The SoapBoxers

Fold Tide!

The unthinkable happened. The Wizard of Tuscaloosa – Nick Saban lost a football game. Texas A&M, led by Redshirt Freshman Quarterback Johnny Manziel pulled off the unsuspecting upset on the road. He has been dubbed “Johnny Football” (which I take exception to…I mean I don’t call myself Johnny Golfer) and has vaulted into the Heisman race.

This just goes to show you how much pull the Tide has nationally as when they lose it is big news. Of course Nick Saban is college football’s version of George Steinbrenner. You either love the guy, or you think he is the biggest jerk in the world. Alabama slides to #5 in the BCS rankings, and now we have three major un-beatens all looking for one another to lose….but more on that later.

The bigger news is the newcomer goes into what is perceived as the Berlin Wall of college football, being Alabama at home, and wins. We should have seen this coming a week ago as LSU should have pulled off the upset but let them off the hook at the very end of the game.

Maybe the SEC is what I have always claimed it is, a darn good conference but not as good as everyone at CBS makes it out to be…..who could possibly think a former Big XII team could win AT Bama.

Welcome to the SEC Texas A&M.

The Three Horse Race

It is down to Kansas State, Oregon and Notre Dame in the race to the BCS Championship. History tells us that one of the three if not two or even all three will lose an important game late down the stretch in the last couple of weeks and shake this thing up even more.

Each of these teams has a good argument why they should be playing for all the marbles and the cheesy crystal trophy. All of the teams can easily also make an argument for each of the other teams why they should NOT be playing in a title game.

One thing is for sure, it will certainly be an interesting match up if any two of these three teams are left standing at the end of the year. Each has one tough test remaining, and as the stakes get higher, the nerves sometimes get tighter. The only team that has been here recently is Oregon as they have been the best of the three in the recent history. Notre Dame has not been this good, well, since Cheater Lou was coaching, and the Methuselah of the Little Apple got to the BCS stage once but that was one retirement ago.

I hope they all win out and then we just have more fodder for the sports hacks and radio personalities. Chaos and discussion is what makes the bowl system fun. Soon that will all be gone.

Welcome to the Playoff System soon.

Sideline Controversy – Yet Again

Had to get a Husker blurb in this week as they continue to not only get very lucky with seemingly many critical calls and bounces going there way, but they pull another come from behind by more than two score victory again this week.

The bigger news is more with Coach Pelini than the team winning.

This past Saturday against Penn State, Pelini and Senior Safety Daimion Stafford got into a “heated exchange” folloiwng a Penn State Touchdown, no shocker as Pelini always has the camera on him to catch any possible temper flare up – which based on past history is no surprise.

Stafford pointed and yelled various unrepeatable expletives to the head coach, and Pelini is facing away from the camera the entire time.

While the coach might have had his back turned to the camera, he had his player’s back in comments following the game.

“The only thing you can criticize Daimion Stafford for was wanting to win so bad. He was very upset, and he should be upset, we gave up a touchdown” I love the guy. He is an emotional leader. Let me tell you, it’s an emotional game, That stuff happens, that is not the first time it has ever happened. That happens on the practice field so it is no big deal to me.”

Pelini has a temper that is well documented and that is what makes him who he is on the sideline, but I for one believe he is still paying the price for his reputation.

Here is one Husker fan hoping that if the players want to vent at the coach and then go play like their hair is on fire, that is just fine with this fan.

Until next time…Stay Classy Cedar Falls , Iowa

My My….crow is tasty and best served when cold….

In lasts week’s article I went on the record about Notre Dame with the following statement:

I am going on record that Boomer Sooner will roll one up on this over-rated team. Of course I could be completely wrong as frankly Oklahoma can be pretty average as well (see loss to Kansas State). Coach Stoops has a way of losing the big one, but I predict this will look more like the game against Texas than the turnover plagued loss to the Wildcats.

I even went as far to proclaim in the office that you can’t spell “BLOWOUT” without “OU”

After a Sunday to prepare for the onslaught of grief in the office on Monday, I supplied some cookies from a local establishment – Eileen’s.  While I am not a paid endorser, I am giving Eileen’s some free publicity today as their cookies are the GREATS!. Of course everyone in the office already likes them and how can you not like chocolate cookies with green mint frosting to celebrate a Fighting Irish victory over Oklahoma.

Of course my cookie offerings could not stop the onslaught of emails of Manti Te’o’ and various signs popping up on my cubicle throughout the day when I would be away at lunch or at the printer.

Gotta love those Irish fans.

