COACHES HOT SEAT BLOG

Game 4 of the World Series tonight, Steelers at the New Orleans Saints and Happy Halloween To All!

 

Game 4 of the 2010 World Series goes off tonight at 5:00 PM Pacific Coast Time with the SF Giants “Double Secret” weapon on the mound in Madison Bumgarner going against Tommy Hunter.  Give ‘em Hell Madison!

We have over a dozen Coaches Hot Seat members getting together tonight to watch Game 4 of the World Series and we will have a second TV on to watch the Steelers at the Saints on Halloween night in New Orleans!  Oh, that should be something to see! 

We have plenty of candy at the ready for those ghosts, goblins, Batmans, Wonder Womans, Cowboys & Cowgirls and other tricksters as they come around for their treats!

Happy Halloween to Everyone and Be Safe!

 

Post Week 9 Observations, Statements and Questions

That wacky (and very weak!) Atlantic Coast Conference!

NC State 28 – Florida State 24

Boston College 16 – Clemson 10

Virginia 24 – Miami 19

Maryland 62 – Wake Forest 14

North Carolina 21 – William & Mary 17

Duke 34 – Navy 31

Can anyone make any sense out of the ACC?  Didn’t think so!  The ACC is a “BCS” conference?  Why yes they are!!  Yes, the Bogus BCS also makes sense….that is if you recently had a lobotomy!

 

Miami’s Randy Shannon gets a reassuring call from Miami prez Donna Shalala? – Oh, that must be very comforting to Randy Shannon that after losing to Virginia that the president of the school feels like she has to make it be known that Shannon has her full support! 

Memo to Donna Shalala:  The president of a school coming out in support of a head football coach only puts the head coach on the Hot Seat!  “Brownie is doing a great job,” George W. said about his FEMA director’s efforts after Katrina when anyone with a working brain knew that Brownie would be lucky to be able to handle a volunteer cross-walk job!

Here’s the Miami Herald story:  Hurricanes Randy Shannon has backing of UM president Donna Shalala

“Saturday’s loss will increase the volume of some angry UM fans who want Randy Shannon fired. But despite a disappointing 5-3 record, UM president Donna Shalala remains a strong supporter of the coach.

After UM’s blowout loss against Florida State, Shalala called Shannon to tell him not to worry and reiterated her faith in him. Shalala also took the unusual step of calling angry fans who had sent her nasty e-mails to complain. She has consistently defended Shannon, publicly and privately, and UM’s administration did not blame Shannon for Saturday’s loss largely because of the injury to Jacory Harris. A Board of Trustee member said Saturday that Shannon’s job is not in jeopardy and he is expected to return next season.”

OK…..  This is still the UNIVERSTIY OF MIAMI…..right?  If so then we have a problem Houston! 

Here’s the real problem for Randy Shannon:

In his 4 th year on the job at Miami Shannon is…

Overall Record:  26 – 20  (.565)

ACC Record:  14 – 15  (.483)

Here are the records of the 3 coaches that preceded Randy Shannon at Miami…

Larry Coker – 6 seasons at Miami

Overall Record:  60 – 15  (.800)

ACC Record:  34 – 11  (.756)

Butch Davis – 6 seasons at Miami

Overall Record:  51 – 20  (.729)

ACC Record:  33 – 9  (.786)

Dennis Erickson – 6 seasons at Miami

Overall Record:  63 – 9  (.875)

ACC Record:  19 – 1  (.950)  (only 4 seasons in the ACC)

Yes, there is a big difference in the overall and ACC records of Larry Coker, Butch Davis and Dennis Erickson compared to what Randy Shannon has achieved at Miami so far!

Coker, Davis, Erickson – 18 seasons at Miami

Overall Record:  174 – 44  (.798)

ACC Record:  86 – 21  (.804)

Randy Shannon – 3.75 seasons at Miami

Overall Record:  26 – 20  (.565)

ACC Record:  14 – 15  (.483)

Yes, Randy Shannon now has a serious problem on his hands at Miami no matter what Donna Shalala says and if Donna Shalala believes that mediocrity is acceptable at the University of Miami then she now has achieved that goal with the ‘Canes football program.  Donna Shalala may very well be a very good university president but like most liberals she also lives her life worshipping at the alter of Political Correctness and it is our opinion that Shalala like most Politically Correct Nuts would sacrifice the American Republic itself in order not having to say she was wrong about something.

Do you wonder if winning is still important at Miami?  Read the following lines from the above news story and you will know…

“”He can’t get away with winning five or six games,” said a second Board of Trustee member. “But if they win eight games every year, as long as the kids keep graduating and stay out of trouble, that’s most important to Donna. He’s got her full support.”

Shannon‘s four-year contract would carry a significant payoff if he’s fired, though it’s not as onerous as Larry Coker’s was. So that will help his case the next couple of seasons as long as the bottom doesn’t fall out.

So is Shalala content not winning national titles as long as UM players graduate and aren’t arrested? “I want a championship and a high graduation rate, and that’s my standard,” she said last month. “Who would play the game if you don’t want to win?”

But Shannon’s margin for error is larger because the UM administration loves how players are scared of him and stay out of trouble. Don’t underestimate how proud it makes UM leadership to see last week’s front page USA Today story showing UM’s football graduation rate trails only Stanford’s.”

Oh, My!  Put a FORK IN MIAMI HURRICANES FOOTBALL because the CANES ARE DONE!

Sorry Donna, Political Correctness of any kind is not allowed at Coaches Hot Seat and if Randy Shannon should be on the Hot Seat that is exactly where he will be!  While you are singing the praises of your head coach that has a .565 overall winning percentage you can renew your subscription to the Nation magazine!

Big Ten sitting with 4 very good football teams and locked out of the Bogus BCS title game – Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Iowa can play with any team in the country but because we have a very select group of Buffoons and Greedy Bastards that have come up with the Bogus BCS those 4 very good teams are now on the outside looking in when it comes to winning a national title.  With Michigan State losing it looks like the Bogus BCS rankings will have the highest ranked Big Ten team after Week 9 with Wisconsin coming in at the No. 9 slot or so.  Yes, that makes perfect sense…….that is……if you would let Scooby Doo drive your kids to school!

 

Brian Kelly’s decision-making caused the Irish to snap defeat from the jaws of victory – In the post-Tulsa news conference which was dominated by Kelly addressing the situation with the Notre Dame student that was killed at practice earlier in the week, Kelly said about his decision late in the game to throw for a touchdown:

Kelly has big job keeping program from unraveling – South Bend Tribune

“There were tough questions about the end of the game itself — like why did Kelly have backup quarterback Tommy Rees throw into the end zone on second-and-8 from the Tulsa 19-yard line with 42 seconds when he could have won the game with a kicker, David Ruffer, who hasn’t missed a field goal in 18 tries in his career?

Rees’ 54th pass of the day — the fifth-most in Irish history — was supposed to go to Floyd. But Tulsa cornerback John Flanders had the angle and position on the underthrow and hung on to seal Tulsa’s stunning finish.

The Golden Hurricane (5-3) becomes just the 19th first-time opponent out of the 139 teams the Irish have faced in their history to win in a debut game against ND.

“Why not try to get Michael Floyd one-on-one against a 5-9 corner?” Kelly responded when asked about the play.

Tulsa coach Todd Graham said the Golden Hurricane was actually in bracket coverage with two defenders. “We call it ‘cloud coverage,’” he said.

“Second down, take a shot here,” Kelly continued. “If we don’t like it, let’s throw that thing away. Tommy wanted to do all those things. Tommy is a gamer. You saw him competing out there. He knows the deal. He’s a quarterback.

“Again, to me this is how we play. We’re going to play aggressive. We’re going to play smart. If it’s not there, we’re going to throw it away. We’re going to line up on third down and have another shot to get that thing even closer.

“But I would make the call again, and I would hope that the process of learning would have a different outcome.””

Sorry Brian, with the ball at the Tulsa 19 yard line, behind by 1 point, with a freshman QB and with a very good field goal kicker…

IT WAS A STUPID, DUMB, FOOLISH AND COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY DECISION to throw the ball into the End Zone.

Brian Kelly lost the game to Tulsa with a stupid decision at the end of the game by not giving his kicker an opportunity to win the game after a tough and tragic week for the university and there is just no getting around that fact.

