Damn Good First Two CFB Weekends, Eh?

Alright, I've got the college football bug now. And is it me or is are the scheduling g-ds cooperating to such a degree that the first few weeks of action are looking tastier than ever? Maybe my memory is fading...such could likely be the case. But I certainly don't immediately recall quality ranked match-ups early in the season like we have to look forward in 2010. I'm used to cream puffs and maybe a weak out-of-conference kind of contest pretending to be a real test. But have you checked out the first two weeks of this here season, people?

Well, let's just put aside the you-knew-it-would-be-good Pitt/Utah game that went to OT before the Panthers fell and crapped away any lofty dreams they may have harbored. Let's look to Saturday...and Monday. I don't have the time or energy to break down why each of these is so money, but just take my early word. If you can find some time, check out LSU against a depleted Tar Heels squad in Atlanta on Saturday in a battle of two top-25 squads.

If that doesn't tickle you, give a peek at Oregon St. as the Beavers try to squash the lofty titles hopes of the #6 TCU Horned Frogs. Still not satisfied? Sit tight for a top-10 showdon in week one. Boise and Va Tech. As much as I'd like to finally believe in the Broncos, I'm hard pressed to take the blue turf warriors over the Hokies in their general territory.

Then...then...if week one didn't get you going, consider some of the names meeting up in only week two:

- An intriguing out-of-conference clash as Georgia Tech travels to Lawerence, KS to face the Jayhawks

- The Georgia Bulldogs face SEC foe South Carolina at the Gamecocks following a surprisingly (in my mind) easy SC win over Southern Miss where Garcia and Lattimer made the offense look alive for Spurrier

- The Bowden-less #20 Seminoles take their show on the road to Norman, OK and the #7 Sooners. It won't take long to find out about Jimbo's FSU crew

- Then, if you're still hungry, the #13 Canes and #2 Buckeyes...

- And for the cherry on top, stay tuned for two of the most storied programs in all of college football - #19 Penn St. and top-ranked Alabama - in a lovely nightcap.

I'm fired up. How 'bout y'all?

College Football Kickoff: 15 Reasons to Rejoice!

Yes, Hook Us, Indeed

This is my annual tribute to college football. It's now entering year four and is slightly updated each year (no time to re-write the list each year, plus it's timeless...right?). Please jump in on the comments...

Tonight. College football is here to-night. Oh, happy, happy day. Tonight, I've got a late dinner, but you can be damn sure I will watch Hawaii/USC. The outcome or relative competitiveness of the game means little. Sign. Me. Up. I have absolutely no affiliation with either of these fine institutions, but I'm ready to rock. Why? Because I love college football.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not that different from most other red-blooded American alpha male types living in this country. Sundays are devoted to The League. And Mondays. Sometimes Thursdays. Saturdays later in the fall. Give me the Jets at 1 and Giants at 4 (or any other game for that matter), and I’m the proverbial pig in sh*t. Toss in another FOX or CBS game to jump with and top it off with a decent Sunday night game? It doesn’t get much better than that.

But that doesn't mean a quality Saturday can't hang right there with the NFL's best slate. College football just has something. Maybe it’s the uniforms, the passion, the rivalries…maybe it’s the crowd, the youth, traditions, the number of schools you can follow...

All I know is that I can sit and watch an early Big Ten game (albeit only if in a decent haze from the previous evening), followed by some ACC afternoon action and into the night with the SEC and Big 12. I have not one logical reason for rooting for any team. I didn’t go to LSU or Florida. I am not a Notre Dame alum or Michigan Wolverines fan. I grew up in a NYC suburb and my alma mater -- well, they’re really good at lacrosse.

Back to what it is about college football. I can’t put my finger on it. So, here are only a few of the things that immediately come to mind in no particular order. Those of you who either (a) attended an institution with big-time college football or (b) have witnessed multiple games of a big-time program in-person, please share/comment/testify.

By the way, I'm making an exodus to Oxford and the Grove this October. Watch out for this here Yankee. I like pretty gals...wearing fancy clothes for no reason...and football...and bourbon...and awesome tradition...and, oh am I excited about this one. Sorry, sidebar, back to some overall reasons for college gridiron awesomeness.

15. Overtime Games: OK, so maybe they can get a bit ridiculous based on the college OT format. But, still, is there much better drama when a major conference rivarly game heads to extra sessions and the stategery comes into play? Love. It. Plus, it helped produce the greatest game I've ever seen.

