Bowling to say farewell to 2010

So much to catch up on, as I have neglected the blog for a couple of weeks. In fact I was virtually off the grid for a few days and even let me email password expire...

As I write this post, UCF leads Georgia in the Liberty Bowl 10-6 with 3:16 left. I say (again) UCF is a a sleeping giant in college sports. The bball team is undefeated and ranked and the aforementioned football team has the best record of any team in the state.

Miami got trounced by Notre Dame this afternoon and frankly were horrible. Jacory Harris would not ever be my starting QB. South Florida beat Clemson earlier today and to be fair most of the December bowl games have been ho hum. Exceptions include UNC's OT win over Tennessee last night and the Iowa win over Mizzu. Georgia Tech lost to Air Force, but Paul Johnson had his team stand behind the Falcons as the AFA alma mater was played. VERY classy coach, even if I don't care for his option oriented offense in the big leagues.

Speaking of option oriented teams, Georgia Southern made it all the way to the semi finals of the FCS and Coach Baker and the rest of the Eagles will carry a lot fo momentum into next season!

ESPN is reporting that Charlie Weiss will be Will Muschamp's offensive coordinator at UF. Big Charlie has been a top notch OC in the NFL, but was a goof ball at Notre Dame(IMO). I just don't know what to expect from the Gators tomorrow in the Outback bowl against Penn State. I hope Urban goes out a winner!!

I LOVE college football, but I have to say again how pathetic the NCAA is as an organization. So hypocritical and inconsistent. Ohio State a a handful of guys in trouble but the don't sit them for the bowl game....they penalize them next season.

My high school lost their coach as Matt Brunson left to go back to Baker. A win - win situation and a great opportunity for Crestview High to go get a top flight coach.

With 31 seconds, Georgia is down to the UCF 29 yard line.

Now UGA is down to their last play (2 seconds put back on the clock)...nothing against the Dawgs, but GO KNIGHTS!! :) Hail Mary knocked down! Knights win!

FSU and South Carolina tonight in the old Peach Bowl. I'm afraid Marcus Lattimore will dominate but that will not keep me from yelling at the TV for Jimbo and the Noles to prevail! Win or lose tonight, I am encouraged regarding FSU going forward as Jimbo is a good coach and the recruiting is going great!

Later and Happy New Year!

A playoff for college football? Really?

Yep, college football now has a playoff to determine the champion. In fact, every level of college football has a playoff EXCEPT the FBS or football bowl subdivision. All those poor student athletes in NAIA, D2 and the FCS, somehow manage to remain good students AND play a few more games into December.

Georgia Southern was not a lock to get into the FCS playoffs, with some struggles this season, but they did get in and now are taking full advantage of the opportunity. Wins against South Carolina State, William and Mary and now Wofford, have the Eagles in the semi finals! They will play this Saturday against Deleware - Noon on ESPNU. I'm looking forward to it!

Way to go coach NATE! I know brother in law John is enjoying the Eagles playoff run, and calls from the press box!


Some great prep playoff action this weekend. Up in Georgia, Starrs MIll lost to Chattahoochee, but had a great season. In Florida, Cocoa pulled off the 3 peat without Chevelle Buie, beating Glades Central 14-13. Ocala Trinity Catholic beat University School 56-55 stopping a 2 point conversion in the 3rd OT. I'm looking forward to the 6A final this Saturday night, Dr Phillips vs Miami Central :)

New Head Gator

Will Muschamp will take over as head football coach for the University of Florida. He has a great resume and is well thought of in the "up and coming" coaching circles. It is ironic though, that UF hired a Georgia Bulldog alum...Since the next 6 weeks ARE the recruiting season, Muschamp is talking to recruits already, not waiting until after the Outback Bowl and Urban vacating the premises. The key to me will be who he gets to run the offense. Will is a defensive mastermind, but the Gators have been woeful on offense, since Dan Mullen left. Major Applewhite is the name that I have heard. We will see. I'm not anti Muschamp, but they didn't go after Stoops, to Tony Dungee (my personal fav) or any other marquee name...oh well

Miami hired Al Golden away from Temple today. If you can win at Temple, you can certainly win at the "U". I think this will be a great hire.

sCam Newton

I could pretend that Cam Newton's success at Auburn doesn't bother me, but it would be dishonest. I have a big case of sour grapes to deal with as he wins the Heisman trophy on Saturday night. Lets face it Gator fans, it HURTS to see this guy dominate like he has this season. When he came to Gainesville, he was a promising QB recruit, but could not beat out a guy named Tim Tebow. Then, instead of being that awesome back up, he managed to get in trouble repeatedly and in addition to his criminal activities, he was in academic hot water all the time. When he left, it was a shame, but I really expected John Brantley to shine and minimize the loss of Newton. Instead, Cam found his way to JC and then to Auburn where he dominated this season like few players in my lifetime. And, it ticks me off!

I'm not proud of being bitter. But I am. There.

I guess I should be touting the positives of "2nd chances", but I'm jealous that his success happened at Auburn, not at Florida.

Oh well it should be a great BCS championship game between Auburn and Oregon.

Not So Fast...

Lee Corso was honored at the college football awards tonight. Fantastic profile, that had me in tears before it was over. You can't love college football like I do and not feel appreciation for the guys who cover the sport well. Lee has been on College Game Day since it started in 1987. His health is not what it once was, but he has entertained me well for nearly 25 years. A former do everything player for Florida State, he was also a successful coach at Louisville and Illinois.

WELL DONE LEE!

Urban

Gator Coach Urban Meyer is resigning, effective after the Outback Bowl against Michigan State. The guy was a shooting star in college coaching, winning TWO national championships in his first 4 years in Gainesville. He came to the point where he wants to spend more time with his family. Good for him. Should not have to worry about money anytime soon and hey, life is short.

Now, the Gators need to find a top shelf coach as soon as possible. The recruiting season is coming to a climax and FSU is poised to swipe 5 star players from the UF and Miami folds. And all those SEC teams as well.

Not sure where Jeremy Foley will turn, but the WHITE HOT offensive coordinator is Gus Malzahn (sp?), now at Auburn. Dan Mullen will be on the list, as will some other good ones. We will see.

THANKS Urban, YOU WERE AWESOME!

Turn Out The Lights...

The Party's Over ...for Dandy Don Meridith. It was a big deal to watch Monday Night Football when I was growing up, and it is sad today to say goodbye to Dandy Don. Way back in those "old days", football was not on every day of the week, nor on the world wide web (Gore had not invented it yet :)). When it first came on, I would bargain with my dad to stay up until half time and I was tickled to get that concession.

Over the years, I lost track of Don, but I certainly sang his song (really Willie Nelson's) many a time when a game was "out of reach".

Bowl games and high school playoffs later this week. For tonight, the party's over...

Hail to the Champions

OK, so Auburn is dang good. Perhaps a team of destiny this season. I am looking forward to the BCS title game. Oregon and Auburn should be a fun, high scoring shoot out. The Tigers thumped South Carolina like it was a scrimmage with the 3rd stringers. The rout was over early in the 2nd half. S E C ... S E C...S E C...:)

UCF won the Conference USA championship and will be the highest ranked (ok the only) team in Florida. We find out tonight, but a bowl match up against Tennessee or Georgia will be fun.

Oklahoma fought off Nebraska in a very evenly matched game. South Florida put up a gallant effort but also fell victim to destiny, as UCONN kicked a long FG to earn their first ever BCS bowl berth.

Florida State played pretty well offensively, and EJ Manuel will replace Christian Ponder very well next season. The defense, hardly slowed down Tyron Taylor and the Hokies. At least this beat down was easier to take than a fluke last second loss. FSU has a lot to build on for next season, at least Jimbo's debut team gave us back hope.

