College Sports Apparel - Clothes From A Different League

College sports apparel is available on various websites today, and so interested fans can buy them from there instead of hunting for them in stores. You could be an avid basketball, baseball, cricket or hockey fan, and can be assured that you will find your team related products and apparels on the Internet. The past couple of decades has seen a sudden spurt in fans reactions to various sports and the NCAA also is part of the list. There are matches that draw huge crowds, some of whom have planned for this game weeks or months in advance. If a game is not very popular, then the college sport apparel marketed in stores is a good way of promoting the sport and grabbing attention. The team jerseys, caps, and belts are usually what fans enjoy picking up and owning. Some fans buy these before a match and come wearing the same to cheer their favorite teams. If you are looking for a hat with logo, or a collared polo T shirt with your college team colors, or maybe a jersey that sport your favorite players number, you are bound to find them all on the websites.

Some of the websites also hold apparel featuring players of yesteryears, who are today sports legends. These are rare pieces that some ardent sports fan would do anything to get their hands on, and form part of collectibles. For a person to own an apparel featuring their favorite player is something to boast about or show off to their friends. There are some in colleges who have been known to swap jerseys or caps because their loyalties have changed or they have changed colleges. This is a common scene among college sports fans, apart from their crazy zeal to go watch every match live. No matter who your favorite NCAA team is, you can search for their accessories or clothes with their logo , you will find it.

Be it the Boston college apparel, or Arkansas state university apparel, you will find the one you are looking for in different sizes and shapes. Everything from college team jackets, sweatshirts, watches, wrist bands are available for every single college team. Apart from these, fancy college hats, polo necked T shirts are also stocked. Since they are regular piece of clothing but with a team colors or patterns on them, they have a higher value and make for good gifts especially to a person who is fond of that particular team. These college sports apparels if original could be a bit on expensive side, so one should watch out for fakes and then buy. Just like in sports good, there are originals and duplicates, here too there are many companies that make almost original looking college sports apparels. So make sure to check the quality of the product and the logo etc to ensure you are not getting conned. If its online, choose your team apparel and size, make the payment for it to get delivered home.

2007 Special Kick-Off Edition - College Football Top Ten of eruption

Finally! The 2007 college football season is about to burst out all the new wide-screen TV! Even if we get excited about a week until the summer side of Labor Day, why not now? However, our treasury autumn pastime is about to begin annual smear / wipeout on / head football season.

Schools are seeking in their programs for 2007 the expectation and anxiety. Winning and losing in the first weeks of the season can make or break his chances in the BCS.This year, perennial favorite taken worse than the first Duke of losing to a whole new level, losing the ACC championship - for 1965. By a happy coincidence of timing and type of incorrect application of previous rules, the conference this week awarded the 1965 title exclusively to South Carolina - Duke of stripping his share of the ACC crown. It is bad enough that Duke can not kick an extra point and save a game against another team dog, can not even hold the greatest success ifoutside the field of interest has been a number of projects.

Since that time, the college football season in a three-part series of events has grown. The season includes the annual campaigns of steel Bowl, the conference season determines who are the bowl games and the season opening "games" with the idea - well - who knows what they are designed to do. Although it escapes understanding how Nebraska improve performance on the field by wiping out Ball State, these games actually Poll count in the calculations. It 'also curious why consent for a program like Ball State would be visiting Lincoln in September for the abuse. Perhaps the promise of a big paycheck is helping.

Some schools do not suggest that anyone going 56-0 is no fun. Their fans do not. For others, their only win these early games. Notre Dame is a program incredibly hard this year. Rolling in their quest for the national championship, the Irish are some of the top> Soccer Schools - not bad for the Navy and Air Force - to convince the BCS gurus that they are indeed the best. ND leads to an opening game at home against Georgia Tech, makes the road against Penn State and follows that with a pleasure trip to Ann Arbor for a date with Michigan. Congratulations to the Irish people to drive with tough games!

At the other end, Duke University - 2006 World Champion worst first survey, and fresh from a stellar season 0-12 - was facing a very difficult situationPlanning. Duke Of course every match times will be tough, but the Devils sat down with a more difficult by most standards in 2007. If there is not enough for Florida State, Georgia Tech and Miami the wizards of Duke programming thrown in the face Notre Dame and Northwestern! Duke has the right idea to plan - if it was Notre Dame. Unfortunately, their idea of ​​Nebraska plans to cut his feet. Duke recently had a new head coach and can not be achievedrecruiting a lot this year. I'm just trying to be a team on the field. Look for the Bleu Devils to run another first time at the 2007 championship that bad, but Give 'em credit for the same application on the field against opponents to see the people want.

Why do so many people of high schools have the dog put games on your program? Of course they want to avoid accidents, but to get a better approach would be to ban beer in the athletic dorm, children always fallStairs or tripping over cheerleaders. Perhaps Ohio State wants its second and third strings against teams that are not in uniform practice. The reasons for these games are pure conjecture. But why a fan would be incomprehensible to the attention of a Pay.

And 'without shame that our universities Laden admitted to dedicated fans, see some games incredibly wrong. These are just embarrassing events masquerading as football matches. Howpresent a public service, in the worst ways Scholarly Sport worst preseason first ten football fields.

1 Appalachian State in Michigan. Saturday, September 1st.

Mercy ... why would a perennial power that bend? And what does Michigan expect to learn by playing this game? (And players can spell "Appalachian") Maybe this is a warm-up first for the crew and staff of the stadium grounds, but the Michigan football team could get moreGame experience against him.

Appalachian State finished a very respectable 13-1 in 2006 ... in the former Division I-AA. The climbers apparently want their big toe dip in the college football time. The odds are good that not only lose your big toes, but lose the legs are attached as well as other vital parts of the body. Adding to the drama of this game is still played, it really is will be televised - probably to the Maize and BlueThe fans who burned all his money on beer and was not enough for a ticket.

Western Kentucky 2, Florida - Saturday, September 1st.

