Rivalry Week

That's right friends, it's time for Rivalry Week. There's nothing like a good rivalry in college football - we live for this stuff, right?? I just love preparing for big games against hated rivals.

Every school has that one team and one game every year that matters more than any other. There's hype, there's tailgating and there is definitely a lot of yelling.

Here are some of the best college football rivalries out there:

Florida vs. Georgia - "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" - This series goes back to 1915 and Georgia leads 46-39-2

Texas vs. Oklahoma - "The Red River Shootout" - Dating back to 1900, Texas leads 59-40-5

Ohio State vs. Michigan - "The Game" - The first game between these two hated rivals was in 1897 and it pains me that Michigan currently leads 57-42-6

Auburn vs. Alabama - "The Iron Bowl" - Alabama has a close lead in this rivalry 39-33-1 which started in 1893

Army vs. Navy - Probably one of the oldest rivalries in college football, this series started in 1890 and Navy leads 53-49-7

Heismans ARE for girls

In one month, 3 college football players will gather in New York City with their coaches, families and previous Heisman trophy winners to crown this years' winner. (Yes I said "crown"...Heismans are for GIRLS!)
It's one of my favorite nights of the year, and definitely tromps the annually boring grammy awards.

The Heisman Trophy is awarded each year to the most outstanding collegiate football player of the year. It's sort of a big deal.

You can pretty much find me every Saturday striking the "Heisman pose" any time one of my favorite players makes a great play. There's something about kicking your leg up and protecting a fake football that substantiates a good play.

There's sometimes controversy involved - I mean, OJ Simpson won the Heisman when he played at USC, it doesn't get much more controversial than OJ.
And of course, there's the controversy with players that win it more than once. Granted, that "controversy" may only be experienced by Ohio State fans......
So, let's be honest. Only one player has ever won the Heisman Trophy twice. And...well, he's a Buckeye. We feel very strongly about our boy, Archie Griffin, keeping that title. (So strongly that my dad has said to me that if anyone ever wins it twice, it will "taint" the Heisman for him...he's extreme) I semi-disagree but do think that the next person to win it twice needs to completely knock my socks off. I've just set a high standard, good luck to all trying to achieve it.

This year's race has been all over the map from the beginning of the season. We started out strongly with the top 3 as Tim Tebow (Fla.), Sam Bradford (Okla.) and Colt McCoy (Texas). But give yourself 10 weeks and now we're looking at a new crew of boys: Mark Ingram (Alabama) Colt McCoy (Texas) and Case Keenum (Houston).
We've got 7 weeks left in the season and a lot to prove.

Make sure to tune in Saturday December 12 to the Heisman Trophy Ceremony on ESPN.

Time to give Thanks

The month of November brings me two things:
1. Thanksgiving - a time to be thankful for all of the blessings in our lives and my favorite holiday of the year.
2. The home stretch to the BCS

Everything in college football seems to go crazy come November 1. Coaches get louder, players get more personal fouls and fans get insane (myself included...) It's like the lead up to rivalry weeks just gets everyone off their rocker or something!

This week brought on the craziness in full effect:
--VT lost to UNC (okay FINE! That happened in October, but it was crazy and unfair and just remember...it's my blog and I'll cry if I want to!)
--Alabama took LSU for a ride and sits comfortably on their way into the SEC championship
--Stanford brought down ranked Oregon
--Cal fell to Oregon State (looks like the state of Oregon knows something the state of California doesn't....)
--Colt McCoy started polishing his Heisman acceptance speech by passing 470 yards against UCF.
--College Gameday was live from the Air Force academy as they took on Army - doesn't get any more American than with the President opening up for College Gameday - CRAZY!!
--Uhhh TCU continues to blow everyone's mind by ribbiting to the top. (Yeah, I said "ribbiting" because I've learned that their mascot is the Horned Frog. C-R-A-Z-Y.)
--Florida beat Vanderbilt. Yep, congrats Gators! It's sooo crazy that you continue to beat unranked teams!!
--Ohio State and Penn State took their rivalry to a new level with the Buckeyes dominating in Beaver Stadium. Those CRAZY lion fans just haaate seeing their homeboy Pryor in red and grey!

Bring it on, November! Bring me rivalry week...Bring me the conference championships...Bring me the Heisman Trophy Award...Bring me the final rankings for the BSC bowl games. We're on the cusp of the best time of the year - ENJOY!!

What the CRAP?!?

Hi. Today's blogpost is called, "What the CRAP?!?" as in, "What the CRAP happened this weekend????"

