Topic One: Pay for Play?
It's been a rough week for the NCAA Offices. First the news broke about reports linking several major infractions at Oklahoma State including everything from the standard money allegations to paying for sex for players. A headache for sure but Oklahoma State is at most the third largest program in its own conference and the infractions seem to have taken place long enough ago that they seemed unlikely to have major implications on recent history. Then the bigger news broke later in the week with very strong evidence being provided that high profile players at Mississippi State, Tennessee, and Alabama had received compensation, potentially in excess of $40,000. That is huge, given that Alabama has won three of the past four national championships and is currently on probation. Let's not forget that the near three year investigation into the University of Miami is still drudging on at a snails pace. At the end of all of this one has to wonder when the NCAA offices can hope to find time to even investigate all of these cases. With so many different violations around and a clear lack of ability to investigate or enforce anything until well after the damage has been done, the theories that players should just start getting paid for their play seems to be gaining momentum everyday. This is the hottest topic in college football today, bigger than Bama, bigger than the scandals, bigger than Johnny Football. Should players be paid? The momentum from the media seems to be shifting further towards "yes" all the time. My take on things? No. Hell no.
Here is why. For starters, I am apparently one of the few that think a free education is worth the work that goes into playing college football, specifically given that most these kids are playing because they enjoy it in the first place. There are a lot of people that say that a free education isn't worth that much. Well I can say I'd love to have the $500 I throw back into student loans in my wallet each month, and I'd be happy to have been the guy missing field goals at Boise State a few years back to accomplish that. Forget Boise State though, you want to tell me the four star recruit at Stanford isn't fairly compensated? How about Duke? Let's step away from the elite educational programs for a second, do you have any idea what an education at Ohio State, Miami, or UCLA costs?
Now come the naysayers who will say that it encourages the players to leave early for the NFL so they can get paid. Well I personally have yet to hear a single representative come out and say that college players should be paid millions of dollars, so I don't think a few thousand dollars a month is going to keep them from chasing NFL money early. The NFL by the way, has 1696 players on their combined rosters. That is fewer than the SEC and Big 12 combined, and they turnover their entire teams every 4-5 years, so don't even start the argument about how all the players are just going pro anyways. It's statistically impossible. The strong majority will be lucky to ever sniff a jock in an NFL locker room.
All that aside, I'm willing to hear out the plan for how paying players will work, but I can't see how that would work. The reason that this won't work is because before it can happen, the NCAA has to find a way to ensure one thing: That the pay does not create a competitive advantage.
Schools obviously have athletic departments of various sizes and budgets, and the NCAA would bear the responsibility of ensuring the top flight programs can't overpay recruits to ensure they end up at program X. For example, Ohio State's athletic department has a budget that is literally more than 10 times that of a decent small conference program in Nevada. What's to stop Ohio State from determining that the "real cost of education" is $4,000 a month on top of the normal expenses covered under the general scholarship? How about $10,000? Ohio State can afford either. If that is where the dollar value falls, forget about trying to compete, Nevada either closes up shop on athletics altogether or tucks it's cute little wolfie tail between it's legs and runs back to the FCS.
This is an extreme example obviously. So let's look at teams that historically are reasonably evenly matched. Let's talk TCU and Boise State, teams that played three times between 2008 and 2011 before TCU joined the Big 12. In these three games, the margin of victory for the winning teams were 3, 7, and 1 points. Evenly matched? Without players being paid sure. TCU's operating budget for football prior to joining the Big 12 was slightly under $25 million per year. Boise State's? Just under $9 million. Now let them pay players, what do you think happens to those margins of victory? TCU-BSU just became the financial equivalent of Yankees-Blue Jays and we all know how that ends. There are examples of where this could occur within existing conferences. The gap between Oregon and Colorado would look similar in the PAC-12, same as between Northwestern and Michigan in the Big 10, and Alabama and Vanderbilt in the SEC would just be laughable. Kansas State would never be able to hang with Texas again.
The point is that the NCAA can't just let the individual programs decide what they need to pay players. It would ruin college football. You could argue that the gap between the top program in the country (Alabama) and whoever you think is second has never been wider, however the gap between the number two program and the 126th program has never been more narrow and paying players ruins that. It kills the unpredictable upsets, it ruins BCS busters, it virtually takes the MAC and Conference USA out of existence. Rice, Tulsa, and Nevada's programs will cease to exist. The NCAA owes it to every team not in a BCS conference to keep the playing field at the current level of inequality, they are already going to court to defend the legality of that, expanding the inequality inherent in the game is not option.
