Fill In The Blank....

Jim Brandstatter, Michigan Football Play-by-Play Announcer, re-tweeted a question last week from someone that said, “This Bowl Season has been (fill in the blank).   The first word that came to mind:

Disappointment

I thought of a few other words as I let my mind work through a myriad of images and came up with:

Lousy

Useless

Wasteful

Meaningless

Mundane

Boring

Tasteless

Sucky

The first bowl game I watched more or less start to finish was Minnesota vs. Washington State.  The Gophers managed to hang on for the victory, but other than that, the B1G has been getting rightly bashed for dismal performances across the board.

Michigan didn’t show up till the 4^th quarter against FSU (due mostly to the lack of an offensive line – that are still Hoke’s recruits) and when they did finally show up, they showed up big.  But then they forgot to finish the game and gave up that damn kick-off return.  That has to be one of the biggest Whiskey – Tango –Foxtrot moments of the Bowl season.

The BIGGEST WTF moment has to be the inexplicable performance out of the suckeyes against Clemson.  If you had told me the final score of 31-0 without saying which team was attached to which number, I wouldn’t have picked it that way.  Even if you gave me 10 chances to change my mind, I would have still picked the suckeyes over Clemson.  But, perhaps Instant Karma for winning a game you should have lost (to Michigan) is one of the reasons for that lack of execution.  Urban is claiming that the suckeyes will be back, but I’m not so sure…Sparty said the same thing after they were dismantled by Bama last season 38-0.  That’s a total score of 69-0 that the B1G has in two CFP games so far.  Not a good look.  Not a good look at all…

Am I believing Clemson and all the hype they’re receiving right now for beating a team that Michigan technically beat?  No.  Bama will repeat and we’re all simply living in a Bama world….

To round out a “Top 3” of WTF Moments, somehow Iowa, the team that managed to put together a game against Michigan, went into the Citrus Bowl and totally laid an egg to a very overrated Gatorland Team.  30-3?   Florida hasn’t put 30 points on the board all season.  And in many cases, Florida didn’t have 30 points for two games COMBINED!!!  Again, someone please explain to me how Michigan lost to Iowa?  Oh yes, couldn’t get a first down in the last seconds of the game, Coach Jimmy.  If Kirk Ferentz coached every game against Michigan, it would be interesting to see what his record would be.  Otherwise, if I’m an Iowa fan, I’m hating life….At least Wiscy beat the Boat Rowing Broncos from Western, albeit it was interesting late into the 4^th quarter.   And I wouldn’t have been that upset with Western pulling off the Dream Season, frankly. 

Monday at least provided some entertaining football, especially the Rose.  What started out looking like an utter disaster for the Nittany Lions turned into an incredible comeback against a USC defense that smothered Washington and everyone else in the Pac 12.  I didn’t see that coming – The Nittany Lions ability to move the ball at will in the 2^nd half against USC.  The 3^rd quarter should be something that PSU fans put on a loop tape and watch over and over.  And then the 4^th quarter happened and the Nittany Lion fans ended up sick to their stomachs.  Of course, when you look at where these two “franchises” were a mere 3-4 seasons ago, I guess they can both be pretty happy that they got to play on “New Year’s Day in the Granddaddy of them All!”

Brent Musburger, play by play guy for the Sugar Bowl, then single handedly tried to make Twitter and Facebook EXPLODE by praising Mixon in the 3^rd quarter (the Sooner running back that sucker-punched/blasted his girlfriend in a restaurant that resulted in a broken jaw and other injuries.  WARNING – if you haven’t seen it, it’ll make you mad).  I was initially a little appalled at what Brent said, but I kind of think I understand what he was “TRYING” to say.  But he should have just left the entire thing alone and kept his mouth shut.    

But He Didn’t. 

