Tag Archives: Tennessee

College, Football, News

Crib Sheet: The Heat Is On

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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.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5363743
College, Football, News

Crib Sheet: College Town World Tour

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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?
  • Much ballyhooed recruit Bryce Brown has left the Tennessee program, due to either personal issues or the fact that Lane Kiffin left.  So let the rumor mills begin again!  First one out of the gate:  Bryce’s brother left Miami and is heading the K-State.  So that means there may be a chance Bryce will come play for Bill Snyder 2.0 and the Wildcats.  I hope the second round of hype around Bryce is faster.
  • 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.
  • Nick Saban is your first ever Bobby Bowden national collegiate coach of the year.  The Over the Mountain Touchdown Club is in Bowden’s home town of Birmingham, Alabama.  Not much surprise here.  The coach that wins the national title for the school in the home state of the award title’s name.  Zlam Dunk.
  • 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.
College, Football, News

Crib Sheet: The Calm After the Storm

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Another week of the Crib Sheet and we are finally starting to see things calm down around the college football landscape.  There’s still some action here and there but we envision the news will be trickling out here in there for the offseason.  There’s still some loose ends that need to be tied up and we will stay there to make sure the granny knot is tight.    So keep in step with this week’s Crib Sheet:

Bowls, College, Football, News

Crib Sheet: Coaching Carousel

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Coaches come and coaches go, but we can’t believe how things are getting turned around in the very start of this off season.   Coaches leaving.  Coaches coming.  Some with long tenures, some with short.  The heads at the KCCGD headquarters are still a little scrambled.  Fortunately, we have this week’s Crib Sheet to help sort things out.  We’re sure you are about as confused as we are so let’s get right to it:

  • Missouri apologized for its band playing over the Navy’s fight song during their bowl game earlier.  It was the only thing they had over Navy in that game.  Navy’s still tooting their horn over the thumping they gave the Tigers.
  • South Florida fired Jim Leavitt after allegations of Leavitt beating up some kids.  The hammer is falling fast on tough coaches and it looks as though it will continue.  It almost seems like that’s enough for colleges to get out from under big contracts.  Either that or in this time and age you tell you assistant coach to rough up a kind instead of yourself.  So, Jim, take a deep breath and come back home to K-State.  Or hire a lawyer.
  • Meanwhile, on the fired coaches trip, Mike Leach accuses Texas Tech of slander and libel due to the fallout from his firing as head coach.  Leach’s camp states that the allegations from his treatment of Adam James hurts Leach’s reputation and his ability to get another job.  This legal battle will play out for a long time.  As you guessed it, Texas Tech asked the court to throw the case out.
  • In the meantime, Texas Tech already hired Tommy Tubberville as their new head coach.  He’s been trolling around for a new job since he got canned from Auburn.  He was displaying interest in Kansas when that job opened up.  Looks like Tech found a good replacement.
  • While we are in Texas, the Longhorns trainer officially told the press that there was no way Colt McCoy could continue to play in the BCS National Championship.  A pinched nerve and a dead arm is a serious thing.  Apparently, Colt tossed the ball to his high school coach dad and could only muster 7 yards in the locker room.  This will seal the deal on the mystery of Colt and what could of happened.
  • Nick Montana, son of NFL Hall of Famer Joe Montana, returns to Notre Dame this year after a year away at community college.  It wasn’t because of grades, it was because he was not physically in shape for college ball.  We don’t think he’ll be a starter quick but it’s nice to see that a former Domer’s kid can make the same team.
  • Pete Carroll is your new NFL Seattle Seahawks head coach.  He talked about the process earlier this week.  The rumor mill was all over the place since Friday and Monday confirmed it.  There’s going to be a huge hole at USC and we’re still not sure who can fill it next.  Tune in next week.
  • When rumors of a coach leaving a school pops up, you tend to see other schools scramble to keep their coach.  Such is the case with Oregon State and Mike Riley.  He’s been really good with the Beavers and even the faintest rumor of a USC job got him a 3 year extension.
  • So who did USC get?  Well, Lane Kiffin, of course!  Rumors were flying all over about new candidates, but the former NFL Oakland Raiders head coach and now former Tennessee Volunteers head coach will take over.  Kiffin was an alumni for USC and a former Offensive Coordinator under Pete Carroll.  The time was really short for Kiffin’s tenures at both the pros and the college ranks.  We’re thinking that this is a ‘coming home’ type situation and that he’ll be there at least 3 years.  Hopefully.
  • So who’s number one for Tennessee now?  (Getting kind of ridiculous, isn’t it?)  Welp, Texas Defensive Coordinator and head coach heir Will Muschamp.  He was on the list last year when the Vols needed a coach so this will be the same kind of dance again.  Wethinks that Will’s getting another massive pay raise.
  • Colt McCoy’s moving on with life after a BCS Championship injury.  He proposed to his girlfriend at the Longhorns’ Memorial stadium.  It’s not as sweet as the Boise State guy doing it during the game, but it’s still a very sweet play on McCoy.
Bowls, Colorado, Football, Picks

