In a follow up to his comments Wednesday on Tony Kornheiser’s radio show, John Feinstein just posted an explanation of sorts on his website. I’m going to respond to several of his points below.

The irony is, if you listen, I started my response to Tony’s question about a long simmering controversy at Rutgers about the importance of—and the money spent on—athletics by saying, “look, Rutgers is a very good school.” Tony instantly challenged that because he believes the only institution of higher learning in the United States that is any good is Binghamton, his alma mater.

Fair enough, although it seemed pretty obvious that Kornheiser was being facetious, and hence I don’t think anyone was really getting worked up about that in the first place.

Schiano is not (as you point out) the only coach who runs up scores. But he constantly insists he’s NOT running up the score. A few years ago, up 42-0 in the SECOND quarter against Norfolk State (Norfolk State?) he used all three of his time outs to score again before halftime. He then insisted the move was justified because you never knew if a team might rally in the second half. Please.

I know that Schiano always says that he never lets off the throttle in the first half (for example, look at the scoring disparity from the 2008 Louisville game) as a justification for building up wide margins in the first half. Rutgers scored 48 points before halftime and 14 afterwards in that game, and the second stringers took over IIRC in the second half. Did Schiano actually say that though? All I can find is the following.

“It was the first half of the game. You coach and teach your kids to play. If your starters are in there, you play the game the way you coach it.”

Anyway, as Feinstein concedes, it’s fairly commonplace. How does running up the score necessarily make Schiano a bad guy? I can’t substantiate the rest of the point – that Schiano either constantly insists that he doesn’t, or that he’s unique in that regard. Even if this was true, what’s exactly the big deal? Does a little fib here an there reflect on someone’s general character all that much? For a true measurement of that you have to look at how a coach runs his program on a day to day basis.

The first time Schiano took a team to play at Navy he was sent—as is customary—a pre-game itinerary. Navy’s is a little different than most schools because the Brigade of Midshipmen marches on before the game, which means the teams (BOTH teams) need to leave the field a few minutes earlier than normal. Coaches are always alerted to this and know it is part of playing a game at Navy. Schiano not only objected, he kept his team on the field while the brigade began its march-on. Then he insisted after the game he hadn’t been informed about the march-on. Sorry Rutgers folks, that just wasn’t the case.

Is it possible that there was a mixup along the chain of communication? This, again, is stretching to cite one incident from over five years ago and generalize it into a general character trait.

Schiano (like a lot of coaches) is an absolute control freak. Did any of you watch the bowl game? Even the ESPN sideline reporter was frustrated by the fact that he couldn’t get anything resembling a semi-honest answer—or any answer at all—about Rutgers players who came out of the game hurt. What was Schiano doing, hiding an injury from next week’s opponent? Oh wait, the next game isn’t until September. Again, he’s certainly not unique in doing this but it gets old with all these guys.

Absolutely true, but this is absolutely irrelevant to the point that Feinstein made on the show.

Later on, John continues by detailing the reason that he dislikes Tim Pernetti. Apparently he’s still smarting over Pernetti preferring Steve Lappas to do color for an Army/Navy basketball game. I’m sorry, but that entire section comes off as overwhelmingly petty. Essentially he took a rejecting way too personally and still can’t get over it years later. He took any perceived slight as a personal attack, became ultra-defensive, and thew a temper tantrum as you would expect a spoiled child would.

And remember folks, this isn’t message board scuttlebutt – it’s the argument that Feinstein thought would best support his case. Good lord you egomaniac, get over yourself. No one put a gun to the Patriot League’s head and forced them to take CSTV’s money. They’re writing the checks, their rules; that’s generally how things tend to work in practice, with the whole “material goods and services can be exchanged for currency” routine. Really, THAT’s his response? Excuse me for a moment while I check this laughing fit with a brown paper bag.

Never mind that experience in high-level management at ABC Sports and CSTV/CBS Sports is kind of relevant to being an athletic director at a major FBS athletic department. If only to ramp the inanity up to eleven, Feinstein attempts to support his point by citing hearsay from mid-level CSTV staffers. The thing is though, that’s really beside the point. Everyone’s heard the stories about Schiano’s idiosyncracies. Hell, I and other fans even joke about those at times, but I don’t recall anyone connected to the program that ever had a disparaging word to say about Pernetti.

Tim’s personable – I mean hell, look at his pressers, we are very lucky to have such a telegenic and eloquent person as the public face of the athletic department. That charm has proven very effective at CSTV and later Rutgers. The bottom line is that the start-up CSTV was eventually sold for a large profit, and Pernetti’s first several months on the job here have been a smashing success, obliterating all expectations and hesitation because he didn’t come from a more-traditional background. There is not one possible way to criticize Pernetti’s job performance as athletic director up to this point on the merits.

Let’s turn around Feinstein’s logic on his head. I think he’s been absolute buffoon about this whole matter, and only dug himself into a deeper hole by giving this ridiculous explanation for his incoherent behavior. Would it be be fair then to generalize and say that Feinstein has nothing to contribute in all facets; that all can safely dismiss his commentary about Navy sports, or all of those glowing pieces about Duke basketball? No, because only fools draw those kinds of sweeping, all-encompanying conclusions from brief, prejudiced interactions, and see non-sensical patterns in completely isolated and unrelated incidents.

I do NOT think the 11,000 seat expansion was needed—sellouts are better than empty seats. I DO think Rutgers is a very good school no matter what Tony says and there are few people I admire more in sports than Rutgers alum David Stern.

If the even one more person can attend the games in person now that couldn’t before, then certainly some have benefited from expansion; never mind any future ticket demand. And how exactly are sellouts “better” when the math from the current setup seems to be working? The only “bad guys” are the ones who want to run an athletic department perpetually in the red, and take money away from university academics to foot the bill.

And funny he should mention David Stern, considering his immoral and underhanded actions involving the relocations of the Seattle Sonics and New Jersey Nets, far worse than any supposed crimes attributed to Schiano and Pernetti. How ironic is to criticize those two, and admire someone who now sullies the school by association.  Declaring infinity for Rutgers figures X and Y does little to lighten the brunt of those unsubstantiated attacks. If this is all Mr. Feinstein has, his opinion can be henceforth safely dismissed forevermore as another talking head, full of hot air, his only cares in the world being self-promotion and the sound of his own voice.

