NC State Preview: Just Another Brick in the Wall?

Hello All,

And here we are again, at the type of crossroads that has been the downfall of this team too many times over the past 8 years: the follow-up to an emotional win.

We all know the drill: after a draining win, a team can go one of two ways. It can carry over the confidence and momentum gained to its next battle; or, has been the case for the 'Canes too often, it can come out flat, unable to get back up to the level required to win in major college football on a weekly basis.

North Carolina State is a solid team with the ability to be great in spurts.

Sean Glennon is a solid quarterback that can be great when given time to scan the field.

If the defense continues to improve, and can get pressure on the pocket, then Glennon will force some bad throws and our increasingly effective secondary will have a chance to make some plays.

If not...well...see College, Boston.

The play that resonated most for me from the Georgia Tech game, in reflection, is the 4th and 1 stop in overtime.

Last year, the defense would have folded like a cheap suit in that situation.

This year, they fought and, in the end, won.

Is that toughness going to transcend the season for this team, or was it a flash in the pan moment for a young team?

That is the question we will see answered, and NC State is a good yardstick. Toughness doesn't just mean hitting hard, it means being able to tune out everything in the atmosphere and concentrate solely on the task at hand.

It means following up an emotional win with a strong performance, and not going through the first half motions.

That is the crossroads the 'Canes face, and the one they must master, before they have any chance of returning to elite status.
__ __

Last week, I went 7-1 overall, and 4-3 against the spread, to bring my season record up to 9-6 (7-7).

OHIO STATE over Michigan State (-3)

Something tells me Sparty is going to have a tough time scoring enough to win this game. Maybe its that they barely beat a Directional Michigan last week. Who ever knows?

aTm (-14.5)  over ARKIE

Arkansas is a dumpster fire but I highly doubt the Ags have the dogs to beat them by three scores with a freshman quarterback. John L's boys will cover. SMIIIIILLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

GEORGIA (-14) over Rocky Top

This is always one of my favorite games to watch. I love the uniforms, I have a soft spot for the schools, and Tyler Bray melting down in the 3rd quarter of a road SEC game is always must see television.

CLEMSON over Boston College (+9)

This is easy....

TEXAS over Oklahoma State (+2)

almost too easy....

OREGON STATE over 'Zona (-3)

Yup, there it is. He had to pick a road dog in the Pac 12. Guess you can't teach an old moron new tricks.

Clear eyes, full hearts, Go 'Canes.

Stunned Disbelief

Hello All,

I type this as a I sit at my computer in silence, smiling.

It is Monday morning, and yet I cannot get images of Mike James hugging his sister in that corner of the nation's oldest stadium out of my head.

This is what college football is at its finest: the kid that you want to be the frontman for your program (a Freddie Mercury for Football, if you will) is the hero in overtime, and he wants nothing more than to hug his sister afterward.

No line to sell, no brand to build, just the joy of a kid honoring his late mother after the biggest game of his career.

It was hard not to get a little dusty on Saturday afternoon.

You could see it on Al Golden's face after the game.

When a young team goes on the road and fights their ass off, it resonates on a level beyond football. It makes you proud to be a human being attached in some faroff way to what you just saw on the field.

THIS is what it is about.

Between the huge momentum swings of that game (Up 19, Down 17, 23 straight to win it) and the carnage it brought (it was hard to shake an image of a fallen Malcolm Lewis embracing, and being embraced by, Golden as his gnarled ankle was reset)...that game was exhausting to watch.

And euphoric.

I still can't figure out what my favorite part was.

Coming out gunning and taking the 19-0 lead?

James submitting a Pantheon performance?

(Sidenote: all the great individual performances result in a game being dubbed the "PLAYER NAME X" game...this is DEFINITELY going to be forever known as the Mike James Game)

The much embattled defense coming up with an all-time heroic goal line stand?

