SI & Jim Tressel: Thats What She Said

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Waiting for Godunk: Talking Tourney with Greg Anthony & the Powerade ION4 Bracketology Scientists

Kevin Owens is a seven year veteran of overseas professional basketball. He currently writes for SB Nation Philadelphia, SLAM Online, Hugging Harold Reynolds and his own blog Waiting For Godunk, which details his career as a standby athlete. He played for Monmouth University in the 2001 NCAA Tournament. Follow him on Twitter @Waiting4Godunk.

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During my playing career, I have been injured more times than I can count. I’ve worn knee braces, elbow pads, ankle braces, protective glasses, a facemask, and on one occasion an athletic cup. (My man parts are ok now.) Never have I had to wear anything like former UNLV and NBA standout Greg Anthony. Anthony, who broke his jaw in 1990 practiced in a hockey helmet during his recovery.

This is one of the bits of information I received from the HBO Documentary Runnin’ Rebels which premiered Sunday night. Monday morning I had the opportunity to meet Greg Anthony, now a basketball analyst for CBS Sports, ESPN, and Yahoo Sports, and ask his opinion about the 2011 NCAA Tournament.

We met up at CBS’s Bracket Lounge in the Time Warner Center. Powerade, the official drink of the NCAA Tournament, sponsors the lounge, which gives shoppers, or the occasional slacker skipping work, a place to watch the NCAA games live. Along with watching the tournament, they have many interactive games which include a mini-basketball shooting contest.

Greg and I were at the lounge as official “Powerade ION4 Bracketology Scientists” along with Kevin Burke from The Hoop Doctors, Susan Shan from Susan Shan.com and Josh Zerkle from With Leather. I quickly learned that as much as I watch college basketball, my seven year hiatus from intently watching the tournament put me at an analytical disadvantage.

Case and point, a sleeper pick of mine, Villanova. In my bracket I have the Wildcats reestablishing themselves as one of the best teams in the nation and doing some damage. My thought process being that Nova now has their full roster healthy and practicing again. Then Greg Anthony dropped some knowledge on me. “You’re looking at the name on the jersey. Don’t always just look at the name on the front of the shirt. Everybody is doing that with their region. Villanova is the weakest nine seed in the tournament, by far. If I’m OSU, I’m saying I could be playing Villanova. I like that; I’m not upset with that.”

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My other sleeper was the Richmond Spiders. I just covered the A-10 Tournament for SB Nation Philly and watched them play twice over the weekend. I was shocked that they were a 12 seed and not an eight or nine. Kevin Richardson, although small, can put up some serious numbers. Richardson’s teammate Justin Harper has jumped up the NBA draft boards lately with his fine play over the past few months. I was convinced that the Spiders could overtake Vanderbilt in the first round. Then more knowledge dropped by Anthony. “Vandy is a potential Final Four team.” Damnitt!

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I also am not big on Florida doing much in the tournament. I say this mainly because I haven’t seen them play that often. I have them losing in the second round…That is until Greg…Knowledge…Dropped. “Florida’s won more games, outside of the Big East, against the top 50 than anybody in the country. They were 12-3 coming into the championship game. If you look at their division, they had Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Georgia in the same division all make the Tournament, and you won that division by three games.”

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I feel like my bracket was in disarray and the tournament hadn’t even started. Although I walked towards the exit with little confidence in my analytical skills, I was grateful to have met such intelligent analysts. It was then that I noticed my bag and sweatshirt were missing. In their place sat a more expensive looking bag, far heavier than mine, and a grey sweatshirt, far nicer than mine.

I quickly realized that one of the reps had brought my bag down to Greg instead of his. I felt like Greg probably didn’t want to swap his bag for mine, which contained car keys for my car parked in central New Jersey, my grey hoodie and a half eaten chocolate chip cookie.

The situation was quickly rectified and our bags swapped back to their rightful owners. As I stood, eating the remainder of my stale cookie, I saw Greg Anthony and his bag walking out. Greg overwhelmed me with his basketball knowledge. He knew so many stats and information off the top of his head. I’m sure he works harder than most analysts, reading hundreds of stat sheets and team breakdowns whenever he has free time. I began to realize why that bag was so heavy.

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Bearcats Radio Station Takes Shots at TOSU

These are radio lead-ins for Univ. of Cincinnati football on Cincy’s main AM station, WLW 700. They are taking major shots at Ohio State with these – it’s beautiful!

Plus, gotta love the fact that they’ve got the OSU fight song playing in the background. Whoever produced these lead-ins might get murdered. Seriously.



