College Football Playoffs?

We all have our ideas of what the BCS should do… or should NOT do, and I suppose mine is no different. As I blog this, there are five undefeated teams in the national spotlight, stirring up controversy on whether there ought to be a college playoff system.

I am not really FOR the playoffs, but not really against it. Let me explain why.

To me, I think the arguments for playoffs are for those who think that the little guy ought to be held in the same esteem as the big guy. Ok, I see a reason for that, but I go back to something an old school wrestler named Ric Flair once said…

“In order to BE the man, you have to BEAT the man”

If you want to be considered up there with the big boys, then play a schedule like them. This is my biggest argument against teams like Boise State, because they had numerous opportunities to make a more challenging schedule, but opted not to do so because they seemed to want sympathy from those sitting on the fence.

I mean, their schedule was weak as water, after you take out Oregon. And granted, that was a great win…in your house… against a first time head coach… in his first game with the Ducks…nice.

But it still is a very quality win. So why did you schedule Miami of Ohio and UC Davis…what’s that about?

To me, before you start whining about playoffs, make sure that we are talking about legit teams. Now, I know TCU is not in the Championship game, and I actually do feel that they deserve strong consideration, and I am not too happy about them playing Boise State in a repeat bowl…that game proves nothing.

Before we start whining about playoffs, we have to define those parameters. First off, how many should be in it. Right off the bat, I don’t believe in a 16 team system, too many teams that have no business fighting for a National title. When you only play 12 or so games, you don’t need 16 teams claiming rights to the throne.

How about 8 teams? I wonder about that too. Go back in your NCAA history books of college football and see how many teams ranked #8 or 7 had a legit shot at a NCAA title…not very many.

To me, the arguments about who should play in the National Championship usually fall on 2-4 teams. Of course, you may argue with me that maybe Boise State, or maybe Florida has a case, but with Florida losing, I would doubt that, and Boise State just has not played a tough enough schedule to prove that they are an elite team. They are just a great team in a soft conference.

So I think IF you have a playoff, it should be the FOUR best teams in the nation. Think about it, Pittsburgh, LSU, Georgia Tech, USC, Ohio State and teams of that ilk have no real claim to the throne.

Second, if you really want to figure on who is the best, force EVERY conference to determine a true champion. Either by playing every team in their conference or having a conference championship. This eliminates the probability of two undefeated teams out of one conference that may not even play each other….BIG 10 for example.

It is conceivable that the Big 10 could have two undefeated teams in their conference, since they don’t play every opponent, and don’t have a conference championship. I think that needs to be fixed, if that means adding one more team to make it an even 12, fine, either that or find some way to have one true champion.

The Pac-10 does not have a championship game, but they do play everybody, so in essence you still get a true champion. We know the ACC, Big 12 and SEC does have a true championship game, and the Big East has a small conference to in theory they can have a true champion, since they would play everybody in their conference.

But the big question comes with non BCS conferences…mainly the Mountain West and WAC. Remember folks, years ago they used to be one super conference, with 16 teams, before they split up…would have been better if they did not. Had they not, then you would have the Boise States, TCUs, Utahs, and other teams would face each other and we would have a TRUE champion, which also would make a much stronger case for the BCS.

But even then, there are so many stipulations that nobody has thought of. The results of this year dictate what people want to see, what if next year is different? What if next year there is only 2 undefeated teams, why then would there need to be a playoff if we have the two best teams in the nation?

If Alabama and Texas were the only undefeated teams in the nation, we would not be having this conversation about playoffs would we? So the temperature of playoffs is based only on what we last saw. What if each of the BCS teams produces an undefeated team, along with the Mountain West and WAC…what if the Mid American Conference puts out an undefeated team…they did last year with Ball State.

So in theory, you could have 9 undefeated teams, what do you do then? What if Notre Dame (ugh) goes undefeated? What if Conference USA produces an undefeated team. Where does this end?

Now these are extremes, but you see my point.

Do I think there needs to be a better way to decide the national champs, maybe, but the smaller teams can help their case by taking out their cupcakes and putting in real meat. TCU to their credit did this, so I can see their argument, but not quite for Boise State.

So, with Congress getting involved (although I don’t see why), things may change sooner than later…but unfortunately, it all comes down to money…ironic since we are talking about sports and college students…that never changes…

Greed, that is…playoffs…maybe.

