That’s right, I’ll be on a plane shortly but I want to get the picks up for the week. It’s hard to stay focused with the Big 12 in legal gridlock. You know, I thought professional wrestling was soap opera for guys but now I know that college football realignment is the real deal. No offense to the WWE, but this stuff is way better than the scripted stuff I used to watch. So as the conference turn, get your picks in and hope for the best.
The Bronx Salute. Everyone remembers it, or at lease they should. If you don’t, just think back to last year’s inaugural Pinstripe Bowl and Adrian Hilburn’s ‘salute’ to the fans after scoring a touchdown and moving the score to 36-24 and a 2 point conversion. He was penalized and the Wildcats had to go for 2 from the 18 yard line. They didn’t get it and lost the game. You could blame some poor play before, but I will point out that the NCAA changed rules in the off season due to this. So now it’s the 2011 season. I’m not asking if they will recover from that loss of the Pinstripe Bowl, but I will be asking about the loss of Daniel Thomas. And what I will see is Brown.
Only this time it’s smaller. Presidential hopeful Rick Perry open his mouth and pulled a Jay Nixon by saying that there are talks between Texas A&M and the SEC for a big move. Next thing you know, the whole damn college football world is on fire. Red fire! I’ve chosen to stay out of this one over the weekend. If I learned anything last year, it’s that nowadays rumors are 95% of the ‘reports’ out there and the other 5% has a shred of truth to it. So as of right now, the SEC is staying chill, The Texas A&M president has power to explore realignment as well as take his time, the NCAA may get involved, and Rick Perry now says he doesn’t expect Texas A&M to leave. If you’re asking me what will happen, I’m saying that A&M is out at the end of the BCS contract (2014). Why? The Big 12 will blow up after the restructure of the BCS and somehow, sadly, Texas finds the vacated ‘Notre Dame Automatic Bid’ and dumps the conference. The rest of the teams fill out the Mountain West, Big 10, and SEC.
Oh yeah lot’s of squawking and a talking this week. Media Days are here and the Big 12’s focus this year is the Longhorns Network, not the impending doom of the conference. Although some would say that the network is the started of a long doom for the conference. This week’s Crib Sheet delves into that as well as the usual news items that comes across my desk. So let’s dig in:
It’s ever so toasty down here in Austin, so I will keep this intro short and then grab some water. I broke a sweat already. Here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:
Two things this week made me realize college football is right around the corner. First, Phil Steele’s College Football Preview for 2011 went on sale yesterday. Second, the Crib Sheet has over 15 news items this week. It’s coming, so get ready. But first the Crib Sheet:
I’m recovered from Memorial Day, thanks to some fresh water and aloe vera. I did my part in taking a day of rest to recognize all of the great things our troops have done for America for its young history. I hope you did the same. Now I didn’t rest too much as the Crib Sheet must still keep chucking along. Here’s week’s edition:
I’m sure you’ve seen my previous post about the major move down to Austin yesterday. Yeah I’m still pretty shocked myself and I’m the one that knew about it for over month. Never fear, we’ll still chug along and it continues today with this week’s Crib Sheep:
Missouri players get together and bond by paintballing. I’ve never done it myself but I imagine pelting someone square in the chest with a faux bullet brings some sort of joy.
They already are bucking tradition by introducing a championship game, so it makes sense that Big 10 Commissioner Jim Delany is trying to push for later start times on games. Everyone knows the Big 10 starts mega early, with the Big 12, so why go and change it? I want to maximize my football watching day.
Speaking of the Big 10, Nebraska lost its AAU membership. Ho man that just made my week. One of the strong points for Nebraska to move was its AAU membership. Now both the Cornhuskers and the Big 10 look dumb.
Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tubberville offered his viewpoint on the whole ‘birthers’ debate. It’s few and far between when football comments on politics. I’d rather have that then the other way around.
The BCS set the dates for the bowl games next year, but they have to wait until the NFL cleans up its mess before they can lock it down. I’m not sure how long they will wait, as the NFL can bump a month and still have a full season.
It looks like being a part of the big boys for Boise State means having a couple of NCAA violations attached to their program. Its secondary so they won’t suffer too much. Welcome to big time, guys.
The Pac 12 will get a mega buck deal from Fox and ESPN, much like the Big 12. Except it’s the biggest deal in history. Too bad they have 2 more teams to split up the costs with.
No more new bowls for the next three years. The NCAA will review the licensing process in that time to determine if enough is enough. Three years is plenty time for the FBS to expand so that the bowls can expand without leaving the chance of a school with a losing record in on the fun.
