CFB Week 2 “Previews”
Posted: September 6, 2012 Filed under: CFB Weekly Picks | Tags: Central Washington, Counciltucky, Craig T. Nelson, Exxon Valdez, Iowa Western, Joe Esposito, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, McFogg the Dog, Michael J. Fox, North Dakota, Portland State, Potato Bowl USA, River Pirates, Simon Fraser, SUNY Maritime, Trinity Valley, You're the Best Leave a comment »As we have already established, a favorite MegaBracket pastime is to “preview” upcoming events with a plethora of random information. The college football season is no different as the sheer number of games played each week allows us to pick games at random and learn a little more about the colleges, players, coaches, and towns involved. Several different MB members contribute throughout the season with previews of their own. Each week’s collation will be published in one easy-to-find post.
[Ed. Note: If you would like to add your own contribution, simply e-mail it in and we will include it in the appropriate week’s previews.]
Iowa Western @ Trinity Valley – Saturday, September 8 @ 3:00 pm CDT
Author: Ryan
Mascots
Iowa Western – Reivers. According to the school website, the simple answer is that a Reiver is a River Pirate. Apparently there used to be River Pirates on the Missouri River, and when some random student suggested the name it was voted on and became the official mascot. Their logo and actual physical mascot is a pirate with an eye patch and earings, as even on the river losing an eye is a pirate staple.
Trinity Valley – Cardinals. Not a lot of history on their site, so I’m going to assume someone just picked a bird at random and it stuck for their mascot.
Advantage – Reivers. They had me at River Pirate.
Coaching Staff (Most Awesome Member)
Iowa Western – Tie between OL Coach Dane Uperesa and DL Coach Richard Glover Jr. Uperesa is a former University of Hawaii star and member of both the Colts and Bengals practice squads. Apparently his wife is in dental school at Creighton so he ended up in the Omaha area, which has to be fascinating for him. Glover is the son of former Nebraska star Rich Glover, winner of the 1972 Outland and Lombardi awards. He was selected as a starting DT in SI’s NCAA All-Century Team in 1999. Lil’ Rich Jr. played college ball at New Mexico State and had a brief stint with Tampa Bay in the NFL. Also, please check out Head Coach Scott Strohmeier’s Senior Photo – http://www.goreivers.com/sports/coaches.asp?sport=football.
Trinity Valley – J Pond. J is a former Offensive Lineman at Texas A&M who according to T Valley still holds a number of lifting records at the school. Also, his name is J.
Advantage – Iowa Western. That was just too much for J to overcome.
Best Player Names
Iowa Western – Tie between Sophomore Punter Carr Terpstra and Freshman WR Geronimo Allison. Sadly the Iowa Western site is very bad at player photos.
Trinity Valley – After finally finding a roster in the “In the News” section, I have to go with Fresham OL Danie Sweet, who just sounds adorable.
Advantage – Trinity Valley, because I don’t want to make Danie Sweet sad.
Locations
Iowa Western – Council Bluffs, IA. Affectionately known as The ‘Tuck for its similarity to all things Kentucky, this lovely riverside village has been shunned by the rest of its state, as well as its neighbors across the river in Omaha. Named for the 1804 meeting between the Lewis & Clark Expedition with the Otoe tribe, when The Council Bluffs became the name for the land on both sides of the Missouri River north of the mouth of the Platte River. For a while the actual town was named Kanesville, named for benefactor Thomas L. Kane who helped negotiate for Mormons to use the land adjacent to the Missouri River as a winter encampment. Eventually the Gold Rush happened and the majority of the Mormon community left to Utah. After which, the town was renamed Council Bluffs. As many of us know (although not that it had this name), CB is home to Casino Row, where drunk Nebraskans pour money into the Iowa economy. The city’s mascot is the black squirrel. A few notable residents include John McCain’s father, a former Navy Admiral, and David Yost, Billy the Blue Power Ranger.
Trinity Valley – TV actually has campuses in Athens, Kaufman, Palestine and Terrell, TX, but the athletic department address is in Athens, so that’s what we are going with. I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume they were named for another famous Athens, maybe that one in Georgia? Athens has a solid food history, with a claim to the creation of the first hamburger. John Murchison created the sandwich, not named hamburger at the time, in the late 1880s at his lunch counter. Other food notes, Bonnie and Clyde frequented a café next to the County Courthouse in Athens, and the Athens Dairy Queen was used as a design example for DQs across the country. Athens is also called “The Black Eyed Pea Capital of the World”.
