review – Page 6 – Cole's Gameday Blog

Week 13 2012: Gameday review!

Posted on November 24, 2012 by gamedaycole

Folks, you are looking live at another glorious Saturday of college football. It is even more glorious thanks to the fact that it is SHOWDOWN SATURDAY or RIVALRY SATURDAY or SOMETHING ELSE SATURDAY or WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT SATURDAY! Ohio State is currently trailing Michigan, and generic Big Ten action can only mean one thing: once again, we have put another edition of College Gameday (built by the Home Depot obv) into the official record books. This week’s edition was coming at you like from Memorial Coliseum in LA for the big matchup between the #1 undefeated Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the unranked (ha) USC Trojans. Our experts are sitting at 12-4 in favor of Notre Dame over USC in the picking game, so gamblers take note. We opened up the show with Chris Fowler welcoming us to a dark morning in LA along with Desmond, David and Herbie. After the opening segment, Fowler went back to the bus to take a nap while Samantha Steele took over hosting duties as always. After being on an incredible winning streak with her outfits, she had a setback with her outfit this week. Not too bad, but previous weeks were outstanding.

samsteelewk13a — Samantha Steele: Week 13

Things we learned in the early hour include the fact that Desmond Howard really enjoys kicking Herbie in the crotch by calling the Buckeyes merely “Ohio”. Over and over. I think Herbie was starting to get a little bit irritated before this passed. It was somewhat of a slow hour on ESPNU to start things off. We got a replay of Tom Rinaldi’s piece about losing from last week. We got a little bit of TODD MCSHAY LOOKING AT THE TAPE! He was breaking down Florida State’s EJ Manuel and talked in generic fashion about his mechanics and reminded us that Todd McShay is a draft guru who likes looking at the tape. Honestly there wasn’t much of note other than previewing games, and you didn’t come here to read my opinion about their game previews. For that reason, I will present the following picture from Samantha Steele’s twitter account for no real reason.

samdave — “He must have seen something shiny” -Sam Steele

We also got some early morning picks from Davey and Des. To nobody’s surprise, David went with Georgia over Georgia Tech. Desmond picked Michigan over Ohio St. The beaver train has run out of steam, as both guys picked the Ducks over Oregon State. As for today’s big matchup, they both went with Notre Dame over USC. Let’s move on to the big show on ESPN. We sent Samantha Steele to the bus and sent David Pollack to go use the internet, and this week he was tweeting with the rubes in Trojan headgear next to the statues outside of the stadium. Oh David Pollack, what will you come up with next?

pollackinternetusc2 — David Pollack: Internet user

We were joined once again by Kirk Herbstreit, and Lee Corso joined the show as things took off on ESPN. We were reminded that Lee Corso is 19-0 all time when picking a game USC is involved in for his headgear pick. Gamblers, take note. Quickly, we will touch on signs of the day. Notable signs included “MOM THE MEATLOAF” and “Bring back the Los Angeles Rams”. However, the sign of the week was indisputable.

Now that I have fully acknowledged my immaturity, I would like to take a moment to editorialize about something (as opposed to whatever the rest of this is that I do). Every week on Gameday, they do a quick segment coming back from a commercial break about the signs in the crowd. They highlight some clever signs and we all sing along with “Signs” by Tesla, and then we get the SIGN OF THE DAY! And every week I get my hopes up that the sign of the day might actually be funny or clever. And every week it is some crapass sign like today’s which read “05 Bush Push – Revenge is sweet”. Thank you for wasting my time. Another thing related to this is these two goobers known as Will and Ravi who present the sign of the day. I’m sure you’ve seen them before, but for those of you who don’t know, I will review. Will and Ravi are “two diehard college football fans” who were “selected” to do wacky segments every week to make it to this week’s game. Or as I like to call it, two out of work improv actors who auditioned and won a spot doing forced schtick on Gameday. I’ve about had it with Will and Ravi, do you hear me Lee Fitting? End rant.

