Thursday December 1st, 2005
11:33amHey ESPN, Get a Load Of This
I've certainly been one who has watched with tears in my eyes as the once incredibly great ESPN network slides into what is now simply talking heads who just market teams, players, stories, and their own shows to their audience.
It's gotten so bad that I don't really even watch it anymore unless they're broadcasting an actual sporting event. I used to watch Baseball Tonight religously, sometimes twice in one evening, and I can count on my 10 fingers how many times I watched it last season.
SportsCenter? I can't even name 1/4 of the anchors anymore.
In what has swept the blog world, Every Day Should Be Saturday has taken the time to speak for the people listing 52 reasons why ESPN/ABC/Disney now sucks and it completely took off at an unchartable velocity from there. Brian over at MGoBlog added reasons #53-84, then The Bemusement Park took the list to 100. That doesn't even include the hundreds and hundreds of additions added in the comment sections of these sites. I went though and pulled out some that I completely agreed with but first I wanted to point you to Krazy Mike's comments because I think he hit the nail right on the head....and here are some others....
Maybe someone up in Bristol will pick up on this.6. Sportstainment!8. ESPN Hollywood. Lower ratings than “Christopher Lowell, After Hours.”
11. Stephen A. Smith. Mark Shapiro, the prime mover behind Sportstainment! and former head of ESPN, said he just HAD to hire Smith after every focus group detested his ass. Well, there you go. Would love to kick the ass of the editor of Highlights magazine for bewitching him with those devilish puzzles all these years. Makes a sport we already don’t care about all the more ignoreable–and isn’t that what a great spokesman for the sport is supposed to do?
14. Chris Berman’s “WHOOP!” noise.
19. Making the story, not reporting it. Two words: Terrell Owens.
24. The Outdoor Games. In a typical move, ESPN takes our insomniac treats–including the World’s Strongest Man competitions–and packages them into Sportstainment!. What they fail to understand is that we liked them because they were on when we got home from the bar drunk enough to find them entertaining.
28. The forced animosity between John Clayton and Sean Salisbury. Team Under Armor vs. Goliath has more verisimilitude.
30. Woody Paige. In our hometown, this guy cleaned your septic tank. On ESPN, he’s an “expert.”
33. Flavor in our broadcasts. Yes, Dan and Keith did it very well. But show us a goal, td, basket, point, or homer without a “SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND” once, and we will send you a shiny dollar in the mail.
36. Chris Berman’s nicknames. Appropriate death strike: in honor of their upcoming Big 12 championship game, how about a dim mak Brown shot to the throat?
38. World Series of Poker. Not bad in an hour’s dose. Unbearable in four hour stretches.
44. Mike Lupica. Only makes two statements a year about college football, both atrociously wrong and dumb. Abrasive without insight. We’d say he represents the worst of Northeastern sportswriting, but Dan Shaughnessy still breathes in Boston.
52. Chris Berman’s BACK BACK BACK BACK BACK BACK call. Appropriate death strike: kicking knee break, joint-lock arm hold, thrown into path of oncoming commuter train.
62. The complete obliteration of Classic Sports. Now ESPN Classic, it shows 90% cheesy, terrible "SportsCentury" reruns instead of the glorious games from years past it used to.
69. Where did Kenny Mayne go?
70. And how did you kill Dan Patrick's will to live?
72. Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens Terrell Owens
73. TERRELL OWENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
96. Page 3. Does anybody read Page 3? If so, I just have one question for you: Why?
Comments:
Also, Joe Morgan’s steadfast belief that Billy Beane is the author of Moneyball.
ESPN: sports:: MTV: music
How about a Top 10 Plays of the Day that acutually has 10 plays.....not squirrels on skis, or an entire pitching performance by a pitcher....just the 10 best plays made that day
No mention of Scoop Jackson yet?
52 reasons and no Skip Bayless? There must be another list coming.
I’ll throw in two cents on the ruining of ESPN Classic, too. Now it’s 90% garbage like “SportsCentury” and “Classic NOW” instead of what it used to be, gloriously nonstop old games of every variety. Now they cram those into a single hour.
Oh, and televised poker. I can’t even watch that shit when I’m stoned and can’t figure out the remote.
And then there was the “Trial of Pete Rose” with Alan Dershowitz and Johnnie Cochran as prosecutor and defense attorney and Catherine Crier as judge. What an embarassment.
How about ESPN giving us a “bonus” PTI segment in the middle of SportsCenter? Good god!
