Philadelphia Inquirer: Villanova football star Szczur to donate bone marrow:

Szczur, a wideout in football and outfielder/catcher in baseball, is preparing to become a bone-marrow donor. The junior learned three days ago that he was match for a 1-year-old girl who has leukemia. He did not comment; when and where the procedure will take place were not disclosed.

The Zapruder Film of Temple football. Don't look, Ethel.

I haven't been in the mood to post on any of the message boards recently.
I'm in deep mourning.
Thirty years of losing, then being sold that this year would be different, then losing to a 1AA team, will do that to an individual.
I don't think Al Golden understood the importance of this game to Temple, its current students, alumni and fan base.
I don't think Al Golden understood the intense dislike Temple people have for Villanova people.
I don't think Al Golden understood if you lose this game, you lose an entire fan base (at least the much larger soft part of it, countless thousands of people who could have pushed our average past 30K) for a whole season. That's shy of beating Penn State, which, after that latest brain cramp, is just not going to happen.
In many ways, this was a program-killer. When the story of this program is written, it could include a chapter on redemption, about a win in front of 106,000 people at Penn State that started something big or it could begin and end with five turnovers.
The Zapruder Film of Temple football could be that bullet-to-the-head field goal that we allowed by playing a prevent defense in the final seconds.
Call it The Single Field Goal Theory.
I will always support the program, me and the 15,000 die-hards.
But I won't sugarcoat the truth.
I just won't.
The plain truth is me and the 15,000 die-hards are not enough to keep it running.
We are running out of "next years" because decisions on things like conference affiliations are being made now and will largely be determined by attendance.
You need big wins to fuel the attendance engine.
You need to protect your own house.
Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Kent, Fake Miami, just ain't going to cut it.
Not in this market.
That's why the Villanova game was so important.
Play the game, Al, but win the game.
As Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo used to rant to Mike Francesa on WFAN when those two were the No. 1 tandem in all of talk radio, "Win The Game, Mikey ... WIN ... THE ... GAME!!!"
Win the game, Al.
WIN ... THE ... GAME!
OK, I understand about the minus-4 turnover ratio. I understand all of that.
But Al Golden could have done things proactively to turn that stat around.
That's why I'll never understand how our linebackers weren't unleashed on Villanova. Blitz left, blitz right, blitz up the middle.
Every one of our linebackers is faster, significantly faster, than Villanova quarterback Chris Whitney. There is no doubt in my mind if the blitz was a big part of our defensive package, we would have been able to put Whitney down 10 times and not just five. We might have jarred a couple of balls loose in Villanova territory. We might have scored a defensive touchdown or two.
We WOULD have won the game. There's no doubt in my mind.
Put him on his ass, hit him enough times, and watch that turnover ratio and field position swing in our favor.
This is not second-guessing. It's first-guessing.
Page down to a post or two below.
There it is in bold typeface with a gold background posted prior to the game: TEMPLE'S NO. 1 PRIORITY SHOULD BE GETTING TO THE QUARTERBACK. I guess I didn't make that big or bold enough.
I was buttonholed by an older gentleman, I'll call him Joe, on the way out.
He was walking with another older gentleman.
The other guy told him, "Don't worry, Joe. We've got 11 games left to play."
Joe was inconsolable.
"I don't care about those other games. This is the game I wanted to win. You can have all the Akrons and Northern Illinois you want. This is the game I wanted. I'm not coming back."
"I hear you, bro," I said.
"Then you understand," Joe said, nodding his head vigorously. "You understand."
Joe isn't alone.
The sad truth is that you can lose to Penn State, go 10-2 and win the MAC and a good chunk of Philadelphia will say, "Yeah, but they couldn't beat Villanova. The MAC sucks. Who cares?"
I care, but I doubt anyone other than the die-hards care and that's why this loss was a program-killer in many ways.
We've already lost our house.
All we have left is the car.
Anyone want to roll the dice for double-or-nothing with Penn State?
Plenty of good seats now available:

By Mike Gibson
I was just working out some math equations in my head.
Hmm, what does 27,854 plus 1 equal?
Oh, I'd say about 30,632.
What does 27,854 minus one equal?
Probably around 8,000.
Fuzzy math?
No, just some figures based on observing the very fragile Temple football fan base over the last 30 or so years.
Expect the crowd for Temple's game against Buffalo when it comes back from an expected Penn State beat-down to be around 8,000. That's where the minus 1 comes in ... 27,854 fans minus one must-win, equals 8,000.
Had the Owls beaten Villanova and gave a decent effort in a loss at Penn State, they would have drawn 30,632 for the Buffalo game, which arguably is the most important on their schedule.
I know that.
You probably know that.
Tell that to the 20,000 or so Temple students who believed last night, but no longer do after a 27-24 loss to Villanova.
You could hear the refrain coming out of the stadium.
"Same old Temple," the kids were saying.
And they were OUR students, not Nova's.
Can you blame them?
Until Al Golden beats a team with a winning record (and the last time I checked he hasn't as a HEAD coach), he's all talk, no substance.
Back on Feb. 4, I wrote that I was worried about this game because Andy Talley, quite frankly, is a better game coach than Al Golden.
I thought it didn't matter because Golden had the talent edge to Talley's game-coaching edge.
I was right in both cases.
I was wrong about the edge part. Talley's football acumen far surpasses Golden's. Edge should not have been an operative word.
What good does it do if you have advantage in a chess match and you can't finish it off by making the proper moves?
Talley made the proper moves and Golden didn't.
I wrote here last week that "Temple's No. 1 priority should be getting to the quarterback."
A freaking blind man could see that.
Al Golden couldn't. If that's Mark D'Onofrio's fault, he's got to get in Mark's face and say, "bring the house." That's what the head coach is for.
If you can't get to the quarterback bringing four or five, bring six.
If you can't get to the quarterback bringing six, bring seven.
If you can't get to the quarterback bringing seven, bring eight.
You get the idea.
Temple brought four or five most of the night.
The last time I checked, this is not the North-South All-Star game.
They do allow you to blitz.
Chris Whitney made them pay.
The defensive side of the ball is not the only area where the guys with the headsets on came up small.
The Owls have a career linebacker, Matt Rhule, as an offensive coordinator and that's probably why their offense has no imagination.
At least George DeLeone, a lifelong offensive mind, pulled out the handoff to Tim Brown, pitch back to Adam DiMichele and bomb to Travis Shelton for six against Bowling Green.
Bruce Arians had Matty Baker also throw a pair of long-bomb flea-flickers to Mike Palys for a couple of scores in a 45-28 win over Boston College two decades ago. Arians, the offensive coordinator of the Super Bowl champs, knows his stuff. Might be a good idea for Rhule to take a page or two or 12 out of his Temple book.
When backup quarterback Chester Stewart lined up in the slot, I thought, "Great, we're going to TRY at least one throwback pass."
Nothing.
Meanwhile, Talley tries a reverse that goes for 28 yards and his offensive plays had a sophistication far above any package Matt Rhule threw out there.
What we've seen in two years is a 28-24 lead against Buffalo with 38 seconds to go, a 27-7 fourth-quarter lead against Navy and a 24-14 lead against Villanova and losses in all three games.
It can't be the kids' fault all the time.
Just once, I'd like to hear Al Golden say, "I screwed up. I take full responsibility."
Instead, he throws Kee-ayre Griffin under the bus after the Navy game and now throws the kids who fumbled and tossed INTs under the bus last night, saying the story of the game "begins and ends" with the five turnovers.
The buck has to stop somewhere else. I, like Golden, love playing this game. You have to win it, though.
Golden can't go out there and hold onto the ball and throw to the right person, sure.
But he can put those kids in a better position to win.
That's what Talley has done for nearly 20 years at Villanova and that's why Villanova has a win Temple needed more.