A very exciting development was a special bonus segment (at least for fans of “David Pollack Using the Internet”) which was LEE CORSO USING THE INTERNET! Desmond Howard was trying to teach Coach Corso how to use an iPhone to play Cornhole Challenge. It was quite amusing to see Coach Corso playing with this colorful gadget with moving pictures and sounds.

leecorsointernet2 — Lee Corso: New internet user

This week’s “Beatnik Poetry with Tom Rinaldi” was entitled “Rivalry”. Tom Rinaldi told us things in quiet-talk like how rivalry week is more than another week on the schedule, it is a brutal ritual, and it is 60 minutes that lasts 365 days. Very deep stuff. Now let’s make sure to get Tom Rinaldi’s name plastered all over this 30 second montage and move on.

rinaldi-beatnik2 — Tom Rinaldi performing live

The highlight of all of the segments today was this week’s Tebow Memorial segment about Anthony Starego. Anthony is a senior in higschool and the varsity kicker for Brick High School in New Jersey. He is also autistic, and functions in school at the level of a ten year old. He is maybe the biggest Rutgers fan out there, and it was the 2006 Rutgers fieldgoal win over Louisville that inspired him to be a kicker. As his parents described, he thrives at Rutgers football games when they attend. We learned how the routine and repetition of being a kicker helps him both on and off the field, and how he once kicked the winning fieldgoal against a big state rival which was pretty amazing. This young man, who can kick them from 50 yards out, is going to petition to be given another year of eligibility to continue kicking while he continues his special needs education. Quite an amazing story.

We were then treated to a FOURTH Tom Rinaldi piece about Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly. Upon his hire at Notre Dame, a long time fan loaned Coach Kelly a football signed by Coaches Holtz and Parseghian (the last two coaches to win a championship at Notre Dame). He was loaned this ball with the expectation that he would return it with his own autograph added after they win a championship. The ball sits in Kelly’s office, and is great motivation for him and his team. He’s just not so sure that if they win a championship that he will be able to give it back to its owner that easily. Another good piece, but I think we’ve heard about enough from quiet-talking Tom Rinaldi after four segments by him. It seems that his presence increases every week. Someday in the distant future, College Gameday will likely be the three-hour “Tom Rinaldi Show” with special guests Desmond Howard on location, David Pollack via satellite hookup from the retirement home, Grandpa Herbie, Chris Fowler clone #3, and hologram Lee Corso making headgear picks.

Speaking of picks, its about that time. The full slate of picks can be found HERE, HERE and HERE for those interested. This week’s pick segment had celebrity guest and overly handsome man Landon Donovan on hand to give us his thoughts on things. Let me rewind a bit, to when we were getting picks from Desmond Howard. Desmond went on and on about how if Auburn can keep the Iron Bowl close, they could upset Bama. This went on and on, and Herbie was quite amused by Desmond’s string of “if this” and “if that” before telling us that he’s still picking Bama over Auburn

herbieauburn2 — Tell us more how you love Auburn before picking Bama

Anyways, as we mentioned earlier, Coach Corso is 19-0 when picking a game USC is involved in for his headgear pick. Landon Donovan went with Notre Dame to everyone’s surprise, since most celebrity guests go with the home crowd. But what about Lee Corso? Would he pick the Trojans? Would he put on the leprechaun suit for the second time this year? He pulled out the Trojan helmet to a roar of applause before throwing it to the side and putting on the Leprechaun fedora. He then went into full Fighting Irish mode posing for the camera as the show closed out.

Week 12 2012: Gameday review!

Posted on November 17, 2012 by gamedaycole

Its the middle of the day here on Saturday. The generic Big Ten action of the morning has ended. The big game between Sam Houston State and Texas A&M has begun. That must mean its time to recap this morning’s episode of College Gameday. As I’m sure you noticed (and cursed me for) things got a late start this morning at the blog due to a meeting at my “real” job. For your record, all of this week’s picks can be found HERE and HERE. Now let us begin.

