Tailgating: What’s College Without It?

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to travel to Columbus, OH for business.  Much like Sam, my favorite time during my job is when my two favorite things, sports and public relations combine. This “business” just happened to center around The Ohio State vs. Miami football game, a game that was being hailed throughout the previous week as THE game to watch. Did it turn out to be a great game? Not really. Unless a great game to you is watching one team dominate the other in all three arenas – offense, defense and special teams. And, I suppose if you’re an Ohio State fan, this is the type of game you like to watch.

Buckeye Stadium

The real impact made from my trip to campus had more to do with pre-game traditions. I went to a very small school and while I received a wonderful education, met solid people, developed solid friendships and good memories – I never tailgated. Can you believe it? I truly believe there is something missing from your college experience when you don’t. Maybe that is why I love college football so much now, in my mid-twenties. The tailgaters at The Ohio State seem to know how to do it right. Everyone from age 0-60 was dressed in red and white. They brought grills, boom boxes, games, magazines, padded chairs, you name it. And the best part– they offer every passerby to share in their tailgate. They try and welcome strangers in as family and I was offered several beers while perusing the various set ups. The air was slightly chilled that day, perfect for football and comradery. The spirit in the air and people yelling O-H-I-O as they walked into the stadium for kick off gave me goose bumps. And while I didn’t get to see the game, I was happy to be on campus to just get that special Big Ten tailgate feeling.

Tailgating at OSU

What is your best tailgating memory? Was your school big on it? Is it college football WITHOUT the tailgating?

Talk to us, we’d love to hear!

–Laura

Football is Upon Us! 2010 College Football Preview

As Laura alluded to yesterday, we here at Chicks Dig Sports are completely tickled that it’s fall. There are multiple reasons for this: we hate humidity, we love fall scents and we’re absolutely and totally crazy about football. It’s not that we don’t have exciting and fun summer flings with baseball, casually date basketball or have a committed relationship with hockey. But football? Well it’s our one true love. The one we’re absolutely crazy about and, if we had to choose, would hands down be the single sport we could watch the rest of our lives.

While we still have to wait a little over a week for the NFL to start, it is college football eve. We’re so excited (and you should be too!) Hell, I say we’d consider smacking a big smooch on Lee Corso. Below you’ll find our top pre-season college coaching stories and our predictions for the 2010 NCAA season. Don’t hold your breath folks, this is a long one! 🙂  

Coaching Carousel

Every off-season, the coaching carousel spins round and round and this year is no exception. These coaches are the ones to watch as they have the most to gain (and lose!) this season.

Lane Kiffin-as most of you know, I’m not a fan of the man, to put it lightly. I find him to be classless, arrogant and have no respect for the game. His inaugural rookie NCAA head coach season was lukewarm at best, how is he going to fair with a storied program like USC?  Well, it really doesn’t matter, to tell you the truth, because USC is ineligible for bowl games until 2013. So Kiffin can go undefeated, but if he doesn’t, and he fails like he’s pretty much done with every program he’s touched, it doesn’t matter, cause they aren’t eligible anyway. Consider me pissed he has an automatic two-year cushion.

Rich Rodriguez-Michigan is in the running for my least favorite team in the entire sporting world. I enjoy their losing almost as much as I enjoy watching Penn State win. That being said, Rich Rod is on thin ice, this season will be make or break for him. After two dismal seasons and a pathetic “I wasn’t aware of what was going on” excuse and the man is already on borrowed time.

Urban Meyer-He goes on an indefinite leave of absence, he’s back, he’s sick, he’s not, he’s coaching. I suppose if I was Urban Meyer, I’d go through a crisis with Tebow graduating, but his back and forth was completely unnecessary and absolutely absurd. Most coaches, when they lose their marquee player (which in a best case scenario happens every four years), regroups and devises a new plan of attack. Meyer throws a public hissy fit in front of the nation and, after assessing that his squad will be competitive enough to compete this season, comes back. Pressure’s on Urban, but only because YOU brought it by your silly antics.

Brian Kelly-First year Notre Dame Coach…do we need to say anything else?

