Bleacher Report - Articles by Phillip Humphries

Hidden Agenda in Heisman Voting Rears Its Ugly Head

Phillip Humphries — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:36:57 -0500

Sam Bradford won the Heisman Trophy last night as the best college football player in America.

The Oklahoma quarterback has absolutely been the most deserving, tossing 48 touchdowns this year. He is a gentleman, both on and off the field.

The Sooners should be proud. The University should be proud. He was very gracious in the acceptance speech, showing the world his mom and dad's parenting skills were sharp. He gave credit to numerous players and coaches, his family and friends. I have no problem whatsoever with Bradford being the recipient.

Here is a shocking story, right behind all that is right in college football. It is reminiscent of the days when parents bicker alongside their kids who are trying to have fun as they play organized sports.

There were 904 ballots for the Heisman Trophy. The man who led the ballots in first-place votes was none other than Tim Tebow. He received 750 votes, 309 for first place (Bradford received 300 first-place votes). One would think with that type of a showing, Tebow was a shoo-in. That means that 154 voters chose three other players than Tebow on their ballot. Bradford received 811 votes, so even he was left off nearly 100 ballots.

Not so surprisingly, voters leaving Tebow off were primarily Southwest ones. Surprisingly, Tebow was completely left off of their ballots. Wow. That was the difference in voting that gave the Heisman to Bradford. While I am no Tebow fan, I truly believe that we are seeing an almost phenom play football when he takes the field. Nobody gives more. Nobody.

Now to the other 154 voters who left Tebow off completely, I make this statement: You either look like the stupidest people who ever voted, or you have an agenda to make the Big 12 something more than it is. Was Tebow on SportsCenter too much? Were you just tired of hearing his name over the water cooler at work?

As I stated before, Bradford was the legitimate winner. Tebow was not, but the hidden agenda from the 154 voters who determined that Tebow should have been left off the ballot is shameful.

Alabama's Dream Season, From a Realistic Fan's Point Of View

Phillip Humphries — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 03:25:19 -0500

Wow! What more can any Alabama fan say? If you had told me in August that the Tide would be 11-0 headed into the Iron Bowl, I would have suggested some psychiatric counseling. Not one true fan could have possibly dreamed of more than 8-3 at this point in the season.

Alabama is good. Make no mistake. Can they beat Auburn? Statistically, this is a no contest. Auburn's anemic offense can not muster the steam to take the Crimson Tide out of this game.

This game is about making amends and finishing business. The Tide will win by at least 10. Auburn fans have held up six fingers all year. This year we can hold up one of our own. You can guess which one if you use your imagination.

With an off week, Alabama can get healed and ready. Saban says it's a good time for a bye. With the Oklahoma-Texas Tech game, I couldn't disagree more.

The BCS computers already rank Bama No. 2. Whichever team wins will get an edge in the rankings. Human voters showing emotion make take over the rest and the winner of this game will likely get the No. 1 nod, especially if it's Tech.

While that matters little and the Big 12 Championship Game may take out the number one team, Bama will fall no further than 2nd. That still keeps the Tide in the BCS championship game.

In 1992, Bama set a school record for most wins in a season with 13. Now, with the addition of SEC teams, there is already an extra game. The SEC Championship game already hinders the SEC. The addition of that extra game is the best two teams trying to knock out the other.

Until all teams and conferences have that extra game, the SEC, Big 12, etc. is at an extreme disadvantage of staying undefeated. The SEC winner will have played 13 games with the bowl to go.

From an Alabama fan's standpoint, Florida is the worst possible thing to happen. Tebow is on fire. The team is determined.

Ole Miss showed us how to do it and Arkansas reminded us for three quarters again. Can Alabama win? Florida is cocky. This is reminiscent of another south Florida team who took Alabama lightly when these kids on the field were less than kindergarten age.

This game can be won. The 1992 Heisman Trophy could well be a boat anchor in Tampa Bay or at a yard sale.

It will take genius coaching and playing to pull it off. Realistically, Florida wins. If however, Bama, the already eight-point dog wins, playing a Big 12 team will be another major challenge.

The Big 12 relies on high octane offense to win. Defensively they give up tons of points. Bama's running game can score. Can the defense hold? All variables that change weekly.

I have tried to stay away from the National Championship talk that began in Athens during the black out. Realistically, it's time to think about it now.

