Oceanside player commits to Arizona

You know, I didn't go to El Camino, but you don't have to go to El Camino High to hate Oceanside High. They're kinda like the Yankees of local football, especially since they've won a record five straight CIF titles.

However, the hatred doesn't change the fact that John Carroll (no relation to USC's Pete) is a damn good coach and he creates good athletes, so I'm really happy to hear that one of Oceanside's players committed to Arizona for the 2010 season.

Jerry Whittaker grew up rooting for the underdog.

When it came to Pac-10 football, that meant following somebody other than USC and UCLA, the two powerhouses located just a two-hour drive from his Oceanside, Calif., home.

"I always liked Arizona, probably because I was always rooting against USC and UCLA," he said. "Even when I was a kid, I thought, 'Arizona — that'd be a nice place to go.'"

Now, he's going.

Whittaker, a 5-foot-11-inch, 170-pound defensive back, verbally committed to the Arizona Wildcats late Monday. The seventh member of the UA's 2010 recruiting class chose the UA over offers from Texas A&M, Washington, Washington State, San Diego State and New Mexico.

Whittaker registered four interceptions as a junior at Oceanside High School, one of the San Diego area's football powerhouses. He was also a stellar wide receiver, catching 30 passes for 543 yards and seven touchdowns.

Whittaker said he's happy playing defense; he spurned interest from Cal and Wyoming, in part because both schools preferred him at receiver.

I really hope that this is a sign of things to come for Arizona. Recruiting out of Southern California is a gold mine year in and year out, so things will definitely turn out well for Arizona if this turns into a trend. As long as Sonny Dykes chooses to stay with us instead of taking teams up on head coach offers (which he'll definitely be getting in the future, count on it) things just continue to look up for Arizona.

Speaking of Arizona football, I've added a countdown timer to Arizona's home opener on the left sidebar.

Interesting Arizona Daily Star article

I can't say I disagree with the majority in both of these polls.

• No championships needed: Apparently, consistency is sexier than "One Shining Moment."

Asked to choose between continuing the Wildcats' consecutive NCAA tournament appearances for another 10 years or winning a national title, more than two-thirds chose the former.

Sixty-eight percent of 399 fans preferred the Wildcats just stay in the title hunt rather than win their first since 1997. Another 10 seasons of the Big Dance would place the Wildcats in a new stratosphere among NCAA programs, with 35 straight trips.

In football, fans passed on the Wildcats reaching the pinnacle of their program's history. Fifty-nine percent of 356 fans said they would rather the UA defeat rival Arizona State 10 times in a row than the Wildcats reach the Rose Bowl for the first time.

The UA is the only school in either the Pac-10 or the Big Ten to have never played in Pasadena on New Year's Day.

On Oregon's new uniforms

Oregon Unveils New Football Uniforms

To be perfectly honest, I like Oregon's uniforms and I liked the diamond-plate ones they just replaced. Yeah, the wings will always remind me of last year's loss by Arizona at Autzen Stadium, but I like the uniforms nonetheless. They break the monotony and they're something different. They work. I mean, at the same time, I would never want to see Arizona wearing something similar just because Arizona's uniforms are Arizona's uniforms and I like them the way they are, but these work for Oregon. They're always going to be Nike's guinea pigs, so their uniforms being out of the ordinary is par for the course.

It'll be nice to see them wearing those uniforms when we beat them in Tucson this year, though.

USC basketball is up a creek with neither a paddle nor a canoe

USC is seriously screwed.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4252866

USC continues to suffer the fallout of the investigation into possible NCAA violations and coach Tim Floyd's subsequent resignation.

The Trojans' recruiting class, once viewed as one of the best in the country, is down to one.

Lamont Jones of Oak Hill (Va.) Academy has been released from his national letter of intent, USC announced Thursday night. Fellow recruit Derrick Williams of La Mirada (Calif.) High also asked for his release, The Los Angeles Times reported. USC wouldn't confirm Williams' departure.

The Trojans already gave Noel Johnson, of Georgia, his release.

Evan Smith, of Calabasas (Calif.) High, is the lone recruit remaining for 2009-10.

...

Point guard Gary Franklin Jr., of Mater Dei (Calif.) High, has committed for 2010. A source told ESPN.com he may also back out.

