Monday, September 27, 2010

In which AFN states his Hatred of Urban Meyer: NCAA Week 4 News and Notes

Well, I think that title reveals my thoughts this week, so let's get this started.

-First, apologies for missing week 3. Not many though, because really, what could I talk about? Nevada dominating Cal? Nebraska ruining Jake Locker's future? Fire Brewster?

-Alright, I'll start in on my big rant while my blood is all angried up. Chris Rainey, Florida "star" player, was suspended recently from the team for texting an ex-girlfriend "Time to die bitch". Notice how I say suspended, not kicked off there.

Now, this goes well with Urban Meyer's comments about how he "doesn't run a dirty team." This despite 30 arrests since his arrival at UF.

Now, I'm not saying that Urban meyer is actively encouraging his players to break the law. What I am saying is that he is an asshole with zero care of discipline while his team is winning. He is an ass. An absolute ass.

You don't see other big programs having issues with things like this. You don't hear about players for Ohio State, or Oklahoma, or Texas or the like committing major crimes (every team has misdemeanor issues). You know why?

Because those coaches actually give a shit about team discipline. Meyer? Well, given how he has been reluctant to punish even acts that would count as felony assault (see the Eye Gouge incident from last year), I think it is safe to say that his players feel able to do whatever they want.

And why shouldn't they? Urban clearly will do merely the minimum. And the Florida justice system isn't a whole lot better, since Rainey's punishment is a donation of $100 to a women's protection group.

That brings up a larger point about big time football teams in general. Go ahead, move to Florida, and text an ex the same thing that Rainey did. Let me know what the jails are like.

-So, Nebraska... I don't know how they can crush Washington one week and the next struggle with an FCS team, but they found a way. I'd be more worried about how they are going to win the Big 12 South this year, but...

-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA TEXAS! How in the blue Hell do you lose to UCLA at home? How do you lose to UCLA at home that badly?

I'll tell you how. Pac-10 supremacy.

-Speaking of Big XII South, Oklahoma barely escaped against 1-3 Cincinnati. This makes the Red River Shootout next weekend (Don't EVER call it the Red River Rivalry or I will castrate you) even more of a circus than the past couple years have been.

-Notre Dame is 1-3. Also, my browser's spellcheck doesn't consider "Notre" a real word. What I am gettingat here is that ND isn't a real team.

-Oregon beat ASU pretty awesomely (Go to Hell Erickson). How cool is it that Oregon-Stanford is this weekend? Truly, Thor is smiling on us.

Heisman Ballot, Week 4

1. Denard Robinson, University of Michigan and most exciting player in NCAA football
2. Colin Kaepernick, University of Nevada
3. Ndamukong Suh (yeah, still on this bandwagon) Detroit Lions
4. Korey Bell, Capital High School
5. Nobody else but it will probably go to some crappy running back

Anyway, that's all I've got for this week. Next week, I'm not sure... Perhaps a bit of LIVEBLOGGING.

Monday, September 13, 2010

James Madison's best work since the Federalist Papers: NCAA Week 2 News and Notes

Hello sportsfans! Welcome to another exciting edition of me, the Angry Football Nerd! Lots of great stuff to talk about this week! Upsets ahoy, and the return of my Heisman ballot!

-Alright, starting with the West Virginia-Marshall game. While it would have been amazing for Marshall to win on the 40th anniversary of the plane crash as depicted in the semi-popular film "We Are Marshall" (which the AFN cried during, but I cry during all sports movies, and if you don't like that, bite me), that game perfectly showed the usual difference between big time programs and small time programs. Personally, I was cheering for the Thundering Herd, but after that comeback, WVU showed that they deserve it.

-And then came Saturday. Starting off with the Kansas-GT game.... WHAT THE HELL?! How do you lose to NORTH DAKOTA STATE (Apparently the worse of the two ND teams according to espn) and then make Georgia Tech look like fools? Kansas is probably the most two faced team this (very young) season.

-Minnesota lost to South Dakota State. This is a week after almost losing to Middle Tennessee State. Next they play USC, then northern Illinois. Then the Big Ten. Minnesota is going to go 1-11 this year. This is a reminder that they signed HC Tim Brewster to an extension last season.

-On a related note, Fire Brewster.

-USCar beat Georgia because Marcus Lattimore is going to be the Heisman runner-up this year. Oops, did I just spoil some of my Heisman Ballot? Yeah, well...

-And finally, the namesake of this week's blog update. James Madison beating Virginia Tech. At Virginia Tech. Now, again, sometimes a loss to an FCS school isn't the death knell for a program (again, see Michigan vs. Appalachian State). But in this case? Well, Starting 0-2 is a whole lot worse than starting 0-1, especially for a team that was expected to compete for the National Title. Their saving grace? The rest of the ACC doesn't look so hot. Expect Virginia Tech to go to the Orange Bowl and get beat by an at-large team pretty handily.

-Also, thanks to VT for reminding us why Monday games should be followed by a bye week, instead of even a cupcake game.

