College Football Returns, Notre Dame Still Sucks
September 2, 2015 11:23 AM Subscribe
The college football season kicks off in earnest tomorrow night (though the first game and first upset have already happened) when the Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech take on the Alcorn State Braves.
But if you don’t want to watch a 45-point FCS underdog get tuned up on, the weekend will also bring us some more intriguing matchups:
The Michigan Wolverines have their first game under Coach Jim Harbaugh, whose signing generated more offseason ink than every other story in college football combined – to the point that Fox Sports will feature a Khaki Cam trained on him throughout the game. Oh, their opponent? The non-cupcake Utah Utes of the Pac-12.
The defending first-ever College Football Playoff champion Ohio State Buckeyes (picked by virtually everyone to repeat) look to avenge their sole loss from last year, when Virginia Tech upset them in Columbus.
The historically punching-above-their-weight Boise State Broncos welcome back the guy who brought them to national prominence, now coaching the Pac-12’s Washington Huskies.
Defending College Football Lineal Champions the TCU Horned Frogs travel way north to defend the belt against perennial Big Ten midcarders the Minnesota Golden Gophers in what is also one of the best mascot matchups of the weekend, if not the entire season.
The federal government says that college football players aren’t employees, so enjoy this year’s crop of scholar-athletes playing an extracurricular sport that in no way detracts from the real reason they’re there – to attend classes.
But if you don’t want to watch a 45-point FCS underdog get tuned up on, the weekend will also bring us some more intriguing matchups:
The Michigan Wolverines have their first game under Coach Jim Harbaugh, whose signing generated more offseason ink than every other story in college football combined – to the point that Fox Sports will feature a Khaki Cam trained on him throughout the game. Oh, their opponent? The non-cupcake Utah Utes of the Pac-12.
The defending first-ever College Football Playoff champion Ohio State Buckeyes (picked by virtually everyone to repeat) look to avenge their sole loss from last year, when Virginia Tech upset them in Columbus.
The historically punching-above-their-weight Boise State Broncos welcome back the guy who brought them to national prominence, now coaching the Pac-12’s Washington Huskies.
Defending College Football Lineal Champions the TCU Horned Frogs travel way north to defend the belt against perennial Big Ten midcarders the Minnesota Golden Gophers in what is also one of the best mascot matchups of the weekend, if not the entire season.
The federal government says that college football players aren’t employees, so enjoy this year’s crop of scholar-athletes playing an extracurricular sport that in no way detracts from the real reason they’re there – to attend classes.
Ahem.
GO BLUE
Also, the NLRB ruling is a little more nuanced than first glance. "The board did not rule directly on the central question in the case — whether the players, who spend long hours on football and help generate millions of dollars for Northwestern, are university employees. Instead, it found that the novelty of the petition and its potentially wide-ranging impacts on college sports would not have promoted “stability in labor relations.” This also only applied to Northwestern University players (and potentially other private universities). Hopefully the unionization push does push the NCAA to move on extending health care for players in their post-collegiate days for injuries suffered from playing sports. All players, not just football players.
posted by Existential Dread at 11:35 AM on September 2, 2015 [5 favorites]
GO BLUE
Also, the NLRB ruling is a little more nuanced than first glance. "The board did not rule directly on the central question in the case — whether the players, who spend long hours on football and help generate millions of dollars for Northwestern, are university employees. Instead, it found that the novelty of the petition and its potentially wide-ranging impacts on college sports would not have promoted “stability in labor relations.” This also only applied to Northwestern University players (and potentially other private universities). Hopefully the unionization push does push the NCAA to move on extending health care for players in their post-collegiate days for injuries suffered from playing sports. All players, not just football players.
posted by Existential Dread at 11:35 AM on September 2, 2015 [5 favorites]
Yooooooooouuuuu can GFY, the Irish are going to have a good year. That Montana-NDSU game was a great way to kick off the season. I'm really looking forward to Michigan dropping a winnable game or two and seeing segments of that fanbase lose their mind. This Week in Schadenfreude is at its best when UM fans are sad; no one else is as good at articulating their heartbreak. NDNation just devolves into howls about RUN THE DAMN BALL KELLY FIRE KELLY HIRE GRUDEN RESURRECT ROCKNE AND THEN HIRE HIM.
I feel like until last year, Urban was clearly a top-tier coach, but there wasn't any real argument that Saban was the best active college coach, and potentially in the discussion for best of all time, but now, and especially if the Buckeyes repeat, or even if they're in the title game again, Urbz is the only real challenger to Saban for best modern coach. In retrospect, I wonder whether the years he took off are going to be viewed like MJ's break - i.e., a short gap in what could have been an unbelievable period of dominance - or whether, given Florida's struggles since, it'll be seen as the necessary downtime he needed to storm back. I don't really like him or OSU, but Cardale Jones and Braxton Miller on the field together is going to be fun to watch (even if Jones has bad basketball opinions, which he does).
I'm hyped about college football, basically! And I'm morally conflicted about being this excited, so there's that.
posted by protocoach at 11:40 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
I feel like until last year, Urban was clearly a top-tier coach, but there wasn't any real argument that Saban was the best active college coach, and potentially in the discussion for best of all time, but now, and especially if the Buckeyes repeat, or even if they're in the title game again, Urbz is the only real challenger to Saban for best modern coach. In retrospect, I wonder whether the years he took off are going to be viewed like MJ's break - i.e., a short gap in what could have been an unbelievable period of dominance - or whether, given Florida's struggles since, it'll be seen as the necessary downtime he needed to storm back. I don't really like him or OSU, but Cardale Jones and Braxton Miller on the field together is going to be fun to watch (even if Jones has bad basketball opinions, which he does).
I'm hyped about college football, basically! And I'm morally conflicted about being this excited, so there's that.
posted by protocoach at 11:40 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, this might be the most hilarious Harbaugh-coached play of all time. Even though it got zero yards.
posted by Existential Dread at 11:41 AM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Existential Dread at 11:41 AM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
I don't follow CFB much at all (grew up in an area without a single big cfb team, went to a university without a football team), but I love the hype and madness that surrounds it, so I am ALL ABOUT the Khaki Cam ("You don't have to miss a single Jim Harbaugh facial expression this Thursday!"). I won't watch it, but I'm thrilled that it's out there and people are watching. Fingers crossed that the NFL catches on and does something similar for Rex Ryan. No, wait, I'm sorry, my fingers are crossed that they get Mascot Cams for all of the teams that have live dog mascots!!! I would watch those in a heartbeat.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 11:45 AM on September 2, 2015
posted by everybody had matching towels at 11:45 AM on September 2, 2015
And, the Keydets of VMI travel to beautiful Muncie, Indiana to take-on the Cardinals of Ball State.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:48 AM on September 2, 2015
posted by Thorzdad at 11:48 AM on September 2, 2015
I'm really looking forward to Michigan dropping a winnable game or two and seeing segments of that fanbase lose their mind. This Week in Schadenfreude is at its best when UM fans are sad; no one else is as good at articulating their heartbreak.
