The View From North America

This photo sums up why people love Joe Paterno

2012-01-26T16:03:00.000-08:00

Saw this great picture.

This sums it up how I feel, how I became a Penn State fan and why I love the team so much.

Thank you for every, Coach Paterno, and we're sorry to see you go.

Now: Go Coach O'Brien, and please teach these kids to be everything they can be.

And thanks for the photo, http://www.statecollege.com.

Thank you, Phil Knight

2012-01-26T15:48:00.000-08:00

They'll be burning their Air Jordans, switching Swooshes for stripes, and dumping their Nike stock by the millions for this.

Oregon players will go to the University of Washington. The Cheerleaders will go to USC or UCLA, or straight into the Seattle Seahawks. The Oregon Duck will finally get knocked off by a wayward hunter.

You can just imagine the outrage spewing out from Eugene to the Florida Keys.

Phil Knight said his piece at Joe Paterno's memorial service, and he - goshdarnit - spoke up in defence of Joe Paterno.

Here it is. If you can't deal with seeing URL cover the show, read this on Deadspin. It's awesome.

We stood up and applauded. So should you.

Links for 2012-01-22 [Digg]

2012-01-23T00:00:00-08:00

A picture is worth a thousand words
Penn State, Joe Paterno and lovely hat

The White Out of White Outs....

2012-01-22T16:18:00.001-08:00

It was as if on his death bed Joe Paterno and God had a chat and he said: "Keep the weather cold, Beaver Stadium needs a White Out'.

And God gave him one.

Rest In Peace, Joe Paterno

2012-01-22T08:00:00.000-08:00

Today, Joe Paterno passed away. He was 85.

There's nothing else really to say - albeit to give you a link to an article I wrote yesterday imploring you to pray for Joe Paterno's family and imploring you not to celebrate his death in the light of the scandal that still surrounds the Penn State campus.

The statement from his family said:

"It is with great sadness that we announce that Joe Paterno passed away earlier today. His loss leaves a void in our lives that will never be filled.

He died as he lived. He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been. His ambitions were far reaching, but he never believed he had to leave this Happy Valley to achieve them. He was a man devoted to his family, his university, his players and his community.

He has been many things in his life - a soldier, scholar, mentor, coach, friend and father. To my mother he was and is her soul mate, and the last several weeks have shown the strength of their love. To his children and grandchildren he is a shining example of how to live a good, decent and honest life, a standard to which we aspire.

When he decided to forego a career in law and make coaching his vocation, his father Angelo had but one command: make an impact.

As the last 61 years have shown, Joe made an incredible impact. That impact has been felt and appreciated by our family in the form of thousands of letters and well wishes along with countless acts of kindness from people whose lives he touched. It is evident also in the thousands of successful student athletes who have gone on to multiply that impact as they spread out across the country.

And so he leaves us with a peaceful mind, comforted by his "living legacy" of five kids, 17 grandchildren, and hundreds of young men whose lives he changed in more ways than can begin to be counted.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family requests that donations be made to the Special Olympics of Pennsylvania or the Penn State-THON (The Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon)."

I wrote this article - back in 2010 and still one of the VFA's most popular pieces - which was called "Joe Paterno: Icon" in which I praised him not for the National Championships, but for the fact that he gave massive donations for the Penn State rivalry.

Thanks for the memories, Joe Paterno.

Why We Should All Pray for Joe Paterno

2012-01-21T15:36:00.000-08:00

Regardless of what you might think of Joe Paterno, cancer is not a good thing.

If you haven't experienced it, then try going to a hospice. Or try being like me, who has a wife who's got it. She spent the last two days recovering from the latest bout of chemotherapy, and we're probably due another one in a few months' time, because let's face it - this thing's not going away.

Or you could be like my uncle, who's unconscious in a Hong Kong hospital trying to remend his bone marrow, which has been destroyed by the chemotherapy that itself is trying to destroy the liver cancer attacked him late last week.

According to reports, Paterno is gravely ill. The lung cancer that they found just after he collapsed after being fired at Penn State hasn't gotten better (and the chemotherapy hasn't made any difference), and according to Penn State blog Onward State, the family are rushing to be beside JoePa's side after the respirator was turned off.

A majority of good people are asking us to pray for him and for Sue, Scott, Jay and the rest of the Paterno clan, but there are some out there screaming: "This is karma" for what happened. If you're one of those people, then you've either never experienced cancer first hand, second hand, or you're heartless and/or self-righteous.

Joe Paterno is a guy like everyone else. He's someone's husband, he's someone's father, he's someone's grandfather, and he's someone's coach. And he'll be missed.

30 Crazy Predictions for the 2012 College Football Season

2012-01-19T16:41:00.000-08:00

The celebrations are barely finished for Alabama's victory and we haven't even gotten to recruitment deadline day (A note to Penn State fans: Don't expect anything), but we thought we'd be bold and make some predictions for the 2012 College Football Season. Some might be pretty crazy.

1. Your Preseason Top 5 will be: LSU, Oregon, USC, Alabama and (we'll throw this one out there) Georgia.

2. Georgia will win the SEC East because they are bringing everyone back bar tight end Orson Charles. Malcolm Mitchell will learn how to catch in the off-season, and Aaron Murray will be seen as the second coming of Matt Stafford. And the Dawgs are helped that they play nobody in the SEC for the second year in a row (apart from South Carolina, who they'll beat in a squeaker on the road). The game with Georgia Tech will be their biggest non-conference game. The rest are a joke....

3. LSU will win the SEC West, thanks to a good schedule. The game on the road to Arkansas will be a war. The Tigers will beat a vastly-improved Washington team, too.

4. College Gameday will be at Oregon vs USC on the 3rd of November, which will feature the 2nd and 3rd best team in the Nation. LSU's home game with Alabama will be avoided, because a) it's on CBS and b) we're all bored of it by now. We pick Oregon to win that one - despite it being in LA.

5. Your five Heisman Trophy finalists will be: Matt Barkley (USC), Landry Jones (Oklahoma), Montee Ball (Wisconsin), De'Anthony Thomas (Oregon), Denard Robinson (Michigan). Tyrann Mathieu (LSU) would get in, but no-one's going to throw anywhere near him this year. Georgia's Aaron Murray could also be a dark horse, particularly if the Dawgs make a run for it.

6. Oregon will win the Pac-12 North, and USC will win the Pac-12 South. That'll set up the game of games in the Pac-12 Championship Game. We'll pick, er, USC to win that one. Barkley and Robert Woods are just too good a combination, and there's nothing like a bit of revenge in the air.

7. The Big XII will be won by Oklahoma, because of Oklahoma State's rebuilding. We anticipate that Texas' running game will keep the Red River Rivalry game close, and the game could be an early finale to see who will win the conference.

8. West Virginia will sue the Big East and get out of the conference and join the Big XII. Which is good for everybody, quite frankly.

9. Boise State won't get its shout at the National Championship this year, because Kellen Moore's graduation will be too hard for the Blue Turfmen to take. Particularly as they've got Michigan State in the first game of the season (we're calling for Michigan State to win that one).

10. Speaking of great starting games, we'll call for Michigan to upset Alabama in the first game of the season. Denard Robinson's return has given a huge lift to Ann Arbor already - and Grady Hoke's on hell of a quarterback. Plus, Nick Saban's defence (and Trent Richardson) - has all but graduated. This is not the same Alabama team as we're used to. In 2013, put Alabama as the No.1 team in the nation...

11. Penn State's first season without Joe Paterno will be really ugly. We're calling for a 7-5 season, with wins against Ohio, Navy, Temple, Virginia, Northwestern, at home to Indiana and on the road to Purdue. Offensively it won't be fun, although Silas Redd will again be one of the top running backs in the nation.

12. We're calling for Ohio State to win the Big Ten Leaders and Michigan to win the Big Ten Legends. Because of the 'Tressel Ban', there's going to be no 'The Game II' in the Big Ten Conference Game. Michigan will beat second-placed Wisconsin.

13. Despite all the love for Denard Robinson, the big talk of the Big Ten will be Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller. Be afraid of the Buckeyes, people. Urban Meyer is going to lead the Buckeyes into the promised land, and Miller could be the one to help Meyer do it. The California game on Week 3's going to be fun.

14. Clemson is NOT going to be Clemson in 2012 - thanks to the fact that they are bringing back wide receiver Sammy Watkins and quarterback Tajh Boyd. Running back Andre Ellington, and receiver DeAndre Hopkins are back, too. Having said that, they've got no depth on the offensive line. Will they win the ACC Coastal? No, because...

15. Florida State's going to finally live up to the hype and win the division in 2012. Tallahassee will be a good place to be - and the home game against West Virginia will be a ton of fun.

16. On the other side of the ACC, it's going to be the usual Virginia Tech division victory, although Florida State will win the divisional title in front of a nosiy home crowd in Miami.

17. Speaking of Miami, it's going to be a tough year for the rest of the Florida schools. We expect both Miami and Florida to end the season unloved and unranked. Florida will be particularly suffering from the loss of speedsters Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps, while Miami will be suffering from a battle with the NCAA gods. Expect hot seats for Al Golden and Will Muschamp respectively. The 'It Was The Previous Coaching Staff's Fault' excuse will get old for the success-hungry (and needy) fans in the Southland.

18. And while we're on the subject of the NCAA, the NCAA will finally use some of its cash to put towards investigators, because they will want to enforce the new oversigning rule that it's going to put in effectively giving schools next year scholarship punishments for oversigning. In other words, if Arkansas oversigns by 3 players in 2013, it's going to get 3 less scholarships in 2014. Suddenly, the SEC schools learn to behave themselves. Or suddenly college football starts to straighten up a bit...

