SB Nation User Blog: BixBeiderbecke

It's a Pac-10 thing

BixBeiderbecke — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 08:32:41 -0000

So, it's already college football bowl season- you know how I know? I 'think' there was a bowl game played last week or weekend, and there was a bowl game tonight as well. I know hah? On a Tuesday? And remarkably, just 3 days before Christmas- which, also happen to be considered as the busiest days of traffic and commerce during the most consumer-driven holiday of the entire year? The good news about all this is that it was actually played at night. (which makes a huge difference- economically, as opposed to the crazy notion of being played say, . . . during the daytime???) The bad news? The game actually occurred in the first place. Final score for tonight's game: BYU 44, Oregon State 20.

And the final score doesn't do justice to what BYU did in that game. The Cougars banged the Beavers like a screen-door in a hurricane! (wink: Loco)

It's not like the Beavers got manhandled, statistically. The Cougars simply put the clamps down on the Rodgers' brothers and didn't let those twins hit their well-known 'breakaway gear'. The Beavers' got 'special-teamed' hard by the Cougs. OSU couldn't escape the penalty-bug and couldn't quite recover from 2 costly fumbles and one highly untimely interception. The first half was just horrid, offensively for the Beavers. The second half was, remarkably- no better. For instance, take JacQuizz Rodgers' fumble: did you know that for the first time ever in his college career, he coughed-up the ball on a clean hit and as a reward for doing so- BYU dined-and-dashed their way to a resulting touchdown. Believe it or not, it was at that point and moving forward that the Beavers didn't stand a chance. You see, Coach Mike Riley did something very uncharacteristic of him. He didn't adjust to Coach Mendenhall's defensive gameplan and got out-coached for the remainder of the game for the first time in a long time of coaching football. BYU held OSU to just 7 pts and getting past mid-field only 2 times in the first half.

The second half wasn't all that much better for the Beavers, and it's not like they couldn't move the ball well. OSU killed themselves with penalties and turnovers in the second half. Admittedly, Beaver QB- What's his name? Canfield had a terrible outing. He just didn't make plays when he was asked to and the Rodgers-boys fumbles killed OSU's momentum in very harsh ways. During this one series, BYU punts- OSU starts gaining good yardage and momentum but then, they cough up the ball (this time, it's James Rodgers fumbling after making a great catch) giving the ball back to BYU, BYU goes on to score 7. OSU, undaunted drives hard on the ensuing series, matching the BYU touchdown with one of their own. (finally?) Stay with me, 'cause the game continues now- into the 4th quarter, BYU up 37-13. Now, BYU RB-Unga, fumbles- giving the ball right back to Oregon State. Only to see Canfield get intercepted in BYU territory. If they could have just put some points on the board in this series, we wouldn't be dealing with the 'Pac-10 is soft' issue we're dealing with right now. This is the team that almost won our conference? As it was, Canfield's INT proved costly because the Cougars scored 7 off that fumble and in went his replacement.

This Beaver loss was pretty strange, in that Coach Riley made some unusual calls. He "went for it" so many times, Tiger should call and tell him, "Dude, why you wanna do that? It just isn't worth it!" Well, let's see? 4th and 9, eh?-(Canfield just didn't have it Coach! even Canfield knew that! and he's HIM!!!) 4th and 10?-(You're not gonna get lucky twice, you only got the other 1st down from a retarded penalty- this play has fake punt written all over it?) 4th and 7?- (dude, Coach! YOU ARE JUST NOT GETTING IT ARE YOU?)

