Has the NFL hit its peak? Is it about to "Jump the Shark"?

Its no doubt that the football in general is king sport in America today and with the Media outreach that the United States has it is easy for sports to go hand in hand with....drama?  From money to TV ratings the NFL tops all professional sports and with that it takes center stage and with shows like Hard knocks or just the fact that collective bargaining is a storm of dispute and no salary cap.  Its a recipe for disaster.  As fans we get taken on and emotional roller coaster and then we see Fonzie, leather and a thumps up, jump a shark.  I'm more of a college football fan and I revolve my Saturdays around football so I can give you an outsiders look at the NFL.  How can it avoid jumping the shark?  Roger Goodell has three things to shore up and I believe the NFL goes strong.  The very popular "bone jarring hits".  The players are faster and stronger.  We have to adapt.  With a wide variety of supplements and advancements in weight training these days its no doubt that players are sculpting their body and mind to be fierce machines being paid to go out their and lay the wood.  Goodell is going to have a hard time keeping everyone happy on this issue but I personally think he is doing a stellar job here and sure hes going to hand a fine or two that might be a little sketchy but something has to be done.  What if a player was killed on the field with  millions of people watching.  Not to mention the number of kids watching the NFL these days hoping to be out on that field someday.  Their would be outrage and the NFL at that point in time would've "jumped the shark".  This leads into the second thing I'm going to talk about, the players.  Michael Vick is running dog fights, Plaxico Burress is carrying weapons around, Bret Farve is sending photos to woman, Randy Moss is being tossed around from team to team, Big Ben is a rapist.  Must I go on?  Goodell gets a C+ in this area.  He is doing good  enough to make the parents happy for the time being but they want to see those grades go up.  He has handed out his suspensions and his fines but everyday I see the drama on ESPN.  Leron McClain is spitting in Crowder's face or Brad Childress is cracking bad jokes.  Everyone of you have that person that you know loves drama.  Trust me!  Even those you are thinking about right now cant handle drama 24/7.  You think I'm crazy when I say that but its the truth.  Sooner or later people are going to change the channel and find a new Soap Opera.  This also will lead into my last topic of conversation, collective bargaining.  Money leads to egos and egos will get you in trouble.  We have seen leagues take a plunge after player and league disputes and this is no different.  Goodell has to keep his veterans happy and get the rookie contracts under control.  I think a new spin that Goodell will have to give big attention to is how his players are being treated after they retire, health wise.  Mark Schlereth revealed that ugly fact and now I think Goodell will have a few players play on this and it could catch.  Lets not forget that if this dint get settled and we didn't have football we might have a season to catch a different interest.  With limited time, player egos, and popularity off the charts Goodell is going to have a tough time balancing all of these issues.  I'm not offering solutions because I have no idea what its like in his shoes and I will never know but I offer a look into what could happen.  I guess now we wait and continue to get sucked into another episode of Jersey Shore.

You tell me

Is Iowa legit?  Being leaped in the rankings a few times over the last two weeks, are they the best team of the Ferentz era?  I heard countless local radio personalities saying this is the best Iowa team they have seen.  I love it!  I had a chance to view this very disciplined and mistake free team Saturday and it was a blast.  Stanzi looks real comfortable back there slinging the skin, I see the confidence building and he’s only going to get better every game.  I seriously see him going in the third or fourth round of the draft this year.   This dude has, “it”.  You need five corn-feds to give you that comfort and Iowa had a question mark there going into the season but this line is getting physical and bullying people around.  True, we haven’t played a real tough defense yet, but this whole team is showing discipline.  Adam Robinson is the man in the backfield racking up some serious stats and running with a case of, ‘little man syndrome”.  Let’s not forget Robinson’s ugly sister jewel Hampton, good luck limiting the ground game.  Forget it!   We have a very talented set of receivers that are going to thrive off of Stanzi’s game by game progression but I’d like to see more Keenan Davis and Paul Chaney Jr.  We have some weapons.  We could get creative and I think you will see Ferentz and O’keefe try to implement a couple of new looks every game.  This offense is going to get crazy come big ten time.  I don’t see much of change between Reisner and Moeaki.  Moeaki was more athletic but he was off the field half the time nursing an injury.  That being said we are tight end U and I see Reisner playing on Sundays.  What can I say about our four d-lineman that hasn’t been said?  They are the best d-line in the country and I’m not alone on that, most would agree.  The linebackers aren’t Angerer and Edds but Jeremiah anchors a group that is just talented enough to look stout with a d-line like that in front of them.    Shaun Prater is the second shut down corner in two years; he’s going to be playing on Sundays.  Micah Hyde made one bone head mistake against Eastern Illinois and I’ve kind of held that against him.  Let’s see what he does against badger and Spartan receivers and I might show him some love. Sash is a hawk!  Don’t over throw your receivers because he sits back there hungry.  Greenwood is a good compliment to Sash.  The only thing that worries me is the field goal kicking.  Who is going to get the job and who is going to screw it up in a big game to allow the other one to have the job?  We have a freshman who can boot it into the end zone on kickoffs and a top notch punter, both of which give us great field position so I can’t get too down about special teams.  I was worried about this Saturday down in Arizona at the beginning of the season and now I’m not…that’s legit.  After last year’s games, yeah, that’s legit.

