The McDouble — A College Football Analogy

The McDouble is like Notre Dame. It’s tried and true — a fixture of the fast food scene, just as the midwestern Catholic school is a fixture of the college football landscape. It’s enduring, well followed, and it’s on everywhere. Turn on your radio in Albuquerque or West Friendship and you’ll be getting the same appeal to the cheapo inside of you to buy the two beef patties with good old American slice for just a buck, just as you can turn on your TV to any NBC station throughout America to pick up a Notre Dame football game.

Both have loyal followings. Rabid, some would claim. The followers swear by, uphold it, and defend it against all doubters and haters. Oh, and are there ever haters. “It’s two hocky pucks and tasteless, semi-melted cheese” they say. “Are you kidding me, Notre Dame’s schedule consists of Navy and Army,” they make note, asking when the last time the Irish actually mattered was. Pointing to other menu items, or teams, which are better represented in today’s “premium” trend of fast food or SEC-dominated college football landscape, it could be argued that both the McDouble, and the Irish, are in decline.

Manti Te’o and the 2012 Notre Dame football team would argue differently. I’ll be straight-up in that I had my doubts coming into the year. But with their 4-0 start, Notre Dame deserves their status in the Top 10 of the latest AP poll. This is a dominating defense, and one which does not quit despite knowing full well it can’t always get help from the offense. And that offense, under either Everett Golson or Tommy Rees, is doing something it rarely has done over the last few season — namely, avoiding making enough mistakes to lose games. I know the season is only a third of the way done, but after being skeptical coming into the year, I’m buying the Irish.

I’m also buying the McDouble after trying it for the first time last week. I know. Having gone 23 years without eating one of fast food’s most iconic items is like going 23 years as a college football fan without actually watching a Notre Dame football game, but curiosity and a stingy but growling stomach finally got the best of me.

I don’t know how much longer the McDouble will last at a dollar given the upcharge for the “Daily Double” that many McDonalds’ have adopted. Just as I don’t know how long Notre Dame can last as a power player in college football. I hope they lasts forever though. Why does the McDouble work? Heck, why does Bob Diaco’s defensive scheme work? It just does, that’s why.

Maybe it’s Te’o. He’s your beef, he’s got to be. Yes, the patties are small, but there’s two of them, and despite their small size and well done nature you seem to be hit with an altogether beefy taste with those characteristic sweet notes on the backend. Can you say sideline to sideline? Of course there’s help. That cheese – bulky, mishapen – that’s Stephon Tuitt. A one man wrecking crew inside, the cheese is waxy and unrefined at first. But give it a quarter (ok, 15 mins steaming in the wrapper on a hot day) and it gets melty and gooey and serves that essential component of being that salty-fatty-awsome binder so essential to cheeseburger construction. To continue the analogy, Tuitt, the big cheese if you will, plugs up the middle to allow Te’o to shine.

Now, don’t forget your supporting cast. I’m talking Danny Spond, whose timely big plays hits you like the umami and vinegar blast of a pickle and chopped onion. Or that hard-hitting, omnipresent Zeke Motta – that would be your sweet and salty ketchup — coming in to add a needed zing just when the defense needs an open field stop. And that bun, that squishy, sweet, slightly malty bun which combines flavors and textures in the general mess of mechanical digestion I like to call chewing — well, that’s everyone else. From Prince Shembo on the line to cornerback  Bennett Jackson, it works together and gets the job done, allowing the stars to shine but also contributing the needed glue to hold it all together.

Not actual glue though. That would be gross. And the McDouble? That magnificent, cheap, but of just so good value hamburger amidst a sea of bigger and faster hamburgers? Wake up the echoes my friend, because if September has shown us anything, it’s that that relevance is far from lost.

Weekend College Football Pick Six

Six picks for the weekends games, all of which I plan to tune into at some point. Got an issue with one of the picks? Hit the comments and let me know. I promise to at least pretend to consider your egregious reasoning.

Baylor at Louisiana Monroe: Can I see some love for Kolton Browning for Heisman or what? How many quarterbacks in the country can go into SEC stadiums (of teams not named Vandy and Kentucky, to boot) during back to back weeks and come out with a 6-1 touchdown to interception ratio? That being said, I like the physicality of Baylor’s defense, and think two weeks of emotional highs leave the Warhawks a little slow out of the gate for their home opener. A late comeback bid fails as the Bears win 34-31.

