After returning home from the Big Easy on November 14th and witnessing history on the following day, I’m back again to present you the SEC Rankings for the week of November 16th.

1. Alabama (Auburn is looking to make a case on Thanksgiving Saturday to make a Bowl and seven in a row against the Tide. Problem is, this Tide squad is pretty damn good.)

2. Florida (Another SEC East title and a chance to head to the BCS when the SEC Championship Game takes place on December 6th. Florida has a cupcake and a team fighting for position in the ACC remaining on their schedule.)

3. LSU (Last year I asked Crichton graduate Grace Walker for grace when Mizzou played the Kansas Gayhawks Thanksgiving Saturday. Apparently that same grace Grace Walker brought that Saturday in Kansas City came to Baton Rouge when LSU made their historic comeback against Troy.)

4. Georgia (Narrow win against Auburn puts Dawgs in position for a chance to head to the Chik-Fil-A Bowl. Chances are, if they lose to Georgia Tech, then the Liberty Bowl will come calling. But I disgress.)

5. Ole Miss (Houston Nutt has done more with Coach O’s players than Coach O did with Coach O’s players)

6. Vanderbilt (A 26-year wait has ended in the West End. A win over Tennessee would make the 2008 Vanderbilt football season even sweeter.)

7. South Carolina (A woodshed beating was not a way to welcome Steve Spurrier back to Gainesville.)

8. Kentucky (It’s OK, UK fans, at least you guys are going to a Bowl game just like Vanderbilt.)

9. Auburn (Iron Bowl game should be a motivating factor with the Plainsmen. I mean, it’s against the #1 team in the country.)

10. Arkansas (Sense of urgency is needed for Hogs if they want to go to a Bowl game. They can start with a victory over Mississippi State.)

11. Tennessee (This week Crichton SGA President Mequitta Williams took a tour of the Knoxville campus with the Grim Reaper. Apparently, the Grim Reaper killed the Vols’ season long before they got there.)

12. Mississippi State (Didn’t this team go to a Bowl last year?)

After returning home from the Big Easy on November 14th and witnessing history on the following day, I’m back again to present you the SEC Rankings for the week of November 16th.

1. Alabama (Auburn is looking to make a case on Thanksgiving Saturday to make a Bowl and seven in a row against the Tide. Problem is, this Tide squad is pretty damn good.)

2. Florida (Another SEC East title and a chance to head to the BCS when the SEC Championship Game takes place on December 6th. Florida has a cupcake and a team fighting for position in the ACC remaining on their schedule.)

3. LSU (Last year I asked Crichton graduate Grace Walker for grace when Mizzou played the Kansas Gayhawks Thanksgiving Saturday. Apparently that same grace Grace Walker brought that Saturday in Kansas City came to Baton Rouge when LSU made their historic comeback against Troy.)

4. Georgia (Narrow win against Auburn puts Dawgs in position for a chance to head to the Chik-Fil-A Bowl. Chances are, if they lose to Georgia Tech, then the Liberty Bowl will come calling. But I disgress.)

5. Ole Miss (Houston Nutt has done more with Coach O’s players than Coach O did with Coach O’s players)

6. Vanderbilt (A 26-year wait has ended in the West End. A win over Tennessee would make the 2008 Vanderbilt football season even sweeter.)

7. South Carolina (A woodshed beating was not a way to welcome Steve Spurrier back to Gainesville.)

8. Kentucky (It’s OK, UK fans, at least you guys are going to a Bowl game just like Vanderbilt.)

9. Auburn (Iron Bowl game should be a motivating factor with the Plainsmen. I mean, it’s against the #1 team in the country.)

10. Arkansas (Sense of urgency is needed for Hogs if they want to go to a Bowl game. They can start with a victory over Mississippi State.)

11. Tennessee (This week Crichton SGA President Mequitta Williams took a tour of the Knoxville campus with the Grim Reaper. Apparently, the Grim Reaper killed the Vols’ season long before they got there.)

12. Mississippi State (Didn’t this team go to a Bowl last year?)

At this time last year, Tennessee and Vanderbilt were in their usual positions in football, the Vols contending for the SEC East and Vanderbilt waiting desperately for their first postseason berth in a quarter of a century.

Of course, the Vols went on to the Outback Bowl and beat Wisconsin for their first bowl win since 2005 when they beat Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl and Vanderbilt, well, was sitting again at home wondering what could have been.

On Saturday night against Kentucky, the Commodores finally exercised the demons of their horrendous football past and became the first Vanderbilt squad to be bowl eligible since 1982 when they beat Kentucky 31-24 at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington.

And the other team?

After a bye week from their debacle against Wyoming on Homecoming, the Vols will meet up against the Commodores in Nashville as Vanderbilt looks to beat the Vols for the first time since 2005 when they ended a streak of futility in Neyland Stadium behind the arm of Jay Cutler.

And given how the ‘Dores need to go into their bowl game with positive momentum, this game will be the best chance for them to continue the magic carpet ride that has been their season.

At this time last year, Tennessee and Vanderbilt were in their usual positions in football, the Vols contending for the SEC East and Vanderbilt waiting desperately for their first postseason berth in a quarter of a century.

Of course, the Vols went on to the Outback Bowl and beat Wisconsin for their first bowl win since 2005 when they beat Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl and Vanderbilt, well, was sitting again at home wondering what could have been.

On Saturday night against Kentucky, the Commodores finally exercised the demons of their horrendous football past and became the first Vanderbilt squad to be bowl eligible since 1982 when they beat Kentucky 31-24 at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington.

And the other team?

After a bye week from their debacle against Wyoming on Homecoming, the Vols will meet up against the Commodores in Nashville as Vanderbilt looks to beat the Vols for the first time since 2005 when they ended a streak of futility in Neyland Stadium behind the arm of Jay Cutler.

