Glory Days: FSU Seminoles

This is a tribute to the glory days at FSU. The days when the War Chant meant a bloody death for the competition and Chief Osceola’s flaming spear burning at midfield was the visual proof that FSU was going to dominate time and time again. Enjoy the videos and take care

PASTOR CLAYBORNE

Deion Sanders



Warrick Dunn



Peter Warrick



Charlie Ward



FSU Tradition

Big 12 South Gang Wars

I advise anyone traveling through Big 12 South country to take a detour right now. There are shootouts left and right and people are getting caught in the crossfires. Graham Harrell and Sam Bradford are picking people off left and right. Zac Robinson and Colt McCoy are running up on folks with their backs turned in man to man. The defenses are doing their best but with offenses so potent they have no choice but to lay down and surrender. And please don't get the Baylor Bears twisted, because they have a freshman quarterback in Robert Griffin who is better than Terrelle Pryor up in Columbus. The Big 12 South is straight gangsta this year, so if you are going to rome through these parts, take cover and don't bring your loved ones.

The biggest benefitter of these gang wars is the Florida Gators. Let's say that OU was in the North Division, Tech was in the Conferece USA, OK State was in the Big 1o, and Texas was still in the Big 12 South and none of these teams met one another. If this were the case you could possibly have all undefeated teams with the SEC really on the outside looking in. This is the worst year to have a good year in the Big 12. The round robin play has elimnated teams left and right and Texas Tech truly does stand on top of the conference and nation with its wins over Texas and OK State. But who is to say that Tech doesn't lose to OU and OU doesn't lose in its finale against OK State. This outcome would be the best for Texas Tech who would have one loss and the deciding tie breaker over Texas because of head to head play.

The craziest thing would be a three way tie and that would happen if OU beats Tech and OK State in these next three weeks. The deciding factor would be the BCS rank would benefit the team that lost the earliest which would be OU in early October to Texas.

Call me a homer, but I would like to see an OU vs. Texas rematch for the national championship. Texas tricked off the dope by losing to Tech, because Alabama is going to lose as Penn State has lost last week. I truly have to pray for a miracle to see it happen. But this is college football "where wild happens". Don't be surprised if the Gators stumble against Florida State and Bama loses to Florida. Enough SEC talk.

Bottom line the Big 12 South is the most gangster conference this year. SEC please admit it you all have had a down year, but we all know you will be back, but the Big 12 South holds the crown this year.

BCS Beef

A few things became clear this college football weekend. Penn State is as good as dead after scratching and clawing to lose at home to Iowa this week. This loss gives the top one loss teams in the BCS (Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, USC) a new lease on life.

Texas Tech, after a great home stand versus Texas and OSU, is a bona-fide threat to win the National Championship. Graham Harrell and the Techies are simply nasty on offense and having Michael Crabtree to pitch the ball to does not hurt. The Red Raider defense is pretty stout too, holding teams in the gangster laden Big 12 South below their usual outputs. Oklahoma State, on the other hand, is good but not ready for top-tier warfare. OSU was tabbed as a team that was a year away at the beginning of this year and this seems to be the case, even thought they have performed admirably this year.

Seemingly every team in the ACC still has a chance to make it to the conference championship game, including the David Cutcliffe led Duke Blue Devils. There is a three-way logjam at the top of both divisions. UNC, Miami, and Virginia Tech are tied atop the Coastal Division and Wake Forest, Maryland and FSU are tied for the lead in the Atlantic Division.

Utah, Boise State and Ball State, even without Dante Love, are digging in to make a push for multiple BCS Buster action. Utah's only threat this year is their annual in-state battle with BYU. Conversely, Boise State only has to beat Fresno State at home in thier last game to reach perfection. Ball State looks to be the only lock to go undefeated among the three as they face cupcakes in Miami (OH), Central Michigan and Western Michigan in order enters their name in the BCS conversation.

