[washingtonismoney]

The Trojans miss a scheduled pre-bowl dinner with Georgia Tech: http://www.sbnation.com/college-football...owl-dinner

Freshman Leonard Williams refers to El Paso as a "shitty city": http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_22267...izes-tweet

Class, all the way down.

[washingtonismoney]

The Trojans miss a scheduled pre-bowl dinner with Georgia Tech: http://www.sbnation.com/college-football...owl-dinner

Freshman Leonard Williams refers to El Paso as a "shitty city": http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_22267...izes-tweet

Class, all the way down.

[yvonne]

I predict a Georgia Tech victory.

[yvonne]

I predict a Georgia Tech victory.

[StannyBoy]

I don't know about that but I am predicting Alabama gives Notre Dame a massive beat down. Their stupid fans/alumni are sure giving them a reason to come out swinging.

http://www.businessinsider.com/notre-dam...ts-2012-12

[StannyBoy]

I don't know about that but I am predicting Alabama gives Notre Dame a massive beat down. Their stupid fans/alumni are sure giving them a reason to come out swinging.

http://www.businessinsider.com/notre-dam...ts-2012-12

[Oasis]

It's a big mistake to taunt Southern people.

[Oasis]

It's a big mistake to taunt Southern people.

[Hank 91]

And now word comes that Max Wittek will get the start. Apparently Matt Barkley's unfinished business is now finished.

[Hank 91]

And now word comes that Max Wittek will get the start. Apparently Matt Barkley's unfinished business is now finished.

[fullmetal]

Oops.  So much for my bowl game predictions of a close U$C win.  Was hoping for Pac-12 dominance...

[fullmetal]

Oops.  So much for my bowl game predictions of a close U$C win.  Was hoping for Pac-12 dominance...

[82 Card]

Maybe the Spoiled Children were holding a wake for their QB's college career.

[82 Card]

Maybe the Spoiled Children were holding a wake for their QB's college career.

[yvonne]

Whatever happened to Jacketree?  I have seen him in a while.

[yvonne]

Whatever happened to Jacketree?  I have seen him in a while.

[pincemob]

I have no problem with players expressing their honest views of these bowl cities.  The Pac 12's bowl ties are woeful.  I know there are some valid excuses for it, but I think the excuses are over-stated (like Stanford's fans not "traveling well").  And the sum of excuses comes nowhere close to justifying our bowl lineup which combines lesser opponents with unattractive destinations.  We also make the strategic mistake of playing these upstart conferences like the MWC which we compete with for recruits (3 of our 6 non-BCS games are with MWC and BYU next year).  The SEC/ Big 10 don't play half their bowl games with the Sun Belt/MAC/C-USA do they?  Those games are basically no-win situations. 

Larry Scott should get to work on this.  An easy one would be the former Copper/Insight Bowl, which we somehow lost.  That has a Big 10 opponent which would be respectable, and it's in Phoenix.  I'd also get the Hawaii Bowl back from either C-USA or the WAC.  That shouldn't be too hard. 

And by the way, here are Drew Terrell's views on El Paso from today's paper.  Certainly more diplomatic than the kid from S.C. but he made the same point.

With two losses in three weeks at midseason, Stanford seemed headed for one of the lesser bowl games if it didn't get its act together. Another trip to the Sun Bowl, where the Cardinal lost to Oklahoma in 2009, wouldn't have satisfied anybody, wide receiver/punt returner Drew Terrell said. "We vowed to ourselves that we didn't want to go back to that," he said Friday. "We had become accustomed to this BCS lifestyle, if you will."
El Paso, Texas, is "not the best place for a bowl game," he said. "Just being in that area, seeing Juarez (Mexico) across the way, which is one of the crime capitals of the world ... We'd pretty much rather be in a BCS bowl."

[pincemob]

I have no problem with players expressing their honest views of these bowl cities.  The Pac 12's bowl ties are woeful.  I know there are some valid excuses for it, but I think the excuses are over-stated (like Stanford's fans not "traveling well").  And the sum of excuses comes nowhere close to justifying our bowl lineup which combines lesser opponents with unattractive destinations.  We also make the strategic mistake of playing these upstart conferences like the MWC which we compete with for recruits (3 of our 6 non-BCS games are with MWC and BYU next year).  The SEC/ Big 10 don't play half their bowl games with the Sun Belt/MAC/C-USA do they?  Those games are basically no-win situations. 

