Tuesday: Signing week; Next year’s champ?; Furniture follies
You’re a pretty good recruiter if you can get a kid with an Auburn tattoo to come to Alabama.
GIVEN THAT I’M STILL NOT ALLOWED TO DRIVE, I suppose it would be possible for me to plop in front of the TV at 7:35 tomorrow morning and watch ESPNU’s all-day coverage of National Signing Day. Possible, but not likely.
I understand why some people will. Talent wins championships. If you’re a huge fan of a college football team, it’s fun to know more than your peers about the next crop of players coming in. I’m the same way with minor league baseball.
But as Andy writes here today, the drama of signing day isn’t what it used to be. Coaches are locking up commitments earlier and earlier. Most of the 2013 classes are set; teams are working on their 2014 hauls.
That said, the faxes for this year still have to arrive, and coaches won’t relax until they do. If you need any more evidence that commitments can change in a hurry, consider this: A kid with an Auburn tattoo announced yesterday that he’s going to Alabama.
Hokiesports.com will have a live webcast of Virginia Tech’s signings starting at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Virginia will have a signing day “celebration” at 6 p.m. Wednesday at John Paul Jones Arena. It’s open to the public. More details here.
QUESTION FOR YOU: If you had the option of watching all-day signing day coverage, how much would you actually watch?
EARLY FEEL? Nevada casinos had a record handle on the Super Bowl, with $98.9 million coming through the windows. The AP reported that they profited $7.2 million, with Vegas’ proximity to San Francisco helping bump the action on the Niners. Nappy kindly passed along the Super Bowl odds for next year, courtesy of Bovada.lv:
Peyton Manning and the Broncos are the early favorites to win next year’s Super Bowl.
Denver Broncos 7/1
San Francisco 49ers 15/2
New England Patriots 15/2
Green Bay Packers 10/1
Baltimore Ravens 12/1
Seattle Seahawks 12/1
Houston Texans 14/1
Atlanta Falcons 18/1
New Orleans Saints 18/1
Pittsburgh Steelers 18/1
Chicago Bears 20/1
New York Giants 20/1
Dallas Cowboys 25/1
Washington Redskins 30/1
Indianapolis Colts 33/1
Cincinnati Bengals 35/1
Detroit Lions 35/1
Minnesota Vikings 35/1
Philadelphia Eagles 35/1
San Diego Chargers 35/1
New York Jets 40/1
Carolina Panthers 50/1
Kansas City Chiefs 50/1
Miami Dolphins 50/1
St. Louis Rams 50/1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 50/1
Arizona Cardinals 66/1
Cleveland Browns 66/1
Tennessee Titans 66/1
Buffalo Bills 100/1
Oakland Raiders 100/1
Jacksonville Jaguars 150/1
The Giants at 20-to-1 seem like a decent play to me. That team still has plenty of playmakers in their prime, and missing the playoffs a year after winning it all tends to motivate a squad in the offseason. See anybody you like?
MORE BIG-MONEY DEALINGS: A Baltimore furniture store took a $600,000 bath when Jacoby Jones returned the second half kickoff 108 yards for a touchdown. The company told customers that all furniture bought between Jan. 31 and Feb. 2 would be free if Jones returned the opening kickoff or second half kickoff for a TD.
TUESDAY LOCAL HEADLINES: VMI and Radford will go to New York for “BracketBusters” games later this month (story here)…Roanoke College women’s basketball coach Susan Dunagan two wins away from 600 (story here)…William Fleming is appealing the VHSL’s ruling that the school has to forfeit two boys hoops victories for using an ineligible player (story here).
IDENTIFY THE MOVIE
“First day on the job, you know what I learned? How to spot a murderer. Let’s say you arrest three guys for the same killing. You put them all in jail overnight. The next morning, whoever’s sleeping is your man. You see, if you’re guilty, you know you’re caught, you get some rest, you let your guard down.”
February 5, 2013 - 8:32 AM
Pretty telling that VT is now webcasting, now that the drama is over. Nothing like staying cutting edge. I guess Jim Weaver has decided that ‘the internet thing’ seems likely to stay around…
I can watch all-day signing coverage if I choose to. I’ll watch zero. I want to see them play on the gridiron.
The Usual Suspects. Classic.
Rob nails it. Nicely done.
CR – this is why I think you are a pain in the patooza. A totally undeserved, unsolicited shot at VT and Weaver. Classeless. Utterly classless.
AM – sorry you can’t drive and I know it is annoying but…… you are alive. Ta Da!
I’ll bet on the SuperBowl (next year’s winner) as soon as the schedule comes out. Eagles home opener opponent has won the last 4 years in a row. Considering who the options are for this season I’d say it is a decent bet at odds.
