Sunday, December 18, 2011

Highs and Lows

Kid Cudi wrote a whole song detailing a series of highs and lows. The Bobcats football team wrote a whole season's worth of them, punctuated with Saturday's highest moment.


I said recently it would be difficult to get excited about the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, called it a forgettable exhibition.


I was wrong- and I could not be more glad. 


Maybe the bowl game in Boise didn't mean anything in the grander scheme of college football but it certainly did in the faces of the seniors and coach Frank Solich, through the tweets and texts from Bobcats around the great states. 


And heck, there's nothing forgettable about Tyler Tettleton's game-winning dash to the corner of the end zone with 13 seconds left. 


The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl is anything but grandiose. It's played on blue turf, has a mascot called Spuddy Buddy and literally gives its winner a bowl of potatoes. It's way more after school special than Allstate BCS Championship. 


But none of that matters in the microcosm of what the Bobcats accomplished on the field Saturday night. It was the highest high in a season full of ups and downs. 


There was the high of the Marshall game, jacked up in all black and trouncing the Herd to reclaim the Bell.


There was the low of the two-game losing streak in winnable games that dropped the Bobcats to 4-3 and made you really wonder if they were for real or just setting up another disappointment. 


There was the high of the Temple win, a final minutes game-winning drive led by Tettleton, on ESPN in a blacked out Peden, and then the MAC East clinching win at Bowling Green.


It was so good that 'MAC East Champs' was trending worldwide on Twitter. 


Except that string of highs again all crashed down three Friday nights ago in Detroit. In fact, high and low were both encapsulated in the string of those 60 minutes of the MAC Championship, all the way from a 20-0 halftime lead to second half meltdown and 23-20 loss. 


A disappointment is an understatement in describing that loss. Debilitating, disheartening, debacle are better adjectives. Again, the Bobcats fell short in the MAC Championship game, which meant a not-so-anticipated trip to Boise. 


But that cold smurf turf was the spot of the season's greatest high, redemption for the Motor City Meltdown. More importantly it was a high that capped off a season framed by a low transcending the on field action.


It was last spring that the Bobcat family was shaken by the loss of defensive lineman Marcellis Williamson. A different defensive player donned Williamson's #62 in his honor each game. Saturday no one wore it but the #62 jersey was on the sideline as the 12th man.


'Forever relentless' became the slogan inspired by Williamson. The Bobcats were all that and more in beating Utah State, this time surmounting a fourth quarter deficit rather than blowing a lead. Ohio channeled Williamson, brought his spirit to the field in pulling out victory. 


Shortly before his death Marcellis posted on his Facebook, "enjoy today because tomorrow isn't guaranteed." That's perspective enough and advice Bobcat nation should surely heed following the bowl win. 

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Who's excited for the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl?!

A couple weeks ago Ohio punter Paul Hershey got blasted when he tweeted the following: 
"Idaho?? Who the (expletive) wants to play there in December??" 
Hershey had to close his Twiter account and took a lot of heat for a 'stupid' comment. But in all honesty, Hershey was speaking the truth. 

The Bobcats take on Utah State Saturday in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, in case you forgot. It really wouldn't be all that shocking.


It's one of the first bowl games of the season, it's WAC vs. MAC, and even though Tyler Tettleton has the same initials as a certain Denver quarterback,that's not making ESPN give the game any kind of promotion.

Frank Solich said it best today when he said "bowl games are kind of like the first game of the season." It's a game so absolutely useless that you can barely help but care. The Motor City Meltdown two Fridays ago doesn't help either. 


Hershey's comment may have been out of line for a student athlete representing a program but he's right. A bowl is supposed to be a reward for players. When you play for a MAC school, the locale certainly isn't. It's (most likely) Boise, Detroit or Mobile. 


So that leaves what probably amounts to the best part for the athletes involved: the gifts. SPJ recently published the gift list for this year's bowl games and it's pretty legit. 


Ohio and Utah State players and coaches will receive a North End winter coat, Kombi gloves, Nike beanie, Ogio Fugitive backpack, Big Game souvenir football along with a gift suite which is described by ESPN as:
...private events in which game participants, and often bowl VIPs, are given an order form and allowed to select a gift, or gifts, up to a value that is predetermined by each specific bowl, not to exceed the NCAA limit of $550 per person.
Forget the trip to Boise, that's a nice holiday haul- and it doesn't even compare to Toledo players getting a Kindle Fire  and iPod nano as Military Bowl participants. 


That's at least something exciting for players. For Ohio fans...too far to have a school-sponsored trip, non-appealing matchup, disappointment following the MAC Championship collapse. It's absurd for anyone to try to convince a Bobcat fan to be excited for Saturday's game. 


As I said about the MAC Championship game, I'll watch this bowl game and root for the Bobcats being a fan who has watched their journey but the fundamental shortcomings in college football's postseason make this an exhibition that will be forgettable a few years down the line. 


ESPN is broadcasting games like the New Mexico Bowl and Potato Bowl yet analyzing Tim Tebow's QBR for the fifth straight day takes precedence. 


Hershey may not have been tactful in his tweet but he was certainly onto something.


Count me as more excited for Ohio basketball's upcoming regular season matchup with Northern Iowa than this bowl game. That game means something in the bigger picture, can get Ohio mentioned in Bracketology and improve its RPI for a potential at-large tournament bid.


What can the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl provide?  


30 seconds on SportsCenter and a two paragraph AP story.


