America’s Greatest Music: I’ve Got Beginners Luck October 30, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Pop Culture.Tags: 1937, 1959, America's, classic, Ella Fitzgerald, Fred Astaire, George, Gershwin, gold, Great American Songbook, Greatest, I've Got Beginner's Luck, Ira, music, Shall We Dance, They Can't Take That Away From Me, tin pan alley
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When deciding on a particular tune to highlight for a blog entry, that decision becomes a particularly keen challenge when trying to decide among tunes that Fred Astaire broke to the public. After all, the tunes that broke out thanks to Fred Astaire’s rendition of them on the silver screen make up a list of upper-echelon legends within the already-hallowed Great American Songbook itself. One such ditty is the George and Ira Gershwin classic “I’ve Got Beginner’s Luck.” Pretty much anything the Gershwin Brothers wrote together was solid gold — some a greater degree of karats than others to be sure — and while this might be, say, 16 karat gold compared to the full 24 karats of “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” or even “Shall We Dance,” it’s a classic among classics nonetheless.
Moreover, can one think of a better tune that encapsulates the lucky feeling that a fellow experiences when happening on that special lady for the first time? Or vice-versa, for that matter? The shame of things is such that, as great as the song as it is, it has been under-performed by recording luminaries over the years, particularly when compared to other Great American Songbook favorites. Ella Fitzgerald did a version of it in 1959, and that is the only non-Astaire example of performance than comes to mind for this particular tune, and more the pity.
Nevertheless, the lyrics have that perfect eloquence that match with other Tin Pan Alley legends, as Fred Astaire himself demonstrated in the great 1937 musical “Shall We Dance.” “…There never was such a smile or such eyes of blue!” Enough said!
College Football Week 9 Awards October 27, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Alabama, Alabama State, Arizona State, Auburn, B1G, Baylor, Big Ten, Bo Pelini, Bobby Petrino, Boise State, Butch Jones, Central Florida, cocktail party, college, Connor Shaw, David Cutcliffe, Duke, ESPN, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida State, football, Gary Pinkel, Georgia, Hawaii, Illini, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Jacksonville, Kansas, Kent State, Kentucky, Mark Helfrich, Mark May, Marshall, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Middle Tennessee State, Minnesota, Missouri, Mizzou, NCAA, Nebraska, North Texas, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Pat Fitzgerald, Purdue, Rice, SEC, South Carolina, Spartans, Sparty, Steve Spurrier, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tigers, toilet bowl, UCF, UCLA, UConn, Utah State, UTEP, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Washington State, West Virginia, Western Kentucky
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 9] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Mark Helfrich, Oregon
Glad I’m not him: Butch Jones, Tennessee
Lucky guy: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
Poor guy: Gary Pinkel, Missouri
Desperately seeking a clue: Bobby Petrino, Western Kentucky
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: David Cutcliffe, Duke
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Bo Pelini, Nebraska
Desperately seeking … anything: Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Oklahoma State (defeated Iowa State 58-27)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Miami (defeated Wake Forest 24-21)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Kansas (lost to Baylor 59-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Duke (defeated Virginia Tech 13-10)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Michigan State (defeated Illinois 42-3)
Should have kicked even more butt than you did: Auburn (defeated Florida Atlantic 45-10)
Dang, they’re good: Oregon
Dang, they’re bad: Illinois
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Missouri
Did the season start? Boise State
Can the season end? Northwestern
Can the season never end? Alabama
GAMES
Play this again: No. 20 South Carolina 27, No. 5 Missouri 24
Play this again, too: Middle Tennessee State 51, Marshall 49 (Thurs.)
