Week 12 2013: College Gameday review! (signs edition)

This week was a fantastic edition of College Gameday.  Last week’s was great, even though we missed out on doing a full review last week, so it is a real treat to get two great episodes in a row.  Last week had really fantastic content, and this week had the best signs of the year without a doubt.  This week’s edition was broadcasting live from the Stanford/USC game in Los Angeles.

Early on, Fowler and the gang welcomed us in and let us know that Corso is 15-0, UNDEFEATED, when he picks USC as a headgear pick.  Take note gamblers.

The boys immediately dove into coverage of the Jameis Winston investigation, and I am already tired of this story.  The reason I am already tired of this story is that they are reporting more questions than answers.  They need to report this story when they have something to report (one way or the other).  The most important note of this story so far is that Mark Schlabach, who has taken the lead on it for ESPN from the start, looked tired as hell and appeared to not have slept in a week when he appeared on Gameday this morning.  Get some sleep Mark.  Desmond Howard immediately came to the rescue of Winston, as he always does when any player is involved in controversy.  I’m not saying he’s wrong; I just notice that he is always first in line to defend a player when they are accused of anything.  Since I have nothing of significance to contribute to this story (as if I ever do), I am going to move along.

Quick hits for today’s show:  Sam Ponder is nowhere to be found.  Absent from Gameday; absent from Twitter.  Could we be seeing the end of the Sam Ponder era of Gameday?  Wildly speculate amongst yourselves.  Cowboy Troy was back in the intro last week as well as this week.  Let us celebrate this occasion and not forget several gloomy weeks without a rapping cowboy to start our mornings.  Also, Georgie Whitfield was nowhere to be found this week.  Good.

Tom Rinaldi had a piece called “All Sizes”, highlighting many of the big rivalries between little schools.  D2, D3 and so on is full of fun rivalries with crazy trophies, and its always fun to see these kids out there playing in their own rivalries that mean nothing to most of us.  The even better part of this was that while I like to poke fun at Rinaldi for his beatnik poetry segments, this segment actually had a nice soft jazz going in the background as he continues to morph into a modern day poet.

Shortly after that, we got our weekly 6-man yelling roundtable segment featuring Paul Finebaum.  In response to Rinaldi’s segment on the small rivalries, Paul Finebaum appeared that he did not have time for these shenanigans, and probably believes that anything outside of the SEC shouldn’t even exist.  This week we wanted to debate the Heisman favorites.  The consensus was that Manziel is the best player in college football, even though there are a few debatable characters.  Paul Finebaum thinks AJ McCarron should be getting major consideration.  Since you are likely in shock from such a statement from this man, I will give you a minute to catch your breath.

Tom Rinaldi had a piece on the Michigan State defense.  They have nicknames and like to have fun and stuff.

Gene W. had a piece this week about the Skov brothers from Stanford.  This was this week’s typical mother/player segment which has seemingly become a staple of the show.  These are nice segments, but I feel they get repetitive at times.

We saw the return of the Jake Olson segment this week.  If you weren’t familiar with Jake Olson, he is the huge USC fan who lost his eyesight to cancer in his early teens.  The night before his surgery to remove his last good eye, he spent the entire evening with the USC football team and went to a game for one of the last memories he would ever see.  He also appeared on Gameday as a special guest picker.  These days, he is a long-snapper for his highschool football team.  Since this is the only position which is protected from contact, it is the only position he could play.  He obviously was not good at first, but won the job after many long hours of practice.  This was a tear-jerker of a piece.  However, his football team was on location today, and we were graced with the presence of THIS GUY!!!

Mustache: Real or fake?
Mustache: Real or fake?

Now onto the best part of today’s show.  The signs were everywhere.  The signs were hilarious.  The signs were offensive.  This was an all-time great day for Gameday signs.  Let’s get right into it.

There was a guy with a sign of Chairman Mao wearing a USC visor.  There was “Corso Asks Jeeves”.  “Even Lennay Kekua got into Stanford”.  “Kiffin owned a Blockbuster”.  “David Shaw bowls with bumpers”.  “Fire Kiffin”.  “Hire Kiffin”.  “Sports”.  However, these were the best of the day.

Find out who Big Game Brent has on Facebook!
Find out who Big Game Brent has on Facebook!
For those wondering where Kiffin is these days.
For those wondering where Kiffin is these days.
Football is neat.  I agree.
Football is neat. I agree.

 

Impermissible benefits?
Impermissible benefits?
2-for-1
2-for-1

 

Presented without comment
Presented without comment

That final sign rivals the “Crap on me Sam Ponder” sign as the most offensive of the year.  The presentation might not be as great, but we still salute this effort.

This week’s guest picker was Chris “THE BEAR” Fallica.  He is a long-time Gameday researcher who has become a regular on this year’s show when they need to settle a tough debate.  This guy has a reputation as someone who knows what is going on and who can pick games, so it was a real treat to have him on the show today.  Also, we’ve had a string of pickers with little to no football input, so it was nice to have someone worthwhile picking games.  He picked Stanford over USC.  Corso immediately started needling the crowd hyping up Stanford.  He picked Stanford to win the national championship.  Stanford is favored.  On and on.  Would he really pull a fast one and pick USC?  He donned the USC armor and picked USC this week as he began sword fighting with Kirk Herbstreit.  In the process, he busted open his lip and started bleeding.  Whoever had Corso injuring himself and drawing blood in this week’s Gameday pool just won big.

Coach Corso injured in battle
Coach Corso injured in battle

Have a happy football.

Week 11 2013: THURSDAY NIGHT PICK BONANZA!!!

