see some players go from college football to major league baseball but it’s rare when the other way happens. Welp it happened with Nick Doscher. He’s playing at quarterback for Wagner College after a stint as catcher in the farm system for the Kansas City Royals. This guy must be able to manage the game because of his catcher status. If he was a pitcher we would guess he would throw all over the place in a passing attack.
Phil Fulmer put the full frontal audible attack on Lane Kiffin last week. He used to be Tennessee head coach before Kiffin came on. He’s wondering how Kiffin uses his mojo to get the cush coaching jobs. It’s a good thing he used his smack talk on his now current CBS analyst gig. Let the media war begin.
The Chick-fil-A Kickoff will now have two games starting in 2012. We already knew that Tennessee will take on N.C. State but now Auburn will take on Clemson, too. All this does is make me more hungry for Chick-fil-A sandwiches.
Here’s a lesson: When you talk with an ESPN reporter, more than likely you will be on record. Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian learned the hard way when he talked about Reggie Bush and not apologizing for the Heisman/eligibility problem. Serves Sarkisian right. He was an offensive coordinator during this debacle and he should get some negative rub it too.
Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio was so thrilled about his overtime fake field goal for the win against Notre Dame last week that he had a heart attack. He’s okay, but we think he needs to lay off the coffee a bit. Notre Dame’s not looking to good this year anyway.
Houston, we have a problem. (I’ve been waiting so long to say that!) The Cougars quarterback Case Keenum and his backup Cotton Turner are out with season ending injuries. Keenum has a bum knee and Turner has a broken collarbone. Houston lost to UCLA in a blow out and they probably won’t recover from these damages.
Missouri defensive end Aldon Smith is out two weeks with a broken leg. A broken leg? That sounds like more than a two week thing. Is this guy some kind of cyborg or something?
Colorado head coach Dan Hawkins was so pumped about the Buffaloes games against Hawaii that he head butted a player and cut himself. They needed that emotion to come from behind and win but we’re not sure if it will save the Hawk’s Big 12 campaign.
The olny Ohio player to show some emotion and gusto against Ohio State was the mascot. He jumped Brutus Buckeye and now he’s banned from being a mascot again. It also turns out that he planned to do it all along. Now that’s some mascot grudge.
So another week came through and we have the same story as last week. Yup, the picks this week weren’t as good as the picks for the first week of Pick It and Stick It. What does that mean? It means that the 2nd lowest score drop takes effect next week. All the standings are same except for JOOSE, who upped his points to a more respectable 370. So the stage is set. Movement will happen soon. Check out the standings first:
The second version of Farmageedon this year found itself happening last weekend and we were there to witness of the bloody glory. This year we decided to head back to one of the few Iowa based bars in the Kansas City, The Other Place. The first time we were there, we witnessed the rivalry between Iowa and Iowa State. This time, we watched Kansas State take on Iowa State at Arrowhead in Kansas City. Yes, Farmageddon. Not only was a great game, but The Other Place withstood the blast, leaving it a shaky place to patron.
As some of you may know, I do a Mascot Monday post ever week in the offseason. What I do is an introspective into the many mascots that parade the sidelines during the games. Some of them are live animals. Some of them are costumed. And even some of them are real people. There isn’t a massive ranking list like the football teams, but I do tell you if the mascot is worth watching and if the school really cares about its spirit. Welp I saw something yesterday that made me think about the state of mascots.
Here we go rolling into another week of Pick It and Stick It. The games are fresh this week and we are stoked about the upcoming Farmageddon happening right in Kansas City’s backyard. Kansas State is a 3.5 point favorite over Iowa State and we can imagine that Daniel Thomas is the reason for the line. Will we see the same outcome as last year? Hopefully it will be just as exciting. So far, Farmageddon delivers on quality. Here are the picks:
It’s amazing to think how long we have been doing this blog. Three years. That’s dedication, homes. One of the very first places we barspotted was The Other Place. It was a great time and now it’s time again to head back over there. What better place to watch Farmageddon other than Arrowhead than deep into one of the few Iowa/Iowa State bars in the area. Yeah, we could go to Kite’s or Lucky Brewgrille for the Kansas State side of things but The Other Place is so much better and it’s been a long time since we’ve been there. So let’s re-live some good times and meet us out there Saturday to watch Farmegeddon blow us away.
It’s the year of FCS upsets so far. The first week saw North Dakota State upsetting Kansas and Jacksonville State putting one on Ole Miss. Then last weekend, James Madison beat ranked Virginia Tech. It just goes to show you that the competition can be heated on any given Saturday. If a team gets too big for itself, it may overlook another opponent. That’s just enough to tilt the victory meter away from them. We are always humble with our conference powerhouse that is the Crib Sheet, so check it out:
We’re heard of strange injuries before but having a ‘bowel injury’ takes the cakes. That’s what Arkansas Razorback Dennis Johnson had that left him out of Saturday’s game against Georgia. We hope he can plug it up for next week.
