FSU Sports’s Weblog

All pun intended. It was not that long ago when another sportswriter said to me, “Be sure you don’t over step your boundaries. You certainly do not know more about the sports than the coach does.”

Yet, when the Baltimore Ravens lost to the winless Miami Dolphins yesterday I stomped, I hollered (at Brian Billick especially), and I was all for his coming home to a note that read “Thanks for your time here.”

On my couch until three in the morning, I thought about what Billick should have done, how this season would have been better had he called this or that sooner, and became more depressed as shows like “I love New York” became the only bearable thing to watch. And then I remembered: I do not know as much about football as Brian Billick does.

 The man did not become a head coach by luck – and he certainly did not win a superbowl in his second year not fully comprehending the game. Yet, coach-fan relationships  are becomming extremely strained – especially Billick’s relationship with the city of Baltimore who constantly questions his status as an “offensive genius,” a disciplinarian, and a good coach.

As of Monday evening, Coach Billick has a nine percent approval rating according to ESPN’s SportsNation.  During weeks two, three, and six, Billick has been able to gain an approval percentage over 50 percent. For five weeks he’s been in the twentieth percentile. For more than half the season, however, Billick has received an approval rating under 20 percent.

His season-long rating averages out to 24 percent.

In the 2006 season, Billick’s rating was the exact opposite: Four of the last seven games in the 90th percentile, one game at 89 percent, and one game at 74 percent – his lowest rating.

This shows that Billick knows what he’s doing, that he has the knowledge and the power to do it. So what changed this season from last? – besides quarterbacks, injuries, etc.

 I am not going to say that I know more than Billick, but I know Billick: he hasn’t been the same since 2000, and whatever has changed with him has gotten worse. Perhaps his time is up – not because he can’t coach anymore, but because he might not be a good fit with the Ravens anymore. And as a fan, I am at least capable of seeing that.

 After all, as Ken Loeffler says, ”There are two kinds of coaches—those who have been fired and those who will be fired.”

-A. Baldwin

For the past few weeks, the Wizards (13-10) have played terrific basketball. Since Gilbert Arenas re-injured his knee on Nov. 16 against Minnesota, the Wizards are 10-5. The most recent win came tonight at home against Sacramento with DeShawn Stevenson leading the way with 19 points.

The end of their bench, though, is starting to get thin. After Antonio Daniels sprained his medial collateral ligament in his right knee during Thursday’s win over Miami, only nine players remain on the roster healthy enough to play: Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, Stevenson, Brendan Haywood, Roger Mason, Nick Young, Dominic McGuire, Andray Blatche, and Darius Songaila.

Daniels is expected to miss 2-4 weeks with his injury, which leaves Mason, Stevenson, and Young to shoulder the workload at point guard. But besides the temporary hole at PG that Daniels was already filling for Arenas, the Wizards have other concerns. With all of the untimely injuries and the uncertainty of when Daniels and rookie Oleksiy Pecherov (broken right ankle) will play, GM Ernie Grunfeld has to decide whether or not to sign another player, probably a guard.

Two main concerns come attached to that already difficult choice: the luxury tax and heavy minutes. The Wizards are very close to the $67.86 million luxury tax, and owner Abe Pollin would like to stay under that amount if possible. Teams that stay under the luxury tax get to share the tax money after the season from teams that go over the amount and must therefore pay the dollar-for-dollar tax.

Also, fewer healthy players on the bench means an increased amount of minutes for everyone else, especially star players such as Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler. Butler is currently tied for first in the league in minutes played per game at 40.7. Jamison is ninth with 39.5. Both players are in great shape and can take the pounding for most of the season, but they may start to wear down as the postseason looms. Arenas is supposed to return in three months, but even if he does, the Wizards will need Butler and Jamison at full strength to make any noise in the playoffs.

