“No, Jack, I said he was out of bounds by that much, not in … no catch, capiche? … comprende? …understand?”

By Mike Gibson
It’s been like a week-long hangover for this Owls’ fan.
I know, some of my fellow Owl fans are saying things like, “Let it go, man. There’s no point in rehashing the past.”
Well, I can’t let it go.
The injustice was so big, the history between Temple and the Big East so fowl, that the stench of The Call has remained with me for a week.
Jack Cramer, a Big East official was refusing the do the right thing, a thing that would have allowed Temple to beat UConn, 23-22. I’m not the only one who feels that way. Seventy percent of respondents to a recently closed poll on this website feel the injustice in Connecticut was “worse than the O.J. verdict.”
The O.J. verdict was on TV night and day and this travesty rated just a passing mention on ESPN and hardly any mention on the local sports segments of newscasts.
Jack The Ripper.
I know I haven’t felt this violated after a sporting event since the 1972 Olympics when the USSR officials stole the Gold Medal from Mike Bantom and Doug Collins and a bunch of game USA college kids.
This should have been the No. 1 story in sports last weekend, but because it didn’t involve two powerhouse college teams, it was largely ignored.
I can’t let it go, but I sure hope Temple’s football team can before tomorrow’s kickoff.
If the Owls can, they have a chance to win.
If they can’t, they won’t.
It’s that simple and that difficult.

By Mike Gibson
In this case, the case of Temple winning a game on the field that was given to the University of Connecticut by an old man with failing eyesight in the replay booth, the headlines told the story.
Headlines to real stories written about UConn’s 22-17 win over Temple on Saturday.
Or should we say headlines written about TEMPLE’s 23-22 (or 24-22 or 25-22) win over UConn on Saturday.
Because that’s just what it was.

Here is a list of the headlines and the stories that were filed under those headlines, mostly by UConn-area media:
• From AOL: Replay officials rob Temple of victory
• From Delaware Online: Temple loses as apparent TD is taken away
• My personal favorite, from The Bristol (Conn.) Courier: Blown Call Favors Huskies in Win Over Temple
• Tigerdroppings.com: Temple Just Got Robbed
• Danbury (Conn.) News-Times: UConn Escapes With Win

Click ONCE on icon in center of image
By Mike Gibson
Why, in God’s name, are former Big East refs allowed anywhere near a replay booth involving a Big East team against any other conference team?
Jack Cramer, a former Big East official, was the replay official in the booth who failed to overturn an obvious mistake in UConn’s 22-17 win over Temple, a catch by Bruce Francis for the winning TD in the end zone that was ruled an incompletion.
Neutral replay officials should be the norm, not the exception, in cross-conference games.
Let’s see here.
One of the major elements in any crime investigation is motivation.
Temple was kicked out of the Big East.
UConn is in the Big East.
UConn took Temple’s spot in the Big East.
The Big East would look very bad if Temple handed one of its unbeaten schools its first loss.
The Big East would be completely impartial in any game involving Temple. … yeah, right, and I also believe those 32 Heaven’s Gate people who committed suicide in 1996 are riding on the Hale-Bopp Comet now instead of dead in their graves.
Not.
Morley Safer or Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes would love this story.
No further words necessary, just the words of fans from two big East schools, UConn and Rutgers.

By Mike Gibson
The last time a university tried a Bobblehead Giveaway for a coach who won exactly one game, the coach came away a 55-25 loser.
Turner Gill walked off the field with a Bobbleahead likeness of himself in one hand, a clipboard in the other and a stat sheet with the bottom line: Ball State 55, Buffalo 25.
That was Oct. 7, 2006.
Buffalo learned the lesson.
No Bobbleheads for Turner Gill this season.
Temple learned the same lesson the hard way yesterday.
This time, it was Al Golden staring at a stat sheet with the bottom line: Buffalo 42, Temple 7. Somewhere, his Bobblehead was in the trash can.
Blame it on the Bobbleheads.
How else can you explain a 35-point loss to a team you are favored to beat by 3 1/2 points?
How else can you explain so many so-called betting experts saying to lay the wood on Temple, including one nationally syndicated radio show tabbing Temple the stone-cold lock of the week.”
Blaming it on the Bobbleheads doesn’t make any sense, but neither does the way Temple University’s football team played its game on Saturday afternoon.
Poor blocking, poor tackling, a general malaise.
“We’ve got to change the culture of losing,” Temple head coach Al Golden keeps saying over and over.
Screw the culture.
Just change the losing.
One way would be to get Travis Shelton the ball.
Often.
Here’s a guy who singlehandedly beat Bowling Green last year and he gets maybe five touches a game.
It’s obvious the coaching staff is trying to teach Travis Shelton a lesson for a real or perceived ill.
I’m sick of trying to teach guys lessons.
Teach the third-string right offensive guard lessons. Put Travis Shelton in the game and have him teach other teams a lesson the way only a guy with 4.27-40-yard dash speed can.
Culture, smuchler.
Just change the losing to winning.
Soon, like in the next two weeks.
Until then, no Bobbleheads for you.
Or anybody else.

