It's our old pal, Dennis Dodd

What, you actually expected a thoughtful, insightful piece of journalism from CBS's Dennis Dodd?

"Monday was also a glimpse of your future, Joe. No farewell tour. Possibly a minor bowl. Basically being run out on somebody else's terms."

Geez, I forgot how much I didn't miss reading his crap.

I refuse to link to hit jobs like this one, mainly because the entire idea behind them is to generate web hits by whoring out any journalistic credibility for the sake of the all mighty dollar. But I find it interesting how any half-sane human could possible reach the same conclusions as Dodd has in his steaming pile of words published this morning. I suggest you take five minutes (it will seem much longer, and you'll probably want to X-out the window before you're finished, but trust me, finish reading it), clench your teeth, and read this thinly veiled yellow journalism.

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Red Meat Monday: Good, not great receivers

Opinion is the best part about sports. It's what keeps us going during the offseason, sparking plenty to talk about. And who better to throw out a conversation-starter than CBS's own (and my personal favorite hack) Dennis Dodd. Take this little number he sang a few weeks ago. He was predicting the Big Ten order of finish for 2009, reluctantly putting Penn State in the top two, but had to add this quip about the departed Deon Butler, Jordan Norwood and Derrick Williams:

"A good, not great, group of receivers have to be replaced by what might be good, not great, group of receivers."

Ok, I get it, Dodd's job is to generate discussion and readership. That's fine, but doing it by really shoddy analysis is just being lazy.

If those three wide receivers were only "good," but not great, then why are they all signed to NFL teams right now? Before Dodd says it: We don't know if they'll be there in the fall. But that's irrelevant right now. Today, all three of those "good" wide receivers are in the NFL.

That was the rational, non-homeristic comeback against Dodd's claims. Now, for the partisan retort: REALLY?! GOOD? NOT GREAT?

Butler is the career receptions leader, No. 2 in yardage. Norwood is No. 4 in receptions, No. 3 in yardage. And Williams is No. 3 in receptions, No. 5 in all-purpose career yards.

Remember, that was with Anthony Morelli under center for two of their four seasons. Not to mention, there were THREE of them. Had there been one, or even just two of them, their individual numbers would have been through the roof. Maybe then they would have been better than "good."

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Dennis Dodd takes his own words served cold

Everyone's favorite college football hack columnist at CBS Sports, Dennis Dodd, defended Florida against the recent media scrutiny of its legal issues. He argued that because the Gators and Urban Meyer are really good, they're being given unfair attention for their wrongdoings. I'm not sure where to start, so let's begin with this: he must really not remember ANYTHING, even stuff he has already written about to great extent.

Higher standards? Title wins shouldn't exacerbate UF sins

"...The total now stands at 24, as in the number of arrests in Urban Meyer's four seasons. The number would be appalling if we weren't such hypocrites. The reason we care about that number for a fleeting moment is the reason we'll forget just as fast.

Meyer wins... [and] as long as Florida keeps winning big, does it really matter?"

I bet you I can answer that, with Dodd's own words, served on a chilled platter of fresh, crisp Google. God, the internet is wonderful, isn't it?

"It's ultimately up to the coach to recruit kids of character... Boys will be boys, sure, but what's happening at Penn State would be a national scandal if it was anyone else but Joe Paterno as coach. It's funny that other programs have leadership from its veteran players. Paterno had to suspend three of his senior guys last week a couple of weeks after ESPN portrayed the dearth of the off-field problems. Is it possible that in his zeal to win, JoePa took some chances on kids of questionable character?"

Oh, come on. Is that all you've got? If it weren't for the fact that Dodd has been on a personal crusade to oust Paterno since George W Bush was garnering a 90 percent approval rating, if not earlier, then this would be surprising to see such hypocrisy spewing from his keyboard.

Dodd is on record arguing that Penn State was being let off the hook, because of its stature as a national power and an untouchable head coach at the helm.

This week, he's on record arguing that Florida is being attacked too much, because of its stature as a national power and an untouchable head coach at the helm.

Now THAT, to quote a certain college football hack columnist, "would be appalling if we weren't such hypocrites."