 

And then Brent got word that he had pissed off the entire world and had melted down the internet.  Brent tried to re-explain his position for making it sound like he was supporting the criminal act.  And as only Brent can do, just to throw a little gas onto an already out of control social media blaze, he stated this:



“Some people were upset when I wished this young man well at the next level,” Musburger said. “Let me make something perfectly clear: What he did with that young lady was brutal, uncalled for, he’s apologized, he was tearful. He got a second chance. He got a second chance from (Oklahoma head coach) Bob Stoops. I happen to pull for people with second chances, okay? Let me make it absolutely clear that I hope he has a wonderful career and he teaches people with that brutal, violent video, okay?”

Uh….Brent, What EXACTLY are you hoping he teaches people with that video?  Keep your right in tight and swing from the waist?  Because I’m not sure what else there is to be gleaned from that…..

Unfortunately, I cannot locate the clip showing Mixon being carried off the field after the Sugar with his teammates taking “swings” at him.  I can only assume they were trying to be humorous. 

 

They weren’t. IT wasn’t funny.  It was disrespectful and tasteless…. This NYPost article has the Twitter Feed that you can link to and watch…

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/brent-musburger-joe-mixon-cringeworthy-sugar-bowl-article-1.2932851

Oklahoma should be punished and forfeit any money they get from the Sugar via the NCAA.  Go Get ‘Em Mark!!!

Like that’ll ever happen….

Back to Musburger:  Sorry Brent. I said at the time that the Kid should have been out of Football forever and probably should have done a little time for breaking that woman’s jaw.  2^nd chances are for violating team rules or going on a bender after a big win.  And I have a feeling that before everything is said and done you may have just called your last game, but don’t know it yet.  Much like the comments an aging and “not getting it or not all mentally there” Jimmy the Greek made that resulted in the abrupt end to his career, ESPN will get called out HARD on this one in the days, weeks, and months to come.

Brent - It was nice knowing you….

But back to the games that mattered:  Would things have been different with Michigan or PSU instead of the Suckeyes at the Peach Bowl?  Hard to say.  Basing this strictly on Michigan’s Orange Bowl Performance, I’m thinking that no, Michigan probably would have lost to that particular Clemson team.  But I and everyone reading has seen Clemson play a lot worse…PSU on the other hand, might have had a better shot, assuming they played like they played in the 3^rd quarter. 

Would there have been a difference with 6 teams in the play-off and Michigan playing Washington in the first round?  Again, hard to say.  Washington looked mighty small and outmatched against a far larger and faster Bama squad….

With 1 Game left with meaning, maybe it’s the post bowl and holiday season blues and depression I’m feeling.

Here’s another problem with the bowl games:  They are really too damn long.  The Rose Bowl kicked off around 5:15 or so.  The last play came at about 9:20.  That’s over 4 hours.  And it was looking like OT!!!

I sat down one evening last week and tuned into one of the bowls just in time for a replay review that I swear to god lasted almost 10 minutes.  I flipped the channel a couple of times and the same play was still being reviewed. Actually -  Lemme look this up...

Yep – the Belk Bowl which was Arkansas vs. VaTech.  Here’s part of the re-cap that was an Arkansas punt :

An Arkansas player landed on it but didn’t retain possession, and a Virginia Tech player proceeded to pick it up. Somewhere in there, a whistle blew. When the Hogs ended up with the ball, many assumed it was because of that whistle.

But there was one problem — Virginia Tech was called for holding on the punt. That ended up being the deciding factor, though most of the discussion focused on when the whistle blew.

When the officials finally came out from their 12-minute review, the official said there had been an inadvertent whistle and a penalty during the kick. The latter matters more than the former.

“By rule,” the official stated, the penalty was assessed from the spot of the kick and it was still Arkansas’ ball.

A 12 Minute REVIEW????  That has to STOP.  Either fire the officials who cannot come to quick decisions (which were Big Xii officials, BTW) or do something to speed up the process. 

Another reason for my melancholy is perhaps that fact that I LIKE to think I know what I’m doing when I make my Picks.  I LIKE to think that I know more than the other guy…However, as of right now, I have only picked 15 out of 41 BOWLS correctly (against the spread).  That’s really, REALLY Bad….I would have been better off going completely opposite instead of studying and finding out little facts that I thought gave me a betting edge.  And with PSU’s loss to USC, that makes the B1G East a great B1G 0-5 in the Bowls!!!  Yep, PSU, suckeyes, Michigan, Maryland and Indiana all lose….Didn’t see that one coming…..