I don’t want to think about that accursed state today anymore than I already have. If John Fox isn’t ever coming back to the Giants, the least the Tar Heels can do is send all of their junior defenders to the NFL, and not beat the men’s basketball team too senseless tonight. Here’s what I have off the past week, with a few more posts on the way before the new year.

Rutgers fans can breathe a sigh of relief, as Princeton won’t be hiring assistant Joe Susan as their next head football coach. Brian Jenkins is officially out the door though, having been announced as the new head coach at Bethune Cookman. It’s good to only have to worry about filling one vacancy instead of two. The bowl game may be paying additional dividends, with Football Coach Scoop reporting that Coach Schiano interviewed UCF WR coach David Kelly. He’s originally from South Carolina, but appeared to have a hand in their Southern Florida recruiting.

With it almost being 2010, it’s just about time for the decade retrospectives. I agree 100% with Keith Sargeant’s picks on offense. Clark Harris really should get the nod over L.J. Smith, because Smith had the same bad hands in college that have been his downfall in the pros. With defense, putting Orr at LB really was a copout, even if that was the best way to get the most talent on the roster. Nate Jones should be at corner given how badly Jason McCourty struggled last year. Meekins/Tverdov and and Girault/Seabrooks/Johnson are open for debate. Overall it’s mostly spot on.

Nope, didn’t expect to read that Nate Jones is working on a sitcom pilot.  The Arizona Cardinals released Brandon Renkart. With Seattle in the tank, has anyone wondered about whether it’s time to give Mike Teel reps?

For those calling for rookie Mike Teel, I’ve watched every Seahawks’ practice this season and Hasselbeck is light-years ahead of the youngster.

Retired Purdue coach Joe Tiller’s opposition to Big Ten expansion is understandable, because midpack teams likely have the most to lose via expansion. That’s exactly what happened in the ACC after they added three teams. He’s absolutely right that it’s all money driven. Joe Paterno is again talking about expanding to the East. He is the greatest Christmas gift of all to New Jersey sportswriters looking for column fodder now that the football season is over. Meanwhile, add Michigan to the list of schools in favor of expansion.

West Virginia OL coach David Johnson may have just misspoke, but this quote doesn’t come off well.

“Rutgers threw every blitz known to mankind at us and they don’t normally blitz.”

It’s not likely that the Cincinnati Reds view Todd Frazier as a shortstop going forward. You may know he’s a big MLB prospect, but big brother Jeff resurfaced in Detroit’s system last year.

Pitt was expected to sell nearly 5,000 tickets (h/t: Brian Bennett) to the Meineke Bowl. With UNC ticket sales lower than expected, you wonder if they might be second guessing their decision to invite the Panthers over Rutgers. It’s no wonder the selection committee was deadlocked for so long, even with everything working against us in terms of the rematch with UNC and disappointing season.

Josh and Ted from the Ledger say that the NJSEA may need millions in a state bailout.

Kudos to ch414 on Rivals, for posted today about an exchange between Tony Kornheiser and John Feinstein on D.C. radio. You can listen to the audio archive here, it starts at 11:20 in. I’m not going to rip Kornheiser too hard, because he clearly knew nothing about the subject beyond what he saw on Outside the Lines, and several of his comments were made in jest. In the first section I believe that he’s describing the segment’s inference, and not actually comparing Rutgers to the recent Binghamton scandal, which would be pure lunacy. Feinstein, on the other hand, was blatantly dishonest at several points in the interview. I have transcribed the segment below, after my comments. All bolded emphasis is mine.

What’s truly remarkable about the segment is that Feinstein appears to be under the impression that stadium expansion is still on the horizon, and that Rutgers Stadium still only has the capacity of 41,500. (Thereby, expansion is unnecessary). Actually, major construction was finished in September, and those empty seats (which were largely sold) were a consequence of expansion. Which has, by the way, was a terrific financial success in 2009. The problem with nearly every criticism of the project is that they:

A) Don’t understand the funding mechanisms, that is a bond tied to future ticket revenues which does not detract from the overall university budget. Rutgers is on the hook if things go bad, but they’re not robbing Peter to pay Paul.
B) Don’t understand how incredibly low the bar was set for the numbers to work. Meet the 70%/80% revenue projection, which the athletic department released over a year ago, and the math works. That’s a fairly conservative number. This thing wasn’t built on a pie in the sky fantasy.

How in the world does Feinstein get off calling Greg Schiano a “bad man”? Because he occasionally runs up the score? Does that make Joe Paterno a “bad man”? What exactly has Schiano said that was “patently untrue”? Greg Schiano’s such a bad guy that his players don’t get in trouble and actually go to class. That’s saying something, considering the string of recent announcements that many other bowl teams are losing players to eligibility issues. Taking academics and character into account, and given Schiano’s commitment to Rutgers when so many college coaches are willing to jump programs at the drop of the hat, there’s a fair case that Schiano is one of the most principled and grounded men in what’s increasingly becoming a very ugly and immoral profession.

Feinstein also fails to mention that one significant factor in the recent string of disappointing bowl bids were disappointing conference tie-ins. Rutgers had a great year in 2006, and had to settle for the Texas Bowl because of that, and the Big East asininely letting the Meineke Bowl sign a one year contract with Navy (a team that Rutgers absolutely throttled that season).

That’s not even the worst of it, as Feinstein makes a mockery of athletic director Tim Pernetti, barely conceding that Perneti was an executive at CBS College Sports Television. In fact, he was the executive VP for content, and previously was a programming director at ABC Sports. Pernetti, was, in reality, one of the most influential actors in all of broadcast sports. That’s a fact that Feinstein should be well aware of considering his relationship with the Navy athletic department. The irony here of course is that Tim’s first year on the job has been an unqualified success.

I believe that the afore-mentioned story about the bowl system was this one. Actually, Rutgers lost $184k on the Papajohn’s.com bowl last season (it would have turned a profit without bringing the band and cheerleaders). At least he admits that is fairly commonplace. Figures from this year’s bowl game haven’t yet been released. In contrast to the general theme of that article, Rutgers ticket sales to the St. Pete Bowl were fairly healthy at the 8,000 or so range, with about 2k more in attendance that didn’t buy through the school.

JF: Well this has been going on for years at Rutgers. I mean, this has been, because, there’s been this battle within the school. The academic side, you know, Rutgers is a very good school.

TK: It ain’t that good, right?

JF: It’s a very good school. I didn’t say it’s Harvard.

TK: It isn’t.