Call it Pac-10 homeristic of me, but THAT was not Coach Mike Riley last night. Of all the coaches in the Pac-10, you'd think Mike Riley would be the last guy out of all of 'em to be done in by the team otherwise known as "Giant Killers". Now I'm not taking anything away from what Coach Mendenhall has achieved since taking over the reigns as head coach of the Cougars when former BYU HC Gary Crowton resigned and became the OC at U of Oregon in Eugene. Mendenhall's victories are practically stuff of legend- beating the Oregon Ducks & Ucla, losing to Cal and Arizona in 4 previous Las Vegas Bowls. He's taking numbers and owning ass! Sursly! AND NOW, beaver. Too! But, in what appears to NOT have a plan to counter BYU's objective of taking the space away from James and plugging the holes/filling gaps so JacQuizz can't slice and dice? C'mon Riles! Some- in the media, have talked about the cold and the wind as being a big factor in Canfield's throws and poor Beaver play? Like the city of Corvallis, Oregon DOESN'T HAVE THAT? Gimme a break, that BYU team played intelligent football, to a man. They accomplished this by not allowing their LB's to get sucked into traps or stuck in traffic. The Cougar secondary showed Coach Carroll very nice defensive packages to scheme against the shiftiness of both the Rodgers brothers. (where has all our defensive aggression gone in our secondary? those Cougs looked like Trojans 2003). It wasn't as though BYU was bigger, or faster, or matched up well against the Beaver lines, they just found ways to identify the cut-blockers and taking him/them out/making him miss his assignment, thereby exposing the Rodgers in the open and swarming their space. The key to Mendenhall's success was the fact that he wasn't sure his gameplan would work, but was willing to give it a try. I hazard to guess, if Coach Mendenhall needed to adjust for any reason whatsoever during/throughout the game? He'd have at least 1 or 2 other back-up plans.

It's called 'respecting your opponent', people. MWaC wants/feels/needs to prove themselves- it's totally in their best interest to do so. It's as if Oregon State's staff somehow forgot that Oklahoma was a highly rated team before they played BYU earlier this year. The Sooners almost pulled it off, but. . . . .doesn't that one-point win over a Big-1 powerhouse like Oklahoma mean anything to anyone these days? Mendenhall coaches the game the way it's supposed to be coached- as does Wittingham at Utah- they respect their opponents strengths, and gameplan to aggressively f_ck-up whatever it is their opponents hope and wish to do in a game. And as such, they'll leave no stone left unturned in devising ways to beat their next victim on their schedule. I can't honestly say the same for other coaches in other conferences, and. . . .I'll go so far as to say, we very well could be experiencing that with our very own coach here at USC. How else to explain the inexplicable? 4 freaking-miserable-years-in-a-row of remarkable ineptness in losses to, on paper- inferior teams? It started with fUcla, then Stanford, next OSU Beavers, and (take your pick really? let's just go with the first one out of the 4 for this past season). . and shockingly- the Washington Huskies.

If this Las Vegas Bowl portends the fate of Pac-10 success for the remaining bowl games in which our teams must face in the next couple of weeks- than I'm feeling even more uneasy and unsure of our chances against the Eagles of Boston College. Indeed Pac-10 college football fans, if this LV Bowl result is an indication of how superior we mistakenly feel or think we are, as compared to the ACC, Big 12, WAC, MWaC, and Big 10- then I officially am jumping off this snarky-bandwagon.

Now that the Beavers got spanked, what's in store for the Bears of Berkeley? And 'Furd, what are their chances against the Sooners? How badly is Arizona gonna get husked by Nebraska? Is all the husking and shuck-ing gonna continue or stop when the Ducks find some Buckeyes as Roses parade by? OMIGOD! What about this? Would if those gutty-little-bruins win their game against Temple? Hey, don't laugh! I think the city of Philadelphia owes them a whole lotta love, after the beating Villanova put on them in last year's NCAA men's basketball tournament. Don't they? Or. . . . . something, 'cause that capital failure was ugly? Aren't they (bRuins) entitled to a victory just handed to them?

