Tag Archives: San Diego State

Purple Yeti Roar 15: Cold Drafts Help Make Me Sick

Man I don’t even remember what I was talking about.  The drugs kind of knocked me out.  Oh wait, I think it was something about the NFL Draft, Kansas State, the BCS, The Rose Bowl, the Liberty Bowl, and Bo Pelini.  Something else is in there but I dig through the discarded facial tissues to get it. Continue reading Purple Yeti Roar 15: Cold Drafts Help Make Me Sick

Bowl Pick It and Stick It: Puttering Off To A Tiny Start

Alrighty, we are back after a major kick off to the bowl season!  Um, okay it wasn’t that major.  We had three bowls Saturday and that was about it.  The weekend’s bouts featured on of the funniest sounding bowl names (Idaho Potato) as well as one of the funniest sounding matchups (San Diego State vs Louisiana Lafayette).  Only one game was a dud but the others provided some late game excitement.  I didn’t really watch them as much because of real day job work, but I caught enough of it to be happy bowl season started.  Let’s look at the standings:

Continue reading Bowl Pick It and Stick It: Puttering Off To A Tiny Start

Bowl Pick It and Stick It 2011: 6 and 8 Split

Yes, it’s bowl season and I’ve got a hankering for one more Bowl Pick It and Stick It.  This time bowling is more exciting for me outside of the BCS Bowls.  Part of it is the fact that Kansas State got jipped out of an appearance at the Sugar Bowl, but the other part is that the line up BCS wise is just not interesting enough.  The Sugar and the Orange are lame.  The BCS National Championship Game is a rematch of boredom.  The Fiesta and Rose look good but the overall product leaves me underwhelmed.  That’s what I’m stoked for the Cotton Bowl.  It’s non BCS and has a top 10 BCS match up with Kansas State taking on Arkansas.  SEC vs Big 12.  Hell yeah.  Click on through for the Bowl Pick It and Stick It information.

 

Pick It and Stick It Link: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/bowl/group/2195/invitation?key=8648873bde407264
Group: 2195
Password: gobig12

So here’s the rest of the bowl line up:

