Saturday Football Fever

Good Lord.

I am watching the UNC-Rutgers game on ESPN.  It’s halftime, and a segment has started up called “Dr. Lou.”  It’s Lou Holtz dishing out college football advice.

Is this for real?  He’s some of the agonizing highlights:

- He starts off stating that he gets asked all the time when is he going to retire (I hope to God its soon).  His answer “When you retire, you never get a day off.  Think about that.”  No shit?  I’ll keep that in mind, Dr. Lou.

- Pete Carroll asks about the effect that history has in these big games (like USC-OSU).  Dr. Lou’s answer:  After rambling on about some crazy guy named Jim, he boils it down for us - “History helps the team that blocks and tackles the best in a game like this.”  WTF?  Way to drop some knowledge on us, Doc.

- James Laurinatis asks how his coaches sweater vest will be received in southern California.  Dr. Lou’s response: “When I went to USC, I didn’t want wear a sweater vest, I wanted to wear a bullet proof vest.”  Was that a thinly veiled racist comment Lou?  Are you the reason Tyrone Willingham was fired from Notre Dame?

He goes on to talk about the end of the Washington vs. BYU (not sure how sweater vests got us here).  He offers an excellent suggestion (foolproof, according to the good doctor) on how to avoid controversy like what happened at the end of the game: don’t keep score.  GENIUS!!

At that point he said something about closing, but I didn’t catch it since I had gotten up to pour a drink (Lou Holtz has that effect on me).

I can’t believe that they continue to let this guy be an analyst.  As an analyst, you are expected to be able to analyze the sport (generally one that you’ve been involved in for your entire life) and offer some sort of meaningful analysis about the game, teams and players.

I am still confused as to how Holtz meets these criteria.  He and Corso are the reason why I am slowly moving away from watching ESPN’s college football coverage.

Filed under: Misc News and Thoughts

Tags: byu cougars, espn, james laurinatis, lee corso, lou holtz, north carolina tarheels, notre dame fighting irish, ohio state buckeyes, pete carroll, rutgers scarlet knights, tyrone willingham, usc trojans, washington huskies

By now, most people have probably already seen Knowshon Moreno’s leap.

Unless, that is, you were waiting to see it on Sports Center.  Apparently, the worldwide leader buried the UGA highlights and didn’t even show Moreno’s leap.  And Mark Richt is complaining about it.

According to Richt, “They missed the boat or didn’t do their homework or whatever. I don’t know how they couldn’t have noticed that as thorough as it seems like that are most of the time.”

Here’s the deal coach.  You are playing the Central Michigan Chippewas and you blew them out.  You’re not going to be the lead highlight on ESPN, especially when there are upsets to show.  And really, who cares what Knowshon does against a small time team?  Outside Athens, GA, no one.  Had this come against the elite athletes that play for USC, Florida or Oklahoma, then it would be noteworthy.  But he’s leaping over an undersized safety who wasn’t good enough to get a scholarship offer from a Big Ten school, including Northwestern.  Why is that supposed to be mind blowing?

Don’t get me wrong, it was a nice play.  But for Richt to chastise ESPN for not playing it is ridiculous.  Had it been a truly, utterly amazing play, then I could see his point.  But its not as impressive as Richt seems to think.

Filed under: Player News

Tags: big 10, central michigan chippewas, espn, florda gators, georgia bulldogs, knowshon moreno, mark richt, northwestern wildcaats, oklahoma sooners, sec, usc trojans

Urban Meyer took his goal of having the “fastest team in America” to new heights at this year’s spring game. He made the bold prediction that if a student from the Gator population could beat one of his players in a foot race, he’d give them a full scholarship.

After some shady race officiating, the Gator players came out on top. And Urban Meyer came up with another creative way of widening his recruiting base by having ESPN there to broadcast the whole thing.

Filed under: Conference News, Spring Practice

Tags: espn, florida gators, urban meyer