Virginia Tech lost to Georgia Tech...what the CRAP?

Sam Bradford re-injured his shoulder in the first quarter of the Red River Rivalry...what the CRAP?

Ohio State lost to UNRANKED Perdue....what the CRAP?

Florida found a way to win and stay on top...what the CRAP?

UVA won...what the CRAP?

Nebraska lost to UNRANKED Texas Tech...what the CRAP?

Kansas lost to UNRANKED Colorado...what the CRAP?

If I had any explanations, I'd offer them here. Obviously...I don't.

In the words of Bon Jovi: We're halfway there....

A little halfway through the season night-cap for you on the top 10 teams as they stand right now:
10. LSU - Blew my chances of outing Florida from the #1 slot on Saturday. Biggest bummer of my weekend.

9. Miami - If I had watched any Miami game other than the one where they were smoked by VT, I'd actually rank them higher, so I'll give this ranking a thumbs up.

8. Cincinnati - The only thing I know about this team is how to spell the name of their school from my favorite child-hood movie, Babes in Toyland.

7. Ohio State - Pryor for President. This kid deals with the worst fan criticism I've ever witnessed. The entire team is resting on his shoulders and I think he has what it takes to propell them to the top. Stay tuned.

6. USC - Okay, you beat Ohio State early. And then you LOST - to Washington. I'll wait around for you choke to someone else so I can stop worrying about a rematch with the buckeyes in January.

5. Boise State - I don't know, some of the schools you've defeated I've never heard of. I'm not saying strength of schedule is the ONLY thing to factor, but give me a defeat of a solid team and I'll become a believer.

4. Virginia Tech - Slipping their way to the top. I had to miss the Boston College beatdown but from what I hear, they were talking about Tyrod and a certain statue.....

3. Texas - Playing strong and steady all season. I'll take Colt McCoy in the championship game WITH the Heisman trophy.

2. Alabama - Busted the Hokies in week 1 and haven't looked back since. I think the best thing that could happen here would be Auburn taking them for a ride.

1. Florida - I continue to have my issues here so I'll try to keep this at a minimum. Until last week Florida has played a season full of nobodies. Get out of the first place ranking and let's give it to someone who actually plays real teams. That's all I'm sayin.

Highway to the Danger Zone

The Danger Zone - also known as: a ranking in the Top 5.

Week 1: Oklahoma (formerly #3) falls to BYU

Week 2: Oklahoma State (formerly #5) falls to Houston

Week 3: USC (formerly #3) falls to Washington

Week 4: Ole Miss (formerly #5) falls to South Carolina

Call me crazy, but I'd give anything to not be ranked in the top 5 right now.

Couple of big ones to look out for this weekend:
Miami @ Va. Tech
Florida @ Kentucky (Go Cats!)
Iowa @ Penn State (the curse of the #5 ranking?)

Competitors vs. Pretenders

I know it's been a while...I've been licking my wounds from the first two weeks of misery, but I'm back in action. Loving every minute of...THE season.

Last Saturday morning on College Gameday, Desmond Howard said he always loves week 3 because that's when you can tell who is a Contender, and who is a PRE-tender.
Here's my shout out to both of these groups:

Pretender: USC
PAH-lease. USC's loss on Saturday to Washington mark 2 years in a row of them coming off of the OSU win to lose to an un-ranked team. So they can pull out the stops when they need to, but where's the depth? Drowning in the puddles of Seattle.
Contender: Georgia
I've watched the first 3 Georgia games of the year and the sheer fact that they have the stamina to play 4 hour football games and still keep the trick-plays and 2-point conversions coming make them a contender in my book.

Pretender: WVU
I know, who cares about WVU? The truth is that no one does. But during the Auburn game I kept getting texts from my friend Clay who was having encounters with WVU fans who said the following things:
--Ohio State is afraid to put WVU on their schedule
--Frank Beamer is afraid to play WVU now that VT is in the ACC
I mean, what?!?
Contender: Virginia Tech
I still think VT is a good football team, that's a bit immature, but could shock the world. The last 2 minutes of Saturdays game prove they have what it takes....

Pretender: BYU
What a bunch of whinies. Every story out of the book these days is about BYU deserving the same respect as everyone else. Sorry kids, you don't. Florida State beat you. At home. Stop pretending.
Contender: Miami
All 4 years of college I feared the Miami game. They were awwwwwesome. Then the whole Florida A&M fight with the helmet throwing happened and we haven't heard much from Miami the past few years. They started un-ranked and have gone to beat two ranked teams in a row: Florida State (AT FSU) and Georgia Tech. They take on the Hokies this week, and I'm scared.