Brian Kelly will certainly get the opportunity to turn around the Notre Dame football program but to really understand how bad and for how long the Irish football program has been down just look at these numbers:

Brian Kelly, 1 season – 4 – 5

Charlie Weis, 5 seasons – 35 – 27

Ty Willingham, 3 seasons – 21 – 15

Bob Davie, 5 seasons – 35 – 25

Notre Dame football last 14 seasons – 95 – 72  (.569)

That is an average of 6.79 wins per year!

Notre Dame football has been average for a long time and if Brian Kelly is going to make VERY STUPID DECISIONS at the end of games to cost his team a win then nothing is every going to change in South Bend.

 

That Florida – Georgia game was very entertaining to watch – You have to give Florida credit for piecing together an offense that put 31 points up on the board against the Dogs and the Gators certainly played with a lot more passion on both sides of the ball than they have in weeks, but still Florida and Georgia are almost dead even teams and they are also both mediocre football teams.  Florida is 5 – 3 with losses to Alabama, Mississippi State and LSU and Georgia is now 4 – 5 with losses to South Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Colorado and Florida.  Florida has their spread offense back but they will need to play much better on both offense and defense to run the table the rest of this season. 

Here are some very troubling numbers for Mark Richt after the loss to Florida:

Mark Richt’s record in his last 22 games:  12 – 10

Mark Richt’s SEC record in his last 15 SEC games:  7 – 8

No, that is not Georgia football and with Idaho State (CUPCAKE!), at Auburn and Georgia Tech left on the schedule this could very ugly indeed in Athens!

Yes, a call to the former Georgia cheerleader will be in order for today because she was at the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” in Jacksonville and no doubt she is one pissed off (and good looking) woman right now! 

 

Can someone please explain the following scores for the Cal football team in 2010?

@ Nevada – Cal 31 – Nevada 52

@ Arizona – Cal 9 – Arizona 10

@USC – Cal 14 – USC 48

@ Oregon State – Cal 7 – Oregon State 35

Even with the 1 point loss to Arizona in Tucson the Cal Bears are losing by an average of 21 POINTS PER GAME on the road!  In other words…UNEXPLAINABLE!

Of course, at home in Berkeley the Cal Bears have beaten UC Davis, Colorado, UCLA and Arizona State that have a collective record of…

13 – 19

In other words the Cal Bears have beaten NO ONE IN 2010!

Now at 4 – 4 Cal has left at Washington State, Oregon, Stanford and Washington left on the schedule and if Cal can’t get to 6 wins at a minimum then the 2010 season for Jeff Tedford and his Bears will be a Complete and Absolute Disaster!

Yes, Baylor is a good football team, but…..what the Hell is going on in Austin?

After losing at home to Baylor (a team that TCU beat 45 – 10 earlier this year!) there are clearly some very serious problems with the Texas football program that extend way beyond the players not be ready to play or being unmotivated.  Texas has now lost to UCLA, Iowa State and Baylor AT HOME IN AUSTIN and with the amount of talent on this Texas football team there are hundreds of high schools coaches in the state of Texas that could do better than what Mack Brown and his staff have done with this ‘Horns team in 2010. 

We called our good friend, Austin resident, Texas alum, long-time UT season ticket holder on Saturday night and here is that conversation:

Texas friend and alum:  Hello

CHS:  Hey there.  How are things down there in Austin?

Texas friend and alum:  Things are great in Austin!

CHS:  Did you go to the Baylor game?

Texas friend and alum:  Hell No!  I gave the tickets to my secretary and husband and stayed home and grilled steaks and watched Auburn run wild over Ole Miss and that Kelly kid at Oregon run his Ducks over the Trojans! 

CHS:  Not happy with Mack?

Texas friend and alum:  Who?

CHS:  Mack Brown:  Not happy with Mack Brown?

Texas friend and alum:  Hell, I’m OK with Mack but then he is not the head coach at Texas anymore because no one is coaching the Texas football team right now.  Hard to be mad at the head coach at Texas since there is no one currently in the position!

CHS:  Oh, that’s harsh!

Texas friend and alum:  Harsh but true!  Hell, the Horns are looking at 3 more losses this season and if this Texas team loses 7 games in 2010 then Mack Brown needs to be told that we thank you very much for your effort, you have done a great job here at Texas but is time to head for the ranch.  We will mail the gold watch!

CHS:  Put Muschamp in as head coach?

Texas friend and alum:  Hell No!  Send Muschamp packing as well and go out and hire a real football coach!  Maybe Art Briles would like to be the Texas head football coach or I hear…..that Stanford has a pretty good coach!

CHS:  Oh, that’s harsh!    What was that about Stanford?

Texas friend and alum:  Well, when you have a football team that decides not to show up against UCLA and Iowa State and they make mistakes all over the field against Baylor then that translates to time to clean the Damn house!  Hey, my wife and I might fly out there for Games 6 and 7 of the World Series and stay over for the Arizona – Stanford game.

CHS:  Hey, the Giants might win the next two in Texas!

Texas friend and alum:  Not a chance!  This is going 6 or 7 games and I want to see Stanford play because I am targeting Jim Harbaugh as the next head coach of the Horns!  Tell Jim that we pay $5 million a year here to our head coach and I will have someone come by and wash his car twice a week!

CHS:  Yea, I will be sure to tell Jim that but the 49ers may have already offered them their job.

Texas friend and alum:  Tell him we will give him $1 million more than the Niners!

CHS:  You have that cleared with Dodds?

Texas friend and alum:  Not yet but Deloss doesn’t even know we are 4 – 4!  He’s still crowing about sticking it to Osborne and the Pac-10 commish Larry Scott while the Texas football program is burning down!

CHS:  Oh, that’s funny!  Email me your flight info and we will pick you up at the airport!

Texas friend and alum:  Oh God, this is going to be an expensive trip with all that shopping my wife is going to do in Frisco.

CHS:  That’s SAN FRANCISCO not Frisco!

Texas friend and alum:  After we win the Series we will call it any Damn thing we please!

CHS:  OK, if the Giants win you will have to wear a San Francisco Giants jersey and hat to the Arizona – Stanford game and if the Rangers will I will wear clothes that look like Walker Texas Ranger to the game! 

Texas friend and alum:  That’s a deal!

 

Stanford Football is playing Jim Harbaugh Stanford Football Again! – If you didn’t get a chance to see the Stanford – Washington game on Saturday night then you missed a Good Old Fashioned Butt Whipping of the Huskies!  The score of 41 – 0 only tells part of the story because Stanford could have beaten UW 100 – 0 if they had wanted to.  Steve Kelly of the Seattle Times has the facts of the case:

Long-suffering UW fans deserve more from the coaches

“Steve Sarkisian was supposed to change all of this quickly. He was supposed to restore order to Washington football. Make the Huskies players again on the national scene. Return pride to a program that was crumbling like its antiquated stadium.

Remember when Washington coach Sarkisian proclaimed after last season’s stirring upset of USC that rebuilding this moribund program wasn’t going to take long?

Breaking news: It’s going to be a long time.

In fact, the Huskies seem to be regressing.

This 41-0 loss to Stanford was Willingham Redux. The Huskies played without fire. They made the same mistakes in this lopsided loss they made earlier this season at BYU and against Nebraska.

Games as bad as Saturday’s aren’t supposed to happen anymore. These types of losses were supposed to be part of Washington’s ugly past. Not the present.

But this loss was déjà Tyrone, something that belonged to the 2008 season.

For the second week in a row, Washington’s defense surrendered more than 300 yards in the first half.

The Stanford offensive line opened holes as wide as the 520 bridge. On its first four possessions, the Cardinal marched 86, 42, 61 and 80 yards for touchdowns.

What does it say about a defense when its most intense member is coordinator Nick Holt? What does it say about Holt?

The Huskies looked ill-prepared for this game, as if the hangover from the lousy loss a week before at Arizona still was grinding at the temples.

It felt as bad as another home loss to Stanford in 2006 when the Cardinal was considered one of the worst conference teams ever. It was worse than Washington’s loss two seasons ago at Cal.

That day they quit on lame duck Tyrone Willingham. What was the excuse this Saturday night?”

The only excuse we can think of Steve Kelly is that the Stanford Cardinal just whipped some Husky Ass in Seattle!  Yes, Stanford opened up a can of…..

