Blogpoll roundtable

This week's BlogPoll Roundtable is in a cornfield somewhere, hosted by Big Red Network.

(They gotta lotta corn in Nebraska. No, for real. Like many folks do, especially those who've seen Field of Dreams, I used to associate corn with Iowa. Then my family took a car trip that drove us through both states, and I saw the error of my ways. Nebraska is to corn as Saudi Arabia is to sand. Corn is not generally considered exciting, but that much of it is actually rather impressive, especially when whizzing by the car window at a faster rate than usual thanks to Nebraska's excellent 80 MPH speed limit. I digress. A lot. Here are the questions we have been put to this week.)

Q: Of the four presumed national title contenders to go down this past week--USC, Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin--which team has the best chance to get back in the race by the end of the year?

Wisconsin? Seriously? One of these days, Wisconsinites are going to shake their cheese-and-Miller-fed heads and realize they haven't been to the BCS, nor won any kind of a share of the Big Ten championship, since 1999, and when they do, that is the exact moment Bret Bielema's job will be in trouble. Wisconsin doesn't count.

Florida and Georgia have to play one another. At best, then, they're both 50/50. The WLOCP is going to knock one or the other out. Florida, however has LSU and Vandy left on the schedule; Georgia has LSU, Vandy, and Auburn, and a rival in Georgia Tech that's spoiling for a win with a funky new offense. Give the edge here to Florida.

USC, now....these guys had a table that was set up to be run, and run hard. They blew it at Corvallis, but then again they typically blow one every year. And the table is still set. They get all the tough(ish) games at home: Oregon, Cal, Notre Dame. And all the easy ones on the road: Wazzu, Arizona. So USC is the answer to this question, and if I had to rank them: USC, Florida, Georgia, big space, more big space, Wisconsin.

Q: But what does this mean for Ohio State? Are they back in?

Only if they run the table. And only if all these undefeated teams lose. Obviously.

But, assume they do run the Big Ten table. (Blech.) There are 11 teams in front of them in the coaches' poll, which is what we'll use because it's the one that counts in the BCS. One of them is Penn State, a team they'd beat on the way, so that's one down, 10 to go. Fully four of them are Big 12 teams, and at most one of them is going to represent in the NCG, so that's three more down. 7 to go. Three more are SEC teams, so, two down. That leaves four teams out of OU, LSU, BYU, USC, and USF that would all have to lose, assuming OU and LSU sufficiently beat down their conference rivals before their respective conference championship games. So....eeehhhhhhmmmm....that's a lot. Even in the wacky world of wacky college football wackiness, that's tough to get, especially because the Buckeyes are no less prone to wackiness than any of these other guys (especially against Michigan, one hopes), and they no longer have any margin for wackiness.

Q: Did the week that was open the door for any of the undefeateds out of some of the non-BCS conferences like the Mountain West or the Big East? (Yup, that's a cheap shot. Thanks, Virginia Tech for not allowing me to make it about the ACC.)

If USF is undefeated, they're in if there aren't two other undefeateds. Technically, the Big East is a BCS conference, though the only reason they still are is because they used to be. A lot more craziness would have to go down for BYU to sneak in. One-loss Oklahoma vs. one-loss USC would cause voters to hand BYU over to the Fiesta Bowl or something.

Q: How do you feel about Craig Littlepage repealing the sign ban at UVA athletic events?

OK, that's not an official Roundtable question. See if I care - it's getting an answer, because it's awesome. Kudos to Littlepage for manning up and admitting a mistake. His official statement is kind of funny and worth dissecting:

"Our football team needs our support right now and that should be our collective focus. With that in mind, I am repealing immediately the policy prohibiting signs, banners and flags in all athletics venues."

This brings up the question: does that mean if the football team didn't suck, the ban would have stayed? Of course, if the football team hadn't crapped the bed against Wyoming, there would not have been any Fire Groh signs in the stands in the first place, and maybe there would have been no anti-sign policy either?

"My hope is our fans will wear orange and be prepared to support the Cavaliers."

This reversal comes not long after the student and fan movement to wear blue instead of orange, as a protest against the color the admin and coach have been wanting to see in the stands. (A terrific idea, by the way. It kind of smacks you in the face with subtlety.) The question is, why are they so hell-bent on fans wearing orange? Sure, schools love to do color-outs - Penn State carries this out quite well - but is it really the case that the school is so desperate for fans to wear orange that the wear-blue movement is what pushed this over the edge? If so, mega-congrats to the people whose idea that was. It's honestly the kind of thing that affirms my love for this school, as cheesy as that sounds.