Super-Fan

Could it be that we're already ready for another weekend filled with college football games? Why, yes it could!

I don't know about you, but week 1 was EXCITING! And a little stressful for quite a few fans.
I often have friends joke on me about being a college football "super-fan." I am Super, and I am a fan so I can't really disagree. I also do crazy things like become an ESPN-insider for 3 months so I can be knowledgable on everything about the season, check espn.com on an hourly basis and watch pretty much every game throughout the weekend. I thought no one could top me. But this weekend, I was proved wrong.

My friend Lane is a huge Georgia fan and for some reason unknown to many of us, ABC ran the Michigan/Western Michigan game instead of Georgia vs. Oklahoma State on Saturday. I know, the former Capital of the Confederacy ran the Michgan game. Weird. We couldn't really understand it. Lane was bummed, that's for sure. After a short search with her Comcast remote, she learned she could purchase the entire college football season for a minimal (okay, semi-minimal) fee. And you know what? She did it. She ordered the entire college football package on Comcast. She now has access to every game of the season, so she's not only a super-fan, but she's now my Idol.

Lane, I'll see you Saturday!

What to watch

Good morning fellow College Football Obsessees!

Here's a quick break-down for you of the can't-miss games for this, our first weekend of heaven:
Thursday 9/3
Oregon/Boise State – ESPN 360
Flip to South Carolina / NC State on ESPN during commercials

Saturday 9/5
ESPN College Gameday is Live from Atlanta for the Alabama/Virginia Tech game
12:00 – Navy/ (6) OSU – ESPN 360
Honestly, there aren’t any games for you to flip to during this game…hence, why NAVY is on the roster for “games to watch”
3:30pm – (13) Georgia/ (9) Oklahoma State – ABC
Flip to Western Michigan/Michigan during commercials (I'm thinking a possible replay of the App. State game...or at least seeing Rich Rod cry again)
8:00pm – (5) Alabama/ (7) Virginia Tech – ABC
Flip to (20) BYU / (3) Oklahoma on ESPN during commericals or if you want a glance at the pre-season favorites, #1 Florida is taking on Bucky the Buconneer of Charelston-Southern.

Chomping at the bit

Last night I went to visit my friend Matt and as we were catching up on all of the latest life gossip, the conversation quickly turned to College football starting this week. He was telling the tales of his plans for the South Carolina/NC State game this weekend in Raleigh and immediately handed me an article in GQ about Tim Tebow. My whole demeanor and attitude quickly changed as my lack of love for Tim Tebow became apparent.

I've always thought the reason I can't stand Tebow is because I don't want him to take away the "2-time Heisman trophy winner" name from my boy, Archie. However, I'm a huge supporter of Sam Bradford going for #2 this year, so that must not be my reason.......
I find a lot of people are black or white about Tebow - and a lot of college football players for that matter. Why is it we develop such strong feelings against a bunch of young kids out there playing their hearts out?

I'm all for rivalries and the tradition that comes with them, but I also think as fans we could all work a little harder to support even our rivals. Am I right?

I will say though....if you start doing the "Gator Chomp" in my face or holding your hand up to your ear like a phone, I may have few choice names for you....I mean, we're only human! :)

T-3 days

Well, here we are everyone! College football officially starts this week and I find myself gearing up for the first tailgate of the year. I've tailgated in some of the best places, for some of the best games......
Grove City High School parking lot
MCI center parking lot (Yeah, my dad and I tailgated for the Bon Jovi concert)
VT's Derring Lot
VT's Cassell Lot
VT's Stadium Lot
Harrell Street (Blacksburg, VA)
TOTS (Blacksburg, VA)
Lane Ave. lot (I'm pretty sure this isn't actually a parking lot in Columbus, but we made it one....)
Shottenstein Center (Columbus, Ohio)
The VC (Columbus, Ohio)
Midlothian High School parking lot
Stool Pigeons
My parents' driveway
Temple
Explorer of the Seas (the best cruise ship ever threw a solid "tailgate" for the VT/Auburn bowl game in 2005)
And many others.....

Take it from me, you don't need a parking lot and tickets to the game to throw down for your favorite football game. All you really need is good friends, good food and a good chair! I think we all have at least one tailgate that could go down in the College Football hall of fame. The one you'll always remember...for me, it's easily tailgating with my best friends in the Derring Lot for the Thursday night VT/Texas Tech game when Hurricane Isabelle came to town.

