Well the NFL's "Final Four" Sunday had me pumped. I was fresh off of a visit home (back to the States). I was trying to get used to Swedish time and enjoying the weekend with my wife and son. Samuel took up ice skating at 3.5. Needless to say he is much better than I will ever be...anyway, I new that at 21.00 Swedish time I could watch the Jets vs Colts game, then around 02.40 I could catch the Saints vs Vikings game. I could sit comfortably in front of my computer and catch the games on the NFL game pass. It would be fun. As fate would have it, I started noticing around 16.00 that we had no phone service and no internet connection. I could not believe this...on this sunday of all sundays!! So I figure a quick call to the internet company could have things fixed...wrong...they closed at 15.00 on Sundays, but the recorded message said that they would be open Monday at 07.00...needless to say I started feeling a "tizzy" coming on...I tried to play "internet fixer"...I had no idea what I was doing...called a few friends...finally...using my phone I saw a score that said the Jets were up 7-3 so I loaded my laptop in my car, drove to our offices at the field, hooked up to the internet and drank a pot of coffee and watched both games. Today...(Tuesday) we now have phone and internet back at the house...
The Greatest Ever:
When I started watching the Jets vs Colts game, the Jets had the lead and the Colts took the ball just before Half-time. Peyton Manning went out onto the field...drove down the field 80 yards in 4 plays taking 58 seconds. He looked like he had figured something out. He apparently had. He came out in the second half and--as they say back home--"gotterdone". When I watch Peyton Manning play...I truly believe that he maybe the best ever to play the game. Time will see if he gets another Super Bowl Ring....
Is this for Real??:
Peyton Manning and Ei Manning are brothers and both have won a Super Bowl playing QB for their respective teams. Peyton won it with the Colts in Super Bowl XLI and Eli won it with the Giants in Super Bowl XLII....the very next year...back to back wins for the Eli family. Now what are the odds that two brothers would led their respective teams to Super Bowl wins in back to back years. Now fast forward to the fact that the Saints...after all these years..all the years of being the "aints" and the old pictures of the fans in the stands wearing paper sacks over their heads...have made it to the Super Bowl. Now, who is the most legendary Saints player...most people would probably say Archie Manning. The Saints took Archie Manning as their first round pick in 1971 and he played 10 seasons with the Saints...Didn't have too many winning seasons...But by playing hard Archie Manning earned the respect of his peers and became probably the most recognizable Saint. So the Saints have their first chance at the Super Bowl and the starting QB of the opposing, and most likely favored, team will be the son of the QB that lead them for 10 seasons. I just find it interesting that there is this wild connection between one man and his family and 3 of the last 4 Super Bowls...
What a way to go out?!?:
Is it true...Bret Farve, argueably one of the greatest to play the game, may end his career with this stat. His final play as a Green Bay Packer...as a New York Jet...and as a Minnesota Viking are interceptions...that is a tough one...but I have been and always will be Farve fan...nobody is perfect..unless doing your best is perfect...then there would be no doubt that Farve was near perfect...He did his best for 309 games...that's not too shabby....
Do you Believe?:
They say that it is a "curse" to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated. I learned from "twitter" via Peter King that the Saints are on this weeks cover of SI. Many of the superstitious will be trying to find ways to block the curse...but is it really a curse?? Last week SI had a split cover nationally...featuring Mark Sanchez and Brett Farve....oh crap...better call the "witch doctor"....
Championship game in Sweden moved out of Stockholm:
I saw the news that for the first time since I have been in Sweden (going on 9 years) the Super Series championship game will be moved out of Stockholm to Karlstad Sweden, or as it is known "Solstaden" (Sun City). I personally think this is a good thing. It might be kind of fun to move the championship game around and Karlstad is most definantly a football town. As a matter of fact it is the only town outside of Stockholm that even seems to be able to support a Super Series football team. The only thing that I think would be better would be to have the Championship game on a Saturday. The last few years, SAFF has hosted a championship weekend that featured U-15, U-17 and U-19 championship games on a Saturday and then the Super Series championship on Sundays. It was a nice arrangement and maybe the only one available with that many games on the same weekend at the same place. But now they are only going to have a U-19 and a Super Series championship on the same weekend, and it is moved to a city 3.5 hours from Stockholm. I will never complain about going 3.5 hours to (hopefully coach in) see the National Championship game. But how cool could it be if there was a U-19 championship game at 12.00 and a Super Series championship game at 16.00. At Half-time they could introduce the winners of the different catagories. Any player or coach nominated that was active in the current game could be represented by a family member of close friend. The game would end around 19.00-19.30 after the trophy ceremony. After that the "football family" of Sweden would have Saturday night to celebrate with the winners or be depressed with the losers or to tell the opponents that "next year will be our year"...This could all be possible if they played the game on a Saturday. Not a Sunday. A Saturday would give the football world a chance to enjoy themselves and not have to rush back to where ever your from after a sunday game. That's just my opionion and since I have a blogg I guess I am entitled to that opinion...
OK..until next update...drive on...
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Random thoughts brought about by Jet lag
Ok, on January 9th I left for Orlando, Florida and the AFCA convention. On January 14, I left my hotel at 05.10 to catch an 08.00 flight from Orlando to Chicago then to OKC...spent from the 14th to the 19th with the family back in Blanchard then left the 20th at 07.00 to head back to Sweden and arrived at 07.30 on the 21st...I have yet to get myself on a schedule...which leads to this late night (early morning) Blogg update...
6 THINGS I LEARNED ON THIS TRIP:
1. There is no more motivation to lose weight than fly economy on 6 flights in 10 days.
2. I spoke to more stangers in 10 days in the states than I have in 8 years in Sweden. No offense to my Swedish friends, but people are just more open in the states.
3. There were 8000 coaches at the AFCA convention...I think that is more than the number of players we have in Sweden.
4. I am amazed at the number of people that travel around the world on a daily basis. Truly amazing..
5. My oldest son is 21...He is a man...I am proud.
6. The beer and the coffee in Sweden is better than in the States...it's just true...
THE 5 MOST IMPORTANT WORDS FOR MY TEAM THIS SEASON:
1. Belief
2. Communication
3. Understanding
4. Perserverance
5. Fun
5 THINGS I WONDER IF I WILL EVER SEE AGAIN IN MY LIFETIME:
1. A 40 year old QB with a chance to take his team to a Super Bowl and either play against a Rookie QB on the Cinderella team of the year..or against the team led by maybe the best to ever play the position. Everybody was "sick of Bret Farve" 3 months ago...now they wait on the edge of thier seats to see if the story ends like a typical Hollywood ending or a Quentin Tarrentino movie.
2. My Sooners to have another decade like they had the last 10 years. Not totally sure on all this (since I do this for fun, I won't research these facts but I think I got 'em) 1 national championship, 4 times playing for the national championship, 6 time Big 12 Champions...and some people aren't sure if Bob can get it done...I do hope we get a chance to see what can happen in the next 10 years...
3. Seeing 3 major college coaches getting fired for "alleged mistreatment of players". Hope we never see that again. Not saying anyone is guilty or innocent, but that's just not good news...
4. My 300 pound Center score on a deflected screen pass....from 24 yards out...still amazing...
5. My feet...man, I gotta lose some weight...again...
OK, enjoy the random thoughts brought about by jet lag...big football weekend back in the Mother land...I will say....Vikes and Jets...just because it would make for some unbelievable analysis of how it happened..
6 THINGS I LEARNED ON THIS TRIP:
1. There is no more motivation to lose weight than fly economy on 6 flights in 10 days.
2. I spoke to more stangers in 10 days in the states than I have in 8 years in Sweden. No offense to my Swedish friends, but people are just more open in the states.
3. There were 8000 coaches at the AFCA convention...I think that is more than the number of players we have in Sweden.
4. I am amazed at the number of people that travel around the world on a daily basis. Truly amazing..
5. My oldest son is 21...He is a man...I am proud.
6. The beer and the coffee in Sweden is better than in the States...it's just true...
THE 5 MOST IMPORTANT WORDS FOR MY TEAM THIS SEASON:
1. Belief
2. Communication
3. Understanding
4. Perserverance
5. Fun
5 THINGS I WONDER IF I WILL EVER SEE AGAIN IN MY LIFETIME:
1. A 40 year old QB with a chance to take his team to a Super Bowl and either play against a Rookie QB on the Cinderella team of the year..or against the team led by maybe the best to ever play the position. Everybody was "sick of Bret Farve" 3 months ago...now they wait on the edge of thier seats to see if the story ends like a typical Hollywood ending or a Quentin Tarrentino movie.
2. My Sooners to have another decade like they had the last 10 years. Not totally sure on all this (since I do this for fun, I won't research these facts but I think I got 'em) 1 national championship, 4 times playing for the national championship, 6 time Big 12 Champions...and some people aren't sure if Bob can get it done...I do hope we get a chance to see what can happen in the next 10 years...
3. Seeing 3 major college coaches getting fired for "alleged mistreatment of players". Hope we never see that again. Not saying anyone is guilty or innocent, but that's just not good news...
4. My 300 pound Center score on a deflected screen pass....from 24 yards out...still amazing...
5. My feet...man, I gotta lose some weight...again...
OK, enjoy the random thoughts brought about by jet lag...big football weekend back in the Mother land...I will say....Vikes and Jets...just because it would make for some unbelievable analysis of how it happened..
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
10 days at home
Probably would have been a little smarter to blogg as I went, but there really wasn't alot of time for that. Thanks to my club, The Arlanda Jets, I was able to attend the 2010 AFCA convention in Orlando, Florida and also spend 5 days home in Blanchard, Oklahoma to visit my family. The original plan from the club was to send somebody else over, but that person wasn't able to go so at the last minute the boys at the club found a replacement. I was excited to have the opportunity.
The Run Down:
Basically my time at the convention was to research a variety of products that we would like to add to our club and the HS program we are running. I had forgotten how much "stuff" was out there to work on the game. I will say that some of the coolest stuff was the video editing programs. If you really want to take your film study to the next level, you have to find a way to get some sort of a editing system. It's increadible what they can do nowadays.
The speakers were great. I heard Chris Pedersson (Boise St), Mack Brown (Texas) Tony Dungy (former NFL HC) and Mike Singleterry (SF 49ers HC) all in one afternoon. Hard not to leave excited.
Familar Faces:
On day two in Floriday, I walked in to the international coaches meeting, just to see who was in there. Low and behold I run into Jan Jemnert and Tyson Gullian from over in Sweden. I had no idea they would be there, so it was nice to see a familiar face. Janne was busy with his Team World preparations, but I was able to spend some time with Tyson and Soren along with Thomas Ahlberg, so it was a good time.
Also ran into my old room mate from when I first got hired at Washburn. Dale Perine. It was great to see him. All in all it was a great time at the convention. Not sure who the club will send next year to Dallas, but I will try to keep a bag packed.
Home Sweet Home:
Needless to say, coming home for a short time was better than not coming home at all. I got to see my Nanny (my Dad's mother). She is clipping a long at 91 years of age. Also got to see the youngest Kennedy, Cooper, who was born to my Brother Mike and his wife Shannon only 8 months ago.
Spending time with my son Jonathan, was priceless. It is a wild feeling when your son is now a man. He is 21. I will right a little more about our Food adventours in the great state of Oklahoma. Just to get your attention I'll write the name of one of the restaurants..."Fat Sandwich Company"...the name says it all. I can say that I had no idea that they even made food like this....anyways...battary is running low on the old Dell, so I just wanted to do a quick update. More to come later in regards to the trip and of course football....
The Run Down:
Basically my time at the convention was to research a variety of products that we would like to add to our club and the HS program we are running. I had forgotten how much "stuff" was out there to work on the game. I will say that some of the coolest stuff was the video editing programs. If you really want to take your film study to the next level, you have to find a way to get some sort of a editing system. It's increadible what they can do nowadays.
The speakers were great. I heard Chris Pedersson (Boise St), Mack Brown (Texas) Tony Dungy (former NFL HC) and Mike Singleterry (SF 49ers HC) all in one afternoon. Hard not to leave excited.
Familar Faces:
On day two in Floriday, I walked in to the international coaches meeting, just to see who was in there. Low and behold I run into Jan Jemnert and Tyson Gullian from over in Sweden. I had no idea they would be there, so it was nice to see a familiar face. Janne was busy with his Team World preparations, but I was able to spend some time with Tyson and Soren along with Thomas Ahlberg, so it was a good time.
Also ran into my old room mate from when I first got hired at Washburn. Dale Perine. It was great to see him. All in all it was a great time at the convention. Not sure who the club will send next year to Dallas, but I will try to keep a bag packed.
Home Sweet Home:
Needless to say, coming home for a short time was better than not coming home at all. I got to see my Nanny (my Dad's mother). She is clipping a long at 91 years of age. Also got to see the youngest Kennedy, Cooper, who was born to my Brother Mike and his wife Shannon only 8 months ago.
Spending time with my son Jonathan, was priceless. It is a wild feeling when your son is now a man. He is 21. I will right a little more about our Food adventours in the great state of Oklahoma. Just to get your attention I'll write the name of one of the restaurants..."Fat Sandwich Company"...the name says it all. I can say that I had no idea that they even made food like this....anyways...battary is running low on the old Dell, so I just wanted to do a quick update. More to come later in regards to the trip and of course football....
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Too Cold!!
This is the time of the year I start to wonder why I stay here. You see, if you come over to Sweden and play or coach football as an import player coming for just the season, you'll get here sometime in April. The weather will be nice, most likely some rain, but each day will get better, brighter and longer. You start playing the games sometime in May and you'll play up until midsummers holiday. The longest day of the year. Now this is a big time party for the Swedes and it is an awesome time of the year. I have seen blue skies at 02.30. It really is incredible. You celebrate this holiday, then if you are involved in football, you take the entire month of July off...no games...no practice...Why?? Well for now, let's just say that somethings are just meant to be...so if you are an import player or coach, you are most likely looking at 5-6 weeks paid vacation to go see Europe...So July will be a care free month...then August brings the end of the season and then September brings the semi-finals and then National Championship. Now, as an import player or coach, you will leave Sweden. You will notice that it is getting darker a little earlier. Maybe getting a little cooler, but over all it will have been a nice trip...a nice way to keep playing/coaching a great game and you will have made memories and friends to last a life time. This is where it changes for those of us that I call "Refugees of Love"...I am here because I fell in Love with somebody that ask me if we could move to Sweden. She was a little homesick, elderly parents and we had no IKEA near us in Topeka, Kansas. It was something I knew that some day I would have to do when we were married...so I decided to give it a try...besides I grew up in Oklahoma....I used to think traveling abroad was going to Arkansas to see my uncle. Anyways, my wife ask me about this during a summer visit to Sweden. Oh Yeah...one of those days where the sun is warm, the ever so slight breeze is cool. You're laying in the yard looking up at blue sky that goes forever. Thinking about what to put on the grill later....Oh yeah, baby...I can live here...OK...Fast forward to the winters...dark, cold and rainy....then comes the snow and life cranks up again...snow is nice. Kids come back outside and we throw snow balls and race on sleds. Then the cold seems to stick around...it seems to always be there...you can't go outside without getting that first breath that seems to get stuck in your nose because all those fine little nose hairs start to freeze and stick together...Oh well...bottom line is I think I am starting to like it...that is probably what scares me the most...ok on to football ramblings:
EXCITING GAME COMING UP SATURDAY JANUARY 30:
On the 30th of this month will be the first ever USA vs the World game. The game will be played at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. It will be broadcast via NFL network at 12.00 noon ET which I believe will be 18.00 for us here in Sweden. If you have NFL game pass you should be able to see the game live. This should be an exciting game. The World roster right now has 43 spots filled. It is basically Team Canada and 12 friends from around the world just now. Team Canada fills up 31 of 43 roster spots. No real surprise because they play some pretty good football in Canada. We (Sweden) have 3 players that made the team. Elias Groon a big defensive lineman from the Stockholm Mean Machine, Hampus Hellermark from the Lidingö Saints and Sebastian Johansson from the Carlstad Crusaders. So we wish those guys and the team the best of luck. It will be an interesting game. I checked out the Team USA roster and it is very impressive. A lot of big-time recruits are on the roster. The world will be led by Coach Jan Jenmert who also serves as the Head Coach for team Sweden. Sweden also had Niclas Carlsson working with the strength and condition part of the world team. For more information on Team world or Team USA check it out here:
http://www.usavworld.com/2010/ and http://www.ifaf.org/
The "Hey, we scored in the first quarter this season" award:
Goes to the Kansas City Chiefs...scored there first, first quarter TD of this season...if was scored by Brian Cox...it was his first ever TD...nice...
999: Tony Gonzalez finished this season with 999 catches. I hope the first play next season is a pass to Gonzalez....
IF it were a play-off: Check this out for round one of a 16 team National championship tournament for NCAA Div 1 football. Nothing fancy, just took the top 16 in the final BCS standings. Round 1 would have been played the weekend of December 19th (8 games). Followed by December 26th (4 games). Followed by the Semi-finals on Jan 2 with the Finals being played Jan 9th. Basically the same schedule as the Bowl schedule. Here is what the first round would have looked like. The number in paranthesis is the final BCS rank.
ROUND 1:
(1) Alabama vs (16) West Virginia
(5) Florida vs (12) LSU
(7) Oregon vs (10) Iowa
(3) Cincinnati vs (14) BYU
That's the top of the bracket, now to the bottom bracket:
(2) Texas vs (15) Miami, Fla
(6) Boise St vs (11) Virginia Tech
(8) Ohio State vs (9) Ga. Tech
(4) TCU vs (13) Penn State
That would make for some interesting games and a very interesting tournament played out right through the bowl season that is in place now...well it's a dream...
The Ulitmate Question:
Will the NCAA move to a play-off format for NCAA div 1 schools before Sweden ever plays a straight through season without the 4-6 week summer break in the middle of a 10 game schedule? Hard to say, but there is a side of me that feels like I will never live to see either of those things happen....
In the meantime enjoy the football that's left...I haven't decided if I can cheer for that team that plays on Thursday night that starts with a "T" but I am a Big 12 fan....only thing mostly for sure is that with a live kick-off at 02.30 Swedish time...I'll be asleep on the couch!! Unless of course, if I get tired, I go and open the front door and let my nose hairs freeze a little...that should wake me back up!!
EXCITING GAME COMING UP SATURDAY JANUARY 30:
On the 30th of this month will be the first ever USA vs the World game. The game will be played at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. It will be broadcast via NFL network at 12.00 noon ET which I believe will be 18.00 for us here in Sweden. If you have NFL game pass you should be able to see the game live. This should be an exciting game. The World roster right now has 43 spots filled. It is basically Team Canada and 12 friends from around the world just now. Team Canada fills up 31 of 43 roster spots. No real surprise because they play some pretty good football in Canada. We (Sweden) have 3 players that made the team. Elias Groon a big defensive lineman from the Stockholm Mean Machine, Hampus Hellermark from the Lidingö Saints and Sebastian Johansson from the Carlstad Crusaders. So we wish those guys and the team the best of luck. It will be an interesting game. I checked out the Team USA roster and it is very impressive. A lot of big-time recruits are on the roster. The world will be led by Coach Jan Jenmert who also serves as the Head Coach for team Sweden. Sweden also had Niclas Carlsson working with the strength and condition part of the world team. For more information on Team world or Team USA check it out here:
http://www.usavworld.com/2010/ and http://www.ifaf.org/
The "Hey, we scored in the first quarter this season" award:
Goes to the Kansas City Chiefs...scored there first, first quarter TD of this season...if was scored by Brian Cox...it was his first ever TD...nice...
999: Tony Gonzalez finished this season with 999 catches. I hope the first play next season is a pass to Gonzalez....
IF it were a play-off: Check this out for round one of a 16 team National championship tournament for NCAA Div 1 football. Nothing fancy, just took the top 16 in the final BCS standings. Round 1 would have been played the weekend of December 19th (8 games). Followed by December 26th (4 games). Followed by the Semi-finals on Jan 2 with the Finals being played Jan 9th. Basically the same schedule as the Bowl schedule. Here is what the first round would have looked like. The number in paranthesis is the final BCS rank.
ROUND 1:
(1) Alabama vs (16) West Virginia
(5) Florida vs (12) LSU
(7) Oregon vs (10) Iowa
(3) Cincinnati vs (14) BYU
That's the top of the bracket, now to the bottom bracket:
(2) Texas vs (15) Miami, Fla
(6) Boise St vs (11) Virginia Tech
(8) Ohio State vs (9) Ga. Tech
(4) TCU vs (13) Penn State
That would make for some interesting games and a very interesting tournament played out right through the bowl season that is in place now...well it's a dream...
The Ulitmate Question:
Will the NCAA move to a play-off format for NCAA div 1 schools before Sweden ever plays a straight through season without the 4-6 week summer break in the middle of a 10 game schedule? Hard to say, but there is a side of me that feels like I will never live to see either of those things happen....
In the meantime enjoy the football that's left...I haven't decided if I can cheer for that team that plays on Thursday night that starts with a "T" but I am a Big 12 fan....only thing mostly for sure is that with a live kick-off at 02.30 Swedish time...I'll be asleep on the couch!! Unless of course, if I get tired, I go and open the front door and let my nose hairs freeze a little...that should wake me back up!!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
football ramblings
The Red Raider Saga:
Like most of you I have been following what has been going on at Texas Tech over the past few days and it seems to get more and more bizarre. When I first heard about it, it sounded strange that a coach at any level would lock a player in an electrical closet since he could not practice because of a minor concussion. As the stories continue to develop it has taken (and I am sure will continue to take) some crazy twists and turns. The shed that Adam James was taken to stand in turns out to be a garage that is used to store equipment. A garage that was not small. The electical closet turns out to be a room used to do press conferences after the game. Many of Mike Leach's former players have come to his defense and complained that the problem was Adam James. Likewise, I understand that those defenses of Coach Leach are being countered by more complaints of treatment. Now, we as fans will be left to follow the story via the internet, TV and even Twitter, while the lawyers go to war to see what can sort of financial deal will be worked out. Some things seem obvious. Mike Leach will not coach at Texas Tech next year. That would be a no win situation for everybody. You have coach that turned around a program with an exciting brand of football. The Red Raiders were coming off a fantastic 2008 season where life was good, and things were looking up. They did not have the same success in 2009 and there were some situations brought up in the media of problems within the team. This incident with Adam James seems to be the straw that broke the camels back, and now the kindom of Mike Leach and the Red Raiders is crumbling down. What happens next? I saw on "Twitter" that Mike Leach was fired. Roughly 3 hours later, I saw a "tweet" stating that Tommy Tubberville is interested in the Red Raider job. I can honestly say that I have no idea if that it true or not, but it is a little look into the world of big time college athletics. One thing will be interesting. How will the next HC of the Red Raiders handle Wide Receiver Adam James? He will not play in the bowl game and it will be interesting to see what happens to his career as time goes by.
What can we learn from all of this:
I would say that as a Head Coach, regardless of what level, you have to think out everything in regards to how you handle a team. Being in coaching myself since 1987 I can tell you that I have not always made the best decisions or been proud of all my actions, but I don't feel I have ever put a player in harms way. I think this is going to be the big factor in the Mike Leach story has it unfolds. Did he put his player in harms way by what happened under his leadership of the Texas Tech football program. I think that will be a hard point to prove. Bobby Bowden is quoted as saying, "In coaching, the highs are never as high as the lows are low." I would guess as good as Mike Leach felt when Graham Harrell threw the TD pass to beat Texas in 2008 can't compare to the down he is going through right now.We'll see how the bowl game goes....
Bowl Season Ramblings:
Here are some thoughts from me regarding this years Bowl season as it has progressed:
The "I got the dream Job at the right time award": From what I saw last night, that award has to go to Brian Kelly. Does a fantastic job building up the program at the University of Cinncinati, goes undeafeted, gets a chance to go against the University of Florida to prove they can "play with the big boys". I would think he really likes that new Notre Dame coaching gear!! Seems a little unfair that teams can get the reward of a bowl game only to not have their head coach, coordinator or position coach because that guy gets a new job and moves on before the bowl game....
The "Thank you Bob and the Sooners award": Obviously this one goes to the Sooners. It has been along time since the Sooners won a bowl game. I was unable to watch it but got score updates via espn on my iPhone. It made for a stressful New Years Eve, but it was nice to get the final score update that the Sooners had won. Now, goodbye 2009...Hello 2010.
The "OK you probably are one of the best ever to play the college game award": Gotta give this one to Tim Tebow. I stayed up to catch the game live. Kick-off around 02.00 in Sweden. When I went to bed at 06.00 after the game...I truly thought that Tim Tebow could not have gone out in a better way. Yes, of course the Gator fans would like to have seen the back to back championships, but the way Tebow played in that last game was the exclamation point on a fantastic career. Two things will be interesting to follow now. One is, what will Tebow do in the NFL? I am no expert, but he'll probably do something...Two is, how would you like to be the starting QB at Florida next fall?
The "I can't believe they stopped that play twice in a row award": This has to go to the Oklahoma State Defense on their goal line stand against Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl. Ole Miss ran their 330+ pound DL straight up the gut...twice...from inside the one and the Cowboys defense stopped the big dude from getting into the endzone...Mass x Velocity = ???
The "That's not the way we planned it award": This one goes to the OSU offense. In their 7 first half drives they went 6 punts and 1 fumble..They regrouped at halftime and then went..Punt, Punt, TD...so things are looking good...then they followed it up with...turn over on Downs, Interception, Interception, fumble, fumble, interception...and finally, interception....not a good day for the offense....
Ok, now it's time to stop rambling and time to watch a some more football...it's sunday morning now in Sweden and I have The Liberty Bowl to finsih watching, then check out the Red Raiders in the Alamo Bowl.