Related articles:
It's not whining if Florida does it - Zombie Nation 6/17/09

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Penn State in the Polls; Dennis Dodd hates Hippies

Some, rather unexpected sportswriters are buying into Penn State this season. Others aren't so keen on the idea that the Big Ten isn't quite the Sun Belt. The rankings are out--the AP, Coaches, Computers--and some of the voters made known their feelings towards Penn State.

College Football Poll--which named Penn State national champs in 1994--puts PSU No. 12 this week, up from No. 14 last week, and No. 19 preseason.

Meanwhile, College Football News has PSU No. 13:

The run defense stuffed Oregon State, while the offense was flawless. The Beavers might be reeling, but it was still as tight a game as the Nittany Lions could ask for.

Sports Illustrated seems to have bought into Penn State this year, and one of those "Penn State haters," Stewart Mandel had nothing but good things to say in his column following the Oregon State win.

"The Nittany Lions' 45-14 rout of Oregon State was eye-opening to say the least. I would not have guessed that their "Spread HD" would click so thoroughly, so quickly."

Of course he wouldn't have guessed. Then again, none of us guessed either.

Another SI.com writer, Mark Beech is already adding fuel to the Heisman flame under Evan Royster:

"It will be little tricks like that -- as well as a solid offensive line -- that could just make running back Evan Royster a serious Heisman-Trophy candidate. While the Beavers were trying to figure out what was coming next, the smooth-running Royster ran right over them, picking up 141 yards on 17 carries and scoring three touchdowns. That gives him six scores in the season's first two games. Were you watching, Heisman Pundit?"

Even The Sporting News likes what Penn State is doing right now. Dave Curtis thinks PSU could come out as a top-tier squad this season

Some media outlets and their writers still won't give Penn State an inch. And where else would that come from other than the SEC's own version of FoxNews, CBS Sportsline? First it was the CBS Sports Top 120, which actually dropped Penn State two spots to No. 21. (CBS vaulted Oregon up one spot to No. 17, after beating UTAH STATE) But that wasn't the best part.

Dennis Dodd--who makes Mandel look like the world's biggest PSU fan--has officially made it his own personal crusade to bring down Penn State. Yeah, he's always been in bed with the SEC, secretly pillow-trash-talking about the Big Ten. But this time, he just couldn't hold back when talking about Penn State Saturday. I normally don't include so much in a quote, but Dodd's belligerent rant was just too good to chop up. In its entirety:

"Some talking head suggested Saturday that the recent problems at Penn State (2-0 after beating beating Oregon State 45-14) should be blamed on the players. Huh? Dude, this is why these coaches are paid millions of dollars, to make sure the players don't rob banks (Ed. See: Yellow Journalism) or blow hippie lettuce. It's ultimately up to the coach to recruit kids of character.

Boys will be boys, sure, but what's happening at Penn State would be a national scandal if it was anyone else http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifbut Joe Paterno as coach. It's funny that other programs have leadership from its veteran players. Paterno had to suspend three of his senior guys last week a couple of weeks after ESPN portrayed the dearth of the off-field problems. Is it possible that in his zeal to win, JoePa took some chances on kids of questionable character?"

I'm not going to go on a big rant about this. After all, he's just one "talking head" in a crowd, and as I said above, there's so much Yellow Journalism in there, it's ridiculous. But I will offer this one big of advice: Don't worry, Dennis, as long as you keep it up, it will continue to be the "national scandal" you're hoping for.

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Dodd picks PSU 6th; Not a surprise

Why am I not shocked that Dennis Dodd pegged PSU to finish 6th in the Big Ten this year?

"6. Penn State: The Big Ten is down? Not in State College. Penn State has won three consecutive bowl games, including the Orange Bowl over Florida State. You've got to hand it to Joe. After that little downturn a few years back, he spit in the eyes of his critics and reloaded. All that off-the-field stuff will fade away if Paterno can win nine. It would be nice if receiver Derrick Williams finally fulfills his promise. Five career receiving touchdowns? C'mon, D-Will. Linebacker Chris Colasanti gets his chance after the injury to star Sean Lee."

