Please Come Back!

For those of you that know me really well and for those that have been paying attention to my blog, you all know that I have been paying a lot of attention to the recent headline in college football. My favorite player in college football now and probably my favorite athlete ever is Tim Tebow, and when he fell down lifeless I was like any college football fan when I held my breath until he was able to lift his head on his own. With my experience as a soccer player, we deal with a lot of concussions, so once I heard that was his only diagnosis, I was very relieved. I know concussions are a very dangerous injury, especially when you have a lot of them(and probably even more dangerous in football), but with the proper care, concussions are injuries that allow you to come back and play again. My bigger worry to this injury is the fact that with Tebow going down last week and Sam Bradford going down with a shoulder injury the first game of the season, young college football players and highly recruited high school players will look at these heisman trophy winners and opt to leave school early for the NFL in fear that they would also get injured.
I totally understand why players who are highly touted would want to go to the NFL early, but there is so much about the college life that these players would miss. It's not just the pride of playing for your school, but one more year of college means one more year of maturation and one more year learning what not to do when you sign a contract worth millions of dollars. There are almost more stories of young professional athletes who receive major contract deals that end up bankrupt than stories of players who keep signing lucrative deals and stay out of debt. There are also a lot of stories of players who come out in the first round and don't actually play until years later because they still need to work on their weaknesses that they could have worked on with one more year of college football. It's more of a rarity to see someone like Mark Sanchez in the NFL and more common to see someone like Ryan Leaf(ok, maybe not as dramatic as Leaf, but a highly touted athlete who ends up with a below average career). I don't even need to go into why another year of actual learning will help just about anyone! That's pretty obvious!
My point to this whole entry is to say to these athletes please come back to school! I know that you can finish your college degree anytime you want, but as someone who had to come back to finish just ONE semester, it is not nearly as easy as it sounds! I look at players like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady who played all four years and now look at their careers. They were able to experience everything a college education gives you along with how staying in college football can truly help your NFL growth, on and off the field. I truly hope that Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, and Tim Tebow have wonderful NFL careers. I also hope that the media will stop questioning the players and the coaches as to why these players decided to come back. I saw a quote from Bob Stoops on espn.com and he responded well to the annoying questions the media were asking him.

"Everybody's entitled to their opinion, but for me to force a guy to go out and then what if it isn't the right decision? I don't need to tell you how things can always go in the draft," Stoops said."In the end, it's not my job to force a guy to come out. It's my job to educate my players on all the possibilities and then it's up to the individual and his family to make that decision."

In the end, no one can predict what will happen, but why take the chance of failing in the NFL so early? Enjoy all the experiences life gives you, and never stop learning. I admire these athletes and their desire to just be better people.

OK, so last weekend was a pretty bad weekend for me. With all the random upsets that I just didn't see coming, I wound up 6-6. Here's hoping for a better week!

UNC vs UVA- Go Heels!

Mich vs Mich St-Mich

Clemson vs Maryland-Clemson

Bama vs Kent-Bama

LSU vs UGA- Go Dawgs!

Washington vs ND-ND

FSU vs BC-FSU

Wake vs NC State-State

GT vs Miss St-Miss St

Auburn vs Tenn-Auburn

USC vs Cal-USC

Okla vs Miami-Okla

Will the real Lane Kiffin please shut up?

After another wonderful weekend of college football where Georgia, Florida, North Carolina won, plus Florida State and Michigan won (to make my husband happy), I was still quite annoyed at the end of the day and into this week. Why would I be disappointed, I ask myself? With the UNC and Georgia offense finally producing and Florida getting its first SEC win, how could I even consider not enjoying my whole day? First of all, it started when Tennessee decided to hire Lane Kiffin. He is a man with very little on his resume besides being the offensive coordinator to USC when we all know that Pete Carroll is the mastermind. Plus his miserable stint as the Oakland Raiders head coach where he blamed everyone but himself for his pathetic effort. Then, as we all heard about 100 times on ESPN last week, he made the infamous speech where he said he was going to be singing Rocky Top all night long after beating Florida. He also accused Urban Meyer of cheating when he himself has been reprimanded too many times to count AND he was dumb enough to be on ESPN breaking rules when he decided to talk to recruits on the air..."smart guy." Even worse, he accused Mark Richt of cheating...really? An incredible Christian man is going to be accused of cheating by a man with that track record? Let's be serious.
After all of this, plus losing to UCLA(again), he was still in the state of mind that he was going to beat Florida. While most of the experts were saying the spread was over 25 points(and with my expertise hoping for something like 35), he still believed he could win. I totally understand why he would want his team to believe they could win, plus in the SEC anything can happen, but he just got plain annoying. So when UF didn't beat them by a whole lot, I was a little disappointed, but even more disappointed by what has happened since the game. First of all, no sideline reporter in their right mind should ask a coach whether he is happy that the team did better than expected even though they lost(another reason I should be on the sidelines). Secondly, why does Kiffin keep talking? He claims that Urban Meyer didn't talk about the flu his players had until after they didn't play as well as they wanted. Would any coach tell another team they were playing before the game that their players were sick? Not too smart of a coach to tell the other team that some of their best players are weak? So why does Lane Kiffin keep jabbing his mouth and digging deeper holes? Do Tennessee fans like all of this talk? Do they think this is good for the university just to have a little flare? Is breaking NCAA rules the only way to catch up to the other SEC schools? Is he inspiring his team? I truly want to know the method to his madness as I would hope he is smarter than what keeps flying out of his mouth!
This is the reason I can't wait for this weekend. I mean, we have already had an upset with the overrated Ole Miss team losing to South Carolina, UNC has a chance to start its bid at winning the ACC, Georgia has yet another tough game against a PAC 10 team, and Florida can't rest while visiting Kentucky. No more drama. No more talking. Just regular, PURE college football where everything is decided on the field instead of in front of the tv camera. My only worry is that I am sitting on the west coast without my husband and doggies, where I may miss some games because I will be stuck watching PAC 10 games. What a bother, but at least it's football. Another fun week in the fall so either way I am going to enjoy and make the most of every Saturday!
My picks last Saturday were only ok with me going 9-5, so I hope to make the most of this weekend.

