Most Over Rated College Football Programs

I'm big on lists.  Top 10 this, Top Ten that. Especially in sports, you need a list.

So I get this link from a friend about two fat white guys twirling their shirts after their college teams had won a big game.  First of all the video footage is a whole lot funnier than anything I could type. And the fact that 5,000 some people voted for their favorite Fat Guy Twirling his shirt is even funnier.

The point of this blog hit me as I was watching the Fat Guy from NC State twirl his shirt.  That guy climbed up on a wall to twirl his shirt after NC State beat Florida State.  Attention all pollsters, it is not the 1990's and Florida State is not a Top 10 team.  They don't have Warick Dunn or Peter Warick anymore.  Heck, there are only 12 NFL players ever named Peter - that oughta be your first clue. Florida State is the new Notre Dame.  Remember how Notre Dame would be rated 8th every year.  Like from 1995 to 2010.  Then they'd get beat by Boston College or Stanford at home?  Well, Florida State loses to some ACC team every year while rated somewhere in the T25.  This year was worse, they were in the (haha) T5!!!!

Florida State is a fraud.

Speaking of frauds, Penn State simply hasn't been good since 1994 when they finished second in the year end poll.  Sorry, PSU, the environment at your stadium is the best in the nation...but your team is living in the (checkered) past.  Good luck in the rebuilding process. I am truly cheering for a revival.

Texas A and M, the 12th man? These guys could play with 13 for all I care...they'd still find a way to lose to mediocre teams.  Sheesh, to make matters worse, they mortgaged their hatred for Texas to play in the SEC.  Not only are they bad, but now they are stupid, too.

UCLA - holy smokes, if I had to rank these teams, the Bruins would be at or near the top.  If UCLA beats a BCS team in the first 3 games of the year - it is the pollsters duty to rank them in the T25.  I swear, they sneak in there about every other year and then they finish .500 or below in the PAC10/12.  

VA Tech – An over rated list wouldn't be complete without an ACC team (or two) being listed.  If I hear "Beamer Ball" one more time, I may list the WNBA as my favorite past time. Blocking a punt was not invented by Frank Beamer. VA Tech consistently under achieves.

NOTRE DAME - the time has come for our annual "this coach has turned them around" moment.  The domers, or as I like to call them the "Dumbers" have beaten exactly no one.  Oh wait, they beat Michigan.  Michigan got beat by 167 by Alabama (well I assume they lost by that much because they allowed 40 some points in the first 3 minutes of regulation). As stated above, this house of cards will crumble - at Oklahoma, at BC and at USC equals more of the same from the Dumbers.

My Olympic .02

Every four years, the Summer Olympics come around. It usually enamors Americans to no end.  This year was no different. Womens Gymnastics is one of those sports that draws in even the most traditional sports types like myself.

First of all, it's got more drama than a Tanya Harding reality show.  This girl should be here and that girl deserves this and that team always gets favor from the judges, blah blah blah.  So entering this Olympiad, the US "team" brought in 5 girls: Disgruntled World Champion (Jordan), Talented but Flighty (Gabby), Vault Queen (McKayla), My Parents Care More than Me (Aly), and the other one who never saw the floor (Kyla).  After the team competition, where they won, I was like, "impressive, Disgruntled was amazing, Talented is talented, Vault Queen was incredible....they acted like a true team, win or lose this was a great team of women..."

For the most part, these "women" were great representatives for our country.  Athletic, hard working, and full of energy.  Except that fateful night.  Vault Queen, McKayla Maroney, the reigning world champion in the vault had 2 vaults to win an Olympic Gold.  Apparently I missed the "If you are a world champion, you automatically deserve the Gold" memo.  Because this girl fell on her second vault and won the Silver Medal.  Usually this is not a big deal - Americans finish second all the time.  As a good American, we shake our head, shake our opponents hand and hopefully come back better the next time.  Apparently McKayla missed that memo.  She acted like a complete brat.  She didn't congratulate the girl who (clearly) beat her and then proceeded to pout while on the podium.  Thanks a lot Vault Queen, you just acted like that spoiled Russian princess Aliya Mustafina who shrugged off her coach/second father repeatedly after she repeatedly failed last week.

Other Olympic Commentary:

1. Oscar Pistorius - Double amputee and makes it to 400M final.  Incredible.  More incredible was the guy who won wanted to trade his bib for Oscar's.  Enough said, best Olympic story in my memory.

2. 100 Meters - If this isn't the prime time event of the whole Summer Olympics...I don't know what is. Usain Bolt is indescribable.  His buddy Johan Blake is incredible.  The other Americans Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay are Olympic medalists and both ran it in 9.8 or less.  I was witness to something incredible that night.