Listen to ten of the promos here.

-Posted by Rev. Shaw Moore

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Link: Incredible Original Images from Week 2: USC at Ohio State (OneGreatSeason)

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Video: Tressel Downplays Pryor's Eye-Black Tribute To Vick

Our good friend John Wise from OneGreatSeason.com is traveling the country and immersing himself in a college football town each week before covering a top-flight game on Saturdays.

Today he shares video he shot of Ohio State coach Jim Tressel downplaying quarterback Terrelle Pryor's black eye tribute to Michael Vick.

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Rev Picks 'Em: Week 13

WEST VIRGINIA (-7) at Louisville: Since joining the Big East just a few short years ago, this game has turned into one of the premier rivalries in the conference. Ok, I know it’s Big East football and you could probably care less. But seriously, even though both teams carry less than lackluster records into this matchup, you can bet that this will be a very hard-hitting game. If anything, the post-game shenanigans should be interesting:


By the way, Louisville needs a win against the ‘Eers to reach 6 on the season, and most likely will need a win against Rutgers next week to receive any bowl consideration. My guess? They’ll lose both to finish 5-7. He may be Satan incarnate, but things seemed a whole lot better just two short years ago when Bobby Petrino was at the helm for the ‘Cards …

Tennessee at VANDERBILT(-3): Consider this: It is entirely likely that Tennessee could close out the 2008 season with back-to-back losses to Vandy and Kentucky. In case you’re keeping score at home, that would leave the Vols at 3-9 for the year. Which, speaking of …

Michigan at OHIO STATE (-20 ½): Michigan is DEFINITELY going 3-9. Even Vegas has given the proverbial bitch-slap to Michigan - the Buckeyes are laying 20 ½ points to the Wolverines. By some accounts, that’s the largest spread ever in this rivalry. But hey, if you’re a Michigan fan, don’t dare complain about it: coach Rich Rodriguez thinks you should “get a life”.

NORTH CAROLINA STATE (+11) at North Carolina: Upset alert: I’m calling this game for the Wolfpack. Led by Russell Wilson, one of the best passers in the ACC, NCSU has gotten on a bit of a hot streak of late. Plus, the Wolfpack sport a stellar 3-0 record against in-state opponents, having beaten East Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest. A win vs. the rival Tarheels would do wonders for the folks in Raleigh, and leave them just one win short on the season from bowl eligibility.

Stanford at CALIFORNIA (-9): Stanford hung tough for a half last week vs. USC, but that may be because they are apparently kryptonite to the Trojans. Otherwise, Stanford is just another pedestrian team in the PAC-10. Cal really isn’t that much better, but I’m taking them here since the game’s in Berkeley. Really, this pick ‘em thing isn’t that scientific.

#17 Michigan State (+15 ½) at #7 Penn State: How dreadful can this game shake out for Penn State? Several weeks ago, they were looking at this matchup as their ticket to the national championship game – now they need a win just to keep their spot in the Rose Bowl. I think two touchdowns is too much to spot the Spartans, so I’m going to take the points here, but I still like the Lions to win the game. And for their sake, I hope they do – they’ve had a great season, even though the rest of the Big Ten is atrocious this year.

FLORIDA STATE at #22 Maryland (+1 ½) (as described with by Rusty): Trying to pick the winner of this game is like trying to pick the winner of a butt kicking fight between Rambo and Rocky. Maryland's been a solid football team in College Park this year, having amassed a 6-0 record, but the Terp's face quite the superior opponent this coming Saturday. Florida State has the best offense and defense in the ACC, statistically. Although, they've struggled at times with a two QB system behind a weak offensive line, they are a solid football team and improving. Maryland on the other hand has got one of the best running backs in the leauge with Da'rel Scott (that's not a typo). The Seminoles might look better on paper, but Maryland's on top of the ACC and a win tomorrow followed by a road win against BC next week would send the Terps to Tampa and help cool the embers under the big boy's seat. This all means, this game will come down to heart. Who wants it more. This may give Florida State a slight edge with it's off-the-field story this week. Safety Myron Rolle is being interviewed for a Rhodes scholarship Saturday afternoon before flying to join his team for the 2nd half of the game. The fact that FSU has a positive academic story could do wonders for the team's motivation, or the world could implode because the team known for 5 finger discounts at Dillard's has recruited smart kids. Regardless of the outcome, it'll be a hard fought game in the chilly DC suburbs, but look for a close Seminoles victory.

