NAIA National Championship: There's No Place Like Rome

Upon finishing my next-to-last semester of graduate school, I headed home to Rome for a couple weeks of rest and relaxation. However, I write this on the road, right outside of Birmingham, on our family’s trek to Arkansas to visit family.

When I got home on Thursday I obtained tickets to the NAIA National Championship game which is held yearly in the world’s finest little river town of Rome, Georgia. The game pitted two teams that I, nor you, have ever heard of Morningside from Iowa and Marian out of Indianapolis. 

For a town of Rome’s size, about 30.000, to host a national championship of any sorts is a pretty big deal to me; and while there are politics which may soon take the game away from my hometown, it is something my community supports with fervor—maybe not the game itself, as not every Roman has the budget to pay $25 for tickets to ultimately meaningless game. The game generated over $1 million for the Rome economy. 

From steak dinners at local churches for the players and coaches to a multitude of different activities for the visiting fans, cheerleaders, and band members, Rome holds its own—and the Northerners naturally love our Southern hospitality. To finish the week, the game is held at historic Barron Stadium, my high school's stadium.

How many people can say their high school stadium is also the sight of a national championship? Very few. Only four other cities in the entire nation can boast of hosting a football national championship.

Keeping with tradition, my sister and I headed downtown for a cold night of football and in hopes of a good game. We, as we have the last few years, sat with the former mayor of Rome and his family. His two grandsons are boys with endless energy, who my sister half-raised as much as she babysits and hangs out with their family. The boys do not feel pain from falling down on bleachers, remain hungry, and make for great entertainment as if the game was not enough.

The game was enough though. It was an overtime thriller, though the team we were pulling for, Morningside did not win and Marian eventually scored the game-winning touchdown. 

How and why did we choose the Mustangs from Iowa? They were the team assigned the home side of Barron Stadium and ate dinner this week at our church. This is when I would give you my take on the game, but you can read the gamer from the RomeNews-Tribune website.

My sister and I got exactly what we wanted in the form of an overtime national championship game, other than some ice-cold, seemingly unthawable feet. One can only hope the game on January 7 will be as entertaining. Here are a couple of pictures from the night…

The Marian Knights with one of the nation's ugliest championship trophies.

Our Mustang neighbors were much like Mississippi State fans, relentless with the cowbells. 

No Pat Summerall, but it was a nationally televised. 

The old marching grounds and field access after the game. Many a cold night were spent pointing my trumpet's bell to that pressbox. 

Note: This post is a week late going up because, while both grandparents' houses are active on the internet, neither have yet to embrace the wonderful world of wireless.

My Television Debut

There is a lot of news coming out of the college football world, as the BCS rankings become tighter and the No. 1 team in the country goes down. No worries. In a "down" year, the SEC still has six of the top nine spots in the latest BCS rankings with an outside shot of another appearance in the national championship.

Big news out of the Graham Reaves camp this week is that I made my television debut on Thursday morning. WACH, the local FOX affiliate in Columbia, South Carolina needed someone to come on their morning show and preview the Arkansas-South Carolina game this weekend. Yours truly filled that void.

While the game was something no Razorback fan wants to remember, it is one I will never forget because of my contribution to the local game fervor. Below is the video and here is a link to my write-up following my appearance.

Another word of thanks goes to you the readers of this site. Thank you for reading my previous post about why Mark Richt needs to stay the head coach of Georgia. It became the most read piece on this site.

My old man took the link and sent it to  Richt's office and the Athletic Director of UGA. He did get a response from Richt's secretary saying thank you. I like to think he read it, posted it in his office and he brings it up after he leads the Bulldogs to the SEC Championship.

It has been a busy semester between school and writing a couple of things each week this Fall. For those of you who were not aware, I have also been covering local high school football for The Times here in Gainesville. Doing so I have had the chance to get paid to watch football (always a plus), meet some great people within the community and in the local sports media.

Thanks to all of you for your support and words of encouragement over the past two years in my venture into this world of sports journalism.

Accept it UGA Fans. Mark Richt is a Good Coach.

Take your 10-11 win seasons, at least a New Year's Day bowl game (possibly BCS), and legitimate talks about your team making it to the championship game every year. Enjoy them.

As a fan, you never know how quickly success can come crashing down. Ask any Arkansas fan. Ask any Auburn fan. Ask any Miami fan. Ask any Tennessee fan. Ask any Texas fan.  Ask any Notre Dame fan how hard it is to get back to relevancy. Get the picture?

