Hardship? I thought you said hardcase.

Looking back on it, admitting in court to supplying a gun used in an armed robbery probably wasn’t the best way to gain the sympathy of the NCAA in applying for a waiver to play early.

About these ads

Through with Buzz.

There is something especially trollicious about the guy who wrote perhaps the definitive book on high school football pontificating like this:

In more than 20 years I’ve spent studying the issue, I have yet to hear a convincing argument that college football has anything do with what is presumably the primary purpose of higher education: academics.

That’s because college football has no academic purpose. Which is why it needs to be banned. A radical solution, yes. But necessary in today’s times.

Man, if you eliminated everything from college which had no academic purpose, what would you have left?  And by the way, how does high school football enhance that academic mission?

Bissinger has been, and will always be, a tool.  The AJ-C ought to hire him.

Just like me.

I’ve got a little assignment for all you middle-aged, middle class folks who have written and spoken harshly over the past few weeks about how kids like Rambo and Ogletree should have known to behave just like you would have in their circumstances because… well, because it’s so damned obvious to you.

Anyway, take a look at Justin Scott-Wesley’s G-Day story and share with us in the comments any similar experiences you went through when you were growing up.

Wait, what?  You don’t have any?  Imagine my surprise.

Maybe you should think a little more before judging.  Just sayin’.

(By the way, any of you who do have similar stories, you have my sympathies, of course.  No need to post – I was just making a rhetorical point.)

”Why in the world would you want to know how smart a football player is?”

Really, is there anything more tiresome than the leaking of some poor kid’s Wonderlic score to the media and the subsequent mockery for it?  For one thing, how much does it matter?  For another, even the guy who came up with the test is skeptical about its utility for evaluating a prospect’s chances to play in the NFL.

My advice to Mo Claiborne – if some boob comes up to you and starts to give you hell about your score, hit him with your wallet.

Annoying meme of the week

If I had a dollar for every time I heard leading up to last night’s title game that the pressure was on Kentucky and Kansas was glad to be the underdog, I could have bought myself a damned nice dinner.  And now the ladies are doing it, too.

“They have had a great season. They have one thing they want to do, same goal we have. And we’re back to being the underdog. Finally. Now, we can even be more loose, and the pressure is all on them.”

Can we stop with this already?  There’s a reason your team is the underdog, Muffet:  the other one is 39-0.  Underdogs lose more often than not, especially when the opponent is freakin’ good.  Try that pressure on for size.

If flying under the radar with lowered expectations was really the formula for success, Houston Nutt would still be coaching in the SEC.  His reputation made a career out of that nonsense.  The reality check was a bitch.

Sunday morning buffet

Breakfast is served.

• Was Bacarri Rambo a little lucky with his interceptions last season?
• A quick look at recruiting around the SEC.
• Not much on Scot Loeffler’s to do list:  No proven quarterback, a sea change in offensive philosophy and a renewed emphasis on running the ball (aren’t they always renewing emphasis on running the ball at Auburn?) with no experienced inside running threat.
• Marc Weiszer has compiled handy schedules for Georgia’s spring practice dates and Richt’s speaking tour here.
• “This gives you something to ‘wave around’ … when you speak with Commissioner Slive.”
• Berry Tramel suggests that the Big 12 chose not to have SEC-like national television exposure with its latest broadcast deal.
• Bruce Feldman sees a lot to like about Georgia’s chances in 2012 – provided the offensive line gets its act together.
• Does anybody really care about so-called “package deals”?
• And who’da thunk wearing orange in Florida would be grounds for firing?

The most thankless job in academia

Anybody want to sign up to be Ohio State’s PR person?  I didn’t think so.

Stupid AD tricks

It’s not like we’re unaware of the questionable decision making at Maryland of late – passing on Mike Leach to hire Randy Edsall to replace Ralph Friedgen, watching the program decline precipitously in Edsall’s first year and hiring the baggage-encumbered, über recruiter Mike Locksley as the new offensive coordinator.

Given what Locksley brings to the table, I guess a sort of “in for a penny, in for a pound” approach shouldn’t be overly surprising, but this sure seems like a dumb thing to do anyway:

New Maryland offensive coordinator Mike Locksley will receive $500,000 in guaranteed compensation annually and be eligible for bonuses based on the Terrapins’ recruiting rankings…

Locksley will receive $25,000 if Maryland is in the top 40 of the Rivals.com or Scout.com rankings on signing day. He also will receive $20,000 if the Terps rank among the top four teams in the ACC on signing day…

At least they left Tom Lemming off the list.

Hail to the Spartans!

It’s not as if I expect much from Bleacher Report, but, yeah, this is a bit embarrassing:

Sugar Bowl 2012: BeamerBall to Test Michigan Spartans’ Mettle

By

Joel Greer

(Featured Columnist) on December 28, 2011

25 reads

0

Use your ← → (arrow) keys to browse more storiesNext

Virginia Tech Head Coach Frank Beamer
Geoff Burke/Getty Images

Somebody’s gonna in for a surprise when Michigan comes out wearing blue and maize in New Orleans.  Then, again, maybe it’s just a case where Joel and/or his editor did some shopping at Victoria’s Secret.

What more can I say?

If I’ve ever linked to a more “presented without comment” item than this, I’m hard-pressed to remember what it was.  (h/t The Wiz of Odds)