Michigan State, Ohio State Settle Complaint Over Game Tape Tampering

 

Ohio State (14) beat Michigan State (20) this afternoon in a tightly contested game by the score of 17-16. Apparently Sparty didn’t take the loss very well as the Detroit Free Press has reported that Michigan State has filed a complaint against Ohio State to the Big Ten. 

The complaint relates to game film that the Buckeyes sent to the Spartans prior to today’s game. MSU defensive coordinator, Pat Narduzzi confirmed the report of the complaint and said that Ohio State tampered with the game film by cutting off pre-snap motions and shifts before plays on film of its four previous games this season. 

“We had tape cut off all week, where they changed the tape, I’m not gonna lie to you,” Narduzzi said following the game. 

“They send you tape and they’ve got it all cut off and you don’t get to see shifts or motions or anything else.”

“A few other teams we talked to that they played, and we compared what they were looking at on tape to what we were looking at. We’re like, ‘we don’t see any of that. We see it on their tape but not on our tape.’ So that’s something I’m sure the Big Ten office will hopefully take care of.”

The report is not clear on when Michigan State filed the complaint, but it would seem to me that Sparty should have known much earlier than today if the shifts and motion were cut out of the tape. After all, it’s not that hard to take a look at a TV copy to confirm. 

While this is likely not a big deal in the big picture, if these allegations are true, I’m sure the Big Ten will be none too pleased with Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes. 

 

**UPDATE** 9/29/12 9:36 PM

Subsequent to the Detroit Free Press article linked above, multiple reports, including ESPN have now reported that Ohio State and Michigan State have worked together in order to settle their differences without involving a formal complain to the Big Ten.

Officer says he was fired after ticketing Clemson Head Coach, Dabo Swinney

 

A police officer claimed today that he was fired for giving a speeding ticket to Clemson Head Football Coach, Dabo Swinney. 

Officer Michael McClatchy ticketed Swinney on September 3rd after clocking the coach going 63 mph in a 35 mph zone about 20 miles from Clemson. 

Reportedly, several fans recognized Swinney on the side of the road and stopped to get autographs. Some witness reports indicate that Swinney had a “meltdown” and others indicate that the office is a fan of rival South Carolina and ticketed him for that reason. 

The City of Pickens says it fired the officer because he posted his version of the events on a South Carolina message board while still on duty and using a police issued computer. 

The officer disagrees and says he “only briefly edited the post at work and believes officials were looking for an excuse to get rid of him because he didn’t let one of the most popular figures in the area get away with breaking the law”. 

McClatchy added: 

“I was wrongfully terminated for doing my job. The computer issue is a red herring.”

Photo of Child Doing “Keg Stand” at ASU Tailgate

A photo courtesy of The Blaze is circulating around today which appears to show a small child performing a “Keg Stand” with the assistance of some adults.

It cannot be determined from the photo whether the child is actually drinking beer, but this is a horrible thing regardless.

Honestly, who would consider this “funny” or “amusing”? This is just embarrassing.

Will Hill and why college athletes should NOT use Twitter

 

I came across this article by EDBS detailing the life of University of Florida safety, Will Hill. Florida fell off significantly this season with an 8-5 record and Urban Meyer has now stepped away, presumably for real this time. Now I can’t say that all, most or even a few players lived their lives like Hill did/does, but if even a few share similar priorities, it’s no surprise that Florida football dropped off.

A couple things surprise me, no shock me about this. The first is that I cannot believe that not one coach or person from the Florida compliance office stepped in and took control of Hill’s twitter feed. The second, is that I cannot believe that kids are this ignorant! Oh, and that was his profile pic until recently up above.

So a college athlete has a twitter account and isn’t the brightest… big deal right? I mean, Terrelle Pryor is guilty of this. Hell, LeBron James is a professional athlete and he can’t intelligently navigate his twitter feed.