3. Gymnastic Coaches: the hugging and touching gets a little uncomfortable...like I'd like to know if they were moving into my neighborhood kind of uncomfortable.

4. Men's Hoops: I'm glad we are poised to win another Gold, but the notion that this team is better than the Dream Team is simply laughable.

5. Andy Murray: What a cool moment...watching him beat Fed (who just beat him at Wimbeldon) at Wimbledon for the Gold.  Those 2 got very few player points and zero dollars for that match.  Kudos to both for their time and great tennis.

Dot Dot Dot: Sanya Richards Ross, that woman won Gold and was the most gracious winner I've ever seen. The women's sand volleyballers who keep hugging after every point - yeah baby. Despite a couple winnable races, Michael Phelps was incredible.  Ryan Lochte, not so much. The Dutch High Bar Gold Medal guy is the most athletic creature I've ever seen - CHECK THIS OUT. Kobe Bryant needs to watch this a couple times.

Daddy Ball

As a youth sports coach for years, both as a non-parent coach and parent coach, I've learned a lot about the human condition.  First, a volunteer non-parent coach is about the most loved, and most adored of all.

Nearly 20 years ago I coached my first youth sports team.  I had zero knowledge, zero training and a ton of swagger.  Probably the worst combination you could dream of for a youth sports coach.  But the one thing I didn't have that parents with more experience and less zeal, was a child on the team.

By season's end, no matter the sport, no matter the level...I'd be showered with praise, gifts and most of all appreciation.  During that tenure I coached the best of the best (future NFL, NHL, and college baseball players) and the worst of the worst (2-32, 4-20, and 0-11 teams with no hope).  It didn't matter how good or how bad the teams we were, the kids and parents really appreciated what me and my buddies brought to their community.

Often times, I would coach with another dad or better yet coach against another dad.  You could just see the look on the kid's faces when the dad coach would talk.  It didn't matter what city, suburb, ability level or sport -- most kids would check out when "Daddy" would talk.  I always remember thinking to myself "I'll be different, my kids teams will listen to me."

Well, that's a story for another day.  Let's just say that whenever Z talks now, they're checking out faster than a gay employee at Chick Fil A.

A couple years ago, a friend of mine and I developed a term for Dad coaches that sign up to coach in order to gain their child added favor on the team. The term is Daddy Ball. Daddy Ball usually starts when their child is 8 or 9.  The dad sees that little Johnny or Jenny is good, but if he coaches she may get even more playing time, touches, experience in that sport.  No matter how you slice it, the Daddy Ball clause comes into play when the coach shows event the slightest favor to their child that is not warranted.

I would get blisters typing examples that I have seen in my tenure as a Coach. None directly involving my children negatively. For the most part, my kids have been treated more than fair by Parent Coaches.

For fun I wrote a quick quiz on how to spot Daddy Ball from the stands.

Daddy Ball Quiz:  The following is a quiz to see if you can spot Daddy Ball in your association.

1. Youth Softball team has two pitchers pitching for a "B" team, both daughters of the coaches.  While other "B" teams are pitching 8-9 girls and this team pitches only 2.  Daddy Ball or Not Daddy Ball?

2. Best Player on the team is coaches kid.  Kid plays QB and Middle LB.  Team wins championship.  Kid scores winning TD.  Dad gives MVP trophy to a less deserving kid.  Daddy Ball or Not Daddy Ball?

3. Kid is upper half of talent pool on team.  Son plays SS, C and pitches way too long into games. Daddy Ball or Not Daddy Ball?

4. Dad is very hard on his kid - treats every other kid like fine China. Daddy Ball or Not Daddy Ball?

5. Dad uses daughter to show everyone how to do the drill in practice. Daddy Ball or Not Daddy Ball?

Okay, the quiz was not that hard.  Being involved in youth sports is fun.  It's fun for the kids and to some extent it can be a blast for the parents, too. The problem is some parents can only see through one lens and not the big picture.  The big picture is kids are there to play a game.  They know who the better kids are, they know who deserves to play where.  Parents should do whatever it takes to stay out of the way.  As a parent, do yourself a favor and look for a non-parent to coach your kids.  That person has no agenda but to let the kids play.  After a day or two of not getting to coach, the fun of watching Johnny or Jenny far outweighs the best Knute Rockne speech that no one is listening to.

Baseball Hall of Fame: Who's in, Who's out?

I just returned from Cooperstown, NY where Junior Z had a nice week of baseball in a national tournament. While there for a week, we got a chance to spend a ton of time in downtown Cooperstown and of course the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Before I get to the subject matter, here are a few observations.

