Carrier Classic, Veterans, Lions and Huskers Trash Talk

Alright, as you may have heard, there has been a bit of excitement in college sports this week. We first hit on it last Saturday as we slid into another seemingly routine weekend of trash talk. But it has indeed mushroomed into an oxygen consuming goliath and, quite frankly, it has that level of significance in many respects. Marcy has done a couple of very good posts on the background and why Penn State is special in her life and that of so many others, and a more detailed post on timing and charging details. There is a little of my input in the latter, but I will be along, in a separate post, with some thoughts and observations on the legal status of the overall Penn State matter.

I will also be along with the college football rundown for the weekend as an update to this post in a little bit and, likely a separate post for the NFL Sunday slate, because there are some great games, including Jets and Pats.

But, for now, the first ever Carrier Classic is starting on ESPN and, I have to say, this thing looks freaking cool. They have a first rate court set up, with stands and all the hoopla, on the USS Carl Vinson, a 1,092-foot-long, 244-foot-high floating battle city. It is still on the water though, and it is outdoors in the port at San Diego. That is going to affect the shooting and play of the teams a little, just how much we will see. Oh, and Mr. and Mrs. Obama are there. It is a really great gig for Veteran’s Day. Gotta love it.

Tonight’s classic pits the Spartans of Michigan State and Tom Izzo against the Tar Heels of North Carolina and Roy Williams. Seriously, college basketball does not come much more steeped in tradition than that. Carolina has owned MSU lately, winning seven of the last eight and the Heels are pretty much a consensus preseason number one in the land. Hard to pick against them. But never count out any team coached by Tom Izzo, even though the Spartans are looking at a rare rebuilding year. Magic Johnson, Mr. Sparty himself is in the house as is the Tar Heels’ Big Game James Worthy. Guess Michael Jordan is too busy trying to screw current players now that he is ownership in the NBA.

Anchors Aweigh mateys! See you in comments and will add in college football later tonight, but feel free to trash on any, and all, subjects you can think of. Drink sailors!

Saturday’s College Football: Okay, the Carrier Classic was pretty cool and the shots looking out over the court and off into the ocean sunset were simply stunningly beautiful. But we are on to football. The Gulf coast Pirate’s Houston Cougars have already done their work and moved to a remarkable 10-0 after rolling up 73 points on woeful Tulane; the Cougs need to be rewarded with a substantial bowl game. Similarly Virginia Tech has already dispatched the Rammblin Wreck of Georgia Tech and looks good for the ACC championship game.

The most important game today is not the Penn State game against Nebraska; no, the most important game is the Oregon Quackers at the Home of the Tree, Stanford. Stanford is number 4 in the BCS and Oregon number 7; the implications are simply huge for both the national championship picture as well as the North division berth in the Pac-12 championship. Both teams have good defenses and fast, wide-open offenses. Both have extremely good ground games (nobody notices this about Stanford, but they really do). Everybody knows about the Duck’s LaMichael James, but Sethfan Taylor is a killer too. There are going to be a LOT of points scored here, but Stanford is at home in Palo Alto and I will take Andrew Luck over Darron Thomas; a hard fought win for the Tree is the prediction.

TCU and Boise State is always a good game, but TCU is not the team it has been the last few years, the Broncos should roll again. Auburn versus Georgia will be a great SEC game; I’ll take Georgia this year. Oklahoma State is in Lubbock. Texas Tech has had an up and down year; here’s hoping they get it together for an upset of OSU. Florida at South Carolina will also be a pretty good game. I would have taken the Gamecocks easy before Marcus Lattimore went out for the year, but now it is a tossup.

That leaves the game that will, for mostly all the wrong reasons, hold the nation’s attention today, Nebraska at Penn State. Obviously there is a situation going down in Happy Valley. It is not so happy these days. Comments discussion in Trash Talk is always wide open, but I am not going to go into substantive analysis of the facts and legal analysis here in this main post body. There are already three substantive posts where we have done that (here, here and here) and I will likely be along with something more later today or tomorrow.

