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 13 2012: Gameday review!

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.

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.

“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?

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.

Hint: Over his shoulder

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.

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.

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

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.

Corso picks the Irish!

Week 13 2012: SHOWDOWN SATURDAY PICKS! #saturdayselections

Things are up and running here at the blog this morning, ready to celebrate SHOWDOWN SATURDAY or RIVALRY SATURDAY or WHATEVER SATURDAY you prefer to call it.  We have a bonus edition of Dr. Lou and Mark May’s picks from late late last night on Sportscenter for you as well.  We’re currently sitting at 11-4 in favor of Notre Dame over USC for today’s big game.  What does that mean?  Nothing I guess, but I will be updating as the picks continue to come in.

Christian Fauria:
ND over USC
Ohio St over Michigan
FSU over Florida
Oregon over Oregon St

Danny Kanell:
FSU over Florida
Clemson over S.Carolina
Georgia over GaTech
Vanderbilt over Wake Forest

Dari Nowkhah:
Bama over Auburn
Oregon over Oregon St
USC over ND
Mich St over Minnesota
Miss St over Ole Miss
Nebraska over Iowa
Clemson over S.Carolina
Wisconsin over Penn St
UCLA over Stanford
FSU over Florida

Mel Kiper Jr.:
ND over USC
Clemson over S.Carolina
Stanford over UCLA
FSU over Florida
Oregon over Oregon St

Todd McShay:
ND over USC
FSU over Florida
Oregon over Oregon St
Bama over Auburn
Okla St over OU (Upset special)

Lou Holtz:
Ohio St over Michigan
S.Carolina over Clemson
FSU over Florida
ND over USC

Mark May:
Michigan over Ohio St
S.Carolina over Clemson
Florida over FSU
USC over ND

Pat Forde:
WVU over Iowa St
Nebraska over Iowa
NIU over E.Mich
Kent St over Ohio
Arizona over Ariz St
LSU over Arkansas
S.Carolina over Clemson
FSU over Florida
Rutgers over Pitt
VATech over UVA
OU over Okla St
Mich St over Minnesota
Ohio St over Michigan
Penn St over Wisconsin
SJSU over LaTEch
Utah St over Idaho
Oregon over Oregon St
Notre Dame over USC
Stanford over UCLA
Georgia over GaTech
Bama over Auburn
Miss St over Ole Miss
TAMU over Mizzou
Louisville over UConn

David Pollack:
UCLA over Stanford
Notre Dame over USC
Georgia over GaTech
Ohio St over Michigan
Oregon over Oregon St
Okla St over OU
Clemson over S.Carolina

Desmond Howard:
Michigan over Ohio St
Georgia over GaTech
Oregon over Oregon St
Okla St over OU
Stanford over UCLA
Clemson over S.Carolina
ND over USC
Bama over Auburn
Wisconsin over Penn St

Kirk Herbstreit:
Bama over Auburn
FSU over Florida
Clemson over S.Carolina
Wisconsin over Penn St
Stanford over UCLA
Oregon over Oregon St
Ohio St over Michigan
Indiana over Purdue
Georgia over GaTech
OU over Okla St

Lee Corso:
S.Carolina over Lee Corso
Bama over Auburn
Penn St over Wisconsin
FSU over Florida
Stanford over UCLA
Oregon over Oregon St
Ohio St over Michigan
Indiana over Purdue
Georgia over GaTech
OU over Okla St
ND over USC (headgear pick)

Landon Donovan:
Indiana over Purdue
Ohio St over Michigan
Wisconsin over Penn St
FSU over Florida
Georgia over GaTech
Clemson over S.Carolina
Stanford over UCLA
Oregon St over Oregon
OU over Okla St
ND over USC

Jennifer’s Picks:
Texas over TCU
Clemson over S.Carolina
Ohio St over Michigan
Indiana over Purdue
Wisconsin over Penn St
FSU over Florida
Georgia over GaTech
Stanford over UCLA
Oregon St over Oregon (upset special)
OU over Okla St
ND over USC