Johnny Manziel Gets Headlines; The Monster, Jeremy Hill, Plays On

Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel has grabbed headlines for every step he has taken since winning the Heisman trophy eight months ago. From going to the NBA Finals, to becoming friends with the Drake, LeBron James, from being excused from the Manning Passing camp, to attending a fraternity party in Austin at the Aggies rival Texas, Manziel has had his fair share of air time over what seems like the longest college football offseason ever.

While none of these activities were against any NCAA rules, the most recent allegations to come against the redshirt sophomore have him in a real heap of — just for the agricultural school — cow patties.

Johnny Manziel

ESPN is reporting that Johnny Football took a $7,500 exchange for some autographed pictures. If this is true it does not bode well for A&M's title hopes, and due to the NCAA's amateurism rules, you have most likely seen Manziel play his last down of college football if the reports are true.

This story, because of the high-profiles involved — a team on the verge of a run at at a national championship and the current Heisman winner — is easy to sell to the masses, get ratings and viewership, but 366 miles away someone else was given another chance to play this season, after a crime, not some comparatively tenuous NCAA violation.

The news came in a blip across the bottom of your television screen, via a few tweets in your timeline, or perhaps you missed it. LSU's Jeremy Hill was reinstated for the season.

For the second time in his 22-year existence, the sophomore running back was arrested. The first coming in high school where Hill and a buddy committed despicable acts to a girl four years his junior.

Afterwards, LSU head coach Les Miles rewarded the four-star recruit with a scholarship.

This time the 6-foot-2, 235-pound monster attacked a defenseless man outside of a Baton Rouge bar as you can see in the video here. As wild as it may seem, his defense attorney — an LSU alum — convinced the judge — also an LSU alum — that Hill, who pleaded guilty to the charges, deserved probation, not time in prison.

Being what the Louisiana court system is, Hill found his way out of a prison sentence. Instead, he was sentenced to two years probation (of course traveling for LSU away games and playing in night games does not break probation), 50 hours of community service, pay $375 for the victims medical bills and write a letter of apology.

Les Miles

This time Miles awarded Hill with a welcome back to the football team.

Hill's football career, which made him a star in the state of Louisiana, will remain as it was. He was allowed back on the football team he rushed 755 yards and 12 touchdowns for. Why?  Most of all because he will help win football games.

Miles told the press on Monday if it was up to him, Hill would not be allowed but on the team, but Miles allowed the team to vote on it. And big surprise here, Hill's 18-22 year-old buddies let him come back on the team.

Johnny Football wanted some extra cash. For what, who knows? Was it worth the consequences that may arise from his actions? No, but if his allegations are true, Johnny Football's college career will presumably be over. I can't say how, as a 20-year-old, I would handle the limelight. I can't definitively say I would not fall into the same traps. I've never been offered more than about $10 bucks an hour for any skill I possess.

However, I do know what Hill did to a defenseless man outside a Baton Rouge bar in early July is deplorable. I do know that Miles dropped a couple of notches on my scale, a scale he was already low on for the way he has handled situations like this in the past.

Based on his previous handlings of simple battery situations, I should have known better. I should have known that winning football games and keeping the LSU fanbase — including the alums in a defunct court system — is more paramount than developing character, and that the Johnny Football drama is more signigicant to the media than allowing a monster back on campus where other potential victims may be living their lives.

SEC Media Days, Cam Newton Street, Hold the Joe But More Kobe Please

We find ourselves in the middle of the beginning of the unofficial kickoff of college football. A little wordy, huh? It is easier to call them the Southeastern Conference Media Days, where coaches begin to make excuses for why their team will not live up to expectations (Steve Spurrier and Joker Phillips), respond with numerous wild card answers (John L. Smith and Les Miles), or simply fulfill an obligation to their conference (Nick Saban). 

No matter how your coach answers, the SEC Media Days are the biggest of their kind for the most competitive league in any sport so enjoy the make-believe camaraderie and hopefully we get a coach to drop gems like Missouri's T.J. Moe, "They say girls are prettier here, air's fresher, and the toilet paper is thicker."

Couldn't agree 'Moe', T.J.

This lonely student's sign reads: Protect the Paterno statue.

Some Students Ask for More Joe Please:
In more Joe Paterno news, students -- a population of two -- are camping out in order to protect the statue, which remains erect outside Beaver Stadium.

