College Football

[mojoween]

Ugh that sucked out loud.  PSU just completely fell apart at the end.

I am glad that it wasn't a blowout though.

[Popples]

All right Alabama and Clemson, you have a hell of a job trying to compete with the Rose Bowl. I won't make it through the Sugar Bowl.

[mojoween]

I've been watching football since one but have only watched two games.  Damn these games run on and on.  

No way I can stay up to the end of the Sugar either.

[galaxygirl76]

My Iowa had their chances early on and then completely fell apart when CJ got injured. Why he stayed in the game is a mystery because that kid could end up getting drafted.

The PSU-USC game felt like it was on for days.

[Bastet]

That was a bit like the Cardiac Kids of old.  Go, Trojans!  You tried very hard to give away the game in the third quarter*, but then remembered how you can play.  Thanks for an entertaining Rose Bowl.  It was sad to see Adoree Jackson - one of the most versatile players I've seen in a while - unable to complete the game, but I loved seeing how excited he was when USC set themselves up with a chance to win it in regulation.

*Taking nothing away from Penn State's comeback in that quarter, but USC defenders started throwing themselves at runners' feet rather than tackling them, the offense got shell-shocked and did a whole lot of nothing for a while -- I was worried for a while that USC was really going to embarrass itself and the conference.

Now, go OU!

Edited January 3, 2017 by Bastet

[twoods]

4 and a half freaking hours. These college games are brutal, but I can't believe USC pulled it off. I think there is a hole in our ceiling from all the jumping done by hubby. Poor Penn State- the players and fans looked devastated. 

[benteen]

Ugh!  I want to put my head through the wall after Penn State lost.  Great game to be sure but PSU's shit playcalling cost them a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter.  Still, they proved they are back on the national stage and this should help recruiting.

It was a great game I will admit and I was very impressed with the USC quarterback Darnold. 

[Minneapple]

I'm glad PSU lost. So many of their fans act like Paterno is some kind of hero and that poor old Penn State had to overcome a bunch of adversity. 

Chryst's sweatshirt is the winner of bowl season.

[BitterApple]

30 minutes ago, Minneapple said:

I'm glad PSU lost. So many of their fans act like Paterno is some kind of hero and that poor old Penn State had to overcome a bunch of adversity. 

Chryst's sweatshirt is the winner of bowl season.

What happened in the Paterno era was awful, but this current team and its' staff had nothing to do with that. Maybe the adversity they were talking about is the stigma of being associated with a school that harbored a child molester, but yeah, I understand what you mean. 

[benteen]

Believe me, I'm not blind over what happened at Penn State or blind about Paterno, a man who was at the school far too long.  What happened was awful and there's no excuse for it.  But the people who were involved are out of the university, either in jail or under indictment.  The current players and staff had nothing to do with what went on.

Edited January 3, 2017 by benteen

[Minneapple]

Mmm. Then maybe stop the tributes and ovations for Paterno, the movement to get his statue back, to have his wins restored (I know, they were restored) and acting like his legacy is the most important thing in the whole mess. It's those kinds of things that turn me off Penn State entirely.

[AimingforYoko]

Minnesota fires Head Coach Tracy Claeys.

This is more about what happened off the field.

[Constantinople]

This may be a UO, but I'm glad USC won the Rose Bowl (in contrast to PSU losing).

UW always comes first, but I'll always root for the Pac 8/10/12 team against the non-Pac 8/10/12 team.

[hendersonrocks]

Quote

 

Minnesota fires Head Coach Tracy Claeys.

This is more about what happened off the field.

 

He sealed his fate the moment he sent this tweet. He picked his players over the university, and they all ended up looking like asshats. 

[anyanka323]

4 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

Minnesota fires Head Coach Tracy Claeys.

This is more about what happened off the field.

I figured that most of the coaching staff would be gone, but coming shortly after their bowl win was a shocker.  I'm just relieved that they didn't drag it out and fire him right before the start of the season, like Illinois did with Tim Beckmann.  It gives Minnesota the chance to rebuild and finish the investigation. 

Speaking of coaches fired for abusing players, Kevin Wilson who was fired from Indiana for that reason in late November, got hired as OSU's offensive coordinator.  He's replacing Tim Beck, who is taking the same role at Texas. 

