Game 6 - Boise State v. TCU
oh boy oh joy, the sports donkey is thrilled to watch this game. and it’s not because we can actually watch Boise play on a green field for once, but here’s a BCS caliber match up PRIOR to christmas. that is unprecedented, as most big time match ups aren’t viewable on our tv sets until days after the present ripping and ham infestation has been completed. ole saint nick has somehow determined we have been good this year and provided us with a pre-christmas offering.
this game has all the makings for a bruiser - number 9 v. number 11, boise distraught from being left out of the BCS, TCU blowing a late lead to undefeated Utah, and being one of two teams to keep Oklahoma under 40 points. this is also the prototypical match up of great offense v. great defense.
as it is known, the sports donkey is a big ohio state fan. i know i know, boos jeers and hisses filter on your end, or perhaps you too are a buckeye. but let’s agree on one thing, if you have ever tried the homemade buckeyes the sports donkey mom makes from scratch, you will understand that even if you think the OSU buckeyes are poop, you will at least adore the divine homemade buckeyes she builds - they are not just peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate, they are sweet little pieces from god’s bakery. they are the kind of dessert that you’d pour boiling liquid chocolate down your throat just to have the opportunity to eat at least one per year. they’re that good, because i’ve tried.
chocolate peanutty perfection
i’ve got 8 confidence points on TCU - i know they’ll win, but one thing you can throw out with bowl games is a complete certainty. by taking one look at that sonic the hedgehog looking horned frog mascot you can realize why that defense is so rigid and rough. but all it takes is one or two plays per game to shift the direction of what should happen. even if i thought Boise would win, i still wouldn’t pick them. every year i allow at least one emotional pick, and here is my annual selection. although i have nothing against the football team, it’s the fan base that gets annoying. and that causes a lot of sports hatred out there. the fans have a way of taking a lovable little school into annual eye digging annoyance.
i went to James Madison University, a good FCS football school that is making an eventual FBS push. so i understand the small school approach, and the lack of respect that you get until you earn everything. and in FCS, you can still earn it but not receive respect. i love you JMU, but you are still FCS! you can only achieve a certain level until you reach your respect quota. you then have to move up to the big boy league before you can enter a conversation. kind of like the XFL football league, vince mcmahon’s football baby. in general the public doesn’t want to watch second tier sport, that is unless you can turn the miserable play into a drinking game like my dorm mates from sophomore year in college and i could do through the XFL. i do miss how we turned guys like “he hate me” into icons, then signed them to nfl contracts. the XFL also allowed me to pull the relatively unworn, and dusty rashaan salaam chicago bears jersey from the closet a few more times. so all in all the XFL served its purpose.
i wonder if baskin robbins will fill these xfl classics with tasty ice cream?
i do appreciate and respect Boise State’s rise through the ashes to put together a very strong team. i think we all should respect that, because it allows the little man to rise to power. and when little men get the napolean complex they play with out regard, taking nothing for granted. especially considering boise is lucky to get 3 star recruits, they make the most out of that squad. but here is my annoyance. you are still Boise State, BSU - you are not yet Big Stud University. realize that the bowl BCS system isn’t about fairness. ha, that should be obvious. although the system TRIES to fairly put together the championship game as best as it can in a flawed non playoff system, the other 4 BCS games are chosen by their respective bowl committees. their only concerns are to pick teams that travel well, provide a great match up, and most importantly to their standards bring home the bacon. big, sloppy, greasy, bacon on a stick that turns into a wild pig roast celebration even native hawaiian islanders would salivate over - money money money is the name of the game. it does seem apparent that they could alter the system to fairly allow a handful of teams to compete for the championship while creating ridiculous profits, but most people don’t want to “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. and even if it is broke they still don’t want to fix it. i’m not saying i agree with the way things are, but while we all campaign for an eventual playoff system while keeping the integrity and heritage of the bowl system in place, we need to understand the system we are currently locked into and deal with it.
as an ohio state fan, i wholeheartedly say this with complete honesty - had number 9 in the BCS Boise St. been picked over number 10 ohio state for the fiesta bowl slot, i wouldn’t have made a fuss. i actually thought BSU had the slot early on and mentally said “great season guys, you’ve built a solid program” and didn’t blink an eye. i still believed that boise earned a slot, even though they weren’t picked. but i understood that most of the nation wanted to see what big 12 championship game snub texas would do to another solid OSU team very capable of being blasted out of another BCS game - blasted out of glendale by a longhorn team more pissed off than bevo getting his balls wrangled during a rodeo. and even though Boise played a cupcake schedule complete with sprinkles and birthday cake icing, they did enough to earn a high enough ranking in both polls, as well as the computer average. between the three polls, it takes into consideration enough factors to rank the teams accurately enough. strength of schedule, wins and losses, point differential, etc. are all put into a blender and voila, we have our rankings that does it’s best to position teams accordingly, and because of this Boise has earned its credibility. if we solely went on a poll suited for small teams like Boise and based on one category, (such as record) then we’d all have an issue and power teams would immediately jump ship to cozy places known as the WAC or conference usa.
so boise fans, continuing to pepper the message boards with unfairness, and how you guys are the best blue thing west of the mississippi, and how you could hang with anyone in the big 12 or other power conferences - just shut up. not for my sake, but for your own sake. you sound like whiny little red headed ginger kid step children. show some class, the whining hurts the credibility that the football team has spent years to build. it’s funny how the fans can accidentally and quickly tarnish a good storyline.
so it’s fitting that this game hits a tuesday night, and espn provides the train wreck at the top of the television showing us in game comments from fans. my favorite is always how irrational fans show the support for their team. the final score could be 48-0, in favor of the other guys and most fans would still give the “what if” or “we played too conservative” or “we let them hang with us” routine. some people view life through dumb eyes - which further stabilizes my belief that god only created human beings so he could sit up there with a tub of pop corn and laugh at how stupid the human race has become.
this game is no exception - the only ‘what ifs’ boise fans can muster are “if we hadn’t been outgained 472-250, and hadn’t let them control the ball for over 36 minutes, and hadn’t played a good team then we would have easily won.” had TCU scored the amount of points they should have based on their ease of ability to move the football down field then boise would have been lucky enough to only lose by less than three touch downs. this game was a manhandling on both sides of the ball. sure, boise made some plays and torched the stout TCU defense here and there. but like all good defenses, they’ll bend occasionally but their brute force will overpower you more often than not. and this was no exception. the horned frogs created numerous negative plays. and if boise’s solid freshman qb kellen moore didn’t have such a quick play clock in his brain then the TCU defense would have had a bronco blood bath.
can't bring a little bronco fella to a horned frog gun fight
although a final score of 17-16 didn’t show the pounding TCU unleashed, at least they won the game and overcame their self inflicted wounds. and more importantly, it should keep the bronco fans a bit quiet the rest of this holiday season as they hibernate into their blue abyss. even if OSU gets blasted again, it’ll be to a team that should have been in the national championship. and not to take anything away from TCU, but they were far from a championship team this year. boise, to be considered a championship team, you at least have to beat the teams outside of the BCS debate to build your case.