Great photo by Darryl Rule

By Mike Gibson
Prior to Wayne Hardin’s “guarantee” of 66,000 for the Temple opener with Navy, he speculated about what makes a winning program.
“Is it the wins themselves or is it the support?” Hardin asked. “It’s like the old question, ‘What comes first, the chicken or the egg?”
Well, how about half a chicken and half an egg?
Hardin can be excused for being about half off in his guarantee.
I firmly believe Hardin could have put 60,000 in the stands for the Navy game had it been on a THURSDAY night, not Friday.
Having lived within the city limits of Philadelphia all of my life (with the exception of 10 years or so in beautiful downtown Doylestown), I know the town empties the Friday morning of Labor Day weekend.
Philadelphia is unlike any other town in that regard.
Geographically, it’s situated 45 miles from the New Jersey shore towns of Atlantic City on south. Places like Atlantic City, Ventnor, Brigantine, Sea Isle City, Ocean City, Margate, Avalon, Stone Harbor, The Wildwoods and Cape May are 80 percent Philadelphians most of the summer and about 90 percent Philadelphia Labor Day weekend.
That’s just vacation life in the big city.
The Eagles screwed Temple royally by taking the Owls’ Thursday night away.
We’ll never know if Hardin could have gotten his 66K just 24 hours earlier, but look at it this way:
If you lived in Philadelphia and the Labor Day weekend was your last chance to get away for nine months that promised to be mostly cold and dark, wouldn’t you jump at that chance?
I would have if Temple wasn’t playing.
I like Temple football more than the shore. But I’m not most people.
I looked at the record crowd of 30,648 on Friday night with a glass half-filled mentality.
It was a remarkable achievement, mostly due to the pounding of doors and pavement by an 81-year-old ex-Temple coach who had a dream and a commitment to it.
We all owe him a debt of thanks for filling the stadium beyond what most reasonably thought would be there. He did it despite the fact that only 77 Midshipmen were cleared to make the trip. An independent Scout.com report estimated that “at least 80-85 percent were Temple fans.” And Al Golden Bobbleheads (inset) weren’t even being given away, like they are this week to the first few thousand fans at Saturday’s game with Buffalo.
Back in April when Hardin made the guarantee, he had hoped Navy would bring 30K and Temple 30K.
Instead, Navy brought 77 and Temple brought 30,583.
Or thereabouts.
By all accounts, it was a huge Temple presence and a dominant home crowd.
I thought all of this while driving home on Columbus Blvd. (better known as Delaware Avenue), all while passing places like Dave and Busters and other major night spots along that thoroughfare at 11:30 p.m.
Then another thought occurred to me.
On any other Friday night, the traffic would be at a standstill all along that busy row.
Here I was among only two or three cars owning the road.
If you don’t think a large chunk of the city’s population was down the Jersey Shore, that’s all of the evidence you needed.

By Mike Gibson
From all reports near Annapolis today, there will apparently be no corps of Navy Midshipmen in attendance for the Navy at Temple game on Friday, Aug. 31 as part of stricter policies set in force by the new Academy Superintendent.
As a friend of mine said today, coach Wayne Hardin’s job just got a whole lot tougher.
Hardin, the former Navy and Temple coach, “guaranteed” a crowd of 66,000 for the Temple home opener, which was originally scheduled for Thursday night, Aug. 30.
Eagles’ exec Joe Banner “torpedoed” that guarantee when he reneged on a written deal between the NFL club and Temple University that would have given the Owls the more advantageous date. The Eagles hijacked that date for a meaningless exhibition game with the Jets that will feature all backups.
Now Navy’s administration has laid a mine field in front of coach Hardin by saying it won’t pay for the corps to be moved to Philadelphia.
Ugh.
The news could not be worse.
Will Hardin get his 66,000?
I don’t think so, but I’m not about to machine gun him after being torpedoed and mined. Hell, I would have gone out on that incredibly fragile branch with Hardin and guaranteed 66K myself if the game was on Thursday.
Thursday was the perfect night.
Friday and Saturday were bad and horrible second and third choices. Bad, because Friday is opening night of high school football in these parts. Horrible, because there are some ghost towns in Arizona that will have more people than Philadelphia on the Saturday afternoon of Labor Day weekend.
If Temple is going to approach 66,000 for this game, it will have to be with Temple people who don’t have enough money or inclination to get to the shore.
Temple people who don’t like the feeling of sand between their toes or have run out of suntan oil.
Temple people who just want to do their part to make Temple look good.
Real good.
Nothing would make Temple look better in the Philadelphia media than big, rabid Temple crowd approaching 60K.
So I implore you, if you ever cared about Temple University or attended Temple University, please make a special effort to get to the game.
Even if you hate football, please go. You get two shots at a free car.
If you are a student, please go. You get a shot at free tuition.
What follows in bold is an open letter from coach Hardin in boldface:

