Rant Time: The Content of Your Game

(Editor's Note: This is the full version of an article posted in The Breeze on February 16, 2012.)



I always laugh a little bit when I hear fully grown adults with PhD’s start taking shots at Generation Y. They say that we’re too lazy. We’re the dumbest generation. Don’t trust anyone under 30. Google is making us stupid. Really? You want to put your 8-10 years of higher education to use by putting down young adults that aren’t even fully formed persons yet?
 

As you can tell, I tend to reject most of the criticism that is thrown around out there. Still, there is a grain of truth to some of what is said. If anything, I think GenY is too naïve. Now a full generation removed from the 1960’s, few of us even really have parents who can fully remember what this country was like before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was ratified.


People who try to be trendy might say “I don’t see color.” But no one walks around saying that there are no differences between men and women. Growing up on either side of the turn of the millennium, I obviously saw color. I saw black, white, yellow, brown, and everything else. I just didn’t really care, nor did I see what the difference was. To a Generation Y kid, I can’t even understand what people were thinking when they might look at anyone different than themselves and think “gee, you’re a minority? That’s grounds for needing to go to a different bathroom.” It is truly unfathomable. In a world of overused hyperbole, it is a concept that literally boggles my mind.


That is why I don’t get Luis Suarez.


He’s a 25-year-old striker for Liverpool. Back in October, Suarez got into a bit of a verbal spat on the field with Manchester United player Patrice Evra. This was followed by a 115-page report that determined that Suarez kicked Evra and told him it was because he was black. When Evra understandably became angry because of this racial abuse and asked him to repeat what he had said, Suarez only replied, “I don’t speak to blacks.” Then Suarez called Evra a “negro” a couple times before scurrying along.

The Football Association — basically an English version of Roger Goodell — laid down a £40,000 fine and an eight-game suspension for Suarez’s inappropriate actions. Exactly the right move. Case closed.

Except that last weekend, when Suarez came back from his suspension, his first act was to skip Evra while the two clubs shook hands before their game. If you’ve ever played organized sports, you know that skipping someone in the handshake line generally isn’t an accident. It’s intentional, and it’s meant to send a message. I’d love to take Suarez’s £40,000 and bet that he planned and schemed up that little trick during his eight-game suspension. It would be great to come back with a racist bang, right where he left off, and start some fireworks.

Like all great vengeance plans, this one backfired. Evra and Man U of course felt disrespected and willed themselves to a 2-1 victory. This time, the football association failed to find Suarez’ actions as inappropriate, and they have announced there will be no sanctions against him. How the exact same commission that just spent 115 pages explaining why he was a racist can fail to find this inappropriate, I will never understand. But it does reinforce the fact that the subtle, ugly tones of racism still find themselves seeping into the world of sports every now and again. I don’t understand how someone just four years older than me can understand a mentality so completely when I don’t comprehend it at all.

Still, there is a new hope rising in the (far) east, and his name is Jeremy Lin.


If I told you three weeks ago that an economics graduate sleeping on his friend’s couch was going to ignite the sports world and dominate ESPN, you’d have probably wondered aloud how I even got a sports column to begin with. Yet here we are nearing the end of week two of Linsanity. With Amar’e Stoudemire already back and Carmelo Anthony set to return to the lineup later this week, people are buzzing with anticipation. Will the ascent of previously unheralded point guard Jeremy Lin continue? I don’t know. I am not a Knicks fan, so I am not personally invested in their success, but at this rate, Lin could be elected Secretary-General of the UN by the end of this weekend.


I don’t want to anoint him just yet, but there is certainly some substance to the hype surrounding Jeremy Lin. After all, in his first four starts, he has outscored every player since the history of the NBA merger of 1976. So how much hype is appropriate, you ask? That’s all a matter of perspective. Many pundits have said he is the Tim Tebow of basketball, but Tebow was a Heisman-winning quarterback with two national championships who was drafted in the first round. Lin was undrafted and received zero Division 1 scholarships. Tebow’s stats are underwhelming; Lin’s stats are just the opposite.