This week, Gameday was coming at you live from Eugene, Oregon for the big matchup between the Oregon Ducks and the Stanford Cardinal. It was pitch black outside as we kicked off the first hour at 6AM local time in Eugene on ESPNU. It appeared to be quite cold and raining as well. This is the reason that I enjoy Gameday coming from Eugene better than anywhere. The crowd at an Oregon Gameday set all got up extremely early and/or stayed up extremely late (either way partaking in some libations no doubt). They have fought through the rain and cold to be there. They are absolutely rabid, and it makes for a great atmosphere on TV. Chris Fowler opened up the show and welcomed us in before disappearing to somewhere heated no doubt and handing things off to Samantha Steele.

samsteelewk12a — Samantha Steele: Week 12

Jennifer loved this outfit again, and suggested that Ms. Steele has been on an incredible run of great outfits in recent weeks. If you disagree then I guess you are wrong. One of the early stories covered was the drama (i.e. childish grabassery) going on between USC and UCLA in regards to UCLA covering up a Matt Barkley billboard in town, as well as warning the USC drum major that if he stabs the field then they won’t let the band play at halftime. I think this angle might have been covered more than the athletic competition itself, but I’m not sure why when this looks like a pretty significant game itself. As we got into previewing the Oregon/Stanford matchup, we were once again joined by GIGANTIC HUMAN BEING TREVOR MATICH to discuss the Stanford defense being pitted against the Oregon offense. For reference, see THIS for week 10 coverage of GIGANTIC HUMAN BEING TREVOR MATICH. The consensus is that this is a game you should watch. After that was a replay of Gene W.’s piece on Johnny Football from last week. Yawn. Speaking of yawn, David Pollack was either incredibly exhausted this morning during Todd McShay’s film session, or he was incredibly bored. Either way, I’ll let you be the judge based on this look that Pollack had on his face for most of it.

pollackmcshaya — Pollack: Tired or bored by McShay?

There was also highlights of the Oregon Duck mascot losing its head going skydiving yesterday. Don’t worry, the head was recovered safely. Lastly, we got some picks from Pollack and Desmond Howard. They both went with Oregon over Stanford, and agreed on everything except one: Desmond Howard is calling for the upset of Baylor of KState. Take note gamblers. ON TO THE MAIN SHOW!

Fowler, Herbie, Des and Coach Corso opened up the main show on ESPN as the daylight made its presence known. David Pollack was dispatched to go use the internet to tweet at the rubes like always. This week, he was in the Oregon training facility getting a massage from the Oregon Duck (the Duck was doing some strange gyrations while standing on top which we will never speak of again).

pollackinternetduck1a — David Pollack: Internet Aficionado

pollackinternetduck2a — Oregon Duck: Administering massage

We quickly got a Tom Rinaldi beatnik poetry session entitled “Wrath”, in which he discussed the wrath of angry football coaches aimed towards their players. It was basically a highlight reel of coaches screaming profanity at players and refs starring Tommy Tuberville and Bo Pelini. This segued nicely into a discussion by the Gameday crew about how some coaches are getting out of control in their treatment of players. This discussion turned into a dogpile on Bo Pelini; a man noted for being quite surly and someone that I would not want to meet in a dark alley. Thank you Tom Rinaldi.

After that, we saw a fresh piece by Gene W. about the preseason attack on Montee Ball. The consensus is that he was randomly attacked by some guys, missed a few games, fell out of the Heisman race before it even started, and is pretty good at football. Thanks Gene. Same story, different day. After this, Coach Corso stopped down to point out that Desmond Howard was wearing a nice blankie under the desk to keep warm. This takes us back several weeks when Herbie was put under the spotlight for wearing a blankie as well. Coach Corso is a real man and wears an overcoat, and he wants you to know it. Also, its hard to tell but it appeared that Desmond Howard and Kirk Herbstreit were wearing the same suit but in two different colors. They both had a white square pattern all over, and it was strange to see if you are as weird as I am.