Poor Richard's Scorecard: Poor Richard's Scorecard: If Michael Vick Played Like Doug Pederson, Do You Think the Eagles Would Be Giving Him a Second Chance? Me, Neither

The700Level: The700Level (featured blog 1/8 - 1/22/06): On Michael Vick, Andy Reid, the Eagles, and Second Chances

Inside The Eagles: Inside the Iggles: Recapping the Michael Vick Signing

A Rubber Door: A Rubber Door: Eagles sign Vick. Fans revolt.

SteveSilver.net: SteveSilver.net: Vick to Eagles?!?!

Support Your Local Gunfighter: Support Your Local Gunfighter (featured 1/9/07-2/23/07): Philadelphia Eagles Sign Michael Vick

Balls, Sticks, and Stuff: Balls, Stick, and Stuff (featured 5/1-5/14/06): Its As if the Eagles Want to Make it as Hard as Possible to Root for Them.

Fables of Reconstruction: WHAT?

The Recliner GM Sports Blog: The Recliner GM Sports Blog: Michael Vick an Eagle – Seriously?

Philebrity: Philebrity (featured blog Jan 23-Jan 29): Breaking: Eagles Sign Michael Vick

Eagles Gab: Eagles Gab: Eagles Take on the PR Nightmare - Sign Michael Vick!

For related tweets, check out Happn.in.

It is impossible to not mention the Air Jordan basketball shoes when talking about Jordan. Since Nike designed the first series of basketball shoes for Jordan, there has already been 19 different series of Air Jordan basketball shoes. It is almost sudden that you would be attracting everyone’s attention when you walk down the street with a pair of Jordan basketball shoes. Many Jordan shoe collectors have all 19 series of the Air Jordan basketball shoes, they would have two pairs of each series of shoes as one pair would be for wearing and the other for collecting.
When Jordan came out of retirement for the second time, there has already been 13 series of Air Jordan basketball shoes. But Jordan still wore his AJI and dropped 45 points at the New York Jackson Garden Square, which proved Jordan’s greatness. In 2002 there has been a limited edition of Jordan Red/White copy right, this pair of shoes contained a limited edition shoe box, copy card, Airman key chain and a huge retain price.
Although AJIII weren’t exactly popular, but the importance of it is that the Icon of the Air Jordan Shoes was replaced with the symbol of Jordan himself.
The audience who have seen the cartoon series Basketball Man must be familiar with AJIV, the main character Hanamichi Sakuragi wears VI the entire time during the carton. But he only spent 1000 Yen for it.. jealous…
AJVII came out during the year of the 1992 Olympic, in order to commemorate the Olympic, some shoes had its bottom number 23 changed to 9, now it is impossible to buy even with ten thousand dollars.
In May, 20th 2004, the last series of Jordan basketball shoes was on sell at Beijing sport shops, the price was 1480 yuan. At the Guangdong Square Flag Cruiser, there were only 50 pairs of Jordan AJ19. It must have started a huge selling frenzy as the fans fights to buy the shoes.
In the NBA collecting cards, the most valuable card is the Jordan card, it is now priced for over 2000 dollars.
There are many other Jordan item collections, such as picture albums, documentary tapes, and original Jordan notebooks, cards, and even the receipts of the Jordan restaurant in Chicago.
Even if you don’t have a pair of Jordan shoes, or a jersey, and only has a collection of Jordan related News Articles, it is understood. Because, Jordan doesn’t need reasons.
Having just Jordan shoes is not enough, Jordan jerseys are also a must. On a outdoor basketball court in the summer, one can always see many young teenagers wearing t-shirts with the Icon of Jordan on the front. Of course, many of these t-shirts are counterfeits, with very collecting value. But a jersey that was exactly same with the new jersey Jordan wore in 1998 with the exact same order number, Name and logo was priced above 1000 dollars!