Bowl Location Date/Time Network
Gildan New Mexico
Temple vs. Wyoming
Albuquerque, N.M.
University Stadium
Dec. 17
2 p.m.
ESPN
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Ohio vs. Utah State
Boise, Idaho
Bronco Stadium
Dec. 17
5:30 p.m.
ESPN
R+L Carriers New Orleans
San Diego State vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
New Orleans
Mercedes-Benz Superdome
Dec. 17
9 p.m.
ESPN
Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg
Florida International vs. Marshall
St. Petersburg, Fla.
Tropicana Field
Dec. 20
8 p.m.
ESPN
S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia
TCU vs. Louisiana Tech
San Diego
Qualcomm Stadium
Dec. 21
8 p.m.
ESPN
MAACO Las Vegas
Arizona State vs. Boise State
Las Vegas
Sam Boyd Stadium
Dec. 22
8 p.m.
ESPN
Sheraton Hawaii
Nevada vs. Southern Miss
Honolulu
Aloha Stadium
Dec. 24
8 p.m.
ESPN
AdvoCare V100 Independence
Missouri vs. North Carolina
Shreveport, La.
Independence Stadium
Dec. 26
5 p.m.
ESPN2
Little Caesars
Western Michigan vs. Purdue
Detroit
Ford Field
Dec. 27
4:30 p.m.
ESPN
Belk
Louisville vs. NC State
Charlotte, N.C.
Bank of America Stadium
Dec. 27
8 p.m.
ESPN
Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman
Toledo vs. Air Force
Washington, D.C.
RFK Stadium
Dec. 28
4:30 p.m.
ESPN
Bridgepoint Education Holiday
California vs. Texas
San Diego
Qualcomm Stadium
Dec. 28
8 p.m.
ESPN
Champs Sports
Florida State vs. Notre Dame
Orlando, Fla.
Florida Citrus Bowl
Dec. 29
5:30 p.m.
ESPN
Valero Alamo
Washington vs. Baylor
San Antonio
Alamodome
Dec. 29
9 p.m.
ESPN
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces
BYU vs. Tulsa
Dallas
Gerald J. Ford Stadium
Dec. 30
Noon
ESPN
New Era Pinstripe
Rutgers vs. Iowa State
Bronx, N.Y.
Yankee Stadium
Dec. 30
3:20 p.m.
ESPN
Franklin American Mortgage Music City
Mississippi State vs. Wake Forest
Nashville, Tenn.
LP Field
Dec. 30
6:40 p.m.
ESPN
Insight
Iowa vs. Oklahoma
Tempe, Ariz.
Sun Devil Stadium
Dec. 30
10 p.m.
ESPN
Meineke Car Care of Texas
Texas A&M vs. Northwestern
Houston
Reliant Stadium
Dec. 31
Noon
ESPN
Hyundai Sun
Georgia Tech vs. Utah
El Paso, Texas
Sun Bowl
Dec. 31
2 p.m.
CBS
AutoZone Liberty
Cincinnati vs. Vanderbilt
Memphis, Tenn.
Liberty Bowl
Dec. 31
3:30 p.m.
ABC
Kraft Fight Hunger
Illinois vs. UCLA
San Francisco
AT&T Park
Dec. 31
3:30 p.m.
ESPN
Chick-fil-A
Virginia vs. Auburn
Atlanta
Georgia Dome
Dec. 31
7:30 p.m.
ESPN
TicketCity
Houston vs. Penn State
Dallas
Cotton Bowl
Jan. 2
Noon
ESPNU
Outback
Michigan State vs. Georgia
Tampa, Fla.
Raymond James Stadium
Jan. 2
1 p.m.
ABC
Capital One
Nebraska vs. South Carolina
Orlando, Fla.
Florida Citrus Bowl
Jan. 2
1 p.m.
ESPN
Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl
Ohio State vs. Florida
Jacksonville, Fla.
EverBank Field
Jan. 2
1 p.m.
ESPN2
Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio
Wisconsin vs. Oregon
Pasadena, Calif.
Rose Bowl
Jan. 2
5 p.m.
ESPN
Tostitos Fiesta
Stanford vs. Oklahoma State
Glendale, Ariz.
U. of Phoenix Stadium
Jan. 2
8:30 p.m.
ESPN
Allstate Sugar
Michigan vs. Virginia Tech
New Orleans
Louisiana Superdome
Jan. 3
8:30 p.m.
ESPN
Discover Orange
West Virginia vs. Clemson
Miami
Sun Life Stadium
Jan. 4
8:30 p.m.
ESPN
AT&T Cotton
Kansas State vs. Arkansas
Arlington, Texas
Cowboys Stadium
Jan. 6
8 p.m.
FOX
BBVA Compass Bowl
SMU vs. Pittsburgh
Birmingham, Ala.
Legion Field
Jan. 7
1 p.m.
ESPN
GoDaddy.com
Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois
Mobile, Ala.
Ladd-Peebles Stadium
Jan. 8
9 p.m.
ESPN
Allstate BCS National Championship Game
No. 1 LSU vs. No. 2 Alabama
New Orleans
Louisiana Superdome
Jan. 9
8:30 p.m.
ESPN

Remember it’s a straight up pick but you can rank your confidence from 1 to 35.  What other bowls are interesting you ask?  Well, let’s start with the Big 12.  Baylor and Washington look good for the Alamo Bowl, thanks to Robert Griffin III’s Hesiman win.  Oklahoma playing Iowa for the first time in forever in the Insight Bowl sees Sooner head coach Bob Stoops head to his alma mater.  What other games look good?  How about the Outback Bowl with Georgia taking on Michigan State, another version of the BCS snub bowl.  That’s about it for me.  The others are decent but they just don’t jump out to me.  Come back every Monday from here on out, though and we’ll go over the picks.

Crib Sheet: The Chips Have Fallen Into the Bowls

The teams have been announced that cards played out on the table.  The big hand is lame this year but the side bets are sexier.  That’s right the regular season is over and now we are flipping over to bowl season.  There were some snubs as usual, but the Big 12 lineup of bowls still looks pretty strong.  The Cotton Bowl is right up there with the BCS bowls in terms of interesting match ups.  Kansas State vs Arkansas, or Big 12 vs SEC, like it should be.  Call your bets and flop on over to this week’s Crib Sheet.