 

 ..…on the Huskies!

Yes, we can say it again!

FEAR THE TREE!

 

That’s right…FEAR THE DAMN TREE!

Arizona is up on next on the takedown list! 

Memo to Mike Stoops:  You better bring a prepared Cats team to Palo Alto this year!  We always love a good whipping of any of the Stoops Boys!  If you don’t come prepared the Cardinal will open up a can of…

…on the Wildcats!

After Week 9 we have the following situation as it pertains to the Top  College Football Teams that have zero or 1 loss in the country:

Boise State – 7 – 0

Oregon – 8 – 0

Auburn – 9 – 0

TCU – 9 – 0

Utah – 8 – 0

Alabama – 7 – 1

Michigan State – 8 – 1

Missouri – 7 – 1

Wisconsin – 7 – 1

Ohio State – 8 – 1

Oklahoma – 7 – 1

LSU – 7 – 1

Stanford – 7 – 1

Nebraska – 7 – 1

Arizona – 7 – 1

Oklahoma State – 7 – 1

Nevada – 7 – 1

17 Teams in I-AA college football have zero or 1 losses and every one of those teams could beat any other team on the above list.  Yes, the Bogus BCS makes perfect sense…..if you think it would be a good idea for the US to ship more jobs to China!

There is a decent chance that I-A college football will end the season with 3 undefeated teams, Boise State, Oregon and TCU would be our guess right now for those three undefeated teams, and 9 or more teams with only 1 loss!

Yes, the Bogus BCS makes perfect sense if you are VERY STUPID PERSON or if you have the Rangers in 7!

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Tony Barnhart Interviews Bob Schieffer About the Bogus BCS and Mr. Schieffer Delivers a Direct Blow on these Greedy BCS Bastards!

 

If you didn’t catch Tony Barnhart interviewing CBS News and Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer earlier this week on the Tony Barnhart Show then you missed a good dose of good old American common sense directed right at the Bogus BCS!  Bob Schieffer is a TCU grad and a big supporter of the school and he addressed the Bogus BCS in his interview with Barnhart:

Link to Bob Schieffer segment on Tony Barnhart show:  Bob Schieffer Delivers Blow to Bogus BCS

Tony Barnhart:  Bob, we have to get TCU into the National Championship Game somehow.  How are we going to do that?

Bob Schieffer:  Well, I don’t know how we are going to do it.  If we had a playoff where we could settle these things on the football field instead of inside a computer and all of this mumbo-jumbo that goes into the BCS rankings I think we would have a chance. 

But, I don’t know what is going to happen.  I have to tell you Tony, we’re sitting there watching TCU play Air Force and Aaron Taylor and Dave Ryan came on and they put a little graphic up that said, you know that TCU running back Ed Westley has now rolled up more yards rushing by himself, 209 yards, than the entire Air Force team.  And of course Air Force went into that game with the leading rushing statistics in the nation.  I’m sitting there looking at that and my wife is sitting there on the couch besides me and says:

“Put that in the computer you @&%$%&!”

Using a word I have never heard her use before.  A very descriptive anatomical word, but I am telling you that’s how a lot of folks down at TCU feel right now.  We want to play.  We feel like we are good enough to play anybody in the country and we hope we get that chance.”

Did you BCS Bastards and Candy Asses that support the Bogus BCS catch that?  The “computer and of this “mumbo-jumbo!”  Oh, that’s rich and incredibly accurate about the Bogus BCS and we can tell you from personal experience Bob Schieffer is one of the straightest shooters in the Washington media today and one of the few people in DC that will tell anyone and everyone about the facts of life and make you like him while he is doing it.

Let’s see here…. Bob Schieffer vs. the Greedy BCS Bastards…..

Who would we trust more?

Oh, that’s easy.  We wouldn’t trust these Greedy BCS Bastards to watch our dogs because their ONLY interest is stuffing their pockets with money at the EXPENSE of college football, intercollegiate athletics and student-athletes across the nation.

Yes, if you support this Bogus BCS you are really are VERY STUPID PERSON!

Now let’s see Bob Schieffer’s good old American Common Sense…Vs. the Absolute Nonsense that comes out of the mouth of the PR Hack for the Greedy BCS Bastards

Again we ask you…..

Bob Schieffer or the Greedy BCS Bastards?

If you select the Greedy BCS Bastards then you are a Sorry Excuse for an American citizen!

Bob Schieffer and the vast majority of Americans have it right:

Let’s settle the National Championship in College Football on the…

FIELD OF PLAY!

Oh, you don’t favor settling championships on the Field of Play?

OK, then we will mark you down as a Candy Ass and you can join the college and university presidents that not only wouldn’t last two seconds if they had to defend our country but also someone that is afraid of real competition.  Believe it though, in 2010 you as a Candy Ass have plenty of company in America, but not with our daughters of the members at Coaches Hot Seat that could whip the rear-ends of the Candy Asses in the morning and still win a soccer championship in the afternoon.

You see, we are not raising Candy Asses!

 

 

Reminding the Candy Asses That Support the Bogus BCS What A Travesty the BCS Has Been To College Football Over the Years

With the Bogus BCS in mind it never hurts to remind everyone in America, where memories can be minutes if not seconds long, just what a travesty that the BCS has been over the years to the game of college football.  We do that with the very well done BCS Controversies Wikipedia webpage will lays out all the ugly facts year-by-year of the Bogus and Very Un-American BCS.  For all you Idiots and Buffoons out there that claim the “BCS always gets it right” why don’t you wake the Hell up and read the truth about what a bunch of Sorry Ass and Greedy Bastards these BCS people really are?

BCS Controversies

1998-99 season

Main article: 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season

The first year of the BCS ended in controversy when one-loss Kansas State finished third in the final BCS standings but was passed over for participation in BCS bowl games in favor of Ohio State (ranked 4th) and two-loss Florida (8th). Instead, the Wildcats played in the far less prestigious Alamo Bowl against Purdue. The following season, the BCS adopted the “Kansas State Rule,” which provides that the 3rd ranked team (or 4th ranked team if the 3rd ranked team has already qualified as a conference champion) in the final BCS standings is ensured of an invitation to a BCS bowl game. The rule was first utilized in 2002–03, giving an automatic berth to USC. The rule has been used five times in all, with Texas earning automatic bids in 2004–05 and 2008–09, Ohio State earning an automatic bid in 2005–06, and Michigan receiving an automatic bid in 2006–07.

The following season, Kansas State finished 6th in the BCS standings but again received no invitation, this time being passed over in favor of Michigan (ranked 8th). Kansas State’s predicament (as well as that of undefeated Tulane who was denied a BCS bid because they played in Conference USA) inaugurated the long-standing media controversies regarding the system.

2000-01 season

Main article: 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season

Florida State (12–1, ACC Champions) was chosen to play undefeated Oklahoma (12–0, Big 12 champions) in the Orange Bowl for the national championship, despite their one loss coming to another one loss team, the Miami Hurricanes (11–1, Big East champions), that was ranked #2 in both human polls. Adding to the controversy, Miami’s one loss came to yet another one loss team, the PAC-10 champion Washington Huskies, leaving three teams with a legitimate claim to play Oklahoma in the National Championship game.

Florida State lost to Oklahoma 13–2, while Washington and Miami both easily won their bowl games, adding more fuel to the fire. As a result of the controversy, the BCS was tweaked in the off-season. A “quality-win” bonus was added to the formula, giving extra credit for beating a top ten team.

2001-02 season

Main article: 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season

In another controversial season, Nebraska was chosen as a national title game participant despite being ranked #4 in both human polls and not winning their conference. The Huskers went into their last regularly scheduled game at Colorado undefeated, but left Boulder with a 62–36 loss. The Buffaloes went on to win the Big 12 championship. However, the BCS computers did not take into account time of loss, so one-loss Nebraska came out ahead of two-loss Colorado and one-loss Oregon, the consensus #2 in both human polls (but 4th in the BCS). Nebraska beat Colorado for the #2 spot in the BCS poll by .05 points. Nebraska was routed in the national title game, 37–14, by Miami. Meanwhile Oregon beat Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl, 38-16.

