Good Night and Good Luck, Marcus Vick

Wow, I'm shocked. I thought at best that Marcus Vick, the VA Tech Hokies QB who just led his team to a come from behind Gator Bowl victory, would get a one or two game suspension for his shameless act against a Louisville player:

Watch

(word has it that Vick's embarrassing attack came mere moments after a network crew finished interviewing Michael Vick in the stands, where Ronny Mexico had just gotten finished saying how he tries to serve as a role model for his brother. Is there more truth in that statement than he realizes?)

It has now just been reported that Vick has been kicked off the team:

Vick Dimissed

I'm surprised for a variety of reasons. He had just led his team to a comeback victory. He had kept the Hokies in contention for a national championship through most of the year. Coming back next year, the Hokies would have to be considered a favorite for the BCS championship next year. He's a money draw for the school. And most importantly, he is MICHAEL VICK'S BROTHER. Michael is the football program's crown jewel. Apparently Marcus had numerous indiscretions with the program, including a history of law-breaking. Maybe VT acted too slowly, enabling Marcus for too long, but it is still none the less shocking that they would use the extreme yet correct decision to remove Marcus from the program.

Don't Mess With Texas

What a wonderful college football game last night, and a great ending to the college season. Texas - 41, USC - 38. Thoughts from the game:

1. Any time a game is as hyped as much as this one was, there is a high degree of probability that it will be a dud, like last year's game. The shining glimmer of hope was the fact that neither team had a good defense, so both teams would be able to score enough to keep the game competitive. This played out perfectly in the second half.
2. Like every other talking head this morning, I have no idea why the newly minted Heisman winner Reggie Bush was standing next to Pete Carroll during the most important play of the Trojans' season, the 4th and 2 play with 2 minutes to go in the game. I've seen that scenario many times, and the perfect play for that situation is often the fake handoff to the inside, immediately followed by a quick pitch to the tailback on the outside. Often, b/c the defense is sucked in so far, this 4th down play often turns into a long run for 6. Bush is the perfect player to execute this play, and even if they didn't run it, he probably would have pulled at least one lineman and one linebacker wide, which could have made all the difference in the world for this 4th and short plunge. Loved the decision to go for it, didn't mind the call, but didn't understand the personnel package.
3. I didn't really have a vested interest in either team; I was just enjoying a great football game. So with two minutes to go on that 4th and 2, I was rooting for Texas to hold 'em, which they did, and then score a quick TD. Why a quick one? B/c I wanted to see USC get the ball back with enough time to tie the game. If Texas had scored a little bit quicker, and if Pete Carroll had realized that them scoring, along with the 2 point conversion, was inevitable, he wouldn't have wasted his time out during the 2 point try. I have to think that, if USC had about 40 seconds to work with (instead of 19) and a time out in their back pocket, they would have had an excellent chance to tie the game and take it to overtime. That said, it's probably good that things ended where they did; otherwise, with the way the offenses were putting up points, the game might still be going and I would be in a serious hurt today at work.
   
4. I was thoroughly impressed by Vince Young. He will have to fix that sidearm hitch in his passing motion when he gets to the NFL, but other than that, I loved his composure and ability to both pass & run and carry his team to a victory over a more talented team. 12-15 times in the second half he called his own number on draw plays or bootlegs, and USC never stopped him.
   
5. Should Young be drafted ahead of Matt Leinart? Well, if Michael Vick can be drafted #1 overall, then certainly Young can be. Young is superior in many ways to Vick. He may not have the breakaway speed, but he was running away from most of the LB's and DB's last night, and can run over people with his 6'5", 230 lbs physique. Plus, and here's the big advantage he has, he can actually complete passes with a high degree of accuracy. (Vick, for all of his hype, has never even sniffed the vicinity of a 60% completion rate. And his little brother is a punk who deserves at least a two game suspension.)
6. Lastly, from a comedy standpoint, I think announcer Keith Jackson has reached Pat Summerall status- i.e. you could substitute him with a Keith Jackson sound byte machine and you would have no idea whether or not it's a live person. That said, for me he has always been THE voice of the Rose Bowl and USC, so it was fitting that he was there. The definite highlight though was when, in the second half, his counterpart Dan Fouts (a great announcer, the MNF experiment excluded) called the Reggie Bush TD. Reggie broke off a great run, going airborn for almost 10 yards to dive into the end zone. Fouts, who obviously has children, compared the flight to...a quidditch match. And he kept the analogy going for a good 30 seconds. Poor Keith probably had no idea what planet he was on at that point. Good stuff.

Great game, great win for Texas. Now, on to the NFL playoffs!

Prime Time

Math dorks rejoice everywhere:

What time is it? PRIME TIME!

"We're super excited," chemistry professor Boone gasped. "Now we can get back to making insane Sudoku puzzles worthy of such a discovery."