Some have gone so far as to say he is a 21^st century Jackie Robinson. Lin may have grown up as a minority at the turn of the 21^st century, but Jackie Robinson was truly discriminated against. He surely would not have been allowed to attend Harvard. Lin may be a cultural phenomenon, but Robinson is a historically significant icon. Let’s slow that bus down just a little bit.


Still, as an Asian Harvard grad who wanted to play in the NBA, I’m guessing Lin knows a thing or two about unfair judgment. He’s no Robinson, but it’s reasonable to assume Linsanity hasn’t always been quite so, well, insane. These scouts have gotten so use to seeing a certain type of mould at combines, and let’s face facts. Jeremy Lin is not that mould.


It shouldn’t matter what you look like. In 2012, I would hope a player is judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their game.


But what do I know? I’m just a stupid kid.

What the CAA and Big 12 Have in Common

Happy Lupercalia to you all, may you enjoy high testosterone and estrogen levels.


On this wonderful day of random girls walking around with flowers and even larger than normal amounts of completely obnoxious PDA, I put a simple question to you:


What do the Big 12 and Colonial Athletic Association have in common? Anyone? Anybody?



Let's start with the BXII, who just got some pretty great news: Morgantown, WV is almost heaven.  The 304 is officially cheering for a Big 12 team (unless you're in Huntington), as West Virginia and the Big East have officially announced their 20-million dollar divorce.  WVU will pay 11 million, and the Big 12 will pick up the rest of the bar tab.  And it's that simple.  Facebook relationship statuses have been changed. The Mountaineers and the Big East are no more.

Fresh off the heels of that news, WVU's new conference was quick (and I mean lightning fast) to release their 2012 football schedule, complete with TCU and WVU's entire conference roadmap.  Though most of it had already been finalized, the West Virginia court issues were considerably slowing things down.  Now the schedule can be completely finalized with the Mountaineers' games present and accounted for.  WVU plays a fairly balanced schedule next fall. Notable games:

9/29 (B12 opener): Baylor @ West Virginia
10/6: West Virginia @ Texas
11/3 TCU @ West Virginia
11/10 West Virginia @ Oklahoma State
11/17 Oklahoma @ West Virginia


Like I said, it's pretty balanced.  In fact, it's downright favorable, with WVU's overall schedule featuring seven home games.  Not bad for your premiere in a new conference.

Now, regarding the November 10 matchup of West Virginia and Oklahoma State:

1. It's actually not that farfetched to think WVU could be undefeated in early November (only two road games in conference, Texas and Texas Tech, plus Marshall, JMU, and Maryland all at home)

2.  You're watching the two most prolific offenses on college football next year

3. It's Dana Holgorsen's return to the school and team he formerly coached.

All that adds up to one thing: buy your tickets now for college gameday in Stillwater, Oklahoma on November 10, 2012.


For the Big 12 complete schedule, click here.
For WVU's complete schedule, click here.



Now, onto the CAA.  Remember them?  They're that SEC-like conference of Division 1AA football and that basketball conference that has had two separate final four teams in the last five seasons.  They are the conference that JMU is in, and that I must partially cover in an actual newspaper and not this online soapbox.  What's that, my non-captive audience?  You want to know what's going on with the CAA before The Breeze tells you on Thursday?  Yeah, okay, I guess I can do that.

The Colonial has just recently (as in, information released in the last 24 hours) signed a TV deal with NBC's new sports broadcasting channel. You know, the one I frequently trash on twitter becuase it'll probably never be as big as ESPN? Yeah, that one.  And by TV deal, I mean five years of the most extensive coverage the CAA has ever, bold italicized underlined EVER, had.  The deal not only covers national coverage of football and men's basketball, but also additional regional coverage of multiple other sports. 

