We're Going Streaking!!

Umm... "Bowling". "We're going Bowling"

Here's the 411:

http://games.espn.go.com/bowlmania/en/group?groupID=12676

Group: Pelini's Anger Management
Password: Jacob

The End. For Realz.

First, we need to address an issue that's been raised by our competition committee. This is Jake's official press release/statement.

I was unaware of my father's involvement in the process of picking winners each week in The Big Howevermany pick'em league. I will not be made available to the media until after the Bowl Pick'em league has concluded.

Easy to joke about it when you're running away with the league. Not this week though- another Auburn alumni ended up one point away from a perfect.

Jordy rose to the top- when you don't have to think about your team's bowl assignment, it helps you focus.

As mentioned earlier, Jake won the league by an unprecedented 25 points. That's half a week's worth of effort.

Only marriage could keep the top group from being dominated by Shikes. To look at Jake's achievement another way, he won it by 8 picks... an average week (or two, for me)


At the end of the year, Dan finished dead last, but at least he got his photo on ESPN:

So, that's all she wrote for this season; things next year will certainly be different, since some folks will be playing for league and conference dominance.

Stay tuned for the Bowl Challenge... personally, I'm going to try to get Paula back on board, since she and I have something more at stake.

Gimme Five

Well, that was interesting. Great job Amanda... only one loss (but man, wasn't it worth it to have U$C lose?) this week:

Jake continues to set the pace for everyone... maybe what they say about the SEC is true?


I hope you enjoyed your Scott sighting... looks like we've lost him again. Along with James- what happened, man?

That enormous sucking sound you hear from Los Angeles is yours truly. I have no idea what I'm doing; obviously. For perspective, Dan missed an entire week and is tied with me. Crap.

Yeah, yeah, yeah...

Long time, no post. Sorry 'bout that- if you still want my brand of crazy and don't mind it being Buckeyecentric, you know where to look.

Anywho- Thought I'd chime in with a quick take on the NFL draft, particularly the Tim Tebow sitcheashon.

Yup, he was taken way too early. A less sanctified person than I would say "another way he's trying to be like Jesus". Let's just remember this- Colorado (where Denver is) is also home to this guy and this thing. God works in mysterious ways.

But the best part of this is that it doubles my pleasure re: the offensive sooper genius that is/was/will always be Charlie Weis.

See, 'cause Tebow going early means that "Pickles" Claussen gets to sit alone in the green room until the second round. Cue the sad trombone.

It also means that Denver drafted a QB with questionable upside in the first round because they aren't confident in the guy they've got. You know, that kid they traded for in the off season... Oh my goodness, that's Brady Quinn's music!

Unfortunately, I didn't get to watch the frivolities, so missed the Claussen love fest and subsequent awesomeness of the green room linger... but it doesn't make it any less funny.

People know me...

For the four of you that regularly read this thing, you know that I've been a bit distracted this year as compared to last.

Historically, I've posted a couple of times a week hereabouts- both thoughts on college football in general and a lot of Buckeye-specific rants and cheers. It also became a great place for me to keep our picks league informed and do the weekly updates- remember when those used to be emails with footnotes?

This year, though, I was asked to move part of the dog and pony show up a notch. One of my favorite Ohio State blogs was looking for writers, and Jeff asked me to share my brand of crazy with Buckeye faithful.

So, instead of bugging you guys with Ohio State stuff, I've found a group of people who haven't heard my stories three hundred times already and seem to not mind too much.

It's been an amazing experience over at the Buckeye Battle Cry, and has now led to an even bigger announcement. Starting next year (actually, while I'm screaming my head off at the Rose Bowl), tBBC becomes the official Ohio State blog for the nationwide Sports Bloggers Nation. And to answer your question, Scott, I'm not sure what that means in terms of cash... Jeff, Jim, Eric, and I do it for the love of the, uh, keyboard anyway.

Yup, another case of being in the right place at the right time.

So, what does that mean for the Musings? Wellsir, I plan on sticking around and using this for the stuff that doesn't fit our "brand"- How sports fit into the educational experience of a University, How well our Division 1 schools are doing in their hiring processes, etc. And, of course, I'll still be hosting our competitions (get your picks in for the Bowl Challenge).

