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Unfinished Business When Southern California QB Matt Barkley decided to return for his final year, he made it perfectly clear that there was "unfinished business" remaining with the Trojans football team. One thing we already know about this season, compliments of Stanford's win over previously #2 USC, is that Matt Barkley will never experience a win over his Pac-12 rival to the North. "0-for-Life" against Stanford....he'll be fine and will go on to a nice NFL career, but there is no doubt that the loss in Palo Alto on Saturday night changed the landscape of not only the Pac-12 conference but the national title picture, too. But after watching Stanford push the USC line of scrimmage all over the Farm...I cringe at what Bama or LSU would have done to the weak and thin Trojan offensive and defensive lines....it would not have been pretty. After watching Bama humiliate Arkansas 52-zip...I don't know how anybody could make a case that there should be somebody else with the top billing in this young college football season. For the record, Arkansas hasn't been shutout in Fayetteville since 1966. While all of this stuff was taking place, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were "waking up the echoes" with a very impressive smash-mouth effort against Michigan State. Notre Dame is now 3-0 for the first time in a decade, and they look better than they have in many, many years. Michigan State on the other hand, made it official with the loss...and that is that the Big Ten has officially been eliminated from any BCS national title discussion....and it took only 3 weeks of the season before putting the league in a BCS body bag. Florida continues to own Tennessee....the Gators are working some halftime magic. For the second consecutive week, the staff and players have looked like world-beaters in the 2nd half, on the road in hostile SEC environments. I know Big Orange Nation is bummed out....this felt like a coming out party, but in the end, the Vols were dominated in the final 20 minutes. The ACC stole another Big East team last week....this time it was Notre Dame. Once the celebrating was over in the ACC offices, the Big East proceeded to kick the crap out of anything associated with ACC football. The Hokies rolled into Pittsburgh to play the winless Panthers, and they walked out beat up and humiliated. Maryland lost at home to UConn...and Randy Edsall had to suffer a defeat to his former club. North Carolina decided to spot Louisville a 36-7 halftime lead before attempting to compete....despite the great comeback, they lost and the Big East enjoyed an ACC sweep. College football gives us great stories to tell each week....and I can't wait to see what happens this upcoming week. The Carolina Panthers picked up a big win on Sunday, knocking off the New Orleans Saints. It wasn't a "must-win" game, but it was very important in jump-starting the season. The best part of the win was watching the intensity level improve from a week ago. The offensive weapons were on full display and when Cam and Co. are on, the team can score points in bunches. The flip-side is that the team has a defense that sometimes can't stop a soul. The guys made enough plays to limit Drew Brees, and picked up the "W". However, the defense is a far cry from being "championship caliber"....and this week they get a mid-week visit from the defending Super Bowl champs. Eli Manning torched Tampa Bay (the team that beat Carolina in the season opener) for 510 yards passing...something tells me that he will enjoy what he sees on tape when looking at Carolina's secondary. Expect another high-scoring shootout on Thursday night as the Panthers garner some national primetime exposure. The one thing that you can bet on is that the local Charlotte media will continue to talk about the Panthers and the Super Bowl for another week...at least you can get a good laugh out of all the speculation. I read that next season in MLB, the LA Dodgers will have surpassed the NY Yankees as the club with most guaranteed $$$ for salary. In salary commitments for 2013, the LA Dodgers have $170 Million...including 9 players over $10 M per year. The Phillies are next with $128 M and lagging behind in 3rd place the NY Yankees at $97 M. To put things into perspective, the Houston Astros don't have a single penny committed to anyone currently on the 2013 roster. If there has ever been a better description of the "haves and have nots" in sports, this is it. As a SF Giants fan, I can only laugh watching the Dodgers try to buy the 2nd playoff wild card spot...but until MLB creates some type of salary cap, this nonsense will continue. I know people have football on the brain....but the races in MLB have been tremendous....the additional wild card spot has opened up more interest around the country, even though I'm not sold on the concept...especially the opening round of the playoffs. But more about that in a couple of weeks. I had mentioned earlier about the ACC acquiring their 15th conference member in Notre Dame...of course, the Irish are in for all sports with the exception of football (and hockey). I'm not overly surprised that both sides found middle ground because there are so many similarities between the two brands and entities. Somehow the tradition and arrogance of Notre Dame seems like a perfectly good fit in so many ways.....academically, athletically and even culturally. What I found to be remarkably ironic was the announcement last week which happened to take place in Chapel Hill. Given all the blatant cheating and ethical misconduct taking place on the UNC campus in the past few years, it was surreal to see the Council of Presidents along with the Notre Dame suits tag-teaming for the big announcement. ACC Commissioner John Swofford was quoted as saying that the "ACC was founded on the cornerstone of balancing academics, athletics and integrity"....I'm all for that statement by the Commish. The problem is that the parties decided to have UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp on-site....and if there is anybody that represents the polar opposite of "academics, athletics and integrity", it's Thorp. He has been in the center of every single UNC disaster and basically never has an answer other than he's surprised something of this magnitude could happen and that there will be another internal investigation. How he's kept his job is amazing....and to think he might have pictures on somebody can not be ruled out, given the lack of ethics and decorum that has been on display from the University of North Carolina. In the end, I believe the Notre Dame - ACC arrangement will be a good fit and a win-win for all parties. However, it might be a good idea to keep the Catholic priests out of Chapel Hill in the short term. |
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