Yes, that Craig James. And he's formed a political action committee, "Texans for a Better America."
When we prodded our friends in DC about the below video (straight outta the conservative Texan playbook: "American exceptionalism" / "Texas should lead the way in restoring our shared American values"), we were told that rumor has it http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifJames is going to run for TX Lt. Governor if current LG David Dewhurst gets nominated for Senate.
"Texans for a Better America is about reconnecting people with the values, ideas, and founding principles that have not only made Texas the envy of our nation, but would transform our country. We hope you'll join in this essential conversation to engage, learn and share the values that guide and ideas that transform." EDSBS: Craig James for Sensitive
This Cam Newton recruitment saga keeps getting stranger by the day. At this point, the only thing missing are cameos by Brett Favre’s penis and Rachel Uchitel.
Anyone know if Rachel has any, um, connections at Auburn?
Turning Tricks Some of it gets a bit repetitive, but this list of the Top 50 Trick Plays is well worth your time.
When You Get to the Bottom, Stop Digging The WAC announced last week that it was adding the University of Texas-San Antonio and Texas State and the University of Denver in all sports except football. In related news, the WAC is now rated as the 4th toughest conference in the FCS.
Haven't Cubs Fans Suffered Enough? Northwestern and Illinois will be playing their game this week at Wrigley Field, a decision which was apparently made without actually bothering to think about how the field would be set up. There’s a lot of talk these days about helmet-to-helmet hits. But no one’s talking about the real threat—helmet-to-brick-walls-covered-with-thin-pads-printed-to-look-like-ivy hits.
“Coach, PLEASE don’t make me run that deep post route again.”
Official Complaints Living in the middle of the country, I’ve seen a lot of Big 12 games the last couple of years and I have to say that they have, far and away, the worst officiating in the country. And, while it may be fun to think of Dan Beebe sitting there with a Buffalo Wild Wings-esque buzzer alerting the refs when it’s time to screw Nebraska for leaving the conference, it’s equal opportunity crappy. It seems like every big game this year has had several not just questionable, but outright bad calls. And then, even after lengthy reviews, they still get them wrong. I understand missed calls are part of the game. But most conferences address these issues and work to get better. It seems like the Big 12 refs get worse every week with no end in sight. Maybe Texas can use a small fraction of their recent ESPN payday to better train their officials. But I'm not holding my breath.
On second thought, maybe there is something to the Nebraska conspiracy theories.
This morning we got a chance to talk briefly with the incomparable Keyshawn Johnson.
Always blunt, Johnson offered some quick opinions on some of the big personalities in the NFL and gave a prognostication on the future of his alma mater, USC:
"There is this huge dark cloud over the university; there's this big myth that we are finished and done, but that's not the case...Knowing the recruiting class that's coming in, two years from now they'll be right back in the national championship hunt."
He offers his thoughts on Rex Ryan, Bill Parcells ("Best coach I played for at the pro level. Demanding, much like Rex Ryan."), Jon Gruden ("Interesting character. He's grown since his last coaching job."), Brad Childress ("How can a guy get along with Brad Childress? It's almost impossible.)"
On the Randy Moss situation and what kind of influence he'll be in Tennessee with young guys like Kenny Britt:
"I've never known Randy Moss to be a negative influence on anyone. Things didn't work at Oakland, but they never do with anyone. I mean, Minnesota traded him to Oakland and Oakland traded him to New England and New England traded him to Minnesota again and now he's in Tennessee so...I have no real negative feelings toward Randy Moss or would say he's bad for a locker room or anything like that."
Check it out...
Keyshawn is in NYC promoting Captain Morgan's 1 Million Poses. For more information visit Facebook.com/CaptainMorganUSA.
We're right about at the halfway point of the season. Some things we know (Oregon is good. The Pistol is football's newest craze. Les Miles has replaced Nick Saban as Satan's pet project). Some things we don't (How will Taylor Martinez fare against stronger competition? Is Ohio State really the #1 team in the nation? How bad will things get for Penn State? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?). But things are definitely getting interesting. With Alabama proving to be mortal after all, the national championship race is as wide open as I can remember. You could make a pretty good case for any one of 8 or 9 different schools winning it all. We've got a bunch of really good teams, but none that are without their faults. So buckle up everyone. The next few weeks could be a wild ride. Now on to this week's observations.
