Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 1090 of 1503)

      Wetzel: Penn State benefiting from terrible system

      October 29, 2008 /

      Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports writes that No. 3 Penn State is benefiting from what he believes is a terrible BCS title game system.

      Daryll ClarkPenn State faces Iowa, Indiana and Michigan State. Only the home game against the Spartans presents any meaningful challenge. The lack of a Big Ten conference championship game means Paterno can cozy up before Thanksgiving and watch everyone kill one another off.

      This riveting system is what BCS apologists call a playoff, even if not everyone has to face playoff competition.

      There is no logic to the illogical way college football crowns its champions, though. So this is what you get – a nation of fans already howling that Penn State is running an end around on the system.
      The Nittany Lions’ best nonconference win is over Oregon State. This doubles as the best nonconference win for the entire Big Ten. The only other contenders are Michigan State over Notre Dame and Wisconsin over Fresno State. That’s it. For the entire league. The Big Ten failed to defeat a single currently ranked nonconference team.

      How difficult is it to win the modern Big Ten? Well, Minnesota still has a shot at the conference title by winding up 11-1. Last season, the Gophers were 1-11. Nice story, but any league where you can go from 1-11 to 11-1 in a single season is under serious suspicion. It just is.

      The BCS got lucky last year that there were so many close regular season games towards the end. They said, “See! We do have a playoff system!” But calling the final three regular season games a “playoff” is a freaking joke. And Wetzel is right – there are certain programs (namely in the Big Ten) that benefit from having a weaker schedule every year. And that’s not to take anything away from Penn State because they’ve had a great year and at this point, deserve to play for a national championship.

      But the system is still greatly flawed and while this seems like it will always fall on deaf ears I’ll write it anyway: GIVE FANS A REAL PLAYOFF SYSTEM.

      College Football

      Fifteen North Texas players suspended for failed drug tests

      October 29, 2008 /

      Fifteen out of 86 football players from North Texas University have been suspended for failing drug tests.

      The program, at the request of coach Todd Dodge, tested 86 of the Mean Green’s players, the newspaper reported, citing source material obtained via the Freedom of Information Act.
      The university did not identify the players who tested positive or what drugs they tested positive for, according to the report.

      “I don’t think we have a problem with drugs, but I will say that it’s every coach’s prerogative to test his team,” Dodge said, according to the report. “It’s a great tool to help players stay away from drugs and temptations. When I talked to my team about drug testing all of them, I told them that if there was one young man on our team who secretly needed help, if it saved one young man from getting in trouble or ending up dead, then it is worth it.”

      Considering the Mean Green (what a team name) is 0-8 this year, it’s hard to imagine that these drugs were of the performance-enhancing variety. And if they were, then the players suspended got ripped off because clearly the drugs haven’t helped.

      College Football

      Penaltygate? Rams send tape to NFL over non-calls on Patriots

      October 29, 2008 /

      The Rams have sent videotape to the NFL’s offices with plays they believe the Patriots should have been assessed penalties for during New England’s 23-16 win last Sunday. The Patriots weren’t flagged even once during the game.

      Jim Haslett“Never ever, ever, ever played a perfect team before,” Rams guard Richie Incognito said about the disparity, according to the report. “That’s all I am going to say on that one.”

      During the game, the Rams were flagged 12 times (with three penalties declined) for 63 yards; the Patriots were flagged once, with the Rams declining that penalty.

      The Post-Dispatch reported that Haslett pointed out three plays he believed should have resulted in personal fouls against the Patriots: a grab of quarterback Marc Bulger’s face mask; a late hit on Bulger; and an out-of-bounds hit on cornerback Fakhir Brown following an interception.

      Haslett also said the Rams were hurt by a poor placement on a punt that Donnie Jones kicked out of bounds during the fourth quarter, according to the report. New England took possession at its 48-yard line and tied the score at 16 on a field goal six plays later.

      “I thought we should’ve had at least another 10 yards,” Haslett said of the placement, according to the report.

      Well this plays into the hands of conspiracy theorists that believe the league is out to aid the Patriots anyway they can. I’m not into that sort of thing, but even I have to admit it’s amazing that a team isn’t flagged once during an entire game. That’s hard to do.

      NFL

      Chargers unload defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell

      October 29, 2008 /

      The San Diego Chargers have fired defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell and replaced him with former Chicago Bears’ DC Ron Rivera.

      Ron Rivera“There are a lot of things that went into the decision,” Turner said. “There are areas that we just have to play better and we have to improve. Over the next 10 days those are the areas that we are going to address. Hopefully we can not only show improvement right away but continue to improve over the next eight games.”

      Through eight games this season, the Chargers rank 28th in the NFL in total defense and last against the pass. At this point last season, the Bolts had forced 21 turnovers but have only 10 takeaways this season. The Chargers have also gone the last nine quarters without recording a sack.

      “It’s probably the things that we have needed to improve at are the same things that effected us in Week 2 and so on,” Turner said. “The same things have been an issue throughout the first eight games at different times.”

      Rivera has enjoyed 21 seasons in the NFL as a player and a coach. He joined the Bolts in February of 2008 after spending three seasons as the defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears, the team he also played nine seasons with.

      A change needed to happen; the Chargers have been absolutely brutal defensively this year, which is surprising because they played so well last season. Rivera isn’t a bad guy to fall back on considering he was the Bears’ DC when they went to the Super Bowl a couple years ago. I always wondered why he wasn’t a coordinator after he was getting looks as a head coach following the Super Bowl.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

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