sportsfanatic

Bobby Bowden did not have to “Ponder” long to know that he wanted to patrol the sidelines. He has signed to return to the sidelines for his 34th season. This is exciting news for the Florida State University Seminoles and their fans and alumni. The 2009 season has much promise as it stands.

Even though there have been issues over the last few years, I am glad to see the return of Bobby Bowden. I would like to see him be able to go out a winner and this upcoming season might just be able to bring that to Bowden. For the first time in some time, I am excited about our quarterback.

Lane Kiffin wasted no time getting to his duties as the University of Tennessee Volunteers head football coach. His first job was to recruit and that is just what he has been doing. Lane has been all over the place recruiting. The funny thing is, he is recruiting people that is older than he is. His first task in recruiting was to line up his coaches. Kiffin has brought in his father to head up the defense and that stands to bode well for the Vols.

On the player side of things, Lane has not been coming up short there yet either. Lane has proved that he can get out and recruit with the big boys of the SEC and it will be interesting to see what players actually sign the letter of intent for a chance to play for the Kiffin and Kiffin show.

Today, Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno announced that neither of them would be returning to the University of Georgia football team in 2009. Instead, they are entering the 2009 NFL Draft and foregoing the remained of their college eligibility. In my opinion, it is a smart move on both their parts.

For Stafford, he will more than likely going in the top 3 or 4 picks in the first round due to the lack of quality quarterbacks in the NFL. With an arm like his, he can do many of the NFL teams good. As for Moreno, running backs can only take some many hits over a lifetime. He has already proven that he is one of the best at his position, so he really has nothing to prove at the college level. His time is now and it is in the NFL.

The Utah Utes have a lot to be proud of. They went all year without losing one single game. Now, they get to sit back as the Florida Gators and the Texas Longhorns get to do battle for the National Championship. This is just one more reason why the BCS is flawed and most be fixed.

Can you imagine going through the entire season without a loss, then going to the bowl game and beating, or should I say demolishing, a current #1 ranked team, only to get third or fourth in the nation? Say what you may about their schedule and who they played but you can not take from them the fact that they went into a bowl game the underdog and kicked the Crimson Tide’s butts.

I wonder, if you sat on the BCS committee and this were your Alma mater, how would you feel about right now?

The University of Georgia Bulldogs did not have to travel to far to meet their Capital One Bowl rivals. The game was played in Orlando, Florida in the beautiful Florida Citrus Bowl. The Dawg’s opponents were none other than the Michigan State University Spartans. The first half made it look like this would be a great defensive game or maybe just a sloppy offensive one.

Either way, Georgia decided that they would put the game to rest in the third quarter. They did just that with scoring 2 touchdowns and spreading the score out to 17-6 and gain an 11 point lead. That lead would shrink as the Spartans would score again in the 4th quarter. Georgia would soon eliminate all threat. Matthew Stafford, UGA’s quarterback, would fine sophomore running back Knowshon Moreno in the right corner of the 1 yard line and Moreno would do the rest for the final score of the game.

With that said, Georgia won the game. But, with that win, are they losing their 2009 season before they even start it. Rumors are flying rampant all over concerning Matthew and Knowshon both. The biggest question is whether they are returning to play next year at Georgia. From the looks of it, they are both going to declare eligibility for the NFL Draft.  Personally, I think that both could excel in the NFL. However, I think that both could use another year under their belt in college.

Time will tell. What are your thoughts on it?

Bobby Bowden and his Florida State Seminoles did not have to travel far to engage in battle with the Wisconsin Badgers. Florida State went down to central Florida to beautiful Orlando to participate in the Champs Sports Bowl . I think that the Badgers would have liked it better if the Seminoles actually had to walk to Orlando though. The game was a “no contest” in the eyes of the Seminole Nation. I also think that Bobby got a glimpse of what 2009 hold for the Seminoles.

While watching the Seminoles systematically tear this Badgers team from limb to limb, I actually got chills of how similar they played to the teams of old. The Seminoles were able to flex their muscles on offense and defense. When you see the Noles score the first of their points off a75 fumble recovery, then you know that it is going to problems for the opposition. That was again the fact in this game. What makes it sweeter is they repeated it again in the beginning of the 4th quarter as Dustin Sherer was sacked by Dekoda Watson. Watson then proceeded to pick up the fumbled football and galloped 51 yards into the end zone for the second score for the defense.

The offense did their share in this game as well providing the Noles with 4 touchdowns of their own. FSU’s quarterback, Christian Ponder, threw for 199 yards and 2 touchdowns. He even gave way to Drew Weatherford in the fourth quarter. Drew did no more than connect for 77 of his own throwing yards. The running game of the Seminoles amassed a total of 134 yards on the ground. Antone Smith and Carlton Jones both visited the end zone for rushing touchdowns. Both of these touchdowns were both scored in the 3rd quarter.

