The 2009 college football season gets under way Thursday, in a nationally-televised contest between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the NC State Wolfpack. The game is a rematch of last year's season opener, which saw the Gamecocks win in a rout, 34-0.
I have spent a some time over the last week or so in message board conversations at GamecockAnthem.com, the South Carolina scout.com affiliate. According to most of the fine people there, NCSU shouldn't even bother to take the field. Granted, the people there aren't coaches or players, so there opinions don't matter anymore than mine, but I've never seen a fanbase so convinced that a game is over before it starts.
"johnnyplaid" wrote:
"It should be an easy win for us. We'll probably hold back so as to not give too much away to Georgia, our first real test."
"kickatigerinthearse" wrote:
"Your WR corps is about the 10th best we'll see this season."
It goes on and on.
The most entertaining idea they have come up with is that NC State's offense is not any good. Since South Carolina shut out the Wolfpack, obviously the Wolfpack is no good. Nevermind the firepower that the offense showed down the stretch last season. Forget that Russell Wilson was All-ACC as a redshirt freshman. NC State's offense returns almost everyone from last season, so the most likely occurrence will be that the offense will come out of the gate firing on all cylinders.
I'm not going to suggest that Wilson will only throw one interception. That was a highly unusual event, and isn't likely to repeat. However, Wilson doesn't seem to be the type of QB that is going to make huge mistakes, as some recent NCSU QB's have done. The running game is solid, with a healthy Jemelle Eugene and a rejuvenated Toney Baker. The wide receivers are talented, fast, and experienced.
Most of the time, teams whose lineup is peppered with freshmen and RS-freshmen (or upperclassmen who haven't played a lot) are much better in the last half of the season than they are at the beginning. That's what happened to NCSU last season. Just don't suggest that to a South Carolina fan.
The Gamecocks have (by my non-scientific count) 13 freshmen listed on their two-deep depth chart. 3 RS-FR and 1 true FR will be starting, the other 9 players will be coming off the bench.
South Carolina fans seem to expect that these players will be able to step in and play without any first game jitters. They lost seven players to the NFL draft last year, and will tell you that every player who replaces them is an instant upgrade. They replaced their offensive line coach (among others), and don't expect the line to have any problems adjusting to the new philosophies.
Don't get me wrong. I don't pretend to see things objectively. I do, however, realize that NCSU has some question marks. There are several untested players in the secondary. Audie Cole has to live up to the hype he's been getting at LB, and Dwayne Maddox or Terrell Manning (or both) have to try to fill the gap left by Nate Irving's absence, which will not be easy.
I am very confident in the offense, though. I don't think NC State is going to have problems scoring points against South Carolina. South Carolina has talented players on offense, but they don't have a lot of talented players who have been productive. Their quarterback has had turnover issues (among other issues), and you can't tell if that is solved by preseason scrimmages (right, Daniel Evans?).
To sum up, I think any South Carolina fan expecting anything close to last year's result is in for a rude, rude awakening. This game is a big game for both teams, but it's bigger for NC State. South Carolina is basically playing for 3rd in their division. NC State has its eyes on a bigger prize: a division title, and a chance to win an ACC Championship.
I expect the Wolfpack to win, and I don't think it's going to be a terribly close game.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Play Chicken; Get Eggs
OK....so no one did anything "wrong". It's "business".
Julius Peppers wanted to leave the Carolina Panthers. General manager Marty Hurney didn't want to let him go without compensation, and no one offered what he considered an acceptable deal for Peppers' rights.
Hurney uses the franchise tag, which means the Panthers offer Peppers more than $1 million per game. Peppers signs the franchise tender, guaranteeing himself almost $17 million dollars for the 20009 NFL season. It's just business.
That's what happened over the summer.
Now, the fruits of their collective labors are coming to bear.
