Randomization: 08/09/06

OK...my turn...this rule is stupid. When I did the Commish for a Day series about a month or so ago, one of the points I made very clear was that I felt college football games were running too long. The common misconception here is that this is a media-driven problem. That's simply not the case. There are actually fewer full television/media timeouts in a college football game than there are in an NFL game. Yet, college football games typically run somewhere around 3:45, while the average NFL game is around three hours.

I intimated that I was in favor of some changes in how the clock was run, and I still am. I'm fully aware that this could cut anywhere from 10-15 plays out of the average college football game, but I'm okay with that. Frankly, games that run close to four hours are just too long, especially when there's a way to speed them up a little bit.

But the idea the Rules Committee has moved forward is bad. Instead of having the clock run on first down plays and sideline plays, like it does in the NFL, check out what they're going to do in college football:

The first change means the clock starts on a kickoff when the ball is kicked, not when the receiving team touches it. The other change means the clock starts on a change of possession when the ball is marked ready for play, not when it is snapped.

In other words, five or so seconds will run off the clock while a kick is in the air, meaning that the game can end without the receiving team even touching the ball if the kicking team boots it out of bounds on purpose late in a game.

I don't mind the second change as much, because it's probably not a big deal. The ball being marked ready for play will also start the play clock, so it's not going to do anything to cause a rush from the team that's on offense. They should already be moving to get the right personnel on the field and get the play called.

(The second change is something that you see, I believe, in all states at the high school level. So it's not completely foreign to football.)

I really don't like the first change. It's not going to do a lot of good in terms of saving time, and it doesn't make nearly as much sense as other possible changes would have made.

Apparently, Maurice Clarett has given up on the NFL thing. If he hasn't, then he's doing a good job of fooling us into thinking he has. Clarett, a former star running back and academic standout at The Ohio State University, was picked up early this morning in Columbus after a highway chase that ended with Clarett getting Maced. Why Mace?

Officers used Mace to subdue Clarett after a stun gun was ineffective because the former Fiesta Bowl star was wearing a bullet-resistant vest, Sgt. Michael Woods said.

Good thing for San Jose State that Clarett is no longer enrolled at tOSU, because this might end up being the Fulmer Cup clincher for the Buckeyes.

(Insert obligatory "Why hasn't he signed with the Bengals yet?" joke here.)

Oh, yeah. There's this.

Clarett was taken to police headquarters to be interviewed. Police planned to charge him with carrying concealed weapons and other counts, Woods said.
Clarett made an illegal U-turn on the city's east side and failed to stop when officers, in a cruiser with lights flashing, tried to pull him over, Woods said.
Police were pursuing Clarett on eastbound Interstate 70 when he darted across the median and began heading west. Clarett drove over a spike strip that was placed on the highway, flattening the driver's side tires of the SUV, Woods said.
Clarett exited the highway and pulled into a restaurant parking lot, where officers removed him from the SUV after he failed to obey numerous orders to exit the vehicle, Woods said.

And this:

After Clarett was placed in a police van, officers discovered a loaded rifle and three loaded handguns in the front of the vehicle, Woods said.

Going for extra credit, Mo?

Maybe you're trying to mimic Furious George. If so, by the way, you have a long way to go.

Clarett may have even hurt his chances of being signed by Phil Fulmer himself, and his NFL dream is most certainly dead. If I had predicted this five years ago, when Clarett was among the hottest names entering college football, who would have believed me?