Bowl Pick It and Stick It 2009: Chucking Gutter Bowls

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Bowling_andrew134_web

Here we go!  Bowl season starts tomorrow and we got your Bowl Pick It and Stick It ready to go!  It’s the somewhat the same format as the regular season.  For each of the 34 bowl games, you will need to assign confidence points.  So for whoever you think will win the strongest, should get the highest confidence points and vice versa for the weakest.  What’s different is the you need to pick the winner straight up.   There is no spread points to play off of for the bowls.  So head on over to Yahoo! Fantasy Sports and sign up!  We’ll go over the bowls after break but first, here’s the info:

Group Site: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/bowl/
Group ID: 18316
Password: homer

Continue reading Bowl Pick It and Stick It 2009: Chucking Gutter Bowls →

College, Football, News

Crib Sheet: Back and Ready to Go Bowling

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bowling2009

After a well deserved week off, we are back to bringing you some tasty college football.  Alot happened during our mini hiatus so we are playing catch up with the Crib Sheet.  We have alot to get to here with the start of bowl season this weekend.  Tune in soon for a couple of year end reviews, bowl picks, and some bowlspots.  Until then, here’s a very chunky Crib Sheet:

  • Alabama took the high road when it announced that they will cancel classes for the BCS National Championship.  That’s nice for football fans, but the last time I remembered there are people who actually don’t like football AND go to college.  It seems kinda chintzy to lob off classes for everyone during the bowl game.  Then again, this is South and it is football.
  • Congress will crack the whip on the BCS soon and vote on a bill to ban promotion of the NCAA division I football series unless they get a playoff.  The argument against it is that they have better things to do (health care bill, anyone).  The argument for it is that the NCAA is a business and they should treat the conferences like companies in an industry.  Problem with that one is that then the argument will come up that the students should get paid then (on top of free college).  The slippery slope just got some juice.
  • Charlie Strong is you new Lousiville head coach.  This guy was rumored for the Kansas job, but right now the hot note is Buffalo’s Turner Gill.  Anywho, back to Strong.  This guy was co-defensive coordinator for Florida and looks to be a real good hire.  Good luck to Cardinals.
  • Tennessee confirms that there is an investigation into their Orange Pride group and possible recruiting violations.  Basically, the Orange Pride comprises mostly of very attractive Volunteer females that drive around and persuade recruits to join the program.  They would even friend them on Facebook.  Did they break any rules?  Who knows?  This has been going on for a long time, however.  The power of gender persuasion is a might force, my friends.
  • Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh hired his dad Jack to be interim running backs coach for the Sun Bowl.  It’s nice to see that the Harbaughs like to keep in the family.  His dad won some titles in Division II and his brother John just happens to the head coach of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens.
  • Notre Dame took the plunge and finally hired a head coach.  His name?  Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly.   It’s a good fit for the Domers.  They guy won the Big East the last two years and has won at least 10 games the last three.  Let’s hope the boosters expectations aren’t too high this time around, otherwise we’ll be seeing this dance again in three years.
  • Mack Brown from Texas is getting an extra $2 million per year on the rest of his contract for doing such a great job.  The guy now will make about $5 million per year.  Meanwhile, an Iowa senator complains that coaches are being paid too much.  Nevermind that Texas brings in about $100 million a year via the athletic department.  Oh and don’t let Kirk Ferentz or Paul Rhoads hear this guy.  They might  go somewhere else and the voters will vent on their frustration in the voting booth.
  • Colt McCoy wants a bowl playoff.  He’s thought about long and hard.  Did he think about it while he almost blew the game for the Longhorns at the Big 12 Championship?  Maybe that’s why he wants playoff.  It would’ve covered up his mistake.  Doh!
  • A handful of awards were handed out on ESPN last week to college football players.  We’re not going to go through the whole list but we will say that Big 12 was represented very well.  Congrats to Colt McCoy and Ndamukong Suh.
  • So Kansas ended its coaching search over the weekend.  Some people thought it was Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, but that was denied big time.  So the Jayhawks fell to their 2nd choice, Turner Gill.  This guy turned around Buffalo from perennial losers to a decent MAC team, even winning the title last year.  Some people have overlooked that and started a fire-this-guy website.  Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers.
