Tag Archives: College football

5 Reasons NIU will Lose to Florida State

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I have witnessed or listened to some of the greatest sport upsets in history. Muhammad Ali knocking out George Foreman in 1974 comes to mind, Villanova topping Georgetown to win 1985 NCAA championship, 1987 Marvelously Marvin Hagler robbery by the hands of Sugar Ray Leonard, and Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson for the heavyweight championship in 1990. Sadly, in three out of the four sporting events, I got it wrong and it was a bitter pill to swallow. What went wrong? Well, like the village sport idiot, I had tunnel vision and nominated selections with my heart. In other words, ‘fan’ addiction subsequently caused an overdosed of arrogance. For that reason, I lost and had to eat crow cobbler for years. Since those events, I rarely forecast sport contests.

It takes a lot for me to watch sport. Yes, it is true; I am not a rabid sport fan. Do not get me wrong, I have favorites (Lakers, Yankees) but I conceptualize smartly their realities. For example, the Lakers suck right now. I say this as a Laker’s follower but more about being a realist, they will not the win championship this year. On the other hand, the Northern Illinois University’ fans cannot see the goal line because of the field. I am talking about the rabid NIU’ fans who believe their Huskies will beat Florida State in the Orange Bowl, January 1, 2013. I live in DeKalb, Illinois, teach, and attend NIU. Yet, I am not a NIU sport fan nor blinded with enthusiasm that they are in the Orange Bowl. With that said, they will not win and they do not belong in the game. Kirk Herbstreit was correct in declaring NIU as a fluke and not worthy of the Orange Bowl’s invitation.

I was getting my pump groove (i.e. dancing) on at a party and a few (NIU) fellows wanted8399584 to have a word with me about my Facebook forecast earlier that day (i.e., “NIU football does not belong in the Orange Bowl.”). No blows, just good nature fun, they were intoxicated on their NIU (pimp) juice. FSU is going down!!! They will beat Florida State! You are wrong Rob. Little, little men emotionally all dressed up in their Red and White. I again reiterated, FSU would maul the Huskies like a hobo on a half-eaten discarded ham sandwich. Nothing will be left when it is over, I say. For minutes, back and forth, the jousting goes on; I state numerous reasons why they have no chance. In reality, hell I know they have a chance; if they get on the plane, they have a chance. On the contrary, if NIU take the field, it will be mayhem.

Let us get down to the basics, I put together (5) reasons NIU will lose. Again, I do not have a dog in this race (insert sarcasm) and may not watch the game. My evidence comes from previous college football upsets, team statistics (i.e. FSU, NIU), and the egotistical mania of Huskie’s fans. Also, please NIU fans stop with the Boise State win over Oklahoma (2007) as a prelude to your motivation and foreseeable triumph. You are not Boise State. Another thing, stop-pushing America is full of underdog crap and “We can pull it off”. You are overmatched.

Anyways to the list:

(1) Florida State Team Speed vs. NIU Team Speed

NIU cannot keep up with the Seminole speed. Florida, Texas, and California play football all year round outdoors. These athletes can flat-out fly; I do not believe NIU can match up with them, hell, NIU lost to Iowa and struggle to beat a 1-11 Kansas. The Midwest is so far behind the south in football it is scary. Advantage: FSU

(2) FSU Defense vs. NIU empty back set

The NIU empty back set will receive a FSU punishing pass rush. In fact, the FSU defensive front will speed rush them out of the stadium. This is not Kent State, the Seminoles will pin their ears back and bite at the Huskies all night. The Mac defensive competitors cannot match the speed of Florida State. Lynch will see plenty of FSU defenders’ DNA. Advantage: FSU

(3) There are better Mid Majors than NIU Football

The NIU football team is not that tough or at least not the best mid major. In fact, NIU falls behind No. 21 Utah State, No. 22 Boise State, and No. 30 Fresno State in that classification. What does this all mean? Their selection was a goof because of a horrible BCS system. They should not have received the bid. Can they compete with the Seminoles? Not as well as the other teams mentioned above. Advantage: FSU

(4) NIU Defensive Line: Size Matters

From what I gathered in viewing the rosters, NIU defensive line is quite small. They average about 6-1 in height and 240 in weight from an informal quantitative measure. I know it could be that they are faster and mobile, but I question their ability to stop the FSU offensive line from shoving them around. FSU offensive linemen all range over ‘6-3’’ and 260 lbs. Advantage: FSU

(5) FSU Championship Tradition vs. NIU’ Cornfield Mystic

Is this a game where anything could happen? My former college teammate and NFL quarterback Jeff Christensen says FSU is susceptible to playing flat and have difficulties with a running quarterback. I will take his advice over rabid NIU fans in a lightly lit ballroom any day. Yet, I am content to admit FSU superior football program will doom the Huskies, regardless of Jeff’s outlook. Am I blind again? I hope not. Nevertheless, I am looking at this contest completely in the dark. I have only seen each team through channel surfing. Nevertheless, I feel FSU can make more mistakes and win. NIU cannot. Advantage: FSU