Never play this again: No. 23 UCF 62, UConn 17
What? Iowa 17, Northwestern 10
Huh? No. 20 South Carolina 27, No. 5 Missouri 24
Are you kidding me? Duke 13, No. 14 Virginia Tech 10
Oh – my – God: Minnesota 34, No. 25 Nebraska 23
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 9, pre-week 10)
Ticket to die for: No. 7 Miami @ No. 3 Florida State
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: (only two such match-ups, and they are both horrible)
Best non-Big Six matchup: Rice @ North Texas
Upset alert: Tennessee @ No. 10 Missouri
Must win: No. 12 Oklahoma State @ No. 15 Texas Tech
Offensive explosion: Arizona State @ Washington State
Defensive struggle: No. 24 Michigan @ Michigan State
Great game no one is talking about: West Virginia @ TCU, also Georgia vs. Florida in Jacksonville, Fla.
Intriguing coaching matchup: Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern vs. Bo Pelini of Nebraska
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 4 Ohio State @ Purdue
Why are they playing? Alabama State @ Kentucky
Plenty of good seats remaining: Kent State @ Akron
They shoot horses, don’t they? Hawaii @ Utah State, or, UTEP @ No. 14 Texas A&M
Week 9 Random Thoughts:
At this rate, Purdue vs. Illinois is shaping into one heckuva Big Ten “Toilet Bowl” come Nov. 23. For the entire season up to this point, the Boilermakers were the undisputed leaders of suck in the B1G. Yet despite being shut out on the road to Michigan State last week, they acquitted themselves rather well in that they allowed the Spartans to score only 14 points. Contrast that with Illinois’ performance against MSU this week, where the Illini only managed a “sad field goal” – at home, no less — against the Spartans’ D, and on the other side of the coin, Sparty scored seven TD’s. Perhaps Purdue is not the gutter team of the conference after all.
***********
Give Missouri credit: being undefeated in only their second season as a member of the SEC up through seven games is a decent feat. Knocking off two traditional powers in two consecutive games is the feat worthy of a traditional power. That being said, both Georgia and Florida were severely weakened, albeit in different ways, when playing the Tigers. It was only a matter of time for the magic to run out. That time manifested itself in a surprising way.
The normal rule of thumb is that when a non-traditional power (Mizzou, in this case) upsets a traditional one (Florida, in this case), the non-traditional power always comes out flat in the following game. Yet they did not come out flat against South Carolina. If anything, the Gamecocks tried to give away the game to the Tigers in the first half. But they did not give the whole game away, for they won the second half, sent the game into overtime, then ended up winning unexpectedly when Mizzou botched a field goal attempt that would have otherwise sent things into triple-OT. Even Steve Spurrier himself recognized how lucky his team was to sneak out of Columbia, Mo., with a win.
Mark May of ESPN hit the proverbial nail on the head when he pointed out that the Ol’ Ball Coach out-coached Gary Pinkel in the fourth quarter.
***********
As outrageous and “out-there” as Oregon’s uniforms sometimes look, they looked their best all season in their belated rout of formidable UCLA. Part of the reason is that they actually wore a substantial amount of green for once.
America’s Greatest Music – It’s De-Lovely October 25, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Pop Culture.Tags: 1936, 1956, Anything Goes, Bob Hope, Cole Porter, Eddy Duchin, Ella Fitzgerald, Ethel Merman, Great American, I Get a Kick out of You, I've Got You, It's De-Lovely, Night and Day, Red Hot and Blue, Shep Fields, Songbook, swing era, Under My Skin, Vincent Lopez
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“It’s delightful, it’s delicious, it’s de-lovely…” Those are some of the most famous lyrics within the body of work of Cole Porter, the last two of which being the title of the in question. Given that it is one of Porter’s most recognizable songs (save for “Night and Day,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, “Anything Goes,” “I Get A Kick Out Of You”, and several others), it merits a very prominent place in the Great American Songbook.
Here’s the catch, though; despite it being a great song, few of us can think of lots of notable recorded renditions of it. Sure, a number of second-tier bands had moderate hits with it in the mid-1930s, but that will not turn lots of heads of music listeners who are not passionate and/or academic about the Swing Era.
The song originated when Cole Porter wrote it in 1936 for the show “Red Hot and Blue.” On the big screen, it was introduced to the masses by Ethel Merman and Bob Hope. Indeed, Merman would record a studio version of the song, which can be heard below. Note that the approach she takes to the song is one that would highlight the potential silliness/gayety of the situation described.