And given how the ‘Dores need to go into their bowl game with positive momentum, this game will be the best chance for them to continue the magic carpet ride that has been their season.

At this time last year, Tennessee and Vanderbilt were in their usual positions in football, the Vols contending for the SEC East and Vanderbilt waiting desperately for their first postseason berth in a quarter of a century.

Of course, the Vols went on to the Outback Bowl and beat Wisconsin for their first bowl win since 2005 when they beat Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl and Vanderbilt, well, was sitting again at home wondering what could have been.

On Saturday night against Kentucky, the Commodores finally exercised the demons of their horrendous football past and became the first Vanderbilt squad to be bowl eligible since 1982 when they beat Kentucky 31-24 at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington.

And the other team?

After a bye week from their debacle against Wyoming on Homecoming, the Vols will meet up against the Commodores in Nashville as Vanderbilt looks to beat the Vols for the first time since 2005 when they ended a streak of futility in Neyland Stadium behind the arm of Jay Cutler.

And given how the ‘Dores need to go into their bowl game with positive momentum, this game will be the best chance for them to continue the magic carpet ride that has been their season.

Why NOT us? Ole Miss did it. We’ve done it. Right now the Gamecocks have the number 1 defense in the country. That’s right - we’ve faced down like 5 powerhouses and came out smokin. We’re 7-3 and hungry.  But for some reason, we’re 21 point underdogs.Granted, we’ve taken some ass-whuppins from Florida. but I’m not impressed with Florida’s offense. What the single defensive juggernaught they’ve faced all season?

Yeah, I can’t think of one either.

Looking at Florida’s Scedule, they’ve put up huge points against teams like Hawaii - the defensive beast that they are. They’ve dropped points on LSU (56), Georgia (49), and vandy (42). Do I think they Gamecock defense can stop florida from scoring… NO. But I do think they can keep Florida uner 30 pts.

Our defense will be the best Florida has seen all season. With good play calling, great adjustments and solid play, I can see us being within a TD going into the 4th. That’s all we need,

Don’t be intimidated. We can pull off this upset. We can keep it close. believe in yourselves, fellas.

I snatched this data from a site i frequent when the BCS gets too much to handle.

Ratings and Rankings

NCAA Division I-A Football Ratings & Rankings
Based upon 614 games.
Rated & Ranked by John Wobus, 11/10/08

Rnk Team                                    Rating (W-L)
--- ----                                    ------ -----
  1 Texas Tech                               1.448 (10-0)
  2 Alabama                                  1.316 (10-0)
  3 Texas                                    1.288 (9-1)
  4 Utah                                     1.255 (10-0)
  5 Oklahoma                                 1.154 (9-1)
  6 Florida                                  1.125 (8-1)
  7 Southern Cal                             1.021 (8-1)
  8 Georgia                                  1.003 (8-2)
  9 Boise St                                 0.988 (9-0)
 10 Ball St                                  0.925 (9-0)
 11 Penn St                                  0.915 (9-1)
 12 Ohio St                                  0.903 (8-2)
 13 North Carolina                           0.893 (7-2)
 14 Missouri                                 0.883 (8-2)
 15 Oklahoma St                              0.875 (8-2)
 16 Tex Christian                            0.827 (9-2)
 17 Florida St                               0.803 (7-2)
 18 Michigan St                              0.769 (9-2)
 19 Cincinnati                               0.732 (7-2)
 20 Brigham Young                            0.714 (9-1)
 21 Pittsburgh                               0.704 (7-2)
 22 Wake Forest                              0.699 (6-3)
 23 Miami Florida                            0.672 (6-3)
 24 Virginia Tech                            0.672 (6-3)
 25 Georgia Tech                             0.658 (7-3)
 26 Air Force                                0.657 (8-2)
 27 Nebraska                                 0.607 (6-4)
 28 South Carolina                           0.590 (7-3)
 29 Louisiana St                             0.587 (6-3)
 30 Navy                                     0.575 (6-3)

(more…)

I snatched this data from a site i frequent when the BCS gets too much to handle.

Ratings and Rankings

NCAA Division I-A Football Ratings & Rankings
Based upon 614 games.
Rated & Ranked by John Wobus, 11/10/08

Rnk Team                                    Rating (W-L)
--- ----                                    ------ -----
  1 Texas Tech                               1.448 (10-0)
  2 Alabama                                  1.316 (10-0)
  3 Texas                                    1.288 (9-1)
  4 Utah                                     1.255 (10-0)
  5 Oklahoma                                 1.154 (9-1)
  6 Florida                                  1.125 (8-1)
  7 Southern Cal                             1.021 (8-1)
  8 Georgia                                  1.003 (8-2)
  9 Boise St                                 0.988 (9-0)
 10 Ball St                                  0.925 (9-0)
 11 Penn St                                  0.915 (9-1)
 12 Ohio St                                  0.903 (8-2)
 13 North Carolina                           0.893 (7-2)
 14 Missouri                                 0.883 (8-2)
 15 Oklahoma St                              0.875 (8-2)
 16 Tex Christian                            0.827 (9-2)
 17 Florida St                               0.803 (7-2)
 18 Michigan St                              0.769 (9-2)
 19 Cincinnati                               0.732 (7-2)
 20 Brigham Young                            0.714 (9-1)
 21 Pittsburgh                               0.704 (7-2)
 22 Wake Forest                              0.699 (6-3)
 23 Miami Florida                            0.672 (6-3)
 24 Virginia Tech                            0.672 (6-3)
 25 Georgia Tech                             0.658 (7-3)
 26 Air Force                                0.657 (8-2)
 27 Nebraska                                 0.607 (6-4)
 28 South Carolina                           0.590 (7-3)
 29 Louisiana St                             0.587 (6-3)
 30 Navy                                     0.575 (6-3)

(more…)

After electing our first African-American president in Barack Obama and surviving an assasination attempt, I’m here once again to present to you the SEC Power Rankings for the week of November 2nd.