ABC 6: Action News: Remembering Gary Papa

Philadelphia Inquirer: Channel 6 sports anchor's death leaves hole in hearts of family, friends & fans

The700Level.com: Philly Loses the Great Gary Papa

A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago: GARY PAPA (1954-2009)

Katey's Kafe: R.I.P. Gary Papa

Phillyist: Gary Papa Dies

Philebrity: R.I.P.: Gary Papa, 1954-2009

Bleeding Green: Bleeding Green: Longtime Philly sports anchor Gary Papa dies

(please feel free and post your links - I will update this post)

The National Football League (NFL) is the largest professional American football league. It is an unincorporated association controlled by its members.[1] It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (the league changed the name to American Professional Football League in 1921 and then settled on its current name in 1922). The league currently consists of thirty-two teams from American cities and regions, divided evenly into two conferences — the American Football Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC) — of four four-team divisions.

The regular season is a seventeen-week schedule during which each team has one bye week and plays sixteen games. This schedule includes six games against a team's divisional rivals, as well as several inter-division and inter-conference games. The season currently starts on the Thursday night in the first full week of September (the Thursday after Labor Day) and runs weekly to late December or early January.

At the end of each regular season, six teams from each conference play in the NFL playoffs, a twelve-team single-elimination tournament that culminates with the NFL championship, the Super Bowl. This game is held at a pre-selected site which is usually a city that hosts an NFL team. The following week, selected all-star players from both the AFC and NFC meet in the Pro Bowl, currently held in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The NFL has the highest per-game attendance of any domestic professional sports league in the world, drawing over 67,000 spectators per game for each of its two most recently completed seasons in 2006[2] and 2007.[3] However, the NFL's overall attendance is only approximately 20% of that of Major League Baseball, due to MLB's much longer schedule, currently 162 games per team with 81 home games each, plus playoffs.

Cardinals 32 - Eagles 25

'Nuff said...

News Link: The End of the Road

Cartoon from Sid in the City

On a cold November night, the Temple Owls headed into Lafayette looking to get back on track- that's exactly what they did.

Coming off a loss to Clemson just 5 days prior, nobody knew how the team would react. The Lafayette Leopards made an attempt to keep things optimistic, but it didn't work out for them. The final score of this one was 71-55 in the Owls' favor.

Coming off two consecutive victories, Lafayette looked strong and determined to take down Temple. The team needed big
showings from both Andrew Brown and Jeff Kari- unfortunately, they were only able to get one. Temple's defense held Andrew Brown to a mere 3 points (13 under his average). The two leading scorers combined for merely 19 points. However, forward Jared Mintz filled in the gap with 12 of his own. The two spots that hurt the Leopards the most were the turnovers and shooting scoring.

Temple, on the other hand, got the job done in merely every aspect of the game. Dionte Christmas (right) was able to bounce off a disappointing performance against Clemson with 29 points. He also received help in the scoring category from guards Ryan Brooks (10) and Semaj Inge (11). Temple's main weakness came from their shooting.

Freshman Scootie Randall also contributed to the Owls' victory with 7 points.

Here's a quick look at the comparison in both teams' struggles:

Overall Shooting Percentage

Temple- 41.4 %
Lafayette- 35.8 %

3-Point Shooting Percentage

Temple- 21.7 %
Lafayette- 31.8 %

Turnovers

Temple- 12
Lafayette-17

Overall, the category that both teams shared that might have been game changing. The overall percentages were so low, that it was as if someone put a lid on the rim.

Key players from both teams come down to Dionte Christmas and Jeff Kari (right). Both these players became the anchors of their respective teams for the evening. For Dionte, it was a matter of getting back into the groove of things after the double
teaming of Clemson that withheld him. Jeff Kari, though, came up big in making up for Andrew Brown's struggles.

Temple needed to get back into a rebounding game after that upsetting showing against Clemson. The Owls allowed one player (Trevor Booker) to obtain 16 boards of his own. In this game, though, Dionte Christmas and Lavoy Allen picked up the pieces that let to a 9 rebound advantage. With such poor shooting, the rebounding before 2nd chance shots was a necessity.

