Football Ramblings...

-I didn't have a chance to talk about this the other day, but I thought the NFL players coming out right before kick-off Thursday night to hold up their index fingers as a show of union solidarity was really unnecessary. Every NFL fan knows that this time next year we're probably going to be looking at a lockout and no football, so we really didn't need the reminder at that moment. It seemed to be a buzz kill in what should normally be an uplifting moment. Imagine if right before your senior year of college all of the professors came out and reminded you the job market sucks. You know that bad news is looming, but there is no need to shove it in your face.

-Also, shows of solidarity are nice, but the players are going to cave in the upcoming negotiations. I know it, the owners know it and, deep down, the players know it. They may as well try and get the best deal they can now because if they let it get to the point of a lock-out then they will have to take whatever the owners feel like giving them.

-Every year there is a team that the college football analysts collectively get behind for absolutely no reason. This year it appeared to be Florida State. They didn't have a great recruiting class, they returned the same mediocre starting quarterback and they didn't even really undergo a coaching change because Jimbo Fisher had been essentially running the program for years. There was nothing at the end of last season to indicate that they would be making a big jump this year. Yet, for some reason they started the season in the Top 25. However, after getting thumped today by 30 points that should just about end that talk.

-Another team that I think we're not going to be hearing from for a few weeks is Boise State. After beating Virginia Tech last week there were a lot of people who said Boise should coast to an undefeated season and the National Championship game because, while their remaining schedule is fairly weak, Virginia Tech is a quality program. However, Tech lost to Div-1AA James Madison this afternoon. Suddenly they don't look so tough and Boise schedule looks Charmine soft. A one-loss SEC team could very well leap past them by season's end.