ABOUT THIS BLOG

John Tamanaha

MSNBC.com contributor John Tamanaha tackles the hot topics in college football. From title contenders and Heisman hopefuls to coaches on the hot seat and recruiting battles, no issue is out of bounds.



This week's 20 questions

Posted: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 12:49 AM


While still trying to figure out why Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy got so riled up by Jenni Carlson’s column on Bobby Reid, I’m here to pose this week’s 20 questions:

Why is ranking the conferences such a necessary thing these days? I mean, seriously, isn’t coming out with new “one-through-six” each week nothing more than senseless regional chest banging? Everyone with half a brain knows that what Les Miles said before the season was off base, so can’t we all just move along and get back to discussing Notre Dame’s woes?

Speaking of the Fighting Irish, will it be their turn to be the imaginary recipients of Lou Holtz’ weekly and lispy “pep talk” segment on ESPN? Actually, considering the fact that he’s 0-3, having failed in his attempts to inspire Michigan (vs. Oregon), Nebraska (vs. USC) and Penn State (at Michigan), who’s with me in betting that he’ll never risk it with Notre Dame and avoid stepping on Charlie Weis’ toes altogether?

Don’t you just love comparative scores? Do you think UCLA would lose to UNLV by 65 points? How about Wofford beating Michigan by 13?

Speaking of the Terriers (that’s Wofford) and Mountaineers (not the West Virginia version, but the Appalachian State version that’s 2-1 now), does the Associated Press have any other bright ideas like their illogical “you can vote for FCS teams” decree?

When will all the talking heads on TV start to recognize that fullback Stanley Havili has been the early key to USC’s offense? Can anyone even remember who finished last season at that integral spot for the Trojans?

Why is “system” a semi-bad word in terms of college football offenses? Has anyone seen what Hawaii did without the injured Colt Brennan last week ... or the numbers that Graham Harrell has been posting at Texas Tech? Aren’t there several schools out there that could use a “system?”

Wasn’t it good to see Virginia post that big 28-23 win over Georgia Tech without any help from Michelle Quiroga? Do you think you’ll ever see a missed field goal “challenged” by a coach for the rest of our lifetime?

If you’re like me and really enjoy seeing all the signs behind ESPN’s “GameDay” crew every Saturday morning, did you see the “$uck it $aban!” poster that briefly appeared twice above his right shoulder? Do you think that guy with the sign made it out of there alive?

With direct snaps to running backs solidly in vogue these days, how soon will it be before a school pulls out a single-wing package?

Okay, I think I figured it out with Gundy. Was he trying out for one of those Coors Light press conference commercials?

MAIN PAGE

Email this EMAIL THIS

Comments

Give Gundy a break. You might have noticed he was wearing a cap that day. Obviously, a man who goes to such great pains to gel his hair into 3" spikes every day would be grumpy if he were forced to hide those cement-like strands under that gaudy cap he was wearing. Why, it makes me want to go and find the weakest person in the room and start screaming at them!

Mike, OKC, OK (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 12:37 PM)

I don't think that people should be writing a story that degrades and questions a player's toughness because he was having a post game meal with his mother.  That's a little uncalled for.

Stanley (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 5:23 PM)

John,

I'm 52 years old now. It takes a lot to impress this aging SOB. Today is the first time I've read your work and I have to say you're a funny guy. Excellent article. I'll go out of my way to find your stuff in the future. Good luck and keep it up!

John Blackmore, Denver area... (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 8:31 PM)

Well, gee, maybe conference strength is almost as important as wins/loses when the figure skating judges...er...I mean sports writers and broadcasters frame the debate on who gets into the mythical "national championship" game.  Millions of dollars ride on who gets into BCS games, and apart from the automatic bids, who gets in are based on polls (not the AP poll, I know, but who doesn't think the coaches and Harris polls aren't influenced by the AP poll?).  

As long as the debate clubs of the world decide which football team gets to play for "championships", and as long as non-BSC conferences are clamoring to get into the big games, conference strength will become more and more important.  