Larry Scott should get to work on this.  An easy one would be the former Copper/Insight Bowl, which we somehow lost.  That has a Big 10 opponent which would be respectable, and it's in Phoenix.  I'd also get the Hawaii Bowl back from either C-USA or the WAC.  That shouldn't be too hard. 

And by the way, here are Drew Terrell's views on El Paso from today's paper.  Certainly more diplomatic than the kid from S.C. but he made the same point.

With two losses in three weeks at midseason, Stanford seemed headed for one of the lesser bowl games if it didn't get its act together. Another trip to the Sun Bowl, where the Cardinal lost to Oklahoma in 2009, wouldn't have satisfied anybody, wide receiver/punt returner Drew Terrell said. "We vowed to ourselves that we didn't want to go back to that," he said Friday. "We had become accustomed to this BCS lifestyle, if you will."
El Paso, Texas, is "not the best place for a bowl game," he said. "Just being in that area, seeing Juarez (Mexico) across the way, which is one of the crime capitals of the world ... We'd pretty much rather be in a BCS bowl."

[JohnR34231]

He of course should have chosen his words more carefully and been more diplomatic, but I don't see any great harm in saying you would rather be in a BCS bowl than a lesser one. It's kind of stating the obvious.

[JohnR34231]

He of course should have chosen his words more carefully and been more diplomatic, but I don't see any great harm in saying you would rather be in a BCS bowl than a lesser one. It's kind of stating the obvious.

[jayasena]

I'm with those who are fine with players expressing honest opinions about bowl cities. It's not like the players get paid for being there (aside from the free trip, but what good is that if you don't like the destination?) -- the least they should have is the right to express their opinion. If a city and its residents want to host a bowl (which they do make money from), valid criticism is something they should be ready to put up with.

[jayasena]

I'm with those who are fine with players expressing honest opinions about bowl cities. It's not like the players get paid for being there (aside from the free trip, but what good is that if you don't like the destination?) -- the least they should have is the right to express their opinion. If a city and its residents want to host a bowl (which they do make money from), valid criticism is something they should be ready to put up with.

[pincemob]

Regardless of the payouts, I think the bowls should be a reward for the players, not some kind of punishment for losing a few games.  To go through an extra month of practice, holidays away from family, injury risk.... if the players don't like a bowl destination, I think their opinion should carry a strong weight.  I guess I don't see the bowls or bowl cities as doing the players a "favor" that they need to be thankful for... I think the school ends up taking most of the financial risk, and the players take the injury risk.  I am sure there are some nice volunteers in each city who the players could and should thank, but it's mainly a business.  As for the opponents, I just think those games offer better platforms for the non-BCS schools than they do for us, and I don't see the upside of playing the MWC or BYU when you could instead line up some bigger conference opponents.  Just my opinion.   

[pincemob]

Regardless of the payouts, I think the bowls should be a reward for the players, not some kind of punishment for losing a few games.  To go through an extra month of practice, holidays away from family, injury risk.... if the players don't like a bowl destination, I think their opinion should carry a strong weight.  I guess I don't see the bowls or bowl cities as doing the players a "favor" that they need to be thankful for... I think the school ends up taking most of the financial risk, and the players take the injury risk.  I am sure there are some nice volunteers in each city who the players could and should thank, but it's mainly a business.  As for the opponents, I just think those games offer better platforms for the non-BCS schools than they do for us, and I don't see the upside of playing the MWC or BYU when you could instead line up some bigger conference opponents.  Just my opinion.   

[terry]

If a school doesn't want to go to a bowl game, it can turn down the invitation. If a player doesn't want to go, he can quit the team. Otherwise, he should keep his mouth shut about his complaints and be respectful of the host bowl and host city.

[terry]

If a school doesn't want to go to a bowl game, it can turn down the invitation. If a player doesn't want to go, he can quit the team. Otherwise, he should keep his mouth shut about his complaints and be respectful of the host bowl and host city.

[Kathy]

The players' disrespectful comments show very poor manners ... no different than being invited to a party, showing up and complaining about the host's home, guest list, food and entertainment. If you don't want to go, you decline the invitation.

[Kathy]

The players' disrespectful comments show very poor manners ... no different than being invited to a party, showing up and complaining about the host's home, guest list, food and entertainment. If you don't want to go, you decline the invitation.

[jayasena]

The players' disrespectful comments show very poor manners ... no different than being invited to a party, showing up and complaining about the host's home, guest list, food and entertainment. If you don't want to go, you decline the invitation.

