After the announcement given by President Obama confirming Osama Bin Laden had been killed, I spoke with Obama to get details about the assassination. Obama confirmed Ricky Stanzi was informed he would have to become an NFL 5th round draft pick due to his departure to Pakistan and unavailability to meet NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Thursday evening. Obama also confirmed specifics in the assassination operation, which consisted of Stanzi using a Paki bomb to kill Bin Laden. Stanzi is slated to challenge Obama in the 2012 Presidential Election.

(Well, this is a must-bump. Very interesting post. -- Ross)

The draft is done, and the new draftees are looking forward to fame, fortune... and a lockout. While the immediate NFL future is uncertain, college football moves on. Every year brings a new crop of recruits, many of whom hope to follow this weekends draftees into the NFL. Looking back can often bring useful lessons, and each draft class offers such an opportunity. How did the draftees get to that point? What elevated them above all the others hoping for a chance at the NFL?

Now maybe the answer is easy. We know there are three must-have ingredients: God-given talent, the commitment to get better, and the right training. But how important are each of these factors? In particular, how important is that third factor? What effect do different college programs have on their players chances at the NFL? We know that some programs produce more draft picks than others. Why, however, is a tricker question. Are those schools just bringing in more talent at the recruiting stage? Or are some doing a better job of developing their recruits into NFL-ready athletes?

Good recruiting data across college football goes back to 2002. And we have draft information for every year. So, by matching between those two data sets, we can answer the questions above. We can identify the programs that do the best (and worst) job developing their players (at least over the past decade). Better yet, we can use this data to tell a prospective recruit exactly how much their NFL chances are affected by their choice of school. Whether this information is on the top of the recruiting packets or hidden from sight will depend on the school, but these are numbers every recruit should know before signing on that dotted line.

So come with me on a journey through the player development process in college football. We’ll find out who’s doing it right, and who’s doing it wrong. We’ll see how different conferences lead to different outcomes, and the impact play-style has on player development. There might even be a Rich Rodriguez cameo.

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He must be referred to as Captain Native Americanzi?

via newsfornatives.com

I happen to be a KC fan, and yet, I'm confused how to react to this news of Swingin' Rick heading southward. Somehow I'm simultaneously excited and apprehensive. Granted, he'll be warming pine for a few seasons behind Castlevania, but... Let's just say it ain't called the "Show Me" state for nothing.

(I couldn't resist using the pic. It's just too perfect!)

Filler for word count Filler for word count Filler for word count Filler for word count 

  We open inside Carver Hawkeye, where the BHBIGS wrestlers have been doing buddy stairs for an hour. 

PackerHawk, BHNP and SMKS are all taking turns puking in the garbage cans stationed around the concourse. 

 – "TIME!!  Bring it in guys."

BHNP wheels the garbage can over to where the team has assembled. 

– "Lycurgus, front and center.  Do you know why you guys have been running buddies for an hour? "

  – "SIR, NO, SIR"

 – "As the captain of this team, I expect you to be my eyes and ears when the team isn’t assembled.  Isn’t that why you’re the captain?  That’s a rhetorical question.  If you’re doing your damn job, why in the blue hell am I getting phone calls and visits from Bloodjab Vint that you ass clowns are making panty raids to other blogs?  Don’t we keep you busy enough here?  What is rule number one in blog wrestling?  NO DISTRACTIONS!!  We’ve got a killer schedule coming up.  We’re ranked number 3 in the blogoverse!  And we’re out there with guys threatening to be suspended and possibly thrown off the team!!  I won’t stand for it!!"

 – "I understand, sir"

 – "Coach, with all due respect, it was just some harmless shenanigans."

  –"Yeah, Coach, we were just trying to get in their heads."

– "Well, your ‘harmless shenanigans’ are threatening to get this whole thing shut down!  And get you guys expelled from the Blog.  You don’t want that do you?  I sure as shitfire don’t, I want to win a national championship.  I want to crush BSD.  I want to crush MGo.  I want to crush them ALL!  If we have to wrestle in goddam outer space to win a universal championship, I hope like hell you maggots can pass a NASA screening, because I want to win that, too!"

