Back Seat Drivers: Cheers and Jeers: Pine Cone Edition

Ingredients:

1 jigger Southern Comfort
1 jigger Amaretto
1 glass Pineapple juice

It's a new year which means the past week to 10 days I've been doing really only one thing, watching football. Yesterday was literally the first time since Christmas that at some point I did not watch football. While the withdrawl symptoms were minimum (mainly hallucinations of a pink elephant being named the next Browns coach) it did give me a time to reflect on the Bowl Season. Here they are

Cheers: To another TFF (Charlie Weis) beat down. Has there been any coach in recent memory that is more Teflon coated? How could he be in the running for head coach of the Giants? Notre Dame despite having one of the best QBs (in theory) in college football has not beaten a single ranked team during Tits Mcgee Jr.'s tenure began. His best performance is almost beating USC. Something that Oregon State surpassed this year (the other other OSU). Perhaps after this latest blowout, the luster will go off the self-proclaimed smartest coach in college until he beats someone other than one of the armed services branch.

Cheers As MJ would say it's never too early to start thinking about the off-season, especially if you're from Cleveland. The question before us is always who is the diamond studded QB (wait does that sound gay? Not that there's anything wrong with that). The top QBS on parade for the NFL meat market are Brady Quinn, Troy Smith and possibly Demarcus Russell (LSU) and Brian Brohm (Louisville). If I were to try this predicting thing I'd say Russell or Brohm have the best chances to be Pro Bowlers. Russell certainly as the physical attributes for it (did anyone see how far he threw the ball off his back foot). Quinn had trouble recognizing LSU's defensive packaging and never seems to shine in the biggest games. I think he may go down into the bust category.

Jeers: To Saban leaving for Alabama. No, not for being lying to Miami. Although I can't but help chuckle at the sentiment Miamians are expressing "I hope Alabama burns in hell next season." No, the reason why it should be jeered is that a return of Saban is just another reason for the SEC to crow about their superiority. Between Tuberville, Miles, Spurrier, Saban, Meyers, and Richt (don't overlook the Bulldogs) the SEC offers at least the biggest names in coaching. And the rest of the country will have to listen to their gloating and possible whining. Ughh.

Sir, have you no shame?

Jeers: To Kirk Herbstreet. The ex-Buckeye QB of Cooper's era (which only means he can handle his liquor) attacked bloggers while the Wolverines were exposed by the ribbed Trojans. Herbie noted that with the loss that it would be bloggers demanding Carr's head and bloggers that could somehow have Carr fired. I like to be as self-important as the next blogger but somehow I think the decision on when to fire and who to fire falls squarely on the shoulder of outrageously opinionated and well-connected boosters. I realize that the spelling and sounding is similar but boosters have what is called money, while bloggers have what are called blogs. I'm not sure why the old media is so ignorant and yet so threatened by blogs. Perhaps it's the knowledge that by in large there are millions of people, gorillas, dolphins and in the case of Lou Holtz, gophers that can do the job better. If Carr is under scrutiny it will be for the same reasons that ultimately got Cooper fired (as Herbie should well know) inability to defeat their rival and inability to win big bowl games.

Cheers and Jeers: To Mighty. In the penultimate chapter of Mighty v. The Toilet the outcome was a draw. How Europeanish, I know. The true bowl game or my attempt to survive a heavy night of drinking without bowing before the toilet, was held on the toilet's home turf, in a DC bar and my home away from home away from home (i.e. Publius' house). I controlled myself at Publius' be fell way way short on the road (this fiasco included a ride on the metro in the fetal position). The good news was that I defeated a falafel sandwich after the loss to the toilet bowl which almost makes up for the fact that I couldn't eat a turkey sandwich.