Rutgers Getting No Love From the CBSSports.com Preseason 126

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights do not even make it into the top half of the CBSSports.com preseason 126, coming in a number 77.

This makes game number one coming up on August 29th against Fresno State that much more important.  This meaningless preseason list (from the network that's still blacked out on my Time Warner system) has the Bulldogs ranked at number 26.

Tom Savage is the new starting QB for Pitt.

According to this, the ex-Rutgers quarterback is getting his chance to start again and we couldn't be happier for him.  I hope he tears it up in the ACC (not to be confused with the AAC -- God, I can't wait to join the Big Ten.)

Tom Savage attracting all eyes at the 2008 Scarlet-White Game.

Rutgers ranked in Top 20 (internationally) ...

... on the Times [of London] Higher Education World University Rankings of Arts and Humanities institutions.

Rutgers North meets Rutgers South this Friday in Foxborough...

..and the Patriots and Buccaneers are engaging in joint practices at Gillette Stadium leading up to the nationally-televised preseason game. 

Here are the nine Rutgers players on each current roster as displayed on ESPN SportsCenter yesterday:

And, of course, Rutgers South is still coached by Greg Schiano.

Conference Age and Tradition

Watching the Premier League Club Guide on NBC Sports this morning, with all its stress on the age and tradition of England's top professional football teams, made me think about the age and tradition of America's college football teams in the 2013 Rump Big East (now known as the American Athletic Conference) and the 2013 Big Ten and what the move of the oldest school in either conference from one to the other will do to the average ages of both.  Here are the results of some quick internet historical research about the dates each of these schools was founded.

AMERICAN			B1G
UCF	1963		Illinois	1867
Cincinnati	1819		Indiana	1820
UConn	1881		Iowa	1847
Houston	1927		Michigan	1817
Louisville	1798		MSU	1855
Memphis	1912		Minnesota	1851
Rutgers	1766		Nebraska	1869
USF	1956		Northwestern	1851
SMU	1911		Ohio State	1870
Temple	1884		Penn State	1855
2013 Average	1881.7		Purdue	1869
			Wisconsin	1848
			2013 Average	1851.583

There's already an average 30 year difference in the Big Ten's favor even with the 1766 Scarlet Knights in the Rump Big East, but look what happens when Rutgers and Louisville check out next year and the difference extends to 50 years.

UCF	1963		Illinois	1867
Cincinnati	1819		Indiana	1820
UConn	1881		Iowa	1847
East Carolina	1907		Maryland	1856
Houston	1927		Michigan	1817
Memphis	1912		MSU	1855
USF	1956		Minnesota	1851
SMU	1911		Nebraska	1869
Temple	1884		Northwestern	1851
Tulane	1834		Ohio State	1870
Tulsa	1894		Penn State	1855
2014 Average	1898.90909		Purdue	1869
			Rutgers	1766
			Wisconsin	1848
			2014 Average	1845.786

The Big Ten will become 6 years older with the addition of 1766 Rutgers and 1856 Maryland, but the American Athletic Conference (if it's still calling itself that in 2014) will have become 17 years younger and only the addition of Tulane will keep the conference's average age just barely in the 19th century. Only two of the AAC's 2014 members will have been founded before Rutgers was already playing football in 1869.

Blunt Advice

Before you can even enter the website for Schutt helmets, you must read and acknowledge the following warning. This verbiage will also be placed as a sticker on all their helmets, so you have to wonder if they will also be offering reading glasses or a magnifying glass for each buyer and end user.

WARNING 

Scientists have not reached agreement on how the results of impact absorption tests relate to concussions. No conclusions about a reduction of risk or severity of concussive injury should be drawn from impact absorption tests. 

NO HELMET SYSTEM CAN PREVENT CONCUSSIONS OR ELIMINATE THE RISK OF SERIOUS HEAD OR NECK INJURIES WHILE PLAYING FOOTBALL. 

Keep your head up. Do not butt, ram, spear or strike an opponent with any part of the helmet or faceguard. This is a violation of football rules and may cause you to suffer severe brain or neck injury, including paralysis or death and possible injury to your opponent. Contact in football may result in Concussion/Brain Injury which no helmet can prevent. Symptoms include loss of consciousness or memory, dizziness, headache, nausea or confusion. If you have symptoms, immediately stop and report them to your coach, trainer and parents. Do not return to a game or contact until all symptoms are gone and you receive medial clearance. Ignoring this warning may lead to another and more serious or fatal brain injury. 

NO HELMET SYSTEM CAN PROTECT YOU FROM SERIOUS BRAIN AND/OR NECK INJURIES INCLUDING PARALYSIS OR DEATH. TO AVOID THESE RISKS, DO NOT ENGAGE IN THE SPORT OF FOOTBALL.

There's more about the escalation of alarmist legalese in this NY Times article, "Warning Labels on Helmets Combat Injury and Liability".

"Who is the best Rutgers player you've ever seen play in your lifetime?"

The Facebook page for Rutgers Football on NJ.Com asked this question of the day today: "Who is the best Rutgers player you've ever seen play in your lifetime?"

I couldn't help thinking about one player, Brian Leonard, not only for what he does in this video, but for his role in Rutgers' rise, his role as Ray Rice's roommate and mentor and -- when he realized Ray's talent and value to the team -- blocker, even though he had had his own Heisman campaign a year earlier.  If I were a player, I can't think of anyone I'd rather have as my teammate.

