**Remember that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month (thus the pink blog). Please do whatever you can to contribute to finding a cure for this terrible disease that affects so many.**
The one skill that separates good college football coaches from great college football coaches is their ability to recruit. Great players can make average coaches look much better than they actually are (i.e. Larry Coker during his Miami run), and average players can make great coaches look average (i.e. Steve Spurrier at South Carolina). College coaches are willing to do any and everything to get these great players to play for them. For instance, I am yet to figure out how Ron Zook can consistently get great players to play for him. Some coaches bend the rules to get recruits on campus, while other coaches flat out break the rules to get recruits on campus. There are even those who play by the rules. No matter what approach they take, success in big-time college recruiting comes down to one skill. The ability to make an 18 year old kid feel like he is an athletic god, and convincing his parents that you will take care of him as if he was your own son, make sure he gets a great education, and do your best to help him get to the next level in life, whether he intends to play in the NFL or be one of the remaining 94,328 (whatever that commercial says) players that will go pro in something else. I am not going to sit here and call all college coaches liars, but I am sure that they some interesting things to players, parents, and high school coaches to convince them that their university is the right place for them.
In Saturday's game against the Texas Longhorns, Oklahoma quarterback (and reigning Heisman Trophy winner) Sam Bradford was knocked out of the game for the second time this season with an injury to his throwing shoulder. The first shoulder injury caused Bradford to miss three games, and it is thought that this injury is similar to the first one. For those of you who don’t fully understand the significance of an injury to a quarterback’s throwing shoulder, I will try my best to explain. I want to make it clear that I am not a medical doctor nor am I a football coach, but I think I can explain this one. The quarterback is the player on the football team who is responsible for throwing the ball. You throw the ball with you arm, and the shoulder is the second most important part of the arm (behind the elbow) when it comes to throwing a ball. To make a long story short, Bradford is one serious shoulder injury away from throwing like Chad Pennington. No disrespect to Pennington, who gets more out of a dollar store water pistol arm than any quarterback in NFL history, but being compared to Chad Pennington will definitely have an adverse affect on Bradford’s draft prospects. In my very knowledgeable opinion, he is on track to become the next quarterback of the St. Louis Rams. (That’s my fancy way of saying that he will be the first pick in the 2010 NFL draft.) While most players would dread being drafted by a franchise in such disarray, the $40+ million in guaranteed money that the first pick will receive, should do a lot to make St. Louis look like a wonderful place to play football.
With so much at stake for Bradford, It is now time for Bob Stoops to put the player’s physical and financial health ahead of his desire to win games this season. I am sure that Bob Stoops made the same empty promises to Bradford’s parents that he has to every other star player that he has recruited. But now, it is time for Stoops to be a man of his word, and SHUT DOWN BRADFORD FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SEASON!!!!
Oklahoma is currently 3-3 on the season and 1-1 in the conference, with that loss coming to Texas (who would own the tie-breaker if they finished with the same conference record). Therefore, it is safe to say that they will not be playing for the national championship this season, and their chances of playing for the conference championship are essentially dead as well. That being said, it is clear that they really don’t have anything to play for, except pride, which is a responsibility that your backup quarterback should be able to handle. Truth be told, if they were undefeated and ranked 1st in the nation, I would still feel as though it would be irresponsible for Stoops to allow Bradford back on the field.
Bradford is twenty-two years old, and is obviously going to want to get back on the field as soon as possible. If he comes out and says that he wants to shut it down for the season to protect his draft status, college football fans and the college football media are going to bash him repeatedly for being “selfish” and for “thinking about himself more than the program.” Which is why, he should continue to rehab as hard as possible and say all of the “right” things about wanting to get back on the field with his teammates and win games for Oklahoma (blah, blah, blah). Bob Stoops on the other had should be the responsible adult who protects the kid from himself by making sure that he never plays another down as a college football player. It is the job of Stoops to make sure that everyone sees the big picture, and realize that he must do what is best for Sam Bradford the person, and not the Oklahoma football program that will still be there long after Bradford is gone.
Truthfully, I don’t believe that college football programs or the NCAA really cares about what is in the best interest of their student athletes. The only thing that they really care about is money. With Bradford on the field, Oklahoma would definitely get more media exposure (which would help recruiting). They would also win more games, and play in a third tier bowl game, instead of a fourth tier bowl game (more money for the school). Bob Stoops would also get to increase his career wins. Basically, everyone EXCEPT BRADFORD has something to gain from him risking a career altering or ending injury, and continuing to play.
