Talking Football

A few things to go over as the NFL playoffs continue...

Congrats to Auburn, but...
First of all, congratulations go to Auburn in their national championship victory over Oregon, who have shown themselves as a force to be reckoned with for years to come.  I say this because while it was Cam Newton that won the national title for Auburn, it was a high tempo system devised by Chip Kelly that almost brought Auburn to their knees. 

So what have we learned from this?  While USC is still sulking from having been stripped of any win which had Reggie Bush on the field, including a national title over Ohio State, the SEC circled the wagons to ensure that Auburn could field their Heisman winning quarterback, Cam Newton.  USC, now in the good hands of former Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin, is on probation, and was banned from any bowl game, while the NCAA found a gray area that gave Cam Newton a clean slate.  To me the whole thing still stinks and the NCAA still haven't concluded their investigation.  The other thing that stinks are the over-recruiting practices of the SEC universities, a system that tends to chew players up and spit them into lower echelon college transfers.  The recruiting practices of these colleges and their conference needs to be reformed to allow the TCU's, the Nevadas and even the Boise States a fool's chance to compete.

Rematches Baby!
The NFL playoffs are heating up, especially in the AFC as division rivals are pitted in both divisional rounds.  The Steelers-Ravens match-ups have been the stuff of legends lately and this one is sure not to disappoint.  Bring your raincoats, kids, because the mud will be flying in this one!  And then there's a war brewing in Foxboro, where the Patriots are to host the Jets, the NFL's enigma.  One week the Jets are great and the next week, they suck.  So which Jets team is to show up?  I'm hoping for the one that wipes the smug look off of Tom Brady's face.  The Falcons will host the Packers and whatever version of the Chicago Bears that shows up will host the Seahawks.  The AFC match-ups are definitely the ones to watch. 

Ivor Wynne Stadium version 2.0
It looks like a new version is to be built over the old one.  After they tear the original down, they will begin building the new one.  Questions still remain, such as parking!!!  Will they plan a parking lot underneath the stadium, or build a parkade at Scott Park or build it over Brian Timmis?  Either way, the city should consider getting David Braley's temporary stadium to tide us over.

So there we have it.  Three stories of football all of them far from over!