The CAA is the first conference on any level to sign with NBC.  I have learned from very credible sources how difficult it has been for JMU and the CAA to negotiate media rights with ESPN.  For a conference that has been wildly successful in the last 5-10 years, they certainly don't get respected like it.  So yes, take this as a wag of the finger- probably the middle one- toward ESPN. And rightfully so. We've taken are business elsewhere, and Adam Smith wouldn't have it any other way.


So what do the CAA and Big 12 have in common?


Well, they're both random girls walking around with bouquets of flowers.  Happy Valentine's Day, CAA/Big 12.  It's sure to be a memorable one.

Rant Time: Shaka Smart's Comments On the Mark

Eleven NCAA tournament bids, three Sweet 16 appearances, and two Final Four trips. 

Any guesses on what I’m talking about?

That’s the combined achievements of George Mason, Old Dominion, and Virginia Commonwealth in the NCAA tournament in the last ten years.  Just let that sink in- eleven, three, and two from three Mid- Majors in the same state.

Now let’s compare that to the two “Power Conference” teams from that same state.  Virginia Tech and Virginia have combined for two bids to the Big Dance in the last ten years.  That means that in the last decade, Virginia CAA schools have as many final four runs as Virginia ACC schools have NCAA bids.  That’s pretty telling.

So I can’t really blame VCU coach Shaka Smart for stepping up Monday and announcing to the world that he believes “the best programs in the state [of Virginia] are in the CAA, and it’s not even close.”  What?  Cue the media uproar.  How dare he blaspheme the ACC like that!  After all, the ACC is the media darling of Dick Vitale and sportscasters everywhere.  Does Smart think he can say whatever he wants just because he went to one measly little Final Four?

Well, yeah.  Especially when what he is saying has the advantage of being entirely true.  Last time I checked, North Carolina and Duke are the only ACC programs that have really been nationally relevant over the last six or eight years.  According to my globe, those schools aren’t in Virginia.

I like the program that Tony Bennett is building at UVA.  The Cavaliers are back in the national rankings, and they have been a more consistent #3 option in the ACC this year than Florida State.  I think Bennett will build a program that will remain relevant for some time.  However, if we’re talking about what programs have been doing in the past few years, then the boys in Charlottesville blue haven’t done much of anything recently.  The team in Blacksburg has probably done even less.  Don’t forget, eleven and two.

In an age where postseason results are all that seem to matter anymore, VCU, ODU, and Mason have entirely outperformed their supposed big brothers.  Some people might argue that a comparison between the two groups is unfair because of the level of competition each school must endure in conference play, but think about it.  ACC schools like UVA and Tech must play Duke, UNC, and each other.  After that, there have been about two more average teams and around six other below average teams, to put it nicely.  People think highly of the ACC because it is a storied conference, but look at their recent results.  In a twelve team conference, they have only averaged about five teams per year.  That’s 40% of the conference.  Compared to other power conferences like the Big 12 and Big East who regularly get close to 75% of their conference in, the ACC is not nearly as deep.  Even the CAA—a mid-major conference!—managed three bids (25% of the conference) in last year’s NCAA tourney.  Who were those teams, I wonder?  It was George Mason, Virginia Commonwealth, and Old Dominion, and they combined for six wins.  Stop me when this is starting to sound like a broken record.

I really just don’t understand the outrage and controversy surrounding Smart’s statements though.  The “controversial comments” made headlines up and down the east coast and even trended regionally on twitter Monday afternoon.  CAA coaches have since come out and defended his statements, but other coaches like Bennett still seemed upset.  They seemed to think that the comments were unfair to the basketball programs at the University of Richmond, UVA, and Virginia Tech. 

The only injustice I see is the unfair playing field that recruiting takes place on.

