Thursday Throwdown [Chat Transcript: 08/28/2008]

Peoria Pliers: NC State vs. The Ol' Ballcoach tonight at 7PM. You fired up?
Scoops McCracken: I'm more fired up for the Oregon State-Stanford game on ESPN2....I love the Pac Ten in that they get things going right away with a meaningful first game. They dive right into the conference season.
Peoria Pliers: Yeah but that's like diving into a pool of liquid mediocrity.
Scoops McCracken: Yeah, but I love sports drama. I found myself watching team handball during the olympics because a) it was in HD, and b) it had drama. I love meaningful sports contests. Besides, the Pac Ten has always been my 2nd favorite contest. I've liked the Pac Ten because they seem to balance college football the right way....they dig it, but they don't have broken down cars with bald tires in their front yards. They watch games and then go about their business.
Peoria Pliers: Good point. I figured out a while back that Sports is like my eqivalent to really good theater...I don't care about the outcome as much as the drama
Scoops McCracken: You're forced to go to one of these games tonight: Vanderbilt @ Miami (OH), Wake Forest @ Baylor, or Troy @ Middle Tennessee, which do you choose & why?
Peoria Pliers: Well the Troy/Middle Tennessee game is out, that is easy...who wants to be in Tennessee, EVER? There is nothing good that comes out of Tennessee. Other than Jack Daniel's.
Scoops McCracken: I choose the Troy @ Middle Tennessee game, and the reason is this.
Peoria Pliers: You must be crazy
Scoops McCracken: I want to see the next obscure 1st round CB live in person, the one that nobody knows about and you watch his highlights after he's picked overall at #16 simply flying around the field with crazy INT's & punt returns. He could be on either Troy or Middle Tennessee.
Peoria Pliers: Sure, that's all well and good. Here is the problem. The combined total of the ACT scores of the players on Troy St. and Middle Tennesse (an estimated 250 players) is somewhere between 2500 and 3000. Nothing like a game with 45 penalties to make you want to drink. Those teams make the SEC look like an old Woody Hayes coached Buckeye squad
Scoops McCracken: Speaking of scores, I was going to ask you what you think about the MarQuies Gray (and Spencer Reeves, another Gopher out due to ACT scores) situations(s).
Peoria Pliers: Sounds like the program is on an upswing! Yeah, I dunno, I mean this is probably a good thing that we are convincing the admissions office to let these hooligans into the university, since that is clearly the only way to compete.
Scoops McCracken: I take it you feel like these are the type of guys that are needed to turn around programs?
Peoria Pliers: The tough part is that you probably don't see this type of stuff at programs like FSU or Michigan since they have boosters that run the testing programs and they nip these types of problems in the bud. For shiggety. It's not like Football is in a vacuum, either. Anyone that has met Jordan Leopold knows that he wasn't here to study rock formations and socio-economic status...
Scoops McCracken: Not only the boosters, but the media as well. Could you ever see the Columbus Dispatch sitting on a story like the Star Tribune did with ACT scores? That thing was a few weeks in the works and they were waiting to unleash it. I've come to realize that the state of Minnesota does not know what it takes to have a big time D-I football program.
Peoria Pliers: Yeah no kidding. Or how about "Action News 5 - Ann Arbor" breaking the story that Fox did a few years ago about the gopher hockey players getting drunk at a bar. Perhaps, but if Penn State and Wake Forest can do it, so can we. Besides, your'e the "moral fiber" guy anyway. I haven't been to church in this millenium.
Scoops McCracken: I'm more about a kid, once he gets into school, keeping his nose clean off the field, staying eligible, and at least pursuing a degree more so than if a kid scored a 15 on his ACT's being allowed in.
Peoria Pliers: I agree with you, and considering how easy college should be for anyone who actually shows up to class and gives it the "old college try", there really shouldn't be any problems for these kids. They are just too dumb to realize how good they have it. Or they are just ingrained with the stupid gene (see: The Vick Family)
Scoops McCracken: But even Penn State has their share of hooligans too. They all do. I still laugh at Lloyd Carr in 2003 for wanting the Minnesota-Michigan game, which had to be moved to a Friday night at the dome, to be moved to Michigan on a Saturday because he would have had to take his kids out of class a day early.