Or was it the post game celebration in the bleachers, where you forgot for a second that this was an away game and that these were football players and for a brief period these were just college kids interacting with their friends and family in jubilation?

It doesn't matter.

The whole thing was awesome.

Afterward, there was a rush to figure out if this was a "corner turner" or a "signature win" or a "program builder".

Normally I would be writing something about that, reading more in to it than I probably should.

However, I have done that too many times before. While we are constantly searching for context and deeper meaning, we often lose sight of exactly what college football is about.

It is about rooting for Mike James, the ultimate team player. The kid who lost the mother that raised him to a car crash...and skipped the funeral to play in the bowl game. The kid who is always smiling and just received a national award...for community service.

It is about your team not giving in, even when they give up 36 straight points to the nation's number one rushing offense, at their place.

It is about rising and falling with your team, and feeling like when they win, YOU win.

It was the players on the field who got it done and deserve the credit.

When a team that has been through so much submits a performance like that, the context doesn't matter.

WE won on Saturday. And THAT is all I care about this week.

Go Canes.

Georgia Tech Preview

Hello All,

This one is pretty simple: tackle the ball. Otherwise Miami will have a real tough time covering that 14 point spread.

OhandpleasegettheballtoDukeJohnson.

On to this week's picks. Last week, in true SOS fashion, I went 2-5 overall, 3-4 against the spread. I will say, however, that my USC reverse jinx worked.

Wisconsin (-18) over UTEP

All is not well in the Big Ten. And it is awesome.

USC (-17) over CAL

Cal has some matchup nightmares for a banged up USC secondary, primarily future former ex-Dolphin Keenan Allen (after Jeff Ireland drafts him in the first round and then trades him for two crappy draft picks two years later). Cal will give 'em hell for 3 quarters and cover.

Unprovoked shots at the Big Ten and Jeff Ireland...we can build on this.

LSU over Auburn (+21.5)

Kiehl Frazier is rumored to be the leader in the clubhouse for the male lead in Running Scared 2: Electric Bugaloo.

RUTGERS over Arkkie (-7.5)

SMMMMIIIILLLLLEEEEEEEE!

MICHIGAN over Notre Dame (-5)

And for the moment the current, potential future former Mrs. Dan Stein is still on board with these picks.

COLLIN KLEIN over Bob Stoops (-14)

First of all, this is a ridiculous line. Second of all, Oklahoma ALWAYS loses this kind of game. Third of all, I am secretly hoping for a K State national title this year to at least take some of the sauce out of that beatdown the other day.

Free Shoes (-14.5) over CLEMSON 

Clear eyes, full hearts, Go 'Canes.

Something Magic

Hello All,

Yesterday I was driving through Beverly Hills when the final score of the Orioles game dinged on my phone.

It was a 9-5 win. My phone started ringing, and I pulled over.

The game was important in and of itself, as the O's are chasing a division title and a sweep at the hands of the A's would have been very detrimental to the cause.

It was far more important, however, on a symbolic level; for the first time since I was 10, my beloved baseball team would win more games than it lost.

-- --

A lot has happened in these 14 years. I have grown from a child in to a (sometimes) adult. I was living in Knoxville, Tennessee, the last time the Orioles were any good. I have since attended high school in Wisconsin, college in Florida and my first salaried, full time job in Los Angeles.

I have watched Cal Ripken retire and Mike Mussina leave in free agency. I have watched David Segui, Albert Belle and Javy Lopez arrive in free agency; I have watched Bernie Williams, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Texeira (or however it is spelled) never arrive.

I watched Brady Anderson get ejected for arguing balls and strikes on the second pitch of a game.

I watched Todd Williams try to intentionally walk Miguel Cabrera with the winning run in scoring position...and give up the game winning hit anyway.

Exciting times in Baltimore.

I watched Belle try to prove all of the worst stereotypes about professional athletes.

I watched the Baltimore fans, at one time the proudest, most loyal in baseball, stage a walkout to try and prove a point to the dreaded ownership.

