Archive for the ‘College Football’ Category

Football Friday: A Decade Later – Willis McGahee Remastered

Posted: December 9, 2011 by dontbeskerritt in College Football, Just Turrible, NBA, NFL
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The 2003 National Championship was the first college football game I really paid attention to (thanks a lot Maryland Terps).  I remember Miami having a stable of NFL players, especially at running back.  Willis McGahee was one of those backs.  A great combination of speed and power,  I remember him being a cinch top-10 pick, maybe even top-5 in the draft that spring going into that Fiesta Bowl.  It’s crazy that Frank Gore started over him going into that 2002 season. Then this happened:

McGahee was bent over backwards, tearing every ligament in his left knee.  Not only was his pro career threatened, there was a chance that he may not walk the same after the injury.  But like any good running back, you have to keep your legs moving when you get contact.  McGahee entered the draft, and the sure top-10 pick was drafted by the Buffalo Bills at 23 in the draft.

After sitting out the entire 2003-04 season because of his injuries, McGahee finally got his shot with the Bills.  He rushed for over 1,000 yards his first two years there, but the Bills stank anyway.  As the team got worse, and McGahee’s health declined in 2006, the BIlls decided to trade him for picks to the Ravens.  At least McGahee would get his shot with a decent team, to show that he was still that excellent back.

In 2007, McGahee made his first Pro Bowl, after he rushed for another 1,000 yards.  It looked like McGahee was back to being a top-5 running back.  In 2008, injuries again took their toll, but like any great back he kept running forward.  I remember his 77-yard run against the Cowboys on the final game at Cowboys Stadium.  He didn’t rush for 1,000 yards, but he had a hell of a playoffs that year.  He rushed for over 150 yards and 2 TDs and led the Ravens to the AFC Championship Game when this happened

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ryan Clark baptized McGahee towards the end of that game.  I can joke about it now because even though McGahee was taken off the field in a stretcher, he did not suffer any serious injuries.  But his heroic play in the playoffs did not translate into a starting job as Ray Rice took over the team the next season.  McGahee just became the guy that stole fantasy touchdowns from Ray Rice from then on with the Ravens (he had 14 TDs in 2009 season).

The Ravens released McGahee this past offseason.  But remember, a good back keeps his legs moving.  He signed a decent contract for a running back his age (4 years, $9.5 mil, $3 mil guaranteed) with the Broncos, to back up Knowshon Moreno.  It looked like his career would fade as the Broncos were headed to irrelevance at 1-4.  But the team has turned it around and now they are in first-place in the AFC West.  People credit their new starting QB, Tim Tebow.  Others, the strong defensive play.  A few credit the coach.  But through it all it has been McGahee who just keeps moving forward with his 886 yards, 4.9 yards per attempt season.  The Broncos voted him a captain this November when Kyle Orton left.  His efforts have not been as heralded as other people, but that locker room knows that it’s the strength of McGahee that has powered the Broncos surge.

McGahee has never gotten the star treatment that he probably would have gotten if he stayed healthy on that January night in 2003.  But through all the injuries and disrespect shown to him by the league, he just kept his legs moving, and at 30 years old, and almost 9 years after the Fiesta Bowl, McGahee is back to being a top-10 back in the league.  Not bad for a guy who wasn’t the starter in Miami in 2002 and in Denver in 2011.  Other thoughts going into this sports weekend.

- Wouldn’t this be a great weekend to have the quarterfinals of an 8-team college football playoffs?  Now we get to wait for the New Mexico Bowl and the Idaho Potato Bowl next week

- The NBA = WWE.  Dan Gilbert = The Kid that gets beat up for Lunch Money. David Stern =

Oy Vey.  Here is the lineup this weekend.  Unless you like patriotism and less than stellar college basketball spend time Saturday with your girl.  Or find you a winter friend to take skiing or something.  It’s not to late.

Saturday, December 10

12-3pm: Cincinnati vs Xavier (CBB on ESPN, 12:30pm), Washington vs Duke (CBB on CBS)

3:30-7pm: Army vs Navy (CBS, 2:30pm), Ohio State vs Kansas (ESPN, 3:15), Kentucky vs Indiana (ESPN, 5:15pm)

Sunday, December 11

1-4pm: New Orleans vs Tennessee, Houston vs Cincinnati, New England vs Washington

4-7pm: Oakland vs Green Bay, Chicago vs Denver, Buffalo vs San Diego

Football Friday: One More Toast to the BCS

Posted: December 2, 2011 by dontbeskerritt in College Football, NFL
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The BCS Makes Me Feel Like This Too

For regular readers of our ManCave blog, you know that I have a love affair with the BCS; you know the system that is so crappy that it has given us a college football regular season finale that will have no affect on who will be in the BCS Title Game.  This week, with all of the conference title games was designed to give us drama for who will be in the title game.  But Alabama didn’t even make it into its respective Conference Title Game but they will have a berth in the National Championship.  Did I miss something?  How did Alabama get a “bye” into the BCS Title Game?  LSU should pretty much play this as a NFL Week 4 Preseason game, because they can’t play their way out of the Championship.  This is what happens when computers dictate titles.

Obama Needs to Cut the BCS; Change We Can Believe In

Now some of you may point to an earlier post I wrote saying that the November 2nd tilt between LSU and Alabama was the National Title Game because those were the best two teams.  I still agree with that sentiment, that those two schools are the best in the land.  So it does make me sound stupid whining about the BCS when it actually is doing its job by picking the best two teams for the title game. But I argue that I don’t want the a computer picking the best two teams for me, I want the grass on the field to do that.