The Big 10?

Could Nate Sudfeld lead the Hoosiers to the Big 10 title game?

Another crazy week in the conference. Denard Robinson gets injured and Nebraska wins rather easily against Michigan. Neither team looked very good on the field, matter of fact you could argue the play of both offenses rivaled the condition on Sunday morning of most of the people that were at our football tailgate party all day on Saturday at Memorial Stadium…..sluggish….

The Huskers have the lead in their division but head into what is sure to be a dog-fight this weekend in East Lansing. This side of the equation for the Conference Title game in Indianapolis is still wide open in what has been a very average year in comparison to the national stage.

On the other side of the league, Wisconsin loses to Michigan State last week at home (the first home loss in 21 games for Bielema’s boys was the 2nd longest streak in the nation) but since both Penn State and Ohio State are ineligible for the Title game, they are still clearly in command to make that game. Unfortunately they have lost their starting QB Joel Stave to a broken collarbone so they will have to go to the back-up plan and basically just hold off pesky Indiana to play for (gulp) the automatic BCS berth. But as Kosmo alluded to in his article yesterday, the Big 10 is still full of scenarios that could have them sending no one to BCS Bowl this year.

The many possibilities as they say are very …well….possible. I am guessing conference athletic directors might be secretly rooting for Nebraska to run the table just so everyone can get a slice of the BCS payday pie.

Optimus Klein

Collin Klein has pretty much distanced himself from the rest of the pack and barring a major crash and burn by his team or injury he looks to be the guy to hoist the trophy at the Downtown Athletic Club. On the year he has 1630 passing yards 634 yards rushing and a combined 28 Td’s. The Mildcats have Oklahoma State, TCU, Baylor and Texas on the schedule…What that spells to me is more huge stats by the lead Cat.

Fighting Frankies!

Once a Husker always a Husker, and I was disappointed to see that former Husker Coach Frank Solich and the Ohio Bobcats lost their first game of the year this past week to Miami of Ohio. The MAC is tough and this drops them from the rankings and even outside mention at a possible BCS bid if they ran the table, to now being in third place in their own conference.

Know a Good Real Estate Agent?

Really? This was 2011? Seems a lot longer.

I have a hard time believing that Auburn will keep Gene Chizik after the abysmal year of the Tigers. They got wood-shedded again this past week losing by 42 points. The good news for Auburn is they have New Mexico State this week and still have to play powerhouse Alabama A&M in another examples of two cases of an SEC school playing weird home games late in the year against poor opponents or downright patsies.

The bad news is that they also have to face Georgia (who I still think really isn’t that good) and Alabama (which I think IS really that good)

I am sure for War Eagle fans it seems so very long ago that they had paid Cam Newton and won their BCS Title. Wonder where Gene will end up?

Until next time, stay classy Tarpon Springs, Florida

Where did Geno’s Heisman Go?

A few weeks ago, I like many of the other sports aficionado’s had declared the Heisman Trophy all but won by West Virginia’s Geno Smith.

Boy was I wrong…..

It never ceases to amaze me how in the world of college football, things can change so quickly.

Who saw these things happening?

At the start of the season, Michigan State looked like the favorite to win the Big 10 Conference after knocking off the Boise State Broncos in the opener, and Le’Veon Bell carry the ball 225 times for like 565 yards. Update – Sparty then loses 4 of the next 7 games and is basically out of it and waiting for Izzo to take the floor to get renewed hope.

Kansas State looked like a “nice” team in the B ig 12 Conference. Bill Snyder, aka Methuselah had resurrected the Cats of the bowels of despair (also known as the Ron Prince experiment) and was set for a decent year. Update – A decent year is being undefeated, having the current Heisman front runner – Colin Klein – leading your team, and being undefeated and currently #3 in the BCS rankings.

Gene Chizik (left) in happier days.

The Auburn Tigers – Just a short time ago Cam Newton was taking his expensive brand of college football quarterbacking and leading the club to a National Title. Now, Auburn shows up as #100 in the USA Today ranking of teams from 1-124 in Division 1. Auburn went 8-5 last year and coach Gene Chizik was expecting a better year in 2012 with 16 returning starters. Update – Auburn fans are figuring out what Iowa State already knew…..it is fine if this guy leaves. Chizik left town for greener pastures when he left Iowa State overall Clones fans would say they are better off with Paul Rhoads.  Auburn meanwhile is 1-6 this year and 0-5 in conference play.

I had to give a shout out to Auburn fans here – as they seem to like my article on recruiting which has been getting some play on message boards in War Eagle country.

