Final Thoughts on Bowl Season '05
God, I love college football. These past few weeks I have gorged myself on every single game I could find, but now that the football de-tox has begun, I thought I would bid farewell to this past season with a few closing remarks.
USC - Texas: What a game. The Rose Bowl couldn't have played out any better, and even though I despise Mack Brown and the 'Horns, I do offer them my congratulations. I also enjoyed the fact that every sports reporter on the planet would have to admit they were wrong about '05 USC being the greatest team ever to step on the field
Vince Young: This guy is unbelievable. I'll admit I watched a lot more of Reggie Bush this season (simply because USC always played at night when there was nothing else on; UT usually had the afternoon game when there were 3 or 4 other games to choose from), but after last night, I am surprised the Heisman voting wasn't closer between these two guys.
Pete Carroll: You can learn a lot about someone by how they handle victory, and you can learn a lot more watching how they handle defeat. He was the picture of class after last night's loss, giving credit to Texas where it was due, and acting appreciative of all the success USC has had as of late
Reggie Bush: Lots of character as well in defeat. He acknowledged his own mistakes (the ill-advised lateral pass/fumble) and the quality of play of his opponents. No excuses, and I like that
Matt Leinart: Came off as a whiney little bitch. I haven't been able to find the exact quote in today's articles, but in the post-game interview he said something to the effect of "we're clearly the better team, even though we lost." Is that so? I think your lack-luster defense finally got exposed, and - as well as the offense played - you couldn't make one more big play when it counted most. Take some cues from your coach and running back
Awful officiating: What happened to the officiating during bowl season? Aside from the "phantom touchdown" and the "apparently the ground can cause a fumble" interception last night, these past few weeks has seen some terrible calls and no-calls. The final play of Michigan-Nebraska comes immediately to mind as the biggest, but there were several other blunders as well
Idiot reporters: I have to wonder if all of the reports covering a game get together before the opening kick off and decide which one of them is going to get to be "that guy" for the day. You know what I'm talking about. The one that asks every underclassman if he's going pro two seconds after the game is over. The one that asks Joe Paterno if he's retiring right after the winning field goal. Has anyone, anywhere ever answered that type of question under those circumstances?
Florida State: I have never seen a football team go from mediocre at the start of the season, to awful by the half-way point, to awesome by the end. I would rather cut off a variety of my own body parts than give Bobby Bowden any measure credit, but someone is doing something right in Tallahassee
Ohio State: Something else I hate to even throw out there at this point, but these guys finished 10-2, with the 2 losses being to National Champ Texas and Orange Bowl Champ Penn St. I think that really says something about how good this team actually was this year. Also I'd like to point out that I laughed my ass off when they picked up Maurice Clarrett for armed robbery.
West Virginia: About a month ago, right here on this blog, I stated very clearly that West Virginia did not deserve a BCS berth. Man, was I wrong. I honestly didn't think they had a game like the Sugar Bowl in them, especially with it being basically a home game for Georgia.
Notre Dame: Well, at least I was correct when I said only 7 of the BCS teams deserved their spots. I was just wrong when I said the one undeserving team was the Mountaineers instead of the Irish. I realize the whole "Brady Quinn's sister is dating AJ Hawk" angle gave the announcers something to talk about, but the Fiesta Bowl was never really much of game
LSU: All season long I thought the Tigers were overrated, and was glad that UGa eventually beat them for the SEC crown. However, after what they did to Miami, now I'm not so sure
Miami: Oh, Miami. The late season loss to Ga Tech was a "stumble." The Peach Bowl was an "ass-beating." I knew that this was going to be a down year for the 'Canes, but by down year I thought that they just wouldn't make the BCS. I never saw this coming. Devon Hestor's already announced he's leaving, and I'm sure several others will decide the same thing. Plus, with the 4 coaches fired the day after the LSU debacle, there are a lot of questions marks for the 'Canes going into next year
Playoff: We need one, even though the BCS "worked" this year
Only 8 months until next season!