JF: It’s a good school.

TK: It’s no Binghamton. It’s not. It’s not Binghamton.

JF: Harvard. The Binghamton of Boston.

TK: Right. That’s right.

JF: Anyway, Rutgers, uh, has had this controversy really for at least twenty years now. Because they’ve been trying to build their football program. They were terrible for years. They went to one bowl game in 1979, and did not go to another bowl game until five years ago where they brought in this guy Greg Schiano.

TK: Right, from Miami.

JF: A bad guy and a good coach. Uh…

TK: Is he a bad guy?

JF: Oh he’s bad guy. Runs up scores, and, and, and, you know, just says stuff that’s patently untrue. He’s really a bad guy. Um, but, anyway, but he’s taken them to five straight bowls. And, so, um, but, and, they’re building a 10,000 or 12,000 seat addition onto their stadium.

TK: Right.

JF: Which is ridiculous. They do not need more than 42,000 seats in that stadium. They didn’t sell out most of this year because they started the season poorly, and people didn’t think they were gonna be any good, and they ended up being 9-4, and they won their bowl game. Um, mostly because they played some lousy teams. They play a terrible non-conference schedule every year. But they put all this money into building the stadium and people got upset because, you know, with the economy being what it was, and they’re putting all this money into expanding the stadium, the athletic director got fired last year.

TK: Right.

JF: Was replaced by this guy Tim Pernetti who’s just a bobo for Schiano, and nothing more. He was the radio color guy. And they made him the athletic director.

TK: (laughs) That’s what he was? The radio color guy?

JF: Yeah. He had some job at CBS College Sports, you know, I don’t know, he was like some, you know, some guy who

TK: He was the radio color guy, and left that to be the AD?

JF: Yes. No no, he also had a job at CBS College Sports to be fair, which I don’t like being fair to Pernetti because he’s a bad guy. But, he got hired because he’s Schiano’s bobo. And, so, all this stuff’s swirling around, and the football team every year, you know, goes to the St. Petersburg Bowl.

TK: They make some money.

JF: Which means they lose money.

TK: They lose money going to the St. Pete Bowl? All the way to Russia?

JF: A great story, yeah, all the way to Russia, in the San Diego Tribune last week about the fact that almost every team that goes to a non-major bowl loses money because they have to buy, like, 7-12,000 tickets per bowl, which costs huge money, and they spent 3-400 grand before they put a player, a cheerleader, or a band member on an airplane.

TK: Wow.

JF: So, all these, and plus the NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, while everybody’s losing money playing in these bowls, they’re adding two more bowls next year.

TK: Right.

JF: So, that, you know, Rutgers goes to these minor bowls every year, and they, you know, they’ve been in the Texas Bowl and the St. Petersburg Bowl, and, you know, some other minor bowl, and they probably lose, like everybody else, 3-400 grand every year on a bowl. And everybody’s saying, we’ve got a winning football team, and we’re still losing money.

In light of Anthony Davis formally declaring for the NFL draft yesterday, what I’d like to do is write a short post analyzing his career at Rutgers, and what exactly he meant to the football program; akin to last year’s post about Mike Teel. You know, really zero in on the defining characteristics of how significant he was to the program’s overall trajectory. It’s difficult for several reasons. I already analyzed his play as a sophomore, and over the summer looked at the factors that would influence his final decision on whether or not to declare. I’ve certainly written a fair bit about him at various points this season, alternating praise with maybe a little kneejerk criticism and scapegoating.

Davis is compelling figure, otherwise he wouldn’t be such fruitful subject matter. In terms of the Rutgers football pantheon though, I’m still unsure as to how exactly Davis stacks up. Purely in terms of on-field contributions, it’s open for debate whether he was even one of the top ten Scarlet Knights of the past decade. He wasn’t even the best offensive lineman; Jeremy Zuttah and Pedro Sosa accomplished far more, and you could easily make a case for Darnell Stapleton as well. Shouldn’t that be the only criteria involved in the matter?

Perhaps not, as Davis was no ordinary player; his lethargy on the field in 2009 at times indicated that he was well aware of that fact. Heralded by recruiting services as the arguably the finest high school lineman in the country, Davis spurned every suitor imaginable to play football at his home state university, located in the very same town wherein he accumlated all of those accolades. Truly, everyone who follows the Rutgers football program owes Davis a debt of gratitude for that very fact; just as they do to even the walk-ons that don the Scarlet and White.

Kenny Britt may have been the first ever 1st round draft pick from Rutgers, and the program had landed blue chip recruits before, but Davis has been to this point the most high-profile signee of Greg Schiano’s tenure. The symbolic value was enormous, stretching all the way from when he first put pen to paper, to this coming April when he’ll undoubtedly become a millionaire. If the top local talent can indeed stay home and develop properly, than supposedly Rutgers will have truly arrived as a destination college football program. You don’t need to go to USC or Ohio State or Florida; not when there are so many good players nested away in our little state. Declaring was no surprise when everyone was saying that he was destined for the NFL from the start.

The resulting expectations were lofty, no, enormous, and it’s actually to A.D.’s credit that he went a long way to meeting all of them. Davis was excellent at right guard as a true freshman, overwhelming opponents through sheer physical mastery. However, there is a bit of a stigma attached to playing inside. Tackle, and specifically left tackle, is the marquee position, where the future pros end up. Guards are just arguably tackles who can’t hack it (there have been an increasing number of exceptions to this generalization, but it’s consistently reinforced when busts like Robert Gallery can revitalize their career by sliding inside), or green underclassmen who still need their training wheels.

The real test was when he kicked outside last year. Considering that he was a true sophomore, Davis met and even exceeded expectations, effortlessly containing edge rushers and giving Mike Teel ample time to throw. The entire line struggled at run blocking early, but that improved in the second half of the year, and was probably a team effort. The only true red flag was when he and Kenny Britt were suspended for the early-season game against a FCS opponent. With the hard part over, it was easy to expect 2009 to be just a layup. Add a little polish, put the cherry on top, and voila; there goes the next Orlando Pace or Jonathan Ogden.

Unfortunately, 2009 was less than a banner campaign, as the play of the entire offensive line fell off a cliff. Davis was outright humiliated by Cincinnati’s Ricardo Matthews in the opener. It was baffling to see him dominate against top competition one week, and then struggle the next. I think his early demotion in camp for being a few pounds over his target weight was a little overplayed, but that didn’t do Anthony any favors when it came to the perception that he was dogging it, and only counting down the days until the NFL called. No one would even dare to call him a bust though, and I bet if you looked at the overall track record of top recruits, he’s probably an overwhelming success.