Notre Dame is undefeated.  Man did I miss this one, of course Coach Kelly hangs his hat on a slew of wins over ranked teams. Let me re-cap – Michigan State – Top 10 at the time but now has a losing record. The hot and cold Michigan team that had 28 turnovers in the red zone to lose to the Golden Domers. The ol leprechaun’s got the Luck of the Irish – AGAIN – against Stanford – whose running back Stepfan Taylor still hasn’t hit the ground. This week they looked un-inspired in a narrow win over BYU. Update –I am going on record that Boomer Sooner will roll one up on this over-rated team. Of course I could be completely wrong as frankly Oklahoma can be pretty average as well (see loss to Kansas State). Coach Stoops has a way of losing the big one, but I predict this will look more like the game against Texas than the turnover plagued loss to the Wildcats.

It was the Dukes it was the Dukes….

Hold onto your hats….the Blue Devils are BOWL ELIGIBLE. That is right. We are talking about Duke. They have David Cutcliffe at the helm and he has led Duke to a place they have not been both literally and figuratively in forever. Duke went uninspiring 19-117 in the dozen years before the arrival of their head honcho. This will make their first chance to head to a bowl game since 1994 and only the third time since 1961. The last time they were in this position they were coached by the Old Ball coach himself, Steve Spurrier.

A lot of tough games for them the rest of the way, as they have to still play the Seminoles, but this is the first time in a long time the Cameron Crazies maybe are not ready to sleep in tents to see Coach K’s boys just yet.

The more things change, the more they stay the same….

I have to offer a written “Shout Out” to an old friend who I tailgated and attended the Northwestern vs. Nebraska game with this past weekend in Evanston. I have had the pleasure of seeing two of the more exciting college games in person while travelling with my buddy Terry. (We also went to the Missouri vs. Nebraska infamous “kickeroooskie” game in 1997 together) As always we had a great time and we picked up right where we last left off, the last time we went to a game together some 4 years ago. One thing is true about Nebraska Fans, they travel like no others. The stadium at Ryan Field (PS Northwestern Athletic Department – you have plenty of money at your University…how about some facility upgrades. Port-a-potties at the stadium….really???) was at least 50% Nebraska fans.

There really is no place like Nebraska…or any fans like their fans. Now go bring home a win against Michigan.

If they do, I just might cease to be amazed.

Until Next Time – Stay Classy Union Grove, Wisconsin

The lack of coverage of the Triple Crown in the American League this year is total proof that baseball is no longer America’s Pastime. Instead baseball has been relegated to American history.

The only Triple Crown most anyone knows about outside of baseball aficionados is that involving the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont.

The king of the hill is now clearly the juggernaut known as football. American’s crave the gladiator style, fast paced action that only football can bring. Baseball in comparison is slow with action, the fielders stand around the entire time except when the ball is put into play. The antics of the batter box and the pitchers have delayed the games even more. Also baseball has gotten too specialized, no longer do players pitch complete games nor play double headers that often. No, baseball is no longer the game of a by-gone radio era, it is now made for TV entertainment, although not many are watching.

It Was a Very Good Year……

The last Triple Crown winner was Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. Yaz’s meteoric climb to popularity was due to a number of factors.

First he played for the Boston Red Sox. Not that the Beantowners were as popular back in the 50’s and 60’s as they are today, but remember baseball had much fewer teams then, and Boston was one of the more popular teams, mainly due to the heavily populated Northeast.

Second, Yaz also followed Ted Williams, arguably the best hitter of all time and surely on everyone’s list as a starter on any All-Time baseball team you want to put together. Williams left an irreplaceable hole in the hearts of Boston fans. After all he had won the MVP twice, was a two time triple crown winner and 19 time all-star. Yaz would never be able to replace Williams, but he did his best to try.

Thirdly Yaz played his entire career with the Red Sox, and was an 18 time all-star, won the MVP and Triple Crown in 1967 and is a member of the 3000 hit club. The 1967 season is the main reason he is still revered in Massachusetts. 1967 was a magical season for the normally down-trodden Sox, and added to the allure of Yastrzemski popularity.

The Red Sox finished 9th place in the division the year before, and were in a tight race with the Minnesota Twins and the Detroit Tigers as the season came to a close. He hit an amazing .521 with 5 homers and 16 rbi in the last two weeks of the season propelling the Sox to the World Series where they eventually lost to the St. Louis Cardinals. Yaz was the main that almost single handedly carried Boston all the way to the title, and the fans never forgot that.