I have watched Adam Loewen and Sidney Ponson and Jerry Hairston and Matt Riley and dozens of other Top Prospects fizzle.

I, in short, have watched a lot of bullshit.

And so did my father, the proudest Orioles fan I know. A man who is nicknamed after the long-forgotten Gus Triandos, and whose man cave is complete with the newspaper covers from each Orioles World Series win.

And up until this summer, we had both lost hope.

-- --

The one thing baseball has left going for it, that perhaps no other sport can touch, is its ability to unite fathers and sons.

Why am I, a kid who has never lived anywhere NEAR Baltimore, a fan of a team that has been irrelevant for essentially my entire lifetime?

Because that is who my dad roots on. He grew up going to Orioles games and watching the Robinson Boys and Jim Palmer and Earl Weaver and everyone else.

They won a lot.

My dad left Baltimore, but the Orioles never left him.

My dad taught me the game, and it became my favorite. For a while I was pretty good at it. Then, just like everyone else, I wasn't so good anymore, and I became strictly a fan / occasional softball player.

Who did I pretend to be while we were in the yard, playing Pepper? Cal Ripken, of course.

He was the ultimate Oriole. He kept his head down and did his job; he was most famous for the very underrated skill of showing up every day to do his job.

Everything about Cal was utilitarian. His swing was not pretty; it was essentially him throwing the head of the bat at the ball. It was, however, constantly evolving as Ripken tweaked it seemingly daily; it was the perfect thing to show a kid who could not hit for power in a day and age when everyone wanted to be Mark McGwire or Sammy Sosa.

"You want to be good? Put the ball in play. If it is good enough for Cal, it is good enough for you."

Those were times when I was convinced Larry Bigbie and Hairston and Brian Roberts could lead us to the next championship.

Those were great days, and I saw the Orioles as my dad once had...with excitement.

--

Over the years, that excitement went away.

I became jaded by the Orioles, and then baseball in general. There was no hope. I kept waiting on the summer when we would make a run, and it never came. I tried to become more interested in other things. The old man and I went in to a denial of sorts; there would be entire summers when the Orioles never came up in conversation.

Why care when the organization doesn't seem to?

The excitement was gone.

-- --

It was my dad calling when I was driving through Beverly Hills. I stopped, like some hayseed, to talk to the old man about a baseball game.

We talked and talked and talked. We couldn't believe that Buck Showalter had just ended the streak with a  team featuring Nate McClouth, Chris Davis and Robert Andino.

We must have sounded like kids to anyone listening; me in my car, him on his porch.

Like I said, baseball brings together fathers and sons.

These past few weeks have been amazing. I love football to death, and no single sporting event can challenge a college football Saturday.

But there is no day-in and day-out experience like following your team on a pennant run.

For the first time since I was 10, I truly LIKE the players on the team. Everyone. I wake up every day excited for that night's game.

I honestly don't know how to act...I have never experienced this as an adult.

I do know this, however. This season, the Orioles are winners.

And you can bet your ass I am excited about it.

Ain't the beer cold!

A Rambling Prose

Hello All,

Last week, I was probably GIF worthy in my anger over the 'Canes performance. Remember the face Vontae Davis made on Hard Knocks when told he had been traded for two measly Jeff Ireland draft picks?

Yep, that's the face. Jeff Ireland, ladies and gentlemen.

Yeah, that was me for about two hours after the anger abated and the alcohol kicked in.

I have learned not to write in the heat of the moment, because emotions can get the best of me.

So all I have to say is this: that was a nutless performance by the whole team, coaches included.

I understand what the coaches are doing. They have a system they want to run, and the kids they are playing now are the same kids, by and large, that will be playing for the next three years. So the thought is to put them out there and have them run the system they will be running for years; after all the best way to learn is by doing.

It is not a bad system, and when run correctly the results are great.