Booted

The Peter Lalich era is over before it really began. And for what?

Starting QB Lalich dismissed by Virginia

It's all there, and despite the occasional tabloidishness of Rivals, it's all true. Lalich's court date was today, having been rather conveniently (were he still on the team) bumped up from next Friday.

The official statement from Il Duce Littlepage:

"Peter Lalich is no longer a member of the University of Virginia football team. We have supported Peter, but believe today a point has been reached where it's best for all concerned that he no longer participate on the team. This is my decision and it has the support of head football coach Al Groh. We wish Peter the best in the future. We will have no further comment."

I call bullshit. I don't believe for a minute that this has the support of Al Groh. If Littlepage had said, "This is my decision and it has the support of head football coach Al Groh, who really likes his job and realizes that I have the power to change his employment status," then yes, I'd believe it. But - hell - I don't even believe 100% that this is Littlepage's decision. If it is, shame on him. If not, shame on whoever made the call, and more so for making Littlepage take the heat.

Because this is crap. And no, not just because we're losing the Quarterback Of The Future. Because Lalich is taking a fall for underage drinking, and then being honest about it. If he had just lied to the probation officer, we wouldn't be here. Am I suggesting that's what he should have done? No. That's what I'm suggesting that the UVA admin is suggesting he should have done. I realize the single sanction is controversial, but I didn't realize you could have it applied for following the honor code. Even if Lalich really is dumb enough to believe that it took an arrest to break his probation.

But you know what? There's something bigger afoot. The administration, whether it was the decision of Craig Littlepage, or John Casteen, or some other pointy-headed policy-making doughbag, just undermined the coach in a BIG way. BIG. Groh was doing everything in his power to minimize the effect of this on Peter Lalich, from playing him against Richmond AFTER the initial arrest, to avoiding use of the word "suspension" when he didn't play at UConn. You hire a football coach to coach his team and to put such players on hit as he sees fit. You endow him with the power to hand out millions of dollars worth of scholarships. Tens of millions. To make the personnel decisions for him is to show a lack of confidence in his ability to make those decisions himself. How soon til he's fired, then? In my opinion, his time is short. You don't undermine your coach like that, so publicly and so brashly, if you have full and complete confidence in his abilities.

I could probably go on. This is a stunning decision. I'll hold back, some, because there has got to be more to this that I - we - don't know, and never will. At least, there had damn well better be. If Will Barker can stay on the team, let alone at a school with a strict honor code, after stealing his beer, surely Lalich must have done something above and beyond breaking his probation that doesn't show up in police blotters.

So take a bow, Marc Verica. You're the quarterback, now and for the next two years unless Jameel Sewell returns.

Blogpoll Roundtable!

The state of Georgia is aiming for the monopoly on the Blogpoll Roundtable. This week it is hosted by Braves and Birds, a place where they speak of all things Atlanta. There is a theme - you can think of this as the Virginia Football Comment Card. Here we go....

1. How would you rate your program's service to you in the first two weeks of the season?

You ever had a restaurant that you liked going to, and you were starting to get used to it and enjoy it, and then they closed for a while with the promise of exciting new renovations and a really killer new menu, and things were gonna be oh so awesome just as soon as they opened for business, but one of the waiters got fired in the meantime, and another one left for another restaurant because he needed the money, and when they finally did open back up the food was worse and the new waiters were jerks? Yeah, me neither. But I tried to think of some other marketing flops, and believe me I ran the gamut - all the way from Battlefield Earth (the horrible movie), IYDKYDG (the stupid Coca-Cola promotion from when I was one of the impressionable teenagers they were failing to reach), and Bodo's Bagels (the Corner store that took like eight years to open.) So bear with me. This season's been like that (the restaurant thing.) We had a lot of anticipation for this. USC coming to town, and Retro Day - I mean, the marketing department went all out here, and it's good stuff. Only problem is, the wait staff failed to deliver. Big time. Those were two of the worst Virginia games I've seen, and I've seen some bad ones.

Oh. And the restaurant now has a no-speaking policy. You might disrupt the dinner of the person at the next table or say something mean. We wouldn't want that.