2002-03 season

Main article: 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season

The Rose Bowl normally features the champions of the Big Ten and the Pac-10. However, the Big Ten-champion Ohio State Buckeyes, finishing #2 in the BCS, had qualified to play in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl for the national championship against Miami (Fla.)[17]

After the national championship was set, the Orange Bowl had the next pick, and invited #3 (#5 BCS) Iowa from the Big Ten. When it was the Rose Bowl’s turn to select, the best available team was #8 (#7 BCS) Oklahoma, who won the Big 12 Championship Game. When it came time for the Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl to make a second pick, both wanted Pac-10 co-champion USC. However, a BCS rule stated that if two bowls wanted the same team, the bowl with the higher payoff had priority.[18] The Orange Bowl immediately extended an at-large bid to the #5 Trojans and paired them with at-large #3 Iowa in a Big Ten/Pac-10 “Rose Bowl East” matchup in the 2003 Orange Bowl. The Rose Bowl was left to pair Oklahoma with Pac-10 co-champion Washington State.[18] Rose Bowl committee executive director Mitch Dorger was not pleased with the results.[18] The 2003 Rose Bowl game had the lowest attendance and first non-sellout since 1944.

2003-04 season

Main article: 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season

The 2003–2004 season came about with much controversy when three schools from BCS conferences finished the season with one loss (in fact, no Division I-A team finished the season undefeated, something that hadn’t happened since 1996, two years before the advent of the BCS). The three schools in question were:

Oklahoma

LSU

USC

USC was ranked #1 in both the AP and ESPN-USA Today Coaches poll, but was burdened by a collective 2.67 computer ranking due to a weaker schedule. Meanwhile Oklahoma, after an undefeated regular season, was beaten by Kansas State (35–7) in the Big 12 Championship Game. The loss dropped Oklahoma to #3 in the human polls (while the computers still had them at #1). LSU had earned a stronger computer ranking than USC and a #2 human poll ranking, and went on to claim the BCS championship with a 21–14 win over Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. USC, which beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl, retained its #1 ranking in the AP Poll. Oklahoma (which finished 12–2) had been clearly eliminated from national championship contention, but the split in polls left many LSU (13–1) and USC (12–1) fans displeased, as USC was named the AP national football champion. This incident has been considered a lightning rod of controversy by some sportswriters covering college football.[19]

The college coaches involved in the coaches poll were contractually obligated to award their organization’s trophy and first place votes to the winner of the BCS championship game, LSU. However, for the first time in the history of the BCS Championship Series, the BCS Champion was not a unanimous #1 in the final Coaches Poll as the final vote was 60 – 3 for LSU as National Champion with USC as a runner-up. It is speculated that the three coaches who broke rank–Lou Holtz of South Carolina, Mike Bellotti of Oregon and Ron Turner of Illinois–violating their contractual obligation, did so because they believed that USC was the best team. Meanwhile other coaches followed their contractual obligation under the coaches “poll” and changed their choice of #1 from USC to LSU.

2004-05 season

Main article: 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season

The 2004-2005 regular season finished with five undefeated teams for the first time since 1979. Despite having perfect records, the Auburn Tigers, Utah Utes, and Boise State Broncos were denied an opportunity to play for the BCS championship. Utah was the first non-BCS team to play in a BCS game. However, Utah and Boise State’s schedules were thought of as weaker than Auburn’s (by virtue of playing in the weaker Mountain West and WAC, respectively).

Most of the debate centered around Auburn, who went undefeated in the Southeastern Conference, leading to debates over the strength of schedule, a value that was diminished in the BCS before the season. Oklahoma went on to play USC for the title. USC defeated Oklahoma, 55–19. Both Auburn and Utah won their bowl games. Auburn defeated #9 Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl 16-13, and Utah defeated #21 Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl by a score of 35–7. This left 3 undefeated teams at the end of the season, where Auburn finished at #2 and Utah at #4.

Another controversy occurred this season since the pollsters jumped the Texas Longhorns over the California Golden Bears in the final regular-season poll. Texas coach Mack Brown publicly lobbied for the pollsters to give Texas the final at-large bid. Although the Bears, as Pac-10 runner-up, normally would have had first crack at a Rose Bowl berth, Brown lobbied for and got that berth. The lobbying was so extensive that the Associated Press immediately ended its poll’s association with the BCS. California’s cause was hurt when it was less than impressive in a 26–16 victory over Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, Mississippi the night before bowl bids were extended. This was doubly unfortunate because had it been played in September, when it was originally scheduled before being postponed by a hurricane, it would have had probably no effect and Cal would have received the Rose Bowl spot. Weakening their cause after the fact was the 45–31 defeat in the Holiday Bowl to Texas Tech University. Cal played without two of the highest performing receivers in the NCAA,[20] however, this loss was attributed in many press reports to the Bears’ disappointment over being denied their first Rose Bowl appearance in 45 years.[21] Another major issue is the fact that the Pac-10 has considerably weaker bowl tie-ins than all of the other BCS conferences. For example, the Holiday Bowl is the second place Pac-10 bowl and the opponent is the 3rd, 4th, or 5th-place Big XII team, meaning the Pac-10 team can finish just out of the BCS and play an unranked opponent.

2006-07 season

Main article: 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season

See also: 2006–07 NCAA football bowl games

Going into the final poll, undefeated Boise State and four one-loss teams (Louisville, Michigan, Wisconsin and Florida) were up for a spot against undefeated top-ranked Ohio State in the BCS National Championship game in Glendale, Arizona. Louisville (11-1, champions of the Big East), and Boise State were given less consideration because of a lack of schedule strength, while Wisconsin (11-1, Big 10) was two steps removed from Ohio State (they lost to Michigan, who lost to Ohio State, and Wisconsin and Ohio State did not play).

Michigan lost to Ohio State 42–39 in its regular season finale (Ohio State would go on to claim the Big 10 championship), but was still ranked ahead of Florida but behind USC going into the final ballot. Florida defeated Arkansas in the SEC Championship Game, and number 2 ranked USC lost to UCLA, leaving Michigan and Florida as one-loss teams who both claimed they deserved to play for the national championship against Ohio State. Many pundits denied that Michigan should get another chance to play Ohio State. Others claimed that this would only be a repeat of what happened in 1996 between Florida and Florida State, and that the two best teams should play even if they were from the same conference or if it was a rematch. Ultimately, the BCS National Championship was a meeting between Ohio State and Florida. A mere .0101 points separated #2 Florida from #3 Michigan. This small difference was a result of the human polls (USA Today’s Coaches’ Poll and Harris Interactive Poll) ranking Florida above Michigan while the computer polls had the two teams tied for second.

Michigan, which was automatically guaranteed a BCS at-large berth by virtue of its #3 ranking, went to the Rose Bowl, which they lost to USC 32–18. Florida officially became the national champions by impressively beating Ohio State 41–14. Florida also received all but one of the 65 first-place votes in the final Associated Press poll (the other went to Boise State, who won the Fiesta Bowl over Oklahoma).

At the conclusion of the season, three other one-loss teams were denied the chance to compete in a playoff or to play Florida for the national championship. Wisconsin and Louisville ended the season with only one loss (the same as Florida and Ohio State). Boise State, which received the other first-place vote in the AP poll, was the only undefeated Division I football team.

Because of a BCS rule allowing only two teams from each conference to play in BCS bowl games, highly-ranked Wisconsin and Auburn were not eligible for selection to a BCS game. Wisconsin was excluded because Ohio State and Michigan represented the Big Ten, and Auburn was excluded because LSU and Florida represented the SEC, even though Auburn defeated LSU 7–3 and Florida 27–17 during the season. LSU earned the at-large bid on the strength of its 31–26 victory over SEC West champion Arkansas in Little Rock, while the Razorbacks crushed then second-ranked Auburn 27–10 in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Auburn’s 37–15 loss at home to a reeling Georgia team also destroyed its chances at the BCS.

An omission of the rule still would have not have been enough for Auburn to secure a berth, as Wisconsin would have likely been the final at-large bid. The final BCS poll had seven teams from the SEC and the Big Ten ranked in the top twelve but by the rule only two from each conference were eligible to play in BCS bowl games, offering the opportunity to argue that both conferences are over-ranked, that the Big Ten schedule does not produce a true conference champion, or that the limit of 2 teams from any one conference is inappropriate.