It’s hard to say whether expectations were too high. Even with him alternating between hot and cold, there’s little doubt that Davis was by far the team’s best lineman this season, by a fairly big margin in fact. Davis wasn’t amazing in all facets last year, but grading on the expectations curve relative to his level of experience, I’d say that almost all fans were more than satisfied. Maybe he wouldn’t turn into a road grader in the run game, but it was so disconcerting to see his pass blocking take such a step back at points this year. We had already seen he was capable of better. We know that, pound for pound, Anthony is one of the most gifted athletes in the country on any level, in any sport. Even though he was still the best lineman, Davis was naturally going to take the brunt of the criticism over another kid who may not have had his physical gifts, but undoubtedly was giving his all on every snap.

I’m not one of those people who holds players individually responsible for his team’s success. Somehow, for years a myth persisted that the likes of Peyton Manning or Alex Rodriguez (or, McNabb, or insert your favorite example here) were responsible for their respective team’s failures to win a championship, in spite of all the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. It’s not Anthony’s fault that Rutgers has been treading water for the past three years as an above-average team; he contributed a great deal to the success that they did have. However, he is ultimately responsible for how he performed on the field.

Davis was a very good player for Rutgers, even an elite one at times, but he never quite put all of his considerable gifts together for an entire season. In fact, his reputation takes a further hit compared to his immediate predecessor at left tackle; as Pedro Sosa was every bit as good in pass protection, and a far better run blocker to boot. Yes, every thing I ever post about the offensive line here has to have an obligatory Sosa reference to how awesome he was, and lament as to how raw of a deal he received following that ‘07 injury. It’s almost comical that he never sniffed an AA team, and brilliant performers like Zuttah and Foster only received a smattering of support, but Davis received his share of token votes solely based on reputation and future potential.

As Anthony prepares for the next journey of his career (and make no mistake, I more than wish him well, and hope that he has a long and successful tenure in the pros), that’s the one thing he can still hang his hat on: enormous, still mostly untapped potential. Having watched his competition at points, there’s little doubt that Davis will blow all of those guys away in workouts and the Combine. As a fan of the pro game, and eager follower of the draft process, I know that he brings everything to the table in terms of size, frame, strength, agility, acceleration, and other attributes that NFL scouts look for when projecting into the future, even as frustrated as I have been with his inconsistent play at times this year. All of that has to be taken into consideration; even if there may have never been a moment, as there frequently were with Ray Rice and Kenny Britt, where anyone would have thought “wow, he could play in the pros now, and has absolutely nothing left to prove here.”

Can anyone dispute that Anthony will be as good as he wants to be? I could see him landing in the Hall of Fame, or out of football in five years. It’s that X factor which makes forecasting his future as pro so difficult. It’s all on him. That’s a brand of uncertainty that would make me a little nervous about having him on a pro team that I rooted for, and others that don’t follow Rutgers may be able to see things a bit more objectively. Bias is a tricky thing, because sometimes you can end up not keep proper perspetive or appreciation. It’s not just about being RutgersAl.

That being said, I hope that I’ve tried to given a fair look to both sides of the coin here. Anthony Davis is not an easy nut to crack. He’s not a Britt, where you can just say that he’s awesome, and things can be pretty much left at that. A.D. was an interesting player who had an interesting career, and I think those kinds of complex figures are a bit more compelling to think about than the superstars. There’s an inherent drama to struggle, he’s a role model for underachievers everywhere.

Davis, is, well, the kind of guy you can write 1,800 words on, as I just did, and feel like you haven’t even started to scratch the surface. That my just be par for the course here, but it goes beyond just trying to thumb through a thesaurus trying to find new synonyms for “befuddlement”. I want to know what it’s like to be so much better than anyone else that there’s a perpetual struggle to stay motivated. Mostly though, as anyone that lives vicariously through this violent sport knows, there’s a dark recess in your mind that always wanted to get the rush from pancaking a two-hundred and fifty pound man, slamming his rear end flat into turf. That’s the true secret of Anthony Davis, gone before our eyes without the hope of uncovering in a passing winter storm. God help us all if he ever sees fit to share it with the rest of the world.

I’m just about gearing up for some early looks towards 2010 football season.  Consider the following:

1. Rutgers loses its top deep threat, big play receiver in Tim Brown to graduation.
2. No one besides Mohamed Sanu is guaranteed to be a starter next season. There are many other first and second year receivers on the roster, but none of them really panned out in ‘10. It looks like the staff does have a pretty good group of recruits coming in here (as some of the players already on the roster were), and some of them could possibly push for playing time.
3. Right now it apepars that true freshman Mark Harrison is at least momentarily the favorite to start opposite Sanu. We know that he was very productive in high school, he’s tall, and he is very athletic for his size.

Harrison will be pushed by the likes of Tim Wright, Keith Stroud, Eddie Poole and Marcus Cooper, none of whom really stood out in ‘09. Aaron Hayward and Quron Pratt (if he ultimately ends up at receiver) will be in the mix too, and there’s always Julian Hayes coming back for his fifth season.

Clearly, there’s an opening for another contributor to this group; especially one who could fill Tim Brown’s traditional role as a slot receiver used to stretch the field. Coming into the season, my wish was that Mason Robinson turned into that player. He started his career off at RB, and honestly didn’t get much of a fair shake there; but as a speedy athlete without a lot of power, he probably was better suited for receiver or cornerback. Robinson started to get some looks at WR in the spring, but a thin RB depth chart in the fall led him to return to the backfield. I wasn’t thrilled at the prospect, because Greg Schiano is adamantly opposed to RB platoons, which has often led the backups there to wither without any reps, even in situations where a starter like Ray Rice was getting far overworked.

As awful as the season opening loss to Cincinnati was, probably the worst aspect of it was that Robinson ended up going down with a knee injury, and taking a medical redshirt (he has two years of eligibility remaining). Now, a lot of what I’m saying falls under the assumption that Mason can come back at 100%, which is far from certain, as illustrated by Kordell Young’s ongoing struggles. Yesterday, Greg Schiano indicated in his presser that both players will likely miss the upcoming spring practice session. If M-Rob does come back healthy, I think the need at receiver, combined with a deeper RB depth chart next fall suggest that Robinson should see the majority of his touches at receiver. The offense can be creative with him; I’m not suggestng he’s in their class, but players with similar skillsets like Reggie Bush and Percy Harvin received touches all over the field.

