Week 9 2014: College Gameday review! #getup4gameday #cfb

Welcome back everyone.  The afternoon games are in full swing which means it is time for Cole’s College Gameday Review!   This week’s edition of Gameday was coming at you live from Baton Rouge, where we will see the big matchup between Ole Miss and the LSU Tigers.  Right out of the gate the celebration was started with a full pig being roasted immediately behind the Gameday stage, which led us to today’s Gameday Fun Fact!  Did you know that Desmond Howard doesn’t “eat swine”?  Now we know!

The rowdy crowd carried us through the show, which I can only attribute to the re-emergence of one DJ “Babi Mac”.  We have done extensive research here in the lab (i.e. Googled it and looked at the first link) to find out that this Babi Mac is actually former Tennessee Lady Vol Cait McMahan who was added to the Gameday mix for some reason.  However she ended up on Gameday, I still don’t get it.

With such a large and rowdy crowd today, we naturally had a few great signs.  Highlights include “Ole Miss Defense runs like Obamacare website”, “Katy Likes Two Corndogs at Once”, “Colonel Reb voted for Obama”, and of course “Bo Wallace is uncircumcised”.  However, today’s true winner was the sign which made a very brief, partially obscured appearance early on, reading “POOP BUTT>OLE MISS”.  Congratulations good sir or madame.

Week 9 Sign of the Week!
Week 9 Sign of the Week!

Following up that lovely performance, we will go straight into the Sam Ponder Outfit of the Week!  Jennifer complemented the outfit today, saying it was very cute.  She liked the shoes and jewelry especially.  Hey Sam Ponder, remember that if you’re reading this, please give a shoutout to your #1 fan, @GamedayJen.

Sam Ponder/George Whitfield, Week 9
Sam Ponder/George Whitfield, Week 9

You may have also noticed there is a quarterback guru pictured in the photo above.  George Whitfield was back with more outfit confusion, although it seems to be getting better (he must read this blog).  The jacket, while overly plaid, seems to fit better.  All Jennifer could say was “there’s those F’in brown shoes again”.  Keep working on it George.  All you need to do is try and improve a little each week.

We then saw a feature on the head coach from Wisconsin-Whitewater, Lance Liepold, who has reached 100 victories faster than anyone in college football history.  He has quite the impressive little record there at Whitewater, with 100 victories, 6 losses, and 5 national championships.  One more loss than national championship.  It seemed like a great little school with a great community surrounding him, so congratulations to Coach Liepold on his 100th victory.

Les Miles decided to join the show today, being interviewed by Sam Ponder.  The first highlight of this interview was the purple track suit Coach Miles was wearing (pictured below).  The second highlight was the corn dog discussion between Ponder and Miles.  Les Miles says: “I have never personally tried corn dogs before, but I suspect they taste good”.  This man is a true wordsmith.  He could be a poet.

Les Miles Track Suit
Les Miles Track Suit

Now it is time for the Desmond Howard Michigan Pick of the Week!  The Gameday boys were discussing this week’s big matchup between Michigan and Michigan State, and even had a nifty video montage of recent years between Michigan and “little brother” Michigan State.  Kirk and Lee both decided that they would go with Michigan State in today’s game, and asked Desmond who he thought would win this one.  He shuffled around nervously before declaring that he would be picking that game later on in the show.  I guess we will just have to wait, so mark that down.

The Gameday boys then re-assembled as a whole group including David for this week’s overly casual roundtable segment.  This week, our discussion centered around who the best one loss team in the country is and current playoff standings.  YEAH, BUT WHO IS IN YOUR TOP FOUR???

Gene W. had a piece on Utah kicker Andy Phillips.  Andy grew up as a skier, and even competed on the US junior national team.  He passed on Olympic hopes to fulfill his Mormon mission, only to return and decide he wanted to start playing football at the age of 20.  Yes, as in, never played football before he was 20.  He decided it would be cool to be a kicker, and practiced untold hours on his own time before making it on the Utah squad as a walk-on.  His first practices were the first time he ever wore pads, and he had to ask teammates about how to adjust his chin strap amongst other things.  A pretty nice little segment about a unique individual within our great sport.

The Chef of the Week returned this week, featuring chef Peter Sclafani III along with his trusty sidekick simply known as “Big Ruffin”.  It was a nice little spread, and “Big Ruffin” was pretty pleased with his own contribution of mini-corndogs.

Chef Sclafani and Big Ruffin
Chef Sclafani and Big Ruffin

Tom Rinaldi had a story about Bo Wallace.  Apparently we’ve all decided that this year Bo Wallace is pretty good.