Pride or Prejudice?

Cabrera faces a slug of uphill factors in his chance to cash in on this monumental accomplishment. The media is not giving it much coverage because, let’s face it, Detroit is not a sexy baseball town, and he does not speak English as his primary language. I am surprised that no sports reporters have mentioned this fact. We all like to claim that things such as race and prejudice no longer have a place in sports or society today, but the reality is they still do. It will be interesting to see how the people who vote on the MVP will choose this year. They have a tough decision.

Mike Trout, of the Angels is getting just as much if not more media attention this year in the face of the biggest accomplishments in the Major Leagues in almost 5 decades. Mike Trout is 21 years old, is an American and looks to have a bright future ahead of him. He has done some things this year that put him on the list of all-time greatest seasons. Will he get the nod for the MVP vote, or will it be Cabrera?

Only 12 people have ever won a triple crown. That is less than the number of 500 Home Run club members, 3000 hit listers, 300 game winners and pitchers that have thrown perfect games.

Four times the Triple Crown Winner has not also won the MVP award. The last time that happened, Ted Williams lost out to Joe DiMaggio in 1947.

Only the votes remain, it will be an interest ballot to be cast by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Until next time, stay classy Millville, Ohio

It is hard to put two hands on the trophy when you have two hands around your own neck.

This should be the motto for the American team for the 2012 Ryder Cup Matches played at Medinah in Illinois. The American Squad played marvelously the first two days, and built what is basically considered an insurmountable lead (10-6) but failed to close the deal. Losing in a 14 ½ to 13 ½ final score.

Team Europe put its heavy hitters out early in an attempt to turn the tide. It worked, as the American team consistently lost holes 17 and 18 in a number of matches thereby giving the European contingent some unexpected points.

Miracle at Medinah

This ties for the largest come-back in the history of the event, matching the Miracle at Brookline in the 1999 Ryder Cup matches. The big difference here is that Team Europe did this on American soil, and not riding the wave of emotion that comes with a home field advantage.

I think Brookline at a lot more to do with this week than many golf fans even know.

At Brookline, European Captain, Jose-Maria Olazabal was there front and center in the American celebration. Most ardent golf fans forget that he was the opponent standing on the 17th green in the decisive match and watching Justin Leonard roll in a 45-foot birdie. The ensuing celebration with almost the entire American team running onto the green and basically creating a celebration pile created quite a rift between the teams (and the members of the golfing media on both sides of the Atlantic for that matter ) as it was viewed as a breach of golf etiquette.

Win One For Seve, or Still Steaming About Brookline?

This brings me down to Sunday. With Steve Stricker missing his put on the 18th hole, the match was in fact over. But standing in the 18th fairway was the final paring of the day. Francesco Molinari against Tiger Woods. Eldrick held a 1 up lead at the time.  With 14 points secured, there is really no reason to even finish out the match for that matter. Concede the hole – as the outcome is already decided.

Love concurred telling reporters, “Whatever Tiger and Molinari do we don’t get the cup. We’re stunned anyway. I stood there thinking, ‘Why isn’t over? Why isn’t it good-good?’ What were we playing for?”

Molinari and the Europeans, however, had a different take on the final outcome.

“I thought about giving him the halve in the fairway,” Molinari said. “But then the captain was there and he told me it’s not the same, winning or halving, so get focused and do your best and that’s what I did. . . . I wasn’t expecting him to give it to me.”

Instead both players hit “iffy” approach shots to the green and were both faced with 4 footers to tie with par. Molinari made Tiger putt his and he missed. Tiger gave Molinari his putt, but he made it anyway.

So it appears Olazabal got a little sweet revenge, on something that I can only suppose has been stewing with him for 13 years. On a day dedicated to the great Spaniard Seve Ballesteros, he pulls a totally Seve Ballesteros move of gamesmanship, and not sportsmanship, at the conclusion of the 2012 Matches.

Touché Jose, Touché

Two Hands on the Trophy

Geno Smith

I have been doing a Top 5 Heisman list each week, but this week, I am going away from that completely.

For those that watched the video game…errrr..basketball game….errrr…Track Meet…errrr..Football game between West Virginia and Baylor last Saturday, you will understand the following few lines of rhetoric.

There is only one clear cut person for the Heisman after last week. With the continued wide open, lack of defense football you will see much more in the Big XII this year, I can only imagine what type of numbers he is going to end the year at.