Head coaches like Tony Bennett and Virginia Tech’s Seth Greenberg get to tell recruits to come play for them because people love the Atlantic Coast Conference.  They will be watched on TV.  ESPN exclusively pays millions and millions of dollars to conferences like the ACC because of the status quo that has been established.  The ACC is a “good conference,” even though results from the last decade might suggest that it’s overrated and full of bottom feeders.  The CAA, meanwhile, must fight and scrap for the most marginal of television rights.  Whereas the ACC has their own night carved out on ESPN (Sunday Night ACC basketball) in addition to countless other televised games, the CAA has virtually no bargaining power regarding their own television broadcasting schedule.  ESPN will choose three or four Colonial conference games that they would like to televise, and that’s really all the CAA will be awarded despite being arguably the most successful mid-major conference of the last five years.  The conference continues to succeed in spite of ESPN’s coverage, not because of it.  This plays right into the hands of the power conference teams, who continue to ride the success of their conferences instead of the strength of their own programs.

So if these power schools can ride the benefits of their conference for recruiting, why shouldn’t Shaka Smart?  Why shouldn’t Mason head coach Paul Hewitt or ODU coach Blaine Taylor?  By extension, why can’t Matt Brady?  The answer is that they can and should.  The CAA has outclassed the other Virginia programs of the last five years, and yeah—it’s not that close.  It’s time that people start recognizing that.

Welcome Back to my Good Side, Jeff Bourne

JMU recently released their football schedule.  I'm giddy just writing about this.  In case you haven't seen it, here we go:


September 1- St. Francis (Pa)

The only thing even worth mentioning is that the last few home openers have been late afternoon/night games.  That means grilling and tailgating.  Am I the only one that wants more night games?  Just sayin.


September 8- Alcorn State

Please.



September 15- West Virginia at FedEx Field

As you all know, this is the game that has been circled on my calendar for quite some time now.  I will be at the game, large portions of my family will be at this game, and I hope all of you make the drive up to Maryland too.  Personally, I'm waiting for the WVU and JMU AD's to decide that I'm the best person on Earth to do color commentary for this game on TV.  Hit me up Curt Dudley.  We could be great together.


September 22- @ Rhode Island


Sure, it's not a home game, but if you've got to go on the road, this is probably where you want to go in CAA play. 


October 6- Towson (Family Weekend)

I've got some mixed emotions about this.  It's great that one of our biggest weekends is against the reigning CAA champs.  But if you sat with me last fall for family weekend or read my reaction piece (blog or Breeze) afterwards, you probably know I was none too happy with the surprisingly large amount of family sitting in the student section.  Not that there is anything wrong with that, but if you're going to be a "student" for the game, you better stand up and make some noise.  If Towson remains a quality team next year, which I think they will, we're gonna need the full noise advantages that Bridgeforth can provide us.  Let's step it up families.


October 13- William and Mary

The tribe has been a bit hard to pin in recent years, but this should be another good, quality home game to witness in the heart of football season.


October 20- @ Richmond

8000 people will show up to this game, and around half will be Dukes fans.  Poor spiders.  Their fans are more worried about derivatives and less worried about our special teams breaking their kicker's leg.  If the Creepy Crawlers are twice as good as they were last year, we could probably win by 50.


October 27- Georgia State (Homecoming)

Ouch. Sorry GSU, it's a long drive home.


November 3- @ Maine

This is a key game JMU can't afford to drop.  Maine was good this year despite being pretty young across the board.  If JMU wants to win the CAA regular season title, they need to close it out down the stretch.  Winning in the land of the frostbitten willl be step 1.


November 10- @ Villanova

Villanova was so incredibly bad in 2011 that I have no idea what to expect from them in 2012.  They historicaly field a good team, so it's hard for me to imagine them being a cellar dweller twice.  We will probably be a better team than them, but this could be a let down game as the Dukes look forward to...


November 17, Regular Season Finale- ODU

If you're looking for a rivalry where rich intellects sit around and eat cheese while talking about politics in a luxury box, go watch William and Mary play Richmond.  I barely consider them a rival.  If you're looking for a dirty war in the trenches where people beat the crap out of each other, show up to JMU vs ODU.  Going forward, it's going to be the game on JMU's calendar not only because it will cap the regular season every year from now on, but also because Monarch fans seem to be the only FCS fans in Virginia that actually care about what's happening on the gridiron.  Both teams were playoff bound in 2011.  ODU won a close, physical, injury-laden game.  It's gonna be a bruiser, and it's going to set attendance records.  Buy your tickets now.




