"My job description is to win football games"

After the dust has settled on the Jay Cutler trade, it seems to be a good trade for both Bears fans and Bronco fans.  

The Bears have been looking for decades for a franchise quarterback.  A quarterback who can get the ball down the field in a hurry and put up points in a hurry.  Cutler is that guy!  The Bears have meandered with mediocrity at the signal caller position.  One of those "mediocre" quarterbacks was Kyle Orton.  I do believe that Cutler will miss the tremendous receiving corps that he enjoyed in Denver.  The combination of Eddie Royal and Brandon Marshall only slightly overshadows the tandem of Rashied Davis and Brandon Rideau (seriously).  

In Broncoland, the fans are uneasy.  The new kid, Josh McDaniels, is doing things very differently than Coach Shanahan.  I am not going to hide the fact that I am a die hard Bronco fan, and this transition makes me nervous.  However, I am incredibly happy that Jay Cutler is long gone!  Yes, his talent is rarely seen in the NFL.  However, he completely lacks leadership and the intangibles that it takes to play quarterback.  Cutler was called the "next Elway" by Mike Shanahan.  However, that was a terrible comparison.  The only similarity was the prodigious arm strength that both quarterbacks possess.  Elway could lead his team.  Cutler was not able to lead his team in a positive direction.  He could not get over the hump, so to speak.  His record was poor, especially at home!  Bronco fans will be very forgiving to Orton.  I think we'll like Kyle Orton, as he will not turn the ball over and the players will love him.  Check out what he wanted to when he first got to Denver.  We want a winning football team in Denver and Orton or Mark Sanchez (if we trade up to pick him) will be the answer.  Jay Cutler was the problem.  Thank you Pat Bowlen.

Bye Bye Billie

Just yesterday, the University of Kentucky was saying that they would take their time to evaluate Coach Gillespie's tenure at UK before making any decisions about his future in Lexington.  Today, he's gone!  Mark Story has a great story about who might fill his shoes.

Without a doubt, UK fans will be pushing for Billy Donovan or John Calipari.  Both of those would be outstanding in Kentucky blue.  It seems that Donovan might be a better fit.  He would love to get to a real basketball school.  Calipari completely controls his sad conference and certainly gets paid handsomely.   Travis Ford is a hot coach right now and Izzo may have run the course in East Lansing.  Lots of interesting names out there, especially when it is one of the top basketball schools in the nation.  How about Jeff Capel?

I'm guessing it won't be Capel or Ford.  Kentucky just got burned on former Big 12 coaches.  Look for Billy Donovan to be the guy!

Here are the candidates!

Here are the basketball schools in order:

1. North Carolina

2. Kentucky

3. Kansas

4.  UCLA

5.  Duke

Kentucky's biggest fan, Ashley Judd, could be their best recruiter!

Bo Don't Know

Its very interesting!  The Virginia Tech Hokies came to Lincoln with a very average, young football team.  They grew up over the course of 4 quarters.  Never did the game "feel" in doubt.  The Hokies were toying with the Huskers.  The Husker defense would bow its neck every time the Hokie offense got close to the endzone, but the Hokies were better.  More disturbingly, the Husker offense cannot mount any sort of rushing offense.  The Huskers will not beat a substantial team without being able to run the football.  Tom Shatel in the Omaha World Herald does a tremendous job of breaking down this loss in his column.  On to other matters.  Coach Pelini's tirade was to be expected, but not condoned.  A coach must be more calculating.  In most cases, a coach that goads the referees into an unsportsmanlike penalty is trying to motivate his team.  Pelini showed his lack of maturity and experience.  His penalty did not cost the Huskers a victory, but it certainly brings his temper into play for the rest of the season.  Wait until the Huskers play a "good" team.  What type of behavior can we expect when the Huskers hit the road against a Big 12 opponent?  Regardless, we knew that we were getting this from Pelini when he was hired.  There are reasons why he hadn't been a head coach.  His mentors, including Les Miles, would have never exhibited this type of behavior.  I do appreciate his fiery disposition and it has rubbed off on the players.  However, it might cost the Big Red a game in the future.

Notre Dame vs. Cal Poly

What an interesting day in South Bend, Indiana!  Can Notre Dame fans continue to be satisfied with the inept team that is put on the field every season?  Since Brady Quinn left Notre Dame for the NFL, this team has been floundering.  San Diego State's coach, Chuck Long, has some very interesting quotes at the conclusion of this game.  Coach Long had to ponder about which team was better, Notre Dame or Cal Poly.  I wonder how many 5 star, blue chip recruits are playing at Cal Poly.  I took a peek at Cal Poly's 2008 recruiting list.  I don't see too many blue chippers, other than the #115th ranked tight end in the country, Karl Winkelman.  If you just want to look at tight ends, Notre Dame recruited and signed the 4th and 15th best tight ends in the country.  This isn't really about tight ends, Cal Poly, or San Diego State.  The story should be Coach Charlie Weis.  According to the Coaches Hot Seat Ranking, Charlie Tuna is #29.  I imagine when these rankings are updated, he will be much closer to the top of the list.  Playing in South Bend should at least give you 14 points, especially against a poor team.  Enough.  Michigan comes to town next Saturday.  Even if Notre Dame wins, Michigan still has the cutest cheerleaders.

Darrell "Five Star" Scott

Football fans in Boulder, Colorado may be in for a real treat as the "Darrell Scott Era" is about to begin.  The Boulder Daily Camera has a great interview with incoming freshman and a very good review of his summer.  Read the article closely as it does raise some red flags.  It mentions that Scott has occasionally been late for meetings.  How will "Hawk Love" feel about Scott's tardiness?  No big deal...if he turns into the stud that most predict for him.

In neighboring Oklahoma, Coach Bob Stoops has made a tough decision.  He has kicked Josh Jarboe off the Sooner football team.  Here's a link to the Josh Jarboe video.  The video reminds me of a very bad SNL skit.  I couldn't believe what I was watching!  Coach Stoops has been criticized for taking too long to boot Jarboe off the team.  Dave Sittler of the Tulsa World has an interesting take on why Stoops may have hesitated in kicking this young man off the team...and it isn't just because he was rated as the 13th best player in the nation!

Hawk's Blog

CU coach, Dan Hawkins, is kind of known as a free spirit.  I came across his blog and I was pleasantly surprised at what I found.  He doesn't update it very often, but I was drawn to his parenting tips.  His kids have all graduated from high school and moved on to college, so this seems to be very reflective on his part.  There are 33 tips and they are incredibly random.  Some of them are humorous and some are very serious, but they show his true spirit.  He seems like a real guy, who isn't interested in what others feel about him.  I can see why he is such a good recruiter.  Parents and players really like this coach.  In addition, Coach Hawkins is building a program that will be good for years.  He doesn't take short cuts to success.  He is “doing it” the right way! 

Click on Hawk's Blog.

NCAA Hypocrisy

The fantasy football world is changing greatly.  CBS has recently announced that they will feature a college football fantasy game.  In this past, there have been lame attempts at college fantasy football.  However, according to this Wall Street Journal story, CBS Sportsline will use real players from NCAA BCS conference schools.

A couple of interesting items that seem to be overlooked.  The NCAA doesn't want other private entities to make a profit off of "their" amateur football players.  However, they have no problem making ludicrous amounts of money for themselves off of these young men.  In addition, CBS has such a sweet deal with the NCAA for men's basketball, it is ironic that they are flying in the face of this mammoth organization on this particular venture.  CBS is well aware of the money they can make through web advertising to fantasy football junkies.