1. Alabama (Don’t expect these guys to fall off the top anytime soon. Of course, there’s a chance that LSU could beat the Tide in Baton Rouge as part of Nick Saban’s return to Death Valley)

2. Florida (Looks to be a clear road for the Gators in quest for the SEC East crown. But Vanderbilt always seems to play the Gators close and could, if the football gods allow it, beat the Gators for the first time since 1988.)

3. South Carolina (Let it be shown that the Gamecocks got Fulmer fired, whether you agree with the way it was done or disagree.)

4. Kentucky (Three straight bowl games, something that hasn’t happened in a long time, has the folks in Lexington beaming with glee.)

5. LSU (Your former coach is coming, men. How will you respond?)

6. Georgia (Blowout loss hurt Dawgs’ chances at SEC East crown)

7. Ole Miss (Nutt is doing a great job turning the fortunes of the Rebel football program around.)

8. Vanderbilt (Bye week was needed for ‘Dores.)

9. Auburn (Tigers can still reach .500 in the SEC West)

10. Arkansas (They deserved to be ranked higher than Tennessee.)

11. Tennessee (Remaining games are for pride, not for too much of anything else.)

12. Missississippi State (Basketball’s looking good these days in Starkville.)

My time’s up. You’ve been a great audience.

After electing our first African-American president in Barack Obama and surviving an assasination attempt, I’m here once again to present to you the SEC Power Rankings for the week of November 2nd.

1. Alabama (Don’t expect these guys to fall off the top anytime soon. Of course, there’s a chance that LSU could beat the Tide in Baton Rouge as part of Nick Saban’s return to Death Valley)

2. Florida (Looks to be a clear road for the Gators in quest for the SEC East crown. But Vanderbilt always seems to play the Gators close and could, if the football gods allow it, beat the Gators for the first time since 1988.)

3. South Carolina (Let it be shown that the Gamecocks got Fulmer fired, whether you agree with the way it was done or disagree.)

4. Kentucky (Three straight bowl games, something that hasn’t happened in a long time, has the folks in Lexington beaming with glee.)

5. LSU (Your former coach is coming, men. How will you respond?)

6. Georgia (Blowout loss hurt Dawgs’ chances at SEC East crown)

7. Ole Miss (Nutt is doing a great job turning the fortunes of the Rebel football program around.)

8. Vanderbilt (Bye week was needed for ‘Dores.)

9. Auburn (Tigers can still reach .500 in the SEC West)

10. Arkansas (They deserved to be ranked higher than Tennessee.)

11. Tennessee (Remaining games are for pride, not for too much of anything else.)

12. Missississippi State (Basketball’s looking good these days in Starkville.)

My time’s up. You’ve been a great audience.

After electing our first African-American president in Barack Obama and surviving an assasination attempt, I’m here once again to present to you the SEC Power Rankings for the week of November 2nd.

1. Alabama (Don’t expect these guys to fall off the top anytime soon. Of course, there’s a chance that LSU could beat the Tide in Baton Rouge as part of Nick Saban’s return to Death Valley)

2. Florida (Looks to be a clear road for the Gators in quest for the SEC East crown. But Vanderbilt always seems to play the Gators close and could, if the football gods allow it, beat the Gators for the first time since 1988.)

3. South Carolina (Let it be shown that the Gamecocks got Fulmer fired, whether you agree with the way it was done or disagree.)

4. Kentucky (Three straight bowl games, something that hasn’t happened in a long time, has the folks in Lexington beaming with glee.)

5. LSU (Your former coach is coming, men. How will you respond?)

6. Georgia (Blowout loss hurt Dawgs’ chances at SEC East crown)

7. Ole Miss (Nutt is doing a great job turning the fortunes of the Rebel football program around.)

8. Vanderbilt (Bye week was needed for ‘Dores.)

9. Auburn (Tigers can still reach .500 in the SEC West)

10. Arkansas (They deserved to be ranked higher than Tennessee.)

11. Tennessee (Remaining games are for pride, not for too much of anything else.)

12. Missississippi State (Basketball’s looking good these days in Starkville.)

My time’s up. You’ve been a great audience.

I’m not sure what kind of message the University of Tennessee is trying to send to the world, but firing a guy the year after having an amazing season is bad business. I hate listening to those fat, rich, white, republican rednecks complain too loudly about the attitude of the average NFL Pro Bowler *errrr* Negro.

“Act like you been there”

“Show some class”

Well, what does firing a coach for a single bad season say for your morals? What does that tell your students when you go the way of an Alabama or LSU or Michigan? It’s finally ok to castrate a guy mid-season? It’s ok to admit that coaches (players) have to look out for themselves. Look, I don’t wanna hear shit the next time a player leaves a University early for the money. There’s no such thing as loyalty, anymore. No one has any class these days. We are slipping into an abyss that lacks class, morals or conviction – and everyone seems ok with that.

Fulmer is getting the ax a year after signing a huge contract - which the university will still have to pay him. How does the average Tennessee tax payer feel about that? Do ya’ll like the idea of paying a man 6 million dollars for NOT coaching? Come august, UT will be paying 2 different coaching salaries. And trust, this next salary - to whomever it goes to - will outstrip Phat Fulmer’s petty 7 million dollars. Will they raise ticket prices? Will tuition go up more than the 12% it generally goes up every year? Who won here? Who lost here? Now Fulmer gets to go to a new situation, with double the money and double the fun. He can sit around and get fat, or he can go coach in the PAC-10. He’ll be a god amongst free agents – and Tennessee just started the bidding war. All in all, I think Tennessee blew this. A pay raise is an indication that you’re satisfied with an employee

Hell, he could even go to the NFL and make even more money.