Rinaldi also had a piece entitled “Halloween, 1959” about the 1959 matchup between LSU and Ole Miss.  Apparently Ole Miss was up 3-0 as time was winding down in the 4th quarter, when Billy Cannon returned a punt to seal the game 7-3 and also contribute to his Heisman winning season.  Rinaldi said that many players from that Ole Miss team have never gone back to LSU’s stadium since that night, but they are apparently gathering tonight to come back for such a monumental game.

Now it is time for everybody’s favorite part of the show, the picks!  Today’s celebrity guests were Jase Robertson and Willie Robertson from Duck Dynasty.  This was Willie Robertson’s second appearance as a guest picker as you may recall.  On this appearance, Jase seemed to be very up to date and knowledgable about current happenings in football, while Willie did nothing but call for upsets and pick against Jase.  Lee Corso went so far as to say he had run out of NOT-SO-FASTs for Willie.  However, when it came down to the business of the LSU game, Desmond went with LSU, as well as Jase and Willie both agreeing on the final game (in favor of LSU).  Lee Corso donned the Tiger headgear, and the crowd erupted.  Charley the Cat went with Ole Miss, so we have a chance to make up a game on Coach Corso today!

Corso takes LSU!
Corso takes LSU! (courtesy Gameday twitter)
Charley takes Ole Miss!
Charley takes Ole Miss!

Oh, we have time for an extra point today!  Remember when Desmond Howard ducked the Michigan/Michigan State pick early in the show?  Yeah, when he said he wouldn’t pick that one when they were breaking down the game because he would pick it later.  Well they never mentioned the game again, and Desmond Howard managed to avoid breaking his contractual agreement with the Wolverines by not picking against them on Gameday.  So let’s all bag on Desmond Howard for another week for being such a Michigan homer, and we will revisit this discussion next week!  Enjoy your football.

Week 9 2014: Saturday morning picks! #saturdayselections #cfb #getup4gameday

It is go-time.  Gameday is up and running which means picks are starting to come in hot and heavy.  More will be posted as they come in, so be sure to check back to see the latest picks including Tim Tebow’s SEC Network, some people with beards from Duck Dynasty, and of course Coach Corso’s headgear pick!

Lee Corso:
Auburn over S.Carolina
Mich St over Michigan
Utah over USC
Washington over Ariz St
Wash St over Arizona
Miss St over Kentucky
Alabama over Tennessee
Ohio St over Penn St
KState over Texas
WVU over Okla St
LSU over Ole Miss (headgear pick)

Kirk Herbstreit:
WVU over Okla St
TCU over TTU
Harvard over Princeton
Texas over KState
Mich St over Michigan
Ohio St over Penn St
USC over Utah
Ariz St over Washington
Wash St over Arizona
Miss St over Kentucky
Alabama over Tennessee

Desmond Hoard:
TCU over TTU
Harvard over Princeton
Utah over USC
Wash St over Arizona
Miss St over Kentucky
Alabama over Tennessee
Ohio St over Penn St
KState over Texas
WVU over Okla St
Ariz St over Washington
LSU over Ole Miss

Willie Robertson:
Kentucky over Miss St
Tennessee over Alabama
Penn St over Ohio St
Texas over KState
Okla St over WVU
USC over Utah
Washington over Ariz St
Wash St over Arizona
LSU over Ole Miss

Jase Robertson:
Miss St over Kentucky
Alabama over Tennessee
Ohio S tover Penn St
KState over Texas
WVU over Okla St
Utah over USC
Ariz St over Washington
Arizona over Wash St
LSU over Ole Miss

Jennifer’s Picks:
Ohio St over Penn St
Utah over USC
Washington over Ariz St (upset special)
Miss St over Kentucky
Alabama over Tenessee
Ohio St over Penn St
KState over Texas
WVU over Okla St
Wash St over Arizona
Mich St over Michigan
Ole Miss over LSU
Auburn over S.Carolina

David Pollack:
Ole Miss over LSU 27-20
Miss St over Kentucky 45-20
Utah over USC 27-24
WVU over Okla St 41-34
TCU over TTU
Harvard over Princeton

Dari Nowkhah:
Ole Miss over LSU
Miss St over Kentucky
Utah over USC
Wash St over Arizona

Mel Kiper Jr.:
Ole Miss over LSU
Miss St over Kentucky
USC over Utah
Wash St over Arizona

Greg McElroy:
Miss St over Kentucky 38-17
Ole Miss over LSU 27-10
Auburn over S.Carolina 45-24
USC over Utah
Arizaon over Wash St

Tim Tebow:
Mizzou over Vanderbilt
Auburn over S.Carolina
Alabama over Tennessee
Ole Miss over LSU
Miss St over Kentucky

Marcus Spears:
Mizzou over Vanderbilt
Auburn over S.Carolina
Alabama over Tennessee
LSU over Ole Miss
Miss St over Kentucky

