Thoughts - Week 12

[Townhallsavoy]

AU Family. 

Family - All in?  Better or worse?  Sickness and in health?

Family...

- I missed a lot of football yesterday.  It was my anniversary, but nothing special happened.  My wife came down with the flu yesterday morning.  We went to the local urgent care at 2pm.  We left at 6pm and went to get groceries.  Then, I'm assuming due to her sickness, she was all about watching Titanic which was being played on TV. 

- She fell asleep at 8:45, which was just in time to see...

Miss St...

- Miss State continues to be Miss State.  You can use Bill Bell to pay your players all the money in the world, but you can't teach stupid.  Or maybe the problem was bad luck?

- What  way to lose.  You have the game in hand.  You overcome a ten point deficit with 6 minutes left to play.  Your running back is making a history-making highlight towards the endzone, and the ball gets knocked out of his hands through the endzone for a touchback.  That about sums up Miss State's football history.

- I noticed how badly Mullen wanted Cam Newton last night.  They tried desperately to run Chris Relf like we do Cam Newton.  He made some good plays, but he was no where near the caliber of Cam. 

- I guess they should have offered $500k. 

LSU-Ole Miss...
- I didn't get to see any of this game.  I saw the highlights. 

- Who do you blame?  The kid diving head first into the endzone (much like Cam did against South Carolina)?  Or do you blame the refs for trying to imitate Buzz Killington?

- I blame the refs.  This was similar to the flag that was thrown on Jake Locker for throwing the ball in the air as a celebration a few years back.  It's an INTENSE football GAME.  Ole Miss has had a terrible season, and here they are about to defeat one of their biggest rivals in their home stadium.  You throw a celebration flag on that?  On a simple dive into the endzone? 

- Honestly, an argument could be made that he had to dive into the endzone.  The LSU defender wasn't too far behind, and wouldn't you try to get into the endzone as fast as possible if you knew Patrick Peterson was chasing you down? 

South Carolina...

- Who is this South Carolina team? 

- Beats Alabama but can't beat Kentucky.

- Gets embarrassingly blown out by Arkansas then turns out to defeat Florida in Gainesville for the SEC East crown.

- Then destroys Troy by getting off to a 56-7 start in the 1st half.

- Do we see the Kentucky/Arkansas South Carolina?  Or do we see the Alabama/Florida South Carolina? 

- Better question - Did we see the Kentucky/Arkansas South Carolina?  Or did we see the Alabama/Florida South Carolina?

Random Thoughts...

- Tommy Tuberville is going bowling.

- Texas A&M defeated Nebraska in a defense snoozefest.

- No one cares about football being played at Wrigley Field.  Especially when it's Illinois vs Northwestern

- Maryland has a really good freshman(rs) quarterback.  I'll be curious to see what he can do over the next year or two.

Next Week...

- Next week should be one of the better weeks of the season.

- Alabama vs. Auburn

- Arizona vs. Oregon

- Boise St vs. Nevada (starts at 9pm)

- LSU vs. Arkansas

- South Carolina vs. Clemson

- And most important game of the weekend - Oklahoma St. vs. Oklahoma (for the Big 12 South)

Why college football sucks right now...

- We've felt the effects of the media attacking Cam Newton.  No need to go into that further.

- But here's another example of why college football sucks:

- Dillon Baxter is ineligible to play football at USC.  Why?  He solicited a golf cart ride from an agent.   http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/ncf/news/story?id=5827657

- A GOLF CART RIDE.

- We can play connect the dots with this one if we want.  "Obviously if Dillon Baxter was getting a golf cart ride from an agent, it meant he was getting money and jewelry and cars and condos." 

- The fact is, this weak attempt to "protect" student athletes from evil agents is never going to work. 

- Here's a kid...a true freshman...who got a golf cart ride.  And now he can't play football at USC and I have a feeling, if he can't play football, he probably won't be allowed to attend USC for a degree either. 

- Same with Cam Newton.  Kenny Rogers, Cecil Newton, Bill Bell - they did this.  Not Cam.  Even if Cam knew about it, who cares? 