You Suck. Yeah, You. I don't care how much you can bench, how many Monster energy drinks you can chug or how many Affliction shirts you own. Unless you've lost a body part during a game-and stayed in the game-you are a great big steaming pile of pansiness compared to Virginia Tech OL Greg Nosal.
Game tape of Nolan in action.
Now That's Motivation By now, everybody knows that New Mexico State football is really bad. But, on the plus side, the Aggie players still had the luxury of being football players, with all the girls, parties and other perks that went along with that stature. Until now. As Sports by Brooks alerted us last week, an unnamed person or persons distributed thousands of NSFW flyers around the NMSU campus, urging the local co-eds not to engage in, um, extracurricular activities with any of the football players until they won a game. (As the flyer so eloquently put it, "Once you score a win, then you can get it in.")
Crude though it might have been, the extra motivation apparently worked, as the Aggies snapped their 11-game losing streak with a 16-14 win over in-state rival (if you can call an 0-6 team who's even worse than you that) New Mexico.
I'm guessing Coach Walker's postgame press conference wasn't the highlight of the celebration.
New Math Les Miles is 49% football genius and 51% bats*%t insane. Or vice versa. Depending on the week.
"Les, did you remember to take your meds today?"
When the Lawyers Win, We All Lose Earlier in the week, the U. of Texas Athletic Department cracked down on an internet company that was selling Nebraska-themed shirts with the famed Longhorn logo upside down in preparation for this week's grudge match between the Huskers and the 'Horns. (FYI: Texas made over $10 million in royalties off of the Longhorn logo last year. I've always wondered how much of that came from Oklahoma fans who bought the Texas logo just to put it upside down. Never made sense to me. You do know you're aiding your enemy, right? OK, moving on.) But it raised a bigger question: shouldn't the makers of Angry Birds be paying royalties to Ball State?
Man, what I wild offseason that was. With all the conference realignment/dealignment rumors out there, it seemed like college football was the talk of the summer. Heck, ESPN even took a break from Favre Watch 2010 to report some more (wildly inaccurate) Big 10 expansion rumors from Joe Schad. So, for us college football geeks, the good news was that we had plenty to discuss all summer. The bad news was that we had plenty to discuss, but it was still only summer.
But, finally, all the talk is behind us. Everybody is ready to go and I never thought I’d be so excited to tune into Versus and the Big 10 Network. So, without further ado, here are the Cynic’s 21 fearless preseason predictions that are guaranteed to be wrong. Unless they’re right, in which case I want a cut of whatever you won in Vegas.
Take me with you!
1. Winner Takes All
A non-BCS team will make the national championship game, but it’s not the one you think. Boise State’s title hopes will be done in week one when they lose to Virginia Tech. Meanwhile, TCU will quietly run the table and, thanks to the amazing power of poll voter inertia, magically move up the rankings to make the title game. But they’ll lose to Ohio State. (And yes, I know it’s blasphemous to pick a national title game that doesn’t have an SEC team in it.)
Hey, the crystal matches my sweater vest!
2. The Best of the Rest
Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Florida
Orange Bowl: Miami vs. Nebraska
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma vs. UConn
Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. Wisconsin
3. Hype Springs Eternal
With Tebow, McCoy and Bradford all finally gone, this year’s Heisman race is as wide open as ever. The finalists will be:
Oklahoma wide receiver Ryan Broyles. Missed two games last year with a broken shoulder blade and still set the school record for receptions.
TCU quarterback Andy Dalton. Be the top player on a team in the title game, and you get an automatic invite to New York. It’s a rule or something.
Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett. It’s also a rule that you have to have at least one SEC player invited to the party. Mallett is the one most likely to put up the big numbers.
Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor. The hype on Pryor is too great this year for him not to get an invite. And if tOSU runs the table, he’ll have earned it.
Oregon RB LaMichael James or Oregon St. RB Jacquizz Rogers. Depends on whichever Oregon team has a better season.
Pryor will carry home the trophy.
Gratuitous Heisman pose shot.
