"Eye" Gate

The entire college football world is talking about Brandon Spikes this week. Not because he' the best linebacker in the country, or the leader of one of the best defenses in the nation. Instead they are talking about his eye gouging of Georgia running back Washaun Ealey.

I've been listening to all kinds of differing opinions this week, and I thought it was time for me to share my own.

While I think intentionally trying to mame someone is reprehensibly wrong, I think Spikes is being unfairly singled out here. Eye gouging, crotch grabbing, gut punching, spitting, biting and pinching all take place in a typical dog-pile. Spikes was just dumb enough to get caught this time. All the people out there calling for a 3 game suspension should take a step back and look at their own program for a second. I'm sure if you ask anyone on any team, they will tell you it happens all the time.

I don't believe 2 wrongs make a right, but if you watch the game film, early in the first quarter Spikes had his helmet ripped off. While he was helmetless, a Georgia player intentionally head butted him. Who out there would not be pissed off if this were to happen to you. Now, Spikes should have handled that situation right then and there instead of stewing on the sidelines for 2 quarters plotting his revenge. That's where I think Spikes is wrong in all of this.

The other part of this that is getting Florida criticized is the half game suspension for Spikes. I agree with everyone out there. This suspension is a joke. I think it would be in Florida's best interest to suspend Spikes for the whole game. For one, it's Vanderbilt and Spikes is not necessarily needed to win the game. Plus, Meyer could have averted all this extra criticism from the media and Gator Haters.

Now, everyone calling for Spikes' head should read some of Ealey's comments about the incident. If you're too lazy to click on the link, Ealey is basically saying that all that stuff was happening on both sides of the ball on Saturday. Ealey also said that he didn't think Spikes should be suspended, mainly because he didn't even come close to his eyes. I have to give some props to Ealey on this one. He's showing a lot of class coming out to defend Spikes.

For the other side of the argument, take a look at Pat Forde's usually unbiased and well-written Forde-Yard Dash. My favorite part of the article was a comment left by one of the readers:

"Pat Forde, you're an idiot. I wish Brandon Spikes would gouge my eyes out so I wouldn't have to read any more of your articles. ESPN should suspend you for stupidity."

That is just classic.

One thing that is being overlooked in "Eye" Gate was this blatant no-cal against Nick Williams. They don't get much worse than this.



Watching all this drama unfold does remind me of one thing:



That was one of the worst things I've seen in a football game, mainly because it caused serious injury to Earnest Graham. There are Seminole fans to this day that deny Dockett did anything wrong that day.

Thursday Recap

A lot happened in the college football world last night. The only thing that seemed to be missing was actual good football. Every game was marred by turnovers and miscues. I guess you can't really ask for too much more on the first night of the season.

Here are my thoughts on what transpired.


Everyone is talking about the LaGarrette Blount punch today. People are forgetting that an actual game transpired before than incident. I can't really blame them. The game was boring. Either Chip Kelly is in for a long season at Oregon, or Boise St.'s defense is pretty damn good. For someone who is supposedly an offensive genius, it seemed Kelly couldn't pull his head out of his ass long enough to call a decent play. Is this really the team that everyone was expecting to challenge USC for the PAC-10 crown? I'm ashamed the Ducks cracked my top 25 poll.

As for the Blount incident, my take is simple. The Boise St. douche deserved to be punched square in the jaw. You don't run up on someone who you just beat and pound on his shoulder pads. Even if you were to be dumb enough to do that, you don't compound your mistake by yapping at the guy. I don't blame Blount at all for hitting him in the mouth. I would've done the same. Where Blount went wrong is how he acted after he went all Kermit Washington. Blount tried to fight his own teammates and run into the stands a la Ron Artest. Both of those are no nos. I don't think the guy should be kicked off the team but he definitely deserves a strong suspension. Maybe even suspend him for the season. Oregon can't do any worse without him than they did last night.

Speaking of shit fests, what the hell was that pile of crap that ESPN aired before the Blount Brawl? NC State and South Carolina put on a snooze fest that would make Sylvester Croom jealous. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised with the Wolfpack's performance. They seem to forget to play football until around November. One thing I did learn from this game: Eric Norwood is even better than I thought. I think he might have moved up my positional rankings with that performance.

Not too much else happened Thursday. Utah didn't look overly impressive against in-state "rival" Utah St.

Ball St. looks like it misses Nate Davis and Brady Hoke a lot more than they miss Muncie. Stan Parrish still can't coach.

