The Color of Money

The Race is On!

The Univ. of Colorado fired Jon Embree after the worst season in the Buffalos' long and storied football history.  In Embree's second season, the Buffs finished at 1-11 (1-8 in the PAC 12) Colorado ended the season on an eight game losing streak, their only win came over conference foe Washington St. Univ.  Their eleven losses included an embarrassing 30-28 loss to FCS member Sacramento St. and a season opening defeat at the hand of in-state rival Colorado St. Univ. "Jon's results were extremely revealing in a very short period of time, and the prowess of the Pac-12 conference revealed it a lot faster," said Colorado A.D. Mike Bohn.

For the first time in school history, Colorado lost 11games, The Buffs failed to win or tie a game at home for the first time since 1891. Colorado was outscored 552-214, they ranked dead last in scoring defense. Embree was given the option of replacing  two defensive coaches, but he resisted those and other efforts to revamp his coaching staff. Two years in and with three years left on a five year deal, Embree had shown nothing that would indicate that he had a firm grasp of the situation. The Buffs were over matched and outplayed at every turn. Embree, who gets a $1.625 million buyout, suggested he got a raw deal.... I wish we could all be so unfortunate.

None of this would be of much consequence, if not for the fact that  1. Colorado is now a member of the PAC 12 and  2. Embree, a former U. Colorado player is African American.  Former Colorado head coach Bill McCartney (an ultra-conservative, hyper religious fella, who founded the men's ministry "Promise Keepers") stepped forward as Jon Embree's unlikely supporter. McCartney once envisioned Folsom Field (U.C.'s home stadium) as a place "for training and teaching on what it means to be godly men" and he wasn't talking about football.  His heavy handed dogma got old quick and he retired in 1994.

Coach McCartney thinks Embree got a raw deal and should be hired back immediately. He openly accused U.C. of racism in the way it handled the firing of Jon Embree. "I believe black men have less opportunity, shorter time if you will" said McCartney. "Dan Hawkins (Embree's successor) got five full years, why not give Jon Embree five years" In five years Hawkins was 19-39 at Colorado, and never had a winning season. So, McCartney does have a point there. I won't lie to you, if Dan Hawkins were black, they would have run him out of town after two seasons... no doubt.

A choked up Embree implied that only way he could've been more successful was if he had cut corners or cheated. His parting words, "If you just hire the next guy and say you've got two years, keep your fingers crossed"  I hate to break this to Jon Embree, but two years should be more than enough at a school like Colorado. He had the resources, he had the tools. Embree spoke to his former players, "You set a legacy and a standard, and as I told you guys when we're going through tough times, you're not judged by the scoreboard at the end of the day" 

"I was. But you won't be" he added nearly in tears. They will be judged by the scoreboard, that's why they keep score. Embree knows that and so do the returning Colorado players. Embree hinted at a double standard for African-American hires after they are fired from a head coaching job. He mentioned Tyrone Willingham as the only African-American coach to be hired for another head coaching job (Washington) after having been fired (by Notre Dame) What Jon doesn't mention is that Tyrone Willingham couldn't get the job done and was fired at both schools.

If there was ever a college head coach that deserved to be fired after one season, it was Mike Locksley (an African American) The University of New Mexico, (the school that opened the door for Katie Hnida to become the first women to score points in a Div.1 FBS game) was trapped, Locksley was rotten to the core, but UNM couldn't fire him because they were afraid of the bad publicity it would bring. So, Mike Locksley got a free pass for two more miserable years. Down state at NMSU, DeWayne Walker is almost certain to get axed and for everyone involved including Walker, it'll be a blessing in disguise.

Meanwhile, Joker Phillips was canned at Kentucky and nobody raised a fuss. It's Big Time college football, you don't win.... you get fired. Embree, Phillips & Walker are outstanding men of the highest caliber, but they're not good head coaches. It's abundantly clear that the proper way to fire an African-American head coach is to allow him to fail for at least three seasons, then buy out his contract. Let's face the facts sports fans, the dominant color in college football is green not white or black.

College Realignment Mazurka

The ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) didn't wait long to replace Maryland... they couldn't. Louisville of the Big East edged out the Univ. of Cincinnati and U.Conn for the coveted spot.

The move brings the ACC back up to 13 schools with Notre Dame a member in all sports other than football. The Big East then added Tulane and East Carolina, further diluting a diluted product and pushing itself ever closer to parity with The Mountain West, Conference USA and The Sun Belt. 

C-USA quickly nabbed Middle Tennessee St. from the Sun Belt Conf. and there's rumors that Florida Atlantic is also headed to C-USA from the Sun Belt. NMSU was spurned by the Sun Belt when the WAC dropped football, they could be a bit more receptive to the Aggies this time around. The Univ. of Idaho didn't show much interest in rejoining the Sun Belt (NMSU is also a former member) but beggars can't be choosy. The Sun Belt is not a good fit for either school, but those road trips to Florida and the Gulf Coast would be nice. 

Here's where we stand this week, The PAC 12 stood still, though there's a growing buzz that BYU or San Diego St. could be invited.  That won't happen for a variety of reasons. While membership in the AAU (American Association of Universities) isn't a prerequisite for PAC 12 schools, it helps. Eight of the twelve schools in the PAC 12 are members of the AAU, the exceptions are, Arizona St., Utah, Washington St. & Oregon St.  If the PAC 12 revives efforts to add Big 12 schools, only the Univ. of Texas and Iowa St. Univ. are AAU members. 

The PAC 12 was once all about academics, we'll now see if that still holds true. The other factor is athletic budgets, only Utah & Washington St. would have athletic budgets comparable to San Diego St.  All other league schools have budgets of over $50 million, though a budget of $40 million (give or take a couple of million) probably wouldn't keep a school out of the PAC 12. Also conspicuous by its lack of action was the Big 12 Conf., not a creature was stirring not even a BearKat, Huskie or mangy Cougar.

The Bottom Feeder

The 2012 College football season is almost over for the denizens of  the FBS bottom tier. Three, Kansas, New Mexico St. & South Alabama wrap up their season this coming Saturday. But we don't have to wait that long to crown a winner (loser) the bottom six on our list are "stick a fork in them" done for the year. #1 was an easy choice, Southern Miss finished with a perfect 0-12 

It's an awesome feat, even more difficult than going 12-0. It's even more amazing when you consider that in 2011, The Golden Eagles finished at 12-2 and were crowned as C-USA champions. When Larry Fedora took the head coaching job at North Carolina, he handed over a decent ball club to his successor, Ellis Johnson (the 'ol plantation master hisself) and Johnson promptly crapped all over it. 

The 24 game swing is reported to be the worst in college football history, I don't doubt that for one minute. We witnessed history and Ellis Johnson is also history, he was fired three days after the end of the season.  ''At Southern Miss we expect to compete hard and succeed both in the classroom and on the field,'' said A.D. Jeff Hammond. . ''This is not the exception.This is in fact the standard, the norm, our identity and who we are.'' 

I beg to differ, 0-12 is highly exceptional, just not in the way Southern Miss was expecting. The sixty year old Johnson, a veteran assistant coach is as white as they come. He awaits Bill McCartney's intervention on his behalf. 

The BCS Bottom Ten

1.  Southern Miss  0-12 ( going 0-12, was like hitting on a $2.1 million lotto ticket for Ellis Johnson)

2.  New Mexico St.  1-10 (DeWayne Walker's run as head coach is down to one more game, the Aggies and Texas St. have the honors of turning out the lights on the WAC)

3.  Akron  1-11 (Terry Bowden's Auburn Tigers were 11-0 in 1993, in his first season at Akron, he narrowly missed going 0-12. Do you remember when UNM was thinking about hiring this guy?