Woohoo. 

Monday, December 12, 2011

Tebow takes pressure off Rodgers and Packers

When you wake up on Monday morning, the lead on sports shows, the talk of the town is Tim Tebow. It's an improbable story, fascinating, mystifying and utterly interesting. There's lovers and haters, sides as deeply divided as lawmakers on Capitol Hill. It's frankly a good conversation topic. 

Then you have Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, so good that they're almost, dare I say it, boring. Rodgers looks superhuman, the Packers score 30 plus and the undefeated streak continues. Ho-hum. 

Really though it's not ho-hum. What the Packers are on the way to accomplishing isn't shockingly scintillating or reaching the level of Tebow dramatics. 

It is downright impressive and historic. 

With yesterday's win, a simple 46-16 stomping of the Raiders, the Packers became just the second defending Super Bowl champion to start the next season 13-0. Their 19-game winning streak is the second longest in NFL history. Stats like these are not some to just be buried in the background of sports chatter. 

But they are.

McCarthy's Packers put together a magical run from wild card to Super Bowl champion last year, an underdog story with a hook. Now, they're a known quantity. We may have become a bit numb to the high quality at which they're playing. 

On the other hand, you have Tebow and the Broncos, a team not many expected to finish far from the AFC West cellar, left for dead after a 1-4 start and resurrected with Tebow taking over as starter. 

You couldn't have more polar opposites. Tebow and the Broncos win in compelling fashion coming back from seemingly impossible deficits. 


Rodgers and the Packers just score, usually putting teams away with a perfectly placed laser from the arm of number 12. 

When they did face adversity last week against the Giants with the game tied at 35 in the closing stages of regulation, Rodgers moved the offense methodically down the field to set up a game-winning field goal.

There are no recovered onside kicks, improbable scrambles out of the pocket or unbelievable circumstances that lead up to Packers victories. It's methodical. It's almost becoming expected. 

No one expected the Broncos' 7-1 record with Tebow under center. While the Broncos garner the media spotlight, the Monday morning quarterbacking, a little of the pressure rolls of the Packers' backs. The scrutiny will surely increase as 16-0 draws closer, then the potential possibility of 19-0 if it carries into the playoffs. 

For now though Tim Tebow is the best thing that could have happened to the footballers on the frozen tundra. Heck, there was more talk this week about Green Bay selling stocks of ownership for the team than if the Packers could continue the undefeated roll. 

Come week 17 a lot of attention could be on the quest to finish off a perfect regular season but you can bet that if Tebow and company are on the playoffs' doorstep there will be a little less limelight on Lambeau.
 

Friday, December 9, 2011

No winners in Paul trade fiasco

It took less than a month following the NBA lockout for all hell to break loose.

With David Stern’s vetoing of the blockbuster trade that would have sent Chris Paul to Los Angeles, Pau Gasol to Houston and Lamar Odom and other assets to New Orleans, we see that the agreement between players and owners that will give us a season did nothing to fix the league’s fundamental problems.

Though the NBA has a salary cap, it is becoming more and more like MLB. 

Superstars are dictating where they want to play and small market teams are left with the painful decision of getting compensation for them or watching them walk for nothing when their contract expires.

LeBron James, ‘The Decision’ and the Cavs getting nothing out of James but a bad record the following season has left owners weary of banking on a star to resign with their original team when free agency comes calling their name.

One of the owners’ lockout gripes was that the players have gained too much control. 

There’s no denying that is indeed correct. 

Carmelo Anthony wanted to go to New York, everyone knew it, including Denver, so he was traded to the Big Apple for a solid package of young players.

Yes, Anthony essentially dictated the trade but he was leaving anyway and the concept of free agency gives players the individual freedom to sign where they want so long as the team can afford them. Most of the time that’s a big market where more advertisement dollars are up for grabs. Small market teams are naïve to wait for the offseason and hope their stars will return.

It’s difficult to pick a side between the owners and players. You do feel for small market owners who are continually ditched by players who grow with their original franchise then bolt for the bright lights and big market stage after their first contract.

At the same time, should we expect anything less? 

This isn’t the days of the reserve clause that once bound baseball players to teams and allowed no flexibility. That was abolished for good reason. Right now it seems that’s the only way to appease some of the NBA’s unhappy owners.

It’s natural in many realms and careers for small markets to be launching pads for moves to larger markets. It happens in TV when an anchor starts out in a small market and works their way up the ladder, the smaller stations left to start with young talent again.

What David Stern did in vetoing the trade was a big blunder. It makes him appear an authoritarian and sets a dangerous precedent for future trades of this nature.

But it’s also understandable why he did it. He’s trying to change a league dynamic that defies competitive balance. Every league wants to be the NFL.

None succeed.

Stern tried to assert his power but slapping a small band-aid on a massive, bleeding wound won’t suppress it.

The lockout didn’t fix it. Stern holding Paul hostage in New Orleans for 66 games doesn’t either.

Los Angeles, New Orleans and Houston all lost in the short-term. Long-term, fans will continue to lose as a product continues to spiral out of control further away from any semblance of competitive balance.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Sorry system sours Bobcats football success

There's no denying that it has been a very good season for the Ohio Bobcats football team. 

Nine wins, a MAC East title, and a shot at winning its first ever MAC Championship game.

There’s no taking away from those already achieved accomplishments and the possibility of an 11-win season. 

The players should be excited and proud of what they have done on the field.