I'll grant this, especially the folks at MgoBlog, are really good at being articulately bummed when our team loses. You can also draw a direct line from some of the reporting and activism on MgoBlog for getting Dave Brandon booted, which enabled Schlissel and Hackett to hire Jim Harbaugh. Our last coaching staff was responsible for some pretty serious mistakes, such as the Shane Morris incident. I hope that the new staff has systems in place to prevent that from ever happening again.
posted by Existential Dread at 11:50 AM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'll grant this, especially the folks at MgoBlog, are really good at being articulately bummed when our team loses. You can also draw a direct line from some of the reporting and activism on MgoBlog for getting Dave Brandon booted, which enabled Schlissel and Hackett to hire Jim Harbaugh. Our last coaching staff was responsible for some pretty serious mistakes, such as the Shane Morris incident. I hope that the new staff has systems in place to prevent that from ever happening again.
posted by Existential Dread at 11:50 AM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
Just this weekend, I was talking to a friend about how I wonder when the state of Nebraska is going to come to terms with the fact that the Cornhuskers are probably never going to be dominant again, and how in 10 or 15 years there'll be a generation of people who don't understand why all the olds around them care so much about a 5 or 6-win team.
posted by the phlegmatic king at 11:51 AM on September 2, 2015
posted by the phlegmatic king at 11:51 AM on September 2, 2015
Hook em!!!
posted by LizBoBiz at 11:52 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by LizBoBiz at 11:52 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
College football season is the best season of the year, because it's the time of year when I have text chains that prominently feature my mother and grandmother (who basically learned to text so she could get in on said text chains) cursing up a storm about the Irish and whoever their opponent is this week. You haven't lived until an 87 year old woman has texted you: "Mark Dantonio seems like an asshole", because yeah, he does, but I didn't expect the woman who used to rap my knuckles when I took the Lord's name in vain to text me that a decade later.
Our last coaching staff was responsible for some pretty serious mistakes, such as the Shane Morris incident
That Minnesota game last year was when I flipped from seeing Hoke as an adorable bumbler who was sabotaging a team I don't much care for to being an actual bad person who needed to be fired. That was unconscionable. It was funny when things were just going poorly, but it was amazing how the mood in the bar I was in darkened as people realized he was being left in the game.
posted by protocoach at 11:54 AM on September 2, 2015 [6 favorites]
Our last coaching staff was responsible for some pretty serious mistakes, such as the Shane Morris incident
That Minnesota game last year was when I flipped from seeing Hoke as an adorable bumbler who was sabotaging a team I don't much care for to being an actual bad person who needed to be fired. That was unconscionable. It was funny when things were just going poorly, but it was amazing how the mood in the bar I was in darkened as people realized he was being left in the game.
posted by protocoach at 11:54 AM on September 2, 2015 [6 favorites]
Actually: I don't follow much college football, but I like sports and want to explore it a bit. What's the team to follow if I like yelling at the TV, moderate but not overwhelming success, and muted team colors? The mascot has to be either very cute or absolutely terrifying. No racist mascots or teams from Texas.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 11:58 AM on September 2, 2015
posted by everybody had matching towels at 11:58 AM on September 2, 2015
Yooooooooouuuuu can GFY, the Irish are going to have a good year.
On-the-field records have nothing to do with whether a team sucks. Notre Dame sucks because I have degrees from USC and Michigan.
posted by Etrigan at 11:59 AM on September 2, 2015 [11 favorites]
On-the-field records have nothing to do with whether a team sucks. Notre Dame sucks because I have degrees from USC and Michigan.
posted by Etrigan at 11:59 AM on September 2, 2015 [11 favorites]
What's the team to follow if I like yelling at the TV, moderate-but-not-overwhelming success, and muted team colors?
Washington? Purple and gold, middling success, adorable Alaskan Malamute as a mascot.
posted by Existential Dread at 12:02 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
Washington? Purple and gold, middling success, adorable Alaskan Malamute as a mascot.
posted by Existential Dread at 12:02 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
What's the team to follow if I like yelling at the TV, moderate but not overwhelming success, and muted team colors?
Stanford. They're often near the top of the Pac-12; they've won two sorta national championships (the last in 1940); they play Notre Dame, USC, and Oregon every year; The Game against Cal is one of the great rivalries, and while it's not the official mascot, the Tree is both cute and terrifying. Caveat: they play on the West Coast, which means a lot of their games are going to go to about 3 in the morning in your time zone. But fuck it, it's Saturday night. You can sleep in.
posted by Etrigan at 12:05 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]
Stanford. They're often near the top of the Pac-12; they've won two sorta national championships (the last in 1940); they play Notre Dame, USC, and Oregon every year; The Game against Cal is one of the great rivalries, and while it's not the official mascot, the Tree is both cute and terrifying. Caveat: they play on the West Coast, which means a lot of their games are going to go to about 3 in the morning in your time zone. But fuck it, it's Saturday night. You can sleep in.
posted by Etrigan at 12:05 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]
everybody had matching towels: What's the team to follow if I like yelling at the TV, moderate but not overwhelming success, and muted team colors? The mascot has to be either very cute or absolutely terrifying.
Well, Boston College in Division I and often flirts with the Top 25, and (once again, I have been told) this could be the year they're good again. The players are often hunky and the cheerleaders are pretty, and the school colors of maroon & gold (same as Minnesota, BTW) always look good against New England's fall foliage.
Considering how most of the student body are from MA, CT, NY, and NJ, I doubt there is a very high CoT (Coefficient Of Texans) for you to worry about. It's a Jesuit school, though, so if you hate Catholics you'll probably have to pass -- unless you have already put together your Cognitive Dissonance Toolkit for another season of ignoring how the players are exploited. *shrug* I know I have!
Plus, also, as a BC fan you are still expected to shout about how Notre Dame sucks. Which they do.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:13 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Well, Boston College in Division I and often flirts with the Top 25, and (once again, I have been told) this could be the year they're good again. The players are often hunky and the cheerleaders are pretty, and the school colors of maroon & gold (same as Minnesota, BTW) always look good against New England's fall foliage.