WELCOME, JOIN THE 66,000

This is an open letter to all of the “TEMPLE FAMILY,” which includes 190,000 alumni, 34,000 students, a faculty and administration of 9,000, and all the workers and people that support Temple.

We are a diverse group that is divided and splintered into various subgroups, such as the Varsi T, Owl Club, The Team, Football Inner Circle, Athletic Advisory Council, Presidents Advisory Council, Alumni Associations in each School or College, etc. Obviously, there are reasons for this, but we are all on the same team and have the same purpose to enjoy camaraderie and help Temple University. The Team, players that played for me over 13 years, have committed to the challenge of putting 66,000 people into the Linc for the opening game next fall with Navy. We need all the support from the Temple family that we can get in order to make this “MISSION POSSIBLE.” Let’s all band together as one unit and prove that Temple can support itself, by putting 66,000 into the stands for the opening game for 2007.

TEED UP

We have a new President, Ann Weaver Hart, a new coach, Al Golden, a new conference, Mid-American Conference, (MAC). Al has said that they will be bowl eligible next year. The future looks bright. There are many avenues for a successful school to have a winning football team, one of them is a sold out stadium, thus the reason for this effort.

DETAILS

Pre Game: Honorary Captains at Coin Toss: Navy- Roger Staubach, Joe Bellino, Bob Reifsynder; Temple: Joe Klecko, Steve Joachim, Skip Singletary
Francesca dePasquale, 17, playing the National Anthem on the Violin
Half Time: Timmy Kelly, 14, singing God Bless America
PRIZES

Drawing for a one year lease of a Chevrolet or a Nissan donated by
Brian Broomell, Classic Auto Group in Morristown, NJ
Drawing for a one year lease of a Subaru donated by
Dan Polett, Wilkie Subaru in Philadelphia, PA
Free semester’s tuition for current Temple students
Bonus

Any paid Temple-Navy ticket holder is entitled to purchase the same number of Temple-Penn State tickets.
For every five tickets you sell for the Navy game, you get one free ticket.
ALSO ON GAME DAY FROM NOON to 4 PM for “THE TEAM’S” USUAL YEARLY GET TOGETHER IS AT McFADDEN’S WHICH IS ADJACENT TO THE STADIUM. OUR APPRECIATION AWARD WILL BE AWARDED AND ALL THE PLAYERS THAT PLAYED FOR ME AT THE NAVAL ACADEMY ARE INVITED. THE LUNCHEON WILL BE FREE PROVIDED BY BILL BRADSHAW FOR BOTH SCHOOLS EFFORTS IN PUTTING 66,000 INTO THE STANDS. IT WILL BE GREAT FOR BOTH TEAMS TO MIX AND MINGLE. IF YOU SEE PEOPLE THAT YOU DON’T KNOW, JUST INTRODUCE YOURSELF, AND I AM SURE THAT YOU WILL HAVE JUST MADE A NEW FRIEND.

