Isn't multi-tasking part of Chizik's job?
Gene Chizik made a curious statement Friday. In discussing with reporters why his Auburn coaching staff isn't completed yet, Chizik said, "I'm not a multi-tasker so we're kind of attacking each position one by one."
It's perfectly understandable for a new coach to take his time and hire the right assistants. But to say you're not a multi-tasker is a head-scratcher.
The very definition of being a major college football coach today is to juggle multiple tasks.
One minute you're in meeting rooms evaluating personnel and discussing X's and O's. The next you're delegating duties to your staff. Before you know it, you're putting out fires and handing out discipline. At some point, you're on the phone with recruits or in their homes. Later, you're shaking hands with prominent boosters. All the while you've got to talk to the media and shape your program's public image.
The minute you can't do two things at once, especially in the SEC, is the minute another school is passing you. Am I the only one who had an uneasy feeling hearing a head coach with a 5-19 record say he's not a multi-tasker?
(c) 2009 The Birmingham News
The Pac-10 Should Cut Ties with the Rose Bowl
Once again, USC proved that the Rose Bowl is an annual mismatch.
Pundits said that this year was going to different. Penn State wasn't like the other Big Ten teams the Trojans had easily defeated the past two years. The Nittany Lions were quicker and more potent on offense, and they would give Pete Carroll's team a run for its money.
Instead, quarterback Mark Sanchez led a monstrous first half for USC, who led 31-7 after 30 minutes and never really looked back en route to a comfortable 38-24 victory.
In his postgame interview, USC coach Pete Carroll said, "I don't think anyone can beat the Trojans."
So why not give them the chance to?
No, I'm not talking about a playoff - at least not right now. A playoff would in all likelihood be great for college football, but the odds of one taking place in the next few years are slim to none.
I'm talking about fixing the real biggest problem with the BCS right now: the Rose Bowl.
As part of its storied tradition, the Rose Bowl is designed to annually feature the Big Ten and Pac-10 champions in a classic matchup to determine conference supremacy. There's only one problem: The Big Ten representative has not won the Rose Bowl since 2000.
Over the past seasons, the Rose Bowl has welcomed a Big Ten representative six times. Those representatives are 0-6, with the last Big Ten victory coming when Wisconsin beat Stanford in the 2000 contest.
But that's only the beginning of the story. The six Big Ten representatives have been outscored by a combined 85 points (that's an average of 14 points per game), and only one of the six teams failed to lose by double digits - Michigan, in 2005.
The immediate story is even worse. During the past three Rose Bowls, USC has outscored its Big Ten counterparts 119-59. That's an average of 20 points per game.
The Big Ten isn't just losing. It isn't even competitive.
In College Football Community Leader Lisa Horne's recent article, "Dear World Wide Leader in Sports: Thanks for Nothing," she discusses what she perceives as a mainstream media bias against the Pac-10 and its effect on the class of the conference, USC. More generally, she discusses the problem of making generalizations about teams based on conferences.
But in college football, each team plays at least two-thirds of its regular season games against conference opponents. Throw in the fact that most teams play at least two or three "cupcakes" in non-conference competition, and suddenly there are very few interconference matchups by which to judge teams.
What college football does give us is bowl games, and over the past three seasons the bowl games have shown that the Big Ten is clearly inferior. Combine the drubbings in the past two national championship games with the three Rose Bowl losses, and Big Ten representatives have five double-digit losses in their past five BCS bowl appearances.
So how can we not consider conference success in the Big Ten as less impressive than conference success in leagues such as the SEC or Big 12?
The Pac-10 has the exact same problem as the Big Ten: Namely, that the recent failures of the Big Ten have made it harder for Pac-10 teams to earn national respect, just like they have made it harder for Big Ten teams to earn national respect. Which brings me back to the Rose Bowl.
In the current college football environment, bowl games - specifically those on New Year's Day or later, and even more specifically BCS bowls - are the best way for a conference to assert its supremacy. By sending its champion to the Rose Bowl to slaughter a Big Ten opponent each year, the Pac-10 is missing out on this opportunity.
The problem for the Pac-10 is that, when USC crushes a Big Ten team in the Rose Bowl, USC's success isn't the story. The Big Ten's failure is. The majority of the country considers the outcome a validation of their beliefs about the Big Ten - "Of course USC won easily, they were playing a team with worse athletes" - as opposed to a confirmation of USC as a great football team and of the Pac-10 as a great football league.
If the Pac-10 wants to establish itself as an elite football conference, it needs to break away from the chains of the Rose Bowl and start pitting its top teams against the cream of the SEC and Big 12 in BCS bowls.
