Day One

Wow, that was a brutal non-call in the SC-Vandy game.  The kid almost caught the ball one-handed, but that was a clear penalty.  I am not saying the refs are told to keep highly-ranked SEC teams highly ranked but...
Vanderbilt played a gutsy game.  Gamecock fans had better enjoy being in the top ten because they will not remain if Shaw is hurt or if they do not block better and cover better deep.
BYU proved that they need more respect.  They have a tough schedule but can make some noise.  And I'd love to see UCLA back but Rice stinks so we need to see some more.
More games tonight.  Don't sleep on the battle of Philly, which is usually better than last season's Temple rout.

It's Back

Finally.  The off-season from hell has ended and football kickoffs tonight.  The marquee game is South Carolina at Vandy and while I think the Gamecocks will win by 17 I am rooting for a more competitive game.  I am also intrigued by tomorrow night's Boise at MSU game as we all expect Boise to drop a notch this season and here they are matched against one of the best defenses in the country.  Still, it's Boise.

Another Year, Another High Ranking for FSU

Let's see Herbstreit is picking Florida State to win it all, so too Phil Steele.  The Noles have a bunch-load of returning starters and one of these years they will return to prominence, right?  The odds are in their favor that they can actually win a mediocre conference for the first time since 2005.  Right? 
But wait, Herbstreit and Steele and others are picking FSU to win the national championship.  Hey that may happen but every year, like clockwork, FSU is picked high and every year they disappoint.  Yes they were incredible back in the day but that success is a thing of the past.  Last year they went 9-4 and Steele make apologies for those four losses.  But they beat Louisiana Monroe, Charleston Southern, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina State, Boston College, Miami, Florida and Notre Dame.  There was not a top program from 2011 in the bunch.  They lost to Wake Forest, at home, and Virginia last year.  Can they please win 10 games and a conference title first before we start picking them as the best in the country? 

Why SI?

I understand that Sports Illustrated is facing a dilemma.  Young adult males do not read anything anymore and yet SI needs them to not only boost circulation but for ads for stupid products other folks do not use (I'm talking to you Axe For Men).  But the latest attempts from them just do not cut the mustard.  The recent college football preview issue is almost unreadable.  There is little substance and the decisions for what made the cut editorially are sometimes laughable.  There are only three little sections on each expected top 25 school and so some write-ups spend a good chunk of preview on the impact freshman fighting for the 4th WR job and not the lines or coaching staff or schedule or any of a million more worthy subjects.  There is absolutely no reason to keep that issue hanging around as a reference.
The problem is that the staff of writers are not 21-year-olds used to twitter and blogging.  They are better served with longer length.  So either let them write or do not bother with a preview.  What currently stands does not take advantage of SI publishing this magazine in August, whereby they trump the bigger preview mags with timely information, nor the talent of the writers who should best the 21-year-old bloggers.

View From Bennett Ave

Having a preseason poll for college football is one of the dumbest aspects of sports.

View From Bennett Ave

I find it funny that there are so many opinions swirling around out there about Tyrann Mathieu's motives for checking into the rehab center John Lucas helps run in Houston.  Mathieu does have a problem even if some of us knock the significance of marijuana usage.  But the young man needed to stay clean for his team and for his future and could not do so.  Therefore he has a problem.  LSU was right in tossing him as they could not trust him and as I said before they should have been harder with failed tests one and two.  Clearly this is a problem that college football and all sports is dealing with and there is a need for the right blend of toughness and support and an increase in knowledge for us all.  The key right now is in his staying clean and not in our conjecture on where he will land.

Big East Moves Forward

I do not know new Big East commissioner Mike Aresco personally.  He does have the required vowel at the end of his name and so he must be a fit for the conference.  Seriously, I like the hire but will know a bit more, like all of you, once he actually does something.
While the focus with both the hire and the future of the conference is with a new television deal, the real work to be done is with public relations.  The public thought the old Big East stunk and stunk it did in terms of perception.  But in terms to play on the field the Big East was holding its own until the most recent seasons when everything bottomed out.
But the new Big East should wipe the slate clean.  The conference will certainly provide markets but what is really needed are wins.  Big football wins over top competition.  And while the conference never did get anything for generally running a clean ship, they cannot reverse course and break every rule in the book to catch up with the others.  A couple of their programs have some red flags but for the conference the need is to play hard, recruit hard and win without cheating.   And to do that they must retain good coaches and identify others.