But the game itself is very notable as the Nittany Lions are 8-1 and undefeated in Big-10.2 play. Their last three games of the year are, however, starting today, Nebraska, Ohio State and Wisconsinl the last two on the road. Both have pretty solid defenses and spotty offenses. Despite being without Paterno and the assistant coach who was effectively offensive coordinator, Mike Mcqueary (who claims to be in protective custody and double fisted drinking), my guess is the team is way more focused and motivated under interim coach Tom Bradley. Bradley has been there a long time and can run the team just fine, in fact he was already doing a lot of that when Paterno was still there. McQueary may actually be more of a loss during the game. But it is Senior day and the last home game these players will play at Penn State. If Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin, who was very close to Paterno, can put together a decent game, then I think the Nittany Lions surprise a whole lot of people and pull off the win. Say what you will about the mess roiling PSU, the kids on the current team did not do that; I will be rooting for them today.

There you have the rundown. Lots to jaw about today, we will do a separate post for the pros and tomorrow, and there are some good games there too. Let the trash flow!

Notice of Errata: Um, I actually did mean to mention the Mighty Ephs versus the Jumpin Jeffs. Yes, today it is the official “Biggest Little Game In America” and they will be playing for all the NESCAC marbles. Amherst rolls in undefeated at 7-0 and Williams right behind at a respectable 5-2. The Lord Jeffs are led by super running back Evan Bunker, while the Ephs seem to have a last minute question at QB between Chris Cleary and Adam Marske. This is gonna be a real barnburner humdinger as Keith Jackson would say!

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69 replies
  1. rosalind says:

    w00t! decided to see if there might be a special USS Vinson edition of trash talk and voila!

    the weather godz definitely cooperated. we in So Cal had the first wave of a storm this morning, but the next wave stalled and is now expected late tonight allowing for the pretty pictures on the teevee.

    on the Stanford front, rumor has it Andrew Luck has shorn his beard, which would indicate he favors luck over superstition…

  2. bmaz says:

    @rosalind: I gotta say, the view there is simply spectacular. It is a WAY cool idea for Veterans Day. I would kill to be there!

    The sunset over the court and ship is simply stunning.

  3. Jim White says:

    Sorry, I just can’t get over the glorification of war all the way down to camo-style unis on the players. No disrespect to veterans intended, but I just get more of a “killing is cool” aspect from the hoopla here pretty much at the site of Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” aircraft carrier stunt.

    I’ll stick with the Gator game, even though they’re up 59-23 at the half over Jackson State.

  4. GulfCoastPirate says:

    Trash talk? Did you say trash talk?

    How about 73 – 17 in 20 minutes time of possession?

    How about:

    Total Yards – 18,434
    Passing Yards – 17,537
    Passing TD’s – 144
    Completions – 1,397

    With associated NCAA rankings of 1, 1, 1, 2 respectively.

    The completion record will fall next Saturday against SMU.

  5. bmaz says:

    @GulfCoastPirate: Hey now, are you throwing Case Keenum down on us??

    Dude can ball. You can look at a lot of the Texas Tech under Mike Leach and Hawaii under June Jones and shortly thereafter quarterbacks and see that they were good, but mostly made by a wide open high tech passing offense. In short, they likely were not going to make it as first line NFL QBs. Case Keenum however, seems a little bigger and much better at the long throws than the others; he has a shot at the next level. But I thought that about David Klingler too, so we shall see. Amazing college record though, and Houston is having a hell of a year. I don’t think they are quite of a Boise grade yet, but they deserve some serious notice for what they are doing and a substantial bowl berth if they continue to win out.

    Ruh roh, Carolina starting to pour it on the tough out of the blocks Sparty.

  6. GulfCoastPirate says:

    @bmaz: Yea, it’s easy to talk trash when you’ve already won this week. Next week may be a different story.

    Klinger isn’t in this guy’s league. He’s the radio guy on their broadcasts and he’ll tell you himself. As well as being better on the long throws he’s much better on the outside throws than any of those you mentioned. Ball gets to the sideline quick. Is he a next level player? Could be but that knee is always going to be problematic. It’s clear he’s lost a step but the last 3 or 4 games he’s seemed to get a little quickness back so maybe it’s just a matter of time. The thing he has going for him this year is Sumlim has had a couple years to recruit his type of player and let them redshirt so the offensive line is much improved. There’s a couple of those guys in a couple of years who will definitely get a chance to play on Sundays as will some of the backs. I’d say Sims (the sophomore back who went off last night) is going to get a lot of looks when he decides to come out.

