Greetings from Chicago

In the Windy City as the flights, hotels and travel to South Bend was a bit over the top.

UConn coach Randy Edsall said something interesting on Tuesday. I have been thinking about it all week. This game is not big for the players. every game is big,. but to me this is a manifistation of almost 20 years of hard work and vision.

Notre Dame is college football. It's the most recognizable name in the sport and even when they are mediocre, the name lingers. That UConn is playing the Irish is a big deal for the program. It represents a coming of age for the Huskies.

I still think UConn suffers the "Can you believe this?" factor. When UConn plays at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday that should end forever. UConn has proven it belongs in the big-time. That Notre Dame is playing UConn bolsters the Huskies program. Notre Dame is giving the Huskies thier imprimatur of legitamacy. If you play Notre Dame, you play serious football.

That's not Randy Edsall's thing, or the current players' things. It's the people who came before him. It's the fans and alumni of the school that tommorrow's game is special to.

As for the current Huskies?

They just better find a way to stop the big play. I think the Huskies gave up nearly a dozen big plays against Cincinnati.

UConn has no answer for Golden Tate, Michael Floyd or Kyle Rudolph. They can't cover those receivers for any length of time and there will be plays made. The only way to slow down the Irish Saturday is to get pressure on Jimmy Clausen. This is Lindsey Witten's time to shine. UConn needs a big game out of Witten and  need to get pressure. I would be reluctant to blitz often because if you don't get there Clausen will pick the defense apart. So, that means UConn is going to ahve to get pressure from the front four.

If you are looking at this as ND offense vs. UConn defense, I can't really devise a way Notre Dame can lose.

The good news is all indications are UConn will be able to run the ball on Notre Dame. It's going to have to be flat out power up the middle rushing. They did it against Cincinnati and if it were not for the big lead and forcing to pass, UConn could have rolled up well over 200 yards. Todman and Dixon have combined for 1,556 yards and 19 touchdowns this season.

That is one really good running back. The Huskies are averaging 167 yards per game on the ground. This is a retro game for the Huskies. They need to use clock, and pound the ball with the run. It doesn't have to be Internatuional Bowl-esque, but they need 40 rushes at a minimum. I would go 2 for 1 run to pass.

That takes pressure off Zach Frazer and keeps that clock moving. Want to stop Jimmy Clausen, keep him off the field. 

Hotel power is acting funny. I will see you all later.
 

High School football playoff changes

Back to my prep days, and boy did I ever like covering high school football. Will get back on that saddle Thanksgiving Week.

Here is the CIAC's new playoff format which was unanimously approved.

The format calls for four equal divisions by enrollment (down from the current six). Eight teams in each division would qualify for the playoffs. A quarterfinal round will be on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, followed by semifinals on the next Saturday and the four championship games the Saturday after that. In 2010 those dates will be November 30th (16 quarterfinals at sites of the higher ranked team), December 4th (eight semifinals at neutral sites if possible) and December 11th (four championship games at one or two sites).

The entire proposal is here. 

Thursday update

No major injures this week. Usual suspects out: Jimmy Bennett, John Yurek, Kihuan Dabney, Robbie Frey and Cody Endres.

Scout teams player of the week: Offense is Steve Greene, defense is Tevrin Brandon, and on special teams Marcus Aiken.

As far as the game.

Jordan Todman had a terrific game two weeks ago at Cincinnati with 154 yards and four touchdowns. Since Andre Dixon's 155 yard performance against Louisville, Todman has been the better back. He is ahead of Dixon on the depth chart and will start, and while they have been splitting carries, I think Todman has wrestled the starting back from Dixon again. Dixon will get carries, but Todman is adding something different to the running game.

I asked Todman about running inside, which he did well the last couple of weeks, and he said he always could run inside. He was a bit defiant about that, and to me that's a good thing.

What does Edsall see?

"Patience to the line, and speed through the hole."

The Huskies can run the ball on Notre Dame and my gameplan would be taking the air out of it and pounding the Irish with Dixon and Todman, and a lot of play action. That's just me.

Game plan for the defense? How about running Dixon and Todman and using clock.

