While I was chilling out at Memorial Stadium Thursday night, I couldn’t help but think for a moment about the Colorado fans storming the field against Georgia a couple of weeks ago. Kansas State was well on its way to a victory and not once did you see any fans for the Wildcats try to storm the field. It seems nowadays, however, that storming the field is the easy thing to do after a victory. I want to take this time to talk to every student, fan, or objective observer. Stop storming the fields. Just stop it.
This week’s standings are in and we are still figuring out just how to work the angles. Starting out, it made sense that we made the picks a little more hardcore. Picking just one team over the other seemed way to simple to the kind of fans that lurk around these parts. Oh, we’re glad we set it up the way we did, but we sure are reminded today that we can’t fall asleep at the wheel. The weekly picks by design are supposed to affect the overall but it doesn’t seem that way. Much like Les Miles crazy fake field goal that eventually put LSU over Florida. Pick It and Stick is part design, part luck.
A very special lady sprung on me some tickets to the Kansas State and Nebraska game going on tomorrow. So we’ll do some Stadiumspotting there as well get you stoked for this week of football. First thing is first, though. This week’s Crib Sheet goes over some of the hottest news items of the last week. We have some spicy giblets ready to feed ya and then we’re gonna get the car ready for the impromptu road trip. On to the sheet:
You know, I don’t know what it is with the travelling all of the sudden, but here we go again on our own. Going down that only road that, well, leads straight from Kansas City to Minneapolis/St. Paul. Otherwise I-35. I’ve been (unofficially) down I-35 to Austin, Texas and now I’m heading up north to check out Minnesota. Prior obligations find myself out there and I’m hoping to get some football down while I do it. A little birdie told me that Minnesota is hosting Northwestern for homecoming so I might check it out. Otherwise, it might be a great sports bar in town or more than likely Hooters at the Great Mall of America. God I hope it’s the homecoming game.
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.
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.
We’ve been sacked from the Big 12 Media Days on this week’s Crib Sheet. We’ll go over the last media day next, as we have a major pile of news dump on you. Here we go:
The Big 12 Preseason media poll is out and we have ourselves a rivalry game for the Big 12 Championship. The sports media picked Nebraska in the North and Oklahoma in the South, with Missouri and Texas shortly behind in both divisions respectively. Speaking more locally, Iowa State’s big season last year didn’t improve their status as they were voted last. Kansas and Kansas State are neck and neck for the middle of the pack, with the benefit of the doubt going to the Wildcats and its coaching experience. Usually the sports media is wrong so we’re anxious to see how it plays out this season.
Meanwhile the All Big 12 Preseason was announced as well. Two Missouri kids, one Kansas, one Kansas State, and a whole bunch of Texas and Oklahoma kids make up the team. That pretty much tells you what the sports media thinks of the talent in the conference. Pretty obvious too.
Iowa State defensive back David Simms looks to be under the police gun for a stolen credit card number and is charged. They haven’t filed charges yet, but the police did search his place. We’ll see if he was the culprit or one of his buddies.
Kansas Frosh Jeremiah Evans’ career is officially over due to his worsened heart condition. It sucks when you can’t get on the field due to health issues and we wish him the best in whatever he decides to do with his life.
Lane Kiffin ticked off Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher by hiring his running back coach for his USC team. Fisher calls it unprofessional, we think it’s the next step in coaching evolution. Courtesy calls are out the window if you want a guy bad enough. It’s dog eat dog out there. The Titans apparently think that USC broke the law too.
Back in his NCAA days, Dan Beebe wanted to contract sports agents with universities so everything could be on the table. If a violation was found, the agent could lose potentially millions and the university may not be on the hook as much. Beebe is looking better and better every week.
Ron Prince’s side of the story was obvious, as a deposition revealed. He was guaranteed money and now he wants it. There was even a napkin thrown in by former Kansas State athletic director Tim Weiser. It’s another he said she said, with a “Memo of Understanding” between the two. The courts will take this one over and we’ll see who gets the dough.
Missouri has some beef left over from last year’s Navy blowout. Blaine Gabbert looks to be the guy and Derrick Washington looks to be his running buddy. The Tigers have a couple of chips including being picked behind Nebraska and not being invited to the Big 10.
Rolling on through Phil Steele’s Preseason Top 40 standings and reviewing the mascot on the list we’ve yet to check out, we find ourselves at number 15 and Auburn’s Aubie. There’s also a confusing status in the War Eagle we’ll take a look at. The Auburn Tigers are a former national championship team and the mascot has won a couple himself. This year, former Iowa State head coach Gene Chizik looks to take the winning attitude down there to the next level, and Aubie looks to follow suit. This week we find out of Aubie’s suit is up for and try figure out just what the heck War Eagle is.