4. This time next year, Butch Davis and Rich Rodriguez will still be involved in lawsuits against their respective schools after being fired at the end of the season, but both schools refusing to pay their buyouts, arguing they were fired for cause after running afoul of the NCAA.
5. Other BCS-conference coaches looking for a job: Dan Hawkins (Colorado), Mike Stoops (Arizona), Ron Zook (Illinois) and Tom O’Brien (North Carolina State).
6. Steve Spurrier will announce his retirement from coaching at the end of the season.
7. Lee Corso will announce his retirement at the end of the season. And will be replaced by Steve Spurrier.
8. Joe Paterno will announce he’s coming back for 2011, mainly because he wants to be in the Big 10 with “that young whippersnapper” Tom Osborne.
9. Miami head coach Randy Shannon will be a hot name rumored for a couple of NFL openings, but will ultimately stay with the Canes.
10. Western Kentucky will extend their nation’s-worst losing streak to 32 games by the end of the season.
Football has not been kind to Big Red.
11. Tim Tebow will be referenced at least 15 times during every Florida Gators broadcast this year. And at least 5 times in every Denver Broncos broadcast.
The world’s most popular backup quarterback.
12. With Texas Tech athletic director Gerald Myers announcing his retirement, the “Mike Leach for AD” campaign will be in full force by the end of the season.
13. USC will find a half-eaten cheese sandwich that Reggie Bush accidentally left behind in 2004. They will send it back.
14. At least 5 walk-ons will start for North Carolina this season. Because everyone else has been suspended.
How many times did I tell you not to Tweet about going to your agent’s stripper parties while your tutor wrote your term papers for you?
15. Joe Schad will report something that is actually true. (Hey, it’s gotta happen eventually, right?)
16. People will make 54,376,232 jokes about the Big 12 having 10 teams and the Big 10 having 12. And they’ll think they’re being funny every time. And they’ll be wrong every time.
7-Eleven didn’t change their name when they started staying open 24 hours. Now let it go.
17. Since Jeremiah Masoli was ruled ineligible, Ole Miss coach Huston Nutt will go after other soldiers-for-hire. But the Rebels will still finish last in the SEC West.
On the upside, B.A. Barracus will make 2nd team all-conference at linebacker.
18. Virginia Tech will upset Boise State in Week One. Tyrod Taylor will jump to the top of the Heisman watch lists. And then Virginia Tech will then gift wrap the ACC title for Miami with the same two inexplicable conference losses the Hokies always seem to manage.
19. Top 25 team (not named North Carolina) most likely to tank this season: #19 Penn State. A freshman QB, a suspect offensive line and road trips to Alabama, Iowa and Ohio State are not good omens.
20. Unranked team most likely to join the party: You heard it here first, Connecticut will win the Big East.
Yes, I’m sure we’re not talking about women's basketball.
21. Player most likely to be benched at least three times this season: South Carolina QB Stephen Garcia
Well, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth about the impending Armageddon of conference realignment, the bomb has finally dropped and we’re left with, well, pretty much what we already had. Nebraska moved to the Big 10. Colorado and (reportedly) Utah will be heading to the Pac-10. And Mountain West teams will soon be heading to the Smurf Turf of Boise State. But other than that, it all turned out to be much ado about nothing. But that doesn’t mean we can’t engage still in a little snap judgment. With that, here are (in no particular order) the Big 12(10) Winners and Losers in the expansion fiasco.
WINNERS
1. Texas. The big winners in all of this. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, it’s hard not to respect the piece of Machiavelliangenius that Texas just pulled off. The Longhorns successfully managed to dupe the Pac-10, (most of) the rest of the Big 12 and the national sports media. And what did they get?
A potential new TV deal that will pay them even more.
Nine other schools now completely at the Longhorns’ mercy.
Making the five schools that didn't have a BCS conference invite sign over their share of the Nebraska and Colorado buyout money.
An even greater revenue disparity to their benefit.
Their own TV network.
A conference schedule that will, in all likelihood, put them just one game away from a shot at the national title every year.
In other words, everything they wanted from the beginning and then some. Rob Oller of the Columbus Dispatch put it best: “No one can say Horns never play anyone. They just played everyone.”
