5-1 end of 5

End of 4.  3-1 Furd.

Middle of the 3rd.  Stanford up 2-0. Stanford scored after 2 batters. Grein relived Sokolski in the circle after 1 1/3 innings. 

Can someone tell me why Coach Lombardi started her dominant ace pitcher Lindsey Grein against lowly Weber State -- and starts a good but not dominant (and not as mentally tough) #2 pitcher against Stanford?  I really don't understand it.  Didn't start well today.

7 of the top 8 seeds were from the SEC.  If all 7 win their regionals, 7 of 8 superregionals will be at SEC sites.  Is the SEC really that much better than everyone else?  Why am I so skeptical?

Ducks softball team has the best record -- best winning percentage -- in all of Division 1!  Go Ducks!!

On 1/30/2025 at 1:26 PM, cartm25 said:

An unpopular question:  Is Dan Lanning a defensive genius, OR is he the beneficiary of working in Smart's shadow and being surrounded by NFL talent?

Great question, cartm.  I agree that the answer may be yes and yes.  And I agree that Lanning has done a terrific job as a head coach.  He has exceeded my expectations. 

 

However I've always suspected that Smart got insufficient credit for that Georgia defense, and maybe Lanning got a bit too much.  Impossible to tell from my vantage point, but my guess is Smart is the real genius.  And oh my did he have the players!

Still tough for me to swallow that in a four team playoff this year we likely would be national champs.  Sigh...

And Allard is intercepted with 33 seconds left.  Called it.

Was Allard this bad against OBD?

Penn State coming out overconfident in second half after pushing ND around in the first half.  PSU had their opportunities in the first half and they squandered almost all of them, and I won't be surprised if ND blows them out in the second half.  We'll see.  I was hoping for an all-B1G championship game...

Penn State dominating everywhere but the scoreboard.  Allard has been horribly inaccurate, otherwise they would have 21 plus points.  They also could have shut out ND if their all-American DE would have recovered that fumble.  His shoulder must really be bothering him.

On 1/7/2025 at 4:52 PM, GatOrlando said:

Ohio State has a niche for making runs in innagural events

Right.  They controversially slid past TCU into the first CFP playoffs in 2014 at the last minute if I remember correctly.  After we destroyed Florida State in the Rose Bowl I was very confident we would beat Alabama for the first CFP championship -- but Ohio State beat Alabama in the semifinal, and then ... yeah.

Former Florida State and Alabama wide receiver Malik Benson, who has an extra year thanks to the recent NCAA ruling on junior college players, told ESPN that he has committed to play at Oregon next year.  

 

 

WR Malik Benson, intrigued by QB Dante Moore, commits to Oregon - ESPN

WWW.ESPN.COM

---

Wide receiver Malik Benson commits to Oregon.

 

A few thoughts now that I've calmed down a bit:

 

1.  Before the season I thought osu2 had scary talent, but they didn't get close to their potential until last week against Tennessee.  They are tremendously talented.  Howard was terrific yesterday, and QB may be one of their weaker positions.  I think they steamroll anyone if they play like they did yesterday.

 

2. So far all three teams with a bye last week came out flat and got behind 14-0 right away.  Georgia's first two possessions are not going well.  I think the long layoff was an issue, though we all hate to make excuses.  

 

3. Too bad the playoff expanded this year so osu2 got in.  I think we win a four team playoff against Georgia, Texas and PSU. 

 

4.  Yeah we played poorly and got hammered and it sucks, and I am very disappointed.  But I am old enough to remember when just beating the Beavers made for a successful season.  Thankfully expectations have become higher.

 

Go Ducks!

I hope Stewart returns.  I think Dante Moore throwing to him would be special.

Officials are my fear as well.  The teasers for the first osu2 game showed Smith making a pair of one-handed catches.  On both plays he is pushing off the defensive back with one arm while making the catch with the other hand.  Every time I saw that I thought hey that's not legal - Smith is getting away with OPI.  Refs let that happen way too much - it's like they are afraid to call it.  I'm glad that ref had the courage to throw a flag on Smith.  It was definitely the right call.

Tough break.  I feel bad for the kid.  I think Georgia will be fine -- their defense should carry them.  I hope we see them in the NC game.

Boy, I've read a lot of lousy college football articles, but I think this may be the very worst.  Unbelievably bad in so many ways.  Edit:  actually I admit I didn't read the entire thing.  Probably not even half of it.

Congratulations to Tyler!  I am very happy for him!!

Backup QB Gunnar Stockton is very very good.  UGA might be even better with him playing... 

On 12/13/2024 at 2:04 PM, Triphibius said:

My fear is that in a sixteen team playoff, the winner will not be the best team, but the luckiest (in avoiding injury). 

 

A March Madness approach does not work, in my view, with a sport as tough on the human body as football. 

 

On 12/13/2024 at 3:31 PM, Triphibius said:

Football is a rough game, and risk is part of the equation, but the longer the playoff continues, the greater the odds that injuries will determine the outcome.

Agree.  I think 16 or 17 games is too many for college football.

 

By the way I don't think OBD have the toughest road to the championship game.  osu2 and Tennessee do because they have a first round game and then have to play the best team in the entire playoff bracket. 

Biggest threat is the next opponent.  If we can't get by them it doesn't matter who would be next.

I fully agree with you, Charles.  I have maintained this for years.  The B1G had osu2, UM and PSU but after that nothing really. 

 

Further I would submit that the SEC was never what ESPN and everyone else said it was.  Clearly UGA and Bama were elite.  After that, who?  LSU had one good year.  Hearing that the SEC was the best conference always really bothered me.  Yes they had two of the top 5 teams but they also had Vandy, Kentucky, Miss St.,  Auburn, Arkansas, TAMU and Mizzou which were not good teams most of the last decade.  And Tennessee, Ole Miss, and USC East are only very recently good. 

 

So the "SEC is the best" narrative doesn't sit well with me.  It depends on how you measure "best."  Number of national championships isn't the only metric.  I think you should consider the whole conference top to bottom.  No doubt that Geogia and Bama have been dominant.  But who else in the last 15 years except LSU in 2019?

Yesterday the headline for the ESPN story on the B1G CCG read "No. 4 Penn State vs. No. 1 Ohio State."   I am not kidding -- that's what it said.  Unbelievable!!