With this victory, Temple extends their record to 3-1 overall, and Lafayette goes to 2-1.

The Owls will be back in action on Saturday, November 29th against Buffalo. Lafayette will be on today against Rider.

Go Owls!

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Just four days after losing to a very talented Clemson team, the Temple Owls will stay in Pennsylvania for their game against the Lafayette Leopards (2-0). We'll take a gameday look at the matchups of both teams in a Keystone State battle.

Temple, as mentioned before, comes off a 4 point loss to Clemson. Owls' Ryan Brooks and Lavoy Allen had made up for a double teamed Dionte Christmas. With this being the first loss of the reason, Temple will look to pick up the pieces from their two productive victories.

A key factor that Temple will continuously have to fight for is rebounding. Clemson's Trevor Booker dominated with 16 boards of his own- one of many reasons that lead to this devastating loss. As freshman Michael Eric gradually earns his minutes, he will have to utilize his 6'11" size dominate the post- Lafayette would indeed be a place to get started.

Now we'll take a look at a quick Player to Player Breakdown of Statistics:

Leading Points:

Dionte Christmas (TEMP) 22.0 ppg
Andrew Brown (LAF) 23.5 ppg

Leading Rebounds

Lavoy Allen (TEMP) 10.0 rpg
Ryan Willen (LAF) 6.5 rpg

Leading Assists

Luis Guzman (TEMP) 5.7 apg
Jeff Kari (LAF) 4.0 rpg

That is a quick look at both teams' top players. Here's a quick look at Lafayette:

As you notice above, the Leopards also have some talent on their sidelines. Lafayette has 3 players (listed above) that are all averaging double digit scoring. The trio accounts for more than 50% of the team's scoring- this will be a key element to stopping this squad from giving the Owls a second loss.

Lafayette's last game was against Stony Brook, where they won the game 80-71. The Leopards were able to hit 54% from the field, adding up to their season 48% total.

"Hoot" to Watch For: Temple will have to readjust and get Dionte Christmas back into the swing of things. Against Clemson, Christmas was held way under his season average at
the time (26 points). Also, TU will most likely once again be without the services of Sergio Olmos (right) due to an ongoing injury. Lavoy Allen, as he did last Sunday, will need to come into Lafayette with the same productivity.

Stay tuned for the game at 8:30 tonight.

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You can find Owlified's blog at: www.WinningIsAnAttitude.blogspot.com

Coming into this game, nobody knew what to expect. Fans from all over came to see what became a classic nail biter.

In my previous post, I mentioned Lavoy Allen and the necessity of Temple's rebounding. In this game, that was the exact case, and part of the reason that the Owls lost to Clemson 76-72. This was, indeed, the Charleston Classic Championship, and both teams had set their eyes on winning it all.

Take a look at this stat for a minute:

Team Rebounding:

Temple- 23
Clemson- 39

One of the keys to this game to many was this one scoring category: Rebounding. The only problem is, the Clemson Tigers are a sharp shooting team, hitting 47% of their shots yesterday afternoon. This was, indeed, an uphill battle for the Temple Owls, who at one point was losing by 15.

Guards Ryan Brooks and Ramone Moore were two key reasons why the Owls were able to stay in the game. With Dionte Christmas being isolated away from the ball and out of the action, Temple was forced to rely on more of a team offense. Christmas finished the game with 14 points- 12 points under his average.

On the Tigers' side of the ball, key points came from Trevor Booker (see attached) and sharpshooter Terrence Oglesby. Terrence "TO" Oglesby could not be stopped, shooting 4 of 8 from behind the arc, and 5 of 9 overall. Booker finished with 15 points, but his key statistic came in with Rebounding. Booker finished the game with 16 rebounds, which was 2/3 of what Temple scored.

