Sports Roundup

1. Kentucky Derby champion Barbaro was euthanized yesterday. As usual, Deadspin has the most tasteful coverage.

2. A couple of thoughts on the Stupor Bowl. I am staggeringly indifferent to the outcome of this game. I expect the Colts to win big, and for Peyton Manning to be rapidly anointed as the Best Ever. But the two weeks' layoff works wonders on the media. I expect that around Thursday or so, the only available story will be the "counterintuitive" one that goes, Hey, maybe the Bears have a chance in this thing! Don't buy it. Indy has been consistently favored by about a touchdown, and those Vegas folks know what they're doing.

Actually, I'm sort of interested in this proposal -- move the Super Bowl to Saturday night. As a college football fan, I'm more used to watching football on Saturday, and it does make sense not to force people to stagger home from parties late on a work/school night. I was born on a "Super Bowl Sunday" (SB X, Pittsburgh over Dallas), but I don't have any great attachment to the concept. Of course, the problem with this idea is that the NFL has become a religion, and America practices its religion on Sundays.

3. Bobby Ross retired from his perch as head coach of the Army football team. Ross brought the team a measure of respectability, but the Black Knights aren't all the way back yet. As an aside, I'll note that Ross was almost Duke's choice for its last coaching vacancy. I think he would have been a decent choice, certainly more of a "name" than Ted Roof. But there's no reason to believe he would have stuck around at Duke any longer than he did at West Point, and Duke would be right back in the same spot. I routinely heap criticism on Duke A.D. Joe Alleva, and he has made some bad decisions, including bad football coach hires and fires. But I guess I have to reluctantly give him credit for choosing a coach who didn't lose the fire after three years.

4. Sticking with the Duke theme for a moment, controversy continues to swirl over the Devils' win last week over Clemson. In short, Duke won on a buzzer-beater after the officials had a timing error. And so the conspiracy theorists have more fodder. The best take I've seen is from Winston-Salem reporter Lenox Rawlings, one of the best out there (link via DBR). I'm not going to dwell on it, except to say that (a) these things happen, (b) the main error was that the clock didn't start when Clemson stole the inbounds pass before its tying shot, and that could very easily have worked to the Tigers' benefit if they had missed the shot, because they would have had extra time to tie the game, and (c) none of this would be a big deal if Clemson was able to stop Duke from going the length of the court in 4.4 seconds for an open layup. But if the Duke-haters need some proof that the universe does not always bow to the will of Coach K, Dave McClure, who hit the winner against Clemson, hyperextended his knee against Boston College and will miss at least one game. So live with that on your consciences, you voodoo-doll using Clemson fans!

5. The Montreal Canadiens retired Ken Dryden's jersey last night. You could argue that Dryden wasn't the best goalie in NHL history, and that he didn't play on its greatest dynasty...but you'd have a tough argument to make. He was certainly among a small handful of the very best between the pipes. Even if you're not a hockey fan, I would recommend Dryden's book The Game. You could skim the parts about how the sport had changed from the days of the Original Six to the late 1970s at the end of the Canadiens' best run. But the book is a beautifully written portrayal of what it's like to be part of a team, written from the sort of inside, sort of outside perspective of a goalie. Anyway, congrats to Dryden.

6. Also, congrats to Warren St. John for his great story about a soccer team in Georgia made up of refugees from various countries. Warren's going to turn the story into a book. Via Deadspin, here's the word that the story led to a movie deal. And via Dan Shanoff, more inside dope on the film project. Hey Warren, don't go all Hollywood on us!

The Second Year

In case you missed it, Paul had a great post about college football coaches last week. He asked which coach has the longest tenure without going to a BCS bowl. That got me thinking. How long should you wait before you decide if a coach is a winner or not?

My answer for traditional powers is easily the second year. Let's look at every great coach who recently took over his program, a traditional football power, and what he did in his second year.

• Pete Carroll - USC - 2003 Orange Bowl Champs after a 6-6 season the year before
• Bob Stoops - Oklahoma - 2000 National Champions after a 7-5 season
• Nick Saban - LSU - Sugar Bowl Champs after an 8-4 initial campaign
• Steve Spurrier - Florida - 1991 SEC Champs (UF unofficially won the '90 championship, too)
• Jim Tressel - Ohio State - 2002 National Champions after a 7-5 season
• Mark Richt - Georgia - 2003 Sugar Bowl Champs after a 8-4 season
• Urban Meyer - Florida - 2006 National Champs after a 9-3 year
  

Lloyd Carr won a national championship in his third year. Phil Fulmer won 10 games his second year. Mack Brown won 11 games in his fourth year.

Of course, some coaches don't inherit a traditional power and it takes them longer to lead a team to a major bowl. Bowden, Paterno, and Frentz all built a winning program after years of build up. My point is not that a coach must win or reach a BCS bowl within a few years, just that the best coaches do when they are given the keys to a powerful car. Others must build the car first. That's why I preface my comments by saying that these coaches all had success in the second year at traditional powers, not rebuilding a program.

So, maybe firing your coach after three or four years isn't so crazy after all. Maybe mediocre coaches make big programs mediocre.

Play Ball!

If you're still recovering from the passing of the college football season and don't care about basketball, then you're probably sweating out your team's Rivals.com star ratings for the upcoming football signing day. Well, stop worrying about that Parade All-American that's thinking about joining your team or the juggernaut that Florida will turn into. There are games to be played. I follow basketball, but not nearly as close as King Bee. Which is why I'm happy to report that college baseball starts this weekend. Actually, last night, with defending national champs Oregon State no-hitting Hawaii-Hilo.

If you didn't know colleges have baseball teams, you're missing out. Baseball is the second most fun sport on campus. The early games can be a little cold, but there is no better way to kill a Sunday afternoon in the springtime than by sitting in Foley Field or Alex Box to watch a baseball game. College baseball still has reasonable ticket prices and concessions. It also, for some unknown reason, attracts scores of good looking girls.