Woody and his gay buddy Skip. Skip Bayles how many face lifts have you had?
Cold Pizza Hey last have a show that is like MTV’s TRL, Sportscenter, Entertainment Tonight but let’s make it really suck.
what ever happened to Aussie Rules Football?
Here’s three I’m surprised didn’t make the list:
1) Classic Pool
2) Classic Bowling
3) Classic PokerESPN reporters who are assigned to one topic. Shelly Smith and USC. Pedro Gomez and Barry Bonds. Sal Palentonio and TO. We DON’T need a daily update. We DON’T want a daily update. We DON’T care that Barry Bonds just ate breakfast or that Reggie Bush just finished his English Lit. class.
ESPN Classic. I miss the actual games. Hear that ESPN? The games? Remebmer when you used to show them?
But what bothers me about the whole poker craze is how they present it… IT’S NOT A SPORT… It’s a game. G-A-M-E, much like checkers, Sorry or Hungry Hungry Hippo… can they stop calling it a *&^$# sport…. Ahhh!
Stephen A. Smith…quite frankly, you’re annoying
Forgot about the Red Sox-Yankees promotion. It’s overload. Watch highlights of either of these two teams and they won’t even show the other team.
Does Shelly Smith do anything besides eat and report on USC football?
How about when they began their “contributing to the deliquency of a minor” by televising High School basketball games live?
During baseball season, if you only watched ESPN you’d think that there were just two teams in the league — the Yankees and the Red Sox.
What team next year is going to be the greatest of all time?
How about playing streetball and poker ALL THE FREAKING TIME
You forgot Joe Morgan. I'm sorry, I meant Hall of Fame Second Baseman Joe Morgan.
Tuesday November 29th, 2005
12:01amAg Off-Season FB News
The football season is officially over but there is still some news to report.
The biggest is the firing of defensive coordinator, Carl Torbush. This was probably a pretty difficult thing for the notoriously loyal Fran to do. He said a few weeks ago that he had only fired one of his coaches during his career (I think it was at TCU).
Really, this was completely inevitable. Our defenses have been simply terrible over the last three years, including the two worst defensive seasons in school history ('03 & '05).
RushD PassD TotalD ScoreD ======================================================== 2003 225.1 (112)* 206.42 (40) 431.50 (96)* 38.8 (115)+ 2004 142.5 (55) 244.25 (93)* 386.75 (63)* 23.3 (47) 2005 139.2 (38) 304.64 (117)+ 443.82 (108)+ 31.2 (96)* *Indicates that at the time it was one of the three worst seasons in modern Aggie history (post-1950) +Indicates worst season in modern Aggie historyThose are records you don't want to have your name attached to.
Here's a look at some of our other statistics during the Torbush-era
INT FF Sacks 3DC 4DC 2003 6 16 19 44% 71% 2004 13 16 28 44% 55% 2005 12 14 26 48% 47%I imagine that a couple smaller changes will be made. Our cornerbacks and special team coverage & blocking has been pretty poor.
There are rumblings to replace offensive coordinator, Les Koenning but I think that would be somewhat unproductive considering we had the 2nd most productive offensive season in school history (442.3 ypg) this year behind only the 1990 squad (471.1). I kind of think that people just want to go back to the way it used to be when we were a national powerhouse and dumping our current offense for the offense of the late-80s/early-90s will help us get there. The defense is the difference.
There are rumors swirling regarding a replacement for Torbush but I'm not going to get into all that because no one really knows. I trust that Bill Byrne will bring in someone that will make us extremely excited....he's done that with all of his previous hires.
Next topic....
Stephen McGeeStephen McGee got some national pub after his solid performance against texas last Friday. Sports Illustrated writer, John Walters, even came up with a song about McGee."That's part of my game," McGee said. "It was nothing dirty. I'd say, 'Good job, man' and if they had a problem with me saying good job, I let them know maybe they need to hit harder."If we could just get someone to put it to music I think we might have something.....although I believe Burnet is pronounced "Burn-it" so we might have to clean that up.There are strange things done in the Texas sun
By the men who scramble for yards,
The Lone Star State has its twists of fate,
That would tear your mind to shards,
The tumbleweeds have seen queer deeds,
But the queerest they ever did see,
Was that one-day yield at Kyle Field,
By the wondrous Steve McGee
Now this Aggie jet was from the town Burnet,
Where bluebonnet blooms and blows,
It's as Texas as the two-step or the fabled yellow rose,
Besides great speed, the kid could read, he was tops in education,
And so when greater pastures beckoned, young Steve chose College StationNext....Congrats are in order....