"Please, oh football God of mercy and blog-reading,

Thank you so much for teaching us all a few lessons of humility and respect this past year. You do so many wonderful things for us. We really needed that kinda tough love from you. Thank you also for blessing us with hot chicks in mini-skirts and sweaters prouncing around our fields and. . . THOSE HIGH KICKS are a massive hit with all of us, including a large number of . . . ? Ahem,. . . Oh, thanks also for giving us grace, in the form of Tim Tebow, we are not worthy of your kindness nor . . . . the pure pleasure of just knowing a Tim Tebow actually exists in this beautiful, yet sinful world. And if you are reading this now, we want you to know that we're so very sorry for all the bad things that have been said towards our opponents, rivals, fans, friends of fans that we despise, family members of rivals and their coaches, as well as their coach's mothers, and so on- and so forth. I'm also sorry for even thinking we could win forever, than that would mean- if we ever played You in football- we would expect to win? And so in hindsight, that's just silly. At this time, I'm sure you know I'm about to ask you a big huge favor, right? (Gosh you're so, Supreme!) Well, it's not THAT huge. . . . actually. Would you please see to it that the teams of the Pac-10 go on, from this day forward, and re-commit themselves to being champions by respecting each and every opponent they might face, working their darndest on each and every down that they play, beating each and every one of the particular player who lines up against them and doing so with the intention of forcing that opponent/player to quit on their ass, thereby submitting their opponent to the resignation of defeat?

Okay?

If not, how 'bout that Tesla I asked about last year? "

Mark Stoops hired as D coordinator at Florida State?

BixBeiderbecke — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:44:31 -0000

Mark Stoops hired as D coordinator at Florida State?

FROM HEATHER DINICH/ESPN: "Florida State has hired Arizona defensive coordinator Mark Stoops as its next defensive coordinator, according to a source close to the hiring process. Stoops will replace longtime defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews, who announced his retirement earlier this season after 26 years. Stoops is the first hand-picked coordinator by Jimbo Fisher, who will replace legendary coach Bobby Bowden following the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl.

Stoops, a native of Youngstown, Ohio, was also a top candidate for the head coaching job at Youngstown State. Details of his contract at FSU were not immediately available. Stoops was defensive backs coach at Miami from 2001-2003 before joining his brother Mike's staff at Arizona for the 2004 season."

Stoops has some pedigree from the state of Florida as he coached the secondary at Miami for three seasons back in the day--remember how good those teams played?--since his time at Miami and to a large extent- and more recently at Arizona, he uses a mix of defensive "cover 2 philosophies" and the Stoops' family staple of "zone blitz schemes". The Cardinal Mooney graduate has been leading the Wildcats' defense for six years and has helped develop some of the nation's top defensive backs. He's tutored the likes of Antoine Cason, a first-round NFL draft pick in 2008 and Wilrey Fontenot (seventh round in '08) while at Arizona.

Prior to that, he was the defensive backs coach at the University of Miami (Fla.) from 2001-03. Stoops, 42, coached some of the nation's best defensive backs during that time, and the Hurricanes led the nation in pass defense in 2002 and 2003. He helped foster the growth of Phillip Buchanon, Mike Rumph and Ed Reed, who were all taken in the first round of the 2002 NFL draft, the first time ever three players from the same secondary were taken in the first round. Some of the other defensive backs he coached while at Miami were: Antrel Rolle (first-round pick), Sean Taylor (first round) and Alfonso Marshall (seventh round). That's not to say Mark Stoops' D has been able to stop anyone and everyone. In their game against Oregon this year- Oregon's offensive numbers in the first half - 45 points, 411 yards - were so dumbfounding, so inexplicable, so un-Stoops-like, that they defied comprehension for an Arizona defense that entered the game ranked second in the Pac-10. I don't have time to find out Arizona's 2009 defensive stats- here's what he's done from last year.