Only the Pac-10 can fix this problem. The Rose Bowl has no reason to change its arrangement - it is an extremely well-watched affair and is the only BCS bowl with its own television contract.
The Big Ten is perfectly fine with things as they are: Cutting ties with the Rose Bowl would only mean less prestigious bowl appearances and smaller paychecks for its teams.
It is the Pac-10 that is suffering, and there is only one solution.
The Pac-10 must cut ties with the Rose Bowl.
Breaking with tradition would enable the Pac-10 to prove itself against the nation's heavyweights. Instead of easily defeating Penn State on Jan. 1, the Trojans could have matched up with Texas in the Fiesta Bowl this season.
Last year, USC could have played a hot Georgia team in the Sugar Bowl instead of annihilating an overmatched Illinois team. These top-five matchups could have gone a long way towards validating the Trojans as an elite team and the Pac-10 as an elite conference.
There is a lot to be said for tradition in college football. But tradition is holding the Pac-10 back right now.
The Pac-10 needs to stop sending its champion to the Rose Bowl. Otherwise, Pete Carroll will once again just be talking about how his team deserves to play against the best teams in the nation next January.
Copyright (c) 2008 Bleacher Report, Inc
Buckeyes are aware of lack of respect
COLUMBUS, Ohio: Ohio State coach Jim Tressel is aware of all the snickering taking place behind his back, directed at his team's miserable failures in recent big games.
It seems many college football fans and media observers consider the Buckeyes a bunch of overrated chokers who cannot compete with the nation's best teams. They've come to that conclusion because the Buckeyes have played poorly in four nationally televised games over the past three seasons.
But Tressel doesn't feel any personal pressure to deliver a win when the Buckeyes take on Texas in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 5.
"If we do, that will be wonderful. It won't change my life," he said during the team's bowl preparations. "If we don't, that will be disappointing, but it won't change my life. You might write some bad things about me, but I'll get over it. So, no, I don't feel a pressure."
The players are well aware that most of America has little respect for them.
"We're always a great program and we have great talent," safety Kurt Coleman said of the public perception of the Buckeyes. "The last two years, we haven't shown up the way we needed to. I think this year it's a whole new team, we're out there playing Texas on the 5th and it'll be a great game. I think we'll be able to change the perception then."
The case against the Buckeyes begins with the 2006 national title game, when Florida dominated in every dimension while pounding Ohio State 41-14. With a cocky, talented lineup that included Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Troy Smith, the Buckeyes were actually favored going into that landslide loss.
Then came last year, when the Buckeyes muddled through a mediocre schedule, losing their final home game to Illinois. They were No. 8 in the Bowl Championship Series rankings after that setback, but then all the tumblers started to fall into place for them. As one team after another in front of them lost, they climbed until they were No. 1 in the final BCS rankings, earning a spot opposite a two-loss LSU team in the national championship game.
However, the Buckeyes fell to 0-9 against Southeastern Conference teams in the BCS title game, losing 38-24 in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the final score might indicate. They led 10-0 and scored the final touchdown, meaning they were outscored 38-7 the rest of the game.
The disappointments kept coming this season.
Ohio State faced only two teams comparable in talent, and lost both times. The fifth-ranked Buckeyes were humiliated 35-3 in a much anticipated showdown in Los Angeles against then-No. 1 Southern California on Sept. 13. They were without top rusher Chris "Beanie" Wells, who was out with a foot injury, but were badly beaten in every facet after taking a 3-0 lead.
They came back to win their next five games to get back to No. 10 in The Associated Press Top 25, only to lose at home to then-No. 3 Penn State, 13-6. In that game, Ohio State had great difficulty moving the ball because of the inefficiency of freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor and a stilted game plan, while Penn State lost its starting quarterback (Daryll Clark) but backup Pat Devlin (who has since announced he's transferring) led the Nittany Lions to 10 points in the final 6:25.
So the Buckeyes enter the Fiesta Bowl as an afterthought. Their opponent is a team that many consider the best in the country but which was deprived of a shot at the national title because of the vagaries of the BCS.
No wonder oddsmakers have tabbed the Longhorns as an 8 1/2-point favorite.
The Buckeyes say they are tired of all the putdowns and slights.
"If you have enough people saying negative things and they're trying to back you down in a corner or make you feel small, I think that is when animals or people alike are dangerous," Ohio State punter A.J. Trapasso said. "They're saying that this Fiesta Bowl is the final time for us to get blown out and how it will not be much of a game, but I think people will be surprised how hard we will come out."
