Monday, February 11, 2008
When it rains it pours
Arizona State University: Makin' it rain on dem wildcat hoes since 1885.In light of getting swept by the Sun Devils in their beloved cash cow men's basketball, one would think this would be a good week for the University of Arizona to lie low and wait it out until softball season starts, but leave it to our good friend Jeff Metcalfe to pile it on when some piling needs doing. Metcalfe, the ASU beat writer for the Arizona Republic, has been the only Republic journalist that has treated ASU like a hometown team as long as I've been reading it (about a decade) and today may be his finest hour. We'll get to Jeff in a moment.
In a story that should have already died (thanks internet!), Mike Stoops used part of his signing day press conference to badmouth the recruits that originally pledged committments to UA but later switched to ASU. He also made sure to include a potshot about rival Arizona State and their academics, stating the following:
"Obviously Arizona State has turned into a JC, and we're a four-year college. According to all the players, they say it is easier to go to school there, easier to get in. I thought we had the same requirements."Wow. I've had a number of thoughts regarding the situation since it came out last Wednesday.
1. The academic requirements are identical at ASU, UA and NAU, as set forth by the Arizona Board of Regents.
This is true! There was such a large request for information after this story broke that the University posted two academic FYI articles on the official athletics website.
2. Every other team in the country is talking about the players they signed, how bad are yours that you're discussing the ones you lost?
Not great but it could have been worse. Stoops signed the top DB in the west in Robert Golden, but the overall class was ranked 39th by Rivals, 39th by Scout, and 32nd by espn. A 36.6 average out of 119 D1 teams sounds pretty good, but 36.6 out of the 66 BCS teams comes off as pretty meh, ranging somewhere near the 45th percentile. In a day based on potential where everyone wins, somehow Arizona loses.
3. Dennis Erickson fucking owns you.
Also true! Stoops got one of the top 18 recruits in the State of Arizona while Erickson got six. Also, DE is 1-0 against Stoops lifetime, and while one doesn't usually make a trend, you know it's a trend. By the way, ASU's recruiting class landed a ranking average of 20, good enough for the 70th percentile.
4. Koetter never even pulled any shit like this, you buffoon.
He hated the media, and the media hated him back. If Koetter had done something this stupid, you would have known about it. This means one very important thing: Koetter loses the "horse's ass" moniker, for Lord Stoops has rightfully claimed it as his own!
At least Stoops didn't punt during the presser.5. I bet those UA nutjobs will rally around him again, using JuCo! as a battle cry for years to come.
Example A. Example B, they chanted "J-C! J-C! J-C!" during Sunday's loss to ASU in hoops. Case closed.
6. What kind of a message does this send to Stoops' commits? Should they not be the star of the show?
The verdict's still out on this one since Tucson isn't exactly a hub of information or unbiased journalism.
7. What kind of a message does this send to the three players that switched commitments?
Which brings us to today's article by Jeff Metcalfe. I would make the entire thing my smartass subtitle at the top of the page, but Blogger has a character limit. Metcalfe took the time to interview RB Ryan Bass, WR Gerrell Robinson, and WR Jarell Barbour- the three big name recruits that spurned UA for ASU- to find out what they thought. Bring on the quotes! (emphasis mine)
Barbour said ASU associate athletic director Jean Boyd, is the "main reason why I'm there." Boyd directs ASU's academic support for football and other sports. "He sat me down and said this is what you need to do to be eligible to play football," said Barbour, who feels his comments were misused by Stoops.A note to Mr. Stoops: when you're in a hole, step #1 is to stop digging. Please cease and desist any and all digging immediately. We at ASU would like to see nothing more than a lengthy contract extension for you.
"He put my business out in the open. It was cruel. I didn't want to go there because their football team is horrible. They stunk it up bad. I didn't want to be a part of it. I want to be on a good football team that's going to go places."
Running back Ryan Bass of Corona (Calif.) Centennial also was expressed disappointment in Stoops: "I felt he was out of bounds with his comments. I hope he didn't make those comments because I switched to Arizona State. Everyone knows it's the same to get in. It didn't sit too well with me. I'm glad he (Stoops) apologized."
"I've worked too hard these past four years to say I have grade issues," said Robinson, who has a 3.0 grade-point average and 1490 SAT score that are good enough for admission to Notre Dame. "We all have reasons why we decommitted and why we committed in the beginning. We're 17- and 18-year-old kids. He's a grown man. You'd expect him to take the high road. If anything, you'd expect one of the three of us to say something like that, not the grown man in the situation.
"ASU has done nothing but help get Jarrell and Ryan on the right track. I don't think Arizona was adamant about doing that at all. I was there 15-20 times myself and never once saw anything about academics. It was poor judgment on my part (to initially commit to UA). ASU on junior day showed us around to all the educational categories they have."
Barbour also is more than ready for his first Territorial Cup.
"I can't remember the last time Arizona beat Arizona State," he said. "We're going to take it out on the field, and it's not going to be pretty. It'll be the best game of my life, I promise that."