As mentioned earlier, several second-tier bands promptly recorded their respective renditions of the song, including Eddy Duchin, Shep Fields, and Vincent Lopez, whose 1936 version can be heard below:
But one version easily stands out over all, and that is Ella Fitzgerald’s take on the tune from 1956 (which would be the same time of decade when she would tackle the “Cole Porter Songbook” and leave many wonderful records for posterity in so doing). Frankly, nothing compares to this rendition.
Notice, in contrast to Ethel Merman’s approach from 20 years earlier, Ella puts all kidding aside and focuses on the shear passion that this tune can excite, what with being with the right gal (or guy) at the right time, along with the ensuing opportunity to create a magical evening.
College Football Week 8 Awards October 20, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Al Golden, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Boise State, BYU, Central Florida, Charley McClendon, Charlie Strong, Clemson, Clemsoning, college, Dabo Swinney, Florida Atlantic, Florida State, Furman, Gary Pinkel, Gators, George O'Leary, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Houston, Hurricanes, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Jimbo isher, Kansas, Kansas State, Kevin Sumlin, Les Miles, Louisville, LSU, Mark Richt, Miami, Miami (Florida), Michigan State, Missouri, Mizzou, Navy, NCAA football, Noles, North Carolina, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Red Raiders, Rutgers, SEC, Seminoles, South Carolina, Stanford, Steve Spurrier, sword of Damocles, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tigers, twilight zone, UCF, UCLA, UMass, Vols, Volunteers, Western Michigan
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 8] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
Glad I’m not him: Les Miles, LSU
Lucky guy: George O’Leary, Central Florida
Poor guy: Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Desperately seeking a clue: Charlie Strong, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Al Golden, Miami (Fla.)
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Dabo Swinney, Clemson
Desperately seeking … anything: Mark Richt, Georgia
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Baylor (defeated Iowa State 71-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Miami (defeated North Carolina 27-23)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Arkansas (lost to Alabama 52-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Iowa (lost to Ohio State 34-24)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Georgia Tech (defeated Syracuse 56-0)
Dang, they’re good: Florida State
Dang, they’re bad: Southern Miss
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Louisville
Did the season start? Northwestern
Can the season end? Georgia
Can the season never end? Missouri
GAMES
Play this again: No. 24 Auburn 45, No. 7 Texas A&M 41
Play this again, too: BYU 47, Houston 46
Never play this again: Baylor 71, Iowa State 7
Forget about this one, too: Georgia Tech 56, Syracuse 0
What? Central Florida 38, No. 8 Louisville 35
Huh? No. 24 Auburn 45, No. 7 Texas A&M 41
Are you kidding me? Ole Miss 27, No. 6 LSU 24
Oh – my – God: No. 5 Florida State 51, No. 3 Clemson 14
Told you so: Tennessee 23, No. 11 South Carolina 21
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 8, pre-week 9)
Ticket to die for: Tennessee @ No. 1 Alabama
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Pittsburgh @ Navy
Best non-Big Six matchup: Boise State @ BYU
Upset alert: Tennessee @ No. 1 Alabama
Must win: No. 20 South Carolina @ No. 5 Missouri
Offensive explosion: Boise State @ BYU (Friday)
Defensive struggle: Michigan State @ Illinois
Great game no one is talking about: Houston @ Rutgers
Intriguing coaching matchup: Gary Pinkel of Missouri vs. Steve Spurrier of South Carolina
Who’s bringing the body bags? Florida Atlantic @ No. 11 Auburn
Why are they playing? Furman @ No. 13 LSU
Plenty of good seats remaining: Western Michigan @ UMass
They shoot horses, don’t they? No. 6 Baylor @ Kansas
Week 8 in Review:
Rarely is there a week when there are so many upsets, that it’s impossible to give all of them their just due. Normally, four categories are enough, from “What?” to “Oh-My-God”. Yet this time around, we needed several more categories, for the undefeateds and top-ten teams ended up dropping like flies. To wit: No. 7 Texas A&M fell to Auburn, No. 6 LSU fell to Ole Miss. Stanford, after paying dearly for taking a game off and thus laying an egg against Utah, turned right around the following week and took out undefeated, then-No. 9 UCLA. Do we have to remind ourselves of how then-No. 8 Louisville (now No. 18) basically gave the game away to now-No. 21 Central Florida? Say this out loud: Missouri beat Florida. In so doing, the reader is likely to ask oneself, “in what Twilight Zone or alternate football universe does that happen?” Yet it did; what’s even more other-dimensionly is that Mizzou was actually ranked ahead of the Gators when they triumphed (No. 14 vs. No. 22, respectively). The Tigers, still undefeated, are now ranked at No. 6.