Anyway, trying to save the season by letting all the remaining bank ride on Bama next Monday.  I’m not buying the fact that Clemson is that much better and is in a “better” place this year to beat the Tide. 

Bama just keeps coming at you.  And there’s nothing you can do. 

Or should I do the opposite?  Based on the Bowl Season’s results up to this point?

The MMPG

And Michigan’s lousy game ending at Iowa City on Sunday was also a disaster that could have been avoided.  The Men’s Basketball team needs to learn how to set a play up better at the end of a game vs. what they did Sunday.  I was going to try to find a clip, but there’s nothing out there available.  Suffice it to say, there was no clean look or clean shot with the 20 seconds they had left to tie the game.  That was the worst play calling and execution of this team to date. 

Michigan needs to start playing B1G Ball and making shots when it counts.   Kind of in a slump right now.  I’m not saying they’re out of the Dance yet, but they need to focus and win games like that in the B1G, even when they’re on the road. 

PSU in the House that Cazzie built tonight so looking for a much needed W to get to 0.500 in the B1G!!!

The Hot Seat!

Don’t forget to Vote!!!!

And This Just IN:

Tracy Claeys is OUT at Minnesota. (I was thinking this would happen sooner and was part of the reason for not posting yesterday).  I guess you could also call this the most un-surprising firing of the season based on my blog entry about two posts ago before the holidays.  I really didn’t see how Tracy could survive that Title IX report and the “Reckless, Sexual Behavior” by his team and women on campus. (Go back to that post for a link to the report). Whether it was consenting or not, gang bang and multiple male/single female sex situations are simply not tolerated and have to be frowned upon by people in charge of things.  Regardless of how you live YOUR sex life or what you think is appropriate behavior.  If you read the report, you knew heads were gonna’ roll…. 

But as I’ve told the Gopher readers of the blog, it’s always darkest before the dawn.  And that’s experience talking.

Anyone on the list of available candidates would be a great hire for Minnesota.  And get this:  Chip Kelly could work the next 3 seasons for free as he’s getting paid $24.5M (with an M) from the Eagles and 49er’s for NOT coaching in the NFL!!!

So, an update:

ZAPPED List

We’ll keep track of who’s gone as the season progresses….

1. Miles and Cameron – LSU Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator. 
2. VanGorder – Domer D-Coordinator. 
3. Ron Turner – FIU. 
4. Hazell – PURDUE!
5. Tim DeRuyter – Fresno State. 
6. Charlie STRONG- Texas. 
7. Helfrich – Oregon.  Saw it coming….
8. Kevin Wilson – Indiana.   Yes – this one surprised me but related to Player Safety and other issues.  I know, not on the Hot Seat List…..
9. Tracy Claeys – Minnesota.  This was a must fire situation after the Title IX report was made public.
    
   Electric Chair of Death Seat!

1. Kelly and $warbuck$ - Till Next Season!!!

The Hot Seat – Beginning Next Season!!!

1. Rich Rod – Arizona. 
2. Todd Graham – ASU
3. Malzhan – Auburn
4. Butch Jones – Cremesicles. 
5. Sumlin  Texas A&M
6. Muschamp – South Carolina 
7. Mike Riley – Nebraska
8. Kirby Smart – Georgia.
9. ANTONIO, MARK – Sparty

Short List of Available or Desirable Head Coaches

1. PJ Fleck –Rowing the Boat….
2. Chip Kelly – You can BET that he’ll be back in college, just like Pete Carrol and Nick Satan!!!  Will be a great hire for someone.
3. Les Miles – AVAILABLE FOR HIRE.  No one is beating his door down, however.
4. Mike Leach – The Pac 12 is taking notice!!!  I just see Leach at a bigger program eventually.
    
    
   And all the latest HIRED Coaches of HOPE and CHANGE!!
    