- Who really cares?  Besides Notre Dame fans laughing as USC gets into more trouble, who cares to see a big time talent like Dillon Baxter be ruled ineligible for meeting an agent? 

- I'm not saying we need to let the dogs loose and pay college football players.  However, we live in a capitalistic society that enables people to be successful by taking risks.

- If an agent wants to risk his reputation and money on a high school prospect, let him.  There's no guarantee that Dillon Baxter is going to be anything special or ever actually generate any revenue.  Let the agent represent him coming up through college. 

- Would you really care if Cam Newton or Dillon Baxter or Ryan Mallett or Mark Ingram was getting $100k/year from an agent to play college football? 

- Not to mention, to me, it seems like all of these players are getting paid anyway.  Just do a little digging and you'll see a money trail. 

- Maybe I'm wrong.  Maybe 99.9% of college football superstars at big time programs are not being paid.  Maybe Cam Newton is the only one in college football to be part of a pay-for-play scheme. 

- And maybe the NCAA, SEC, and Auburn really don't make any money off of a player like Cam Newton.

[GH2001]

Good write up, but one question....How is Okl/Okie Lite a more important game than the Iron Bowl?

Iron Bowl - 2 vs 10 with National Title Implications. The national title picture hinges on this game. The Heisman folks will be watching this game.

Okl/Okie Lite -  shitty universities and campuses (ok ok, maybe that has nothing to do with it). I know it will decide the Big 12 South, but who cares? The game has no bearing on the big picture aside from a possible BCS bowl bid. With that said, I think it will be a fun one to watch.

[AUsweetheart]

I think there was a bit of sarcasm there, chief.

[Townhallsavoy]

I think there was a bit if sarcasm there, chief.

Yeah I wasn't too clear about it.

I was trying to think of all of the big games next weekend and kept thinking, "I know there's one I'm forgetting.  One that's really important."  It finally dawned on me when I finished the post and I added it to the list.

I guess it was more of an inside joke for myself.  Heh.

[jmar]

I think there was a bit if sarcasm there, chief.

Yeah I had to re-read what should have been obvious but I think some of us (myself included) are so sick of the relentless, orchestrated hit on Cam  to take Auburn down. It dulls the senses. Kevin McGrady actually does a fine job punching holes in a blog attempt to prove inelligibility by virtue of the unknowable factless details in The Bleacher Report. And right now I'm dull and lazy so I'm also linkless you see?

I do enjoy TH's Sunday morning musings.
Eh but I don't wanna think about an open-field  fumble.
The field position did kill Ole Miss, but the LSU offense just manhandled them in the last half of the 4th quarter.

[RWS]

Iron Bowl - 2 vs 10 with National Title Implications. The national title picture hinges on this game. The Heisman folks will be watching this game.

I don't think the Heisman folks will be so much watching this game as much as they will be watching for the final score. I think it's pretty simple. If AU wins, or at least participates in, the NC game, Cam gets the Heisman. How he plays against Alabama means dick, as long as AU wins.

[Townhallsavoy]

I don't think the Heisman folks will be so much watching this game as much as they will be watching for the final score. I think it's pretty simple. If AU wins, or at least participates in, the NC game, Cam gets the Heisman. How he plays against Alabama means dick, as long as AU wins.

Agreed.

Evidence - Mark Ingram vs. Auburn 2009.

[JR4AU]

Agreed.

Evidence - Mark Ingram vs. Auburn 2009.

Somewhat agree, but then Ingram didn't have some folks looking for a reason to not give it to him.

I think how it goes down can make a difference.  If Bama is successful in "stopping Cam"...but Malzahn has an answer and the offense still rolls...that's cool. Cam could have a win with pedestrian numbers and be fine.  If Cam throws picks of puts the ball on the ground, and that makes the difference in a loss...different story.   Maybe wouldn't cost him the trophy, but could make a difference.  We already know some ESPN voters left him off the ballot.  That's the wild card here...not folks voting him #2...folks not voting for him at all.

[GH2001]

I think there was a bit of sarcasm there, chief.

In the context it was written he appeared to be dead serious....it actually is an important game with a bcs bowl on the line but it ain't the iron bowl.