The Bear Watch - The Fighting Manginos are 2-0

The Bear Watch
You can have Pete Carroll with his hyper motivation on the sidelines or the sleazy and cool St. Jim Tressel from Ohio State.....give me Mark “Bear” Mangino....I love this guy....plus, he is a graduate of Youngstown State University - my alma mater and place of current employment....

The Fighting Manginos of Kansas are off to a 2-0 mark as they have outscored their first two opponents (Central Michigan and SE Louisiana) by a combined score of 114-7.....the first time in Kansas history that they scored 50 or more points in back-to-back games...right now, Kansas has the ninth best defense in the nation - giving up 184 total yards per game....

This week the Fighting Manginos are looking to avenge their 37-31 overtime loss at Toledo last season....it was a game that Kansas should have flat out won, but they could not finish and Toledo escaped with the victory....so far this season, quarterback Todd Reesing has thrown for 518 yards and six touchdowns....the running attack is shared between Bra McAnderson and Jake Sharp who have combined for 308 yards and four touchdowns....Kansas has also been deadly on special teams as they have already brought back a kick-off and punt for a touchdown....

The weapon that Bear has utilized this year is All-American candidate at cornerback Aqib Talib....Talib has also been used on the offensive side of the ball and has scored two receiving touchdowns....expect more highlights this week as Toledo has surrendered 52 points to both Purdue and C. Michigan....the Fighting Manginos get their revenge.....Kansas 56-14....the Bear is growling baby!!!

Michigan - can the season be salvaged

The goals in Ann Arbor have definitely changed over the last two weeks....talk of a BCS title are over....however, theoretically, Michigan can still go to the Rose Bowl if they win the Big 10 title....but let’s get real, with that anemic offense and porous defense, the closest thing this team will get to a rose is if they get their girlfriend a dozen of the flowers for Sweetest Day.....

The Wolverines can still salvage the season and gain some respect if they can at least make it to the Capital City Bowl or Outback Bowl which are both played on New Year’s Day.....at this point, even an appearance in the Alamo Bowl, which is played on December 29th against a Big 12 opponent, would also be acceptable....however, that is the lowest bowl bid the Michigan athletic department should accept....it would be a disgrace to the Michigan football program to be playing in the Meineke Bowl or the Poulan Weedwhacker Bowl.....the Alamo Bowl is the lowest bowl that they should accept....

Now, to even make one of those three bowl games Michigan has to finish in the top 4 of the conference.....right now they are sitting at 0-2 overall with 10 games left including all its conference games.....hopefully they can beat Notre Dame this week which would put them at 1-2.....Penn State follows on September 22nd and I have already accepted the fact that Penn State will probably beat Michigan’s ass....the Wolverines have beaten Penn State the last eight times they have faced each other....and the last time the Nittany Lions were in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines gave them their only loss of the season on a last second touchdown pass to Mario Manningham.....Penn State will not lose this time.....I could see Michigan losing to Wisconsin too....the Badgers supposedly have a good team this year and this game is the 11th game of the season....Michigan will be focusing on Ohio State the next week....

There are two games the Wolverines must win....they cannot lose to Michigan State and Ohio State....no matter what Michigan’s record is, they must win those two games.....Michigan State is now led by a Jim Tressel disciple - Mark Dantonio.....just like his daddy down in Columbus, Dantonio has the clock ticking throughout the football offices and lockers until the Michigan game....the Wolverines need to put this Tressel wannabe in his place right from the start....the other must win is Ohio State.....and we all know why Michigan must win that game.....

In the end, no matter if Michigan beats Michigan State and Ohio State and even goes on to win their bowl game, Lloyd Carr has to go after the season.....over the last week, many names have been bantered about who is going to replace Carr.....here is a list of names that I have seen:
- Urban Meyer - Florida head coach and Ohio native
- Les Miles - LSU head coach and Michigan grad
- Bo Pellini - LSU defense coordinator and Ohio State grad
- Greg Schiano - Rutgers head coach
- Brian Kelly - Cincinnati Bearcats head coach & former C. Michigan head coach
- Josh McDaniels - New England Patriots offensive coordinator and Ohio native
- Brady Hoke - Ball State head coach and former Michigan assistant
- Norm Chow - Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator
- Chris Peterson - Boise State head coach
- Steve Sarkissian - Southern Cal offensive coordinator
- Steve Kragthorpe - Louisville head coach
- Jimbo Fisher - Florida State offensive coordinator
- Pat Hill - Fresno State head coach
- Steve Mariucci - Former Lions & 49ers head coach and Michigan native
- Corwin Brown - Notre Dame defensive coordinator and Michigan grad
- Jason Garrett - Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator
- Gary Pinkel - Missouri head coach

What they are saying around the league - Week 1

Here's what's being said around the league after Week 1 of the NFL season.....