  • Congrats to Northwest Missouri State who became the Division II champions over the weekend.  It was their first title since 1998.   Good job guys!
  • Mark Ingram won the Heisman over the weekend as well.  The race ended up being the closest ever with Ingram taking it over Gerhart, McCoy, Suh, and Tebow respectively.  The sexy pick leading up to it was Suh, but that’s why it was sexy.  No chance of winning and you get to appear smart.  That said, there was no clear leading guy running up to it, so it’s no surprise it was this close.
  • Kansas State special teams stand out Brandon Banks was released from jail after beating a women while stoked on some stimulants.  Ruh Roh.  At least there’s no bowl to damage for the Wildcats.  Hopefully this guy will get his act together and salvage his draft status, if there’s any left.
  • Looks like Illinois will hire Kansas State co-defensive coordinator Vic Koenning to be their sole defensive coordinator.  He was with Clemson for a couple of years before his one year stint with the Wildcats.  Hopefully the Wildcats defense won’t suffer that much.
  • Looks like the Big 10 will finally come into the century and explore a possible 12th team and conference championship.  Who will it be?  Some say Missouri or Iowa State.  We know Missouri would listen.  Others are point toward the Big East and Syracuse, Rutgers, or Pittsburgh.  Let’s hope they keep it Big East for the east coast television money too.
  • The NCAA, following the lead of the NFL, will recommend keeping an athlete out of the game if they lose consciousness or show signs of a concussion.  Head trauma is big news nowadays and the NCAA is quickly stepping in to cover their own heads with this rule.  Now I get the old folks harping about leather helmets and poor pads being a better sport.  We’ll be talking like that in a c0uple of years.
College, Football, News

Crib Sheet: Big Fat Bully

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manginoarguing

So yesterday there was a big hoopla about Kansas coach Mark Mangino and his reported abuse of players earlier this year.  What’s the abuse?  From what we’re read so far it’s yelling and poking a player in the chest.  Okay, so if this guy gets canned over just that, then it’s an indictment on the culture that is Kansas athletics.  It’s college football people.  If you don’t do your job, you will be disciplined.  Now if it turns out he did more, then it’s more on Mangino’s wide shoulders and his lack to control his emotions.  Our take?  Kansas is in a losing streak and the fair weather, bandwagon, and easy to over hype their expectations players, player’s parents, and fans have shown their true colors.  What coach will want to come there to lead a football team when the everyone at Kansas University whine and cry like a bunch on babies?  Oh and superstar, Pullitzer prize winning Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock says this happened because Mark Mangino is fat.  Great reporting there, guy.   Here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:

  • Now this is what rivalries are all about.  The Idaho athletic director refused to board an airplane because it was painted in Boise State colors.  We love hearing stories like this.  Hopefully they paint a jet or a helicopter in Idaho colors soon.
  • USA Today has an article about the two biggest money making conferences, the SEC and Big 10.  They fill up the media outlets.  The SEC inked a deal with ESPN and they are pumped everywhere.  Meanwhile, the Big 10 has their own flipping channel.  The difference?  The SEC is actually winning games.  We’re tired of both conferences.
  • Speaking of Boise State, they are now selling stock in their program.  Yes, a big time college program needs to generate money by offering shares in their program.  Do you see Texas or Florida doing this?  Nope.  That’s because they actually have a fan base.
  • Tennessee student Corey Zickafoose won’t press chargers against the three Volunteer football players that attempted to rob him last week. That’s pretty hardcore.  Most people are calling him stupid.  We’re not sure where we land on this one.  Second chances are American, but is doing it for the sake of your favorite football a good reason to give one? Oh and Tennessee went ahead and dismissed two of them from the team.
  • Ole Miss chancellor Dan Jones banned their fight song at games because the students typically chant “the South will rise again” at the end.  While the intent is to remove the stigma that the Rebels have regarding racial insensitivity, students chanting that the south will rise again seems a little small compared to other methods he could employ.  Banning the use of the rebel flag (which they have) makes just a little more sense than banning the fight song, especially when it comes to recruiting players.
College, Football, News