Georgia Southern beat William and Mary on the road and now get to go play SOCON foe Wofford (again). Keep it going Eagles!

Hail to the champions and on to the bowl games!

Championship Sat part 2 - ACC & Big 12

The football gods cooperated last weekend for the Seminoles. They whipped the Gators for the first time in 7 tries AND Maryland beat NC State, to let FSU back into the ACC title match against Va Tech. To some this represents FSU being "back". While they are not back, they are much improved. The Noles are not great, nor are any other ACC team, but the Garnet and Gold guys are two plays away from being 11-1. Oklahoma beat FSU in every facet of the game in September, not denial here. The other two losses came down to the last play of the game, with the Noles fumbling at the NC State 3 yard line with not one but TWO receivers wide open in the end zone, and then the annual missed field goal misery - this time against the Tar Heels. Football is a game of inches, but had those two plays gone our way, we would be talking about a team ranked in the top 10 with a bunch of national noise and Jimbo getting coach of the year acclaim.
I'm certainly not over confident for the Noles to win the game tonight in Charlotte, but I do like our chances. Make Tyrod Taylor pass and we have a good shot. Just don't turn the ball over! I can't wait :)

The Big 12 championship features Oklahoma and Nebraska in a game with lots of story lines. Growing up, the Sooners and Cornhuskers was one of those annual rivalry games that we always watched. Then it was ONE channel for college football and the teams were in the Big 8 conference. Yep I'm almost 50 :) Nebraska defects over to the Big 10 next year (which will give that conference 12 teams and leave the Big 12 with 11, unless Colorado gets to leave early for the Pac 10...). Anyway it is a big game and I want Oklahoma to win. Be fun to see Pelini melt down again :)

I stayed up Thursday night watching Arizona State at Arizona. Terrific game that came down to Arizona having a PAT blocked to send the game into OT. Then the typing PAT in OT was blocked to give the Sun Devils the win in Tuscon. Tough to lose with kicks, as we FSU fans know all to well.

UCF is leading SMU 7-0 late in the 2nd Qtr. It is a beautiful day here in Central Florida, blue skies and about 69 degrees. Perfect. Over on ABC, Pitt is playing the Cincinnati Bearcats in a snowstorm. A gloomy grey day with white covering the ground and swirling down in freezing conditions. Guess thats why my state is even more crowded this time of year.

Outlaw

Championship Saturday :)

High noon on the first Saturday in December. UCF and SMU just kicked off in the CUSA Championship game in BrightHouse stadium. I started to drive over to that one, but the 50" Samsung is doing the job nicely. UCF is a sleeping giant in college sports. They are the 2nd largest university in the country (really) and are in very fertile recruiting zone geographically. The football team is led by George O'Leary who is a boring no nonsense kind of old school guy. They lost oh so close games to NC State and to Kansas State, and tripped up against Southern Miss. But with freshman Jeff Godfrey at QB, they are a very good team. The Knights have a AQ level defense and now with Godfrey (think Charlie Ward if you are old enough) they can move the chains and score points. They will need to against the Ponies of SMU because June Jones has a prolific passing attack, just like when he coached the Falcons and Hawaii. If UCF wins and I think they will, they will probably play the Georgia Bulldogs in the Liberty Bowl. Oh yes, the Knights basketball team beat the Gators on Wednesday night. UCF is coached by Donnie Jones, a Billy Donovan protoge. The team is led by a number of local players like Keith Clanton, as well a kid from Illinois named Marcus Jordan. His dad played a little hoops back in the day - Michael Jordan.

Before I move on to the other college games, A few notes from the prep ranks. Starrs Mill edged Tucker last night up in cold Georgia. They will have a battle of 14-0 teams for the 4A title next weekend, as the Panthers face Chattahoochee (I'm not crazy:)). In Tallahassee, Navarre and Lincoln went to 3 overtimes, before Lincoln prevailed thanks to a missed PAT. Lincoln hosts Gainesville next week for the right to get beat by the Dwyer/Armwood winner in the Florida 4A title game. In 6A, the north semi final will be Dr Phillips at Sanford Seminole, while down south Miami Central plays Weston Cypress Bay. A Dr Phillips vs Central championship game would be the best AND the one I predicted. In 5A, the semis have Lakeland vs Plant, and a big rematch between St Thomas Aquinas and Bradenton Manatee. I'm glad the championship games are in Orlando again this year.
Up in Alabama, Daphne beat Hoover 7-6 for the 6A crown. Out in Texas the big game was Coppell trying to unseat Trinity Euless, but Euless won 41-40! South Panola won the Mississippi big school crown again and next year that start a home and away series with Hoover. One more prep note, Colquit County Georgia has lost 5 games (including a spanking by South Panola) this season under Rich Probst, but have now navigated their way to the championship game in the largest classification in Georgia. Camden, Valdosta and Lowndes are all at home, while Colquit is still playing. Olathe North made it to the Kansas 6A championship, but lost. Olathe North is a juggernaut in Kansas. Down 435 across the state line, Rockhurst Missouri won the state championship again!

OK, Georgia Southern continues their FCS playoff quest with a trip up to William and Mary today. Go Eagles!

At 4:00, we have the SEC Championship in Atlanta, with Auburn and South Carolina in a rematch. The SEC is the ultimate league for college football. Nothing against the Pac 10, Big 10 or Big 12, they are all good, but the SEC is another level of passion. I'm on the record for not liking Auburn, but they have been amazing this season and Cam Newton has been the best player in the country this season. The war beagles have also been very lucky. But it takes luck to go undefeated in the SEC.

When South Carolina played at Auburn a couple of months ago, the Gamecocks turned the ball over 4 times in the 4th quarter to allow the game to slip through their fingers. I'm picking coach Spurrier to find a way to win his 8th official SEC title this evening.

A GREAT DAY OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL :)

First, a response to comments left to my most recent post:
My dislike for Auburn goes back to my college days in Montgomery. Alabama fans were a little arrogant, but hey, they have earned it on the field with so many championships. Auburn fans were just as loud and obnoxious, but really had/haven't won much at all. I'm not saying there is anything rational to my dislike :)
I hear that the allegations around Cam Newton are just the tip of the iceberg of problems that the Feds are going to expose, not just the NCAA. That would be sad for college football.

Prattville, Hoover and Daphne have owned 6A in Alabama for a long time, so good for Wetumpka! Nothing like a crisp cool night of high school football :)

OK, almost every game went my way yesterday. FSU beat the Gators for the first time in 7 years! Josh was home, so we watched it a JJ Fins with Dirk, Ryan and Mark Nichols. Maybe with Jimbo in charge it can be a rivalry again. Maryland came through and beat NC State, so the Noles backed into the ACC Championship game. Va Tech will be formidable, but hey, in sports all you want is a shot right?

South Florida beat Miami and so the Canes fired Randy Shannon. He didn't win championships, but he did clean up that program. Oklahoma vs OK State was a thrilling shootout that kept me up too late. Notre Dame beat USC (I used to root the other way in this game, but I don't like LAME and I do like the Irish now).

UCF will host the CUSA Championship game against SMU on Saturday. The Knights are really good! Georgia Southern took care of business and now move on to the 2nd round of the FCS playoffs. Abilene Christian fell in the 2nd round of D2...bummer.

Navarre upset Pine Forest and will play Lincoln in Tallahassee on Friday night. I may be up that way, so that game is a possibility - but so is Cocoa at Madison and famed Boot Hill stadium. The south Georgia power houses all got beat! Lowndes, Cairo, Valdosta, etc. But not Starr's Mill :)

One last thing - I say again that the offense Florida runs will always be a disadvantage if/when they fall behind. Urban is a smart coach, but give me a pro style attack, when you are at a school like UF, where you have every advantage under the sun - no gimmicks required!

