New York Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez apparently agrees with my philosophy; sometimes, when you're at a game, you just need a snack...
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Ponder This
After throwing an interception to DeAndre McDaniel in the 40-24 loss to Clemson, Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder went to make the tackle, only he ended up being the one that got drilled.
Ponder suffered a separated shoulder on the play. The injury will apparently require surgery, and has put an end to this season for a player who was one of the few bright spots on the Seminole offense.
Ponder suffered a separated shoulder on the play. The injury will apparently require surgery, and has put an end to this season for a player who was one of the few bright spots on the Seminole offense.
Changes
I made a few changes to the format of this blog.
There is a built-in stat counter that tells me I had 457 unique visitors in the month of October, up from 171 in September. So I figured I should continue in an attempt to upgrade and vary my offerings, and make the Illegal Procedure experience as enjoyable as possible for as many people as possible, myself included.
I moved a few things around. I left the Useful Links where they were because, if you are a college football fan, they are genuinely useful. I frequently refer to those same sources when I am thinking, writing or just goofing off.
I'm going to try to do at least one semi-serious feature each week. You have seen some already - Moments in College Football History, for example. I will continue to look for tidbits on football technology as well as the technology involved in broadcasting football (see the First Down - Yellow Line Technology below). And I will occasionally try to find information on football strategy. I'll call it X's and O's.
I added a College Football News feed on the right. So far, I'm not terribly impressed, but we'll see how it goes. Any feedback you have would be appreciated.
I also added a new section with links to some College Football Blogs from newspapers around the country. I think you'll be surprised how much the viewpoints differ from region to region. It's interesting to see.
Right now, I only have a few, so, if you have any favorites from the New England area, or the Pacific Northwest, let me know. I'm still looking.
When I was in Washington, D.C. over the summer, I developed a fondness for the Washington Post online, but most of their college football coverage centers on the University of Maryland (currently 2-7) or the University of Virginia (currently 3-6), and reading about them is kind of like reading the obituaries; the only good news is that you can be happy you're not in their place.
I would like to point out that Jenni Carlson is the writer from the Daily Oklahoman whose coverage of Oklahoma State in 2007 was responsible for one of the more famous coaching tirades in recent college football history. Cowboy coach Mike Gundy is clearly directing his comments at one person in the room.
If you haven't seen Gundy's "I'm a Man, I'm 40" tirade, I highly recommend it...
So far, my initial impression of Carlson's stuff is that she will eventually annoy me almost as much as she annoyed coach Gundy. But, in the meantime, enjoy.
I picked Mike Hlas from the Cedar Rapids Gazette because, if he is any indication, living in the midst of thousands of square miles of cornfields apparently gives you a different perspective on things. There seems to be very little need for reality-based thinking when you are one of the Children of the Corn.
And I picked The Quad from the New York Times because they seem to be reasonably fair. I can't tell if they are entirely unbiased or just entirely disconnected from everything that happens outside of the boroughs of the Big Apple.
That's it for now!
There is a built-in stat counter that tells me I had 457 unique visitors in the month of October, up from 171 in September. So I figured I should continue in an attempt to upgrade and vary my offerings, and make the Illegal Procedure experience as enjoyable as possible for as many people as possible, myself included.
I moved a few things around. I left the Useful Links where they were because, if you are a college football fan, they are genuinely useful. I frequently refer to those same sources when I am thinking, writing or just goofing off.
I'm going to try to do at least one semi-serious feature each week. You have seen some already - Moments in College Football History, for example. I will continue to look for tidbits on football technology as well as the technology involved in broadcasting football (see the First Down - Yellow Line Technology below). And I will occasionally try to find information on football strategy. I'll call it X's and O's.
I added a College Football News feed on the right. So far, I'm not terribly impressed, but we'll see how it goes. Any feedback you have would be appreciated.
I also added a new section with links to some College Football Blogs from newspapers around the country. I think you'll be surprised how much the viewpoints differ from region to region. It's interesting to see.
