Johnny Football Wins Heisman. No Cash?

Whoever of the two real finalists for the Heisman, history was going to be made. If Manti Te'o had won the award, he would've been the first pure defensive player to win it. But this is the Heisman which means QB's and RB's only.

With that in mind, Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M wins the Heisman award. "Johnny Football" received 474 first place votes and got 2,029 points from the voters. Manti Te'o of Notre Dame finished with 321 first place votes and 1,706 points from the voters. Johnny Manziel becomes the first freshman to win the award but is the 2nd youngest to win it behind Mark Ingram. Manziel threw for 3419 yards and 24 TDs this season while also running for 1181 yards and 19 TDs. Manziel caught the attention of the country when Texas A&M gave Alabama their only blemish of the season.

First, congrats to Johnny Manziel on winning the Heisman. It's quite an award for the exploited young adult... I mean "student athlete"... to get in lieu of cash, gifts, or even the right to sign with sponsors. I would've liked to see Manti Te'o win the award mainly for the defensive element but in no way did Manziel do any less to not win the award. He certainly earned it... along with cash, gifts, or simply the right sell football memorabilia of his if he wanted to.

With the Heisman handed out, bowl season is just around the corner for all those "student athletes." At least they will get some gifts then.

P.S. Not watching one snap of bowl season, including the illegitimate national title game.

Irish Beat USC and Finish Season 12-0

Looks like the Irish are on the way to their first BCS National Title game. Pity they won't win it.

Notre Dame had one final test before guaranteeing their shot at Illegitimate history and that was to beat their rival USC. The Trojans have had a disappointing season and beating Notre Dame would've made up for a little of that. USC, however, and had to send out Max Wittek, a Freshman QB, instead of injured Matt Barkley and had to hire Lane Kiffin instead of a decent head coach. Wittek didn't do well and USC didn't get the lead. Wittek threw two picks as the Irish win it 22-13. Notre Dame's Theo Reddick scored their only TD but it worked as they managed to get 5 FGs along with it.

So Notre Dame finish the season 12-0 and as the #1 team in the country. Meanwhile, their opponent looks too tough as they likely have to play Alabama or Georgia depending on who wins the SEC title game (an actual legit title game). Still enjoy the moment Notre Dame fans. It's a big one and anything can happen in the BCS ti... sorry, I couldn't finish that joke of a sentence.

USC Stripped of a Title

The NCAA has already come down very hard on USC in recent history because of their recruiting violations, especially with Reggie Bush and OJ Mayo. They have taken away scholarships, bowl appearances, and even wins during their seasons years ago. Most of this was, of course, applicable to college football. But the punishment was not done yet. Today, the BCS stripped USC of their 2004 BCS National Championship. They vacated the results of that game at the Orange Bowl as well as their participation in the following BCS Title game against Texas in which they lost. As a result, there will be no champion for 2004.

I'm honestly fine with punishing a program to bring them down a peg but taking away National Titles seems a little overblown. Don't get me wrong, USC broke the rules and in a way they shouldn't have the title but everyone still knows they won it. It's like everyone knows Pete Rose is a Hall of Fame player but is not in the Hall of Fame. I SAID "LIKE" THAT, IT'S NOT A PERFECT COMPARISON!!! Quite frankly I would actually like more sanctions on USC than they have now. Now I must admit I don't much like USC but with good reason, they cheat.

I still think college football needs to change their rules significantly but if a school breaks a rule that is currently in place, punish their future harshly, not their past. It may mean something to their so called prestige but not much more than that.

P.S. A major difference between this and Pete Rose was that Pete Rose was never thrown out of the Baseball Hall of Fame, he was just declared banned from baseball and ineligible for Hall of Fame entry forever (Not that Cooperstown wouldn't have thrown him out if he was in the Hall of Fame at the time).