http://www.collegefootballnews.com/2004/5_Thoughts/Five_Thoughts.htm This guys is usually full of sh*t, but he makes good points here.. especially about why USC is number 1...
Dating back to last year that sight has been a no nonsense sight that always gives LSU its due and asks all the questions a typical fan would ask. They have been more than fair to LSU and is my favorite CFB websight for news...besides TigerForums of course.
Dec. 5 2004 [font=helvetica,arial] [/font]Five Thoughts ... By Pete Fiutak 1. Willingham's firing is not a black and white issue Race had nothing to do with Tyrone Willingham getting fired by Notre Dame. Let me repeat myself, race had nothing to do with Tyrone Willingham getting fired by Notre Dame. To even bring it up as an issue is demeaning and wrong not only to Notre Dame, but to Willingham and to all African-Americans looking to coach at the D-I level. This much is clear, the University of Notre Dame wanted to fire Willingham because of the performance on the field and the way the program appeared to be headed. Somehow, many have made this a black/white issue outraged because Willingham didn’t receive the same time to turn things around that Gerry Faust and Bob Davie got with similar records after three years. Maybe Notre Dame learned from its past mistakes and didn’t want to fall further into the abyss before making the change. Maybe it wanted to fire Willingham to go after Urban Meyer. Maybe it simply wanted to make a change now instead of next year at this time. Whatever the reason, the outcry from many of the windsock, knee-jerk reactionaries in the media would’ve been even more deafening if Notre Dame wanted to fire Willingham but chose to keep him because he is black. Progress isn’t just measured by the number of African-American head coaches hired; it’s also measured by the ability to fire one just like any other coach who didn’t get the job done. Gerry DiNardo got canned after three years at Indiana. David Cutcliffe was fired at Ole Miss after one losing season during his tenure and only a year removed from a ten-win, bowl-winning campaign that saw the Rebels come within a three-point loss against eventual national champion LSU from winning the SEC West title. Frank Solich was fired at Nebraska only a year removed from playing for the national title and was replaced by Bill Callahan, who had coached the Oakland Raiders in the Super Bowl the year before being fired. Joe Paterno, possibly the greatest head coach who has ever lived, can’t be shoved out the door fast enough by some Penn State fans after a few bad years. Race had nothing to do with Tyrone Willingham getting fired from Notre Dame. Stop suggesting that he was treated any differently than any other coach would’ve been, stop insinuating that the character of one America’s greatest academic institutions should now be in question, and stop suggesting this was a blow to the hopes of African-Americans who want to become head coaches. Eventually, progress will be made and someday soon this won’t be an issue. Some will succeed and choose to leave for bigger and better jobs, some will stick and be revered as the main spokesman for their universities, and some will stink and be fired. Welcome to the profession.2. The BCS actually worked ... to a point Please people it’s called a television. Learn how to use it. California might have one of the nation's most complete offensive teams, but it beat a whole bunch of no one. As predicted, everyone conveniently dismissed the 28-27 should’ve-been loss to an Oregon team that’ll sit home for the bowl season. Most were too busy watching the SEC and Big XII title games to see Cal struggle until late to put away a mediocre Southern Miss team. What’s Cal’s claim to fame? Losing to USC in gallant fashion. That’s fine, but that was still a loss. For some reason, USC couldn’t do anything wrong in the eyes of the pollsters. Auburn has been blasted for a “poor” performance against Tennessee despite outgaining the Vols 559 yards to 297 and 31 first downs to nine. (A couple of great Gerald Riggs Jr. runs appeared to have erased everyone’s ability to comprehend how good a team is.) But USC had even bigger problems with a UCLA team that’s worse than Tennessee. Everyone swept it under the rug. As predicted, everyone has conveniently dismissed USC’s 31-28 close shave to Stanford, fog bowl 28-20 performance against Oregon State (that the Beavers gacked away with early turnovers) and the 23-17 win over a slightly overrated Cal. Only two teams came within single-digits of Auburn; LSU and Bama. Two teams came within single-digits of Oklahoma; Texas A&M and Oklahoma State and both are better than Stanford and Oregon State. The problem is that everyone’s brain melts when they consider the possibility that USC might not be the number one team in America. It’s O.K. to watch every game, and it’s more than O.K. to look back and review what happened this year. No one is saying USC and Cal aren't among the best teams in the country and no one's saying the Trojans shouldn't be playing for the national title, but the top Pac 10 teams got away with average performances other teams didn't ... until the final BCS tally. Texas was the second best team in the best division in America while Cal was the second best team in arguably, the fourth best conference in the country. USC in the Orange and Cal in the Holiday; that's an even balance. 3. In praise of Virginia Tech Virginia Tech QB Bryan Randall, the likely ACC Player of the Year, is tenth in his own conference in passing. Tenth. 99% of college football fans couldn’t tell you who Jimmy Williams is. Or Darryl Tapp. Or Jonathan Lewis. Jeff King? This is a team full of relatively anonymous players who came together to shock the college football world by winning the ACC Championship. After losing stars like Kevin Jones, DeAngelo Hall and Ernest Wilford to the NFL, this program known for Michael Vick and failing to play up to its overall talent, happened to win it all with its least star-studded team in a decade. That doesn’t mean this has been a group of overachievers as there are several solid NFL prospects on both sides of the ball, but compared to Miami, Florida State and Virginia, the Hokies flew under the radar. O.K., so the ACC didn’t turn out to be quite as nasty as expected and Tech didn’t have to face Florida State, but the Hokies don’t have to apologize to anyone. Instead, we have to apologize to Virginia Tech for failing to thinking a team could simply be rock solid and consistent all the way to the BCS. 4. Jason White’s past Just like no one should count anything that happened last season when it comes to the national title race, no one should pay attention to what happened last year when it comes to Heisman voting. Regardless of what you believe about Oklahoma QB Jason White, you have to vote for him, or not vote for him, based on what happened on the field this season. Not in the 2003 Big XII Championship. Not in the Sugar Bowl loss to LSU. This season. If you believe White was the best player this year, he should be your Heisman Trophy winner. Unfortunately, the ultimate individual prize in all of sports carries too much baggage and voters can’t take off the blinders when it comes to underclassmen and players who had one mediocre game. Unfortunately for White, the voters have a hard time with two games that have nothing to do with right now and that's not right. 5. The surprise, disappointment, and best moment of the weekend were… The surprise was how Tennessee was able to bust off big runs on Auburn. The Tigers held the Vols to only nine first downs, but Gerald Riggs Jr. was able to tear off some big plays against the nation's rushing defense. The 80-yard dash probably cost Auburn a shot at the national title. The disappointment was Cal WR Geoff McArthur breaking his leg against Southern Miss. The oft-injured Bear star had worked his way back and was regaining his superstar form before getting knocked out yet again. Remember, these aren't professionals. Along with all of the rehab and all of the work to get healthy, they have to fight through the discomfort while going to class, studying, and leading the college life. The best moment was Cal head coach Jeff Tedford choosing to take a knee at the end of the 26-16 win. Tedford's offense was in a position to take on more points to look better in the BCS race, but it didn't. Thank goodness someone was able to keep his head among all this craziness.
OMG > Tirk, that pic of LL in your sig. is absolutely delicious. I haven't seen that one before. Unfortunately, the picture of you underneath your name is nothing to brag about. :hihi:
Sooners are going to mop the floor with the Trojans...I don't think we will have to hear about how good they are for too much longer.