[xaxat]

On 1/1/2017 at 0:15 PM, anyanka323 said:

The Big 10 does have its faults, including some poor choices for invitations (Rutgers)

I'm sure the Big Ten hoped Rutgers would be more competitive, but the real reason they were invited was to get the Big Ten Network on  basic cable in the metro NY/NJ area. And by that measure, it was a total success.

Quote

Cablevision has 3.1 million subscribers in the area.  Time Warner has a little more than 2.6 million subscribers in New York state, many of them concentrated in the city.  New Jersey has a fraction of that at just over 40,000.  Let’s just be extra conservative and put the total number of subscribers that will now get BTN at 4 million.

Just from this deal alone, the Big Ten just pocketed an extra $48 million per year.

[Mischievious]

When will Musburger be fired? He just needs to go away. 

[Bastet]

Quote

When will Musburger be fired? He just needs to go away. 

I was on such a high from USC winning the Rose Bowl, and then I switched over to the Sugar Bowl and heard Brent Shitburger's voice and realized I was going to have to listen to him in order to watch OU.  I hate that guy.  He's not going to be back calling the national championship game, is he?  It was so nice without him last year.

[Popples]

1 minute ago, Bastet said:

I was on such a high from USC winning the Rose Bowl, and then I switched over to the Sugar Bowl and heard Brent Shitburger's voice and realized I was going to have to listen to him in order to watch OU.  I hate that guy.  He's not going to be back calling the national championship game, is he?  It was so nice without him last year.

No, ESPN shunted him off to the B/C team with Jesse Palmer. The National Championship game will be called by Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit. I like watching it on ESPN Classic because it doesn't have any commentators, you just hear the field announcer. "2nd down and 6, Alabama" stuff like that. The downside is ESPN Classic isn't in HD. I like to think ESPN demoted Musburger after he was making creepy comments on the attractiveness of AJ McCarron's now wife, Katherine Webb.

[Carey]

Actually, IIRC, ESPN had to demote Brent in order to keep Fowler (around the time FS1 was running well). Of course, Brent was in his mid-70s when the switch was made.  Those comments didn't help him, but they were not going to keep him as their lead announcer no matter what

[xaxat]

And, of course Brent managed to slip in one of his obligatory "That late touchdown didn't have an effect on anything other than the final score. (If you know what I mean, wink, wink.)"

Edited January 5, 2017 by xaxat

[mojoween]

I really want to watch The Cool Room on ESPN U but they have three screens and audio at the same level on all three.  What a strange decision.  

I wonder how many people are watching one of the homer channels and bitching about it because they don't know it's a homer channel.

[benteen]

Alabama is really pushing Clemson around.

[mojoween]

I can't believe it's not halftime yet.

[BitterApple]

Is it me or this game dragging? I feel like I've been watching this thing for four hours and we're just now getting to the second half.

[twoods]

So ass slow- it's not even the end of the third! That Alabama D sure is brutal- they are definitely the MVP of this game. 

[Slade347]

It's not just you, the game started around 8:15 and we're coming up on three hours and they still aren't out of the third quarter yet.

[benteen]

College football has been getting too long.  I blame the offense scheme Chip Kelly brought in years ago.  They ran plays so quickly that it led to a lot of kicks and punts.  I wish they would get rid of stopping the clock after every first down.  That was an archaic rule to deal with the triple option.  That would speed up games.

Still, I'm glad Clemson is keeping it close.

But yeah, this game is slow as hell.

[Artsda]

This game is still close, I'm loving it.

14 seconds and Clemson still has a chance.

Edited January 10, 2017 by Artsda

[twoods]

Finally! So happy for Clemson. After last season's heartbreak, they deserved this. 

Watson crying is making me cry. 

Edited January 10, 2017 by twoods

[benteen]

Clemson wins!

[Artsda]

Clemson did it! 

[Bastet]

Sweet!  I don't normally pay any attention to Clemson, but I was rooting for them hard tonight.  Nice to see them pull it off.

(And -- Suck it, Saban! [and Kiffin, even though he got the boot early, and Sarkisian])

Edited January 10, 2017 by Bastet

[roamyn]

Roamyn doing happy dance!

