College Football on My Mind

Here it is Wednesday, Sept. 9, and that mean I've back for another round of blogging with my fellow Benchwarmers. So it's 9/9/09...or should I say 09/09/09. Remember 10 years ago when we were all scared of Y2K? Or that Sept. 9, 1999 (9/9/99) would flip over to 0/0/00 and time would stop? Well, here it is 2009 and we're all still here, so I guess we panicked for no reason.

On to this week's blog. Lots of interesting things have gone down in the sports world the past week, so here's a little recap.

Oregon vs. Boise State kicked off the college football season with a bang, literally thanks to Oregon running back LaGarrette Blount's punch to a Boise State player's face after the game. Blount was essentially kicked off the team, as he was suspended for the season. Yes, the Boise State player was talking smack, but cold-cocking him was not the best response. Maybe Blount and the Ducks should've spent less time talking themseleves BEFORE the game and concentrated on winning. Oregon said it "owed" Boise for a loss in 2008, but the Ducks looked terrible in last Thursday's 19-8 loss. From what I saw of the game, neither team looked that great offensively.

A good weekend for Michigan and Michigan State fans with big victories in their respective openers Saturday. Granted, U-M beat Western and MSU beat a 1-AA school, but still a good way to kick off a new year. Michigan was impressive, so maybe Rich Rodriguez offense is coming along. But we'll see if they can keep it up against Notre Dame, a team a little better than Western. Meanwhile, a bold prediction...Michigan State will win at least nine games this year. The only two threats I see to the Spartans will be at Wisconsin and against Penn State. MSU doesn't play the hated Buckeyes this year.

The Manchester varsity football team looked way more impressive in its 30-13 victory over Michigan Center than it did on opening night. While QB Logan Zigila and WR Corwin Every get most of the attention, and deservedly so, the Dutchmen have a ton of depth. Jimmy Hamilton is a strong No. 2 receiver, and converted JV quarterback Josh Blades have provided another receiving weapon. The offensive line looked stronger in opening holes for D.J. Hone, and the defense continued its strong play.

Manchester fans will be excited to know that 2008 graduate Nick Ross is a starter on the Adrian College football team this season. Ross saw increased time on the offensive line down the stretch in his freshman season last year, and impressed coaches enough to where he's a starter as a sophomore. As for the Bulldogs' opener, a tough loss to OAC power Capital, 31-21. If you don't know who Capital is, they routinely challenge Division III behemoth Mount Union in the OAC. Adrian hung with them for most of the night, but didn't put it all together at the same time. I believe my Bulldogs (yes, I'm an Adrian grad) will regroup Saturday at Defiance (Ohio). Call it Adrian 24, Defiance 10.

Finally, so how is the Manchester varsity volleyball team already at eight victories when it won nine total last year. For starters, the Dutch are playing in more tournaments this year, meaning more matches (they're 8-4-2 as we speak, last year they finished 9-13-9). They're off to a good start under new coach Sarah Andrews, but coaching isn't the big reason (former coach Mike Mininger was a good coach for the program the past three years). Look no farther than a healthier lineup. Last year, the Dutch had so many injuries to key players, it killed their season. If they stay healthy, the Dutch can look like they did in 2007 when it challenged Hanover-Horton for the Cascades crown.

That's all for now. See you next week