Loved The Usual Suspects. For some reason don’t remeber that line. “Keyser Sozay”
Signing Day Drama? Nah, I’d rather have a fork jabbed in my eye as watch that crap.
All one had to do was pay close attention to the Super Bowl, and see what was said about how highly recruited and rated the two starting QBs were. It was kind of neat to know Tech had offered Joe Flacco, though. That seemed to be his biggest offer.
There is nothing worse than a bunch of prima donna 18 year olds grabbing all of the attention they can. Well, yeah, there is something worse, it is people giving them that attention.
And, Saban is only a good recruiter because he hasn’t got caught cheating . . . yet. He will, though.
On next year’s odds, give me the Falcons at 18-1. Matty Ice is only going to get better. Backup bet, the Packers at 10-1, because Aaron Rodgers is . . . . well, Aaron Rodgers. Denver is risky as the fave – too much Peyton love going on there. He is getting old.
Nothing is more folly than trying to predict the next Super Bowl winner when the game was only two days old ago. It’s like the NCAA football coming out with the way, way too early top 25 polls and prediction on who is the next the hoist the crystal. Exercises in folly. That’s why suckers are born every minutes.
The furniture store followed through on their promise, and a promise is a promise. They probably won’t do that stunt again.
As for the question on watching the Signing Day all day, the answer is going to be no. What a colossal waste of time sitting in front of the tube and watch pampered 18-19 years old showboat to commit to whatever school they are going to sign with.
I’d rather watch soap opera than watch that.
One headline that should be more prominent is Sandra Bullock and her adopted son attending the Super Bowl wearing Michael Oher’s jersey. Even the family who adopted Oher were there in full support. I saw three pictures of Oher with the sister, brother, and mother who were part of his blossoming into a superstar on the Ravens’ line.
Of course, Oher was very dismissive about the movie, wanting to concentrate on the Super Bowl rather than rehash the movie and his life’s story.
My understanding is that it didn’t cost the furniture store anyhting but the cost of the insurance premium in case it happened. If they sold $600K worth of furniture due to the promotion and only had to pay $10K for an insurance policy they came out way ahead.
I’m just glad my Cowboys are STILL better odds than that team in DC. Oh my Skins friends are gonna go nuts over that.
At those odds, I like the Giants also. Their coach will fix the problems that led to late season losses. Being from the Phoenix area, I am eager to see how Arians will do out here. Be nice to have a quarterback that can find the field every day. He is quoted as saying that after reviewing films, the Cardinals are better than he originally thought. One ponders what he originally thought?
I would watch Keyser Soze confound the cops in the above chair for sure but wouldn`t waste any time watching Saban and the other usual suspects sign up 5 stars. I`ll keep tabs on Tech from time to time but that`s about it.
Signing day is an overhyped, ego-feeding frenzy that is worse than suffering a toothache!!
Who sits in front of a television and actually watches this crap all day long?
I would rather watch paint dry!!
#5 Z, weep no more mi amigo, those crocodile tears you feign are really excessive Visine. You shed water for Jim Weaver? Really? Please take the time to explain that to any of the non-rev coaches who labor at VaTech. Please try to peel back the bigger picture, instead of wetting your Depends because you consider any rational analysis of Hokie sports to be an attack on the very ground which we stand.
Feel free to make a rational foundation for the recruiting strategy implemented over a decade ago by Frank Beamer. Include the financial aspect of recruiting budgets controlled completely by Jim Weaver as an integral part of that foundation.
Either do that or continue to moan and lament any adult discussion of Hokie sports because it just might mention something that’s not a cheerleading mantra that you seem to love.
#9 Trev, Sandy lost me when she went all in with Jesse James the Biker. Anybody who buys in to a guy who has a ‘Pay Up Sucka’ tattoo on his palm? And you’re into that? To be your ‘soul mate’ for life? Honest and true to only you? She lost me there. She just wanted her some bad boy, let’s admit it. She must have watched too many DVD’s of ‘Grease’…
Oher is more than ready to live his life, as opposed to celebrating the movie incessantly. His eleven biological sisters & brothers weren’t afforded tickets. The dude is trying to live his life. It”s like having to wear a tattoo on your forehead from the age of 18 until you die.
Oher’s life story has continued pretty well since he got his scholarship offer from Ole Miss. He’s moved on, and lived a full life since then. I’m glad he got a Super Bowl ring, because he’s a Raven. As for his movie family? Yawn…
Good point, Bob. That’s probably how it went down.
The Saints and Colts look like good bargains for next year, although I wouldn’t necessarily want to pick a dome team when the Super Bowl will be outside in January.
I’m curious about how they’ll handle the halftime show next year. Beyonce’s outfit would’ve been a bit chilly in 33 degrees & windy snow.
#15. No bigger picture is served by cheap shots. Don;t care how you rationalize unprovoked insults.