Rise and Fall of Tyrann Mathieu

What is a fan of college football to do?  With August kicking off camp for college football programs the focus on the sport returned to football after another conscientious off-season.  The Penn State story was not going to go away for good mind you--and those lessons need to be retained--but at least thousands of players were back on fields across the nation and we could begin counting the days toward August 30th and the first official games.
Then Tyrann Mathieu does something he shouldn't have done and now one of the most dynamic and recognizable players in the game is removed from the 2012 season equation.  Since we do not know officially what the Honey Badger did I will not comment on the severity of the punishment, although I will say that his one-game suspension last season was apparently insufficient.  I also blame the media (what will Erin Andrews do now without him...learn about other players?) for continuing to give this guy attention beyond what he actually did on the field.  Sure he was good but clearly the scrutiny-free love he received while continuing to screw up off the field certainly did him no good.
So we will now all bemoan the fact that this gifted player will be sidelined.  Of course the SEC haters will be happy that yet another top program from that conference suffered a tough blow before games were played, adding Tyrann to the club formed by Bobby Petrino this off-season.  And those rooting for a team favored to be in the national title race will be happy that LSU took an early August bullet--well, missile--because we college fans are human and know full well that national title runs are fueled by both what happens to your team and what happens to the other 20-30 top teams.
After a day of reflection I, a true blue college football fan, can find solace in the fact that there are so many great college football players out there that one guy cannot make or break a season.  Hell, who knew how good Tyrann could be 365 days ago?

View From Bennett Ave

So I was watching a little of the bronze medal-determining beach volleyball game between China and Brazil yesterday and struggling with the team I felt I needed to root for.  Being a fan of the USA, of course, and desiring that we hold off the Chinese in the overall medal count, I was determined to root for the Brazilians.  And normally I would be happy to root for bikini-clad women from the land of the samba.  But these two, especially Larissa, made that difficult.  While the Chinese pair played hard and rarely complained, either to each other or the officials, the Brazilians bitched about everything.  Larissa was constantly in her teammate's grill and while I assume not all of that was negative--after all she was screwing up as much as the other--it was difficult to watch.  So under normal circumstances I would root for the Chinese team, based on how they acted on the sand, but I was struggling to root against them.
Which brings me to a question for you all (and I want some feedback!).  In rooting for a team in any sport, but let's keep the discussion to the best one there is, do you root against your chief rival in every game they play or do you want them to win the others so that your victory over them is that much better?  In other words, Auburn fans, do you hate Alabama so much you want them to be 0-12 every year or do you want it to play out like 2010 every season?  I root for Notre Dame (when I am not an impartial college football writer of course) and want them to beat good Michigan and USC teams.  ND wins championships when their rivals are playing at the best (and the Irish actually have a good squad...it's finally returning in 2012) and not when they stink.  But I have friends who hate those programs so much that they come close to wishing bodily harm to every member of the team, past and present.
So where do you stand on the subject?  Root against your rivals 365 days a year or begrudgingly want them to win a lot of games each year because your 75-2 dismantling of them will look so much better?

View From Bennett Ave

The fortunes of a college football team rise and fall throughout each season due to a long list of variables.  Injuries and suspensions to the players on the team you root for have the most tangible effect on a won-loss record to be sure, but we fans also have to be aware of what's happening to the rosters of our opponents too.  For example you definitely wanted to play Oklahoma last year after star WR Ryan Broyles went down with an ACL injury.  In this off-season we have already witnessed a host of stars and solid contributors get caught up in situations requiring suspensions while other key players have gone down with injury.  Unlike the NFL a college football roster is typically stagnant heading into August camps and coaches need to look at players off the two-deep to fill an unexpected need.
This summer, however, a new and somewhat unique development occurred which has allowed some programs to address areas of need with new talent.  Texas coach Mack Brown is unhappy with his kicking unit?  Come on down to Austin, Anthony Fera, who was, until recently, the kicker and punter for Penn State.   Injuries and transfers weakened the RB depth at USC and so they plucked Silas Redd from PSU.  The Sooners are still struggling with WR depth, due to suspensions and injuries, and so Justin Brown was brought in from Penn State.  While everyone is debating the merits of the case against Penn State a few major programs are taking advantage of the situation to improve areas of weakness.  And so some Nittany Lions will be playing next January after all.

View From Bennett Ave

Whatever problems you may have with USC coach Lane Kiffin--and I certainly have a few--you have to give him credit for a blind faith in himself and his actions, even if they are completely misguided or flat out wrong.  Kiffy is one of those guys who feel that anything is true if you believe that it is true.  He left Tennessee in a better situation that he inherited because he said so--never mind the NCAA coming to the door due to infractions he incurred for a recruiting class that fell apart in Knoxville because of player arrests, transfers and poor play.  Now he wants to help Penn State coach Bill O'Brien deal with the NCAA sanctions leveled at PSU because no one was there to help him with USC's sanctions.  Kiffy believes that he is being kind to O'Brien.  Meanwhile as he was saying this he was luring the best player for the Nittany Lions, RB Silas Redd, to USC for the upcoming season.  At one point a total of six USC coaches were sent to State College to recruit Redd.  Umm Kiffy?  Don't expect any calls from O'Brien soon.
As for Penn State they have lost some players with Redd being the most prominent but that is really okay.  Not only were many of the guys running out the door not needed--yes that means you Rob Bolden--but Penn State needs to rebuild with young kids who want to be there.  Generally the type of kid who wants to go to State College is the type of kid who can help you get through these tough times.    Play the tough, focused kids and move on.  This was always going to be a rebuilding season and while Redd and others may have made it more palatable the reality was that you need a five year plan to bring Penn State back to the mountaintop and one year of Redd before he went pro was not going to be a factor.  I firmly believe that PSU will be back and that tough road begins Monday when camp opens.