05.31.11
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Happy Birthday, Steve Addazio

Upgrades at DC with Chuck Heater and OC with Scot Loeffler
mean Addazio could be in a better position to succeed than AG was.

Tomorrow is Steve Addazio’s 52d birthday.
June 1, 1959 was the day he came into this world.

You might think the first gift he received was last week’s commitment of promising Washington, D.C. quarterback Benjamin Onett.
I don’t think so.
To me, the gift came a few days earlier and was this terrific statistical analysis of Al Golden’s work at Temple.

Make no mistake, Golden set the bar high for Addazio.
To me, with this kind of talent Golden has left here, Addazio will have to go at least 10-2.
That would represent both an improvement of each of the last two seasons and a MAC championship.
But it would not mean wins over Penn State and Maryland (although those would be nice). He can do it by running the MAC table.
The statistical analysis seems to indicate that the bar is not all that high for Addazio, although the Owls can’t afford to stub their toe like they did in losses at the end of the season to Ohio and Miami.
What it doesn’t address is the lack of imagination in Golden’s offensive schemes and his failure to stop the read option of Frank Solich’s Ohio teams in each of the last two seasons.
Does Scot Loeffler inject that imagination in the offense?
Does Chuck Heater, who comes with a far more impressive resume as a DC than Mark D’Onofrio ever had, have a handle on the read option?
Is Addazio a better overall motivator and CEO than Golden was?

We’ll have a good idea about five minutes after the Villanova game.
If it is a gut-wrencher, like the last two were, it’s going to be a long season.
My money is on the Owls to cover that night and a short and brilliant season to follow.
Happy birthday, Steve.

05.24.11
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Al Golden talks Temple football

Al Golden may be gone, but he has not forgotten Temple.

Read that headline and you might just shrug your shoulders.
Al Golden has spent much of the last five years talking Temple football, so that might not be news.

‘Obviously I think Temple’s a better fit. …I think clearly we began the process of establishing you can recruit, and there’s so many great things that have occurred at Temple University. I think they’re worthy of taking that next step’
Al Golden
on Temple
and the Big East

There was never a more tireless promoter of the program than AG and that was one of his many, many good qualities.
If some kid who had an internet radio podcast wanted to talk Temple football with him, Golden would give the kid five minutes of his valuable time.
Rivals.com radio, scout.com recruiters, Golden would talk to them all.
The reason that headline, though, is news today is that Al Golden is talking Temple football for the first time in five months, basically.
In a 40-minute opening introductory press conference as the head coach at the University of Miami, Al Golden did not mention Temple once.
Not a big deal to some, but a big deal to me.
That’s why I was heartened to read this Golden nugget, courtesy of Octoberproject, a neighbor of our good friend Dave “Fizzy” Weinraub, a former Temple football great.
In it, Golden is asked what he thinks the addition of Villanova would mean to the Big East.
He basically said to forget Villanova, that Temple would add a lot more value to that conference.
From TV ratings to increased attendance to the overall perception of the program, Golden certainly added to that value.
By making comments like those AG made recently, old habits like talking up Temple football seem to be hard for Al Golden to break and that’s a good thing.

05.18.11
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Temple football has a horse in the Preakness


Congie DeVito video tribute.
You hear it all the time when someone is claiming to be neutral while making a point:
“I don’t have a dog in this fight” or “I don’t have a horse in this race.”
Well, the Preakness is Saturday and I have a horse in this race.
So do you.
His name is King Congie.
Mike Jensen wrote a terrific story on this subject earlier this week in The Philadelphia Inquirer and it is linked in the paragraph below.
Congie DeVito was just a nameless poster on Owlscoop.com who I got to meet at a couple of tailgates over the years. He passed away, like many Temple fans seem to do (Dan Glammer, Steve Bumm and Shane Artim come to mind but the list is too long to mention here), at way too young ages.
He, like I, shared a common love: Temple football. We both liked Bruce Arians and thought he got a raw deal at Temple.