Well, here are a few examples of what the big deal is and check the link above for a more complete sampling:

 

Wow, I thought Terrelle Pryor was an idiot! It’s fine to enjoy your college life, don’t get me wrong, but how ignorant can you be to put it out like that for all the world to see? I have to admit, I’m a bit jealous, but you’d like to think that he could have some fun and play football at the same time and use a little discretion. This just isn’t smart!

I don’t know, maybe if he spent half as much time training and watching film as he did “blowin on that sour” or chasing puerto rican ladies they would’ve had a more competitive team. I sure hope he’s the exception and not the rule down in Gainesville.

I bet if Tim Tebow were still around that none of this would have ever happened. Will Hill would have been a better person and football player for having just spoken to Tebow for 5 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another reason to hate NCAA Football

 

As if we didn’t have enough reason to despise the current state of NCAA Football, this morning gave us another. Sure, there are the usual things to rail on like the NCAA’s constant hypocrisy, the BCS, all the greed, lies, and more greed… the ridiculous amount of Bowl games, the ridiculous time delay in the national championship game, the greed, the lies and more greed…

But this morning, the final AP Poll of the year gave me more reason to disgust the institution that is the NCAA. Sure, they have no direct control over what the AP writers do or how they vote, but it’s just another example of why the entire system is broken. Last night the Oregon Ducks lost to the Auburn Tigers by 3 points on a last second field goal. They played the #1 team in the country evenly and lost on a last second field goal. And yet, they were somehow leapfrogged (pun completely intended) by TCU.

Did Oregon do anything last night to lose their #2 ranking? I mean, all they did was come within a fluky run by Dyer from potentially winning the national championship. You’re telling me that a loss to the national champions by a last second field goal caused the writers to drop them from #2 to #3 behind TCU? Is Oregon better than TCU? I have no idea! Without a playoff system no one knows. But I can tell you if Oregon was #2 going into last night, they sure as hell are #2 this morning!

Does it matter? Of course not. What’s the difference between #2 and #3? Nothing. TCU doesn’t get a special runners up trophy or more money from the NCAA or BCS. It doesn’t matter at all. But it’s annoying, ridiculous, and unfair.

By the way, since Vegas had the over/under last night at 74 and there were a combined 41 points scored, doesn’t that show you just how ridiculous the 36 day waiting period is for the BCS title game? They are ruining the most important game in the sport’s season by waiting so long to play the game.

Wouldn’t college football be infinitely more intriguing and enjoyable (not to mention profitable) if we spent the last 3 or 4 weeks navigating through a playoff system to ultimately crown the national champion? I don’t know, I guess that would take away the one thing that these douchbags in charge of this whole mess love even more than money…. power and control.

 

 

Is “Over-Signing” ruining NCAA Football?

 

NCAA football takes a beating this time of year typically because of the archaic, disingenuous, and selfish BCS and Bowl system that remains in place. The debate usually centers around the desperate need for a playoff system to decide a true champion on the same field and despite what BCS supporters will tell you, the BCS does NOT provide this.

But I came across an interesting article today that is posted at The Ozone.net about the potentially immoral and illegal practice commonly known as “over-signing”. Please visit the link above to read the original article in full as it is very well done, but I’ll try to summarize it as best as I can because I believe this warrants as much attention and scrutiny as possible. The more eyes that read this and the more people who are aware and educated about what is actually going on in college football, the better.

The original author is on an Ohio State and therefore, Big Ten centric site so the information is presented mostly as it relates to how this affects the Big Ten, but I believe this to be a far larger issue than just any one conference so I’ll try to explain it under that premise.

One thing that I found interested, however, was that despite Ohio State’s horrendous record against SEC opponents, the overall wins and losses between the Big Ten and the SEC aren’t nearly as dominant as some of our SEC and national brethren would lead us to believe. I was surprised to learn that according to Mr. Gerdeman, over the past four seasons, the two conferences met 10 times and split the games 5-5. Also, since 2002, the Big Ten holds a one-game advantage over the SEC in bowl games.

