My final football post of the pre season..

So lets finish the discussion about football before thegames begin in both College and the NFL.  They stories in College are extremely intriguing.  What kind of season will Penn St. have?  They will be the most scrutinized team this year and now the story wont go away.  I blogged how disappointed I was that the school did not fight for their rights, and now the members of the trustees are finally stepping up and in.  It is bad for the school because everyone just wants to sweep the situation under the "football rug". The school is uniting in  all sports  to show that Penn St. has moved forward and cannot control what happens off the field.  The students make the University and hopefull this fall they will represent their families, friends, and themselves with class and dignity.  I feel for the victims, but no one can fix what happened.  Good Luck Penn St.
Another story is several college athletes came back to college for one more year for a chance at a title.  Matt Barkeley would have been a first round pick.  Montee Ball and Landry Jones too. They have the world on their shoulders this season and relish the opportunity to get it done this fall.  Expectations are extremely high at those Universities this fall.   Tyrann Matthieu came back as well but addiction has ruined his college career.  It is tragic and hopefully he will get the help he needs. 
Speaking of the SEC will they win another BCS title?  Georgia, is joining the fray this year as they have the quarterback in Murray to compete with the big boys. If South Carolina can control their turnover problems of years past they will be their as well.  USC, Clemson, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon feel like they have enough to end the run of the SEC.  Florida St. and Virginia Tech always possess potent defenses and good enough players to play with the SEC schools.  I think the reign comes to an end this year.
I think the title game will be USC and Oklahoma. Bama and LSU have a lot of unanswered questions on both sides of the ball.  They are both giving way too many new players an opportunity to be great this year.  Look out next year though..
Denard Robinson will win the Heisman.  He will combine for more than 50 touchdowns this year.  Geno Smith in West Virginia may as well. West Virginia is a sleep team to win the title as well.  they have a sick offense coming back.  They scored 70 points in a bowl game last year and were just in year 1 of learning the offense of the new coaching staff.  I cannot wait to see how it unfolds..
How about teams changing leagues just to make more money and a chance toplay for a title.  Texas A&M in the SEC. Boise St. to the Big East.  Missouri in the SEC. Just to name a few.  Doesn't Pittsburgh, Syracuse move to the ACC soon? How about new coaches at schools?  Charlie Weiss in Kansas? Kevin Sumlin in Texas A&M.  Mike Leach at WSU? Bill Obrien at Penn St.? Urban Meyer at Ohio St.? Who will win more games?  Ohio St. has sanctions coming.  Can Texas rebound from last years meltdown?  Notre Dame is playing the most brutal schedule I have ever seen.  No cupcakes anywhere.  They start the year in Ireland against Navy and then all breaks loose with their schedule. 
In the NFL.. I gave you my predictions of who will win the divisions.  I think New England, Baltimore, Houston, and Denver should prevail in AFC with Pittsburgh and San Diego making the playoffs.  I think that Houston and New England will play for AFC title and Houston will emerge as champion.  Houston has the defense and schedule to be really good this year.  Home field advantage will be their launching pad to the Super Bowl. 
I think Andrew Luck will be AFC rookie of the year and will not disappoint.
The NFC I think that the Niners, Giants, Packers, Saints win divisions.  I think Philly and Chicago get wild cards.  I am wavering on the wild card picks because Atlanta is very good.  Detroit is as well.  I just think Atlanta has the wrong success model.  They keep bringing in the wrong veteran players.  Asante Samuel has been on three teams now in the last five years because he cannot cover like he believes he can.  The Falcons can score with anyone. can they stop anyone? Detroit needs a running game to gurantee that Stafford will be on the field this year for 16 games.  He showed last year that if healthy he can put up huge numbers and be a superstar.  I think that their defense is one year away from greatness but off the field matters will haunt this team.  This team will be great in 2013 mark my word.  Maturity wins titles.  They will be forced to grow up pretty quickly.  The NFC is much better than the AFC this year.  There are more teams that have playoff ability in that conference.  Dallas is better than most AFC teams and will be at home watching the post season.  I already mentioned Atlanta and Detroit.  Carolina is up and coming and Seattle will be a pleasant surprise.  The final two in the NFC will be Green Bay v New Orleans.  New Orleans will become the first team to host the super bowl. 
The referee lockout is a disgrace to the league.  The NFL make 9 billion dollars a year and they do not want give a raise to the men who give the games its integrity? The replacement refs will do a good enough job that wont cause a calamity, but why risk it?  Yes every week we hear the pundits criticzie the refs for blown calls and it repercussions for teams, coaches and players.  I understand that noone is perfect but at least we kindof understand when a ref misses a call. We dont understand when a ref misses a basic rule.  the replacement refs had a game this preseason where they thought the 4 yard line was the end zone line.  They marked a penalty 11 yards that was to be 15 or cannot explain why a call was made to the audience.  They have even faced the wrong way talking to the camera.  I wonder what is going to happen if in week 1 the Niners play Green Bay and blown call gives the game to one team and they lose out on homefield advantage 15 weeks down the road.  A hefty price to pay when the refs are only asking to be compensated because everyone else involved in football is getting raises.  We hope the best even though we know this is going to be ugly..
My super bowl of Houston and New Orleans will be fun to bet on and attend.  The Saints will win and tell the league to kiss their *** when they are praising Sean Payton for organizing such a fine team.  Brees is your M.V.P. .. Let the games begin

