Yup, you heard us right. It’s the first of what looks to be a ton of road trips for the KCCGD crew this year. The first stop is down in the heart of Kansas. We’ll be touring one of the best sports bars in Wichita, but we don’t kn0w which one just yet. We’ll have to wait for the locals to point us in the right direction. Let’s face it, no one else in the KCCGD viewing area will be out and about in Wichita so we’re not too worried. As of now, we are looking at some potential in Mulligan’s Pub, Larry Bud’s, Heroes, Players, The Fieldhouse, or maybe Emerson Biggins. We’ll tweet that out when we know, follow us @kccgd.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
It’s time to go camping! The teams are gearing up and we geared up for our own camp adventure last week. :
The two biggest movers and shakers from the off season’s expansion bonanza might actually play each other. There was the talk of Notre Dame and none other than Texas will play each other in a couple of years. Good for both programs. If the Longhorns end up with an exclusive television station, this game might only be played on Longhorns TV and NBC.
Assistant coach Bruce Walker from Missouri was arrested last week on a DWI. The coaches and some of their wives were coming back from a trip to the Lake of the Ozarks. Now we’ve been down there many times and we can say that more than likely you will be coming back drunk from down there. A cab was called, he should’ve taken it. But hey, Missouri’s used to making bad choices, right?
Meanwhile, in Ames, Iowa State defensive back David Simms plead guilty to the credit card fraud charge. He sits out the first game against Northern Illinois. See kids? Crime doesn’t pay (kinda).
Not only does Kansas have to deal with Holden Tharp’s year ending injury, but now they have to change the fight song! Colorado and Nebraska are somehow featured in the song and since they are high tailing out of the conference, new words must be had.
So while Boise State’s head coach Chris Peterson banned Twitter use for players, the player who incited the haymaker from LeGarrette Blount spoke up and let us know what he said. “How ’bout that (expletive)-whuppin?” So Blount was talking smack before the game and this guy threw it in his face afterward.
The Bill Snyder 2.0 magic is in effect. The Kansas State Wildcats reported record contributions for the last year. It also helps that a very public blunder by Bob Krause fed the anxiety of said contributors.
The USA Today Top 25 pre season poll is out! Top five in order are Alabama, Ohio State, Florida, Texas, and Boise State. Yes, a mid major is up there and TCU is not far behind. Big 12 wise we have Oklahoma and Nebraska at 8 and 9 respectively. How much will this change in the next couple months? We can’t wait for the season to get here.
UCLA is falling apart right before Kansas State’s eyes. The middle game is gone with two season ending injures and an academically ineligible tag. We think Daniel Thomas is drooling just a little bit more at this rushing opportunity.
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.
Okay, we are begging to plug up the hole speculation regarding the Big 10 expansion. Our series covered what we think and we’ve had just about enough talk to last us awhile. It’s time to start focusing on real football and clean up for the mess left behind from the slick speculation. Don’t worry, we’ll leave the camera on while we do it. We’ll also leave it up to the Crib Sheet if you need your fix. Here ya go:
Where Joe Paterno wants the Big 10 Conference to expand, his kid Jay doesn’t. His major point is the erosion of rivalries that kept the league strong for so many years. You’d think the tradition argument would come from the old Paterno and not the young one.
BCS Commissioner Bill Hancock responded to Congress’ questions on the BCS with a 5 page letter basically telling them to back off. Money’s at play here and it looks like Washington wants to step in an regulate some flow their way. Is this really the right way to get to a college football playoff?
Tulsa World columnist Dave Sittler layed the smack down on Missouri athletics last week. The Tigers spend more money than five schools in the Big 12 and only has 8 championships to claim. That’s the lowest in the conference. Does the Big 10 really want to invite a traditional loser?
A bunch of big wigs piled onto both Texas Tech and former head coach Mike Leach for the handling of concussed daddy’s boy Adam James. House Judiciary Committee member Linda Sanchez and NFLPA doctor Thom Mayer both were wondering why the injury was hidden and not available for doctors to treat. Nasty drama aside, the doctor’s should be there to help treat players if they get a concussion.
Remember all of the hub-bub about Michigan getting in trouble over practicing players too much? Well, today the university self-imposed restrictions to head off and NCAA troubles. Essentially they are cutting back practicing hours and shrinking down some of the coaching staff. Will this affect the Wolverines play next year?
Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops weighed on the expansion speculation, telling reporters that the Sooners would be a good fit anywhere. Way to really stand out on the ledge Bobby. Sure the Sooners would be great anywhere, how does that add any more insight into the expansion talk? What we have here is coach talk 101. You say your team is the best no matter the scenario.
It’s a great day for us here at the KCCGD headquarters. Later today we will wrap up out series on the Big 10 Expansion, and we are taking a look at the last real candidate for expansion we have yet to cover in our mascot playground. Not only that, but we are out of Big 12 mascots to feature. So what better way to knock out two birds with one stone, or in this case a fist, with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Leprechaun. Believe it or not, this green fella was not the original mascot way back when. Also, the mascot is one of the more unique type of mascots out there. Smack down some shepherd’s pie and pull back a Guinness, we are about to crazy Irish here.
Okay, we talked about the Big 10 expansion with all of the goodbits on the business side of things, but what about us? What about the fans? How will the average stool jockey be affected if and when the Big 10 decides to expand out beyond its current bounds? From the Trojan sporting LA type to the gator chomping tanned Floridian, the effect could be small. Or it could be big. The closer the proximity to the Big 10, the more the fans will experience change, especially right here in Kansas City. Let’s see what can happen as we narrow the focus down to right here at the KCCGD headquarters.
