Today’s Topic: What we’ve learned after 1 week of College Football
Mood Music: Idiot Wind by Bob Dylan
Anyone else ridiculously disappointed in the first week of College Football? Holy shit what a letdown. I mean, I know that you all are thinking that I’m just pissed because Georgia lost (and yes that’s part of it….more how, than anything else…but I’ll get to that), but surprisingly….although UGA is at the center of it all….there’s more than just that game that’s pissing me off about College Football already this year.
What’s the deal with the effin’ personal fouls this season? I mean……I can’t tell you how many legitimate hits (some freakin’ awesome…including 1 by safety Reshad Jones of UGA…but again, I’ll get to that) were flagged as personal fouls……and what was the call….unsportmanslike conduct…..knocking too much of the dogshit out of a receiver…….playing football? I didn’t quite catch the explanations (partially because I was watching the UGA game at a bar and couldn’t hear shit…but again, later), but I noticed that they are now calling “horse collar” tackles this season……except I couldn’t quite figure out the definition of that because in the South Carolina/NC State game, a guy tackled a dude by grabbing him around the head….didn’t grab the collar….or facemask….but a flag was thrown nonetheless. Again, if this bullshit continues, it won’t be long before flag football becomes the standard…not just intramural crap. Come on NCAA…..please don’t fall prey to the same political crap that continues to plague our country…..what I like to call the “pussification” of America. It’s fucking football…..if guys don’t want to get hit, tackled, grabbed by the fucking head, knocked the fuck out…..then go play Golf. Seriously…..it’s like watching paint dry with the amount of flags that are thrown these days…..just not much fun. And one last comment on this subject……..to the Boise State lineman that decided to talk shit after a win to the Oregon RB…..Dude….you deserved to get knocked out……and wipe that shit eating grin off your face. Oh yeah, Kirk Herbstreit, stop being such a pussy. Thank God for Desmond Howard or we’d all be listening to Herbstreit and Robert Smith shovel shit our way all season. That guy deserved to get knocked out and the Oregon player DID NOT deserve to be suspended for the whole season. PERIOD.
With their continued progress towards Global Domination…..how in the hell is it possible that ESPN hasn’t figured out what the term “regional” means?
I was sitting in Hendersonville, NC…..I repeat NORTH CAROLINA……as in a few hours north of GEORGIA…….as in A SOUTHERN STATE……as in NO WHERE FUCKING CLOSE TO MICHIGAN……and waiting for the damn Syracuse/Minnesota game to get out of Overtime……by the way, on a side note….I didn’t think it was even remotely possible….now that he’s switched to football (in Syracuse) that Greg Paulus could annoy me more than he did slapping the court at Duke…..but there he was…..on the TV screen Saturday……as I resorted to scanning the ticker for the Georgia score…..while ESPN decided that we’d rather watch the end of said game than cut over to one of the only games all weekend that matched up 2 top 25 teams. I mean…..of course North Carolinians want to see the end of the Minnesota/Cuse’ game…..I was on pins and needles to see what would happen……For the Love of God ESPN….there’s got to be someone that’s paid enough to make a decision to go ahead and pull the plug on a game that is of NO EFFIN’ importance to anyone on Earth…including probably most of Minnesota and New York. God. So I waited….(and on the ticker I noticed that UGA scored 7 points in the first 5 minutes….great start…..wish I had seen it because that was about the only offensive highlight all day…more later) and finally….as if the Sporting Gods heard my silent desperation (only to completely bend me over a few minutes later)……Paulus threw a pick in OT and Minnesota kicked a FG to win. Yes…..I only missed a few minutes of the UGA game and ESPN 2 is carrying either the UGA/OSU game or the Michigan/Western Michigan game depending on the region. So any minute…..after 10 thousand crowd shots, a dumbass interview…..any minute….after discussion of Paulus’s first game since high school…..any minute…….they’ll switch to the………MICHIGAN/WESTERN MICHIGAN GAME??????? What the fuck? How in the world does anyone with half a fucking brain think that Hendersonville, NC would be considered a region that should air that game over the Georgia/OSU game. Seriously……..I was livid. Beside myself. This mega conglomerate of fast talking, bad tie wearing, bad hair wearing, bad analysis providing, Yankee and USC ass kissing…..pussies …..doesn’t have 1 person that knows that (regionally speaking) North Carolina is 2 states away from Georgia…..whereas…..it’s about…..shit I don’t know how many….but I could google a map and I’m gonna guess at least 5 states away from Michigan….ballpark. Get your heads out of your asses you pieces of shit…..it’s bad enough that you get paid to provide bad analysis and dumbass one-liners….but the least you could do is not screw me out of watching (at least Regionally) the game I’d be more interested in. God.