4.  Univ. of Idaho  1-11 (the Vandals finished the season with all the enthusiasm of mutinous Foreign Legionnaires on a forced march through the Sahara)

5.  U. Mass 1-11 (as a first year Div.1, FBS team, the Minutemen did what they were expected to do... lose lots of games)

6.  Univ. of Colorado 1-11  (Jon Embree also hit the jackpot, $1.6 million, but he kicked up a fuss and pulled the race card anyway. It's hard to feel bad for someone who's sitting pretty)

7.  Univ. of Kansas 1-10 (the curse of Mangino has fallen upon them... Oh Well! it's basketball season again... rock chalk jayhawk)

8. Univ. of Kentucky  2-10 (they failed to win a single SEC game, a late season win over FCS Samford won't spare them from this list) 

9.  Univ. of Illinois 2-10 (zero wins in the Big Ten, their two victories came against Western Michigan and Charleston Southern... damn! pick on someone your own size)

10. South Alabama  2-10 (the Jaguars played their first game ever in 2009, this was their first official Div.1 FBS season. South Alabama was 10-0 in 2010 competing as an unclassified NCAA school. From the school's Wiki page: "The 2010 schedule was made up of schools from NCAA Division I-FCS, NCAA Division II, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, and no Junior Colleges" They could've used a few Jucos on the schedule this year.

Dishonorable Mention

Boston College  2-10 (Just one day after finishing the worst Boston College season since 1978, coach Frank Spaziani was relieved of his duties. Spaziani's response was cryptic “I wouldn't be stating it right now for public laundry. I do have a case.”  Obviously, he didn't.

Tulane  2-10 (The Green Wave parlayed a pathetic run in C-USA (10 consecutive losing seasons and counting) into a demotion/promotion to the Big East. Head Coach, Curtis Johnson (who is African American) gets another year or two to turn things around. 

UNLV  2-11 ( Bobby Hauck must know where the bodies are buried in the desert, how else could he hold on to his job when he's won just six games in three years. Yes! Hauck is white, why do you ask?

Eastern Michigan 2-10 ( the breadth of the chasm between Eastern Michigan and the rest of the MAC is of Grand Canyon proportions. Head Coach Ron English (who is African American) is safe for another year, thanks mostly to the shitstorm kicked up by Jon Embree)

UTEP  3-9 (a one point win over Southern Miss, a four point win over Tulane and a win over NMSU?  Head Coach Mike Price retired after leading UTEP to seven straight losing seasons. He did however manage to get three bowl games under his belt and that bought him all the time in the world. UTEP has a thing for old drunken white guys)

Hawai'i  2-9 (The Warriors have one game left vs. South Alabama. Norm Chow had to resort to the oldest trick in Hawaii's playbook to pick up a few wins.... invite 'em to paradise, wine 'em, dine 'em, then knock their dicks into the ground on Saturday)

Raiders- Bengals Week 11

November has been a nightmare for the Oakland Raiders. Four straight losses, during which the defense has given up 30+ points, has the Raiders spiraling towards another lost season. The Raiders have set or revisited historical lows during this streak, they've never gone winless during the month of November, their four game losing streak is the longest since 2008 and they are now assured of their 10th consecutive season without a winning record.

"It's been mind blowing" said Tommy Kelly "I would have never in my wildest dreams, thought we would be 3-8 right now" Get your head out of the sand Tommy, anyone who looked over the Raider's roster going into the pre-season could see that Reggie's plan of addition by subtraction wasn't going to work.  Seriously, take a long hard look at this year's roster, player by position and tell me that this was ever anymore than a 4-12 team. From the moment Reggie McKenzie took over and Hue Jackson was canned, the 2012 season was written off as a loss.

In order for the 2012 Raiders to be successful, too many variables had to fall in place. In the Oakland Trib, Monte Poole asked the following question, "How did the '11 Raiders, with mostly the same starting cast, manage to reach first place in the division at this time last year?"  In my opinion it comes down to the chemistry between the coaching staff and the returning players. For better or worse, Dennis Allen is no Hue Jackson, and if Greg Knapp, the offensive coordinator or Jason Tarver, the defensive coordinator can't do better than this, then Allen must cut them loose.

Monte Poole continues, "But, really, how much rebuilding and fixing should be necessary for a team that was so close to the 2011 playoffs? It figured the Raiders might be better equipped to improve this season than last"  Mathematically, Oakland had a chance at the playoffs in 2011. Realistically by the time they played San Diego, inspite of all the playoff implications,  they had tanked the season and were simply playing out the string. It's not that the Raiders were that much better in 2011, it's just that everyone else in the AFC West stunk! and we still missed out on the playoffs.

For the love of all that is good, the Broncos with Tim Tebow at quarterback, won the AFC West by losing their last two games. "All the 2011 Raiders needed to reach the playoffs was an ordinary defense -- only Buffalo in the AFC allowed more points -- and surely in 2012 they could be at least ordinary" says Poole. Ordinary would be a step or two up from where they are now. We could point lots of fingers at lots of people, starting with Reggie McKenzie and on down the line. I'm sure the parade of waiver wire stiffs sours the mood in the locker room, as uncertainty hangs over the heads of defensive players.

Pat Lee was cut to make room for Aaron Curry who followed him out the door less than two weeks later. Just like at the end of 2011, nobody on the defense is safe, and rightfully so. Given the current state of  the Oakland defense, a 3-13 season is unavoidable. That's even worse then my own pre-season "lowered expectations" pick of 4-12. Raider fans have only themselves to blame if they got carried away on the wings of higher  expectations. Nobody outside the Facebook bandwagon "Raiders 4 Life" fan base considered this team a championship contender.

Suddenly the question becomes, "How the Hell are we going to beat the Browns?" The Cincinnati game gave us a surreal, Dickensian glimpse at our past, present & future. There's Hue Jackson, Bruce Gradkowski & Thomas Howard on the Bengal's sideline, the Cinci crowd booing Carson Palmer (ex-Bengal) without mercy even as promising rookies, Brandon Thompson, Kevin Zeitler & Dre Kirkpatrick landed on the Bengal's roster courtesy of the Palmer trade.

What part of that is our future?... the part where we lose, natch!  The Oakland Raiders are operating as a cut loss business venture, cutting costs while taking an axe to the deadwood, yet at the same time bringing in more deadwood.... ad nauseum. Many of the fans fell for the bait and switch, not realizing that all the changes also killed our chances of winning now. Whether this is just a blip on our way to future success or just more of the same old shit, won't be determined until next season or the season after that. Go Raiders!

Oakland Raiders   10                   Cincinnati Bengals   34

NFL Fact: the regular referees are only marginally better than the replacement refs. 

Dead in the water, Oakland started to rally in the third quarter. Sebastian Janikowski hit a 55 yard field goal, the Bengals were riding a streak of four straight three and outs. A beleaguered Carson Palmer temporarily quieted the boo birds by finally syncing up with Denarius Moore on a 20 yd. td. pass. It looked, for the world like the Raiders had finally found a spark.... then a sequence of events took place that typify everything that has gone wrong for the Raiders this year. 

The first set back to Oakland's nascent comeback effort was when Manny Lawson strip sacked Carson Palmer, resulting in a  20yd. field goal by Mike Nugent. A couple of possessions later, the Raiders had a chance to cut into Cinci's lead when Joselio Hanson stripped Mohamed Sanu of the ball at the Bengal's 25 yard line. As the ball was headed out of bounds, Hanson used an awesome acrobatic move to send the ball towards Tyvon Branch, who scooped it up and dashed untouched into the end zone. 

Touchdown Raiders!.... not exactly. Having not yet signaled a touchdown, the officials conferred and then ruled that an inadvertent whistle had blown, killing the play immediately after Hanson stripped Sanu, but before Hanson could keep the ball from going out of bounds. Faced with the option of accepting the play for fourth and one or replaying the down, the Bengals chose to replay the down. As the two teams lined up at the line of scrimmage, Cincinnati was flagged for a false start. 

Lamar Houston broke through the Bengals' line as players on both sides continued to play through, and tackled Bengals Qb. Andy Dalton. Cincinnati OL, Andrew Whitworth took exception to Houston hitting Dalton and went toe to toe with Lamar. A full blown scrum soon followed, it didn't take long for Tommy Kelly to get drawn in as punches were thrown and helmets ripped off. Once order was restored  Lamar Houston, Tommy Kelly and Whitworth were ejected from the game. 

