T1B

It was noon today, my favorite time of the week during the fall. Even though Michigan has a week off, I'm sure the decision of which tilt to watch would not be an easy one....or would it?

The choices were...

Golf...huh? Isn't the season over? Not watching, no matter what the prize.
click.

UNC vs. BC. No Peppers, no Bly, no Hasselbeck's or freakin Fluties...click.

Minnesota vs. Indiana. Wake me when this gem is over...click.

SC vs. Arkansas. Now we're talking...oh shit wrong SC...click.

Iowa vs. Northwestern. EUREKA!! Those crazy Cats are one thing, what with their trendy spread offense. No lead is safe with this high-octane scoring machine lurking around, and with the 117th ranked defense a score fest should most likely ensue.

But let's get to the real beauty of this afternoon. Where else are you going to be graced with the opportunity to see 22 future NFL stars compiled on one gridiron? I mean with those uni's you could almost imagine that Northwestern was playing the Pittsburgh Steelers. I don't know about you fellas, but I'm plan on taking full advantage of this situation. I mean in my lifetime I've seen communism fall, Haley's comet, Sattelite television, electric cars....but when the planets align to bless us with the opportunity to view TRUE historic moments, it would be downright un-American not to watch. So here's to the Iowa Hawkeyes. Rack ESPN for recognizing the opportunity.

Holy shit.

Nice effort Iowa. Prevent d lets in easy td. Onside kick recovered easily. All american LB (clearly not academic AA) aids go ahead drive with sensless personal foul. TD Northwestern. Up 28-27... but lots of time, especially with all those future Sunday warriors. They're at midfield with 30 seconds to go. One more completion and Kyle "the toe" Schlicher wins it in dramatic fashion right? Wrong. The "least penalized team in the history of the world (or something like that according to the announcers)" commits an untimely holding penalty. Drew "Montana" Tate gets no help from his usually sure handed recieving corps and NU wins.


Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Jon's epic "We got screwed by biased officials" thread sure to follow.

Down goes John LLLL! Down goes John LLLL! How could a team go from top 15 and unbeaten to struggling to just to become bowl eligible? That foul-mouth, mountain-climber has to go...even if they get a bid to a game. 2-4 in conference and losing to an underdog Michigan team at home, melt down in a big game in the horseshoe, then get blitzed on homecoming by an overrated Northwestern team and then lose to the last place team that was winless in the conference. How does he keep his job?

Shoalzie wrote:Down goes John LLLL! Down goes John LLLL! How could a team go from top 15 and unbeaten to struggling to just to become bowl eligible? That foul-mouth, mountain-climber has to go...even if they get a bid to a game. 2-4 in conference and losing to an underdog Michigan team at home, melt down in a big game in the horseshoe, then get blitzed on homecoming by an overrated Northwestern team and then lose to the last place team that was winless in the conference. How does he keep his job?

I don't agree that John L should be gone based solely on this season's turmoil, but I was perturbed by some of his recent comments to the media. He said something to the effect of, "We'll turn this thing around. That might mean 1 year, 2 years or 5 years, but we'll get back on track". Uhh, John, if this keeps up, there isn't gonna be any 5th year. Stick to the 1-2 year plan.

John L Smith:
18-16 in 3 years
6-5 in October
2-7 in November (so far)
0-1 in bowl games
On the verge of missing a bowl (again)

Quotes from this season:

"I don't care about the bowls"

When asked what the problem with his team was, he kept repeating "I don't know." If he doesn't know and hasn't figured it out over the last two years how is he going to fix the situation?

After the Ohio State loss: "It was a mess -- a total mess, that's a coaching blunder"

And for any of you who saw his little halftime rant against teh Buckeyes, it is pretty obvious this guy is an idiot.

MSU looks the same to me under the past few coaches - amazing one minute, deplorable the next. There are many teams like that...MSU takes it to a science, though.

I fully expect them to come out hard against PSU. This game will be a dogfight.

PSUFAN wrote:MSU looks the same to me under the past few coaches - amazing one minute, deplorable the next. There are many teams like that...MSU takes it to a science, though.

I fully expect them to come out hard against PSU. This game will be a dogfight.

Honestly, I'd be afraid if I were a Penn State fan. All you have to do is look at what MSU consistently does. They start the season out strong with 3 or 4 straight wins...then tank midseason, but get a huge upset at the end of the year.

Sky - I wouldn't say John L's an idiot, he's just fiery, and when he opens his mouth he's prone to say anything that stems from his passion. He shows a lack of tact at times when a mic is in his face, but an idiot? Don't think that's the right word.

OK, how about a momentary retard (frequently)?

I base that not just on his outbursts but also on his inability to field a consistent team?

UM, OSU, PSU (generally) consistently good

UI, IU, NW (also generally) consistently bad

Why don't they just pick a category and stay there?

Well, in his defense, he did inherit a team that was 4 games under .500, so I wasn't really expecting one guy to come in and turn them into a 10 win team overnight. He did, however, turn that record around the following year going 8-4. Most coaches don't come in and do that in one year. I believe he should be given a minimum of 2 more years before we can accurately criticize. Remember, not everyone is Notre Dame. Not everyone believes in shitcanning a coach after 1, 2 or even 3 seasons of semi or little production. He has proven to be a program builder at other levels...he did it with Idaho, he did it with Utah St and he literally turned Louisville into what no one thought would become a "football school". He also turns his kids into Academic All Big-Ten guys...believe he had the highest amount ever at MSU in his first two years. If nothing else, at least he's bringing discipline to the team and I think in 2 or 3 more years that will pay off....along with a secondary.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:Remember, not everyone is Notre Dame. Not everyone believes in shitcanning a coach after 1, 2 or even 3 seasons of semi or little production.

Or Florida, or Washington, or even MSU when they had Bobby Williams.

I was hoping that line would invite a domer or two to the discussion.

Most programs have had short tenured coaches at one point in time. But before the Weis contract, ND seemed to be making a trend of it.