Here are a load of preseason rankings:

• Rivals.com - Seven SEC teams, Rice No.1
• National College Baseball Writers - Six SEC teams, Rice No.1
• Baseball America - Five SEC teams, Rice No.1
• USA Today/ESPN - Five SEC teams, Rice No.1
  

Georgia is on the borderline this year. We're in the top 25 some places, but by no means a powerhouse. UGA baseball pretty much always starts that way, but we've made three College World Series appearances since 2000. Here's a preview from the UGA athletic department. The Dawgs open with Oregon State on February 9th, the same team that sent them packing from Omaha last year.

Do yourself a favor: look up your school's baseball schedule and go to a game.

Ping!

Arenas Wants Coach K

Gilbert Arenas is upset at getting cut from the Olympic basketball team. So upset in fact that he wants to go back to college and drop "84 or 85" points on Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski because Coach K was responsible for the slight. Why not 100, Gilbert? Arenas has already taken out his frustrations on the Suns, whose coach is an assistant on the USA team, by scoring 54 against them earlier this year.

I'm not a big NBA fan, but this story is funny. I especially like Arenas saying he would give up an entire NBA season for one game against Duke. I'm guessing Coach K could come up with a good defensive game plan because Arenas says he would never pass the ball, imitating the NBA 2K7 video game. That man has some serious pride if he's willing to forgo his $10 million for an NBA season to play one game against the Dukies.

Coach K was seemingly uneffected by the story as Duke won a dramatic game against Clemson last night.

The View From Cartagena

Vacation time is over, but it was fun while it lasted. Our hotel was right next to some futbol fields, so I got a few shots of Colombian rec league soccer. They played all day on Saturday and Sunday, a parade of little league games and adult matches. I did not get to see a bicycle kick, but did witness a goal in the few times I stopped to watch the action.

We ventured into the foreign equivalent of Wal-Mart and found these chips.

For some reason, they seem to love chicken flavored potato chips down there. I didn't try any, but in hindsight I should have bought this value pack, if only for the celebrity endorser. Many of you may have forgotten him, but he is one of the great diversionary figures in the sports world.

The endorser's name: Carlos Valderrama. What a name! As for his hair, I remember seeing a quote in which he said all the men in his village had hair like that and he didn't understand why it was such a big deal. It's good to see Carlos has landed a cushy chicken flavored potato chip endorsement deal after his days on the pitch.

In 1994, he and the Colombian national team lost a famous soccer game to the USA at the World Cup. The game eventually cost a Colombian player his life. Andres Escobar was murdered shortly after returning home, presumably because he scored an own goal, costing the Colombians the game and a fair amount of face internationally.

I'll be back to American sports soon, hopefully tonight.

Stock up on Metamucil-flavored Gatorade

By now you've probably heard about James Hylton, the 72-year-old man who is trying to qualify to drive in next month's Daytona 500. Hylton has some qualifications; he was NASCAR's 1966 rookie of the year.

I've been thinking a lot about this, and I've decided that I'm in favor of old people driving in NASCAR because it's the only place in the world where it's perfectly acceptable to leave your left-turn signal on for five hundred miles. And I suppose this means that next year we're going to see Toonces the driving cat in the Indy 500, and how could that possibly be a bad idea?

Somebody's not going to get invited to the Rose Garden ceremony...

In Kyle's absence, I feel like I have to comment on this news: a Georgia congressman, Jack Kingston, voted against the traditional House resolution honoring the national football champion because he didn't want to vote for the Florida Gators.

Kyle at DawgSports is all over this with a bunch of links, and Orson at EDSBS pretty much rips Kingston a new one. I definitely see Kyle's point that this looks petty, and it is kind of a ridiculous way to get your name in the news. But ultimately I think I have to agree with SMQ that "the sheer irrational, stubborn hate the representative displays here" is "what makes college football great." It reminds me of my favorite line in Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, from an Alabama fan who would never cheer for Tennessee (or, presumably, vote in favor of a Congressional resolution honoring them): "I'd cheer for Florida, Auburn, Notre Dame, Russia, and the University of Hell before the words 'rocky top' would ever come out of my mouth!"

I guess, for Kingston, "Aye" is too close to "Yay." I was curious, then, how he voted last spring after the Gators won the basketball championship. He got lucky and didn't have to make the choice. The bill (H.R. 761) never made it out of committee. The companion Senate resolution passed by unanimous consent, by the way. No word on the whereabouts of Georgia's Senators that day.

There's a project for someone with time to kill -- search the Congressional Record for your favorite team's title-winning resolution and see if anyone voted against it. You might be surprised what you find. For instance, I found out I agreed with Jesse Helms on at least one thing. However, I might have had to vote "Present" on this one.

And that's probably what Kingston should have done if it was really about the rivalry instead of mere spite and a desire to have us talking about him. It's not too creative, though. If he were really clever, he would have introduced an amendment congratulating "a team from the SEC" for winning the championship. At least have a little conference pride, man.

Vacation Time

I'm going on vacation today, so there won't be too many posts for the next week. I'll have Internet access, but I plan to be on the beach instead of typing on the laptop.

I won't miss the Saints game though because I have a Slingbox. I may have a post about the game if the Saints win. By the way, my wife is from Chicago and she's a Bears fan. Despite this fact, she says I have to watch the game on TiVo rather than live. Yeah, well, we'll see about that. The last time we were on vacation and I wanted to watch a game, she sunbathed by herself while I watched the game in a Balinese bar with seven locals. Only one knew English, but they kept offering me cigarettes through the whole game and gave me free beers. Hopefully I'll find a similar place on Sunday. Saints 21, Bears 17.