"From the point of the turnover, or whatever you want to call it, it kind of went downhill after that," Coach Allen said. Bengals coach Marvin Lewis called Houston's play "a cheap shot." Coach Allen later said "We lost our poise." The poise less defense then rolled over and allowed the Bengals to drive 85 yards, culminating in a 7 yd. td. pass from Andy Dalton to Jermaine Gresham. How's that for a bedtime story?

     

Raider Notes:

Rolando McClain is still a Raider, or is he? the under performing middle linebacker posted on his Facebook wall "Officially no longer an Oakland Raiders" he later posted "Well techinically (sic) I am. But I'm mentally done. Just waiting on my papers" . McClain's Facebook wall was later wiped clean. The Raider front office reports that McClain is still on the roster, though he missed practice on Wednesday because of "team related issues" McClain was not present during the open locker room session with the media. He was not included on the league waiver wire as of Wednesday evening. 

Is Terrelle Pryor the Raiders version of Colin Kaepernick? looks like we're about to find out. Pryor who has been inactive for practically all of Oakland's games this year is about to earn his money. At this point, what's the worst that could happen, a quarterback controversy? Coach Allen is finally starting to think outside the box, too bad the box has already gone through the box crusher. With DMC and Mike Goodson still out (surprise!) a healthy pair of legs in the backfield couldn't hurt.

I have a good feeling about this.... it could be that little extra something that the Raiders need to get by Cleveland, which is suddenly showing signs of life (they beat the Steelers, but we too beat the Steelers and look at us now) "We got to look at any option" says Coach Allen. Where the fuck was this sudden need to experiment when the season started going south? One major hurdle that Coach Allen and his staff must clear, is their lack of imagination and daring do.... fuck! mix it up fellas, there's nothing left to lose (except your jobs)

Hue Jackson wants to return to the Bay Area, not as Oakland's offensive coordinator as many would hope, but as the head coach of the Cal Bears. The Univ. of California fired long time head coach Jeff Tedford and Jackson wasted little time before tossing his hat into the ring. Jackson calls the job "a golden opportunity" Cal has not contacted him, though Hue made it clear that he would welcome a call. He was last seen yelling "Can you hear me now?" into his cell phone. 

Transaction News:

As I mentioned previously, Aaron Curry was shit canned... all that rehab amounted to not a damn thing. That son of a bitch simply stole paychecks. Pat Lee who was cut to make way for Curry is back with Oakland after he cleared waivers. Kaelin Burnett played on special teams against Cincinnati, one day after he was promoted from the practice squad. 

Signed to the practice squad were Dan Knapp (all 6'5" 305 lbs. of him) apparently he's not related to Greg, though his father Steve did play linebacker for the Univ. of Nevada. and Cory Nelms, who played for the Univ. of Miami and had been a member of the 49'ers practice squad. Nate Stupar, who I thought would make the active roster during the pre-season is back on the practice squad.

Chris Johnson also returns to the Raiders after a short stint with the Baltimore Ravens. Johnson played in 12 games for Oakland in 2010, 4 games in 2011 before landing with the Ravens... never more, never more!  Give me your tired, washed up corners..... If Brandon Weeden could think straight he would drool over himself at the thought of dissecting the Raider secondary.

He's drooling all over himself now, but that's just from the concussion he suffered in the win over Pittsburgh. It's possible that Weeden will be ready for the Raider game, however the Browns are being overly cautious (if there's such a thing when dealing with concussions) due to the fallout from the way they handled back-up Qb.Colt McCoy's concussion last season (also against the Steelers)

 A local radio dee jay (he's  a 'Skins fan who ends his posts with HTTR) asked the question (on Facebook) "If you were to switch NFL teams who would you root for?"  I left a comment that said "As a Raider fan there is no other option" he responded "That's not what I asked" I answered "Fuck You Bandwagon" he unfriended me.

Take me Home Junior!, this pirate's life is full of peril and heartbreak, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Remember folks,  Raider law states that 1.The more things change, the more they stay the same  2. Anything that can go wrong, will  3. If you fight in the stands, don't start crying when they snap the cuffs on ya'   Above all else keep a sense of humor about you, after it it's only football.  

New Mexico Football Report

There is no rest or escape from this goddang re-alignment issue. The Big Ten (which has now expanded to 14 schools) plucked Rutgers from the Big East and Maryland from the ACC, thus reopening that big 'ol can of worms. Big East commissioner Mike Aresco has already come out and said that The Big East is eyeballing the Mountain West yet again. (even as the ACC prepares to raid the Big East) UNLV and Air Force have been named as possible targets for the Big East. Air Force had been approached before and said no, but in view of Dave Christensen's profane outburst, they may not want to keep such company anymore.

The Big East is scraping the bottom of the barrel if they're seriously considering adding UNLV for football. I'm well aware that it's all about demographics and television money, but seriously we're talking about the Las Vegas/Henderson, Nv. market here. It has to be UNLV's hotel and hospitality school that they're after, it sure as hell isn't the football program. The other school mentioned by Aresco was BYU. The comish is bluffing on this one. The Cougars, previously ignored overtures from the Big East with haughty disdain. That hasn't changed, they're holding out for something bigger and better. The basketball first Big East doesn't fit the bill.

The magic number is now at 14, The PAC 12 and Big 12 must match that, surely BYU will land at one or the other. Can't say I really blame BYU for ditching the Mountain West, getting drubbed by TCU was one thing but playing second (or third) fiddle to Boise St. was too much for the staid Cougars. After all Boise St. is little more than a football program built around a school with the academic imprint of a junior college. BYU on the other hand is the Bob Jones Univ. of the Western states. There's no limit to the shortsighted greed, Mike Aresco and his Big East shell game needs to go away, although as long as suckers keep biting he'll keep reeling 'em in.

Let's get to speculating on what the future holds for the Mountain West. 1. Though, the idea all three service schools playing in the same league has its appeal, I think Air Force stays put   2. discount all rumors about Boise St., BYU or San Diego St. returning to the MWC, they're not. 3. the Univ. of Idaho, NMSU or UTEP are the only options left to replenish the MWC ranks, are we ready for that?   When the Aggies joined the WAC, UTEP couldn't get out fast enough. If you measure where you stand in the grand scheme of things by the company you keep.... then there goes the neighborhood. I suggest you hold your nose and jump in, the water is fine.

UNM Lobos  20                Colorado St. Univ. Rams     24

With a Mountain West road game against Colorado St. Univ, UNM closed out the 2012 football season with a now familiar heart breaking conference loss. Close enough to taste it, near enough to envision the wild post game celebration."Fighting ever, yielding never, Hail! Hail! Hail!" The CSU Rams however, refused to follow the script. The Lobos battled back from a 17-7 deficit to take the lead  20-17 with under five minutes left to play, only to watch as CSU stormed back on the ensuing possession scoring on a wheel route to retake the lead at 24-20. "My kingdom for a defensive stop" 

Given one last opportunity, UNM behind B.R. Holbrook drove the ball to CSU's 25 yd. line, but a last second Holbrook-to-Carlos Wiggins pass into the end zone was batted down as time expired. Ironically the season ended as UNM's often ignored and malnourished passing game failed to materialize with the final game on the line. Credit CSU's defense for coming up big, but you can't expect that after an entire season of leatherhead style football, (during which you treated the forward pass as some newfangled gimmick, best avoided at all cost) for your passing game to suddenly come alive and win you a ballgame. 

B.R. Holbrook gave it the old college try, but on the final drive he just simply couldn't sync up with his receivers. Considering that B.R. hadn't played since Oct. 27th. when he suffered a shoulder separation (his right, throwing shoulder) You would expect him to be as rusty as the under carriage of  a Ford Probe (without the TruCoat sealant) after a long Minnesota winter. With that in mind, his passing production, (2-21 passing for 205 yards, 194 yds. in the second half) is commendable. While B.R.'s play wasn't awe inspiring, it was an inspiration... and it got the Lobos to within 25 yards of a win. The fifth  year Senior (one of just eight) leaves UNM on a six game losing streak.