Condolences to running backs coach Terry Richardson whose mother died after a battle with cancer on Monday. He won't be at Saturday's game.

The Huskies may be in 6th in the Big East in football, but they are tops in the league in graduating players, with 82 percent of Huskies earning degrees. That's a tremendous accomplishment for the program. It may not draw in recruits, but it should.

Edsall Kansas chatter?: I have read a couple of stories about Edsall as a replacement for Mangino at Kansas if that job opens up. Mangino is in hot water and of course Lew Perkins brought Edsall to Connecticut back in 1998 so it's natural internet chatter.  This is all speculation here of course and it's the Perkins connection that's driving this.

Just a word of caution, Edsall's buyout is still prohibitive. First off, he is getting paid about $1.5 per year, and the buyout is as follows.

"If the Coach accepts a position during the term of this agreement as a head coach at a NCAA Division I institution, or as a head coach in any professional league, the following sums will be due to the University from the Coach: $1,500,000 from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008; $1,250,000 from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009; $500,000 from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010; $400,000 from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011; and $250,000 from January 1, 2012 to August 1, 2012."

For Edsall to take the job in December (which you should for recruiting issues), then UConn is due a $1.25 buyout. Will Kansas pay that on top of what they are going to pay him and also buyout Mangino? Also, Edsall's son Cory is a junior quarterback at East Catholic. Family is always a big concern. Next year, the buyout is halved on Jan. 1. Would Kansas wait until after Jan. 1?

Edsall has no recruiting ties in the midwest and out west and I have a hard time thinking he would leave the team after what has happened this year and the chance the Huskies could make a serious run at the Big East title next season.

I would be skeptical. Also, I just don't think flat out Kansas football is that great a job.

Tuesday presser-- What is mystique?

Notre Dame is different than any other college football team. We all know that. But, many of the players don't even know why. If it wasn't for Rudy (a good movie according to Zach Frazer) I am not sure any current college players would know a thing about Notre Dame.

Why do I say that? Well, I took the time out of our interviews to give a little pop quiz to the players.

1. Name one of the Four Horseman

2. Last Notre Dame player to win the Heisman

3. Quarterback of the 1988 national championship team

4. Who was the coach of the Irish in the 1920s.

The only one that the players got, after thinking, was Tim Brown 1987 Heisman winner. None of the players had any idea who are what the four horsemen are. Now that's just unacceptable to me as a journalist to not know who the four horseman are.

I mean, it's perhaps the greatest lede in sports journalism history courtesy of Grantland Rice of the New York Herald-Tribune after an Irish destruction of Army at the Polo grounds in 1924. Who wouldn't know this? (I jest, no one I know can name them). 

“Outlined against a blue-gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below."

Now, the story goes that an Notre Dame official immediately liked the story and got the four horsemen to pose.

Now. That was the golden age of journalism and sports writing, and I don't think they will be writing as poetically about Charlie Weiss and Notre Dame Saturday. 

The Huskies are going there to play a football game and the mystique? It mean's nothing on the field.

When told that Notre Dame last won the national title in 1988, Jordan Todman smiled -- "I wasn't even born yet."

WOW. Let that sink in college football fans. It's been that long.

The Irish are a storied program, but as the Huskies go into Saturday mystique and aura aren't what they have to battle. It's Jimmy Claussen and Co. UConn will face, not the mystique.

UConn coach Randy Edsall told a nice story about how he used to wake up Sunday mornings and watch the Notre Dame game on delay with it's fast forward for time. That doesn't happen anymore. the Irish, like everyone else, are on TV a lot. There are so many college football games that I don't think it carries the same fear factor. The tradition is still there, but I think that's all that Notre Dame brings to the table. It doesn't provide an edge because with TV everyone sees South Bend. They all know what it looks like.

So, when you hear sports media obsessing over Notre Dame, and fans obsessing over Nootre Dame, that has little effect on the game. Players today don't know Notre Dame as I do, and I am only 32. It's been 21 years since the Irish were national champs.

