Sports Then and Now

Iowa Football begins in September, until then fans only speculate about how good the Hawks will be in 2010.

Are you ready for some Hawkeye football?  It is not for the faint of heart or fair-weather fans.  You are either a rock or you are not.  There is no fence riding or “boohooing.”  You gotta wear a snarl and be ready for a blow to the gut––as disappointment can hit at any moment.

What you must understand from the outset is that Iowa is all about defense.  While lack of “Big D” can undermine most college football programs, defense remains the heart and soul of the University of Iowa’s recent favorable football fortunes.

Just look at last year. You had to have a strong heart and nerves of steel to weather the tsunami peaks and valleys that characterized an Iowa victory in 2009.  The Hawkeyes eked by week after week, securing four wins by three points or less. Herald the defense!

Penn State's offense was smothered by a swarming Iowa defense in 2009 in Happy Valley.

The Hawkeyes also came back in the second half in their games against Penn State and Wisconsin to secure wins.

Another heart-stopper came on the last minute touchdown pass to steal the game away at Michigan State as time expired.

Finally, what about holding on until Iowa scored four touchdowns in the last quarter to suffocate the Hoosier’s hopes for an upset?

Sedatives du jour became the cocktail before each Iowa kickoff.

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Yes, he is back all bright-eyed and bushy tailed!

Zultan, the all-seeing seer, has listened to your pleas to return and has decided to accede to your wishes to predict winners of the upcoming bowl games played by the Big Ten and other less illustrious conferences. (That had to be said in deference to my insistent, strapping Big Ten in-laws.)

There are, as you well know, 34 bowl games including seven Big Ten matchups—but Zultan only has time and space to consider the top 20. It is the holiday season and Zultan is in heavy demand helping the Big Guy in the Red Suit calculate his future after being evicted from Notre Dame land.

As usual you are free to challenge Zultan to see if you can outguess the mighty prognosticator—but the road ahead is filled with pitfalls and disappointment. They don’t call me a seer for nothing!

Click here to enter your own picks to see if you can best the mighty Zultan—and win a prize for your efforts—a $100 gift card at Best Buy, WalMart, or Target—you choose.

All who enter regardless of results will also be eligible to win a CD titled “The Best College Football Fight Songs”—a significant find because Zultan actually performs on one track of this rare CD! Two lucky winners will be awarded a CD at the conclusion of the contest. Read the rest of this entry →

Word is that Bobby Bowden will retire after 34 years as head coach at Florida State University.

It is never pleasant to watch the end for a legend that hung on too long. Whether it is an athlete like Muhammad Ali, Johnny Unitas or Willie Mays or a coach like Earl Weaver, Tom Landry or Sparky Anderson, the end often temporarily clouds the memories of their supreme greatness.

Such has been the case for legendary football coach Bobby Bowden over the last few years. Once the charismatic leader of a perennial national championship contending squad, recent years have not been kind to this coaching statesman.

Since completing a string of 14 straight seasons with double digit victories and top five finishes in the final national poll in 2000, the Seminoles have struggled to recapture their past magic.

Between 1987 and 2000, the Seminoles went 152-19-1 (.886) with two National Championships. Since 2001, FSU has registered a 73-42 record (.635) with their highest final national ranking being 11th in 2003. They have been particularly pedestrian over the last four years as the Seminoles are 29-22 (.569) since the 2006 season.

A great illustration of how times have changed for the Seminoles can be found in their performance against ACC opponents.

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Zultan in complete disguise is hiding out in a convent in the upper Himalayas.  The Big 10 reduced the mighty seer’s reputation to rubble. The great one’s efforts to enrich the storied conference’s prestige was diminished and degraded last week as Zultan missed 4 of 6 picks in the Big 10.  The disgrace has reduced the great ones caloric intake to 3000 a day…need I say more?

Zultan’s Mom is also in rehab after the Iowa loss.  She is expected to pull through if Iowa defeats Ohio State in the Horseshoe.  Who are we kidding here?  Mom is toast.

Zultan scraped bottom this past week going only 5 for 10 in his assault upon college football oddsmakers.  This represents a season low for the sultry seer who falls to 74 per cent on the year picking 67 of 91 through November 7.

As for the rest of the Big 10, the seasoned seer has given up all scientific forms prognostication and is drawing winners names out of a caldron.

The most compelling contest on Saturday in the Big 10 takes place in Columbus Ohio where the Iowa faithful will pray for a Hawkeye miracle. That is what it will take for Iowa to remove the stake through the heart handed them by the traditional media nay-sayers.

So get in line to test the waters this week as the Big 10 plays for post season glory. The challenge is yours – the question remains – do you feel lucky?  Because keep in mind that Zultan has gone underground where aberrant forces love to wreak havoc with predictable outcomes…
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Zultan abandoned his natural inscrutable psychic forces and went with science last weekend, to his detriment.

The bumps on his head should have led the all-seeing phrenologist to realize that the Huskers were shucked unable to stand against the full force of a Cyclone. It should have revealed that a Horned Frog was more resilient against first-down evolution than a Cougar. Finally, Zultan should have sensed that the Nittany Lion was in command against the lowly Wolverine.

Once again the mighty Zultan was 7-for-10, or 70 percent—on the season, the magnificent one stands at 54-of-71, or 76 percent.

Zultan dismisses silly science for the board this week. It is the season of sunset for foolish football fanatics…

Last week, 13 rank amateurs conspired to make Zultan look bad by outguessing him. Tireless Zultan does all the work and these interlopers sap his well-earned glory. This week Zultan lives to make them all rue the day they dared to disagree with the mighty one.

Care to test your puny predicting powers against Zultan—Big Ten Seer for the Ages? Only the great one has mastered the movements of the football forecasting fool-proof Ouija board…beware of the Zultan…

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Boise State is one of several unbeaten teams ready to pounce if the "Big Three" stumble.

There is still more than a month left in the college football regular season, but it is now pretty clear that if Florida, Alabama and Texas all win out through the regular season, the BCS Championship Game will feature the winner of the SEC title game against the Longhorns. Of course, given that neither Florida or Alabama looked great yesterday and that Texas has looked vulnerable at times, there is still a pretty decent chance that at least one of those three teams could end up with a loss. If that happens, the scrum for a spot in the BCS title game could be pretty rough.

In today’s Sports Then and Now College Football Weekly Review, let’s look at the undefeated teams that are currently on the outside looking in, but who with an upset or two could be making a case for inclusion in the BCS Championship Game.

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