As for the Badgers, the only touchdown that they would see would come in the 4th quarter. There was 4:06 left on the clock when all the scoring was over.

When I sit down and look at the bowl games, I have to think to myself that College Football is jeopardizing their fan base future if they continue to head in the path that they are heading down. Whether you are for the BCS or against it, it is hard to deny the fact that there are undefeated teams that will not even get a chance to play for a piece of the national championship let alone the championship itself. All in all, that is wrong and something has to be done about it. How would you like for your favorite college team to go all season long only to win the “Potty Bowl” because some computer said you are not good enough to play for anything more.

Regardless of schedule issues, if a team can get out and play each and every Saturday and never lose a game, there is something to be said about them. Are they ready to take on the New York Giants? No. Are they ready to make a run at the National Title in college football? Yes. They have earned that right and yet the BCS stands with its head held high and says “Screw you!”. Well, personally this is the whole reason and nothing but the reason why I can not stand to watch college football bowl games. They really have no meaning.

And, once again, this year is going to either be another duplication of 2004 where we had USC, Auburn, and Utah ending the season undefeated. Or, we can accomplish what we did in 2003 and end up with a share national championship. Or, repeat the debacle of 2006 where Boise State ended the season by beating Oklahoma in a bowl game and ending the season as the ONLY undefeated team in the nation, yet not the National Champions.

So, whether you are for it or against it, if your team gets the shaft in one of these scenarios, I am sure you would not be happy either.

This has been the question for a while here in Knoxville. All sources point to the new head coach being named real soon. I do not like the fact that the local news stations and news papers leaked this news prior to this weekend’s game against Kentucky. This weekend will be the last time that Phillip Fulmer actually gets to run out on the field with the football program that he built. But, that is yet another post that I am sure that you can read elsewhere.

As for the new head coach, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported earlier today that Lane Kiffin has agreed in principle with the University of Tennessee. ESPN is also echoing this same story . This does not mean that it is etched in stone yet, but from my experience, it is pretty much a done deal. It looks as though the deal will be announce on Monday and the Tennessee Volunteers football program can start in the new direction.

Here is my issue with Lane. He has yet to be proven as a head coach. His only stint as one was with the Oakland Raiders and he was fired there. He was an offensive coordinator for Southern California in 2005-2006, which is his only other stint even close to running a team. He started coaching in 1997 as a quarterbacks coach, then became an offensive line coach, then a tight ends coach, and then a wide receivers coach. Either he was damn good at what he was doing or someone did not want to fire him, so they kept moving him. Either way, the University of Tennessee cannot benefit from his experience nor his leadership. He does not have much of either yet. The one positive that I do see with Lane Kiffin is his age.

Frankly, this is just my opinion. If Lane gets announced, I will watch with bated breathed.

Currently, Ball State is locked up in a duel with Western Michigan. Baring any miraculous finish from the “Directional” school, Ball State will go undefeated. Now, as for Ball State, that is something to be proud of. Hell, that is an accomplishment for any team to be proud of. For the first time in school history, Ball State has achieved a ranking in the college polls. They have been able to be in those rankings for 7 weeks. All in all, this is great.

However, with all that being said, here is where the flaw of the BCS lies. Ball State is ranked 15th. They will go undefeated, yet they will not have a chance at playing for the national championship. The biggest reason is because they play in the MAC and do not deserve to play for it even though they have beaten everyone they have played.

All in all, this type of delima would be resolved if they actually had a playoff system in place. Instead of handing 2 teams the right to play for the championship, why not allow all the teams that have a steak in winning battle it out like almost all other sports do? Or, is it better to let the national championship have several teams lie claim to it in the same year?

This weekend is setting up to be the perfect weekend. Already this week we have watched one undefeated team have to fight to stay undefeated. We watched as another unranked team ran up 472 yards against the 23rd ranked team and pretty much annihilated any hopes at an ACC title. Now, as I am writing this, we have two WAC teams fighting it out to see which one is better, but basically have nothing to gain by winning or losing.

With that said, Saturday and Sunday is filled full of games that will definitely be worth seeing; both in college and the NFL. As for the college side, the biggest game has to be the Texas Tech Red Raiders slugging it out with the Oklahoma Sooners. Over in the pros, the game of the week has to be the Tennessee Titans attempting to hold onto their undefeated bid as the New York Jets come to town.

Now, I am going to go out on a limb and make 2 predicitions here. Texas Tech will remain undefeated as the Tennessee Titans fall to Brett Favre and the Jets.