Anywho- Thanks for humoring me by being a part of this conversation, and for helping me hone whatever freaking skills that made me the blogger that I am.

And if you're wondering; Yes, I just blamed you for all this.

You're kidding me...

This is unsportsmanlike?

Well, crap- there goes my all time favorite football play.

As well as the end to my "favorite" movie (sorry, no sarcasm font).

In case you were interested

You can play "dress up" with the Oregon Ducks here:

Dress the Ducks

Here's my best shot:
Maybe looking like the Steelers will help them stay conservative with their uniforms?

Pro'ly not.

The end of the world is nigh...

Or at least the end of my marriage, if the fans quoted in this article are to be believed:

The game would undoubtedly please Husker fans, and there would be plenty of storylines.

Two of college football’s most prestigious programs squaring off in one of the nation’s most illustrious stadiums before some of the nation’s most devout fans.

Bo Pelini would be facing the tall task of taking on his alma mater.

The game, of course, is Ohio State vs. Nebraska. It’s the game Husker fans want most, according to a recent poll done by the athletic department.

Husker fans... be careful what you wish for. Otherwise, you could end up with two guaranteed losses and me sleeping on your couch for a couple of years.

And honestly, no one wants that.

Avast!!!!

Arrr, yesterday's games fell on the national holiday o' "Talk Like a Pirate Day". Should we be surprised, then, that the upset o' the day happened at a place whar people show up in boats? Ahoy, and it warn't the team that we expected t' see success.

In Piratey news, East Carolina lost to North Carolina. Great Neptune's mandibles!!

Ok, that's enough.

But, like TLAPD, the U$C choke to an unranked conference team should become a national holiday, since it happens more frequently than leap year. And given that 5 of the last 6 of these losses have come on the road in the Northwet, there must be something more significant going on. Perhaps the Curse of DB Cooper or something.

Nevertheless, the Trojan Tragedy has sent ripples throughout the college football world. In Los Angeles, fingers are pointing at Surfer Pete, asking again why the coach is unable to keep his team focused. Granted, the starting QB and safety were banged up, but given U$C's deep pockets of five star talent you'd think they'd be able to beat a team that was 1-15 in their last sixteen games. A team of young men recruited by Ty Willingham. Hmmm... where have we heard that before?

While a post game let-down is to be expected, it didn't hamper Ohio State who headed to Cleveland and shut out the #5 team in NCAA offense. Toledo, fresh off of their clown stomping of Colorado, was held to 210 total yards and 13 yards rushing. Ohio State's rebound included 370 yards of offense from "Lebron in Cleats". Mich1gAAn fans? That's how you beat Toledo.

To celebrate the "Mistake by the Lake" and the Ohio State recovery, the AP poll decided to drop USC from 3 to 12, and bump tOSU from 11 to... 13. The Buckeyes were jumped by Chokelahoma, who took care of Tulsa on Saturday. However, the team that handed OU their loss got pummeled at home; BYU lost 54-28 to Free Shoes University. And yet, the Sooners didn't suffer due to the loss of the team that beat them... This, among other things, is the reason that we need to do away with polls until October.

Around the mid-west, Mich1gAAn managed to cruise against a directional school after struggling in the first half. Notre Ame was the beneficiary of back to back boneheaded decisions by MAChigan State's sophomore QB, first overthrowing a wide open receiver in the end zone, then sealing the game with an interception at or near the endzone. Penn State continued their "Hosting Hostess" tour, although they did allow Temple to score on their vaunted defense.

SEC action witnessed Auburn holding off the weather and WVa (rats- a burning couch goes great with rain), Arkansas falling to Georgia in a shootout, Calipari's scandal defeating Pitino's scandal, and Florida eventually getting around to beating Tennessee in the "our orange is uglier than yours" festival. MSU beat Vandy (really?), and LSU squashed some other team from Cajunland. Old Miss and Alabama combined for 105 points in their wins.

The Huskers lost a well fought road game against a very good Hokie team in the final minutes. True conversation between my beloved and I: Her- "Wow, it's such a tough loss when you're winning the whole game and then it falls apart in the last seconds". Me- "I wouldn't know what that was like at all."