Finebaum Rankings

Paul Finebaum, once the scourge of the Southern football coach and now Alabama homer, released his rankings of the SEC coaches last week. Finebaum says it was hard to rank so many good coaches and it must have been because I have a few questions. Tommy Tuberville is #4? The guy had a great year in 2004, no doubt. But Tubs always seems to blow it when he has a great team. No one has underachieved more with more talented players than Tubs. Yes, he can put together great games, as this year's LSU and UF games show. At the same time, his teams can miraculously fall apart. Mark Richt is #6 behind Fat Phil, a guy he has a 4-2 record against? I know Phil won a national championship, but Richt has just as many conference titles in his six years as Phil has in his career. Les Miles at #8? I get that no one respects Les, but the guy has produced wins, albeit without any championships. He has won 11 games two years in a row and a BCS bowl. You can say it was with Saban's recruits, but I don't see LSU's recruiting falling off. It may be getting better.

My list would go something like: Spurrier, Meyer, Saban, Richt, Fulmer, Miles, Tuberville, Nutt, Johnson, Brooks, Orgeron, Croom.

Arkansas Exodus

Tulsa's that away!

The Hawg revolt has turned into an exodus. Gus Malzahn, Arkansas's offensive coordinator, left abruptly for Tulsa Monday, to be the offensive coordinator for new Tulsa head coach Todd Graham. Malzahn got the job at Arkansas because he was the coach at Springdale, Arkansas and held sway over four blue chip prospects including uber recruit Mitch Mustain. Houston Nutt, desperate to land the Springdale kids to save his job, gave Malzahn the OC job. Before Malzahn left, the Springdale recruits staged a revolt. It seems that they had never seen Arkansas play before signing with them. They had no idea they weren't going to Texas Tech and looked on in horror as Darren McFaddden lead them to the SEC Championship game and ten wins by running the ball.

It looks like one year will need to be enough for these guys because Mustain has requested his release. He joins star receiver Damian Williams who has already transferred to USC.

I've had a few thoughts on this already, but I remind these guys that when you have Darren McFadden as a teammate, you don't throw the ball 50 times a game. Good riddance.

LSU's Offense & Tennis Hooligans

LSU seems to have found their offensive coordinator. Gary Crowton, currently Oregon's offensive coordinator, is heading to Baton Rouge to serve in the same capacity at LSU. I think this is a great hire for the Tigers. Crowton runs a wide open, pass-happy offense that should entertain the Tiger faithful and put loads of points on the scoreboard. Crowton has served as the head coach at Louisiana Tech and BYU. He's also been the offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears. Crowton hasn't really been the same since his Louisiana Tech days, but with the talent in Baton Rouge, he should return to his glory days of five wide offensive sets. LSU now has a fan's dream: a blitz happy defensive coordinator and a high octane, wide open offense. Isn't that what every fan wants out of their team?

By the way, it looks like Crowton is a Mormon as he graduated from BYU and has seven kids. He should fit right in at Tiger Stadium, a place much like a Mormon temple in faith and devotion. It just happens to be filled with drunk, loud, and mean LSU fans.

In other news, tennis hooligans disrupted the Australian Open yesterday. Looks like beer and nationalism produces tennis fights, too.

You Want Loathsome? It's Tebow.

Hey Jenny Slater. recently completed its list of the fifty most loathsome people in college football. It's a great list, including Mark May, Jimmy Clausen, and Michael Adams, all loathsome, loathsome people. However, I feel there is a gross omission. This person is not one who is loathsome to a single fanbase. He is, outside of one very powerful community, universally loathed. While he has been hailed as a God and may even have a church in his name, he is destined to be the most detested player in SEC history. More than Casey Clausen. More than Chris Doering. More than Rexie. More than David Pollack. Hatred, thy name is Tim Tebow.

First of all, he's a Gator. The most loathsome of fan bases and teams. Replete with their Cameros and jean shorts, their arrogance knows no bounds. Every other school in the conference hates them. It may be because their athletic department is so damn good, but it more likely because of their arrogance. After all, no one started liking the Gators when the Zooker was losing.

Second, he cheers too much. Tebow yells after big plays and skips on and off the field. For some reason, white athletes that show too much enthusiasm are disturbing. He always seems to have that weird looking grin on his face that closes his eyes. That's annoying. Even his name sounds cheerful, "Here comes Timmy Tebow."

Lastly, his fans are obsessed and idiotic. There is no one out there who sort of likes Tebow. He is either loathed as an over hyped fullback or worshiped as a the love child of Paul Bunyan and Zena the Warrior Princess, more god than man who sprang forth, fully grown, the result of a secret German military project located in the Philippines, imported to spread his super genetic seed among the UF coeds. Exhibit A is this highlight video ripping off Chuck Norris.



If for nothing else, the term "Tebowner" makes the kid loathsome.

Morley Leaves Rocky Top

According to the Chattanooga Times-Free Press, Tennessee defensive back and former uber recruit Demetrice Morley has left the football team. Morley was a huge recruiting coup for the Vols who got him out of South Florida. He was later featured in a New York Times story about diploma mills for athletes, which indicted Miami's University High School for academic tomfoolery. Therefore, most of us Dawg fans thought he would fit right in on Rocky Top. It sounds like he couldn't keep up with his school work (did you know UT athletes have school work?), but the UT athletic department is supposed to have an official release later.

Louisville Laments

Bobby, please come back. We miss you. We miss us.

102.3 FM's "Lambert and Lindsey Morning Show" in Louisville even wrote a song about how much we want you back.

You're not coming back? Then forget it, we don't care. We're better off without you, anyway. Are you sure you won't come back? Fine then. We're not upset. Do we look upset? We're not.

