Teddy Roosevelt once said to walk softly and have a big stick.
I thought a lot about Teddy while walking out of the Temple-Villanova football game last year.

2010 MAC FOOTBALL PRESEASON POLL

EAST DIVISION
1. TEMPLE (17) 137
2. Ohio (3) 116
3. Kent State 94
4. Bowling Green 74
5. Miami 53
6. Buffalo 48
7. Akron 38

WEST DIVISION
1. Northern Illinois (15) 115
2. Central Michigan (3) 183
3. Western Michigan (2) 77
4. Toledo 75
5. Ball State 50
6. Eastern Michigan 20

Marathon MAC Championship Game Winner
Temple 11, Northern Illinois 5, Ohio 1 (three voters did not choose a winner for MAC Championship)

The trash talking, particularly from the Temple side of the field, on some Villanova message boards was pretty alarming to me.
Hell, nobody knew more than me that Temple should pound Villanova in football.
I picked 34-13.
Should have, would have, if Bernard Pierce carried the ball oh, say, 30 more times than the paltry six touches he had.
I was thinking of that walking out of the Villanova game last year, too.
But more than that, I was thinking about how all the Temple trash talking came back to bite those fans in the ass.
I say talk all the trash you want AFTER the game.
Don’t say a word before it.
I’m writing this because I recently read a tweet from a Temple fan I respect saying, “all this trash talking is really getting me excited for the Villanova game.”
We all know we’re carrying more than a big stick into this game.
We’re carrying an H-Bomb (Heisman bomb).
That, and a great defense and a quarterback who can finally make more positive plays than negative ones, should be enough.
If you want to trash talk before the game, bring a banner that reads, “Big 5 champs.”
Otherwise, keep quiet until your Temple Owls make a victory lap with the Mayor’s Cup in tow.

Breaking news:

… As of July 27, we have received no (zero) orders for bumper stickers, so if you order one today, there’s a good chance you’ll get the free Bernard Pierce for Heisman one that goes to the first nine orders …full details below

If this happens, it could not happen to a nicer young man. Stay healthy, happy and humble, Bernard.
Support Temple Football Forever (and be the envy of the tailgate) by purchasing this simple bumper sticker, three inches high and 10 inches wide:

One low price ($20), two great ways to pay:
1) Any contribution of $20 or more via paypal (click over donate below) on or after July 6, 2010 will receive one. Please be sure to include address.
Or …..
2) Mail $20 check and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:
Mike Gibson
P.O. Box 243
Quakertown, PA 18951

First nine (9) contributions of $20 will not only receive that bumper sticker (it’s a little blurry but in an artsy way), but this one for free in honor of Bernard Pierce’s Heisman campaign kickoff (also 3 inches high, 10 inches wide). The Pierce bumper sticker is very sharp:


I am currently the only person in America to have this sticker on my bumper. You can be one of 10. Allow two weeks for delivery. As always, thanks for supporting the only online site exclusively dedicated to Temple football.

Time being as fleeting as it is, I didn’t realize that 1986 was so long ago until I tried to find the Paul Palmer Comic book I lost.

It’s the one the Temple SID department mailed to 1,050 Heisman Trophy voters back in 1986. I got a Heisman ballot because I was the Calkins’ Newspapers college football writer that year and had stories on the sport regularly published in the Bucks County Courier Times, the Doylestown Intelligencer and the Burlington County Times.
The old comic book is somewhere, tattered I fear, in the middle of a whole bunch of Temple-related junk that I never really had a chance to categorize.
In those days, I was in the middle of apartment-hopping in Doylestown and just threw most of my stuff into my storage room.
It might be still there, but I can’t find it. All I did was find a pretty well intact media guide from that year. You can see the cover photo and page two photo of Palmer in a post somewhere below this one entitled “Where’s my Bernard Pierce comic book?”
Well, the Paul Palmer comic book story is relevant today because the campaign for the Heisman WITH POTENTIAL HEISMAN VOTERS is something, I believe, the university should be doing today.
Scott Walcoff, from the school’s promotion department, is handling the back end of this campaign (for potential ticket-buyers) rather brilliantly with a Hunt of the Heisman billboard strategically placed at locations within a mile of Lincoln Financial Field.
The billboard states simply “Hunt for the Heisman” with the words below “you are 1 mile from history” and directs folks to owlstix.com for ticket information.