The 2012 season is now one for the record books. The game recap and stats take on little significance in light of the outcome. The Lobo's thirteen week journey through college football's battlefields has ended on a somber note. "Hope, deceitful as it is, serves at least to lead us to the end of the season by an agreeable route" At one point in the season we fell upon a bountiful harvest of hope. As the injuries mounted, our reserve of hope dwindled until on the final game, down to three seconds... our hope ran out.  "In reality, hope is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs man's torments" and some of us are gluttons for punishment.... just you wait till next season! 

With students out of school all week for the Thanksgiving holiday, 32,500-seat Hughes Stadium was a sea of empty seats.  Losing football breeds apathy, whether it be in Ft. Collins, Co., Albuquerque, N.M. or Las Cruces. The win over the Lobos  spared the Rams (4-8, 3-5 Mountain West Conference) from finishing 3-9 for the fourth consecutive year and the fifth time in six years.  3-9 is nothing to holler about unless you've gone 1-11 for three consecutive years. Attendance woes have plagued college football during the course of the season. UNM's attendance sagged as the season went on, (The MWC hasn't released attendance figures for all schools yet)

Hope springs eternal?, that's usually not the case for UNM football. The Lobos ended the season losing their last six games (I'm telling you all that premature bowl talk jinxed 'em) A few solid defensive stops and UNM finishes at 8-5 or 7-6. There are however, too many variables to ponder over and dissect,  the bottom line is that 4-9, while disappointing is still a far cry from 1-11. In Coach Davie we have a man who is committed to turning things around... the right way. We saw the fruits of that labor this year and we'll see even more next season. 2012 will go down in the history books as a losing season, when it could as just as well be viewed as a turning point. 

NMSU Aggies  14               BYU Cougars   50

NMSU by virtue of having taken two bye weeks, is drawing out the misery even further, with a road game against WAC rival, Texas St. Univ., still pending after Saturday's 50-14 thrashing at the hands of BYU. Why are the mighty Cougars making a late season trip to Las Cruces?  Well... it goes back to BYU's rather hasty exit from the Mountain West. With games already scheduled against conference foes such as UNM, suddenly off the board, the Cougars had to scramble to fill the open slots. One dreadful football team from New Mexico is as good as another, and BYU quickly penned a home and home series with NMSU to fill the void left by UNM. 

Both schools will compete as independents in 2013, just don't expect them to play each other ever again. If BYU expects to be taken seriously, they must somehow upgrade their  November schedule. One thing is certain, we're not likely to see BYU play in Las Cruces ever again. (smart, smart, smart) The "Yewts" and their fans are already heaping ridicule down on the "Zoobs" for their weak independent schedule and playing schools like NMSU on the road, just makes matters worse. (dumb, dumb, dumb)  The empirical evidence is in, and real indie BCS contenders (like the Univ. of  Notre Dame) don't play football in Las Cruces, N.M. after Thanksgiving....... Ha!

NMSU actually had the lead in this game. Following a scoreless first quarter, Andrew Manley connected with Perris Scoggins on an 8 yard td. pass that gave the Aggies a 7-0 lead. Any moment of triumph for a mosquito only serves to antagonize the beast. The Cougars woke-up and proceeded to rise up and pour it on NMSU. Having toyed lazily with the Aggies, BYU settled for a 20-7 lead at halftime. In the second half, BYU Qb. James Lark (starting Qb. Riley Nelson suffered a rib injury during a loss at San Jose St.) shocked and awed NMSU's porous defense, by connecting with his wide receivers almost at will. 

Lark found Cody Hoffman wide open for five touchdown passes. He would finish with six total (three in each half) he completed 34 of 50 passes for 384 yards. Hoffman coming off an injury, had 12 catches for 182 yards to go with those touchdowns. NMSU's Andrew Manley continued to spin his wheels, finishing 13-24 passing for 158 yards and two tds. The Aggies running game has been a liability all season, but it's Andrew Manley's propensity for throwing interceptions that's really hurt their offensive efforts.  If the NCAA keeps such a stat, Manley would also lead the nation in deflected passes. Somehow the 6' 3" Manley can't get the ball over the defensive line.

It's been a bad year for quarterbacks, Riley Nelson had missed two games earlier in the season with what was termed "a significant back injury" he finished the San Jose St. game with a rib that bulged out with every breath he took. Utah's former starting Qb. Jordan Wynn was forced into retirement following successive season ending shoulder injuries. (he's since been hired as Qb. coach at Hawaii by Norm Chow... nice rebound) We all know about B.R. Holbrooks various physical ailments at UNM. Andrew Manley who's 2011 campaign was cut short by injury has managed to stay relatively healthy throughout the 2012 season. 

A development that was good for Andrew, but with DeWayne Walker hesitant to make any radical changes in the offense, it was bad for backup Qb. Travaughn Colwell, who received little playing time with which to develop his talents (he's more of an option Qb. than a pocket passer) I've said this before... a pro style pocket passer (Manley) can't get it done at NMSU. Coach Walker, who is probably playing out the string never got wise (bubble eyes) to option football. There's a reason that UNM, Nevada, Air Force etc., picked up on the Triple Option (and its variants) It's an offense that works when you don't enough size and depth on the line or in the backfield. 

Make no mistake about it, Coach Walker is on the hot seat. How do I know this? because "Coaches Hot Seat" a website that is the ultimate authority on coaches in trouble... says so. Coach Walker is firmly planted in Hot Seat #7, just behind Skip Holtz of South Florida and just ahead of Bobby Hauck at UNLV. Other coaches listed include Randy Edsall at Maryland, the 'ol plantation master hisself.. Ellis Johnson of Southern Miss, Old Granny Tuberville at Texas Tech and morally challenged fire starter, Lane Kiffin of USC. I do agree with their prognosis, DeWayne Walker is history, he's had one foot out the door since the Utah State game. 

Hiring the next NMSU football coach requires bold action and sadly boldness is not something normally associated with New Mexico State Univ. or Las Cruces. With the Aggies adrift without a football conference (they'll still compete in the WAC, in all other sports) whomever they hire will be in charge of upgrading the football program, making it more presentable in case some shit list athletic league comes-a-courting.  The way things are going, that could be the Mountain West, Conference USA  or the Sun Belt. This calls for a bold move akin to UNM hiring Bob Davie. NMSU needs a big name guy who's sincere about building from the ground floor up.

That means they'll have to loosen the purse strings, good football coaches don't come cheap. The Aggies are penny pinchers, DeWayne Walker was an A.C. when he was hired, Hal Mumme was a successful FSC coach, Tony Samuels was also an A.C.  If that's the route they're going to take then here's my suggestions, drop down to Div. II and hire  Don Carthel at West Texas A&M... the man is a proven winner, and the Texas recruiting ties couldn't hurt. or maybe  Eric Young, NMHU... he has a recruiting pipeline to California and his players are tough, never say die overachievers  Young's offense balances passing and running with an emphasis on big plays. 

The Bottom Feeder

Changes are a foot in the Bottom Feeder rankings. Southern Miss by the virtue of their impressive 0-11 record moves to the top (bottom) spot displacing Bottom Feeder stalwart the Univ. of Idaho. It's not because Idaho finally won another game...nooo!,  It's simply a case of giving credit where credit is due. 0-11 deserves some sort of recognition and this week we honor Coach Ellis Johnson and the Golden Eagles of Southern Miss.

Some leagues are better than others and in the dog eat dog world of big time college football, the Big Four rule supreme, SEC, Big 12, Big 10 & PAC 12. The ACC was once considered an elite conference but that's starting to change. The Big East is the Reggie Ray of athletic leagues... down to one last concussion in a world where sledge hammers fly through the air. The Mid-American Conf. (MAC) is overlooked and actually has two teams with 10-1 records (Kent State & Northern Illinois) a ranked team (Kent State #23) Six teams with winning records and just to balance things out,  three of the worst teams in the nation (Akron, U.Mass, Eastern Michigan)

By comparison, C-USA has no ranked teams (though Tulsa is deserving) and just three teams out of 12 have winning records... ouch!  The worst team in the country (Southern Miss) lives here. As do UAB, Memphis, UTEP & Tulane. The now doomed WAC, considered an inferior league compared to C-USA has three teams with 9-2 records, four teams with winning records (out of just seven member schools) unfortunately the combined incompetence of both the Univ. of Idaho and NMSU Aggies pulls the WAC below C-USA.