1.  LSU – Ogeron!  Aleva figures as long as he’s paying Miles, he can’t afford another $5M Coach.  He’ll stumble along with Coach O, but if Coach O falters in 2 seasons, he’ll be out of a job!
2. Texas – HERMANN!  Did anyone not see this one coming?  Than you haven’t been reading the MMQ!
3. Jeff Brohm – Purdue.  Didn’t see this one coming. 
4. Matt Ruhle – Baylor.  Former Temple Head Coach
5. Willie Taggart – Oregon!  AS the MMQ predicted!!!!
6. Charlie Strong – USF.  Replaces Taggart
7. Indiana – Tom Allen – Never heard of him…..
8. Cincinnati – Luke Fickell.  Goodbye suckeyes….
9. Houston – Major Applewhite.  Not a surprising hire, but can he be a head coach?
10. Temple – Geoff Collins.   Gators Defensive Coordinator…
11. UConn – Randy Edsall.  Whatever…it’s Uconn…
12. FAU – Lane Kiffin.  Good Luck with that….
13. FIU – Butch Davis.  Guess he was tired of his gig on Sirius XM
14. Fresno State – Jeff Tedord.  Step down from California Bears….
15. WKU – Mike Sanford
16. San Jose State – Brent Brennan
17. Nevada  - Jay Norvell
18. Georgia State – Shawn Elliot
     

Just When You Think Things Can’t Get Any Worse….

I wasn’t going to touch this one, but it seems as though this is on Sports Center just about every day at this point.  And nobody thought it could get worse in Minnesota…But if you’re a Golden Gopher Fan that’s got to be what you’re feeling right about now. 

For those of you not keeping up on the developing story out of Gopher Town (that’s Minneapolis, MN) I’m going to give you the MMQ abridged version of the facts of the case to get you up to speed (Believe me – if you’re not familiar with this story, A LOT OF THIS IS GOING TO MAKE YOU FEEL A LITTLE SQUEAMISH!):

1. On September 2^nd, after the Gophers first home game, there was some sex (actually, a LOT of sex) between some people and one woman who may have had too much to drink.
2. How many people she had sex with isn’t confirmed.  It’s more than 4 and could be up to 12. 
3. The woman was on video (camera phone) that showed that the sex acts being conducted were reciprocating and consensual.
4. There are accounts that she didn’t want “any more men” coming in to the bedroom to have sex with her after the first 3 or 4 people had sex with her.
5. The next morning the woman then called the police “thinking” that she may have been sexually assaulted.
6. The police reviewed the case, spoke with the players involved, looked at several “phones and videos of the episode” and concluded that the woman was coherent, alert, and enjoying herself and the “Gang Bang” and concluded that it was not assault, albeit there were multiple partners and sex acts performed. 
7. She never said “No” or “Stop”.
8. Charges were not filed by the Minneapolis police due to lack of evidence.
9. The University decided to suspend 4 players in September after learning of the incident from the woman when she went to the administration.
10. The players were re-instated at a later point.
11. The University started its own Title IX investigation and have NOT officially share the EOAA findings.
12. In December, the University re-suspended the original 4 players and are considering expulsion for them plus they suspended an additional 6 players as part of their investigation.
13. The Football Team Boycotted practice and threatened to boycott the Holiday Bowl.
14. Coach Tracey Claeys publicly supported the team (and in essence, supported the “gang bang” activity – leading to a public outcry for his head on a platter).
15. The President, AD, coach and players met and finally decided to stop the boycott and practice and play in the Bowl once the players were read the facts from the EOAA report case/investigation.
16. The 10 players remain suspended.

I think that’s pretty much everything.