The problem, though, is that this team isn't there yet and I am a fan.

The program I am a fan of is one that, at its soul, is elite. It is difficult to continually be watching a "developing" team, because I have been told we are "building" for like 7 years now.

So while I stand by the coaches and understand the need for a system, I also want to have a chance at winning. And when your team is getting crushed doing the same thing over and over again, I think you need to not do that thing anymore.

For instance, our defense is softer than Charmin right now. Our d-line gets put on skates on pretty much every play, and as a result the entire scheme breaks down. Huge holes are left open as the young players struggle to maintain discipline in their zone; the result is 84 points and over 1000 yards surrendered in 2 games against less-than-elite competition.

Why not blitz? Why not pull the corners up in to man coverage and press at the line?

If you're going to lose, why not inflict as much pressure as possible on the opponent while doing it? Try to force a mistake on their part.

If the Titanic is sinking, would you rather rearrange the deck furniture or try to plug the fucking hole?

And that is what I mean by nutless. My fear is that this current regime is sacrificing this season as a learning experience.

I do not expect miracles, and I, being a rather intelligent fella, understand that you are not going to win anything major when 50-something of your 80 guys are in their first or second year on campus. K-State was an example of what happens when an experienced team plays an inexperienced team: grown men push high schoolers around.

But the high schoolers we are playing do have their strengths. That did not need to be a 39 point loss...or at least as helpless a 39 point loss as it was.

It is a weird juxtaposition these days for me. On one hand, I have the Baltimore Orioles. They are undoubtedly less talented than everyone else; they are playing Wilson Betemit for fuck's sake. And yet every night someone steps up. They find ways to win. Offense is in the shitter? Screw it, some no name pitcher will step up and get it done. Pitching had a bad night? No worries, Mark Reynolds will unveil the Hammer of God.

They fight and they claw and they scrap and most importantly, they ADAPT.

I don't think the fight has gone out of the Hurricanes, but I do know this. This morning, I woke up completely confident the Orioles will find a way to win their 82nd game tonight.

I cannot say the same about the Hurricanes.

This week we play Bethune Cookman, and to be honest, I don't think it is going to be a blowout. I think it is going to be a really close game, especially if this team keeps up the same kind of defense that we have seen so far. The players are learning, but learning does not happen overnight. We will not wake up tomorrow and have a disciplined, zone defense.

Eventually, the Miami talent should overwhelm the BCC talent. But look around the landscape of college football and understand that the margin between D1A and D1AA (or whatever they're called now) has never been smaller. This BCC team will not be afraid of Miami. I have a bad feeling in my gut about this one.

It might be that I have grown accustomed to my team going in the tank these last few years. I certainly hope at least THAT part of the program is in the rearview, even if the on field collapses are not.

But after last week, for the first time, I don't know. I will just watch the game and yell and curse and carry on like any other week; gone are the days of undying confidence.

And that is kind of sad.

-- --

Back by popular demand, the picks:

'BAMA over Arkie (+20)

No Tyler Wilson, no fucking chance.

VIRGINIA over The Wreck (-10)

I have no clue how this line got this big but remember folks: the ACC is the biggest Tire Fire there is.

NORTHWESTERN (-3.5) over BC

NERDS!!!!!!!!!!

USC over Stanford (+9)

Blowout, because the weekend that I DON'T have to hear about USC and/or UCLA winning during this shitbag season seems far, far away.

Michigan State over NOTRE DAME (-6)

Because Labia...I mean Le'Veon...Bell is too much for those little Irish suck sticks.

OLE MISS (+10) over Texas

There is no logic here. Ole Miss is Ole Miss. But I have this gut feeling that Texas ain't that good...and going on the road in the SEC is not their cup of tea. UPSET SPECIAL!

TENNESSEE (-3) over UiF

Because the next time I pick Florida to cover as a road 'dog will be the first time. Go 'Canes.