I'm not quite sure where he was going with that. On one hand, Dodd said PSU has held up its end of the line when everyone's calling the Big Ten inferior. Yet, then he picks PSU sixth. Actually, it's not something to get upset about as fans. I mean, how can you take a prediction like this seriously when you see how he picked the other teams...

"5. Michigan: Sorry, Blue. Ten-win seasons are a thing of the past until Rich Rodriguez gets his spread up and running. There will be confusion, there will be losses, and there will be grumbling fans by the end of the season. Everything is going to be fine, just not right away. Call it 7-5 or 8-4."

So that would mean PSU finishes somewhere around 7-5? I think the best part of the preseason is how worked up the writers try to get their readers. All you have to do is pick one team too low, or another too high, and there you have it. In fact, I believe I'm feeding into my own criticism as I write this. But it sure is fun. Moving on...

"2. Illinois: The ugly stepchild of the Chicago media market has developed into a top 15 program without many folks noticing. Forget the Rose Bowl. That was a Southern California home game. Illinois is still on the upturn. The season could take off quickly with a victory over Missouri in the opener."

Wow. Sorry, but wow. Illinois will definitely not creep up on people as they did in 2007. And sorry, folks, but when you lose your main weapon on offense, it's going to be tough to fill that gap. But I'm not so sure it's the replacement of Mendenhall that will be the Illini's biggest problem. It will be playing all the tough games away from Champaign, against teams that were burned by Zook's spread offense last year, teams that won't be caught off guard again. Again, this seems like a sensationalist prediction. To top that off, CBS didn't even include PSU on its "who will win the Big Ten" reader poll.

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Well, I'm smarter than at least one football writer

Someone pointed out to me a while back that there's a test you can take online. That test is the same test given to prospective college football officials. I wasn't too motivated to do it. That is, I wasn't until I found out Dennis Dodd took it, and got a 46 (out of 100). So what was the first thing I did after that revelation? Why, I took the test of course. I thought that since someone (even though he's not my favorite writer) like Dodd got only a 46, I'd probably score lower. Who wouldn't think that? What do you know, folks, I scored a 51. No, I didn't look up any of the answers before submission. (I took the written version of the test over two nights, about two hours total, then punched in my online answers) So a 51 isn't so freaking bad, considering only six years ago I didn't even know how the downs system worked. I kid you not, until I marched onto the field for my first Penn State football game--UCF 2002--I didn't give a rats ass about football. Here's my test results:

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Half-assed Friday :: A ton of links to nothing

I got nothin', people. Seriously, other than the BTN/Comcast deal, there's zero news right now. I'm going to try to get some of my thoughts on the cable thing up later, but for now I guess I'll do the most common sports blog filler--a bunch of links to other sites. We've got everything from professional writers who think they know how to blog, to the usual SEC bias from CBS. So check it all out here.

-There's an interesting fluff piece on TSN by the AP on Penn State's captains. It's not all that bad, considering it does address how these guys have been at Penn State for what seems like forever. The story could have been much better, and could have gone much deeper.

-Staying with TSN, Matt Hayes and Spencer Hall took an interesting approach to the top 25 a while back (I know, I'm a little behind on this), by making fun of each other's rankings. It's different, so I liked it.

-The Allentown Morning Call has a blog called the Nittany Lines. Ok, I don't like the mainstream media guys like respect Bill Kline, but this is nothing more than a regurgitation of the news wires. Get creative, man. You get paid to do this.

-Heading over to SEC.com CBC Sportsline, Dennis Dodd tries to make the case that Georgia's defensive line coach Rodney Garner is the best guru of the position. The funny part of that is Dodd uses the Sugar Bowl as an example of how good he is--yes, against Hawaii. Of all the teams Georgia faces in the SEC East, Dodd focused his argument on how Garner was able to send his boys against the WAC champion. Also biased-ly frustrating was how Larry Johnson, Sr. came in close to the bottom of that ranking. Sure, he mentioned Kennedy, Brown, Haynes and Hali. However, if he actually did some research on Penn State's D-line over the last few years, he'd realize that LJ, Sr. has popped out pretty decent linemen like Ed Johnson and Jay Alford. You know, the guy who basically ended the Patriots' comeback hopes in the Super Bowl by blowing up Tom Brady for a 12-yard sack. Just a thought.