What is wrong with a playoff, even a 4-team playoff?  Suppose if you had LSU, Bama, Oklahoma State, and lets say Boise State or Houston in the tournament.  You could very well get LSU/Bama like we will have this year.  But we could very well have Oklahoma State in the title game as well.  They have easily the best offense of the group, and while their defense has been super suspect, they make enough plays to get by.  And who knows what Boise State would have up their sleeve?  That’s all I want, let the teams decide who is the best.

It’s unconscionable that Alabama, who won’t play in the SEC Championship Game, is in the title game.  The BCS decided their home loss to LSU was not as bad as Oklahoma State losing in double OT on the road to Iowa State on the night of a plane crash that killed coaches on the women’s basketball team.  The BCS decided that Alabama’s wins at home vs Arkansas, at Florida without their starting QB, Penn State with no QB, and Auburn was better than Oklahoma State’s wins at Texas A&M and Texas, vs Kansas State, Baylor, and hopefully Oklahoma so I don’t have to eat crow.  Did I mention that the BCS has human voters?  Sorry, college football will always be second-fiddle to me until they get this straightened out.  Other college football rumblings for the final week of the regular season:

- How about that conference realignment?  Who really got the better end of the deal.  Now the moves by Nebraska, Utah, and Colorado were pretty good (or at least no one cared) and they fit their new conferences.  But Texas A&M and Missouri to the SEC?  Way to be more irrelevant.  Pitt and Syracuse to the ACC?  Aside from a better GPA, the ACC is just as sorry as it has been for a while.  WVU to the Big 12?  They are gonna be using up those frequent flyer miles quick.  Big East as an organization?  A non-factor.  As everybody figured out, these schools really don’t know what they were doing with the realignment, it was just the wild west out there.  Hope it works out.

Arrgh - The Pirate is Back

- The Best conference going ahead is the Pac-12 because they were the calmest.  They didn’t overreach for Texas, Oklahoma, and all the rest.  They took their time and got schools that made sense.  Now they have a better TV deal for money.  Their schools boast personalities like Mike Leach, Lane Kiffin, P. Diddy’s son and Oregon’s uniforms.  See what happens when you play chess and everyone else plays checkers?

- Mike Leach could have been at Maryland.  Instead Maryland got Randy Edsall.  And the Terps were doomed from there.  Their crazy uniforms couldn’t hide their atrocious play.  The worst came this past week when Maryland blew a 27 point lead in 19 minutes in the 2nd half against NC State.  People are calling for Edsall to go.  I don’t know the intricacies of the Terps program, but I do know that when you blow a 27 point lead to cap a 2-10 season, something has gotta give.

- Is there a good QB in the Big 10?  Maybe Russell Wilson and he came from the ACC.  I’d rather watch the 4th quarter of a Redskins-Browns preseason game than a Big 10 clash.  And I should know because I had to watch Penn State every week.  By the way, I’ve never liked Penn State, but I got to give them props for how the team played the last 3 games under the cloud of the scandal in Happy Valley.

Anyways, here is the setup for this weekend of sports.  Saturday might be a good day to go Christmas shopping, just make sure you leave after 2pm and get back in before 8pm.  Best games in the bold, then italics, then regular font.

Saturday, December 3

12-3pm: North Carolina vs Kentucky (CBB on CBS), Southern Miss vs Houston (ABC – Conf. USA Champ Game), Connecticut vs Cincinnati (ESPN)

3:30-7pm: LSU vs Georgia (4pm CBS – SEC Champ Game), Texas vs Baylor (ABC), Marquette vs Wisconsin (4:30pm CBB on Big 10 Network)

8pm: Oklahoma vs Oklahoma State (ABC), Wisconsin vs Michigan State (FOX – Big 10 Champ Game), Virginia Tech vs Clemson (ESPN – ACC Championship Game)

Sunday, December 4

1-4pm: Cincinnati vs Pittsburgh, Atlanta vs Houston, Oakland vs Miami

4-7pm: Green Bay vs New York Giants, Dallas vs Arizona, Baltimore vs Cleveland

Football Friday: Get Your Tryptophan On

Posted: November 22, 2011 by dontbeskerritt in College Football, Must See TV, NFL
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Thanksgiving, the Independence Day of the Mancave world.  There is no other holiday which celebrates the greatness of Mancaves like Thanksgiving.  You are allowed to eat as much as you want, sleep on the couch by 6pm, and watch football without interruption.  And this goes on ALL WEEKEND.  Then on Friday (now Monday if you are really savvy), you get permission to enhance the quality of your mancave at frugal prices.  Praise Mancave Jesus and Tim Tebow for this weekend.  Oh yeah, you also get to spend time with your loved ones and all that good stuff.

So for a special edition of Football Friday, here is your Mancave setup for Friday until Sunday.  As always, bold is the big TV that stays on throughout the dinner so you avoid conversations with your mom about why you aren’t married yet, italics is for the TV you wheel around to your side of table so you avoid eye contact with your crazy aunt, and regular is for the TV you have one because you really have to evaluate your priorities this weekend.  I think you already know what your gonna be doing on Thursday; helping your boo cook a delicious Thanksgiving meal.  Or watching probably the best slate of games on Thanksgiving in a decade.  Have a good weekend and be safe.