Considering how most of the student body are from MA, CT, NY, and NJ, I doubt there is a very high CoT (Coefficient Of Texans) for you to worry about. It's a Jesuit school, though, so if you hate Catholics you'll probably have to pass -- unless you have already put together your Cognitive Dissonance Toolkit for another season of ignoring how the players are exploited. *shrug* I know I have!
Plus, also, as a BC fan you are still expected to shout about how Notre Dame sucks. Which they do.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:13 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
This Week in Schadenfreude is at its best when UM fans are sad; no one else is as good at articulating their heartbreak.
I lugubriously accept that as a compliment.
posted by Xavier Xavier at 12:14 PM on September 2, 2015
I lugubriously accept that as a compliment.
posted by Xavier Xavier at 12:14 PM on September 2, 2015
I'm taking my 11-year-old son to his first USC football game on Saturday night. You know it is a non-marquee game (opponent: Arkansas State Red Wolves) when the home team is a Top 10 ranked team, yet tickets are being offered through Groupon for $25. I figured my kid would get a kick out of seeing a lot of scoring.
posted by The Gooch at 12:14 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by The Gooch at 12:14 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
I have a dog. When he was a young dog, and craved attention, he would get between us and the TV, stare at us and wag his tail, which made watching games difficult. After a certain point (like the 2nd game we tried to watch) I decided to get him out from in front of the TV by giving him a rawhide to chew on & make him otherwise content.
It wasn't long after that, like another couple of sporting events on the television, that the sound of cheering & announcing would send him into a frenzy - "Oh boy, when the TV makes that noise, I get a rawhide bone!" so pretty much since he was 8 months old or so, every televised sporting event costs me the equivalent of 1 rawhide chew.
The last two months have not been kind to my poor dog, who is now 7 years old, and very much likes his routine. Basketball season ended, and so did the bones. In the last few weeks, he's gone from sad and mopey to almost neurotically trying to lead us into the family room, where if we follow, he stands in front of the empty blank television and whines, and dances back & forth. So sometimes, I try to give him a rawhide, but by itself that isn't good enough. No. He has refused to eat the last two until one of us has made a ceremony of coming in the family room, sitting upon the couch & turning the TV on. Only then will he settle down & proceed to destroy the bone, as a good destroyer of bones does.
This has been a hard time on me as well. Last Saturday, I watched a scintillating program on local access television about LCRA and the dwindling water resources of central Texas, with a bunch of boilerplate pablum about what they were going to do to preserve & renew wetlands and our heritage waterways for future generations. Just to get him to stop following me around & eat his damn bone. Did you know that the aquifer in the Rio Grade valley is sinking at 2 feet per year? That's a pretty disturbing stat I would not have otherwise known.
My god, college ball can't start soon enough, & I could give 2 shits who wins the UT/Notre Dame game, but at least we will all be in our places, with cheering noises emanating from the glowing rectangle, and for one goofy mutt, all will be right with the world once more.
Pray the Spurs make it deep into the playoffs for me, won't you?
posted by Devils Rancher at 12:15 PM on September 2, 2015 [20 favorites]
It wasn't long after that, like another couple of sporting events on the television, that the sound of cheering & announcing would send him into a frenzy - "Oh boy, when the TV makes that noise, I get a rawhide bone!" so pretty much since he was 8 months old or so, every televised sporting event costs me the equivalent of 1 rawhide chew.
The last two months have not been kind to my poor dog, who is now 7 years old, and very much likes his routine. Basketball season ended, and so did the bones. In the last few weeks, he's gone from sad and mopey to almost neurotically trying to lead us into the family room, where if we follow, he stands in front of the empty blank television and whines, and dances back & forth. So sometimes, I try to give him a rawhide, but by itself that isn't good enough. No. He has refused to eat the last two until one of us has made a ceremony of coming in the family room, sitting upon the couch & turning the TV on. Only then will he settle down & proceed to destroy the bone, as a good destroyer of bones does.
This has been a hard time on me as well. Last Saturday, I watched a scintillating program on local access television about LCRA and the dwindling water resources of central Texas, with a bunch of boilerplate pablum about what they were going to do to preserve & renew wetlands and our heritage waterways for future generations. Just to get him to stop following me around & eat his damn bone. Did you know that the aquifer in the Rio Grade valley is sinking at 2 feet per year? That's a pretty disturbing stat I would not have otherwise known.
My god, college ball can't start soon enough, & I could give 2 shits who wins the UT/Notre Dame game, but at least we will all be in our places, with cheering noises emanating from the glowing rectangle, and for one goofy mutt, all will be right with the world once more.
Pray the Spurs make it deep into the playoffs for me, won't you?
posted by Devils Rancher at 12:15 PM on September 2, 2015 [20 favorites]
What I'd like to know is which editor at esteemed football publication Popular Mechanics had so much money riding on tomorrow's game that they had to go and write that cupcake nonsense. Sigh.
posted by Xavier Xavier at 12:15 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Xavier Xavier at 12:15 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Notre Dame sucks because I have degrees from USC and Michigan.
Fair enough, hated adversary. Fair enough.
What's the team to follow if I like yelling at the TV, moderate but not overwhelming success, and muted team colors?
I hate to do this, but it really depends on what you mean by "moderate but not overwhelming success". There are 65 total teams in what're called the Power 5 conferences, which are the big, name-brand teams in the country. There are, realistically, 15-20 of those teams that have legitimate designs on the national championship every year. The other 2/3 vary wildly in quality. Then there are something like another 75 teams in other conferences across the country. So, moderate success for Notre Dame/Michigan/Oklahoma/Florida/Alabama is winning 9 to 11 games of the 12 regular season games. A great season is going undefeated in the regular season, and a peak is a championship. For the other 2/3 of the Power 5, moderate success is winning 6 to 8 games, and a peak is 10 or 11 wins. Do you want to watch a team that might someday win a championship?
Plus, there are other things to consider. Do you want a blue blood program or new money? A team that does things FASTFASTFAST or a team that grits and grinds? Do you have any geographical preferences other than "not Texas"?
posted by protocoach at 12:17 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Fair enough, hated adversary. Fair enough.
What's the team to follow if I like yelling at the TV, moderate but not overwhelming success, and muted team colors?
