*If Army beats Navy on Dec. 12, it will play in the EagleBank Bowl. If Navy wins, UCLA will accept the bid.

Something many athletes never acquire

1. Chicago Cubs outfielder Andre Dawson on being a role model: “I wan’ all dem kids to do what I do, to look up to me. I wan’ all the kids to copulate me.”
2. New Orleans Saint RB George Rogers when asked about the upcoming season: “I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first.”
3. And, upon hearing Joe Jacobi of the ‘Skin’s say: “I’d run over my own mother to win the Super Bowl,” Matt Millen of the Raiders said: “To win, I’d run over Joe’s Mom, too.”
4. Torrin Polk, University of Houston receiver, on his coach, John Jenkins: “He treats us like men. He lets us wear earrings.”
5. Football commentator and former player Joe Theismann: “Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein.”
6. Senior basketball player at the University of Pittsburgh : “I’m going to graduate on time, no matter how long it takes.” (Now that is beautiful!)
7. Bill Peterson, a Florida State football coach: “You guys line up alphabetically by height.” And, “You guys pair up in groups of three, and then line up in a circle.”
8. Boxing promoter Dan Duva on Mike Tyson going to prison: “Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter? He went to prison for three years, not Princeton.”
9. Stu Grimson, Chicago Blackhawks left wing, explaining why he keeps a color photo of himself above his locker: “That’s so when I forget how to spell my name, I can still find my clothes.”
10. Lou Duva, veteran boxing trainer, on the Spartan training regime of heavyweight Andrew Golota: “He’s a guy who gets up at six o’clock in the morning, regardless of what time it is.”
11. Chuck Nevitt , North Carolina State basketball player, explaining to Coach Jim Valvano why he appeared nervous at practice: “My sister’s expecting a baby, and I don’t know if I’m going to be an uncle or an aunt.” (I wonder if his IQ ever hit room temperature in January.)
12. Frank Layden , Utah Jazz president, on a former player: “I told him, ‘Son, what is it with you? Is it ignorance or apathy?’ He said, ‘Coach, I don’t know and I don’t care.’”
13. Shelby Metcalf, basketball coach at Texas A&M, recounting what he told a player who received four F’s and one D: “Son, looks to me like you’re spending too much time on one subject.”
14. In the words of NC State great Charles Shackelford, “I can go to my left or right, I am amphibious.”
15. Amarillo High School and Oiler coach Bum Phillips when asked by Bob Costas why he takes his wife on all the road trips, Phillips responded: “Because she is too damn ugly to kiss good-bye.”

5. Waterboy
This one is very different from most sports movies. Nothing inspirational. No resulting motivation. Not based on a true story. Actually, nothing of value except for the fact that I laughed until I cried. This may not have been because the movie was all that funny; it could have simply been the fact that we had a waterboy much like Adam Sandler’s character on our high school football team and I am sure that his mom is who the movie mother was modeled after. You can probably think of a mother-son relationship like this one somewhere in your past too.

4. Friday Night Lights
Until 2007, I had not attended a high school football game since my last appearance on the field in 1991. I regularly made fun of all the people who were so caught up in this scene. But a father will do a lot of things for his children that he would otherwise avoid like the plague; so, when my oldest daughter asked me to take her to a Dobyns Bennett HS football game where her friends would be. I loved it. In fact, I attended every home game that season. Since then, I have even traveled across the state to watch the hometown boys in action. Now I get it and Friday Night Lights captures it well. Go Indians!

3. Rudy
Though I am nowhere close to being a Notre Dame fan I am a big fan of classic football programs. This motivated me to watch the movie. By the end, I found myself cheering for a team that I generally pull against on Saturdays. Completely inspirational and worth seeing multiple times.

2. Remember the Titans
If Rudy is inspirational, this movie was inspirational on steroids. Racial issues are faced openly and directly. Amazingly, this was accomplished without sacrifice to the smash-mouth football that fans adore. Great, great movie!

1. The Program
I don’t believe there is another movie critic in the world who would put this film in the #1 spot on this list. But, for me, The Program is the greatest football movie of all time.

“Place at the table”
“Kill ‘em all, let the paramedics sort ‘em out”
“Let’s put the women and children to bed and go lookin’ for dinner boys”

I was in the throes of teenage rebellion when this movie came out. I loved everything about it. My friends and I lived out the scenes of this movie in real life over and over again (including the adrenaline rushing street death wish clip deleted after opening weekend). I know that this movie didn’t inspire me to become a better person, but it sure did inspire many of the memories created during my teen years. For that, I am thankful – thankful for the memories and thankful that I survived to tell about them. Let’s just hope my children don’t follow in their father’s footsteps.