SEC Girls, In Order

It's a debate that is both timeless and fiery: Which SEC school has the hottest girls? Clay Travis has his rankings here. I'm sure Clay did his research, but I always felt Alabama deserves a better ranking. I helped move my sister into Tutwiler dorm in Tuscaloosa and it would be difficult to beat the quantity or quality I saw that day, outside of Oxford or Athens.

Is That Tiger a Copy Cat?

His favorite color is green. (Photo: Ryan Shaw)

After days of internet speculation, The Advocate reports that LSU back-up quarterback and uber recruit Ryan Perrilloux is under federal investigation. Texas fans can be heard giggling from Austin. I've heard all sorts of things about the investigation, identity theft, credit card manipulation, and even counterfeiting (which now makes more sense since the feds are involved). If it is counterfeiting, then Perrilloux is simply upholding LSU tradition. The story quotes Perrilloux's lawyer as confirming the investigation, which isn't a good sign. If you have a lawyer as a college student, things aren't going well.

Orson already has LSU as a Fulmer Cup favorite. And the Valley Shook is taking the news in stride.

If Perrilloux is headed for the pokey, the news couldn't have come at a worse time. JaMarcus Russell rightly decided that he will take the state of the art missile system attached to his right shoulder to the NFL. This leaves Peach Bowl hero Matt Flynn, Perrilloux, and incoming freshman Jarrett Lee as LSU's quarterbacks.

Hall of Fame Thoughts

1. Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn deservedly were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame today. Both received over 97% of the votes. But Gwynn wasn't named on thirteen ballots, and Ripken was left off eight. That's ridiculous. There's no objective reasoning by which any sane person could deny that Ripken or Gwynn were Hall of Famers. Yet, because some drunk-with-power voter decides it's his duty to enforce some sort of "Hall-within-a-Hall," we see crap like blank ballots to prevent anyone from getting voted in unanimously. It's moronic, it's egotistical, an insult to fans, and (ought to be) an abdication of the honor of being a voter.

Here's an analogy. I'm a lawyer, so I had to take a bar exam. The exam is pass/fail. In most jurisdictions, they don't even tell you how much you passed by. So imagine (this is total fantasy) I took the bar exam and did so well that it looked like I was going to have a perfect score. But some bar examiner somewhere said, "Oliver Wendel Holmes (or somebody) was the only person to ever get a perfect score on the bar exam, and this dork can't be as good as Holmes, so I will deduct points from his score, even though I recognize he's good enough to be admitted to the bar!"

Even if Ripken or Gwynn had gotten all the votes this year, no one would think it meant they were the best baseball players of all time; it would just mean that everyone that year agreed they deserved to be in the Hall of Fame. And of course, they do agree on that! But a few asterisk-loving dillholes have to ruin it. So here's what they ought to do: vote on everyone already in the Hall. Call it a "retention election" if you're serious about kicking some deadwood out, or a "ranking" if you want to let everyone stay in. But let these writers get it out of their system and vote for Ruth and Cobb and Gehrig and Aaron and Ted Williams and Cy Young or whoever unanimously, Ripken and Honus Wagner a few others at 99%, and so on, through Bruce Sutter or Gary Carter or Bill Mazeroski somebody who's last. That way, from then on, they could have the up-or-down vote on admission (and not tell anyone the percentages, just pass/fail), and once the player is in, have a vote like the AP football poll (or hell, even the BCS) to rank that person amongst the others. (You could announce the result during the induction ceremonies.) What we have now conflates those two votes, because too many writers act like a mere vote for admission is the equivalent of saying a player is better than Babe Ruth. No rational fans think that, only writers who want to act like they have the power to declare one Hall of Famer better than another. The writers who omitted Ripken or Gwynn think they're protecting the legacy of Ruth or Cobb or (I guess) Tom Seaver. Trust me: people will still visit Cooperstown to check out the Babe's plaque.

2. After watching the shoo-ins to make sure they don't reach some artificial perch, the next great debates are over the close calls. This year Goose Gossage came closest to election without getting in, with Jim Rice and Andre Dawson within shouting distance. Again, to say those guys are Hall of Famers doesn't take anything away from clearly superior players like Ruth or Ripken. I think the best way to evaluate someone's Hall-worthiness is to compare the player to his contemporaries. Otherwise, there's no sensible way to compare players across eras, due to expansion, integration, the internationalization of rosters, dead/live ball eras, free agency, medical advances, the changing roles of relief pitchers, etc.

But so many players who were big in the late '70s to early '90s (such as Dawson, Rice, Dale Murphy, Jack Morris, Bert Blyleven and others) are being treated unfairly because of two systemic changes out of their control. The first is steroids. I have no problem with downgrading Mark McGwire's numbers because of the cloud of steroids hanging over him. But the voters are implicitly holding those inflated numbers against the previous generation. Murphy's and Rice's numbers don't look so great when held up to McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds. But there's no reason they should if they were clean! (And I'd bet the farm that Mormon Murphy didn't do 'roids.) And it's not just the numbers -- those guys didn't have late-career resurgences like Bonds and Clemens. But one reason they probably peaked and faded was because they weren't on a steroid regimen keeping them in shape. Their bodies behaved like normal 35-year-old bodies and they weren't able to jack homers any longer. Voting against Murphy because he had "only" 398 home runs is just like saying he should have juiced up and gotten to 500.

Light saber bat, yes, but not the juice.

The other systemic change being held against these guys is the rise of SABRmetrics or "Moneyball" or whatever you want to call this trend. As this guy from the Baseball Prospectus notes, "All were strongest in Triple Crown categories, while perhaps not providing value in other areas (walks, doubles, defense)." As if it's a bad thing to hit for average, drive in runs, and hit a few homers! Fair enough: ding these guys for not being Gold Glove defenders. (Check that: Murphy won five.) But these guys were doing what their teams asked of them, and it wasn't to get doubles and walks! (Similarly, votes against Goose Gossage don't value highly enough that he wasn't asked to be the shutdown closer like today's Mariano Rivera.) And for the record, Dale Murphy's per-162-game averages in doubles and walks compare favorably to Ripken's and Gwynn's. These guys were the best in the game in the 1980s. Today's stat-obsessed Bill Jamesian is missing the forest for the trees.

