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PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 12:48 pm 
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Irish Boy wrote:
The problem with college football talk is that there is so much terrain to cover, especially in Chicago. If the floor is going to be opened to any game, the host has to be able to talk about probably any of the teams in the top 10, plus all the Big 10 teams, plus ND.

It's so easy to come off as lazy in this area. When people listen for Bears talk on Monday morning, every major storyline has already been rehashed by earlier shows, print media, ESPN, online sources, etc. There are no surprises. That's why after every game there seems to be two or, at most, three storylines that unanimously emerge. The script is set for the week.

College football gets a lot of coverage, but each individual game does not, especially in an area where fans of one team do not predominate. Hosts have to acquire a lot of information, because the person that calls with Northwestern questions is going to know more about Northwestern than you do, which is probably not true for the Bears. The worst thing that can happen is Matt Rotowald syndrome (see http://score670.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=39592 for this) where the host knows just enough to convince himself that he is speaking intelligently but fools no one else, especially if he risks alienating non-college football fans in the process.

Even if the talk is a level above Rotowaldian nimcompoopery, I worry. I remember during the 2008 season, MJH were having a college football conversation. Talk turned somehow to Alabama. When Jurko talked about how good Alabama's running game was, Mac asked him whether he could name any of the running backs on the Crimson Tide (answer: no). This was a team with future NFLer Glen Coffee and Mark Ingram as a backup. It was painful to hear that...the veneer of expertise was immediately shattered.

That's the biggest danger in talking college football in Chicago, which is why no one does it (Chicago is a "college sports town," notwithstanding some lists to the contrary, just not a fan of any one team in particular). If someone asks why the Northwestern running game has been so bad, you need to talk about it, and a name or two would be nice. What about Michigan's problems in the secondary? Who is that awesome receiver on Indiana? Why don't the put in the back of QB (what's his name?) at Minnesota? This is all basic stuff for fans of Northwestern, or Michigan, or Indiana, or Minnesota; if you flub it, why should they listen?

If you could answer those questions pretty easily and feel like the discussion could go beyond "so should I take the points at Michigan State" (the most banal and unlistenable of sports radio besides maybe fantasy football talk), it's worth doing. If not, well, there will always be an audience for venting against Lovie Smith.


Very good analysis. I believe that hosts say that Chicago is not a college sports town because they don't want to be obligated to watch more than the local pro teams.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 1:29 pm 
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BD wrote:

Very good analysis. I believe that hosts say that Chicago is not a college sports town because they don't want to be obligated to watch more than the local pro teams.


A host who can talk Big 10 football and is aware of what the other top teams in the country are doing is allright by me.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 2:14 pm 
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I'd love more college FB talk, but I guess you knew that already. Chicago is the epicenter of a huge Big 10 alumni base and I think with 6 Big 10 teams ranked in the top 25, you'll have alot of good story lines.

See you at the Purdue/NU game.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 2:25 pm 
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Big Ten hoops will be the strongest conference in the nation with 3, and possibly up to 5, teams in the top 12 in the nation or so.

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PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 2:54 pm 
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Dr. Kenneth Noisewater wrote:
Big Ten hoops will be the strongest conference in the nation with 3, and possibly up to 5, teams in the top 12 in the nation or so.


I am glad to see you are so high on Indiana this year.

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PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 2:56 pm 
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So does NU's next win make them "Bowl Eligible"? :lol:

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PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 2:57 pm 
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RFDC wrote:
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater wrote:
Big Ten hoops will be the strongest conference in the nation with 3, and possibly up to 5, teams in the top 12 in the nation or so.


I am glad to see you are so high on Indiana this year.


I would be happy if IU was just competitive again, it's been a rough couple of years.

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PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 3:00 pm 
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Hank Scorpio wrote:
I would be happy if IU was just competitive again, it's been a rough couple of years.


In Crean we trust.

