Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Texas: Screwed vs. Ohio St?

Now THIS is some big-game intrigue: We'll see what Mack Brown is made of, now that he's a "championship coach." There's no reason in the world a player arrested on drug and weapons charges ("even" a misdemeanor) should be allowed to play in the next week's game.

Aha, but this is Texas, and they are hosting a "de facto" national championship game vs. Ohio State next Saturday. And the player in question is a starting senior CB whose assignment was likely to have been covering OSU stud Ted Ginn.

Suspending Tarrell Brown is the right thing to do -- but it could cost UT a shot at the national title. What would YOU do? What if it was YOUR key player on YOUR favorite team in YOUR most important game of the year?

(I suppose that UT could find a justification to play him this weekend – "he hasn't been convicted yet, blah blah blah" – and take their pound of flesh later in the season, when the opponent isn't, say, their biggest rival for the BCS title game. Too cynical?)

More CFB: NCAA clock-killing works? Average game times were down 17 minutes (3:03 vs. 3:20), a function of the new timing rules. Some coaches (most notably, my boy Urban Meyer) hate it, but I have little sympathy: If a coach wants to have more possessions (or to run more plays), he can simply call plays faster, can't he?

-- D.S.

13 comments:

Roge said...

Great question. It's so hard to answer. I would love to think I would suspend the player, regardless of what role he plays on the team. I think back to Jim Tressel suspending Troy Smith for a BOWL GAME two years ago. The Buckeyes won the game easily against Oklahoma State, but if you remember, Troy Smith was also suspended for the first game of the NEXT season. This led to him splitting time with Justin Zwick during the Texas game last year and probably cost the Buckeyes the game.

I guess we'll see what kind of person Mack Brown is by how he handles this situation. Remember that Smith took $500 from a booster, he did not committ any crime outside NCAA rules and he was suspended. I think Brown has to suspend the players in question since they have been arrested. If it was an investigation, that's a different story. Sorry Texas fans, but it's the right thing to do.

Anonymous said...

The new rule that sucks is the replay rule...when practically every call can be reviewed it kills the flow of the game.

They need to go NFL style and only review things on a coaches challenge and during the last 2 mins of each half.

Jake C said...

Simple answer...and it's called integrity. I, for one, wouldn't even think twice before suspending the player. I am honestly tired of athletes (college and pro) getting special favor in these situations. Continually, players are given slaps on the wrist, where you or I would be stomped on with no question.

That is why I have more respect for Coker after this weekend. He made the right choice and did so before having to be asked.

As for the time change in the games...agreed. If you don't like it, get the plays called faster and your team to the line quicker. You don't have these stoppage of the clocks in the NFL for 1st downs, etc., so get used to it now.

Anonymous said...

I'm all for shortening the college game, but the new rule to restart the clock after change of possession is just goofy. Not stopping the clock after first down, or restarting after out-of-bounds plays, makes much more sense to me.

Anonymous said...

The guy got arrested...enough said. If Mack plays him, he'll lose so much respect. Would/can the NCAA step in?

GO BUCKEYES!!!

Anonymous said...

As an Ohio State fan, I hope he doesn't play, but I wouldn't be surprised if he does. Integrity is generally subservient to W and L.

Anonymous said...

dan, i've been reading you for years and i'm really glad that you've started doing this blog, but there's a question i've been meaning to ask for a long time: did your hatred of all things georgia start at the same time as your love for all things florida, when mrs. quickie arrived?

Anonymous said...

What, no FSU/UM reaction? That was a HUGE game, that possibly involved the top 2 defenses in the country, and you skip it to talk about next week. Come on, Dan, please take off the gator blinders for a minute.

Roge said...

FSU/Miami game...

Two great defenses or two pathetic offenses? The only good block I saw all game was the Miami TD run in the first half and even that was helped by a complete whiff on a tackle by the FSU free safety.

I am not saying their defenses are not good, but I am questioning the offenses of both schools. Just my two cents.

Anonymous said...

I forsee Mack Brown pulling the 'innocent until proven guilty' routine to let Brown play vs OSU. If Texas wins because of it, I can only hope the karma boomerang smacks UT in the back of the head and ruins their NC hopes. I'd hate to see the lynchmob against Tressel if this had happened to an Ohio State player.

Brien said...

It's interesting how different sports and different crimes are handled.

When Phillies pitcher Brett Myers was caught, beating his wife on a Boston street, the Phillies were villified for allowing Myers to make his scheduled start the next day. The Phils had also used the "he's innocent until proven guilty" routine.

But ... it was domestic abuse, and it was held to a "higher" standard by the Phils. Not saying that wife-beating isn't a serious crime (it is), but crime is crime ... and if arrested, a player should be suspended.

In football, however, it sometimes takes more than even the dreaded "domestic violence" charge to get a player taken out of the lineup. And football coaches are loathe to lose a player for one game, because you only play a handful.

It will be interesting to see what Mack Brown does. I think he should suspend the player, not because the player is definitely guilty as charged (because he's not, yet), but because it sends the message to the team ... hang out with the wrong people, in the wrong place, and the wrong time, carry a gun, or some weed ... and you will not be playing for my team.

Sadly, Brown will probably opt to do nothing because of the magnitude of the game ... and he will inadvertently send the message to his players that anything goes as long as a national championship is on the line.

Brien

Anonymous said...

I have been "bleeding orange" for most of my 52 years and if Mack doesn't suspend the player then I will lose a great deal of the respect he's earned over the last few years. It does not matter whether it's a "de facto championship game" or a non-conference laugher. The young man was arrested for marijuana possession and a firearms charge. B not suspending hi it will send a VERY bad message to current players and future recruits.

Anonymous said...

The new time-keeping rules deserve a much more extensive debate, not just to be buried at the end of yet another "defending national champ has players with questionable character!!!" commentary. (Full disclosure: I'm a lifelong Nebraska fan who suffered major agita with the Lawrence Phillips/Jason Peter/Christian Peter" debacles of the '90s.)

The fact of the matter is, college football is an amazing product that people can't get enough of. What are the suits thinking? "Let's give people less of the amazing product they can't get enough of?" Seems to be the main foreseeable consequence of destroying the bowl system to implement a playoff, too.