Peoria Pliers: That's just the type of Lloyd Carr logic that got him fired from his job. Talk about not being able to see the forest through the trees....how in the holy hell did he keep his job as long as he did? I preface by saying I think he is a stand-up guy and a decent coach, but still
Scoops McCracken: He won a national title in his first 3 years and slapped around Ohio State until JT got there. I think he's a stand-up guy also, but he tries to play the card that his players are above all others because they got into Michigan, which has the highest standards in the Big Ten after Northwestern while in reality, they're all sports management majors and there simply for the purpose of 110,000 people paying $60/each 7 Saturday's a year, which funds their entire school practically. But that's why he was there that long; he had some early success. And he was taking them to BCS bowl games. Think about it 1998 Rose Bowl champs, 1999 Citrus Bowl champs, 2000 Orange Bowl champs, 2001 Citrus Bowl champs, 2002 Outback Bowl champs, 2003 Rose Bowl rep where they lost to AP national champ USC, 2004 where they lost that crazy Rose Bowl to Vince Young, 2005 (the exception: losing to Nebraska in the Alamo Bowl), and then another Rose Bowl & a CapitalOne Bowl win. That's 10 out of 11 New Year's bowl games.
Peoria Pliers: Yeah I'm not saying he didn't have sucess...but that is like being OK with Don Lucia sticking around for 10 years if all he does between now and 2018 is win a handful of WCHA titles and a few NCAA games...the bar HAS to be set higher at these elite programs, epecially considering the talent that runs through places like that
Peoria Pliers: How many 1st round draft picks went through Michigan betwen 1999 and 2007? Honestly.
Scoops McCracken: Lots, and don't forget about other draft picks, like LaMar Woodley, and a 6th round pick in Tom Brady.
Peoria Pliers: Exactly. They did less with more instead of the opposite. Just like American car manufacturers.
Scoops McCracken: Did you know that the Army-Navy game was moved to primetime this year? Usually, it was before the SEC championship on CBS, but now they switched it....the SEC game is in the afternoon slot and Army-Navy is at night on CBS competing against the Big XII title on ABC.
Peoria Pliers: That is pretty sweet. That is one game I really want to go to. I've been to Harvard/Yale, and I think Army/Navy might be next. I know, I know, there are bigger games out there, but until my homegrown porno business takes off I can't afford a $300 ticket to Florida/Georgia at the Swamp, or $500 for the Iron Bowl. I just can't do it.
Scoops McCracken: I'd do Army-Navy over all of them. Speaking of Florida/Georgia, you remember when Georgia scored their first TD when the whole sideline came out to celebrate?
Peoria Pliers: Nope, sorry. Was Lee Corso still coaching back then? I know he didn't coach either of those teams...just a frame of reference as to how you remeber this old-timey stuff. I bet you could tell me about a great drive that Howard Schnellenberger put together during an Orange Bowl in the early 80's
Scoops McCracken: No, this was last year. They scored the first TD, and Richt sent the whole team out to celebrate and they got a 15 yard penalty. The commentators were saying that Urban Meyer was most mad about the fact that he hadn't thought about that first.
Peoria Pliers: I don't think I watched that game, unfortunately. I hear Verne Lindquist's voice and I start to throw up a little, so the CBS games are always tough to watch unless I have some Burt Bacharach playing in the background to soothe the nerves
Scoops McCracken: I don't mind him, actually. Speaking of which...time for some announcer talk. Who are your favorites & why?
Peoria Pliers says: Ahhh yes, one of my favorite topics. You go first, I've got some good opinions on this but I want to hear your thoughts.
Scoops McCracken: My favorite is Ron Franklin, followed closely by Musberger (I love how he can make a 3rd game Pop Warner game seem like the Super Bowl) and Nessler. Favorite commentator is Bob Davie. He may have had a tough time in Southbend, but the guy knows what he's talking about during the game and I always learn a new thing or two I didn't know before. Other little tidbits: I'll always admire how Bob Griese could call the 1998 Rose Bowl like it was nothing when his son was on the field winning a national championship and the MVP, like you didn't even know they were related & staying neutral. Other than that, there's not much out there right now. When people like Pam Ward are getting jobs doing games, I can't take the job seriously.
