Making Tuesday Fun Since 2006 Again!

It's back ... maybe?  New format for this week, shaking things up a bit.  Feedback is welcome (check the Pundit Roundup archives for reference)

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Error of Omission

ESPN's Bruce Feldman reports that ESPN The Magazine editor Gary Belsky has listed "the 27 best sports in the world right now".  College football checks in at No. 16, which is frankly beyond the pale ridiculous.  How does this happen?

It should be noted Belsky didn't attend a college where college football is a big deal, and I'm sure that had something to do with his list. Also, since he has lived in New York City for a while, I think he gets the double whammy of not being exposed to the passion of the game.

Three cheers for Los Angeles which is the only "big three" American city with any kind of consistent interest in college football.  New York has ... Rutgers?  Eh.  Chicago has historically putrid Northwestern.  But Los Angeles is graced by both USC and UCLA.

Paterno vs. Bowden Slow-Motion Race to Somewhere

The Sporting News' Matt Hayes is suggesting a scenario where 2008 is the last rodeo for Penn State coach Joe Paterno.  The situation around both coaches is so morbid and bizarre.

Neither has any intention of leaving, to the point of defiance.  They rage against the dying of their once-prominent programs, yet seem unable to adequately prop them up.  The door to the right offers another year (and another, and another) as the coach of a program no longer able to contend for titles and the misery of bad press and failed expectations.  The door to the left is retirement or a coerced exit and a potential Bear Bryant/Charles Schultz-esque immediate death once heartbreak stops their hearts.  Neither is a sexy choice.

Such is the dilemma of having a singular, consuming passion.

Coaching vs. Talent

The Sporting News' Tom Dienhart is in Tallahassee investigating the sources behind Florida State's fall from once-great heights.  Was the cause simply a drop in talent?  Anecdotal evidence says yes, and no.  The quarterbacks haven't been great the last few years, but it's not like FSU was hurting with so-so talents like Thad Busby and Danny Kanell.  I think losing the offensive initiative (wherefore art thou, Fast Break Offense?) and certain highly skilled assistants (Chuck Amato, Mark Richt) doomed the program.

Discipline

Thoughtful stuff from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Tony Barnhart

1) How should college football handle bad behavior?

2) Can coaches be objective when it comes to discipline?

It goes almost without saying that there's lots of gray area for anyone attempting to answer either.  Fire away. 

Miscellaneous

West Virginia's Pat White: last man standing (Cory McCartney/Sports Illustrated) . . . Catching up with USC coach Pete Carroll (Dennis Dodd/CBS Sports) . . . An interview with ousted Florida State Athletic Director Dave Hart (Matt Hayes/The Sporting News) . . . Looking at some of the new coordinators in college football in '08 (Tom Dienhart/The Sporting News) . . . A debate about the appropriate amount of time that should be allocated for spring practice (Rivals.com staff) . . . Assorted spring previews (Rivals.com staff) . . .

Georgia faces eight coaches who have "won some kind of national championship" this season (Tony Barnhart/Atlanta Journal-Constitution) . . . Memo to Nick Saban: just shut up and coach football (Paul Finebaum/Mobile Press-Register) . . . The 'Nicktator' -- Nick Saban -- is soft on crime (Kevin Scarbinsky/The Birmingham News)

Announcements

Ted Miller is leaving the Seattle Post-Intelligencer to cover Pac-10 football for ESPN

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