Forget the World Series of Poker. DeLoss Dodds is the real Texas Hold ‘Em Champion.
2. The Big 12 Teams Not Named Texas (Short-Term). If Dan Beebe can pull off his miracle TV deal he claims he can get, the TV package for all the schools will grow significantly. More importantly, the remaining Big 12 schools that didn’t have BCS conference invites are spared the indignity of having to beg the Mountain West or the MAC for membership.
3. The Big 10. They add one of the most successful programs in NCAA history that brings in big TV numbers. They finally get a conference championship game for a big money payday. And, by not jumping the gun to super-conference status right now, they leave themselves some wiggle room for Notre Dame future expansion.
4. Nebraska. Tom Osborne proved to be prophetic. Whether you agree with his opinion of them or not, it’s true that everything he lamented in the conference—the shifting of power to Texas, the unequal revenue distribution, the lack of a Big 12 network, etc.—not only will continue under the new Big 12, but appear to be getting even worse. For good or bad, the culture of the conference simply isn’t what it once was. Nebraska had become an outsider in its own conference and the move to the Big Ten was a natural one. Yes, the extra money ($22-$25 million instead of the $10 million they made in the Big 12) and the chance to leave Texas behind are nice, but perhaps even more important the move gives the Cornhuskers the stability and egalitarian culture lacking in the Big 12.
“What can I say, I TRIED to warn them.”
5. Chip Brown, Orangebloods.com. Yes, it seems a little slimy when a site trolling for subscribers and serving as a mouthpiece for the biggest player in all this is the one breaking the stories. And, sure, those stories weren’t always accurate (he broke both the report that Texas was joining the Pac-10 and that Texas was staying with the Big 12). But over the last week, he’s had ESPN eating out of his hand and become a household name with football geeks waiting on pins and needles for his next Tweet.
What do Chip’s sources say today?
6. Pot dealers. When Colorado and California get together for their first Pac-10 meeting, there may not be enough dope, tie dye or Phish cover bands to go around.
Tailgating in Boulder
7. Stewart Mandel, Sports Illustrated. The man predicted Nebraska’s move—three years ago.
8. The Red River Rivalry. With Nebraska out of the picture and no conference championship game, the annual Oklahoma/Texas shootout becomes a de facto conference title game and very likely a play-in game for a BCS title shot.
One of the biggest games in college football gets even bigger. Plus it has corn dogs.
9. T. Boone Pickens. Without having to compete with Phil Knight, Pickens can maintain his status as the biggest spender in the conference.
Lord Boone mingling with the commoners.
10. Arizona and Arizona State. Under the proposed Pac-10 expansion discussions, the Wildcats and Sun Devils would have been put in a western division with the six new schools from the Big 12. In other words, they would have to play Texas and Oklahoma every year. Now they can breathe a sigh of relief and still hold on to that pipe dream of making it back to the Rose Bowl someday. Plus, Bob and Mike Stoops don't have to worry about those awkward family reunions.
LOSERS
1. The Big 12 Teams Not Named Texas (Long-Term). This whole process showed one thing. Texas is the king, and everybody else in the conference exists for the sole purpose of doing the Longhorns bidding. If there was any doubt about who the top program in college athletics is, it’s over now. While the smaller schools in the conference are breathing a sigh of relief right now, I wouldn’t get too comfortable. The only reason the Big 12 exists today is because, right now, it is in Texas’ best interest. But the Longhorns won’t commit to anything long term (another reason Nebraska wanted out—UT refused to commit to anything past 2016), so the conference may be right back in this same position a few years from now when the new TV deal runs out. Texas is looking out for Texas. Period. And if the revenue doesn’t come in like projected or they think they can cut a better deal somewhere else, the rest of the Big 12 will all be scrambling for new homes.
Help, help, I’m being repressed!
2. Missouri. The Tigers have had their bags packed for months, not even trying to conceal their love affair with the Big 10. So to get stranded at the altar in favor of Nebraska had to sting quite a bit. Plus, they’re now stuck with a new TV deal where the revenue disparity will be even bigger than before and they have to play both Texas and Oklahoma every year. While they have to hold out hope that the Big 10 may expand somewhere down the line, the uncertainty of their immediate future has to have Mizzou hating life.
