Florida State

A bitchin' effort from Florida State, if we may say so ourselves. We thank Brent for sending it our way. Do the reviewers agree with our favorable opinion? Let's find out.

Mike:

"Apparently FSU is going for some post-apocalyptic theme.

"There are so many things wrong with this poster. One, never use what appear to be drawings of players when you have photographs. Two, the visual tone of the poster is too dark. I kept wanting to turn on a light. Third, if you want people to read the copy, don't make it blend into the background.

"However, I do like how FSU displayed the schedule. I do not recall seeing it done that way.

"If Bobby Bowden retires after this year, I hope he takes the people that designed this poster with him."

Mike from S.F.:

"I like the way this poster integrates the team colors into a burning background, definitely conveying intensity. I am pretty sure those are textbooks burning in the background, given the team's recent tutor scandals and (future) sanctions.

"I am not a fan of the understated way FSU differentiated between home and away games across the bottom, but really when you're only leaving the state of Florida three times during the season, how big of a deal is it?

"In general, this poster will get Seminole fans fired up about this season."

Taking Matters Into Their Own Hands

The gang at Spartan Thunder went on the hunt for a San Jose State poster and found out the school is not producing one. So they took it upon themselves to produce their own. They write: "It does have a few spelling errors, and is not perfect, but at least we now have a schedule!"

Update: Mark of Spartan Thunder has sent us a final version of his poster, minus the spelling errors.

Southern Methodist

Southern Methodist alums are not shy about flaunting their financial success. This is the place where you'll see BMWs sporting bumper stickers that read, "My maid went to Texas."

Imagine what will become of the fatcat alums if June Jones can resurrect the football program. Jones' boldest move to date has been a return to the white helmet, which is featured prominently on the poster schedule, sent to us by Todd of College Football Top Ten. What do our reviewers have to say?

Mike:

"I like the design because it is clean without being mechanical (see Texas El Paso). Despite the dominance the helmet, it doesn't throw the piece off-balance and the image of Jones, which is somewhat faded into into the background, is a nice way to highlight the coach. To me it seems to be a metaphor for Jones being the force behind the program.

"The colors are balanced and transition well into each other, giving the poster a certain flow. It would appear that the Pony Express is on its way to riding back into college football relevance."

Mike from S.F.:

"This poster is all about Jones and the return of a once great program. In the background across the top, you see the SMU facilities, part of reason Jones bailed out of Hawaii. In the middle is the white helmet, bringing back memories of the program's glory years. Behind the helmet you see an image of Jones. All of this is layered on parched paper background.

"Other than the relatively small font for the schedule at the bottom, my only complaint would be that the poster resembles a beer ad. At first glance, it seems like the helmet is buried in packed snow, like a frosty one you reach for at tailgate time. But that may be more my problem.

"A good job on this by SMU, a team that will be fun to watch this season."

Reporters' Notebooks

Eleven Warriors: Former USC and current Cincinnati Bengal quarterback Carson Palmer gives his thoughts on the Ohio State-USC game: "It’s amazing to hear what those guys think about that university and what they think about that football program and Tressel and all the crap I gotta put up with being back there. I just can’t wait for two years from now when SC comes to the Shoe ... and I can go up there and watch us pound on them in their own turf and kind of put all the talk to rest because I’m really getting sick of it and I just can’t wait for this game to get here so they can come out to the Coliseum and experience L.A. and get an old-fashioned Pac-10 butt-whooppin and go back to the Big Ten."

Gene Collier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Asked for an historic 456,000th time over the weekend how long he plans to continue coaching, Joe Paterno replied for the 456,000th time, "the way I feel right now, four, five, six years."

Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star: Is the balance of power in the Big 12 shifting to the north?

Jake Trotter, Oklahoman: Upgrades to the Cotton Bowl mean there will be more seats available for the Red River Shootout between Oklahoma and Texas.

Adam Jones, Tuscaloosa News: Alabama will be charging a hefty fee for RVs to park on most campus tailgating areas.

Brian Murphy, Idaho Statesman: Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson, who presided over the split and the rebuilding of the conference, can rightfully smile.

Associated Press: Marshall's J.J. Johnson was kicked off the team after he was arrested early Sunday morning.

Turn on, Tune in but Don't Drop Out

In our continuing attempt to turn readers into listeners, we're giving yet another shameless plug to a radio appearance, this time on the Writers Block with George Schroeder on 1320 The Score in Eugene/Springfield.

The festivities are scheduled to begin Monday morning at around 9:15 (Pacific). You can listen live by clicking here. If you miss it, the show will be archived on Schroeder's blog.
Schroeder's work has been featured here on the Wiz. When he's not doing radio, he's writing for the Eugene Register-Guard, where he arrived in 2007 after working at the Oklahoman. That's him above right, with Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports in the middle and Joe Schad (not taking notes) of ESPN talking with Florida State president T.K. Wetherell.

If you need a guest for your show, please don't hesitate to ask. As noted last week, we've been given the gift of time and on top of that, it's simply good karma to have me on your show. Email: dawizofodds (at) aol.com.

Thanks to the Football Writers Association of America for the image.

George O'Leary, Newspaper Editor

George O'Leary can do it all. Coach football, lie on his resume ... now he wants to be a newspaper editor.

The Central Florida coach says he's "under advisement not to have any dialogue with the Orlando Sentinel until basically some things that have been written have been corrected."

O'Leary is upset over the newspaper's coverage of Ereck Plancher, who collapsed and died in March after a voluntary workout. Shortly after Plancher's death, the paper talked with four Central Florida players who said Plancher showed signs of distress during the workout.

One of the players said O'Leary singled out Plancher and cursed at him for lack of effort. "That's a bunch of [expletive] out of you, son," O'Leary said.

When asked about this in April, O'Leary said: "I did not see him struggle."

On Thursday, O'Leary was asked by a Sentinel reporter what it would take to repeat as Conference USA champions. O'Leary responded by clarifying what newspaper the reporter represented. According to the Sentinel, O'Leary said, "I'm not having any dialogue with your paper until corrections to erroneous statements have been written."

Wrote Sentinel columnist David Whitley: "I don't expect you to care about this little hissing match between O'Leary and the Sentinel. But check out the corrections UCF has had to make.

"Plancher's final workout was easy. Not quite.

"He didn't appear fatigued. Don't tell that to the players.

"UCF didn't know about his medical condition. Turns out it did.

"O'Leary is mad at the Sentinel. At least that one is true."

Thanks to Get The Picture.

Reporters' Notebooks

Jake Trotter, Oklahoman: Salaries for assistant coaches in the Big 12 are skyrocketing, with long-term contracts and performance-based incentives rapidly becoming the norm. Associated charts: Ranking salaries by teams; pay according to title; average league salary by responsibility; the 10 highest- and lowest-paid assistants; total assistant salaries; contracts for head coaches.

Ted Sherman and Josh Margolin, Newark Star-Ledger: While Rutgers hiked tuition and student fees to deal with an ongoing budget crisis the past two years, the state university also boosted spending for athletic scholarships by more than $1 million.

Ron Musselman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Now that Joe Paterno has been enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame, one question remains: When is he going to retire?

Scott Cacciola, Memphis Commercial Appeal: Houston Nutt has gone from rejected in Fayetteville to respected in Oxford.

Chadd Cripe, Idaho Statesman: Boise State would like to close the south end of Bronco Stadium with about 5,500 seats and renovations to the locker rooms, training room and equipment room that would be at the base of the new stands.

Jacob Messer, Charleston Daily Mail: Marshall senior cornerback James Paul "J.J." Johnson II has been arrested for the second time in six weeks.

Here is today's mystery link.