PAC 1 + 9

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  The season is a mere 2 weeks old and, as always, the drama of CFB has seen the fortunes of many diametrically altered in a span of 3 and a hal hours this past Saturday.  In general, what stands out the most to SNL is not the ostensible resurgence of the Wolverines or comeuppance of the Houston Cougars, it’s the plodding inefficiency of specific regimes who thought  they were something other than what they are, but are in reality, are who they already were.  There’s also a few, who are what they never have been.  Make sense?   Let Me explain:

1.  The Vestwas bludgeoned again by The Poodle.  There is a great write-up on the Buckeyes’ offensive ineptitude on Dr. Saturday’s site, and SNL would be re-plodding plowed ground were he to get into all of them.  But some of the more noticeable deficiencies include the complete absence of the zone-read, which is the staple of every spread offense from Ann Arbor to Gainesville (and about a thousand high schools in between), and the failure to make USC cover the field (all of it, that is) by checking to a bubble screen when the Trojans (purposefully neglected) to place a man over the slot receiver.  

In laymen’s terms, Ohio State was advertised as a newly constructed offense built on the skills, shoulders and tattoos of its phenom QB (save some canvas TP, you may want to add a few more when you’re languishing on the bench in the NFL).  What Ohio St. is, however, is the same unimaginative, poorly coached and schemed offense that hasn’t been able to beat a team of equal talent since 2002-for those of you parochial by nature, this means a team outside the Big 10.  What is certain, or as certain as anything after 2 weeks, is that  Rich Rodriguez-irrespective of this year’s outcome-is a better coach than The Vest, and Big Blue will run The Vest out of town in another year or two.  Even worse, there is nothing left on the Buckeye schedule sufficient to buoy this year’s Buckeyes into the national consciousness.  In sum, OSU remains the team that is better than the other teams in its conference, but incapable of beating the best teams in the SEC, Big 12, or PAC 1 + 9, at least for now.

2.  Kiffin’s credentials, aside from his bridal selection, are worthy of questioning.  In fact, if you closed your eyes during the UCLA/UT game on Saturday for any reason other than excessive alcohol consumption, this game looked exactly like last year’s crap-bowl between these teams which was coached not by UT’s blonded boy-toy, but by his corpulent predecessor, Fool-mer.  The offense was straight outta’ Crompton, with the 5th-year senior throwing for less than 100 yards and 3 picks.  It seems safe to say the Fulmer could have could have produced this result and saved the school a ton of money and off-season embarrassment.  Speaking of which, Kiffin should be mouth agape by midway through the second-quarter this Saturday and suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder by 6:00 EST or so.  Best part:  Fulmer is CBS’ SEC analyst.  In sum, Kiffin is just a mouthier version of the old boss, and he’s also the Jabrone that marched into CFB’s most hyper-competitive conference (and its not even close) and made an ass out of himself without any independent achievements to support his sophomoric hubris.  

3.  Rich-Rod.  Say what you will about this guy, he’s a liar, he breaks the NCAA’sludicrous practice constraints for the NFL feeder league that is NCAA football etc…  This guy can Coach.  True, Michigan and ND both looked undersized and slow on the defensive side of the ball, but how can you not like this Forcier cat?  He’s small and ornery, like NCAAF’s version of Tanner from The Bad News Bears, and, unlike USC’s frosty-tipped signal caller, looks like he’s not a complete douche. 

4.  The OBC can still draw up some plays and, still struggles on occasion in the red zone.  3 field goals on possessions inside UGA’s 20, along with the worst kickoff coverage this side of Zook undid the Cocks, but credit the OBC for putting on a show following the nationally televised cat-fight with NCSU.   

