Sunday, December 7, 2008

Week 16: Would Toward That it Were

It's a shame CBS has the rights to the SEC match-ups. Rather than ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit and Brent Musberger (though I could do without Musberger at times) covering #1 Alabama vs. #4 Florida in prime time, we get the SEC championship in the middle of the afternoon and the one-sided Big 12 championship for the evening game. Kind of anti-climatic.

Of course we all knew which was going to be the better game. The SEC championship was everything people hoped it would be: tough defenses, hard hitting, Alabama's power running game vs. Florida's high-octane option attack. And Tebow ultimately wills his team to victory.

Then there was the Oklahoma/Missouri snooze-fest. The third time we've seen this match-up in a year and we all knew the beat-down was coming. Granted, Missouri kept things slightly interesting through the first 30% of the game or so. But it got really ugly really fast in the second quarter and it was over by half-time. And ESPN, "The number one leader in sports," has their number one broadcasting guy, Kirk Herbstreit, just filling air time for most of the evening. At least ESPN is taking back some of the bowl games from FOX in 2010.

On a different note, I think after Saturday's performances the Heisman race is down to Sam Bradford and Tim Tebow. Sam will likely get the nod given his ridiculous stats and Timmy's numbers aren't as freakish as last year. But we'll see.

Final Standings:


This Week W L (Overall) GB
A True Blue Husker 11 3 (223-97) 0
The Rev 12 2 (216-104) 7
Chief Justice 10 4 (213-107) 10
Dr. L 9 5 (213-107) 10
Kenny Pickett 12 2 (211-109) 12
The Guvna 8 6 (211-109) 12
O-knee-der 9 5 (209-111) 14

2008-09 College Football Bowl Schedule




EagleBank
Wake Forest vs. Navy



New Mexico
Colorado State vs. Fresno State



magicJack St. Petersburg
Memphis vs. South Florida



Pioneer Las Vegas
BYU vs. Arizona



R+L Carriers New Orleans
Southern Miss vs. Troy



San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia
Boise State vs. TCU



Sheraton Hawaii
Hawaii vs. Notre Dame



Motor City
Florida Atlantic vs. Central Michigan



Meineke Car Care
West Virginia vs. North Carolina



Champs Sports
Wisconsin vs. Florida State



Emerald
Miami (Fla.) vs. California



Independence
Northern Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech



Papajohns.com
NC State vs. Rutgers



Valero Alamo
Missouri vs. Northwestern



Roady's Humanitarian
Maryland vs. Nevada



Texas
Rice vs. Western Michigan



Pacific Life Holiday
Oklahoma State vs. Oregon



Bell Helicopter Armed Forces
Houston vs. Air Force



Brut Sun
Oregon State vs. Pittsburgh



Gaylord Hotels Music City
Boston College vs. Vanderbilt



Insight
Kansas vs. Minnesota



Chick-fil-A
LSU vs. Georgia Tech



Outback
South Carolina vs. Iowa



Capital One
Georgia vs. Michigan State



Konica Minolta Gator
Clemson vs. Nebraska



Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi
Penn State vs. USC



FedEx Orange
Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech



AT&T Cotton
Ole Miss vs. Texas Tech



AutoZone Liberty
Kentucky vs. East Carolina



Allstate Sugar
Utah vs. Alabama



International
Buffalo vs. Connecticut



Tostitos Fiesta
Ohio State vs. Texas



GMAC
Tulsa vs. Ball State



FedEx BCS National Championship Game
Florida vs. Oklahoma




7 comments:

atruebluehusker said...

Mark, it is not a shame at all! Verne (with an E) Lundquist and Gary Danielson do a masterful job calling games for CBS. Plus they work the league all year and know the teams. I thought Danielson's comparison of the Florida option to "3-card monty" was great. And for my part, I don't mind a second half where Musberger talks about what he'll be drinking after the game and Herbie breaks down the week's action.

Mark said...

Here are just a few of Danielson's "masterful" quotes from this season:

"Tim Tebow's like the snake doctor for Florida. Gotta stop the snake doctor, keep the Gators from moving the ball....this time he snaked Alabama with a play action pass."

“Kareem Jackson didn't believe that David Nelson could beat him deep. He squatted all over him."

"This is easy. They go to Hester here." - Danielson
"They would, but Hester is out west these days." - Lundquist
"Well, last year, they would have." - Danielson, on LSU's 4th and 1 try.

"No more playing it safe! You got to go for it here" - before a 3rd and 11

"I don’t know who's happier, Mr. or Mrs. Stafford. If that keeps up there might be a little Matthew coming."

"I hope she's the one in the middle." - as the camera goes for a shot of John Parker Wilson's mother and the woman in the center is rather attractive

"I don't even know if you're allowed to say this. But just like you can't be a little bit pregnant, you also can't be a little bit spread."- on Auburn's spread offense

And during the OU/Mizzou game, I think Musberger had already sampled his chosen beverage for the evening. He was having difficulty telling which quarter the game was in (look at the game clock, not the play clock, Brent), who they were going to back at the studio (John Saunders, not Matt Winer), or how many yards to the first down (it's 2nd and 10, not inches).

Just because you're used to seeing college football a certain way, doesn't mean it's the best way. That goes for the post-season as well as commentators. :)

atruebluehusker said...

I disagree. Sometimes familiarity is better, because you enjoy it. For example, Pam Ward might be the worst announcer in the world, but if you like her, then you're happy with her. I do not, am not, and hope she is relegated to call the Motor City Bowl.

I couldn't tell, whose side were you on with those Danielson quotes? I heard the Hester line, and I believe he might have been joking. I am completely lost on the snake doctor, and the Auburn comment is spot on. And the little Matthew comment is the inappropriate one. Sheesh, did he say that?

Let's find mutual enemies. FOX NFL color guys. Let's all repeat the following phrase: "I am not John Madden. I am me. I will be myself and have my own personality."

Mark said...

You don't see a problem with the "You got to go for it here" when it's 3rd down?

atruebluehusker said...

All color guys state the obvious now and again. I don't know the situation for sure, but if he had been talking about a team needing to play it safe, stay smart, avoid mistakes, and driving that point home, it doesn't hurt to remind the audience, not all of whom are diehards like me, that they need to scrap the plan and take a chance.

Anonymous said...

"The woman in the center is rather attractive" - excuse me?! Who are you calling rather attractive? You boy.

atruebluehusker said...

Heisman-wise, I think Bradford will win even though I think the Colt should. That being said, I am also starting to think Tebow has a really good chance. He is going to get all of the southeastern vote. A recent poll on ESPN showed 41% of the people in the country voting for Tebow, which means he would win unless either McCoy or Bradford got next to nothing. That is just random rubes however, and not the esteemed sportswriters who cast their ballot for the Heisman. I also think it is a bum deal that Graham Harrell didn't make it to New York. Or Joe Ganz for that matter!

I will say this, there was one game this year (can't remember which) where Danielson could not for the life of him spit out the right team. I have seen Dick Vermeil have similar days...happens to everybody I guess. I am going to go see if they have bowl announcer pairings out somewhere!!!