Go South Carolina!

Feast of Football

Thanksgiving is hard to beat. Before I get to the rivalry games, LATE last night Boise State lost to Nevada. So, no more Boise St. in the BCS crud from anyone, OK? I like Boise by the way.

I picked Alabama to beat Auburn and early on it looked like a spanking. But give the warbeagles credit for quite a turn around. Momentum did the fickle switch and once Auburn got it, everybody was faster and stronger and more energetic. Alabama looked just the opposite. Great game and even though I don't like Auburn at all, that was strong. Now I'll have to pull for South Carolina and the old ball coach to knock off the beagles. Oh and go Arkansas today, no way I want Lester Miles and LSU to sneak into anything significant :)

Florida has beaten FSU 6 times in a row and today in Tallahassee, the NOLES have their best chance in a long time to beat the Gators. Both teams are hard to predict, but at least FSU has a clue about who there are offensively. Go Noles, by 4. Maybe. Oh yes, if Maryland could somehow beat NC State, FSU would play Va Tech in the ACC Championship game with a BCS bowl berth on the line. An undeserved one...

High school playoffs are still going strong. Next weekend I expect to be in Cairo/Tally on Friday night, so I may go see Navarre @ Lincoln OR Cocoa at Madison...strong.

Yesterday, while my daughter was "conditioning" at the big park in Umatilla, my son Josh and pal Malcolm and I, played football and soccer and worked out too. We did the football Pass, Punt and Kick challenge that I witnessed at Abilene Christian Universtity's half time a few years ago (ACU is 11-0 and #2 in D2 by the way). The idea is to move the ball 120 yards with the pass, punt and field goal. We cheated in that we did the 110 yard version. All 3 of us were successful on the first try ( we did have a nice breeze behind us) with Josh clearly the stronger competitor (his kick would have been good for 45 plus). So, we did the noble thing and tried again at full distance. OH for 3 :), although we did have distance, just not direction on the kicks. Fun stuff.

Georgia Southern hosts South Carolina St today in the first round of the FCS division. Go Eagles!

Thursday before Thanksgiving

So Cam Newton is a pretty amazing college football player right now. You all know the story of how he is from Atlanta and went to play for the Gators out of high school. Got in mucho trouble in Gville and eventually left. He did not show the same dazzle when he was a Gator by the way. On to junior college and then the "pay for play" sweepstakes that took him to Auburn. From what I read today, Auburn is about to be in the biggest bunch of trouble any college football team has ever been in before. Cam Newton is just one little needle in the haystack of corruption that is being uncovered by both the NCAA and the United States government. It will be ugly for college football, especially "down south" and the SEC. By the way, Cam's father is the ultimate bad word. A preacher who shopped his son like a pimp and hides behind his church. Yuck.

Got a little UCLA vs Washington tonight and the Bears are at Miami for the NFL alternative.

They are trying to make a big deal that a couple of lame big 10 teams are playing at Wrigly Field. Who cares? I've been a Cubs game there and that was cool, but the big 10 is overrated and so is playing a game in a stadium that really doesn't fit a football field.

Florida get Appalachian State on Saturday. The Gators BETTER score some points or look out.

FSU gets another prime time Saturday night game, at Maryland. FSU has to beat Maryland and hope that NC State loses to either the Tar Heels this week or Maryland next, IF they want to play in the ACC championship game.

Nebraska @ Texas A&M could be interesting. I sure hope Iowa beats Ohio State so I don't have to hear that "best 1 loss team" crap.

Quick side note, in addition to the football tonite, UCF is beat USF in basketball and in the men's soccer playoffs. Cool :)

One more bball note. I do not like Ohio State, but they have a freshman center (Sulligan?) who is an absolute beast. He manhandled the Gators in a big way the other night.

Oregon had a nail biter at Cal the other night, but with OSU folding, the Ducks are cake walking into the BCS title game. The question will be who gets to play them. I expect Auburn's luck to run out, either in the Iron Bowl or the SEC title game, or even both. Then Boise St, TCU, LSU, Stanford, Big 12 winner all start fussing and campaigning. Stanford is tough, but the Pac 10 may be a bit weak overall. Please just don't put some big 10 team in there...

I should have mentioned how good EJ Manuel played last week while Ponder was out. EJ may be the best back up QB in the country!

High school playoffs all around the country tomorrow night! :)

Outlaw

Kicker Comes Thru for FSU!

Dustin Hopkins nailed a 55 yard walk off FG to beat Clemson late last night. How nice it was to have the Noles win one with a kicker for a change. It also helped going to bed after suffering through the Gator beat down by South Carolina. Where are you Tim Tebow???

Georgia Southern won again, on a big roll just in time for post season selection, and Nate's prep team Starr's Mill is still undefeated after the 1st round of playoff in the Peach state.

The high school playoffs start this week in Florida. Round one match ups can be lopsided but sometimes there are some gems out there for me to witness.

Back to the pain that is UF football right now. Marcus Lattimore torched the Swamp and the Gator D for 212 yards! South Carolina just pounded and ground out a physical smash mouth statement to win the East. Florida's defense is being asked to stay on the field too much and they are playing a lot of very young kids on defense. No such excuses for the soap opera on offense. Horrible play calling. No consistent identity. One week they are a running team, the next all passing. People pick on Brantley, but he has no protection and shares snaps with two other QB's. Some plays the leave Brantley in the game and just "waste" him out at receiver. Terrible idea, because you play 10 against 11 and foot absolutely NOBODY. Urban has won 2 national championships down in Gainesville, so he is no dummy. His coaching prowess and success, at least a good chunk of it may reside in Starkeville, Mississippi now...I don't get a vote, but I very much prefer a pro style offense. It allows you to come from behind if you find yourself in that situation, but more importantly it allows you to recruit pro style and caliber players. I really like what Stanford has done under Harbaugh.

FSU is oh so close to being 9-1 instead of 7-3. They have to beat Maryland on Saturday night, and hope that NC State loses to either Carolina or Maryland, IF they want to play in the ACC championship game, most likely against Va Tech.

The Dolphins lost both Chad QB's for the season today. Both! The Cowboys whipped the Giants in their first game under Jason Garrett.

The UFL is a bad idea and I LOVE football.

Colorado won big under their new/interrim coach.

Crestview plays Pine Forest Friday night and watch out for Navarre against Niceville. I am looking forward to a rematch in round 2 between Apopka and Dr Philips in 6A.

Cal gave Oregon all they wanted, and TCU survived San Diego State. The Big 10 is way over rated. Bedlam - the rivalry game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State should decide the Big 12 North. The ACC and the Big East should donate their automatic BCS bids to TCU and Boise State this year.

UCF was ranked in the top 25 for the first time last week and promptly lost to Souther Miss at home on Saturday...bummer.

see ya.

Dad Gum Kickers!

Wide Right are a couple of dirty words to fans of the Seminoles. It made another appearance this weekend when kick Hopkins missed TWO field goals in the 4th Qtr, to let another ACC win slip away. North Carolina played great, as did NC State the previous week, but FSU should have won both games. As frustrating as it is, I'll be switching back and forth this Saturday night between their game with Clemson, and the Florida - South Carolina showdown for the SEC East title.

To continue my lament on kickers breaking my heart, my old high school out played the Niceville fishheads on Friday night in the district championship game, but missed TWO kicks, a PAT AND a short FG and lost by 1... to quote Joe Paterno's boy Bobby "dad gum it" :)

A week after going to Statesboro to watch Georgia Southern, the Eagles beat the #1 team in the nation; Appalachian State. Hugh victory for Nate Baker and the GSU bunch!