2008 stats:
# Rushing Defense: 131.08 (39, 5)- national/conference numbers
# Pass Defense: 181.92 (23, 4)
# Total Defense: 313.00 (24, 3)
# Scoring Defense: 21.31 (33, 3)
# Turnover Margin: .46 (29, 3)
# Sacks: 1.85 (64, 7)
Sad to see him go? No, way!
Good luck coach in the ACC! And good riddance

"But it's looking like that's the way it's going to go" - Toby Gerhart

BixBeiderbecke — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:37:00 -0000

This just in from "College Football with John Wilner"- Toby Gerhart may go pro. As it is, he's already practicing for the 40 yard dash at the NFL Draft Combine coming up after the season is over. From Toby Gerhart being interviewed by Greg Papa at Comcast's "Chronicle Live", "“I’m going to start training here shortly, get ready for the (NFL Draft) Combine.”

"Seemingly flustered — like he realized he said something he shouldn’t have — Gerhart stumbled for a second … then talked briefly about making a decision after the Sun Bowl … then added: 'But it’s looking like that’s the way it’s going to go.'

"… And that pronouncement, unofficially official as it might have been, should come as zero surprise to anyone who has watched Gerhart play this season. His stock will never be higher — he’s projected to go in the second or third round — and his body might never be healthier. Given his physical running style and the punishment he takes every carry, entering the draft (and getting that first contract) is the smart thing to do. And when the winter quarter starts next month, he’ll only be three classes short of his degree …

Papa then asked the same question Gerhart got at the morning presser: Would the Heisman voting, however it goes, affect his decision to turn pro? Gerhart, having composed himself, said: "I don’t think so. It’s going to totally depend on my evaluations by the NFL." Fuse the two comments, and this is what I take away: Gerhart is confident that the NFL evaluations will meet his personal benchmark — whatever that may be (top-two rounds, top-four rounds, etc) — for entering the draft.

(all quotes and commentary come from John Wilner. I found this tidbit from the WizOfOdds)

The Civil War and PAC-10 Implications

BixBeiderbecke — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:02:45 -0000

After the Oregon Ducks thoroughly dismantled the USC Trojan football team this past Halloween night, I remember writing somewhere that I hoped the Oregon State Beavers would beat the Ducks in their in-state rivalry game "The Civil War" that's being played tonight in Autzen Stadium in Eugene. Well, after all the cards have played out (somewhat) in the Pac-10- it looks like I could possibly change my choice of winner, afterall- I was ticked, embarrassed, and full of hate when the Ducks destroyed us. Here's why:

According to Chris Dufresne of LA Times, who wrote today, [if Oregon beats Oregon State tonight, Texas beats Nebraska, Florida beats Alabama, and Georgia Tech beats Clemson (the latter 3 games being played this Saturday). . ] "Here's the projected BCS Bowl lineup: BCS Championship: Florida-Texas. Rose Bowl: Oregon-Ohio State. Fiesta Bowl: Texas Christian-Cincinnati. Orange Bowl: Iowa-Georgia Tech. Sugar Bowl: Boise State-Alabama."

Dufresne further state, "Remember the rules: If it's Florida-Texas in the BCS title game, the Sugar Bowl will get to select a replacement team, no doubt Alabama. The Fiesta picks next to replace Texas and would not likely pass on Texas Christian. Then the selection order goes: Orange, Fiesta, Sugar. The Orange then takes Iowa -- it had Cincinnati last year -- to play projected ACC champion Georgia Tech. The Fiesta then has a choice between Boise State or Cincinnati. We're projecting Cincinnati because Texas Christian and Boise State played in last year's Poinsettia Bowl. The Sugar Bowl then takes Boise State to play Alabama."

Not so fast Christopher!

What happens if the Oregon Ducks lose to Oregon State tonight?