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PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 3:04 pm 
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jimmypasta wrote:
So does NU's next win make them "Bowl Eligible"? :lol:


6 wins... unfortunately, not quality wins. NU and LSU are in a battle for the worst 5-0 teams in the nation. I'd give it to NU since we haven't played anyone. We'll see what NU really has when they play Michigan State. I'm not dissing Purdue, but they've been so decimated with injuries, it's hard that a quality win (if we win at all).


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 7:39 pm 
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LSU's played the bottom of the barrel SEC team and still wound up somehow winning when they should've lost.

les miles must've struck a deal with the devil or something.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 8:01 pm 
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bigfan wrote:
Coach Fitz is the one coach I have had my fill of for the year. He is just too coachy. I do think he is a good coach, just the personality isnt really that great.


if i'm not mistaken, isn't he on the zook plan where he doesn't really coach? i think he was the linebackers coach or maybe D-coordinator under coach walker, and when walker died NU wanted to get an "inspiring leader" who "bleeds wildcat purple" to rile up the team and help them get over the loss of the coach.... so in steps a young guy not too far removed from his own NU playing days (i think he was one of barnett's guys when they had their big rose bowl year in the 90s?) so it seemed that he was kind of like some sort of motivational speaker / guru / recruiter and whatnot. they got solid offensive and defensive coaches around him and it worked out well... he brings da fire and da pashin and literally has become the focus of their (first-ever?) massive advertising campaign, as he literally has the fist clenched about a second or two before he's about to shout something out in those ads they run on the front page of the trib and suntimes sport sections.

i enjoy him for being a caricature and essentially a mascot for NU... there is legitimate joy flowing through me when i've got the game on yesterday and they convert a third down and i let loose a fist-clenched GO CATS!!! but yeah, i don't take the guy seriously... if i did i reckon i'd be in the same boat as you.


It is a mistake to assume that the ra-ra fire & passion type of coach isn't a legit football coach. I would guess that 90% of football coaches at any level would be considered fire & passion guys, versus a Lovie Smith type of personality. Fitz is more that a mascot & it is ignorant to assume that. Go to a NU game then tell me who "coaches" the Cats. I'm a huge fan of Fitz. He's was the right guy at the right time for NU.


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 7:04 am 
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If the Irish and the Illini could ever get their shit together, this would be more of a college football town.
This is still HOOTERVILLE.....Ditka is a football God.....When you go to the DUMP that is the "New Soldiers Field" you see a crowd the encompasses the entire economic stratum of the town...the N.F.L. is a Public Relations Machine.....

BUT GIVE ME COLLEGE FOOTBALL ANY DAY.

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PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 8:25 am 
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I'm with Terry's Guy on this one. He does make calls and works closely with Doc Hankwitz on the defensive schemes. But I don't think Fitz is a phenomenal coach... his clock management skills are horrible. And he was the one who called the "Fastball" play that cost us the game at the Outback Bowl. Might have been the right call, but you don't run that sweep to the short side of the field. He may not be Nick Saban, but he's perfect for NU. I've never seen a program take on the personality of its coach more than the Northwestern Wildcats. And for a fan, that is a good thing.


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 8:34 am 
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My_name_1s_MUD wrote:
And he was the one who called the "Fastball" play that cost us the game at the Outback Bowl.


With Demos hurt, you don't kick it. I probably would have called for a straight pass play on 4th down, keeping an option open to have Kafka run. What would you have called, Mud?


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 8:51 am 
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I don't have balls... my wife took them. So I would have kicked the field goal. If your backup can't make a simple field goal (essentially an extra point at that distance), you have real problems.

But you are right, giving the ball to Kafka to win it would have been the best call... he was your best all around athlete. If Zeke would have gotten in, Fitz would have been a hero. But now it's just another play that he screwed up. I like Fitz... but my biggest beef is with clock management. He's cost us opportunities, usually at the close of the first half, where he failed to take time outs which would have given us a chance to put 3 or 7 points on the board. There are like 5 games that this has happened in during Fitz's 3 years.


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 10:37 am 
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Aggravated Sox Fan Bob wrote:
BUT GIVE ME COLLEGE FOOTBALL ANY DAY.


+1

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