It’s been awhile but I’m finally back again. College football saw it’s first playoff last year and, although the Big 12 wasn’t represented, we were entertained. That’s all we can ask. I hear virtually no one ask on the interwebs where I’ve been, so I’ll answer that shortly. But first, here’s my dart board predictions for 2015. Continue reading Dart Board Predictions For 2015: Scarcity Brings Quality Shots →
Yeah I’m a little late with this one, but I’ll blame ESPN College GameDay and ole Lee Corso for my tardiness. Hey, what can I say I really wanted to see which head he puts on his head. So it’s lightning quick pick it and stick time. The big one is the early one and there’s another to cap the night as well. Let’s put our pants on and fix our hair real quick and get to this. Continue reading Pick It And Stick It: Better Late Than Whatever →
And all through the house, pumpkin pie was baking and I was aroused (with hunger). Yup, it’s that time of year again. This year, I’m planning on laying back and actually watching some competitive football. For once it will be both for the NFL and college football. So there’s been a feast of news leading up to turkey day and I wrapped it up in a big ole slice of Crib Sheet. It’s kinda like fish and chips, but with college football news and less of stink. I hope. Here is this week’s fresh Crib Sheet:
Continue reading Crib Sheet: Twas The Night Before Thanksgiving →
Another regular season over and another bowl season is set. I like the matchups for the Big 12 this year. Yes, no two teams are in BCS bowls but there is a chunky 8 teams going bowling. I don’t want to hear the yipping from Missouri fans this year as their game against Iowa is way bigger than the game Nebraska has against Washington. Kansas State’s in the first ever Pinstripe Bowl against Syracuse. That should be a fun one too. We have the Army vs Navy game and then the week after is all bowls. Right now, it’s the Crib Sheet:
- Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon is your Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and Oklahoma defensive end Jeremy Beal is you Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. I knew about Blackmon’s dominance but wasn’t so sure about Beal’s. Congrats to both.
- I was ignoring it but, but now I can’t help but comment on the Miami coaching situation. Randy Shannon was canned and a couple of candidates have cropped up. That’s not exciting. What IS exciting is that Donald Trump wrote a letter to Miami to hire Mike Leach. The U might just become pirates.
- Beano Cook is the 2011 recipient of the 38th Bert McGrane Award, which I guess goes to football sports writers each year. I listen to him on the ESPN College Football Podcast each week and has quickly become one of my favorite sports media personalities. Congrats to him too.
- Cam Newton is cleared of any allegations by the NCAA. Looks like his dad can’t hang around the program now, though. It looks like the sabotage job by Mississippi State didn’t work too well. I’m now pegging Auburn as the favorite to win the BCS title game.
- I didn’t pay attention to the RichRod situation at Michigan until now. He’s crying again and this time it’s about how happy he is being the head coach for the Wolverines. I ignored the talk before because I thought he was pretty much safe, but this latest crying makes me wonder if he’s in trouble. He may be.
- It’s one thing when an undefeated non-AQ conference team doesn’t make a BCS Bowl, but it’s another when a 6-6 AQ conference team like Arizona State gets denied a bowl appearance. I thought the slots were so abundant this year that there might have been a 5-7 team in a bowl? Oh well, it looks like they needed one more game.
- The site for a new College Football Hall of Fame will be by Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia. It will open around March of 2013. Make plans now!
- Just in case you were wondering, the expansion search committee for the Big 10 that they will not actively engage in expansion for awhile. Yeah, right.
- The Cincinnati Bearcat was citied for starting a snowball fight during the Pitt game last Saturday. It’s a good thing they had a backup mascot ready for the rest of the game.
- The Bowls are set! Here’s the Big 12 version. I wonder how many Missouri Tigers fans will complain. Oh I know Nebraska fans will, but they are gone after this game so their voice is a little quieter.
- Coaching changes are starting to fire up now that the regular season is over. First off, outgoing Colorado hired from Washington Redskins assistant coach and alumni Jon Embree. On the flip side, long time Texas offensive coordinator Greg Davis resigned due to the poor performance on the field that saw the Longhorns miss a bowl for the first time in forever.
- Rob Long of Syracuse has a benign brain tumor and will undergo surgery. He will not play the Pinstripe Bowl. As being someone who’s had someone close go through the same thing, all I can say is that my thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family.
- I was wondering when this would happen: two men stole the mascot head of Lee Corso. It’s now back and the dudes are in trouble.
There’s just so much to chew on from the first week of college football, we’ll just make the intro real quick. On to the Crib Sheet:
- Freshly on its own, BYU signed a deal with ESPN and Notre Dame to be shown exclusively and play, respectively. They are stepping out fresh in their independence but we don’t think they’ll get as strong as their Irish counterparts.