2007-08 season

Main article: 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season

See also: 2007–08 NCAA football bowl games

In a wild finish to a wild regular season of upsets, the top two teams in the polls lost on the same weekend for two weeks in a row to close out the regular season, sending the BCS into chaos heading into the selection of the two teams to play for the BCS National Championship Game. On November 23, top-ranked LSU lost in triple overtime to Arkansas. This was the Tigers’ second triple-overtime loss of the season, with the other to Kentucky. The following day, #4 Missouri beat #2 Kansas and took the top spot in the BCS for the following week. This created the interesting prospect of #1 Missouri playing its final game of the season as three-point underdogs against Oklahoma. On December 1, Missouri was defeated by Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship Game. #2 West Virginia was also stunned at home, by unranked Pittsburgh in the annual Backyard Brawl game. Meanwhile, Ohio State, who was idle for the final two weeks, climbed the rankings from #5 to #1. Hawai?i capped off an undefeated season (and the only such team going into the bowl post-season), beating Washington and securing a major bowl appearance for the first time in the school’s history. However, as with Boise State in the previous season, Hawai?i did not play for the BCS Championship because the Warriors’ schedule was deemed too weak.[22] In fact, with Hawai?i’s loss in the Sugar Bowl, the 2007-08 season was the first since the 2003-04 season (and only the second in the BCS era) with no teams finishing the entire season undefeated.

In another irony, #6 Missouri was shut out of the BCS entirely when #8 Kansas was selected as one of three at-large teams. The Tigers finished higher in the BCS standings and had defeated the Jayhawks a week before the Big 12 title game. However, Kansas received a bid to the Orange Bowl; Orange Bowl officials said that they picked Kansas because the Jayhawks had only one loss,[23] while Missouri had two losses, both to Big 12 champion Oklahoma. Since BCS rules do not allow more than two teams from one conference to get a bid, Missouri was ineligible for an at-large bid. Missouri defeated Arkansas 38-7 in the Cotton Bowl. Kansas also went on to defeat #3 Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl by a score of 24-21, making no clear argument either way. Ohio State and LSU came in 1st and 2nd in the final BCS rankings, securing the BCS championship game between those two on January 7.

Before “Championship Saturday,” LSU was ranked #7 and Georgia was ranked #4. However, after #1 Missouri and #2 West Virginia lost, LSU was catapulted to #2 based on a 21-14 win over Tennessee in the SEC Championship Game. Many argued that the Bulldogs should not play in the National Championship game because they didn’t play for—let alone win—the SEC Championship. The Bulldogs and Vols finished with identical 6-2 records atop the SEC East, but Tennessee represented the division in the championship game by virtue of beating Georgia 35-14 in October. Virginia Tech had been ranked #6, above LSU, but had to settle for the #3 slot, despite a convincing win over Boston College in the ACC Championship Game. Voters were likely influenced by LSU’s crushing 48-7 defeat of Virginia Tech early in the season. Computer rankings placed Virginia Tech (0.960) and LSU (0.950) #1, and #2, respectively.[24] The top four teams in the BCS standings were #1 Ohio State, #2 LSU, #3 Virginia Tech, and #4 Oklahoma.

Ultimately, LSU defeated Ohio State 38-24, marking the second straight season that the Buckeyes lost the national championship game to an SEC opponent and the first two-loss BCS champion. LSU received 60 of a possible 65 first-place votes in the final AP poll, the fewest for a BCS champion since 2004, when BCS champion LSU finished second in the poll to USC. Georgia, another SEC team, was second in the poll and received three first-place votes. The final two first place votes went USC and Kansas, ranked #3 and #7 respectively. Missouri, who did not play in a BCS bowl, finished fourth, and Ohio State fell to fifth after losing the championship game.

2008-09 season

Main article: 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season

See also: 2008 Big 12 Conference South Division 3-way tie controversy and 2008–09 NCAA football bowl games

In the Big 12 South division, there was a three-way tie for the division champion between Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas Tech (all one-loss teams). The winner of that division would likely play in the national championship game if it beat Missouri in the Big 12 Championship Game. Oklahoma lost to Texas 45-35, then Texas lost to Texas Tech 39-33, and then Texas Tech lost to Oklahoma 65-21. In the Big 12, the BCS standings were used to break this tie, causing the teams to jockey for votes in the human polls. In the end, Oklahoma edged out Texas for the right to represent the Big 12 South in the conference championship game. Despite the head to head loss to the Longhorns earlier in the season, the computer rankings ranked the Sooners’ schedule ahead of the Longhorns. Another BCS conference, the SEC, merely uses the BCS standings to eliminate one team in a three-way tie and then use head to head to determine tiebreakers, which would have worked in Texas’ favor.[25]

Going into the conference championship games, only four teams—Alabama, Utah, Ball State and Boise State—were undefeated. However, in the event of an Alabama loss, Utah, Ball State, and Boise State had no realistic chance at a title game berth because their schedules were deemed too weak. As it turned out, Alabama lost to one-loss Florida in the SEC Championship Game, vaulting the Gators to the second spot in the final BCS rankings and a matchup in the title game against Oklahoma. Alabama fell to fourth, behind Texas.

Utah and Boise State both finished in the top 15 of the BCS standings (in fact, both were in the top 10), and were thus eligible for BCS at-large spots. It was generally understood, however, that only one team would get a berth, as it would be hard to justify allowing a second mid-major conference team into a BCS bowl over a BCS conference runner-up. Utah qualified automatically as the highest ranked (in the top 12) non-BCS conference champion and defeated Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Boise State (#9 in the BCS) and TCU (#11) were matched up in the Poinsettia Bowl, marking the first time in history that a bowl featured two teams from non-BCS conferences ranked higher than both participants in a BCS bowl game in the same season (the Orange Bowl matched #12 Cincinnati and #19 Virginia Tech). TCU defeated Boise State 17–16, and Utah won the Sugar Bowl to finish as the nation’s only undefeated team.

After the season, the Mountain West Conference made a proposal at the Bowl Championship Series commissioners’ annual spring meetings in Pasadena, California in conjunction with the Rose Bowl’s staging the 2010 BCS title game. The meetings were held during the week of April 20, 2009. The Mountain West Conference commissioner has proposed that a selection committee replace the polls and computers, an eight-team playoff system put in place, and changes to the automatic qualifier rules.[26] On June 24, 2009, the BCS presidential oversight committee rejected the eight-team playoff plan.[27]

United States Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has indicated that he would hold congressional hearings on the BCS in the future after his Utah team failed to play in the national championship game.

2009-10 season

Main article: 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season

See also: 2009–10 NCAA football bowl games

By mid-October, it was obvious that Florida and Alabama would face off in the 2009 SEC Championship Game, and the winner would play in the BCS title game. It was also generally believed that Texas would get the other spot if it won the 2009 Big 12 Championship Game, despite concerns about a weak non-conference schedule and a surprising lack of quality teams in the Big 12. Ultimately, in a repeat of the 2004-05 season, five teams finished the season undefeated—Alabama, Texas, Cincinnati, TCU, and Boise State.

Texas won the Big 12 title game, and with it a spot in the BCS title game, in controversial fashion. As the game clock appeared to run out with Nebraska winning 12-10; officials ruled that the time left on the clock was reviewable and ordered 1 second put back on the clock, allowing the Longhorns to kick a field goal for a 13-12 win, a result that left Nebraska coach Bo Pelini claiming that it was part of a BCS conspiracy.[28] Earlier, Alabama had trounced Florida in the SEC title game to earn the other slot.

Despite a convincing season-opening win over eventual Pac-10 champion Oregon, another team in the top 10 of the BCS standings, and having played 13 games rather than the 12 that TCU and Cincinnati had played, Boise State’s schedule was once again deemed too weak for a spot in the championship game. Additionally, it was certain that at least two other teams would finish undefeated due to the SEC title game matchup between Alabama and Florida, as well as TCU having already completed an undefeated season. Cincinnati and TCU, however, both believed they would be in the championship game if Texas lost. Despite being ranked behind TCU going into championship weekend, Cincinnati probably had a stronger claim as it was the undefeated champion of a BCS conference, rather than an at-large team like TCU. Cincinnati did pass TCU to end up 3rd in the final BCS standings, but with the margin as slim as it was and three of the six BCS computers having placed Texas in between the two schools, no conclusions can be drawn as to what might have happened if Texas had lost.