Okay, now time for my reaction.  Some of you may remember this wonderful letter issued by Jeff Bourne after his incredibly low 12k attendance bid on the first round playoff game against Eastern Kentucky on Thanksgiving weekend.  The end result was JMU defeating EKU in what was essentially a high school stadium six or eight hours down the interstate from Harrisonburg.  For the class of 2013 (and everyone younger), we still haven't seen a playoff game at JMU.  I know I speak for a lot of people when I say that my ass would have been in Bridgeforth for a playoff game regardless of the date or holiday.  Period.  So going into the Christmas season, Jeff Bourne was on my naughty list.  He was on a lot of people's lists, I would imagine.


Jeff Bourne, welcome back to my good side.


This schedule is incredible.  We don't draw New Hampshire, but we do play the remaining three top-four finishers from 2011's CAA play.  Two of the three (Towson, ODU) we get at home on notable weekends.  As for the remaining team (Maine), we go on the road to one of the lamest home field advantages in the conference.  Maine students are too busy working on their double major in Animal Husbandry and Frostbite Survival to go watch a football game.


It's about 7 months too early for football predictions, but I have JMU going 9-2 next year.  If Thorpe can straighten out his off the field issues and lead this locker room, we have a real shot to win the CAA and grab a 10-win season.  And that's just the regular season.


JMU won the national championship in 2004, and almost did it again in 2008.  I don't know what they'll do in 2012, but I have a vague idea.  I like where this is going.

Sunday Hangover: And Then There was One/ Really, Murray State?

Longtime blog readers know that this is indeed a Hangover type of weekend.  Let's talk teams that might need an aspirin and the blinds closed.


Notre Dame 67, #1 Syracuse 58:

When I found out Fab Melo would miss at least two games for "academic reasons" (political speak for
Fab Melo is academically ineligible until the Syracuse Athletic Director threatens the teachers who failed him so that Melo can be awarded a passing grade), I immediately said that I thought this would be the moment where Syracuse would lose. 

I just thought that moment would take place at 5-1 Cincinatti, not 3-3 Notre Dame.

Regardless, the Cuse had a bad shooting night at a place that's only seen one road team win in the last calendar year.  And the last of the power conference unbeatens falls.  How far will Syracuse fall in the rankings?  It's hard to say, but I'd say not too far in a weekend where third ranked Baylor fall at home, second ranked Kentucky barely beat Alabama in Rupp, and Duke lost at Cameron.

What Syracuse should really be worried about is the midseason slide that has plagued them in recent years.  Take last year, for example.  Let me know if you think this sounds familiar: Syracuse was ranked in the top 3 in the country in late January, and went on the road in Big East play to a difficult location to play at (in last year's case, the Oakland Zoo).  They suffered their first loss of the season at Pitt, and proceded to lose their next three games at Villanova, at home to Seton Hall, and at Marquette.  They would end up dropping six of eight, and tailspin their way right out of the top 25 rankings.  Boeheim eventually righted the ship, but they still made an early exit in both postseason tournaments.  I don't think the same thing can happen this year- the team is too deep- but I wouldn't be at all surprised if Syracuse doesn't meet the expectations that have been laid at their feet.

Syracuse plays against without Melo on Monday night as Cincinatti, then goes home to play WVU.  If they dropped all three games, I wouldn't be 100% shocked.  (Though with West Virginia's inability to handle a press, I would probably have to admit to being about 75% shocked.)


Florida State 76, #4 Duke 73:

I'd love to know the statistic on how many teams have absolutely thrashed North Carolina and then followed that up with a win in Cameron Indoor?  I'm guessing it's a pretty small number, somewhere around 1.

Similarly, I'd love to know the stat on how many ACC teams have lost to two Ivy League teams in the same season.  Or maybe how many teams have scored ten points in a first half.  Again, I'm guessing the number of teams that have accomplished those daring feats are... 1.