- The Big 10 now has divisions, so we’ll see how balanced they are in the next couple of years. The big news is breaking up Michigan and Ohio State. Since they will be the ‘yearly rival’, there’s a big chance that they could play each other again in the Big 10 Championship Game.
- Even though, Derrick Washington was booted from the team, the Missouri Tigers beat up on Illinois last Saturday. It took some time for them to find their rhythm but once they did, they looked sharp. Apparently athletic director Mike Alden said that protecting the school was the number one priority when it came between Washington and the allegations. Way to go 810 AM and Kevin Kietzman, you seem to get everyone to talk.
- The face behind the mask of the mascot for Penn State, notched an MIP for underage drinking. Clint Gyory got busted and now he’s suspended from his mascot duties. It just goes to show that football players aren’t the other ones who have to watch what they do in their free time.
- In what’s become the major theme to begin the season, another player will miss games for accepting sports agent gifts. This time it’s Alabama’s Marcell Dareus. They should suspend him for key games. Doing this at the beginning of the year means they miss the cakewalk part of the schedule.
- At the very last second, Jeremiah Masoli’s appeal was approved and he was cleared to play for Ole Miss. It didn’t help them however, as Division II school Jacksonville St. ended up beating Ole Miss in 2 overtimes. I caught the end of the game and no doubt it’s on the top so far for game of the year.
- Boise State assistant Keith Abu Bhonapha got a DUI. He should be off the team.
- North Carolina was one play away from possibly winning the game against LSU last Saturday. What’s more than amazing is that they did it with a ton of suspended players. About half of the starters didn’t play due to NCAA investigations. We’re not sure if it shows how tough the Tar Heels could be or how weak LSU looks.
- TCU coach Gary Patterson gave credit to ESPN’s Lee Corso for inspiring the Horned Frogs to a come from behind win against Oregon State last Saturday. Patterson used the right amount of moto-mojo to get his team over the tough Beavers.
- Looks like Nebraska’s schedule in the Big 10 will start out tough. There’s no surprise there. The new boys in town will get beat up for a couple of years to show that current members are strong.
- After the embarrassing loss to North Dakota State, Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins retired Tuesday. He was going to retire next year, but the school (and the boosters) decided to cough up the money to get him out of there sooner. We don’t know who the replacement AD, not interim, will be and now we don’t know who the starting quarterback will be. Man basketball season can’t come any faster for the Jayhawks.
- Apparently Reggie Bush may be stripped of his Heisman. I guess that’s what happens when it’s discovered that you might have been ineligible during your run in college. He would be the first. How many other Heisman winners may have been ineligible? Should we investigate everyone and find out?
- In MASSIVE conference expansion news, Cal Poly and UC Davis will be joining the Big Sky Conference. At first we thought it was just a conference of country bars, but with this new development we see the Big Sky in a different light.
- ESPN kicked off ESPN3D last year during the BCS Championship Game and now they have an updated schedule that started with the Boise State and Virginia Tech game. So far so good, according to the review. We’re anxious to get our eyes on it when it becomes mainstream about 20 years from now.
- Speaking of the Broncos, they jumped to #3 in both polls. Looks like if they can keep up the blowouts, they will be a contender. Meanwhile, David Ubben runs down the votes for the Big 12 teams. It’s pretty much the big 3 in the top 25 (Texas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma) then about 5 teams about a stone’s throw from the 25 threshold. If they can keep it up, we may see more Big 12 teams up there.
Alrighty, I’m about halfway through my scotch and water, I blasted out another Crib Sheet, and I’m jacked up for some football tomorrow night. It’s prediction time! The offseason sucked. Period. Being in Big 12 land was not easy on this college football lovin’ Yeti and especially not easy on Kansas City. We weathered the storm and now we are here ready for some pigskin play. What will we see in this year’s volume of football? Let’s take a look in our crystal ball shaped glass full of scotch and water.
- Mike Leach will lose his CBS announcing job for making Gus Johnson stand in the bathroom with no light.
- Mark Ingram will not be a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, thanks to the fresh knee injury.
- The Oregon Ducks will win the Pac 10, both for best dressed and actual gold.
- Colorado loses a bunch of games and Dan Hawkins stays on because the school is too broke to fire him out of his contract.
- Caoch Brian Kelly will talk NBC into going into commerical breaks for opposing teams’ offensive drives only. Oh and the Fighting Irish will make a bowl.
- Missouri will win the North, only because Nebraska’s ego and farewell tour will fall flat.
- Daniel Thomas will be a Heisman finalist, thanks to a solid offensive line and the fact that he will get his yards with the whole defense keying on him. Thanks, Carson Coffman.
- Boise State will go undefeated and not make the dance. People are saying its the weak schedule, but it will be because of an undefeated team in the Big 10 and one other conference. Look for Orrin Hatch to have an aneurism over this one.