Right now, I only have a few, so, if you have any favorites from the New England area, or the Pacific Northwest, let me know. I'm still looking.
When I was in Washington, D.C. over the summer, I developed a fondness for the Washington Post online, but most of their college football coverage centers on the University of Maryland (currently 2-7) or the University of Virginia (currently 3-6), and reading about them is kind of like reading the obituaries; the only good news is that you can be happy you're not in their place.
I would like to point out that Jenni Carlson is the writer from the Daily Oklahoman whose coverage of Oklahoma State in 2007 was responsible for one of the more famous coaching tirades in recent college football history. Cowboy coach Mike Gundy is clearly directing his comments at one person in the room.
If you haven't seen Gundy's "I'm a Man, I'm 40" tirade, I highly recommend it...
So far, my initial impression of Carlson's stuff is that she will eventually annoy me almost as much as she annoyed coach Gundy. But, in the meantime, enjoy.
I picked Mike Hlas from the Cedar Rapids Gazette because, if he is any indication, living in the midst of thousands of square miles of cornfields apparently gives you a different perspective on things. There seems to be very little need for reality-based thinking when you are one of the Children of the Corn.
And I picked The Quad from the New York Times because they seem to be reasonably fair. I can't tell if they are entirely unbiased or just entirely disconnected from everything that happens outside of the boroughs of the Big Apple.
That's it for now!
First Down - Yellow Line Technology
I thought this might be interesting for the gadget lovers out there, as well as the technologically challenged.
Do you know how they make the yellow first down lines appear on the field during telecasts of football games?
It's not as simple as you might expect. Watch:
Do you know how they make the yellow first down lines appear on the field during telecasts of football games?
It's not as simple as you might expect. Watch:
Monday, November 9, 2009
Upon Further Further Review (Week 10)
This week, the usual Monday feature is called Upon Further Further Review because, even with the help of video replay officials, college football referees can't seem to get it right...
ConCussed
If you have yet to see this fairly horrifying video of California's Jahvid Best going airborne for a touchdown against Oregon State, and landing on his head, it is not for the faint of heart.
Later, it was revealed that Best had missed two days of practice during the week because of a slight concussion suffered in the win at Arizona State.
While I am glad that it appears Best will be fine, what I want to know is where are all of the alleged experts who were ready to crucify Urban Meyer if Tim Tebow had emerged from the LSU game with anything more than a hangnail?
Why aren't they upset about this?
Irish Bad. Wolverines Worse
Way back in September, after Michigan's exciting win over Notre Dame, many of the alleged experts wanted us to believe that both of these traditional powers had returned to their rightful place of national prominence.
The day after the game, ESPN.com's Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg titled his entry "Michigan is back."
CBSSports.com's Gregg Doyel drooled, "...for close to four hours Saturday, Notre Dame and Michigan mattered again. And you might want to get used to it. Because they're back."
I thought they were wrong at the time, and I said so.
I'm wondering how they feel now.
Saturday, Notre Dame lost at home to Navy to fall to 6-3, and has games remaining at #12 Pittsburgh, against Connecticut, and at Stanford. And that Stanford game is looking tougher and tougher.
Michigan just lost at home to Purdue to fall to 5-5, and they're in the midst of a three game losing streak. They finish at #20 Wisconsin, and at home against #11 Ohio State.
Both coaches may be on the hot seat. And, in the case of Charlie Weis, that's a big seat.
Temple Strikes Gold(en)
Despite the incredibly stupid piece of propaganda included here, Temple coach Al Golden has to be a unanimous choice for Coach of the Year, doesn't he?
In the three years before Golden arrived in Philly, the Owls were 3-31.
Now, at 7-2, they are bowl-eligible for the first time since 1990. They haven't actually been to a bowl since 1979, when they beat California in the Garden State Bowl to finish 10-2.
If they win out, they will be the champions of the East Division of the MAC, and earn a berth in the league championship game.
Their last three games: at Akron, Kent State, at Ohio.
