Lou Pickney's Online Commentary
I'm Flying (X-Port)
Sunday
September 21, 2003
"Let me lean on that gas
Oh, she catches up fast
So give me speed..."
-Montgomery Gentry "Speed"
Here we go... AdSense is being slowly implemented into this website. And though I expect the bulk of its production to come through some of my separate websites, it will be fun to have on here.
|  | | Butchie Wallace ran for 112 yards in Marshall's win over Kansas State. |
Insert your own MAC wordplay here: Mid-American Conference teams performed quite well against BCS-conference opponents yesterday. Marshall earned its biggest win since beating BYU in the 1999 Motor City Bowl by upsetting #6 Kansas State in Manhattan, KS. Toledo shocked #9 Pittsburgh, thanks in part to the Todd MacCullough factor (more on that in a minute). Northern Illinois remained unbeaten, knocking off their second ranked opponent of the year by beating an overrated #19 Alabama team. Bowling Green lost, though they had a chance to score a game-tying TD against #5 Ohio State on the final play of the game in Columbus. Just think if we had a playoff system in place...
To explain the Todd MacCullough factor, this dates back to the 2002 NBA Playoffs. Scott Massey made a joke during a game about MacCullough, then a member of the New Jersey Nets, and intimated that he was a stiff who was incapable of doing anything of importance. MacCullough then proceeded to transform into a circa-1965 Wilt Chamberlain, blocking three shots, pulling down several rebounds and even scoring some points in the matter of just a few minutes. From there, the MacCullough factor was born. And, true to form, Scott yesterday managed to MacCullough the Toledo Rockets to the improbable upset win over Pitt when he referred to Toledo as one of the worst teams in Division I-A football.
As for the title of the column, it's actually another inside joke between Scott and I. Don't ask me for an explanation -- I don't really remember what spawned it. But I do remember laughing hard at it, nearly up there with the
Upper Decker laughter fit sparked by John Pouncey down in Starkville this past April (but not quite to that nearly-pissing-myself level).
Speaking of Pouncey, what happened to his Auburn Tigers? I at one point contemplated putting money on them in Vegas to win the national title. Luckily I opted not to do that. Is there a more disappointing team in college football this year?
Oregon beat Michigan yesterday in a battle of teams I don't like. What happens if Southern Cal and Oregon both go unbeaten? They don't play this year, and in one of the many f'ed up things about college football, there's no Pac-10 Title game. I know that my bro Matt loves the SEC Title game, but I see little upside for Championship Games under the current BCS format. Tennessee's loss to LSU in the 2001 SEC Championship cost them a chance at the national title. The Big 12 gets screwed by it too from time to time. Meanwhile, other BCS conferences get to slide by without one, as witnessed by last year's Ohio State and Iowa situation (where both teams went unbeaten within the conference). If the ACC brings in a 12th team (how about Marshall???), then they can have one, too. But make no mistake, it's about money, first and foremost...
I'm not the biggest fan of country music in the world, but the song "Speed" by Montgomery Gentry is really good. Highly recommended if you like country in the slightest.
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