- This will be Lee Corso’s last season for ESPN College GameDay. It’s been a hell of a ride, Lee, just please don’t put on the Grim Reaper’s head when it’s your time to go.
- This will be the fastest season ever for the Kansas Jayhawks. By fast, we mean the fans will be ready for basketball season about 2 games in. Turner Gill’s rebuilding starts this year, he’s got at least 3 before some magic happens.
- Iowa State will be in the bottom of the league again, but they will get an upset some big team because of a massive rain storm. Hey their practice field flooded over the summer, they should be ready.
- Texas just missed the mark in the Big 12 South. Not because of the competition, but for the cliffhanger they want to leave for next season’s Longhorns Network debut. Stay Tuned! Same horn time! Same horn channel!
- Big Game Bob goes to a BCS game but will not be game as the Sooners bob and weave from some other big team beaming game time bashings. Probably against Virginia Tech and Frank BEAMER.
- The Big East has a seasson. No one really cares.
- RichRod makes a valiant effort and gets the Wolverines into a bowl game. It will be the weakest one from the Big 10 and it will be enough to get him fired. He will then go on and make real estate deals with everyone in the Ann Arbor region.
- USC doesn’t get close to a Pac 10 championship and Lane Kiffin leaves after just one season. The Kiffin world tour moves on!
- Florida misses Tim Tebow and will miss being in the running for the SEC. Urban Meyer gets sick and dies from the piss poor play on the field.
- Kansas City sports bars will stay the same this year. No one will get 3D TVs because the mixture of 3D and beer will make everyone puke. Some new bars will crop up and the KCCGD crew will eventually puke in those anyway.
- We’re going back to our 2008 prediction about Joe Paterno dieing on the field. Now that Bobby Bowden is out, this one should get much easier. Or will he be in the booth this year?
- Okay, we called the BCS National Championship game two years ago with Florida and Oklahoma, we were halfway right with Texas last year in the big game. What will happen this year? Well, the trend says we will get it all wrong so there’s nothing to lose. I’m thinking the offseason hype for the Big 10 will lead a team to a title contention. Since the only team that’s worth a damn up there is Ohio State, then that’s our pick. Chances are the SEC will be mega tough again this year and barring any late push by an Oregon or a Big 12 team, we are going the easy route and picking SEC. Whose turn is it? Let’s go LSU. Why not. Can you say 2007 rematch?
Bowl season and, well, the whole college football season is almost over. We have one more HUGE game left. No, not the GMAC Bowl tonight, but the BCS National Championship game! We here at the KCCGD promise you that we will keep the hype to a minimum as the other outlets have that way covered. So, in lieu of that, we will have another exciting rendition of the Crib Sheet. Some emotional coaching moments happened in the last week, both high and low, so let’s get right to it:
- So Mike Leach up and got fired. Apparently the officials at Texas Tech didn’t like how he handled Adam James. We’re thinking they are getting back at him for the contract dispute they had earlier this year. All they needed was an excuse and they got one from Craig James. Mild concussion or not, the fact that they had a trainer there with ice and water for the kid doesn’t show that he’s been treated poorly. If any mistreatment is happening, it’s from Papa James thinking his son has talent. This one is far from over, folks.
- The 911 call from Urban Meyer’s wife reveal that he was having massive chest pains after his Florida Gators lost to Alabama in the SEC Championship game. This guy puts everything he has into coaching. Funny how all it took was one practice and he came back to coaching, with 2 days removed from retirement. It’s truly inspiring and we hopes he recovers.
- Bobby Bowden won his last game ever against West Virginia , a team he once coached, in the Gator Bowl. He even got to plants the spear on the filed. A tradition held by the the team’s mascot. Our question: when is Joe Paterno next? Not soon, as his Penn State team whupped up on LSU.
- Domino’s CEO David Brandon has accepted the athletic director position at the University of Michigan. What does pizza have to do with college sports? Usually during the games in the stadiums its hot dogs and cotton candy. Who knows? Brandon did play for Bo Schembechler, however. So it looks like pizza will send for Rich Rodriguez if he doesn’t make a bowl this year.
- ESPN will unveil a 3D channel next year and show the BCS National Championship game on it in 2011. What could be better than seeing that goofy mascot head pop onto Lee Corso’s body in glorious 3D? Okay, lots of things. But now all we need are glasses and a tv equipped with 3D technology and we can enjoy it all together!
Ah, yes the Sunflower Showdown. I was at the game last year and it was a blowout. I’m heading to the game this year and it’s a homecoming in a way. I make no bones about being a K-Stater and while I do my best to be objective, the Purple Pride eeks out ahead. So when I go to the game today, I will be reliving the days of past when I was a student. I will also be going back to the source and inspiration for this website.