Copyright (c) 2008 the International Herald Tribune
What If the BCS Had a Playoff This Year?
There needs to be a BCS Playoff system. I've already blogged about how since there's no playoff, the Big Ten needs to add teams and crown its own conference champ. Read about "My Plan to fix the Big Ten and save College Football."
Keep the bowl games - I don't care how you figure them out. Let the BCS figure that part out on their own. The playoffs would be a 16-team, 15-game, three-week, action-packed love fest of college football.
In early December you have figured out your 16 teams. This year they should be as follows:
1. Florida
2. Oklahoma
3. Texas
4. Alabama
5. Texas Tech
6. USC
7. Penn State
8. Ohio State
9. Utah
10. TCU
11. Boise State
12. Oklahoma State
13. Cincinnati
14. Georgia
15. Ball State
16. Virginia Tech
From here on out the playoffs look eerily similar to the NCAA Basketball Tourney. That's because it makes the most sense and is the most fair, all while being exciting and, dare I say, making a crap load of money.
How many office pools a year are there for March Madness? Okay, now how many for BCS, NFL, MLB, NHL, Little League World Series, and the Triple Crown? I'll bet if you add ALL of them up, they won't even come close to the number of office pools for the NCAA Men's Basketball.
I'll bet most American teams from the LLWS have pools, every floor of every office building in New York, LA, Toronto, Boston, Atlanta, Baltimore, and Philadelphia has pools, and there's a 5'2" inch Inuit in Kotzebue, Alaska who's won his pool three years in a row.
So it goes like this:
1 vs. 16
2 vs. 15
3 vs. 14
4 vs. 13
5 vs. 12
6 vs. 11
7 vs. 10
8 vs. 9
If you don't understand that, unplug your computer, put it in a box, and drop it off at your nearest Goodwill. Now, in my version of the playoffs, Florida, Ohio State, Texas, USC, Oklahoma, TCU, Alabama, and Texas Tech make it to the second round.
We have some pretty sweet matchups here. Number 1 Florida plays number 8 Ohio State in an epic battle. Tebow gets sacked five times and the Buckeye defense plays outstanding. Terrelle Pryor throws for two touchdowns and runs for one, and they beat Florida by 10.
Number 6 USC plays Number 3 Texas in a battle royale. USC upsets Texas with 1:23 left on the clock to play in a highly anticipated and moneymaking rematch versus a healthy and fired-up Ohio State football team.
Number 4 Alabama goes up against Texas Tech, and the Crimson Tide rolls by 17 and Texas Tech shows that maybe SEC defenses really ARE better than Big 12 defenses. Number 10 TCU goes up against number 2 Oklahoma Sooners. Again, the Big 12 is overrated, and it shows. Oklahoma just can't last against the incredible defensive display by TCU.
So our final four looks like this:
No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 6 USC and No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 10 TCU.
Ohio State, healthy and a completely different team, beats USC by 13 to win a spot in the BCS title game. Alabama fights a tough TCU team, but since they played and lost to Florida earlier in the SEC Title game, they learned from their mistakes playing a good defense and run for 160 yards.
Now the game everyone has been waiting for - the National Title game. Ohio State vs. Alabama, Buckeyes vs. the Crimson Tide, The Program vs. The Capstone. After a great game and the cheers from the Alabama cheerleaders about how the Tide is a fourth quarter team, the Buckeyes come out of nowhere and score 14 unanswered points to win by 11 and are crowned National Champs.
Yes, I am a fan of the Garnet and Grey, but this outcome is completely possible and makes a LOT of sense. If the Big Ten got its head out of it's proverbial ass, and the SEC, Big 12, and Pac-10 realized how much MORE money they could make, it would happen. Obama, get it done!
Copyright (c) 2008 Bleacher Report, Inc.
Cougs want history, third straight victory
PROVO - Every college football team not playing in a BCS bowl game needs something to get motivated, right?
For the No. 17 BYU Cougars (10-2), who are headed back to the Las Vegas Bowl for the fourth straight year, it is this: Three straight.
It will be BYU's 27th bowl appearance, but incredibly the school with a national championship has never won three straight bowl games. Four times now the Cougars have won two-straight postseason games, including last year when they edged UCLA 17-16 by blocking a last-second field goal attempt. But the third one has eluded them three times before.
"This will be an opportunity to win three straight bowl games, so it would be a huge deal for us to be the team that did that," quarterback Max Hall said, "to kind of put our names in the record books here and chisel our way into the BYU tradition and history, so we want to win. "
It is the third time the Cougars have had the chance to win three straight in consecutive years.
