Schadenfreude watch list 2010
A comment by MGoShoe in the ESPN pre-pre-season rankings thread about Penn State being on his "schadenfreude watch list" got me started thinking about that. It's way too early, of course, but that's what being a football-obsessed blog participant is all about...
So, let's put PSU on the watch list. Who else?
One obvious candidate is Southern Cal, only 5-4 in the Pac 10 last year, now with a new coach and his daddy, a tricky situation for a young QB to adjust to. Could be a long year.
I have three teams that make the list every year...MSU, OSU, and ND!
Florida and Texas will both be breaking in new QBs this year. After the success both programs have had lately, it's easy to see why their fanbases could be fuel for Schaudenfreude for a lot of people.
Gilbert whatshisface isn't going to be one of them. Kid's a player. If anything, they're actually UPGRADING over Colt McCoy.
So, this guy will be an upgrade on the winningest QB in the history of college football? Didn't he not play so well in the bowl game? I wouldn't be so sure about him being an upgrade over McCoy right away.
I thought he played pretty well in the bowl game. The amount of drops was just outlandish(and led to poor statistics), that was more of a display of how important rhythm, timing, and chemistry is between the QB and receivers (Which is why a certain University needs to pick between two sophomores...), even more so in the Longhorns offense.
McCoy was a Heisman finalist and a 4-year starter. Gilbert has never started a game. He is not an upgrade in his first year of starting.
While I agree that Garrett Gilbert will be a good player and Texas getting back to an offense that will allow them to run the ball more isn't a bad thing, Colt McCoy was also the winningest QB in NCAA history. It will be hard for a 4 year starting senior to compare to McCoy, let alone a Sophmore starting for his first time this year.
huh? I can read it.
Don't be a dick, he made good points.
If Gilbert wins a NC while he's at Texas, I think they will hold him in higher regard than Colt, assuming that the years he doesn't are good years as well.
Really? Because their uniforms are god awful? I'm confused.
...schadenfreude requires a high quotient of douchey fans. It's the fans who are the recipients of our schadenfreude, not the teams themselves. The fact that the Ducks lost to the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl has nothing to do with this.
Douchey fans: OSU, MSU, ND, PSU, Illinois come readily to mind to me in the Big 10. Also, Bama, Tennessee, USC and WVU among many others.
...I said anything about Texas fans and their douchiness since I have no opinion on that. The few I know are ok sorts. Hopefully they'll join the Big 10 and we'll get to know just how douchey you are. I could ask my brother who lives in Austin, but he's an MSU alum who's douchey about all things MSU/U-M.
the SEC East is wide open, and relatively weak versus recent history because Tennessee and Georgia are both going through some pains right now. Vandy is back to being Vandy after a couple of years of being somewhat dangerous. And South Carolina is always a bit of a mystery, always seeming to underperform versus expectations. I admit I know little to nothing about Kentucky in 2010, though they were decent last year.
John Brantley has taken some meaningful snaps for the Gators, so although he's a new starter, this is his third year in the program and I suspect while he won't set the world on fire, he won't be awful either.
Gators do have relatively tough draw with the teams they play in the West. They go to Tuscaloosa, and play LSU. But I'll be a little surprised if they aren't the team representing the East in the SEC title game.
I'm going to be rational for a second and say Michigan State.
I was going to say Georgia but then I realized it's a "Shadenfreude" watch list, I don't necessarily take pleasure in UGA struggling. I think they may be in trouble though because of paper thin depth at QB, that may even get thinner.
never get old as a dig on this blog. +1
ND - new coach, new system, new QB. The problem here, however, is seeing a difference from previous years to really get a sense of their hardships as they relate to ours. It might perhaps be difficult to discern transition pains from just regular ongoing sucking pains.
will forever be on my list.
I am currently getting my Master's from Purdue (just finished this year yesterday..yay) and yet I still totally agree with you. They are so annoying. With the whole TIller drama over Roundtree and the back and forth between Danny (no) Hope and RR last year...ugh. If they think Marve is going to save them, they need to think that there was a reason he didn't play at Miami.
how many times did they blow that f'ing steam whistle at your commencement?
announcer: "master's recipient, LearmanJ"
steam whistle: TOOT TOOT
crowd: "BOILER UP!"
steam whistle: TOOT TOOT
crowd: "BOILER UP!"
steam whistle: TOOT TOOT
crowd: "BOILER UP!"
