FanHouse Lee Corso

Not so fast, my friend. Wait, that's not Lou Holtz's line. That's Lee Corso's line.

Anyway, not so fast, my friend. Just a day after rumors began flying that the former coach at (insert name of every Division I school here) was considering running for Congress in Florida's 24th congressional district, Holtz has now told a South Bend TV station that he's not going to run.

Holtz spoke to WNDU-TV during a golf outing in southwestern Michigan on Wednesday. The 72-year-old coach confirmed to others, though not directly to WNDU, that he met with Republican strategists. Holtz did tell the TV station he was happy with his job at ESPN and was going to "fulfill the commitment" he made to the World Wide Leader.

ECU Will. Not. Go. Away.

After a fairly unpalatable morning set of games, we had some intriguing matchups this afternoon; Georgia, East Carolina, Oregon, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech -- the latter by default because the ACC is horrible -- all had BCS aspirations heading into the third week of college football.

Four of those teams still do, but it wasn't for a lack of trying to fail.

Georgia needed a last second interception by Chris Smelley (Dugout Name and license plate: SMLLYCOX) to overcome what really is looking like a disturbingly stout South Carolina defense (it wasn't just NC State, we swear!). The 'Cocks held Knoshown Moreno to just 79 yards on 20 carries even though he punched one in, and Matthew Stafford was hardly effective. But the Dogs held on and their BCS chances prevail.

Exciting recap I know, but that's because I spent most of the afternoon watching a shoddy YouTube-like feed of East Carolina squaring off against Tulane. ECU AD Terry Holland had oh-so-generously offered to play the game in Greenville as Ike, et al approached the coast (what a guy, huh?) and Tulane oh-so-obviously declined the invite.

There's quite a lovefest going on in the world of college football surrounding Ron Zook and the Fighting Illini. The Illini are ranked for the first time in six years, and are tied atop the Big Ten standings with Ohio State. There's legitimate talk of a conference title and trip to the Rose Bowl going on in Champaign. Even running back Rashard Mendenhall is having his name mentioned when it comes to talk of the Heisman.

It seems that Illinois is on the verge of becoming an actual football program. The only thing that could make it official would be if the Gameday crew came to town. Wait a second, what's that you said? Oh, no way!

While Zook, his staff and his players try to stay focused on this week's opponent, some university officials have no choice but to look ahead to the following game, Oct. 20 at home against Michigan.

ESPN already has contacted Illinois about the possibility of bringing its popular GameDay show to Champaign. And while nothing is certain, a visit from hosts Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard would bring a rock-show atmosphere to Memorial Stadium.

First Erin Andrews comes to town for the Wisconsin game, and now Lee Corso could be coming!? Oh what a joyous time to be alive and living in Champaign, Illinois!

This would be huge for Illinois as a program. Ron Zook and his staff are already fantastic recruiters, but now the school is going to start getting national exposure, which will only make Zook's job easier. If he can convince players like Arrelious Benn to pass up big time programs to come to a school that only won two games the previous season, just imagine what he can do with a winning program.

This probably shouldn't be as funny as it is, but... (NSFW)



...I'm still laughing like five minutes later. I think it's the complete oddity of the profanity, which comes from nowhere, seems dubbed, and has no relation to anything. Corso hates technical difficulties! Corso smash! Aaaaarrrrgh! Corso!

Score one for the FanHouse: we saw this coming more than a month ago. ESPN has hired former Miami coach Larry Coker to call games. Unfortunately, they buried him at ESPNU.

Personally, I'd rather have him in the studio given the glowing praise sent his way by the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel's Omar Kelly:

Television networks are making a HUGE mistake by not hiring Larry Coker to be a college football analyst. Coker's the funniest person in sports I know, and boy does he have some stories to tell. He's such an honest man I'm sure he'd share all his dirty laundry to the nation. The funniest thing about Coker is the fact that he couldn't tell a lie to save his life, or at least a good one. We in the media often found it comedic the way he'd always confess in the middle of his attempts to deceive. That characteristic is way out of the norm of today's head coaches.

Aaaargh! ESPN got this half right.

A mixed bag from the same AP story:

[Doug] Flutie will join Craig James and Chris Fowler in the booth for ESPN's Thursday night matchups.

Flutie's good in the booth, worse in studio so that's alright. James is better left out of the studio as well, but I'll miss last year's harmonious Thursday night crew of Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Chris Fowler and Erin Andrews. Things just won't be the same without Kirk Herbstreit around to call Erin Andrews his little poopsie.

Anytime a live national television broadcast comes to a college campus there's the opportunity for stupidity to raise its ugly head. This weekend is no exception. When ESPN's GameDay College Football Show comes live from the Plains of Auburn Saturday morning, there will be a temptation, probably by some students, to make fools of themselves and thus make Auburn look like a bunch of idiots.

Take it from somebody that acted like a fool at times in college, you'll only make yourself and your school look stupid. Making an obscene sign, sneaking it in passed security and then throwing it up at the last minute before anyone catches you is not funny anymore. You've already been beat to the punchline. The same goes for your language. There's nothing cool about using profanity during the broadcast. It makes you look low rent and reflects on all of us.

If you hold an unnatural grudge against GameDay then stay at home. Auburn only gets this opportunity every few years. Let's make the most of it. Regardless of what anyone says, Chris, Lee and Kirk do not hold a grudge against Auburn. If you haven't figured it out, GameDay is entertainment. They do have an agenda. Everyone does. Were they working to keep Auburn out of the BCS Championship? No.

Their job is to invoke emotion in all college football fans. One week they are with you, the next they're not. It's no different than a Paul Finebaum column. They are there to put on good theater and we're the supporting cast. All Auburn alumni and fans are proud of the tradition that we have on the Plains. We talk about the Auburn spirit frequently. It's a way of life and it's something that we want to share with the country. If you're planning on acting a fool, think twice about it. You're representing more than just yourself.

Link: Football Saturday In The South

We know them as the pundits America loves to Hate...except when we love them because they pick our team...or hate them for jinxing out favorite school when they face a big rival. Love them or hate them, America must put up with Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit, the lead analysts for ESPN's College Football GameDay, brought to you by the Home Depot.

Kirk and Corso make alot of predictions every week--and their opinions are respected and debated all day long. But just how accurate are these Magi of College Football?

We were wondering, too, and that's why we've created the "Corso and Kirk Accountability Hour" where each week, we'll review their predictions and compare it to what actually happened...