So here ware trucking through our Big 10 Expansion, running over our introduction and Big 10 history along the way. Today our focus beams toward why the Big 10 wants to expand. Like we said yesterday, money is a big part but not the whole pie. Other slices include the silver bullet of television, the need to grow, scratching the itch that’s been bothering them the past 20 years, channeling baseball’s New York Yankee style of athletic competition, and the dust collecting on their trophy shelves. Think of money as the crust that keeps the filling in the pie. It’s alot to handle so we’ll try not to drive you crazy with the reasons.
Yesterday we laid the groundwork for the expansion drama that’s girdling up the loins of college football at the moment. Today we are taking a look at how the history of the Big 10 led us to this point. There’s over 100 years of data to go over, but we are blowing through the earliest parts and focus on the last 20 years. Expansion is in the blood of the Big 10 and they’ve acted on it. They tried many times and failed but were able to pull one team in the fold. So let’s ring up the good Doctor and fly away in the TARDIS back to the start of the Big 10.
It’s the middle of May and many of the big time conferences are in the middle of meetings. Athletic directors and coaches nationwide are now meeting to check up on things and discuss to goings on of their respective schools. Now usually, this will blow over with not much of a drop of news to report. This year, however, it’s getting bigger attention because of the expansion talk coming from the Big 10. Where last year there might have been one or two beat writers covering the meeting, this year it’s a media hoopla. No, the KCCGD Crib Sheet did not travel to the Big 10 meeting, but the Big 12 one is in Kansas City next week so we may crash that party. In the meantime, read up on our Big 10 expansion series and check out this week’s Crib Sheet:
Blair Kerkhoff speculated last week how Kansas City could be affected with Missouri and/or Nebraska leaving the conference. We’ll cover it later this week, but this is a nice roundup of how serious of a move this is for the local area.
Mike Sherman’s been away to Iraq talking to Aggie troops. He went out there for the Aggie Muster, which is a roll call of fallen Texas A&M soldiers on April 21. He ended up being late and had to stay later due to the Iceland volcano blowing ash. Sherman’s got our respect here for spending his own dough and sticking through to keep up the tradition.
Notre Dame and Miami are looking to renew their rivalry. Sounds good to us. Back in the day, this game meant national championships. Today, well, these teams are struggling to get back to the big time. Maybe this renewed tussle will help them get back on the track.
It seems like there is some trouble going on over in Lawrence. We might have not mentioned it before, but there is a big brewhaha over former fundraiser Rodney Jones’ abuse over tickets and plane ride solicitations. On the field, first stringer defensive tackle Jamal Greene is off the team because of his arrest for a little breaking and entering and armed robbery. At least they are cleaning things up now.
The speculation for the Big Ten expansion now grows toward the Sun Belt, according the head honcho Jim Delany. Let the fake reports triple because of this.
Bennie F. Abram, the Ole Miss player who collapsed and died on the field during a workout, had the sickle-cell trait. The enlarged heart due to that caused the seizure. When will the NCAA institute a rule that monitors this disease in football players? Every year there’s a new kid that dies because of this. Where is the clamor?
It was bound to happen. The discussion blew up late last December and now we have legitimate motions telling us that the Big 10, and college football, is about to run into some big changes. Ever vigilant, we here at the KCCGD Headquarters decided to toss our hat into the speculation ring and offer up our analysis as to just what the hell is going on. It’s plenty to chew on so we will be breaking up into bite size chunks of creamy goodness. At just the right time too, the Big 10’s athletic directors and coaches are meeting this week and the Big 12’s crew will do the same next week. Why does the Big 12 matter? The conference is among some of the institutions affected by this move. Strap it on, because we are about to ride the hottest off-season college football activity we haven’t seen in a long time.
This week we will take another look at a potential power pill to the Big Ten’s Pac-Manning of college football in the Pittsburgh Panthers. This Big East team has been linked to a rivalry with Penn State and generally fits well with other potential teams like Syracuse and Notre Dame. So how does ‘Roc’ the Panther stand up to mascot standards? We’ll find that out as well as where this guy came from and why he’s the ‘Roc’. So kick back and see if Roc rocks our world if, much like Sex Panther Cologne, he works 60% of time every time.
