Tune in tonight to another Live In The Bleachers podcast where my guest will be the Heisman Pundit. HP will be coming on to discuss the 2008 Heisman hopefuls, what it takes to be a Heisman hopeful, along with answering a few other questions that I have and that you might have.
If you can’t make the live podcast, don’t worry. I will still post the file on the site and all of your feedburner and iTunes subscriptions will still get the In The Bleachers Podcast. By doing the show live, we hope to get some listener interaction via the chat room or even if you want to call in.
Once again we will be using Talkshoe to do the live podcast. If you plan on being there, sign up for a username so I know who you are when you are in the chat room. It only takes a few seconds and it is free! The information for tonight’s live podcast is below:
We are a little over a week into summer, the 4th of July is at the end of the week, and now is a great time to go to the beach. But for college football fans, July is a horrible month. Unless your team shows up in the police blotter, or gets a verbal commitment from an upcoming senior, this month is a slow crawl towards the start of fall camp.
Johnson wants to make
it 6 years of bowling
If it isn’t already in your RSS Feeds, July is a great month to head over to Saturday Soundoffs. Eric, who has joined the ITB staff, has started his two-a-days which are excellent. Yesterday he took a look at Colorado State and North Dakota State.
Former Navy coach and new Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson has his hands full this year with the Yellow Jackets. Johnson will be installing a new offense, but is stuck with the talent left from Chan Gailey. Under Johnson, Navy went to five straight bowl games, but it looks as if his personal run will end this year…or will it.
As Adam and I talked about in the last episode of the In The Bleachers Podcast, we both think that BYU has a chance to crash the BCS Bowl party this year. The Mountain West Conference Connection has found some predictions that has said that BYU or Utah could end up in the top 5. BYU with their schedule and number of returning starters could finish in the top 5 after winning every game this year, but I think Utah has a little shot of finishing in the top 25, but will not finish in the top 5.
JayPa’s bocce
outfit
USC is quickly piling up the blue chip recruits once again this year, and with the ongoing Reggie Bush investigation, there are plenty of rumors of possible violations by the Trojans. Over at the Barking Carnival TaylorTRoom looks at the history of college football recruiting cheating which he breaks into four parts.
Recruiting and Happy Valley are not mixing right now. If you are like me and a member of BWI’s Lions’ Den, you probably have noticed that there have been a lot of bickering and fighting over losing recruits to Rutgers and Pitt in the past few weeks. There is one person that is still the #1 lightning rod for the fans to pick on, Jay Paterno. Jay has been spending a lot of time blogging for Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, and word has gotten out that he played in a celebrity bocce tournament. Maybe if the younger Paterno spent more time on the recruiting trail or developing quarterbacks than playing with balls, he wouldn’t get such grief.
Kate doesn’t need
coffee to make her hot
July also brings out my favorite…the preseason football polls. I have no problem with people voicing their opinions on who they think are the top 25 teams, but there should be no “official” polls till after the 3rd or 4th week of the season. On the Bleacher Report John Lynch takes a stab at his Top 25 preseason poll. As you can tell by some of the comments, they are not too happy who he has in it. My favorite argument is how certain fans always think their team(s) is overlooked or disrespected. Calm down people, let them play a game first before you flip out.
It has been a rainy end of June here in Pittsburgh, but it is nothing compared to what is going on in the Midwest. Head over to Mizzourah and find out how you can help people who have been victimized by the floods.
Finally, the Heisman Pundit is back with an improved, updated, new-looking site. He’s great as always, and I have an email in to him to come on the In The Bleachers Podcast (hopefully Wednesday) to talk about the Heisman hopefuls for 2008. While we are waiting check out his new article asking; Is it really that important to have a quarterback who is an elite NFL-prospect in your program?
I hope everyone enjoyed the first few picks of my most likely FCS over FBS upsets for 2008. In an effort to prolong the suspense and incur more complaints from ACC fans I’ve decided to get to games seven through five tomorrow morning. Today however we are taking a look at a hodgepodge of FCS (I-AA for you purists) related links to include blogs, websites, and You Tube videos.
If you’re not familiar with FCS football I’d suggest checking some of these out, as by now you’ve probably had just about as much USC, Florida, and Texas news and notes as a sane person could possibly stand. Not so much? Well, at least I have.
