College Football Quickies
I’m REALLLLY looking forward to that Pac 12 Championship game next week. Yeah, right. UCLA loses 50-0 and now they get to play in that game? Oregon will destroy them. What a terrible inaugural game that will be……..
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I loved seeing Luck run the ball last night. He showed how fast he is and that’s a nice reminder to the scouts of what that dude can do with his legs. He’s super accurate with his throws, he reads defenses like a 10 year NFL QB and he’s got legs to run for as much yardage as he needs to if the moment strikes him. I don’t think there’s an issue with his arm strength as I’ve seen him uncork 50 yard throws with defenders hanging on to him but he really didn’t show off his arm last night. In fact, I thought the play calling sucked and Shaw didn’t do Luck any favors by calling a bunch of screens all night.
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And that’s why I think Richardson wins the Heisman over Luck. Luck’s night was efficient but there weren’t any defining moments. Richardson had a HUGE defining moment when he broke through the Auburn line, ran down the left side of the field and then literally threw a defender out of his way, changed direction and ran diagonally across the field for an additional 30 yards, finally getting taken down around the 20. He did all that on his own and it was the type of run that Heisman voters remember–not to mention the fact that it was during prime time and Luck was playing his game when most of the East coast tv’s were turned off……..
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It’s Retro time, baby……….
On September 4th, the Giants lost to the Dodgers down in LA. This would begin a slide that would see them lose 10 of their next 11 games. Finally, on Sept 16th, we managed a 3-2 over the Reds at home. It was a Saturday afternoon game. No one homered for the Giants, but Foster did, banging out his 33rd hr of the year. The win was nice but the Giants were now 9 games back and the magic from earlier in the year seemed to be all but gone. 13 games remained in the season….
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
I kind of liked Shaw’s rant about the BCS earlier in the week. Other teams ahead of the Furd in BCS have lost to worse than Oregon, who is really good. I know others across country will disagree completely, but the likes of SC Furd and Oregon are light years ahead of the SEC offensively. I’d rather watch any combo of SC vs. Furd vs. Oregon than watch the rematch of LSU-Bama, and don’t even mention Arkansas or the battle for okla. or anything out of the Big 11.
Luck does what he does within the system, which is not designed to have him throw the ball 50 times all over the field. He is a very efficient and accurate thrower able to find (no small task) and hit open guys to keep chains moving, something that should be very appealing to NFL teams and translate well at that level. Lacking an Owusu type, he’ll pick you apart underneath and can certainly run very well when he has to/wants to. Maybe less exciting or dramatic than others in H race, but very good at what he does, which is lead his team to victory…as should be shown to great affect in high profile BCS game.
“Lacking an Owusu type,..”
Yes, my point yesteday. It seems obvious when you take away their best deep threat (not to mention their starting tight end), it alters the game plan. Shaw and Luck were smart enough to adjust.
Wow, Champ Summers in the same LU with Foster, Rose, Griffey and Morgan. Later became part of some very forgettable SF teams during the Johnny Rabb/Guy Sularz days.
I was really surprised to see that Summers is now 65. I don’t know why, but I remember him very clearly as a Giant–not sure why, he did very little at least in terms of stats. For some reason, I remember him to be a reliable pinch hitter for us but that could be inaccurate.
He spent his best years (’79 and ’80) with Detroit.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/summech01.shtml
Yeah time marches on. 65 is only months away for me. Ouch! I think I’ll go outside and walk around the nearby park pondering that reality.
A little introspection might do you some good, Nip…..
“A life without reflection, is a life not worth living.” – My favorite philosopher, Socrates.
charles davis, hitting coach!?! I guess i’ve heard less likely things. He was a nice hitter but not great, though he ranks pretty high in the switch hitter home run category. and playing all those years at the stick wouldn’t have helped. Weeks is excited because he can help from either side of the plate.
Twin stated the hitting coach makes little difference at the MLB level. Of course the BEAT will chew on this for a few days.
Many people agree with that, including Mike Schmidt, who co-authored a book on the subject with former MLB hitting coach Rob Ellis..
