The Sports Rumors

The BCS National Championship Game

Jan 7, 8:30pm FOX, The BCS National Championship Game, #1 Ohio State (11-1) vs #2 Louisiana State (11-2)

Well, its here folks. The mythical national championship game is upon us. OSU vs LSU for all the marbles. In a season that did nothing but prove that a playoff is needed to crown a championship, we are given this game for all the marbles. Who’s gonna take home the trophy? Let’s take a look…

OFFENSE: The edge here goes to LSU. They have athletes coming out the wazoo on offense, and we already know Les Miles won’t hesitate to make the gutsy call. They have a rotating qb system led by SR Matt Flynn and Ryan Perrilloux and a whole slew of running backs that can get it done, with Jacob Hester being the main horse. In a defensive struggle, I give them the nod. Ohio State is too vanilla on offense for my taste. Beanie Wells is an okay back, but nothing overtly special, just another typical Big 10/11 back. Todd Boeckman, despite being hyped by Jessie Palmer and ESPN, is nothing special at all; his saving grace is that he isn’t known to make dumb decisions.

DEFENSE: This is where the NFL calibur talent exists in this game. Glenn Dorsey, despite being injured by a cut block by Auburn, is a beast; look for him to take at least a double-team all game, he is an impact player. James Laurinitis is the main man on the Ohio State defense, he is very good but not great; I suspect if he played for anyone other than Ohio State that he would not be an all-american, but I digress. At any rate, this will be a defensive struggle with LSU having the ever-so-slight edge.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The edge clearly goes to LSU. Les Miles will pull out all the stops in this area (see: USC game). OSU isn’t bad on special teams but LSU is coached up much more and executes better.

Look for LSU to celebrate in their home away from home tonight.

Pick: LSU 28 - OSU 24

The Orange Bowl

I missed my preview of the Orange Bowl because I was traveling there and never got to it. I have many thoughts about that abortion of a game. Sit down, this is going to get ugly:

• Bryan Stinespring is *the worst* offensive coordinator in college football today, period. Brandon Ore was dominating on the ground… one of the only times this season he has done so and we just stop handing the ball off and turn into Hawaii on offense. Inexcusable. If I were to be that inept at my job, I would be fired.
• Frank Beamer. What were you doing this past month? It was apparent in the stands Thursday night that focusing on football was not in the Hokies’ itinerary. It looked like the players were sluggish and complacent and, to be frank, they looked like they were just happy to be there and wanted no part in that game. For Shame Frank, this is why Hokie football gets disrespected.
• The weather was horrible. I thought I was going to Miami. This has nothing to do with VT football, but it still angered me when I arrived that it was 45 degrees and raining.
• Back to Frank Beamer. Shaun put it best with his phone call after the game: “I didn’t think there was any way we would lose to Kansas but I’m really not surprised.” Virginia Tech is 1/5 in the last 5 bowl games we have been in. Pathetic. Only UNC and Dook have worse Bowl records in the ACC. You are starting to lose your touch, Frank. I love what you have done with the team but I can’t stand to see any more games like this. How VT can lose national games in which we are favored is beyond me. Is the stage too big? Is the seat too hot? Perhaps it is time for you to move on to AD and hand the reins to Bud Foster.

I paid all that hard-earned money to go down to Miami in crappy weather and watch my favorite team in any level, any sport crap the bed. I am not amused.

Time for a Change

I don’t know if it’s just me, how I was brought up, or how I think. Whatever it may be, I have a hard time accepting or respecting quitters. I understand that there are times when things get so tough that it’s almost better to cut your losses. In those rare situations, I can understand the reason that one quits. I still don’t agree with it, but at least I can see where they’re coming from. But rarely can a scenario like that apply in sports. Rarely, if ever, is there a reason for quitting that is universally “okay”. Sports is a dynamic that is centralized around extreme competitiveness. It’s survival of the fittest, literally. For players, you have to not only have it physically; you have got to be at the top of your game mentally to succeed. For coaches, you have got to be 100% committed at all times to be successful at leading your team. And most importantly, players and coaches are never allowed to quit midway through a game, season, or contract. It’s inexcusable.

This leads me to Bobby Petrino. He was an offensive mastermind at Louisville and I had great respect for how he put that school on the national map of relevancy. Today however, I have absolutely zero respect for the man and the coach. I have zero respect for him because he is a quitter. He quit on not only the 70 or so players on his team, not only on the owner and his staff, but on the entire city of Atlanta. Yeah he was having a lousy season. Yes, Michael Vick basically ended the season before it began. Yes, he had to go through three quarterbacks in the same season because of it, basically derailing his gameplan from the get go. But you know what? That’s coaching. Making adjustments. Learning on the fly. Adapting to adversity. You cannot quit, especially with three games left. The thing that makes this even worse is that he was already in talks with Arkansas to be their next coach. And what’s even WORSE than that, which I didn’t think would be possible, is the fact that he didn’t even look his players in the eye. They found out about this the same way you and I did. Sportscenter or some news station. That has nothing to do with being a weak coach. That has to do with being a weak and cowardly man.

I know things don’t always work out the way we want them to but if you give up at whatever it may be, you are a quitter. Whether you want to believe it or not, you are a quitter. The next head football coach at Arkansas is a known quitter. If I were a recruit, there is no way I’d even pay attention to Arkansas based on the characteristics of the new head coach.

It’s time for the NFL to realize that these college coaches have a greater chance of being a flop than a top 3 draft pick. It’s time to quit, ironically enough, on hiring these guys who have a couple of years of success at the collegiate level. Look at the young stud coaches we have in the ranks, waiting for a chance to move up. Give me Jason Garrett of the Cowboys over Nick Saban or Bobby Petrino any day of the week. Give me Mike Tomlin (assistant last year) over Butch Davis. Give me that kid from New England, whose name escapes me at this moment, over the next big name college coach who tries to make the move. The NFL is producing some quality assistant coaches and teams should start paying attention to them rather than trying to make a big splash by signing some big fish from college. The adjustment is just too great for most of them to make. You can’t go from dealing with 18 and 19 year old kids to 25 year old egomaniac players who make double your salary.

I’m eager to see what Arthur Blank, and a handful of other owners do this offseason in regards to filling their head coaching position. One of them is bound to make the same mistake again. Sucks to be them.