Iowa St. and Indiana are slightly better than I thought they would be. But not by much.

ESPN continues to exploit Lou Holtz's willingness to do whatever corny ass segment they ask him too. Mark May is still horrible...

I took a hurting in my weekly picks last night. I mean, I was awful......

Highlight of the night:

Thursday Recap

Thursday officially marked the first day of the college football season. It also marked the first of many fights I will have with my wife over the viewing of said college football. She's got to understand there's a certain order for my priorities in life right now:

1. Me.
2. College Football
3. My entertainment
4. Family.

That seems about right. How could she get mad at me? Anyway, here's a brief recap on the happenings around college football Thursday night.

ESPN showcased the North Carolina St. v. South Carolina match-up. The Gators weren't involved in this one but it sure seemed like it. UF references were made throughout the game with the OBC on the Cock sideline, Jesse Palmer in the booth and Erin Andrews reporting. In case you were in a comma last night, Palmer played QB for Spurrier at Florida. Chris Fowler must have mentioned that fact 40 times. Also, all the references to Palmer being on the Bachelor are very unnecessary.

The actual game was a complete douche fest. SC QB Tommy Beecher threw four picks and the OBC never once slammed his visor! What kind of shit is that? Also, the refs are taking this whole new celebration rule enforcement thing a little too seriously. I mean, giving a guy a penalty because he's doing push-ups after missing an int? That's a little ridiculous.

It's safe to say Jim Harbaugh has done a tremendous job of getting the Stanford Cardinal back to being competitive. Stanford pulled off a mild upset by defeating the Oregon St. Beavers late last night. The Cardinal have a RB named Toby Gerhart that is the real deal. This guy is big and has deceptive speed. The way he broke through Beaver tackles made you think Ron Zook was the OSU coach.

Both of the Miamis were in action last night. Miami(FL) wooped up on Charleston Southern behind QB Jacory Harris. Miami(OH) faltered at home against the almighty Vanderbilt Commodores. By the way, Vandy CB D.J. Moore is a legitimate All-American candidate. I would like to hear any of his doubters now.

Wake Forest got their first ever victory in the state of Texas by knocking off Baylor. Wake is a dark horse national title contender this season. If Riley Skinner can keep producing, the Deacs are capable of running through the weak ACC. Baylor dual threat QB Robert Griffin II was very impressive running the ball. Passing.....not so much.

Eastern Michigan won! That almost never happens.

Cincinnati and Connecticut both looked rather impressive while beating up on 1-aa teams. I think Cincinnati will surprise some people this year. Brian Kelly is a vastly underrated coach. Kelly's old team, Central Michigan, also got a win last night. Let the Dan LeFevour Heisman hype begin!

ESPN probably has the worst pre-game/halftime show crew ever. I love Lou Holtz, but these horrible gimmicks they make him do are ridiculous. The pep talk segments last year were a monumental flop. That shit fest looks like Emmy winning material compared to the new Dr. Lou crap they're trying to shove down our throats this season. Also, I hate Mark May. He sucks.

Can't wait for Saturday.

ESPN gets owned by yours truly

Mark Schlabach of ESPN released his early bowl predictions today. Too bad that was done over a month ago.

I'll list Mr. D-bag, Mark Schlabach's picks here. His choices will be in blue. I'll put my pics (the correct ones) in orange next to his. If Schlabach copied me and picked the same school, it will be in green. Each bowl pick will be followed by a quick assessment of Schlabach's dumb-assedness.