Support Temple Football Forever (and be the envy of the tailgate) by purchasing this simple bumper sticker, three inches high and 10 inches wide:

One low price ($20), two great ways to pay:
1) Any contribution of $20 or more via paypal (click over donate below) on or after July 6, 2010 will receive one. Please be sure to include address.
2) Mail $20 check and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:
Mike Gibson
P.O. Box 243
Quakertown, PA 18951

First nine (9) contributions of $20 will not only receive that bumper sticker, but this one for free in honor of Bernard Pierce’s Heisman campaign kickoff (also 3 inches high, 10 inches wide):


I am currently the only person in America to have that one on my bumper sticker. You can be one of 10. Allow two weeks for delivery. As always, thanks for supporting the only online site exclusively dedicated to Temple football.

Heady, smart, stuff.
Not enough, though, is being done from the front end, which, to me, is targeting the voters themselves.
That’s where the comic book or something like it comes into play.
Back in 1986, Temple football information director Mike Kaine, working under SID Al Shrier, came up with the idea of mailing the comics with Paul Palmer on the cover and 16-pages of illustrated Paul Palmer information to the 1,050 voters.
“How much did it cost?” Kaine told a newspaper reporter back then. “I have no idea.
“It cost a lot, but the promotions department covered all the costs. We came up with the idea, wrote it, paid an illustrator and made the mailings. It was a significant investment.”
It was critically acclaimed, too.
Last year, a Spokane (Wash.) newspaper called it one of the top five Heisman campaigns of all time, lumping it with a Vanderbilt quarterback’s video that came with a bag of popcorn and Notre Dame’s changing of the pronunciation of Joe “Theesman’s” name to Joe Theisman (he spells it that way, but pronounces it the other) to rhyme with Heisman.
I could find only one negative comment on the campaign and that was a writer from the Los Angeles Times.
“What is Temple trying to do?” he wrote. “Insult our intelligence? We’re writers. We can read.”
He missed the point of the whole thing, which was to get Paul Palmer’s name out there to the people who mattered the most, the Heisman voters.
Would that writer even mentioned Palmer’s name if Temple didn’t do something so eye-catching?
No.
It doesn’t have to be another comic book, but that wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Scott Walcoff started this ball rolling with a terrific billboard campaign. Make modified bumper stickers out of those billboards and mail one to each of the 1,050 Heisman voters.
If cost is an issue, have the Owl Club raise the money.
Do something innovative.
Bernard Pierce deserves a Heisman launch that targets both fans and voters.

