Monday, August 25, 2008

What "They" Are Sayin'...

Here's a quick rollup of some of what's being said about LSU on the internets...

Pete Fiutak, Fox Sports

Let's start with some bullshit to get the juices flowing:

"As college football historians look back on all the national champions, the nuts and bolts of the 2007 season might get lost in the shuffle and the translation. LSU didn't win the national title; it survived the season."

Oh, sure. Exactly! Enroute to the national title that they "didn't win", LSU beat more post-season Top 15 teams than anyone else in the country; embarrassed the ACC champs (VA Tech); crushed the Big Ten champs (Ohio State); beat the Heisman Trophy winner; beat Tommy Tuberville and a very good Auburn team; and were a razor's edge from going undefeated. But, hey - they didn't actually WIN it. They were "survivors." Ask Ohio State if watching LSU play it's backups in the BCS championship game was a sign of survival.

Sigh...

I acknowledge they were fortunate to get the shot. Honestly, who picked Oregon and West Virginia to lose those games? Nobody, that's who. But, c'mon. Everyone knows luck is where preparation meets opportunity.

LSU was lucky to be in a position to win the national title - how's that for a compromise.

To be fair, it's a good article with some great position-by-position summaries. Once he gets past his poorly hidden "BCS sucks ass" angst.

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Eighth Annual Herbie Awards, Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN

Lots of LSU love in this version. Herbie may be a Buckeye homer, but he's a Baton Rouge believer.

Tigers on the list:

"WR Demetrius Byrd, LG Herman Johnson, TE Richard Dickson, DE Tyson Jackson, DT Ricky Jean-Francois, Safety Chad Jones, RB Keiland Williams, LSU Student Section, Baton Rouge restaurant Ruffino's. "

Tigers he missed:

"OT Ciron Black, WR Brandon LaFell, Freshman CB Patrick Peterson, and the rest of the first two DL teams."

Overall, though. Nice job, Herbie.

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SI Preseason All-American Team

"LG Herman Johnson."

Ok. Good call. But I think you left out his buddy, LT Ciron Black. And you might wanna check out the LSU defensive line. Just sayin'.

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Expert College Football Handicapper Alex Smart, Touthouse.com

"2008 will be a success if… the youngsters in the secondary can step in and keep the LSU defense dominant. The offense is going to be very vanilla with no experience at the quarterback position, so HC Les Miles is going to lean on his defense to win games. Johnson, Eugene, and Jones will have the weight of the world on their shoulders from the outset of the season, and will be tested against the spread attacks of Florida and Auburn in their two biggest games of the season. "

Well, I guess if I was handicapping, I'd say something similar - lots of running game, big defensive year, etc.

But Mr. Smart(ypants) takes two big steps: he predicts Patrick Peterson (formerly Johnson) will start at CB and he doesn't seem to think Georgia is a big enough game to mention...

Picks LSU to go 9-3 and finish second in the SEC West.

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Sporting News Preseason Bowl Predictions


"LSU vs. Wisconsin in the Capitol One Bowl."


The interesting thing is that they pick Georgia to make it to the BCS Championship game and Florida to get the "at large" bid to the Sugar. But Auburn gets the Chick-fil-A Bowl? So they're picking LSU to play Georgia in Atlanta for the SEC, and lose (ostensibly AGAIN).

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OK, you know I had to go there. Here's what Mr. Dildeaux has said recently:

"In fact, if you’re lucky enough to see the Tigers practice or scrimmage for longer than five minutes these days, you may feel like you’re at a baseball game. Keep your eyes out for foul passes. A couple of media members had to dodge errant tosses recently."

What a jackass. All media reports point to solid performances by all three QBs. Except Mr. Sunshine.

"Hatch, Lee and Jordan could all one day be legitimate major college starting quarterbacks — just not today and probably not this season."

Uh - newsflash, Mr. Teletype. One of them most certainly will be starting for a "major college" very soon. Dork.

"Lee could eventually be the answer. He now is on the level of Matt Flynn, but Flynn was not ready when he was a redshirt freshman."

Which is Mr. Contradickshun? Is he "now...on the level of Matt Flynn?" Or not?

As Charles Barkley would certainly say, "Glenn Geelboo is a turble writer. Just turble."

2 comments:

  1. I'd like to point out that just because one will be starting soon - that doesn't mean they'll be "legitimate". someone has to start by default.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I hear ya. But I disagree. Making it to the #1 QB spot at almost any SEC school is a legitimate starting QB job - regardless of whether some fans or media think you may or may not suck based on their expert analysis of 15 minutes of practice drill...

    Don't defend him. Guilbeau only survives because he regularly stirs up the hornets. If he had to survive on his analysis, he'd be fetching carts at the Wal-Mart.

    ReplyDelete

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