NCAA hirings and firings

This time of year, people are hustling and bustling about, trying to get everything in line for the holidays. Well, this same format applies to several NCAA colleges. It applies to their athletic department, in particular who the head coaches are for the football teams. Not every school is going to have the magical season everyone expects, and in that case coaches get put on the hot seat throughout the season and then the athletic director gives them the boot if their performance is poor. Nowadays, it has become a huge buzz around the country because everyone wants to know whose out and if they are then who’s in.

Several institutions have changed coaches already, Auburn, Tennessee, Wyoming, Syracuse, Mississippi State and Kansas State to name the bigger programs.

Tommy Tuberville, after 9 years with the Auburn Tigers, resigned because he thought his time was done and he wasn’t doing the job necessary for the people and fans of AU. Auburn has replaced Tuberville with a shocking selection of Gene Chizik, who this season was the coach of the Iowa State Cyclones, and won a total of two games.

Tennessee had a great run under Philip Fulmer, but he too resigned after serving 16 years as the head man of the Volunteers. Tennessee decided to go with a coach much younger than Fulmer when it hired ex-Oakland Raiders coach Lane Kiffin this past month. I question whether Kiffin will be able to bring the Volunteers back to the top of the Southeastern Conference and the national scene. If his dad, Monte Kiffin, who’s the defensive coordinator of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, follows him to Knoxville, that makes the hire that much sweeter. We’ll wait and see what happens there.

Wyoming has never been anything to write home about and that’s pretty much why Joe Glenn is no longer the head coach for the Cowboys. He lost twice as many games as Wyoming won playing in the Mountain West Conference. Things could turn quickly for the Cowboys as Missouri Offensive Coordinator Dave Christensen is the new man in Laramie. Everyone knows he has a brilliant mind when it comes to offense by evidence of what he did with the Tigers. We’ll see if he has success with Wyoming as this is his first head coaching position.

Syracuse hasn’t had anything or anyone exciting since Donovan McNabb was quarterback. The university said adios to Greg Robinson after just three years. They wanted a new perspective on things and they are sure to get it. Robinson had experience at both the NCAA and NFL levels before heading to Syracuse. The Orangemen’s new ball coach is Doug Marrone, ex-offensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints. Marrone has history with the ‘Cuse; he lettered there in the three years he played football. It could take him awhile to do anything positive in the Big East.

There aren’t many black head coaches in NCAA football. There’s now one less because of the absence of Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State. Everyone thought Croom would make an immediate impact for MSU in the SEC. After just five seasons, the conference’s first black coach resigned and left an opening for Florida’s Offensive Coordinator Dan Mullen to fill. The people of Starkville should be elated that Mullen, who served as an assistant for 14 years, is back.

Last but not least is Kansas State. Poor Ron Prince brought promise to the Wildcat program, but could not deliver. He coached talented players like Green Bay’s Jordy Nelson and the Baltimore Raven’s Yamon Figurs, but that didn’t mean the K-State program was improving year after year. Another surprise came when former-coach Bill Snyder decided to jump back in the ring and become the Wildcat head coach again. Snyder is by far the best coach KSU has ever had. He’s a great coach and someone players want to be around. Good things are in store for Kansas State.

These are the men who have been let go and the men who gladly have taken their places. My lotto pick for head coach that will have the most success in his first year is…Lane Kiffin with Tennessee. They have always had a top program at Tennessee and Kiffin will bring the swagger back to Knoxville.

Tis the season for NCAA football conference championships. What a slate we have lined up for this weekend. Nothing is better than when the game being played has national champion implications.

First off, the Atlantic Coast Conference is going to crown a champion. The battle between Virginia Tech and Boston College is a rematch of last year’s title game when Va Tech beat out BC to go to the Orange Bowl. The Hokies barely escaped in Lincoln against Nebraska. Now the Hokies are on the verge on their second straight ACC title. Boston College doesn’t have high profile quarterback Matt Ryan this time around. It should be an exciting game to watch from Tampa Bay, Florida. The winner will go on to represent the ACC in a Bowl Championship Series game.

After that one, it will be time to switch it over to CBS to watch the highly-anticipated match up of Alabama and Florida. People have known for weeks that these two would face off for the Southeastern Conference championship. This game is sweeter than a Christmas candy cane. Alabama has played solid football all year long, relying on its defense to win ball games. The Tide’s offense is not very exciting to watch and they don’t have many playmakers besides freshman wide receiver Julio Jones, who has big hands and big body to make catches. Alabama has passed every test this season, beating teams handily like Georgia, LSU, Clemson and Auburn.