-Moving into general college football mode, SMU is still trying to rebound from the Death Penalty. While I hate Texas, and the South in general, I'd like to see this once-prestigious team come back. Penn State should get them on the schedule so that Craig James has a meltdown when the Lions crush them. 1982 National Championship, my ass.

-Finally, I go back to Maize n Brew, where Dave passed his readers' time by posting a clip from the Wolverines' demolition of Penn State in 2000. I think it's kind of funny how Penn State fans are very upset that we can't beat Michigan the last few years. When Penn State was supposedly "Penn State" we got stomped on by Michigan, yet that last few meetings when PSU wasn't as good, the score has been deadly close.

Ok, I'll be back later today with some thoughts on the BTN/Comcast situation. Maybe I'll throw in some useless stats from Penn State's past that are completely unrelated to anything, but good for some football brain food.

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CBS's Dodd Wrongly Injects Politics into Sports

Forgive me, as I don't like to interject non-sports items into this blog. However, taking into consideration the importance of the 2008 United States Presidential Election, I feel it is completely necessary to bring this issue to light.

Just in case you didn't already despise CBS's blatant SEC homer-ism, here's one more thing to chew on. As if he has any justification, obligation or warrant to inject the 2008 United States Presidential Election into his job--college sports writer--Dennis Dodd has lowered himself to depths only reached by the likes of Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly. Frankly I'm surprised he hasn't left CBS Sports for Fox Sports.

In his sorry excuse for a column, Dodd felt it completely necessary to begin his blather with this peach of an opener:

"USC's situation is not as bad as it is made out to be. Don't be a lemming -- or an Obama supporter. Think for yourself on this issue."

Sir, I have thought for myself. I will vote for Obama, but it's sure as hell not due to your thoughtful analysis that I must not think for myself.

Dodd's comment is in fact so left-field, so ridiculous that I was tempted to just ignore it and continue not-reading his work. If it were about Joe Paterno being too old, or the SEC's (mythical) speed, I definitely would have let this pass by like a big shit after my morning coffee. Not now, not this time. This CBS writer has fallen to the lowest reaches of shameful, asserting that, lacking any and all substantiation, that if you are a voter supporting Obama, you must be a mindless follower, a blind minion. That, sir, is bullshit. You sir, are nothing more than bullshit.

Dodd has the audacity, the self-righteousness to not only plug his personal, unsolicited opinion into his work, but to slam it over our heads in the lead. This is offensive, and I'm not going to back down. I read (on the rare occasions that I do) CBS Sports for coverage of just that--SPORTS. I do not go to the college football page looking for anyone's political spin. If CBS's editorial crew was willing to let that line go, they should be ashamed of themselves.

I will never, ever tell anyone who to vote for. I may not agree with everyone I meet, and I will always engage them in serious debate over the issues and candidates. However, as Dodd and his minions at CBS fail to do, I will never mock someone for their choices. I will never accuse someone of not thinking for themselves, without first listening to their case for those ideas. Dodd doesn't think that way, though. He would rather throw out some lame, unsubstantiated allegation, a claim that he most likely didn't think of on his own.

So I leave it to Mr. Dodd. He can either issue a concise argument validating his charge against Obama supporters, or he can just apologize to the more than 18 million American voters who are, apparently, just not thinking for themselves.

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Dodd and Mandel: Gotta love hatin'em

Dennis “Douche” Dodd over at CBS(EC) joined our good buddy Stewart Mandel, in choosing Pittsburgh over Penn State in the really early rankings. I just don’t get it. These guys get paid?

What they’re saying, through ranking Pitt over PSU, is that Dave Wannstedt’s three non-winning seasons will translate into a higher ranking than Penn State’s three nine-plus winning seasons, a conference title, a BCS Bowl win, and three straight bowl wins against the ACC, SEC and Big XII in that same timeframe. Unbelievable.

I really don’t want to go through this whole thing again. So, I’ll just refer you back to my original Pitt/PSU rankings argument I posted just after Stewie released his back in January.


Email: ZombieNationPSU@gmail.com

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