I wish I knew how many times they blew it at my commencement...but I have one more year. I know they blow that f'n thing 148,879 (approximately) times per football game.
OSU had some tastey schadenfreude last year, I can only hope they have some again this year.
But the watchlist includes all your favorite regulars: MSU, ND, PSU, etc
Toney Clemons
just pure teams that will struggle view? Teams that have alot of talent year in and year out that will struggle this year.
ND
USC
PSU
Oregon
WVU
| Sep 4 | Connecticut | |
| Sep 11 | @Notre Dame | 3:30pm |
| Sep 18 | Massachusetts | |
| Sep 25 | Bowling Green | |
| Oct 2 | @Indiana | |
| Oct 9 | Michigan St. | |
| Oct 16 | Iowa | |
| Oct 30 | @Penn St. | 8:00pm |
| Nov 6 | Illinois | |
| Nov 13 | @Purdue | |
| Nov 20 | Wisconsin | |
| Nov 27 | @Ohio St. |
of the "Best Comment" award!
[Contest judged by the OP.]
I know expectations won't exactly be high, but still, for a major program like the Vols, this is going to be a schadenfreude-tastic season.
I'm counting getting Lane Kiffin out of Knoxville a win in the long run. But it could be a pretty bad season.
with all the trouble they've had, and with Kiffin no longer there, I'm not sure I WANT to see them do bad. I kind of feel bad for them.
In Tennessee, they still whine that Charles Woodson "stole Peyton Manning's Heisman." That hatred is part of why they blew out UM in a bowl game a few years ago. The chances of me ever feeling sorry for UT are only slightly more than those of me feeling sorry for OSU or MSU. In other words, I will enjoy every UT loss.
I have lived in TN, which is a beautiful state, for a little over a year now. I make it a point not to bring up too much Michigan stuff around my co-workers. We were out to lunch one day when a video of Manning came up on the big screen. One guy immidiately says it was the biggest travesty in college football that he didn't win the Heisman. Well, I wasn't going to let that stand without a fight. I actually think I won over the few guys at the table as they kept saying it is supposed to go to the best offensive player in the country. I assured them it is supposed to be awarded to the "best football player period". They actually kind of quieted down after that and started saying things like "Well Manning is a way better pro anyway." Yes, everyone in TN hates Michigan football for that reason STILL!
..but his dad turned around their defense in one year. UT could be in some pretty severe trouble without him. Losing Eric Berry will really hurt them, too. This year, they will probably be wishing for the days when Steve Spurrier once said, "You can't spell 'Citrus Bowl' without UT."
Mark "I'm a creepy buckeye fan" Dantonio
MSU and Purdue .... yeah ... screw Dantonio and Hope!
Maybe it's just me, but I'd like to get back to beating ND actually meaning something, and The Game being a clash of titans for the Big Ten championship or more. (Think back, not much is more satisfying to see than the look on a Buckeye fan's face when their undefeated season and shot at the NC was just ended by ours truly.)
I like that Penn State has found its way back in the past few years, and that Iowa or Wisconsin are constantly looming to step up, but we haven't been holding up our end of the bargain (and neither has Notre Dame).
Other than the usual Big10 teams, I'm going to say Auburn. It seems like Gene Chizik is purposefully targeting Michigan recruits in the South for negative recruitment. D. Hart started questioning Rich Rod's job security after his Auburn visit, and Kris Frost recently took an Auburn visit and magically "The Michigan coaching situation will play a large part in his recruitment."
I will make a large effort to mock Auburn fans if their team struggles this year. Chizik and Dantonio are pieces of garbage for their recruiting methods, IMO.
I don't think that kind of attitude helps you (i.e., Chizik and Dantonio) with your players. It creates an undercurrent of dishonesty. Relationships built on lies rarely work well.
So that increases the chances of sweet schadenfreude for us with regard to these two programs in the near future.
Living in LA it makes me happy when they lose. All I ever hear is SEC, LSU blah blah blah....
Texas Tech - Leach was the only good thing to happen to that school in its history, and they ran him off the team because some whiny kid couldn't handle being treated as a lazy player. Did Leach perhaps step over the line a bit? Sure, but not more than most high-profile coaches in America, and certainly not in a way that really threatened the safety of his players. I want them to struggle through another 20+ years of irrelevance so that they realize how dumb they were.