I present to you, this week’s ONLY Heisman candidate. Geno Smith – Quarterback of the West Virginia Mountaineers. All he did on Saturday against Baylor is throw for 656 yards, 8 Touchdowns, 0 Interceptions, 248.0 Rating. 5 carries 32 yards Rushing.

Yup, you read all of that correctly. On the year he has thrown for 1728 yards with 20 Touchdowns and count em NO interceptions. He has also ran for another 98 yards and 1 Touchdown on the year.

Hope he has his plane tickets to New York already on order.

Until Next time. Stay classy Miami, Florida

Much Ado About Nothing???

Golden Tate’s Disputed “Catch”

Ok, I get it, the “replacement” NFL officials are very poor. It is difficult to watch some of the calls, incorrect rules interpretations, and general comedy of errors that are occurring in many of the NFL games. It is clear that these guys are over their heads.

Last night might be just the straw the “real” officials are waiting for to end the lock out.

In case you missed it, or have not read a newspaper or listened to any sports talk radio or television today, the final play of the Seattle Seahawks vs Green Bay Packers game came down to a last second heave from Rookie quarterback Russell Wilson in the general direction of wide receiver Golden Tate on the final play of the game. The problem is that Green Bay Packer defensive back M.D. Jennings actually fell to the ground with possession of the ball, and then Tate – basically reached in with one arm and got a bit of the football and then the official on the field ruled it a simultaneous catch.

I remind you that I have no allegiance to either team, but I am sure the Packers and Seahawks fans see this play each in their own completely different light.

Where does this one rank?

If you look at sports in general there are a ton of lousy calls that could determine the outcome of games, or even titles or seasons for that matter. Here is a short list of my personal top 5 worst calls ever, but remember, my views are tainted by my team allegiances as well. Not sure where this call ranks on an all-time list, and you might get other arguments but here are my personal top 5 worst calls of all time.

1. Penn State vs. Nebraska – Beaver Stadium – 1982 – Keep in mind I was 12 years old at the time, and this one is still blazed into my memory 30 years later. During the final drive was aided by a Nebraska personal foul on the kickoff and the “questionable” call on the 15-yard sideline pass to tight end Mike McCloskey. Both McCloskey and Penn State Quarterback Todd Blackledge admitted years later what all Husker fans already knew long ago. He was like 2 yards out of bounds when he caught the ball to give them a first down and keep the drive alive. Then Blackledge hits Kirk Bowman on a catch…errrrr…trap….in the end zone to seal the win with 4 seconds left. Penn State eventually wins the National Title that Osborne should have garnered.
2. Colorado’s 5th Down – One of the worst ever (obviously or it would not be on my list!). Colorado is awarded not 4 but 5 chances to punch it in after a first and goal to beat Missouri on the last play of the game and go on to claim a share of the National Title. I would call them cheaters, but the officials made them do it!
3. Put Some Time Back on the Clock…TWICE – The U.S.S.R. somehow gets the officials to put time back on the clock – – not once, but TWICE at the end of the game allowing the Soviet Union a couple of do-overs to score a basket at the buzzer and win the gold medal with a 50-49 victory in the final of the 1972 Games.
4. Missouri’s Loved or Hated Man – The most controversial call in World Series history, first base umpire, Don Denkinger calls the Royals’ Jorge Orta safe at first base in the ninth inning of Game 6 of the 1985 Series against the Cardinals. Replays clearly show that St. Louis pitcher Todd Worrell clearly beat Orta to the bag. Denkinger’s call allows a two run rally by the Kansas City Royals who then pull off a 2-1 victory. Kansas City goes on to win the Series in seven games.
5. Head or Tails? – The easiest call in any football game is the coin flip, unless you are NFL official Phil Luckett. During the 1999 Thanksgiving Day game between the Steelers and Lions the teams come out for the overtime coin flip. Steelers captain Jerome Bettis calls “tails”, but Luckett hears “heads”.  I can still see the looks on Jerome Bettis’s face…”WTF” – The Lions win the toss and go on to win the game. The NFL changes its procedures forever after this monumental turkey day gaffe.

Bottom line when it comes to what all of us fans think is poor officiating…..If you don’t like getting screwed at the end of the game, play better and don’t put yourself in a position to get screwed.

Stat of the Weak (weak)

Johnny Goodman’s Fantasy Football teams, known for countless league titles and copious amounts of lifetime earnings are a combined 0-6 to start the year.

