We’ve given a damn about the Heisman and the Maxwell trophies for a very few seasons — 1994 (Alabama WR/KR/RB/QB David Palmer), 1999 (Alabama RB Shaun Alexander) and 2009 (Alabama RB Mark Ingram). Only last season was a Tide player able to get to the foulest of the foul who decide which very young man is considered the best of major amateur football athletics. We’d say that Alexander should have won both, while Ingram should have been left off until this season, but that’s not here or there.
What matters is that Monday, the organization that gives out the Maxwell Award and the Chuck Bednarik Award — the Maxwell Football Club — just about admits that the top athlete will be an offensive player, restricting the Bednarik Award to only defensive players. Those in the college football blogosphere know that the keepers of the Heisman are right bastards when it comes to use of the name, so they discuss the Maxwell Award in its place.
In the last season, though, the Maxwell winner was Colt McCoy, the senior quarterback for Texas who got knocked out of the game by Huffman High School product Marcell Dareus. The Bednarik Award went to a guy who simply played on a team that — sniff, sniff — just wasn’t good enough, Ndamukong Suh.
The Maxwell Award has been presented to the outstanding collegiate football player in America since 1937 and is named in honor of sportswriter Robert W. “Tiny” Maxwell. The Chuck Bednarik Award has been presented to the nation’s top defensive player since 1995. Mr. Bednarik is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame 69′ and the NFL Hall of Fame 67′.
Colt McCoy of the University of Texas was the recipient of the 73rd Maxwell Award and Ndamukong Suh from the University of Nebraska was awarded the 15th Chuck Bednarik Award for their outstanding performances during the 2008 season. The two men were selected by the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions respectively in this April’s NFL Draft.
So, yeah.
Anyway, this year, the SEC/Clemson watch list looks thusly:
MAXWELL
Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama
Julio Jones, WR, Alabama
Greg McElroy, QB, Alabama
Stephen Garcia, QB, South Carolina
Kyle Parker, QB, Clemson
John Brantley, QB, Florida
Jeff Demps, RB, Florida
Randall Cobb, WR, Kentucky
Washaun Ealey, RB, Georgia
A.J. Green, WR, Georgia
Ryan Mallett, QB, Arkansas
BEDNARIK
Marcell Dareus, DE, Alabama
Dont’a Hightower, LB, Alabama
Mark Barron, S, Alabama
Stephon Gilmore, CB, South Carolina
DeAndre McDaniel, S, Clemson
Ahmad Black, S, Florida
Josh Byrnes, LB, Auburn
Justin Houston, LB, Georgia
Pernell McPhee, DE, Mississippi State
Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU
Kelvin Sheppard, LB, LSU
Jerrell Powe, DT, Ole Miss
For 12 years, the Southeastern Conference baseball tournament has been held at what we grew up calling the Hoover Met — Regions Park outside of Birmingham. But there’s only one year left on the contract between the stadium and the SEC, so the process has been opened up to see where the conference champion will be crowned in 2012. If you want to follow Carolina to the tourney in a couple years, it may be an even further drive than the five hours to Alabama.
Seven towns, including Hoover, are making a move, with the other six literally wanting the SEC to make the move. If the tourney leaves Hoover, the best venue may be Memphis. Yes, the only teams west of it are Arkansas and LSU. According to Google Maps, a drive from Columbia would take more than 10 hours and you’d still have to go through Birmingham. But the home stadium of the Memphis Redbirds (AAA, St. Louis Cardinals) has seating capacity of 14,320 and was called the best minor league park of 2009 by Baseball America. One of the standards the SEC is applying is that stadiums must, or must be able to, provide seating for at least 10,000. Regions Park holds 10,800.
The best situation as far as South Carolinians go is if the Atlanta suburb of Duluth lands the bid. It would be at Coolray Field (Gwinnett Braves, AAA, Atlanta Braves), which comes in right under the wire at 10,000 seats. But according to The Birmingham News, the SEC is having reservations about batting practice areas and hotel availability close to the venue. Considering that the SEC has all but up and moved its headquarters from Birmingham to Atlanta, Duluth is right there in the mix with Hoover and Memphis.
The other two sites are lacking and behind, to say the least. One is Montgomery, which would play host to the tournament at the home of the Montgomery Biscuits (AA, Tampa Bay Rays). The immediate problem is that Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium comes up 3,000 seats short, though the organization says it can bring in enough seating to make it work. Other places — Jackson, Miss. and Little Rock, face similar issues.