Like most of you I have been following what has been going on at Texas Tech over the past few days and it seems to get more and more bizarre. When I first heard about it, it sounded strange that a coach at any level would lock a player in an electrical closet since he could not practice because of a minor concussion. As the stories continue to develop it has taken (and I am sure will continue to take) some crazy twists and turns. The shed that Adam James was taken to stand in turns out to be a garage that is used to store equipment. A garage that was not small. The electical closet turns out to be a room used to do press conferences after the game. Many of Mike Leach's former players have come to his defense and complained that the problem was Adam James. Likewise, I understand that those defenses of Coach Leach are being countered by more complaints of treatment. Now, we as fans will be left to follow the story via the internet, TV and even Twitter, while the lawyers go to war to see what can sort of financial deal will be worked out. Some things seem obvious. Mike Leach will not coach at Texas Tech next year. That would be a no win situation for everybody. You have coach that turned around a program with an exciting brand of football. The Red Raiders were coming off a fantastic 2008 season where life was good, and things were looking up. They did not have the same success in 2009 and there were some situations brought up in the media of problems within the team. This incident with Adam James seems to be the straw that broke the camels back, and now the kindom of Mike Leach and the Red Raiders is crumbling down. What happens next? I saw on "Twitter" that Mike Leach was fired. Roughly 3 hours later, I saw a "tweet" stating that Tommy Tubberville is interested in the Red Raider job. I can honestly say that I have no idea if that it true or not, but it is a little look into the world of big time college athletics. One thing will be interesting. How will the next HC of the Red Raiders handle Wide Receiver Adam James? He will not play in the bowl game and it will be interesting to see what happens to his career as time goes by.
What can we learn from all of this:
I would say that as a Head Coach, regardless of what level, you have to think out everything in regards to how you handle a team. Being in coaching myself since 1987 I can tell you that I have not always made the best decisions or been proud of all my actions, but I don't feel I have ever put a player in harms way. I think this is going to be the big factor in the Mike Leach story has it unfolds. Did he put his player in harms way by what happened under his leadership of the Texas Tech football program. I think that will be a hard point to prove. Bobby Bowden is quoted as saying, "In coaching, the highs are never as high as the lows are low." I would guess as good as Mike Leach felt when Graham Harrell threw the TD pass to beat Texas in 2008 can't compare to the down he is going through right now.We'll see how the bowl game goes....
Bowl Season Ramblings:
Here are some thoughts from me regarding this years Bowl season as it has progressed:
The "I got the dream Job at the right time award": From what I saw last night, that award has to go to Brian Kelly. Does a fantastic job building up the program at the University of Cinncinati, goes undeafeted, gets a chance to go against the University of Florida to prove they can "play with the big boys". I would think he really likes that new Notre Dame coaching gear!! Seems a little unfair that teams can get the reward of a bowl game only to not have their head coach, coordinator or position coach because that guy gets a new job and moves on before the bowl game....
The "Thank you Bob and the Sooners award": Obviously this one goes to the Sooners. It has been along time since the Sooners won a bowl game. I was unable to watch it but got score updates via espn on my iPhone. It made for a stressful New Years Eve, but it was nice to get the final score update that the Sooners had won. Now, goodbye 2009...Hello 2010.
The "OK you probably are one of the best ever to play the college game award": Gotta give this one to Tim Tebow. I stayed up to catch the game live. Kick-off around 02.00 in Sweden. When I went to bed at 06.00 after the game...I truly thought that Tim Tebow could not have gone out in a better way. Yes, of course the Gator fans would like to have seen the back to back championships, but the way Tebow played in that last game was the exclamation point on a fantastic career. Two things will be interesting to follow now. One is, what will Tebow do in the NFL? I am no expert, but he'll probably do something...Two is, how would you like to be the starting QB at Florida next fall?
The "I can't believe they stopped that play twice in a row award": This has to go to the Oklahoma State Defense on their goal line stand against Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl. Ole Miss ran their 330+ pound DL straight up the gut...twice...from inside the one and the Cowboys defense stopped the big dude from getting into the endzone...Mass x Velocity = ???
The "That's not the way we planned it award": This one goes to the OSU offense. In their 7 first half drives they went 6 punts and 1 fumble..They regrouped at halftime and then went..Punt, Punt, TD...so things are looking good...then they followed it up with...turn over on Downs, Interception, Interception, fumble, fumble, interception...and finally, interception....not a good day for the offense....
Ok, now it's time to stop rambling and time to watch a some more football...it's sunday morning now in Sweden and I have The Liberty Bowl to finsih watching, then check out the Red Raiders in the Alamo Bowl.
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