Michigan ABSOLUTLEY needs to win its next three games (Minnesota – PSU –
Indiana) in order to eve be considered a contender for the B1G Championship
much less any NC hopes, which, I’ve realistically already kissed good-bye, but
hey, a guy can dream.
Of Michigan’s last 5 games, I believe a 2-3 record is possible (Wins
over Sparty-Iowa), a 3-2 record is probable (Add –Nebraska), a 4-1 record would
be great (Add either Kitty Kats or ohio) and a 5-0 record…well, that would be
incredible, but I’m not looking that far ahead yet. Even though I just did…..What’s scary is that based on the last two games…well…..0-5 in the last
5 games is possible, also. Not to mention what could happen in the next three games….Yikes….
Wisconsin dropped and turned its way over into a loss to the suckeyes
and if I was a Wiscy fan, I would be so
angry with my team and its execution that I would be all for my teams'
execution. Thank you Coach McKay.....Talk about a fanbase that has
probably dropped from denial/isolation and skipped all the way down to
bargaining…
Add Ole Miss to that turnovers galore statistic or else they would have had
a puncher’s chance against Bama….
LSU and Georgia may meet again in another BIG GAME later in the year.
The domers….Ahh, the domers(JEEZ I HATE THESE GUYS!). Tommy Rees has never met a potential turnover
he didn’t like. It was kind of funny…I
knew that game was on at 3:30 but forgot to turn it on right away and when I
did turn it on, it was alreay 14-0 in the 1st quarter…I felt kind of
like a kid waking up on Christmas morning!
Seems like something else happened to a Maroon and Gold team this
weekend…what was it….Oh yeah – Minnesota dumped it’s home B1G opener in
terrible fashion to Iowa…Meaning Michigan better be ready.
Was that all that happened? Oh
yeah..The Ducks rolled. Texas A&M
beat the Razorbbacks….
Seems like I’m missing something….
WAIT! I’ve GOT IT! Lane Kiffin is the first head coaching casualty
of the young football season!
That one was kind of hard to believe and when it popped up on the screen
yesterday, I flipped around and Fox Sports, which had ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING ELSE
TO TELEVISE on Sunday, broke in live to the press conference where Pat Haden
was making some remarks. Talk about your unceremonious DUMPING of a head coach..And the decision was made in the 3rdquarter and of course..Lane was the last guy to find out. Lane was not allowed on team bus at the airport where
the driver was told to head back to USC…Pat didn’t come right out and say it,
but he implied that Kiffin “begged” to keep his job….Wow. I guess that “I’m behind my coach 100%”
comment is good….Until it ISN’T!
Let’s face it: Kiffin was in way
over his head and in many ways was a dolt…From Inflate Gate to managing the
media, or rather, no attempt at all in managing the media, he was a loose
cannon and an idiot…a combination that never works in any endeavor except for
maybe kamikaze pilot. But even they had
to hit the ship. In some small way, I
feel bad for Kiffin. Like 1% of me….It’s
not like he had some guarantee, at least not one that’s been made public. Wuzzles got the ax and was good on salary for
the next 10 years. In fact, I still
think he’s collecting a domer pay check.
Kiffin, on the other hand, somehow stumbled into a good thing at
Oakland, parlayed that into a head coaching gig with the Vols where he
alienated everyone, and then bolted for a very shaky situation at USC. If he had established himself as a proven commodity,
well, that would have been one thing.
But to go there without any kind
of track record and face a 30 scholarship reduction….All I can say is you
better have a couple of locks in the ole contract before you make that move. And Kiffin challenged everyone from the AD to
the training table cook and more or less pissed off the World of Troy…Not
smart. Especially after Haden showed
up. But, at the same time: Why now?
If Pat Haden knew he didn’t like Kiffin and all these things were
sitting there simmering…why wait till the season starts? Why not the end of last season? Was he thinking “Get through the NCAA penalty
phase?” I mean, it’s clear now why Haden
went to the NCAA to ask for lenience. He
could sell that aspect to a new hire.
But when he got shot down? Not so
much…So, who wants to jump into that mess now?