Heisman Trophy Watch

• Nick Florence – QB – Baylor – Can the Bears pull off back to back Heisman winners. Ni-Flo is on fire leading the NCAA is total offense with 174 rushing and 1004 passing in just 3 games.
• Stephon Jefferson – RB – Nevada. Explodes onto the list. Through four games he has 11 rushing TD’s and 699 yards rushing to lead the nation in yards per game rushing.
• Rakeem Cato – QB – Marshall – Stays on the list leading the nation in passing with 10 TD’s and just 2 interceptions along with 1481 yards through 4 games.
• Geno Smith – QB – West Virginia – Should be able to continue to pad his numbers in the normally wide open Big XII. Barely behind Florence of Baylor in total offense per game at this point, but has a much stronger supporting cast than the other candidates on this list.

Stay Classy Nashville, Tennessee (Golden Tate’s Hometown).
 

Another week in the books and overall there were some HORRIBLE games this past week.

Alabama and Arkansas was supposed to be a big game. That was until Arkansas lost to Louisiana Monroe and then proceeded to also lose their starting quarterback for the game against the Crimson Tide. In case anyone is doubting Nick Saban and the 52-zippo blanking of the Hogs, trust me, the Tide is good. How two voters in the polls still think otherwise is beyond me.

Paper Spartan???

Andrew Maxwell fumbles against Notre Dame

Michigan State proved finally to a national audience what Johnny G has been spreading around the water cooler all year – OVER-RATED. The problem is two-fold with their loss. One, it just further cements the fact the B1G 10 is not having a banner year and two, the fact that Notre Dame beat the Spartans just adds more fuel for the Gold Dome zealots who are proclaiming that Brian Kelly is the program savior. If he is that good of a coach, I just hope he is not as big of a cheater as Lou Holtz……

Meeeeeechigan versus Notre Dame

On the topic of Notre Dame, This upcoming week, (or should I say WEAK) is good time to go golfing with your buddies as there are a ton of barely watchable games filling the airwaves. We have Michigan and Notre Dame and then….not much else to look forward to except maybe Clemson against Florida State. I am not much of a fan of the ACC but this is the only other game likely to get much play nationally this week.

The highlight of week 4 from the National Spotlight will be Michigan versus Notre Dame – Mainly because…well…it is Notre Dame playing.

I am rooting for my buddy Aaron, (sorry Denis and K.R.) in a match-up of teams my friends root for. Go Blue. Johnny supports you!

Weak B1G 10

And since I mentioned a week of weak games, I might as well stay with the topic of weak – – – in the B1G 10, the Ohio State Bunkeyes barely crept out a win against the California Bears at home this past week. (Yes, that is right, I said Bunkeyes) Cal looked to have them on the ropes until a busted coverage late in the game gave Braxton Miller an easy long touchdown stat padding completion. I took Braxton off the Heisman 5 this week, mainly because some others needed props. Ohio State at this point is clearly the best team in the otherwise weak conference….too bad they can’t play for anything meaningful to end the season….cheaters.

A Tale of Two Mannings

Wow totally different ends of the spectrum for the Mannings in the NFL this week. Eli throws for 510 and 3 TD’s (also had three interceptions) in a win over the Buccaneers in a real life version of Tecmo SuperBowl, and Peyton throws 3 first quarter picks in a loss last night to the Falcons. A word of warning to the AFC. The NFC seems to have the cream of the early season crop of teams. Let’s see if everyone stays healthy and they are the ones to beat at the end of the year.

Heisman Watch – Week 3

1. Rakeem Cato – Quarterback – Marshall – Averaging a crazy 423 yards per game. Of course it is Marshall, but here is some love for the MAC – he leads the NCAA in total offense. Through three weeks that gets you top billing.
2. Geno Smith – Quarterback – West Virginia – Running roughshod with just two games under the belt, but is 2nd in the nation with an incredible 409 yards per game total offense. Finally might be showing he is legit since Matt “can’t ever beat Stanford” Barkley checked out last week.
3. Jonathan Franklin – Running Back – UCLA – Still leading the nation in rushing with 180+ a game, and still high on Johnny’s Heisman Watch list
4. Denard Robinson – adding some huge stat padders against Air Force and Massachusetts. This week he gets the Golden Domers…so if he is here next week, that means Big Blue fared better than those Spartans of East Lansing.
5. Darius Slay – DB- Mississippi State – What? A defensive guy on the Heisman top 5? He does lead the nation in interceptions with 4 in 3 games and he took one to the house for 6. Plus I love the last name. Slay just sounds like a bad ass defensive player doesn’t it?

Until Next Time, Stay Classy Homewood, Alabama

Week #2 is in the books, and there is a lot of news on the college football front.