We have a HUGE night of college football tonight.  Perhaps the biggest Thursday night of college football ever.  We have Oregon/Stanford and Baylor/OU.  AND DON’T SLEEP ON TROY/LA-LAFAYETTE!!!  In order to celebrate this, we are bringing you THURSDAY NIGHT COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICK BONANZA!!!  Since many of you may have a vested interest in tonight’s games, here is what we have so far for picks this week.

Todd McShay
Oregon over Stanford
Baylor over OU

Colin Cowherd:
Oregon over Stanford
Baylor over OU
Bama over LSU

Mike Bellotti:
Oregon over Stanford
Fsu over Wakw Forest
Bama over LSU

Brad Edwards:
Oregon over Stanford
FSU over Wake Forest
Baylor over OU
Pitt over Notre Dame (upset special)

Trevor Matich:
Oregon over Stanford
Bama over LSU
Baylor over OU
Fsu over wake

Lee Corso:
Baylor over OU
Oregon over Stanford

Kirk Herbstreit:
Baylor over OU
Oregon over Stanford

Desmond Howard:
Baylor over OU

Jake Owen:
Baylor over OU
Stanford over Oregon

Jennifer’s Picks:
Baylor over OU
Oregon over Stanford

Matt Stinchcomb:
Bama over LSU
Oregon over Stanford
Baylor over OU

Tom luginbill:
Bama over LSU
Oregon over Stanford
Baylor over OU

Paul Finebaum:
Bama over LSU

Matt Millen:
Baylor over OU
Oregon over Stanford
Bama over LSU

Mel Kiper Jr.:
Baylor over OU
Oregon over Stanford

Dari Nowkhah:
Vandy over Florida
Minnesota over Penn St
UCF over Houston
Wisconsin over BYU
Michigan over Nebraska

Jason Sehorn:
Minnesota over Penn St
Florida over Vandy
UCF over Houston
BYU over Wisconsin
Michigan over Nebraska

Mark Schlabach:
Pitt over Notre Dame (upset special)

Phil Steele:
FSU over Wake Forest
Wisconsin over BYU
Arizona over UCLA
Bama over LSU

Week 12 2012: FRIDAY PICK BONANZA! #saturdayselections

Things are still sluggish due to the dastardly cold I have been fighting.  However, things are improving so thank you for all of the prayers, flowers, cards and fan mail.  Anyways, since there were no picks posted so far this week, that means it is once again time for a FRIDAY PICK BONANZA!  YOU GET A PICK!  YOU GET A PICK!  YOU TOO GET A PICK!  WE ARE MAKING IT RAIN PICKS, AND WILL BE ALL DAY TODAY SO CHECK BACK THROUGHOUT THE DAY THANKS!  Anyways here we go…

Danny Kanell:
KState over Baylor

Dan Hawkins:
Ohio St over Wisconsin
KState over Baylor
OU over WVU
Toledo over NIU
Okla St over TTU
Utah St over LaTech
Clemson over NC St
UCLA over USC
ND over Wake Forest
KState over Baylor
Oregon over Stanford

Charles Arbuckle:
Bama over WCU
KState over Baylor
Oregon over Stanford
ND over Wake Forest

Mike Bellotti:
S.Carolina over Wofford
Penn St over Indiana
OU over WVU
ND over Wake Forest
Nebraska over Minnesota
Florida over Jax St
Miss St over Arkansas
Oregon over Stanford

Brock Huard:
KState over Baylor

Jason Sehorn:
S.Carolina over Wofford
Penn St over Indiana

Tom Luginbill:
S.Carolina over Wofford
ND over Wake Forest
Cinci over Rutgers
Florida over Jax St

Ryen Russillo:
USC over UCLA
Washington over colorado

Dari Nowkhah:
Nebraska over Minnesota
Miss St over Arkansas
S.Carolina over Wofford
Penn St over Indiana
Bama over WCU
KState over Baylor
Oregon over Stanford
ND over Wake Forest

Mark May:
Wisconsin over Ohio St
USC over UCLA
Oregon over Stanford
ND over Wake Forest
KState over Baylor

Lou Holtz:
Ohio St over Wisconsin
ND over Wake Forest
Stanford over Oregon
KState over Baylor
USC over UCLA

Brian Griese:
Ohio St over Wisconsin
USC over UCLA
Oregon over Stanford

Pat Forde:
Clemson over NC St
FSU over Maryland
OU over WVU
Mizzou over Syracuse
Nebraska over Minnesota
Okla St over TTU
Michigan over Iowa
NW over Mich St
Penn St over Indiana
Ohio St over Wisconsin
Utah St over LaTech
Kent St over BGSU
Oregon over Stanford
Oreg St over Cal
USC over UCLA
Florida over Jax St
Georgia over Ga So
S.Carolina over Wofford
Vanderbilt over Tennessee
Bama over W.Carolina
LSU over Ols Miss
Miss St over Arkansas
KState over Baylor
TAMU over SHSU
Utah over Arizona
Cinci over Rutgers
ND over Wake Forest

Mark Schlabach:
Bama over W.Carolina
Ohio St over Wisconsin

Todd McShay:
USC over UCLA

Robert Smith:
OU over WVU
Okla St over TTU
KState over Baylor
Cinci over Rutgers
ND over Wake Forest
Ohio St over Wisconsin
USC over UCLA
Oregon over Stanford

Colin Cowherd:
Wisconsin over Ohio St
USC over UCLA
KState over Baylor
Oregon over Stanford
Notre Dame over Wake Forest
LSU over Ole Miss

Desmond Howard:
ND over Wake Forest

Christian Fauria:
UCLA over USC
ND over Wake Forest

David Pollack:
Oregon over Stanford

Kirk Herbstreit:
Nebraska over Minnesota