NCAAF

Chiefs. Ravens. Collision Course.

Chris Cook, , , , Leave a comment

Photo: Arrowhead Pride

Football is back. We’ve got Chiefs & Ravens on Thursday Night Football, and it’s time to teach Grandma and Grandpa how to get to Peacock.

What’s your favorite part about football season? Is it having your plans automatically set for Thursday, Friday, and 12 hours of your Saturdays and Sundays? Shit talking other fanbases on Twitter? How about a legitimate reason to start boozing at noon?

There’s no wrong answer.

I’ve never been one to wish summer away; but it’s starting to feel chilly in the mornings and that should get any football fan’s engine revving. Sweatshirts, blankets, and ditching your iced coffee are right around the corner…don’t be sad that summer’s over, smile because football season is happening.

So make sure to iron your alumni polos, dust off that jersey that only sees the light of day from September though January, and lock in for the next sixth months in which your happiness will be determined by a brown lemon shaped ball crossing a white line.

We’re One Step Closer to College Football

Chris Cook, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Photo: Football Scoop

We’ve crossed another checkpoint in getting closer to college football.

The preseason AP Top 25 is out, and we’ve got the most pressing headlines for each ranked team.

25. Iowa Hawkeyes: How bad will Brian Ferentz be rooting against this team all season?

24. North Carolina State Wolfpack: Does it suck being the second best Wolfpack we know about?

23. USC Trojans: Since we returned Reggie Bush’s Heisman, can we get some of OJ’s stuff?

22. Kansas Jayhawks: When will this senseless lack of a Mark Mangino Day end?

21. Arizona Wildcats: Have we talked enough about the fact that from 2012-2020 this program was lead by Rich Rodriguez and Kevin Sumlin?

20. Texas A&M Aggies: You guys are weird, and you know it, just own it.

19. Miami Hurricanes: Has this program lost the “Back” race to Texas?

18. Kansas State Wildcats: Has there ever been a program that more represents being ranked 18th?

17. Oklahoma State Cowboys: This ranking matches Mike Gundy’s average BAC whenever driving.

16. Oklahoma Sooners: Brent Venables just signed a six year extension; why does it feel if he gets off to a slow start Bob Stoops is going to swoop in?

15. Tennessee Volunteers: How can this team survive without a QB who can’t throw an orange 100 yards?

14. Clemson Tigers: Without a shadow of a doubt, Dabo Swinney is using this ranking as a sign from above.

13. LSU Tigers: As Brian Kelly continues his transition into a true Cajun, we received an exclusive look at where he would like to be by the end of the season.

12. Utah Utes: Cam Rising continues to shatter glass ceilings in his 17th season as a college quarterback.

11. Missouri Tigers: We need some real journalism done on if there has ever been a better AD/Head Coach name combo than Laird Veatch & Eliah Drinkwitz.

10. Florida State Seminoles: If this ranking holds all season, will the NCAA keep the Seminoles out of the playoff again?

9. Michigan Wolverines: If you think about it, no one would actually expect Sherrone Moore to use Connor Stalions again…might be the perfect time to try.

8. Penn State Nittany Lions: Will this be the first year anything exciting happens for PSU since they’ve had Saquon Barkley?

7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish: This season should be more successful than last, The Golden Domers will have more time to focus on football instead of arguing who’s hotter between their quarterback and head coach.

6. Ole Miss Rebels: Lane Kiffin will call this ranking rat poison, but he continues to be the best head coach on Twitter so honestly the Rebs should be ranked number one.

5. Alabama Crimson Tide: If Nick Saban retired and the team’s still ranked this high, how much of the progrum’s success can we attribute to him?

4. Texas Longhorns: If we don’t see Arch Manning throw more than five passes this season we riot.

3. Oregon Ducks: With the conference move to the Big Ten, will The Oregon Duck mascot have to do less pushups than he did in his Pac 12 days?

2. Ohio State Buckeyes: While Ryan Day was born on third, his team opens up the season ranked second.

1. Georgia Bulldogs: Sure Kirby Smart and his boys can dangerously and irresponsibly race their cars, but can they continue their growing dynasty and keep up the pace in a new SEC?

We can all taste college football at this point. The release of the preseason rankings, however meaningless, gives us another thing to argue about online…and isn’t that what sports is all about?

Michigan Cheated – How the Rest of the B1G Did Too

Chris Cook, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Photo: Sports Illustrated

The Big Ten has a cheating problem; but who doesn’t?

If I have to hear the name Connor Stalions one more time I’m going to go full Vincent van Gogh. Yes, the entire saga is hilarious. He’s a total dork who is obsessed with Michigan football to potentially unhealthy levels. Each day the evidence continues to pile up that he went all out to help Jim Harbaugh and his coaching staff cheat.

My question is…who isn’t cheating?

If you’re involved in big money sports, with your and others jobs and livelihoods on the line, of course you’re going to gain whatever competitive edge you can get to win. Michigan definitely went overboard with it, but there’s a lot of glass houses throwing stones in this whole scenario.

So, how could each team in the B1G have maybe “bent the rules” to find any type of advantage they could?

Illinois – Brett Bielema showed Iowa recruits his tattoo to get them to de-commit from the Hawkeyes and come to Champaign.

Indiana – made empty promises to players in the transfer portal that if they came to Bloomington they’d automatically get a spot on Shark Tank.

Iowa – confirmed fair and balanced decision making on playing time; denounced nepotism in all its forms.

Maryland – claimed that there is more to the state than crab cakes and football.

Michigan State – forged documents into showing Sparty the Spartan has never taken PEDs.

Minnesota – assured us all that PJ Fleck definitely isn’t a cult leader.

Nebraska – wondered aloud why the other 132 D1 football coaches don’t wear very cool smocks.

Northwestern – continued to swear, under oath, that they are Chicago’s Big Ten team, despite four other conference team’s alumni being in the top 10 in Chicago’s population.

Ohio State – Ryan Day persisted in his vow that he doesn’t color his hair and beard.

Penn State – promised their fanbase that it’s totally normal for a giant cat to be completely naked other than wearing a tie.

Purdue – leaked text messages from Ryan Day asking Coach K about his hair care routine.

Rutgers – “would be a real shame if you didn’t let the Knights cover here…”

Wisconsin – shut down any investigations that they’re working in an underground lab on another batch of high-motored athletic freaks using a certain family’s genes.

It’s really that simple, everyone cheats. It’s a widespread misdemeanor that is prevalent in big time college sports. Anyone with a few minutes and access to Google could find out all of the above-mentioned elusiveness of NCAA bylaws.

Sunday State of Mind: November 28th-December 4th

Chris Cook, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Photo: Wallpaper Access

Folks, we did it again. Another week in the books and more sports than we could handle. Our latest SSM is here to review it all.

College football playoff, final four is set
Ohio State and Georgia, could we see an upset?
Other side of the bracket, Michigan vs. TCU
Sad we only have three more college games to go through

Potential Super Bowl preview, a game all wanted
Dolphins and 49ers, two teams deep bonded
It wasn’t meant to be, you see, game just fell quite short
Both QBs ended up the injury report

Jacob deGrom, your newest Texas Ranger
AL West hitters are about to be in danger
Big hit for the Mets, another big arm gone
Had so many off years, Mets fans want to stay on

Jose Alvarado! We don’t know him either
Thirty eight on Sunday, didn’t take a breather
Undrafted to bucket getter, a great sports story
Pelicans are basking in some rarely found glory

Sunday State of Mind: November 21st-November 27th

Chris Cook, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Photo: House Beautiful

The only thing better than the food during Thanksgiving week is the sports. Feast week in college basketball, rivalry week in college football, and more, all in this week’s Sunday State of Mind.

Feast week brings the upsets, in college basketball
Early in the season, and number one did fall
Friday night the Cyclones upset UNC
Iowa State resumé building early victory

After all these years, feeling like big brother
Recently there seems to be a bigger, better, other
Two years in a row now, and they’re feeling great
Two straight wins for Michigan over Ohio State

A rare win for the Raiders, and even better yet
Josh Jacobs set all the records that ever could be set
Over 300 yards between rushing and receiving
Every time he touched the ball, defenders he was leaving

A NBA homecoming, loving all around
Ben Simmons came back to play in his old stomping grounds
His favorite fans in Philly, I’m sure it felt so warm
He had a double double so at least he did perform

Sunday State of Mind: November 14th-November 20th

Chris Cook, , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Photo: Wallpaper Crafter

It’s a cold hard fact that the sports week is coming to an end. We review in this week’s SSM.

Let’s start with the world’s game, AKA jogo bonito
The World Cup is finally back, a fact you cannot veto
Always great to see the best footballers, smooth like butter
The only question left; do you say it Qatar or Qatar?

Cowboys and the Vikings, game of the week potential
Result of this game is without question consequential
Thought it would be a good one, battle of some studs
Cowboys blew them out, Vikings may be duds

Patriots and Jets, setting football back
Decades with this one, neither team on track
Pats won on a walk off, a punt return touchdown
Jets punted 10 times, offense full of clowns

It is time we talk about the best NBA team
These guys just come out every night with a head full of steam
They’ve won six straight, are very hot, doing some crazy things
Our current favorite team is the Sacramento Kings

A brutal crash and burn for Tennessee football
Big tumble for a team that was just standing so tall
Lost their starting quarterback, and the game by 25
Any playoff chances for them are no longer alive

Sunday State of Mind: October 31st-November 6th

Chris Cook, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Photo: Wallpaper Access

We had the last sports equinox of the year this week. That and more in our latest SSM.

World Series is over, new kings have been crowned
Astros win another one, and are parade bound
No trash can drama this time, at least no rumors yet
If you were to wager though, might not be a bad bet

Some major programs going down in college football
Alabama lost again, Tennessee also did fall
Clemson also lost to an unranked Notre Dame
This part of the football season never comes up lame

We got vintage Tom Brady against the LA Rams
Still trying to beat the notion that the Bucs are shams
Come back win, fourth quarter drive, TB played the right cards
Also became the first QB with 100k yards

Other end of the spectrum, one guy just getting started
Justin Fields running the ball at a level uncharted
Broke the rushing record for a QB in a game
One hundred seventy-eight yards, left the field aflame

The biggest story of the week, what else can we say
The Nets made the right move by keeping Kyrie at bay
Terrible post, terrible week, he doesn’t seem to care
The constant act this guy gives us is starting to wear

Sunday State of Mind: October 24th-October 30th

Chris Cook, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Photo: Wallpaper Cave

This week, SSM stands for Spooky Spooky Memories. It’s Halloween week and we remember the past seven days of scary sports.

A horrifying football game
Out in Virginia, what a shame
Four OTs, no TDs, frightening thing to see
Petrifying football from UVA and Miami

‘Phils and ‘Stros, baseball’s best
Tied at one, no time to rest
World Series shaping up to be
A scary good watch for you and me

Tractorcito running strong
Scarred the Texans all day long
Titans rolling, looking tough
With Henry running, chilling stuff

Christian McCaffrey, holy shit
Just kept scoring, wouldn’t quit
Ran one, caught one, threw one more
Rams got wrecked, ruthless gore

Lakers and Nets, appalling starts
From winning games, they’re far apart
LeBron, AD, Kyrie, KD
Combined wins is less than three

Sunday State of Mind: October 3rd-October 9th

Chris Cook, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Photo: Northern Virginia Magazine

There’s a fall chill in the air, which means playoff baseball and midseason football. All of that and more in this week’s SSM.

A big win out in London, New York beat Green Bay
The New York Football Giants, feeling some type of way
Starting the season 4-1, football’s biggest surprise
Lamar Jackson comes in next week, they may just get baptized

Speaking of baptisms, Jets dunked on the ‘Fins
Miami started 3-1, left with the same amount of wins
Jets have won two straight, sit a game behind the Bills
New York’s cold dead football hearts may be getting filled

Even without their quarterback, ‘bama is the best
Beat Texas A&M, could probably beat the rest
Of the country’s teams, Saban is just that good
The best to ever do it, that is understood

A team worthy of mention, your Kansas Jayhawks
Dream start to the season, some undefeated talks
Hung tough with TCU, but just fell short by seven
Even with a loss, Kansas football fans in heaven

As mentioned in our opening, playoff baseball is here
MLB Wild Card weekend, get your hot dogs and beer
Three game sets were over quick, Cleveland Seattle Philly
Having so much sports at once is absolutely silly

It Just Means More When Jimbo & Nick Get Pissy In Press Conferences

Chris Cook, , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Photo: Sports Illustrated

We’re playing the feud!

In the new age of NIL, it’s the wild west when it comes to NCAA “recruiting.” Money’s out in the open, and college prospects are finally getting what they deserve for the services rendered to their chosen university.

In the ultimate pot calling the kettle black move, two of the college football’s richest coaches from two of the richest universities are now pissing into the wind about it.

On Monday, Nick Saban launched a verbal grenade on the current state of recruiting, singling out ‘ol Jimbo and the boys down at Texas A&M:


Nicky…sweet sweet Nicky. It’s incredible that you can look yourself in the mirror after spewing that garbage. It’s all in the open now baby, just let it fly. We all know everyone’s been dropping bags on recruits for years, now it’s just legal. It’s not the fact that you did it, as everyone else does, it’s the “holier than thou” smear campaign that you never took part in it. Maybe not you directly but, you know what’s going on. We all do.

Jimbo put his big boy britches on in response to Saban; some of the highlights below:

Sheeeeeeeeeesh.

Both of these guys are acting like clowns, including Texas A&M saying Saban “violated SEC Sportsmanship Rules,” and guess what? It’s working. Football is king and the second NBA & NHL Playoffs pick up, baseball gets into the chunk of their season, and the PGA Championship is on, guess what we’re reading about? SEC drama baby.

Alabama and Texas A&M meet up on October 8th this year when the Aggies head down to Tuscaloosa. Probably have to tune in to that one.