King Congie: Temple football’s horse

 His extended to Temple basketball.
I like Temple basketball. I love Temple football.
(In fact, I think he was a Temple basketball fan first.)
I’m scheduled to get a haircut on Saturday in Center City.
I usually don’t bet on horseracing because I know nothing about it but, on this day, I will make an exception.
Afterward, I will walk to the OTB near City Hall on the way to work and place a couple of sheckles on King Congie, a 30 to 1 shot.
If King Congie wins, we all do.

05.14.11
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Winning TV sets and Temple

Steve Addazio was a big hit at the Pennsylvania High School Football Coaches
Association Convention on Friday, in State College. “There’s a buzz about Temple now,” Addazio said.

Right now, the company line at Temple is that it is “perfectly happy” in the MAC.
Don’t let the company line fool you.
At Temple, just as anywhere else, money talks and bullbleep walks.
Al Golden has handed the keys over to a nice Cherry and White brick house to Steve Addazio and it is now time for Addazio to show that house on the market by continuing to win. Golden has given Addazio players, plenty of good ones, and now it’s up to Addazio to coach these guys to a title.

Every bar in town was tuned into Temple-UCLA football

Nothing less, and maybe even a little bit more. A win at Maryland would be nice. A win over Penn State before 70,000 in the hometown would be even nicer.
Do that, and TV ratings in the hometown go through the roof and ticket sales to the remaining games soar.
Think ESPN might notice?
That’s what is at stake for the school over the next few months.
Addazio has been telling everyone for the last few months that “there is a great buzz about Temple” now and a “great vibe about that place.”
He said so again on Friday at the Pennsylvania High School Coaches Association.
That might be true now, but imagine what it would be like if the Owls had that breakthrough season many believe they can have this year?
The Owls will play a great schedule and can make a great case for advancing in the college football world and for the school’s brand as a whole.
Television networks are coming at the Big East with wads of dollars in their hands for the next national TV contract.
The Big East is holding palms extended.
TV networks are saying, “Wait a minute, here. Where is my Philadelphia market?”
While Philadelphia is the nation’s fifth-largest city, it is the nation’s fourth-largest TV market.
TV sets mean money.
The Big East merely shrugs its shoulders and says, “We’re waiting on Villanova to come up with a suitable stadium plan.”
Clearly, Villanova has no such plan.
Temple not only has a stadium plan, has got a stadium, a good one, and has that stadium locked up for the next seven years.
Temple-UCLA Eagle Bank Bowl ratings were extraordinarily high, the second-highest bowl numbers on ESPN in the 30 years of bowl games in the Philly market. People in the fourth-largest market did not tune in on a Tuesday afternoon to watch UCLA.
Temple proved it can deliver the numbers.

“The relationship has worked out really well for all parties. Expansion into the Philadelphia media market has already shown benefits with strong ratings for the MAC’s football television package.”
_ Rick Cryst,
former MAC commissioner


Temple can give the Big East those numbers and the Big East can give Temple what it wants: A home for all sports.
Temple belongs with schools like Rutgers, Pitt, Syracuse and West Virginia and not with schools like the directional Michigans and the Kents and the Akrons.
With a stadium and a quality Division I program already in place, the Big East would be foolish not to look at Temple football as really the only viable answer to lock up the largest available market.
The top five AVAILABLE markets to the BCS are:
1) Philadelphia (fourth overall)
2) Houston (10th overall)
3) Cleveland (17th overall)
4) Orlando (19th overall)
5) Baltimore (24th overall)

It’s pretty clear from that list and from Temple’s most recent bowl ratings that school has positioned itself well. Whether the TV people can convince the Big East the same now that this Villanova mess is over is another matter entirely.
To that end, winning would not hurt.
It never does.

04.30.11
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(Fellow) Eagles’ fans are in for a treat

Jarrett’s hit at 0:23 of this video is the greatest I’ve ever seen, high school, college or pro.