Because of the added cloud of the alleged violations, this could turn out to be even worse than what happened to Arizona last year, especially since we didn't lose the core of our offense last summer. This looks really bad, but I can't say I'm sad about it. The University of Spoiled Children deserves whatever's coming to it. The air of corruption that seems to come with any private school seems particularly worse for them because athletics is so much more visible, and if this combined investigation (remember that the Reggie Bush investigation is still ongoing and combined with the basketball investigation) really pans out, it could hurt the football program. I hope the football program gets wrapped up in this as well. I'm not the only one who's sick of the situation in Pac-10 football. Every year, it's guessing who's going to take 2nd place, because everyone knows who's going to take first. The Trojans are the Yankees of the Pac-10, and the Yankees are the Evil Empire. Therefore, is USC the Pernicious Principality?

I'm going to be watching this situation especially closely. The really good thing that could come out of this for Arizona is that we were recruiting both MoMo Jones and Gary Franklin, and if they jump, we're going to be in consideration yet again. We've already got a good recruiting class and adding one more player, in addition to getting a recruit for next year, would just make things even better.

STOOOOOOOOOOOOOPS!

While a lot of the Wildcat faithful never give up, myself included, it's nice to see that the pressure on Mike Stoops is finally letting up.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/ua/articles/2009/06/08/20090608stoops0609.html

TUCSON - Yes, it's the off-season, but something seems different around here. Mike Stoops is down about 15 pounds, looking healthier than he has in recent years. What's more, he just seems so . . . at ease.

Seriously.

The University of Arizona football coach admits he has changed. He's relaxed a little, matured some, acknowledged his mistakes. And as he explains all this, it suddenly becomes clear.

There's no drama.

No discussion of job security, no mention of a "Stoops hot seat" or reminder that the Wildcats haven't played in a bowl in 10 years.

All in all it's pretty quiet, which is odd.

To be perfectly honest, there should be absolutely no pressure on Stoops at this point. Yes, his tenure with Arizona hasn't been 100% stellar, but he's definitely moved past the bad years. Last year was just the beginning. Things are definitely looking up for Arizona at this point. Are we suddenly going to start stomping Oregon and USC and making runs at the national championship? No, especially not with teams like Northern Arizona and Central Michigan making up 2/3rds of our non-con schedule. However, I don't think we'll be finishing in the bottom half of the Pac-10 anytime soon, and we're definitely going bowling again this year.

I'll be there for every game and I'm seriously considering ponying up the money to go on the road trip to Tempe just to shove it in the Scum Devil fans' faces when we beat them six ways 'till Sunday yet again.

As promised...

...the final design for the UC Oceanside Friars' football uniforms! There are two helmets, four jerseys and two pants.


Home jersey


Away jersey


Home alternate jersey


Away alternate jersey

I went through quite a few preliminary designs that differed greatly from my original sketches, but finally decided on a simple design. Keep in mind that these uniforms might not be completely final. There's just over a month until the game is released, so I've got a lot of time to potentially change my mind.

As for the stadium and field, since you can't create your own stadium (entry #1 on my wishlist for next year's game) I went with the Louisiana Superdome. Unfortunately, since all four of the 100K+ stadiums (Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State and Tennessee) have obvious signage. I'm not picking a stadium with a lot of signs since I'm a stickler for detail and it'll bother me greatly if, for example, I see a big "Ohio State Buckeyes" on the side of the press box during a game that doesn't involve Ohio State in any way. Especially since I hate Ohio State. UC Oceanside's stadium will be called Pendleton Field.

As for the field, see for yourself.

Ignore the circles on the field. Those are just the buttons to press in the TeamBuilder application to change options on the field.

All in all, I'm happy with this one. I've also created the SCLSU Mud Dogs (from The Waterboy) and La Costa Canyon (my high school) and the Chicago Bears as universities.

I can't wait to pick up my copy of this game.

Time to get back into the groove of things

So, I'm all done with finals and back home. I'm looking for a summer job and hoping that turns out well.

Bleacher Report (about a month and a half ago) ranked the Pac-10 stadiums in terms of how tough they were to play at.

Of course, there was no shock at all about Autzen Stadium coming in at #1. You have to be a complete idiot not to think it's the toughest in the conference. It's easily in the top 5 in the nation.