Then there was the purported “ticket to die for” of the week, and on paper it certainly was that, what with then-No. 3 Clemson at home against then-No. 5 Florida State in a titanic intra-conference clash — on paper, at least. The only problem was, the Seminoles showed up for battle, whereas the Tigers, apparently, not so much. The ‘Noles asserted themselves from the opening kickoff to the final whistle of the game, and demolished the home team, 51-14, despite Clemson’s hitherto superior ranking. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was hoping that the team could put an end to the concept of “Clemsoning”, (look up the second and third definitions of the term on Urban Dictionary), but after last night’s performance, that concept shall live on for a while longer.
Meanwhile, let us compare the heretofore Top Ten to today’s new rankings:
1.) Alabama
2.) Oregon
3.) Clemson
4.) Ohio State
5.) Florida State
6.) LSU
7.) Texas A&M
8.) Louisville
9.) UCLA
10.) Miami (Fla.)
Today (Oct. 20, 2013)
1.) Alabama
2.) Oregon
3.) Florida State
4.) Ohio State
5.) Missouri
6.) Baylor
7.) Miami (Fla.)
8.) Stanford
9.) Clemson
10). Texas Tech
Curious to note: Alabama and Oregon are still No’s 1 and 2 respectively. So far, so good. But Florida State, now at No. 3, leapfrogged over Ohio State, who is still at No. 4. Mizzou, having beaten some formidable teams, has skyrocketed to No. 5, while Baylor sits at No. 6 (personally, I find the latter’s offense more potent than the former; were it only that the two could knock heads in a BCS game!). Meanwhile, the Miami Hurricanes, laboring in the shadow of the NCAA’s Sword of Damocles, have quietly crept up to the No. 7 spot in a spectacular turnaround under Coach Al Golden’s leadership. Stanford is back in the top ten after defeating hitherto unbeaten UCLA, and Clemson remains in the top ten at No. 9 despite a thrashing at home against the Seminoles. Tech rounds out the new top ten, and appropriately so, given that they’re currently unbeaten. That current status, however, shall be seriously called into question the following week, though, as they shall play Oklahoma on the road, then Oklahoma State and Kansas State at home, then they face Baylor and cap things off against Texas. The truly brutal part of the schedule is about to commence for the Red Raiders, hence they shall have the opportunity to prove their worthiness of their new ranking. As LSU’s Charley McClendon said long ago, “[I]n football, and in life, you’ve got to keep proving yourself.
Oh, and don’t look now, but Auburn has climbed up to No. 11 from the No. 24 spot.
On a related note, two programs who were once esteemed as “football factories” but had something of a decade-long slump seem to have returned to that status this year; Florida State and, to a lesser extent, Tennessee. The former demonstrated that convincingly before a national, prime time audience. The latter demonstrated that over the course of the past three weeks by giving Georgia the fight of their lives on Oct. 5, then coming back to beat South Carolina yesterday. No longer is playing the Vols a relative “gimme” on the SEC schedule as it was several years ago. Everyone else in the conference ought to be put on notice.
