Final Thoughts on Signing Day 2010

Please Urban, retire again next year too! Just announce that your coming back soon after. Urban Meyer and his Florida Gators just sent some of the top talent in the country packing for Gainesville in the near future. The Gators 2010 class is on paper the greatest recruiting class ever.

Florida Signings: 28

ESPNU 150 Signings: 17

Five-star commits: 4

Four-star: 15

Three-star: 7

Others: 2

If it was not for the migration to Gainesville, Texas would have had the class everyone was talking about. Mack Brown & Co. did another great job getting kids to Austin and it shows.

Texas Signings: 25

ESPNU 150 Signings: 15

Five-star commits: 2

Four-star: 17

Three-star: 6

Others: 0

There were many other teams who had big days as well starting with Auburn who in my mind had the next best class behind the Longhorns, having 32 kids throw their ink down on Auburn Tiger paper. Florida State and new coach Jimbo Fisher did an outstanding job for the Noles bringing in big recruit after big recruit including RB Lamarcus Joyner . Lane Kiffin didn’t have a huge class first class at USC but did manage to pull in 2 five-star recruits including Seantrel Henderson the top offensive lineman in this class(update on Henderson, he did not sign with USC, he has given them his verbal commitment and will sign as long as the NCAA doesn’t come down hard on USC in there ongoing investigation. He has until April 1st to decide). Derek Dooley may have done the best in-terms of having to deal with the hand he was dealt when he took over at Tennessee.  The volunteers were able to lure Da’Rick Rogers away from Georgia and picked up two top 10 OT in James Stone and Ju’Wuan James.

Michigan  landed a big one not soon after halftime of this signing day when safety Demar Dorsey shocked USC and Florida State and probably a good deal of people in Ann Arbor when he signed with the Wolverines. Rich Rod also has  multi-threat QB Devin Gardner already enrolled which should lead to an interesting QB battle in Ann Arbor.

U of M Signings: 27

ESPNU 150 Signings: 2

Five-star commits: 1

Four-star: 6

Three-star: 18

Others: 2

Michigan State signed 21 kids including 6’7″ William Gholsten the #3 ranked DE as well as Max Bullough a very physical middle linebacker.

MSU Signings: 21

ESPNU 150 Signings: 1

Five-star commits:

Four-star: 2

Three-star: 14

Others: 5

Western Michigan University signed 26 kids, including a decent looking QB in Mike Perish as well as 3 star RB recruit Tevin Drake. The broncos look like they have the second best class in the MAC behind Toledo.

WMU Signings: 26

ESPNU 150 Signings: 0

Five-star commits: 0

Four-star: 0

Three-star: 2

Others: 24

Central Michigan signed 18 kids, with one 3 star recruit, they lost QB Cody Kater who followed Butch Jones to Cincinnati.

College Football Signing Day

So far Florida is just sitting there waiting for the faxes to come in from there loaded class. Texas is in the same boat as Florida. I think one thing to watch today will be if Alabama loses some commits. Also how will Lan Kiffin do at USC today? I will also check in on Michigan, MSU, and WMU today, let me know if you want me to look into any schools.

10:23 AM: Sean Parker the #5 ranked Safety signs with Washington, sorry Wolverine fans I think everyone thought he was headed to Ann Arbor, but will be playing on the west coast instead.

10:26 AM: Christian Jones the #2 ranked OLB is following in his pops footsteps and signs with Florida State over a handful of other schools.

11:11 AM: Sorry Georgia but new Tennessee coach Derek Dooley just stole one from you in Da’Rick Rogers the #6 ranked WR, the kid reminds me of a Calvin Johnson type WR.

11:21 AM: The rich get richer (my favorite saying this year) Florida gets faxes from Ronald Powell the #1 ranked overall prospect, Dominique Easley the #1 ranked DT (this man-child is legit!), Matt Elam the #2 ranked Athlete, and Jonathon Dowling the #1 ranked safety!!!!

11:30 AM:  James Stone the #9 ranked OT looking sharp in his bow tie an all just spurned Alabama and selects Tennessee. Tennessee is having a huge day considering what went down in Knoxville less than a month ago.

12:02 PM: Corey Nelson the #3 ranked OLB signs with Oklahoma after decommitting from Texas A&M

12:05 PM: Bjoern Werner the #24 ranked DE signs with the Seminoles.

12:10 PM: Auburn finally gets the fax they have been waiting for, Michael Dyer the #1 ranked RB in this class will be a Tiger.

12:17 PM: People in Tallahassee couldn’t have asked for a better start to the day. Lamarcus Joyner the #1 ranked CB and Jeff Luc the #1 ranked ILB are officially Seminoles

12:40 PM: Nick Montana the #13 ranked QB and son of Hall of Famer Joe Montana has signed with the University of Washington.

12:51 PM: Auburn pulling in top talent, Corey Lemonier the #9 ranked DE will be playing for the tigers next year.

