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Friday TIME: US | UK WEATHER: US | UK HOME THE NEIGHBORHOOD "Life in the UK" American Groups Essential Contacts Money Education Driving WHAT'S ON US Group Events Diary Dates Music Live FEATURES Politics blog SPORTS Features Sideline blog NFL Draft THE AMERICAN MAGAZINE ONLINE |
SIDELINE ARCHIVE Unnecessary Hits To The Pocket / Upset: BYU October 17, 2008 Romo's Pause / Seattle Seahawks October 15, 2008 Weekend Prep: Red River and More October 10, 2008 College Football's 'Crossroads' Weekend October 9, 2008 Gramatical Error October 7, 2008 Turning The Page September 30, 2008 So Cal 'Quizzed — But Who Will Answer? September 26, 2008 3rd Tuesday Panic Button / Forté Yard Dash September 23, 2008 Two and Oh; Oh and Two September 22, 2008 No More NCAAffeine September 11, 2008 Week 1 College Football September 6, 2008 How To Spell Heisman / Chad Ocho Cinco September 1, 2008 Why the Favre story STILL won't go away August 18, 2008 Olympic Notes / Ricky's Still Relevant August 14, 2008 Committee Meetings August 9, 2008 Let the QB Battles Begin August 8, 2008 Slinging The Slinger — More Favre August 6, 2008 Welcome to the 2008 season July 28, 2008 Plus One May 27, 2008 Draft: The Morning After April 28, 2008 Draft: Thinking the Unthinkable April 25, 2008 Draft: Ready For The Long Haul April 23, 2008 Sofa–bound Sport April 16, 2008 Post–Winter Wonderland April 11, 2008 Six Impossible Things February 4, 2008 Brady's Misdirection Play February 3, 2008 Colorful Language January 23, 2008 Let the Romo–bashing begin: Dallas lost January 14, 2008 Bowl Bites: The Wrap January 10, 2008 All About The Coaches January 1, 2008 Bowl Bites 3 and A Communication Breakdown December 29, 2007 Bowl Bites 2 December 27, 2007 Bowl Bites 1 December 23, 2007 The Empty Chair - Coach Situations Vacant December 22, 2007 For Some, The Playoffs Are Now December 15, 2007 A Certain Lack Of Welcome December 13, 2007 Unrelated Notes November 29, 2007 Two Thanksgiving thoughts November 22, 2007 Halftime: NFC November 9, 2007 Halftime: AFC November 8, 2007 London, Part 2 / A Tale of Two Chads / A Game of Intimidation November 4, 2007 Damp Squib / Other London Notes October 29, 2007 Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em / Dolphins – The Aftermath October 23, 2007 The Dolphins Did What? October 18, 2007 Notes on the Defenses October 13, 2007 Habits to be Broken October 12, 2007 Overtime October 13, 2007 This Week's Starters October 6, 2007: USF: Covering The Spread / Fantastic Football September 27, 2007: Grossman: The Final Act? / McNabb, the Epilogue September 24, 2007: Eagles QB in Slight Controversy September 21, 2007: Leftwich's Parting Gift to Jacksonville? / Boos cruise September 18, 2007: Notre Dame M.I.A. September 16, 2007: Looking Beyond NFL Wk. 1 September 12, 2007: Best Hope For Heisman September 10, 2007: Coaching Hot Seats / AP Poll Feeling ’Appy September 7, 2007: The NFL’s Prime Cuts September 5, 2007: Michigan Falls to Killer Apps September 3, 2007: Look Out Couch / The Taint's On You, Bud September 1, 2007: |
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SPORTS SIDELINE 
Observations, Opinion & Occasional Silliness by Richard L Gale BOWL BITES 1 Throughout Bowl Season, I'll be hitting you with my 'Bowl Bites' on the games that matter ...and the plenty that don't. Here's part one - look out for more as the days go by. Bowl Bites: The House That Howard Built Florida Atlantic's rise has been as incredible as it has been unpublicized. Unless you live or have lived in the vicinity of Boca Raton, you probably wouldn't even have known the Owls existed more than three years ago. Seven years ago, the university didn't even have a football team. Yet this week FAU went from inception to bowl victory faster than any team in 1–A history, as baby–faced passer Rusty Smith set a New Orleans Bowl record with 5 touchdowns to upset Utah. It made for an entertaining late night fixture, if only to see Howard Schnellenberger standing on the sidelines, looking every inch the legend he is. The nose, the tache, the suit – Coach Schnellenberger has been a semi–mythical creature for those of us who have known him only through football's history books (I think I'm right in saying this was the first time he has ever been seen on UK television). There is something timeless