Category: College Football (Page 96 of 296)

      WAC seeking $5 million buyout penalties from Fresno State & Nevada

      August 19, 2010 /
      PASADENA, CA - SEPTEMBER 27: Damion Owens #4 of the Frenso State Bulldogs celebrates the Bulldogs win over the UCLA Bruins during the game on September 27, 2008 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

      According to a report by ESPN.com, WAC commissioner Karl Benson believes that Fresno State and Nevada – two schools leaving the conference for the Mountain West – owe the WAC $5 million in buyout penalties.

      Karl Benson says the Bulldogs and Wolf Pack are going to have to pay up on a departure fee and possibly stay in the WAC until 2012 because they didn’t meet a deadline to get out of the league earlier.

      Benson believes both schools owe $5 million buyout penalties, whether the agreements were signed or orally agreed upon.

      And don’t expect any favors.

      Benson says Fresno State and Nevada acted selfishly when they accepted invitations to join the Mountain West. That basically dissolved an agreement the WAC had to bring BYU back to the league in every sport but football.

      Is it just me or does Benson come off resembling a salty ex trying to get back at his former lover? If the two schools owe the WAC $5 million, then so be it. But don’t make this personal by saying Fresno State and Nevada acted selfishly when all of college football acts selfishly all the time.

      The goal for any program is to gain as much exposure and make as much money as they possibly can. Therefore, there shouldn’t be any surprise when it comes to why a program jumps conferences.

      College Football, External Sports

      LeGarrette Blount threw another punch! The horror!

      August 19, 2010 /
      Oct 4, 2008; Los Angeles, CA; USA; Oregon Ducks running back LeGarrette Blount (9) heads up field during 44-10 loss to the Southern California Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Photo via Newscom Photo via Newscom

      I’m a big believer in the notion that history has a way of repeating itself.

      But in the case of LeGarrette Blount, I don’t think there’s cause for concern.

      Blount, as you’ll remember, was the former Oregon player that threw a haymaker to the jaw of Boise State defensive end Byron Hout following the Ducks’ 19-8 loss to the Broncos last year. Blount proceeded to act like a raving lunatic after the incident by trying to fight everyone from coaches to fans to the P.A. announcer, and was deservedly criticized for the incident.

      He also paid his dues by being suspended for all but a handful of games late in the year and despite his skill level, he also went undrafted in April, largely because of the incident.

      Now a member of the Tennessee Titans, Blount is making headlines again for punching another player – this time it was teammate Eric Bakhtiari who was on the receiving end of Blount’s knuckles during a Wednesday night practice, although it should be noted that Bakhtiari still had his helmet on.

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      College Football, External Sports, NFL

      Ron English was shortsighted with his single moms comment

      August 11, 2010 /
      ANN ARBOR, MI - SEPTEMBER 19: Head coach Ron English stands on the field during the game with the Michigan Wolverines at Michigan Stadium on September 19, 2009 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan won 45-17. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

      Considering Eastern Michigan won a total of zero games last year, you’d think head coach Ron English would be open-minded when it came to recruiting players.

      But apparently the man has some recruiting guidelines, which include the player having been raised by a father.

      From the ESPN.com:

      Here is what English said July 31 when asked about his incoming recruiting class: “You know what the real focus was? We wanted to recruit football players that love football. I felt like we had a lot of guys who really didn’t love football. They maybe were playing football so that they could go to school or whatever, but not for the love of playing football.

      “So when we went out, we wanted to do two things. We wanted players who love football, who have the physical ability to play football and then the other thing we wanted was guys that could be coached. We wanted guys that had a father in their background because if you don’t, the hard part is, some guy like me coming in and corrects you. So you’re working — that’s a whole another dynamic. A guy that’s raised by his mom — and please don’t take me wrong — but the reality is, you have to teach that guy how to be taught by a man. That’s part of it.”

      English has since apologized for the comments, which he should have. To think that a single mother can’t teach a boy to be a man is absolutely ludicrous, especially considering that some fathers can’t even teach their boys to be a men. His comments were incredibly shortsighted and sexist as well. LeBron James was raised by a single mother and I think he turned out fine.

      How a coach could purposely stay away from a talented player because he wasn’t raised by a father is asinine. It looks like the football program at Eastern Michigan is in good hands with English.

      College Football, External Sports

      Need practices closed? Just blame the Internet people.

      August 10, 2010 /
      01 January 2010: Florida head coach Urban Meyer is pictured during Sugar Bowl game against Cincinnati at the SuperDome in New Orleans, Louisiana. Florida defeated Cincinnati, 51-24.

      Urban Meyer is the head coach of the Florida Gators and as the head coach of the Florida Gators, he has the right to have closed practices, open practices or no practices if he wants.

      And Urban gets what Urban wants.

      According to a report by ESPN.com, Meyer has closed Gator practices to the public, citing problems with agents and autograph hounds.

      “We can’t live the players’ lives, but we can certainly do the best we can,” he told the newspaper. “You should have the right as a player to walk from here to there without being bothered.

      “When I tell my colleagues that you get dressed, you walk across and people just maul you and bother you and internet people grabbing helmets, ‘Sign this,’ and we don’t have security saying, ‘Get the heck out of here.’ You’ll see a lot more ‘get the heck out of here’ from now on and let the kids go practice and concentrate on football.”

      He’s right – players should have the opportunity to walk around a practice facility without being bothered by autograph seekers. But this isn’t about agents or those crazy “internet people” bothering players – this is about Meyer’s need to control every situation.

      It’s always to a coach’s benefit to have a closed practice. Players arguably stay focused longer, coaches don’t have to worry about revealing anything (plays, schemes, etc.) and they can scream at the kids without having anyone peering in from the sidelines. Meyer saw an opportunity here to cash in on Nick Saban’s comments about player agents and use it as an excuse to close practice.

      Meyer is arrogant. What happened when he didn’t like how an Orlando Sentinel reporter quoted one of his players? He threatened to kick him out of practice and even deemed him a “bad guy” just for doing his job. This is the same man that also plugged Tim Tebow in the media like he was a bottle of Bud Light and now he wants practices closed because some autograph seekers are bothering the players? Come on.

      I don’t like your article – you’re banned from practice. I don’t like how you asked for autographs – you’re banned from practice. What is he, the “Soup Nazi?”

      I’m not suggesting that Meyer doesn’t care about his players, because he does. But does he really have their best interests at heart here, or is he satisfying his own wants?

      College Football, External Sports

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