FSS, Plano, TX (Sent Wednesday, September 26, 2007 2:47 PM)

Why did he get riled up?  Read the column, then watch the Gundy video.  Gundy's rant is about petty personal attacks (which Carlson's piece was).  Gundy is saying if you're going to make personal attacks on players, do it to the ones who deserve by not making their grades, getting arrested, making stupid comments to the media, etc.  If they don't screw up like that, save the criticism for their performance on the field.

Russ Pittman (Sent Wednesday, September 26, 2007 4:59 PM)

I agree with what you said about 'systems'.  I also would like to add that the talking heads who have been disparging toward Colt Brennan should stop their discrimination against lesser known conferences.  A lot of these former players from big conferences should leave their adolescent bias behind with the rest of their collegiate experiences and grow up.  Gino Torretta?  Charlie Ward?  Danny Wuerffel?  Chris Weinke?  Eric Crouch?  All of them are great quartebacks in their eras because of the 'systems' they were recruited into and the obscene amount of talent they all had around them.  All were deserving of the Heisman. Don't forget them when the time comes for the best collegiate player to be honored at the end of the season.    

Lance Tashima, Honolulu, Hawaii (Sent Wednesday, September 26, 2007 5:57 PM)

Don't you think that that reporter went a little to far by questioning the kid's toughness because he eats dinner with his mother?

Marques (Sent Wednesday, September 26, 2007 10:16 PM)

I think the questions you pose, are all reasons that make college football so much more intriging than the NFL:

- Can you imagine Wade Phillips defending TO when the media crashes down on him the way OSU's Gundy did? TO may party too hard and sleep during practice, but at least he doesn't cheat....like Bill Belichick.

- I dislike rankings, and think it should be settled on the field.  Why not make conferences into divisions and set up a playoff system with the two surviving teams meet for the National Championship?  West Coast vs East Coast?  It will never happen because the NCAA Bowl games make too much money in television contracts to give it up....but it's fun to debate.  

We all know it's always more fun in college....

Mike G, Pasadena, CA (Sent Thursday, September 27, 2007 12:03 PM)

John, man is there anything that can save the Blackshirts this year?  Surrendering 40 points to Ball State is just plain awful ( kinda makes one reconsider if USC's offense is THAT good.... I tend to think we ( Huskers) are just THAT BAD on D).

Needless to say, D Coordinator Kevin Cosgrove needs to go!!
( Can you say mid-90's Wisconsin Badger Defense? I knew you could!)

Thank God we have Sam Keller & his reciever corp. or Nebraska would be a miserable 1-3 right now.

How do you see the rest of the season turning out?

Matthew, Omaha, Neb. (Sent Thursday, September 27, 2007 12:18 PM)

After hearing Graham Harrell's numbers bad mouthed as a "system" by the TV announcer, a friend and I had to wonder - "why aren't a tailbacks numbers just a system? Look at USC, bring in 5 of the best offensive lineman in the nation, and run the ball 40 times a game. But that's OK, based on tradition............."

Joe, Midland, TX (Sent Thursday, September 27, 2007 1:52 PM)

John, I was sooooooo happy to hear Lou Holtz give his weekly pep talk to South Florida.  I took it as a harginger of certain victory for WVU.  Leave it to my Mountaineers to break Lou's losing streak and my heart in one fell swoop.  Is USF no longer a sleeping giant, but one with eyes wide open?

Tony, Charleston, WV (Sent Sunday, September 30, 2007 8:46 PM)

Is Mike Gundy any kin to Howard Dean? Got to love those talks! Great 20 questions article, and I can not imagine why people want to rank the conference teams. The SEC is tough enough already without pointing out who's close to the bottom of that list.

Jimmy, Wickes, Arkansas (Sent Wednesday, October 03, 2007 1:57 PM)



SEND A COMMENT

PLEASE READ: All comments must be approved before appearing in the thread; time and space constraints prevent all comments from appearing. We will only approve comments that are directly related to the blog, use appropriate language and are not attacking the comments of others.

Message (please, no HTML tags. Web addresses will be hyperlinked):

Your name, city and state (John Doe, Seattle, Wash.): 

 Your e-mail address (jdoe@msnbc.com):

Your website (it's okay if you don't have one):

Remember me? (We'll keep it private)