After the Bulldogs, lead by 12-year head coach Mark Richt, beat their archrival and undefeated No. 2 team in the country, Florida, in the team's biggest rivalry game, talk radio and papers in Atlanta radio have spent entirely too much time devoted to whether Richt should be fired or not.

Richt has run a clean and winning program, and what does he get from his "fan"base? No confidence and a place on the proverbial "hot seat" no matter how much success he has. Six reasons why Georgia fans' arguments are wrong and can give it a break.

1. "Richt can't win with blue-chip talent": Mark Richt has consistently brought in top-tier recruiting classes. He is helped by UGA's history and facilities, how former Bulldogs perform in the NFL, and ultimately his geographic location. The state of Georgia is the fourth best state for high school talent in the country, and Richt has had to fend off bordering state schools from intruding on his territory.

By Rivals.com's or Scout.com's standards, Richt almost all he can do as far as keeping his talent in-state and picking occasional five stars from bordering states. Bulldog fans argue that with this talent Richt should be winning title after title, a weak argument at best.

If you use recruiting as the only predictor of success, Florida State, Notre Dame, Clemson, and Virginia Tech should have been winning national titles for years.

2. "He will never win a national title.": I am sorry to break Georgia fans' hearts, but your program is not exactly used to winning championship after championship. The Associated Press has only awarded two national championships to UGA all time (1942, 1980). That's one more than Maryland and the same number as Minnesota. Let that sink in. Side note: Georgia also has two "Alabama" national championships -- the ones your program claims and no one believes.

The entitled thinking that Georgia should win be winning a championship at least every other year is a new concept brought about by Richt's early success, six 10-win seasons in his first eight years.

Richt should have gotten a shot at the BCS in 2007 when they were Bulldogs were "2004 Auburn"-ed and a two-loss LSU team got to the championship game instead. Georgia, led by Richt went to the Sugar Bowl and demolished Hawaii.

Vince with his star, Herschel.

3. "Dooley did it.": The almighty Vince Dooley did bring a national championship to Athens, riding the shoulders of one of college football's all-time greats, known simply as Herschel in these parts.

What is not as fondly remembered of Dooley is the start of his career. In his first 12 years, he had two 10-win seasons and a 4-5 bowl record. He also had three .500 seasons and compiled an 88-41 win-loss record.

Richt is in his 12th year. While he did have one "atrocious" season (6-7), a losing campaign capped by an Independence Bowl loss to UCF, he has two SEC Championships (just like Dooley) and has won 74% of his games with a win-loss record of 113-39 (better than Dooley). Richt is 7-5 in bowl games (better than Dooley).

Dooley's one national championship did not come until his 17th season at the helm of Georgia football. No way Richt can make it without one for another five years with this fan base, even with 10-win seasons.

4."Richt's players don't fear him.": Maybe they do not "fear" him in the same sense players at Alabama do Saban. However, no players love their coach more than the boys in Red and Black.

Just like Les Miles, Bobby Bowden and Pete Carrol, who have had pretty successful runs in college, Richt's players love to play for him. These coaches and others prove that you do not have to instill fear in your players in order for them to win.

5. "Richt has no control over his players":Put any group of 80, 18-23 year-old, young men in an enabling community that lets them get away with most anything because they play football. Now make said community Athens, with its unbelievable downtown atmosphere and tell me there will not be a few kids who get in trouble with the law. Not happening.

Add in UGA's toughest drug policy in the SEC and you have a mixture that looks like Richt has no control.

If a Bulldog violates the teams' drug policy once the player is suspended for 10% of the games, twice equals suspension for 50% of the season, and three times the player is dismissed from the program.

Only one other SEC school (Kentucky) has penalties for failing one drug test -- and you see how that program is doing. At Alabama, Florida and LSU it takes four violations to be dismissed. Gators who fail their drug tests for marajuana three times lose only 20% of their games. This is unfair approach is one Richt can no go backwards on. Instead he has to fight negative recruiting on this matter and push forward.

So it looks as if Georgia players are in trouble much more than other programs because the other programs are able to keep it on the hush longer as to why a player who appears healthy is not playing.

 6. My ultimate trump card, which leaves Georiga fans speechless, "Who are you going to hire that is going to be better?": Of the 124 schools in the FBS, only five (Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Oregon, and Kansas State) would not consider hiring Richt in place of their current coach not an upgrade. Why? Because he runs a clean program and is seems to always be in the hunt for a national title.

Also Bulldog fans must realize what Nick Saban is doing with "The Process" at Alabama is the only place like it in the county. He is the only person with such coaching talent  and there is not anyone out there close to what he does. 