Now that number 23 is back with Greg Schiano in Tampa Bay, I'd love to see him reach his full potential -- and reach a bowl game -- in the NFL.

The Importance of Game One

In this year for Rutgers Football between the Big East and the Big Ten, there will be a scarcity of games that will mean something on the national level, especially early in the season. So I was glad to see the Fresno State Bulldogs are ranked at 22 in the preseason Athlon, Phil Steele, and USA Today polls.

From CollegeFootballPoll.com

If the Scarlet Knights can drive the ball with authority into the red-and-white checkerboard end zones of Bulldog Stadium more often than the home team on the night of August 29th, Rutgers has a possibility of making a dent in the polls by Labor Day.  There won't be another chance to impress national voters until the Arkansas game on September 21. The games against the second-tier Norfolk State Spartans on September 7 and the Eastern Michigan Eagles (touted to finish last in the MAC) on September 14 won't make the news unless Rutgers fails to win those home games by at least three or four touchdowns.

The Rutgers Football quotes of the month come from Tampa Bay

I'm a little slow catching up with the news from the NFL this month, but it's just recently come to my attention that our favorite Knight Brian Leonard is hooking up with  his college coach Greg Schiano again and moving from the Bengals to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (otherwise known as the Scarlet Knights South in opposition to the Scarlet Knights North playing at Gillette Stadium).

Brian Leonard's last game wearing
the Scarlet's 23 on 12/26/06.

Here are a couple of quotes from the July 10 article in Brian's local Watertown Daily Times:

“We felt Brian could help us win and that’s why we brought him here. Brian Leonard’s a winner. I have a history with him since he was 16 years old. We’ve been through a lot together. This guy is an unselfish guy who will show up big when we need him.” -- Greg Schiano

and

“It’s comfortable going back to a coaching staff I already know and I’ll also be playing with some former teammates from Rutgers. [...] I’m excited. I had a great time in Cincinnati and have some good friends there, and the fans are great. But I needed a change and I think Coach Schiano knows how to use me. Hopefully I’ll progress throughout camp and show my skills, and my role with the team will get bigger and bigger.” -- Brian Leonard

It's hard not to wish them both the best. This is a coach/player combination that trumps any other loyalty I might have to any other NFL team.

A Commercial Worth Rewatching

The Dates On Which You'll Be Busy in 2016 and 2017

After years and years of certain schedule uncertainty in the Big East, it's hard to get used to the fact that the full Rutgers football schedule for 2014 is already set, let alone 2015, but now we also have the conference games for 2016 and 2017 scheduled:

2016 Rutgers Big Ten Games
October 1                    at Ohio State
October 8                    Michigan
October 15                  Illinois
October 22                  at Minnesota
October 29                  Iowa
November 5                Indiana
November 12              at Michigan State
November 19              Penn State
November 26              at Maryland

2017 Rutgers Big Ten Games
September 23             at Nebraska
September 30             Ohio State
October 7                    Idle
October 14                  at Illinois
October 21                  Purdue
October 28                  at Michigan
November 4                Maryland
November 11              at Penn State
November 18              at Indiana
November 25              Michigan State

Rutgers Loses a Loyal Son, James Gandolfini (B.A., 1983)

I just heard the sad news that James Gandolfini has passed away suddenly at the young age of 51 while on vacation in Italy.


We'll all remember him as Tony Soprano, of course, but I'll always remember him as one of the Scarlet Knights' most important supporters when very few people had jumped on our bandwagon.  There was the video he did in support of Rutgers football right after Greg Schiano was hired (but which I can't find right now on YouTube or anywhere else), but there are three Rutgers football moments that stand out in my mind on this sad night.  Here they are in reverse chronological order.
I remember seeing him at a spring Scarlet and White game in '08 or '09 with a young child on his shoulders walking around the field with all the other fans and players and while everyone was asking the players for their autographs, the families on the field left this family man and fellow fan alone even though we all recognized him.
I also remember seeing him on the sideline during a very cold and wet night at Michie Stadium in November 2007 as Jabu Lovelace and Ray Rice and the rest of the Scarlet Knights ran all over the Black Knights. Tony Soprano, dressed in Scarlet, was spending a lot of time on the home team's sideline in the soaking rain and wet snow talking to every West Point cadet who wanted to spend a few moments with him.
Finally, I remember September 4, 2004 when Rutgers beat Michigan State in the season opener, long before even the most wild-eyed Knights fans had any thoughts of joining the Big Ten.  It was an important upset win in the Schiano era and students immediately started flooding the field as the game ended.  My son, turning 15 that month, asked if he could hop the wall and join the students and I said yes. I watched from the seats as he wandered around in the end zone at the open end of the field with a smile on his face.  I noticed that the star of The Sopranos was standing about 10 feet from him, so I called my son's cell phone and asked him to turn around.  I watched as he walked right up to James Gandolfini and shook his hand. As we walked back to the car I asked him what he had said to the star of his favorite show.
My son had said, "Mr. Gandolfini, I love your show."
"You're too young to watch my show," Mr. Gandolfini had said.

More than any line from The Sopranos or any of his movies, that's the one quote I'll always remember when I think of this larger-than-life loyal son of Rutgers.

Rest in Peace.