But no matter who goes down on the team, the Wizards continue to win, leading to more confusion in the front office. If the Wizards choose to wait and see how quickly Daniels recovers, they could force him to come back too early and have him risk a possible long-term injury. And if they choose to go ahead and sign a player now, they might be risking the chance to stay under the luxury tax for a player who may not really make any kind of impact on the team at all.

Either way, they’re stuck in a Catch-22 scenario. It would be unfortunate if they exceeded the luxury tax limit, but building a winning team, especially with this solid group of players, is more important than trying to save a couple million dollars for an already extremely wealthy owner.

Why exactly? Because the Wizards have the talent to win now. With a completely healthy roster, they’re arguably as talented as the Orlando Magic and the Detroit Pistons and probably only trail the Boston Celtics in the East.

They have a solid mix of young and veteran players, and they’ve done very well so far with all of the adversity that’s been thrown their way. Butler and Jamison should both be All-Stars. Haywood seems to have turned into a real center who can hold down the paint and grab tough rebounds. Stevenson, Songaila, and Mason have been shooting well and are important role players. Blatche, Young, and McGuire are all young and seem to improve every game by bringing something different to the table. And of course, the return of some guy named Gilbert Arenas is looming in the near future.

Though the season is still young, the Wizards continue to pass every test with flying colors.

Signing a player briefly surely won’t make or break the season, but by doing so the front office can still show that they’re supporting this team the best they can and are fully committed to this season.

Who knows — maybe Grunfeld can somehow land another Butler or Mason.

 – Matt Kremnitzer

This is the infamous Darryl Harris, and I’m just trying to see if I got this figured out.  I just want to say thank you to my staff, Amanda, Matt, and Big Walt. You all embraced me from the beginning and made me feel like I belong with you all.  I wish you all a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Hopefully we will continue the success of the sports section next semester.  Last but not least, congrats to Amanda and Matt on hopefully graduating in May 08. 

 -Darryl “King Darryl” Harris

(Posted for The Bottom Line this week)

For several years now, the discussion of whether or not NCAA Football (Bowl Subdivision) needs a playoff has been ongoing.  Many fans are dissatisfied with the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and the confusion of whether or not the best teams are meeting at the end of the season.

Some people have expressed their desire for a simple playoff where the top four teams would have the chance to square off and ease the pain of identifying the two best teams.  Other people would like to see eight or even 16 teams given a shot in a playoff system to give more teams the chance to show they belong among the elite programs in the nation.    

Many coaches, college officials, and analysts, though, have been rejecting any such system for years.  They frequently use the same excuses: it would be too time consuming, too difficult to figure out, not fair to the players, it would make the regular season less important, etc.

A playoff wouldn’t take up a significant portion of the season if strong teams were forced to schedule fewer games against overwhelmed opponents.  Previously #2 ranked Kansas’s schedule serves as a perfect example.  Surely the Jayhawks (11-1) didn’t expect to have such a successful season, but their first four games this year included wins over Central Michigan, Southeastern Louisiana, Toledo, and Florida International.  Those four teams have a combined record of 15-31.  Football teams that want to have their programs taken seriously shouldn’t schedule as many terrible opponents.  A game like Michigan vs. Appalachian State can still happen where a stunning upset can occur, but the opportunities just won’t be as often.

Teams may be forced to play a tougher game or two, but then again, several teams already play uneven schedules.  If Ohio State played in the SEC, they probably wouldn’t come out of conference play with only one loss.  Ohio State is definitely one of the nation’s top five teams, but it’s too confusing to try and weigh schedule strengths while certain teams continue to play soft schedules and still get into BCS games. A team like Hawaii may have a smooth ride through its regular season this year and in the future, but if there’s a playoff, fans would get to see them matched up against an LSU or USC and see how they’d really fare.    

Complaining that a playoff system would too be confusing is also overlooking the currently baffling BCS system, which has been in place since 1998.  Some of the matchups fans have seen over the years have been terrible, and the BCS hasn’t consistently enabled the right teams to face each other. 