My weekends are pretty much set around a Temple game in person on Saturday and an Eagles’ game by the TV on Sunday.
Those two days seem to go by in like five minutes.
That’s why I could not be happier for my main man Jaiquawn Jarrett today after the Eagles selected him in the second round.
Or myself.
As a Temple fan, I am going to miss him leaving the family.
As an Eagles’ fan, I’m going to adopt him as my favorite player.
The Eagles have missed that hard-hitting safety since Brian Dawkins left. They haven’t had anybody who could bring the wood since.

I really believe UConn lost its will to win after that hit. The Huskies did not want to get hit from that spot in the game forward.


Jarrett, to me, is a younger, faster, version of Brian Dawkins.

I said that all season. It wasn’t surprising that Andy Reid said that at the press conference. Reid said a lot of other nice things about Temple, calling the school “an educational Mecca” and saying “that program is really rolling now.”
I think the way it will eventually shake down is that Nate Allen will be a starting free safety (he’s more of a floater-type cover guy anyway) and Jarrett will be moved to strong safety, where his primary cover responsibility will be tight ends.
He will do more than fine there.

“Temple is an educational Mecca”
_Andy Reid


His hit of Jordan Todman, a great back from UConn, in the above video is the single greatest hit I’ve ever seen. You get a flavor for it from the video, but you really had to be there to hear and see it in person and experience the crowd’s awe-struck reaction afterward.
I really believe UConn lost its will to win after that hit. The Huskies did not want to get hit from that spot in the game forward.
That’s what Jarrett brings to the game.
It is somewhat consoling to know that I will still see it on my weekends, albeit the second half this year.

04.29.11
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Muhammad Wilkerson: Temple Royalty

Big Mo makes that Temple helmet look real good.

“I’ll represent Temple strong. I’m always going to represent the Temple team and show that Temple can continue to produce elite athletes for the next level.”
_ Mo Wilkerson

The only place you’ll find me at 4 a.m. on any morning is deep in dreamland.
I won’t be getting up to watch the Royal Wedding tomorrow.
However, if the NFL draft was being held at 4 a.m. and a Temple player was certain to be picked in the first round, I would be up for that.
Muhammad Wilkerson proves that if you sign a scholarship at Temple and are good enough, you will be fast-tracked to “the league.” You will be playing in an NFL stadium in front of an NFL coach and general manager whose kid plays on the same team you do.


Mike Pouncey gets some love from Steve Addazio. Would
have been nice to see Al Golden or Mark D’Onofrio return
the favor for Muhammad Wilkerson.


To me, Muhammad Wilkerson is Temple Royalty. He is the only non-BCS player who will be picked in the first round. Let that thought swirl around in your head just a little bit.
Like a Solar Eclipse, those kind of things don’t come around often.
(Although I expect that they will happen moreso if Steve Addazio lives up to his reputation as a recruiter.)

Fortunately, neither you nor I will have to lose any sleep over this first-round pick. He made “the league” after only two years at Temple.
It’s hard to hide playing from the NFL when you are playing in one of their stadiums.
Having had the pleasure of watching Big Mo for the last two years, I know he will make an impact right away at either the defensive end or defensive tackle position.
There are plenty of DE/DT types who excel at one thing and not at another. Corey Simon was a great run-stopper, not so great at rushing the passer. Trent Cole is great at rushing the passer, not so good at stopping the run.
Wilkerson is great at both things. Plus, with basketball leaping ability at 6-foot-5, he’ll knock down more passes than just about anyone else. He’s got interchangable skills at both DE and DT and that’s got to make him valauble in a sport that has so many injuries.
Plus, he’s a terrific human being.
We at Temple know that.
On Sundays, due to the lockout maybe not this fall but certainly not too far into the future, all the football fans in America will soon find that out.

04.24.11
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Helmetgate



“After all I did to change the helmet to TEMPLE, Addazio is doing WHAT?”