Friday, November 25

12-3pm:  Houston vs Tulsa (CSN), Iowa vs Nebraska (ABC), Detroit vs Boston (NHL on NBC – 1pm)

3:30-7pm: Arkansas vs LSU (2:30pm CBS), Boston College vs Miami (ABC), Colorado vs Utah (Comcast Network)

8pm: Pittsburgh vs West Virginia (7:00pm ESPN), California vs Arizona State (10:15 ESPN), UTEP vs Central Florida (CBS College Sports)

Saturday, November 26

12-3pm: Georgia vs Georgia Tech (ESPN), Ohio State vs Michigan (ABC), Iowa State vs Oklahoma (FX)

3:30-7pm: Alabama vs Auburn (CBS), Virginia Tech vs Virginia (ABC or ESPN2), Penn State vs Wisconsin (ESPN)

8pm: Notre Dame vs Stanford (ABC), Clemson vs South Carolina (7:45pm ESPN), Florida State vs Florida (7pm ESPN2)

Sunday, November 27

1-4pm: Buffalo vs New York Jets, Tampa Bay vs Tennessee, Minnesota vs Atlanta

4-7pm: New England vs Philadelphia, Denver vs San Diego, Chicago vs Oakland

Overreaction Monday: Week 11 Edition

Posted: November 21, 2011 by dontbeskerritt in College Football, NFL
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Well, my Skins did exactly what they were suppose to do for the sanity of their fans on Sunday.  They played a highly competitive and entertaining football game, taking the Cowboys to OT before finally succumbing to the inevitable, 27-24.  They didn’t embarrass themselves, they found a scapegoat to take frustration out on (Gano, D. Hall), and best of all, THEY LOST.  This enhanced our chances of getting a coveted Top 5 draft pick in a draft that has all the makings of a QB goldmine.

This post is dedicated to a college football weekend unlike any we have seen in a while.  5 Top-10 BCS teams went down in defeat.  A couple of the QBs featured in those games are set to be the guys picked after Andrew Luck, so it’s a great time to look at what these other QBs bring to the table and which could fit for a team like my Skins.  So this is the Suck for [insert name after Luck] Sweepstakes.  The remixed names of the Sweepstakes were acquired from the @czabe Twitter page so shout out to Steve Czaben of ESPN980.

How Would You Like to Stay in Red and Gold, Mr Barkley?

Matt Barkley – Blow for Barkley: Easily the most polished guy out of the 5 that I will highlight here.  This guy is a gamer.  He decided to stay at USC despite not having the opportunity to play in a bowl game, hell not even the PAC-12 Championship game.  But he, and the Trojans, have played great in big games.  The Stanford game and especially the Oregon game Saturday, highlighted what this future 1st rounder could bring to a team.  He plays in a pro-style offense, not this spread, here is your one read attack. I hope the Redskins are in his sweepstakes but you can see Seattle making a strong push for him.  Only problem is that he can pull a Luck and decide to stay for his senior year at USC, like another Trojan QB should have done.  CBS Sports, which ranks him 2nd after Luck says this about him “Barkley is shorter than preferred and doesn’t possess an elite arm. He does, however, have enough of an arm to make every NFL throw, good accuracy on the move and in the pocket and the intangibles that every NFL team is hoping for in a franchise quarterback.”

Robert Griffin III – Drop a Turd for Griffin the Third – Another junior QB, he probably is the best weapon out of all of these guys.  RG3 is probably the guy that can do the most without having a complete team around him.  However, the question with a guy like this is whether his production is due to the system, or is this guy truly is as good as those numbers says he is.  He is mobile and accurate downfield (see that pass against Oklahoma to win the game), but most of all he is consistent.  There was a point deep in the year that he had more touchdowns than incompletions.  His career TD-INT ratio is 41-11. But do you think NFL GM’s will make this guy the second QB picked after Luck?  CBS Sports ranks him the 5th best QB.

Landry Jones – Lose for Landry You can smell overrated emanating from Mr. Jones when he plays, can’t you.  Yes, he puts up big numbers, but it helps when you are throwing to one of the nation’s best receiver in Ryan Broyles.  But I see 2 throw-up games, the Texas Tech game (at home!) and this past Oregon game where you have to wonder what this guy would bring to your team.  He came into the year the number 3 QB on some draft boards.  Will he even be picked in the 1st round?  CBS Sports ranks him 3rd and here is what they said; “Though Jones has done an excellent job taking over the reins of the Oklahoma offense from Bradford, comparisons between the two are folly. Jones has good size and a strong enough arm to make all of the throws, but does not have the superior accuracy of the Rams’ current starting quarterback and must improve making throws when pressured.”

Kellen Moore – Mail it in for Moore I admit I don’t watch much Boise State games.  But I was sold on this guy after watching last year and the Georgia game this year.  I am not like other guys that look at size and physical gifts; if you can ball, you can ball, and he was leading Boise to some great wins.  But then I watched the TCU game two Saturdays ago.  I saw when they were driving to win.  He was overthrowing cats out there man.  And I can’t blame the blue field.  It didn’t look like a Sunday performance So if Moore won’t pass the eyeball test and he didn’t pass on the field in the biggest game of the year, it looks like his stock is dropping faster than Netflix.  He is ranked 15th QB on CBS Sports.

Case Keenum – Crap the bed for Keenum In Philadelphia they call him the Kevin Kolb of the draft.  I prefer Colt Brennan.  But this is truly a system QB.  Don’t get me wrong he can chuck it all around the field.  You can’t be terrible putting up numbers like he does.  But don’t expect him to help rebuild your dynasty.  He may need the 1993 Cowboys built around him in order to just be average in the NFL.  You can see a team like the Saints, Eagles, maybe Steelers picking a kid like this and then stashing him away in the back pocket.  He is ranked 11th.

We’ve reached that time of year in college and pros where it’s time to start scouting for your future franchise player.  As the Skins deftly position themselves in the draft for the rebuilding of their franchise…again…I hope you keep a close eye on these guys and more as the [franchise player your team needs] Sweepstakes begin for 20 teams in a little over a month.