Well, my friends, another long semester at ECU draws to a close, as the world prepares for the Christmas holiday.  I will be done with my academic obligations once I finish typing one more 6.5 page paper on the history of ship design.  Following that, I need only assist my supervisor in grading undergraduate exams, then I am free for a few blessed weeks of relaxation.

Nothing substantial here, just wanted to put that sentiment into words.

Oh, congratulations to our ECU Pirates football team, the first-ever back-to-back Conference-USA Champions.  We’ll see you boys in Memphis!

Cheers, and Merry Christmas.

That’s right, Merry Christmas.  I don’t care if you’re offended.

and I’m still trying to recover. My hangovers seem to include a morning headache and then a days worth of an upset stomach. No matter how much I eat and attempt to fill my stomach, it remains an empty pit.

last night was fun – much needed. I remember bits and pieces, mostly just drinking one Bud Light after the other – I think my ending number was 8. And then walking through the rainy/wet parking lot of Copper Beach, then realizing Kristen isn’t walking beside me anymore. Instead, I’m on the side walk of tenth stree with Wesley and Sofi, and Kristen pulls up in her car.  Next thing I know, I’m passed out at Kristen’s and Wesley’s.

To all the newly induced members:  WELCOME TO ECU AMBASSADORS.

Wow time flies! I began this blog on Dec. 4th, 2008 partially because I planned to use it to support my book Library Web Ecology and partially because I knew I would have a lot of thinking to do in my job and needed a place to put my thoughts. Since Dec. 2008 I have changed jobs and states. It has mostly been a great change as I feel stimulated in my job and find that project management and the management of a team does suit me.

At this time the blog is more focused on the process of developing the new Joyner Library website, but eventually I’d like to talk more about technology in general.  I have a HUGE folder full of interesting reports, tools and websites that I’ve been collecting pretty much all year.  I haven’t gone through these files, nor my Secondbrain account for so long that I fear I may have missed something that really could have helped me through this process, only to discover my error later.

I hope those that follow this blog are finding it useful, whether it is just to keep up with the progress made on the website or to help in your own implementation.  There is plenty yet to come as the ball is now starting to roll!  (I already have a good draft of the individual pages of the website content and a more semantic view of the homepage design).

You know, I don’t think Houston sports fans get enough sympathy from the rest of the nation. How are we not always mentioned in the same breath as Chicago, Cleveland and Boston before their recent run in baseball and basketball? Every year is the year that every Houston team is going to take that next step because it never happens. Enter the Houston Cougars.

I was concerned by East Carolina’s size and experience (28 seniors) coming into the game but I didn’t think there was anyway Case Keenum would let those advantages keep him and the Coogs from getting a Conference USA title and trip to the Liberty Bowl to face Arkansas. Well, I was right; the size and experience didn’t matter all that much, it was the mistakes that did the Cougars in. I guess you could say they pulled a “Texans.”

The 1st several minutes didn’t contian a whole lot of action with both teams failing to get into a rhythm offensively. UH couldn’t convert a 3rd and 1 then ECU missed a potential touchdown pass on a bad throw, Houston went 3-and-out and Tyrell Graham tipped a pass by Patrick Pinkney to force another ECU punt. The most significant thing that happened in those 1st four possessions was an injury to Houston’s free safety, Nick Saenz, which would prove a deciding factor in the later minutes.

The Coogs struck first on a 57-yard TD pass to James Cleveland on a simple slant route where he just ran away from both ECU safeties. 7 – 0 Houston, but that wouldn’t last long.

The kickoff by Matt Hogan was returned 69 yard by the explosive Dwayne Harris all the way to the UH 26. On the next play the Cougars lost another defender when David Hunter went down with a leg injury. ECU took advantage of the hole up the middle vacated by Hunter and gashed the nation’s 113th ranked run defense all the way to the 1. The Coogs tried to make a strong stand from the 1 but the Pirates got it across on 3rd down to tie the game at 7. And more things began to move in the wrong direction for UH.

Keenum lost a ton of yards on 2nd down, 21 to be exact, because he ran 12 yards back from the spot where he planted to throw after his 5-step drop. That took Houston back to the 2 with 3rd and 27 to go. Obviously, that possession ended in a punt. It also gave the Cougars -23 rushing yards for the 1st quarter. Impressive.