Now is the time for Bob Stoops to step up and show future recruits that he really does have their best interest in mind and will always do what is best for them long-term, even if it hurts the short-term future of his program. Whether he is man enough to do it remains to be seen. All I know is that Sam Bradford is one shoulder injury away from becoming Chad Pennington, and it would be a shame if he suffers that hit on a college football field before he ever gets to cash in on all of his talent and potential. Stoops, DO THE RIGHT THING & SIT THE KID!!!! The future of the Rams is in your hands.
AND NOW FOR MY BALLER AND SCRUB OF THE WEEK!
BALLER: Mark Ingram (Running Back - University of Alabama) - Although I despise Nick Saban, I absolutely love to watch the University of Alabama football team. Simply put, THEY PLAY THE GAME THE WAY IT SHOULD BE PLAYED! They play clean, hard, and with BAD INTENTIONS!!!! The ring leader on their offense is running back Mark Ingram. Ingram earns Baller Status for his 24 carry 246 yard performance against South Carolina. For those of you who aren't very good at math, that's a whopping 10.3 YARDS PER CARRY! He also had a touchdown. HE IS A BAD MAN!!!!
SCRUB: Rush Limbaugh (REJECTED Owner of the St. Louis Rams) - Rush, you being my Scrub of the Week has nothing to do with your political beliefs. This is America, and you have the right to be either Democrat, Republican, Independent, Any Combination of Them, or Neither. That is your business. However, the reason that you are my Scrub of the Week is because you actually tried to become a part owner of a team in a league that is nearly 70% African-American after you have made numerous racial and prejudice statements about African-Americans and black NFL players over the years. Are you serious? This isn't a politcal blog, so I won't get into Limbaugh's infamous quotes. Let's just say he isn't the type of person who needs to own a team that is mostly made up of African-Americans. Nothing good can come from that situation.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
IT IS TIME FOR BOBBY TO GRACEFULLY BOW OUT
I am going to change up the format of this week’s blog. Instead of ending with the Baller & Scrub of the Week, I am going to start with my Baller of the Week and then end with my Scrub of the Week.
BALLER OF THE WEEK: THE NFL – While watching the NFL last Sunday, you may have noticed that a lot of coaches were wearing baseball caps with pink bills. Officials are also wearing pink wristbands. The goal posts are protected by pink padding, and commentators & game analysts have been wearing their best pink shirts and ties. Most notably, the players have been wearing pink wristbands, gloves, and thanks to a brilliant idea by DeAngelo Williams of the Carolina Panthers, pink cleats. For those that don’t know, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast Cancer affects roughly 1 in every 8 American women and countless other worldwide. The purpose of Breast Cancer Awareness Month is to raise awareness of the disease and to also raise money to continue to improve treatment and ultimately find a cure. The NFL, which is the most popular sports league in America, is definitely doing its part to raise awareness through its high-visibility support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Many of the pink items that are being worn by players and coaches can be purchased from nflshop.com with a portion of the proceeds going to breast cancer research.
All over America, a variety of fundraisers are taking place to raise money to fight breast cancer. Walks are one of the most popular types of fundraisers. My wife will be participating in American Cancer Society’s “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk.” If you would like to sponsor her by making a donation to the American Cancer Society’s efforts to fight breast cancer, please click on the link below.
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/MakingStridesAgainstBreastCancer/MSABCFY10SouthAtlantic?px=13127018&pg=personal&fr_id=19944&fl=en_US&et=5ytmJfK6d1OE2FiXxAR-xw..&s_tafId=360975
You may have noticed that this week’s entry appears to be written in pink font. Don’t adjust the color settings on your monitor. This is my way of contributing to the fight against breast cancer. Therefore all entries written this month will be done in pink (with a dark background so that it can easily be read).
Now for this week’s entry:
This is by far the most difficult blog entry that I have had to write since I started STRAIGHT CASH HOMEY!!!! For those of you who know me or read this blog regularly, it is obvious that I am a huge sports fan. Although, I enjoy watching many different sports, players, and teams there are four entities that I am especially loyal to. I am obviously a HUGE NFL FAN! I enjoy the entire league, I don’t have one particular team that I am a fan or, I am simply a fan of NFL football. I watch and follow every team in the league. I am also the Self-appointed President of the unofficial Atlanta Hawks fan club. I have been a Hawks fan forever, and have been serving in my current capacity of self-appointed President since 2004. I am also a big fan of the University of Kentucky Wildcats basketball program, and the Florida State University football program. The fact that I have been a Florida State football fan since my childhood is what makes this such a difficult entry to write. I regretfully say that IT IS NOW TIME FOR BOBBY BOWDEN TO GRACEFULLY BOW OUT!!!!
