Dear All Sports Media: STFU!

It started as soon as the matchup was announced…

Sports Media: Kevin Smith needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders‘ single season rushing record.
Sports Media: Kevin Smith needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
Sports Media: Kevin Smith needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
Sports Media: Kevin Smith needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
Sports Media: Kevin Smith needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
Sports Media: Kevin Smith needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
Sports Media: Kevin Smith needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
Sports Media: Kevin Smith needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
Sports Media: Kevin Smith needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
Sports Media: Kevin Smith needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
Sports Media: Kevin Smith needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
Sports Media: Kevin Smith needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
Sports Media: Kevin Smith needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.

During the game…..

ESPN: We love Kevin Smith. Kevin Smith is the greatest running back ever. He only needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
ESPN: Wow. We just can’t get enough of Kevin Smith, and he only needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
ESPN: Have we told you how much we love Kevin Smith?
ESPN: We love Kevin Smith. Kevin Smith is the greatest running back ever. He only needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
ESPN: Wow. We just can’t get enough of Kevin Smith, and he only needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
ESPN: Have we told you how much we love Kevin Smith?
ESPN: We love Kevin Smith. Kevin Smith is the greatest running back ever. He only needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
ESPN: Wow. We just can’t get enough of Kevin Smith, and he only needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
ESPN: Have we told you how much we love Kevin Smith?
ESPN: We love Kevin Smith. Kevin Smith is the greatest running back ever. He only needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
ESPN: Wow. We just can’t get enough of Kevin Smith, and he only needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
ESPN: Have we told you how much we love Kevin Smith?
ESPN: We love Kevin Smith. Kevin Smith is the greatest running back ever. He only needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
ESPN: Wow. We just can’t get enough of Kevin Smith, and he only needs 181 yards against Mississippi State to break Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record.
ESPN: Have we told you how much we love Kevin Smith?

Once it was clear Kevin Smith would not get the record….

ESPN: Well… uhm… hey, isn’t it great that Kevin Smith is coming back for his senior year? His momma is so proud of him. Now he’ll get another shot at breaking Barry Sanders’ single season rushing record. Wow. Kevin Smith is just the greatest guy ever.
ESPN: blah, blah, Kevin Smith…. blah, blah… Kevin Smith.

Dear Sports Media, and especially ESPN:

SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP! (pardon my French there kids, but there’s just no polite way to say it)

Not to discredit what the kid has accomplished this year, but I am sick and tired of hearing about Kevin Smith. For the 12 games leading up to conference championship weekend, very few people outside the state of Florida and Conference USA even knew who he is. They certainly didn’t notice someone creeping up the all-time single season rushing list. Only when Central Florida wrapped up the C-USA championship and set their sites on the Liberty Bowl did anyone bother talking about him. And they never shut up about it.

Now… let’s take a closer look at Smith’s quest to eclipse Sanders and why I think it’s ridiculous to even talk about it.
In 1998, Barry Sanders had 345 carries for 2,628 yards in 11 games. In what was then the Big Eight conference. He did this against the likes of Texas A&M, Colorado, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Sanders eclipsed the 300-yard mark four times and averaged 238 yards rushing per game.

In contrast, Kevin Smith had 450 attempts in 2007 in 14 games for his 2,567 rushing yards. 105 more carries in three more games to come up short of what Sanders did in ‘98. And Smith plays in arguably a much, much softer conference in C-USA than Sanders played in. Smith benefited from a conference championship game and a bowl game to pad his stats. In 1988 there were no conference championship games and bowl game stats did not count toward single season records. If they had, Sanders would have another 222 rushing yards added to his total to give him 2,850 on the season.

As much as the media is loving playing up to this kid for what he has accomplished this season, I feel they are also belittling just how great of an accomplishment Sanders put up in ‘98. The simple fact that today’s players are playing in more games and all of them count toward season stats elevates what Sanders did in my mind.

Kevin Smith is good. Barry Sanders was superman. There is no comparison.

Now to the game….

I wonder if the Vegas experts didn’t get caught up in the Kevin Smith hype as well, putting UCF up as 3 point favorites. I would have made the game a toss up or given State a 1.5 point spread personally.

I didn’t know if Smith would break the 100-yard mark or not, but there was no doubt in my mind he would not get the 181 needed for the single season record. State’s defense is simply too good for that. If Darren McFadden couldn’t run for 100, why would you think Smith could get 181?

What did bother me was whether or not State’s offense would move the ball. They’ve been hot and cold all season and the five week down time could leave them sluggish once the game rolls around. I think UCF did a good job of preparing for us more than I think our offense just wasn’t ready to play. They did the same thing our defense did; they stacked the line and dared Wesley Carroll to beat them with his arm. It worked. When Carroll did drop back to pass, UCF pressured him into bad throws all game long.