Advantage – I’m guessing Athens has a lot on CB, but hamburgers and DQ are enough to win this one. Trinity Valley.
Notable Alumni
Iowa Western – Not a lot to find for either team, other than former football players. The team has only been around since 2009, but they have sent a couple guys to Iowa, Dan Heiar, Joe Audlehelm, Sean Skradis, Andrew Dawson, and Eric Simmons. I’m not sure how much I can count Wegher as an alumni, but he was there for a time I guess.
Trinity Valley – With a much longer history, TV has put tons of guys in DI and many players in the NFL. Some of the biggest names are Rock Cartwright, Ahtyba Rubin, Matt Bryant, and Hall of Famer John Randle.
Advantage – No competition here, Trinity Valley. Not enough time for Iowa Western to build up their football alumni base, and neither school has any other notable alumni listed.
Decision
Trinity with the big comeback late to take it 3-2.
SUNY Maritime @ Massachusetts Maritime Academy – Friday, September 7 @ 6:00 pm CDT
“Chowder Bowl”
Author: Bristol
Mascots
SUNY Maritime – Privateers.
Massachusetts Maritime Academy – Buccaneers.
Advantage – Buccaneers. Not surprisingly, both mascots are related to the sea. Sadly, I was unable to locate any pictures of costumed mascots. SUNY Maritime’s logo is an old, old wooden ship (named “Diversity” I believe) while MMA’s logo is of a bearded, burly pirate holding a sword and shaking his fist at some unseen enemy. Or perhaps at whoever applied all that mascara. Nevertheless, a slightly effeminate Blackbeard still beats a ship.
Coaching Staff (Most Awesome Member)
SUNY Maritime – Offensive Coordinator Ed Gardella. Coach Gardella begins his first season as offensive coordinator of the Privateers’ triple option offense. Gardella spent more than 30 years as a high school coach in the tri-state area, coaching future NFL players Ramon Guzman, Sam Garnes and Dequan Mobley. His future is so bright, he has to wear shades.
Massachusetts Maritime Academy – Ed Borden. No biographical information on the MMA coaches page, just awkward-looking pictures of the coaches wearing shirts and ties. However, Coach Borden appears to be wearing a shirt that is too long, a tie that is too short and probably no pants.
Advantage – MMA. No pants always beats sunglasses.
Best Player Names
SUNY Maritime – Chrisrichard Jean-Baptiste. One first name and one last name are simply not enough. Honorable mention to Bill Cosby’s long lost grandson Andrew.
Massachusetts Maritime Academy – David Yerxa. Not a while to choose from here. The academies also shot a hole in my best hair category from last week.
Advantage – Jean-Baptiste. Very disappointing category this time around.
Locations
SUNY Maritime – Throggs Neck, NY. This is a narrow spit of land in the southeastern portion of the Bronx that demarcates the passage between the East River and Long Island Sound. The peninsula was named Vriedelandt, “Land of Peace” by the Dutch. The British attempted to land there in 1776 but were repealed by George Washington and his troops. The movies Awakenings and The Departed were filmed in Throggs Neck.
Massachusetts Maritime Academy – Buzzard’s Bay, MA. Buzzards Bay was settled by Europeans in 1621 and named for the birds that circled the area. The “buzzards” were likely either turkey vultures or ospreys. Buzzards Bay is home to the National Marine Life Center, a marine animal hospital, science, and education center dedicated to rehabilitating stranded sea turtles, seals, dolphins, porpoises, and small whales.
Advantage – Tie. I simply cannot choose between Throggs Neck and Buzzards Bay. I can’t and won’t.
Notable Alumni
SUNY Maritime –Astronaut Scott Kelly; Kevin Mannix, the commander of the Blue Angels; Joseph Hazelwood, master of the Exxon Valdez (not sure I would put that in the promotional materials); and Geraldo Rivera, who attended for 3 years but did not graduate
Massachusetts Maritime Academy – Naval Commander Emory Rice, who rammed and sank a German U-boat while in command of a freighter in World War I; Captain Shane Murphy, the Chief Mate of the Maersk Alabama during the attempted hijacking in April of 2009.
Advantage – MMA. MMA has two guys who fought and defeated enemies at sea. SUNY Maritime has a guy responsible for one of the worst disasters in the history of the world. And the captain of the Exxon Valdez.
Decision
MMA takes this one 3-1-1.
