And Now for Something to Brighten the Day

I realized something yesterday. I was going over my last few posts and realized how negative they were. Whether it was dissecting a cheating and unfair college football system or putting parents who yell at referees in their place, there has not been a lot of "happy" coming from Bronco Chase lately. So, in honor of that, I wish to brighten things up a little bit and attempt to make myself as well as all of you feel really good.
__________________________________________________

Victory in Silence

As Ken Anderson walked off the court, he knew that he had been part of a magical ride where him and his teammates had made history, accomplishing something that had never been done before. His United States basketball team had won the gold medal at the Olympic games held in Christchurch, New Zealand. Standing at 6'10", 250 pounds, Anderson was the clear vocal and physical leader of his squad. Yet, even with all that they had achieved, he knew that their victory would not get as much recognition as would those done by other, more famous teams. You see, Ken Anderson and the rest of his 1989 squad, were all deaf.

Anderson grew up in the small, sleepy town of Gooding, Idaho. The year was 1965 and there was not much to be excited about in that part of Southern Idaho. In fact, there hadn't been for a while. But as the boy grew up, there were two things about him that had his parents and the rest of the community very curious. One, he was incredibly tall for his age. As a freshman in high school, he was 6'7". Two, he was unable to hear out of either ear, something that caused a great deal of strife and frustration for himself and his family.

Parenting a deaf child is something that no one is prepared for. It is unexpected. Fortunately for the Anderson's, aide was close by. As strange as it sounds, in Gooding, the State of Idaho had opened an expansive school designed specifically for deaf and blind children. It had been in service since 1906 (with many upgrades and new buildings since then, of course), and Anderson enrolled. At ISDB (Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind), he fit in and was able to catch up to the academic level of the other students very quickly. He, in fact, was a very smart kid and had learned American Sign Language at a young age. This specialized school allowed him to be taught in sign language. All was well for him and his family.

Being intelligent was not the only thing that he had going for him. By his freshman year Anderson had found that when he was out on the basketball court, he was head and shoulders above everybody, both in terms of his stature and his ability to play. People started noticing as well. All eyes were on him while in his first two years he guided his high school team (known as the ISDB Raptors) to a level off success that the academy had never seen before. People from all over Idaho were discussing Anderson's greatness.

When his junior year rolled around, he felt comfortable enough with his academics to transfer to a standard school. Now at a staggering 6'10", Anderson enrolled as a Gooding Senator where he not only continued to raise his level of academia, but excelled even higher in the sport that he loved. His team rose to become the top ranked squad, undefeated, until the first game of the state tournament when he unfortunately broke his ankle. During his senior year, the Senators were number one in the state yet again. He scored an average of over 30 points a game as his team dominated all competition. Anderson earned a scholarship from Ricks College in nearby Rexburg, Idaho. The boy who at one point, seemed like he had nothing going for him, was now a touted college basketball recruit.

While at Ricks, Anderson led the Vikings to the Junior College National Championships in Hutchison, Kansas. Along the way, they beat the College of Southern Idaho Eagles, stopping their run of 18 straight junior college titles. They finished in 6th place out of 16 teams that year. At the height of his amateur career, he decided to serve a full-time, two year mission for his church.

in 1989, a while after Anderson returned, he enrolled at Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. To quote their mission statement, "Gallaudet University, federally chartered in 1864, is a bilingual, diverse, multicultural institution of higher education that ensures the intellectual and professional advancement of deaf and hard of hearing individuals through American Sign Language and English." It was the perfect place for him to be. He led the Bison to two championships in the Metropolitan Washington Conference. At that time his amazing college career was over, but his journey was still in its prime.

Both during and after school, Anderson played basketball for the American Athletic Association of the Deaf (AAAD), where he was a perennial league all star. He averaged 12 rebounds per game with the AAAD, finishing with 443 of them in just 37 games. When the Americans won the gold medal at the 1989 Deaflympics in New Zealand, he became the first player from ISDB to accomplish such a feet.

