Category: College Football (Page 128 of 296)

      Did blog rip off beat writer on Butch Jones contract story?

      December 8, 2009 /

      One of the biggest beefs that the standard news outlets have about blogs is that blogs will claim work as their own, even though they borrowed the information from an original source.

      We here at The Scores Report make a conscious effort to not only link to the original source, but to also state who the source was that we got the information from.

      Maybe FootballCoachScoop.com should try the same practice.

      Here are two excerpts from an article Central Michigan football beat writer Drew Ellis (who writes for the Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun) wrote last night about Chippewa head coach Butch Jones, who is being pursued by other programs, including former MAC rival Marshall:

      Heeke spoke Friday about working on a new contract for Jones, and sources close to Central Michigan University have confirmed that the new contract would make Jones the second highest-paid coach in the Mid-American Conference with a base salary over $400,000 and incentives that could earn Jones another $200,000 annually.

      The new contract offer would be a five-year deal and begin immediately.

      Jones also has a $475,000 buyout in his current CMU contract, which increases to $700,000 if he is to leave the Chippewas prior to the end of the season, which includes the GMAC Bowl on Jan. 6.

      This morning, FootballCoachScoop.com wrote this about the Jones’ contract situation in their “Scoop” section:

      Our source close to the situation has confirmed that Athletic Director Dave Heeke has offered Head Coach Butch Jones a new contract. According to our source, the new contract would make Jones the second highest-paid coach in the Mid-American Conference with a base salary over $400,000 and incentives that could earn Jones another $200,000 annually. The new contract offer would be a five-year deal and begin immediately. Jones also has a $475,000 buyout in his current CMU contract, which increases to $700,000 if he is to leave the Chippewas prior to the end of the season, which includes the GMAC Bowl on Jan. 6.

      Sound familiar? While it’s possible that the site has its own source, the fact that their report is a word-for-word copy of Ellis’ article makes this highly unlikely. This is a clear case of a blog ripping off a newspaper’s information and passing it off as their own. Look at Ellis’ final paragraph and compare it to the last line in FootballCoachScoop.com’s paragraph. It’s identical and again, Ellis’ article posted last night and the blog posted their “scoop” this morning.

      Now, you might be thinking to yourself, “It’s a MAC story – who cares.” But if FootballCoachScoop.com is stealing from Ellis, then who else are they stealing from? The blog routinely bolds the phrase “FIRST TO REPORT” on some of their stories, but are they the ones actually reporting the news first? Or are they stealing the content from beat writers across the country?

      I’d love for FootballCoachScoop.com to reveal their “sources” on this story, because I’m pretty sure their “sources” are ctrl-alt-c for copy and ctrl-alt-v for paste.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

      What would a college football playoff look like this year? (Version 5.0)

      December 7, 2009 /

      Near the end of the Texas/Nebraska game, when it looked like the Cornhuskers might pull the upset, Brent Musbuger said repeatedly that a Texas loss would result in “BCS chaos.” But don’t we already have chaos? We have five undefeated teams — Alabama, Texas, Cincinnati, TCU and Boise State — and only two get to play for a national title. Of course, BCS apologists think that the system got it right. They dismiss TCU and Boise State because they aren’t from power conferences, and they’re hoping that Cincy loses to Florida in the Sugar Bowl so that they can dismiss the Big East champs as well.

      Based on the various polls that are out there, 90% of the public want to see some sort of a playoff in college football. Over the last few weeks, I have been outlining my proposed eight-team playoff. Here are my assumptions:

      1. The six BCS-conference champs get an automatic bid unless they are ranked outside the top 15. There would need to be some sort of ranking system used. For now, we will use the BCS. I’d rather do a straight #1-#8 seeding based on the rankings, but in order for a playoff to get implemented the big conferences would need some preferential treatment. That’s just the way it is and we all know it.

      2. If a conference champ is ranked lower than #15 in the rankings, they give up their automatic bid and it becomes an at-large bid. (This rule is to ensure that the regular season keeps its meaning and only the elite teams make the playoffs.)

      3. If a conference champ is ranked behind a non-BCS school, and have a head-to-head loss to that team, then they give up their playoff bid to that team. This is the “I Drink Your Milkshake!” rule.