19. Cincinnati wins the Big East, and earns some national credibility after coming within a field goal of beating Virginia Tech at FedEx Field in Week 5.

20. Notre Dame will finish the season 8-4, with losses to USC, Oklahoma, Michigan and Michigan State. They will end up with a ranking, but it won't be enough to appease the Irish faithful, who will be wanting Brian Kelly's head.

21. Isaiah Crowell, the brilliant Georgia running back, will be the first big-time college football player to land himself in trouble. The odds become 2-1 as to whether he lasts his sophomore year at the Bulldogs. Mark Richt is found praying that he'll calm down. UGA is found praying too.

22. South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney will be renamed 'The Clown', and after he beats the crap out of quarterbacks across the country and laid waste to running backs, he will ask each quarterback: 'Why So Serious?'. The trend will become talked about across the country. The VFA won't get any credit after it becomes a 'Big Thing' for Tom Rinaldi to talk about. ESPN starts a 24-hour network praising him, called 'The Big Clown Network'. Little kids are said to be scared.

23. Texas A&M and Missouri's first SEC seasons will be rough ones. Out of the two, Texas A&M will have a rough 5-7 season (but won't see new coach Kevin Sumlin fired, on accounts of the fact that the rest of the college football world will be yelling at Aggies fans and saying: 'We told you so'), while Missouri will be a respectable (ish) 6-6.

24. Aggies fans will be calling Ole Miss and Mississippi State rivals, while Missouri's will be Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Tennessee. Why? Because that's about the level of wins both sides will get.

25. Every upset won't be called upsets, they'll be called 'Tessitores'. ESPN will develop a time machine so whenever there's a big upset on the horizon, commentator Joe Tessitore will automatically come into the box and make sure it happens. This will lead to the craziest NCAA season in the history of crazy NCAA seasons.

26. Rich Rodriguez will have a successful return to college football, leading the Arizona Wildcats to the promised land of bowl eligibility.

27. Mike Leach will take Washington State to 5-7, which isn't great but it's a hell of a lot better than previous years. He'll make remarks about pirates....and start stealing some stellar recruits away from his neighbours in the 2013 season.

28. Charlie Weis will fail at Kansas. And no-one will feel sorry for him.

29. The BCS will finally decide for a play-off game for 2015, involving four teams. SEC West fans will be angry that their teams can't have all four places and demonstrate by a week-long tailgate outside the BCS Championship Game in 2013.

30. LSU will win the National Championship, beating USC as good defense once again overcomes good offense.

30 Crazy Predictions for the 2012 College Football Season

2012-01-19T16:23:00.000-08:00

The celebrations are barely finished for Alabama's victory and we haven't even gotten to recruitment deadline day (A note to Penn State fans: Don't expect anything), but we thought we'd be bold and make some predictions for the 2012 College Football Season. Some might be pretty crazy.

1. Your Preseason Top 5 will be: LSU, Oregon, USC, Alabama and (we'll throw this one out there) Georgia.

2. Georgia will win the SEC East because they are bringing everyone back bar tight end Orson Charles. Malcolm Mitchell will learn how to catch in the off-season, and Aaron Murray will be seen as the second coming of Matt Stafford. And the Dawgs are helped that they play nobody in the SEC for the second year in a row (apart from South Carolina, who they'll beat in a squeaker on the road). The game with Georgia Tech will be their biggest non-conference game. The rest are a joke....

3. LSU will win the SEC West, thanks to a good schedule. The game on the road to Arkansas will be a war. The Tigers will beat a vastly-improved Washington team, too.

4. College Gameday will be at Oregon vs USC on the 3rd of November, which will feature the 2nd and 3rd best team in the Nation. LSU's home game with Alabama will be avoided, because a) it's on CBS and b) we're all bored of it by now. We pick Oregon to win that one - despite it being in LA.

5. Your five Heisman Trophy finalists will be: Matt Barkley (USC), Landry Jones (Oklahoma), Montee Ball (Wisconsin), De'Anthony Thomas (Oregon), Denard Robinson (Michigan). Tyrann Mathieu (LSU) would get in, but no-one's going to throw anywhere near him this year. Georgia's Aaron Murray could also be a dark horse, particularly if the Dawgs make a run for it.

6. Oregon will win the Pac-12 North, and USC will win the Pac-12 South. That'll set up the game of games in the Pac-12 Championship Game. We'll pick, er, USC to win that one. Barkley and Robert Woods are just too good a combination, and there's nothing like a bit of revenge in the air.

7. The Big XII will be won by Oklahoma, because of Oklahoma State's rebuilding. We anticipate that Texas' running game will keep the Red River Rivalry game close, and the game could be an early finale to see who will win the conference.

8. West Virginia will sue the Big East and get out of the conference and join the Big XII. Which is good for everybody, quite frankly.

9. Boise State won't get its shout at the National Championship this year, because Kellen Moore's graduation will be too hard for the Blue Turfmen to take. Particularly as they've got Michigan State in the first game of the season (we're calling for Michigan State to win that one).

10. Speaking of great starting games, we'll call for Michigan to upset Alabama in the first game of the season. Denard Robinson's return has given a huge lift to Ann Arbor already - and Grady Hoke's on hell of a quarterback. Plus, Nick Saban's defence (and Trent Richardson) - has all but graduated. This is not the same Alabama team as we're used to. In 2013, put Alabama as the No.1 team in the nation...

11. Penn State's first season without Joe Paterno will be really ugly. We're calling for a 7-5 season, with wins against Ohio, Navy, Temple, Virginia, Northwestern, at home to Indiana and on the road to Purdue. Offensively it won't be fun, although Silas Redd will again be one of the top running backs in the nation.

12. We're calling for Ohio State to win the Big Ten Leaders and Michigan to win the Big Ten Legends. This will set up 'The Game II' in Big Ten Conference Game. We're calling for Ohio State to win it.

13. Despite all the love for Denard Robinson, the big talk of the Big Ten will be Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller. Be afraid of the Buckeyes, people. Urban Meyer is going to lead the Buckeyes into the promised land, and Miller could be the one to help Meyer do it. The California game on Week 3's going to be fun.

14. Clemson is NOT going to be Clemson in 2012 - thanks to the fact that they are bringing back wide receiver Sammy Watkins and quarterback Tajh Boyd. Running back Andre Ellington, and receiver DeAndre Hopkins are back, too. Having said that, they've got no depth on the offensive line. Will they win the ACC Coastal? No, because...

15. Florida State's going to finally live up to the hype and win the division in 2012. Tallahassee will be a good place to be - and the home game against West Virginia will be a ton of fun.

16. On the other side of the ACC, it's going to be the usual Virginia Tech division victory, although Florida State will win the divisional title in front of a nosiy home crowd in Miami.

17. Speaking of Miami, it's going to be a tough year for the rest of the Florida schools. We expect both Miami and Florida to end the season unloved and unranked. Florida will be particularly suffering from the loss of speedsters Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps, while Miami will be suffering from a battle with the NCAA gods. Expect hot seats for Al Golden and Will Muschamp respectively. The 'It Was The Previous Coaching Staff's Fault' excuse will get old for the success-hungry (and needy) fans in the Southland.

18. And while we're on the subject of the NCAA, the NCAA will finally use some of its cash to put towards investigators, because they will want to enforce the new oversigning rule that it's going to put in effectively giving schools next year scholarship punishments for oversigning. In other words, if Arkansas oversigns by 3 players in 2013, it's going to get 3 less scholarships in 2014. Suddenly, the SEC schools learn to behave themselves. Or suddenly college football starts to straighten up a bit...

19. Cincinnati wins the Big East, and earns some national credibility after coming within a field goal of beating Virginia Tech at FedEx Field in Week 5.

20. Notre Dame will finish the season 8-4, with losses to USC, Oklahoma, Michigan and Michigan State. They will end up with a ranking, but it won't be enough to appease the Irish faithful, who will be wanting Brian Kelly's head.

21. Isaiah Crowell, the brilliant Georgia running back, will be the first big-time college football player to land himself in trouble. The odds become 2-1 as to whether he lasts his sophomore year at the Bulldogs. Mark Richt is found praying that he'll calm down. UGA is found praying too.

22. South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney will be renamed 'The Clown', and after he beats the crap out of quarterbacks across the country and laid waste to running backs, he will ask each quarterback: 'Why So Serious?'. The trend will become talked about across the country. The VFA won't get any credit after it becomes a 'Big Thing' for Tom Rinaldi to talk about. ESPN starts a 24-hour network praising him, called 'The Big Clown Network'. Little kids are said to be scared.

23. Texas A&M and Missouri's first SEC seasons will be rough ones. Out of the two, Texas A&M will have a rough 5-7 season (but won't see new coach Kevin Sumlin fired, on accounts of the fact that the rest of the college football world will be yelling at Aggies fans and saying: 'We told you so'), while Missouri will be a respectable (ish) 6-6.

24. Aggies fans will be calling Ole Miss and Mississippi State rivals, while Missouri's will be Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Tennessee. Why? Because that's about the level of wins both sides will get.

25. Every upset won't be called upsets, they'll be called 'Tessitores'. ESPN will develop a time machine so whenever there's a big upset on the horizon, commentator Joe Tessitore will automatically come into the box and make sure it happens. This will lead to the craziest NCAA season in the history of crazy NCAA seasons.