But that doesn’t mean fans should also be blindly excited or thrilled with the lackluster end point of an otherwise excellent season.

Ohio will be heading to a bowl game no matter the result against Northern Illinois. A win and it’s off to Mobile, Alabama for the GMAC Bowl. A loss and it’s a trip to Boise and the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

Yes, seriously. One of the program’s best seasons ever is going to culminate with a date against the winner of the Sun Belt or 6-5 Utah State.

Even more idiotic is that two of the MAC’s three automatic bowl tie-ins are nowhere close to the conference’s footprint. Trips to Idaho or Alabama are not realistic for MAC fans or students. It doesn’t make sense for bowls trying to sell tickets or fans that want to support their team.

Instead of being all mushy gushy about the potential of these wonderful firsts, a season like no other, let’s realize the plight of being a nobody in college football.

If you don’t reside in a BCS automatic qualifying conference you are a nobody in college football. You’re not even allowed to step foot on Wall Street, let alone be a part of it.

The bowl system is in essence a caste system. The supposed low of the low are matched up with each other with no opportunity to prove that a 9 or 10-victory Ohio team is better than 6-win Ohio State. One chosen one gets lucky enough to be anointed the best of the lesser powers and play in a BCS game. That’s it. We’re supposed to be happy with that and move on. 

It shouldn’t be that way. No fan should be told to revel in a team they root for, who may win its conference championship, going to a glorified exhibition thousands of miles away against another mid-major.

Even the worst conference winner in college basketball, from the lowliest conference, gets a chance to prove itself, to have a moment to shine and be a lovable David slaying a Goliath.

Nobody vs. nobody equals no fun. Because at least playing a BCS program, even a bottom of the barrel one, earns some respect.

Winning six games, going .500, is not much of an accomplishment, BCS conference or not. So my proposition is if you win six games and still want to go to a bowl game you don’t get to play another big name from a BCS conference on New Year’s Day (as Florida and Ohio State are projected to in the Gator Bowl).

You play a top team from a non-BCS conference. Florida goes to Mobile and can battle with the Sun Belt champion Arkansas State. Ohio State can head to Detroit and face the MAC champion. That would be fair. 

But fair doesn’t happen in this sport. Instead UCLA, which just lost by 50 and fired its head coach, will take the spot of one of the pushed around nobodies, a seven or eight win team from the MAC, MWC or Sun Belt.

I’ll be happy if Ohio wins its first conference title since 1968 tomorrow night. I’ll root for them in whatever bowl game they end up playing.

But I will not pretend that settling for and enjoying the spoils of inferiority in a flawed system is acceptable. 

Monday, November 21, 2011

Week 12 Bowl Projections

December's approaching and that means it's time for the annual onslaught of fun (and not-so-fun) bowl matchups. But who's going where? 

BCS Championship Game
LSU vs. Alabama
It almost seems to be an unavoidable certainty at this point. Alabama just has to take care of Auburn in the Iron Bowl and LSU should be set with a split of its final two.

Fiesta Bowl
Oklahoma State vs. Stanford
The Cowboys may have blown their BCS title shot with the shocking loss to Iowa State but a win in Bedlam will still give them a Big 12 Championship and trip to Glendale. Stanford and Andrew Luck will be a good bet to go here, with the Fiesta choosing the first at-large after the Sugar replaces its lost SEC champion.
 
Sugar Bowl
Michigan vs. Houston
Some will gripe about Michigan getting selected over a Michigan State team to which it lost. The Wolverines will be a more appealing selection though for the Sugar Bowl. Watch out for Notre Dame to also be a possibility here if it beats Stanford Saturday. Houston is in line to be the automatic non-AQ one of the bowls must choose. 

Orange Bowl
Virginia Tech vs. Louisville
Organizers of the Orange Bowl have to be rooting for the idea of no more non-automatic qualifiers to BCS games, as this game has gotten some clunker matchups over the years with the Big East as a tie-in. Virginia Tech's now in position to take the ACC and Louisville, yes Louisville, can win the Big East with a win and a little help from Cincinnati. 

Rose Bowl 
Oregon vs. Michigan State
Despite its loss to USC, the Ducks can still culminate their season in Pasadena. Right now, Michigan State is the best of the Big 10 but they'll have to win in Indy to get this spot.

Other Bowls

*Bold accepted bids


Go Daddy.com           Northern Illinois vs. Arkansas St.

BBVA Compass           Miss St. vs. Pittsburgh

Cotton                      Kansas St. vs. Georgia

Gator  Iowa vs. Florida
Capitol One Wisconsin vs. Arkansas
Outback Nebraska vs. South Carolina
TicketCity Purdue vs. Iowa St
Chick-Fil-A Florida State vs. Auburn
Kraft Fight Hunger Cal vs. Temple
Liberty Southern Miss vs. Cincinnati
Sun Virginia vs. Arizona St
Meineke Car Care Penn State vs. Texas
Insight Ohio State vs. Baylor
Music City Tennessee vs. Wake Forest
Pinstripe Missouri vs. Rutgers
Armed Forces SMU vs. BYU
Alamo Oklahoma vs. Utah
Champs Sports Clemson vs. Notre Dame 
Holiday Texas A&M vs. Washington
Military  NC State vs. Air Force
Belk Georgia Tech vs. West Virginia
Little Caesars Northwestern vs. Ohio
Indpendence North Carolina vs. Wyoming
Hawaii Tulsa vs. Hawaii
MAACO Las Vegas UCLA vs. TCU
Poinsettia Boise St vs. Louisiana Tech
Beef 'O' Brady's  East Carolina vs. Syracuse
New Orleans  UL Lafayette vs. Western Michigan
Famous Idaho Potato Nevada vs. Toledo
New Mexico UTEP vs. San Diego State

Friday, November 18, 2011

Did Tim Tebow REALLY beat the Jets?

