The BCS is B.S. *NEED Playoffs*

Simply the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) is a desperate attempt at naming the NCAA D1-A National Champion. The BCS hasn't really solved anything, its objective is to name a undisputed National Champion, that objective has most definitely not been met. Here are the most recent reasons 1) year 2004, USC (13-1) and LSU (13-1) Co-National Champions (Auburn 13-1 rejected from national championship contention) 2) year 2007, Florida demolishes Ohio State in National Championship, USC demolishes Michigan in Rose Bowl, College Football World agrees that the National Chamionship should have been USC vs. Florida. 3) year 2008, not one legitamate undefeated team, National Championship : Ohio State (11-1 ranked one of the weekest schedules in the nation) vs. LSU (10-2 lost to below .500 Arkansas and pretender Kentucky)...Rose Bowl : USC (10-2 lost to all-time terrible Stanford and at-the-time potential National Chamionship contender Oregon, remind you lost to OU by a touchdown and USC's starting quarterback was out due to broken middle finger on throwing hand) vs Illinois (9-3...??? ILLINOIS!!! that is a joke, first season of having above .500 since the 90's. Beat Ohio State lost to Missouri (Firts year of having a good year since 1960), Iowa (6-6), and Michigan (lost to Appalachian State!!! what!) This game will not be a close one...) Sugar Bowl :

NIU Football...End of 07...Beginning of 08

The 2007 season and my first college football season is officially over. The 2008 season is just now under preparation. Our preparation for next season has already started off with a pretty big bang...Coach Joe Novak, our head coach, has officially retired from coaching and decided to move to North Carolina in July of 2008. Since our coach has retired, now we have to construct a nation-wide search for a new head coach. Once the new head coach has been signed and has arrived, he will make his decisions on new assistant coaches and if he is going to have some, if any, of our present assistant coaches continue here as a part of the NIU coaching staff. The new coach will decide to give the axe or give the helping hand. As a player of the Northern Illinois Huskies, this change is exactly what this team needs to become a big competitive school. We have a tremendous amount of talent for the 2008 season, we just need a young, innovative, and new-school football coach who is ready to do whats necessary to bring home MAC championships, National Rankings, and consecutive Bowl Game appearances. The dreams and aspirations that we have as a football team can only be met by great and young coaching who is willing to recruit from wherever need be to get top recruits to play as a Huskie. To refrain from looking to far ahead, for this next season, we have the tools and heart to go however far we want, we just need a great coaching staff to lead the way. These next few days, weeks, or months even are going to be a ride, a ride of a lifetime in search of the new Northern Illinois Huskies Head Football Coach. Once he is here, we, as in we i mean us Northern Illinois Huskie Players, are willing to get in the cart and take the roller coaster ride of the year 2008 with our new coach and along the way pick up a MAC Championship, National Ranking, and ultimately go "Bowling". We see the Boise State's and the Hawaii's of the College Football world doing it, it is our time, like how it was back in 2003, to be the next Boise State. The first step to doing so is by doing whatever it takes to prepare day-in and day-out and start the season by beating Minnesota (Big 10) and Tennessee (SEC) and making a name for ourselves in the College Football world. I am tired of getting my ass kicked and I know you are, it's payback time, it's our time to be giving the ass kickings, it's time to shine fellow Huskies, I think its time to show that we are not a bottom 10 team, but a top 25 team in the nation! PAYBACK IS COMING, 276 DAYS AND COUNTING UNTIL THE FIRST ASS KICKING AGAINST THE MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS. GO HUSKIES!!!!!!!

Bye Weekend...One of the Best Ever

BYE WEEKEND…was the best weekend I’ve had in a while. I was able to do things that I haven’t done in a while or haven’t done ever.
On Friday, November 2, I went to my favorite band’s, Coheed and Cambria (aka CO CA or just Coheed), concert in North Chicago at the Riviera Theatre. It was by far one of the best times of my life. I have wanted to see CO CA in concert for four years, and I haven’t had the time, money, or means of transportation, or whatever legitimate reason, such as practice, to see them in concert until last weekend. Out in California, they would play either on Wednesday or Thursday nights, and on those nights I would have high school football practice. This year was different because I didn’t have to worry about practice, because our team had a bye week in football. So I was finally able to see my favorite band!!! Mind this that my car is back at home in California. The problem was I had a for sure ride to the concert until two days before it, where my kicker and I, who was going to be my ride, got in a scuffle about something at practice. Well after that I officially had no ride to the show…I had to ask around and around for somebody to let me borrow their car, or have them take me there, eventually after five different people that I asked, I was able to borrow the third string quarterbacks car!!! This was totally last minute and very generous of him. After a full day of classes, 3 hours of traffic, and two bands later, finally…COHEED!!! It was the best show I have ever been to bar none. It was something that I have wanted and waited patiently for so long. It was well worth the four years of waiting! I sang out of the top of my lungs every single word of every single song Coheed and Cambria played. I wasn’t the only one either, people to my right, and people to my left were singing as loud as they could. It is a memory of something that I will never forget and a memory of a feeling that I will never forget! They sounded so perfect and polished, and best of all it was LIVE! Call me a fanatic, I don’t care, because this bands music has been very precious to me for a very long time now, so I wanted to make sure I enjoyed the best concert of my life!
On Sunday, November 4, I helped coach a NIKE kicking, punting, and long snapping top recruit search camp. Last year I was a participant in that camp, this time, however, I was a coach! It was really incredible being able to coach future and current college prospects for snapping. I was used as the example snapper the whole day; I remember back how I was a participant in this camp and how I always looked up to the example snappers…It was something very special to me this time to actually be the guy being looked up to. My snapping coach was the organizer and head coach of this camp, it was really incredible being on the other side of the fence, where I no longer had to prove to him I was a top snapper in the country, this time he already knew I was a top snapper in the country, so he utilized me as the demonstrator! I can definitely tell the difference of ability from last year to this year. I have increased in talent and ability by monstrous leaps, and I hope that I continue to do so!

