2007 Bowl Season Wrap Up

by BSD on Jan 8, 2008 9:48 AM EST in Football

So the 2007 football season has come to an end. I watched the game last night along with many of you here in the impromptu open thread. I just had a few thoughts from the game and this bowl season in general to share with you all.

First off, FOX has no business covering the BCS games. All season long we get to listen to Brent Musberger and Kirk Herbstreit cover the big prime time games. Musberger can be a little annoying, but he's familiar. And Herbstreit is top notch. But then along comes FOX, the highest bidder for all of the BCS games. Now we have to listen to Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer and Eddie George during the pregame and halftime. We have to listen to Tom Brennaman and Charlie Davis call the game like it's an NFL game. It just didn't feel right. They tried to give it a college feel by zooming in on the band on every other play. I was chatting with Dave from Maize-n-Brew during the game and we had this exchange.

BSD: Fox loves to zoom in on the band after every big play

MnB: The LSU band looks like a persian harem gone horribly wrong...

BSD: I thought southern chicks were supposed to be hot and stuff. I can see that shit in Happy Valley

MnB: Ha! I thought they all went to Michigan.

BSD: that's totally going in the blog tomorrow lol

MnB: definitely. a battle of the tubbies.

MnB: We're going to hell for this conversation.

MnB: I fucking hate Urban Meyer.

BSD: Urban Meyer has no future on television...but he'll make a good commentator on FOX

MnB: Eddie george has a pointy head.

BSD: I think Eddie George has makeup on his head

BSD: someone check Jamarcus Russell for pot

MnB: Jamarcus Russel looks like he just mugged Bill Cosby

MnB: Good god he's high.

BSD: Troy Smith is like 4' tall

MnB: That was the biggest trainwreck interview I've ever seen. It was glorious.

My other beef with FOX deals with the scheduling. Instead of playing all of the big bowls on New Years Day like we always have, we string it out over a week. What ever happened to pageantry and tradition? I thought that was the whole idea for scorning a playoff system? I have to tell you I'm whupped after staying up until midnight every night watching all of these games.

On to the game itself. The Buckeyes got spanked for the second year in a row. I didn't think they looked any slower than LSU at all. I thought they just played stupid football. They were out of position all night in the pass coverage. They were just not the better team, but I don't think they were any slower than the Tigers.

I still believe James Laurinaitis is overrated. He had 18 tackles in the game which sounds impressive at first glance. But when you watch the game it's not like he was flying all over the place making plays in the backfield and on the wing. LSU was running and throwing right at him all night long. So what does that tell you? I'll let RUTS have the last word.

It's 7:54 a.m. and James Laurinaitis just missed another tackle. Or was driven off the play 10 yards. Or jumped on another pile and got credit for a solo tackle.
Your choice, really.

Moving on to other matters from the 2007 Bowl season. Can we please put the obligatory Gatorade dump to bed? I mean, it was funny back in the 80's when Harry Carson of the New York Giants did it to Bill Parcells. It was fresh. It was different. It was fun. Now it's way overdone.


The Original Gatorade Dump Circa 1986

Do we really need to soak Mark Richt for beating Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl? I mean dude, it's just Hawaii.


Congratulations on that big win over a WAC team that didn't deserve to be there, coach!

And then last night I watched LSU dumping Gatorade on assistant coaches. What's next? Should we start pouring it on the mascot? The cheer leaders?* I would like to see a team out there with some real balls dump Gatorade on an official after having a game changing call go their way. That would be cool. Do something different.

So with that we will bring the 2007 season to an official close. Let us never speak of it again. From here on we're looking ahead to 2008. For those of you new to BSD since last summer we don't close up shop here. We'll take a little diversion though basketball season, but we'll still cover football. I'll turn attention toward recruiting up until LOI day. Then we will right away start turning our attention toward 2009 recruiting as scholarship offers start going out. Then there is spring practice and the NFL draft. And sometime in June we'll start breaking down the upcoming season and our opponents. Posting may slow down a bit, but there will be lots to cover in the off season so don't feel like you have to go away and come back in August.

