The OtherArena

jdw · Site Admin Joined: 01 Sep 2005 Posts: 12615

jdw · Site Admin Joined: 01 Sep 2005 Posts: 12615

Finally: Big East to add Boise, four others for 2013 season

Rian · Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 1780

Sad news out of Oregon State, Fred Thompson who was a redshirting freshmen defensive tackle died of a heart attack today at the recreation center. He was four days from his 19th birthday.

RIP Fred.

jdw · Site Admin Joined: 01 Sep 2005 Posts: 12615

Scott · Joined: 31 Jul 2006 Posts: 1308

Michael Dyer suspended for Peach Bowl

No official word as to why, but if it's a drug suspension and the policy from 2010 is still in effect, Dyer could miss 4-5 games of 2012 as well.

Scott

jdw · Site Admin Joined: 01 Sep 2005 Posts: 12615

This is kind of "Holy Shit" stuff:

Jerry Sandusky’s new attorney Karl Rominger says Sandusky was only trying to teach troubled youth how to shower properly

guren · Joined: 31 Jul 2006 Posts: 210

And some of the kids didn't know how to wipe themselves properly or to shake after a piss, so...

Damn, I feel really dirty all of the sudden. I do suppose that with this case the lawyer has throw a few Hail Marys, but wow.

jdw · Site Admin Joined: 01 Sep 2005 Posts: 12615

NCAA slaps Ohio State with bowl ban, scholarship loss, show cause for Tressel

So if I get this straight...

USC Football
* 30 football scholarships over three years
* two year bowl ban

OSU Football
* 9 football scholarships over three years
* one year bowl ban
* allowed to play in 2010/2011 BCS Bowl with known violators

I'm not being a homer here when I say this as I've never said USC didn't deserve to get hammered (specifically because I thought they were assholes in stone walling the NCAA), but...

OSU's punishments are lightweight shit. Just fucking ridiculous.

John

Rian · Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 1780

Didn't they repay the BCS money for last year?

jdw · Site Admin Joined: 01 Sep 2005 Posts: 12615

They repay their share. The Big 10 keeps their share. Sparty at #9 probably would have gotten the Sugar Bowl bid instead rather than the Capital One Bowl... where Bama beat the hell out of them. :)

John

Rian · Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 1780

Yeah that's what I meant, repaid their share. The Big 10(12) would have received that spot anyway.

Bob Morris · Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 1909 Location: New Mexico

Matt Barkley to return to USC for his senior year.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Merry-Christmas-USC-You-8217-re-getting-one-m?urn=ncaaf-wp11902

I could have just as easily stuck this in the NFL thread, given the implications on the Andrew Luck sweepstakes.

But now Barkley joins Luck and Sam Bradford as recent QBs who opted not to declare early for the NFL draft.

I suspect the rookie pay scale might have something to do with. That pay scale means no guarantees of instant "franchise player" contracts. Now, the first-round draft picks get contracts more comparable to what an average-to-good player gets, only all the money is guaranteed.

Another possibility: More of these top QBs would rather finish their college educations than declare early... perhaps the belief that nothing is guaranteed in the NFL and that they want to ensure they have something to fall back on in case things don't go well once they reach the pros.

Third option to consider: Barkley hasn't run afoul of violating NCAA policies, and if I'm not mistaken, Luck hasn't either. I believe the same applied to Bradford, but correct me if I'm wrong. On the other hand, I know a few players who declared early ran afoul of NCAA (and, admittedly, some of the sanctions were trivial). I wonder if any of the three might have thought differently if they had been sanctioned by the NCAA, particularly for something that could be called trivial.

EDIT: I should add two points covered in the Yahoo article: Barkley has a chance to win the Heisman Trophy in 2012 and he has a chance to participate in a college bowl game next year as USC's two-year bowl ban will end.

Regardless, that's one less QB prospect for NFL teams to pursue in 2012.

jdw · Site Admin Joined: 01 Sep 2005 Posts: 12615

Woo-hoo~!

:)

John

Rian · Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 1780

Barkley wants a Heisman, and a BCS bowl game.

jdw · Site Admin Joined: 01 Sep 2005 Posts: 12615

Great *offensive* performance by Bama against a stout LSU defense. The last FG and last TD came at a time when the defense felt almost like it broke because the LSU offense was so horrid that there was no hope.

Bama's defense is excellent, but what I'd been tossing around a lot all year was reality: this is a mediocre LSU offense that's been carried by the defense, special teams, a couple of "Big Plays" on offense each game, and simply being able to eventually wear down opponent's defenses by having them out there on the field all day (a by product of the LSU defense). It's a "great" performance on some level, but this wasn't a good ofense they faced at all. It almost would have been more impressive if they held an Oklahoma State offense to 14 points.

John