  – "So no more shenanigans?"

– "I’m going to pistol whip the next person that says shenanigans!"

  – "Hey, Chazz, what’s the name of that restaurant you really like?  The one with the goofy shit on the walls and the mozerella sticks?"

 – "Shenanigans, why?"

  (rips his pants off and buttons go flying)– Dammit guys, you’ve got to focus.  Bloodjab Vint is serious.  NO MORE VISITS TO OTHER BLOGS. Any further forays into other blogs will result in immediate suspension from the team, no exceptions!  This isn’t the Steve Alford-era in Iowa hoopyball here.  You can’t go all "Pierre Pierce" on another blog and still start the next game!   He WILL shut us down.  He WILL throw your asses out.  He has the power, all you idiots have to do is give him the reason.  He’s willing to let us play, but we’ve got to follow the rules.  Beyond just that, I DEMAND YOU STAY FOCUSED AND AVOID DISTRACTIONS!!!

Team:  "SIR, YES, SIR!"

Now, on to our preview. 

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EL GUANO DE MURCIÉLAGO LOCURA!

Far away, in a deep dark dungeon of the NCAA headquarters, a man sits alone with a bank of computer screens, simultaniously replaying every game of March Madness, over and over.  Already tired of Tatgate and Tresselmania, he has decided to seek out new violations to enforce, and so he watches tirelessly, calmly sipping a chilled coffee between pulls on his crack pipe.

He takes off his homemade Judge Dredd halloween mask to get a closer look at BYU.  Something isn't sitting right about the way they exited the tournament, with their star scorer shrinking just enough for them to lose.  Could point shaving be afoot here?  He starts the game over.

/pre-game warm-ups of the Sweet Sixteen matchup between the Fightin' Smiths of Brigham Young and the Gators of Florida University

/an announcer speaks in low volume as the man scans the action on the screen

"...Jimmer seems ready today.  His tiara seems a little too large, but our producers brought him a cake, so now he looks like he's getting in the zone.  It's always a pleasure to watch him turn all of that pent up frustration into athletic prowess... I usually go home and rub one out for him after I watch one of his..."

/man tunes out Len Elmore and just listens when Gus Johnson is talking OHHHHHHHHH!

        Jimmer Fredette:  "Is this how Quinceañera feels?!"

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Congratulations! You're considering making the wonderful decision to draft Bob Marley! Like any responsible prospective selector, you're no doubt filled with questions about your potential draft pick. We here at Black Heart Gold Pants will try our best to answer any questions you might have.

Is this Bob Marley guy any good?   Well, sure! He has won a multitude of awards (many were posthumous),

His song "One Love" was named song of the millennium by the BBC.  He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.  Time Magazine called his album "Exodus" the Album of the Century in 1999.  He won the Jamaican Order of Merit, which is Jamaica's third HIGHest honor.  1976: Band of the Year by Rolling Stone.  He was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001. 

Some people may not be real familiar with Marley, but some people see him as a hero.  In fact, both Brady Johnson and DJK had posters of Marley in their rooms, just above their nightstands.  You could say they had their own little shrine set up there.

Cool, any HIGHlights? See the photo below.

via 4photos.net

Wait, that didn't convince me of a whole lot. Yeah, well, you're a prude.  Go call WaterlooChazz and have a pizza party. 

It is difficult to know if women will distract Marley from the needed focus to become great at the NFL level.  When you hear "No Woman, No Cry", then he might be willing to put team goals ahead of his personal life.  On the other hand, "Easy Skanking" and "I Shot the Sheriff" might lead one to believe that he will make Michael Irvin look like the Church Lady.   He did have eleven children, THAT HE KNOWS OF.  This could be a bit of a concern.