#16 Brigham Young at #8 UTAH (-7): Utah, the original BCS crashers, would be right back in the major bowl picture with a win against rival BYU. Interestingly, I like that these kinds of rivalry games have kitschy nicknames: For instance, this game is dubbed “the Holy War.” That would probably raise hackles for some reason or another in more politically correct corners of the country, but this is Utah. No one really knows – or for that matter, wants to know - what goes on in Utah, so I guess we can all collectively shrug it off.

#21 Oregon State (+2 ½) at ARIZONA: People are still dogging USC for losing to Oregon State, but consider this: OSU’s tied with the Trojans atop the PAC-10 standings. And if the Beavers win this week and next week against rival Oregon, Oregon State would be the team to get the conference’s spot in the BCS. Of course, you could just as easily consider that last sentence the kiss of death for Oregon State and watch them drop their last two to finish 7-5.

#20 Pittsburgh at #19 CINCINNATI (-6): Needless to say, this is the biggest game in the history of UC Bearcat football. Of course, they don’t have much of a history aside from a crumbling relic of a stadium, but that’s beside the point. A win against Pitt would clinch the Big East conference championship for the Bearcats, not to mention a spot in the school’s first ever BCS bowl game. Cincy’s really no joke – they have 6 starters on D that likely will get drafted, and it doesn’t really matter who they put in at QB (they’ve played 5 QBs on the season), they always get the job done.

Interestingly enough, if you were ever wondering what a “bearcat” is, try this on for size:

"A Bearcat resembles somewhat to a bear in physical appearance, though on closer observation it looks like a small bushy dog. Its average length is about 60-96 cm and weighs around 9-14 kg. It has small round ears and black round eyes. The body of the animal is covered with thick black fur. Its most attractive feature is its long bushy tail, ranging as long as 55-90 cm."

One of life’s great mysteries solved. I’m glad I looked that up.

#2 Texas Tech (+7) at #5 OKLAHOMA: (courtesy of Big XII expert Greg in St. Louis) This week’s Big 12 “Game of the Year” will directly affect the outcome of the Big 12 South, The Heisman Race, and who claims the Big 12’s slot in the National Championship game. Tech has put the points on the board this year, they have a solid O-line, major skill at QB and WR, and their “bend, not break” defense has done the job when called upon. The Sooners are trying to buck their trend of bad play in big games over the past few years and even in the Red River Shootout this year. However, since that loss to Texas they have destroyed their opponents to the tune of 63.3 points per game. One more stat in the Sooners favor, 60-2 at home under Bob Stoops – simply put, you don’t go into Norman and come out victorious. In the case of two hot teams that are evenly matched, go with the home team for sure. Boomer Sooner!

Separated at Birth: Jim Tressel's Love Line

I wonder how many calls the TOSU coach is fielding from heartbroken Buckeye fans.

Dr Drew & Coach Jim

Throw the Flag: The Cynic’s Guide to College Football, Week 2

A late version of this week’s truths as, like many of you, I couldn’t bring myself to turn on my computer for fear that yet another of my fantasy football players would be injured. Anyway, on to this week’s trouble spots.

1. Ohio State—Taking the Easy Way Out

A week after feasting on in-state “rival” Youngstown State, the Buckeyes had another tune-up against in-state “team” Ohio Bobcats. You know, the ones playing with a backup QB who nobody knew his name because his afro covered up the name on his jersey. The ones who had five turnovers and yet were still leading by two with 14 minutes to go. Yeah, those Ohio Bobcats. Were the Buckeyes looking ahead to USC? Perhaps. Were they missing Beanie Wells (what kind of nickname is Beanie for a football player, anyway? Sounds more like a trust fund baby frat boy in the Ivy League)? Sure. But, dude, you’re still Ohio State. You shouldn’t be letting your little brothers hang around with you like that. It’s embarrassing for both of us. Take that game with you to LA this week and see how it works out for you. On the plus side, you won’t have to worry about getting whipped in the BCS title game by an SEC team again.

2. You Don’t Mess Around with Jim (or Mack)

Will someone please explain to me why some pissant little schools seem bound and determined to have themselves throttled into oblivion by the Texas Longhorns? Two weeks ago, Howard “water is for the weak” Schnellenberger decided it’d be a good idea to call Texas “soft” the week before his Florida Atlantic Owls took on the Horns. 52-10 later, Schnellenberger crawled back onto the team bus and, most likely, into a bottle. Then this week, Texas ventured to the wild environs of border town El Paso for a game against the UTEP Miners. Now let’s get this straight—you are UTEP. That’s University of Texas at El Paso. You are not in the same area code, social circle or tax bracket of the Longhorns. And yet, for some inexplicable reason, the Miners administration wasn’t content to call it Texas vs. UTEP. Nooooo, in all the pre-game hoopla coming out from their athletic department, UTEP insisted on referring to the tilt as “UTEP vs. UT Austin,” as if the game was some kind of meeting of equals. Little hint: it wasn’t (42-13).