"He's a winner."

"Tim Tebow just finds a way to win games."

Some typical comments from the Tim Tebow love affair after last night's defeat of the Jets.

Yes, the Broncos won the game but did Tebow beat the Jets?

No.

Rex Ryan and Mike Pettine did. Sending an eight-man rush and playing cover zero on that 3rd and 4, in which Tebow ran for the game-winning TD, was inexplicable. Ryan didn't have an explanation for it in his post-game press conference because it's so indefensible.

Eric Smith did.  The Jets send the house on the game-winning TD and who's left to catch up with him, the guy who has proven time and time again he can't keep up with whoever he's defending in open space. Oh and who was covering Dante Rosario when Tebow completed an 18-yard pass on that winning drive? You guessed it, Eric Smith. He needs to be taken off the field. Someone has to be better.

Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller did. They combined for three total sacks and put a lot of pressure on Mark Sanchez. Wayne Hunter's pass blocking has become a major liability. The Jets miss retired Damien Woody at right tackle, plain and simple. His absence is glaring. Sanchez consistently does not have as much time to throw as he did in previous seasons and it's coming from outside edge rushers. Andre Carter did it last week. Miller and Dumervil did this week.

Jim Leonhard did, when he whiffed on a huge first down tackle on Eddie Royal, which may have been a safety, on the 95-yard game-winning drive. 

Mark Sanchez did, when he stared down Broncos corner Andre Goodman and made an incomprehensible decision in his own territory, leading to an easy pick six.  The Broncos won by four. Sanchez gift wrapped six. He throws that away, Jets punt and the outcome's probably different.

Other intangibles of which you can't quite quantify the ultimate effect. You could also call them excuses: the short week and long trip to Denver (a tough place to play), not having LT, and then losing Shonn Greene early in the game, other injuries to Brodney Pool and Jeremy Kerley.

Don't get me wrong, Tim Tebow's likable. He's a good guy.

But he just didn't play a good game. The Jets let him win the game, by playing a five defensive back set for more than 90 percent of the final drive rather than the 3-4 base which was successful all game long.

He was shutdown until the Jets allowed him to move the ball down the field in the game's most pivotal moments. He ran for 11 yards in the game's first 54 minutes but then 57 yards in the last six.

Tebow played a part in the win  and is now 4-1 since taking over for Kyle Orton but there were many Jets and Broncos who were much more responsible for the win than him.

Give credit to who really beat the Jets, a Broncos defense that played a heck of a game, holding the Jets to 3 of 14 on third down...and the Jets themselves.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Too soon to write off Sanchez

Five seasons- that's how long it took, Eli Manning, now beloved by the NY/national media to become a decent NFL QB. 

Remember when Manning was "garbage?" Fans and media wanted to run him out of town.

Look at Manning's stats for his career:
Year 1 (7 GS): 48.2 % comp, 1043 yds, 6 TD, 9 INT
Year 2: 52.8 % comp, 3762 yds, 24 TD, 17 INT
Year 3: 57.7%, 3244 yds, 24 TD, 18 INT
Year 4: 56.1%, 3336 yds, 23 TD, 20 INT
Year 5: 60.3%, 3238 yds, 21 TD, 10 INT
Year 6: 62.3%, 4021 yds, 27 TD, 14 INT
Year 7: 62.9%, 4002 yds, 31 TD, 25 INT
Year 8 (so far): 63.1%, 2688 yds, 17 TD, 8 INT

Sanchez's career stats:
Year 1: 53.8%, 2444 yds, 12 TD, 20 INT
Year 2: 54.8%, 3291 yds, 17 TD, 13 INT
Year 3 (so far): 56.7%, 2081 yds, 14 TD, 9 INT

It took Eli Manning, who many are now putting in the MVP discussion, until his fifth season to have a completion percentage of 60%.

Manning threw 1,363 passes in his college career at Ole Miss. Sanchez threw 487 in his at USC.

If there were ever a guy who would have been well served by sitting a season or two behind a veteran backup, it would have been Sanchez. But he was thrown into the fire right away. He has attempted 1,169 passes as a NFL QB. That's less than Manning attempted in his college career.

Yet many are done with Sanchez, ready to blame all the Jets' troubles on him. What most are expecting out of him in year three is unrealistic. He's raw. Pete Carroll said as much when he left USC and entered the draft. He has started one year in college and two in the NFL.

Sanchez has attempted 1,654 passes in his college/pro career. Rookie Andy Dalton, who is being lauded for an impressive start, has attempted just 50 less, 1,604 passes, between his four years at TCU and this season with the Bengals.

You can judge Sanchez as you would typically judge a third-year QB but you'd be improperly evaluating him. His actual on-field passing experience is near the equivalent of a rookie with lots of college experience, like Dalton.

As a junior starter with USC, Sanchez completed 65.8 percent of his passes for 3,207 yards, 34 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. His ceiling can still be high no matter what anyone else says about him right now.

