GP1

I totally agree. Is there room in college athletics for a spring/summer football conference that doesn't play when the BCS schools play? I think there might be so instead of being like the AFL, it could be like the USFL. The USFL was doing just fine until Trump and his ego destroyed it. If this is all about TV money, let's get some. ESPN has to show something. I'm sure a college football conference would draw better than MLB or NHL for NBC Sports. I'm sure college football would draw a better audience than college baseball, or gymnastics, or cheering, or whatever they show in the spring. If college athletics are for developing young adults through sports, then does it matter when the games are played? The players already go to school year around, so it isn't like they have to go out of their way to be on campus. They could play in April right after the Final Four, May and June with a Fourth of July "National Championship". I'm in...

Thanks for the video. I always struggle to watch really stupid people talk for that long, but I made it. At the end of the day, the guy sees the game as a way to give his family some sort of financial freedom..even if it means permanently hurting others. This is what the Romans used to do with Gladiators. It debases our football and society when cheap shot artists like Harrison are celebrated. It's a sport, not cockfighting.

I agree and I think I have a solution. The NFL should have a real PED policy. If it is about money, then make it about money...any player caught with a single PED in his system is suspended for 16 games. Second infraction and the player is out of the NFL for life. The size of the players will immediately begin to get smaller. The length of careers will get shorter and there will be less head injuries that cause people to kill themselves. It is obvious when I watch a game that there are guys out there juiced up to no end. My team is the Steelers and James Harrison is one of the more juiced up players I have ever seen. The guy went from having a bad leg injury that was keeping him out of games to squatting 450 pounds in about four weeks...without juice, that is impossible.

When I was growing up, my small town had a store in the "uptown" of the little village call Ben Franklin. It no longer exists, but if it did, it too would be a broken-down legacy from a different era. Today, Ben Franklin would be like a Dollar General. Enough said about that. I don't even know what to call CUSA at this point. With so many teams, it is beyond a conference and is more like some sort of an association of a lot of schools now crippled with a bad idea of a conference....or, the could really be on to something (see below). I want a separate division for schools in the MAC, cusa, etc. to play in. I also want out of the NCAA. Why couldn't the MAC, CUSA, WAC, MWC, etc. join together and form their own league and call it Conference USA and only play each other? It could be a national league with four divisions with a two week playoff for a national championship at the end of the season. Sure beats what we currently have now. If we wait around for the BCS type of schools to let us into their club, we are never going to get through the front door. Let's take control of ourselves and screw the rest of them.

I'd like to think it is an opportunity for the players to see what a real challenge looks like. Turning a 1-11 team into a winner is a huge challenge, but nothing like what some of those children face.

Steriods I'm not saying Seau took steroids, but it is unusual for a human to be in the type of physical condition he was in for 20 years as a professional. Guys take steroids to lengthen their careers. The longer the career, the more head injuries. The more head injuries, the more likely it is to have mental problems from the hits. Steroids also cause guys to be more violent on and off the field (Seau was arrested at one point for beating his wife). More violence causes more head injuries. The article above also shows the steroid abuse can lead to depression when players stop taking them. The NFL needs to rapidly clean itself up and the NCAA needs to follow as quickly as possible or the sport is doomed. It's a sport, not cock fighting.

that's a nice bb league. I'll get to see them play once a year. Went to my first game last year and really enjoyed it. UNCC actually has NCAA Final Four banners hanging in their arena...kind of neat.

Great lake. Even a beautiful lake like that would be honored to have the Great GP1 go 100 for 100 hitting balls into it...

Do you have to navigate a clown's mouth to get there?

Article His last answer raises some serious questions. Are we at fault for being fans? Of course it shouldn't be banned. I'm of the opinion that football below the ages of 7th grade should be outlawed. Children are getting head injuries at too young of an age and he impact of those injuries can last a lifetime. I don't believe the majority of the people coaching Pee Wee, etc. are able to properly instruct very young children in the proper way to safely play football. Most Jr HS coaches don't either, but some structure could be put around their coaching to make them more effective. I don't believe the children are fully able to understand and execute the coaching lessons below 7th grade either.

Our basketball players are our biggest asset to gain publicity. If they play well, people around the country see them on TV and see there is something good going on at UofA. If they fall short, we hope for another mention about James in an SI article or some other publication.

At which point they begin to mismanage their new homes and the next thing you know, it is a ghetto again. People who run the MAC and the ADs wouldn't know what to do if it was a BCS conference.

You don't. Montana is going from the frying pan into the fire. Anytime I read a quote from an athletic director, my bull*&^% meter goes off. The guy wants to put on his resume that he moved a team from IAA to IA...that's what I think is going on. If he can't change jobs soon, he will start trying to get facilities upgrades on his resume in order to boost his resume more. College athletics has become largely nonsense.

Eventually, the rich folks get sick of looking at the condemned house and have it torn down. There is another way of looking at it. I'd rather live in the nicest house in an upper middle class neighborhood if that is what I could afford.

