Monday, September 26, 2016

“Head Roll Bowl” Loser Les Miles Loses Head

Image result for les milesHe’s out.

Les Miles is now the former head coach of the Louisiana State University Bengal Tigers, and everyone saw it coming.

I can’t take credit for the term “Head Roll Bowl,” as a few of my Twitter, Facebook and TideFans pals coined it first.

But, oh my… was it prophetic.

I watched every single play of last Saturday night’s matchup between two of the four contenders for SEC West runners-up. I was both legitimately bored and completely amazed.

We knew both teams had stout defenses. We knew also that neither team had a go-to-guy at quarterback, a position which is becoming increasingly more important in SEC football. We also, also knew that LSU has college football’s best tailback in Leonard Fournette. We also, also, also knew that Auburn would sell out to stop him.

The outcome of the game—and the outcome of either coach’s career at his respective university—came down to one play. And that play would be the offensive penalty LSU committed before the highly controversial and much discussed play in which Danny Etling (1) finally saw an open receiver and (2) finally completed a pass to him.

It is often said that if the outcome of a game comes down to one play, then it’s your own damned fault for letting the game come down to that crucial play.

Had there been four, three or two seconds left at the end of regulation, we might be talking about why Gus Malzahn was fired and how Les Miles saved his job. The pass was made. The feet were down. It was a game winning score.

But it didn’t count, and now Les Miles is looking for something else to do.

Exit Questions: Why fire Miles now? Why let coach Ed “yaw-yaw” Orgeron take over as interim coach with the real meat of the SEC schedule remaining? 

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Whose head rolls first: Malzahn or Miles?

Image resultI know this has nothing to do with Alabama football or politics, but I have to share this.

I had a very brief, yet very interesting conversation with two of my closest colleagues. One is a dyed-in-the-wool Aubie. The other is Deep Purple and Gold. I love’em both, they’re both good guys and damned good engineers. 

May God bless’em.

These two guys went at it like two brothers on different sides of the Mason-Dixon line in 1861. All I could do, and all I wished to do, was sit, listen, watch, and smile (evilly… I confess).

Among TideFans, We call that Schadenfreude. For those wer nicht Deutsch sprechen, that means taking pleasure from the pain of others, usually adversaries.

At 5:00-ish Saturday, the two teams collide at Jordan-Hare Stadium in what could be a pivotal game for both programs, neither of which is getting it done well enough for their respective fanbases. I know it’s anecdotal, but evidence is evidence.

imageLSU sits at 2-1, with an away loss to a decent, but beatable Wisconsin team. They’ve beaten Jacksonville State (Who?) and Mississippi State, and neither of those wins convinced Tiger fans about their team’s viability to win a title.

Auburn sits at 1-2, with their only win coming against Gus Malzahn’s old team, the Arkansas State Red Wolves. The only two teams considered quality opponents were Clemson in the season opener and Texas A&M. Clemson was the runner-up in last year’s National Championship game, but Texas A&M is still building and is considered so-so in the SEC West race. Auburn lost both and hasn’t won an SEC home game in two calendar years.

Two. Calendar. Years.

Either Auburn or LSU will come away with a loss Saturday night. Auburn has a surprisingly stout defense. LSU has one of the best running games in the conference. But neither team has a go-to guy at quarterback.

Both coaches have seats that can be generously described as “quite warm.” The loser Saturday night probably gets the heat turned up.

A lot.

So who do you think has his head on the chopping block? Does Malzie with another conference home loss? Does Miles with a close but competitive loss, albeit on the road?

We’ll See Saturday night. And one of my two freinds might not sleep well that night.