7 – 7 after 1.

The punt wasn’t a bad thing though because Travis Simmons fumbled the ball on his punt return and CJ Cavness recovered his 493rd fumble of the season to put the offense on the 38. From there it was all Cleveland.

James Cleveland made his 5th, 6th and 7th catches of the game on the possession with the 7th going for a 4-yard touchdown on another slant. But Matt Hogan missed the extra point; that would be a recurring theme. 13 – 7 UH.

Sumlin decided to avoid Harris this time and kick the ball on the ground to the ECU up man who fielded it on the 35 and ran it back to the 45. Is that really much better? Well, yes but only because Ben Hartman missed a 45-yard field goal try so the Cougars got the ball for the 2nd time in great field position. Too bad it didn’t get them good refs too.

Cleveland was shaken up by a helmet-to-helmet hit but no penalty was called on ECU. But that didn’t slow the Coogs whose hurry-up offense was tiring the bigger ECU defense. The Pirates tried to sub 3 linemen at once as a result but 2 of the guys leaving the field did not make it off before UH snapped the ball. “Too Many Men on the Field” wasn’t called and the Coogs paid for it when Keenum threw an interception to Levin Neal in the endzone. Also, it looked like Neal stepped out on the 1-yard line, not in the endzone so ECU should’ve gotten the ball on the 1, not the 20 since the refs refused to call the blatant “Too Many Men” penalty. But in the refs’ defense, Keenum’s throw was just as bad as their vision. The Coogs missed a chance to really take control of the game and ECU made them regret it.

Dwayne Harris got free on the 1st play for the Pirates and took it 37 yards into UH territory. ECU made it look easy as they took chunks of yards at a time to set up a 5-yard TD run by Giavanni Ruffin right up the middle. 14 – 13 ECU. And the mistakes kept coming for Houston.

UH was called for 1 false start but Keenum made up for it when he avoided 3 Pirates in the backfield and bought enough time for Chaz Rodriguez to get open on the 11. Then there was another false start that Keenum had to overcome which he did this time with a perfect throw to Tyron Carrier who made a fantastic catch in the endzone. But then the extra point was missed again! 19 – 14 UH. It would stay that way since ECU didn’t have time to answer but those 2 missed points would be big later.

19 – 14 at the half.

The Coogs only had 5 rushing yards in the half but they were still out-gaining ECU by more than 100 yards. They would need that to continue in the 2nd half. It wouldn’t.

The Pirates moved easily down the field with the run and medium range passes until they got near the red zone which is when the loss of Saenz earlier in the game really showed. ECU ran a play action fake and Brandon Brinkley and Saenz’s backup, Roisean Haynes, both bit badly on the fake and Harris jogged past them for a 22-yard TD to take the lead back. 21 – 19 ECU. Cue UH mistakes.

Keenum and Carrier were moving the ball down the field but then the Coogs decided to go to EJ Smith who responded with a fumble inside the opponent’s 30. The stellar referees struck again because the East Carolina player was out of bounds when he recovered the ball so it should’ve remained with UH but they didn’t see it that way. And honestly, the Cougars didn’t deserve calls the way they were messing up.

ECU gained enough yardage to get a 37-yard field goal to get the score to 24 – 19. And it would stay that way going into the 4th because Keenum was sacked on 3rd and 4. Only the 3rd time Houston has failed to score in a quarter this year.

24 – 19 ECU after 3.

The defense started the 4th by forcing a punt but AJ Dugat got in on the mistake making. He fielded a punt that was definitely headed into the endzone for a touchback and he was only able to return it to the 9 so he cost his team 11 yards. And apparently the mistake bug was contagious because Keenum floated a pass off his back foot over the middle of the field and into the waiting arms of by Van Eskridge who took it the other way to the UH 7. It wasn’t tough for ECU from there.

Dominique Lindsay went right up the middle for a 7-yard touchdown on the very next play. 31 – 19 ECU with about 10:30 to play. Don’t worry, that’s plenty of time for several more mistakes.

Keenum went almost exclusively to Cleveland on the next drive including a 4th and 7 conversion for the 1st. The duo took the Coogs down to the 5 where Keenum found LJ Castille for the TD in the back of the endzone. 31 – 26 ECU. So the pressure was really on the “D.”

