September 8, 2008

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Man I feel good.

I’m not sure what it is…maybe it’s the cooler weather? Or maybe it’s football on TV 5 times a week? Or maybe it’s the fact that your team is JUST now figuring out that just maybe that cupboard isn’t quite as full as you thought it was going to be? Did I mention my team is really good? (Oh sure they crushed a glorified high school team…but come on. Does anybody else have that many weapons and such clear path?)

Regardless, a few random thoughts as we kick start the new week…gearing up for the over-hyped faux battle Royal that is Ohio State vs. USC. (Think you'll hear any hype about that one this week?)

- Speaking of Ohio State…I realize I’ve touched on this before…but does ANYBODY outside of their own fan base think Ohio State is even a legit top 10 team? I understand they have good athletes and I understand they play in a gigantic stadium filled with red-clad idiots. (Hmmmm…) I don’t know about you…but listening to Rivals Radio in the morning today, I am already sick and tired of hearing these people pound their chest while skirting by some of the shittiest competition around. (BuckeyeH8er anyone?) Regardless of what I think, USC is going to smash this team by 20+ points, and I’m sure it won’t be just myself who is starting the petition to never again let this crappy overrated collection of stiffs near the BCS title game. (At least not without having to play a conference championship game in a conference that doesn’t suck.)

- Tom Brady, Tom Brady, Tom Brady, Tom Brady, Tom Brady, Tom Brady, Tom Brady Tom Brady, Tom Brady, Tom Brady, Tom Brady, Tom Brady, Tom Brady, Tom Brady, Tom Brady: SHUT THE HELL UP ABOUT TOM BRADY. Dude plays a position that leads to injuries to just about everybody at some point or another during a single season, and ESPN is about to declare a National day of mourning. I realize he plays QB for the most bandwagon football franchise on the planet, but dude got hurt…not shot. And no, it wasn’t a cheap shot…despite what 590am’s Matt Perrault or any other whiny ass Boston jackass fan tries to spin today. These pricks haven’t played the downtrodden card of late, so they quickly slip back into character without so much as batting an eye. Are we supposed to feel SORRY for these clowns? You lost all sympathy from me the second the Red Sox payroll hit 900 billion dollars.

Sucks for Tom Brady…I’m sure one of his 15 supermodel girlfriends will make him forget all about those millions of dollars and multiple Super Bowl rings. He’s over it…you should too. Idiots.

- Didn’t I tell you people K-State and Texas would fly under the radar this season? Granted, it’s only 2 games in and the season is young…but both teams are playing well and picking up steam. KSU has been getting outstanding play from Freeman (Never underestimate a solid upperclassman QB not named Ganz) and Texas THRIVES on being left out of the division title conversation. And yes, I also told you Texas Tech wouldn’t live up to NEARLY the hype they’ve been given. (But then again…everybody already knew that.)

- Speaking of told you so’s….didn’t I tell you people the Democrats were walking into a trap when John McCain selected Sarah Palin as his running mate? I’m pretty sure I told you so…too bad they didn’t listen because that crazy old bastard may have just passed Obama for good this week.

- Every year…some mid-level team pulls off a couple of upsets early and unexpectedly vaults into the polls. And right on cue…every year that same old team hit’s the pavement when the slightest bit of expectation is placed upon them. (South Florida was the darling of the top 25 this time last year). Enter East Carolina circa 2008. By no means does this mean they suck…but if you’re a Vegas kinda guy…you might want to get ready and bet the farm (many of you quite literally) that a letdown is in store. It could be in New Orleans (Tulane) this week…or perhaps even Houston at home on 9/27. Rest assured however, this is a good team getting props way way too fast.

- Is it just me, or is there a gigantic influx of really REALLY bad teams this year? Notre Dame sucks just slightly less than San Diego State. Michigan is absolutely awful. (As is almost every team in the Big 10) Suddenly USC is back to being the only great team in the Pac 10, and somewhere along the way….LSU forgot to find a QB and is riding a top 10 ranking on name alone. And weren't Boston College and Oregon top flight teams not all that long ago?

