gdp's Comments

GazetteOnline.com : The Last Call -- The long ball

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 18:45:30 +0000

Aboojum is very, very high on this team, sorta like a guy named SMA on BHGP (???). It will be interesting to see how the players respond to walking around campus and being told they're ready to play the BCS championship game now, having clubbed a I-AA team and the unfortunate cousins to the west. I realized this afternoon what I found so striking about yesterday: Iowa looked as crisp and as in-tempo as they did for GT and S. Carolina -- in other words, they looked like they had been practicing for this game for six weeks. It was just staggering how efficient they were. I don't think they looked that good beating Minnesota 55-0.

GazetteOnline.com : The Last Call -- The long ball

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 18:37:46 +0000

I thought he returned one kickoff left when it looked to be set up for right.

GazetteOnline.com : Picture perfect

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 16:13:20 +0000

I think 60% is high. What we're seeing, for example, with five-wide is only the first (that little drag route to the back) of what I am sure is a sequence. (Example: one of the things Shanahan would do in Denver is start five wide with two backs on the outside, then shift one back into formation, which exposes the man/zone cover decision of the defense, prior to snap, enabling the QB to know pre-snap what his coverage was going to be.) As you note, the Reisner TD sequences off the inside zone, which kicks into bootleg, which introduces the new little fade to Reisner (if I am correct; I don't remember seeing that little dump to the tight-end before).

GazetteOnline.com : Picture perfect

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 13:18:25 +0000

Clayborn definitely issues the quote of the game, there at the end. I don't know how you stop this offense. I know how you stop Michigan: you stop Denard. But I don't think you can stop this offense because it is so balanced, and shifts gears immediately if you try to take something away. You want to stop the run? All four receivers seem to be open. You give your DBs some help? Robinson will take you downtown. It's textbook constraint play management: counting hats and flipping the switch and putting the ball where the D has chosen to put fewer guys. Has there been a better, more balanced offense for Iowa since 2002? I don't think it's even close. And the most incredible thing is that I think the O-Line -- the biggest question mark on the team -- appears to be better than last year's (as of the second game). I loved all the QB sneaks: just total arrogance about being able to control the LOS and push them back.

GazetteOnline.com : North Dakota State coach: UNI-Dome more hostile than Kansas' stadium, UNI more physical and aggressi

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 03:57:55 +0000

Evidently, the odds of NDSU ever getting a paycheck from KU again are poor. Football's a tough business. Ask Terry Allen.

GazetteOnline.com : The Last Call -- Start, schmart

Sun, 5 Sep 2010 10:54:48 +0000

EIU: 16 yards net passing, 15 yards net rushing in the second half. Usually, in games like this, the losing team pads out its numbers in garbage time. So I thought that was very impressive, as was the fact that they did this while Clayborn had a very quiet game. (I would like to see a breakdown of how many times they ran or rolled to their left. Not too many.) Thanks for posting all of the SID material; the drive chart also is very descriptive, showing how Iowa took the third quarter off. In regard to ISU, I thought the only time we looked particularly young was when Hyde lost his guy twice in 60 seconds, and they scored. Will they go right at him? I thought that the only time Artaud looked inefficient was when he was trying to go intermediate depth down the middle, but our D requires a guy currently with one hand and zero 2010 minutes to defend the middle. So maybe the key matchup is the HermanArtaud patience v. greed impulse. I suppose that ISU will have to decide whether or not to bring blitz pressure. They average only 257 across the D-line. You'd think Stanzi and the tight ends would shred them if they do, but maybe the coaches will refuse to risk another Wooten event. Since we know that KOK does the Bill Walsh, script the first 15 plays thing, it's notable to me that we came out throwing first. The last thing was the coolest thing for me in this game. Remember the 4th and 2 on around their 40? How many times have you seen Iowa come out in 5-wide on 4th and 2 with a lead on the opponents' side of the field? Just showing this once will change D-coordinators' matchups on that down and distance, the rest of the season.

GazetteOnline.com : Iowa, Ferentz could see 2020

Fri, 3 Sep 2010 20:53:52 +0000

Thank you. I'm in the enterprise software business. If I issued a press release before a contract was valid (via execution by all parties), I would lose that contract. Hence my perspective.

GazetteOnline.com : Hlas column: Cyclones were pushed, but pushed back harder

Fri, 3 Sep 2010 20:35:28 +0000

I note that I said nothing, characterized nothing, used no bad words, provided no judgments. I just thought it was a funny link! I don't even know what relevance it has to "too long didn't read" [hey it's a lot of work to use punctuation and the shift key] Please don't ban me like Brian Cook did. ill rite shortr.

GazetteOnline.com : Hlas column: Cyclones were pushed, but pushed back harder

Fri, 3 Sep 2010 19:41:00 +0000

Have I got a link for you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RrreVthWRY&fe... It's The Onion, so open at your own risk.

GazetteOnline.com : Hlas column: Cyclones were pushed, but pushed back harder

Fri, 3 Sep 2010 10:41:02 +0000

I thought that the ISU O-line was very effective and Artaud showed both great patience and accuracy on all of the underneath passing. It appears to me that the Herman offense has been installed, and I thought its timing in this game was impressive for a first game. I also think that all the underneath stuff is so quick to execute that even our D-line will struggle to disrupt it. I would be surprised if our O-line outplays their's next week, incidentally. Herman set 50 team records in two years at Rice, so he is to be underestimated at one's risk. If Artaud stays patient and accurate it will be an interesting game. That said, NIU's quarterback was either destroyed by nerves or is incompetent. He didn't appear to belong out there, he was missing so badly. They had open receivers all game, and a stud at RB.

GazetteOnline.com : Iowa, Ferentz could see 2020

Fri, 3 Sep 2010 10:26:29 +0000

Well, he does have an extraordinary agent, Neil Cornrich. In other circumstances, it would be considered extremely odd for one party to announce the terms of an unsigned deal, because it might be interpreted as putting public pressure on the other party to follow through and sign. (Negotiating in the papers: not a respectable thing.) I don't understand why Barta went public with this if all he had to do was wait 24 hours.

GazetteOnline.com : Iowa, Ferentz could see 2020

Fri, 3 Sep 2010 02:37:24 +0000

Wow. They announce their contract proposal before it is signed?

GazetteOnline.com : The Big Analysis -- Eastern Illinois

Thu, 2 Sep 2010 08:30:19 +0000

So the left side of their line is MIA and their running back goes 171. I hope it isn't as unpleasant to watch as Truck v. Koeppel. Clayborn probably benches 170 with one hand. Unusually high interception total for one of their corners. I wonder if he ran any back?;)

GazetteOnline.com : No 'life-threatening' injuries for Koeppel

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:03:22 +0000

Ignore this post if you are unperturbed by car-human accidents. For some reason, people seem to rationalize cars hitting people as inevitable because people on foot or on bikes are "hard to see". I guess I think that if you can't see a human being while you drive your car, you should get out of your car. If you can't see a 270 lb human, while in your car, you are blind and should get out of your car. (Or, first, hang up the phone, put down the hamburger, then get out of the car.) My opinion has the virulence, admittedly, of someone whose mother at age 73 was nailed IN A CROSSWALK and thrown 30 feet. People have to stop treating their cars like mobile phone booths and restaurants. I wear a visibility vest now when motorcycling and when bicycling out in the country -- but I'm not sure how meaningful it is to do so. I still get buzzed and honked at by people who don't think an empty county road is big enough for a lone bicyclist, and I still get cut off when on the Guzzi by people who are doing five things besides driving. Porsche didn't put cupholders in 911's until 2001 or so because they thought it was bizarre that someone would attempt to drive while having breakfast. There's something to that. And the data show that speaking on a cellphone, much less texting, degrades driving more than a few alcoholic drinks. We should care about this issue whether or not the victim is a ballplayer.

GazetteOnline.com : Drew Tate has TD passes in his last two CFL games

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:49:56 +0000

He still does that thing with the left hand. Impossible to say, of course, but the quote indicates that he has developed a little modesty after buried on a depth chart for the first time in his life. I will never forget how tough that guy was, and the signature moment was in the Michigan game in Ann Arbor where he continued the play after some guy ripped his helmet from his head. That's one I wish were on YouTube.

GazetteOnline.com : BTN analysts impressed with Iowa's offensive line

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:43:03 +0000

Disagree: I think this may be the most overtly talented first string since 1985 (Long, Harmon, Station). But look at your second 22: rookies on both lines, lineback (save Johnson and Davis), safety, and maybe corner. A couple of unfortunate knees, and we are playing walk-ons, transfers and freshmen.

GazetteOnline.com : BTN analysts impressed with Iowa's offensive line

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:40:04 +0000

Scott, Good thing, I guess, he wasn't visiting the Razorbacks: http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/08/17/arkan...

GazetteOnline.com : Former Iowa Hawkeye defensive tackle Mitch King is an Indianapolis Colt who likes to play craps

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:30:58 +0000

Angerer 3rd string on that depth chart. Somehow I doubt he's at risk of being cut.

GazetteOnline.com : BTN analysts impressed with Iowa's offensive line

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:28:02 +0000

It appears that Gettis may be the surprising, emergent player this camp. There's always someone who presents himself as a transformed athlete, year-over-year, and these guys and Ferentz have been extremely complimentary. Still, I wonder, given that when Griffith sees Iowa practice he's watching a virtual reflection of Denver's late 90's offense, how objective he's being with his praise for the line and Jewel. How much is his love for the familiar?

GazetteOnline.com : Iowa QBs: But seriously folks . . .

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 04:30:37 +0000

I believe Evan McMillan is 6'5" or so. His recruiting tape says he is 6'5", 190 lbs. If you watch this http://www.hawkeyehideout.com/showthread.php?t=19... there's no way he's "6'0"". Tall guy.