First things first, let’s get to the blogs. While there isn’t as big of a market for FCS coverage from the college football blogosphere as there is for FBS teams, there are still several great places to read up on some of the best teams and leagues from around the country. One of my favorites is Frank Smith’s UMass Football Blog. Frank is about as immersed in the football program at the University of Massachusetts as a fan can get, and provides daily updates on the happenings of FCS teams from around the country. He’s extremely knowledgeable when it comes to teams from the Colonial Athletic Conference, and has keen eye for what it takes for FCS teams to upset FBS teams.
Another solid option for FCS reading is Chuck Burton’s Lehigh Football Nation, which contrary to its title is not exclusively about Lehigh or football. Consider it a one stop shop for commentary and analysis from around the Patriot league, and a very good one at that.
Moving right along, the New Hampshire Football Report does a great job on keeping tabs on not only University of New Hampshire football program, but all levels of football throughout the state to include high school. If you’re looking for Big Sky conference coverage you’re in luck, as no FCS conference is more represented than the one many people believe is among the best in the country.
Another great place to read up on Big Sky Football is Steve Bergum’s Eastern Washington Sports Blog. Also notable is Kellis Robinett’s Idaho State sports Blog, which tells you everything you ever wanted to know and more about Pocatello’s Bengals.
And don’t forget The Grizzoulian, which is the place to catch up on University of Montana athletics and football. Colin O’Keefe does an awesome job covering the Griz, while at the same time providing meaningful commentary and analysis from across the Big Sky conference.
Outside of blogs, there are also a number of traditional websites and web forums that provide great coverage and updated news on all the FCS teams from around the country. Perhaps the best place to start out is CollegeSportingNews.com, which could rightly be called the foremost authority on small school football on the web.
Another favorite of mine is the massive FCS message forum AnyGivenSaturday.com. AGS is full of knowledgably, dedicated fans from every FCS school in the country, and if you’re looking for the latest scoop this is the place to check out.
If you’re in to weekly previews I definitely suggest checking out the FCS Weekly Preview, where Eric Gemunder does a fantastic job breaking down all the week’s FCS games each week during the season. And don’t forget the FCS Launchpad, where you can find even more links to polls, rankings, and commentary from around the Championship Subdivision.
Now, on to the really fun stuff. You Tube has become an essential tool for today’s college football fan, and not just for the fans of top FBS teams for that matter. Many FCS teams have highlights posted on You Tube, while many more have features and interviews with players and coaches. For starters, you can actually watch entire football games from! one of the universities to later be featured on our upset countdown. McNeese State went undefeated in the regular season last year, and if you’ve got two and a half hours to kill you can see them upset the likes of Louisiana Lafayette or obliterate Southern Utah.
But wait; let’s say you’re the kind of person who needs your Sportscenter highlights. Not to worry, as you can watch, rewatch, and watch Tyler Roehl run all over Minnesota again and again. If Montana football is your thing, or you just like watching high quality abridged versions of Big Sky football domination, you can also check out all of Montana’s regular season wins in 2007. And of course, no discussion about FCS teams on You Tube could be complete without the many versions and highlights of Appalachian State’s victory over Michigan last season. You can relive highlights here, over here, and my personal favorite here.
Click away my friends, a whole new college football experience awaits!
As I sit in my office home, without the air conditioning working, and the outside temperature set to reach the mid 90’s today, I thought I should write a quick blog before I pass out from heat exhaustion.
Not to toot my own horn, but your esteemed Editor of In The Bleachers (myself of course) recently had an article picked up by Fox Sports. I’ve come a long way from the bumbling idiot who can’t pronounce names on the podcast and has trouble putting together complete sentences. Now can someone please tell me how to properly say Patrick White?
Today is June 6th, and if there are any history buffs out there like myself, you know that it is the 64th anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy or as we all know it as D-Day. Both of my grandfathers’ served in World War II and I am sure many of you know people who also served in that war. If they so happen to be still alive, thank them today for what they did for not only this country, but the World.