Writing off Sanchez now, midway through year three, is a mistake. See Eli Manning and Alex Smith on that one.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Penn State Scandal: Football will go on without Paterno

Everyone’s mad at someone. Everyone has an opinion on who was right and wrong.

You see Penn State students out flipping over a media truck and screaming against the Board of Trustees. Students angry that the media made it all about JoePa and led to his firing.

But scapegoating the media is not the answer. Scapegoating the Board of Trustees is not either.

The people truly at fault are the ones who created and then allowed this to go on, to become a mess. Jerry Sandusky, Tim Curley, Gary Schultz, Graham Spanier, Mike McQueary, Joe Paterno. You can’t blame one and not the other.

The first three are most at fault: Sandusky, the sickening perpetrator of the molestation of young boys according to a grand jury report and Curley/Schultz, those at the top of the chain of command who chose to ignore it.

Paterno and McQueary fall in the middle. McQueary witnessed a horrifying act and reported it to his superior. Paterno was informed and told his superiors. They did something, maybe not enough.

There was no easy answer to what to do with Paterno. No solution that would come close to pleasing everyone.

Fire him, as the Board of Trustees did, and face a firestorm from the legion of Penn State students and supporters, an avid and extremely passionate base.

Let him coach out the season and get chastised for not doing enough, allowing a man who was a part of a heinous scandal to remain the face of a tattered program.

Truly, step back, and you can see both sides of it. Understand both rationales.

When put in the place of Paterno or McQueary, doing what they did may have seemed like the right thing. Hindsight is 20/20. Many people don’t go above and beyond. Sadly, people don’t always take the ideal, morally perfect action, in many aspects.

The Seattle Times did a feature exposé in 2003 on coaches who prey, many keeping their jobs as teachers and coaches, as administrators didn't address it. It’s years old but still relevant. Those known for molestation and sexual abuse continuing to get hired because they’re successful as coaches.


Winning, along with making money, trump morality.

Breaches of morality mean saving face, usually cleaning house. That’s why Joe Paterno’s gone. The Board of Trustees had to send a message. I don’t know how you legislate morality but apparently the Board of Trustees does.

Lots and lots of muck and mire get covered up. Thinking about how many scandals fester in the seedy world of college athletics is sickening.

The most sickening thing to remember though is the details of that 23-page grand jury report, just the mere thought of Jerry Sandusky even placing his right hand on a child’s left thigh while driving, let alone the much more explicit actions he took.

That’s what this is all about. As we argue about what more could have been done, we must think of what now can be done for the victims. The strength it took for them to speak up years later. Even beginning to understand their psyche is impossible.

It’s now almost trite to say it’s all about the victims. But it is. Kids who had innocence stripped away from them.

Joe Paterno had many joyous moments in his illustrious career as a coach at Penn State. He is neither the perpetrator nor victim.

In that regard, it’s black and white. Sandusky the abuser, the kids who were molested by an old man the victims.

Football will go on without Paterno. It really will.

Look outside the football prism, and please, just don’t ignore the real victims again. Too many who could have changed this story already have.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Penn State scandal disturbing but not surprising

I was going to write a blog today about the BCS and my continued yearly issues with that flawed system. But that will have to wait. Something just didn’t seem right about doing that right now.

Hmm, right and wrong- an interesting concept to delve into this week in college football.

Actually, forget this week, any week in a sport that’s on-field glory is continually marred by off-field seediness that makes your typical afternoon soap look tame.

Scandal after scandal rocks a game that’s supposed to foster tradition, unity and family among its fan bases. Saturdays come and go with hundreds of thousands of people packed into parking lots tailgating, then filling stadiums and screaming their lungs out. It’s rare you go a week without some kind of crazy finish.

Or crazy scandal.

We all now know the latest disturbing scandal, the child sex abuse allegations against former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.

But should we really be shocked? Logically, yes. Morally, yes. Knowing what we know about these programs, absolutely not.

This August, New York Times college athletics writer Pete Thamel detailed why college football is more embattled than ever, coming at the heels of the revelation of the U of Miami scandal involving Nevin Shapiro.

Thamel wrote, “the problems of college football seemed to move from the admittedly serious to the plain hard to believe last week with the news that a major donor to the University of Miami had admitted to providing cash payments, prostitutes and lavish gifts to 72 Hurricanes players from 2002 through 2010.”

Miami set a new standard for reprehensible actions within a college athletics program- a standard that lasted three months.

Disturbing, disgusting, sickening are all adjectives that came to my mind when hearing about the actions of Sandusky and inaction of Penn State folks in the know.

Shocking was not one of them. Maybe like kids who are supposedly desensitized to violence by being plastered with it in TV shows, movies and video games, I have just been  desensitized to the shock factor of these scandals.

By no means am I saying this is not shockingly wrong. It is. It's difficult to read, hear and process what was done to these kids and how it took more than nine years to come to light.


But knowing what I do of those in power in college athletics from past examples is why I’m not surprised at the inaction.

In his article Thamel also wrote, “College football has never been more prosperous, with five of the major college sports conferences recently signing billion-dollar broadcast deals.”

There’s your answer to why this is not surprising. Higher-ups in college programs are raking in tons of money. They will do everything to ensure that continues. It’s why the BCS won’t be changed, realignment is ongoing and indiscretion will go unreported.

Money trumps morality.

Tradition and winning reign supreme over common sense and propriety.

