NCAA 2009

[Ed Anger]

Hey, they beat Northwestern! 

I never see them as a joke in the Big-Ten schedules. They have a bad habit of screwing over a Big Ten team.

Indiana now, there is a joke. The stadium remodel is nice though.

[katmai]

Notes from Seattle Times blog covering UW football talking with Jake Locker's dad.

"He called me pretty much first thing Monday morning and said he was writing a paper, and then we yakked a little bit and he said 'yeah, I've decided what I'm going to do,''' Scott Locker said. "I knew at that point what his decision was going to be.''

Scott Locker said his first reaction was to ask if Jake didn't want to wait to see what the NFL Advisory Committee would say.

"He said 'that's really not part of it for me, Dad. It really doesn't matter where they had me,''' Scott Locker said.

Instead, what Jake Locker told his father is that what was important was that "I want to go back and play one more year of college and experience it to the fullest so I can be there for the full time and then move on to basically getting a job and doing what I'm meant to do.''

In fact, Scott Locker said money and draft positioning was never really a big part of their discussions --- and which means that so much of the great debate that has ensued since about whether or not he made the right decision is irrelevant in terms of why the decision was made.

"The only bit of conversation we had even involving the money part was that the amount of money that people talk about with pro sports today is so big that either way, whatever happens with the (labor agreement), there's always going to be money there, and money that's better than the every day guy that goes out and gets a job,'' he said.

"He's got faith in the way things work in the world, that if you do the right things and do what you love and work hard at what you do, that good things will happen to you. He believes in the guys around him and the coaching staff. He thinks he's in a really good situation, and I agree with him in that.''

So Scott Locker said the final year won't be spent worrying about whether the decision turns out to be "right'' in the perception of others.

"His security, I believe, is not going to really be that much in question from a lot of angles,'' he said. "He's got a lot of options sports-wise (including his baseball contract with the Angels) and he'll get out of school with a degree. If the sport thing didn't end up working out, he's a winner and a survivor and he will find a way to make it work.''

The manner in which the season ended also played a role in Locker's decision.

"I really believe the team part of it was a big part of it for him,'' Scott said. "He's a team guy --- that's been the way he's been since he's been a kid. He knows no one can carry a squad and the team getting better and being more successful at the end of the year, I think that had a lot to do with it and that there's a lot of hope there that these boys can get it rolling.''

Ultimately, though, he kept coming back to simply not wanting to leave UW right now and end his college years.

"One of the main things we talked about is that Jake has always finished everything he has started,'' Scott Locker said. "Not that I would have viewed that as quitting anything, but I think he would have viewed it as that, as kind of having unfinished stuff he would like to accomplish here. And the thing about this situation is he can still end up going to the NFL, it'll just be a year later. But you can never really go back and go to college for the college experience and the friendships and relationships that you have --- you can't go back to that. I think that's really important to him because he's a relationship kind of guy. I think he wanted to be true to his initial commitment and true to his self, and ultimately it was an easy call to him.''

[sbr]

I hope Locker has a terrible senior season that doesn't hurt his NFL draft stock. 

[Berkut]

I hope Locker does incredible for every game until Arizona comes along, and then all the bad kharma from their illegitimate win this year comes back on them and they get crushed.

It would even be ok if that was their only loss all year.

[Ed Anger]

Duron Carter out of the Rose Bowl. Academically ineligible.

Fucking idiot.

[sbr]

Duron Carter out of the Rose Bowl. Academically ineligible.

Fucking idiot.

They're just making excuses for the butt-kicking they will get.

[Valmy]

Everybody excited for the big game?  I predict it will always be remembered at the best game ever played...between Wyoming and Fresno State....in New Mexico...

I can see it now...4th and goal from the 1...Wyoming down 5...3 seconds left...all the other running backs injured...Dave Christensen brings in legendary talent Duell Petsch who takes the hand off and plunges heroically into the line...

[katmai]

Everybody excited for the big game?  I predict it will always be remembered at the best game ever played...between Wyoming and Fresno State....in New Mexico...

I can see it now...4th and goal from the 1...Wyoming down 5...all the other running backs injured...Dave Christensen brings in legendary talent Duell Petsch who takes the hand off and plunges heroically into the line...

You just made that name up.

[Valmy]

You just made that name up.

My family is known for having amazing football talent, not good names.

[PDH]

Quote from Rivals: "Is Wyoming one of the worst bowl teams ever? Maybe."

THAT is what makes this game spellbinding!

[Eddie Teach]

9/05 Weber State 1-0 (0-0) W 29-22
9/12 No. 2 Texas 1-1 (0-0) L 41-10
9/19 @ Colorado 1-2 (0-0) L 24-0
9/26 UNLV 2-2 (1-0) W 30-27
10/03 @ Florida Atlantic 3-2 (1-0) W 30-28
10/10 New Mexico 4-2 (2-0) W 37-13
10/17 @ Air Force 4-3 (2-1) L 10-0
10/31 @ No. 16 Utah 4-4 (2-2) L 22-10
11/07 No. 25 Brigham Young 4-5 (2-3) L 52-0
11/14 @ San Diego State 5-5 (3-3) W 30-27
11/21 No. 4 TCU 5-6 (3-4) L 45-10
11/27 @ Colorado State 6-6 (4-4) W 17-16

Look at the bright side, you're 5-0 in games decided by a touchdown or less.

[katmai]

Stoppable force meets entirely movable object. One of this bowl's contestants, Wyoming, got shut out in three games this season, one of them against 3-9 Colorado, and finished in the bottom 10 nationally in total offense. The other, Fresno State, got pegged for 50 or more points in three games this season, the last of them against 3-9 Illinois (in which the Bulldogs needed a two-point conversion from an offensive tackle to seal the victory), and finished 97th nationally in total D. Which one wins out? You won't know unless you watch -- and whether you admit it or not, you probably will, as your only other viable sports spectating options are the Duke-Gonzaga hoops game, the Ironman Triathlon on NBC, and some golf tournament in Las Vegas whose coverage will probably be 80 percent tut-tutting over the Tiger Woods scandal.

[PDH]

That's MY team!

[Valmy]

I like all the fights breaking out in the pregame.  It must be that fierce WAC-MWC rivalry.

[Valmy]

That drive was good for a couple Wyoming Brown and Gold FIRST DOWNS MOTHERFUCKERS and then a punt to the 1.  Nice start for the PDHers.