Miami (Fl) at Georgia Tech: Is it just me, or do the Rambling Wreck drop the ball (literally) every time Paul Johnson’s team is about to “turn the corner” in ACC play? This is a huge matchup given Georgia Tech’s week one loss to Virginia Tech, but considering Miami’s 3-0 record by a combined 92-34 over the last three years, I’m not terribly optimistic for Johnson and company. I’m sure this guy will have something to say about how I’m wrong about Johnson’s success in the ACC, but I look for the trend to continue this Saturday. I’ll be pulling for the Yellow Jackets, but I’m picking ‘Canes 27-21.

VMI at Navy: Navy’s been destroyed on the road against BCS teams so far this year, and after the last natural disaster setback against Penn State, team captain Bo Snelson vowed the Mids would be better. I really hope so. If Navy can get to some real option football then the offense should hum, and thankfully VMI doesn’t have the horses to run with Navy for four quarters on defense. As for Navy’s defense? Again, let’s just say the best thing I can do is hope, at this point. It’s going to be a long season for Navy fans, but the Mids win this one, 42-28.

Utah State at Colorado State: The battle of master against the apprentice when it comes to offensive coordinators. Dave Baldwin, USU’s former OC and one of my favorite coaches to talk to, is now leading Colorado State’s offense, although the transition hasn’t gotten off without a few bumps. Utah State and Matt Wells’ Power Spread attack just has too much talent, and given how well the front seven of the defense has been playing (especially against two very physical teams in Wisconsin and Utah) I expect the Aggies to ram the Rams, 38-17. Haha, I kill with these puns.

No. 18 Michigan at No. 11 Notre Dame: If I’m a Notre Dame fan (and I am) I’m still having nightmares about what Denard Robinson pulled off last year in the Wolverines’ 35-31, come-from-behind victory. Still, I can’t help get the impression that Manti Te’o and the Irish defense are playing inspired football. The Irish front seven  are fast and athletic enough to take Michigan out of their comfort zone and make Denard beat them, which, after last year’s heroics, he can’t possibly do again. I think the Irish offense is coming into its own, and I expect Tyler Eifert to come up big in a nial-biter of an Irish victory. Wake up the echoes, 24-21, Note Dame.

No 15. Kansas State at No. 6 Oklahoma: I really like Colin Klein, but I’m just not sold when it comes to Kansas State competing with the heavy hitters of Big 12 defenses like the Sooners and Longhorns. Gashing Miami is one thing (heck, Boston College did it) but keeping pace with Landry Jones and the Sooner offense is another. It’s a close finish, but under the lights I’m going with the home team. Boomer Sooner, 38-31.

Week One Eats

Before the Boise State game on Friday I stopped by Arby’s to get one of the new Turkey Roaster’s to review for The Impulsive Buy. For $4.75, I did not enjoy it. More on this later in the week..

…But I did enjoy Burger King’s new Raspberry Smoothie, although I don’t know if I’d pay more than a buck for it. Obviously hyper-sweet, it still had a nice tartness, and considering I was picking little raspberry bits from by teeth an hour later, made for a good post-workout sugar rush that tasted of more than pure sugar. The berries looked like they came in frozen puree form, and I didn’t detect any dairy taste, but if BK keeps using any excuse to offer stuff for a buck on long weekends, I’m down. I hope they do this soon with their new Italian Chicken items.

I had this grand plan to grill hot dogs for breakfast on Saturday morning when Navy played Notre Dame. But I got back late from a run and just decided I wanted some ice cream. I gave the Edy’s Slow Churned Triple Cookie Sundae a chance and was really impressed. I don’t think I’ve had a cookie dough ice cream since my nightly bowls of Aggie Ice Cream a few years ago, but despite being a low fat ice cream, the cookie dough peices had a great molassas-brown sugar-butter flavor. The brownie bits were surprisngly fudgy too. All in all, this ice cream cone salvaged the morning (Navy lost 50-10.)

Watching Navy lose turns me into a freaking domestic. After making black bean burgers from scratch on Saturday night, I ended up putting some over-ripe bananas to task on Sunday. My family has a buttload of old Cooking Light magazines sitting around, and given the amount of peanut butter in the pantry, it made sense to try out this recipe for Peanut Butter Banana Bread. I decided to make them in muffin form though, mostly on account of convenience and not wanting to dry out the bread. I subbed out the flax seeds and cut some of the sugar (used a honeyroasted  peanut butter) but overall I thought it was a pretty good “light” recipe. No gummy textures or overly healthy taste. Worth a try if you’re into the whole baking thing.

One of the best parts about the opening weekend of college football is that it just keeps giving. It’s often compared to Christmas, but starting on Thursday night and going to Monday, it’s more like Hanukkah. Monday night, for instance, featured a game between Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. I could usually care less about the ACC, but when Chick-fil-A sponsors the game and offers free sandwiches to jersey-wearing fans visiting their outlets, well, just paint me the biggest fan Georgia Tech ever had. Or Navy. Whatever. I rocked the Navy jersey and got a sandwich. I think I’ve mentioned it before, but I think the best way to enjoy the classic is with extra pickles, two packets of black pepper, Texas Pete Hot Sauce, and a packet of honey. Actually I don’t think this. I know this.