The reason that I’m hoping that Robinson can return and fill this role  is because speed has always been his calling card. I could see someone like Hayward being very useful in the slot too, but that’d be more in a checkdown, safety valve role, at least initially. Incoming freshmen like Tejay Johnson and J.T. Tartacoff could fill similar roles to what I’m envisioning here, but they’ll only be freshmen, and you never know what position someone will end up in until they get to campus.

Mostly, my optimism comes from the belief that, while high profile recruits can and do often bust, talent doesn’t just fade away without a trace. Young’s case shows that reoccuring knee injuries can sap speed, but I’m not willing to write off a player without at least giving them a chance to succeed or fail on their own merits. There’s no indication yet that Robinson has really had the opportunity to prove himself. It’s not like he’s been in the program for years and wasn’t even remotely sniffing the two-deep. That’s the same reason why I’m still hopeful that Manny Abreu can be an impact player, being neck and neck with Antonio Lowery (who ended up having a great season) throughout fall camp. Same reason why I’m not going to write off a guy like Wright just yet.

One good example of this phenomenon is what Dorin Dickerson did at Pitt in 2009. Like Robinson, Dickerson was a great athlete without necessarily a set position, who came in as a top recruit. He started out at receiver, and then washed out at linebackers. Never did a thing for three years, and then suddenly he’s an all-conference Tight End this year, and now probably bound for the NFL next April. Yes, it is one exception in what’s probably a sea of high profile recruiting busts, but there are the occasional examples of the light suddenly turning on. That’s the model that Robinson. In fact, I’d argue that his situation isn’t even as dire as Dickerson’s was, as Robinson has only been a relative non-factor for two seasons at this point. Now, if he can’t seize an opportunity next fall, whether that’s due to injury or other concerns, then it’d probably be fair to looking ahead to a Tejay Johnson.

In 2009, Tim Brown had a season for the record books, setting a school highmark for touchdowns. Duce was good for big play after big play on the year, averaging a staggering 20.9 yards a catch. His 1,150 yards and 9 touchdowns are even more impressive considering that an ankle injury limited him against West Virginia, and Rutgers had absolutely no intention of passing the ball against Maryland. There were doubts entering the year about whether the former slot receiver could hold up as a starter, and he more than held up his end of the bargain. It’s not like he came out of nowhere, as Brown regularly saw playing time as an underclassmen; his production increasing with each subsequent season

In fact, it’s fair to say that Tim could have started for a lot of teams over the past few years, and was only limited to reserve duty because of the presence of Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood above him on the Scarlet Knight depth chart. Brown wasn’t as good as Britt, but he’s probably a few notches above Underwood as a player. Kenny was a first round pick, and Ti went in the seventh. Logic would then seemingly dictate that Brown ought to go in the fifth or sixth round, right?

That’d be a fair outcome if it the equation was solely based on talent and production, but it may not be that simple. For one thing, Brown is listed on the roster at 5′8 and 165 lbs, and there’s been rampant speculation that he may be even shorter. There are receivers in the 5′8 - 5′9 range in the NFL, but not many smaller than that, and I think his tiny frame will be an even bigger concern to NFL talent evaluators. Sure, Brown is an explosive playmaker, but can he hold up on the next level, when the competition is even bigger and faster than what he regularly saw in college? One silver lining to his limited amount of touches in college is that he hasn’t taken that many hits.

Are there any comparable prospects that have made an impact recently in the NFL? Santana and Sinorice Moss aren’t great examples. Both are (likely in Sinorice’s case) taller than Brown, and more importantly, they weigh in at 190 and 185 lbs respectively. Roscoe Parrish is listed at 5′9, 170 lbs, and was a second round pick of the Bills four years ago. Looking at the combine measurements from the past three years, you don’t see too many players with similar measurables to what Tim’s listed as being. DeSean Jackson was pretty close to Brown’s listing, but given that most heights on college rosters are exaggerated, Brown could end up being closer to 5′6 or so.

Parrish wasn’t nearly as productive as a regular as Brown was in college, but he made up for it somewhat with his prowess as a returner, where Brown surprisingly hasn’t seen all that much action. Rutgers had a great return game this year, and that was Windmill Willie’s thing in ‘06, but it’s a bit perplexing why Brown didn’t return more kicks and punts in 2007 and 2008. From memory, I remember him being fairly effective when given a chance there two years ago, and being surprised that he never received more looks as a returner. This could be big, because a player of Brown’s stature will have to earn his keep as pro initially on special teams.

Now, I don’t pay much heed to what the echo chamber of internet draft analysis is saying, but it’d be a surprise if Brown receives an invite to February’s Combine in Indianapolis (Davis and McCourty will, and Haslam/Johnson are probably 50/50). He’ll have to make by on his senior film, looking good in workouts, and registering a good time in the various speed drills at the school’s Pro Day. Specifically, speedy receivers live and die on the 40-yard dash. Brown is likely to register a time under 4.40 seconds in that event. Considering the fast track, I’d actually peg him for an unadjusted 4.30 to 4.35 (scouts in attendance will add one or two tenths of a second to the hand-recorded times). What’s critical is to see exactly how far below that magic 4.4 rubric he scores.

I’ve spent the past few paragraphs detailing why pro evaluators will knock Brown, and indeed, nitpick they shall. The danger in that level of criticism is in losing the forest for the trees, and letting a potential diamond in the rough get by unnoticed. Anyone who puts too much focus on what he can’t do will lose sight of all of those thrilling touchdowns. Brown matured as a senior – developing into a team leader, being a long-distance father to his six-year old son, and mourning the lost of his childhood friend Jasper Howard. Duce Brown is undoubtedly a dynamic playmaker, averaging 41.9 yards on his touchdown receptions this season. Put the ball in his hands, and there’s a fairly good chance that he’s going to take it to the house and throw up six.

One thing’s for sure:Rutgers fans won’t forget his breath-taking, miracle reception and in the closing seconds of the UConn game any time soon.

It’s hard to say if Brown will get drafted, although it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him build some buzz over the coming months and go at some point during the draft’s second day. Gary Brackett, Shaun O’Hara, Eric Foster, and a littany of other recent undrafted Scarlet Knights have shown that there’s more than one path to the NFL from the banks. If he can get into a training camp next fall, it’d be a mistake to bet against him.