Unrelated to the title game was the controversy regarding the bowl selections. While at #6, Boise State was able to earn an at-large berth, the announcement that they would be playing #4 TCU in the Fiesta Bowl caused an outcry, as the two “BCS Busters” would be matched up against each other and would thereby be denied the opportunity to face a top team from one of the six BCS conferences, instead providing a rematch of a non-BCS bowl from the previous year (see above). Placing two teams from non-AQ conferences in the same bowl also contradicted the previous assertion that non-AQ schools are less likely to receive at-large bids because the bowls prefer the superior drawing power of the big schools and their highly mobile fanbases—hence undefeated Boise State’s omission from the BCS the previous year in favor of two-loss Ohio State. For this reason, some are calling this match up the “Separate but Equal Bowl,” or the “Fiasco Bowl.”[citation needed]

End of Wikipedia BCS Contoversies

Oh, after reading the above you still support the Bogus BCS?  You are worthless then!

 

 

The Big Ten Divisions, Divisions Names, Not a Lick of Common Sense and the Biggest Candy Ass in America!

College Football Talk this morning laid out the facts of the news reports on the Big Ten trying to come up with some names for the Bogus Divisions they drew up earlier this year which make no Damn sense at all.  The Big Ten commish Jim Delaney claimed that the conference was looking for “competitive balance” with their new divisions but it is our opinion that a lot of busybodies in the Big Ten offices in Chicago just had nothing better to do so to justify their existence they came up with some very Bogus divisions after studying the issue for several weeks.

Here is the College Football Talk story:  Big Ten won’t hit target date for division names

Here are the Bogus Divisions the Big Ten came up with:

Division A

Michigan

Nebraska

Iowa

Michigan State

Northwestern

Minnesota

Division B

Ohio State

Penn State

Wisconsin

Purdue

Indiana

Illinois

Here are those Divisions on a map:

No Damn wonder they can’t come up with any good names for those Bogus Divisions!  What a Complete and Utter Joke and the Opposite of Common Sense!

Here is what someone with a lick of Common Sense and 99.999999 percent of Americans would have come up with for the new Big Ten divisions:

East

Penn State

Ohio State

Purdue

Indiana

Michigan

Michigan State

West

Northwestern

Illinois

Wisconsin

Minnesota

Iowa

Nebraska

Here are those divisions on a map:

Please, is there anyone with a working brain that thinks the Big Ten should be divided the way it came up with compared to what is just good old American Common Sense?

Of course, why should anyone be surprised that Big Ten’s Divisions were drawn up the way they were….after all Big Ten commish Jim Delany is the lead Candy Ass in propping up the Bogus BCS and it is our opinion that Jim Delany supports the Bogus BCS……

Because he doesn’t have a LICK OF GUTS OR COMMON SENSE!

Yes, we are very thankful here at Coaches Hot Seat that Jim Delany was not around in 1776 because too many Delanys then and there would be no American Republic now.  Yes, that is our opinion Jimmy Boy!

Sorry Jim, but Americans settle championships on the FIELD OF PLAY…

Candy Asses crown beauty queens and go to parades 30+ days after the end of the college football regular season and then play in meaningless exhibition games and in our opinion you are Jim Delany the….

BIGGEST CANDY ASS IN AMERICA TODAY!

And you can take the Bogus BCS and stuff it where the Sun don’t shine! 

On a more serious note Jim, who we agree with on about 95 percent of things except his Candy Ass stance on the BCS and these Bogus BCS divisions. what about the following names for the Big Ten divisions you came up with?  Iron and Steel Divisions!  You could have an iron worker and a steelworker in the Big Ten logo….Oh, what the Hell, these new Big Ten divisions are BOGUS!

Yes, those are our opinions and we think very accurate opinions and it also our opinion that Michigan and Ohio State leads the rest of the Big Ten around by the nose and it is shameful that everyone else in the conference drops down and licks their boots!  SHAMEFUL!

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San Francisco Giants on a roll…to the World Series Title!

San Francisco Giants – 2

Texas Rangers – ZERO

The above facts tell all about how the 2010 World Series has gone so far and now we head to the Great State of Texas for games 3, 4 and 5.

Several of us here at Coaches Hot Seat saw a handful of Texas Rangers fans after the SF Giants beatdown of the Rangers last night including new Rangers president the Great Nolan Ryan and they were none too happy!  Hell, if you can’t get the ball over the plate you are going to get your butt beat!

Now the San Francisco Giants are…

EAST BOUND AND DOWN!

                  

 
LET’S GO KICK SOME TEXAS ASS……IN TEXAS

GO GIANTS!

 

Fox Sports Coverage of World Series

Because there are only so many World Series tickets to go around CHS members have had to split-up going to the first two games so some of us have been able to watch Fox Sports coverage of the World Series on TV and from about as a critical eye of the media that one can find in the country today Fox’s coverage of the World Series is pretty Damn good.

The overall production, pre-game, during the game, post-game is very well done and is a big improvement over Fox’s coverage from a few years back when the producers always seemed intent to show the viewers a minimum of 45 people between each and every pitch. 

The two lead announcers for the games, play-by-play man Joe Buck and analyst Tim McCarver are two of the best in the business and add a good bit to them game for the viewer.  Joe Buck is of course the son of the legendary sportscaster Jack Buck who did both TV network games and the play-by-play for the St. Louis Cardinals for years. 

Joe Buck has always had a razor sharp mind and tons of knowledge about the game of baseball and in recent years working with both McCarver in baseball and Troy Aikman on the NFL broadcasts he has really refined his style to the point where he blends very well into the overall telecast and is a big plus for the viewer of the games.  The greatest TV sports broadcasters of all time follow along the games in their own way and seem to keep in mind the words of the Great Keith Jackson:

“The game is the star of the show.  My only job is to help the audience enjoy it.”

Amen to that Keith Jackson!

For those of us that used to live and work in New York City Tim McCarver has been more than the just the guy that did the network MLB baseball games on NBC, ABC and Fox because McCarver did the games for the New York Mets for years and was someone that we would see around Manhattan from time to time.  Back in the day in Manhattan after work on Friday’s a couple of us here at CHS used to meet up at the Oak Bar at the Plaza Hotel and we may or may not remember Tim McCarver being in there from time to time!  Ahhhh, nothing like meeting at the Oak Bar at the Plaza after a hard week of work with Friday night in New York City and the entire weekend still ahead! 

Movie fans of Alfred Hitchcock know that one of the scenes in the great movie North by Northwest was filmed in the Oak Room at the Plaza Hotel (Starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason):

Getting back to the Fox Sports World Series media review….

We have always thought at Tim McCarver has a great knowledge of the game of baseball that sometimes eludes even big baseball fans and that he does a very good job of balancing what the viewer might be interested in hearing and what would add very little to the game.  Of course, serious baseball fans know that Tim McCarver played for the St. Louis Cardinals for a decade as a catcher and that he caught two of the all-time great pitchers in MLB history:  Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton.  Wow! 

Bob Gibson’s 17 strikeouts (With the Great Curt Gowdy and Harry Caray on the call!)

 

 

Notre Dame Student Death Video Incident

It was tragic to hear about the death of Notre Dame student Declan Sullivan and for us here at Coaches Hot Seat this incident really hit home because we have known and know a number of college video directors around the country.

Mike Fish of ESPN.com writes about a number of the issues that have been raised by the death of Declan Sullivan which should be mandatory reading for college administrators.

Video tower usage policies vary

Last night at dinner after the Rangers – Giants game the death of Declan Sullivan came up and several CHS member recounted stories of them seeing students doing video work at several different schools’ practices around the country that seemed to be putting students into danger due to weather or poor equipment/structures when placing them very high into the air.

What makes all of these college students being put on high structures to film college football practices crazy in our minds is that there has to be technology in place where the cameras could be operated remotely from the ground with the student looking at a TV screen and being able to focus in on plays and drills during practice by what he sees just like when he is up in the tower/lift equipment.

A few of us here at Coaches Hot Seat have actually used remotely controlled cameras that we installed in trees around our homes in the mountains to see what kind of animals were trying to get into the trash (bears, raccoons, dogs, a neighbor from time to time!) and several of us have wondered in the past why video departments at college athletic departments do not use remotely controlled cameras instead of putting all of these students into compromising positions high in the air.

