Sports Then and Now

Nick Saban has Alabama poised for another run, but can they repeat as champions?

After romping through an undefeated 2009 season, many experts have ordained Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide as the team to beat again in 2010. While Alabama will again be formidable, it will be hard for them to overcome the loss of most of the defensive stars that carried them past Florida and Texas and to an undefeated record a year ago.

While last season there was little question that Alabama, Texas and Florida were the undisputed best teams in college football (unless of course you are a fan of TCU and Boise State), in 2010 it may be a little harder to gauge which college teams are the cream of the crop.

Across the board, college football teams lost a plethora of talented players that must be replaced in 2010. The teams that are able to rise from the pack in 2010 will be those that have new players and former backups ready to play at the highest level.

Below is a look at the major conferences in Division I-A (Bowl Championship Subdivision): Read the rest of this entry →

Pat Summerall

Our Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the month for September had very long associations with two of the sports that make headlines each September. Pat Summerall played in the NFL for 10 years before becoming one of the most recognized announcers in the sport. He also served as the voice of the U.S. Open tennis championships for CBS for more than two decades.

After playing college football at Arkansas, Summerall was drafted by the Detroit Lions, but a broken arm ended his first season in the league. He was traded to the Chicago Cardinals and spent five seasons with them primarily as a placekicker. Read the rest of this entry →

Iowa opens the season at home against Eastern Illinois.

As you watch the University of Iowa’s football team take the field Saturday at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City against the Eastern Illinois Panthers, you need to gauge the Hawkeye’s success by looking at the following factors:

(1) The State of Mind of Quarterback Ricky Stanzi

Last year in their opener against Northern Iowa, the Hawkeyes trailed 10-3 at halftime.  The coaching staff sweated bullets.  These Northern Iowa Panthers were not patsies.

In the third quarter Northern Iowa extended their lead 13-3.  Stanzi’s back was against the proverbial wall when he marched the offense 70 yards in six plays to score, reducing Northern Iowa’s lead to three.

The reinvigorated offense under Stanzi’s leadership took charge in the fourth quarter.  Tony Moeaki caught a six yard pass to change the score in favor of Iowa for the first time 17-13.  With 13 minutes left on the clock, all Iowa had to do was hang on for a win.

But Iowa never did things the easy way––at least not in 2009.

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Country singer Kenny Chesney's new song harkens back to his days playing high school football.

It isn’t often that we use this site to promote or rave about a current movie, book or song, but my wife recently shared with me a great song and video that I think will bring back some fond memories for anyone who ever played little league or high school football or who has followed college or professional football.

Country singer Kenny Chesney was a high school football player and his new song “The Boys of Fall” recaptures the memories and feel of putting on shoulder pads and a helmet and squaring off against a rival school on a Friday night.

While the song itself is nice, it is the accompanying video that really brings things home and will jar your memories.

It starts with current New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton back at his old high school talking about how he remembers the smells and emotions of playing under the lights. Read the rest of this entry →

The Mighty Zultan Tells Football Fortunes...

Zultan, the mighty soothsayer, hibernated soundly after a glorious conclusion to Big Ten Football Bowl Season last January.

The all-seeing one remained zoned out for months after admittedly over-indulging in some exotic-looking orange punch with the kick of a kangaroo.

The Big Ten pounded its way to an impressive 4-3 record during post-season play which included wins over some very highly ranked BCS teams at the conclusion of the 2009 football season.

The action culminated with the Iowa Hawkeye’s victory over the Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech. After the Hawkeyes rolled over them, GT may still be putting their “wrecked” offense back together.

When the mighty one’s eyes snapped open this week, ready to dig in for another season of football prognostication –– low and behold, the news was delivered.  The Big Red Machine was going to be joining the Big Ten. What a blow!  After years of living in the shadow of the God Almighty Nebraska Cornhuskers, the all-seeing seer now must feel the singe of the hot poker once again––as Nebraska closes in on the neighboring Hawkeyes starting in 2011.

Putting aside his feelings of betrayal, the all-seeing one now marshals the massive skills that allow him to predict the outcome of football contests.  The Big Ten Conference will be a force to be reckoned with in 2010 along with other highly touted football contests each week.

What he wishes to know is––can you outguess him?  Do you feel lucky, well, do you?  If so click here and you can pit your puny predicting powers against the great Zultan.  If you outguess him, then he will announce that you beat him in next week’s column, plus entering your name for a prize to be awarded at the end of the season.

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LaMichael James and Oregon will look to retain their place at the top of the Pac-10.

With perennial conference champion USC serving a two-year bowl ban and defending conference champ Oregon looking to overcome the loss of their starting quarterback, the Pac-10 conference is up for grabs as others look to capitalize on potential weaknesses at the top of the league.

1. Oregon – With nine starters returning on offense and eight on defense, the defending league champion Ducks look poised for another big season. The dismissal of starting quarterback Jeremiah Masoli probably will keep Oregon from competing for a national championship, but the Ducks are still the favorite to claim a second straight conference title. The team still includes two quarterbacks with big-time experience in Darron Thomas and Nate Costa, but they are both a slight step down from Masoli. Sophomore LaMichael James rushed for 1,546 yards last season and is one of the best running backs in the conference. Defensively, the Ducks allowed 24 points per game in 2009 and appear to have enough solid performers returning to improve those numbers this season. Read the rest of this entry →