Speaking of Utah, quarterback Brian Johnson has broken most of the records that Alex Smith set at Utah. The then-rising Urban Meyer recruited Johnson, a Baytown, Texas native, to Utah. He's a four-year starter, but those four years were loaded with injuries, including a season where he suffered an ACL tear last year. Johnson has bounced back from the injury to lead the Utes to the brink of an undefeated season and is in my opinion one of the most overlooked quarterbacks in the country.

Lastly, Florida and Alabama have guaranteed themselves a spot in Atlanta for the SEC championship. Both locked up their divisions this week as Florida blasted the Vanderbilt Family of Brains and Braun Bubbas by 35 and Alabama used one of its nine lives with the help of former walk-on Rashad Johnson's three interceptions, one for a touchdown and another in OT, to beat LSU in Death Valley. The SEC championship will be a good game and I still believe that Florida is the hottest team in the country and both teams have their fate as far as the SEC and BCS firmly in their hands. Lastly, after watching Washington and Syracuse stink it up all season, whom do you think would win between the two?

Sincerely,


Cataract Clayborne

JIMMY AWARDS - Week 11

Here are the JIMMY Awards for the 11th week of football.

College JIMMYS

Graham Harrell, Texas Tech QB

I'm not sure if this kid has been to NYC, but I'm willing to bet he'll be there this December for the Heisman Trophy ceremony. Harrell went 40 for 50 for 456 yards and 6TDs as the Red Raiders got one inch closer to Big 12 South supremacy by defeating the 9th ranked OSU Cowboys.

Rashad Jones, FS Alabama

Jones had LSU coach Les Miles rethinking his decision to boot former QB Ryan Perrilloux off the team, because Jones picked off 3 passes, one for a touchdown and one in OT to help the Tide win the game.

NFL JIMMYS

Adrian Peterson, RB Minnesota Vikings

AD rushed 30 times for 192 yards and the game winning touchdown as the Vikes defeated the Packers 28 to 27.

Julius Peppers, DE Carolina Panthers

Pep has been off the radar for a while, but he is still the same. 3 sacks and 2 forced fumbles sound familar. Yep. He did it this weekend as the Panthers defeated the Raiders 17 to 6.

NFL Week 10 Shakedown

Young guns and wiley vets shine in NFL Week 10. The Falcons are for real make no mistake about it. At 6-3 with a great division win yesterday over the Saints and currently tied for 2nd in their division. Unless this global warming thing goes extra bad and causes the dirty birds to have a meltdown the Falcons will be in the playoffs.

Their defense shut down the best quarterback in the NFL this year in Drew Brees. The defense intercepted three Brees' passes, which was the most he had thrown all year long. His counterpart, rookie QB Matt Ryan, went 16 for 23 for 248 yards and 2TDs.

Although Matt Ryan is have a great rookie year, the team MVP is Michael Turner who is 3rd in the NFL in rushing. He helps the Falcons control the ball which is complimented by a great Falcons defense, especially the secondary.

Tennessee Titans are 9-0 and they’ve done it with great defense and an explosive rushing attack. That is until they ran into the Chicago Bears who don’t have a shabby defense themselves. Da’ Bears held the Titans to 20 yards rushing on 29 carries. The passing game of the Titans has been criticized all year long. Yesterday, they showed that they can make plays when their hand is forced. For the Bears to force the Titans to throw that might not have been the wisest decision because they rank 30th in pass defense in the NFL. Kerry Collins exploited that weakness by throwing 30 for 41 for 289 yards and 2TDs and most importantly no interceptions as the Titans won in Chicago 21-14. Tom Jackson of ESPN said it best, when he said that Mr. Collins should be considered for MVP. He’s played flawless all year long.

