So when listening to the hype leading up to this week’s Red River Rivalry, I couldn’t help but think that it used to be called something else. There’s whispers of it on the web now, but I could swear that it used to be called the Red River Shootout. Is that right? Pictures and images tell us of this but more and more it’s a rivalry and not a shootout. Did they change it? Why? Well we know why, and it kinda sucks.
Western Europe meets the western Kansas City area as we trucked way the heck out to Shawnee to view Saturday’s selections at J. Murphy’s Irish Pub and Grille. The games lined up for the afternoon seemed like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The traditional fare sprinkled the joint so well we were waiting for a Contra Dance to bust out. And the food, well the food was all it was cracked up to be, Irish wise. But there was so much more than really cheesy Irish references (which we will stop as of now) at J. Murphy’s.
Continue reading J. Murphy’s Brings Out the Irish in Every One
Most folks outside of the midwest believe that the Big 12 Conference is 2nd nationally amongst conferences in terms of football strength. Much of the talk points toward the Big 12 South. As we roll into the 2009 season, we find some teams reloaded, some teams are out of ammo, and the rest either misfired or are shooting blanks. We’re gonna see where they all stack up and how they will finish in 2009, according the Purple Yeti’s crystal ball. There are some shifts in power, but the top stack will stay the same and most of the close calls will still be close. Hopefully the crystal ball pulls through.
Here we go people! We’re strapping on the helmet and hunkering down for another season of college football. To get us ready, we have a cavalcade of previews and a new redesign coming down the pipe. Until then we’ll produce another news heavy Crib Sheet for all of you to digest. Depending on the schedule, we may be dropping the Crib Sheet here and there during the season. There’s always news to munch on. So grab a bib and some silverware and chow down on this week’s Crib Sheet:
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 eyes of the college football season are upon us and we are beginning to wipe the eye boogers away to gaze into the crystal ball and see who will come out on top. Last year, there was a three way tussle in the Big 12 South that left the Texas Longhorns out of the Big 12 title game and out of the National Championship race. This year they are back with their Heisman runner up in Colt McCoy and are one of the sexy picks for a national title run. We thought it would be fitting in the last couple of weeks of this year’s Mascot Monday to take a look at the final Mascot we’ll do from the Big 12 from the school that has the best title shot. So we present to you the famed Bevo and a couple of other mascots that barely have any press or history.
Independence Day came and went and we escaped with a couple of scratches, bruises, and about six pounds of weight. While we are recovering, we are reminded that we are inching ever closer to start of the new college football season. Sooner or later, I have to get started on some site improvements and my previews. Until then, we keep on chooglin’ to another Crib Sheet:
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:
So some news outlets are saying that May is the black hole of news for college football. We here at the KCCGD are diligent in digging up interesting news and actually found enough to fill a column this week. We’ll weather this storm together and hopefully ride out into June when practices start. For now let’s do our best to ignore all of this lame-o baseball, weak basketball and hockey playoffs, and a post NFL draft hangover. Here’s this week’s ration:
This week’s Mascot Monday takes us to the deep south of the Big 12 and the Baylor Bears. We’ll go over what keeps the weakest team in the South going spirit wise while taking a peek back at the history of the mascots. It’s not B.J. and the Bear or Hardcastle and McCormick, but Judge and Bruiser! Not really as seen on TV but close enough. Just don’t sit too close to the screen or you’ll ruin your eyes.
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:
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
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
With the regular season over, we need something to do between the various holiday events. So why not watch all of the Big 12 bowl games? Fortunately we have five days straight of bowl games that feature a Big 12 team during the last week of the year. How is the KCCGD staff going to handle the load? We don’t know. Chances are we’ll post in the morning where we will go and then talk about the game later on that night. If we go out to all of the games. It’s gonna be hard and crazy for sure. The BCS National Championship game will be spotted somewhere, but we’ll build up to that when the time comes. For now, here’s the Big 12 representation of the bowl schedule (thanks espn.com):
| BOWL | LOCATION | DATE/TIME | NETWORK |
| Valero Alamo Missouri vs. Northwestern |
San Antonio Alamodome |
Dec. 29, 7 p.m. | ESPN |
| Pacific Life Holiday Oklahoma State vs. Oregon |
San Diego Qualcomm Stadium |
Dec. 30, 7 p.m. | ESPN |
| Insight Kansas vs. Minnesota |
Tempe, Ariz. Sun Devil Stadium |
Dec. 31, 4:30 p.m. | NFL Network |
| Konica Minolta Gator Nebraska vs. Clemson |
Jacksonville, Fla. Jacksonville Municipal Stadium |
Jan. 1, 2009, 12 p.m. | CBS |
| AT&T Cotton Ole Miss vs. Texas Tech |
Dallas Cotton Bowl |
Jan. 2, 2009, 1 p.m. | FOX |
| Tostitos Fiesta Ohio State vs. Texas |
Glendale, Ariz. University of Phoenix Stadium |
Jan. 5, 2009, 7 p.m. | FOX |
| FedEx BCS National Championship Game Florida vs. Oklahoma |
Miami Dolphin Stadium |
Jan. 8, 2009, 7 p.m. | FOX |
Missouri, after falling back to earth this year, tries to do to the Big 10 Wildcats what they did with the Big 12 version in the Alamo Bowl. The Oklahoma State Cowboys will be shooting ducks against Oregon in the Holiday Bowl. The Gator Bowls marks a New Year’s Day return for the Nebraska Cornhuskers as they take on Clemson. Ole Miss tries to outshoot the left out Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Cotton Bowl. The Texas Longhorns look toward the Ohio State Buckeyes to take out their frustrations in the Fiesta Bowl. Finally, the Oklahoma Sooners circles the wagons for the Florida Gators in the BCS National Championship Game. That’s one heckuva lineup and this empy week and a half of hype does little to pass the time on our way to Bowl Season.
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