All in all, it was a solid first weekend of college football. Navy may have lost, but I’m cautiously optimistic for when Utah comes to Logan on Friday night. Not sure what I’ll be stuffing my face with on Friday night, but you can beat my ass will be parked on the sofa watching ESPN2 when 8 PM rolls around.

Week One Observations

I spent the better part of the best years of my life writing about college football (and for that, they pretty much turned out to be the most unhappy years of my life), so like it or not, I’m subjecting you to my thoughts from each week’s action. DEAL WITH IT.

Games I Watched

Notre Dame 50, Navy 10

• After years of working as a credentialed beat writer covering Navy athletics, I’ve come to mentally cringe every time Navy plays in a game on national television (read: not CBSCS.) Like the Army-Navy game and every ESPN game, the attention paid to the Navy football team bordered more on what it represents than what it is. We all know the clichés about hard-work and physicality and being great student athletes and Americans; but can we actually talk about what’s going on on the field?
• What was going on on the field was about what I expected. Scratch that, it was worse. I somehow forced myself to watch the entire game, but between seeing the Navy defensive front give more ground than the Polish cavalry against the Blitzkrieg and Trey Miller taking snaps from the shotgun, I nearly lost my sanity.
• If Navy can’t find a way to commit to running the actual triple option with, key phrase, the first option (fullback dive) being established, it’s going to be a long season. After hearing all about him all summer, it was disappointing to see that Noah Copeland was a complete non-factor.
• Gary Danielson said some absolutely stupid things during the broadcast, but he hit the nail on the head when he summed up how the Navy coaches handled the end of the first half. Try’s fumble killed any spark the team might have been able to recover, and not taking a time out to give Miller a breather wasted a gutsy performance from  first-year starter.
• If I’m a Notre Dame fan (and I am, kind of) I am feeling pretty good. I know most Navy fans hate the Irish, but as a Catholic and as someone who enjoys the play of real or semi-real student athletes, I can’t help but pull for the school against most opponents. Not Navy, mind you, but pretty much everything else. I thought the Irish O and D-lines were dominant, and hope Saturday wasn’t all on Navy just sucking.

 Ohio 24, Penn State 14

• The people I discuss college football with tend to think Penn State’s football program should be banished like those dudes in the floating mirror in outerspace from that one Superman movie, but my thoughts are more conflicted. Seeing Beaver Stadium on Saturday, and seeing the emotion in the eyes of the Penn State athletes, I’d be lying if I said a part of me was not pulling for them.
• Of course, I was also pulling for Ohio, which I like for no other reason than the combination of Tyler Tettleton and Beau Blankenship. What can I say? As a short white dude myself, I tend to have a politically incorrect tendency to pull 5-foot-8 white running backs. SUE ME.
• Looking at some of the other MAC teams which played major BCS opponents Saturday (and looking at their collapses) I attribute Ohio’s success to one factor; coaching. Frank Solich is the kind of guy who can keep a team of 21 year-old cool and collected. Even when down, his plauers knew they could win the game, and didn’t press. Lucky bounces, I think, often go towards the team which stays composed. And a composed, well coached team can make some serious noise later in the season.

Utah State 34, Southern Utah 3

• I don’t think anyone who closely follows USU — not the least of whom is this former Aggie Sports Editor — was surprised at the play of Joe Hill. We Aggie fans have been spoiled with Robert Turbin and Michael Smith for the last four years, but any one keeping an eye on the pipeline knew their was talent behind them. Kerwynn – we called him ‘Hey Arnold’ when I was in Logan because they teased him for having a football shaped head – was solid, and both he and Hill will keep the Aggie ground game humming. Both are fast, shifty, and have great vision, but their surprising power will catch teams off gaurd all year. Oh yea, Chuckie Keeton was pretty swell, too, and don’t overlook that offensive line.
• Matt Austin might just be the most fundamentally sound wide receiver in the country when it comes to body country and sideline awareness. And no, that’s not a homeristic statement.
• I was worried how the offense would look in terms of tempo and design with Dave Baldwin moving on to Colorado State, but Matt Wells seems to have everything under control. The thing I love about the “power spread” and the way USU runs it is it keeps other teams so off-tempo. Baldwin used to tell me the offense ”is complex, not complicated,” and I like the way he describes it. With all the different packages and formations, it makes defenses play off-balance, and imposes a north-south but also east-west hurry-up style of play on you. The most important thing for USU moving forward will be ball control. If that can be maintained, there’s no reason this offense can’t be Xbox good this year.