The only way this works then is if the NCAA sets the fair stipend amount itself and advises each program what they can pay their players. Easy solution yes? In theory great, you just set an amount to pay players, enforce that all programs pay equally and move on. This presents a few problems still. One, Nevada still kills it's programs, Rice is dead too, and don't be surprised if even a few BCS teams like Wake Forest and Colorado go belly up with them. That still isn't the biggest issue though. Move to Los Angeles. Seriously go live there for three months. Once you've had your fill, move to Moscow, Idaho. Then try out Miami, Florida, then give Ann Arbor, Michigan a shot. Now tell me the "real cost of education" is the same in all of them. Life in LA is probably twice as expensive as it is for other cities (say Pullman, WA) in their own conference. So an equal stipend for all programs really won't work. No, we will need the NCAA to send delegates to live on campus at each university. Live life like a student and comprehend the what real costs are for each campus. So now we need to hire 126 more NCAA officials to calculate the costs at each university. Oh, and NCAA officials to track all the balance sheets for the payments now going out for any possible violations. The military academies all just said "forget this shit, we don't need football that bad."
Okay, let's just pretend that this all works. We've hired all the people, we have realistic comparables about how individuals at each program should be paid, and we are going to live with the detriments and let Nevada, Idaho, North Texas, Tulsa, and probably 10-12 other schools I don't know much about eat the bullet and give up on playing FBS football, and we're ready to pay out our players. The kid at USC is going to get $1,200 a month for his efforts, the star player at Washington State is going to get $550 a month. The controversy is over, we can stop worrying about all the scandals ruining our games. We simply monitor the balance sheets at each school and ensure they are paying accordingly and we're good right......
Wait stop - what? So you're telling me that Marquis Lee is going to stay for his senior year at USC for $1,200 a month? You think these kids are going to take pennies on the dollar and stay in school and not still seek extra benefits. Sammy Watkins can sell his jersey he played in last week for three grand anytime he wants. Stop being stupid. This doesn't work. The only way this ever works is if the NCAA chooses to actually allow student athletes to unionize like the NFL players and demand a share of the profits from television contracts, so they can get their millions, or at minimum their tens of thousands. Or hundreds if at Idaho..... or maybe some quarters for the vending machine with the knock off Jelly Bellies in it. The problem with that theory is that the university presidents will never allow it. I can't wrap my head around any strategy for paying players that doesn't either force about half of the FBS schools back down a level or leave the players so underpaid that the scandals continue anyways.
My point is this: Don't open Pandora's box unless you know what's inside. Be careful about assuming you know what it will take to keep a 19 year old start athlete that's been told he's untouchable his whole life happy. It's probably more than you'll try to pay him.
Topic Two: Dead Dynasty - Take Two
Remember that movie The Patriot starring Mel Gibson? There is this scene where you see a soldier get their head taken clean off by a cannonball. Tom Brady probably felt like all his receivers where that patriot on Thursday night. Last week I questioned if the Patriots could really be as bad as they looked week one against Buffalo, after week two I wonder if they are even that good. Tom Brady is supposedly the master of throwing the ball around the field but there is the matter of having any reasonable targets at all. People were questioning who would catch the ball at the beginning of the season, that was before Danny Amendola and Shane Vereen got hurt. That was when people actually believed Stevan Ridley could run the ball. Now? Well I think Miami is going to win this division and that has nothing to do with me believing in Miami and everything to do with me thinking the entire rest of the division is garbage. Tom Brady can no longer spread the ball around, he doesn't have enough options. Julian Edelman was targeted 18 times on Thursday night, entering the season, he had 69 career receptions in four seasons. Those receivers are garbage, Pats fans should expect to see a lot more of this:
Topic Three: Desert Disaster
I'm still waiting for the refs to walk back out on the field and fix this mess and I bet there are a lot of players in the Wisconsin locker room waiting with them. Badgers QB Joel Stave doesn't deserve to be one of them but he put it into the hands of referees to let his stupidity go in the first place. In case you missed this catastrophe, watch the video below.
There are at least four different mistakes made on the play, three by referees.
