Five Thoughts:
Preseason
|
Week 1 |
Week 2 | Week 3 |
Week
4
Week 5 |
Week 6 |
Week 7
|
Week 8
| Week
9
| Week 10
| Week 11
Week 12 |
Week 13 |
Week 14
Maxwell and Unitas Awards ... Thanks for playing.
By
Pete
Fiutak
1.
This is
not an anti-Brady Quinn or Notre Dame hating rant. This is a
why-the-awards-are-occasionally-a-fat-load-of-bull-muffins beef.
The Unitas Award is supposed to go to the best senior quarterback in
America, while the Maxwell Award is supposed to go to the college
football player of the year.
Each award has now been rendered irrelevant and meaningless after Quinn
won them both.
Why was Smith the winner of the Heisman Trophy by one of the largest
margins ever? Why did Quinn fall to third in the Heisman race behind
Darren McFadden and Smith? It's because Smith was, unquestionably,
2006's signature college football player. Quinn will be the first pick
in the NFL draft, but that has absolutely nothing to do with college
football awards.
If you want to argue that McFadden was the best player in the nation,
you'd be wrong, but I'd listen. If you want to say Hawaii's Colt Brennan
was the nation's best quarterback because of his numbers, you could at
least make a case. But for Quinn to win not just the player of the year,
but the best senior quarterback honor is wrong and embarrassing.
The numbers were certainly nice, and Quinn was brilliant in comebacks
against Michigan State and UCLA, but in Notre Dame's two big games of
the year against Michigan and USC, Quinn didn't lead his team to wins,
and wasn't even close. Smith finished the season fourth in the nation in
passing efficiency while Quinn was 14th.
Come on voters, be smarter, and better than that.
How much does
Oklahoma care about its players?
By
Pete
Fiutak
2.
Here's a chance for Bob Stoops and the Oklahoma coaching staff
to show that they care about their players and their futures above
anything else.
Tell Adrian Peterson thank you, enjoy the view from the sideline, and
start getting ready for the NFL combine.
How much would future recruits
respect Stoops and truly believe he has their best interests at heart?
Would you let your kid risk $25 million for one game that, when all is
said and done, doesn't really matter?
I understand how players work their tails off while dreaming of playing
in bowl games. I understand how desperately Peterson wants to help out
the team he's been a cheerleader for ever since breaking his collarbone
against Iowa State. But Oklahoma isn't playing in the national
championship, or even the Big 12 title game, which would then be more
than understandable for Peterson to come back to play in. The Fiesta
Bowl against Boise State is nothing more than a glorified exhibition
game, and certainly isn't worth
jeopardizing this great kid's future.
What if he blows out a knee like Willis McGahee in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl?
What if he breaks his leg like Michael Bush in the season opener against
Kentucky? We're talking about a top ten pick in next year's draft, and
possibly number two behind Brady Quinn, and he's going to risk it
against Boise freakin' State?! (Actually, I'd make the same case for
Quinn.) Don't believe the garbage that some NFL
scouts want to see Peterson play once more. Peterson is a
multi-millionaire next year at this time.
Reggie Bush signed for $51 million for six years with $26.2 million
guaranteed. Will Stoops or the Oklahoma coaches and fans repay the lost
revenue if Peterson gets hurt and slides down the first round, like
McGahee? Yeah, right.
It's Peterson's place to say he wants to play and nothing can keep him
off the field. It's up to the adults to do what's best for him and his
family.
Looking inward might
not be looking forward
By
Richard Cirminiello
3. I know I'm supposed to hail Miami's hiring of
Randy Shannon as some shrewd move or cosmic shift in the future fortunes
of the Cane program because that's what everyone's been telling me to
think since the coach was promoted from defensive coordinator a couple
of days ago. That's what I'm supposed to think, but that's just not
what's going through my mind right now. Miami, suffering through a
historical low point on and off the field, desperately needed to whack a
home run with Larry Coker's successor, but instead hit a bloop single
after getting snubbed by a who's who of coaches because of a lack of
funds, a lack of interest or both. Rule No. 1 in tabbing a head coach.
Hiring from within is only a good idea if the program is currently
hitting a high note. If it's hemorrhaging, you've got to get a fresh
start with fresh ideas by looking outside the family. Now, that's not to
suggest that Shannon was part of the problem. Au contraire. He's
well-liked and a gifted recruiter and defensive coordinator, who's
earned his shot to be a head coach, but didn't Miami just go down this
same familial road with a guy...what his name? Larry Coker.