Pittsburgh 34 Cleveland 7
Plain Dealer sports columnist Bill Livingston writes how the Cleveland Browns have a mess at the quarterback position.... "Oh, wait. Quinn was accurate in the practice games, but, in contrast to Crennel's mentor, Bill Belichick, Crennel doesn't seem to believe in going by what he sees." ....

Bill Livingston

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sports columnist Ed Bouchette writes how the Steelers did not miss a beat with new head coach Mike Tomlin..... "Because the Browns played so poorly, it was difficult for anyone to define the Steelers. It looked like a college opener, Steelers vs. Cupcake State. Before the first quarter ended, the Browns had lost two turnovers, botched a punt and committed what may be an NFL record of four separate penalties on one play, if they kept track of those things." ....

Ed Bouchette

Detroit 36 Oakland 21
Detroit Free Press sports columnist Drew Sharp writes that the Lions victory was not pretty, but they are 1-0.... "There's hope and there's confidence. Good teams know they're good. Bad teams hope they're good." ....

Drew Sharp

Oakland Tribune columnist Jerry McDonald writes that Oakland Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin is going to stick with Josh McCown at quarterback..... "Josh McCown is still in, even if a good portion of the psuedo-sellout crowd at McAfee Coliseum wants him out. He was Kiffin's not-so-secret selection to start, and it sounds as if McCown will be under center when the Raiders visit the Broncos in Denver in Week 2." .....

Jerry McDonald

Dallas 45 N.Y. Giants 35
New York Post sports columnist Mike Vaccaro writes how the New York Football Giants defense took the night off..... "What good will an ascendant Eli Manning be to the Giants if he can throw for 312 yards and four touchdowns and put 35 points on the board on the road . . . and still lose by 10?" ....

Mike Vaccaro

Dallas Morning News reporter Calvin Watkins writes how T.O.'s patience paid off in the end..... "Owens didn't have a big night like tight end Jason Witten (six catches for 116 yards and one touchdown), but his two scores provided the spark the team needed." ....

Calvin Watkins

Washington 16 Miami 13 (OT)
Miami Herald NFL blogger Armando Salguero writes that the Miami Dolphins defense was not sharp... "Joey Porter was angry because he watched much of that decisive 10-play overtime drive from the Miami sideline. He wasn't injured and he wasn't tired, but he wasn't in the game when fatigue and a steamrolling Washington offense were getting the better of his teammates." ....

Armando Salguero

Washington Post sports columnist Thomas Boswell writes that the Washington Redskins are thrilled to start 1-0.... "For them, all that matters is if they win. Not how, not whether they play by the book. No matter how humble, a win provides the fuel for more success, just as failure opens the maw of more defeats. Few teams know it better than the Redskins." .....

Thomas Boswell

Minnesota 24 Atlanta 3
Atlanta Journal Constitution reporter Steve Wyche writes about the Atlanta Falcons dismal offense..... "Besides not scoring a touchdown — why stop there? Besides not getting inside of Minnesota's 25-yard line until the next to last play of the game, the Falcons offense provided two of the Vikings' three touchdowns." ....

Steve Wyche

Minnesota Star Tribune sports reporter Patrick Reusse writes how there will be a spike in the sale of Adrian Peterson jerseys.... "There was quite a mix of souvenir jerseys to be found on the ticketholders revolving into the Metrodome late Sunday morning. The finding of an informal survey was that there were more No. 84 Randy Moss jerseys remaining on the backs of Vikings fans than any other outerwear seen at this season opener." ....

Patrick Reusse

The next head coach at Michigan must be . . .

