Ken Griffey Jr.’s son is an Under Armour All-American

Trey Griffey named to Under Armour All-American Game

I do not normally touch on high school stars on this site, because I feel others are better suited to comment on the student athletes than I am. But this story was one I could not let slip through the cracks.

For those who do not know, my two favorite sports are college football and baseball. For me, this is all I need to fill my sports craving. Growing up watching baseball I had the somewhat misfortune of watching some dreadful Phillies teams so you can imagine why a kid my age would be drawn to a flashy star like Ken Griffey Jr. when he was in his absolute prime. When I learned about his own Super Nintendo game I had to have it. It remains one of my favorite baseball games to this day.

Time has passed and now The Kid is all grown up with kids of his own. His son, Trey, may not follow in his father’s footsteps, or for that matter his grandfather’s, as a star baseball player but he is on his way to making a name for himself on the football field. The next Griffey superstar athlete was named to the Under Armour All-American Game on Wednesday according to a report by MaxPreps.

“I didn’t play (football) my senior year and by the time all-star games came around in baseball I was already drafted and gone,” Griffey Jr. told the Orlando Sentinel. “I’m happy, No. 1 for him, but I’m also happy for the school of Dr. Phillips and them and the coaches have the confidence that he could go out there and make plays.”

Trey Griffey will play for the East team in the game on January 5 in St. Petersburg’s Tropicana Field, site of the Beef O’Brady’s Bowl and home of baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays. This season for Dr. Phillips High School Griffey has caught 72 passes for 970 yards and 11 touchdowns and has set a few records along the way. If he has dad’s genes I can imagine he is quite the receiver. His dad not only had great speed but had an amazing glove. Maybe Trey has some of his dad in him on the football field.

I for one can’t wait to see if Trey turns out to be a star. Again, if it runs in the family, we’ll be in store for some awesome commercials.

And now, some vintage Super Nintendo music…

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No. 23 West Virginia 30, South Florida 27: Mountaineers now one “win” away from BCS

Mountaineers win ugly, rooting for Bearcats

Slideshow | Box Score | Crystal Ball Run

West Virginia is closing in on a BCS bid out of the Big East after escaping Tampa with a last-second win, and a share of the Big East championship, Thursday night.

Tyler Bitancurt‘s 28-yard field goal as time expired gave West Virginia a 30-27 win against South Florida and moved the Mountaineers one step closer to a possible BCS spot. Now tied with Louisville, West Virginia needs a Cincinnati win against Connecticut on Saturday to create a three-way tie for the Big East championship. With the three teams splitting their head-to-head match-ups this season the tiebreaker used would be base don BCS rankings, which play in West Virginia’s favor. If Cincinnati loses to Connecticut at home then Louisville would advance to the BCS as the Big East’s representative due to a head-to-head victory against West Virginia this season.

The Cardinals would play in a BCS game with one less win than Connecticut did last season. The Big East was nationally criticized for having an eight-win team in the BCS, which was really more of a bashing on the BCS system overall rather than the Huskies. That could all happen again this year if Louisville gets in to the mix with just seven wins this season.

West Virginia battled through some adversity to get the win Thursday night. After building a 10-0 lead in the second quarter, including a 52-yard interception return for a touchdown by Pat Miller, South Florida battled back. After trailing at the half 13-7, the Bulls kicked two field goals in the third quarter and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to take a 27-20 lead. B.J. Daniels tied the game with his one-yard push up the middle for a touchdown and almost 20 seconds later JaQuez Jenkins gave the Bulls the lead on a 24-yard interception return for a touchdown off of West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith on West Virginia’s first play of the ensuing drive.

While Smith led the offense to tie the game with just over five minutes to play and to move in to field goal range with the game on the line, he had some trouble doing so. Smith had a tendency to hold on to the football too long, and with no timeouts he took a critical sack to push the Mountaineers back to midfield with the clock running. But he responded with a perfectly placed strike to Stedman Bailey to set up a third-and-ten, and the two connected on a fourth-and-ten for 26 yards to move in to field goal range. A South Florida substitution infraction gave West Virginia five more yards to make the field goal just a little easier.