After winning the 1980 and 1981 Holiday bowls, they were pummeled 47-17 by Ohio State in 1982. After winning the 1983 and 1984 Holiday bowls, the Cougars were again derailed by the Buckeyes, only in 1985 it was closer, 10-7, and a lot farther away - the Citrus Bowl in Florida.
"We've got a lot to prove," BYU receiver Austin Collie said. "We lost to TCU and we lost to Utah, and, you know, we have a chance to set our marks in the Brigham Young University history books and get three consecutive bowl wins. That's something we are looking forward to. Coming off a loss, we have a lot to prove."
But don't feel sorry for the Cougars. Their opponent in the Las Vegas Bowl, Arizona, will be playing in a bowl game for the first time in 10 years. That fact has caused some to believe that the Wildcats are the hungrier team, and will be more motivated than BYU.
"I don't think so," Hall said. "I think both teams will be excited to play the game. I think more so than last year. I think UCLA last year might have been a little disappointed in going to the Vegas Bowl. We were excited to be there, and we are excited to be there again."
BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said that although a third-straight bowl win would be a nice springboard into next season, he's more concerned with ending this season the right way.
"Certainly, you can't discount winning a bowl game and the momentum that would carry into the next season, but next season will be a different team. At BYU, so many players change and rotate. I also think it would be doing a disservice, possibly, to our current players, by focusing on this as the beginning of next season. We are approaching it as the closure to this year."
All-Americans
After acknowledging Thursday that he was at least considering forgoing his senior season to enter the NFL Draft, Collie on Friday was named to the CBS Sportsline All-America First Team. He also made the Rivals.com All-America Second Team.
BYU tight end Dennis Pitta made the Rivals.com All-America Third Team.
Briefly
Mendenhall said Friday that more than a dozen members of the 2008 team will leave on LDS Church missions when the season is over. The list so far includes tight end Kaneakua Friel (South Africa), linebacker Michael Alisa (Puerto Rico), linebacker Daniel Sorensen (Costa Rica), and kicker Justin Sorensen (Macon, Georgia)... Mendenhall said the Cougars have made scholarship offers to three junior college players (mid-year transfers) who could sign as early as Wednesday - two linebackers and a defensive back.
sltrib.com
Redd-y or not, it's a new day for Red Knights
Two new coaches, revamped Wilson and an Exeter squad hoping to still be a factor are the main storylines in Division I of the Berks Conference. Here's what to look for in Berks I, as well as what to expect from fellow county squads Boyertown, High Point and Berks Christian.
Redding era starts at Reading
Reading High didn't lose until its 31st (and final) contest last season, when the Red Knights won the Berks and District 3-AAAA titles.
With a new coach in Tim Redding, a lineup that graduated two 1,000-point career scorers and lost another All-Berks pick to transfer, and a rugged non-league schedule, anything close to a similar start would be a minor miracle.
Still, the Red Knights appear to have enough to make a serious run at another county championship and still throw their hat in the district ring.
The cornerstones will be forward Trenity Burdine, a 6-4 junior with a condor-like wingspan, and sophomore Marcus Dawkins, a left-handed swing man with smooth moves and a sweet jumper.
Another key returnee, Demrick Cook, provides some heavy-duty muscle in the rebounding department.
"The only real philosophy change is that we're tweaking the offense a little bit," Redding said. "It's still going to be fast-paced with aggressive defensive play. It's just a matter of who's going to step up behind Trenity and Marcus."
The team's biggest question mark will be at the point, where Redding likely will go with senior Jordan Miranda, with sophomore transfer Delvan Brown and sophomore Marco Liriano also figuring in the position mix.
Forward Xavier Mumford and guard Yamil Echavarria also should see important minutes in what could be a nine-deep rotation.
"We're jamming a lot of information into these guys in order for them to prepare themselves mentally and physcially," Redding said. "They're going to have to learn quickly and be able to implement it on the court."
The Red Knights will open the season tonight against Williamsport in the first round of the York Tip-off Tournament.
Big things for Bulldogs?
A lot of county hoops insiders think Wilson has a shot to win its second Berks Conference title in three years.
The primary reason is a nifty blend of height, experience and potential that has coach Matt Coldren plenty excited - once he finally gets his entire roster on the court.
The only problem is that it might not be for at least another week.
Three of Coldren's top players - guard Alex Fegley, center Tyler Beck and forward Zach Zweizig - will be on the field at State College Saturday for Wilson's PIAA Class AAAA football semifinal against Bethel Park.