Ma'ake Kemoeatu is lost for the season. He ruptured his Achilles' tendon during the first drill of training camp. Then, in the second preseason game, Pro Bowl linebacker Jon Beason injures his knee. The severity is not known, but rumor has it that he may have damaged his medial collateral ligament, which would likely mean several weeks (minimum) of recovery time.
The Panthers have no one to replace either player. The depth chart is full of players who have little to no NFL experience. The long snapper is a young kid, brought in to save a few hundred thousand dollars, who is replacing Jason Kyle who was outstanding but expensive. Long snapping is one of those things that ideally is never noticed. Hopefully, the Panthers long snapper will remain anonymous this season.
The reason for the lack of depth? Julius Peppers' contract. Since he is playing under the franchise tender, his entire salary counts against the 2009 cap. If he had signed a long-term deal, he would have probably had a cap number closer to $8 or $9 million (but still gotten a huge signing bonus), and the team would have had another $8 or $9 million to sign backups.
Ask any player, and they'll say that Peppers' contract squabble is "business". However, if you could give them truth serum, I bet they would say something different. Peppers said he wanted to go somewhere else to reach his full potential. That is a shot at his coaches and his teammates. Now, those same teammates (except for the injured players and the ones who had to be cut because of Peppers' contract) are playing with Peppers.
If there aren't some chemistry issues, then the Carolina Panthers have the most professional group of players in the history of pro sports.
There are veterans available who could help the Panthers. Thanks to Julius Peppers (along with Marty Hurney), the Panthers just can't afford them.
Julius Peppers wanted to leave the Carolina Panthers. General manager Marty Hurney didn't want to let him go without compensation, and no one offered what he considered an acceptable deal for Peppers' rights.
Hurney uses the franchise tag, which means the Panthers offer Peppers more than $1 million per game. Peppers signs the franchise tender, guaranteeing himself almost $17 million dollars for the 20009 NFL season. It's just business.
That's what happened over the summer.
Now, the fruits of their collective labors are coming to bear.
Ma'ake Kemoeatu is lost for the season. He ruptured his Achilles' tendon during the first drill of training camp. Then, in the second preseason game, Pro Bowl linebacker Jon Beason injures his knee. The severity is not known, but rumor has it that he may have damaged his medial collateral ligament, which would likely mean several weeks (minimum) of recovery time.
The Panthers have no one to replace either player. The depth chart is full of players who have little to no NFL experience. The long snapper is a young kid, brought in to save a few hundred thousand dollars, who is replacing Jason Kyle who was outstanding but expensive. Long snapping is one of those things that ideally is never noticed. Hopefully, the Panthers long snapper will remain anonymous this season.
The reason for the lack of depth? Julius Peppers' contract. Since he is playing under the franchise tender, his entire salary counts against the 2009 cap. If he had signed a long-term deal, he would have probably had a cap number closer to $8 or $9 million (but still gotten a huge signing bonus), and the team would have had another $8 or $9 million to sign backups.
Ask any player, and they'll say that Peppers' contract squabble is "business". However, if you could give them truth serum, I bet they would say something different. Peppers said he wanted to go somewhere else to reach his full potential. That is a shot at his coaches and his teammates. Now, those same teammates (except for the injured players and the ones who had to be cut because of Peppers' contract) are playing with Peppers.
If there aren't some chemistry issues, then the Carolina Panthers have the most professional group of players in the history of pro sports.
There are veterans available who could help the Panthers. Thanks to Julius Peppers (along with Marty Hurney), the Panthers just can't afford them.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Michael Vick....Who Cares?
For the record, I think that Michael Vick did some pretty bad things.
But, it's not like he got off easy, is it? Two years of his life, somewhere around $140 million....that's a fair price, isn't it?
At some point, isn't enough.....enough?
Now, people are saying he should be suspended for a year...or forever....from the NFL.
Really?
I don't get the logic.
He doesn't get to come right back and resume his career like he never missed a day. His contract with the Atlanta Falcons is gone. Most, if not all, of his endorsements are gone. He is having lots of financial troubles. His life is far from the glamorous existence it was just a few years ago.