When video people say that it would be impossible for students to use remotely controlled cameras to capture high-quality video of practices and games we would only remind them that the US Air Force operates drones in the Middle East that are flown by pilots that are sitting at a military base in Las Vegas, Nevada by them looking at live video feeds from the drone over 15,000 miles away!  If the US military can get high enough quality video from the other side of the world to attack terrorists then one would think that a video system could be put into place on college football practice fields where the student could be set-up to operate a camera safely from the ground.  Read this article from Time magazine on the US military’s drone activities in the Middle East that are controlled from Las Vegas:

A New Kind of “Top Gun” for a New Kind of War

Put the camera up on a high structure or lift and place the student nearby under a temporary tent to protect him and the equipment from the weather and light and let him operate the camera remotely.  Is there someone really going to argue that Notre Dame or any of these other large schools that are spending millions to run their college football program cannot spend a few thousand dollars setting up a remote camera video system that can keep these students out of being placed high in the air and thus being put in danger?  Please, if there are people that don’t think that can be done and that it wouldn’t produce high quality video then those are people with very limited abilities to think about how to do think in new and innovative ways.

As for the decision to put any college student into danger we don’t think we have to tell decision makers, coaches and administrators that the safety of the people involved should come first and that doubly means that Notre Dame should be very honest about what happened in the death of Declan Sullivan no matter where the investigation leads.  This is not the time for well-educated lawyers to try and spin what happened but instead the truth of exactly what happened should be told and let the media and public have the facts of what happened so that mainly this type of incident will never happen again.  If Notre Dame goes into lockdown mode over this incident and not get all the information out to the public on just happened then they will be very sorry indeed. 

 

 

Coaches Hot Seat Book Recommendation

A Country of Vast Designs

We at Coaches Hot Seat were lucky enough to be brought up by parents that encouraged us to read a lot and to read widely and several us recently finished Robert W. Merry’s great book on James K. Polk the 11 th President of the United States, A Country of Vast Designs.

Here is a New York Times review of the book:  Into the West

And one from the Wall Street Journal:  How the West Was Won

Here is the Publisher’s Weekly review:

“Merry, president and editor-in-chief of Congressional Quarterly Inc., offers a wide-ranging, provocative analysis of the controversial presidency of James K. Polk. Using a broad spectrum of published and archival sources, Merry depicts Polk as an unabashed expansionist. His political career was devoted to extending American power across the continent. Polk saw the fulfillment of manifest destiny as transcending even the festering issue of slavery. Elected president in 1844, he pursued confrontational diplomacy with Britain, structured a war with Mexico and enlarged the U.S. by over a third, essentially to its present boundaries, in a single term of office. Polk’s achievements were correspondingly controversial across the political spectrum. Merry uses congressional debates and newspaper quotations to depict the genesis of a fundamental, enduring debate on America’s nature and role. Conceding Polk’s “personal lapses and his least impressive traits.” Merry makes a strong case that Polk’s America embraced a sweeping vision of national destiny that he fulfilled. Merry’s conclusion that history turns not on morality but on power, energy and will may be uncomfortable, but he successfully illustrates it.”

If you are fan of US history and of how the American Republic become a Continental Empire in the 1800s you will love this book and for all those Texans out there that want to know everything that went into the Republic of Texas becoming a member of the United States they will be intrigued as well with A Country of Vast Designs.

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Did you catch that Quintessential American Tradition Last Night in San Francisco?

 

Did everyone see that Very American Tradition last night in San Francisco?  No, not Game 1 of the MLB World Series.  The Very American Tradition that happened in San Francisco last night was…

Real American Men Settling a Championship on the Field of Play!

Imagine that?  Real American Men battling for a Championship on the Field of Play and being cheered on by Real American Men and Women both at the game and on TVs/online around the country and world.

Yes, that is how Real Americans act.

On the other hand Candy Asses and Sorry Excuses for Americans support Bogus systems like the BCS and debate such nonsense of which team MIGHT be better than another team.

Are you one of the Sorry Excuses for an American that writes about, talks about, frets about or wastes your life wondering whether Boise State is better than Alabama or if a 1 loss SEC team should be in a Bogus title game over a “Non-AQ” team? 

If so, then you are a CANDY ASS and a SORRY EXCUSE FOR AN AMERICAN and we are thrilled that you were not around in 1776 because there would be no American Republic today.  No, there is NO Way in Hell that a Candy Ass that debates nonsense would have gotten in a boat with George Washington to cross the Delaware to turn the tide of the Revolutionary War.  Or…

To stand strong and have the Guts to sign the Declaration of Independence at the risk of your own life.

 

No, Candy Asses debate nonsense and Real Americans DO THINGS!

That there are some Candy Asses in America that will debate nonsense does not surprise us here at Coaches Hot Seat because America is now filled with Candy Asses from coast-to-coast and that there are so many Candy Asses around that will debate nonsense like the Bogus BCS is why China and other countries around the world, including the Bastards and Killers in Iran, are thrilled that there are lots of Very Stupid Americans that don’t know Up from Down and are at their core weak and pitiful.  Do you support the Bogus BCS?  Then you are cheered on from China, Iran and in other countries where they are thrilled with the rise of the Candy Asses in America!

 

Yes, you Stupid SOBs dumb enough to support this Bogus BCS over Real Americans settling championships on the Field of Play as Real Americans are doing right in now in the World Series are celebrated by the Bastard mullahs in Iran that are thrilled that there are so many Stupid Candy Asses in America that can be duped by a bunch of Greedy Bastards that DON’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT ANYTHING but stuffing $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ in their pockets!

World Series = Real Americans settling a Championship on the Field of Play

The Bogus BCS = Candy Asses and Very Stupid Americans supporting an incredibly Un-American system while the Greedy Bastards are laughing in the background at how Stupid the supporters of the Bogus BCS really are!

So what is it?  Are you going to debate nonsense like the Bogus BCS or are you going to start acting like a Real American?

Game 2 of the World Series – Texas Rangers vs. San Francisco Giants

Game 2 Starting Pitchers

C. J. Wilson, Texas Rangers

vs.

Matt Cain, San Francisco Giants

 

Here’s a little secret about the San Francisco Giants in 2010:  Tim Lincecum is a great pitcher, but in the 2010 Matt Cain may have been better!  Matt Cain is the SF Giants big-time secret and he is especially good when the chips are down!

OK, in Game 1 of the World Series we predicted and found out that Rangers starting pitcher Cliff Lee was….

 

ALL HAT

 

 

 and NO CATTLE!

 

What about the Texas Rangers Game 2 starter C. J. Wilson?

 

C. J. Wilson is NOT MAN ENOUGH TO BEAT THE SF GIANTS ON THURSDAY NIGHT!

Now let’s translate that for Texans:

When we are in the Great State of Texas we love going to the Pappasito’s Cantina restaurants which are great places to eat at so this should be self-explanatory to all Texans:

 

C. J. Wilson is…

NO CHIPS

 

NO SALSA

 

ACTUALLY JUST AN EMPTY PLATE!

 

Oh, that’s funny!

Go Giants!  Let’s hope the rain holds off for tonight’s game!  If not, the rain in San Francisco in October can make things quite cold and we all know that Texans can’t handle cold weather!

 

Is SEC football a complete fraud?  We will find out on Saturday!

 

We are going find out this Saturday whether SEC football is a Complete and Utter Fraud when the No. 1 team in the Bogus BCS, the Auburn Tigers travel to Oxford, Mississippi to play the unranked and 3 – 4 Mississippi Rebels and that game will be played on the same field that Ole Miss has lost to….

I-AA Jacksonville State 

Vanderbilt

Since for obvious reasons Jacksonville State and Vanderbilt are not ranked in the Bogus BCS why don’t we just see where the Sagarin’s Ratings have the two above powerhouse football teams that have beaten Mississippi this year.

Jeff Sagarin Post Week 8 Ratings

75.  Jacksonville State

102.  Vanderbilt

What is Mississippi’s Sagarin Rating?

No. 69  Mississippi

Oh, those are some POWERHOUSE football programs!

Where does the Complete Fraud for SEC football come into the picture?

Oh, that’s easy.  If a team that is ranked No. 69 (Mississippi) that has lost on its home field to the Nos. 75 and 102 ranked teams beats the No. 1 Bogus BCS ranked Auburn Tigers then everyone will know that SEC football is a..