For a man who has had so much success, coming from such humble, meager, and even difficult circumstances, Ken Anderson has achieved "legend" status in the Northwest. His name can be found in record books, halls of fame, rosters of championship teams, and in the hearts and minds of all people who have had the privilege and pleasure to meet him and work with him. Anderson now resides in the place where it all started for him; Gooding, Idaho. He is currently the head boys basketball coach for the ISDB Raptors, where it is clear that he is giving back to the community and people that gave him so much, at exactly the precise time that he needed it.

Blame the Guys in the Striped Shirts!

In a small town in rural Southern Idaho, two basketball teams prepare to battle it out on the court for conference bragging rights and supremacy. The stands are filled with nervous parents like you as you watch your children play, cheering and urging them to make a shot, grab a rebound, or get a steal. It is every parents' desire to see their offspring have success in sports and with every other endeavor that they may pursue. The sport is not played at the highest, most athletic level in Idaho, but that does not demean the support that the community provides to their local high school teams.

As with any athletic event where the stakes are high, the atmosphere is electric, exciting, and ready to erupt as soon as the first great play is made. A whistle blows and the ball is tossed into the air, signaling the beginning of the contest. As the teams go back and forth, giving everything they have, there is only one nuisance that always finds its way onto the court - the referees. Everybody hates them! It is clear that they are missing obvious fouls and making terrible calls in a clear attempt to ruin your child's team's chances of winning the game. They are even worse when your team is losing. You let them hear it, screaming at them and berating them every chance you get, all while a purple vain pops out of your forehead. You make sure that you say "Come on ref! Call it both ways!" as they run by the area where you are sitting. Don't forget to throw in a "Travel!" or "That's a foul! How could you miss that?!" whenever you get the opportunity. "Three seconds! Come on, make the call!" is also a good one to scream incessantly. If you think your child was fouled or impeded upon in anyway during the game, you really explode. "Get him off! He's pushing him all over the court! Are you blind?!" They have to be the worse refs you have ever seen in your life.


And of course, if your team loses, it is clearly the referee's fault. They were out there to make sure the victory went the other way. You let everybody around you know how unfair and terrible the referees were that night. Your wife and children hear it all the way home, including some choice language usually reserved for Martin Scorsese films. It's all you think about as you lay in bed and it finds its way to work with you the next day. You make sure all your coworkers are aware, even to the point of repeating yourself multiple times to a few of them. Eventually the atrocities of the night before work their way out of your mind as other matters require your attention and focus. That is, until a few days later when your child's team takes it to the court again and there is another pair of morons wearing stripes out there.

Never mind the fact that you have never refereed anything in your life other than an impromptu living room floor wrestling match between two of your children. Who cares if the game looks completely different from on the court than it does from in the stands? You are easily able to see fouls, travels, and all violations from your seat clear across the court a lot better than the refs can, who are right in front of everything when it happens. Even if the other team is more talented and better coached than your child's team, it's always someone else's fault. This is high school basketball, where kids play for fun, but you go ahead and treat it like the NBA finals. You go ahead and forget the fact that those two referees are people and might have children too. They aren't any different than you.

By the way, you look like this guy

All Bowl Team

There isn’t much criteria for picking who gets the nod here other than performing really well in a bowl game. I didn’t take whether or not their team won or lost into consideration unless it was really close between two players. The winner always trumps the loser. Let me know if there is anybody that you feel I have left off the list or how you feel about those that are on it.