But at least I understand Duke.  They're athletically gifted, have above average perimeter shooters lining their team, and are extremely well coached.  It's not a vintage team, and ever since Coach K won the national championship in 2010, I've struggled to understand just what exactly is wrong with this team, why they probably couldn't beat a middle school gym class team if they were playing on the road.  But at least I get that, if the little @ symbol is to the right of the word "Duke" on the schedule instead of the left, the Devils in blue are probably going to lose. 

Compare that to my understanding of FSU and it's night and day.  How can you beat the two heavyweights of the ACC, who are clearly better than everyone else in the conference (I think?), yet be as offensively challenged as the Seminoles are?  Lose to Princeton?  Get blown out by Clemson?

I think FSU still has some work to do before they are a lock for March.  In order to prevent a headache, I think I'll hold my judgement until then.


#5 Missouri 89, #3 Baylor 88:

Baylor is good. Missouri is good.  This game was a coin flip on paper.  In reality, it was decided by one point in the last seconds if the game.

Both teams are still good.  Top 10 good.  Let's all relax.

Baylor was probably a #1 seed before this game.  Missouri was probably a #2.  Those two probably swap now.


Other Scores that Caught my Attention:



#10 Murray State 82, Southern Illinois Edwardsville 65

Beating SIUE isn't exactly a marquee win, but expect Murrary State to jump at least one team in Monday's poll.  That's what being 20-0 and the last undefeated team in Division 1 will do for you.

A quick straw poll of my roommates and friends has the Racers leaving the NCAA tournament, on average, in the second round.  Clearly, beating Southern Mississippi and Dayton does not impress the casual fan, and I'm inclined to agree.  When you rank 263'rd in the country in rebounding, any team with a half decent frontcourt is likely to embarass you.

(Programming note:  Hey, ESPN, I don't care if they're 19-0.  I do not, nor will I ever in the future, want to watch Southern Illinois play basketball. Don't air them on ESPN.  Ever. I'd rather watch poker.)


Tennessee 60, #11 Connecticut 57

The Huskies are a top 15 team, but I definitely won't be picking them again in March.  Jury is still out on the Vols, but a late season push might squeeze them into the Dance.


#12 Georgetown 52, Rutgers 50

Some people say there is no such thing as a moral victory in college basketball.  Mike Rice would probably disagree with them.


#15 Mississippi State 78, Vanderbilt 77

Stop me if you've heard this before- Vanderbilt was a preseason top ten team, and vastly overrated.


Arkansas 66, #19 Michigan 64

This loss isn't as bad as it looks.  Arkansas is quietly 14-5 with two top 20 wins.  Four of their five losses were on the road, and two of them were at Connecticut and Kentucky.  Still Michigan seems to be exactly what we thought they were- a good but not great team.


#20 UNLV 80, New Mexico 63

Winning in the Pit is hard.  Beating the crap out of New Mexico in the Pit is usually a Herculean task.   UNLV is a sleeper type of final four team.


#21 Louisville 73, Pittsburgh 62

Jamie Dixon has never lost more than nine games in one season.  Pitt is now 11-9, and 0-7 in Big East play.  If you don't think the Panthers are basketball's biggest disappointment this year, you're not watching basketball.


West Virginia 77, Cincinatti 74

By this time next week, there is a very strong possibility that one of these teams will be in first place in the Big East.


Dayton 87, Xavier 72

Evidently, locker room gangsta's were never taught how to stop the bleeding.  Perhaps they should have joined the Boy Scouts... but I suppose they wouldn't be gangstas then. It's all very circular.


Long Beach State 71, UC Santa Barbara 48

LBSU is 7-0 in conference play with wins over Xavier and Pitt. Smart money has them winning a game in March.  My money has them winning two.