14. The Grove: Just the idea of it has always seemed so right in so many ways. Now, I will experience it. I look forward to reporting back, my people.

13. Howard's Rock: There are dozens if not hundreds of traditions tied to over a century-plus of college football. Call me old-fashioned, but there's something about the simplicity, longevity and sense of shared experience tied to the simple action of rubbing that rock that gets me every time.

12.Passion: Every game is the beginning and end of all things. The players play that way. The coaches coach that way. The fans celebrate that way. I approve.

11. Those F-in Golden Domes: I can't stand Notre Dame. Watching them wallow in mediocrity the past few years has actually been quite pleasurable. That's why it's so difficult to say something nice about Notre Dame football. But those helmets, and the tradition surrounding them, is pretty damn cool.

10. Helmet Stickers: Sure, they might seem a little amateurish, but they make sense for the college game. I'm a big fan of the tomahawks at FSU and the dog bones at Georgia. I don't even mind the weed stickers they throw on those silver melon protectors in Columbus. If nothing else, it's a pretty quick way to identify the sick mofos on the field.

9. Stadiums with Nicknames: It’s not Alltel Stadium or Raymond James, for the most part (I still can't believe there's a Papa John's stadium, but I guess a college campus is as appropriate a place as any), and that's a good thing. The Swamp. Death Valley. Between the Hedges. The Shoe. Nice.

8. Fight/Stadium Songs: You can debate the best until you're blue in the face. Fact is, you didn't go to the school and yet you still hum along to the fight song. That's pretty big time. I'm also a sucker for those teams that make the trip over to the hometown stands following a little "Eyes of Texas" or "Rocky Top." Good stuff. Even seeing the stands shake at Camp Randall to House Of Pain is pretty cool.

7. SEC Cheerleaders: Sure, you can talk to me about SC's Song Girls. I also love the gals in chaps down in Austin. And, yes, the ladies from Sun Devil country (along with their Pac 10 counterparts) have proved stellar in the past. But pound-for-pound, other stuff for other stuff, I’ll take the collective “body of work” of the lovely ladies from the likes of Florida, LSU, Georgia,'Bama and the like. Give me some SEC.

6. The Option: Doesn’t matter who runs it on any other level, it still looks infinitely prettier when some well-oiled collegiate machine breaks it out. I for some reason could never take my eyes off Oklahoma when they used to run it in the 80s and 90s (unstoppable). It's even impressive to watch the service academies run the option with such discipline (although not quite as exciting).

5. Pushups. Cannons. Galloping Steeds. Stampeding Buffaloes. Slobbering Dawgs. War Eagles. Check out this list if you’re not getting the idea yet.

4. Enter Sandman: This could have easily been incorporated into a bullet devoted to traditions (and probably should have been), but I feel like it deserves a stand-alone. I've never been to Blacksburg, VA. Frankly, I haven't heard the crowd at many other college football stadiums in this country. I do know one thing. I still remember this game, and this intro, six years later. Awesome.

3. B.M.O.C.’s: Sure, being the star point guard at UNC is probably pretty cool. The stud laxer at Hopkins? He can likely strut around campus like his sh*t don't stink. But there are few teenagers or young 20-somethings in the world who can preside over an institution like the quarterback of a major D1 powerhouse. Hmmm, let's see who might be a decent example...

2. Bands: Actually, I don’t like them. I really don’t. Even that dotting the "i" thing. They could go away along with the wave. Fill up the time with #7. We're not conference-biased, either.

1. Bowl Games: Playoff, schlayoff. Sure, the system could use some fixing. But let's not do anything rash that would sacrifice what makes the college football post-season great. Frankly, I'm a little disappointed at the number of games now taking place ridiculously early and offensively late. January 1st should be an absolute bonanza where it's not about finding the best game, it's about finding the three best games to jump to and from. But bowl season is still a celebration of endless bounty -- and so is college football. Let the fantastic-ness begin.

Me, Mom, Mets and Martyrdom

I’ve landed in Chicago…with my mother. It’s the eighth time we’ve done this. The first occasion was back in 'round 2002. I was 25 years old and our maiden exodus was to Bank One Ballpark and Arizona. This upcoming one could be the worst, though. In this particular instance, more than all the other years, it’s a martyrdom on a different level. One could argue, in fact, that it’s pure madness. Let me explain briefly. And, yes, of course it has to do with the Mets.