Crib Sheet: Northerly Questions

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big_12_old

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:

Colorado, Football, News

Crib Sheet: Layeth the Smacketh Down

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TheRock1

There’s alot of violence going around in college football recently.  Well, more violence than usual.  Yes, there’s the pads a poppin’ but more and more we see fisticuffs break out.  Whether it’s on the field or off, there’s been some smacking and smack talking cropping up all over.  So pay attention to this week’s Crib Sheet.  We have some lessons to teach.   If you smellllllll, what the Crib Sheet, is cookin’!

  • Rick Neuheisel and Bill Snyder 2.0 go way back, as Kevin Haskin writes.  It seems that during the rebuilding process in Manhattan, Snyder 2.0 targeted the Buffaloes first instead of going for the top team in the Nebraska Cornhuskers.  Neuheisel was the coach for Colorado at the time.  So these guys know each other well.   INSERT RECAP
  • Collins Okafor is the second running back to leave the Nebraska Cornhusker squad.  I guess Bo Pelini had confidence in the other two guys up for the position.  Let’s hope none of those two get injured.  But wait!  He’s Back!
  • So there have been complaints of Michigan’s Jonas Mouton tossing punches at Notre Dame’s Eric Olsen from their matchup a couple of weeks ago.   Then to top it off, Rich Rodriguez claims he never saw it even when the video came out.  Plus Mouton will not get punished for the haymaker he tossed.  Talk about a total classless decision.  Especially after that hoopla with Oregon’s LeGarrette Blount.  We know what should.  Check out the video and let us know what this guy should get (oh wait, yup he got a one game suspension):
  • To be fair, Golden Tate did a nose dive on the Michigan State stands during Notre Dame’s victory over the Spartans.  Yup no one helped him.  Lambeau leap this ain’t:
  • Texas A&M’s Uzoma Nwachukwu is loving life as the big man (and frosh) on campus this week.  Nwachukwu scored a touchdown on each of his four touches last weekend against Utah State.  I’m not sure what’s more surprising, the fact that the Aggies are undefeated and 2nd in the Big 12 South standings or the pronunciation of his name.
  • Fans who were kicked out of Minnesota’s home games for drunkenness will have to take a breathalyzer test the next time they try to attend a game.  That makes alot of sense since it’s for the student section only and protects the fans from the wild tailgating that students put on before the game.  I should know.   I’ve been part of many of those.
  • In this week’s lesson on smack talking, Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin fires back accordingly when Urban Meyer made up excuses about how close the Florida and Tennessee game was last week.  That’s good stuff.  Remember never to back down if someone returns the shot you fired first.
  • Kansas football players and basketball players can’t get along.  Point guard Tyshawn Taylor ended up with a dislocated thumb after a frucus broke out in front the university’s student union.  Here’s a tip, the only other type of athletes that can mess with football players are wrestlers.  Anybody else, prepare to get injured.
Bar Games, College, Food, Football, Live, Sports Bars, Waitresses

It’s not Atlanta, but We’re Doing the Dirty Birdie’s

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Some weeks, you don’t know what you’re going to run into when you pick a place you’ve never been to before.  So when we strolled up to Birdie’s Pub and Grill,  we weren’t expecting much.  They didn’t have a website and the only information we got about the place was on Google Maps.   Walking in, however, things turned completely different.  Yes, it was bigger, but for some aspects it wasn’t necessarily better.  The goal of the week was to watch some Nebraska vs Virginia Tech and head to a BBQ.  We accomplished the mission.  Here’s the report.