10 Things: I Still Love You, Jeff Fisher

The blog returns to a reader favorite recurring segement today.  Here are ten notable storylines or opinions from the sporting world you might have missed:


1. Eric Decker, one of the Broncos' two main wideouts, is listed as out for Saturday night's game.  Should Denver be worried about a key piece of their offense missing?  Maybe, but I doubt they're going to lose any sleep tonight.  On the other side of the field, the Patriots have thirteen players listed as questionable- which means it's likely that at least 6 or 7 of them will not play, as the questionable tag usually leads to a coin flip, game time decision.  Among the questionables: safety Patrick Chung, corner Kyle Arrington, linebacker Brandon Spikes, linemen Marcus Cannon and Dan Connolly, and receiver Wes Welker.


2. The Clippers are a respectable 5-3, but in Los Angeles? How about 4-1 with wins over Portland AND Miami?  Their lone home loss comes against the Bulls on a night reigning MVP Derrick Rose netted 29 points, 8 rebounds, and 16 assists.  The Clippers are in action again Saturday night in LA, this time against their crosstown rivals. You might have heard of them.


3. You may be (but you probably aren't) farmiliar with Tino Sunseri, the rather poor quarterback for the University of Pittsburgh.  His father Sal, also a former Pitt player, is the associate head/linebackers coach at Alabama.  Or rather, he was the associate head/linebackers coach at Alabama.  Sal has taken a job as the new Defensive Coordinator at Tennessee.  On the move, Sunseri had the following to say:


"The chance to work with Derek Dooley, who has been around championships and knows what it takes to build an elite program...makes this opportunity so exciting to me."

Okay, to quote Deion Sanders' twitter, Hold On Playa.  You're leaving Alabama- that school that's won two national championships in the last three years- because you think Derek Dooley is going to build an elite program at Tennessee?  If you're looking to help mould an elite program, you're probably already in the right spot.  #LOL. #nosenseofirony #thinkbeforeyoutalktoreporters


4. In a basketball game in East Lansing a few days ago, Iowa's basketball coach Fran McCaffery was having a no-good, very bad day.  His players didn't show up to the game with any real desire to play, and he had already been T'ed up.  So what does he do, rather than talk through his feelings?  He goes all Bobby Knight and throws a chair in the huddle during a Timeout.  I can't say I can blame him.  If I was being blown out by 30 points and my parents had named me Fran, I would probably be a little upset too.

On second though, my parents did name me Fran.  Why am I not a more angry and violent person?


5. ESPN has released its all-Bowl team, and if I've taken one thing away from it, it's that stereotypes exist for a reason.  I've broken everything down for you, and here are my thoughts:

-The SEC has 6/25 players on the team.  One is Alabama's place-holder; the other five are all defensive players.  That means that the SEC accounts for half of the all-bowl team defense.  They had no players on offense.
-Conversely, the Big 12 had 4/25, and all four were on offense, highlighted by Justin Blackmon.  Again, stereotypes.
-The Big East conference, and both BYU and Boise State all totaled more representatives (3,2,2 respectively) than the ACC (1).  I've been saying it forever.  ACC football is massively overrated, and no stat says that like a 2-13 overall BCS bowl record.
-The Big10 and Pac12 combined for only 5 spots- two defense, three offense.  Kind of underwhelming when you consider the hype and media coverage they get. 

Notable players:

Quarterback- Geno Smith (WVU)
Runningback- Doug Martin (Boise)
Receiver- Justin Blackmon (Ok St)
D. Tackle- Mike Martin (Michigan)
Linebacker- Courtney Upshaw (Alabama)
Linebacker- Khaseem Green (Rutgers)
DBack- David Amerson (NC State)
DBack- Brandon Boykin (Georgia)
All Purpose- Tavon Austin (WVU)


6. The Capitals beat the Penguins Wednesday night in one of the most heated rivalries in hockey.  The penguins are in the midst of a six-game funk, but they haven't been shut out all season.  That all changed in the Verizon Center, where Jason Chimera scored the only goal for Washington's 1-0 victory.  Crosby, Backstrom, and my boy Mike Green all missed the game because of injury.  Maybe all the missing star power contribute to the lack of no one really caring at all about a game that has traditionally blown up my facebook feed to obnoxious proportions. 