So the Big 10 expansion speculation that’s been building the last couple of months has finally come to a head here at the KCCGD Headquarters. We’ll give our thoughts about the whole shebang in the next couple days, but we wanted to whet your appetite with some tasty nuggets of information in the Crib Sheet. You, too, can munch down on expansion rumor to fill your belly with enough information to win your sports bar argument. Sports screaming at its finest, folks. On to the Crib Sheet:
In case you thing we’ve forgotten, Mike Leach’s case against Texas Tech has a hearing coming up May 14th and last week Texas Tech officials filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit altogether. They say the sworn statements are all that is needed and that Leach’s treatment was an offense worthy of termination. Leach on the other hand is making the case that it was about his contract and the bonus he was about to receive.
Kansas State, ever the team to take on tough new challenges, forged a mega deal to face the fearsome University of Texas San Antonio. Who? Yes that’s right, The Roadrunners, led by former Miami coach Larry Coker, will face the Wildcats in their inaugural FCS seasons. Man, UCLA isn’t that tough. Leave it up to Bill Snyder 2.0 to find the scrubs of the scrubs.
Notre Dame tight end Mike Ragone was feeling green big time last Saturday. No, not green for the Fighting Irish, but green for rolling doobies. New coach Brian Kelly is going to bitch slap him around a hit and call it a done deal. It’s the new century, football players get stoned all the time, even the pious ones.
So the speculation has been about what conferences will do to react to the Big 10 Expansion. Well, on the Big 12 side it seems they may be exploring options with a pact between them and the Pac 10 (see the play on words?). Basically, the two conferences will have something similar to the hardwood series we enjoy but on the football field. The speculation is that there is also a potential Rose Bowl spot that could be up for grabs too. Remember, it’s speculation only.
Much ballyhoo is blowing around the college football land due to the blowhards up north in the Big 10. It seems they want to expand their television footprint or whatever it is. Part of their master plan includes penetrating the much valued market in New York. How will they do this? By going after a low hanging fruit by the name of Rutgers. So in honor of one of the teams that is part of the speculationalooza, we’ll be taking a look at Rutgers mascot, the Scarlet Knight.
Cinco de Mayo not only brings the Mexican in everyone, but it also brings out another week of the Crib Sheet! We’re going to celebrate by munching some nachos and busting open a pinata or two. No cervesas here. It’s a school day. Or more importantly, it’s not a college football primetime night or a Saturday chock full of football. On to this week’s Crib Sheet:
Mark Emmert is your new NCAA president, starting November 1. He’ll have to deal with all of this expansion hullabaloo from the Big 10 as well as television and money deals. This came as a shock to everyone as the former Washington guy is more progressive than the other counterparts considered for the position.
Speaking of the NCAA, they are making the schools come up with detailed plans on handling concussions after they recommended that they sideline players for the rest of the game if symptoms show up. It’s great that they are being proactive on this medical issue now they need to put forth some effort on sickle cell disease.
In the case of blogging gone wild, the local Missouri run news crew let slip last week that Missouri to the Big 10 was a “done deal.” The only problem, it was based on a 3rd person recount of talk overheard from a Pac 10 AD. On a podcast! Okay, so this expansion thing is going to rule the rest of the summer and we’ve had a lot of time to think about it. Our thoughts about it will show up here eventually, but in the mean folks try not to jump on every little rumor.
Joe Montana’s son, Nick, was looking good during Washington’s spring game. Is it genes or head coach Steve Sarkisian? Welp the coach is the former offensive coordinator during the national championship run of USC. We’re going with coach.
Big East coaches are putting the pressure on Notre Dame to commit fully to the conference. The basketball team plays there and now they want the football team. The Fighting Irish is the pivot in the expansion talks. They are the ones with their own national tv contract. If the Big 10 was smart, they would pick up the national exposure and double down on the title game on NBC.