desmondblankiea — Desmond’s favorite blankie

We got a full-on Tim Tebow Memorial Segment this week about Chip Kelly’s trip to Ethiopia to help out at a girl’s school there. Like every Gameday segment about Tim Tebow several years ago, we learned the valuable lesson that we are very blessed to be given so much every day. The highlight of all of the segments today was definitely Tom Rinaldi’s piece on Wake Forest assistant coach Tommy Elrod. We heard the heartbreaking tale of how he lost his infant son Byron after only 7 days due to the massive brain tumor he was born with. Elrod’s older son was so excited to finally be a big brother, have someone to play football with, and someone he could fist bump like so many players he has seen on the field. During one of the trips to the hospital, his older son walked into the room and Byron lifted his fist as if by some miracle to give him a fist bump. This was quite touching, and hard for me to explain, so if it pops up on ESPN.com or Youtube check it out.

But let’s get down to the business at hand. It is time for picks. This week’s guest picker is none other than Braden Pape. Who is that you may ask? He happens to be a five year old Oregon fan that you probably remember from last year. He made an appearance on Gameday last year and sang COMIN’ TO YOUR CITAAAY from start to finish. Well he’s back, and this week he is all business. He took some of the obvious picks like Lehigh over Lafayette, and went with Yale over Harvard. This kid might have been one of the best guest pickers ever, with lots of funny lines and moments. He called for Baylor to upset KState, and said “SORRY KIRK” when he went with Wisconsin over Ohio State. The best moment of all was when he went with Yale over Harvard. Lee Corso immediately issued a MASSIVE “Not so fast midget!” in that kid’s face which was incredibly hilarious (See Kegs ‘n Eggs for video). They even let this kid make his own unofficial headgear pick, and he threw a white box with some coloring on it over his head to go with the Oregon Ducks. Coach Corso went with his favorite mascot and put on the Duck head. That wasn’t enough however, as he was handed a live duck which sent Herbie ducking for cover. Then he danced out front with some cheerleaders, the real Oregon mascot, and the live duck. If you didn’t really know what was going on and saw this scene, it would be quite hard to explain. However, you’re reading this entire thing so we are all in the same boat. Enjoy you day folks.

bradenheadgeara — Braden Pape headgear pick

headgear1a — Corso picks Oregon, scares Herbie!

headgear2a — Corso Picks Oregon, dances around

Week 11: Gameday review!

Posted on November 10, 2012 by gamedaycole

The generic Big Ten action is in full force this morning, which can only mean one thing. We have once again put another edition of College Gameday in the books. Be forewarned: I woke up this morning feeling sick, so I will probably not be as funny as I think I am. Anyways. This week we were broadcasting live from the USS San Diego to honor our nation’s troops, and celebrate the big matchup between two teams that were not ever really specified upfront. Today’s big game is probably Alabama taking on Texas A&M, with a handful of other interesting games on the schedule (just not as big of a week as last week). Our experts are currently sitting at 16 to 3 in favor of the Crimson Tide over the Fighting Farmers. Make of that what you will.

Apparently this ship, the USS San Diego, has been under construction since 2007 at a cost of right around $1.6 billion. The crowd wasn’t as big as most other editions of College Gameday, but that is to be expected when they are not at a campus or the site of a big game. Noticeably present was the Washington State flag; a streak that will never end. I’m fairly certain that when the first college football game is being played on the moon between Oregon and Maryland (both with new ridiculous looking spacesuit uniforms), College Gameday will be there and so will one astronaut waving a Washington State flag. Chris Fowler opened up the first hour on ESPNU just like always with Kirk, Desmond and David before handing the ball off to Samantha Steele for hosting duties.