Paul Finebaum:
Auburn over S.Carolina
Miss St over Kentucky
Alabama over Tennessee
Mizzou over Vanderbilt
Ole Miss over LSU

Brett McMurphy:
Pitt over GaTech
CSU over Wyoming
Mich St over Michigan
Memphis over SMU
Arkansas over UAB

Phil Steele:
Marshall over FAU
UL-Lafayette over Ark St 28-27
Oregon over Cal 51-34
Mich St over Michigan 31-10
Ole Miss over LSU 23-16
Auburn over S.Carolina 48-20
KState over Texas 23-20
Miss St over Kentucky 38-20
WVU over Okla St 34-30
USC over Utah 27-24
Ohio St over Penn St 37-16 (best bet of the week)
Arizona over Wash St 41-34 (upset special)
Clemson over Syracuse 31-10
UL-Monroe over Texas St 27-20
W.Michigan over Ohio 27-24
Washington over Ariz St 33-30
Alabama over Tennessee 31-10
Nebraska over Rutgers 40-16
Minnesota over Illinois 31-28

Kevin Carter:
Ole Miss over LSU
Miss St over Kentucky
Ohio St over Penn St
Mich St over Michigan
KState over Texas
WVU over KState
Alabama over Tennessee
Auburn over S.Carolina
USC over Utah
Ariz St over Washington
TCU over TTU
Wash St over Arizona
Clemson over Syracuse

Charley the Cat:
Ole Miss over LSU

Week 8 2014: College Gameday review #cfb #saturdayselections #getup4gameday

It is good to be back for another Saturday edition of College Gameday Review.  This week’s edition comes to you live from Tallahassee, Florida for the big matchup between Florida State and Notre Dame.  ESPN is trying hard to hype this up to the level of the 1993 “Game of the Century”, in which Lee Corso made his first ever proto-headgear-pick going with an FSU baseball cap to choose the Seminoles over the Fighting Irish.  A lot of good quick clips from that week for the Gameday crew to reminisce about, such as Fowler’s jet black hair, Corso’s salt and pepper hair, Craig James’ presence before Herbie came in, and lots of football players wearing sweatpants.

Back to 2014.  The show got off to a quick start with this week’s “JAMEIS WINSTON SCANDAL OF THE WEEK”.  Mark Schlabach was interviewed remotely about the situation, for which he and Darren Rovell have been on the front lines regarding the situation.  In case you haven’t heard, Jameis Winston is being accused of signing thousands of autographs for money.  I for one am SHOCKED and cannot believe such a thing would go on in this sport.  There wasn’t quite as much coverage of this scandal as I would have expected (judging by weeks past when entire shows were stopped down to talk Winston).  My notes regarding this scandal include the following:

-Mark Schlabach was sporting a fresh haircut.  This year, it seems that he is trying to move into hard hitting journalism, and he needs a haircut to match.  No more shaggy Schlabach broadcasting his upset special of the week from his kitchen table each week.  What a shame.
-Did Jameis sign all of that stuff for money?  Probably.  But I don’t think we will ever find a money trail or any proof.  People comparing this to the Todd Gurley scandal need to realize that the Todd Gurley scandal allegedly has video proof of Gurley taking money for autographs.  Winston’s scandal is nothing more than Darren Rovell pouring gasoline on a huge pile of speculation at this point.
-Every time I see Jimbo Fischer getting all worked up defending Jameis Winston, I get the feeling that there is someone off camera with a gun pointed at his head.  I don’t think he believes himself when he is defending Winston, but he is going to go down with the ship at this point.  I also happen to agree with him that there is no proof, not much evidence, no crime committed, and that people should perhaps wait until another self-serving investigation is completed before calling for suspensions.

Enough Jameis Winston talk.  Let’s move on to something more fun.  Like this week’s “SAMANTHAT PONDER OUTFIT OF THE WEEK” review with @GamedayJen.  This week she was sporting something which Jennifer described as “classic, simple, and looks good”.  Sam Ponder, if you are reading this, tweet at @GamedayJen to discuss fashion with your #1 fan in the world.

Sam Ponder: Week 8
Sam Ponder: Week 8

She also interviewed Jimbo Fisher about some stuff.  This random guy also showed up behind Jimbo Fisher.  No idea who he is or what he is doing, but pretty weird.

This guy...
This guy…

George Whitfield, noted QB guru and questionable wearer of fashion, was back this week.  That means it is time for the “GEORGE WHITFIELD QUESTIONABLE OUTFIT OF THE WEEK” with Jennifer as well.  This week we have determined that George Whitfield wears tiny suits.  His suits look too small for him in the shoulders and back.  He was also sporting a nice yellow rose on his lapel, a tweed tie, and another plaid shirt.  Hard to see in this photo, but just go with it.  Jennifer described it as “A plaid shirt with a tweed tie?  Just No”.  Whitfield made so more generic observations of the two QBs from this game.  I believe it went “something something something Jameis Winston, but something something something Everett Golsen too”.