- Finally..I’ve said it once and I’ve said it again: Count me in as one of the few non-media types who want NOTHING to do with a playoff in college football. (Don’t get me wrong, it will never happen anyway..but still.) Granted, the powers that be would never get it right anyway…but even if they did, you wouldn’t see the do-or-die nature of some of the early season games. Oh sure, a loss this time of year won’t kill you…but don’t tell that to BYU, who used one of the worst calls in the history of college football to keep their BCS hopes alive. (And don’t kid yourself…even an early September loss to crappy Washington would have cost them a shot in the long run.) I hate it when ESPN pundits are right..but in this case….you’re sacrificing a lot of pivotal games early…for 3-7 great games later on. (if that). I’m sorry..it just doesn’t make sense.


Power Poll #3

North:
1) Missouri (2-0) vs. Nevada – Mizzou put the wood to Cape Girardeau High School on Saturday without breaking a sweat..as much was said about Gary Pinkel pulling the redshirt off of former Husker heartthrob Blaine Gabbert. Count me in as one who thinks it’s a great idea. A seasoned Gabbert could be the difference between 8-9 wins next year or 4-5 wins. A very good idea if you ask me.

2) Kansas State (2-0) at Louisville – Another ‘I told you so’ for our new #2 in the power poll, as pretty much everybody but me seems shocked by the Cat’s offensive explosion over the first 2 games. Oh sure, they haven’t really played anybody, and Louisville offers a stern test on Wednesday night…but look no further than 2007 KU who used constant ass-blasting of sub-par teams to parlay themselves into a BCS run defying ridiculous odds that will never be touched again.

3) Colorado (2-0) vs. West Virginia – The Mountaineers fell from 8th to 25th and now this game doesn’t look quite so daunting. I’m not sure CU has enough gas in the tank to take out WVU’s athletes…but they did it to Oklahoma last year in Boulder..a team twice as good as the Rich Rodriguezless defending Fiesta Bowl Champs. Best game of the weekend the way I see it.

4) Kansas (2-0) at South Florida – Look for the two-year running Cinderella Jayhawks to get gang raped in a dirty back ally behind a Wendy’s in downtown Tampa on Friday.

5) Iowa State (2-0) at Iowa – Far worse Iowa State teams have beaten far better Hawkeye teams in recent years. These two fan bases hate each other, which as you know earns tons of respect in my book. A big win here and a 3-0 start could pull ISU out of the preverbal North gutter and head into conference play with all sorts of confidence.

6) Nebraska (2-0) vs. New Mexico State – If you’re struggling with San Jose State…at home…with less than 15 minutes to go…you’re not very good. Funny thing this past week, it was the vaulted high-flying NU offense that decided to belly flop. Panic has once again started to descend upon Lincoln with his good friend apathy not too far behind.


South:
1) Oklahoma (2-0) at Washington – Watching the Cincinnati game last weekend…OU has some ridiculous athletes and speed. But with that being said..it’s usually right about here (and January 1st) where Bob Stoops’ team likes to take a breather now and then. Wash U isn’t too bad, but if the Sooners have their heads out of their ass early…it shouldn’t’ be close.

2) Texas (2-0) vs. Arkansas – Texas has put together back to back ass-whippings against two not-quite-as-bad-as-San Jose opponents. Colt McCoy is starting to look like Roger Staubach once again and Arkansas is butt-ass awful. (A 4 point win over Western Illinois and a 1 point squeaker against Louisiana Monroe?) Looks like a great big burned orange enema coming your way Bobby. Get ready for it.

3) Oklahoma State (2-0) vs. Missouri State – The Pokes remind me of Missouri of a few years ago. (Granted, Mizzou probably wouldn’t have beaten Washington State or anybody else on the road for that matter) However, they have weapons galore and look to be a big fat 5-0 heading into Columbia on October 11th. The school formerly known as Southwest Missouri State was smoked by Washburn last weekend. If a borderline NAIA school from Topeka beats you…you have some issues playing a team as good as OSU. Any questions?