Who thought Iowa State would take Nebraska to OT, or that Texas A&M would beat Oklahoma, OR that LSU would beat Alabama. TCU opened a can on Utah. Oregon and Stanford could beat just about anybody and probably run the score up a bit. The SEC West has FIVE ranked teams and NOBODY would want any of Arkansas about now. The ACC and the Big East should forgo their auto BCS bids and give Boise and TCU a better chance at significant bowl matchups and paydays.

Now, FSU is no longer ranked. Miami is not ranked and the Gators have climbed back into the polls at 24 or 25. The Central Florida (aka UCF) Knights are the highest ranked team in Florida. Let that sink in. If UCF beats Southern Miss on Saturday, they will go 10-2 and be in the CUSA Championship game. Possible to win 11 or 12 games...Big East better take notice of the 2nd largest university in the country.

I watched Mt Dora Bible play for a while on Friday night. They lost in OT, but are a better football team than they they have been. The new coach must be doing something right.

Georgia Southern Football

My nephew Nate is a undergrad assistant coach at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. I have long been aware of the Eagles and their success, but this weekend I finally made the trip and experienced it first hand.

If you are only a casual fan of football, you will not be able to appreciate the PASSION that Nate brings to the game. He is actually younger than some of the guys on the team, but you could tell that they all respect Nate and his understanding of what GSU is trying to do with their offense and specifically the O line.

Last year I was fortunate enough to go to a Notre Dame game in South Bend. I have also been to Tuscaloosa, Auburn, Oklahoma, Tally, Gainesville, the Cocktail Party, etc., but the GSU experience ranks right up there. Smaller, no doubt. But from the fans on blankets on the hills, to the bald eagle taking flight, it was one of my favorite college football atmospheres. I look forward to going back.

I'm also excited about watching Nate progress through his career. If there was ever anyone in his zone, it is this young man coaching football. So stoked!

We left Statesboro with the Florida - Georgia game underway and me listening on the radio. The 21-7 UF lead at halftime was about as solid as FSU's lead over NC State the other night. When the Dawgs made their run in the 2nd half, we stopped in Brunswick (south on I95) to get some grub and watch the exciting finish of the Cocktail Party :) By the way, the Gator helmets sans stripe threw me off! It took overtime, but that is now 18 our of the last 21 :) A good 50th birthday present for my old pal Duane (today).

I'd like to see the Rangers keep the World Series going a bit longer. Nothing wrong with a 7th game...nah...

Crestview beat Leon. Wow. On to a showdown with the highly favored FISHHEADS :)

November means it is time to start separating the pretenders and the contenders! By the way, I'm not so sure that UCF isn't the best football team in the state I know, the Noles and the Gators would beg to difer, but the Knights are playing well. Unlike the Canes :) :) Oh joy!

Coming up, Noles vs Tarheels, Gators and Vandy. Alabama & LSU. TCU at Utah will be a good one. Sweet!

Out

Rocktober Thursday night!

Christian Ponder's touchdown was pretty amazing. It will be on the highlight films for a while. After the Pack took a 7-0 lead and controlled the 1st Qtr, the Noles bounced back and owned the 2nd Qtr for a 21- halftime lead. Now, the need to play hard for the 2nd half.

The Magic opened the season tonight and it should be a fun season. Dwight Howard was baptized in the Atlantic ocean Sunday afternoon. Cool :)

The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party happens in Jacksonville on Saturday. Georgia appears to be improving, while the Gators have been in quite the funk. Maybe I'm drinking the cool aid, but I think UF beats the Dogs for the 18th time in the last 21 years...

I will be in Statesboro, Ga on Saturday watching Georgia Southern. So this is one of those times where the ear buds will be required to listen to the Cocktail Party game...

Apopka and Olympia would have been a good one to go to tonight. So would Crestview vs Leon tomorrow night. Even Mt Dora Bible has a chance to earn their first ever football playoff berth, if they can beat Lake Mary Prep tomorrow night.

I was impressed by Mizzu last week, but they have their work cut out for them against Nebraska in Lincoln. Go Tigers! Oregon and USC could be interesting.

Ranger and Giants in Game 2 of the World Series as we speak. I like the Rangers, but I also like Buster Posey who was the MAN at FSU.

The number of penalties in the FSU/NC State game is pathetic! SLOPPY!

By the way, I'm watching the sloppy game, and the World Series AND the Magic game on my new 50" Samsung :) The Korean's know how to make a beautiful television :)

Peace

The last night of "no HDTV" for Outlaw

Tomorrow I will buy a new HDTV. I had it narrowed down to the LG 42 LCD at HHGregg. But when I was in the store admiring it, the salesman walked me over to a 50" Samsung Plasma for only $39 more. This is a defining moment as it is a big decision...that 50" Samsung looks GOOD! Stay tuned for the results, or please weigh in if you have some insights on how this should play out!!!

Go RANGERS, beat the dang Yankees.

Oregon plays UCLA tonight. I admire Oregon. They don't worry about their Offense identity. Nope, they try to hang 55 plus on everybody they play. Their QB is a point guard type, distributing the ball to a bunch of guys who look like they are on fast forward speed!

Some good matchups this weekend, even if the Noles and the Gators are off. Auburn & LSU play for Tiger supremacy. Oklahoma goes to Mizzu where College Game Day invades Columbia.

My sister in law is in town and she made a roast today. Oh my goodness :) My daughter is becoming a beast in volleyball and I may get to refi my mortgage for a fixed 3.75 rate. I'm feeling pretty good tonight!

Outlaw

A Bulldog kind of weekend

Friday night was fun, as my class of 1978 watched our Crestview Bulldogs beat Milton 27-21. Crestview has a big kid named Caldwell who will play at the next level and Milton has a star in the making in Paul Young.

FSU barely beat Boston College, but won a game it would have found a way to lose during the past 3 seasons. So, while they are not great there is improvement.

Arkansas vs Auburn was maybe the most entertaining game and I watched most of it with my dad and my cousin Mark. Thought the Hogs got ripped by a couple of bad calls, but the War Beagles keep getting better and lucky, an amazing combination.

Ohio State lost, thank goodness, and Texas held on to beat Nebraska :)

I did not get to watch the Gator debacle as the class reunion on Saturday night was sans TV...some folks are acting like this is an all time low, losing to the MSU Bulldogs, but DAN MULLEN can coach, and he should get a lot of credit for Urban Meyer's success - until last season. Remember, Miss St ALMOST beat Auburn. They are well coached and know what kind of offense they want to be...ouch. Bye week for the Gators, it has to help...

The BCS has Oklahoma and Oregon #1 and 2. Very solid teams, but I would put Oregon, TCU and Boise ahead of the Sooners. OU looked like #1 only once this season, when they crushed FSU. Other than that, they have looked like a top 25 team only.

Life is good guys!

Outlaw

Football FATIGUE?

I'm tired, but probably not because of football. I'm working harder than I would like and my oldest son just left the country...

I jumped on the Rays bandwagon this summer and enjoyed their brand of baseball. The stunk it up the last two weeks, but somehow won the East. Then they lay 2 eggs in their dome, before going to Texas to win both games out there. Go figure. So, I'm all set to be bummed tonight, but I'll try to pull the Rays through. SOMEBODY beat the Yankees!

I was amazed at how good Florida State looked against Miami. Did not see that coming and it begs the question "what the heck happened in Oklahoma"? Get by BC on Saturday and a showdown with NC State on a Thursday night looms.

The Gators got pushed around by LSU most of the night, but still should have pulled it out. Instead they fell for a great fake FG and lost to Lester...I was TICKED! Either use John Brantley and his NFL arm, or put an option QB in there, but MAKE UP YOUR MIND! Dan Mullen where are you? Oh thats right you are at Miss State. If UF does not bring their A game on Saturday night, the Starkeville Bulldogs will surprise them. Miss St is getting better every week.