Labels: Dirk's a horse's ass, dirty icky recruiting, hoops, message board nonsense, rivalry rants, surrounded by morons, the offseason sucks, UA morons, you have to see this
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Coup d'etat!
Hey man, wanna go to a party tonight?The Tucson spin machine is going apeshit tonight after wide receiver/defensive back recruit Jarrell Barbour decommitted from Arizona's 2008 recruiting class and committed to ASU. Barbour hails from Peoria (AZ) Centennial High School, the same school that produced fellow 2008 Sun Devil commit Zach Schlink. The wildcat faithful are now denouncing their once prized signee, saying that 1) he's not that good anyway, 2) he wouldn't have even gotten in to UA. Barbour is that good, having also received scholarship offers from Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Michigan, but he apparently is somewhat of an academic risk.
Coup!
I heard there'll be babes there.
Coup d'etat!
Barbour cited ASU's academics one of the biggest reasons for the switcheroo, noting that Sparky had a better plan for getting him into school. The UA community is flipping the fuck out right now and they fully believe this is the elusive yet concrete proof that UA is a better academic institution than ASU, even though the two schools have identical admission requirements handed down from the Arizona Board of Regents. I'd like to submit into evidence this quote from someone on Devils Digest who claims to have been CB Omar Bolden's academic advisor before he was admitted to ASU.
Dennis Erickson and company have got the very best academic people in the world at ASU. I was Omar's academic advisor last year and when ASU got involved with Omar he had a 1.85 gpa and a 710 test score. However, we had a plan and were taking classes at two (2) Southern California JC's. When we presented it to the ASU people they immediately (within hours) gave us a green light and some contingency advice. At that point, Omar had the offer from ASU and the ball was rolling. Furthermore, we presented the same plan to USC and they continuously balked at jumping the broom with the kid. Same thing with the UW. I, as an academic advisor to at-risk kids, will never send a kid to UW if he is being recruited by Trent Miles.Bolden, you may remember, was also an academic risk.
ASU has been recognized as having one of the top academic support systems in the Scholar Baller program, which was designed to reward student-athletes who make good grades and spend extra time studying. Arizona on the other hand ranks at or near the bottom of most academic categories, and not just in the Pac-10 either. They have lost four football scholarships due to poor APR scores, the most of any school in the BCS. APR measures things like grades, graduation rates, etc. and penalizes schools that are not cutting it in the classroom. But you know they, like have a medical school or something, so like we're supposed to be, like, totally in awe of them or something. The story is ludicrous.
The term to note here is ASU's plan. While ASU has the Scholar Baller program, Arizona has hired 40 new tutors (bringing the total to 70) for their football program, but where is their organization and the incentive for their athletes to participate? When Erickson agreed to be the coach of the Sun Devils, many haters were quick to point out that during his tenure as head coach at the University of Miami players were prone to taking the field without making the required grades. He rebutted this criticism by pointing out that the rules at Da U allowed for a player to do so while his case was on appeal and that the academic programs, requirements, and procedures at ASU would not allow such a thing.
It sounds to me that these systems truly are in place in Tempe, and that the coaches are using them on the recruiting trail. This can only lead to the recruitment of a higher caliber person to Tempe, and we got that going for us, which is nice.
Even head groundskeeper Carl Spackler could get a 2.0 with ASU's academic support systems.*Note: Big E wrote all of this much better than I did and you can read it here.
Labels: dirty icky recruiting, message board nonsense, movie references, the new era, UA morons
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Boredom Ensues...
- Keeping an immaculate home
- Watching every movie in my collection (I'm currently on #101 out of 125)
- Reading all of the comments on the infamous EDSBS post #1406 (had to stop at 400 for fear of insanity)
- Exercise *gasp!*
- Perusing message boards and the blogosphere to exhaustive lengths
- T. Kyle King's recent piece on DawgSports regarding the ongoing struggle with/against the media Death Star, espn.
- On top of doing a preview page for every team in D-1, SMQ is now in the midst of thoroughly breaking down each BCS conference and Pac-10 Week should be right around the corner.
- MGoBlog hosts the BlogPoll each season, which is like the AP but us sophisticated blogger types vote instead of the mainstream media folk. I've contacted the site about making tHOH eligible to vote but have heard no response so far. Preseason ballots should come out sometime in the next month and yes, I'll be totally biased for the Devils.
Not to leave without anything ASU-related, here's few nugs to keep you sedated for at least part of the next 36 days:
* The Sun Devils were picked to finish fourth in the Pac-10 preseason media poll, but who cares about the opinions and prognostications of writers before the season starts?
* Former ASU fullback Tex Wright, not to be confused with Randall "Tex" Cobb of Raising Arizona fame, is alive, well, and author of one of the all-time great ASU finishes that I'd never heard of before this week.
Nope, not him.* As poster "ENCINITASjon" of Devils Digest put it, here's "one of the dumbest articles you'll ever read." It's so bad it may get its own post here in a couple of days.
* Former Sun Devil basketballer and Sigma Nu douchebag Ron DuBois landed a job as an assistant coach with the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies. See Tucson, we do stuff in the NBA too.
* I started my own poll at Devils Digest since I don't know how to do it here. It asked readers to vote for how long it would take for the 35-44-1 all-time record vs. UA to get evened up. The vast majority of voters chose 11-15 years, but unfortunately some folks from down south got involved and it turned into an argument about semantics and the interpretation of the written word, then forever banished to the rarely visited smack board.
* Dennis Erickson inked his fourth signee of the 2008 recruiting class, local offensive lineman Patrick Jamison, who was suited by Erickson since his last name is a fantastic whiskey. Jamison also received scholarship offers from UCLA, Tennessee, Oregon State, Boise State, UNLV, and Arizona.
Thanks to google image search, I was also reminded that "Jameson" is also the last name of a prominent porn star.* Apparrently KTAR 620 was late to Pac-10 media day since they only have audio of Jim Harbaugh, Pete Carroll, and Karl Dorrell available on their website. Admittedly I was also late to link up to it, that's why I was looking. As soon as I can find a complete archived audio file of the proceedings I'll pick apart everything Dennis Erickson says and take a few pokes at Mike Stoops.
Labels: anecdotal evidence, ASU alumni, blog links, dirty icky recruiting, hatred for the 4-letter network, hoops, movie references, regular old crackers, rivalry rants, surrounded by morons, UA morons
An open roundtable from Trev
Your Home Field Advantage
Give the more zealous portion of your fanbase a religion. What's this cult following? Feel free to give the splitters a derogatory nickname.
We all bow to Frank Kush, the patron saint of Sun Devil football who was professionally crucified by those whom he had come to enlighten- a camp catalyzed by a false idol, none other than a flag-waving kicker. (as everyone knows, kickers are NOT football players) The congregation became disillusioned and dissolved in the following years by carpetbaggers such as Rodgers and Cooper, then demoralized by Marmie the incompetent. Savior Jake Plummer had come to restore joy to the desert, but by that time the barbarians of professional sport had fully infiltrated the holy land and many followers had converted to the dark side. Our sect became divided in recent years, falling into the camps of lovers and haters and split by one man's papacy, Dirk Koetter. Koetter was forced out after piss-poor performance and record-setting bad decisions, which allowed for the new savior to enter our church, one Dennis Erickson. In a throwback to the old testament of Kush, Erickson preaches ideas once thought to be antiquated, like a running game and a physical defense. Lovers and haters are reunited and hope is restored in Sun Devil Land as we wander through the desert, although not-so-aimlessly anymore.
If this piece doesn't get me into hell for violation of the 1st Commandment, nothing will.
Your biggest rival is in town, and College Gameday is coming....to your citaaaaaaay... Create a blatant corporate sellout promotion to appeal to the mass unwashed.
In the spirit of espn being onsite, Pat Tillman's death will be exploited to the grandest extent. Gold-colored Army Ranger berets will be administered to the first 50,000 attendees, the marching band does a patriotic 4th of July-style set at halftime, and there is a missing man flyover to accompany the fireworks after each Sun Devil score.
Add one local delicacy to your stadium's concessions. Post-tax pricing is optional.
Other than alcohol? For four bucks apiece, Filiberto's (or whatever it's called now) offers burritos made to order. The tortilla throwing tradition takes on a whole new level when players and cheerleaders start slipping on fresh-made guacamole, but Michael Crow puts the kibash on the whole thing after a male cheerleader dies when a chorizo and egg burrito funnels through a megaphone and asphyxiates him. 
Jan had spirit, yes he did...
With an unlimited AD budget, add or subtract one thing to your school's gameday experience that has nothing to do with football.
Lot 59 is replaced with sod, shade trees, and plumbing facilities because quite frankly we are light years behind the Southeastern schools when it comes to tailgating, mostly because spending all day on shadeless blacktop in 110+ degree heat is no one's good time. For extra income the former parking lot is a nine-hole, par-three golf course during the week and a 10-story parking megastructure is erected for regular student parking where the bullshit Alpha Drive fraternity houses once sat.(hollaback old school Adelphi row!) We can put it right next to the football team's brand spankin' new indoor practice facility.
Just imagine a grove of oaks 160 yards that way.General NCAA questions
Coin a hilariously unrealistic stereotype that you would like to "make stick" for this upcoming season.
The Stoops regime is fired from Tucson and they moochingly move back into brother Bob's McMansion basement in Norman, all while trying to raise a young daughter/sissyboy. Think My Two Dads but with three guys, two of whom are gay. And a lot of strained-faced yelling.
Redesign your conference or independent schedule with reckless abandon. Be prepared to include compensation for jilted schools and conferences in your explanation.
Jeez this thing is getting long. The Pac-10 finally got it right with the full round-robin schedule, no need for me to go fucking with it. As for the OOC slate, I'd like to see the Sun Devils take on more teams in the northeast and upper midwest. ASU is so popular with non-athlete students that it offers virtual orientation in Philly, Chicago, and Seattle, and this desire to escape the miserable fucking cold of those God-forsaken places ought to be exploited for recruiting purposes. Imagine getting on a plane in lake effect snow-ridden Buffalo in February and landing in Tempe where it's 75 and sunny for an official visit, and now envision a behemoth 18 year-old signing on the dotted line.
Following up on your new realignment, blow up the BCS and devise a national playoff system, money grabs and missed exams be damned. Using your new fantasy conferences is optional.
The existing bowl games get used on a rotating basis as neutral sites for a 16-team playoff, and the ones that aren't selected for the bracket games can be held as exhibitions, like a football NIT. More traditional bowls like the Rose and Fiesta are used for the latter rounds and they rotate much like the BCS does now. I'd like to suggest that the current conferences be blown up and reorganized into equally sized divisions (while eliminting those bullshit conference championship games) for the purpose of selecting some of the participants in this proposed playoff, but that's just crazy talk.
Elect one public figure to replace NCAA president Myles Brand. Anyone with proper name recognition is eligible.
Charles Fucking Barkley, and I don't think I need to explain myself. Even though he's a basketball player, being from Alabama he should intuitively understand the importance of college football.
Be sure to check out others' responses in the comments section of FireMarkMay's original post.
Labels: anecdotal evidence, blog links, Dirk's a horse's ass, dirty icky recruiting, Greatest Fark Evah, movie references, Pac-10 business, QnA, tailgating, UA morons
Monday, July 23, 2007
Premature Premonitions, Part II: Defense & Special Teams
DL- Kyle Caldwell and Jordan Hill were three-year starters and while neither were Terrell Suggs-level superstars their presence will severely be missed. Hill moved to DT from linebacker and was undersized until his senior year, while a myriad of injuries kept Caldwell from reaching his true potential. The remaining starters look good and they’re surrounded by a lot of raw talent. BYU transfer Mike Marquandt was a lane-clogging beast from day one and Dexter Davis, last year’s supposed question mark as a redshirt freshman, became a bigger weapon at rush end than Caldwell by season’s finish. Marquandt will be helped at tackle by Florida transfer Tranell Morant, who transferred two years ago but made little impact at defensive end last year. Erickson has moved him inside but I wonder if he has the bulk to compete in the middle. Backups include seemingly eighth-year senior David Smith along with redshirt freshmen Jon Hargis, Zach Niusulu, and offensive line convert Saia Falahola. Highly touted JuCo transfer Luis Vasquez is penciled in as the other starter at DE, and his supporting cast features veterans Wes Evans and Kellen Mills who have seen little game time during their Sun Devil careers. Expect JuCo transfers Alex Asi and Eric Tanner to be featured prominently in the defensive end rotation.
LB- There is a glut of young talent at linebacker with an emphasis on young. Four of the top six LB’s return from last year but few have more than one year of experience in Maroon and Gold. Local boy Gerald Munns, Pat Tillman look-alike Travis Goethel, and former LA Dodger Mike Nixon stepped in as true freshmen and saw a lot of the field playing beyond the expectations of most. Ryan McFoy saw playing time as a nickel back last year as a true frosh and he will be thrust into the mix at LB along with JuCo transfer Morris Wooten, who some consider talented enough to be a starter right away. The three starting spots are up for grabs among Goethel, Nixon, Wooten, Munns, McFoy, and senior Robert James who is returning after recovering from chronic headaches. Backups that should be in the rotation will be Chad Lindsey, Garrett Judah, and redshirt freshmen Jamarr Robinson and Jeff Bereuter.CB- Ah, the fun begins. Shockingly enough Keno Walter-White will be missed because nobody seems capable of starting at the number two corner sport. The good news is that Justin Tryon is as close to a lock-down corner as anyone at ASU in the last few years, even though the folks at Cal don’t care for him too much. Chad Green’s unfortunate car accident affects the depth chart but he was one of several that simply shouldn’t make the cut as a starter. Chris Baloney was the hero against NAU in last year’s opener, getting a pick-6 that sealed the win. Nagging injuries throughout the 2006 season kept his productivity down but he appears to be the best of the rest. Help could be on the way in the form of true frosh Omar Bolden, a highly touted recruit that has yet to be academically approved by the NCAA clearinghouse. Many believe that he possesses the physical tools to play corner in the Pac-10 right away, but the phrase ”counting the chickens before they’ve hatched” comes to mind. Travis Smith, Litrele Jones, Grant Crunkleton, and JuCo transfer Jarrell Holman will also be in the mix as back-ups.
Safety- Josh Barrett is racking up tons of preseason accolades and will be the anchor in the secondary. The departure of Zach Catanese leaves the other spot wide open but this looks like the best defensive unit on the team. I thought that Ryan McFoy’s solid play last year would be enough to garner the starting free safety spot but one of Dennis Erickson’s first actions this spring was moving him to linebacker. He did so because of the emergence of Troy Nolan, the defensive MVP of spring camp who will be in close competition for the starting spot with Jeremy Payton. Returnees Rodney Cox and Angelo Fobbs-Valentino will provide back up support while true freshmen Colin Parker and Oliver Aaron may see the field in case of injury.
The defensive unit as a whole is a giant question mark. Teams with multiple high-quality receivers (Cal, USC) will give the corners fits but the biggest question is at defensive line with all of the unproven players. The ability to pressure the opposing quarterback while rushing only four was the key to defensive success last year and problems typically occurred when the corners and safeties cheated in to help with the run leaving the DB’s in single coverage. As crazy and forward-thinking as it sounds, the ability to control the line of scrimmage will be paramount in the success of the Devil D. The early season schedule is soft enough that the team should be working together and picking up schemes by the time conference play begins. A longstanding issue in Tempe has been that the caliber of defensive players under Dirk Koetter was not up to the level of their conference foes. Better players were being recruited in the last two years and there was marked improvement from 2005 to 2006, but the personnel issue still remains: does ASU have the horses to run with USC, et. al?
ST- Four-year starter Jesse Ainsworth departs and while he didn’t win any awards he was, in a word, consistent. Kickoffs were always deep in the endzone and he was almost automatic on field goals inside of 40 yards. Thomas Weber arrives unproven and will have to adjust to big crowds quickly. Jonathan Johnson was solid at punter with zero blocked and big hang times, however he wasn’t immune to the occasional shank and outkicked his coverage a few times; hopefully an extra year will provide more consistency. Ultra-reliable long snapper Jason Burke will have to be replaced as well. Terry Richardson (left, saving Koetter's job in the 2005 Duel) departs as one of the best kick/punt returners in recent memory and his position is up for grabs among Kyle Williams, Rudy Burgess, and Chris McGaha. Coverage will be a wild card as Koetter usually used the top athletes on special teams and it is currently unknown how Erickson is going to fill those spots. Keegan Herring and Justin Tryon were excellent gunners on punts last season but no one really knows how kickoff coverage will be since Ainsworth allowed so few returns. Many people are happy to see Tom Osborne go but the punting unit was the only one of the four that had significant troubles during his tenure as special teams coach. I'll take a look at the schedule and make a few predictions in Part III, which will be up within a couple of days.
Labels: ASU alumni, Dirk's a horse's ass, dirty icky recruiting, the new era
Friday, July 13, 2007
The State of A-State
A 10th place finish in the Director's Cup standings, although weighted heavily by consistent success across the Olympic(non-important) sports, is a reason to have faith. Rob Evans and Dirk Koetter are out. Pat Murphy(College World Series), Charli Turner-Thorne(Sweet 16), and Clint Myers(WCWS) are staying put. Herb Sendek and Dennis Erickson are in.
I bear the gifts of Frankensense, gold, and a physical defense.The Director's Cup finish is of little consequence unless one examines the company in which ASU sits. Zeiger puts it well:
ASU is expected to reach the $40-million revenue mark in fiscal year 2008. [athletics director Lisa] Love said that $50 million in annual funds is most ideal, yet realistic.
She looks at the Directors’ Cup standings and marvels that her school was in the top 10 with Texas ($97.8 million revenue in 2005-06), Florida ($82.4 million) and Michigan ($85.5 million). ASU finished four spots ahead of Ohio State, which had the nation’s largest ’05-06 revenue at $104.7 million.
“We are incredibly, competitively efficient,” Love said. “Now, you can’t help but dream. What could our university do (with Ohio State money)?”
Holy freaking smokes. This leads to the chicken vs. egg argument about Sun Devil athletics- do we win to create revenue or do we spend extra money to get more wins? This is also alluded to in the Trib article, making mention of Koetter's famous departing quote regarding the perception/reality of ASU and Zeiger hints that it may have to do with financial competitive advantage based on a smallish and somewhat apathetic fan base. Also cited is the example of George Mason, who after their 2006 Final Four run had a 20% increase on freshman admission applications and a 25% increase in athletic donations.
How does this affect football? Gymnastics coach John Spini says that morale at ASU is the best it's been during his 27 years in Tempe. Morale makes for a happy place, which makes it easier to recruit. A new coach has invigorated the fan base and created a buzz around town. We won't be punting late in the game when we're behind. A schedule with 8 home games can't hurt, especially when seven of them are guaranteed to be at night. Season tickets for those 8 home dates start at $99, and a happy fan base donates money and creates a bigger fan base which makes it easier to recruit. A butterfly flaps it's wings and so on...
Basketball still gets a pass since they can still only go one direction, but Sendek seems to have laid the foundation for on-court success and local support. The uber-recruits coming to Wells Fargo Arena this season can't hurt either, and while getting excited about recruits is usually reserved for the folks in Stoopsville remember that new blood turns basketball around much quicker than football.
Life seems to be good in Tempe, but as usual it will all come down to winning on Saturdays in the fall. The schedule plays in ASU's favor to gain some early confidence in themselves and for the Valley to get excited and show support before the meat of the schedule comes to town. Phil Steele thinks we have a good shot at starting 8-0, and if he says it it must be true. This is as much of a make-or-break year as ASU has ever had. The deck is stacked in Sparky's favor for once and it's time to put up or shut up. Now is the time to makes strides.
Labels: dirty icky recruiting, Greatest Fark Evah, hoops, other sports, Pac-10 business, the new era
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Regular Old Crackers for the abysmal depths of the offseason
* There was an expose in Sunday's East Valley Tribune regarding major structural needs at Sun Devil Stadium. Long story short, engineers didn't see the need to waterproof a stadium in the desert but they hadn't thought of soda, beer, the mini-bottles we used to sneak into the student section, the subsequent vomit, or the water used to hose all of it off. As a result, structural steel beams have rusted out and concrete is beginning to show severe stress cracks. I guess the bathroom and concession stand remodeling will have to wait, since there has never been any money in the budget for those either.
Oh I'm stressed!* Herb Sendek and the basketball coaching staff are keeping up with the filthy, slimy Joneses of the CBK world by offering scholarships to 14 year-old Nick Johnson and 15 year-old Matt Carlino, both from Gilbert(AZ) Highland High School. While I can't say I approve, it's probably better for the kids involved if Herb gets there before Lute.
Lute Olson is already scouting the class of 2026. That fucker will never die.* ASU football received two verbal committments for the 2008 recruiting class, landing a highly touted corner from Vegas (thank freaking GOD) and a defensive lineman from Chandler. Good to see we're addressing immediate needs, but let's be honest- aren't they all "highly touted" when they're still in high school?
* And finally, check out the high-larious U of A haiku thread at Devil's Digest. A sampling from RBKDevil, if you will:
Sheer brilliance!Moral victory
Six and six season again
Time for basketball.
Labels: dirty icky recruiting, hoops, I miss college, message board nonsense, movie references, regular old crackers
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Thank God That's Over With
Yesterday's national letter of intent day yielded 23 signees for the Sun Devils, all of whom can be scrutinized in great deal at the official site. Needs were addressed, and most will say that Coach Erickson did a great job considering that after the JuCo signing period and the recruiting dead period, he only really had about 3 1/2 weeks to put this class together. You can read the transcript of yesterday's presser here, or if you're illiterate or just plain lazy you can listen to it at the link on the same page. Some highlights, if you will:
* 5 offensive linemen were taken in this class. This was the greatest area of need for the Devils going into the 06-07 recruiting year, especially after signing only one Hell Hog last year. This year was supposed to be an exceptional crop of O-line talent, particularly in the state of Arizona, but while ASU was handling the Koetter departure USC and Nebraska managed to swoop in and steal a lot of the Grand Canyon State's talent. While none of the local kids on the board stayed, Garth Gerhart is considered one of the top high school centers in the country and his HS teammate Adam Tello is a more than solid guard/tackle. One of the jewels of the class is Po'u Palelei, an offensive tackle from Las Vegas that is considered top 10 in the country on the line. Matt Hustad won player of the year in Montana, and before you make a joke regarding the low population in the M-T, realize this: he was the state's player of the year as an offensive lineman.
* There were several versatile athletes taken. Most of them are on the defensive side of the ball and will be placed where they fit best once they start playing. Some of the guys that will fit in somewhere are Oliver Aaron and Derrall Anderson from Florida, Jonathan Clark from Texas, and local boys Colin Parker and Jarrell Holman. This addresses immediate needs immediately.
* The D-line depth issue will not be an issue for much longer. Five were signed in last year's class not including the three transfers, and this year Coach E got another five. The most intriguing member of this year is Jonathan "the tank" English, a 6'0" 335 pound DT from River Ridge, Louisiana. I don't know where to go in Tempe for crawfish and gumbo, but wherever it is they need to start stocking up NOW. If there's not a cajun restaurant there, this may be a good business opportunity. Defensive end is one of the hardest to recruit out of high school, and Bo Moos and James Brooks may end up s tight ends if they can't put on the necessary weight. JuCo DE's Eric Tanner and Luis Vazquez are hopefully solid enough to challenge the depth chart immediately, which is not an easy task with Dexter Davis, Trannell Morant, and 6th year senior Loren Howard in front of them.
* This class is incredibly balanced. Eleven on offense, including 2 QB's, 1 RB, 1 TE, 2 WR's, and 5 OL's. There are twelve on defense, including 5 DL's, 4 LB's, 2 CB's, and 1 S. This balance won't show for several years (much like everything else regarding these kids), but having this balance makes for senior-laden teams in the future. It also helps avoid huge holes in the depth charts, like the one we had at DL and CB. Speaking of which...
* ASU only got 2 CB's, but they could both challenge to play right away. The aforementioned
Holman is a JuCo, and the other is Omar Bolden, a highly recruited kid from California. Bolden waited until a last second tv show to announce his committment to the Sun Devils, and he's one of these stud guys who did the stunt with the team hats. Definitely a big last-second addition.
Kinda makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, don't it?
* Two quarterbacks were taken, getting the number of scholarship QB's back up to four following the exodus of Max Hall, Derek Shaw, and 2007 Big 12 Player of the Year Sam Keller. (it's all but his.) The two we got- Chasen Stengel and Samson Szakacsy- are good ones, listed as the #4 and #7 QB's in California by Scout.com. Samson (get out your Half Baked quotes) was thought by many to be rated even higher, but a leg injury early in his senior season limited his playing time. He had verballed to USC but opted for the Sun Devils in the end after a strong recruiting push by Erickson. The recruitment of a third QB forced out Nick Foles, a strong-armed Texas recruit who commited to ASU back in July of last year and was loyal to the school after Koetter's departure. Best of luck to him, wherever he lands. Stangel was not recruited heavily (only other offer was from UTEP) but after a strong senior season many of the big boys are left wondering why they passed on him. By the way, it's supposedly pronounced "Sue-kay-chee."
Yes! Cuban B!* Fast playmakers at wide receiver are an Erickson specialty, and this year was no different. This is the one area in which ASU was able to defend the recruiting home turf, landing AZ sprint champ TJ Simpson ans uber-pedigree Kerry Taylor, both Arizona high school products. Simpson (we have a Samson and a Simpson!) was the state champ in the 100m, 200m, and 400m, and Scout lists his biggest strengths as "speed" and "downfield threat." If there's one thing ASU's offense lacked this season (sans any Rudy Carpenter consistency jokes) it was a downfield threat, and WR is a position where one can make an immeadiate impact. You may recognize Taylor's name being the son of NFL safety Keith Taylor and nephew of former 49ers WR John Taylor, which you may remember from some clutch catches as the winning touchdown in Super Bowl XXIII. More of that, please. Both guys commited early to Koetter, wavered when he was let go, and recommitted to Erickson. Credit where credit is due to Koetter for getting these guys to stay home.
* A running back was taken, although I'm not sure why. Oh wait, I remember the last time ASU was supposedly super-deep at RB. Where are those guys now? Jail, injured, jail, injured. Jarrell Woods was taken as JuCo transfer, and to paraphrase Coach Erickson he must be good if he's going to come in here and play right away, a nice shout out to Keegan Herring and Ryan Torain.
For more info on the new pledges check out the commit list at Scout.com. As always, hope springs eternal and GO DEVILS.
Labels: dirty icky recruiting, the new era, thug life
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
You'll be missed...in Eugene
Death threats. That's the Sooner nation I grew up with, know and love. You know why the doctor thought it would be bad for his health? These people.Oregon-Oklahoma official loses replay booth job
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The Pacific-10 Conference official who missed a call during the Oklahoma-Oregon game last season has been told he will not return to the job in that capacity.
Gordon Reise said he received death threats after a call on an onside kick near the end of the Sept. 16 game that the Ducks won 34-33. Televised replays showed the Sooners recovered that kick, but Reise did not see that angle in the replay booth.
Conference officials informed Reise last week that he was relieved of his replay duties. He will remain a Pac-10 technical assistant, making about $350 a game.
Reise, who took a leave of absence for the season after the game at Autzen Stadium, told The Oregonian newspaper that his doctors had advised him not to return to the job, anyway.
Oklahoma is OK, unless you're wearing green, yellow, black, diamond plating, pink, chartruse, or whatever else Phil Knight pukes up.* Swindle, Orson. The EDSBS Spectrum of Sketch: A Scale. EverydayShouldBeSaturday.com. February 5, 2007: University of Florida Press, Gainesvlle, FL.
Labels: anecdotal evidence, dirty icky recruiting, Pac-10 business
Monday, August 28, 2006
Defensive Outlook: contrary to popular opinion, people in the Pac-10 really do care about it
The 2006 ASU depth chart has been released and once again, it looks like the Devils' success will only go as far as the defense can carry them.
D-Line
Camp Tontozona took its toll on this unit, and far worse than anyone expected. Transfers Loren Howard and Trannell Morant were the supposed saviors at defensive end, but they are each listed as third-string on either side, a perplexing position considering their respective physical skills. Howard has been day-to-day for weeks now, which has many Sun Devil fanatics leary of his so-called "mild quad injury." Dirk Koetter doesn't typically like to release injury information to the public, and this is all starting to sound like Kyle Caldwell's situation a year ago. Everyone hung their hat on his play being the cure for an otherwise anemic D-line, but he was injured most of the year and probably never played at 100%. This coupled with today's news that Howard will be kept out of Thursday's NAU game and possibly next Saturday's Nevada game spells doom for the unit up front, but there is some hope.
Jordan Hill, a whipping boy for many Pac-10 OT's last year, is currently listed at 301 pounds, up 25 from last season. All of those off-season burritos should help him clog the middle against the run, especially since he probably won't see as many double teams with fellow buffet buster Mike Marquardt transferring in from BYU and lining up at the other DT spot. IF Caldwell stays healthy and Dexter can continue the consistency he has shown during Spring and Fall practices, the Devil D may be able to put together their best consistent pass rush since the days of ol' #48.