Happy Clemson finally broke over the wall, happy for the players, happy for the ACC, and happy Saban & Alabama LOST!

That first half was boring & slow, but the 4th Qtr nade up for it.

[stealinghome]

This game dragged for the first 3 quarters, but damn if the last 8 or so minutes weren't fantastic. Instant classic at least for the 4th quarter. And Deshaun Watson has a great smile.

Not a Saban fan, but I do feel for the Alabama players--what a sucktastic way to lose.

[Carey]

Man, if you're a Seahawks fan (or a Pats hater), you're probably saying, "Now it works!" with that final play before the final score. Richard Sherman isn't impressed somewhere, Pete Carroll is all "meh" and Russell Wilson, like Belichick is focused on Saturday.

Anyway, that was a great game. It nearly trended toward the level of that Notre Dame game from 4 years ago, but then what made BAMA special helped Clemson in the late stages.  It sucks for the Alabama players to get hosed in the end there. Nothing being called for those 14 points, but then DPI called. That was the right call, but I don't think it was in the endzone.  On the other hand, so many early NO-calls in favor of the Tide early, including a brutal targeting call.  That's a bit of a surprise, especially given the relevant story related to Matt Moore (albeit in the NFL).  It was the legacy treatment

At the end of the day, what better way for payback courtesy of Clemson at the expense of the Crimson Tide. No 15-0 for us? No 15-0 for you!  Clemson might take a minor step back. No way Deshaun is changing his mind, and he graduated faster than Peyton who did return (Manning didn't get the Title, but I think he more than made up for that from start to finish over the following 18 years). The Tigers should be okay, but unless Saban leaves, Alabama will be right there.  Even if say Auburn or LSU take that next step and win the SEC. Barring a great year from the other places, we'll finally get that second team from a conference in Bama. BTW, rather classy Saban there. No top notch congratulatory feelings, but no bitterness either. Just a simple sucks we lost but it is what it is

[Minneapple]

Poor Bama players. You think Voldemort yanks all their scholarships? 

Somewhere, Lane Kiffin is smirking. Oh, wait, that's just his resting face.

[DrSpaceman73]

On ‎1‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 5:38 PM, hendersonrocks said:

He sealed his fate the moment he sent this tweet. He picked his players over the university, and they all ended up looking like asshats. 

The coach is such an idiot and I can't believe he and the team were so tone deaf on this.  Basically they argue, "It wasn't rape, it was a consensual orgy!", as if that makes the whole problem go away and it all OK.  Idiots.  The coach saying he was so PROUD of his players?  Or something to that effect.  Yes, brings a tear to my eye.  Such great examples for everyone to follow. 

[Popples]

They've got to do something about the length of these games. I barely made it to the beginning of the 4th quarter before I gave in to sleep, luckily I recorded it.

Congratulations to Clemson, although this celebration has me saying, "Ouch!" LOL

[mojoween]

Well damn.  I didn't make it past halftime and it sounds like I wouldn't have made it past the fourth quarter anyways.  I hope ESPN shows a replay somewhere so I can catch the second half.

Question - the crowd was clearly pro-Clemson.  When Steve Spurrier comes out, do they cheer for him because of the South Carolina connection, do they jeer because of the same reason, do they jeer because he is SEC and they are playing SEC or do they not care at all because they are ACC?

[Popples]

3 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Well damn.  I didn't make it past halftime and it sounds like I wouldn't have made it past the fourth quarter anyways.  I hope ESPN shows a replay somewhere so I can catch the second half.

The SEC Network is replaying it at noon today, and ESPNU is replaying it at noon tomorrow.

[benteen]

What a great game.  I agree that it absolutely dragged for the first three quarters but that last quarter was great.  Congratulations to Clemson...I've followed their rise over the last eight years and it's been truly impressive to see.  In a way, Clemson's victory reminds me of Villanova winning the national title in basketball last year.  Program wins its second national title after more than 30 years in a last-second thriller, beating a historical powerful (North Carolina in Villanova's case) who was favored. 

Considering how bad the bowl season and semifinals were, this was a great way to cap off the College Football season.  Despite not being happy with the result, the Rose Bowl was a great game and Michigan/Florida State was really entertaining too (at least after the first three quarters).

On Spurrier, the crowd ended up booing them.  I imagine that was from a lot of Clemson fans because they remember how many times he used to beat them.