Saban is Usain Bolt in a 100-meter race and the rest of college football is like Jared Lorenzen trying to catch up. There is only one of him and he is not leaving.

You had a $90 million football surplus last year to use for hires? Great. You are still not luring Saban away from Alabama. Not only that, there is no a coach with Richt's consistency and knack for winning available.

So on the behalf every college football fan, "Georgia fans, give it a break."

The Weekend That Was: "They Are Who We Thought They Were," Fighting Snyders, Willed to Win

We only get 13 Saturdays like this a year -- including your team's bye week and excluding bowl season. This one was one of the more boring ones I can remember. Every team in the top ten won (except for South Carolina who played No. 2 Florida), and there were hardly any nail-biters as they all do so easily. But enjoy them. The number of these precious Saturdays are down to four after this week.

Tough day for Connor Shaw and his Gamecocks

"THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE": As the season goes along, this phrase becomes more aprapos by the week. South Carolina made its way into the top 5 a couple of weeks on the road in some of the toughest SEC stadiums, their flaws were unmasked. Did anyone actually believe they were this good?

Their home win over Georgia was one of the most impressive of the year, but USC's inability to find a consistent run --or pass-- game with quarterback Connor Shaw leaves them with two losses in the league and a long-shot to get back to Atlanta. However, UGA, thanks to its weak schedule, has an opportunity to get back to the SEC Championship for the second year in a row with a win over Florida.

Florida, on the other hand, is a little better than we thought they were, as they have manhandled every team since their fighting out a win over Bowling Green in week two of the season. They have no aerial attack to speak of, but if the Gators can put together just a little bit of offense, their defense will do the rest.

Thanks to poor planning the SEC East race will be decided in this Saturday in the World's Largest Cocktail Party.

Sleep-depived Bill Snyder after Saturday's win.

 FIGHTING SNYDERS CONTINUE TO IMPRESS: Bill Snyder is 73 and coaching at Kansas State. He will win the national coach of the year because at the beginning of the season his squad was projected to win 7-8 games. Through seven weeks he is already there and ranked No. 3 in the BCS poll.

Kansas State rolled into Morgantown, West Virginia and layed a smackdown on the Moutnaineers, dominating in every phase of the game. They did everything right except for getting coach Snyder in bed before 9 p.m. Word is he was cranky all day Sunday. This was a team that was owned by Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl last year, but instead of letting their entire program go awry, as the Razorbacks have, they have responded and put together the season many thought the Hogs could have pre-April motorcycle ride.

"Seriously, I owe you for the Heisman."

Also of interest, Kansas State's Arthur Brown became the first player to intercept West Virginia's Geno Smith since December 1, 2010. Brown was also the first player to pick off former Baylor quarterback and Heisman trophy winner, Robert Griffin III.

While their schedule lines up nicely for an undefeated finish, the Wildcats must be careful to not become this years' 2011 Oklahoma State, who lost their next-to-last game at Iowa State and were kept them out of the BCS title game.

A WILL TO WIN: Notre Dame, Oregon State, and Texas Tech are what Skip Bayless would call "Tebowing" their way through this season. They are never overly impressive in their victories (minus TTU over WVU), but they just keep winning.

The Irish and the Beavers used fourth quarter touchdowns to secure wins this week, while the Red Raiders took No. 23 TCU to triple overtime before leaving Fort Worth as winners. At some point for these teams the luck has to run out.

One would think the Irish will have to have more than 17 points to defeat Oklahoma this week, Texas Tech will not be able to keep up with Kansas State's offense and defense, and Oregon State will have to get it together before traveling to Stanford in two weeks. Of course, those sorts of things have been said all season and these teams have delivered in unlikely situations over and over again.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

-Tennessee linebacker, and one of my favorites in all of college football, scored his sixth rushing touchdown of the year from the Volunteers' "Beast Package." While it was impressive, it is not the sort of performance you  want to see from your offense, seeing that it was the only touchdown on the night and the defense gave up 44 to Alabama.

The Ducks are flying high (too easy).

-Oregon could have literally named the number of points they wanted to score this week versus Arizona State. The Ducks offense has done this all year and luckily -- but unfortunately for fans outside the Pac-12 -- coach Chip Kelly has called off the dogs and not embarrassed too many opponents more than they should have been.

- Arkansas didn't lose this week. Sure, they didn't play but with the way the Hogs have played this year, you never know. They also opened as a 4.5-point favorite for Saturday's game against Ole Miss.