What a long crazy week (and month) its been. It’s been so much fun that I haven’t had the opportunity to blast out another sweet tasting Mascot Monday. Welp, have no fear, I am back now ready to rock in full swing with another entrant into out mascot menagerie. Oh what? You want to know why I’ve been all weird and stuff? Welp, my only clue I’ll give you now is within this week’s mascot, Scrappy. North Texas is more than just Mean Green and Scrappy here is out to prove it. Can a mascot survive a school nickname that’s different and still be relavant?
The NFL Draft is coming up quick, no matter how weird it is, and will blow by even faster. This week’s Crib Sheet is just as windy. And it’s almost as windy as the weather is outside in the KC metro area. Hold on tight:
Spring is in the air and unfortunately, some of it stinks. Now I could be talking about the Fiesta Bowl scandal or perhaps the NFL lockout. Nope, it’s none of that. It’s the fact that I have to suffer through another summer of baseball before the real American pasttime takes the stage. Fortunately for me I have the Crib Sheet to keep my occupied. Oh and thank you Beano Cook for being awesome.
A former Texas A&M coach said that Willie Lyes, the same guy who was paid $25,000 from Oregon and is under NCAA investiagion, approached him and stated that he had beat $80,000 for a star recruit. With all of this money blowing up and flowing around college football, it was onlya a matter of time that recruitment services looking to get a cut of the pic made moves like these.
The Pac 10 is open for business and they’re letting the world know it. The exclusive negotiating rights for Fox expired and now it’s time to shop the conference across all of the television networks. Oh, they’ll get bank. It’s the big time now.
ESPN filed suit against Conference USA for dipping into the FX deal for prime time football games. It’s always cute when television stations and football conferences fight.
Soslan Gagloev was a Russian in Japan’s waters and kicking it sumo style. And he was winning. But he was busted for weed and now he’s playing some college football at Webber International Univeristy. Defensive back he ain’t. That said, sumo and any other kind of wrestling requires leverage work and that applies fantastically to line work in football. He should do alright.
Here’s a shocker: drug policies across all facets of college sports completely varies in policy. I think the AP suggests to streamline the whole process.
Colt McCoy’s younger brother, Case, is looking to take the reigns for the Texas Longhorns. He had a stellar spring practice. Who knows? Maybe that magic can happen again.
Speaking of Texas, their new network will be called the ‘Longhorn Network.’ There’s no deal for satellite deistributors but I’m guessing that it will blow up once they annoucne a couple of football games on the network.
Whoops! I guess I missed a Crib Sheet last week. . You know, I was in the midst of SXSW and was about to endure the worst Montezuma’s Revenge on this planet. I’m all caught up now and will deliver on this week’s Crib Sheet. That’s right, it’s a double sized version of the Crib Sheet. Whip out the bib we are about to get messy:
Stanford’s getting rid of their ‘easy’ classes for student athletes. Um, since when is any class at Stanford easy? Oh wait, I guess ‘Beginning Improvisation’ or ‘Social Dances of North America III’ can be classified as easy. Hey, Stanford’s rep is that they are in the upper echelon of scholastics so they need to make sure that everyone falls in line with it.
Oklahoma made about $10,000 in the Fiesta Bowl due to a policy in the Big 12 that states that the conference absorbs unsold tickets for the bowl game. Man, too bad UConn and the Big East didn’t have that one, the Huskies ended up losing out big time for the game.
On that same trip, let’s see what the Big 12’s finances were for the school last year. Obviously Texas made and spent the most dough. I think it’s interesting that Kansas State spent the least amount of money in the conference and still made a bowl game. Facts to chew on.
So while I was out, a rumor popped up that Fox was in the running for a new television deal with the Big 12. Numbers are flying all over the place but the important point is that there is demand. Predicted demand. I can fall asleep a little better tonight knowing that the smoke here will fire up the flame to keep the Big 12 warm for a long time.
So a lawyer, and former Ohio State player, tried to warn Jim Tressel about violations and it got Tressel in big trouble. So Jim Tressel violated NCAA rules and apologized to all about his err of ways. Being the great guy that he is, Tressel then decided that his two game suspension was not enough and took the same 5 game suspension that the players who broke the rules got. The only thing I see coming down from this is that the Big 10 next year is wide open. Maybe the streak for Big 10 titles for Ohio State will end next year?
I don’t like talking NFL as much, but former Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert is tearing it up. Not only was he sharp on the ball, he was also sharp in the Wonderlic. Having taken the Wonderlic myself recently, I can say that it’s very impressive to score as high as he did. Gabbert just may be the real deal.
In no surprise to everyone, Indiana regulators fined Notre Dame for six violations that led to the death of a 20 year old student. Hopefully everyone can take a look at this and try harder to make sure all personnel involved in college football are safe.
Kirk Herbstreit moved out of Ohio because the locals don’t get that being an analyst means that you should be objective. I guess the fans there complain about fairness and give away freebies to the local players. Great state that Ohio is.
Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops talks about his Twitter policy. I’m glad they didn’t ban it altogether but it is a little creepy that school officials are monitoring the accounts. But hey, everyone is monitoring everyone’s Twitter accounts, right?
Back again and were in love. The Crib Sheet today reminds us that every single thing, including the offseason lull, makes up the whole of our love for college football. Now, I’m not going to get all smushy and corny, but I will say that if college football was a person, I would hand it a candied heart that says, “Don’t Stop.” Now on to the Crib Sheet:
So a thrid party approached Wisconsin and TCU about a week and half after the Rose Bowl to see if they were interested in an opening day rematch next year. Wisconsin was all about it and TCU had better things to do. My guess that someone from the Big 10 couldn’t stand a mid-con whupping up on a stalwart in the hallowed gardens of the rose. This bit of news just made my day.
So instead of using students to make sure Kansas players go to class, the school is using really old people. It’s like the movie Red without the bullets and missles. I guess it’s a dream job for that retiree who wants to relive the glory days of Kansas and it’s great basketball team and weak football team.
Congrats to former Kansas State alum Jordy Nelson on his Green Bay Packers Super Bowl win. The game was pretty entertaining as I watched with friends. Maybe Jordy took a chunk out of Cowboys Stadium like I did for Chowboys Stadium? INSERT PHOTO
It looks like college football will once again try to emulate the NFL by adopting some of their rules again. The biggest one seems to be the 10 second run off rule. Let’s just hope that college football doesn’t adopt the ridiculous overtime rules the NFL had for the playoffs. INSERT LINK
Ruh-roh. The Fiesta Bowl hired a lawyer that specializes in the federal crime defense. I wonder what’s going on here? Maybe that Playoff Action Committee is pushing the right buttons? Or is the fact that chairman John Junker being placed on administrative leave have something to do with it? It looks like he dumped some money on politicians. I’m not sure this will damage the BCS but this will get interesting.
Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy has a bromance with Justin Bieber of all people. It seems Bieber has Gundy’s “I’m a Man! I’m 40!” rant as a ringtone and Gundy has a Bieber song on his. Oh that’s so cute.
The coaching carousel is almost at a stop and now we are getting closer to signing day. Who will go where? I don’t know. But one thing I do know is the Crib Sheet will keep you updated with all of the latest commitments and decommitments:
Jim Leavitt is going to the big time. Not Kansas State Defensive Coordinator, but San Fransisco 49ers linebackers coach. It stinks for Wildcats fans as they were hoping Leavitt would come in and fix the defense. Maybe Bill Snyder 2.0 has something else up this sleeve? Meanwhile, defensive backs coach Keith Burns is taking his show back to Ole Miss.
ESPN and the Texas Longhorns reached a 20 year, $300 million deal for a Longhorns Network. The school will be up for a tasty profit while the broadcast network will food the technical bills. Is this the end of the Big 12? Check back here in about 2 years.
Speaking of the Red Raiders, a Texas judges tossed out a portion of Mike Leach’s suit against the university, only allowing non-monetary claims for the firing of Leach over Adam James’ concussion. If you’re wondering why Leach has yet to be yired, look no further than here.
It seems Kansas is picking up the trail on the recruiting side of things. Turner Gill’s stealing recruits from neighboring states. I’m guessing his pitch is like this, “I’m a Nebraska guy that’s still in the Big 12. Kansas will be the new Nebraska of the Big 12.” That can seal some kids right there.
Fired sportscaster Ron Franklin is suing ESPN over the incident where he called a woman, “Sweetheart” in a production meeting. She objected and he called her an a-hole. I don’t know what to think about this. In the workplace, you can’t trust anyone when you say something because they may be out to get you canned, especially if it’s gender-related. I would say it’s safer to just be quiet and act professional. That said, “sweetheart” and “a-hole” is a pretty weak case to get fired over.
Here’s your BCS payout sheet. So the Big 12 was on the lower tier of payouts for the 6 BCS Conferences. Not bad, but if they had 2 teams in the BCS bowls then they would’ve been up higher. Notre Dame gets a pretty good chunk for being independent. The argument against the BCS right here is that the small guys are getting the smaller piece of the pie. I will merely point to TCU and how they are moving up by winning.
Some donors have high expectations. Take Robert G. Burton, major booster for UConn. Apparently he doesn’t like the athletic director and wants his $3 million in donations back and his name taken off the stadium. I’m pretty sure once you donate something, you can’t expect to get it back. But then again, if I had that kind of cash then I’d feel like I can run anything, too.
Ex Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins agreed to a $4,000 fine for improperly receiving exercise equipment as a gift. This should be the last we hear of this guy.