Together we can be a force. See you at the game,
Coach Wayne Hardin

By Mike Gibson
One of the most interesting developments in Temple sports over the last few months has occurred not on a practice field, a basketball court or in coach’s office but behind a computer.
There are now two pay sites providing coverage for Temple’s major sports teams.
That’s one more site than I ever thought Temple fans could sustain.
Maybe I’m wrong.
I hope I’m wrong.
After a summer that included major knee surgery and a close family member suffering a stroke, I’ve been neglecting this blog for awhile.
My apologies to all who’ve missed it.
Now that football season is back, so am I.
One of the things I have had time for, though, is to check out the two websites that provide coverage.
I’ve reserved judgment but after careful analysis over a period of months, I’ve come to two inescapable conclusions:
One is merely good.
The other is outstanding.
Count me on board with the Scout.com coverage provided by editor Shawn Pastor of OwlsDaily.com.
Pastor’s Scout.com coverage is as relentless as a Jim Johnson pass rush. I’m not the only one who feels this way. My friend, Sal Salamone, chronicled just two typical coverage days recently on the OwlsDaily.com website.
I like the approach Pastor is taking with his website, too.
When someone has a problem with Owlscoop.com and posts a negative comment about that website, editor John DiCarlo says something to the effect that “if you have a problem with anything send me an email.” Then he lists a gmail address.
I’ve never understood that approach. I’m sure he’ll invite me to send him an email to explain it.
No thanks.
Pastor handles it then and there, right in the same thread, often in the same hour.
That’s the way things should operate. Out in the open.
After all, that’s the way a message board should work.
A message board, after all, is a community. Why should a community not see the answer to a fair question/comment made by a poster? Why direct people to email?
Speaking of same, the message board often is the engine that powers a pay site.
Scout.com’s volume and messages and quality responses dwarfs that of Owlscoop.com.
I’m on board with Scout.com basically because I’m bored with Owlscoop.com. I’m bored, and quite frankly annoyed, with the Bumfuzzleds and Fat Pinone’s of the world. Scout.com’s “ignore this user” function allows me to block people like that should they infest Shawn’s website with a similar virus.
Owlscoop.com likes to pound its chest and tell everyone it is the best.
OwlsDaily.com proves it quietly and professionally every day. I will keep my Owlscoop.com subscription active because I believe that DiCarlo is an honest guy giving an honest effort.
It’s just not good enough.
I’ve joined Scout.com’s OwlsDaily community today.
And it’s not just because of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition that comes with the year-long commitment.

George Curry said it was good to be back at Temple
By Mike Gibson
The calendar says there are four full months left before Temple University’s home opener with Navy.
The way Wayne Hardin had it figured out today, the Owls are halfway home.
“I guaranteed to sell out the stadium without even knowing who the first opponent was,” Hardin said. “I asked who it was. Bill (Bradshaw, the Temple athletic director), told me Navy. I said, “Well, it’s half full now.’ “
Hardin was only joking when he said that.
His stated goal from last November, made public on the radio, was to fill the stadium with mostly Temple people.
If it gets full, it’s going to have to be with Temple people.
That’s why today was an important first step in a long journey.
The university hosted the students in an informal feel-good get together at the Edberg-Olson Football Complex and everyone involved had a good time.
Hardin was there.
So was another legendary coach, Wyoming Valley West’s George Curry. At Berwick, Curry, a Temple grad, won two USA Today mythical national high school championships. He is the all-time winningest Pennsylvania high school coach.
“This is my alma mater,” Curry said. “This whole atmosphere is great here now. It’s good to be here.”
It was the first time anyone could remember Curry coming back to watch a practice, but he brought some of his big Wyoming Valley West boys with him.
Hardin mined the coal region of Northeastern Pennsylvania for some of his best players, most notably fullback Henry Hynoski (Mount Carmel), and having Curry back in the Temple fold couldn’t hurt.
Today, though, was all about energizing the students about the mission. Food fueled their stomachs. Getting excited about an on-campus football team for a change will fuel their minds. At the function, a promotional plan was laid out which includes a billboard soon to show up on I76 promoting the game. Soon to follow will be billboards on I95, both here and near Navy. A student attending the game will receive free tuition. Another fan at the game will receive a two-year free lease on a car. More giveaways are yet to be announced. Try getting those perks at the Eagles’ game the night before.
As Bush 41 would say, “Not gonna happen.”
Both Hardin and current head coach Al Golden called it Mission Possible, to help fill the stadium. Hardin and Golden are in this for the long haul, not just one day, and are committed to beat this war drum for the full four months. Hopefully, the 250,000 living Temple alumni and 34,000 full-time students will answer the call to arms and fannies.
Filling the stadium? Hardin used the word guarantee back in November. He wasn’t backing away from it in April.
“When people who know me heard that, some of them thought I’d lost it,” Hardin said. “I don’t know if I ever had it.”
He did and he does. Come Aug. 31, God-willing, Temple will have it, too.

By Mike Gibson
Most schools usually are concentrating with the three R’s … reading, (w)riting and (a)arithmetic.