An anonymous flight from Ohio read "Take down the statue, or we'll take it down for you" (a hopeful me desires for this news to be true).

I wish I would have made note of this in my last post, but the chances of the statue being vandalized is somewhere around 100%. This is all the more reason to take the thing down from its current location and follow my instructions. Students from Penn State have tweeted that "these few students do not represent the entire campus population."

All the more reason for the "protesting" students to take advantage of their parent's investment -- because it does not last forever -- in room and board, and go back to their dorm and hold their own Paterno-crazed pity party.

Cam Newton Way Should be a toll road if plan comes to fruition:
He has NFL records. He was named the NFL Rookie of the Year. He has a statue at his alma mater (Can you even call it that when he only spent eight months there and did not receive a degree from there? Or Blynn Junior College? Or Florida? I digress.). But getting a road named after him? You must be out of your mind.

He is a 23-year-old admittedly "very immature" quarterback. And while -- speaking from experience-- this is to be expected for a man of his age, let's give him some time before we Georgians give him such an honor. For one, it would cost the residents of Scarborough Road in South Atlanta money, time and effort to change their address. Residents also report to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that they are not ready to name a street after a person with a scandaled past.


A second hearing is still on the agenda where the proposition will likely be shot down. If the road does pass a second vote, can we all agree it should at least be a toll road?

Give me more Kobe
NBA Commissioner David Stern has come forward saying that at the next olympics it is possible we see the 23-and-under rule enforced. Within these parameters, USA basketball would still be able to use NBA professionals with onlythree players over the age of 23. This would help protect players in the NBA from participating in the Olympics and coming home injured a la Blake Griffin and Kyrie Irving.

If Stern gets his way, you won't see Kobe or LeBron in USA unis anymore.

Thirty-three-year-old Kobe Bryant thinks the same way I do about the Commissioner's proposal, "It's a stupid idea," Bryant said. I could not agree more with the Olympic gold medalist.

Whether or not to play should remain up to the players, who risk injury and fatigue in the next 82-game season. Some argue that NBAers in international play makes for a competitive disadvantage for the rest of the world.

Um... is that not the point of competition? To be the best? In addition to winning another gold this summer clips such as these will be recorded for all Americans to "Ohh" and "Ahh" over.

Kobe also told a Y! reporter earlier this week that it is "possible" he retires at age 35. Say it ain't so. Sure Bryant is made fun of for the number of shots he takes, but a 1 1/2 years ago he ranked as the ninth best player of all time (and his stock is only rising). Of course, he may be modeling his career even more so like his idol Michael Jordan by testing retirement and coming back as a player-manager down the road.

Les Miles Eats Grass. His Players Smoke It.



The Honey Badger



In a sport where even getting to the championship game, much less winning it,  is the toughest in all of sports, LSU's cornerback Tyrann Mathieu and running back Spencer Ware have shown an enormous amount of selfishness.



The two sophomores, along with Mathieu's backup Tharold Simon, have been suspended for the Bayou Bengals SEC West showdown with defending BCS Champion, the Auburn Tigers because all three tested positive for synthetic marijuana, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.



Synthetic? Now I am no connoisseur of the ganja, but synthetic is never as good as the real thing right? If I was a recruit committed to or considering LSU this would be a red flag. The Baton Rouge Tigers are obviously not paying their players enough.



I digress... but in a conference where any one can win on any given Saturday it was a self-centered move to put the team at any sort of disadvantage. Granted, LSU is still a 21-point favorite over Auburn even without the trio, but why even risk it when your team is on a collision course to a Nov. 5 match-up with No. 2 Alabama, the most anticipated SEC game since I have been alive.



Ware is leading rusher with 512 yards and six touchdowns for the top-ranked team. Mathieu, or as Verne Lundquist loves to call him the Honey Badger has been arguably the most exciting player in the nation, but he can now kiss his Heisman hopes goodbye with this "incident."

Now LSU coach Les Miles has not told any details about the situation, but did call the allegations "left of center. I know as well as you do if the "allegations" just come about involving illegal substances and two star players the only reason you would not come out and right these accusations is because they have truth to them.

On a positive note, backup quarterback Jordan Jefferson is the happiest person in Louisiana now that the attention has been turned away from his arrest for assault this summer.

The Weekend That Will Be: Week 1

Finally, God's greatest four month long gift is here again. Amidst all the controversy of its offseason, the game will be back to normal, and the pageantry and tradition of Saturdays in the fall will cover up the black eye of college football.

