Another One Bites the Dust, and We Mean, Really Bites It: Ah, fall is in full effect. The leaves are starting to change. Beer and hot-dog consumption has increased exponentially. Alabama and TCU are busy flogging opponents into a pulp. The NCAA is investigating numerous allegations, some damning and some frivolous. All seems well in college football...except, as always, for whatever funky algorithm the BCS/AP uses to calculate rankings. During week 2, Georgia Tech (#15), and #13 Virginia Tech both lost to unranked teams. In fact, the Va Tech loss was so catastrophic (or special, depending on which side you're on), that the last time a Division I-AA school knocked out a ranked IA opponent was the game where Appalacian State KOed Michigan on opening day in 2007.
Boys will be Boys, #1: With all of the college athletes behaving badly and the numerous NCAA probes, it's important to separate the wheat from the chaff. Here is an example. Florida Gators WR Chris Rainey was arrested for aggravated stalking this past weekend. (gatorsports.com) He reportedly showed up at his on-and-off girlfriend's apartment. She told him to leave - and then he texted her profanities and a death threat. The authorities were called and he was arrested. As a result, he was booted from the team. THIS is the kind of behavior the NCAA needs to crack down on - not whether some 18-year-old, overwhelmed by responsibility and fame, shows up at a coach's house unannounced.
This is A Gun, This is My Foot: The "messiest series of the week award" goes to Purdue offensive lineman Peters Drey, #67. During a sloppy contest with the Western Illinois (?) Leathernecks, both Drey and WIU linebacker Kyle Glazier were both flagged fifteen yards for a personal foul at the end of a play. As they walked back to the field, Drey kept jawing, and a second flag flew on #67 for the extracurriculars. At this point, the crowd began to chant "Bullsh*t! Bullsh*t" repeatedly. Then, as the next play began (and someone on the audio crew no doubt furiously fiddled with knobs and dials to mute said profanity), #67 was flagged again - this time for a false start. Announcers just cut back to the studio directly to avoid armageddon.
How college offenses regularly play at the beginning of the season. Source: multiple.
More Graduates of the Bill Belicheck School of Opponent Demoralization: Cum Laude Edition: During week 3, #4 Texas Christian, Oregon (#7), Stanford (#25), and unranked Cincy scored a combined 158 points - to a total of 27 by the opponents. It's almost as if the losers fielded their pep bands or cheerleading teams.
Boys will be Boys, #2: Georgia Bulldogs WR A. J. Green has been suspended four games...for reportedly selling an old bowl jersey on eBay. (ESPN SEC Blog). People get lesser suspensions for driving while intoxicated. While the NCAA does have rules about athletes "selling team memorabilia", as long as no malice or fraud was committed by Green, why is this even an issue? If I sold an old shirt online, nobody would blink twice. Does anyone also realize that the UGA athletic boosters sell replicas of his jersey as well? Let Green, a college kid who just wants to play football, play - and work on real problems. Both Gregg Easterbrook of ESPN's TMQ and Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post provide additional insight on the Green situation.
Ridiculous Names of The Week:* We here at Second and One love people with ridiculous names, and football is full of them. This week's winners are MSU linebacker TyQuan Hammock - which sounds like a karate master lounging in the sun, and Florida Atlantic University linebacker Yourhighness Morgan - which is so cool that we haven't even the slightest clue how to derive a nickname from it.
More news to follow in the morning.
*Here I feel the need to tread lightly and note that a) despite what everyone says, the "absurd name" phenomenon is not just limited to African-American, Samoan, or Hawaiian players , or players from other countries. I'm talking about really funny names (Roethlisberger, Whisenhunt, Pendergast) that almost anyone would find really funny, including the people who have them. If anyone wants to argue the point, bring it on. And b) making fun of someone because of their name (or really anything else) is, in all honesty a pretty lousy thing to do. What we do here is for the purposes of humor and absolutely nothing else - no character assassination or subtle racism/xenophobia, because these things are unacceptable. Both my first ('M') and last name ('C') - despite what my parents believed - are completely unpronounceable by at least 75% of the general population. I've been there, and I'm not an NFL or NCAA star - I'm a midwestern girl who mixes chemicals together. Q.E.D.
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