Offense:
*QB* - Landry Jones, Oklahoma Sooners: 34-49, 429 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT in win over UConn in the Fiesta Bowl
*RB* - Ronnie Hillman, San Diego State Aztecs: 28 carries, 228 yards, 3 TD in win over Navy in the Poinsettia Bowl
*RB* - Mikel Leshoure, Illinois Fighting Illini: 29 carries, 184 yards, 3 TD in win over Baylor in the Texas Bowl
*WR* - Marcus Sales, Syracuse Orange: 5 catches, 172 yards, 3 TD in win over Kansas State in the Pinstripe Bowl
*WR* - Austin Pettis, Boise State Broncos: 12 catches, 147 yards, 1 TD in win over Utah in Las Vegas Bowl
*TE* - Coby Fleener, Stanford Cardinal: 6 catches, 173 yards, 3 TD in win over Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl
*OL* - Mike Pouncey, Florida Gators: Win over Penn State in the Outback Bowl
*OL* - Marcus Cannon, TCU Horned Frogs: Win over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl
*OL* - Nate Potter, Boise State Broncos: Win over Utah in Las Vegas Bowl
*OL* - Michael Brewster, Ohio State Buckeyes: Win over Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl
*OL* - Gabe Carimi, Wisconsin Badgers: Loss to TCU in the Rose Bowl

Defense:
*DL* - Nick Fairley, Auburn Tigers: Win over Oregon in the National Championship Game
*DL* - Billy Winn, Boise State Broncos: Win over Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl
*DL* – Antoine Carter, Auburn Tigers: Win over Oregon in the National Championship Game
*DL* - Brandon Jenkins, Florida State Seminoles: Win over South Carolina in the Chik-fil-A Bowl
*LB* - Casey Matthews, Oregon Ducks: Loss to Auburn in the National Championship Game
*LB* - Tank Carder, TCU Horned Frogs: Win over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl
*LB* - Owen Marecic, Stanford Cardinal: Win over Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl
*DB* - Jayron Hosley, Virginia Tech Hokies: Loss to Stanford in the Orange Bowl
*DB* - Jamell Fleming, Oklahoma Sooners: Win over UConn in the Fiesta Bowl
*DB* - Winston Venable, Boise State Broncos: Win over Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl
*DB* - Greg Reid, Florida State Seminoles: Win over South Carolina in the Chik-fil-A Bowl

Special Teams:
*PK* - Wes Byrum, Auburn Tigers: Win over Oregon in the National Championship Game
*P* – Dan Bailey, Oklahoma State Cowboys: Win over Arizona in the Alamo Bowl
*KR* - Rishard Matthews, Nevada Wolfpack: Win over Boston College in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl

There you are. It gets pretty difficult to pick offensive lineman because they don't produce stats. I just had to think about the elite defensive players that they went up against and whether or not they shut them down. Again, let me know if there was anybody I missed or if you think someone does not deserve to be on the list.

Gene Chizik Thanks God for National Championship, Humiliates Third Commandment

"First of all, I can't be more blessed to be part of a whole team like this. Man, God was with us."
-Gene Chizik, head coach at Auburn

Such blasphemy must have had over-zealous Christians all over the country gawking in disbelief and anger. Religion is always a touchy subject outside of church or any other spiritual location, community, or event. Yet it always seems to find its way into the mouths, thoughts, and writings of individuals outside of said holy situations, oftentimes at the strangest and most inappropriate moments. Obviously, this was the case for Auburn's head coach Gene Chizik moments after his team dispatched of the Oregon Ducks in the National Title Game.

Is it possible that a higher being did indeed determine the outcome of the National Championship, giving the Tigers the win? It could be. Maybe God, along with the rest of the world, was visually offended by the uniform atrocity that the Ducks were wearing, especially those Day-Glo colored cleats on their webbed feet. Maybe it was transcendent karma for the legal infractions committed by current and past members of the Oregon team. But that can't be the case. Auburn has had it's own share of problems in regards to its student athletes, namely one Cameron Jerrell Newton. His heavily documented pay-for-play scheme, for which father Cecil took the fall, is enough to level out an alleged deity-aided playing field. If not, then let's go ahead and throw in the academic cheating scandal back in Gainesville to turn the table a little more.