It’s a sad reality. One that doesn’t seem like it’s going to change any time soon, no matter how deep the depravity. 

Friday, October 28, 2011

Classic game six makes tough act to follow

Too often, we get caught up in a moment and definitively declare it 'the greatest' or provide an assessment that disregards unbelievable moments of the past. It's an easy trap- excitement amplifying a moment's place in your own history. 

However, it's safe to say that two nights in baseball's past two months will not fall victim to postgame hyperbole when it comes to standing the test of time. 

As the epic final night of the baseball season came down to heart-wrenching moments in three ballparks, analysts proclaimed it 'the greatest final day in baseball history.' 

That's a large statement, considering the game's earliest origins date back a couple centuries. 

But there was something innately exceptional about that night, the comeback of the Rays, collapses of the Sox and Braves.


The 'forgotten' team that night was the St. Louis Cardinals. They made easy work of the Astros and were forced to play a waiting game on the Braves. 

Last night, though, it was St. Louis who provided the spell-binding and historic heroics. Down to its last strike twice...trailing five times...backs against the wall in the 9th and 10th innings of a World Series elimination game. There's no exaggerating the significance of David Freese's walkoff shot to deep center in the 11th inning. 

It's one of the World Series' most classic moments. Game six of the 2011 World Series will go down as one of the best of the past two decades and all-time. That's no hyperbole.

Some moments are just too seeped in drama and impossible circumstances coming to fruition to not recognize their long-term value. 

Now, game seven will have a tough act to follow. Pitching staffs are burnt out, key players injured on both sides. There are plenty of penultimate games in sports and baseball history that overwhelmingly overshadow the final act.


The Miracle on Ice was a semifinal.   

Bill Buckner. Mookie Wilson. Ray Knight. All famous for game six of the 1986 World Series.

Carlton Fisk doing his darndest to wave the ball fair for the game-winning homerun that beat the Reds in game six of the 1975 World Series. The Reds won the series in seven.

Exceptions do exist where the seventh game matches or exceeds its predecessor.   

Kirby Puckett's 11th inning walkoff in game six of the 1991 World Series forced a game seven that was even more incredible. Jack Morris outdueled John Smoltz, pitching 10 shutout innings in one of the World Series' iconic pitching performances. 

The Lakers beat the Pistons in game six of the 1988 NBA Finals by just a point and then won the NBA title two days later by three, both closely contested battles and Lakers wins with their backs against the wall. 

It won't be surprising to see a sluggish game seven tonight in St. Louis. Most of game six was quite sloppy, a combined five errors committed. But no matter what happens tonight, the Cardinals' scrappy game six comeback (or Rangers' dumbfounding defeat- whichever way you choose to view it), will forever live on in baseball lore.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Stop complaining about NFL primetime matchups

The past few weeks of NFL primetime games have sucked. No mincing words there.

New Orleans blew out Indianapolis to the tune of a 62-7 score that is more like something you'd see from LSU on a Saturday than the Saints on a Sunday. Jacksonville and Baltimore played a Monday Night game that you only watched if you're a fan of one of those teams or absolutely despise the game of baseball.

The two prior SNF games were also brutal, a Vikings/Bears game that was wholly uninteresting and the Jets/Ravens doing their best to mitigate offensive football for years to come. They were absolutely terrible games, painful to watch.

But let's not forget the first four games of SNF, all of which came down to the final play. Saints/Packers (Thursday opener), Cowboys/Jets, Eagles/Falcons and Colts/Steelers explosively opened the season, one as exciting as the next.

Complaining about clunkers is senseless, especially when they looked good on paper coming into the season. Minnesota/Chicago was a poorly envisioned primetime contest but with the NFL's constant parity, Detroit/San Francisco looked bad on paper before the season too.

Indianapolis vs. Pittsburgh and New Orleans were must-see matchups- until Peyton Manning's neck injury grew more and more serious. However, even Colts/Steelers turned out to be a nail-biter. Neither NBC nor the NFL should be faulted for faltering quality due to one of the game's greats sustaining a lengthier injury.

Monday night football- that's a different story, a schedule that looked bad before the season began and is playing just that way. Whoever decided it was a good idea to give Jacksonville two home MNF games needs to be dropped off the scheduling committee.

Subpar MNF games have been a fixture since that slate moved from ABC to ESPN and became the second-tier of primetime selection. Yes, ESPN deserves better matchups for the amount of money it's paying. It just has never been reality with the most recent NFL contracts. MNF is now what SNF used to be.

The laundry list of outrageous suggestions following the Sunday Night thrashing in the Superdome are unfounded. Critics want flex scheduling for all SNF games, all season long. Some even want flex scheduling for MNF, which is frankly logistically impossible.

It will also serve to anger CBS and FOX who are paying a hefty sum of their own to broadcast top games to a large portion of the country on doubleheader weekends. No reason those two major players should be robbed of quality matchups on a weekly basis.

Each and every year the NFL is difficult to predict. If schedulemakers correctly slotted the most exciting game into primetime every week, they'd be Nostradamus-like. I'd suggest them for Cabinet positions because they would be possessing some foresight that everyone else is missing.

Flexing everything is not the answer though. It will only make life more frustrating for the fans who invest in incredibly expensive tickets for NFL games. On top of that, it's just not going to happen. CBS and FOX are not going to go for full-season flex scheduling that would wreak havoc on their weekly slate and its subsequent promotion.