How can it possibly be fun? The Gators bring their usual first-rate team, to take the field on the hill in what is sure to be a thriller full - especially for the party. The staff of the stadium lay more in extra for this beer. This may be a heater for Gator fans to strengthen her arms Gator chompand singing "Go Gators!" juiced barley and hot beverages to 100 degrees in their collective pieces.

3 Murray State at Louisville - Saturday, September 1st.

Mark your calendar for these people. And 'scheduled for ESPN coverage! But where is Murray State and what to play football? Murray State actually field a football team and is in Murray, KY removed. The school is proud of the 2006 season has finished a perfect 0-8where the division-level and playing in a team are now gone hungry Louisville eager to play consistent football break in the ranks of top performers? Louisville has enough money to pay for a school like this to show up? The Cardinals posted a stunning record of 12-1 in the 2006 season, including wins a couple of decent schools.

He took the team worse than the first crack, some additional research to determine that the team name for Murray State of the "Racers" is. (Thisis usually a task faster, but not the MSU-Michigan State - old PC site apparently someone father lives in the dorm freshman year. This thing has forever) It would be difficult to judge the quality of the rest of the Murray State program, there are schools like most of us have never heard -. Including Lambuth.

4 Ohio State (Weeks 1 and 2) over Youngstown State and Akron.

The Buckeyes plans are to be commended for maintaining at least the embarrassmentin-state. OSU scores a big double-header victory in the worst outbreak of the first training this year with two sure-to-be-ass-kicking at home.

Aluminum OSU must pay travel expenses for these poor schools, they also want to keep costs down. Although showing some schools in the state willing to be in Columbus for a full public whipping, it's no wonder the most learned reader, that all - would agree to be a part of it - including the OSU fans and aluminum. It complements theEmbarrassment that the opponent is the "Penguins" moniker and "Zip", respectively. You can not just go up.

5 Florida International at Penn State - September 1.

FI finished a perfect 0-12 last season, including a 0-7 mark in the mighty Sun Belt Conference. Florida International should continue to seek recognition for their help in his recruitment. Unfortunately, this is just a comedian. The Nittany Lions certainly look past FI to their modernwith Notre Dame at home in Week 2, but the state should be able to send their freshman squad and still hit triple digits recommend. Football scientists, the clock in motion at any time.

6 Troy, Florida - September 8.

Troy had the honor of giving Nebraska a 56-0 victory last September in Lincoln. It is part of the tradition of Trojan Trojan (T3) to send a couple of boys from a great school to take pictures of the camp and the opposition of the second beat andthird strings. And God bless' em, the Trojans will begin their 2007 season against the Razorbacks in Fayetteville on 1 September. These Trojans believe in themselves, though. Sun Belt Conference with a title, his name in 06, the boys think they can compete. Well ... certainly threw their helmets into the ring just to find out. The line between bravery and stupidity is impossible to distinguish at Troy. In fact, the TA Psych offer a workshop on the topic afterevery game.

We really want to know what coach Larry Blakeney, Troy will say first, beginning against Florida. "Protect yourself at all times?" O "continue to believe?" He has won many in Troy. Unfortunately, not many are against teams with more than 15,000 people in their stadiums. Troy is one of these years, but broke with a big win against a high school. You can not say do not try. After all, you have to be em 'em to win. "But thenagain when a Lion invites you to lunch to ensure you have eaten before arriving.

Samford at Georgia Tech 7th - September 1st.

Samford (not Stanford) finished 1-7 to open the Ohio Valley Conference in 06 and is triggered, the season against the G Tech Wrecks in Atlanta. Samford football has to issue a scholarship? Is there a rule is not displayed for?

How can that be pleasant for a small school team? The team is flying on a plane, but must goAtlanta and play out before Labor Day. Someone will always be a lot of money.

8 Idaho at USC - September 1.

After the Vandals invited to LA seems redundant. The Idaho show with paint cans hidden in their gear bags? Sun Cal to their problems, but the victory is no cause for concern will be for the Trojans. Why did USC set this thing? The boys from the wild northwest get a trip to the big city, perhaps free tickets to Disneyland and lunchwith a great big mouse in exchange for an agreement on the same field at the same time, as the vaunted Trojans.

In addition to a defeat, what are USC or football fans in general, from this agreement? This game will not be much of a challenge, or offer any type of learning experience. But someone has got to warm up the band and the cheerleaders and USC could be a different group of vandals.

9 Citadel in Wisconsin - September 15

Who is the Citadel? Notyou really know the safe out of school, but it seems that they play in the Southern Conference along side such traditional winners Appalachian State and Elon. And now these guys want to go to Madison to 15 ° to try to derail the Badgers? The Citadel is a military school, but one doubts that among the institutional values ​​the concept of suicide. So why in the world would participate in the Citadel?

10 Rotten Game of the Week - Buffalo at Temple - September 8The No 10 in the first game plan worst place is reserved for the rotten game of the week. And this is a rotten game each year. In 2006, these two trucks are slugged for a good 60 minutes without either team score a touchdown. Buffalo turned in a stirring 1-7 conference mark, and seems ready to repeat in the MAC cellar. Instead of recruiting, Temple used their off-season, losing to design new uniforms

To mark your calendar fans! L 'Fall season is upon us. And try firstworst.com reviews, embarrassing moments and worst of the futility of the first weekly ratings.

Early reviews seem to all Futility worst in this area Thursday. Check the final standings 2006 or search for the 2007 preseason notes. If you want to propose a topic or think that scientific methods are not successful at first something worse sport, send us a message! If your question is printable and interesting, because controlthe first to-be-appearing comments page.

2008 Worst College Football Teams - If it Were Not For Losers, There Wouldn't Be Winners

"Without losers, there wouldn't be winners" - unknown author, but probably a loser. As we approach the climax of the college football season, The Sage of College Football (your humble author) suggests that we turn our attention for a few moments to those programs that once held such promise in the late summer months, only to smack their noodles into the frozen artificial turf of December's reality. For some teams, season ending games conclude with the ritual of tearing down of goalposts. Others result in the school selling off unused hot dogs from the stadium deep freeze to starving students who spent their student loan money on beer.

