I saw two things I have never seen before tonight.
1) Them calling an illegal man down field on N.C. State on a post pattern 35 yards deep. Obviously James or Palmer, or both, were both right on it saying that this is now a point of emphasis, and will be called this year. Umm, okay.
2) In the Boise State game, they ran a play, throwing it to the tight end for a first and goal. Then the refs threw a flag. They said that the offensive lineman lined up in the neutral zone, and the play should have never been run, but it was. 5 yard penalty. Never saw that.
The officiating figures to be a constant problem all year. It has shown no signs of improvement. I think it is ridiculous that in a non conference game, one of the conferences involved has officials calling the game. SEC officials called the S Carolina NC State game, and WAC officials called the Boise Oregon game. Its beyond dumb.
Could Mark Jones be more un-intelligent when it comes to the game of football? Just listening to the first 2 minutes, I said to myself, oh boy...this is gonna be a long game.
Its 19-8. Oregon Ball. Its 4th and 1 from the 22 yard line. Theres 10 mins left. Oregon goes for it. THey get stopped in the backfield. Biggest play of the game really. He is like, barely alive as he calls it. Why would this be?
a) He has a paycheck on Oregon
b) Hes shot up with sedatives
c) He doesnt know anything about football
Probably c. How come when I watch the NBA, as infrequently as that is, and its Lakers Suns or something, and as they go to a commercial, and show Kobe Bryant doing some average crossover on Raja Bell in slow motion, I have to hear Mark Jones yell "Kobe Bryant says, I got something for ya!!!!!" yet when they get a 4th down stop, I hear "Oregon is stopped," in a Joe Buck monotone voice?
I dont think Jesse Palmer said one original thing the whole game. 90% of the time, he just repeats what Craig James says. At one point, Craig James asked him "What do you think of Ole Miss?" Palmer responded "I like Ole Miss, they play LSU and Alabama at home"
Really? That is why you like someone? I talked about this obsession with schedules in an earlier post. Imagine though, having this same discussion in any other sport. It just doesnt make sense.....
Me: "How you think the Bears are gonna be this year"
Person: "They play Green Bay week 1 on sunday night"
Does that make any sense? Of course not. Why does it make sense in college football? It shouldnt.
The dumbest thing in the history of any television broadcast, not just ESPN, is how they show the starting lineups on top of the screen, above the clock. First off....you cant look at both those and the action on the field. So its dumb right there. Second, theres a debate in psychology that some people are audio learners, some visual. Well, with the old system, you had both. Whats an easier way to memorize something? Read it, or read it, hear it, and see a picture of the person to go along with it? And as a result of this, combined with poor announcing, its impossible to even know the players on any team. Finally, football is the ultimate team game. There are 22 starters. Over 30-35 people get legitimate playing time. Then, add in all the special teams play (which was beyond bad by all teams tonight), and you get a lot of people playing. ESPN narrows it down to 3 "impact players". Why? Why cant they just highlight those people as they go through all 22 starters? Even if they are so bent on using their lingo, why can't they just go through 22 starters, and say "LB Eric Norwood is an impact player", and have a picture of all 3 linebackers on the screen with their names on it? I know this isnt that hard, because this is the way it was done for 20 years.
Pretty sloppy play on all teams' parts.
South Carolina vs North Carolina State.
The only touchdown resulted from a turnover, and USC only had to go 20 yards or something. Why did N.C. State refuse to throw the ball down the field? I thought USC's defense played pretty well. Obviously Norwood had a good game, but CB Akeem Auguste played well, as well as Rodney Paulk and Darian Stewart. Im still not sold on Garcia at QB, but he looked better than any point last year.
N.C. State should be embarrassed. THe only thing to hang their hat on is the play of their defense. They just have no weapons on the offensive side. They really need to open up the playbook a little more. I dont wanna talk about this anymore, because Im kinda embarrassed I gave NC State any kind of credit.
Boise State vs Oregon
The first half, Boise State looked, really, really really, good. They played great defense. This is an Oregon team that scored 40 points + or something three straight games. They had a top rushing offense. And they didnt get a first down until the third quarter. I only got to see Boise a few times last year, and in the Poinsettia Bowl, Kellen Moore looked just okay. Then, I pick up an athlonsports this year, and its just all Moore, Moore, Moore. Well that is all deserved. There were some touch throws he made that were great. He looks like the real deal.
I dont really need to discuss how sloppy the play was in the second half. Boise could have won this game by 24+.
I also dont appreciate having to hear Davie talk 100 times about how "as long as the BCS standings come out in December have Boise in there, they dont care how they got it done, how sloppy it was", and all other Boise in the BCS talk. Its September 4th. Please. I have never heard a more premature BCS crowning for ANY team.
If LeGarette Blount were such a badass, you would think hed have had more than negative five yards rushing. The old saying is do your talking after the fact, off the field, not on it, right?
This brings me back to my "there is gonna be a brawl some day theory". Blount was totally out of control. Now, imagine, if for no good reason, Boise State fans rushed the field. Fans have rushed the field for less in the past. Imagine if there were a couple hundred of fans in the tunnel and in the end zone that Blount had to walk by.
I really dont know what to say about Mark May at this point. He has new glasses. In the Coors LIght six pack of "hard" questions, they asked him 3, and then he got time off in-between, probably because it was so excruciatingly difficult. These were the questions, and his answers:
1) How many games will Florida lose (0).
2) Who can win the title not in the top 10 (N. Carolina).
3) Who can win the Heisman not in the top 3 (Best).
I can see how that would warrant a break.
The only other thing that really annoys me about college football is the Heisman. It isn't even really an award at this point. It just goes to the QB of the best offensive/best team. The exception to this would be that Tebow played on an 8-4 Florida team the year he won it. The last RB to win it was Bush in 05. Before that, Dayne in 99. Every year in-between, a QB has won it. Most of them are less than spectacular. Its a stupid award. That, and it is decided in the beginning of the year. Theres no doubt that the 3 big names will be there in December barring some injury or really freaky. Thats why no one even cares who wins anymore.
Beyond this, then they ask who can win that isnt those 3. So they just give the best RB in the nation, Jahvid Best, and then everyone gives the Eric Berry speech. You know, the speech that you've heard 100 times the past 2 weeks: "Well I like Eric Berry, even though he plays safety. Hell have to make some plays. Charles Woodson is the last defensive player to win the award, and he also was featured on the offense and returned kicks." If you havent heard that yet, you will.
But the highlight of the whole night was after showing the Blount punch a couple of times, Davie exclaims, outraged: "and this all coming after a pre-game handshake on good sportsmanship night!"
Like he was legitimately outraged. It sounded like something that would be yelled out in a Rocky movie. The one I thought of is when Drago kills Creed, and, well before he kills him, after the first round, the black trainer of Creed's gets up and screams "this is supposed to be an exhibition!!!!"
Not really the same thing, but the outrage is there in both cases.
No comments:
Post a Comment