I could see Al Golden was doing some of the right things way back when he was getting some wrong results.
Nothing made me jump for joy after a 1-11 first season like something in did in the off season after that year.
He ditched the T logo on the helmet for the classic throwback TEMPLE helmet.
It might not mean much to you and some of the other younger TEMPLE fans, but TEMPLE on the helmets meant a lot to me.
“We’re doing it to get back to our brand,” Golden said at the time. “When I was growing up Temple had a lot of  really good, tough, physical, teams and they all had that distinctive Temple on the helmet. We want to get back to those days.”
Those were pretty good days as I recall.
Let’s see.
In the Wayne Hardin days of the TEMPLE helmet, the Owls won 82, lost 50 and tied 1, regularly scared Penn State, beat the crap out of West Virginia (38-16) AT WEST VIRGINIA, beat the crap out of a bowl-bound Syracuse team (49-17), WON a bowl game, beating a PAC-10 team (28-17) … etc., etc.
In the Bruce Arians days of the TEMPLE helmet, the Owls twice won six games (against the 10th, not 119th toughest sked in the country) and had a Heisman Trophy runner up in Paul Palmer. Also, they were 5-0 against MAC teams, beat a bowl-bound MAC team (Toledo) by a 35-6 score and beat Pitt in 3 of 5 seasons.
In the last two years of the Al Golden TEMPLE helmet, the Owls won 17 and lost 8 in consecutive regular seasons.
In the T years, the Owls were largely the biggest joke in college football.
Can you see why I don’t like the T?

Final Poll Results:
Keep it TEMPLE: 53%
Go to the T logo: 46%


Bad Karma.
I know it’s the school logo and all, but put it on the field. Hey, you can even put it on the stripes down pants. The coaches can wear baseball caps with it featured.
Just don’t put it on the helmets.
In the grand scheme of things, it’s not that big a deal but it feels like a big thing to me now.
Tennessee has a T on its helmets. So does Tulane.
TEMPLE was telling people who we are and where we came from.
I liked that distinction. Plus, I think it looks better.
“I talked with a lot our coach Hardin’s guys,” Steve Addazio said his first day on the job, “and I appreciate some of you guys.”
Addazio wouldn’t have appreciated ANY of those guys on Cherry and White Day because, trust me, I talked to them and nobody liked the new helmet.
If he really appreciates those guys, and he should, he would rethink this ill-conceived idea.
If there’s a way to go back to TEMPLE on the helmets, I think that Steve Addazio should find that GPS and right this wrong Karma before it gets too far.
Only one of the T teams did anything worth a damn and that was the Dick Beck-captained 1990 Owls, who won seven games and were screwed out of a bowl after beating Boston College, 29-10, in Boston. Those Owls also beat Wisconsin. At Wisconsin.
If it can’t be done, I won’t like it but I can live with it especially if the Owls can beat the only Big 10 team on their schedule this year.
Then, as one of the ex-Owls alluded on Saturday, he can put a photo of himself on one ear flap and Chuck Heater’s mug on the other for all I care.

04.17.11
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Plenty to like about Daz’s first C&W Day

Steve Addazio said he was sitting out Adrian Robinson and Bernard Pierce because they “had great springs” and quarterback Chris Coyer “was fine” in this video that features iconic SID Al Shrier walking around in the background wearing the worst possible logo on his hat.

You can tell a lot about initial impressions.
I thought about that while walking into the Edberg-Olson Football Complex, oh, about 9:59 a.m. on Saturday morning.
The sound blasting in the background was Ce Lo Green’s hit “Forget You” which featured the cleaned-up version of the original viral hit lyrics.
I thought how nice to dedicate a song to Villanova, the next Owl opponent.
Or, someone said walking next to me, Al Golden.
“Ouch,” I said.
I understood where he was coming from, though.
My school of thought on Al Golden is, simply, this:
There was no man alive who Bill Bradshaw could have hired at the time who could have pulled Temple’s football program out of the quick sand better than Al Golden.
He was the right man for THAT time.
If yesterday showed me anything, Steve Addazio might be the right man for THIS time.
One of the players’ dads might have said it best.
“These guys are big-time SEC coaches,” he said. “Can you imagine these MAC coaches having stuff thrown at them like these guys are going to throw at them? Their heads will be spinning.”
I say might because we won’t know until the real numbers start pouring in from the West Coast precincts, but here are some real numbers I’m looking for this season:
1) A 35-14 (or better) win over Villanova on Sept. 1 (55-3 would be preferable);
2) A 10-2 (or better) record.
If the first number comes in, go to Vegas and place a sheckle or two on the second number coming to fruition.