12:55 PM: As I predicted earlier, Alabama loses another commit, Keenan Allen the #5 ranked ATH signs with Cal!

1:01 PM: USC has 17 signed letter of intents in hand right now.

1:02 PM: Texas has received the fax from Jordan Hicks the #1 ranked OLB.

1:07 PM: Michigan has 6 signed letters of intent right now, Devin Gardner their top recruit has not signed yet???

1:08 PM: Michigan State has 4 letters of intent right now, & no William Gholston letter yet!

1:09 PM: WMU has 1 signed at this point in the day.

1:14 PM: Florida has 15 signed right now, 9 of those are in the ESPNU top 150.

1:19 PM: Tennessee has 23 signed right now 6 in the ESPNU top 150!!!

1:21 PM: Top QB’s signed #1 Phillip Sims-Alabama, #6 Tyler Bray-Tennessee, #7 Jake Heaps-BYU, #11 Andrew Hendrix-Notre Dame.

1:23 PM: South Carolina gets Marcus Lattimore the #2 Ranked RB, I think after Dyer went to Auburn Spurrier had this kid.

1:24 PM: The #3 ranked RB Storm Johnson is a Hurricane.

1:44 PM: The #1 ranked OG Chad Lindsay-Alabama, #2 ranked OG Eric Mack-Auburn, and the #3 ranked OG AJ Cann-South Carolina have all signed at those schools.

1:51 PM: The #2 ranked CB DaMarcus Milliner-Bama, #3 ranked CB Joshua Shaw-Florida, #4 ranked CB Prince Kent-Baylor have all signed at those schools.

2:17 PM: Rich Rod could make a big splash if Demar Dorsey the #2 ranked Safety ends up in Ann Arbor, especially since the block M lost Parker earlier today.

2:21PM: Not to toot my own horn or anything but  Demar Dorsey is indeed headed to Michigan, that is HUGE news for Michigan fans, he was one of Florida’s top recruits but late last week both party’s decided to go their separate ways. The kid will most likely be the best recruit in the entire Big Ten.

2:25 PM: Brian Kelly live on ESPNU right now.

2:31 PM: Where will Seantrel Henderson the #1 ranked OT end up???

2:35 PM: If you have been following sorry but I have to log off for awhile, I will update more later with school breakdowns. If you want, follow over @ http://espn.go.com/college-football/recruiting/signings/index

3:25 PM: #1 WR Robert Woods officially signs with USC

3:28 PM: 2 DE Owamagbe Odighizuwa inks it with UCLA, in listening to him talk this young has his priorities in order and his head screwed on straight

3:37 PM: #4 OT Chaz Green is Gainesville bound; the Gators have a record 16 ESPNU 150 recruits

3:38 PM: Florida State keeps it going with #9 ATH Christian Green signing.

4:43 PM: The Wolverines picp up the #3 K Will Hagerup.

4:51 PM: Tight Ends galore here with #1 TE Xavier Grimble-USC, # 2 TE Gerald Christian-UF, # 3 TE Austin Haywood-Okla, all signing.

4:53 PM: Top QB’s faxed in #2 J. Scroggins-USC, #3 B. Bell-OU, #4 R. Bolden-PSU, #5 D. Gardner-UM all signed. Gardner has already enrolled @ U of M.

5:35 PM: The one I have been waiting for all day and it doesn’t have anything to do with my Gators. #1 OT Seantrel Henderson signs with USC; final 5-star recruit to sign. His other top choice was Ohio State and I’m like a kid in a candy store when good things DON’T happen to Ohio State!

5:38 PM: Florida signs four 5-star recruits, Texas, USC and FSU sign two, Auburn and Michigan sign one each.

5:47 PM: #3 Safety Ahmad Dixon has signed with Baylor, decommitted from Tenn.

6:00 PM: My Gators sign a record 17 recruits from ESPNU 150 including four 5-star prospects!!! Monster Day!!!!!

10:20 PM: I will have the final classes for a hand full of teams and the final ranking tomorrow.

Look Both Ways

Since the golf season is done for the year I spend a lot of time up at Grand Valley State University where my girlfriend attends. When I am up there I normally drop her off at class so she doesn’t have to make the commute from her house and deal with parking and having to walk in a blizzard to class.

I know what you’re thinking, “what a guy”!

Hold that thought.

The other day I was driving to pick up my girlfriend and it was snowing as if it was never going to snow again in Michigan. As I was approaching an intersection going approximately 5 miles an hour a pack of girls were B-lining to cross in front of me like they were going to miss the premier of Twilight. I was determined though and maybe a little grumpy based on the weather. So I just kept my nice 5 mile an hour pace and went right on through ahead of them as I watched the one in front of the pack stop suddenly and try to hold back the others with her arms stretched out.

I thought this was hilarious!

