Monday, October 2, 2017

Week # 5 - Humming Along - After The Bye


I don’t like this trend, but let’s say a prayer for the people in Las Vegas….

We’ll get back to Football in a minute…

I’ve been communicating with some of you via text, e-mail and social media regarding “The Beginning of the End” and the takes are all interesting and somewhat thought provoking.
Several of you claim that the NBA should get rid of its 19 years of age requirement and let the NBA take kids that they think will be stars and develop them on their own.  While I get that idea, the NBA will never do that.  The reasons:  The NBA gets to see how a kid develops in college against good to excellent competition and they don’t have to pay them a dime.  In addition, they get a chance to see how durable a kid is over the course of a 30-game season which is a lot longer than a high school season (but not nearly as long as the NBA 82 game marathon.  Not to mention an additional 25-35 play-off games, if you make the make the play-offs and get to the finals).

Someone else suggested that the shoe companies continue with the AAU type leagues for high-school grads and they could market the league and create their own superstars that they would then introduce into the draft after a couple of years when the shoe companies and the NBA thought they were ready.  I hadn’t thought of this idea and the shoe companies are already doing the High School AAU stuff.  This might not be that much of a reach and it might work out okay for all involved parties.  Figuring out when to play, getting a TV contract, etc, are all issues, but that idea has some merit.

And thank you to anyone that liked the MMQ’s idea of letting these kids go to college and get rid of the idea of amateurism.  To me, this makes the most sense; the NCAA still has a great product, kids would get to manage their own shoe or merchandise contracts (above board), and it seems like it would be the easiest to enforce from an NCAA standpoint. 

Now:  We Vent!

Speaking of the NCAA:

Uh…Helllo?  NCAA?  Where In the HELL ARE YOU???

Speaking of enforcement:  Ass-Hat Emmert’s statement last week was an indictment of that entire institution.  The fact that the FBI had been going at this for over two years and the NCAA didn’t have a frickin’ clue as to what was going on should get somebody fired.  Emmert should be forced to resign and his lack of action since the announcement regarding Louisville in this indiscretion and the Stripper-Gate scandal “lack of appropriate punishment” is ludicrous.  Here’s an issue (unlike the punishment handed down to Penn State where there was no student involvement but the criminal actions of a single coach) where multiple coaches were knowingly and willingly bending major rules and breaking federal laws to create an unfair advantage on the basketball court.  And the coaches were complicit and supportive of the entire process.  If this isn’t a University out of “Institutional Control”, I really don’t know what is.  And here’s another thought:  These two “scandals” are all we know about.

How much other stuff has Louisville (and Pitino) pulled off without being caught? 

I believe Ass-Hat Emmert acted about 1 month after Sandusky was found guilty in June of his crimes that were made public in November of 2011.  Emmert handed down PSU penalties in July.  That was pretty swift justice, without any investigation by the NCAA on its own.  At the time, the MMQ felt that the NCAA should have just stayed out of that one, but hey, who am I?

On the other hand, and I know it’s only been a week, the Louisville case is something that the NCAA doesn’t need to “investigate” on its own.  Jesus-Tap-Dancing-Christ-On-A-Cracker:  Louisville is already on probation!  The FBI has evidence, tapes and recordings and that’s really all you need.  You don’t need to see it or review it on your own.  Emmert should be handing out the Death Penalty TODAY before the season can even begin for LouisvilleSwift justice is appropriate here as I’m sure there’s players on the Louisville roster that probably got some shoe money or some sort of payola, also.  Why the NCAA is waiting is beyond me, with the exception that they will be cutting off their own dick and balls by kicking Louisville out of college basketball for a season or two, and reducing potential revenue from the NCAA Tourney as a result.

Another thing that SHOULD be done is that Louisville is not only stripped of its 2013 National Championship, but that should be immediately given to Michigan as further penalty to Louisville (and yes, I’d say the same thing about whoever the runner up was to Louisville.  Give the opposing team the title as they were playing against known cheaters).  All the record books should be stripped of any reference to Louisville for that season.  If the NCAA doesn’t do this, it’ll be high time to simply remove them from the picture and let schools or conferences self-govern as the NCAA is too useless to do anything. 

As far as Pitino goes:  Pitino is a turd.  Nothing more.  He is the epitome of the George Castanza quote: “Jerry – It’s not a lie if you believe it”.   


This is ANOTHER GREAT EXAMPLE of why the NCAA needs to WAIT before inducting any active coach into the Hall of Fame.  Pitino should be unceremoniously stripped of that honor, immediately.  Hey – they took Paterno’s statue down. What are we waiting for?  I was sad to hear Dicky V standing up for him and saying that his “great” career shouldn’t have ended like this.  Dicky V lost a lot of my respect with that comment.  Pitino has been cheating since the beginning of time to achieve that “Great Career” and he’s gotten away with a lot more than he’ll ever get caught for.  It’s the nature of the “no snitch” environment in college hoops.  I don’t know how anyone can respect him or his accomplishments at this point.  Their needs to be an example set for coaches and schools that do this. 