“These guys are big-time SEC coaches. Can you imagine these MAC coaches having stuff thrown at them like these guys are going to throw at them? Their heads will be spinning.”
_ Temple player’s dad


The first number is important because, for all of Al’s admirable qualities, he couldn’t put away a seven-win FCS team and he lost to a national champion FCS team with a nine-win FBS team. That should not happen.
The second number is important because Golden set the bar high with that nine-win season two years ago and also because Al left Temple a wonderful parting gift:
Players.
Plenty of good ones.
Plenty of returning starters.
Plenty of really good talent he stashed away with a red shirt last year.
Myron Myles was one of them.
He gained 187 yards and caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Connor Reilly.
Even Michael Doty, the less famous sibling of UConn superstar women’s basketball player Caroline Doty, caught a long touchdown pass.
They didn’t release depth charts but my guess is that Mike wasn’t on the first or second team.
Just a hunch.
There was sooooo much talent on that field yesterday it’s hard to know where to start.
James Nixon is going to be the greatest kickoff returner in America next year. You read that here first.
ERod and AJax will be the best tight end combo in the MAC. It’s not even close. Let’s stretch the field with the spread and watch the seams open up on the inside with dump offs to Eric Rodriguez and Alex Jackson.
I hope they put Nixon back on offense where he can stretch the field out of the spread with Rod Streater and Joe Jones and company.
The difference between Al and Daz as I saw it on the field yesterday was that Daz seems to be able to put these guys in better spots to utilize their talents. I just hope he finds someone else to punt by Sept. 1 because I don’t want to expose my NFL leg to a season-ending injury on a roughing-the-punter play. I want to use him for kickoffs and extra points only. Maybe a couple of field goals.
My friend, Ray, knows more nuts and bolts football than most guys I know.
“It’s hard to tell from a scrimmage,” Ray said. “But I know what I know and this is the most excited I’ve been coming out of a Cherry and White game in years.”
It’s nice to think that on your own, but it’s doubly nice when you can get that kind of validation from several good football sources.
Speaking of whom, Eagles’ coach Andy Reid was there. I thought I saw him over by the food trucks saying this was the greatest campus in America.
Reid sent his son to play for Daz, so that tells you all you need to know about how Andy Reid feels about Daz and being Temple TUFF.
Speaking of Temple TUFF, loved the T-shirts. I walked up to the table, wanted to buy one and the beautiful young lady there said, “Sorry, sir, this is for students only.”
Nice.
I thought this was Alumni Weekend.
On the way out, I saw the classic Temple football helmet being sold. The one with TEMPLE on it.
I thought that might be the last time I ever saw one, so I bought it.
In the parking lot afterward, I ran into some ex-Temple football players holding their tailgate. I told them about the T on the helmet.
Nobody liked it.
Nobody.
Hey, Daz has stepped up to the plate and gotten a hit most times since Dec. 23. He can afford a few swings and misses.
“If we beat Penn State, I don’t care what he puts on it,” I said.
“Hey,” one of the players said, “if we beat Penn State, he can put his picture on the side of the helmet if he wants to …”

04.14.11
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Cherry and White kickoff now at 10 a.m.

… Due to work and other time constraints, Cherry and White report will appear around noon on Sunday … Go Owls …. and go T helmets (that means leave)….

Chester Stewart has drawn high praise from Steve Addazio recently.


Rain coming in earlier than expected (2 p.m.). Kudos to Temple for changing time of kickoff to 10 a.m.