Penn State Penalties excessive

It has taken me a while to formulate a conclusion as to what I feel about the entire Penn St. scandal.  I remember when I was doing my radio show when the story broke last year, i commented how I hoped that the story does not become more about  Joe Paterno than Jerry Sandusky or the victims.  We live in world where hyperbole and innuendo rule. You are guilty without due process and you have to spend the rest of your life denying and defending your actions no matter what you do and to whom.  No one is supposed to be above the law, but no one is supposed to beneath it either.  Penn St. was punked by the NCAA.  They took this punishment because they wanted to close this chapter and move on.  The punishment is worse than the death penalty.  When SMU got the death penalty no one cared because they were an aberration.  Penn St. has standing and pedigree.  I am appalled at the public's outrage and I will tell you why.
In November of 1995, I was blessed to have a memorable sporting experience. I went to Happy Valley, Pa. towatch Penn St. play Michigan in an important game that had Big Ten title implications.  The game was marred because the student body was throwing snow balls all over the field and Joe Paterno got on the Microphone and told the students to stop throwing snowballs and the place went wild.  I stayed to the very end because I wanted to take in what I deemed as real college football.  I was pelted several times with snowballs.  I did not care.  I was at a college football mecca.  I will never forget that weekend or that day and I am glad that I had that experience.  93,000 strong during one of the worst snow storms that area had ever seen, cheering on these two legendary teams.
I am disgusted with what Jerry Sandusky did to those children.  I am disgusted that the two people who allegedly saw him do what he did not kick his ass and take him to the cops immediately. I am disgusted that NO adult dialed three little numbers and him arrested.  I am disgusted that the first time that this brought to the attention of the the authorities the case was not pursued and he was allowed to continue on doing what he was doing.  We trust people in power to protect us and do the right thing.  We trust everyday that we drop our kids off to school, that someone there will do anything to protect them and teach them right from wrong. I did not want to write about this story because I don't want to engage in the blame game. Blaming anyone is not going to give back the dignity, virtue, and power that tese youngsters have lost. Sandusky will die in jail and that is his punishment for eternity. 
My problem with what the NCAA did yesterday is that it has dumped truck enough dirt on Joe Paterno's grave than is on any beach here in sunny California.  Hearing Bobby Bowden, make comments makes me sick.  Florida St. during his tenure was in the news for criminal activity how many times? Mark May or any other of the talking hairdos at Espn making their comments makes me fully understand why athletes and coaches don't like talking to the press.  Joe Paterno was told not to speak out and allow due process to take place.  People have this perception that speaking out all of the timeis the right thing to do.  Look what ithas done to George Zimmerman.  Every time he does an interview, he just continues to add to the fire that he shot Trayvon Martin unjustifiably. Joe Paterno admits that he should have gone to the police himself.  He admits regret for not keeping Sandusky off the campus of Penn St.  He did what is required by code in telling his superiors of what he had learned.  What about the case that was going against Sandusky before the shower incident?  Why is that case being treated as it never happened?  What about the coach and janitor who actually witnessed these action?  The Freeh report and the summation by the NCAA was all done without consulting with all parties to find out what they did or did not do.  Where is the due process?  Penn State took the high road and riding that road into the dark night.  Joe Paterno gave 60 years of his life to the school.  He donated millions of dollars to the school.  Does the school plan to refund his family the money that he gave personally to the school?  Taking his statue down, plaques that indicate everything that he stood for, are not going to make people forget about this case.  Now most of you know that i am an avid sports fan of all sports.  Now you see why I am always pro athelete.  What ever you do in life can be erased as fast as you did it in the first place.  Legacy and hall of fame stuff means nothing.  That is why people do steroids, cheat in nascar and boxing, and why Dana White gets allof the money in MMA.  No one cares..  We are here today for today.  Tomorrow is just another eight letter word. Penn St. starts a new chapter.  Would you want to go there?  I wouldn't.  They just showed me what the real world is all about.  You are guilty until proven innocent.  That is today's modern due process....