As mentioned, this victory made Clemson the Charleston Classic Tournament, where their record improves to 3-0. Temple, the runner up, moves to 2-1, getting their first loss of the season.

The Owls will look to bounce back as they take on the Lafayette Leopards- preview to come soon.

The game is scheduled for November 21st at 8:30 pm (Media Coverage TBD).

The Tigers move on the Wofford Terriers.

Go Owls!

Subscribe To Owlified's Blog at: www.WinningIsAnAttitude.blogspot.com

Just like the title says, the Owls are cruising for a championship in mid November- a Charleston Classic one, that is.

The Owls will be up against a very talented Clemson Tigers team- one that was coincidentally knocked out of last year's field of 64 by Villanova. With close to 5 hours until gametime, we'll take a quick look into this Clemson team, and what the Owls are up against:

The Clemson Tigers went through one of their University's finest basketball years in 2007-8, finishing with an overall record of 24-10. The team made it into the NCAA Tournament last year as the ACC Runner up, giving them a #5 seed. Coach Oliver Purnell's squad was coming into the tournament after a loss to #1 North Carolina, looking to take down a talented Villanova squad.

Unfortunately, Clemson's 17 point lead early in the 2nd half was not enough to hold back the rage of the Wildcasts. Scottie Reynolds and his 21 points gave the push past the Tigers, ending their post season hopes.

Coach Purnell, now in his 6th season with the Tigers, will look to take his hot squad past the Owls. Behind him is a very talented roster. This year, however, the Tigers return with only 2 starters from last season: G/F K.C Rivers (pictured right) and F Trevor Booker. Here's a quick look into the two's statistics so far:

K.C Rivers:14 Points, 1 Assists, .4 Rebounds
Trevor Booker: 12 Points, 2 Assists, 12.5 Rebounds

Both of these players as mentioned are returning from last year, and have had an impact already on this team. It's very early in the season, and you can also see what players in their surrounding cast are coming up big as well:

Sophmore guard Terrence Oglesby has picked up some of the slack, currently leading the team in scoring. Another player to watch out for his Freshman guard Tanner Smith, who scored 11 points against Hofstra in his first action.

Terrence Oglesby:14.5 Points, .5 Assists, 1.5 Rebounds
Tanner Smith:5.5 Points, 1 Assist, 2.5 Rebounds

So far, the two opponents against Clemson haven't been too much. Their first was a 29 point rout over Hofstra, and the other was a 12 point victory last night over TCU. The Tigers arguably have their first challenge this season, coming against a Preseason #31st Temple Owls.

Temple, however, cannot say the same. After a win over ETSU, the Owls played the host team in that of Charleston, and hung onto a 5 point victory. Temple did look somewhat sluggish during Saturday afternoon's game, but will have to rest up and be ready for this talented Clemson team.

"Hoot" to Watch For: Temple's Lavoy Allen (pictured left) is going to have to play well in this afternoon's game. His impressive 13.5 rebounds will need to stay consistent when he battles down low with Trevor Booker. As a team, Temple out rebounds Clemson by 8.5 per game, which means a lot without 7'0" Sergio Olmos.

Clemson, however, shoots for a better percentage then the Owls: their 49% to Temple's 41%.

The game unfortunately will not be televised due to Eagles Post Game Live at 4:00, but can be watched online through the link below:

Clemson Basketball Live Stream

Go Owls!

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As written in Owlified's Blog, The Owls' Nest:

With a win today against College of Charleston, the Temple Owls will move on into the Charleston Classic Championship. Tonight, at 8:00, the Owls' opponent will be decided between Clemson and TCU.

There's no saying that getting to this point was easy, however. In just 2 games, the Owls are making an impression on this year's season.

Temple- 79
ESTU- 65

Temple- 70
C. of Charleston- 65

The Owls came into Saturday's matchup with a dominating win over ESTU- they now faced a familiar team that had shocked the Owls just a year ago. Temple would be without the services of Mark Tyndale, who scored 20 points and graduated after this past season.