Stock Report

Stock up:

FOX: Gus Johnson calls every game like it’s March Madness. Pair him with Charles Davis, who might just be the most intelligent play-by-play guy in all of college football commentary-dom, and you’ve got the most underrated announcing duo this side of the Joe Tessitore effect.

Nebraska’s running game: Ok, so it was Southern Miss. But the 278 yards (6.2 per) on the ground was impressive given the fact that Heisman candidate Rex Burkhead took to the sideline after only three carries (albeit, one for along touchdown). Ameer Abdullah showed some toughness between the tackles, but most of all, Taylor Martinez looked like he actually knew what he was doing with both his feet and his arm. And later in the season, with Burkhead back and hopefully healthy, you’ve got to think the latter part of that statement will open up thinks for the run game.

Turner Gill: When he was back at Buffalo, Turner Gill was the first FBS head football coach I met and interviewed. At the time, my credentials were that I had graduated high school and had once written a blog about Navy football. Yea, impressive stuff, I know. Yet the man treated me like a veteran, and at that Buffalo practice I attended, I saw first hand the kind of program that Gill looked to create. Most people know he struck out at Kansas, but few know he just coached his first FCS game. And while his Liberty Flames came up a dropped pass short of upending Wake Forest in week one, something tells me the efforts of first-time starter Brian Hudson will have Liberty staying near the top of FCS competition.

Stock Down:

ESPN: I think I saw an Obama commercial between each TV timeout. Never mind for a second that I’m a conservative and consider this; isn’t the beauty of the college football season the fact that we can (kind of) ignore this politics stuff? Way to spoil a Saturday, ESPN.

Savannah State: I’m sure it’s a fine place to go to college and all, but how would you like to be the kid who has to respond to “yea, the team that was blown out 84-0 by Oklahoma State” when explaining where you go to college? Week One games are usually ugly. Like Battle of Hoth ugly. But this was the equivalent of the Death Star blowing up Alderaan.

Navy’s Use of the Shotgun: Did I mention how much I sincerely dislike it?

Coming tommarow…Week One Football Eats

Kids Like Us: Two Years Later

A little preface is in order. This link will help clear things up.

Late July will always hold a special place in my memory. It’s hard to believe that it was only two years ago when I sitting in hotel in Salt Lake City, rubbing elbows with future NFL players at Western Athletic Conference media days. A yearly gathering for college football conferences prior to the start of fall camp, media days provide a relaxed atmosphere for coaches, players, and league officials to preview the upcoming season for members of the media.

The three-day event is beyond description for a 21-year old college football junkie with a hope to make a career out of sports journalism. I remember coming in with this grand plan that I was going to sweep commissioner Karl Benson off his feet and somehow guarantee myself a job with the conference staff out West.

Psh, like it actually worked out that way. Two years later, Karl (a great guy, mind you) is the head of the Sun Belt Conference, I’m working a desk job in Maryland, and the WAC stares down its finale season as a conference.

The conference wasn’t without its good days. From Boise State’s epic BCS “busting” campaign and subsequent win over Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, to its bygone days in which BYU and Air Force built dynasties, The WAC exemplified all a college football fan could want.

With the WAC goes a part of me, — a sense of the goofy college kid in me, if you will. It was during that summer that I arm-wrestled current NFL players like Colin Kaepernick, getting a pleasant reminder that future careers — of success, or of failure — can wait. Even future NFL stars, I learned, really aren’t that different than the goofy college newspaper editor.

Eventually we all eventually move onto different things, and as I watch the coaches and players of the current conference assemble for one final season, I’m reminded that just because we exit the field on one Saturday, doesn’t mean we can’t stride onto another the next year.

The Grass is Always Greener, Until…

Some college football fans think the Cold War for a playoff has reached peaceful conclusion. Why they’re very, very wrong.

…you cut it, it grows back, you go on vacation, and it dries out again.

There’s been a lot of talk this past week about the end of the BCS and the coming of four-team playoff beginning in 2014. Obviously, this was a long time coming for many suffering fans of America’s most popular sport*. How much suffering? God forgive us to use a real life Cold War analogy, but Stewart Mandel’s tracing of the discontent brewing amidst fans all the way back to 1947 certainly makes such a comparison inevitable. And, just as there was jubilation when the Berlin Wall was smashed and the Soviet Union disintegrated, so there have been enough high fives to go around that even Republicans and Democrats have a least one thing to celebrate together this week.

I am not celebrating. If anything, I’m fuming.