5.  It’s official, USC is now poised for 2 weeks of BCSCG hype, followed by an untimely loss-or 2 if Saturday’s vanilla performance is a harbinger-and a season-ending win streak which will prompt the E-SPIN heads to sing in unison “SC is playing as well as anyone in the country right now.”   While it would be nice for Florida deliver a solid a**-kicking of the prophylactics in the BCSCG, the key to this wish is the phrase “right now,” which impliedly points out that the Trojans will have sucked against someone else that also sucks a month or so before

6.  Florida’s trip to Baton Rouge looks a little rosier to the uninitiated.  LSU was outgained by over 200 yards in Washington last week and judging by the scoreboard, struggled to put away Vandy.  This sentiment, which seems common amongst Florida fans, belies the fact that LSU was never threatened by Vandy, and coasted to relatively convincing victory nonetheless.  And, playing Vandy is about as exciting as drunk-dialing an ex-girlfriend at 2 a.m. becuase the girl you were buying drinks for all night lef with your buddy.  Still, it would be nice to see  The Hat joining The Vest and the cherub-faced Kiffin on the first train outta’ town if the Tigers get cleansed by the Gators on October 11, but don’t count on it.  

7.  Florida State’s trip to Gainesville looks like a horror show.  Hell, the ‘Noles may get pummeled so bad by the polygamists next week that they may just forfeit the remainder of the season.  The only upside for SNL is watching Bownden hem and haw on his
Sunday program, dropping punchy 1-liners like “I don’t know who #19 is,” and “I can’t remember what play we had called there.”  Like all sentient beings, SNL likes Bowden, but his equity in the program has dwindeld to an all-time low and it may be time to move on.  Bowden for Senate!  For the uninformed, the ‘Noles squeaked by Jackson St. last week after trailing most of the 4th-quarter.  Would it be an overstatement after 2 games to say the Florida State sucks-again?  Probably not.  But always looking to err on the side of caution, SNL will refrain from making so strident a statement for fear of a bellicose response from the ‘Nole readers, who don’t know what that last sentence means.  But, after Tech kicks the crap out of Da’U this Thursday, all bets are off.

-So Sayeth the Shepherd

Tags: BCS, Degenerate Gambler, LSU, Meyer, The Hat, The OBC, the Vest, UT

A flock member recently asked SNL “who his blog was intended for.”  This innocuous query came after reviewing a particularly profane comment from an aggrieved felon..errr…fan of Da’ U.  Naturally, the comment was replete with typos and misspellings-even the dirty words-so the authenticity of the fan’s allegiance was not in doubt (sorry, Chet, it’s the other fans of Da’ U that SNL is dissing).  I managed to track the guy down using his e-mail and found him on Twittter.  His “tweeting” mugshot revealed that he had frosted tips, which is the genesis of this post.

So, after some rumination, SNL has come up with some general rules to determine who this blog is NOT intended for:

1.  Men with frosted tips-sorry Beau, Lance or whatever your name may be.  Frosting your tips is an automatic bar to societal acceptance, even if it does score points with drunk sorority floozies.  This guy below got his tips frosted as a Valentine’s day present for his girlfriend-allegedly.  Seriously, frosted tips warrant an a**-kicking on principal.

  2.  “I-post-mopey-messages-on-Facebook” Guy-this kills me.  Seriously, who in the hell cares if you’re depressed, or “having the worst day of your pathetic life”?  Publicly emoting via the internet is beyond any bounds of manhood.  You’re so pathetic Frosted-tip-guy could kick your ass and you’re not welcome here.

3.  “Rides-behind-his-roomie-on-Scooter” guy-See above and look out for Frosty, who could whip your ass too.  Seriously, dude on dude + a scooter?  What does this say about you (not that there’s anything wrong with it)?

4.  “Uses-fender-bender-insurance-money-for-an-Xbox” guy.  This guy really pisses me off because, in the words of Dean Wormser, “[f]at, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life.”  Also, I invariably find myself behind this guy in traffic and he’s using hand signals and has a Graafix sticker on his windshield, which is infuriating for no reason other than the fact that it is..  

There are some others that time prevents me from expounding on, such as wallet-chained-to-pants-guy, which cracks me up because we all know that this security precaution/fashion statement, which is usually compolimented by a pony tail and a leather vest essentially guarantees that you don’t have a damn thing in that wallet that anyone wants.  