I hate to do this, but it really depends on what you mean by "moderate but not overwhelming success". There are 65 total teams in what're called the Power 5 conferences, which are the big, name-brand teams in the country. There are, realistically, 15-20 of those teams that have legitimate designs on the national championship every year. The other 2/3 vary wildly in quality. Then there are something like another 75 teams in other conferences across the country. So, moderate success for Notre Dame/Michigan/Oklahoma/Florida/Alabama is winning 9 to 11 games of the 12 regular season games. A great season is going undefeated in the regular season, and a peak is a championship. For the other 2/3 of the Power 5, moderate success is winning 6 to 8 games, and a peak is 10 or 11 wins. Do you want to watch a team that might someday win a championship?
Plus, there are other things to consider. Do you want a blue blood program or new money? A team that does things FASTFASTFAST or a team that grits and grinds? Do you have any geographical preferences other than "not Texas"?
posted by protocoach at 12:17 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Etrigan: "Notre Dame sucks because I have degrees from USC and Michigan."
There are two kinds of people in this world: Those who love Notre Dame, and those who couldn't get in.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:20 PM on September 2, 2015 [4 favorites]
There are two kinds of people in this world: Those who love Notre Dame, and those who couldn't get in.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:20 PM on September 2, 2015 [4 favorites]
how in 10 or 15 years there'll be a generation of people who don't understand why all the olds around them care so much about a 5 or 6-win team.
After living in Nebraska for seven years? That perspective shift is not happening. The kids are just as fanatic as the adults. I have good friends, otherwise sane people who make good, responsible decisions, who have told me with a straight face that Mike Riley is going to turn it around and take them back to 11 and 12 win seasons and have them in the playoffs. It's kinda remarkable.
posted by protocoach at 12:22 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
After living in Nebraska for seven years? That perspective shift is not happening. The kids are just as fanatic as the adults. I have good friends, otherwise sane people who make good, responsible decisions, who have told me with a straight face that Mike Riley is going to turn it around and take them back to 11 and 12 win seasons and have them in the playoffs. It's kinda remarkable.
posted by protocoach at 12:22 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
There are two kinds of Notre Dame fans in this world: insufferable alumni and insufferable non-alumni.
Why yes, this is a Wolverine casting stones from a glass Big House. :D
posted by Xavier Xavier at 12:23 PM on September 2, 2015 [14 favorites]
Why yes, this is a Wolverine casting stones from a glass Big House. :D
posted by Xavier Xavier at 12:23 PM on September 2, 2015 [14 favorites]
Actually: I don't follow much college football, but I like sports and want to explore it a bit. What's the team to follow if I like yelling at the TV, moderate but not overwhelming success, and muted team colors? The mascot has to be either very cute or absolutely terrifying. No racist mascots or teams from Texas.
The California Golden Bears -- awww, isn't Oski so cute!
posted by notyou at 12:27 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
The California Golden Bears -- awww, isn't Oski so cute!
posted by notyou at 12:27 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
There are two kinds of people in this world: Those who love Notre Dame, and those who couldn't get in.
Please. Notre Dame is the Platonic ideal of fans who never went to the school. Its enrollment is about 2,800 a year, which means that the 5.3 million who watched the Irish's last game was at best 90 percent non-alumni.
posted by Etrigan at 12:28 PM on September 2, 2015 [7 favorites]
Please. Notre Dame is the Platonic ideal of fans who never went to the school. Its enrollment is about 2,800 a year, which means that the 5.3 million who watched the Irish's last game was at best 90 percent non-alumni.
posted by Etrigan at 12:28 PM on September 2, 2015 [7 favorites]
The College Football Belt is one of the best things I've seen in awhile. It reminds me of the internet I love, deeply committed to a niche and janky as hell looking.
Also, THWG.
posted by goHermGO at 12:31 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, THWG.
posted by goHermGO at 12:31 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Notre Dame is the Platonic ideal of fans who never went to the school.
Yeah, I wasn't going to say anything, but Subway Alums are, like, a thing. I'm one, from a long line of them. When you're a dirt poor Irish Catholic family in the Midwest and you get the chance to jump on a national bandwagon and rub it in your dumb neighbor's face that your newly-beloved team came to town and whipped his team, you take it and run with it. (And then you inculcate your kids, who inculcate their kids, who inculcate their kids, who go on message boards and talk shit.)
posted by protocoach at 12:33 PM on September 2, 2015 [4 favorites]
Yeah, I wasn't going to say anything, but Subway Alums are, like, a thing. I'm one, from a long line of them. When you're a dirt poor Irish Catholic family in the Midwest and you get the chance to jump on a national bandwagon and rub it in your dumb neighbor's face that your newly-beloved team came to town and whipped his team, you take it and run with it. (And then you inculcate your kids, who inculcate their kids, who inculcate their kids, who go on message boards and talk shit.)
posted by protocoach at 12:33 PM on September 2, 2015 [4 favorites]
what you mean by "moderate but not overwhelming success"
All of my other sports favorites have never won a championship and I really don't want to break that perfect zero record with a team I casually follow, so no teams that will require me to raise existing low expectations, but they should be successful enough that I can watch their games with little to no effort. I'd follow the UB Bulls but their games are rarely on tv at my chosen sports bar and Victor E. Bull isn't offputting enough.
Oski looks AMAZING, that is precisely what I want.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 12:34 PM on September 2, 2015
All of my other sports favorites have never won a championship and I really don't want to break that perfect zero record with a team I casually follow, so no teams that will require me to raise existing low expectations, but they should be successful enough that I can watch their games with little to no effort. I'd follow the UB Bulls but their games are rarely on tv at my chosen sports bar and Victor E. Bull isn't offputting enough.
Oski looks AMAZING, that is precisely what I want.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 12:34 PM on September 2, 2015
Instead, it found that the novelty of the petition and its potentially wide-ranging impacts on college sports would not have promoted “stability in labor relations.”
No shit. If there's any place where we need more instability in labor relations, marquee college sports is high on that list.
Also, fuck the coaches at VT and Cincy for thinking that just because their players are finally getting a (incredibly small) piece of the pie, that fining their players would be acceptable. At least the VT AD realized the ramifications of that bullshit.
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:35 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
No shit. If there's any place where we need more instability in labor relations, marquee college sports is high on that list.
Also, fuck the coaches at VT and Cincy for thinking that just because their players are finally getting a (incredibly small) piece of the pie, that fining their players would be acceptable. At least the VT AD realized the ramifications of that bullshit.
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:35 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
The College Football Belt is one of the best things I've seen in awhile.
I am constantly astounded that ESPN hasn't jumped on the CFB, because it is fucking awesome.