USC - Texas: What a game. The Rose Bowl couldn't have played out any better, and even though I despise Mack Brown and the 'Horns, I do offer them my congratulations. I also enjoyed the fact that every sports reporter on the planet would have to admit they were wrong about '05 USC being the greatest team ever to step on the field
Vince Young: This guy is unbelievable. I'll admit I watched a lot more of Reggie Bush this season (simply because USC always played at night when there was nothing else on; UT usually had the afternoon game when there were 3 or 4 other games to choose from), but after last night, I am surprised the Heisman voting wasn't closer between these two guys.
Pete Carroll: You can learn a lot about someone by how they handle victory, and you can learn a lot more watching how they handle defeat. He was the picture of class after last night's loss, giving credit to Texas where it was due, and acting appreciative of all the success USC has had as of late
Reggie Bush: Lots of character as well in defeat. He acknowledged his own mistakes (the ill-advised lateral pass/fumble) and the quality of play of his opponents. No excuses, and I like that
Matt Leinart: Came off as a whiney little bitch. I haven't been able to find the exact quote in today's articles, but in the post-game interview he said something to the effect of "we're clearly the better team, even though we lost." Is that so? I think your lack-luster defense finally got exposed, and - as well as the offense played - you couldn't make one more big play when it counted most. Take some cues from your coach and running back
Awful officiating: What happened to the officiating during bowl season? Aside from the "phantom touchdown" and the "apparently the ground can cause a fumble" interception last night, these past few weeks has seen some terrible calls and no-calls. The final play of Michigan-Nebraska comes immediately to mind as the biggest, but there were several other blunders as well
Idiot reporters: I have to wonder if all of the reports covering a game get together before the opening kick off and decide which one of them is going to get to be "that guy" for the day. You know what I'm talking about. The one that asks every underclassman if he's going pro two seconds after the game is over. The one that asks Joe Paterno if he's retiring right after the winning field goal. Has anyone, anywhere ever answered that type of question under those circumstances?
Florida State: I have never seen a football team go from mediocre at the start of the season, to awful by the half-way point, to awesome by the end. I would rather cut off a variety of my own body parts than give Bobby Bowden any measure credit, but someone is doing something right in Tallahassee
Ohio State: Something else I hate to even throw out there at this point, but these guys finished 10-2, with the 2 losses being to National Champ Texas and Orange Bowl Champ Penn St. I think that really says something about how good this team actually was this year. Also I'd like to point out that I laughed my ass off when they picked up Maurice Clarrett for armed robbery.
West Virginia: About a month ago, right here on this blog, I stated very clearly that West Virginia did not deserve a BCS berth. Man, was I wrong. I honestly didn't think they had a game like the Sugar Bowl in them, especially with it being basically a home game for Georgia.
Notre Dame: Well, at least I was correct when I said only 7 of the BCS teams deserved their spots. I was just wrong when I said the one undeserving team was the Mountaineers instead of the Irish. I realize the whole "Brady Quinn's sister is dating AJ Hawk" angle gave the announcers something to talk about, but the Fiesta Bowl was never really much of game
LSU: All season long I thought the Tigers were overrated, and was glad that UGa eventually beat them for the SEC crown. However, after what they did to Miami, now I'm not so sure
Miami: Oh, Miami. The late season loss to Ga Tech was a "stumble." The Peach Bowl was an "ass-beating." I knew that this was going to be a down year for the 'Canes, but by down year I thought that they just wouldn't make the BCS. I never saw this coming. Devon Hestor's already announced he's leaving, and I'm sure several others will decide the same thing. Plus, with the 4 coaches fired the day after the LSU debacle, there are a lot of questions marks for the 'Canes going into next year
Playoff: We need one, even though the BCS "worked" this year
Only 8 months until next season!
posted by jonphiwil @ 11:02 AM
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