The rest of the list is where it gets interesting.

3. In Tucson, Arizona you will find Arizona Stadium, home of the Wildcats.

This stadium has been popularized by its famous field rushes, in which the field is turned into a sea of red almost instantaneously after a wildcat victory (see Oregon 2007). Arizona Stadium is also home to the "Zona Zoo," the largest student section in the Pac-10, and houses very rabid, very loyal fans. Arizona stadium is like the death valley of the Pac-10; it's where great teams go to lose.

They've got that right. Nobody rushes a field quite like we do.

Even more NCAA 10 stuff

So, it's been revealed that created teams will be limited to two helmets, four jerseys and two pants. Therefore, I've had to revise the uniforms yet again.







To be really honest, I'm sick of creating all of these images. This game can't come out any quicker.

More NCAA 10 CAS stuff

So, after having heard the news that we are limited to four uniforms (home and away with home and away alternates) I went ahead and changed Oceanside's uniforms a bit. Nothing too major.


Home, Away, Home alternate, Away alternate

Also, user pbplayer178 created a custom Rob Gronkowski cover for me to use if/when I buy the game.

UC Oceanside's uniforms-to-be

We are now 78 days from the release of NCAA Football 10 and I'm starting real preparations for making UC Oceanside. In addition to revising the logo because I remembered that all UC schools have both blue and gold in their logos, I've already drawn up what I want their uniforms to look like.



However, those uniforms are only if I'm limited to just four uniforms.

More NCAA 10 news

As promised, here's the IGN article.

I've decided that my first created school will be a throwback to the created schools I used to make on the last-gen games: UC Oceanside. I've even got a logo for it. Thankfully, there's a real school with the initials "UCO" (the University of Central Oklahoma) so I'm going to use their logo with a different color scheme.

Here is Central Oklahoma's real logo followed by the two color schemes I've thought up so far.

NCAA 10 News: TeamBuilder = Create-a-School

From EA:

NCAA Football 10 introduces TeamBuilder, an all-new, online create-a-school feature that will enhance the user’s ability to produce personalized content. With the capability to upload logos and numerous customization options for uniforms, fields, rosters, and much more, TeamBuilder gives users the opportunity to design completely original teams with infinite possibilities. Plus, preloaded logos for several Football Championship Subdivision schools will help users create authentic teams for NCAA Football 10. With its intuitively designed online database that is searchable across several fields, TeamBuilder allows users to share content with ease. A football fan’s dream, TeamBuilder will enable users to experience the excitement and pageantry of college football, defined by their own personalized creations.

Basically, this is huge for me. I would have gladly taken the last-gen Create-a-School over nothing at all, but this goes above and beyond what I expected. This is absolutely incredible. If there actually is the ability to upload your own logos, the options are basically endless. Of course, when I play, my primary dynasty will be Arizona, but I'll definitely be creating my own schools for sure.

IGN will have a big article about TeamBuilder tomorrow. I'll be sure to have that article here tomorrow ASAP.

As-yet-unrevealed features for NCAA Football 10 revealed?

A poster over at the NCAA Strategies board found a promotional display version of NCAA Football 2010 at his local Gamestop. I'm definitely looking forward to this game for obvious reasons, but there are two things that caught my eye.



For one, Wilbur the Wildcat is on there. That is unbelievably awesome but I don't understand it, considering we're not on the same level as Florida or Texas. I'll take what I can get, though.

Most importantly, however, is the fact that Create-a-School is back! Yes! I've been waiting for this for so long! Those of you who don't know my video game preferences should know that I'm a big fan of customization ability in games, and I absolutely love creating my own teams in games like this. I remember back on the last-gen versions of NCAA, my brother and I would always create the UC Oceanside Eagles (him) and the Cal State Oceanside Broncos (me), and play a "rivalry" of sorts against each other (Oceanside's my hometown back in California). This is amazing news.

At the same time, though, there are plenty of typos there (in addition to Wilbur's jersey being inaccurate (it should be 09 instead of 05)) that could call the authenticity of this into question. However, considering it's just a promo box, those typos would be fixed before the actual game went out. EA usually puts out a development podcast every Thursday, and in light of the fact that they've got plenty of ears to the ground at the NCAA Strategies forum, I wouldn't be surprised if we get official confirmation on this come Thursday.

