[NU Sports] NU bowl stuff plus signing day

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

>  Interesting thread ...
>  I was also at both the 1996 Rose and 1997 Citrus
> games, and I
> respectfully beg to differ with Mr. Levinson. I
> think Ismaeli would have
> made a difference. He remains the best defensive

I think I'll differ with Alan here - Ismaeli was a
great blitzer, but not a standout corner -- Peyton was
fully in control that day. We played hard, but they
were clearly the better team.

One other interesting thing to note is that in the
first three bowls there, we were facing the preseason
#1 team in some publications at least. In the case of
the Vols and Huskers, they were probably both good
enough to play for the national title that year -- UT
just had their usual Florida jinx and Nebraska got the
bowl shaft after their loss. 

I didn't attend the Sun Bowl (I was hoping since we
were 1-0 in bowls I didn't attend and 0-4 where I went
that the trend would hold :) ) ... but the only bowl
of the first four I felt we SHOULD have won was the
Motor City. We just played too sloppy and wasted a
fantastic game by Wright.

As for the Rose, I agree that it was home field for
SC. Yes, the stands were 70,000+ purple (the figure I
always heard was around 71,000 -- second only to
Wisconsin's 74,000 in the 1994 Rose Bowl), but SC was
at home and comfortable early while we were starstruck
- we don't fall down 24-7 and that's a different game.

>  Sherrick McManus evokes memories of Ismaeli,
> doesn't he?

I actually think he's a much better cover corner. But
not the blitzer Ismaeli was ... yet.:) He's sure fun
to watch though!

>  Alamo Bowl 2000: let's not forget the Iowa loss
> that year, which
> consigned the Wildcats to Texas and, ultimately,

Still probably the most painful loss for me as a
Wildcat fan ... after the Michigan win, I was sure
we'd have enough to beat Iowa. The heartbreak was only
worsened later that day when MSU beat Purdue. We could
have had a chance to clinch a Rose Bowl berth on our
home field - something we didn't do in '95. $#&!
Iowa!:)

>  -- Now that this year's bowl season is almost over,
> I think it's time
> for Mr. Truog to start keeping a list now -- in the
> spirit of his weekly
> picks -- about which bowl the Wildcats will grace
> next season. Assuming

Hmm, that's an interesting question. I think there's
no question the league as a whole will be better next
year (we were definitely top heavy this year and not
as deep as usual). PSU, Wisky and Michigan all have a
bunch back and the bottom -- Illinois and Indiana --
are getting better.

But I like our schedule for once and I like that at
least we get the Wolverines and Bucknuts early.
Selfishly, I guess I'd love to see us come to the
beautiful Valley of the Sun for the Insight or Fiesta
Bowls. I think for reasons we've been over many times,
the Florida bowls are tough for us to crack because if
we don't win the conference (or even if we do - see
2000), we'll get passed over by Orlando and Tampa for
the traditional powers. San Antonio's a lovely place,
but Phoenix is perfect for the holidays!

>   -- Notre Dame in the BCS. ND has a unique and
> special place in the
> college game. It always has and always will. To not

Well, I don't want to push on this too much more:),
but I'll just say that I fully acknowledge that this
is the case and that it's the way it is. I'm just
raising the question in hopes it catches on that just
because something is the way it is, it isn't the way
it has to be.

> deserve to take home $17 mil, or whatever, but,
> ma'am, the facts is the

Oops, I did get that wrong. Sorry - it's the $4.5 mil,
so at least the BCS folks realized that they can't
give ND the full slice they give other schools
(actually though, that's probably another incentive to
pick ND - you only pay out $4.5 mil to them while
you'd have to pay out $17 mil to an at-large).

>  -- My 10-year-old son has discovered football this
> year and has become
> a complete and total USC honk. This may have

My deepest sympathies.:) It's kind of sad to see all
the kids at school each year here fall into the herd
and become Dallas Cowboys and USC Trojans fans. I
mean, I know the Cardinals are sad and ASU's erratic,
but there are options! I try and plant subliminal
purple as much as I can to help the future.:)

> successor to Matt Leinart or whether the Saints with
> Reggie Bush are
> likely to make it to the Super Bowl. At any rate ...

OK, I'll give SC a small pass for that one as a
lifelong Saints fan. THANK YOU!!! And thank you
Houston for passing on the Heisman winner - it was a
fun season. Though with SC distancing themselves from
Reggie (more than OJ even!), I guess I can still wear
my black and gold Saints jersey without acknowledging
SC's role in this.:)

>   - All of you USC haters out there: Pete Carroll is
> an extraordinary
> college coach. I'm not sure, as I wrote the other

No doubt there - and he seems like he's genuinely
having fun out there. Let's hope he doesn't get
Sabanitis and head for the NFL only to realize he
belongs in college. But it's kind of like OSU with
Tressel -- being raised a Michigan fan, the Buckeyes
are hated, but you gotta respect the heck out of
Tressel as a coach.

>  And now, Mr. Bendat, and others, I await your
> spirited replies! I don't
> intend to take up a full-scale defense of USC. Just

You've been in LaLa Land too long and that drone from
the SC band is getting to you!:) You can't show
weakness on the anti-USC front if there's any hope for
your son!:)

One more football note in this wide-reaching pigskin
e-mail ... interesting that there's not much talk of
the BCS title game here. Are we all just holding our
breath for Big Ten vindication after being scared off
by Michigan's massive egg ... or are we just not all
that able to wear the conference pride banner against
the SEC if it means having to cheer for the
Bucknuts?:)

Go Big Ten!
GO CATS!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com