Maybe fuming is too extreme of a word. Watching in resigned disappointment might be a better clarification. Why, you ask? The litany of reasons is almost beyond worth listing when it comes to popular opinion, but  it boils down to the still yet unsolved issue of how and what a selection committee for the four-team playoff will look like.Paul Myerberg does an excellent job of spelling out potential problems on Pre Snap Read, but at the risk of disagreeing with an incredibly knowledgable college football writer, I want to draw attention to the overarching problem of choosing a committee:

What the committee needs more than anything – these are the two must-haves – are transparency and objectivity. No closed-door meetings followed by rambling, unspecific explanations. And no root-for-the-home-team mentality. That’s a definite.

I agree. A definite. But not only in terms of the yearned for ‘fairness’ of a playoff, but also in terms of its practicality. As in this is a definite impractiality.

You can argue all you want that format x or format y will yield the prerequisite “transparency and objectivity,” but they won’t. Not anymore than the polls or the BCS computer formula did. In college football, in the world where every muscle fiber on an autumn Saturday afternoon is fired in gladiatorial like combat which truly has reached religious status, every one has a dog in the fight. Fans, commissioners, media members, even the exchange student from Bangladesh who cleans the toilets as part of work study at [Insert your State U here] is biased in some way. No matter how the committee is determined, it will be biased. Not only that, but those who find problems to pick at with the committee’s selections will be biased in their own right, forcing the questions of expanding the playoff, shrinking the playoff (to a plus-one model, perhaps?) or abandoning it all together to emerge.

This week marks a new era in college athletics, no doubt. But as we look towards a future we acknowledge will have problems in its application (but still seems better than what we had) the inevitable realization festers. We’ll find something to argue about, and a new dilemma to complicate what we thought was the best possible solution.

The grass may be greener right now. It might be greener in 2014 and in 2015. But the problems of 65 years of discontent over not having a playoff, those will continue even after the fact. History as our guide, an imperfect sport as our Saturday afternoon love,  we’d be better off to acknowledge its intrinsic imperfection, and cut the grass anew each spring.

*No actual data to back this up. My own assertion. Live with it.

All NFL Combine Snub Team 2012: Offensive Skill

In case you missed it, the official NFL Scouting Combine invitation list came out earlier this week. Considered the premier event for draft-ready prospects to showcase their skills prior to the April’s big day, the combine is far from the end all, be all of determining whether a player will boom or bust on the next level. The inevitable Wes Welker example has been echoed a thousand times over, and just as Welker went on to NFL stardom after not receiving a combine invite, we can bet this year’s list of combine “snubs” holds several future Pro Bowlers. Here are some notable offensive skill position players from around the country who didn’t get an invitation.

QB: Zach Collaros, Cincinnati- To a certain extent I can understand how Collaros gets overlooked. The Big East has been mediocre for most of his career, and his senior year was broken up due to injury. Still, it’s worth pointing out that Collaros was once the poster-boy for a dual-threat Big East quarterback, electrifying the nation as a sophomore in 2009 when he led the Bearcats to five consecutive Big East wins. A key part in helping Brian Kelley’s team get to the Sugar Bowl that season, his size (6-foot-ish) might not be ideal, but when healthy he has the kind of leadership ability and versatile athleticism to make you wonder why an NFL team wouldn’t consider him.

QB- Dan Persa, Northwestern- Wait a second. Is it just me, or were we talking about this guy as a potential Heisman darkhorse a year ago? It’s no secret Persa’ brilliant junior season was spoiled by an Achilles injury which left him in a limbo-like relationship with starting status in 2011, but he still managed to hit over 74% of his passes, and actually became the NCAA’s career leader in completion percentage. While his mobility was extremely limited last season, he’s shown proved adept at moving in the pocket, and despite standing only slightly over 6-foot, he’s got the kind of pinpoint accuracy that make playing at the next level entirely possible.

RB: Bobby Rainey, Western Kentucky- This is the guy already making his name out to be “Mr Overlooked” for the 2012 draft. Passed up by the Senior Bowl selection committee as well, Rainey was the most instrumental player in the Hilltoppers’ unprecedented rise from the ranks of college football’s worst teams in 2011. His 5-foot-7 frame obviously hurts him, but he’s rumored to have sub 4.4 speed. Toughness? The guy only led the country in rushing attempts each of the last two years, and despite playing through coaching changes, poor offensive lines, and sometime nonexistent quarterback play, Rainey still managed 4,542 yards in his college career.