Okay the holidays are over and we are in the middle of summer. College football is so close right now we can taste it. You know how we can tell? We have a buttload of news to go over in this week’s Crib Sheet. So enough jibba jabba, here’s the sheet:
Speaking of the one time rivalry, Nebraska removed the end part of the video they put out earlier this year for their fan video. It said “Beat Texas.” The smack talk is already beginning and it’s not even the start of training camp yet.
Dontavius Jackson will be transferring from Georgia after summer school following his DUI arrest. Goes to show folks, don’t get caught breaking the law if you are a football player. You might get your scholarship dumped.
The two Kansas dudes who were indicted last week have plead guilty in court for the ticket scandal they covered up. Hopefully for Jayhawk fans, this will blow over and they can start focusing on rebuilding for the football season. Or focus on the start of basketball season.
We’ve been trying for the last couple of days to come up with something exciting to attach to the release of EA Sport’s new NCAA College Football 11 game. It’s out. That’s it. Nothing exciting here.
Bob Krause, former Kansas State Athletic Director, described in a deposition how he got duped by Ron Prince at the last second, which then gave Prince a tasty buyout from his contract. So Krause was out of his league big time and now we see why.
Ex Florida Gator Maurkice Pouncey was the subject of an investigation that addressed and allegation that he took about 100K from a middle man to an agent. If the investigation finds it to be true, Florida could lose the Sugar Bowl victory last year. It doesn’t matter to Pouncey because he is in the NFL right now. It seems agents have found a loophole to exploit kids in their senior year. The kids get paid and leave before any repercussions. Kinda like pulling a Pete Carroll. Stewart Mandel points this out and we just found out from Nick Saban that Alabama is investigating its own issue too.
Missouri linebacker Tyler Crane was kicked off the team for violating team rules. Neither Crane or Missouri will say just what he did. It seems like he was a back up so it shouldn’t affect the Tigers this year that much.
11 Notre Dame athletes were arrested for underage drinking at a party last week, including Joe Montana’s son Nate. Doh! It’s nice to see the Fighting Irish are with the times in terms of off the field troubles. This tells us that they might be competitive this coming year.
It seems an investigation will open in Arizona to see if current and former Fiesta Bowl employees made campaign contributions to politicians whom supported the bowl. The major issue is not the contribution but the reimbursement from the bowl. Ya, that’s a no no.
The heat is on. It’s on the street. Oh Glenn Fry, you save us from the sultry steam of summer with your cool saxaphone riff and Eddie Murphy praising rock music. Yes, the heat is mos def on as we hit our first hot spot of the summer. It’s just in time, too, as the rain left us watching the Beverly Hills Cop series 10 times over, including the terrible 3rd part. Cabin fever, indeed. So we’re hitting the pool this week and dreaming of the new college football season while laying in our floaties sipping some cold beverages. Hit up the Crib Sheet then do the same.
Even if USC goes undefeated this season, they will not be ranked in the USA Today Coaches Poll. This is what happens when you have recruiting violations. Lane Kiffin has a long time to wait to rebuild the program.
ESPN and the ACC agreed to a 12 year deal which has links to all football games, including some basketball and other non revenue making sports. This looks like something that the Big 12 (10) will get into once they start negotiating their deals.
Alabama moved its game against Georgia to a Thursday night and now because of that change, the students get a day off. Education is way more important than football. Well, not in Alabama we guess.
Erin Andrews shook her almost clothed tail and now will be joining the College Game Day crew with her newly resigned contract for ESPN. If you remember, Andrews was the penultimate sideline reporter babe that ran into some peeping issues and used it to get onto Dancing With the Stars. Let’s hope she wears the same clothing for the football show.
The gates are about to flood open with Big 12 (10) schools launching their own television networks. Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri of all schools are looking to make some cash off their own television rights. Will this set the trend for the rest of the schools across the nation? Tune in to find out.
ESPN’s Big 12 blogger David Ubben talks about the uphill battle that Turner Gill has with his offensive line, now that starting junior tackle Jeff Spikes injured his Achilles tendon and is out for the year. I would for Kansas to fill out the bottom the Big 12 (10) North this year. The new coach has way too many broken parts and the once touted line is now depleted.
Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins is too busy preparing for retirement to pursue the charge of blackmail against William Dent. His job is saved and will be cruising toward closing the door on his career late next year so he really doesn’t need to recoup anything from this guy.