No much to cheer about for Razorbacks fans on Saturday

Arkansas was clearly the upset of the week, losing to Louisiana Monroe. Arkansas somehow managed to stay ranked even after this debacle. Oklahoma State also moved out of the rankings after losing to the Pac XII Arizona Wildcats. The Pac XII also recorded big wins as UCLA knocked off Nebraska in a defensive struggle, and upstart Oregon State shocked Wisconsin,10-7 in Corvallis. Wisconsin was so shocked that they promptly fired their offensive line coach, Mike Markuson. It sure does not look like Monte Ball will be in the Heisman discussion this year.

On a down note for the Pac XII, the Colorado Buffaloes got…well…buffaloed in losing to Sacramento State on a game winning field goal by Edgar Castaneda.

My beloved Nebraska Cornhuskers

Of course I get to write about this now and then, why? Because it is my article of course, and many of my so called “readers” (if there are any) are Husker Fans as well. The Corn got shelled this week past Saturday in California by a team that looked much more ready to play than the Scarlett and Cream.

As any of you football fans can relate to, the sky is bluer, the flowers prettier and the steak dinners taste better all when your team is winning.

Once you suffer a loss, or that unexpected loss, suddenly it is Armageddon.

UCLA exposed some match ups that gave the defense bit time trouble. Unfortunately, Nebraska had no real answer for it this past Saturday.

This week Arkansas State rolls into Lincoln. The Red Wolves currently are 7th in the NCAA in total offense. Nebraska is 96th in total defense. Looks like the 20-24 point spread may be getting smaller by this weekend.

Week #2 Heisman Leaders

1. Braxton Miller – QB – Ohio State – An impressive 151 yds per game average running and 4 td’s to go along with another 362 yards passing and 3 TD’s through the air. Can he throw himself the ball? IF so, hand him the trophy now.
2. Jonathan Franklin – RB – UCLA – keeping the love here as he piled up a monster night against the Cornhuskers and leads the nation with a 215 per game average.
3. Kolton Browning – QB – Louisiana Monroe – an impressive first outing of the year, skinning the Razorback defense on a 42 for 67 performance for 412 yards and 3 TD’s. He also added another 69 and a score on the ground in the upset win.
4. Ryan Aplin – QB – Arkansas State – 101 on the ground and 625 in the air through two games = 5 total touchdowns and a 1-1 record. Can he beat the Huskers and be 2-1?
5. Cody Getz – RB – Air Force – 43 rushes for 348 yards and only one negative rushing play in all of those carries. Oh yeah….6 touchdowns as well. SERVICE!

Until next time, stay classy Colorado Springs, Colorado

Week #1 is in the books. Many were aghast at how Alabama handled Michigan. Wisconsin and Iowa really struggled and were to a large extent lucky to escape with victories last week. A few even went to bed early to ensure they were up for Cheerios, their morning cup of joe…and the Fighting Irish.

Dear ESPN

The cameras were once again focused on Happy Valley. Not much to be happy about there these days when it comes to football. I predicted last week in my article that the Ohio Bobcats, or as we call them at the SoapBoxers – the Fighting Frank Soliches, would pull off a win at Beaver Stadium. Penn State came out full of emotion with jerseys full of names on the backs for the first time ever. They left after being outcoached, and outplayed by a veteran quarterback Tyler Tettleton. The most interesting thing that ESPN/ABC could manage to say about Tettleton is that his dad played Major League Baseball.

A more interesting fact would be why the Buckeye Band always spells the word OHIO and NOT Ohio St. in their big pre-game routine before each game. I assume ALL of the Bobcat fans love when the Buckeyes dot the “I” in Ohio – – as clearly that is a sign of solidarity for the state of Ohio. Either that or the teachers at OSU have never taught the band to spell out “STATE”

Regardless of this useless trivia factoid digression, ESPN had no post game interview with the winning Ohio coach, Frank Solich in what is undoubtedly one of the biggest victories in terms of “Big Wins” for the program while at Ohio University (next to their bowl game win last year, the first in school history) Instead the geniuses at ESPN put a camera in front of the losing coach, Bill O’Brien

This next week the cameras will be on again as Penn State travels to Virginia to take on the Cavaliers…I guess they will have the losing coach interview two weeks in a row. Maybe a better question is why is a team that barely skirted the “Death Penalty” on television every week thus far?

Is it Too Early?