Continue reading GameDay: Going Old School →
Media days are over and the flood gates have opened up for college football news. Practices start this week and the preview magazines are all over the place. We are so close and the Crib Sheet has made it so far. We’re not sure yet if we’ll continue this in the regular season or not, but for the next couple of weeks prepare to get bombarded with news from all sides. Bring a snorkle, here is this week’s Crib Sheet:
- Wrapping up Big 12 Media we have K-State and Bill Snyder still angry about the audits after Jon Wefald left. Bill, it happens after every school president leaves. Relax. The sad thing is people are talking about that and not his return at the media days. Maybe he is spending too much time keeping up with technology.
- Colorado coach Dan Hawkins backtracked from the 10 win guarantee and stated that it was a challenge to his team to win 10 games. There is no way he is going to achieve that goal. The way the North is looking in the Big 12 and the toughness blowing up from South, it would be hard pressed for this Buffalo team to compete.
- Sergio Kindle from Texas made a surprise appearance at the media days. Awhile ago he crashed a car into an apartment complex apparently while texting. We think he was drunk. He got away and Mack Brown will make sure he leaves the phone at home from now on.
- Big 10 media days happened as well. The big surprise is they might adjust the schedule to pad some games at the end of the season. They need that to actually compete in the big bowls that happen around the start of the year. The not so big surprise is that Joe Pa is not going to retire soon.
- Steven Sipple seems to be the only one crying about the new Cowboys Stadium in Texas. He makes a good point but the massive complex might help draw more money for the league. Yes, it would continue the South slant perception in the Big 12, but that’s a perception and not a reality.
- Hawaii coach Greg McMakin apologized about a remark he made at the WAC media days when the Rainbow Warriors played The Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Hawaii Bowl. He essentially said the Fighting Irish danced like they were little things that the British call cigarettes. Yeah, he probably shouldn’t have said it in a press conference. But it’s a little ridiculous that he is now suspended for 30 days with no pay.
- Looks like Jake Trotter polled 29 of the 38 football players at the Big 12 media days and found that Ralphie is the most favorite mascot, followed by this week’s Mascot Monday entrant Bevo. We here at the KCCGD think that maybe the football players polled should take a better look at some of the local talent (Willie the Wildcat, Truman, Big Jay, and Baby Jay) before they plunk down their choice.
- When Lee Corso suffered a stroke in May, everyone thought his career would be over. Well, not so fast my friends. The former coach and now goofy commentator is hitting the weights hard to get ready for his return to College GameDay on ESPN. Good luck, Lee.
- Looks like Oklahoma will be playing Army for a 2 game series in 2018. No, they won’t be playing at Yankee Stadium, it will be at each team’s home field. We’re gonna go out on a limb and say that Army will be competitive by then, either from the Black Knights rising or the Sooners dropping. Hopefully they’ll keep those cool camo uniforms for the game.
The Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, is this week and we here at the KCCGD have always enjoyed getting our game on. News wise there wasn’t anything too exciting in terms of college sports going on down there. Wii Sports Resort looks pretty good and the UFC game coming out also looks pretty tight. We waggle our joystick to the great EA College Football game and there’s a soft spot in the heart for USC because of the National title run we had way back in 2004. Now let’s waggle our joystick for college football news:
- ESPN College Football Analyst Lee Corso recovered from a minor stroke due to small blocakge in the artery. He issued a press release filled with many of his coaching quips. My guess is all of the mascot heads he put on in his career let to the stroke.
- Colorado lost a big time receiver Josh Smith to the lure of big time hip hop. It seems everyone wants to be a star and apparently the shine is on music instead of football. Let’s face it, he was playing at Colorado. No offense there.
- The rivalry for Mizzou against Illinois will stop in 2010. Apparently Illinois doesn’t like the neutral site aspect of the series. Either that, or they’ve been getting walloped in the series. It’s not good news for Mizzou because that game was a rivalry they could actually win.
- To help with the economy, Kansas will have split season tickets available this year. This is something the Kansas City Chiefs started doing a couple of years ago and look how it turned out for them. Uh Oh.
- Big time Missouri recruit Sheldon Richardson will be heading to a Juco this year due to really bad grades. Seeing as everyone either graduated or jumped to the draft, the Tigers will be weak this year. It might be a good time to sit out a year and beef up for next year.
- A small change in the BCS that goes into effect after the 2010 season means that if either a Pac 10 team or Big 10 team gets to the BCS National Championship Game, they have to give a Rose Bowl slot to a Mid Major Conference. This is a peace offering for the yelping we’ve been hearing about the BCS and mid majors recently. Whether or not it’s a big deal, we’ll find out. At this point it’s fine because the both conferences don’t have a conference championship.
College Sports, Kansas City style