and one more thing about ESPN that leads directly into my next point……and a way they can salvage a little respect for themselves in my eyes….please, please, please……start holding referees responsible for screwing up game after game after game because of ridiculously biased calls……please. The only way this problem can be fixed (and I realize as I’m typing this, that there’s no point….because I’ve already proved that it’s futile to rely on ESPN to do anything logical) is if it starts to be analyzed by the idiots of said network……and the reason I said that was because of this:
Despite your inclination to think that it’s just my typical HATE OF REFEREES stemming from childhood church league basketball…..I’m completely fed up with the notion that teams should just “deal with” bad calls.
If I have to hear another person say (and it’s usually someone that didn’t watch the game I’m talking about) that a team had plenty of opportunities to win a game, despite some bad calls, I’m going to knock them out……so, really, although I know some of you really, really love to push my buttons regarding Georgia….I’m giving you fair warning….so take my cue from the comment about the Boise State lineman and shut the eff’ up on this topic. Bad Calls cost teams games. Period. I don’t care if it’s in the first minute or the final minute…….it CHANGES the outcome. People that say (and this includes all the fucking geniuses at ESPN) that a team had plenty of chances to win…..have never played sports. Never. I’m gonna use the Georgia game as an example (shocker, I know). The headlines for the Oklahoma State/Georgia game will read:
Dez Bryant and Oklahoma State too much for Georgia………or Cowboys lasso Bulldogs or…….you get the point. Here’s what you don’t hear:
Oklahoma State had 10 points that they deserved. A 40 yard TD catch by Bryant that was awesome and a field goal after UGA turned it over inside the 10 and held one of the most prolific offenses of the last few years to 3 and out. The rest of the game I will attribute to biased refereeing and the “pussification” of College Football.
Now….before I continue…..understand that Georgia’s offense looked like shit after the first drive….and that didn’t help them…..but the Defense played tremendously and the Special Teams as well. Enough to keep the game close and give them a chance to squeeze out a win despite the offensive woes……but 3 things happened that were out of their hands…..that gave the Cowboys 14 points and the win:
1) UGA had 2 substantial returns during the game that were called back because of “blocks in the back” that were what I like to call “phantom” penalties….meaning….the defender was already falling down and was out of the play….not a situation where a flag should be thrown…..while there were no flags thrown on Oklahoma State’s lone “Big” return despite 2 blatant blocks in the back. Even after the no calls Georgia proceeded to:
2) Hold Oklahoma State on 4 and 2 from inside the 10 and were about to get the ball back down 3, but wait……..the officials decided to ”spot” the ball about 2 yards closer to the goal line than where the guy actually landed…..giving them the first down by about an inch. Quite possibly the worst spot I’ve ever seen……..but even after that…..Ok. State is up 10……UGA gets a field goal and cuts it to 7 after a decent drive……they’ve got the momentum….and:
3) Reshad Jones knocks the ever living shit out of an Ok. State receiver……jarring the ball loose on a 2nd down pass…..giving the D a chance to stop the Cowboys and UGA would get the ball back with plenty of time to try and mount a drive….but wait……..personal foul on Reshad Jones for ….. hitting the guy too hard? I’m not sure what the call was, but I know this……he didn’t lead with his helmet……he didn’t horse collar the guy……he didn’t grab the facemask, helmet, etc…….he didn’t hit him in the head………so what’s the fucking penalty!!!!!!!!??????????
