UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT

In the last of the Big 6 conference breakdowns, we look at the Big East. In a time where the “spread” offense has taken over football, the top teams in the Big East are led by the running game. That will be the key to determining a winner at the end when the weather in the northeast turns foul. There has been some coaching turnover, and some key departures from the league will dictate a lot of outcomes this year. Onward!

Shady Who? Dion Lewis announced his presence with authority, last year, and he made it easy for Panthers fans to move on from LeSean “Shady” McCoy. Lewis ran for almost 1800 yards and 17 TD’s. He broke all kinds of school records, and proved to be a workhorse with only two games of fewer than 20 carries (19,18). If he is to continue that production, the offensive line will have to pick up for the 3 starters they lost this year. On defense they have two All-Conference linemen in Greg Romeus and Jabaal Sheard. The front four will need to apply pressure to opposing offenses, so that they won’t have time to pick apart their rebuilding secondary. The schedule maker did them no favors either, with road games against Utah, Notre Dame, UConn, USF, and Cincinnati. Throw in a home tilt with Miami, and coach Wannstedt has his job cut out for him.

Get on my back! Don’t be fooled by the 5’8 180 in the program. Noel Devine is plenty strong enough to carry the Mountaineers into his senior season. He is a dynamic player, who amassed 1500 yards and 13 TDs, and gets to run behind an offensive line with 4 starters returning. That is great to hear for Coach Stewart as he tries to break in a new starting quarterback in Geno Smith. He’s no Pat White, but is a much better thrower from the pocket. On defense, the strength will be in the secondary. They get back Robert Sands who led the team with 5 picks, and also the senior leadership provided by cornerback Brandon Hogan. Coach Stewart has kept the ship headed in the right direction despite the turmoil from Rich Rodriguez’s departure. If their offense can put up enough points, they are going to be a load to handle.

Noel Devine will give the Mountaineers plenty of reasons to celebrate.

Basketball school no more. Coach Edsall is jumping right into the fire, opening up his season at The Big House. He did a great job last year, enduring the murder of Jasper Howard, and still led the team to a bowl victory. Former Notre Dame quarterback Zach Frazer will be heading the offense, and steps back into a starting role that he had lost due to injury. Nothing is more fun for a quarterback than a good running game, and the Huskies have that. They have BOTH of their 1000-yd rushers back in Andre Dixon and Jordan Todman. They will have to continue that production, and Frazer will have to be sound with the ball, so that UConn can play keep away with the football. Their secondary is in flux, and they weren’t very good last year on the way to the 88^th ranked pass defense in the nation.

Who’s got next? Not often is there a coaching change when the football program has won the conference 2 years in a row. That is the case here with the Bearcats, where Butch Jones takes over for Brian Kelly. He has some huge shoes to fill as Kelly has proven to be one of the best coaches in the country. This is a familiar jump for Jones who did the same thing when Kelly left Central Michigan to go to the Bearcats. Congrats coach! Your first schedule includes the Oklahoma Sooners and the Fresno State Bulldogs. He does have some experience at quarterback with Zach Collaros, who was awesome in his 4 starts last year (74% comp, 10 TDs, 2 INT). He showed good mobility and is gonna need it. There isn’t good depth at RB and he lost his most deadly target in Mardy Gilyard. Couple those factors with a mostly new offensive line, and the Bearcats will struggle to hold on to the title belt.

A new era. Slowly climbing the ladder into a BCS conference is Skip Holtz. He helped put UCONN on the map, moved to ECU and won a couple of C-USA titles, and is now in the Big East with USF. Obviously, he would wish the circumstances were better. I won’t pretend to know what went on with Jim Leavitt and his ouster, but to say it was not good would be an understatement. Holtz does get a talented quarterback in BJ Daniels. He’s strong armed and extremely quick. The fun part for him is that the offensive line has a lot of experience. Unfortunately, his skill positions don’t, which is odd being in Florida. Losing a presence like Carlton Mitchell hurts. We’ll see if someone steps up. On defense, it looks even worse, losing Pierre-Paul and Selvie to the NFL, so the defense is in rebuilding mode. It could be a long season, especially traveling to the Swamp and the U. Like I said earlier, Holtz has done some pretty good reclamation jobs, so give him time. He should do the same here.

