That's it. Time to recapture the glory! Reawaken the echoes! Turn over in my grave! At least one of those metaphors doesn't fit. Anyway, I present to you, Ask Yellow Fever. Maybe it'll even become a regular feature this time. (Hint: Probably not, unless I get some more comments, people. I'm an attention whore.) If you haven't read one of these before, here are the previous two editions. Part I, Part II
This edition worked off of this ESPN chat with Beano Cook. Because Beano always brings the best (worst?) questions.
Yellow Fever: Now entering: BEAST MODE
Jim (Grand Junction, CO): Hey, Fever: Please comment on Big 12 commissioner Beebe's proposal of 5 years of eligibility with no red-shirt. Thanks.
Yellow Fever: Isn't the point of college just to get your players ready for life after college, and get them out the door? Obviously, there are a bunch of players who stick around for five years waiting for a job to open up, but if you're in that situation, you probably suck anyway. And can you imagine being subjected to the quarterbacking stylings of Chris Weinke or Nate Longshore for five years?
Jake (Syracuse): Yellow, is there any chance the Orange turn it around this year and go .500? The new OCoor has put the OLine on diets and made them get a little quicker and he was very successful at his last job at Minnesota. Any hope here in the Cuse?
Yellow Fever: No. Though I always enjoy hearing stories about 350 pound men going on diets. It's the same reason I TiVo The Biggest Loser.
Karl, Los Angeles: How will Rick Neuheisel do at UCLA?
Yellow Fever: Did you know Rick Neuheisel's parents are literally named Dick and Jane? As for how he'll do, he'll have some high expectations to live up to, given UCLA ended a dynasty in the making .
joe (new orleans): people will be overlooking LSU this season because of the whole "young QB" thing, even though their D will be monstrous and they have a deep OL and serious talent at the skill positions. Do you think LSU could be a sleeper team?
Yellow Fever: joe, I don't know what your definition of sleeper is, but when everyone writes that the Tigers are still a dark-horse national title candidate, they're not a sleeper.
dan(Minn): What is your opinion on the contract stalemate between JoePa and the PSU administration? Thank you
Yellow Fever: Honestly, I'm afraid to answer this question because I don't want to dooce myself.
Amy: Bird City, Kansas: Fever: Ron Prince recruited 15-18-19 (depending on the source) JC players. Is that a good idea or bad in the long-term? Will they greatly improve the team this year?
Yellow Fever: What the hell? Bird City?
Michael, Morgantown: Not many people are talking about Bill Stewart, our new full-time coach. How will he do this season? Should West Virginia be the favorite in the Big East.
Yellow Fever: Here are some fun quotes about the Mountaineers:
'Out of 75 or so snaps Saturday before an estimated crowd of 18,000 at Milan Puskar Stadium, the Mountaineers went into motion on exactly two plays. Mullen didn't even want to call those two, but he confessed, "I ran out of calls."' - Ivan Maisel
"It was a drastic improvement over Rodriguez. He had five plays, bubble screen right, bubble screen left, zone right, zone left, and the clutch play PAT WHITE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO SOMETHING" - a colleague of mine
"I think he’s a great guy, but I’m not sold on that move. Think of Larry Coker and
The locals are not filled with confidence.
Rick, Oklahoma City: What do you think of Coach Stoops? Does he need to win another championship to validate his career?
Yellow Fever: What he needs to do is stop wetting the bed in BCS games. But let's be real here. Only one team can win the national title each year, and realistically, just being in the race every year is an accomplishment in itself. Does Bobby Cox need to win another World Series to validate his career? Granted, it would help if the Sooners could stop getting blown off the field every January, but I'm going to say that as a student-athlete, you'd probably lose focus too if you were living in Norman, Oklahoma for months and then got a free one week vacation to somewhere, you know. Interesting.
Jason (Atlanta): Fever, what do you think about the ACC excuse-making in not adding the ninth conference game? Citing the game is "too tough" is weak. Look at the Pac 10! Nine conference games and still decent out of conference matchups.
Yellow Fever: I'm not sure how a ninth game is too tough. Are the teams too tough? (The ACC's collective BCS record seems to indicate otherwise.) Is the scheduling too tough? (Wouldn't knowing another opponent ahead of time mean less scheduling issues?) So let's just admit it's BS, ok?
Marc (Malden, MA): Shouldn't the NCAA revisit the graduation rate requirements? So many underclassmen get drafted by the NFL/NBA, sign multi-million dollar contracts and yet count against the school as a non-graduate.
Yellow Fever: Yeah. Those 54 juniors are really screwing up that sample of over 10,000+ college football players.
Mikey (Philly): Do you see Notre Dame getting back to where they were a few years ago (i.e. an overrated team that wins just enough games to go to a bowl game that they do not belong in and gets killed to expose how overrated they really were)?
Yellow Fever: Gosh, I hope so. Watching Notre Dame get blown out in a bowl game is one of those things that lets you know that even as the year on the calendar changes, some things never change.
Lane (Kukuihaele, HI): Should the NCAA follow the NFL by having a strict conduct policy and penalizing universities for players off the field problems?
Yellow Fever: Fuck yeah. If only so that random fans won't be able to bitch and moan that their rival's coach is too lenient and their players are out of control.
Dennis; Denver: Yellow: ESPN has been full of stories this week about the 1st 10 years of the BCS. Please give your evaluation of it. My own opinion is that it is much better than the previous system of bowls matched by conference, but many of your ESPN correspondents think it is nothing but garbage. Please give your evaluation. Thanks.