So a new addition found its way in the KCCGD headquarters kitchen collection a couple of weeks ago in the form of a small deep fryer. The little thing is cute but it packs a powerful crisping punch. We’ve dipped onion rings, breaded chicken patties, mushrooms, and even peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in that thing. So for this week’s Mascot Monday, we will take some time to honor a mascot whom we think would taste great after a batter and fry treatment. We’re sure an artichoke will taste great fried, but how does it stack up as a mascot. Let’s find out with Scottsdale Community College’s Artie the Artichoke
Quick somebody get us some facial tissue and some decongestants. It’s allergy season here at the KCCGD Headquarters! We’re sneezing our heads off and we’re barely making it through the week. That’s not stopping us from delivering your favorite weekly news roundup: The Crib Sheet! It’s chock full this week with a ton of diva grandstanding from college conference officials. It’s a good thing our noses are stuffed because we think alot of that talk stinks. On to the Crib Sheet:
So the graduation rate for college athletes are on a curve. The College Sport Research Institute factored in longer years and lighter classloads to determine that the reported 79 percent rate is actually 54.8 percent, compared to 73.7 percent of other students. Looks like the NCAA needs to take some more math classes.
All the hype leading up to the commissioner meetings this week was whether or not the Big 10 would accelerate expansion plans. Big 10 commissioner Jim Delany came out of the meetings to speak on this rumor to reporters. “Nope” was pretty much all he said. Crisis averted.
Northwestern will play Illinois at Wrigley Field. Finally! All those people in Chicago will have an opportunity to root on two disappointing local teams that don’t play baseball. Way to go guys!
The BCS came out with a 3 pronged formula to help determine who gets an automatic bowl bid after the 2012 season. They take the highest ranked BCS team, the total BCS numbers for the conference, and the number of teams in the top 25 to determine who gets the nod. This is an obvious gesture to the Mountain West Conference, whose Boise State team has been rolling the last couple of years and has an opportunity to start in the top 3 once the preseason rankings come out. It will be interesting to see how this adds to the pressure and expectation the Broncos have this year.
So the first round highlights of the NFL Draft include Tim Tebow going to the Denver Broncos. Huh? What is he gonna do? Be a running back. Good thing the Big 12 represented big time with 9 picks going from the conference, including the top 4. Way to go Big 12!
Bill Snyder 2.0 is weighing the decision to get surgery on his torn ACL and MCL. More and more we’re thinking that Snyder 2.0 is a cyborg version of the original. It’s only reason we can come up with to answer Snyder’s statement that it doesn’t hurt much. What’s up with that? A jammed finger hurts like hell. This guy just walks it off. He’s hiding a gun in his leg, we swear.
The NCAA approved two more bowls for a total of 35, including the Yankee Bowl and the Dallas Football Classic. The later is the former Cotton Bowl and will have a place on New Year’s Day. Huzzah! This is the kind of expansion we enjoy here. Not the kind where you at more teams to the playoff. New Year’s Day next year will be mega stuffed with more football.
We probably should let everyone know that if an expansion from the Big 10 happens, expect the SEC to counter move. Yeah, it’s going to domino all over the place. We really just need two conferences. That way we can determine a champion the easy way.
Coming back to the somewhat near future, ESPN announced its 2010 College Football Primetime schedule and we have a whole bevy of games from the Big 12. The Lonestar Showdown with Texas A&M and Texas on Thanksgiving should be a treat. So’s the rematch between Nebraska and Kansas State on Oct 7th. Football can’t get here anytime sooner.
When we started doing the Mascot Monday posts here at the KCCGD, we knew we had to go over each and every one of the Big 12 mascots. Welp, today is the big day. This is our last mascot we will feature here from the Big 12. Now, there is some talk that a certain conference that is expressing certain expansion talks, so who knows? Maybe there will be more teams that we haven’t featured yet be wrapped into the loving arms of the Big 12 and enable us to check out its fluffy cheerleader. Until then, we saved the best for last. This week on our last Big 12 mascot, we will be taking a big look at Ralphie from the Colorado Buffalos.