Or maybe God had absolutely nothing to do with football, including this game. After all, there was a tragic shooting down the I-17 just two days before. It is guaranteed that there are plenty of reasons why His aid and comfort would be needed in Tucson. How selfish and self-absorbed of Chizik to infer that God had helped his team win when there are other more pressing, more imperative matters going on so close to the stadium. Sure, he may be thankful that the Diety gave him the ability and talent to coach and his players the skill and athleticism that they have to play, but that's as far as it goes.

Vain:
–adjective, -er, -est.
1. excessively proud of or concerned about one's own appearance, qualities, achievements, etc.; conceited: a vain dandy.
2. proceeding from or showing personal vanity: vain remarks.
3. ineffectual or unsuccessful; futile: a vain effort.
4. without real significance, value, or importance; baseless or worthless: vain pageantry; vain display.
5. Archaic . senseless or foolish.
Oh, so kind of like claiming that God made your team win while ignoring the guys on the other side of the field. Really, why did Oregon even show up and try and play this one?

How about this: Auburn won because Chip Kelley made some very poor coaching decisions and his players made a few mental errors that cost them the game. How about kicking a field goal on fourth-and-goal with 2:26 left in the third quarter? How about using your time out at the end to assure that your Ducks would get the ball back with time left on the clock late in the fourth quarter? How about Cliff Harris finish the tackle on Michael Dyer and not let him scamper off for 30 more yards? As Coach Petersen of Boise State said, "One play can't lose a game, but one play can win a game." Agreed, but a number of poor plays (and decisions) can add up and eventually become too much for your team to overcome. Such was the case in Glendale, Arizona on Monday night.

There are many motives and causes for which humans strive to reach their full potential, regardless of their chosen path or direction. Division 1 football coaches are no different. A belief in God or being a faithful member of a certain religion can indeed guide someone in their preferred quest. But when it comes to individual athletic events and competitions, you are on your own. A higher entity does not choose sides or tilt the advantage one way or the other, even if you are BYU...or Gene Chizik.

Auburn Beats Oregon, Completes Purchase of BCS Championship

The Tigers of the University of Auburn outlasted the Ducks of the University of Oregon to win the BCS Championship last night in Glendale, Arizona. The final score was a measly 22-19, considering the ridiculous productivity of both offenses during the regular season. All in all, the game was a defensive battle and for those who are not football junkies like Bronco Chase, the only exciting part was at the end. Indeed, the last 3 minutes or so were as much fun to watch as anything that has happened this season. There was a beautiful two point conversion, an almost tackle that led to a 37 yard back-breaking run, and a game winning field goal. Yet again the SEC wins the title. This is their 5th in a row and as we found out yesterday, we will never hear the end of it from SEC d-bag elitist Mark May.

As I mentioned, both of these teams had been lighting up the scoreboard all season long. Yet last night, we had a TCU/Wisconsin like final score. What happened? Auburn had a rough-ish night and Oregon's offense was stifled by Nick Fairley and company. Check out the yardage totals, they seem highly unlikely:

Auburn: 519 (265 passing, 254 rushing)
Oregon: 449 (374 passing, 75 rushing)

LaMichael James got stoned repeatedly. The Tigers did a great job shutting him down. Darron Thomas had a career night for yards and completions (27). As you can see, the yards didn't mean much. It did seem like Auburn's were at least a little more important. The biggest part was trying to keep the other team's offense off the field, and that meant eating up the clock and methodically moving down the field. Auburn just happened to do a better job at it than Oregon.

The best play of the night came from Auburn's freshman running back Michael Dyer. With 2 minutes to go, he broke through the line for what appeared to be a casual 6 or 7 yard gain. But Duck tackler Eddie Pleasant didn't finish the play. Dyer rolled over the top of Pleasant and raced down the sideline deep into Oregon territory and ended up with a 37 yard gain. Dyer's run set up the game winning field goal that sent the Tigers back to Alabama victorious.