1. Nowhere in the HOF do you see references to Major League Baseball or licensed products of MLB. For the longest time, I assumed this place was owned and licensed by MLB.
2. Cooperstown is a happy place where everyone is always in a good mood (refreshing).

3. The HOF had several large displays with tons of great information about the history of the game. One particular display that struck me as odd was the one for Jesse Orosco. Jesse of course holds the MLB record by a pitcher for appearances (1,252).

4. Barry Bonds, who by all counts may or may not hold the HR record with 762. His display for all of his efforts was the size of a shoebox.  Spot lefty and longevity versus 762 HRs (more than the Babe and Hank)....hmmm??

Orosco display (jersey, balls, hats, etc)

Bonds display (helmet, ball with asterisk embossed on it)

5. I also learned a ton about how ballparks were built, teams were sold, rules were broken and how legends were made.

Okay, enough of the fluff.  Here is my take on a cast of characters who have HOF numbers and may or may not get in.  My take on each player is as if I had a BBWA vote:

1. Pete Rose - Nope (cheated)
2. Barry Bonds - Yep (I doubt he will get in, based on the above display)
3. A Rod - Yep (incredible numbers prior to juice)
4. Roger Clemens - Nope (questionable numbers prior to juice)
5. Sammy Sosa - Nope (questionable numbers prior to juice)
6. Mark McGwire - Yep (incredible numbers prior to juice)
7. Raffy Palmiero - Nope (see lied to the face of Congress, marginal numbers)
8. Andy Petitte - Nope (betrayed baseball and his friend, questionable numbers)
9. Jose Canseco - Haha!!!! Nope.
10. David Wells - Ah, no.

My bet is none of the above make it, leaving a major void in the HOF.  Guys like Maddux, Rivera, and Jeter are going to have lonely induction weekends.

State Hockey Tourney Talk

The Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament features 12 of the best teams in Minnesota each year, oh wait....16.  They are divided into 2 classes: AA (the real teams) and A (small enrollment schools and teams who don't belong in the AA). As we approach end times, one of the true signs of that is kids play hockey and train for it all year long in Minnesota.  For the fans of hockey it's great (this year's product was showcased some remarkable skill). For most of the parents and some of the players, it sucks.

A Class summary: St. Thomas Academy with it's 800 person all boys enrollment (the equivalent to almost all AA co-ed schools) beat Hermantown (aka Duluth West) 5-1. Yawn. It's gotta get old for New Ulm to get beat by two touchdowns each year it arrives in St. Paul.

AA Summary: For as much attention the Jack Jablonski story has gotten and probably deserved, one kid from Benilde St. Margaret's did something on Saturday night that may will never be done again. His name is Grant Besse and he scored five goals in the state final.  An incredible feat...but to make it even more incredible, three of them were shorthanded.  Not a typo...THREE SHORTHANDED GOALS IN ONE GAME. If there was ever a year to give the Mr. Hockey Award to an underclassmen, this was it.  His second goal got him to 50 G's in one year.  Congratulations to Benilde, Grant Besse, their fans and a special shout to Jack Jablonski and all kids who have had traumatic injuries related to sports.

Other highlights: Edina Lost (twice).

Two Great Videos

To see a video montage of the tourney, my good friend Pat O'Connor, the Director and Producer of the Channel 45 TV production edited a nice piece, view it here.

To see a funny video on the sweet hair of the players of the tournament, another friend (who remains nameless) edited this beauty the 2012 All Hockey Hair Team. My nephew David finished #2 last year with an unbelievable flow.

Enjoy.

-Z

College Hockey Helmet Schools

A tribute to Joe J. and Matt M.

In college football they are called helmet schools. They are the schools based on their helmet you know who they are.  To earn Helmet School status, you also win a lot and have probably had a storied coach or two as well.  Here are a few: Oklahoma, Alabama, Texas, Georgia, Michigan, USC, Tennessee, Florida, Florida State, Penn State and Miami.  There are at least 10 more that I could name (and no, Wisconsin is not on that list).  In Division 1 college football there are just over 100 teams, with 20 or so schools listed as helmet schools - the percentage for calculating other "helmet" schools in other sports is easy (20%).

So one day while running with a couple buddies (yes, they still make my mailing list somehow) - we got to the real deep topic of "helmet schools" and how that term may apply in other college sports.  Since basketball players don't wear helmets - although they may consider it if they play Tubby's clan of brick throwers - we eliminated college hoops. Since no one watches college baseball, we eliminated that as well. So all we had left was College Hockey.  Aaaaaaah, College Hockey -- one of my favorite sports.

