Over The Pylon

From time to time, the entity known as the CBSSports Blogpoll will have a batch of questions hosted by one of the members for the other members to post, answer, and pontificate on. Last week’s, hosted by Hey Jenny Slater, was all about the preseason… the sleepers, the overrateds, and the games we’d love to be at. This week’s edition, hosted by College Game Balls, is not only next in line, but also bringing the thunder since we finally have, you know… tangible results and things to talk about.

1. Which freshman impressed you more last weekend: the California dream Matt Barkley who quarterbacked USC over tOSU or white lightening Tate Forcier who slashed through Notre Dame? Which one would you like to have on your team? Feel free to write in another worth candidate.
Matt Barkley was certainly impressive. He captained and led the charge against a solid top 10 team, on the road. However, Barkley was not really the driving force behind that win. Joe McKnight had more to do with the last particular touchdown than Barkley. Take away Barkley and throw in Aaron Corp or Mitch Mustain and I’m not sure USC doesn’t still walk out of Columbus with a win. And that leaves Tate Forcier, who pretty much single handedly led the Wolverines past the Fighting Irish. It took the heat off RichRod, put another coach squarely on the hotseat, and perhaps set the tone for success in the next few seasons at Michigan. As a fan of the Ball State Cardinals, I’ll take either. I’ll have to have a footrace to determine who gets the nod, since whomever it is will need to be fleet footed to outrun the defenders the offensive line lets through like shit through a goose.

2. Let’s play a game of pretend the unthinkable happened. Commissioner __________ of your conference has been forced to resign after he was caught canoodling with some harlots. Great news, you’ve been chosen to succeed him. To make your mark you decide to make a big change. What is it going to be?
Oh my, Jon Steinbrecher. I always told you your weiner was going to get you in trouble. The MAC has so many problems, my first official act as commissioner would be to resign. That’s not an option? Piss. Ok… in that case I would begin to edict things that is going to force the conference to either succeed or fail. I would mandate no FCS scheduling. That doesn’t help the conference’s national attention with a victory, and kills it with a loss. Schedule the Sun Belt, schedule CUSA, I don’t give a damn. But you’re not going to schedule BS opponents and act like you’ve done something.

Second, I would morph the conference into a balanced leage. This 13-team setup sucks. Therefore, one team’s got to go. I would make each and every conference member present to my office what they would do over the next 5 years to increase the viability, reputation, and success of football on their campus. In those plans would need to be tangible measurable goals that my office would evaluate. The team that doesn’t meet them or fails the worst… so long.

It is only through that, that the conference itself may regain some of the luster that was lost. There was a time, when Chad Pennington, Byron Leftwich, Ben Roethlisberger, and Randy Moss ran over MAC teams. Now, we’re sort of a joke. And that’s gotta stop.

3. This week the quality of games is kicked up a gear. Other than your own, which game are you most looking forward to?
First of all, there’s no need to qualify that statement in terms of my team. Once you follow your season opening loss to a SunBelt team with a loss to an FCS team, “looking forward to” doesn’t describe my feelings for this weekend’s contest between our Ball State Cardinals and Army. As an SEC fan, the potential bloodbath between Florida and Tennessee is perched atop the list, not only for the game, but for the return of CBS Sports and Verne Lundquist.

4. What mascot and/or tradition would you thieve from another school if it was socially acceptable.
As Charlie Cardinal lovers, we’re not thieving anyone’s mascot or band. Our model of avian awesomeness knows no peers, no equal, and no brethren and The Pride of MidAmerica Marching Band, as marching bands go, is far better than we deserve. Instead, we’re focusing on atmosphere. And for the money, there is no better atmosphere for the team to run through than this…

That’s the thing missing from Ball State games. The kind of entrance that makes you piss yourself before you take the field.

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