But the matchup everyone talks about is State’s defense vs. Kevin Smith. State’s defense rose to the challenge and stuffed him more times than not. They did their job and when UCF was forced to pass, State’s defense bent but didn’t break and came up with big plays when it absolutely needed to.

The coaching staff finally made some adjustments to the play calling and State’s offense put together the game winning drive late in the 4th quarter after Kyle Israel threw his third interception. No, it wasn’t pretty but the win counts nonetheless. I don’t care how pretty or ugly a game is as long as we win.

And just in case you’re wondering, Smith needs something like 1700 yards next season to break the career rushing record. If he breaks that, I’ll give him some of the credit ESPN is trying to shower him with. Until then, enough talk.

Clean Sweep!

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State’s Sylvester Croom has swept the two most recognized Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year honors, it was announced today.Croom, who led the Bulldogs to a 7-5 record and their first bowl berth since 2000, was named coach of the year by his peers and by the Associated Press.

State won seven of its last 11 games after a 45-0 loss to then-No. 2 LSU in the season-opener. High-profile wins against Alabama, Auburn and Kentucky followed, as did a come-from-behind win over Ole Miss in the Nov. 23 Egg Bowl that clinched the team’s first bowl berth since 2000.

MSU will face Central Florida (10-3) in the Dec. 29 AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis.

“It is a great honor and a tremendous blessing to be named SEC coach of the year by my peers,” Croom said in a statement released by MSU. “To even be considered for such an award by the coaches in this conference is quite special.

“I would like to thank my coaching staff, our players, the MSU administration, and the fans for their support over the past four years, and particularly this season. I especially want to thank the fans for the home field advantage they have created. They had a tremendous affect on the outcome of the games.

“Special praise and gratitude also has to go to our seniors, and our entire football team, for the character and determination they showed this season. But I also must remind them that the job is not yet finished.”

Croom is the first State coach to be honored as the AP SEC Coach of the Year since Charley Shira in 1970 and the first from State voted in by his peers since Wade Walker in 1957.

When Sylvester Croom was hired four years ago, State’s football program was in shambles. The talent level was poor, many of the attitudes even worse. The NCAA was handing down sanctions for deeds done under Jackie Sherrill’s watch. We had already suffered through three straight losing seasons and had absolutely no hope of ever coming out of the funk.

Mississippi State broke the color barrier by hiring Croom as the first minority head football coach in the SEC (he’s still the only one). Croom carried with him an impressive resume as an assistant coach, but he had not coached at the college level in more than 17 years and had zero head coaching experience. However, what Croom did have was character. Lots of character. The man was well groomed by his parents and his coaching mentors. And he had a plan for turning around State’s dreadful football program.

I doubt there are many State football fans that honestly gave him a chance to win. I know I sure didn’t. Croom wasn’t very concerned about recruiting when he first arrived in Starkville. His first priority was to change the attitude of the team. He knew if he could weed out the bad attitudes and loser mentality, positive things would happen. How he even survived his first year is beyond me. But he did. He kicked players off the team, worked others so hard that they quit. In the end, what he was left with were players who bought into their coach. Players with good work ethic, good attitudes, and players who would not quit no matter what.

His first season was no better than the three seasons prior to his arrival as far as wins go. But the difference in the team could be seen. They were trying harder even though it didn’t show up in the win column.

Croom’s second season was worse in win totals, but you could still see there was a lot of fight in the team. But how long could they go on continuing to lose before the program caved in again?

Last year the Bulldogs again only won three games, but you could sense they were close to breaking through. Of their nine losses, four of them were one-possession games that State had a chance in. Winning was just beyond their grasp but it gave fans hope.

This year State finally was able to take advantage of an opportunistic defense and find ways to win seven ballgames. Had just a very few plays gone in our favor, State could have easily won nine ballgames.

Croom’s plan is working. He has stuck to his guns and is rebuilding the program the right way. He is recruiting players with good character and good work ethic. He says those types of players win ballgames. Winning ballgames makes more people want to play for you. Doing it the right way makes more parents want to send their sons to play under someone like Croom. Croom has definitely changed my mind. I suspect he has changed oh so many more who also doubted him.

Job well done, coach. We’re proud of you.

P.S. Croom has also been named a finalist for Liberty Mutual’s National Coach of the Year.

Yes, Another Playoff Post. Ok, So More Of A Rant.

The BCS is a complete and utter failure. Why? Easy. It doesn’t matchup the two best teams in the country as it should. Instead, it matches up the top two vote getters from the polls.

