Random College Football Thoughts...
Call me Kenny, but college football is pretty much all I have to talk about these days.
Thought One - the polls are a joke. Now of course, all my commentary at the moment has to be based on the Coaches Poll, because the AP isn't out yet.
I've heard a lot of talk (mostly from Mountaineers) that Tech shouldn't be ranked at all. That's foolish talk. Look at the current poll (here) and reconsider what you're saying: we're ranked near the bottom of the 2-loss teams, and our two losses came to a ranked team (Pittsburgh) and a team that has since shown that they deserve to be ranked (WVU). Miami (Florida) is behind us because, well, we beat them. Ole Miss is behind us because of their early-season loss to Memphis, although, in my opinion, that's bologna. Since then, they've only lost to a good Texas Tech team and they've been getting it done since - at least as much as "the" Ohio State University has.
Which brings me to Thought Two - Ohio State pisses me off. They pull win after win out of their asses, and they might have actually earned half of those wins this season. I hope Michigan kicks their asses next week.
Thought Three, which inspired this entry in the first place - it's time to rank West Virginia. It pains me to say that - my mom graduated from Pittsburgh and my dad graduated from Tech, so I was raised my entire life to hate WVU. A combination of many friends who were/are Mountaineers and conference affiliation led me to follow the Eers a little more and now I'd say I'm neutral.
Anyway, WTF. I realize this team started the season looking like a disappointment, but the only loss there that's truly embarrassing is Cincinatti. WVU demolished Pittsburgh yesterday and the pollsters are still leaving Pitt at 21 while WVU's sitting at 27? A comment was made on Tech's message board that this WVU team is a lot like the Tech football teams of 95 and 96, and I agree, on two counts: first, you're taking very average talent and winning with it. (Of course I don't mean Quincy or Pac-Man Jones or Grant Wiley, but on the other hand, who among even those three was really highly-sought as a high school recruit?) Across the board, no one really turned heads at your recruiting classes, but here you go, winning big games with those kids. That's a sign of incredible coaching. Also, I think it's interesting that in 1995, Tech started it's season with two losses (Boston College and -uhoh- Cincinatti) before winning out and eventually beating Texas in the Sugar Bowl. I didn't believe before, but it's possible similar mojo is developing for the Mountaineers. Second, it seems like no one's paying a damn bit of attention. Keep winning, Mountaineers - the attention will come.
Thought Four - Pittsburgh's fans really suck. Man, I went up to that game and I've just never seen anything like it. First of all, I saw more people dressed in Steelers stuff than in Panthers stuff. Whatever. Then, they just weren't smart. They didn't make noise on defense, and they sat in their seats the whole game. It was like they thought they were at a concert or something and the team was supposed to entertain them. Not in my world: we go to games because we have a job to do. That, I think is the difference between people who THINK they're college football fans and people who are: we don't have Hokie fans in Blacksburg, we have Hokies. Same thing at WVU. I really think it makes a difference for the team.
Speaking of the Pittsburgh game, here's a damn cute picture from it.
We've been dating I guess four and a half months now. Right after the first weekend we spent together (I realize this sounds psycho), I called my sister and said "Sissy, I found the man I'm going to marry." Now it's starting to look like that might be true. That's an exciting thought and a scary one at the same time. I mean, I thought I was going to marry Mike also, but it was a very different situation. If you one day realize that you enjoy making out with your best friend, the pressure is going to be there immediately: everyone expected us to get married. Marry your best friend and all that. But with Derek, it's a more mature relationship. I mean, don't expect us to run off to Gatlinburg anytime soon, but the marriage possibility is definitely there. I got me a good one. :-)
Thought One - the polls are a joke. Now of course, all my commentary at the moment has to be based on the Coaches Poll, because the AP isn't out yet.
I've heard a lot of talk (mostly from Mountaineers) that Tech shouldn't be ranked at all. That's foolish talk. Look at the current poll (here) and reconsider what you're saying: we're ranked near the bottom of the 2-loss teams, and our two losses came to a ranked team (Pittsburgh) and a team that has since shown that they deserve to be ranked (WVU). Miami (Florida) is behind us because, well, we beat them. Ole Miss is behind us because of their early-season loss to Memphis, although, in my opinion, that's bologna. Since then, they've only lost to a good Texas Tech team and they've been getting it done since - at least as much as "the" Ohio State University has.
Which brings me to Thought Two - Ohio State pisses me off. They pull win after win out of their asses, and they might have actually earned half of those wins this season. I hope Michigan kicks their asses next week.
Thought Three, which inspired this entry in the first place - it's time to rank West Virginia. It pains me to say that - my mom graduated from Pittsburgh and my dad graduated from Tech, so I was raised my entire life to hate WVU. A combination of many friends who were/are Mountaineers and conference affiliation led me to follow the Eers a little more and now I'd say I'm neutral.
Anyway, WTF. I realize this team started the season looking like a disappointment, but the only loss there that's truly embarrassing is Cincinatti. WVU demolished Pittsburgh yesterday and the pollsters are still leaving Pitt at 21 while WVU's sitting at 27? A comment was made on Tech's message board that this WVU team is a lot like the Tech football teams of 95 and 96, and I agree, on two counts: first, you're taking very average talent and winning with it. (Of course I don't mean Quincy or Pac-Man Jones or Grant Wiley, but on the other hand, who among even those three was really highly-sought as a high school recruit?) Across the board, no one really turned heads at your recruiting classes, but here you go, winning big games with those kids. That's a sign of incredible coaching. Also, I think it's interesting that in 1995, Tech started it's season with two losses (Boston College and -uhoh- Cincinatti) before winning out and eventually beating Texas in the Sugar Bowl. I didn't believe before, but it's possible similar mojo is developing for the Mountaineers. Second, it seems like no one's paying a damn bit of attention. Keep winning, Mountaineers - the attention will come.
Thought Four - Pittsburgh's fans really suck. Man, I went up to that game and I've just never seen anything like it. First of all, I saw more people dressed in Steelers stuff than in Panthers stuff. Whatever. Then, they just weren't smart. They didn't make noise on defense, and they sat in their seats the whole game. It was like they thought they were at a concert or something and the team was supposed to entertain them. Not in my world: we go to games because we have a job to do. That, I think is the difference between people who THINK they're college football fans and people who are: we don't have Hokie fans in Blacksburg, we have Hokies. Same thing at WVU. I really think it makes a difference for the team.
Speaking of the Pittsburgh game, here's a damn cute picture from it.
We've been dating I guess four and a half months now. Right after the first weekend we spent together (I realize this sounds psycho), I called my sister and said "Sissy, I found the man I'm going to marry." Now it's starting to look like that might be true. That's an exciting thought and a scary one at the same time. I mean, I thought I was going to marry Mike also, but it was a very different situation. If you one day realize that you enjoy making out with your best friend, the pressure is going to be there immediately: everyone expected us to get married. Marry your best friend and all that. But with Derek, it's a more mature relationship. I mean, don't expect us to run off to Gatlinburg anytime soon, but the marriage possibility is definitely there. I got me a good one. :-)