Don't Answer Your Cell Phone or the Front Door

The Christmas season is officially upon us and athletic directors at major universities are searching for the perfect Christmas gift—a new football coach.

Well, not every athletic director, but if you are a head coach that had a losing season or seasons, my advice is don’t pick up your cell phone or listen to the knock at your door. Your Christmas gift might be a lump of coal.

The lumps of coal were numerous Sunday and it didn’t matter if you were in the East, Midwest, South or West. The following coaches were fired yesterday: Frank Spaziani at Boston College, Tom O’Brien at NC State, Gene Chizik at Auburn, Danny Hope at Purdue and Jon Embree at Colorado.

You would think the firings would slow down now, but like I said earlier, if I was a losing-record coach, I would lay low like a turkey one week before Thanksgiving.

Chizik had the biggest fall. Two years ago, he was hoisting the silver football as Auburn won the national championship. Embree received the shortest stick. He led Colorado for just two seasons and won four games. O’Brien was never the flashy hire at NC State and his teams won--just not enough. Spaziani was a loyal Boston College guy, but people care more about the New England Patriots than the Eagles. Plus, Spaziani had trouble getting wins. Hope lost hope at Purdue. Hope was the only college coach I have ever seen who wore a whistle around his neck on gameday.

The athletic directors who created these coaching openings Sunday will be selling hope. Unfortunately, none of the openings seem hopeful in terms of great success at the particular schools.

Iowa and Nebraska Begin New Rivalry

Iowa and Nebraska are neighbors in the heartland of America. The two schools have played each other in football on occasion as members of different conferences. But today the rivalry takes on a different meaning. For the first time, the two will play as Big Ten Conference brethren.

There is excitement in these parts for the day after Thanksgiving game but not a major build-up. Both teams are having respectable seasons but not stellar ones. This explains the quiet nature and lack of hype nationally.

But the series has a chance to grow. The plan is to have this game as the final regular season contest. It replaces the Colorado game for Nebraska and the Minnesota game for Iowa. The Huskers and Hawkeyes played those opponents in the last game for a number of years.

But change truly happens. Today starts a new tradition. And hopefully in the next few years, the game will become a huge rivalry filled with significance.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all my United States readers. We have much to be thankful for in this country despite our challenges. God has truly blessed us. Enjoy the day.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

I hope my United States readers are having a blessed Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for even in tough times. And I am sure my readers outside the states have much to be thankful for too.

Thank you for reading my blog. I appreciate your support.

Paul

College Basketball Galore

If you are a college hoops fan, forget you are in preseason training and grab the remote. The basketball season is here in earnest.

ESPN started the glut of TV games earlier in the week. The sports giant featured games over a 25-hour period. Now, ESPN is a major player in showing holiday tournament games as well.

You definitely need a well-defined schedule to know who is playing, when and what channel. Yesterday, I wanted to watch Harrison Barnes and North Carolina play Hofstra. I turned to the basic ESPN. Wrong. I found it over on ESPN2.

I don’t remember when this sea of games on TV the week before Thanksgiving started, but this appears a win-win situation. Fans actually can watch some interesting match ups instead of seeing their team play some lower Division I school. TV receives advertising and viewers. Teams can visit some interesting places and put it on their recruiting pieces. Announcers can warm up for the conference season.

But college basketball fans, a bit of warning. Pace yourself. It’s a long season. You don’t want to peak too early.

Enjoy the games!