Oklahoma State gets the ball inside the 20 and a few plays later, Bryant catches a pass and falls into the end zone……great game Bryant
One more side note for any of you that watched the game……….was it just me or did Dez Bryant look like the whiniest bitch you’ve ever seen? You would’ve thought that Prince Miller pissed in his ear hole or something……he did not like being defended like that……and lost all of my respect. The commentators are the first ones to praise him for his spectacular play….but say nothing in regard to him acting like a damn 6th grader when he couldn’t get the ball.
Oh yeah….one more side note……if it’s “too hard of a hit” when the ball is actually there……why is the same flag not thrown when an OK. State player knocks the dogshit out of a UGA player after a tipped pass? Ridiculous.
So, in review…….ESPN still sucks, even worse, College Football is well on it’s way to being played with “flags”…….and Referees are the only people in the world (other than Weather People) that can blatantly screw up an entire game and continue to cash a check.
Fuck it…….
I’ll talk at you all again later.
“you’re an idiot, babe….it’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe”
6 comments
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September 8, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Brien
Where do I begin?
So I wake up on Saturday morning and turn to Gameday, only to be serenaded by the sweet sounds of the Gameday music. And by the sweet sounds, I mean the most ridiculous choice of music you could have for college football. I’m talking about two artists, who in no way should have anything to do with football or sports in general…I’m talking about Kenny Chesney and Dave Matthews. Are you kidding me? You mean to tell me there are no better choices for music than those two jack legs? Saturdays are about football, not walking around in cut off shirts, jeans, no shoes and sippin’ on Coronas. Dave Matthews? If I wanted to slow dance with my high school girlfriend while trying to creep past first base, and it just so happens I want to watch the Michigan/Western Michigan game then Dave Matthews is a great choice. Whoever made those musical choices needs to meet LaGarette Blount in a dark alley after he lost a game.
With regards to the UGA calls, almost every game I watched (including the Wofford game), they made the same BS phantom personal foul calls regarding hitting someone hard. From what I understood, they are trying to call more penalities on hitting a “defenseless receiver”. I am pretty sure that this is the technical call you are referring to in the UGA game. The problem, however, is that none of the refs in any game called the penalty as such. They either called it a generic “personal foul” or in some cases they mis-diagnosed it as a “helmet to helmet” hit, which was clearly not the case either. I understand the reasoning behind this call. If a QB sails a pass 10 feet over a WR head and someone comes over and just pops the guy, okay, a flag should be thrown. If a WR gets his hands on the ball and then gets hit, complete horse shit. I will categorize this, as you put it, the “pussification” of football.
If I had to make a list of the gayest basketball players in the history of basketball, I would say most of the list would consist of Duke players, and would definitely include Greg Paulus. Now, I get to add him to the distinguished list of gayest NCAA QBs. The question is how do I rank him among the elite (in my book): Blake Mitchell, Jimmy Clausen, and Tim Tebow. And debate….
The most over cooked story line of the weekend was?….Sam Bradford’s injury. How many ESPN reporters and analysts and side line interviewers can make a story about Sam Bradford’s injury? They had to interview every analyst (over the course of the weekend) to get their take on the injury. “Coach Stoops’ reports that Sam Bradford will miss 2-4 weeks…let’s go to Jesse Palmer for his take” Jesse: “I bet Sam Bradford will miss 2-4 weeks and that Oklahoma can win the games while he’s gone.” “Now let’s go to Lou Holtz, for his take”. Lou: “[some sort of idiotic rant about his time at Notre Dame and has no relation to Sam Bradford's injury], but I bet Sam Bradford will miss 2-4 weeks.”