At the risk of getting ahead of ourselves, I will take a moment to do just that.
Let’s talk about, say, the Penn State game three months from today.
(Let me just say before going any further, beating Villanova is one million times more important than beating Penn State. It’s imperative. It’s a demand, not a request. You cannot lose to Villanova again and retain any hometown credibility for the program.)
Still, I’ve fast-forwarded myself to Beaver Stadium (great name, by the way, just sayin’), sitting with 110,000 of my fellow college football fans, 5,000 of whom may be rooting for the Owls against Penn State on Sept. 25.
Making that 250-mile trip has been usually as futile a project for Owl fans as trying to end World Hunger or getting the Republicans to pass a Health Care bill with a public option.
It’s been that way since the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
That’s the last year Temple won.
Maybe not so much this year.
Temple’s got a little more than a puncher’s chance this year.
You know it.
I know it.
The rest of those 105,000-plus fans don’t know it, though.
Most of the Penn State fans in the Philadelphia area give lip service to the Temple program.
“Geez, Al Golden is doing a great job there.”
“Being in the MAC has done wonders for Temple.”
“Al’s building a nice resume there.”
When I mention that it’s only a matter of time before Temple pulls a Central Michigan and beats the highest-profile college football program in its state, I get a whole different reaction.
“Whoa. Let’s not get crazy.”
“It’s never going to happen.”
“Temple is never going to beat Penn State.”
Never say never.
It may not be this year.
It may not be next year, but it’s not impossible.
This isn’t your father’s Temple team, unless your father played for Wayne Hardin. This is a real good team.
Real good might be one way to put it.
Loaded might be another.
Beating Penn State, especially if the Nittany Lions went on to win the Big 10, would rocket the Owls toward greatness.
Beating Penn State would immediately legitimize Temple football not only in its own town but in the state and the nation and would be a boost of immeasurable proportions in terms of prestige and gate receipts. Temple students, faculty and alumni would be puffing up their chests so much for the next 12 months, you’d think all of them looked like The Incredible Hulk. By my calculations, that’s 250,000 living alumni, 33,000 full-time students and 12,300 full-time employees. Those are a lot of chests. And 90 percent of them live here or damn close to here.
They might have to shut down North Broad Street, like they did when the basketball team won at North Carolina, 82-66, in 1988.
With all due respect to Villanova, none of the above happens with a win over the Wildcats.
I know a lot of Temple fans think it’s possible. In fact, I don’t know of a single Temple football player who doesn’t believe in the delicious thought.
I think it’s a good thing that I can’t find a single Penn State fan who thinks it’s possible.
I hope their football team approaches Sept. 25th the same way.
Click on logo below to read my interview with Linebacker U.:

My interview with
On the Banks.com

Rivalries are a beautiful thing.
I’m old enough to know when Temple and Delaware were rivals.
One of my fondest days was spent in Newark, Del., when Temple beat Delaware, 31-8, in front of a still-record and still-stunned crowd of 23,619.
An even fonder day was Temple’s 45-0 win in Newark on another beautiful Saturday. The hot dogs in that post-game tailgate tasted like Filet Mignon.
Temple even got grief from the local media by scheduling Delaware.
“I believe in scheduling Delaware … and then beating the crap out of them,” was the way Wayne Hardin was quoted in response.
I loved it.
Could you imagine Al Golden saying that about any opponent?
“Temple’s program is a big-time song and dance,” Delaware coach Tubby Raymond said.
Ouch.
Now that’s a rivalry.
That’s what I’m talkin’ about.
Hardin must’ve really enjoyed it because he beat Raymond seven of the last nine times he faced him on the football field. Hardin could talk the talk, but one of the most admirable things about him (of many) is that he backed that up by walking the walk.
Penn State is a rival but, to be one, you’ve got to prove that you can beat one.
Temple’s proven that against Rutgers numerous times and the proximity of the schools combined with an animosity factor qualifies this as a real rivalry.
You’ve got to have a little animosity to stir the rivalry pot and, in Rutgers, there’s some of that.

That’s why the news today of a 2-for-2 deal (twice in Philadelphia, twice in Piscataway) is terrific for me.
Since Delaware, Rutgers has always been Temple’s biggest rival.
With the Big East expulsion backdrop, there’s plenty of animosity.
This is something Rutgers wanted five years ago, but approached Temple with a 3-for-2 deal.
Temple, I’m told, said no dice.
“We want to play you, but it’s 2-for-2 or nothing,” was Temple’s response.
So, for five years, it’s been nothing.
Temple would have been very happy waiting until Kingdom Come with the nothing and Rutgers’ brass finally realized that the extra game demand did not make sense if it meant the schools would never play again.
Rutgers finally gave in last week.
I’m amused when I hear from my Rutgers friends (and I have a few) demanding that Temple give Rutgers an extra home game “because Temple is a MAC school.”
Dude, you are the reason we’re a MAC school.
If you supported us, Virginia Tech and Pitt would have joined in and blocked the Big East expulsion.
So there’s some animosity there.
There’s no animosity, for me at least, against Buffalo, Kent State and the fake Miami.
The only discordant note is that this series won’t start until 2015. Al Golden will be 45 years old and working on a Wayne Hardin-like legacy in Philadelphia (I hope).
By then, I hope he talks the Hardin talk and walks the Hardin walk.

Page 2 of the 1986 Temple football media guide.

More than anything else, the Heisman Trophy is the byproduct of an excellent and deserving candidate playing under the right circumstances with just the right level of promotion.
Temple’s Paul Palmer certainly was that back in 1986.

The Owls’ Bernard Pierce, who broke all of Palmer’s freshman rushing records last year, certainly is that now.

Not bad at all.
It was a great day for Palmer and for Temple University.
The only advantage the Palmer of 1986 had over the Pierce of 2010 is that Palmer played against what was then the No. 10 toughest schedule in the country and helped the Owls of Bruce Arians finish 6-5 against that schedule, beating the likes of Virginia Tech and East Carolina.
Yet Pierce will be on the field against Big East contender Connecticut and Big 10 contender Penn State, so he will have those kinds of chances, too.

What I’d like to see the university do for Pierce right now is nudge him toward the Heisman the way the SID office nudged Palmer. Get him into the conversation now, not after he rolls up, say, 514 yards and seven touchdowns against Villanova.
Back in 1986, the SID office put out a 16-page comic book with Palmer depicted as Superman and mailed the book to all 1,016 Heisman voters. The comic depicted Palmer’s meteoric rise from a small under-recruited tailback from Maryland to the big man on campus in a major metropolis, complete with stats and supporing facts. Back then, the SID office put Palmer on the cover of the 1986 Media Guide with the caption “Heisman Trophy candidate Paul Palmer” and the headline: Temple: the Philadelphia Team America’s Watching.
Page Two included quotes from Don Nehlen, Joe Paterno, Dick MacPherson and others touting Palmer’s ball-toting ability.
Clever stuff.
The only promotion I’ve heard for Pierce is a free schedule magnet.
As Derrick Coleman once said, “Whoopty-damn-do.”
I don’t see the same level of promotion right now for Pierce a couple of months before the season, but maybe the school is working with a couple of illustrators in New York City.
Maybe.
Hopefully.
Then again, maybe not.
Don’t give me any grief about this not being in the budget. Budget smudget. Do you know how much having a serious candidate for the Heisman Trophy does for the university’s coffers in terms of attendance, TV revenue, etc.? This is a gold mine. Gold. The 49ers (the gold-miners, not the football team) didn’t walk away from Sutter’s Mill because they didn’t have the money for a pan.
That’s why I’d like to see the university set the table for what I expect to be a terrific year for Pierce and the Owls by mounting a serious campaign now. Bang the drums hard. Set off smoke signals.
Do something.
If Pierce leads to the Owls to an upset win or two and helps them dominate the MAC, he will be right there in the conversation  up until December.
If he does it after the kind of campaign Al Shrier’s excellent SID office ran leading up to Palmer’s senior season, he might have to start shopping for brown suits.

Temple isn’t ignoring Bernard, as proven by these billboards about to go up at Interstate locations exactly one mile from the stadium. I would just like to see them just as go hard after the Heisman voters right now, too, but that’s more the job of the SID office than the promotions department.
You can be part of history, too. It’s the price of a Temple football season ticket. Buy one now by clicking below:

Oddly, Al Golden bears a facial resemblance to Bruce Arians here.