We get plenty of good primetime matchups. Not every week can be an instant classic. If you don't like the primetime game, go watch Desperate Housewives, Two and Half Men or turn off the TV.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Proposing solutions: A Jets manifesto after five games

In my last post, I outlined a few of the fundamental problems plaguing the Jets right now. What good is pointing out problems though without offering solutions? The ideas which you will read below are all well within reason...no fantasy trades for Maurice Jones-Drew or unrealistic firings. All of them include player or coaching personnel currently under contract and can easily and realistically be implemented. 

1. Replace Eric Smith in the starting lineup with Brodney Pool
Pool is a sixth-year player like Smith, and has been a starter before for both the Jets and Browns. He's also the better player. Week after week, Smith presents a liability in an otherwise relatively solid secondary. Yes, Antonio Cromartie has his shortcomings and the nickel and dime backs are shaky but Smith is the most overwhelmingly noticeable problem. 


Let's take this week's game against the Patriots for instance. Peter King says in his MMQB column that Wes Welker came out ahead vs. Darrelle Revis, when this, in fact, is incorrect. 

Welker got more than half of his yards on a 73-yard third quarter pass play, when it was Eric Smith, not Revis, who was at fault. Watching the replay, Smith bites on the playaction and does not provide the safety coverage Revis is expecting. It's then Revis, not the closer Smith, looking incredibly slow, who catches Welker and saves a touchdown.

Smith is flat out not fast enough to be a starting safety. You don't need to have a burner as the late-Al Davis believed but you need a guy who is at least speedy enough to keep up with opposing TEs.

Smith can't even do that. 

The sight of Smith two steps behind a TE has become an all too common one. In today's NFL, where the TE is becoming even more of a hybrid position, with guys like Aaron Hernandez who have skill sets more similar to a wide receiver, Smith does not cut it. Pool is better in coverage and needs to be put in the starting lineup.

2. Make Tom Moore co-offensive coordinator 
It's no secret that I don't think Brian Schottenheimer is a particularly effective offensive coordinator. Now in his sixth season with the Jets he has called some very good games but those are few and far between when you look at the full body of work. It's only getting worse this season.

I support the idea of re-establishing the run game but Mr. Schottenheimer decided this was the week to do it, against the Patriots, the NFL's WORST pass defense coming into that game. That's the same one that was torn apart by CHAD HENNE and the winless Dolphins.  

The run worked well in the first half but when it stagnated in the second half, he stubbornly stuck with it, as the Jets squandered the defense's three-and-outs against Brady. Nick Mangold was back Sunday, the offensive line played better, there's no excuse for SEVEN three-and-outs for the Jets offense. 


Tom Moore was brought in this season as a consultant. He's the offensive guru who coordinated the Colts' prolific offense with Peyton Manning under center for 13 years. Obviously, he did something right.

I'm not trying to make Schottenheimer a scapegoat, as I'm completely aware of the offensive line issues. However, the Jets have been winning games in spite of Schottenheimer for years and while they tried to sweep reports of players complaining to Rex Ryan about him under the rug, I don't believe those are just being made up. 

Moore is a proven veteran who would offer a change as a play-caller. I'm not naive enough to believe that Schottenheimer will be stripped of the offensive coordinator title. He's often not a bad game-planner, however, his in-game adjustments and play-calling are suspect. Moore coordinated Manning's audible-heavy scheme and I think Mark Sanchez is more well-suited to a no-huddle, rhythm-based offense, so this could be a great fit.

3. Get Joe McKnight involved in the offense
The Jets need a playmaker on offense. For years and years, it's been dink and dunk. Long runs or pass plays are an extreme rarity for Gang Green- and I wonder why.

Is it offensive design and play-calling?   

Or is it the pieces on offense themselves? 

The Jets have not had a true gunslinger quarterback in recent memory. Vinny Testaverde was for a season (1998), Chad Pennington sure wasn't, Brett Favre was over-the-hill and Mark Sanchez is still a work-in-progress. They've had lots of good, dependable offensive pieces at RB and WR, guys like Curtis Martin, Wayne Chrebet and Jerricho Cotchery.

But there haven't been that many truly dynamic offensive threats. Keyshawn Johnson was for a brief time. Leon Washington and Brad Smith have been the closest thing in the past few seasons. Those two each become a valuable change of pace player who could turn a defense on its head- and that's missing right now from the 2011 Jets offense. 

That player (or at least one who can fill that void) is already on the roster though. 

It's Joe McKnight. 

I know he became deeply entrenched in Rex Ryan's doghouse for his rookie shenanigans but McKnight has become a difference-maker whenever he is on the field, whether it be returning kicks, blocking a punt or even applying the pressure on Joe Flacco on defense that forced him to throw an interception.

Dismissing McKnight at his natural position, running back, is a big mistake. It was just one game and a game with little on the line but McKnight carried the ball 32 times for 158 yards in last season's final game against the Bills. 


Shonn Greene is not a big play threat and LaDainian Tomlinson is not as explosive as he was in his Chargers days. McKnight at least deserves some carries to try to provide a spark for this stagnant offense.

Pinpointing Problems: Jets through Week 5

Putting aside the Baltimore game, because that was just a complete abomination, but looking at the OAK and NE games, there are three issues (offense/defense) that have plagued this team and have kept it from being 4-1 instead of 2-3.