UConn doesn't have to play that Notre Dame on Saturday, it has to play the current one -- a struggling unit that has one of the best offenses in college football. A good team, but hardly invincible.

Okay, let's move on.

*Jordan Todman is now listed ahead of Andre Dixon at running back. Todman has played terrific the last three weeks and Dixon hasn't been as productive. What's most impressive about Todman is he is showing he can run inside. Dixon will get carries to spell Todman, but the Huskies have made a point to get this explosive and productive player the ball. With Robbie Frey out and Meme Wylie available, but haven't played in a month, the third running back is --- Little Nicky Williams. Williams is a WR and PR, but the true frosh has also worked at running back. If need be, Anthony Sherman can also carry the ball. There is no need to burn a Martin Hypolite redshirt.

*Zach Frazer was the guest at the podium today. Of course, he talked about his departure from Notre Dame. The biggest thing was he had three QB coaches in less than a year. David Cutcliffe recruited him and then left the program. Cutcliffe is now at Duke. In the spring of his first year, Ron Powlus was his third coach. They never quite clicked, as did Frazer with Charlie Weis. He left on amicable terms from the program and still has good friends out there.

*What's up with the defense? Too many big plays of course. That will be the key this week. Scott Lutrus can't really explain it. This defense was great earlier in the year, but has collapsed. The secondary is young, but the baptism under fire will continue this week.

*Bowl game implications: Everyone dodges this but the Huskies need to go at least 2-1 to make a bowl. If one of those games is against Notre Dame they would put themselves in almost perfect position to grab a spot at home with a win against Syracuse.

Here's why. The Irish can take the Gator Bowl away from Big East No. 2. If the Irish lose to UConn they would be 6-5 heading into a game at No. 14 Stanford. If the Irish are 7-5, the Gator Bowl would likely take a Big East No. 2 -- looking like Pitt or Cincinnati over the Irish. At 7-5, the Irish aren't likely to get the Gator Bowl according to reports. 8-4? They are going to the Gator.

How does that affect UConn? There figures to be 6 teams in the Big East Bowl eligible. If the Gator takes BE No. 2 then that would open up a spot for a potential 6-6 UConn team.

Here's a breakdown.

BCS: Cincy

Gator: Pittsburgh.

Meineke: Rutgers

Papajohns: West Virginia

International: USF

St Pete: UConn

Obviously, we can quibble with who goes where. But, put Notre Dame into the Gator, and that moves BE No. 2 down.

BCS: Cincy

Gator: ND

Meineke: Pitt

Papajohns: West Virgnia

International: USF

St Pete: Rutgers

That puts a 6-6 UConn team in the at large pool. They are not assured a bowl at 6-6. Surely, one may open, but it's too early yet. Also, a 7-5 Sun Belt or CUSA team gets a bowl before any 6-6 team (a bad rule).

Easiest thing for UConn to do is win its final three to go 7-5. But, a win over Notre Dame would put them in a strong position for a bowl bid at 6-6.

The dominoes will start to fall this week in the bowl picture.

Gotta pay the bills for now.

Field Turf at the Rent?

At the UFL game tonight,and it looks like it's a good bet that a team is coming to Hartford next season. The Rent is the kind of stadium they are looking for.

UFL comish Michael Huyghue said that as they are having stadium discussions he is asking about installing field turf. The big reason is UConn and the UFL team would be using the stadium for 12 to 13 games combined in the fall. That puts strain on the team.

I know UConn coach Randy Edsall has wanted field turf in the past, so maybe this will get AEG to move on over. The reason why not? International soccer.

Major games are played at the Rent and they don't like playing on field turf. There are things that you can do to accommodate that however.

Just a note.

UFL in East Hartford

It's a bye week, but there is much more football in Connecticut.

I will be heading to the Rent to cover the New York Sentinels against the Florida Tuskers, a UFL game at Rentschler Field on Thursday night.

The UFL, if you don't know, is a new professional football league that has four teams playing this season in New York, Orlando, Los Angles and Las Vegas. The goal of the league is to serve neglected pro football markets and it's careful to not be a competitor to the NFL. the commissioner is Windsor native Michael Huyghe, who has 20 years experience in sports management and spent the majority of his time with the NFL.

