FanNation

This past week has been full of noteworthy things... here are the noteworthiest...

FAU's Benchmark Performance
When Todd Schnellenberger was named FAU's head coach in the mid-90's, the school was not even sure it would have a football team. After three years at the I-AA level in the late-90's, the school decided that it was time to run with the big boys. After only seven years at college football's upper echelon, the Florida Atlantic Owls won their first ever bowl game. What this means is that Miami (FL) now trails Florida, Florida St., USF, UCF, FAU, which makes them the 6th most important team in the state of Florida these days. Could this be the start of something big for the Owls? Stay tuned.

The Sign Should Have Said "Do Not Touch"
Watching the Holiday Bowl and seeing the idiot on the Texas sideline out on the field and reaching for a live ball, I could not understand why Mack Brown was not going up and down this guy in a profanity laced tirade the likes of which had not been seen on a sideline since the last Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice (I am looking at you, Jon Gruden). Instead, he just brushed it off while the idiot stood on the sidelines looking like an... uh... idiot. The first thing that came to my mind was Steve Bartman. Turns out the idiot's real name was Chris Jesse (never trust a man with two first names) and he is Brown's step-son. It is all coming together now. Every school has what is jokingly called "The Get Back Coach" by the players. This coach's job is simply to get every player and coach back behind the restraining line on the sidelines. That coach failed at his job and should be fired.

The Erin Andrews Effect
In what must have been some sort of error by the ESPN scheduling committee, Erin Andrews was only assigned to one bowl game this season. That bowl game was the Alamo Bowl featuring Penn State and Texas A&M. Boy, was I excited to see the best piece of sideline eye candy in the business doing my team's game this year. I firmly believe that seeing Erin on the sidelines propelled the Lions to victory. After all, who would not play just a little harder in an effort to impress Miss Andrews and possibly score some digits off of her?

DeSean Gets an "Ouchie"
After catching a touchdown pass against Air Force and hitting the ground hard, DeSean Jackson stayed down, taking off his helmet and holding his right neck/ear. This kind of injury leads me to believe one thing: he got stabbed in the neck by his own earring when his head hit the ground. In all of my years of football, and hearing the rule announced by refs before every game, and largely ignored as well, I have never seen that actually happen, even though it conceivably could. Hey DeSean... (Read the full article here: Bowl Week 2 News & Notes Recap)