While there’s a part of me that is utterly repulsed by what took place, the woman in question probably had a little too much to drink, was looking for some kind of action, got some, and then probably felt bad regarding the amount of action she received.  Then she decided to cry “Foul!”, and called the police to discuss.   

http://kstp.com/kstpImages/repository/cs/files/University%20of%20Minnesota%20Police%20Department%20Redacted%204.pdf

(You can read the entire police report here.  Takes about half an hour and is VERY GRAPHIC IN NATURE regarding the discussion of the sexual acts performed.)  I’ve also read parts of (but not all of) the LEAKED EOAA report – 80 pages - which reads a lot more like a point of view of the victim and the accused rather than just an explanation of the facts.  ALSO VERY GRAPHIC IN NATURE.) 

http://kstp.com/kstpImages/repository/cs/files/U%20of%20M%20EOAA%20redacted5.pdf

It’s easy to see that the EOAA report was written by a woman and that part of the investigation may have had a lot of “leading questions”.  Either way, group sex was had and the alleged victim was the focal point for all the males involved. 

 As a father of daughters all I can say is, “How was this girl raised and how did she let herself get into this situation???”   Granted, the male members of this little party ain’t no saints or angels either, and one of them could have had the decency to say that, “Hey, maybe this isn’t exactly the right thing to do or be doing.”

But nobody did.

Instead, there was a lot of texting back and forth stating that there was a girl available for sex.  The question I have is, again, while I’m not condoning the activity, when does a University, or any institution for that matter, become a decision maker regarding one’s “Moral or Immoral Activities”?   I know that if you read the report, you’ll come away with some level of “Wow, I can’t believe all of this happened.”  Unless, you think that having multiple partners is okay.  And there are people that feel that way.  And to them, the report probably reads like, “Hey, a good time was had by all!”

So how does a University under the guise of Title IX, step in and say, “Nope – we don’t approve of that and what we have found in our investigation goes against our Code of Conduct.”  What’s next?  Telling us who we can or can’t vote for?

I know that’s comparing apples to oranges, but that’s what we’re talking about here.  Consensual sex is just that – consensual.  You can’t wake up the next morning, have everything you did come flooding back into your head and decide that what you’ve already done was “assault”.  She consented the whole entire time the activity was happening and then decided that she’d been abused in retrospect.  Nope, you can’t have it both ways.

And now that it’s being investigated by the University:  What you consider to be “Okay” in the bedroom might be considered taboo by someone else.  And what are the guides to moral conduct? Also – your definition of “sexual assault” might just mean “kinky” to someone else and the law’s definition (in Minnesota) is also different.  Can’t look at the evidence and decide for yourself that the victim was being assaulted, if in fact that’s what she wanted to begin with. 

There are a LOT of blurred lines here for sure.  And everyone does stuff in college that they may later regret.   But for the administration to find fault where there was no criminal activity that took place is crossing a line and they need to be very careful because once that line is crossed, well, it’s crossed for everyone.

Best Advice For Minnesota:  Get rid of Claeys.  There’s something amiss when guys on a team treat women like that.  Get an entire new coaching staff in there that will recruit the right guys the right way.  I’m talking about Character here.  There’s still coaches out there that are available right now (PJ Fleck) and would be much better for your program. 

Disturbing Trend or Players Coming to Their Senses

Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffery are both sitting out their bowl games.  They are both claiming that they’re sitting out in order to better prepare themselves for the NFL Draft.  And while I get that, is this something that the uselessness of Bowls and their “exhibition” nature also driving?

If either one of these players’ teams were in the CFP, you can bet that they’d both be playing.  Guaranteed.  Yet another argument for CFP expansion.  But, with LSU and Stanford just playing in a couple of “whatever” bowls, it becomes easy for the individual to say, “I’ve made it this far this season, why do I want to risk a professional career on a meaningless game?”

And as this becomes more popular, less and less fans will buy tickets to meaningless bowl games because they’ve already seen their favorite player play his last game on his home field.  Hell, the stats from Bowls don’t even count in the FBS D1 Record books! 

You may recall Jaylon Smith, linebacker for the domers, getting a knee busted up in the Fiesta Bowl last year vs. the suckeyes and costing himself millions in the process by dropping from a sure 1^st round to a 2^nd round pick. 

It’ll be curious as to how this situation develops as student-athletes consider themselves first and the team second.  My guess is coaches will downplay it and say, “Hey, he should be getting ready for the next step of his career and we’ll play the younger kids and develop them.”  After all, begging a kid to play and then seeing him get hurt would make you sick to your stomach as a coach who cared….