Iowa vs. Eastern Illinois

First game of the year and it was a great weekend in the number one city, the IC.  Everything from the first time this season i walk up the hill to Kinnick from downtown to the atmosphere of a full stadium.  You cant say to much about this game besides its good to finally see the Hawks going for what I expect to be a dream season.  I'm not going to beat around the bush, I'm a Jihadic Hawk fan and I will be dissapointed if we don't go to the national championship or at least the Rose bowl.  I cant try to be rational when I have all that emotion wrapped up in a program that is a way of life for me.  That being said we played a division II opponent so its hard to gauge what Stanzi and the offense can do against a bigger and faster big ten defense but they put together some promising drives.  Adam Robinson is one tough runner.  He is a slightly different version of Fred Russell, a small but tough runner who can pick up some yards after contact.  You really cant ask to much more from Robinson.  He comes to play and you better not size him up, literally.  The stadium went from a pretty rowdy crowd for the first game of the season to a choked  up heartbroken group after Stanzi lost his footing and went down wrong.  I personally had a dropped jaw and my hands on my head having flashbacks of Northwestern last year but when I seen him run off with a limp I felt somewhat better.  He eventually returned and all in all Stanzi had a pretty good day hitting receivers in stride and putting together good drives.  He overthrew a wide open Mcnutt which would of put seven points up and helped the stats out but he looked poised and ready to lead the troops into a season long battle.  "USA number one.  Love it or Leave it".  As for Clayborn and the uglies I seen a defense that is going to be very dominate especially when we get Prater and Binns back.  I seen a few mistakes but the one that stood out the most was Micah Hyde not turning around on a ball that was thrown down the visitor sideline which resulted in a good gain for Eastern Illinois ultimately setting them up for their lone touchdown.  A play that Hyde had great positioning on if he would of watched the receivers eyes a bit more and turned on that thing.  Aside from that drive the Iowa Defense looked like they came ready to lay the wood especially Sash and Clayborne both of which laid pretty decent hits throughout the game.  My favorite Iowa player of all time is Bob Sanders and their is one reason why,  he was physically electric and I like a physical defender, it's exciting and intimidating.  My point being is I liked seeing Sash and Claybourne lay the wood.  I'll tell you one thing I'm glad Iowa football has returned and its going to be a good season.  Look out Iowa State!  Go Hawks!

Iowa Player Hit By SUV

 

Opening Night College football 2010

Iowa State 27  Northern Illinois 10
Iowa State did a lot better then I thought they would do.  Looked like the offense is starting to click and the defense played a great game.  Arnaud looked on target most of the night aside from the two interceptions.  Robinson was outstanding averaging 5.1 yards a carry.  The defense got a big boost from Knott who is shaping up to be one hell of a linebacker.  Sandvig stepped up and filled in good for suspended Safety Sims.  I had Iowa State finishing 5-7 this year but if they keep making progress on offense limiting the turnovers and if that defense continues to play aggressive I can see a seven game winner here and possibly a big twelve north title.

Ohio State 45 Marshall 7
This game was a blowout.  Ohio State's defense is tough and I don't see many points being put up on these guys the way they are playing.  I realize we are talking about a Mid Major and the number two team in the country but that defense looked stout.  As for the Ohio State offense I think Terrell Prior showed a lot of improvement especially with his footwork staying in the box and going through his reads instead of swinging it out and using his legs but he could work on accuracy and I want to see him face a big ten defense before I hear rings of Heisman Or National Championship.

South Carolina 41 Southern Miss 13
I didn't see too much of this game but from what I had watched it looks like Garcia and Spurrier will figure this thing out in what is thought to be , "the gamecocks year to play in the SEC championship".  The stats in this game are almost similar but Southern Miss just couldn't execute and that home crowd for South Carolina was in full force.  That can prove to be one hell of a boost for what looks to be an improved South Carolina team.

Utah 27 Pitt 24
Game of the night.  I knew going into tonight's match ups that this game would be the game of the night.  You have two great teams in two different situations.  Pitt is said to compete for the big east title and Utah has to win these games against the big six conferences to show voters that they need respect, coming from a mid major conference like the mountain west.  Dion Lewis is a stud and I see him tearing up defenses all year long and possibly getting into Heisman talks if Pitt can rebound from this loss and gets some wins.  Utah showed that they have talent on both sides of the ball and that they can control a game winning on a field goal in overtime.  I will enjoy watching both teams down the stretch.  I would also like to throw a shout out to the versus network for landing this game.  Props!

Iowa Futbol

I finally have a sports blog up and running now. I’ve wanted to put this together for a couple of months and now that I have it I need some followers. Check back in here on a regular basis and the goal is to have anything and everything from college football to pro football and I’m going to try to incorporate a little high school chatter as well. I don’t know all that much about the cyclones so I have Jeremy in here to give some insight to the Clones and to help out with Pro.  So Please read it up and lets hear your comments or your insights to what is being posted.