1. The really obvious one. Joel Stave takes the football and tenderly lays it on the field like he is laying a baby down for a nap. No spiking the ball, no taking a knee to actually center the ball, simply setting the ball down on the turf. A boneheaded move for sure. Mistake One.
2. The play obviously results in a loose ball. Every player seems to be in shock as he lays it down and since nothing is happening, no one is moving to attack the ball. A few moments later a few ASU defenders snap out of their trance of "he can't have been so dumb as to do what I think he did" and pounce on the ball. However, for no explainable reason, a referee has already blown the whistle for no reason at all. So the play is apparently dead with a loose ball in the middle of the field. Mistake two.
3. The player for Arizona State that jumped on the football, just stays there huddling the ball like he's protecting his child from a sandstorm. The whistle has blown and all the other players cleared away, yet the player on the ball is permitted to lay there and hide the ball, which according to every rule book in the history of football is a delay of game penalty on the defense. This of course doesn't get called, he just stays there while seven seconds tick off the clock before the refs actually make him get up. Mistake three.
4. The referee places the ball and then stands over it and doesn't not signal ready for play dispite the fact that neither team has made a single substitution. He stands over the ball under the clock is at one second, effectively making it impossible for Wisconsin to actually win the game. I cannot come up with a single valid reason as to why the ref was standing over the ball. Mistake four.
I'm not sure who you want to say actually won this game but it's clear that neither team can feel that they earned their final score on the board. How in the world this win convinced some pollsters to move Arizona State into the Top 25 is just another reason why the polls are a joke. I'm not saying ASU isn't good enough to be ranked, I'm saying that there is no way that you could move them up based on this "win." What's your take on this? Does Joel Stave deserve more blame or the refs?
Twitter Recap
I don't tweet, but if I did, here is what my Twitter would have looked like while watching Alabama at Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon.
I'm sure there was a time when Verne Lundquist was one of the best sportscasters there was. Today he is just a legendary voice that yells "WOW and "OH, MY GOODNESS" and often audibly asks Gary Danielson what he saw because he isn't sure. I know, it's hard to know when it's time to hang it up sometimes, so here's your hint Verne. It's time.
McCarron looks nervous back there early on, he is throwing some off passes without any pressure.
Analysts have been so focused on the poor run defense of A&M, they forgot to point out how awful the cornerbacks are.
I forgot to give Verne credit for laughing really loud at every single quip Danielson makes. He's still good for that too.
After one quarter it kind of looks like instead of spending nine months planning to contain Manziel, Saban simply shrugged his shoulders and said "let the kid run."
Holy Shit, Manziel is untouchable. Repeat Heisman moment, 11:58 to go in the second quarter of game three. 45 yard pass to gain 12 yards. This kid is crazy.
And he follows it up with a god-awful throw that is picked in the end zone. You're not so good you don't have to read the coverage before you read kid.
Seriously, these Aggie corners may not have great cover skills but at least they miss tackles.
This new targeting rule really is joke. You can review the penalty and prove it wrong but if you do the yardage still will be enforced? Ridiculous.
Story before the game: Can the A&M defense abuse the inexperienced line enough to hold Bama to few enough points that Manziel can survive a prepared Bama D. Story at half time: Will either team actually play defense. Nothing has slowed Bama down and only A&M has slowed A&M down.
That pick six could be contributed to the A&M offense taking tackling lessons from the A&M defense.
Saban's coaching in this game is shining, not in that he is shutting Manziel down but because he is letting the other team make all the mistakes when the talent seems almost neutral, the game is still getting out of hand.
42-21 near the end of third. I'm out, the first few drives gave me hope that I was wrong about expectations for this game but A&M's defense gives me no hope that this game is getting any closer.
I hope Johnny Manziel's Heisman stock doesn't tumble because of this game. He played outstanding. Historically though, voters care more about your team's BCS standing than an individuals performance, so we'll see.
