TicketsDoesn't football season feel closer today? Can you start to hear the echoes of air horns and smell the slight stench of the tailgate grill? OK, maybe instead you smell the exhaust from cars holding 100,000 fans squeezing into the roads leading to Neyland Stadium, but you know what I mean.
UC announced the Sept. 10 showdown with Tennessee will be at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN2. And football season feels like more of a reality today.
Instead of talking about appellate courts and labor negotiations, we're talking about kickoff times and arranging road trip plans. All feels right with the world.
Perhaps in the midst of a normal offseason, yesterday's note about the UT game time would pass with a benign acknowledgment. Perhaps the news would fall unnoticed somewhere between Joey Votto's blast and the piles of untouched mulch taunting you in your backyard.
I don't know, for me, it felt different. It made me want to look at matchups. It made me want to do research on the opponent. It definitely made me wish we didn't have three months until the game. But it made it real. Considering the state of football right now, I'll take that.
Let's eat...
--- If any advantages or disadvantages can be derived from a game time, I guess the only advantage would be avoiding Neyland Stadium at night. Playing in front of 100,000+ when they've had all day to sauce up feels much more intimidating than doing so in the light of the afternoon.
Though, Neyland doesn't hold the evening allure of Tiger Stadium, where the Tigers are 51-5 when the sun goes down on the bayou.
--- Unsure if you want to make the trip to Knoxville? I'll give you this: In 2004, Sports Illustrated ranked Neyland Stadium, the campus and surrounding areas in Knoxville as the best college football weekend experience.
--- Not surprisingly but most importantly, the game will be on national TV. The amazing aspect of college football is no matter how bad the previous season, it only takes one game to sway the national image of a program. This would be that game for UC.
--- A tough blow for UConn, who lost its top returning receiver.
--- Not sure how I missed this one earlier in the week, but Jeff Eisenberg at the Dagger looked at the UC-Ohio State basketball rivalry and spoke about why it needs to be resuscitated. Mick Cronin says the longstanding order at that school has been not to schedule Cincinnati. Not playing quality in-state opponents has been the MO there for decades. Xavier and UD also understand the concept.
Particularly with UC's latest revival, the matchup would make sense, but OSU has its eyes on more national events and it seemingly feels beyond regional appeal at this point.
I only wish for a minute OSU could stop thinking about university traditions, exposure effects and TV ratings and start thinking about who would be most positively affected by a series such as this: local college basketball fans. You know, the people who pay money to attend game?
Doesn't enough criticism exist of college hoops only drawing interest in March? Natural rivalries are an easy way to help fix that.
I'll say the same thing Cronin said, no whining here. This is not meant to be a finger-pointing session. Everyone owns a right to their own philosophy. But there are two large fan bases who would absolutely love to attend this game every year and will instead watch a game in another state against Florida.
--- Good read on Josh Harrison from Shawn Sell here at GoBearcats. Harrison offers his own thanks to everyone in the UC community that helped him reach the Majors.
For the record, Harrison was 1 for 5 with a run yesterday. He's hitting .308 since his callup earlier this week.
Some randomness...
--- I'm a big Spelling Bee fan. Watching those kids reel off however many in a row was absurd.
Is it necessary to hang the giant placards around their necks for idenification? Was Flava Flav's clock not available? We do have technology to place lower-thirds of information below them. As if these kids aren't awkward enough, they need a billboard hanging from their neck.
--- This lucky girl needs to pick some lottery numbers for me.
--- For those who went to bed before the Dallas magic last night, I'm sorry. You missed one of the most remarkable comebacks in NBA Finals history and an epic lesson in why being "too Hollywood," as Joakim Noah dubbed the Heat, can cost games.
Oh, and why Chris Bosh shouldn't be guarding Dirk Nowitzki with the game on the line.
I'd like to share this stat from The Big Lead:
Since NBA Finals went 2-3-2, 11 NBA Finals have been tied at 1-1. In those 11 series, winner of Game 3 has won the title.
See you Sunday.
--- Free donut day at Dunkin Donuts. Plan your schedule accordingly.
--- Maybe the first truly encouraging news coming out of the lockout situation yet. I'm trying not to get my hopes up.
--- Brandon Phillips spent his first off day in three weeks at Kings Island, riding rides and taking pictures with fans. There's a reason he's quickly become one of the most popular sports figures in this town and even beyond it. (Ending up in SportsCenter's Top 10 plays every third day doesn't hurt, either)
--- Joe Maddon does stuff like this all the time, but his may be my favorite. He had his team dress up in grunge outfits for their trip to Seattle.