So now onto the topic at hand. This article points out the practice known as “over-signing” and here is a little background in case you’re not familiar with the concept. Ever FBS football program is allowed 85 scholarships at any given time to round out their team. The NCAA provides guidelines which states that each team can only issue 25 scholarships per year which make up the overall total of 85. You may ask, over a 4 year period, 25 per year equals 100 and not 85? The reason is that the NCAA builds in a cushion to account for players who don’t last with the team for whatever reason. This could be due to transfers, drop outs, players becoming academically ineligible, injuries, early entrance into the NFL draft, etc.

So over-signing occurs when any given program signs more players per year than the allotted 25 allowable by the NCAA. If it’s an NCAA rule, how can teams get away with this? Essentially, the 25 players per year is a “soft” rule put in place by the NCAA and one that isn’t regulated. The “hard” rule is the 85 overall scholarships that a team can have at any given time. So what some teams will do is continually sign far more players each year than the 25 allowable and cut the scholarships for players that they no longer have a use for and that they previously offered a scholarship to.

You would think that once a team offers a scholarship to a player, that unless they violate the institution’s or the NCAA’s policies in some manner, that the school would be obligated to maintain that scholarship for the player until they graduated. Unfortunately, schools can revoke the scholarship that was previously given to a player despite the player having done nothing wrong and despite the fact that they relied solely on this scholarship to fund their education.

This is clearly a horrible practice to partake in as it can have a significantly detrimental affect on these young men who have done nothing wrong except not play up to the coach’s standards or even in some instances, because a new coach came to the program and the player no longer fits the system. Does this seem fair, ethical, appropriate? I certainly don’t think so.

As the article I referenced points out, this isn’t a practice associated with amateur sports or student-athlete sports programs, this is a cut-throat professional system that is in place.

So even though it’s unethical and flat out wrong (a lot of things in the NCAA fit this description), why would programs do this? Essentially, it provides the team with dozens of extra players that they can run through their system, filter, and choose only the very best athletes and the ones who fit their system the best. So for instance, in 2010, a team can sign a young man to play QB, offer him a full scholarship and then the next year revoke his scholarship because another QB came along that they liked better. Over the course of 4 years, a program can have up to 30 “extra” players that they’ve signed. This is basically an extra recruiting class that they can get an up close look at, work with, and handpick only the ones that worked out.

I need not tell you how much of an advantage this could be to a program that gets essentially 5 recruiting classes to sift through every 4 years where most programs just get one per year. The article I mentioned focused on the SEC which is notorious for this practice and I encourage you to take a look at the original article for the full statistics related to the SEC and the Big Ten. I would also ask that you take a look at www.oversigning.com which is dedicated fully to shedding light on this unscrupulous practice that is running rampant in the NCAA.

The SEC isn’t the only conference, obviously, that partakes in this practice as others are guilty as well. If you review the scholarships offered by Oregon and Auburn in the last 4 years the numbers point directly to over-signing. Now without an in depth review of each and every scholarship and the reason for the increased number of scholarships and the reasons behind each player leaving, I can’t say for certain that both schools were taking part in over-signing. But if you look at the numbers, especially those associated with SEC schools compared to some other conferences, it certainly appears to be the case.

In the last four years, Auburn signed 119 players (obviously well over the 100 allowable) and Oregon signed 100. If this is truly due to over-signing, Auburn is experiencing a tremendous competitive advantage that should not be permitted by the NCAA.

Here are a few others that jumped out at me when comparing teams facing off in bowl games this season:

Alabama- 113, Michigan State- 88 (this is obviously a huge difference and it provides Alabama with an unfair advantage)

Mississippi State- 113, Michigan- 93

Arkansas- 109, Ohio State- 79

In total, SEC teams have signed 86 more players than their Big Ten counterparts over the past four seasons.