Top 25
1. Alabama - Still have some obvious weaknesses but no one has two wins that look stronger on paper.
2. Oregon - Hard to move them down after the humbling given to former SEC power Tennessee.
3. LSU - Still haven't played anybody but they are clicking on offense like we haven't seen in years.
4. Clemson - No movement on an off week.
5. Florida State - Anytime that starts sluggish and still scores 62 points deserves some recognition.
6. Ohio State - The D has a long way to go if they are really thinking National Championship Game.
7. Stanford - Looked uncharacteristically sloppy early against Army. Still hard to drop them too much.
8. Washington - Neither win so far is a blockbuster but giving credit for no flunkies on the schedule either.
9. Oklahoma State - The offense is back to it's normal 60 point game performances. Watch out Big 12.
10. Oklahoma - Bedlam game could feature unbeaten teams, rest of Big 12 looks miles behind these two.
11. Louisville - Sloppy game against Kentucky may have been the biggest game of the season for Cardinals.
12. UCLA - PAC 12 defenses aren't exactly scary, Hundley may sneak into the Heisman race.
13. Michigan - Yes, they deserve a big drop after letting Akron nearly steal a huge upset in the Big House.
14. UCF - Louisville may actually have a threat in the AAC if the Knights keep playing this way.
15. Georgia - A much needed week off for a team that started the season on a brutal two game stretch.
16. Miami - If the offense finds a way to play at it's potential, Canes are a BCS sleeper.
17. Ole Miss - Rebs recruiting class is paying immediate dividends.
18. Baylor - The Offense looks unstoppable but can the D even slow down other Big 12 teams?
19. Northwestern - Teams have done less against worse schedules so far.
20. Michigan State - Proved this week that the O is at least capable of scoring. D is built to win in B10.
21. Auburn - Three and zero is three and zero. The Tigers are crawling back to relevancy.
22. Arizona State - I'm dropping ASU two spots because I'm still not actually sure they won this week.
23. Texas Tech - Win over TCU proves they can beat more than outclassed teams.
24. Arizona - Real tests soon to begin. Don't worry AU students, I just mean on the football field. Rimshot.
25. Fresno State - Delayed game gives some other teams a chance to impress and move ahead.
Also Considered: South Carolina, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Northern Illinois, and Georgia Tech.
Dropped from Rankings: Texas A&M and Wisconsin.
Bronco Watch
Now this was the kind of game that Bronco fans have come to expect. The game went back and forth in the first half but then at halftime came the adjustments that I have been sorely missing in the first few weeks. Air Force moved the ball almost at will through two quarters but the Broncos kept pace with them. In the second half the D shut the Falcons down. Reading the option, making clean tackles, forcing turnovers and on offense Southwick was incredibly efficient and Ajayi had the game Bronco faithful have been waiting over a year for. Air Force is hardly an elite defense but they should be on par with Nevada and Fresno State's. It was good to see a nice measuring stick against an upper tier conference foe and while BSU has far from their best team this year, the game gives hopes that they can still hope for a conference championship caliber year in a down Mountain West. Given the respect BSU now carries in most polls, an unbeaten conference slate could actually put the Broncos in the running for a BCS bowl as well, but don't get hopes to high on that count.
Dolphin Watch
Last week against Cleveland, I saw a team that was ready to go out an win their winnable games but still had a lot of weaknesses. This week I saw a team that may truly be prepared to hang with anyone on any given Sunday. The game at Indianapolis would have gone the other way in years past. The defense would find a way to fold, Luck leads his last minute drive, the Phins head back home to open their schedule there 1-1. This team isn't just better it's tougher and ready to step up and make big plays when needed. Here's my grade card for the week.
Ryan Tannehill: B - There are some things you don't tend to catch about a QB's play when looking at the box score. Tannehill's stats through two games look quite similar to what he did last year but watching the game you see enormous improvements. His accuracy is spot on and he is making good decisions. The main reason the numbers are the same is the added pressure he is facing with a rebuild offensive line in front of him and the fact that his receivers are struggling to get seperation. He made a lot of the the "right" throws on Sunday to receivers that couldn't reel balls in because they were merely open enough to try but not open enough for it to be easy. The one improvement he needs to make is adjusting to his pressure and getting rid of the ball faster. The line is not going to buy him any time this year.
Lamar Miller: B - A good bounce back game after a horrible showing in Week 1. He probably could have done more as there were good gaps on almost every run but Miami just wanted to throw the ball. Could have topped 100 yards if he had 20 touches. Also, since he had a decent game, can we cut Daniel Thomas yet?
Offensive Line: C- - Ah, there's the concern I couldn't spy in week one. To be fair to the guys up front, they are not all bad. It's pretty much just the tackles that are struggling. Jonathan Martin is having a very hard time adjusting to Left Tackle a Clabo out at Right Tackle just isn't a great talent. The interior of the line played very well. But a unit that is 40% bad succeeds very rarely and hat is what happened this week. THe line does seem to have gained their footing in run blocking though.