Yesterday the Big XII announced this year's all-conference selections. Kicker, Todd Pegram, and LBer, Justin Warren, were both named the second team. Pegram finished his career as the most accurate kicker in school history (74.7%) while Warren finished 2nd in the conference in tackles. We had several Honorable Mentions....Jaxson Appel, Martellus Bennett, Jason Carter, Kirk Elder, Johnny Jolly, & Cody Wallace. Carter got screwed at WR thanks to Mike Leach's crazy passing offense.
Finally, Rivals.com announced their Freshman All-American squad and some familiar faces made the list. OL Yemi Babaloa & my boy, P Justin Brantly, were both selected to the 1st team and TE Martellus Bennett was selected to the second team. Typically Sporting News also announced a Freshman All-American team so I'll keep a look out for that.
Monday November 28th, 2005
1:05amTAMABINPO's Week 14 Rankings
First of all I just wanted to let everyone know that I've been linked from Sports Illustrated On Campus's website (on the right side of the page as the #3 link under "Link Master"). That's sweet. Thanks to Brad for unknowingly pointing that out.
Anyways, I didn't post my rankings from last week but you can see them over at the BlogPoll page here.
And now for this week.....
TAMABINPO's Week 14 Rankings 1. Southern Cal (1; 11-0) <----DNP----> 2. texas (2; 11-0) W 40-29 @TAMU 3. Penn State (4; 10-1) <----DNP----> 4. Louisiana State (3; 10-1) W 19-17 Ark 5. Virginia Tech (5; 10-1) W 30-3 UNC 6. Ohio State (6; 9-2) <----DNP----> 7. Notre Dame (7; 9-2) W 38-31 @Stan 8. Miami (Florida) (8; 9-2) W 25-17 UVA 9. Oregon (9; 10-1) <----DNP----> 10. Auburn (10; 8-2) <----DNP----> 11. West Virginia (11; 9-1) W 45-13 Pitt 12. Georgia (12; 9-2) W 14-7 @GT 13. Alabama (14; 9-2) <----DNP----> 14. UCLA (15; 9-1) <----DNP----> 15. TCU (16; 10-1) <----DNP----> 16. Florida (17; 8-3) W 34-7 FSU 17. Boston College (18; 8-3) <----DNP----> 18. Wisconsin (21; 9-3) W 41-24 @Haw 19. Fresno St (13; 8-3) L 38-35 @Nev 20. Oklahoma (24; 7-4) W 42-14 OSU 21. Michigan (23; 7-4) <----DNP----> 22. Louisville (NR; 8-2) W 41-17 Syr 23. Georgia Tech (22; 7-4) L 14-7 UGA 24. Clemson (NR; 7-4) <----DNP----> 25. South Carolina (25; 7-4) <----DNP----> OUT: 19. Colorado (19; 7-4) L 30-3 Neb 20. Florida State (20; 7-4) L 34-7 @FlaI watched all the A&M/texas game (obviously), the last 3 quarters of the OU/OkSt game, a little less than 2 quarters of the Texas State v. Georgia Southern DI-AA play-off game, bits and pieces of the Florida/FSU game, the last 5 minutes + OT of the Iowa State/Kansas game, bits and pieces of the Fresno State/Nevada game, and the 4th quarter of the ND/Stanford game.
I want to send my congratulations to SMU and their coach, Phil Bennett (an Ag), for their 40-27 upset of UTEP. The win gave the Ponies their best record (5-6) since '97 and brings a little glimmer of hope towards the future.
I also want to congratulate Texas State for their incredible come-from-behind 50-36 victory in the DI-AA Playoffs. The Bobcats were down 35-16 with 4:20 to go in the 3rd quarter and came back strongly romping Georgia Southern with 34 unanswered points.
Also, OU needs to get some more credit than they've received. They are 7-4 on the season with their four losses coming to TCU (10-1), @UCLA (10-1), texas (11-0), and a controversial loss at texas tech (9-2). I was really harsh on them early in the season but they've played very well with an incredibly young team. Also, Adrian Peterson is flat out crazy good. Against Oklahoma State he ran for 237 yards and 2 TDs on 24 carries including runs of 84 yards & 71 yards. He is a freak of nature. He has eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark again even after missing all of or most of 4 games and losing 3 of his OLmen from last season (two were All-Americans and the other was All-Big XII).