Since 1976 (before I was born) Bobby Bowden has been a stalwart on the sidelines at Florida State University. During his illustrious tenure with the Seminoles, Bowden has won 12 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships (FSU didn’t join the conference until 1991) and 2 National Championships. His career record as a head coach (including stints at Samford University & West Virginia) is 384-127-4. His 384 career wins are second all-time behind only Joe Paterno of Penn State (388 wins). Of Bowden’s 384 wins, 311 of them came at Florida State. Needless to say, he is a legendary coach and figure in college football. He has also coached many future NFL stars such as Warrick Dunn, Deion Sanders, Derrick Brooks, Peter Boulware, Darnell Dockett, and Leon Washington just to name a few. I could name more but it really would take up too much space. However, I would be remised if I didn’t mention Charlie Ward, who never played in the NFL for reasons that are an entirely different blog topic.
In the 73 years of football at FSU before Bowden’s arrival Florida State had a combined record of 157-136-14. This includes a 19-37 record in the in the last four seasons before Bowden took over. This basically shows that the Florida State University Football Program was built by Bobby Bowden. Unfortunately, today it seems as though it is being destroyed by Bobby Bowden.
There are those that say, “Bowden built that program from nothing, so he should be able to coach as long as he wants to.” I used to be amongst that crowd until I stood back and took an objective look at the program that I have loved since childhood. The truth is that since the end of the 2000 season, FSU has a record of 69-40. Now I know that some of you are wondering what all the fuss is about, because that is a respectable record that a lot of schools would love to have. That is true for most schools, but not for an elite program, the caliber of which Florida State used to be. Prior to 2001, FSU had an unprecedented streak of finishing the season ranked in the top five for 14 CONSECUTIVE YEARS!!!! Do you really think a program that had grown accustomed to that type of success can deal with living in the land of the mediocre programs? We are talking about a team that had grown accustomed to annually playing in the few bowl games that should actually exist. Their last three bowl appearances have been in the Emerald Bowl, Music City Bowl, and the Champs Sports Bowl. Now, I am not putting down other programs that would be celebrating such bowl appearances, but at Florida State this is flat out embarrassing.
There are also those that say that, “It may be time for Bowden to step down, but FSU has to handle this situation better than they have.” To those people I ask, “How can Florida State handle the situation any better than they have?” Not only does everyone know that this should be Bowden’s last season as head coach, they also know that his last season should have been about four years ago. The Florida State University administration has been tremendously patient with Bowden. They have endured countless scandals, the recent losing, and in my opinion, six years of the worst offensive play-calling in the history of college football. The six years I am referring to are 2001-2006 when Bobby’s son, Jeff served as offensive coordinator. With Jeff Bowden calling the plays, you could be certain of one thing. You were going to see a plethora of screen passes each Saturday afternoon. Down and distance didn’t matter, he was going to be sure that he got at least 30 screen passes into every game plan. Whether they up by 20 or down by 20, you can be sure that a screen pass was coming at some point on each drive.
I must commend FSU for being proactive and going ahead a hiring their next head coach. I feel as though Jimbo Fisher will do an excellent job to restore Florida State back to their rightful place among college football’s elite programs. He is an innovative offensive mind who has a track record of success. Many people say, “Bobby doesn’t coach now, so why bother forcing him out as head coach?” I agree that at this point Bobby Bowden is no more than a figurehead. His primary role at this point consists of mostly shaking hands and kissing babies to raise money for the program. However, there is one problem with him staying on in his current figurehead capacity. He still has the title of head coach, therefore giving him complete control over the coaching staff. Bobby is an extremely loyal person, which is why his assistant coaches enjoy great job security. There needs to be some staff-wide changes that won’t take place until Jimbo is officially made head coach. Mickey Andrews is certainly not the defensive genius that he once was and Bobby even welcomed back fired NC State coach Chuck Amato (who was originally on Bobby’s staff from 1981 to 1999). The bottom line is that it is time for sweeping changes at FSU and they won’t take place until the Jimbo Fisher era officially begins.