Moving along…

Cruising last night on my unofficial pcik only to watch G. Tech choke up a 24-point lead and then add further insult by pulling out the victory.  Not sure what this game said about either club in the larger picture, but the Jackets’ D-line seems to have fallen off a bit.  Spiller should have went to Florida, where he’d be a Heisman and 2 NC’s up on his current position as “really-fast-dude-0n-crappy-team.” 

The Picks:

USC (+7) at UGA:  Word in Athens is that there’s significant angst over Cox and that the freshman back-up, who’s an “athletic” QB, could see significant playing time.  In addition, UGA’s schedule is murderous, so the pressure to win is monumental.  Erstwhile, in Carolina, the OBC is ripping off his one-liners, like “[w]ell, we won, so we’re not as bad off as the teams that lost.”  Hardly bulletin board material, but still feel like the OBC can cover the generous points here. 

Freson St. (+9) at Wisonsin:  This pick is more of an indictment of Wisconsin than an endorsement of Fresno.  Seriously, Wisconsin stinks and the girls that reside there are largely corpulent, which is further reason for SNL’s disdain.   The more adventurous among you may want to allocate some funds to the moneyline here.

UT (-9.5) v. UCLA:  The flock knows that SNL hates the baby bears and their smug Coach.  He also hates some Vols and their smug Coach.  But money always trumps hatred, and SNL likes this Vols club-alot.  The cupboard was stocked when Kiifin rolled in and his staff is phenomenal, as is his wife.  Vols in a rout. 

That’s all folks….2-1 on the year and looking to take the wife on a cruise in November, courtesy of Vinnie.

Coming Soon…

The Legend of Tebow…

LSU’s woes…

Touchdown Jesus’ Resurrection…

-So Sayeth the Shepherd

 

 

Tags: ACC, ATS, Da' U, Degenerate Gambler, PAC 1+9, Vols

Like many Gator Fans, SNL was hoping for a ‘Nole victory last night for several reasons, some obvious, some not.  The obvious were rooted in the transitive property of playoff-less CFB, which means that all fans are bound to root for teams they play to boost their own team’s SOS.  The inobvious include harrowing trips to the OB in the 90’s which brought SNL close to scores of fans of Da’U sporting mouth jewelry, giant gold-plated chains purchased from the pagoda at the Dadeland mall, and driving $2,000.00 cars with $6,000.00 worth of accessories.  In sum, it’s easy to hate Da’ U (or what’s left of it), irrespective of who is coaching, playing, or rooting for them.  For fans of Da’ U who may be hard of reading, here’s a pictorial summation:  grillz

Hatred aside, it’s hard to argue with Miami’s performance last night against a top-20 opponent on the road.  jacoryJacory Harris was better than good, especially when considering the impotence of Miami’s offense in the previous years.  Dr. Saturday placed this fact into perspective with the following quote:  “…especially when you consider where Miami’s offense is coming from after four years of arch conservatism from coordinators Greg Olson and Patrick Nix. Under Nix the last two years, Miami averaged 6.4 yards per pass, a little over 11 yards per completion and just shy of four passes of 15 yards or longer per game. Against FSU, Harris averaged 11.4 yards per pass, over 18 per completion, and had 12 completions of at least 15 yards, all but one to players who should be back in 2010.”

The ‘Canes hopes for 2009 are further bolstered by the unfortunate demise of OU and its star QB, Sam Bradford, which seems to make the upcoming game with the Sooners (who bludgeoned the ‘Canes last year) a winnable game.  In sum, after 1 weekend of football, the skies are opening for the ‘Canes, who have a de facto 2 game lead over the onlydecent team in their division, at least for this week.

If there’s a plus for an avowed Cane hater, it’s that Miami may become relevant much quicker aniticipated and therefore, hating Da’ U will be back in fashion before you know it.  A la the title of this post, this assessment is absurdly premature and will be all but forgotten if the Canes continue to give up points and yards to their ACC peers (who dropped 2 games to bowl subdivision teams this past week, bye the bye).