What two better teams to play in Jerry Jones’ Cowboys Stadium to kickoff the season than LSU and Oregon. Huh? That’s right, the ‘Cowboys Classic’ will be held by two teams not in the Big 12. Doesn’t make sense at all.
Oh by the way. The lawsuit between former K-State coach Ron Prince and the university will be moving back to the courtroom. It looks as though both sides want an immediate judgement. Not sure if it’s gonna happen. We’ll keep you posted.
All signs are pointing to Colorado joining the Pac 12 in 2012. They wanted to move earlier, but the stars couldn’t align just right. Maybe after the California whupping put on the Buffaloes pushed them back a year.
The plane carrying McNeese State had to make an emergency landing on the way to the Missouri game. Apparently, a tire blew out on take off. That would scare the heck out of me. No wonder those kids didn’t fare to well against the Tigers.
The New York Times points out that the Big 1o makes its money because of the fans. And the fans who would pay a massive premium to see the Big 10 games. So the Times points out what we know already: control the college sports in the conference and you can make some major bank.
It looks like Villanova is looking over an invitation to the Big East. This would be an upgrade in the football program as they were FCS last year. They are a part of the Big East in virtually every other sport. We hope this helps keep the conference together for a little bit longer.
One of our favorite football people, former Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach, will get his own radio show on Sirius. He’s doing that and CBS. Will he ever be back to the sidelines? Maybe after these gigs pay off his lawyer fees for his suit against Texas Tech.
A bunch of Missouri football players formed a rap group. The Kentucky Boulevard Boys look to take over the scene like they take over the football field. Yeah, whatever. Call me when they get a recording contract. Oh, and try to focus on the playbook and not your lyric book for the next couple of weeks. We know it’s a cakewalk schedule but you need to be getting better now, not in a month.
Michigan’s Denard Robinson is your Heisman leader after two weeks and it makes real sense. He single-handedly carried the Wolverines past Notre Dame last Saturday. If he gets his wheel injured, the whole season is over for Michigan.
Reggie Bush, on the other hand, will forfeit his Heisman. It seems the pressure and guilt for playing with a bunch of ineligible players in 2005 was just too much. Vince Young, the runner-up, tweeted that he will be happy leaving it vacant, even though he said he wanted it earlier this week.
Speaking of Twitter, Miami of Florida’s head coach Randy Shannon just banned it for his players. It seems the beat down Oklahoma gave the Hurricanes was enough to warrant this punishment. Maybe the team can play their way back into getting access?
The new NCAA President Mark Emmert wants to get tougher on the rule breakers. Yet, he wants to make sure the pro sports leagues and players’ unions are happy. Let’s face it. The NCAA is irrelevant. It seems all they do is choke the players from making money so they can make more money. A free education is great for these athletes, but they are stopping adults from making adult business decisions. Someone needs to stop these guys, they are like cassette tapes.
And it looks like the WAC is suing Nevada and Fresno State so they can stay in the WAC for the 2011-2012 season. You know, with the way expansion has been handled in the offseason, wouldn’t the WAC have some sort of contingency in place? Instead of suing, why not invite a couple of Big Sky schools in? Nope, because they are a sub par conference, they will sue their way around things. This conference will die a slow burning death.
Alrighty Week 2 of college football happened and we still don’t know what happened. Yup, there were some major blowouts, but not from the teams we expected. The FCS schools reared its ugly head and knocked out some schools (including at top 25 team). So how would that affect the pick set? Welp, just about as a bad as Kansas losing to North Dakota State or Virginia Tech losing the James Madison (the school, not the president). Thankfully, we have some rules set up to account for bad weeks. Click on through to find out.
Deep in the wheat fields of Kansas sits a town by the name of Wichita. We find ourselves smack dab in the middle of the city doing a remote barspot. Larry Bud’s Sports Bar & Grill claims to be the best in the city so we stopped on in to check it out. We’ll find out just how dark dark can get. We’ll also find out how to do a pretty decent television configuration. Oh yea, we’ll also check out some great games all on at the same time.
So I’m sitting here in the kitchen of my favorite KU fan down in Wichita with a wicked Donut Hole rush. What better time for me to take a moment and talk to all the waitresses out there in sports bar land. With the crew and all, we usually find ourselves plopped down in bar and stuck there for at least two games. For some of you waitresses out there, that could mean a table taken for your whole shift. Because of that, you may not give the best service. Please don’t.