Much of the confusion began in 2003 when USC and LSU shared the #1 ranking at the end of the season.  LSU defeated Oklahoma in the BCS National Championship Game and ended the season 13-1, and USC beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl to finish with a 12-1 record.  Even though LSU had won the official BCS Championship, USC held onto the #1 AP poll ranking, sparking debate around the country.  A similar dispute took place the very next season when Auburn won the SEC, beat Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl, and finished with a 13-0 record.  USC, though, defeated Oklahoma 55-19 in the BCS National Championship Game and were declared the champions.  Both teams finished undefeated, yet they couldn’t play each other. 

Instead of worrying about who plays who in certain BCS Bowl games, teams should have the chance to play each other and determine their own fates.  Other teams that have relatively successful seasons can still participate in other Bowl games — just not the playoff.  At the very least, Bowl games should reward teams who played well during the season.  But when determining a national champion, the best teams in the country need to play each other in a playoff format.   

Another knock against adding a playoff is the belief that it would negate much of the importance of the regular season.  Every other major sport at the collegiate and professional level has both a regular season and a postseason, and the entire sequence is important.  Teams want to do well in the regular season so they can get a better seed and more of an advantage if possible.  If they don’t play well to begin with during the regular season, then they don’t participate in the postseason anyway.

Though these are just some of the reasons people have used to argue against having a playoff, they only get in the way of what’s really important — that millions of fans want to see a playoff system, and many fans are intrigued to see what would happen.  Sure, it would force the NCAA to change the way it arranges Bowl games, but there definitely wouldn’t be any money lost since that’s usually the main concern for those in charge.

Even if current feel-good story teams like Hawaii and Kansas were to get blown out in a playoff game, many people would pay to see those games just to see what would happen.  Even though some Bowl games in the past turned out to be outstanding battles, there still has to be some limited motivation when teams know they can’t be number one, just number four or five.

In the end, the dilemma basically boils down to one main issue — many fans would rather see a system where several teams meet to earn the right to be in the championship game by actually beating other top teams.  The current Bowl system occasionally prevents the best two teams from meeting in the championship game, and the other Bowl games only serve to prove where teams rank after those two.

In this case, the NCAA should get rid of the BCS and organize a playoff system.  Fans should get what they want; they’re usually right anyway.

– Matt Kremnitzer

If you do think you can coach the Frostburg State football team, which finished 2-7 this past season, this post may be of interest. This may also be of interest if you just wanna know what is going through the minds of the athletic department as they make this hire. Frostburg State’s athletic department recently placed the following classified ad on www.footballscoop.com ,which is a website dedicated entirely to the football coaching profession. The ad was as follows:

Frostburg State University is seeking a full-time Head Football Coach.  This is a 12 month appointment with USM benefits package.

RESPONSIBILITIES:  This position will be responsible for the overall success, performance, and conduct of the football program. This person will assign duties and supervise coaching staff. Recruit, retain and graduate academically successful student-athletes. Promote the football program through public relations activities, alumni and friends of football relationships.   Candidates must demonstrate a commitment to overall departmental philosophy.  MINIMUM

QUALIFICATIONS:  Applicants must possess 3-5 years previous coaching experience as a coordinator at the collegiate level.  Bachelor’s degree required.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: Head Coach or Assistant Head Coach experience at the collegiate level.  Master’s degree preferred.   To apply, send letter of interest, resume, and the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of three professional references by January 15, 2008, to: Frostburg State University, Office of Human Resources, ATTN: Head Football Coach Search (Position #08-010206), Frostburg, MD 21532 or email   humanresources@frostburg.edu.

-Walt Williams

I know this doesn’t relate to frostburg sports (unless DeShaun Foster has a 5th cousin going here or something), but the aforementioned DeShaun foster better gain some friggin’ yards today.

-Walter Williams

Just testing to see how this works.  I’ll post this week’s article on Wednesday and start posting other stuff later on.

 – Matt Kremnitzer