“I want to go to the Big Ten THIS much.”
3. Colorado’s Short-Term Future. Colorado tried to get ahead of the curve by jumping to the Pac-10, expecting the Big 12 to dissolve behind them. Because it didn’t, the Buffs are now on the hook for approximately $9 million over the next two years in lost revenue they owe back to the Big 12 as punishment for leaving.
And you thought CU fans were upset when they couldn’t come up with the money to buy out Dan Hawkins.
4. Oklahoma’s Self-Respect. The Sooners’ marching band is called the Pride of Oklahoma. After this week’s developments, they may have to rethink that. For some inexplicable reason, OU Athletic Director Joe Castiglione kept finding ways to reiterate the fact that the Sooners would go wherever Texas went. While that move might (and I emphasize might) have been in OU’s best interest (at least in the short term), did it really help to paint the Sooners into a corner like that, take all other options off the table and basically admit that OU has become the Longhorns’ little sister?
C’mon, Joe. You guys are better than that.
5. Journalism. I, for one, will never trust any future article with the line “Sources close to the program say . . .” again. There was so much misinformation and outright deception going on that journalistic integrity was the first casualty in the Great Expansion Wars of 2010. And if someone wasn’t breaking incorrect stories, then someone else was running with that information and claiming it as their own.
I’m looking at you, Joe Schad.
6. Brett Favre. For the first time in years, the annual summer “will he or won’t he” retirement talk hasn’t been the biggest offseason story in football.
"Hello? Will somebody pay attention to me now?"
7. Big 12 Relevance. For some time, the Big 12 North division has largely been an afterthought. The winner of the Oklahoma/Texas game would go on, win the conference championship and then go on to the BCS. But there was always at least a little bit of intrigue, given the history of title game upsets (Texas in ’96, A&M in 98, Kansas State in ’03, etc.) and Nebraska’s recent resurgence. All that, however, goes out the window with the loss of the conference title game and no real competition for the Longhorns and Sooners. Barring some huge upsets, 9 of the league’s 10 teams will effectively be irrelevant on the college football scene by mid-October.
8. Dan Beebe’s Math. I took calculus in high school, and then clepped out my college math requirements. So I haven’t studied math in . . . let’s see, minus 18, times the circumference, carry the one . . . a lot of years. But I still can’t figure out how Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe figures that subtracting one of your better TV draws (Nebraska), scrapping a conference championship game and losing the Denver media market somehow adds up to almost doubling the conference’s TV contract.
9. The Pac-10. Here they thought they had Texas, the biggest fish in the college football sea, coming aboard. All they had to do was take their in-state rivals, Texas A&M and Texas Tech, with them. But then word got out that Baylor had friends in high places and that some Texas legislators were threatening to submarine the deal if Baylor wasn’t included in the package. So the Pac-10 tried to call their bluff, issuing a pre-emptive invitation to Colorado. However, the plan backfired and, instead of getting Texas as the jewel in their conference crown, they’re stuck with an underachieving Colorado program that just got hit with NCAA scholarship reductions.
10. Jerry Jones. Jerry had just secured the Big 12 Championship game for his new Taj Mahal in Dallas through 2013. Now it appears that there won’t be a title game past 2010.
Available for parties, weddings, rehearsals, bar mitzvahs...
From a cynic’s perspective, last night’s Round One of the NFL draft was very disappointing. After all, my job is to write about the bad and stupid things that football teams do. And yesterday was remarkably devoid of that. Sure, there were some surprises (Clausen falling out of the first round). And some teams reached for players they probably could have gotten later (Tebow, Alualu). And invariably some of these players will be busts. But all in all, I think most teams did what they needed to do. So with that, I’ll do my best to comment on a few things about draft night.
What fun is the draft when I can’t even point and laugh at the Raiders?
Bring Back Saturday!
First off, I hate the new three-day format. While I understand their efforts to get more viewers during prime-time, I really didn’t like the draft competing with the NBA playoffs. Plus, when the early rounds were on Saturday, that was my one day in about six months in which I could use football as an excuse to put off chores and sit in front of the TV all day. The draft—at least the first couple of rounds—was my get-out-of-jail free card for one day off from spring cleaning and housework. Now, it’s going to be hard to justify to my wife (and myself) why I should spend my Saturday waiting for someone to take a punter in the sixth round instead of fixing the fence in the back yard.