At a time when the program had to make a splash with its next head
coach, it gingerly dipped its toe into the shallow end of the water. It
got cheap and conservative, landing a coordinator with no head coaching
experience and, more important, a man who's too familiar with the warts
and current players in Coral Gables. What Miami needed was an outsider,
a strong disciplinarian with zero allegiance to any current member of
the program—an every-job-is-up-for-grabs type character. When it was
announced that Shannon was the guy, Cane players openly applauded the
decision, mugging it up with the new boss and finding it hard to contain
their enthusiasm. Call me old-fashioned, but isn't it a potentially
ominous sign when players are that excited about the hiring of a new
head coach? Shouldn't there be some trepidation about the new sheriff in
town? Only time will tell if Miami traded up with the promotion of
Shannon to head coach. For now, I'll remain very skeptical about the
direction of this program, despite all the propaganda that's presently
being jammed down my throat.
Covering the Tide
By
Matthew
Zemek
4.
If you ever had
any doubts about the quality of college football journalism, especially
when compared to the "hard-news" realms of politics, breaking news, and
foreign policy, your skepticism was justified the past two weeks.
While the media consistently butchers stories of
far greater social and global significance (Katrina, the Sago Mine
tragedy, Iraq, and on and on), it's worth pointing out that the coverage
of the Alabama coaching situation has been one of the sorriest two-week
spectacles in the history of college football reportage. The amount of
ink spilled--and technical equipment used--to document utterly false
stories about Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban and (now) Rich Rodriguez is a
profound waste of resources... and a profound insult to the intelligence
of the masses, in both Tuscaloosa and Morgantown.
Nationally and in the state of Alabama, news
outlets have made one erroneous report after another, filling
broadcasts, column inches, cyberspace, and newsprint with rumors upon
rumors but precious few facts. The lessons that need to be learned by
military reporters and political correspondents are the same lessons
that need to be learned by a great many Alabama journalists and college
football insiders: get the story right, and forget about trying to get
the story first. Fueling fires and fanning flames are not the jobs of
journalists; getting the facts is the one essential task for the beat
reporters who are following ongoing stories as they emerge on the
ground.
It's long past time for journalists to stop
covering these coaching situations so obsessively. Let events happen,
and then document the process when it's over. If you want to nail down a
story before it's confirmed, get a direct comment from all relevant
parties; if you can't, don't run the story, for cryin' out loud.
When one considers just how bad journalism is
these days, it's not a surprise when fans label "the media" with a very
broad brush. It's very true that when journalism suffers, each of its
individual practitioners suffer as a result.
How to turn around your career
By
John
Harris
5. His name was Tommy. He was the best football player I ever
played with or against. He locked down receivers, ran like a deer and
could do just about anything on a football field. He was the type of
player that played on Sundays, he was that good. I thought that, but
everyone thought that. After a strong first year at junior college,
Oklahoma was all over him, but then it was over. For whatever reason.
Maybe a multitude of reasons. He never made it to Norman or anywhere
else.
You know someone just
like Tommy. Star of the neighborhood. Stud in high school. You’re
thinking of that guy right now. Invariably, you shake your head because
The Man let ‘circumstances’ take him down, no matter what they were.
There might not be anything worse in sports than an athlete letting it
all go down the drain.
That was Troy Smith.
It wasn’t going down the drain – it was already there. When he was
younger as his mother struggled being a youthful maternal figure. When
he left school after a blatant elbow in a high school basketball game
got him kicked off the team. If you knew Troy at that time, how many
could see it spiraling down the drain? Then, he earns a scholly to Ohio
State – he’s made it, right? You tell me – he takes $500 from a
booster, making him ineligible for the Alamo Bowl a month after a
sublime performance against Michigan in 2004, rendering him persona non
grata alongside The 2002 star recruit, some guy named Maurice. He was
just another Man, just like Clarett, headed for the ‘Another Talent
Wasted’ pile.
But, the Great Ones
eventually get it. Smith got it and looked what happened. No matter
what happens in Glendale, he’s a legend in Ohio State lore. Move over
Spielman. Step aside Eddie. Here comes Troy. He got it. He absorbed
his past and was honest about his transgressions, vowing to never let
any of it happen again, turning his life around in the process. Smith
became the Man whose story will be told to every talented wayward youth
in America. “You can be just like Troy if you…”. That’s the best part
of the Troy Smith story and one he’ll never perhaps be able to fully
comprehend. He taught a nation of followers and young players that
you’re the only person who can derail yourself. As much as he tried, he
kept his train on the track. You can, too.