College Football Week 7 Awards October 13, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, Baylor, Bill O'Brien, Bob Stoops, Boston College, Bret Bielema Arkansas, BYU, Charleston Southern, Clemson, Colorado, Dan Mullen, Eastern Michigan, Florida, Florida State, Gary Pinkel, Georgia, Houston, Iowa State, Kent State, Kyle Whittingham, Louisville, LSU, Mark Richt, Miami (Ohio), Michigan, Mississippi State, Missouri, Mizzou, Navy, Nebraska, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Old Dominion, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Pyrrhic, Red River Shootout, Ron English, Rutgers, South Alabama, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Toledo, UCLA, UConn, Utah, Utah State, Washington, West Virginia, Western Carolina, Will Muschamp, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 7] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Gary Pinkel, Missouri
Glad I’m not him: Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
Lucky guy: Bill O’Brien, Penn State
Poor guy: Mark Richt, Georgia
Desperately seeking a clue: Dan Mullen, Mississippi State
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Kyle Whittingham, Utah
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Bret Bielema, Arkansas
Desperately seeking … anything: Ron English, Eastern Michigan
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Arizona State (defeated Colorado 54-13)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Clemson (defeated Boston College 24-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Purdue (lost to Nebraska 44-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Texas (defeated No. 12 Oklahoma 36-20)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: South Carolina (defeated Arkansas 52-7)
Dang, they’re good: Oregon
Dang, they’re bad: Purdue
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Georgia
Did the season start? Utah State
Can the season end? UConn
Can the season never end? Missouri
GAMES
Play this again: Penn State 43, No. 16 Michigan 40, 3 OT
Play this again, too: No. 9 Texas A&M 41, Ole Miss 38
Never play this again: Auburn 62, Western Carolina 3
What? Wisconsin 35, No. 19 Northwestern 6
Huh? Texas 36, No. 12 Oklahoma 20
Are you kidding me? No. 25 Missouri 41, No. 7 Georgia 26
Oh – my – God: Utah 27, No. 5 Stanford 21
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 7, pre-week 8)
Ticket to die for: No. 5 Florida State @ No. 3 Clemson
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: BYU @ Houston
Best non-Big Six matchup: Kent State @ South Alabama
Upset alert: No. 11 South Carolina @ Tennessee
Must win: No. 9 UCLA @ No. 13 Stanford
Offensive explosion: No. 16 Texas Tech @ West Virginia
Defensive struggle: Navy @ Toledo
Great game no one is talking about: Utah @ Arizona
Intriguing coaching matchup: Gary Pinkel of Missouri vs. Will Muschamp of Florida
Who’s bringing the body bags? Iowa State @ No. 15 Baylor
Why are they playing? Old Dominion @ Pittsburgh
Plenty of good seats remaining: Akron @ Miami (OH)
They shoot horses, don’t they? Charleston Southern @ Colorado
Week 7 in Review:
A day of upsets and near-upsets: that is how one could characterize Week Seven. True, many favored teams survived the week unscathed. For example, Louisville convincingly beat an underrated Rutgers team to maintain their top-ten ranking. Texas Tech at No. 20 survived a surprise onslaught from Iowa State and beat the Cyclones by a touchdown. Then there is No. 14 South Carolina, who obliterated Arkansas, 52-7. No. 11 UCLA had little trouble against Cal, and No. 15 Baylor beat Kansas State by 10 points – unimpressive compared to previous victories this year, but a “w” nonetheless. No. 9 Texas A&M managed to survive a 4th quarter scare on the road against Ole Miss. Meanwhile, No. 1 Alabama keeps rolling along, and No. 2 Oregon handily beat a strong No. 16 Washington team, 45-24.