Haden has a big problem on his hands and wants to bring a class act in…And
it is a mess with the scholarships, locker room discontent, etc….
Speculation on replacements: The
blogs are abuzz and former player Jack Del Rio is the name everyone is throwing
around….While I don’t think the pro to college thing works all that well, there’s
one market it’s okay to try it in: Los
Angeles. Mora is making it work at UCLA
and Carrol made it work at USC. City
environment on the ocean and it recruits itself. An X and O’s guy can make it there…Just not
sure if I was Pat Haden I’d go that route – which is why I’m not Pat Haden…But
I think Pat sees the differences in the college and pro game and wants someone
that the program can hold up as an example of doing it the right way.
The other names in the ring:
Peterson (When ISN’T his name out there) and Franklin at Vandy. That last one makes some sense and don’t be
surprised if that’s the way it goes….
Add Paul Pasqualoni from UCONN and that’s two Head Coaches that have
made the gone list already this year…..Sad….
5 Stages of Slappy Fan Grief
- Denial and Isolation – ¼ of the
domer fan base is still up here in the denial and isolation stage. They now have some friends and I would
say that there’s a ¼ of the LSU fan base that has fallen into this area
due ot the fact that they don’t have a defense like the LSU defenses of
old…but they have a QB. The LSU loss
wasn’t tragic which would have taken them down to Anger. Just disheartening. But LSU needs a better defense similar
to what they used to have in the Bayou….
- ANGER - There’s a WHOLE LIST of fan bases in
here that you can either empathize or sympathize with. Starting in no particular order: Trojans, Cheeseheads, Razorbacks,
Gophers, domers, Okie State Cowboys and Gamecocks….The Cocks and Cowboys
had the most miserable performances of the weekend…even when you look at
the pile the domers dumped on their fans at home. The Cocks won at UCF, but they shouldn’t
have and the cowboys…jeez….somehow that Okie State team manages to LOSE AS
A DOUBLE DIGIT FAVORITE EVERY SEASON to someone that they have no business
losing to…and that fan base is ticked off this AM….
- Bargaining – The majority of the Trojans
and domers are in this phase. The
Trojans just lost their head coach, and while many are celebrating, now
the collective is looking at the schedule and talking about a “successful
season if we could just beat X”.
And one of those big X’s is the domers….and the domer collective is
thinking the same thing. Who’s
season can we ruing by beating “X” and that will make our season. Unfortunately, the domes already lost
one of those games to Michigan leaving only 1 or 2 left. But the bargaining in those fan camps
has begun.
- Depression – Trojans, Texas, Wiscy,
domers. I can make an argument for
a lot of fan bases down in this section, but it’s only the truly slappys
that think their team has a shot at an NC every year. But Wiscy is more or less out of the B1G
race with the suckeyes loss and all they can be is spoilers….Which, before
the calendar even says October is a tough way to live a college football
fan existence.
- Acceptance – U-Conn remains….Arizona is probably sitting here as well…..and maybe a couple of in the know Trojans or two now that the coach is gone….
Idle Thoughts From Saturday
-Okay…some
football for a change without an emotional connection..
-Well, maybe
a couple of connections of teams I hate and love to see lose..-Game Day crowd in Athens seemed a little subdued…
-For an SEC crowd, I mean….
-Usually those fan bases are completely off the reservation.
-The Fargo crowd last week looked livelier..
-LSU-Georgia setting up to be a slobber knocker…
-Laters up on the domers by two TD’s???
-What’s going on?
-Oh…Tommy Rees up to his usual tricks..
-Quick – What color purple is Kelly’s face?
-Hee-hee….I wish I could have seen his reaction…
-I love to see certain guys lose it…
-Just cause they lose it so well….
-Okay – I see an 8-5 season for the Domers coming…
-Their fan base did NOT see them losing until October…..
-Meaning: Same old Domers
-That should knock them out of the top 25…
-And all will be right with the world!
-Hawkeyes – Gophers getting embarrassing for Kill…
-Jeez, I hope he upped his meds.
-Georgia-LSU is really back and forth. I wonder what the Over/Under on this game was?