This looks like a job for Mr. Irrelevant!
Nice Guys Finish First
Last night was a big night for “high character” guys. Sam Bradford, Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy are three of the nicest, humblest, most down-to-earth guys you will ever meet. Meanwhile, Dez Bryant, once projected as a top-ten pick, slid all the way to Dallas at #24 based on his off-field issues. With so much focus the last two week on Ben Roethlisberger’s issues, it was nice to see these kind of guys get rewarded. It’ll be interesting to see as the draft progresses if NFL GMs shy away from talented but troubled players in favor of Boy Scouts.
Bradford can smile all the way to the bank.
Injuries are Overrated
On another front, it was good to see two great players who came back for their senior years not have their draft stock hampered by injuries. Sam Bradford, projected as a top pick last year, went #1 overall despite playing in only three games this year due to shoulder injuries. Oklahoma tight end Jermaine Gresham, projected as a mid- to late-first round last year, missed his entire senior season with a knee injury. But he still went #21 to the Bengals, the first tight end taken. (For comparison, last year’s top tight end, Brandon Pettigrew, went to the Lions at #20).
Carson Palmer is the happiest man in Cincinnati today.
And on the Third First Day, Tebow Shall Be Drafted
There was great wailing and gnashing of teeth coming from the Rocky Mountains last night when the Broncos traded up to draft Tim Tebow in the first round. I’m certainly not a Tebow hater, but you have to question the thought process here. It’s obvious the Broncos loved Tebow. Fine. But the Broncos had the 11th pick in the second round. With most teams having Clausen and McCoy higher on their boards, even if some teams in need of a QB got into the game, odds are that Tebow still would have been there. So in essence, the Broncos traded 2nd, 3rd and 4th round picks to move up 18 slots . To their credit, the Broncos have made several trades and still have a stockpile of draft picks, so they have potential for a very solid draft class. But I just think they ended up buying something they could have had anyway.
Just because.
“Who the Hell is Mel Kiper?”
Speaking of Tebow, am I the only one who found Mel Kiper’s reaction when Tebow was drafted hilarious? Kiper acted like someone had just personally insulted his entire family tree when someone dared to take Tebow ahead of his golden child, Jimmy Clausen. I kept waiting for him to pull out dueling pistols and “demand satisfaction.” The only person more worried right now than Jimmy Clausen? U. of Washington QB Jake Locker, who Kiper has already anointed as next year’s #1 pick.
Am I the only one who thinks Kiper is better suited for a Twilight movie than an NFL draft room?
On the plus side, with plenty of talent still left on the board, there's still plenty of time for your favorite team to completely screw the pooch. So stay tuned.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The owners of the rights to "Rocky Top," the song that's played throughout football season in Tennessee, have settled a copyright lawsuit against the television network A&E.
The Tennessean reported that U.S. District Court Judge Aleta Trauger approved the settlement Monday and dismissed the lawsuit. The lawsuit filed in June accused the network of inserting the iconic tune in a 12-second video clip for a true crime television documentary after the owners said A&E could not do it.
Court filing did not reveal the details of the settlement and attorneys for both sides declined to discuss the settlement.
Felice and Boudleoux (BOO'-deh-loh) Bryant penned the song in 1967 and the couple's children own the rights to it, under the corporate name House of Bryant.
No word whether the song's owners plan on going after Peyton Manning for being such a choker during his days in Knoxville and for the punitive damages that he's giving them.
While even the President has taken up the rallying cry for frustrated sports fans, "a political group founded last year to oppose the existing college football playoff system struggled to raise funds in first year of operation" according to TheHill.com.
According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports filed by Playoff PAC, the committee only raised $5,974 in cash and in-kind contributions last year and had only three contributions of $200 or more.
What's more is you're not going to move much legislation while spending less than $2,000 on awareness and advocacy.
Perhaps Playoff PAC should consider rolling in with our friends at the Sports Fan Coalition?