The Ducks were held to under 100 yards rushing for the first time since September 4, 2009. Guess who they played that night. I'll give you a clue, the field that they played on was blue turf...

Here's the deal. I did not have a dog in the fight. I stated adamantly that I would be reluctantly cheering for the Ducks because anybody who plays the SEC is going to get that courtesy from me. Yet, during the course of the game, I found myself pulling for Auburn. I guess my hate for the Oregon Ducks is seeded even deeper than I had originally presumed. That's not a bad thing. I was just surprised and a little bit upset with myself. Sometimes you can't explain emotions that come out in the heat of the moment, but they are indeed your true feelings. Still, I got sick to my stomach every time ESPN showed a close up of Cam Newton's cheating face. I felt similar when Chip Kelley's arrogant crater-marked face was on my TV screen.

That leads me to this; Congratulations to the Oregon Ducks who will be named the National Champions retroactively after Auburn gets the title taken away from them due to NCAA violations. It sucks to be a cheater. But of course, the excuses are plentiful from Oregon. Read this article on ESPN. I will quote my favorite part.

'(Darron) Thomas felt it was Ducks miscues that hurt them more than what Auburn did: "I don't think Auburn stopped us from winning the game. We stopped ourselves."'

You keep telling yourself that. So here we are, everybody outside of a portion of the state of Alabama feeling let down, cheated, and unhappy with the results of the college football season. Life goes on, but not in the South when football is involved. Let's let si.com's Stewart Mandel take care of this one for us. The title is "SEC's run of titles obscures its dark side." That speaks for itself. I'm done talking about this for now.

With the victory last night, I went 5-0 in picking the BCS Bowl Games. Here are the final numbers for year:

Bowl totals: 23-12
Season total: 88-29

A great season, if I do say so myself. As far as I know, what I started this football season will continue next year. For now, it's Bronco Basketball season. I will have plenty on that. I am also preparing my all-bowl team. It will included the best players from each position that participated in the bowl season. Check back in for that. Until then, go Broncos!

Bronco Chase's Bowl Picks, 7th Edition

Now that's more like it! As you already know, I started off this bowl season going about .500. That was before I reeled off and took home the "W" in 13 of the last 14 match ups. I had won eleven in a row before LSU snapped my streak much like Boise State did to Utah. All good things must come to an end. The most important and impressive thing is that I am 4-0 in BCS games.

Anyway, I come to you today with a heavy heart, reminiscing of days past. As soon as I click "Publish Post" today, I am done with actual games to write about on my blog. The season will be over. But do not fret my friends, Leon Rice has the Bronco mens basketball team cooking up something special in Taco Bell Arena. Let us go over the recap of my last batch of picks, and then I will unveil the winner of the National Championship game tonight.

Discover Orange Bowl
My prediction was Stanford wins 24 to 21
Final score: Cardinal 40, Hokies 12






AllState Sugar Bowl
My prediction was Ohio State wins 31 to 24
Final score: Buckeyes 31, Razorbacks 26






GoDaddy.com Bowl
My prediction was Miami (OH) wins 28 to 24
Final score: Redhawks 35, Blue Raiders 21






AT&T Cotton Bowl
My prediction was Texas A & M wins 24 to 21
Final score: Tigers 41, Aggies 24






BBVA Compass Bowl
My prediction was Pittsburgh wins 31 to 21
Final score: Panthers 27, Wildcats 10






Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl
My prediction was Nevada wins 28 to 21
Final score: Wolfpack 20, Eagles 13






Batch total: 5-1
Bowl totals: 22-12
Season total: 87-29
_____________________________________

As a reminder: if the word "prediction" has stars, then it is an upset. It will look like this:

*Prediction*:

Also, I have analyzed some of the games with a write up, but not all of them. I wrote on all the bowls were WAC teams are involved and the BCS Bowls. The others just have when, where, the bowl name, who's playing, and a score prediction. Finally, I am including these bowls in my season long record.