RB: Lance Dunbar, North Texas- Call it the curse of playing for not just a non-BCS school, but a bad non-BCS school.Dunbar was a three time First Team All Sunbelt pick and is just one of six FBS players in history with over 4000 career rushing yards and 1000 receiving yards. True, his 5-foot-8 size is far from ideal, but last I checked plenty of NFL backs weren’t built in the Adrian Peterson mold. Not sure he gets drafted, but he’s a guy who can definitely become a contributor on the right NFL team.  

WR: Cole Beasley, SMU- People are going to compare this guy to Wes Welker because of his size, skin color, and the kind of offense he played in, but the simple fact is that Beasley is a receiver in every sense of the word. He’s got great footwork and feel for the dimensions of the field, and once more, he displays a level of toughness and concentration in traffic that are needed on the next level. Despite missing time due to injury as a senior, he stepped up for 79 catches in 2011, and should make a great slot NFL receiver.

WR: Jeremy Ebert, Northwestern- How a guy who caught 137 balls for over 200 yards and scored 19 touchdowns over the last two years gets left off the combine invite list is beyond me. Like Beasley, it probably doesn’t help that he’s a moderately sized white guy in the slot mold, but to say Ebert lacks ideal speed down the field is to blatantly ignore his highlight film. His numbers would have been even better had Dan Persa been injury free in 2011, but as it stands now he’s going to make one team (the Patriots, perhaps?) happy with a steal in the draft.

TE: Brian Linthicum, Michigan State- Forget for a second that at 6-foot-5, 245-pounds he has ideal size for coming off the line, but Linthicum is coming off a season in which he caught 31 balls for 364 yards. He has averaged over 10 yards a reception in a pro-style, run heavy Big Ten offense each of the past three years, and is a guy who could immediately step in and play as a second tight end on the NFL level.

TE: George Bryan, NC State- Bryan is not going to win any awards for his speed, but at 6-foot-5, 265 he has the perfect size of an NFL tight end, and the resume to boot. As a rare four-year contributor who managed to catch 126 passes in his career, he begs an invitation to the NFL combine if simply to see whether or not his much harped on “lack of athleticism” is enough to detract from his toughness as a receiver and soft hands.

The Rise of the Academics: My Take

If you’re anything like me, you’re probably in Thanksgiving food coma mode over your inability to process the various day-after columns and recruiting rankings coming in from around the college football world. I hate to add-on to your day-after Signing Day indigestion, but I did want to offer my take on a dynamic some have brought up with regards to the “Rise of the Academic Schools.”

If you don’t read Ivan Maisel’s 3-Point Stance on a daily basis, start. It’s short, concise, and written by one a guy who’ll take the time to get back to you if you send him an email. This I can respect amongst a horde or twitter-going college football crazies, of which I may or may not be a part of (+1 if you found your way here via twitter, by the way.)

I want to address a point Ivan made the morning after Signing Day when it comes to the success of the Stanford’s and Vanderbilt’s of the world on the recruiting trail. Here’s what Ivan he had to say:

1. Stanford coach David Shaw told me last April that he and his staff had a shot at nationally prominent recruits who would be the school’s most highly-regarded class ever. Stanford signed seven players Wednesday out of the ESPNU 150 and is 12th in the recruiting rakings. Shaw also said this: “Nobody wants us to be successful. There’s no way. With our academic standards? There’s no way that other schools want to see us have continued success … because if we’re going to be in the top 10 in football perennially, why wouldn’t you come here? How could you say no?”

2. And Stanford isn’t the only one. Vanderbilt, where James Franklin has refused to accept the Commodores perennial role as league doormat, at one point on Signing Day made the ESPNU top 25. Northwestern and Virginia both signed players in the ESPNU 150. Is something afoot here? Are better players getting smarter? Are they more willing to consider their education when deciding where to play?

While I hate putting any stock in recruiting rankings, the two classes Maisel references were ranked (by Rivals.com) fifth and twenty ninth, respectively. Another “academic school” which regularly recruits well — Notre Dame — came in #22 overall, while another well-to-do bastion of higher learning — Virginia — was #29.

Just for yukes I decided to take a look back at the Rivals ranking from 2007 (hey, five year intervals are all the rage, right?) and noticed only two of those teams — Notre Dame and Virginia — cracked the Top 30. Going back ten years also reveals just two of those teams — again, ND and UVA — make the Top 30. So we can all agree that even a quick, elementary survey hints that Maisel is onto the proverbial something. The question is, “what?”

Stanford got a "big" get in OT Kyle Murphy

I think you look at a few factors. One, I think you look at the economy. It’s already established that the slow recovery has helped the service academies in recruiting (see my 2009 story here) and it stands to reason that as jobs continue to be tough to come by after college (just ask this unemployed 2011 college grad), that recruits are going to want all the help they can get. Whether that means they’re convinced a Stanford degree holds more weight than an Oklahoma degree — or if they just recognize the networking opportunities at a Stanford — I’m not sure, but I think it factors into some of the recruits’ decisions.