After the Coogs were almost able to jump on the rolling kickoff, the Pirates used their size to punish the Cougar defensive unit. It looked like I was watching replays of the same run play up the middle over and over until Ruffin busted through the right side and took it in from 22 yards out. 38 – 26 ECU with only 6:40 left for UH to respond.

Again Carrier got nothing on the kick return but the offense was able to march down the field anyway. Aside from another injury, this time to Jarve Dean, the drive was Houston best showing of the day and Keenum capped it with a perfect throw through 3 defenders for a 22-yard TD to Cleveland, his 3rd of the game. But wouldn’t you know Hogan missed another extra point when this one was blocked. 38 – 32 ECU with 3:25 to go.

The onside kick didn’t work for the Coogs but the defense did. The unit came up with 2 impressive stops on 3rd and 2 and 4th and 1 to get the ball back with 1:47 to go and very good field position. But guess what was coming…

Carrier made a reception on a slant to the UH 46, Keenum ran the ball to the ECU 49, and illegal substitution by ECU gave UH the 44 and Cleveland ran an in to get the ball to the 34. Now, from the 34 you are looking at a 51 yard FG attempt if you gain no more yards but Coach Sumlin couldn’t think about that because the 3 extra points that were missed meant the Coogs were down by 6 instead of 3. So, rather than a chance to gain another 10 yards in the last :40 to tie it with a field goal, the Cougars opted for a deep go route to Castille on the left sideline. Castille had a chance to make the play but, of course, the ball went through his hands, bounced off the corner’s helmet and stayed in the air long enough for Eskridge to make his 2nd pick and put an end to the game.

I really, really don’t understand why UH didn’t keep doing what they were doing to get down the field. Cleveland was getting open on every play and they still had timeouts. At least another couple of plays to the 15 or 20 gives Keenum a better chance to find an open man instead of just taking a chance to your 4th or 5th best receiver. And if you’re giong to take that shot, go to Cleveland! He had earned it with his performance.

But then again, this is Houston.

38 – 32 ECU final score.

Positives:

1. Next year: “I can’t think of any team we have seen this year that is this young.” – Ron Franklin talking about UH. That means they should get better going into next year.

2. Keenum is 2nd QB in FBS history to pass for 5,000 yards in 2 consecutive years. He also set the record for UH single season passing.

3. James Cleveland was spectacular: 19 catches, 241 yards, 3 TDs

Negatives:

1. The mistakes: (read the article)

2. Houston went from a Liberty Bowl date with Arkansas to the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl against Air Force. S***, I may not even watch that!

Insights:

Why do we do this to ourselves? On a weekend in which this game happened and the Texans officially eliminated themselves from playoff contention I still consider myself a Houston sports fan and I care enough to post things related to our home town teams. And the amazing thing is that you will read it because you reluctantly care also even though we both know that I can say, “Next year:” in the Positives: section when it should probably actually go in the Negatives: section because it will probably be the same thing. Maybe I can copy and paste this next year when it happens again.  

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	33	23
3rd down efficiency	12-17	8-14
4th down efficiency	1-1	0-1
Total Yards	557	413
Passing	527	262
Comp-Att	56-75	21-34
Yards per pass	7.0	7.7
Rushing	30	151
Rushing Attempts	19	38
Yards per rush	1.6	4.0
Penalties	3-25	5-25
Turnovers	4	1
Fumbles lost	1	1
Interceptions thrown	3	0
Possession	29:39	30:21

Damnit,

Multatuli

So, not that it matters a whole lot, but the Coogs moved up to #21 in the BCS standings this week. I’m just afrais that the Coogs are going into East Carlina thinking that they are by far the better team, which they are, but UH still nedds to show ready to play and crush ECU to make a statement going into the Liberty Bowl.  

They also sit at #18 in the AP Poll and USA Today Poll and #21 in ESPN’s Power Rankings.

At this point in the season, the BCS rankings don’t mean a whole lot outside of the top 2 teams. The bowls are determined more by affilaitions and fan base than they are by ranking but it is still nice to move up.

UHCougars.com
With the win, the Cougars improved to 10-2 overall and clinched the C-USA West Division championship.