3. I don't even watch baseball anymore, except when I can make it to a game in person, so I'm not going to get too upset about this. I just get cheesed at self-appointed guardians of a game that Terence Mann tells us will get along just fine without their help. The Hall of Fame lost its remaining shreds of credibility with me when they didn't let Buck O'Neil in last year, and this year's mistakes are a trifle compared to that traveshamockery. And given all the hand-wringing over the steroid boomers to come, I'm about ready to throw up my hands. I've always been staunchly against letting Pete Rose or Joe Jackson in the Hall. But maybe we need to let those guys and the 'roiders in as well, and include the warts on their plaques: gambled on baseball, conspired to throw games, took steroids, whatever their sin is. And revise Gaylord Perry's plaque to mention the spitball. This would allow fans to evaluate those players for what they're worth when compared to the ones who did it honestly (or, to be fair, didn't get caught).

Ultimately, I still have to come down against this because I think there are some sins that qualify as "cheating" (like steroids and gambling, and should be a bar to enshrinement) and some that qualify as "gamesmanship" (like scuffing the ball or stealing signs, and shouldn't bar enshrinement). But it's tempting to give up my standards and throw the doors open, if only because it will shut up all the whining, especially from that jerk Rose. If we let those guys in, they'll have their one day in the sun, and will immediately cease to be a cause; they'll be just another face on the wall. No one knows that better than Rickey Henderson. In a brilliant profile of Rickey in the 9/12/05 New Yorker, Rickey said that one reason he trolled through the minors and independent leagues long after his prime is that once he retires and has his flareup of attention at his Hall of Fame induction, he'll be forgotten. Rickey wants to put that off as long as possible. He may never retire. I'm all for forgetting about Pete Rose, and given the current state of the Baseball Hall of Fame, I'm almost willing to let him get plaqued if it means I never have to hear about him again.

An Early Look Ahead

The Gators are champions, so I'm already looking forward to next year and trying to forget this one. Here are some super early rankings for 2007:

Rivals.com has USC on top.
CNNSI.com does to, but has LSU at #2.
Tony Barnhart agrees with USC on top.
ESPN's Mark Schlabach makes it four for USC.

I'll try to have my own list up soon.

Meanwhile College Football News.com has its ranking of the bowl games from "flat-out sucked" to "classic all-timers."

The Enemy of My Enemy ...

Congrats to the Gators. That was an old-fashioned whippin'. Whatever your excuse is Ohio State, you should just save it, pay homage, and walk away. Don't argue anything. There was no point in the game (past the opening kickoff) that I ever thought you had a better team. Florida was practically flawless all night. If it was a boxing match, they would have stopped it in the third round.

I must confess, however, I am mildly despondent today. I hate Florida and it disgusts me to see them win, but I must give them credit. They performed best when it mattered the most. The Dawgs should pay heed and learn the lesson. My wife tried to make me feel better last night by reminding me that we only lost by 7 in Jacksonville, that we beat Auburn who beat UF, and that it was obvious that we were better than Ohio State. None of that worked. I guess I'm glad to see that Ohio State got some needed humiliation.

As one reader emailed me today, the SEC should be happy as several teams in the conference fared far better than Ohio State did against the Gators. A sense of conference pride does not, however, overcome my dread at seeing the Gators win.

BCS Bowl Notes

5. This is over. I'm off to do better things. I'll have more thoughts tomorrow.

4. Troy Smith says "Ohio State brings out the best in us" in Ohio State's commercial. Worst. Timing. Ever.

3. Troy Smith fumbles and this is going to get out of hand. 34-14. This is a sound ass whippin'. Actually, Ohio State is lucky it isn't worse. You can see Urban holding back a grin in the halftime interview. He's thirty minutes from a ring.

2. Hetland makes a field goal to get the jean shorts up by ten. I admit that I didn't watch many Ohio State games this year, but I can't believe this was a team everyone thought was going to kill Florida. They look like the cliche Big Ten team: slow, plodding, and clumsy. UF's Percy Harvin is running circles around them. Tressell is going for it on 4th and 1 and he didn't get it. Ball game. Book it.

1. At 14:40 in the second, this game looks over. Ohio State, other than the opening kickoff, looks rattled. Their defense looks confused and weak. UF hasn't had one bad play. Not an incompletion, not a run for a loss. Nothing. They look flawless.

Troy Smith is on the verge of a Heisemennish game, already throwing a pick. OSU needs a score bad and they just got it, albeit aided by UF penalties. Sweatervest 14, Jean Shorts 21.

Fisher Saga Ending?

After on again, off again, off again, on again flirtations with Bama and FSU, it looks like FSU has had a change of heart and hired Jimbo Fisher as its offensive coordinator and heir apparent to Bobby Bowden. Please Lord let it end here. I'm already sick of Jimbo Fisher posts, articles, and speculation.

Calvin Johnson Goes Pro

UPDATE: Thankfully, I am wrong. Calvin Johnson is turning pro, thereby robbing Paul Oliver of another chance to increase his draft status by shutting him down. Johnson goes down as easily the biggest recruiting miss of the Mark Richt era, but one that did not turn out to get us beat. Thank Reggie Ball for that.

The BEST RECEIVER EVER, if you listen to Nerds, is scheduled to announce his intentions for next year at a press conference this morning at Georgia Tech. My hunch is that he stays, although he has absolutely no reason to do so. He will be a top 5 pick in the draft and therefore be entitled to millions, but Momma is big on education. Any huge prospect that picks Tech over UGA because they want to be an engineer is academically focused. We'll know in a few minutes.