Back those many years ago, before I was lucky enough to be married, on a decent career path and maybe mature enough to think such things through, my mother (bless her heart) offered up a proposition. Short story. My dad and I had just returned from a journey to Italy that was memorable on countless fronts – and we spoke of it often and passionately. From connecting with relatives not seen in 50 years, tracing ancestry, spending time with family, taking in the landscape, sounds and food you can’t re-create. My mother listened…and in her completely not-ever-subtle manner…made it clear. She was jealous.

As a son (with this mother), you don’t want that on your conscience. I asked a simple question: what do you want to do? Her answer? The Brooklyn-born, semi-Bonkers, four-newspaper-a-day-reading, Mike and The Dog habitual-listening (when Russo was still married to Francesca) hoping-against-hope Mets fan wanted to go and see the Mets on the road with her son. Not one game mind you, but an entire series. Even as a nutbag sports fan and Mets miser myself it seemed much. Multiple days off work? Cross-country trips? But I had no choice really, I acquiesced.

Fast-forward to 2010, our single trip to Arizona ended up a launching pad for a tradition that lives on. The woman, and I love her to death, has long defeated Italy in sheer man-hours taking the “son bonding” title years back. And in the same way my father-son voyage created unforgettable and treasured moments, such has been the case too with mom’s “annual” Mets road trip We’ve hit San Diego, Colorado, Arizona, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Boston, zig-zagging across the country with no clear logic aside or requirements aside from not repeating a stadium.

All of which explains why I’m in Chicago. Tradition and devotion to a ritual that goes way beyond a team. And it would have to right? Because there is no other explanation for two sane people traveling distance to watch these teams play multiple games against one another.

Yes, this trek to see this 2010 edition of the Mets play a perhaps equally-embarrassing Cubbies crew truly takes the cake. From a sheer baseball perspective, outside the chance to introduce mom to another venerable ballpark (I’ve been once but watched from a rooftop behind the outfield wall through eyes clouded by probably a dozen or so beers), there’s not much redeeming here. In other years, our trips had been earlier in the summer, when one could at least pretend games still mattered and that the Metros might make a run at something. This year? This September? Bad choice if drama is an intended part of the agenda.

Instead, we’ll wait on a team three games under .500 (maybe four by the time they arrive!), limping into Chicago with little dignity, no apparent fire and barely a mathematical chance of a postseason berth. Of course, honest Mets fans have know this team was nothing more than mediocre for months. But the possibility of seeing lineups like the one they trotted out this week? I don’t know if I could have even imagined it even a few months back.

Luckily, we’ve got a few good restaurant reservations and will do a bit of sightseeing here and there. On Friday and Saturday (even my delusional mother acknowledged the insanity of attending the full series), we’ll head to Wrigley. Perhaps we’ll be able to look back and talk about how it was the first time we saw the great Jenrry Mejia start on a Major League mound. Who knows, the Mets might even win a game or two.

On the contrary, chances are better it will be ugly. Reality is it will be meaningless in the standings The Mets are done and, in many ways, the concept of traveling to see them ‘perform” is laughable. But tradition is tradition. We’ll have a good time. And maybe, just maybe, one of these years we’ll get to see a team on the road to a championship...

Mets Lineup Inspires Fear...In Its Fans

I've long passed the point of being at a loss for words as it relates to the 2010 New York Mets. The fact that I'm going to watch this team play two games on the road this week deserves its own post (which I'll try to get to later tonight).

In the meantime, I simply could not ignore this...this...thing I saw first at Mets Blog earlier. Oh. My. Goodness. Drink this in sports fans.

It really is quite amazing isn't it. Take a long look. Savor it. Let it roll around your tongue for a bit, so you can truly appreciate the essence of it. The es-sence of stink.Words do not do this lineup justice, but we can only try. Yes, Pagan is out and unavailable. Still, the notion that the Mets still keeping talking about a pennant race, while trotting out this vaunted lineup is laughable. The sad thing is, you can't find new players. But you might want to consider perhaps shuffling them maybe a little bit? I don't know. Your choices here are crap and crappier.