C-USA Sun Belt WAC Mountain West Based upon your theory, I'd rather be first instead of last. "What do you mean by first GP1?"...Well, we can be a successful, yet forgotten school in a forgotten conference; or, we can be the best team in a division consisting of teams/conferences just like us. Look at the links above. We CAN be like every school in those conferences and we CAN be better. We'll NEVER be an Alabama or LSU...It's just the way the world of college sports works and Zips fans shouldn't fool themselves into thinking we can. It's simply not in the world of reality. If we (MAC) separated from the BCS schools with what remains of the conferences above, we could have our own division and play for a national championship. We can be a regular playoff participant playing meaningful playoff games in December at the Big Dialer. Is the sign of greatness in college football how you do against the universe of those playing your sport, or is it measured by how you do against your peers/equals? I believe it is a measurement of how you do against your peers. Compared to Alabama, Mt. Union is not a great football team. Alabama would score 100 points on them and Mt. Union might not get past the 50 or even a first down. Compared to all of the DIII teams, Mt. Union is a great program. There is certainly no shame in what Mt. Union has given their fans/school over the years even though they are not at the same level as Alabama. It's all how you look at things. I have a story about Zips fans who believe we will be Alabama some day. A Zips fan dies...Well call him Lieutenant Hopping Guy. Lt. Guy gets to the pearly gates and St. Peter is waiting. The conversation goes like this: St. Peter: "Lt. Guy. You've lived a good life. You were a good son. You studied hard and worked hard all of your life. You married and had a great family. You supported your community. You deserve to walk through these gates and spend eternity in Heaven." Lt. Hopping Guy: "Thanks St. Peter. My only request is to stay on Earth for a little longer to see my Zips become as good as schools like Alabama. One day, they will have the right building process and action plans to accomplish this." St. Peter: "You believe this can really take place? The Zips will one day have a program like a Alabama?" Lt. Guy: "We're only a facilities upgrade away." St. Peter: "We have a place already for people who believe as you do. It's called Hell."

I wonder who the first conference, in a fit of honesty, that will call themselves..."Conference Grasping at Straws (CGS)".

Yes. It's how you treat someone who is trying to mooch money off of you.

The NFL should countersue for malpractice.

He is a perfect fit for the Giants.

I totally understand. However, if a QB is throwing 3 ints a game, at some point it can't always be the fault of the other five guys and that one guy is always making the right read while everyone else is doing the wrong thing. An int can be the result of a DB making a great play, or a poorly thrown pass, or just a brain fart, etc. Either way, ints matter and it falls on the shoulders of the guy throwing the ball. Regardless of the starter next year, if the QB is trowing three ints a game, the rest of the team will lose confidence in him.

I dread the day of a playoff of any type. Why? Look at the second comment in the comment section. There are too many people in the world who subscribe to the idea that more teams in a playoff is better. A four team playoff won't be enough for the lunatics at the ncaa. Next thing there will be an 8 team playoff...then a 16 team playoff...then a 16 team playoff with a play-in week for four teams. Right now, college football rewards excellence throughout the season and every game matters. On some level, we already have a tournament that starts in August and runs through January. Want to turn it into college basketball where the regular season means nothing, have a playoff and enjoy watching reruns on network tv the week between Christmas and New Years when there is no college football on week nights because the bowls will be gone.

There will be some picks, but two in a spring game is a lot. Average it out to three a game when the bullets are flying for real and it becomes a weekly disaster. I'd rather have a batted pass or a sack than an int. Worst case, sacks and batted passes result in punts and favorable field position changes. Ints result in defensive TD for the other team and shorter fields. I don't see how an int is more favorable. From what we are reading, Bowden isn't going to put up with a player who gives the ball to the other team. He wants smart QBs who play the percentages. If Williams can cut down on the ints, he is the man. If not, he is a liability in the worst way. The QB decision next year will not be a fun one to make as the coach is deciding between who will provide the Zips with the least liability. As happy as we are with the changes, the Zips aren't out of the woods yet and a decsion like this is proof of that. I know this isn't the NFL, but the comparison is still pretty close. In the NFL, if a team doesn't throw an int, they have an 80% chance of winning. One int and the number goes down to 60%. Two ints and the number goes down to 40%. Three and there is almost no shot at winning.

:rofl:

Great read and thanks for posting. I don't think there is any doubt that Weeden is a very talented player. His problem isn't his talent...Heck, the Browns have had a lot of talented QBs over the years. The problem will be the Browns and what happens to good QBs when they play for Cleveland. After two years, they get run out of town one way or another then they bring another victim in to try to do something with the other 10 sad sacks they have playing for them. One other thing I would tell Mr. Weeden is this. You say your age doesn't matter. You also say every team talked to you about your age. Translation....Your age matters and they know it...That's why every team asked you about your age. The author has a really good discussion about the age of QBs, but even at the conclusion he admits there really isn't much evidence to support his theory. I'd look at it another way other than QBs going to Pro Bowls, because there are already three QBs in Weeden's Division that will make a Pro Bowl before him. This is how I see age. QBs on bad teams (Browns) take a lot of hits and they get hurt a lot. The older you get, the longer it takes to rebound and the hits add up more quickly. His age is going to matter a lot more in Cleveland than if a better team drafted him. The misconception is talent matters in the NFL. In a world where nobody gets hurt, that would be one of the best indicators if not the best. However, injuries matter just about as much as anything else. The 1977 Steelers were one of the best teams of all times and only went 9-5 and lost in the first round of the playoffs. Why? Injuries. My advice...Rent, don't buy.

The ints Williams throws scare the crap out of me. Adjusted for the number of times he will throw in a real college game, he could average around three per game. Moore takes too many sacks, but I'd rather have a sack than an int. Pohl had the best day, but not by much. Two sacks worry me, but no ints. Tanner Price? I don't think the #1 question Bowden has before him centers around stats. I think his decision will be more philosophical around the QB position for one year.