Thursday Skull Session

By D.J. Byrnes on March 6, 2014 at 6:00 am
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Ohio State has its second spring practice today, but until then, here are  some things you may have missed from yesterday:

SABAN AND BERT'S PROPOSAL DIED A VIOLENT DEATH. The NCAA received a massive 324 official comments about the proposed substitution rule, and a staggering 74% of commenters were against it. (That's a landslide of Harding vs. Cox proportions.)

From USA Today:

"This is a victory for common sense and protecting the game of football," Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin told USA TODAY Sports.

[...]

Arizona's Rich Rodriguez called the rule "ridiculous", saying: "It's a fundamental rule of football that the offense has two advantages: knowing where they're going and when they're going. The defense has one advantage: they can move all 11 guys before the snap.

"What's next, are you gonna go to three downs rather than four downs? It's silly."

Ya done goofed, Saban and Bert, ya done goofed.

If I were the likes of Gus Malzahn and Kevin Sumlin, I'd hit the warp-speed button on my offense when I'm playing these two. Why not? They clearly hate it so much they're trying to use player-safety (and in Bert's case, a corpse of a recently-deceased player) as a way to shoe-horn hurry up offenses out of college football. 

It's like alerting a troll that his tactics are annoying you. That's just blood in the water at that point.

UNCLE VERNE: NOT A FAN OF DICKIE V.  Verne Lundquist describes his style as "minimalist," and in an article about his favorite announcers (which doesn't include the name Vin Scully — shame on you, Verne) there's this gem:

“I’m a big Dan Shulman fan. I’m not such a big fan of his partner, [Dick] Vitale. He’s an acquired taste.”

My friends always say that about me; "He's an acquired taste." (It basically means I'm an asshole.)

So believe me when I say: I too think Dickie V is an "acquired taste." I don't need a 74 year-old man deliriously screaming at me while future accountants brick three pointers and play zone defense.

In his defense, however, he did author one of my favorite tweets of our generation:


HARD NUMBERS FOR FOOTBALL PLAYERS. Straight-shootin' Kirk Barton, who is undoubtedly one of the best follows on Twitter, tweeted out this informational picture yesterday:

that's a tough road to hoe, mate.

Kirk says every young football player should read this, and he's right. These numbers are why I'm in favor of college athletes being able to profit off their own image and also getting their slice of the billions of dollars in TV money being rained down on the sport. (For example, a 2010 Alabama player would have made $47,330 from live TV alone.)
 

MCQUEARY'S GAMBLING PROBLEM RAISES QUESTIONS. Here's the thing about match fixing: It's definitely going on. It's happening in soccer, and it's unquestionably happening in college sports. (There's just too much money to be made and college athletes are ripe for the picking.)

Buried in ESPN's profile of Mike McQuery, who is the key witness against three former PSU administrators in their upcoming conspiracy trial, was the revelation McQueary had a serious gambling problem during his playing days. It was even said he wagered on games he participated in (as a back-up quarterback). 

Welp, these revelations have raised questions about a 1995 game in which McQueary did see late-game action. From Deadspin:

In 1995, Mike McQueary threw a touchdown late in garbage time of a Penn State blowout over Rutgers. Then-Rutgers coach Doug Graber and Joe Paterno got into a shouting match after the game because Graber thought Paterno was running up the score. The touchdown put the 20-point-favorite Nittany Lions up 59-34.

[...]

McQueary was the backup and came in in the last minute because it was a blowout. Instead of handing the ball off and letting the final 70 seconds or so run off, McQueary threw deep and burned Rutgers for a touchdown. Paterno looked pissed when the camera cut to him (which could mean anything) and the Rutgers side was even more pissed. After the game Paterno excused McQueary, while pointing out they were not running up the score on purpose. He chalked it up to McQueary being competitive.

Woof.

But this is what drives me crazy about the Thayer Evanses, George Dohrmanns and Charles Robinsons of the world. Match fixing and stuff like that... it's definitely happening on some level in college sports. Where are the four-day series about that? I'd much rather read about something damaging the integrity of the sport than about rich douchebags giving out $500 handshakes to kids who tackle well. But hey, that's just me.
 

JOEY GALLOWAY, STILL A BOSS HOGG OUTLAW. My friend used to play a lot of pick-up ball in Dublin. Joey Galloway allegedly used to come in and terrorize the place. According to my friend, every regular player at the rec center became massive Patriots fans when they signed him in 2009.

And in case you're still wondering, Galloway can still dish it:


And here's a walk down memory lane for the hell of it:

 

THOSE WMDs. The fifteenth Gathering of the Juggalos is coming to Buckeye Lake... Lil Boosie is a free man... Highlights of Ken Griffey Jr's awkward ESPN interview... Neymar acolhendo garoto de sete anos.... Meanwhile, in Auburn.... Meanwhile, in Tuscaloosa... Damnit, Fernando, this is why people think soccer players are nancies... Beer, the sports drink... The Hitlers were Pickaway County pioneers... Yup, still the best mistaken identity text ever... Bill Walton, that's not Bob Marley... No... 

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