I talked to Huyghe Wednesday and he said a UFL franchise in Hartford/East Hartford at Rentschler Field is likely to happen.

"Hartford is very likely,” Huyghe said. “It’s one of the top priorities and fits the model. Investors with interest, a beautiful stadium, a non-NFL city, and it’s a city that can support a pro team.”

Hartford is going to be a part of the expansion for next season and the league is almost certain to have another season. This year's UFL season was much like a soft launch. Next season the league will have an entire schedule and play home and road games.

The UFL is different from a lot of other start-up football leagues. Unlike the famed USFL, the league isn't going to directly compete with the NFL in any markets or for players. The XFL, of WWE fame, was played in the spring and the UFL will be in the fall, and important distinction according to Hughye. Also, unlike the arena football league, the game is going to be played with NFL rules and look like an NFL game.

The dreaded word minor leagues isn't something anyone wants to call the UFL, but they are going to get p;layers who aren't on NFL rosters and it's a chance for those players in the UFL to showcase themselves for the NFL.

To date, there is no other legitimate professional football league in the United States. There are so many players, and so many under-served markets, this is what the UFL is trying to go after.

It's worth a try. The other leagues seemed to think to big and were too costly out of the gate (USFL, XFL), it looks like the UFL has guarded against that. It isn't being positioned as a competitor, and there plenty of players out there to fill out rosters. The big question is, is there enough interest?

We'll find out in the next year or so. I would imagine this will be the last attempt to start a football league for quite some time if this doesn't work out.

Makes even less sense

If you don't have time, or the want, to read the arrest warrant of John Lomax, the one thing that I can tell you is that this was as senseless a tragedy as I have read about or been involved with.

There is really no motive.

The fight?

It wasn't even over a girl, it was over someone disrespecting a girl.

UConn wide receiver Brian Parker got into it with Bloomfield's Johnny Hood, the man arrested initially over something Parker said to a woman. Now, how that turned into Jasper Howard lay bleeding on the student union sidewalk is just as senseless.

Brian Parker is the hot head and instead of walking away got into a fight. That drew his teammates into the fray including A.J. Portee. Now, Hood's friends, John Lomax III and Hakim Muhammad went to the car after an initial altercation and armed themselves with knives.


Parker, A.J. Portee were involved in the argument about something I bet no one really knows.

There was security there, but eventually, Jasper Howard was isolated with Lomax and threw a punch at him. Did Howard see the knife? I don't know, but there were other people in the arrest report that were concerned that Lomax and Muhammad were armed. Perhaps Howard knew something was wrong. But, in one motion Howard was stabbed, and just like that a life was lost. Howard didn't start the fight, and he wasn't an instigator here. You can't get that from this report. Lomax approached Howard and Howard threw a punch. Lomax then allegedly stabbed him according to the report.

The details are in the 22 page arrest affidavit posted on the Courant if you haven't read it already.  I suggest you read it and come away with your own conclusions. 


Certainly Parker's actions are questionable. He was the instigator with Hood, who was arrested.

Parker and Portee haven't been arrested, which to me is peculiar since Hood has been arrested. How could Hood be arrested but not Parker and Portee when they were the one's fighting?


If Howard was never stabbed we would dismiss the action and ignore it. But, I am sure everyone involved is wondering that night what I am --"Why didn't we just walk away?"

More importantly, Lomax and Muhammad don't seem like problems. They have jobs and were up partying at a UConn dance. What are they doing with knives? Still, what possibly could have been said that would make two people go get knives and stab Howard?

Still so much to answer. And disrespecting a girl? What does that mean? Was it physical or verbal?

Still a lot of questions left to answer, but if you read the report you get an idea how the night went, and what point the stabbing death happened. We use senseless death a little too much. Sometimes people are killed or harmed over money, over love, over views on certain things. There is usually a motivation for violence. That's not to justify it, but what leads people to violence is an important part of the crime.

What was the motive here? Disrespect?

Howard lost his life because someone else felt disrespected?

Now, that's senseless.