Should I Get Investigated by the NCAA? I Get Paid to Play Football...

For my Mom, sister, and 3 other people who read my blog, I am very sorry for slacking on my duties the last 2 months. These crazy things called school and getting into law school have gotten in the way of my blogging. But fear not- football is over, the bulk of my classwork is done, and I have gotten into law school. Yes the same guy who once jumped off the pulpit at Shabbat services and yelled "Cowabunga!" is going to be a lawyer. God help us all.

Anyways, the topic of discussion today, along with every other person who knows anything about college football, is Cam Newton. The question is not IF he will be declared in eligible, but rather WHEN. He broke the rules. Even if he did not know about it, his Dad broke the rules on his behalf. Auburn is not going to get in trouble other than having all of their wins erased from this year, and the national championship will be taken away if they win. That's a big if though. I know the NCAA ruled him eligible today, but there is no way they could have conducted a thorough enough investigation in this short time frame. I will explain why they are sweeping this under the rug, but first here is what Auburn's defense will be:

1. Cam Newton did not know anything about his father or his "representative" Kenny Rogers was trying to extort money from Mississippi St. for Newton's commitment.
2. Cam Newton did not attend the university he supposedly tried to extort money from
3. No money ever exchanged hands

There's a few problems with this. First, since Cam is connected to both his father and Kenny Rogers, he will get screwed no matter what because he probably knew about it anyways, and they were still acting on his behalf. Next, it doesn't matter if he went to Mississippi St. or not, or if he ever received money. If the NCAA rules that what he did is legal, then the flood gates will rush open and every player and their mother will try to extort money from any school that contacts them. If it works, the school will just make sure it stays hidden. If it doesn't work, then the player will just go on to the next school and try again. Either way, there is no way the NCAA will let something like this start. Last but certainly not least, I would have to guess Auburn did something to sweeten the deal for his commitment. His Father's church needed about $150,000 in repairs and low and behold, the good Lord answered his prayers and he somehow found the money to fix it up. Hallelujah!

But this is not anything new for the NCAA. Players have been getting paid to play for a while now. Hell every time we had a road game I got at least $10 to spend on food. Do you know how much food you can get at McDonald's with $10? It could feed kids in a third world country for a week. So I either pocketed the extra dough, or just went ahead and bought and ate all $10 worth of food. I promise it was almost always the former. But in all seriousness, this is not an isolated incident. Players on most big time schools get paid to play. But they aren't all the best player in the country playing on a possible national championship team who also is the leading candidate to win the Heisman. That's why the NCAA is taking its sweet time to do an investigation because if they sped it up, the results would be catastrophic. Think about this: it's the middle of December and the BCS championship game is between Auburn and fill in the blank. The NCAA rules Cam Newton ineligible and they forfeit all games he participated in this year. What happens now? Who the hell knows. And you know why this won't happen? It all comes back to money. But not Cam Newton's money. It's the NCAA's money. It's the BCS's money. That's what college football all comes down to these days. That's why the BCS added another bowl game that is just the national championship held at one of the rotating locations. That's why the NCAA added this horrible week of football when Bama is playing Georgia St. and Florida is playing Appalachian St. The almighty dollar has ruined one of the purest games, a game that is near and dear to so many people in this country. And that's without even getting into the problem with agents and illegal benefits for amateur players. Nothing is going to change anytime soon. There are too many people that have too much of a financial stake in what's going on for it to change.

So I'm going to go ahead and admit that Bama's performance in the second half against Auburn was one of the biggest letdowns I have ever seen. My best friend from high school goes to Auburn and watched with me, and I was actually apologizing and making excuses for him in the first half because I felt so bad. Needless to say I was eating my own words by the end of the day. The thing that is pissing me off the most is how Bama fans are reacting to the loss. "Oh the victory will be vacated in a few years so it doesn't matter." SHUT UP! Be happy that we have an SEC team that is one game away from the national championship. Be happy that the SEC has the chance to win 5 straight national championships. Cam Newton is the best college football player in the last 5 years without a doubt. I can handle getting beaten by the best team in college football that has the best player in college football because I know our guys left it all on the field. I'm proud as hell of them and can't wait to see them in a bowl game. And I will wait till next week to rip Boise St. a new one after their loss to Nevada. I can't wait.