Portland State @ North Dakota – Saturday, September 8 @ 6:05 pm CDT
The Potato Bowl USA is a weeklong festival teaming the University of North Dakota and the Red River Valley potato growing industry and was created in 1865. The week kicked off with Hugo’s Hidden Medallion Contest on Monday. The person who found the medallion won $1,200 worth of groceries from Hugo’s and four free tickets to the football game. Tonight is the World’s Largest French Fry Feed and Fireworks at University Park & Memorial Stadium in Grand Forks, ND. Don’t miss tomorrow night’s Potato Bowl Bash at Big D’s Bar & Grill featuring 80’s and 90’s rock band S.O.L.
Author: Bristol
Mascots:
Portland State – Vikings. Pictures of Victor E. Viking can be found here, here and here.
North Dakota – Fighting Sioux. The NCAA has demanded UND drops the nickname, deeming it offensive. The school and the NCAA have been in a legal battle for several years. Some members of Sioux tribes support the nickname while others want it removed. In other words, some people like it, some people hate it, and the government is telling everyone what to do. Kind of like everything else in life.
Advantage – Portland State. Unless Leif Erickson’s descendants start suing Portland State, Victor E. Viking wins this one in a landslide.
Coaching Staff (Most Awesome Member)
Portland State – Tie – Run game coordinator/offensive line coach Brad Davis was a starting offensive lineman for the University of Oklahoma’s 2002 National Championship team and has coached at Southern University, Wayne State College, Doane College, Texas A&M, North Carolina & Portland State. Linebackers coach/recruiting coordinator Lester Towns was a team captain and All-Pac-10 linebacker at the University of Washington before playing seven seasons in the NFL for Carolina, Arizona and Miami. T0wns set the Carolina rookie tackles record in 2000 and played in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
Fun historical coaching fact – The Run & Shoot offense was first installed at Portland State by Mouse Davis in the 1970s. His QBs at the time were Neil Lomax, who went on to a long NFL career, and June Jones, who is still coaching the Run & Shoot (and zero defense) at SMU.
North Dakota – Cornerbacks coach Wes Nurse was a three-year starter at safety for Boise State and was named first team All-WAC honors and the Broncos’ Defensive MVP in 2003 when he was also a team captain. He has coached at Capital High School in Boise, Boise State, The Citadel, Houston & UC Davis.
Advantage – Portland State. A national champion and an NFL player outweigh Boise State’s defensive MVP from 2003. (Extra demerits for UND’s head coach having played at Iowa State.)
Best Player Names
Portland State – Tie – Henry Organ and Joey Esposito. His dad’s name is Joe Esposito, but not that Joe Esposito. Joey has overcome two bouts with cancer to continue his football career. Random fact – RB D.J. Adams played 2 years at Maryland, setting a school freshman record with 11 rushing TD’s in 2010, including 4 in the Military Bowl against East Carolina.
North Dakota – Conrad Schwarzkopf. Honorable mention goes to R.J. McGill’s bowtie.
Advantage – Portland State. Even if your dad isn’t the Joe Esposito, if your name is Joey Esposito, You’re the Best.
Location
Portland State – Portland, OR. Rose City is one of the most environmentally friendly cities in the world. The city is also known for its large number of microbreweries and microdistilleries as well as its food carts and coffee enthusiasm. It’s 40 breweries are more than any other city in the world. Being such a large city, it is the home of many awesome things: Paul Revere & the Raiders, Matt Groening, Sam Elliott, Sally Struthers, Beverly Cleary and the drafting of Greg Oden.
North Dakota – Grand Forks, ND. The Grand Cities include Grand Forks and its twin city, East Grand Forks, MN. The city lies in the flat region known as the Red River Valley and is prone to flooding with the extreme case being the devastating Red River Flood of 1997. The city was started in 1870 when Alexander Griggs’ steamboat froze in the Red River in late 1870. They spent the winter camping there and the community was incorporated within 11 years. Notable people from Grand Forks include the inventor of the block heater, Andrew Freeman, and Roger Maris.
Advantage – Portland State. This is getting to be a rout, but I’ve been to Portland and it’s gorgeous. Also, Sam Elliott’s mustache is from there.
Notable Alumni
Portland State – Jean M. Auel, author of The Clan of the Cave Bear; Carolyn Davidson, the creator of the swoosh; former NFL player Neil Lomax and Clint Didier; 2002 Miss America Katie Harman; Holly Madison from “The Girls Next Door”; Pitcher Jeff Lahti, a member of the 1982 World Series Champion Cardinals; late MLB player Steve Olin; and actress/singer Courtney Love, who attended but did not graduate.