Houston will represent the West Division on the C-USA Championship game, hosted by East Division champion East Carolina, at 11 a.m. (CST), Saturday, at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The Cougars are making their second C-USA Championship game

Don’t Have Tickets Yet? Get Your Tickets for the C-USA Championship

Let’s go, Coogs. A conference championship and victory over an SEC team in the Liberty Bowl would make this is a great season and one to build upon heading into next year. A year in which Keenum has the inside track to the Heisman and UH could be looking at the a top 10 or 15 ranking to start the year.

Eat ‘em Up!

The black one is really nice, but the white one cost $12 less. $20.

An old Euri cartoon from way back has made its way onto a t-shirt. Here is a story, actually The Story, with Dick Gordon, with some of what is going on in the land of the Pirates these days.

Well after a few months of tinkering and head scratching I finally got the bike going!!!! It took a while but its worth it. I ended up redoing the whole electrical system on the bike. To start with I replaced the coils inside the stator then the coil that provides spark to the spark plug. With the help of locky the lama. I was able to also hook up the rear brake light. Now i just gota find a nice looking head light for it. And some indicators and a few other bits and pieces. But hey whats the fun if its not a challenge ae? hahaha. Well this is what the bike is looking like at the moment.[gallery]

@carstufftinting & @ecuremap have had a twitter make over with a twitter layout, to make there digital presence even more pleasing to the eye.They’re simple but effective using the same colors and style of there websites.

Click images to view live pages.

"I was nude once. It was 1984 and my pants caught on fire..."

The freak is in the house, awe-oh!  The freak is in the house, awe-oh!  Sorry, got carried away.  Here they are, a little later in the evening than usual, but I made it. These are the freaky and funny search terms people used to find my blog.  How these queries brought them to my blog, I don’t know, but one should never question the power of the freaky search term.  Enjoy and keep the freak flag flying, people.  I need you.    

10. how tall jeff Goldblum – He big tall.

9. Jay Cutler suck 5 – Five?  He sucks 17.  As in, he’s thrown 17 interceptions in 9 games.  How many interceptions has Kyle Orton thrown? 

8. “jay cutler” sucks – Only if you expect him to win.  Otherwise, he’s the greatest quarterback who ever lived in his own mind. 

7. real live ghost caught on tape – Note to beginning ghost hunters, you’ll never find a real “live” ghost.  Try looking for the dead ones.

6. day of the dead tattoos – Now this is a tattoo I would consider getting… but not on my face.

5. star tattoos for girls – Could a star tattoo really be gender specific?  What makes one star tattoo more girly than another?

4. worst face tattoo – The worst face tattoo is called a face tattoo.

3. nasty puppies – Cute, loveable puppies are so last year

 2. dog with toupee – Dogs with toupees came up a couple of times last week.  I guess Hair Club for Dogs finally opened for business

And the number 1 freakiest search term used to find my blog is:

1. skip holtz, nude – Oh… ah… no…  You can’t really want to see… I mean I don’t even think Skip Holtz wants to see Skip Holtz nude…. Wait, I’m feeling a little dizzy…. Let me get some fresh air…. Oops… I think I… Yep, I stabbed a pencil in my eye to try and rid myself of the horrible image of Skip Holtz nude.  Thank you for that, interwebs.

This will work for usdm OBD-1 ECUs:

Read the code on it. The 2nd to last # on an automatic ECU will have a 5.
If it is anything but a five then it is a manual ECU.

Jdm OBD-1 ECUs:

Reade the code on it.. if the last 3 digits are 900 or 901 it is an automatic ECU.

Information Source: www.hondaswap.com

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*** DULLES, VA. – November 12th, 2009

Tacti-Cool Unit

Dulles Case Center

- Dulles, VA. , is proud to offer another product to help support our troops in the field with Hardigg’s Tacti-Cool Mobil AC Unit for equipment.

Dulles Case Center is a well funded, woman-owned, small business with a proven track record that provides deployable protection solutions to the military, public service, industrial, commercial and consumer markets utilizing CAD engineered foam inserts in ruggedized re-useable shipping containers by Pelican-Hardigg and SKB. We understand configuration control and quality control and are moving into ISO 9000 and SAP.

For more information or to order the Pelican-Hardigg Tiacti Cool Unit,  please contact:

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Decided to have a break from Designing tonight, instead I’m trying to build up my product selection.