At the professional level, teams that finish at the bottom refer to this time of year as the beginning of golf season. And given the paychecks of most players and coaches, they don't have to worry much about competing with retirees for tee times. The one disappointment in 2008 has been that in writing about the college game, the Sage can't slam the Detroit Lions. The pitiful old motor city franchise looks as it has finally blown all it's gaskets and not even the team ownership seems to care. At least Lions players get paid something for losing. Professional players have a paycheck coming in and a vacation to look forward to. At the college level though, players on losing teams are compelled to visit their respective Religious Studies Departments to seek inner peace. Their coaches seek employment.

Fans of losing college teams also use the offseason for contemplative reflection. One of the more interesting observations occurs when the over-dedicated fan reviews how much money was spent following the team into the toilet. Season tickets, beer and liquor, nachos and hot dogs and the associated medical bills really add up.

Mental Health experts concluded long ago that dedicating too much time effort and money on one's team is also hard on relationships. For those fans lucky enough to have identified a different-sex partner to share the misery of a disastrous season, this presents a double-edged sword. On one hand, the fan may have someone with whom to share the burdens of recovery. On the other, the left over bills and charge card accounts may run double. And for what? Seeing their team scrape together one or two wins against lower division opponents?

Sports Information Offices use this time to come up with new promotional ideas. The Sage has always wanted to be in on an SIO meeting after a 1 and 11 campaign. The new promo ideas generally center on how to convince alumni to overlook the annual season ticket price increase. Or... how to creatively inform alumni that their reserved parking places that have been in the family for generations, are being discontinued so that the school can construct a new kiln for the Art department. Names of alumni that agree to repurchase their seats at iNFLated prices are handed over to the University Development Office for immediate inclusion in the fund raising effort du jour.

A common technique used by losing institutions is to cloud the record of the past year by introducing a new head coach. Individuals agreeing to take these jobs generally extract huge sums for this. Standing before confused and bewildered fans and players and promising to right the ship by "changing the way we think" and "bringing in a winning attitude" is something that should generate a huge paycheck by itself. Saying this stuff with a straight face takes talent. The Detroit Lions ownership should be taking notice... this is at least something to try.

The university staff at Washington has a unique challenge this year. The abysmal Huskies competed a 0-12 season capped off by a 48-7 shellacking at the hands of Cal - hardly the kind of game one wants to end a season on. At least they played that one in Berkeley. Adding misery to insult, the Huskies perfect record sets a new mark for futility within the Pac-10. The wise old Sage of College Football (your humble author) can't wait to see how the institution spins this one. The Huskies have already completed their search for a new head coach and have convinced a Mr. Steve Sarkisian to give up some great weather at Southern Cal to take over the Pac-10's doormat program. The Sage wishes Coach Sark a hearty "good luck." He may learn to appreciate the fog that rolls into Husky Stadium. It does make players, coaches and the future difficult to see.

The Huskies however, aren't the only college team with a lot to forget from 2008. And it is indeed time to put the final nail in the 2008 coffin for these teams. Looking ahead, some of these programs will emerge from the ranks of the worst to achieve respectability. Others will trip and fall on their snooters coming out of the locker room for the spring game.

It is will pride then, that the Sage of College Football presents his picks for the worst 10 teams in college football. However, we should first review a few rules. Primarily, only teams that actually harbor any ambition to become BCS qualified or to -gasp- compete for a national championship one day, are included. Secondly, only major conferences are included. When was the last Middle-America or Conference USA team that had a shot at a big time title? The Sage isn't thinking that Eastern, Central or Western Michigan seriously entertain thoughts of a national championship. So.. without further ado, here are the Sage's picks for the 10 worst college football teams of 2008.

1. Washington Huskies -

Obviously....The purple dogs of the northwest found a way to get the job done in all games this year, including some monumental defeats to Notre Dame, USC and UCLA. Admittedly these are cherry-picked games, but the soggy doggies of Seattle lost these games by a combined score of 116 to 14. In the process, the poor purple team sent its fans off to Starbucks early in each home game. Even though the Huskies kept a game or two close for a while, they still gave up a grand total of 136 points more than they scored in seven home games this year.

2. Washington State Cougars -

It is usually a good season if the Cougars beat archrival and Pac-10 foe Washington in the annual campaign. Unfortunately for the Cougars, that was their only conference win. Interestingly, the only other Cougar victory occurred back in September against a team from Portland State. The Sage is unsure when the Big Sky Conference boasted its last national contender. The state of Washington deserves a honorable mention in the 2008 FirstWorst rankings this year for producing two of the most dismal gridiron performances in history.

3. Idaho Vandals -

The Sage has endured another season waiting in vain for Idaho to change its hapless name. The name "Vandals" would normally inspire images of a wild hoard sacking villages and carrying off opposing cheerleaders. This team doesn't provide much - other than a good excuse to carry off a few cold ones from the local Git N Go. The only Vandal victories (admittedly a contradiction in terms) came in games against other awful programs at New Mexico State and Idaho State.

4. New Mexico State Aggies -

The Sage thought that all programs named "Aggies" had been forced into a change by disgruntled alumni. Particularly for anyone that lives within smelling distance of Las Cruces, you know there isn't a lot of agribusiness taking place there except for the miles of feedlots along I-10. One would think that the school would be anxious to change the name and perhaps try to attract a quality recruit or two. Unfortunately for these Aggies, the 2008 team should have been forced off the field. Despite a decent win against archrival Texas El Paso, the Aggies could only manage more points in games against Alcorn and Nevada.