Football Friday: On Accountability

Posted: November 11, 2011 by dontbeskerritt in College Football, Just Turrible, NFL
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Welcome to the end of one of the wildest, most surreal weeks in sports of my lifetime.  We have been quiet at the Mancave about the situation up at Happy Valley because most of the issues stem from your opinion on whether Joe Paterno, and others, should have done more (because they all legally did enough) to stop the sexual abuse crimes going on from the inside of the Penn State program.  I don’t want to dwell on it too long but I will say this; the real tragedy from reading the grand jury report this week is that there were countless opportunities for someone to step up and stop the alleged monster Jerry Sandusky and it never happened.  It took who is now called “Victim 1″ telling the principal at his school to get the investigation started.  We can only wonder what would have happened if someone, anyone, did more.

It’s called accountability my friends.  They needed it at Penn State.  And your team needs it if it wants to compete at the highest levels.  You can easily tell who the contenders and pretenders are by seeing if people are being held or are holding themselves accountable.  Cam Newton said he feels like a failure because his team is 2-6.  Is he a failure?  No way, his numbers are amazing, especially for what scouts and analysts expected of him.  But because the team isn’t succeeding, he holds himself accountable as the leader of the squad.  The Panthers will be in good hands.  But here are two teams, near and dear to my heart, that are displaying no accountability.  And it shows on their performance on the field.

Philadelphia Eagles

I didn’t see this coming at all.  3-5 at the halfway point of the season.  At least the 2000 Redskins made it to 6-2 before collapsing.  This team has been putrid all year.  The defense…SOFT.  The Bears knew that going into last Monday Night and they ran the Eagles into the ground.  The secondary hasn’t made a play all year, despite the two all-pro additions.  The defense got no sacks against the Bears, WHO HAVE THE WORSE OFFENSIVE LINE IN THE LEAGUE!!!  I haven’t heard Cullen Jenkins name in weeks.

The offense maybe worse.  Coming into the year, this was supposed to be the best WR corps in football.  On Monday, I didn’t think they could catch the flu going around.  DeSean Jackson looks like he is slowly quitting on the year.  He can’t go deep so he doesn’t do anything else.  Jeremy Maclin, what happened to him?  And let’s not forget Michael Vick.  He played a bad game; don’t be fooled it wasn’t Maclin’s fault he fell.  Vick threw a terrible pass which caused Maclin to be unbalanced.  Vick has gone from a turnover machine, to just an average QB that can show you a flash or two a game.  How the vaunted Eagles offense has fallen.

But accountability starts at the top; AND TRICKLES DOWN.  No one on the team is being held accountable because Coach Andy Reid, at least not publicly, doesn’t hold people accountable.  Every press conference after a loss is “I have got to better.”  EVERY PRESS CONFERENCE.  I’m sorry if your boo keeps messing up and has the same lame excuse every time, don’t you stop believing that they believe it’s their fault?  Hey Andy, how about you stop insulting the intelligence of the Eagles fans and start saying what’s going on;

Start saying that you need to make LeSean McCoy a heavier part of the offense.  Start saying the Michael Vick needs to start making plays again and DeSean needs to stop moping while he runs his so-called routes.  Start saying you built a flawed defense.  Your linebackers get picked on constantly.  You have too many corners; is Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (they call high DRC - Don’t Really Care up here) still on the team?  Why is Nnamdi Asomugha still playing zone?  Does the Eagles even play special teams?  Hey Andy, why don’t you let others start being accountable on this team before you’re out of a job?

Actually, I can’t front because I love all of this because I root for the most unaccountable team in the NFL today; that would be

Washington Redskins

It’s been this way since 1992.  We had brief glimpses of greatness in 1999, sprinkled with luck in 2005 and 2007.  But the abomination that the Redskins have turned into is a sight for the ages.  Let me name the atrocities in just this lost decade alone: the whole 2000 season, Vinny Cerrato, the firing of Marty Schottenheimer, the Steve Spurrier error..I mean era, Brandon Lloyd, Adam Archuleta, trading a 3rd-round pick for TJ Duckett, Southeast Jerome, the hiring of Jim Zorn, Steelers on Monday Night, Home loss to the Chiefs, Swinging Gate, Albert Haynesworth, Easter 2010, cardiovascular endurance, the QB battle between John Beck and Rex Grossman, 3rd and 21, the Buffalo Game in Toronto.

I didn’t wikipedia or google any of that.  They are etched in my brain like a pimple on a puberty-striken teenager.  I laugh to keep from crying sometimes.  The problem is, who was held accountable?  I don’t care about people being fired; obviously things haven’t changed with all the firings that have occurred.  So what has stayed the same since 1999.  Only Mike Sellers, and Daniel M. Snyder.

I’m sure Sellers is getting his reward (he will be cut next year for sure).  But Snyder still collects the receipts.  And the Skins still languish in perpetual mediocrity.  Our great QB battle should have took place last year in order for us to get Andy Dalton this year.  Instead of the robbery on Easter 2010, that 2nd round pick could have been beat-your-feet king Arrelious Benn or zone runner expert, Ben Tate.  Even better, an offensive line.  Actually, let’s go further.  Instead of retreads and has-beens coaching (Shanahan I’m looking at you), we could have gotten an up and coming coach that is ready to make his mark on the league with a new energy and vision that a franchise needs (look at John Harbaugh with his silly but awesome press conference after the Steelers game).  It’s to the point now that I don’t see this franchise having sustained success with Snyder at the top.  In fact, I sometimes wonder how I’d feel if Snyder held up the Lombardi trophy one day.

Firings don’t cut it Snyder.  That’s not accountability, that’s passing the buck.  It hasn’t worked for 12 years, both in Washington and at Penn State.  By passing the buck all these years, actions that could have created a positive outcome have been delayed in both places.  Leadership in both places are now scrambling to try to right what was wrong.  If only accountability was part of the formula for success, these heartbreaking problems would not have gone on for as long as it has.

