Last night, the 11 pm ESPN ticker had a wealth of one-liners of general interest. Here are the ones that caught my attention and a few more that I’ve run across today:
1) Beecher hopes to stick as Gamecocks QB
Although Beecher, a junior with the highest grade-point average on South Carolina’s roster, might make a couple of rookie mistakes when he makes his first career start Thursday night against N.C. State, the Gamecocks are betting he won’t repeat the off-field blunders that have haunted their quarterbacks the past couple of years.
2) Beamer decides against platooning QBs this year. Glennon the starter….Tyrod Taylor to redshirt.
I heard about this yesterday afternoon at my daughter’s volleyball game (more on that in a minute). I immediately assumed the worse…Taylor had some unspecified discipline or academic issues and was being held out. Evidently I jumped in the wrong direction:
“It was a Taylor family decision. If he didn’t start, he would redshirt. We decided that as a family after spring ball. He was preparing to start, and he did everything he was supposed to do. In a perfect world, Tech’s coaches wanted both to play. They would’ve played whoever was hot. You could’ve seen one start one game and the other start the next game. But from where we sit, that part is old for us. Sean is a fifth-year guy. His clock is now. Tyrod is mature enough to see that. Last year, he did something for the team. He took the shirt off for the team. Doing this now, though, no question it’ll only make him better.â€
Team first, right? More here, with excerpts from an interview with MOC (now the QB coach at VT)
3) ECU and Skip Holtz agree to a new, six-year contract to last through 2013.
I don’t know that I much care one way or the other, but here are the first few thoughts that popped in my head:
Isn’t this a strange time to announce a contract extension?
Why did it take eight months after the last football game to work out an extension?
Did Terry or Skippy (or both) drag their feet over this?
4) Say Goodbye to the Orange Bowl
University officials voted a year ago to make the move, despite an offer of $206 million by city officials to renovate one of Miami’s best-known landmarks, which has subsequently been dismantled. The Hurricanes could collect as much as $5 million annually through the move, which would be a huge boon to the private school’s coffers…
But the university expects a crowd of at least 55,000 for the opener; only the final Orange Bowl game drew a bigger home crowd a year ago, and that gathering of more than 62,000 left stunned, when Virginia ended Miami’s stay in its old building by beating the Hurricanes 48-0.
Changing stadiums for money????? I’m shocked (well, not really). Aren’t you impressed with 55,000 fans showing up for a program that aspires to annually be in the top-10?
5) Paterno picks Clark to start at QB against Coastal Carolina
I hope that the CC Chanticleers are being well compensated for the pounding to come. (And yes, I had to look up CC’s nickname…and then cut and paste to get the spelling right.)
6) Conversation overheard at my daughter’s volleyball game
Ref: Are you a UVA fan? (to a guy wearing a UVA t-shirt)
Fan: Yes, I am
Ref: Well you don’t have much to look forward to this football season, do you?
OUCH!
With my proximity to B’burg and C’ville, I hear a lot about both programs. The VT fans are expecting a decent, but not great year. I haven’t heard from my normal contingent of UVA fans….which is probably not good news for the Hoos.
Even Bob Lee is predicting a UNC victory in Hoo’ville this year. More from Bob Lee here.
So beyond the Wolfpack, what’s caught your attention this week?