For West Virginia, it was the third straight game won by a field goal or less to end the season.

“For three weeks in a row, we’ve put ourselves in precarious situations and figured out a way to win the game in the end,” West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said. “Just give the guys a bunch of credit for hanging in there, continuing to play and not caving in. The way we pulled it out is who this team has become. We figure out ways to win.”

South Florida is now ineligible for postseason play, with a final record of 5-7. It was a season that started with some optimism for a chance at a Big East championship and a win at Notre Dame. The Bulls started the season with a 23-20 win in South Bend and a 4-0 start in which the offense piled up huge numbers against mostly weak competition. The first loss of the season came on a Thursday night at Pittsburgh in the Big East opener, and South Florida managed just one Big East victory, against Syracuse. Skip Holtz‘s team lost some close games along the way, including four games decided by a field goal (Cincinnati, Rutgers in overtime, Miami and West Virginia).

“Wins were elusive for us in a lot of different ways,” South Florida head coach Skip Holtz said. ”You can’t ask this team to play with any more passion or heart… I’ve had teams in my past with better records. I don’t know if I’ve had a team that has probably taught me more about handling adversity, perseverance and having a positive attitude.”

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Report: Mike Leach accepts Washington State job

Looks like a solid fit

It seems like just yesterday that we openly wondered just who might want to walk the Mike Leach plank during this year’s edition of the coaching carousel. Now it appears that Leach could be ready to raise the flag, perhaps a Washington State flag (and it’s not even on the set of ESPN College GameDay – oh the irony).

According to a tweet by The Spokesman-Review Washington State reporter Vince Grippi, and a brief follow-up post on his newspaper’s website, Washington State has made an offer to the former Texas Tech head coach.

Gribbi says that the deal is not done yet and Leach has not formally accepted the offer, but sources are informing him that Leach will accept the job to get out of the broadcast booth and back on the sideline. However, our friend Bruce Feldman of CBS Sports has confirmed that Leach has verbally agreed to accept the contract offer. As if you needed another reason to trust the reporting of Feldman, the man wrote a book with Leach (but we won’t get in to all that now).

Continue reading on The Crystal Ball Run…

Temple 34, Kent State 16: Addazio says “There’s no question” Owls are going bowling

Temple’s Bernard Pierce rushes for three touchdowns

Bernard Pierce rushed for 198 yards and three touchdowns to help Temple pull away from Kent State, 34-16. Pierce had touchdown runs of 18, 25 and 69 yards in the game, which squashed Kent State’s bowl hopes. Kent State needed a win to become eligible for a bowl game. Instead Kent State will stay home this postseason, while Temple will wait for their invitation from a potential bowl game.

“There’s no question,” Temple head coach Steve Addazio said after the game when asked if Temple had done enough to receive a bowl invitation. “We’re an eight-win team, we’re playing great football in November, we have marquee players, we’re in a large media market— There’s no doubt that Temple will be in a bowl game. Anything less than that would be ridiculous. We’re an unbelievably desirable team to a lot of bowls out there, if they care about
good football.”

A season ago that invitation never found its way to the Temple offices, as the eight-win Owls were passed over by every bowl game. But with some vacancies left by bowl ineligible Army and Navy, along with Miami’s decision to not attend a bowl game, there may be a little extra room to fill this time around, depending on what happens around the rest of the college football landscape this weekend. With so much up in the air though there is plenty of optimism for these Owls. Last season was the first time an 8-win MAC team had been left out of the postseason since 2003. The odds appear to be in Temple’s favor as they wrap up their regular season.

For the third consecutive season the Temple Owls have completed a season with a record over .500. It is the first time since doing so for five straight years between 1971 and 1975, and it is the first time in school history they have recorded eight or more wins in three straight seasons. Temple's 25 wins over a three year stretch is also the most in school history.