In honor of Heavy D, who started to hold himself accountable for his weight issues before he passed this week, here is my favorite Heavy D song.  Also, we honor the late Joe Frazier, who never got the respect he was due as a great fighter.  It’s amazing; there is a statue of a fictional boxer in Philadelphia, Rocky Balboa; but there is not even a plaque for the heavyweight champion of the world, Joe Frazier. Games of the weekend after the break.

Yeah, you might want to get up early this Saturday for football.  Sunday, you might have to give your girl your credit card to go early Christmas shopping because the slate of games is that good. Best games in bold, then italics, and don’t worry about it in regular font.

Saturday, November 12

12-3pm: Nebraska vs Penn State (ESPN), Oklahoma State vs Texas Tech (ABC), Florida vs South Carolina (CBS)

3:30-7pm: TCU vs Boise State (Versus), Auburn vs Georgia (CBS), Miami vs Florida State (ABC or ESPN)

8pm: Oregon vs Stanford (ABC), Alabama vs Mississippi State (7:45pm ESPN), Maryland vs Notre Dame (7:30pm NBC)

Sunday, November 13

1-4pm: New Orleans vs Atlanta, Pittsburgh vs Cincinnati, Buffalo vs Dallas

4-7pm: New York Giants vs San Francisco, Detroit vs Chicago, Baltimore vs Seattle

Football Friday: National Championship Edition (in November)

Posted: November 4, 2011 by dontbeskerritt in College Football, NFL
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If you haven’t heard by now, Saturday night is gonna be kind of a big deal.  That is because #1 in all of the land LSU, will be taking on the next best team in all of the land Alabama, in the so-called Game of the Century.  Last time #1 played #2 in a regular season game was 2006, when Ohio State faced off against Michigan.  The winner of this contest will more than likely play (and win) the National Championship Game.  The loser – well I heard New Orleans is real nice for the Sugar Bowl.

However, I have a problem with this game pretty much deciding the championship.  That’s because this game is in early November, not early January.  I want to see the two best teams in college football in the last game of the year for all of the marbles.  This titanic game, the game everyone is hyped for highlights the problems of the BCS system.

BCS fans will say that the system they love has created the hype for this game.  The BCS is made in a way that teams can’t have any letdowns.  You can’t slip up or you are gone.  From the very first weekend with Oregon/LSU and Boise State/Georgia to the end of the year and everything in between, every game is win or DIE.  You can’t slip up against a Texas Tech at home (Oklahoma).  You can’t have a hail mary pass caught on you to end the game (Wisconsin).  You can’t have retarded looking uniforms cause that costs you BCS points (I made that up; but after what we have seen this year, doesn’t that sound like a great idea).  The BCS system has made it so that the top teams are at their best every week until they separate the oil and the water to see who comes up on top.

But I think the best things about the BCS also makes it terrible.  Because Oregon and Oklahoma slipped up, you don’t care about what they do anymore.  Because of a fluke hail mary pass Wisconsin was out of it; then they were buried by Ohio State.  Boise State is undefeated, but does anyone care about who they play.  Stanford needs to beat Oregon and get some help to get into the big dance; they have the best player in the country on their team!!!  The BCS really separates the haves from the have-nots, but has essentially turned the college football into the NBA.  You only care about the 3-4 teams that actually have a shot and the rest of the games don’t matter.  Do you know that all Top 10 teams are in action this weekend?  There are 2 matchups of the Top 1-15 teams besides LSU/Alabama.  I bet you can’t name them; hell I had to look and I’m doing the mancave setup this weekend!  Viewership for college football is down, including the BCS games.  You telling me that the system is working. Child please.

My final beef is the result of the real National Championship tomorrow.  Imagine with me that LSU loses by 7 or less, or even worse, by a late score.  Are you telling me, if Oklahoma State wins out, that Oklahoma State/Alabama is the matchup between the best two teams in the country?  Better yet, Stanford or heaven forbid, Boise State.  Everyone would want to see a rematch on a neutral field to see who is truly better because without a doubt LSU and Alabama are the two best teams in the land.  But because the BCS knows best, the fans would be robbed of their rematch.  So why would we not get our rematch?  Ask the Mayweather-Pacquiao boxing promoters why we aren’t getting that titanic fight; it’s all about the Benjamins.  I’m not saying that a playoff system would get us a rematch; Boise State could catch Alabama on a bad day and who knows what could happen.  But at least the decision happened on the field and not on some Excel spreadsheet.  I bet Steve Jobs didn’t come up with the BCS formula, therefore I wouldn’t trust it.

So as you sit down to watch the “Game of the Century” realize this maybe the only time you get to watch the true #1 and #2 teams play this year.  And it’s a shame because college football continues to lose out and making a true and worthy system and fans lose out on watching true and worthy games.  A great weekend slate of football after the song of the weekend.

Now, I have joked about getting as much cool points with your significant other.  While I’m not in the place to give advice as the ManCave single guy, I believe in always treating your boo with the utmost respect and admiration at all times.  But there are times when you just need that time to yourself, without the threat of going to a wine tasting event or watching Brown Sugar for the 407th time just cause your boo is in one of those moods.  If you can’t get away to watch at least Saturday night’s epic games, I’ll grieve for you and pray for your soul.  But it’s the boy scout motto; always be prepared for when the big game is coming up at the end of the week.