      4. Seeds and at-large bids are distributed based on the current BCS standings. Certainly, these rankings need to be tweaked to place more of an emphasis on head-to-head matchups, but they are fine for now. If an at-large team has a better BCS ranking than a conference champion, they will get a higher seed.

      5. There will be three rounds of playoffs. The first round will be held at the home stadium of the higher-seeded team. The semifinals and the final will rotate amongst the four BCS cities (Miami, Pasadena, Tempe and New Orleans), so that those cities don’t lose the revenue from the bowl games.

      Now that the regular season and conference championship games are over, how would a playoff shake out this year?

      Continue reading »

      College Football

      Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen to turn pro

      December 7, 2009 /

      ESPN.com reports that Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen has decided to forgo his senior season and enter the NFL draft.

      “After the season, in talking to my parents and obviously Coach Weis, I just feel it’s the right time,” Clausen told ESPN.com on Monday before a scheduled 2 p.m. ET news conference in South Bend. “Coach Weis told me whether he was going to be here or not be here, it was time for me to go. He thought I’ve improved so much since I came to Notre Dame. So, I’m taking his advice, and I’m going to head out.”

      “It’ll probably be just like going from high school to college, but a lot faster than college is. Obviously, being under Coach Weis, being in a pro-style offense, knowing the terminologies, will help me. But the biggest thing will probably be just getting in the playbook and mentally preparing myself to do everything I can to get on the field as quick as I can and help whichever team I go to win.”

      Mel Kiper has Clausen rated as the top quarterback on his big board and the fourth best prospect overall.

      He’ll unfairly be compared to Brady Quinn because they played in the same offense at Notre Dame, but at least in my opinion, Clausen is a more polished prospect now than Quinn was when he entered the draft. In terms of raw talent and upside, Clausen beats Quinn but that obviously doesn’t mean that he’ll be a better pro.

      With Sam Bradford, Jake Locker, Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow set to join Clausen in April, the 2010 NFL Draft will have plenty of intrigue surrounding the quarterback class.

      College Football, NFL, NFL Draft

      Weis says Carroll living with grad student in Malibu

      December 6, 2009 /

      Check out this nugget of information from SPORTSbyBROOKS.com:

      In an interview yesterday with Tim Prister of IRISH ILLUSTRATED, Charlie Weis made the following statement:

      Let me ask you this question: You guys know about things that go on in different places. Was I living with a grad student in Malibu, or was I living with my wife in my house? You could bet that if I were living with a grad student here in South Bend, it would be national news. He’s doing it in Malibu and it’s not national news. What’s the difference? I don’t understand. Why is it okay for one guy to do things like that, but for me, I’m scrutinized when I swear. I’m sorry for swearing; absolve my sins.

      Carroll also told the Times he talked to Weis and, “He apologized profusely for being represented wrongly. I’m not commenting anymore.”

      Weis apologized with, “In no way do I have any idea what’s going on in anyone’s life other than the fact that rumors on the Internet can affect coaches’ lives in a very, very negative fashion“.

      As part of his initial statement that the married Carroll was living with a grad student Weis said, “He’s doing it in Malibu.”

      I’m confused. Weis’ original statement made it sound like Carroll was definitely living with a grad student in Malibu, yet then he claims that he was misrepresented. So either he was lying when he made the claim about Carroll or lying about being misrepresented. And one would think that if he were just using Carroll as an example, that he would have said, “But that’s just an example” or “Of course I’m just using the Malibu situation as a hypothetical.”

      Weis should just keep his mouth shut before it costs him an opportunity at another job.

      College Football

      It’s official: Alabama vs. Texas for the National Championship

      December 6, 2009 /

      Texas almost blew it against Nebraska, but they will get their chance against Alabama. After the bitter disappointment of being left out of the game last season, the Longhorns get their chance to win one under Colt McCoy. Alabama looked very tough against Florida, but you can’t judge these teams just on their last game. I think the game is a toss-up.

      By the way, Kirk Herbstreet just smacked down Mark May on ESPN. Herbstreet was making the point that Alabama needs to make sure their players keep their focus, as everyone will be telling them how great they are, while Texas players will have to hear about how they were lucky to get there. Mark May argued that Nick Saban is not the kind of coach to let his players lose focus going into a bowl game, until Herbstreet pointed out how Alabama laid an egg last year against Utah.

      Again, the layoff is another unfortunate factor in this crazy BCS system.

      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

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