It was rather odd that Shamar Graves was carried out by underclassmen following the end of the team’s final practice on Thursday, considering that tradition is usually reserved for graduating seniors. No one picked up on it at the time, but curiously enough a picture/caption on NJ.com did show Graves being carried off. Graves was not announced as departing on Senior Day, and everyone had been under the assumption that he would be returning as a redshirt senior in 2010.

Graves didn’t contribute as much as expected this season, but he has all the tools to be a capable player, and could be far more productive next season if circumstances permit. I could even see the combination of a big season and solid workout numbers putting Shamar on the NFL’s radar as a prospect at H-Back. Either way, he’ll be a valuable, experienced contributor leading a fairly green TE corps. There are a lot of younger options there now, but Graves is the only one who’s seen significant playing time, and he could be a useful target for the fledging Tom Savage next year. Clearly, it’d help a lot if he returns.

Yesterday, the explanation came out. Rutgers is applying for Shamar to receive a fifth season of eligibility (along with the news that Des Wynn will miss spring practice, which further hurts depth on the offensive line). Tom Luicci sounds pessimistic. Let’s take a look at the relevant section of the NCAA rulebook.

14.2.6.3.1 Conditions of Competition.The competition must have occurred under all of the following conditions: (Adopted: 10/28/04)

(a) The competition occurred prior to the completion of the first half of the championship segment of the institution’s declared playing and practice season; and

(b) The student-athlete did not compete in more than two events or 20 percent (whichever number is greater) of the institution’s scheduled or completed events in his or her sport. All competition (including a scrimmage) against outside participants shall be countable under this limitation in calculating both the number of events in which the student-athlete participated and the number of scheduled or completed events during that season (both segments) in the sport. (Revised: 8/4/05)

14.2.6.3.1.1 Twenty-Percent Calculation.

The requirements specified in Bylaw 14.2.4.3.6 shall apply to the 20-percent calculation specified in this waiver. (Adopted: 4/25/02 effective 8/1/02 for competition occurring on or after 8/1/02; Revised: 10/28/04)

Bylaw 14.2.4.3.6 is the medical hardship waiver, a copy of which I have linked from the University of Central Arkansas website. Basically, Rutgers will have to supply a letter from a physician and sufficient documentation.

Then comes the other question; did Graves meet the cutoff limit for a medical redshirt? SK.com no longer has box scores available for the 2006 season, so I can’t check the participation report, but his roster profile says that he only played in two games. Based on similar cases in the past, I expect Graves to receive his extra year. Seems fairly cut and dry, but the NCAA has dragged its feet on similar cases on the past, so hopefully Rutgers will get an answer sooner rather than later.

Confirming the worst kept secret since, well, Kenny Britt did exactly the same thing last year, Anthony Davis will be off to the NFL tomorrow. ESPN’s K.C. Joyner recently evaluated Davis, which is accessible only with a sub to ESPN Insider. I’m not really a big Joyner guy, but interested readers can decide for themselves. I think it was a good evaluation in this case though. Scout.com has some information on potential landing spots for Davis.

Men’s basketball continues to be snakebitten, as Greg Echenique will miss the season (and redshirt) following a retina injury. And wow, UMass actually beat Memphis.

I thought it was interesting to see that a panel of peer coaches voted Bob Fraser for the Football Scoop linebacker coach of the year. It’s an absolutely well-deserved honor, as Rutgers at least had the best conference linebacking corps this year, with at least five starting caliber players. One of thing that always bugs me about national recognitions are that they usually go to players at power programs, and most observers don’t even know how to evaluate players that don’t accumulate a ton of counting stats anyway.

Yup, C.V.S. is up to her old Paterno-esque antics with a scheduled 4 am practice.

If you’re looking ahead to 2010, UNC QB Mike Paulus is transferring to William & Mary. Was Syracuse interested? Paulus was a really big recruit, but that position is notorious for producing a lot of busts. From what I gathered, T.J. Yates wasn’t very good this year following losing all his receivers to the NFL, and freshman Bryn Renner is poised to seize the starting job from Yates in the spring. They could lose a lot of talented junior defenders to the draft next April, including Marvin Austin and a couple linebackers.

The Ray Ratio – Baltimore wants to get Ray Rice 20 touches per game. He’s close to a historic statistical season. By the way, Eric Foster had two sacks on Thursday. Jeremy Zuttah would be more comfortable at center or right guard than left guard. With Matt Hasselbeck imploding yesterday, you have to wonder whether Seattle is getting ready to cut ties and start fresh under center.

With the Cincinnati Reds restructuring Scott Rolen’s deal (and non-tendering Jonny Gomes), Todd Frazier could get a look at left field during spring training.

Of note is that Syracuse just landed WR Aaron Weaver as a transfer from Hofstra. I don’t know whether the staff pursued him or not (finding info on him in recent weeks has been nigh-impossible), but I personally would have liked to add Weaver.

Now that I’ve had nearly a day to digest the St. Pete Bowl,  it still feels good to watch Rutgers win by double digits. That of course has to be coupled with the fact that once again, weak Big East tie-ins resigned the Scarlet Knights to beat on another overmatched team. They didn’t really have a chance to test themselves against a better opponent. Based on how they played in 2009, Rutgers arguably didn’t deserve that chance. They never really showed on a week to week basis that they were good enough to hang with an upper level opponent. The first thing to take away from the win over UCF is that potential was always there, it just wasn’t ever realized. The Scarlet Knights were too young in key spots, and couldn’t really get everything to click this year, but the talent was there, and deserved better than a Conference USA opponent.

As many factors that were going for RU in this one, they’re all seemingly accompanied by a caveat. It’s more than fair to be excited going into 2010 by freshmen like QB Tom Savage, WR Mohamed Sanu, TE D.C. Jefferson, DT Scott Vallone, and  LB Steve Beauharnais (not to mention the tease of everyone that redshirted this year); but as much as the three freshmen on the offensive side of the ball showed, last night and all season long, they still made more than their share of rookie mistakes. And as much good young talent that I think Coach Schiano and staff have assembled on the roster, how much of a shame is it that seniors like WR Tim Brown, DE George Johnson, LB Ryan D’Imperio, and CB Devin McCourty couldn’t go out on a higher note? This year’s squad was as talented as any others that they faced, but that talented wasn’t evenly distributed. They had an abundance of riches in certain areas (DL and LB specifically), but deficiencies elsewhere cost a more-successful season.