5. Indiana Hoosiers -

It is alternately a pleasure and a bit of a disappointment to include a Big Ten team in the FirstWorst rankings. One of college football's most storied conferences boasts a tradition of great rivalries and thrilling games. Unfortunately at Indiana, the rivalry is with the basketball program to see who can attract more fans to a single game. Since Bobby Knight's departure, even this has become interesting. Still, basketball at Indiana attracts great athletes who might be able to give the football team a good game. Indiana does deserve credit for trying to follow a proven pathway to respectability. After scheduling games with Western Kentucky and someone called Murray State (also from Kentucky) the Hoosiers minimized travel costs in paying someone to visit the school and lose. After a 2-0 start, the Hoosiers returned to reality, managing only one conference win - their Homecoming Game over Northwestern.

6. Duke Blue Devils -

The Bluish Devils have been a favorite whipping boy for the first worst rankings over the years. As they play in one of the monster football conferences, winning seasons are few and far between. However one would think that with all the brain power at Duke, the program should at least compete for something besides last place. To their credit, Duke did manage a couple reasonably good quality wins over Virginia and Vanderbilt. Imagine calling a win over the Cavaliers and Commodores "quality" wins.

7. Louisville Cardinals -

These Cardinals had a really good schedule in their 2008 campaign to get back into the bowl picture. But by giving up nearly 200 points in their last five games sealed their place in the FirstWorst rankings. The Cards finished strong with a five game losing streak including losses to Syracuse and a 64 to 14 smackdown at the hands of Rutgers.

8. Syracuse Orange -

Teams with singular team names (Orange or in Stanford's case, 'Cardinal') deserve to lose. Football is a team game played by multiple players. Although it may be grammatically correct to call a team a singular name, the practice strays from well established tradition and teams that stray from tradition deserve to get whacked. But we digress... Syracuse did manage to beat #7 Louisville in 2008. They also managed a win over the powerhouse program at Northeastern. For each team, there is one game that justifies the annual season ticket price increase, and Syracuse didn't disappoint, by delivering a solid effort in an exciting win over Notre Dame in late November. Still one quality win does not a season make.

9.San Diego State Aztecs -

Oh Ouch! A season with wins over Idaho and Nevada Las Vegas doesn't qualify as a banner year. Still the Aztecs play in San Diego and the recruits that signed up to play there are thanking their lucky stars that they didn't sign with Buffalo or someplace where it gets cold. And after a loss, Aztec players can still go to the beach and oogle the babes in bikinis. The Aztecs had some decent games on the schedule for 2008 and they came through by losing most of them - including a 21-13 loss to Notre Dame in week two. The Aztec's best effort came against Brigham Young, in which the Aztecs uncharacteristically delivered a strong road win 41 - 12. Alumni should be looking for their price increases in
the mail shortly.

10. Wyoming Cowboys -

Any teams playing in brown home uniforms are going to have trouble on the field. Recruiting players to cold and windswept Laramie is difficult enough without dressing them up in the same colors as -well - the part of the cold and windswept prairie that is used by cows. For many years one of the tallest buildings in the state of Wyoming was the football stadium. And now the Cowboy faithful can expect to pay a bit more for their seats in War Memorial Stadium due to the Cowboys win over (I can't believe I'm writing this) the Tennessee Volunteers. Granted, UT had a difficult year, but losing to Wyoming? Oweee! Anyway.. the Cowboys managed a top ten first worst finish by managing only one Mountain West win and that over San Diego State.

So the 2008 college football season comes to a close for the programs at the bottom. The off season will be filled with coaches looking for work and players looking for cheerleaders. No doubt the Detroit Lions coaching staff will be surveying the ranks of first worst schools scouring for players willing to continue their losing tradition.

As college football fans wait for the spring games and look for ways to build false hope for 2009, the Sage will continue to bring you the wild and outrageous side of losing.

Lsu's Football Team Plays in the NCAA Division I - FBS College Football Division

LSU's football team plays in the NCAA Division I-FBS college football division. The home games are played in Tiger Stadium which is a rather large stadium. It holds 92,400 people. The student section is always packed at every game and no one who has seats in this section sits down for any part of any game. The team at LSU has won four national championships with their most recent being 2007 as of this writing. This has place the LSU Tigers as the first team to ever win two Bowl Championship Series titles. Their national championships were is 1958, 2003, and 2007. They have won 10 SEC Championships in the years 1935, 1936, 1958, 1961, 1970, 1986, 1988, 2001, 2003, 2007.

The Tigers will enter the 2008 season with some impressive stats. They can claim 693 victories. This makes them the 12th team with the most wins in NCAA history. They are also the 4th most of all the SEC teams. They only are behind Alabama with 787 wins, Tennessee with 771 wins and Georgia with 714 wins.

The team's official mascot is Mike the Tiger. He can be found on the campus in his state-of-the-art facility and up until recently has been the traditional Bengal Tiger. The last two Mikes were mixed breeds but were still beautiful. Since the 1950s at games, Mike the Tiger is portrayed by a student in costume. LSU adopted the "Tigers" nickname in 1896. The name is a tribute to the state of Louisiana's Confederate heritage. The Troops of the Louisiana division of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia became the Tigers during the Civil War. This was due to their courageous and heroic deeds of the two New Orleans brigades, the Tiger Rifles and the Washington Artillery. The Washington Artillery had a logo featuring the face of a snarling tiger head.

The first Mike lived a long time with LSU. He had a life span of 20 years from 1936-1956 and was purchased by the LSU student body from the Little Rock Zoo for a big whopping $750. He is now on permanent display in the LSU Natural Sciences Museum on the campus in Baton Rouge.

Rumors and superstition surround each of the tigers that have had the honor to be named as Mike the Tiger. LSU's football team's winning and losing streaks are attributed by many to the health and happiness of each of the 6 tigers that have lived on the LSU campus since the first Mike came to live there in 1936. With four of the five previous Mikes having lived to at least seventeen years of age, there may be something to these rumors. The present Mike VI is kept in splendor at a $3 million habitat built in 2005 especially designed for the needs of Mike. The funds came completely from private sources and the habitat has state-of-the-art amenities. Mike is kept in style with a 24 hour on-call veterinarian from the LSU Veterinary School always in attendance. The place has lush plantings, a waterfall and a flowing stream with a wading pond. There are rocks for Mike to sun himself on and the preserve is 15,000 square feet in size.