The people behind the BCS are also full of shit. Just look at how they spin how the BCS is so much better than the old poll voting.

Until the early 1990s the selection process for bowl games was disorganized at best; chaotic at worst. Some bowls would effectively make selections after seven or eight games. As a result, the conference commissioners worked to develop a system that not only allows the selection process to be completed at the end of the regular season, but also creates better matchups.

And

The BCS was established to determine the national champion for college football while maintaining and enhancing the bowl system that’s nearly 100 years old. The BCS has become a showcase for the sport, matching the best teams at the end of the season.

Put on your waders; the shit is getting deep.
While I freely admit the poll voting leading up to the creation of the BCS wasn’t perfect, it was certainly no more flawed than the BCS itself. And as far as the BCS creating better matchups, that still carries a great deal of luck in getting those better matchups. The BCS sure as hell does not “match the best teams at the end of the season” as it claims. Sure, it matches #1 vs. #2 every single year only because there has to be a ranking system that has a #1 and #2 team. That does not mean those two teams are deserving of their standing.

And how exactly does the BCS enchance the tradition of the bowls? The only positive thing the BCS did was break old traditional conference ties with some of the major bowls in order to create the BCS bowls (Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Orange). Now that those longstanding automatic ties have been severed, the BCS has actually helped when they finally realize a playoff is the answer to determining the national champion.

The BCS claims to matchup the two best teams. This year, the BCS claims that LSU and Ohio State are the two best teams. What criteria does the BCS use to determine that Ohio State and LSU are better than Georgia, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Southern Cal, West Virginia, and Hawaii? The answer is in the polls. The polls and the timing of each of these teams’ losses (except Hawaii – the only undefeated team in the BCS top 25). Lose early and you have a chance. Lose in the middle of the season and you still have a chance if you were ranked 1 or 2 at the time. Lose late and you’re out unless you win your conference championship and the guys ahead of you didn’t play in their conference championship game.

LSU and Ohio State are not the two best teams. They’re just the two that the pollsters voted up after Missouri and West Virginia had the dubious honors of being the last #1 and #2 teams to fall on the final weekend of the regular season. Ohio State is being rewarded for the Big 10 not having a conference championship game while Georgia is being penalized for not winning their conference division and not playing in the SEC title game (they did tie with Tennessee, the Vols simply won the tie breaker). LSU jumped from 7th all the way to 2nd after escaping the SEC title game. Virginia Tech was ranked ahead of LSU in the week 13 standings and beat a higher BCS ranked team for their conference title and still gets jumped by LSU. Why? Easy. The polls. We’re right back to letting the polls decide who wins championships instead of deciding it on the field.

The BCS screwjobs aren’t reserved for just the title game, either. Missouri got perhaps the biggest BCS screwing of all. Missouri beat Kansas for the Big 12 North division title, meaning Kansas did not play in the Big 12 conference championship game. Yet Kansas is selected to go to the BCS Orange Bowl while Missouri falls to a consolation game in the Cotton Bowl. Oh yeah… and Missouri is still ranked higher than Kansas in the final BCS poll. Why did Missouri get screwed? Easy. They have two losses while Kansas has one. Kansas is being rewarded for not playing in their conference championship game while Missouri is being penalized for playing in it and losing.

I’m also still lost on how the BCS “enhances” the bowl system. It does nothing to enhance it. The BCS simply replaced one broken poll system for another. The only difference is the BCS eliminated the conference ties to the four BCS bowls. That’s it.

A playoff is the only way to determine a national championship. Why is it that DI-A football is the only major college sport without a playoff? Hell, even DII and DIII football have playoffs to determine their champions. For me, the answer lies in the university presidents’ failure to think outside the box. They’re content with a broken system and are not interested in the additional revenue a playoff would no doubt generate.

A playoff would do nothing to harm the traditional bowl system either. If anything, it may help their games mean more.

Many college football “experts” have been claiming for the last couple of weeks that USC and Georgia are the two best football teams right now, yet neither of them are in the title game. Why? If they’re the best, they should be playing for the title instead of LSU and Ohio State. The truth is we’ll never know until you put them on the field and let the teams decide who the two best teams are in a playoff format.

I posted it here a few days ago how a playoff could work. Here are the highlights.

