College Football Nation: Thanks to Those Who Serve Our Country and ‘Free Soda University’

Jeff Hostetler FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

 

This weekend we will take a moment to thank our troops and all those who serve.  Thanks to them, I am able to write this article.  Thanks to them, you can read, comment, and argue about it all day on message boards about why the Pac-12 is the best conference … not the SEC!  So, thanks to the American troops for protecting this freedom.  We truly appreciate what you do for us!

American freedom also allows you to go into whatever store you want, grab a soda and just walk out without paying anyone — or at least that is how Jameis Winston apparently interprets things.  It seems Winston has been in the headlines again this week but not for a football-related item.  If he can’t get himself right pretty quickly, then his coach, Jimbo Fisher, might have to find a new starter for the first game of the season.

Until then, it looks like Fisher is stirring the pot vs the SEC.  He said he wanted Alabama instead of Auburn.  If you ask me, Alabama would have handled FSU just like they did in the title game vs Notre Dame.  Alabama would not have given up the lead against FSU like Auburn did.  Be careful what you wish for Coach Fisher, you might see this team in the playoffs this year.

Speaking of Notre Dame, it seems its coach, Brian Kellyis still not happy with the schedule they have to put together against their ACC foes.  It seems Notre Dame is getting a little worried about having to play the likes of Florida State, Clemson, and Virginia Tech every year, where they would have been better off making the scheduling deal with the B1G, instead of the ACC.

If they would have made the same deal with the B1G then they could have kept a lot of their traditional rivalries alive.  Notre Dame vs Ohio State or Michigan sounds a lot better than Notre Dame vs Wake Forest.  I appreciate Coach Kelly’s concern about the schedule, but when he finds himself winning 9-10 games a year thanks to weak ACC foes, he’ll be just fine.

Most fans are proud of their teams and conference, but this SEC fan still takes the cake for being a die hard fan.  No matter what situation, it seems Alabama fans let you know who they represent.  Maybe Coach Saban can send him a signed picture in prison.  Then there are just people who do not know a thing about college football.

It seems all the news is coming out of SEC/ACC country this week.  We have them making an informal scheduling agreement to play more games against each other.  We already have Florida vs FSU and Clemson vs South Carolina but it seems they want even more.  I can’t wait.  LSU to go play Wake Forest or Mississippi State to play Boston College.  Sounds like a real  good plan.

The article written basically tells everyone that informal agreement is robbing college football fans.  I am 100% on board with that.  I would rather see an Oregon vs Alabama match-up than Alabama vs NC State.  If you ask me it is just a chance for some schools to get an easier game vs a “post BCS-level” opponent.  As the playoffs go, so does the scheduling debate.

Let’s take a moment from the off-the- field news and talk about the NCAA.  It seems they will be forcing athletes to take an “academic” redshirt if their GPA is “too low.”  Some say this is a joke because a person can get a 2.3 sleeping through their classes and doing less than bare minimum work.  I like what the NCAA is trying to do here.  They are trying to emphasize the “student” in student athlete, but the focus will shift back again to paying college athletes very quickly.

Last, but not least, it seems like BYU has been put into the spotlight for NCAA violations with a former player.  If you know anything about BYU, you know that not only do they obey the NCAA rules, but they have a whole set of rules of their own that the players have to follow — being that it is a private religious school.  It is called the honor code, so hearing this comes as a shock.  BYU has always been a clean program, and I hope that this is just a misunderstanding — but you never know.

With the way things are going after this week, I will be surprised if Florida State has Winston starting at QB Week 1.  It has been quiet on the Player Union front along with the playoff committee.  I imagine with kick off less than 100 days away, things will start heating up.  If you don’t want to wait for news on that front, then you can always watch the new ESPN documentary coming out about “THE U“.  They had such success with the first ESPN film, that they will make another.  I loved the first one and look forward to seeing how they do the second.  If that doesn’t interest you,  then see this guy’s video about the construction of Texas A&M stadium and see how it is coming along.  Looks pretty massive!

 

NATIONAL NEWS:

1. Trial to finally begin

2. College football hall of fame news

 

For the Exciting 2024 Football Season….

We will be publishing between four and six articles per week during the football season, as we skip Saturdays with all the distraction of GameDay for us. Check through the week, and in particular check for Analysis articles on most Fridays.

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