Notebook: Big Ten poised for big upswing
It's easier beating a major-college program once than shaking a mid-major label. That takes time.
Alabama AD plans to discuss a contract extension for Mike Shula: Where do we even begin with this? Shula is 10-15 in his first two seasons. There has been marginal improvement at best since the Mike Price debacle.
That means his teams haven't sniffed at an SEC title 'Bama fans demand. His offenses are mundane. His teams are, well, boring. There's only thing worse than being mediocre, that's when people don't care. On a national level, Alabama football hasn't mattered in a while.
But Shula's contract states that AD Mal Moore must "review" the document before the end of the 2005 season.
If it was up to us, the review would go something like this:
Moore: "Mike, I reviewed your contract. It still says you make $900,000 per year through the 2008 season. Carry on."
A wire story stated that without an extension, Shula would have "only" three years left on a contract. That could be perceived as a recruiting weakness. How much "cushion" does a losing coach need on an extension. Is five years enough? Ten?
Nothing was mentioned about what a .400 winning percentage will do to recruiting.
Just think what Shula's contract will look like if he ever gets above .500.
N.Y. stadium vote: New York is still deciding whether to build a new stadium that is seen as a key to getting the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Pro football will the main tenant, but there already has been mention of placing a bowl game there. It's not too far a leap to imagine that stadium someday being the site of a national championship game.
New York has never been a college football town (it's a Penn State/Notre Dame town, at most) but it would be a natural to put the sport's biggest game in the Big Apple. Maybe to cap off the NCAA's first Division I-A playoff?