7. ESPN always does a "way-too-early" top 25.  LSU is listed at #1, and its not a sympathy vote folks.  The amount of talent they bring back from an already amazing team is just flat out unfair.  But that's not what I want to talk about.  West Virginia is ranked at #7 in the poll, mainly on the heels of their 70-point coming-out party for what Dana Holgorsen's offense can actually do when the players buy into the scheme.  Now I know preseason polls don't really matter, especially those that are written in January, but I'd just like to say...


Seriously, ESPN?  Seriously? 

Are you trying to cripple us?  That's setting the bar wayyyyy too high.  Even I don't think we should be ranked that high, and that should say something.  This is Geno for Heisman all over again.  Don't set impossible standards.  There's virtually no benefit to meeting them (other than, you know, winning, which feels good regardless) and it sets the Mountaineers up for an all-too-likely failure to reach them.  Pat White is gone, folks.  This isn't 2007.  WVU is not a preseason top ten team, especially because of one game.


8. Former Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher was recently hired by the St. Louis Rams in a move that about  90% of America scoffed at.  My question is... why?  Fisher gets to work with Sam Bradford, one of the premiere young quarterbacks of the league.  What's even better is that the boys in St. Louis have the second overall pick in this year's NFL draft.  It's projected that a team in need of a quarterback may want to trade up to grab whoever remains from the monster tandem of Andrew Luck and RG3.  Such a huge pick could potentially trade for numerous picks from both the 2012 draft future drafts.  If you're looking for precedent, rememeber how the Cleveland/Atlanta trade that ended up nabbing the Falcons wideout Julio Jones last year?  Cleveland made out like a bandit with five or six picks just for JJ.  I expect even more will be coming the Rams' way.  It's not a bad time to be Jeff Fisher.  Who cares if the Rams are 15-65 in the last five years?


9. I have consistently argued that the Big East has been the best AND deepest league in college basketball for the last few years, but this year... I think they've taken a step back.  Syracuse is certainly the best team in the country thanks in no small part to their amazing bench play, but after that, there are no more great teams... just a lot of really good ones.  I'm not complaining though- parity makes for better games and conference races.  I'm willing to go on the record saying a few things about this conference.

-Syracuse will win the regular season title, but not the conference tournament title
-Nine teams will make the NCAA tournament from the Big East
-The Big 10 is a better conference than the Big East
-Kevin Jones will be a first team All-American (or else I will twitter bomb cbb like there is no tomorrow)
-Herb Pope will be a second team All-American.

Please note that both of the above players are the only players in all of college basketball average 20 points and 11 rebounds.


10. I know everyone's favorite point man/power man combo is now CP3 and the human highlight reel, aka Blake Griffin, but how about some love for their poor man's Minnesota equivalent, Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love?  Most casual fans have heard of Love by now after his insane consecutive games with a Double-Double streak last year, but Rubio isn't quite a household name yet.  The rookie sensation from Spain is tearing up the NBA in his first season, averaging 8 assists in limited minutes with the Timberwolves.  My only question is... why in the name of David Stern is he only playing limited minutes?

Gridiron Playoff

Hey all, just wanted to give a quick plug to one of ESPN's fantasy sports games.  If the lack of fantasy football has created a void in your life, pop over to games.espn.com and find the gridiron playoff challenge.

You get 50 million dollars as a salary cap, and you have to put together a team of playoffs players based on how you think they'll do each week.  This isn't a draft- you can pick anyone regardless of what everyone else is doing.  Join up with me (neersfan804, find the group "chase blog") and play against me and other readers.  Or the rest of the world.  Or both.  Whatever you're feeling.


My lineup for this weekend:

Drew Brees
Eli Manning
Arian Foster
Darren Sproles
Julio Jones
Victor Cruz
Joel Dreessen
Matt Prater
Pittsburgh Defense