I like the way Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw works, quietly and behind the scenes.
I ran into Bill at the signing day function and mentioned something about Al’s contract and Bill said, “Al Golden can have a contract extension any time he wants.”
Bradshaw didn’t elaborte.
He didn’t need to for a Joe Schmoe like me.
I didn’t take it as a good sign at the time because I interpreted it as a “contract extension” of the current contract with the same financial terms in place.
Evidently, though, from what I hear, this is a significant increase in Al’s salary with a comenserate increase in staff compensation.
Someone tweeted me this morning that Al is now making money similar to head coaches in BCS conferences, a more-than-double salary increase.
I like that, but what I like more is that there are hightened protections in place for my beloved Temple University.
I hope Al stays here for a Joe Paterno-like run, but I live in a real world.
Others have come after him hard the past two seasons and, someday, someone is going to get him for the right offer.
Once that happens, though, I want Temple protected and this deal does that.
The school that hires Golden away from Temple will have to pay the school the kind of money West Virginia got when Rich Rodriguez left for Michigan.
That’s the best part of the deal and assures Temple will have the financial wherewithal to hire a big-name coach should Al leave.
Let’s hope Al settles in here and develops the kind of love for the school that Wayne Hardin, John Chaney and Harry Litwack had.
This school has a special mission and only very special people understand that.
For the historic-like turnaround Golden has already achieved here, he deserves to be compensated handsomely.
I hope he attacks the enormous task ahead to move the program forward with the same verve he has in working his magic so far.
Today was a great day for both Al Golden and Temple football, but there are greater days ahead.
It should be fun finding out what rewards those days bring to the Owls and their fans.
Temple has put its money where its mouth is … time for you to do the same and buy more season tickets:

Just a hunch, but this guy will be Villanova’s biggest nightmare on Sept. 3.

Not quite up there with the Harry Potter Series, but the best work of fiction this spring has been penned by Al Golden.
Or at least part fiction.
It’s called the 2010 Temple Football Depth Chart.
For something to while the time away in the “reading room” I like it.
There’s some humor in it and I like comedy.
There’s a strong purpose to it, mostly to light a fire under some of the more talented Owls.
That’s all OK because this is a rough draft and not the finished version.
It’s not this depth chart that needs to be taken seriously, it’s the one released in the pre-game notes on the day of the Villanova game that matters.
I have a feeling, except for positions like quarterback, running back and kicker, there will be a lot of tweaking to it before the Mayor’s Cup game.

OFFENSE
QB – Chester Stewart, Chris Coyer or Mike Gerardi
WR1 – Michael Campbell OR Hammond OR Deon Miller
WR 2 – Joey Jones OR Rod Streater followed by Haldeman
TE – Charlton OR Brown, then Alex Jackson, Cody Booth
RB – Bernard Pierce, Ahkeem Smith, Matt Brown
K – Brandon McManus
DEFENSE


DE – Adrian Robinson, Blueford
DE – Kadeem Custis, Johnson
DT – Big Mo Wilkinson, Paulhill
NT – Joseph, Jeff Whittingham OR Levi Brown
OLB – Tavir Whitehead, Quenten White OR Blaze Caponegro
MLB – Peanut Johnson, Marcus Green OR Johnson
OLB – Amara Kamara OR Jordan
CB – Marquise Liverpool OR Johnson, Nixon
CB – Jones, Griffin
FS – Jaquain Jarrett, Parker, Parker, Gildea
SS – Kevin Kroboth, Vaughn Carraway
P – Jeff Wathne or Cerrette

I think Evan Rodriguez, someone not even listed on the four-deep version, wins the TE job by Villanova. Gosh, I hope so because the ceiling of this guy’s talent is about as high as the Volcanic Ash cloud from Iceland. He looked pretty good to me in the Cherry and White game.
I think the staff is intrigued enough by the 6-6 size on one side that Miller gives and he grabs that WR1 job.
If Charlton starts and plays significant minutes at tight end against Villanova (say, half the game), I will be stunned out of my mind.
Who knows what happens at quarterback, but I think Golden got it right. Chester Stewart has been here for awhile and it was his job to win in the spring and he might have just done enough to win it.
He certainly did enough to get Charlton moved to tight end.
I like Amara Kamara at linebacker and I like the size and athleticsm that Custis brings to the other end spot. That should help Adrian Robinson a lot.
Imagine being Chris Whitney on opening day, if you will:
A nasty 6-foot-4, 265-pound Custis coming at you from one end and a speedy equally nasty Adrian Robinson coming at you from the other end and people like Big Mo, Jeff Whittingham and Levi Brown helping to collapse the pocket from the middle.
Call that novel War and (Whitney) Piece.
And that would come under the category of non-fiction.