COMPLETE AND UTTER FRAUD!

Play hard Auburn because you are not just playing for yourselves, but the entire SEC.

Lose to Mississippi Auburn all of America will know that I-AA Jacksonville State can beat a team that the No.1 team in the Bogus BCS………CANNOT!

Yes, if Mississippi beats Auburn on Saturday then everyone in the South can just Shut the Hell Up about the SEC being a “great conference” and that “Boise State could not handle the SEC” because if Ole Miss can beat Auburn that of course means…

 

That I-AA Jacksonville State could as well!

and that…

SEC Football is a COMPLETE AND UTTER FRAUD!

Oh, this is going to be great fun in Oxford, Mississippi and here we have again Houston Dale Nutt right in the middle of all the fun!

 

Who would you believe and stand behind:  Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt or Tennessee men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl?  Oh, that’s easy!

 

There has been a lot made of Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt’s recent comments about recruiting rules and Mechelle Voepel of ESPN.com has the basics of this story:

 Pat Summitt’s words fuel fire

“Tennessee coach Pat Summitt got caught up in some rhetoric last week, which is bound to happen at least once in awhile when you speak as much to the media as Summitt does. But then she compounded the situation by taking a shot at Connecticut and coach Geno Auriemma.

Now she doesn’t want to talk about any of it. Neither does Auriemma, nor the Connecticut athletic department. And the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) is in a bit of a pickle.

Here is what happened. At SEC media day in Birmingham, Ala., Summitt was asked a general question about recruiting and ethics, and she responded, “I’ve never compromised at all, and I wouldn’t. And if I did, they should fire me.”

She was speaking generally, but not surprisingly, many in Knoxville, Tenn., assumed she might be making a statement about her men’s basketball coaching counterpart at Tennessee, Bruce Pearl. Who is currently working without a contract as he and the school sort out the issues he’s having with the NCAA over misleading the organization about recruiting matters.

In an attempt to clear up matters, Summitt spoke with Jimmy Hyams of radio station WNML, explaining that she was very supportive of Pearl, that they were good friends, and that she did not intend her comment to impugn him. She said she wasn’t even thinking of men’s basketball when she made the remark.”

OK, you have the basics and there is something here at Coaches Hot Seat that we cannot quite figure out.  Tennessee men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl told recruits that it would be breaking NCAA rules by having them over to his house and then Pearl later lied to the NCAA about that rules violation.  What the Hell?

 

Our only question:

How in the world is Bruce Pearl still employed at Tennessee?

If any coach on the college level can knowingly break NCAA rules and then lie to the NCAA about breaking those rules and still keep his job then the entire University of Tennessee athletic department is fraud, the University of Tennessee administration is a fraud and the Trustees at UT are a fraud as well.

What is very clear with Bruce Pearl retaining his job at Tennessee is that the University of Tennessee believes it is acceptable for coaches, players, administration people, boosters and anyone else to both break NCAA rules and then later lie to the NCAA about those rules violations.

Is it possibly to come away from this Bruce Pearl situation with any other opinion?

If so, then any person that believe it is OK for a college head coach to lie to the NCAA about rules violations is a also a COMPLETE FRAUD.

By the way, in the above article by ESPN.com about Pat Summitt the following was written:

“Here is what happened. At SEC media day in Birmingham, Ala., Summitt was asked a general question about recruiting and ethics, and she responded, “I’ve never compromised at all, and I wouldn’t. And if I did, they should fire me.”

Ron Higgins of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal is the media member that asked that question of Pat Summitt and you can hear his take on this issue from an interview on the Paul Finebaum Radio Network.  Listen to Ron Higgins’ explanation of how he asked the question and then you can make your own determination of who an what Pat Summitt was really talking about.  We believe that Pat Summitt was talking about Bruce Pearl and any other coach on the college level that would knowingly break NCAA rules and then lie to the NCAA about the breaking of those rules.

Ron Higgins interview on Paul Finebaum Radio Network

Tennessee has a choice: It can keep Bruce Pearl employed and it will prove to the world that the entire University of Tennessee is a COMPLETE AND UTTER FRAUD of they can do the right thing. 

It will be interesting to see which choice that the University of Tennessee makes because the decision to retain Pearl to this point has already told us a lot about the integrity, or rather lack of integrity of the people at Tennessee.

Anyone else catch the Great Tony Bennett singing I Left My Heart in San Francisco and God Bless America last night in Game 1 of the World Series?  Love you Tony!

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2010 Major League Baseball World Series – Texas Rangers vs. San Francisco Giants

With the 2010 World Series set to get underway tonight at AT&T Park in San Francisco between the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants (4:30 PM Pacific Time on Fox) we cannot help but look forward to what promises to be a Great Game One pitching matchup between….

 

Cliff Lee, Texas Rangers

and

Tim Linceum, San Francisco Giants

 

Yes, Cliff Lee is a very good pitcher but we here at Coaches Hot Seat just really think that…

 

Cliff Lee is NOT MAN ENOUGH to beat the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night!

What does that mean in Texas?  Oh, that’s easy!

Cliff Lee is ALL HAT…

 

…and NO CATTLE!

 

Oh, that’s funny!

Texans everywhere must have a warm feeling inside with SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS fans are giving it to them!

 

Oh, that’s right…John Wayne went to USC!

 

 

College Head Coaches Motivating College Football Players

Whenever we hear Mack Brown and other college head coaches lamenting the lack of effort and commitment they are seeing from their players (and coaches on their own staff?) we cannot help but remember a speech from many years ago in Atlanta given by Bill Curry (Georgia State head coach, former head coach at Kentucky, Alabama and Georgia Tech, former player for Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Colts and Georgia Tech) when he described the Great Johnny Unitas telling Curry why he was always up for practices:

Bill Curry:

“It was very hot, and the Shula practices were incredibly demanding. I was exhausted and discouraged when I looked over at the battered old quarterback walking down the hill with me. When I asked how he was doing, this was his answer. I knew I had been challenged, and I have never forgotten his message.”

 

Johnny Unitas

“Remember, Billy, you are a long time dead. You better enjoy this day and this football practice. You never know how many you’ll get!”

That is some very good advice for everyone, not just college football players.

Also some good advice for motivation comes from Lou Holtz:

“Motivation is simple.  You eliminate the one’s that aren’t motivated.”

There is nothing that focuses the mind, of the player and his teammates, like being told to get off the practice field, clean out your locker, turn in your football stuff to the equipment room because you are not working hard enough to be a member of this football team nor represent this university.  I will make sure to call your parents after practice to explain to them why you are no longer on this football team. 

The most valuable things that a college football coach can give to his players, when not considering the great lessons of life college football players can learn from their coaches and playing the game, are in order:  a scholarship, being a member of the team and playing time .  Far too many college head coaches forget the players that they can’t seem to get motivated are only bringing down the entire team and are only wasting their own lives and the time of the players that are making maximum effort if they are not fully committed to playing football for the team and school.

No college football coach better understood that it was a privilege to play for a college football team and school than Paul “Bear” Bryant and coincidentally he also had the most loyal former players even though he was one of the toughest coaches in the history of the game.  Very simply, Paul Bryant understood that the most powerful force inside American young men was that when an authority figure, like a parent or coach, always asked and demanded a lot of young men that they will go to great lengths to not disappoint the authority figure and his teammates that are also working hard to meet the expectations of the coach.  At that very point is the sweet spot that can motivate American young men, and even young women, to do great things whether it is in the workplace, in the military or on the football field.  No, the college head football coach that asks a lot of his players will not have any friendships or even close relationships with his players while the young men are in school but he will have long-term and very loyal friends for the rest of his life.

Just ask Gene Stallings, Joe Namath, John David Crow or  anyone else that played for Paul Bryant and you will learn a lot about motivating young men to play Winning Football.

What about that Super Bowl III that Bill Curry and Johnny Unitas played in against the New York Jets and the Great Joe Namath?

There was no one here at Coaches Hot Seat that was over 6 years old when Super Bowl III kicked off on January 12, 1969, but we have seen enough of it over the year and heard thousands of times about Joe Namath’s famous statement before the game about beating the Colts:

“We’re gonna win the game.  I guarantee it!”

Oh, that’s priceless!

Super Bowl III, January 12, 1969 – The Great Curt Gowdy doing the play-by-play

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