Saturday, November 5

12-3:30pm: Texas Tech vs Texas (FX), Louisville vs West Virginia (MASN), Michigan vs Iowa (ESPN) (for the love of God if you must use this time for your chick to free yourself up for Saturday night DO IT)

3:30-7PM: Texas A&M vs Oklahoma (ABC or ESPN2), Stanford vs Oregon State (ABC or ESPN2), Army vs Air Force (support the troops on CBS)

8pm: LSU vs Alabama (CBS), Kansas State vs Oklahoma State (ABC or ESPN2), South Carolina vs Arkansas (ESPN)

Sunday, November 6

1-4pm: New York Jets vs Buffalo, Tampa Bay vs New Orleans, San Francisco vs Washington

4-7pm: New York Giants vs New England, Green Bay vs San Diego, Cincinnati vs Tennessee

Football Friday: Solving The Great Mystery of the Universe – Pitt Athletics Pt. 1

Posted: October 14, 2011 by dontbeskerritt in College Football, NFL
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When Your Best Moment is an Upset Win Over WVU, Something is Wrong

This is a piece that describes the intersection of our expectations and realities.  I got to this intersection after watching Pitt put up a woeful effort at Rutgers, losing 34-10 with our new “high-octane” offense.  At this intersection, which is usually the case in these situations, is Heartbreak Hotel.  We realize that what we had hyped up in our heads for so long is not nearly as beautiful and glamorous as we made it out to be.  As a fan of Pitt Athletics from 2003 until today, I have been honored to be a part of the golden age of Pitt Athletics with Wide Receiver U on the football side, and the success of the basketball team in the Pete on the other.  But with Homecoming for Pitt coming this weekend, I decided that I will come to terms with the fact that   We will always cling to the tradition of our programs (9 National Championships, 8 from before World War II).  But we will always be average, mundane, and just good enough.  I’ll break it down using the two main sports: football this week and basketball next week.

In 2003, I had the honor to cover the Pitt football team for the Panther Sports Network.  I watched Larry Fitzgerald dominate at Texas A&M and catch the game-winning pass in the Virginia Tech game (greatest and coldest game I have ever attended).  But I also saw this team blow games to West Virginia (before they became the WVU of today) and get embarrassed by Miami.  ”That’s alright,” I thought, “we will play better for my time at Pitt, even without Fitz.”  That’s how confident I was, how naive I became as a Pitt fan.

The next season, we actually made a BCS bowl, thanks to a terrible Big East without Miami, where an 8-4, 4-2 record helped us get to the Fiesta bowl.  It was the “I love my f*cking football team” Tyler Palko era now.  The Tyler Palko that Pitt chose over…wait for it…Joe Flacco.   Anyway, it didn’t matter because our entire team didn’t belong on that BCS field in 2005 and Utah made sure we knew that.  But with the Loser, I mean the ‘Stache Dave Wannstedt coming into town, I still believed.

At the Meineke Car Care Bowl - 2009

I don’t want to dwell on the ‘Stache era for too long.  To Wannstedt’s credit, he recruited some of the best talent Pitt ever; LeSean McCoy, Dion Lewis, Jonathan Baldwin, Jabaal Sheard.  They had a Top 15 finish in 2009 and won the Meineke Car Care Bowl.  They even kept WVU from the National Championship game in 2007…which goes to show you how average things have been at Pitt when you celebrate upset wins over your rivals.

We went to the Sun Bowl in 2008; we lost 3-0.  One of the best teams we ever had at Pitt hosted Cincinnati in 2009 for the Big East title and a BCS bid on the line, we lost 45-44 thanks to a missed extra point.  You heard that right.  And that game came after we could have sealed a BCS bid the week prior but we lost to WVU.  In Wannstedt’s last season, we got blown out at home twice (one to Jacory Harris and Miami, the other to WVU), and lost to frikkin UCONN.  Oh yeah, Donald Brown wasn’t on that UCONN team.  Now we have Todd Graham; and while I was excited that Wannstedt is gone, I slowly come to realize this will be a rebuilding year.  What’s painful is that this team destroyed a ranked South Florida squad, but blew games to Iowa (who lost to Penn State which has no QB) and got run over by Rutgers last week.

These Days May Be Long Gone

I blame my heartbreak on my expectations for Pitt.  While the Pittsburgh area has lots of great talent, talent that chooses to come to Pitt at times, Penn State is still the king of Pennsylvania.  They will always get the most talent from the state.  Ohio State, Michigan, and WVU also steals other recruits that choose to state up north.  But the best of the best go south.  Who wants to go to Pitt, where the football tradition has fallen off with games at Heinz Field instead of old Pitt Stadium, and your playing in miserable weather instead of the sunny south.  Pitt can get lucky to get an up-and-coming coach and a great recruiting class, but it feels like those days have passed us by.  It feels like our program will never have the juice that it takes to become a national championship contender. Pitt is now safely nestled into the slot of programs that can get on ESPN2 consistently, but they will never be the marquee program its fans think that it can be.  Pitt is in the ranks of schools like Maryland, Clemson, NC State, Auburn (before the championship), and Texas A&M.  We will always be the little brother to other schools close by; we will get lucky one year (Auburn), and be down the next (Maryland). But you can always be sure that the Panthers will always be just good enough to let you down.

After the video, it’s the ManCave Lineup for the weekend.  My trap game of the week is Philadelphia vs Washington.  I know Philly is favored, but this game is the trap for the Skins.  In fact, I’m declaring today; I don’t know how they’ll do it, or what their record will be, but the Philadelphia Eagles will make the playoffs.  Fight me if you must, but I believe in this Eagles squad that is 4th in the NFL in total offense.  I believe in Andy Reid and Michael Vick.  And if you believe that this isn’t the biggest reverse jinx in the history of the Mancave, you’re crazier than I am.  Actually, let me stop panicking, my Skins got this!  Oh by the way, LET’S GO PITT!

As always, bold is for the game on the main TV, italics is for the game on your 720p backup TV, and regular is for the game on the TV you stole out of Motel 6.