There are traditions that the LSU football team observes with Mike. Some are quite entertaining. Mike rides through Tiger stadium just before the start of home games with the LSU Cheerleaders perched on top of his cage. Everyone knows that LSU will score a touchdown for every roar that Mike lets go of on game day. And the most humorous tradition involves the opposing team on home football game days. Mike's cage is parked by the door of the opponent's locker room located at the southeast end of Tiger Stadium. The opposing team has to walk (or run) by Mike in order to get to their locker room.
LSU football is all about tradition and Mike is a great part of that long tradition.

College Football Withdrawal - A Guide to Recognizing and Recovering From Football Dependency

College Football's season ending 'hurrah' that is bowl week heralds the conclusion of the 2008 season. For the more balanced among us, this signals the start of a new year and the chance to focus on surviving winter and to enjoy not having to cut the grass. For others, this time of year marks a merciful and justified end to more than four months of yelling, beer swilling, nacho loading and relationship damaging behavior.

2008 was notable for many formerly losing programs. Vanderbilt defeated Boston College 16-14 in the Music City Bowl on New Year's Eve. This was Vanderbilt's first bowl win since the Dwight Eisenhower Presidency and came over #24 Boston College. Not since Howdy Doody ruled Saturdays has Vanderbilt produced a post season victory. Vandy is now able to provide proof that the school indeed has a football program. Coming out of the cold after 53 years will provide enough fuel to keep the Commodore faithful happy through the offseason.

2008 saw many milestones achieved. It also saw some horrific collapses. Several formerly strong programs that expected to win, took a nosedive into the black hole of bowl in ineligibility. The Wolverines of mighty Michigan found out what life has been like for their Big-10 brethren at Indiana this year, as there was no bowl trip to a warm climate to salve the discomfort of a Michigan winter. Several programs that expected to be generating heat in the compost bin, didn't fail to disappoint. Perennial doormats of the west, New Mexico State and Idaho managed to field teams that performed expectedly abysmally. The big surprise this year was former Pac-10 power program Washington. The team smelled like wet dogs as they competed with cross state rival Washington State to solidly anchor the worst group of 2008 football programs.

How do Husky fans survive the offseason? The obligatory firing of the old coach and replacement with poor Steve Sarkisian from USC will provide a few weeks of hope, but in the end, reality will set in just like the Puget Sound fog. The one bright spot is that expectations for Husky football are now set so low, that even a single win over a Division II school would qualify as a step in the right direction. UW is now trying to schedule Western Kentucky and Murray State just as soon as possible. But the purple dogs would be wise to remember Michigan scheduling Appalachian State at home some years ago. The maize and blue's gagging in that game started the program spiraling into the septic tank. But well... if you are UW, there just isn't much further to fall, so you may as well try and outbid Indiana and Nebraska to get Murray State to show up on your field.

How did we as a society get to a point where our daily happiness is dependent on how the alma mater did on the field? This question justifies some exploration as a good chunk of the autumn economy is driven by young, t-shirt clad alumni putting pizza, nachos and beer on their new American Express cards.

College football afternoons call to mind a time of hope and anticipation for university alumni. That time of being young and able to scope out the coeds with impunity is for many, the best and most hopeful time of their young lives. Many alumni get out into the world and before they realize it, find themselves with a mortgage, a wife and two great but loud kids. They wistfully look back on the feeling of exhilaration and optimism when they let themselves believe that Tammy C. from Accounting 101 might really go out with 'em. For young alums the challenge is then to recreate those great feelings of exhilaration and optimism while encumbered by a real job.

University administrators take great advantage of this. Inviting alumni to fund raising events where they can mingle with students, alums and cheerleaders stirs just enough of that old college excitement that alumni are soon parted with significant sums of their money. When this occurs, a dysfunctional bond is created between alum and institution. Winning on the field becomes a validation of that relationship. And validation is important when going home to the wife to explain why one just contributed $500 to the University Therapy (read 'Hot Tub') fund.

Once the alumni and university relationship is firmly established, a dependency is created. Dependency like substance abuse gradually demands increasing contributions of attention and resources until a breaking point is reached. This breaking point typically occurs at the end of the football season when the credit card bills arrive and the wife is threatening to take the two loud kids and move to her cousin's place near South Beach.

It should be noted that these dependencies are created in winning as well as losing environments. In winning environments however, there are more alumni to shoulder the burdens of keeping the players in hot tubs and nice cars. For rebuilding or losing programs, these dependencies really threaten financial health, family well being and all manner of relationships. So, before one has to endure news that his former wife is dating Rodrigo from the South Florida Modeling Agency, immediate action is required. Fortunately, science has provided us with at least two tactics that work.

Replacement

Replacing the substance at the core of the dependency is a common strategy. Frequently, an over dedicated alum turns his attention to the basketball program. The general strategy is to decrease the dependency though gradual reduction of the substituted environment.

Unfortunately, an indoor sport doesn't allow for nearly enough seating to bring enough alumni and cheerleaders together to generate the same level of interest and excitement that a big outdoor venue provides, so using basketball to replace football as an area of interest frequently fails.

The big risk to the replacement strategy occurs when a basketball program actually gets exciting. This creates yet another dependency that one has to wait until baseball season to cure. By this time, the ex-wife and Rodrigo will be a sipping Champaign in a hot tub of their own.

Should the replacement strategy be chosen, the author recommends hockey. Even at a professional level, hockey is fast enough to allow the viewer to forget about gawking at college aged coeds. And almost no one has hockey cheerleaders.

Many wives may be prevented from achieving the status of ex-wives by including them in the replacement area of interest. Replacement interests need not be sports related. Especially if one's wife has participated to any degree in the football season, the recovering fan will need to consider all options for replacement - just to be fair. These areas may include opera, classical music and other artistic disciplines far removed from anything resembling a sweat sock.

