6magazineOnline | Football Season's Now.: 2/1/09

Thursday, February 5, 2009

2009 National Signing Day

Let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet. It is great for any program to have a top 20 signing day class, but much like the NFL draft you will have plenty of bust. In fact, I feel that they're are more "bust" in college than the pros.

The leap from high school to college is tough, because you may have a kid who was given the world in high school, allowed to skip class, break rules, etc. as long as he performed. Which is the harder leap? High school to college football or college football to the NFL? The leap to college involves tougher academics, boosters, agents, balancing being away from home, new coaches, a rigorous weightlifting schedule, study hall when you are beat up and tired after practice, and girls. Yes, girls, most of fthe time they're more women on campus than they are men, so yes, its a distraction.

The leap from college to pro is tough because you've got money, hype/expectations, family, tickets, life, sponsors, growing up, adjusting to a new city all over again, and even more girls.

To be honest, I think the leap from high school football to college football is much more difficult than college ball to pro ball. There are more distractions, you have to stay eligible, you make one mistake you may get kicked off the team, not to mention the politics that are at every level of football.

Well, with all that said, the hard part is not getting at top ballyhooed recruiting class, its getting them to live up to that ballyhooed hype.

ESPN Rise 2009 Football Signing Class

1. LSU Tigers

The Tigers nabbed 25 recruits and 10 in the ESPN 150. The big name of this class was H-town QB Russell Sheppard who was the #1 athlete in the country. Look for the Tigers rebuilding process to speed up rather quickly.

2. Alabama Crimson Tide

The Tide signed 29 players, 9 of whom were in the ESPN 150. The star of this class is Trent Richardson, #1 RB in the land out of Escambia HS in Pensacola, FL. Look for the loss of Glen Coffee to not sting so hard with this fella coming to town.

3. Texas Longhorns

The Longhorns reloaded well signing 20 recruits, 9 of which are ranked in the ESPN 150. The star of this class is local Lake Travis star QB, Garrett Gilbert, who will wait in the wings while Colt McCoy ends a fabulous career next year and then Gilbert hopes to contend for a starting role.

4. USC Trojans

The Men of Troy only nabbed 17 recruits, but 9 of them are ranked in the ESPN 150. That's a great ratio and part of the reason why they contend for a national title every year. Pure quality. Every Trojan is good and depth is never a problem for them. Sometimes when a lame football game comes on, I'd rather watch the USC spring game, because its loaded with more action and better football. The cream of this class' crop is Cali QB Matt Barkley out of Mater Dei High school, who just happened to be ESPN's #1 overall player.

5. Florida Gators

The defending national champions signed 18 recruits and 9 of them are ranked in the ESPN 150. Andre Debose out of Seminole HS in Samford, FL is the star of this class at WR. He has great timing too, as Percy Harvin departs to the NFL.

That is this year's top 5 class. The real ranking comes in 4 years when you find out what these fellas did to help their programs and how many of them went to the league.

Check out Scout.com's Director, Scott Kennedy, as he breaks down the top 5 signing classes.

Peace,

Ricky Writer

Monday, February 2, 2009

Santonio Saves The Day

Santonio Holmes balled out plain and simple. Hines Ward is the possession receiver, but he had a bad wheel for the most part, but showed his guts by perfoming last night. So Holmes was called on to be both big play wideout and possession receiver. All he did was nab the Super Bowl MVP award, so I guess we can say he performed well having dual duties.

Some have been so pessimistic to say that this wasn't a good game until the 4th Quarter, but I disagree. There was tension all game long, because even though the Steelers controlled much of the game, you knew and saw first hand the Cardinals ability to strike back quickly. The game started off with a bang as Pittsburgh marched down the field and almost scored a TD but replay review overturned the TD and the Steelers had to settle for a field goal.

The Cards started off slow, and Pittsburgh's next possession was a preview for the rest of the night as Ben Roethlisberger launched a bomb to Nate Washington, and Dominque Rodgers-Cromartie made up 5 yards before our eyes to mis-time his jump and drop an interception but still break up the play. A few plays later on 3rd and 10 Roethlisberger scrambles out of trouble and finds Heath Miller for 11 yards and a first down. It's a mute point now, but if Rodgers-Cromartie intercepts the pass or if they stop Miller from getting a first down, they don't score a field goal.

Let's play shoulda, woulda, coulda shall we, no field goal puts the game 14 -7 Steelers at the half. When the Cardinals came on for thier late rally, with their final touchdown that had the score at 22-20 before their extra point try. You would assume the Cards would have gone for 2 and made it with another jump ball to Larry Fitzgerald, putting the score at 24-20 Cards. Let's say the Steelers still score. There was 35 seconds left on the clock. That is an eternity for the the Cards to get down field into Neil Rackers field goal range. They Cards would not have been pressing so much and Warner would have got the ball out of his hands before he fumbled on the last play.

Hats off to Ben Roethlisberger. He doesn't get his just due because he does not play the convential quarterback style, but for him to freestyle the entire last drive and make the necessary throws for his team to win was outstanding.

What more can you say about Santonio Holmes, 9 grabs for 131 yards and the game winning td. I love Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and his cousin Antoino, but he "got done up" all game long. He was in position several times, but didn't make the big plays that he has in earlier games this postseason. No one stopped Santonio Holmes on the last drive as he grabbed 4 balls for 73 yards as the game winning td.

We must give props to Darnell Dockett who single handedly willed his team back into the game. If two Cardinals defenders played on the same level as Dockett you can all but guarantee a Cardinals win.

Point blank the Steelers were the better team. They controlled the game all game long. But the best team does not always win. The Cardinals made a late game push and had ample chance to win the game if their defense stepped up and made one play. But very times in sports, the best team won. See Super Bowl XLII to see the better team lose.

Last thing to think about, why did it take so long for Todd Haley to get Larry Fitzgerald the ball?