I attended the Oregon-Michigan game on Saturday....after a second straight debacle, it is clear that head coach Lloyd Carr will be gone at the end of the season....Michigan looked slow, unprepared, unimaginative, and by the third quarter the players quit....

Back in 1998, Donovan McNabb of Syracuse carved the Michigan defense with his scrambling and mobility...however, mobile quarterbacks and the spread offense were not en vogue at that time....McNabb was ahead of his time....in 2000, head coach Randy Walker of Northwestern ran a "gimmick" offense called the "spread"....it was a foreign offense in the Big Ten....Michigan quarterback Drew Henson managed to lead the offense to light up the Evanston scoreboard with 51 points – but it still was not enough as the defense allowed the Wildcats to put up 53 points....

So over the years, as the spread offense became more popular Michigan’s defense never made the necessary changes to halt this innovative scoring machine...Michigan changed defense coordinators two years ago after Vince Young shredded the defense in the Rose Bowl...Jim Hermann was out and Ron English was in - but nothing changed...when playing against a spread offense and a mobile quarterback, the defense looks confused....yesterday the Oregon receivers flew past the Michigan corners....and when the Ducks ran the ball, the Blue’s linebackers and d-line missed numerous fundamental tackles...

But the problems do not exist just on defense.....offensive coordinator Mike DeBord has to be the most ignorant, unimaginative offensive coordinator in the country.....opposing defensive coaches must love to prepare for Michigan’s offense because they run the same damn plays every year....and during the course of a game, DeBord makes no adjustments...ZERO....DeBord’s philosophy is to establish the running game - which is fine....however when the defense stacks 8 guys in the box, DeBord refuses to throw the ball downfield.....a 10-yard pass is considered a deep throw in the Michigan playbook....other teams utilize their speed and talent at the wideout positions....in Ann Arbor, they pull back the reigns and now allow players like Steve Breaston, Mario Manningham, Adrian Arrington to fully utilize their skils....

That is why there needs to be a complete overhaul of the mentality within the Michigan football program after this season.....God Bless Bo Schembechler.....I love Bo....in fact, a picture of Bo hangs in my kitchen.....Bo was a great coach and his views and thoughts about football were right on the money – for the 1970s and 1980s.....it is now 2007 and Michigan refuses to move along with the current trends of speed, special teams, mobile quarterbacks, and the spread offense.....even Mr. Conservative - St. Jim Tressel abandoned Tressel-ball last season and opened up the offense to utilize the talent that he had at the skill positions....

The next head coach at Michigan needs to not only change the offense, but also put an emphasis on special teams....I cannot recall the last time Michigan blocked a field goal, extra point, or punt....but I can easily recall the times when Michigan has allowed that to happen to them....the next head coach must also find a way for the defense to properly defend against mobile quarterbacks and speed receivers....both Appy State and Oregon run the spread offense, so Michigan knew what to prepare for....it’s not like these two teams surprised Michigan by changing their offense....but for some reason, the Wolverines cannot defend against that offense....

Finally, the next head coach must put the number 1 and 1a emphasis on winning the national title and beating Ohio State....Bo never cared about winning the national title - his goal was to win the Big Ten and go to the Rose Bowl.....that mentality must stop!!!.....it is 2007 and the young, talented high school football players want to play for a football program who wants to be National Champions.....they want to play in big non-conference games where the spotlight is on them.....they want to be in the BCS title game.....this crap of settling for a Big Ten title and Rose Bowl berth has to stop....time have changed, but Michigan is still stuck in the 1970s....

So who will be the next head coach?....in Ann Arbor there is a philosophy that only a Michigan man can coach the Wolverines....that is crap!!!....that is another philosophy athletic director Bill Martin must change - immediately.....Bo was never a Michigan man when he was hired after the 1968 season....so why has that cement thinking developed at Michigan?.....Michigan is one of the 5 premier college football programs in the country.....the University makes much money from the football program and after this season, the stadium is going to be renovated as loges and luxury suites will be added.....Michigan must put out the money and get a young, dynamic head coach.....supposedly there is an out in his contract for the Michigan job.....therefore, Martin and Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman must go out and do whatever it takes to hire Urban Meyer as the next head coach of the University of Michigan....