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Simply
Ridiculous There's only one way to describe the football action from this past weekend. The college football season was put on its ear, and most fans throughout the NFL rejoiced when the Skins knocked off "America's Team" in Big D. What a weekend of bizarre happenings. It actually started on Thursday night, when the Southern Cal Trojans were knocked off by those pesky Beavers of Oregon State. Anybody see that one coming? I didn't think so, but it was a precursor to all the upsets in college football a few days later. The Sundrop Southern Fried Football™ Tour visited Clemson and we watched one of the worst coaching jobs that I've seen in quite some time. No disrespect to Ralph Friedgen and his Maryland Terps, but Clemson's second half performance was horrid. What was interesting about the trip is that the Clemson faithful have seen this act so many times under Bowden's watch, that they have become virtually immune to the hurt of another terrible loss. When a fan base gets used to seeing a team under-perform so many times they become apathetic, and that spells trouble for Tommy Bowden. I really like Tommy Bowden and I think he's an outstanding person who has accomplished many great things during his tenure at Clemson, but he has yet to prove that he can make them great. Based on the "Bama Blowout" and his latest rendition of brain-lock on gameday, I am hard-pressed to believe he can survive unless he somehow delivers an ACC title to Tigertown. His teams seem flat and unmotivated to play...and that goes directly to coaching, or in this case, a lack of it. When you look around at some of the crazy upsets in college football, you realize it is truly impossible to figure out what's going on. Florida loses at home to Ole Miss...huh? Ole Miss can't beat Wake Forest in Switzerland, but they take care of the Mighty Gators in the Swamp? Wake Forest lost to Navy. East Carolina in a span of two weeks goes from a national darling to chopped BBQ. Georgia was ambushed at home by Bama. By the time I put my feet up from our Tigertown trip it was 31-0 between the hedges. You've got to be kidding me. The game was over before UGa could get cozy in his sideline penthouse. Wisconsin blew a 19-point lead and lost to Michigan. All that did is confirm that the Big Ten is already down to Big One and a Half...Penn State and an overrated Buckeye club. The list can go on and on with unbelievable upsets and wild storylines. How about Duke snapping their 25-game ACC losing streak...and they did it in grand fashion by destroying Virginia, 31-3. Al Groh is toast. The Tar Heels were impressive down the stretch in knocking off the Canes in Butch Davis' homecoming to South Florida. Had North Carolina found a way to hold onto a 17-3 lead against the Hokies the week before, Butch would have his guys ranked and the team to beat in the Coastal Division. If you think that's crazy, how about Vanderbilt leading the SEC East....Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina already have conference losses. The fact that a school without an athletic department can be leading the SEC East in football at any point in time is unfathomable. It also makes life a little uneasy for Tennessee's Phil Fulmer, who finds himself in hot water with the orange-clad Vol Nation. I'm telling you, it's a mad world out there. I also couldn't help but laugh at the latest AP rankings after all the carnage this weekend. The Top 10 looks like this:
Here is what the preseason AP Top 10 looked like a month ago:
And you wonder why I rip pre-season polls? The first poll of the season should come out the first week of October. Six of the Top 10 teams have already dropped out...This season is going to be nuts. Get ready for a wild ride. In the NFL, the Carolina Panthers lulled the Falcons to sleep and put them out of their misery with a 24-9 win. Mushin Muhammad was outstanding and Steve Smith found the end zone. Julius Peppers actually applied some heat and overall the Panthers take their 3-1 record and get ready for the upstart Kansas City Chiefs. Who am I kidding? The Chiefs are brutal. The Panthers should be in great shape this time next week with a tidy 4-1 start. Brett Favre had 6 touchdown passes...I'm sure some Fantasy Football geeks are celebrating while wearing their throwback Favre jerseys. More importantly, the Dallas Cowboys were beaten in broad daylight by their hated rivals, the Washington Redskins. I enjoyed watching every single minute of it....I'm not a Skins fan, but every time the Cowboys get pushed to the limit, I love watching Wade Phillips melt and Jerry Jones get more incensed on the sideline. The NFL, like college football, is so wide-open that it is impossible to forecast what could happen. The NFC East has the appearance of the SEC, with deep, powerful teams while everybody else has plays for second. But even after a month of regular season play, can anybody make sense of what's going on in the world of football? I know this much: it is awesome to watch. The Charlotte Bobcats, feeling the economic crunch, decided to eliminate 35 positions within their organization. There is no word if Michael Jordan was one of those that didn't survive the cuts. It was sad to hear the news about the passing of Paul Newman. His influence in the world of entertainment, sports and his incredible generosity in raising money for kids' charities was truly inspirational. I used to kid around on the air about him racing at his age, but the guy was passionate about it even in his 80's. It just goes to show you that age is just a number...we could all learn something from Newman's approach. God Bless "Cool Hand Luke". I loved the last few laps of the Chase for the Championship in Kansas. Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards put on a show and it was great to see the top two leaders for the title go after each other in an attempt to win. I'm not a huge Jimmie Johnson fan; it's not that I dislike him, he's just another talented guy that takes care of business...but he has been terrific down the stretch. The two-time defending champion is going to be hard to beat. The fact that he's been able to do it without his crew chief Chad Knaus getting busted for breaking a rule or ten is somewhat remarkable. I have been disappointed that Kyle Busch has vanished from the championship run after three lukewarm performances. The guy has been the big story all year, but his post season has sucked. I have a feeling that he'll be back. The Major League Baseball playoffs are upon us. What are the chances that the Chicago Cubs could actually make it to the World Series? I know that Sports Illustrated put the Cubbies on the cover, so that can't be a good thing. As a San Francisco Giants fan, all I can say is that I hope Chicago kicks the Dodgers to the curb. |
Packman
on Sports Commentary
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