Welcome to this week’s Crib Sheet where we give you wall to wall coverage of the NFL Draft! Well, maybe not. This post will be about as much as we will put into the pros and their cherry picking of primo college talent. After this weekend, college football reloads and we are one more week closer to the start of the best sport ever. No, not the National Football League, but college football! So kick back, relax, and enjoy some Crib Sheet tastiness:
No more fun for you football players out there! No more hidden shout outs on your black eye tap! No more wedge blocks? Okay, so the NCAA approved a couple of rules that tightens taunting on touchdown plays and removing points from the board, restricts players from putting messages on their black eye tape, and making the wedge block on kick offs illegal. Um, where did all of the fun go? If they were concerned about player safety or individuality like the pros, then they should pay them like a pro.
Chris Harper, the Oregon transfer, is pumped to switch to full time wide receiver for Kansas State. Back at Oregon, he tried to fulfill his dream of being quarterback and played a dual threat role. Ever since the Bill Snyder 2.0 coaches pulled him aside and said he could pull pro money if he went full time receiver, he’s been catching balls and being content. All it takes is the potential of major cash to change some one’s mind. America!
Welp, Mike Leach’s attorneys finally filed a lawsuit claiming his firing was all a big conspiracy. This was pretty much expected, unlike his firing. Isn’t he in Key West? Is he really in a hurry to get back to coaching? Maybe the pirate is trying to pilfer and plunder a couple of extra gold coins here.
Boise State will replace their beloved blue turf for ….. more blue turf! The glare from the light reflecting from the turf bothered everyone in the stands. The blue field itself still bothers us on the television. What could’ve been an advantage over opposing teams may seem like dressing for their rumored top 3 debut in the BCS Standings later this year.
Former Kansas State quarterback Dylan Meier died in a hiking accident in Arkansas. He was the quarterback from 2002-06. Our condolences go out this his family and friends.
We’re heading up north and the Big Ten for this week’s Mascot Monday. Goldy Gopher is the main mascot at the University of Minnesota campus. Once a proud member of the marching band, Goldy now appears at all sporting events. This week we’ll find out how that happened, as well as why you shouldn’t go too far in mimicking. We’ll also take a look at what Goldy’s doing to help clean up that mistake. So hanker on down with your favorite gnawin’ log and join us as we take a look at Minnesota’s own golden child, Goldy.
It’s been a real quiet week. Hey, the weather’s finally coming around and everyone’s outside doing stuff. What are we doing at the KCCGD headquarters? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We’ve been recovering since SXSW and it’s not time yet to do some cleaning. So we’ve been lounging and laying around soaking up some non conditioned air. We had just enough energy to pump out another Crib Sheet. So check it out while we take a nap:
Oklahoma State’s Pistol Pete is your new ESPN Radio Mascot Champion. After taking over the college bracket, Pete beat up Benny the Bull from the Chicago Bulls and the pro side. Congrats Pete! Be sure to check up on our review of this guy here.
Texas A&M students have a shot to play with the big boys on campus this week. They can catch a touchdown, tackle a runner, and do other things with the football players in the ‘Pigskin Palooza’. Head coach Tommy Tubberville says this is all in good fun, but we’re thinking he’s secretly looking for more players. Hey, the military can produce some major athletes, just not general ones.
The Little Caesars Bowl continues onward with the re-up of the MAC and the Big Ten. But it gets a little different after that. The top MAC team will face the 8th place team in the Big Ten, if that team is eligible. If not, a Sun Belt Conference team will take its place. Or, the MAC and Sun Belt will play in the Little Caesars Bowl.
Bill Snyder 2.0 came back stronger. They have the technology to do so. They will need again apparently. The Kansas State head coach tore both his MCL and ACL during spring practice. He even coached the rest of practice after the incident. This old guy is tough. Let’s hope he gets a robot leg.
Another week of mascots and we are rolling on to a beautiful spring and chugging toward the summer. So in tribute to the days of winter gone, we are going to take a look at a mascot from a place that’s still probably pretty chilly. Cam the Ram heads up the mascot duty for the Colorado State Rams and he enjoys it from both the four legged and the two legged variety. History will show us that Colorado State had a couple of two legged and four legged mascots before Cam the Ram’s debut. So put on your hiking boots, we’re heading of the mountains.