4) Texas Tech (2-0) vs. SMU – Granted, Tech hasn’t really done anything to warrant dropping in the polls (they haven’t really still sitting at #12)…but there’s something about this team that just doesn’t look right. Perhaps it’s crappy coaching? Perhaps it’s a mediocre defense? Regardless, look for more of the same as the Raiders get ready for Manhattan on October 4th by playing SMU and the 8th most popular college team in Massachusetts in the Minutemen.

5) Baylor (1-1) vs. Washington State – That’s right…I’m moving Baylor out of the basement. Even against crappy 1-AA Northwestern State, a 51-6 win is impressive if you’re the Bears. Washington State proved they pretty much suck and damnit…BU is due. (watch them lose by 50)

6) Texas A&M (1-1) vs. Miami Fla - I actually thought the Canes played pretty good against Florida the other night. A&M is still coming off that program-changing 6 point win over New Mexico last weekend. After facing Tim Tebow and company last week, the Hurricanes shouldn’t have a whole lot of problem against Mike Sherman’s convoluted mess of an offense. (Surely they’re better than Arkansas State right?)

22 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

After reading that "power poll", I can actually hear you getting drunker.

Idiot

PS - GBR

8:14 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

AJ,
Not harping on something that doesn't really matter but Washburn is the #13 team in the country in D-II. They would curb stomp a NIAA team. All that win over MO-State does is clearly prove that Northwest Missouri State (D-II) is clearly the second best team in the state. Mo-state and SEMO are awful.

Go Bearcats

10:33 AM  
Blogger Husker_Engineer said...

Regardless of West Virginia getting rolled by ECU, they will run CU out of town. CU was tied with a D1-AA team with less than 2 minutes in the game at home. Sorry Cody, you and daddy gonna get a beat down this week.

I think the KSU-Louisville game is going to be much closer than most think. Putting up a bunch of points on teams that UN-Omaha could hang with is not impressive to me. North Texas? Wasn't that the team Kathy Ireland played for?

Why all the hand wringing from Husker nation? You expected Joe Ganz to make a miraculous transformation and become Tommy Frazier? You expected one of the three RB's to suddenly become Ahman Green? Enjoy the team you have because there ain't no reset button in this game. If you can't deal with that, I am sure UNO has season tickets available. I hear they are pretty good these days.

Now is the time for Husker fans like me to buck up. Thug Life is returning in full effect. Beerfatiller is lining up at TE and AC is going to be back on the O Line soon. What's not to be optimistic about?

11:08 AM  
Blogger Nowledge said...

AJ:

I still think CU should be lower than #3, but to each his own opinion. Better than ISU, but not great enough to be considered a crazy threat (esp. after you hang w/FCS teams until the late 4th quarter).

I officially started to hate Tom Brady when Nightly News ran a story during their 5:30 broadcast on Monday night. I mean, seriously? Servicemen are getting blown up in Iraq and we run a piece on Tom FREAKIN Brady's knee injury?

12:38 PM  
Blogger NE-Jhawk said...

Since you already brought it up, lets compare how you responded to KU blowing out inferior competition last year to how you are fawning all over KSU.

Last year after a few games you wrote this...

"Before we freak out about how good Central Michigan is..let's remember they're CENTRAL MICHIGAN. They had a good team last season, but needed some pretty big breaks to win the MAC. Their bludgeoning of SE Louisiana school for girls may have well have been an interteam scrimmage."


I've been impressed by KSU too...but all this national handwringing about schedules seems to be complete biased bullshit to me.

AJ you and I totaly need to come up with a gentlemen's bet on the KU/South Florida game (SFL is a 3.5 favorite). If KU wins, you free your slaves. What do you want if KU dosn't win?

1:20 PM  
Blogger broker0625 said...

I jinxed Tom Brady by picking him in my fantasy league. Reggie Bush will probably break his leg next week. And somebody will shoot Tony Gonzales. I have horrible luck.