Pure mayhem, in the PAC-10- and especially not good for Cal and Stanford. And the fat-cats wearing shiny pointed shoes representing the Emerald Bowl? They'd hate the Beavers to win tonight too, here why:

If the Ducks win, it could create a four-team tie for second place (provided USC and Cal both lose) among Oregon State, Stanford, Cal, and USC. If Cal wins and we lose- Cal gets 2nd place outright. If we win and Cal loses- we win 2nd place outright. With the win, Oregon will be headed to the Rose Bowl and a more than likely outcome would be that the Holiday Bowl would probably pick the USC-Arizona winner. The Sun Bowl, who would have the next-best pick for Pac - 10 teams- between Cal and Oregon State. And finally- the Emerald Bowl, which would probably grab the Cinderfella team of Stanford. Believe it people, Stanford won 8 games this year and will probably be making its first postseason appearance in eight years. Eight years! Although, I don't see why (if the Sun picks Cal instead of Oregon State?) the Emerald wouldn't want to take the Oregon State Beavers instead of Stanford. The Beavers have a head-to-head win against Stanford and they'd probably hold onto a loftier ranking than Stanford (their season ended last weekend against Notre Dame) even if they lose tonight. Rest assured, the next bowl selection in line (The Las Vegas Bowl) would pick up the leftover scraps.

But, . . . . . . .an Oregon State victory would change everything and potentially leave Cal, Stanford and the Emerald all feeling a bit unsatisfied.

The Beavers would be Rose Bowl-bound and Oregon, as the co-champion, would head to the Holiday. The Sun, in turn, might take the Arizona-USC winner next. The Sun covets the Trojans (for TV ratings and market-draw), but wouldn't sniff at picking up the Arizona Wildcats (if they should win) because of Tucson's close proximity to El Paso and the definite movement of ticket sales. (Truth be told, the Sun peeps would loathe a Wildcat team- USC is one of the biggest draws they'd have in a long, long time for their #3 slot selection for Pac 10 bowl-bound teams)

Then comes the Emerald Bowl. With an Oregon State victory tonight, Emerald would be forced to choose between Cal and Stanford. Cal would have a better record than Stanford (9-3 against 8-4). Cal would have a head-to-head victory (the 34-28 victory in the Big Game). Cal would also be better/higher ranking than Stanford. And lastly, without question- the Cal Bears have a bigger, better, more rabid fans than the Furd. (truth hurts, don't it?)

And so, with an Oregon State win, that would put the Stanford Cardinal football team in. . . . .Las Vegas Bowl, where it would face a team from the Mountain West Conference.

What to do, what to do?

I'll tell you what- I don't think Florida beats 'Bama. Texas will get by Nebraska, yeah. Georgia Tech (they're looking like monsters these days) will beat Clemson. From my perspective: BCS Championship = Texas vs. Alabama. Rose Bowl = Oregon State vs. Ohio State. Fiesta Bowl = who cares? Orange Bowl = not interested? Sugar Bowl = I hope it's Boise State and Florida (ooooh, I'd just love it if Boise State crushes Florida in this one).

As for USC, if Oregon State wins tonight? We'll more than likely get the Sun.

Poll

Who do you want to see win tonights Civil War game between the Ducks and the Beavers?

The Ducks take advantage of Beavers in Autzen

4 votes

Oregon State frightens the Ducks with Beaver football

2 votes

Game ends in a tie, Kelly and Riley do their best L. Blount at midfield to settle it!

2 votes

NCAA investigates Harbaugh for using ineligible players, all wins are vacated. Riley tries to drown himself in Corvallis cow-dung pasture

1 votes

9 votes | Poll has closed

The Huskies and The Ducks: The Uncivil War

BixBeiderbecke — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:36:48 -0000

The Huskies and The Ducks: The Uncivil War

Chris Dufresne of The Los Angeles Times writes about the legendary series, I especially like the fact that he points to Coach Don James only losing 3 times to the Ducks 17 years. Not a typo.

Hey homeslices (afterall, we're all just like the good stuff that goes on . . .insane bombass...

BixBeiderbecke — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:01:37 -0000

Hey homeslices (afterall, we're all just like the good stuff that goes on . . .insane bombass pizzas! and as such, we're like. . .well, like slices o' that pizza. so? homeslices. yo! or. . . , no?)

ANYWAZE!

Check this cat KILL IT! I mean, he check's in with a Nard Freeze, then righteously right-hands what I can hazzard to guess exactly WHAT it's called? by saying prolly something like a, "Coldcock-Tomahawk". Yup, yup. Something like that. . . ?