Edited January 10, 2017 by benteen

[DrSpaceman73]

It was a great game last night and I am glad I stayed up to watch, but 4 hours for a college game, way too long.  Ended after midnight.  If they are not going to shorten the game they need to start it earlier.  I imagine some fans gave up at the end of the 3rd quarter, like I almost did. 

 

I didn't really have a rooting interest in either team, just enjoyed a well played game.  I thought Alabama was going to win, had the lead most of the game. 

I am surprised there is not more talk of

1.  the decision to go for the TD with 6 seconds left.  They risked taking too much time and not even getting the FG

2.  That onside kick was actually dangerous.  If Alabama had recovered with 1 second left, they had a chance for a long TD throw. 

It worked out because they made the TD and recovered the kick, but either could have backfired. 

[Ohwell]

17 minutes ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

It worked out because they made the TD and recovered the kick, but either could have backfired. 

Yeah well, in life, sometimes you just gotta take risks.  ; )

[Carey]

I had no issue with Clemson going for it. Not to use another analogy, but the Steelers were in the same boat in their Week 16 game. FG is okay since it gives you OT, but OT can be cruel.

I think Clemson going for it was the right call. If that TD doesn't work, they're kicking. Barring a turnover.  The thing is OT favored the Tigers the way things turned out, so with the options, it worked out for them.  Maybe if Alabama had used their TO's maybe they get one more shot. OTOH, I think the Tide should've let them score, but how that would have benefited them played out too soon.

If Bama had one last throw, with reasonable field position, that would have been exciting too.  Clemson would have stopped it though, unless Jalen Hurt and Aaron Rodgers swapped for a play

[benteen]

I think Clemson was right to go for it.  They had just enough time for two plays.

The onside kick was a risk but unexpected.  It was a little ironic as Saban going for an onside kick last year was what swung the game in Alabama's favor last year.

[TobinAlbers]

4 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

1.  the decision to go for the TD with 6 seconds left.  They risked taking too much time and not even getting the FG

Man, Dabo and that team have some BIG ones. I was sweating that clock ticking down as they drew closer and closer to the endzone. Groaned every time they decided to throw and was ready to throw up when I saw them lining up for the TD with only 6 seconds left.  That is some serious belief in your QB and team to go for the win when they could've easily gotten the tie.  I know a FG ain't a sure thing, but they were cutting it soooooo close. Whew.

It did remind me of the Texas -USC game although for some reason it felt like Texas/Vince Young had an even more insurmountable deficit to overcome and did it in a shorter time. But it may be the mind exaggerating. It was definitely one of those underdog defeats the powerhouse that's all but been crowned kind of situations that makes these games so fun.

Football has it's scandals and downsides but it also has it feel good moments and works great as a metaphor about life.  No matter how down you get, you can always come back. A loss last year is experience, focus, and drive for the next moment that will serve you well.

Never, ever, ever, EVER give up.

[topanga]

On 1/9/2017 at 10:22 PM, BitterApple said:

Is it me or this game dragging? I feel like I've been watching this thing for four hours and we're just now getting to the second half.

Do any of you watch the Rich Eisen show or listen to the podcast? He some hilarious and accurate comments yesterday's show. Suggestions about some changes that college football should make, such as:

1) not stopping the clock on every first down

2) The chain gang moving faster--his comments were especially funny on this one

3) The many, many play reviews throughout the game. 

--I was surprised that Clemson won, but whenever I don't have a horse in the race, I always root for the underdog. 

[BitterApple]

Topanga, I didn't see the show, but those are all great suggestions. It felt like the refs were reviewing every other play and it just killed all the momentum. I  understand it's the National Championship and they don't want to have to go into witness protection if the game turned on a blown call, but Christ. There's never going to be a perfectly officiated game. I was happy Clemson won as well, mainly because I thought Deshaun Watson got screwed out of the Heisman, so I was happy to see his career end on a high note.

[PepSinger]

As an Alabama fan, I am sad we lost. That being said, if we had to lose to anyone, then I'm glad it was Clemson. They were worthy.

Nonetheless, I'm sure the Tide will ROLL at next year's National Championship game. :-)

Are there any other Bama fans here? It's lonely.