I can’t think of a better way. 


But, as always, I’m making this up as I go…so I’m open to suggestions.

The Rest of the Mess

NEW SECTION:  YHMA You Have My Attention

Georgia:  I hate doing this because I’m not completely, 100% sure that the folks Georgia and Kirby Smart have rolled over are any good, but they’ve really rolled some people, with a FROSH QB none the less.  Nobody had Georgia doing much this pre-season, and they’ve proven everyone wrong.  But MSU and Tennessee may not be the measuring sticks we thought they were. 

PSU:  Continues to impress and the opening Kick-Off TD by Barkley was a run of perfection.  Setting up the blocks, using his speed when needed, the whole thing.  PSU just might be the best team in the B1G right now and may be getting better as they go.  I knew Franklin was a good hire for PSU and it’s proving more and more to be the case.
Maryland:  Is on QB number 3 and somehow went up to the Twin Cities and sunk the rowing boat.  Durkin has put together another talented coaching staff and is proving that his hire was no joke. 

Wash State:  Thank GOD someone hired this guy so he’s still around College Football!  Mike Leach is still the master of the one liners and his Wazoo’s managed to pull off the upset against an even more banged up USC squad.  I guess you can argue that this puts USC in the CFP picture, but I’ll hold off until they finish the rest of their schedule.  Still a great upet!


A Lot Like Woodstock Except People Still Have Their Clothes On!

CUD – Complete, Unmitigated Disasters!!!

LSU:   Not only has LSU suffered one of the most embarrassing losses in the SEC (I was right as I heard over the weekend that LSU hadn’t suffered a 30 point SEC loss in over 40 years) they’ve now lost to Sun Belt team Troy.  LSU wore the purple jerseys in one of the school’s worst kept secrets:  They only wear the purple when they plan on rolling somebody.  Well, somebody got rolled all right.  Great link to an article on what’s wrong with LSU:  They’re soft!
Can Ogeron survive the season?  If there had only been some evidence that Ogeron wasn’t a great SEC head coach.  Oh wait, there was!

Tennessee:  Butch Jones has suddenly jumped up to the electric chair of death on the Hot Seat.  Calling out the press last week and then losing by 40 to Georgia (Last time Tennessee lost this bad?  1918!!!) is not going to sit well with the new AD or the Volunteer fan base.  Is the SEC East and West in the race for Durkin and whoever else are the new darlings of College Football Coaching Carousel?

Ole Miss:  Is probably done in the SEC for the next 5-10 seasons and will become a basement cellar dweller in the West (you’re welcome LSU).  Losing 66-3 to a team you beat two times in the last three seasons is not a good look.  There has to be players on the Ole Miss team that were part of those victories…Put a fork in ‘em…

MSU:  After looking so impressive 2 weeks ago against a fraudulent LSU team, Mississippi State has truly fallen back to earth with back-to-back humiliations.  Mullen should have grabbed any job offer that came through when he had the chance…
North Carolina:  I don’t know where I got the idea that UNC was going to be good this season.  They aren’t.  Fedora may have earned a Hot Seat Mention with this loss to GTU….

CBOTL – Come Back Off the Ledge

These are losses that looked bad, but there’s no reason to panic and sell the season duckets yet.

Indiana:  Two conference losses isn’t a good look, but you have lost to two of the teams that are supposed to battle for the conference title and also be part of the CFP discussion at the end of the season.  First year coach…everything is gonna’ be okay.

Gophers:  I’ve been warning people about Durkin’s Terps ever since he took over at Maryland.  I know they were destroyed by UCF (when Maryland lost the 2nd string QB in the 1st Quarter), but the Terps are well coached.  Fleck got a wake-up call and he’ll use that to his advantage and slap a few extra oars on the boat for the rest of the season.

PGL – Pretty Good Loss

Va Tech:  Everyone in Blacksburg THOUGHT they were ready for Clemson.  The Hokies weren’t.  But that doesn’t mean you should be upset with the loss.  Keep plugging away on the regular season and see what happens.
Wake Forest:  You hung with and nearly beat a team (FSU) that a lot of people were thinking was a CFP and potential National Champion pre-season.  Keep going the rest of the season and good things can still happen.

WWB – We Won, But…We Should Be Worried

Sparty:  You beat Iowa in your own house, but now the real season begins.   Big House night game will be raucous and your hands are gonna’ be full with Michigan’s Defense that’s had a week off to prepare and rest up for you.
 
Wiscy:  Not an impressive outing against a mediocre Purple Kitties team.  Whether you were looking ahead or just comfortable winning I guess could be argued, but you won’t be able to do that against Michigan.  Against the rest of the B1G West, you’ll be able to fake your way through…

And the Rest…

EMU VS. Kentucky:  The Huron’s almost pulled off the upset and it took the Wildcats the entire game to finally cinch the victory.  Someone will be looking at EMU’s head coach Chris Creighton for a better job real soon!