I also think you look at the proliferation and identification of top talent. Long story short: the scope of covering recruiting has grown past where it was in 2007 and definitely from where it was in 2002, and because of that, we’re seeing more recruits in the total supply, and more attention given to refining rankings. The coverage has evolved, so comparing 2007 to 2012 might not be apples to oranges, but it is sort of like apples to pears. Get my drift?

Likewise, success in getting to the BCS bowls – in Stanford’s case, for sure — has helped, as have the NFL-bound careers of top Stanford and Notre Dame players who also happened to be great student athletes. But how does that explain UVA? And what does that say about Vanderbilt, which is just trying to tread water for a bowl birth?

My completely unprofessional ”gut” feeling tells me it has to do with what I like the call the magnet theory. As a young person myself, I get that people want to be around other people that are like them and share their values. They want to be amidst “like-minded” kids, so to speak. I mean, who among us felt out of place being the all AP student stuck in the below grade level math class (wait, only me?) When programs like Stanford have success — or when programs like UVA and Vanderbilt have dynamic, energetic coaches who can latch on to one of two high-profile recruits who also happen to fit the model of the perfect student athlete — it acts as a magnet for others. Let’s face it, there are always going to be the ‘perfect’ kids who excel in football, baseball, class, and yes, LIFE. They date the prom queen, volunteer for their church, and still have time to whip your butt in Call of Duty. Basically, they drive us crazy, but no matter what they do, they’re going to do it well. Thing is, usually these guys are few and far between, and where they go is about as varied as the states they come from. Some, like Russell Wilson, end up at Wisconsin by way of North Carolina State. But others, like Andrew Luck or Toby Gerhart, go to Stanford.

What we’re seeing now, I believe, is a concentration of said “perfect” kids at schools that have shown they can either make the BCS or have coaches who can convince them they can make the BCS. But that concentration is augmented by a magnet effect of recruits, and a decision of young men to follow others “like them” to schools that expose the havs of higher education and top football. As we see the juxtaposition of these young men against a back drop of, lets be honest, increasingly ridiculous notions of ‘student athletes’ that have worked their way into many of the nation’s top schools, it’s a trend we’re likely to see continue. I was reminded of that again on Signing Day, as stuttering recruits made commitments all over ESPNU while listing anything but academic or life pursuits as reasons for their choice.

Are complex factors at work in the rise of the academics? You bet. But when push comes to shove we all gravitate towards the people we have things in common with, which is exactly why the Stanfords ad Vandy’s of the world have such a positive attraction for the ‘perfect’ young men making their college decisions.

Short White Guys, the Senior Bowl, and Being World Champs

One was second in the league in receiving yards during the regular season. Another averages over 5 yards a carry through just four years in the league. The third only plays offense, defense, and special teams after spending  his college career as a quarterback.

None get out of the 5-foot-something range. All seem to be ”deceptively quick” in the eyes of television color analysts. And all will be playing essential — if not altogether expected and familiar roles — for  a team amidst arguably the greatest dynastic run in NFL history.

Wes Welker. Danny Woodhead. Julian Edelman.

One more thing; none of them were invited to the NFL combine.

The week between the Conference Championship games and the Super Bowl tends to see the curious intersection of interests between the college and pro football fans. Not much of an NFL fan myself, I’m nevertheless drawn to this weekend and its implications to the greater trends in the game at large thanks to the Senior Bowl. With our favorite Saturday heroes still wearing colors from our alma maters, we nevertheless view them through the spectrum of the hypnotizing scroll of NFL Network’s ticker and the harsh tones of Mike Maylock. Players — like Wisconsin’s Russell Wilson — are lauded for their character yet mourned for their lack of “ideal” size. Some — like Kellen Moore — will fall victim to the old “funky throwing motion” debate, while more than a few will stumble in interviews and arouse whispers and suspicions of not being the proverbial  ‘sharpest tool in the shed.’

All things considered, one could do worse than to be pegged as short, having a funky motion, or not having the football IQ of Vince Lombardi. One could, I think it’s safe to say on this not quite political correct of blogs, be a short white dude.

Funny though how we make jokes about short white guys not being the poster boys for athletic success when these three have been quite the opposite. In a day and age where the rumor of a less-than-ideal 40-time can cast you off to a MAC School or worse (yikes, Chadron State? Good luck with the Don Beebe route there, Danny) the thought that unheralded and overlooked can go to key role player or, dare I say in Welker’s case, veritable superstar, smacks of the kind of egalitarian made-for-tv movie you’d think the sports world would embrace.