about his 'old campaigner' appearance, like some historical general translated for the 20th century. Yes, the 20th, not the 21st. He still seemed just a little out of place on the screen there, projected into the digital age with the incongruity of seeing a unicorn on a nature program. Some people might have thought he had retired, or at 73 years old, passed on to that great sideline in the sky. But no, Howard's been busy, building a program from scratch, recruiting, recruiting, recruiting in the richest recruiting ground in the nation, and writing a new chapter, a new legacy. And, while he's at it, reminding us that he was part of the national picture once ...and may be again, before he's through, because with FSU and Miami struggling, there's a much more egalitarian spread of talent available between the numerous Florida colleges, and like Bobby Bowden and Urban Meyer, Howard Schnellenberger can walk into a kid's home and say 'I know how to win the big one, and I can put you in a bowl game'. The New Orleans Bowl might not be the biggest bowl game in the world, but then Coach might not be finished yet. With a regular season game scheduled against Texas next year, he's just getting started. The quarterback's Rusty. The coach isn't. Bowl Bites: Seven In A Row For Utes Three thoughts struck me from this bowl season opener: (1) I would love to see Kaipo–Noa Kaheaku–Enhada air the ball out more often — lord knows, Navy establish the run more than enough, and that late score to Zerbin Singleton came when Utah was expecting it; (2) Is Ken Niumatalolo really that hard a name to pronounce, considering the name of their quarterback? I particularly enjoyed the cadet who, when prompted to attempt his name, just stared blankly for ten seconds before failing to even try. Yuh, let's not fast–track that guy's promotion; (3) How long will Coach Kyle Whittingham stay in Utah? Urban Meyer's success post–Utah has proven that the Utes program is based on sound football, not just another wacky small–conference setting, and that the coaching does translate to the big conferences. Bowl Bites: A Slice Of The Action Considering Southern Mississippi versus Cincinnati is a hard enough sell, why did ESPN feel the need to have the Papa John's founder in the booth to give a five minute interview about the pizza business? Yes, I realize that Papa John's are sponsoring the papajohns.com bowl, but this level of penetration is a jarring invasion into the broadcast. We get 'papajohns.com' at the top of the screen throughout the game, there's a cut–away to images of a pizza being made, and we get a five minute interview with the guy from Papa John's. And this is during the second quarter while the first scoring drive is underway. You know what? I don't care about this papajohns.com bowl. The match–up is about as appetizing as cheese and tomato without the toppings, there isn't a Papa John's in my town, and I'm not actually watching it. It's on right now and I'm in here writing this. Bowl Bites: Saturday Night Lobotomy Next up on this exciting schedule: Wolf Pack versus Lobos in the imaginatively named New Mexico Bowl. Nevada doesn't even have a winning record, and the average schedule strength of the two teams this year is 108th. New Mexico broke a 46–year bowl drought, but seeing as they were effectively playing the game at home, their far from fascinating 23–0 victory over Nevada hardly felt that special. When those who argue against a playoff speak of the pageantry, occasion and tradition of college bowl games this probably isn't what they have in mind. Bowl Bites: BYU Avenges UCLA Loss in Las Vegas I'll admit that 25,000 Mormons descending upon Sin Central appeals to my sense of irony, but they came with a purpose: converting the memory of a 17–27 loss into a retaliatory win against a Bruins team rallying around interim head coach DeWayne Walker (go on, give him the job!). BYU isn't the typical mid–major all–offense deal, but a team that got shut–out through the second half yet still won thanks to defense and, at the last, special teams. With most of the starters back next season (exception: that secondary full of former walk–ons), this is starting to look like a team with ambitions beyond the Mountain West, where they have now gone 8–0 in back to back seasons. |
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