Other Big 12 action: Rice couldn't stick to TBPU, Kansas State blew their one chance to shine in the Rose Bowl, Colorado won while Baylor fell to UConn, Rock Chalk pounded the Cameron Crazies, and the Pirate Cap'n missed out on an opportunity to do Blackbeard proud.

On the Left Coast, toOSU played football from Ohio with predictable results, Washington State won (I know, right?), and Oregon unveiled yet another hideous ensemble in their upset of the Utes. Cal's Jahvid Best looked to be just that against a chippy Minnesota Team opening their new stadium. Arizona evened the "Big T1e1n Pac Ten challenge" at one each by falling to Iowa.

Elsewheres- TCU continues to roll, Syracuse beat Northwestern in this week's "They have football teams?" bowl, and Pepperdine remains undefeated. Oh, and this has to be the worst idea of the week- UCF has a tribute planned for the African American members of Buffalo's 1958 team, who rejected a bid to the Tangerine Bowl because their darker hued teammates weren't allowed to play. Coincidentally, UCF also scheduled a "White Out" for that date, and asked their fans to come dressed in all white. Good thinking.

Small schools update: Anderson allowed the Pacifists to outfight them 37-34, Azusa Pacific fell for the fourth straight week (what is it with LA teams and schools from Washington?), while the Crimson Storm won with a last second field goal (Husky-esque). Bacone got fried by Howard Payne, 56-7.

In "the league", we had a couple of Strawns within one point of a perfect game! Unhappily, neither of them were me.

Yeah, she gets top billing. What of it? Trojan tragedy abounds, as Jordy's scores fall off the earth. Paula misses yet another game... look, would it help if your dogs were involved?

A lot of folks with one miss, and it looks like I was the only one to whiff on the Iowa win.

Carrie rises to the top of the group, bumping Aaron after a two week reign. Must be the time with Owen, huh?

There's a wide open race in the picks portion of the league, including Matt and Dan, two of our new players. Dan, you know this kind of thing is reflected on your performance review, right?

This week's games include a double dip of Chuck and Cat- Ohio State/Illinois and Kentucky/Florida (if they're healthy enough to show up). Mich1gAAn hosts Indiana, and Kansas welcomes Bret Favrere's alma mater. Cal and Oregon square off, Nebraska gets whatever's left from LSU's blowout, and the marquee game is Miami and Va Tech in a Big lEast showdown. Texas plays UTEP, TBPU welcomes Eddie Robinson's school, and TCU travels to Clemson. Washington faces off against Stanford, while the Cougs get to be the rebound team for U$C. Notre Ame has to face a Purdon't team that just lost to a MAC team... That's not going to end well.

Elsewheres- Southern Nazarene travels all the way up to Chicago to play Olivet Nazarene, while Anderson gets a well deserved bye. APU welcomes another Wisconsin team to the beautiful smog and sunsets of Los Angeles.

Obscure game of the week: We again highlight the Division Two clash between two HBC schools- the Thoroughbreds of Kentucky State and the Golden Tigers of Tuskegee. Located in the state capital (no, it's not Lexington or Louisville) of Frankfort Kentucky, the Thorobreds call home a beautiful campus that was established in 1890 to prepare teachers to benefit the Commonwealth. As the 13th president of KSU, Dr. Mary Evans Sias has seen technology expand the campus boundaries and connect more students with the vision of the institution: "Inspiring Innovation. Growing Leaders. Advancing Kentucky"

Founded by the great Booker T. Washington, Tuskegee has a vast history that most Americans should be aware of. From the work of George Washington Carver (a funnier take can be read here) to the Tuskegee Airmen's dedication during World War II, members of the Tuskegee community have served their nation in ways that often have been overlooked.

No mention of pirates, though...

Words of wisdom

I rarely do this, but I wanted to give a quick bit of insider information for folks who may be... uhh... "investing" in this week's slate of football games.

Texas is favored against Texas Tech. However, it's being played on a very significant date.

Remember who'll be on the sidelines for the Raiders.

Ye be warned...

And now-The Comfy Chair!!!

Basketball today... stick with me on this.

Today, word came out that the Memphis Tiger will be force to vacate all of their victories in the record setting 2007-2008 season; which saw them lose in the NCAA finals to Kansas in overtime.