The Sun Belt Conference, has five schools with deceptive winning records. Don't let that fool you, it's made up of low budget teams with all the resolve of wet tissue paper. In the time honored tradition of money games, the Sun Belt schools serve as sacrificial fodder for  BCS schools. So as the losses pile up, so do the critics. Karl Benson was hired as commissioner to help the Sun Belt upgrade its image, Karl however is King Midas in reverse, all he touches turns to shit.

FBS Conference Bottom Feeder rankings

6.  The Sun Belt  (there's nothing good to see here, move along)

5.  The WAC (BYU killed the WAC... those bastards!)

4.  Conference USA (the red, white, black and blue, next year it gets worse)

3.  The MAC (they play some really good... albeit, anonymous football in this league)

2.  The MWC (Once Boise St. & SDSU depart, the Mountain will drop one spot behind the MAC)

1.  The Big East (Syracuse & Pitt are gone.... Rutgers is leaving, U.Conn will follow)

Ellis Johnson

Robert Wheel at SB Nation refers to the NCAA as "the last plantation" shit! like Kunta Kinte ever had it that good. As everyone knows, the plantation master always wears the big white hat.

With just eight schools left with either no wins or just one win, we must take it down to the next level. Kentucky as punishment for scheduling a Div. 1 FCS  team (Samford) this late in the season will remain on our shit list. Of South Alabama's two wins one was over FCS Nichols St. and the other was against Florida Atlantic, by my calculations that equals bottom dweller.

FBS Bottom Feeder 10

1.  Southern Miss (just a game at Memphis remains between So.Miss and a perfect 0-12)

2.  NMSU (BYU is next, Aggies have two games left, as does Coach DeWayne Walker)

3.  Univ. of Idaho (Utah St. brings a merciful ending to a long, long season)

4.  Univ. of Akron (douchebag redshirt freshman Mike Casimos told a girl who tweeted "Akron vs. Maryland would be be a great game because they both suck" that he would "shove that Lax stick up your ass" he also challenged her to a fight... need I say more?)

5.  U.Mass (season finale against Central Michigan is actually a winnable game)

6.  Univ. of Colorado (It Sucks to be you, Univ. of Colorado.... signed The Big 12)

7.  Hawai'i  (finish with UNLV & So.Alabama at home, how 'bout a nice Hawaiian punch?)

8.  Kansas (has anyone started a Fire Charlie Weiss webpage yet?)

9.  Kentucky (win over Samford doesn't count, must redeem themselves against the Vols)

10. South Alabama (this portion of the South will not rise again)

The Fear of Standing Still

Mountain West to Boise St., San Diego St. and BYU: Drop Dead!

Aha!, the Big Ten has initiated another round of manic re-alignment. By nabbing Maryland from the ACC and Rutgers from the Big East, the Big Ten has kicked off another round of cherry picking. The problem being, that the best cherries have already been picked. Demographics and cable money are behind the latest greedy grab.  By moving into the Mid-Atlantic, Washington DC area and New Jersey, the Big Ten forces cable providers in that region to carry Big Ten games.

This results in what is now being called "the Big Ten tax" if you have cable you'll pay whether you watch football or not. The New York Yankees have been doing this for years with the YES network, the Univ. of Texas is trying to do the same with the Longhorn Network (LOL!) and BYU tried to do it with BYU-TV (LMFAO!) This brazen move by the most conservative of athletic leagues has sent shockwaves through the college football world. The Big Ten matched the PAC 12 and ACC and then raised the ante from 12 to 14.

The Big 12 still sits at 10 schools and the next move is theirs, they can't afford to get left behind. It's only logical that the Big 12 will raid the Big East (who've already lost Rutgers and will soon lose U.Conn) and swipe Louisville and Cincinnati. That only puts them at 12 schools, which means they'll have to eyeball some other conferences, BYU & Tulsa are a possibility or maybe they lure Florida St. & Clemson away from the ACC? Like I said, the pickin's are getting slim.

The PAC 12 had once entertained the notion of adding four schools from the Big 12, will they revive this effort and up the ante to 16? As Nick Saban predicted, college football is headed towards four super conferences made up of 16 teams each (Big Ten, PAC 12, Big 12, SEC) that's sixty four schools with the money and wherewithal to compete at the highest level of the college game, the rest can go fuck themselves. The ACC could suddenly find itself in a mad scramble to keep up or just simply maintain the status quo. 

The Big East which had gone from being on life support to feeling cocky, is suddenly back on life support. There's an unfounded rumor floating around that Boise St., San Diego St. and BYU are considering returning to the Mountain West Conf. I don't buy it, even if it now makes perfect sense. A San Diego State official affirmed that "Nothing changes, we are committed to the Big East. Boise State officials issued a statement late Monday indicating they have had no recent discussions with the Mountain West and are intent on strengthening the Big East. 

BYU officials have declined to comment on all expansion rumors."As you know, BYU chooses not to respond to conjecture" BYU sports information director Duff Tittle said. BYU left the Mountain West after a failed attempt to blindside the conference by cutting a backdoor deal with the WAC. The resulting fallout left BYU scrambling for a conference affiliation. To their credit they were smart enough to turn down offers from the Big Least and their floating crap game, Ponzi scheme. 

Starting in  2014, The Big East, Mountain West, Sun Belt, the MAC & Conference USA will all be lumped together as part of the new BCS/FBS playoff system. In the eyes of the FBS those five leagues are now on equal footing with the BCS elite. Any advantage gained by joining the Big East or going independent is now negated. BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall gets it, "It's about the same access we had before, the way I see it," Mendenhall said. "We still have to be undefeated, I think, to be considered."

The Coogs are in a quandary,  in order to maintain interest in a football program that no longer plays for a league championship, they must schedule games against more top 25 teams. By playing those teams BYU's chances of going undefeated are diminished. That's a hard sell, you can't schedule 12 powerhouse schools year in and year out, so how do you undo the damage to your reputation brought on by having to play NMSU or Idaho on the road?  "I don't know what to tell you," Mendenhall said. "There's nothing I'd be shocked by with realignment"

Notre Dame couldn't get away with scheduling top twenty schools year in and year out. Thanks to top heavy schedules that are attractive for television but murder on your won-loss record, the Fighting Irish are just now starting to rebound from years of getting their asses handed to them. BYU is not Notre Dame, in order to land an at-large spot in the playoffs, the Cougars (as Bronco said) would need to have one hell of a season. Notre Dame has NBC in its pocket and a pot 'o gold at the end of the rainbow, BYU has BYU-TV, and some secret gold plates. 

I like the Fighting Irish's odds, and make no mistake as an independent that's who BYU will be competing with for an at-large bid (let's not forget Idaho & NMSU.... snicker) As for Boise St. and San Diego St. the real reason they won't renege on their deal with the Big East, is money. Not the money they would make, but the money they would have to pay out to break free. Rest assured that Mike Aresco would sue Boise St. right down to their blue turf. The state of California is broke, so the Aztecs have painted themselves into a corner, there is no turning back.  

Through all this BYU has played the villain,  this entire process started when the PAC 10 and Big 12 passed up BYU. The Cougars quickly made up their minds to jilt the MWC and re-join the WAC in every sport except football. Some rumors had BYU bringing Boise St. & San Diego St. back to the WAC, others said it was UNLV (that's a stretch) , UTEP and New Mexico following BYU back home. It was all bullshit of course, BYU was only looking out for BYU and now they will reap the diminishing returns that they sowed. 

