Happy Friday everyone, and welcome to your morning Skull Session.
OLYMPICS! Yes, tonight marks the opening ceremonies of the somethingeth Olympiad and yours truly is super pumped for this kind of thing. Not just because every two years I turn into an unbearably jingoistic douchebag when it comes to international competitions between the US and a country one fifth its' population in a sport that I may or may not have first heard of two weeks before the actual competition itself, but also the whole pageantry of the thing!
The opening ceremonies are being produced/directed by Danny Boyle, known for Slumdog Millionaire and its prequel, 28 Days Later. For those who are seriously afraid of getting the opening ceremony of the Olympics spoiled for them I will say that here be spoilers, but if you're actually that person you probably need to stop using the internet altogether.
Anyway, apparently some kind of 40 foot Voldemort is going to pop out and there's gonna be a real rain cloud and I guess a fleet of Mary Poppinses are going to float down and kick Tom Riddle's teeth in or something. Also there's going to be cows and chickens. Neat, huh? London really can't top China's opening ceremonies, but screw it, why try? Just be weird as hell and people will enjoy it. I know I will.
CORN ON THE JOB Bo Pelini is all about winning championships, and I guess he'd better be because this year is about the best chance he's ever had at getting that shiny brass ring at the end of the season, considering how his team is shaping up to look like this year. It's a weak Big Ten, two teams are out before anything even gets started, and who knows, maybe the Michigans will eat each other alive.
Probably not though. It's weird to me that Nebraska has almost become an afterthought in the Big Ten. Don't get me wrong, they're a natural fit, fun to play, and I'm glad they're here, but they also (understandably) haven't been at the forefront of the news around the conference for a while now. If Bo wants to make an impact, he'd better get his players on their horses.
MORE MEDIA DAYS NEWS No more conference games, sorry guys. Per Ol' Jim:
"That committee will have to look with the eye test at conferences," Delany said. "But it will also have to look at competitive results between conferences. We think going forward that this is the best way to prepare for the new postseason model."
Which is the polite way of saying "HEY I'M PRETTY SURE THAT AS LONG AS SEC TEAMS CONTINUE TO SCHEDULE TEAMS THAT WERE LITERALLY FORMED IN THE PARKING LOT BEFORE THE GAME WE'RE NOT GONNA FEEL BAD ABOUT OUR TEAMS PLAYING THREE IN-STATE MAC SCHOOLS OKAY COOL THANKS IN ADVANCE." Which I get. I would like to see more conference games because they're more fun to watch, but like Our Dear Leader says, the reality of the situation in college football these days is that this is what you've gotta do to make it to the big top.
A Dantonio smile: like a flower that only blooms once a decadeA MAN A PLAN DANTONIO Michigan State has apparently figured out a way to slow Denard Robinson down, which would be cool if it really wasn't that hard to figure out in the first place. Also considering their massive success against him, I'm not really sure why they really NEED a new strategy so frankly oh I'll just shut up:
"It’s about discipline playing a guy like that that can hurt you in so many different ways, and I think that’s what we’ve able to kind of master when we play them is just doing your job," Michigan State linebacker Max Bullough said.
This is actually interesting to me because the same thing applies and has applied to every mobile QB ever; don't get fooled into leaving your position, be smart, and wrap up. Duh. What I want to know is how Urban Meyer and company plan to negate defenses that will likely key on Braxton Miller in the same way they do against Denard; I can't imagine Urban watched the OSU/MSU game last year and went "Yeah, that's about right."
In other words, the chess match begins, and frankly I'm pretty excited to see some legitimately elite defenses try and stop some of the more dynamic players in college football for the second year in a row, as those players and offenses try and not let that happen.
FILL YOUR CUP With all this Penn State horror, sometimes we forget that people doing dumb stuff in college football is generally just dumb and worthy of mocking through the Fulmer Cup, which, as of this writing, is being led by the amazing Arkansas Razorbacks (who're up to 68 points, well done fellas). You might be surprised to know that OSU is NOT on the big board as of yet, but Michigan has a busy week and not have 12 points of their own. Me? I've got their over/under at 17 for the summer.
ALL I DO IS LINK LINK LINK America can unclench now... Glass is still a solid... Bbbbbbird... DOG... Football is a dangerous sport, I'm telling you, guys... The theme from Louie is a real song and it's, well, weird... Sinners' Sandwich. Better then you'd think.