Okay, back to the run.  So based on the 20 percent number in football and the fact that there are only 40 or so teams in D1 hockey, the number should be at 8.  But there is no way juggernauts like Mercyhurst, Alabama-Hunstville and RIT (would have chosen Quinnipiac but I can't spell it) should be considered as viable DI opponents, much less Community Colleges like Bemidji and St. Cloud State.  So my number got whittled to 6.  Here they are:

1. Boston University
2. Boston College
3. Maine
4. Michigan State
5. Minnesota
6. North Dakota
7. Wisconsin
8. Michigan

Criteria: National Titles, Storied coach or two, big following, legendary players, recognizable sweater...

But Tony, you said 6?

I did.  Don't worry, I'll get to that part.

BU, Michigan and BC are in for sure, so are Minnesota, WI, and UND. The other two, Maine and MSU are bubble Helmet teams.  For argument sake they get the boot down to Under Consideration with a few others.  They just don't hold enough water, in my opinion.  MSU has the biggest claim, but they will always be Michigan's caddy if you ask me (see Michigan's selection to a BCS Bowl as supporting evidence).  Maine had a nice run -- won some titles but lacks longevity compared to the top 6.

Final List (from East to West):

1. BC 2. BU 3. Michigan 4. Wisconsin 5. MN 6. UND

Under Consideration:

Maine, MSU, Colorado College, Denver, UNH (stands for University of No Hardware) and Notre Dame (got a brand new rink, it holds 5,000 people...ca

Gimme a Break:

Miami of Ohio, Michigan Tech

Joe Paterno is Guilty

As most of you know, I'm a huge college football fan and a huge fan of tradition and institutions like Joe Paterno. In fact, what he stood for in today's Nick Saban-Pete Carroll world of fame and money grab - it made me love Joe Pa even more.  He was what he was.  Old School.

But like many old institutions, they tend to have skeletons.

From the sounds of the Jerry Sandusky grand jury indictment...Penn State football had a morgue full of skeletons buried under Beaver Stadium.

Let's cut to the chase, Mike McQueary is a pussy.  He was an eye witness to a rape/assault and went home and called his dad.  Seriously Mike?  How about you go in there and ask, "Coach Sandusky, why are you having sex with this boy against his will?" Or do what I would have done...just stood there long enough and made the situation uncomfortable enough to the point they would have stopped. There are stronger jellyfish than you Mike.  Now the real reason he is a pussy is because in 2002, he witnessed a rape by a now ex-coach who officed in the facility he worked.  At the time of this incident, he was a Grad Assistant, but then mysteriously became an Assistant coach the next year.  Coincidence?  No, that is not a coincidence.

Here is how it went down in the Fall of 2002.

Joe Pa: Mike, we want you to join our staff next year full time.
Mike: That's awesome.
Joe Pa: You work hard as an Administrative Assistant (2003), we'll get you on the field the year after (2004).
Mike: That's awesome.
Joe Pa: You're now part of the family.
Mike: (bewildered) Okaaaaaay????

The rest is history.  McQueary went on to coach and work at PSU from 2004 to today as a Full Time Assistant (WR coach).

The next set of Pussies are the people getting there jobs taken away, the President and AD.  By all accounts there only job was to save the institution of Joe Paterno and Penn State football.  Obviously they failed and deserved to be fired for not doing a better job of covering it up (tongue in cheek).  They were doomed either way.  Firing Joe Paterno would hold the same course for an Administrator as Myles Brand did by firing Bob Knight....but imagine Joe coached at PSU for 61 years compared to Knight's paltry 29 at Indiana.

But the biggest Pussy in this whole thing (besides Sandusky of course) is Joe Pa.  I know, I know tearing down Joe Pa is easy right now.  But the guy is guilty of being loyal.  And guilty of being stubborn to get rid of Sandusky all together.  He is not guilty of a crime.  But you can fill in the blanks of all the other stuff he is guilty of.

When the dust settles on this thing there will be 3 camps:

• Joe Paterno is God.  Those worshippers came out in droves last night in State College
• Penn State Football was ruined by Mike McQueary and Jerry Sandusky.
• Joe Paterno controlled everything in State College...he should be fired, and not allowed to continue to coach, even this Saturday.  If you go to the game and cheer for this mess of a football program you should take a hard look in the mirror.

I feel sad for college football today, but mostly I feel sad for these kids and their families because the nasty underbelly that is the power and the greed of college football was so great that it denied them their basic rights they deserved.

Shaking my head.