(* although cheer leaders in wet tops may not be such a bad idea. Just the chicks though. And definitely not the LSU band. Please.)

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Comments

gatorade dump

are you really going to hate on the gatorade dump? it is part of football now, its a piece of its culture.

"all i can do is be me, whoever that is"-Bob Dylan

by Phishead on Jan 8, 2008 10:43 AM EST reply actions

dumping variations

Word. The dump is here to stay. I like Mike's suggestions for variety, tho. A dump on a ref would be instant lore. The end of your career lore, but lore nonetheless. And the female cheerleader recipient is pure genius. Seriously, why has this not been done before? B/c there's such a strict chinese wall between cheerleaders and players? This needs to happen. I'm afraid we'll have to count on someone down at Free Shoes U to pull it off; Bobby could follow it with an exaggerated dadgummit.
Also, what does it say about Miles that both his coordinators got dumped, but he did not. I've long thought he was a hyperactive joker; does he also not have the love of players that is the impetus for one of these dumps? Or, is there an inherent fear on the part of the players to not dump over a headset still being worn? Wouldn't this push the envelope Mike has asked about? Coach Miles suffers mild electrocution when a celebratory gatorade dump was poured over his headset while still on his head! He was treated and released. The headset is no longer functional.

by jtothep on Jan 8, 2008 10:56 AM EST up reply actions

Les Miles

I almost used this photo of Les Miles, but it's from the Sugar Bowl last year.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Jan 8, 2008 11:01 AM EST up reply actions

Beautiful!

Maybe that's why he's so dang hokie...still recovering from headfry.

by jtothep on Jan 8, 2008 11:21 AM EST up reply actions

les

He apparently is more of a water/milk fan.

by PSU86 on Jan 8, 2008 4:54 PM EST up reply actions

Gatorade Dump

It's ok. It's just overdone. Soak your coach when you win it all. Or when you win your conference. This year Illinois and Michigan State both dumped Gatorade on Zook and Dantonio after beating Penn State, an 8-4 team. I think that's a little excessive. To a certain extent you should act like you've been there before. Beating Memphis in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl probably wasn't worth dousing the coach as Florida Atlantic did.

I would just like to see teams do something a little more original or just shake your opponents hand and go back to the locker room. But I guess you're on a sideline and there are only so many props to work with.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Jan 8, 2008 10:58 AM EST up reply actions

Keep in mind, this is FAU here

Beating Memphis in a bowl game may well be the biggest win in the history of their program. (Now if it were some Big Ten school - even Indiana - that beat Memphis in some fifth-tier bowl game, that would be another matter.)

by SpartanDan on Jan 8, 2008 11:59 AM EST up reply actions

gatorade

Why the hell is there all this excess gatorade sitting around? Don't you think they would know how much to make for each game, or at least be close enough to not have a full tub to dump on the head and assistant coaches. Think about the ethiopians, that gatorade could feed 17 children for 17 weeks.

by PSU86 on Jan 8, 2008 12:11 PM EST up reply actions

While I consider 8-4 seasons to

be disappointing, apparently in the rest of the world's eyes we're still somebody special in that beating us warrants a gatorade shower.

by Ab4PSU on Jan 8, 2008 1:06 PM EST up reply actions

Gatorade

The way that stuff tastes and what a fraud it is as a sports drink, it should be dumped on the ground.

If there happens to be a winning coach in the way, then so be it.

by CDRS on Jan 8, 2008 1:28 PM EST up reply actions

Gatorade works(at least I think so)

I know when I play golf(grueling I know)in 95 degree heat in July two big bottles of Gatorade Rain is better than a bottle of water. Now, maybe it's in my head but I swear by it on the course. My father used to get fatigued around the 15/16th hole; I got him some Rain and he plays 18 with no problem.

Angelo

by nittanyroar on Jan 8, 2008 3:46 PM EST up reply actions

I would think so too

Water just hydrates you. Gatorade replaces nutrients your body burns while exercising.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Jan 8, 2008 3:57 PM EST up reply actions

Gatorade

It's full of high-fructose corn syrup, which not a healthful substance.