As for this week, it's time for the conference championships, and I'm quite excited. Let's start with the SEC. They always say it's hard to beat a team twice in a season, but I think Auburn will be able to handle South Carolina in Atlanta come Saturday. Although Spurrier is one of the best game planners of today, I just can't bet against Cam Newton. If Nick Fairely and Auburn's front 7 can stop Lattimore, it will be a long night for the Gamecocks. Auburn wins by at least a touchdown. In the Big 12, it's really a coin flip because both teams have not had the best of seasons. The Big 12 in general is down, especially with Texas not even being bowl eligible only a year after being in the national championship. Had to throw that in there because my roommate is from Austin and a die-hard Horns fan. Hook 'em! I'll take Oklahoma as they are 6-1 in the title game, winning by 10+. For the ACC game, I like Florida St. in this one. Coming off a big win against Florida, I think they will use momentum to get another win. FSU by 4. Last but not least, Oregon has their rivalry game against Oregon St. This shouldn't even be close with Oregon's unstoppable offense, but playing at Oregon St. will keep it close at the beginning, but ending with Oregon dominating by 35+.

That's all for now folks. I will be getting back on track with my blogging as the semester draws to a close. Look forward to next week when we finally know who is playing where, and for my annihilation of Boise St.

Until then,
Roll Tide!
The Big Man

Team Meals: It's All About The Good Stuff

Like many football teams, my team has weekly meals together as a position group. It is one of my favorite times of the week as it consists of the entire offensive line going out to a sports bar, buffet of some sort, or a local favorite and consuming an insane and unhealthy amount of food. Heaven. Not to mention having 16 guys at 240+lbs sitting at a table together can be quite intimidating even for the most veteran of servers. We were actually asked by a waiter at Olive Garden to never come back again after we had to have set the record for most breadsticks consumed at one sitting. My Mom can attest to that one- it was a sight.

Non-linemen on the other hand like going to places such as The Cheesecake Factory, Q'Doba, and other "skinny-people" places where you can't consume large amounts of food at one sitting without spending a good chunk of money. Their meals are much less entertaining, mostly because fat people are just funnier than skinny people in general. It's true- I read it in a book. Go sit through one of their meals where they don't order any appetizers, get salads and vegetables, and drink water and see how much "fun" they are. Then come to one of our shmorgus borgs and enjoy tons of hot wings and cheese sticks, nothing green within a 50 yard vicinity, and waterfalls of Mountain Dew and Cherry Coke. Which one do you think you'd like better?

But the food is not the only part of "The Good Stuff" when it comes to team meals. The dinners give you a chance to really get to know the guys around you on a much deeper level You know, like whether they like wings or drumsticks and other important stuff. But in all seriousness, I spend anywhere from 40-60 hours a week with these guys depending on travel time to away games. The majority of my memories from college either have to do with football, or at least with my teammates. It's no coincidence that my best friends on campus also happen to be on the team. These guys have shed the same blood and sweat 24/7/365 as I have for the last 4 years. And these meals play a big part in creating those deep connections with my fellow fatties. Skill guys don't really have to know their fellow position players like us linemen do. We have to know what each other are going to do without even asking. We have to be able to read the body language and muffled sounds on the line and turn them into our signals and changes when we are blocking. We really do have to be the closest knit unit on the team. We know the team can't do anything without us. So when the skinny guys make fun of us for going to CiCi's Pizza and staying for 2 hours, we stick out our chests and bellies, smiling with pride.

Now for my review of college football thus far. Not gonna lie I have been thoroughly impressed with what Rich Rodriguez has done with his QB Denard Robinson. He is averaging over 410 yards of total offense per game. Makes sense considering Rodriguez has been busted for keeping his players in practice and film far longer than allowed by the NCAA. Bless the hearts of Notre Dame fans across the country- they just can't seem to get over that hump. The black sheep of the SEC, Ole Miss, has also been beaten badly with losses to Jacksonville St. and Vanderbilt. Any SEC team that loses to Vandy deserves all of the ridicule possible- I don't even know if those guys practice as much as we do. Texas and Florida have both been struggling with their new QBs, a trend that will continue throughout this season as neither has the experience or running attack necessary to sustain the powerful offenses we have seen from them in the past. As for Bama, Trent Richardson did as I expected, making people wonder even more if he really is better than Ingram. Even though Ingram did have over 150 yards on just 9 carries and 2 TDs, I still think Richardson might be a little better. As Bama moves deeper in their SEC schedule, getting both snaps throughout the games will wear down defenses until they fold like the Buffalo Bills in the Superbowl.