Every so often, people ask me about the Temple gear I rock.
When it comes to Temple, there are few people who represent as well as I do.
Always the Temple hat, always in the gym with the Temple T-shirts and about once a week with my official Penn State game worn Al Golden Sweatshirt, circa 2008.
“Mike, where’d you get that?” someone will ask.
Invariably, with the exception of Al Golden sweatshirt (Patti Hagel in Temple athletics sold that to me), I will tell them four words:
“Cherry and White Day.”
“Sweet,” they’ll say.
Then I always invite them to c’mon down.
You can get more good Temple stuff on the cheap at Cherry and White Day than all of the 364 other days put together.
It’s sold right there.
Last year, I got a sweet cherry-colored Temple-UCLA Official Eagle Bank Bowl T-Shirt for $10.
You can get official game jerseys for $20.
Just bring cash.
That’s my No. 1 priority every Cherry and White Day.
As far as the game itself, call me Allen Iverson.
“We’re talking about practice.”
Any way you slice it, Cherry and White Day is still practice.
A glorified practice, a necessary practice, but still practice.
I go, though, because I enjoy everything about Temple football.
I enjoy talking Temple football to my friends.
I enjoy watching Temple football players.
I enjoy watching how coaches coach.
And I buy Temple stuff because I can’t get it at Kohl’s or Walmart.
So this is the one “practice” I make every year.
Not much to take away from the football end of this endeavor, though.
Last year, Chester Stewart looked like the best quarterback in the program on Cherry and White Day.
On game days in the fall, not so much.
I had enough of Chester Stewart, probably forever, after a putrid performance at Penn State when he threw three interceptions that, if I didn’t know any better, I could swear he thought those PSU guys were wearing White jerseys and not Blue ones.
It took Al Golden a little longer to reach his tolerance level.
Too long.

Adam DiMichele was an OK practice quarterback who lived for a pass rush. I never saw a kid duck out of one so courageously and make positive plays after positive plays in the middle of a tornado like DiMichele did. The damn kid was freaking Houdini


Once he did, though, the Owls got back on track, survived a huge scare against Bowling Green and then beat Buffalo (42-0) and Kent State (28-10) largely due to poised, if not spectacular, performances from Mike Gerardi.
This year, who the bleep knows?
Mike McGann was a great practice quarterback who crumbled under a pass rush. Ditto for Vaughn Charlton and, IMHO, Stewart.
To be a great quarterback in college football these days, the pass rush must not fluster you. Bother, yes. Fluster, no.
Adam DiMichele was an OK practice quarterback who lived for a pass rush. I never saw a kid duck out of one so courageously and make positive plays after positive plays in the middle of a  tornado like DiMichele did. The damn kid was freaking Houdini. The more clutch the situation, the more clutch the play. How about the game-winning touchdown pass to Steve Manieri in the rain against Ohio on national TV? Or the should-have-been game-winning drive at Buffalo with 38 seconds left? Or the six touchdown passes against Eastern Michigan?
Will I get to see the next Adam DiMichele on Saturday?
Probably not.
We’ll have to wait until Villanova.
Hopefully, Steve Addazio and Scot Loeffler will pick the right guy.
Al Golden did a great job in just about every area of his tenure but in picking a quarterback post-DiMichele he was a huge failure. His whole offensive scheme was out of whack without DiMichele.
Addazio needs to get this right.
He needs to find someone with the “it” factor. Addazio talked about the quarterback “it” factor his first day on the job here. Al Golden never talked about the it factor.
Addazio gets the it factor.
Other than that, I want to see a pass rush and a good offensive line. The schools that win championships in college football are the ones who protect their quarterback and who put the other guy’s quarterback on his ass.
I want to see someone help my main man, Adrian Robinson, collapse the pocket. Maybe it will be Highland’s Sean Daniels, who I have high hopes for, or maybe it will be North Catholic’s Paulhill or maybe it will be Neumann-Goretti’s Kadeem Custis.
I’ve got an idea.
How about everybody just meet at the quarterback?
Most of all, let’s get out a this scrimmage healthy and I’m talking about my favorite future Heisman Trophy winning Owl, specifically.
It is, after all, only practice.