SoFla vs FSU-FSU
UNC vs GT-Go Heels!
IND vs Mich-Mich
LSU vs Miss St- LSU
CAL vs ORE- CAL
TCU vs Clem- Clemson
MIA vs VT- Miami
ARK vs BAMA-BAMA
UF vs Kent-Go Gators!
ASU vs UGA- Go Dawgs!
Iowa vs Penn St- PSU
Wake vs BC- BC

Why I should be on GAMEDAY!

As a lot of you know, I have a "slight" dream of one day being a sideline reporter for college football along with helping out the boys on the set of gameday. Now any person in their right mind who loves college football wants a shot at being on the show(as you can tell by all the signs), but here is my reason why I should be the ONE.
First of all, there isn't a woman on the show. They used to have one, but I am guessing that they just thought it was a waste of space. I'm not saying this is bad for any feminist reason, so please don't take it that way-ZACK! haha! All I am saying is that there should be someone going into the crowd and asking why do fans have specific signs and what was their motivation for coming up with their saying. For instance, why did someone write, "Barkley wears a snuggie?" First of all, snuggies are AWESOME. I should know since I cuddle up in one every night! Secondly, was this a USC fan saying that Barkley is cool for wearing a snuggie or was it a Ohio State fan saying it was a bad thing? One will never know because no one was there to ask. Or should we interview the Washington State flag bearers that are at every game. I mean, first of all, impressive, secondly even more impressive when your team is terrible. And then there is the inevitable distasteful signs talking about Charlie Weis's weight. Now I am not saying that a Biggest Loser for football coaches wouldn't be something that we would all love to watch, but the poor man doesn't need to see his weight flashing up on a screen every saturday. My segment wouldn't need to be a long segment, just fun and short-anything to get me on GAMEDAY! hahahaha! If anyone has even better ideas as to why I should be on gameday, please let me know! I need all the ideas I can get!
As for last weekend, what a great, stressful weekend. I think it was the first weekend where both Robert and I came out victorious for all of our teams. It all started at noon when UNC went up to Connecticut to try and make me have a heart attack until the last two drives. I can't believe that we won on a safety. I feel terrible for the offensive lineman who gave up the holding call for us to win the game. It's like a defender in soccer. No one really knows your name until you make a mistake. Then came the Michigan/Notre Dame game where I could relax but Robert cheers for Michigan since he was born in Ann Arbor and his dad went to grad school there. It was like one heart attack after another. Thank goodness Florida was sandwiched in there and gave us a close call for only one quarter. Then came Georgia and Florida State. The UGA offense didn't even really get on the field until the second quarter and the bottom line kept telling Robert and I that Jacksonville State was still beating FSU. Thank goodness for last drives offensively for FSU and defensively for UGA. At least we went to sleep happy!
So here are the picks for this week. A lot of good games coming up this week, especially for Lane Kiffin and his big mouth. The ACC did a great job last week making up for the first week by going 9-2, and one of those losses was two ACC teams playing against each other. Last week I was 9-2 with my picks, so not too shabby!

GT vs Miami- GT
Duke vs Kansas- Kansas
ECU vs UNC- Go HEELS
Boston College vs Clemson- Clemson
UT vs UF- Go GATORS
USC vs Washington- USC
Nebraska vs VT- Nebraska
Utah vs Oregon- Utah
Michigan State vs Notre Dame- ND
FSU vs BYU- FSU
Miss State vs Vandy- Vandy
Georgia vs Arkansas- Go DAWGS
West Virginia vs Auburn- Auburn
Texas Tech vs Texas- Texas

Retraction...

BYU and TCU are in the Mountain West...oops. Both the WAC and Mountain West have legitimate arguments for a BCS bid. It really hurts me to say this....