With all of that said, all the upsets practically turned the rankings – under the top four, at least – upside down. To wit: No. 25 Mizzou took out No. 7 Georgia between the hedges. Apparently, beating LSU at home then being giving another strong contest the following week at Tennessee made those two past wins Pyrrhic, in hindsight. Speaking of games taking more than usual out of a team, losing to Ohio State at home most have done that to Northwestern, for even at No. 19 – despite last week’s loss – they laid an egg on the road to unranked Wisconsin, 35-6. Michigan, hitherto at the 18th ranking, allowed for unranked Penn State to squeak by them in triple overtime. Need we rehash the Red River Shootout? Everybody, yours truly included, had given Texas up for dead. Yet the Longhorns came out swinging against the No. 14 Sooners, delivering a power rushing attack between the tackles, and doing so effectively. Usually, over the course of a decade, it was Oklahoma who always had a runningback to ruin Texas’ day. This time, it was oddly the other way around. Never before has crow tasted so good. To cap things off, unranked Utah upset No. 5 Stanford 27-21.
America’s Greatest Music: It’s All In The Game October 7, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Pop Culture.Tags: 1, 1951, 1958, ballad, Calvin Coolidge, Charles Dawes, Dick Chaney, hit song, It's All in the Game, Joe Biden, MGM, Nat "King" Cole, No. 1, records, stereo, Tommy Edwards, vice president
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What do these two have in common? On the left is Charles Dawes, who wrote a melody that would, four decades later, become a hit song on two occasions by the same artist, Tommy Edwards, on the right.
In the year 1912, a fellow named Charles G. Dawes penned the melody to a song that would become a decent pop hit 39 years later, and a smash hit 46 years later. Dawes, then 47, would be more famous (okay, not that much more famous) for becoming the 30th Vice President of the United States, second-in-command under the taciturn yet highly effective Calvin Coolidge. But the melody that he wrote eventually was put to lyrics, and the song became “It’s All In The Game.” Unless either Dick Chaney or Joe Biden writes a No. 1 hit for Justin Timberlake, Dawes will hold the record for being the only V-POTUS that also wrote a No. 1 song in any era (the Rock Era, in this case).
Tommy Edwards first recorded a version of the song in 1951, and to the trained ear, it is very reminiscent of a Nat King Cole ballad. Below is that original version:
Seven years later, he breathed new life into the song at a time when his recording career seemed on the wane. But stereo recording was just coming into vogue in 1958. This development provided the right opportunity for the folks at MGM Records to dust off some of Edwards’ old reportoire, and take this older song, and update it to a rock ‘n’ roll ballad. If there any doubts about the new, youthful music aspect, the piano triplets should assuage them! But regardless, the result was pure magic; not only was it a No. 1 hit (55 years ago this week, to be exact), it remains a timelessly endearing love song, and indeed, one of the best records ever produced of any era. Hear for yourself, preferably with a significant other, if they are handy!
College Football Week 6 Awards October 6, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Arizona State, Arkansas, Army, Auburn, Ball State, Baylor, Big XII, Boise State, Boston College, Bret Bielema, Buckeyes, Butch Jones, BYU, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado, Dave Doeren, Duke, Eastern Michigan, Florida State, Gamecocks, Gary Pinkel, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Iowa State, James Franklin, Kansas, Kentucky, Larry Fedora, Louisiana Tech, LSU, Mark Richt, Maryland, Miami (Ohio), Mississippi State, Missouri, N.C. State, NFL, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Paul Rhoads, Penn State, Pittssburgh, Rutgers, SMU, South Carolina, South Florida, Stanford, Steve Spurrier, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Troy, UMass, Urban Meyer, Utah State, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington, Western Carolina, Western Michigan
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 6] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Glad I’m not him: James Franklin, Vanderbilt
Lucky guy: Mark Richt, Georgia, and also Mack Brown, Texas
Poor guy: Butch Jones, Tennessee, and also Paul Rhoads, Iowa State
Desperately seeking a clue: Mack Brown, Texas
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Gary Pinkel, Missouri
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Dave Doeren, NC State
