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Confirmed: ESPN both sucks and blows.

SmoovP

doesn't ride a Harley
It has become an agenda driven, fact deficient, opinion bloviating, circle jerk - a self-sucking lollipop, if you will - of a sports media company.

Please overlook my presumption, as an outsider, for starting a new thread, but I thought it might be a fine thing to have a place where we could collect the more egregious examples of ESPNs suckitude.

So, I'll start.

-------------

Brian Griese said today that the Arkansas offense came almost exclusively through the air last year.

He also said that Marcus Lattimore is clearly the best RB in the SEC headed into this season.

-------------

I guess that is true, if you don't count the LEADING RUSHING RB IN THE ENTIRE CONFERENCE from last year - Arkansas' Knile Davis.

Does he even watch college football? Does he not know how to look up some relevant stats? What is he basing his bullshit opinion on exactly? Wishful thinking? Dumbassery?

Let's compare:

Knile Davis got 14 total carries in the first 3 games After those 3 games, he is sitting at 79 total yards for the season.

Marcus Lattimore already had 333 yards by that time. So, having missed out on the cupcakes, Davis starts to get used a little more in the Alabama game, where he carries 6 times for 42 yards against the number 1 team in the country.

Then we play top 25 A&M and he goes for 82 yards on 10 carries. Next comes another top 10 team, Auburn, and he carries 14 times for 91 yards. Already at this point, he is tearing up teams with very limited carries.

At this point, he goes bonkers.

Aside from 1 average game against Vandy (19 carries, 82 yards) where he sat down early because the game was in hand, he is shredding people.

Knile Davis had 176 against Ole Miss
Knile Davis had 110 against top 20 USC
Knile Davis had 182 against UTEP
Knile Davis had 187 against top 20 MSU
Knile Davis had 152 against top 5 LSU

Marcus Lattimore did not have a good game against a ranked team all year.

Marcus Lattimore had 182 against Georgia, but it took him 37 carries to get there.
Marcus Lattimore had 202 against Florida, but it took him 40 carries to get there.
Marcus Lattimore had 184 against Tennessee, and they had no defense whatsoever.

Those three teams account for nearly half his yards and they all sucked balls.

Marcus Lattimore had 33 yards against Auburn
Marcus Lattimore had 30 yards against Arkansas
Marcus Lattimore had 48 yards against Clemson
Marcus Lattimore had 54 against Southern Miss, etc.
His per carry average was only 4.8 for the entire season.

Knile Davis is better than Marcus Lattimore by any measure you can come up with and it isn't even debatable.

To wit:

Category No. 1: Percentage of rush attempts with big gains (10-plus yards)

1st -- Davis (21.1 percent)
2nd -- Bolden (19.0 percent)
3rd -- Dyer (18.1 percent)
4th -- Lattimore (15.7 percent)
5th -- Ballard (12.8 percent)
6th -- Poole (12.7 percent)

Category No. 2: Percentage of rush attempts with explosive gains (20-plus yards)

1st -- Poole (6.9 percent)
2nd -- Bolden (6.7 percent)
3rd -- Dyer (6.0 percent)
4th -- Davis (5.9 percent)
5th -- Lattimore (3.6 percent)
6th -- Ballard (2.7 percent)

Category No. 3: Yards per attempt (YPA) against top competition (defined as teams that ranked in the top 30 in rush yards per attempt allowed)

1st -- Davis (6.03 YPA)
2nd -- Poole (5.32 YPA)
3rd -- Dyer (4.85 YPA)
4th -- Ballard (4.34 YPA)
5th -- Lattimore (3.99 YPA)
6th -- Bolden (3.89 YPA)

Category No. 4: Yards per attempt against weaker competition (defined as foes that did not rank in the top 30 in rush yards per attempt allowed)

1st -- Dyer (7.21 YPA)
2nd -- Davis (6.99 YPA)
3rd -- Bolden (6.42 YPA)
4th -- Lattimore (5.71 YPA)
5th -- Ballard (5.52 YPA)
6th -- Poole (4.96 YPA)

Category No. 5: Good blocking YPA against four SEC opponents with top-30 rankings in rush YPA (Alabama, Auburn, LSU and South Carolina -- chosen because they were the most common SEC opponents from these running backs' schedules)