    Are they in Boise’s league yet? No, but they’re getting there and being in the same division with them will speed up the process. They’re faster offensively but not as good defensively (are you aware of how many recruits Boise in now getting in the Houston area?). Heads up I’d still take Boise this year but as you already know I’d take them over anyone. I just don’t think the SEC schools are very good offensively. If they play really good spread offenses with good quarterbacks I don’t think their offenses can score enough to keep up.

    Keenum’s the best I’ve seen though and I’ve seen a few. He’s really a coach on the field. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen anyone who calls all his own plays and despite all those hand signals from the sidelines that’s what he’s doing. It’s been fun to watch.

  7. bmaz says:

    Okay, just added this material into the main thread as prep for today’s games:

    Saturday’s College Football: Okay, the Carrier Classic was pretty cool and the shots looking out over the court and off into the ocean sunset were simply stunningly beautiful. But we are on to football. The Gulf coast Pirate’s Houston Cougars have already done their work and moved to a remarkable 10-0 after rolling up 73 points on woeful Tulane; the Cougs need to be rewarded with a substantial bowl game. Similarly Virginia Tech has already dispatched the Rammblin Wreck of Georgia Tech and looks good for the ACC championship game.

    The most important game today is not the Penn State game against Nebraska; no, the most important game is the Oregon Quackers at the Home of the Tree, Stanford. Stanford is number 4 in the BCS and Oregon number 7; the implications are simply huge for both the national championship picture as well as the North division berth in the Pac-12 championship. Both teams have good defenses and fast, wide-open offenses. Both have extremely good ground games (nobody notices this about Stanford, but they really do). Everybody knows about the Duck’s LaMichael James, but Sethfan Taylor is a killer too. There are going to be a LOT of points scored here, but Stanford is at home in Palo Alto and I will take Andrew Luck over Darron Thomas; a hard fought win for the Tree is the prediction.

    TCU and Boise State is always a good game, but TCU is not the team it has been the last few years, the Broncos should roll again. Auburn versus Georgia will be a great SEC game; I’ll take Georgia this year. Oklahoma State is in Lubbock. Texas Tech has had an up and down year; here’s hoping they get it together for an upset of OSU. Florida at South Carolina will also be a pretty good game. I would have taken the Gamecocks easy before Marcus Lattimore went out for the year, but now it is a tossup.

    That leaves the game that will, for mostly all the wrong reasons, hold the nation’s attention today, Nebraska at Penn State. Obviously there is a situation going down in Happy Valley. It is not so happy these days. Comments discussion in Trash Talk is always wide open, but I am not going to go into substantive analysis of the facts and legal analysis here in this main post body. There are already three substantive posts where we have done that (here, here and here) and I will likely be along with something more later today or tomorrow.

    But the game itself is very notable as the Nittany Lions are 8-1 and undefeated in Big-10.2 play. Their last three games of the year are, however, starting today, Nebraska, Ohio State and Wisconsinl the last two on the road. Both have pretty solid defenses and spotty offenses. Despite being without Paterno and the assistant coach who was effectively offensive coordinator, Mike Mcqueary (who claims to be in protective custody and double fisted drinking), my guess is the team is way more focused and motivated under interim coach Tom Bradley. Bradley has been there a long time and can run the team just fine, in fact he was already doing a lot of that when Paterno was still there. McQueary may actually be more of a loss during the game. But it is Senior day and the last home game these players will play at Penn State. If Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin, who was very close to Paterno, can put together a decent game, then I think the Nittany Lions surprise a whole lot of people and pull off the win. Say what you will about the mess roiling PSU, the kids on the current team did not do that; I will be rooting for them today.

    There you have the rundown. Lots to jaw about today, we will do a separate post for the pros and tomorrow, and there are some good games there too. Let the trash flow!