Do I feel sorry for him? No. I don't feel sorry for any athlete (or anyone else) who squanders a fortune by doing something stupid.
At the same time, I believe that once you get out of prison, you should be able to do something with your life. I don't think he should be banished from the NFL. He didn't get caught doing anything that would cause anyone to question his behavior on the field. It isn't a Pete Rose, betting on your sport issue.
In the NFL, a player gets suspended for four games if he's caught using a banned substance. Some of those substances serve to make players stronger, which rips away the integrity of the competition.
It doesn't exactly seem right to suspend a guy who has already missed two years.
But, it's not like he got off easy, is it? Two years of his life, somewhere around $140 million....that's a fair price, isn't it?
At some point, isn't enough.....enough?
Now, people are saying he should be suspended for a year...or forever....from the NFL.
Really?
I don't get the logic.
He doesn't get to come right back and resume his career like he never missed a day. His contract with the Atlanta Falcons is gone. Most, if not all, of his endorsements are gone. He is having lots of financial troubles. His life is far from the glamorous existence it was just a few years ago.
Do I feel sorry for him? No. I don't feel sorry for any athlete (or anyone else) who squanders a fortune by doing something stupid.
At the same time, I believe that once you get out of prison, you should be able to do something with your life. I don't think he should be banished from the NFL. He didn't get caught doing anything that would cause anyone to question his behavior on the field. It isn't a Pete Rose, betting on your sport issue.
In the NFL, a player gets suspended for four games if he's caught using a banned substance. Some of those substances serve to make players stronger, which rips away the integrity of the competition.
It doesn't exactly seem right to suspend a guy who has already missed two years.
Monday, June 22, 2009
College Football Playoff Scenario
A poster on PackPride.com described a potential playoff system that he thought would be great. I didn't like his proposal, at all. It involved back-to-back games on consecutive days at "neutral sites" for the first two rounds. That would have gotten you down to a "Final Four", which he never mentions....he only goes on to talk about the timing of the Championship Game, which he had on a Monday in late January, to avoid NFL conflicts. Of course, he never mentioned how he would play games on back-to-back days in December and also avoid NFL conflicts, which is another problem with his plan.
The "games on consecutive days" plan is horrible. Can you imagine Ohio State vs. West Virginia on a Saturday, only to be followed by USC vs. NC State (hey, I can dream) on Sunday?? If the stadium holds 80,000, are there four cities that can provide 160,000 people hotel rooms for a weekend? At the prices these games would command, I don't know that people would want to pay to go to both, since "their team" is only playing in one. What if it rains during game one??
The "pod system", which I assume this is modeled after, works in basketball because there are 65 teams in the NCAA Tournament, which means that fans know they will get a relatively local team to watch. A 16-team (the proposed number) football tournament provides no such guarantee.
Anyway, enough about that plan. What would be the point of this post if I didn't have my own plan??
I do.
First, we keep the BCS rankings, maybe the name changes, but you still need a way to rank teams across the country, because I'll need that later in my plan.
There are 11 Division 1-A (FBS) conferences. The champions of those 11 conferences will be joined by the highest-ranked team that did not win a conference, according to TPFKABCS (The Poll Formerly Known As Bowl Championship Series). Why do all 11 champions get invites?? Because this is an NCAA-backed competition, and I don't think the NCAA would organize a national championship that didn't include the champions of all conferences.
Are you complaining, Notre Dame?? Grow a set and join a conference. I don't care how much NBC pays you, you haven't had a good enough program lately to earn any automatic assurances in this system.
Anyway, back to "the plan". The season would begin one week earlier, which would put the conference championship games (for conferences that have them) being played the last week of November. Once you have your champions, you rank them according to TPFKABCS. The non-champion qualifier would automatically be the 12-seed.