The Mountain West, and you can choose to believe this or not, is a better league without them. Air Force, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State, UNLV, Utah State and Wyoming, are all solid schools and though Dan Wetzel (Yahoo Sports) thinks otherwise, nobody other than the MWC wants them. 

This past summer MWC commissioner Craig Thompson said "Our board has determined that we're staying at 10 football-playing institutions, we're going to line up with that formation, but at the same time we'll keep our eyes on the landscape and if there's a need to change, we'll do that."

There's no need for the Mountain West to expand or add schools for any reason other than replacing some school still stupid enough to think that The Big East is a better option. With the playoff format on the horizon, the need is not there. Sorry fellas, but it seems that your spots have already been filled, try The Sun Belt or Conference USA.  Thank You, come again!

Raiders- Saints Week 10

Mark Davis is not a football man and he knows it. His only qualification for being an NFL owner is that he was his father's son. On Sunday, Davis made a rare appearance in the locker room after the game to let everyone know that he's not happy "I'm patient, but I want to see progress, I don't want to see regression. Nobody does. and that's why I'm unhappy today. To his credit, he didn't blast anyone or point any fingers. Nonetheless, NFL owners don't belong in the locker room, unless they're celebrating a Super Bowl win and that sure as hell wasn't the case after Sunday's game.

Regression? the Raiders started regressing from the minute they fired Hue Jackson and Al Saunders. Mark Davis on sage advise from Ron Wolf, John Madden and others, gave Reggie McKenzie the green light to gut a team that against all odds, had actually progressed under two different head coaches (Tom Cable, Hue Jackson) Mark Davis with his ridiculous dumb & dumber haircut, can't be taken seriously. We're trying to rebuild from ten years of fruitless owner meddling and the last thing we need is for Mark Davis to suddenly imagine himself as half the man his father was.

The future is not bright and the only reason we gotta wear shades is to hide the black eyes administered to us by the bullys of the NFL. It's really come down to this?, The most intimidating franchise in NFL history, getting punked on a weekly basis, while our peep squeak owner expresses his unhappiness! Plucking dead weight from the waiver wire is a risky proposition at best. The price of winning in the NFL has gone up..... gone up! and all these low budget retreads that Reggie keeps bringing in are not pulling their weight.

Fuck it!, I'm writing my obituary right now and I'm blaming my impending death on the poor play of the Raiders. Just like that old fart in Kansas City who instructed his family to lay the blame on the Chiefs "Loren "Sam" Lickteig passed away of complications from MS and heartbreaking disappointment caused by the Kansas City Chiefs football team" .... the bastards killed Sam and yet Todd Haley walked away in one piece.  "  "Ernest "Left Nut" Aguirre, Raider fan, passed away after a brief and short illness brought on by the heartbreak of yet another 8-8 season"

I bet that 8-8 looks real fucking good right about now, as does merciful death. I joke of course, as a lifelong Raider fan, I make jokes, lots and lots of jokes.  As one Deadspin commenter stated "I'm sure the Lions cause a death or two every Sunday, by suicide that is... not natural causes" a commenter from K.C. then added "Yet, somehow us Royals fans are still alive... fuck me!" Ha! you're a Royals fan you'll outlive all of us.  Raider fans don't die (unless they get caught in the crossfire) they multiply. 

"Oakland's failure Sunday was system wide  The coaches were out coached  the players outplayed, and the fans simply gave up.  The score is mere wallpaper, posted for the purposes of official record keeping. The game itself was much worse for Oakland. As the third consecutive game in which the Raiders were not really competitive, it represented a season gone south in every conceivable way, with every new low followed by something even newer and lower."     Monte Poole, Oakland Tribune 

Oakland Raiders  17                  New Orleans Saints  38

Coach Allen swears there's been improvement in the team's play. He must talking about the run game, Marcel Reese filling in for both Darren McFadden and Mike Goodson rushed for a career high 103 yards on 19 carries including a 56 yard reception that set up Oakland's first touchdown of the game. How is it that Reese can do that while the much ballyhooed and hyped McFadden can't? Maybe it was an anomaly and Reese will never match those numbers again, but, for all we know neither will McFadden or Goodson. 

The Saints who started the season 0-4 and had been given up for dead in wake of the Bounty Scandal jumped out to a 14-0 lead and never looked back. (thanks in part to a Carson Palmer interception returned 55 yds. for a touchdown by Malcolm Jenkins) Big plays from Brees (a 38 yd. td pass to Lance Moore) and Travaris Cadet (a 75 yd. kickoff return for a touchdown to open the second half) drove a stake through the heart of 56,880 surly Raider fans, who started venting their frustration with the team's poor play in the second half.

Monte Poole of the Oakland Tribune, surveyed the scene in the Raider locker room "I apologize to them, Mark Davis said, referring to the fans who stayed and those who fled this eyesore before its conclusion"  Poole focused on Tommy Kelly "usually the bluntest voice in the room, generally calling a dog a dog... he had nothing to say" a sad scene unfolded across the room "Carson Palmer stood there and took it, a bag willing to be punched" Mark Davis added "It's on me"  knowing full well that it's not on him and he can't be fired "You have coaches, you have players, you play" said Davis. 

At least the defense kept Drew Brees and the Saints under fifty points, and these days, that's what passes for a moral victory in Oakland. The defense can't stop the run and when they do stop the run, they can't stop the pass, against the Saints both problems manifested themselves.  The defensive unit can't be fixed by replacing a ripe corpse with a fresh corpse. All these rehabbing free agents are dead weight, Andre Carter, Ron Bartell and Aaron Curry contribute next to nothing.   

In hindsight, all those two 8-8 seasons did was drop us further down the draft order. We won't have to worry about that this year, we do have a first round draft pick in 2013. However, our second round pick goes to the Bengals as part of the Mike Brown screw job. We also have third and fourth round picks. Jacksonville and Kansas City are battling for the first pick, but don't underestimate the Raiders ability to lose every game left on the schedule. That would move us up to about 3rd. or 4th in the draft order, imagine that!.... we're too good too pick any higher than that.

 I suggest that we use them all on defensive players and here's my helpful picks for the 2013 draft, (1st. rd.) Manti Te'o, Notre Dame (2nd. rd.) Star Lotulelei, Utah (3rd. rd.) Dee Milliner, Alabama (4th rd.) Sharrif Floyd, Florida... beyond that  they're on their own. My cuts would include Aaron Curry, Ron Bartell, Andre Carter, Omar Gaither and any other waiver wire stiff still left on the roster when the season ends. Richard Seymour is too damn old and Jason Tarver has been less than impressive as the defensive coordinator... both must go. 

Raider Notes:

Misdemeanor assault charges against Raiders middle linebacker Rolando McClain have been dropped. A judge in Alabama dismissed the case because the alleged victim has opted not to proceed. It’s unclear why the alleged victim has opted not to proceed, but it could be that a confidential settlement of all civil claims has been reached between McClain and the alleged victim.

McClain had been sentenced to 180 days in jail, he allegedly threatened to kill a man and fired a gun next to his head in a fight in his hometown of Decatur, Ala., last November. McClain's attorney had appealed the verdict and requested a jury trial. 

Though McClain will not serve jail time, the league still may choose to suspend him.  The NFL could choose to do its own investigation and impose its own punishment, regardless of whether the charges have been dropped.

No new transactions to report, Richard Seymour, Darren McFadden & Mike Goodson are still listed as out on the injury report. Inactive for the  Saints game were QB Terrelle Pryor, RB Darren McFadden, RB Mike Goodson, S Tyvon Branch, OL Lucas Nix, T Willie Smith, and DT Richard Seymour.

Trash Talk:

I've steered clear of the Raider comments on Facebook for awhile, let's see what Raider fan is saying regarding a Raider give-away where you can win a pair of Miles Burris' signed and game-worn cleats. The response wasn't quite what the Raiders might have expected.

Keep your cleats and start winning games....

How about he keeps his cleats so maybe he can run and help us win some games...just saying:/

When the D can stop the bleeding, I'll thank about trying to acquire some cleats.

