One would think Congress would get the lesson that spending valuable time investigating trivialities like sports is a waste of the public's time. It's not like the public has fully embraced the drawn-out inquest into Barry Bonds and Rogers Clemens, Senator Arlen Specter's crusade against the Patriots, and so on.
Three members of Congress want the Justice Department to investigate whether the Bowl Championship Series is an illegal enterprise.
Representatives Neil Abercrombie, Democrat of Hawaii; Lynn Westmoreland, Republican of Georgia; and Mike Simpson, Republican of Idaho, introduced a resolution saying the B.C.S. restricts trade because only the largest universities compete in its games. The resolution would require the Justice Department's antitrust division to investigate if the B.C.S. violates federal law.
The measure, if it passes, would put Congress on record as supporting a postseason playoff.
Hawaii? Check. Idaho? Check. Georgia? Check. No pandering going on here! Hilariously stupid quote of the month goes to Hawaii Democrat Neil Abercrombie:
"Who elected these N.C.A.A. people?" Abercrombie said at a news conference Thursday on Capitol Hill while gripping a souvenir University of Hawaii football. "Who are they to decide who competes for the championship?"
Never let facts get in the way of a good time folks! Imagine, private - not public like Congress - interests such as the NCAA determining how their own organizations are run? This is apparently scary stuff for the closet fascist the great people of Hawaii have elected. Best of all Abercrombie doesn't appear to realize that "those NCAA people" aren't deciding who competes for college football's championship, nor should they. It's in the hands of the institutions and the conferences themselves.
Check out this video documenting the school's decrepit athletic facilities ("In the locker room there are missing ceiling tiles, broken soap dispensers and inoperable fire alarms. In the weight room you'll find damaged Olympic weights, cracked upholstery on machines and broken equipment.")
The funny part is that even though the Warriors won the WAC this year, they've still got Boise State on the brain. Whatever, at least they're finally allocating some money to address the situation. I'm guessing that's the only reason cameras were allowed to show the mess in the first place, now that Hawaii can stand up and say "change is coming".
Here's one for the "Oh no he DIH-UNT" file. Former Hawai'i Warrior Lene Amosa says Hawai'i just didn't bring it in their game against Georgia.
As a former player, I'm tired of hearing fans and the media say that we were overmatched by bigger, faster, stronger players.
Georgia players are no different than us; the problem was they came to play and we didn't.
Georgia was dominant, not only because they were good athletes, but because their scheme put them in the best position to win.
If Hawai'i (offense) had done the same and utilized/adjusted their scheme to put themselves in the best position, we would not be in the mess we are in now. Believe me, our budget and facilities have nothing to do with what goes on on the field. It's up to the players, and I know for a fact they are looking forward to Florida.
Georgia got lucky, and I say that from a player's point of view. We gave up big plays, which at the end killed us.
Oh, Lene. Lene, Lene, Lene.
The Sugar Bowl was the only BCS game I've ever watched and thought, "Damn, I hope none of those little skinny guys get hurt." I was literally fearful for the safety of Hawai'i's players. And every time the Warriors' offense took the field, I was reminded of that scene from Jurassic Park. No, not the one where the kid gets blown off the electric fence; the one where they tie a goat up to a post in an effort to lure a velociraptor out of hiding.
The only thing Georgia lucked out on is that none of their players were charged with aggravated assault for what they did to the Rainbow Warriors.
This whole BCS thing has me gritting my teeth again. Some of these bowl outcomes were predetermined before the first snap, but there were a few surprises.
Rose Bowl: USC 49, Illinois 17
That's what you get for your precious Rose Bowl tie-ins, Big 10 and Pac-10 fans. A total sham of a game. The Grandaddy? Not this year.
I know everyone's in love with USC after that dominating performance, but let's not lose sight of the fact that Illinois was probably overrated due to that win over Ohio State. A fact made even more obvious after the Bucks were hammered by LSU in the BCS title game. How great would it have been to see Southern Cal vs. Georgia in this game?