Crestview beat FWB in double OT. So, maybe my reunion this weekend will include a win over Milton, something we could never do in the 70s.

South Carolina's win over Alabama was no fluke. I will be shocked if anyone goes undefeated in the SEC, too much parity and too many good teams.

Out

Roctober football weekend

Well, it is FSU vs Miami and LSU @ Florida weekend. My wife and I were married on October 1st, 1982 and the next day as we drove up through Alabama to the mountains of Tennessee, I listened to LSU play Florida :) LSU had two great running backs who both went on to play in the NFL. I have had the pleasure of witnessing in person several Gator - Bayou Tiger games. Way back when, college buds Tim Lee and TBone picked me up in Tally and we spent the weekend doing that game circa 1989 or so. I expect Florida to win tomorrow night, but they will have to execute in the red zone a little better than last week....duh! Maybe LESTER Miles will show some more coaching brilliance :)

I have had more football heartaches at the hands of Miami than any other wretched foe. Wide Right 1, 2, 3, etc. One of the game of the century showdowns, my coach bud at FSU got me two great seats and my bro in law Keith and I enjoyed one of those unbeatable days of tailgating and football. It came down to Miami with 4th & goal at about the 9 yard line. I was so close that I could actually see the Cane QB's eyes as he looked over the defense and called the signals. His eyes showed complete confidence and I knew we were doomed. TD pass...Another memorable FSU vs Miami game long ago, my cousin Mark and I were sitting with some of the telephone company big wigs, when Dexter Carter went 24 yards on the opening drive for a TD. We splashed about 30 fans all around us with our supersized stadium drinks as we lost control and jumped up and down like crazy. Good times...I don't have much confidence in the Noles tomorrow night, unless that knucklehead Jacory keeps throwing interceptions. One can hope...

Tonight my Crestview Bulldogs are playing my in laws Fort Walton Vikings. Last I saw it was 6-3 Bulldogs in the 3rd. Neither team is very good this season and next Friday night I get to watch them play Milton as it is high school reunion time. 32.

I will watch the Michigan v Michigan State game tomorrow, and Arkansas v Texas A&M might be good.

Life is good, despite the fact that my HDTV is beyond repair!

FL Outlaw

Tide Rules

Alabama proved they are the best team in the SEC, at least for this week. Oregon looked strong again, and the big 11 continued to play no one. Oklahoma won the Red River game against Texas. FSU won :) Les Miles is the worst coach period.

About the Gators. Even without a running game, they moved the ball very well until they reached the Alabama 5. Then it was slapstick at its finest, only it wasn't funny. Brantley caught heat, but he only made ONE bad play all night, the pick six. Florida's defense actually played well for the most part. The rematch in Atlanta should be a better game.

FSU vs Miami this week and LSU at Florida! Roctober ROCKS!

OK, back to the Bama - Florida game. The stats suggest that this should have been a closer game than 31-6. In fact, the stats show UF had more total yards than Bammer.

Team Statistics (Final)
2010 Florida Football
#7 Florida vs #1 Alabama (Oct 02, 2010 at Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

UF UA

FIRST DOWNS................... 17 18
Rushing..................... 4 10
Passing..................... 10 7
Penalty..................... 3 1
NET YARDS RUSHING............. 79 170
Rushing Attempts............ 31 34
Average Per Rush............ 2.5 5.0
Rushing Touchdowns.......... 0 2
Yards Gained Rushing........ 108 176
Yards Lost Rushing.......... 29 6
NET YARDS PASSING............. 202 103
Completions-Attempts-Int.... 16-32-3 12-18-0
Average Per Attempt......... 6.3 5.7
Average Per Completion...... 12.6 8.6
Passing Touchdowns.......... 0 1
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS........... 281 273
Total offense plays......... 63 52
Average Gain Per Play....... 4.5 5.2
Fumbles: Number-Lost.......... 3-1 1-0
Penalties: Number-Yards....... 7-49 5-47
PUNTS-YARDS................... 3-187 4-161
Average Yards Per Punt...... 62.3 40.2
Net Yards Per Punt.......... 48.7 38.8
Inside 20................... 2 1
50+ Yards................... 3 1
Touchbacks.................. 0 0
Fair catch.................. 0 0
KICKOFFS-YARDS................ 3-198 6-408
Average Yards Per Kickoff... 66.0 68.0
Net Yards Per Kickoff....... 46.7 45.2
Touchbacks.................. 0 1
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD. 2-6-0 1-41-0
Average Per Return.......... 3.0 41.0
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 5-117-0 3-58-0
Average Per Return.......... 23.4 19.3
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD.. 0-0-0 3-44-1
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD. 0-0-0 0-0-0
Miscellaneous Yards........... 0 0
Possession Time............... 32:50 27:10
1st Quarter................. 7:07 7:53
2nd Quarter................. 7:13 7:47
3rd Quarter................. 12:29 2:31
4th Quarter................. 6:01 8:59
Third-Down Conversions........ 3 of 13 4 of 9
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 3 0 of 0
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 1-4 4-4
Touchdowns.................. 0-4 3-4
Field goals................. 1-4 1-4
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 2-2 1-8
PAT Kicks..................... 0-0 4-4
Field Goals................... 2-2 1-1

The stats suggest this should have been a closer score but is wasn't. The game was NEVER in doubt. Alabama imposed their will when ever they wanted to. Florida's defense will keep them in most games, but their offense is well OFFENSIVE in it's ineptitude. A scared team gets cute inside the 5 and on 3rd and 1. An aggressive and confident team lines up and smashes ahead. Despite the even stats, the Tide defense was in the backfield on every play, run or pass.

If you have followed the Gators very close last season and this, the offense woes are not new. Even with Tebow the offense was sluggish and inconsistent last year, but he "willed" them to ugly defensive wins in every game but the SEC championship where Nick Saban and his staff were just way too smart and savy for the Gators to sneak by.

By the way, WHY IS POUNCY STILL THE CENTER? HE CAN'T SNAP THE SHOTGUN!

At least my Fantasy team is kicking butt today.

HDTV woe is me...

My 42 inch Vizio crapped out. Right in the middle of football season and the repair guy (who has a sign in his yard suggesting the County may "vacate" the property) says the parts will not be in until THURSDAY. To quote conservative blabber mouth Limbaugh, "held hostage - day 17".

These pictures are just too good not to share. Corso and Herbie remake the Lion King is cute. I added the Adazzio pic for my bud Brent Adams. Guess we have to cut the Gator OC a little slack after the Kentucky performance...nah:)

Some really good games coming up this weekend (with or without my HDTV). Friday night Camden County, Georgia goes down to south Florida to play Fort Lauderdale St Thomas Acquinas. Camden beat Miami Central a few weeks ago and are ALWAYS one of the best teams in the peach state. STA is a program that can get any kid in south Fl, by virtue of their private school status. Should be a good one and while I might pull for Camden, I expect STA to prevail.

Sat at noon has Miami at Clemson. Probably the two best teams in the ACC (although NC State, Va Tech and FSU might beg to differ) knock heads. I think Clemson may overcome the 8 points the Canes are getting in Vegas. The other ACC game worth paying attention to is NC State vs Va Tech. Wolfpack is ranked but their magic may hit the Beamer wall???

BYU might get upset by Utah State.

Texas and Oklahoma meet in Dallas. Horns got spanked last week and Oklahoma has looked pretty weak, except for the butt whoopin they put on FSU. Go figure. Nebraska looks better than either at this point and I still think the cornshuckers are overrated.

Two monster match ups on prime time. Florida at Alabama and Stanford at Oregon. Perfect "picture in picture" time (if I had my TV). Can't wait for these battles!

Yesterday was a Good Day...!