If the plan was for the UCF Knights to use this game as an “audition” of sorts to springboard into a future invitation to join the Big East conference, things didn’t exactly end up going as planned. They were decent against the run all night, but Rutgers had struggled in that regard all year. Where was the pass rush that ranked 8th nationally? UCF may have broken a big kick return to open the night (I had ESPN 360 open, for everyone who missed that because ESPN was airing the New Mexico Bowl overtime), but it was clear from the start that they were overmatched.

Mohamed Sanu’s muffed fumble and Devin McCourty’s injury kept them in the game for most of the first half, but their will was broken for good by a pick six returned for a touchdown in a second quarter. The scoring disparity in the third quarter was only 10-0 in RU’s favor, but it was clear that the Scarlet Knights were starting to play with confidence, imposing their will physically, and running away with this one. The pass rush was giving UCF’s QB no time at all to throw, and forcing him into mistakes (and eventually, departing the game with an injury).

Down by three touchdowns, UCF was forced to become one-dimensional, and that just played in Coach Schiano’s hands. There’s probably nothing he likes more in football than playing with a lead, and forcing the opponent into pass first mode. That lets coach call things super-aggressive, letting slip the dogs of war and making them give no quarter. Couldn’t have drawn up the game plan any better in a textbook. Say what you will about Schiano, but he usually does stick to the same plan, and in many situations it can be very effective. Next year, if Rutgers can conjure up a running attack that consistently moves the chains, I can only salivate at the carnage that will inevitably ensue.

Now, the statlines say that Tom Savage and Mohamed Sanu had very successful nights, and overall they did, especially for true freshmen. Both still showed though that they still have room for improvement, while at the same time hinting as the potential to hook up on countless big plays over the next three years. As much as they lit up UCF, it’s important to remember that they’re starting two freshmen in the secondary, and were one of the worst pass defenses in the country this year in spite of getting a lot of sacks. Savage was shaky at points, with a few errant throws that he was lucky weren’t intercepted, and he also missed wide open targets and made poor reads and decisions at points.

Still, the whole was a positive, and the same goes for Sanu. One of the best plays on the night were the pair connecting on a sensational bomb downfield. Savage doesn’t connect on all of those (and really, nobody does, they’re called low percentage plays for a reason); he missed another wide open one on the second half, but doesn’t it seem like he’s already a little ahead of Teel in that regard? Then there’s Sanu; Sanu, Sanu, Sanu, am I turning into RutgersAl in that a day later, all I can still really think about is how defined his lower body looks? There’s a dude; he’s built like a linebacker, and that makes Mo very difficult to bring down and tackle. There’s no reason the dude should be able to race downfield like he does, but he does.

The downside to Sanu’s game remains what’s been his achilles heel all year; his hands are more than a little shaky. He has a tendency to drop an easy pass here and there, and what really gets your goat are the fumbles. Losing the Pittsburgh game (following a fumble as Rutgers was driving downfield in the final minute down only three) doesn’t fall squarely at his feet; they wouldn’t have even been in that position without him. Those two muffed punt returns last night really do have to make you cringe though. Without the first, it’s probably a laugher from the start. Mo also was an effective change of pace as a runner on the backfield on the night.

I can’t say enough superlatives about Tim Brown with his performance on an injured ankle (and later, hamstring), and everyone definitely will be rooting hard for Duce as he tries to make it on the next level. I don’t know if he’s gotten a fair shake in the past, but he truly stepped up and matured this year to become a gamebreaking player. That early touchdown from Savage really reminded me of the gamewinning play from UConn. The opposing safety took a bad angle, and that isn’t going to cut it against one of the fastest players in college football. It didn’t intially look like that much, but Brown cut on a dime, and as soon as he was off to the races it was clear that he wouldn’t be stopped before reaching the endzone.

Brown strained his hamstring (I believe), and ended up missing a lot of the subsequent action before returning late. Mark Harrison saw a lot of time in his stead, and was getting looks in multi-receiver formations early on, which was nice to see. The team needs him and other underclassmen to step up in a big way next year. D.C. Jefferson still can’t really shake the “obscenely talented, but so raw that he’ll give you botulism” label. Sanu has shown to be a pretty good passer, and I’m certain that he could start at quarterback in the right scheme.

He passed to Jefferson for what should have been a big gain, only to see D.C. juggle the catch, and ultimately drop it for an incompletion. There’s a hint of greatness with Savage and Sanu, and even some of that with Harrison, but right now I honestly have no clue how Jefferson will progress in coming years. He’s out of this world talented, but looks absolutely lost running even the simplest of routes. It’s going to be a challenge trying to harness his potential, something I can already see being a frustrating process with a lot of two steps forward followed by one step back.

Eh, not a ton of running  room on the night, but Joe Martinek looked very good as a receiver out of the backfield. How about busting out the Brian Leonard hurdles? Jack Corcoran again didn’t receive any looks out of that role. With how effective Martinek was, it really makes you wonder what the offense could have done this year with more Corcoran and Graves. Brooks only had one carry, and we didn’t see any Rocket at all.

The run blocking was merely “meh”, as opposed to the season long “jaw-droppingly terrible”, so that has to be considered a win. Having the threat to pass opens things up a little bit. Speaking of which, the pass protection was actually pretty good on the night, as I can only remember a few plays where Savage had to scramble for his life. The cameras were on and the scouts were watching, so you knew Anthony Davis wasn’t going to sleepwalk through this one with millions of dollars at stake. Once he got his hands on Bruce Miller, it was over. Barbieri went down injured, and Desmond Stapleton was an effective replacement at right guard.

By now, everyone should know what we have with the defensive line and pass rush at this point. Give them a lead, give them an offense that has to abandon the run, and they’re not going to be stopped. The St. Pete Bowl may have been the finest performance in a year marked by great line play. How many games have there been where you can’t even single out one standout, because everybody is playing great? Those guys aren’t supposed to actually get stronger as the game goes on, but frequent rotations can work wonders.

Georgie Johnson’s had an inconsistent career, partially owing to injuries, but he was in the backfield all night long even if he didn’t ultimately record one of the six sacks on the night. Those went to the youngsters like Vallone, LeGrand, Freeney and Francis. Johnson’s been pretty good for us as a four year contributor, and I think he grades out better than Jamaal Westerman overall. He’ll be difficult to replace, but Rutgers may well be deep enough to do it without much of a dropoff.

