We made it through the first week of college football, but not without some bumps and bruises. Injuries were all over the news in the last week, including the Purple Yeti’s back issue. Fortunately he has a myriad of pills to numb any pain. Oklahoma Sooners fans are probably still numbed from last Saturday’s upset loss. So we will dedicate this week’s Crib Sheet to recovering from any mental and physical injuries. 5 out 7 doctors agree the Crib Sheet has soothing properties. Kick back, relax, and enjoy:
- Yeargh! Here’s Mike Leech’s parking spot on the Texas Tech campus. In case you haven’t noticed, he really like pirates.
- Texas A&M mans up and schedules USC and Oregon starting about 6 years from now. Do they expect to be that good to compete with those juggernauts by then? We’re not even sure Mike Sherman will still be coach by then.
- John Glenn dotted the ‘i’ for Ohio State’s opener Saturday. The former senator then strapped on a jet pack and flew out of the stadium, cackingly laughing and flipping everyone off. Or not.
- A swine flu scare caused Stillman College to forfeit a game Saturday. Is Swine Flu so scary that public events must be canceled? It really is the flu. That’s it. Yes, it’s a new strain, but it’s not going to kill anybody. It may thin out the herd but usually that’s small babies and old people.
- Not only was Oregon dominated by Boise State last Thursday 19-8, but they also took hold of the Thug Torch when LeGarrette Blount threw a punch at Boise State’s Byron Hout. The wings are already clipped for the Oregon Ducks and new head coach successor, Chip Kelly. They might salvage the season but it’s an uphill climb. Oh and Blount is suspended for the rest of the season. But Boise State coach Chris Peterson is not reprimanding Hout for instigating the punch.
- Mired in between the cold cock of the Boise State Bronc, was Oklahoma State’s head coach Mike Gundy’s decision not to do a pre game hand shake before their contest against Georgia. The American Football Coaches Association suggested that every team do it in the name of sportsmanship for the first game of the year. Gundy was afraid of on field fights. It didn’t matter, however, as the Cowboys took care of the Bulldogs on the field over the weekend 24-10.
- ESPN sicked their bloggers on the use of technology and college football nowadays. Brian Bennett talked about video games, Adam Rittenberg writes about a distributed network of clips and playbooks called Hudl Pro, Chris Low talks about laptops with massive amounts of game tape from recruits, Graham Watson talks about timing horns, and Ted Miller talks all things Pac 10 with helmet cams and even Skype. When technology failed Paul Rhoads and the rest of his Iowa State coaching staff last Thursday, they turned to a cell phone contingency plan to ‘call’ plays. Technology ho!
- The big news story of the last week was Heisman winner Sam Bradford leaving the Oklahoma game versus BYU at halftime. He injured his throwing shoulder and people went from unsure to about 4 weeks before he can play again. Also, the Sooners were upset in that game. Bradford’s injury slowed the Sooners down, but they were already being outplayed Saturday night. Mix that in with the news that all American tight end Jermaine Gresham is out for the remainder of the season and Sooners are in big trouble after just one week. Will they bounce back or will they fall even further? Fortunately they have a couple of weeks before a real challenge in Miami. We’ll find out by then if they have regrouped or are still blown to pieces.
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.
Continue reading Big 12 Preview 2009 →
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.
College Sports, Kansas City style