Today is also the 46th birthday of my favorite Nebraska Cornhusker Blogger. Forty six years ago today, Jon Johnston was delivered by a stork to a remote cornfield in Nebraska. He then became a Cornhusker fan, and writes about his love affair with corn at Corn Nation. Happy Birthday Jon!
Back from a hiatus, well not really because he still wrote on the AOL Fan House, but John Radcliff is back writing on the Mountainlair. It is great to have John back on that site. Not only is he great at making musical parodies but he has located me a couch or two that were some how fire proof.
A day or two ago I wrote about how John Parker Wilson will have to find a new target since DJ Hall has graduated. Nic Gulas over at the Bleacher Report (a site that you can find ITB Syndicated on) asks the question: Is true freshman Julio Jones the next DJ Hall?
Am I the only person in the United States that doesn’t get all excited to watch UFC, MMA, or whatever the latest fighting craze is? I’ll admit these guys are tough and would probably dispose of me in under 15 seconds (depending on how fast they are to catch me while I run around the right) but I just don’t get all the hype and personally I think it is fixed. That being said, Bruce Feldman caught up with a MMA fighter who so happens to be the punter for the Pitt Football team. I bet Pitt wished they had him back in 1999 when Lavar Arrington beat the crap out of the Panthers’ punter after one play.
In case there are any single ladies that read In The Bleachers, our friend Big Head (he has that name for a reason) recently decided to enter the world of MySpace. He is there for “Dating” and “Serious Relationships”, but if he asks…tell him Large Marge sent ya.
If you don’t read it regularly, check out the blog Hey Jenny Slater. Fridays are a great day over there as he gives us 10 songs to check out, but today he gives us a special treat, a Random 15. He also gives us bloggers (myself included) a reality check on how we aren’t as young as we use to be.
Just to give you an idea of how old 30 is, I was talking to my mom on the phone the other day and she mentioned that she’d run into one of our former next-door neighbors whose kids I used to babysit all the time. The younger of those kids is starting at Georgia Southern this fall; the older one joined the Marines, made it through Paris Island, and is currently headed off to California. It’s always nice to know that the hyperactive six-year-old you watched after school is now more than capable of kicking your ass.
Thankfully I got another 6 months till I hit the Big three-oh. In the meantime, I am going to crank up some Christmas tunes to get my mind in a winterly mood while trying to stay cool in this air conditionedless office. Have a great weekend everyone!
Just to get you in the correct mood for this post, watch this first:
First we start in the nation’s heartland where new coach Bo Pelini has visions of bring back Nebraska football to the way it was in the mid 90s, but don’t expect any miracles to happen for this year. That doesn’t mean there is not optimism for the Husker fans. There have been reports that fans have paid in excess of $95 to see a practice game. Seriously, we’re talking about practice here, not a game, but practice. Corn Nation has a list of the teams for the practice game over on his site. Sometimes I wonder about that guy, he would rather watch how the hogs are doing up front than the skilled guys.
Mitch couldn’t beat
out Sanchez
Keeping in the Big 12 North, the Missouri Tigers might not even have enough players to field a team for their spring game. The latest is backup O-Lineman Austin Wuebbles got arrested when the cops found marijuana and a metal marijuana smoking pipe. It doesn’t end there, Wuebbles also had a fake ID and beer in his car. Instead of having football practice, maybe the Tigers’ coaching staff should hold practice on how to act like a normal adult. But I got to hand it to Big Head, even when faced with all this trouble for his team, he still knows how to rub one in on his rival.
The players over at UCLA must have a little bit of Allen Iverson syndrome since the seniors thought they were too good to practice. Actually it is a time honored tradition where the Seniors skipped a practice, but most of Bruin Nation, including offensive coordinator Norm Chow, isn’t laughing at all. I thought all that Senior skip stuff was only done in High School? Maybe it is a sign to Bruins fans that this year’s team might resemble a high school one. But even with the missed practice. head coach Rick Neuheisel has seen enough of the quarterback battle to name Patrick Cowan the starter over Ben Olson.