The only other place with a legitimate shot is Jacksonville, the eastern geographical problem counterpart to Memphis. Jacksonville had the ACC baseball tournament from 2005 to 2008 at the Baseball Grounds (Jacksonville Suns, AA, Florida Marlins), so it can play up the experience factor to compete with Hoover.
What’s noticeable is that not one South Carolina stadium was in the mix. Whether it’s the continuing NAACP boycott — which has only seemed to screw over college athletes and the people who want to watch the games — or something else, we seem to have missed out again. Sports can be, and usually is, an economic engine. Our business and political leaders need to get on the hump and do something about this.
Sure, most people have their team’s schedule written down, posted up and all that, you you need to keep up with what the competition’s doing, as well. Here’s your 2010 SEC football helmet schedule, which is always a fine thing to have on hand.
See you at the Tide-Gamecocks game at Williams-Brice. It’ll be the first time Alabama’s been in Columbia since the blowout in 2005. For a larger version of the sked, click below.
Before Auburn kicked off the third and final day of SEC Media Days, the media got together and voted for the preseason SEC standings and who they thought would win it all. Predictability, FTW.
SEC Champion
Alabama
SEC East Champion
Florida
SEC West Champion
Alabama
SEC East
1. Florida, 1030 (153)
2. Georgia, 791 (15)
3. South Carolina, 790 (8)
4. Kentucky, 462
5. Tennessee, 450
6. Vanderbilt, 194 (1)
SEC West
1. Alabama, 1034 (157)
2. Arkansas, 726 (6)
3. Auburn, 691 (10)
4. LSU, 653 (1)
5. Mississippi State, 320
6. Ole Miss, 293 (3)
Hey, Carolina — the sportswriters think y’all just might be second in the East. That could mean a halfway decent bowl game to get beat in. Sure beats losing to Connecticut at Legion Field. Maybe the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Short trip. In other news, it looks bad for LSU and Ole Miss, particularly for Tiger head coach Les Miles. It took Phil Fulmer about 10 years to go from hero to goat. Miles is going to make the journey from raising the crystal football to being canned in record time if what’s listed above really happens. As far as the Right Reverend goes, Ole Miss fans can be a little more tolerant, though being the dark horse one preseason to bottom-dweller the next isn’t what they’d call progress.
It would have been nice to get this up last night, but, you know, Internet problems. We really could have used Vanderbilt interim head coach Robbie Caldwell, who seems to be quite the renaissance man. For instance, his proficiency at turkey insemination from his time working on a turkey farm. This guy is from Pageland, so you get what you pay for.
But first to the podium on Thursday was Arkansas. The men who know such things say the Hogs should be a much-improved team this year, behind the arm of quarterback Ryan Mallett and an improved defense. Of course, the defense has only up to go, considering how bad it was last season.
| Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino |
| Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett |
Following up the Razorbacks was Georgia. The Bulldogs have been one of, if not the most consistent team in the SEC since Mark Richt took over. That’s good for NASCAR, not so good for college football when none of those years have featured a national championship. A number of wags have been saying that Richt is on borrowed time right now, but that remains to be proven. After all, Phil Fulmer needed two absolutely horrible seasons before he wore out his welcome. This season, Georgia is switching to a 3-4 and starting a redshirt freshman at quarterback. So they brought a punter to Media Days.
| Georgia head coach Mark Richt |
| Georgia punter Drew Butler |
| Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green |
For the sixth time as head coach at South Carolina, Steve Spurrier got up and did his light beer schtick that we’ve become accustomed to, different than the high-octane, Everclear-grade product he used to throw to the gathered journos while heading up the program at Florida. When he runs something like, “We’ll just go out there and play hard and hopefully things will work out,” it’s not coachspeak. That’s for realz. The permanent over-under for the Gamecocks is seven wins, and that’s not changing this season. Also, neither is the chance for three people to start at quarterback.
| South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier |
| South Carolina fullback Patrick DiMarco |
| South Carolina defensive end Cliff Matthews |
| South Carolina linebacker Shaq Wilson |
Last on the program was Vanderbilt and Caldwell’s little ball of crazy and a man’s love of large poultry.
| Vanderbilt interim head coach Robbie Caldwell |
| Vanderbilt running back Warren Norman |
It’s not a surprise that there are a lot of older gentlemen in Texas that would like to return to the days of the Southwest Conference. In effect, the state of Texas annexed Arkansas in athletics and rode that for decades until the house of cards fell apart. Jerry Jones, Arkansas alum and wealthy Dallas Cowboys owner par excellence, has allegedly been trying to get Notre Dame and Arkansas into the Big XII.