According to published reports, Mike Hamilton read my letter on why it was time for a change in Knoxville and after 18 years Phil Fulmer will step down as head football coach.

Obviously on the eve of an election as big as this, it was time for a change on Rocky Top.

The Tennessean’s story on the resignation

According to published reports, Mike Hamilton read my letter on why it was time for a change in Knoxville and after 18 years Phil Fulmer will step down as head football coach.

Obviously on the eve of an election as big as this, it was time for a change on Rocky Top.

The Tennessean’s story on the resignation

According to published reports, Mike Hamilton read my letter on why it was time for a change in Knoxville and after 18 years Phil Fulmer will step down as head football coach.

Obviously on the eve of an election as big as this, it was time for a change on Rocky Top.

The Tennessean’s story on the resignation

Today will be witness to the beginning of the end here in SC. Game Day is already a mess which consumes the entirety of the city. I still live in Columbia, so I know better than to head anywhere near the South Side within 3 hours of the game. Every road is diverted towards the stadium. For good or ill, all traffic is pointed towards Williams Brice.
So we got Carolina against LSU. I think we have a shot with appropriate game calling and some luck. The game is here in Columbia, SC. But what’s that across the street from the stadium? The muthafuckin Fair Grounds – and this is the last weekend. It’s going to be a mess. The Fair sells its parking to football fans. So now we have 90k football fans, clashing with 10k women and brats standing in line and eating elephant ears. This should be great.

There are also $200,000 condos surrounding the stadium. I don’t know who convinced these guys it’d be a good idea to live in the shadow of the stadium. But they shoulda fuckin asked me. Come Gameday, you can’t even leave your own gated parking lot for all the rednecks and RVs. That part of the city is shutdown for games. You better have all the beer and chips you need by Friday evening, cuz you’re stuck til after midnight on Saturday.

But it gets worse – Gamecock basketball starts today. It’s not even November yet! Jezuz-titty-fucking-christ. Would it be possible for us to only play 2 sports at a time? It’s still baseball season. It’s still college football season. The NFL is just heating up. The NBA is starting. Now the Gamecock basketball players will miss tonite’s game.

The basketball game means that out upscale bar district will be fraught with Lexuses and SUVS with foreign stickers. That will draw out coppers in squads of 12, which means I’ll actually have to call a cab tonite to get home from the bar.

There will be a cluster fuck here in Columbia, SC tonight. Believe it.

Winning is not having to pay the money back.

Tammy Bowden lost his job yesterday.  I’m not entirely sure it can be considered ‘losing’, though. The Clemsux Tigers know losing. They’ve done it a lot since Tammy came to town. They’ve lost to scrub teams and good teams. They’ve put out for mediocre teams and amazing teams. They’ve lost in spectacular fashion and in awful fashion.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

But I wouldn’t call Tammy a loser. Clemson University had to pay this asshat 4 million dollars to go away. They also had to do it before his daddy threw him another game - not that FSU is doing all that well, either.

I liken this payout to the bailout our congress just imposed upon us. Unlike most people, I was not afraid of our economy failing. Dell is moving 90% of it’s plants to Asia… and our government is letting it happen. Fuck a bailout – what’s going to happen to Sumter, SC when the only business in town besides Wal-mart pulls out? Besides, I have far less than $100k in the bank, so my little savings was safe enough. My 401k, however, bled to the tune of some poor schmoe’s yearly salary. Lehmen Brothers’ CEO made 480 Million dollars though. I know, I know. I saw him in front of congress, most of his money was in stocks. So in reality he lost 200 million. It puts my measley $14k in perspective. It took 15 years to raise the minimum wage 1 fucking dollar. It took 3 days to increase our debt by nearly a trillion dollars. GRAND IRONY.

Ron Paul made an interesting statement about the Federal Reserve which, I think, applies to sports management.

Rather than allowing asset bubbles to pop and malinvested resources to liquidate, Federal Reserve monetary policy has attempted to pump more and more new money and credit into the system to try, in vain, to sustain the economic boom. Money is gained upfront, while the cost of repaying that debt is pushed onto future generations.

You can sub FEDERAL RESERVE with any team in any sport that buys big names every year and doesn’t win. You could sub the name OF a sport in there. ‘You gotta spend money to make money’ seems to be the policy now-a-days. Is it any reason our economy is in the tubes? You can sub FUTURE GENERATIONS with Average Fan.

The Clemson Bailout was stupid and unnecessary. They should have sucked up the next year or 2 under Tammy. It doesn’t matter who the coach is, the Clemson fans will have to wait a minimum of 4 more seasons before they see any real results. Who knows, maybe Tammy could have turned this thing around. Maybe a new legion of coordinators would have done the trick. But this bailout does nothing for the standard Clemson Redneck. How does Clemson Administration plan to buy a new coach when the money set aside to pay a coach has been burned already?

Governments have three main methods by which they can raise funds: taxation, printing new money, and debt. I say that Universities have only 3 methods of raising funds:

1. begging their state congress to increase funding - thereby raising taxes on the average fan to cover the cost of bad investments [coaches]…
2. raising ticket prices on the average fans. According to stats I made up for this blog, a simple $5 increase in ticket prices, coupled with $5 dollar hotdogs and beers, will cover Tammy’s bus fare 20 times over. In fact, it’s prolly a better investment to bring in a new coach every 4 years without regard for win lost records. It brings in hope, which drives fans to the game. Trust, there ain’t shit else in Clemson, SC. Them toothless fucks have nothing better to do. It’s like Alabama without all the championships. I love Carolina which when 0-22 under Lou Holtz and still sold out EVERY SINGLE GAME.
3. Debt - this isn’t an option for most colleges. I’ve read about Athletic Directors crying because they can barely stay above water. FUCK THAT, stop making bad calls. Don’t start a project to add 10,000 seats to Billy Brice Stadium before you’ve actually signed the deal with Under Armor, or Cingular or whomever-the-hell else.