Things are not so sweet in Tallahassee, home of the hated ‘Noles and the cadre of gorgeous co-eds who love them.  Bowden has been characterizing this game as the “3rd Greatest Game” he’s been associated with, with the other 2 being the loss to the Holtz-led Irish in the early 90’s, and one of the several narrow defeats to the ‘Canes in the mid-90’s.  For thos who claim no affiliation with the ‘Noles and in fact, revel in their recent mediocrity, Bowden’s take does little other than confirm that he’s an affable old fella’ that’s difficult not to like.  That said Bowden’s willingness to categorize this game as one of his “greatest losses” has to be grating for the FSU-loyalists.  For comparative purposes, imagine the hyper-competitive generals in Tuscaloosa or Gainesville uttering such blasphemy.

True, the future for FSU is not entirely bleak, the ACC looks worse than advertised after 1 week of football, and FSU’s offense is clearly much improved.  That said the FSU defense has clearly regressed and with games at BYU and Florida, along with road dates with NC and BC, FSU looks to be a team that will end much this year much the same as last, with 8 wins and an afterthought bowl game.  That said the conference looks weak enough to allow FSU win 9 games, but provides only 2 viable opportunities for FSU to redeem itself; 1 in Provo and 1 in Gainesville.  The latter seems wholly unattainable and therefore, in effort to stay within the theme of this post, SNL will make an absurdly premature assessment:  FSU’s date with the suddenly chic Cougars of BYU is a “must win” in order to reinstate the ‘Noles into the stream of consciousness and make them a viable BCS game contender. 

Elsewhere….Ohio State has opened as 7 point underdog to the Men of Troy.  Given that both are top-10 teams and factoring in that this game is a night game in The Shoe , this line is remarkable and shows just how little faith the masses have when it comes to OSU playing top-notch programs outside the Big 10-which really isn’t so “Big” these days…Florida managed to pack The Swamp for Charleston Southern, a 70-point underdog, which should tell us a little about why UF and other SEC heavyweights refuse to scehdule home-and-home series with better teams…Georgia’s hobbled running back, Caleb, will suit up when UGA visits the OBC this weekend…UT fans are giddy like sugared up 12-year old girls at a slumber party in the wake of their throttling of WKU….

-So Sayeth the Shepherd

  Scroll to the :55 mark and you can see the straight right to the mouthy Boise St. player.  Naturally, this sort of thing cannot be condoned-especially when the right hand was delivered backing away, which any MMA guy will tell you makes the blow more of b**** slap than a punch.  Even so, when SNL looks at Boise’s remaining schedule and considers how all of the E-SPIN heads are going talk about Boise’s right to play in BCBS, he too feels like punching a Bronco player.

Depending on where you sit-geographically-last night’s Boise-Oregon tilt can be interpreted as a referendum of Boise’s continued ascendancy to CFB’s elite, or the impotence of every PAC-10 team outside of Poodle Pete’s wrecking crew.  Whether rooted in fact or fiction, the fact of the matter is that the PAC-10 had yet another chance to embed a second team into the national psyche and failed to do-and quite miserably at that.  Oregon was never in this game and looked less physical and slower than the smurf-turf boys from Boise.  And, while there is no doubt Boise is a top-25 program, they really cannot be considered an elite program until they play an elite schedule, i.e. a schedule with 4 or 5 top-20 teams.  So for now, the PAC 10 remains the PAC 1+9 and what’s worse-for Duck fans anyway-is that Oregon maybe this year’s Michigan.

If there’s an upside for the PAC 1+9, it has to be the continued impotence of Spurrier’s Cocks (enjoy the admittedly sophomoric play on words, Pierce), who used short field to score there only touchdown in the 1st Quarter and hung on to win 7-3.  Using the sitcom baromerter, Oregon’s pathetic showing was Everybody Loves Raymond as compared to USC/NCST’s Two and a Half Men.