Man, I was watching buffalo vs. jets, and Nike ran a commercial for NBA “basketball never stops”, with the opening refrain of Sam Cooke’s Let the Good Times roll behind it. One of the most beautiful songs ever recorded, and voice to match. Mick’s copy of it wasn’t bad either, from Out of Heads LP.
The A’s hit about as poorly as we did the first half., in fact they scored fewer runs than we did in the same number of games (92) before the break. After the break they were 6th in the AL. Now I love Chili, and I’m delighted he got the job but it’s real difficult, given that cast of characters, that God could improve on what the A’s did after the break. You all know that I don’t agree with many on how much difference a hitting coach makes but when a team improves from 13th to 6th, I’m sure as hell not firing the hitting instructor. Maybe Perry sassed Billy or something..
Chili and Bob are close friends. He’ll make a nice golfing partner.
That’s very important in a hitting coach.
Syracuse fires Fine, their assistant basketball coach. More salacious info coming out on him, including a recorded phone call where his wife supposedly admits she knows his secret life, and a 3rd accuser surfaces, though he’s no saint. How many more athletic programs have this kind of stuff under the rug?…
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/11/27/national/a122820S15.DTL&ao=2
I heard the recorded convo this morning. Fine’s wife is fucking nuts, too. There are so many weirdo/fucked up people in the world. It’s embarrassing to be human.
The recorded phone call was given to ESPN in 2003, but they sat on it, as they said they had no corroboration, which I’m not sure I understand, since her admission seems to corroborate the first accuser’s allegations. Too weird that the first accuser now says he was involved then at 18 with Fine’s wife. Even if it were inadmissible in court, so they couldn’t use it against him, this recording had to be the straw that got him fired. If a wife admits you’re a pedophile with no obvious duress or reason to lie, you’re toast. Boeheim’s statements before this came out, basically ripping the alleged victims, looks really, really bad right now, so he already has come out swinging with that CYA apology. These icon coaches just don’t seem to get it…
Hows about that video of 73yr old Joe Kapp assaulting an ex foe? Wild.
Helluva right cross, even though the opponent was sporting a cane. Those two dudes definitely can carry a grudge — 40 years worth. Go Bears!!!….
Bob Costas just tore Steve Johnson a new asshole for his TD celebration that cost his team (Buffalo Bills) a 15 yard penalty, which resulted in the Jets having a short field, where they scored the winning TD . . . LOVE IT!
Getting called out by Costas on national TV. Not a great career move!
Almost forgot Sportdude . . . Johnson missed a sure catch that he had both hands on in the last few minutes of the game, which would also have given his team another chance to win.
Yeah, I got to see the end of that game after golfing w/ my son. Too goddamn funny, Blade. I can’t stand Ryan, and wanted him to lose, but Stevie is a moron. Kinda like VD early in his career. He would catch a 12 yard pass for a 1st down and get a 15 yard unsportsmanlike for a dance routine/freakout.
Shit, Leinart got hurt? TJ Yates?
Me too Chuck . . . no love lost for Ryan, but Johnson essentially “gift-wrapped” that win for the Jets with his antics. Not certain of the details, but I seem to recall that idiot doing the same thing last year.
Costas commentary was gold in general with regard to all celebrations and specifically, his comments on Johnson. Costas is serious about his craft and has really stood out recently with the Purdue coach (forgot his name) interview and his half-time commentary. If you get a chance Chuck, see it on the web (probably NBC sports).
Whoops! Meant Penn State coach, not Purdue.
Well, I think the league is excessive with the excessive celebration penalties. Didn’t see Johnson’s, so I’m not referring to his. In general, I think a short celebration if it’s not in the opponent’s face should be kosher. Too many rinky dink ones.
Totally agree
At the start of Costas rant was footage of NY Giants Homer Jones whom Costas credits with being first to spike the ball. I think the Raiders Hewritt Dixon was on that move pretty early too, and his was really cool, slamming the ball down emphatically.
The stuff you see today, and it’s basically everyone including special teams guys, is f-ing ridiculous. fortunately in b-ball (at least at lower levels up to HS) it’s an automatic T to taunt someone, or otherwise kids would be all over this stuff too.