Sugar Bowl: Georgia 41, Hawaii 10
I'm all for giving the little guy a chance, but the Warriors had no business being in this game. Our valued Hawaii readers here at FanHouse have pointed out Hawaii's ascendance under June Jones and that the accomplishments of their football team showcase their rich cultural heritage. True, Hawaii's a powerhouse in the WAC nowadays, and that is something to be proud of... but it is the WAC, not the Pac-10 or SEC.
Sure the facilities are apparently a disaster. He has no recruiting budget. Teams will not play Hawaii in the non-conference schedule. He doesn't have a contract for next year. It's still being head coach at Hawaii. Wearing Hawaiian shirts and leis on the sidelines, and living in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. June Jones has apparently decided to take the money and challenge.
June Jones has resigned as University of Hawai'i head football coach, according to his close friend, Al Souza.
Jones resigned this morning, citing among other things a lack of loyalty and commitment from athletic department leaders.
SMU had been the first school to fire its head coach -- in mid-season -- but was the last to make a hire. They rebuffed multiple attempts by former Auburn Coach Terry Bowden who was interested because they thought they could do better. Apparently they have.
As for the letter Jones sent to the University of Hawaii and others to explain his resignation.
Joe Schad of ESPN has the scoop on SMU's coaching search. Last week, he mentioned - almost in passing - on College Football Live that SMU was going to take a shot at a football coach whose team had yet to play in a bowl game. He did not name a specific coach, school, or whether it was a "BCS conference" coach.
SMU will pursue Hawaii coach June Jones and is prepared to pay between $1.5 and $1.7 million per year, according to two people familiar with SMU's strategy.
Although Jones' contract expires after this year, Hawaii has yet to make a contract offer to the coach, who just completed his ninth season with Hawaii.
Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier said after the Sugar Bowl that he will not negotiate through the media and that he will not comment specifically on SMU's interest in his coach.
Keep a couple things in mind before you start laughing. For starters, Hawaii's facilities are dreadful, and the athletic budget is equally comical. SMU's administration seems willing to throw some money at the football program, and while money won't solve all their problems, this looks like a really good idea. With Jones' contract up at Hawaii, now might be the time to take a shot at him if you're someone like SMU.
Jones brings instant credibility as a rebuilder (Hawaii was 0-12 the year before he took over that program), and he will find a way to make an impact with the players former coach Phil Bennett recruited. Given how rich the talent pool is in the Metroplex, it's hard to imagine that Jones wouldn't have success in Conference USA.
Like the rest of you, I was intrigued by the the matchup of Hawai'i and Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. What happens when you take one of the SEC's two best teams and match them up against Hawai'i, who rings up pinball scores on offense but doesn't play anyone outside the WAC other than a single marginal BCS conference opponent?
We're just halfway through the 3rd quarter now, but with the score at 31-3 in Georgia's favor, I feel safe in saying that this "experiment" was a failure.
Colt Brennan has been sacked 7 times, hurried 11 times, and knocked down 10 times. He's 17-28 for 131 yards and 2 TDs INTs. The Rainbow Warriors have only a single first down to their credit, and it took most of three quarters to get it. They're -12 in rushing yards, 119 in total yards.
Hawai'i is heavily outmatched, and it's time to face the facts: the Warriors are boys among men on this field. They don't belong here.
I'm sure TV people will explain ad nauseum how starting the game at nearly 8:50 pm Eastern is the way to maximize eyeballs. That somehow the second half beginning at close to 11 pm on the East Coast is not a big deal. There are two problems that immediately come to mind. They took nearly 20 minutes after the half-hour pregame to get around to kickoff. Maybe they jammed in more ads, but they also irritated plenty of people who checked their program guide and at the very least expected a kickoff to start within ten minutes of the 8:30 start time.