The goal still remains the same for Temple though. The opportunity to play for a MAC championship continues to elude them despite this recent string of success within the football program. Al Golden set the tone to make Temple a major player in the MAC, and Steve Addazio appears to have picked up where Golden left off when he took the job to be Miami’s head coach. While the coaches have changed, it has been the work of the players, and more specifically the seniors, that have kept this program ticking.

Next year, supposing he sticks wit it for one more season, the Owls will look to supplement running back Bernard Pierce and finally make that final push over the hump. Losses in the biggest games of the season have haunted this Temple program and held them back in recent years. If they can just get to a MAC championship game in 2012, all of the work will have paid off over the last four years.

When asked about his potential future Pierce shrugged off the question and said “I just want to take things one step at a time.” Right now, Pierce is just happy for his senior teammates and happy to have been a part of the rebuilding process at Temple.

“It means a lot for me to have been a part of it,” Pierce said. Pierce mentioned that he had been told storis about what it was like at Temple before he arrived. “I know what it was like when I got here, and guys tell me stories… they’ve been through a lot.”

Bowl Projections

Northern Illinois will play Ohio next week in the MAC championship game in Detroit’s Ford Field. the winner of that game will likely be heading to the Little Caeser’s Pizza Bowl (also in Detroit) while the other will be most likely to receive an invitation to the GoDaddy.com Bowl to face Sun Belt champion Arkansas State, who has already accepted an invitation. The Idaho Potato Bowl will have the next pick out of the MAC, and that could go to Toledo, who defeated Temple earlier this season by a score of 36-13. That makes the Owls the fourth tema out of the MAC to be considered, which does put them on the fringe.

The good news is the Military Bowl, in Washington D.C. may have an opening to fill with Navy unable to fulfill their obligations to the bowl game. Navy’s loss could be Temple’s gain. The Owls played in the bowl game a mere two and a half hours down I-95 two seasons ago, losing to UCLA. If Temple is available then do not be surprised if the Military Bowl takes another look at the Owls. the Military Bowl could be a landing spot for North Carolina State out of the ACC, and the game would probably be interested in bringing in a team that could bring in a good selection of fans. Given the time of year and location, finding a team within close proximity would be a valid solution, and Temple could fit that bill.

Suggested Links

Owls earn eighth win of year, lose Coyer for two weeks – The 700 Level

Temple Owls solve Kent State’s defense, win 34-16 – Buzz on Broad

Temple vs. Kent State Photo Album – Flickr

Episode 092: Division 2 playoff preview

Aaron Heintzelman of D2Football.com gives an overview

As you may or may not know, I’m a D2 kind of guy. Having spent my time at a Division 2 football school I came to appreciate the values of the sport on a different level that is commonly demonstrated on national television on a weekly basis. So I wanted to be sure to give the Division 2 playoffs their respects this week. This is why I invited Aaron Heintzelman, who covers the MIAA for D2football.com, on the podcast to give listeners a brief overview of what to look for and some players to watch over the coming weeks.

For those of you who may not be too familiar with Division 2, keep in mind that in this particular podcast we do not go so far as to actually breaking down the offenses and defenses in the first round and how each game could play out. Instead we touch briefly on the opening round match-ups and highlight some players to watch as an introduction to the Division 2 playoffs. Who are the top teams and who could make a run? If you ant to get more in-depth analysis and commentary on the playoffs I highly advise you to check out D2Football.com. I have been going there for years for my D2 fix.

Also, here is your D2 playoff bracket.

For more Division 2 playoff thoughts be sure to see what our friend Matt Elder had to say over on Crystal Ball Run in his Division 2 football preview. He also previews the Division 3 playoffs, which also begin this weekend.

Have a listen to the podcast below, then make sure you are subscribed in iTunes, and following the show on Get Glue! Follow Heintzelman on Twitter (follow me too). And don’t forget, this podcast can be heard at anytime on Stitcher Radio (and click here for a promo code to get started and a chance to win $100)!

If the audio widget is not showing up for you below, click here to listen.

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