Eleven Weeks In

We are 11 weeks into the college football season and Auburn is 11-0, so I am happy. And until any real reporting occurs, I am not losing any sleep over the Cam Newton drama that has been swirling for the last 11 days. If you have read this blog over time, you know how I feel about the media, and the faux reporting in this drama does nothing but confirm why I hold the media in low regard. The stories consist of somebody writing that somebody else told them that somebody else said x, y, or z. The sources are unnamed, or several degrees removed, or not quoted, and no evidence is given. Even the story about Newton's father admitting to having solicited cash was a report that he was alleged to have admitted to it. Lost in all this non-news are the true stories which show Newton's good character, like this one. Unless something solid and credible surfaces, the only opining I will do about Newton will relate to how he performs on the field.

Another example of media malfeasance is the way the Oregon-California game has been described. Everyone is saying Oregon might have lost if Cal didn't miss that late field goal, but nobody is bothering to mention that the reason the score was close enough for Cal to try that kick is that Oregon missed two field goals earlier in the game. Come on, guys. If you want to play "what if" with Cal's kick, you have to also play it with Oregon's, in which case Oregon would have won by even more.

Kudos are long overdue for Northwestern QB Dan Persa, one of the most underrated players in the country. Last season he lit up scoreboards and guided the Wildcats to a New Year's Day bowl game in which they almost beat Auburn, and this year he has them sitting at 7-3. Yesterday he orchestrated fourth quarter touchdown drives of 85 and 91 yards to erase a 10-point deficit and defeat Iowa. Unfortunately, he ruptured his Achilles tendon after completing the winning TD pass, a 20-yarder to Demetrius Fields with just over a minute remaining in the game.

Kudos are also owed to our service academies. Air Force and Navy have already clinched winning records this season, and Army only needs to win one of its last two games to do the same. If that happens, this will be the first time in 14 years and only the second time in 47 years that all three academies will post winning records in the same season.

And finally, based on the season to date, here is the Stanton's Space Top Twenty:

1. Oregon

2. Auburn

3. TCU

4. Boise State

5. Wisconsin

6. LSU

7. Ohio State

8. Stanford

9. Nebraska

10. Alabama

11. Michigan State

12. Arkansas

13. Oklahoma State

14. Missouri

15. Virginia Tech

16. Iowa

17. South Carolina

18. Texas A&M

19. Oklahoma

20. Mississippi State

Seven Weeks In

My last three posts have either been about college football, or mentioned college football in them. Well, make that my last four. I haven't posted in two weeks, partly because of a business trip to Chicago, and now that I am doing it again it just feels right to write about this topic.

It also feels wrong in the sense that after writing in September about Sarah missing what would have been her first two official cheerleading appearances, I have not written about the three appearances she has since made. However, we have not yet downloaded the pictures and videos from them, so I decided to hold off on until I can include the visuals.

Anyway, back to my thoughts on college football:

I am surprised that Michigan State (8th in the AP and 7th in the BCS) is not ranked higher.

I am also surprised that everyone has stopped talking about Stanford; and while I'm at it, I might as well say I'm surprised that everyone has also stopped talking about USC.

From a rival's perspective, I am thrilled that Alabama has been knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten and that Florida has been knocked from those ranks three times over. I have some good friends who are Florida fans, and I do not count some of them in what I am about to say, but -- generally speaking, Florida fans are the most obnoxious blowhards in America, have absolutely no sense of perspective, and constantly say things that show their relationship with reality to be superficial. In short, since I live in an area where I am surrounded by them and am usually forced to hear their high-decibel crowing from one end of autumn to the other, it is a fabulous feeling to have them silenced by mid-October.

Speaking about lack of perspective, allow me to look in the mirror and admit that I am sometimes guilty of that when it comes to Auburn, since I stew after each loss and tend to be overly critical of my alma matter's team. So I mean it when I say that Cam Newton is the real deal and probably the best quarterback in America. He is second in the nation in passing efficiency; fourth in rushing yards, including running backs; has 13 TD passes versus just 5 INT's; has 12 rushing TD's; and has led his team to an unbeaten record more than halfway through the season despite playing in the toughest conference in America. I am damn near ecstatic with the way he plays.

Also speaking as an Auburn man, I have to say (because nobody else will) that the poor officiating in Saturday's game went both ways. Looking at the write-ups in the national media, a lot is being said about two of Auburn's touchdowns being assisted by controversial calls...but nothing is being said about the bad call that led to an Arkansas touchdown. With Auburn ahead 30-21 in the third quarter, Arkansas went for it on 4th-and-6 and was stopped well short of the first-down marker, but a generous spot by the refs granted them a first down and they scored on the next play. In other words, that troika of calls netted the Tigers only 7 points in a game they won by 22, so for the media to focus on the two flags that benefited Auburn while completely ignoring the one that harmed them represents one more example of the anti-Auburn bias that has been evident for years. And I am not even including the pair of iffy pass interference calls that went against us, or the phantom holding call that wiped out a long reception by Darvin Adams. All I am saying is that Saturday's win was legit, not gift-wrapped, and media statements that disparage it should be ignored.

Finally, here is the Stanton's Space Top Twenty.

1. Oregon

2. Michigan State

3. Boise State

4. TCU

5. Oklahoma

6. Auburn

7. Utah

8. LSU

9. Wisconsin

10. Alabama

11. Ohio State

12. Stanford

13. Missouri

14. Iowa

15. Arkansas

16. Florida State

17. Oklahoma State

18. South Carolina

19. Mississippi State

20. Nebraska

Update, 10/21/10: Speaking of Cam Newton, as if his play wasn't enough, this article gives even more reasons to like him.