You may have noticed that I have not mentioned Bowden’s age one time in this entry (he will be 80 years old in November), because that honestly doesn’t matter to me. Truthfully, if FSU were still winning and competing year in and year out for Conference and (more importantly) National Championships, I would not be writing this blog. I feel as though, as Tony Kornheiser likes to say, “THIS IS A GOTS TO GO SITUATION!”
I know that everything is cyclical, but at no point in the cycle should Florida State be the fourth best college football team in the state of Florida (behind Florida, Miami, and South Florida with Central Florida and Florida Atlantic fast approaching at this pace). The arrow on this program is clearly pointing down, and I honestly don’t think it will ever point up again under Bowden’s leadership.
By no means am I saying that FSU should kick Bowden out like yesterday’s trash, I mean he did build the program. He should be given a football related role within the athletic department and he should be paid his entire coaching salary (over $2 million annuallly) for the rest of his life. However, he should no longer be the football coach. The 2010 season should start a new era of Florida State football.
SCRUB OF THE WEEK: Florida State University Football Team – You are currently 2-4 overall with a 0-3 conference record. That’s why you are my Scrub of the Week. That’s all I’m going to say about that.
BALLER OF THE WEEK: THE NFL – While watching the NFL last Sunday, you may have noticed that a lot of coaches were wearing baseball caps with pink bills. Officials are also wearing pink wristbands. The goal posts are protected by pink padding, and commentators & game analysts have been wearing their best pink shirts and ties. Most notably, the players have been wearing pink wristbands, gloves, and thanks to a brilliant idea by DeAngelo Williams of the Carolina Panthers, pink cleats. For those that don’t know, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast Cancer affects roughly 1 in every 8 American women and countless other worldwide. The purpose of Breast Cancer Awareness Month is to raise awareness of the disease and to also raise money to continue to improve treatment and ultimately find a cure. The NFL, which is the most popular sports league in America, is definitely doing its part to raise awareness through its high-visibility support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Many of the pink items that are being worn by players and coaches can be purchased from nflshop.com with a portion of the proceeds going to breast cancer research.
All over America, a variety of fundraisers are taking place to raise money to fight breast cancer. Walks are one of the most popular types of fundraisers. My wife will be participating in American Cancer Society’s “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk.” If you would like to sponsor her by making a donation to the American Cancer Society’s efforts to fight breast cancer, please click on the link below.
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/MakingStridesAgainstBreastCancer/MSABCFY10SouthAtlantic?px=13127018&pg=personal&fr_id=19944&fl=en_US&et=5ytmJfK6d1OE2FiXxAR-xw..&s_tafId=360975
You may have noticed that this week’s entry appears to be written in pink font. Don’t adjust the color settings on your monitor. This is my way of contributing to the fight against breast cancer. Therefore all entries written this month will be done in pink (with a dark background so that it can easily be read).
Now for this week’s entry:
This is by far the most difficult blog entry that I have had to write since I started STRAIGHT CASH HOMEY!!!! For those of you who know me or read this blog regularly, it is obvious that I am a huge sports fan. Although, I enjoy watching many different sports, players, and teams there are four entities that I am especially loyal to. I am obviously a HUGE NFL FAN! I enjoy the entire league, I don’t have one particular team that I am a fan or, I am simply a fan of NFL football. I watch and follow every team in the league. I am also the Self-appointed President of the unofficial Atlanta Hawks fan club. I have been a Hawks fan forever, and have been serving in my current capacity of self-appointed President since 2004. I am also a big fan of the University of Kentucky Wildcats basketball program, and the Florida State University football program. The fact that I have been a Florida State football fan since my childhood is what makes this such a difficult entry to write. I regretfully say that IT IS NOW TIME FOR BOBBY BOWDEN TO GRACEFULLY BOW OUT!!!!
Since 1976 (before I was born) Bobby Bowden has been a stalwart on the sidelines at Florida State University. During his illustrious tenure with the Seminoles, Bowden has won 12 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships (FSU didn’t join the conference until 1991) and 2 National Championships. His career record as a head coach (including stints at Samford University & West Virginia) is 384-127-4. His 384 career wins are second all-time behind only Joe Paterno of Penn State (388 wins). Of Bowden’s 384 wins, 311 of them came at Florida State. Needless to say, he is a legendary coach and figure in college football. He has also coached many future NFL stars such as Warrick Dunn, Deion Sanders, Derrick Brooks, Peter Boulware, Darnell Dockett, and Leon Washington just to name a few. I could name more but it really would take up too much space. However, I would be remised if I didn’t mention Charlie Ward, who never played in the NFL for reasons that are an entirely different blog topic.