Continue reading It’s not Atlanta, but We’re Doing the Dirty Birdie’s →

Colorado, Football, Picks

Pick It and Stick It: Spreading It Thin

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bigpicker

It’s another Friday and it’s time for another Pick It and Stick It update.  This weekend we have a couple of intriguing match ups and some obvious picks as well.  The picks were all done and set way back Wednesday for the Purple Yeti.  Let’s hope everyone else remembered.  I guess that’s the ‘Stick It’ portion of the fantasy league.   Some of you may be wondering wht the ‘Spread’ portion of the table means.  The ‘Spread’ is how many points the favored team must win by to get a win.  This helps out immensely when a sure blow out is about to happen.  This also helps out the folks in Vegas to justify booking those kind of lopsided match ups.  So without further ado, here’s this week’s pick set:

Continue reading Pick It and Stick It: Spreading It Thin →

Barspotting

Barspotting: A Little Birdie’s Pub Told Me To Go There

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birdiespub

This week’s barspot brings a suburban locale.   Usually in suburbs around this time, you smell the freshly mown lawns and the first scents of fall.  You even hear the birds chirping.  In that spirit, we will watch the action at Birdie’s Pub.  Um let’s see here.   Another way to think of this place is that we are going to a golf players fantasy sports bar.  So while we see the golf season wind down, we can see the college football season pick up.  Okay, now we’re just blabbing on.  We really don’t know what’s in this place because we’ve never been there before.  Hopefully, the local crowd won’t chirp to much while watching the games.  We also hope that Birdie’s does better than par for the barspotting course.  Now bring on the beer cart babes.

When: Saturday, September 19 2009
Time: 1:00 pm ish
Where: Birdie’s Pub, 8889 W. 75th Street, Overland Park, KS 66204, 913.648.4011


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Games:

Notes:  Alrighty some of the better games are happening tonight and tomorrow.  The Georgia Tech and Miami game should be good but we’re not sure if a fight will break out or not.  We know the Battle for the Milk Can can be rough and it’s up to Fresno State to spoil Boise States frothy pour toward BCS busting run.  The Governor’s Cup is up for grabs when Louisville heads to Kentucky.  Too bad both programs are a little blah right now.  Kansas will handle Duke better than the basketball contest.  The O-Rourke-McFadden Trophy (a leather helmet) is what Boston College and Clemson will be shooting for Saturday.  The Trophy first showed up just last year.  Missouri will roll.  Florida will take out its frustrations on Lane Kiffin’s smack talk against his Tennessee team.  In what will be the game of the week, we will see two great defenses pound on each other with Nebraska going to Blacksburg to take on Virginia Tech.  Due to a scheduling difference, Texas Tech agreed to play Texas this weekend.  For us it means an early treat and a revenge game for the Longhorns’ Colt McCoy.  UTEP and New Mexico State ride the Battle of I-10 to vie for the Silver Spade.  Finally we get Kansas State heading to UCLA.  So the starting QB is out with a broken jaw and 4 other players are suspended from UCLA for this game.  I still think this game has home victory written all over it.

Once again here are the facebook pool results:

barspotweek03

Big 10, Big 12, Bowls, College, Football, Kansas State, Missouri, News, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State

Crib Sheet: Going Prime Time

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prime time

Hey guess what?  The Crib Sheet is BACK for the regular season.  We enjoyed digging up some tasty news nuggest during the offseason so much that we are going to roll it into the regular season rotation.  That’s great news alone.  So for those of you not familiar with the format, let us explain what the Crib Sheet is all about:  We scour the interwebs for stories not hears too well and stories that are local to the Kansas City area, adding our unique twist on it.  So rejoice in its return and enjoy this week’s Crib Sheet:

  • Indiana is cashing in big time by giving up a home game in 2010 and playing Penn State at FedEx Field, home of the NFL Washington Redskins.  It looks like this trend is here to stay with college teams playing in pro football (and baseball) stadiums.  I guess it will work out for schools that get major payouts, $3 million for Indiana, but it still sucks that hometown fans have to travel or miss out on games.
  • Tennessee running back Bryce Brown is cleared of any NCAA violations for questions in his recruiting process.  Now he can focus on becoming yet another highly touted athlete with a dark, questionable past.  Sometimes the news just writes itself.
  • John Malkovic: Actor chimes in on the upcoming college football season.  He doesn’t say anything too outrageous and we’re glad to see that hoity toity actors can enjoy the grid iron as well.  We’re not so sure, however, how coaches turned actors will fare.  Yikes!
  • So, everything is big in the new Cowboys stadium.  Check.  Tons of college football teams are playing there as well.  Check.  The Oklahoma vs BYU game is sold out.  Check.  $25 for outside concourse access only.  WHAT?  We get that the mega stadium will draw mega bucks, but when you’re not even in the dang stadium, you shouldn’t have to drop that chunk of change just to be there.
  • Mike Gundy’s blackout to prepare for Georgia led to an arrest for one player and another leaving the team.  Doh!  It looks as though locking things down loosened up the team a bit.  Will they get it together before their big opener?  Tune in this weekend.
  • St. Paul, a division II school, canceled its season opener because they don’t have helmets or pads.  WHAT?  It’s not that they couldn’t afford it, but the numnuts who ordered waited a little bit too late.  They should put that guy in a tackling dummy and let the team try out the new gear on him.
  • Blaine Gabbert locked up the starting job at Missouri.  Now the fight for number 2 just got easier.  The other Blaine, Blaine Dalton, was booted off the team for a DUI arrest.  That’s alright, though, as it sounds like the Tiger’s focus this year may be more running intensive.
  • The Alamo Bowl replaced the Big 10 opponent in favor of a Pac 10 number 2. That should heat up the competition for the Big 12 and give more legitimacy as big time conferences for both parties involved.
  • Apparently Jim Harbaugh, with help from a booster, now has a $50-$70k toilet to do his business in at Stanford.  So I guess when their season goes into the crapper, at least it will be comfortable and plush.
  • Bill Snyder 2.0 named Carson Coffman as his starter going into the opener for the Kansas State Wildcats.  Competition is a good thing, but he’s being consistent on this one.  If anything, Snyder 2.0 is known to switch things up and play people in rotations.  Grant Gregory, you still have a shot.
  • Rich Rodriguez is taking it from all sides these days.  We find out that current and former players are complaining about working too many hours for the football team, even though everyone does it and they he has an ally in Ohio State Buckeye players.   An investigation is coming to get to the bottom of a rule no one follows.  Now we hear him getting sued in a failed deal for land development in Virginia.  Notice that the piece came from the Ann Arbor news website.  Seriously, wait until half the season is over when they are looking to finish the same way they did last year.  By then RichRod won’t be able to fight back the tears.
College, Football, Kansas State, Nebraska, News

Crib Sheet: Going Over the Game Plan

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football_strategy

Here at KCCGD headquarters, we are drawing up game plans and doing walkthroughs for the upcoming football season.  We have some goodies coming up in the next couple of weeks, including analysis, predictions, and some new looks.  We’re busting a major sweat and pouring it out into everything we do here to make KCCGD the best place to go for you Kansas City college football needs.  Be on the lookout.  Until then, here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:

  • Kansas State’s lawyers are bringing the full “he said, she said” stating that no such attempts were made to quiet Ron Prince, which his lawyers accused the school of.   This is a real bad case of a coach and school parting ways.  It’s only gonna get worse.  Please remember to hug a coach and a school official today.
  • Backup Nebraska quarterback Cody Spano is out for the year with a torn ACL.  The Husker’s projected starter is Zac Lee and if he goes down there really is nobody left behind him.   Plus, it’s his first year as a starter.  Husker fans need to hope Zac stays healthy if they want to live up to the pre-season hype of a projected Big 12 North title.
  • 15 Duke football players have symptoms of the swine flu.  Usually colds and flus make their way through teams and then move on.  What’s interesting about this article is that Heather Dinich called it the swine flu.  Not H121.  Way to go Heather!  We like realistic names and not ones deemed okay to say by Congress.
  • Oregon football players (or as new ESPN sportscaster Jon Gruden calls it, OrEEgon) are now wearing cameras on their helmets during practice.  The more tape, the better.  Our guess is the next step in the evolution of video games will include this footage.  Then, in turn, football players could practice by playing the video game.  Geekery abound!
  • Colorado cornerback Ben Burney had his blog axed after the first draft.  Being the blogging realm we are disappointed to see such speech revoked.  Although the kid probably shouldn’t have touted how well in the sack he is.  That’s not quite the inside look people are looking for in football.
  • New Mexico State is asking fans to pitch in for snacks for the football team after practice.  Seriously?  We know the economic downturn is affecting everyone, but what’s the deal with a school not springing for orange slices and Capri-Sun after a workout?
  • Mike DeArmond from the Kansas City Star profiles Missouri’s defensive secondary.  They were the worst in the Big 12 last year and are looking for a turnaround.  With many of the offensive players from last year drafted away to the NFL, the defense needs to step up and help shoulder the load (and transition).
  • Speaking of defense, bot the Topeka Capital Journal and the Manhattan Mercury talk about Kansas State’s defense.  There’s no place to go but up for the defense as they ranked below 100 in the terms of total defense last year.  To help the attempted turnaround, they are featuring nickel defense much more this season.  Hopefully that will help counteract the explosive offense most of the Big 12 teams bring into the year.
  • Former Duke basketball starter Greg Paulus will now be the starter for the Syracuse Orangemen.   We’re not sure if it’s because he’s super talented (he was a five star football recruit in high school) or if the rest of the quarterbacks on the team stunk.  At any rate, the school will sell more tickets because of this guy and that’s a good thing.
  • Former Rivals #1 recruit Bryce Brown and Tennessee are under investigation by the NCAA for alleged violations in his recruitment to the university.  The question is whether funds raised for Brown’s trip out to Tennessee was legit or not.  Brown, a Wichita native, tread the news waters earlier this year when he was waffling back and forth between schools after his commitment to Miami expired, including Kansas State.  This guy smells like trouble and chances are he won’t turn out well.
BCS, Big 12, College, Football, Kansas State, News, SEC

The Crib Sheet:

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allergies

The heavy loaded week of allergies couldn’t stop the KCCGD crew from sneezing and coughing their way through another week of news.  We’re loaded up on all sorts of over the counter goodies to help bring you the latest in the greatest sport ever, college football.  Bring some kleenex, because either the fantastic writing or huge pollen count will bring tears to your eyes.  We hope its the former.  Here’s this week Crib Sheet:

  • Ron Prince, former Kansas State head coach, must be laughing pretty heartily right now.  Kansas State made known the details of a ‘secret agreement’ that would dump an extra $3.5 million on a company that Prince created in the case that he would be fired without cause.  This was signed with his contract extension last year by former athletic director, Bob Krause.   Krause resigned because of the situation.  Prince’s lawyer says the lawsuit is without merit, and Prince couldn’t be contacted for comment.  Because you can’t really talk while gut-laughing to the point of puking.   This whole situation makes me want to puke.  Wefald’s legacy is tarnished and K-State as he gave his ‘old friend’ the job in the first place.  What ‘old friend’ keeps this part of the deal secret?  I talked about how much of a dunderhead Krause was when they fired Prince and know we’re seeing just how far and deep his ineptness set the program back.  The Kansas City Star also has filings.  It’s  sad day to be a Wildcat fan.
  • The Big 12 athletic directors (the real ones) met last week and decided to punt the 3 way tiebreaker rule that the coaches passed to them on.  So it seems the rule is here to say, while they open up for more discussion and waffling on the issue.  The chance is so small anyway that once the season starts and ends, people will forget about the unique rule.
  • Meanwhile, the SEC coaches are bickering down in Florida for their annual meeting.   The main mouth work comes from Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin and South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier.   Yes the New Ball Coach versus the Ole Ball Coach.  They are still duking it out over the cheating question Spurrier asked.  The other coaches ducked and it seemed like they were heading to the bars to scope out the chicks or something.  Very strange comradery indeed.  Time to circle the matchup on the schedule.
  • Looks like the Big 12 won’t sit down the officials if they perform poorly.  That’s a shame really because after the last couple of years of bad calls, the Big 12 could use some consequence over there.
  • The Big 12, however, will pay out a record $130 million earned last year in athletic payouts.  It seems being the 2nd best conference in football and having a national champion in basketball helped.  Let’s hope they use that money to make them number 1 in football.
  • The final USA Today coaches poll next year will be anonymous.  Typically that final vote helps to decide who will play in the national title game.  Chances are that’s a good thing for the coaches.  It will help avoid any death threats for deciding votes.