The top four teams would get byes, and then 5 would host 12, 6 would host 11, and so on. Those first round games would be played the first week of December. The following week, the four teams that had byes would host games, with the seeding working like the NFL model. If the 12 seed wins, they play the one seed. If the 5 seed wins, they play the four seed. Every other matchup would depend on who won which game.
Once the Final Four was established, there could be bowl opportunities for the eight losers.
The remaining four teams would play the following week, again reseeded based on who wins and who loses. These games would also be home games for the better seed. The only neutral site game would be the championship game, which would be about 8-10 days into January. You wouldn't want to play the game close to New Year's Day, because there would still be a lot of traditional bowl games, and you want the Championship game to be the last one of the year.
The host stadium for the Championship game could be determined by presentations, not by just anointing the current BCS bowls as the rotating hosts. That way, the market determines what the game is worth. If Jerry Jones wants to pay $500 million to have the game at the New Texas Stadium, let him....unless the Fiesta Bowl thinks it's worth $600 million.
Home games work, because fans aren't going to travel 2 or 3 weeks in a row. I don't believe a playoff system can be successful, and keep the "real fan" college atmosphere, if it doesn't include home games.
The "games on consecutive days" plan is horrible. Can you imagine Ohio State vs. West Virginia on a Saturday, only to be followed by USC vs. NC State (hey, I can dream) on Sunday?? If the stadium holds 80,000, are there four cities that can provide 160,000 people hotel rooms for a weekend? At the prices these games would command, I don't know that people would want to pay to go to both, since "their team" is only playing in one. What if it rains during game one??
The "pod system", which I assume this is modeled after, works in basketball because there are 65 teams in the NCAA Tournament, which means that fans know they will get a relatively local team to watch. A 16-team (the proposed number) football tournament provides no such guarantee.
Anyway, enough about that plan. What would be the point of this post if I didn't have my own plan??
I do.
First, we keep the BCS rankings, maybe the name changes, but you still need a way to rank teams across the country, because I'll need that later in my plan.
There are 11 Division 1-A (FBS) conferences. The champions of those 11 conferences will be joined by the highest-ranked team that did not win a conference, according to TPFKABCS (The Poll Formerly Known As Bowl Championship Series). Why do all 11 champions get invites?? Because this is an NCAA-backed competition, and I don't think the NCAA would organize a national championship that didn't include the champions of all conferences.
Are you complaining, Notre Dame?? Grow a set and join a conference. I don't care how much NBC pays you, you haven't had a good enough program lately to earn any automatic assurances in this system.
Anyway, back to "the plan". The season would begin one week earlier, which would put the conference championship games (for conferences that have them) being played the last week of November. Once you have your champions, you rank them according to TPFKABCS. The non-champion qualifier would automatically be the 12-seed.
The top four teams would get byes, and then 5 would host 12, 6 would host 11, and so on. Those first round games would be played the first week of December. The following week, the four teams that had byes would host games, with the seeding working like the NFL model. If the 12 seed wins, they play the one seed. If the 5 seed wins, they play the four seed. Every other matchup would depend on who won which game.
Once the Final Four was established, there could be bowl opportunities for the eight losers.
The remaining four teams would play the following week, again reseeded based on who wins and who loses. These games would also be home games for the better seed. The only neutral site game would be the championship game, which would be about 8-10 days into January. You wouldn't want to play the game close to New Year's Day, because there would still be a lot of traditional bowl games, and you want the Championship game to be the last one of the year.
The host stadium for the Championship game could be determined by presentations, not by just anointing the current BCS bowls as the rotating hosts. That way, the market determines what the game is worth. If Jerry Jones wants to pay $500 million to have the game at the New Texas Stadium, let him....unless the Fiesta Bowl thinks it's worth $600 million.
Home games work, because fans aren't going to travel 2 or 3 weeks in a row. I don't believe a playoff system can be successful, and keep the "real fan" college atmosphere, if it doesn't include home games.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Monday Golf On The Way
Due to overnight rain, the delayed 3rd round of the US Open will not resume until noon (at least).