  8. Jim White says:

    Yup, the Gators and Gamecocks are looking like a tossup. Indications are that Brantley will be close to 100% and both Demps and Rainey will be healthy, too. That would be the first time since going into the Alabama game that all three of them are at 100%. Demps was injured in the first quarter of the Bama game and Brantley just before the half (the game actually was competitive in the first half, with Bama not extending their lead to 14 points until 3 minutes before halftime). Having Lattimore not available for SC also helps the Gators. The SC QB is also coming off a concussion last week but has been completely cleared to play.

    If the game were in Gainesville, I’d definitely say the Gators will win, but with it in Columbia, they still have a chance of blowing a game they should win. Fortunately for me, the game is at noon, so I will watch it and rely on you folks for reports on the sad spectacle in Formerly Happy Valley.

    Gator basketball got off to a good start in their opener last night, beating Jackson State 99-59. They will go with a 3 guard starting lineup this year, as they have incredible depth at guard. Little Erving Walker will be point and is in his third year, along with shooting guard Kenny Boynton, a McDonald’s All-American. Joining them will be incoming freshman McDonald’s All-American Brad Beal, who is a bit of a hybrid. He’s “only” 6-3 but plays like a small forward from what I could see last night. They also have Rutgers transfer Mike Rosario who shot lights-out last night and sophomore Scottie Wilbekin who would start for most Division I schools. Center Patric Young looks ready to step up and forward Erik Murphy rebounds well and shows good range shooting. Their #8 ranking in the AP poll will be tested Tuesday, when they visit #3 Ohio State. If Young can put at least a little defense on Jared Sullinger, look for a very competitive game.

  9. bmaz says:

    @emptywheel:

    Notice of Errata: Um, I actually did mean to mention the Mighty Ephs versus the Jumpin Jeffs. Yes, today it is the official “Biggest Little Game In America” and they will be playing for all the NESCAC marbles. Amherst rolls in undefeated at 7-0 and Williams right behind at a respectable 5-2. The Lord Jeffs are led by super running back Evan Bunker, while the Ephs seem to have a last minute question at QB between Chris Cleary and Adam Marske. This is gonna be a real barnburner humdinger as Keith Jackson would say!

  10. Jim White says:

    Pitiful effort by the Gators in the first half.

    Spurrier started with a passing offense on the first two possessions. Gators got good pressure on the QB and even got an interception. Then Spurrier went to the run and the Gators became completely incapable of getting a stop. It’s 14-3 at the half, but should be 21-3. On the first possession with the running offense, Spurrier inexplicably called a pass on 3rd and 4 inside the 25. The pass was incomplete and then they missed a field goal just under 40 yards. It would have been no challenge at all for them to get 4 yards in two tries at that point.

  11. dakine01 says:

    Go Hilltoppers! (although sadly, the 5 game win streak will most likely end this evening in Baton Rouge, the ‘moral’ victory is getting within 40 points)

  12. Arbusto says:

    @emptywheel: I think it’s high time we get Corporate sponsorship for our military. How ’bout, say GE gets first bragging rights. The Carl Vinson repainted GE blue with a BIG GE logo on the superstructure and deck. Corporation could support the size of military article based on it’s advertising budget. We’d be able to support the Military/Industrial complex in a way that’d give Leon a giant woody, no Viagra required.

  13. Peterr says:

    With 7 minutes and change left in the game, Mizzou is up on Texas, 17-5. One of the big reasons Mizzou has given for wanting to leave the Big 12 is the way Texas has undue influence in decisions of the conference. If they can hold on and win this game, it will be the icing on the cake as they depart for the SEC next year.

  14. Jim White says:

    Gators playing a bit better in second half, have a field goal, touchdown and failed on the two point conversion. Now trail 14-12 with 11 minutes left. SC should be without Conner Shaw the rest of the game as the Gators have hit the QB hard a couple of times and it looked to me on the last one like his was back in never-never land with his concussion coming back.

    Remarkably, now it looks like they’ve let him back in. Not good for his health at all.

  15. GulfCoastPirate says:

    @JohnT: Ho-hum, another loss for the whorns. How was their QB play today? Those were the guys they wanted when they told Andrew Luck thanks but no thanks.

    Idiots ……………..

  16. emptywheel says:

    Point of order.

    Will there be a separate and distinct NFL Trash Thread, one not tainted by the hoops on the funeral bier event?