Florida fans and Auburn fans are already spouting about how bad it will be. I sat next to a Bulldog fan in Bryant Denny last week and listened to it from him—how bad the Gators are going to kill Alabama.

When it gets to the point that saving your season means that Bama loses and not necessarily by your team, the Crimson Tide is indeed "back".

With only nine scholarship seniors, fewest in the country, tied with Middle Tennessee State, next year should truly be our year.

Alabama fans, remember this. We were projected to finish fourth in our division. We won it. If we lose against Auburn, it will kill us. Not because of the loss, but because it is Auburn. If Florida beats Alabama, it was to be expected early on. We were not to play Florida for a championship. Be proud.

One loss, or even a BCS Bowl loss will not kill our fantastic season. I was so proud to see the Tide Pride back. I saw it in my 15-year-old son's face, as one who has never experienced this and it reminded me of when I was a kid. Those were day when it was not IF Alabama would win, but by how much.

If we lose, so be it, but by all means, support the team and be thankful. 12-1 or 12-2 is SO much better than 7-5.

Paterno or Bowden: Who Will Last Longer?

Phillip Humphries — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 02:51:46 -0400

In the world of college football, being an icon makes you immortal.

It makes one wonder how long this will go on between Joe Pa and Bobby. While both are true icons in their own ways to their fans and admired by millions each, how long will this seesaw battle continue until one of these men decides enough is enough?

Each man, both well past normal retirement age, refuses to fall on his sword and allow the other to reach out and grab the ring as the winningest coach of all time. Is it ego? Is it pride?

To answer these questions, one must look at where the programs have been, where they have been recently, and where they are now.

Penn State, after suffering losing seasons in 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2004, is in the BCS National Championship hunt. The Nittany Lions are for real, it seems, at least on defense. A good defensive struggle with Ohio State put a season with wins against very weak teams into perspective.

But how many remember the rumbles that Joe was too old to motivate youngsters during the early part of this decade? How many of you actually called for the old man to step down?

Now Paterno is coaching from the box instead of the sidelines and more than likely has hip replacement surgery coming in the offseason. If you visited your grandmother in the nursing home and saw an 81-year-old man in his condition who wasn't Paterno, you would feel pity, not awe.

Florida State, thanks to Bobby Bowden, has achieved greatness. With only one losing season under his watch, FSU is always a force to be reckoned with.

But during the 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, and 2007 seasons, how many of you felt that FSU was headed in the wrong direction with a man that was out of touch? Jimbo Fisher has refused some good job offers, salivating for the day when Bowden can no longer ply the sidelines as the head marshal.

Both men patiently waited for the day the Bear retired and they could surpass the record of 323 wins. Now, at the expense of their respective programs, they refuse to allow the other to be the best of all time.

With 381 wins for Joe Pa, and 380 for Bobby, must we wait for the day one of the grand old gentlemen collapses along the sidelines on national TV during a game?

The Alabama State retirement system had a mandate that an employee must retire at 69 years of age. Bryant went until 70. With no such rule in Pennsylvania or Florida, these men have outlasted numerous Energizer bunnies.

I know recruiting is great, knowing you will play for a legend, but does any recruit now truly believe his coach will be there another five years?

At 81-years-old, we didn't let my grandpa operate the microwave by himself, much less run a multimillion-dollar football program.

What Happened to the People's NASCAR?

Phillip Humphries — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 07:49:19 -0400

Like the immense popularity of Elvis, the Beatles, and aliens, NASCAR's lure has certainly faded with time.

When the superstar of the sport tragically perished in the first race of the 2001 season, everyone wondered if the sport could survive. The difference between surviving and thriving seems to be what NASCAR is experiencing now.

Long gone are the days when the drivers were almost regular people. If you were lucky enough to live near a driver, as I grew up near the Alabama Gang, you might run into Bobby, Donnie, Red, or Neil at the grocery store or at a local restaurant.

They would chat like normal people, test-drive stock cars on back streets, and make major car modifications in the backyard garage.

Some of NASCAR's biggest innovations were made in home garages, where mortgages were paid off from top finishes at a local track, not from winning a career's worth of money in two races.

These icons were at your local Wal-mart the weekend before a big race. You could chat, have a photo made with them, and talk shop.

The hustlers of the tracks, Cale, Lee, Richard, Bobby, Darrell, and Dale were the innovators. They ran on adrenaline, sweat, and borrowed money to pave the way to stardom.

