Quasi-OT: LSU beats OU, and a bit about vb

[Wolfgang]

LSU beats OU, 21-14.

Nick Saban, coach of LSU, just earned $1 more than the highest paid coach in college football by beating OU and winning the BCS national championship. It's in his contract. The ABC booth people mentioned somewhere in the $2.5M range. That, my friends, is a mini-lottery winner!

Loved the game and the strategizing by both coaches at the end. Many would consider it boring. OU QB Jason White on the run and LSU didn't chase; instead, they stayed home and didn't fall for the "gimmick" play. OU called timeout on 1st and 2nd downs, forcing LSU to run on 3rd or, alternatively, pass and risk stopping the clock.

Funny bit on why Nick Saban doesn't allow freshmen to talk to the media. When Saban was at Michigan State, his star freshman WR Plaxico Burress bragged to the press, "Shoot! It's like taking candy from a baby!" on the Spartans' upcoming game against in-state rival Michigan. Saban said, "That's it. No more media for dumbass freshmen." Well, not in so many words.

I have to confess that I love football because of the start-and-stop nature of the game. Each side makes a move, then stops to ponder, and then makes the next move. I hate to use the old analogy, but it is kinda like chess. Make a move, then counter, then the opponent makes its move. The hitting is just gravy. It's really the start-and-stop nature of the game that allows broadcasters and fans to "think along" with the teams and coaches. That, my friends, has to be one of the main reasons why football is so popular...well, besides the violence and the clever marketing.

Now, if they can only make volleyball just a tad less PREDICTABLE. Ooh, another set high to the outside. Oooh.

[GatorVball]

Meanwhile, I'm sitting here wondering how the Gators were able to beat LSU and hand them their only loss this year. Oh well, at least we can say we beat the National Champs(at least in one of the polls).

[Overlycheerful]

Wolfgang said:

I have to confess that I love football because of the start-and-stop nature of the game. Each side makes a move, then stops to ponder, and then makes the next move. I hate to use the old analogy, but it is kinda like chess. Make a move, then counter, then the opponent makes its move. The hitting is just gravy. It's really the start-and-stop nature of the game that allows broadcasters and fans to "think along" with the teams and coaches. That, my friends, has to be one of the main reasons why football is so popular...well, besides the violence and the clever marketing.

Now, if they can only make volleyball just a tad less PREDICTABLE. Ooh, another set high to the outside. Oooh.

I don't understand these comments. VB has everything you mention above. AND it features athletes worth watching.

Even if the strategy is high to the OH--and that's hardly the only strategy employed--there is much more going on than that. There's the block and the defense. The serving strategy. The matchups.

What I don't understand about football on TV is that the viewer has NO idea what the big picture is; i.e., you can't see what's going on down field. The camera is following the ball. (The same problem with the sideline angle in VB.)

And yet no one seems to mind...

[Overlycheerful]

Wolfgang said:

Nick Saban, coach of LSU, just earned $1 more than the highest paid coach in college football by beating OU and winning the BCS national championship. It's in his contract. The ABC booth people mentioned somewhere in the $2.5M range. That, my friends, is a mini-lottery winner!

That, my friends, is an obscenity of astronomical proportions.

Another reason to hate the sport...

[roofed!]

And while we are on the subject of football, USC finished as #1 on the AP poll. So, USC earned the AP national championship, which will be presented to Coach Carroll at Heritage Hall on monday morning before he and his coaches take a flight to Florida for the coaches' convention.

So, 3 national championships for USC this year, thus far:
Men waterpolo, Women Volleyball and Football.

[Gorf]

GatorVball said:

Meanwhile, I'm sitting here wondering how the Gators were able to beat LSU and hand them their only loss this year. Oh well, at least we can say we beat the National Champs(at least in one of the polls).

Georgia probably "ought" to have beaten LSU the 2nd time they played in 2003 as well.

Nice to see someone other than the "typical" schools win the BCS championship for a change.

It would still be better to have a playoff.

[Gorf]

Wolfgang said:

I have to confess that I love football because of the start-and-stop nature of the game. Each side makes a move, then stops to ponder, and then makes the next move. I hate to use the old analogy, but it is kinda like chess. Make a move, then counter, then the opponent makes its move. The hitting is just gravy. It's really the start-and-stop nature of the game that allows broadcasters and fans to "think along" with the teams and coaches. That, my friends, has to be one of the main reasons why football is so popular...well, besides the violence and the clever marketing.

Now, if they can only make volleyball just a tad less PREDICTABLE. Ooh, another set high to the outside. Oooh.

You forgot to mention what is apparently the most important thing about football. Giving far too many folks the chance on a weekly basis to become drunken idiots in the stands.

To me, the typical football game is much more predictable and boring than pretty much any volleyball match.

At least with volleyball I don't sit in the stands for something like 3 hours to watch less than an hour of action with lots of players dancing and prancing around acting like every play they make that ought to be common place seem to be the biggest thing in the world to them until their next similar play. That type of behavior gets to be especially annoying / boring when their team is down by say 20+ points and they've just made a tackle against the opposing teams 3rd stringers.

[Wolfgang]

You should be lucky I host football parties at my home so that I can keep some of those idiots out of the stands. Just doing my part for the benefit of society.

I'm hosting another Super Bowl party this month. I, of course, invited all my football buddies that I "chat" with on my other message boards.

[cbrown1709]

I have to admit, the OSU fans were very nice people(and know how to tip!) This weekend was fun, crazy, and exciting. The LSU fans tore this town apart last nite. What a great weekend.

[Gorf]

Wolfgang said:

You should be lucky I host football parties at my home so that I can keep some of those idiots out of the stands. Just doing my part for the benefit of society.

I'm hosting another Super Bowl party this month. I, of course, invited all my football buddies that I "chat" with on my other message boards.

Thanks for doing your part in keeping some of the drunken idiots off the streets and out of the stadium(s).

Do your football buddies know that the Super Bowl is being played in early February this year?

[Wolfgang]

Gorf-2K4 said:

Do your football buddies know that the Super Bowl is being played in early February this year?

No, we're all idiots.

[Barefoot In Kailua]

Gorf said:

It would still be better to have a playoff.

I agree. The only way I see that happening is if the Playoff(s) could be tied to the Bowl Games, being that the Bowl sponsors have likely been lobbying against a playoff system ( greedy Sob's) . The BCS only works when there isn't a third entity ( like USC this year) involved in the mix. No sport should have CO National Champions, it's plain stupid. Why play a whole year just to share a title?

Why not settle it in the Lockeroom, let Pete Carroll and Nick Saban fight for it? seriously though, LSU BEAT a better team in a game that was considered to be "THE" National Championship game. They alone should be the National Champions. The AP Writers were partly responsible for the BCS selections.