Anyhoozits, what would you call it? (besides a dunk, or slam, or rhymes with "ammer" or "ooski" and definitely not even remotely tied to The Doctor can't-no-one-touch-him, J). Aight?

John David Booty was cut by the Minnesota Vikiings, a day after making a poor throw at the worst...

BixBeiderbecke — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 01:02:35 -0000

John David Booty was cut by the Minnesota Vikiings, a day after making a poor throw at the worst possible time and having it returned for a touchdown in an exhibition finale against the Dallas Cowboys.

Hopefully this doesn't end the saga of JDB in his pursuit of landing as a starter on an NFL team. Fight On John David!

Coffee having a mammoth game vs. The Raiders right now! The badass running back just tore off a 40...

BixBeiderbecke — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 01:19:40 -0000

Coffee having a mammoth game vs. The Raiders right now!
The badass running back just tore off a 40 yd. run on an end around on the 9-er left side. He's been tearing it up between the tackles, and just backed-up the 2nd string safety for the Raiders- both of them hitting each other head on with Coffee getting the better of the exchange by making the safety take 8 steps backwards.

It's the 2nd quarter and now that the OC for the 9-ers sees that the Raiders cannot handle Coffee- he has received the bulk of the carries and the 9-ers are now threatening to get on the board to even it up at 7. It's 2nd and goal to go. 3:23 before half.

Damn, Glen's looking good in this pre-season game. But. . . .we all knew he'd be good at the next level. The pro level is his level. Handing it off to Coffee, to throw to Crabtree? That should be against the law, in some states.

In memory of Les Paul The night's music above the starry amphitheaters Time held all our whispers....

BixBeiderbecke — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 08:22:50 -0000

In memory of Les Paul

The night's music above the starry amphitheaters
Time held all our whispers. . . .and tonal cries
Golden in the heydays of His eyes

And honored among the parking lots and locked bedroom doors, you were prince among sheet music and barely working amps
And once below a time you lordly had the ears and tears
Trailed with people waiting to audition . . . or waiting to get in . . . or in line just waiting for beer
Down along the rivers of rock and roll light

And as you were gentle and carefree, famous among the stars
Around the garages & studios and inventing new depths of sound, wood, and strings
The leads did magic on solos with the majesty of your gifts

In the sun that is young once only
Golden in the mercy of His means,
You were quiet and kind, master and servant, the virtuoso listened and the stars sang to your strings while the foxes on stilettos screamed clear with joy
And the lighters lit the universe like the moon gleans poetically on the cactus blossoms and desert roses
In the bonfires of music aflame in rhythm and heartache

Nothing we ever cared for, in the youthful search of identity and community, that time would take us
To the shattering epochs which were hidden in the shadows of your hands

In the moon that is always rising under a simple light of night
When singing ourselves to sleep
We might be lucky to hear you fly with the high fields and angels
And wake to the songs forever born from men & women,
Lilted in dreams, loss and redemption

Time held us all, but it held you gracefully and immortal
As we will sing, for you and with you
In our chains, like the sea!

Rest in Peace Les Paul

Terrell Pryor's 37-inch flat screen TV

BixBeiderbecke — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:39:14 -0000

Terrell Pryor's 37-inch flat screen TV

This just in from The Columbia Dispatch Aug. 11, 2009

"Defensive tackle Todd Denlinger said he saw quarterback Terrelle Pryor carrying a 37-inch flat-screen television into the hotel where the team stays during camp.

"We don't have too much time to sit in there and watch TV," Denlinger said. "Maybe he's watching film. I know he works hard at that, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt."

Word of caution TP (don't you just love those initials, especially if he stinks up the Big Televen this year): Be sure no agent nor runner supplied your parents with money in order to buy that flat screen, AND by all means- find the receipt because there are a lot of people in this world who don't believe a young black man can afford to buy their own televisions! Seriously, I'm not joking.