The problem: they average 16,646 fans at their home games. Bowl games aren't terribly inclined to invite a team that's going to leave a bunch of seats empty.
Okay, I Was Possibly Not Correct
I would like to apologize to anyone who read some of the things I've written and, from that, gotten the impression that I thought Penn State was a good team. I had that impression, but I was possibly... not correct.
Penn State is 8-2, but they have beaten a grand total of three teams that have winning records. Two of those teams were Temple and Eastern Illinois.
Given two chances to prove they can compete with the pack leaders in the Big Ten, they choked horribly. And both of those occasions were at home.
First, they were manhandled by Iowa in a 21-10 loss that wasn't as close as the score might indicate. Then came Saturday's 24-7 bludgeoning by an Ohio State team that has looked remarkably average until now.
There's always a temptation to think that Joe Pa is going to field a quality team, but, while this year's Nittany Lions will finish with a decent won-loss record, it's mostly because they've played a weak schedule.
ConCussed
If you have yet to see this fairly horrifying video of California's Jahvid Best going airborne for a touchdown against Oregon State, and landing on his head, it is not for the faint of heart.
Later, it was revealed that Best had missed two days of practice during the week because of a slight concussion suffered in the win at Arizona State.
While I am glad that it appears Best will be fine, what I want to know is where are all of the alleged experts who were ready to crucify Urban Meyer if Tim Tebow had emerged from the LSU game with anything more than a hangnail?
Why aren't they upset about this?
Irish Bad. Wolverines Worse
Way back in September, after Michigan's exciting win over Notre Dame, many of the alleged experts wanted us to believe that both of these traditional powers had returned to their rightful place of national prominence. The day after the game, ESPN.com's Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg titled his entry "Michigan is back."
CBSSports.com's Gregg Doyel drooled, "...for close to four hours Saturday, Notre Dame and Michigan mattered again. And you might want to get used to it. Because they're back."
I thought they were wrong at the time, and I said so.
I'm wondering how they feel now.
Saturday, Notre Dame lost at home to Navy to fall to 6-3, and has games remaining at #12 Pittsburgh, against Connecticut, and at Stanford. And that Stanford game is looking tougher and tougher.
Michigan just lost at home to Purdue to fall to 5-5, and they're in the midst of a three game losing streak. They finish at #20 Wisconsin, and at home against #11 Ohio State.
Both coaches may be on the hot seat. And, in the case of Charlie Weis, that's a big seat.
Temple Strikes Gold(en)
Despite the incredibly stupid piece of propaganda included here, Temple coach Al Golden has to be a unanimous choice for Coach of the Year, doesn't he?In the three years before Golden arrived in Philly, the Owls were 3-31.
Now, at 7-2, they are bowl-eligible for the first time since 1990. They haven't actually been to a bowl since 1979, when they beat California in the Garden State Bowl to finish 10-2.
If they win out, they will be the champions of the East Division of the MAC, and earn a berth in the league championship game.
Their last three games: at Akron, Kent State, at Ohio.
The problem: they average 16,646 fans at their home games. Bowl games aren't terribly inclined to invite a team that's going to leave a bunch of seats empty.
Okay, I Was Possibly Not Correct
I would like to apologize to anyone who read some of the things I've written and, from that, gotten the impression that I thought Penn State was a good team. I had that impression, but I was possibly... not correct. Penn State is 8-2, but they have beaten a grand total of three teams that have winning records. Two of those teams were Temple and Eastern Illinois.
Given two chances to prove they can compete with the pack leaders in the Big Ten, they choked horribly. And both of those occasions were at home.
First, they were manhandled by Iowa in a 21-10 loss that wasn't as close as the score might indicate. Then came Saturday's 24-7 bludgeoning by an Ohio State team that has looked remarkably average until now.
There's always a temptation to think that Joe Pa is going to field a quality team, but, while this year's Nittany Lions will finish with a decent won-loss record, it's mostly because they've played a weak schedule.
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