    I’m trying to figure out whether I ought to start pre-emptively self-trashing the Pats here, or wait?

  17. bmaz says:

    @emptywheel: Jesus, and after I gave all those hearty Jeffy congratulations and all. Some thanks I get!

    Yeah I suppose there ought to be a separate one for the pros, should I work on that sooner rather than later?

    By the way, the Denard Robinson is whipping Illinois. Oops, the Denard just fumbled….

  18. emptywheel says:

    @bmaz: Dunno. Like I said, I wanted time to get on the record as thinking the Jets will blow out the Patsies tomorrow. So I can get used to the idea and all.

  19. GulfCoastPirate says:

    @emptywheel: Ummm, I don’t know. Maybe one with a little more enthusiasm. Although, I also hear Tulane is going to talk to Leach about the Tulane job. Could you imagine the pirate in New Orleans?

  20. bmaz says:

    @GulfCoastPirate: University of Arizona was saId to be thinking about Leach, but I don’t think they have either the balls or the common sense to make the hire. They will hire another blithering idiot like Mike Stoops instead.

  21. bmaz says:

    Well, I was feeling pretty queasy about Boise being down 20-14 at half to TCU, but 15 seconds into the second half, the Broncos strip the ball and run it in for a TD. 21-20 now.

  22. rosalind says:

    omg, i made it onto the site! been trying all day. still can’t get on fdl. anyone else having trouble with their toobz?

    and should i get locked out again: go Stanford!!!

  23. bmaz says:

    @rosalind: Nope, all good here and at FDL.

    Try cleaning out all your cache (or if you have a Mac a complete reset of Safari) and then reboot your computer.

  24. Bay State Librul says:

    Odds Shark……….

    Betting Line:
    Sportsbooks had the Jets pegged as 1-point favorites in this matchup. The total, meanwhile, was listed by the books at 48.

    Power Rankings / Prediction:
    The Power Rankings at OddsShark have the No. 15-rated Patriots taking on the No. 18-rated Jets in this contest. Handicapping models indicate a 29-28 win for the Patriots on Sunday.

  25. JTMinIA says:

    Last time I do this this year…

    Hirvonen crashed and busted his radiator. He and his co-driver actually tried to push the car to service, which was something like 100 km away, but that’s nuts, so he gave up. Thus, Loeb wins an eighth world championship in a row. In a sport with one of the highest probabilities of being killed while competing, that’s unbelievable. Eight straight WRC titles, plus, my wife would point out sometime around now, he’s incredibly handsome.

  26. GulfCoastPirate says:

    @bmaz: There are a lot of coogs drinking heavily right now. :)

    I did hate to see Boise lose. They just gave up too much over the top.

  27. Jim White says:

    Trees give up yet another TD to go down 22-9 with 3 minutes before halftime. If the Trees fall, that really complicates things for the BCS if the Land Thieves beat Okie State the way I think they will. LSU could be looking for a dance partner in the BCS Championship game…

  28. freepatriot says:

    3 plays after halftime: ducks 29 – trees 16

    and I just realized that the Sooners can win out and win the Big 12 title :)

    BOOMER SOONERS

  29. dakine01 says:

    Final Tigers 42, ‘Toppers 9 (this after the Tigers led 14 – 7 at the half)

    Now the ‘Toppers have two games to get bowl eligible and they still have a shot at the SBC championship.

  30. rosalind says:

    @bmaz: heh. no, the WA/USC game ended a couple hours ago. i do confess i have the Stanford game on but am not actively watching as my stomach is in knots.

    now would be a great time for the Stanford D to make a re-appearance.

  31. GulfCoastPirate says:

    The way this is all playing out tonight Keenum has to go to the front of the pack for the Heismann if they win out.

  32. JTMinIA says:

    @bmaz:

    By popular (well, bmaz) demand, a final, final WRC report. Get this. After winning the championship when the only other driver that could pass him in points (Hirvonen) trashed his radiator, Loeb has a head-on collision with a spectator’s car. Loeb still wins the championship, but not quite in the way he or anyone else wanted.

    Thus endeth the season. Although I will add that my new skid-plate arrived and will be added to my car when the rally lights are put on next week.

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