1st -- Poole (9.45 YPA)
2nd -- Bolden (8.35 YPA)
3rd -- Davis (8.14 YPA)
4th -- Dyer (6.38 YPA)
5th -- Lattimore (5.52 YPA)
6th -- Ballard (5.11 YPA)

Putting the numbers together, here are the overall rankings for this competition:

1st -- Davis (24)
2nd -- Dyer (21)
3rd -- Bolden (20)
4th -- Poole (19)
5th -- Lattimore (12)
6th -- Ballard (9)

That Davis wins the honor of being the SEC's best bell cow running back coming into the 2011 season is a testament to how he finished the 2010 campaign. He bounced back from a very slow start (203 yards in his first five games) to end the season with 1,322 yards, the most of any SEC running back and the fourth-highest total in Arkansas history.

For Dyer, Bolden and Poole, their rankings indicate they should be able to give Davis a run for his money as the leading ground gainer in the SEC.

As for Lattimore and Ballard, their showings illustrate how far these two have to go to reach the consistent performance level of the other top SEC backs.


I remember when SportsCenter was must-watch TV every single night. I remember when espn.com had people who could write in complete sentences. I remember when Bill Simmons wasn't a total doosh.

It is entirely pathetic what they have become
 
toramain16.jpg


You do realize that you're talking about Brian Fucking Griese, right Smoov?
 
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Does he even watch college football? Does he not know how to look up some relevant stats? What is he basing his bullshit opinion on exactly? Wishful thinking? Dumbassery?

He went to UM. I'm surprised he could even read the teleprompter.
 
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Question: Do these statistics take into account that Arkansas had a significantly more productive passing game to offset the defensive focus on the rush? Also, does a RB's role in the passing game factor into his rating at the position?

I don't disagree with your assessment of ESPN or Brian Griese, but I suspect you are coming from a somewhat homer-ish position regarding Knile Davis.
 
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[BigWoof] Today Rod Gilmore said that Tyler Wilson will be the best QB in the SEC, when anybody with a brain knows that will clearly be Aaron Murray this season. [/BigWoof]
 
Upvote 0
SmoovP;1956643; said:
It has become an agenda driven, fact deficient, opinion bloviating, circle jerk - a self-sucking lollipop, if you will - of a sports media company.

Please overlook my presumption, as an outsider, for starting a new thread, but I thought it might be a fine thing to have a place where we could collect the more egregious examples of ESPNs suckitude.

So, I'll start.

-------------

Brian Griese said today that the Arkansas offense came almost exclusively through the air last year.

He also said that Marcus Lattimore is clearly the best RB in the SEC headed into this season.

-------------

I guess that is true, if you don't count the LEADING RUSHING RB IN THE ENTIRE CONFERENCE from last year - Arkansas' Knile Davis.

Does he even watch college football? Does he not know how to look up some relevant stats? What is he basing his bull[Mark May] opinion on exactly? Wishful thinking? Dumbassery?

Let's compare:

Knile Davis got 14 total carries in the first 3 games After those 3 games, he is sitting at 79 total yards for the season.

Marcus Lattimore already had 333 yards by that time. So, having missed out on the cupcakes, Davis starts to get used a little more in the Alabama game, where he carries 6 times for 42 yards against the number 1 team in the country.

Then we play top 25 A&M and he goes for 82 yards on 10 carries. Next comes another top 10 team, Auburn, and he carries 14 times for 91 yards. Already at this point, he is tearing up teams with very limited carries.

At this point, he goes bonkers.

Aside from 1 average game against Vandy (19 carries, 82 yards) where he sat down early because the game was in hand, he is shredding people.

Knile Davis had 176 against Ole Miss
Knile Davis had 110 against top 20 USC
Knile Davis had 182 against UTEP
Knile Davis had 187 against top 20 MSU
Knile Davis had 152 against top 5 LSU

Marcus Lattimore did not have a good game against a ranked team all year.

Marcus Lattimore had 182 against Georgia, but it took him 37 carries to get there.
Marcus Lattimore had 202 against Florida, but it took him 40 carries to get there.
Marcus Lattimore had 184 against Tennessee, and they had no defense whatsoever.

Those three teams account for nearly half his yards and they all sucked balls.