At Temple University on Wednesday, though, a break for the three P’s are in order:
• Picnic
• Pep Rally
• Press Conference

Because all rolled into one, that’s what this unique event at the Edberg-Olson Football Complex is. It starts at 3 p.m. and will be over by 6:30 p.m.
A picnic with free food to entice the students.
A pep rally and press conference to drum up momentum for a huge crowd for the season-opening game with Navy.
Another p-word thrown around will be possible because former Temple and Navy head coach Wayne Hardin has dubbed this task “Mission Possible.”
Hardin will address both the crowd and the media, outlining some of his ideas to fill the stadium. Al Golden will offer some words of support and answer any questions about how spring practice is progressing.
Don’t be surprised if someone attending Wednesday’s picnic/pep rally/press conference knocks someone’s socks off with a supplemental idea or two.
Here is one of mine:
Billboards at both ends of I95 (D.C./Baltimore/Annapolis and Philadelphia) featuring Hardin and Navy coach Paul Johnson in the Annapolis billboards saying simply:
Make plans to join us Aug. 31 in Philadelphia.
The one in Philadelphia can feature Hardin and Golden saying:
Aug. 31: Make plans to join us at the Linc.

Keep that in the minds of the millions of motorists traveling up and down I-95.
Get them coming and going from work, the shore and between the three big cities along the way.
It’ll take a little money, not much, and the return on that investment could be ten-fold for the university in terms of hard, cold cash and, most importantly, prestige.

By Mike Gibson
Come April 18, there will be a press conference at the Edberg-Olson Football Complex on the campus of Temple University.
The purpose: To announce ‘Mission Possible’ in conjunction with a general review of spring football practice.
Former Temple coach Wayne Hardin will be there. So will current head coach Al Golden.
The Mission they’ve chosen to accept: Fill Lincoln Financial Field for the Aug. 31 home opener with Navy.
Hardin and Golden are on board.
So are the vast resources of Temple University.
So, too, is Navy, an organization with a pretty good track record for accomplishing missions, possible and impossible.
There’s a great photo of Wayne Hardin celebrating with a couple of famous Navy players after a football win in the early 1960s circulating on the internet.
I asked coach Hardin about it the other day.
“I don’t know what game that was,” he said. “Probably Army.”
Those bonds have lasted a long time.
Recently, Hardin’s Navy players threw him an 80th birthday party in South Carolina.
Some of them mentioned that idea last year while talking to him in Florida.
“They said they want to throw me a birthday party,” Hardin said. “I said that’s not necessary.”
But throw they did and in style. Phone calls were made.
Everyone contacted came.
At least 65 former Navy players threw Hardin a party at a lavish South Carolina golf resort.
“I wish you could have been there,” Hardin said. “It was terrific. We got together at Hickory Knob State Park (S.C.) March 19-21.”
Two of the movers and shakers were Jim Maxfield and Jim Stewart.
“There were no words for it,” Hardin said. “(Representatives) of all classes and their wives were there. It was just a great tribute and I was really appreciative.”
Now Hardin is turning his energy (if he hasn’t already) to the April 18 press conference.
“I went to the (Temple) Homecoming game against Bowling Green,” Hardin said. “I may have brought them some luck. I looked in the stands and thought, “Oh man. We’re going to have to fill this stadium somehow.’
“So I committed to doing my part to helping them fill the stadium for the opening game next year. At the time, I didn’t even know who it was against. Maybe it was a sign that we’re going to get this done.”
So Hardin went to the top of the stadium and scribbled down on a notepad some ideas to fill the stadium.
He even went into the president’s box.
“She (Ann Weaver Hart) is a very impressive person,” Hardin said. “She looked at my list and nodded her head in agreement with my ideas (for filling up the stadium).
“When she got to the part of free tuition for a semester, she said, “My husband and I will pick that up.’ She didn’t even bat an eye.
“I mean, what father, knowing that his kid is going to have a chance for free tuition for a semester for attending a football game isn’t going to make sure that kid is there?”
Hardin’s other ideas will be announced on April 18 but this is a cooperative brainstorming effort.
“The bottom line,” Hardin said, “is that Temple is a school with 250,000 alumni living within an hour or two of the stadium and 34,000 full-time students. We should be able to fill that stadium with Temple people alone. All I’m asking for is you to give me one day of your year.”
With Temple fans hawking tickets from one end of I-95 and Hardin’s old Navy friends pushing from the other end, he just might be able to pull this off.