Week 2 2016: College Gameday Review #BattleForBristol #CFB

It is time once again for the weekly College Gameday review.  This week’s edition of College Gameday emanated live from Bristol, Tennessee, where we will see the BATTLE FOR BRISTOL between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Virginia Tech Hokies.  They are playing the game tonight at Bristol Motor Speedway, where they plan on setting the all-time attendance record for a college football game tonight anticipating 150,000 football/NASCAR/beer fans turning out to celebrate this spectacle.  They have built the football field in the infield of the racetrack so that if you are attending this game, you too can watch this exciting game from a quarter mile away.  I for one am totally pysched that they chose such an important game between these two long-time heated rivals to attempt this all-time record.  Right?

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Since they were at the Bristol Motor Speedway today, I expected a lot of NASCAR schtick and they certainly delivered.  Desmond Howard claimed to be a HUGE NASCAR FAN, which I’m not sure I totally believe.  However, we did get to see video of him riding shotgun during a test drive around the track, because, you know, BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY!

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The last time a football game was played here it was an exhibition game between the Eagles and Redskins in 1961.  I can’t imagine watching that game in this setting without THE WORLD’S LARGEST HANGIN VIDEO BOARD over the field to watch.

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Everyone has been crapping on this weekend’s schedule of college football after the greatest opening week in college football history, but Rece Davis pointed out early on that FOUR ranked teams lost to unranked opponents the last time there were no ranked-vs-ranked matchups.  Bet those dogs everyone.

Speaking of football, they made all of the Saturday morning reporters dress up in racing fire suits for their early reports, because, you know, BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY!  This brings us to the “OFFICIAL @GAMEDAYJEN SAM PONDER OUTFIT OF THE WEEK REVIEW PART 1A” because Sam Ponder first appeared in a fire suit.  Gameday Jen said in regards to this outfit, “Why?”

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Early on in the show, Gameday presented a segment which is quickly becoming everyone’s favorite weekly staple: WHEN WILL LSU FIRE LES MILES?  I guess I’ll just never understand why they want to run him out of town so much.  Apparently LSU fans (?) have set up a GoFundMe to buy out Les Miles’ contract.  I’m sure we’ll be back next week with another update as this story develops.

We now rejoin the OFFICIAL @GAMEDAYJEN SAM PONDER OUTFIT REVIEW OF THE WEEK PART 1B!!!  Sam Ponder appeared again having either done a very quick change out of her fire suit or having recorded that segment yesterday, and this time her outfit was much more well received.  Gameday Jen said “I LOVE the outfit!  I love the shirt and the skirt!”  Well done this week Sam.

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Gene Wojciechowski presented a very nice piece on a young autistic man named Bo Paske who befriended FSU player Travis Rudolph.  Travis was on a visit to Bo’s school and saw Bo sitting by himself at lunch so he decided to join him, and their friendship was born.  It was good stuff, so check out the video below.

My favorite segment, YOU HAD ONE JOB, was back again this week.  But no video posted online, so no video for you.  Write your local congressmen and let them know we need #YHOJ posted online for the lulz.

They presented a preview from the upcoming Tom Rinaldi interview with Art Briles in which the whole Baylor mess is covered.  It was not well received by the crew at Gameday.  I don’t exactly know why Art Briles is all over the place putting his face on TV during this time period, because he’s not going to look good when his lawyers have no doubt told him to steer clear of any specifics in these appearances.  Maybe someone can explain this to me, but why is a football coach, or the university for that matter, involved in the chain of authorities when a rape is reported?  I would think victims in this situation would go straight to the police?  Unless there are allegations that I missed of the police being pressured by Baylor’s football program a la the allegations against Jameis Winston and the Tallahassee police department colluding with FSU to cover up alleged crimes.

During this VERY serious discussion on a VERY serious issue, something went wrong with the audio and audio from what sounded like a very light-hearted broadcast was being piped in along with the Gameday audio.  Not exactly the BEST time to have someone laughing on this mystery audio track when discussing rape allegations at Baylor.

As the show progressed, we were once again pleased to see what will no doubt be a recurring segment this season: NON-FOOTBALL RELATED CELEBRITY SHOWS UP TO PROVIDE LITTLE-TO-NO INPUT ON THE DAY’S BIG GAME!!!  Last week we had Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman tell us how she excited for the game because her dad and brother “like sports”.  This week, racing legend Richard Petty showed up to give Lee Corso a hat and picked “Virginia” to win the game tonight.

“THE GAUNTLET” with George Whitfield returned.  I really have nothing more to say about this segment because every week is the same.  Sigh.

Bear’s Bank is in full force this week.  He went 1-2 with the Bank, but looks to pull at least even with this week’s slate.

Top signs this week include BUTCH JONES TAKES METAMUCIL, and allegations that Butch Jones killed Harambe.  Maybe by the end of the season we will get to the bottom of this mystery and find out which college football head coach ACTUALLY killed Harambe.  See photo below, top right.

However, this week’s best sign of the week is equally confusing as it is great.

The actual best segment of today’s show was probably the story of James Conner from Pitt.  This guy blew out a knee last year, and during knee rehab was found to have cancer.  Not only did he beat the cancer, but while taking in chemo and recovering he continued offseason workouts for football.  My mind can’t even process how a person does this while going through chemo treatment.  He returns today against Penn State.  It is a must watch segment.

Now, the time comes for the Gameday crew to get down to business.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. joined the crew to pick games today, and he actually seemed pretty knowledgeable.  When the time came to pick the day’s big game, Desmond went with the upset in Virginia Tech.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. also went with the upset because his fiancee is from Kentucky and said he’d be walking home if he picked Tennessee.  Corso trolled the crowd back and forth before out of nowhere a GIGANTIC racing helmet in Volunteer colors showed up for him to put on.  @GamedayJen and @TheGamedayBaby both went with Tennessee too, so all three will stay tied for the season no matter who wins tonight.

Enjoy your night!