Why Notre Dame? God only knows. Maybe because Jones got used to seeing the Irish in the Cotton Bowl so many times. But, that spoke to South Bend makes even less sense than the ACC stretching from Coral Gables to Chestnut Hill. Just an aside, but the ACC is like the Chile of conferences. Anyway, the Notre Dame thing was pretty much a no-go, but initial rumors said that Arkansas was definitely considering it.
On Wednesday, a report emerged that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would like to see Arkansas (and Notre Dame) join the Big 12 which would instantly make it one of the top conferences.
According to Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com (via Twitter), that report has some legs.
“Sources tell OB Arkansas has definitely put out feelers about possibly joining the Big 12, but the B12 votes don’t appear to be there yet.”
Don’t draw so quick on your gun, son. Within hours of the Thursday morning furor, the Arkansas athletic director came out and said that there was nothing to it, and that the Razorbacks and the SEC were BFFs, the end.
Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long says the school has “no interest” in joining another conference amid speculation that the Razorbacks could be a candidate to move to the Big 12.
Long said Wednesday that Arkansas is happy in the Southeastern Conference. The Big 12 recently lost Nebraska to the Big Ten and Colorado to the Pac-10, leaving it with 10 members.
But what of the Big East, the football conference of the walking dead? Talk came out that the conference that was thought to be left a smoking crater by the Big Ten and ACC is looking at Central Florida and Memphis. Considering that FedEx boss Fred Smith was looking for a BCS conference for Memphis and its quarterback, his son, that could have had some validity. Until, that is, Big East commissioner John Marinatto said differently.
Big East commissioner John Marinatto and other league officials told FanHouse that an Orlando TV report claiming the Memphis and the University of Central Florida would be invited to join the Big East as soon as next week is inaccurate.
“Those reports are not true,” Marinatto (right) told FanHouse Thursday.
Orlando’s WKMG sports director David Pingalore reported Wednesday night that “multiple college football sources” indicated UCF and Memphis could receive an invitation as early as next week. Pingalore reported the invitation is “highly likely.”
So there’s that. Even if it were true, adding two more schools would give the Big East a ridiculous 18 teams in basketball. Insanity. And we’re back where we were before. The Pac-10 has 12 teams, the Big Ten has 12 teams and the Big XII has 10. But something says that within 10 years, there will be another grab that further shakes up the college football world.
One of the under reported stories every year in major college football is the amount of free crap football players get when they go to a bowl game. Some is useless. For instance, we got a free watch from the SEC and a free pin for covering the 2004 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament. Frankly, the catered Georgia Dome food, free bags of Golden Flake and Dr. Pepper out the wazzou was better than what the conference gave sportswriters.
The following is what SEC teams will be getting this year.
Music City Bowl
Kentucky: RCA high-def camcorder, Fossil watch, Majestic fleece pullover, New Era cap, Ogio Metro laptop pack
Independence Bowl
Georgia: Sony gift suite, Timely Watch Co. watch, New Era cap, football
Chick-fil-A Bowl
Tennessee: $250 Best Buy gift card, Fossil watch, Russell Athletic knit cap, Russell Athletic travel bag, football, Chick-fil-A gift card
Outback Bowl
Auburn: Best Buy gift card, Pro-Swiss watch, Jostens ring, hat, Outback Steakhouse gift card
Capital One Bowl
LSU: Party at Best Buy ($420 limit), Timely Watch Co. watch
Sugar Bowl
Florida: Sony, Apple, Trek, Garmin and Weber gift suite, Timely Watch Co. watch, New Era cap, Ogio Politan laptop pack, Lane recliner
Papajohns.com Bowl
South Carolina: RCA high-def mini-camcorder, Oakley Surf Pack backpack
Cotton Bowl
Ole Miss: Unknown
Liberty Bowl
Arkansas: Westinghouse 19-inch LCD HDTV/computer monitor, Fossil watch, Nike training shoes/sport sandals/sunglasses, football
BCS National Championship Game
Alabama: Sony gift suite with Trek and Garmin, Fossil watch, New Era 59Fifty cap, Ogio Politan laptop pack
Alabama won its first Southeastern Conference championship in a decade during the first week of December, and is the odds-on favorite to beat Texas (for the first time) and win the program’s 13th national championship. Like we did for the outset of the season, each week leading up to the game we’ll recap the best of the Crimson Tide, captured so ably by the University of Alabama athletics department’s creative media department.