Incidentally, there used to be www.collegefootballheavyweightchampionship.com (RIP), the lunatics behind which went all the way back to Princeton vs. Rutgers in 1869 to determine the champion (it also had Nebraska with the belt in 1972, so the lineages match up).
posted by Etrigan at 12:38 PM on September 2, 2015
I am constantly astounded that ESPN hasn't jumped on the CFB, because it is fucking awesome.
Incidentally, there used to be www.collegefootballheavyweightchampionship.com (RIP), the lunatics behind which went all the way back to Princeton vs. Rutgers in 1869 to determine the champion (it also had Nebraska with the belt in 1972, so the lineages match up).
posted by Etrigan at 12:38 PM on September 2, 2015
All of my other sports favorites have never won a championship and I really don't want to break that perfect zero record with a team I casually follow, so no teams that will require me to raise existing low expectations, but are successful enough that I can watch their games with little to no effort.
Gotcha. Cal would be a great choice, or UCLA. Iowa's a potential option, and so is Minnesota. Arkansas and Wisconsin are fun teams to watch and they fit right in that sweet spot of visibility and good-not-great.
posted by protocoach at 12:39 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Gotcha. Cal would be a great choice, or UCLA. Iowa's a potential option, and so is Minnesota. Arkansas and Wisconsin are fun teams to watch and they fit right in that sweet spot of visibility and good-not-great.
posted by protocoach at 12:39 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oski looks AMAZING, that is precisely what I want.
Well, Cal is projected to have a pretty killer offense this year, so they could be exciting to watch. They also had essentially the worst passing defense in CFB history last year.
"Cal’s pass defense was so bad that it gave up almost an entire extra scoring drive per game in just passing yards than college football’s second-most pitiful pass defense."
So they'll need a good offense to stay in any game.
I've got tickets to see them play the Huskies later this month, and I'm pretty excited.
posted by Existential Dread at 12:41 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Well, Cal is projected to have a pretty killer offense this year, so they could be exciting to watch. They also had essentially the worst passing defense in CFB history last year.
"Cal’s pass defense was so bad that it gave up almost an entire extra scoring drive per game in just passing yards than college football’s second-most pitiful pass defense."
So they'll need a good offense to stay in any game.
I've got tickets to see them play the Huskies later this month, and I'm pretty excited.
posted by Existential Dread at 12:41 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm battening down the hatches here in BuckeyeLand for the beginning of the season. Coming to OSU for grad school from a Div. III school where the football team still plays on the field used during the 1904 World's Fair/Olympics, it has been an adjustment. But, now I pander to students with pictures of people from around the world doing the OHIO arms as examples of enculturation, and illustrate facts and theories and stuff with pictures of Michigan players dropping footballs. Much to the shame and horror of my poor father, who got his PhD from Michigan. Anyway, I guess I mean Go Buckeyes?
posted by ChuraChura at 12:43 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by ChuraChura at 12:43 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]
Also, fuck the coaches at VT and Cincy for thinking that just because their players are finally getting a (incredibly small) piece of the pie, that fining their players would be acceptable.
Preach. In a just world, Bud Foster would be making $60k and the players who actually earn the money that goes to his $1.5m salary now would be making twice what he makes.
posted by protocoach at 12:46 PM on September 2, 2015
Preach. In a just world, Bud Foster would be making $60k and the players who actually earn the money that goes to his $1.5m salary now would be making twice what he makes.
posted by protocoach at 12:46 PM on September 2, 2015
I'd like to point out that the Southeastern Conference is currently dominating the top 20 in the 2015 Fulmer Cup rankings. The Fulmer Cup is awarded annually to the college football team whose players amass the greatest number of criminal offenses during the offseason. Sadly, the rankings are now managed by a Reddit community instead of the brilliant Spencer Hall, but at least we still have his Curious Index. Note that all links may contain NSFW language.
posted by wintermind at 12:48 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by wintermind at 12:48 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]
I think I broke up with college football -- and, really, football in general -- around the time I wrote this here.
And I say this as an alumnus of one of the "power" schools (Alabama).
posted by uberchet at 12:50 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]
And I say this as an alumnus of one of the "power" schools (Alabama).
posted by uberchet at 12:50 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]
for some reason I've got a bad feeling about my beloved Yellow Jackets this year. ND, Clemson, FSU, and Georgia are all going to be tough games, Miami and VT might be too, and just like every other year in history we're gonna lose one game that we have no business losing (I'm guessing Duke or UVA).
on the other hand, the return of CFB season means the return of Operation ACC Coastal Chaos, so it's all good.
posted by xbonesgt at 12:56 PM on September 2, 2015
on the other hand, the return of CFB season means the return of Operation ACC Coastal Chaos, so it's all good.
posted by xbonesgt at 12:56 PM on September 2, 2015
I'd just follow Notre Dame if you are adopting a team, simply because they are the easiest to watch all the games without getting a special cable package. And no, the mascot isn't racist.
posted by Drinky Die at 1:01 PM on September 2, 2015
posted by Drinky Die at 1:01 PM on September 2, 2015
Xavier Xavier: "There are two kinds of Notre Dame fans in this world: insufferable alumni and insufferable non-alumni. "
If I told you my Notre Dame story (which features both), you would cry, and then you would feel guilty for making fun.
protocoach: "When you're a dirt poor Irish Catholic family in the Midwest and you get the chance to jump on a national bandwagon and rub it in your dumb neighbor's face that your newly-beloved team came to town and whipped his team, you take it and run with it."
Well, okay, if I HAVE to tell it: This is basically how my sometimes-homeless Chicago family bootstrapped their way out of being one step above street people: my grandfather's determination to send his sons to Notre Dame even though he couldn't afford to go and was barely able to finish high school. He began paid employment at the age of 6 or his family didn't eat, and he fell asleep in school all the time because he was working as many hours as he could from as young as he could, but he loved football and he loved that a little Catholic school in the middle of nowhere sticking it to teams like Army and Harvard, and Notre Dame football, which he read about in the newspapers he sold, was the first time he was allowed to dream that poor Catholic boys with names like O'Hara and Stuhldreher and Crawley could go to college. He worked 30 backbreaking years, three jobs at a time (two shifts plus a farm), to make it happen, to afford a home, to afford food, to afford clothes and shoes, to make sure his kids didn't work jobs during the school year, to make sure there was enough money to send them to college when the time came. And he made it happen, and my dad was the first in his family to go to college, on a National Merit scholarship, to Notre Dame.
Which is why when I graduated from there 30 years after my dad, I gave my diploma to my grandfather, who is really the one who deserved it and never had the chance to earn one himself, and he cried. He died a couple of years ago and the diploma came back to me; I have never wanted something I worked so hard for less than I wanted my diploma back.