Tell me yours!

It's my blog and I'll cry if I want to

I'm pretty much planning on being roughly 93% unbiased to my love/obsession with the "Hokeyes," but it's my blog and I'll cry if I want to, and I just have to say......

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY???????????????????
WHY DARREN EVANS???????????????????????????

My obsession with Darren officially began last year when Tech played in the Orange Bowl and he ran for 153 yards and received the MVP award. I was sitting in my parents' living room screaming on the top of my lungs for my new favorite player, and looking at the bright future of the young VT team. Things looked so bright.

Sports Illustrated comes out today with their rankings, putting Virginia Tech in the #5 slot. You know things are bad when Aaron Gilcrest from Richmond's NBC offiliate starts talking sports on the morning news.
Thanks Aaron. Thanks for ruining Sharyn's birthday with this depressing news.

Hang in there Darren, I'm going to hold out for a miracle.

USA Today 2009 Top 10

USA Today released their pre-season Top 10 rankings this morning. I walked into the office this morning with the paper sitting on my desk in place of my laptop. My co-workers know me so well!

Here's the breakdown for those of you that didn't stay in a Hampton Inn last night and wake up to your free USA Today:
10. Old Miss - I know I'm an EXPERT at College Football...but I'm a little stumped by this one. Stumped and Curious. Whatever, Congratulations Rebels.

9. LSU - an SEC powerhouse with a stadium that I'm actually too scared to go to, and a coach I'm afraid of, they have a ton of returning players...but I think that guy with the long, black, frizzy hair is finally gone. Thank goodness, he's scary!

8. Penn State - Penn State had a bang up season last year and I'm happy to see them ranked in the top 10. Lots of returning players and a returning coach that I'm convinced is going to coach until he dies or wins a National Championship, whichever one comes first, should be an interesting season.

7. Virginia Tech - MY boys. In the Top 10. Tyrod Taylor and his little 'stash on the road to the top. I won't lie...I'm scared. It's not that I don't belive in my team. It's just that for 3 defeating seasons of my college career, the Hokies started the season in the top 10...and then adopted the embarassing nickname, the "Chokies" I'm sitting quiet, but ECSTATIC, on this one. The young team is growing up!

6. Ohio State - Sitting pretty at #6. We all know that September 12 will define the season for the Buckeyes. They've broken my heart too many times in the past few years. I will sit quietly on this one as well.

5. Alabama - (Ignore what I said in the posting for #7 - I plead the 5th) The Tide should be prepared to move out of this position when they meet the terrifying Fighting Goblers on September 2 in the Georgia Dome. Tech will roll over this Tide, right into a top 5 position.

4. USC - The Trojans have had a solid season for the past few years, hitting up the Rose Bowl but missing the Championship for the last 4 years. September 12 is just as important to them as it is to the Buckeyes and will have a huge effect on the rest of their season. I just hope they're so worried about the 12th that they bomb on Sept. 5 opening to San Jose State.

3. Oklahoma - 08 Heisman Trophy Winner Sam Bradford returns with the Sooners in hopes of stumping their hated rivals, the Longhorns, and return to the Championship game. 2 years in a row of National Championship games with Oklahoma vs. Florida. Who do these people think they are, the Buckeyes?

2. Texas - Oh Texas. Oh Colt McCoy, please continue being wonderful so I can drool over you as you win the Heisman Trophy this year. Oh sorry, I need to focus - the Longhons look to have a great season this year with all of Texas doing that "hook 'em horns" thing with their hands. I mean, I'll be doing it too if it means I get to watch my 2009 football crush on TV.

1. Florida - Hmmm, the Gators....my BEST friends. Okay, okay...they're really good. They're in "the best conference" they have a Heisman Trophy winner looking for his second (don't get me STARTED!) Ugh, too perfect for words.................................

"It's Gameday..."

Every year around this time, I get that old familiar feeling of excitement. It's true, I'm really excited about vacation at the beach (2 weeks from today I'll be sipping my morning mimosa) but that's not exactly what I mean.

I'm talking about the feeling of college football season starting right around the corner. There is nothing else like college football season. You can feel it coming. The summer winds down and leaves start to color and fall. Tailgates, Face Tattoos, silly chants in the stands, Script-Ohio in your living room...there's something for everyone!