- Are you ready for a  Orange Bowl featuring Louisville and Duke? It is a possibility. What a great way for the BCS to say "goodbye" on its way out.

-Duke is bowl eligible after beating hated rival North Carolina in some pretty heinous jerseys. This came a day after their Midnight Madness for the basketball team. What a weekend for Duke fans.

The Weekend That Was: More SEC Domination in BCS, Heisman Favorites, Samford Homecoming

The season's first BCS rankings came out on Sunday, sending some of those outside of the South into a firestorm. The SEC has the top two teams, Alabama and Florida, and six of the top 12 (Alabama, Florida, LSU, South Carolina, Georgia, and Mississippi State). Haters gonna hate.

There have been other impressive teams around the country and no doubt the bottom of the SEC is much further down than normal. There are five teams which legitimately pose a threat to dethroning the Crimson Tide from its seat as champion. It is much more likely to see a team like South Carolina or LSU (even if their offense has struggled), but it not outside the realm of possibility to see a team like Georgia win out and find themselves in the championship game, as the SEC champion has done for six consecutive seasons.

That said, watching Oregon's offense take on one of the SEC big-boy defenses, like I have said before, sounds like must-see television. Before you cry to me about Auburn-Oregon 2010, this is Ducks coach Chip Kelly' best team yet. Check the stats.

One-loss squads like Oklahoma, with their thrashing of Texas, and Southern Cal are also still alive. The great part is we are only halfway to anointing two teams worthy of playing for the championship, and if you think it will happen one way the system is bound to throw a kink in your thinking.

HEISMAN FAVORITES- I, like 99% of people who give you their Heisman hopefuls, do not have a vote. Regardless, here are my favorites for the award of the "Most Outstanding Player in College Football," not the country's most valuable player:

This Clowney character is one bad dude.

1) Geno Smith (West Virginia)- He had a bad game this week in their first loss, but Smith still has 25 TDs to his no interceptions and 2,271 yards through the air.

2) Jadaveon Clowney (South Carolina)- Like Smith, Clowney lost this week but still has a shot at the national championship game. With 12 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks, he has made opponents look silly.

3) Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M)- The freshman leads the SEC in rushing (626 yards, 10 TD) and is third in passing (1,680 yards, 14 TD), and he still has prime time games on his schedule to display his talents.

4) A.J. McCarron (Alabama)- As long as he continues to not throw picks, manage the Tide to wins, and avoid getting hurt, his chances will increase.

SAMFORD ONE YARD TOO FEW- I was in Birmingham for the weekend to see my Bulldogs play the Moutaineers from Appalachian State. In typical "Samford-plays-in-a-big-game" form, the Bulldogs came up just short. This one was especially painful because it would have been the program's first win over national powerhouse, App State, but it was not meant to be.

Samford quarterback Andy Summerlin needed one
yard for the historic win.

With 2-and-1 on near midfield and less than two minutes left in the game, the Bulldogs only needed one yard in order to secure four more downs to run out the clock. Unable to get the 1 yard, Samford was forced to punt, leading to a Mountaineer drive which ended in a touchdown and win.

Though the game could have ended a little more pleasantly, it was one of the best atmospheres I have ever experienced in Birmingham. The quad was filled with tents, BBQ, and estimates of close to 10,000 people on the country's most beautiful campus.

Friends of mine who were not as fortunate to attend Samford, compared this tailgate to one at Georgia or Georgia Tech, saying it was small and not much to it. For those of us who were some of the first to set up tents on The Quad, it was a sight to see. Outsiders, think about it like this. Less than 5,000 people attend students and there were twice that number on campus on Saturday. If you take UGA's close to 50,000 students and compare it to the 100,000 or so who come to Athens for Saturdays, it puts it a little more into perspective.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

- Tommy Tuberville loves playing top-5 teams. Throughout his career, Tuberville has found a way to ignite passion within his ball clubs to go out and beat teams ranked in the top 5. He was the mastermind behind West Virginia's beat down this weak, as his Texas Tech squad held the potent Mountaineer offense to 14 points. The win pushed his record to 6-2 as the underdog against top 5 teams.

- I have been an Derek Dooley apologist before, but there is no getting around the fact that he is now 0-20 against ranked opponents. While Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen, on the other hand, is having unprecedented success in Starkville. Both of these coaches will not be at their respective jobs too much longer but for totally different reasons

- Notre Dame escaped on Saturday. They won and you can not take that away from them but the more times you watch Stanford's Stephan Taylor give a second effort and hear no whistle the more convincing the Cardinal's case becomes.

The U.