10 Second Chances: When Nebraska played Washington early this season, they won easily 56-21. Of course, that prompted most of us to pick Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl where Washington beat then 19-7. It wasn’t surprising because picking college games is far more unpredictable than pro games. I am in a pool where you pick all the winners of the bowl games. There are 90 of us in the pool, and 89 picked Nebraska. We’re all about as smart as the executives of the BCS.
9 Illegal Blocks: Am I the only one that wonders why football players constantly block illegally on kickoffs and punts? What percent of those two plays have flags thrown on them, 90%? These are players that have played the game for years and years, yet they constantly hit someone in the back causing their offense to start the possession in terrible field position. Hey footballers: try learning from your mistakes!
8 False Starts: Speaking of penalties that are constantly called throughout the game, add this one to the list. Once again, I wonder about these players who have played on the offensive line their whole life, yet they constantly jump early before the snap. Now I know that noise can be a problem, but this isn’t their first rodeo. I have an idea that would help them and the defensive players that jump offsides: watch the ball get hiked!!
7 Instant Replay: Thank heavens for technology. I strongly support the use of instant replay. How many times did you see a replay overturn a ruling on the field? I lost count. Football has too many players and is too quick for anyone to officiate it correctly. They need help, so let’s give it to them. The college replay system is superior to the NFL’s. In college, they go to it any time a play is in question. In the NFL, the coach gets only two challenges, and they take one away from them even if they are correct in their challenge. Why do we penalize a coach for being right? Let them have two a game but don’t subtract one if the coach gets it right.
6 Too Many Bowl Games: Hogwash! So what if there are 35 bowl games? If people don’t like the game, they don’t have to watch it. Don’t take the games away from the people who enjoy them. If you don’t like the bowl games, go bowling instead.
5 STUPID RULE- No saluting after scoring a TD: If you watched the Kansas State game, you saw them score a TD with a few seconds left. They needed to go for two on the conversion to tie the game, but the ball was moved back to the 18 yard line on the play because the player who scored the TD saluted the stands after scoring. Ruling: unsportsmanlike penalty. For those of you who agree he broke the “letter of the law” I have a suggestion: change the law!! The rule says you will be flagged if you “bring attention to yourself”. How about dancing around after a sack, or pointing to the heavens after scoring? Doesn’t that fit the definition? And one final point: isn’t a salute a very positive form of a hand gesture? He didn’t flip the bird, or slash his throat like the Tennessee QB did several times without penalty in the very next game on TV. NCAA: let these kids who have worked there butts off so you can bank millions have a little fun. It’s OK.
4 The NCAA: So Reggie Bush had to give back his Heisman and USC cannot go to a bowl game for two years. Fine. Did you see where Arizona State went on probation in baseball? They cannot go to the World Series in 2011. Not two years like USC, just one…even though this was ASU’s ninth major penalty, the most of any Div I school. Cam Newton gets his Heisman and can play in the national championship game even though he clearly had some NCAA troubles. And, finally, 5 Ohio State players broke a NCAA rule, yet they were allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl. Their suspensions start next year. The NCAA is consistently inconsistent. If I am Reggie Bush, I would call them and tell them I want my trophy back.
3 Thou shall not bear false witness: I have grown very tired of coaches who lie to the media. I know the media can be intrusive and overbearing, but they are the reason these coaches make millions of dollars. So when they ask a question, how about a little honesty? Do you remember Urban Meyer’s answer when the media first asked him if he was interested in the Florida job? He said he absolutely had no interest in it, and then signed a contract a couple of days later. Same thing was true when Sabin went to Alabama. How about the recent Rich Rodriquez media story that broke. ESPN reported that Michigan fired him. The university issued a statement immediately saying that he was not fired and the news was just “media speculation”. The very next morning he was fired. Pretty good speculation if you ask me. Did you see the interview of Harbaugh from Stanford? He wouldn’t answer the question of whether he would remain at Stanford or not. Anyone want to bet that he stays there? I’m betting my house he leaves. Any takers? I have learned one thing about “media speculation”. They’re right 99 % of the time.
2 Football Pools: I’d rather be lucky than good!: Each year I enjoy getting into football pools. What other way is there to be excited when two teams you don’t care about are playing each other? Take the GODADDY.com Bowl where Middle Tennessee is playing Miami (Ohio). What else would keep me on the edge of my seat except for money?? I picked Ohio this year, so for one night, at least, I will become a diehard Miami fan. Through the years I have learned one valuable lesson when it comes to football pools for the bowl games: go ahead and pick all the favorites and you will have NO CHANCE of winning. (See #1 on this list) You have to pick the underdog on many games, but therein lies the problem. Which upsets do you pick? That little sports book on Back to the Future II would come in really handy. With five games to go, my lovely wife, Penny, is the leader in our football pool with ten games wrong out of 30 so far. And she’s beating many football coaches (and me) who have entered this pool. You go girl!!!
1 Death to the BCS: This season has reaffirmed what the others have: the BCS sucks. Here’s the problem with “assuming” the teams from the major conferences are better than the minor ones- it isn’t always true. Using BCS logic, Fresno State would have never won the NCAA World Series in 2008. In fact, they wouldn’t have ever been invited. And how about Butler vs Duke for all the basketball marbles last year? It’s possible in basketball for the minor schools to reach the title game, but not in football. BCS logic: “Sorry, Butler, your conference sucks and we have to assume you do, too”. Here’s a fact the BCS snobs cannot dispute: in the 5 times a non AQ school has played an AQ school in a BCS bowl, the non AQ schools are 4-1. Put that in your “logical” BCS pipe and smoke it. So Connecticut has 4 losses this year and they played in a BCS game. BSU, who essentially had the same team for two straight years because of very few graduating, has lost one game in two years…and in that one they missed a very short field goal for the win. Yet we are assuming that UConn is better than they Broncos, so UConn gets a BCS bowl while BSU does not. For the same reasons, TCU deserves a share of the national title with either Oregon or Auburn. Both will be undefeated this year, but the BCS won’t let the Horned Frogs into the equation because of all this ill advised “logic”. To the BCS executives and anyone else who agrees with this flawed system, I have just on bit of advice: rent “Hoosiers” and watch it again……and think about it. Using BCS logic, that magical year and movie never would have happened. And that would have been a crying shame.
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