George Whitfield: QB Guru, not fashion guru
George Whitfield: QB Guru, not fashion guru

During one segment early on, Kirk Herbstreit stood up for about five or six minutes straight while behind the Gameday desk.  This was really weird and I want to know what was going on because it seemed so out of place.  Since we have no evidence, we will wildly speculate that he was about to tinkle his pants.  After a few minutes, Fowler called him out on it and he sat back down.

Kirk Herbstreit: Too good to sit
Kirk Herbstreit: Too good to sit

During the first hour, Pollack replaced Corso as usual, and the picks came rapid fire again.  The pace they were going at made me think it was because our guest pickers would be the tandem of Brett Favre and Ken Griffey Jr., so maybe they were going to be pressed for time in the final pick segment.

Later on in the show, DJ Babi Mac made another appearance which pleased Chris Fowler.  Is she somebody’s niece on this show or something?  No doubt, I am completely out of touch with today’s youth, but I have no idea who the hell Babi Mac is or why she is being pushed so hard on Gameday this year.

Gene W. had a piece on Notre Dame center Matt Hegarty, who was part of the 2012 team which lost the national championship game.  Matt missed the championship game, along with much of the season, when he had a stroke during a team walkthrough in November 2012.  Doctors were able to repair two holes in his heart, and he has returned this year as the starting center.  His hope is that he didn’t miss his only chance at a national championship.  Inspiring stuff about a good kid, who apparently now volunteers working with stroke patients in nursing homes.

Tom Rinaldi had a piece of his own about Art Briles, Gus Malzahn, and Hugh Freeze.  All three coaches rose from the ranks of high school coaches to lead powerful programs in college, which I guess is a rarity these days.  All I can think about when I see an Art Briles interview is that he just finished changing the oil on a ’57 Chevy out in a barn somewhere, wiped his brow off with an oily rag, took a sip from a glass Coke bottle, and came in to do the interview.  He is so down-home.

Signs this week were everywhere, and the sign game was strong.  A lot of funny signs made appearances, and a lot of raunchy signs made brief appearances.  Notable signs include a Jameis Hancock signature, “Jeff Driskel paid me for his autograph”, the return of the Kim Jong Un sign where he is wearing FSU face paint, “Lou Holtz Splash Zone” and many more.  However, we present to you a bunch of funny ones which we will not comment on because we are taking the high moral ground.

ESPN-SEC: True lovers
ESPN-SEC: True lovers
Excellent
Excellent
Oh really?
Oh really?
Alright then
Alright then
The crab leg did it!
The crab leg did it!
No comment
No comment

So now comes the time we’ve all been waiting for.  Brett Favre apparently bailed on Gameday today (or had a mechanical issue with his flight), so today we only had Ken Griffey Jr.  This week, instead of “NOT SO FAST”, Lee Corso issued strikes, balls, and foul-tips for Griffey’s picks depending on how much Corso agreed.  David Pollack went with Notre Dame for the big matchup.  Desmond picked FSU, along with Ken Griffey Jr.  Corso flashed back to the ’93 FSU proto-headgear-pick and donned a black wig and FSU cap to make his selection.

Courtesy College Gameday twitter
Courtesy College Gameday twitter

Charley the Cat went with Notre Dame with HIGH confidence on this pick today.  Or maybe she was just hungry?  Jennifer took ND too, so our house is united.

Charley picks Notre Dame over FSU!
Charley picks Notre Dame over FSU!

I’d like to take this opportunity to attempt an extra point in this review.  A recent disturbing trend has emerged with College Gameday selecting random guest pickers with no real affiliation to the schools competing at Gameday.  Oh really, Katy Perry’s manager went to Ole Miss?  I work with a guy who went to Ole Miss,so I guess I am now an official Ole Miss representative too.  Kenny Chesney is from Tennessee?  Makes sense that he previously appeared to represent Tennessee or Vanderbilt, but let’s feature him at South Carolina/Mizzou for being an SEC fan?  Were we really in Mississippi for the last two weeks without Brett Favre making an appearance, but decided this FSU/Notre Dame matchup seemed more appropriate?  He didn’t make it anyways, but the Ken Griffey Jr. connection to FSU is that he lives in Orlando?  I guess I don’t get it.  Gameday guest pickers have traditionally been from the home team (although occasionally a visitor) to get the crowd totally fired up by having their representative pick.  I’m not saying it has to be the rule all of the time, but let’s just keep trying to make some real connection to the schools in question.

Also, how much longer will we have to wait for Burt Reynolds to make a Gameday appearance for FSU?