SB Nation User Blog: MeanBobMean

Happy Fourth of July

MeanBobMean — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:19:50 -0000

What does the Fourth mean to you and yours this year? What is on your mind today?

Today I am thinking about my family, my nation and our heritage, as young and frail as it still is.

I wanted to share a story of one hero of mine, a veteran, and a very fine man. I lost him this week.

Clifton E. "Bud" Reid. 88 years old. Died after surgery for injuries sustained in a traffic accident when a drunk driver plowed into his vehicle. He served in the Alaskan islands during WWII as a small boat mechanic for the US Navy. A barbershopper (bass though he could sing some tenor if required), a lifelong outdoors enthusiast that hiked and ran rivers as long as he could. Tended to quiet past times like walks with his family, polishing stones he'd find, or tinkering on cars.

I never saw the man flush with anger, never heard a cross word exit his mouth, never saw him upbraid or castigate a soul. Never heard him be sarcastic with any other being. The closest I saw was he'd look down, shake his head, shrug his shoulders, then smile without saying a word. He was my uncle, easily one of the nicest men I've ever met. He liked hard cider in moderation and home cooking and could mechanic on anything, rebuilding classics for people after he retired from Consolidated Freightways.

He took me to a barbershoppers sing, he encouraged me no matter how bad I was. He was a sweetheart, he lived a good life. He and I, his wife my aunt Fern, my mom and my brother hiked from the North rim of the grand canyon down to Phantom Ranch, spent the night, and hiked out the other side. That was his last real hike, he was struggling to get up the far side so I went back to check on him and he said: "Roarkie, my eyes don't see as quickly as yours so I need to take my time." And smiled. Guy was dying with exhaustion. I had him take a liter of water and pulled his pack and carried it out. Last thing I ever got to do for him, we hadn't seen each other for too long a time.

No tears for this man, he did it right.

Love ya Uncle Bud.

If we love people, we don't show it after their deaths if their lives did not change us in some way. I'm working to cut my over reactions and anger down to honor this fine man. Hell maybe I will grow up one day.

Happy Independence Day, God Bless my nation please, we need your patience and guidance.

Roll Tide as well, heck, they got the red and white at least!

All My love to You and Yours,

Mean Bob Mean

BCS System: Hatch Sets Hearings on it

MeanBobMean — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:17:47 -0000

Senator be a smacking on the BCS. I love it. See it here on "The HIll" blog. Said on that site:

The Republican addresses the argument of why Congress is tackling on the BCS at a time when there are other important issues on the table. He says there are "serious questions" surrounding the legality of the system.

"The Sherman Anti Trust Act prohibits contracts, combinations or conspiracies designed to reduce competition," Hatch wrote. "I don't think a more accurate description of what the BCS does exists."

Hatch also goes on to criticize the way teams are awarded money for being a part of the BCS.

Hearings are set for July 7th. See Sports Illustrated story for more details. From that story:

Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has introduced legislation that would prevent the NCAA from calling a game a national championship unless it's the outcome of a playoff. At a May hearing, Barton warned that the legislation would move forward "if we don't see some action in the next two months" from BCS on switching to a playoff system.

Hatch Calls for BCS Hearings

MeanBobMean — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:13:28 -0000

Woot! Senator be smacking on the BCS. I love it. See it here on "The HIll" blog. Said on that site:

"The Sherman Anti Trust Act prohibits contracts, combinations or conspiracies designed to reduce competition," Hatch wrote. "I don't think a more accurate description of what the BCS does exists."

Hatch also goes on to criticize the way teams are awarded money for being a part of the BCS.

Hearings are set for July 7th. See Sports Illustrated story for more details.

Buying Wins and Scheduling

MeanBobMean — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:57:41 -0000

Alabama playing in Georgia to lure recruits? Florida hiding in Florida to win more? Hiring beat down queens to pad the win loss record? Schools say "We have to do that . . ."

No they don't have to, but they do.

Neutral-site games were a fixture in the pre-television era. Schools would play in big cities both to promote their programs and to earn good checks. Notre Dame and Army played at Yankee Stadium for years. Alabama and Auburn played in Birmingham. As campus stadiums grew in size, and television allowed every fan to see every game, neutral-site games disappeared.

In recent years, however, schools have begun to use them again to make a splash. Alabama coach Nick Saban, anxious to recruit in Atlanta, agreed to open the 2008 and 2009 seasons in the Chick-fil-A Classic against Clemson and Virginia Tech, respectively. Lo and behold, the Crimson Tide have four commitments from the state of Georgia for their 2010 signing class.

I have no respect for Florida hiding at home for 18 years. Eighteen years without playing a nonconference opponent out of state. That is shocking. Ivan Maisel of ESPN, see it here. My personal opinion? Too many home games, too many years without real travel means you're ineligible for BCS consideration. If you won't play nationally, can't claim a national title.

Purchasing Wins

MeanBobMean — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:40:18 -0000

Buying wins and homer queens--life in big time CF.

"The Gators have not played a regular-season, nonconference game outside the Sunshine State since 1991, when No. 5 Florida lost at No. 18 Syracuse 38-21. The next year, the SEC expanded to 12 teams and adopted an eight-game conference schedule."

Eighteen years at home. Nice work if you can get it. They play about 7-8 games in their stadium. What cry babies. Story here on ESPN. Interesting take on scheduling and how some guys get beating queens to feed them wins and thus make cash. What a racket these guys are, I can't believe the people who whined about Florida last year: 18 years since a nonconference game away from home. What unmitigated pussiness that is. I don't want to hear a Gator fan or apologist run their mouth anymore. I have zero respect for such homering BS. Alabama played away from home against what was considered to be an extremely tough opponent. USC does it every year, so does BYU so does Utah. Anyone who doesn't sucks and should be disqualified from BCS consideration as certifiable candy asses.