Let's break it down a bit, shall we? Luis Castillo is our table-setting speedster. He of the broken-down body, seven steals and outfield grass power. Castillo, proud owner of a .238 average and six extra base hits in over 200 plate appearances is the spark at the top of the lineup. The scary thing is, this is the placement that might make the most sense. I have no real other suggestions for the leadoff hole.

Next, Manuel has placed the Mets only real power hitter of any salt batting second. With Castillo ahead of him, D-Wright should have ample opportunities to add to his team-leading RBI total tonight. I can feel it.

Batting third, the spot usually reserved for a team's best hitter, Carlos Beltran. Beltran's .216 clip and two dingers should instill fear in Braves pitching. But lest the Braves make a mistake and perchance give Beltran a free pass? Oh no, that is not something you wish to do. Tread lightly, Bravos. Because awaiting you in the cleanup spot is none other than JEFF FRANCOUER. Was that your fear-filled recoil I just felt? Methinks so. One word comes to mind: dangerous.

The youngster Ike Davis sits behind Frenchy. Again, I've got no real problem with this, I guess. "The Animal" Chris Carter, who's produced in the cleanup spot recently, instead hits seventh. Carter will get his second at-bat versus a left-handed pitcher this year. He was unsuccessful in his only other attempt. If only Fernando Tatis was still available! Oh yes, Carter is hitting behind Henry Blanco. Blanco bats sixth in this vaunted lineup. Where can we go from here, one might ask?!

Well, with Reyes still out, the...is there a synonym for "light-hitting" that conveys even light-er hitting...anyway, Ruben Tejada bats eighth. Tejada is batting .172. Tejada is batting .172. Tejada...sorry, starting to lose it for a second, there.

Well, that's what the Mets are rolling out on the field tonight in "support" of Jon Niese. They sport (minus Niese) a spiffy .240 team average. Knowing this team, they'll go out and make me look a fool and put up a 10-spot or something. However, on paper, this is one of the more depressing lineups in recent memory. Takes me all the way back to the 2009 glory days of Cory Sullivan, Brian Schneider, Anderson Hernandez, Fernando Tatis and friends headlining our lineup. Ahh, such sweet recollections. Best of luck, Mr. Niese. You can thank Jerry Manuel and your teammates later, I'm sure.

The NFL Kickoff: The Most Frightening Moment in Sports?

Trained Mercenaries

I'm watching "Monday Night Football," and I couldn't be more excited to get this season started (particularly given the Mets sorry state of existence). There are so many reasons to love football. And, just like many red-blooded Americans, the vicious hitting is one of the most entertaining elements of the game for me. Even at home on the couch, it's often a bone-crushing stop that elicits the most passionate and enthusiastic reaction -- the oohs and ahhs. Yet, I couldn't help but think of one thing during the Pack-Colts game tonight. I sure hope it never happens, but the NFL kickoff is becoming a deadly-caliber play.

Is it me or is anyone else watching kickoffs with just a bit of held breath? How many years can players get bigger, faster, stronger and a very, very serious injury be avoided? Sure, quarterbacks getting laid out from the blind side or receievers prone to being drilled as balls sail over the heads or off tipped fingers are still primetime for punishment. But the kickoff is starting to elevate to another level.

You knows those crazy ESPN Sports Science segments where they tell you how much force is delivered by Brandan Jacobs at top speed or Ndamukong Suh bursting off the line unabated? Well, I don't want to see or hear the results of what "science" says about the impact a 6'3, 250-lb. linebacker-type who runs a 4.4/40 sprinting at top speed some 60-something yards and laying the lumber to a 190-lb return man? I don't need to get the physics lesson. I've seen it....and it's ugly.

Yet, we thirst for that kind of head-hunting viciousness -- and so do the players. Keeping contain and breaking up the wedge is all fine and good. But today's player, particularly the part-time special teamer, is so drunk with the vision of SportsCenter highlights dancing in their head, they are dreaming about that same knockout punch. They want the lights out, leave your man motionless, no arm-wrap, shoulder shudder tackle.

One of these days it's going to be the perfect storm. Someone's going to come clean, some nasty, jacked freak of an athlete, and collide head to head with an unsuspecting and/or unprotected returner. I just hope no matter how nasty the hitting gets, these guys keep getting up. I just have one-eye half-shut these days. For me, the NFL kickoff has become one of the most frightening play in sports.