26. Rich Rodriguez will have a successful return to college football, leading the Arizona Wildcats to the promised land of bowl eligibility.

27. Mike Leach will take Washington State to 5-7, which isn't great but it's a hell of a lot better than previous years. He'll make remarks about pirates....and start stealing some stellar recruits away from his neighbours in the 2013 season.

28. Charlie Weis will fail at Kansas. And no-one will feel sorry for him.

29. The BCS will finally decide for a play-off game for 2015, involving four teams. SEC West fans will be angry that their teams can't have all four places and demonstrate by a week-long tailgate outside the BCS Championship Game in 2013.

30. LSU will win the National Championship, beating USC as good defense once again overcomes good offense.

Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, You Did It Alabama....

2012-01-10T00:26:00.000-08:00

Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, well done on the National Championship, Alabama!

Alabama's comprehensive 21-0 victory over LSU in a game where the Tigers offense only got over the half-way line erased the kicking nightmare that was Alabama's Tuscaloosa's adventure and gave Nick Saban his third National Championship with the Crimson Tide.

They'll be naming the stadium after him soon.

Although LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson was the goat of the LSU pack, there was plenty more poor play where that came from, as the Tigers failed to cope with an aggressive Alabama front that tore them a new one at every opportunity. The fact that punter Brad Wing was their best shot at getting good field position against this defense enough.

My favourite stat of the day? LSU had just four plays in their opposition's half - that's the second lowest figure by any team this season. The first? The footballing powerhouse known as Florida Atlantic. The third? Kentucky (6), Kansas (7), Idaho (8). This was a freaking embarrassment.

As for Alabama, offensively they lived in LSU's half, constantly threatening but delivering little save for a Trent Richardson touchdown and a shedload of field goals thanks to redeemed kicker Brad Smelley, who managed to still miss a few (and a field goal) just to keep the critics happy.

Anyway, well done Alabama, you're National Champions. And for LSU fans? Geaux home, get some sleep, and try not to think about this nightmare ever, ever again.

BCS Championship: A Game Of Half-Time Struggles

2012-01-09T18:54:00.000-08:00

Neither coach was happy at half-time of this one.

Nick Saban wanted his Alabama team - who are leading 9-0 at half-time of the National Championship Game in the Superdome - to score a touchdown, since they'd basically taken up residence in LSU's half for the first half of the game.

And Les Miles? He wanted the team to throw their memories of a dreadful first half out of the window, and start again. Because they were absolutely awful. Offensively, Jordan Jefferson couldn't do a whole lot right, while the running game was completely torched by Alabama's fast and hungry defense, which as we know is fully of NFL first round draft picks.

Defensively, the great Tyrann Mathieu was - save for a couple of back-to-back nice tackles- a complete non-entity. In fact, the more aggressive he got towards the end of the game, the more he was found out by a clever Alabama offense.

MVPs so far are Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron, who's thrown for 156 yards and eclipsed the actions of Trent Richardson, who has 52 yards rushing to his name. And for LSU? The punter Brad Wing - the only player who has been good so far in purple, white and gold.

Tonight, It's Our Super Bowl

2012-01-09T14:32:00.000-08:00

Tonight, we get to forget what's gone on for since January.

Tonight, we get to forget about the wrongs of the world of college football, which this season went from Oregon in North West down to Florida in the South East.

Because tonight, college football maniacs, is our Super Bowl.

Tonight we see two arch-rivals, who absolutely hate each other, clash again - this time for the National Title. You want to cry Oklahoma State? Cry into this SuperBowl. I'm sure that the hordes of crimson and yellow won't touch you.

We don't know what's going to happen - although we suspect we're going to see some punts, some special teams play, and some kickers being used to answer the prayers of Rammer Jammer or Geaux.

Will Mathieu and the Tigers roar? Or will Richardson Roll?

All questions will be answered in Our Super Bowl. Soon.

Tom Bradley Let Go At PSU

2012-01-06T16:37:00.000-08:00

The stunning news keeps rolling in at Penn State.

Only minutes after ESPN reported that New England Patriots offensive co-ordinator Bill O'Brien had just taken over at Penn State, there was another story...

Interim coach, long-time defensive co-ordinator (and one of the best - if not THE best - in the land) and the most respected member of the Penn State coaching staff Tom Bradley is not coming back to Happy Valley.

You know what? This is a complete and utter joke. We know that the media might not like 'someone from Team Paterno' coming to the side, but getting rid of the best defensive co-ordinator in the land? Are Penn State's administration kidding?

This was PSU player Nate Stupar's reaction:

Nathan Stupar @thenastynate344m

Coach Bradley was let go?!? #psunation

Yes Nathan, we're afraid to say it was.

The biggest school currently looking for a good defensive co-ordinator is the University of Oregon, who quite frankly could do with one. Imagine what could happen with THAT offense and Bradley's defensive mind. Seriously, imagine.

This thing just got even uglier.

Bill O'Brien To Take Head Coaching Job at Penn State: Good idea?

2012-01-06T15:38:00.000-08:00

Apparently, Penn State has hired New England Patriots' offensive co-ordinator Bill O'Brien to be the replacement for Joe Paterno.

Penn State fans must be pretty annoyed. The guy never went to Penn State. He never played for Penn State. He's not a "Penn State guy". He does not bleed blue and white, has not attended the amazing parties at the Cafe 210 West, or stayed all week at Paternoville - or even ordered pizzas for the students.

But you know what? Isn't NOT having a Penn State man just the thing the program needs? Isn't having someone who comes from outside the program, the problems and Paterno just the thing that the season needs. Whether we like it or not, Penn State is reeking of 'Paterno poison' (or Sandusky s***, as it's also called) and if the Nittany Lions really want to show the NCAA, the boosters and the media that they've changed and want to start over a new leaf, then O'Brien's a great choice.

O'Brien also comes with an impeccable reputation and knows the value of a good education having come from Brown. And he knows his way around college football too, having spent 14 years in the system.

The good thing for the Nittany Lions is that they might actually get a good offence out of it. After all, O'Brien has spent two years coaching a guy called Tom Brady for the Patriots since 2009 - so he might know something about helping quarterbacks with mediocre arms put up sensational numbers.

We can only hope that O'Brien hires Tom Bradley to be the defensive co-ordinator, fires Jay Paterno as quarterbacks coach (he can do the job himself), and uses himself as offensive co-ordinator, getting rid of Galen Hall, who was in charge of one of college football most inept, ugly offenses in 2011. Trust us, we watched most Penn State games, and it was really, really ugly.

Anyway, we wish him the best of luck. And O'Brien might need to get his butt moving on recruiting - or 2012 could be really, really tough.

Jump Around! Landry Jones, Montee Ball Staying

2012-01-05T14:58:00.000-08:00

"Jump Around!" is a song for normally reserved for University of Wisconsin students, but with the big news coming through in college football, Oklahoma can join in that song, too.

Montee Ball, the Badgers' incredible Heisman candidate-running back is staying in school for the 2012 year. Maybe it's the importance of an education. Maybe it's because Trent Richardson - who we think's going to go this year - will be ahead of him in the NFL Draft, or maybe it's because his biggest season was last season - and that was his only real season. He still has a lot to prove.

Madison should celebrate - Brett Bielma will still recruit his 6 ft 8, 320 lb lineman for Ball to run behind, and the new quarterback (whoever follows in the steps of the wonderful Russell Wilson) will just be able to hand it off to Ball. Let's hope he doesn't do some damage against Penn State.

And now to Norman. Landry Jones, one of the best quarterbacks of 2012, threw for over 4,000 yards for 29 touchdowns. He had a quarterback rating of 141.6. In other words, he would have been a first round NFL draft pick.

With Jones' arm and another good set of wide receivers going to follow where Ryan Broyles and Kenny Stills left off, this means that Oklahoma's offense suddenly looks stacked for 2012.

But there is some other good news - and that's for Robert Griffin III. Suddenly there's no argument about who's going to be the NFL's second pick in the quarterback draft - it'll be him.

West Virginia Takes Home The Orange Bowl....And Clemson To The Woodshed

2012-01-05T01:36:00.000-08:00

Country roads might take you home to West Virginia, but the Moutaineers won't have met you there last night - they were too busy taking Clemson to the woodshed in the Orange Bowl last night.

The Mountaineers outscored the Tigers 28-3 in the second quarter to take a 49-20 half-time lead, which meant that at least the orange-clad Clemson fans could avoid the traffic on their way out of Dolphin Stadium (most of the top-tier seemed to have left at half-time). The game was over.

It's funny, because it all started so well for Clemson. It was 21-17 West Virginia early on in the second quarter, and Clemson was driving. Clemson was actually going in for the score - until Andre Ellington was going into the end-zone for the score, fumbled, and Darwin Cook picked up the ball and took it 99 yards to the house.

Clemson - as we're so used to over the years - absolutely imploded - giving up three touchdowns in the final 2 1/2 minutes as quarterback Tajh Boyd made two heinous back-to-back errors that led to Moutaineers scores.

The mullets were celebrating, and somewhere in the beautiful mountain country, a couch was burning.

To thee, Penn State

2012-01-04T09:42:00.000-08:00

I was going to write something pithy, but I'm not going to bother. And yes, Beaver Stadium is involved!

This is the best proposal ever.

(Thanks to The School Philly for pointing this out)

This is how it goes wrong:

Fiesta! Fiesta! Oklahoma State wins a stunner!

2012-01-03T15:48:00.000-08:00

OK, so now we feel spoiled.

After a Rose Bowl that had us sweating after watching OTHER people run around for 60-odd minutes, we sat back to watch a Fiesta Bowl that was big on talented quarterbacks and some wide receiver called Justin Blackmon, thinking that exactly the same would happen.

For the first quarter (for the first 11 minutes of it anyway), it was messy. Both quarterbacks turned the ball over (Oklahoma State QB Brandon Weedon with his first attempt) early, and we thought it would be a disappointment.

After both sides put up 21 points each in the next 21 minutes of play, it was game on for the second half.

Again more drama. Again more Blackmon. Again more Luck. Again more overtime. Oklahoma State wins, but again - what another fantastic advertisement for college football.

Oh - and a bit where one player hammers his team-mate. Awesome.

Oregon Wins a Rose Bowl Classic

2012-01-02T18:45:00.002-08:00

Earlier this holiday season, we watched "Point Break", which promised us that it was 100% Adrenaline.

We needn't have bothered. We could have waited a few days and kept to the Rose Bowl between Oregon and Wisconsin, which ended in a 45-38 classic.

Oregon won the game, but College Football was the winner.

In the first half both sides didn't seem to want to play a lot of 'D', scoring touchdown after touchdown to make it 28 each at the half. That's right - 28 each. Sides of red and sides of yellow and green bounced up and down happily, and we're sure we saw both The Oregon Duck and The Wisconsin Badger dodging the odd press-up. Thankfully, ESPN's cameramen weren't dodging any shots of the Oregon Cheerleaders - although thankfully (for the sake of their jobs), they didn't try and keep focus when De'Anthony Thomas took the ball to the house for a 92-yard run.

Then half-time came along, and as the game got more tense, the scoring fell down a bit. We saw weird things like punting and fourth down attempts (there was hardly any of the latter in the first half, either!), and even a field goal (one apiece). Sure, Thomas pulled off yet another monster run (64 yards to the house), but the kid -who Brent Musberger seemed to revel in calling 'Black Mamba' - his nickname- whenever he had the chance - made his biggest play in the final drive of the season when he appeared for return special teams to snuff out a Jared Abbrederis punt return.

You remember Jared Abbrederis, right? He was the man who beaten in a Hail Mary in the last second at Michigan State, effectively costing Wisconsin a chance at staying unbeaten and playing for something bigger than roses come January. Well, Jared Abbrederis was at centre stage again today, when he had fumbled with Wisconsin driving down 4 and looking dangerous, and Oregon grabbed the initiative, got a field goal, and locked up the game. If the angry folks in Madison were able to spell his name, he's probably be in a bit of trouble.

Anyway, what a game, and what a victory for College Football in a season where wins have been hard to come by both on and off the field.

From Lions to Tigers With a Touch of Orange, Fiesta and Sugar: The Other College Football Bowl Predictions

2011-12-30T09:58:00.000-08:00

We'd first like to point out that we're absolutely exhausted after watching highlights of The Alamo Bowl. The game wasn't a great advertisement for defenses, but it was for college football and fun. If that game was a NFL game, everyone would be talking about it as being the 'Game Of The Century' -regardless of who the two teams were. Since it was Baylor and Washington, we doubt it's going to get talked about again.

Anyway, there's a lot of college football left in the New Year. Jan 2 sees some of the big SEC teams come into play, and then it's BCS, BCS and more BCS until the end of the National Championship Game (we reserve the right to say that the Game Of The Century II between LSU and Alabama was boring on Jan 9th, by the way!).

So here we go:

Jan 2

Houston vs Penn State (TicketCity Bowl, Dallas)

At first we couldn't conceal the fact that PSU was given a TicketCity Bowl berth against a team who wasn't in the SEC, but the more we thought about it, the more we liked it. After all, Case Keenum's a hell of a quarterback, and Penn State's going to have to pull out all the stops to not only deal with the Cougars offence, but also produce some points of their own. And since Penn State hasn't exactly added to its credibility in the off-season by actually finding a coach, many people are predicting a long day for the blue and white. PREDICTION: Including us. Houston wins by 7.

Nebraska vs South Carolina (Capital One Bowl, Florida)

Although we anticipate the stadium to be packed with both sets of fans, the game could be rather a long one for the neutral. Nebraska and South Carolina are not the most dynamic and interesting of offenses (we look forward to when The Clown (Jadevon Clowney) devours Nebraska QB Taylor Martinez, or on the other side when David Shaw is eaten alive by Jared Crick) but both defenses are stout. This is going to be interesting. PREDICTION: South Carolina by 3 in a defensive war.

Michigan State vs Georgia (Outback Bowl, Tampa)

Georgia isn't the second-best team in the SEC, despite the fact that it won the SEC East and played in the National Championship Game. Having said that, the Georgia fans still rabbit in your ear about how well they played in the first half against LSU - and bemoan the fact that Malcolm Mitchell somehow managed to drop a pass that would have seen the Dawgs run up a 17-0 lead. Georgia comes in facing a Michigan State who has been tough all season long. Remember - they've beaten both Wisconsin and Michigan - that's two quality opponents who would have caused some panic in the SEC this year. This IS going to be fun. PREDICTION: Georgia by 4 in a classic.

Ohio State vs Florida (Gator Bowl, Jacksonville)

The last time Florida played in a stadium in Jacksonville that was one half blue, and the other half red they disappointed. The fans won't be happy if it's twice in a row - particularly as the man watching from the other sidelines will be one Urban Meyer, who is now taking the reigns at OSU after a year away from the game dealing with stress being a pundit for ESPN. Both sides were horrible last season. Florida was horrible because their quarterbacks couldn't get out of injury trouble and Ohio State because their players weren't able to get out of trouble at the start of the season. Watch out for OSU quarterback Braxton Miller though -he's one for the future. PREDICTION: Ohio State wins by 7 in an awful game.

Wisconsin vs Oregon (Rose Bowl, LA)

Oregon is always a lot of fun to watch nowadays, and Montee Ball and Russell Wilson has made the Badgers very watchable in 2011 (unless they are running up the score on your team - which they do). Oregon's offense is going to cause real problems for Wisconsin's 'D' - and Wilson and Ball are going to do the same to Oregon. Expect a lot of points, folks. PREDICTION: Oregon by 10 in a post-Christmas cracker.

Stanford vs Oklahoma State (Fiesta Bowl, Phoenix)

This game is going to be AWESOME. How else could you describe a night when you get to watch the NFL No.1 pick-designate (Andrew Luck) throwing against an amazing offense featuring a NFL first-round pick (Justin Blackmon) and a mature, excellent QB (Brandon Weedon) too. This is going to be fun. Oklahoma State is definitely going to struggle against Stanford's big, burly tight ends, but as we saw in the Oregon game - Stanford could well hurt against OSU's speed - which they have in abundance. PREDICTION: An absolute classic. Oklahoma State by 6.

Jan 3

Michigan vs Virginia Tech (Sugar Bowl, New Orleans)

Both sides participated in 'Games Of The Season' (Michigan's win against Notre Dame and VT's win over Miami). Both have rabid fanbases (if VT will show up for the game - because we know Michigan's will). Both have great mobile quarterbacks (Michigan's Denard Robinson and Virginia Tech's Logan Thomas). Both teams have leaky defenses, which Michigan's and VT's spending a ton of time on vacation this year. But more importantly, both sides can score points. PREDICTION: Michigan by 10, mostly thanks to Denard Robinson

Jan 4

West Virginia vs Clemson (Orange Bowl, Miami)

A note on Twitter made us giggle: "West Virginia fans be warned. All Miami bars require a shirt and shoes at all times". And apart from alienating the West Virginia fanbase with our remark, this game could be quite cool. West Virginia simply needs to get back in the National Spotlight after years of disappointment (I mean, how many times have you heard the Moutaineers being called a 'Dark Horse For The National Title' in recent years before screwing it up?), while Clemson won the ACC despite everyone wondering when they, well, would be Clemson (ie screw it up). Sammy Watkins is going to cause no end of problems for West Virginia's defense, who isn't exactly vaunted. PREDICTION: Clemson by 10 in a high-scoring game.

Jan 5

Kansas State vs Arkansas (Cotton Bowl, Dallas)

With both sets of fans really excited about being there, we just can't wait. We hope that Joe Buck doesn't drone on about Kansas State coach Bill Snyder and try and put him in the next old people's home - he's still got a few years' yet before retirement. Bobby Petrino's offense, though is something else and we look forward to seeing how KSU will be able to deal with the speed that made the Razorbacks once the No.3 team in the nation this season (they also had a 14-point lead over LSU on the road that they subsequently made). Offensively, the Wildcats' offense isn't particularly interesting, but it seems to work - ask Baylor and Oklahoma State for details. PREDICTION: Arkansas by 14

Jan 7

SMU vs Pittsburgh (Compass Bowl, Birmingham, Alabama)

Both sides were 'under the radar' this season (for that read: non-entity) on both their divisional and national scale. Both are missing their leading rushers, and both could have been playing with new coaches had June Jones NOT decided to stay at SMU instead of going to Arizona State. As you can see, we're not exactly flushing with joy at this one. PREDICTION: I go to bed and not watch this game - and SMU wins by 7 to give 'Coach Jones' his 100th collegiate victory.