Le-Veon Bell

To talk Heisman Trophy? I think it is but again the sports hacks that blog and that “report” the news have nothing better to write about. In this day and age of instant news and constant speculations, it is normally the best beauty pageant job marketing a good player by one of the major sports sources (ESPN, ABC, CBS) that helps a player garner the most votes at the end of the year.

Matt Barkley will be in the early lead and frankly it is likely his award to lose since most of the talking heads have already anointed him the man to beat…(of course that was the case for Andrew Luck for the past two years as well and he never received the hardware)

Unlike the copycats that all put the same names on the dotted line in the fishwrap each week, I am giving you my top Heisman Contenders after week #1 based on statistics and performance alone.

#1 – Le-Veon Bell – Michigan State – All he did was tote the mail a whopping 44 times for 210 yards for the Spartans in a win over ranked Boise State. The otherwise anemic offense relied totally on Bell, who added another 55 yards receiving for the game but the Broncos still could not stop him.

#2 – Austin Franklin – New Mexico State, hauled in 8 catches for an incredible 236 yards and 2 touchdowns against lackluster Idaho State.

#3 – Braxton Miller – Ohio State – I am going to seem like a B1G 10 homer this week but as Shakira says…the Stats don’t Lie. Miller rolled it up on weak Miami of Ohio, passing for 207 and 2 touchdowns and running for 161 yards and another score. If his passing numbers were not so weak, he would be higher on the list.

#4 – Johnathan Franklin – UCLA – ran out of control in the opener with 214 yards and 3 TD’s on just 15 attempts. He should face a bit of a better defense in Nebraska this week than he saw in the opener. And speaking of the Huskers…

#5 – Taylor Martinez – Nebraska – Looked like the reincarnation of Vince Ferragamo as he threw for 5 touchdowns and 354 yards while completing over 76% of his attempts in a rout of Southern Miss, the defending Conference USA Champions.

Until next time….Stay classy Reynoldsburgh, Ohio.

And So It Begins…

Colgate 1895 college football team (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This Thursday with a couple of games to kick-off the season. While most of the country will be focused on watching the big opening weekend match up of Alabama and Michigan, (Alabama coincidentally is a 14 point favorite over Big Blue) Thursday night officially starts the season. 9 games top the slate of action, with Ball State and Eastern Michigan likely providing the closes match up, at least on paper.

Play Like A Champion Today

Saturday morning you can awaken early (real early if you are on the left coast) and watch Notre Dame take on Navy from Dublin, Ireland. Yes the Golden Domers – if that is what we can call them after their new helmet designs – are headed overseas. I guess the Notre Dame Broadcasting Channel – NBC must really trying to be able to spike viewership of their beloved team….or maybe hoping that they can put a better product on the field. The main thing hurting Notre Dame is that they really are irrelevant since Cheater Lou Holtz was heading the club. While a lot of people will tune in to watch Notre Dame win or lose, they lose a lot of TV sets when they are just plain average, which is what they have been for quite a while.

Best Places to Watch Games

The USA Today is running an article all week, showcasing the best stadiums to watch a game from each conference. I don’t know what they have used as part of their criteria, but I guarantee most people will disagree with their voting. They are not all done with covering all conferences this week, but to date this week they have the following selections:

ACC – Clemson – hard to argue this one, I will agree this gains the top spot. Hokie fans likely disagree, but I think they got voted down to #2 due to their hideous chicken feet helmet design…..The only one approving of this new helmet is Foghorn Leghorn

Pac 12 – Oregon – so last year….but they get the top vote.

Big 12 – A big Shocker here…Texas…OVER-RATED – This would be behind Missouri, Texas A&M and Nebraska if they had not all gotten ticked off by the Longhorns and went elsewhere.

Big East – Does anyone really care? The article picks Cincinnati. I would go with Pittsburgh, Heinz Field is a cool venue.

Big 10 – TBA – Everyone will argue that it is the Big House or the Horseshoe…Come talk to me when you sell the place out 307 times straight and counting. Yeah, call me a homer, but Memorial Stadium in Lincoln Nebraska wins the conference on that stat alone.

SEC – TBA – A lot of great venues and rabid fan bases. I still love the fact you can take your boat to the stadium so I am going to Knoxville and choosing Tennessee. Plus that checkerboard orange and white end zone is still a memory from my youth.

Upsets of the Week

Iowa State over Tulsa…The only Hurricane working this week is Isaac.

Auburn over Clemson – I just have a good feeling about this one.

Ohio over Penn State – How will the Lions react in their first game in spite of all of the events and lots of losses?

Until Next time, stay classy Eek, Alaska!