Peoria Pliers: Best Color Guy - Bob Davie. If only he could recruit....Favorite Pre-Game Announcer - Ron Franklin. (Here in the battleground of Auburn, Alabama. The land of great confederate warriors like Robert E. Lee and Nathan Bedford Forrest, this great state has but two sources of pride...The Crimson Tide and the Tigers. Tonight, the streetfight begins at Tiger Stadium, live on ESPN). Worst Crew - Thom Brenneman and his cohorts at FOX. They make Pam Ward sound like Andre Ware
Scoops McCracken: Yeah, Franklin does have the great lead-ins on the prime time SEC games. Yes, the Fox BCS crews are awful.
Peoria Pliers: I like Todd Blackledge and Mike Patrick, they are solid but not great. Spielman is a good color guy, and Sean McDonough holds his own. Otherwise, the ABC crews are definately the bees knees these days, but there is no doubt that college football is still greatly mourning the loss of Keith Jackson. I think that Jack Arute is the personification of the difference between NCAA football (and Football in general) and the NBA. Jack Arute always wears a Fedora. That's his shtick, and he does it well. What does the NBA have? Craig Sager looking like a character in "I'm gonna get you, Sucka"
Scoops McCracken: Mike Patrick isn't that bad, I like his voice, and he doesn't make really stupid comments like half of the NFL guys that are just desperately trying to avoid silence. Yeah, I miss the "we send it down to Swannie" from Jackson. "Where was the safety man, Bob Griese?" And he was always good on the lineups after the kickoffs "The big men up front.....Orlando Pace, from Sandusky.......he's a large boy." He'd always single out one guy. "For the Trojans, Dwayne Jarrett, Kery Colbert, Leinart & Reggie Bush...he's everybody's all-american." I always thought I did a fair Keith Jackson impression.
Peoria Pliers: I can hear you doing his voice right now. How about my favorite, when he would do the product announcments, "The third quarter brought to you by Dr. Peppah, and Wavy Lays, Bet you can't eat just one (no pause) It's third-and-two, and the Buckeyes have brought out the meaty Fullback package we saw at the goal line in the 1st Quarter"
Scoops McCracken: King of the pause....."The Rose Bowl is brought to you byyyyyyyyyy..........Dr. Peppah.....................Dr. Peppah just what the doctor ordered and byyyyyyyyyyyy Wavy Layyyyyys potato chips." I do think ABC did it right by having Musberger do the Rose Bowl....he's the only guy that gets the excitment level of what a New Year's afternoon is all about. Back to this weekends games, I don’t expect to see anything like last year’s first weekend with App. State & Michigan. Think anything is going to happen this weekend? App. State happened before I was even at the tailgate lot for the Gopher opener.
Peoria Pliers: Hmmm, I'm never much of a big upset picker guy, but everyone seems to think that ECU has a shot against the Hokies. The game is in Greenville, but I just don't see the Beamer-nator letting that one get out of hand.
Scoops McCracken: Me either...in fact, I made that a high probability pick in my picks.
Peoria Pliers says: Lousiana Tech has a shot against Mississippi St since the Bulldogs can't score, and the game is not in Starkville. Other than those two, I don't see any huge upsets in the making, personally.
Scoops McCracken: Even though they're injured, I'm anxious to watch the Neuheisel era on Monday night with UCLA vs. the Vols.
Peoria Pliers: Yeah I kinda want to see Ricky Boy get his ass handed to him this year. Dorrell left the cabinets BARE, and I have been waiting for Fulmer's teams to live up to the recruiting ratings they seem to garner every year. Talk about an underacheiver.
Scoops McCracken: I kind of enjoy the Neuheisel train.....get some guys in, win, go to a nice bowl, be a top-5 team, then either leave for a different job or get hounded by the NCAA.
Peoria Pliers: I dono, he's sneaky, and he always reminds me of Bill Paxton's character in True Lies...the kind of guy who would try to nail your wife while giving her some line that he was an international businessman or billionaire playboy
Scoops McCracken: What was his name....Simon?
Peoria Pliers: Something like that
Scoops McCracken: That was on TV the other day....that's a pretty underrated movie.
Peoria Pliers: Agreed, some of Arnold's best work. Best quote - "I'm going to kill you pretty soon."
Scoops McCracken: A bunch of Islamic terrorists wanting to have a Jihad and bomb America. It's kind of ironic how True Lies & The Delta Force pretty much foreshadowed 9/11. Almost Nostradamus like. Anyway, time to wrap up the Throwdown. Last word?Peoria Pliers: Hmmm....Thank god it is Thursday. Time to strap it on.