Since the leaders were still about an hour from beginning their 3rd rounds when play was called, the delay guarantees that the US Open will see a Monday finish (at best). There is still some rain in the forecast, so there could conceivably be a Tuesday finish.
Since we're in ACC country, I thought I'd take a page from the ACC basketball tournament TV coverage and post a music video. Sorry....David Cook didn't have a song that fit the mood of the US Open.
Since the leaders were still about an hour from beginning their 3rd rounds when play was called, the delay guarantees that the US Open will see a Monday finish (at best). There is still some rain in the forecast, so there could conceivably be a Tuesday finish.
Since we're in ACC country, I thought I'd take a page from the ACC basketball tournament TV coverage and post a music video. Sorry....David Cook didn't have a song that fit the mood of the US Open.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Sometimes You're The Windshield......
Sometimes you're the bug.
That was a semi-popular country song...back in the 80's, I believe.
It also could be the theme song for the 2009 US Open Golf Championship, which is currently being played at Bethpage Black in New York.
There are always two waves of golfers in a tournament. One wave starts in the morning, the other starts in the afternoon, and then on the second day they switch positions.
In this year's US Open, Thursday's morning group is "the bug". They began play in the rain, played in the rain for three hours and sixteen minutes, and then went home for the day. On Friday, the were out early to finish their first rounds, and then they went home.
Thursday's late starters (if there had been no rain) are the windshield. They never teed off at all in Thursday's horrid conditions, and they didn't start until mid-morning on Friday, which allowed the course to get a little drier. These players played somewhere in the neighborhood of 27 holes in these calm conditions. For the first round, the late starters averaged two shots less than the early starters.
But that's just the beginning....
The real reason that the windshield/bug song popped into my head is the forecast for Saturday.
In the morning, when the late starters are finishing up their second rounds, it is supposed to be cloudy. When we get to the afternoon, and the early players from Thursday are playing their second rounds, more storms are coming. Those players will be in the rain...again.
Tiger Woods is in the early group, which means he will play most of his golf in the rain. However, don't feel too bad for him, because he was four over par for his last four holes in his first round, and that was under the same scoring conditions that many, many players were able to take advantage of and post good scores. If Tiger is going to make this US Open his 15th major victory, he will have to shoot a couple of really good scores.
Phil Mickelson should be basically done with his 2nd round before the rain hits, which should give him a chance to post a good score and set himself up with a chance to win. I am not usually a big fan of Mickelson's, but I don't think you can help but root for the guy to play well with the huge off-the-course issue he's currently having to deal with. Hopefully, Phil's wife Amy will win her fight against breast cancer so that I can go back to wishing Phil's ball into the woods!
Add mine to the millions of prayers being said for Amy Mickelson's quick recovery.
That was a semi-popular country song...back in the 80's, I believe.
It also could be the theme song for the 2009 US Open Golf Championship, which is currently being played at Bethpage Black in New York.
There are always two waves of golfers in a tournament. One wave starts in the morning, the other starts in the afternoon, and then on the second day they switch positions.
In this year's US Open, Thursday's morning group is "the bug". They began play in the rain, played in the rain for three hours and sixteen minutes, and then went home for the day. On Friday, the were out early to finish their first rounds, and then they went home.
Thursday's late starters (if there had been no rain) are the windshield. They never teed off at all in Thursday's horrid conditions, and they didn't start until mid-morning on Friday, which allowed the course to get a little drier. These players played somewhere in the neighborhood of 27 holes in these calm conditions. For the first round, the late starters averaged two shots less than the early starters.
But that's just the beginning....
The real reason that the windshield/bug song popped into my head is the forecast for Saturday.
In the morning, when the late starters are finishing up their second rounds, it is supposed to be cloudy. When we get to the afternoon, and the early players from Thursday are playing their second rounds, more storms are coming. Those players will be in the rain...again.
