Anyone remember Devin Barclay? Long before Eddie Gaven and Freddie Adu, this kid was something of a teenage sensation and was the No. 14 overall pick in the 2001 draft by Tampa Bay.

However, his MLS career never amounted to much. He had stints with DC and San Jose after Tampa Bay before finally spending a couple of years with Columbus, getting in just one game in 2005 before falling off the radar. Retired, cut -- I don't know and didn't check.

At any rate, he's alive and well in Columbus. Yesterday, the junior walk-on kicker, who replaced the injured starter three games ago, kicked the winning field goal in overtime to send the Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl. He's the oldest player on the roster -- all of 26, prime age for a soccer player, but hardly too old to build a professional career as a field goal kicker if this wasn't just another flash in the pan.

I saw that too, Shel. As soon as I heard Barclay's name and heard that he was a kicker, I figured it had to be the same person. Sure enough, wikipedia confirms it! :)

Glad to hear Barclay is continuing his sports career.

My sister and brother in law are visiting for the holidays and as my brother in law is a big college football fan we were watching the Rose Bowl and saw Devin Barclay kicking for Ohio State. He converted a few field goals and extra points for Ohio State as they won the Rose Bowl. Interestingly Barclay appears to be the team's short range field goal kicker as when the team had a longer field goal attempt, some 40+ yards, another kicker took that and converted it.

The Tv play by play guy Brent Musburger commented on the fact that Barclay was the one Ohio State player who had previously played in the Rose Bowl stadium before but during his MLS career as he apparently picked up his first assist in MLS playing for Tampa Bay against the Galaxy in the Rose Bowl.

Once the World Cup is over, I will focus on the start of the 2010 college football season & a "Return to Tradition" for my beloved Michigan Wolverines!!

I might not be the biggest Rich Rod fan...much like I feel about Bob Bradley of the USMNT...but I LOVE my Wolverines & support the TEAM!! And I do believe we will be much better & return to a bowl game in 2010 ;)

GO, BLUE!!

Had to resurect this thread, especially since my Alma mata is ranked #1 in the land. If you guessed the Ducks, then you guessed right :)

One more game to go & the Ducks will be Quacking very loudly. I can't believe one win away from an undefeated season & the freakin' beavers stand in the way...Time to breakout my Ludacris collection & start playing Move out the Way!!!

I'll wait to congratulate you until the Quackers win this last regualr game rob, but it has been one helluva ride this year for the Ducks!

My 10 & 2 Huskers might have been in the nationla championship discussion if we weren't down to our 3rd string quarterback.
I'm headin' to Dallas for the Big 12 Championship game Saturday, but we are lucky to be 5 or 6 point underdogs without a qback, so I'm not expecting to bring home the trophy. But it would be kind of hilarious in our Big XII conference exiting situation. :lol:

Doesn't the Huskers run the ball??? I think if the running game gets going, the Sooners might be in a bit of trouble. I am still shocked that the Sooners were able to beat the Cowboys. How that happened??? Have fun at the game.

Congratulations to the mighty Ducks rob! One more win for your first ever entire enchilada, the National Championship?!!! Love to see you take Cam Newton and the rest of his crew down! Go Ducks!

Ironic that you asked about the Hukers running the ball rob.

Because if our knot-headed O coordinator Watson had only committed to the run game ( which worked pretty well when they did use it) instead of to an obviously injured quarterback who single handedly lost the game for the Huskers with 3 fumbles and an interception, we would have exited the Big 12 with the championship much to the chagrine of the remaining schools.
It was a shamefully pig headed display of coaching, which is reportedly going to cost him his job.

Oh well.

I can't freaking believe that the Ducks are playing for a National Championship. I can die now, even if they lose, cause I have seen the Ducks rise to the top. When I went to U of O, the Ducks really sucked. To witness a total 180 degree turn is poetry in motion. However, it will be a very tall order to defeat Auburn. Big running QB's are the kryptonite for the Ducks & that is exactly what stop the Ducks in the Rose Bowl vs. Ohio State. If D Coordinator Nick Aliotti come up w/ a plan to slow down Cam Newton, that might be enough for the Ducks to pull it out.

That is a shame, cause Big Red used to run the ball w/ great efficiency back in the day. Loved it when the Huskers would use plays like the fumble-ruskie for 15 yard gains. I guess everyone needs to have a pro-style offense. Now I see why the Pistol Offense is in demand now. It allows more control of a running/throwing QB. Hey if the Chiefs use it, it can't be wrong :P

Well, after that come back at Alabama after being 24 points down, I am not sure any team can beat Auburn this year. Cam Newton is a man among boys, without a doubt. Hey, maybe he will be suspended before the game rolls around?? :rolleyes:

National Signing Day is less than 24 hours away and, while I've never seen the players, who will announce, play & know that these ratings can be very subjective, I must admit to being very excited about the whole event & plan to set my DVR :)

I do know that Brady Hoke, the new Michigan football coach, & his staff have done an OUTSTANDING job in saving our recruiting class...which could've been a total disaster after Dick Rod was fired!