NASCAR was about taking chances, taking a stock car, and fine-tuning it to get impossible performance from it.

I remember Bobby Allison winning Talladega in the early eighties, on TV with a black eye, caused from a confrontation in the pits at Birmingham International Raceway after Clifford was wrecked on the Saturday night before. That was passion.

I knew Davey when he was the track champion at BIR before ever piloting the Havoline 28 for Richard Yates. Even after making it as a driver, we still bowled with him and his wife once a month or so.

Davey loved being recognized and would sign anything and chat with any adoring fan. His untimely death was a blow for the sport as a whole. Until he moved from Hueytown, Ala., in the mid-'90s, Bobby Allison was in the phone book.

Jim McKay and Wide World of Sports helped make the sport a common man's game. NASCAR appealed to the regular guy. It was his sport, sponsored by beer and cigarettes. The "redneck throwbacks" Tony Stewart so lovingly referred to.

Once upon a time, NASCAR was actually fun to watch. There is nothing like seeing 43 cars cover a cool 100 yards a second. Wondering who would do what to win. That was then.

NASCAR has become an empire. A dictatorship. Drivers are punished for emotional outbursts. Allowing emotion to show is now taboo. Sadly enough, you can't say what's on your mind. That's a trip to the trailer and probation for a few races.

The drivers are cookie cutters who all look alike, talk alike, and get mad for being cut off in traffic. NASCAR encourages cross drivers, famous in one racing division, to cross over. Men with names pronounced one way and spelled another.

Not one has made the impact of a farm boy from Georgia, a steelworker from Alabama, or a mill worker from North Carolina. Most are good for a wreck a race (hello Carpentier, R.Gordon, Montoya), and have never and will never be NASCAR Champion.

The "Wal-mart teams," usually with 3-5 cars in the stable, are unfairly able to share testing results with each other, knocking the owner/driver teams out of business.

NASCAR is about as fun as watching paint dry. No one driver can constantly stand out, be a threat, or be personable for any length at a time.

Competition pit stops? Please. In the 1978's-1980's you only had to watch a race or two and you had a favorite. You could watch for one to two years and never feel like you knew who your driver is nowadays.

Cookie cutter drivers, cars, emotions, reflexes, and abilities do not translate to excitement.

After Dale, NASCAR is still a profitable machine, but did it survive? Questionable. Very questionable.

Alabama Makes Case for Number One

Phillip Humphries — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 15:37:46 -0400

Nick has told us, "Don't expect too much." Now he says, "Stay focused."

The Alabama Crimson Tide started the season at lowly number 24. Projected to finish fourth in the SEC just a month ago, the Tide is Rolling.

Alabama has garnered national attention, thanks to thrashings of two top 10 teams. They are ranked No. 2 in the newest AP poll, the highest ranking since midseason of 1993.

Lee Corso has jumped on the bandwagon and says that Alabama is the best team he has seen, the best coached and best in all aspects of the game.

Oklahoma looks strong. Who knows what they have? Favorable scheduling has Oklahoma beating up on weak sister teams UT Chattanooga, 1-4 this season, Cincinnati, 3-1 against lower division teams, Washington, 0-4, and TCU, 5-1—again, against lower division teams.

Oklahoma has its day in a couple of weeks when they get Texas in Dallas. They are untested, untried, and have played no teams in their division as of this date. The Sooners are running on fuel of last year, and after Texas Tech and Nebraska they will most likely have a close call, if not a defeat.

Pollsters will see this and hopefully pull them where they should be—around the top five, but certainly not Number One.

The Crimson Tide took on heavyweight Georgia, probably overrated, and KO'd the Dawgs in the first round. They shut down No Show, handing him 34 yards on eight carries. When a team like Georgia is forced to completely abandon their game plan late in the second quarter and pass pass pass, somebody missed something in the scouting.

This game probably dashed water on Moreno's Heisman dream, turning the small fire into a smoldering mess. Thunder and Lightning in the Georgia Dome met with a combined ZERO yards for Clemson. Alabama had probably their biggest win of the last decade Saturday in Athens.

Find me a better team, one who has played a better schedule this year and remained undefeated, and I'll concede. Alabama has not trailed a point this year. They are 78-0 against teams in the first quarter.

The Tide is a good football team. They are not great. They have weaknesses and need some work. They know that, and Saban is working to get them better.

At this point in the season, there is no better team out there. If there ever was a case for number one, the Tide has stated it.