FanNation - The Republic of Sport

The week we've all been dreading is finally here - the first official BCS rankings are out, ushering in months of complaining about the screwed up system. So let me get this out of the way now. I don't think the current way of doing things re: the postseason is necessarily the best way to do them. There must be a better way. I certainly don't have the answer. I like bowl games. Playoffs might be more fair, and might be the more accurate way to determine a champion, but just about every other sport has a playoff of some form or another. And besides, if we didn't have all this controversy about the BCS, what on earth would we all blog about?

Perhaps we'd focus more on the games, like the beatdown Texas gave former contender Missouri last week. ABC game caller Brent Musberger said the O-line, or "the Big Uglies," deserve some credit for it. The Longhorns, unfortunately for a hater like myself, just dominated and the game, like so many overly-hyped matchups, got old fast. By the 4^th quarter, Musberger and Kirk Herbstreit were so over it, making Bevo voices while obviously wishing they were at the South Carolina-LSU game, indulging in deep-friend Pepsi at the State Fair and watching the ref get a little too into the game.

If you haven't seen the video of the ref leveling South Carolina's Stephen Garcia, check it out on YouTube. Pretty hardcore. Garcia wasn't the only one who took an unexpected hit on Saturday. I saw two coaches get absolutely bowled over on the sidelines (one was knocked over by Garcia, come to think of it.)

The other topic everyone's talking about is the Maryland Terrapins. In the last few seasons, they didn't get much mention because no one cared. They weren't major players in the ACC, let alone the BCS but just this week, after the win over Wake Forest, they were featured in three national columns. Finally, people are starting to take notice, but the team still has a way to go before it gets the rest of the nation to "Fear the Turtle."

The Terps are totally unpredictable - losing when they should win and winning when no one expected it - and because no one knows what they're going to do next, everyone's tuned in to find out. They're up and down, just like rollercoasters, and that makes them exciting. As a Maryland fan (see? I admit it), it was great to see them control last week's game, but their erratic season still has me skeptical about whether they can win when it doesn't really count. 

And because last week's Maryland game was broadcast by Raycom Sports, I have four quarters worth of sweet quotes from Rick "Doc" Walker for this week's Walker Wrap-up...

• Word of the week: Ballin'. The Terps might not always dominate, but last week, they were "ballers." Darrius Heyward-Bey and Aaron Curry are "two flat-out ballers." Quarterback Chris Turner was "flat-out ballin" and should be "a nominee for Baller of the Week, definitely."

It wouldn't be Doc Walker without a few food references:

• The camera crew "ate so much at the hotel last night, I didn't think they'd make it to the game today."
• Heyward-Bey got a little snack too, because "when you have a playmaker like Heyward-Bey, you feed him!"
• The Demon Deacons' Stanley Arnoux went after a fumbled ball "like a dog with a bone with a little meat on it."

The commentary also took a turn toward the primal. 

• There was a "werewolf," "a man possessed," and even a fullback who was "all caveman." Those instincts came in handy when it was time for Maryland "to go into Neanderthal mode" against Wake and again when Maryland had 4^th and short with ten minutes left in the 4^th quarter and it was classic "manhood issue time."

There was, of course, colorful play calling:

• "He's out of bounds and someone's about to get crushed. Oh. It's the coach."
• And when Danny Oquendo scored a touchdown: "This is what I like: a guy with high expectations shakin' and bakin' into the end zone."

And this week's top Words of Wisdom:

• "You gotta drop the hammer. If you're not gonna cover ‘em, you gotta hit ‘em."
• "If you don't penetrate, you elevate. All the good ones do it."
• "When in doubt, square up and go forward."