Billy Paultz Reconsidered

Florida International probably isn’t as bad as last year’s 0-12 looks. The Panthers won five games in 2006.
After last year’s week-seven brawl with Miami, 18 players were suspended. Head coach Don Strock quit two weeks later. Otherwise the last four games (Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana-Lafayette, Fla. Atlantic and Troy) were probably winnable.
FIU ran for less than 60 […]

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In yesterday’s entry about college powerhouses playing ultra-soft non-conference games, you may have noticed no Pac-10 teams were mentioned. That’s because Pac-10 teams don’t do that.
Part of it is that Pac-10 teams all play each other, so they only have three non-con games. Most conferences have four.
But that’s only part of it. UCLA plays BYU […]

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Been planning to write about Michael Vick and then about the college football national picture all week - and maybe I’ll still get to them tonight or tomorrow - but the Phillies keep burying the rest of the news.
Observations:
Notice how much value the Phillies got from their team speed in the Mets’ series- Shane Victorino taking […]

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The endless griping about soft college football schedules persists because it’s a way for fans of rival programs to bicker with each other about something longer-lasting than wins and losses. Whenever you hear or see the word “cupcake,” mentioned in this context (or creampuff; any baked good, really), get ready for some whining partisan nonsense.
Which […]

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A couple months ago I did a column about the Phillies that bemoaned the fact the Endy Chavez, once the 24th best player on the Phillies, had absurdly become a valuable piece for the Mets. This year’s Chavez has been Marlon Anderson.
So the Phillies are trying to finish off the Mets for the third straight […]

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Minneapolis is the second-coolest city in the Big Ten (to Chicago, which might be the coolest city in America), so I was disappointed when the Golden Gophers dropped off Penn State’s schedule this year and next.
Maybe I shouldn’t have been. I’ve driven over the bridge that collapsed horrifically there a few weeks back, and I’ve […]

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First things first: Is Joe going to run onto the field Saturday leading the team?
“I’ve got a new plan,” Paterno said during his first teleconference with the media of the new season today. “I’m gonna drop from a parachute.”
Jumping out of an airplane doesn’t scare Joe. Playing Florida International does. Honest.
“I’m probably as nervous as I’ve ever […]

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It’s getting to be that time of year, but today was  dense one by any standard:
1. Dubya “reluctantly accepts,” the resignation of his pathetically overmatched attorney general, continuing a glorious tradition of patronage and cronyism gone horrifically bad. (See today’s other post, headlined “Gonzo”)
2. Michael Vick formerly enters his plea, then makes a reasonably effective apology statement. […]

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In an interview with Time magazine, our President once said:
“If I were interviewing a guy for the job of president, I’d ask, How do you make decisions? How would you get unfiltered information? Would you surround yourself with hacks? Are you scared of smart people? I’ve seen the effect of the Oval Office on people. People are […]

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I was talking to LNP colleague Dave “Feel The” Byrne as we were leaving the office Saturday night about how compiling all the reams of pre-season football stuff has a ritualistic aspect to it, almost like going to mass- go to this place and say these things (questions to coaches and players), which are so obvious […]

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