I swear that almost all girls and some guys I have seen when crossing the crosswalks bury their heads in there texting machines and barrel right across the roads right into oncoming traffic 99% of the time. I wonder if they even realize sometimes that they are crossing a street. Maybe they just don’t care and feel they are entitled to not have to look before crossing. Maybe that conversation you are having on your phone is just more important than making sure a grumpy golf pro who just wants it to be warm outside is not driving in your direction.

Don’t worry, I know that pedestrians have the right away but at least look up, maybe even look both ways.

Eric’s girlfriend- To let all readers know… my roommate and I DO NOT do this. We look both ways as we cross the street. :0)

PLEASE! NO Iowa!!!

This morning I was checking every single college football bowl game seeing if there were any intriguing match ups since I didn’t get to see all the pairings when they came out last night. As I got down to the BCS bowls which are suppose to have really good teams and match ups I saw Iowa vs. Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl. Let me give you a little info about Iowa.

10-2 overall; 6-2 in the Big Ten

Ranked #9 in the country

Now this is why they shouldn’t be playing in a BCS bowl:

Beat Northern Iowa 17-16 by blocking two Northern Iowa field goals in the final seconds

Beat a 4-8 Arkansas State team 24-21

Georgia Tech will hang a half a hundred on them & you can quote me on that.

I just don’t understand why the Big Ten gets two teams in BCS games. They should get one and only one because of how pathetic they are when they play the big boys in big games. It’s like putting the winner of the Little League World Series vs. the Yankees. The Orange Bowl will have the lowest ratings for all the BCS bowls because of Iowa.

Why is LSU not playing Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl? They played last year in the Chick-fil-A Bowl in a game which GT was favored, LSU shut down the Yellow Jackets triple option 38-3. Would have been a great rematch. Plus LSU is from the SEC, enough said!

Bye Bye Gainesville

He will go down as one of the greatest college football players of all time. Tomorrow Tim Tebow will play his final game in Gainesville at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Florida Field also known as “The Swamp”.  I know I’m a little biased, but, there may not be a better 15 seconds in sports this weekend than when Tim Tebow runs out of that tunnel to a crazed fan base waiting for him. I was going to fill this with all his accomplishments and awards until I Wikipedia Tim Tebow and quickly realized nobody wants to be reading this for an hour. So I just decided to insert the important ones.

2 National Championships (waiting on one more this year)

2x All American (will be 3x after this year)

2007 Heisman Trophy winner (waiting on one more this year)

One of the biggest inspirational athletes ever to step on a field.

If you have the time and don’t mind shedding a tear or two, wait until the scoreboard hits 0.00 in the 4th quarter late Saturday afternoon because the exit may be better than the entrance.

Can’t Remember

Sitting here at the golf course on a slow late November Saturday just watching a little College Gameday, something interesting is said in an interview with Doug Flutie. They are talking with Brent Musburger one of the all time great play by play announcers for college football about the play when Doug Flutie heaved a Hail Mary to Gerard Phelan to upset Miami in one of the greatest college football games ever played. In this interview Flutie tells Musburger “I don’t even remember that” in referring to what happened during and after the play. Most people might not pay any attention to that comment but it hits me.

My senior year at Lawton, last regular season basketball game against our biggest rival Decatur, at their place. We led most of the game but let them send it to overtime. In overtime Decatur managed to pull ahead by two points with 11 seconds remaining. We called timeout and the plan was to get the ball to mine and Nate Orozco’s side and I was to get Nate the ball on the block and let him try and tie the game. As we came out of the timeout I told Nate, “Hey, I’ll make the shot”. I’m sure Nate thought sarcastically “ya ok Eric”. Well with 5 seconds left on the clock I caught the pass from Eric Garcia turned and buried a 3 pointer from about three feet behind the 3 point line, Decatur inbounded the ball to Andy Hall who heaved a desperation three quarter court shot which came up short as the buzzer sounded. Mayhem ensued! It was the greatest sports feeling I had ever had, except for one thing. Still to this day I cannot remember anything from the time I saw Eric Garcia start to pass me the ball until the time I looked at the clock with 1 second left as Hall caught the inbound pass, it’s like I blacked out for 4 seconds during the most important part of the play. Luckily my mom had filmed the game so I could go back and watch it.  Without watching that tape though, I wouldn’t be able to tell anyone what happened in that 4 second span of time when I hit the shot.

So I’m curious, have any other athletes ever experienced this before. I wonder if MJ, when he hit the game winning shot against Utah to win his sixth NBA Championship remembers the whole thing? Or how about Tiger Woods when he made his final putt on 18 to win his first Masters in 1997? Does Ben Roethlisberger remember everything when he hit Santonio Holmes for the winning touchdown pass in last year’s Super Bowl? Maybe Flutie and I are just unlucky we can’t remember, or maybe we were just blessed at that moment, I mean, Flutie’s was a Hail Mary!