If he gives the cleats away they're gonna blame his shoelessness for giving up 30 points again next week

COME HOME CHUCKY!!!!!!

Not after the way he played yesterday...missed tackle after missed tackle and another missed tackle.

Not at all.

Why do we suck so bad?

SDSU! Go Raiders!

No thanks.

Only worn once, hardly scuffed 

Miles Burris is the new Raider Assassin.

No How Bout A Signed Jersey??????

The only winning I want is Raider victories!!!!!!

So I take it the cleats look spotless and new? ...

No I do not...

Why would we want that terrible players cleats? I'd take a McFadden, Moore, or Palmer one

How bout yous guys start winning

Warning: they make you slow and you lose your ability to make tackles

The Art of the Longview

I Drink Your Milkshake

Just as the college realignment frenzy seemed to be dying down, leave it to the staid ol' Big Ten to stir things up. News reports leaked out this weekend that both Maryland (of the ACC) and Rutgers (of The Big East) are in "advanced talks with the conference" Neither schools is what you would consider "a big fish", Maryland is an ACC middle of the pack football club and Rutgers is building on a winning tradition that started in 2001 with the arrival of Greg Schiano.

When you consider that the Big Ten snubbed Missouri and Texas A&M, then was snubbed in turn by Notre Dame (the Irish joined the ACC in all sports except football) this seems like settling to me. Rutgers and Maryland both are members of the American Association of Universities, "a point of academic prestige that is important to Big Ten presidents and chancellors" which means that if you're not a member of the American Association of Universities, then you're not getting into the Big Ten... no way, no how!

Wikipedia describes The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of leading research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. It consists of 60 universities in the United States (both public and private) and two universities in Canada. It's "perhaps the most elite organization in higher education" and it's also a strange mix of schools known for their athletic prowess and schools known for anything but athletics.

The University of Nebraska was member of the AAU when it joined the Big Ten, but has since been stripped of its membership. Chancellor Harvey Perlman stated that had Nebraska not been part of the AAU, the Big Ten would likely not have invited it to become a member. Other member schools include the Univ. of Texas, UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt, Univ. of Oregon, Univ. of Colorado, Iowa St. Univ., Univ. of North Carolina, Univ. of Pittsburgh, to name a few.

So as the college conference merry-go-round continues, it becomes harder for a conference like the Big Ten to be picky about member schools. The number of schools out there that are members of the AAU and also open to switching leagues is dwindling. Thus Maryland and Rutgers are suddenly Big Ten material. Stupid is as stupid does, and the game of toppling dominoes will begin again. 

Already Dan Wetzel of Yahoo sports is mentioning Mountain West schools as possible targets of the Big East to replace Rutgers (Air Force, UNLV?) Jeesuz! doesn't the Big East find anyone in Conference USA or some other league attractive? The Big East probably does covet Midwest schools but they're too smart to get in bed with the sleazy Big Least. Starting in 2014 it probably won't matter anyhow, a playoff system will be in place to determine a national football champion.

The specifics are still being hammered out, as of now the FBS playoffs will have a six or seven game format. There's a possibility that  the Big East, Mountain West, Conference USA, Sun Belt and Mid-American Conference (MAC) will be lumped together and the best team from that lot would face off against either a team from the PAC 12 or the Big 12. Nothing is written is stone, the BCS movers & shakers, as they've always done, are making up the rules as they go along. 

Salsa Bar Mayhem

Surveillance cameras  captured video at Rancherito's restaurant in Provo, Ut. (think Bandito's across from UNM) showing a violent fight between BYU students and BYU football players on Halloween night.   Investigators are still trying to determine what led to the fight during which a woman was punched in the face and one student was beaten until (as they used to say in the fight game) "he was walking on queer street"

The following day, BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall announced the suspensions of Joe Sampson and Zac  Stout for a violation of team rules. This was confirmed by BYU officials, who  provided no further information or specifics. Both players have since withdrawn from school.  Provo’s police department later confirmed that it is investigating reports of an alleged assault and altercation at the 24-hour restaurant. Police have not identified the players involved.  

BYU corner back Jordan Johnson also appears in the video and is seen engaged either as a peacemaker or  as participant.  Johnson was suspended one game for his part in the melee.  A pair of videos time stamped at just before 3 a.m. on Nov. 1.  quickly turned up on YouTube and went viral.  One video shows the fight beginning in the dining area, when a man in a gray sweatshirt and a baseball cap (Zac Stout)  punches another man with his left fist. 

The melee that ensues involves at least a dozen people, including some women. Some of those involved in the fight appear to be wearing Halloween costumes. In the second video, the fight spills behind the counter and shows two men struggling on the ground as others try to pull them apart. Neither video has sound, so it’s not clear what precipitated the first punch.  Both Sampson and Stout are clearly seen either hitting or kicking  the man that Stout was fighting with.

It dragged out, kind of in different sections of the restaurant,” said Kyle Gashler, who found himself in the middle of the brawl. “The poor restaurant got destroyed.” Gashler says he and his friends went to Rancherito’s after a Halloween party to grab a bite to eat. They say another group threatened them, Gashler’s group tried to make peace, but things escalated quickly. “One of my buddies stood up and right when he stood up this big guy comes over and punches him right in the nose,” said Gashler. “At that point it just broke out, everyone just kind of hitting everyone.” 

The action starts with Zac Stout arguing with a group of students at a table in the dining area. One man throws a punch at Stout, who then starts fighting with a different man.  At this point a blonde haired man in a black security shirt rushes in from outside and starts throwing random haymakers. Joe Sampson enters the dining area. A woman tries to intervene and the blonde haired man viciously punches her in the face, knocking her to the ground.

Stout and another man come crashing into the lobby area as  Stout is taken down and seems to be getting the worst of it.  Joe Sampson enters the fray by sucker punching and kicking the man fighting with Stout. A man wearing a sweatband rushes in and jumps on Sampson's back, the football player flicks the man off and proceeds to violently pummel him about the face and head. Zac Stout and the woman beater, kick and punch the man on the ground, until another man intervenes and starts pounding on the woman beater.

Jordan Johnson enters the scene as the fight breaks up. The  combatants gather up their hats, phones etc. and exit out the side door with a restaurant employee trailing after them. The woman that was punched sits on the floor sobbing while a friend comforts her, all the men involved ignore her as they pass by.  Zac Stout re-enters the dining area searching for a lost item, he appears to make peace with the man he was fighting with. The other fighter is still angry, and he follows Stout out the side door as everyone rushes out to intervene. 

Flyboy Ethics

Wyoming coach Dave Christensen was suspended one week (the Boise St. game) for his Oct. 13 post game tirade directed toward Air Force coach Troy Calhoun. Christensen was also fined $50,000 for his profanity-laced outburst as he accused Calhoun and an Air Force player of faking an injury. The 38-second video that hit the internet,  includes Christensen using the F-word 15 times. He also questions Calhoun's ethics and integrity and calls him "Howdy Doody" and a "flyboy." 

Univ. of Wyoming A.D. Tom Burman issued a statement, "After a long and difficult week of consideration, I believed it was in the best interest of the University and our Athletics Department to take this action"  Christensen finished his suspension and apologetically re-entered civil society, sans $50,000. The entire affair caused quite an uproar in Wyoming with the majority of Wyomingites expressing disgust with Christensen's boorish behavior.

However, two professors of philosophy at the Univ. of Wyoming came to Christensen's defense. Joseph Ulatowski and Jeffrey A. Lockwood, in an op-ed published by the Casper Star-Tribune. The professors make some compelling points, without absolving Christensen, to explain how his "sense of etiquette and self restraint gave way to ethical discernment and moral outrage"

The point overlooked by most observers in this matter is did Coach Calhoun order his player to fake an injury and thus spare Air Force from burning a time out?  When you weight the facts and the game tape evidence, it does appear that he did just that.  Calhoun asserted that his quarterback had been "dinged in the head" although he walked 20 yards to the sidelines before he seemingly collapsed to the ground.

