Lock of the Bowl Season
Wednesday December 26, 2007 by George Allen Summerall
We at Hawaiian Shirt Friday would like to extend our sincerest apologies to our readers, as things have been extremely hectic of late. However, if you all don't mind, hopefully we can help make up for our absence by putting a little money in your pockets.
Boston College plays Michigan State at 5:00pm on December 28. Put all your bets on Boston College (-3), go out to dinner, and rest easy. You won't even have to turn the TV on, as this game is going to be over before it begins.
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Tragic...
Monday November 19, 2007 by George Allen Summerall
...is the story of former Washington State basketball player Tony Harris. From 100% Injury Rate:
The most recent bizarre disappearance involves former Washington State University player Tony Harris. In 1994, Harris, a guard, led a Cinderella Cougars team to the NCAA tournament. The team lost in the East Regional to Boston College, 67-64. Despite this, Harris never played in the NBA. After college, he played in Asia and South America. He starred in Brazil from 2000-05, earning Player of the Year honors and winning a championship for Uberlandia before retiring. But this year he decided to return to Brazil to get a "financial cushion" before the birth of his first child with his wife Lori.
Lori said her husband left Seattle for Brasilia in central Brazil on Oct. 31. She last heard from him early Nov. 4, when he spoke to her, fear in his voice, from a Brazilian taxi driver's cell phone. Two days earlier, he called and said "he didn't feel safe and that if he didn't come home now, he wasn't going to make it home," she said.
Harris said her husband had expressed concerns about people involved with the team, and was hearing upsetting rumors about himself. The basketball team's organization, she said, apparently held his passport, and her husband was trying to get to another city in Brazil where a friend could help.
And that's it. No one knows what's happened to Harris and so far no one is exactly going out of their way to help Harris' family find him.
Except now, unfortunately, we do know what's happened to him. Tony Harris was found dead yesterday in Formosa, Brazil. The cause of death is uncertain, but police suspect suicide. The way this story unfolded, it sure does not sound like Tony Harris committed suicide to me. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Harris family.
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Properly Honoring Lloyd Carr
Sunday November 18, 2007 by George Allen Summerall
In the wake of Lloyd Carr's retirement, you will likely see many Michigan fans, especially the younger ones, happy to finally see him go. But their elation is misguided. I can think of few coaches who I'd rather roam the sideline for my team than Lloyd Carr. In 13 years as Head Coach of the Michigan Wolverines, his resume is not too bad: .750 win percentage, five Big 10 Championships, four Rose Bowls in the last 5 years, and one national championship. Yes, his teams have lost to Ohio State 6 of the last 7 years. But how quickly we forget the years prior to Jim Tressel arriving at OSU. Before 2002, Michigan had won 5 of the previous 6 times. It is not mere results, though, that made Lloyd Carr's tenure at Michigan so remarkable. More important than anything, he won, and lost, with class. His coaching career cannot be summed up better than at the Hoover Street Rag:
"At many schools, Carr would be the greatest coach in their history, a man they would rush to name something for on their athletic campus. But Coach Carr was the steward of a program where anywhere you look on the athletic campus, you are reminded of those who have gone before. Yost Ice Arena, Crisler Arena, Oosterbaan Field House, speed Bumps, Schembechler Hall. How do you make your mark against such a legendary roster of coaches (to wit, Carr is just the 8th Michigan head coach since Michigan Stadium opened in 1927, and only the tenth since the beginning of the 20th Century. That's it, ten head coaches in 107 years.) Well, you do it, in this day and age by honoring your traditions, but running a clean program, and winning.
When you think about it, no coach wins as much as their fan base would like them to, in part because fans, being fans, have unreasonable expectations. So, the question becomes, what is winning often enough? What is the price of winning? What is the ultimate goal of intercollegiate athletics? These are questions which have and will continue to plague sports fans. We do not have clear answers in this regard. However, if we are allowed to draw on our heritage for a moment, winning clean may be a Michigan football fans most revered value. We have seen the muck and the morass that our basketball program has fallen into after a gilded era of pyrite victory in the early 1990s, and we know that we never want to have our football program go through that same Hell. So we resolve that if we are winning and winning clean, this is what matters most. Michigan's football program is far from perfect, our football player police blotter is honestly a little shameful in the abstract, but it's also relatively mild compared to the rest of the college football world. So perhaps this is the best lesson going forward, and the way to best honor Coach Carr's legacy. In closing, Coach Carr, enjoy your retirement. May you not be too far from Ann Arbor on game days, and not too far from our hearts."