An eye to the past, looking toward the future
Virginia Tech
Florida International
Arkansas
There are 34 bowl games this year, and we’re picking every damn one of them (probably with 60-70 percent success). You can follow the progress or join up and do battle with us through ESPN College Bowl Mania. We’re in “The League” and “The War Against Tebow.” TWAT (jokes!) is the brainchild of decamped S.C. blogger and good time Johnny, Micah Snead, so go there. But beware — Snead’s dad is a total ringer and will probably take the title by 20 points.
Dec. 19, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
Fresno State v. Wyoming
Dec. 19, 8 p.m., ESPN
Central Florida v. Rutgers
Dec. 20, 8:30 a.m., ESPN
Southern Miss v. Middle Tennessee State
Dec. 22, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 18 Oregon State v. No. 14 BYU
Dec. 23, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 23 Utah v. California
Dec. 24, 8 p.m., ESPN
Nevada v. Southern Methodist
Dec. 26, 1 p.m., ESPN
Marshall v. Ohio
Dec. 26, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
No. 17 Pitt v. North Carolina
Dec. 26, 8 p.m., ESPN
Boston College v. No. 24 Southern Cal
Dec. 27, 8:30 p.m., ESPN
Kentucky v. Clemson
Dec. 28, 5 p.m., ESPN2
Texas A&M v. Georgia
Dec. 29, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
UCLA v. Temple
Dec. 29, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 15 Miami v. No. 25 Wisconsin
Dec. 30, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
Bowling Green v. Idaho
Dec. 30, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 20 Arizona v. No. 22 Nebraska
Dec. 31, Noon, ESPN
Houston v. Air Force
Dec. 31, 2 p.m., CBS
Oklahoma v. No. 21 Stanford
Dec. 31, 3:30 p.m., ESPN
Navy v. Missouri
Dec. 31, 6 p.m., NFL Network
Minnesota v. Iowa State
Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
No. 11 Virginia Tech v. Tennessee
Jan. 1, 11 a.m., ESPN
Northwestern v. Auburn
Jan. 1, 1 p.m., CBS
No. 16 West Virginia v. Florida State
Jan. 1, 1 p.m., ESPN
No. 13 Penn State v. No. 12 LSU
Jan. 1, 4:30 p.m., ABC
No. 8 Ohio State v. No. 7 Oregon
Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m., Fox
No. 5 Florida v. No. 3 Cincinnati
Jan. 2, Noon, ESPN2
South Florida v. Northern Illinois
Jan. 2, 2 p.m., ESPN
South Carolina v. Connecticut
Jan. 2, 2 p.m., Fox
No. 19 Oklahoma State v. Ole Miss
Jan. 2, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
Arkansas v. East Carolina
Jan. 2, 9 p.m., ESPN
Michigan State v. Texas Tech
Jan. 4, 8 p.m., Fox
No. 6 Boise State v. No. 4 TCU
Jan. 5, 8 p.m., Fox
No. 10 Iowa v. No. 9 Georgia Tech
Jan. 6, 7 p.m., Fox
No. 25 Central Michigan v. Troy
Jan. 7, 8 p.m., ABC
No. 2 Texas v. No. 1 Alabama
Here we go. With the conference championship games over, and only Army-Navy left on Dec. 12, bowl bids are going out hot and heavy. There are some things that were expected, some surprises and — oh man — Clemson totally got jobbed.
BCS National Championship Game
No. 1 Alabama v. No. 2 Texas
Sugar Bowl
No. 5 Florida v. No. 3 Cincinnati
Capital One Bowl
No. 12 LSU v. No. 13 Penn State
Cotton Bowl
Ole Miss v. No. 19 Oklahoma State
Outback Bowl
Auburn v. Northwestern
Chick-fil-A Bowl
Tennessee v. No. 11 Virginia Tech
Music City Bowl
Kentucky v. Clemson
Liberty Bowl
Arkansas v. East Carolina
Independence Bowl
Georgia v. Texas A&M
Papajohns.com Bowl
South Carolina v. Connecticut
Definitely some interesting matchups — Georgia and Texas A&M are a couple big name teams for a small bowl, so that should be good. In other bowls, the Gator Bowl gave a big, wet, sloppy kiss to Bobby Bowden by inviting Florida State and West Virginia. Travesty. Though it was technically OK, Miami and Boston College were higher up in the selection order in the ACC. Southern Cal, the over-hyped 8-4 team, is going to play the Eagles in the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco.
Ooh! There are other BCS games?
Fiesta Bowl
No. 6 Boise State v. No. 4 TCU
Rose Bowl
No. 7 Oregon v. No. 8 Ohio State
Orange Bowl
No. 9 Georgia Tech v. No. 10 Iowa
