Gruden mania, and stuff

Every sports fan has a platform nowadays, and that's largely a good thing.

You can hold people like me accountable if we write something silly. You can make your voices heard by people in power. A lot of other positives, too.

But good gosh, it can get out of hand quickly with just a few keystrokes.

Keystrokes such as: "G-R-U-D-E-N T-O T-E-N-N-E-S-S-E-E."

Was out of the office for a few hours yesterday and arrive back at the computer to see things blowing up about the prospect of Jon Gruden taking the Tennessee job.

Except that, when you search for reporting from credible sources you see ... absolutely nothing.

From my position, these things are entertaining and sexy to follow when they're happening somewhere else. But it has to be hell when it's happening on your beat.

Remember four years ago, when there were persistent rumors about Bill Cowher/Bob Stoops/Bill Parcells/Mike Ditka/The Ghost of Vince Lombardi taking over at Clemson?

Well, 2008 seems like the dark ages as far as social media goes. Can't imagine being in Knoxville right now and dealing with the assortment of "reports" from anonymous people that Gruden has accepted the job ... was seen at the local Hooters ... was spotted surveying real estate in the suburbs ... was helping Derek Dooley pack up his office.

Maybe there's a shred of truth to all this stuff, but you tend to doubt it.

On to some other stuff:

-- So NFL Films is doing a piece on ... Tecmo Super Bowl. Wow. The DVR is officially set.

Some of you young whippersnappers (or really old ones) might not have heard of Tecmo Super Bowl, and if you haven't I'm sorry.

The accompanying video of Christian Okoye is must-watch stuff for anyone who spent 85 hours a week playing Tecmo in high school and college. Well done.

But any Tecmo player worth his finger speed should have some problems with these rankings.

TOP 5 OFFENSIVE PLAYERS
1. Bo Jackson – easy call
2. QB Eagles (Randall Cunningham) – ultimate weapon
3. Christian Okoye – still looks like he could run guys over
4. Jerry Rice – the 49ers are so good, they are rarely used in today’s tournaments
5. Barry Sanders – gets the nod over Thurman Thomas

TOP 5 DEFENSIVE PLAYERS
1. Lawrence Taylor – the Bo Jackson equivalent on D
2. Derrick Thomas – still lives on for Tecmo fans
3. David Fulcher – he was good in real life, game makes him great
4. Leslie O.Neal (sic) – not as highly touted as others, but I always liked using him
5. Wayne Haddix – like Packers NT Bob Nelson, one of the games great mistakes


Love Bo Jackson, but QB Eagles was the more feared weapon. Totally unstoppable.

And Barry Sanders all the way down at No. 5? No way.

-- One week, Michael Campanaro has a broken hand and is questionable for Clemson. The next week, he's raring to go.

“I feel great,’’ Campanaro said. “One-hundred percent, I’ll be playing.’’

Just Clemson's luck.

-- Heather Dinich makes her predictions and has Clemson winning 35-24 tonight. Sounds about right.

LW