This sanction was a result of shady doings around their one-and-done guard Derrick Rose (now with the Chicago Bulls). It was revealed that his participation with Memphis was tainted by corrupt SAT scores, and that his brother in law received $1700 in travel benefits.

In addition to having their records stricken from every pillar and obelisk, they also are place on a three year probation that's described as:

"... the university is on heightened review," Dee said of the probation. "Probably the most important thing about probation is once a school goes on probation, if they commit another major violation within five years they are subject to a special review and substantially harsher penalties."

In other words, something serious.

My initial response after reading the article was, if I remember correctly, "Whoop de freaking do".

ESPN's Dana O'Neil concurs, stating that the punishment had " the bite of a 15-year-old golden retriever."

Essentially, a "my bad" for a team that has shown a history of recruiting violations. And for a coach who, for the second time in his tenure, has had a team vacate a Final Four appearance, the only response is a new job.

UK fans shouldn't be surprised that a coach could have a program put on probation and then leave for another job without sanction. What should infuriate them, though, is that Memphis wasn't given the three year treatment that the 'Kate received. (disclosure- I am a Kentucky alum)

Meanwhile, the NCAA is listening to coaches turn in players from other teams, and monitoring the condiments provided to student athletes.

But of course they are.

Interestingly enough, the investigation took all of about eight months. Or, in other words less than half the time that they've been investigating the Reggie Bush situation at U$C.

They must be using the same crack detective skills that OJ is wielding in his quest for "the real killers".

Here's the difference between Memphis and U$C's situations: Memphis is just a small program in a small conference; and there's no NCAA television revenue from Memphis basketball (the tourney's revenue comes in no matter who's playing).

U$C is the only major football power west of Texas, in the highest revenue sport in the land, a sport that the NCAA has been unable to show any ability to effectively manage (see postseason, or lack there of).

If Memphis got a slap on the wrist, ain't nothing happening to U$C.

Like I've said before, someone owes Abilene Christian an explanation.

But of course...

The NCAA has dropped the hammer... on Southeast Missouri State Basketball.

Sanctions?

• Public reprimand and censure.
• Three years of probation to be added to the institution's current two-year probationary period,
  
• Reduction by one of the number of scholarships in men's basketball for the 2009-10 academic year from the NCAA maximum limit of 13 to 12. (Self-imposed by the university)
• Reducing the number of off-campus contact and evaluation recruiting opportunities in men's basketball during the 2009-10 academic year by 15. (Self-imposed by the university)
• Reducing the number of occasions in which men's basketball student-athletes may be supervised by strength and conditioning staff to no more than two per week. This is a reduction of 28 opportunities that generally are conducted May-August. (Self-imposed by the university.)
• Vacation of wins in which involved men's basketball student-athletes competed during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons; and the vacation of the individual records of the student-athletes and record of the former men's basketball coach.

Violations:

• impermissible presence of men's basketball coaching staff members during summer strength and conditioning activities
• impermissible observation of out-of-season pick-up games
• impermissible extra benefits: one in the amount of $239, and the other when the former assistant coach drove a student-athlete 171 miles from campus (allegedly to see his newborn baby)

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles... nothing. Well, not completely nothing: LA Times: Pete Carroll is pushing it

"One of our mottos is, a relentless pursuit of competitive advantage in everything we do," Carroll said Thursday.

Um, Pete, that attitude is exactly what has landed USC in trouble.

"We're not in trouble," Carroll said.

Yes, you are. By college sports definition, any time NCAA investigators are hanging around, you are in trouble.

They showed up for the Reggie Bush stuff, and apparently they are going to stay for the Pete Rodriguez stuff, this special teams consultant who admitted he attended USC practices, which is a direct violation of those stupid rules.

And yet, we've only heard crickets from the NCAA. Anyone surprised?

"Michigan Men"

Quick follow up to Jeff's post over on the BBC: Those Who Stay Will Still Be Losers:

In the comments, I also talked about the following-

What’s especially interesting is that, after Feagin’s transfer/arrest/trainwreck, Slick Rod said he didn’t know about previous issues when the student athlete was in HS.

And now, as a response, the AD will “look into the recruiting process”.

I agree wholeheartedly- you should look into the recruiting process that brought you the coach that actively recruited Chris Henry, Adam Jones, Noel Devine, and friends while at WVa.

