Labor Day Musings
Posted September 3, 2006, 9:43 AM ET

Wasn't it great watching college football all day and all night on Saturday? Just imagine next weekend, when the NFL is added to your viewing pleasure.

There were a couple of surprising developments from the games this weekend. I was really impressed with Tennessee...there had been some major barking from the Blue Ridge Mountains during the off-season about Phil Fulmer and the program getting back to the national level. The Vols looked good in waxing ninth-ranked Cal from the Pac-10. Perhaps the addition and return of David Cutcliffe as the offensive coordinator has brought some confidence and stability to the Tennessee program. With the Florida Gators looming in a few weeks, we'll find out soon enough.

I was also surprised to see how poorly North Carolina played on the defensive side of the ball. The Heels were beaten up by a decent (but not great) Rutgers team...some guy by the name of Ray Rice pounded the UNC defensive unit for 201 yards rushing. This was a very disppointing loss for Bunting and the program. Up next for the Heels....Virginia Tech. By the way, the Hokies love to run the football...the boys in baby blue better get ready.

Will Proctor did exactly what the doctor ordered in his role as Clemson quarterback. The numbers were solid, but not spectacular...13-20, 166 yards and three touchdowns. Clemson was sloppy with four turnovers and the Tigers will await word on Anthony Waters, their outstanding linebacker who was injured. If Waters is out with a leg injury, he will be the second starting linebacker to be pushed to the sidelines and that could be trouble with road games at Boston College and Florida State in the next few weeks.

Auburn struggled for a while with Washington State, but the War Eagles are loaded. Kenny Irons is a stud, and both sides of the line of scrimmage look powerful and deep. The showdown game with LSU is coming up in two weeks and it has the makings of the best SEC game of the year.

I'm still not sure what to make of Georgia. They played a cupcake in Western Kentucky so it is hard to get a read on the play of the Dawgs' quarterback situation. Joe Tereshinski threw for 90 yards...and backups Stafford and Cox chipped in for 40 and 29 yards respectively. I can't wait to see how the Georgia quarterbacks react to the hostile environment awaiting them in Columbia on Saturday.

Speaking of the Gamecocks, Steve Spurrier might have been disappointed with the play of his offense against Mississippi State, but he had to love the play of his defense and special teams. The Cocks were flying around the football in Starkville, and I can't imagine anybody doubting the fact that Spurrier will find a way to get the offense cranked up. The game with Georgia this week is an interesting match-up....plus, the Old Ball Coach loves beating those Dawgs.

Notre Dame struggled and survived at Georgia Tech. I thought the game would have more fireworks, but it was entertaining. My initial reaction is that Notre Dame is vastly overrated and Charlie Weis is vastly overweight.

Should we start a petition to eliminate Duke from Division 1-A football? And how long will it be until Notre Dame cancels their future series with a prominent Top 20 team and replaces them with the Blue Devils?

NC State fans are breathing a sigh of relief that they didn't find a way to lose to Appalachian State....but Wolfpack Nation is also worrying that Marcus Stone looks like he normally does at quarterback. The Pack has feisty Akron and Southern Miss in the next few weeks...but the offensive woes look like they are still lurking at Carter-Finley.

Wake Forest won, but lost their starting quarterback Ben Mauk....East Carolina lost a close one on the road at Navy, but might have gained some confidence in the process. Skip Holtz has the Pirate program heading in the right direction. ECU has UAB next, and the Blazers gave Oklahoma all they could handle...it will be important to win one on the road before West By-God Virginia comes to Greenville.

In NFL news, the Panthers - along with all the other teams - had to make their final cuts and get the roster down to 53 players. Carolina decided to go with only two proven quarterbacks (Delhomme and Weinke) and they also decided that Eric Shelton deserved to stay a Panther. Shelton will have a nice comfortable seat on the bench as he watches DeShaun Foster, DeAngelo Williams, Nick Goings and Brad Hoover all get playing time before he does.

I've never really understood the fascination of the NFL cuts...Why should I care about the third-string (pick your favorite position here)? If that guy is playing, two things are happening...the team is injured beyond belief and has no chance to win. Or the team is getting blown out to the point that I don't care to watch. I do care about week one of the NFL season and there should be a celebration that the NFL preseason is finally over. It is almost as painful to watch as Duke football.

And finally, how about Team USA? I'm so glad that USA Basketball decided to really take these World Championships seriously after mailing it in during the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece.

Jerry Colangelo's master plan of scrimmages, tryouts, hiring Coach K and putting the best team together from a list of multi, multi-millionaire NBA stars would finally restore order in the world of basketball. With guys like Dwayne Wade, La"Bronze" James, Carmelo Anthony, Elton Brand, etc...all we have to do is roll the ball out there and watch the ESPN SportsCenter dunk-fest take place.

How did that work out?

At least we're consistent; this collection of the NBA's best players and brightest stars won the same lousy bronze medal as the last collection of NBA stars. The fact that we lost to Greece ( a team that had zero NBA players on the roster) says it all. The USA has not won gold since 1994...this is no longer a trend, the United States is no longer the best in the world when it comes to basketball. How the NBA declares that the Miami Heat are the "World Champs" is embarrassing....if I was FIBA, I would demand that they stop using that term unless they can prove it on the court.

While the latest collection of NBA All-Stars was adjusting to Mike Krzyzewski's defensive style of basketball, Team USA was beaten in the semi-finals by Greece 101-95. To make matters worse, Greece lost in the championship game to Spain, 70-47. That's right, Spain held Greece to a mere 47 points and accomplished that defensive feat without the use of their star player Pau Gasol.

The NBA stars, playing defense? Please, who wants to do that?...Did you see LaBronze James' latest dunk...or, how about his new shoe commercial? The NBA game is a joke, and basketball fans from all over the world are having a good laugh at our expense.