Tiger Woods is in the early group, which means he will play most of his golf in the rain. However, don't feel too bad for him, because he was four over par for his last four holes in his first round, and that was under the same scoring conditions that many, many players were able to take advantage of and post good scores. If Tiger is going to make this US Open his 15th major victory, he will have to shoot a couple of really good scores.
Phil Mickelson should be basically done with his 2nd round before the rain hits, which should give him a chance to post a good score and set himself up with a chance to win. I am not usually a big fan of Mickelson's, but I don't think you can help but root for the guy to play well with the huge off-the-course issue he's currently having to deal with. Hopefully, Phil's wife Amy will win her fight against breast cancer so that I can go back to wishing Phil's ball into the woods!
Add mine to the millions of prayers being said for Amy Mickelson's quick recovery.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
NBA Finals Benchwarmers
Before the NBA Finals began, Joe Ovies of 850 the Buzz wrote this post, which basically says that he wanted the Lakers to win, because if Orlando won the title, it would give Duke fans a sense of "justification" against those who said JJ Redick would never make it in the NBA.
Since Duke fans are, well, Duke fans, one of them was rather quick to ask "Where’s the Josh Powell with NBA Ring thread?"
Since Duke fans are, well, Duke fans, they fail to see why those two things aren't related. Sure, Josh Powell is a former NC State player, just like JJ Redick is a former Duke player.
As far as college basketball is concerned, that is really the only similarity.
Powell left early for professional basketball. If the rumors are true, he didn't think he would be able to properly show his skills under Herb Sendek at NCSU, especially while Julius Hodge was there. He bounced around different foreign leagues, and played some in the NBA Developmental League, before finally earning a spot on an NBA roster. Just the fact that Josh Powell is getting an NBA paycheck is a testament to his desire and work ethic.
On the other hand, JJ Redick was the golden boy. He played for Coach K, was player of the year, set the ACC scoring record, and was then selected 11th overall in the NBA Draft. He took so many shots at Duke that Stephen Curry would have been jealous. After "demanding" a trade last season, Redick quieted down somewhat, only to come into camp this season and find himself still buried on the bench. Rookie Courtney Lee took over the starting job, leaving Redick to handle mop-up chores and injury replacement.
So, Duke fan, things aren't the same. The only thing JJ has done so far is have a better NBA career than Adam Morrison, who was co-player of the year. Of course, I've never played one second in the NBA, and Morrison hasn't had a much better NBA career than me.
Since Duke fans are, well, Duke fans, one of them was rather quick to ask "Where’s the Josh Powell with NBA Ring thread?"
Since Duke fans are, well, Duke fans, they fail to see why those two things aren't related. Sure, Josh Powell is a former NC State player, just like JJ Redick is a former Duke player.
As far as college basketball is concerned, that is really the only similarity.
Powell left early for professional basketball. If the rumors are true, he didn't think he would be able to properly show his skills under Herb Sendek at NCSU, especially while Julius Hodge was there. He bounced around different foreign leagues, and played some in the NBA Developmental League, before finally earning a spot on an NBA roster. Just the fact that Josh Powell is getting an NBA paycheck is a testament to his desire and work ethic.
On the other hand, JJ Redick was the golden boy. He played for Coach K, was player of the year, set the ACC scoring record, and was then selected 11th overall in the NBA Draft. He took so many shots at Duke that Stephen Curry would have been jealous. After "demanding" a trade last season, Redick quieted down somewhat, only to come into camp this season and find himself still buried on the bench. Rookie Courtney Lee took over the starting job, leaving Redick to handle mop-up chores and injury replacement.
So, Duke fan, things aren't the same. The only thing JJ has done so far is have a better NBA career than Adam Morrison, who was co-player of the year. Of course, I've never played one second in the NBA, and Morrison hasn't had a much better NBA career than me.
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