Saturday

12-3pm: Michigan vs Michigan State (ESPN), Baylor vs Texas A&M (FX), Utah vs Pittsburgh (yeah I know I’m a homer, ESPNU)

3:30-7pm: Oklahoma State vs Texas (ABC or ESPN), LSU vs Tennessee (CBS), Ohio State vs Illinois (ABC or ESPN)

8pm: Arizona State vs Oregon (10:15pm ESPN), Florida vs Auburn (7pm ESPN), Stanford vs Washington State (7:30pm Versus)

Sunday

1-4pm: San Francisco vs Detroit, Philadelphia at Washington, Buffalo vs New York Giants

4-7pm: Dallas vs New England, New Orleans vs Tampa Bay, Houston vs Baltimore

Football Friday: On Arena League in NFL, the Tomahawk Chop, and Sexy Sandwiches

Posted: September 16, 2011 by dontbeskerritt in College Football, Mancave Fundamentals, Must See TV, NFL
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Nothing Like Good Ol' Fashioned Racism On a Saturday Night (Okla-FSU, 8pm)

Anyways a couple of observations before I give you your mancave set-up for this weekend.

This Face...Should Never Throw For 400 Yards

1. Is it just me, or is the NFL turning into Arena League football?  Week 1 set the record for passing yards (7,842), most quarterbacks with 300-yard games (14), most games with two 300-yard QBs (5), and the single-most passing yards in a game (906 – Patriots vs Dolphins).  I’m sorry, there’s a problem when Cam Newton and Chad Henne passes for over 400 yards, and Gross Rexman passes for over 300.  I might have to start calling him Rex Grossman and I don’t want to do that!  If Henne and Grossman are passing for 300 easy, then its time to shift the rules.  It’s too easy to move the ball in the NFL; unfortunately that’s what the league wants.  Offense attracts the eyeballs.  However, the game like its a woman; her beauty attracts me, but her personality keeps me.  The NFL’s personality used to be the big hits.  When you think of the NFL and great teams, especially teams with names, isn’t it the DEFENSIVE names that you remember.  Monsters of the Midway, Doomsday D, Purple People Eaters, the Steel Curtain.  The league’s personality is quickly becoming the Arena League, and nobody watches that crap.  We just have offense galore with 11 guys standing in the way that can’t hit a “defenseless receiver.”  Bullocks to that.  In defense of the defenseless NFL, there were more sacks (89) than in any other opening weekend.  But until we see defenses get a chance to compete with the offense, watching NFL will be like going out on a date with a lame; you grimace, smile, and drink a stiff drink.

Jenn Sterger is Ready For Florida State to Rise Again

2. It’s been awhile since the ACC has been involved in National Championship talks.  Florida State was always there, and when Virginia Tech and Miami joined, it seemed that the ACC was going to join the SEC and Big-10 as perennial BCS title contenders.  Well the Florida schools fell off harder than Maia Campbell (and if you laughed, you deserve to die and I hope you burn in hell *Sam Jackson voice*, cause I loved Maia back in the day).  Virginia Tech was always the bridesmaid of the group so they were never serious contenders. Well, a decade later, the ACC could be back.  Miami hosts Ohio State in the “Ineligi-Bowl“.  Clemson hosts the national champions Auburn.  Maryland puts their flash to the test against WVU.  And Florida State can show that they are back with a win at home against the #1 team in the land Oklahoma.  If the Seminoles win, the ACC would send a huge statement to the rest of college football.  If they lose, well, at least the ACC has Maryland’s crazy uniform combinations to market.  This game has so many ripple effects to the college football landscape

3. Fellas (and from talking to some females, you can join in too), we know the ultimate no-no during the season is your significant other to ask for some cookies, without replenishing your snack bar or chip bowl. This is a serious violation correct?  I’ll let Clayton Thomas, formerly of the Foxxhole, give you a good line to use in case your boo tries something this crazy.  Fast-forward to the 1:20-1:48 if you’re in a rush.  And check out the rest of the series on Youtube.  After the video, we have your mancave setup for a huge sports weekend.  Peace.

Saturday:

12pm-3pm: Auburn-Clemson (ESPN), West Virginia-Maryland (ESPNU), Pittsburgh-Iowa (ESPN2 – Yes I’m a homer)

3:30pm-7pm: Washington-Nebraska (ABC or ESPN), Tennessee-Florida (CBS), Michigan State-Notre Dame (NBC)

8pm-11pm: Oklahoma-Florida State (ABC), Ohio State-Miami (7:30, ESPN), Syracuse-USC (FX)

And don’t forget Mayweather/Ortiz around 11pm on Pay-Per-View

Sunday

1pm-4pm: Chicago-New Orleans, Green Bay-Carolina, Oakland-Buffalo

4pm-7pm: San Diego-New England, Dallas-San Francisco, Houston-Miami

GridIron Swag

Posted: September 6, 2011 by deedeestonz in College Football, Just Turrible
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This opening weekend of college football was EXCITING! That Baylor/TCU game WHEW! And like I tweeted earlier the highlight reel from last weekend was BANANAS! But there was another battle that ensued on collegiate football fields across the country last weekend, one that had nothing to do with touchdowns scored. Nope. This last weekend saw a full out FASHION WAR on the grid iron! *gasp* Yup. College football was a fashion show last weekend and I loved it! I think uniforms were tweeted about more than the actual plays being made on the field and not just by the ladies.  So who won this swag showdown and who failed miserably??? Here is my take on it:

I absolutely LOVED Oregon’s uniforms…they basically puked swag all over Cowboys Stadium. I mean who can come back from LOSING a national title game last season and intimidate everybody on the field with pure swag before the ball was even snapped like Oregon did on Saturday?!?!?  And that neon green in HD? Oh yea…Oregon players should walk around in their uniforms everyday. Bet the yammage goes up! *cue Big Sean “Dance”* “Now make that mutha sucka hammertime!” But anyway I give Oregon an A-. Why you ask…their poor showing in the actual game! You can’t look that cool and let the LSU defense beat on you like that. ANNNNND the reason why they will NEVER get a perfect score from me: THEY NEVER SWAG OUT THE MASCOT!!!