Anyone who makes fun of Notre Dame subway alumni is a bad person and should feel bad. Alumni, sure, we deserve it as much as the next douchebag college students, but not subway alumni.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:06 PM on September 2, 2015 [15 favorites]
If I told you my Notre Dame story (which features both), you would cry, and then you would feel guilty for making fun.
protocoach: "When you're a dirt poor Irish Catholic family in the Midwest and you get the chance to jump on a national bandwagon and rub it in your dumb neighbor's face that your newly-beloved team came to town and whipped his team, you take it and run with it."
Well, okay, if I HAVE to tell it: This is basically how my sometimes-homeless Chicago family bootstrapped their way out of being one step above street people: my grandfather's determination to send his sons to Notre Dame even though he couldn't afford to go and was barely able to finish high school. He began paid employment at the age of 6 or his family didn't eat, and he fell asleep in school all the time because he was working as many hours as he could from as young as he could, but he loved football and he loved that a little Catholic school in the middle of nowhere sticking it to teams like Army and Harvard, and Notre Dame football, which he read about in the newspapers he sold, was the first time he was allowed to dream that poor Catholic boys with names like O'Hara and Stuhldreher and Crawley could go to college. He worked 30 backbreaking years, three jobs at a time (two shifts plus a farm), to make it happen, to afford a home, to afford food, to afford clothes and shoes, to make sure his kids didn't work jobs during the school year, to make sure there was enough money to send them to college when the time came. And he made it happen, and my dad was the first in his family to go to college, on a National Merit scholarship, to Notre Dame.
Which is why when I graduated from there 30 years after my dad, I gave my diploma to my grandfather, who is really the one who deserved it and never had the chance to earn one himself, and he cried. He died a couple of years ago and the diploma came back to me; I have never wanted something I worked so hard for less than I wanted my diploma back.
Anyone who makes fun of Notre Dame subway alumni is a bad person and should feel bad. Alumni, sure, we deserve it as much as the next douchebag college students, but not subway alumni.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:06 PM on September 2, 2015 [15 favorites]
Uh, we now return you to your regularly scheduled college football snarking, this has been your Adidas-sponsored seriousness interlude, with appropriately melancholy background music composed entirely of college football fight songs played in minor keys by lonely violins.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:07 PM on September 2, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:07 PM on September 2, 2015 [7 favorites]
I read it in the voice of Bob Costas.
posted by Drinky Die at 1:12 PM on September 2, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by Drinky Die at 1:12 PM on September 2, 2015 [6 favorites]
I went to UT, so I don't have to worry much about actually caring about the season this year. My wife went to TCU, and last season was sheer agony after the loss against Baylor. If they'd just taken care of business, they would have been in the playoff with I think a damn good shot at winning the whole thing.
posted by kmz at 1:12 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by kmz at 1:12 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
moderate but not overwhelming success, and muted team colors?
...
The California Golden Bears
Ha! If by "moderate success" you mean humiliating, unmitigated failure year in and year out, then yes, Cal's the team for you.
...they'll need a good offense to stay in any game.
Yeah, no, a "good" offense is not going to cut it. Given how terrible their defense is, they need Aaron Rogers and Marshawn Lynch to both come back and discover they have another year of eligibility.
Not that I really expect much from the Cardinal this year.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 1:12 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
...
The California Golden Bears
Ha! If by "moderate success" you mean humiliating, unmitigated failure year in and year out, then yes, Cal's the team for you.
...they'll need a good offense to stay in any game.
Yeah, no, a "good" offense is not going to cut it. Given how terrible their defense is, they need Aaron Rogers and Marshawn Lynch to both come back and discover they have another year of eligibility.
Not that I really expect much from the Cardinal this year.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 1:12 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
The California Golden Bears
Ha! If by "moderate success" you mean humiliating, unmitigated failure year in and year out, then yes, Cal's the team for you.
I have a friend who's a Cal alumnus who wears pink on game days so he doesn't have to worry about spilling his Pepto on himself.
posted by Etrigan at 1:16 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Ha! If by "moderate success" you mean humiliating, unmitigated failure year in and year out, then yes, Cal's the team for you.
I have a friend who's a Cal alumnus who wears pink on game days so he doesn't have to worry about spilling his Pepto on himself.
posted by Etrigan at 1:16 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm going to the Penn State home opener. This will be my first Penn State game since I was laid off and left State College, PA in September 2011. For a long time I was down on Penn State and myself because I bought into the consensus that there was something wrong with the Penn State culture despite the fact that as an alum and former subcontractor employee of the Astronomy department I knew better. I'm glad that in the four years since I had to leave town that the victims were able to retain counsel and receive the compensation they wanted. I'm glad Sandusky was tried and justice was served. I'm glad the NCAA sanctions against Penn State were overturned. I'm looking forward to the pageantry of college football and I'm looking forward to visiting State College, PA.
posted by Rob Rockets at 1:19 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Rob Rockets at 1:19 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
Oski looks AMAZING, that is precisely what I want.
Oski IS amazing, but let's not forget that he drinks through a tube that goes into his eye. It's beautiful; it's terrifying.
I can't in good conscience suggest following Cal football, but this year's offense should be excellent and the defense should be marginally improved. It can make for interesting games, like the WSU game last year, where the WSU quarterback broke the NCAA passing record, but Cal won 60-59, which is best summed up in Harry Potter terms as "Krum gets the snitch but Ireland wins!"
My expectations for Cal football this year: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by memento maury at 1:37 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
Oski IS amazing, but let's not forget that he drinks through a tube that goes into his eye. It's beautiful; it's terrifying.
I can't in good conscience suggest following Cal football, but this year's offense should be excellent and the defense should be marginally improved. It can make for interesting games, like the WSU game last year, where the WSU quarterback broke the NCAA passing record, but Cal won 60-59, which is best summed up in Harry Potter terms as "Krum gets the snitch but Ireland wins!"
My expectations for Cal football this year: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by memento maury at 1:37 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
The best part of college football is College Gameday and the best part of College Gameday is that damn commercial that will start “T.O.R.N.A.D.O.” by The Go! Team running on an endless loop in my head. Wait. No. That's the worst part.