What’s my point? Wachovia should have been allowed to fail. Before Wachovia took over every bank in SC, it was another bank… which was fucking failing. In this ass-rape of a relationship, the American Tax Payer - and subsequently, the average fan- is an abused wife. We throw ourselves into the fist. The government tripped and we fell on the dick. We love it. We let the fuckers we hired beat us and then tell us how much we need the beatdown.

I say again, Wachovia should have been allowed to fail.. to liquidate. The CEO should have lost his job and his jet. The business should have been liquidated and sold off in bits to people like me and my friends who might’ve gotten together the funds to open a small branch of our own.

Tammy should have been allowed to fail. We gotta pay his dumb ass anyways. That’s tax payer money Clemson just threw away. No one asked me if I wanted to fire this guy. I must have missed the board meeting.

Rivalries are something to live for in sports.

Apparently, in my case, as a native Memphian, the Louisville-Memphis rivalry is one of great significance and somewhat a shadowing between the two cities.

Louisville has the Ohio River.

Memphis has the Mississippi.

They have Interstate 65.

We have Interstate 55.

They have Freedom Hall.

We have Mid-South Coliseum (oops, slated for the wrecking ball)

They have that freaky girl I met during the summer as well as the girl I’m talking to now.

We have the softball hottie.

They have John L. Smith.

We have Rip Scherer.

They have this as a model for beautiful girls:

We have this:

They have White Castle.

We have Krystal.

They have Condo of the The Nasty Boys’ Sports Blog.

We have yours truly.

By the end of the night one city is going down in flames and another will be thrilled with gleee.

Rivalries are something to live for in sports.

Apparently, in my case, as a native Memphian, the Louisville-Memphis rivalry is one of great significance and somewhat a shadowing between the two cities.

Louisville has the Ohio River.

Memphis has the Mississippi.

They have Interstate 65.

We have Interstate 55.

They have Freedom Hall.

We have Mid-South Coliseum (oops, slated for the wrecking ball)

They have that freaky girl I met during the summer as well as the girl I’m talking to now.

We have the softball hottie.

They have John L. Smith.

We have Rip Scherer.

They have this as a model for beautiful girls:

We have this:

They have White Castle.

We have Krystal.

They have Condo of the The Nasty Boys’ Sports Blog.

We have yours truly.

By the end of the night one city is going down in flames and another will be thrilled with gleee.

Rivalries are something to live for in sports.

Apparently, in my case, as a native Memphian, the Louisville-Memphis rivalry is one of great significance and somewhat a shadowing between the two cities.

Louisville has the Ohio River.

Memphis has the Mississippi.

They have Interstate 65.

We have Interstate 55.

They have Freedom Hall.

We have Mid-South Coliseum (oops, slated for the wrecking ball)

They have that freaky girl I met during the summer as well as the girl I’m talking to now.

We have the softball hottie.

They have John L. Smith.

We have Rip Scherer.

They have this as a model for beautiful girls:

We have this:

They have White Castle.

We have Krystal.

They have Condo of the The Nasty Boys’ Sports Blog.

We have yours truly.

By the end of the night one city is going down in flames and another will be thrilled with gleee.

Here’s the deal.  I have school.  I have work.  I have homework.  I never know when I’m going to be able to or have the energy to release the poll.  That’s why both THE College Football Poll©, Presented by Coke Zero© (Week 2) and THE Football Poll©, Presented by Powerade© (Week 1) are both being released now.  I’ll try to release them on Sunday and Tuesday, respectively, but it’ll probably never happen all the time.  So, take a gander at both, and then watch your football games.  Time for the generic post.

No.  The polls won’t be here.  Why?

I don’t really know.  Cuz I feel like doing it in those Pages.  To the right of my Post, you should see the link.  THE College Football Poll©, Presented by Coke Zero© Week 2 is under the title of the same name, and THE Football Poll©, Presented by Powerade© Week 1 is also under the title of the same name.

That’s where you’ll find it.

I’m just using this for tags.

That’s about it.

You are a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day,
Chorizo.

GAINESVILLE - Florida coach Urban Meyer didn’t have to defend himself against Randy Shannon’s distaste for Saturday’s last-minute field goal against Miami.

Tim Tebow had his back.

The Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback said he was offended by the Hurricanes coach questioning Meyer, who ordered Jonathan Phillips to kick a 29-yard field goal with 25 seconds left that punctuated Saturday’s 26-3 win in The Swamp.

“I’ll have Coach Meyer’s back on anything. To say something like that about Coach Meyer isn’t true at all,” Tebow said after Monday’s practice. “If you want to talk about him, you should definitely talk about a lot of other coaches before Coach Meyer. You can talk about running the score up, I don’t care. They are paid to stop us, [offensive coordinator Dan] Mullen is paid to score. They don’t do that, oh well. But you don’t have to talk about Coach Meyer as a person and getting into recruits and all that stuff, that’s not necessary.”

HEY COACH SHANNON - STOP WHINING YOU STUPID LITTLE BITCH.

On the flip side, its been a very long time since a Florida or Miami player got arrested. Thanks for that guys, that’s spot on.

No.  The poll won’t be here.  Why?

I don’t really know.  Cuz I feel like doing it in those Pages.  To the right of my Post, you should see the link.  It’ll be under this Poll name, named “Week 1″.

That’s where you’ll find it.

I’m just using this for tags.

That’s about it.

You are a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day,
Chorizo.