One way to get out of practice is to not attend class and get ruled ineligible to participate in practice in the Spring. That was what happened to USC’s Joe McKnight. McKnight dropped a class in the Spring and that put him below the 12 credits needed to participate. This should have no bearing on his fall eligibility though. Unlike McKnight, Mark Sanchez took full advantage of his time on the field last year and in spring practice this year. So much so that Pete Carroll named Sanchez the starter for the fall over Mitch Mustain. I don’t think this is much of a surprise given that Sanchez has been with the program for awhile, and has game experience. But one has to wonder if Mustain is second guessing his decision to transfer to USC and not another team with a quarterback situation that would’ve better suited him.
Ryan doesn’t
need practice!!
If you are envious of Joe McKnight not having to go to class and therefore forfeiting his right to practice, Ryan Perrilloux has one upped McKnight. Not only did Perrilloux not practice with LSU much (if at all) this spring, he got in trouble at a local bar, he was suspended due to violating team rules, and has academic problems (says Miles). One writer says that LSU should dismiss Perrilloux for these violations, but we all know that won’t happen, especially in the SEC. One would think that a player that has gotten into so much trouble would either have to work in practice to get his job back, or be off the team all together. No way, Miles tells us that it was all a misunderstanding, no one knows what is going on inside his team but him and that Perrilloux is key to the success of the Tigers.
In Hawaii I am sure they are longing for Yesterday, but without Colt Brennan and his cast of characters, including June Jones, the Warriors are trying to find out in practice what kind of team they will have this year. This team will have to travel to Florida to play the Gators early in the season, ouch! This Hawaii football blog is a good source of info for the Warriors and how they are progressing through the 2008 Spring practice drills.
Finally, I will be heading up to State College to watch the annual Penn State Blue and White practice Game. One of the battles I have been watching closely is the quarterback one. Both Daryll Clark and Pat Devlin have looked good in practice, and even though many think it is Clark’s to lose due to Paterno’s allegiance to the older one, I think this will continue into the fall. And maybe into the season. This is a case where I believe we could seen another two quarterback system in Happy Valley, like in 1999 with Kevin Thompson and Rashard Casey. For more coverage of the happenings in the Valley, check out the Blue and White Roundtable.
Well all in all I got 18 practices in, not bad but no where near as good as Mr. Iverson.
In The Bleachers will be teaming up with our friend MizzouRAH and CFB Weekly to bring you some good old spring time football predictions for the 2008 season. I know Big Head has some great writers and bloggers lined up and we all plan on giving our thoughts on the 2008 season. Big Head has told me that this Friday he will come out with our Bold Predictions Top 10. Just to make it known, here is who I voted for in the poll:
With an honorable mention to Texas Tech and Wisconsin. We are also going to be predicting the player of the year, surprise teams, teams set up for disappointment, BCS and New Years Day Bowl predictions, and maybe even some conference champions.
After a little bit of a delay, the 2007 College Football Blogger Awards have been slowly announced over the past few days. In The Bleachers was fortunate enough to be nominated for the Podcast or Best Audio award. Although we did not win this award, we finished second to a deserving EDSBS Live podcast and am fortunate that enough people though enough of the podcast to vote it in second place.
I would like to thank everyone who visits this site, reads the blog, and listens to the podcast. I know I personally enjoy the podcasting more than the writing, but what I enjoy much more is when people actually take time out to read or listen to what I have to say. I appreciate all comments, good and bad, on the blog and the podcast. Hopefully in the coming weeks I will find time to update this layout and make it more pleasing to the eye.
I have a few other thanks to throw out. I first want to thank Ron Juckett for getting all of this started. Many of you might not know this but Ron started the blog called Smart Guys Sports back in 2005 which is where the In The Bleachers Podcast originated from. He along with Charlie Swager and Chris Mason are regulars on the podcast and have been here since the beginning. Those guys really added a lot to the podcast, and hopefully in the future our schedules will align and we can begin talking football once again.
I do not plan on quitting this anytime soon, I am having too much fun. My goal is to get more bloggers and guests on the podcasts because I think it makes the podcast more interesting. If you are a blogger and want to come on the show, please shoot me an email and I’d be glad to have you on. The next podcast should be coming out within the week as I will have Orson Swindle from EDSBS on the show.
Thanks again everyone…now we can proceed with our regularly scheduled programming.