I hope you'll join me this fall as I take you through the 2009 College Football season. Each week I'll offer you game predictions, Thursday and Saturday game recaps, Games of the week, Players of the week, my take on that weeks' rankings, the Heisman trophy outlook, how to throw the perfect tailgate...and everything else I love about the season.


For now, I'll leave you with my* list of the top 10 College football games of all time. Tell me yours!

10. Appalachia State vs. Michigan (2007) You can't have a list of greatest college football games without "one of the biggest upsets in the history of American Sports." Michigan started the 2007 season with a plan on taking the Big Ten, a possible Heisman Trophy and a straight shot to the National Championship. 4 quarters later, they found themselves upset, in The Big House, by App. State. Ouch!

9. Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech (1985) Many of you may be looking at this asking yourself, "wait, WHAT game was this?" I have 3 words for you: Rudy. Rudy. Rudy. No one remembers a single thing about this game except what they've seen in the best college football movie of all time, "Rudy." The greatest underdog, worked his way to the top of his game and with the final seconds ticking down on the clock, the entire Notre Dame stadium starts chanting "Rudy...Rudy...Rudy....Rudy" to get him on the field as an "official" player for the Fighting Irish. Go ahead, grab a tissue. THIS is a great moment in college football history.


8. Georgia vs. Florida (1980) Yes, I could pretty much put any match-up of "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" on this list. But a consistent favorite is the 1980 game also known as "Run, Lindsay, Run!" Georgia kept their hope for the National Championship alive with a win against their hated rivals, Florida - and you all KNOW how I feel about Florida...Then again you could also put the 2007 game in the #8 spot, where the Georgia coach ordered his team to draw an excessive celebration penalty after their first touchdown or they would be subject to extra conditioning drills. You can't make this stuff up, people!


7. Virginia Tech vs. Virginia (2004) After losing to UVA in 2003 after dominating the Commonwealth Cup for 4-straight years, the Cavaliers came to Blacksburg on a wintery November day for my last game in Lane Stadium. The first time the teams would compete for the cup in the same conference, this game also would decide the fate of the ACC championship that year. UVA scored first, but the Hokies took charge and never looked back. (And I was somewhere crying in the stands refusing to believe my last season was coming to an end...)

6. Boston College vs. Miami (1984) The "Hail Flutie" game. I won't lie, I didn't know much about this game, but it consistently was showing up on lists of the greatest games. But give me a "Hail Mary" pass that wins the game and the Miami Hurricanes on the losing end of the score board, and I'm sold!

5. Auburn vs. Alabama (1972) Another one of the biggest rivalries, this game is a great one year after year. But with Auburn trailing 16-3 and returning 2 blocked punts for touchdowns to win 17-16....something tells me they were playing a little "Sittin' on the dock of the bay, watching the Tide Roll awayyyyyyyyyyy"


4. Stanford vs. Cal (1982) There's nothing more embarassing than an overconfident group of student fans chanting "ov-er-ra-ted" at the beginning of the third quarter to then go on and lose the game. Oh wait! Yes there is! Your entire marching band standing on the field ready to rush it in a Victory Celebration and the losing team throws a now-famous series of lateral passes that gets them into the endzone and 7 more points on the scoreboard for the win. Ooops! This one is a CLASSIC!


3. Texas vs. USC (2006 National Championship) The first time 2 Heisman trophy winners played in a National Championship, the hype for this game wouldn't quit!.Down to the last 30 seconds, Vince Young came out as the superstar that he is and Texas beats USC. I went to bed with 1 minute left in the game...Lesson learned. Hook 'em Horns!

2. Oklahoma vs. Boise State (2007) Although I have blocked the 2007 Bowl Championship Series completely from my brain, you can't argue against the Boise State broncos trick-playing the Sooners on 4th-and-18 with 7 seconds left in the game throwing it into OT. Boise State comes out on top, and let's be honest, we all wanted an invite to the wedding when Tailback Ian Johnson dropped to his knees at the end of the game and proposed to his cheerleader girlfriend.


1. Ohio State vs. Miami (2004 National Championship) Give me a break. OF COURSE this is number 1. Tripple overtime, potential paralysis of a player, the Buckeyes out on top. I'll never forget watching this game and the feeling of "winning" a National Championship. I could watch this game over and over again (and if YOU ever feel the need to re-watch, I happen to be related to someone who owns the DVD of the game)





*Legal Disclaimer: This list was compiled based on personal research, personal feelings and with the many consultants of this blog. I by no means imply that these are the ONLY games worth mentioning and want to hear from you as well.