The Cleveland vs. Denver game was the most exciting game all week long. Too bad it comes on NFL network and I have stupid Time Warner Cable in Austin. Anyone living in Austin do not get Time Warner cable it sucks. Either way Brady Quinn and Jay Cutler got busy slanging the rock all over the field. Quinn went 23/35 for 239 yards and 2TDs in the debut as a starter. This was a game where the team who had the ball last should have won, but that was not the case. Kellen Winslow had a great game and a bad game all in one game. Aside from the sick numbers he put up grabbing 10 catches for 111 yards and 2TDs, he also had a fumble, offensive pass interference penalty, and drop a pass that would have kept the Browns final drive going. Either way, it was a great game and someone had to lose. But don't believe the Broncos' 5-4 record, because they should be 3-6 Kellen Brown doesn't drop this pass and the week 2 Ed Hochuli debacle against the Chargers.

Tiki Barber, Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and Jeremy Shockey the Giants don’t need you. Maybe I should be telling this to Plaxico Burress instead. Bottom line is the Giants have just as much respect at this point in the season as they did last year, which isn’t a lot. Most teams aren’t considered underrated at 8-1 but you don’t really hear anyone buzzing about the Giants, but with the 2nd best record in the NFL where are the damn killer bees. However, 4 of the Giants 8 wins are against teams with losing records and their next 7 games are all against teams with winning records.

You can’t say Eli outplayed Donovan last night because their stats were virtually the same, but Eli made plays when his team needed him to defeat the Eagles 36-31.

The Baltimore Ravens are 6-3 with a Rookie running QB in Joe Flacco and rookie head coach in John Harbaugh running the show. Although they may run the show, everyone in their right mind knows who holds the team together and that is Mr. Ray Lewis. In his 13th year and at 33 years of age, you really can’t tell Lewis’ age. He is doing his usual damage with 63 tackles so far, but he is wreaking havoc in the passing game with 9 passes defense which leads all NFL linebackers. He showed off those pass defense skills against the Texans yesterday leading the defense to intercept four Sage Rosenfels passes, being responsible for two of them. The Ravens have positioned themselves quite nicely for a playoff berth and a crash course meeting in Week 14 with the Pittsburgh Steelers at home which will most likely be for the AFC North Division Title.

Cal-USC Preview

USC defeated Cal last season, and has won four straight in the series since a loss at Berkley in 2003. The Trojans have also won 42 of their last 43 games at their home, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Every year it seems that that USC-Cal matchup is over hyped as USC has been dominant lately and should again reign supreme this year. The Trojans have, besides their nationally televised upset loss at Oregon State, played like a national title contender this season. Before getting caught up in any national title hype, though, it needs to first win the Pac-10 outright.

The Trojans, who are ranked 7th in the country look to win their sixth straight game on Saturday when they host No. 21. USC. Troy has won a share of the last six Pac-10 titles, and owns a half-game lead of the Pac-10 over the Golden Bears and Oregon State. The Beavers upset the then No. 1 Trojans 27-21 on Sept. 25, and USC has been taking out its frustration from that loss on each foe ever since. In last Saturday's 56-0 win over Washington, USC had 18 first downs and 325 yards of total offense in the first half, compared to two first downs and 35 yards for the Huskies. That is what you call complete domination.

With the victory, the Trojans improved to 24-0 in November games since Pete Carroll was hired as coach in 2001. The Bears have won four of five, and are coming off a win over Oregon last week. Nate Longshore passed for 136 yards and a touchdown in place of Kevin Riley, who suffered a concussion on a vicious hit late in the first quarter. California coach Jeff Tedford said Riley might be healthy enough to play this week, but has yet to name a starter. Longshore started for the Bears in 2006 and 2007 and has two career starts against the Trojans, as both were losses.

