R. Rich

Well, what a weekend for college football. The almighty BCS has decided that USC and Oklahoma will play for the national championship in the Orange Bowl. No, I will not put the stupid sponsor name with it, as I think the commercializing of college football has ruined it! Anyway, here's the final BCS standings. Two things: Cal got screwed and Auburn got robbed! Cal was passed over for the Rose Bowl so that Texas could play in it. It looks like Mack Brown's begging has paid off for the Longhorns, who did what they normally do: play well, except for THE game, the Red River Shootout vs Oklahoma. Another year, another loss to the Sooners. Why not reward them with a Rose Bowl bid? After all, what did Cal do to deserve one? They were just one play away from beating USC, but who are they, anyway? Actually, I do think USC is in the title game this year simply because they weren't in it last year. They tweaked the BCS system so that the polls factor in more, and the polls had USC on top. So, they're in. Do I believe they would be able to beat Auburn? No. Would they, in a rematch, even beat Cal again? Maybe. Still, the Trojans did win out this year, and that can't be taken lightly. Auburn got the worst of the deal this year. The greatest season in Tiger history, one where they not only ran the table in the VERY tough SEC, but finished undefeated as well!! Congrats to you. As your reward, you get to play Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. I wonder who the BCS officials will be rooting for in that one? I'll bet they'd love to see the Hokies win, so they don't look any more ridiculous. Tommy Tuberville should be Coach of the Year and his team certainly deserves to play for the national championship considering what they were able to accomplish this year. Oh well. Another team gets the shaft. I'd be very worried if I were Frank Beamer, coach of Virginia Tech. The Tigers may take out their frustration on your team. Good luck. Utah gets to play the Pittsburgh Panthers in the Fiesta Bowl. This could get ugly. The Utes have a very good team. I don't know if Pittsburgh can keep up with them. The drama of Urban Meyer leaving to become head coach at Florida only makes this more of an emotional game for the Utes. You know they'll be ready to "win one for Urban". Michigan vs Texas in the Rose Bowl? What a joke. Texas begged their way in and Michigan backed their way in. Yeah, the 'grandaddy of them all'. Riiiiiiiiiiiight. Complete bowl game schedule

Mike Sanford is leaving the offensive coordinator position at Utah to become UNLV's head coach, replacing John Robinson. I thought he'd be the top candidate to replace Urban Meyer as the new head coach at Utah. Interesting.

Does anyone want this job?

From ESPN

From ESPN. I think it would be great if they gave him a shot.

Really? That's odd. You're not sick, are you? I hope you're not coming down with Jungle Fever.

All the best to you on your special day, Cindy. Will we see you at the Steelers game on January 2nd, since I missed you at the Cardinals game? I hope so.

I am racially insensitive. That comes from growing up with a white 'stepfather', going to predominantly white schools from 5th grade on, being exposed to racism at said schools at an early age, and having a 17 year relationship with a white woman (now my wife). After all that, I can take any abuse from any side of racism (whites who don't approve of my interracial marriage or blacks who don't approve of my interracial marriage).

Politics? I don't even know who you are.

No problem. I'll get back to you once I know my wife's schedule for that weekend. Then we can plan to meet up.

Who's Gene Frenkle?

I don't know if they have a better deal than other schools. As I mentioned before, college football has a ton of TV coverage through network TV, cable, and pay per view/sattellite services. You'd be hard pressed to miss a game from teams in the ACC, SEC, Big 11 (they don't have 10 teams!!!), or the Big 12. They're on almost every week as it is and they certainly have more than enough exposure to those who would be interested, whether they be pro scouts, alumni, or just plain hardcore college football fans like myself (the stack of tapes in my family room downstairs with college games on them being proof positive). I think players who go to Notre Dame get what they want in terms of exposure as do those in other major colleges. Back when you only had the networks showing college football, I think Notre Dame did have a significant advantage. Not any more. But, like I said, I don't see any losers in that from either side.

Penn State, a superiority complex? Hahahahahahaha!!!!!!!! Yeah, it must be those 3 unbeaten/untied seasons they've had that were rewarded with a national championship............NOT!!! Actually, the feeling among Penn State fans is that for whatever reason, the NCAA has something against them. Again, I point to those 3 seasons. There isn't another university that I can think of that had 3 unbeaten/untied seasons and didn't at least get a share of the national title, if not the whole thing outright. Penn State's program is in shambles for the same reason Notre Dame can't get over the hump: recruiting. PSU knows this, ND doesn't seem to. It isn't too late for either team, but both must face harsh realities before they can move on. PSU is still struggling with the JoePa issue: is it time for him to go? Will he retire, or be 'forced out' (not gonna happen)? That is a big problem in terms of recruiting, even with the extension he signed. They did have a good recruiting year last year, and the early word is that they've snared a couple blue chippers already, but there's a truckload of work to do. Notre Dame MUST begin to aggressively recruit to compete for a national title. They cannot wait for propsects to come to them anymore. It's been this lack of solid recruiting that has helped to land them where they are, with a team that works hard, but doesn't have a wealth of talent. It's like the movie "Blue Chips". Nick Nolte's team worked their tails off for them, but could only do so much with the talent they had. They were good, but not good enough. The Irish have some of that going for them now. Of course, they do have a tough schedule and all too. That can not be ingnred. Still, if they actively recruit prospects and sell them on the positives of Notre Dame, they will get more talent in. They just can't afford to wait much longer. With the major conferences being on TV so much and with packages like the ESPN Game Plan (which I've had since 2001; it's great for those who love college football as I do!!), having the exclusive TV contract is not such a huge drawing factor any more. I did end my post by saying I feel they'll get back there. They just need to realize that there's work to do and 'work' does not mean wait for players to come to you.

You know Bart, if there wasn't that whole superiority complex thing at Notre Dame, where they believe they are bigger than college football, I may have felt bad about it. But that, coupled with the way Willingham was offered up like a sacrificial lamb, and I have none. They deserve this. Now, does it mean they're all done for? Absolutely not. They've bounced back before and I'm sure they'll do so again. The tough part starts with realizing that Notre Dame is NOT bigger than college football. Once that happens, they'll be right back in business.

I'm looking to take out the person who's been stealing my action. So, are you pimpin' on the side?

Are you offering to pimp some out?

Yep. Damn.

Urban Meyer accepted the head coaching position at the University of Florida, a move which surprised some, as he had an out clause in his contract for Notre Dame. Here's the story from ESPN.

Excellent post, Greg!

It would appear the Irish recruit coaches as well as they do players.

What's satire?

Good man. Thanks! I need to get my Yahtzee fix daily.

You mean there's someone on the board who puts Bills games on DVD? Seriously? Don't kid me now, VA.

Really? Interesting... I have just about every game the Bills have played on tape from the 2001 season through this year. I should go through all the tapes to see which ones I'd like to put on a DVD. If you need a copy of the comeback game, it's no problem at all.

Excellent! I definitely need to meet the guy who hooked me up with a copy of the comeback game. I still don't know my wife's schedule yet (she's in retail, so we probably won't know for sure until Christmas weekend), but I'm off from 12/30/04 through 01/04/05. I'm hoping we can come up on Thursday and leave Monday morning/afternoon to go back to Baltimore. I won't be staying in Buffalo this time (I'll be in Erie), but if the weather cooperates and there's enough interest, I may be interested in meeting up with a few TBDers that weekend.