In my personal and non professional opinion only.

Less than 100 Days!

MeanBobMean — Wed, 27 May 2009 12:57:33 -0000

The University of Utak kicks off in less than 100 days. That's right, only

2388 hours or 143281 minutes or 8596868 seconds until another season--good or bad, for as a true fan of my teams I will accept the failings and the great moments. In the absence of hardship, there is no metric for quantifying superb efforts, after all. Me with cool 'Bama fans at Sugar Bowl.

via cdn3.sbnation.com

They wanted to show I was outnumbered--they was most correct. That young man peeping over his daddy's shoulder? He was heartbroken, but responded adroitly to his Auburn pal's taunting texts "I forget, what bowl are y'all in?" Class act even at that age. And so it is, Alabama fans are the class of a great league and I salute you as we await your saunter across the 100 day line. Mark it down and express your joy. Football looms ahead, the dark doldrums of the spring and summer will be rewarded.

Pre-season ranking is . . .

MeanBobMean — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:43:29 -0000

Tide comes in at number 10, many spots higher than Utah. Sports Illustrated says:

Key returnees: RB Mark Ingram, WR Julio Jones, NT Terrence Cody, LB Rolando McClain, CB Javier Arenas.

Spring star: QB Greg McElroy. Chase Daniel's former understudy at Carroll (Southlake, Texas) High won the starting job handily this spring.

Spring recap: With Cody, McClain and Arenas leading a stacked defense, the Crimson Tide probably won't have to score many points. That should allow McElroy, who will play behind an inexperienced line, some room for error. But should McElroy have trouble, he need only remember one thing: Throw it to Jones.

They rank Ole Miss higher.

Utah Ranked Pre-Season

MeanBobMean — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:36:44 -0000

I am sure many will wonder how it is that last year's #2 team is only ranked 19th pre-season and comes in behind three teams it beat last year. I suspect it has to do with Utah's history as not being able to string together two complete seasons before or after Meyer. Also, it's clear people think Brian Johnson carried the team. Sports Illustrated also shows concern for our lack of a center. You can read the article here. TCU comes in at 11, Oregon at #8 (deservedly so). We should have some idea as to how good BYU will be after their first game (Oklahoma at #3). What they said about Utah:

Key returnees: RB Matt Asiata, T Zane Beadles, DE Koa Misi, LB Stevenson Sylvester.

Spring star: QB Jordan Wynn. The race to replace Brian Johnson was supposed to be between juniors Corbin Louks and Terrance Cain. Wynn, an early enrollee from Oceanside, Calif., made it a three-man race heading into preseason camp.

Spring recap: The only undefeated team in 2008 faces a lot of uncertainty even after spring practice. Along with quarterback, center remains unsettled. The good news is the Utes boast plenty of depth at running back and defensive line, and cornerbacks Brandon Burton and R.J. Stanford should make fine replacements for Sean Smith and Brice McCain.

Areas of concern?

MeanBobMean — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:46:56 -0000

To this point, we have heard positive things about the Utah squad after spring practice. Whitingham says about the same every year though. There are, to my mind, some real issues.

We have three Quarterbacks vying for starter. That's not, in my opinion, great news.

The Offesive line has had to be rebuilt and A'sa has gone down with an injury.

D line looks to have potential, but Aiono has not yet qualified. Will he be on campus soon enough to contribute meaningfully or will this, like Aiona's, be a wasted year?

Wideout white wash--our top three guys all graduated.

Kicking woes: no King Louie.

Defensive backs: two corners gone--both drafted, that's a ton of talent to lose.

New coaches. Sure, they won a bowl game, but let's see how new schemes placed into the system by these guys are affected throughout a campaign that includes a Pac-10 powerhouse and improved MWC teams like Air Force, UNLV, and likely San Diego State with a fairly well loaded BYU and a tough TCU squad at their places (TCU did lose basically their entire stellar defense). Louisville is a wild card, they might be quite good. San Jose? Not a real threat, but that teams is vastly improved under Tomey.

What are your gravest and smallest concerns. Mine are special teams and Offensive line. I don't care how good the RBs and wideouts turn out to be, if the line can't block we're dead. Of course, our O-line was unheralded last two years and was not bad, but we shall see.

Least concern is front 7 on D, well D in general.

Poll

Which area of the Utah Team will require the most work and gives you the greatest concern going into 2009?

Defensive line

0 votes

Quarterback

8 votes

Offensive Line

1 votes

Defensive Secondary

0 votes

Receiving Corps

0 votes

Running Back

0 votes

Kicking and Special Teams

2 votes

Coaching

0 votes

11 votes | Poll has closed

Whittingham's Philosophy

MeanBobMean — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:01:49 -0000

Nice writeup on Coach Whit:

When coaches become iconic to their organizations the ideals that make them great often get pushed to the side. A deeper look into their thoughts and beliefs about their programs sheds light on what truly makes their accomplishments great.

Anybody who has seen and repeated the events of the 2007 Fiesta Bowl can shoot a glance to the south and see a school that prides itself as a BCS buster. The University of Utah Utes, led by head coach Kyle Whittingham, have won eight consecutive bowl games including a landmark victory against Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl. The victory had an effect on their ability to rein in new guys.

You may peruse it here.