Carroll's defense is tops in the NCAA in total defense (211 yards per game), scoring defense (7.1 points per game) and opponent passer rating (82.3). This is the type of defense that should not be bet against under any circumstances. Furthermore, Cal has a history of not showing up against USC, in their annual clash in recent memory. Cal has a good mixture of talent and any offense coached by Jeff Tedford has a chance to win a game. However, look for the superior talent and speed of the USC defense to dominate this game and continue USC’s attempt to crash the BCS party. Trojans 48 Cal 27

Thanks, Claudious Minimus

BCS Ouija Board

The BCS mayhem that unfolds every year is upon America once again. Seemingly every year, in this crazy system that we call the BCS, there is more controversy that Dwight K. Schrute at a Battle Star Galactaca convention. Here is a simple rundown of how the teams left with a legitimate shot can get to the national title game and what has to happen to make it to the Orange Bowl on January 8, 2009.

Alabama is currently ranked number one in all national polls and the BCS ratings. Their road to Miami is simple win out and they are in. The major tests left for the Crimson Tide are this week's game at LSU, and the Iron Bowl on November 29 with Auburn, a team they have not beaten since 2001. If Nick Saban and the Tide can win both of these games, they would face arguably the hottest team in the nation Florida led by speed merchants Jeff Demps and Percy Harvin. The bottom line is Alabama has beat all comers this year and play better on the road than they do at home, however their biggest tests are yet to come. Auburn is less of a threat in a down year for the Tigers, but it is one of the biggest rivalries in the country and Tommy Tubberville could solidify his job position with a victory over the Tide. Six Mag gives the Tide a 75% chance to reach the title game based on their great ground game and stiff defense.

Texas Tech fresh off an upset of, the former # 1 ranked team Texas, is primed and ready to make a run at the school's first national title. What stands in the way of the pass-happy Techsters is a rugged season ending schedule. The Crabtrees' face Oklahoma State on the 8th and then get a bye week before heading to Norman to face the always good Sooners who have national title hopes as well. Afterwards they face a dangerous Baylor team that is playing as good as they have since their glory days in the 80's. Afterwards if they win those contests, they would most likely face Missouri for the Big 12 title and Missouri would love nothing more than to ruin the hopes of a team looking for its first at a national title ever. Tech has a chance behind their smooth field general, quarterback Graham Harrell, and All-Milky Way wide receiver Michael Crabtree. The key to Tech having a chance to reach the title game involves the critical bye week between facing both powers from Oklahoma. If they beat the Cowboys, they have two weeks to try to configure a plan to beat Oklahoma in Norman a feat that has only happened twice this century. Six Mag is giving Tech 45% chance to make the title game and the bye week gives Mike Leach the perfect situation to beat the odds and make it to Miami in January.

Penn State is sitting pretty in the polls but really, in my opinion, need both Alabama and Texas Tech to slip up in order to make it to the Orange Bowl. Historically, Penn State has had trouble making it to the championship game with undefeated teams. Does 1994 ring a bell? It has become clear that the Big Ten cannot compete with the talent from the other major conferences. The Big Ten is viewed publically as a slow weak conference and Ohio State's recent failure in big games only bolsters this perception, which has a direct impact when voters decide the top 25 (rankings). Furthermore, with its weak schedule, Penn State is likely to get jumped by a one loss SEC team such as Florida or even potential one loss contender from the Big 12 such as Texas. It all depends on how the last few games of the season shake out. If Penn State is the only undefeated team in the nation at the end of the season, it will be hard to argue that they don’t deserve a shot but the peripheral issues that surround the Big Ten and BCS may leave the Lions out in the Cold come January. Penn State faces no real tests before the end of the season, the only real threats are Iowa, which is surging as of late, and a tough nosed Michigan State team. Penn State losing either game would be a monumental upset. Six mag gives the Paterno's a 50/50 shot at making it to Miami.

