I've All But Moved On
I still dig the #FREEMASOLI hashtag we started though, so I'll slang it around the Twitters here and there over the next few weeks, but other than that you won't hear too much out of me regarding the NCAA's recent ruling. I could toss around words like "capricious," "myopic," "hypocritical," "arbitrary," and other far-too appropriate adjectives to describe a mostly worthless and misguided organization, but we've done enough of that already here and elsewhere. Most objective people that I know, Rebel fans and non-Rebel fans alike (and, expectedly, not a single Arkansas fan), know the NCAA's ruling was absolute horseshit, and that's enough to placate this particular bloggeur. It's also pretty incredible what a few pints of ale, some comfort food, a whiskey drink, and a long night's sleep next to someone who makes you feel good inside (see: not a prostitute) can do for one's temperaments.
Considering the good Karma of having a once-potential Heisman candidate fall into your lap after the sudden and ill-advised transfer of your blue-chip backup, we Rebels should have known it would come to this. We're not Texas. We're not Florida. We're not Ohio State. We don't constantly have good shit going for us (Which, if you read my angry, less-than-sober comments last night in the EDSBS threads, you'll know that fans of such schools judging our tendency to take a few risks really pissed me the fuck off.) and are rarely dealt a solid hand. If Ole Miss, something genreally perceived as "good" for the Rebels, and the NCAA are all involved in a scenario, Ole Miss will always end up the loser. That's just how it's been for, oh, a few decades now. None of us can legitimately say we were too surprised yesterday, just terribly miffed.
So where does that put us? Almost exactly where we were about two months ago. Nathan Stanley is our quarterback. Randall Mackey is his backup. The only real differences, as EtOHReb pointed out, are that our defense got to practice against a very talented Masoli for a couple weeks and that Stanley seemed to allow the sudden competition to better his play. We'll see how that plays out, but we're damn certain that this is Nate Stanley's team now, and that, somehow, doesn't worry me too much.
Masoli Waiver Denied | Clarion Ledger
Just throwing this up here so y'all can have a link to a video of yesterday's press conference. Boone, Nutt, and Masoli all seem frustrated and downright baffled.
Kentrell Lockett to Miss Season Opener | ESPN.com
Sports Gods, you can have Masoli, but if you so much as keep OleForty out for one second of an SEC game, I will come up there and fucking. destroy. you.
Get well, Kentrell, the Rebels and college football Twitter-verse need you.