Thursday, October 22, 2009

AS THE WEEKEND APPROACHES

DON'T ACT LIKE YOU DON'T KNOW!!

Football is on its way, and there are some exciting games going on. Having been out this way before, I don't know if I am going to get to see the games that I am most interested in. Good that Notre Dame has its own network!!

I just like the Irish. They have always been okay in my book, because they generally play a challenging schedule each and every year. They are guaranteed to play at least three big time football schools, in Michigan, USC, and they usually play a top flight intersectional school on top of that.

This is not to say that the other teams are pantie waists, either. I mean, State and Purdue can have random good teams and so can Stanford. Regardless of the streak against Navy that was recently broken, the Midshipmen play good football.

In fact, looking at their 'supposedly' easy schedule for this season, once you get past Nevada in the first game, I am wondering where are the cupcakes?? Back when Lou Holtz was coaching, I felt that a one loss Irish squad should always be playing for a national championship. I would match this season's schedule up with any team from the so called superior SEC. Sure, Wazoo is down, but Washington beat USC this season and have a top flight quarterback in Jake Locker. Pitt has a football tradition and UConn could still be riding the emotion of the tragedy of Jasper Howard, and they play to win as well.

Since I mentioned Mr. Howard ... it reminds me of my experiences on a campus and as a student. In a strange way, I was more concerned for my safety on campus than I was out in the streets. I don't think that campus security is well trained and have the proficiency that you would think they should have. They don't do a good enough job in keeping the 'townies' off campus. The administrations of most schools go to great lengths to hide and fudge the statistics of criminal acts as well. It really is quite shameful, paying all that money to send children to an environment where they are at so much risk.

OHIO STATE

It seems that there are questions about Terrelle Pryor and how he is being handled at Ohio State. Most of the comments seem to be about the Coach and his system not being able to utilize his skills to the fullest. In fact, the sports talking heads were saying how he would have been a better fit for the system that Rich Rodriquez runs at Michigan.

To clarify where I stand on the issue ... I think that Terrelle is a wonderful athlete. One cat even mentioned moving him to another position, like WIDE RECEIVER. Not that it would be a huge stretch. The Redskins Atwaan Randle-el was a QB who made such an adjustment as well as the Steelers Hines Ward, and they have really been a near HOF kind of players.

But I think that said more about the kind of persons and players they are, that they enjoy the kind of success that they have at the professional level. The kind of coddling that is being done regarding the Buckeyes QB 1, with his HIGH SCHOOL COACH putting blame on Jim Tressel and the offensive system says a lot about the development of Pryor's talent to me. He may be strong and fast, but what of the other skills needed to be a starting quarterback where at that level is EVERYONE is just as strong and fast as he is.

I wonder why the high school coach is upset with the expectations of the offensive system, instead of Terrelle being well schooled to play the more complex system that is expected of him for the Buckeyes. Anywho ...

Boston College and Notre Dame will have a good game going tomorrow. Big rivalry in between the two schools, one where it has been a while since the Irish have beaten BC. The Wolverines and Tate Forcier will have their hands full at Penn State and then the game of the day is State against Iowa. Would be great if Sparty could pull off the upset. Would be ginchy if not only did Sparty do it, but I get a chance to see the game!!

THE OTHER 47%

There is a lot of other things on my mind and they are of a more personal nature. One of the things that my move has done for me, has been the freeing me from concerns that were annoying and in many ways trivial. But they have been replaced by other concerns that are solid and real. I will go into them next week.

2 comments:

Erin O'Brien said...

I'm afraid that I don't know much about football, but I do know you are one cool cat. Thanks for reading and commenting over at my place, Mark.

You're tops!

Beth said...

By now you know the outcome of all the games. The ND game was another close one--ARGH! At least this time, we came out on top! Hugs, Beth