Okay, after a rough week of moving and celebration, we are back in the swing of things at the KCCGD headquarters. This week’s Crib Sheet reminds us that politics and law cover college football like a blanket during the night-time of the offseason. Sure once the sun rises in September and the action goes back on the field, it will all be forgotten. For now, let’s take this week’s edition to plod through the behind the scenes maneuvering that will most certainly shape the year to come.
The parents of Dale Lloyd II are sued the NCAA for the death of their son and consequently will see an introduction of screening for the Sickle Cell Trait in football players starting this August. Finally, after the numerous football deaths piled up the NCAA realized that they need to check for this trait to help prevent any future casualties. Let’s hope they stick to it and follow through on any recommended treatment.
We’re going to see some legal maneuvering that will eclipse the level that Texas Tech has with Mike Leach with the Big 12 Bylaws and both Nebraska and Colorado. It’s not 100% rosy clear that both school will have to cough up all of their money, but ESPN’s David Ubben helps pick apart some of the more questionable parts of the Bylaw that will surely be used by the leaving schools’ lawyers.
Tommy Tubberville ran his mouth last week about the Big 12 falling apart and now the Big 12 reprimanded him. It looks like any official/coach within the Big 12 that talks smack about the conference will get in trouble big time. Solidarity, brotha. Solidarity.
Welp, Armageddon has come. Nebraska is going to the Big 10. After the speculation, the rumors, and the threat of the Big 12 South going to the Pac 10, we have our first major move in the modern era of expansion. The Big 12 meetings last week provided some ultimatums and some wishy-washy talk. Now it looks as though Friday is the day for the official announcement from the Cornhuskers. After that, it seems the Big 12 South, sans Baylor and including Colorado, will be going to the Pac 10. The rest of the teams, well, they are left behind. Kansas City will become a ghost of a sports town. Besides all of this depressing talk, there was other news this week. Here’s the Crib Sheet:
The SEC and its head coaches laughed off any expansion talk during their meetings last week. You know it seems they have been the quietest in all of this. Will they invite anyone else? They’ve won 7 BCS Championships so I guess they won’t have to.
Boise State is left at the altar while the Mountain West sees what the fallout will be from the expansion bonanza. This won’t be cleared up for a while and the Broncos will just have to wait it out.
The current UGA is too young to be on the field and that’s the delima Georgia has going into this year. The sudden death of the last UGA means that the next-in-blood-line gets called up to the majors early. Will they stand the young pup up or will they opt for a veteran replacement?
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.
April Fools came and went and we here at the KCCGD headquarters want to share a few of our favorite tricks. The first one: cover the laser part of a laser mouse with a piece of tape or Post It note. Watch as the unsuspecting fool tries to use the mouse and bangs it on the table! Har Har! Next up: keeping with the tape motiff, tape down the latch to your office mates’ phone. Watch as they try to call, or better yet someone tries to call them, and phone won’t unhook from the latch! Comedy gold! Okay, enough yucks. Here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:
Wow that was fast. Nick Saban wins a BCS National Championship for Alabama and then gets a bronze statue erected in his honor. So if he wins it again, what will happen? A whole new stadium in his honor? How about a permanent seat in Alabama’s government? They do eat, sleep, and breath football down there.
A highly touted recruit for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish fell to his death last Friday. Matt James was in Florida on spring break when he fell from a hotel balcony. Apparently he was drunk when it happened.
Georgia linebacker Montez Robinson was kicked off the team after an arrest related to battery charges and domestic violence. S0metimes kids are still kids and they don’t realize that they can’t get away with stuff like that. If you were wondering, this was the second time he was arrested.
Texas Tech quarterback Talyor Potts will have surgery on his injured hand. He will be out about 8 weeks. Not a good start for Tommy Tubberville. But hey, maybe he can install a real running game while Potts is out.
Kansas Associate Athletic Director Ben Kirtland resigned Monday with no reason given. Hrm. Either something bad happened or this was the fallout from the Jayhawks not getting far in the basketball tournament.
While he’s not busy hanging in Key West being a pirate or suing the pants of another school, Mike Leach is consulting. More specifically, consulting on the installation of his offense at Oklahoma State. Any type of offensive knowledge that he can implant at that school could only help. Just make sure he doesn’t send a cowpoke to the outhouse.
Alrighty, we are in the 1st quarter of bowl season and fortunately we don’t have any Big 12 bowl games until next week. So we have the opportunity to preview and predict what’s coming up in the next couple of weeks for the Big 12. We’ll talk briefly about the match up and go into our expert predictions. Chew on this while you are doing your last minute shopping on Amazon. Oh and please pick us up something nice while you’re at it.