Texas road to the BCS is a little more complicated. There is a very real possibility that if a Big 12 team represents their conference in the national title game, they could not be conference champions, similar to Nebraska in the Rose Bowl in January 2002. Texas could reach the championship by being the Big 12 conference champion, this means that Tech would have to lose twice and the Longhorns would run the table to beat Missouri again and possibly, depending who loses ahead of them or falls behind them, make it to Miami. This is the most realistic shot for the Longhorns as the Big 12 championship would give them another game for fans to see and boost their BCS rating. If Tech runs the table, they are in the championship game. However, if Tech was to lose the Big 12 title game to Missouri and Florida tops Alabama in the Sec Championship game, there is a chance the Horns could slip into the back jumping Penn State to make it to Miami. These are all long shot scenarios but Texas is still very much in the thick of things regarding the National Championship race. Give the horns a 40% chance to reach salvation

Florida is without a doubt the hottest team in the country. They have been swashbuckling a path of terror not seen in SEC country since Sherman's March. Florida's average margin of victory since the September loss to Ole Miss is 42 points against good competition. LSU was #4 and Georgia #6 when they played and the Gators beat them both by 30 plus points. Florida is still very much in control of their national title hopes. They are the hottest team in the country and still face a very good Florida State team and the winner from the SEC West, which is presumably Alabama. It is safe to say if Florida wins out they will be hard to keep out of the BCS championship picture. Furthermore, if Texas Tech falters, then the Gators have a really good chance of jumping the teams ahead of them and possibly winning their second National Title in three years. The key here is if Florida keeps blasting the competition, as they have been doing, expect them to make up enough ground to make the short trip from Gainesville to Miami. Here is where the margin of victory is supposedly not taken into account but is the main reason the Gators have such a good chance to finish in the top two in the BCS after what looked like a disastrous loss to Mississippi earlier in the year.

Oklahoma really is playing a waiting game in how the BCS plays out. Even though the Sooners have only lost one game, losing a late lead to Texas, they really are one of the more disadvantaged teams left as a legitimate contender to make it to Pro Player Stadium on the 8th. Oklahoma needs to beat Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M to reach the title game. Texas A&M from time to time gives OU fits and even though the Aggies are down this year they have a good quarterback in Jerrod Johnson and decent talent around him. Oklahoma does not need to overlook this week's game if they are to have any chance. Oklahoma could find its way to Miami if Texas loses again and it would really help the Sooners if Florida lost in the regular season and beat Alabama in the SEC Championship game. Moreover, all this would have to happen with OU running the table and winning their conference championship game themselves. OU still has a chance but are going to need a lot of help from others in order to stamp its ticket to Miami. The Sooner's have about a 25% chance to reach the Orange Bowl.

USC is once again the victim to an unforeseen loss to a Pac-10 opponent, Oregon State, which was the case last year for the Trojans as well (Stanford). Besides these random losses to the bottom tier of the Pac-10, nobody else has touched the Trojans in recent years. Their biggest obstacle is themselves. This year, however, it would take a small miracle for the Trojans to make it to the big game. The Pac-10 is down this year, and this has left the perception across the nation that USC is the proverbial "Big Fish in a Small Pond." Furthermore, the one team to beat the Trojans, Oregon State, was pummeled 45-14 by Penn State just two weeks prior to upsetting USC. Based on this clear head-to-head comparison, I don't think the voters would give USC a shot over any other one-loss team in the country. Pete Carroll has been defensive about this recently calling for a change to the system. The truth is why does any team with one loss deserve to be shut out of the championship game? Especially a team with the experience and pedigree that USC has? If there was a playoff system in place, nobody and I repeat nobody would want USC on their side of the bracket! With the current system, if USC somehow made it to the championship game it would be a miracle. The Trojans could make the trip to Miami but only under the slimmest of margins Six Mag is giving Troy a 5% chance to play for all the marbles.

It is going to be very entertaining to see how the BCS turns out this year. There are a myriad of scenarios that could or could not play themselves out. The only thing for sure is that the game is going to be played on Jan. 8. No team mentioned in this article should count their eggs before they have hatched, sit back and relax and see if the BCS can once again give everyone in the country a reason to wonder what a playoff would be like.

Sincerely, Call My Secretary Clayborne