So we did it. My son and I went to both the FSU - Wake Forest game AND the Kentucky @ Florida game. We left home a little after 8:00 and by the time we exited I-10 in Tallahassee, we had tickets lined up for us AND my other son who lives


in Tally. Cousin Tyler had two nice extra seats, complete with chair backs and most important, in the shade! It was brutal hot yesterday. I sat in Golden Chief seats thanks to OLD bud Roger. We stopped by Tyler's and talked to he and Beth and then Tyndall and Mike came over and I was able to see another cousin :). The talk at Tyler's was about Lance's soccer match earlier in the day. Too bad we didn't get to town in the morning, because 3 & 4 year old soccer is a treat. Then we had wings and fish tacos with Josh, BEFORE we went to the stadium to tailgate with Roger and the Camp's group. Did I mention it was hot?
To pull off the college football double header with 140 miles separating the venues, we had to leave the FSU game at half time. It worked out well, as right after the half, the Noles had a weather delay for 30 minutes. We walked back to the car and stopped by to see Michael Carter at work, for a few minutes. Before I shift gears, FSU played pretty well yesterday. They should have a good season, but will probably lose ~ 3 more games and will be underdogs against Miami and Clemson, maybe NC State and certainly Florida. I estimate about 60,000 fans at Doak Campbell for the ACC opener. Quite a few more left when we did at halftime... It was still fun to be there and remember ALL the great memories and fun times cheering on Florida State. It was also great for my sons to get together, since Dent leaves in 2 weeks for a year...

We arrived at the Swamp with about 7 minutes left in the first half. My hope was that we could snag some ticket stubs from people leaving at the half. Turns out that UF doesn't allow reentry anymore either. Plan was derailed...however, as we circled the stadium like it was the walls of Jerico, we looked for weakness in the usher army that guarded our prize. After almost a complete lap, we found a lapse in guard and slipped into Ben Hill Griffin stadium at Florida Field :) Alas, they also have a 2nd layer of sentries guarding each entrance into said section. Again, we staked out the perimeter until we detected the badly needed slacker employee :) We were "in" right as the half wound down and the band stormed the field. The contrast between the two venues was dramatic. I love FSU games and have been to DOZENS of games in Tally and Gainesville over the years. The game experience at the Swamp is so much more passionate. That is the SEC difference I think. Gator fans are fired up the whole game and the stadium itself feels so much closer to the action. There we no empty seats for this game and most fans were on their feet yelling throughout the contest. SEC football is the pinnacle. Florida played up to their potential for the first time last night and the showdown with Alabama next Saturday night will be a MONSTER! :) Let the hype and anticipation begin!

We didn't stay at the Gator game long into the 3rd quarter as UF was rolling and we wanted to see how the Boise State game against OSU was going, as well as the South Carolina at Auburn brawl. So, we slid down to Ocala and watched the exciting finishes of those games at Ruby Tuesday. South Carolina self destructed in the 4th quarter with fumbles and interceptions, but give the war beagles credit for causing the turnovers.

Alabama came back and beat Arkansas to preserve the hype for their showdown with the Gators. Georgia lost to Mississippi State to go 0-3 in the conference...ouch! UCLA went to Austin and spanked the Longhorns, which will not help the promoters of the Red River showdown against Oklahoma on Saturday!

UCF almost beat K-St yesterday and NC State continued their roll by beating the defending ACC champs, Georgia Tech. The Wolfpack could be trouble...

It will be another great week for football, but in my life I will not have too many days like yesterday. What a blessing it was.

Outlaw

A good read in SI.com

Andy Staples put together a nice column on the Fort Campbell, Kentucky high school football team. If this link works...it will be amazing.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/andy_staples/09/15/fort.campbell.military.children/index.html

Good stuff.

I loathe the Yankees...Go Rays!

Nebraska is over rated. South Carolina at Auburn might be a great game... My son Denton and I are going to attempt a double header on Saturday, as we will go to Tallahassee and visit Josh, tailgate with my bud Roger and catch the FSU game against Wake Forest. IF all goes well, we plan to slide out when the Noles have a big lead and see if we can work our way into the Swamp, where the Gators are hosting Kentucky! Wish us luck, or send us tickets to both games :)

College Football Sunday mornin

The Gators beat Tennessee, but they need to move Pouncy to guard and get somebody to snap the ball to Brantley. More importantly they need an offensive identity. Don't think Adazio had a clue.

FSU beat BYU. They looked pretty good, I'm just not sure which team will show up week to week. Some boneheads on defense...Oh by the way Air Force almost beat Oklahoma. Think any of the Falcons would start for the Noles? Nope.

Arkansas beat Jawja tween the hedges. Vandy beat Ole Miss...

Best game of the day was Auburn and Clemson. Clemson had their shot in OT, but the pass went off the finger tips. Kyle Parker got killed in this game and played in misery in the 2nd half and OT. Very impressive. Would not want FSU to play Clemson or Boston College next week.

I kind of like Notre Dame now (KINDA) and they went into overtime at Michigan State. The Spartans faked a long FG to tie it and threw a touchdown pass! Ballsiest call by a coach I've seen in a LONG time. Its after midnight and my eyes are burning, but Arizona and Iowa are tanglin in the desert. I visited Tuscon a few times and well, I don't like the big ten plus 1.

Southern Cal is not very good and that pleases me. Lame Kiffin is a punk.

Locally, Dr Phillips crushed a good Olympia team. Apopka lost to Edgewater, and my Crestview Bulldogs lost to Tate :(

Decided to put Ronnie Brown on the bench and go with Jonathan Stewart tomorrow. Any RB going against the Bucs will have a good day.

Outlaw is OUT.

Texas vs Florida continues

Tonight we have Tampa Plant out in Abilene, Texas taking on the Ahigh Eagles at Shotwell stadium. I don't think there has ever been near as many great interstate high school football match ups. The TV coverage has been increasing each year as well. Again, a team winning from one state does not correlate to that state having better football, but lets face it, braggin rights are fun. Florida has had a very good performance against out of state competition, especially against Texas, and I personally think Texas prep football is the best in all the land. The logo at the top of this post is for FlVarsity, a subset or Rivals and they do a great job of covering Florida high school football. A lot of the top coaches in the state frequent their forums. Good stuff.

NC State is hosting the Cincinnati Bearcats so we do have the college weekend kicking off. The Wolfpack were fortunate to escape UCF last Saturday night.

Another week of college football news and as usual the lead stories are not pretty. Reggie Bush gave his Heisman Trophy up. I wonder how many would be returned if we really knew how many of the winners took money while they were in college...AND Gator speedster Chris Rainy was arrested for stalking his girlfriend. The Slantinel is making a big deal about the # of arrests under Urban Meyer. The problem is that if you want to have the most talented football players on your team, you recruit ...well...thugs, not choirboys. WE cheer them on to unadulterated violence on the field. We expect them to pump their bodies up to monster size and to be testosterone filled gladiators ON THE FIELD. So, it should not shock us when the top college football teams have trouble not breaking the law.

Rainy's Gators go to Knoxville to play the Rocky Tops without him. I think Florida continues to work out the kinks and improve incrementally on offense. Their Defense is the real deal already.

FSU hosts the BYU Cougars and hope to put the CRUSHING that Oklahoma put on them, in the rear view. If you can't play defense, you cannot win championships in football. We had planned to got to Tally for this one, but are waiting a week and will catch the Wake Forest game instead.

Iowa at Arizona is a good non conference battle this weekend. Georgia tries to bounce back from the L at South Carolina, against Arkansas and Ryan Mallet. Notre Dame and Michigan State should be good.



Derrick Jeter is a CHEATER! Go Rays!

FOOTBALL Weekend!

So much going on so fast.