To me, the reasons that the NCAA needs to seriously address, investigate, monitor, and prevent this practice are two-fold. First, it is just morally and ethically wrong to offer a kid a scholarship and then revoke it just because they no longer fit your system or they aren’t the player you thought they were. This points to lazy scouting and recruiting because the teams know that they can afford to be “wrong” on a player and it won’t hurt them long-term. All they have to do is get him into camp, and if he’s not the player they thought he was, take his scholarship away and try again with a new player. There should certainly be a rule in place, in a so-called “amateur” sport that focuses on the “Student-Athlete” that disallows a team from pulling the scholarship that was initially offered without cause.

Secondarily, this does provide a tremendous competitive advantage for the teams that are unscrupulous enough to take part in the practice. The additional 10-30  players that they get a chance to directly work with and filter out the players that didn’t work allows them an incredible advantage in building their roster. There is no way that this should be legal and even though it’s currently technically illegal, the NCAA is turning a blind eye.

For an institution that suspended a player for taking a golf cart ride across campus and a player for selling a game worn jersey, it’s an absolute travesty that they allow this kind of practice to take place. I don’t care about the specifics of the SEC vs. Big Ten. This is far bigger than any one school or conference or some rivalry between conferences. Please share this and spread the word as it is absolutely necessary that this horrible practice is brought to light and dealt with appropriately.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big Ten to reconsider Division names?

 

Last week the Big Ten unveiled its new logo, awards names, and division names. With the addition of Nebraska, the Big 10 (really 11) went to the Big 10 (really 12) and now qualified to have a conference championship game, which of course means more money. The Big Ten jumped at it and rather than going with traditional division names like “East & West” or “North & South”, they decided to light up a few blunts and came up with “Leaders & Legends”.

Almost everyone who has commented on the new division names has absolutely bashed them. In a Cleveland.com poll (granted this is a small sample size) there were 1,121 votes against the new names and only 36 votes for the new names. Despite the small sample, this is pretty accurate as far as the overwhelming sentiment against the ridiculous names.

So much so, that it appears the Big Ten may be reconsidering the names they unveiled just a week ago. In an interview with a Chicago radio station yesterday, Big Ten Commissioner, Jim Delany acknowledged the negative reaction:

“We’ve had enough experience with names and expansion and development of division that we know that you rarely get a 90% approval rating. But to get a 90 % non-approval rating was really surprising. It showed that we didn’t connect with our fans in a way that we wanted to. It’s humbling to say the least, because we’re trying to build fan bases, not push them away.

“I’ve been around this business a long time and I would say it’s one of the more surprising things. There’s a sensibility there that we did not connect with, did not read well.”

I have two takeaways from his quotes.

The first being that they didn’t read it well and not connecting with the fans is a HUGE understatement. Although not surprising given his comments about the new logo last week where he indicated that it “was fun and has something for everyone.”

Now I don’t mean to just pile on, but I thought the logo was god awful as well! And it’s the farthest thing from “fun”! I still don’t know how a basic logo can “have something for everyone” either… ?

The second thing on his most recent quotes was that I thought it was interesting where he basically admitted what we already know, but that you rarely hear anyone admit. Notice that he called it a “business”. I mean, it 100% is a business and its actually refreshing to hear someone refer to it as what it is instead of trying to hide behind the sham of amateurism and academics.

Delany went on to say that they want to sit on the decision for a while and they don’t want to rush to judgement to change the names right away. Time will tell if he’s just saying this to quell the criticism they’ve received or if he/they are actually considering changing the division names. I for one, would much rather see a “Hayes & Shembechler” division setup than what they announced last week.

 

Mount Union to play for 6th Straight National Championship

 

It’s clear that the best kept secret in Northeast Ohio is the Cleveland State Men’s Basketball team, but not far behind them is the Division III superpower University of Mount Union Football team. Mount Union is a small liberal arts college in Alliance Ohio, but don’t let its small stature fool you. They are the preeminent team in NCAA Division III Football and have been for years.

Mount Union has won a Division III record 10 NCAA Division III National Championships and have earned a spot in their 6th consecutive Stagg Bowl which is the championship game of the Division III playoffs. Mount Union is obviously no stranger to this game and interestingly, neither is their opponent.

