20 SEP 09: FM - Football Mania
It occurred to us if the Saturday night TV news isn't going to show you many college football highlights, maybe we should try. Trouble is, I don't have cable or satellite TV. I don't have a video camera. And being a single guy, you might wind up seeing more cheerleaders than quarterbacks.
But thanks to FM radio, I could keep up with two area college football games Saturday night. Clear Channel has aired Auburn games for years on WVRK "Rock 103". And now, Georgia games are on WGSY "Sunny 100." To me, that makes Auburn's team sound tougher - while "Sunny 100" sound more fitting for Georgia gymnastics.
A thunderstorm delayed Auburn's game with West Virginia by one hour. So the Auburn Sports Network played highlights from big games in 1999 and 2004. Fans remembered when Carnell "Cadillac" Williams wasn't paid enough money to buy a Cadillac.
The West Virginia-Auburn game didn't end until after midnight Eastern Time. The Tigers prevailed 41-30, but the Auburn broadcast team gave credit to West Virginia for being a good team. Other announcers would have mocked the Mountaineers for not having "Rocky TOP" as a fight song.
West Virginia took a 14-0 lead in the first five minutes, and the Auburn announcers suggested the one-hour lightning delay hurt the Tiger offense. To which I would ask -- why? Did the running backs and wide receivers have to (ahem) eliminate their energy drinks in the dressing room?
But Auburn fought back - and when the gap closed to 14-10, Auburn play-by-man Rod Bramblett declared it a "brand new ball game." For a moment, I almost thought that meant another hour-long thunderstorm....
The officials for the West Virginia-Auburn game were from the Big East Conference - and that may have led to the Auburn announcers challenging several spots. One second-half pass interference call was challenged by Stan White because the pass was "eight yards past the guy." He probably challenges delayed speeding tickets on Interstate 85 as well.
Stan White also gave an Auburn receiver praise because he "went down to his knees and caught the ball, and then kept running." Uhhhh - if you catch the ball on your knees in college football, isn't the play dead?
The Auburn broadcast team was even-handed to some extent. They noted running back Mario Fannin is gaining a "knock" for not being able to hold the football. They must have overheard the West Virginia coaching staff calling him Mario Fumblin'.
But then Mario Fannin ran for a touchdown to tie the tilt at 27-27, and Rod Bramblett declared he "ran like a lightning bug." How quickly some people forget a dangerous storm, which delays a game....
The Auburn win puts the Tigers at 3-0 - and the radio announcers were lobbying for the team to be ranked in the top 25. In fact, they talked about it so much that I wonder if there's an incentive clause in the radio contract.
On down the dial, Georgia outlasted Arkansas 52-41. Yes, in football. Back in February, that probably would have been the men's basketball score between those teams....
Georgia lost the ball on a muffed punt early in the game, and play-by-play announcer Scott Howard declared "that turnover bug" had struck the Bulldogs again. The bug apparently has arrived to replace Larry Munson's old nemesis "Lady Luck."
Scott Howard has inherited some of Larry Munson's emotionalism for Georgia football. As Richard Samuel ran 80 yards for a score, Howard declared: "There's he's going.... He's taking it to the house right now!" One of these weekends, that will be sponsored - and become a Fannie Mae foreclosed house.
Scott Howard also has become as colorful in his calls as Larry Munson - much more to me than Rod Bramblett is. For instance, Howard said a Georgia wide receiver making a catch "buttered him up, and then toasted him." That one works a little better when the kickoff is at 11:00 a.m.
The Georgia broadcast team puzzled me in the second quarter, when they noted the referee called a "third and final timeout" while the Arkansas scoreboard still showed one remaining. Doesn't anyone in the broadcast booth keep track of timeouts? All you have to do is count three of those, as opposed to four downs.
As the game ended, Scott Howard noted some Arkansas Razorback fans made signs about Georgia players having "swine flu." No one ever said college football fans in the South were the sensitive type....
To be fair: WTVM did show highlights of the North Texas-Alabama game Saturday night. Alabama won 53-7, racking up its biggest football score in eight years -- and reminding me why I tend to abbreviate the visiting school as "NO-Tex."
-> We marked our 100th night of live poker tournaments this past week! Learn how we're doing at our other blog, "On the Flop!" <--
BIG PREDICTION: At least one acceptance speech will be interrupted at tonight's Emmy Awards. This time, someone actually may pay Kanye West to stage it.
Which reminds me - Instant Message to 13th Street Bar-B-Q in Ladonia: Who dared to put up that sign, "Voted best by Kanye West"? Do you realize that's probably costing you more customers than it's gaining?
Now for other notes from a wet weekend:
+ Columbus Police reported a burglar broke into Pizza Pronto on Second Avenue - then was found sleeping behind the restaurant, with stolen items nearby. This is what can happen when you stay up until 2:00 a.m. to stage a break-in....
+ Columbus federal judge Clay Land threatened to fine attorney Orly Taitz $10,000. Army Captain Connie Rhodes claims Taitz filed an appeal in her deployment case, even though Rhodes asked her NOT to do it. Considering Taitz is an immigrant from Russia, this sort of rebellion apparently comes naturally.
+ Richard Hyatt's web site reported Muscogee County School District staff members will move into the new administration building on Macon Road by the first week of October. With the sales tax vote settled, finally the coast is clear....
+ The local American Red Cross office held a panel discussion on the H-1-N-1 flu - and the panel included a giant new mascot named "Scrubby Bear." He'll probably be in big demand over the next few months - by political candidates who want to clean up the Government Center.
+ The annual Harris County rodeo was held in Hamilton. Thankfully we've had some rain, so the dirt is a little softer when cowboys get bucked into it.
+ The Springer Opera House staged a musical version of the movie "Footloose." Broadway nightclubs ought to take advantage of this, and offer discount admission after the show for practicing dance moves.
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