Seriously, SNL was ready to extract his own tooth by halftime, and midway  through the third, was looking for his son’s Finding Nemo video to dull the pain.  Having grown up as a veritable witness of Spurrier’s “offensive genius,” SNL is greatly pained by the slow, tortuous demise of Spurrier’s offense and his aura.  Truth be told, watching USC is like watching an ex-girlfriend that dumped you unexpectedly get fat.  However, because you are now with the hottest girl in town, you wish the ex well and thus do not get the smug satisfaction you would otherwise have.  About the only plus for SEC homers is that the conference is 1-0, albeit in a way that feels a lot like o-1. 

-So Sayeth the Shepherd

Tags: PAC 1+9, PAC 10, SEC, Spurrier

Are you kidding?

Seriously?

What is there to wish for if you’re a Florida Gator in 2009?  You’ve won 2 of the last three National Titles, boast the most recognizable and revered college football player in the last 30 years (and possibly ever), the best coach-sorry Pete, and begin the season where you left off, a near unanimous No. 1. 

The foregoing facts have fueled a cacophonous symphony of praise from the E-SPIN heads to the local talk show hosts.  Yep, the Gator Nation is fat and happy.  And, with an opening date with Charleston Southern, a 73-point underdog, there’s not much to talk about until Florida welcomes SEC newbie, Layla Kiffin’s husband to The Swamp.  Right?  Wrong. 

Florida has-and in some respects rightfully so-been suffering a quiet smear campaign as a result of its woeful non-conference schedule.  SNL knows, the SEC “grind” is second to none in the paradigm of conference strength, and this will continue to be the case in the foreseeable future.  That said the precipitous downfall of Auburn and UT, coupled with the impotence of Spurrier’s ‘Cocks (pun intended), has damaged the SEC’s Street-Cred, at least temporarily. 

So, what Florida fans should be rooting for can be distilled down to the following: 

  1. UT beats-no crushes-the Cuddly Bruins from the PAC 1+9.  While we’re at it, let’s hope the lascivious E-SPIN camera men are smart enough to fill our high-def screens with images of the giddy Jessica Simpson….errrr…I meant Layla Kiffin.
  2. FSU beats Da’U and crushes the polygamists of BYU (lucky bastards!).  Seriously, rooting against FSU is so indelibly tattooed on Gators its difficult to do, but Florida is in desperate need of the SOS.
  3. Steve Superior’s ‘Cocks prevail over the yet another cuddly group of Wolves at NCSU.  This game takes on added import as it is opening day, which means degenerate gamblers with far more money than SNL-and presumably, wives who are willing to wear shoes not made by Prada-will be boozing and wagering like sugared-up 12-year olds at a slumber party.  The conference needs a strong showing here.
  4. Saban’s Storm Troopers crush the formidable-but-painful-to-watch Hokies.  SNL knows that every Hokie slight brings him closer to death via Vinnie “Hands” Randazzo and his entourage of guinea soldiers.  Still, VT is the likely ACC champ and in today’s playoff-less world, the “X beat Y which beat Z” argument holds a lot of sway with the more feeble-minded fans (and some analysts too). 
  5. UGA beats what’s-his face at Okie StateYeah, SNL knows that the “what’s-his-face” referred to here is “A MAN!!!”, still, he’s Zooker’s cohort which in and of itself is sufficient reason to root for his demise.  Throw in the current Big 12 v. SEC rivalry, and there’s no compelling reason not to wish for a demoralizing defeat for the Cow-girls in Stillwater.   

The moral of the story is that a single loss by the Florida juggernaut this year may be sufficient to derail any hopes at an unprecedented 3rd appearance in 4-years in the BCSG.  The axiomatic (look it up flock) conclusion is that UF, more so than in any year in recent memory, is in need of a strong showing from its opponents.  

Next:  Opening lines and investment opportunities. 

 

-So Sayeth the Shepherd

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