Monday, November 07, 2011

All We Do Is Win, Cyclone Hoops, Penn State Problems, Peace Out Mizzou

(Zach)

Since we haven't had many weekends like the one we just had, with all four D1 schools winning (and in thrilling fashion too) let us all celebrate this college football weekend in the state of Iowa, where all we do is win.

Read some emails with some people saying Michigan got hosed yesterday by the refs.  Really?  Personal opinion here, but I thought the second down call on the goal line stand was correct, even if it was the wrong reason.  Allegedly the refs said the receiver was out of bounds.  To me it looks like he doesn't have control of the ball, as you can see the nose starting to wiggle out as he hits the ground.  As for the fourth down play, it's certainly bang bang, but most refs don't want to make that kind of call unless it's 100 percent blatant, and the kid defending, B.J. Lowery, had a cast on on hand.

Besides which, if there are any Michigan fans thinking they got screwed, how do you explain the previous 59 minutes and 44 seconds of that game?  Facing what many thought to be the Big Ten's worst defense this side of Indiana the Wolverines did nothing for three plus quarters.  And what was up with the fourth down call?  Denard Robinson, one of the best running quarterbacks in college football, doing what he's LEAST suited to do, passing the football for a FOURTH straight time?  Watch the Minnesota game film and Marqueis Gray on 4th down late in that game.  Why didn't Brady Hoke draw up something on the run for Robinson on the final play with just two seconds left after three passes had already failed?  At the end of the day, Iowa made more plays on the field and better decisions from the coaches box, and deserved to win that game.

Did I mention that all we do in this state is win?

The much anticipated Iowa State men's basketball team made their exhibition debut Sunday, beating something called Grand Valley State 77-62.  Full confession-I arrived at halftime of the game and shot the second half.  The final attendance was listed at over 13,000.  I'm not quite sure it was that big (maybe a bunch of people left at half?), but it was as good a crowd as I've seen for an exhibition.  Hopefully this team wins.  If they do Hilton will be insane.

The game itself is everything you expect out of an exhibition.  Royce White had flashes but looked like a guy playing his first game at the college level.  There will be growing pains this year with him.  Iowa State's biggest problem is that they don't seem to have a point guard, instead using a rotation with even White running the point at times.  Too bad Korie Lucious has to wait another year.
Reading the full text and grand jury testimony in the child molestation scandal involving Penn State and former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky left me just short of being physically sick.  If these allegations prove true, going to hell isn't nearly enough punishment for that guy.  As for the school, the AD and administrator charged with perjury stepped down late Sunday night.  What possible reason could they have thought justified lying and trying to cover up such a sickening allegation?

Joe Paterno is not a suspect in any perjury as he did report the incident (as told to him by an assistant) involving Sandusky and one of the alleged sexual assaults in the Penn State locker room in 2002.  Paterno released a statement on the situation as well: http://nytimes.stats.com/cfb/story.asp?i=20111106172926687906608&ref=hea&tm=&src

Still, there are a lot of questions that will be asked of Paterno (and others).  We don't really know any of these high profile coaches, but you'd like to think Paterno is one of the examples of what is right about college football.  In a time where the sport is already full of too much greed and deceit, Paterno's image and legacy going down would be a death blow.
About Time
After doing such a great job of keeping it secret, Missouri and the SEC finally shocked us all by making their union official. 

I still think this long buildup and move is more a reaction to the slight they got from the Big Ten.  Best line in all of this?  An anti-Mizzou twitter site with this gem:  "The SEC has 191 national championships in men's and women's team sports. With addition of Mizzou they have 191."

How good is Aaron Rodgers again?

And how bad is the AFC West?  All three teams tied for the division lead lost at home.  It's so bad that a terrible Denver team that has resorted to Tim Tebow running his old college option is now just one game back of first.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm an ISU fan but well said of the Iowa/Michigan game. If they were/are so much better than they shouldn't have needed that late TD to tie the game anyway. Also I too was wondering why the Michigan coach didn't give Robinson a run/pass option on at least one of those plays; we've all seen that Iowa doesn't handle running QBs well. Like you said though Iowa made more plays and deserved to win.

Hopefully Paul Rhoads and ISU can pull off at least one more victory against a ranked team somewhere down the line to go bowling. Maybe it will be against OK St.; if Sat. night is any indication their defense can't really stop anyone.