That's not very reassuring either.  Really?  Well, there is more bad news.  Marley has never passed any sort of drug test.  Not urine, not blood, and not hair samples.  Unless you talk to some of the people at BHGP.  Many of them don't have a problem with a guy smoking a little tree, as long as he isn't hurting anyone.  It's not their concern.

I don't like hearing this word "concern" over and over.   That's understandable.  But the guy can sing.  Even a goody-two-shoes like WaterlooChazz has his greatest hits album.  If you hear "Jammin" or "Is This Love" and you don't start tapping a toe, then you should probably see a doctor to see if you still have a heart.

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Get your wrestling hard-on ready

Tribute to the Honey Badger, the most fearless animal on earth. My favorite animal. (via GoldChain13)

Meet starts at 8 PM CT. You guys better be ready because Boise will be. I hear there is a record crowd at Coral Ridge tonight for the BHBIGers, which should help attain an even more savage adrenaline-fueled beatdown of OBNUG.

Ironside and Gable will be covering the meet. Jim Gibbons was found on the side of I-80 in a ditch. Clinging to life, he told the state troopers that Gable beat him to within an inch of his life for asking if Dan still considered himself a Cyclone.

Iowa celebrities Meredith Wilson and Harold Hill will be attending tonight's festivities. The coaches were told not to let them too close to potential recruits, as such an encounter might result in a Blog wrestling rules infraction.

Get ready for the greatest show on earth (or at least eastern Iowa on a late April Monday night). The Honey Badger has left his den and is ready to eviscerate.

Rules are that you can't post during your own match.

So, in the words of the Yahoo writer the "other shoe is a bomb".  Looks like they got hit with everything but lack of institutional control, apparently Tressell really never thought it was necessary to contact anybody in the university about this.  Also mentions vacating of wins, loss of schollies, etc.  The lying and playing of ineligible athletes appears to be too much for the NCAA to ignore, even if it is tOSU.

linky espn version

I'm here to make my predictions for 2011. I know, nobody likes predictions because they are just predictions, but I'm going off history and statistics. Some will be completely wrong and some will be purely statistically chosen with no opinion of mine involved. So here we go:

Week 1: vs. Tenn. Tech: (W) 33-9

Week 2: @ Iowa State: (W) 28-3

Week 3: vs. Pitt: (W) 21-20

Week 4: vs. ULM: (W) 34-12

Week 6: @ Penn St.: (W) 24-12

Week 7: vs. jNW: (L) 20-14

Week 8: vs. Indiana: (W) 35-16

Week 9: @ Minn.: (W) 27-12

Week 10: vs. Mich: (W) 34-28

Week 11: vs. Mich. St.: (W) 21-12

Week 12: @ Purdue: (L) 22-17

Week 13: @ Nebraska: (L) 35-28

9-3 with a possible bowl win. Pretty good. These are almost pure statistics tho. A few assumptions and a few miscalculations, but overall a pretty statistical look of how the season could turn out. The only problem is, is that the games we lose we can win, and the games we win we can lose. I think 9-3 is very optimistic but also doable. I did not factor in the loss of Stanzi or anyone else so this goes off 3 years of Stanzi's reign at QB (all statistics come from 2008-2010). 

Complain all you want, but this is just one prediction.

Same deal as last week: I figured I'd tell you what I watch, throw out a few things that stood out or some interesting things coming up, and then let the free-for-all begin.  Remember, this thread is no-holds-barred, so don't start reading it and then complain that you read something you were trying to save for later.  But, do feel free to give your opinions or reviews, because that information might be helpful for somebody deciding which movie to spend $10 on, or which shows to DVR, or which stuff to add to their Netflix queue.  

Let's use Ross's Rules of Order (no porn, no slurs, no illegal streams, and maybe avoid politics and religion.  And the first person who bitches about Ferentz's video-editing abilities has to gas up the Rhoads' family truckster for the next Vacation.  And gas is pretty expensive these days.

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