So why aren’t they?

In a media environment Jordy Nelson ends up creating controversy in by musing on the popular stereotypes of caucasian skill position players, I suppose it’s almost a risk to even venture a guess. But as measuring tapes and electronic timers begin rolling out of the pockets of NFL scouts once again, it’s perhaps best to keep the cases of short white guys, the Senior Bowl, and the quest to be world champions in mind. Every team, every scout, every fan who scours the internet during a company’s other 4 hours of his/her time — they’re all looking for the next superstar to lead their team to the bigtime. But just ask the Philadelphia Eagles if it’s a guarantee of postseason glory, and you’ll likely get an awkward gulp.

Maybe they’ve all be looking in the wrong place. Maybe, just maybe, championships are won and loss not by the superstars at the Senior Bowl, but the short white (and black and asian and latino and ok, are there any arab?) guys standing to the side.

Laying it on the line, again

Lest this blog suddenly become a spiritual reflection blog with a side of breakfast cereal, I’ve been attempting to come up with something insightful to say this week in regards to another great passion in life: college football.

It’s been a challenge so far, and judging by the carry-over audience from other web projects (and I’m not complaining, I appreciate you all immensely) and it goes without saying that this aspect of the lens through which I’ve seen the world has been underrepresented. Well, Monday turned to Tuesday and now it’s Friday, and the best I’ve been able to surmise are several narrow Navy football recruiting stories for the GoMids.com.

It’s interesting, because those stories I write are all stories for which I’ll be paid for. No, not much, but enough to warrant me taking the time to craft them. And yet here, where I have freedom of thought and direction but a complete lack of monetary incentive, I struggle to offer insight. As uncomfortable as it is to admit, I don’t offer insight into the X’s and O’s of the blackboard because, well, I want something for doing that.

Clearly I could take a lesson from the players  in the host of All-Star games going on right now, including Saturday’s East-West Shrine Game.

You’d think after four years of distinguishing themselves on the college gridiron that guys like Boise State’s Tyler Shoemaker or Western Kentucky’s Bobby Rainey would have earned the benefit from scouts looking to bring them onto NFL teams. For Rainey especially — a guy who ran for over 4000 yards and 39 touchdowns in three season — you’d think people would say, “ok son, clearly you’re very good at what you do, no need to show us again at your own expense.” You’d think that, and so would I. But that’s not the world we live in.

Instead Rainey, at all of 5-foot-8 and coming from the Sun Belt, and Shoomaker, the proverbial “great route runner” who lacks “big-play ability” (read: white dude) will have to go out on the field one more time and audition in an All-Star game. They’ll be scrutinized, analyzed, and looked at from every angle short of a full dissection by scouts and media members, just in the pursuit that they’ll leave open the possibility of being drafted. And once if that happens, there is still no guarantee their years of investing themselves in the sport will land them NFL success or a lucrative contracts. Who knows, maybe either will be cut in year one or year two, maybe, just maybe, making a practice squad roster. Perhaps one of their fellow players — former Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa, for example — will defy stereotypes of his height for a few preseason games before being dealt a crippling injury that’ll take that NFL future away. No, I don’t wish to see it, but it happens. And isn’t the thought that laying in on the line, again, enough to make him stand up and say, “dammit, this isn’t fair I was going to be a Heisman trophy contender!”

There are some days where I feel the same about my freelance writing career. I can remember what people used to say to me. Whether in middle school or high school, college and even now. “We’ll be reading you in Sports Illustrated one day,” offers one memory, or “Try to smile on Sportcenter,” recalls another. So what has happened?

Nothing, really. Like the college stars taking to All-Star games trying to prove themselves after having already done so time and time again, I’m still young. I have some imperfections in my craft (a comma obsession, perhaps, the writing equivalent of a 4.7 40-yard dash time) but I’m dynamic and witty, confident in my resume and what I can.

I don’t need money to drive me to do that, just as the players in the East-West game don’t need money to lure them into playing one more high-stakes game of audition. They do it for two reasons. One, because they like to play football. And two, because they understand, in whatever way they phrase it to themselves, the poetic line I’ve come to repeat time and time again. The hope is in the waiting.

Perhaps a lot of things, including perhaps Bobby Rainey will impress someone during the Eat-West Shrine game, and perhaps he’ll become an unlikely hero on a playoff bound team in 2013. Perhaps my time to shine, like Rainey’s, is still in front of me.  

I write, and I hope. They play, and they hope. Together we have no promises that we’ll ever make the big-time or see the dreams we’ve long-held materialize, but together we lay it all on the line, again.