Mount Union will face off against University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for the unprecedented 6th straight year! In the previous 5 matchups, Mount Union has come away with 3 titles while UW-Whitewater has come away with the other 2. You will not see two more evenly matched opponents or more consistently dominant programs anywhere in sports.

Division III Football certainly lacks the big time talent and name recognition that FBS football does, but you have to love the playoff system and the quality football that you will see if you check this game out. Both teams are extremely well coached and maximize the talent that they do have.

The game is typically broadcast on ESPN2 at 11AM or 12 PM but I have been unable to locate the TV schedule thus far. Keep an eye out next Saturday for the game if you want to see some pure, competitive football.

 

Cameron Newton NOT voted to the All-America Team

 

 

Cameron Newton is almost assuredly going to win the Heisman Trophy tonight and by a landslide. He has been hands down the best football player in the country this season and he has even invoked debates about whether or not he’s had the best single season in college football history.

But don’t tell that to the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) members who vote on an All-America team. They sent a message to Newton who has been surrounded by great controversy due to a “Pay to Play” scandal by leaving him off the team. The 12 members of the FWAA instead voted Kellen Moore of Boise St. to the team. The other selections were Michigan standout Denard Robinson who had an incredible start to the season but his production fell off dramatically in the last half of the season and Oregon RB and Heisman candidate, LaMichael James. Each were selected as a “Designated Offensive Back”.

Newton led the SEC with 1,409 rushing yards and 21 TDs and was the highest rated passer in the country with 2,589 yards and 28 TDs. He had incredible individual stats and lead Auburn to an undefeated season through the brutal SEC and earned a bid in the BCS National Championship Team.

Just judging Newton on the field, there is no way he’s not the best QB in the country.

It is important to clarify that this is not THE All-America Team, but rather just one of several All-America teams. The All-America Team as recognized by the NCAA will be released later in the year and in order to be considered a “consensus pick”, a player must be named to 3 of the 5 All-America Teams (one of which is the FWAA). This is significant, because it will decrease the likelihood that Newton will be considered a unanimous or “consensus” selection.

The Future of Ohio State Football: Braxton Miller

 

 

It’s not news that Huber Heights Wayne star QB, Braxton Miller will be Ohio State’s next big QB. He announced months ago that he would be joining the Buckeyes following his graduation from Wayne. He has been hyped, but not to the extent that current Buckeyes QB, Terrelle Pryor was coming out of high school.

Pryor was literally the most coveted and highly rated player coming out of high school and he is continually hyped as a Heisman front-runner. The problem with Pryor is that he has never really produced or met the lofty expectations. Braxton Miller, while he’s certainly not under the radar, isn’t getting nearly the attention or respect that Pryor did coming out of high school. Miller is currently ranked as the #2 QB prospect by ESPN and the #25 overall player.

Miller verbally committed to Ohio State, but he also seriously considered Florida, Notre Dame, Alabama, Georgi, and USC. For anyone who missed it, Miller and Huber Heights Wayne played in an epic matchup against Cleveland’s St. Edwards in the Division 1 State Championship game last night. This was my first real look at Miller other than random highlights. But I watched the entire game and was able to see him in the flow of the game, how he dealt with adversity, and how he handled himself on the field and with his team.

I was incredibly, and thoroughly impressed. The first thing I noticed is that St. Eds was a much bigger and more physically impressive team. The game was gridlocked through the first half and well into the second half, but I sat here wondering to myself if Huber Heights would be able to stay with them for 4 quarters. It just seemed that they would eventually wear down or that Braxton Miller would run out of great plays where he literally made a play out of nothing, against 4 defenders, with little to no help from his team.

St. Eds ended up winning the game, but not for lack of incredible play and effort by Miller. When I first heard of him, I’ll be honest in that I was a little skeptical. He’s listed at 6’2″ and 190 pounds. But he doesn’t look anywhere near either measurable. On the field, he looks to me no more than 5’11 or so and he looks to be no more than 175 pounds. Obviously, he’s still a young kid and Ohio State will certainly add some muscle to his frame. But his height was a definite concern.