It also contains more sodium than soft drinks, which can raise blood pressure.

I actually drink it occasionally (I exercise every day), but I really have never noticed a difference between it and water. Maybe I don't work out hard enough to see any effects (probably true).

by CDRS on Jan 8, 2008 4:36 PM EST up reply actions

Ain't feeling so well

I drink mass quantities of gatorade when I'm hungover from boozing. Not just the hydration, but the sodium/electrolytes in the drink help get my brain from mush to some what working again.

Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.

by wookieeman on Jan 8, 2008 4:47 PM EST up reply actions

No fructose

It is full of sucrose and glucose.

by WFY on Jan 9, 2008 8:46 AM EST up reply actions

It is good for athletes....

while Gatorade does have high quantities of sodium, you actually in MOST cases need sodium while working out. Now if you are a fat person, or someone with a history of high blood pressure it isn't good to drink WHILE working out. After your workout it is a good idea.

Now for your average joe, just drinking gatorade for the taste isn't exactly the smartest idea. It is high in sodium, AND it actually is more detrimental to your teeth than a bottle of Mountain Dew.

The HFCorn Syrup is the same stuff used in most modern soft drinks, and while it is NOT a doctors favorite substance on its own, used in the context of a sports drink it helps boost short term energy reserves, which is what Gatorade claims to do.

Bottom line when I am golfing, playing in my rec league basketball, or softball I reach for the stuff because it DOES help.
At the house I reach for water with citris fruits in it. It taste decent, is cheap, and does a healthier job than Gatorade when I am lounging around.

by carolinaeasy on Jan 9, 2008 1:44 PM EST up reply actions

It's got what plants crave

It's got electrolytes

by Nick Blonde on Jan 8, 2008 10:11 PM EST up reply actions

Lmao

"It's 7:54 a.m. and James Laurinaitis just missed another tackle. Or was driven off the play 10 yards. Or jumped on another pile and got credit for a solo tackle. Your choice, really." This is priceless, even my buddy who doesn't watch college football much seen 33 and said, man he's a bum. That kid is so overrated, he made Dickinson look like Dallas Clark out there lmao. He was always outta position on pass plays and he would get punched right in the mouth in power plays 9.5 outta 10 times. I remember one play specifically, they ran a dive or power over the right guard and it was a pile up and they gave the tackle to Lauriniaitis....I was like wtf??? It's ok, thats why I love the NFL, they can hype someone alllll they want, but when it's time to play with the big boys you either can play or not and if you can't your out the league or on the bench.

Yeah Fox wants to take over everything, but if they had Troy Fakeman there and his gf Joe Buck, I would've just lost it. Its sad I got to deal with those clowns for playoffs this weekend is enough! Yeah Troy Smith really looked short as hell and even chubby, I know he isnt though lol. Jamarcus seems nervous when interviewed, I know hes from the south so I expect the accent lol. I wonder how guys like him and Eli make honor roll in college lol, I'm kidding I'm sure there alright guys. Hey if Morelli can make it through college, I can put the blue jays outside my house through college lmao. Good riddance :)

Now onto this SEC is the best crap, LSU didn't impress me at all last night. If Todd 23 yr old soph Boeckman didnt have 3 critical turnovers and OSU gave them 100 yds in personal fouls this game was alot closer. I mean on that 4th and 7 Boeckman had Hartline on the slant and decided to fumble the ball away all the way back at the 50, sad....

Now about the SEC, no one conference is impressive today, this isnt basketball. Some teams are impressive but not a whole conference. Time to rip apart the SEC, Arkansas is only a 2 man team, Florida has no defensive presence, especially in the secondary. If you bring your lunch pale and hard hat to work against LSU, you can take them to overtime and they'll lose(ask Kentucky and the 2man show razorbacks) um Georgia can go to hell, tell them to beat the choker Eric Ainge and that ugly rocky top orange crap. Let me see, I guess Ole Miss and Vandy are elite teams as well, because they play in the "mighty" SEC. How about that ol "great and amazing coach" Nick Saban, nice .500 season, way to go Nick you won a shootout with Colorado, oh! oh! ou can't forget that crybaby Steve Spurrier, I dont know how kids play for him, he whines about everything after every play. I dont mind constructive criticsm, but I would stop listening to that guy a long time ago...like his team has done lmao....Seriously SEC fans need to grow up, the conference has maybe 3 good teams, thats it. The rest of that conference is garbage! Period!