-That ragging on the ACC is deserved. How about those non-efforts from Florida State (Welcome back Oklahoma, I'm looking forward to seeing you get crushed by every big team you have the rest of this year) and Miami? Granted, Miami would have probably fared better if Jacory Harris (oddly enough, my spellcheck doesn't recognize Jacory as a word) hadn't thrown somewhere in the neighborhood of a trillion interceptions. But really, for all the ragging on the Big Ten, it looks like the ACC deserves it more this year.

-Notre Dame-Michigan. First off, a moment of silence for those of us who were unable to stomach the NBC announcers. Hint idiots: If you flat out call someone on one of the teams terrible, you are biased enough that you should lose your job. Anyway! So, how awesome is Denard Robinson, QB for Michigan? He is so awesome that he personally has more yards this season than 80+ teams. That awesome. As of right now, the scale is no longer 1 to 10. It is Virginia Tech to Denard Robinson.

-Well, Alabama and Penn State went about exactly how it was predicted to go. Thankfully, there were no injuries. Funnily enough, if you replace "Alabama and Penn State" with "Nebraska and Idaho", this section still applies, saving me valuable Jets watching time.

-What is Oregon's deal? They go to Knoxville, play like a junior high team (a decent junior high team, to be sure) in the first half, then come out at halftime and absolutely explode with talent and plays. I don't know if I should put them as a lock for the Pac-10 crown, or a lock for the middle of the Pac (see what I did there?).

-Speaking of Pac-10, how bad is WSU? So bad that they need a comeback on the last drive to win by 1. Against Montana State. Which begs the question, what would have happened if they played Montana? My guess? COMEDY! And something like a 49-7 loss for the Cougars.

-Also, you know who is scary? Actual Cougars. Am I talking about the large feral cat, or middle aged women at bars? Both, my friends, both.

-Fire Brewster

-Stanford is going to be a legitimate threat for a long time. You heard it here first, folks (assuming that you haven't listened to or watched ESPN in the past two year).

-So, how screwed is USC? Sure, they are 2-0. After letting Hawaii put 600 yards on them in week one and squeaking by Virginia 17-14 week two. Is Lane Kiffin the worst BCS team coach? Well, no, but that is only because Tim Brewster is still employed. Granted, going to Minnesota SHOULD help, but despite my earlier prediction of the Gophers going 1-11, somehow beating USC wouldn't surprise me. And would also ensure that Brewster is still employed come this time three seasons from now. Anyway, USC is looking at the bottom half of the Pac-10 this year.

ANGRY FOOTBALL HEISMAN STANDINGS

1. Denard Robinson
2. Marcus Lattimore
3. Terrele Pryor
4. Ndamukong Suh (if they give Reggie Bush's Heisman to Vince Young, then they should absolutely do this)
5. Bryan McMartin

Alright angry football fans, that is all for this week. You know the drill by this point: same time next week. E-mails go to angryfootballnerd@gmail.com for a timely (NOT) response.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

If I may be serious for a moment

There is a plague in college football. No, it isn't Lou Holth's marble mouth, or Mark May's... Mark May. It isn't idiot commentators who try to make mountains out of molehills and only care about the ratings. It isn't zebras who throw the flag at the slightest provocation (You dare to be happy after a touchdown? 15 yards!).

It isn't even the BCS (saving that one for later this season).

No, it is the NCAA.

The NCAA is actively doing what it can to hurt college football, all under the guise of helping. Let's discuss this on the basis of a couple cases.

1. USC and Reggie Bush

Now, yes, I am far from unbiased. But, I'm going to approach this as calmly and rationally as I can.

So, Reggie Bush took money and benefits while a student-athlete at USC. This is a clear violation of the rules.

So, naturally, we should punish the current coaches and players. Since they are the ones who dared to be there while this stuff was happening years ago, right? I mean, Matt Barkley definitely knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that a player who was there while he was in junior high and high school was doing something unbecoming of a student athlete! It only makes sense to ban him for two years from the postseason (as well as every other player on the team). And hey, why the hell not? Let's take away scholarships so that some kids can't go to college and better their lives (A reduction of scholarships at ANY school has a domino effect). All because something that happened long ago was bad.

2. Jeremiah Masoli and AJ Green, with a side of Dez Bryant

Ahhhhhhhhh, Jeremiah Masoli. Now, here is a good, upstanding citizen. He deserves to have a continued career in college and then the NFL. All he did was rob some people and run from the police! Boys will be boys.

AJ Green, on the other hand, is pure scum. How dare he sell a jersey of his! That rat bastard! The only people who deserve to make money off of AJ Green's hard work are the University of Georgia and the NCAA!

Dez Bryant? Dinner at the same location as an agent?! What a jerk! How could he even think that this is remotely ok?

Clearly, in the eyes of the NCAA, it is much better to ROB AND FLEE FROM JUSTICE than it is for an agent to (potentially) buy you a hamburger, or to make a couple extra bucks selling something that only has worth because of you.