(Regular HHR contributors Rusty and The Cynic are born-and-bred fans of the North Carolina State Wolfpack and the Nebraska Cornhuskers, respectively. The one thing they have in common is having been suckered into recruiting hype. In time for National Signing Day, we at HHR thought it might be good for them to provide some perspective. Enjoy.)
Ah, signing day—the pedophile’s national holiday. Seriously, isn’t it just a little disconcerting hearing a bunch of pasty middle-aged white dudes describing 17-year old boys as “physical specimens?” You know, the ones who drool over YouTube videos of high school game films and know just a little too much about his chosen school’s recruiting targets? While I understand wanting to get the top players for your team, with some of these guys there’s a very fine line between Rivals and kiddie porn.
Anyway, recruiting is, at best, an inexact science. Sure, getting a bunch of 5-star guys probably helps your team’s odds overall. But it’s certainly not uncommon to see those same guys leaving school or riding the pine a couple of years later while players with less talent but better work ethics run onto the field. Plus, it tends to be somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy (Recruit X has offers from Texas, Alabama and Florida, therefore he must be a top player, right?). So before you get too excited about where your favorite team’s recruiting class ranks on Scout.com, let us give you a brief cautionary tale.
So much talent. Now what?
The Cynic: Harrison Beck was on everybody’s 2005 recruiting radar. Rated as the third-best pro-style QB recruit in the nation (behind Mark Sanchez and Jonathan Crompton; 12 spots ahead of Colt McCoy), he chose Nebraska over offers from Florida, Florida State, Miami, Michigan, Ole Miss and North Carolina State, among others. When he arrived in Lincoln, Beck was supposed to be the savior—the one who would take Bill Callahan’s West Coast Offense by the reins and resurrect a declining Nebraska program. But after a disappointing freshman year, in which he saw very limited action and finished just 1-10 for 21 yards and an INT, cracks in Beck’s seemingly invincible armor began to appear.
Fast forward to two-a-days in August 2006. Beck skipped a couple days worth of practice. Reports circulated that he was upset with his lack of playing time (having dropped to third on the depth chart) and was looking to transfer. However, he supposedly had second thoughts and had asked for (and received) Callahan’s permission to rejoin the team. Then it happened. And by “it,” I mean Harrison’s mom. A Lincoln paper quoted Evelyn Beck-Bothwell as saying that Harrison was being treated unfairly and that, if he was given a fair amount of repetitions in practice, he would be the starter.
While there were few positives about the Bill Callahan era at Nebraska, most Husker fans would agree starting QB Zac Taylor was one of the toughest SOB’s to ever put on the scarlet and cream. He was the unquestioned leader of that 2006 team, popular with both the fans and the players. So to say that Mrs. Beck-Bothwell’s comments badmouthing Taylor and #2 QB (and eventual starter) Joe Ganz were not well-received would be a massive understatement. Once the comments became public, too many bridges had been burned and Coach Callahan quietly told Beck that it would probably be in everybody’s best interest if he were to continue his career elsewhere.
My mommy says I'm special.
So Beck packed his bags and headed back east, eventually landing at North Carolina State.
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Rusty: Harrison Beck’s tenure in Raleigh was as stable as an episode of MTV’s The Real World. Beck was mired in a post-Rivers stable of mediocre quarterbacks. After sitting the mandatory first year required by the NCAA, Beck was narrowly edged out by NC State legacy Daniel Evans for Tom O'Brien's debut as the Wolfpack coach. Evans' first game under O'Brien wasn't pretty, and Beck soon found himself with the starting job. However, his two touchdowns thrown in relief of Evans would be his only ones of the season. Despite his Hulk Hogan arm and cocksure swagger, Beck helped the Wolfpack stumble to a basement dwelling 1-4 start by throwing 8 interceptions in 5 games. His only win as a starter that year came against lowly D1-AA Wofford.