04.12.11
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Villanova rejection: The gift that keeps on giving

I guess this is what Villanova fans look like to Villanova revisionists.

Full disclosure.
I like Villanova football.
I always have.
It was pretty much been my second-favorite college team from the time I was, oh, about 10 until just about two years ago when the Mayor’s Cup series started.
I still (secretly) root for Villanova when it plays anyone but Temple only because Villanova wins make Temple look good, especially last year when Temple won the game.
Andy Talley is one of my favorite coaches of all time. As great a coach as Andy Talley is (and he is a great coach), he’s an even better person.
But I’ve had it up to here (I’m holding one hand way over my head while typing with the other) with Villanova fans.
And because of them, with Villanova football itself.
There’s some delicious irony in this story in that Villanova blocked Temple from full all-sports admission to the Big East in 1991 and, 20 years later, Temple’s ironclad 15-year lease to Lincoln Financial Field is blocking Villanova football from admission to that same conference.
It’s a beautiful thing.
That’s why I’m not weeping for Villanova today.
They were, as Walt Frazier says in the Just For Men commercial:
REE-JECT-TED.
The Big East courted them the last few months like a girl who looks good 40 yards away.
In college, we’d call them 40-yarders.
The closer they got, the uglier they looked.
As you walked closer with two drinks in hand (one to offer her), you would veer off at the last second.

There’s some delicious irony in this story in that Villanova blocked Temple from full all-sports admission to the Big East in 1991 and, 20 years later, Temple’s ironclad 15-year lease to Lincoln Financial Field is blocking Villanova football from admission to that same conference.


“Mike, that’s a dude,” my friend would say.
“Not a dude, but not as pretty as I thought she looked.”
Then we’d both veer away, drinks in hand.
Any way you slice it, that’s pretty much what the Big East football members did to Villanova on Sunday.
For Big East courting purposes, if Villanova isn’t a dude, it’s one butt-ugly girl.
No stadium.
No fans.
No hope of getting a stadium. (Temple has an ironclad exclusivity clause in its lease on Lincoln Financial Field through the 2018 season and probably well beyond that.)
No hope of getting fans.
It’s over.
Villanova is not going to the Big East for football, no matter how its Board of Trustees votes.
If it ever does vote.
Heck, the Villanova fanbase makes Temple look like Penn State by comparison.
The Mayor’s Cup figures show it.
By most objective estimates, Temple had 22K of the 27K fans for the first Mayor’s Cup.
Temple had about 25-28K of the 32K last year, maybe more.
Yet you have some crazy revisonist Villanova fans saying it was more of a 60-40 split in favor of Temple. It was, if Villanova fans were wearing Temple sweatshirts and hats and painted in Cherry and White and filling both sides of the lower bowl of the stadium.

Eigthy/20 if anything.
It’s important because if one thing Al Golden accomplished in five years, it was to make Temple Philadelphia’s No. 1 college football team in terms of interest.
Temple not only proved that in two meetings with Villanova on the field of play, it proved that in the TV ratings when the Temple-UCLA bowl numbers showed it was the highest rated bowl game on ESPN in the Philly market since the 2007 Alamo Bowl that featured Penn State.
Temple delivers hard numbers in football.
It is also the best option for delivering the nation’s fourth-largest TV market.
Those numbers only figure to get better as a team that has won 17 games over the last two years returning 14 starters is handed over to a battle-tested national championship level SEC staff.
If I was Temple, I would take that fourth-largest market and deliver it to Conference USA tomorrow. The Big East doesn’t figure to come calling and Temple should act in its own best interests if it doesn’t.
Villanova?
All I heard about was how it was “a lock” for the Big East for the past few weeks. Done deal, they said.
Done deal.
Yeah, I guess it is.
I’m enjoying seeing a lot of people wearing blue wipe egg off their faces.
Almost as much as I’m looking forward to the epic level beatdown that now becomes mandatory for Steve Addazio and company on Sept. 1.