P.S. Via con Dios, Chris Fowler.
posted by ob1quixote at 2:08 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
P.S. Via con Dios, Chris Fowler.
posted by ob1quixote at 2:08 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Hey if Cal doesn't work out for ya, consider Wisconsin, mentioned above. Bucky Badger is hella adorable, too.
posted by notyou at 2:09 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by notyou at 2:09 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
What's with all this hate on Texas? Here's hoping Touchdown Jesus is throwing up his arms in dismay after the Longhorns stomp a mud hole in the Irish. Hook'em...
posted by jim in austin at 2:18 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by jim in austin at 2:18 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
I sure am conflicted about college football. There is the concussion issue. There is the taking of poor kids and giving them a half-assed education and empty dreams of an NFL career. But I'm the spawn of Nebraskans, and following the Huskers is one of the only things I have left that connects me to them.
I've decided I won't spend any money on college football. No games or jerseys or the like.
posted by persona au gratin at 2:39 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've decided I won't spend any money on college football. No games or jerseys or the like.
posted by persona au gratin at 2:39 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
everybody had matching towels: Nebraska. They have the consecutive sellout record, 1962-present. They'll almost certainly never win a NC again.
posted by persona au gratin at 2:42 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by persona au gratin at 2:42 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Noooooooo not the Skurs.
posted by protocoach at 2:46 PM on September 2, 2015
posted by protocoach at 2:46 PM on September 2, 2015
Football on the Corporate Campus
posted by the man of twists and turns at 2:51 PM on September 2, 2015
posted by the man of twists and turns at 2:51 PM on September 2, 2015
The Nebraska mascot, Lil Red, stands on his head at times during the game.
posted by persona au gratin at 2:52 PM on September 2, 2015
posted by persona au gratin at 2:52 PM on September 2, 2015
The Nebraska mascot, Lil Red, stands on his head at times during the game.
Yeah, but how long can that last? At some point, the local Bob's Big Boy is gonna want him back.
Also, creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy
posted by Existential Dread at 2:55 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yeah, but how long can that last? At some point, the local Bob's Big Boy is gonna want him back.
Also, creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy
posted by Existential Dread at 2:55 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy
Eponysterical. Big Red is a nightmare machine.
posted by protocoach at 2:59 PM on September 2, 2015
Eponysterical. Big Red is a nightmare machine.
posted by protocoach at 2:59 PM on September 2, 2015
Hey, don't mess with me. I'll send my peeps to bury you with jello salads and agribiz swag.
posted by persona au gratin at 3:13 PM on September 2, 2015
posted by persona au gratin at 3:13 PM on September 2, 2015
And I say this as an alumnus of one of the "power" schools (Alabama).
Flagged as offensive. ;-)
posted by wintermind at 3:38 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Flagged as offensive. ;-)
posted by wintermind at 3:38 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
And I say this as an alumnus of one of the "power" schools (Alabama).
Flagged as offensive.
What, calling it a "school"?
posted by Etrigan at 4:01 PM on September 2, 2015 [5 favorites]
Flagged as offensive.
What, calling it a "school"?
posted by Etrigan at 4:01 PM on September 2, 2015 [5 favorites]
To be fair, it's impressive to find a gump that can write. Not that I'm still bitter about the 2011 national championship game or anything.
posted by wintermind at 4:04 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by wintermind at 4:04 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yooooooooouuuuu can GFY, the Irish are going to have a good year.
Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuudy
Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuudy
Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuudy
GO SPARTANS
posted by snuffleupagus at 4:41 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuudy
Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuudy
Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuudy
GO SPARTANS
posted by snuffleupagus at 4:41 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
Etrigan: "What, calling it a 'school'?"
Kiss my ass.
wintermind: "To be fair, it's impressive to find a gump that can write."
You too.
posted by uberchet at 6:24 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Kiss my ass.
wintermind: "To be fair, it's impressive to find a gump that can write."
You too.
posted by uberchet at 6:24 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Y'all look for me at the Louisville v. Auburn game this weekend.
I'll be sitting with the wife's family, courtesy of their ticket buying, in the Louisville section and wearing off market Crimson Tide gear. Make of that what you will, and Roll Tide.
Also, Go Jackets!
and 'Noles!
posted by RolandOfEld at 6:56 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'll be sitting with the wife's family, courtesy of their ticket buying, in the Louisville section and wearing off market Crimson Tide gear. Make of that what you will, and Roll Tide.
Also, Go Jackets!
and 'Noles!
posted by RolandOfEld at 6:56 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Anyone who makes fun of Notre Dame subway alumni is a bad person and should feel bad. Alumni, sure, we deserve it as much as the next douchebag college students, but not subway alumni.
Fucking seconded. Except replace Notre Dame with pretty much any school out there...
I've spoken to my experience with college, starting out at GA Tech and then finishing at the University of Alabama here before but I can't help but think that, as fraught with problems as the collegiate football scene is, folks that make fun of other folks on the basis of class and justifies it behind some veil of broad-stroke characterization have it altogether wrong.
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:03 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Fucking seconded. Except replace Notre Dame with pretty much any school out there...
I've spoken to my experience with college, starting out at GA Tech and then finishing at the University of Alabama here before but I can't help but think that, as fraught with problems as the collegiate football scene is, folks that make fun of other folks on the basis of class and justifies it behind some veil of broad-stroke characterization have it altogether wrong.
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:03 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Etrigan: "What, calling it a 'school'?"+1 for spirit!
Kiss my ass.
wintermind: "To be fair, it's impressive to find a gump that can write."
You too.
posted by uberchet at 18:24 on September 2 [1 favorite −] Favorite added! [!]
posted by wintermind at 7:34 PM on September 2, 2015
uberchet, thinking more about my comments, which were intended to be good-natured ribbing, I see that they're not really where people want to go with this thread, which is fine. I'll save that kind of thing for SB Nation. My apologies.
posted by wintermind at 7:48 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by wintermind at 7:48 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Moderate success, good offense, no championships, cute mascot? You want the Oregon Ducks. With Mariota and Chip Kelly gone, no chance of a championship, but so so fun to watch.
I mean, here's the cutest mascot action ever!
posted by msalt at 12:31 AM on September 3, 2015
I mean, here's the cutest mascot action ever!
posted by msalt at 12:31 AM on September 3, 2015
Oregon - Eastern Washington University should be pretty interesting on Saturday. The Ducks stole away intensely talented QB Vernon Adams, a 5'11" overachiever, for his senior year. Adams led EWU to victory over Oregon State and nearly knocked off Washington, with 13 touchdowns and only one interception in the two games combined. In 3 years, he had 121 TDs, over 10,000 yards and 2 second place finishes in the FCS Player of the Year competition.
BUT -- Adams flunked a math class and had to go to summer school (was his teacher pissed about the transfer?) So he has only had 2 weeks to learn Oregon's system, before facing his old team who knows all of his weaknesses.