Oh wait… that was someone named Bill Martin.

To make things even richer, MACh1gAAn has recently obtained the services of Massillon Ohio's Justin Turner, who was struggling to get past the NCAA clearinghouse.

His issues, in summary- he wasn't able to pass all of the sections of the OGT (Test you have to pass in Ohio to get a diploma- "Thank you", No Child Left Behind).

My issue is not that this student athlete isn't capable of doing college level work, and shouldn't be at UM. It's well known that some people don't test well with certain types of testing- It's not indicative of aptitude at any level. He was, from all I can figure out, a 3.4 student in high school and had a solid SAT/ACT score. We wish him the best as he pursues his education and life's calling.

What I want to point out, though, is that the "Harvard of the West" is willing to allow a student athlete on campus when all they need to do is get past the NCAA's standards. You know, the same ones that SEC schools often use...

Meanwhile, just a bit South, Ohio State "lost" a student athlete because he didn't meet the enrollment requirements of the University.

Doesn't seem like the University of Michigan really cares all that much about academics for their athletes.

Seriously?

So let me get this straight:

There were 22 open Head Coaching positions in Division 1 (BSD) last year.

And at no time did anyone interview MAck Strong, Florida's Defensive Coordinator?

Brilliant. More of the same, I guess...

I Spoke Too Soon...

Silly me, giving Oregon props for some of the things they were doing.

I should have realized that I was just jinxing it...

So, I take some responsibility for: Your 2009 Oregon Ducks Uniforms:


Those things on the shoulders? Yup. They're wings.

Here are the helmets:


I'll be honest- other than the yellow "O", those are pretty cool.

I just don't want to ever hear any comments about sparkles and stickers from anyone...

Viva La Revolucion

Just a bit off topic...

Big doin's in Iran these days. Nice to see, though, that some people have found a powerful inspiration:

HT Eleven Warriors

Yeah, that's much better than the 'gatherings' that most Ohio State fans take part in.

Well, sure...

It's about time that he came to his senses...

(yup, that's Texas Coach Mack Brown putting the "H" in OHIO)

Too Two Grand

Today, Thursday May 14 2009, marks two thousand days since MACh1gAAn has beaten THE Ohio State University in football.

Two thousand days. Perspective:

That's enough time for a poplar seed to grow into a 30-foot tree, enough time for the Cavaliers to win 316 games (including playoffs), and enough time for 12 season finales of "Survivor" (counting next Sunday night's).

When Michigan last beat Ohio State, Barack Obama was a state senator, YouTube was more than a year away from being born.

Emmitt Smith was still doing his thing (albeit not as well) in the League, Terrelle Pryor was two years away from his driver’s license, the Curse of the Bambino was haunting the Red Sox and the Expos were still playing in Montreal.

The Burj Dubai, now easily the world’s tallest building (and growing), was nothing more than a blueprint, Martha Stewart still had a clean record and Saddam Hussein was not only still alive, but still on the loose. There was no Facebook, YouTube or Ubuntu and Evan Williams of Twitter was still preoccupied with a little project called Blogger.

Marlon Brando, Ronald Reagan, Rick James, Rodney Dangerfield, Hunter S. Thompson, Rosa Parks and Richard Pryor were all still gracing the earth and swine flu sounded like a punchline for a fat joke.

According to folks, this billboard has been put up in the Detroit area for today only.

which is only fair, since this one is up year round:

The other shoe?

A while back, I asked the question "How exactly does the NCAA define 'lack of institutional control'?"

Seems that we're on the cusp of finding out:

NYT: U.S.C. Could Face One Big Problem

Shady doin's in Trojan land? Nahhh...

The Time article ends with this-

If investigators conclude that the university ignored warning signs or should have known about wrongdoing, it could face serious consequences, including forfeiting games, returning championship money, losing scholarships or being banned from postseason play.

For the record, it's my contention that this level of sanction will not happen. It didn't to Miami in the 90's, didn't to Oklahoma in the 90's, and won't to U$C.

They are the premier (read "money making") program west of the Rockies, and are media darlings. There's no way they get anything more than a slap on the wrist, if anything.

Slow...

Unless you care about recruiting for 2010 (and some people do), there's not much happening in college football right these days.

So... here's a little highlight video to enjoy: