Tuesday, May 20, 2008

WOLVERINES!

The NFL owners opted out of their CBA this morning. No big surprise there, but the fact the vote was unanimous probably caught some people off guard. Maybe it was a PR thing, but the message of a unified front is a clear one. The NFL has been the one league smart enough not to screw up a great thing with a labor related PR disaster in the last quarter century. I find it hard to believe that they won't figure out a way to work this thing out. The key date is now March of next year. If we actually see an uncapped season in 2010 while players know they might not have any checks at all for 2011, it's going to be a remarkable spectacle to watch unfold.

An NFL labor stoppage would probably mean even more money for college football. In case anyone wasn't clear on how big a business the sport is these days, Vanderbilt announced it's going to spend 50 million on facilities improvements, largely on their football stadium. That's the same high school looking place Commodore fans don't fill regularly right now. Applying the Field of Dreams logic of "if we build it, recruits will come", they're pouring the big bucks in anyway.

Preston Parker gets two games. The punishment is about right, but the two 1-AA opening games FSU's using to get around their NCAA academic suspensions make it completely meaningless.

If you listened to the show, you know I'm a giant skeptic of the recruiting hysteria surrounding big time prospects. I know it's not going away anytime soon, but it troubles me how seriously some people treat the decisions of high school kids. How do you get so off the rails mentally that you think this kind of thing is appropriate? From the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel's Hurricanes blog interview with incoming Miami player C.J. Holton...

SR: What were you hearing after made you made the switch, from FSU fans and the locals in Crawfordville, Fla.?
CJH: Well, a bunch of people were kind of shocked. I got it from a lot of people. I got a bunch of hate mail, just people talking crazy stuff. One dude told me before I leave that I better make sure to get a (bulletproof) vest. That was the craziest thing I heard.

If anyone you know ever ponders sending a kid hate mail or threats because the young man went to a different school than the one they root for, please get that person mental help.

It's been well established for a while that Hollywood is out of new ideas, but a Red Dawn remake? Come on!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Heath..we miss you in Gainesville. Hope you can make it back here one day. Really appreciated what you brought to the sports airwaves..

Matt

cramela said...

FSU's 2 opening opponents have the 102nd and 113th ranked rushing defense in 1/AA out of 116 teams. Western Carolina gave up 246.1 yards a game rushing last year. This suspension just give Parker time to rest and allows the Seminoles to develop some young running backs and back-ups.