Conclusion

I rarely watch football; I watch more college than professional however. One could ask, how could one say NIU will lose if he has never seen them play? Please, easy, NIU is not that good, at least not Florida State Seminole good. I hear they have a good quarterback in Lynch. However, he will need to be the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner, Johnny “football” from Texas A&M, on that night. In closing, I am not a NIU hater, as some have labeled me, no; I am a realist when it comes to things. As I mentioned to one of the men at the hotel, I could be horribly wrong. You never know, but, NIU may upset the mighty FSU Seminoles. If so, I will say I was wrong. This is my present position, I do not care who wins or loses; because I am not attached to either university’s team. I may watch the game or not; it will not faze me in either direction. I have no pony (i.e., Huskie) in this race.

Robert A. Williams

A Letter from my Friend Susan to Coach Paterno

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Susan Naomi Bernstein, PhD

Stephen Cormany, PhD

November 9, 2011

To the Pennsylvania State University Board of Trustees:

As alumni of conscience who earned our doctorates in English from the Pennsylvania State University in 1993, we stand in support of firing Joe Paterno and Graham Spanier from their positions before the end of the Fall 2011 semester. The crime of child abuse perpetuates immense consequences for the victim, the victim’s family, and for future generations of the victim’s family. When this crime remains hidden by people who were “just doing their job” or “doing only what the law requires,” the whole of society suffers as well.

Silence not only enables offenders to abuse with impunity, but also demonstrates an inhuman lack of empathy for the victims. All of these factors render conditions for another perfect storm: a catastrophic inattention to the moral and ethical development of current and future generations of Penn State students, not a few of whom identify as victims of abuse, and family and friends of victims.

Some alumni and students may have particularly strong feelings against firing Paterno. We are not unmindful of the potential short-term impact that Paterno’s firing may have on alumni donations and student enrollments. Instead we urge you to consider the long-term benefits, benefits that will outlast media sound bites and alumni threats. By firing Paterno and Spanier both, you would state in no uncertain terms that Penn State does not tolerate crimes against humanity, or the silence that permits such crimes to go unpunished.

Over the long term, such a stance would provide the encouragement for the growth of enrollment and donations, and also would lend confidence to faculty and graduate students that regard human rights as integral to their research agendas and inseparable from the values of teaching and learning that they hope to pass on to students.

In this new century and new decade, Penn State has a significant opportunity to restore the values of ethical and moral reason that guided us in our own studies at University Park so long ago. For the sake of renewing the Penn State mission and creating innovations for future generations to grow and learn, we appeal to you to in to act in good faith and to fire Joe Paterno and Graham Spanier as a consequence of their inactions and their silence.

Thank you for your kind attention to our concerns.

Sincerely,

Susan Naomi Bernstein, PhD

English 1993

Stephen Cormany, PhD

English 1993

(I met Susan at Northern Illinois University in 2010.  She is one of the sweetest individual I have come across in higher education.)

“Stick With It” The Formula to Achievement

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001The formula to inner success is the ability to “Stick With It”. In 1980 as a freshman in college (Eastern Illinois University) the environment of intercollegiate athletes was overwhelming. I was lost, confused, and befuddled on the humongous campus. In addition, Charleston, Illinois was night to-day to Chicago; its personality resembled Dixieland, Mississippi. I was a non-scholarship student-athlete (a walk-on) in Hell.   I wanted to quit the first day. (August 13, 1980)

Playing football never came hard until arriving at Eastern Illinois University. One week removed from intercepting the game saving pass in the Chicago Public vs. Catholic League All-Star game, I was relegated from city hero to cleaning the latrine. In fact, the treatment was consistently antagonistic and aggressive; as walk-ons, we received everything last.  This went on for what seemed like forever.

Our jerseys were t-shirts, our shoes were black, (other players’ shoes were white), and the helmets resembled props from a 1940 movie set. Again, I begged and pleaded for my mother to save me with her approval to quit. Once more she never uttered a word to confirm the request. However, she said something that night that would change everything.

In the prison camp disguised as a college football team “live hitting” was about to begin. I warned my mother about the upcoming event. On this day, live tackling drills would fill the air; walk-ons like myself would be instructed to run with the football…and BAM, the varsity defensive backs would take your head off.  This day was scary for all underclassmen.

However, as much as I cried (I cried a lot) to my “Ghetto Mum” her uneducated tongue the night before prepared my becoming a Two-Time First team All-American (82-83), Pittsburgh Steelers (1984-85) and an Eastern Illinois University Hall of Fame Inductee (2007)…

to be con’t…as usual..

 

The Invisible Dragon

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