Because it's Friday that means celebration music. In honor of Joe Maddon's move, it only seems appropriate one of my favorite old school Pearl Jam tunes with a grunge look straight out of '92 takes the spot for the weekend kickstarter. Have fun.
UC announced the Sept. 10 showdown with Tennessee will be at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN2. And football season feels like more of a reality today.
Instead of talking about appellate courts and labor negotiations, we're talking about kickoff times and arranging road trip plans. All feels right with the world.
Perhaps in the midst of a normal offseason, yesterday's note about the UT game time would pass with a benign acknowledgment. Perhaps the news would fall unnoticed somewhere between Joey Votto's blast and the piles of untouched mulch taunting you in your backyard.
I don't know, for me, it felt different. It made me want to look at matchups. It made me want to do research on the opponent. It definitely made me wish we didn't have three months until the game. But it made it real. Considering the state of football right now, I'll take that.
Let's eat...
--- If any advantages or disadvantages can be derived from a game time, I guess the only advantage would be avoiding Neyland Stadium at night. Playing in front of 100,000+ when they've had all day to sauce up feels much more intimidating than doing so in the light of the afternoon.
Though, Neyland doesn't hold the evening allure of Tiger Stadium, where the Tigers are 51-5 when the sun goes down on the bayou.
--- Unsure if you want to make the trip to Knoxville? I'll give you this: In 2004, Sports Illustrated ranked Neyland Stadium, the campus and surrounding areas in Knoxville as the best college football weekend experience.
--- Not surprisingly but most importantly, the game will be on national TV. The amazing aspect of college football is no matter how bad the previous season, it only takes one game to sway the national image of a program. This would be that game for UC.
--- A tough blow for UConn, who lost its top returning receiver.
--- Not sure how I missed this one earlier in the week, but Jeff Eisenberg at the Dagger looked at the UC-Ohio State basketball rivalry and spoke about why it needs to be resuscitated. Mick Cronin says the longstanding order at that school has been not to schedule Cincinnati. Not playing quality in-state opponents has been the MO there for decades. Xavier and UD also understand the concept.
Particularly with UC's latest revival, the matchup would make sense, but OSU has its eyes on more national events and it seemingly feels beyond regional appeal at this point.
I only wish for a minute OSU could stop thinking about university traditions, exposure effects and TV ratings and start thinking about who would be most positively affected by a series such as this: local college basketball fans. You know, the people who pay money to attend game?
Doesn't enough criticism exist of college hoops only drawing interest in March? Natural rivalries are an easy way to help fix that.
I'll say the same thing Cronin said, no whining here. This is not meant to be a finger-pointing session. Everyone owns a right to their own philosophy. But there are two large fan bases who would absolutely love to attend this game every year and will instead watch a game in another state against Florida.
--- Good read on Josh Harrison from Shawn Sell here at GoBearcats. Harrison offers his own thanks to everyone in the UC community that helped him reach the Majors.
For the record, Harrison was 1 for 5 with a run yesterday. He's hitting .308 since his callup earlier this week.
Some randomness...
--- I'm a big Spelling Bee fan. Watching those kids reel off however many in a row was absurd.
Is it necessary to hang the giant placards around their necks for idenification? Was Flava Flav's clock not available? We do have technology to place lower-thirds of information below them. As if these kids aren't awkward enough, they need a billboard hanging from their neck.
--- This lucky girl needs to pick some lottery numbers for me.
--- For those who went to bed before the Dallas magic last night, I'm sorry. You missed one of the most remarkable comebacks in NBA Finals history and an epic lesson in why being "too Hollywood," as Joakim Noah dubbed the Heat, can cost games.
Oh, and why Chris Bosh shouldn't be guarding Dirk Nowitzki with the game on the line.
I'd like to share this stat from The Big Lead:
Since NBA Finals went 2-3-2, 11 NBA Finals have been tied at 1-1. In those 11 series, winner of Game 3 has won the title.
See you Sunday.
--- Free donut day at Dunkin Donuts. Plan your schedule accordingly.
--- Maybe the first truly encouraging news coming out of the lockout situation yet. I'm trying not to get my hopes up.
--- Brandon Phillips spent his first off day in three weeks at Kings Island, riding rides and taking pictures with fans. There's a reason he's quickly become one of the most popular sports figures in this town and even beyond it. (Ending up in SportsCenter's Top 10 plays every third day doesn't hurt, either)
--- Joe Maddon does stuff like this all the time, but his may be my favorite. He had his team dress up in grunge outfits for their trip to Seattle.
Because it's Friday that means celebration music. In honor of Joe Maddon's move, it only seems appropriate one of my favorite old school Pearl Jam tunes with a grunge look straight out of '92 takes the spot for the weekend kickstarter. Have fun.