(I'm going to be covering the game for FishDuck.)
posted by msalt at 12:40 AM on September 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
BUT -- Adams flunked a math class and had to go to summer school (was his teacher pissed about the transfer?) So he has only had 2 weeks to learn Oregon's system, before facing his old team who knows all of his weaknesses.
(I'm going to be covering the game for FishDuck.)
posted by msalt at 12:40 AM on September 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
Thank you, wintermind.
posted by uberchet at 6:29 AM on September 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by uberchet at 6:29 AM on September 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
"There are two kinds of Notre Dame fans in this world: insufferable alumni and insufferable non-alumni."
As someone married to a Domer alumna... no comment.
As an Ohio State alumnus, I'm sad to say that many of our fans fall into the latter category. I've never really understood caring about a football team from a school you didn't attend.
posted by kevinbelt at 8:44 AM on September 3, 2015
As someone married to a Domer alumna... no comment.
As an Ohio State alumnus, I'm sad to say that many of our fans fall into the latter category. I've never really understood caring about a football team from a school you didn't attend.
posted by kevinbelt at 8:44 AM on September 3, 2015
Yes, what the Cornhuskers mean to people who know no one who has been to college is immense. I suspect the same is even more true in the Deep South.
posted by persona au gratin at 10:40 AM on September 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by persona au gratin at 10:40 AM on September 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
"Pickup truck alumni" are indeed legion for schools like Alabama. Actual alums sigh and back away, usually, and not just for class reasons. That crazed fuckwit Tide fan who poisoned the trees at Auburn? You guessed it: non-alumni, and not really connected to any either. Just an obsessive football fan.
Maybe ND meant something as an institution for poor Irish kids at some point; I have no idea. But the level of goofy worship that some otherwise completely unconnected people have for Alabama Football has zero to do with the academic or professional opportunities the school opens for poor rural kids in the state. It's all about Saturdays in the fall. That's creepy to me.
posted by uberchet at 11:56 AM on September 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
Maybe ND meant something as an institution for poor Irish kids at some point; I have no idea. But the level of goofy worship that some otherwise completely unconnected people have for Alabama Football has zero to do with the academic or professional opportunities the school opens for poor rural kids in the state. It's all about Saturdays in the fall. That's creepy to me.
posted by uberchet at 11:56 AM on September 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
In Arkansas they're referred to as dirt road alumni. Arkansas has no professional football team, or well, any major professional team of any sport. Thus, Arkansas Football is THE sport which the entire state rallies behind and cheers for.
posted by Atreides at 2:21 PM on September 3, 2015
posted by Atreides at 2:21 PM on September 3, 2015
The lack of pro teams is common in the south, but not universal. Alabama and Mississippi are in the same boat as Arkansas, but Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida aren't, and experience the phenomenon at no loss of intensity.
posted by uberchet at 2:42 PM on September 3, 2015
posted by uberchet at 2:42 PM on September 3, 2015
It's a humid, stormy Thursday summer evening from my perch just east of Ann Arbor, and events have aligned themselves such that we're talking... fooball???
Fine.
Hail!
posted by JoeXIII007 at 2:47 PM on September 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Fine.
Hail!
posted by JoeXIII007 at 2:47 PM on September 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
May I just leave this here?
To Hell with Tech! (And go Alcorn State!)
posted by robstercraw at 3:03 PM on September 3, 2015
To Hell with Tech! (And go Alcorn State!)
posted by robstercraw at 3:03 PM on September 3, 2015
Getting a little stormy here in Seattle, which is a nice setting for the Michigan game. Getting pumped. Let's hope the Utah QB doesn't attempt to hurdle tacklers like he did last year, which ended.....really badly.
posted by Existential Dread at 4:14 PM on September 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Existential Dread at 4:14 PM on September 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
ALCORN STATE? Robstercraw, do we share a Magnolia origin?
posted by uberchet at 5:53 PM on September 3, 2015
posted by uberchet at 5:53 PM on September 3, 2015
I'm actually watching a Gophers game, y'all, something I didn't do for the four years I was in grad school there.
posted by wintermind at 7:38 PM on September 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by wintermind at 7:38 PM on September 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Here's The List Of Ridiculous Fines Virginia Tech Football Players Were Subject To
Tuberville: Withholding aid to hold academic, rules violators 'accountable'
posted by tonycpsu at 7:57 PM on September 3, 2015
Tuberville: Withholding aid to hold academic, rules violators 'accountable'
posted by tonycpsu at 7:57 PM on September 3, 2015
Jeff Kessler thanks you, Tommy.
posted by NoxAeternum at 9:06 AM on September 4, 2015
posted by NoxAeternum at 9:06 AM on September 4, 2015
I'm going to the Penn State home opener. This will be my first Penn State game since I was laid off and left State College, PA in September 2011. For a long time I was down on Penn State and myself because I bought into the consensus that there was something wrong with the Penn State culture despite the fact that as an alum and former subcontractor employee of the Astronomy department I knew better. I'm glad that in the four years since I had to leave town that the victims were able to retain counsel and receive the compensation they wanted. I'm glad Sandusky was tried and justice was served. I'm glad the NCAA sanctions against Penn State were overturned. I'm looking forward to the pageantry of college football and I'm looking forward to visiting State College, PA.
lol temple. Fear the Owl!
posted by Drinky Die at 5:03 PM on September 5, 2015
lol temple. Fear the Owl!
posted by Drinky Die at 5:03 PM on September 5, 2015
Great win for the TU program. They came in with a game plan to confuse Hackenberg and it worked to perfection, though for a while there I wondered if James Franklin accidentally picked up one of Paterno's old playbooks with nothing but off-tackle runs and slant routes in it.
posted by tonycpsu at 5:31 PM on September 5, 2015
posted by tonycpsu at 5:31 PM on September 5, 2015
This season is too much fun already, and it's only week 2.
Bobby Petrino is 0-2! Two SEC teams blunder against cupcakes! Michigan State goozles Oregon!
posted by Etrigan at 12:30 PM on September 14, 2015
Bobby Petrino is 0-2! Two SEC teams blunder against cupcakes! Michigan State goozles Oregon!
posted by Etrigan at 12:30 PM on September 14, 2015
For anyone still following this, College Gameday has been approved on FanFare, so we can have more regular discussions on the Purple.
posted by Etrigan at 9:54 AM on September 24, 2015
posted by Etrigan at 9:54 AM on September 24, 2015
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WPS.
posted by Atreides at 11:27 AM on September 2, 2015