2009 Previews: Rutgers

We go to Rutgers, home of a competitive football program (WHAT?) for Preview No. 45. Previews of all 65 BCS conference schools, plus Notre Dame and state schools, in no particular order, will run daily through Aug. 22.

Rutgers may be the most blandly interesting team in college football this season.

The offense, which caught fire and absolutely crushed people over the last half of the season, lost most of its punch. Quarterback Mike Teel, who morphed from game manager to all-star by the time he left, and super receiver Kenny Britt are peddling theiir wares elsewhere, leaving the offense in the hands of two quarterbacks who have combined for 36 yards passing in their careers.

Luckily for the Knights, though, they’ll have a pretty decent chance to run the ball.

The entire offensive line is back, including big-time left tackle Anthony Davis, and last year’s top four rushers are all back.

Assuming either fifth-year senior Jack Corcoran, junior Andres Morales or highly touted incoming freshman Tom Savage can find a way to employ the forward pass with a modicum of success, the offense should be productive.

Middle linebacker Ryan D’Imperio is poised to have a huge season for the defense, and defensive end George Johnson will also be a force.

Six starters are back on the unit which really came on at the end of the season, so they should be fine there, as well.

Now, saying all this, you’d think we’re talking about some sort of 7-9-win season. But Rutgers is the anti-Georgia this year: They are playing the easiest schedule I have ever seen.

Remember a few years ago in Brett Bielema’s first year when Wisconsin went 12-1 without actually beating anybody? Greg Schiano is poised for a repeat.

Here’s that schedule:

Sept. 7: Cincinnati
At least it doesn’t start easy, but with the Bearcats so inexperienced on defense the Knights should have a good chance to get their offense going. But if they somehow don’t, they’ll have ample opportunity to do so over the next few games.

Sept. 12: Howard
Blah

Sept. 19: Florida International
The Golden Panthers might be worse than your average FCS school.

Sept. 26: at Maryland
An ambush is possible here (remember what the Terps did to Cal last year?).

Oct. 3: Texas Southern
I covered SWAC football for a year, and let me tell you: They have every reason to drop to Division III status. It is very, very bad.

Oct. 16: Pittsburgh
Big game here, but I don’t see Wannstache going into Piscataway and winning. Man that’s weird to say.

Oct. 23: at Army
No problem.

Oct. 31: at Connecticut
When your most dangerous conference road trip is to Storrs, you have to like your schedule.

Nov. 12: South Florida
There’s a very real possibility the Knights will be 8-0 coming into this one, and if they get through it an undefeated season is a real possibility. And then the Knights can be the first-ever BCS conference school to go undefeated and not crack the Top 10.

Nov. 21: at Syracuse
Bizarro world game. Rutgers pounding the Cuse in the Carrier Dome. Man, oh man.

Nov. 28: at Louisville
Mildly dangerous, but Kragthorpe will probably be long gone by this point. And the Cardinals don’t strike me as the rallying around their coach types.

Dec. 5: West Virginia
Final hurdle to the perfect season.

There you go. All the ingredients are there for a perfect season, minus the team actually being all that good. But Schiano has the Knights’ talent level in the upper half of the Big East, and with this schedule it’s very possible. However, I can’t picture a team this shaky doing it. I’ll say they go 10-2.

Football time is here!

Happiness and cheer!

Glenwood wasted, oh, zero minutes waiting around after the official start of AISA fall practice Thursday.

That’s because the Gators hit the field at 12:00 a.m. Fast Time (that’s Eastern for the uninitiated) for their first practice of the fall.

Head coach Chris Holmes said it’s the Gators’ second year doing “Midnight Madness,“ after boys basketball and assistant football coach Dusty Perdue suggested it last year as a way to get the players pumped about the season.

Senior defensive back/cornerback Elliott Lynn, one of two seniors on this year’s squad, thought the idea was “crazy” last year. But now he’s warmed up to it. Even if it is a little past he and the rest of the Gators’ bedtimes.

More on this in Friday’s paper…

(Photo credit: Vasha Hunt’s iPhone. Wait, a phone that takes pictures? What a country!)

Ah, summer baseball

Some of you may remember my whirlwind trip to see Yankee Stadium last year in its final homestand.

Well, my dad and I enjoyed the experience so much we decided to see all the historic stadiums we could, one at a time.

So, tomorrow morning we will board a plane for Chicago to watch the Cubs take on the Houston Astros at Wrigley Field.

Finally seeing the friendly confines is definitely something that has me pumped, but that’s actually not all.

The Cubs are playing a day game (as is their custom), while the White Sox are taking on the Yankees that night at slightly less historic U.S. Cellular Field, and we’ll be making our way to the South Side for that one.

Should be a pretty exciting day. Much like last year, I’m bringing a camera. And much like last year, I will probably take a ride on the failboat in posting them.

Regardless, I’m excited. And I’ll see you later. Until then, I’ve got a couple of nice previews on tap for you.

From ‘way the heck up there’ to ‘just down the pike’

The AHSAA announced today that its All-Star Sports Week will be heading back to Montgomery in July 2011.

The Gump, which hosted the event from its inaguration in 1997 until 2004, will be getting it back under a five-year deal after it will have spent six years vacationing in Huntsville.

