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Michael Rand started RandBall with hopes that he could keep lies from conquering the minds of the weak. So far, he's only succeeded in using the word "redacted" a lot. He welcomes suggestions, news tips, links of pure genius, and pictures of pets in Halloween costumes here, though he already knows he will regret that last part.
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Posts about NCAA: football
Bobby Petrino hopping back on coaching motorcyle, heading to Western Kentucky
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: December 10, 2012 - 1:15 PM
Former Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino has agreed to become the next head coach at Western Kentucky, a source close to the coach told ESPN's Joe Schad on Monday.
The Western Kentucky position at the Bowling Green school came open when Willie Taggart left last week for the same role at South Florida.
A source close to Petrino told Schad the coach views Western Kentucky as a program with an excellent administration with vision and a commitment to facilities and other elements necessary to win.
Petrino, 51, was fired by the Razorbacks in April after revelations surfaced after a motorcycle crash that he had hired his mistress to a position in the football department and given her the equivalent of $20,000 in gifts.
Everyone deserves another shot, we suppose. If we have one lasting piece of advice to Petrino, it's this: Stay away from this event next year. Here is the description of what went down this fall:
Fall Finals Biker RALLY & Harley DRAGS returns to Bowling Green September 28th - 30th featuring bike shows, food vendors, live entertainment, bikini contest, beauty contest and more! Guests must be 12 years of age or older.
Just say no, Bobby. Just say no.
TFD: Barry Alvarez isn't interested in your fancy search committees
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: December 6, 2012 - 5:23 PMFormer Badgers football coach Barry Alvarez, now the AD (and acting coach in the Rose Bowl), was asked if he would use a search committee in the quest to find a permanent new head coach to replace Bret Bielema:
"I won't use a search committee," Alvarez said Thursday. "Most search committees use me."
Boom.
Also, mark this: Alvarez is going to end up coaching the Badgers in 2013.
TFD: How marching bands have adapted to fast-paced college football offenses
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: December 5, 2012 - 5:08 PMOur guy @Fasolamatt sends us to an interesting Grantland piece from a couple days ago. The premise: how have marching bands adapted to fast-paced offenses like the one at Oregon?
No, seriously, check it out. Here's one paragraph:
After the 2009 season in which Kelly became Oregon's head coach, Wiltshire ditched the flipbook on which the songs were written in favor of hand signals. “By the time I flipped a page,” he says, “it was already too late.” Knowing he had to serve two masters — playing faster while still engaging the audience — Wiltshire hit upon a new idea: theme music. Now whenever one of Oregon's star players gets a first down, the band plays the first five chords of a recognizable song: the “Hawaii Five-O” theme for quarterback Marcus Mariota (because he's originally from Hawaii); “Mambo No. 5” for De'Anthony Thomas (because his nickname is “the Black Mamba”); and the “Superman” theme for Kenjon Barner (because he's really good).
Is this esoteric and kind of weird? Yes. but that's what Grantland does with sports, in this case with success.
Wednesday (Bret Bielema and Badgers fans' curious reaction) edition: Wha' Happened?
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: December 5, 2012 - 8:33 AM
That is why there were two shocks Tuesday -- first, the news that Bielema is leaving for Arkansas. The fit seems odd, and we really don't see how it gets him any closer to success. It had to be ego-driven (I can win anywhere, even the SEC) and money-driven, and Bielema presumably has no shortage of either. But the second shock is that we found the "good riddance" sentiment not just coming from Gophers fans glad to have a disliked and successful rival coach out of the way, but also from Badgers fans.
Almost universally -- whether they were comments on stories or conversations with fans -- we found Wisconsin fans carrying a "don't let the door hit you on the way out" mentality when it comes to Bielema's departure.
Maybe it's his 0-2 record in Rose Bowls. Maybe fans never connected with him the same way they connected with Alvarez. Maybe it's some curious in-game decision-making at times.
Whatever it is, Badgers fans, we will tell you this: Unless this is a facade, you really need to be careful what you wish for. Bielema might not have been perfect, but from where we sit he was a pretty effective coach. And sometimes when you lose pretty good and assume you will upgrade to great, you find out just how nice pretty good felt.
On a lesser scale, Gophers fans can tell you exactly how it felt. Six years ago, Glen Mason was fired after a modest run of success that never resulted in getting over the proverbial hump. That season, Minnesota was 6-6 in the regular season and faced Texas Tech in a bowl game -- exactly where it is now after many more lows than highs.
The Badgers have certainly built their program to a higher point than Mason ever did, but the point sticks. Enjoy these Rose Bowls, Wisconsin, and the man who took you there. It might be a really long time until you go again.
TFD: Spencer Hall grades Gophers bowl game last in "every bowl game" rankings
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: December 3, 2012 - 5:46 PM
It was genuinely good news for the Gophers, who at 6-6 would have been bowl-eligible regardless of how the Big Ten played out but who moved up a couple of spots in the conference food chain thanks to sanctions against Ohio State and Penn State.
But we can see how, from the outside, a game between the non-elites from the Big Ten and Big 12 might not have so much appeal.
As such, we have noted that our pal Spencer Hall lists it DEAD LAST in his ranking of the 35 bowl games (link has some swears and hilarity, as you would expect). And after devoting a paragraph to almost every other game, all Spencer could say about Gophers/Tech was "no."
Ah, Spencer. You will see. A Gophers/Texas Tech bowl game is never dull.
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