Giving Oregon a run for most swag last weekend was UGA. Their colors alone…hotness!  All red everything…tight! That helmet…ehhhhh! Poor, poor, poor, execution! That two-tone face mask should have been aborted early.  As a matter of fact UGA failed from the neck up on this one.  The verdict: B

While many people bashed the University of Maryland uniforms inspired by the Maryland state flag I didn’t think they were THAT bad.  In fact their uniform may have been the most creative out of anyone’s, it just suffered a case of “concept overkill.”  When accessorizing an outfit we women have always been taught that less is more and if we feel over accessorized take one piece off until the look is right.  Well UM could have taken a few pieces off! Like the gold and yellow checked arm bands…what the heck was that??? They should have decided to go with a flag themed jersey OR a flag themed helmet. Doing both was clearly doing too much.  Their jerseys alone were dope enough for them to get a best dressed nod so they didn’t really need the extras.  So for failure to properly asses their look and recognize when they were teetering  the clown suit line I give the Terapins a C+ (and that is me being generous because they pay my wages).

Honorable Mention:  Boise State

Their color combo is sick.  I prefer the blue jerseys over the white they wore last weekend but they still have one of the nicest uniforms in college football.

Divide and Conquer: Your Time in the Mancave vs With Your Girl

Posted: September 2, 2011 by dontbeskerritt in College Football, Mancave Fundamentals, NFL
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The Game or Beyonce? No Contest, Right?

As the single brother in the Mancave06, I always like to run relationship scenarios by those more experienced in our cave.  I always wanted to know what guys do with their significant others during the weekend if they are really into football.   Now that you are in a relationship, you have a girl that wants to see you.  Since the weekdays are taken up by work, hustling, or better yet, trapping, the weekend is needed for QT with your main squeeze.  In a perfect world, you can watch your random college games on Saturday and NFL Red Zone on Sunday.  Also, your girl will deliver freshly-made sandwiches every 3 hours.  That, of course, is what the blogs on Essence.com is telling her to do right?  It amazes me that there are all these blog sites preparing women to handle the upcoming college and pro football season, but don’t us Mancave dwellers need some type of code of conduct with our girls too?

So I wanted to put this out there in a poll before we preview this weekend’s awesome college football games.  How do you guys handle your women on football weekends?  Let’s say that it is hard for you and your love to get together on the weekdays.  Whether it be work, kids, the jumpoff, etc, it’s hard to spend quality time with your girl Mon-Thurs.  I assume that Friday night is totally devoted to chilling with your women in order to placate get to know your lady better.  But what do you do Sat-Sun?  Do you hang out with your girl on Saturday to get your Sundays free?  Do you miss your alma mater’s game at noon (being a Pitt grad we ALWAYS play at noon), in order to walk around the mall with your girl?  Do you miss the SEC game at 3:30pm to go the museum or art gallery?  Or is missing the Game of the Week at 8pm (like Oregon-LSU this week), worth going with your tenderoni, who surprised you with tickets on Thursday, to an intimate concert featuring Bilal Saturday night?

Little Does She Know My Team is on a Bye Week

Or is Sunday your day of relationship building, in order for you to soak in the pageantry of college on Saturday?  Do you go to second service with you sweetheart (who probably was in the club on Saturday night because your behind was on the couch) so you miss the Patriots comeback vs the Dolphins?   The Cowboys are playing late afternoon, but you’re at the restaurant with the apple of your eye.  The Sunday night game is a rematch of the Super Bowl last year, but the only thing you need to see is the stars in your lady’s eye as you go for an evening walk, right?  I’m sure these questions all depend on your taste in football, and I am sure you can mix-and-match certain times of the weekend to give your boo some desperately-needed attention.  But if you had to give up a whole day because your damsel is a dictator of your time, which would you give up?

Let me also pass this question to the ladies.  A lot of female fans of the Mancave 06 do not mind their man watching football all weekend.  Hell, they’ll post up right on the couch, and will slap their man silly if he asked for eskimo kisses or something corny in the middle of the 3rd quarter.  But if you are getting serious with your king, would you request a day during the weekend to start looking at jewelry, white dresses, nice churches and banquet halls, and to watch Say Yes to the Dress (you see where I am going with this).

So here is two polls, for the guys and the ladies who love them.  After the poll, it’s the best games of the weekend and how we would set them up if you have 3 TVs in your Mancave.  Football is here fellas!!! Enjoy the weekend, and pass your happiness along to your buttercup at least sometime these next couple days.  Happy Labor Day!

Saturday, Sept 3 Bold represents your main 46+ inch, 1080p HD, 3D, 38DD TV, Italics is your 27in, held you down in college HD TV for the 2nd game, Regular is for your I stole this from my grandma TV

12 to 3:30 block – Akron vs Ohio State (ESPN), Utah State vs Auburn (ESPN2), Appalachain State vs Virginia Tech (ACC Network @ 12:30pm)

3:30 to 7 block – South Florida vs Notre Dame (NBC), Minnesota vs USC (ESPN2 or ABC), BYU vs Ole Miss (ESPN @ 4pm)

8pm to Drunk Time – Oregon vs LSU (ABC), Boise State vs Georgia (ESPN), Tulsa vs Oklahoma (FX)

And a special Monday night game – Miami vs Maryland (ESPN @ 8pm)

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