Michigan might not have gotten Jim Harbaugh or Les Miles but, after hearing & watching Brady Hoke's press conference, there's no doubt that U-M got the right guy...and I have no doubt that Hoke will lead U-M back to greatness :D

First things first though, and that's NSD...which I must admit to being more excited about than the Super Bowl this coming weekend!

Anybody else excited for NSD & the future college stars of tomorrow?

Is it true Cam Newton will have to take a pay cut going from Auburn to the NFL? :P

Late reply to AF10; I try not to get too worked up over recruiting of 17 and 18 year olds. Nebraska reportedly had a top 15 class again, but we (and many other schools) have had even higher level rated classes which resulted in very little contribution to the team one, two, or three years later.

Doesn't mean recruiting isn't very important; I just worry about and follow the freshmen and sophomores already in the development pipeline at my school a lot more than the recruiting class. But huge numbers of fans thrive on following the recruiting. How was Michigan's class rated? We will be seeing you and your Big 10 pals on the field pretty soon!

FWIW, Nebraska's Offensive Coordinator, Watson, did lose his job as I predicted. He really was directly responsible for two losses in what could have been a really tremendous sseason, including the Big 12 conference champioship game that was very winnable.

My beloved Michigan Wolverines are 7-1 & still in the running for a trip to the inaugral B1G championship game...in November :o

Shows that Brady Hoke was the right choice all along...though, he wasn't my first...and his choice of defensive coordinator, Greg Mattison, is THE hire of the year :D

The defensive improvement has been AMAZING...and with the same team as last year! What's scary is how good our defense will be, when Mattison gets all HIS type of players at U-M!

How about Penn St.? Wow...JoePa might be doing his best job yet. Their defense is TOUGH but that offense is HORRID...and, yet, they're 8-1 & leading the Legends division!!

But the game this weekend that EVERYBODY is talking about is...LSU @ Alabama :o I'm totally expecting a classic...with LSU winning! Who do you guys have?

My picks for Saturday's conference championship games + OSU-OU game:

B1G - Michigan St. 28-24 Wisconsin

SEC - LSU 38-13 Georgia

Pac-12 - Oregon 49-10 UCLA

Conference USA - Houston 35-20 S. Mississippi

ACC - Virginia Tech 31-14 Clemson

BEDLAM - Oklahoma St. 42-31 Oklahoma


Been a WACKY year in college football this year...but don't expect any major surprises this weekend.

There are always upsets in the conference championships.

well we didn't win the National Championship, but we won the 2012 Rose Bowl. Gladly take that to the grave!!!

I am not much of a college football fan but I enjoyed watching this year's Rose Bowl, good game between Oregon & Wisconsin.

Did LSU still think they were on their holiday break?

Great defense by Alabama but oh my LSU just did not show up.

Awful title game fitting end to bad season

The article's headline says it all.

I think it was a case of LSU laying an egg AND Alabama's defense flexing its muscle.

LSU is better than what they showed last night. But if you watched the first match, it wasn't terribly different. Alabama outplayed LSU the first time...but missed FG's and had a big play (the catch/interception) go LSU's favor. This time they made the FG's and got the big play (TD run).

All the difference...

Will wonders ever cease...the BCS has FINALLY reached consensus on a seeded, 4-team playoff system, beginning in 2014 :D

Of course, there are a lot of details to still iron out:

- how are the teams seeded?

- where will the semi-finals & final be played?

- will there be a selection committee...like in college basketball...or will it be polls & computers?

- how will the bowl games be affected?


And, of course, the biggest issue...the college presidents have to approve the plan! And, given the past stubbornness of the presidents to change, this is not a "slam-dunk"!

However, we're closer than ever to a true college football playoff and I, for one, am very optimistic :)

Some of those questions have been answered already.

The four teams will be selected by a committee. They will be the "best" for teams with an "emphasis" on conference champions, whatever the latter means. The semis will rotate between the four major bowl games. The final site will be bid out.

Trust me, the presidents won't be an obstacle.

Like it...also, hear that strength-of-schedule will factor into the equation, which IMO means less "cupcake scheduling" & more intra-conference matchups like this year's Michigan v Alabama in Dallas :)

Just two and a half weeks until the 2012 college football season begins & SOOO PSYCHED!

Will be heading to Dallas on Labor Day weekend...though, I'll be back in L.A. on Labor Day...for the Michigan-Alabama game & truly believe it will be a classic ;)

Should be a memorable season...hopefully, in a good way...and hope everybody enjoys it!


GO BLUE!! :D

GO BIG RED!!!!

Blue has to come to Lincoln this year, things will be diffferent!!!

Agree, Johnbuildr...losing in Lincoln is a possibility but still see U-M winning the division, beating Wisky in the B1G Championship & coming to Pasadena (just a stone's throw from where I live :P ) for the Rose Bowl ;)

Heading to Dallas on Friday afternoon...and SOOO PUMPED :D

Don't see Michigan getting blown out but we will need some luck, breaks & bounces...my head is saying, 21-17 Bama :(

IF Denard has a super game, Rawls has a breakout game, our defensive line over-performs & we don't allow any big plays, we can do it :)

GO BLUE!!!

Ducks seem like they will get screwed again by the BCS. When can we have our playoffs again? <_<