2. How happy are you with your program's overall scheme? We are in a period in which the spread has become a total obsession in the media. If you're a fan of a spread team, are you happy with the way your program has implemented it? If you're a fan of a non-spread team, do you wish that your program would convert to this Xenu of offenses?

Scheme? What scheme? How am I supposed to know what the scheme is when it produces 17 points in two games? It's a little bit more exciting brand of football than what we used to run with. Before, we'd fail to convert third downs by dumping underneath to the tight end for a pickup of four yards on third-and-8. Now we fail to convert third downs by heaving misguided laser beams 20 yards downfield.

This is somewhat unfair, of course. Lalich is doing reasonably well for a quarterback that doesn't really have a running game and could use just half a second extra in the pocket before he has to get rid of it. We have definitely gone more spread-ish than we were a year ago. Last year was traditional UVA offense taken to the extreme. Now there's a touch of Purdue in what we do, because we now have wide receivers that are good for something other than blocking for screen passes.

3. Rate your stadium's cleanliness and menu options.

I dunno, I haven't been in a few years. Clean? It's definitely clean. That much I remember. No worries there. In four years as a student I don't think I ever bought a single concession though. Overpriced bottled water yada yada - that's a concern everywhere.

4. As an incentive to provide your valued feedback, you will be entered into a drawing for exciting prizes! What one prize would you like for your program?

5. Since we're all about choices, take one of the following two options for entertainment's sake:

a. What's your most memorable experience involving a comment card?

b. If your program were a casual dining chain, which one would it be? Yes, this is a tricky question because the defining characteristic of a casual dining chain is its sameness. No one said this Roundtable would be easy. Bonus points if you can make a compelling case that your program is Chotchkie's or Flingers.

Definitely not Chotchkie's. No flair allowed! The Cheesecake Factory. It's expensive, that's definitely a start. You're never really sure whether you're supposed to show up dressed up or not. Do I go old-school and wear a tie, or just say hell with it and rock the orange t-shirt?

from the desk of craig littlepage

So like a lot of irritated fans, and like any good blogger should when there is an Issue to resolve, I emailed our intrepid AD, Craig Littlepage. The subject: the onerous sign ban, and why I don't like it, and would you please get rid of it?

Here is the reply.

It is good to hear from you and thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding your reaction to the ban on signs. Your concerns are appreciated.

The ban on signs was implemented out of concern for sportsmanship at all of our athletics contests and the concerns expressed by fans who didn't like having their view of the competition obstructed.

In addition it is not possible to have the event staff make consistent decisions about what crosses the line and what is in good taste when you consider the number of events that we host in a given year.

There are numerous ways our fans can demonstrate their support and sentiments. My hope is that those actions will help our efforts to promote the program so that everyone that attends these events can enjoy them.

Thank you for your sharing these thoughts.

CL

Not surprisingly, nothing about this even remotely indicates a possibility of a return of signs to sporting events. In fact, I've half a mind to think it's a form response, though I won't go so far as to make that accusation since I've got no way at all of knowing. Still, it's the same rationale as when they announced the ban. So-called sportsmanship, and fans can't see. Really now. I'm not privy to the inbox of Craig Littlepage, but I would stake A LOT of cash on betting that the number of complaints about not being able to see around someone's sign is not greater than the number of complaints about this dumb policy.

Whatever though. I could rant a long, long time about this. You can read the email yourself and probably come to the same conclusions I did. You don't need me to tell you that nobody with a sign wants to hold it up the whole game and block someone's view, especially on 3rd and 2 inside the 15; or that it's perfectly possible for civilized adults to come to an agreement if someone can't see. (Even though I just did tell you, in that clever way writers do.)

You can check out the Week 1 Blogpoll here. Biggest movers are Alabama, which went from lurking toward the bottom all the way up to #12, and Clemson, which crashed out of the poll entirely and is now "ranked" 26th. I have to wonder why Alabama moves up so high if Clemson is really that bad, but whatever.

A quick soccer break: if you were hoping that our nontraditional sports could make up for the football failure, think again. The Virginia Soccer Classic was this past weekend, and like gracious hosts, we lost both games. So, 0-2 to start the season, and just one goal, scored by reserve forward Chris Agorsor. This is an extraordinarily young squad, and will struggle.