Continue reading Crib Sheet: The Chips Have Fallen Into the Bowls

Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 11: Saucy Selections

Oh yeah!  I’m already thinking about what to do for the tailgating experience this weekend.  I’m not sure if we actually have a spot to smoke some meat so we may be grilling guerilla style.  What does that mean?  Slapping some meat in a backpack and finding some friendlies for grilling.  It should be quite the adventure.  Speaking of adventure, the corner has turned for Bryce Brown for Heisman.  It’s up to the rest of the league to catch up.  Let’s take a look at the pick set: Continue reading Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 11: Saucy Selections

Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 06: Pick the Bigger One

I have to say I’m a little giddy at the news that TCU will be accepting the offer to join the Big 12.  Yeah, I know that they turned the gravy train around from the Big East but they are a better fit and I’m sure they were a little shakey about that conference after Pitt and Syracuse decided to leave.  Yes, the Big East is in HUGE trouble, and now it’s the Big 12’s turn to take a deep breath and grab a couple of more teams.  In fact, I’d say it’s high time for the Big 12 to Pick It and Stick It!  Speaking of which, we have another exciting weekend of action on the field and on your pick sets.  Let’s go over the list:

Continue reading Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 06: Pick the Bigger One

Pick It And Stick It 2011 Week 04: Sticking Together

Whew!  Another close one for the Big 12.  I swear, the Big 12 is the greatest thing since MTV’s The Real World.  If you want to talk about the best conferences, then the one with the best drama factor definitely is the Big 12.  Yeah, they are staying together but we really don’t know for how long.  So while they hold hands again and tell everybody that things are cool, let’s focus on some actual football.  This week’s Pick It an Stick It kind of reflects the noise off the field.  Like the Big 12, most of the great games are stuck together around 2:30 Saturday.  That’s fine for me and my barspotting trip, but how will it fare for the picks? Continue reading Pick It And Stick It 2011 Week 04: Sticking Together

PIck It and Stick It: Fling It Home

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.

Continue reading PIck It and Stick It: Fling It Home

Crib Sheet: Giant Chocolate Egg

It’s warmed over, too.  This week’s Crib Sheet celebrates Easter by dropping news eggs all over the place.  Grab your basket and find them buried in the grass of the Crib Sheet.  Don’t get your fingers messy:

  • It looks like Texas new defensive coordinator’s had a weird upbringing in coaching terms.  He’s been at ESPN first, then a video guy at Florida State, and then on to coaching positions.  It also looks like he takes inspiration from other sports, too.  Will this shake things up enough for the Longhorns and turn the defense around?  We’ll find out.
  • The Big 12 Conference announced a mega-deal with Fox for broadcasting rights.  Dan Beebe was right.  They reportedly negotiated a $90 million a year deal through the next 13 years.  The big plus?  Every home game will be on some form of television starting in 2012.  Well that and each school has a the chance to kick up their own network.
  • The officer who shot and killed the Pace University football player, Denroy Henry Jr., received the Officer of the Year Award from the police union where he works.  Their reasoning is that the officer showed bravery through that time and all of his time working for the department.  This angered alot of folks.  It depends on who you believe on what happened.  I just don’t like that it’s a union that gets to dole out the award.
  • Not to be outdone by fellow conference fashionistas Oregon, Arizona State unveiled their new uniforms for the year.  They will be changing colors left and right.  On top of that, their helmets are new, with big giant pointy tridents.  The Ducks did this and they won but they also hired the right coach.  That’s the kind of makeover the Sun Devils could really use.
  • In another case of me-too’s, Auburn will build statues for their Heisman Trophy winners, like what Florida did.  The only difference is that there’s a darker cloud hanging over Cam Newtan than there is hanging over Tim Tebow.  I wonder if they’ll add that to the design.  Oh, and Nick Saban had his own statue erected, too.
  • There will be even more Blubaughs in prison as Tom’s wife, Charlette, will get 57 months in prison for her role in the Kansas ticket scandal.  I didn’t know women’s prisons had Blubaughs too.  Maybe they should make a movie about it.
  • Dennis Dodd of CBS has an interesting article on 7-on-7 leagues in high school.  It seems they are the AAUs of football.  Jay Paterno is correct about how coaches can’t tell if a kid can take a hit.  I hope something gets down soon about these because I don’t want football to turn into a ballet.  We could use a couple of big hits in a game.
  • Now that the Fiesta Bowl is in trouble, they are scrambling to get money back from lawmakers who took the kickbacks from them.  If it’s anything related to government, then it will take a long time before the Fiesta Bowl sees a dime.
  • A couple of rule changes are coming down the pike for next year.  The NCAA approved more stringent below the waist penalties and gave the option for teams to run 10 seconds off the clock on penalties within the final minute of the half.  Nothing earth shattering but an improvement indeed.
  • Notre Dame released the investigation report relating to Declan Sullivan’s death earlier this year.  They found the no single person was responsible but there was a lax in safety.  Apparently the weather data was out of date.  This does seem kind of fishy,  I hope the school pays tons of money to parents of Sullivan to avoid a lawsuit.
  • There was a tussle online about the Boise State’s AD, Gene Bleymaier, and his fiery words about the BCS.  That’s just talk.  What’s more important to me is that the school trademarked the blue turf and will protect the likeness of the field in FBS terms, while allowing it to happen to divisions below.  Since when is a blue field trademarkable?  That seems a little too much to me.  At least one coach in the Mountain West Conference, sees it as an unfair competitive advantage as well.  San Diego State’s Rocky Long hates it and I suggest the Aztecs change their field to candy striped or fractal like patterns.
  • So while the NCAA is busy messing up student athletes and their lack of scholarship funding, they find time to make some even dumber team name penalties.  North Dakota passed a state law to keep the Fighting Sioux nickname but it will not stop the NCAA from administrating penalties because of their perception of the name.  The NCAA considers it offensive and will take money away from the school.  The deeper issue is that two tribes in the area are split over the decision.  Why is the NCAA trying to influence an issue that clearly doesn’t involve them?  Let the tribes and the state figure it out and get out of the way.

