Posted by Gerald Nicdao on Monday, August 13, 2007 01:20 pm
ESPN’s SportsNation is a conglomeration of chat rooms, user opinions and of course the almighty user poll. SportsNation has a different poll everyday—sometimes every hour.
SportsNation picked out 13 different Heisman candidates. Of course, the usual suspects are there—John David Booty(call) from USC, Darren McFadden from Arkansas, Steve Slaton from West Virginia and the Golden Blur, DeSean Jackson.
And then there are some unusual honorees, like Kentucky’s Andre’ Woodson (really?! Kentucky?!).
So what we’re asking you to do is simple and go over to that ESPN site and vote. But we don’t know what kind of response we’ll get from you Clog readers. The last time we asked you to vote for something, Cal ended up losing.
And after our votes, D-Jax is currently 12th out of the 13. Who’s the guy that’s in last place? Woodson, of course.
But D-Jax doesn’t belong in 12th. He at least needs to be in the top 10, which in this poll, isn’t saying much.
Image Source: Ben Gallup, Daily Cal
Rank’Em: Heisman Watch [ESPN]
Posted by Gerald Nicdao on Monday, July 16, 2007 05:02 pm
If the Golden Blur, DeSean Jackson, can do what he did in that video up there a few more times next season, we’re sure he’ll be able to at least get some votes for that bronze trophy. We’ve already oogled all of the Cal PR machine’s fancy new website for D-Jax. But we ask, can he really win the Heisman Trophy?Quite possibly. Rich Cirminiello over at FoxSports.com ranked D-Jax No. 15 in his list of Heisman candidates, ahead of guys like Tim Tebow of Florida.
And the college football blogger over at the Sporting News thinks that Jackson is the Pac-10’s third-best player, behind John David Booty(call) and Rey Maualaga of USC.
But history is against D-Jax. The last time a receiver won the Heisman Trophy was when Desmond Howard did it in 1991 for Michigan. But the thing that Jackson has in common with Howard and another receiver who won the trophy, Tim Brown in 1987, is that all three were/are amazing return men. (Howard’s Wolverines also won the Big Ten that year, which may be a prerequisite for D-Jax. Cal’s got to do better than 10-3).
But as Cirminiello points out, Jackson’s return ability is tied to whether or not he’ll get the ball.
Even when they moonlight on special teams, receivers win the Heisman about once every generation. Once opponents wise up and completely ban punting the ball to Jackson, he’ll lose the one hook that makes him so unique.
Unlike most receivers, Jackson has a halfway decent chance to win the award because he is a kick returner.
Jackson will have to overcome Cal’s limited Heisman credentials, but chances are he’ll be the best offensive player on one of the nation’s top teams next year which should take him far.
Speaking of that, how can D-Jax win the Heisman? Well, the Bears have to get off to a good start. What derailed Marshawn Lynch’s Heisman bid was the beat down Cal received at Tennessee. Sure Lynch had great stats, but once every writer wrote off the Bears as just another pesky top 20 team instead of a top 10 team, Lynch’s Heisman campaign pretty much died.
So a lot of things ride on that Sept. 1 showdown with the Vols: D-Jax’s Heisman chances and Cal’s reputation as a major player in college football.
But we’re sure if he can showcase his 4.29 40 speed like he did in that video up there, then he’ll get consideration for the Heisman and the Bears won’t be an afterthought.
Posted by Ethan Strauss on Thursday, July 12, 2007 10:11 am
When the Clog heard about the university’s new “DeSean Jackson for the Heisman” website, we got kind of giddy. We miss football. A lot.
Yes, life without watching large people hurt each other on Saturdays has been that rough for us. We yearn for it so much that we spent our valuable time critiquing this ridiculous PR vehicle. Who cares that the sole purpose of the site is to boost a fellow student’s chances of getting a meaningless award five months from now? Like an impoverished heroin addict reduced to black tar, we needed to pour over this thing.
Fortunately, “The 1 to Watch” is enjoyable on multiple levels. First, there are cool clips of Jackson. Second, there are inane tidbits about him that we’ll never, ever need to know (unless we’re of the De Niro from “The Fan” mindset). And third, well, we don’t know what the third is. But surely there’s a good reason the Clog reviewed this.
Here’s the backdrop for the site:
Godzilla Jackson towers over the Bay Bridge. He’s in a cat-like pose. Only he looks slightly confused (like the Clog’s cat, when we cruelly spray it with our squirtgun). About three million lighting bolts rain from an ominous, blackened sky.
The message to Cal football fans is clear: A giant, menacing, bewildered D-Jax will bring the apocalypse to us all. And you will love him for it. Somewhere, Pete Carroll is soiling his designer khakis.
Apparently, the apocalypse will have a soundtrack reminiscent of what you’d hear at the 24-hour Fitness on Planet Suck. It’s as if the website creator said to himself, “You know what tunes just scream Heisman? Minimalist uber-trendy Austrian techno!”
But oh, there is the flash animation intro. Animation so flashy, that calbears.com even bragged about it in their promotional article. Well, let us be the first website critiquers to tell you, this is damn good flash animation. It changed our lives. We now know who the one to watch is.
The interviews with Jackson are nuanced, insightful and profound. Jackson’s speech on Putin’s rekindling of the Cold War paradigm was truly enlightening.
Just kidding, the interviews are just kind of bland and lame. Though we do feel happier knowing DeSean has a pet pit bull named “Blue.” He refers to the dog as “my little Blueskie.” Hmm, would that mean that Michael Vick refers to his pit bulls as “my little, motionless, Redskies”?
Let’s go down the line of DeSean tidbits:
Favorite foods: “Chinese, spaghetti …”
Glad that’s finally out in the open for us all to ponder.
Favorite music: “R & B, rap, T.I. …”
Wait, no crap techno?
Advice to freshmen: “Go screw yourself.”
Unfortunately, we’re kidding about that one. DeSean actually said something about working hard, but we aborted the clip in favor of watching compilations of his awesome highlights. Good decision. We suggest you do the same when fiendin’ for the fooseball.
Image Source: Jayson Dana, Daily Cal
Cal and CSTV Launch DeSean Jackson Heisman Trophy Candidate Website [California Golden Bears]
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ESPN’s SportsNation is a conglomeration of chat rooms, user opinions and of course the almighty user poll. SportsNation has a different poll everyday—sometimes every hour.
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When the Clog heard about the university’s new 