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Madden found a way to make the game feel fresh

By Jim Litke The Associated Press So it barely mattered whether you first ran across John Madden as the growling, grizzly bear-sized coach of the Oakland Raiders, the big, booming soundtrack of the NFL, or the guy with the “what-me-worry?” smile peeking out from the slot on a video-game console. All three generations of football fans faithfully followed in his wake because every run-in with Madden after that was bound to yield something new. An insect landing on the camera lens in the middle of a game? Instead of ignoring that detail, Madden turned it into 10 seconds of ...

College sports sending bad message

Do big-time college athletics programs have any educationally-redeeming value? Penn State recently extended the contract of football coach James Franklin and increased the salary of one of the highest paid football coaches in America after what Nittany Lion followers lamented were woeful seasons in 2020 and 2021. The Franklin situation, however, is not unique. It is symptomatic of a plague that is actually destroying the values and foundation of higher education in America. The Chronicle of Higher Education explained how this is taking place in a detailed analysis. The op-ed ...

Texas football sponsors ‘cattle call’

By Bill Contz For the Mirror L eave it to the state renowned for the exploitation of its vast oil reserves to let their flagship institution of higher learning set the bar for monetizing the value of a college lineman. The Texas Longhorns’ recent unveiling of “The Pancake Factory” gives brand new meaning to the phrase “prime Texas steer” with a program that now earmarks $50,000 annually to each of their 16 offensive linemen on scholarship. This endeavor trumps the school’s Clark Field Collective, a cross-sport NIL initiative which had previously promised a minimum of ...

Meyer finds out you can’t be a bully in the NFL

By Jim Litke The Associated Press There’s a dozen good reasons why college coaches rarely make a successful jump to the NFL. Leave it to Urban Meyer to trip over the dumbest one. After 13 games packed with more missteps than a Master P appearance on “Dancing With the Stars,” Meyer was still treating grown men like kids, still behaving like he was the king on a campus somewhere. Still sloganeering, blustering at some and blaming everybody else at the drop of a pass. But there’s a reason bullies run out of rope a lot faster in the pros. It’s because the guys holding onto the ...

Mailbag

Potts epitomized Bellwood spirit I was shocked and saddened to read in the Altoona Mirror obituary page of the passing of two former Bellwood-Antis High School athletes: Ronald Patrick Blazier and Glenn Randal “Randy” Potts. John Hartsock wrote a fine feature article in the Mirror on Blazier, who went on to pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies. I had not known Blazier but as the Bellwood-Antis JV basketball coach when Randy Potts played on the 1977 varsity team, I had the opportunity to witness his unparalleled love for the game. Potts had good skills in high school, but ...

‘Coach Pilfering Season’ in high gear

By Bill Contz For the Mirror College football’s annual calendar now includes a shiny new entry, one which commences right after Rivalry Week then continues throughout Championship Week and beyond. Coach Pilfering Season (CPS for short) is a frenzied, cut-throat bidding war for current top talent and shatters any remaining myth that a coach’s loyalty lies with the school that currently employs them. And our inaugural CPS is certainly off to a raucous start. Aggressive boosters in the Bayou have ensured that Irish eyes won’t be smiling anytime soon while Tommy Trojan and his ...