In the 73 years of football at FSU before Bowden’s arrival Florida State had a combined record of 157-136-14. This includes a 19-37 record in the in the last four seasons before Bowden took over. This basically shows that the Florida State University Football Program was built by Bobby Bowden. Unfortunately, today it seems as though it is being destroyed by Bobby Bowden.
There are those that say, “Bowden built that program from nothing, so he should be able to coach as long as he wants to.” I used to be amongst that crowd until I stood back and took an objective look at the program that I have loved since childhood. The truth is that since the end of the 2000 season, FSU has a record of 69-40. Now I know that some of you are wondering what all the fuss is about, because that is a respectable record that a lot of schools would love to have. That is true for most schools, but not for an elite program, the caliber of which Florida State used to be. Prior to 2001, FSU had an unprecedented streak of finishing the season ranked in the top five for 14 CONSECUTIVE YEARS!!!! Do you really think a program that had grown accustomed to that type of success can deal with living in the land of the mediocre programs? We are talking about a team that had grown accustomed to annually playing in the few bowl games that should actually exist. Their last three bowl appearances have been in the Emerald Bowl, Music City Bowl, and the Champs Sports Bowl. Now, I am not putting down other programs that would be celebrating such bowl appearances, but at Florida State this is flat out embarrassing.
There are also those that say that, “It may be time for Bowden to step down, but FSU has to handle this situation better than they have.” To those people I ask, “How can Florida State handle the situation any better than they have?” Not only does everyone know that this should be Bowden’s last season as head coach, they also know that his last season should have been about four years ago. The Florida State University administration has been tremendously patient with Bowden. They have endured countless scandals, the recent losing, and in my opinion, six years of the worst offensive play-calling in the history of college football. The six years I am referring to are 2001-2006 when Bobby’s son, Jeff served as offensive coordinator. With Jeff Bowden calling the plays, you could be certain of one thing. You were going to see a plethora of screen passes each Saturday afternoon. Down and distance didn’t matter, he was going to be sure that he got at least 30 screen passes into every game plan. Whether they up by 20 or down by 20, you can be sure that a screen pass was coming at some point on each drive.
I must commend FSU for being proactive and going ahead a hiring their next head coach. I feel as though Jimbo Fisher will do an excellent job to restore Florida State back to their rightful place among college football’s elite programs. He is an innovative offensive mind who has a track record of success. Many people say, “Bobby doesn’t coach now, so why bother forcing him out as head coach?” I agree that at this point Bobby Bowden is no more than a figurehead. His primary role at this point consists of mostly shaking hands and kissing babies to raise money for the program. However, there is one problem with him staying on in his current figurehead capacity. He still has the title of head coach, therefore giving him complete control over the coaching staff. Bobby is an extremely loyal person, which is why his assistant coaches enjoy great job security. There needs to be some staff-wide changes that won’t take place until Jimbo is officially made head coach. Mickey Andrews is certainly not the defensive genius that he once was and Bobby even welcomed back fired NC State coach Chuck Amato (who was originally on Bobby’s staff from 1981 to 1999). The bottom line is that it is time for sweeping changes at FSU and they won’t take place until the Jimbo Fisher era officially begins.
You may have noticed that I have not mentioned Bowden’s age one time in this entry (he will be 80 years old in November), because that honestly doesn’t matter to me. Truthfully, if FSU were still winning and competing year in and year out for Conference and (more importantly) National Championships, I would not be writing this blog. I feel as though, as Tony Kornheiser likes to say, “THIS IS A GOTS TO GO SITUATION!”
I know that everything is cyclical, but at no point in the cycle should Florida State be the fourth best college football team in the state of Florida (behind Florida, Miami, and South Florida with Central Florida and Florida Atlantic fast approaching at this pace). The arrow on this program is clearly pointing down, and I honestly don’t think it will ever point up again under Bowden’s leadership.
By no means am I saying that FSU should kick Bowden out like yesterday’s trash, I mean he did build the program. He should be given a football related role within the athletic department and he should be paid his entire coaching salary (over $2 million annuallly) for the rest of his life. However, he should no longer be the football coach. The 2010 season should start a new era of Florida State football.
SCRUB OF THE WEEK: Florida State University Football Team – You are currently 2-4 overall with a 0-3 conference record. That’s why you are my Scrub of the Week. That’s all I’m going to say about that.
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