It was a rough weekend for kickers.
Iowa State lost the Big XII North after their kicker, Bret Culbertson, missed a 24-yd FG. They lost the Big XII North last season when their kicker, Bret Culbertson, missed a 24-yd FG. Ouch x2. Notre Dame's kicker, DJ Fitzpatrick, missed an extra point, and 2 FGs that almost cost Notre Dame the game....and a $14M birth in a BCS game.
Thankfully, Jeff Samardzija and Brady Quinn drove down the field in 1:48 on their final possession to score a game winning TD.
LSU's BCS hunt was also saved by missed FGs as Arkansas missed a 28-yarder.
Finally, I wanted to point out the "Where are you?" link I have over on the left side of the page. I'm curious where all my readers are located....feel free to participate....
Sunday November 27th, 2005
12:22pmIt Ain't So Easy At Kyle Field
That was a heckuva football game.
Jaxson Appel enters Kyle Field & fires the place upIt was senior day at Kyle Field, the last time the boys we've watched grow over the last four years will get to run out onto Kyle Field and play for their school. I'll tell you what, when Jaxson Appel came running out completely fired up I had a rush of adrenaline shoot through me and I thought to myself, "God, I love that he loves this school as much as I do. I'm going to miss #19."
When Reggie came out wearing his jersey top and jeans there was a murmur that ran through the crowd, "Reggie's not playing. Reggie's not playing." All week long Fran and Reggie played a big game with the media saying that Reggie would be healthy enough to play when in fact it was red shirt freshman, Stephen McGee's turn to run our offense....and run it he did.
McGee scores one of his two rushing TDsAgainst texas's vaunted defense the Ags put up 277 yards on the ground (a season high against tu) and 29 points (a season high against tu). McGee ran the option exactly like he did against OU.....intelligently and precisely. I was upset that we didn't get to see Reggie go out with his barrels smoking but it was nice to see that we won't be in bad shape with his replacement.
Passing Rushing Att-Cmp Yds TD/INT No. Yds TD 23-9 83 0/1 24 108 2Add to that another monster day from Jorvorskie Lane (104 yards on 17 carries + a 35 yard TD pass) and we had an exciting day on offense.
Jason Carter scores on a 35 yard HB option pass from J-TrainJason Carter had a team high 60 yards and a TD on 2 catches with DeQawn Mobley & Martellus Bennett leading the way with 3 receptions. Jason Carter finished the season with 827 yards receiving which puts him 4th in the Aggie single season record book.
On the defensive side of the ball we played our greatest game of the season. We held the #1 scoring offense to 10 points below their average as well as holding the #2 total offense to a season low 336 yards (192 yards below their average).
The defensive line was extremely disruptive helping cause 11 tackles for a loss, including 3 sacks. Melvin Bullitt had a career day leading the team in tackles with 9 while forcing a fumble and making a key interception. Johnny Jolly, Chris Harrington, & Red Bryant were all particularly impressive putting pressure on Vince Young. Harrington had only 1 tackle but it was a 10 yard sack and he also fell on a Jamaal Charles fumble. I need to watch the game again but I thought that Bryant came out in the first quarter limping and came back for a short time at the start of the second half....if so he was a monster in the time he was in.
Red Bryant forces a VY fumbleI think that Vince Young lost the Heisman Trophy on Friday. He was held to 19 yards rushing and only 162 yards in the air to the worst pass defense in the nation....and he turned the ball over twice on his own.
Justin Brantly did set the school record for freshman punters with an average of 43.2 yards per punt. Unfortunately, it seems as though he was injured on the blocked punt and he did not return to the field after that. I really hope he's OK.
All in all, it was an exciting game that we just fell short in. There was certainly a changing of the guards as we had freshmen & seniors stepping up. For the majority of the game we were playing with only 3 upperclassmen on offense and 5 on defense.
Here's to a great off-season, a strong recruiting class, and to next season.
And thank you to our seniors.....Jaxson Appel, Jason Carter, Aldo De La Garza, Lee Foliaki, Renuel Greene, Jami Hightower, Lawrence Hooper, Johnny Jolly, Ronald Jones, Nurahda Manning, Archie McDaniel, Reggie McNeal, DeQwan Mobley, Todd Pegram, David Ross, Dominique Streamer, & Boone Stutz. I hope you all come back to Aggieland as much as possible and stay involved with the program.
Gig'em & God Bless.
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