Conference Predictions:

Big Ten

• Sam’s Pick: Iowa. Fresh off an Orange Bowl win and with Stanzi back in charge, these corn-fed Iowa boys have been chomping at the bit to continue their success of recent seasons. Add in the fact that Pryor just can’t seem to get it together in the big game and the Hawkeyes should have a clear path to the Rose Bowl if they play smart.
• Laura’s Pick: Terrell Pryor will come into his own this year. He’s athletic and a born leader, with all the practice he’s put in over the off-season his throw should be better now too. He may never be the total package, but he’ll come pretty close this season and lead Ohio State to win the conference.

Big 12 North

• Sam’s Pick: Nebraska. Is there anyone else worth mentioning in this division? Plus they have one more chance to make their mark before jumping ship for the Big Ten next year.
• Laura’s Pick: Nebraska. For reasons above.

Big 12 South

• Sam’s Pick: Texas Tech. In a good position with dual QB’s Potts and Sheffield, Texas Tech is way better off than conference rivals Texas and Oklahoma who have extremely green QBs. (Obviously, Laura has more faith in Jones that I do.)
• Laura’s Pick: Oklahoma. Landry Jones was forced into a leadership role before he was ready and onto the national stage when Sam Bradford went down. He’s gotten experience under his belt and coaches don’t come better than Bob Stoops, with him at the head of the program the Sooners are always, calm, cool, collected and all football, all the time. I do hope Oklahoma State give them a run for their money – I love that team, they play with so much heart and their coach, well, “He’s a man, he’s forty!”

PAC 10

• Sam’s Pick: Oregon. Always a solid program, the Ducks have USC out of contention this year. Look for them to shine through a victory in the Civil War and secure a spot in the Rose Bowl.
• Laura’s Pick: Stanford–Andrew Luck is a stud, this potential Heisman candidate and badass (former Bear) Jim Harbagh have this division locked up.

Big East:

• Sam’s Pick: Syracuse. Why the hell not? Cincinnati surely isn’t repeating.
• Laura’s Pick: Pitt. Wandstadt is valuable sometimes right?…Right?

WAC

• Sam’s Pick:  Boise State. Love everything about Boise State down to their blue field. Shame the BCS will never allow them to play for the national championship, even with consecutive undefeated seasons.
• Laura’s Pick: Boise State. I just love this program, always the unsung hero of college football. These guys have great talent, coaching but often miss out on the national stage.

*Note the same reasoning for TCU to take it all in the Mountain West.

ACC

• Sam’s Pick: Miami. This is Miami’s comeback year. They’ve been middling since the departure of Shockey, McGahee and *gasp* Dorsey in the early 00’s. This year, they’re poised to return to their glory days and be right where they belong at the top of the division.
• Laura’s Pick: Virginia Tech. Always a solid program. With a weak division like the ACC, they should be able to easily play their way into a New Year’s Day bowl game.

SEC

• Sam’s Pick: Alabama. Ingram’s knee trouble may be a factor, but Alabama led by veteran coach Nick Saban, has all the tools to make another title run. Factor in a Tebow-less Florida (Urban Meyer’s built-in excuse) and the hardest division in college football should be prime for the taking.
• Laura’s Pick: Alabama. Nick Saban is the most no-nonsense coach in college ball and you’ve got to love his halftime interviews. With Ingram returning and a corral of running back studs and McElroy turning out not half bad performances most of the time, I would say they’re a lock. Sometimes it can be hard to repeat, as long as they don’t crumble underneath self-imposed pressure, they should lock things up.

BCS Championship Game

• Sam’s Pick: Alabama vs. Ohio State. Not because they’re pre-season #1 and #2, but because they will have time to stumble early on (by both losing to PSU ;-)) and will have plenty of time to steady out to regain the #1 and #2 spots.
• Laura’s Pick: Oklahoma vs. Ohio State.

That’s a wrap, folks! What are your thoughts?? We KNOW you have some, and we’re always up for discussion! What do you agree with? What are we totally off on? Which of the four coaches is on the thinnest of ice? Who are the sleepers?

In case you’ve been living under a rock, you can find the full pre-season AP list here.

As always, talk to us people…have we mentioned how much we love fall?  🙂

–The Chicks