Jan 8

Arkansas State vs Northern Illinois (GoDaddy.Com Bowl, Mobile, Alabama)

Northern Illinois' offense is a lot of fun, averaging 38.3 points per game. The team has also endured their fair share of hardship, having come from 20-points down to win the MAC Championship. And this team's on a tear too - it's on an eight-game winning streak.
But get this, Arkansas State knows about tears, too. It's on a nine-game streak, and throws up 33.5 points per game. For names to check out, look for NI's rushing/passing quarterback freak Chandler Harnish, who threw for more than 2,000 yards and rushed for another 1,000. Yes, you got the numbers right), and Arkansas State's quarterback Ryan Aplin, who threw the ball for - oh - 3,000 yards this season. This one's going to be fun. PREDICTION: Northern Illinois by 7 in a shoot-out.

Jan 9

LSU vs Alabama (National Championship Game, New Orleans)

You remember the Game Of The Century in Tuscaloosa, right? It was the game before that 9 billion articles were written, both coaches were chatted to in their cars, and every college football fan seemed much more excited about THAT game that any others. Funnily enough, if fans had actually switched over to ABC to watch the Kansas State- Oklahoma State, they would have got a more high-scoring, incident-fuelled game, whereas the game in Tuscaloosa was highlighted by bad field goal kicking and a controversial interception call that made you swear that The Mad Hatter had made a deal with the devil before going into that game. This year's National Championship Game - hopefully - will promise more of the same defensively, but we'd like something to talk about in the end-zone, too. We hope that Les Miles is going to use the mobility of Jordan Jefferson to haunt Alabama's line (they struggled when he replaced Jarrett Lee in Tuscaloosa), while we hope that Tyrann Mathieu can deal with Marquis Maze in a way that does NOT include a violent hit in the way that it did when he was facing Dre' Kirkpatrick. Anyway, this one's going to be fun. We hope. PREDICTION: Alabama by a......field goal.

Links for 2011-12-27 [Digg]

2011-12-28T00:00:00-08:00

All The Great Guys Are Here: 2011 College Football Awards
The Awards for the best players in College Football this season. And yes, there were some lights amid all that gloom.
2011 US Sports Review Of The Year from Sky Sports - the UK's biggest sports website.
Alex Ferguson casts his eye over what made us happy and what made us sad in America's major sports.

After Much Consideration -The VFA 2011 College Football Awards

2011-12-22T03:26:00.000-08:00

Now the Golden Globes nominations are on the table ('Ides of March' for Best Picture - seriously??) and the Heisman Award has been given (we love you RG3!!), the View From North America (that's the VFA for short, folks) has decided that's it's high-time that we give out some awards of ourselves.

(Before we write this, we'd like to acknowledge that this award will forever be in your hearts, players)

TEAM OF THE YEAR

Baylor Bears - We know that they weren't unbeaten, but the win over TCU at the start of the year, the play of a certain dreadlocked quarterback, and the fact that they beat Texas AND Oklahoma in the same season. If you claim that you were expecting this, you were lying.

Runners-up: Kansas State (Bill Synder's making a film - it's called 'Miracle on Purple Street', starring the 2011 Kansas State Wildcats. The finale's yet to be written, as it's going to be staged at the Cotton Bowl against a not-terribly-unimpressive Arkansas Razorbacks team. But we can't wait), LSU (Bring 'em ALL on!), Clemson (Taking their talents to South Beach for the Orange Bowl), Alabama (that defense is beastly),

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Robert Griffin III (Baylor)

Excellence comes with speed and accuracy. And RG3 had a whole lot of both. And he can catch too - remember that play against TCU in the dying minutes of the first game of the year? And what's even more annoying, he's also humble, too. Which we love. Can't wait to see him in the NFL.

Runners-up: Andrew Luck (Stanford) - The fact that he didn't get a Heisman will fall into insignificance after he goes swimming in $100 bills after the 2012 NFL Draft; Trent Richardson (Alabama) - A human wrecking ball for the Crimson Tide; and Russell Wilson (Wisconsin) - Should have been in the Heisman shout ahead of Montee 'Cannon' Ball.

COACH OF THE YEAR

Bill Snyder (Kansas State)

What a season for Kansas State - what a season. Manhattan became a place you actually wanted to watch football this season...

Runners-up: Les Miles (LSU) - Mad he might be, good coach he is; Mark Richt (Georgia) - Survived the fire and got his team to a SEC Championship Game; Brian Norwood (Baylor)

TOP 5 GAMES OF THE YEAR

1. Michigan 35, Notre Dame 31- Denard Robinson wins it with two seconds left after Notre Dame goes ahead with 30 seconds left. The atmosphere in the first Irish - Wolverines night game at The Big House was incredible, and the finish matched it.
2. Iowa State 37, Oklahoma 31 - A brilliant game trainwrecks Oklahoma State's National Championship chances. Paul Rhoads makes us all cry with his "I am so proud of you guys speech". World a better place. Again.
3. Stanford 56, USC 48 - A three overtime wonder show from two vaunted Pac-12 teams. The only thing missing was the Hollywood ending (which would have been the Trojans winning!).
4. South Carolina 45, Georgia 42 - An absolute classic where South Carolina proved how good its defense is, and Georgia proved how good its offense is. Had Stephen Garcia behaved himself and Marcus Lattimore not gotten injured, we feel that South Carolina would have made the SEC Title game.
5. LSU 9, Alabama 6 - A defensive war played in front of a very, very loud Tuscaloosa stadium that finished on an OT knife-edge. If you love defense, this was the game of the season.

BEST COMEBACK OF THE YEAR

NC State wins our vote for its amazing 27-point comeback after going down 41-14 early on in the third quarter. They scored 35 points in the fourth quarter. Awesome, eh?

ATMOSPHERE OF THE YEAR

The atmosphere in Tuscaloosa was noisy, tense and tribal all at the same time when LSU and Alabama got together for the 'Game Of The Century' in early November. At times you could cut it with a knife, at times you wanted to cut off your own ear with a knife just to stop it bleeding. And that was just from watching it on TV. We can't imagine what it was actually like for fans who went there.

Runners-Up: The explosion of noise that was Tallahassee, Florida for Oklahoma's visit to Florida State. From the cheerleaders to the co-eds to the game itself.....EVERYTHING was awesome about that game. Then there was Notre Dame's trip to Michigan at night; as well as Nebraska's trip to Penn State the week-end after The Worst Story In College Football Perhaps For A Lifetime emerged. And if we can have a last one, it was at Camp Randall on the opening day of the season. The Miami - Virginia Tech game was pretty nuts, too.

COLLEGE GAMEDAY OF THE YEAR

Oklahoma vs Florida State - Awesome for 101 reasons, not all of them publishable. Best sight was frat guys beating the crap out of a car with hammers. The car had 'OU' letters on it.

Runners Up: LSU vs West Virginia - That's what you get when you let Cajuns and Coach Burners loose with each other. Madness ; LSU vs Alabama - One word: Frenzy; Arizona State vs Oregon - Oregon. Cheerleaders. Corso in a ducksuit. How awesome is that? Nebraska vs Wisconsin - Something spectacular was in the air at Camp Randall. We should have known - his name was Russell Wilson.

COMMENTATOR OF THE YEAR

Joe 'Nuclear' Tessitore (ESPN) - It seemed that whenever Tessitore and Rod Gilmore were at a game, the game was spectacular. It started with TCU-Baylor, then it was Missouri - Arizona State in the 'Black Out' at Sun Devil Stadium. There was something in the air every time these two commentated. He's not looking to go to the State of Oklahoma on vacation anytime soon, after calling OU's upset by (you've guessed it) Baylor and a week later Iowa State's upset of Oklahoma State. Let's hope for more of him next season, eh?

Runners-Up: Mike 'Friesian' Patrick (ESPN) - How many 'Holy Cows' can you get in an awesome Miami-Virginia Tech game at Hokie Stadium? A lot. ; Brent 'Honestly I don't Have Any Money On This' Musberger - The best irony of the whole 'Game Of The Century' Weekend was that the best game was that called by Musberger and Herbstreit when Kansas State and OSU got together.

And now, here's something from the Oregon Cheerleaders (Our Cheerleaders Of The Year)....

Mark Richt Is The Best Guy In the World -NCAA

2011-12-21T07:22:00.000-08:00

It must just be Christmas, but when we heard about Mark Richt's citing by the NCAA for minor infractions, all we could do is want to give the man a hug and give him a round of applause.

In a world of fake weed, email cover-ups and child molestation, Mark Richt did something really, really cool.

He paid his assistants because he didn't think they were getting adequately paid by the University of Georgia.

Instead of giving our own take on it, we'll let ESPN's reporting do all the work:

"To former recruiting assistant Charlie Cantor, $10,842 over an 11-month period through March 2011.

• To former linebackers coach John Jancek, $10,000 in 2009 after the previous university administration declined to give Jancek a raise when he turned down a coaching opportunity elsewhere.

• To director of player development John Eason, $6,150 in 2010 when his new administrative position called for a salary reduction after he stepped down from an assistant coaching position on Richt's staff.

Richt also paid a total of $15,227 when the school -- citing "difficult economic conditions being experienced by the University" -- refused bowl bonuses to 10 non-coach staff members: director of sports medicine Ron Courson, video coordinator Joe Tereshinski, strength coaches Keith Gray and Clay Walker, football operations manager Josh Brooks, high school liaison Ray Lamb and four administrative assistants.

He also paid a five-year longevity bonus of $15,337.50 due to tight ends coach Dave Johnson when he took a job at West Virginia in 2008 just short of his fifth anniversary coaching at UGA and $6,000 to fired defensive ends coach Jon Fabris in 2010 when Fabris was unable to find a job after his UGA severance package expired."

Our favorite one of these has to be the $6,000 he gave Jon Fabris when Fabris was unable to find a job after his UGA severance package expired. Thankfully, Fabris has now found work under Charlie Strong as the defensive line coach at Louisville, but Richt didn't have to put his hand in his pocket. He did because he's a decent person.

THIS is why a lot of people love Mark Richt - and these NCAA infractions don't reflect how bad he is - but how AWESOME he is.

Thanks for making the world a lot better, coach Richt.

Catholics, Convicts & The Rest: All The Pre-Jan 2 Bowl Game Previews

2011-12-20T16:56:00.000-08:00

After the nuttiness of the New Orleans Bowl, the VFA has calmed down a bit. Thank God.

Anyway, there's a lot to be said for other pre-Jan 2 bowl games out there. So here are the previews:

Dec 20 - FIU vs Marshall (Beef O'Brady's Bowl)

FIU will be happy to be at this one, bearing in mind that's it's going to be practically a home game in St Pete at the (and we can't believe we're saying this) the Beef O'Brady's Bowl. After an eight-win regular season, Coach Brian Norwood may be considering a trip to Hawaii permanently at season-end. But right now, he's a Golden Panther and Kendrick Rhodes, his 1,121-yard rushing machine, will be looking to add another victory to the season. Marshall, who needed a dying-second touchdown to even get bowl-eligible, will be dangerous through QB Rakeem Cato and a nasty defence, which had 28 turnovers last season. PREDICTION: FIU wins by 10.

Dec 21 - TCU vs Louisiana Tech (Poinsettia Bowl)

We all know about TCU. After seeing their own season trainwrecked by Robert Griffin III and Baylor on Week 1, they came back and beat Boise State on its own blue turf to pull off a tremendous upset. Gary Patterson's going to have his boys up to play in San Diego - in its last game before it moves to the Big XII. WAC Champs Louisiana Tech - despite winning seven games in a row - should be worried. PREDICTION: TCU by 21

Dec 22 - Arizona State vs Boise State (Las Vegas Bowl)

The trip to the Las Vegas Bowl must be the red-headed stepchild of Bowl invites bearing in mind where both sides were in early October. Boise State was arguing about a BCS spot, while Arizona State was pretty much nailed-on favourites to win the Pac-12 South title. A couple of months' later, Boise's spot in the National Championship was blown by the wayside after a missed kick against TCU, and the Sun Devils' season - after which Dennis Erickson was fired- went to hell. PREDICTION: Boise by 21.

Dec 24 - Nevada vs Southern Miss (Hawaii Bowl)

Southern Miss by damn! We couldn't believe Souther Miss' incredible win over Houston in the Conference USA Championship Game either - but it happened. Although the bad bit of winning the title was the fact that coach Larry Fedora then got hired by North Carolina, but at least he refused to go to Chapel Hill until after Hawaii. Anyway, QB Austin Davis - who threw for over 3,000 yards and 28 TDs this season is going to cause the Wolfpack all kinds of problems. Nevada will rely on freshman QB Cody Fajardo for a lot of the offence. PREDICTION: Southern Miss by 10.

Dec 26 - Missouri vs UNC (Independence Bowl)

Both Missouri and UNC had middling years. Missouri's two highlights was its move to the SEC
and Gary Pinkel's citation for drink driving, while UNC played all season with interim coach Everett Withers, after Butch Davis' head coaching antics proved too much of an off-the-field highlights for the UNC Athletic Board. Will this game be fun? Probably not. PREDICTION: UNC wins by 7 in a low-scorer.

Dec 27- Western Michigan vs Purdue (Little Caesars Bowl)

The Big Ten gets its first outing with Purdue, who play Western Michigan in what should be quite a high-octane game in Detroit. Western Michigan quarterback Alex Carder threw for 3,434 yards this season and Purdue will be hard-pressed to stop him. But the Boilermakers have a QB in their own with the amazingly-named Caleb TerBush (yes sir, that's a seriously name), who threw for 1,800 yards and led them to wins over Ohio State and Indiana to guarantee them a bowl invite. PREDICTION: Western Michigan in a high-scoring upset.

Dec 27 - Louisville-NC State (Belk Bowl)

NC State's best wins were the 27-point comeback at Maryland and the shock of Clemson a couple of games before the end of the season, while Louisville was in the hunt for the Big East title all the way to the end - but in the end Charlie Strong couldn't pull it out of the bag. Watch out for Teddy Bridgewater, Louisville's quarterback. He's going to be awesome next year - and the year after. PREDICTION: Louisville wins by 7 in a classic.

Dec 28 - Toledo vs Air Force (Military Bowl)

Both Air Force and Toledo have pretty high-octane offences, so this one should be fun to watch. In fact, Toledo's providing so much firepower (they average 42 points per game) that they should star in Top Gun: The Sports Movie. Anyway, they have not one but two quarterbacks who have thrown for over 1,000 yards and a receiver in Erik Page who's grabbed over 1,000. We anticipate Page to go to the NFL. Anyway, Air Force puts up 34 points per game, and Tim Jefferson Jr (1,478 yards and 12 TDs) can provide an arm. This one's going to be fun. PREDICTION: Toledo down - ahem- Air Force by 7 in a game that'll be settled when the first team gets to over 40.

Dec 28 - California vs Texas (Holiday Bowl)

We were meant to be impressed by Texas this year. What we got from Texas was lot of noise about a possible exit for the Big XII, a network that everyone is college football is mocking (heck - it's not even available at the Memorial Stadium), and a team that played well at the start of the season then sputtered from then on. Cal, on the other hand, didn't beat anyone spectacular all season long, but lost the usual heartbreaker - this time against their hated rivals, Stanford. PREDICTION: Cal by 5 in a game that is big on hype, low on entertainment.

Dec 29 - Notre Dame vs Florida State (Champ Sports Bowl)

Catholics! Convicts! We can't wait! Pre-season, it seemed like this might - just might - be a BCS match-up. Florida State went into its game with Oklahoma ranked No.5, while Notre Dame started the season as No.16 with many suspecting that a good run would see them happily in the Top 10. Sadly, FSU lost a heartbreaker to Oklahoma, and then two more to Clemson and Wake Forest. They never found the Top 25 after that. And Notre Dame? A horrible losses to South Florida (turnover central) and Michigan (heartbreaker in the Game Of The Season) downed the season pretty much before it started, and then losses to USC and Stanford took them to 8-4. FSU will have to watch out for Irish receiver Michael Floyd, and the FSU has EJ Manuel's arm, and athleticism on both sides of the ball. PREDICTION: FSU by 2 in a dying-second squeaker.

Dec 29 - Washington vs Baylor (Alamo Bowl)

The Alamo Bowl has had two bits of good news in the past few weeks. One: They've got a team from Texas playing there. Two: That team happens to feature this year's Heisman winner, who wears pretty cool socks. Anyway, we can't wait for Robert Griffin III to show his stuff - again - in the Alamo Bowl, and although Washington's been decent this year, we can't help but think that Baylor has the edge. PREDICTION: Baylor by 10.

Dec 30 - BYU vs Tulsa (Armed Forces Bowl)

Both sides can put up points, averaging 30 points aside this year. We're trying to get excited for this one - but on the list, we can't. Why? Because the last time we saw BYU, they sucked (TCU). PREDICTION: BYU by 7.

Dec 30 - Rutgers vs Iowa State (Pinstripe Bowl)

Just imagine ISU coach Paul Rhoads making the speech "I am so proud of you guys" - after winning the Pinstripe Bowl against the Rutgers - in the Yankees home locker room. Poetic, isn't it? Speaking of Iowa State, their season was highlighted by a wonderful, National Championship-ruining victory over Oklahoma State, while the best moment of Rutgers season was all about the pitch - the walking onto the field of one Eric LeGrand, who was sitting up in a seat. Sports Illustrated gave it the Best Moment of 2011. We agree. PREDICTION: No dry eyes in the house for this one. Iowa State wins by a field goal.

Dec 30 - Mississippi State vs Wake Forest (Music City)

MSU flattered to deceive this season. Despite being a sexy pick for a better bowl, the Cowbellers finished with a 6-6 record and were the usual after-thought in the SEC West. Wake Forest's biggest headline was being on the receiving end of the Clemson heartbreaker in Tiger Stadium, when they lost by a field goal. Even if MSU wins, the smallest hand-clap in the world may be for Dan Mullen. PREDICTION: MSU wins by 10.

Dec 30 - Iowa vs Oklahoma (Insight Bowl)

We've said some pretty nasty things about Oklahoma, and even if Oklahoma do as we think they are going to and beat Iowa handily (and we think they will), Sooners' fans should once again look at this season as a missed opportunity. PREDICTION: Oklahoma by 17.

Dec 31 - Northwestern vs Texas A&M (Meinke Car Care Bowl)

After blowing all of those 10-point first half leads, the only thing that has made Texas A&M fans crow this year is a move to the SEC. After all, after losing the biggest game of the season (Oklahoma State) and the 'Big One' against Texas, there hasn't been a lot to laugh about off the field. As for the Wildcats, we still love Wildcats' quarterback Dan Persa, and what Pat Fitzgerald's done at the team. Of course, we would love to see him take the reigns at Penn State, but that ain't happening. PREDICTION: Northwestern with the upset - by 7.

Dec 31 - Georgia Tech vs Utah (Sun Bowl)

We are psyched about seeing the triple-option again, particularly for a team that made it look so damned fun when they beat Clemson in Atlanta. Utah this year has found that the Pac-12 is a real step-up for them, and they are going to find Georgia Tech's offense - something that they've never seen this year - a lesson too. PREDICTION: Georgia Tech by 10.

Dec 31 - Cincy vs Vanderbilt (Liberty Bowl)

The Liberty Bowl in Memphis is going to be sold out to Vanderbilt fans, who don't see their team at home very often. This season, the Commodores have been one of the better stories of the year, celebrating bowl eligibility like they were going to the National Championship Game (You see! It DOES pay to play Wake Forest at the end of the season!) and giving head coach James Franklin an extension that he thoroughly deserved (Vandy's 2-6 SEC record could easily have been 4-4 with a little luck). On the other side, the Bearcats claimed a share of the Big East title thanks to quarterbacking of Zach Collaros, who threw for 1,854 yards and 14 TDs this year. PREDICTION: Vandy's fun ends in tears. Cincy by 10.

Dec 31 - Illinois vs UCLA (Hunger Bowl)

If there's a Dec 31st bowl game to get excited about.....this wouldn't be the one. Illinois recently fired Coach Ron Zook - despite doing UCLA a big favour earlier in the season in knocking off Arizona State, while UCLA's Pac-12 South win proved to be fruitless bearing in mind their back-to-back crushings by USC and Oregon. UCLA's end-of-year record, by the way, means that they are the only team in this round of bowl games with a end-of-year losing record. Hunger Bowl? Hunger to turn this one off, more like? PREDICTION: If anyone cares, Illinois will win by 7.

Dec 31- Virginia vs Auburn (Chick-fil-A Bowl)

The Virginia Cavaliers pulled off one of the shocks of the ACC when it beat Georgia Tech in Charlottesville on October 15th - and the Cavaliers fought their rivals from Blacksburg all the way for an ACC Championship Game spot (they lost the finale 38-0 at home, proving how big the gap still is in the ACC Coastal Division between the Hokies and the rest). Having said that, sophomore QB Michael Rocco - who threw for nearly 2,400 yards and 11 touchdowns - has been a sensation. His problem will be to avoid the Auburn secondary (he threw for 11 interceptions, too). The Cavs defence will also have a problem in Auburn running back Michael Dyer. PREDICTION: Auburn wins in a great closer for the New Year.

Now, back to the Catholics vs Convicts rivalry...

Well that was quite a start to the Bowl season, wasn't it?

2011-12-19T08:20:00.000-08:00

Let's try and forget that Penn State is trying to find themselves a coach and that Ohio State is taking them all.

Let's try and forget that the Jerry Sandusky nastiness continues, and Joe Paterno looks worse and worse in every thought in terms of ignoring what happened.

Why? It's bowl season, and suddenly the mood is just a little lightened for us at the VFA.

Here are some points:

1) If you don't think the 'small bowl games' are important, then check out University of Louisiana-Lafeyette kick Brett Baer's reaction after nailing a 50-year kick that gave the Rajin' Cajuns the win in the New Orleans Bowl. And what's more, check out the freaking crowd's reaction. You think it doesn't matter to them, either?
But that wasn't all - the Cajun fans brought along around 90% of the 42,000 crowd in the New Orleans Bowl. We know that sort of crowd is going to be nothing compared to the National Championship Game, but who cares, the number was fantastic!

Or from the crowd itself (and the VFA doesn't excuse the language, but heck, at least this cameraman knew what he was talking about)

2) The end to the Ohio - Utah State Potato Bowl game was quite honestly, nuts. Ohio quarterback Tyler Tettleton (say that after a bottle of Southern Comfort!) runs the ball from one yard, giving the team a surprise victory. It was Ohio's first win in five bowl appearances. The Utah State Aggies must be used to heartache, after their biggest game of the season - the Auburn Tigers - ended in tears, too. But they will rebuild.
If the Potato Bowl offers this kind of game year in, year out, then sign it up!

3) Temple got only their second bowl win in school history after beating the crap out of Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl 37-15. The defence was excellent (three INTs), and Bernard Pierce who ran for 100 yards and 2 TDs.

Oh, and we're also loving this Nelly song. The Paul Rhoads video? Tears to the eyes.

Top Ten Things That Sucked About the 2011 season (on the field)

2011-12-15T15:35:00.000-08:00

Now we've talked with some sadness about what in the hell was going on off-the-field that sucked this year, it should only be right that we talk about what sucked on the field. And no, this won't include would-be Heisman candidate Tyrann Mathieu sitting on the sidelines for a game for his misbehaviors. That would be unfair.

Anyway, here are our Top 10 disappointments of the year.

1) Big Game Bob?

For a while, the Oklahoma Sooners looked unbeatable. Their defence was outstanding in a wonderful win over Florida State (one of the games of the season in one of the atmospheres of the season), then they played Texas and quite frankly played them off the park in the Red River Rivalry, when if we're honest the best thing that Texas produced all day was the co-eds. Suddenly, the National Championship Game was going to be about Oklahoma vs the SEC, and no-one else was close. Then it all fell apart. After a thunderstorm, the Oklahoma Sooners took the field against Texas Tech....and lost, while playing terribly in the process. Then, in a result that no-one would have predicted, they then lost sensationally to the Baylor Bears and then rounded off a poor season by getting schellacked by little brother Oklahoma State. This whole 'Big Game Bob' moniker's getting a little ironic, isn't it?

2) The 'Game Of The Century'

For a week - and this includes this website - we talked up the LSU-Alabama game, or as it will be known for now on, the 'Game Of The Century'. But if we're honest, it was a game that saw both sides manage to blow it in the red-zone (LSU by bad quarterbacking, Alabama by bad kicking), with the only real bit of excitement coming with an insane LSU interception, a disallowed LSU touchdown in overtime, and, er, LSU's kickers winning the game in overtime. Otherwise, it was a war of punting without much else. Sure, everyone else will talk about the greatness of the defenses - but for a spectator, it sucked. If you wanted to watch fun, you should have watched the Oklahoma State- Kansas State, which was truly one of the games of the season.

3) Yours Offensively, Signed Penn State

As a Penn State fan, the offence was an absolute horror show. In fact, every game of TV filled the VFA with dread. Not because of ourselves, but because of how our neighbours might feel with us using such profanity. For a while Penn State was the most goddawful 8-1 team on the planet. And even after Paterno left, it continued being poor - and blame on that is going to have to go on the coaching staff. Matt McGloin didn't actually throw too many interceptions, but he sure managed to throw it away from his wide receivers when a good throw would have seen a zebra with his arms raised in favour of the Nittany Lions. The only good thing to come out of the offense this season was the play of one Silas Redd - and to him we're forever grateful.

4) Ho, Ho Hokies

Was this the same Virginia Tech team that some people thought might sneak into the Top 5? The same Virginia Tech who were torched by Clemson twice - once in the famed Hokie Stadium and once in South Beach for the ACC Championship? Wasn't this team meant to stroll away with the ACC? And to cap it all, the Virginia Tech fans couldn't even be bothered to show up for the Sugar Bowl (which they didn't deserve, incidentally) - they failed to sell anywhere near their allocation for this year's Bowl Game. Can we just stop judging Virginia Tech on the Michael Vick years and just believe that the fanbase isn't that good after all?

5) Arghh!! Aggies!

Texas A&M - at one point a sexy pick to 'do things' in the Big XII thanks to the return of Ryan Tannehill and running back Cyrus Gray - managed to spend all season long squandering double-digit leads, and frankly annoying the hell out of their very patient fanbase. They lost four of their last five games - including the 'Granddaddy Of Them All' against Texas in the last-ever rivalry game until Jerry Jones puts money in his pocket. We'd love to name the Texas loss at the worst of the losses, but if we're honest, just pick one. The Big XII are going sure going to miss you, A&M. Enjoy your life of mediocrity in the SEC West.

6) The Rest Of The SEC (bar Vanderbilt)

OK, LSU and Alabama were the two best teams in college football this season. We can comfortably say that both teams would have eaten Brandon Weedon and the Oklahoma State Cowboys alive in the National Championship game, so it's probably better for Mike Gundy's ego that they didn't play each other. However, the rest of the SEC, was really not that special. Arkansas somehow managed to make it to the Top 3 in the nation, despite their only big victory of the season being against a A&M team that coughed up big leads against [add names here]. South Carolina couldn't touch the SEC West teams (their first loss was ironically against a poor Auburn side, who struggled to beat Utah State on the first Saturday of the season), and Georgia didn't play either Alabama, LSU or Arkansas to prove their worth. Florida was simply awful - perhaps it's better that Fat Charlie The Archangel has got his divorce and is flapping off to Kansas, where he can teach another program how to suck. Mississippi State disappointed, and Ole Miss and Kentucky, well, were Ole Miss and Kentucky. And that's not a compliment.

7) Ohio In A State

Sure, we expected the Buckeyes to suck after their off-season problems, but did anyone expect them to suck as badly as they did? Really? Anyway, this bad season's going to be a one-season thing - we fully expect Urban Meyer to restore the Bucks to their former glories. But gosh, was it a bad year.

8) Mess With Texas!

The Longhorns may have won the last game of the season against the Aggies, but that hasn't papered up the cracks of what has been yet another disappointing year for Longhorn Nation. Not only were they destroyed by both Oklahoma teams, but they were handily beaten by the Baylor Bears, too. The offense didn't just look bad, they looked downright lousy, and God only knows who's going to be the starting quarterback - we just don't think Case McCoy's OR David Ash have got it at the moment. If this continues, the burning Austin heat will be warming on Mack Brown's behind.

9) Missed-State

There was a lot of noise about Mississippi State before the season. Starting the season ranked in the top 25, people thought that this team might trouble people in the SEC West, and we were on the edge of our seat to see what Dan Mullen could get out of the Cowbell boys. Unfortunately, what we got was rather a disappointment, with MSU played valiently but not wonderfully against LSU while getting flattened on the road by Georgia. This could have been better- so much better. But it wasn't. Again.

10) Arizona, Arizona, Arizona

The Sun Devils were a sad story in 2011. After a prodigious win in front of a blacked-out, noisy Sun Devil Stadium (and Joe Tessitore!) against Missouri, as well as another one against USC, ASU looked as though they were going to be the real deal. Dennis Ericksson was going to take Forked Nation to the Pac-12 Championship Game, and it could be roses after that. Despite getting destroyed on College Gameday by the Oregon Ducks, the Sun Devils had it all. But instead, they managed to lose their last four games, which includes awful losses to Washington State, coach-less Arizona, and equally terrible UCLA. Instead of Ericksson taking his forks to the Pac-12 Championship Game, it was Dennis who was told to get forked.

Bowl Prediction Special: New Mexico/Potato Bowl Predictions

2011-12-15T05:09:00.000-08:00

After spending rather a lot of time moaning about what a crappy season it has been, we've dutifully pulled ourself out of our own personal pity party and reminded ourselves that there's still a bowl season on - Oklahoma State be damned!

Here are our bowl predictions - from the bottom to the top. And if we don't know what we're talking about, then apologise.

Dec 17 - Temple vs Wyoming (New Mexico Bowl)

Temple continued its renaissance with a same-as-2010 8-4 record this season, with former Florida offensive co-ordinator Steve Addazio taking them to bowlland. His biggest weapon is 1,000 yard rusher Bernard Pierce, who helped himself to 25 touchdowns this season. Wyoming, on the other hand, also have an 8-4 record, and aren't bad in the air, thanks to Brett Smith. PREDICTION: Temple win behind Pierce in a close one.

Dec 17 - Ohio vs Utah State (Potato Bowl)

Utah State got all the early season plaudits this year after nearly upsetting Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium early in the year (note to team: Practice onside kicks!), and in the late season they've won five straight after being 2-5 to start the year. Ohio, on the other hand, is 7-5 after winning the MAC's East Division. Watch out for Robert Turbin, USU's rusher, who averages well over 100 yards a game. PREDICTION: Utah State by a field goal in a game more entertaining than its awful bowl name.

Dec 17- San Diego State vs Louisiana-Lafayette (New Orleans Bowl)

While the Rajin' Cajuns won't have to step too far to go the New Orleans Bowl, San Diego State is coming rather a long way. And next year, San Diego State - we still can't believe we're actually saying this seriously - is going to be playing in the Big Anywhere (sorry, East!). SDSU running back Ronnie Hillmann's been doing the business for the SDSU, while ULL's pretty great offence is the 32nd-best in the country, putting up over 32 points a game. PREDICTION: The New Orleans track meet is going to be awesome. SDSU by 7 in a classic.

And SDSU fans, this Rajin' Cajun will have your lunch. And eat it. And 200 others.

Top 10 Things That Made The 2011 Season Suck (Off-The-Field)

2011-12-12T16:57:00.000-08:00

We asked four very senior college football writers what they thought of the 2011 season and one of them replied: "It's been the worst 2011 off-season on record".

We don't want to depress you with how crap things have been, but here's the Top 10 of Crapiness off the field. Don't worry Alabama and LSU, your time will come on the field.

1) Penn State: Joe Paterno fired after facing charges by the media of ignoring Child molestation accusations against former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. Also out are Penn State president Graham Spanier. Ironically, Paterno taken for a hospital check-up where it's found he has lung cancer. Getting fired may just have saved his life. Not that some dengerates on Twitter care - they feel this is karma for Paterno apparently having ignored the horrors of what was happening on the campus. Sandusky himself has admitted showering with the boys but not raping them. The whole thing makes us, er, ill.

2) The Texas Temper Tantrum: Texas A&M hates Texas' Longhorn Network (a deal with ESPN) that it quits the Big XII and moves to the SEC. Also going with it is the great Thanksgiving rivalry between the two schools, which had managed to survive World Wars. Apparently nothing is treasured like a bit of money, eh? Oh, and the bit of money that will be SEC TV contracts will be good money to spend for A&M, who will now spend years in the SEC Wasteland for years to come. Sorry in-coming coach Kevin Sumlin (who was awarded the job after Mike Sherman was fired), you're now in the same conference as Alabama, LSU and new big rival, Arkansas.

3) Goodbye, dear friends: The VFA is saying a prayer for the families of Austin Box (Oklahoma) and Garrett Uekmann (Arkansas), who both died before their time. Box died before the season and Uekmann died just one game before the end. Defensive assistant Chester McGlockton (Stanford) also went.

4) Welcome to Miami: In August a University of Miami booster, Nevin Shapiro, talking behind bars, boasted of giving out a ton of illegal benefits to both former and current athletes within the Hurricanes program. The Hurricanes have now given up a bowl spot - but it looks as though the NCAA may have worse to come.

5) King Tress and the Terrelle Tattoo: Lying about knowing nothing about game memorabilia getting swapped for tattoos will get you fired, long-time Ohio State coach Jim Tressel found out just before the season. Also going? Starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor. The Buckeyes were awful for a large amount of the season, ending with a 6-6 record. The good news for the Buckeyes- and there always seems to be some for these guys - is that the problems happened before the season, which then inspired Urban Meyer to come back and turn things round. He'll start coaching after the Bowl Game against - you've guessed it - Florida.

6) Which Conference? Texas A&M wasn't the only team to move this off-season. Missouri's also gone to the SEC, while the Big XII added TCU and West Virginia. The Big East wasn't going to let West Virginia go without a fight - and both have sued each other. West Virginia's arrival may have to be a bit later than 2012, though. Ironically, the Conference is probably better football-wise than it was with Mizzou and Texas A&M. Oh, and the Big East? It went hog-wild, signing up Central Florida and well-known eastern seaboard superpowers Boise State, SMU and San Diego State. There is no truth to the rumor that the Big East will be re-named "The Big Anywhere". We hope Pittsburgh and WVU continue the 'Backyard Brawl'.

7) Publications Changes: ESPN's Bruce Feldman moves to CBSSports.com after Feldman - who co-wrote Mike Leach's book 'Swing Your Sword' was suspended by ESPN after Leach criticised hugely-respected analyst Craig James for his part in Leach's firing at Texas Tech. In more bad news for ESPN, Pat Forde left in November for Yahoo Sports - which is a pity, since we loved his 'Forde Yard Dash'. ESPN also launches Grantland.com, which is a website promoting long-form writing. It's absolutely brilliant, by the way (although it's said to be losing money).

8) Poison, but no remedy: University of Alabama nutcase fan Harvey Updyke takes Auburn's National Championship victory more than a little seriously, and poisons the famous oaks at Toomer's Corner. Listen, we're all for urinating on the side of Jordan-Hare Stadium to show your hatred, but poisoning nature? Really? Here's to hope that Spring will bring something back.

9) Fancy a beer, Stephen? Being a good member of Alcoholics Anonymous, we can safely say that Stephen Garcia is unmanageable when it comes to alcohol. Let's hope Steve Spurrier's dismissal of the South Carolina quarterback - which helped to implode the Gamecocks' season - will send the message to Garcia loud and clear and the kid will get help. He needs it.

10) Bad, bad coaching searches: While we can understand that Penn State's search for a head coach is going to be effectively stalled for a while (personally, I'd rather the interim head coach's job be given to defensive co-ordinator/genius Tom Bradley right now so the Nittany Lions can get on with recruiting), Arizona State's efforts have been an absolute joke. After apparently signing SMU coach June Jones (great hire!), the ASU boosters kicked up an almighty fuss and the deal fell through. Now they are back in the coaching abyss - and needing to hire a coach fast - especially a recruiter extraordinaire Rich Rodriguez is installed up the road in Tuscon and Mike Leach has a job at Washington State. And to make life easier for the Sun Devils, that USC program isn't on probation anymore, either.

Now bring on D:Ream...

Links for 2011-12-12 [Digg]

2011-12-13T00:00:00-08:00

Top 10 Things That Made the 2011 College Football Off-Season Suck
A run-down of the off-the-field nightmare that was the 2011 College Football season

Links for 2011-11-02 [Digg]

2011-11-03T00:00:00-07:00

The View From North America: Ten reasons why the LSU-Alabama Game Is So Important
Ten reasons why the LSU- Alabama game in Tuscaloosa is too important for anyone in their right mind to miss....

Links for 2011-10-17 [Digg]

2011-10-18T00:00:00-07:00

Remembering Dan | Sky Sports | Blogs | Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson pays tribute to Dan Wheldon and says now is not the time to play the blame game.

Links for 2011-09-30 [Digg]

2011-10-01T00:00:00-07:00

The View From North America: After Armageddon finishes, let's hope the rivalries survive
When College Football finishes its integration, will the sainted rivalries still survive?

Links for 2011-05-24 [Digg]

2011-05-25T00:00:00-07:00

The View From North America: Why Tennessee Could Win The SEC East
Why the Vols could succeed after so many years of season rubbish...