WE ARE, PENN STATE!

by LinebackerU on Jan 8, 2008 10:43 AM EST reply actions

While I Would Love To Agree..........

with you....I can't.

Couple quick hitters:

Last two seasons: SEC 12-6 in Bowl Games.

Two Different National Champions.

BIG 10 5-10 in Bowl Games.

One Rep in the big dance blown out both times.

Look......I think last year the SEC was under rated and this year they were over rated. At the end of the day, its still the best football conference in the country. By as much as SEC fan would like to have you believe, probably not.

If you want to look at this years games......you can say this depending on what side you are making a case for:

Top 5 teams from each conference:

Big 10: Penn State Were we really that impressive in that win over Tex A&M ? QB slipped on an option play otherwise we are going to OT.

Wisconsin. Lost to Tennesee. We can talk about how close it was and how they shut UT out in the 2nd half, but they still lost and only were able to score a FG themselves in the 2nd half.

Illinois. Blown out.

Michigan. Really did beat UF pretty good, but you could make the case that this is a UF team that still hung 36 on them (PSU hung what....9 on them) True Soph at QB. 3 Freshman starting in the 2ndary against a very experienced upperclassman laden Michigan team.

Ohio State. I never got the impression after the first quarter that they could win that game. They didn't, and the Big 10s flagship program went on to lose their 9 bowl game in a row to an SEC opponent.

SEC: UF. Lost to Mich. Very young team. Very young. 9 new starters on Defense. 4 were Jr's that went pro. Thank God for all the Gator haters out there they didn't come back along with Caldwell. cause we probably would have been looking at back to back in football as well as basketball.

UT. Beat Wisconsin. Nothing to say here. They are probably average, but beat Wisconsin.

Auburn. Won their bowl game. Nothing special.

UGA. Loaded with underclassmen. 17 starters returning next year and finish number 2 in the country ahead of the Big 10 Flagship program THE Ohio State Buckeyes. Oh yeah, also have a top 5 recruiting class going right now.

LSU. Pummeled Ohio State this year. Beat the snot out of ND last year.

The difference between the Big 10 and the SEC has to be the schedule. That and recruiting. The last 4 years the Big 10 has 12 top 20 recruiting classes amongst the 11 schools. The SEC has 23.

I wish there was more evidence to suggest the contrary, but I don't see it.

Eric Watters Atlanta, Ga.

by ech2os on Jan 9, 2008 11:39 AM EST up reply actions

Band Shots

I felt oversaturated by the bands watching the Orange Bowl last week, and the next day found I was not alone. Awful Announcing organized a count of shots: 110 band only shots.
http://awfulannouncing.blogspot.com/2008/01/foxs-orange-bowl-production-by-numbers.html

by jtothep on Jan 8, 2008 10:46 AM EST reply actions

Another Decent Link

Comparing the chicas of last night's competing schools:
http://touchdown.org/college/babe-championship-series-lsu-vs-ohio-state.php

by jtothep on Jan 8, 2008 11:22 AM EST reply actions

Season Ending Kudos

Just a quick shout up to Mike, for running another season of fine blogging. This is one of the more fun places to come for coverage on my favorite sport and team. You posted nice work again this year. Good luck in 2008--to you and our favorite team. Go Lions! --jp

by jtothep on Jan 8, 2008 11:26 AM EST reply actions

Thanks

I'm actually somewhat looking forward to the off season. It's pretty grueling running this blog. Especially during the season. Every day you're flooded with new information and it's a struggle to get it all up for you guys to go over. In the off season I can take my time and put my thoughts together and we can look deeper into some issues. I'm hoping to continue my "Greatest PSU Players of All Time" series too. We did Linebackers and running backs. Next I would like to go into Quarterbacks and wide recievers.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Jan 8, 2008 11:49 AM EST up reply actions

Morelli tops the list right?