Mascot Monday: The Aztec Warrior


You know it’s fun to dress up when you’re a mascot. Most of the time, all you have to do is zip up costume, toss on some shoulder pads, and drop a big ole furry head on your shoulders. That’s tons of fun, but to me, slapping on some warpaint and gigging up to look like a warrior is way better. That’s why I’m pumped to talk about The Aztec Warrior and San Diego State. It seems fluffy characters outweigh the human ones so when I get a chance to review one that sports weapons, I get super psyched.

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Crib Sheet: The Groundhog Lied

Spring practice is kicking up the mud hidden from under the snow but I’m not finding it too exciting.  I could talk about the NFL Combine but it would be all about the Wonderlic Test.  So on this week’s Crib Sheet, I will talk about the Groundhog.  I remember him saying something this year about an early Spring.  Then about 5 inches of snow dumped on me.  I’ve got the grill ready, somebody bring me the Groundhog.  That will make things warm real quick.  On to the Crib Sheet:

Continue reading Crib Sheet: The Groundhog Lied

Crib Sheet: I’m on a Highway to Carousel Hell

The bowl season ended Monday and there was a ton of news that happened over the last week.  It’s mostly who’s coming and who’s going.  It’s what I like to call the Carousel Hell.  So put your seatbelt on get ready to go round and round, here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:

  • Mike Leach’s legal battle with Texas Tech may have cost him the Maryland job.  He said that he thought he was the frontrunner, but the Terps went with UConn coach Mike Edsall.  He hasn’t been contacted by other schools at the moment.
  • RichRod is officially out of Michigan now.  Blow up the program part two.  It makes me warm inside to think the same thing that happened to Nebraska a couple of years ago with Bill Callahan is now happening with another team I dislike immensely.  Good days.
  • It’s even better for Brady Hoke.  The former Michigan alum and former San Diego State head coach is now your new Michigan head coach.  They wanted a Michigan man and they got one.  I give it about another 3 years before a turnaround happens.
  • After showing up Michigan’s Denard Robinson and holding the team to 14 points, Manny Diaz will take his talents to Texas as defensive coordinator.  He leaves Mississippi State and will be belting buckles in Austin.  Let’s hope he didn’t fall for that ‘coach in waiting’ stuff.
  • No surprises here.  Fox has the rights to the Pac 12 Championship Game.   They already show conference games on Fox Sports Net so it makes sense they do the title game.
  • The Playoff PAC is looking to stir up some smoke on the BCS.  They are filing a complaint with the IRS regarding a cruise the Orange Bowl put on for college athletic directors over the summer.  Shady or not, this seems like arrows instead of missiles for the Playoff PAC people.  If there’s going to be a change, they can’t dink and dunk it.
  • Stanford’s Andrew Luck is staying behind for another year of college.  This will make Blaine Gabbertt a sexier pick for the NFL Draft coming up in a couple of months.  He’ll have to battle for the top quarterback spot with Arkansas’ Ryan Mallet, though.  Gabbert may see his Aldon Smith in the NFL as well.
  • So TCU won the Rose Bowl.  Someone then paid for a billboard congratulating the team.  Except it was in Columbus, Ohio.  Yeah someone with big pockets wanted to rub it in the Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee’s face.  He was running his mouth earlier about the mid-con teams not being worthy and now I guess he gets to eat crow.
  • Speaking of the Horned Frogs, head coach Gary Patterson notched himself a 2 year extension with the program.  You go undefeated in two regular seasons, you deserve that and a ham sandwich.
  • Stud Oklahoma receiver Ryan Broyles will be coming back for another year.
  • A Boise State assitant coach is going to big time.  By big time I mean Texas Offensive Coordinator.  It seems Mack Brown and company lured Bryan Harsin away from the Broncos to infuse the team with a flashier offense.
  • Texas Tech told the NCAA that they texted too much.  That’s alliteration.  And that’s the news!
  • Head BCS Honcho Bill Hancock reminded everyone that a playoff is way below in priority for the college bowl partners.  He said that even the old way of bowls would be considered first. Seriously, he does a great job of stirring the pot.
  • Kansas State athletic director John Currie also gets a two year extension to his contract chock full of some tasty incentives.  He’s done an alright job.  The goal now is to maintain it.
  • The BCS Championship Game happened Monday and it garnished the best cable ratings ever.  Yet, the actual viewership is down.  This is what happens when the biggest game of the year ends up on cable.  Seriously, why didn’t Disney toss the game on ABC instead of ESPN?  Television is becoming more live sport driven than anything else.  Still, until I can replicate the experience of a sports bar in my basement, I will be going out for the games.
  • LSU’s Les Miles went to Michigan to talk about an open job but decided to stay with the Tigers.  Listen up childrens, this is the classic strategy head coaches employ to get them off the hot seat or get a raise.
  • Man we feel for UGA VIII, the mascot of the Georgia Bulldogs.  He didn’t make the trip to the bowl game last week and now we know why.  UGA VIII has lymphoma.  Jinkies, is the team as cursed as this dog is?
  • Former South Florida football coach Jim Leavitt settled out of court for some extra cash from the school.   He was canned for reportedly striking a walk on student.  He’s a defensive guy and because of that, the rumors are now flying about Leavitt coming back to Kansas State to take a defensive coordinator position.  Tune in next week, this is getting hotter.

Bowl Pick It and Stick It: Bowlnanza!

Here’s the first standings update for the Bowl Pick It and Stick It.  This time we’re mixing it up a bit and going for straight picks only.  Most of the time the match-ups in bowls are pretty even so it’s a gimmie on who will actually win the game.  I also beat up on people in the regular season with the confidence points addition.  We’ve had 3 games already so the pack is pretty tight.  The main course starts tonight so I’ll run down the games and blab about them as I see fit.  First, let’s go over the standings:

Continue reading Bowl Pick It and Stick It: Bowlnanza!

Pick It and Stick It: Wet and Moist

Rainy falls days make for some great college football talk.   This is the time of year when snow and rain play more into games on Saturday.  I talked about football weather before, but for some reason Kansas City has yet to see any kind of weather until now.  Maybe that makes up for the massive blast of cold and snow from last year.  Whatever it is, look for more slipping and sliding on the fields Saturday.  Also, look for more a slipping and a sliding on the picks this week.  We have about 30 games to chose from so confidence will play in heavily.

Continue reading Pick It and Stick It: Wet and Moist

Crib Sheet: My Head Hurts

It looks as though the NFL cracked down on concussions and big time hits, doling out suspensions for head on collisions now.   What does this mean for college football?  Probably the same type of suspension.  I’m not sure they will completely lock down like they do in the NFL.  I’m guessing that this sport may be going away in the next 15 years, or at least it will turn into more of an arena style of play.  Even for the colleges.  Now check out the Crib Sheet: