Monday, October 16, 2006

Monday Morning QB ...
Well, we're another week closer to the game we all want to see - unbeaten and number one Ohio State against unbeaten and number two Michigan to see who reps our great conference in the national title game. Every year, all the talk is about the SEC being the cream of the crop. Every year I counter with the question, why not us? Folks, the Big Ten is good. Really good. I saw Ohio State in person this past weekend. They are good - REAL good. No, make that fantastic. You can have your SEC, ACC, Big 12 and PAC 10 ... the Big Ten is the best conference around.

Not only for how the teams play on the field, but for how they act on the field as well. When is the last time you saw a disgusting display of thug, punk street fighting on a football field in the Big Ten? In case you missed it, that happened over the weekend in, surprise, surprise, the Orange Bowl, home of the king thug program of the them all, Miami-FLA.

I understand that things get chippy sometimes and that words may be said that fuel spats, but ladies and gentlemen, this was a full out alley battle. It was sick, it was disgusting, it was everything that is wrong with sports today. And what is the penalty? 31 kids get a ONE GAME suspension? Are you kidding me? Dick Vitale had it right this morning on ESPN Radio - these kids should never, ever be allowed to suit up in division one again. And it goes for both teams - Miami and Florida International. Stomping on the back of legs of players on the ground? Swinging helmets as weapons at players? Miami's own color commentator and former player Lamar Thomas was even spewing trash from the booth about how "no one comes into the OB and treats the U like this." Memo to his boss - that guy should be fired, NOW.

Memo to both programs - do the right thing and cancel the rest of your games this year. Neither of you deserve to play again this fall. For the Hurricanes, this is just a continuation of the unruly nature that has followed the team for years. In reality, this will just be a good excuse for Miami to fire Larry Coker but it has been this way long before he arrived. Remember, this is the same team that stomped on the "L" at Louisville this year (before getting pounded by the Cardinals) and fought with LSU after getting whipped in the Peach Bowl last winter. I could go on and on.

Bottom line, end the seasons now. Send a message. Do it the right way or expect more of this trash in the future. And by the way, when you end the seasons, send each of the main culprits out all over America to explain to kids that this is not the way sports are to be played. What I saw was criminal and it needs to be dealt with severely, harshly and NOW.

Team of the Week ...
On a lighter note, how 'bout those Hoosiers? When I saw that score flashed on the board in East Lansing I nearly fell out of the upper deck. So much for my pick to win the Big Ten (Iowa). Way to go Hoosiers. And just think, if you could have beaten two teams you should have - Southern Illinois and UConn, you'd already have a bowl berth locked up!

Player of the Week ...
Curtis Painter of Purdue was absolutely unstoppable this weekend. And, don't look now but Purdue is staying in this race. A big battle with Wisconsin looms, and the Basketball on Grass style that endeared Joe Tiller to the gold and black faithful is back just in time.

Get Gamm ...
Another repeat winner this week. Dan Meyer notched win number two by beating out two others who were also within three points of the final margin in the Michigan - Penn State contest by having a closer total score. For the week, six went 4-2 (best record for the week).

1 - mayo170: 47-11 (.810)
T2 - Buckeye Nation: 46-12 (.793), 3 GG Wins
T2 - Dan Meyer: 46-12 (.793), 2 GG Wins
T2 - phatsdawg: 46-12 (.793)
T2 - andrewj1313: 46-12 (.793)
6 - flakcat: 45-13 (.776)
7 - Gamm: 44-14 (.759), 1 GG Win
8 - BigTenSportsFan: 42-16 (.724), 1 GG Win
* - PUFan: 25-11 (.694)
* - Aaron Roberts: 23-5 (.821)

* = not eligible for final season prize

This week's schedule ...
Illinois at Penn State
Michigan State at Northwestern
Wisconsin at Purdue
Indiana at Ohio State
North Dakota State at Minnesota
Iowa at Michigan (Tiebreaker)

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Notice any pattern of "X was unstoppable" the week they played my Wildcats?

Drew Stanton? Your table is ready.

Andy Gamm said...

I dunno flak. Drew has really, REALLY been in a funk since the late collapse against ND. He really is playing like Smoker did in 2002, though in NO WAY am I trying to insinuate the same issues as Jeff had. Just an observation. He doesn't even appear to have as much fire as he did early. I hope he and the team can turn it around. For this year and for Drew, for what should be a bright pro future.

Anonymous said...

PENN STATE 35 illinois 3

MICHIGAN STATE 28 northwestern 14

PURDUE 42 wisconsin 28(picking with my heart again!)

OHIO STATE 52 indiana 3

MINNESOTA 35 north dakota state 20

MICHIGAN 35 iowa 17

Anonymous said...

Illinois 9 at Penn State 27
Michigan State 26 at Northwestern 23
Wisconsin 34 at Purdue 28
Indiana 14 at Ohio State 41
North Dakota State 3 at Minnesota 27
Iowa 15 at Michigan 22(Tiebreaker)

Andy Gamm said...

First ESPN bowl projections have EIGHT Big Ten teams bowl bound:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2627844&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1

Dan Meyer said...

How are eight Big Ten teams going to reach bowl elgibility (unless they think IU wins two of their remaining five)?

BigTenSportsFan said...

Illinois 30 at Penn State 31
Michigan State 20 at Northwestern 19
Wisconsin 17 at Purdue 16
Indiana 33 at Ohio State 34
North Dakota State 2 at Minnesota 90
Iowa 27 at Michigan 28

AndrewJ1313 said...

Michigan State 28, Northwestern 17 - can MSU stop the horror?;
Wisconsin 32, Purdue 20;
Penn State 31, Illinois 13;
Minnesota 32, North Dakota State 13;
Michigan 28, Iowa 17;
Ohio State 38, Indiana 6.

Anonymous said...

Michigan State 23 @ Northwestern 16
Wisconsin 38 @ Purdue 24
Illinois 17 @ Penn State 38
Indiana 6 @ Ohio State 42
North Dakota State 10]at Minnesota 45
Iowa 20 @ Michigan 35

Anonymous said...

Michigan State 31 @ Northwestern 7
Wisconsin 24 @ Purdue 17
Illinois 10 @ Penn State 31
Indiana 3 @ Ohio State 42
N. Dakota State 17 at Minnesota 31
Iowa 14 @ Michigan 28