Just signed up to join a few more merchants, that offer oak cupboards.

I’ve now added the grand total of 8 products to my web site, they all have basic details, but the descriptions, etc will all need improving (thats for another day).

For each product I have found, I have created an EasyContentUnit, I just find it so much easier to setup a site using ECU’s as I don’t have to worry about updating prices on my site manually (or trying to use product feeds).

I have also obtained a copy of the product image (in the best resolution I can), I’ve had to adjust a few images as some had a lot of white space around them that didn’t look too good on my site.  I’ve also saved all of the images using 80% JPG compression, some sites don’t seem to care about compressing images, but I do as I have a limited amount of bandwidth on my hosting.

I do this type of photo editing using Paint.Net which is another Free product (you will have probably noticed I like my free software).  I’ve then used VSO Image Resizer to generate Thumbnail images for all of the Products, I could have done this with Paint.Net, but this tool just does this sort of job so easily (and batch processes images).

That’s it for tonight, the site is really beginning to take shape, and I’m very pleased with my progress to date.  I am really starting to look forward to the 15th November launch date.

"Bonjour. Restez courtois ou je vous envoie mes 4 gorilles qui depassent tous le metre 78. Enfin, qui sont tous plus grands que moi quoi."

Voilà, comme le titre l’indique très bien, petit post en passant pour vous prévenir d’une grosse mise à jour des photos sur picasa. Au final, vous y trouverez donc maintenant des photos de la ville, de la maison, de 3 plages (Mullaloo, Scarborough et Cottesloe), de Rottnest Island, de mes 25 ans et de diverses soirées ou activités ou l’on peut me croiser ici, à Perth… C’est par ici:

http://picasaweb.google.com/renaud.lavinay

Ensuite, comme je sais que beaucoup d’entre vous attendent la moindre occasion de se foutre de moi, voici en exclusivité MONDIALE un (tres) court-metrage écrit et réalisé par mon pote Tor Markus.

Le sujet était donc un reportage TV, abordé sur le ton de la comédie. Il fallait aussi qu’il s’entraine à l’utilisation du fond vert. Ca a ete tourne en quelques heures seulement. Si vous ne vous poilez pas, 2 choses à savoir :

• Ici l’image du francais arrogant à l’accent inbouffable fait beaucoup rire
• Il y a une grosse référence au film Anchorman, ou Will Ferrel interprete un presentateur de JT. Culte dans les pays anglo saxons, inconnu du grand public en France…

Nous on s’est bien marré en tout cas

crédits à ECU (production) et Tor Markus Iden

Pour ceux pour qui l’anglais pose un souci:

Presentatrice (Eva): Bonsoir Perth. Au programme ce soir, un possible changement majeur pour Perth. J-P Merlot, business man francais, va conclure ce qui sera le plus gros contrat dans l’histoire de la Western Australia en rachetant King’s Park (magnifique et immense Park surplombant Perth) au gouvernement. Je passe maintenant la parole à notre envoyé spécial à King’s Park, Nicolas Cusak, en presence de J-P Merlot.

Reporter (Nicklas): Pourquoi avez vous decide d’acheter King’s Park ?

J-P Merlot: Pour la qualité du sol, parfait pour produire du vin. Nous savons aussi que le site peut supporter un chateau, qui sera donc le Chateau King’s Park.

Reporter: Les gens s’inquietent du devenir du parc pour les visiteurs et les touristes… Qu’allez vous en faire ?

J-P M: Le parc sera toujours accessible pour des visites guidées moyennant un prix tres modeste. Les visiteurs pourront ainsi profiter d’un peu de mon Pays, la France, ici en Australie.

Reporter: Concernant les batiments, comme par exemple le monument aux morts… Allez vous les conserver ?

J-P M: Oh, vous savez, tous les batiments qui font l’identité du parc vont rester. Nous allons juste retirer toute l’herbe, parce que ça ne sert a rien, et la remplacer par de la vigne et bien entendu, le Chateau.

Présentatrice: C’etait un reportage exclusif de Channel 8 news. Je vous laisse avec quelques images des Jeux Olympiques pour Ecureuils 2009. C’etait Eva Niedzwiedz, Stay Classy Perth, bonsoir.