Petrino Poll

By request from a reader, a poll on how well Bobby Petrino will do as coach of the Atlanta Falcons.

The View From Baton Rouge

At least Saturday night was fun. LSU struggled early, but eventually found an offensive attack in the second half. Neither team looked especially impressive. They both looked sloppy and didn't shoot especially well. For a team as big as its frontline is, LSU didn't rebound especially well either. UConn seemed to dominate the boards, but the box score proves me wrong. LSU looked like they weren't going to be able to handle UConn's quickness in the first half, but the Huskies completely fell apart in the second half. They didn't shoot well and turned the ball over repeatedly.

Glen Davis didn't have a super game, but he did have a couple of scores down low where he put a move on every UConn player and made them all look stupid. Big Baby is a wonder. He's huge, but he can move, he can shoot, and he can catch seemingly any entry pass no matter how errant.

LSU needs another player to emerge. Last year it was Tyrus Thomas. This year, I don't know if they have anyone who can take the pressure off Big Baby. The Tigers will do fine during the SEC season, but I don't think they make a big push in the tournament.

Memo to the LSU student section: The reason the Cameron Crazies are interesting and hated is because they are smart, funny, and original. LSU's student section sounds like they are still in sixth grade with chants of "You suck!", "____ is gay!", and "A--hole." Those were taunts I used when I was 12. Get some original material. Otherwise, LSU is a great venue for college basketball. It's loud and they have a great, great band.

Today's game was a completely different atmosphere. While I enjoy the women's game, the crowds that go to the game are completely different from a men's game. There are so many little girls at the games that the cheers aren't as much cheers as high pitched squeals that drive dogs away.

As for the game, (I'll keep my analysis short as I'm sure only my Dad will even read this paragraph) LSU struggled to shoot the ball for the entire first half. When Tasha Humphrey got two quick fouls in the first half, I thought LSU was going to kill us. But the Dawgs played some tough defense. Even though UGA played Fowles tough, she still got her points. Sy Fowles is by far the best female center I've ever seen. She's Shaq in a dress. The second half was a lot of fun, but the Dawgs let it slip away in the end. I'm not one to tell Andy Landers how to do his job, but I don't get why the Dawgs played Megan Darrah so much during crunch time. We seemed to do well with Humphrey and Angel Robinson in at the same time. Darrah just makes me nervous any time she has the ball, especially down low. The Dawgs get LSU again this year in Athens and if the Tigers play like they did today, UGA will beat them.

Falcons Hire Petrino

See Bobby Lowder, it's easy. You don't need a jet to get Bobby Petrino. You need a fortune built by the Home Depot. Arthur Blank and his Atlanta Falcons, ignoring the cautionary tales of Steve Spurrier and Nick Saban, hired Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino as their head coach tonight.

For West Virginia, it clears one big hurdle to the Big East title every year. For me, it adds another head coaching spot to watch. For Jimbo Fisher, it is another resume to send out. For Mrs. Petrino, it means she can get those yellow diamond earrings she's had her eye on because its a five year deal worth $24 million. The Falcons urge you to redo your kitchen soon.

By the way, Petrino signed a new contract extension worth $10 million dollars just this past summer.

Fisher to Bama?

-The Tallahassee Democrat reports that FSU has taken their offer to Jimbo Fisher off the table. This sounds like Jimbo's headed to Bama, but the article mentions that he may be waiting to see if the Georgia Tech head coaching job opens up. USC's Lane Kiffen and Oklahoma State OC Larry Fedora are possible new candidates for FSU. You'll remember Fedora from his days with the Zooker at UF.

-In other news, Paul is all over the Stacy Searels hire for Mark Richt. I agree that this is a big hire for the Dawgs. Searels has had some monster lines in Baton Rouge. Hopefully he can work some magic with the Dawgs line. It could be a long year in 2007 without some solid line play, even if we have a good class of big boys coming in.

LSU Fans: Not Bitter, At All

LSU fans are taking the Nick Saban hiring completely in stride. They still love Nick. After all, he brought them a national title, gave them reason to need those two new upper decks, and left them in a state of football awesomeness. It's refreshing to see such confident, secure fans.

Big Baby & the Lady Dogs

I'm going to Baton Rouge this weekend for a co-ed double header. Tomorrow night Glen "Big Baby" Davis and LSU take on Connecticut. ESPN's basketball gameday crew (did you know such a thing exists?) is scheduled to be there. I won't be behind the stage, but in a way I wish I could be. I'd love to smack Jay Bilas in the head. As for the game, I have no idea who should win. Connecticut to me draws up images of nameless, faceless basketball clones directed by Jim Calhoun's thought patterns. I can't name one player on their team, but I know they are good because they are always good.

LSU might not be the best team in the country, but they are fun to watch. Big Baby is a wonder down low. He's actually a defensive tackle, but LSU has too many of those already. The PMAC should be rocking for the game. Here are two things I'm looking forward to:

1. I can't wait to see John Brady's face in compressed disgust after Tack Minor turns the ball over with two minutes left, down by 1.

2. My uncle is a rabid LSU basketball fan and he really gets into the game. The first time my niece went to a game with him, she turned to my aunt crying and asked, "What's wrong with Daddy?" So, I'm in for at least one meltdown over a blown travelling call.

Sunday, however, will be different. My Dad and I follow women's basketball. (Yeah, I know, it is a sickness.) Dad says the women still play basketball the way he used to, meaning below the rim. LSU hosts the Georgia "Lady Dogs." The Lady Tigers are led by Sy Fowles, who I'm pretty sure is a guy. She's long, she can score off the floor, and she's a shot blocker. In any case, they are playing my girls from UGA. The Lady Dogs are not very deep, but they are scrappy. Fowles and Tasha Humphries should be a battle of the Titans down low. Georgia's guards are good, but they can go cold at times. I'm not sure they can penetrate for scores effectively if they aren't hitting the threes. I'll be the only guy in the place cheering for Georgia, so be sure to listen for my barks when they score. I may even ask Andy Landers to sign a tin of pomade for me.