No way I watch signing day coverage. I can’t think of anything that would make it interesting.
Couple of short points. First, I seem to be more interested in signings than before. So, I will be watching the wall to wall coverage unless something truly rare is on–say, a Law and Order marathon on TNT.
And, in a story combining beer and baseball–meant to appeal to AM and other blog readers, I saw that Anheuser Busch announced that the foal from the SB ad will be named “Hope”. However, a large number of votes came in for “Stan” (Musial), so they will name another colt Stan. I’ve been trying to work “Hope” and Bar Rafaelli into a comment (“No hope”?). AM, can you pick this up?
#19 Z, nice retreat to your safety zone. You can cover your eyes and shout ‘LALALALALA’ all you wish, the truth is that Weaver has hampered the recruiting process in football, just as he’s crimped the adequacy of the non-rev programs even more so. Cry all you want because you think somebody says something ‘mean’ about Vt sports. Maybe some day you’ll wake up & understand that VT sports is not perfection, and hasn’t been. There is room for improvement. I know that comment makes tears flow down your cheeks, but you really need to wake up.
As for recruiting? If we ever get to the day where we aren’t so inconsequential as to allow virtually every 5-star recruit, and over half the 4-star recruits, go elsewhere? Then maybe we’ll understand why Frank had the empty trophy case erected. Until then, we all know he’s still on cruise control, whether folks like you admit it or not.
My hope is the new guys will not get draped by his wet blanket of ‘family’, and instead work to make the Hokies relevant. We’ll see how much he tamps them down. Time will tell…
RP
They can pick the Stones for the halftime show, heck, Jagger already looks like a cadaver anyway, it won’t matter how cold it gets then.
I suppose it’s a good thing that free furniture promotion was done in Baltimore and not Morgantown. Can you imagine people buying $600,000 worth of couches, burning them after their team won, and then getting reimbursed for the trouble?
@20. Lets hope that they raise the bar so that Ms Refaelli`s next commercial is easier to watch. Also, did they say why they named the colt after a soccer player? Courious
Televising signing day is the logcal extension of televising high school football and basketball on ESPN. Everything to feed the hype machine.
Of course, if I were as adlebrained as I was yesterday (too much Natty Boh, Ravens special cans), I’d watch a minute or two while I figured out what else was on.
Foal named Hope based on vote
CR down the rabbit hole again. Barry waiting for you down there?
We are about to sign the best recruting class in our history, at least on paper. Fuller is a 5-star recruit. We got a few 4 stars. We have changed coaches. So what is it you want, EXACTLY?
Ah ha, the head of Weaver and both Beamers. Otherwise you got EXACTLY what you wrote you wanted over the last season: new coaches and better players.
I still say that, for you, Weaver and the Beamers are a personal thing rather than professional thing.
#26 Z, next time bring something more than crackers. You try to prance around the recruits we’ve not signed over the last six seasons? So you can curl up and slap out at anyone who shows you how weak our recruiting has been? Well, that’s not really surprising. I said it before, and you skipped away in fear, talk about how many 4/5-star recruits VT never got a shot at over the last decade. I’m talking opportunity cost, and you’re weeping over misty eyed memories of pretend glory days.
Maybe some day you’ll get it, but I’m starting to doubt it. Do you just cry at every single mention that VaTech is less than perfection? It certainly seems so, and you’ve said ZERO to prove otherwise.
Gosh Crooked Road, you settled down for awhile and now you’ve spun completely out of control again. Relax, meditate, try Yoga maybe.
thanks for the heads up about tomorrow A-Mac. Screws up my morning routine of Mike& Mike then flipping to Colin @ 10. BTW what happened to 1st take? Refuse to watch it now! Wonder what your thoughts are on a non sports topic………. Been seeing a Gwen Stefani phone commercial. Wonder if she regrets marrying Rossdale? I mean you can tell he’s not the brightest guy by listening to his lyrics. Loose lips, fingertips, let’s walk thru the fire together. Not exactly profound or clever. Top that with the never ending rumors of his past relationship with that guy that was in that band. These are the mysteries of the world I would like answers to.
CR you live in some sort of world where the glass isn’t half full and isn;t half empty. No matter how full the glass, to you, its never enough and its Weaver’s fault.
How in the world can anyone ever prove what we “could have had”?
My question to you: “Have you stopped beating your wife?”
#31 Z, I doubt your simple mind can grasp multiple concepts, so I’ll try to use small words. To me, it’s not about the glass being half full, it’s about how can we fill the rest of the glass? 7-6 is not ‘half full’. 10-4 is not three quarters full. The object is to fill the glass in sports.
You probably got lost right there. The object is not to win most of your games. It’s to figure out how to win all the games. To fill the trophy case, if you will. I know, I know, that will make you weep. Dry your eyes and think about it some time.