Twisting your opponent’s name can be fun if you’re rivals or on a somewhat level playing field (Oklahoma fans like referring to the University of Texas as TU just to watch Horns’ fans faces turn Sooner crimson). But as the song says, “You don’t tug on Superman’s cape, you don’t spit into the wind.” And while I’m not saying Mack Brown is Superman (more like Robin to Bob Stoops’ Batman, although I don’t want to see either one in spandex), it’s still generally not wise to call down the thunder upon yourself.


3. This Just In: Bo Pelini is Not God

Let’s get one thing straight—the national media types don’t know the first thing about football fans. I mean, they’re the same ones who can use the words “Rutgers,” “football” and “tradition” in the same sentence without giggling. So when you hear some east coast media type saying, “Nebraska fans expect to win championships and win them now,” know that the closest he’s been to Nebraska is 30,000 feet and likely couldn’t find the place with an atlas, two energy bars and a corn detector (note to self: invent corn detector). Husker fans are some of the most knowledgeable ones out there—they’re not naïve enough to think that the Bill Callahan era can be undone in two games. Yes, they certainly want to get back to the championship level. But in 2008 what they want to see is hard work, coaching adjustments and improvement.

Well, two out of three ain’t bad. Most observers I’ve talked to say the effort is definitely there, with many mistakes coming as a result of being too aggressive (e.g. over pursuing a running play, late hit, etc.). And Lord knows the defensive coaching in Huskerland is a step or twelve up from last year. But the Huskers escape over San Jose St. (won 35-12.; Huskers led just 14-12 with 12:08 to go) was, to use the real estate parlance, “a unique fixer upper opportunity.” The Huskers had more penalty (103) than rushing yards (99) and were outyarded by San Jose St. 353 to 315. At one point, they had three consecutive false start penalties. Yes, the Cornhuskers took a step backward against San Jose State. I still think Bo will get the Huskers turned around and return them to their glory days. But Husker fans are going to have some patience with this team.

4. Rules are Rules and are Meant to be Broken. Or Something Like That.

Which is worse—bad rules in college football? Or fans who incessantly whine about the bad rules when a violation of one hurts their team? Much has been written about the excessive celebration penalty against Washington QB Jake Locker in the closing seconds of the Huskies’ loss to BYU. I won’t get into the sense (or lack thereof) of the NCAA’s excessive celebration rule. But it’s on the books—fans should know about it, Jake Locker should know about it and Ty Willingham should definitely know about it. So don’t whine about the rule or blame the refs who enforced it. Don’t make excuses like, “Oh, he just flipped it over his shoulder” (that ball had more hang time than some punts on Saturday). Just suck it up and point the finger where it belongs--blame your special teams who allowed the ensuing PAT to be blocked.

Here’s hoping for a better Week 3. But I’m not holding my breath.

Eddie George: Heisman Winner, Pro Bowler, Landscape Architect (?)

Color me shocked...

From PRNewswire via the American Society of Landscape Architects:

Eddie George, the 1995 Heisman Trophy winner who became a star running back for the Tennessee Titans and Dallas Cowboys, is relishing his new career as a landscape architect and owner of The EDGE Group, a successful firm with offices in Columbus, Ohio, and Nashville, Tennessee. He wants young people to consider landscape architecture as a great career that combines art with protecting the environment.

Misleading Headline: Rob Deer, Buckeye Fan

Deer invades basement of Mich. home

Aye, fight and you may die, run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!

Rev Picks 'Em: Rivalry Time

My, what a season it has been. Oregon bit the dust last night at Arizona, clearing the way for a new no. 2 next week. That, of course, followed Ohio State’s loss last weekend to Illinois. At this point, the national championship is completely up for grabs. LSU, Kansas, Oklahoma, even West Virginia and Missouri all have a chance to play for the title later this year.

So to put it lightly, this week’s slate of games is going to go a long way towards determining who will remain in the championship hunt and who will have to just settle for going to a bowl.

HHR went 7-3 last week, so we’re on a bit of a winning streak. Here are this week’s picks:

10 points: Iowa State (3-8) at KANSAS (10-0): With Oregon losing last night at Arizona, the Jayhawks will be the no. 2 team when rankings are released on Sunday. That is assuming they will win against a punchless Iowa State team, which they should not have a problem doing. For all the talk about the Jayhawks possibly being left out of the BCS title game, they control their own destiny now. Beat Iowa State, Mizzou, and Oklahoma in the Big XII Championship and they’re in.