But Bowls will hate it.  And when fans quit showing up, well, it makes me wonder if bowls and the bowl system really have that much time left?

Sparty’s Good Team Doomed?

In case you didn’t hear, Sparty Hoops was beaten by Northeastern University (who is 6-5 on the season) over the weekend.  Northeastern (they’re in Boston), as you may have already guessed, is not a top program in a power 5 conference.  They’re actually a middling program that’s not that good in the mid-major category.  Sparty has also struggled against the likes of Oral Roberts and some other “record padding fodder” schools.   

Don’t look now, but Sparty is heading into B1G season sitting at 7-5 and they still have one non-conference game left to play.  And with the way that Sparty’s playing, my guess is that game is also a toss-up. 

Sparty Hoops is sliding down a very slippery slope.  With 18 B1G conference games, every B1G coach (or any Power 5 Coach) will tell you that winning 9 games at home and stealing 3 or 4 on the road is a pretty successful season. I don’t think Sparty can do that this season.  While I always tease the Spartys I know and criticize them for not “being a rival” to Michigan, I sort of hate to see stuff like this happen.  I’d rather have a solid B1G entering into the Big Dance rather than one where Sparty being down brings the entire conference down.  It just doesn’t look good.

Can Izzo right the ship to save any kind of shot at the post season?  And I’m talking the NIT here at this point….I just don’t think the NCAA is in the cards.

Hot Seat Mascot of the Year!       

And then there were 2!   Jessica Storie and Jade Bryce!  I have to say that looking at either one of them up near the top of the MMQ blog is going to be easy on the eyes and help us get through this long winter!!!   Voting will be open until the CFP Game on Monday Night!!!

Vote Often!!!!

Will You Be Having Jive-Turkey On Christmas Eve???

In case you didn’t know (cause I didn’t post Monday to inform you) the Michigan Football Bust was last night and very well attended.  No, I didn’t go.  But there are times when you wish you could have been somewhere to see and hear exactly what went down.  Last night was one of those times.

You know…Ya’ gotta’ love a guy that just tells it like it is.  Jimmy could have come out and said something politically correct and left wiggle room for “doubt” in all of the NFL pundits minds that think, if presented the right offer/opportunity, Jimmy would be stupid not to jump at the chance.  Little do they know...

Jimmy’s in his dream job. He’s stated that in no uncertain terms.  He is the re-incarnation of Schembechler, if that’s possible.  In his own mind, he’d probably just like to live up to his old coach’s standards.  And by stating that the opposing coaches who start rumors are “Jive Turkeys”, well, that kind of fits the Bo Mold.

And as a Blogger, I am 100% completely indebted to this guy for giving me something to post about!!!

Not a lot of people know it, but Bo had a mean streak.  He hated Notre Dame, disliked Sparty and respected the suckeyes.  In that order.  If you asked him who he had the most disdain for, the answer would have been, without question, the domers.  Hence, the now famous, “To Hell With Notre Dame!” quote that I oft repeat and love so well.

Jimmy clearly has a bit of a mean streak, also.  And frankly, I don’t have a problem with that.  I’m sure the three coaches he was referring to were:  Kelly, Atonninus, and Urban Legend, in that order.   

Jive Turkey (Urban Dictionary):  jive turkey

a. One who speaks as though they know what they're talking about...though they do not. b. a bullshitter.

 

 

 

 

Gophers Suspend 10

The golden gophers can’t seem to get out of their own way and suspend 10 players for unspecified reasons and they won’t be attending the bowl game.  Curious to see where that ends up….

The Hot Seat Mascot Vote!!!

The Hot Seat Mascot voting has closed and we have our Final 4!!!  Final 4 voting will continue through Tuesday, December 20^th until about 3:00 PM or so.  I will close the polls out and we will then have our Hot Seat Mascot Final that will stretch until the National Championship Game in January!!!  If you’re out shopping this weekend, be sure to log on to devices in Apple Stores or anywhere that you can surf the web and vote for your favorite!!!