Cocoa High, the lil 2A school has defeated power teams from Miss, Penn and now Texas on successive weekends. The win over Abilene is remarkable. In fact, the 4 game FL vs TX challenge has Texas winning only 1 game, as DeSota beat Miramar 42-41 in OT when Miramar caught the 2pt conversion out of the end zone.

South Carolina started the college action yesterday by man handling Georiga. The Gamecocks appear to be the biggest threat to unseat the Gators in the SEC East. True fresh Marcus Lattimore is real and may turn Spurrier into a run oriented coach...nah :)

South Florida gave the Gators fits early, in the heat stroke waiting to happen at the Swamp. Florida's defense is special and that will give them a chance to win a lot of football games. If you can't stop the other team, you are in trouble, because you can't always outscore them. UF goes to Rocky top next Saturday.

The 3:30 slot had 3 supposedly good games. One was. Notre Dame and Michigan played a classic, and it took a TD by Dennard Robinson with 27 seconds to pull out the W for the Maize and Blue. Miami actually could play with Ohio State, but Jacory Harris completed about as many passes to the Buckeyes as he did to his Canes...over rated!
And the lowlight of my day was the woodshed beating the Noles got from Oklahoma. Bob Stoops actually held his team back in the 2nd half, or the 30 point W could have been 50. As mentioned in the paragraph above, if you can't stop the other team YOU ARE IN TROUBLE. FSU has not covered a Sooner receiver yet, and the game was yesterday. Folks are picking on Ponder, but while he was not awesome, he did not allow 47 points...There will be some empty seats at Doak Campbell on Saturday when BYU comes to Tally. The Mormon Cougars got spanked by Air Force.

The biggest trend of the weekend was how bad the ACC must be. Noles clobbered. Canes lost by 12. Georgia Tech lost to Kansas (and it wasn't basketball). Virginia Tech lost to James Madison. Wow. NC State beat UCF, but barely. Duke scored 48 points but lost to Wake, and Duke's reward is a visit from Alabama next weekend...ouch.

Speaking of the Tide, they could have poured 40 or 50 on Penn State if they wanted to. Trent Richardson made the folks in Tuscaloosa forget about Mark Ingram. Trent is from Escambia High in Pensacola, the same school that Emmit Smith carried the ball for back in the day. Tennessee played Oregon very well in the first half, before the Ducks started running downhill and piled up points.

I don't know who the best teams in the country are or will be at the end of the season, but Alabama looks like they could be in a category all alone. No one else looks close. Oklahoma (at least yesterday), Ohio State, Texas might be worthy as the games go on. I think Florida will be very good by December. Nebraska...still not sold. Southern Cal barely beat Virginia...not good. By the way, one of the best shirts from Saturday was on an Oregon fan and it said "I don't like Lane Kiffin either". That is good.

Georgia Southern lost to Navy by 6 or 7. A very good sign for GSU. We plan on going up to Stateboro for a game in October.

Tired...

The Saints are comin...

So, hard to beat a Thursday night with SEC football AND the NFL opener featuring the Saints and the Vikings!

Auburn will probably win, but Dan Mullen is a good coach, the Gators and Urban Meyer miss him a lot more than they realize!

I don't have a fav team in the NFL, but I do like the Saints and I read Drew Brees book this summer and became more of a fan. I'm giving fantasy football a try this year, so I guess that season starts tonight too :)

Some good high school football this weekend, with the Cocoa, FL vs Abilene, TX game, being the one I'm most looking forward too.

Excitement is building for the great college games on Saturday. The day gets started with Georgia visiting South Carolina in a big game in the SEC East. I liked South Carolina, even before I heard AJ Green was suspended. At 12:20, we get to see of the Gators will have improved the shotgun snap, catching the football by their receivers, and avoiding fumbles. They better, or the highly motivated Bulls will make them pay. UF by 17...
The 3:30 slot requires deft remote control, picture in picture, and or both. FSU goes to Norman, OK to upset the Sooners, Michigan and Notre Dame play (and win) on the Notre Dame network (NBC), and Miami will be in the Horseshoe to play Ohio State. I don't like Miami, they have crushed my spirit so many times. But I'm starting to hate all the hype Ohio State gets. Can I pull for a tie?
Penn State will get pummeled by the Crimson Tide that night, and I say run the score up Nick :)

With all this football bliss upon us, my HD TV died last night. I rushed it to the repair man but have not heard whether or not a need a 2nd mortgage to fix it. In the mean time, Gary brought his Olevia HD over to fill that gap in the living room. sniff...

Labor Day weekend!

Before I get into the football, I'll mention that I spent most of the weekend at SonQuest, a big youth rally in Orlando (as a chaperone). Young people show a spirituality that is so genuine and sincere, I am always encouraged by events like that.

OK, I was able to watch most of the Gator game. Sloppy is the best word for it. Offense always starts with the center - QB exchange and in the shotgun it can get a little hairy. UF's offense is based so much on timing, that poor snaps are a dream come true for the opposition. I concede that Miami of Ohio played their tails off. Some of the Gator's struggles can be corrected, maybe even most. What concerns me is not John Brantley, or Pouncey's poor snaps (OK they do). What concerns me about Florida is that I don't see good offensive adjustments under Adazzio that I did under Dan Mullen. Florida better make some serious improvements between now and Saturday, or the USF Bulls will be trouble in the Swamp. South Florida is MUCH better than Miami, OH.

Thanks to the Sun replay on Sunday nights, I was able to watch the Noles win over Samford. Jimbo's debut was successful and there is reason for optimism in Tallahassee, especially since FSU has struggled against these "warm up" teams over the last few seasons. The Noles better get better in every phase of the game before Saturday, as they take their "chop" to Norman, OK to play the Sooners.

LSU is lucky. TCU prevailed against Oregon State. East Carolina beat Tulsa on a hail mary on the last play of the game. Georgia and South Carolina is a huge SEC game this week, and Ole Miss lost to Jacksonville State. Notre Dame looked good against Purdue and Michigan looked much improved in their win over UCONN.

Now, a little catch up on the high school games. Georgia got two signature wins on Friday night. North Gwinnett beat Crenshaw from LA California and Camden County beat Miami Central 45-42. Other than the Central loss, the Florida teams have had another good weekend so far. Cocoa went to Pennsylvania and beat power Thomas Jefferson like a DRUM. Manattee beat Woodland Hills PA, like a DRUM too. At this moment, PB Dwyer has opened pretty sloppy against Cleveland OH Glenville and are down 6-0. My son went to Texas for the long weekend and was able to watch Abilene High beat Frankinton, LA at Shotwell. Next week Cocoa plays Abilene in the big Texas/Florida challenge. Trinity (Euless) Texas is beating Arkansas power Shiloh Christian 21-7 over on Fox sports. Locally, Dr Phillips crushed Edgewater and Apopak handled Lake Brantley.

Gonna have my first Fantasy Football draft tonight, so we will see how this goes!

Labor Day weekend!

Before I get into the football, I'll mention that I spent most of the weekend at SonQuest, a big youth rally in Orlando (as a chaperone). Young people show a spirituality that is so genuine and sincere, I am always encouraged by events like that.

OK, I was able to watch most of the Gator game. Sloppy is the best word for it. Offense always starts with the center - QB exchange and in the shotgun it can get a little hairy. UF's offense is based so much on timing, that poor snaps are a dream come true for the opposition. I concede that Miami of Ohio played their tails off. Some of the Gator's struggles can be corrected, maybe even most. What concerns me is not John Brantley, or Pouncey's poor snaps (OK they do). What concerns me about Florida is that I don't see good offensive adjustments under Adazzio that I did under Dan Mullen. Florida better make some serious improvements between now and Saturday, or the USF Bulls will be trouble in the Swamp. South Florida is MUCH better than Miami, OH.