samsteelenavy2 — Samantha Steele: Week 11

Samantha Steele kept traveling through time back and forth, as she would do a segment in the daylight, then immediately follow it with a segment in the dark, and so on. The first hour was pretty slow this morning. We got a replay of the Bill Snyder piece from two weeks ago featuring Baby Bill Snyder. We got Todd McShay breaking down some USC footage. The highlight of the first hour was a Tom Rinaldi beatnik poetry piece entitled “Service”. He pondered the deeper meanings of serving others, and used lots of one word sentences like “Strong… Sound… Pure…Commitment…” while football highlights of the service academies were being shown. Thank you for another beatnik poetry segment Tom Rinaldi. Please picture Jennifer and I sitting Indian-style snapping our fingers in applause.

rinaldi-beatnik — Beatnik Tom Rinaldi performing live

As we closed the first hour, David and Desmond made some picks. The consensus was Bama over TAMU, KState over TCU, and LSU over Miss St. David Pollack is still conducting the Beaver Train and picked Oregon St, while Desmond Howard quickly jumped ship and took Stanford. After these picks, the main show on ESPN started, so Fowler and the gang dispatched David Pollack to go use the internet and tweet at the rubes. This week David was in a bunk on the ship somewhere tweeting before being disturbed by a Navy officer yelling at him which sent him scampering away in fear.

pollackinternet11 — New recruit David Pollack tweeting

We got several segments today touring the ship. Tom Rinaldi, Sam Steele and Gene W. were all over the place showing off cool parts of the ship, but these segments felt like they were shoe-horned in pretty hard. Gene W. gave us a piece on Johnny Manziel AKA Johnny Football from Texas A&M. What we learned about Johnny Football is that Aggies can take old Chuck Norris jokes and substitute Johnny Football’s name into them. Oh also he’s pretty good at football. We didn’t get any great signs today because of the smaller/sober crowd onboard the USS San Diego, so this week’s sign of the week will go to the American Flag because I support freedom and liberty.

Without a doubt, the highlight of the episode was the piece from Tom Rinaldi about Clemson wide receiver Daniel Rodriguez. He was serving time in the US Army and stationed in a pretty bad part of Afghanistan before enrolling at Clemson. Him and his fellow soldier Kevin Thompson made a pact that after they finished their time in the service they would go back to the States and do something meaningful. Daniel’s vow was to go to college, get a degree, and play football. Two weeks later in a massive Taliban ambush, Thompson was killed and Rodriguez was seriously wounded before the Taliban surge was stopped. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star, but after returning to the States he struggled as many soldiers do. He suffered anxiety, couldn’t sleep, and took to drinking; only finding peace when he visited Arlington cemetery. One day he woke up and decided to fulfill his vow to Thompson and started training to play football. He made a recruiting video not even asking for a scholarship but just the chance to walk on and play football somewhere and give his life purpose again. Dabo Swinney gave him a shot, and now he is one of the emotional leaders of the Clemson Tigers. I’m sure I completely butchered this story, as I can’t really do it justice. This was maybe the best human interest story of the year, so if it pops up on Youtube I suggest checking it out.

But alas, it is time for the picks. The full slate of picks from all the guys can be found HERE and HERE. This week didn’t have a celebrity picking games, but it was still a special guest. This week we had Lt. Curtis Sharp, who is one of the USS San Diego navigators and a former college football player on hand to pick games. He seemed incredibly nervous, and made it clear he was picking the Stanford Cardinals to beat Oregon State today. The big game for the headgear pick turned out to be the matchup between Navy and Troy. I guess I should have seen this coming, but I am not a smart man and this was not heavily teased like most weeks. Lt. Sharp took Navy, as did Herbie; making it clear that he valued his life too much to pick Troy while surrounded by sailors. Coach Corso had another FANTASTIC pick, bringing a live goat to the set and picking Navy over Troy for the headgear selection. I think the possibility of bringing in a live mascot highly influences Corso’s picks, and also makes Herbie highly uncomfortable as he disappeared quickly once the goat showed up. Enjoy your day, and support our troops.