Rebound

The term 'rebound' is a more clever way of saying quitting 'cold turkey.' After a period of time removed from the dependency, the fan will simply rebound to something resembling normalcy. Rebound depression is a natural consequence here, but... depression is better than sending off alimony checks to South Florida. The central tenant of the Rebound strategy is to tough it out, read the updates on what ridiculous statements the new coach makes, and watch as the best recruits in your area commit to USC. And just deal with it.

The more difficult part of this strategy comes when trying to talk the wife into unpacking the UHaul and telling her with a straight face that you will never again drop $400 to pick up the bar tab for the senior members of the Pom squad. Should the alum be successful in coaxing the wife into the house, he must actually make conversation about something meaningful - like life, love, finances and try to find areas of common interest.

These areas of common interest then overlap with the Replacement tactic as some of these conversations will require actual commitment and follow through. Attending an opera really isn't the point of this. Should you get into a situation where you are committed to participate in something your very significant other is interested in, remember that you must actually 'participate.' When your wife attended a football game with you, she probably didn't just sit there when your team scored. Now when the fat lady sings, you don't stand up and do the wave, but you get the point. One must invest the effort to learn who Pavarotti was and what really distinguished him from John Mayer.

Joint Recovery

Occasionally, husband and wife teams will experience the same withdrawal and depression problems together. While it may appear to be an advantage to share a dedication to a particular football program, joint recoveries from football withdrawal are frequently more than twice the work. They are certainly almost twice as expensive. Since both parties to the relationship are involved in the problem, there is no one available with a strong connection to reality to set the baselines for expected behavior.

Connecting to reality is then the central part of a joint recovery. Reality consists of things like cleaning the house, paying the bills and shoveling snow. Sharing in these tasks is not something anyone would naturally give up Sports Center to do. However, the recovery requires tasks and chores to be shared. It also requires the couple to investigate what other areas of interest the relationship might pursue. These might include things like biking, hiking, dog walking - usually something ending in "ing" would work. This again implies action and participation. The exception to this rule - for reasons that should be obvious - would be the addition of (new or more) kids to the relationship.

Concluding the 2008 football season is best done in some form of ritual. Something like taking the Christmas lights down or finally throwing out some salt on that driveway ice patch might help you get it into your head that it is winter outside. Football will have to wait until the spring game. And when the spring game does roll around, for God's sake, don't pay for a ticket to see it. Just let it go by and take the wife to a nice dinner. Otherwise, she and Rodrigo will soon be drinking rum and chomping calamari under a palm tree.

College Football - Worst to First - Turning Around a Losing Program

Building a successful college football program requires several key ingredients. Now that the 2008 campaign has concluded for some truly awful programs, the work to build losers into winners has begun. It is appropriate now, to look at some of the significant elements required for building a winning football program. Included on this list are:

Finding enough Murray State and Western Kentucky football programs to build a schedule around, Identifying enough alumni who really believe in the institution's academic focus to give thousands of hard-earned dollars so they can be entertained on autumn Saturdays, and Figuring out a way to attract some decent athletes that are capable of constructing enough complete sentences to pass Freshman English.

Scheduling

Early pioneers of creative scheduling used to rely on sportswriters to simply pick their team as a contender for the National Championship. In years past, the Cornish Game Huskers of Nebraska routinely scheduled unbelievably weak opponents to open their season. They would fill Memorial Stadium in Lincoln with throngs of beer basted, red nosed (and clad) fans to watch the Huskers thrash teams that could hardly assemble eleven people for the kick off.

The advent of the BCS scoring system changed all that. Instead of arranging weekly massacres of poor opponents in September, the Big and Red administration had to try and bring in some quality opponents such as Southern Cal and Virginia Tech. It is bad enough that Nebraska has to face serious competition in Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas during their conference schedule. Now, that danged BCS has made the Big and Red Fans (BaRFs), actually see some real games during the harvest season.

The University of Michigan - another of the hallowed monster football programs - used to try the weak-sister scheduling method to gather steam for a national championship run. Unfortunately for them (and a blessedly for the rest of us), over the past two seasons, they scheduled in Appalachian State and the University of Utah as part of their September Patsy Parade. The really bad news for the Wolverines is that both AppState and the Utes actually showed up. In 2008, an early loss to Utah set the stage for a remarkable skid into the grey land of bowl ineligibility. Now, all the snow choked Wolverine fans have to make up a reason to go drink beer in Florida while other teams continue to play football.

The Indiana Hoosier football team didn't harbor any realistic thoughts of attending a bowl game this year, but they followed the scheduling methodology perfectly. They then hit the tank after a 2-0 start. In taking a closer look, those two early season wins against Western Kentucky and Murray State didn't actually qualify as genuine games. Still, the Hoosiers actually played the games and managed to defeat both. It just didn't prepare them for the rest of the Big Ten schedule, which quickly relegated Indiana to their usual place sweeping up the stalls at the bottom of the heap.

Alumni Relations

It has been said that to be successful as a college administrator, one must provide three things to three different constituencies. Students want sex, the faculty wants parking and alumni want winning sports. While the student interest generally takes care of itself and a modest effort can pacify the faculty demand for parking places and hook ups for electric cars, the Alumni demand is quite a bit more challenging.

Some of the more creative administrators remember that alumni were once students themselves and therefore might be more closely attuned to the student demand. That is why cheerleaders are instructed to perform in front of the alumni section as much as in front of the student cheap seats.

Free beer and chips also keep alumni pacified during losing seasons, but at some point, the administration needs to deliver either a winner on the field or provide the hope for delivering a winner. It is this last point that impacts the career of football coaches. Coaches are motivators - not only of players but of alumni as well. Players provide the muscle for on the field execution, alumni provide the funds for the weight room as well as the recruiting parties. Some of these alums attend as well.

Recruiting

A tribute to Dan Hawkins (currently coach of the Colorado Buffalos and formerly of Boise State), seems appropriate here. Motivational speaking can only accomplish so much. However, Hawkins has achieved a level of success rarely touched by others. Convincing a star pampered athlete to leave the comfortable confines of his San Diego prep school to play football on the frozen prairie wasteland of Idaho is a remarkable feat. It is so cold there that the field turned blue. Still the 'Hawk' hacked a powerhouse program out of that wilderness due to superior coaching ability and outstanding motivational skill.

