College Football

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't been here a lot lately, but now a new post, surrounding all of college football. First off, Bobby Bowden's forced retirement. Granted, Florida State University and Bowden haven't done all that well since the 2000 season, going only 74-38, compared to 241-59-4 in his previous 25 at the school. It's been even worse since the heartbreaking 26-23 loss to Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions in the 2005 Orange Bowl, as FSU has only gone 29-22 since then. There are a lot of factors to go into the decline, but the main reasons are that Florida and Miami have gotten better, as has the entire ACC. But, Bowden has been one of the best head coaches in college football since he started coaching at Howard University in 1959. To be the second winnigest coach of all time says something. That, along with finishing in the top 5 in the Associated Press poll every year from 1987-2000. Also, Bowden took a program in FSU which really was nothing and turned it into a powerhouse. Really, the only success that FSU had before Bowden arrived was from 1960-70 and from 1948-52.
The real thing which is bothersome with Bowden is that he was basically forced into retirement, instead of letting him go out the way he wanted to go out, the way he should have gone. Even though they have been mediocre, respect the man, just as PSU has with Joe Pa. FSU owes it to Bowden to let him go out on his own terms. Hats off to the Gator Bowl though, for making his last game as head coach be against West Virginia, the team he coached prior to FSU. Bowden will be missed nationally and espescially in the FSU community. Bowden won his two national titles, in '92 and in '99. But, only one of them was legit, the '99 one, against Virginia Tech in the BCS. The '92 won was fraudulent, as they lost to Notre Dame, but at the end of the season, it was FSU who was "National champs". But, then again, the entire system back before the BCS was fraudulent, look at -94 too, when Penn St. went undefeated and didn't even get a share of the title. There are other times, just those are the two that resonate with myself. Jimbo Fisher has quite a job as he takes over for a legend. FSU and ND have gone from being national powerhouses where they can recruit anyone in the country to being mediocre and relying upon tradition to get recruits. When that just doesn't cut it anymore to recruits, which is why ND fired Charlie Weis, along with other reasons.
Those other reasons include that this was supposed to be the year that ND went back to a BCS bowl and been back in contention after two very unlike ND years, with reacord of 7-6 and 3-9. This year, the offense definitely did their part, scoring at least 30 points in 7 of their 12 games. But, the defense also let the team down, as the offense led by Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate who will go into the NFL early, by letting go of late leads in 5 of the 12 games. Granted, the Irish could very well be worse than the 6-6 record, but it also could be much better. Notre Dame needs to put their heads into thinking of the Gator Bowl or higher each year, and not the national title, as there are about 15-20 other teams who are better than the Irish right now. The Irish also need to find a coach with head coaching experience, and who is defensively minded, as defense wins, not offense. Granted, offense is much better to watch, but defense gets the wins. Take someonle like Bob or Mike Stoops, Bo Pelini, Jim Harbaugh, or someone else, not Brian Kelly, who's offense has had to keep up with each opponent this season.
Then, there is Mark Mangino, also forced into resigning, due to accusations that he verbally abused players. This is not what a head coach is supposed to do at a university. A head coach is supposed to be more of a father figure, as they go and keep the kids and teach life, football, and academic lessons at the school, which is why the family helped pick the school of choice. Mangino was right to step down then, as he has had multiple accusations and controversies. But, he will find another job someplace else, as this is America, a nation full of second chances.
A second chance is exactly what Tiger Woods needs right now from the American public then as well, after his accident. We still don't know all of the details of that accident, but we do know that Tiger has had multiple affairs, and he needs his wife Elin, and Jesper Parnevik, the golfer who set up Tiger and Elin, to forgive him, as Christ has forgiven us. Tiger isn't perfect, only Jesus is. As Tiger is also human, even though it'd be hard to believe he wasn't through his golf career and all of his endorsements. Tiger will have ample time to lay low, as he normally doesn't start gearing up for the Masters until late January. Hopefully everything can be worked out with him, and he can start making the uphill climb back into the arms of the American public.
Finally, the BCS. As another year goes by where there are multiple teams who deserve a chance at the national title at the end of the season, there is another call for a national playoff. But, face it, this is the best thing that we have as college football fans. The only complaint I have abou tthis yuear though is that TCU-Boise St. matchup in the Fiesta Bowl. I want to see the non AQ teams face AQ teams to prove they belong in the BCS. Here's what would've been better matchups: Boise St-Iowa or Penn St. and TCU-Florida/GT/Cincy. That would've been a lot more intriguing to me anyway. But, look forward in about 2 weeks as myself and thefroshfifteen.blogspot.com face-off in a friendly Bowl Pick 'em.