Thanks to the Sun replay on Sunday nights, I was able to watch the Noles win over Samford. Jimbo's debut was successful and there is reason for optimism in Tallahassee, especially since FSU has struggled against these "warm up" teams over the last few seasons. The Noles better get better in every phase of the game before Saturday, as they take their "chop" to Norman, OK to play the Sooners.

LSU is lucky. TCU prevailed against Oregon State. East Carolina beat Tulsa on a hail mary on the last play of the game. Georgia and South Carolina is a huge SEC game this week, and Ole Miss lost to Jacksonville State. Notre Dame looked good against Purdue and Michigan looked much improved in their win over UCONN.

Now, a little catch up on the high school games. Georgia got two signature wins on Friday night. North Gwinnett beat Crenshaw from LA California and Camden County beat Miami Central 45-42. Other than the Central loss, the Florida teams have had another good weekend so far. Cocoa went to Pennsylvania and beat power Thomas Jefferson like a DRUM. Manattee beat Woodland Hills PA, like a DRUM too. At this moment, PB Dwyer has opened pretty sloppy against Cleveland OH Glenville and are down 6-0. My son went to Texas for the long weekend and was able to watch Abilene High beat Frankinton, LA at Shotwell. Next week Cocoa plays Abilene in the big Texas/Florida challenge. Trinity (Euless) Texas is beating Arkansas power Shiloh Christian 21-7 over on Fox sports. Locally, Dr Phillips crushed Edgewater and Apopak handled Lake Brantley.

Gonna have my first Fantasy Football draft tonight, so we will see how this goes!

Yes its college opening weekend, but the PREPS!

Both college and high school football have some exciting games to open the season (and a boat load of cream puffs too) then they get down to conference play and the excitement builds again in November. This holiday weekend has some sick inter state match ups for the prep "programs".

LA Crenshaw goes to Georgia to play North Gwinnett

Miami Central (an uber athletic team) takes its undisciplined squad to face Georgia power Camden County.

Defending 4A Florida champ goes to Ohio to play Glenville (Cleveland)

Little 2A Cocoa FL goes up to Pennsylvania this week to take on power Thomas Jefferson, while Bradenton Manatee completes the FL vs PA set, by playing Woodland Hills.

Abilene, TX plays defending Louisiana champ Franklinton, before back to back games the next 2 weeks against Florida teams. Odessa Permian (THE Friday Night Lights team) plays a power from Washington state - Bethel.

ESPN and the Fox networks are broadcasting many of these games, especially on Monday.

Virginia power Oscar Smith takes on Ohio Central Pickerington

Shiloh Christian from Springdale, Arkansas takes on #1 Trinity from Euless, Texas at Cowboy stadium as part of a festival of games, which includes Fort Lauderdale St Thomas Aquinas smacking Dallas Skyline and then some quality Texas teams battling each other. Next weekend has the Texas vs Florida challenge, but more on that after THIS weekend :)

To quote Dicke V, ITS GONNA BE AWESOME BABY! :)

While it is not one of the titanic inter-state match ups, Crestview plays Baker on Friday night in the Bulletin Bowl. Smell those boiled peanuts...

Toe to Leather (or composite) Time!

Thursday, Sept. 2 Network Time (ET)
Southern Miss at South Carolina ESPN 7:30 p.m.
Marshall at Ohio St. Big Ten 7:30 p.m.
Minnesota at MTSU ESPNU 7:30 p.m.
N. Illinois at Iowa St. FSN 7:30 p.m.
Towson at Indiana Big Ten 7:30 p.m.
Pitt at Utah Versus 8:30 p.m.
USC at Hawaii ESPN 11 p.m.

Opening night of the college football season, tears in my eyes…

South Carolina better bring their A game or Southern Miss be their nightmare.

Ohio State will start their much over hyped season by thrashing Marshall.

Minnesota at MTSU is interesting because a big 11 team is playing in Murfreesboro, Tennessee…

Skipping on down to Pitt and Utah match up. This should be a fantastic game. Utah is well coached and has that “no AQ” chip on their shoulder, but Pitt is really strong and will likely be the Big East champ (or UCONN). At altitude is the difference, so I go with the Utes.

Friday has Arizona and Toledo, but folks Friday Nights are for high school football.

Saturday’s top games:

Gators and Noles play at Noon against Miami, Oh and Samford. Should be nice warm ups.
UConn at Michigan – Huskies will ruin the crowd at the big house’s day 
Illinois and Mizzu is a quality opener but the Tigers will prevail.
UCLA at K State could be a shootout, but I like the Bruins
Kentucky and Louisville are state rivals with new coaches. Think SEC…
Purdue at Notre Dame is another cross state rival opener. Irish start their resurgence.
Washington at BYU is a great opener. Will not be a 6-3 boring game. BYU at home can be tough, but I’m taking Locker and the Huskies
Northwestern & Vandy in the brainbowl, but Vandy is the anti SEC team.
Oregon State at TCU. Great game at Cowboys stadium. TCU all the way.
LSU vs North Carolina in Atlanta. LSU is poorly coached, but better than UNC.
Cincinnati at Fresno State should be another shoot out, with the Bearcats winning

Sunday has a couple of games with SMU and Texas Tech being the interesting one. Tech better not take the ponies lightly, but Tubberville should get his first “W” in Lubbock.

Monday:
Maryland vs Navy will be an illustration of how good Navy is these days and how sad the Terps are.
The capper is the Boise State – Virginia Tech battle that night. Va Tech is so good on defense and special teams and so well coached, but I like the BRONCOS to rule.

I Love the "bers"

The “ber” months are finally here. September, October, November and December are the “ber” months and they represent A) FOOTBALL SEASON B) cooler weather. It is too dang hot in central Florida, we need some relief! I never fully appreciated Spring, until I lived in Kansas for a few years. After all that cold, cloudy and dreary weather, the sun finally breaks through one day in March or April and people up north just go nuts with excitement. A lot of employees are suddenly “sick” that day. Well, it is kind of like that in reverse down here. That first cool breeze when you can open the windows and even consider wearing a long sleeve shirt, signals the best time to live in my home state.

Wow, what a tangent that was. My pal Mark played for Cocoa Beach high school back in the 70s. He was a running back and on the last play of one game, at the bottom of the pile (against Monroe HS), an opposing player actually bit the wart off of Mark’s leg. Let that sink in for a moment. The guy had to raise his helmet to be able to reach the target and bit it off and growled as he showed it pinched between his teeth. Now female readers may find this somewhat socially unacceptable, but guys who played football will laugh and try to remember situations that can “one up” this true story.

In case I have not set the record straight (lately), I am a fan of both the Florida State Seminole and the Florida Gators. This is not well received by a lot of folks and most cannot even comprehend the concept. They assume that I am not a “real” fan of either, but they are mistaken. My dad is a Gator fan and the SEC is without question the best and most exciting conference, when it comes to rivalries or “border wars”. Now to really appreciate the SEC, you need to realize that while they HATE each other, when one of em plays somebody out west or god forbid “up north”, there is a cease fire and a solidarity as everyone pulls together to chant “SEC, SEC, SEC!”. FSU is the school closest to my hometown in the Panhandle and I really started pulling for the Noles when Bobby got there in the mid 70s. The run he took them on was so much fun to be a part of. I was lucky enough to know some of the coaches when I lived in Tally and had the pleasure of being in the locker rooms and even sat in on a couple of pre-game speeches and presentations to recruits. So, with that precursor, I have to also mention that I enjoy the rivalry between the Noles and Gators and enjoy the ragging and teasing that goes back and forth. So, when my Garnet and Gold cousin Tyler bagged a couple of gators on his recent legal hunt and captioned the kill picture with “gator bait my a$$”, I had to share!