Rutgers really got hosed on the Big East all-conference teams, didn’t they? It’s the best group in conference, even if they did lay two eggs in an otherwise stellar year. I really think the problem is that there’s just so much collective talent that it was hard for any one guy to stand out for individual accolades. That especially goes for the linebackers, as there can’t be any debate that Rutgers has by far the best corps in-conference. Case in point would be Damaso Munoz. It’s been crazy watching him go from being forced into duty out of positional in ‘07, to being a steady, solid force outside last year, to turn into a bigtime playmaker this season.

He’s really pulled a Malast with how much he improved as a senior, and you can only hope that he’s not looked at as another tweener without a position in the NFL. First there was that critical pick right at the start of the game, and he capped things off by returning an onside kick for a touchdown, somersaulting into the end zone in the process. He’s really taken to the weakside, which is stunning considering that Antonio Lowery, the team’s best linebacker, missed another game injured.

As with Johnson, you’d really think replacing a player of this caliber would be a challenge heading into 2010, but Lowery’s injury has given an opportunity for freshman linebacker Steve Beauharnais to explode like a supernova. SteBo had another phenomenal game, registering two more sacks (for a total of five on the year, in limited action no less). Just an explosive player who seemingly has absolutely no fear on the field. The scary thing is, for opposing teams next year, is that the only reason he may be starting over Manny Abreu are his superior coverage abilities. That creates an interesting problem for 2010, where we probably have a rising player ready to start in the middle in Ka”Lial Glaud, but Abreu is just too talented to keep off the field any longer.

Everyone watching obviously had to be distressed by the news that Devin McCourty left early in the first quarter with an eye injury. Not only did Devin vie with Tim Brown to be the team’s best overall player this season, but UCF proceeded to pick on his replacement Billy Anderson for an entire drive early in the second quarter. Billy was shake early-on, but proceeded to make UCF pay with his pick six near the end of the second quarter. It was an absolutely critical play, as they had been starting to build a bit of momentum, and it just completely swung the pendulum back in the other direction for good. The pass rush up front was just so relentless on the night that the secondary wasn’t tested that much in the second half. Zaire Kitchen did get a few really big hits that brought to mind his debut back in 2005, so it was good with that to see another senior go out on top.

Maybe it was a mistake to not jot some more thoughts down last night. I wrote a lot above, so hopefully too many minor details didn’t fall through the cracks. I wasn’t thrilled with the announcing crew, who made several astonishing mistakes. There was a good Rutgers contingent in attendance, once again reflecting well on the program’s ability to travel, even coming off a disappointing season. They were outmatched by UCF in numbers, but the fans in red were loud, and they were the only ones in the crowd left late in the fourth quarter.

Anyway, there’s still a lot of year-end stuff to get through in the next week and half. I’m definitely happy to get through all of that, and the next several months without the lingering bitterness that would have came from a loss here. It’s really good to win by a margin comparable to what Texas and Miami did against UCF. I’m a little burned out right now, but it’s going to be much more distressing in the middle of spring, and dog days of summer, when fall and kickoffs and the gridiron seem that much farther away. Thanks for continuing to patronize the site, and here’s to another season of Scarlet Knight football.

I’m still snowed in, so I won’t be able to hit the roads until later, and was able to catch the segment that was just on at nine.

There’s not too much to say, because the segment was fairly short. You can exhale, because it actually was proportional to the subject matter for the most part. Rutgers isn’t running a renegade program where players don’t have to go to class; quite the contrary. Hence, they’re not going to get the kind of butchering that FSU received last week. Overall, the piece was fairly nondescript, mostly a bare bones introduction on the topic for a national audience that stayed out of most sub-issues and detail.

As expected, most problems with the piece can be attributed to comments of one George Zoffinger, an absolutely reviled figure who hopefully will be removed from the Rutgers Board of Governors later this year. ESPN’s T.J. Quinn correctly noted in the voiceover narration that Zoff was a longtime political rival of Bob Mulcahy, which was a nice touch. Anyone familiar with Zoff’s political machinations or feud with Mulcahy can only roll their eyes at his transparent, self-serving bullshit. He only cared about settling his old score, paid no heed to the consequences, and showed a repeated propensity for dishonesty (in leaking false information about Greg Schiano’s contract to the Newark Star-Ledger).

The lies only continue, as in the piece George Zoffinger repeated the same falsehood that he passed along to Josh Sherman and Ted Margolin: that Greg Schiano’s contract included an escape clause if the Rutgers Stadium expansion wouldn’t have been completed. Zoffinger leaked a draft revision of the contract to the Ledger. The clause was never included in the final deal.

There are three other points that I want to briefly address. Bob Mulcahy’s story has remained that he did exactly as he was instructed, and hence has no idea why he was fired as athletic director. That’s pretty much all he can say, but Tom Luicci did report last year what happened. Pres. McCormick repeatedly gave Mulcahy a vote of confidence, and was planning to retain him until state legislators intervened. Under the weight of a state fiscal crisis, and two decades of budget cuts, McCormick couldn’t exactly risk the entire university’s operation to save one man’s scalp. The decision was absolutely made under duress.

Also included was a brief interview with Rutgers AAUP head Audrienne Eaton, who repeated her earlier frustration about freezing scheduled faculty pay increases while at the same time expanding the stadium. This criticism is easily dispensed with. Several years back, in order to resolve contract negotiations between the Rutgers administration the the AAUP, the state legislature agreed to cover $30m annually for faculty salary increases, promising to pick up the difference. That aid was cut from the budget this year, so the legislature pushed through a compromise where tuition would be capped in exchange for Rutgers not having to cover the increases this year. As far as stadium expansion goes, that project is not a drag on the school’s budget, and is being funded by the same bonds tied to future revenues model that the university uses to fund other capital projects.

Finally, there was a brief error right at the end, where Bob Ley said that Rutgers received $1 million dollars to play in the St. Pete Bowl last night. That’s incorrect, although I understand how ESPN’s fact checkers missed that one. The bowl (which was pretty much spawned by ESPN for the purposes of creating additional content) does pay out $1m, but per terms of a conference revenue sharing agreement, the payout was actually slightly over $1.2 million dollars.

Update: just checking around now, and it appears most of it is available online. That does not include what Ley said I believe.