With the hope that Morant and Howard can contribute, opposing offenses may have their hands full. The injuries sustained thus far are definitely disappointing, but you can't mention the D-line and disappointment without giving mention to Shannon Jones and Brett Palmer. Both have been criticized (not just by me, but the coaches too) of being overweight, lazy, and lacking the work ethic required at the collegiate level. Neither have cracked the two deep once again this season, unless we're talking about the number of calzones at Greasy Tony's.
Linebackers
The flesh-eating tandem of Jamar Williams and Pat Tillman Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year Dale Robinson have departed for Sunday, and the void will be noticeable. The recruiting trail was hit hard this winter, and SIX LB's were signed, but the unfortunate part is that about half of them will be sorely needed. Contributing "baby-backers" include true frosh Gerald Munns, the projected starter at the SAM position and his backup, JUCO transfer Garrett Judah. Former LA Dodger Mike Nixon is named the co-starter at, appropriately enough, the MIKE position, and true frosh/Pat Tillman look-alike Travis Goethel is the #2 at the WILL position. He heh, "#2." Hopefully these new pledges won't get hazed
too hard by opposing Pac-10 offenses. The only thing I can look forward to is that the linebacker position requires instinct and speed more than anything, and those things are difficult to teach. Hopefully these kids have it, because if they don't it will be a long, long season.
Safety
ASU is so loaded at safety that Derron Ware has switched to linebacker. Huh?!
Ok, so it probably has more to do with the LB weakness, but the secondary has a little bit of talent to spare. Leading tackler Zach Catanese returns as the anchor of the secondary, but a lot of the buzz coming from camp has to do with batterymate Josh Barrett, who has exploded from an injury-filled 2005 to become the D's emotional leader. True freshman Ryan McFoy probably won't redshirt this year, so hopefully very soon he'll be known for something more than being the brother of a USC football player. Ooooo, do you think he knows Matt Leinart?!
Cornerback
Oh, now we've reached the dregs. The best player, Justin Tryon, has never played a D-1 down. The only word I've heard used for any of the other corners is inconsistent, whether it be Chris Baloney, Grant Cunkelton, or some other guys you've never heard of, like returning senior Keno Walter-White. Chad Green supposedly has the most talent but has spent plenty of time on the injury list over the course of his career; rumor around campus is that he is allergic to the weiht room. Looks like Rudy Burgess will have to save the day again, only this time on defense. The people's MVP
will be turned loose on defense, and if he has half of his game-changing ability at corner things might be all right in Tempe, but don't bet on it. It will take more than one Superman to save this secondary.
Summary
It can't be any worse than last year...can it?
Labels: anecdotal evidence, ASU alumni, dirty icky recruiting, Rudy Fucking Burgess
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Attn: Al Michaels, Darren Woodson, Jimmy Kimmel
Rudy Carpenter threw for 2,273 yards and 17 TDs in 2005.But Carpenter, who redshirted in 2004 after playing his senior season at Westlake High in Los Angeles, sparked the Aztecs to a 4-1 record in their last five games. He threw for 2,273 yards and 17 touchdowns and led the country in pass efficiency (175.01).
Jesus. Fucking. Christ.
Aztecs!? I realize that according to the four-letter network it's Notre Dame's world and the rest of us are just visitors, but there are teams west of the continental divide that aren't USC. A Hell Hog using the message board name redsoxfan85 claims to be an employee of espn and can't believe that there are roughly 15 people working there with ASU ties, "yet they continue to embarass our university on a daily basis." I get the feeling that the unnamed 15 don't include Mark Malone
or Darren Woodson. For those of you not familiar with this somewhat legitimate conspiracy theory, here are the basic examples all Devil fans have noticed:*When a story about ASU airs, roughly 50% of the time it involves either the 1994 point shaving scandal or Loren Wade.
*Of the non-illegal stories with reference to ASU, they manage to substitute the Sparky/ASU logo with a Wilbur/U of A logo. I'm not kidding or exaggerating here.
*Brent Musberger repeatedly referred to ASU "the wildcats" during lat year's Insight Bowl telecast, but I suppose that's par for the course with that senile bastard.
It's not like we're light years off the map; those punks filmed College Gameday in Tempe last season.
In unrelated business, the Sun Devils just landed top-notch hoops recruit James Harden for the 2007 class. He's supposedly a silky-smooth, 6'4" shooting guard that won MVP awards at two different AAU tournaments over the last few weeks(and a southpaw to boot). I realize fall camp is underway and my focus should be on the gridiron, but Devil fans haven't had much to celebrate basketball-wise in a looooong time. He's expected to be named a McDonald's All-American this season, which is like the high school all-star team. When you think about how many kids play high school ball, it's really mind boggling how good Harden could really be.
Wells Fargo Arena, seconds before tipoffLabels: ASU alumni, dirty icky recruiting, hatred for the 4-letter network, regular old crackers