Carolina beat the shit outta NC State on Thursday. I must admit, I am quite displeased with the performance of Tommy Beecher. He had an amazing preseason. He loked great in practice. But in the game, his throws were consistently off. he made bad decisions and threw 4 INTs. This is unacceptable. I’m pissed at the Ball Coach for letting this guy stink it up for 3 quarters, Luckily my Cocks put the wood to the Pack, dropping 34 points in the last quarter and a half.

Go Cocks.

Meanwhile, Tommy Bowden got his ass whupped. I keep hearingh about all this talent Clemson supposedly has, but I’m not seeing it on the field. How do you know someone has talent if you never see them use it? I’ve got more yards rushing than Clemson’s ‘AMAZING’ backfield. Can I get some burn, coach?

Carolina beat the shit outta NC State on Thursday. I must admit, I am quite displeased with the performance of Tommy Beecher. He had an amazing preseason. He loked great in practice. But in the game, his throws were consistently off. he made bad decisions and threw 4 INTs. This is unacceptable. I’m pissed at the Ball Coach for letting this guy stink it up for 3 quarters, Luckily my Cocks put the wood to the Pack, dropping 34 points in the last quarter and a half.

Go Cocks.

Meanwhile, Tommy Bowden got his ass whupped. I keep hearingh about all this talent Clemson supposedly has, but I’m not seeing it on the field. How do you know someone has talent if you never see them use it? I’ve got more yards rushing than Clemson’s ‘AMAZING’ backfield. Can I get some burn, coach?

Southern Methodist Mustangs

Head Coach: June Jones (1st season at SMU, 76-41overall)

Stadium: Gerald J. Ford Stadium (32,000)

2007 Record: 1-11 (0-8 C-USA West)

Postseason: None

Key Returnees on Offense: QB Justin Willis, RB DeMyron Martin, WR Emmanuel Sanders

Key Returnees on Defense: LBs Will Bonita, Justin Smart, CS Bryan McCann, SS Bryce Hudman, FS David Haynes

The Skinny: In the two decades since SMU was hit with NCAA sanctions, the Mustangs program has been searching through the wilderness for a savior. Enter June Jones, who led Hawaii to its best season ever in 2007 and a berth in the Sugar Bowl where they lost to Georgia and is no stranger to turnarounds. In his first season at Hawaii, the Rainbow Warriors finished 0-11 and the second season followed it up with 9 wins, an NCAA record.

Now after success at Hawaii, Jones is now trying to do the same thing that has been hard to do over the last two decades, win at SMU.

Going into the 2008 season, the Mustangs’ last bowl appearance was 1984, their last winning season was 1997, and since the “Death Penatly”, they’ve been 58-135-1, unimpressive numbers for a program that for a time was one of the country’s best progams.

And after close calls against Tulsa, Houston, and Memphis last season, the Mustangs look to use those close calls as confidence-builders for 2008.

Doc’s Prediction: Looking at the schedule, the Mustangs’ slate is filled with September games against Texas Tech and TCU, plus a road trip to Central Florida along with Tulsa and Houston at home in October. The Mustangs will close the season with UTEP on the road and Southern Mississippi at home.

Projected Record: 4-8 (2-6 C-USA West)

2008 Southern Methodist Mustangs

August 29th-@ Rice

September 6th-Texas State

September 13th-@ Texas Tech

September 20th-TCU

September 27th-@ Tulane

October 4th-@ Central Florida

October 11th-Tulsa

October 18th-Houston

October 25th-@ Navy

November 8th-Memphis

November 15th-@ UTEP

November 29th-Southern Miss

Southern Methodist Mustangs

Head Coach: June Jones (1st season at SMU, 76-41overall)

Stadium: Gerald J. Ford Stadium (32,000)

2007 Record: 1-11 (0-8 C-USA West)

Postseason: None

Key Returnees on Offense: QB Justin Willis, RB DeMyron Martin, WR Emmanuel Sanders

Key Returnees on Defense: LBs Will Bonita, Justin Smart, CS Bryan McCann, SS Bryce Hudman, FS David Haynes

The Skinny: In the two decades since SMU was hit with NCAA sanctions, the Mustangs program has been searching through the wilderness for a savior. Enter June Jones, who led Hawaii to its best season ever in 2007 and a berth in the Sugar Bowl where they lost to Georgia and is no stranger to turnarounds. In his first season at Hawaii, the Rainbow Warriors finished 0-11 and the second season followed it up with 9 wins, an NCAA record.

Now after success at Hawaii, Jones is now trying to do the same thing that has been hard to do over the last two decades, win at SMU.

Going into the 2008 season, the Mustangs’ last bowl appearance was 1984, their last winning season was 1997, and since the “Death Penatly”, they’ve been 58-135-1, unimpressive numbers for a program that for a time was one of the country’s best progams.

And after close calls against Tulsa, Houston, and Memphis last season, the Mustangs look to use those close calls as confidence-builders for 2008.

Doc’s Prediction: Looking at the schedule, the Mustangs’ slate is filled with September games against Texas Tech and TCU, plus a road trip to Central Florida along with Tulsa and Houston at home in October. The Mustangs will close the season with UTEP on the road and Southern Mississippi at home.

Projected Record: 4-8 (2-6 C-USA West)

2008 Southern Methodist Mustangs

August 29th-@ Rice

September 6th-Texas State

September 13th-@ Texas Tech

September 20th-TCU

September 27th-@ Tulane

October 4th-@ Central Florida

October 11th-Tulsa

October 18th-Houston

October 25th-@ Navy

November 8th-Memphis

November 15th-@ UTEP

November 29th-Southern Miss

Southern Methodist Mustangs

Head Coach: June Jones (1st season at SMU, 76-41overall)

Stadium: Gerald J. Ford Stadium (32,000)

2007 Record: 1-11 (0-8 C-USA West)

Postseason: None

Key Returnees on Offense: QB Justin Willis, RB DeMyron Martin, WR Emmanuel Sanders

Key Returnees on Defense: LBs Will Bonita, Justin Smart, CS Bryan McCann, SS Bryce Hudman, FS David Haynes

The Skinny: In the two decades since SMU was hit with NCAA sanctions, the Mustangs program has been searching through the wilderness for a savior. Enter June Jones, who led Hawaii to its best season ever in 2007 and a berth in the Sugar Bowl where they lost to Georgia and is no stranger to turnarounds. In his first season at Hawaii, the Rainbow Warriors finished 0-11 and the second season followed it up with 9 wins, an NCAA record.