After watching him play, though, he certainly appears to be as small as I feared, but it didn’t matter. Miller was easily the best player on the field and although he never abandoned his offense and the system by trying to single-handedly take of the game, he dominated the entire game. He was playing the eventual State Champions and a team, who in my opinion, were far more talented than Miller’s squad. Yet Miller lead his team to a go ahead score with about 2 minutes left. If not for a great offensive attack by St. Eds and a horrendous defense by Huber Heights, Miller would be a State Champion today.

I was as impressed with him as I have been with any high school player I’ve seen (excluding #6), and albeit this is a small sample size, but I think it is a quality and representative sample. Miller was playing the State Champions, who were far superior in size and talent, in my opinion, on a windy and very snowy day on the biggest stage. If he can perform at this level, on this stage, in these conditions, I have no reason to believe that this performance won’t translate at the next level.

Miller was touted as a very athletic QB, smaller than Pryor, but a better passer than Pryor was coming out of high school. Let me tell you…. Miller is already a better passer than Terrelle Pryor is RIGHT NOW! I saw throws that Miller made in the snow and wind that Pryror couldn’t make in the best conditions. Miller consistently demonstrated his ability to make accurate passes with both touch and velocity and he demonstrated a very good deep ball as well.

Braxton Miller made some passes that the majority of Division 1 college QB’s can’t make on a regular basis. On one scoring strike, Miller dropped in a 30+ yard touch pass right in stride and right over top of very good coverage for an indefensible touchdown. He continually threw balls with great velocity in between several defenders and right on target. I knew he was a great athlete, but his passing and ability to read defenses was what really impressed me. Not one time did I see him drop back and then take off after his first option was taken away. He read his progressions and make the correct football play nearly every time.

That’s not to say he can’t or didn’t make plays with his legs. There were times when he make plays that reminded me of Mike Vick. Please don’t think I’m comparing him to Vick. Vick is a once in a decade (maybe once in a lifetime) athlete. Miller is good, he’s fast, and he has a great arm. But he doesn’t have Mike Vick speed and agility and he doesn’t have the arm strength of Vick. But there were several plays where Miller was completely surrounded by 3, 4 or 5 defenders and he should have been absolutely dead to rights. Miller eluded each and every one and then either took off for a huge gain or made a play with his arm, but the impressive thing was that he ALWAYS kept his eyes downfield.

Miller was the fastest and most elusive player on the field. Period. He ended up rushing for 84 yards and two TDs and completed 15 of 24 passes for 200 yards and 2 TDs. He also added 2 INTs (one of which was on a 4th and 20 with Huber Height’s last chance to keep their hopes alive).

From what I saw in this game, Miller is plenty athletic to make plays with his feet in the Big 10. Ohio State is extremely good at developing players once they arrive on campus. I can guarantee that he will only get bigger, faster and stronger from now until the time he suits up for the Buckeyes. But Miller is already farther along as a passer, a QB, and a leader than Pryor is today. Miller handled adversity extremely well, leading his team down for the go-ahead score with 2 minutes left. He honestly did everything he possibly could to lead his team to victory. There was one INT that was ill advised and he threw one deep ball just a foot or so off target and that was the extent of his bad plays. Even on the deep ball, a more skilled WR could have made that play and stayed in bounds.

I’ll be interested to see if Miller will be red-shirted next season as Terrelle Pryor has announced that he’s coming back for his Senior season (as if he has a choice). Miller could use the time to develop physically and to learn the offense, but we’ll see. Pryor could have used the same time for maturity and development, but he played immediately.

Despite Pryor’s constant disappointment, the Buckeyes future is bright. Braxton Miller is the real deal and he will only get better once he arrives on campus. He’s not as fast as Denard Robinson, but he’s fast enough to light up defenses. And he’s a MUCH better passer. Just imagine how much damage Robinson could do if he was a top passer in the Big 10. That’s the kind of production I think we’ll see from Braxton Miller.