In his second year in Raleigh, Beck would only get the starting nod once, having bee relegated to the backup role for soon-to-be-named ACC Offensive Player of the Year, Russell Wilson. His one start was certainly one for the record books--3 picks, no touchdowns, and a completion percentage of less than 30 percent. Much to the delight of Wolfpack nation, it would be the last action he saw in the regular season, though rumors circulated that his mother was fashioning vodoo dolls of Coach O'Brien. In fact, by that point relations had soured so much between the formerly heralded recruit that, when he did see action again in the Papa John's Bowl, he seemed to relish completing his only pass of the game . . . to the Rutgers secondary. The other players in red-n-white didn't find Beck's 16th interception to only 119 career completions nearly as funny. (For you math whizzes out there, that means he completed 13 percent of his passes to the guys wearing the other uniform over his career for the Wolfpack.)
Sadly, even after leaving NC State, Beck remained defiant, basically saying that his poor performance wasn't his fault and seemed to outright endorse the idea that he was more interested in throwing deep balls and making SportsCenter highlight reels than executing the coaches' game plan: "That's [deep passes] a little different than what I've ever had [at NC State]. It was always, 'Don't lose the game,' 'Don't throw that,' 'Check it down to the fullback, throw it short, take that stuff.'" Quite the team guy.
Action shot of Beck not checking down.
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After washing out at two BCS conference schools, Beck accepted an offer to play for new coach Terry Bowden at Division II North Alabama. In fairness, he did have a solid senior season: Beck threw for 31 TDs, more than 3,800 yards and finished sixth in the voting for the Harlon Hill Trophy, the D-II equivalent of the Heisman. But, in typical Beck fashion, he managed to throw his former coaches and teammates under the bus, saying his success was due to having receivers and a coach who "understand who I am as a quarterback."
Beck taking one for the team. Or not.
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Still, this one year of D-II success is a far cry from the lofty visions that Beck, his mom and the various recruitniks around the country had for him in 2005. Beck may have been talented, but his ego and inability to play the coach’s game that kept him on the sideline and ultimately on the bus to Alabama.
But don’t cry for Harrison Beck. He’ll always have a place in history—as the only player whose mommy ever got him kicked off the team.
Channeling his inner Finn Hudson, Colorado Buffalo long snapper Austin Bisnow (calling himself "Austin Paul") stopped just short of flashing jazz hands and breaking into a Glee mashup in front of judges on American Idol.
PERSONAL-Born June 9, 1987 in Washington, D.C. Hobbies include writing music, producing CDs of his songs, singing, performing and playing the piano and drums. He has released three CDs on ITunes, many more songs on MySpace, and has videos on YouTube. Upon graduation, he hopes to be a pop star and a professional long snapper.
After an abysmal audition, what's more amazing than him trying to pawn himself off as an entertainer is him trying to pawn himself off as a D-1 football player.
He's the BACKUP long snapper:
AT COLORADO: This Season (Jr.)-A special teams performer, he enters the fall as the backup snap specialist, both for short (placements) and long (punts) kicks.
Without further ado, we finally tip our hand and offer a few details on the location and time for Blogs With Balls 3.0. Listen to the podcast to find out where and when, and sign up for more information on the BwB Site.
The book makes its official release on January 19, so go get yourself one.
This week's guest is John Christie, who serves in the dual role of EVP of Content Partnership with XOS Digital and as General Manager of the SEC Digital Network.
The company and conference made waves last summer when the New York Times ran a piece that highlighted their seemingly restrictive policy that made it difficult for bloggers and fans alike to share and distribute SEC content. Since that time, we've followed the SEC's progression and the role XOS has played in it on the Blogs With Balls blog, and have also maintained a steady and honest dialect with the company's representatives. We also conferred with some top college football bloggers to get their thoughts. Most noted the lack of functionality and embeddablity of video and accused the SEC as serving as a clearinghouse, and hoarding and filtering content.
While the SEC's policy may not be at the level bloggers would like to see it, John indicates that it is constantly evolving and they are taking feedback seriously.
A first step they say is the recent availability of the SEC Digital Video Widget. Christie tells us about what the widget entails and specifically if and how it might address these previous blogger criticisms.
We appreciate his willingness to address bloggers' concerns head-on and we came away with better understanding of both why and how the policies are being implemented.
Says John:
"It was never about keeping the content from the fans. It was about developing that comprehensive strategy to get it out there to the fans through all these different mechanisms."
Our old pal Assassin Avenue has been on sabbatical north of the border. He did have time to research the Trojan's new head coach on HHR's behalf and sent us along the following screen shot.