1. BCS Title Game- Georgia/ Florida vs. Ohio St./ Oklahoma - Owned.
2. Fiesta Bowl- Oklahoma/ Texas vs. BYU- He almost got it right.
3. Sugar Bowl- Auburn/Georgia vs. Texas Tech/ Illinois- Ass handed to him.
4. Rose Bowl- Wisconsin/ Ohio St. vs USC- Everybody and their mom agrees w/ USC.
5. Orange Bowl- Clemson vs. West Virginia- Blatant plagiarism on the part of Mark.
6. Capital One Bowl- Illinois/Wisconsin vs. Florida/LSU- Wrong.
7. Outback Bowl- Penn St./Michigan vs. Tennessee/Auburn-He might have got PSU right.
8. Cotton Bowl- Texas/ Missouri vs. LSU/ Alabama-Ownage.
9. Gator Bowl- Wake Forest vs. Notre Dame/ Cincinnati- Notre Dame???????
10. Sun Bowl- Oregon St. vs Texas A&M- He's trying real hard to be like me.
11. Holiday Bowl- Arizona St. vs. Missouri/ Texas Tech- So close.
12. Chick-Fil-A Bowl- Virginia Tech vs. Alabama/ South Carolina- Beamer vs. Spurrier is a much better match-up.
13. Liberty Bowl- Houston/ UCF vs. Ole Miss/ Tennessee- I hope Mark likes apples.
14. Alamo Bowl- Kansas vs. Michigan St./ Purdue- Halfway there.
15. Insight Bowl- Nebraska/ Colorado vs. Purdue/ Indiana- I almost feel sorry for him.
16. Music City Bowl- Miami(FL) vs. South Carolina/ Miss. St.-Come on, Randy Shannon v. Sylvester Croom....
17. Independence Bowl- Oklahoma St. vs. Miss St./ Arkansas- I admit, Arkansas might be a stretch.
18. Champs Sports Bowl- Florida St./ North Carolina St. vs. Michigan/ Penn St.- Ugghhh.....
19. Meineke Car Care Bowl- North Carolina vs. Pitt/ South Florida- How bad does he think USF will be???
20. Papajohns.com Bowl- Rutgers vs. Kentucky- Even Schlabach can pull one out of his ass.
21. Texas Bowl- Colorado/ Nebraska vs. UCF/ Tulsa- Mark Schlabach= Shit ruined.
22. Humanitarian Bowl- Maryland/ Virginia vs. Boise St.- Of course he would get Boise right.
23. Emerald Bowl- Boston College/ Maryland vs. California/ UCLA- Fuckin' wrong.
24. Las Vegas Bowl- Utah vs. Oregon/ California- Utah might surprise both of us and get a better bowl bid.
25. Hawaii Bowl- Nevada/ Fresno St. vs. UCLA/ Arizona-Doesn't Mark get paid to do this?
26. GMAC Bowl- Tulsa/ East Carolina vs. Central Michigan/ Nevada- His match up looks better, too bad it's horribly wrong.
27. St. Petersburg Bowl- South Florida/ Pitt vs. Memphis/ Houston- Pathetic.
28. Armed Forces Bowl- Southern Miss/ Memphis vs. TCU/ Air Force- This is getting ugly.
29. Congressional Bowl- Navy vs. Kent St./ Georgia Tech- It's kinda easy to get Navy right since they already accepted the damn bid.
30. International Bowl- Louisville vs. Miami(OH)/ Ball St.- There's no way Miami gets this bid over Ball St.
31. Motor City Bowl- Iowa/ Michigan vs. Ball St./ Central Michigan- Iowa???
32. New Orleans Bowl- Florida Atlantic/ UL-Monroe vs. ECU/ Southern Miss- I think he got me on this one. I'm still more awesome.
33. Poinsettia Bowl- Arizona/ Washington vs. Air Force/ Buffalo- He's sleeping on Buffalo.....
34. New Mexico Bowl- Fresno St./ Louisiana Tech vs. New Mexico/ FAU- Who cares?

ESPN gets better with addition by subtraction

Bill Curry announced yesterday that he will be leaving the broadcast booth to take over the football program at Georgia St.

All I can say is, thank god! Curry was horrible as a college football analyst for ESPN. Good 'ol Bill has spent the last 11 years verbally ravaging my ear canals as I watched my beloved sport.

College football fans everywhere can thank GSU athletic director Mary McElroy for getting Curry off the airwaves.

Bill Curry has previously ran the Alabama and Kentucky programs into the ground, and he will now get a chance to do the same to a program that hasn't even started playing yet. The Georgia St. Panthers are looking to begin football play in 2010 in the Colonial Athletic league.

I have always likened Bill Curry to John Madden. They are both former coaches that get waaayyy too much credit as analysts. All Madden and Curry do is point out the obvious. Curry always got on my nerves more because he had that damn drawl. I once heard Curry say during a telecast that the team on offense had to try to gain 10 yards in the allotted amount of downs or they would have to punt. Are you serious? You think that is what needs to be done?

I kind of take it as an insult to my intelligence that this ass plunger has been on the air for 11 damn years.

Now we just need for George Mason to start a football program and hire Larry Coker out of the booth. While I actually like Coker as a commentator on ESPNU (the man usually makes good points), I cannot stand his damn voice. Maybe they could have Coker write some material for Andre Ware or Todd Blackledge. Of course this would force Blackledge to NOT mention the fact that he played QB at Penn St. during an entire game.