And the receiving corps from 2003 and 2004 are the "Golden Era" correct? Sorry, it's cruel to pile on.

by Nick Blonde on Jan 8, 2008 1:52 PM EST up reply actions

suggestion/question

mike-any chance you will have people guest posting-again? i kind of liked that; no insult intended, just was nice to mix it up once in awhile.

maybe have Galen over at TNL writing wrestling updates, etc.

regardless, i more than waste government time checking out the site. good season, and keep up the good work.

by psudrozz on Jan 8, 2008 8:52 PM EST up reply actions

Guest Posts

I've thought about it and I'm certainly open to it. Galen was kind enough to fill in for me when I had other more urgent matters to attend to. But I try not to bother other bloggers unless I really have to. It's hard coming up with material day in and day out. Honestly right now I don't know what I'm going to blog about next week. You just hope something news worthy falls into your lap. Fortunately it seems like it always does, but my point is that it's hard enough running one blog. Providing material for someone else's blog while still maintaining your own is even harder. I'm not sure if you noticed, but Galen's blog suffered the week he filled in for me. I was deeply grateful for his service, but at the same time I don't want to abuse it. I would never ask Galen to post his Wrestling Wreports on BSD. That's his gig and it belongs on TNL.

Truth be told I would like to add another author to the site to lighten my load a bit. I asked a fellow blogger one time and they turned me down. I would really like to branch off into other sports like volleyball, baseball, hockey, women's basketball or even wrestling. I just don't have the time. So it would be great if someone with an interest in those sports came on as a beat writer.

If anyone is interested drop me an email and let's talk.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Jan 8, 2008 9:34 PM EST up reply actions

Fox Coverage Terrible

As usual.

Too many shots of the booth. Zero shots is enough, 1 is too many and more than 1 shot is completely excessive.

I don't care what these guys look like. Even though these two dopes are unknowns, why should I care what they look like?

How about showing (gasp!) the play on the field. Replays, the plays being set up, etc. Not the millionth shot of some clown in the crowd in a stupid costume or some idiot looking sad because his team just boofed a play.

When the game is being played, that's all I want to see. There's plenty of time for crowd shots, band shots, drum major and silly mascot shots during the interminable replays, between timeouts or coming out of TV timeouts.

I am yearning for the days when we can choose our own production and camera angles.

by CDRS on Jan 8, 2008 11:55 AM EST reply actions

How about the play

Where they cut away to the band or the booth or a comercial and when they came back the ref was saying "Personal foul on Ohio State. 15 yards from the end of the run." and the announcers were like, "Apparently there was a personal foul at the end of the play."

They had no idea what was going on. No replay. Just terrible.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Jan 8, 2008 12:02 PM EST up reply actions

Exactly

I was going to mention that, thanks. Yes, it's only a 15 yard penalty, why do we need a replay on that? By all means, let's see another crowd shot of someone wearing gold and purple, we haven't seen enough of that yet.

I seem to recall THREE personal fouls during either the Penn State - Purdue game or the Penn State - Michigan State game, where there were ZERO replays and the clowns in the booth glossed over each of them like they were a two yard run on first down.

We have more football broadcast now then ever and it seems like it's deteriorating rather than getting better.

by CDRS on Jan 8, 2008 1:32 PM EST up reply actions

Just like the talent level in

the NBA. The quality is watered down by expansion and overexposure. If you look average in a suit and can say something inciteful, not
insightful, then you're good enough to be on TV and flap your gums. If I wasn't so damn ugly, I would give it a try.

by Ab4PSU on Jan 8, 2008 11:43 PM EST up reply actions

People who don't have the looks for television

run blogs.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Jan 9, 2008 8:23 AM EST up reply actions

Not cool!

"I would like to see a team out there with some real balls dump Gatorade on an official after having a game changing call go their way. That would be cool."

Dude I was taking a drink and blew ice water out my nose, not cool at all. On the other hand, brilliant!

by Galen on Jan 8, 2008 11:56 AM EST reply actions