Marcus Lattimore had 33 yards against Auburn
Marcus Lattimore had 30 yards against Arkansas
Marcus Lattimore had 48 yards against Clemson
Marcus Lattimore had 54 against Southern Miss, etc.
His per carry average was only 4.8 for the entire season.

Knile Davis is better than Marcus Lattimore by any measure you can come up with and it isn't even debatable.

To wit:

Category No. 1: Percentage of rush attempts with big gains (10-plus yards)

1st -- Davis (21.1 percent)
2nd -- Bolden (19.0 percent)
3rd -- Dyer (18.1 percent)
4th -- Lattimore (15.7 percent)
5th -- Ballard (12.8 percent)
6th -- Poole (12.7 percent)

Category No. 2: Percentage of rush attempts with explosive gains (20-plus yards)

1st -- Poole (6.9 percent)
2nd -- Bolden (6.7 percent)
3rd -- Dyer (6.0 percent)
4th -- Davis (5.9 percent)
5th -- Lattimore (3.6 percent)
6th -- Ballard (2.7 percent)

Category No. 3: Yards per attempt (YPA) against top competition (defined as teams that ranked in the top 30 in rush yards per attempt allowed)

1st -- Davis (6.03 YPA)
2nd -- Poole (5.32 YPA)
3rd -- Dyer (4.85 YPA)
4th -- Ballard (4.34 YPA)
5th -- Lattimore (3.99 YPA)
6th -- Bolden (3.89 YPA)

Category No. 4: Yards per attempt against weaker competition (defined as foes that did not rank in the top 30 in rush yards per attempt allowed)

1st -- Dyer (7.21 YPA)
2nd -- Davis (6.99 YPA)
3rd -- Bolden (6.42 YPA)
4th -- Lattimore (5.71 YPA)
5th -- Ballard (5.52 YPA)
6th -- Poole (4.96 YPA)

Category No. 5: Good blocking YPA against four SEC opponents with top-30 rankings in rush YPA (Alabama, Auburn, LSU and South Carolina -- chosen because they were the most common SEC opponents from these running backs' schedules)

1st -- Poole (9.45 YPA)
2nd -- Bolden (8.35 YPA)
3rd -- Davis (8.14 YPA)
4th -- Dyer (6.38 YPA)
5th -- Lattimore (5.52 YPA)
6th -- Ballard (5.11 YPA)

Putting the numbers together, here are the overall rankings for this competition:

1st -- Davis (24)
2nd -- Dyer (21)
3rd -- Bolden (20)
4th -- Poole (19)
5th -- Lattimore (12)
6th -- Ballard (9)

That Davis wins the honor of being the SEC's best bell cow running back coming into the 2011 season is a testament to how he finished the 2010 campaign. He bounced back from a very slow start (203 yards in his first five games) to end the season with 1,322 yards, the most of any SEC running back and the fourth-highest total in Arkansas history.

For Dyer, Bolden and Poole, their rankings indicate they should be able to give Davis a run for his money as the leading ground gainer in the SEC.

As for Lattimore and Ballard, their showings illustrate how far these two have to go to reach the consistent performance level of the other top SEC backs.


I remember when SportsCenter was must-watch TV every single night. I remember when espn.com had people who could write in complete sentences. I remember when Bill Simmons wasn't a total doosh.

It is entirely pathetic what they have become

BayBuck;1956653; said:
Question: Do these statistics take into account that Arkansas had a significantly more productive passing game to offset the defensive focus on the rush? Also, does a RB's role in the passing game factor into his rating at the position?

I don't disagree with your assessment of ESPN or Brian Griese, but I suspect you are coming from a somewhat homer-ish position regarding Knile Davis.

The Arky offense was a different animal after the emergence of Knile Davis. He certainly benefited from the propensity for big plays through the air, (Arkansas had 85 big plays vs. FBS teams last year, most from Mallett's arm) but the backs that preceded him had the same advantage and did not capitalize on it.

Davis also made a big difference in the effectiveness of the passing game. I remember noticing it when I was poring over the numbers to do the Sugar Bowl preview; but I did not point this out in the preview because I didn't think most readers of the BP preview would care about the comparison between Davis and the other Razorback running backs.
 
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