Now, the University of Colorado - from its stunningly beautiful Boulder, CO campus - thinks that Hawkins should never lose another game. Unfortunately for the Buffalo Steaks, that hasn't quite panned out just yet. Still, Hawkins has had some solid recruiting success and the CU program at least appears headed in the right direction. The Buffaloes are the Sage's pick for the surprise team of 2009.

When it comes down to it, there is only so much the coaches can do to produce a winner. They have to put talented athletes on the field. Unfortunately, they have to put these same athletes in Freshman English. Have you heard some of these athletes try to give a radio interview? Ask what it is to conjugate a verb and many will just ask for the key to the restroom. Success on the field does not guarantee success in the classroom. This may be why Duke has such a problem putting a competitive team on the field. Spelling one's name correctly on the Duke entrance exam is but one requirement. Athletes need to be academically able to attend the Stanfords, Northwesterns, Notre Dames and Dukes of the football world. To these schools, the Sage sends his kudos. You can't put students in the classroom who have trouble distinguishing verb from pronoun, even if they can run 40 yards in 4.25 seconds.

There will be a number of new coaches and staffs in place for the 2009 season. Usually, season one for a new coaching staff is a disaster. Little recruiting has been done and there is no history for a star recruit to look at to help in his decision to attend. It is in these first years though, that the average viewer really learns who can coach and who can't. If you have a team made up of essentially walk-on players taking the field to play Oklahoma, you are going to find out who can motivate his team to play its best. And every now and then, you get a huge upset. That is why we keep tuning in and buying the College Football Executive Package from our cable companies. So keep an eye on Sarkisian at Washington next year...Should the Huskies win a game next year, it will be because of solid coaching and not necessarily great recruiting.

Winning football traditions bring multiple of factors together for a successful season. But it's the losers that figure out interesting ways to blow it. The Sage of College Football will be here to bring you all the fun and interesting tidbits for 2009.

2007 Special Kick-Off Edition - College Football's Top Ten Blowouts

At last! The 2007 college football season is about to burst upon all those new wide-screen televisions! Although we are about a week to the summer side of Labor Day, why not get excited now? After all, our treasured autumn pastime is about to launch it's annual smear/wipeout/butt-kicking season.

Schools are looking at their 2007 schedules with anticipation and dread. Winning and losing in the first few weeks of the season can make or break one's chances in the BCS. This year, perennial FirstWorst favorite Duke has taken losing to a brand new level by losing the ACC Championship - for 1965. Owing to a fluke of scheduling and some kind of previous misapplication of the rules, the Conference this week awarded the 1965 title exclusively to South Carolina - stripping Duke of it's share of the ACC crown. It isn't bad enough that Duke can't kick an extra point and save a game against another dog team, it can't even hang onto a success from when the biggest off-field concern was one's draft number.

Since that time, the college football season has evolved into a three-part series of events. The Bowl season concludes the annual gridiron campaigns, the conference season determines who attends which bowl games, and the season-opening "games" are designed to - well - who knows what they are designed to do. Although it escapes understanding how Nebraska improves its performance on the field by wiping out Ball State, these games actually count in poll calculations. It is equally curious why a program like Ball State would acquiesce to visiting Lincoln in September to receive the abuse. Perhaps the promise of a big paycheck helps.

Some schools don't think beating anyone 56-0 is any fun. Their fans don't either. For others, these early games may be their only wins. Notre Dame boasts an incredibly difficult schedule this year. In their quest for the national championship, the Irish are rolling out some of the top football schools - not including poor Navy and Air Force - to convince the BCS gurus that they are indeed the best. ND leads with an opening game at home against Georgia Tech, hits the road against Penn State and follows that up with a pleasure trip to Ann Arbor for a date with Michigan. Kudos to the Irish for leading with tough games!

On the other end, Duke University - champion of the 2006 FirstWorst poll and fresh off a stellar 0-12 season - also confronts a very difficult schedule. Of course any game Duke schedules will be difficult, but the Devils set themselves up with a tough road by most standards in 2007. If it wasn't enough to face Florida State, Georgia Tech and Miami the wizards of Duke scheduling threw in Notre Dame and Northwestern! Duke has the right idea for scheduling - if it was Notre Dame. Unfortunately, they need Nebraska's idea of scheduling to get back on their feet. Duke recently hired a new head coach and might not have accomplished much recruiting this year. They are just trying to put a team on the field. Look for the Bleu Devils to make another run at the 2007 FirstWorst Championship but give 'em credit for putting themselves on the field against opponents that people want to see.

Why do so many top tier schools put dog games on their schedule? Of course they want to avoid injuries, but a better course of action to accomplish that would be to ban beer in the athletic dorm to keep kids from falling down the stairs or tripping over cheerleaders. Perhaps Ohio State wants to practice their second and third strings against teams that don't have matching uniforms. The reasons for these games are anyone's guess. But why a fan would pay attention to one is beyond comprehension.

It is without shame that our premier universities are charging admission to dedicated fans to watch some incredibly lopsided games. These are simply embarrassing events masquerading as football games. As a public service, The Scholarly Sages of Sport at FirstWorst present the early season's worst ten football games.

1. Appalachian State at Michigan. Saturday, September 1.

Mercy...why would a perennial powerhouse stoop to this? And what does Michigan expect to learn by playing this game? (and can the players spell "Appalachian?") Maybe this is a warm up primarily for the grounds crew and stadium staff, but the Michigan football team could get more experience playing against itself.

Appalachian State finished a very respectable 13 - 1 in 2006... in what was then Division I-AA. The Mountaineers apparently want to dip their big toe in big time college football. Chances are that they will not only lose those big toes, but lose the legs they are attached to as well as other vital body parts. Adding to the tragedy of this game even being played, the thing is actually going to be televised - probably to the Maize and Blue fans who burned all their money on beer and didn't have enough left over for a ticket.