So all you Michigan faithful, do not exalt in the news of Lloyd Carr's retirement. Instead, be grateful for the years that he gave to the University of Michigan football program, and hope that his successor is fortunate enough to equal his accomplishments. As to who that successor may be, Motown Sports Revival has a very nice breakdown of the possible candidates.
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A War of Attrition
Saturday November 17, 2007 by George Allen Summerall
This year's college football season has been anything but ordinary. In 12 weeks, five #2
teams have lost. Three starting quarterbacks have sustained significant injuries (John David Booty, Sam Crawford, and Dennis Dixon). Michigan lost three games in the Big House, including one to Appalachian St. USC lost at home to Stanford, a 41-point underdog.
As things start to shake out in the race to the BCS Championship Game, 6 teams still have a legitimate shot, but only three control their own destiny. Here's how each team's chances look:
1. LSU needs only to worry about themselves. If they beat Arkansas at home, then Georgia/Tennessee in the SEC Championship Game, they're playing for the title.
2. Kansas also needs no help from other teams. Still undefeated with one or two games left, the #2 Jayhawks will play #3 Missouri in Arrowhead Stadium next weekend. The winner will play Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship Game. If Kansas wins both games, they will play for the national title.
3. Missouri, led by Quarterback Chase Daniel, is the third and final team who needs only to take care of business. If they beat Kansas in Arrowhead next weekend and beat Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship Game, Mizzou is playing on January 8th.
4. West Virginia needs one of two scenarios to play out. In either scenario, they must emerge victorious against UConn next weekend. In the first scenario, LSU must lose to either Arkansas or Georgia/Tennessee. If LSU wins out, then West Virginia needs scenario #2 to unfold. In this case, the winner of the Missouri vs. Kansas game would have to lose to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship Game. If either of these scenarios take place, West Virginia will play for the championship.
5 and 6. Ohio State and Arizona State need 3 teams to fall, one of which is guaranteed because Missouri and Kansas play one another. All said, OSU and ASU need two of the following three results to occur:
Oklahoma beats the winner of Kansas/Missouri
LSU loses to either Arkansas or Georgia/Tennessee
West Virginia loses to Connecticut
If two of those three results should occur, Ohio State and Arizona State are in a virtual dead heat, with the winner being determined by the polls. If Arizona State beats USC convincingly next weekend, I give the edge to Arizona State. If not, the Buckeyes get the nod.
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Victory At Last!
Tuesday November 6, 2007 by George Allen Summerall
During their tenure at the United States Naval Academy, the graduating seniors have witnessed two days off for extraordinary circumstances; the first occurred in 2005 when Roger Staubach used his distinguished alumni privilege to grant the Midshipmen what was commonly referred to as "Roger Staubach Day." The second came in the wake of the monumental victory in South Bend this weekend. The Naval Academy canceled classes Monday to celebrate the long-awaited victory over the fighting Irish.
One distinguishing factor about this game is the level of respect between the two teams and fan bases. Credit where credit is due: The Notre Dame fans were gracious in defeat and treated the midshipmen with the utmost respect. And even if Charlie Weis needs his own private coaching clinic (not to mention weight-loss clinic), he and his players were classy in defeat, standing with the Midshipmen in the traditional singing of "Navy Blue and Gold," the Navy Alma Mater.
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Rocks For Jocks: The "Scholar" Athlete Phenomenon
Friday October 26, 2007 by Huck Finn
Every weekend, we watch them take the field of battle, clad in the fabled school colors of our beloved universities. But when the final buzzer sounds, the vast majority of them will not find employment in the professional ranks of their given sport. Instead, they'll be forced to trade in their helmets and shoulder pads for suits and ties. We must inquire as to whether these athletes are prepared for life outside the athletic arena, or are merely in school to play their respective roles in basketball and football factories. An analysis conducted by the Indianapolis Star raises such questions, finding that a disproportionate number of athletes in both football and men's basketball at Indiana and Purdue University are opting for particular majors with reputations among students for significantly lighter course loads. It is worth noting that this problem is not unique to Indiana and Purdue alone, but has implications all throughout the country.