Charleston, coming into this game also (1-0) had a victory against Southern Illionois-Edwardsville. Leading scorer for the Cougars was Soph. Guard Andrew Goudelock.

Into this game, though, there was another very slow start for both teams. Charleston had shown, though, the reason that they had beaten the Owls last year. The Cougars maintained an intensity that kept them with Temple throughout the game. The second half was where things began to get heated. Dionte Christmas and his squad came out a little soft, trading baskets for the majority of the second half. Charleston maintained a close game, hitting the necessary shots to keep their victory hopes alive. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, as the Owls' held onto the game to continue in the Charleston Classic. With 1.0 left, Lavoy Allen sealed the deal with two free throws that made the final score 70-65.

Below are some of the statistics from this evening's game:

Leading Scorers:
-Dionte Christmas, 26 (TEM)
-Marcus Hammond, 15 (CHA)

Leading Rebounders:
-Lavoy Allen, 11 (TEMP)
-Ramone Moore, 10 (TEMP)

Leading Assists:
-Luis Guzman, 5 (TEMP)
-Andrew Goudelock, 4 (TEMP)

The Owls' will play in the Championship game tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 pm vs. Clemson/TCU (See attached photo)

Go Owls!

By Mike Gibson
There is a reason all 30 NFL coaches have been taking a knee for the last 30 years.
Herman Edwards.
Joe Pisarcik.
The Miracle of the Meadowlands.
It's not questioned.
It just is.
It's coaching 101 and not the advanced math stuff guys like Bruce Arians and Wayne Hardin know in their sleep.
It's simple stuff even pee-wee coaches know.

Temple had the ball with 37 seconds left in its 33-27 overtime loss to Navy Saturday, up 27-20.
Thirty-seven seconds.
Or, as Chase Utley might say, thirty-seven bleeping seconds.
Both of the announcers in the game knew what the strategy would be.
Heck, the Navy coaching staff probably knew would the strategy would be.
The five guys I was watching the game with pretty much agreed that Adam DiMichele should take a knee and no more than one second later the guys announcing the game agreed with us.The announcers were advising Temple to take a knee and kick the ball out and give the ball back to Navy, a triple-option team, with no timeouts and 20 seconds left.
"This is easy," CBS-TV analyst Trev Alberts said.
Easy for anyone but Al Golden.
Inexplicably, unbelievably, he chose to handoff to the running back.
Just like Pisarcik chose to handoff to Larry Csonka on Nov. 19th, 1978.
Fumble.
Herman Edwards picks up the ball on one bounce and takes it in for a score.
Kee-Ayre Griffin, fighting for extra yardage he didn't really need, was stripped of the ball by Navy linebacker Ross Pospisil and teammate Clint Sovie played the role of Herman Edwards.
Game, set and match.
I like Al Golden and believe he's one of only two guys who can make this team a perennial MAC champ (Bruce Arians is the only other one I can think of). But he's not immune from criticism nor should he be.
"I was surprised they ran; I thank God they did," said Navy linebacker Ross Pospisil.
After the fumble, my head was buried in my hands, feeling much like what those Giants' fans must have felt in 1978.
"Why, Al?" I kept yelling at the screen. "Why? Why?"
"I was surprised they ran," Pospisil said. "I thank God they did."
Is just me or have I missed the first time Al has ever accepted the blame for a bad decision? So far, my count stands as never.
Your call, but it seems to me it's always someone else's fault, not his.
"Certainly we could have kneeled down, but you give it to the running back, tell him to put two hands on it. That's what running backs do," Golden said.
Since when?
Maybe before 1978, but not since.
At least not with the lead and 37 bleeping seconds left.
Ask anybody who has coached in the NFL or pretty much anywhere else for the past 30 years.
When the bad guys need a miracle to beat you, don't go to Lourdes, fly back and hand them a gallon of Holy Water.