GP1

It took 30 seconds. This discussion shouldn't be about whether or not a group of college athletes can play a game on a field (No pretentious American soccer fans. It isn't a pitch. Just like a baseball field isn't a diamond. Get over yourselves.) with a divot on it, it's just dirt and grass. It's just a sport played on a field. It's a bigger conversation than the field. The issue of why soccer players can handle the field producing a single bad bounce leads to the discussion of why soccer will always be a white suburban game for Americans. I don't know what the socioeconomic class that plays top level soccer in Europe is, but apparently the US tends to produce a player who can't handle a single piece of adversity thrown in front of him. If there is a group of Americans who cant handle adversity of any kind thrown in front of them, it is the suburban class. This is why we will continue to be the lower class of international soccer...forever. Throw that in your pitch and smoke it suburban soccer fan.

Exactly. It's the most insecure fan base in college football. PAC10 fans don't care about the SEC. ACC fans don't care about the SEC. Big 12....Whatever fans don't care about the SEC. Big Ten fans always feel the urge to try and defend themselves as it relates to the SEC. They are a bunch of babies. You would think that a conference that added Maryland and Rutgers would see how many viewers they added to their network on Dish 617,479 or whatever channel one wants to watch the Northwestern vs. Minnesota game on, and feel great about how all of that interest in central New Jersey is going to make their conference relevant again. Instead, they feel the need to take digs at a better conference.

That's one way to look at it, but I prefer to not look at it from the wallowing in self-pity Big Ten perspective. ESPN is bad entertainment because it has become the same story every week, if not every day in some cases. They just dressed up with different actors. It's truly a Disney show. I'd bet $100 that this week on Game Day, they will come back from commercial, the drunk crowd that was screaming all morning will be dead silent and Chris Fowler will go into a story about either the redemption of a college football player from hard times or a person who has some sort of terminal medical illness and used his love of a team/sport to get him through his tough days. My point is, I know people have it tough and it is very sad when they do. Although the sob story they did on the ND qb last weekend, including him spending 15 weeks in San Diego playing football, that Desmond Howard fun of was one I had little sympathy for. Watching sports is a release for people from these events that surround them every day and I'm not sure why we have to be "entertained" by those stories while waiting for a college football game to start. Those stories are f-ing depressing. When the story is over, Howard, Herbstreit and Pollack will be asked to comment on something that is not about football and they will all sound stupid doing it. It's like watching Johnson, Ditka, Jackson, et al comment about child abuse and domestic violence. Have the experts on football stick to commenting about football. Last thing then I'll get off of this. College Scoreboard. Can they just get back to doing highlights? I don't need to see debates between Mark May (a guy who talks too fast to understand) and Lou Holtz (a guy who simply can't speak). I'm not interested in watching two stupid guys debate. Entertain me with some freaking highlights from all over the country. If the astronauts from the Planet of the Apes came back to Earth, but they did not know what season it was and their only form of communication was the television they could flip to Fox News and ESPN. If ESPN was running a kid with cancer story they would suspect it was near the holidays. They could confirm it by tuning into Fox News and watching a story on The War on Christmas. The only difference would be the creatures on TV would be a form of apes and not humans.

Problem Solved Laziness is not a good reason to not do it. FIFA stamps 130 fields across the world with their approval. If we can fly a man to the moon, we can solve this simple horticulture problem. Solve the problem...don't hide from it. BTW, the Browns won't be coming to Akron. There is nowhere to put them.

Funny, that guy looks a lot like Lebron in an Akron football uniform....with the "Z" on the one side backward of course.

I'm glad someone feels the same way I do about ESPN. Between the endless discussion of the same top 10 college football teams all day long on ESPNU and being forced to watch guys who only really know about football comment on issues such as child abuse and domestic violence, I find it horribly bad entertainment. Funny that the first word in ESPN is "Entertainment" and they are getting that all wrong.

Are you sure they weren't talking about their wives/girlfriends?

I was watching TV last weekend and ESPN was running one of their weekly sob stories about a guy from an urban environment who makes it out and good in college football. Marshall's QB was the main character in this sob story. Quite honestly, if he throws up the ducks he has earlier this season, we should be able to get some turnovers. He doesn't throw a very good ball. We have a solid defense an can get some picks.

You should have been with me this morning when I had my Colonel Kurtz moment at Hominy Grill. What is a Kurtz moment? In Apocalypse Now, Kurtz is some say crazy army officer and he says the words, "And then I realized...like I was shot...like I was shot with a diamond bullet right through the forehead. And I thought, my God...the genius of that!" I'm sitting there ordering my eggs, grits, and toast, but I need to make a decision on the breakfast meat. Sausage or double thick bacon. I think we can all agree that's tough choice. Then I had my Kurtz moment. I didn't have to choose either sausage or bacon. I could choose sausage AND a side of bacon. Moments of that level of genius are rare and precious. I'm proud, and probably lucky after that cholesterol bomb I ate this morning, to be alive and American.

One other place to stay . Patriot Point.

Dave, house is great. Neighborhood not as gentrified as you may imagine except for a couple of streets . socoupl coup . cfexcecfexce. Ignore whatever words those are. Not much around around. Close to team hotel. My advice, trust your instincts.

I have a little paper pushing to do then I'm going to hit the road. Will have something early this afternoon. Might drive there and have some lunch at Hominy since I'll be in the neighborhood. BTW, Hominy is much larger than you will remember. A couple of years, they remodeled and doubled their seating space. They also created a nice patio where you can sit and have a coffee or bloody Mary before breakfast.

Nice place. Use the shuttle they have available at the hotel. The shuttle has a fairly flexible schedule.

In town. King Street Grill...see above. Also, a King Street in Mt. Pleasant by the IOP Connector. Wild Wing Cafe in town on the Market an in Mt. Pleasant....Buffalo Wild Wing type place and a chain around the Carolinas. Used to be better, but not that bad now. Any of the touristy looking places on the market would work Let's talk BBQ. Home Team BBQ on Sullivans Island close to where you are staying. Smoked wings are great. They smoke their wings and then flash fry them for about five seconds to crisp up the skin and then serve. They give an Alabama dipping sauce for the wings...stay away. A traditional South Carolina BBQ sauce is mustard based. Use that. Home Team is across from Poes mentioned above. There are a bunch of little restaurants on Sullivans Island no more than 50 yards from each other. Taco Mamacita's Sloppy Joe tacos with BBQ Fritos in them is my favorite after a night of drinking meal down there. Again, I like the one on Sullivans. You could go to Poes with children that age early. When you cross over the IOP Connector continue straight into a little town complex they have there. there is a small pizza shop there and public parking. You could get some pizza and walk on the beach. Everyone should keep in mind if you are going to the beach that time of year it could be 65-75 degrees. It could also be 45-55 degrees. Anticipate it being cool at night. If you go to Market Pavilion for a drink on the roof top bar at night, the heat the place with these really cool gas lamps that keep you warm.

If that's what you want to do, then go for it. Be advised that you will have to drive everywhere you go. Also, it's really close to a not so nice part of town. Remember one thing about Charleston. There are three types of people: old money, new money and no money. There are a lot more people who fall into the no money category than anything. Outside of the places we all see in brochures are some really tough parts of town and they are usually not too far from the places people stay. EDIT: I'm going to Charleston tomorrow. Post the address and I'll drive by. It won't be out of the way.

We should have done one before the Howard game. Sort of like Babe Ruth calling his shot against a 10 year old girl.

That's the kind of dog that could put Mike Thomas on the unemployment line.

I promised to write a GP1 travel guide to Charleston. Here it is. EATING Almost never will go to a city that has as many world class restaurants as Charleston does. The great thing about the city is you can go to world class restaurant and not bankrupt yourself because there are so many they have to keep their prices reasonable for what you get. Dinners in a city like New York would be double what they are in Charleston and the food is better in Charleston. Here are a few recommendations. Make reservations well in advance. My selections are broken down into two groups: In the city and outside of the city. I’ll tell which is which. They are not in any order. There are 20 places just as good as what I recommend. I'm not kidding when I say this. If you are considering any of these places, you had better make reservations soon. High Cotton. In town. Classic low country cooking. World class restaurant. Real quick discussion about Charleston cooking. What is low country cooking you ask… The low country is the part of South Carolina around the coast in the general Charleston area. Starts and stops depending on who you ask. Here is a primer. Basically, it is the combination of African cooking with many of the ingredients found native to that part of the country. For example, shrimp and grits. Corn is found all over the world, including Africa. Shrimp can be harvested in SC. The slaves brought to the US had an understanding of cooking with corn and grits can be found in Africa as a food dish. They made due with what they understood and created great dishes like shrimp and grits as well as many of the fish dishes in a mustard sauce. Flounder is a popular fish in Charleston. If you go on to the High Cotton website above, you will find under the tab Maverick Kitchens a place called Slightly North of Broad (in town). Great for lunch. Much different menu than High Cotton. Don’t recommend for dinner though. Husk. In town. It was three or four years ago now, but the Husk in Charleston was voted by the NY Times as the best new restaurant in America. Enough said. If you cannot get in, I recommend at least having a cocktail at Husk Bar which is right next to the restaurant (the stone building in the photo). Classic cocktails. If you go there at a time when it is open for lunch, get the burger. They grind up bacon into their ground beef. This place is 50 feet from the Mills House hotel if you stay there. If you want to get in, you had better make a reservation after reading this sentence. As a side note, my wife and I went to Nashville in August and ate at the one there. Just as good as Charleston, but with different food. McCrady's World class chef in a world class eating city. Cypress. In town. Good place to get meat if you want that. They also make their own meats and cheeses. If you go onto the website and notice they have a restaurant called Magnolias (in town), this is a great place to go if you have children who can behave and will eat something other than chicken fingers when you go out. The food is home cooking at Magnolias and accessible to children. Coast. In town. If you want to visit where the locals eat, this is a good place to go. Very good seafood. Red Drum Mt. Pleasant. Ask any person who works in food service in Charleston where the best place around to get Sunday brunch is and they will say Red Drum. King Street Grille In town. Good sports bar and within walking distance to the arena. Poe’s Tavern Sullivans Island. One of my most favorite bars in the world. You could go to have a nice dinner at Salt across the street and top the night off with a couple of beers at Poes. Hominy Grill In town, sort of but more out by the medical university. Breakfast! I’ll temp you with this. Their sausage patties are hand patted made from ground pork tenderloin. THINGS TO AVOID….. Any restaurant on the market. Hyman’s…if you look at the website photo you will see a bunch of tourists waiting to get in. When you see that many tourists waiting to get in somewhere, you know the food is average. Those in line are the yokels who get off of the cruise ships, walk the market and then go straight to Hyman’s for some average sea food. Some of you really like beer. To be honest, I don’t think the brewers around Charleston aren't very good so I would avoid them. THINGS TO DO: Market Pavilion Roof Top Bar. It is the best roof top bar in the city. Complete with swimming pool and lots of Europeans walking around. Market Pavilion is a great place to stay. If you wait long enough, you sometimes can get a deal there. Other than that, it is extremely expensive to stay there. Golf. Wild Dunes on Isle of Palm is a good place to play golf. Expect the fairways to be brown and the greens to be painted green that time of year. Wild Dunes is a great place to stay in the off season because it is really nice and not expensive. If you wanted to take a limo in and out of Charleston, it would cost you about $100 round trip. It would cost around $60 round trip to go from WD to Sullivans Island. A small price to pay to not get a DUI. I recommend a car service called Ride it Out. A guy named German owns it and his cars are spotless. If you pay round trip in advance, he guarantees to have a car to you to take you home within 20 minutes of you calling. Carriage tours of the city. There are a lot of them set up around East Bay Street and Market Street. I have had the most success with the one located on the corner of East Bay and Market across Market Street from Market Pavilion. Walking The Battery would be a great way to spend some time looking at historic houses and maybe see a famous person who lives there. Home tours. There are people who open their historic homes for tours. These tours are very well done. Beaches. Want to relax on the beach one morning while reading a book, Isle of Palm or Sullivans Island. Staying at Wild Dunes gives you access to the beach. Want to get drunk with the locals?....Folly Beach. Fort Sumter is a good historic trip. Shopping. If you are not staying in town, here is how I would recommend you do you shopping trip. Put 160 East Bay Street in your GPS. On that side of the street is a large parking deck. Park there and walk up the market. When you get to the end of the market, to the right across the street is sort of a small mall associated with a hotel that has some shops. The mall will bring you out to King Street. To the right on King Street are all of the brands you will know. To the left are places you have not heard of and have the kind of merchandise that does not have a price tag on it because anyone who is buying something in that store is not concerned about price. The one thing I would avoid is a drive through The Citadel. It just isn’t that interesting. Another thing I would avoid is thinking Savannah is right around the corner and you can make an easy trip there for a day. First of all, Savannah isn’t that nice. Secondly, it’s really far from Charleston. PLACES TO STAY I mentioned above if you have a ton of money, stay at Market Pavilion. The Mills House In town and close to a lot. Reasonable prices. There are some Courtyards, etc. around CofC. I don’t know much about them, but those brands are usually pretty good. Make sure wherever you stay, they have some sort of shuttle service. I mentioned Wild Dunes above. Being in Charleston all of the time tends to get to be a bit much after a while. I really recommend this place. I’ll probably stay there for this trip. When I travel to Charleston for business, I say at the Comfort Inn and Suites at the Isle of Palm connector. Good rates, good rooms and close to some fun things. If you want to stay close to town, but not in town, I recommend the Marriott on Lockwood or the Courtyard near by. Really nice places and have shuttles to downtown. PLACE TO AVOID…. The Francis Marion Hotel, old and run down. For the love of God, don’t stay out by the airport in order to save some money…stay home if that’s your plan. Don’t stay anywhere south of downtown except for the Marriotts recommended above. Don’t stay in North Charleston, they have the highest murder rate per capita in the country. I hope this helps you plan a fun trip. If you have any questions, just ask. Remember, make reservations well in advance. There is a reason I posted this so far in advance of the tournament.

If true, here is what I read into it. Lack of attention to the running game. I don't want a run first team, but a team with a 2014 balanced offense.

We should be getting better soccer players than him at UofA. Little to no chance of getting him for football. Everyone gets scholarship offers. Let him go to Europe for a summer (a great experience) and then come back and decide what he really wants to do.

Marshall usually brings a large crowd. Should be a good day. Plenty of available seats. Ticket Sales Buy your tickets now and you won't have to stand in line.

It's not that simple. Recruits go to schools for any number of reasons. Your reasoning ignores the ongoing and ever more creative ways the non-BCS conferences link the similarities between the way they manage their conferences and shooting yourself in the foot. Tuesday and Wednesday night football for example. The BCS conferences aren't forcing the MAClike conferences to enter into these horrible agreements with ESPN. We enter into it willingly and celebrate it at the conference management level. We get empty stadiums in November on a weeknight....ESPN gets three hours of air time filled up...ADs and commissioners get good looking lines for their resumes...recruits get to see our empty stadiums and add one more reason to not go to a MAC school. Money isn't going to prevent stupid decision making. We have met the enemy and we are us.

Speaking of the blackout game. I wonder if Bowen will color his hair black, slick it back and dress in an all black jumpsuit like Elvis.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about Bowden's hair color from the PSU game. The only conclusion I have come to is he is wearing an alternative hair color like teams are wearing alternative uniforms. It's the only thing that makes sense to me.