Nothing says spring football like a cold-snowy day in the northeastern portion of the United States. Well we all know that isn’t true, but there is one team that does start spring practice today and that is the Texas Longhorns. The have their first scheduled practice today at 3:45 pm and it all concludes on March 29th with their spring scrimmage. I think that is about the time most of the teams up in this region will be starting their spring practices. Today and tomorrow’s practice will be open to the public.
It is also a time honored tradition by the bloggers to pay homage to the Fulmer Cup. As we all know, the Fulmer Cup was invented by Orson of EDSBS and it involves a scoring system for schools based on the trouble that their players get in. Since Tennessee notoriously would be near the top of this list (see this year), their coach would take a lot of grief from the media about their off the field behavior. Well Phil Fulmer has had enough and fired back at a local reporter with a letter to the editor.
For anyone out there wanting to get away from this horribly snowy weather, I suggest a little place called Hawaii. Great weather, beaches, and I hear the women are nice there too. The Hawaii Fan Blog (one of my favorites) has the itinerary for the 2008 “Football `Ohana Festival” Schedule. It involves meeting the players, photos with them, autographs, and watching a scrimmage and a practice. Did I mention that you will be in Hawaii where the weather is nice?
High 5 for spring football
& since the strike is over
Bloggers aren’t the only ones who are bored during the offseason of college football, the mainstream writers feel the same way. But unlike the Bloggers, mainstream media members have access to a lot of information and people that bloggers aren’t so they can write some good articles…like predicting the 2008 Big Ten standings. I don’t know about you, but everyone has trouble enough doing that in August and September, but it is only February! Well that ESPN article struck a nerve with a particular Iowa Blogger and he had a few nice words to say.
A website to keep an eye on during the offseason is BCS Busters. Ben is currently putting the finishing touches on a book called The Grass Ain’t Blue In Georgia - The Story Behind the BCS Controversy. Ben is a very knowledgeable person on this topic and in college football in general. So far since the BCS title game he has written two posts Sizing Up the SEC and talking about the history of the conference. Part one talks about Alabama and Auburn, while Part two discusses Georgia and Florida.
28th Anniversary of
The Miracle on Ice
Right now I am half way through breaking down the six BCS Conferences and what they key battles and improvements that each team needs to work on during spring practice. If you happened to have ESPN Insider, check out Bruce Feldman’s latest blog on the Top 8 Quarterback battles this spring. I was surprised to see Nate Longshore’s name on this list, but I guess when your team crashes like Cal did at the end of last year, no position is safe. Other teams he talks about and predicts winners of the QB battles are LSU, South Carolina, Auburn, USC, Penn State, Miami, and Michigan.
This is not college football…or even football related, but today is the 28th Anniversary of the greatest upset in the history of the world…the Miracle on Ice. On that chilly night in Lake Placid, New York, a squad of mostly college students took on the best professional team in the world, the USSR. As we all know they won the game 4-3…and the next game beat Finland to capture the Gold Medal. It was a great boost for a country, that at the time, was in maybe it’s darkest days morale wise. I was only a little over a year old at the time of the game, and still to this day, if there were a sporting even I wish I would have attended live…The Miracle on Ice would be #1 on my list.
We are 6 days removed from the 2008 LOI day and there are really only a few things to look forward to if you are a college football fan. First is the Terrelle Pryor saga and where he will end up signing. As I understand it right now, he will visit Penn State this weekend and is still thinking about going to Oregon, but that’s a long shot right now. In my opinion, it is down to Ohio State, who I believe is still his leader, and Penn State for his services. According to this statistical model done by the Mercer University School of Business and Economics, Penn State has a 35.9% probability of signing him with Ohio State second at 23.8%.
I believe if Penn State is honest with him about what the plan will be after Joe Paterno retires, they will have a great shot in landing him. I will be talking about Pryor and other recruiting news on tonight’s Under Center show with Adam Nettina. If you check out Adam’s site, you will see how to listen live to the show. It runs every Tuesday from 8pm to 10pm and tonight I am slated to go on at 9pm EST. Once again I will record the show and put it up for a podcast so the readers of this blog can hear the interview.
Russell Shepard is
a name to remember
The final recruiting rankings are out, and since Pryor’s signing will have no impact on the top 5…here they are from Rivals.com.