Florida has put out the craziest amount of offense I’ve ever seen ever since losing at home to Ole Miss. Junior QB Tim Tebow has almost equaled his amazing performance last season which garnered him the Heisman Trophy. The Gator offense has averaged more than 50 points ever since its home defeat to the Rebels. No one has been able to hang with Florida because they have so many versatile and speedy players. Most notably Jeffrey Demps, Chris Rainey and Percy Harvin who each run about 4.4 second forty-yard dash.

Everyone has been tabbing Alabama to lose in the SEC title game saying Florida will put up dozens of points on the Tide. I tend to lean toward the Gators as well. I just think Tebow and Co., and also the brilliant coaching of UF Coach Urban Meyer, will be too much for the offense-less Tide.

If Florida wins, it deserves to be in Miami, Florida for the BCS National Championship in January.

Finally, the much controversial Big 12 Championship between the Missouri Tigers and the Oklahoma Sooners. Oklahoma jumped ahead of Texas in the BCS standings to get the nod of representing the Big 12 South Kansas City, Missouri. I believe OU deserves a shot to win the title with what I’ve seen from them on the field in the last month. As far as the game goes, no one is giving Mizzou a fighting chance…and neither am I. Oklahoma is too manly for the puny Tigers. Missouri proved in its huge loss to Texas earlier this season that it can’t hang with the big boys of the Big 12 South. Expect the Sooners to run it down the throats of the Mizzou D and look for junior QB Sam Bradford to put up impressive numbers as he’s vying for the Heisman Trophy as well.

That leaves Oklahoma and Florida, both with one loss, to play for the national title in Miami. If you want to crown the best college football team for this 2008 season, then OU and UF need to duke it out on the national stage. They are clearly the top two teams out there. Talk about an offensive explosion.

As a sports fan, there’s nothing worse than a shot to the gut from your beloved team squandering a game.

In my case, my sports weekend was the worst I can remember.  It started Saturday night with that wonderful beat down of Nebraska by the Tigers of Missouri. I was in the stands for the whole game and by the second half, I didn’t talk to anybody and I didn’t even cheer when the Huskers did score.  What was the point?  I could only picture Chase Daniel winning the Heisman down the road as he helps Mizzou win the Big 12 Championship.  I also started thinking of how the outcome of this game could be similar to when we play Texas Tech next week.

So after the massacre, I wanted to find out how my beloved Chicago Cubs were doing.  They were facing elimination vs. the Dodgers in the National League Division Series.  Well, as I flipped on the tube I found the Cubs down three runs in the eight inning. That made me feel tons better.

The Cubs had the best record going into the playoffs and everyone was talking about the World Series. My Saturday night got worse when the Dodgers threw the final pitch and came away with a win to end 2008 for Chicago. In total, that was two horribly disappointing performances in one day.

It took awhile for me to recuperate, but Sunday I had a couple more games on the line.  I said to myself, if both of my teams lose, this will for sure be the worst sports weekend ever for me.

I’m a huge San Francisco 49ers fan and they actually had a shot against the New England Patriots at home. The game started out great with the Niners creating some offense and getting on the board first. Matt Cassel thre some picks but he also completed several balls for big gains which helped the Pats beat SF 31-20.  Talk about a heartbreaker. As good as New England has been in the past, they had no Tom Brady and still beat San Fran on the road.

The last straw came later.  I’m a writer for the Husker women’s soccer team which upset No. 8 texas on Friday night. I think that may have been the highlight of my terrible weekend. However, Nebraska had to lose to Baylor 1-0 to cap off my dismal days.

I follow many sports and pull for several teams, and none of my guys came through this weekend. Oh well, the beauty of sports is they always play more than one game…except in the case of the Cubs.

So all you heard all last week were teasers about some awesome college football games on the slate for Saturday. I for one planned on planting myself on the couch and taking part in the spectacle.

But the thing is, I was disappointed.

The day set up to be filled with highlights and highly-contested games. Look at this lineup:

#3 Georgia at Arizona State in prime time.

#4 Florida at Tennessee in a key Southeastern Conference game.

#6 LSU vs. #10 Auburn, the biggest game of the day.

#18 Wake Forest at #24 Florida State, the two best teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Georgia Bulldogs mascot, Uga VII

I watched bits and pieces of every game and I couldn’t feel the passion that is college football. Let’s start with Georgia vs. the Sun Devils. This game was supposed to be more of a contest for UGA because Tempe, Ariz., is no easy place to play. The Bulldogs ended up cruising to a 27-10 win, good for them, bad for sports fans watching.

The afternoon game between Tennessee and the Gators should have been explosive play after jaw-dropping play, but Florida was the only team that had that mantra. It was completely one-sided as UF won 30-6. The Volunteers got in the end zone once, on a one yard run by their quarterback. How blah is that?

The match-up of LSU and the Auburn Tigers had me excited as soon as the crew from College Game Day started talking about it in the morning. I felt it was the best game for a fan to watch all day. The atmosphere of Jordan-Hare Stadium was electric and the game did go back-and-forth until LSU pulled it out like they seem to always do. Still, this was the only worth-while game to watch in my opinion.

The cheerleaders of LSU before kickoff.

The Demon Deacons and the Seminoles were both busts in their game. A combined five field goals, four for WF, decided the score. When I think of good football, I think of both teams at least scoring a touchdown in some exciting manner. Defensive games are just boring to watch. The American people want to see passes that zip through the air and running plays where the defensive backs are blown out of their shoes. Watching scrawny kickers blast the ball through the uprights is supposed to be exciting when a game-winning kick is on the line. It shouldn’t be the storyline for the entire game. I hope both teams can amount one touchdown in their next game. I think I flipped the channel to watch a movie in the third quarter, yawn.

I know there will be more football Saturdays later on this season where big games will be on the schedule. That’s what I love; two top 25 teams going at it in conference play. Those are the games to watch because guys will play their hearts out to get a win for their coach in conference action.

All I have to say is, I’m there.

I’m a Cubs fan.

There I said it. I’m not a band wagon jumper; I don’t just follow Chicago because people say this is the year. I’m originally from eastern Iowa, and Wrigley Field is a short three-hour drive away.

I watched Sammy Sosa and Harry Carey on WGN when the Cubs didn’t factor much in the NL Central. Now, this season, fans from all around the country have something to cheer about.

The north siders are 33 games above .500 and have pulled away from the Milwaukee Brewers in the division. I’m looking ahead to the postseason, trying to figure out who the Cubs should play in the Division Series, National League Championship Series, and the World Series to gain an advantage.

There is no doubt in my mind that Chicago has the best pitchers in the major leagues. Rich Harden has been a great addition, going 5-1 since his arrival. Ted Lilly has been a solid veteran anchor racking up 175 K’s. Ryan Dempster has a team-leading 16 wins; and then there’s Carlos Zambrano.

Big Z had a 13-5 record before he went on the disabled list with soreness in his shoulder. He hadn’t pitched in a game since September 2^nd. Almost two weeks later, up at a neutral site called Miller Park, Zambrano pitched the game of his life against the Houston Astros.

As I was surfing the ESPN.com Web site, I noticed an alert in the upper right-hand corner telling me Zambrano was no-hitting the Astros through seven innings.

My first thought: Wait, isn’t that game being played in Milwaukee?

I tuned in like millions to ESPN for live coverage of Big Z’s attempt at history. Soon, he was through eight innings without a hitch. You could tell Zambrano was nervous on the mound as he had full counts on two of the final three at-bats in the ninth inning.

Then came the call: “Full count, bottom of the ninth, Darin Erstad at the plate. Here’s the pitch. Strike three and Carlos Zambrano has just thrown the first no-hitter for the Cubs since 1972!”

Honestly, shivers ran down my spine. Plus, I sent out a loud yell that alarmed my roommate sitting in the chair next to me.

Hey, it was exciting. Congratulations to Big Z and the Cubs organization. With a performance like that coming from one of the aces in the final weeks of the regular season, all the talk is about the Cubbies.

After a 100 year drought of not winning the World Series, will this no-no set up a story book ending?

Brent Musberger, Brad Nessler, and Mike Patrick; they are the best of the best when it comes to play-by-play calling in college football.

I had a chance Saturday at the Husker football game to get a taste of what these guys go through up in the booth. The only major difference: I was broadcasting through the radio so I didn’t need a snazzy suit and make-up in order to look good on television. Both of which were okay by me.

To be up in the top of the press box with, what I thought, was the best view in Memorial Stadium was indescribable. I quickly learned that you have to be able to digest so much in order to basically describe the action on the field to someone who’s listening and can’t see what’s happening. They were relying on everything I said, both before the play and after it. At first, I was kind of scatter-brained, but after the first quarter I settled in and fell into a groove. As a huge Husker fan, I reveled in calling the most exciting plays of the game, in particular senior defensive lineman Ndamakong Suh’s interception returned for a touchdown and sophomore Niles Paul’s crowd-igniting kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

For both of these plays, I wasn’t concerned with how I was portraying the action. I was as excited as anyone inside the stadium and I’m sure it showed on the radio. When a big d-lineman rumbles 49 yards down to the goal line with a tiny leather football clutched in his arm, you can’t help but giggle a little.

There were so many things I had to concentrate on during my time up in the box. The statistics of both teams were flying at me and I needed to sort them out to let the fans know. Many times it was difficult to discern who someone was just by looking at the number on their back. I was responsible for giving out who made the play on offense and who came up with the stop on defense. The other thing that was difficult for me was being okay with San Jose State scoring and making big plays. It’s the sports broadcaster’s job to remain neutral when on the air.

The good thing was: the game was actually close through three quarters which made for a good radio broadcast. The bad thing: Nebraska could have been upset by the Spartans on Saturday, upsetting a lot of people in Husker nation. All in all, it was a good day and I’m glad I got that valuable experience under my belt. My entire family and I have been die-hard NU fans all our lives and to stand at the top of the press box and share my thoughts on Husker football with a live listening audience was priceless.

As we descend upon the 2008 college football season, the teams are fine-tuning, the fans are ready to file in the stadium, and the coaches are, well, coaching. Many of them are calling plays in different places this year.

Rodriguez ready to roll

Much has been said about Rich Rodriguez, former West Virginia coach, and the meltdown Michigan boys from last year. Rodriguez has to come out strong as the new Michigan coach and give the people of Ann Arbor something to look forward to. It will not be easy. He’s instilling a new system, based primarily on his huge running game success at WVU. Rodriguez needs to find the right players for his potent offense. The maize and blue need a mobile, versatile quarterback not a pocket-passer, like, Chad Henne, from a year ago. Expect the Wolverines to lose for the next two years against rivals, the Buckeyes and Badgers. It will be a slow, building process before Michigan is a major powerhouse once again. If a prediction were absolutely necessary I would say they will finish 6-6 on the season, just barely becoming bowl eligible in Rodriguez’s first season as head coach. They will rejoice in the success of this season as it will culminate in a major win over a lesser team in their bowl game. More to come from Rich and Co. in the future.

Pelini poised for Husker debut

Another coach inheriting a team with a disappointing year last fall is defensive guru Bo Pelini. Pelini hopes to ”restore the order” for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, starting this year. Both ESPN’s football commentator, Kirk Herbstreit, and I agree that Pelini is the guy set up to have the most success in his first year. Yes he’s a first-time head coach, but his defenses are known for stifling offenses and halting stud running backs. Combine that with the fact that he still has Offensive Coordinator Sean Watson who ran the explosive offense for the Huskers last season. In 2007, excluding the terrible Missouri game, Nebraska scored an average of more than 35 points per game for the season. They were also second in the Big 12 in passing yards per game with 323.8, just behind Texas Tech and it’s ridiculous pass only offense.

I predict Pelini will grow with the continued support of Husker fans everywhere and go 8-4 in his Husker debut. If he wants to call it a successful season, he must win at least one of these three consecutive games Nebraska plays: at home against Virginia Tech, at home against Missouri, or down in Lubbock, Texas vs. Texas Tech. All three teams are ranked in the top 20 of the AP preseason poll.

Neuheisel is new Bruins Coach

Rick Neuheisel has returned to his alma mater of UCLA. The once quarterback for the Bruins won the job and may be the top new coach under the most pressure from his superiors. UCLA has not been in the national picture for awhile. Its last coach, Karl Dorell, was a bust in his time there. He could not win a Pac-10 Championship and many thought it was time for a change. This year, the Bruins have a clean slate with tough conference match-ups with USC, Arizona State, and California. Don’t expect the Bruins to win any of these tough games. Simply enough, they will not be ready to tackle such competition. Even their powder blue jerseys won’t help them come close to winning the Pac-10 this year. The Bruins will probably go 5-7 in 2008. Bruins fans, don’t expect much more than that. There’s a time for re-building. UCLA will have its chances down the line, but it will take a year or two for them to learn Coach Neuheisel and Offensive Coordinator Norm Chow’s schemes and plays.

That’s a brief outlook to the ups and downs some of the more prominent new coaches will face in 2008. It should be an exciting season. All of these coaches will have big wins and big losses, mark my word.