So basically Sam Bradford is going to miss 2-4 weeks and not need surgery. How many different ways can you put this, and how many wasted hours of reporting went into this same conclusion? For the sake of everyone else, I really hope he doesn’t miss more than 4 weeks, or hell, they might have to hire me to get my take on his injury.
September 8, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Todd
Here’s a link to a vid of that UGA hit in question. Still not sure why this is a penalty, and it doesn’t bode well for college football this season.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXbnf_M84S8
To the announcer’s credit, the last thing he said was, “Let ‘em play football.”
September 8, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Willo
Todd…thanks for the clip. He actually calls the personal foul on #18…..which is Bacarri Rambo….not #9 Reshad Jones…..it looks like Rambo made a kind of throat slashing gesture…..but I’m not sure if that’s why the flag was thrown because at the end of his explanation he says it’s unnecessary roughness on a receiver…….if you watch though….it looks like the refs aren’t going to throw a flag until Rambo makes that gesture….
either way…..here’s my problem with that call……if you’re going to make it, then how come earlier in the game…..after a similar hit…..they threw a flag on OK. State and then picked it up…….and then later, after a tipped pass, the Ok. State player knocked the dogshit out of Tavarres King and the ball wasn’t even close. Supposedly, if the rule is helping to protect receivers then how come the flags weren’t thrown in those situations?
The answer:
It was a Big 12 crew…..in Stillwater. Period. That’s why. They made boneheaded calls like that in every game I watched, but I guarantee you that it was the home team getting the calls 9 out of 10 times.
Bullshit.
But….you just got to suck it up and roll with it unfortunately….because if no one’s talking about it….it’s not going to change…..
I just love how everyone’s so quick to call Ok. State a Top 5 team now, but Georgia (who went on the fucking road….for the first game of the year….with a new QB….) is now barely a top 25 team because they made a few mistakes and lost by a couple touchdowns. Unbelievable…..
as for all you UGA fans jumping off the bandwagon or jumping on the OH MY GOD WE’RE IN TROUBLE bandwagon…….it was 1 game…..on the road….in front of the largest crowd ever at that stadium….against a Top 10 or at least a ranked team. I think the Dawgs will be ok.
September 8, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Todd
Wait. So he called “unnecessary roughness on a receiver” on a player for making a hand gesture? Wouldn’t that be “unsportsmanlike conduct”? Maybe the refs are just old and confused.
September 9, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Jake
I’m just now to the point where the steam has cooled enough to discuss this.
First off, I’m highly disappointed in UGA’s “gameplan” – mainly because I’m not sure there was one.
Secondly, even with no gameplan – I can’t sit around and agree with the pointless calls that take away from the intensity of the game. I agree with protecting the quarterback – but how in the hell was Reshad Jones going to stop and not hit the receiver. It’s called playing “with your ears pinned back” and flying to the football, which is all he was doing.
As far as the Bradford attention – just another example of how ESPN has hit rock bottom (not that the Chesney/Matthews intro music wasn’t enough of an example – what’s next, the Jonas Brothers???)
I told a friend that we’d probably lose to SC this weekend something like 3-2…..and then said “damn, I’m starting to sound like a gamecock”. He quickly reminded me that no, if I were sounding like a gamecock – I’d be talking about winning the NC…..
Go Dawgs.
September 10, 2009 at 3:22 pm
josh
After watching the replays, I think Rambo was making the incomplete pass signal anyway…
And Todd makes a good point about the ‘unnecessary roughness’, leading me to believe that the refs just coundn’t wait to make this call- and they weren’t going to be confused with little details like which player was actually involved in the play, etc.
Evidently protecting ‘defenseless players’ is something the NCAA wants to make a priority this year, and judging from week 1 they’ll succeed. Should make for a long season.