North Dakota – Sally J. Smith, the current president and CEO of Buffalo Wild Wings (note to Sally – do something about the Moore restaurant, it’s average on it’s best day); essayist and journalist Chuck Klosterman; America’s Next Top Model winner Nicole Linkletter; former (and future?) NBA coach Phil Jackson; NFL player Jim Kleinsasser; and a slew of NHL players including Ed Belfour (btw, you can bid on an autographed Ed Belfour puck with proceeds benefiting the UND Athletic Department here – at $20 right now, it’s a steal!).
Advantage – North Dakota. A random collection of alumni, even by MegaBracket’s standards. However, 9-time NBA Champion coach Phil Jackson secures the win for North Dakota.
Decision
Phil Jackson avoids the shutout but Portland wins 4-1 in a romp.
Central Washington @ Simon Fraser – Saturday, September 8 @ 4:00 pm CDT
Simon Fraser makes its home debut as the first international member of the NCAA.
Author: Bristol
Mascots
Central Washington – Wildcats, specifically Wellington P. Wildcat. Wellington has Facebook and Twitter. Well, sort of – he tweeted twice on October 6, 2009 and never since. Good work, Wellington! Also, Wellington hates the library.
Simon Fraser – Clan. This is not a racist-based nickname but rather a Scottish-based nickname. The physical mascot is a Scottish Terrier named McFogg the Dog. As you can see from his Facebook and Twitter pages, he is much more adept with social media than Wellington. He also had a great time at the SFU career fair in 2011.
Advantage – McFogg the Dog. Wellington is lucky I can’t award negative points.
Coaching Staff (Most Awesome Member)
Central Washington – Offensive line coach John Gariano. No biographical information is given, but no biographical information is needed.
Simon Fraser – Offensive Coordinator Jason Beck. Beck played QB at BYU, serving as the primary backup for John Beck (no relation) for 3 years. He has had coaching stops at BYU, LSU & Weber State before joining Simon Fraser. He also had an excellent picture while at BYU.
Advantage – Central Washington. Like many great pro wrestlers of the past, I bet Coach Gariano is from “parts unknown”. And if you can’t beat out John Beck you aren’t winning anything.
Best Player Names
Central Washington – Osayande Aikhionbare. Honorable mention to Josef Kistler‘s hair and happiness and Griffin Squires‘ disgusting goatee/beard/squirrel.
Simon Fraser – WR Keyon Slowly. Honorable mention to Bibake Uppal‘s beard and the fact that they have a QB from Finland on their roster.
Advantage – Central Washington. Whatever that thing is on Griffin Squires’ face terrifies me, so it wins.
Location
Central Washington – Ellensburg, WA. The county seat of Kittitas County is just east of the Cascade Range on Interstate 90. The city made a bid for the state capital in the late 19th century, losing out to Olympia. Ellenburg hosts the annual Winterhop Brewfest in January as well as Dachshunds on Parade. Current or former residents of Ellenburg include former NFL QB Drew Bledsoe, all four members of the grunge band Screaming Trees and actor Brian Thompson (Buffalo Bob from Joe Dirt).
Simon Fraser – Burnaby, BC. We already spotlighted the city of Burnaby when we learned about the Western Lacrosse Association. The biggest thing to recall is that Burnaby was where actor Michael J. Fox. grew up and attended high school.
Advantage – Simon Fraser. Drew Bledsoe, Buffalo Bob and lots of dachshunds cannot beat Michael J. Fox. Not now, not ever.
Notable Alumni
Central Washington – NFL QB John Kitna; basketball coach Dean Nicholson, who combined with his father Leo to win 1,114 games at CWU, the most by a father-son duo in college basketball history; Stephen L. Nelson, author of “Quicken for Dummies” and 150 other books in the series; Roland “Sandy” Wheeler, the inventor of the Bowflex; and actor Craig T. Nelson
Simon Fraser – Former Toronto Raptors head coach Jay Triano; Pakalitha Mosisili, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho; professional lacrosse player Curtis Hodgson; and Francesco Aquilini, owner of the Vancouver Canucks
Advantage – Coach.
Decision
Michael J. Fox tied it at 2, but Craig T. Nelson unties it for a 3-2 Central Washington victory. That’s what superstars do, especially those with middle initials.
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