Normally, the conference title is decided after WVU and Pitt meet in “The Backyard Brawl”. This year it will probably be done by that time. The number of road conference games that Pitt will have makes it hard to see them persevering to the title. I’m calling the Mountaineers here. They have an early test against LSU that should get them ready for the conference schedule. Noel Devine is a definite Heisman candidate, and after the adversity he has faced growing up, a Big East title would be a fitting way to go out.

College football is big business. Duh! Now that we got that out of the way…the NCAA better stopacting like we’re still in the ‘80s. They are no longer the governing bodyfor student athletes. Really, they amount to commissioners of minor league sports. Specifically, a minor league for the NFL. Recently, Reggie Bush, Maurkice Pouncey, Marvin Austin, and I’m sure many more that I am missing, have run afoul of the NCAA. Mostly because they were alleged to, or did, take additional benefits. Allow me to give my best solution to the problem.

The majority of kids don’t choose where they are going to play football based on the academics. It’s a nice bonus, but now it’s about uniforms, playing time, and television exposure. Let’s take the recruitment of Seantrel Henderson, for example. With sanctions looming over the USC TrOJans, he delayed his decision as to where to sign; reportedly, he wanted to do his own research and make the best decision. Interestingly enough, one trip to LA, and an alleged meeting with Snoop later, his John Hancock is on the dotted line. We all know the deal. SC isthe hottest thing around. Girls, celebs, they are the pro team in LA. Now that the sanctions have become a reality, and Lane Kiffin has taken over the reigns from Pete the Cheat, Henderson has bolted to the U. Coach Shannon has to be giddy with his new found gift, but I smell something coming down the road.

This leads me to my next point. He was the highest rated player at his position in the country. Barring injury, he’ll most likely turn out to be one of the best college lineman. You can predict that with that comes an inevitable meeting with an agent. We know that agents hang around college campuses trying to get close to the next sure-fire superstar. The only way to get a handle on this is for the NCAA to work in concert with the NFL. Now before you start laughing out loud, remember this: right now, the only penalties being handed out are sanctions to universities and retroactively declaring a player ineligible to play. That’s because most transgressions aren’t found out until the kids have moved onto bigger and better things. If agents start to get penalized in THEIR pocketbooks, then we might get somewhere. This where the NFL steps in and bans an agent for some length of time, or even life. Commissioner Goodell has already shown his willingness to be out in front of a story, as well as being open to change if it is in the best interest of the league.

One other solution that has been thrown around is to pay the players or increase the stipend. The idea being that they wouldn’t need the agents’ money anymore. In college, I lived with UCLA football players. Their quarterly stipends covered rent each month and not much more. If you’ve ever been to Westwood, you know it ain’t cheap. Any supplement to their income was much appreciated. I have no problem with increasing it, but to flat out pay the kids would be to open Pandora’s Box. How would you determine the amount to pay the 5th string tackle, versus the All-American QB? How much does Jake Walker, the sophomore Toledo RB, get compared to Mark Ingram, the reigning Heisman winner? In the immortal words of Mike Singletary, “Can’t do it!”

If/When my son Isaiah starts to go through this process, I hope there are better safeguards inplace. Right now, it’s too easy for a player, or family, to say, “Hell Yes! Show me the money!” To me, the only way to keep agents off campuses is for the NFL to step in and help. College coaches have no time to police 100 kids. For that to happen, some agendas have to change at NCAA Headquarters. Don’t hold your breath. Honestly, there maybe an unsolvable problem..college boosters. I’ll spend my next 35 years working on that solution.

Say it out loud, and if it sounds like a bad idea, then don’t do it. Those are words that I use all the time when I talk to my son. Unfortunately, he doesn’t listen, and it doesn’t seem like NFL players do either.

It’s been some time since I’ve picked on NFL players. Luckily for me, material just keeps popping up. This is getting ridiculous. Let’s start with the most important position on the field: Quarterback. That is a position that screams for good judgment. You don’t have to be extremely talented (although it helps), but you need to be smart.

But some people don’t seem to think well on their feet. I’m talking about VY, Vince Young. I’ve always wondered why players seem to search out trouble. That type of money should be able to keep you clean, but first you have to stop being dumb. If someone wants to fight, then have your boy handle the light work for you. You can’t be caught in the club on camera trying to knock somebody out. Just saying: I wasn’t summa cum laude, but that seems simple enough to me. Let’s recap: Vince Young, offensive rookie of the year; loses job to Kerry Collins, no comment; reportedly tries to kill himself; plays hero for a winless team; punches some fool in a club. The Jedi, Commissioner Goodell, will not look kindly on this and it is no way to lead a football team. If my meal ticket (read: CJ2K) was unhappy, and not in camp, then I would be doing everything possible to get the team on my side. But that’s just me.

