Tip Of The Hat, Wag Of the Finger: College Football Style

First off, Wag of the Finger (WoTF) to me for stealing this shtick from Colbert.  Dear Stephen, if this is some sort of copyright violation, bring me on your show and I'll apologize. 

Anyway, now that the legal mumbo jumbo is out of the way, a Tip of the Hat (ToTH) to this website.  I've been here for close to a year, and to my knowledge there isn't a better site to talk sports.  Forums are fast and fun but they don't generally make for well thought out conversation.  Really, they're little more than bar talk in written form.  Here, though, people actually spend time thinking about what they're writing; kudos, guys, keep up the good work.

If you don't watch the Colbert Report or you haven't caught on to what's going on yet, Tip of the Hats are things I'll be giving the stamp of approval for, things like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, first row tickets, and free apple pie. 

Wags of the Finger are the opposite, consisting of things that suck, such as drinking milk two days past the expiration date, losing in overtime by more than seven, or being a Jacksonville Jaguars fan (blacked out for the season).

Well, that's about enough explanation; let's get to some college football!

Tip of The Hat to Jacory Harris.  I wrote him off too soon after that disaster of a game against Virginia Tech.  While the numbers were impressive against FSU and Georgia Tech, it was fairly evident that neither opponent had much of a pass defense to show. 

After VT, I assumed he had finally played a real defense and that defense had exposed Harris as a promising young QB, not quite ready for the national coverage he had suddenly received.  Then he went out and led his team to a win against with big passes when necessary against a title contender.  That is how veteran leaders win games, Jacory, and you're just a sophomore.  Enjoy the win, the limelight, and this tip, No. 12.

Bonus ToTH to Miami's scheduling.  FSU, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech are tough, but they're in conference.  They don't have a whole lot of say there, but instead of grabbing Charleston Southern and Troy for their out of conference play, Miami channeled their former selves and grabbed Oklahoma and suddenly scary USF.  Their gimmies are FAMU and UCF; both are in-state opponents, an always acceptable course of action since it's good for the state.

When Notre Dame was trying to get back to losing big time games instead of making crappy bowls they went the opposite route, scheduling cupcakes, which sold their team short and backfired tremendously an action that may ultimately cost coach Weis his job. 

Conversely, Miami's no fear approach, despite being "too young to compete" has given the team confidence, which very likely will set the tone for the team for the next few seasons.  Hats off to you, Coach Shannon; you did it right and your program's on the fast track to success.

Wag of The Finger to way too early Heisman speculation.  In this on demand world, it seems we demand things that don't make sense, like wondering who's leading the Heisman race at all times.  I'm guilty of perpetuating this so I'm partially self–wagging right now.  Why were we even talking about Jacory's Heisman chances prior to the Va Tech game?  He had only played two games.  At least the BCS holds out until week seven before giving us rankings; I can't imagine the crapfest of 14 weeks of BCS rankings.

ToTH to big time games.  FSU–Miami started off the season right.  Week two gave us Notre Dame–Michigan and USC–Ohio State, and Week three treated us to Florida–Tennessee.  Week four's big time games didn't quite measure up with Miami and Penn State failing to show up in potentially season breaking losses.  Week five totally redeemed week four though.  LSU–Georgia, Oklahoma–Miami, and Michigan–Michigan State got me through the whole day.  Oh yeah, FSU–Boston College and Auburn–Tennessee made pretty good commercial breaks too. 

So far, this season's biggest matchups have been great games.  Flashback to last year, where the "best games" rarely measured up (FSU–Miami and the Big 12 showdowns were the exceptions), and most good games were found during post–game highlights.  It's refreshing to stick to the major networks, with their HD coverage and perfect camera angles and still get to see great game.

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