The player (Connor Dietz) returned to the a game a few minutes later, showing no ill effects from his "injury" The two professors take issue with Calhoun brazenly playing with the crowd's emotions, "the spectators surely believed at the moment that something potentially awful had happened to the young man. To evoke such empathy under false pretense is morally reprehensible" 

The professors profess that,  "After the game,  Christensen was expressing profound moral outrage over what he took to be an act of cheating on the part of the Air Force Academy when its quarterback evidently faked an injury to gain an unfair advantage in the game" "In terms of what this says about his (Christensen) program, the message is rather clear: “I cannot tolerate cheaters” (or “I cannot fucking tolerate fucking cheaters”) 

Professors Ulatowski and Lockwood ask, "Just what are the messages that have been conveyed to the public and the players? To which they respond, "For the university administration, the message appears to be: We do not countenance verbal abuse—at least when it’s made public. The delay of punishment until the coach’s actions became public via YouTube would seem to say: An action is wrong only when seen by others"

The Cadets of Air Force and by extension their coaches are bound to the lofty ideal that  “We will not lie, steal or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does" The Falcons should amend that to say "unless we're in danger of losing to a second tier conference school" harking back to Ulatowski and Lockwood, ”Ironically, it seems that when Wyoming played the Air Force on Military Appreciation Day, Christensen took the honor code more seriously than Troy Calhoun"

As an Air Force veteran, I have a better grasp of the Academy mindset than your average civilian. If Calhoun ordered Connor Dietz to fake an injury it will weigh on the young man's conscience and unless he's a total reprobate like his head coach, he'll eventually come out and spill the beans. "Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things you have not dreamed of"  fly right, fly boys or stay forever grounded. 

New Mexico Football Report

There's still a three way tie at the top of the Mountain West Conference standings. Boise St., Fresno St. & San Diego St. head into the final week  tied at  6-1.   These three schools have all played each other splitting their games in a fashion that forces a team outside the top three to break the log jam.  Boise St. beat Fresno St. but lost to San Diego St., Fresno St. beat San Diego St. but lost to Boise St. and of course San Diego St. beat Boise St. but lost to Fresno St.

Here's the scenario for the final week of action, Boise St. plays at Nevada, San Diego St.. plays at Wyoming and  Fresno St. plays host to Air Force.  Nevada as you will read further down the page struggled with New Mexico, needing a late fumble recovery to secure a victory that snapped a three game losing streak.  Nevada was my pre-season pick to win the conference, but they fell off the pace once league play began.

In 2010, Nevada stunned  No. 11 Boise State 34-31, costing the Broncos a possible shot at the BCS title, and to win another share of the WAC Title.  Nevada is not right and their chances of a repeat upset of Boise St. are slim.   Wyoming on the other hand has won three in a row and are back on track, after struggling most of the season. History (SDSU has lost three of its last four vs. Wyo) and the fact that they'll play in frigid Laramie, makes Wyoming an easy pick as the spoiler.

Air Force has one road win this year and that was a controversial victory at Wyoming. A game best remembered because Air Force probably cheated and Dave Christensen set a new standard for post game rants.  A Fresno St. win would leave both Boise St. and Fresno St. at 7-1, with the tie breaker going to the Broncos. Here's my other scenario, all three front runners lose their games and the season then ends in a four way tie with Boise St, Fresno St., San Diego St. & Air Force all finishing at 6-2.

The only way to break a tie like that is with a steel cage death match.

UNM Lobos   24                    Univ. of Nevada Wolfpack   31

Did you know there's controversy associated with the U. of Nevada's name?  The school once competed as the Univ. of Nevada-Reno, until it was decided that as the state's oldest college it should be designated as the flagship school for Nevada's university system. Just as UC- Berkeley is called California or Cal, and the Univ. of Michigan is known as Michigan...  Nevada-Reno became Nevada. 

When the game is in Reno, they're  known as Nevada... a title that applies only in athletics, otherwise the school is designated as the Univ. of Nevada at Reno.  When they play UNLV in Las Vegas they're known as UNR.  Although, when Nevada & UNLV played earlier this year, the scoreboard simply read Rebels as the home team and Pack as the visiting team.  This matters in Nevada because the schools hate each other.

This being Nevada's first year in the MWC, UNM & UNR don't have much history. They are however very similar,  same mascot (Nevada's wolf looks like a javelina, UNM's looks like a hyena) both have that flagship thing going and both run the crap out of the ball. Nevada is what UNM was under Rocky Long, a scrappy squad capable of beating anyone on any given Saturday. 

The Lobos lost their fifth straight game and for the fourth time dropped a conference game by seven points or fewer.  UNM hung tough, played touch, made some tough mistakes and watched another winnable game slip away. The Lobos had leads of 7-0 and 14-7 before Nevada behind Qb. Cody Fajardo roared back. The Nevada Wolfpack took a 21-17 lead into the break, adding a field goal early in the third quarter to go up 24-17. 

UNM pulled even at  24-24 on Jhurell Pressley's two yard scoring run for what would be the Lobos final trip into the end zone.  UNR retook the lead when Fajardo connected with Brandon Wimberly on a short pass for the Wolfpack's go ahead and ultimately winning touchdown, 31-24. As the clock ticked down, New Mexico's defense stepped up to hand the Lobos an unexpected opportunity to tie the game.  

Dallas Bollema intercepted Fajardo's pass and returned it 37 yards to the UNR 14 yard line with 5:35 left in the game.  With a touchdown within reach, the Lobo offense stalled. On third and  seven, UNM Qb. Cole Gautsche and Rb. Crusoe Gongbay misfired on the hand off and the resulting fumble was recovered by Nevada. "Cole is trying to pull it (back). Crusoe is trying to keep it," said Coach Davie. 

Though the weight fell on Gongbay, other factors contributed to the loss. UNM did not complete a single forward pass and converted  just 2 of 11 third downs. UNM's lack of a passing game in effect telegraphed their every move on offense, “Everybody wants us to throw a little more, probably,” Coach Davie said “That’s not really an option.” Which tells me that UNM has no confidence in So. Luke McCown whatsoever.

UNM finished with 352 yards rushing, while Nevada had 358. Kasey Carrier carried 18 times for 145 yards, but he wasn't the best rusher on this day, Cody Fajardo (who as a Freshman in 2011 passed for 203 yards and ran in two td's as Nevada waltzed past the Lobos, 49-7) ran 20 times for 186 yards.  Stefphon Jefferson added 128 yards on 23 carries for the Pack.  For UNM Cole Gautsche tacked on 72 yds. on 15 carries.

 Lamaar Thomas had 65 on three carries out of the wildcat formation (that's an amazing 31.5 yards per carry) Crusoe Gongbay picked up a respectable 61 yards on 9 carries.  The Lobos rushed for 352 yards, Nevada tallied 358 rushing yards. The Wolf Pack added 133 passing yards and UNM had no yards passing and no completions. Gautsche and UNM were 0-for-2 on the day. Two attempts, zero completions, zero passing yards... nada, zilch, bumpkiss, dick, diddly-squat, fuck all, jack shit, jack squat, nunya, shit, zip, zippo. 

Nevada had 22 first downs to UNM's 14. Nevada totaled 491 yards in offense  to UNM's  352. The time of possession battle was amazingly close, when you consider that UNM couldn't convert thirds downs, 30:20 for UNM and 29:40 for Nevada. UNM fell to 4-8 on the season and 1-6 in conference play. Nevada improved to 7-4 and 4-3, and likely earned an invite to the New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 15. The Lobos finish the season next Saturday at Colorado State.

Having accumulated 1,410 yards rushing, Kasey Carrier needs just 41 yards to break DonTrell Moore's single season mark.   How far have the Lobos come this year? As I noted above, last season Nevada rolled the Lobos 49-7. The Wolfpack (the Nevada variety) has had its woes this year, I had them picked as the favorite to challenge Boise St. for the MWC crown. UNM has improved by leaps and bounds, even as the conference record shows otherwise. 17,290 attended the game (a season low) they're the fans that should be commended and the ones that stayed at home.... we'll see you next season when the Lobos start winning.