Trent

Maybe if I start rooting for Missouri something awful will happen to them.

1:38 PM  
Blogger A J said...

Andy, you need to come up with something more original than..."why do you spend so much time on something you hate?"

I've only heard that a time or two or nine million.

To answer your question (for the nine million and first time) It doesnt' take longer than 20-30 minutes to write a column..maybe a bit longer to proof and find the pictures.

And besides...think of it not "obsessing over something I hate"...but "succeeding" at pissing you off. And let's face it...that's why I'm really in this for isn't it?

Sucker.

2:58 PM  
Blogger KSTATER said...

Good to hear that KSU is impressing, as for the shot about playing N.Texas, keep this in mind. N. Texas is the easy girl that gets passed around to the entire league. They play at least one Big 12 school every non con, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Nub has them scheduled soon. We played San Jose State, your opponent, last year. KU played FIU, we did a couple years ago along with FAU, who Texas just played.

All the Big 12 schools have there cupcakes, what makes it interesting is how you beat on the cupcakes, and what the score is at halftime when the teams bench starters. If you have taken 10 minutes to read about the Cats this year, you will find out that we are once again scoring a lot of points on special teams. Our one huge weakness was our Defense last year, and we seemed to have addressed it this off season. Not to say we are a top defense now, but any bit of an improvement over last year is a positive step. Our Special teams and offense are even better. After the last 10 years of play, the record stands at 5-5 Corn Fuckers, get ready to start losing to us again, a rivalry born indeed! ESPN named our rivalry one of the newest in college football, and NCAA 09 recognizes it as well.

I just wish we were playing you in Lincoln this year, nothing will beat watching you assholes leave with 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter of your beloved stadium losing 38-9, best fans in college football my ass! We had the place to ourselves in the corner endzone, I am guessing you will see the same thing this year AJ when you guys destroy them. The chants of fire Solich haunt you still!

4:37 PM  
Blogger daddyact said...

Hey idiot-stick,

You've outdone yourself this time and I can only assume your love affair with KSU stems from your mutual hatred for the Huskers. It would also explain the Colorado comments.

Not to rain on your parade, but Colorado will be playing in Morgantown. As bad as WVU looked against ECU, we already know ECU has a team, and the Puffies won't be playing flatlanders at an elevated altitude which has them huffing and puffing in the fourth quarter.

CU will lose and lose big this week.

As for the "scoring explosion" of KSU, you've got to be kidding. Sixty-nine points against Montana State means they're to be reckoned with? I can only think of about sixty-nine other teams in D1A that would have scored at least that much.

5:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I hate the New England Patriots (as well as mostly any Boston team now. The "pity us we suck" days for that city and their sports are long gone.), but I never had a problem with Tom Brady. Sure, jealous as hell of the guy (best quarterback in the league, snuggling up with supermodels outside of the game.), but would never wish harm on him. Still, the coverage is a bit too much.

USC and Ohio State could be everything ESPN is hyping it up to me, but I have a feeling it's going to falter severely into either a blowout or a really boring game with little action. Still, I'll tune in on Saturday to see how the Trojans abuse the Buckeyes in L.A.

Jake Locker of Washington = robbed. That penalty shouldn't have been called. Seattle is in sports hell right now. OKC stealing their b-ball team and having an NBA franchise alone makes me not take the NBA seriously.

And least we not forget... the optimism for the Husker season is already starting to dwindle a bit. People I work with are already nervous about the team. You might be on to something A.J. about this team...

6:10 PM  
Blogger A J said...

Heh, I've never been accused of having a "love affair" with KSU. That's a new one, although you are right on one thing..the mutual hatred of Nebraska is a tie that binds.

As for the game beign in Morgantown...Uhhhhhhh huh? You're not meaning this week are you? If you were, I'd suggest you look at a schedule before calling me out.

http://calendar.denverpost.com/boulder-co/events/show/80910207-west-virginia-at-colorado-football

7:22 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Didn't Colorado barley beat a Division ll team?