Wide Receivers: B - Mike Wallace had the break out game he needed and Brian Hartline played well again this week. Charles Clay looks to be a good safety valve as Tannehill seems to be growing attached to his tight ends. Brandon Gibson was virtually invisible all day though and while the receivers made some big catches, they are still very much lacking in that big play ability as they struggled to find real separation all day and mostly made a lot of tough catches in tight holes. The downfield blocking by this unit really impressed though, especially on the touchdown play to Wallace.
Defensive Secondary: B- - The secondary as a whole played a solid game, especially in the first half when there was almost no pass rush to speak, it's a wonder that Hilton and Wayne didn't find a way to shred them. I was very excited by how great Victor Grimes played, he looks like he is back to Pro Bowl form and has completely recovered from the ACL tear a year ago. The reason the score is lower is the other corner Chris Clemons who covered well enough but missed several tackles and was easily bowled over on every play where downfield blocking applied. The second corner spot is the clear weak spot on the Dolphin D.
Linebackers: A - For the second straight week, I was impressed with both of the new pickups. Ellerbe and Wheeler both played great and without them the pass rush would have been hurting all day. They made some great open field tackles and were difference makers on each blitz that Mike Sherman called.
Defensive Line: C+ - Virtually a non-factor until the fourth quarter. The rush was almost invisible and while they stuffed the run well, they brought virtually no heat on Andrew Luck for three quarters. Towards the end of the game, we finally heard Dion Jordan's name called and got a glimpse of the future as he brought pressure on some critical plays in the fourth quarter. Still, they need him to get ready fast as the rush is invisible if lines are able to safely call double teams on Cameron Wake.
NFL Power Rankings
1. Seahawks - Hard to pick anyone else after the dismantling they gave the Niners Sunday night.
2. Broncos - Can do more in the second half than most NFL teams do in four quarters.
3. Texans - Both wins show that this team is ready to fight for four quarters every week.
4. Saints - Defense is back to top form with Payton back at the helm.
5. Bears - Enjoy it now Bears fans, Cutler still looks like Cutler to me, we'll see how long this lasts.
6. Dolphins - The win over Indianapolis shows they are ready to hang with teams better than the Bills.
7. Chiefs - 2-0 is a big accomplishment after the past few seasons. There is big time talent on this team.
8. Packers - Thrashing of Skins was a nice bounce back from a rough loss in San Fran.
9. Patriots - I can't remember the last time a 2-0 defending division champ was so uninspiring to watch.
10. Falcons - Game in St. Louis was nowhere near as close as the final score indicates.
11. Titans - Tough loss to Houston but this team looks ready to fight all year long.
12. 49ers - Embarrassing loss to Seattle but there is too much talent for this team not to bounce back.
13. Bengals - Biggest concern is that Andy Dalton looks exactly the same as last year.
14. Colts - A sophomore slump for this team looks likely. Talented but too young for consistent winning.
15. Chargers - Honestly should be 2-0 but that receiving corp is going from thin to anorexic.
16. Eagles - Yes, NFC East, I remembered you were there.
17. Cardinals - Could Patrick Peterson really be the difference for this offense?
18. Cowboys - For every step forward..........
19. Bills - This team may be more ready to compete than anyone gives them credit for.
20. Lions - New Lions still seem to carry that old Lions stench.
21. Ravens - New Ravens carry nothing near that old Ravens scent.
22. Rams - Hard found win followed by blowout loss. Guts. Glory. Rams.
23. Raiders - I know it was the Jags but they looked not awful on Sunday.
24. Vikings - Team looks ready for glory everywhere but at QB. It's a passing league.
25. Panthers - This team looks really close to being special. A lot of coaches get fired for being really close.
26. Browns - Put a tough fight up in both losses. The D is for real.
27. Jets - What do you mean Mark Sanchez is on IR?? Then who threw all those picks on Thursday night?
28. Steelers - They have to find something to work on offense or it could be the first 4th place finish in ages.
29. Bucs - The team has two big weaknesses: penalties and Josh Freeman, both have lost them a game.
30. Giants - Someone needs to remind Eli that he's not supposed to target the cornerbacks.
31. Redskins - Did RGIII tear an ACL or spend the summer at the bottom of the dead sea? So, so rusty.
32. Jaguars - New Orleans levies can hold back more than the Jags O line. 0-16 a possibility?