9 points: OKLAHOMA (9-1) at Texas Tech (7-4): Like Kansas, Oklahoma seems to control their own destiny too: win out, play for national championship. Simple as that. On the other sideline, things don’t get any easier for the Red Raiders and their cry-baby coach, Mike Leach. Leach was fined a Big XII record $10,000 smackers for complaining about the officiating in last week’s 59-43 loss to Texas. Said Leach:

"I think it's disturbing that Austin residents (referee Randy Christal) are involved in this. People work too hard, too long, there's too much money invested in these games to allow that. Am I condemning the crew? Hell yeah, I'm condemning the crew."

Looks like Leach might be taking media pointers from Red Raiders basketball coach Bobby Knight. While it doesn’t quite surpass Oklahoma State Coach Mike Gundy’s ludicrous “I’m a Man!! I’m 40!!” rant from earlier this year , it’s still pretty good.



8 points: LOUISVILLE (5-5) at South Florida (7-3): Louisville played well in a 38-31 loss at West Virginia last week, despite taking only 22 active defensive players and abandoning the concept of running the ball effectively. But no matter how you cut it, this has been a disappointing season for the Cardinals. It was announced yesterday that starting DE DeAntwan “Peanut” Whitehead’s football career was over after being diagnosed with spinal stenosis, a potentially paralyzing condition where the spinal canal narrows in the neck. He’s the second Card to be diagnosed with the condition and the 4th Card overall to suffer a career-ending injury this year. From a fan’s perspective, I’m hoping against hope that QB Brian Brohm can go out on a high note, so that’s why this game is here.

CLUELESS.



7 points: WEST VIRGINIA (8-1) at Cincinnati (8-2): Mountaineers RB Steve Slaton seems to have regressed over last year’s breakout performance. However, while Slaton may have slipped just a bit, QB Pat White is proving that he is still one of the most electrifying players in college football today (see last week’s game breaking 50 yard TD scamper against Louisville with 1:36 left to play). This game will be tough as Cincy has a hard-hitting defense that will severely test WV’s potent offense. In the end though, the Mountaineers just have too many weapons, and I look for them to squeak by the Bearcats by no more than 6 or 7 points.

6 points: PENN STATE (8-3) at Michigan State (6-5): Michigan State needs this game bad to lock up a bowl berth, but … winning is just not something they do in East Lansing this time of year.



5 points: Kentucky (7-3) at GEORGIA (8-2): UK inexplicably laid an egg against Mississippi State their last time out, all but ending the Cats chances of winning a wide-open SEC East. Now Georgia is in the driver’s seat, and they have revenge on their mind for last year’s loss in Lexington. UGA has hung 40+ points on three straight opponents, including SEC stalwarts Florida and Auburn. The Wildcats better come ready to play or they could be in for a long, long afternoon between the hedges in Athens.

4 points: Boston College (8-2) at CLEMSON (8-2): It hurts my brain to pick Clemson in a game of this magnitude (winner wins the ACC Coastal Division), but I can’t find a reason not to take them at home.

3 points: OREGON STATE (6-4) at Washington State (4-6): I won’t be watching this game. I doubt you will either.

2 points: Maryland (5-5) at FLORIDA STATE (6-4): Five, six, maybe seven years ago, Florida State wins this game by 90 points. Maybe that’s a little high, but you get my point. Now, who knows. Granpda Bowden is definitely asleep at the wheel.

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… and now, for the one point game of the week:

1 point: OHIO STATE (10-1) at Michigan (8-3): With apologies to Dunbar, I’m going with the Bucks tomorrow. I don’t really think he could convince me otherwise, considering how Lloyd Carr’s final year in Ann Arbor has gone.

The Buckeyes blew their chance at getting back to the national championship game, so they’ll have to settle for doing what they do best: beating Michigan. Michigan, on the other hand, needs this game unlike any other. QB Chad Henne skipped the NFL draft with the express purpose of coming back to beat OSU at least one time during his career for the Maize and Blue. By the way, if this game wasn’t already hyped enough, this game will also decide the Big Ten championship and the league’s designee for the Rose Bowl.

I’m not a Big Ten fan, but even I’ll admit: this is bar none the best college football rivalry anywhere in America.

For the record, Michigan leads the all-time series 57-40-6.

HHR’s Season Record: 57-44


-posted by Rev. Shaw Moore