By the way, the name Lady Dogs is not lost on me. It is an unfortunate moniker for our women's teams. But, what are you going to do, bitches?

Assistant Coach News & Notes

UPDATE: It looks like Jimbo Fisher is headed to Tally. No one is reporting it officially, but that's the word on the street.

-Georgia continues to look for a new offensive line coach after Neil Calloway left to become the head coach at UAB. Rumors have circulated about a number of candidates, Brad Scott, Art Kehoe, and even Jeff Bowden. Add another name to the list. LSU offensive line coach Stacy Searles, a Georgia native, has reportedly interviewed for the UGA spot. I've also seen at least one report that if Jimbo Fisher (more on him below) goes to Alabama, the Searles will follow him to the Capstone.

-Nick Saban has already made at least one great hire for his new Alabama coaching staff. It is widely anticipated that FSU linebacker coach Kevin Steele will be named Saban's defensive coordinator. Steele has been a rising star for several years. There are also reports that Saban has hired former LSU and Georgia assistant Kirby Smart as his defensive backs coach.

-Florida State has hired West Virginia's Rick Trickett as their new offensive line coach. Trickett has done a great job at WVU over the past seven seasons and hopes to shore up a FSU line that was criticized for being soft in recent years.

-Jimbo Fisher, the big fish of assistant coaches right now, looks like he is down to two options if he leaves LSU. He can go be the OC at FSU or join Nick Saban's staff in Alabama. I think he picks Bama. Nick Saban is a defensive coach and is likely to give Jimbo free reign on the offensive side of the ball. Plus, Alabama can evidently afford to pay Jimbo the big bucks that he is earning at LSU. Opinions vary in Florida.

JaMarcus Russell: Football Launcher

I knew the Sugar Bowl was over long before this play, but it perfectly illustrates the superiority of LSU quarterback, JaMarcus Russell. Flushed from the pocket, he rolls right and throws a strike 55 yards downfield off his back foot while getting hit. Such a throw is not only a human exception, but it transcends Newtonian physics. Love him, Tiger fans, for he is gone now.

IMAGE REDACTED BY PRICK LAWYERS

A Few More Saban Thoughts

Pat Forde writes that Nick Saban's sudden turnaround from "I'm not going to be the Alabama coach" to Bear Air, is simply par for the course in coaching circles. Forde does a good job of cataloguing the numerous statement of bolting coaches, from Tuberville's pine box quote to Dennis Franchione's knife in his player's backs.

Meanwhile, Alabama man Ivan Maisel writes that Bama is getting a mixed bag, a good coach who gets financial security from Bama, but offers none in return.

I tend to agree with Maisel. Saban is a good coach and I cannot deny that. He has won conference championships and a national championship. But, he is not exactly the bulldozer that many have made him out to be. I can remember some bad losses under his tenure at LSU (UAB, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech, Alabama) and it wasn't like his teams just blew people away. Saban will win consistently, but I don't think he is exactly the football God that Bama is hyping him to be. Add to that the constant concern that Nick bolts for some other job. Plus, the Bama job isn't as good as the LSU job, simply based on the recruiting base and competition for that base. LSU gets ten great recruits a year with virtually no effort. Bama once held that kind of power, but it has faded under probation and Auburn's rise.

The pluses, thought, clearly outweigh the minuses. Bama is hemorrhaging now and has been for a few years. Their image is bruised. Their program has sputtered, winning big, then falling apart. One thing that cannot be doubted is that Saban will build a sound foundation in Tuscaloosa. LSU was in much worse condition when Saban arrived. Now that program is on autopilot. They can win ten games every year for the foreseeable future. That is due in large part to Saban's tenure.

In any case, the press conference is tomorrow at 10AM. It will be followed by Saban walking across the Black Warrior River and back. Meanwhile, the Dolphins organization, or its staff at least, rejoices.

Saban Watch

UPDATE: Cecil Hurt and the Tuscaloosa News confirms Saban is the new Bama coach.

UPDATE: The media is now reporting that Saban is going to Bama. Wow. I'll have more thoughts later.

Will he or won't he? We're supposedly going to find out in a few minutes.

I think he's leaving. The more he waits, the more bridges he burns. The Miami Herald already stated today that Saban and his wife, Terry, "do not exactly love South Florida and its lifestyle." That's not a good p.r. line, as almost all of the Dolphins fans live in South Florida and live "the lifestyle."

"Nice boat, now where's the media center? I have tape to break down."

Saban Leaving On a Jet Plane?

"I can't decide! How much per year? Owww ..."

Rumors are rampant, but most point toward Nick Saban going to Tuscaloosa. Saban reportedly didn't come in to the office this morning and Finebaum is audibly glowing. We even have reports of a postponement of the decision until Wednesday morning. Developing ...

This looks like Saban's delayed and excruciatingly long decision to leave Baton Rouge.

Another Done Deal

ESPN reports that Nick Saban will decide "within the next 24 hours" whether he will become the new Alabama head coach. The numbers are reportedly $4.5 million for 8-10 years. The salary is comparable to the Dolphins job, but is for a much longer term. If true, Saban should take the job. That is a ridiculous amount of money for a college coach.

According to the US Department of Education stats, Bama's athletic department made around $7 million in profit last year. I suppose that would allow for another $3 million in coaching salaries, so I guess it is possible that Bama can support those numbers.