But if you take a closer look at the commitment list you will see that both Alabama and Miami have 32 and 33 signees respectively. Since you can only take 25 per year, that leaves a few people that the schools are expecting won’t qualify and have to go the prep school route, or greyshirt and enroll in the school in January of 2009. Rivals.com usually updates this list again near fall camp time.
One team name you don’t see up there is the USC Trojans, but they have already had a head start on the 2009 class. As of this moment the Trojans have 9 verbal commitments for 2009. Matt Barkley is regarded as the #1 QB recruit in the 2009 class and is the marquee guy to verbal to USC so far. It use to be that Texas would be the team that jumped out front with the early verbals, but USC has beat them to the punch this year.
An interesting battle that will be shaping up on the recruiting field will be one for the athletic quarterback Russell Shepard from Texas. Sheppard has already attended Texas’ Junior Day, but has not committed to them yet, and now word out of Michigan is that they are hot after him since the Wolverines are skeptical that they will not get Pryor in this class. Shepard has said that he wants a chance to play QB and he would get that at Michigan and most likely start there, but at Texas he would face some stiff competition and might end up playing another position. This is a battle I would definitely keep my eye on.
A lot of times it isn’t getting the best recruits or athletes to come to your school as much as getting the ones that will fit your particular system. For example, a running quarterback at West Virginia (and now Michigan), a pro style passer at USC, or a combination runner/passer like at Florida. Some coaches can adjust their offense to the types of players they get, but for the most part teams will recruit kids that fit their system. Chris over at Barking Carnival is going to be doing a multipart series called Let’s Build An Offense. The first part is called Building A Base and in part 2 he will look at Basic plays installed, and counters for the looks defenses would give us. This is a series that football fans should seriously look at because it is really well written and the analysis is great. Articles like this are one of the main reasons why Barking Carnival was my choice for top new blog of the year.
Pryor still undecided
1 day before LOI Day
Speaking of building an offense around a talented player, it is day…um…who really cares at this point, of the Where will Terrelle Pryor go watch. What we do know right now is that tomorrow is National LOI Day. That I know for certain, but what we do not know right now is where, when, or if Pryor will sign his LOI tomorrow. Three conflicting reports have come out, all saying different things. The first one came from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette saying that Pryor would sign on Wednesday and that he had called Oregon to tell them that the Ducks were eliminated from the running.
A few hours later Rivals.com came out with a report from their staff saying that Pryor still may not sign on Wednesday, and that he had not eliminated Oregon. Pryor stated in this article that there is a 50/50 chance that he would sign his LOI tomorrow. Finally, another Pittsburgh paper, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review states that Pryor said there is an 80% chance he will sign his LOI on Wednesday and that he has not eliminated anyone out of Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, and Oregon. Also, he says that he does not have a leader at this point.
So what does this all mean? I have no freaking idea. I’ve followed his recruiting closer than any other recruit, mainly because he plays football close to my home town and the media attention he gets is non-stop. Pryor is either really media savy for an 18 year old or he really has no idea where he wants to go. I presume to think he still hasn’t made up his mind and with the pressure culminating of LOI day being tomorrow, it is making it worse on him. If I were to make a prediction right now, I suspect he doesn’t sign tomorrow. He will make a trip to Oregon to see what Eugene is all about, come home and sit down with his family, and make his decision.
Don’t forget tonight I will be a guest on the show Under Center, hosted by Adam Nettina. I will be discussing more Terrelle Pryor news, along with some other Big Ten information that I have about recruiting. I have gotten the go ahead from Adam to tape my segment on the show and post it as a podcast for those who cannot listen to it live. For a full list of his guest check out his blog Under Center.
One last reminder that In The Bleachers will be live blogging LOI day tomorrow, starting at around 7:30 am est and continuing through most of the day. Any time I hear any rumors or infomation of note such as signings or where people are leaning, I will post them on the blog. If you have any tips please email them to me at inthebleachers[at]gmail[dot]com.
Brian Sakowski is a college football nut. He is a Penn State fan, but loves to talk about college football with anyone and everyone! This blog is the home of the longest running general college football podcast on the internet.
I hope everyone enjoyed the first few picks of 