Which means a mighty green lineup likely will take the court at West Lawn in tonight's Wilson Tip-Off Tournament opener.
But that trial by fire could help forge the young lineup into a strong unit, once the football players finally hit the hardwood.
Fegley is entering his third year at guard, while the 6-4 Beck and 6-5 Zweizig are inside forces. Nate Coffey, a 5-11 junior who is the younger brother of former Bulldogs standout Steve Coffey, eventually will run the point when he is cleared to return from an offseason knee injury. And Reading High transfer Andre Pendergass, a 6-5 forward, is a diamond in the rough, according to Coldren.
"We should be strong, and we have very good size," Coldren said. "Our front line is very big. Our big guys are versatile and we have more of them.
"This is probably the first team I've had where they're basketball players first. Previous years, it would be a lot of football guys playing basketball, but these guys all love basketball and have committed to it."
Once they get to commit to it this winter, the sky could be the limit.
"I really think that success is going to carry over," Coldren said. "I think a big reason for the success we had two years ago was because the success Ryan Ebner (baseball) and Josh Smith (baseball/football) had in other sports. That mentality of never wanting to lose carried over."
Guarded optimism at Mifflin
One of Reading High's major losses is a significant gain for Gov. Mifflin.
The Mustangs, under first-year coach Tim Yanuskiewicz, became an immediate player when standout point guard Justin "Macho" Rodriguez transferred to Mifflin last spring.
"He understands the game and brings a winning mentality," Yanuskiewicz said of Rodriguez, an All-Berks selection who averaged 12.5 points per game and a team-best 4.8 assists last season. "No one wants to win more than him.
"Plus, he gives us a different dimension. We can give it to him when we get pressure knowing he'll handle it and get it to the right people."
Rodriguez should mesh with backcourt mate Casey Hughes, who has a similar mentality as a veteran of Gov. Mifflin's memorable football campaigns of the past three years.
"We could have a pretty darned good defensive backcourt," Yanuskiewicz said. "Now we have to develop that kind of mentality from the rest of the troops."
The 43-year-old Yanuskiewicz played at Reading High, where he was a member of the 1983 District 3-AAA championship squad and was also a 1,000-point career scorer at Alvernia.
He served two stints as a Mustangs assistant, the latter for the past four years.
Eagles try to maintain course
Though Exeter hasn't qualified for the Berks playoffs in 25 years, the Eagles quietly have been consistent lately, with three winning seasons, and district appearances, over the past four years.
Anyone who sleeps on the Eagles this year could be in for a big surprise.
With an underrated all-around talent in 6-1 forward Eric Thompson and a couple potentially potent paint threats in 6-9 Matt Seifert and 6-4 LaQuan Chapman, Exeter is an intriguing darkhorse.
"I'm real excited about this team," coach Kevin Boettlin said. "We feel we're actually further along now than we were last year. They've really bought into the program."
One notable addition on the bench is Brian Ellison, the former Exeter player who served as a top assistant at Reading High over the past few years.
Points of interest
Boyertown coach Mike Wheeler is six wins shy of 100 for his 10-year career... High Point's Dathan Marshall enters his senior season with 1,076 career points, 426 points shy of Ryan Vanderboegh's school-record 1,502.
(c) 2008 Reading Eagle Company, All Rights Reserved
Penn State on the Big Ten Network: Dec. 1-7, 2008
University Park, Pa. - A men's basketball intrastate matchup with Temple and the Big Ten football Bowl Selection Special, along with two editions of Penn State-produced original programming, highlight Penn State programming this week on the Big Ten Network.
Penn State's home game with Temple airs live on the network at 6 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 6) with a replay at 10 a.m. Sunday (Dec. 7). Big Ten Tonight will air its Bowl Selection Special, breaking down each conference team's postseason matchup, at 10 p.m. Sunday. The Nittany Lions will play in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. In other football programming, the Lion regular season finale victory over Michigan State will be replayed at 2 p.m. Thursday (Dec. 4). The Nittany Lions classic 1984 game against Boston College will air as one of the Big Ten's Greatest Games at noon on Sunday.
In campus programming, 1st 30, a Penn State-produced show following four freshman women during the start of their college careers, has its Big Ten Network debut at 5 p.m. Thursday. Meanwhile, We Are: The Millenials, a College of Communications produced magazine-style show, has its latest episode replayed at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday (Dec. 3).
Big Ten Short Stories profiles Lift for Life, the charity created by Penn State football players that has become a model for programs around the nation to raise funds for underserved diseases, at 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
The Pennsylvania State University (c) 2002-2008
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