If the deal goes through, here's what we'll know:

1. Your season tickets just got more expensive. If Saban gets $4.5 million, Pete Carroll and Jim Tressel deserve more. Which means Bob Stoops needs more and Urban Meyer and Mack Brown, etc., etc. get ready for an athletic facilities arms race coupled with a coaching salaries arms race. This means your athletic department is poor again and they need your money.

2. All coaches are big liars, if you didn't know that already. Just a few days ago Saban said, "I am not going to be the Alabama coach." Hasn't Bama had one of these guys before?

3. The SEC is the NFL light. Seven of the league's coaches will have won a BCS bowl. Three will have won a national championship. That is insanely competitive.

It sounds like we'll know something tomorrow. The ESPN article says that if Saban falls through, Mal Moore is going after Bobby Petrino.

The View from Krzyzewskiville: No Way, Jose

Yesterday I traveled to Durham to watch the Duke Blue Devils beat San Jose State 70-51. (Additional summary and links here.) I had seen a couple of Blue/White scrimmages and a few Duke road games since I graduated, but this was the first regular season home game I had seen in years.

That probably makes it sound like a tougher ticket than it is. The secret about fabled Cameron Indoor Stadium is that one can find tickets for most games if one is dedicated enough. And sometimes (like yesterday, a New Year's Eve game played when classes weren't in session) it doesn't even take that much dedication: walking into the building, I saw someone give away a ticket contingent only on the promise that the recipient cheer for Duke. (I'll let Kyle discuss the gift tax implications and whether the cheering promise was enough consideration to convert the ticket transaction from a gift to a contract.)

Still, I was pleased with the turnout and the energy in the crowd. The Crazies had an even longer Christmas layoff than the team did, so they weren't totally in game shape yet, but they had this game and one against Temple Tuesday to warm up before ACC competition begins. I'm sorry this photo is blurry, but I was happy to see some of the grad students dressed up in aprons and chef's hats to remind the Spartans that they were going to get some home cooking:



San Jose State played a gutty ball game, and pulled within three points with about eighteen minutes left, before Duke woke up and pulled away. The Spartans have a lot of juco transfers, and they were tough and athletic and well-conditioned. They don't shoot the ball very well (33%) and don't have a lot of height, and those flaws did them in against Duke. Coach K had 6'10" Josh McRoberts and 7'1" freshman Brian Zoubek on the floor together a good bit. The Spartans had no answer for McRoberts, who finished with 17 rebounds.

A lot has been made of Duke's scoring deficiencies this season. Their average is way down from most years, when it seems like they always lead the NCAA in scoring. But they're getting better at scoring, and the defense is as good as I've seen Duke play in years. I think their prospects in the ACC are good. I think they can compete with UNC, Boston College, and Maryland, all of whom look strong this year. I'd be very happy with a split of those six games, which is possible. I haven't figured Clemson out yet, but the Tigers' win over Georgia was impressive. And a team like NC State or Virginia has enough talent to trip up Duke. And of course, strange things can happen in ACC-land. But overall, I feel good about Duke's chances. Even if they don't make a deep run, I think it's going to be a lot of fun watching this team grow up and figure out what they're capable of, post-JJ and -Shelden.

Have a happy 2007, and I won't even make that wish contingent on you cheering for Duke!

The View From Atlanta

At halftime, I was seriously considering a self-imposed bowl attendance moratorium. All my fears about the game were coming true. Matt Stafford looked like a freshman against the nation's top defense. The Dawgs had one good play the entire half, a long inside run by Kregg Lumpkin. The Hokie's weren't quite gashing us like Slaton and White last year, but they were certainly grinding out what appeared at that time to be a blowout win. There were even rumors of coaches fighting on the Georgia sideline. It looked bad and I was looking at another nine hour drive after an embarrassing loss, just like last year.

For whatever reason, and I have a few, the last twenty minutes of the game completely reversed course. Georgia was the one making big defensive stops. Charles Johnson looked like I was blocking him. Tony Taylor made play after play to set up scores. Matt Stafford was hitting his receivers in stride and some of them even caught the ball. Virginia Tech collapsed. Sean Glennon looked confused and rattled as he seemed to simply throw a few balls up for grabs and Tony Taylor grabbed them. As bad as the 31-24 final score should feel to Virginia Tech fans, it could have been worse. If Georgia receivers could catch the ball, they would have scored at least seven more points.

I was surprised by the UGA run defense. VT is a grinder team, good running game, good special teams, good defense. When they couldn't run, their offense sputtered. Most of their scores were over a short field where they didn't need to really drive the ball far. The Georgia defense came to play and the VT defense looked like a good defense, but certainly not the best in the country. Like I mentioned last week, they racked up all those great stats against terrible offensive teams and UGA's offense is better than most of VT's prior opponents.

Two Dawgs deserve special attention: Tony Taylor and whoever called the onside kick. Taylor, as he has done all year, demonstrated his almost supernatural ability to make a big defensive play. The guy is a witch and I wish him well. The onside kick was the play of the game. I don't know if that was a Richt or a Bobo decision, but it completely changed the game, switching momentum decidedly in favor of the Dawgs.

As for the atmosphere, it was a dreary day in Atlanta, but we still had a great time. We hung out with Paul and Dawgnoxious before the game and their hospitality was superior.

As I mentioned last week, I had a good impression of VT fans and that was confirmed. The ones around me were good fans, cheering their team and making noise. Even at halftime, I didn't get any trash talk from the Hokies. I do have one bone to pick with the Hokies, though. If you've never been to a Hokie game, on third down they all get out their keys and shake them to make noise for their defense. In the Georgia Dome, it sounded like we were in somebody's change purse. It was interesting at first, but quickly became annoying as hell. Call me old-fashioned or a purist, but I am against artificial noise makers, whether they be car keys or cowbells. Your voice is your instrument and is all you need.

I'll have some more bowl game thoughts later.