Now after success at Hawaii, Jones is now trying to do the same thing that has been hard to do over the last two decades, win at SMU.

Going into the 2008 season, the Mustangs’ last bowl appearance was 1984, their last winning season was 1997, and since the “Death Penatly”, they’ve been 58-135-1, unimpressive numbers for a program that for a time was one of the country’s best progams.

And after close calls against Tulsa, Houston, and Memphis last season, the Mustangs look to use those close calls as confidence-builders for 2008.

Doc’s Prediction: Looking at the schedule, the Mustangs’ slate is filled with September games against Texas Tech and TCU, plus a road trip to Central Florida along with Tulsa and Houston at home in October. The Mustangs will close the season with UTEP on the road and Southern Mississippi at home.

Projected Record: 4-8 (2-6 C-USA West)

2008 Southern Methodist Mustangs

August 29th-@ Rice

September 6th-Texas State

September 13th-@ Texas Tech

September 20th-TCU

September 27th-@ Tulane

October 4th-@ Central Florida

October 11th-Tulsa

October 18th-Houston

October 25th-@ Navy

November 8th-Memphis

November 15th-@ UTEP

November 29th-Southern Miss

For the past week, I’ve been listening to my athletic Director beg for money on every public forum available to him. I’m too tired to go into the details, but I’m tired of it. Money doesn’t buy wins, but it does buy some things:

• Quality equipment and good staff to ensure our athletes are getting the best physical educations possible.
• quality facilities that meet minimum safety standards
• Good coaches (Spurrier) who know what they’re doing.

Beyond that, money has very little to do with winning. We can add 15k seats to Billy Brice Stadium, but that won’t make Carlos Thomas a shutdown CB. He has the talent, but not the will. I hear that NFL scouts have been seen at his place for 2 years now. This guy is already planning his end zone dance. Building million dollar condos next to the stadium won’t make Mike Davis hold on to the ball. It won’t stop Darth Visor from calling a toss sweep in his own end zone or from calling 3 consecutive pass plays while his runners are averaging 8 yards a carry.

I heard a caller talk that Tennessee is dropping a quarter billion on its spots facilities. This clown said that big time sports teams have big time facilities. Right now we have the egg preceding the chicken. Schools like Southern Cal and Miami can have billion dollar gyms because they’ve won big time games, - not the other way around.

The time to reward our players is when the offensive line blocks consistently… when we don’t blow leads in big games… when we finish a season as strong as we start it. Until then, you stupid football players will have to deal with preferential housing, specialized tutoring centers and almost-bleeding edge sports facilities.

You stupid Gamecock fans have to realize - the athletic director doesn’t life weights, catch balls or make takes. The ONLY thing he can do is sit around and beautify things. For him, the answer is money. He sees the money big time programs spends and equates that with winning.

To dispell that rumor, one need olnly look at A-Rod or the Houston Texans.

Until then, we’ll be that cat on the basketball court with the hot Jordan’s, the matching Nike Jumpsuit and leather ball who can’t play worth a damn.

Friday’s edition of The State in Columbia ran a story on USC donor Eddie Floyd, who claimed that the campus police at the University of South Carolina was targeting athletes, mainly football players.

While I’m not sure how true the accusations are, one of my fellow bloggers wrote an entry on the comments made by Floyd in the article (links below):

• The State’s article on the accusations
• Shots From The Darkside

Friday’s edition of The State in Columbia ran a story on USC donor Eddie Floyd, who claimed that the campus police at the University of South Carolina was targeting athletes, mainly football players.

While I’m not sure how true the accusations are, one of my fellow bloggers wrote an entry on the comments made by Floyd in the article (links below):

• The State’s article on the accusations
• Shots From The Darkside

Friday’s edition of The State in Columbia ran a story on USC donor Eddie Floyd, who claimed that the campus police at the University of South Carolina was targeting athletes, mainly football players.

While I’m not sure how true the accusations are, one of my fellow bloggers wrote an entry on the comments made by Floyd in the article (links below):

• The State’s article on the accusations
• Shots From The Darkside

One of the longest-serving and most influential members of USC’s board of trustees believes Gamecocks athletes have been targeted by the university’s police force.

Eddie Floyd, who has served on the board since 1982, said several months ago he was told that some campus police officers were overzealous in their investigations and arrests of athletes.

“I feel they have overstepped in some areas. After talking to some of the people, this is how I feel. And I always say what I feel, good or bad.”

Floyd said he met with university officials this summer to discuss the matter.

“My feeling is that (targeting athletes) has happened. I’m sure the administration may have a different opinion, but certainly that’s what I think.”

Floyd said he had no evidence police singled out athletes, but believes it has gone on based on his “gut feeling” following discussions with people he respects.

Is he right?
Hell yeah, he’s right. On USC’s campus, we have a small group of police officers who bring in more football players than rapists. I don’t know if anyone knows this, but USCs Athletic Department has slowing been moving players to off campus ‘housing’ to decrease these incidents. It’s funny, because the cops charged with policing off-campus housing haven’t arrested a single player, yet. But our local campus police can’t seem to go a week without arresting a QB.

Take Stephen Garcia for instance. The entire country thinks Spurrier is soft because he let Garcia back on the team. But the fact is that Stephen was caught drinking outside of his own dorm room. Truth: he shouldn’t have been drinking as he’s only 19. But if you drove past East Quadrangle at any point of the day, you’ll see people outside drinking.