Hard Knocks Missing Something

Still Love It, But Something Missing

I've been pretty much in love with Hard Knocks since Billick and the Ravens in 2001. It's the perfect combination for a former high school player who loves all the human drama, the behind-the-scenes stuff and in-game action and equally enjoys the film room sessions and chalkboard talks. Anyone who's been here knows I've been fired up since spring that this great show was coming to cover my team. All that said, from the perspective a self-proclaimed (and proud) HK aficionado even moreso than as a Jets nut, this season has been lacking.

I've been struggling with exactly what it is that's missing. Every season of Hard Knocks has been inherently unique. Its respective awesomeness has been a result of some common elements along with slightly different ingredients combining in a way that made for powerful television. Ocho Cinco brought a special sizzle to the Bengals edition. The newness of it all made the Ravens HK unforgettable at the time. Herm was phenomenal in KC, whether intentionally comedic or likely the opposite. The Cowboys camp did such a masterful job of covering the fringe guys that I still keep an eye out and tabs on those dudes today.

Regardless, each show seemed to learn from the next. Yet, the special sauce was always some manner of blending of the on and off-field stuff, the x's and o's and sweat and sleds, the profane and the poignant. After giving it some thought, it's a bit of that off-field and "emotional" stuff that's leaving a void in this year's Jets version of Hard Knocks. Granted, there are two episodes left but there has been little mention or showing of players or coach's wives, children or families.

Nothing about rookies shopping for furniture or talks with parents about whether they're going to make the team. Nada ripping on their fashion, music choices, eating habits or anything else that would seem mundane but actually gives you a bit of a look into someone that you can only really get through shows like this (e.g. Sanchez loves the Taco Bell and, hence, the sweet lid). I realize some of that looks like it will come next week with the team back in New Jersey.

Even beyond some of the now seemingly standard HK stuff, there's also been little of the players casually hanging out either in the locker room, film rooms or beyond the field of play. It's seeing that interaction - just between guys b-s'ing - that ofen makes for the most compelling and/or humorous ingredient of HK.

Here's looking forward to HBO brings a little bit more of that sentiment back in these final episodes. Oh yes, and the footage of Revis signing that contract would be a nice touch, too.

Cedric Benson Is Indispensable? Whudda Thunk It

Hail Me, King of the Bengals!

It's funny reading the "mainstream" media folks some times. It's actually comforting knowing that, no matter how much access they have and how well-trained, sometimes they're a whole lot like us recreational bloggers. One example: some times they really need to stretch to come up with a story idea. In a concept that seems positively "bloggorial" in its essence, ESPN.com today featured an online compilation of sorts entitled "The Indispesables," complete with cute, little comic-style illustration.

The concept reeks of somebody throwing ideas while mired in a creative rut, yet it's somewhat intriguing in the sense of generating a disproportionate level of vitriol from fans around the country: who is the most valuable or "indispensable" player on each team outside of the signal callers. Today, they tackled the AFC. And that's where I saw Cedric Benson...

Now, nothing against Ced, but it's a bit funny/ironic/interesting to consider Benson's name on this list as the one player outside of Carson Palmer that Cincy can't afford to lose. If only because the man's NFL future seemed at least somewhat precarious at the end of '08 following a few arrests and his release from the Bears following the season. Benson has since taken advantage of his opportunity and finished eighth in the NFL in rushing last season.

In the eyes of NFC North blogger James Walker, that's enough to make Cedric the Mr. Indispensable rep for Cincy.

CINCINNATI BENGALS: CEDRIC BENSON

Cincinnati is a team better defined by the sum of its parts. But if I had to pick the most important non-quarterback, it would be Benson.

The Bengals have two very good cornerbacks: Leon Hall and Johnathan Joseph. They have plenty of receivers, including two who have put up Hall of Fame-caliber numbers in Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens. But Benson is the workhorse who makes it all work. Benson opens things up for the passing game, which was inconsistent last season, and he moves the chains to help keep the defense off the field.

Second-year tailback Bernard Scott will help Benson carry the load this year. He showed positive flashes as a rookie, but the former sixth-round pick remains unproven. With Cincinnati expected to pass more, Benson might not match his career-best 1,251 rushing yards from last season. But that doesn't make him any less important.

I can't argue a whole lot with the rationale. It still might give me a little pause, if I was a Bengals fan. Benson's been called a lot of things in his career, "indispensable" hasn't been one used that frequently. We shall see...