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)