January 10th at 6:30 PM
Tostitos BCS National Championship Game
Glendale, Arizona

(12-0, 9-0 Pac 10)
vs.

(13-0, 8-0 SEC)




Line: Auburn favored by 3
This one is for all the marbles. Two of the most prolific offenses in the history of the NCAA and two of the worst defenses ever will face off with the National Title on the line. Cam Newton, is fresh off of buying, er winning the Heisman and is playing extremely well. Oregon is led by perma-lisped, and convicted criminal running back LaMichael James. The Tigers score an average of 42.7 point per game and the Ducks put up 49.3. Defensively, Oregon gives up 18.4 and Auburn allows 24.5. On paper, this looks like a fairly easy win for the Ducks. However, Oregon’s schedule has been JV compared to what Auburn has had to go through. Cal showed the world how to beat the Ducks. It involves an athletic, powerful defensive line that can get pressure on quarterback Darron Thomas and limit James in his yards per carry. Fortunately for the Tigers, they have just that, led by the man-yetti known as Nick Fairley.

It’s too bad we couldn’t see one of these great offenses versus a great defense in TCU or Boise State. Instead we will see a fast paced, high scoring affair in which many people will wish that there was a way for both teams to lose, blow up, die, or cease to exist in some crazy way. If you can’t tell, I don’t like either of these teams. If Auburn wins, Newton will feel even more entitled than he already does and it will teach our children that cheating, lying, and being dishonest pays off as long as you are a freak athlete and can will a team to win all by yourself. Also, we’ll have to hear for another year how amazing the SEC is. That fire will be fueled for a long time. If the Ducks win, we’ll have to sit here and hear it from their ridiculous, cocky, blow-hard fans about how awesome the Ducks are. Eugene will finally be known for something else besides being the place where “Animal House” was filmed. I don’t know if I want to live in a world where Oregon fan has free reign to talk as much junk as they will if their team wins. They easily forget that this is basically the same squad that lost to Boise State two years in a row, and it is basically the same Bronco team that beat/destroyed them.

In other words, the college football landscape will either be populated with SEC elitists, jumping on their soap boxes, throwing their Bibles to the side, brandishing their red necks and farmer tans in their overalls, and through missing teeth and gingivitis infected gums proclaim the flawed gospel that is football in the South. “We live, breathe, eat, and dream this stuff year round! Nobody can stop us!” Only to make things worse, Mark May will have a fit of pleasure in his pants just as he has the last 4 years when other SEC teams have won it all. I just can’t take his seeing ugly, elitist face on my TV screen building up that conference any more than he already has. Or we will see hemp bracelet-wearing, lucha libre mask-donning, unfounded cockiness-weilding Duck honk tooting his own horn and in the most condescending way imaginable talk smack to any other team that even looks at them, all in between lengthy bong hits and making the “O” with their hands (that looks strangely similar to another sign that symbolizes a part of the female anatomy…). It will be like the d-bag boyfriend who picks fights with another dude for thinking about looking at his girl. That is Oregon in a nutshell. This is the world we live in and unfortunately, there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. So here’s to hoping that a sniper perches himself in the rafters or press box of University of Phoenix Stadium and does us all a favor.

Anyway, the game will be high scoring. I think Auburn’s defense is better than it shows on paper and what was seen against some pretty good offenses in the regular season. Nick Fairley owns LaMichael James for most of the game. The lesser of two evils here is Oregon, I guess. I will be reluctantly rooting for the Ducks in Glendale tonight. I still do not like their chances. The main reason for my decision is my complete and utter loathing for all things SEC and Mark May related. I don't know if it will be this close.
Prediction: Tigers 45, Ducks 38

Bowl totals: 22-12
Season total: 87-29

Well there we have it. Make sure you are tuned into ESPN tonight to catch this one. It should be a high-scoring affair. Sit back and relax. But make sure you check back in tomorrow to get my take on the whole shebang.