Sam Bradford

Many football fans were delightfully surprised when the likely #1 NFL draft pick, Sam Bradford, decided to put professional football on hold to return for another season. We soon realized that standout teammates Jermaine Gresham, Gerald McCoy and Trent Williams had made the same decision. The prospect of a NCAA Championship was clearly more enticing to these Sooners than the millions that could be attained. At that time, I wondered what choice I would have advised my son to take if he were faced with a similar decision. I suppose that when a person begins to make millions doesn’t really matter, but a National Championship is a very elusive opportunity that would be very difficult to pass up. Would it have been worth it? – in this case, we will never know.

Sam Bradford’s national title hopes for this season have been dashed. Most experts believe he will not play again this season. So now, the young QB faces the same decision as last year, but for totally different reasons. To play college football or not to play college football, that is the question. Now we find Sam weighing the possibility of not even going in the first round of the 2010 draft. On the other hand, he could come back for one final collegiate season to try and reestablish the professional value he had attained only 10 months ago. Well, I will offer some unsolicited advice –

Sam, go pro. Playing another year with OK may go well and get you back to the top. But playing a great first year in the NFL, regardless of where you are drafted, will attain you the same or even greater value for future NFL contracts. Further, the potential of another injury during your senior season could end your NFL hopes and dreams whereas an injury in the NFL still gains the tremendous benefits of your contract term. Regardless of your decision, we wish only the best for you and look forward to watching you play again – wherever that may be.

The Pig

Over the years, we have seen many players faced with the option of coming back for another season of NCAA football or moving on to the NFL. As college football fans we often cheer when the choice is made to stick it out for the college years. Often, we act like this is not only the best choice for the fans, but that it is a good choice for the student as well. We talk about the integrity to finish what you start, keeping commitments, putting acedemics first and on and on. Many were happy to see Peyton stick around. Many cheered when Tebow and Bradford came back this season. But speaking of Bradford…

Now that he has been injured and hopes of a championship season are all but gone, do we really believe that he made the best choice? I am personally of the mind that so very few have what it takes to play in the NFL that it may actually be the wise choice to make that jump when you can. Why risk injury or a weak performance during that last year? I know that it is possible to show yourself to be worth even more money at the professional level by having a stellar senior year; but, are the odds in your favor? It appears to me that those who come back are playing the lottery with their lives.

Many articles have been written in the past stating that the NFL can wait. I say that college can wait. Many NFL players will never make use of their collegiate acedemics. And, if you do need it later in life, you can always go back and finish college.

Let me know what you think.

• 10 – “Football is, after all, a wonderful way to get rid of your aggressions without going to jail for it.”  – Heywood Hale Brown
• 9 – “If lessons are learned in defeat, our team is getting a great education.” - Murray Warmath, Minnesota
• 8 – “I feel like I’m the best, but you’re not going to get me to say that.” - Jerry Rice
• 7 - “Winning isn’t everything, but it beats anything that comes in second.” - Paul “Bear” Bryant
• 6 – “Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that.” - Bill Shankly
• 5 – “Show me a good and gracious loser, and I’ll show you a failure.” - Knute Rockne, Notre Dame
• 4 – “We didn’t tackle well today but we made up for it by not blocking.” - John McKay, USC
• 3 – “The road to Easy Street goes through the sewer.” – John Madden
• 2 – “The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it.” – Lou Holtz, Arkansas
• 1 – “There’s nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you.” - Woody Hayes, Ohio State

Honorable Mentions:

•  “After you retire, there’s only one big event left….and I ain’t ready for that.” - Bobby Bowden, Florida State
• “If you’re mad at your kid, you can either raise him to be a nose tackle or send him out to play on the freeway.  It’s about the same.” – Bob Golic
• “Most football teams are temperamental. That’s 90% temper and 10% mental.” – Doug Plank
• “Football is not a contact sport-it is a collision sport. Dancing is a contact sport.” - Duffy Daugherty, Michigan State
• “I’ve found that prayers work best when you have big players.” - Knute Rockne, Notre Dame
• “Gentlemen, it is better to have died a small boy than to fumble this football” - John Heisman

Have others you’d like to see added to this list? Send me a comment.

The Pig

The Pig

What an exciting start to NCAA football and Pig’s Picks. It all came down to the final play of the final game of the week. Our leader had picked Florida State. The second place player had picked Miami. The predictions made by all others on the Pig’s Picks leader-board combined with the 34 (FSU) and 38 (Miami) score meant that only our 2 Pig’s Picks leaders still had a shot at coming out on top.

FSU is on Miami’s 2 yard line with 5 seconds left on the clock. A touchdown wins the game for FSU and keeps our Pig’s Picks leader out front. Otherwise, Miami holds on and #2 on the Pig’s Picks leader-board slides in for the win.

FSU Quarterback, Ponder, takes the snap, rolls out to his right, finds an open man in the end zone and fires for the win. The ball is low, but it looks like FSU makes the grab for a game winning touchdown…

…until the officials run in with arms extended and waiving parallel to the surface – incomplete! The ball had touched the ground! With time expired, Miami holds on and Pig’s Picks experiences the final lead change of opening weekend for a last second win.

What a game(s)!

Get in on next weekend’s action today by making your picks here.

The Pig