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.
For the first time in about 6 months, the KCCGD headquarters opened up the windows to let the weather in. The first signs of warm weather and great tempatures can mean only one thing. No, not the start of baseball, but the start of spring practice. The recruits are signed and the players that can practice are on the field. Start the clock, we have about 5 months to go before the start of another football season. In the meantime, check out this week’s Crib Sheet:
Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez was named in yet another lawsuit involving home deals. This shouldn’t affect his on the field coaching much this season. He’s still avoiding the hot seat, but if he turns out another poor performance, then these kind of lawsuits will be used as ammo against him.
Meanwhile, the grounds crew and security detail for the Big House needs to get its act together. Someone broke into the stadium and lifted a big chunk of the ‘M’ in the middle of the field. What would you do with that? Make a jacket?
Urban Meyer is back to Florida and is already spitting fire. He lashed out at Orlando Sentinel reporter Jeremy Fowler for reporting the comments that Deonte Thompson made about exiting quarterback Tim Tebow. It’s nice to see the fire is back so quick for Meyer, let’s hope he doesn’t drop 20-30 pounds because of it.
Kansas coach Turner Gill is open to positions changes for the new football season and about 9 players have taken advantage of it so far. It’s time to rebuild the program and what better way to do so than with kids playing the positions they want. At least they’ll be more motivated.
Another football player was stabbed to death. This time it’s Kendall Berry of Florida International University. This, of course, was a result of an argument and retaliation. Hopefully, they will find the guy that did it. When will players see enough of this and not get involved with off campus thugs. And a suspect has been arrested in the case.
After much fanfare and celebration, the loved International Bowl is closing up shop. Well, there were really only around for about 4 years. The Big East team that ran over the MAC opponents will now face stiffer competition in the Yankee Bowl.
So I’m just now getting back into the swing of things now that I’m back from the SXSW conference. The yearly Music/Film/Interactive conference can take a toll on your body and even though I got back Monday, I’m still feeling the effect. The drive there uses I-35 and actually hits up a couple of college towns. Big 12 wise, we sped through Oklahoma’s home in Norman and landed in Austin, the home of the Texas Longhorns. Which one is better? It’s not fair, really. The conference was in Austin and I only drove through Oklahoma. Now here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:
Speaking of Texas, apparently they are hitting the eiquette skills as well as the plyometric skills down in Austin. If you are going to be a football dignitary, the I guess you would need to know how to flaunt elitist like chops. Do they really need to know how to hold a fork right when tearing into some ribs from the Salt Lick, however?
Weakened and ill coach Urban Meyer returned to the Florida Gators and practice last week. If you remember he quit the team due to health reasons but then came back when he realized that he could get better. Or at least put on some poundage. This year will be a nice off year for Meyer so he can reload next year, both on football and his health.
Just like when baseball’s Chicago Cubs shocked everyone and had its first ever night game a decade or two ago, now the Big House in Michigan will be doing the same. What better way to do so than against the Notre Dame Fighthing Irish? This should be a close game, with a new coach on one side and another almost on the hot seat.
Expansion or not, the Pac 10 may be looking into instituting a conference title game. Commissioner Larry Scott mentioned that when going over all expansion possibilities with CBS Sports. There’s an NCAA rule that states you need to have 12 teams to have a conference title game. So if they do want to do it without expansion, then they need to change that rule.
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!
It’s a short week here as we’re are in training for Thanksgiving Thursday. We thought about calling up Mark Mangino to help us train but we don’t like being verbally abused and we most certainly don’t want him to hog all of the food. So here we are stretching and exercising for the marathon of food we get to sprint through. A couple of things to note in setting your eat order is: Do you use dark meat or white meat? Are you a gravy fan? Pumpkin or Apple pie? These answers can lead you to the top of the glutton mountain and be crowned the Feast King. Now here’s the Pick It and Stick It standings:
This week we go back to the 810 Zone, but this time it’s the one that started it all in Leawood, Kansas. Now before we started the blog, we had a nasty television mix up at this location. Hopefully things will be better because we are there for the Big 12 North battle. Who will win in the defense match up between Kansas State and Nebraska? Show up to find out. Meanwhile, we’ll snack on some apps, marvel at the number of beers on tap, and perhaps play a game or two. It should be a kick butt time and we hope you can make it out. Consider this the make-up for missing out on alot of football from Paddy O’Quigley’s last week.
Another road trip is coming our way. Find out tomorrow where. But first we need to sift through the week’s news on the Crib Sheet. It’s a divisional beat down for the next couple of weeks in the Big 12 North. Nobody wants to win it and we’ll see who has just enough heart to show up against Texas in the Big 12 Championship game. Who will win it? Drop a comment below with your thoughts. Meanwhile, here’s the Crib Sheet:
Tennessee showed up to their game against ranked South Carolina in a Halloween flavored black shirt with orange pants. It helped them spook the Gamecocks to an upset victory. They should wear those more often.
Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh received a ticket for negligent driving after nailing some cars to avoid a cat. Oh he also blew a 0.035 after admitting some drinking. It’s all legal, he just did some car damage. Would you swerve to avoid a cat?
Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe wants the NCAA to consider teams with 6-6 records as having a winning record. Before those teams could only go if there was a contract to use on a bowl game. We’re thinking this has to do with how bad the conference is doing right now. Nice try, Dan.
Former Very Highly Touted recruit Darrell Scott is leaving the Colorado Buffaloes. Apparently he’s frustrated with how bad the program is and is looking to transfer to UCLA after the semester. Dan Hawkins, your time is almost gone.