Maybe I'm throwing my parties the wrong way Kathy but I'm yet to make money on any of 'em :)

Bowls are much more like business trips, not parties. And plenty of travelers (grown men and women, not college kids) openly criticize places they went to on business on twitter and FB etc. I don't know if you folks have ever participated in team sports, but these guys are team players -- if the school decides to go, individual players aren't going to decline or quit the team over a destination. In fact, if they did, I'd consider that a much bigger character flaw than being honest about their opinion of the destination.

Besides, some of the players may never have been to the place before. How would they know to decline before even seeing the place?

[jayasena]

The players' disrespectful comments show very poor manners ... no different than being invited to a party, showing up and complaining about the host's home, guest list, food and entertainment. If you don't want to go, you decline the invitation.

Maybe I'm throwing my parties the wrong way Kathy but I'm yet to make money on any of 'em :)

Bowls are much more like business trips, not parties. And plenty of travelers (grown men and women, not college kids) openly criticize places they went to on business on twitter and FB etc. I don't know if you folks have ever participated in team sports, but these guys are team players -- if the school decides to go, individual players aren't going to decline or quit the team over a destination. In fact, if they did, I'd consider that a much bigger character flaw than being honest about their opinion of the destination.

Besides, some of the players may never have been to the place before. How would they know to decline before even seeing the place?

[jayasena]

We'll just have to agree to disagree about what niceties unpaid college kids owe commercial ventures that exist more or less for the sole purpose of making money (off of them) and their host cities.

As for the Sun Bowl having to put up with Pritchard, based on the little bits of this year's edition I saw, Wittek is making Pritchard look like a first-round draft pick.

[jayasena]

We'll just have to agree to disagree about what niceties unpaid college kids owe commercial ventures that exist more or less for the sole purpose of making money (off of them) and their host cities.

As for the Sun Bowl having to put up with Pritchard, based on the little bits of this year's edition I saw, Wittek is making Pritchard look like a first-round draft pick.

[JohnR34231]

Technically, yes, but when you consider they are getting scholarships worth as much as $50K per year, plus cash payments for being in bowl games and other perks, I don't shed too many tears for them.

[JohnR34231]

Technically, yes, but when you consider they are getting scholarships worth as much as $50K per year, plus cash payments for being in bowl games and other perks, I don't shed too many tears for them.

[82 Card]

Mouthing off and not showing up for dinner is tacky enough. Mouthing off, not showing up for dinner and not showing up for the game is trifecta of tackiness.  Final score 21-7. Only score that SC managed was on a turnover. In the second half, I think they got most of their first downs on penalties. I realise they were starting their back-up freshman QB, but that doesn't explain the totality of the ineptitude. The interceptions can be chalked up to an inexperienced QB. But they were dropping the ball even when it was thrown well enough. No running game. Hard to imagine what could have been going through these players' minds when they were mouthing off as if they deserved better. Final season record: 7-6.

In hind sight, it was probably a good thing that these guys were in the warming up part of the Stanford season.

[82 Card]

Mouthing off and not showing up for dinner is tacky enough. Mouthing off, not showing up for dinner and not showing up for the game is trifecta of tackiness.  Final score 21-7. Only score that SC managed was on a turnover. In the second half, I think they got most of their first downs on penalties. I realise they were starting their back-up freshman QB, but that doesn't explain the totality of the ineptitude. The interceptions can be chalked up to an inexperienced QB. But they were dropping the ball even when it was thrown well enough. No running game. Hard to imagine what could have been going through these players' minds when they were mouthing off as if they deserved better. Final season record: 7-6.

In hind sight, it was probably a good thing that these guys were in the warming up part of the Stanford season.

[washingtonismoney]

Q to Monte Kiffin: will you miss coaching with your son?

A: "Not really."

https://twitter.com/bfeldmancbs/status/2...1288860672

[washingtonismoney]

Q to Monte Kiffin: will you miss coaching with your son?

A: "Not really."

https://twitter.com/bfeldmancbs/status/2...1288860672

[washingtonismoney]

Robert Woods: "If they wanted to keep me for next year, they would've probably gotten me the ball."

https://twitter.com/bfeldmancbs/status/2...8668953600

[washingtonismoney]

Robert Woods: "If they wanted to keep me for next year, they would've probably gotten me the ball."

https://twitter.com/bfeldmancbs/status/2...8668953600