Sir Cameron Newton

In the latter part of my dual marriage (to college football), I'm prone to a few man-crushes every now and then.

There. I said it. Feels better.

The man-crush tendencies go back a ways, but the earliest one I can recall is Matt Stafford. Saw the kid come off the bench as a freshman at South Carolina in 2006 and was instantly enamored of the big arm, the calmness in the pocket, the flair with which he guided the Bulldogs to a convincing victory that night in Columbia.

Told everyone then the kid was instantly one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC, and predicted he'd be a Top 5 pick in the NFL Draft after three years at Georgia. He ended up getting selected No. 1.

On the other hand, I said some of the same stuff about Mississippi's Jevan Snead two years ago when I saw him throwing darts in an early-season game at Wake Forest. That one didn't work out too well.

I'm here to announce that, upon a viewing of this video, Auburn quarterback Cam Newton is the now the object of my latest man-crush (move over, Paul Johnson!)

Now look ... I'm fully aware that it's a little premature to anoint someone the savior after they carve up a juggernaut like Arkansas State.

The supplied montage is a collection of highlights. After watching bits and pieces of the actual game replay last night, it's obvious the kid still has some decision-making issues that a good defense (say, Clemson?) could exploit.

But good gosh, when's the last time we saw this kind of combination of size (6-foot-6, 250), speed and arm strength?

Vince Young ran like a gazelle, but I don't think he ran with the power of Newton. And he definitely didn't have Newton's arm. Last week, Newton threw accurately 55 yards downfield, and he did it throwing off his back foot.

We'll see what happens tonight at Mississippi State. But for me, it's crush at first sight.

There's some history between Newton and Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen.

Mullen, formerly an assistant at Florida (where Newton signed out of high school), thought Newton was Starkville-bound last year after his stint at JUCO.

That versatility is what Mul­len savored when he talked of making Newton the Bulldogs' featured offensive element. The player's father, though, said he felt Auburn's roster featured more peripheral players that could help his son shoulder the play-making load.

"I didn't want him to be a rented mule," Cecil Newton told the Montgomery Advertiser in January.

Zing!

In The Charlotte Observer, the ACC's NFL representation of 249 players on NFL rosters is a low-water mark during the expansion era.

Miami remains the top pro producer with 42 former players, increasing its lead over Florida State (27) and, somewhat surprisingly, Maryland (27).

North Carolina (22) is tied for fifth and N.C. State (15) ranks 10th. The state of North Carolina boasts the bottom three teams in the league with Wake Forest (12) and Duke (3) in the bottom two spots.

Overall, the league's post-expansion total of NFL players peaked in 2008 with 271. The ACC dropped to 258 in 2009.

In Chapel Hill, Butch Davis says he's staying at North Carolina.

In the Orlando Sentinel, good feature on FSU cornerback and return maestro Greg Reid.

During his freshman year at Valdosta's Lowndes High, football practice ended.

Reid waited for his daddy — that's what he calls him, even now — to come pick him up from practice. And waited.

"I was still sitting out there, man," Reid said. "It was like eight o'clock. I'm like, what's going on? And I get the phone call, go home and everything was just told to me."

Reid's dad had been arrested. The details came later — that Greg Reid Sr. had been charged with trafficking cocaine and faced a lengthy prison sentence. That he would also serve time for domestic violence. The younger Reid can tell stories of the abuse that surrounded him.

The finality of his dad's arrest might have surprised Reid. But the situation didn't shock him. He knew his dad dealt. Try as he might to keep it a secret, the elder Reid couldn't. It was known.

In The Post and Courier, the ACC is again coming up short in the national spotlight.

This summer, ACC commissioner John Swofford said that for the conference to return to national relevance it needed a national title contender.

After Week 1, the Greensboro office might already be thinking about next year.

I've said this before, but the ACC and its fans might've been expecting too much this year if they were expecting a national contender.

The schedules, inside and outside the conference, are just too rough to think someone will be undefeated come mid-November.

The ACC can still take a major step by avoiding two occurrences:

1) Embarrassments in these marquee non-conference clashes, and;

2) Embarrassments against inferior teams (i.e.: Virginia losing to William & Mary, Maryland losing to Middle Tennessee).

The ACC held up well in last weekend's two major matchups; North Carolina and Virginia Tech could've been blasted by LSU and Virginia Tech, respectively. But both the Tar Heels and Hokies left feeling as if they should've won.

On the second count, there were opportunities for major upsets. But the ACC dispatched Richmond (by Virginia), Elon (Duke), S.C. State (Georgia Tech), North Texas (Clemson), Samford (Florida State), and Western Carolina (N.C. State).

Of course, there's still ample opportunity for the ACC to fall on its face. But so far, it certainly hasn't been a total disappointment.

Mark Bradley of the AJC says A.J. Green's four-game suspension just doesn't seem fair, does it?

No, it doesn't.

College football is consumed with money. All these kids heard all off-season was how the college football landscape was to undergo seismic shifts, and guess what was driving the itch to expand, or realign, or whatever?

$$$$$$$$$$$

And a stud player who makes a little cash off his own jersey has to sit a third of the year?

No, doesn't seem fair at all.

The amateur ship sailed long ago. This is hypocrisy at its best, er, worst.

"Do as I say, not as I do."

Yeah, the dude made a mistake. Should've known better.

But I don't blame the kid at all if he elects to bolt Athens at the first opportunity.

Andy Staples writes about the Green situation and has a novel idea: Give superstars like Green a cut of the green.

Green should get a cut. So should Pryor. So should Barkley.

This is the part where fuddy-duddies predictably come in and say, "He's getting a scholarship. That should be good enough for him." No, it shouldn't.

If the school considers a player so special that it believes putting his number on a replica jersey will bring in more cash, the player deserves a piece. The NCAA should allow each player whose jersey gets sold to receive a cut of the profit. Whatever percentage an NFL player gets for having his jersey sold is the percentage the college player should receive. The money should be placed in a trust and given to the player after he exhausts his eligibility. To keep coaches from using a financial incentive as a recruiting tool, make it illegal to sell a player's jersey until his sophomore year. That way, the player must prove himself on the field. In the process, the potential to profit might sway a player away from taking money from agents.

The NCAA has certified 35 bowl games annually through January of 2014. In the last three seasons, just 71 teams have met the 6-6 criteria for being bowl-eligible.

The folks at the Wizard of Odds wonder how long it'll be before we get 5-7 hell.



LW