10:53 PM  
Blogger bornred said...

I can't believe you hate us...

What have we done to you (or lowly WAC teams for that matter) lately?

Randy

PS. I practiced spinning the SJSU game all weekend before I slumped into work on Monday to face my USC co-workers... I live a few miles from the SJSU campus.. I know how bad they are... nothing worked.

PPS. Can we please start Helu now? Watching Lucky turtle instead of hitting the hole and cement hands Castille coughing up the rock is getting old. Then again, SJSU is going to be one of the top defensive units in the country...

PPPS. I really liked Paul as a returner in the first game. You could tell he was going to pop one, but didn't expect it as soon as the second game and especially not against SJSU, who has is going to have one of the top special teams units in the country....

PPPPS. Glad to see Patrick Witt got 3 snaps. Getting our backups all of this quality game experience will only help us down the road and to get it against SJSU, who is going to have one of the top 2nd string defenses in the country to boot...

PPPPPS. Even with all of this, I'll still gladly plunk down another $29.95 this weekend to see what will happen against New Mexico State on PPV.

12:39 AM  
Blogger JGerardi said...

Actually BOTH of you need to check your schedule because CU plays West Virginia NEXT week, Septemeber 18th and yes indeed it is in Boulder
Go Buffs

7:48 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm not down with your whole KU-USF back-alley rape analogy, but Wendy's does sound kind of good right now.

11:30 AM  
Blogger Husker_Engineer said...

Okay...okay....I surrender. Please AJ, for the sake of all that is good and holy, remove the picture of the Ohio State d-bag from the beginning of this article. You can replace it with anything in your library:

* NU Kid Crying
* Salt meets Wound
* Red and White Overalls
* Random disappointed Husker fan

Although I suggest another of your Jewel pictures (I know you have more). I would take the song girls as a consolation prize.

Anything but Cowboy Buckeye....

I swear that is football announcer J.B. is that get up

11:59 AM  
Blogger KSTATER said...

I just read on Fox Sports the ten worst fan bases in College Football. They failed to put NUB on the list, such a travesty!

OU is the only Big12 school on the list... Where is the hate?

2:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"KSTATER said...
I just read on Fox Sports the ten worst fan bases in College Football. They failed to put NUB on the list, such a travesty!

OU is the only Big12 school on the list... Where is the hate?"

Oh, but they did, but then they edited a few words for Alabama. This is how it originally was...

"Cornhusker fans take living in the past to a whole new level. How long has Tom Osborne been gone? They brag about how many titles they've won and proclaim their rivalry with Oklahoma the greatest ever, but they're on an 0-3 streak in the series. Maybe they're the ones who started this whole "Big 12" chant thing; if your team can't win, hide behind your conference's success."

6:56 PM  
Blogger daddyact said...

Okay, I got the week wrong, but you missed my point. CU isn't going to be playing flatlanders (like OU) next week. They're going to be playing the MOUNTAINEERS, which means they won't be running out of gas in the second half.

Colorado will lose big next week and the week after that.

12:55 PM  
Blogger daddyact said...

Uh, yeah. We just love watching KSate demolish D-II teams be sixty points.

It would be great if KSUcks fans actually had something to crow about before they start crowing.

At least Missouri has a top ten ranking this decade.

1:00 PM  
Blogger KSTATER said...

Daddyact,

Seriously?

First off, we may be playing shitty teams, but we played the teams you are playing this year last year. Cupcakes are cupcakes, it is like I said before, it is how badly you beat them that matters. Louisville will be our first test, watch wednesday and tell me what you think of us then.

As for a top ten ranking this decade, we started out the 2003 season at number 5 thank you very much. 2003 Big 12 Champs, something Nebraska hasn't been able to say since 1997, so eat shit fuck stick!

3:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Morgantown 960' elevation

Boulder 5430' elevation

Morgantown's elevation is lower than Lincoln's 1176'.

Grasp for another straw.


Front Range

6:56 PM  

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