ACC redo

After the great response I got from my first college football post, I have decided to make my blog more of a college football blog rather than just about my life. I mean, let's be serious, I am not extremely witty or funny, so the more interesting thing for me to do would be to fill you in on my obsession...college football. This week it's all about an ACC redo. I mean, let's face it, the ACC was an embarrassment to me and all the college football fans out there that went to an ACC school(even college football fans that didn't go to an ACC school).
So here we go.... The ACC went 5-7 the OPENING week. For most respectable conferences, winning seven games is embarrassing, much less losing seven. When I watched the Alabama/Virginia Tech gameday and saw a sign that said "Almost Competitive Conference," I found myself agreeing. When teams like BYU and the WAC conference have an argument as to why they should get into a BCS game and the ACC has an opening week like this, it scares me a little. (Good thing we aren't as bad as the Big East who didn't even have a team in the top 25 until this week).
Here's to the good part though. I believe the ACC can change. After watching another epic battle between FSU and Miami(sorry Whitehills-me not included), I realized that the ACC can make a great comeback by the end of the season. One of the greatest aspects of college football is that you NEVER know what will happen next. Miami and Florida State(as hard as it is for me to say this) seem to be back on the rise. Now, as a Florida fan, I think this is still going to take awhile for them to get back to where they were, but I thoroughly enjoyed the game and I think it is good for college football for these two teams to be good. Since Virginia Tech and Boston College have arrived, the Big East (since these teams came from there) still makes arguments that they are a better football conference than the ACC, but I believe that with UNC, FSU, and Miami having a much better showing than say, Virginia Tech, this past week I think it is a great sign for the ACC. (Some of you may be saying to yourself that VT played Bama and they were supposed to look bad, but coming from a #6 position they shouldn't look that bad. Plus, "T-mobile" was a little embarrassing for you VT fans.) There are a few key games for the ACC to revive their season and to dismiss that William and Mary defeat....For instance, UVA and Clemson can come through and beat a WAC conference team in TCU, FSU can beat another WAC team in BYU and hopefully show BYU it was a little lucky to beat the Bradford-Gresham less Sooners on Saturday night. Virginia Tech can redeem themselves with a Big 12 win against Nebraska and Miami can do the same to Oklahoma(hopefully Bradford will return by then and make it a highly competitive game). I guess we shall say that BC can beat Notre Dame to help us gain respect, but after the slashing that the UNC women's soccer team put on the Notre Dame soccer team, it's hard for me to say 'respect.' And then of course there is the end of the season where the SEC/ACC rivalries come into play. Needless to say, A LOT of time for redemption. Maybe we can call this second week of college football a "redo" for the ACC. A kind of "first week" all over again so they can prepare for week three where a lot of ACC teams can really redeem the conference. I believe.
Here are my picks for the week. Let's see, I was 7-6 last week, which wasn't too good, but I changed some picks to compete with my dad and I ended up winning the weekend. I am going to try and do better this time....

Clemson at GT- GT
UNC at UConn-Go Heels
Stanford at Wake-WF
Troy at UF-Go Gators
TCU at UVA-TCU
Notre Dame at Mich-ND
UCLA at Tenn-Tenn
Vandy at LSU-LSU
South Carolina at UGA-Go Dawgs(please redeem yourself!)
Miss State at Auburn-Auburn
USC at Ohio State- USC

college football

I am so excited about today at 7pm and I hope everyone out there is too. South Carolina(the other carolina) and NC State play on espn. Robert and I are just going to sit and eat a pizza and enjoy the beginnings of a beautiful fall. There are so many great games this weekend, a first for the first weekend in football. Even on Thursday there are a couple of good games. One is the south carolina game, but there is also Oregon and Boise State. You are probably thinking why do I care about Oregon and Boise State since they don't affect my fav teams? They will once the BCS rolls around. Boise State is one of those spoilers and if they remain undefeated(and most likely they will if they win this game), they will probably be in the BCS game...especially with what happened last year.
Then we have Saturday. One of Robert and my favorite days of the year(well every Saturday in the fall). We just sit in front of the tv all day, eat really bad food, and enjoy all the football. You may be thinking to yourself, how sad is that, but we love it and we will cherish these days for the rest of our lives.
One of my favorite parts of college football weeks is making my weekly picks with my dad. Every Thursday we take the list of college football games, pick the most competitive ones, and pick who we think will win. We add up who gets the most right at the end of the year and whoever loses buys the other dinner. What a great way for my dad and I to get a fun date! We have been doing this since I was in high school and I love it. Here is a preview of my picks for the week...how well do you think I did?

South Carolina vs NC State- NC State
Oregon vs Boise State- Oregon
App St vs East Carolina- App State
UGA vs Okla St- Go UGA!
Baylor vs Wake Forest- Baylor
Citadel vs UNC- Go Heels!
Charleston Southern vs UF- Go Gators!
BYU vs Oklahoma- Oklahoma
Richmond vs Duke- Richmond!
Alabama vs Virginia Tech- Bama
Maryland vs Cal- Cal
LSU vs Washington- LSU
Miami vs FSU- FSU