Desperately seeking … anything: Larry Fedora, North Carolina
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 20 Texas Tech (defeated Kansas 54-16)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: South Carolina (defeated Kentucky 35-28)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Colorado (lost to Oregon 57-16)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Troy (lost to Duke 38-31)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Ohio U (defeated Akron 43-3)
Dang, they’re good: Florida State
Dang, they’re bad: Akron
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Arizona State
The Fix is in: Texas
Did the season start? Cincinnati
Can the season end? Western Michigan
Can the season never end? Baylor
GAMES
Play this again: No. 6 Georgia 34, Tennessee 31
Play this again, too: Rutgers 55, SMU 53, 3OT
Never play this again: No. 8 Florida State 63, No. 25 Maryland 0
What? Ball State 48, Virginia 27
Huh? Missouri 51, Vanderbilt 28
Are you kidding me? South Florida 26, Cincinnati 20
Oh – my – God: Indiana 44 Penn State 24
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 6, pre-week 7)
Ticket to die for: Texas vs. No. 12 Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout (Dallas)
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Georgia Tech @ BYU
Best non-Big Six matchup: Boise State @ Utah State
Upset alert: No. 14 South Carolina @ Arkansas
Must win: No. 9 Texas A&M @ Ole Miss
Offensive explosion: No. 2 Oregon @ No. 15 Washington
Defensive struggle: Miami (Ohio) @ UMass
Great game no one is talking about: Pittsburgh @ No. 24 Virginia Tech, or, No. 19 Northwestern @ Wisconsin.
Intriguing coaching matchup: Steve Spurrier of South Carolina vs. Bret Bielema of Arkansas
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 3 Clemson @ Boston College
Why are they playing? Western Carolina @ Auburn
Plenty of good seats remaining: Eastern Michigan @ Army
They shoot horses, don’t they? Temple @ Cincinnati
Week 6 in Review:
There are times when in hindsight you know that you should have trusted your instincts instead of trying to out-think the room (which, let us be honest, can never end well. Just ask the NFL when they decided to put the upcoming Super Bowl in frigid New Jersey). Case in point: last week, yours truly tried to out-think the room – against my own better judgement – in prediciting that this week’s “offensive explosion” would be Ohio State @ Northwestern. Yes, it was a good game, worthy of a Musburger-Herbstreit broadcast tandem. And yes, the overall score was not exactly paltry at 40-30 (in favor of the Buckeyes, naturally). But then there was Baylor vs. West Virginia, whose score was so high, we needed our collective oxygen tank (final score: 73-42). What was my main reticence in following my instincts and selecting this game for a more accurate prognostication? The fact that West Virginia has been wildly inconsistent this year. One week they embarrass themselves against Maryland, the next week, they upset Oklahoma State. Right now, we the fans do not know what team we are getting week-to-week with the Mountaineers.
All Good Games at Night?
Aside from the satisfying SEC slugfest between Georgia and Tennessee in the 3:30 time slot, and the 3-OT shootout between Rutgers and SMU, all the good games this past week were in the evening. LSU vs. Mississippi State (3 out of 4 quarters, at least), South Florida vs. Cincinnati (surprisingly), Ole Miss vs. Auburn, TCU vs. Oklahoma, Kentucky vs. South Carolina (the Gamecocks allowed for it to be a good game, regrettably), Notre Dame vs. Arizona State, Ohio State vs. Northwestern, Washington vs. Stanford, even Louisiana Tech vs. UTEP (!) all turned out to be competitive, engaging matchups. It was one of those nights where you wished you had four or five flatscreens, all right next to each other, so as to enjoy as much simultaneous action as possible.
A Tale of Two Rivals.
Oklahoma did it the right way. They played a highly respected TCU bunch in a close, hard-fought game, and triumphed in the end, 20-17. There is a school of thought, not one without merit, that states that this is the perfect approach before throwing down the following week with a bitter rival. To follow this line of logic, the Sooners are well-prepared for the Red River Shootout this upcoming week.
On the other side of the coin is Texas, who thought that they could beat up on Big XII lightweight Iowa State as a tune-up. As things turned out, they needed not one, but two scandalous calls by the referees to get their behinds out of some seriously hot water (basically, two “gift” calls of not recognizing fumbles as actual fumbles). Let that sink in for a moment.
