another week of college and NFL in the books. One thing that is unusual is the lack of bad weather that would affect the quality of play on the field. Thats a plus. I don't like to watch or speculate on who's gonna win on those types of games.
Among the top college teams we haven't seen the super dominant team that destroys any and all comers. Teams like Florida and Alabama don't move the ball at will against the stronger defensive teams. The Big Ten has disappeared into a black hole with the top teams lacking effective offenses. At least not effective against a decent defense. The season started out so well for Rich Rod and Charley Weiss. Now it looks like Ohio State is the only team in that conference to be worthy of a top twenty ranking. Dark horse teams like Cincinnati and TCU seem to be waiting in the wings to be among the elites, at least for this year. And the schizo Pac 10 is hopeless. With USC being exposed, and Cal no longer relevant there is a power void.
Oregon is cursed by their insistence on wearing those PC greenleaf uniforms that make them look like the supporting cast to a Celtic Woman show. I've watched both games (Boise, Stanford) in which they looked bad. Even the posers on the sidlines looked uncomfortable. If Texas loses a game then the BCS playoff picture would be blown wide open. Otherwise my enthusiasm for the coming playoffs are somewhat subdued for this year. Maybe its the parity among the teams that seem to becoming apparent. The huge spreads of the past are not being covered. Maybe the number of up and coming teams is diluting the picture as a whole. Too many teams seem to take away the focus. Kind of like the music scene. With the tens of thousands of artists available via the internet, its hard to keep structured. Who is among the elite? who is good? Who belongs among those the mainstream says should be there?
Anyway I will close my college roundup on a kind of sad note.
I saw that Nevada beatdown of SJSU coming a mile away. Anytime you see a team with over 300 ypg rushing playing a team that gives up over 250 ypg, you know whats going to happen. (Check NIllinois-E.Mich). I say it was sad because as a kid growing up SJSU was my hometeam. Over the years the Spartans have continued to try to build up their program to national prominence. Or at least to the level of Fresno st.
Unfortunately the geographics have and will continue to make it impossible.
San Jose CA isn't like Lincoln Neb. If it was a deliberate agenda to make the SF bay area an international area, it worked. The majority of the population of the area,(and school) are not from this country. So football to them is either irrelevant or of the round ball variety. Not many top athletes seeing being recruited by SJSU as a goal. The school interest isn't what it used to be. I can remember back in the day when the games against Stanford had us buzzed. I can remember seeing Dave Chaney riding his bike down Santa Clara st and people greeting him as he rode by. At least Stanford has world class school credentials so they can
still attract some talent.
As for the pros, I see Dallas is looking like serious playoff team. A team with a pass rush and capable QB is always a good thing to have. It would be interesting to see if QBs who can get you there but falter in the big ones can finally get over that psychological hump. Like Romo or McNabb. As for the Giants it looks like their done. But its still early. Too early to tell who will be in the playoffs much less the SB. Maybe we will see new blood. Like Houston, or Cincinnati or even Denver. Well maybe not Denver. The NFL does seem more interesting this year as far as playoff considerations. But just be careful on what you say on and off the field.
Nowadays if you say the socially forbidden key words you will be gone. That seems to have become the unwritten law. Being not very nice or mean to anyone or anything is against the unwritten law. I guess it won't be long before that unwritten law becomes written. They might as well. It's already been accepted by the masses.
Sorry I forgot this is supposed to be a sports blog. To bad the NFL had to get political on us.