I'm definitely looking forward to this game.

Mike Stoops Q&A

ESPN's Ted Miller spoke with Arizona head coach Mike STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPS on the state of Arizona football. The one part that stands out the most to me is this:

Has this program turned the corner and how close are you guys to competing for the Rose Bowl berth?

MS: I think we've definitely turned the corner. I think we are a much more confident team, just when we take the field. I think we take the field expecting to play well and expecting to win. I don't know if that has always been the case here. We competed well last year throughout the season. We had an opportunity to win all 12 games [the Wildcats' five losses came by a combined 28 points] in the fourth quarter. We're developing here as a program. Obviously, the win over Arizona State was huge because it was in-state and we hadn't won in three years. But beating BYU [in the Las Vegas Bowl], going into the offseason with that confidence, really helped our football team. All that stuff that festers inside your program leaves once you win. A lot of things will go on inside your program until you win. Now our guys have a great attitude about what they do and it has become a much easier team to coach.

Do you hang the Rose Bowl out as a goal?

MS: We've always set our sights on the Rose Bowl. It will be very challenging but we feel like we have that type of team. Anytime you have a solid defense, you have a

chance to win. We have to get better but I think we have a chance to have one of our best groups on defense when it's all said and done. This is the fastest defense we've had. So if we can stay healthy, we'll have a chance. Obviously, USC has set a very high standard, but we feel like we've matched up with them relatively well the last couple of years. We feel like we're closing the gaps on everyone we play.

I agree with Stoops wholeheartedly. We're not at USC's level yet, but we're definitely on the way up. Of all the teams that lost to USC last year, we lost by the smallest margin. Even Penn State got a bigger whuppin' than we did. We're on the way up and I can see us being a perennial top 5 of the conference for a while. Fighting for the Rose Bowl berth is obviously a few years off, but if this program continues in the direction it's going in, don't be surprised if the Scum Devils' insult about us being the only team never to have played in the Rose Bowl suddenly becomes irrelevant.

Likes and dislikes

I figure I should probably list my favorite and least favorite sports teams so you know where I stand on the teams. After all, this is a sports blog, so I might as well set the ground rules.

I may or may not add to this list and/or edit in reasoning behind each one later. Teams (save for the first place listing of Arizona, ASU and the New York Yankees in their respective lists) are not necessarily ranked in order.

College:
Favorites: Arizona Wildcats, Florida State Seminoles, LSU Tigers
Hates: Arizona State Sun Devils, everyone else in the Pac-10, Florida Gators, Miami Hurricanes, Ohio State Buckeyes, Oklahoma Sooners, Texas Longhorns

Soccer:
Favorites: Manchester United, Chicago Fire, Barcelona
Hates: Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid

NFL:
Favorites: Chicago Bears, San Diego Chargers
Hates: Green Bay Packers, Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos, New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants

MLB:
Favorites: Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres
Hates: New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins/Everyone in the AL Central besides the White Sox, L.A. Dodgers/Everyone in the NL West besides the Padres

We'll be back next year and we'll win again

Arizona Football - Duel in the Desert Intro Video 2008 from Arizona Athletics on Vimeo.

That video, despite its age and despite the many times I've watched it, still sends chills down my spine.

Seeing Arizona win the Territorial Cup by beating the Scum Devils of Average Students University was an epic experience. In fact, it's probably the greatest sports experience I've ever had in my life, and I've seen the White Sox win a World Series and the Bulls win multiple NBA Championships.

But nothing compares to the absolute adrenaline rush that came from rushing the field after we stomped ASU.

I screamed so much that it hurt my head, for some reason, if I spoke too loudly after the game.

Things are definitely looking up for Arizona football this year. I think that we'll recover from losing Thomas and Tuitama (among others) and while I'm not going to predict something along the veins of my Arizona dynasty in NCAA Football 09, in which I've won 9 straight national championships with Arizona, I think that we're on the way up in the Pac-10. I predict we'll go bowling again next year and we'll march to Tempe to keep the Territorial Cup. ASU may legally own the trophy, but we'll be more than happy to hold onto it for another year.