As for this week, keep an eye on Bama at Arkansas, South Carolina at Auburn, and Oregon St. at Boise St. This will be Bama's first real test, playing Ryan Mallet's high powered passing attack in Fayetteville. Bama will win because of their running game as always, as it will more than compensate for our deficiencies in the secondary. You just can't beat a team that holds the ball for 12 minutes in the fourth quarter because of their unstoppable running attack. As for South Carolina at Auburn, I like South Carolina in this one. Spurrier always brings his A game when he's on the road, especially at Auburn. And I really don't think Gene Chizik has the Plainsmen quite as ready as everybody else does. They are very flashy and feed off of momentum, so look out if South Carolina gets on a roll. And finally Oregon ST. at Boise St. The Bronco's are basically unbeatable at their place, thanks to visiting teams being mesmerized by that infamous blue turf. Kellen Moore is playing well and that Boise defense is running to the ball too well to get beat. Boise wins, and basically solidifies themselves as a BCS contender. Like I said before week 1, Bama vs. Boise St. in the national championship come January.

Until Next Time,
Roll Tide!
The Big Man

Camp Festivities and Traditions

Football camp really is one of my favorite times of the year. For two weeks, nothing but football matters. You get to hang out with your best friends and act as gross and vulgar as you want. In fact, that kind of behavior is both expected and rewarded. All of the glamorous BS you see on shows like MTV's "Two-A-Days" and the most recent ESPN special on Bama's pre-season practices  is not what makes it fun (Although watching my boy Preston Dial on the ESPN special was quite humorous and exciting to be able to say I played with him for 2 years). Come spend a night in the dorms with us to hear the stories from the summer, watch us gamble all of our money away on poker and street craps, and join in on nicknaming the smelly freshmen- that's what makes it fun. They don't really smell worse than us and I would call it a term of endearment but it's really not. My favorites nicknames- that I can actually post on the internet without having a sexual harassment law suit being brought down on the team by one of the freshman's parents- are Johnny Tsunami for our Hawaiian corner, Augustus Gloop for an o-lineman from Dallas, and Twiggy for the smallest o-lineman I've ever seen. The best part is the upperclassmen don't really give the freshmen a say so in the matter, and the names are given within hours after meeting them for the first time. The names all stick no matter how awkward or idiotic they are. Even the coaches join in sometimes.

For more entertainment, come to a meal and enjoy our tradition of making each freshman stand on a chair and sing a song while we scream at them from every direction. And God help them if they forget the words- that's when we make them sing "I'm a Little Teapot" with the hand motions included. Even the rookie coaches have to sing, which is usually even funnier than the freshmen. We added a new tradition this year amongst the o-line- writing down all of the funny/pervish/awkward/asinine things our coach says and posting them on twitter completely out of context. Check out @doctorfishma for great ones such as "don't be afraid to expose yourself on the field." We may publish a book by the end of the year.

Aside from the joking around and hazing of freshmen, camp is the most important time of the year. It sets the tone for the rest of the season- if you come out with no fire or excitement, your season will be exactly like that. Luckily for us, we came out and started off on the right foot. Our practices were some of the most intense and focused I have ever seen, definitely since I've been at Washu. The athletic department even made a recruiting video of camp to show prospective players. My fat butt is in it right at the end watching my boys hitting the sled. But the challenge with classes starting up now is keeping that intensity and focus with so many distractions. Much easier said than done.

So I decided every week I'll do a a recap of the games from the previous weekend along with a preview for the upcoming games. No games so far, but the big news for Bama was Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram having his knee scoped. I'm not too worried considering Trent Richardson may pull a Lou Gehrig/Wally Pip and make everyone say Mark Who? Ingram will be 100% for the Penn St. game and with a freshman quarterback at the helm for the Nittany Lions, Bama's defense may do all of the scoring anyways.