You won’t see any cops, even though the police station is across the street, 100 yards away.

The fact that our football players even see jail cells for the things they’re getting busted for speaks volumes about our Football Culture. We here in Columbia don’t have an ‘US against the World‘ attitude. So some asshole cop buys a player a drink and then busts the same player for underage drinking five minutes later. Then we feed that kid to the media wolves. This is fucking college - I majored in underage drinking. I nearly killed myself many times with alcohol. On the few occasions that a pole officer intervened, he poured my shit out and sent me home. Is making an example of your starting QB worth all the negative publicity? What happens when advertisers see that we don’t love our team like Ohio State loves their team?

No.  The poll won’t be here.  Why?

I don’t really know.  Cuz I feel like doing it in those Pages.  To the right of my Post, you should see the link.  It’ll be under this Poll name, named “Preseason”.

That’s where you’ll find it.

I’m just using this for tags.

That’s about it.

You are a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day,
Chorizo.

SO, it’s August and fights are already brwaking out across town over the Carolina-Clemson rivalry. People are piss off because Spurrier doesn’t seem to think that beating Clemson - an ACC team - is the end-all/be-all among Gamecock football.

I agree with him: fuck Clemson, SEC championship or bust. Lemme go ahead and set the record straight. We Gamecocks will line across from Top 10 powerhouses all season. There are 5 SEC teams in the top 25 right now, with 4 more receiving votes. Clemson can’t claim that. They can continue to go .500 while beating up on Duke and Wake Forest. If Spurrier and the Gamecocks handle business, the Clemson game will take care of itself. Tammy Bowden is 2-1 head to head against The Old Ball Coach. But the Cocks lost the lead in both of those losses. We choked and gave them rednecks bragging rights.

Here’s the plan:

1. Win the games we’re supposed to win by large margins.
2. Manage our run defense. We lived in the bottom 50 teams against the run. Mst of that is because of McFadden, but I’ll not accept any excuses.
3. Clemson will beat it self. They have no QB and their coach is an asshole
4. If we’re playing Tennessee [insert powerhouse here], and we’re tied going into overtime… and we’re averaging 8 yards a carry, can we PLEASE RUN THE FUCKING BALL AT LEAST 1 TIME IN OVER TIME!!??

I’ve been going to practices and our boys look great. Then again, the defensive line looked amazing in practice last season. Then on 2nd and 10, on our own 10 yard line, we went 2 down and 9 back against a Tim Tebow offence. I may be an old marching band geek, but any asshole with a Playstation knows that you don’t go 2 down 8 back-in-coverage against a running QB. I don’t know if Spurrier is just an asshole, but someone should have been fired over that call.

See ya’ll at the first game. Go COCKS!

Rice Owls

Head Coach: David Baliff (3-9 in 1 year at Rice, 24-24 overall)

Stadium: Rice Stadium (70,000)

2007 Record: 3-9, (3-5 C-USA West)

Postseason: None

Key Returnees On Offense: QB Chase Clement, WRs Jarrett Dillard, Tommy Henderson, Toren Dixon, TE Taylor Wardlow

Key Returnees On Defense: CB Brandon King, DEs Cheta Ozougwu and Scott Solomon, FS Andrew Sendejo

The Skinny: After returning to a bowl for the first time in 46 years, Rice fell on hard times in 2007, going 3-5 in conference play and 3-9 overall. Of course, Rice was marred by countless injuries in David Baliff’s first season but showed glimmers of hope on October 3rd when they defeated Southern Miss in Hattiesburg and gave Tulsa a scare in the final game of the 2007 season at home. With senior QB Chase Clement returning to Houston for his senior year after throwing for 3,377 yards and 29 touchdowns and a talented trio of receivers in Dillard, Henderson, and Dixon, the offense should be again a talented unit should they not be beset by injuries.

On defense, the Owls will have Scott Solomon returning after leading the team in sacks with 4.5 and Sendejo who had 5 interceptions to lead the team. Expect leadership to come from the upperclassmen as the Owls look to regroup from a disappointing season in Houston.

Doc’s Prediction: There should be no excuse for the Owls to have the kind of season they had in 2007 although the team had a large number of injuries that doomed their campaign and there really wasn’t any solid backups to plug into the gaping holes on both sides of the ball. With road games against Memphis, Vanderbilt, Texas, and Tulsa, plus the season-ending showdown with crosstown rival Houston, there’s no such thing as winnable games for the Owls.

Projected Record: 5-7 (4-4 C-USA West)

2008 Rice Owls

August 29th-SMU

September 6th-@ Memphis

September 13th-@ Vanderbilt

September 20th-@ Texas

September 27th-North Texas

October 4th-@ Tulsa

October 18th-Southern Mississippi

October 25th-@ Tulane

November 1st-@ UTEP

November 8th-Army

November 22nd-Marshall

November 29th-Houston

Rice Owls

Head Coach: David Baliff (3-9 in 1 year at Rice, 24-24 overall)

Stadium: Rice Stadium (70,000)

2007 Record: 3-9, (3-5 C-USA West)

Postseason: None

Key Returnees On Offense: QB Chase Clement, WRs Jarrett Dillard, Tommy Henderson, Toren Dixon, TE Taylor Wardlow

Key Returnees On Defense: CB Brandon King, DEs Cheta Ozougwu and Scott Solomon, FS Andrew Sendejo

The Skinny: After returning to a bowl for the first time in 46 years, Rice fell on hard times in 2007, going 3-5 in conference play and 3-9 overall. Of course, Rice was marred by countless injuries in David Baliff’s first season but showed glimmers of hope on October 3rd when they defeated Southern Miss in Hattiesburg and gave Tuls