Notes from around the College Football Nation: Saban scalps tickets and Urban Meyer was REJECTED

Jeff Hostetler FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

How a college football fan views a map

How a college football fan views a map

During the football season I actually feel like a sports writer, so many games to report on and weight in on.  Right now over the summer, I feel more like a gossip columnist.  It feels I am filling you in more on “leads” and “coach said, recruit said” kind of things.  Well I guess that is the world and off season in which we live.  Considering how much joy and passion the game brings to our life, I will take it.  So sit back and let me fill you in on some of the latest “news” from around the college football nation and weight in with my thoughts.  We at FishDuck of course always welcome your thoughts.

Head football coach Nick Saban - University of Alabama

Hey buddy, need a couple tickets?

1. Nick Saban wanted to show everyone what a nice guy he was, or he REALLY wanted to sell his house FAST!  Nick Saban is including an Alabama ticket package to whoever buys the house.  Alabama fans are crazy intense and I imagine this will start a bidding war.  This is not all self serving as the money raised will go to his charity, which is awesome.  I love to hear when athletes and coaches who are in a the spotlight give back to the community.  They use their position of power for good. I guess Saban can tear away his shirt and reveal a Superman logo and just say it stands for “SABAN”.

Better Duck - USC gettin' piled up by Kiko and crew in 2012

USC will need to practice smart in order to keep the injuries from piling up.

2. One more worry for Lane Kiffin and one less worry for the other PAC-12 schools.  USC lost another player to injury this off season.  It is sad whenever a player gets hurt and cannot realize their maximum potential.  It is that time of the year when injuries can start piling up.  Athletes are not even playing games, just doing drills and practicing yet they get hurt.  I know players are competing hard for playing time and starting roles during the off season but take it down a notch.  Save it for fall camp when the coaches will really be looking to put it all together.  More coaches might want to look at how John Gagliardi did things when running his college football team.  John called it “Winning with No’s”.  He did not use a whistle, did not make his players tackle in practice and did not require his players to lift weights.  Some of you might think, well he will have no success running things that way.  I beg to differ.  Let his 489-138-11 record speak for the effectiveness of his “practice” methods.  So anytime schools lose a player to injury, especially in the off season, maybe they should take a fresh look at the “Gagliardi” method and consider changing things up.  You do not win games while running drills or lifting weights.

3. The buffet must have closed or Kansas football wants some attention on the program other than attention for losing games to Oklahoma 52-7.  Charlie Weis has opened his mouth (not to put a donut in but to speak) and said Bob Stoops’ SEC comments are valid.  Really it sounded like someone wanted to divert the attention away from a horrible football team and talk about anything else at a press conference.  Someone needs to tell Weis that you need to win more than one game before worrying about other things.  Kansas football has a long way to go before anyone should start giving them credence.

Head football coach Urban Meyer - the Ohio State

No? Wait, are you sure? Really?

4. I guess Urban Meyer has not be told “NO”…..EVER…according to Miami commit Kc McDermott.  The kid was fully committed to Miami and Urban Meyer still came calling a week after Kc had told an Ohio State assistant that he wasn’t even interested in them.  McDermott was not impressed and basically told Meyer “No” and to leave him alone.  I bet a lot of  Michigan and Florida fans would have loved to have been there to see Urban Meyer turn into Urban CRYER.  Not too many college coaches have their egos checked like that by a recruit.  It seems a lot of recruits are becoming more bold with their rejection tactics, some recruits are even “flushing” away their future.

Time to wrap it up for the week.  I hope you got your fill of the “news” going on in college football.  Once again it is more talk than action.  Kick off is forever away but we will all manage.  EA SPORTS will soon be releasing the new NCAA FOOTBALL game and the shelves are filling up with preseason football magazines.  I recommend Athlon Sports magazines.  That should hold over most fans for another month.  Then whatever you do to occupy your time is up to you.  Maybe go hang out with Charlie Weis at Golden Corral, they are running an all you can eat wings special.

NATIONAL NEWS:

1. Mississippi State walking on thin ice

2. College football mailbag

3. Notre Dame has moved on

4. Indiana making Oregon type moves

5. Vegas is ready for college football

 

New 2024 FishDuck Publishing Schedule….

During the off-season the FishDuck.com publishing schedule will consist of articles on Mondays and Tuesdays. Do keep checking as new articles could be published during the week when a writer has something to say.

In mid-August of 2024, we will go back to the seven-days-a-week of articles during the football season as we did in the football season of 2023.

The Our Beloved Ducks Forum (OBD) is where we we discuss the article above and many more topics, as it is so much easier in a message board format over there.  At the free OBD forum we will be posting Oregon Sports article links, the daily Press Releases from the Athletic Department and the news coming out every day.

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