Yellow Fever: I think the argument here is whether to stick with the BCS or go to a playoff, and I don't think there's any question that the BCS is better than the previous system, but the previous system sucked all the way around. People who point at the BCS and say that it led to classic games like Boise State/Oklahoma and Texas/USC are ignoring the fact that, well, a playoff probably would have led to some dramatic games too, don't you think?
Dick, Dallas: What did you think of June Jones going from Hawaii to SMU? Beano Cook: He went to SMU because he wanted to pay less for gas.
(Sorry, that was actually a good response.)
Scott (Albany NY): Fever What do you think about the job Shannon has done so far at the "U"? I'm getting tired of just watching their baseball team play for championships.
Yellow Fever: Aside from his whole "no guns" policy, I haven't heard a thing about Miami. At least they're still producing first round safeties or something.
Josh (Lincoln, NE): Wouldn't a plus-one cause just as many problems in years where we have games like USC-Texas? Two unbeatens, it only takes one game to figure out the championship.
Yellow Fever: Wouldn't you rather argue over who's the fourth and fifth best teams in the country than the second and third?
Craig - Las Vegas, NV: Do you think Florida could beat Notre Dame? Who's the better pro prospect, Tim Tebow or Jimmy Clausen? Thanks, Fever!
Yellow Fever: I can't tell if someone dropped you on your head or if you were born that way.
Nathan (JAX, FL): Fever, good afternoon. Do you see Nebraska having a chance to beat Va. Tech in Sept.? It's in Lincoln and that will be a HUGE test for Coach Bo & Company! Thanks as always.
Yellow Fever: I sat here for ten minutes trying to think of a response. I don't care.
Evan (OH): Sooner or later Notre Dame has to join a conference, right? Right?
Yellow Fever: Ah, let them do what they want. It's more fun that way.
Tom, Los Angeles: Does the situation with OJ Mayo, coupled with the Reggie Bush dilemma affect USC's stature in college sports?
Yellow Fever: Thank you, Captain Obvious!
JL (Warrenton, VA): Given all the controversy, missed recruits, player transfers, etc., what are the realistic expectations for Michigan this year?
Yellow Fever: I look at Michigan athletics as a good excuse to get out of Detroit on a regular basis. Hoping for much more has been pretty much an exercise in futility since 1997.
Richard (Atlanta): Is there any way to get teams to stop scheduling cupcakes against Division 1-AA teams then charging season ticket holders full price for them? Georgia Tech season ticket holders have to pay to watch Gardner Webb and Jacksonville State (although Army chickened out). I suggest wiping those games off the record books across the board. Don't even count them in the win/loss record. Don't these schools know that best case senario is a meaningless win and worst case is App. State over Michigan?
Yellow Fever: Hey, here's an idea. Ask them, and not me.
jake-santa cruz: Fever, I may be old fashioned but shouldn't kids that sign up for scholarships play for that school until they graduate? It seems to me that by taking the scholarship they essientially sign a contract to play and get their schooling for free. Feel free to call me "old fashioned and out of the loop".
Yellow Fever: You're old fashioned and out of the loop. Why should these kids essentially be paid 40k a year for a job that generates far more than that? You're telling me that the star quarterback for USC, Michigan, Notre Dame, or Florida should make less than an entry level manager at McDonald's? I don't see working the grill as being as dangerous as dealing with 280 pound defensive ends on a weekly basis.
Brad, Cincinnati Ohio: Richard, why don't you have some respect for Army, i am sure they did not "chicken out". How quickly we forget when Memorial Day was but 48 hours ago.
Yellow Fever: While declining to play a football game isn't exactly an act of cowardice, I do think we live in a sports world where that is commonly referred to as "chickening out". So please "lighten up".
Grayson (Tampa): CLEMSON vs. BAMA staurday night opener. Who ya Got? Can we expect College Game Day Live from Atlanta? GO TIGERS!
Yellow Fever: How big can the game be if the game isn't even being played in the state that the two teams are from?
Rob: New Castle, Pa.: give credit to ND for not playing those types of games. What do you call Army Navy,Air Force and the merchant marine academy
Yellow Fever: I call them guys who probably know how to use punctuation.
Phillip Greeneville, TN: Hey Fever how do you see the vols doing this year?
Yellow Fever: From far away. (Yeah, I know, I've used that one before. But it's true.)
Josh, Roanoke: How long will it take for the football nation to not sterotype a team like West Virginia. I mean, everybody forgets that when Va Tech and Miami were in the Big East, West Virginia shared the Big East title, and then they leave, and West Virginia is compared to South Florida and Cincy. It seems that they dont get the respect they should.
Yellow Fever: It would help if they hadn't just hired a guy whose only previous experience as a head coach was an 8-25 record in three years at VMI.
Soren (LA): Who will be first to break through for the Pens tonight and put it past Osgood?
Yellow Fever: Kristen Bell.
Evan (OH): Does Arizona State have a legitimate chance to depose USC in the PAC10?
Yellow Fever: Evan, what was it about last year's wins that made you think they have a chance to beat a quality ranked team with a fully functional quarterback? Was it the 35-23 loss to Oregon? The 44-24 loss to USC? The 52-34 loss to Texas? Yeah, I'm cherry-picking here, but I don't see a whole lot of quality.
Scott, Tulsa: Predicton for BCS title game?
Yellow Fever: Cal over Georgia. Irrational exuberance rules the day.