1. While the Jets defense was one of the top units in '09 and '10, I remember it being more a bend-but-don't break unit then a complete shutdown group. And that worked. Instead of allowing touchdowns, the other team would get in the red zone and the Jets would generally hold them to a FG. I think the numbers would back me up on that.

This season...

Against Oakland: Three TOUCHDOWNS from the 23 yd line or closer
Against NE: Three red zone TOUCHDOWNS

Lose by 10 to OAK, lose by 9 to NE. Change two of those TDs to FGs and you may have different results.

2. The safeties and LBs are just too slow. They cannot contain the edges and it's not a matter of if Eric Smith gets burned each week but how badly. It's a given. The Jets need to try Brodney Pool or someone else (is there anyone?) in that spot because Smith just isn't working AT ALL.

3. Time to move to the offense and while there have been issues that you do hold the players accountable to, like Burress' dropped balls and the O-line breakdowns, the overwhelming problem is Brian Schottenheimer. I just have no doubt about this. This is the sixth season of this nonsense and nothing has changed.

Maybe it's because for more than a decade (outside of Al Groh, who wasn't even the first choice) the Jets have had head coaches with defensive backgrounds. From Parcells to Edwards to Mangini to Ryan, it just seems like the offenses have been plagued by incredible conservatism. 

In my lifetime of really watching the Jets (starting in '98), Dan Henning has been the ONLY offensive coordinator that has given me any promise of spark or explosiveness in the Jets offense. Paul Hackett was the worst, Mike Heimerdinger didn't work out and here we are with Schottenheimer, who is plagued by inconsistency and predictability.

I sometimes believe Schottenheimer has created a good gameplan. The offense works well in the first half (as it did in Oakland and in spurts of this NE game). But then the other team's defense adjusts but Schottenheimer misses that memo. Today for instance, he pounded the Ground and Pound into the ground so much so that it became ineffective.

The predictability of this offense is astounding. I'm not a coach but watching every Jets game it's amazing how often I know what's coming. I don't watch game film but from what I see each week there seems to be fundamental issues in the design of routes.

I watch other teams who are able to hit 15-20 yard pass plays or (gasp) even longer ones. It appears these do not exist in the Jets' playbook. They're running 6 yard curls on 3rd and 8. Seriously?

There's just no imagination. I'm not asking for imagination as in reverses or RB passes or some kind of extravagant trickery. I just want some variety. The Jets rarely work the middle of the field and I don't think they've even taken ONE shot down the field this season....ONE.  It's curls, sideline outs and two-step drops that require perfect timing.

Yes, there are problems with pass blocking and the offensive line but something has to be done to open up the offense.

I know the Jets offense and Schottenheimer so well that I'm willing to put money on them running a playaction deep bomb to Santonio Holmes on our first offensive play next week. I'd go to Vegas and bet on it if it's a proposition.

These problems are not impossible to fix. The Baltimore loss was a blowout but the Jets were in both of these last two games. They're 2-3 and while there are problems, it's not time for doom and gloom...yet. It will be if there are not steps taken to try to solve them.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Enigmas in an enduring moment

There's no doubt that talent will be abound on the mound later tonight in Detroit. It's the up-and-down results of game four starters Rick Porcello and A.J. Burnett that leave fans shaking their heads. 

Porcello's in his third season, only 22 years old. He made waves as a rookie in 2009, the youngest player in the majors at the time, finishing with 14 wins and a 3.96 ERA, numbers that earned him a third place finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting. However, the sophomore slump hit Porcello hard. A 4-7 record and ERA over six to start the 2010 season got him sent down to AAA for a month. Inconsistency has plagued Porcello this season. Take a look at the fluctuation in his monthly ERAs from June through September.




Inconsistency also exemplifies the enigma that is A.J. Burnett. It's succinctly surmised in perhaps his greatest major league achievement, a 2001 no-hitter against the Padres, in which he walked seven batters. It's obvious watching Burnett that he has the talent and stuff to be a nasty starter but is lacking the command. He's the unbridled kid oozing with potential who cannot channel it- except he's no kid anymore. Like the navy blue number emblazoned on the back of his jersey, Burnett is 34. 

Porcello still has youth on his side. When he was drafted 27th overall in the 2008 MLB Draft scouts raved about his potential, pegging him as a future number one starter. He hasn't yet reached that level but the Tigers hope he will mature as the years go on.

While Porcello undoubtedly has more time ahead of him than Burnett, game four could be a defining one for both. Yankees fans and the New York media are understandably sick of Burnett. He's making a boatload of money ($16.5 million a yr) and has not produced the stats to back it up. Signed to be the Yankees' number two starter, he's been closer to that with which grade school kids equate the number two. 

Not a pretty analogy but there's not much pretty about Burnett. He's no Maddux or Halladay, surgeons who work with precision on the mound. Burnett flings his tattooed right arm toward home plate, often ending up wildly erratic. His 25 wild pitches this season led the majors, 10 more than the next closest. Burnett thrives on the weird. This season he became both the first pitcher since 1919 to throw three or more wild pitches in eight games over a career and the first Yankee to strikeout four batters in an inning.

Burnett has said he'll watch video of himself from the 2009 playoffs before this game four. He needs not just watch but find a way to replicate his seven inning, four hit shutout in game two of that year's World Series. Porcello will need to match his last five quality starts rather than revert back to the struggles of August. 

Giving the ball to Burnett is kind of like handing Snooki the keys to your Maserati. But maybe, just maybe, he won't crash and burn. The Yankees' season hinges on it.