According to the article, at Purdue this year, less than 2 percent of the student body is currently majoring in organizational leadership and supervision, in comparison to nearly a quarter of the returning football players, 45 percent of returning football starters, and 43 percent of men's basketball players. Meanwhile, down the road in Bloomington, 2 percent of the student body is majoring in general studies; in stark contrast, 15 percent of returning football players, 38 percent of returning football starters, and 50 percent of men's basketball players listed it as their major.
Both institutions have obviously prepared their student-athletes well for the field of play this year. In football, Purdue is 6-2 and headed to their ninth bowl game in 10 years under coach Joe Tiller. Indiana football is enjoying a resurgence and should be headed to their first bowl game since 1993, while Hoosiers' basketball should open the year firmly planted in the top 10, led by star recruit Eric Gordon. The opportunity presented to these athletes is a tremendous one, with the best facilities and coaching staffs at their disposal, preparing them to succeed in the athletic arena. However, one must wonder: Are the same athletes being robbed of the opportunity to best succeed outside the gilded gates of college life in the process?
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College Football Coaching Revisited
Tuesday October 23, 2007 by George Allen Summerall
Coaching 101 is back with LSU Coach Les Miles, Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville, and Illinois Coach Ron Zook.
1) It seems Miles has taken his "riverboat gambler" title to a new extreme. Down by 1 with the ball on the Auburn 22, with 8 seconds remaining and a running clock, Miles called a deep route to the end zone from Flynn to Demetrius Byrd. When Byrd came down with the ball in the end zone for a touchdown, there were 3 seconds remaining. LSU wins. So what's the problem? There are just too many things that could have gone wrong to justify the risk when you can run the ball to the middle of the field and put the game on the leg of your kicker.
First, there was a running clock. When interviewed after the game, Les Miles did not even seem to know what had occurred. He seemed to think he had all the time in the world. Flynn got the snap with 8 seconds remaining, but what if it had taken to 6 seconds?
Secondly, what if Flynn underthrows the ball slightly and the Auburn cornerback intercepts the pass? Granted, interceptions don't happen often, compared to Jacob Hester fumbles, they happen all the time.
Third, what if Flynn takes a little longer to release the pass and it is tipped up in the air by the defender? If the ball takes 2 seconds to hit the ground, Auburn wins without LSU even getting the opportunity to kick a field goal.
Les, you got lucky, plain and simple. Sure, it paid off, but your risk/reward charts are all jacked up. Hopefully this will be a lesson learned and you'll pay attention to what's going on in the game next time instead of just playing Russian Roulette with your team's national championship hopes.
2) As much as Miles tried to hand Auburn the game with his play-calling, Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville was right with him in trying to give away the game. After their offense manhandled the vaunted LSU defense and drove down to score, giving them a 24-23 lead, Tuberville brilliantly decided to squib the kickoff. LSU returned the kick to their own 45 yard line, needing only 25 yards to get into field goal range. For the love of all that is coaching, do not use the squib kick unless it will be the last play of the game! You assure the opponents great field position and make their job that much easier. Kick the ball deep. If you get beat on a kickoff return for a touchdown, tough. But the percentages say that just doesn't happen too often.
Secondly, Tuberville did not use a challenge on a 3rd down play that would have forced LSU to go for it on 4th and 1. The referee missed the spot by at least 2 feet. Either Tuberville's headset was broken or his coordinators fell asleep up in the booth.
3) Ron Zook, coach of the Illinois Fighting Illini, made two glaring coaching errors that may have cost his team the Iowa game last week. Twice on 3rd down, the Hawkeyes failed to convert the first down and were left with 4th and 2 and 4th and 4. On both plays, penalties were called against Iowa, one a 5 yard penalty and one a 10 yard penalty. Ron Zook chose to accept both penalties. Both times, Iowa converted their second 3rd down opportunity, one of which led to the only touchdown of the game.
What should Zook have done in this situation? Easy. Decline the penalties, leaving the Hawkeyes with 4th and 2 and 4th and 4, forcing a punt on one occasion and a 47 yard field goal on another.
The best part of this whole scenario: What did Ron Zook get as a result of this clinic in poor in-game coaching? A contract extension through 2012.
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