Everything that makes college football will be back in full swing, and I am here to tell you what will happen each week in the biggest games.

There are only a few games being played tomorrow that will not be (at least should not be) blowouts.

No. 3 Oregon vs. No. 4 LSU:  Say what you will about coach Les Miles, the Bayou Bengals always play big in big games, 5-1 in their last six bowl games and Oregon has trouble with size on the line (BCS Championship game versus Auburn last season). The Ducks are faster than everyone in the Pac-12 and can win. However, when they play the SEC everyone on the field is fast and LSU is bigger. The Tigers will have a back-up quarterback starting, but Jarrett Lee has waited his time, proven he can win big games and has plenty of play makers around him.

No. 5 Boise State vs. No. 19 Georgia: Another instance of a team from the greatest conference in the game, SEC, playing a quick team from the West. The size on the line of the Bulldogs versus the Broncos will again prove to be the difference. Great example: Boise State center- 5-11, 290 vs. Georgia defensive tackle- 6-6, 360. Bronco senior quarterback Kellen Moore is good, but I'm not sure he will have time to get the ball off in basically a home game for the Bulldogs.

A few games kicked off the season last night and let it be known I was a big proponent of the Wisconsin Badgers last season. Now they have transfer QB Russell Wilson and I have already fallen back for the big boys from Madison. Watch out for this team to make noise in the chase for the BCS National Championship.

Another team with a solid first game was the Bulldogs from Starkville, granted it was against Memphis. Turns out RB Vic Ballard's production last season was no fluke. He has played 17 games for Mississippi State and had three touchdowns in five of those games.

Breaking Down the Weekend

1. It is clear that I am not a professional. I know my grandmother said she wrote my picks down and was going to see how I did. I would not be offended if you lost that piece of paper. I mean really Graham. Could you have been more wrong? Yes I could have I nailed the Kentucky upset and the Alabama win. Steve Spurrier… Was imitating Les Miles and risking the game worth losing the game? Other than that it was a rough first week. I clearly need more practice. Kudos to those teams that I did not pick, especially a Mississippi State team that will have something to say about who wins the SEC West.

2. Watching the games this weekend was not as much fun as last week. Missed the family surrounding me as we cheered on one of the most boring Arkansas wins. Which leads me to my next point. Can Arkansas win an important game on the road. This Cam Newton character is legit. He does what he wants when he wants. I was very impressed and am now a believer in his abilities. Does Arkansas win the game if Mallet stays in? Not sure. Tyler Wilson looked as good as most any quarterback in the country in a back-up role, except his counterpart on the other team.

3. It is clear that Gary Daneilson and Vern Lundquist are still not over Tim Tebow. Their obsession is sickening and I had to mute them in the fourth quarter to stop hearing the comparisons of Cam Newton to Tebow. The only thing worse during that broadcast was the officiating from SEC officials. It's bad guys. Some of the calls that were made, on both sides of the ball mind you, were just poorly made. Both of the fumble calls against Arkansas and the pass interference call against Auburn were poor excuses for officiating.

4. I am pretty sure I could write another page about what happened in that game (cheap blocking, the Bobby Petrino-Gene Chizik relationship, or the lack of defense), but I digress... We now know that Nebraska is just not quite ready for the big stage and that showed in the shellacking they got from Texas. It was clear that Texas is used to the big game atmosphere and Nebraska simply has not been there enough. Maybe next year in the Big Ten when you can still recruit Texas speed and play the Ohio power.

5. Speaking of the Big Ten, there was a classic in Madison, Wisconsin. That looks like a fun place to watch a game and outside of the SEC and the classics (Michigan, Notre Dame, Rose Bowl, etc.) I am adding it to my "Stadiums To Go To" list that Pops and I will conquer when he doesn't have to work on Sundays and I am old and rich. Sounds like a dream...

6. Does anyone want to win the ACC? You still get a BCS payout to win the conference and your best team probably wouldn’t go .500 in the SEC West, where 5 of 6 teams are ranked in the AP top 25. Maybe the ACC and the Big East can get an all-star team together and play State.

7. It was worth being tired in church this morning to watch the overtime game between Washington and Oregon State. Gutsy, but understandable, call to go for two and the win.

8. Every game I watched there was mention made of the beautiful weather. Come to think of it every where in the country had perfect football weather.