• Move the start of the season for everyone to the last weekend in August or the first weekend in September.
• Play an 11-game regular season with one off week.
• Every conference must have a championship game. Any conference without one must create one. Any conference without enough teams for one must work to get enough teams added to make it work.
• Every team must belong to a conference. No more special treatment for independents.
• Play the conference championship games the weekend after Thanksgiving.
• The top 12 in the BCS poll released after the conference championships advance ot the playoffs. The other bowl eligible teams receive their bowl invites.
• Two more bowls are added to the BCS structure to accommodate playoff games.
• Give everyone the second Saturday after Thanksgiving off.
• Play the first round of the playoffs the third Saturday after Thanksgiving as home games at the higher ranked teams’ home fields.
• Play the traditional bowl games starting the Monday after the playoffs start. The bowl games can fit into the weeks between playoff games and wrap up the week leading up to the championship game.
• Play the second round of the playoffs in four of the BCS bowls.
• Play the third round of the playoffs in the remaining two BCS bowls.
• Play the BCS Championship game in a rotating BCS bowl.

As it stands now, there are 3-4 weeks of dead time in college football between the conference championships and the first bowl games. In my proposed playoff format, there would only be one weekend off before the playoffs and bowls start. The playoff games are held on Saturdays and the bowl games are played during the week. Now, I know people will bitch about weekday bowl games but there are already plenty of them and their attendance does not suffer from it. I believe my system would generate more excitement in December for college football because it eliminates so much of the dead time. Just space the games out and wrap up the bowls in the week leading up to the championship game.

By including the top 12 BCS teams in the playoff, I feel it gives all of the teams with legitimate potential claims to be the best team a chance to prove it on the field. Don’t use academics as an excuse to not do this either. DII and DIII have 16 team playoffs and seem to do just fine with it.

Don’t Kick It To Hester!

Returning so many kickoffs/punt returns for touchdowns in college was one thing, but Devin Hester has been lighting up the pros as well. In less than two complete seasons, Hester has already returned four kickoffs and six punts for touchdowns. While that number may not sound like a lot, that’s 10 special teams touchdowns in just 28 games played.

Hester was just one punt return touchdown shy in 2006 of tying a 54 year old NFL mark for the most in a rookie season. His six punt returns fo a touchdown in his two seasons already rank him 4th all-time.

Hester does hold the #1 slot all-time for combined kickoff and punt returns for touchdowns at five in his rookie season. He’s matched that in his second season with more games to come.

If he stays healthy, Hester should completely rewrite the NFL record books for punt and kickoff returns. Again, he’s just 28 games into his career and he’s already established himself as one of the greatest return men of all time.

The Bowls Are Set

I almost don’t even care. Almost. The BCS once again proved that the system is an absolute disaster. And nothing is going to be done to fix it. Outstanding.

Liberty Bowl – the only bowl game that matters.
vs. Game Ball: Mississippi State

BCS “Who Cares” Championship
vs. Game Ball: LSU – THE Ohio State doesn’t have a chance.

Orange Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Virginia Tech – Tech’s defense will knock Reesing silly, and Kansas’ defense has been exposed more times than Brittney Spears’ crotch.

Fiesta Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Oklahoma – never bet against Stoops.

Rose Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Southern Cal – it’s a home game for the Trojans. I could care less, really.

Sugar Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Georgia – Sorry, Hawaii. Georgia has something to prove.

GMAC Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Tulsa – after shaking off an ass kicking at the hands of Central Florida, the nation’s top offense gets back on track.

International Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Rutgers

Outback Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Wisconsin, if their tailback is healthy.

Cotton Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Missouri – Mizzu gets screwed here by being snubbed by the BCS while Kansas makes it in. They’ll be pissed and Arkansas will have a makeshift coaching staff. McFadden deserves to go out better than this.

Gator Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Texas Tech

Capital One Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Florida

Armed Forces Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Cal

Sun Bowl
vs. Game Ball: South Florida – the game of the hasbeens. South Florida was ranked #2 at one time, while Oregon was on the path to the BCS title game before a season-ending injury to Dennis Dixon.

Humanitarian Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Fresno State – only because Tech won’t have their head coach.

Music City Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Kentucky

Chick-Fil-A Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Auburn – they should have been in the Cotton Bowl.

Insight Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Oklahoma State

Independence Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Colorado – please Buffs…. I’m begging you. Stomp a mudhole in Saban’s ass.

Meineke Car Care Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Wake Forest – welcome back to reality, UConn.

Alamo Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Jo Pa

Texas Bowl
vs. Game Ball: TCU

Champ Sports Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Boston College

Emerald Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Oregon State

Holiday Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Arizona State

Motor City Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Purdue

Hawaii Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Boise State

PapaJohns.com Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Southern Miss – The Golden Eagles send Bower out a winner.

New Mexico Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Nevada

Las Vegas Bowl
vs. Game Ball: UCLA – they have more initials.

New Orleans Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Memphis

Poinsettia Bowl
vs. Game Ball: Navy