Camp Randall Stadium, #8 Rowdiest Stadium In NCAA

Wisconsin 44 NIU 3, after the game there were still 60,000 fans out of the original 82,000 fans in attendance to congratulate the rising powerhouse Wisconsin on their dominance over me and my Huskie teammates. The stadium is known as the number 8 hardest and rowdiest stadium to play in out of 119 stadiums. It wasn't just Camp Randall's fans and team, but it was the history of the stadium that made it so eye-opening. Hearing that Camp Randall was originally a Civil War training ground for 70,000 Union soldiers, is humbling in itself. Going onto the field looking up and seeing the sea of red all around you is intimidating for the young, inexperienced, and emotionally beat-up teams. In fact not only us bottom 10 teams have a hard time in Camp Randall, but even the top 25 teams would find themselves trailing at the end of the game. When the word home-field advantage is mentioned i now can only think of Camp Randall. The Wisconsin Badgers are truly a lucky team to be playing in an environment like that every home game. Going into practically every game as the favorite or if not favorite, the look-out-upset team of the week, primarily based on the home field advantage. Thinking back on the game, even though we lost against Wisconsin, i still have to be thankful for being able to play (more time then expected) at such an amazing historical facility. It truly was an amazing experience. To Camp Randall Stadium, to the Wisconsin Badgers, to the Budweiser beer song, to the crazy chants, to the huge massive wave of red, to the sheer loudness of the fans, to the 4th quarter jump around, and to the famed "Fifth Quarter".....................I Salute You.

Nolan Owen???

I am Nolan Owen, I am a football player for the Northern Illinois Huskies, and I'm from California...Southern California to be exact. Although i may be from so cal, i do not live 5 minutes from the beach, and i do not surf. I've played main stream sports my whole life. Baseball… was to boring, basketball… i was too short, so i got dominated, but football and ice hockey were and still are what i play. Anyways, i came out here to illinois, because it gave me the best opportunity to live my dream, which was to get a full ride scholarship in football and start as a freshman. I was offered a preferred walk-on spot at USC, but i denied the offer once NIU came into my life. I have been a USC fan ever since i was a little kid, so obviously it was my dream to play for the Trojans, but as i got older i developed a bigger dream, to do what people said i couldn't do. I have accomplished a part of my dream, by recieveing a full ride scholarship for football; people said i couldnt do that because of my position, and start as a freshman; people thought i would be too young. Well i have two parts of my dream done, and one still left to accomplish, which is the one major factor that motivated my decision in becoming a Huskie, which is to go into the NFL. NIU is offering me the best chance to do that because of the playing time that i am getting here, that USC could not offer to me. The NFL is all about politics, and you have to know how to work the system, and this is the most beneficial way for me to do that. It is really hard to be so far away from family, friends, and really close loved ones, but they all accept my decision and are all behind me 100%. I hope to in the rest of my blogs help you, the reader, my audience, get a better understanding of who I am, and what are my feelings about this life we live in today.

The Myth of the Sexual Athlete

As my first blog post i felt that i should confront a very controversial and rarely touched subject that surrounds the life of sports and athletes. This issue may be hard for men to swallow and frustrating for women to live with. This very much so egotistical conflict is the MALE SEXUAL ATHLETE. I read a article about this very issue, "The Myth of the Sexual Athlete" by Don Sabo, it was not only completely true, it was also very hard as a male athlete to accept. Generally when one thinks of a sexual athlete, they would think of a egotistical, sex-crazed, committment-fearing, relationship-fearing, love-fearing, male. Sadly that assumption is the majority of the time true. Since I am a member of a collegiate football team, i am a first hand wittness of this problem. Male athletes in the locker room, on the field, and on their spare time, dont think about committments, relationships, and love, they think about the exact opposite. Sadly they think about how to "hook-up with a chic", how to get laid, how to get with a girl and not feel "obligated" to get in a reltionship. Now I am no god, i do engage in the conversations about this subject with the guys. But I am going to be honest, i have been raised very well, tought to treat women with respect, and never use a girl for sexual needs. I don't live by that "typical" male athlete mentality, i am one who does value relationships, love, and committments. It is one thing to talk and joke around about the sex talk, but its another thing to actually live it. Sex talk in male sports is going to be around forever, it is like a religion, once its started and been kept up for so long, it cant be stopped. There are also other male athletes who have the same mentality out there as me, but they are hard to find, because male self discipline in the athletes sexual world is hard to come by.