South Carolina vs. Texas AM:  Huh.  Texas A&M has reeled off 4 victories after the UCLA debacle.  They could easily be 5-0 and we’d be talking about them in the SEC.  However, we all know that A&M can’t finish a game and we’ll be a patsy when they have to start playing better SEC Teams…If there’s any left.

Okie State vs. Texas Tech:  Okie State is eventually going to need a defense.  I’m not sure how I got so high on them a couple of weeks ago.  Giving up that many points to the Red Raiders isn’t a good look…But hey, they won.

The 5 Stages of Slappy Fan Grief

  1. Denial and Isolation USC.  All our guys on the offensive line were hurt.  We just need to win the rest of them, etc, etc etc...   
  2. ANGER –LSU, MSU, Tennessee These fan bases have fired up the social media machines, e-mails and are selling Menard’s out of torches and pitchforks.  Twitter blew up Saturday night with pure vitriol regarding some of these fans.  I wouldn’t want to be a head coach of any of these teams right now. 
  3. Bargaining –Hawkeyes… You’re 2-2 and hoping to get to 6 wins and a bowl...
  4. Depression –Everybody who’s angry plus UNC and Ole Miss....    
  5.  Acceptance – Mizzou and Ole Miss.  Some fans see the problems
Ref Rants!

There was a PI call in the USC WSU game on Friday night that was not only NOT PI, but I’m still trying to figure out why he even threw the flag!  There is no youtube clip out there, but if I find it, I’ll add it to the list…

Idle Thoughts from Saturday

-And Washington State does the impossible!
-I’m really glad we still have Leach around in coaching.
-I kind of wish someone in the central or eastern time zone would hire him.
-I miss his usual antics….
-Game Day in Blacksburg!
-Lot of fans showed up!
-Herbstreit mentions the first season for him (and third show) in Blacksburg was special.
-I kind of agree.  I remember getting into Game Day in the mid to late 90’s
-It’s come a long way since then!
-Iowa’s Children’s wave is cool…
-IF you didn’t see the segment:  Here
-
-Don’t blame the MMQ if you find yourself crying at work (or lunch)
-Or whenever you find time to read this drivel.
-Bruce Smith Guest Picker!
-I remember when he played at Va Tech!
-Am I that old?
-Saquon Barkely – You have my attention!
-Iowa stumbling…
-PSU rolling.
-MSU isn’t that good…
-Unfortunately, Sparty is better than I thought…
-CHIP IS BACK!
-Dantonio always at his best when everyone thinks he sucks…
-LSU really, REALLY, REALLY Sucks..
-I’m not sure Ogeron can last season.
-Actually, Alleva’s the guy that will probably get canned first.
-He hired Ogeron. 
-Oops
-How bad is the SEC?
-And how did it go from great to bad so fast?
-Mysteries of life
-Of course, in LSU’s case, you don’t fire the winningest coach you’ve ever had.
-I’m glad to see them wandering the desert at this point.
-But why hasn’t anyone hired Miles?

THE MMQ’s “I DON’T NEED A COMMITTEE!”
Will return when the Committee makes their first ranking!

The Hot Seat

Still looking for Hot Coach’s wives suggestions!
This week, University of Texas Head Coach Tom Herman’s wife gets the nod!



ZAPPED List
We’ll keep track of who’s gone as the season progresses….
  1. “Holier than Thou” Hugh Freeze 

Electric Chair of Death Seat!
  1. Butch Jones - Tennesse.  Calling out the press https://sports.yahoo.com/fake-news-rant-shows-butch-jones-doesnt-understand-role-media-003803466.html
and then losing in a landslide to a team (Georgia) that nobody was sure was going to be that good in the SEC East this season gets you moved to the top of the list.  New AD has to be getting tired of the rants and e-mail right about now…I’ll actually call it:  Tuesday’s breaking news could have Jones looking for a job.
  1. OdomMizzou.  Leaving Odom here for the time being.
  2. Ogeron -LSU  Really? Troy?  From the Sun-Belt?  The SEC Patsy league that the SEC keeps around for “sure victories?”  I smell trouble in Louisiana.

The Hot Seat

1.    Fedora – UNC  Things aren’t looking good for Larry. 
2.    Mullen – MSU  How quickly you can go from “Yeah!  He’s our guy!” to “Throw the entire staff out!  They all suck!”
3.    Riley – Nebraska.  He didn’t lose…
4.    Sumlin:  Seat is still hot.  Needs a BIG win…
5.    Bret Bielema:  Brett luck to have Jeff Long as his AD.  Long has a lot of patience….    
6.    McElwain
7.    Mulzahn
8.    Rich Rod
9.    Graham

Etc.
1.     Take out his tenure atTexas and Charlie Strong is on an 11-Game winning streak…
2.    Scott Frost is looking every bit like the next Nebraska Head Coach

4.    “I’m Innocent and will be exonerated!”  Says Pitino….LOL!!

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