-FMQ needs to keep that in mind the way the SEC teams are lighting up scoreboards now…
-Wiscy…What are you doing?
-Stop turning the ball over..
-Ole Miss: The same goes for you!
-Score for pete’s sake…
-Saban looks more rattled on the sideline this year than he usually does..
-He’ll probably retire in Crimson…
-Just can’t see him doing it all over again…
-But if Kirby Smart gets an offer…well, what’s to stop him?
-Wiscy! Would you guys hang on to the damn ball!
-Oh well, I guess it will be the suckeyes….Unless the Purple Kittys bring it to Columbus…
-But that’s a tall order.
-There’s a lot of Wolverine and Northwestern fans in Madison right now…
-USC is getting killed…And I thought the defense was supposed to be the Trojan STRENGTH this year…
-Trojans…how far the once mighty have fallen…
-Makes you think if anything comes out of Agent Gate, maybe Saban would leave and avoid a loss of scholarships.
-But that’s crazy….
The Hot Seat
Kate Upton
finished the week out strong in the Hot Seat Mascot Voting! Wow, it wasn’t unanimous, but it was
close. So, five finalists in the running
and without further ado, I will introduce the Hot Seat Mascot for Week #
5: SI swimsuit model Irina Shayk!
GONE
LIST: (It’s not the EARLIEST we’ve ever
had a gone list….but it’s the earliest “in season” we’ve had a Gone List…)
- LANE
KIFFIN: And this is bad because he
doesn’t have the BS personality you need to do TV. In fact, he doesn’t
have any personality…at least not one anyone can locate. Now that USC has shown the world how to
do it, it kind of makes you wonder who’ll be next….
- Paul Pasqualoni: I’m surprised UConn made this move when they made it….seems like they could have waited…but maybe they are worried their guy will be gone if they didn’t act now…
Hot Seat Rank
- Mack Brown: Has to be nervous as all media eyes can
now move off the coach they love to hate (Kiffin) and look at Mack….
- Brian Kelly: He’s no threat to be fired, just a hot
seat….And he’s angry at Rees, of course….
- Gundy: When you lose a double digit game to an
inferior opponent, well, the fan base is going to let you have it….
- Holgorensen: But he just won? And his fan base is screaming because
they got blanked by Maryland and then beat the #10 team in the country…what
gives?
- Weiss: Why not?
- Hazell:
I know it’s his first year…but Purdue is really, really bad…
- Rodriguez: I’m sure his shtick is getting old in Arizona and
getting hosed by the Huskies isn’t going to help…
- Fisher: Again, no threat of getting canned, but he had better wake up FSU’s defense…Clemson will walk all over them….
FMQ Betting Results:
I love it when a best bet weekend comes
together! However….You know, there are certain teams I simply should not
bet. Michigan and Okie State are on the
list...Okay, I know I have to bet Michigan....maybe I will get it right at some point. And I’ll add others as they come along. But I’m not going to complain too much
when we get a weekend that gets us closer to our overall goal.
Cal Bears @ Oregon (-36): Take the Ducks and lay the 36 for $60
It was a
squeaker, but the Ducks cover by 2!
WIN! Bank $114
Sanford (-10) @ WSU: Take
Stanford and lay the 10 for $60. Another
Squeaker, but I will take it!WIN! Bank $114
Wiscy (+8) @ ohio: A Take Wiscy and the 8 for $60. ANOTHER 1 point squeaker for the FMQ, but a win is a win!
WIN! Bank $114
Oklahoma (-3.5) @
the domers: Take
Oklahoma and lay the 3.5 for $40..This was like taking candy from a baby…
WIN! Bank $76
Ole Miss (+17) @
Bama: Take
Ole Miss and the 17 for $40
LOSE……
LSU (+3) @ Georgia: Take LSU
and the 3 for $40
PUSH….Which means…LOSE…..
Okie Sate (-19) @
WVU: I hate Okie State……Take Okie State and lay
the 19 for $40LOSE……
PARLAY!
Ducks – Cardinal –
Wiscy - $10
WIN! Bank $60
Starting BANK: $933.50TOTAL WIN: $478
BANK: $1,411.50
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