football

The NFL draft has always proven to be an adventure in guesswork, to say the least. The “next big thing” ends up on the first train out of town. Or perhaps the low-rounder steps up and proves that he was well worth his weight in ticket prices.

If there is any position in which this can be an utter crap shoot, it is at quarterback. Step right up, roll the dice and take your chances.

If you look at the history of the NFL draft, you’ll find a lot of first round quarterback draft picks currently or formerly residing on the “where are they now” list. It is actually quite fascinating when you consider that this more often than not reflects “conventional wisdom” for the NFL. You know how it is - “he’s got all the skills, the body type, the college resume, blah blah blah”. Talk is cheap, and there is lots of it.

Then, after he’s been selected as a first rounder, he suddenly looks no better than the janitor throwing paper into the trash bin. Well, maybe not as bad as the janitor – but you get my point. Actually, the janitor might throw a tighter spiral and fumble fewer times, but I digress.

The discussion gets even better when you look at quarterbacks that were number one overall draft picks.

How about this stunning list from yesteryear. In hindsight, would you pick any of them for your fantasy football team?

Sadly, the only people that don’t tend to agree with this are the school presidents and conference commissioners. We’ve heard all sorts of reasons to not have a playoff, most of which are incredibly lame and self-serving. Let’s be realistic here – the number one reason (unspoken, perhaps, after everything is said and done) is “maintaining the status quo”. Now the federal government – yes, the same government that is struggling with health care reform, the banking industry, and two wars – has put college football in the political spectrum. Please welcome H.R. 390, the College Football Playoffs Act. It’s good to see our government working on things that truly effect the population [sarcasm inserted here].

But seriously folks, this is what the law would look like:

All true.

And when everything was said and done last night in the Longhorn’s 13 – 12 victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers, it only took one second on the clock to seal the deal.

But it was the previous 59 minutes and 59 seconds that were so disturbing, and gave the nation of voters (Heisman and BCS alike) plenty of reasons to wonder if the Longhorns should be heading to the national championship game – or not.

There are two things I know from last night’s game. One is that Texas has a spectacular defense - a national caliber defense without doubt. And the other thing I have had re-affirmed is the utterly anemic offensive play-calling that continues to hound the Horns.

First, the defense. Spectacular. Phenomenal. Stifling. What other words are needed to describe it? They gave up just 106 yards to the Huskers – a total of 39 rushing yards and 67 passing yards. The season-low for Nebraska prior to this game was 180 yards. They limited Nebraska to only 5 first downs during the game. Three interceptions. And only four field goals scored against them. I would say that this was a statement game to tell the nation that this defense is truly Pasadena-ready.

But then we have to look at the other side of the ball. And what I am seeing isn’t good.

Touchdown! Field Goal! We Want The College Bowl!

At least that’s what we always used to say during football season. That was back in a bygone era in which the Canadian university football championship was, indeed, called the College Bowl.

Yes, in Canada they understand the value of a football playoff system, which has been in effect for as long as I can remember. The BCS and some annoying college presidents would do well to take a visit to the north to witness how great it actually works. A fine perspective by writer Andrew Bucholtz can be found here.

But I digress. Back to today’s excitement!

The Vanier Cup, the trophy given to the Canadian university football national champion, is now on it’s way to Kingston. The Queen’s University Golden Gaels, my alma mater, beat the Calgary Dinos 33 – 31 this afternoon. They were down 25 – 7 at halftime, and stormed back to lead 33 – 25 late in the fourth quarter. Final: 33 – 31. It was a 17 year wait, but it was well worth it.

It’s been three long weeks since the last time I posted anything about the beloved Longhorns. They had a rather challenging road trip – first to Missouri, and then off to Oklahoma State for what was supposed to be the biggest remaining hurdle in the Longhorns’ schedule. So what happened? It was pretty simple - great defense, consistently inconsistent offensive play calling (Greg Davis at his “finest”), a non-existent running game, and a jump back up to number 2 in the BCS. Two solid victories, though it can be debated how convincing they really were. But at the end of it all they now own the state of Oklahoma for 2009, having beaten both Oh-Who? and OhEss-Who?. Today saw the Horns take on Central Florida. It is a strange oddity to have a non-conference game in November. Although it was a 35 – 3 Longhorns victory, always a good thing in the Longhorn Nation, it left a very bitter taste in my mouth.