2. Western Kentucky at Florida - Saturday, September 1.

How can this possibly be entertaining? The Gators bring their usual first-rate team to the field to take on the Hilltopers in what is sure to be a total thriller - primarily for the vendors. The stadium staff better lay in extra beer for this one. This may be a warm up for Gator fans to strengthen their arms doing the Gator-chomp and singing "Go Gators!" while juiced up on barley beverages warmed to 100 degrees inside their collective noggins.

3. Murray State at Louisville - Saturday, September 1.

Mark your calendars for this one folks. It is slated for ESPN coverage! But where is Murray State and what are they doing playing football? Murray State actually does field a football team and is located in Murray, KY. The school is proud to have finished the 2006 season a perfect 0-8 in whatever lower level division they play in. And now they are headed to play a hungry Louisville team anxious to break into the ranks of consistent top football performers? Does Louisville have enough money to pay a school like this to show up? The Cardinals posted a fab 12-1 record in the 2006 season including wins over some decent schools.

It took the crack team at FirstWorst some extra research to determine that the team name for Murray State is the 'Racers'. (This is normally a quick task, but the MSU -not Michigan State - website apparently lives on someone's dad's ancient PC in the freshman dorm. The thing took forever.) We would be hard-pressed to judge the quality of the remainder of the Murray State schedule, as it includes schools most of us have never heard of - including Lambuth.

4. Ohio State (weeks 1 and 2) versus Youngstown State and Akron.

The storied Buckeyes are to be commended for at least keeping the embarrassment in-state. OSU scores a big double-header win in the FirstWorst blowout lineup this year with two sure-to-be-butt-kickings at home.

OSU Alums must be paying travel expenses for these poor schools, so they also want to keep expenses down. Even though there are a couple of in state schools willing to show up in Columbus for a complete public flogging, it amazes most scholarly readers that anyone - including the OSU fans and Alums - would agree to be a part of it. It adds to the embarrassment that the opponent monikers are the 'Penguins' and 'Zips' respectively. You just can't make this stuff up.

5. Florida International at Penn State - September 1.

FI finished a perfect 0-12 last season, including an 0-7 mark in the mighty Sun Belt Conference. Florida International must be looking for recognition to aid in it's recruiting efforts. Unfortunately, this one is for comic relief only. The Nittany Lions will be sure to look past FI to their date with Notre Dame at home in week 2, but State should be able to send out their freshman squad and still hit triple digits. Football scholars recommend keeping the clock moving at all times.

6. Troy at Florida - September 8.

Troy had the honor of handing Nebraska a 56-0 victory last September in Lincoln. It is part of the Troy Trojan Tradition (T3) to send a bunch of guys to a big school to take pictures from the field and get whacked by the opposition's second and third strings. And God Bless 'em, the Trojans are kicking off their 2007 season against the Razorbacks in Fayetteville on Sept. 1. These Trojans believe in themselves, however. With a Sun Belt Conference title to their names in 06, these guys think they can compete. Well... they certainly threw their helmets into the right ring to find out. The line separating courage and stupidity is impossible to distinguish at Troy. In fact, the Psych TAs offer a workshop on the topic right after each game.

We really want to know what Troy head coach Larry Blakeney will say prior to kick off against Florida. "Protect yourself at all times?," or "keep on believing?" He has plenty of wins at Troy. Unfortunately, not many are against teams that put more than 15,000 people in their stadiums. One of these years though, Troy is gonna break through with a huge win against a top tier school. You can't say they don't try. After all, you have to be in 'em to win 'em. But then again, if a Lion invites you to lunch, make sure he has eaten before you arrive.

7. Samford at Georgia Tech - September 1.

Samford (not Stanford) finished 1-7 in the Ohio Valley Conference in 06 and is primed to open the season against the G Tech Wrecks in Atlanta. Does Samford give out football scholarships? Is there any provision for not showing up?

How can this be enjoyable for a small school team? The team gets to fly on a plane, but has to go to Atlanta and play outside before Labor Day. Someone is getting a whole bunch of money for this.

8. Idaho at USC - September 1.

Having the Vandals invited to LA seems redundant. Does Idaho show up with paint cans hidden in their equipment bags? So. Cal may have its own problems, but winning isn't going to be a concern for the Trojans. Why did USC set this thing up? The boys from the wild northwest get a trip to the big city, perhaps free tickets to Disneyland and lunch with a great big mouse in exchange for agreeing to be on the same field at the same time as the vaunted Trojans.

Besides a rout, what are USC or football fans in general getting out of this deal? This game won't be much of a challenge or provide any kind of learning experience. But someone has got to warm up the band and the USC Cheerleaders and it might as well be another set of Vandals.

9. Citadel at Wisconsin - September 15

Who is the Citadel? No one outside of the school really knows for sure, but seems that they play in the Southern Conference along side such traditional winners as Appalachian State and Elon. And now these guys want to go up to Madison on the 15th to try and derail the Badgers? The Citadel is a military school, but one doubts that among the institutional values is the concept of suicide. So why in the world would Citadel participate in this?

10 Rotten Game of the Week - Buffalo at Temple - September 8 The #10 spot in the FirstWorst game schedule is reserved for the rotten game of the week. And this one is a rotten game each year. In 2006, these two juggernauts slugged it out for a full 60 minutes without either team scoring a touchdown. Buffalo turned in a stirring 1-7 conference mark, and looks poised to repeat in the MAC cellar. Instead of recruiting, Temple used their off-season to design new uniforms to lose in.

So mark your calendars football fans! The bending-over season is upon us. And check back with the firstworst.com for reviews, embarrassing moments and the weekly FirstWorst Futility Rankings.

The FirstWorst Futility Rankings appear each Thursday in this space. Check out the final 2006 rankings or look for the 2007 preseason notes. If you would like to suggest a topic or think the Scholarly Sages of Sport at FirstWorst have missed something, please send us a note! If your question is printable and interesting, check for it on the soon-to-be-appearing comments page.