Next on the list is Michael Vick. He wears number 7, but he might not get to play in

This guy got in trouble again? No way.

that number of games this season. The Eagles need you, fool! Kevin Kolb has never played a full 16 game season and you want to F it up by having a huge birthday party at a club. Oh, wait, aren’t you bankrupt? Maybe I misunderstood what that means. I thought you had no money, but you can throw huge parties, and on top of that, one of your old cronies gets shot in the process. There is a Jedi that I mentioned earlier. He won’t like this one bit. Let’s recap: Superman revitalizes football in Atlanta; takes a team to the NFC championship game; takes a picture at a party with a blunt in hand; calls himself Ron Mexico; gets arrested for dogfighting; spends time in federal prison; some God somewhere smiles at him and gets Tony Dungy to pull him out of the hole he dug. Why is he out at a club again?

I could rehash Big Ben’s missteps here, but I want to see my son graduate from college. Moreover, my venom is not only directed at the QB position. Running backs, it’s your turn. I had a bromance with the University of Texas during the NCAA ’04. Roy Williams (both of them), the best defense in college, and the best QB. (Remember him? He was up first.) The running back, Cedric Benson, was by all accounts, a super stud, can’t-miss product in the NFL. Oops, what had happened was…. He went to the Bears and pissed everyone off. He got drunk on a boat in the middle of a lake, and all was lost. But wait, there’s more. He got another chance in Cincinnatti and it looked like he had grown up. Then again, maybe not. Last week, he was arrested for punching fools out in a bar. Really?

Here’s my thing. I love the fact that these guys want to be just like everyone else. News flash, knuckleheads: you’re not. There is no reason why a pro athlete should be driving under the influence; it’s called a taxi or car service… find one. No reason why they should be fighting in a club, it’s called assault…but looks like they know that now. Since Jedi Goodell has taken over he has had a zero-tolerance policy for idiocy. I hope that eventually, the players pick up on that. It’s hard to be a saint, but easy to not be an ass. If these guys don’t figure it out soon, they’ll be repeat offenders on Unsportsmanlike Conduct.

This is the best safety in all the land.

“Relentlessly optimistic” is my new favorite phrase. After Toledo and Dorrell, anything can get my spirits up. Most may forget that UCLA football has a pretty good history, but to most, that’s all it is… history. Ask someone about UCLA football and the first thing to come to mind is the baby blue uniforms and the Rose Bowl. If you ask me, it’s Aikman, Ogden, Donahue, and don’t forget the walk-on Rose Bowl MVP Rick Neuheisel. (EDITOR’S NOTE: John Freaking Barnes.)

He reminds me of the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, “Coffee is for closers!” In each of the last three years he has closed with a top ten recruiting class. Wins over the last 3 years have only amounted to 4,6, and 7. You wouldn’t expect kids to want to come to an unproven school, but Bel-Air, Chow, and Neuheisel are recruiting gold.

They are the reason why I have decided to purchase season tickets again. The energy around the program is more tangible than I can remember. This isn’t the 90s when Cade McNown was throwing the ball all over the field, with Danny Farmer pulling in the errant throws. These kids are ready to explode on the national scene.

The biggest hurdle is across town. It took a pathetic offensive performance by the Toejams to give the Bruins one win since 1998 over their rivals. Thanks to Reggie Bush and OJ Mayo, SC will have a lot of trouble keeping up their dominance. They’ve lost their mojo and Austin Powers is nowhere to be found.

This year will show a marked improvement in the Bruins. They have a hard schedule to open up with games against Stanford, Houston, Texas, and Kansas St. If they can survive that, then the sky is the limit. My optimism is not based on blue and gold blood. Rahim Moore is the best safety in the land, Kai Forbath is the best kicker and Akeem Ayers is a stud at outside linebacker.

The defense needs to be a strength because the offense continues to be a work in progress. Hopefully with the influx of talent over the last few years the Bruins can get it on and cracking. I’m ready, are you? This is the return to glory. Watch and behold.

UCLA! Fight! Fight! Fight!