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The Day Has Arrived Ever since Bama beat up Notre Dame in the BCS national title game, the college football world circled the date of September 14th, 2013. That's the day that Heisman Trophy-winning Johnny Manziel and his high-flying Aggies would host the two-time defending champion Alabama Crimson Tide. That day takes place this Saturday....and I can't wait to get down to College Station to see the party. I'll be hosting my SiriusXM show from the A&M campus on Friday and the Tailgate Show on Saturday morning on Channel 91. It's going to be a zoo. The hype surrounding the game is one thing; then you throw in the witch hunt that the national media has had with Johnny Football....the "process" with anything associated with Bama football....and you got yourself a great story. I don't know if the game can live up to the hype, but we'll find out on Saturday afternoon. As far as college football goes, probably the biggest surprise in this young season might be the play of the ACC's big boys....Clemson and Miami have signature wins over highly ranked SEC foes and the Noles showcased their new star in Jameis Winston. Clemson is now #3 nationally in the AP Poll....the Noles are riding a Top 10 ranking and the Canes have cracked the Top 15 compliments of Florida's inability to play offensive football. It all adds up to a good time for the ACC. The SEC has been interesting , too. There are only two unbeaten teams in the SEC East after two weeks.....Tennessee and Mizzou. The Georgia Bulldogs rebounded from their loss at Clemson to beat Steve Spurrier and the Gamecocks for the first time in four years. In the process, they grab the inside track in the SEC East....but it's a long season. South Carolina has to be bummed out with the 11-point loss "Between the Hedges"....they had extra time to prepare, plus Georgia was banged up physically and emotionally from their loss in Death Valley. Florida has a terrific D...and an offense that wouldn't be accepted at UNC-Charlotte. The Gators are hard to watch. The SEC West has A&M with all kinds of questions on D....Bama that is ranked #1, but iffy on the O-line.....LSU and Ole Miss are looking good. Who knows? It's too early to figure it out....but you absolutely know the outcome this weekend in College Station will start providing some answers. The USC Trojans are a mess. I traveled to Los Angeles on our SiriusXM Camp Tours and visited both the UCLA and USC camps for our live broadcasts. USC passes the eye test....their starting line-ups were filled with big, fast athletes that looked the part. Saturday night, they scored 7 points in a home loss to Washington State.....the ol' pirate, Mike Leach was swinging his sword, and causing problems. It makes no sense what's taking place in LA......the Trojans, despite their limitations, show very little offensive punch or passion on gameday. Lane Kiffin has got to be feeling some serious heat. Same goes for Mack Brown at Texas. I visited the Longhorns in August, too. They are loaded with talented kids along with 19 returning starters. They were ambushed at Provo on Saturday night as BYU ran for nearly 600 yards on the ground. Manny Diaz lost his job as defensive coordinator in the process and Longhorn Nation is not happy. There's no excuse for either school.....I know the season is only two weeks old, but USC and Texas are being watched by everybody. This week, the Longhorns entertain Hugh Freeze and his high-scoring Ole Miss Rebels. Beware. The NFL season is finally underway, and it didn't take long for my hometown Carolina Panthers to disappoint the locals. There's no shame in losing to the Seattle Seahawks....they are legit and a common pick by NFL pundits to make it to the Super Bowl. The Panthers' D played great; holding Russell Wilson and Co. to only 12 points is a solid day's work. But leave it to the Panthers to counter that defensive effort with a lone TD in the loss. The club was driving for a potential winning TD until DeAngelo Williams fumbled inside the 10 yard line late in the game. This is exactly why the team has the worst opening day winning percentage of any NFL franchise and the reason why they are a traditional loser. In 18 years of NFL existence, the Panthers have four winning seasons....they're off to another rip-roaring start. Up next is Buffalo....lose that one, and the locals can get ready for another year of Bobcats basketball......Oh joy. NASCAR has reached a new low. The crazy collection of events that concluded the race in Richmond on Saturday night can only be summed up by saying the sport is losing all credibility. Clint Bowyer purposely created a late caution to make sure that leader Ryan Newman wouldn't cruise to a win and a spot in the Chase for the Cup....in addition to allowing some of his Michael Waltrip teammates a better chance to get into the Chase, too. The shrewd move drew ire from purists and broadcasters....but it worked. Newman lost the lead in the pits....and Bowyer's evil genius move worked to perfection as Martin Truex, Jr. squeezed out Jeff Gordon for the final spot in the "Chase". I'm not sure NASCAR has the balls to make a decision in this case..... Is it against the rules?....What rules? It was definitely against the spirit of racing....whatever that is. As it turned out, Michael Waltrip Racing is laughing all the way to the bank. NASCAR should be ashamed....the sport continues to hit new lows. Wednesday of this week would mark the 100th birthday of Paul "Bear" Bryant. I bet he'll have a great view of the Aggies and the Tide this weekend.....he had great success at both schools. What was the NFL thinking when they trotted out Ryan Seacrest for the beginning of the Broncos-Ravens game last Thursday night? I know NBC wants to cross-promote another show that he hosts for teenage girls and metro-guys.....I fall into neither category, so you know how I feel about it. I stated on twitter that a NFL out of bounds marker has more testosterone than Seacrest. I'm watching FOX Sports on Sunday for the NFL pre-game show, and they trot out Bruno Mars in Times Square. Hello?....TV executives, here's the deal.....we want football. All this peripheral BS is for the birds. |
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