My games to watch this week will be Oregon St. vs. TCU, LSU vs. UNC, and finally Boise St. vs. Virginia Tech. Basically everyone other than these 6 teams has a week to shake off all of the cobwebs and get in a groove while these teams are hitting the ground running. But if you have to lose it's better to lose early than late. I'm almost mad we actually have a night game because I will miss the first two games, but hopefully we can get the Bear 100 (number of running plays plus completed passes in a game) on offense and can have the shortest game in D3 history so I can catch some of the 2nd halves. I can't wait to see if TCU can carry the momentum from last year into another BCS bowl bid, or if they will fall flat on their face. I'm excited for either. For UNC, I hear all of the analysts say this team has the most NFL talent on it. Those were also the guys who said Matt Leinart was one of the best pro style quarterbacks coming out of college in 2006. Considering he's on the same path as Jamarcus Russell right now, I don't really care what the analysts say about UNC. I like LSU in this match-up. ACC just can't hack it when playing SEC teams. As for Boise St, this is by far the biggest game of the year for them and maybe in their history. The national championship hangs in the balance as this game will make or break their season. They are damn near unbeatable at their place, but playing at a "neutral" site will definitely even out the playing field. And by "neutral" I mean a VA Tech home game considering it's in Maryland. Should be interesting to see what trick plays Boise still has left up their sleeve to see if they can beat Beamer's Hokies.

Should be a great opening weekend to say the least. I know when I'm not on the field I will be glued to the couch watching the games and analysis as always.

Until Next Time,
Roll Tide!
The Big Man

A New Season Is Upon Us

The moment you have all been waiting for is finally here- the first day of camp for Washington University in St. Louis football is today. Ok so that may not have been what you were waiting for. But that day is upon us. In less important news, the USA Today came out with their pre-season coaches poll. I for one do not take Coach's Polls very seriously because no team really knows how good they are until they step on the field for the first time. And a bunch of Coaches who are not even a part of those teams want us to trust them? Think back to 2000 when Bama was ranked #3 in the pre-season and only won 3 games the whole year- good call. And just so you know, I am a big SEC fan and an even bigger Crimson Tide fan, and I won't be objective at all in my opinions. If Bill Simmons can be biased towards his Boston teams I will stick to my guns as well.

But even with my biases, I don't know if Bama can repeat. It's such a hard thing to do in college football, especially when you are playing in the SEC. With 6 teams in the top 25, you have to bring your A-game week in and week out or you will get beat. Then you look at their schedule:

•  Penn St. week 2
•  5 week SEC stretch that includes away games at Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, and home stands with Florida and Ole Miss
•   Finish with a game in Death Valley and finally that cow college down the road at home

 Wow. Just typing that got me a little nervous. No one else in the SEC or any other conference for that matter has a schedule that even comes close to that. An even bigger problem is Bama's secondary- they only return 1 starter. But with arguably the best running back duo in college football, they could hold on to the ball 59 of the 60 minutes and put a pee wee defense out there and still win. If the Tide gets rolling, they will be hard to beat, especially with "S:The Coach" at the helm.

Even though I could talk about Bama for hours and still have more to say, I guess I should talk about the other schools and conferences that pretend to exist across the country. The Big 12 used to have the best argument for rivaling the SEC. But with Nebraska and Colorado departing, the falling of Kansas, Mizzou, and Texas Tech in recent years, and no more Bradford or McCoy, the conference is just not what it used to be. As much as I hate to say this, the Big 10 is honestly the second best conference, and having 5 teams (including newly added Nebraska) in the top 25 proves that. I will go ahead and say that number will drop to 3 by season's end though. When you have Ohio State in your conference, you are destined for underachieving.

Lets move on to a team who actually exceeds their expectations- Boise State. I really like their chances this year. At #5 in the pre-season poll, it's the highest they have ever been. I know they have the easiest schedule out of anyone in the top 25 year in and year out, but they also win year in and year out. 25-1 in the last 2 seasons alone. Kellen Moore is back after finishing 7th in the Heisman race. And if they win their first 3 games against Virginia Tech, Wyoming, and Oregon State, they will more than likely win out and have a damn good shot at the BCS title game. You heard it here first ladies and gentlemen- Bama vs. Boise State in the BCS title game. Mark your calendars.

This really is the most exciting time for everyone- players, fans, and coaches alike. No matter if you won it all last year or didn't score a point, you get a fresh start. Everyone thinks they can win a championship, and no one really knows how good they are until they start bumping heads with someone in a different colored jersey. That's what gets us through the grueling two-a-days in unbearable heat. That's why we work our asses off in the off-season when the next game isn't for months. Because when we step on the field that first day of practice, we all think to ourselves, "This is the year. This is our year to win it all." And nothing in the world can beat that feeling. Nothing.

That's about it for now folks. Unless something big happens in the land of college football, don't expect a post until after opening weekend.

Until then,
Roll Tide!
The Big Man