Et en Bonus, T-Man et son titre “Shower”, en plein craquage pendant un tournage nocturne interminable.

]]> http://thefootballgirl.wordpress.com/2009/11/07/yay-we-won-so-why-do-i-not-feel-happy/ Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:47:38 +0000 football girl http://thefootballgirl.wordpress.com/2009/11/07/yay-we-won-so-why-do-i-not-feel-happy/

Maybe this is why:

Virginia Tech’s special teams helped the offense score their first three points of the game. A 33 yard punt return by Jayron Hosley, which was sprung by three crushing blocks, set the Hokies up with a first down on the ECU 31. The Tech offense failed to pick up a first down on the drive, but they did move the ball to the 24. Matt Waldron came on for a 41 yard field goal attempt, and it was good. The field goal gave the Hokies a 3-0 lead with 8:59 remaining in the first quarter.

Or maybe it was this:

After another punt by East Carolina, the Virginia Tech offense embarked on their best drive of the game. Unfortunately they couldn’t turn it into a touchdown, and they had to settle for another field goal. The Hokies went 75 yards in 14 plays, taking 6:03 off the clock.

Or maybe it was the score.  16-3, on a night when Ryan Williams ran for 179 yards, not a one of them into the end zone.  I’m not a hundred percent certain he ever ran in the red zone, but I’m too lazy to look it up.

We needed a win, badly.  We needed a win to keep this team from skidding feet first into Crapville.  We got the win.  But the game itself was about as interesting as watching my oven preheat. 

According to Kyle Tucker, after Tyrod fumbled at the goal line, it marked the 12th, yep 12th, time the Hokies had been in opposing territory in the first half and not scored a touchdown.  Of those 12 possessions, nine points.  Nine.  Holy shoot.  The game was a study in everything that’s been wrong all season, with no sign of any change on the horizon.  Uninspired offensive play calling, Tyrod holding the ball just a little bit too long, poor offensive protection up front, and even though it only led to three points, the defense giving up a long scoring drive for no apparent reason whatsoever.  This was not a good ECU team.  Powerhouses like UNC (yeah, I know they beat us, just stay with me) and SMU both managed to hang at least 28 on the Pirates.  It’s truly disturbing.  And will make for a truly unremarkable rest of the season if this is to continue. 

So where do we go from here guys?  I know that I am starting to feel the dreaded burn-out feeling that caused me to turn off the TV after Sean Glennon started singlehandedly flushing the Chik Fil A Bowl down the toilet.  I hate that feeling.  The season is so short, and the rest of the year SOOOO long, that I hate to waste a minute feeling this way.  But jiminy Christmas, it was hard to watch that game and get excited.  And I want to be excited about this team.  I really, really do. 

So, I’m going to be at the Maryland game this weekend.  Anyone been there who can tell me anything about it?  Parking?  Stadium?  Good places to have a beverage or two?

Last night, we failed to defeat our out-of-conference rivals, the Virginia Tech Hokies.  The final score was 16-3, VT.  A sharp new midfield logo and new helmet logos couldn’t help us win, nor could the fireworks that enhanced our team’s entrance onto the field.  It was embarrassing, and I have been thinking a lot about the game and how we could have done better.  I have come up with several issues that were against us last night, some of them our fault and others not.

1. ACC officials — The rumor is that the referees calling last night’s game were from the Atlantic Coast Conference, to which VA Tech belongs.  After the game, I saw a group of officials wearing Conference USA t-shirts, which is the conference to which ECU belongs.  Thus, what I will write here is merely hearsay until it is confirmed.  The refs, whichever conference they were from, completely called the game in favor of the Hokies, the entire night.  Every penalty committed by ECU was called and accepted, while the Hokies committed many holding penalties, a couple of chop blocks, and other illegal actions that were missed or ignored by the refs.  Some of those illegal actions resulted in season-ending, and possible career-ending injuries to two Pirates, TE Rob Kass and DB Dekota Marshall.  Also, the Pirates made a couple stunning plays that the refs then reviewed and reversed in favor of the Hokies.
2. Running up the score — With a score of 16-3, it is hard to make this claim, however, I will try.  With under two minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Hokies drove down  the field, and our defense was able to stop them and force a 4th down.  The Hokies were in field goal range, but in my opinion, when already up 13-3, they should have attempted the TD, and accepted their failure if that was the case.  True, had they made the TD, they would have won by that much more, but to tack on an extra three points the easy way when there was virtually no chance of a Pirate victory seemed very unsportsmanlike to me.
3. Patrick Pinkney — Yes, I will call him out by name.  Our QB is awful.  He hesitates to pass, his passes are sloppy, and he can’t read a defense.  Every now and then, he will scramble successfully, but it isn’t often.  To add insult to injury, we have a really good QB on our second string, but he sits on the bench while Pinkney starts every single game, even when he was infected with H1N1.  Why does he start?  Two reasons – a) his father is a major supporter of the Pirates athletic program, and – b) he’s black, while our backup QB is white.  Yes, I firmly believe that affirmative action is extending to the football field in our case.  There is no way that Pinkney proves himself to our coach in practice every week, and then completely chokes on gameday.  Two words, Coach – JOSH JORDAN!