“We are coming back home, so to speak, to where (All-Star Sports Week) all began,” AHSADCA Director Steve Bailey said in a statement. “Montgomery was an outstanding host when the event was in Montgomery and I know it will be an outstanding host again. I want to thank Mayor Strange and his staff. I also want to thank Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle and the Huntsville Sports Commission for what they did to make this event what it has been.“

Renovations to the Montgomery Civic Center caused the initial move, but now the event is moving back to a more “central location.“

Here’s the whole press release (read on…it’ll tell you what “AHSADCA” stands for):

MONTGOMERY – All-Star Sports Week is returning to Montgomery beginning in July of 2011, it was announced Wednesday.

Alabama High School Athletic Association Executive Director Steve Savarese, Alabama High School Athletic Directors & Coaches Association Director Steve Bailey and Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange made the joint announcement at a press conference held at the AHSAA office.

All-Star Sports Week, which is an event of the AHSAA’s coaches’ division (AHSADCA), includes eight all-star competitions during the week and a Coaching School that annually attracts several thousand coaches, administrators, students and fans. All-Star competition is held in baseball, softball, boys and girls soccer, volleyball, boys and girls basketball and football.

All-Star Sports Week began in 1997 in Montgomery where it remained until 2005 when renovations to the Montgomery Civic Center necessitated the move to Huntsville. Huntsville has hosted the last five All-Star Sports Weeks and will host the event. All-Star Sports Week returns to Montgomery in 2011 under a five-year agreement.

“We are coming back home, so to speak, to where (All-Star Sports Week) all began,” Bailey said. “Montgomery was an outstanding host when the event was in Montgomery and I know it will be an outstanding host again. I want to thank Mayor Strange and his staff. I also want to thank Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle and the Huntsville Sports Commission for what they did to make this event what it has been.”

Bailey said more than 300 all-star athletes and 160 coaches will be directly involved in the all-star competition. The Coaching School draws well over 3,000 coaches and administrators from virtually every member school in the state. An All-Sports Equipment Expo also attracts nearly 100 vendors each year.

Mayor Strange said it was easy to get behind such a major event as All-Star Sports Week. “We look at this as economic development,” he said. “It means a direct impact of (approximately) $575,000 each year. We look at this as truly a partnership that will benefit the AHSAA and benefit Montgomery.”

The Coaching School features approximately 100 keynote speakers in each championship sport offered by the AHSAA. Among the keynote speakers at the 2009 All-Star Sports Week was Urban Meyer, head football coach of defending National Champion Florida. More than 1,000 heard Meyer speak to the football coaches.

Savarese said returning to Montgomery with All-Star Sports Week will provide schools with a more central location once again. He also said it couldn’t happen without the strong commitment from Mayor Strange and the City of Montgomery. “We consider our relationship with Montgomery to be a partnership,” said Savarese. “We have several events each year in Montgomery.  All-Star Sports Week is a major endeavor. I thank Coach Bailey and our staff for their hard work in making this event a success each year.”

All-Star Sports Week is one of several AHSAA events held annually in Montgomery. Other events include Champions Challenge, the premier preseason prep football classic in Alabama, which is set for Cramton Bowl Aug. 21-22 with three football games. Other events include the AHSAA state softball and baseball championships in May, the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet in March, the Principals and Athletic Directors Conference in April, the Middle School Conference in August, the Central Regional basketball tournament in February and 11 mini sports clinics held throughout the school year.

Good things come to those who wait ... and wait

I know you missed me.

Sorry we had to put the LBWC on hold for a couple weeks. With furloughs and SEC Media Days and the day of my birth, we got busy and neglected the best countdown since Letterman.

But we’re back.

Here’s this week’s LBWC .. two days late.

5) Monday evening. Crunkfest.
Or at least that’s what one friend dubbed it. Monday a bunch of buddies invited me and this guy out for a joint birthday celebration. It was a blast. We ate way too much pizza. I had to be wheeled out of Mellow Mushroom on a gurney. It was a good night.

4) Sunday afternoon. DQ.
It’s been about 14 years since I’ve been to Dairy Queen, which is a shame because there is one like 3 feet from my house. But Sunday, the Busy Girl and I took the Busy Baby and Little Tornado to Dairy Queen for some Blizzards and turtle sundaes.
It was just how I remember it. Small, cozy, delicious. The Tagalong Blizzard is more than just good. It’s “punch your mama in the face” good. Really.
Oh, DQ, how I missed you. We’ll never spend that much time apart again. I promise.

3) Saturday afternoon. Pool Party.
For real this time. We were invited (and when I say invited, I mean, we totally imposed ourselves) to join a good friend of ours and his family at his neighborhood pool.
I was great. I could actually go under without spilling out half of the water out of the pool. Just one side effect of a kiddie pool set up on an uneven backyard.

2) Tuesday. We goin’ Outback.
For my birthday, the BG, BB and LT took me out to Outback for dinner.
Again, I ate until I started sweating.
Then, instead of having a traditional birthday cake, my girls made me a chocolate, brownie swirl cheesecake. Talk about da bomb. I destroyed about half of it.
Tell me, is it OK that I have shooting pains down my left shoulder and arm?

1) Saturday evening. Godspeed.
The middle brother called Saturday, giving me the news I knew was coming for a while.
He was leaving the country sometime soon to head to Iraq as part of his duty to the U.S. Army. My brother, The Captain, flies Apaches and will be overseas for the next 6-8 months.
Here’s praying he makes it home safe, as well as all the service men and women who are in harm’s way.
Thanks for all you do. God bless and Godspeed.