The bigger problem is, reality. Georgia and Hawaii was expected to be a blowout. It has been exactly that. It was 24-3 at the half and less than halfway through the 3d quarter Georgia is up 31-3. Safe to say a lot of people called it a night at that point.They can play up the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and Boise St. over Oklahoma classic all they want, but people have to have a reason to keep watching to get to that point.
The rest of the BCS Bowl games are scheduled for 8 pm starts. That means, FOX may actually start the games by 8:30 on the weeknights. Why they couldn't even do that much tonight makes little sense.
Hawaii showed all of its nerves in their first series. Managing to pick up a delay of game on the opening play and then a false start. Not surprisingly, they went three and out. On their next series, Hawaii got settled and moved steadily down the field. Well, most of the players settled down. The exception being WR Jason Rivers who committed a hold and then a killer late hit penalty to kill the drive. Hawaii was able to put a field goal through.
Georgia has been able to run right through Hawaii. Georgia's O-line completely plowed through Hawaii to make it look easy on their opening drive for a Knowshon Moreno TD run. There was more of the same from the Bulldogs on the second drive with the run and short pass. Taking advantage of an O-line that completely blows open holes for the ball carriers. Moreno also had the second TD run as Georgia has over 90 yards on the ground in just the first quarter.
Hawaii will be in for a long night, at this rate. Not from the "SEC speed" on defense, but from a superior, larger and more dominant Georgia offensive line.
There are certain traits that all big-time college football programs share: classic helmet designs and uniform colors, instantly recognizable fight songs, and decades of tradition that fans nationwide identify immediately as belonging to your school.
Hawaii has none of that. But they do have one ingredient that any self-respecting program needs: insane fans. Need proof? Exhibit A comes from The (Macon, GA) Telegraph, which printed the following letter to the editor in its Monday, December 11 edition:
It was disappointing to learn that a person from your newspaper expressed his disappointment with the BCS process by threatening the life of Hawaii's quarterback, Colt Brennan. This was not ordinary banter between two colleges, two teams or two cities. This was the type of diatribe that is akin to inciting radical terrorists to assault and kill our troops, their own people and attack innocents around the world. Why ... was this sick, over-zealous sewage allowed in print? ... Hawaii has been insulted to the extreme because of this attack, and our proud Warriors will unfortunately have to take it out on your team.
Emphasis mine, but Diatribe! Terrorists! and Sewage! are belong to this unhappy man from the islands. So what could have possibly been in the offending article?
One would think Congress would get the lesson that spending valuable time investigating trivialities like sports is a waste of the public's time. It's not like the public has fully embraced the drawn-out inquest into Barry Bonds and Rogers Clemens, Senator Arlen Specter's crusade against the Patriots, and so on.
Here's one for the "Oh no he DIH-UNT" file. Former Hawai'i Warrior Lene Amosa says Hawai'i just 
Joe Schad of ESPN has the scoop on SMU's coaching search. Last week, he mentioned - almost in passing - on College Football Live that SMU was going to take a shot at a football coach whose team had yet to play in a bowl game. He did not name a specific coach, school, or whether it was a "BCS conference" coach.
Like the rest of you, I was intrigued by the the matchup of Hawai'i and Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. What happens when you take one of the SEC's two best teams and match them up against Hawai'i, who rings up pinball scores on offense but doesn't play anyone outside the WAC other than a single marginal BCS conference opponent?
Hawaii showed all of its nerves in their first series. Managing to pick up a delay of game on the opening play and then a false start. Not surprisingly, they went three and out. On their next series, Hawaii got settled and moved steadily down the field. Well, most of the players settled down. The exception being WR Jason Rivers who committed a hold and then a killer late hit penalty to kill the drive. Hawaii was able to put a field goal through. 
There are certain traits that all big-time college football programs share: classic helmet designs and uniform colors, instantly recognizable fight songs, and decades of tradition that fans nationwide identify immediately as belonging to your school. 