There are certainly more reasons, but the more I write about this, the angrier I get.  The worst part of last night was that it was the first time this season our stadium has been completely packed with fans, to the point of discomfort in some areas.  Many of the 43,569 people in Dowdy-Ficklen last night paid $55 and up for their tickets.  The athletic program made A LOT of money, and gave us nothing in return.  Last night’s performance would have been a disappointment even if we were having an excellent season otherwise, but we aren’t.  This has become typical of our team.  It is becoming really hard to be a fan of this team.  For my part, I will never again wear my Pirate jersey with the number 15 on it.  Hopefully, my wife will allow me to buy a new jersey next season with a different number.  15 belongs to Patrick Pinkney, and I want no connection to him.

That’s all for now.

When I opened up the N&O this morning, Caulton Tudor’s  face graced the top left of the sports page underneath a headline about the ACC missing out on ECU during its expansion in 2003.

It was tough to stop laughing long enough to read the article.

Is this really all that Tudor or his editor have as far as a story idea? Come on guys, you can do better. I think.

The basic gist of Tudor’s argument centers on how much ECU would bring to the table regarding rivalry games with the likes of N.C. State, Carolina and Duke by being a member of the ACC. In my opinion the Pirates being in the ACC would have little to no impact on those games other than the fact that they may happen more regularly. N.C. State and Carolina fans are going to hate ECU regardless and vice versa. They could be Division 1-AA and it wouldn’t change.

Now as much as Tudor’s reasoning made me chuckle, I don’t know that I would necessarily be against ECU being in the ACC. But if you’re going to make the argument that they should be (which I won’t even try to do), at least have some reasons which are worth discussing.

Here’s the link to go along with a couple of gems from the article.

Expansion was all about adding enough helmets to qualify for a conference football championship game that has been virtually meaningless and roundly unpopular, and increasing the regional television inventory.

The return has been a good, solid Boston College team that has a loyal but small private-school fan base in a market where college athletics will never be a television hit, and a Miami program that’s running on fumes.

Running on fumes? I don’t know about all that Caulton. Miami may not be what it was in the early 2000s, but it most certainly isn’t running on fumes.

And as far as the ACC title game being a failure (which it most certainly has been), how exactly would ECU help that? I can’t really see them at or near the top of either division year after year so how would they bring anything to the table?

None of this is to suggest that the Pirates are Prince Charming in a purple robe. Like most schools, ECU comes with a give-take equation.

Like Virginia Tech, there’s not a big ready-made TV market to tap. And like Virginia Tech, basketball success will always be problematic. But ECU could help solidify the boundaries, expand the football fan base and intensify the emotion – all of the things Virginia Tech has done and what the Southeastern Conference has used to become the television contract gold standard.

ECU will have problems with basketball success. Say it ain’t so Caulton. Now I am aware that the Pirates did beat N.C. State two years ago, but I think that says way more about the Wolfpack at that point than ECU. What’s the saying? Even a blind squirl…yea you get the point.

And last but not least, does Tudor honestly believe ECU could help the ACC become a TV powerhouse comparable with the SEC because of rivalry games? Really? That’s too ridiculous to address. Alabama vs. LSU > ECU vs. NC State. Always and forever.

This whole article makes me think of my favorite segment from NFL Sunday Countdown.

Come on man!!! (In Keyshawn Johnson voice)