I could go on like this, but I'm getting hungry, so I'll be wrapping it up. The NCAA is actively doing the wrong thing. It is harming players, coaches, and teams that are merely bystanders (Hey idiots! MAKE BUSH PAY THE MONEY BACK!) to circumstances beyond their control. And they are doing it with a smile on their face, all the while assuring us that it is "for the best."

Should we pay college athletes? That is a debate for another day (but yes, they should). Should we punish athletes for preparing for their future while in college (imagine if they told you that you or your child couldn't talk to an adviser at any point during their collegiate career)?

It doesn't take a lot to see where I stand on these topics.

What about you?

Monday, September 6, 2010

We finally made it! NCAA Week 1 news and notes

We are finally here, sportsfans. We made it through the darkness of the offseason, which saw multiple NCAA sanctions handed down to various programs (more on that later), the most awesome Fulmer Cup in recent memory (Congrats Georgia!), and a conference apocalypse tease that ended up seeing nothing like what we all wanted happening. But, you've all already read about that, so let's just get to the games!

-Idaho opened the season at home for the first time in years, and absolutely slaughtered North Dakota 45-0 (which was the same score the last time the two met). There were a couple issues, namely the O-Line needing to stop being made out of wet tissue paper and getting called multiple times for encroachment (which is, in fact, the dumbest penalty that you can commit). Of course, since next week sees the Vandals at Nebraska, who knows what this could mean for the season. Personally, I'm just hoping for no injuries.

-USC and Hawaii was pretty interesting. We all know that going to the island tends to mess with teams a bit. But messing with you to the point where a WAC team puts up 600 yards on you? Yeeeeeesh. That should be "fun" for USC in conference play.

-Arizona killed Toledo Friday night. This isn't notable, except for one little thing. Last year, Toledo beat Colorado handily. And somehow, Dan Hawkins is still employed by CU.

-Speaking of CU, the annual game against Colorado State was Saturday. Nothing of note, except this little tidbit. Before it was announced that Cody Hawkins would not be starting for CU, the spread was in CSU's favor by 14 points. After that announcement? It swung the other way. Interesting how when Hawkins didn't start his son, people suddenly viewed his team as legitimately decent.

-Penn State started a true freshman at quarterback, which lead to a shakey first half. Honestly, it looked like Youngstown State might pull off the upset. And then suddenly, with a couple minutes left in the 2nd, PSU found their groove. Will they be able to survive the rest of the season, including a trip to Alabama next Saturday? Who knows. But their chances are definitely looking a little bit better after that second half.

-I'm not going to cover the variety of blowouts by OSU, Florida State, Miami, Bama et al. Individually at least. I will address their scheduling in a rant in a bit.

- TCU status: Still really good.

-Fresno State beat Cincy pretty easily. Cincy, who had an 18 game regular season winning streak. Seriously, the Big East is a BCS conference, why?

On Schedules and Week One

So, with most of week one behind us, we have seen the two different styles of scheduling that are most prominent in FBS football. There is the cupcake game, like Idaho having UND come visit (holy crap does it feel good to say that). Then, there is the marquee game, like Oregon State-TCU. Both have advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of a cupcake game:
-Time to work out any kinks that may appear in a relatively safe environment.
-Mental boost from starting the season with a W, which can be quite powerful.

Disadvantages of a cupcake game:
-If you lose you are screwed in perception for the rest of the season, no matter how things actually turn out. For example, do you remember what happened to Michigan the year Appalachian State beat them at home in the season opener? Most people’s answer: They went 3-9. Actual answer: They beat the University of Florida Fightin Tebow’s in the Sun Bowl. So, not the best thing, but not nearly as bad as what people think.
-The mental block of knowing that a team you should have manhandled beat you. Only time will tell how Kansas and Ole Miss will recover from their losses to FCS teams.

Advantages of a marquee game:
-Exposure. This goes even more for neutral location games. You can’t tell me that Oregon State didn’t impress some Texas recruits, even if they lost.
-Money. Does this really need to be elaborated on?

Disadvantages of a Marquee game:
-Loss of positive perception if you are one of the later day games. Read some football forums right now. People hate both VT and BSU, purely because they have been having them shoved down their throats every five minutes. Granted, this is a pretty minor problem, since it self-corrects within 6 days.
-Hope your team is ready for the season from day one, because you have absolutely no time to work out any problems during the game. This can be a very bad situation, especially if you are/were a potential NC contender.
So, there are convincing reasons for both scheduling types, and really, there is no right answer for any individual team. Personally, I love the couple of great games we get each year to balance out the POWERHOUSE VERSUS EAST ASSHOLE MISSOURI. Of course, it is a lot more fun when EAM beats the powerhouse…

Anyway, that’s all for this week. Look forward to next week, when the most amazing day of football in recent memory happens. PS: Don’t call me, I’m not answering from 10 AM-11 PM.